Hunt for Three Missing U.S. Soldiers
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Bullets fly. Street battles. New video from gun battles in the Middle East.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anybody who can kidnap an American soldier and murders them, we're going to continue to hunt down.</s>SANCHEZ: Going behind enemy lines to bring you the hunt for three missing U.S. soldiers. Are they here? Are they still alive? And why is the killing of this al Qaeda big so important? SWAT officers, tanks, and people told to stay inside. A small town under siege. Now asking why.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got to tell you. After standing up with them, some of these people frighten me. They frighten me.</s>SANCHEZ: A spit fire of a politician says what most dared not say. Mike Gravel in the Sunday spotlight. And hello again, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez here in B control, where we're going to begin as we often do with some dramatic video and dramatic news from a really troubled region. Take a look at this man. You may not know his face or his name, but U.S. commanders in Iraq are saying that he led an attack that killed five American soldiers. It's his last high profile attack, because we learned tonight U.S. troops have confronted him and killed him. His name is Sheikh Azhar al-Dulaymi. A military spokesperson is saying that he's been the target of a relentless hunt since January. January 20th to be precise. That was the day that insurgents who spoke English drove American cars and wore American clothing somehow managed to get right inside a U.S. Army post. And that's what made this attack like few others. CNN's Tom Foreman has detailed a report from that week.</s>TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): New details suggests the attack in Karbala was precise, well-rehearsed, and very different from the assault the Pentagon first described; 5:00 in the afternoon, a dozen American troops are reviewing security plans for an upcoming Shia pilgrimage to two important shrines. And a dozen gunmen wearing uniforms much like the Americans are heading straight toward them. They travel in a convoy of at least five American-made SUVs, such as those used by high-level military brass. Three times, the gunmen stop at Iraqi checkpoints. Three times, they apparently pass themselves off as Americans and are waved through. When they reach the compound where U.S. troops are working, they unleash gunfire and explosives. Five U.S. soldiers were killed, the governor of the town first reports, but the Defense Department now says only one American soldier is killed on the spot. Four others are abducted. The convoy speeds away. Outside town, the kidnappers hit another checkpoint. Iraqi police let them through again, but, suspicious, start following them. The convoy heads east, then north. And, finally, the insurgents abandon their vehicles. The Pentagon says, two American soldiers are found handcuffed together, dead in the back of one SUV, each shot through the head. A third is dead on the ground nearby. And a fourth, found alive, dies on the way to a hospital. It is a much more complex story than the first version from the military.</s>ROBERT GATES, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: I have just been made aware of the discrepancy in the account. And I have asked for the specifics about it.</s>FOREMAN: This tactic of enemies posing as friends is not new. Two years ago, a suicide bomber dressed as an Iraqi soldier struck a mess tent. In Saudi Arabia, when terrorists hit a U.S. compound, they even made a training tape, showing how they painted an SUV to look like a police car. And military analysts say, this attack was exceedingly well- planned. Pat Lang is retired from military intelligence.</s>COLONEL PAT LANG (RET.), U.S. ARMY: Whoever was involved in this is a -- is a professional who really knew how to do this.</s>FOREMAN: But investigators still want to know if the kidnappers had help from someone the Americans trusted, someone on the inside. Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.</s>SANCHEZ: That was then. But tonight, the military focus in Iraq remains the search for three U.S. troops that are still missing after a brazen insurgent ambush more than a week ago. And now military officials are telling us they have reason to believe they may be alive. They say they'll keep searching whether it takes eight days or 80.</s>MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM CALDWELL, SPOKESMAN, MULTINATL. FORCE-IRAQ: All I can tell you is the search does -- continue. You know, we can't promise the outcome that we all, of course, are praying for, but what I can promise you and I can promise the American families out there that are waiting anxiously that the American forces and Iraqi counterparts are going to continue with this relentless search until we find the fate of our missing soldiers.</s>SANCHEZ: This is important. Their efforts did turn up some new leads today. The U.S. military acted on a tip and drained another canal. What they were told might be in that canal is horrific. We take you to the ground now and CNN's Arwa Damon for the very latest on the search.