First US soldier killed in Iraq since withdrawal of combat troops

[Turborama]

Source: The Guardian

Attack comes amid growing concern that security will deteriorate further after spate of bombings and shootings -

Martin Chulov in Baghdad -

An American soldier was killed by a rocket strike near Basra today, in the first US fatality since the last combat troops left Iraq.

The announcement came amid growing concern that the withdrawal of combat forces will allow security in Iraq to further deteriorate. The past three months have seen a spate of bombings and shootings in the centre and north of the country .

Details of the incident were not released, but Basra airport base, which is still home to about 4,000 US forces, had experienced increased numbers of rocket attacks in recent weeks as the deadline drew near for the withdrawal of combat troops. Two soldiers suffered minor wounds in a rocket strike early last week, and rockets have hit the Green Zone in Baghdad almost daily for the past month.

Around 5,000 US troops will stay in the country until next year, focusing mainly on training Iraqi security forces, but the top US military commander in Iraq said today they could return to combat operations if needed.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/22/us-soldier-killed-attack-iraq

[sandnsea]

1. Odierno said it was unlikely

It is unlikely the U.S. military will resume a combat mission in Iraq after Sept. 1, the top U.S. military commander there said today, citing progress in Iraq's government and security forces.

Army Gen. Ray Odierno appeared on Sunday news talk shows today to discuss the U.S. mission in Iraq, as its combat role officially ends there Sept. 1. It would take a "complete failure" of Iraqi forces, he said, for that mission to change.

"We don't see that happening," Odierno said on CNN's State of the Union. " have been doing so well for so long now that we really believe we're beyond that point.

http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=60539

And he doesn't set the mission in Iraq anyway.

[awoke_in_2003]

10. "It would take a "complete failure" of Iraqi forces"

that probably won't take long.

[sandnsea]

12. You hope n/t

[awoke_in_2003]

14. nope, but it is the history of the area...

the Sunnis, Shia, and Kurds will not get along for very long.

[xchrom]

2. Recommend

[izquierdista]

3. Correct me if I'm wrong...

...but I don't believe there were any American casualties in Vietnam after the troops were withdrawn. :shrug: jus' sayin'

[ieoeja]

26. There were American casualties in Vietnam after we left.

The last two died when we went US Marines back in to evacuate foreign nationals (a type of rescue mission we have done many times). We also had non-combat troops acting as trainers and advisors during the year-and-a-half interim. Some of them probably got killed.

And then there would have been Air America. Not troops, but mercenaries mostly from the United States. I'm sure we had some special forces types in theatre. Heck, we once had SF guys on both sides of a battle between Israeli commandos and troops from one of their neighbors.

I only know of the two. But I'd be surprised if there were not a few more.

[GSLevel9]

4. that's impossible. They told us the war is over.

:sarcasm:

suckers!

[Soylent Brice]

5. .

K&R

[msongs]

6. did u miss the post how "combat" troops have just been renamed as a ruse? nt

[KoKo]

7. Such a sad announcement...and his friends & family probably thought he was safe...

What a sad thing.......

[obxhead]

8. I guess the "enemy" didn't get the memo that the war is over.

They even changed the name of it! Gee, you would think it was a clear enough message that the war was over.

[onehandle]

9. Typo. It's 50,000 troops. Not 5,000. And they will still be 'hunting' terrorists.

'Combat troops' is just words.

[Roland99]

11. Combat brigades are STILL in Iraq >>>>>>

http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0822/combat-brigades-iraq-report/

[Martin Eden]

13. "Around 5,000 US troops will stay in the country until next year"

I believe they missed a zero ... that number s/b 50,000.

I think the definition of "the troops have been withdrawn" has been somewhat redifined when 50,000 troops are still there.

[ThomThom]

15. So were are these rockets coming from? Iraq isn't making them.

Whose are they? Seems like an important question to me.

[PacerLJ35]

21. Probably from a cache

There are still thousands of artillery and rocket rounds in the country. Some (but not all) have been smuggled in via Iran and Syria. But most were there prior to 2003, just hidden by the former regime.

[IndianaGreen]

16. NY Times: Fatality in Iraq in First After Deadline

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x418800

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 732-10
August 17, 2010

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DOD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Spc. Jamal M. Rhett, 24, of Palmyra, N.J., died Aug. 15 in Ba Qubah, Iraq, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his vehicle with grenades. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=13801

Fatality in Iraq Is First After Deadline

By THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: August 22, 2010

BAGHDAD — An American soldier was killed in Iraq’s southernmost province on Sunday, marking the first American fatality since the military declared last week that the last combat unit had pulled out of the country, the military said.

The military withdrawal under way is supposed to bring the number of American troops in Iraq to 50,000 by the end of August, under a deadline set by the Obama administration. While military officials have said that casualties are likely to occur after that date, Sunday’s death underscores the semantic difficulties in describing precisely what their mission will represent and what roles they will be engaged in.

The military said the soldier was killed by indirect fire, a phrase that usually means a rocket or mortar attack. It said that the soldier was killed in “a hostile attack” in the province around Basra, and that the attack was “under investigation.”

The fatality came three days after what the military described as the departure of the last combat unit from Iraq. It left through Kuwait, to the south. About 52,000 troops remain, though the last 2,000 are scheduled to leave over the next week or so.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/23/world/middleeast/23iraq.html

[Ter]

17. I told all the buffoons that cheered Obama for the "pullout" they they were wrong

There will be troops in Iraq for another 10 years. Maybe forever.

[Skittles]

19. it sickens me, the naivete of so many DUers

idiots

[Lost4words]

24. thats a BINGO, I could list their IDs all day long!

they are either that or compensated, I guess they could be both for that matter. Glad you are still holding the fort

:hi: :donut:

[Skittles]

18. he was a "trainer"

this is such fucking bullshit

[LostinVA]

23. Yes, like the "advisors" killed in Vietnam

[Wilms]

20. Call the soldier's parent, Mr. President.

Explain how you get dead when the war is supposed top be over.

Then tuck your children in and be grateful that they'll likely never fight in war of choice.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

22. Who'll...

Who'll be the last soldiertrainer to die for a mistake?

[Major Hogwash]

25. Proving that the troops still in Iraq are NOT combat troops, just living targets!!!

Some of the women soldiers that were killed in the Iraq War didn't have jobs that were rated for combat, but they are just as dead!!!!

[icnorth]

27. No combat troops in Iraq?

Beam. Me. Up. Scottie. :tinfoilhat: