soc.veterans

Sid9 wrote:
> "Neolibertarian" wrote in message
> news:cognac756-600442.21394122032008@newsclstr02.news.prodigy.com...
> > In article <86eFj.24081$dT.15091@bignews1.bellsouth.net>,
> > "Sid9" wrote:
> >
> >> March 23, 2008
> >>
> >> 4 Americans Killed in Iraq; U.S. Attack Leaves 6 Dead
> >>
> >> By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr. and ANWAR J. ALI
> >>
> >> BAGHDAD Four American soldiers were killed near the capital in the past
> >> two
> >> days, the military said Saturday, and north of Baghdad an American attack
> >> helicopter killed six people who the Iraqi police said were pro-American
> >> Sunni militia fighters.
> >>
> >> Three soldiers were killed when militants attacked their patrol with a
> >> roadside bomb northwest of the capital on Saturday, the military command
> >> in
> >> Baghdad reported. Two Iraqi civilians also died.
> >>
> >> The fourth American soldier was killed south of the capital on Friday by
> >> indirect fire, which normally refers to mortar shells or rockets. Four
> >> other
> >> soldiers were wounded in the attack, according to a military statement,
> >> which did not provide any more details.
> >>
> >> Violence in Iraq dropped sharply late last year, especially in Baghdad
> >> and
> >> Anbar Province, but the decline in casualties has halted. Since the
> >> beginning of the year, Sunni guerrillas and Shiite militants have been
> >> killing an average of about one American service member per day.
> >>
> >> Civilian deaths have also begun to rise in recent weeks. But casualty
> >> tallies still remain well below those of a year ago.
> >>
> >> Many of the security gains have been attributed to the decision by
> >> Sunnis,
> >> many of whom were guerrilla fighters, to become American-backed
> >> neighborhood
> >> militia guards, paid about $300 a month by the military. More than 90,000
> >> militiamen, most of them Sunnis, are now on the American payroll. But it
> >> is
> >> not clear how many had previously fought American forces.
> >>
> >> But as the program has expanded, some militia groups have been
> >> infiltrated
> >> by Sunni militants still at war with American forces. And in some cases
> >> American troops have had trouble distinguishing the former insurgents
> >> working for the Americans from active fighters who are not.
> >>
> >> Details were sharply disputed regarding the attack early Saturday near
> >> Samarra that an Iraqi police official said left the six pro-American
> >> Sunni
> >> militia guards dead.
> >>
> >> One Sunni militia leader in the area said the men who were killed had
> >> been
> >> staffing a legitimate checkpoint. But the American military command for
> >> northern Iraq said the Apache helicopter fired on men who had appeared to
> >> be
> >> trying to bury a roadside bomb.
> >>
> >> "American forces said that the people they killed were gunmen, but they
> >> were
> >> my men, and they were even wearing Awakening uniforms," said Abu Farouk,
> >> a
> >> leader of pro-American Awakening militia forces near Samarra. Two other
> >> Sunni militia fighters were wounded.
> >>
> >> American military officials acknowledged that six people were killed by
> >> an
> >> Apache helicopter, but they rejected the account provided by the Iraqi
> >> police official and Abu Farouk.
> >>
> >> The military said it could not confirm whether or not the six men had
> >> been
> >> part of a pro-American militia. But the military said the helicopter had
> >> attacked "suspected I.E.D. emplacers" after they were spotted "conducting
> >> suspicious terrorist activity in an area historically known for
> >> improvised
> >> explosive device emplacement."
> >>
> >> "I.E.D.," or improvised explosive device, is military jargon for large
> >> roadside bombs, often made from old artillery shells or other powerful
> >> explosives, that can destroy Humvees and other vehicles.
> >>
> >> The American statement also denied that the men who were killed had been
> >> at
> >> a militia checkpoint, and instead described the area as being "near a
> >> recent
> >> I.E.D. site."
> >>
> >> The two Iraqis wounded in the attack were evacuated to a hospital, the
> >> military statement added.
> >>
> >>
> > It's not your fault. You don't know what the United States is doing in
> > Iraq, and no one's bothered to explain it to you.
> >
> > --
> > NeoLibertarian
> >
> > http://www.elihu.envy.nu/NeoPics/UncleHood.jpg
>
> We should be packing
> and leaving thus saving
> the waste of more American
> lives and treasure.
>
> It wasn't worth it from day one.
> It isn't worth it now
> It will not have been worth it a year from now

Remember the Republicans saying that the Iraqis need to stand up cause
we cannot stay there for ever,
hmmm what happened to that?