- ABU GHRAIB, Iraq (Reuters)
- A grenade attack has killed a U.S. soldier in Iraq, bringing the total
combat deaths to 147, equalling the total in the 1991 Gulf War.
The latest death heaped pressure on U.S President George W. Bush, facing
mounting criticism for the cost of the war and accusations the United States
exaggerated intelligence on Iraq's weapons to justify the conflict.
The commander of U.S. ground forces in Iraq Lieutenant General Ricardo
Sanchez and interior ministry advisor Bernard Kerik briefed the newly set
up Iraqi Governing Council on the security situation in the country, a
Council spokesman said.
The U.S. military had expected a surge of attacks this week to coincide
with a string of anniversaries linked to Saddam Hussein, the Baath Party
and Iraqi nationalism.
Nearly four hours after the first attack, a U.S. military Humvee car was
hit by a blast, possibly from a land mine, which wounded two soldiers in
Baghdad, witnesses and the military said.
Comrades of the soldier who died said he had only been in Iraq for two
weeks on his first mission in the country.
"We heard an explosion and we ducked down in our trucks. The soldier
who was killed was blown out of his truck. He is laying out there on the
highway," said one soldier, who declined to be identified.
He was in a military convoy of 40 trucks driving along the highway near
Abu Ghraib, 25 km (16 miles) west of Baghdad, when there was an explosion.
A U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad said the convoy was ambushed with
rocket-propelled grenades.
One soldier put his arm around another and comforted him as he cried while
sitting on the barrier dividing the road. Three other soldiers were wounded,
the U.S. military said.
Witnesses said the Baghdad explosion damaged the vehicle and forced it
off the road near a highway leading to the airport. The U.S. military said
two soldiers were wounded in what it described as a possible mine attack.
Another U.S. soldier was wounded in an attack overnight in central Baghdad,
the military said.
HUMAN COST
The Pentagon said military expenses for the war and its aftermath have
cost the United States $48 billion (30 billion pounds) to date, with a
monthly price tag over the next couple of months estimated at more than
$3.9 billion.
Senate Democrats blasted Bush for the rising cost of the war and not seeking
more international help in rebuilding Iraq in the face of skyrocketing
U.S. budget deficits.
But the human cost is becoming all too clear as U.S. forces come under
daily attack in Iraq. The attacks have continued despite a crackdown by
U.S. troops in areas north of the capital, once a hotbed for Saddam Hussein
loyalists.
The body of the dead soldier lay on the highway covered with a yellow sheet,
his boot stretching onto the highway. Two wounded men received treatment
nearby.
Helicopters hovered above and U.S. soldiers stood guard, pointing their
machineguns towards the edge of the road and peering through binoculars
for other possible attackers.
About 40 Iraqis walked from their neighbourhood and watched.
"We are happy because this is an occupation," said Mansour Badri,
a teenager who lives in a village nearby. "The Americans lied to us
when they said they would save us from Saddam. They just want to occupy
our country."
Badri and his friends said Baath Party supporters had been encouraging
teenagers like them to fight against Americans and had offered them money.
The United States has about 146,000 of its troops in Iraq, and U.S. commanders
have said they expect to maintain that troop level for the foreseeable
future.
The U.S. military said in a statement on Wednesday that 448 people had
been detained since the beginning of Operation Soda Mountain launched on
Saturday to crackdown on armed resistance.
-
- The arrests in 71 raids included 38 individuals identified
as key Saddam loyalist leaders. The forces confiscated 102 AK- 47s, 387
125 mm mortar rounds, and four 60 mm mortar tubes.
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