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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From the article-
Re: "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."
There is no conclusive evidence to date that demonstrates that "al-Qaeda" is, or ever was, "in-Iraq". As such, these witch-hunting councils were undoubtedly doomed to fail from the very start.
Re: "The U.S. military said it was looking into the incident but did not immediately have any details."
Nor do they have any clues.
Re: "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."
The U.S. military and media have been hard at work in playing up the "women" and/or "disabled" suicide-bomber angle. This helps to create the illusion that we are "re-defeating" the fabled "al-Qaeda-in-Iraq", that they are in their "final throes" again, that we are "turning" yet another "corner", and that we have some legitimate reason to continue the invasion.- Reply to this comment
- Republicans support our troops
And here''s how they''re doing it
FOXNews.com - U.S. Troops in Iraq Have Limited Body Armor ...Oct 24, 2003 ... US Troops in Iraq Have Limited Body Armor
Whistleblowers'' stomach-curdling story:
Halliburton serves contaminated water to troops
20 Sept. 2005
WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 (HalliburtonWatch.org) -- Outrage overflowed on Capitol Hill this summer when members of Congress learned that Halliburton''s dining halls in Iraq had repeatedly served spoiled food to unsuspecting troops. "This happened quite a bit," testified Rory Mayberry, a former food manager with Halliburton''s KBR subsidiary.
But the outrage apparently doesn''t end with spoiled food. Former KBR employees and water quality specialists, Ben Carter and Ken May, told HalliburtonWatch that KBR knowingly exposes troops and civilians to contaminated water from Iraq''s Euphrates River.
Flash forward
KBR Faulted on Water Provided to Soldiers
By Dana Hedgpeth
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 11, 2008;
U.S. soldiers at a military base in Iraq were provided with treated but untested wastewater for nearly two years by KBR, the giant government contractor, and may have suffered health problems as a result, according to a report released yesterday by the Pentagon''s inspector general. - Reply to this comment
- Is it McCain''s old age, or his juvenile anger, or his active cancer that currently has Americans worried? Or is it $265 Million per day X 365 days per year X 100 years? Not even including his Bomb-bomb-bomb, bomb-bomb Iran costs?
- Reply to this comment
Related-
"In 1776, Thomas Paine wrote: %u201CThese are the times that try men%u2019s souls. The summer soldier and sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.%u201D
http://ivaw.org/wintersoldier
###
%u201CWhy we stand for immediate withdrawal of all US troops from Iraq%u201D
www.ipetitions.com/petition/OutNow- Reply to this comment
- AJMarine1 wrote:
"I''''ve run out of time mc(does that stand for Marine Corps, if it does, "Semper Fi Marine,") I will try to find something on that and I will get with you another time.
It''s been fun and interesting,......Live Long and Prosper."
No, it''s just a nick an ex-gf gave me - it''s Mc as in McDonalds.
Night AJMarine1. - Reply to this comment
- But they won''''t.
Why?
Posted by mcdazz at 11:07 PM : Mar 10, 2008
I''ve run out of time mc(does that stand for Marine Corps, if it does, "Semper Fi Marine,") I will try to find something on that and I will get with you another time.
It''s been fun and interesting,......Live Long and Prosper. - Reply to this comment
- Night J.
- Reply to this comment
- AJMarine1 wrote:
"I don''''t know. Some people don''''t believe he did it."
Well, I don''t know whether he really did it or not either - I also don''t believe all the different conspiracies about 9/11 - but I do believe that the Bush admin hasn''t told us everything either.
But that is irrelevant.
The Bush Admin has claimed that Bin Laden was behind 9/11 from the beginning (although some tried to blame it on Iraq).
If the Bush Admin has the evidence, then Bin Laden should be indicted, just as we have done with other terrorists.
But they won''t.
Why? - Reply to this comment
- Nite J.
- Reply to this comment
Good night, "j-whitman".- Reply to this comment
Author Thomas Friedman on Obama's Afghanistan plan and the war on terror.
