Roadside Bomb In Iraq Kills 3 Americans
Three Americans, including a State Department employee, were killed by a roadside bomb that struck a convoy in Iraq's western Anbar province, the U.S. military said Tuesday.
The blast killed a U.S. soldier, a State Department official and a civilian contractor working for the Defense Department as their convoy headed through Fallujah to a nearby construction site on Monday, the military said. Two others were wounded.
The Associated Press reports that Terry Barnich, deputy director for the Iraq Transition Assistance Office, was the State Department official killed.
Barnich, 56, was a former Illinois Commerce Commission chairman and also had worked as chief counsel to former Gov. Jim Thompson.
Barnich's sister, Rochelle Barnich, described her brother as a person with a great sense of humor who had great pride in his country and had been interesting in politics since they were children.
Like many cities in Iraq, there are a number of U.S.-funded or backed reconstruction projects, many of them aimed at improving essential services as well as promoting businesses.
American military and government officials see the projects as essential to helping maintain security gains in the region. Some of the projects are overseen by provisional reconstruction teams, a joint U.S. civil-military office, and others are overseen by the State Department's U.S. Agency for International Development.
Insurgents once held sway over Anbar, which was the scene of some of the deadliest fighting of the war. But violence fell off dramatically after Sunni fighters turned on al Qaeda in Iraq and joined U.S. forces in what has become known in Iraq as "the Awakening."
Insurgents, though, have continued to sporadically target American and Iraqi security forces in Fallujah, where four Blackwater employees were ambushed in 2004 by insurgents and their remains strung from a bridge.
The U.S. military has withdrawn from most of the cities in the vast Anbar province, including Fallujah.
The military said the identities were being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
As of Monday, May 25, 2009, at least 4,301 members of the U.S. military had died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
The figure includes eight military civilians killed in action. At least 3,443 military personnel died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.
© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The blast killed a U.S. soldier, a State Department official and a civilian contractor working for the Defense Department as their convoy headed through Fallujah to a nearby construction site on Monday, the military said. Two others were wounded.
The Associated Press reports that Terry Barnich, deputy director for the Iraq Transition Assistance Office, was the State Department official killed.
Barnich, 56, was a former Illinois Commerce Commission chairman and also had worked as chief counsel to former Gov. Jim Thompson.
Barnich's sister, Rochelle Barnich, described her brother as a person with a great sense of humor who had great pride in his country and had been interesting in politics since they were children.
Like many cities in Iraq, there are a number of U.S.-funded or backed reconstruction projects, many of them aimed at improving essential services as well as promoting businesses.
American military and government officials see the projects as essential to helping maintain security gains in the region. Some of the projects are overseen by provisional reconstruction teams, a joint U.S. civil-military office, and others are overseen by the State Department's U.S. Agency for International Development.
Insurgents once held sway over Anbar, which was the scene of some of the deadliest fighting of the war. But violence fell off dramatically after Sunni fighters turned on al Qaeda in Iraq and joined U.S. forces in what has become known in Iraq as "the Awakening."
Insurgents, though, have continued to sporadically target American and Iraqi security forces in Fallujah, where four Blackwater employees were ambushed in 2004 by insurgents and their remains strung from a bridge.
The U.S. military has withdrawn from most of the cities in the vast Anbar province, including Fallujah.
The military said the identities were being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
As of Monday, May 25, 2009, at least 4,301 members of the U.S. military had died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
The figure includes eight military civilians killed in action. At least 3,443 military personnel died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.
Popular on CBSNews.com
- Iran hangs alleged U.S., Israeli spies
- North Korea fires short-range missiles for second day
- Photos of the Week 21 Photos
- Two imprisoned over killing Malcolm X's grandson
- Afghanistan to ask India for military aid
- Assad: Syria transition talks are internal matter
- Russia strikes back after expelling alleged U.S. spy
- Plane catches fire on Moscow runway Play Video
OH, Don't do the surge, it will fail !
From the way I hear it, it is safer to be in Iraq right now than the state of Illinois, given the murder rate in Illinois. There were only 752 murders in Illinois last year compared to the 215 US dead in Iraq.
Phew. Folks - that means that Illinois is worse than a WAR zone.
But do we hear about that - NOOoooooooo. That would make Barry look like a loser.
You liberals are all freaks of nature !
A surprise, that...that a person who swam in the depths of the Republican cesspool with the likes of "Big Jim Thompson" - the guy who came up with the idea of testing for the correct ideology before hiring for civil service positions - would actually have the guts to go to Iraq to work sans circling Black Hawks and their very own, dedicated company-level protective force.
Verrrryyy unusual...most of the righties talk war, rebuilding, and "spreading democracy", but they don't actually participate. If more of 'em had the courage, they wouldn't be so eager to start wars for profit.
Obama calls for the immediate withdrawal of US combat troops from 12 September 2007 ....................
Posted by jgg00000008 at 9:04 AM : May 26, 2009
--------------------------------
That was Senator Obamas opinion in 2007. You must be very uninformed to think that a senator has the power to override the entire US government and pull the troops out of Iraq.
--> Barrack Obama
Obama lied and more soldiers have died.
Posted by indivthinker
=======================================
Obama never evr said any such thing. He gave a 16 month timeline and it is far from 16 months yet.
Posted by spaceatoms
=======================================
Don't know where you are living or what news you are listening to but the Dow has never been at 4000 since the late 70"s early 80's. If Bush had upheld his end of the agreement the Un chartered with Nk they would have disposed of their nukes and would not be launching missiles right and left and setting off underground tests.
--> Barrack Obama
Obama lied and more soldiers have died.
construction site with visions of whipping workers
into more production dancing in his head,,,,
Not an AMERICAN CONTRACTER!!!,,,,
How eeviiiile can these terrorists be???