U.S. Forces Seek 2 Soldiers Apparently Captured in Iraq [More info]

New York Times ^ | 6/17/06 | Dexter Filkins

[saquin]

BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 17 — American soldiers began an intensive search on Saturday for two of their comrades who apparently were captured by masked insurgents after an ambush in the chaotic area south of the capital.

[...]

According to local Iraqis in the area, who were interviewed by telephone from Baghdad, the two American soldiers who survived the gun battle were led away by the insurgents to a pair of waiting cars.

Hassan Abdul Hadi was tending to his date and apple trees near the village of Qaraghul when he heard gunfire and explosions. When he walked to the road, he saw an American Humvee.

"I was shocked to see the Humvee — nothing seemed to be wrong with it," Mr. Hadi said. "Then I heard the men shouting 'God is great!' and I saw that they had taken the Americans with them. The gunmen took them and drove away."

At the time of the attack, the American soldiers were at a traffic control checkpoint outside of Yusufiya, a troubled town south of Baghdad that is considered a stronghold of the terrorist group Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia. According to the Iraqis, the checkpoint was guarded by about a dozen American soldiers who had come in three Humvees.

The checkpoint came under fire from insurgents operating from orange, apple and date groves that line the road. The Americans in two of the Humvees took off in pursuit as the insurgents retreated into the groves, the Iraqis said, leaving one of the Humvees and only three or four Americans soldiers at the checkpoint.

The checkpoint then came under attack from another direction by a group of seven or eight guerrillas, wearing kaffiyehs over their faces and black suits, the Iraqis said.

[new yorker 77]

My worry is that Americans are too weak to handle these over hyped stories.

1 MIA in three years and three months in Iraq.

The MSM will play up these soldiers as victims/failures.

One can hope they are o.k., but fear is not an option.

The enemy is sub-human. Reality is the best weapon.

[new yorker 77]

2 Missing U.S. Soldiers Are Sought in Iraq

By DEXTER FILKINS

Published: June 18, 2006

According to Iraqis in the area, who were interviewed by telephone from Baghdad, the two American soldiers who survived the gun battle were led away by the insurgents to a pair of cars.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/18/world/middleeast/18iraq.html?hp&ex=1150603200&en=0492db48e6279b65&ei=5094&partner=homepage