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BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. forces searching a car after a shootout near a checkpoint recovered two M-16 rifles belonging to American soldiers abducted and killed north of Baghdad in June, the U.S. military said Monday. The soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division found the rifles in the trunk of a car stopped after a firefight late Sunday, said Lt. Col. George Krivo, coalition military spokesman. Shots were exchanged when the red sedan tried to run a checkpoint about 30 miles north of Baghdad, near the town of Balad, he said. One Iraqi in the car was killed, and three others...

Names of the four US Marines who died in yesterday's helicopter crash: Maj. Jay Thomas Aubin, 36, of Waterville, Maine Capt. Ryan Anthony Beaupre, 30, of Bloomington, Ill. Cpl. Brian Matthew Kennedy, 25, of Houston, Texas Staff Sgt. Kendall Damon Watersbey, 29, of Baltimore, Md. The Pentagon has just released the names of two more US Marines who were killed in Iraq. I'll post as soon as I find that.

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,...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The bodies of two U.S. soldiers missing for days were discovered early Saturday northwest of Baghdad, as the toll rises past 200 for Americans killed since war started in Iraq (news - web sites). News of their killings came amid a torrent of guerrilla-style attacks and sabotage that has marred U.S. efforts to re-establish order since Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s ouster. About a third of U.S. troops killed in the Iraqi conflict have died in attacks or accidents since major combat was declared over May 1. Sgt. 1st Class Gladimir Philippe, 37, of Linden, N.J.,...