Former Iraq Commander/Chief of Staff of the Army Casey: Likely more U.S. soldiers will be captured

Matt Maupin was captured after an insurgent attack on a convoy on April 9, 2004. He appeared in the tape above on April 16, saying, "I came to Iraq to liberate it. But I didn't have the desire to come here because I wanted to be with my son." On June 28, 2004, Al Jazeera reported that Matt Maupin had been executed. He has not been seen since. His parents continue the search to this day.

FORT RILEY, Kansas: A weekend ambush of a U.S.-led convoy in Iraq in which three American servicemen are missing and believed abducted by militants linked to al-Qaida likely won't be the last time insurgents capture U.S. troops, the former U.S. military commander in Iraq said Monday.

Speaking to reporters after meeting with Fort Riley and 1st Infantry Division commanders, Gen. George Casey said it was too early to tell if the war in Iraq was taking a new turn or if the deadly ambush of U.S. soldiers, reportedly by al-Qaida forces, was an isolated incident.

"Unfortunately, that's not the first time something like this has happened. You have units fighting in a dispersed environment. It's difficult," Casey said, speaking outside Patton Hall at Fort Riley.

Read the rest at the International Herald Tribune

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