4 U.S. Soldiers Killed in Iraq Gunfire - 20 Wounded (Updated story)

[NNN0LHI]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040708/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_explosions&cid=540&ncid=1480

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Insurgents fired mortar rounds at an Iraqi National Guard headquarters in the city of Samarra on Thursday, killing four U.S. soldiers and one Iraqi guardsman, the military said. A fifth U.S. soldier was unaccounted for and 20 were wounded.

more

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040708/ts_nm/iraq_clash_dc&cid=564&ncid=1480

3 U.S. Soldiers, Iraqi Killed in Samarra Attack

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Three U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi guard were killed in a mortar attack on the National Guard headquarters in Samarra, north of Baghdad, on Thursday the U.S. army said.

more

[Flagg]

1. BRING' EM ON ! cried the AWOL CHIMP

[Mari333]

2. Good morning. and now, 3 more families must wake up to face this

hell. and 3 more of our kids are dead. I have nor more words to describe the anger , the anger and fury I feel, the insanity of all this. No more.

[Leilani]

3. Updated numbers

4 dead, 2 unaccounted for, many wounded....as per MSNBC

[papau]

25. 3 dead per BBC

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=564&ncid=564&e=8&u=/nm/20040708/ts_nm/iraq_dc_275

Three U.S. Soldiers Killed in Iraq Attack

Thu Jul 8, 8:21 AM ET Add Top Stories - Reuters to My Yahoo!


By Alistair Lyon

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Guerrillas killed three U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi guard in a mortar attack on National Guard headquarters in Samarra, north of Baghdad, Thursday.

The latest violence erupted a day after Iraq 's interim government announced a new security law giving itself tougher powers to combat a bloody insurgency wracking the country.


Eighteen U.S. soldiers and three Iraqi guards were also wounded when guerrillas fired four mortar rounds at the Iraqi National Guard headquarters in Samarra, severely damaging the building, also used by U.S. troops, a military spokesman said. The 1st Infantry Division spokesman said U.S. forces used radar to locate the source of the mortar fire and responded with four 120-mm mortar rounds. Reuters television pictures showed U.S. helicopters apparently firing at targets in the town.


The deaths in Samarra, a mainly Sunni Muslim town 60 miles north of Baghdad, brought to 649 the U.S. combat toll in Iraq since the start of last year's war. <snip>

In Baghdad, police said an explosive device detonated in a vehicle in the southern Dora district, killing one person. They had initially described the blast as a car bomb attack. <snip>


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3876787.stm

US troops die in Samarra attack
At least three US soldiers and an Iraqi guard have been killed in a mortar attack in Samarra, north of Baghdad.
A US military spokesman said up to 20 American soldiers were hurt in the attack which destroyed a building used by the US and Iraqi troops.

American troops responded with mortar fire after determining where the attack had originated, the US military said.

In a separate incident, a former Baath party official was killed when a booby-trapped car exploded in Baghdad.


The latest attacks came a day after insurgents killed at least two Iraqi guards in clashes in central Baghdad, and as the Iraqi interim government signed a tough new security law to combat the insurgency.

<snip>

[papau]

28. AP now has 5 dead

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=716&e=4&u=/ap/20040708/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

5 U.S. Soldiers Killed in Iraq Gunfire

By RAVI NESSMAN, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Insurgents firing mortar rounds destroyed a headquarters used by U.S. and Iraqi forces in the city of Samarra on Thursday, killing five American soldiers and one Iraqi guardsman, the military said.

The attack, part of a day of violence and street battles in the city, also wounded 20 U.S. soldiers and four Iraqi guardsmen, said Maj. Neal O'Brien, the spokesman for the 1st Infantry Division.

Three civilians also were killed, medical officials said, and U.S. helicopters killed four insurgents, O'Brien said. <snip>


The U.S. and Iraqi troops were killed when insurgents launched 38 mortar rounds about 10:30 a.m. and destroyed the headquarters building in Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad in the so-called Sunni Triangle, a hotbed of resistance to the coalition.

Some of the rounds landed in civilian areas, the military said. Dr. Abid Tawfiq, director of the Samarra General Hospital, said three civilians were killed in the violence and 20 others were injured.

<snip>

[Justice]

4. This is On Top Of 7 Marines, 3 Yesterday, 4 On Tuesday

The number of troops killed each day keeps inching up - 1 a day, 2 a day, 3 a day, 4 a day. How sad.

