Posted on 06/28/2003 5:51:25 AM PDT by RJCogburn
Two U.S. soldiers missing for days from a checkpost north of the capital have been found dead, a senior U.S. army officer said.
The soldiers and their Humvee went missing Wednesday from the town of Balad, 25 miles north of Baghdad. The officer, who declined to give his name, said their bodies have been found. He gave no further details.
A massive search including Apache attack helicopters had been scouring the area around Balad, and U.S. interrogators have been questioning at least six men arrested in the disappearance.
The soldiers had been identified as Sgt. 1st Class Gladimir Philippe, 37, of Linden, N.J., and Pfc. Kevin Ott, 27, of Columbus, Ohio.
At least 61 U.S. troops have died in Iraq since major combat was declared over May 1, including at least 23 in attacks.
News of the deaths came amid a persistent drumbeat of guerrilla-style attacks and sabotage that have marred U.S. efforts to reestablish order in Iraq. On Friday, a U.S. soldier was killed in an ambush, while another was shot in the neck. An 11-year-old Iraqi boy was gunned down by American troops who mistook him for a gunman.
The latest violence occurred just after 11 p.m. Friday, when attackers lobbed a grenade at a U.S. convoy making its way through the predominantly Shiite Thawra neighborhood of northeast Baghdad. One American soldier was killed and four were wounded, said military spokesman Sgt. Patrick Compton.
A civilian Iraqi interpreter was also wounded, he said.
At least five U.S. soldiers have been killed in combat in the past four days, with a sixth dying in a non-combat accident.
Saboteurs also have been attacking Baghdad's power grid and oil pipelines, foiling coalition efforts to restore basic services like water and electricity as temperatures climb as high as 117 degrees. On Saturday, a cloud of black smoke billowed from one of Baghdad's largest textbook printing plants, and coalition forces arrested two men in the incident.
"We think it was an act of arson," said Lt. Col. James Otwell, a civil affairs liaison working with the Iraqi fire department.
The torrent of attacks and ever-harsher U.S. crackdowns is sparking frustration on both sides.
Until recently, almost all violence against occupying forces occurred in Sunni areas north and west of Baghdad, where Saddam mined support. But attacks this week have spread into the Shiite majority south.
On Saturday, British soldiers moved back into Majar al-Kabir, a predominantly Shiite southern town that was the scene of a bloody confrontation earlier this week that left six soldiers dead. The soldiers were met by a group of Shiite clerics and prominent town officials in a peaceful ceremony aimed at putting the acrimony in the past.
"We are not here for retribution. We are here to re-establish communications and get the (rebuilding) process back on the road," said Capt. Guy Winter, a 30-year-old from Dover, England who made initial contact with the Iraqi delegation.
The daily bloodshed has overshadowed progress made since the end of the war May 1. Iraq's vital oil industry has resumed, if only at a fraction of its prewar output, and will be pumping much-needed dollars into state coffers. Police and court systems are also coming back on line, providing hope for improved law and order despite an overwhelming crime wave.
Even something as simple as an evening concert is seen as a victory in Baghdad, an occupied city with tanks on its streets whose darkened nights have become roaming grounds for bandits, and whose frustrated residents have largely been living by candle light.
Iraq's National Symphony Orchestra held its first concert since Saddam's ouster Friday, performing a patriotic song that predates the former dictator, and was rarely played during his brutal, 35-year reign. Saddam didn't like the song, "My Nation," which contains no mention of the strongman or his Baath party loyalists.
Many of the Iraqis present had tears in their eyes. U.S. soldiers, some sitting with their guns, clapped after the performance, and L. Paul Bremer, the top U.S. official in Iraq, stood in respect.
"My nation ... My nation ... Am I going to see you safe, blessed, victorious and esteemed?" the Iraqi audience sang as the orchestra played.
Still, the killing and wounding of Iraqi civilians has heightened distress over the U.S. occupation -- resentment felt by Iraqis who welcomed the fall of Saddam as well as by Saddam loyalists blamed for violence against U.S. forces.
Some Iraqi civilians have died in anti-American attacks, such as two national electricity workers killed Thursday when ambushers threw grenades at a U.S.-led convoy.
In Friday's civilian death, however, U.S. soldiers in western Baghdad thought they were shooting at a possible attacker carrying an AK-47 assault rifle. Instead, they killed a boy on the roof of his home.
"The soldiers determined the situation was hostile and engaged the individual," said U.S. military spokesman Maj. Sean Gibson. "It was not until after the search was under way that they discovered that it was an 11-year-old boy."
The U.S. civil affairs officer shot in the neck was critically wounded and underwent surgery Friday. A man with a pistol shot the soldier at close range and fled through the market crowds, said Ammar Saad, a 44-year-old vendor.
Also Friday, suspected insurgents fired rocket-propelled grenades at U.S. troops in Fallujah, 30 miles west of Baghdad, but didn't cause any injuries or damage. Later, soldiers at a checkpoint arrested four Iraqi men when rocket-propelled grenades, small arms and grenades were found in their vehicle, the military said.
Another U.S. patrol came under small arms fire late Friday near Habaniyah, just west of Fallujah, and U.S. troops returned fire, but no injuries or damage were reported.
American military officials say the daily grind of ambushes is beginning to affect their efforts at reconstruction.
"These are guys who want us to fail. They'd rather see their country burn than have it succeed," said Maj. Scott Slaten, of the Army's 1st Armored Division. He said the attacks won't stop coalition troops, "but it does slow us down a little because we have to focus more effort on security."
You betcha' redrider!!
$25million hasn't done it for OBL.
You were saying about IDF?
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