U.S. Soldier Killed, Four Wounded in Iraq

By PAUL HAVEN, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The disquieting drumbeat of guerrilla-style attacks and sabotage deepened in Iraq, with a U.S. soldier killed in an ambush, another shot in the neck and an 11-year-old Iraqi boy slain by American troops who mistook him for a gunman.
The latest violence occurred just after 11 p.m. Friday, when attackers fired on a U.S. convoy in the predominantly Shiite neighborhood of Thawra of northeast Baghdad. One American soldier was killed and four were wounded, military spokesman Sgt. Patrick Compton said.
A civilian Iraqi interpreter was also hurt, he said.
The torrent of attacks and ever-harsher U.S. crackdowns is sparking frustration on both sides. Since Thursday, at least three U.S. soldiers have been killed, with a fourth dying in a non-combat accident. Two U.S. soldiers were still missing Saturday, four days after their apparent abduction from a guard post north of the capital.
Saboteurs have also attacked Baghdad's power grid and oil pipelines, foiling coalition efforts to restore basic services like water and electricity as temperatures climb as high as 117 Fahrenheit.
American military officials say the daily grind of ambushes is beginning to affect their efforts at reconstruction.
"These are guys who want us to fail. They'd rather see their country burn than have it succeed," said Maj. Scott Slaten, of the Army's 1st Armored Division. He said the attacks won't stop coalition troops, "but it does slow us down a little because we have to focus more effort on security."
The daily bloodshed has overshadowed the progress made since the end of the war May 1. Iraq's vital oil industry has begun pumping oil again, if only at a fraction of its prewar output, and will bring much-needed cash into state coffers. Police and court systems are also coming back on line, providing hope for improved law and order despite an overwhelming crime wave.
Even something as simple as an evening concert is seen as a victory in Baghdad, an occupied city whose darkened nights have become roaming grounds for bandits, and whose frustrated residents have largely been living by candlelight.
Iraq's National Symphony Orchestra held its first concert since Saddam's ouster Friday, performing a patriotic song that predates the former dictator, and was rarely played during his brutal, 35-year reign. Saddam didn't like the song, "My Nation," which contains no mention of the strongman or his Baath party loyalists.
Many of the Iraqis present had tears in their eyes. U.S. soldiers, some sitting with their guns, clapped after the performance, and L. Paul Bremer, the top U.S. official in Iraq, stood in respect.
The killing and wounding of Iraqi civilians has heightened distress over the U.S. occupation — resentment felt by Iraqis who welcomed the fall of Saddam as well as by Saddam loyalists blamed for violence against U.S. forces.
Some Iraqi civilians have died in anti-American attacks, such as two national electricity workers killed Thursday when ambushers threw grenades at a U.S.-led convoy.
In Friday's civilian death, however, U.S. soldiers in western Baghdad thought they were shooting at a possible attacker carrying an AK-47 assault rifle. Instead, they killed a boy on the roof of his home.
The U.S. civil affairs officer shot in the neck underwent surgery Friday. A man with a pistol shot the soldier at close range and fled through the market crowds, said Ammar Saad, a 44-year-old vendor.
The soldiers wounded in the convoy attack late Friday were evacuated to a combat support hospital, Compton said. No arrests were made and no further details were immediately available.
Meanwhile, the military searched by ground and air for the two missing serviceman and their Humvee, as U.S. interrogators questioned at least six men arrested in the disappearance.
At least 59 U.S. troops have died in Iraq since major combat was declared over May 1, including at least 21 in attacks.
Until recently, almost all violence against occupying forces occurred in Sunni areas north and west of Baghdad, where Saddam mined support. But attacks this week have spread into the Shiite majority south.