Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

7 U.S. troops die over weekend

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published March 19, 2007

BAGHDAD - Sunni insurgents, resilient despite the five-week security crackdown in the capital, killed at least seven U.S. troops over the weekend. A Sunni car bomber hit a largely Shiite district in the capital Sunday, killing at least eight people.

The American military said four U.S. soldiers died and one was wounded when their unit was struck by a roadside bomb in western Baghdad. During the ongoing security sweep in the capital and surrounding regions, the battalion had found eight weapons caches and two roadside bombs and helped rescue a kidnap victim, the military said.

A fifth soldier was killed in an explosion in Diyala, an increasingly volatile province just northeast of the capital. A Marine died in fighting the same day in Anbar province.

All were killed Saturday, the military said in a series of statements that also reported that a seventh soldier died of noncombat injuries but gave no other details.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the success of the security mission that started last month could not be measured for months and that it was designed to give the Iraqis more time to settle political and sectarian differences.

"The issue that we're all trying to figure out is how best do you get the Iraqis to reconcile their differences - because after all, this is not going to be solved by the military. It has to involve political reconciliation in Iraq, among Iraqis," Gates said on CBS's Face the Nation.

Across Iraq, at least 20 people died Sunday.

At least 12 of those killed died in Baghdad and eight of them were slain in the car bombing in a predominantly Shiite district, police said. Police said the bodies of 16 people, most shot in the head and showing signs of torture, were found dumped nationwide, five of them in Baghdad.

Democrats criticized

WASHINGTON - President Bush's national security adviser said Sunday that House Democrats will assure failure in Iraq and waste the sacrifice of U.S. soldiers with legislation to remove troops.

The House plans to vote this week on a war spending bill that includes a troop withdrawal deadline of Sept. 1, 2008. Lawmakers know the president will veto the measure, national security adviser Stephen Hadley said, making the exercise a "charade."

"If we do a premature withdrawal, then what we have is a situation where the Iraqi forces cannot handle the situation," Hadley said. "We have Iraq as a safe haven for terrorists who will destabilize the neighbors and attack us."

The time line in the House bill would speed up if the Iraqi government cannot meet its own benchmarks for providing security, allocating oil revenues and other essential steps.

[Last modified March 19, 2007, 01:26:20]