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September 14, 2007
4 U.S. Soldiers Killed in Iraq Bombing
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 2:25 p.m. ET
BAGHDAD (AP) -- Mourners vowed revenge and perseverance Friday at the
funeral of the leader of the Sunni Arab revolt against al-Qaida militants
who was assassinated just 10 days after meeting with President Bush in
Iraq's Anbar province.
In eastern Diyala provice, meanwhile, a bomb exploded near a U.S. military
vehicle on Friday, killing four American soldiers in, the U.S. command said.
They were the first American deaths reported in Iraq since Monday.
More than 1,500 mourners marched along the highway near the home of
Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha, who was killed along with two bodyguards and a
driver Thursday by a bomb hidden near his house, just west of Ramadi.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information.
AP's earlier story is below.
BAGHDAD (AP) -- Mourners vowed revenge and perseverance Friday at the
funeral of the leader of the Sunni Arab revolt against al-Qaida militants
who was assassinated just 10 days after meeting with President Bush in
Iraq's Anbar province.
More than 1,500 mourners marched along the highway near the home of
Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha, who was killed along with two bodyguards and a
driver Thursday by a bomb hidden near his house, just west of Ramadi.
Scores of Iraqi police and U.S. military vehicles lined the route to protect
the procession as it followed the black SUV carrying the sheik's Iraqi-flag
draped coffin.
''We will take our revenge,'' the mourners chanted along the 10 kilometer (6
mile) route to Risha's family cemetery, many of them crying. ''We will
continue the march of Abu Risha.''
Abu Risha was buried one year after the goateed, charismatic, chain-smoking
young sheik organized 25 Sunni Arab clans under the umbrella of the Anbar
Awakening Council, an alliance against al-Qaida in Iraq, to drive terrorists
from sanctuaries where they had flourished after the U.S.-led invasion in
2003.
No group claimed responsibility for the assassination, but it was widely
assumed to have been carried out by al-Qaida, which already had killed four
of Abu Risha's brothers and six other relatives for working with the U.S.
military.
U.S. officials credit Abu Risha and allied sheiks with a dramatic
improvement in security in such Anbar flashpoints as Fallujah and Ramadi
after years of American failure to subdue the extremists. U.S. officials now
talk of using the Anbar model to organize tribal fighters elsewhere in Iraq.
Bush hailed Abu Risha's courage during his short Sept. 3 visit to al-Asad
Air Base, and vowed in his nationally televised address Thursday night to
help others carry on his work.
''Earlier today, one of the brave tribal sheiks who helped lead the revolt
against al-Qaida was murdered,'' Bush said. ''In response, a fellow Sunni
leader declared: ''We are determined to strike back and continue our work.''
And as they do, they can count on the continued support of the United
States.''
Many high-ranking officials were on hand for the funeral, including Iraq's
interior and defense ministers and National Security Adviser Mouwaffak
al-Rubaie.
''We condemn the killing of Abu Risha, but this will not deter us from
helping the people of Anbar -- we will support them more than before,''
al-Rubaie declared. ''It is a national disaster and a great loss for the
Iraqi people -- Abu Risha was the only person to confront al-Qaida in
Anbar.''
But in open-air Friday prayers in the streets of Baghdad's Shiite slum Sadr
City, a stronghold of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, imam Muhanned
al-Gharawi told thousands of worshippers that the assassination was an
example of the government's inability to provide security for Iraq.
''The Iraqi people have lost trust with this government and killings are
still going on -- the latest is the assassination of the Anbar Awakening
Council leader,'' he said. ''Everyone is threatened with death in this
country as long as the American Black House is still giving the orders.''
In scattered violence around Iraq on Friday, a suicide truck bomb hit a
police checkpoint near Beiji, 155 miles north of Baghdad, killing four
policemen, a Beiji police officer said.
South of Baghdad, unidentified gunmen killed three farmers who were taking
their turn guarding a village, police said.
Farther south in the city of Hillah, gunmen attacked the home of Col.
