soc.veterans

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