Remembering Those Lost For Iraqi Oil... lost while in the wrong place

http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/newyork/columnists/nyc-bres1023,0,2151615,print.column?coll=ny-ny-columnists


Remembering Those Lost For Iraqi Oil

Jimmy Breslin


October 22, 2003, 7:28 PM EDT

Herewith is the latest list of American soldiers killed in Iraq. The Pentagon stresses that they were killed in "Operation Iraqi Freedom." We are giving Iraqis the freedom to kill us. This list of 13 is for less than two weeks, ending Oct. 21. As I fail to find these names in other public prints, I run them here on the notion that if they have died for your country, the least we all should do is read them and perhaps even remember some of them.

The names today raise anger on two levels, one because they died so young, and for so useless a reason. "Operation Iraqi Freedom," is another preposterous lie by the Bush government. Why not say the facts: "Iraqi Oil."

.....SKIP.......

If you want to fight terrorism, then fight terrorists. Get bin Laden. Bin Laden is not in Iraq where the soldiers on this list were sent.

George Bush stood in the World Trade Center ruins and said he would get bin Laden. Get bin Laden as a sheriff would, smoke him out, shoot him cold dead. All the poor cops cheered. What a thrill to have a good tough guy as president! That was over two years ago. Now you never hear bin Laden mentioned.

....SKIP.........



And we are left with these young dead, lost while in the wrong place, and whose names we might try to memorize:



<Army Spc. James E. Powell, 26, B Company, lst Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood Texas. Home, Radliff, Ky. Killed on Oct. 12 in Baji, Iraq, when his military vehicle struck an enemy anti-tank mine.

<Army Pfc. Stephen E. Wyatt, 19, C Battery, lst Battalion, 173 Field Artillery Regiment, Fort Sill, Okla. Home, Kilgore, Tex. Killed on Oct. 13 in Baladad, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device and small-arms fire struck his convoy.

<Army Spc. Douglas J. Wheeler, 22, A Company, lst Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas. Home, Concord, Mich. Killed on Oct. 13 in Tikrit, Iraq, when his unit came under attack from a rocket-propelled grenade while searching for a possible improvised explosive device.

<Army Spc. Douglas J. Weismantle, 28, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, lst Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne, Fort Bragg, N.C. Home, Pittsburgh, Pa. Killed in Baghdad on Oct. 13 when an Iraqi dump truck swerved and rolled over on top of his military vehicle.

<Army Pvt. Benjamin L. Freeman, 19, K Troop, 3rd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Carson, Colo. Drowned near Al Asad, Iraq. on Oct.13. Home, Valdosta, Ga.

<Army Pfc. Jose Casanova, 23, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, lst Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne, Fort Bragg, N.C. Home, El Monte, Cal. Died Oct. 13 in Baghdad when an Iraqi dump truck swerved and rolled over on top of his military vehicle.

<Army Lt. Col. Kim S. Orlando, 43, 716th Military Police Battalion, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) Fort Campbell, Ky. Home, Tennessee. Killed Oct. 16 in Karbala, Iraq, while attempting to negotiate with armed men who were congregating on a road near a mosque after the curfew, and the Iraqis opened fire.

<Army Cpl. Sean R. Grilley, 24, 716th Military Police Battalion, 101st Airborne, Fort Campbell, Ky. Home, San Bernardino, Cal. Killed on Oct. 16 while attempting to negotiate with armed men who were on a road near a mosque after curfew and the Iraqis opened fire.

<Army Staff Sgt. Joseph P. Bellevia, 28, 716th Militaery Police Battalion, 101st Airborne, Fort Campbell, Ky. Home, Wakefield, Mass. Killed while attempting to negotiate with armed men who were on a road Oct. 16 near a mosque after curfew and the Iraqi men opened fire.

<Army Spc. Michael L. Williams, 46, 105th Military Police Company, Army National Guard, New York. Killed Oct. 17 near Baghdad when his vehicle ran over an improvised explosive device. Home, Buffalo.

<Army Private First Class John Hart, 20, was one of two American soldiers who died in a guerilla attack Oct. 18 Saturday in a clash outside the northern city of Kirkuk. (Unit and home town unavailable now.)

One soldier from the Army's 377 Theatre Support Group was killed Oct. 21 in a maintenance accident on Oct. 21 north of Baghdad. The accident occurred at Camp Anaconda in the town of Balad. (Name unavailable as yet.)

