Gunman Kills Two U.S. Soldiers in Northern Iraq

(AP)  Updated at 5:20 p.m. ET

An Iraqi soldier sprayed gunfire at American soldiers guarding one of their commanders as he visited an Iraqi military base on Tuesday and killed two of them, the first U.S. servicemen to die since President Barack Obama declared an official end to combat operations in the country last week.

Even after the U.S. dramatically reduced the number of troops and rebranded its mission in Iraq, the attack was a reminder that Americans still have to defend themselves in a dangerous country where Iraqi forces only have a tenuous hold on security. Nine Americans were wounded in Tuesday's shooting.

The attack also showed that even within the walls of U.S. and Iraqi military bases, American soldiers can still be drawn into fighting.

The American commander was meeting with Iraqi military personnel at the base near the city of Tuz Khormato, about 130 miles north of Baghdad.

The assailant opened fire after an argument and was killed in the shootout that followed, said the city's police chief, Col. Hussein Rashid. He did not provide details on the nature of the argument.

"This is a tragic and cowardly act and is certainly not reflective of the Iraqi security forces," said Maj. Gen. Tony Cucolo, the American commander in charge of U.S. forces in northern Iraq.

The U.S. military is investigating, and the soldiers' names were being withheld until their families were notified.

The deaths raise to at least 4,418 the number of U.S. military personnel killed in Iraq since the war began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

The American military has reduced its footprint in Iraq from a one-time high of 170,000 troops to just under 50,000 troops as of Aug. 31.

The remaining troops are tasked with training the Iraqi security forces, providing security for some State Department missions and assisting the Iraqi forces in hunting down insurgent groups.

But U.S. troops are still able to defend themselves and their bases and still come under attack.

On Sunday, American troops in eastern Baghdad helped Iraqi forces repel an assault on an Iraqi military headquarters in what was the first exchange of gunfire involving Americans since the August deadline.

In a statement posted on a militant website, the Islamic State of Iraq took responsibility for the hour-long assault Sunday on the headquarters of the Iraqi Army's 11th Division. It was the second assault on the complex in less than a month and showed the challenges Iraqi security forces are facing after the U.S. change of mission.

[armyoftwelve]

Gee that minister hasn't even burned the koran yet and US troops are still getting killed. General Petraeus got that one wrong didn't he???

[Simifanene]

It's so unfair for these young boys to have died for nothing. If we would have only left Iraq alone, the world would be so much safer. There would be 6,000 dead soldiers and 35,000 maimed soldiers healthy and alive. Iraq would now be whole, the mid-east stable and our troops back home. I'm starting a collection for donations to build a hero's statue for George Bush. It will be made of cow dung formed as a 3' characture of George Bush as Afred E. Newman, with one hand out reached and him declaring the war over in only one week. If we get enough money we will also build a heroic statue of Dick Cheneny peronally torturing a Iraqi teen. His plaque will read. Torture saves lives. Needless deaths. Remind you of anything? Maybe Vietnam. Just thing what great president Bush was. He's the first President to create two war's at the same time against who I don't know yet. The terrorist are safe in hiding as we destroy and rebuild the innocents homes. It's too bad Bush didn't go after the 911 terrorist. I guess his Oil Baron Puppetiers were pulling his strings very hard. When he left office Bush said we are much safer, as Cheney chants in the back ground torture saved lives. Words of Wisdom. But I guess that's all we can expect when we elect men like them.

[tiredofthebs]

This was inevitable. Iraqis have been slaughtered for years now in this children's crusade. Now that American forces are considerably smaller, time for some getback. If this story upsets you, just think of the hundreds of Iraqi children that have been killed (collateral damage).

[armyoftwelve]

Hey buddy, I think you forgot all the iraqi kiddies killed by saddam husein when he started to gas the Kurds. Iraqi children are always dying and the real culprits are their parents.

[tiredofthebs]

*armyoftwelve*


Saddam killed Iraqi (Kurdish) children, so that makes it okay for the US to do the same as long as it's just collateral damage?! Methinks NOT!

[wyodutch]

Two more fresh graves.
.
I wonder if the pro-war pansies such as Paul Wolfowitz, Ken "Cakewalk" Adelman, Cheney and Rumsfeld ever wake at 3AM and wonder how many ghosts are waiting for them on the other side.
.
I'd like to think that we Americans are too savvy to ever be railroaded into another meaningless war by men who wouldn't risk a hangnail of their own. But... I thought that after VietNam.

[pws54]

wyodutch, great point. However, that would imply they all had a conscience. I think we know the answer to that. Regardless of what we have been told about Cheney's heart condition, I still do not see how anyone can be diagnosed with a "condition" of a body part they obviously don't have.

[USMC-Mom]

Bring them all home!

[sean1z]

Obama has no money for Iraq. He should withdraw all American personnel from there. Baghdad will pay for security with their own petroleum revenues.

[jnostromo]

Just like in Vietnam...I wonder what they are teaching in the acadamies and in the military these days....

[Bill_USAF]

Nothing like vietnam...don't try to draw faulty comparisons please