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U.S. considers more deployments around BaghdadFive U.S. troops killed this week
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Deploying more troops northwest of Baghdad is "definitely one of the options" to combat a wave of violence against U.S. forces, the U.S. Army's top general in Iraq said Thursday. Lt. Gen. David McKiernan said the attacks, which have killed five U.S. troops this week, appear to have some "local command and control." "They probably have some local cohesion," he said, "... but I don't think they're tied to anything larger than that geographic area." McKiernan said that the area in which the attacks occurred -- between Fallujah and Hit along the Euphrates River -- was an escape route for some Iraqi leadership figures who tried to sneak out of Baghdad. A Republican Guard unit was also active in the area as U.S.-led coalition forces approached the capital. "I can't sit here and tell you who it is," the general said. "I can tell you we will apply all the necessary combat power to make sure that that opposition is removed." Asked about additional troops, McKiernan said it was "definitely an option." The latest attack on U.S. forces killed a soldier Thursday northwest of Baghdad, U.S. Central Command said. "A U.S. soldier was killed by hostile fire while traveling on a main supply route in Iraq today," a statement said. Pentagon officials said he was in the last vehicle in a 15-vehicle convoy. The soldier was evacuated to a combat hospital where he was pronounced dead. The incident occurred at a U.S. military logistics support area northwest of Baghdad, according to Central Command spokesman Capt. Jeff Sandrock. He declined to pinpoint the location, citing security concerns. The U.S. Army's V Corps is investigating the shooting, Central Command said. The soldier's name and unit are being withheld until family members can be notified. (Full story) The leader of the Iraqi National Congress (INC) said Thursday that Saddam Hussein is organizing the attacks from inside Iraq. Ahmed Chalabi, a former Iraqi exile who has long run the INC -- which opposed Saddam's regime -- also said that he believes France and Germany will "see their way clearly to apologizing to the Iraqi people" for trying to prevent the U.S.-led war that ousted Saddam and liberated Iraq. Chalabi, who fled Iraq in 1958, returned after the toppling of Saddam's regime. In a satellite news conference Thursday with international journalists attending CNN's World Report conference in Atlanta, Chalabi said the attacks on U.S. troops -- including deadly attacks in the past week -- are "taking place directly, I believe, as an action of the Baathists." (Full story) Blair in BasraBritish Prime Minister Tony Blair arrived in Iraq to thank British troops Thursday amid renewed criticism of the coalition's failure to find weapons of mass destruction. Blair is the first Western leader to visit the country since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. The United Kingdom has about 40,000 troops in Iraq and Blair plans to visit several bases on his tour. Blair arrived in Basra aboard a military transport plane. Shortly after touching down, he visited local leaders and an Iraqi elementary school. (Gallery: Blair in Basra) In an address to about 400 British troops, Blair defended Britain's support for the U.S.-led war in Iraq. "I know there are a lot of disagreements in the country about the wisdom of my decision to order the action," he said. "But I can assure you of one thing: There is absolutely no dispute in Britain at all about your professionalism ... your courage and your dedication," he said. Blair's visit to the Gulf comes amid a growing controversy about weapons of mass destruction -- originally cited as the main reason for going to war. U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld fueled the debate after he said on Tuesday that it was possible the reason Iraqi chemical and biological weapons had not been found was that Saddam's government had destroyed them before the conflict. But Blair on his flight to Kuwait said: "I have said throughout and I just repeat to you, I have absolutely no doubt at all about the existence of weapons of mass destruction. "And rather than speculating, let's just wait until we get the full report back from our people who are interviewing the Iraqi scientists," he said. (Full story) Other developments
• A top Iraqi Kurdish leader Thursday praised the current U.S. presence in Iraq, and said he would not oppose establishment of permanent American military bases there. "If there would be a necessity, why not?" said Jalal Talabani, founder and secretary-general of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, one of the two Kurdish groups controlling northern Iraq. "The Americans have in many places military bases." (Full story) • The United Nations Secretary-General's special representative is expected to arrive in Iraq on Monday morning to begin his assessment of the humanitarian situation, the U.N. announced Thursday. U.N. veteran Sergio Vieira de Mello, appointed earlier this week by Secretary-General Kofi Annan, is to hold the position for a four-month period. The position was established by the Security Council's Resolution 1483, which lifted sanctions against Iraq on May 22. (Full story) • The Pentagon and the CIA issued a report Wednesday that said U.S. investigators were confident that suspicious truck trailers found in Iraq make up a mobile biological weapons production plant, because they have ruled out all the other logical alternatives. (Full story) • The U.S. Agency for International Development announced Wednesday that it was awarding grants worth $35 million to five humanitarian agencies for community action projects in Iraq. The groups are Mercy Corps; International Relief and Development Inc.; Agricultural Cooperative Development International and Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance; Cooperative Housing Foundation International; and Save the Children Federation Inc. Each is to get $7 million in initial funding, according to a statement from the agency. CNN correspondents Matthew Chance, Barbara Starr and Jane Arraf contributed to this report.
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