thedrifter
04-05-07, 08:38 AM
Friendly Fire Suspected In 2 Troop Deaths
Arizona, Montana Soldiers' Deaths Being Investigated
POSTED: 5:50 pm EDT April 4, 2007
UPDATED: 6:22 pm EDT April 4, 2007
WASHINGTON -- The Army said Tuesday that two U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq in February may have died as a result of friendly fire.
Pvt. Matthew Zeimer, 18, of Glendive, Mont., and Spc. Alan E. McPeek, 20, of Tucson, Ariz., were killed in Ramadi, in western Iraq on Feb. 2.
The families of the soldiers at first were told they were killed by enemy fire.
Army spokesman Col. Daniel Baggio said unit commanders in Iraq did not initially suspect they were killed by U.S. forces, but an investigation by the unit has found they may have been.
Gates Bullish On Baghdad
Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Wednesday that security in Baghdad has improved.
"So far, so good," Gates said of the new troop surge on the Laura Ingraham Show. But he added that it is too early to draw conclusions about the plan's success.
A third U.S. brigade is in Baghdad but hasn't fully joined operations. The last two U.S. brigades into the Iraqi capital will be there by late May or early June, Defense Department officials said.
Gates said the Iraqis have delivered additional troops as they promised, Iraqi commanders in Baghdad are directing operations, and the Iraqi government also keeping to a committment of no political interference in operations, Gates said.
"What's interesting to me is just in the last few days, looking at the news media ... there have actually been some pretty positive stories coming out of Baghdad -- children returning to playgrounds, markets reopening, and so on," the secretary said.
300 Dead In Past Few Weeks
A military spokesman said that while there has been a drop in overall casualties in the capital, with fewer execution-style killings and assassinations, the military remains extremely concerned about bombings that have killed more than 300 people in past weeks.
Maj. Gen. William Caldwell acknowledged the violence in Iraq as a whole hasn't gone down as much as the military was hoping.
But he told AP Radio big steps are being taken to keep suicide bombers out of crowded areas, including redirecting traffic and putting thousands of barriers outside markets and other locations.
Heavily armed gunmen on Wednesday abducted 22 Shiite shepherds who were tending thousands of sheep and had wandered into a dangerous Sunni area west of Baghdad, while six power plant workers were gunned down in northern Iraq.
The attacks reflected the spread of sectarian violence outside Baghdad as violence declines in the capital, where a U.S.-Iraqi security crackdown is in its eighth week.
The shepherds had traveled from the Shiite holy city of Karbala to a greener stretch of land in the vast area around Amariyah, some 25 miles west of Baghdad in the Sunni-dominated Anbar province, Karbala police spokesman Rahman Mishawi said.
A shepherd who escaped the attack said about 20 men with automatic rifles drove up in vehicles and opened fire on the group as their several thousand sheep were grazing.
In all, at least 34 people were killed or found dead in Iraq on Wednesday, including the six Sunni Arab men killed in an ambush near the oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk.
Marine Gen. Says Training Suffering
The Marines' top general said Wednesday the Iraq war is keeping the Corps from getting some training it needs.
Gen. James Conway said the war is forcing the Marines to forego training in jungle warfare and other skills.
Conway said the Marines are the nation's "shock troops" and have to be ready to make amphibious landings and conduct operations that require training that the troops are not receiving.
Conway added the Marines also have to get back to basic skills such as firing artillery.
Conway made the comments while speaking to a group of Marines in Bahrain at the U.S. naval headquarters for the Persian Gulf.
He stopped there before heading to Iraq to visit some of the 25,000 Marines in Anbar province.
Ellie
Arizona, Montana Soldiers' Deaths Being Investigated
POSTED: 5:50 pm EDT April 4, 2007
UPDATED: 6:22 pm EDT April 4, 2007
WASHINGTON -- The Army said Tuesday that two U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq in February may have died as a result of friendly fire.
Pvt. Matthew Zeimer, 18, of Glendive, Mont., and Spc. Alan E. McPeek, 20, of Tucson, Ariz., were killed in Ramadi, in western Iraq on Feb. 2.
The families of the soldiers at first were told they were killed by enemy fire.
Army spokesman Col. Daniel Baggio said unit commanders in Iraq did not initially suspect they were killed by U.S. forces, but an investigation by the unit has found they may have been.
Gates Bullish On Baghdad
Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Wednesday that security in Baghdad has improved.
"So far, so good," Gates said of the new troop surge on the Laura Ingraham Show. But he added that it is too early to draw conclusions about the plan's success.
A third U.S. brigade is in Baghdad but hasn't fully joined operations. The last two U.S. brigades into the Iraqi capital will be there by late May or early June, Defense Department officials said.
Gates said the Iraqis have delivered additional troops as they promised, Iraqi commanders in Baghdad are directing operations, and the Iraqi government also keeping to a committment of no political interference in operations, Gates said.
"What's interesting to me is just in the last few days, looking at the news media ... there have actually been some pretty positive stories coming out of Baghdad -- children returning to playgrounds, markets reopening, and so on," the secretary said.
300 Dead In Past Few Weeks
A military spokesman said that while there has been a drop in overall casualties in the capital, with fewer execution-style killings and assassinations, the military remains extremely concerned about bombings that have killed more than 300 people in past weeks.
Maj. Gen. William Caldwell acknowledged the violence in Iraq as a whole hasn't gone down as much as the military was hoping.
But he told AP Radio big steps are being taken to keep suicide bombers out of crowded areas, including redirecting traffic and putting thousands of barriers outside markets and other locations.
Heavily armed gunmen on Wednesday abducted 22 Shiite shepherds who were tending thousands of sheep and had wandered into a dangerous Sunni area west of Baghdad, while six power plant workers were gunned down in northern Iraq.
The attacks reflected the spread of sectarian violence outside Baghdad as violence declines in the capital, where a U.S.-Iraqi security crackdown is in its eighth week.
The shepherds had traveled from the Shiite holy city of Karbala to a greener stretch of land in the vast area around Amariyah, some 25 miles west of Baghdad in the Sunni-dominated Anbar province, Karbala police spokesman Rahman Mishawi said.
A shepherd who escaped the attack said about 20 men with automatic rifles drove up in vehicles and opened fire on the group as their several thousand sheep were grazing.
In all, at least 34 people were killed or found dead in Iraq on Wednesday, including the six Sunni Arab men killed in an ambush near the oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk.
Marine Gen. Says Training Suffering
The Marines' top general said Wednesday the Iraq war is keeping the Corps from getting some training it needs.
Gen. James Conway said the war is forcing the Marines to forego training in jungle warfare and other skills.
Conway said the Marines are the nation's "shock troops" and have to be ready to make amphibious landings and conduct operations that require training that the troops are not receiving.
Conway added the Marines also have to get back to basic skills such as firing artillery.
Conway made the comments while speaking to a group of Marines in Bahrain at the U.S. naval headquarters for the Persian Gulf.
He stopped there before heading to Iraq to visit some of the 25,000 Marines in Anbar province.
Ellie