Man In Iraqi Uniform Kills 2 U.S. Troops

Gunman Dressed As Soldier Wounds 3; Reclusive Shiite Cleric Visits Turkey, Promises Resistance Against "Outside Forces"

(CBS/AP)  A gunman wearing an Iraqi army uniform opened fire on a U.S. military team Saturday, killing two American soldiers and wounding three others at a combat outpost in northern Iraq, the military said.

A military statement said the attacker was killed after the ambush-style assault 12 miles south of Mosul, which is one of the last urban strongholds for Sunni insurgents.

In the past, attackers have used military and police uniforms to bypass checkpoints and gain access to heavily guarded bases.

The U.S. statement gave no other information on the attack, but Iraqi military officials said the gunman was a Sunni Muslim cleric assigned to an Iraqi army unit.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The attack could elevate worries about militant infiltration in Iraqi security forces as the U.S. military turns over more responsibilities in a phased withdrawal process before all American forces leave at the end of 2011.

In late February, two Iraqi police officers in Mosul opened fire on a visiting U.S. military team, killing one American soldier and an interpreter. The gunmen remain fugitives.


Remains Of Navy SEAL, Marine Return Home From Iraq

A Navy SEAL from southeastern Massachusetts and a Marine from southwest Ohio who were both killed in Iraq have returned home.

On Friday, the remains of U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Tyler J. Trahan and Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Mark A. Wojciechowski arrived at Dover Air Force Base, Del.

The Defense Department said that Trahan, 22, of Freetown, Mass., died Thursday during combat operations in Fallujah. He was assigned to a bomb disposal unit in Norfolk, Va., and was deployed with an East Coast based-Navy SEAL team.

Trahan was a 2004 graduate of Old Colony Regional Vocational-Technical High School. He had attended the Massachusetts Maritime Academy before joining the Navy in 2006.

His father, Jean-Pierre Trahan, told The Standard-Times of New Bedford that his son always wanted to serve his country and was the third generation of his family in the military.

His teachers remember Trahan as a committed student and athlete. He played football and was a member of the National Honor Society.

Wojciechowski, 25, of Cincinnati, died Thursday while supporting combat operations in Iraq's Anbar province.

His stepgrandmother, Cathy Dillinger, said the 25-year-old was on a mission with a bomb squad. She said Wojciechowski had been a Marine for six years and was on his second deployment to Iraq.

Wojciechowski attended Glen Este High School in suburban Cincinnati - the same school from which Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Matt Maupin graduated.

Maupin was taken hostage by insurgents in 2004. His remains were recovered near Baghdad last year.


Reclusive Shiite Cleric Al-Sadr Visits Turkey

An Iraqi cleric who led bloody rebellions against U.S. troops but stayed out of public view in the last two years has made an unusually visible appearance in Turkey, which is raising its own profile as a mediator in the region.

Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr (left) met about 70 fellow Iraqi Shiites in Istanbul, Turkey's biggest city, on Saturday in what representatives described as a discussion of ways to contribute to Iraq's future. General elections are expected toward the end of this year, and Iraq's 275-member parliament has about 30 al-Sadr loyalists.

Although al-Sadr shunned the media at Saturday's event at a hotel, his participation as well as a photograph of him seated with Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a meeting a day earlier in Ankara were a departure from his customary reclusiveness.

Al-Sadr has made announcements on his Web site and issued statements for Friday prayers usually relayed via aides. But he was last seen in the media when he gave a television interview with Al-Jazeera on March 29, 2008. The last time he appeared in person in public was May 25, 2007, when he delivered a sermon in the Iraqi Shiite holy city of Kufa.

"We have put down our arms. Arms will not be raised, especially against the Iraqi soldiers," Sheik Salah al-Obeidi, a spokesman for al-Sadr, said in Istanbul.

"However the resistance will continue," he said. "There is economic, political and cultural resistance against the outside forces who are invading our land."

After the 2003 invasion of Iraq, al-Sadr's Shiite militia fought U.S. troops intermittently until a cease-fire last May. Despite his wide appeal to segments of Iraq's Shiite poor, al-Sadr was viewed as troublesome by the Shiite-led government and hundreds of his supporters were arrested on suspicion of involvement in Iran-linked militant cells.

Al-Sadr said last year that his withdrawal from public view was motivated in part by his desire to focus on his studies to become a mujtahid, or a religious authority. On Saturday, al-Obeidi said al-Sadr's whereabouts was kept secret, possibly reflecting concern for the cleric's safety.

"Turkey is a good, old friend," he said. "Trusting that, we have no hesitations to travel in Turkey."

