Fighting spreads as U.S. troops kill 350 Iraqis

[Nambe]

BAGHDAD, Iraq (KR Washington Bureau)

Fighting between cleric Muqtada al Sadr's militia and the U.S.-led military coalition continued to spread through southern and central Iraq Friday, leaving at least 350 dead and more than 160 injured in two days of battles that threatened the stability of an already fragile nation.

U.S. Marines in the southern town of Najaf confirmed that they had killed about 300 of al Sadr's fighters since the clashes began Thursday. A commander there estimated that his men are still facing some 2,000 members of al Sadr's Mahdi Army, named for the Shiite Muslim messiah. Three Marines have been killed there and 12 wounded.

"The battlefield is very fluid at the moment," said Lt. Col. Gary Johnston, operations officer for the 11th Marine Expeditionary Force in Najaf. "There are also criminals and gangs among the fighting. It is difficult to say: Is it local gangs firing in one area, or is it kids picking up guns they have found and firing them at us, or is it anti-Iraqi forces?"

The fighting in Najaf has included American F-15 fighter jets dropping bombs, U.S. Apache helicopters shooting missiles and American tanks letting loose with barrages of fire....

Ride Don’t Drive It’s Global Cool

[trumad]

1. 350?

How about 355? Or 500? or 650?

I don't believe their body counts at all....:eyes:

[newbie2be]

8. Too low or too high?

Which way is it skewed?

[anarchy1999]

2. Najaf = Fallujah, round two.

I really am beginning to despise this government, this administration, and the people that support this wholesale slaughter of people around the globe. I'm sorry.

[indepat]

10. Don't feel too badly for is not evil universally despised?

[jpgray]

3. This just in! Marines kill infinity plus one Iraqi insurgents

Experts say the only way they can top this feat of magnificence is to kill infinity plus infinity Iraqis, or the dreaded infinity TIMES infinity Iraqis.

[Karenina]

9. To WHAT end?

:cry:

[childslibrarian]

4. That's the way to win hearts and minds.

Yahoo has an interesting link about how much power Sadr now commands..

Moqtada al-Sadr, whose militia is fighting U.S. forces in Iraq's holiest Muslim Shi'ite city, wants a negotiated settlement to the bloody conflict, an aide to the rebel cleric said Saturday.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/fc?cid=34&tmpl=fc&in=World&cat=Iraq

[Kagemusha]

5. One of these reports said these are ESTIMATES.

And you know how reliable estimates tend to be.

[kodi]

11. like in viet nam, with casualty #s so high they made no sense

night after night on tv numbers would be given of enemy dead, wounded or captured until it became clear that by simple arithmetic the americans had completely destroyed the opposition 2-3 times over.

and still the fighting raged.

they are doing the same thing here in iraq.

[Minstrel Boy]

6. Not enough - Iraq won't be truly free until every last Iraqi is dead!

I'm George W Bush, and I approve of this genocide.

[Junkdrawer]

7. Starting body counts in Iraq? Beginning of the end...

What did they call it in Nam? The "five o'clock follies"?

[hadrons]

12. Marines confirm their estimates ....

:eyes:

I just confirmed my estimates that's women find me one of the 10 hottest guys in the World too ... how much is that worth???

Are the sheepe really conformed by these high body counts because I'm thinking if they are losing so many guys and still coming back for more that would do the opposite of what these pecker-heads are trying to do

[goforit]

13. Ethnic cleansing Bushista style!!!

[saigon68]

14. BODY COUNTS--- IRAQ-NAM STYLE

JUST THROW OUT A FEW NUMBERS---

WE AL NEED TO GO TO THE REX HOTEL FOR A DRINK TONIGHT.

LOL

[Liberal_Dog]

15. "We Had To Kill Them In Order To Liberate Them"

eom

[teryang]

16. American casualties going up again, so....

...time for body counts of the "enemy" to justify senseless losses in a failed colonial venture.

[Clyde39]

17. When will this insanity end?

The killing just goes on and on.......are they liberated yet?