Totals US 347 UK 51 other 4

TOTAL 402

1.84 avg 218 days

http://lunaville.org/warcasualties/Summary.aspx


10/24/03 Centcom:2 soldiers killed and four wounded
SAMARRA, Iraq – Two 4th Infantry Division soldiers were killed and four were wounded during a mortar attack at a forward operating base near the northern city of Samarra just before 12 p.m. Oct. 24.

10/24/03 AJC: Summary of Latest Attacks
Mortar attack kills U.S. soldier, wounds 13 others

10/24/03 Centcom: Soldier killed in small arms fire attack
One 101st Airborne Division soldier was killed in a small arms fire attack in western Mosul

10/23/03 E&P: Press Underreports Wounded in Iraq
The media has always treated combat deaths as the most reliable measure of battlefield progress, while for its part the administration has been reluctant to divulge the full number of wounded.

10/23/03 Centcom: 1 Death Confirmed
One 4th Infantry Division soldier was killed and two were wounded in an improvised explosive device attack against their military vehicle convoy south of Baqubah at approximately 11:30 a.m. Oct. 23.

10/23/03 American Soldier Killed, Two Wounded in Iraq
One U.S. soldier was killed and two wounded on Thursday when their convoy was hit by an explosion near Baquba, north of Baghdad

10/23/03 Centcom: 2 US soldiers die in non-combat incidents
Two 1st Armored Division soldiers died in separate non-combat incidents Oct. 22.

10/23/03 MSNBC: Bomb explodes near Iraqi pipeline
A bomb exploded Thursday near a pipeline in northern Iraq, killing two Iraqi Civil Defense Corps members and wounding 10 others

10/23/03 IRIB News: US military convoy ambushed in Iraq
US military convoy was ambushed Thursday in a village near Baqubah...no immediate indications about any casualties.

10/23/03 MSNBC: U.S. troops killed two Iraqis
U.S. troops killed two Iraqis and wounded one other in northern Iraq on Thursday when an American post came under attack

10/22/03 CNN: Commander: U.S. sees spike in attacks
The commander of U.S. ground forces in Iraq said Wednesday that U.S. forces had witnessed a spike in attacks on them recently.

10/22/03 ABC: 2 soldiers wounded in Baghdad bomb blast
Two 1st Armoured Division soldiers were wounded in an improvised explosive device attack against a military vehicle convoy in Baghdad at approximately 6:45 am

10/21/03 Centcom: 1 Deaths Confirmed
One 377th Theater Support Command soldier was killed and one was injured in a maintenance accident

10/21/03 MSNBC:Soldier reported killed in accident
One soldier was killed and another injured in a maintenance accident Tuesday in a camp north of Baghdad

10/21/03 DOD: Identifies casualties
1st Lt. David R. Bernstein, 24, of Phoenixville, Pa. and Pfc. John D. Hart, 20, of Bedford, Mass.

10/21/03 MSNBC: Raids in Karbala
Raids in Karbala, shots in the air in Baghdad during spat at Oil Ministry

10/21/03 UPI: Doctors, dollars rushed to Fort Stewart
The Army said Monday it is sending doctors to Fort Stewart, Ga., to help hundreds of sick and injured soldiers, including Iraq veterans

Iraq Violence Claims 3 More Troops' Lives


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20031024/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq&cid=540&ncid=1480

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Two U.S. soldiers were killed and four were wounded Friday in a mortar attack on their base north of Baghdad, and another American died in a shootout in the northern city of Mosul, the U.S. military said.

Elsewhere, 13 other soldiers were injured Thursday night in a mortar attack near Baqouba, 40 miles northeast of the capital, the command said. Witnesses reported that a roadside bomb wounded several other troops Friday in Fallujah in the sixth attack by insurgents there in as many days.

Separately, two children were killed and three adults wounded in a grenade attack on a police station in the northern city of Mosul, police said.

The latest U.S. deaths occurred when a mortar struck a forward operating base near Samara, 70 miles north of Baghdad, about noon Friday, the U.S. Central Command said.

more

Today's Quote -


"One power with a president who has no foresight and cannot think properly, is now wanting to plunge the world into a holocaust... Why is the United States behaving so arrogantly?... All that (Bush) wants is Iraqi oil."

--Nelson Mandela, 30-Jan-03

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