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Politics : Impeach George W. Bush -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TigerPaw who wrote (77216)	2/9/2007 6:09:33 AM
From: tonto	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 93284

The official statement as of 2/7/07 is: U.S. helicopter crash in Iraq kills seven Updated 2/7/2007 9:28 PM ET E-mail \| Save \| Print \| Reprints & Permissions \| Subscribe to stories like this Subscribe to stories like this A Sea Knight helicopter similar to the one that went down northwest of Baghdad on Wednesday delivered supplies to U.S. Marines in southern Iraq in 2003. Enlarge By Itsuo Inouye, AP A Sea Knight helicopter similar to the one that went down northwest of Baghdad on Wednesday delivered supplies to U.S. Marines in southern Iraq in 2003. WAR IN IRAQ Violence: Iraq security operation under way \| Group claims it shot down chopper \| 'Speed bumps' deadly on Iraqi roads Warning: Report says Iraqi forces deficient \| Excerpts \| Iran's role raises concerns U.S. buildup: Iraqis fall short of troop commitments \| Bush defends Iraq plan \| Strategy fails to rally support \| Results Executions: Half-brother hanged \| Bush: Saddam hanging botched \| Al-Maliki comments \| Graphic \| Photos American casualties: Toll reaches 3,000 \| Video \| Deadly blast \| A look at troops who lost their lives \| Graphic FIVE CRASHES IN TWO WEEKS By Oren Dorell, USA TODAY BAGHDAD — A U.S. Marine transport helicopter crashed Wednesday in the insurgent stronghold of Anbar province. It was the fifth U.S. aircraft lost in Iraq in three weeks. Also Wednesday, the U.S. military said that the new security plan for Baghdad was officially underway and that recently constructed police and army outposts have begun operating in violent areas of the capital. All seven aboard the CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter were killed. The chief spokesman for the U.S. military in Iraq, Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, said the cause of the crash was under investigation. A Sunni group linked to al-Qaeda, the Islamic State in Iraq, posted a statement on a website saying it had shot down the helicopter. The claim could not be verified. The U.S. military has blamed hostile fire for four recent crashes that killed a total of 21 U.S. servicemembers and private security contractors. Garver said investigators were trying to determine whether insurgents had shot them down through "luck, technique or some new kind of weapon." The military relies heavily on helicopters in Iraq, not only for supporting ground forces in combat but also to move troops and equipment by air to avoid roadside bombs and insurgent ambushes. In Baghdad, additional Iraqi national police and army units arrived as part of the new security plan devised by President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. "Units are moving into place," Garver said. The Iraqi troops will work alongside an additional 17,500 U.S. troops who have begun to arrive in Baghdad over the past month. The joint forces will work to disarm militias and calm the sectarian violence that kills dozens of Iraqis every day. "For us to reduce the level of violence is going to require a greater interaction with local people," said Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, a military spokesman. U.S. and Iraqi forces have constructed 10 new security stations around the capital and plan to build 10 to 20 more, Garver said. The stations will be used as footholds to establish an increased police and military presence in particularly violent neighborhoods. Two of the security stations are fully staffed, and U.S. and Iraqi troops are moving into the others, Garver said. Troops with the 2nd Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division are among the first of the new U.S. troops to arrive and begin operations on the ground, Garver said. "They're conducting security operations in conjunction with the government of Iraq," he said. Members of the brigade have been doing patrols by vehicle and on foot, setting up checkpoints, learning their way around their district and getting to know their Iraqi counterparts, Garver said. Also Wednesday, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said four Iraqi military officers are being held as a result of this week's kidnapping of an Iranian diplomat in Baghdad, Reuters reported. Up to 30 gunmen in Iraqi army uniforms kidnapped Jalal Sharafi, the second secretary at the Iranian Embassy, on Sunday. The incident has further raised tensions between Iran and the United States. The United States has accused Iran of supplying weapons to Iraqi extremists. Do you contend that the insurgents are throwing Dinar at the helicopters? The pentagon says they are coming down via small arms fire. They've always had a lot of small arms. They just had to learn what area to shoot at. TP