Nine U.S. Troops Die in American Hostage Free

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Nine U.S. servicemen were killed in Iraq Sunday -- six of them in a mortar attack -- but U.S. commanders also announced American civilian Thomas Hamill had escaped after being held hostage for three weeks by gunmen.

U.S. Marine Major T.V. Johnson told reporters the mortar attack had targeted a military base two hours drive from Falluja, the flashpoint Sunni city some 30 miles west of Baghdad, but would give no further details.

Two U.S. soldiers were killed in northwest Baghdad and another died when guerrillas detonated a roadside bomb and fired assault rifles at a U.S. base near the northern oil city of Kirkuk.

<snip>

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=5009305§ion=news

Although I would not be surprised if journalists were just screwing up.

You'd think with all the billions spent on our high tech defense, we could figure out who gets killed and when more easily.

1-May: 4
1 - Task Force Olympia, killed in IED attack, Qarrayah;
1 - Task Force Olympia, killed in IED attack, Balad;
2 - unit unnamed, killed in IED attack, Amarah

2-May: 9
2 - unit unnamed, killed in IED attack, northwest Baghdad;
1 - unit unnamed, killed in bomb attack near Kirkuk;
6 - unit unnamed, killed in mortar attack, al-Anbar province

You have to actually read the stories. The 2 killed in Amarah died "late Saturday," which is why they are not counted with today's nine.

What a pitiful excuse for leadership!:shrug:

Bush officially declared and end to combat ops, period
Mission NOT accomplished.

Step in a life of miserable failures. I'm so embarassed for the Republicans!! NOT!:evilgrin: :toast: :smoke:

i recall the 'major added' controversy a few months after it happened, i believe in november, when a hundred casualties occurred....but surely every media outlet on earth has the original (if it was in fact the plain 'combat operations' without the qualifier).
This transcends '1984' for sheer venality, if bush indeed said 'combat operations' and not 'major' combat operations, which is what he appeared to say in april/04 clip i saw....

.

celebrations to the aniversary of our glorious liberation?

Yep them Iraqis sure know how to throw a party and shower our
troops with explosive tipped flowers and candy.

All I have to ask is, who will tell the children


Ah the sweeet lie,

Dulce et Decorum Est
Pro Patria Mori

The headline makes it sound as if the troops died in direct connection to the "freeing" of the American hostage.
From the Reuters article:
After April became the bloodiest month for U.S. troops in Iraq with 129 combat deaths, American commanders were able to report good news when Hamill, a trucker, ran into the arms of a U.S. patrol close to Saddam Hussein's home town of Tikrit.

"He had an opportunity to escape, saw some U.S. forces and made his dash," General Richard Myers, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Americans on breakfast television.

In the original report I read re: Hamill, it was stated he found a pipeline worker and identified himself. Am I confused, or is the US BS Factory turning this into a military victory?

Although Hamill stated he was ready to return to work in Iraq, would think coming home and selling rights to a movie based on his experiences would net him far more financially.

No mention on CNN's website of any American casualties today. The freed hostage is headlined.

Is a combat death real if it is never reported?

I can never find any information on their website about it.

THIS MUST BE STOPPED - NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! :mad:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/05/02/international1443EDT0524.DTL

Excerpts here:

American hostage escapes captors; Eleven U.S. soldiers killed in widespread attacks

LEE KEATH, Associated Press Writer
Sunday, May 2, 2004

(05-02) 11:43 PDT BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) --

....
Insurgents attacked U.S. forces across Iraq, killing 11 Americans.

....
Meanwhile, 11 soldiers were killed in separate attacks, the military said, raising the U.S. death toll to 151 since a wave of violence began April 1. At least 753 U.S. troops have died in Iraq since the war began in March 2003.

Six U.S. service members were killed and another 30 were wounded in a mortar attack near the western city of Ramadi.

The city is about 60 miles west of Baghdad in Anbar province, which includes Fallujah. A military spokeswoman gave no further details and did not say whether the victims were Marines or Army soldiers, but most Americans stationed there are Marines.

Another U.S. soldier was killed and 10 were wounded in a bomb and small arms attack on a coalition base near the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk.

Overnight, Shiite militiamen attacked a U.S. convoy with small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades near the southern city of Amarah, 180 miles south of Baghdad. Two soldiers were killed, the military said. Through the night and into Sunday morning, Iraqis set fire to the long line of abandoned vehicles, jumping on the hoods and beating them with sticks.
...
An attack in northwest Baghdad killed two other soldiers and wounded two Iraqi security officers and another American, the military said.

and between the four yesterday and 11 so far, we are at fifteen for the first two days

Way to go Bush

nt

Also, I have my doubts about how this story is being told. I have a hunch the Iraqis just let him go, to juxtapose their treatment of hostages with the U.S. military's torture of prisoners. It would be a smart move on their part, in terms of world p.r.

He had lost his farm and his wife needed heart surgery--I would hardly call him a "war profiteer."

The real profiteers are not driving trucks in combat zones.

it's not WHY he needs the money that counts. The money made is BLOOD MONEY.