Iraq

U.S. soldier kills council head

BAGHDAD - Tensions between U.S. forces and Iraqis in the Shiite Muslim enclave, Sadr City, rose Monday after the head of the U.S.-appointed municipal council, Muhanad al-Kaadi, was shot and killed by a U.S. soldier guarding municipal headquarters.

The military said the shooting occurred Sunday when Kaadi got into an argument with a soldier guarding the council headquarters. The statement blamed the altercation on "his refusal to follow instructions of the onsite security officer."

Kaadi, who spoke fluent English, had been trying to improve relations between the Americans and residents of the impoverished community.

FALLUJAH, Iraq - America's top general in the Middle East has warned community leaders the U.S. military will use stern measures unless they curb attacks against coalition forces, an Iraqi who attended the meeting said Monday.

Gen. John Abizaid, chief of the U.S. Central Command, delivered the warning to tribal sheiks and mayors in the "Sunni Triangle" city of Ramadi west of Baghdad, according to Fallujah Mayor Taha Bedawi.

BAGHDAD - The U.S. military said insurgents struck again late Sunday, firing a rocket-propelled grenade at a military police convoy near Iskandariya, 40 miles south of Baghdad, and killing a soldier from the 18th Military Police Brigade.

The soldier was the 37th American service member to die in Iraq this month and the 151st killed in action since President Bush declared an end to major combat May 1.

JAG OFFICIALS AMONG DEAD: Two officials of the Army's Judge Advocate General corps from the Pentagon were among six soldiers killed in the crash of a Black Hawk helicopter in Iraq on Friday, the Defense Department announced. Army officials said Monday that they still had not determined the cause of the crash near Tikrit.

All six soldiers aboard the helicopter were killed. They included two officials of the Army's JAG corps, which provides judges and lawyers for the Army's military courts. They were identified as Command Sgt. Maj. Cornell W. Gilmore I, 45, of Stafford, Va., and Chief Warrant Officer 5 Sharon T. Swartworth, 43, of Virginia.

The helicopter's four-member crew from the 101st Airborne Division also was killed: Capt. Benedict J. Smith, 29, of Monroe City, Mo.; Chief Warrant Officer 3 Kyran E. Kennedy, 43, of Boston; Staff Sgt. Paul M. Neff II, 30, of Fort Mill, S.C.; and Sgt. Scott C. Rose, 30, of Fayetteville, N.C.

WASHINGTON - Amid increasing attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq, a growing number of Americans, including men and independent voters, say the war in Iraq was not worthwhile, according to a survey released Monday.

Half of Americans, 49 percent, say the war was not worth it, compared to 48 percent who say it was, according to a survey conducted this month by the Annenberg Public Policy Center.

That's a change from results in October, when 52 percent of Americans polled nationwide said the situation in Iraq was worth going to war over, while 43 percent said it was not. The latest survey was conducted Nov. 1 through Sunday.

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