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WASHINGTON (AFP) - Two US army officers were relieved of command after an investigation found that three soldiers killed by insurgents in Iraq last year were left alone for 36 hours at an undermanned and unprotected observation point, army officials said Thursday. The June 16 attack, in which two of the soldiers were abducted and their mutilated bodies were found days later, has come under renewed scrutiny following the abduction of three other US soldiers during an insurgent attack this week. The investigation, which was completed last year but not released until Thursday, found a string of errors that exposed...

<p>Fox News reporting a new video is out. It shows two dead american soldiers burned and being dragged through the streets.</p> <p>There is a belief that they are the bodies of troopers Tucker and Menchaca.</p>

Of course this isn't suprising in the least. It is sickening and outrageous however. Via KATU The memorial service for PVT Tucker, is scheduled to be held Saturday, July 1 at the following location: Deschutes County Fairgrounds Expo Center 3800 S.W. Airport Way Redmond, Oregon Flags At Half-Staff Monday, June 26 The memorial service at the Expo Center will be open to the public. A private internment, which is not open to the public, will follow at the Mt. Jefferson Memorial Park Cemetery in Madras. A small group of people from the Westboro Baptist Church out of Topeka, Kansas have...

Inquiry to focus on why they were alone, a possible protocol violation TIKRIT, IRAQ - Two missing soldiers whose mutilated bodies were found after a massive search had been left alone at a checkpoint near Baghdad while other vehicles in their patrol inspected traffic, a military spokesman said Thursday. Soon after Pfc. Kristian Menchaca of Houston and another private vanished and another soldier was killed last Friday, one Iraqi told reporters that insurgents had managed to separate a three-Humvee convoy by opening fire and forcing two of the vehicles to give chase. Other Iraqis told reporters that the vehicle carrying...

LANDSTUHL, Germany — Find the missing soldiers and get to them before the worst could happen. That’s what was going through the mind of Spc. Joshua Gutierrez late Friday and early Saturday as he was driving a Bradley fighting vehicle during a mission to locate Army Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, 23, of Houston, and Army Pfc. Thomas L. Tucker, 25, of Madras, Ore. “They’re soldiers,” said an emotional Gutierrez from a bed in the intensive care unit at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. “Just like me. They’re soldiers. Just like me.” Gutierrez was one of 12 troops wounded in the search for...

Hello Everyone who is posting to this story. First I would like to introduce myself. My name is Laura Anderson and I am Tommy Tuckers cousin who lives in Portland, Or. I am so grateful that so many people from all over the world have been so supportive of my families loss. This was definately our worst fear. I know that on friday the city of madras is going to have a candle light vigil so please all who are supportive please lite a candle to honor all the soldiers who have fought for us and lost their lives. If...

If in the case of Iraq there has been any lessening of resolve among the American electorate, and to read the newspapers and listen to a great many television pundits one might certainly think there has, the events of the past 48 hours should put these doubts to rest. American forces have recovered the remains of two soldiers, Privates Thomas Tucker and Kristian Menchaca, ambushed and kidnapped at a check point in the aptly named “Triangle of Death” south of Baghdad. Specialist David Babineau, died in the attack and was not captured. Iraqi Major General Abdul-Aziz Mohammed Jassim, director of...

For those who have a Myspace account, yes I do, please send an email to this account if you wish to relay condolences to the family. The account was accessed yesterday so maybe his family memebers are reading his emails. I have noticed that when someone on Myspace has died the family keeps the page as a tribute page. You have to have an acount to send messages, but an account is free. thanks!

YUSUFIYA, Iraq (Reuters) - Two slain U.S. soldiers who went missing south of Baghdad were ambushed by as many as 30 insurgents who closed in on them in vehicles and opened fire, according to people who said on Wednesday they were witnesses. It was not possible to independently verify their accounts. The U.S. military has yet to explain how the soldiers may have been isolated in what Iraqis call "The Triangle of Death" for its frequent insurgent attacks. But two Iraqis who said they were witnesses gave similar accounts of the moments when Privates First Class Thomas Lowell Tucker, 25,...

I'm mad.The New York Times wants closed. The San Jose Mercury News claims that Gitmo nurtures a culture of death. The Cleveland Plain Dealer wants Gitmo closed. Journalists and editorial staffs are up in arms that there might possibly be some kind of torture occurring. So what do they say when torture OBVIOUSLY occurs? How do they react when two U.S. servicemen — in -approved uniforms — have their hearts cut out, their testicles cut off, their penises cut off and stuffed in their mouths, arms contorted and eyes gouged? THIS is torture.

