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thedrifter
06-05-07, 06:10 AM
Families, soldiers weigh video's message

By JOHN KEKIS, Associated Press Writer
Mon Jun 4, 8:45 PM ET

Word of a new video that claims three captured soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division were killed in Iraq last month reached the gates of this Army base on Monday as some of their comrades prepared to return to war.

Soldiers getting their hair cut could watch the news on television screens, but most who came and went from Bradley's Military, a supply store just outside the sprawling base that the division calls home, paid little attention. Few wanted to talk about it.

"The (American) people don't need to hear any more about the battlefield," said Spc. Daniel Asuncion, 21, who was injured in a rocket-propelled grenade attack less than a month ago in Afghanistan. "They already hear enough. It's propaganda for our enemy."

But Sgt. Troy Jenkins, who returns to Iraq on Saturday, said the fate of the three soldiers weighs on him, as does the thought of how those under his command will react.

"It means a lot, especially thinking about those soldiers and if they're dead or if they're not, what type of torment they went through," Jenkins said. "They're doing a job liberating the Iraqi people. It gets to me because you see how it works with the insurgents that we capture. We take care of them."

Jenkins, 36, has spent the past 13 years with the 10th Mountain Division and was previously in the Marines. He has served in Afghanistan, Iraq twice, and Saudi Arabia.

"I worry about my young fellows and how they process it," Jenkins said. "I keep their head in the game, keep them occupied."

The video says al-Qaida-linked insurgents killed the three soldiers in mid-May and claims to show footage of the ambush. The video offered no proof that the soldiers had been killed and buried.

The body of one of the soldiers was found in the Euphrates River, but the other two remain missing.

The body found May 23 was identified by the U.S. military as Pfc. Joseph Anzack Jr., 20, of Torrance, Calif. The missing soldiers have been identified as Spc. Alex R. Jimenez, 25, of Lawrence, Mass., and of Pvt. Byron W. Fouty, 19, of Waterford Township, Mich.

The families and neighbors of the men held out hope Monday. Fouty's stepfather, Gordon Dibler of Oxford, Mich., said the military told him Saturday that the video showed personal identification items from the soldiers.

"We're praying, and so far, we don't know for certain that they aren't alive," he said.

A family friend said the military briefed Fouty's father, Mick Fouty, about the video on Saturday night.

"What it does not show one way or another is if they're alive or not," said Cathy Conger of suburban Detroit. "I just feel really bad about it. I hope that he's still alive. My prayers are with him."

Jimenez's mother, Maria del Rosario Duran, told reporters outside her home in New York City that she and Fouty's mother are in the same situation.

Speaking in Spanish, she said, "The belongings of my son, his ID, is what they have shown until now. I ask God for strength; the outcome of this situation is in his hands."

Francisco Urena, the veteran services director in Jimenez's hometown of Lawrence, said people in town remained hopeful despite the video.

"I have received about two dozen phone calls from private citizens wanting to know the latest on this news and offer the family their support," he said. "The city seems to be united in such a unique and tragic experience that we have been going through."

___

Associated Press writer David N. Goodman in Detroit contributed to this report.

Ellie

thedrifter
06-05-07, 07:11 AM
Al-Qaida front group claims to have killed U.S. soldiers captured in Iraq ambush last month

By: KIM GAMEL - Associated Press

BAGHDAD -- Insurgents linked to al-Qaida issued a video Monday claiming they killed all three U.S. soldiers captured in an ambush last month. "They were alive and then dead," a voice said during a sequence of images that included the military IDs of two Americans still missing.

The nearly 11-minute video by an al-Qaida front group, the Islamic State of Iraq, offered no proof that the soldiers were killed and buried. The U.S. military insisted the massive manhunt south of Baghdad will go on.

"We condemn the tactics used by these terrorists, and are using all means available to pursue those responsible," said Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner, the chief military spokesman in Baghdad. "We continue to search and hope that our two missing soldiers will be found alive and in good health."


The video, posted on a militant Web site, included grainy black-and-white footage said to have been taken during the May 12 pre-dawn ambush. It also showed credit cards, money and other personal items the militants called "booty." A headline said: "Bush is the reason of the loss of your POWs."

The video was likely a show of strength by al-Qaida-linked militants, who find themselves increasingly engaged in violent battles against more moderate Sunni insurgents in Iraq.

Jon Alterman, the Middle East program director for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the insurgents could have many other reasons for releasing the video.

"It could be an effort to stop U.S. efforts to find them. It could be an effort to lighten up the pressure. It could be an effort to sow confusion," he said. "It certainly doesn't seem like anything definitive."

Regardless of the soldiers' status, the footage was the latest setback for the U.S. military as it seeks to quell the sectarian violence raging in Iraq. Military officials also acknowledged Monday that U.S.-led forces have control of fewer than one-third of Baghdad's neighborhoods despite thousands of extra troops nearly four months into a security crackdown -- an assessment that came as the U.S. death toll approached 3,500, with at least 15 American troops reported killed in the first three days of June.

Lt. Col. Scott Bleichwehl, a military spokesman for Baghdad operations, confirmed a status report completed in May found that American and Iraqi forces were able to "protect the population" and "maintain physical influence over" only 146 of the 457 Baghdad neighborhoods, while troops have either not begun operations aimed at rooting out insurgents or still face "resistance" in the others.

The report appeared to be the first comprehensive analysis of the progress of the operation that began Feb. 14. Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, is due to report in September on whether the current troop increase is working amid a fierce debate in Washington over whether President Bush should begin withdrawing American forces.

