FBI identifies remains of 2 more U.S. Contractors

FBI identifies remains of 2 more U.S. Contractors

WASHINGTON (AP) — Authorities identified the remains of two more U.S. Contractors kidnapped in Iraq and are awaiting forensic testing on remains of a third body, the FBI said Thursday.
FBI spokesman Richard Kolko identified the two men as Paul Johnson-Reuben of Minneapolis and Joshua Munns of Redding, Calif. They were among six Western contractors kidnapped in Iraq more than a year ago.

The case received attention earlier this month when the severed fingers of five of the men were sent to the U.S. Military in Iraq.

Several relatives had taken the discovery of the fingers as a hopeful sign but hopes dimmed Monday when the FBI said the remains of Ronald Withrow of Roaring Springs, Texas, and John Roy Young of Kansas City, Mo., had been identified.

The other men still missing are Jonathon Cote, of Getzville, N.Y. And Bert Nussbaumer of Vienna.

Cote's family said on its blog Wednesday night that the body awaiting identification is not Jonathon's.

"The third body has not been identified yet but officials have ruled out that it is NOT Jonathon Cote," the posting said. "We really feel the need to ask for continued prayers. Please remember to pray for Jon's safety and the loss of the other hostages and their families."

Munns' mother had said Tuesday that she lost hope that her son would be found alive after hearing that the remains of Withrow and Young had been identified.

"I think at this point, because they already killed the others, (he) is going to be probably dead as well, that's just a mom's intuition," said Jackie Stewart, a resident of Ridgefield, Wash.

Johnson-Reuben and Munns were guards for Crescent Security Group when men in Iraqi police uniforms ambushed their convoy near the Kuwaiti border on Nov. 16, 2006.



U.S. Starts breakdown of outposts in Ramadi

By Joseph Giordono, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Thursday, March 27, 2008



By David A. Weikle / US Army
Marines with Company C, 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 1, take down concertina wire as part of the process of "demilitarizing" Joint Security Station Steel in Ramadi.


Marines in Ramadi have begun dismantling some of the combat outposts credited with helping calm what was once among the most violent cities in Iraq.

According to Marine Corps officials in Anbar province, the “demilitarization” process is another sign of the calm that has enveloped the city over the past year and a half. Ramadi had been the heart of the Sunni insurgency, with militants mounting attacks on U.S. And Iraqi targets daily.

Now, taking down the combat outposts is hoped to have a positive economic impact.

“The people will have more freedom of movement and civil-military operations projects will allow people to return their businesses to the surrounding neighborhoods,” 1st Lt. Matthew Johnson, a company executive officer with the 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, was quoted as saying in a news release.

The first outpost to be “demilitarized” was Joint Security Station Steel, officials said.

Marines cleared the outpost of barricades and concertina wire that had previously been used to fortify the station. The station had been built in October 2006 by soldiers of the U.S. Army’s 1st Armored Division and occupied a month later by the 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment.

“Just walking down the street doesn’t do you anything but get you shot at,” Capt. Adam Rudy told a Stars and Stripes reporter in November, shortly after the outpost had been built.

The outpost was the centerpiece of an “inkblot strategy” that created several small outposts in dangerous quarters of the city, gradually spreading a U.S. Security presence. Now, less than two years later, that strategy has appeared to pay off in Ramadi.

“We started out constantly patrolling when we first got here, mostly by ourselves,” Marine Lance Cpl. Chris Hopkins said of the improvement.

“After months of hard work alongside the [Iraqi police], they’ve taken the lead role and we’re serving more as advisers.”