[Marxism] U.S. soldiers ambushed, have throats slit...

["David Quarter" <davidquarter@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Attacks on convoys kill 3 U.S. troops
Three U.S. soldiers die in accidents
Sunday, November 23, 2003 Posted: 2041 GMT ( 4:41 AM HKT)



Soldiers stand near the vehicle of two soldiers killed in an attack in
Mosul on Sunday.


BAGHDAD (CNN) -- Three U.S. soldiers were killed Sunday in
separate attacks on their military convoys in Iraq, according to the
U.S. military.

Two soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division were killed Sunday
when their convoy came under attack by small-arms fire in the
northern town of Mosul, according to a U.S. Army spokesman.

Witnesses told CNN the soldiers were shot and wounded while
riding in a civilian vehicle. Men then cut the soldiers' throats while
they were still in the vehicle and a crowd of Iraqis, including
children, stripped their bodies of personal effects and weapons, the
witnesses said.

Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt would not comment on the details of the
incident.

Another U.S. soldier was killed and two were wounded Sunday
morning near Ba'qubah, north of Baghdad, when a military convoy
hit a roadside bomb, according to a spokesman for the 4th Infantry
Division.

The wounded soldiers are in a stable condition, the spokesman
said.

In addition, vehicle accidents claimed the lives of three other
soldiers Friday and Saturday, and Iraqi sources said an Iraqi police
colonel charged with security at oil installations was shot and killed
in northern Iraq.

The deaths bring the total number of U.S. soldiers killed in the Iraq
war to 432 -- 300 of them under hostile conditions.

Since May 1, when President Bush declared the end of major
combat operations, 290 U.S. troops have died, 185 from hostile
fire.

Despite the losses, Kimmitt said the guerrilla attacks are not
having a major impact on the occupation forces' mission in Iraq.

"This is a enemy that cannot defeat us militarily, and in
engagement after engagement, we see the enemy breaking off,
running away," he told reporters.

No reliable estimate of Iraqi deaths over the course of the conflict is
available. The Associated Press reported an estimated 3,240
civilian Iraqi deaths between March 20 and April 20, but the AP
said the figure was based on records of only half of Iraq's hospitals
and that the actual number was thought to be significantly higher.

Civilian flights suspended after missile attack
U.S. authorities in Iraq suspended civilian flights into Baghdad's
international airport Sunday after a cargo plane was damaged by a
surface-to-air missile over the weekend.

Military air traffic into Baghdad will continue, Coalition Provisional
Authority spokesman Dan Senor said.

A DHL flight was struck by a surface-to-air missile shortly after
takeoff Saturday from Baghdad, military officials said. The missile
struck one of the jet's engines, and the aircraft returned safely to
the airport, its left wing ablaze. No one was hurt. (Full story)

The U.S. Air Force is conducting an investigation into the attack,
Kimmitt said.

DHL and passenger carrier Royal Jordanian Airlines are the only
companies flying into Baghdad.

Other Developments
? An explosion at an oil compound near the northern city of Kirkuk
injured four employees Saturday night, according to Iraqi Northern
Oil Co. spokesman Mike McAleer. A preliminary investigation
indicated that the blast at the oil company's Baba Cultural Social
Club was caused by a bomb, McAleer said.

? Iraqi civilians flagged down an Iraqi Railroad train early Sunday to
prevent it from approaching an improvised explosive device placed
on the tracks near the town of Iskandariyah, south of Baghdad.
Central Command said the bomb was made of three 155mm
artillery rounds linked together. An ordnance disposal team
attached to the 82nd Airborne Division disarmed the device, and
the rail line reopened.

-- CNN correspondents Jane Arraf and Walter Rodgers contributed
to this report.