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BBC: US soldiers' bodies found in Iraq ~ Bodies Booby Trapped,...Zarqawi successor killed....
BBC ^ | Tuesday, 20 June 2006, 19:13 GMT 20:13 UK | BBC Staff

Posted on 06/20/2006 1:13:20 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach

US soldiers' bodies found in Iraq

Kristian Menchaca and flags raised at Thomas Tucker's Oregon home

Kristian Menchaca and flags raised at Thomas Tucker's Oregon home

Two US soldiers missing in Iraq since Friday have been found dead south of Baghdad, the US military has said.

The bodies were found in the Yusifiya area on Monday. An Iraqi defence ministry spokesman said the bodies had shown signs of torture.

An insurgent group linked to al-Qaeda in Iraq, which claimed it abducted the men, has now said that it killed them.

The missing men have been named as Kristian Menchaca and Thomas Tucker, both from the 101st Airborne Division.

Another US soldier, David Babineau, was killed in the attack on the checkpoint.

Relatives' anger

US military spokesman in Iraq, Maj Gen William Caldwell, said the bodies were found late on Monday by US troops.

"We have recovered what we believe are the remains of our two missing soldiers. They will be taken back to the United States for positive verification."

He said the cause of death was "undeterminable at this point".

But Iraqi defence ministry spokesman Gen Abdul Aziz Mohammed said: "We found they had been tortured in a barbaric fashion."

A US statement said that the bodies had been booby-trapped.

It said 8,000 coalition and Iraqi forces had been carrying out a massive search for the missing men, and that one US soldier died and another 12 were injured in clashes during the search.

Bomb blast in Sadr City

At least three people were killed in one bomb blast in Baghdad

Relatives of the men have already reacted with grief and anger.

Ken MacKenzie, uncle of Kristian Menchaca, said on US television: "Because the US government did not have a plan in place, my nephew has paid for it with his life."

An internet statement posted by the Mujahideen Shura Council - a grouping of insurgents that includes al-Qaeda in Iraq - said it had abducted the men and slit their throats.

The posting, which cannot be independently confirmed, said the new leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq - Abu Hamza al-Muhajir - had been "favoured by God" in being allowed to carry out a Sharia law tribunal death sentence.

The former leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was killed in a US air strike near Baquba on 7 June.

Market bombs

Gen Caldwell said on Tuesday US forces had killed Zarqawi's "right-hand man" in a raid in Yusifiya on Friday, near where the US troops were abducted.

The general said Iraqi Mansur Suleiman al-Mashhadani was "a key leader in al-Qaeda" and could have succeeded Zarqawi.

The US also said it had killed 15 "terrorists" in an "extremely long firefight" in Bushahin, north of Baquba.

The US military said its forces came under attack from gunmen on a roof and around nearby buildings. After the firefight, it said, various weapons and explosives were found.

However, angry local people said the dead were all innocent poultry workers.

Meanwhile, violence continued around Iraq despite Zarqawi's death and a new security clampdown involving tens of thousands of Iraqi and US troops in Baghdad:

  • At least three people are killed in a car bomb in a market in Sadr City, eastern Baghdad

  • Two more people are killed and 28 hurt in an explosion at a clothes market in central Baghdad

  • Elsewhere, at least one elderly woman was killed along with a suicide bomber who blew himself up inside a home for the elderly in the southern city of Basra.


TOPICS: Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: abuhamzaalmuhajir; almashahadani; almuhajir; alqaedainiraq; decapitation; iraq; mashhadani; menchaca; mia; msc; nursinghome; oif; oldfolkshome; prisonerabuse; resthome; shuracouncil; shurracouncil; thomastucker; zarqawi
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A US statement said that the bodies had been booby-trapped.
1 posted on 06/20/2006 1:13:23 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
However, angry local people said the dead were all innocent poultry workers.

I know lots of innocent poultry workers who fire AK-47s at US troops.

