BAGHDAD, April 6, 2008
3 U.S. Troops Killed In Mortar Attacks
31 Others Wounded As Rockets Strike Baghdad's Green Zone And Base In Rustamiyah
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(AP / CBS)
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Interactive Iraq: 5 Years At War Five years after the U.S.-led invasion, the war wears on.
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Photo Essay Week In Iraq Photos A daily diary with scenes of the latest attacks and snapshots from the effort to rebuild a nation.
A military official says two U.S. troops were killed and 17 wounded when rockets struck the Green Zone in central Baghdad.
The official says another American service member died and 14 were wounded in another attack on a military base in the southeastern area of Rustamiyah.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity for lack of authorization to release the information.
The attacks come amid fierce clashes between Shiite militia fighters and U.S.-Iraqi forces.
In Other Developments:
The U.S. military said that fighting broke out overnight in Sadr City, a stronghold of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's militants. Officials at two local hospitals said 22 people were killed and 92 wounded.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media, did not say whether the casualties were civilians or fighters. U.S. and Iraqi forces released no information about the casualties.
A police officer said that a U.S. Stryker armored personnel carrier was damaged in the fighting, which continued with sporadic exchanges of fire through Sunday morning.
Two armored Humvee vehicles and two trucks belonging to the Iraqi army were also destroyed, said the officer, who also spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
The U.S. military said it had no information about a Stryker being damaged.
During the operation, nearly 1,000 government soldiers and policemen deserted and handed over their weapons and vehicles to the Mahdi fighters.
"It was obvious that there was negligence among some members of our security forces and this issue will be dealt with according to the law," Tahseen al-Sheikhli, spokesman for the Baghdad security operation, told reporters Sunday.
Although scattered clashes continued between his fighters and Iraqi security forces, the Iraqi government relaxed security measures Saturday around the Mahdi Army strongholds of Sadr City and the Shula neighborhood.
A vehicle ban remains in effect as part of a curfew imposed on Baghdad after fighting broke out between government forces and Shiite militants March 25. The curfew has been lifted in the rest of Baghdad.
The hijacked bus was then driven onto a farm road, where all the students were released after the gunmen made sure they were not members of the security forces, Abdul-Sattar said.
One of the mourners, Midhat Faez, said the assassination was aimed at provoking conflict between Muslims and the tiny Christian community.
"As Christians, we are terrified and our numbers are gradually diminishing," Faez said.
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Add a Comment See all 91 Comments
- A POLICY BASED ON LIES = FAILURE
legacy of g w b - Reply to this comment
- The General and his prime cheerleader, McCain, will boast of reduced violence as a sign of progess with eternal peace and stability just around the corner. The truth remains far removed from this delusional fiction: the country has been turned into an ethnically cleansed series of armed / walled fiefdoms. In the south the Basra fiasco illustrated to all the strength of two entities: the mullah led Shiites and their giddy sponsor - Iran. The U.S. turned to bribery in order to placate the Sunni sectors: please take our money and weapons (we have always turned a blind eye to Saudi, Kuwaiti, and UAE complicity in the arming of the Sunni factions) and all we ask in return is you turn out the foreign elements of al Qaida who crossed into Iraq for the golden opportunity to blast away at vulnerable U.S. troops and/or Shiite civilians. In the north, the Kurds continue to consolidate their power base much to the chagrin of our former loyal allies - the Turks. This is progress, my friends. This must constitute "freedom on the march" with the blessings of democracy and prosperity to follow. One-hundred years of presence, indeed. One-hundred more years of no-bid contracts for Halliburton and BlackWater anyone?
- Reply to this comment
- The Top 3 Enemies of the United States:
1) George W. Bush
2) *** Cheney (and what a *** he is)
3) The 28% of Americans who still support #1 & #2
Posted by ontheleft at 10:41 PM : Apr 06, 2008
So very, very, TRUE! Sad to think that 28% of our voters are accessories to these disasteous 7+ years! - Reply to this comment
- Y''all just gotta love that surge.
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- Let''s go to china and make china another iraq.
