Insurgent to hang for killing U.S. soldiers

[unhappycamper]

From left, Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, Pfc. Thomas Tucker and Spc. David J. Babineau. The three soldiers were serving with the 101st Airborne Division when they were killed in Iraq in 2006.


Insurgent to hang for killing U.S. soldiers
By Sameer N. Yacoub - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Oct 29, 2008 6:03:23 EDT

BAGHDAD — An Iraqi militant accused of killing three American soldiers in a grisly checkpoint ambush was convicted Tuesday and sentenced to death by hanging. Two other men accused in the 2006 deaths were acquitted.

The killing of the three 101st Airborne Division soldiers was one of the most brazen attacks against U.S. forces since the Iraq war began in 2003.

The case marked the first time an Iraqi investigative judge sent a case involving an Iraqi killing specific Americans to trial.

The soldiers were ambushed June 16, 2006, while at an isolated checkpoint near the Euphrates River, at a time of particularly intense fighting in predominantly Sunni areas just south of Baghdad. At the time, the area was known as the Triangle of Death.

One soldier was found dead at the site of the checkpoint. The two other 101st soldiers were kidnapped, sparking a massive search effort by the military. Their mutiliated bodies were found three days later at a nearby power station, tied together and booby-trapped with roadside bombs.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/10/ap_iraq_deathsentence_102808/%2e