CNN "Just In" - Criminal Investigation in deaths of 2 U.S. soldiers Tikrit

[Roland99]

2 U.S. soldiers killed the other day in Tikrit are now the dubject of a criminal investigation by the US military. Officials say the blast pattern was not consistent with explosives used by insurgents.

Not much detail and no speculation if it was from US or Iraqi military or what happened.

[MidwestTransplant]

1. Weird

[shraby]

2. They going to blame it on an incoming

from Iran or Syria?

[Roland99]

3. I doubt that. Iran and Syria are quite a distance from Tikrit

I wonder if the insurgents are using new/different explosives now?

Or, was it an accident? Was it an attack by Iraqi forces?

[Rick Myers]

5. I'm suspecting Iraqi 'secutiry forces' will get the blame

And, a 'criminal' investigation? Under WHO'S laws? US? Iraqi?

This smells funny right outta the gate. After a week of Marines beating 'contractors/ and 'contractors' firing at Marines, something is amiss in Dubya's Corporate War Machine... :grr:

[Roland99]

7. Wouldn't this be something for the "sovereign" nation of Iraq?

[undeterred]

6. Or N Korea.

Depends who is up next for an invasion. :shrug:

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

4. Fragging?

[unhappycamper]

8. And thus it begins.

Most sad. This is Viet Nam all over again.

RVN, class of 67~68, 198th Light Infantry Brigade, Chu Lai
RVN, class of 70~71, 25th infantry Division, Cu Chi

[Roland99]

9. Military says killings may be 'fragging' incident

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8173391/

BAGHDAD - The military has opened a criminal probe to determine if two Army officers who were killed earlier in the week in Tikrit died in a "fragging incident," the intentional killing of a friendly soldier by another soldier in a wartime setting.

Capt. Phillip T. Esposito and 1st Lt. Louis E. Allen were killed Tuesday evening in what the military first believed was an “indirect fire” attack on Forward Operating Base Danger, according to a statement issued by the military on Friday. An indirect fire attack involves enemy artillery or mortar rounds from a location some distance away.

<...>

Explosives experts said the blasts were caused by some other explosive devices, possibly improvised explosive devices or grenades.

One U.S. military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said investigators were looking into the possibility that the case was a fragging incident since the company commander and the operations officer were killed.

[lebkuchen]

10. Bush's response: speed up the process for NCOs to become 2LTs

oh boy