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2 Soldiers Killed, U.S. Firm Gets Iraq Army Train Contract
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A U.S. soldier views the inside of a van shortly after the attack
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BAGHDAD,
June 26 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - With reports coming to
light that the American Vinnell Corporation has been awarded a
48-million-dollar contract to train the new U.S.-styled Iraqi army,
two U.S. soldiers and two Iraqis were reported killed Thursday,
June 26, in an ambush targeting a U.S. military convoy on the road to
Baghdad airport.
Other
reports suggested that only one American soldier was killed and
another injured in the ambush, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
According
to U.S. soldiers, the attack involved an explosive device placed on
the road which might have been detonated either by remote control or a
trip wire.
Two
Iraqis riding a civilian vehicle traveling with the American convoy
were reported killed in the ambush.
"The
convoy was attacked. We are not sure of the type of explosive
used," Lieutenant Sean McWilliams said, while Iraqi police said a
hand grenade may have been used in the attack.
McWilliams
claimed the people behind the attack wanted to prevent Iraq's
shattered infrastructure being repaired.
With
darkness shrouding the Iraqi capital and turning it into a city
daunted by fear, Iraqis charge that the U.S.-led occupation authority
deliberately cut off electricity
and water as a collective punishment in retaliation for mounting
resistance attacks, which have become more organized as recently
admitted by U.S. civilian administrator Paul Bremer.
At
the scene, an AFP reporter saw blood on the road where the ambush had
taken place, and on the passenger seat of the Iraqi vehicle.
There
was a hole in the road around 100 meters (yards) behind where the
vehicle had come to a stop and perforations in the metal crash
barrier.
The
airport road, heavily used by U.S. forces, has been the scene of a
series of ambushes using trip wires dangling from overpasses or
grenades tossed from bridges.
Last
month, two U.S. soldiers were killed and two injured when a Humvee
detonated an anti-tank mine hidden under debris on the highway.
The
ambush came shortly after the U.S. Central Command admitted that one
Marine was killed and two others were injured Wednesday, June 25, when
their light armored vehicle rolled over while heading for
another ambush site where three fellow marines were wounded.
The
three Marines sustained injuries in an ambush in Hilla, 45
miles south of Baghdad.
A
quick respond unit from the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force
was sent to their aid but the armored vehicle rolled over en route to
the scene, leaving one Marine killed and two others injured.
Some
54 American troops were killed in Iraq, mostly in Iraqi resistance
attacks, since U.S. President George W. Bush declared the war in Iraq
effectively over on May 1.
Army
Contract
Meanwhile,
the U.S. Defense Department has granted a 48-million-dollar contract
to train the nucleus of a new Iraqi army to Vinnell Corporation, a
U.S. firm which also trains members of the Saudi National Guard.
The
contract, brought to light Wednesday, would be effective as of July 1.
The
Fairfax, Virginia-based company, a subsidiary of the U.S. aerospace
firm Northrup Grumman, said on its website it was hiring former U.S.
army and marine officers to train light infantry battalions and combat
service support units for the new Iraqi army.
The
new army is expected to reach 12,000 troops within a year and swell to
40,000 within two years.
Iraq's
former standing army of some 400,000 soldiers was disbanded
after U.S.-led occupation troops took charge of the country.
Vinnell
has for the past 20 years trained members of Saudi Arabia's National
Guard and those of other Middle Eastern military forces.
Ten
of the company's employees -- two Filipinos and eight U.S. nationals
-- were among those killed in May 12 attacks on compounds for foreign
workers in Riyadh.
American
firms were given the lion’s
share of juicy contracts for the reconstruction of post-war Iraq.
The
U.S. Army had awarded a subsidiary of Halliburton
Co. -- run by U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney from 1995 to 2000 –
encompasses the operation of Iraqi oil fields.
The
Bush administration also granted a 680 million dollars contract
to Bechtel
Group, one of the largest, most politically connected construction and
engineering American firms.
Fearful
the Americans would swallow the entire Iraqi bonanza,
more
than 80 British companies were rallying the government of Tony Blair,
America's all-time war alley, to ensure that non-U.S. contractors win
a share of the $1.9bn (£1.2bn) earmarked for rebuilding Iraq.
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