Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Sioux Nation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (22348)	6/16/2005 11:18:52 AM
From: Wharf Rat	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 361303

Six U.S. Troops Killed in Western Iraq Thursday June 16, 2005 6:28am BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A roadside bomb attack killed five U.S. Marines and gunfire killed an American sailor in a western Iraqi town, the U.S. military and Iraqi officials said Thursday, as an upsurge in rebel violence battered American forces. The Marines died Wednesday after their vehicle was attacked near Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad, the military said. Officials in Ramadi had reported a roadside bomb blast in the pre-dawn hours. A sailor attached to the Marines' unit, the 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, was also killed Wednesday in Ramadi by gunfire, the military said. The six U.S. deaths raised Wednesday's toll from insurgent attacks to 58 killed, making it the deadliest day of violence in more than a month. At least 1,714 U.S. military members have died since the war began in 2003, according to an AP count. Meanwhile, a judge and his bodyguard were killed Thursday morning in an eastern Mosul neighborhood where many residents support the now-banned Baath Party of toppled President Saddam Hussein, officials said. Six masked gunmen in two cars blocked the road and sprayed the judge's car with machine-gun fire, said Mosul court Judge Abdul al-Hassaniani and Dr. Bahaa al-Din al-Bakri of the city's hospital. The officials identified the dead judge as Salim Mahmoud al-Haj Ali. Mosul is 225 miles northwest of Baghdad. In Baghdad, Iraqi legislators seemed close to agreement on a demand by Sunni Arabs for more participation in the effort to draft a constitution. A Shiite-dominated parliamentary committee drafting Iraq's new constitution offered a compromise to the country's Sunni Arab minority in an effort to break a deadlock over demands they have a bigger say in drawing up the charter. The offer suggested that 13 additional Sunni Arabs join the committee in a parallel body. The head of a major Sunni religious organization and a spokesman for the community's largest political party rejected committee chairman Hummam Hammoudi's offer. The Sunni Arab community has said it wants 25 more people to join their two legislators already on the committee. Representatives from the 55-member committee and the Sunni Arab community were scheduled to meet Thursday to discuss the proposal. An agreement on the constitution would help defuse growing sectarian tension between the majority Shiites, who control the government, and the Sunnis. The minority is thought to make up the core of an insurgency that has killed at least 1,080 people since Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari's government was announced April 28. The surge in attacks appeared aimed at derailing efforts by Shiite and Kurdish politicians to bring the disaffected Sunni Arab minority into the political process, particularly the drafting of the new constitution. The new charter must be approved by parliament by mid-August and put to a nationwide vote two months later. If passed, it will be the basis for a new election in December. A car bomb exploded early Thursday in northern Baghdad, injuring five Iraqi soldiers, police Capt. Ahmed al-Nedawi said. The car was parked on a street and detonated by remote control, he said. Another car bomb struck an Iraqi military convoy in the northern city of Kirkuk, injuring five soldiers and an 8-year-old boy, police Capt. Farhad Talabani said. The attack slightly damaged three military vehicles and two civilian cars, leaving the pavement stained with blood. Kirkuk is 180 miles north of Baghdad. --- AP reporters Sinbad Ahmed in Mosul, and Sameer N. Yacoub and Sinan Salaheddin in Baghdad contributed to this report. wjla.com