BAGHDAD, Iraq, Jan. 15, 2008
Friendly Fire Eyed In 3 U.S. Troop Deaths
Military Investigating Whether 3 Soldiers In Iraq Were Gunned Down By U.S. Troops
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This undated photo provided by the U.S. Army shows Pfc. Phillip Pannier, 20, of Washburn, Ill. Pannier died on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2008, from injuries suffered in fighting north of Baghdad, Iraq. Military officials said the incident is being investigated to determine whether Pannier and two other soldiers - Pfc. Ivan E. Merlo and Sgt. David J. Hart - were killed by shots from the enemy or by U.S. troops. (AP Photo/U.S. Army)
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In this photo released by the Iraqi Government, Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, right, and the U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, talk during their meeting in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2008. (AP Photo/Iraqi Government)
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President George W. Bush walks down the stairs with Gen. David H. Petraeus, Commander of the Mutli-National Force, following their meeting Saturday, Jan. 12, 2008 in Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
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The three 101st Airborne Division soldiers were part of an Army company that was attacked by as many as 15 insurgents on Jan. 8 after the soldiers discovered several large caches of explosives.
Military officials said the incident is being investigated to determine whether the soldiers were killed by shots from the enemy or by U.S. troops, including members of their unit and aircraft called in for backup later in the battle.
A detailed account of the incident was described by several officials to The Associated Press. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is not complete.
The three soldiers were part of Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team. They were searching buildings southwest of Samarra early that Tuesday morning when they found more than 1,000 pounds of homemade explosives, two 55-gallon barrels rigged to blow up, a roadside bomb, and bullets and bomb-making materials.
Soon afterward they found that a second building was also filled with explosives, guns, ammunition and a disassembled suicide vest.
According to reports, the soldiers continued searching the area, and later discovered four vehicles loaded with explosives. And at that point they determined that there were at least two insurgents hiding nearby.
When they moved in on the insurgents, reports said the soldiers discovered an extensive tunnel and trench network that was being defended by 10 to 15 of the enemy, who attacked the company with mortars, grenades and guns.
The two sides fought for about three hours, escalating to a massive battle with U.S. aircraft blasting the insurgents with rockets, several 500-pound bombs and .50-caliber guns.
At some point during the fight, soldiers discovered that two members of their unit - Pfc. Ivan E. Merlo, 19, of San Marcos, Calif., and Pfc. Phillip J. Pannier, 20, of Washburn, Ill., had been killed. Three others were injured, and one of them - Sgt. David J. Hart, 22, of Lake View Terrace, Calif. - died later.
The soldiers are based at Fort Campbell, Ky.
The names of the injured soldiers have not been - and are not routinely - released. It is not clear how many enemy insurgents were killed.
In other developments:
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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- What movie "No end in sight"
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- How many US deaths in Iraq were caused by friendly fire? Is the military simply there to ''take out it''s trash''?
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- ilikecats1,,,, Is America worth the sacrifice to get another extreme right winger on the Supreme Court ???
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- ilikecats1,,,, Just what has Bush done but, kill Americans, drive us into recession, cost us our homes, destroy our National Security, make America much less safe, destablize the Globe & escellate terrorism ???
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- ilikecats1,,,, It''s pretty good to be me, I''ve never sacrificed my honor like you people have done
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- ilikecats1,,,, No, please tell me about it.
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- ilikecats1,,,,, You couldn''t take care of your own cats ----- Bush & company are the biggest Failures in American History & the most damaging to any democracy
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- ilikecats1,,,, Maybe you can explain how your so-called representive governement can allow Bush to fail on every issue from domestic to wars, & lie on a daily basis ?????
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- ilikecats1,,, Foreign Lobbies & Corporations have the representation in this country NOT the people
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- ilikecats1,,,, If we lived in an ideal world with an ideal democracy whe would have representive republic --- But that''s far from reality -- Aithiests & others don''t have representation, representation you get in courts is based on your politics & the price of your lawer & we have continued disinfranchisment of our voters & the lower to the upper middle class.
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- Way to go Bush --- As expected you failed in Isreal, you failed in the UAE & you failed in Egypt.
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- Never in the history of warfare has there ever been a country, or a military, so determined to defeat ITSELF, than the USA. It is mindboggling how we simply cannot stop killing ourselves thru all this self-analysis, self-critique, trials, court martials, and investigations. Just go and fight the friggin war and win. If you want to get to the bottom of every incident, then win the war FIRST. There will always be time afterward to sort thru all this minutia.
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- FloydZepp: Good to see you again, it seems I struck a nerve with you again. I''m sorry if I get under your skin, I truly am. I don''t usually address specific issues with you personally because I find your ad hominem responses not only immature and devoid of facts but also pathetic and rambling. Moreover, I find it ironic that you and your ilk would accuse of me of using the same old arguments--that smacks of "pot calling the kettle black". In this case however, I will address one thing specifically and that is my lack of education. I graduated *** laude with my bachelors degree and with honors from a master''s degree program. I maintained a 3.9. Now, my intent is not to toot my horn, just correct your attack on me which is both pathetic and indicative of your method of attacking the person rather than the issue--but immaturity is the root cause of that. Again I apologize for sending you into a tizzy over my comments, I didn''t intend to cause you stress or make you mad.
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- Just like the other day when those Soldiers died in the house that was rigged with explosives, the libs and Bush haters couldn''t wait to jump on this story and trupet it as an argument for ending the war. The same old rhetorical bombast punctuates their diatribes. Regretably, they can;t wait to see that Soldiers die so they can get on here and point their bony finger at ala Bill Clinton and his finger wagging and proclaim that the US is finished and that everything in the whole wide world is crashing down around Bush''s feet and his fault. The glee and schaenfreude the libsd and anti-war crowd get from the deaths of Soldiers is sickening. Those three guys were somebody''s children of course, but they were also men--not babies. They were of the rank and age to be well informed before joining the Army''s air assault infantry that they would see combat. let me give you a little insight as to who joins the infantry nowadays--MEN that want excitement and adventure and want to be part of something good. I''m sad that they got killed but they died doing what they VOLUNTEERED for. I''m more sad that their death is ammo for the libs to use in their arugment that the war surge is a failure.
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- Smells of BlackWater to me!
Posted by watcher269 at 03:14 AM : Jan 16, 2008
-Agree. Indeed it smells stinky BlackWater, to me too! - Reply to this comment
- What is really sad about this is that children are dying each day that would still be alive had the American people not been lied into a war of choice.
UN inspectors were called by this Republican administration 3 days before the administration starting bombing Iraq back to the beginning of time. Everything was based on lies never again America unless you want to go the way of other empires before you.
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Posted by antoniof123 at 08:00 AM : Jan 16, 2008
So why does your Democrat Controlled Congress keep funding the war and voting against withdraw? Including two Presidential Candidates? Tell the whole story lib. - Reply to this comment
- What is really sad about this is that children are dying each day that would still be alive had the American people not been lied into a war of choice.
UN inspectors were called by this Republican administration 3 days before the administration starting bombing Iraq back to the beginning of time. Everything was based on lies never again America unless you want to go the way of other empires before you. - Reply to this comment
- Smells of BlackWater to me!
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- I wonder if any if any Black Water goons were in the area.
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brianbwb,
Re: "We won''t survive the next ten years if it is not changed, and I don''t mean some "gradual trend"
Agreed.- Reply to this comment
Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
