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Posted on 03/11/2004 5:24:18 AM PST by Ragtime Cowgirl
U.S. Soldier Killed, Two Wounded, in Iraq
TIKRIT, Iraq (AP) -- An American soldier was killed and two others were injured when a homemade bomb went off in Baqouba, the U.S. military said Thursday.
The attack Wednesday injured the three soldiers, two of whom were taken to the 31st Combat Support Hospital in Balad, where one died. The second soldier was in stable condition and will be taken to a military hospital in the United States. The third soldier was treated at the scene and returned to duty.
None of the soldiers was identified, but all were part of the 652nd Engineering Battalion and based in Baqouba.
The latest death brings to 554 the number of U.S. service members who have died since the United States launched the Iraq war in March. Most have died since President Bush declared an end to active combat May 1.
(1 1/2 months of major combat ops vs. 10 1/2 months of stability ops....the only purpose for that regular closing line is to sow dissent, undermine morale and support for the war effort. Our enemies thank you, AP. )
Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAQ_AMERICAN_KILLED?SITE=DCTMS&SECTION=HOME
Two Iraqi Translators Killed in Basra
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BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Gunmen killed two Iraqi women working in a laundry for the U.S.-led coalition, a day after the slaying of two American coalition officials and their translator by attackers disguised as police, officials said Thursday.
The two women, who were sisters, were driving home in a taxi in the southern city of Basra late Wednesday when gunmen stopped the vehicle and opened fire on them, a coalition official said.
The women worked in a laundry for the U.S. company Kellogg Brown & Root, which has a contract to provide logistical services for the coalition and military, an official at the British Ministry of Defense said.
The motive for the attack was not immediately known. Guerillas have targeted Iraqis working with the U.S.-led occupation. Also, Basra, which is patrolled by the British military, has seen a number of killings blamed on Shiite militias enforcing Islamic law.
Meanwhile, L. Paul Bremer, the top administrator in Iraq, has requested that the FBI investigate the slayings of the Americans late Tuesday on a road outside the town of Hillah, 35 miles south of Baghdad, said Dan Senor, spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition.
The two Americans were the first U.S. civilians working for the occupation authority to be killed in Iraq. It was not yet known whether the gunmen were specifically targeting coalition officials. "We're starting to form views on that," Senor said Wednesday.
It was also unclear if the Americans were traveling with security, and coalition guidelines discourage staffers from movements after dark. The roads around Hillah have seen a number of attacks on vehicles, some fatal, including the Feb. 14 killing of an American civilian.
An officer with the Polish military, which patrols south-central Iraq, said the gunmen were disguised as policemen and stopped the Americans' car at a checkpoint. The attackers shot dead the passengers and took the vehicle, Col. Robert Strzelecki said.
Polish troops later intercepted the car, arrested five Iraqis in it and found the bodies inside, said Strzelecki, speaking from the Camp Babylon headquarters of the Polish-led multinational force in Iraq.
Senor said some reported details of the attack were incorrect, but would not elaborate. He did not identify the dead, pending notification of their families.
The Americans, employees of the Department of Defense, were the first U.S. civilians from the Coalition Provisional Authority to be killed in Iraq, Senor said.
An Army colonel working for the coalition was killed Oct. 26, when insurgents fired a barrage of rockets at Baghdad's Al-Rasheed hotel while Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz was visiting. Fifteen people were wounded, and Wolfowitz escaped unharmed.
Civilian contractors have also been killed in past attacks. Since the war began, 553 U.S. service members have died in Iraq, 379 of them from hostile action. Since May 1, when President Bush declared major combat operations in Iraq over, 264 U.S. troops have been killed by the insurgency thought to be led by Saddam Hussein loyalists or foreign fighters.
Also Thursday, a roadside bomb went off as a U.S. military convoy of nearly 50 vehicles passed by on a main street in the town of Fallujah, killing one Iraqi and wounding two others, said police Lt. Omar Ismail.
Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAQ?SITE=DCTMS&SECTION=HOME
TIKRIT, Iraq -- An American soldier was killed and two others were injured when a homemade bomb went off in Baqouba, the U.S. military said Thursday.
The attack Wednesday injured the three soldiers, two of whom were taken to the 31st Combat Support Hospital in Balad, where one died. The second soldier was in stable condition and will be taken to a military hospital in the United States. The third soldier was treated at the scene and returned to duty.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
652nd Engineering Battalion
All gave some,
Some gave all.
~ 
~
Prayers going out for the friends and loved ones of our brave: 652nd Engineering Battalion Soldiers, Kellogg, Brown and Root civilian support workers, and Iraqi allies.
Our troops know why they're in Iraq, and the vast majority are proud of the amazing (mostly unreported) good work they've done over the past year.
And a former Mosley-Braun press secretary, self-described "antiwar activist" was busted by the FBI advising an undercover agent on support for postwar "resistance groups"--
There's a slippery slope of treason on the left--
Bush 2004--elect the patriot, not the traitor.
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