Free Republic

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three U.S. soldiers killed four handcuffed and blindfolded Iraqi prisoners with pistol shots on the bank of a Baghdad canal last year, the New York Times reported on Wednesday. Sergeant First Class Joseph P. Mayo, the platoon sergeant, and Sergeant Michael P. Leahy Jr., Company D's senior medic and an acting squad leader, made sworn statements in January to Army investigators in Schweinfurt, Germany probing the incident, the newspaper reported on its website. The men each described killing one of the Iraqi detainees, as directed by First Sergeant John E. Hatley, according to the statements. Hatley shot...

AMZ Leaders Diminishing BAGHDAD, Iraq – Over the past several months, Coalition and Iraqi Security Forces have captured or killed more than 20 of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s trusted lieutenants and other high-ranking network members. Hundreds of other members of Zarqawi’s terror network have also been captured and killed as ISF and MNF-I forces continue to degrade his organization. Coalition forces also just missed capturing Zarqawi during a raid on Feb. 20. The raid occurred between Hit and Haditha near the Euphrates River. Zarqawi was able to escape capture as Coalition forces closed in on his vehicle. Zarqawi’s driver, Abu Usama,...