23 killed in Baghdad, 2 G.I.'s Missing in Action, the Tide is Turning.

[Philosoraptor]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/06/17/iraq.main/index.html

Saturday's blasts followed Friday violence that claimed at least one U.S. soldier. One U.S. soldier was killed while two others were unaccounted for Friday after they came under attack at a traffic checkpoint in Yusufiya, about 20 miles southwest of Baghdad.

A quick reaction team was searching for the missing soldiers early Saturday morning. The team was dispatched to the scene after other troops nearby heard gunfire.

The soldiers were officially listed as "whereabouts unknown," which means they could have been captured or killed or could be hiding out.

The death brought to 2,492 the number of U.S. troops killed in the Iraq war. Seven American civilian employees of the military also have died in the conflict.

[benburch]

1. I have a bad feeling about this...

I hope we don't get a videotape from Zarqawi's successor with him beheading these guys. :(

[Philosoraptor]

2. Of course we'll DEMAND that the Geneva Convention be adhered to.

And of course, it won't be. We opened up a real can of worms.

[leftchick]

3. Assault on Ramadi Imminent!

:argh:

Ramadi: Fallujah Redux


http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=15&ItemID=10433

Fearful residents are now pouring out of Ramadi after the US military has been assaulting the city for months with tactics like cutting water, electricity and medical aid, imposing curfews, and attacking by means of snipers and random air strikes. This time, Iraqis there are right to fear the worst - an all out attack on the city, similar to what was done to nearby Fallujah.

It has always been just a matter of time before the US military would finally get around to destroying Ramadi, the capital city of al-Anbar province. After all, Ramadi is not far from Fallujah, and so similar to Fallujah both tribally and in their disdain towards the idea of being occupied, that many people in Ramadi even refer to Fallujah as "Ramadi."
I know many people from Ramadi who lost relatives and friends during both US assaults on Fallujah, and the level of anti-American sentiment has always been high there.

By now, we all know the scene when the US military in Iraq decides to attack an entire city ... we've seen this standard operating procedure repeated, to one degree or another, in Haditha, Al-Qa'im, Samarra, parts of Baghdad, Balad, Najaf and Fallujah twice ... so far. The city is sealed for weeks if not months, water and electricity are cut, medical aid is cut, curfews imposed, mobility impaired, air strikes utilized, then the real attack begins. Now in Ramadi, the real attack has begun.

Warplanes are streaking the sky as bombings increase, loudspeakers aimed into the city warn civilians of a "fierce impending attack," (even though it has already begun), and thousands of families remain trapped in their homes, just like in Fallujah during both attacks on that city. Again, many who remain in the city cannot afford to leave because they are so poor, or they lack transportation, or they want to guard their home because it is all they have left.

[leftchick]

4. Reuters: The Soldiers "went missing"

sounds better than MIA doesn't it?

<snip>

U.S. forces were searching for two U.S. soldiers who went missing after an attack on Friday in which one American soldier was killed in the Sunni insurgent stronghold of Yusufiya in the "Triangle of Death" south of Baghdad.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060617/ts_nm/iraq_dc_47

[Philosoraptor]

5. They went missing in the worst possible area.

I wonder if the president is worried. Probably not.

[leftchick]

6. he has a beautiful mind

that does not fret over casualties in his wars.

[rzemanfl]

7. This kind of thing happened in World War II-these guys are

probably shacked up with some hot Iraqi babes they met. :sarcasm:

[ugarte]

8. Hopefully they only went AWOL

Who can blame them?

[Philosoraptor]

9. Our president certainly would have by now were he there.