BAGHDAD, March 10, 2008
5 GIs Killed In Baghdad Attack
U.S. Soldiers On Foot Patrol Hit By Bomb; Blast Wounds Three Other Soldiers
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(CBS/AP)
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Cpt. Jim Hathaway from Columbus, GA, of 3rd Brigade Combat team, 3rd Infantry Division plays soccer with Iraqi children during a joint U.S.-Republic of Georgia army patrol in the Al-leg area of Iraq, about 40 miles south of Baghdad, on March 9, 2008. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
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Four of the soldiers died at the scene and the fifth died later from wounds, the military said in a statement. The blast also wounded three U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter, the military said.
The statement said the soldiers were killed "when their dismounted patrol was struck by an explosion" and "initial reports indicated the explosive device was a suicide vest."
The name of the soldiers were being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
It was the deadliest attack since Jan. 28, when five U.S. soldiers were killed in a roadside bomb in the northern city of Mosul.
Monday's deaths brought the number to 3,979 members of the U.S. military who have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
In other developments:
Also Monday, a female suicide bomber killed the head of a local group of Sunni fighters northeast of Baghdad who had turned against al Qaeda insurgents, the leader's brother and a provincial police official said.
Sheik Thaeir Ghadhban al-Karkhi, his 5-year-old niece, a 24-year cousin and a security guard were killed in the blast in Diyala province, where violence has persisted despite drops in other parts of Iraq.
Duraid Mahmoud, the sheik's brother, told The Associated Press he witnessed the attack inside his brother's home. A provincial police official, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to release the information, confirmed the attack.
The woman, wearing an explosives belt, entered al-Karkhi's home in the predominantly Sunni town of Kanaan, 13 miles east of Baqouba.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility. But al Qaeda in Iraq has been targeting fellow Sunni Arabs who have taken up arms against the militants and joined the so-called awakening councils like the one al-Karkhi led.
The councils are made up of U.S.-backed former insurgents who have risen up against al Qaeda's brutality and strict Islamic codes of conduct it was trying to impose on local populations.
The U.S. military said it was looking into the incident but did not immediately have any details.
Mahmoud said the bomber had visited the sheik's house on Sunday, claiming that her husband had been kidnapped and asking for help. Mahmoud said his brother told the woman to return Monday.
"She came back this morning and nobody checked her. She had an appointment with the sheik and the guards told her to go and knock on his door," Mahmoud said.
The woman was ushered into the house and blew herself up once she got close to the sheik, he said, adding that the sheik's 5-year-old niece and a security guard also were killed.
One of the men wounded in the attack - the son of a cousin of the sheik - later died at the hospital, according to a hospital official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
A few hours after the attack, the sheik's coffin was placed in the bed of a pick-up truck and taken for burial, as supporters riding in back waved an Iraqi flag and the banner of the local awakening council.
Dozens of armed men milled about outside al-Karkhi's home, some weeping. A large pool of blood outside the door shimmered in the afternoon sun.
Female suicide bombers have been involved in at least 19 attacks or attempted attacks since the war began, including the grisly bombings of two pet markets in Baghdad that killed nearly 100 people on Feb. 1.
A female suicide bomber last struck in a Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad on Feb. 17, detonating herself after soldiers fired three bullets at her. Causalities were disputed in that attack, with Iraqi officials saying four people were killed, while the U.S. military said only the bomber died.
In southern Iraq, the body of a doctor who was kidnapped on Sunday was found.
Dr. Khalid Nasir al-Miyahi, a neurologist working at a hospital in Basra, was kidnapped by unidentified gunmen, police said. His body was found in a central area of the city.
The police official said the doctor was the only neurologist in Basra.
According to figures from the Iraqi Health Ministry released earlier this year, 618 medical employees, including 132 doctors, as well as medics and other health care workers, have been killed nationwide since 2003. Professionals from many fields have been targeted in Iraq's violence.
Hundreds, possibly thousands, of other medical personnel are believed to have fled to Iraq's northern autonomous Kurdistan region and neighboring countries.
© 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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See all 213 CommentsConservatives say the surge is working. Evidently, the situation in Iraq going from total chaos to mere chaos is their latest definition of success in Iraq.
2004 - We''re making progress but there''s more work ahead.
2005 - We''re making progress but there''s more work ahead.
2006 - We''re making progress but there''s more work ahead.
2007 - We''re making progress but there''s more work ahead.
2008 - We''re making progress but there''s more work ahead.
etc,
etc,
etc,
teeny little bit and they''ll drill you.
