Thank you so much for posting these updates TK...
Continued prayers for these soldiers and their families.
The attack on an American checkpoint in Yusufiyah, a volatile town south of Baghdad, has sparked an intensive search by about 8,000 American and Iraqi soldiers. A U.S. military spokesman said Sunday that four raids had already been conducted in the area and that the U.S. would "use every resource available" to find them. An Iraqi working for TIME who attempted to enter the area was turned back at a U.S.-Iraqi checkpoint.
The insurgent group's claim that it is holding Tucker and Menchaca, soldiers in the 101st Airborne Division, could not be verified. The statement, posted on a website, did not include video, photographs or the men's names. But the Mujahadeen Shura Council is a powerful and well-established insurgent group with a track record of backing up its rhetoric.
If the men are indeed in the hands of insurgents they are not only in serious danger but also likely to be used as pawns in an insurgent propaganda campaign. Publicly, at least, the U.S. and the Iraqi government have appeared to seize the initiative this month. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki named ministers to the country's top security posts; al Qaeda leader Abu Musab al Zarqawi perished in an American air strike; and a series of raids in and around Baghdad preceded the high-profile deployment of tens of thousands of troops in Baghdad. More