2 posted on 06/20/2006 1:15:40 PM PDT by Toddsterpatriot (Why are protectionists so bad at math?)
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To: All
From CQ:

June 20, 2006
AQI Top 5 Terrorist Killed (Update: Confirmed, Perhaps Plus Another AQI Leader Captured)

***********************************AN EXCERPT *********************************

UPDATE: The BBC has an addendum to the story on the discovery of the two bodies that reports up to 15 insurgents killed while hunting a "senior member of al-Qaeda in Iraq," but does not identify Sheikh Mansur despite the specifics in the briefing.

UPDATE II: The Commissar asks if I may have mistranscribed the name from al-Masri or al-Mohajer. I took the name from the placard at the briefing, but it still might be the same person, as terrorists have been known to adopt multiple identities. I'm waiting for better reporting to come from the morning briefing, and find it disappointing that the story has not made its own way onto the wires thus far. Still scanning ...

UPDATE III: CENTCOM now has a release stating that they have detained a senior AQI leader and three of his lieutenants near Baghdad. CENTCOM has not named the terrorists detained as yet.

UPDATE IV: Thanks to CQ reader Brendan F, we see that the BBC has updated their report:

Gen Caldwell said on Tuesday US forces had killed Zarqawi's "right-hand man" in a raid in Yusifiya on Friday, near where the US troops were abducted.

The general said Iraqi Mansur Suleiman al-Mashhadani was "a key leader in al-Qaeda" and could have succeeded Zarqawi.

So now we have mainstream media confirmation on the kill -- and it appears we also have another senior AQI leader detained. It may take some time to get the information clear about the later CENTCOM release.

Posted by Captain Ed at June 20, 2006 08:12 AM

3 posted on 06/20/2006 1:16:16 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach (History is soon Forgotten,)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

PLEASE dont post anything by the bbc here. The story is rife with leftist blather. Makes me sick to my stomach anytime I read something from them or the nyslimes!


4 posted on 06/20/2006 1:16:23 PM PDT by Jazzman1
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To: Cap Huff; Dog; Coop; AdmSmith; jmc1969; Straight Vermonter; Wiz; Marine_Uncle; NormsRevenge; ...

fyi


5 posted on 06/20/2006 1:17:19 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach (History is soon Forgotten,)
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To: Toddsterpatriot
The angry local people who say these things are clearly in collusion with the enemy. They should be arrested and shown the inside of Abu Garab.
6 posted on 06/20/2006 1:17:28 PM PDT by conservativewasp (Liberals lie for sport and hate our country. Zarqawi got the message.)
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To: Jazzman1

We need to see what they are putting out,....


7 posted on 06/20/2006 1:18:19 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach (History is soon Forgotten,)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
Ken MacKenzie, uncle of Kristian Menchaca, said on US television: "Because the US government did not have a plan in place, my nephew has paid for it with his life."

How unfortunate that this man used the publication of his nephew's death to attack the President, especially with such a foolish accusation. The two slain soldiers deserve better. May angels welcome them into heaven, and may God comfort their grieving families.

8 posted on 06/20/2006 1:20:11 PM PDT by American Quilter (Equal laws protecting equal rights...the best guarantee of loyalty and love of country. -- Madison)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
angry local people said the dead were all innocent poultry workers

Those weren't avian flu infected carcasses they were tossing off the roof.

9 posted on 06/20/2006 1:22:02 PM PDT by RightWhale (Off touch and out of base)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

"Ken MacKenzie, uncle of Kristian Menchaca, said on US television: "Because the US government did not have a plan in place, my nephew has paid for it with his life." "

1. What are we supposed to take this to mean?

2. Has the left found its next Cindy Sheehan?


10 posted on 06/20/2006 1:24:14 PM PDT by Wuli
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To: American Quilter

This man did not know his nephew very well, other family memebers have already come and said he was proud of his service


11 posted on 06/20/2006 1:25:42 PM PDT by boxerblues
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To: Wuli
"1. What are we supposed to take this to mean?"

The "Uncle" already has an agenda.

"2. Has the left found its next Cindy Sheehan?"

Probably, at least for the liberal talk show circuit.
12 posted on 06/20/2006 1:26:22 PM PDT by headstamp (Nothing lasts forever, Unless it does.)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
However, angry local people said the dead were all innocent poultry workers.

