The Daily Background
| Fully armed Soldiers kidnapped in Iraq?
by Arlen Parsa
More good news from Iraq… Associated Press reports:
A farmer claiming to have witnessed an attack on a U.S. military checkpoint said Sunday that insurgents swarmed the scene, killing the driver of a Humvee before taking two of his comrades captive. The U.S. military has only said the soldiers are missing.
U.S. troops, backed by helicopters and warplanes, fanned out across the “Triangle of Death” south of Baghdad searching for the missing servicemen. At least four raids had been carried out, but the captives were not found, the military said.
Another local resident said the soldiers searched houses on Sunday and promised a $100,000 reward for any information leading to the missing soldiers.
Interesting. They don’t trust the guy who’s willing to talk to them, but they do trust the guy who isn’t:
A Youssifiyah resident, who claimed his house was searched by U.S. soldiers Sunday afternoon, also said the Americans used translators to offer $100,000 for information leading to those who took the soldiers.
He said he would not cooperate because he was angry with the Americans.
“I will not do it even if they pay $1 million,” the resident said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he feared retribution. “They deserve all that they are facing … We are living a hard life because of them.”
Full article. I wonder how long it will take for the military to officially declare them kidnapped. Or for them to be found. Either way, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow says that the press is focusing too much on it.
