BAGHDAD, March 2, 2007

Iraqi Security Forces Kidnapped, Killed

14 Bodies Found, Sunni Group Says Retaliation For Alleged Rape Of Sunni Woman

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    • Iraqi and American soldiers rush to carry a teenager with multiple gunshot wounds they encountered on a joint patrol in Jenabi Village, southeast of Baghdad, Iraq Thursday, March 1, 2007.

      Iraqi and American soldiers rush to carry a teenager with multiple gunshot wounds they encountered on a joint patrol in Jenabi Village, southeast of Baghdad, Iraq Thursday, March 1, 2007.  (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

    • A U.S. army 2nd Infantry Division soldier gives instructions to an Iraqi army soldier while on patrol in central Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, March 1, 2007.

      A U.S. army 2nd Infantry Division soldier gives instructions to an Iraqi army soldier while on patrol in central Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, March 1, 2007.  (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

    • A U.S. army 2nd Brigade 82nd Airborne Division soldier stands guard as his unit patrols central Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, March 1, 2007.

      A U.S. army 2nd Brigade 82nd Airborne Division soldier stands guard as his unit patrols central Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, March 1, 2007.  (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

    • People pick up scattered books in a Shiite mosque in Baghdad's northeastern Shaab neighborhood, Iraq, Thursday, March 1, 2007, as a stun grenade used in a raid lies on the ground. Joint U.S and Iraqi forces stormed a mosque in Shaab, searching for suspects in an overnight raid.

      People pick up scattered books in a Shiite mosque in Baghdad's northeastern Shaab neighborhood, Iraq, Thursday, March 1, 2007, as a stun grenade used in a raid lies on the ground. Joint U.S and Iraqi forces stormed a mosque in Shaab, searching for suspects in an overnight raid.  (AP Photo/Adil al-Khazali)

    • A man injured in a car bomb attack is wheeled out of Baghdad's Yarmouk hospital, Iraq, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2007. A car bomb killed at least ten people in a crowded commercial area of western Baghdad's mixed Sunni-Shiite Baiyaa neighborhood Wednesday, police said.

      A man injured in a car bomb attack is wheeled out of Baghdad's Yarmouk hospital, Iraq, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2007. A car bomb killed at least ten people in a crowded commercial area of western Baghdad's mixed Sunni-Shiite Baiyaa neighborhood Wednesday, police said.  (AP Photo/Asaad Mouhsin)

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(CBS/AP)  The bodies of 14 Iraqi security officers were found dead Friday after a militant group claimed to have kidnapped them, Iraq's Interior Ministry said.

Brig. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, an Interior Ministry spokesman, said 14 bodies were found Friday afternoon in Diyala province northeast of Baghdad.

An al Qaeda-linked Sunni group claimed earlier Friday that it had kidnapped 18 Iraqi government workers and soldiers in retaliation for the alleged rape of a Sunni woman by members of the Shiite-dominated police force.

The claim by the Islamic State of Iraq was posted Friday on a Web site, accompanied by nine pictures showing up to 18 men. Seven were wearing Iraqi military uniforms, and all had their hands tied behind their backs.

It was unclear if the 14 bodies found were those of all the men kidnapped, or if there were more still in captivity or undiscovered. However, the joint U.S.-Iraq operations center in Diyala said Friday that 14 Iraqi policemen had gone missing.

"We work closely with the Iraqi police and Iraqi army to enforce security and prevent these events," said Lt. Col. Michael Donnelly, spokesman for U.S. forces in northern Iraq. U.S. officials were investigating, he said.

"This blessed operation is a response to crimes carried out by those infidels in their fight against the Sunnis," the statement posted by the insurgent group said. "The latest of the crimes committed by these traitors was to rape our sister in religion."

The statement, the authenticity of which couldn't be independently verified, said the kidnap victims were all employees of the Ministry of Interior, which is Shiite-led.

