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Nation & World News Eight U.S. soldiers killed in Sadr City ambush At least 30 Iraqis perished in the conflict, and 40 more U.S. troops were wounded By Colin McMahon Chicago Tribune (KRT) BAGHDAD, Iraq — The soldiers of the 1st Cavalry Division steeled themselves as their troop truck rumbled toward the crowded streets and narrow alleys of Sadr City. A reconnaissance patrol, including guys like them with only a few weeks in Iraq under their belts, had been ambushed up ahead. Gunfire echoed through the Baghdad slum, a place they used to call Saddam City but which now bore the family name of another Iraqi who had worked his way up the list of U.S. enemies: Shiite cler ic Moqtada Sadr. "I saw that there were no kids out on the soccer field," a soldier recalled of the drive into battle. "That's when 1 knew it was going to be bad." In the worst Baghdad street fight ing since the Iraqi capital fell nearly a year ago, eight U.S. soldiers were killed Sunday night and more than 40 were wounded in clashes with Sadr's militia. At least 30 Iraqis died, Iraqi doctors said. The ambush that began the bloodshed was fierce, frenzied and calculated, said Maj. Gen. Martin Dempsey, commander of the U.S. Army's 1st Armored Division, who provided an initial but detailed account Monday of the previous night's clashes. It was about 5 p.m., and 30 or so soldiers were on a reconnaissance mission near the center of Sadr City. Sadr's people had attacked Spanish and Salvadoran troops out side Najaf earlier Sunday. Now there were repons that his men were going to take over Sadr City's police stations. The Americans went to check it out. The patrol was made up of a mix of veterans from the 1st Armored Division, men finally going home after a year in Iraq and their replacements from the 1st Cavalry who had been in the country less than a month. They spotted about 30 men bran dishing weapons. Many wore the all black dress of Sadr's Al-Mahdi Army, a militia that, like all private militias in Iraq, is officially outlawed and supposed to be disbanded. The men would be asked to disarm. But as the U.S. soldiers prepared to challenge the men, a hellish gun fire rained down. From facing rooftops of two- and three-story buildings, Sadr's militia fighters unloaded their AK-47s on the U.S. Humvees and troop carriers. From the alleys, other militiamen fired rocket-propelled grenades. "There is nothing more confus ing in the entire universe than an ambush, especially one where the road networks are so narrow, because everything echoes," Dempsey said. The Americans were hit hard. Dempsey said most casualties typi cally occur in the first part of a battle, and this one followed form: 1 lalf of the dead and many of the American wounded resulted from this ambush. "They outnumbered us at that point on the ground, so the patrol leader made the correct decision to move to a better defensive posi tion," Dempsey said. The soldiers scrambled for cover, abandoning their vehicles and tak ing refuge in a building about 300 yards away. They called for backup. A column of four Bradley armored vehicles responded. It was ambushed too. One more group of vehicles would enter Sadr City and come under attack before, with the city in darkness and firefights raging, a column of tanks entered and put the uprising down for the night. "It was a very calculated action," Dempsey said. If the plan of Sadr's men was sound, it was also relative ly easy to arrive upon. There are few paths the Americans could take into Sadr City from their rear bases, and the spots at which to attack were obvious to all. Beyond that, Dempsey said, the execution of the plan showed that while Sadr's Al-Mahdi may call itself an army, it remains an unprofessional militia. From the rooftops, Sadr's men would raise their automatic rifles over their heads and shoot over the railings, emptying their ammunition clips in one go but barely aiming. "It's really a mob," Dempsey said. "A mob with a lot of weapons." (c) 2004, Chicago Tribune! Distributed by Knight Ridder/ Tribune Information Services. Military looks for ways to increase troops in Iraq U.S. officials, concerned about recent violence in Iraq, look at ways to increase the size of the occupation force By Stephen J. Hedges and Bob Kemper Chicago Tribune (KRT) WASHINGTON — Facing a rising wave of violence in Iraq, the U.S. mili tary is examining ways to expand the size of its occupation force there in case reinforcements are needed. Gen. John Abizaid, the head of the U.S. Central Command, has asked his staff to determine how the force in Iraq could be bolstered in a "worst case" scenario, said a senior U.S. mili tary' official who briefed Pentagon reporters Dy reiepnone Monday. "Given the events of this weekend and the obvious potential for more demonstrations or more violence," the official said, "we have asked the staff to at least take a look and see what forces are available out there in a quick-re sponse mode in the event that they should be needed if there was a wide spread move in that direction. "But we don't believe that that's go ing to occur and we don't believe that we're going to need any additional forces from the United States. So we simply do that as a matter of planning." The level of unrest has raised doubts about the Bush administration's June 30 deadline for turning power over to an interim Iraqi government. But President Bush, meeting with re porters during a day trip to North Carolina, said the date remains firm." "I believe we can transfer authority by June 30," the president said, while acknowledging that violence against U.S. forces is likely to increase in coming weeks. "The closer we come to the deadline, the more likely it is peo ple will challenge our will," Bush said. Until now, Abizaid and Pentagon military leaders have said that the size of the U.S. force in Iraq is adequate. If additional troops are needed, it is not immediately clear where they would be drawn from, and how large a rapid response force would be considered. One Pentagon official suggested that the rapid-response troops could even be tak en from units elsewhere in Iraq. Also, a force of about 1,800 U.S. soldiers is in Djibouti on a counter-terrorism mission and could be moved to Iraq. r The addition of such rapid-response troop would not necessarily change the composition of the long-term U.S. ground force in Iraq, Pentagon officials said. Abizaid's request came after a bloody shootout in Baghdad on Sunday be tween U.S. troops and militiamen loyal to Moqtada Sadr, a radical Shiite Mus lim cleric who has called on his follow ers to challenge the American occupa tion. Eight Americans and at least 30 Iraqis died in the gun battle. Bush said Monday that Sadr is "one person who is deciding that rather than allow democracy to flourish, he's going to exercise force. And we just can't let it stand." Sunday's violence followed Wednesday's grisly attacks in Fallujah, in which four employees of an American security firm were killed in attacks on their vehicles. Their charred bodies were then dragged through the streets and hung from a bridge by a mob. In January, the military launched a massive rotation of Army and Marine ground units that will put fresh troops in Iraq; currently there are about 130,000 troops in Iraq. By June, Army planners say, the total force will be near 120,000. Military officials on Monday said that a major outbreak of violence in Iraq could both require more II.S. troops on the ground and push back the June 30 date for a transfer of pow er. Still, they said such a scenario seemed unlikely. (c) 2004, Chicago TribuneTDistributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services. W V SiCC unlimited If you want a good job when you graduate, you need a great job now. Now hiring for advertising executives to start spring term. The Oregon Daily Emerald is an independent newspaper that provides hands-on experience in the challenging world of advertising sales. We are looking for motivated students who believe in the power of advertising in the Oregon Daily Emerald and who can transfer that enthusiasm into sales. 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