FIVE SOLDIERS WALKING TOGETHER IN BAGDAD?!!
That''s not only relaxing, that''s asking for it!
Obviously the surge is not working, but I wonder what their definition is of "victory in Iraq?"
Halliburton refineries in charge of all the oil?
Sunni and Shia no longer killing each other?
Muslim extremists suddenly become compassionate and rational?
What is this victory the neocons envision?
My heart goes out to the families and loved ones.
Please, Barack, when you become President of these United States end this madness. I beg you.
May you rot in hell bush, cheney and all who support these unnecessary deaths. Their blood is on your hands.
These are the same people that were not in Iraq before Bush invaded that country.
He''s screwed things up so badly that even if the entire country of Iraq is on our side foreign operatives have become an organic part of the landscape with a bloodline spreading out all around Iraq.
Al Qaeda should have been corraled in Afghanistan and Pakistan when we had the chance to do it back in 2001-2, instead of sacrificing thousands of American soldiers to a political cause that had nothing to do with the capture of a band of criminals.
"I"ve had my time in the Oval Office. It"s been a fabulous experience, by the way... [and now] I"m going to be in Crawford -- (laughter) -- with my feet up."
- George W. Bush, March 5, 2008
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/03/20080305-4.html
He can"t even speak properly, after 50 years of drug and alcohol abuse.
He should have done what Barack Obama did; quit that stuff at 16.
Barack Obama speaks and thinks clearly and articulately.
My heart goes out to the loved ones who have lost a husband, wife, brother, sister, son or daughter. America will allways remember your loved ones ultimiate safriace.
A veteran of the Viet Nam War.
- Posted by RowdyTexan2 at 01:24 PM : Mar 10, 2008
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The history books will do that.
We don"t want to encourage any actual acts of violence against our elected officials.
That would do much more harm than good.
We''re now supposed to wait for October elections and also elections next YEAR before there can be any political progress? That is a long ways away. Every day American soldiers are putting their lives at risk while waiting for "progress". The only political progress Iraq has made since the surge is to establish closer ties to Iran. Isn''t that wonderful?
Where are those Iraqi troops who are supposed to take over the security? The British have withdrawn from Basra and the Iraqis are doing a poor job in keeping that area secure. Is it a shortage of numbers? Is it a shortage of training? We have been trying to train these Iraq security forces for 4 years now. Where is the progress?
Why aren''t people asking these questions? How many more years will it take? How many more billions? How many more lives? What''s the plan?
I''m not encouraging violence...they need to be rounded up, corralled, and called upon to live with what they''ve done for the rest of their natural born days!
Their greed is an atrocity, and their sacrifice of this country is an atrocity. They need to be stripped of every dollar they own as a payback and made to walk the streets of this country naked with a sign around their necks that says "I am a selfish killer of innocent people for greed."
- Posted by Iceman_1960 at 01:20 PM : Mar 10, 2008
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A great example of this was his announcement of his candidacy -- it"s a view of this future President that knocks the idiotic stereotypes of terrorislamx for a country mile.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=H5h95s0OuEg
In the "conservative" reality, Iraq going from total chaos to mere chaos is the new definition of success.
lol!
teeny little bit and they''''ll drill you.
FIVE SOLDIERS WALKING TOGETHER IN BAGDAD?!!
That''''s not only relaxing, that''''s asking for it!
mission accomplished, *** that surge is working well;
just wait bush will say so,
if ypou want four more years of this garbage vote McBuse
otherwise vote democrat, and remember we need majority in the senate or the republiCONs will veto everything
Here is an example of how your Mr. Obama conducts himself...stop promoting him as some kind of righteous God! He is far from it! His political tactics rival those of the Karl Rove mentality.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/taylor-marsh/obamas-faustian-bargain-_b_82863.html
teeny little bit and they''''''''ll drill you.
FIVE SOLDIERS WALKING TOGETHER IN BAGDAD?!!
That''''''''s not only relaxing, that''''''''s asking for it!
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You''re really not that stupid are you?
If these troops want to be "brave" let them tell bush and his evil bunch to do their own murdering.
Someone tell Bu$h and CONgress there is no war in Iraq.
There are troops walking around with targets on their backs...
Maybe we should get a refund?
To RepubliCONs, this is called SUCCESS!