Military: At Least One Kidnapped Soldier Beheaded POSTED: 2:58 pm EDT June 21, 2006 UPDATED: 3:17 pm EDT June 21, 2006 PENTAGON -- A defense official in Washington said militants beheaded at least one and maybe both of the soldiers who vanished in Iraq Friday. The description confirms fears raised by U.S. and Iraqi officials who said the bodies were mutilated. A final report on the bodies hasn't been released formally. A posting on a militant Web site Tuesday said al-Qaida-in-Iraq's new leader had "slaughtered" the soldiers. The language in the statement suggested beheading. The remains are due at Dover...

1 hour, 20 minutes ago Contact: Sharon Singh of Amnesty International USA, 202-544-0200 ext. 289 WASHINGTON, June 21 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Larry Cox, Amnesty International USA's executive director, made the following statement in response to the alleged killing and torture of two U.S. soldiers in Ramadi, Iraq: "Amnesty International, first and foremost, extends its sincerest condolences to the families of Pfc. Kristian Menchaca and Pfc. Thomas L. Tucker for their tragic loss. We are deeply disturbed by reports that these two soldiers were brutally tortured. These reports, if proven true, may rise to the level of war crimes. Amnesty International...

The horrific deaths of two American servicemen kidnapped in Iraq on Friday may bring the war into a new phase - and force politicians, media stars and Americans generally to put real meaning behind the meaningless guarantee that "we all support the troops." Previous American kidnap victims have been unarmed civilians - contractors and journalists who were not trained to kill. The decision to snatch soldiers changes things, which was almost surely the point. Privates Thomas Tucker and Kristian Menchaca, may God protect their souls, were taken from a checkpoint they were manning; one of their comrades in arms, David...

Two American soldiers, missing since an insurgent ambush at the checkpoint they were manning last Friday, were found dead Monday night on a street just south of Baghdad. An Iraqi General confirmed to the Associated Press that the soldiers’ bodies showed “signs of torture,” and that the men appeared to have been killed in a particularly “barbaric” way. This assertion appears to be backed up both by the fact that DNA tests were required to positively identify the remains, and by the claim of responsibility made by the self-titled new leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, who posted on an Islamist...

Two American soldiers, missing since an insurgent ambush at the checkpoint they were manning last Friday, were found dead Monday night on a street just south of Baghdad. An Iraqi General confirmed to the Associated Press that the soldiers’ bodies showed “signs of torture,” and that the men appeared to have been killed in a particularly “barbaric” way. This assertion appears to be backed up both by the fact that DNA tests were required to positively identify the remains, and by the claim of responsibility made by the self-titled new leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, who posted on an Islamist...

MADRAS, Ore. — Two days before Army Pfc. Thomas Lowell Tucker disappeared in Iraq, he called friends to let them know his unit would be searching vehicles in an increasingly violent part of the country and he would be out of telephone and Internet contact. "He just kind of told me that it was going to be dangerous," said Margee Hagedorn, Tucker's friend since middle school. "But he told me he was probably going to be going on a little vacation after he got back." Instead, Tucker, 25, an Army infantryman based at Fort Campbell, Ky., and Pfc. Kristian Menchaca...

by Mark Finkelstein June 20, 2006 For a TV host, there's nothing much more difficult than interviewing a family member of someone who has been killed or seriously harmed. So when the uncle of one of the US soldiers kidnapped and possibly killed in Iraq called for the offering of a massive ransom and a prisoner exchange, give Matt Lauer credit for having had the courage to challenge him. Here's how it went down. Lauer: "A group linked to al-Qaeda on its website has claimed that they actually took Kristian and another soldier. What's your reaction to that?" Replied Ken...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The bodies of two U.S. soldiers have been found near where the men went missing, a senior Iraqi military official said Tuesday, but the U.S. military said it could not confirm the report. Maj. Gen. Abdul-Aziz Mohammed said the bodies of Army Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, 23, of Houston, and Army Pfc. Thomas Lowell Tucker, 25, of Madras, Ore., were found on a street near a power plant in the town of Youssifiyah, just south of Baghdad. U.S. Maj. Doug Powell said he could not confirm the report. The soldiers came under attack Friday at a traffic checkpoint...

In his calls and notes from Iraq, Army Pfc. Kristian Menchaca told relatives about his dangerous assignment at military checkpoints. His family is now hoping for the 23-year-old Houston soldier's safe return after learning he was one of two servicemen missing in Iraq after an insurgent attack. An umbrella group that includes al-Qaida in Iraq claimed in a statement Monday that it had kidnapped the two U.S. soldiers, but it did not name them. There was no immediate confirmation that the statement was credible, although it appeared on a Web site often used by al-Qaida-linked groups. "I was 95 percent...

I don't often post vanities, but in light of the brutal killing of two soldiers in Iraq, I want to draw attention to one of the most remarkable media stories I have ever seen. It is a story of how our military notifies the families of the death of a loved one in battle, and the support and compassion given from the initial notification to the funeral and burial. The story won two well-deserved Pulitzer's (unlike that of the NY Times who won by revealing NSA secrets). There are many FR threads on the subject and I encourage you to...