Three G.I's Killed in Iraq Grenade Attack

["Alain St-Amour" <alainstamour@xxxxxxxx>]

Hi everyone,

There is nothing new or particulary interesting about this story, but there are 
two paragraphs which seem a bit odd:

"In Mosul today, American troops used bulldozers to begin to demolish the house 
after scouring it for clues on the whereabouts of Saddam Hussein, Reuters 
reported.

The wall surrounding the fortified villa was knocked down and Iraqi workers 
clambered over the roof, pounding it with sledgehammers. The villa was partly 
destroyed when American troops attacked it on Tuesday with machine guns, 
grenades and antitank missiles."

Why are American troops in such a hurry to demolish the house?

Has this been the standard modus operandi for all buildings and structures that 
have been on the receiving end of a US military attack?

In Solidarity,
Alain

=====================================================

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/27/international/worldspecial/27IRAQ.html?hp=&pagewanted=print&position=

July 27, 2003 - NYT
Three G.I's Killed in Iraq Grenade Attack
By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr.

BAQUBA, Iraq, July 26 ? Three American soldiers were killed and four were 
wounded this morning when insurgents attacked members of the Fourth Infantry 
Division as they were guarding a children's hospital in this town about 60 
miles northeast of Baghdad.

The site of the attack is on the eastern fringe of the region where violence 
against American soldiers since the end of major combat has been the worst.

It capped a week of strikes against American troops, including the ambush 
deaths of four soldiers and the wounding of at least six more, in and around 
Mosul, where Saddam Hussein's sons Uday and Qusay were killed by American 
troops on Tuesday.

In Mosul today, American troops used bulldozers to begin to demolish the house 
after scouring it for clues on the whereabouts of Saddam Hussein, Reuters 
reported.

The wall surrounding the fortified villa was knocked down and Iraqi workers 
clambered over the roof, pounding it with sledgehammers. The villa was partly 
destroyed when American troops attacked it on Tuesday with machine guns, 
grenades and antitank missiles.

In the days following the siege of the home in Mosul, a steady stream of 
informants' tips have led to major raids, including one in Tikrit, Mr. 
Hussein's hometown, that resulted in the capture of nearly a dozen people 
suspected of being the deposed dictator's personal bodyguards. Military 
officials said the arrests may help American troops in their search for Mr. 
Hussein.

In Baghdad overnight, blasts and gunfire rang out, but the United States 
military said there were no reports of any deaths. In Baghdad's al-Shoala 
neighborhood, the commander of Iraq's national police academy, Brig. Ahmed 
Kadhim, was wounded while leading a raid on suspected hijackers about 1 a.m., 
The Associated Press reported.

Brigadier Kadhim's assistant, Capt. Mushtak Fadhil, said five other officers 
also were wounded, one critically, when shots were fired as the police 
confronted five suspects. The suspected hijackers were arrested, he said.

A contingent of 450 Spanish troops left the town of Santiago de Compostela 
today, Agence France-Presse reported.

The troops are an advance group of a 1,300-member Spanish contingent that will 
serve in a multinational force in postwar Iraq.

The Spanish will operate under Polish control in the southern regions of 
Qadisiyah and Najaf. They are to be joined by 1,100 troops from Central 
American states and are expected to serve for six months.

The attack today in Baquba happened about 11 a.m. when a grenade was hurled at 
American soldiers as they guarded the children's hospital, said Specialist 
Nicole Thompson, a military spokeswoman in Baghdad.

Witnesses said that one attacker threw a single grenade over a wall into the 
garden of the hospital, but one soldier at the scene disputed that account.

Hamid Satar, 27, who left the hospital 10 minutes before the attack, said: "The 
Americans were sitting in the garden. There were about eight soldiers wearing 
T-shirts. Some of them were playing cards. Then the grenade came over them."

He said that a lot of Iraqis had been in the garden area during the morning, 
including children, but that the attacker must have waited until they left.

"They waited until the place was totally clear of Iraqis and then they threw 
the grenade," he said.

Firas Rashid, 22, who lives nearby, also said the attacker threw only one 
grenade. He said that after the attack, military officials sealed off the area 
and were searching people inside the hospital. "They kept everybody inside," he 
said.

Several people said the attacker was no one they knew.

This was one of the most serious attacks against Americans since President Bush 
declared major combat operations to be over on May 1, but there have been other 
strikes in the area in the past several weeks.

The children's hospital faces the Tigris River. Several hours after the attack, 
five armored vehicles and at least eight smaller military vehicles were on the 
scene, along with a large number of American soldiers.

The street had been blocked off with razor wire. About 60 or 70 Iraqis were 
milling about outside the cordoned off area.

A military translator emerged from the hospital at 6:30 p.m. and spoke to the 
Iraqis outside.

"Nobody is allowed to enter or leave the hospital," he said. "You should go 
home."

He said the hospital had been sealed off, that people inside were being 
interviewed and he did not know when the hospital would reopen to the public.
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