Those chinese guys are unworthy to have human rights. - Reply to this comment
%u201CWhy we stand for immediate withdrawal of all US troops from Iraq%u201D
%u201CTHE U.S. occupation of Iraq has not liberated the Iraqi people, but has made life worse for most Iraqis.%u201D
%u201CTens of thousands of U.S. service people have been killed or maimed, and hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis have lost their lives as a result of the U.S. invasion in 2003, the ongoing occupation, and the violence unleashed by them.%u201D
%u201CIraq''s infrastructure has been destroyed, and U.S. plans for reconstruction abandoned. There is less electricity, less clean drinking water, and more unemployment today than before the U.S. invasion.%u201D
%u201CAll of the justifications initially provided by the U.S. for waging war on Iraq have been exposed as lies; the real reasons for the invasion %u2014 to control Iraq''s oil reserves and to increase U.S. strategic influence in the region %u2014 now stand revealed.%u201D
%u201CThe Bush administration has insisted again and again that stability, democracy, and prosperity are around the next bend in the road%u2026But the U.S. has deliberately stoked sectarian divisions in its ongoing attempt to install a U.S.-friendly regime, thus driving Iraq towards civil war.%u201D
%u201CWe call on the U.S. to get out of Iraq %u2014 not in six months, not in a year, but now.%u201D
www.ipetitions.com/petition/OutNow- Reply to this comment
- Iraq - the 52nd State, Iran will be the 51st
- Reply to this comment
- And MCain wants us to remain in Iraq for 100 years.
At current rates that''ll mean:
200,000 Dead American troops.
$60 trillion!
Only neocons know how to kill our troops and squander taxpayers dollars like this! - Reply to this comment
- A military official says two U.S. troops were killed and 17 wounded when rockets struck the Green Zone in central Baghdad.
-Hummmmm, the green zone!?!?!?!?! who has been deceived recently in Iraq? - Reply to this comment
Re: "How long is it supposed to last?"
General Betrayus says that he needs a bit more "flexibility", and only another 6 months or so to figure out if he is losing or not.- Reply to this comment
- I''ll bet when Petreaus briefs congress Tuesday we''ll hear the same old same old about how everything is pregressing nicely and we just need a little more time. This guy is nothing but a mouthpiece for Cheney and will do exactly as he is told. I thought a "surge" was something that came in quick and then went out quick. How long is it supposed to last?
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- BaghdadsHere,,, Go to bed, you''''ve been here all day with your lunacy -- Take your nursemaid with you
Posted by j-whitman at 11:50 PM : Apr 06, 2008
And just to be sure you sleep well take about 35 or 40 sleeping pills washed down with a bottle of cheap whiskey. Trust me, the world will love you for it. - Reply to this comment
- BaghdadsHere,,, Go to bed, you''ve been here all day with your lunacy -- Take your nursemaid with you
- Reply to this comment
GENTLEMEN ALL : NO LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL. IMPEACH THE STUPID !- Reply to this comment
- rebel...Which site?
- Reply to this comment
- Element 51, did you go to the other site and see what this sick ba$**** said? Check it out !
- Reply to this comment
- Bagdads,you MUST hate me by now after showing your true color''s to the world? I SHOULD BE NUMBER 1 on the list!!!!
- Reply to this comment
- BaghdadsHere.....You did it again! Why do you keep leaving me of your list? You put my friend jerr11 and I know I dislike you as much as he does. If you''re gonna post a list I suggest you make sure you have it right.
- Reply to this comment
- Hey Bagad,where did you go? I thought we were having such a interesting conversation. Run you sick puppy! If you think killing defenseless animal''s is ok you are no better than the terrorist you claim to hate! Everyone check out the No Reconiliation post and see what this twisted puppy said!!!!! South American!
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- BahgdadsHere - You go ahead and compose your list in your mom''s basement you tool. You appear to have missed the whole "hubris" and "faux-righteousness" angle of McCarthy, Hoover, Hitler, etc.: history''s list makers who you apparently seek to mimic.
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