War critics killed in Baghdad truck crash

TEXAS CITY, Texas — Two sergeants who helped write a New York Times op-ed article sharply critical of the Pentagon's assessment of the Iraq war were killed in a Baghdad crash this week.

Sgt. Omar Mora, 28, of Texas City, and co-author Sgt. Yance T. Gray, 26, of Ismay, Mont., died Monday when their truck veered off an elevated highway in western Baghdad and fell about 30 feet, the military said. Five other soldiers and two detainees were killed in the single-vehicle crash, while 11 soldiers and another detainee were injured.

"I want to know all the details of how he died. I want to know the truth," said Olga Capetillo, Mora's mother. "I don't understand how so many people could die in that accident. How could it be so bad?"

The military made no mention of hostile fire. A call to an Army spokesman seeking comment Wednesday was not immediately returned.

The New York Times piece, published Aug. 19 and called "The War As We Saw It," expressed doubts about U.S. gains in Iraq. "To believe that Americans, with an occupying force that long ago outlived its reluctant welcome, can win over a recalcitrant local population and win this counterinsurgency is far-fetched," the group wrote.

In the last line, the seven authors reaffirmed their commitment: "We need not talk about our morale. As committed soldiers, we will see this mission through."

Mora and Gray, members of the 82nd Airborne Division, were married and leave behind young daughters.

Mora, a permanent legal resident who emigrated from Ecuador at age 2, received his citizenship papers two weeks ago and was waiting to be sworn in as a U.S. citizen when his deployment ended in November.

Another co-author, Staff Sgt. Jeremy Murphy, was shot in the head Aug. 12 while the article was being written. The Army Ranger and reconnaissance-team leader was flown to a military hospital in the United States and is expected to survive.