Steve Quayle News Alerts

March 31, 2004

Photo: A vehicle burns in Fallujah, west of Baghdad, Wednesday March 31, 2004. Gunmen in Fallujah attacked two civilian cars that residents said were carrying up to eight foreign nationals. The occupants of the cars were killed and their vehicles were set on fire. Some of the slain men were wearing flak jackets, said Safa Mohammedi, a resident. (AP Photo/Abdel Kader Saadi)

FALLUJAH, Iraq — The corpses of four foreign coalition contractors were pulled out of their cars, dragged through the streets and hung from a bridge Wednesday by rejoicing Fallujah residents while five American troops died in a nearby separate bombing.

Chanting "Fallujah is the graveyard of Americans," residents cheered after the grisly assault on two four-wheel-drive civilian vehicles, which left both in flames. Others chanted, "We sacrifice our blood and souls for Islam."

The four contract workers — one a woman, at least one an American — were killed in a rebel ambush of their SUVs in Fallujah, a Sunni Triangle city about 35 miles west of Baghdad. Support for Saddam Hussein has been strong in the area and rebels often carry out attacks against American forces.

"It is not surprising that they are engaging in attacks as we increasingly make progress ... their strategic goal is to turn back the progress," Dan Senor, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq, told reporters Wednesday.

"Those aren't people we're interested in helping, those are people we have to capture or kill so this country can move forward."

Residents said the road-side bomb attack that killed five U.S. troops occurred in Malahma, 12 miles northwest of Fallujah. U.S. Marines operate in the area, but it was unclear whether the slain troops were Marines.

Also in Ramadi, a roadside bomb exploded near a U.S. convoy, witnesses said. U.S. officials in Baghdad could not confirm the attack.

On Tuesday in Ramadi, one U.S. soldier was killed and another wounded in a roadside bombing, said Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt.

"We condemn these attacks in strongest possible terms," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters in Washington Wednesday. "We mourn the loss of life."

"Iraqis are realizing freedom is on its way. As we move forward, obviously there will be those who want to stop the progress but there's no turning back," McClellan continued.

Another 'Black Hawk Down?'

The brutal treatment of the four corpses came after they were killed in a rebel attack on their SUVs in Fallujah, scene of some of the worst violence on both sides of the conflict since the beginning of the American occupation a year ago.

It was reminiscent of the 1993 scene in Somalia, when a mob dragged the corpse of a U.S. soldier through the streets of Mogadishu, eventually leading to the American withdrawal from the African nation.

Associated Press Television News pictures showed one man beating a charred corpse with a metal pole. Others tied a yellow rope to a body, hooked it to a car and dragged it down the main street of town. Two blackened and mangled corpses were hung from a green iron bridge across the Euphrates.

"The people of Fallujah hanged some of the bodies on the old bridge like slaughtered sheep," resident Abdul Aziz Mohammed said. Some of the corpses were dismembered, he said.

Beneath the bodies, a man held a printed sign with a skull and crossbones and the phrase "Fallujah is the cemetery for Americans."

APTN showed the charred remains of three slain men. Some were wearing flak jackets, said resident Safa Mohammedi.

Photo: AIraqis dance on a wrecked car attacked 31 March 2004 in the flashpoint town of Fallujah. At least seven people were killed in attacks in western Iraq. (AFP/Karim Sahib)

One resident displayed what appeared to be dog tags taken from one body. Residents also said there were weapons in the targeted cars. APTN showed one American passport near a body and a U.S. Department of Defense identification card belonging to another man.

"Most of the people in Fallujah want to move on with their lives ... want to be part of a new Iraq. There's a small part of Fallujah that just doesn't get it," U.S. military spokesman Brig. Mark Kimmit told reporters Wednesday.

"They [attackers] have a view somehow that the harder they fight, the bett

Hours after the attack, the city was quiet. No U.S. troops or Iraqi police were seen in the area.

"It's a horrifying site … it's brutal and terrible and reminds you of 'Black Hawk Down,'" retired Army Maj. Gen. Donald Edwards told Fox News, referring to the book and movie depicting the Mogadishu disaster. "I think it's a harsh reality that these people are very unpleasant people … It's an area that's going to be a problem, I'm afraid, for a long time to come."

Asked whether the recent attacks will cause U.S. military servicemen and women to question their mission, Edwards said: "This will only strengthen their resolution. They're not going to quit."

Sporadic Violence Elsewhere in Iraq

In nearby Ramadi, insurgents threw a grenade at a government building and Iraqi security forces returned fire Wednesday, witnesses said. It was not clear if there were casualties.

Northeast of Baghdad, in the city of Baqouba on Wednesday, a suicide bomber blew up explosives in his car when he was near a convoy of government vehicles, wounding 14 Iraqis and killing himself, officials said.

The attacked convoy is normally used to transport the Diala provincial governor, Abdullah al-Joubori, but he was elsewhere at the time, said police Col. Ali Hossein.

On Tuesday, a suicide bombing outside the house of a police chief in Hillah, about 60 miles south of Baghdad, killed the attacker and wounded seven others.

A bomb exploded late Tuesday in a movie theater that had closed for the night. Two bystanders were wounded by flying glass, said its owner, Ghani Mohammed.

The latest violence came two days after Carina Perelli, the head of a U.N. electoral team, said better security is vital if Iraq wants to hold elections by a Jan. 31 deadline. The polls are scheduled to follow a June 30 transfer of sovereignty to an Iraqi government.

Top U.S. administrator L. Paul Bremer said Tuesday he had appointed 21 anti-corruption inspectors general to government departments to try to prevent fraud. More will be named in coming days, he said.

The inspectors will work with two other newly formed, independent agencies. Together, they will "form an integrated approach intended to combat corruption at every level of government across the country," Bremer said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,115703,00.html