Iraq Official Kills One Two U.S. Soldiers, Wounds 5
More than five years into the U.S. occupation of Iraq, and we’re still waiting for rose petals, candy, and hidden ponies…
When the history of the U.S. occupation of Iraq is finally written (truthfully), this might be one of the more bizarre stories to emerge…
BAGHDAD, Iraq — One U.S. soldier was killed and five others were wounded today in a bizarre shooting incident near the town of Salman Pak, south of Baghdad, according to U.S. and Iraqi authorities.
Iraqi authorities said a member of the town council, which is part of the U.S.-allied Iraqi government, carried out the shootings…
The U.S. military could confirm only that “initial reports indicate one Coalition forces (soldier) killed in action, five Coalition forces soldiers wounded in action and one enemy killed in action” at 1 p.m. today in the Salman Pak area…
So, if I’m to understand this story, an Iraqi government official (the “enemy”, as characterized by U.S. military PR flacks) opens fire on a platoon of U.S. soldiers, and single-handedly takes down six of them?
Something isn’t right here. Oh well. I mean, it’s not like we’ll ever know what happened.
Update: …and, right on cue, the Associated Press, apparently steno’ing for the American proconsul in Iraq, is characterizing the shooter in the incident as “disgruntled”. It sounds like a one man firefight. You can go look up the link yourself. ASZ no longer links to (or quotes from) AP reports.
I see you linked to a McClatchy article for the story. Their headline reads: “U.S.-allied Iraqi politician kills 2 U.S. troops, wounds 4″ while the AP headline over at YahooNews reads (my bold emph.): “Gunman in Iraq kills 2 American soldiers, wounds 4.”