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U.S., Iraqi Forces Search For Soldiers

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By KIM GAMEL, The Associated Press

Published: November 17, 2007

BAGHDAD - Hundreds of U.S. and Iraqi troops backed by helicopters descended Friday on a remote desert area southwest of Baghdad to root out al-Qaida in Iraq and search for two U.S. soldiers missing after a deadly insurgent ambush six months ago.

Acting on intelligence, the soldiers dug with shovels in heaps of sand and went house-to-house after a dramatic predawn air assault into two Sunni villages near the boundary with Anbar province.

U.S. officers said there was no sign of the missing soldiers but stressed it was the first day Operation Marne Courageous, which also aimed to establish a long-term presence west of the Euphrates River in a former al-Qaida stronghold.

Col. Dominic Caraccilo, the commander of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, said his troops were taking advantage of anti-al-Qaida sentiment among Sunnis that the military says has played a major part in reducing the violence in Baghdad and surrounding areas.

U.S. F-16s dropped two 2,000 pound bombs on an island in the river that was believed to be used by al-Qaida as a staging ground for attacks.

Spc. Alex R. Jimenez of Lawrence, Mass., and Pvt. Byron W. Fouty of Waterford, Mich., were seized May 12 when insurgents attacked and overran a checkpoint in the volatile area south of Baghdad known as the "triangle of death."

A third soldier, Pfc. Joseph Anzack Jr., was also captured during the raid, but his body was found May 23 floating in the Euphrates River. Four U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi translator were killed during the ambush.

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