Three US Marines killed in Iraq Saturday.

[wilheim]

Three US Marines were killed in action on Saturday in the Anbar province west of Baghdad, the US military reported.

The Marines were assigned to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, which is responsible for security in a wide area from west of Baghdad to the borders of Syria and Jordan.

The statement gave no further details, citing security reasons .

Earlier, Iraqi witnesses reported attacks on military convoys near Fallujah and Ramadi in Anbar province, and a large explosion in the area of Fallujah after sundown.

However, it was not known whether the Marines died in any of those incidents.

The US military also reported two other service member deaths on Saturday. One soldier from the Stryker Brigade died on Friday from non-hostile causes in northern Iraq, and another from the 81st Brigade Combat Team was killed on Tuesday in a mortar attack south of Baghdad. (AP)

 

[wilheim]

(Washington-AP) -- American troops in Iraq died in May at a rate of more than two per day, according to Pentagon figures. That pushes the combined death count for April and May beyond 200.

And the figures indicate that the National Guard and Reserve are bearing an increasing combat load. At least 22 of those who died this month were members of the Guard and Reserve. That's nearly 1/3 of all U.S. losses in May - about double the percentage in most previous months of the war.

The most persistent killer is the homemade roadside bomb. This month, improvised explosive devices have killed at least 19 soldiers, seven of them National Guardsmen.

In total, the Iraq conflict has taken the lives of more than 800 American troops so far.

 

[wilheim]

KUFA, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. armored forces and Iraqi militia loyal to Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr fought near the holy city of Najaf overnight into Monday, the fourth day of clashes since Sadr offered a truce.
The U.S. military said two soldiers from the 1st Armored Division were killed late on Sunday around the town of Kufa, one when his patrol was ambushed by gunmen and one when his tank was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade.

Another 1st Armored soldier was killed earlier on Sunday, bringing the total U.S. combat death toll during 14 months in Iraq to 591. They were the heaviest U.S. losses in the area, 160 km (100 miles) south of Baghdad, for some time.

Local residents and militia fighters in Kufa said U.S. tanks advanced into the town toward the main mosque and skirmished with Mehdi Army fighters based around it for about two hours around midnight (2000 GMT).

A Reuters correspondent counted about 30 bullet and shrapnel marks on one wall of the mosque and signs of shell or mortar damage to two sites, including a police checkpoint, nearby.

Five civilians from the same family were wounded, staff at the local hospital said.

One Mehdi Army squad leader said his men were abiding by the truce offer: "The Americans are trying our patience," he said.

No comment was immediately available from U.S. forces.

U.S. commanders have said, however, that they were willing to wait several days after the truce offer on Thursday to assess whether it had succeeded in ending two months of fighting across Shi'ite southern Iraq.

Reuters.

 

[jeffry22]

wil - I gather you dont like bush very much but are you so ignorant you cant even type a single paragraph of your own thoughts . your constant posting of news reports is just plain silly.

 

[wilheim]

Easy solution if you do not like it then don't read any of my posts. Personally I don't find American soldiers getting killed every day silly.


wil.

 

[jeffry22]

Whats silly is you cutting and pasting like mad thinking that somehow you will change anyones opinion. havnt you noticed just about everyone on this board has strong fixed opinions?

 

[wilheim]

Like I said if you don't like it ignore it. Perhaps that might be to difficult for you. In that case try to open your eyes to what is reall happening in the world. I know you would like to continue to hide your head in the sand and pretend everything is going smoothly for your Pres. but sorry that is just not the case, whether you like it or not.

wil.