</s>ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the Janabi run (ph) Canal that runs from the Euphrates River to the Janabi village, a former Sunni insurgent stronghold. It is the second canal that the U.S. military has drained in this area, following tips that the bodies of the three missing soldiers may have been dumped here. Now this company has been searching the canal and the reed line running alongside it, trying to look for clues. They also found shell casings from a Dragunov sniper rifle. Further down, U.S. military found what they initially thought may have been an American boot but it wasn't.</s>CPT. SHANE FINN, U.S. ARMY: You want to find the clues, because you want so badly to return these soldiers to their families. But the same token, you don't want it to be that boot because it could then mean other things. So I'm not sure if I am relieved or happy right now or sad. I don't know.</s>DAMON: This area is about seven or eight miles away from the site of the attack. But it is significant. Because back in October, this very same company found the flak jacket belonging to one of the 101st soldiers that were killed and kidnapped about a year ago. That flak jacket found along the southern reed line. This is all part of, the U.S. military says, its promise that it will leave no stone unturned to find its missing men. Arwa Damon, CNN near Yusufiya, Iraq.</s>SANCHEZ: And then there's a question -- what about the rest of the U.S. forces in Iraq? Unfortunately, they're continuing to take some heavy fire. Since Friday, 15 more American soldiers have actually been killed in Iraq. Most of the violence has been in or around Baghdad. Yesterday alone, eight U.S. troops died in separate attacks. 20 days into May, this month's death toll has already reached 71. So far, 3422 U.S. service members have lost their lives since the Iraq War began. The thing is those numbers represent the magnitude of the loss, obviously, enough, but they'll never show the heartache of each individual family. The U.S. military paid tribute them today in Washington. And it was a very emotional ceremony for the families of the fallen soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Perhaps this one point by the Army's chief of staff sums it up best.</s>GEN. GEORGE CASEY, U.S. ARMY CHIEF OF STAFF: It is sure the families of the fallen here that your sacrifice and your commitment to the values and the ideals that make this country great are not only recognized and appreciated, but will never be forgotten.</s>SANCHEZ: General Casey then presented medals to the children of the fallen soldiers. Coming up in our Sunday spotlight, a controversial candidate who says not one more drop of American blood should be spilled in Iraq. He is as feisty as they come. And he's all the rage on the blogs, by the way.</s>FMR. SEN. MIKE GRAVEL (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Just please get out. It's their country. They're asking us to leave. And we insist on staying there. And why not get out? I think terrorism, terrorism has been with civilization from the beginning. And it will be there until the end. We're going to be as successful fighting terrorism as we are fighting drugs.</s>SANCHEZ: Former Senator Mike Gravel is still having a lot of people talking about his performance at that last debate where you see him right now. He says really what most politicians would never say out loud. It's a must see interview. It's live. We're going to be hooking up with him real soon. He's our Sunday spotlight. And he's coming up in just a little bit. All right, let's take you back to the Middle East now. Some incredible video coming from several incidents in the region tonight. In one, Israel intensifies its response to ongoing rocket attacks from the Gaza. One Israeli airstrike hit the home of a Hamas member. Palestinian sources say he was away at a meeting with Hamas and Fatah. Officials at the time discussing a Palestinian ceasefire. Eight civilians, including some of his relatives, were reported killed. The Palestinians also reported at least two other deaths in the Israeli airstrikes. All right, here's the other incidents I was alluding to. The Lebanese army is also locked in a fierce and deadly fight. They are battling with Islamic militants, who have ties to al Qaeda. And we're about to show you some of that dramatic video that we've been monitoring. These are gunfights on the streets, folks. The fighting apparently started when the Lebanese security forces raided a building in a neighborhood north of Tripoli. The militants inside opened fire on the security forces and then they shot back. 32 people, mostly Lebanese security forces, were killed today.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These things aren't supposed to happen in Moscow, Idaho.</s>SANCHEZ: Maybe in Moscow, Russia. But in Idaho? A sniper on the loose. A shootout. SWAT teams called. Several dead. We'll take you there.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some people call it amnesty. We say it's not amnesty. We can argue about that for years.</s>SANCHEZ: The debate begins tomorrow. In depth coverage tonight. Why so divisive? I'll take you inside a typical U.S. restaurant, the back way to see who's in the kitchen. And tonight's quick vote. We're 48 hours from the "American Idol" season finale. Whoo oh! Log on to CNN.com and tell us who you think will win.