Mission NOT accomplished:

A U.S. soldier was shot and killed while on patrol in central Iraq early Tuesday, and the military reported that four U.S. soldiers and five civilians had been blindfolded and interrogated by Iranian authorities after being taken off boats in the waters between Iran and Iraq.
.

The shooting Tuesday occurred near the town of Balad, 90 kilometers (55 miles) north of the capital, said Major William Thurmond, a spokesman for the U.S. Army's 5th Corps. He said he had no further details. Several dozen U.S. soldiers have been killed or wounded in hit-and-run attacks across central Iraq since ground combat ended almost two months ago.
.

On Monday, military officers said that soldiers from the U.S. Army's 3d Infantry Division would move into Fallujah and Habaniyah, two towns in central Iraq known for their anti-American sentiment, to remove supporters of Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party and other militias opposed to U.S. occupation.
.

On the Shatt al Arab waterway, meanwhile, four soldiers from the Army's 1092d Engineer Company, a civilian army contractor, along with two civilian captains and two boat drivers had been sailing to pick up Iraqi South Oil Co. personnel and take them to an oil platform Sunday when they were taken by force by Iranians, the military said. A spokesman, Commander Dan Gage, said from Central Command headquarters in Tampa, Florida, that the American group might have moved into Iranian territorial waters. The Iranians blindfolded them and took them to a building where they were interrogated throughout Sunday night, Gage said. On Monday, the Iranians took the group back to their boats and released all except the two drivers, whose nationalities were unavailable, Gage said. Initial medical examinations indicate that those released were not injured or physically abused, Gage said. BAGHDAD A U.S. soldier was shot and killed while on patrol in central Iraq early Tuesday, and the military reported that four U.S. soldiers and five civilians had been blindfolded and interrogated by Iranian authorities after being taken off boats in the waters between Iran and Iraq.

When this whole ugly affair is over I have the feeling that the cry of "NO MORE VIETNAM'S!" will be replaced with "NO MORE IRAQ'S".
.

.