Seven U.S. Marines Killed In Iraq
Six American Marines were killed in action in western Iraq, the U.S. command said Tuesday. In a separate incident, a seventh Marine died in a suicide car bombing in another part of the volatile Euphrates River valley, the military said.
The deaths pushed the number of Americans killed since the start of the war past 1,800.
The six Marines, assigned to Regimental Combat Team-2 of the 2nd Marine Division, were killed by small arms fire Monday in Haditha, 140 miles northwest of Baghdad, the military said in a statement.
"Five Marines were killed in the initial attack; one was unaccounted for and his body later found and safely recovered a few kilometers away," the statement added. "The circumstances of the incident are under investigation."
Insurgents posted handbills in the main market of Haditha claiming to have killed 10 U.S. troops, seizing some of their weapons.
The other Marine, also a member of Regimental Combat Team-2, was also killed Monday in a suicide car bombing in Hit, 50 miles southeast of Haditha, the command said. No further details were released.
At least 1,801 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. At least 1,382 died as a result of hostile action. The figures include five military civilians.
In other developments:
In other violence, a roadside bomb targeting a U.S. military convoy exploded Tuesday at the entrance to a tunnel in central Baghdad, and at least 29 civilians were wounded, officials said.
The blast hit as the convoy was about to enter the tunnel in Bab Shargi, near Tahrir Square, said police Capt. Abdul-Hussein Munsif. Two Humvees appeared to have been damaged, he said.
U.S. and Iraqi forces placed a security cordon around the area. The U.S. military had no immediate information on casualties.
The latest incidents came as the Aug. 15 deadline neared for finishing Iraq's new constitution. U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad called for it to protect women's rights, saying it was an important element for the country's success.
After meeting with representatives from some Iraqi women's groups, Khalilzad said they agreed that the equality of women "is a fundamental requirement for Iraq's progress."
The ambassador said that the U.S. government is expecting a constitution that would ensure full rights to all Iraqis, regardless of their sex, ethnicity or gender.
"My focus is to help get a constitution that does this. Of course, the Iraqis will decide but we will help in any way that we can," he said.
Khalilzad said his government would encourage Iraqi politicians to exclude any constitutional articles that discriminate or limit opportunities for any Iraqi citizens.
On Monday, women activists urged parliament to limit the role of Islam in the new constitution and follow international treaties on the rights of women and children.
With efforts exerted by religious parties to give Islam a central role in the Iraqi law, fears are growing that women would lose rights in marriage, divorce and inheritance.
Most worrying for women's groups has been the section on civil rights in the draft constitution, which some feel would significantly roll back women's rights under a 1959 civil law enacted by a secular regime.
Under Sharia law, women would inherit only half of what men receive. In issues of marriage and divorce, women would be at a significant disadvantage since only men would have the legal power to initiate divorces.
Khalilzad also called for more involvement by Arab Sunnis in the political process, stressing the necessity of national agreement on the future of Iraq as a way to divide and defeat the insurgency.
"In order to defeat the insurgency, one needs to reach a national compact, because if all Iraqis, including those who in western and central parts of the country see themselves as part of this new Iraq ... they will be separated from the insurgency," he said.
He accused insurgents of attempting to ignite a sectarian civil war in Iraq, adding that the solution to the insurgency problem should not be limited to military means.
"The military solution has to be integrated into a broad strategy that has a political element leading it, and of course, there are other elements."