3 U.S. Soldiers, 2 Iraqis Killed in Bomb Attack War Death Toll Reaches 500

[underpants]

http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20040117041909990005

TIKRIT, Iraq (Jan. 17) - A roadside bomb detonated north of Baghdad on Saturday, killing three U.S. soldiers and two Iraqi civil defense troopers, a U.S. military spokesman said. The deaths bring to 500 the number of American service members who have died since the Iraq war began.

Two Americans also were wounded in the attack, which occurred when a
Bradley Fighting Vehicle struck an explosive device on a road near Taji, about 20 miles north of Baghdad, said Lt. Col. Bill McDonald, a spokesman for the 4th Infantry Division.

The vehicle caught fire (made of aluminum) , killing the three Americans and two Iraqis who were on joint U.S.-Iraqi patrol, McDonald said.

CNN reported that the Bradley flipped over and caught fire.

Also Saturday, the military said a U.S. soldier died from a non-hostile gunshot wound south of Baghdad. The incident occurred Friday evening near Diwaniyah south of Baghdad, the command said in a statement. No further details were released.

[rfranklin]

1. Bush bats 500!

Keep it up, Slugger!

No to mention his record of 10,000 wounded and hideously crippled. He's my hero! Bring 'em on! He's no sissy Democrat, latte-drinkin' liberal loser!

[Hav]

4. Stop the sarcasm..

at least one could imagine having a drink with bush opposed to Gore who was so stiff...

[NNN0LHI]

7. Yea, but Bush is a drunk n/t

[leftchick]

14. oh what a lovely comparison....

Hmmm, which would I choose. A drink with a drunken, moronic loser who can't string a sentence together when he is sober. Or a coffee with one of the most intelligent, thoughtful, engaging Democratic leaders of our time. Guess.... :eyes:

[are_we_united_yet]

16. Oooooh good one!

Clever

:)

[alcuno]

47. Now you are the one being sarcastic, right?

Must be. It doesn't make sense the other way.

[Hav]

50. .

Damn,it surely embarrasses me when my poor attempts at sarcasm/humour don't work.
I blame it on the reasoning of certain repubs that some people consider the possibility that it wasn't a joke.

[wryter2000]

53. Never mind eom

[Pax Argent]

55. I used to think that

Until I saw him on Saturday Night Live. The man is quick and funny and I feel that it is a damn shame that the supreme court cheated him and us as a nation.

Its sad that class and comportment can be misconstrued as being "stiff", but at least there are no pictures of Gore on record with his finger up his nose!!

[Pax Argent]

64. On second thought

maybe I would have a beer with bush, but I wouldn't share a plate of nachos with him!

[bfusco]

22. I think Bush's average is much higher

Is 10,000 the actual number or is that just where they stopped counting?

[underpants]

2. Specs on a Bradley-25 TON vehicle NBC says the turret split open

I was a gunner on one of these during my time in the Cav ('90-93). This is really scary.



http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/books/www/256.htm

CHARACTERISTICS
Length: 20.5 feet
Width: 10.5 feet
Height: 9.7 feet
Weight: 24.8 tons (M2) 24.7 tons (M3)
Speed: 41 miles per hour
Range: 300 miles
Crew: 3
Passengers: 6 (M2) 2 (M3)
ARMAMENT
Primary: 25-mm. cannon
Secondary: 7.62-mm. machine gun
TOW missiles (two launch tubes)

[NNN0LHI]

10. CNN reported that the blast blew the turret completely off

One hell of a blast.

Don

[underpants]

20. Yikes

They had to pull the turret out of my Brad (it leaned to the left and no one could figure out why) and I can tell you that was no easy task.

That must have been a huge explosion.

[Zech Marquis]

44. my god!!!

to blow the turret off one of these things--that was one hell of a blast :( and a bunch of new US troops are on their way in...:scared:

[Arpeggia]

3. Still a far cry from the the 3000 lost in the WTC attack

And if this prevents another 9-11, then so be it.

[Hav]

5. yeah

Saddam won't attack the WTC again.That'll teach him.

By the way,your "far cry from the 3000" doesn't include the people of Iraq.

[underpants]

8. Welcome to DU

:hi: if'n I haven't before

That was a great response.

