120 more dead Iraqis Tuesday....May's the deadliest month of the year for US troops.... [View All]

[marmar]

Who are the real victims of "The Surge"? :grr: :mad: :argh: :cry:

from the AP, via Yahoo:

By STEVEN R. HURST, Associated Press Writer
48 minutes ago



BAGHDAD - Gunmen in police uniforms and driving vehicles used by security forces kidnapped five Britons from an Iraqi Finance Ministry office Tuesday, and a senior Iraqi official said the radical Shiite Mahdi Army militia was suspected.

Compounding the fresh evidence of chaos in Iraq, the U.S. military announced that a total of 10 American soldiers were killed in roadside bombings and a helicopter crash on Memorial Day, making May — at 113 fatalities — the third deadliest month of the war.

Across the country Tuesday, police and morgue officials contacted by The Associated Press reported a total of at least 120 people killed or found dead. All of the officials refused to allow use of their names fearing they could be targeted by militants.

The Finance Ministry kidnappings, if the work of the Mahdi Army as asserted by Iraqi officials, could be retaliation for the killing by British forces last week of the militia's commander in Basra.

The raid also was reminiscent of an attack by the Shiite militiamen, dressed as Interior Ministry commandos, who stormed a Higher Education Ministry office Nov. 14 and snatched away as many as 200 people. Dozens of those kidnap victims were never been found.

The Mahdi Army, which is deeply embedded in the Iraqi security forces, also was believed looking for a way to avenge the recent killing by U.S. forces of a top operative. He was said to have been the author of an attack in the holy city of Karbala in January in which gunmen — speaking English, wearing U.S. military uniforms and carrying American weapons — abducted four U.S. soldiers and then shot them to death. .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070530/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq;_ylt=ApCVFxc7jnAIpuTzhtPQr5qs0NUE