[MaineDem]

5. In addition to the 7 Marines in the last 2 days?

How very sad!

And maddening!

[Wright Patman]

6. Chimpy needs to reset the counter

to "KIA since the handover."

[catmandu57]

11. Go to icasualties

they have reset the counter http:www.icasulities.com.
I have to believe that somehow, someday, everyone responcible for this maddness will pay dearly.

[Alpharetta]

16. the link is http://icasualties.org/oif/

http://icasualties.org/oif/

I found it on Google. Good site.

[catmandu57]

20. Thanks, I thought it was wrong

When I was typing it in. I've been going there since it's birth, I should know better.

[mike1963]

21. At least they do still have the totals at the bottom of the box

..

[Minstrel Boy]

7. Remember when one death was news? Remember when four

would be the news?

Now it's just background noise. And a lot of people aren't hearing it anymore.

[NNN0LHI]

9. I do remember. Seems like light years ago now n/t

[LizW]

17. I remember when some interviewer asked whether

the American people would continue to accept a rate of one lost soldier a day. At that time, we didn't think it would happen. I can't believe we're losing 3-4 a day and it doesn't even make the tv news.

[MaineDem]

8. We're nearing the 1000-killed mark

Total of all coalition deaths. 996 so far, 876 Americans.

All on your hands, Mr President!

[kayell]

10. Can someone do a photoshop of * as Lady MacBeth?

Or maybe not. The comparison would require us to believe that * is capable of feeling guilt and remorse, something we have seen no evidence to support.

[Ripley]

15. Nope...997 now...

And TV doesn't even mention it! God damn.

[TacticalPeek]

12. "The cavalry on the new American frontier"

PNAC bastards.

:grr:

[saigon68]

26. GUY LOOKS LIKE THE RODENT HE IS

LOL

[leftchick]

13. Juan Cole yet again predicted trouble...

A thread posted by Barrett808 on Wed.....Thank you Barrett!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x668059

Samarra in Chaos
posted by Juan Cole @ 7/6/2004 08:20:22 AM

Az-Zaman reports that informed sources tell it that the city of Samarra is still in a state of complete chaos, after an armed group established domination there when the American forces withdrew at the end of June. The sources maintain that gunmen blew up the headquarters of the political party of Interior Minister Fallah al-Naqib, the Independent Iraqi Bloc. They also blew up the offices of the "National Salvation" newspaper, the organ of the National Salvation Party of General Wafiq al-Samarra'i, along with the house of Col. Adnan Thabit, an adviser in the Interior Ministry, the house of the city's mayor, the central police station, the former Baath party HQ, and the house of the commander of the civil defense forces. Gen. Samarra'i confirmed that the city was in complete turmoil and that the police had retreated.. He said American forces have not intervened, despite being positioned only 2 km. outside the city. Samarra'i had been head of Iraqi intelligence until his defection in 1994 with Kurdish help, when he learned that Saddam had plotted his demise. Samarra'i said that criminal gangs numbering 300 gunmen had taken over the city and were involved in a rampage of arson, demolition and murder. He said no one in Samarra could understand why the US forces had let the city fall into chaos this way, and called upon Prime Minister Iyad Allawi to intervene.

[Barrett808]

22. Yo

Juan's da man.

[cthrumatrix]

14. this is what a press "free pass" on truth results in....

[fishnfla]

18. How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?

tell him a lie

thanks to louis lapham for that one

[leftchick]

19. Graf of US deaths....

As of July 7, 2004...




http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~stephan/USfatalities.html

[0007]

23. The heat is being turned up

[jmcgowanjm]

24. the correspondent filed a further story providing more details

On the Hayfa ST battle from Xinhua.

Two US Humvees, which came to support Iraqi forces,
were attacked by the insurgents with rocket-propelled
grenades and smallarms, Sarmad
said.

"I saw an American soldier was hit by a bullet in the head and the fighters were happy about it."

The attackers even allowed photographers to take shots of the body before kicking them away.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-07/08/content_1582041.htm

And from Muhammad Abu Nasr, Free Arab Voice

Witnesses said that the Resistance fighters struck a
US armored vehicle causing it to burn completely. Two
members of its crew were injured in that attack, they
said.

