Three American soldiers killed in Tikrit; talk of US army reductions
One American soldier was killed and a third wounded when their convoy was attacked outside the Iraqi city of Baghdad. A spokeswoman for the US army was quoted as saying that soldiers from the fourth contingent army were exposed to an attack by light weapons and missiles.
Meantime, Iraqi fighters attacked an American convoy in al-Falouja town to the west of Baghdad, and this resulted in a fire erupting in a truck carrying ammunition.
Two Iraqis were killed and other 15 were wounded including three police members in a bomb explosion the policemen were trying to defuse on Saturday in a village situated 60 Km to the north of Baqouba, near Baghdad.
The police center in Karkouk was exposed to Katyusha shelling yesterday, but the missile missed, and hit an apartment in the area facing the center, and no casualties were reported.
On the other hand, the Washington Post said that the Pentagon drew a plan to reduce gradually the number of the American forces in Iraq from almost 130,000 troops to 50,000 by mid-2005.
The Washington Post said yesterday that "The plan, which amounts to being the first formal military exit strategy for Iraq, is designed to show how the U.S. presence might be reduced without undercutting the stability of the country. Military officials worry that if they do not begin cutting the size of the U.S. force, they could damage troop morale, leave the armed forces shorthanded if crises emerge in North Korea and elsewhere, and help create a long-term personnel shortage in the service."
The Washington Post also reported that "A broad survey of U.S. troops in Iraq by a Pentagon-funded newspaper found that half of those questioned described their unit's morale as low and their training as insufficient, and said they do not plan to reenlist," citing the effect on the military, and even next years presidential political elections.
The Washington Post added that the US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has not yet agree this plan; noting that its information is based on information from interviews recently made with several army officers.