26 U.S. Troops Killed In 1 Week In Iraq

(CBS/AP)  The U.S. military tells CBSNews.com that 26 American service members have been killed in action in Iraq in the past week alone, including three soldiers who were killed by a single roadside bomb attack reported Tuesday.

Most recently reported were the three Task Force Marne soldiers killed Saturday when a roadside bomb struck their convoy south of Baghdad, according to a brief statement that provided no more details.

One Multi-National Division - Baghdad soldier was killed and another wounded Monday when their vehicle was targeted by an armor-piercing explosively formed penetrator, or EFP, in a western section of the capital, the military said separately.

Lt. Col. Rudy Burwell, a military spokesman based at Camp Victory in Baghdad, told CBSNews.com that a total of six troops were killed in action Monday.

The U.S. military has accused Iran of supplying Shiite extremists with EFPs to step up attacks against American forces. Tehran denies the allegations.

The deaths raised to at least 3,678 members of the U.S. military have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

August has begun with a wave of U.S. troop deaths in Iraq, on the heels of a relatively low death toll in July, which was cited by commanders as an indication that that the build-up of American troops in and around Baghdad was reducing violence.

The military reported Monday that four U.S. soldiers had died from wounds suffered in a combat explosion in Diyala province north of Baghdad earlier that day. Twelve others had minor injuries and returned to duty.

The military statement announcing the deaths gave no other details and said identities of the victims were being withheld until family could be notified.

Earlier Monday the military said one soldier was killed during fighting in eastern Baghdad a day earlier. Two soldiers were wounded in the fighting.

In other developments:

The number of U.S. troops in Iraq has temporarily peaked at its highest level ever as new units arrive to replace those packing up and leaving, the Defense Department said Tuesday. The size of the force is nearly 162,000, slightly surpassing the 161,000 troop level for the Iraqi elections in 2005, said the department's spokesman Bryan Whitman.

Iraq's autonomous Kurdish government approved a regional oil law on Tuesday, officials said, paving the way for foreign investment in their northern oil and gas fields while U.S.-backed federal legislation remained stalled. The measure gives the regional government the right to administer its oil wealth in the three northern governates - Irbil, Sulaimaniyah and Dahuk - as well as what it called "disputed territories," referring to Kirkuk, one of Iraq's largest crude production hubs.

Turkey and Iraq agreed to try to end the presence of a Kurdish rebel group in Iraq, Turkey's prime minister told a news conference Tuesday. "We have reached an agreement to spend all efforts to end the presence of the Kurdistan Workers Party or PKK in Iraq," Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a news conference together with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

The Associated Press reports only eight Jews remain in Baghdad – the remnant of a community 2,700 years old. An Anglican clergyman who watches over the tiny group says they're desperate to leave Iraq for Holland, but Israeli, Dutch and Jewish officials say that's not true

A report in The Washington Post says investigators don't know what happened to about a third of the guns given to Iraqi security forces — or who has them now. A study by the Government Accountability Office shows U.S. military officials have lost track of about 190,000 AK-47 assault rifles and pistols given to Iraqi forces in 2004 and 2005, according to the newspaper. The report says the highest previous estimate of unaccounted-for weapons — given to Iraqi forces as part of their training — was 14,000.

Sixty decomposing bodies were found in a mainly Sunni area that had been under the control of al Qaeda in Iraq west of Baqouba, according to a Diyala police official. The U.S. military said it had no information about any discovery. At least 53 other people were killed or found dead elsewhere in Iraq, according to police. Those included the bodies of five soldiers who had been ambushed by gunmen while on their way home for vacation north of Tikrit.

Iraqi authorities girded for a major Shiite pilgrimage later this week in Baghdad with plans to tighten security. Sunni insurgents often target such gatherings. And this particular annual march, to commemorate the eighth-century death of a key Shiite saint, was struck by tragedy in 2005, when thousands of Shiite pilgrims, panicked by rumors of a suicide bomber, broke into a stampede on a bridge, killing 1,000.

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[gunnerv1]

The mandate for freedom is written in the blood of our Military. Thats's the way it is, and always will be. When I joined the military, I wrote a "blank check" to the Commander-in-Chief to be filled in with the promise of up to and including my life.I only pray that it would have been spent wisely. Get the job done.

[gunnerv1]

The mandate for freedom is written in the blood of our Military. Thats's the way it is, and always will be. When I joined the military, I wrote a "blank check" to the Commander-in-Chief to be filled in with the promise of up to and including my life.I only pray that it would have been spent wisely. Get the job done.

[starleo146]

Bush's polls up 5%, but not so fast 8 days into the war and 26 died, and Maliki whose suppose to be on vacation, instead he is over in Iran holding hands with the guy that is supplying ammunition that is killing our troops. What is wrong with this picture I ask you? If anyone thinks this Iraq situation is under control I got a bridge I want to sell you in Minnisota.This is not over and it is going to get a lot worse.If Maliki accepts ammunition from Iran that is used against our troops we should either show Iran or get out of Iraq.

[twylacrat]

WHAT are they dying for? Freedom? The more soldiers die, the less freedom WE have. I don't hear the Iraquiis bragging about their freedom either. Who's freedom are they dying for? I guess Scooter, Gonzo and Junior.

[wfbdem]

Maybe another 30000+ killed or wounded, and the 18% that approve of their deaths will be satisified.

[momsboys4-2009]

This story just proves that President Bush is a liar. He keeps telling the american people that the voilence in the Middle East is decreasing adn things are improving. I say if they don't want our soldiers over there then bring them home. My condolances to the families of the service men and women who have died in this senseless war. I continue to pray for our soldiers safe return every day. I can't believe are goverment allows this to continue since it was started on a lie by the President. There were no weapons of mass destruction and still he continues to put are service men and women in harms way.

[gunnerv1]

The mandate for Freedom is written in the blood of our Servicemen, as it has been, as it will ever be.

[formrusmcsgt]

Bush has taken the definition of "incompetence" to an entirely new level.

US casualties continue to climb.

$2 billion American dollars a week flow from our treasury into Iraq.

Maliki's government is in a shambles.

60,000 new Iraqi refugees are created each month.

Our own 16 intelligence agencies determined that the occupation causes more terrorism rather than diminish it.

And yet, Bush calls all this "progress".......

[crater7]

STAY THE COURSE AND SURGE ON.

[radiob-2009]

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Defense Department sold more than hundreds of aircraft parts that could be used on F-14 fighter jets - a plane flown only by Iran - after announcing it had halted sales of such surplus, government investigators say.

In a report issued Wednesday, the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, said the Defense Department had improved security in its surplus program to prevent improper sales of sensitive items.

But investigators found that roughly 1,400 parts that could be used on F-14 Tomcat fighter jets were sold in February. That came after the Pentagon announced it had suspended sales of all parts that could be used on the Tomcat while it reviewed the security situation.