The group did not specify when the kidnapping took place, but an Interior Ministry spokesman said ten policemen were abducted Thursday morning while heading home for leave.

Brig. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf said the men were traveling home to the Shiite town of Khalis, 50 miles northeast of Baghdad. The men were wearing civilian clothes at the time, since there were on leave from duty, he said. An investigation was under way, he added.

Some of the men pictured in the photos posted online appeared to be wearing civilian clothes.

The Web statement referred to the rape victim by her name, which identified her as Sunni.

However, officials of the Iraqi Islamic Party, the country's largest Sunni group, said the woman used a false name when making the allegation and that she is in fact a Shiite. The party's human rights office had been looking into the case. The Associated Press has chosen not to publish her name.

Names of the officers involved in the case were not released, and it was unknown whether they were Sunni or Shiite.

The woman told Arab television stations that she was detained in a Sunni area of west Baghdad on Feb. 18, taken to a police garrison and assaulted by three officers.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, announced an investigation Feb. 19 but cleared the officers the following day, raising outrage among Sunni politicians.

  • In Baghdad, a pair of car bombs killed at least 11 people in separate attacks across the city. The bigger occurred at a used car lot near the Shiite militia stronghold of Sadr City, killing 10 people, wounding 17 and setting several cars ablaze, police said. The entire front of the bomb-rigged car was blown apart. Blood from the victims smeared the hoods of some surrounding cars. The other blast was near a police patrol in southwest Baghdad, killing a policeman and wounding two civilians, police reported.

  • A statement issued by the U.S. military in Baghdad Friday says a Marine was killed in combat Wednesday in western Iraq's dangerous Anbar province. That makes 80 American deaths in Iraq in February. An unofficial count shows 3,164 U.S. service members have died in Iraq since the war began, more than 2,500 of them as the result of hostile action. The Marine's name was withheld pending family notification.

  • Vice President Dick Cheney says a quick withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq could allow victorious Muslim extremists to fan out into other countries, with some militants going to Afghanistan to fight alongside a resurgent Taliban. The vice president, just back from a trip that included unannounced stops in Afghanistan and Pakistan, addressed a conservative conference Thursday night where he sharply criticized efforts by some Democrats to restrict funds for President Bush's troop buildup in Iraq or to place restrictions on their deployment.

  • The Syrians could do more to prevent terrorists from crossing their border into Iraq, an issue that will be on the agenda of an upcoming security conference in Baghdad, Iraq's U.N. ambassador said Thursday. Hamid Al Bayati, speaking at New York University's Center of Global Affairs, said the Syrian government could play an important role in improving the security of Iraq by taking control of monitoring its border.

    © MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
    Add a Comment See all 31 Comments
    by tbweb March 4, 2007 2:37 AM EST
    NBC Nightly News showed a video of insurgents planting a road side bomb the other day killing Americans and injuring themselves. The Americans took the wounded insurgents to the American field hospital and saved their lives! The insurgents would not have saved American lives! This was American values on display at its best! Even in the heat of battle, even knowing that these insurgents just killed Americans and were too injured to escape their own bomb, Americans saved their lives! Americans fight with honor and respect their enemy! Everyone knows what the gutter religion is!
    Reply to this comment
    by tbweb March 3, 2007 10:36 PM EST
    These people were kidnapped, killed and a 3 minute video of them was posted on the web! The idea of murdering people, bragging about it and then showing off the murder on the Internet clearly shows the kind of barbaric mindset the world is dealing with! The most amazing thing is that the world is saying nothing! Two wrongs don't make a right, even if the U.S. invasion of Iraq was an error, its not a free pass to commit atrocities! Its not a free pass to murder kids playing sports! There is never a free pass to act insane no matter what, there is never a free pass to lose one's mind!! Even retaliation and revenge can be conducted in an honorable way, blowing up innocent kids is not honorable!
    Reply to this comment
    by lars008-2009 March 3, 2007 11:47 AM EST
    Lt. Cmdr. Charles E. Madison: You American haters bore me to tears, Ms. Barham. I've dealt with Europeans all my life. I know all about us parvenus from the States who come over here and race around your old Cathedral towns with our cameras and Coca-cola bottles... Brawl in your pubs, paw at your women, and act like we own the world. We over-tip, we talk too loud, we think we can buy anything with a Hershey bar. I've had Germans and Italians tell me how politically ingenuous we are, and perhaps so. But we haven't managed a Hitler or a Mussolini yet. I've had Frenchmen call me a savage because I only took half an hour for lunch. Hell, Ms. Barham, the only reason the French take two hours for lunch is because the service in their restaurants is lousy. The most tedious lot are you British. We crass Americans didn't introduce war into your little island. This war, Ms. Barham to which we Americans are so insensitive, is the result of 2,000 years of European greed, barbarism, superstition, and stupidity. Don't blame it on our Coca-cola bottles. Europe was a growing brothel long before we came to town.
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057840/quotes
    Reply to this comment
    by tbweb March 3, 2007 5:48 AM EST
    There is a famous TV commercial in the U.S. aimed at people who neglect dealing with servicing their cars. The message states "you can pay me now, or you can pay me later!", but the message is clear, you will pay! These terrorist are not going away! The world can deal with them now, or deal with the later, but sooner or later the world will have to deal with them and its better to deal with them before they scatter all over the world!!
    Reply to this comment
    by tbweb March 3, 2007 5:29 AM EST
    I may not agree with everything the Bush Admistration does but if his Dad would have finished the job in 1991 instead of whimping out, none of this would be going on now.

    Posted by RealSense at 02:23 AM : Mar 03, 2007

    Re: Bushes dad didn't finish the job in '91 because he foresaw what's happening now! He wanted to avoid what we're witnessing now and he was correct! Elements in Iraq tried to take out Saddam and failed, they should have been given better support to do the job instead of invading Iraq.
    Reply to this comment
    by realsense March 3, 2007 5:23 AM EST
    First
    It doesn't matter if we pull out or stay there, a country where part of the people act like a bunch of hillbillys are going to still fight over anything they can think up. I don't have anything against Islamic people, Iraqi people or anyone in general but, they have been fighting for years and will always fight over something. There are good people over there and there are people who want to b*tch over who has one grain of sand more than the another. This fighting amongst themselves has been going on for decades and will go on for decades more. Instead of them (Sunnis and Shiites) getting along with one another and working together for the greater good of the country they would rather destroy it all like a bunch of children.

    No matter what we do there, good or bad, the blame will always be put on us.

    Secondly
    I read these comments almost daily and all I hear is a bunch of whiners complaining about the US Administration and how bad it is doing in Iraq. I may not agree with everything the Bush Admistration does but if his Dad would have finished the job in 1991 instead of whimping out, none of this would be going on now.
    Reply to this comment
    by tbweb March 3, 2007 5:20 AM EST
    No matter which side of the terror debate World Leaders are on, World Leaders better think long and hard before this barbaric terror element in Iraqi is allow to export that terror worldwide! It should not take the killing of innocent kids on soccer fields around the world like was done in Iraq for everyone to see what's developing here! The question is do World Leaders want these barbaric terrorist killing innocent kids in their country? Leave this insanity in Iraq and deal with it there!
    Reply to this comment
    by bluestardad March 2, 2007 11:54 PM EST
    Saudi Arabia is supporting the Sunni insurgents and al Qaeda in Iraq and no one is reporting it or even acting like they care in Washington! The Bush administration is funding al Qaeda in Lebanon! Everyone knows that the Saudi Royal Family is a family friend of Bushs and that puts him at odds with American national interest!

