BAGHDAD, Iraq, April 4, 2007
Friendly Fire Probed In U.S. Troop Deaths
Families Of 2 Soldiers Were Initially Told They Were Killed By Enemy Fire In Iraq
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Iraqi Army soldiers walk past a man painting the Iraqi national flag on the wall of a bridge, as they patrol an area in central Baghdad on April 4, 2007. (AFP Photo)
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The Army said it is investigating the deaths of Pvt. Matthew Zeimer, 18, of Glendive, Mont., and Spc. Alan E. McPeek, 20, of Tucson, Ariz., who were killed in Ramadi, in western Iraq, on Feb. 2. The families of the two soldiers were initially told they were killed by enemy fire.
According to Army Col. Daniel Baggio, unit commanders in Iraq did not at first suspect they were killed by U.S. forces, but an investigation by the unit concluded that may be the case.
A supplemental report filed Feb. 28 suggested that the initial reports might have been wrong but that an investigation was still under way, he said. According to the Army, the unit did not include friendly fire in that report "because they were reluctant to make the claim until the unit-level investigation was complete."
It took another month before the families of the two soldiers were told, on March 31, that friendly fire was suspected.
Rose Doyle, McPeek's mother, declined to discuss the latest development. "I don't feel comfortable talking," she said. "Whatever I say isn't going to bring my son back."
Meanwhile, six power plant workers were gunned down in northern Iraq on Wednesday, while heavily armed gunmen abducted 22 Shiite shepherds who were tending thousands of sheep and had wandered into a dangerous Sunni area west of Baghdad.
The attacks reflected the spread of sectarian violence outside Baghdad as violence declines in the capital, where a U.S.-Iraqi security crackdown is in its eighth week.
The shepherds had traveled from the Shiite holy city of Karbala to a greener stretch of land in the vast area around Amariyah, some 25 miles west of Baghdad in the Sunni-dominated Anbar province, Karbala police spokesman Rahman Mishawi said.
A shepherd who escaped the attack said about 20 men with automatic rifles drove up in vehicles and opened fire on the group as their several thousand sheep were grazing.
"I suddenly realized that we must be near Amariyah and that Sunnis were attacking us," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. "Six of us were able to flee in our pickup, but unfortunately they kidnapped 22 friends of mine and stole our sheep."
In other developments:
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- RandalDS, your a tired liberal whos life has ammounted to nothing and you blame everyone else for your own demise. All of your postings reflect your hatred for those who have succeeded in life and achievements you will never see.
Suggestion: Throw your medals over the WH fence and run for congress along with your friend bluestardad.
Posted by hillaryin08 at 06:16 AM : Apr 05, 2007
Aw Lawdy! Ya found me out! Oh my life is SUCH a failure! Oh plese won't you an' singingrick please save po' ole me! Oh lawdy I can't stand my life! So many people has mo' money den I! Oh please save ole me! Please! - Reply to this comment
- But the arms industry has won with it every time.
Richard Perle enjoys his Swiss account from Ratheon, Grummans, Boeing...err I mean Jupiter.
Posted by zootallures2 at 08:17 AM : Apr 05, 2007
Just as the merchants were the big winners in the California gold rush, not the prospectors, arms merchants (and now, service providers like Haliburton) always win regardless of the military outcome.... - Reply to this comment
- No matter who got shot or who shot who, someone needs to buy more bullets.
Take the amazing Messerschmitt-Bolkow-Blohm company. After supplying Nazi Germany, they supplied of all things... Israel. - Reply to this comment
- But the neocons think that somehow, for them, this proven loser of a strategy will be a winner.
Posted by formrusmcsgt at 08:06 AM : Apr 05, 2007
But the arms industry has won with it every time.
Richard Perle enjoys his Swiss account from Ratheon, Grummans, Boeing...err I mean Jupiter. - Reply to this comment
- Apparently the neocons, as a result of their inherent arrogance, believe that they can defy history.
Colombia and the Philipines have failed with this strategy for 40 years, as I said.
Guatemala failed with it for 36 years.
We failed with it in Viet Nam for 12 years.
The USSR failed with it for 12 years in Afghanistan.
The Germans, with their multitude of forces, never stopped the French resistance, either.
But the neocons think that somehow, for them, this proven loser of a strategy will be a winner. - Reply to this comment
- What we need to do is tell Jupiter to tell Mars to knock this sh*t off and it's over.
- Reply to this comment
- Let me Clue you. With the Pat Tillman Friendly Fire incident, one third to one fourth of the Rangers deployed are not Black Tab School Trained Rangers, they are infantry men that are ran thru an abbreviated three week Pre-Ranger Course and assigned to a Ranger Unit. Therefore they are short changed in training, cannot wear the Black and Gold of a Ranger but are expected to and do go into combat and perform as a Ranger do in a Ranger Unit. This abbreviated training practice fills the ranks of the Ranger Units for deployment and looks good on paper but is short changing, the soldiers on their training, the Unit readiness they are assigned to, and is a detriment to the operations they are assigned, and degrades the overall readiness of the Ranger Unit as a whole. If you look at these Ranger Units and even the Pat Tillman incident you will find out just how many soldiers were serving in the Ranger units that are not Fully School Trained Rangers, this Training short cut could have contributed to Pat Tillman%u2019s death and other Friendly fire accidents. I recommend that all of the Pre-Ranger soldiers over the last 5 years be immediately sent as a priority back thru the entire Full Black and Gold Full Ranger Course to become fully Ranger Qualified. It is the only honorable thing to do for them and is the best course of Action for the Military!
- Reply to this comment
- The neocons, in their steadfast insistance that we "stay until we win", don't realize that there will be generation after generation asked to do the impossible if we follow their insanity.
Posted by formrusmcsgt at 07:52 AM : Apr 05, 2007
Richard Perle is Mars. You can't argue with the God of war when he has issued his command. - Reply to this comment
- The attacks reflected the spread of sectarian violence outside Baghdad as violence declines in the capital, where a U.S.-Iraqi security crackdown is in its eighth week.
As predicted, more of the "squeeze the balloon effect" that occurs when regular forces engage guerillas. You squeeze here, and it expands there.
After four full years of the demonstrated failure of this strategy, I am amazed that there are those who refuse to recognize that this will be the result as long as we are there.
The neocons, in their steadfast insistance that we "stay until we win", don't realize that there will be generation after generation asked to do the impossible if we follow their insanity.
Colombia and the Phillipines have been failing with this same strategy for forty years now, and guess what? They are no closer to defeating their guerillas than they were when they started 40 years ago. - Reply to this comment
- AIPAC... American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
Notice that it's not IAPAC. So we can see who comes first. - Reply to this comment
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