US offers $25 million reward

[Guest oldschoolwrestling]

The United States is offering a $25 million reward for information that either leads to the capture of Saddam Hussein or confirms that the former Iraqi leader is dead, U.S. officials announced Thursday.

 

In addition, they offered a $15 million reward for similar information about Saddam's sons Uday and Qusay.

 

The reward is being offered through the State Department's Reward for Justice Program, which seeks to prevent acts of terrorism against the U.S., and pays rewards for information leading to the arrests and/or convictions of terrorists attempting or committing acts against U.S. interests.

 

The announcement comes a day after President Bush -- saying he was confident that U.S. forces in Iraq were well-protected -- said to those in Iraq looking to harm American troops, "My answer is, bring them on."

 

The remark prompted the condemnation of Democratic presidential candidate Dick Gephardt. (Full story)

 

At least 10 American soldiers have been wounded in attacks on Thursday in Iraq, according to U.S. military officials.

 

Three U.S. soldiers were wounded and an Iraqi civilian was killed Thursday in what officials believe was a drive-by attack in the Iraqi capital.

 

Around 10 a.m. (2 a.m. EDT), a Humvee was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) on Haifa Street in central Baghdad, a U.S. military official on the scene told CNN. Witnesses said the rocket was launched from a vehicle that immediately sped away.

 

Video taken shortly after the attack showed a soldier, conscious, lying on the side of the street, in obvious pain, with a bloody shoulder. A short distance away a crowd of Iraqis kicked and jumped on the damaged military vehicle.

 

A few minutes later, it was gutted by fire.

 

Another six American soldiers were wounded Thursday in Ramadi, about 60 miles west of Baghdad, when their convoy ran over an explosive device.

 

They were evacuated to the Army's 28th Combat Support Hospital for treatment.

 

A 1st Armored Division soldier and a 6-year-old Iraqi boy were wounded during a firefight in the Kadhimyah neighborhood early Thursday.

 

"Soldiers were conducting a routine nighttime patrol in a rural part of Baghdad when an Iraqi man attacked the patrol, shooting one of the soldiers," U.S. Central Command said. "The soldiers returned fire in self defense, killing the gunman and wounding a boy who was with the gunman."

 

U.S. soldiers killed a lone gunman in a rural area south of the Iraqi capital overnight after he opened fire on a patrol. There were no American injures.

 

In other news, a mine-clearing incident killed one U.S. Marine and injured three Wednesday, and a U.S. soldier died of wounds from an attack the day before in Baghdad.

 

In Karbala, about 35 miles south of Baghdad, a U.S. Marine was killed and three were injured while they were clearing mines, U.S. military officials said. An Iraqi fire department technician was also wounded, Central Command officials said.

 

The Marines were part of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. Their identities were not immediately released.

 

Bush on Wednesday vowed that attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq will not shake his administration's resolve to stay in that country until a strong and stable democratic government takes root.

 

"Anybody who wants to harm American troops will be found and brought to justice," Bush said. "There are some that feel like if they attack us that we may decide to leave prematurely. They don't understand what they are talking about if that is the case. ... There are some who feel like the conditions are such that they can attack us there. My answer is, bring them on."

 

The president's tough talk was criticized by Gephardt who said the president should stop the "phony, macho rhetoric."

 

"I have a message for the president," Gephardt said in a statement. "We should be focused on a long-term security plan that reduces the danger to our military personnel."

 

"We need a clear plan to bring stability to Iraq and an honest discussion with the American people on the cost of that endeavor," Gephardt's statement continued. "We need a serious attempt to develop a postwar plan for Iraq and not more shoot-from-the-hip one-liners." (Full story)

 

Wednesday's deaths brings the total number of Americans killed in Iraq to 67 since President Bush declared an end to major combat there May 1. The military considers 26 of those deaths the result of hostile action.

 

Other developments:

 

U.S. soldiers look for clues near the scene of an attack on a Humvee on Thursday in Baghdad.

• Coalition officials opened the Baghdad museum for two hours Thursday to display gold and jewels from the ancient Assyrian Empire, an exhibition comprising what some believe to be among the most important archaeological finds of the 20th century. The antiquities were initially believed to have been stolen in the looting that followed the fall of Saddam Hussein's government. (Full story, Audio slide show: Iraqi treasures unveiled)

 

• U.S. Central Command said Wednesday that the explosion that destroyed a building in the compound of a Fallujah mosque early Tuesday was "apparently related to a bomb-manufacturing class that was being taught inside the mosque" -- and did not involve U.S. forces. Witnesses said the explosion killed at least six people and wounded others. Some witnesses said that the mosque was attacked by coalition forces. At least one said he heard a helicopter overhead before the blast.

 

• British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, who met with British military commanders in Baghdad and Basra Wednesday, said troops would not be driven out of the country and said reconstruction would continue despite the attacks on coalition forces. (Full story) The bodies of six British Royal Military Police soldiers killed last week by a crowd in southern Iraq were flown back to Britain Wednesday.

 

• Central Command said Wednesday that the 4th Infantry Division conducted five raids in Operation Sidewinder, which began last weekend, detaining three people and confiscating 28 hand grenades, three AK-47s, five mortar fuses, and one crate of rocket-propelled grenades. In a statement, Central Command said that 20 "high-value targeted individuals" have been detained in the operation.

 

CNN Baghdad Bureau Chief Jane Arraf and Correspondents Barbara Starr and John King contributed to this report

 

cnn.com

[Guest Tyler McClelland]

Jesus...

 

That's a lot of attacks for one day.