Another American Soldier Killed in Iraq - 2003-09-15

Another American soldier was killed in Iraq, marking the second American casualty during Colin Powell's two-day visit to Iraq. U.S. military officials reported that after the 1st Armored Division was attacked with an RPG in Baghdad early this morning, one of its soldiers was injured and died hours later. A similar attack in Fallujah on Sunday left one dead and three injured. In the Khaldiya area, west of Baghdad, attackers wounded the police chief and killed at least two police officers today. While guerrillas continued their operations and resistance against the U.S.-led coalition forces, Colin Powell, the U.S. Secretary of State, was visiting Halabja, located 250 kilometers northeast of Baghdad. He dedicated a memorial to the five thousand Kurds who were killed by Saddam Hussein's forces with gas in 1988. At a ceremony at the gravesite of about one thousand victims of that tragedy, Mr. Powell stated that the world should have acted sooner against the ousted Iraqi leader. Mr. Powell had traveled by helicopter from Tikrit to Halabja. In Tikrit, before dawn, American soldiers raided three houses and detained at least five individuals suspected of financing the attackers against coalition forces. The U.S. Secretary of State was heading to Kuwait after a brief stop in northern Iraq. Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council will also hold a meeting today to discuss the disagreements among its members regarding the U.S. plan for Iraq.