Iraq Rocket Attack Kills 3 U.S. Soldiers
12 U.S. Deaths Over Past Three Days Marks Significant Rise In Deadly Attacks Against Americans
-
-
A U.S. soldier stands in front of a bus that was hit by a roadside bomb near Nasiriyah, about 200 miles southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, March, 11, 2008. At least 16 civilians aboard died and another 22 were wounded in the blast. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)
-
The aftermath of a suicide attack that killed five U.S. soldiers in Baghdad. (AP /APTN)
-
A U.S. soldier of 3rd Brigade Combat team, 3rd Infantry Division aims his rifle beside a military vehicle during a patrol at Al-leg, Iraq, an area about 40 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq on Monday, March 10, 2008. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
-
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)
-
-
Interactive American Heroes Profiles of U.S. soldiers who've died in Iraq, a look at the war's toll and pictures of mourning.
-
Interactive Battle For Iraq The government, the insurgency, key players, background and photos.
With the overall U.S. military death toll in Iraq nearing 4,000, the latest killings mark a significant rise in deadly attacks against Americans.
At least 3,987 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an AP count. The figure includes eight military civilians.
Navy Lt. Patrick Evans, a military spokesman, told The Associated Press that three soldiers were killed Wednesday in a rocket attack on Combat Outpost Adder near Nasiriyah, about 200 miles southeast of Baghdad. Two other soldiers were wounded.
The attack came a day after an American soldier died when a roadside bomb hit his patrol near Diwaniyah, 80 miles south of Baghdad.
Eight soldiers were killed in a pair of bomb attacks on Monday, the heaviest single day of U.S. casualties since September.
Three of those soldiers died in a roadside bombing in Diyala, a violent province where al Qaeda in Iraq has been active.
The five others were killed while on foot patrol in central Baghdad. A suicide bomber approached them and detonated his explosives vest. Three Americans and an Iraqi interpreter were wounded.
The latest deaths came as a group of Iraqi tribal leaders, former politicians and intellectuals appealed Wednesday to the United Nations to take control of Iraq in a move they say would help U.S. troops leave the beleaguered country.
Both the Bush administration and the Baghdad government are unlikely to endorse the request, which was addressed to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and delivered to the Cairo offices of the organization.
"We believe that the only opportunity left for Iraq to be saved from a dark, but not inevitable future, is to engage the international community represented by the United Nations," the letter said. "Such a step will allow the American troops to leave and the occupation to be brought to its end."
The group's coordinators include Adeeb al-Jadir, Ahmed Al-Haboubi and Nouri Abdel Razak Hussein, politicians overthrown in 1968 when Saddam Hussein's Baath party came to power and long part of the liberal anti-regime opposition prior to the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
The U.N. dramatically curtailed its operations in Iraq after an August 2003 suicide attack killed its representative and scores of others. The United States has been pushing for an expanded U.N. role in Iraq but that did not include supervising the country.
The Iraqi group said the world body should supervise a new security plan to restore order during a transitional period and prepare for new elections of a government to replace Nouri al-Maliki's troubled cabinet.
Representatives for the campaign will travel to the U.N. headquarters in New York to seek support from key members, said al-Haboubi, a former government minister.
"We are also ready to discuss our proposals with U.S. officials," he said.
The men said the petition was signed by dozens of Iraqi dignitaries and they had scores of supporters in Iraq who preferred to remain anonymous for now to avoid harassment.
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- next
See all 69 CommentsMakes sense to me!!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted by guadalcanal3 at 04:24 AM : Mar 13, 2008
+ report abuse
Duh?? Did you miss something here? Don''t you remember Powell going to the UN, lying his behind off? Don''t you remember our former friends almost begging the Loser in Charge to wait, to give the Inspectors more time? Don''t you remember the "Freedom Fries"? Man the UN and our friends did everything they could to keep Sir Lies-A-Lot from getting us into this mess. Let''s not blame them!!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted by demslie at 06:17 AM : Mar 13, 2008
+ report abuse
I must say, for a simple minded Nazi, you are good. I noticed you shifted your hate target from "liberals" to "Democrats". Now how you know the political leanings of those who wrote the story is beyond me, but that has never mattered to a Nazi before has it. You do not address the most obvious issue, the fact that the NUMBER of American''s is beginning to increase again. Instead you focus on where the militants get their weapons! Take my word as a Vietnam Vet there Sparky, if they want to fight you, they will find a way, even if they have to use stones. Regardless I have to give you the Bootliker Award this morning for being creative in your hatred for those who have had NOTHING to do with the insanity of Iraq. a BIG SIEG HEIL to you...
truth. Bush is in direct negotiation with "his" man
in Iraq, Prime Minister Maliki, to ensure that US
troops remain deployed in Iraq long beyond the mandated time period. He is setting up this agreement (SOFA) in such a way that it by-passes
the need for congressional approval, and is so
far beyond the powers given to the President by
the US Constitution that it is frightening. His
whole invasion of Iraq was at the behest of Exxon,
Shell (British), BP (British) and Chevron, and
not because of wmd''s or Saddam''s so called connection
to AlQueda. This agreement literally provides a
security force for big oil developments in Iraq at
the expense of the US taxpayer. These oil companies
forced the new Iraqi Oil Ministry into a huge profit
sharing agreement, stealing the funds that should
belong to the Iraqi people for reconstruction.
How much more of this is our country willing to take?
Four troops were killed today by a roadside bomb outside of Baghdad. President McCain continues to stand by his belief that the 3rd surge in U.S. forces will be successful in rooting out Al-Qaeda in Iraq.
A worthy cause indeed.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- next
See all 69 Comments