Suicide Bomber Kills Five US Soldiers on Foot Patrol

By ANNA JOHNSON BAGHDAD and IAN BRUCE

A SUICIDE bomber yesterdaykilled five American soldiers on foot patrol in central Baghdad.

It was the deadliest day for American forces in Iraq in more than a month and again showed the insurgents’ ability to strike in the heart of the heavily-fortified capital.

The soldiers were in a shopping district of the Mansour district – an al Qaeda hotbed a year ago – when a man detonated his explosives about 30ft away, said a police officer.

Four soldiers died at the scene and the fifth died later, the military said. Three other American troops and an Iraqi interpreterwere also wounded in the attack, as well as two civilians.

It was the deadliest attack against the US military since January 28, when five soldiers were killed in a roadside bomb in the northern city of Mosul.

The military says attacks in Baghdad are down 75per cent since June 2007 thanks in part to a boost in US troops.

However, the city is far from safe, as the attack illustrated. Last week, two bombs in Karrada killed 68 people.

As part of counter-insurgency plans, US bases are now in communities and more soldiers are patrolling on foot.

While face-to-face contact builds goodwill, it also lets suicide bombers get nearer.

More than 68,000 American soldiers and marines have shown symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after repeated combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, the US Veterans’Administration (VA) has admitted.

The figures emerged amid claims by campaigners that 5000 front- line veterans commit suicide each year.

The campaigners called for more psychological support for the men and women facing constant danger from roadside bombs in wars where there are no front lines, the enemy does not wear a uniform and civilians are human shields.

Dr Gerald Cross, the VA’s undersecretary for health, said more than half of the 300,000 veterans receiving treatment at its hospitals had “serious mental conditions” and that 68,000 had PTSD.

Dr Arthur Blank, a PTSD expert, said one US soldier in three deployed to war zones since 2001 was likely to be affected and he blamed multiple deployments.

“It means individuals are being exposed to trauma over and over again. Human beings are not built psychologically for that kind of repeated exposure to horror and fear at those levels, ” he added.

Paul Sullivan, director of Veterans for Common Sense, said: “We have evidence that more than 5000 veterans kill themselves each year. It’s a higher death toll than that inflicted by insurgents.”

An Australian magazine apologised for publishing a story revealing Prince Harry was fighting in Afghanistan.

New Idea magazine said it was unaware of a media blackout on the mission when it ran the story in January. A month later, the Drudge Report cited New Idea and a German publication as running the story. Army officials brought the prince home for his safety and that of his unit.

The magazine said it had not knowingly broken the ban but apologised for its “serious lapse of judgment”.

Originally published by Newsquest Media Group.

(c) 2008 Herald, The; Glasgow (UK). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.