    Write your Representatives and Senators! SHOW THEM YOUR DISDAIN OF THEIR COWARDOUS ACTIONS WHILE OUR TROOPS ARE DYING!

    http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/


    He
    re is the House Speakers email address: AmericanVoices@mail.house.gov
    Reply to this comment
    by j-whitman March 2, 2007 9:35 PM EST
    I'm listening to John Bolton on CSPAN,,, "Liberals are trying to discredit our policies" ------ As if Bush needs any help. LOL
    Reply to this comment
    by zootallures2 March 2, 2007 8:21 PM EST
    Do people know how to do this war thing anymore? You are supposed to kill the enemy, not yourselves. Oh, I get it, we thermited our own WTC to free the Iraqis so they can kill each other too. And.... a... "FASCIST NAZI ISLAM" ...LOL. Yea,verses Facist Nazi Capitalism and Facist Nazi Zionism... Looks like Facism is the latest world fasion. And let's not forget Socialism and Communism. The government for the people but it always has a dictator. Humans are morons.
    Reply to this comment
    by rharrin1 March 2, 2007 7:47 PM EST
    Boy I am glad to see the terrorists running for cover. The surge is working great.
    Reply to this comment
    by j-whitman March 2, 2007 6:41 PM EST
    Alabama & Georgia,,, Beware, run for cover, call out the dogs,,,, Bush is visiting tomorrow -- Fundraising time
    Reply to this comment
    by lars008-2009 March 2, 2007 6:35 PM EST
    FASCIST NAZI ISLAM STRIKES AGAIN%u2026%u2026
    Police protect girls forced to convert to Islam
    Extremist Muslims who force vulnerable teenage girls to convert to Islam are being targeted by police, Met chief Sir Ian Blair has revealed.
    Police are working with universities to clamp down on "aggressive conversions" during which girls are beaten up and forced to abandon university courses.
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=437871&in_page_id=1770
    Reply to this comment
    by j-whitman March 2, 2007 6:34 PM EST
    Lars,,, Come on now, we all know Bush has spun terrorism statistics as he's done everything else.. Nobody can believe Bush even on Terrorism, the spin machine is out of control, Iraq is lost & they know it,,, Afaganistan just might be lost as well.
    Reply to this comment
    by antoniof123 March 2, 2007 5:52 PM EST
    Does this group understand civil war or are they as stupid as we think. Well this is just another fine mess the Republicans have gotten us into.
    Reply to this comment
    by lars008-2009 March 2, 2007 5:48 PM EST
    these stupid silly little fascist nazi Islamic muslims are no different than the stupid silly little fascist nazi germans.........
    "When they came to arrest the Jews, I did not say any thing. I am not a Jew.
    When they came to arrest the communists, I did not say anything. I am not a communist.
    When they came to arrest the socialists, I did not say anything. I am not a socialist.
    When they cam to arrest the homosexuals, gypsies, mentally retarded, etc. I did not say anything, I am none of the above.
    When they came to arrest me, there was no one to speak for me."

    fascist nazi islam muslims celebrate year of the pig chinese new year
    Thai Bombs Linked to Chinese New Year, Military Says
    http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/19/world/asia/19cnd-thai.html?ex=1329541200&en=ba4ce1c67a193404&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
    India, Pakistan seek peace after bombing
    Indian officials say militants are responsible for a train bombing that left at least 66 people dead.
    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070219/ap_on_re_as/india_train_fire
    Reply to this comment
    by lars008-2009 March 2, 2007 5:24 PM EST
    DEFEND AMERICA
    US Department of Defense (DoD) news about the Global War on Terrorism
    http://defendamerica.mil/
    Reply to this comment
    by grazinggoat March 2, 2007 5:04 PM EST
    Here's some important piece o'news

    http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/02/world/main2530066.shtml

    Have a great week-end.
    Reply to this comment
    by j-whitman March 2, 2007 4:33 PM EST
    See you folks later, things to do today.
    Reply to this comment
    by j-whitman March 2, 2007 4:22 PM EST
    No one can blame the media for losing the Iraq War,, That goes to the policies of this administration & what they've done to our intellegence gathering & our troops.
    Reply to this comment
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