LAT: Iraqi Leaders Try to Defuse Crisis As Fighting Spreads

[DeepModem Mom]

THE CONFLICT IN IRAQ
Iraqi Leaders Try to Defuse Crisis as Fighting Spreads
Cleric Sadr is wounded in Najaf, his spokesmen say. Battles kill scores around the country.

By David Holley, Mark Mazzetti and Edmund Sanders, Times Staff Writers


Iraq's interim government fought Thursday to maintain its political balance as the rebellion led by a Shiite cleric flared in half a dozen cities.

Here at the epicenter of Iraq's worst crisis since it regained sovereignty, U.S. troops and their Iraqi allies launched a major assault against militants holed up in the Old City and the Imam Ali Mosque, especially sacred to Shiite Muslims....At least 25 civilians and Iraqi police and soldiers were killed in the assault, Iraqi officials said. About 50 insurgents were reported killed.

At least one U.S. soldier was killed. The unofficial total of U.S. military dead since the March 2003 invasion is about 930....

***

Spokesmen for (Muqtada) Sadr said he was wounded while visiting fighters this morning in Najaf. Heider Turufi said Sadr suffered moderate injuries, one in the chest and two in the legs. Other spokesmen also said the injuries were not life-threatening....

Although the weeklong battle in Najaf remained the key conflict, fighting was growing deadlier elsewhere. The Health Ministry reported at least 157 Iraqi civilians, police and soldiers dead and 600 wounded in the previous day in clashes between Sadr's Al Mahdi militia and Iraqi and U.S.-led forces. That includes 36 killed in Baghdad and 75 in Kut, a provincial capital 100 miles southeast of the capital.

The increased fighting comes as the U.S.-backed interim government is preparing for a key national political conference Sunday and bracing for a potential backlash from the crackdown in the holy city of Najaf....


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/la-fg-iraq13aug13,1,4841890.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[acmavm]

1. At least one US soldier is dead? Come on folks, unless Kryptonite is the

only thing that will harm a US soldier, more than one is dead. For nothing except the incompetence, greed, and corruption of the current US administration.

[Barrett808]

2. "At least one" is technically accurate

Of course, the number could be in the dozens...

[bemildred]

3. Yup, "not more than" 130,000 ...