Since this happened w/in sight of the USMedia HQ,
wouldn't it seem a simple matter for them to
verify this?...maybe not.

Separately, sort of...

How the marines have been dying in Anbar province.

He wrote that the Resistance managed to shoot down two
US Chinook helicopters in the course of the al-Azraqiyah
fighting. One of them was struck and crashed instantly, killing
all aboard. The other Chinook, however, continued its flight
after being hit, but then crashed four kilometers from the
scene of the Resistance attack.

http://www.jihadunspun.net/intheatre_internal.php?article=9134&list=/home.php&

This fact could not be more explicit than in the al-Zarqawi
myth. During the past months, we have published dozens
of direct reports from resistance fighters on the ground in
Iraq and not once have we received a report containing
any reference whatsoever to al-Zarqawi. Further,
Fallujah resistance fighters have even taken to the airwaves
to say they do not know of this
individual.

And remember those 4 marines found dead
and filmed in Ramadi around 4/22?

I think these guys were trying to do a Hassoun
and the US gave them a going away present.

What else explains the lack of investigation/anger,
a bullet in each head.
Remember what we did to Falluja because of
4 contractors deaths?

Marines aren't as important?

[saigon68]

27. YA WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED THERE?????

There is something strange at work there. Every Marine Vet here ( I am not one) has commented the Marines always retrieve their dead. ?????

[Aidoneus]

32. That is the protocol

I would imagine that there are situations where they would be unable to do so, without having more to retrieve.. :shrug:

[jmcgowanjm]

39. At least one was a "Green Card" Marine

Family members have said it is unclear whether
Lopez's remains will be returned to Dalton or taken to
Mexico, where his wife, mother and sisters
live.

http://www.wgcltv.com/Global/story.asp?S=1969086

and pics-

No group has claimed responsibility for the killings but
Ramadi is part of the so-called Sunni triangle outside
Baghdad which has been at the heart of an insurgency bent
on expelling US-led troops from Iraq. 

There was no comment from the US military command on
the deaths, which bring to 619 the number of US soldiers
killed in action since the start of the Iraq war last
year. 

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6360.htm

[jmcgowanjm]

40. 2 were "green card" marines/you can't make this up

The incident occurred at the burial of Lance Cpl. Juan
Lopez Rangel, 22, who was killed in an ambush in Ramadi
on June 21.

Mexican soldiers interrupt burial of U.S. Marine
By THE WASHINGTON POST

http://www.qctimes.com/internal.php?story_id=1030552&t=Nation+%2F+World&c=26,1030552

[dArKeR]

29. CBS doesn't mention anything about the 'supporting' loss

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/02/24/iraq/main541815.shtml

This is something that needs to be followed up. Oops. There are no honest reporters in America to follow up on this!

[dArKeR]

30. jihadunspun.net - how reliable has it been in the past? It's the first

time I've browsed this site. With mini dv camera technology (and long lasting batteries) it seems they should be able to come up with some pics if they are reporting facts. At least some crash sites.

[Aidoneus]

33. it's as reliable as the sources it uses

which ranges from perfectly reliable, to not so at all.

[dArKeR]

34. I've just emailed my Taiwanese friends to ask about the China site

which also reports the extra info.

[jmcgowanjm]

38. What I try to do Aidoneus, to verify

Match reports from USMedia, or Reuters or BBC, etc.,
w/ key aspects of Jihad Unspun.

Like, 4 marines died in Al Anbar province on suchand
such a day, but we're not given any followthru.

Then take the info of casualties, time and see if it
matches.

Like the Hayfa St Battle.

USMedia source has US pulling back and
helos coming in, shooting.

Why escalate to helos if ground forces doin' the
job?

Xinhuanet/Jihad Unspun answer the question.

Also DarKer, I was under the impression that Xinhua
was the AP of China.

[dArKeR]

41. Xinhuanet News : response from Taiwanese friend

Dear x,

Everything they said about Taiwan on this website will be “not so honest”.

Since Mainland China use everything they could to control their media.

Due to Taiwan policy, China is not felt comfortable with the US.

I will not carry on their official news report too much, especially in this moment.

If you want to search some truth about the war in Iraq that never heard in America, my advice is to find some French news websites.

