1.21.2007

Five More Americans Dead In Iraq: The Difference? Killers Wore U.S. Uniforms

And when we do President Bush's "Surge" bidding and embed our troops with the police and the Iraqi Army, I would imagine it will be all the easier for insurgents or others to obtain the uniforms of American soldiers. No?

But here's more on this weekend's deadly toll from The Times (and note: we don't even bother to discuss Iraqi civilian deaths anymore):

The United States military said that two marines died on Sunday in western Iraq and that an additional seven service members had died on Saturday. The deaths, in addition to those announced on Saturday, brought the weekend toll to 27 and made Saturday the third-deadliest day for United States forces since the war here began.

Seven of the deaths announced Sunday, including those of three marines, were caused by “enemy action” in the restive Sunni-dominated Anbar Province, while another soldier was killed in Baghdad by a roadside bomb, the military statements said.

New details also emerged about clashes on Saturday in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, which left five Americans dead. Lt. Col. Scott R. Bleichwehl, an American military spokesman, said the gunmen who stormed the provincial governor’s office during a meeting between American and local officials were wearing what appeared to be American military uniforms in an effort to impersonate United States soldiers.