soc.veterans

"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