To Democrats, it''s called CLEANUP...
bush draft dodgers, Yes its too bad, but we can never stop this stuff if you do not stand up and call bush out for the war criminal that he is ,
these kids would be alive were it not for bush''s and the republiCONs dirty war profiteering
immoral conservative agenda
vote McBush four more
or vote democrat the end this misery
My father served 3 tours of Vietnam voluntarily only to NOT be appreciated for his sacrifices for our country...only to be spit on...Everyone should be thinking of the families that these soldiers who VOLUNTEERED to join....support them and vote to make changes...what happened to the people''s government?
We have spent $1.5 Billion today on the military.
Did we get our moneys worth?
http://www.peterrussell.com/Odds/WorldClock.php
The soldedos have given their lives for USA. We can not say that they die for nothing. Their bllod will secure and safe us as before. I want Mr. Bush to rais the troop levels in Iraq so that we control the business rather easily, instead of delaying our operations and losing soldedoses.
------------------------------------------------------Posted by joyous88 at 02:35 PM : Mar 10, 2008
+ report abuse
yeah, buddy and ppl like you have their sympathies with the terrorists. Will you go Iraq to fight insurgents?
You are an idiot. These young men were sent to a war based on lies and greed and you spin it around and around and are not human enough to see the tragic mistake made by the present administration.These young men should not have been in iraq to begin with. When will bush be held accountable for his lies and greed that ultimately led to these deaths?
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Posted by demslie at 01:51 PM : Mar 10, 2008
Of course the terrorists Mr. Bush and the Regime have brought into Iraq are responsible. Get real! This regime has done nothing but strengthen them!
There is no military solution to this situation.
The surge is working. Tap. Tap. Tap.
There''s no place like home. Tap. Tap. Tap.
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Posted by j-whitman at 02:53 PM : Mar 10, 2008
I m not a soldier but I am concerned about the security of every individual including you. If we would let insurgents survive, they plant roadside bombs at our door steps. Would you like that picture or would like to send our troops there for clearing the mess? Certainly sending more troops would be the right answer.
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Posted by demslie at 01:51 PM : Mar 10, 2008
Of course the terrorists Mr. Bush and the Regime have brought into Iraq are responsible. Get real! This regime has done nothing but strengthen them!
There is no military solution to this situation.
Posted by RowdyTexan2
Like I said. All the Democrats can do is Blame Bush. RowdyTexan2 started his argument by saying the terrorists were responsible and the did an immediate disclaimer in order to Blame Bush not the terrorists. Like I said, IRAN, Al Qaeda and Democrats speak with one voice.
Posted by demslie at 01:51 PM : Mar 10, 2008
The terrorists are there because Bush brought them there--our troops are there because Bush put them there--therefore Bush promoted terrorism in Iraq, thus making Bush responsible for every death in Iraq!
Doesn''t get any easier than that!
Words cannot express this horror?? Give me a break. The Marines lost more men in ONE DAY on Iwo Jima than they lost in the entire Iraq war. The Army lost more men in TWO HOURS at Anzio, than in Iraq. Heck, we lose nearly 100 soldiers a year to ACCIDENTS.
You folks had better just start coming to grips with the reality of things. Soldiers wear armor, carry guns, and ride in reinforced vehicles for a REASON. They aren''t just there to shine the blinding light of American democracy across the land; they''re there to do a job that may involve killing, or being killed. That is their job, and we should honor them for it. They are there to represent ME, my country, my HOME. You will never convince me that my HOME isn''t worth that sacrifice.
I don''t blame Bush for the deaths of our boys over there. My blame is squarely where it should belong: on the fanatics who planned and carried out the attack, and on the permissive societies that tolerate them. Turning that around may seem like a hopeless cause, but a greater crime would be to sit back and do nothing.
Posted by avoice at 02:30 PM : Mar 10, 2008
What is funny is Bush may be such a dweeb - so pro-business, so anti-regulatory - because Midland, Texas (where he grew up) is downwind of ASARCO''s El Paso works.
For decades ASARCO''s El Paso works put out hundreds of tons of lead, arsenic, and cadmium pollution...maybe George''s apparent lack of both intellect and morality is a direct result.
Maybe he doesn''t give a good ******* because he can''t.
But remember Sportsfans.......The Iraqies did nothing to us!!!
The Peoples Republic of the United States invaded a
country THAT DID NOTHING TO THE UNITED STATES!!
Doesn''''t get any easier than that!
Posted by liberalme at 02:59 PM : Mar 10, 2008
Absolutely 100% correct!
Posted by WinnerIndia at 02:58 PM : Mar 10, 2008
Here''s a thought - maybe India should send some troops.
Lord knows they have a vested interest in keeping America secure - we''re making them rich with our jobs.
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