But Bleichwehl stressed that the assessment, first reported by The New York Times, did not mean a lack of progress and said the setbacks were largely because of the need to return to some areas that had previously been cleared, as well as problems with the availability and reliability of Iraqi police.

"It's way too early to try and project what Baghdad will look like in September," he said in a telephone interview.

U.S. officials also pointed out that they have warned from the beginning that it would not be easy to pacify Baghdad and did not expect to see serious progress until autumn.

"We have stated all along that this was going to be harder before it gets easier," military spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Garver said. "It's going to be a tough fight over the summer, and the plan is just in its beginning stages."

Iraqi authorities reported at least 15 people killed Monday in eight bombings, shootings and other incidents. In addition, at least 47 bodies were discovered nationwide, apparent victims of sectarian or political killings; they included 28 bullet-ridden bodies in Baghdad, most handcuffed, blindfolded and showing signs of torture

The Bush administration, which has ordered some 30,000 extra American troops to Baghdad and surrounding areas as part of the security crackdown, has warned that the buildup will result in more U.S. casualties as American soldiers increasingly come into contact with enemy forces and concentrate on the streets of Baghdad and remote outposts.

The three U.S. soldiers were abducted as they were participating in an operation to watch for insurgents placing roadside bombs on a dangerous road near Mahmoudiya, about 20 miles south of Baghdad. The militants breached the concertina wire surrounding the stationary outpost composed of two Humvees, killing four other American troops and an Iraqi

The Islamic State of Iraq issued Web statements shortly after the attack claiming responsibility and warning the Americans to call off the hunt "if you want their safety."

A body found in the Euphrates River on May 23, 11 days after the attack, was identified by the U.S. military as Pfc. Joseph Anzack Jr., 20, of Torrance, Calif.

Spc. Alex R. Jimenez, 25, of Lawrence, Mass., and of Pvt. Byron W. Fouty, 19, of Waterford, Mich., remain missing.

Monday's video clip, made available to The Associated Press by the Washington-based SITE Institute, offered close-ups of two identification cards for Jimenez and Fouty, but did not show the soldiers.

The footage also showed credit cards, money and other personal items the militants called "booty." A headline said: "Bush is the reason of the loss of your POWs."

The video also showed footage of three masked and black clad men standing around a stand displaying a sketch of the area, apparently mapping out the attack plan. "I have urged you to bring me American prisoners," said the man, whose name was not given but was identified as one of the militant group's leaders.

"The Americans sent 4,000 soldiers looking for them," an unidentified voice said on the video, which featured the logo of the media production house of the Islamic State of Iraq. "They were alive and then dead."

The voiceover blamed their deaths on "the American Army and their leaders, who do not care for the feelings of the soldiers' mothers."

"And as you refused to deliver the bodies of our killed people, we will not deliver the bodies of your dead, and their end will be beneath the ground, Allah willing," the voice said.

The U.S. military insisted the search would continue.

"We are further analyzing the video, however it doesn't appear to contain any definitive evidence indicating the status of our missing soldiers," Bergner said.

Fouty's stepfather, Gordon Dibler, said relatives and family friends will continue believing he is alive.

"It's actually been hopeful for me that these items are being displayed," Dibler told reporters during a news conference in Oxford, Mich. "I hope that those who hold him understand that he is just a boy, becoming a man."

-- Associated Press writers Corey Williams in Detroit and Anna Johnson and Maamoun Youssef in Cairo, Egypt, contributed to this report.

American soldiers and civilians abducted in Iraq

More than 25 Americans are believed to have been abducted by militants in Iraq since the beginning of the war. Here are some of them: - -- May 12, 2007: Three U.S. soldiers were abducted in an ambush south of Baghdad. The body of Pfc. Joseph Anzack Jr., 20, of Torrance, Calif., was later found May 23. On June 4, a video by al-Qaida-linked insurgents claimed all three soldiers were killed, including Spc. Alex R. Jimenez, 25, of Lawrence, Mass., and Pvt. Byron W. Fouty, 19, of Waterford, Mich. But the video offered no direct proof.

-- Nov. 26, 2005: Tom Fox, 54, of Clear Brook, Va., and three other men from the Chicago-based peace group Christian Peacemaker Teams were kidnapped. Fox was found fatally shot in Baghdad on March 10, 2006. The three others -- two Canadians and a Briton -- were rescued March 23.

-- Dec. 6, 2005: The Islamic Army in Iraq released a video of a captive Ronald Schulz, 40, of Anchorage, Alaska. A later tape purportedly showed a man with Schulz's identity card being shot in the head. His family said they believe he is dead.

-- Sept. 16, 2004: Militants seized three workers at Gulf Services Co. -- Jack Hensley, 48, a civil engineer from Marietta, Ga., Eugene "Jack" Armstrong, 52, formerly of Hillsdale, Mich., and Kenneth Bigley, 62, of Britain. An Internet message posted days later reported their killings by followers of al-Qaida in Iraq.

-- April 2004: Nicholas Berg, 26, a businessman from West Chester, Penn., was kidnapped and beheaded by a man identified as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq. (Al-Zarqawi was killed in Iraq in June 2006 by a U.S. airstrike.)

-- April 9, 2004: U.S. Army Sgt. Keith M. Maupin, 20, of Batavia, Ohio, and civilian contractor Timothy Bell of Mobile, Ala., disappeared after an attack on a fuel convoy. Arab TV reported Maupin was killed; the U.S. military lists him as missing.

-- Research provided by The Associated Press News Research Center.

Ellie