Iraqis deny US reports of army units clashing

[Barrett808]

Iraqis deny US reports of army units clashing
By Ahmed Rasheed

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. military reported on Saturday a clash between Iraqi army units that killed one Iraqi soldier, raising questions over the new, U.S.-trained force's cohesion in the face of ethnic and sectarian rivalries.

But the Iraqi Defense Ministry denied all knowledge of such an incident and Iraqi army and police officers in the area gave a different account of Friday's events, describing violence between a mainly Kurdish army unit and local, Arab civilians.

The U.S. military said its troops helped end a stand-off at Balad, 40 km (25 miles) north of Baghdad, between two Iraqi units, one of which had earlier been ambushed by rebels.

But a spokesman declined to say whether the U.S. soldiers actually witnessed Iraqi troops killing a fellow soldier and referred inquiries to the media office of the Iraqi Defense Ministry. There, an official said he knew of no such case.

(more)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060513/wl_nm/iraq_dc

[rodeodance]

1. the Iraqi are getting as good at propaganda as we are.

[jdeetz1019]

2. Of course its denied

I used to think the civil war that will eventually erupt over there would hold off as long as US troops were there. Reports like this make me second guess that, maybe it will explode in our faces. Unfortunately, our young men and women will be caught in the middle. Bush should own up to his screw up, admit this fiasco is what it is, and get our people out of there.