(This friend I never discuss politics with. I have no idea of his world political views. I think it's so interesting a person on the other side of the Earth, tells me to read French news if I want to find out the truth!)

[dArKeR]

42. Xinhuanet News : response from French friend

This is the chinese government's official website. It is very similar
to what the french T.V channels were until the late 70s (you could have
any T.V news you wanted provided they were in line with the government's
views). For independent news, you had the radios, papers and magazines...

On the other hand, I was in China in March and I could see on one of
the government's channels some documentaries about the invasion of Iraq.
They were very detailed programs with some interviews with western military
specialists (strategies, weapons used, results, failures...). One of
Bush's neocons said that Iraq would just be a warming up test before taking on
China...It may explain why the war news were so closely followed in
China.

China has only 20 nuclear ballistic warheads while the U.S can deploy
up to 7000!!!

When he was President, Clinton already warned some Pentagon think tanks
that by working on some "China menace" scenarios, they could only succeed in
scaring the hell out of China and make their scenarios a self realizing
prophecy...

China really lobbies hard the E.U for lifting the arms embargo that was
declared in 1989. It is just a matter of time before the embargo is
finally lifted. France is eager to sell Mirage fighter jets, Exocet missiles
and frigates. Germany wants to sell submarines. Frankly I guess both
countries will leave NATO soon or late as it has become nothing but an empty box.
China and India the two coming asian superpowers see the U.S as an
hostile and destabilizing hyperpower and will pay any price (weapons purchase)
to maintain their independences.

[dArKeR]

43. Xinhuanet News : response from Taiwanese friend in China

Good to hear you again.
This is a China website. I believe this website is belong to the
government, but covered with a private owned enterprise skin.

YYY in Shanghai

[DrWeird]

31. So how many does that make total?

We're closing in on 1,000 dead, right?

[Maeve]

36. 878 American+ 120 Other=998 Coalition total

http://icasualties.org/oif/

[llmart]

35. Sad, sad, sad...

The American people won't be affected by this until it's shown every night on the nightly news. And that's not going to happen with these murderers in office.

[dArKeR]

37. American law should force our Government, the people WE elected, the

people WE PAY their SALARIES... The people who are responsible to answer to us, the citizens of the United States. The law should state the military must disclose what type of wounds received, limbs lost, blinded, brain dead, ear drums blown out, shell shock... and follow up with how many amputations.

ALL REPUBLICANS ARE COWARDS AND A DISGRACE TO OUR COUNTRY!

Send all republicans to Texas and jetison Texas from the Union. They can become a state of Saudi Arabia.

[jmcgowanjm]

44. You're the best DarKer, thanx for the Xinhua/foreign views

Wierd that I agree w/ all of 'em.

Nothing is more powerful than an Idea
whose time has come.

These 1/2 humans who grab for power have seen their day.
IMHO

http://www.nynewsday.com/news/nationworld/iraq/ny-iraqsoldiers-datesorted.cdbresult?Page=3&MinCoarseRank=500&PageURL=ny-iraqsoldiers-datesorted.cdbresult&PageSize=10&turbine_cdb_lib__cdb_01_date=%3E1%2F1%2F2004&trb.tii.turbine.search.SearchQuery@682d93=&Lib=turbine_cdb_lib%3Aresult_doc_id+result_doc_rank+document_id+cdb_num+cdb_01_txt+cdb_02_txt+cdb_03_txt+cdb_04_txt+cdb_05_txt+cdb_06_txt+cdb_07_txt+cdb_01_date+cdb_08_txt+cdb_11_txt+cdb_12_txt+cdb_13_txt+cdb_09_txt+cdb_01_num+cdb_10_txt+cdb_14_txt+cdb_02_num+cdb_15_txt&QueryType=CONCEPT&SortBy=COMPOSITE_RANK+desc%2Ccdb_01_date+desc%2Ccdb_05_txt%2Ccdb_04_txt&Query=&trb.tii.turbine.search.SearchQuery@757a04

More theories on what happened to Parker (From my state Heber Springs, AR), Lopez, Contreras, and
Otey.

http://groups.msn.com/FirstAmendmentforAll/general.msnw?action=get_message&mview=0&ID_Message=27283&LastModified=4675477805411735940

[dArKeR]

45. Pic of one patrol (involved in attack?)

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/photo/2004/07/10/2003139339



http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2004/07/10/2003178430