Hussein Ali Hassoon al Khafaji, an Iraqi army battalion commander, killing a
guard and wounding another, police said.
In a helicopter assault mission west of Baghdad, three suspected insurgents
were killed and three American soldiers were injured, the U.S. command said.
Iraqi soldiers led the raid Thursday on a mosque in Karmah, a town in Iraq's
western Anbar province some 50 miles west of the capital, the U.S. military
said in a statement. The target was a high-ranking al-Qaida in Iraq leader,
believed to be responsible for orchestrating murders, sniper attacks and the
planting of roadside bombs.
During the operation, people fleeing the mosque fired at American troops --
wounding three of them with non-life threatening injuries. U.S. and Iraqi
forces retaliated with ground fire and close air support, killing three
suspected insurgents, the military said.
The military statement did not say whether the targeted al-Qaida figure was
among the dead.
Troops also discovered four rockets, roadside bomb-making materials and
50-caliber ammunition rounds inside the mosque, the statement said.
The U.S. command also released more details on the deadly Sept. 10 accident
in Baghdad that killed seven soldiers, including two sergeants who helped
write a New York Times op-ed article sharply critical of the Pentagon's
assessment of the Iraq war.
Sgt. Omar Mora and Sgt. Yance T. Gray were among seven NCOs who wrote the
Aug. 19 piece entitled ''The War As We Saw It'' expressing doubts about
American gains in Iraq.
Another co-author, Staff Sgt. Jeremy Murphy, was shot in the head while the
article was being written. The Army Ranger and reconnaissance team leader
flown to a military hospital in the United States and expected to survive.
The U.S. command said the accident occurred in the Baghdad suburb of Shula
when soldiers from the 1st Infantry Division's 2nd Brigade were in an
armored transport truck on their way back from a raid in which they had
captured three insurgents suspected of attacks on U.S. and Iraqi soldiers.
''The unit was returning to base after the raid when their vehicle
apparently lost control and fell approximately 50 feet from a highway
overpass,'' the military said in a statement.
4 U.S. Soldiers Killed in Iraq Bombing
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 2:25 p.m. ET
BAGHDAD (AP) -- Mourners vowed revenge and perseverance Friday at the
funeral of the leader of the Sunni Arab revolt against al-Qaida militants
who was assassinated just 10 days after meeting with President Bush in
Iraq's Anbar province.
In eastern Diyala provice, meanwhile, a bomb exploded near a U.S. military
vehicle on Friday, killing four American soldiers in, the U.S. command said.
They were the first American deaths reported in Iraq since Monday.
More than 1,500 mourners marched along the highway near the home of
Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha, who was killed along with two bodyguards and a
driver Thursday by a bomb hidden near his house, just west of Ramadi.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information.
AP's earlier story is below.
BAGHDAD (AP) -- Mourners vowed revenge and perseverance Friday at the
funeral of the leader of the Sunni Arab revolt against al-Qaida militants
who was assassinated just 10 days after meeting with President Bush in
Iraq's Anbar province.
More than 1,500 mourners marched along the highway near the home of
Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha, who was killed along with two bodyguards and a
driver Thursday by a bomb hidden near his house, just west of Ramadi.
Scores of Iraqi police and U.S. military vehicles lined the route to protect
the procession as it followed the black SUV carrying the sheik's Iraqi-flag
draped coffin.
''We will take our revenge,'' the mourners chanted along the 10 kilometer (6
mile) route to Risha's family cemetery, many of them crying. ''We will
continue the march of Abu Risha.''
Abu Risha was buried one year after the goateed, charismatic, chain-smoking
young sheik organized 25 Sunni Arab clans under the umbrella of the Anbar
Awakening Council, an alliance against al-Qaida in Iraq, to drive terrorists
from sanctuaries where they had flourished after the U.S.-led invasion in
2003.
No group claimed responsibility for the assassination, but it was widely
assumed to have been carried out by al-Qaida, which already had killed four
of Abu Risha's brothers and six other relatives for working with the U.S.
military.
