Roadside Explosive Kills 2 U.S. Troops and 2 Iraqis

A roadside explosive Thursday killed two U.S. soldiers and two Iraqis on foot patrol in this town that has become a vortex of anti-American violence. A third U.S. soldier from the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division was wounded in the attack. The assault brought to 545 the number of American troops killed since the start of combat in March, a U.S. military spokesman said. The U.S. military said the dead Iraqis were a police officer and a translator. After the bodies were taken away, and after U.S. soldiers had charged into nearby stores to round up suspects, the young men of Khaldiya gathered on the dusty roadside near the blast site. And they celebrated. “We have pledged ourselves to God the almighty that we will continue these attacks against the Americans until the last drop of our blood,” said Ahmed Abed, a rangy 32-year-old who wore a warmup jacket in the Iraqi national colors — green, red, white and black — and described himself as a middleweight boxer. “If they finish off our men, then the women will fight. If they finish off the women, then the children will fight.” Full Story