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Letter to the editor

Last week in Iraq

By Times Wires
Published October 21, 2007

Attacks

-Five Iraqi journalists, including a correspondent for the Washington Post, were killed in separate attacks Oct. 14, marking one of the deadliest days for reporters in nearly a year.

-Suspected Shiite militia members hit military bases with mortar rounds and fired machine guns at a Polish helicopter on Monday, setting off fierce fighting that killed at least four civilians in Diwaniyah. A car bomb in Baghdad's Harthiyah neighborhood killed at least six people and wounded 25, police said. A suicide car bomber at a checkpoint outside Balad killed at least six police officers.

-An explosives-laden sewage truck blew up near a police station and a car bomb struck an Iraqi army checkpoint Tuesday, and at least 25 people were killed or found dead nationwide. The deadliest attack occurred when a car blew up near a gas station across the street from an Iraqi army checkpoint, killing four civilians and two Iraqi soldiers.

-A roadside bomb exploded near a police patrol Wednesday, killing at least seven officers in a Shiite area south of Baghdad that has seen fierce clashes between rival militia factions.

Military

-Iraqi officials said Oct. 14 that a report on the fatal Sept. 16 shooting incident involving the private security firm Blackwater USA includes demands that Blackwater guards leave the country within six months and that the company pay $8-million in compensation to the families of each of the 17 victims.

-Commanders in Iraq have decided to begin the drawdown of U.S. forces in volatile Diyala province, marking a turning point in the U.S. military mission, officials said Tuesday. Instead of replacing the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division, which is returning to its home base at Fort Hood, Texas, in December, soldiers from another brigade in Salahuddin province next door will expand into Diyala. The number of Army ground combat brigades in Iraq will fall from 20 to 19.

-A State Department review of private security guards for diplomats in Iraq is unlikely to recommend firing Blackwater USA, but the company probably is on its way out of that job, U.S. officials said Wednesday.

-The Pentagon is preparing to alert eight National Guard units that they should be ready to go to Iraq or Afghanistan beginning late next summer, the Associated Press reported Wednesday. Seven of the units would deploy to Iraq and one to Afghanistan.

Rebuilding

-Thousands of Kurds joined rallies across northern Iraq and marched to U.N. offices Thursday to protest a vote by Turkey's lawmakers that backed possible cross-border attacks against Kurdish rebel camps. The Turkish vote Wednesday removed the last legal obstacle to an offensive to root out guerrillas seeking autonomy for the mostly Kurdish region of southeastern Turkey.

-Despite hopes that the U.S. military "surge" in Iraq would encourage economic and political headway and sap the strength of the insurgency, little lasting progress has been achieved, according to a report Thursday by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction.

Deaths

As of Saturday, 3,833 U.S. troops have died in Iraq. Identifications as reported by the U.S. military and not previously published:

-Army Spc. Micheal D. Brown, 20, Williamsburg, Kan.; noncombat-related illness Tuesday; Tikrit.

-Army Spc. Frank L. Cady III, 20, Sacramento, Calif.; vehicle accident Oct. 10; Baghdad.

-Army Staff Sgt. Jarred S. Fontenot, 35, Port Barre, La.; explosion and small-arms fire Thursday; Baghdad.

-Army Pfc. Kenneth J. Iwasinski, 22, West Springfield, Mass.; explosion Oct. 14; Baghdad.

-Army Spc. Vincent A. Madero, 22, Port Hueneme, Calif.; explosion Wednesday; Balad.

-Army 1st Lt. Thomas M. Martin, 27, Ward, Ark.; small-arms fire Oct 14; Al Busayifi.

-Army Sgt. 1st Class Justin S. Monschke, 28, Krum, Texas; explosion Oct. 14; Arab Jabour.

[Last modified October 21, 2007, 01:30:47]