U.S. officials credit Abu Risha and allied sheiks with a dramatic
improvement in security in such Anbar flashpoints as Fallujah and Ramadi
after years of American failure to subdue the extremists. U.S. officials now
talk of using the Anbar model to organize tribal fighters elsewhere in Iraq.
Bush hailed Abu Risha's courage during his short Sept. 3 visit to al-Asad
Air Base, and vowed in his nationally televised address Thursday night to
help others carry on his work.
''Earlier today, one of the brave tribal sheiks who helped lead the revolt
against al-Qaida was murdered,'' Bush said. ''In response, a fellow Sunni
leader declared: ''We are determined to strike back and continue our work.''
And as they do, they can count on the continued support of the United
States.''
Many high-ranking officials were on hand for the funeral, including Iraq's
interior and defense ministers and National Security Adviser Mouwaffak
al-Rubaie.
''We condemn the killing of Abu Risha, but this will not deter us from
helping the people of Anbar -- we will support them more than before,''
al-Rubaie declared. ''It is a national disaster and a great loss for the
Iraqi people -- Abu Risha was the only person to confront al-Qaida in
Anbar.''
But in open-air Friday prayers in the streets of Baghdad's Shiite slum Sadr
City, a stronghold of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, imam Muhanned
al-Gharawi told thousands of worshippers that the assassination was an
example of the government's inability to provide security for Iraq.
''The Iraqi people have lost trust with this government and killings are
still going on -- the latest is the assassination of the Anbar Awakening
Council leader,'' he said. ''Everyone is threatened with death in this
country as long as the American Black House is still giving the orders.''
In scattered violence around Iraq on Friday, a suicide truck bomb hit a
police checkpoint near Beiji, 155 miles north of Baghdad, killing four
policemen, a Beiji police officer said.
South of Baghdad, unidentified gunmen killed three farmers who were taking
their turn guarding a village, police said.
Farther south in the city of Hillah, gunmen attacked the home of Col.
Hussein Ali Hassoon al Khafaji, an Iraqi army battalion commander, killing a
guard and wounding another, police said.
In a helicopter assault mission west of Baghdad, three suspected insurgents
were killed and three American soldiers were injured, the U.S. command said.
Iraqi soldiers led the raid Thursday on a mosque in Karmah, a town in Iraq's
western Anbar province some 50 miles west of the capital, the U.S. military
said in a statement. The target was a high-ranking al-Qaida in Iraq leader,
believed to be responsible for orchestrating murders, sniper attacks and the
planting of roadside bombs.
During the operation, people fleeing the mosque fired at American troops --
wounding three of them with non-life threatening injuries. U.S. and Iraqi
forces retaliated with ground fire and close air support, killing three
suspected insurgents, the military said.
The military statement did not say whether the targeted al-Qaida figure was
among the dead.
Troops also discovered four rockets, roadside bomb-making materials and
50-caliber ammunition rounds inside the mosque, the statement said.
The U.S. command also released more details on the deadly Sept. 10 accident
in Baghdad that killed seven soldiers, including two sergeants who helped
write a New York Times op-ed article sharply critical of the Pentagon's
assessment of the Iraq war.
Sgt. Omar Mora and Sgt. Yance T. Gray were among seven NCOs who wrote the
Aug. 19 piece entitled ''The War As We Saw It'' expressing doubts about
American gains in Iraq.
Another co-author, Staff Sgt. Jeremy Murphy, was shot in the head while the
article was being written. The Army Ranger and reconnaissance team leader
flown to a military hospital in the United States and expected to survive.
The U.S. command said the accident occurred in the Baghdad suburb of Shula
when soldiers from the 1st Infantry Division's 2nd Brigade were in an
armored transport truck on their way back from a raid in which they had
captured three insurgents suspected of attacks on U.S. and Iraqi soldiers.
''The unit was returning to base after the raid when their vehicle
apparently lost control and fell approximately 50 feet from a highway
overpass,'' the military said in a statement.
