Saddam Human Tithe Count: 2 Dead, 4 Wounded



Two American soldiers are dead and 4 were wounded last night in our ongoing, peaceful, victorious occupation of Iraq, where we are much loved. The details of this latest sacrifice to Halliburton and Bechtel:

BAGHDAD, Iraq--Two U.S. soldiers were killed and four wounded in an ambush in the same Baghdad neighborhood where hours earlier a suicide car bomb killed 10 people, including the driver, the U.S. military said Friday.

Shiite Muslims denied there was an ambush and said fighters loyal to a radical Shiite cleric battled U.S. troops Thursday night as the Americans approached their leader's headquarters. Up to two Iraqis died in the fighting and seven were wounded, according to various Iraqi reports.

Witnesses said seven U.S. tanks backed by three low-flying helicopters returned to the area early Friday, but left an hour later without incident.

The U.S. military said troops from the 1st Armored Division were on patrol in Sadr City, the largest Shiite Muslim enclave in Baghdad, when they were ambushed about 8 p.m. Thursday.

Sheik Abdel-Hadi al-Daraji — an aide to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr — blamed the clash on the Americans, saying they opened fire first.

Outside al-Sadr's office, about 10,000 Shiites gathered for Friday prayers and mourners placed two coffins of Iraqis they said died in the clash with the Americans. Many of the worshippers carried portraits of al-Sadr and his father, a top religious leader who was killed in 1999 by suspected agents of Saddam Hussein.

"Look at how far we've come, much further than anyone would have expected," Bremer told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Friday. "We're back at prewar levels in power, we're back at prewar levels in water, the schools are open, the hospitals are open, and we're really making tremendous progress here."

In Sadr city, al-Daraji denounced the American forces occupying his country.

"America claims to be the pioneer of freedom and democracy, but it resembles or indeed is a terror organization," al-Daraji told the congregation, which chanted "no to America and yes to martyrdom" as the coffins arrived. "The Americans may have forgotten that the real power rests with God and not with the wretched America."

He accused the Americans of trying to drive a wedge between Iraq's majority Shiites and minority Sunnis and claimed the U.S.-led coalition was responsible for "manufacturing crises and trying to create havoc." But he stopped short of calling on Shiites to take up arms against the Americans and instead insisted "we want peace."

Al-Daraji, like some in the outdoor congregation, wore a white coffin shroud, a custom among pious Shiites to signal their readiness for martyrdom.

Given my own experiences with U.S. troops in Afghanistan, I'm inclined to take Iraqis at their word when they claim that the Americans fired first. They're a nervous, trigger-happy, bunch. Also, I can't help thinking of the book "Black Hawk Down" when locals describe low-altitude choppers hanging out over their dusty streets. This caused an enormous amount of resentment against U.S. Marines in Mogadishu, Somalia. Now it's happening again. I guess the Pentagon never read the book.