The Beat Goes On

From MSNBC:

A U.S. soldier was shot and killed guarding a bank in the capital on Saturday, while the new Iraqi governing council failed to choose a president — deciding instead it will not elect a single leader but opt for a three-member rotating presidency. Meanwhile, the U.S. military concluded two separate sweeps in and around Baghdad — arresting more than 1,200 people and seizing weapons, explosives and ammunition, the military said.

A U.S. soldier guarding a Baghdad bank died at about 2 a.m. Saturday outside the Al-Rasheed Bank in western Baghdad. The death brought to 149 the number of U.S. personnel killed in combat since the March 20 start of the war — two more than the 1991 Gulf War total for U.S. deaths in combat.