who killed the the lastest 5 US troops is questioned:

[rodeodance]

......"The Provincial Joint Coordination Center (PJCC) in Kerbala was attacked with grenades, small arms and indirect fires by an illegally armed militia group," the U.S. military said in a statement, apparently blaming Shi'ite militiamen rather than Sunni insurgents whom it usually calls terrorists.

"Five U.S. soldiers were killed and three wounded while repelling the attack," said the statement.

ACCOUNT QUESTIONED

An Iraqi local government official who said he was in the building throughout questioned the identification of those who fought the U.S. troops posted outside a joint U.S.-Iraqi base, in the provincial governor's headquarters, just after dark.
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Describing how a convoy of half a dozen white, U.S.-made, unmarked four-wheel drive vehicles approached the compound round 6 p.m. (1500 GMT), he said armed men in the convoy exchanged heavy fire with U.S. soldiers.

U.S. troops and Iraqi special forces later searched the office of the governor and other senior officials, said the official, who represents a major Shi'ite political party and spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.

"It's still very mysterious," he said. "I'm not sure why they say those people who came in were militia. The police on duty said they thought they were Americans."

.......http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=newsOne&storyID=2007-01-20T235354Z_01_PAR045463_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ.xml&pageNumber=1&imageid=&cap=&sz=13&WTModLoc=NewsArt-C1-ArticlePage1

[The Magistrate]

1. Not Much Of Substance To The Dispute, Ma'am

The local officials, being themselves beholden to Shia militias in that town, are unlikely to do anything but deny it was their friends who attacked.

The statements of the police quoted by the official relate only to the approach of the shootists, in vehicles similar to those contractors often employ. Vehicles of any pattern and style are readily available, and this sort of ruse on approach is as old as warfare itself.

[yurbud]

2. it's tough to separate out the Boston Tea Party from real Indians sometimes, isn't it?

Frankly, the only time I'm sure it was really Iraqis was when those four contractors were burned and hung in Fallujah. That seemed to visibly piss off the Bushies, as opposed to just being a pretext for an offensive.

[RoyGBiv]

3. Civil war sucks ...

It'd be so much easier if everyone would just choose a color scheme and stick with it.