Rumsfeld Backs More Iraq Troops if Needed (AP:dozens of US troops killed?)

[Danieljay]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040...

I just noticed this...I thought 12 had been killed..is this a mistake? I also heard on a radio program earlier that over a hundred may be dead. Just whats going on here?

"Coalition forces fought on two fronts Tuesday, battling a Shiite-inspired uprising in southern Iraq and Sunni insurgents in the city of Fallujah in clashes that have killed dozens of American troops and at least 100 Iraqis since the weekend."

[aquart]

1. I don't think the 12 were in Fallujah.

Which would mean they haven't released the numbers for Fallujah at all, because the fighting is still going on and they don't know? Or because they're scared to tell us?

[Qanisqineq]

2. I really don't know the truth

Since sometime this afternoon, I've seen 12 marines or 19 troops or 22 troops reported. By my count, it is 20 (12 marines in Ramadi, 5 marines in Fallujah, 3 soldiers in Baghdad) but www.antiwar.com says 19 and the www.lunaville.org figures say 19 (total was 617 yesterday, 638 today).

[VolcanoJen]

3. ... since the weekend."

That's correct. Lunaville has the military fatalities at 37 (US) in April alone.

35 US soldiers have perished since Saturday, April 3.

[DulceDecorum]

4. 130 SOLDIERS KILLED IN IRAQ - REPORTS

A Pentagon source has said up to 130 US troops have been killed in fierce fighting in Iraq.
The large scale battle, described as "intense", has taken place in the town of Ar Ramadi, 20 miles west of Fallujah.
Sky News' David Chater said: "None of this is official yet - none of it is confirmed."
http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1130577,00....

13 marines die as Iraqis revolt
07:00 - 07 April 2004
Hundreds of British soldiers were arriving in Iraq to relieve peacekeeping forces beset by bloody rebellion.
Yesterday, 13 US troops and at least 66 Iraqis died in clashes, while British forces killed 15 fighters in recent trouble in the south of the country.
Coalition forces now face attacks from extremists drawn from the majority Shia population led by radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as well as the Sunni minority and remnants of Saddam Hussein's regime.
The increasing resistance has prompted calls by Iraq's foreign minister for thousands more troops to be sent in. The US is already considering boosting its presence.
http://www.thesentinel.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=115...

[tameszu]

5. There's an uncorroborated report from Sky News

that up to 130 U.S. troops were killed.

Could be a mistranslation--around 130 people total--12 marines, 2 intn'l coalition troops, and 115 Iraqis--have been killed in the current uprisings.

(Sky News = British Intn'l cable news owned by Murdoch)

[tameszu]

6. There it is

Maybe whomever put it on the web added an extra 0 by accident?

I have a hard time seeing how the Marines could have suffered 130 killed, without having an entire convoy or base overrun, or several helicopters go down.

[DulceDecorum]

9. I just posted it the way it was.

It says 130.
Alls I knows is what I reads on the internet.

[DulceDecorum]

7. At Least 12 Marines Killed as Iraq Fighting Rages

A defense official told Fox News that there have been "significant" U.S. deaths from the fighting in Ramadi — the official later set the figure at at least 12 U.S. casualties and at least 20 wounded.
Two more coalition soldiers and at least 66 Iraqis were also reported killed Tuesday.

President Bush, in a statement released from the White House Tuesday night, said, "Our troops are performing well."

Fighting was so intense that commanders went to the unit headquarters to pull people who wouldn't normally fight into the combat, military sources said.
"This is not like any other firefight we've seen so far," military sources in Iraq said. "There are bullets flying all over the place."
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,116262,00.html


Chaos spreads

In the rebel stronghold of Fallujah west of Baghdad, street battles raged as US marines pressed a day-old offensive to flush out fighters behind the murder of four American civilians last week.

Marines fought fighters, their faces covered by headscarves, after tanks, amphibious assault vehicles and Humvees rolled into the western Iraqi town at 1am.

The force, backed by AC130 gunships and Cobra helicopters, took six hours to take control of the industrial area on the town’s southeastern outskirts amid sporadic attacks by insurgents firing mortars and assault rifles from rooftops, said Lieutenant Colonel Brennan Byrne.
http://www.timesofoman.com/newsdetails.asp?newsid=54469

[markses]

8. Yes, dozens since the weekend

To wit:

Saturday 3-Apr: 1
1 - I MEF killed in hostile action, al-Anbar Province

Sunday 4-Apr: 11
1 - I MEF killed in hostile action, al-Anbar Province;
8 - 1AD killed in ambush, al-Sadr city section of Baghdad;
1 - Task Force Olympia, killed in IED attack, Mosul;
1 - 1ID killed in IED attack, Kirkuk; (Coalition first reported, then denied, US soldier killed in Najaf fighting)

Monday 5-Apr: 8
5 - I MEF killed in hostile fire, al-Anbar province (Fallujah fighting);
3 - 1AD killed in fighting, Baghdad

Tuesday 6-Apr: 12
12 - I MEF killed in attack on Governor's Palace basecamp, ar-Ramadi

Total Saturday - Tuesday = 32, or more than two dozen, or dozens.