Grenade Attack in Baghdad Kills U.S. Soldier

Reuters ^ | Sun June 22, 2003 09:34 AM ET

[IoCaster]

Grenade Attack in Baghdad Kills U.S. Soldier

Sun June 22, 2003 09:34 AM ET

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A U.S. soldier was killed and another was wounded in a grenade attack on a military convoy south of Baghdad Sunday, the U.S. military said.

A U.S. statement said the two soldiers had been evacuated by road after the attack in Khan Azad, 20 km (12 miles) south of the capital. One was dead on arrival at hospital.

It was the latest in a spate of attacks on U.S. forces in which 19 soldiers have been killed since President Bush declared major combat in Iraq over on May 1.

The assault came less than a day after an Iraqi oil pipeline was set ablaze near the town of Hit, about 140 km (90 miles) northwest of Baghdad, by a late-night explosion blamed by an Iraqi Oil Ministry official on sabotage.

Two U.S. soldiers were wounded in the same area Saturday afternoon when their vehicle detonated a land mine.

[areafiftyone]

This is getting ridiculous. Its becoming at least 1 a day wounded or killed.

[RJCogburn]

Is this what a 'quagmire' looks like at its start?

[IoCaster]

I certainly hope they find and exterminate Saddam & his sons ASAP. That should go a long way toward stopping this sh!t. I'd also like to see more of the international troops start patrolling some of these hot spots. I'm not sure when the Poles and their allies are scheduled to arrive in Iraq, but I hope it's soon.

[jwalsh07]

No, a quagmire looks like the second week of the assault on Baghdad where young American men kicked the sh%t out of every Iraqui who crossed their path.

[Enduring Freedom]

Get on with it!

Starting kicking ass, and make them very, very afraid.

[Archangelsk]

I certainly hope they find and exterminate Saddam & his sons ASAP.

Do you honestly think that's going to stop this? I am really sorry to say this, but the administration is great at war, but lousy on follow through and on project management. The "I" word I fear is not impeachment, but incompetence (especially when it's our troops that bear the burden through their blood).

[bluebunny]

This is unacceptable. My tolerance point is beginning to be reached. There has to be something done to stop these attacks.

[bluebunny]

I agree. Finding Sadaam is not going to help much with these attacks. These people are doing this out of Anti-American hatred not just loyalty to Sadaam.

[jwalsh07]

I am really sorry to say this, but the administration is great at war, but lousy on follow through and on project management. The "I" word I fear is not impeachment, but incompetence (especially when it's our troops that bear the burden through their blood).

Fear not, you're opinion is indicative of nothing.

[jwalsh07]

This is unacceptable. My tolerance point is beginning to be reached. There has to be something done to stop these attacks.

There is, it's called the policy of pre-emption and it goes something like this:

Kill terrorists wherever we find them before they kill us.

[Archangelsk]

Well, let me ask you a question. What are you doing for the effort?

(Oh, by the way, to preempt your frothing and calling me a Communist/Socialist/Liberal or whatever else your brain has been programmed to say here's my voting record: Nixon, Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Reagan, Bush, Bush, Dole, Bush. Here's my service record: 22 years, combat arms, etc. My current occupation is something that less than .001 percent of the population does and requires extraordinary project management skills and analytical thinking. Yeah, my opinion counts like yours).

[vbmoneyspender]

How long has it been since our military took Baghdad? I make it about two months. What did you realistically expect to occur in 2 months time in a country that had been governed for 25 years by a mass murderer and that had never previously experienced representative government or any type of western-style rule of law?

[Archangelsk]

I realistically expected better project management for the aftermath (it should have been planned concurrently with the combat effort). Obviously, very obviously, that wasn't done based on the chinese firedrill that's going on over there. The cost of this CF is the blood of the troops that I served with. The lame excuses coming from the mouths of the enablers and the sycophants of the administration probably grates against the gut of every soldier, sailor, airman or Marine who has served or is currently serving.

[kabar]

At the risk of sounding callous, losing one man a day is not a quagmire. If we cannot stomach losing 365 men a year to pursue a strategic goal of the US, we are in real trouble. We must stay and achieve our goal realizing we are there for the long haul. It has only been weeks since the end of organized combat. This is not the time for handwringing.

[Archangelsk]

At the risk of sounding callous, losing one man a day is not a quagmire.

Yes, you're right, it's not. Until you're the company commander who has to write the letter to the next of kin.

[vbmoneyspender]

I read alot of media reports from chicken-little types telling me that the sky is falling. Then I read stuff from people like Mark Steyn, who was there for a number of weeks post-Saddam, and he describes an entirely different picture based on conversations with our troops. I'd like to know what you think should have been done better. Should we have been able in two months time to get an energy grid back up that had been neglected for years? Should we have been to please every single person in Iraq so that no demonstrations were held against the U.S.? Should we have been able to capture every single renegade fedayeen so that no-one shot or killed a U.S. troop post-Baghdad? I would like to get some specifics on exactly what you think should have been planned for, but wasn't.

[Archangelsk]

Then I read stuff from people like Mark Steyn, who was there for a number of weeks

So you believe the writings of some bearded, hippy-dippy, conservative columnist who never served a day in his sycophant life? I'll see that pundit and raise you the troops, my friends, who are still grinding it out over there. You always get closer to the truth based on how dirty, wet, hungry and hot your source is.

I haven't lost any friends yet (one wounded), but the day I do is the day I sit out the 2004 election.

[joesnuffy]

We said we werent making war against the Iraqi people..that we came only to defeat Saddam and to bring democracy and self rule..

We got rid of Saddam (not really the bad buys went underground) and now the bad guys are fomenting a guerrilla action..they studied the VC NVA blueprints..

As long as Saudi Arabia Syria Lybia et all can supply men materials and support for mulims guerrillas this could go on a very long time..

And cost many US lives...this was semi spelled out in the beginning
However we were promised a WAR on terror..meaning all who supply support defend hide finance equip or give any kind of logisticall support would be in our gunsights..

This has proven so far to not be the case
Coling Powell delivered $50 million to a known international terrorist Yassir Arafat a few months ago..Israel has been "told" it will have to give up a piece of it's nation to terrorists...to allow them a base camp that Israel can no longer foray into to dismantle terror operations...

Saudi Arabia builds mosques and Islamic centers accross America...the Wahhabists are buying up huge tracts of US soil...Their "Wahhabi Lobby" CAIR greases American leaders and politicans palms for favors..

Saudi Arabia the heart of terrorism gets a pass...

So many more American lives will in all likely hood be sacrificed to this chicken shiite war on terror..imo

We still have failed to seal the US borders with millions of aliens walking across our borders yearly..

The war on terror and HOmeland defense has given police more military power and they seem to take it out on the least likely citizens to be terrorists..due to their fear of lawsuits..
and their frustration ...
They are at least making the nation safe from family pets

[kabar]

Having served in Vietnam, I understand the emotional and visceral feelings of being shot at and seeing the broken bodies of your comrades, but wars are not won by being deterred from accomplishing your mission by such events. The commander of our troops in Iraq said that these deaths would have a minimal impact on operations. He has it right.

The media are making the daily loss of Americans in Iraq a cause celebre to feed the impression that we are in a quagmire ala Vietnam or even Somalia. We are also still losing troops in Afghanistan. Are things getting better in Afghanistan and Iraq? I think they are despite these isolated attacks.