Eighteen Die in Second Deadliest Day for U.S. in Iraq

[NNN0LHI]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20031102/wl_nm/iraq_dc&cid=574&ncid=1480

BAISA, Iraq (Reuters) - Eighteen Americans died in guerrilla attacks in Iraq on Sunday, including 15 soldiers killed when a helicopter was downed in the deadliest single strike on U.S. forces since they invaded to oust Saddam Hussein.

It was the second deadliest day overall for Americans in Iraq since the invasion on March 20, after 28 soldiers were killed in various attacks on March 23.

On Sunday, one U.S. soldier was killed in a bomb attack in Baghdad and two American civilian contractors died in a roadside mine blast in the town of Fallujah, a fiercely anti-U.S. center 30 miles west of the capital.

The crippled Chinook helicopter carrying troops on their way for a rest break came down in farmland at 9 a.m. (1 a.m. EST) near the village of Baisa, south of Falluja. Another 21 soldiers aboard the Chinook were injured.

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[wtmusic]

1. 'The End of Major Combat'

is now officially a Lie.

[Raenelle]

2. By my count, 21 died today

CNN now has the death toll from the helicoptor shoot-down at 16; 4 others are reported dead in an attack; and one soldier was killed by a mine.

Mind-numbing stats.

[markses]

4. There is no confirmation on 4 dead troops in Fallujah

And, in fact, the death of the two contractors seems to be from that incident.

There is also a report of 3-4 troops killed in a grenade attack during rioting in Abu Ghraib, but there has been no confirmation on that.

The 4 dead troops in Fallujah seems to be wrong. It was the two dead civilian contractors that the witnesses were reporting as dead soldiers.

[Darranar]

7. FauxNews.com says sixteen soldiers, two civilians.

[Darranar]

8. This one says 19 dead:

16 in the helicopter crash, two civilian contractors, and one soldier in another incident.

http://www.theeastcarolinian.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/11/02/3fa558a1bb575

[11 Bravo]

3. How much more of this type of "progress"

will the American people acccept?

[liberalnurse]

5. What irritates me is.....

that more may die tonight from the Chinook attack but we will not see their death on the toll. I believe, once they are removed from the scene and in the hospital, they are placed in another catagory of the death toll.....or not at all.

[catmandu57]

6. Something as big as this

will be very difficult for additional deaths to be hid. There will be more soldiers die from this, looking at photos of the wreckage it is a miracle that anyone came out alive.

[lostnfound]

9. US suggesting Saddam may be to blame, per Al Jazeera

Here's the story. It is a bit convoluted, but my take on it is that this is spin being put out by Washington. Blaming it on the bogeyman, still not found, makes it seem less problematic than blaming it on significant Iraqi resistance.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F0DCEF15-103D-4D18-8F22-FD99295B278E.htm