Bombs underscore peril of assisting US

[dArKeR]

Baghdad - United States troops struggled with yet more bomb attacks in the Iraqi capital - hours after President George Bush appealed for help to rebuild Iraq.

A roadside bomb, apparently aimed at US troops, tore through two commuter buses in Baghdad on Wednesday, killing an Iraqi and wounding about 20.

In the northern city of Mosul, a blast ripped through a cinema, causing several casualties. Shopkeepers said they saw about 20 people carried out of the building, some of them with serious wounds.

Three Iraqi police officers were recovering in hospital from another incident overnight in which they said a US soldier was also wounded, while elsewhere in the city, troops sealed off a road tunnel to deal with explosives found there.

The incidents underscored the perils for countries considering US requests for peacekeepers...

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=3&art_id=vn20030925052918510C474160&set_id=1

[mojowork_n]

1. Our troops are in the sights, too

A friend of mine's brother came back from there a few weeks ago. I think he's an M.P. I've met him a few times and thought he was a really sharp, alert, aware sort of guy. According to her, he's "just not himself, at all". Won't let anyone touch him or give him a hug. Doesn't want to talk to anyone, but staying "very, very quiet".

I've read stories about guys sleeping in ditches, in 120 degree heat, fighting the flies and totally unable to comprehend how to react to the locals.

I know there have to be parts of Iraq where they're actually glad
Saddam's gone, that relations between the locals and U.S. military are more or less OK, but I don't think this guy was in one of those zones.