Final Missing Iraqi US Soldier Identified
Staff Sgt. Ahmed Kousay al-Taie was kidnapped in Iraq at gunpoint in 2006 and now U.S. military officials have identified his body, making al-Taie the last American service member to be accounted at the end of the U.S. presence in Iraq.
Born in Iraq and eventually living in Ann Arbor, Mich. Ahmed served as an interpreter for the U.S. Army. The soldiers kidnapping occurred when he sneaked off base using a motorcyle. Ahmed had planned to visit his Iraqi wife in central Baghdad.
The soldiers body was identified at the military’s mortuary in Dover, Del. and his identity was confirmed to the general public in a statement released on Sunday afternoon.
At this time Army officials have no further details regarding the circumstances surrounding the soldiers death and they have not revealed the exactly location for the discovery of his remains.
While Staff Sgt. Ahmed Kousay al-Taie was the last body to be identified the last confirmed fallen soldier in the Iraq war was David Emanuel Hickman who was killed on Nov. 14, 2011 when an improvised explosive device was detonated.
The identification of Staff Sgt. al-Taie is of course more symbolic than anything else since many of the soldiers who avoided death in Iraq are now fighting wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Do you think the United States needs to pull out of the Middle East or is a U.S. presence needed in the region to avoid even more bloodshed by ruling warlords and dictators?
