Bush-"Bring'em on": New GI death in Iraq sets grim mark
Fatality tops number of those killed during combat phase
msnbc.com
Aug. 26 — The toll of U.S. troops killed in postwar Iraq surpassed the number killed in major combat on Tuesday, reaching 139 with the death of a soldier in a roadside bombing.
TWO OTHER SOLDIERS were wounded when the bomb hit a support convoy in the town of Hamariyah, 16 miles northwest of Baghdad, the military announced.
The incident brought the death toll since May 1, when President Bush declared an end to major combat, to one more than the number of soldiers who died during heavy fighting before that date. Since the war began March 20, 277 U.S. forces have died. Since May 1, 66 soldiers have died in combat.
Meanwhile, hundreds of U.S. soldiers raided a northern town on Tuesday in a bid to smash a crime ring wanted for murder, gunrunning and a terrorist attack on a police station that killed an American soldier earlier this month.
Col. David Hogg, commander of 2nd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, said forces had captured 24 suspected gang members but had not found its leader, Lateef Hamed al Kubaishat — known as Lateef by U.S. forces.
Hogg said U.S. authorities consider the brigands to be a “terrorist organization.”
“Their primary focus is probably criminal activity, but they have attacked coalition forces through direct and indirect means,” Hogg told The Associated Press. “As long as he (Lateef) is in place we will not be able to establish the conditions for the Iraqi police to establish law and order in the area.”
He said the local police were scared of Lateef’s gang, which operates out of Khalis, a town 42 miles north of Baghdad.
The gang has claimed responsibility for a bomb that exploded outside Baqouba police station on Aug. 10, killing one U.S. military policeman, U.S. forces said. Lateef is also accused of selling weapons, burning down the Baqouba courthouse to destroy criminal records and murdering a prostitute whom he accused of providing services to U.S. troops in the area.
U.S. Army officers in the area have said they are being attacked by Baath Party loyalists, Fedayeen Saddam militia fighters and criminal gangs who simply want the region to remain unstable so they can carryout their activities unhindered.
“This operation will go a long way to show the Iraqi population that we are doing this for them. It’s part of our mission to provide a safe and secure environment so they can continue to build government structures and security structures,” Hogg said.
Lateef’s gang is involved in “all types of illicit activities from weapons sales to you name it. We know he’s setting up illegal checkpoints to attack, rob and kill Iraqis,” Hogg said.
Lateef — described by U.S. intelligence as being aged 35, 6 foot 2 inches, 220 pounds and “stooped like a gorilla,” — was imprisoned serving multiple life sentences for murder until Saddam Hussein granted amnesty to all prisoners in October as the United States ratcheted up its case for invading Iraq. |