Al-Sadr is widely thought to be based in Iran's holy city of Qom.

Turkey, which has an Islamic-oriented government and a secular constitution, has held talks with a variety of groups in Iraq in an effort to help establish stability there. Last year, it also hosted indirect talks between Israel and Syria, and President Barack Obama seeks its help in stabilizing Afghanistan.

[U-R-So-Wrong]

It is you who supports unprovokesd attacks, illegal imprisonment, and torture.
Posted by nancy_naive


I don't support any of things. What I don't support most of all is you.

You presume to know a lot, and the context of your emails is that the US has no moral superiority of any sort, not in the Constitution or elsewhere, and never did.

[inventagod]

"And your rant against GWB as well, because you hate him more than you love them.
Posted by U-R-So-Wrong at 11:43 AM : May 3, 2009"

It's OK to hate a mass murderer and a liar. I believe it's better than loving one...

[motown67usa]

The issue of infiltration remains an issue with Iraqi forces. The majority of U.S. commanders do not share information about operations beforehand with their Iraqi counterparts for just this reason. That being said, the number of incidents where Iraqi troops attack Americans is few, but at the same time something that will likely happen again. musingsoniraq.blogspot.com

[noloyalisti]

Boy did the big corporations get us into a mess. Control of the Bush Crime Family government by big oil companies and big war profiteers got us to pay for their profit. Since they are big corporations they only care about profit and not how many people die.

Now we are in two quagmires with no way out. At least Obama is making SOME changes to try to cleanup up the Republ CON disasters.

[promaclaura]

To :budmag06
"They are now becoming Obama's wars."

These will NEVER go down in history as Obama's wars. Are you kidding? Are you really this void of facts. I pitty you. And just so you are aware, it makes no difference at this point who got us there, these wars are America's wars. They are now Obama's mess to clean up, finish, win, execute correctly. You know, all the things President Bush couldnt do and/or would'nt do. This is just another angle the Obama bashers will take to make yourselves feel better about Bush and the ignorance you must have for following a follower for so long.
Posted by EDWARDPDX at 6:50 AM : May 3, 2009


Funny, it looks like Obama is conducting these "wars" just like Bush did. Oh, and lookee here, another Bush policy Obama is considering:

Obama Considering Reviving Military Tribunals
By Jeralyn, Section Terror Trials
Posted on Sat May 02, 2009 at 12:11:45 PM EST

I hope reinstating the military tribunals at Guantanamo is an idea the Obama Administration quickly discards, but I'm not optimistic:

The Obama administration is moving toward reviving the military commission system for prosecuting Guantánamo detainees...Officials said the first public moves could come as soon as next week, perhaps in filings to military judges at the United States naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, outlining an administration plan to amend the Bush administration?s system to provide more legal protections for terrorism suspects.

According to the article, Obama may revise and reinstate them for the top terror detainees.

Memo to President Obama: [More...]


There's no fixing those military tribunals. If your team can't come up with a solution other than one that reverts to one of the worst policies of Bush Adminstration, it's time to get a new team in place.

Suggestion: Start with the lawyers representing the Guantanamo detainees. They know exactly what's necessary for a fair trial. Suggestion two: Try them in federal court like you said you would. Show some backbone and stick to your campaign promises.

As a last resort, consider trials under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. But leave those military commission trials dead and buried where they belong.

-Obama = Bush jr. lol

[tommygun083]

Those two soldiers had no business being in Iraq. Oil business dosen't count.

[boandco]

The US dosen't dare arm the Iraqis with anything other than small arms. If they ever get their hands on real armament, they'll turn on their oppressors and drive us out of their country.

[realitychec6]

We need to remove ALL of our troops from Iraq NOW!! We owe those people absolutely nothing, except maybe an apology for ever going there. We should have never gone there in the first place. Bush, and only Bush, is responsible for our being there. He is responsible for the tragedies that have ensued. No Iraqi can be trusted, as is evident. These people have been living their barbaric lifestyle for thousands of years and know nothing about living in a democracy; and, they do not want to live in a democracy.

[inventagod]

I only hope we decide to end this NeoCon Pentagoon circlejerk of an oilwar wetdream SOON!

[jackp32]

It's time to get the h*ell out of Iraq, lock stock and barrel, and let them fend for themselves. The killing of our soldiers goes on and on with no end in sight. I used to be a supporter of the war but enough is enough. My God, when is it going to stop? Oh!Bama wake up and smell the coffee and get real. That world of fantasy you live in needs to end along with those $$$ shoes you are paying for.