European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 14, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Paoc6 stars and stripes june 2007 bombers hit shiite shrine by Joseph Giordono stars and stripes unknown attackers destroyed the twin minarets of one of Iraq most holy shiite shrines wednes Day touching off pro condemnation and fears of sectarian an attack last year at the same Samarra shrine known As both Sakariya and the Golden mosque destroyed its Golden dome and touched off months of Shi it sunni violence that some called a civil no injuries were reported in the 9 attack that destroyed the but Security throughout the country was immediately according to the associated curfews went into effect in Baghdad and Many other iraqi and american troops were put on High and the entire iraqi police unit of according to a senior official charged with guarding the shrine was detained for a also re ported prime minister Nouri Almalik said an unspecified number of other suspects were arrested in Samarra and were being interrogated in connection with the shiite religious leaders immediately condemned the bombing but called for grand Ayatollah All the most Power Ful shiite cleric in called on iraqis to show the White House said wednes Day that officials in Iraq will use lessons from last years bomb ing of a revered shiite shrine in Iraq to try to contain a new wave of violence now that the mosque has been attacked the associated press presidential spokesman Tony Snow said if s not Clear yet who perpetrated the attack Early wednesday on the Radical shiite cleric Muntada a Sadr whose militia has been accused of running sectarian death squads in the Wake of the first shrine attack also called for peaceful protests and a three Day mourning it was unclear wednesday sex deaths in Iraq the associated press As of at least members of the military have died since the beginning of the Iraq War in March according to an associated press count the figure includes seven military at least died As a result of hostile according to the military the a count is four higher than the defense departments last updated tuesday at 10 the British military has re ported 150 deaths 33 18 20 bulgar 13 11 seven Al five Slova four three two each and South one death since the Start of Mili tary operations in service members been wounded in hostile according to the defense departments weekly the latest deaths reported by the military no deaths the latest identifications re ported by the military army Fly thaniell medical killed sunday in Karba la by an explosive assigned to the 5th 5th air de sense artillery fort army Meresebang Ngi Republic of Palau killed sunday in Karbala by an explosive assigned to the 5th 5th air defense artillery fort Adam killed sunday in Karbala by an explosive assigned to the 2nd Battal 377th Parachute Field Artil Lery 4th brigade combat team 25th infantry fort Richard aptly what destroyed the Mina while one iraqi television station reported the damage was caused by two mortar Sev eral and iraqi military officials said it appeared explosive charges had been planted in the the military issued Only a fou line press release on the at saying that the iraqi police on site described hearing two near simultaneous explosions coming from inside of the mosque but they did not see any attackers in the Vicini the cause of the explosions is being investigated by the iraqi police at the a joint statement issued by ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and David Petrae the top commander in condemned the vicious at that statement called the attack a deliberate attempt by Almaeda to sow dissent and inflame sectarian strife among the people of it is an act of desperation by an increasingly beleaguered enemy seeking to obstruct the peaceful political and economic develop ment of a democratic since the 2006 the shrine had been guarded mainly by a predominately sunni police Samarra itself thanks in Large part to sectarian cleansing in the aftermath of the first attack is almost completely but several reports wednesday said that a shiite unit had been tapped to replace the current officials said the sunni unit had reportedly been infiltrated by Al Aida in Iraq according to the associated a prominent sunni cleric went on Al Nazeera television and Dempsey says Iraq army must expand the Washington Post Washington a senior military com Mander said tuesday that Iraq army must expand its Rolls by at least More soldiers next year than Washington had to help free troops from conducting daily checkpoints and other critical yet dangerous even Iraq will remain incapable of taking full responsibility for its Security for Many years five years in the Case of protecting its airspace and will require a Lon term military relationship with the United said Martin Demp who until recently led the military train ing Effort in appearing before a House Dempsey out lined his assessment of Iraq Security forces looking into 2008 and the prospects that they can take Over for he said the iraqi forces Are improving but Are still riddled with sectarianism and and Are suffering from a Lack of leaders and the attrition of tens of thousands of members including police Between mid2005 and Dempsey asserted wednesday that iraqi Security forces have come a Long Way since the training pro Gram began in according to the associated his projection of the size of the police Force required to help bring stability is nearly 40 percent higher than Washington estimated in the remarks follow other Blunt comments by military commanders that civilian deaths and at tacks on troops have recently risen and that particularly Tough fighting is expected in the coming building a competent iraqi Security Force is at the Center of the Effort to turn Over military opera but serious gaps in the capability of iraqi forces Are limiting their role in pacifying Baghdad and safeguarding civilians under the counterinsurgency plan being implemented by the top command David Dempsey describing the Effort in Iraq As a labor of Sis he said the metaphoric Stone is probably Roll ing Back a bit right now in but i dont think its going to Roll Over Hameed a watchtower of the Golden a shiite is left standing after insurgents blew up the two minarets in on said the new unit had arrived chanting sectarian Possi Bly provoking local government officials in Iran a predominantly shiite country on wednesday blamed the Ameri can military for not providing enough Security at the by enabling these Active will be Hartline president Mahmud Ahmadinejad said in a Public refer ring to troops in a spokesman for Iran foreign ministry said occupier forces iranian government shorthand for american troops were responsible for not protecting the officials have Long accused Iran of providing arms and train ing to shiite insurgents and Mili Tias in the Sakariya shrine is commonly referred to As one of the four most important shiite mosques in before the around a million shiite pilgrims visited the shrine every year to see the Graves of islamic religious according to islamic the shrine is also where the 12th Almahdi was put into a state of divine hid Denness by god to protect his shiites believe that the Mahdi will return at the end of Days to bring Justice to the email Joseph Giordono at  United european airlines  1989 bus Tours probably the most trusted name in military travel Venice express satjuly7 London express sat june 23 Prague express june 30 All express Tours include round trip local tour with local licensed tour guide and plenty of free time to explore Call 0173 3132075 k or email  2 Marine killed in Iraq violence Baghdad Roadside bombs killed two soldiers in separate incidents in and a Marine was killed in combat in Anbar the military said one Soldier died in Baghdad on monday when a bomb detonated during combat the Mili tary another Soldier was killed when a vehicle hit a bomb in Baghdad on both soldiers were assigned to multinational i the assigned to multinational was killed tuesday while conducting combat operations in Anbar prov another statement from the associated press Motorway 0 ism Touzios 5 minute off