[Arpeggia]

11. Yeah, it' sad that the Iraqis who chose to support

the effort against our boys had to die. I agree. Let's hope thugs will think twice before harboring terrorists again.

[wtmusic]

38. No, I think it's more like

'it's sad they had to defend the effort our boys had against Iraq...'

:eyes:

[NickB79]

60. Yeah, thats why we're killing women and children

I'm sure the 20,000 innocent civilians we killed were all supporting terrorists.

[underpants]

6. Oh a 9/11 reference

buying that one huh?

Preventing 9/11 would have been a good start but alas counter terrorism measures that were in place and strident warnings that Sandy Berger issued personally to Condi Rice were under applied and the warnings unheeded. Operation Ignore was is full effect.

Please to bring the Sudan story up either, that is a right wing talk radio and FOX propelled distortion (there's a surprise).

As we do with everyone here Welcome to DU :hi:

good luck.

[gristy]

9. Pray tell, how does invading Iraq prevent another 9-11?

I know, let's invade France and prevent another 9-11!

[Arpeggia]

12. Simple. Iraq harbored terrorists.

That's been proven. Other countries will think twice about harboring terrorists and WMD now. Witness Libya

[gristy]

13. So does France!

That's been proven. I look forward to you leading the charge into Paris!

[underpants]

17. Were there any terrorists in the US prior to and on 9/11?

If the answer is yes then the all knowing leader of that country could be said to have "harbored terrorists".

[wryter2000]

57. Just found some in Texas, underpants

Two old white supremacists with a chemical bomb.

Bomb Texas! </sarcasm>

[Arpeggia]

18. Nobody ever said France was in our good graces

A lot of people are growing to despise France and rightfully so

[leftchick]

21. are you ready for the draft?

to fight in the neocon vision of endless war? It is coming if junior is reselected....be prepared!

[Turbineguy]

61. I told my daughter to put out the word

in 2000 a vote for Bush was a vote for war, in 2004 a vote for Bush is a vote for the Draft. I tell every young person I talk to. These people have to get out and vote.

[underpants]

24. France, the new boogeyman

When you run out of bad guys you turn on your allies.

Cold War-Soviets were easy guys to put the black hats on

Sprinkle in a WAR on Drugs to create bad guys here

Ooops cold war is over.....we need a bad guy to avert attention to domestic issues

Noreiga! but wait he was OUR S.O.B. no matter attack

Done

Uh uh Saddam! Okay that one was right because there was a cause for that war (regardless of the FACT that he too had been OUR S.O.B.)

Done


Uh uh Clinton! Let's spend $80 million and keep that in the headlines.

uh uh don't want to mention that bastard we can't find..........Saddam!!

uh uh FRANCE!

[Flagg]

29. we're so scaaaaaaaaaaaaared LOL

[wtmusic]

36. Arpeggia, welcome to DU

but you gonna have your hands full...

:hi:

[underpants]

15. What terrorists? Ansar al-Islam?

In the North of Iraq where Saddam had no control?

The alQaeda related group that was alQaeda foothold in Iraq to overthrow Saddam?

Where is Salmon Pak? Have they ever given it's actual location? NO.

[wryter2000]

58. Don't forget Saudi Arabia

Just found some Al Qaeda camps there.

Invade Saudi Arabia </sarcasm>

[leftchick]

19. didn't we have terrists in upstate NY???

Guess we better start bombing the states cuz that's how you show them, right. I believe Saudi Arabia harbors terrists too, but we can't bomb the Bush Crime Buddys now can we? Your logic is flawed to say the least....

[RedSock]

27. harboring terrorists in US

Just off the top of my head:

Florida, New Jersey, Alabama, Calfornia, New York, Nevada, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Texas, Georgia, Oklahoma ...

DAMN .... we got a LOT of states to bomb!!! Let's get crackin' Mr. With Us Or Against Us.

[Cooley Hurd]

23. Al Qaeda attacked the US, not Saddam or any of his pet groups...

If you believe Libya was frightened into giving up on its WMD programs (programs being the operative word here), then I pray you never find a future position in government, because:

A) You're naive
B) Every country has WMD programs (for self-defense purposes), but may or may not have the ability to produce them. Iraq most certainly fell into this category.

