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Last week in Iraq

By TIMES WIRES
Published July 15, 2007

Attacks

- Prominent Shiite and Sunni politicians called July 8 for Iraqi civilians to take up arms to defend themselves against continuing violence. Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi said all Iraqis must "pay the price" for terrorism. At least 60 people died in bombings and shootings around Baghdad.

- Extremists unleashed a barrage of more than a dozen mortar shells or rockets into the Green Zone on Tuesday, killing at least three people, including an American service member, and wounding 18 in an area once considered the safest in Baghdad.

- Insurgents drove Wednesday to a house in the Anbar province of Karmah, locked the occupants inside and blew up the house, Iraqi police and U.S. military officials said. Eleven people were killed. The house was owned by a member of the Provincial Security Forces, organized to protect towns and villages against extremists.

- A suicide bomber attacked a wedding party Thursday in Tall Afar, 260 miles northwest of Baghdad, killing four civilians and wounding five others, said the police chief, Brig. Gen. Ibrahim Jubouri. Tall Afar has been plagued by attacks on its Shiite population by Sunni extremists.

- At least four mortar shells were fired at Baghdad's Green Zone on Friday, killing two Iraqi soldiers, an Iraqi army official said.

- Gunmen killed an Iraqi journalist from the New York Times, Khalid W. Hassan, 23, as he drove to work Friday, the fourth staffer of a Western news organization to be killed last week. On Tuesday, an Iraqi photographer and driver working for the Reuters news agency were killed during a battle in Baghdad between U.S. forces and Shiite militiamen.

Military

- The Defense Department put U.S. troops in Iraq at risk by awarding contracts for badly needed armored vehicles to companies that failed to deliver them on time, according to a review by the Pentagon's inspector general that was obtained Wednesday by the Associated Press.

- Clashes between U.S. troops and Shiite Muslim militants in eastern Baghdad left 19 people dead and 21 wounded Thursday, officials said. The fighting was sparked by a U.S. raid that the military said apprehended two militants suspected of carrying out kidnappings and bombings.

- U.S. forces battled Iraqi police and gunmen Friday in Baghdad, killing six policemen, after an American raid captured an Iraqi police lieutenant accused of leading a cell of Shiite militiamen, the military said. Seven gunmen also died in the fight, a rare open street battle between American troops and policemen.

Rebuilding

- President Bush threatened on Tuesday to veto legislation setting a date for a troop withdrawal from Iraq despite growing bipartisan calls in Congress for an end to U.S. participation in the war. He appealed to lawmakers to hold back on legislative responses at least until September, when the commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, delivers a crucial progress report on military and political efforts.

- Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Cabinet announced plans on Tuesday to spend $10-million on recovery efforts in the northern town of Armili, where a suicide bomb killed 150 people July 7 and wounded at least 250.

- A solid majority of the Senate's Republicans stood by Bush's Iraq policy on Wednesday and blocked consideration of a plan to give American troops more time between combat tours.

- Iraq has achieved only spotty military and political progress toward a democratic society, the Bush administration conceded Thursday. Bush said there was satisfactory progress by the Iraqi government toward meeting eight of 18 benchmarks, unsatisfactory progress on eight more and mixed results on two others.

- Two leading Republican senators, John Warner of Virginia and Richard Lugar of Indiana, offered a new approach on Friday that would require Bush to present a strategy by October that began limiting the involvement of U.S. forces in Iraq.

Deaths

As of Saturday, 3,613 U.S. troops have died in Iraq. Identifications as reported by the U.S. military and not previously published:

- Army Maj. James M. Ahearn, 43, Concord, Calif.; explosion July 5; Baghdad.

- Marine Cpl. Jeremy D. Allbaugh, 21, Luther, Okla.; combat July 5; Anbar province.

- Army Spc. Roberto J. Causor Jr., 21, San Jose, Calif.; small-arms fire July 7; Samarra.

- Army Pfc. Jason E. Dore, 25, Moscow, Maine; explosion July 8; Baghdad.

- Army Sgt. Courtney T. Johnson, 26, Garner, N.C.; indirect fire Wednesday; Besmaya.

- Army Sgt. Keith A. Kline, 24, Oak Harbor, Ohio; explosion July 5; Baghdad.

- Army Sgt. Gene L. Lamie, 25, of Homerville, Ga.; explosion July 6; Baghdad.

- Army Sgt. Eric A. Lill, 28, Chicago; explosion July 6; Baghdad.

- Army Col. Jon M. Lockey, 44, Fredericksburg, Va.; noncombat incident July 6; Baghdad.

- Army 1st Sgt. Jeffrey R. McKinney, 40, Garland, Texas; noncombat incident Wednesday; Adhamiyah.

- Army Capt. Maria I. Ortiz, 40, Bayamon, Puerto Rico; indirect fire Tuesday; Baghdad.

- Marine Lance Cpl. Angel R. Ramirez, 28, New York; Feb. 21 at Marine Air Ground Combat Center in California after a noncombat incident in Qaim on Dec. 21.

- Army Spc. Michelle R. Ring, 24, Martin, Tenn.; mortar fire July 5; Baghdad.

- Army Pfc. Bruce C. Salazar Jr., 24, Tracy, Calif.; explosion July 6; Muhammad Sath.

- Army Spc. Jeremy L. Stacey, 23, Bismarck, Ark.; explosion July 5; Baghdad.

- Marine Lance Cpl. Steven A. Stacy, 23, Coos Bay, Ore.; combat July 5; Anbar province.

- Army Spc. Anthony M.K. Vinnedge, 24, Okeana, Ohio; noncombat incident July 5; Radwaniyah Palace Complex.

- Army Cpl. Kory D. Wiens, 20, Independence, Ore.; explosion July 6; Muhammad Sath.

- Army Pfc. Le Ron A. Wilson, 18, New York; explosion July 6; Baghdad.

[Last modified July 14, 2007, 23:28:48]