Yeah? Well they all died of bird flu!
13 posted on 06/20/2006 1:26:50 PM PDT by UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide (Give Them Liberty Or Give Them Death! - IT'S ISLAM, STUPID! - Islam Delenda Est! - Rumble thee forth)
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To: RightWhale

Are they sure that it wasn't a wedding party????????


14 posted on 06/20/2006 1:27:47 PM PDT by mpackard (The doc says "then dont do that")
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To: boxerblues
This man did not know his nephew very well, other family memebers have already come and said he was proud of his service

I'm glad to read that. I hope the family shuns the uncle for his disgusting act.

15 posted on 06/20/2006 1:28:46 PM PDT by American Quilter (Equal laws protecting equal rights...the best guarantee of loyalty and love of country. -- Madison)
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To: headstamp

If Kristan's mother publicy states that Uncle Ken does not speak for the family and asks his to cease and desist, will the MSM respect her wishes?


16 posted on 06/20/2006 1:29:33 PM PDT by massgopguy (massgopguy)
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To: UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide

Huh. I took 'zarqaui successor killed' to mean 'zarqaui successor killed'.


17 posted on 06/20/2006 1:29:38 PM PDT by txhurl
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To: American Quilter
How unfortunate that this man used the publication of his nephew's death to attack the President, especially with such a foolish accusation. The two slain soldiers deserve better. May angels welcome them into heaven, and may God comfort their grieving families.

Well said.

18 posted on 06/20/2006 1:30:04 PM PDT by mark502inf
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To: All
From the AP,...another biased MSM source:

Today: June 20, 2006 at 11:36:8 PDT
Key Figure in al-Qaida in Iraq Killed

*************************************************

By KIM GAMEL
ASSOCIATED PRESS

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A key al-Qaida in Iraq leader described as the group's "religious emir" was killed in a U.S. airstrike hours before two American soldiers went missing and in the same area, the military said Tuesday.

Mansour Suleiman Mansour Khalifi al-Mashhadani, or Sheik Mansour, and two foreign fighters were killed as they tried to flee in a vehicle near the town of Youssifiyah, in the so-called Sunni "Triangle of Death."

U.S. coalition forces had been tracking al-Mashhadani for some time, American military spokesman William Caldwell said in announcing his death. He said al-Mashhadani was an Iraqi, 35 to 37 years old, and that one of the men killed with him was an al-Qaida cell leader identified as Abu Tariq.

The three men were killed just hours before an insurgent attack on a traffic checkpoint near Youssifiyah, by a Euphrates River canal. One U.S. soldier was killed in the attack and two were reported missing afterward.

Two bodies believed to be those of the missing men - Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, 23, of Houston, and Pfc. Thomas L. Tucker, 25, of Madras, Ore., were recovered in the same area.

Caldwell said the Iraqi militant played a key religious and recruiting role in the group. The spokesman said Mansour was linked to the senior leadership, including Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in a June 7 U.S. airstrike, and Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the man the U.S. military has identified as al-Zarqawi's replacement.

Mansour "reportedly served as a right-hand man of Zarqawi's, and also served as a liaison between al-Qaida in Iraq and the various tribes in the Youssifiyah area, as well as playing a key role in their media operations," Caldwell said.

Citing intelligence sources, Caldwell also said Mansour was responsible for the shooting down of a coalition aircraft this spring.

The U.S. military captured Mansour in July 2004 because of his ties to the militant groups Ansar al-Islam and Ansar al-Sunna, but released him because he was not deemed an important terror figure at the time, the spokesman said.

The militant joined al-Qaida in Iraq sometime in the fall of 2004, Caldwell said. He displayed photos that purportedly showed Mansour with a mustache before his death and with a battered face and one eye closed after he was killed. Another photo identified Mansour as a masked figure sitting on the floor with al-Zarqawi.

A document seized from an al-Qaida hideout and released by National Security Adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie that portrayed the Iraqi insurgency as being in "bleak" shape was directly linked to Mansour, Caldwell said.

--

19 posted on 06/20/2006 1:30:22 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach (History is soon Forgotten,)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
Ken MacKenzie

The media's next Michael Berg, Cindy Sheehan, and 911 Widows...

20 posted on 06/20/2006 1:30:58 PM PDT by D-Chivas
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