Bomb kills US soldier, hurts 2 in Iraq ( 2003-07-16 17:29) (Agencies)
A powerful bomb, apparently hidden in an abandoned vehicle, blasted a truck
in a US supply convoy west of Baghdad Wednesday, killing a soldier who was
hurled from his vehicle and wounding two others, soldiers at the scene said.
The explosion occurred as the 20-vehicle military convoy was passing a
wrecked truck on the side of the road, Spc. Jose Colon told The Associated
Press. Soldiers believe a bomb was hidden in the wreckage and remotely detonated
as the convoy passed.
Sgt. Diego Baez, who was in the US truck that took the brunt of the blast,
wept as he described the dead soldier.
"We slept next to each other just last night. He was my best friend," said
Baez, who was uninjured..
US soldiers have come under increasingly ferocious attacks by suspected
Saddam Hussein loyalists in recent weeks.
The soldier, who was not immediately identified, was the 33rd to die in
hostile action since President Bush declared an end to major hostilities on May
1.
A half hour after the blast, the truck was still burning on the road near Abu
Ghraib, just west of Baghdad, site of Saddam's most notorious prison. The
convoy, made up of reservists from a supply unit based in Puerto Rico, was
heading on the main highway to a US base near the Jordanian border.
"We need more protection. We've seen enough. We've stayed in Iraq long
enough," said Spc. Carlos McKenzie, a member of the convoy.
After the explosion, soldiers began house-to-house searches in nearby
villages. A resident, Mohammed al-Qazi, said the bombing was the work of men
from the tense cities of Fallujah and Ramadi, farther down the road. "It was not
people from Abu Ghraib," he said.
Those cities are part of the so-called "Sunni Triangle," a region west and
north of Baghdad where Saddam drew his strongest support and where Americans
have come under the most attack since his fall.
Soldiers said the slain soldier had recently arrived in Iraq after being
stationed in Kuwait. A US military spokesman in Baghdad said he had no immediate
information about the incident.
"We just lost one of our buddies. It could have been any of us," said Spc.
Adalberto Bonilla, who along with Colon had been in a vehicle behind the most
badly damaged truck. Both he and Colon were unharmed.
Also Wednesday, a US Marine died in the southern city of Hilla when he fell
off a building he was guarding, the military said. The soldier was rushed to a
hospital but died of his injuries.
The deaths highlighted the long and painful road left for coalition forces as
they try to stabilize Iraq while soldiers come under attack an average 12 times
a day.
On Tuesday, the American administrator of Iraq linked the length of the US
occupation to Iraq's political process, saying that American forces would remain
in the country until Iraqis agree on a new constitution and set up a democratic
government.
"We have no desire to stay a day longer than necessary," L. Paul Bremer said.
"The timing of how long the coalition stays here is now in the hands of the
Iraqi people."
The new Governing Council — Iraq's first postwar national body — was meeting
again Wednesday to discuss security and education matters, said Nouri al-Badran,
spokesman for the Iraqi National Accord, which holds several seats on the
council. On Tuesday, it decided to set up special courts to try former members
of Saddam Hussein's regime who are accused of involvement in mass executions,
torture and other human rights violations.
The Governing Council, whose members were selected rather than elected, is
meant to be the forerunner to a 200-250 member constitutional assembly that
would start drafting a constitution in September. That is expected to take nine
months to a year and free elections to pick a government are expected to follow.
But even talk of removing coalition soldiers from Iraq seemed premature while
guerrilla-style attacks against US forces are increasing and many major
countries are balking at the idea of sending peacekeepers to replace exhausted
American troops.
Many American soldiers thought they'd be home this summer, but their hopes
were dashed in a US Army e-mail to spouses Sunday.
"I'm tired of going to bed wondering if I'm going to wake up in the morning,"
said Spc. David Myers Jr. of the 3rd Infantry Division's 3rd Battalion, 7th
Infantry Regiment in Habaniyah, west of Baghdad.
Late Tuesday, the US Central Command said in a news release that it still
intended to remove 3rd Infantry soldiers "by September, pending international or
US replacement units. As always, the security situation could affect deployments
and redeployments."
Bremer repeated the charge that hard-core Baathists, former members of the
Fedayeen Saddam militia and the intelligence services were behind the attacks.
Nevertheless, the increasing frequency and sophistication of the attacks —
and growing doubts about the basis for the war — have contributed to the
decision by some countries not to contribute troops.
On Tuesday, France ruled out sending troops, following India and Germany in
rejecting US calls for help without approval from the United Nations.
The Bush administration has scored some success in recruiting other countries
to help patrol Iraq. Poland will contribute 2,300 soldiers to a brigade that
will also include units from Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Lithuania.
A second brigade will have 1,640 Ukrainians and the third 1,100 Spanish
troops as well as units from Honduras, the Dominican Republic and El Salvador
and Nicaragua.
