US soldiers killed as Iraq prepares to show force

Two US soldiers were killed when their helicopter was shot down and crashed in central Iraq, the military said today, as the government prepared to ring Baghdad with tens of thousands of security forces to curb the rampant insurgency.

US officials were investigating Thursday’s crash of a two-seat OH-58 Kiowa helicopter near Buhriz, a former Saddam Hussein stronghold about 35 miles north of Baghdad.