Iraq had NOTHING to do with 9/11. Bush, Powell, Rice and Wolfwitz ALL admit that.

You should try stepping away from that ClearChannel station and read a bit more, because you are most uninformed...

[NNN0LHI]

25. Give me one example of an Iraqi committing a terrorist attack...

...against the US. Bet you can't. I can give you an example of a Republican committing an act of terror against the US though. Timothy McVeigh.

Don

[bfusco]

32. What are you talking about?

Iraq's regime was secular and worked to suppress Islamic fundamentalism. Not one terrorist attack against the United States originated in Iraq. Iraq is probably the only region of the Middle East where a tight lid was kept on Islamic fundamentalism (with the exception of the regions that Hussein had no control over. Bin Laden is thrilled the US has done one of the their chief aims in removing Hussein and now providing a vast frontier to wage war against the United States, incite anti-American/Western sentiment in the region and hopefully further destabilize the region. If you want to see the real scourge of Al Qaeda look no further then Saudi Arabia; from indoctrination of hatred, funding, recruitment and execution of attacks but of course Bush and Co's is completely in bed with the Saudi Royal family all for the sake of oil. Hussein was the easiest and most convenient scapegoat to launch this neo-con snow job.

[BenDavid]

46. Witness Libya

Oh My My.....Libya is about Oil. No more No less.

[MidwestTransplant]

51. Yeah sure, Libya

I am sure he was real scared. Next stop was surely N. Africa. Did you ever think that he was concerned about an fundamentalist insurgency in his country and that's why he came crying to the West.

[wryter2000]

56. Which ones?

Ansar al Islam, maybe? The group that used to be beyond Saddam's control and is now free to roam Iraq killing our troops?

You need a geography lesson.

[NickB79]

59. Proven eh?

Lets see, did you not see Bush and Powell admit on TV that they have no evidence Saddam was working with Bin Laden or had any connection with Al Queda?

[Mari333]

28. Excuse me but Saddam had nothing to do with 9/11!!

For christs sake this fraud of a war will CAUSE MORE TERRORISM not end it! we attacked a country that HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH 9/11
and our kids are dying for NOTHING.
Jesus Christ wake up

[Teaser]

33. Why do you hate American soldiers?

Talking about their deaths with such glee is unamerican. You should be ashamed.

[fishguy]

35. What is this statement all about?! Iraq and 9/11-No connection

[pretzel4gore]

41. bushinc attacked the WTC

that's the good news (ie: there aint any danger from islamic terrorism, not beyond ordinary criminal extremeism (see 1972, '73, '74, '75 etc)

[Malva Zebrina]

49. Hey, if another 9-11 is needed you can bet George will see to it

that he lets it happen again. Killing thousands of innocent people who had nothing to do with 9-11, is no security at all against another terrorist attack on US soil In fact, for those who are a little slow on the uptake, I will advise that it almost ensures that another attack is inevitable.

[wryter2000]

54. Well, then

How many American kids is Bush allowed to kill in your book, then? 2,999? 3,001?

[meti57b]

26. Getting saddam was not worth the life of even one of our brave military ..

and now we have lost 500 of them. Of course, this wasn't really about saddam, ..it was about oil and US control of the middle east.

[salinen]

31. RWer disappears

how typical.

[RamblingRose]

30. Terrorists in the U.S.? Don't forget the cases of anthrax that the media

& repugs seems to have forgotten about! I guess that was Saddam too!

[NNN0LHI]

34. He forgot about Reagan and Bush 1 supporting Osama bin Laden...

...for over a decade too. Osama was known as a freedom fighter back then. The US must have trained and supplied him very well.

Don

[pippin]

42. Reagan Bush supporting Sadam

[pippin]

39. Guess we've forgotten Oklahoma,

and the una-bomber. Don't forget who "made" Sadam. He was "our man in Iraq" and the US most certainly helped him and ther Baathists come into power. As far as Bush and his cabal are concerned, right now, the world regards them as terrorists.

[underpants]

40. April 19, 1995

Sad.

