WASHINGTON - U.S. troops in Fallujah reported finding nearly as many homemade explosives over the past three weeks as had been uncovered throughout Iraq (news - web sites) in the previous four months.
In the recent action, the troops found at least 650 homemade bombs, Bryan Whitman, a spokesman for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, said Monday. That compares with 722 found throughout the country between July 1 and October 31. The military calls such bombs improvised explosive devices, or IEDs.
The IEDs, rigged to detonate by remote control and often hidden along roadways used by U.S. forces, have been the insurgents' deadliest weapon. On Monday, for example, two U.S. soldiers were killed and three others wounded in Baghdad when their patrol hit an IED, officials said.
The Pentagon (news - web sites), meanwhile, said Monday the U.S. military death toll in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003 stands at 1,251. That is up 21 since the Pentagon last reported a total on Nov. 24, and it means that at least 130 U.S. troops have died in Iraq this month.
The deadliest month for U.S. troops in Iraq was last April, when 135 died.
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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=540&e=4&u=/ap/20041129/ap_on_re_mi_ea/us_iraqDon't know why they seem so f'ing surprised...the war planners didn't plan for guarding the weapons dumps. :eyes:
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