November 2, 2006

Marine death: Pfc. Jason Franco, 18, of Corona died Tuesday in Anbar province in a noncombat incident. Franco was assigned to the Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 11, Marine Aircraft Group 11, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, Miramar Marine Corps Air Station.

Army deaths: Sgt. Michael T. Seeley, 27, of Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, was killed Monday in Baghdad when his vehicle struck an explosive. Seeley was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas. Sgt. Kenneth E. Bostic, 21, of Hawthorne, Nev., was killed Monday in Baghdad by small-arms fire. Bostic was assigned to the 204th Military Police Company, 519th Military Police Battalion, 1st Combat Support Brigade, Fort Polk, La.

Toll reaches 105: The U.S. military reported the deaths of two service members Tuesday in Anbar province, bringing the total of U.S. deaths in Iraq in October to 105.

Sanchez retires: Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, who served a tumultuous year as commander of all U.S. forces in Iraq, retired yesterday from the Army, calling his career a casualty of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. “That's the key reason, the sole reason, that I was forced to retire,” Sanchez said for a story in today's editions of The Monitor in McAllen, Texas. “I was essentially not offered another position in either a three-star or four-star command.” Sanchez had been a candidate to become the next commander of U.S. Southern Command but was passed over after the prisoner abuse scandal exploded into an international controversy. He was criticized by some for not doing more to avoid mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners.

Release questioned: Iraq's state-funded TV station said yesterday that the U.S. military had released a “terrorist” after he was captured by the Iraqi army. Iraqiya television named the man as Atta Hadi al-Zaidi and said he was responsible for sectarian violence and forcing people to move out of the violence-prone Diyala province. A government source confirmed the release of al-Zaidi, a former Iraqi army brigadier under Saddam Hussein. A spokeswoman for the U.S. military said she had no immediate information on the release.

Danish troops: Danish troops in southern Iraq will move to a base at Basra airport because Britain wants to close the current one to reduce costs and consolidate forces in one place, the Danish army said yesterday.

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