[Bob3]

37. Damn * and all his butchers

And a special place in hell for the people who decided that aluminum armor was a good idea for a APC you can bet they weren't going to be riding in a Bradley.

[Justice]

43. Very Sad

I was just hoping this morning that there would be no stories this weekend about deaths - as wrong as Bush was/is-- I don't want to see deaths to keep proving how wrong he is.

[BenDavid]

45. A Damn Shame:

So now we have the Daytona 500 and the Indy 500 etc etc and all bring happiness to those that enjoy that sport, but with the Bush 500 there are no trophies given. No big pay check. No points given. There is no winner, but these brave soldiers that took their orders and did their jobs and served our country proud are not losers and did not die in vain either. We as a country are the losers by having lost these brave soldiers and just where is the damn outrage. Oh there is plenty in DU but damn, the Democrats in Congress are not outraged. There has to come a time when you just have to say, enough is enough. As long as bush can get away with "Fear" in 04 and those elected to speak for us puts their voices on mute, then we will have more of this. Remember in thought or prayer those that made the ultimate sacrifice.

[alcuno]

48. May they all find peace with God.

So sad.

[markses]

52. More bad news from Iraq

From the NY Times article on the Bradley attack:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/18/international/middleeast/18IRAQ.html

On Friday morning, insurgents attacked the south-central headquarters of the American-led Coalition Provisional Authority in Hilla, about 60 miles southwest of Baghdad, killing one Iraqi and wounding several others, American authorities said in a statement. The Americans gave no other details of the attack.

Also on Friday, saboteurs blew up a pylon supporting a high-voltage line leading from the north-central town of Beiji to Kirkuk, plunging Kirkuk into darkness. Since the summer, insurgents have been particularly active around Beiji, focusing their efforts on destroying oil pipelines from the oil-rich region around Kirkuk. As a result, Iraq has so far been unable to export oil from the area through a pipeline to Turkey.

The road where the Taji attack took place is one that locals, rather than the military, use often, Major Aberle said. But American soldiers and Iraqi Civil Defense Corps members at a base on the edge of Taji described the area where the attack occurred as hostile. By 2 p.m., the highway from Taji to Baghdad was closed because of another bomb on the road, which American ordnance experts detonated.

Mr. Khalaf said Americans regularly patrol the road, which is near a fuel depot, although they travel at varying times, and that other attacks had occurred along it. American soldiers near the scene of the attack were clearly jumpy. A tank crewman from the Fourth Infantry Division tried to grab a camera from a photographer with The New York Times who was walking near Mr. Khalaf's farmhouse, and dragged her toward his tank until her use of English convinced him she was not a local resident.

----snip----

Yikes. Getting better and better. "Plunged Kirkuk into darkness"???? Jeeeesus.

[LWolf]

62. Bush finally beats Poppy at something.

His gulf war kills more Americans.

[baby_bear]

63. U.S. death toll reaches 500 - Canadian article

U.S. death toll reaches 500 as 3 soldiers killed in bombing north of Baghdad

http://www.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2004/01/17/316358-ap.html

This benchmark - this appalling benchmark - is not being lost on the rest of the world. Will it be here?

<snip>

The deaths raised to 500 the number of U.S. service members who have died since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq started March 20. Of those, 346 died as a result of hostile action and 154 of non-hostile causes, according to Defence Department figures.

Most of the deaths have occurred since Bush declared an end to major fighting on May 1. The death toll from the Persian Gulf War, when a U.S.-led coalition drove then-Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's invaders from Kuwait in 1991, was 315.

In Afghanistan, 100 Americans have been killed, less than a third of them from hostile fire.

A military spokesman in Baghdad, Brig.-Gen. Mark Kimmitt, said troop morale remained high despite the rising death toll.

</snip>

Right, Kimmitt. Morale "remains high."

Gimme a break. Ask the soldiers. Ask the relatives of the soldiers.

s_m

[Moderator]

65. Message from the Moderator - LBN Thread Consolidation

Let's keep our discussion about the January 17th Tikrit incident consolidated into this thread, which contains a more updated version, and accurate headline, than the original thread.

To read more about this story as it developed, please see the original LBN thread on this topic:

CNN Breaking: 5 servicemembers killed in Iraq

Thanks!

DU Moderator