US says 4 troops die in western Iraq fighting

Four U.S. troops died in fighting in western Iraq on Monday, the U.S. military said on Tuesday, taking to a least 1,935 the number of U.S. forces killed since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

One Marine was killed by an improvised bomb in Karabila, near the Syrian border, during a major military operation called Iron Fist, a statement said.

Three soldiers were killed by improvised bombs in Haqlaniya, in the western Anbar province, the U.S. military said.

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At Least 25 Killed in Iraq Mosque Blast

A bomb exploded at the entrance of a Shiite Muslim mosque south of Baghdad as hundreds of worshippers gathered for prayers on the first day of Ramadan and for the funeral of a man killed in an earlier bombing. At least 25 people were killed and 87 wounded.

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Iraq health care so bad that doctors want out

For most of his life, Dr. Ayad Abdul Kadhem kept a laser-like focus on his goal of becoming a doctor. He finished at the top of his class in primary and secondary schools, and proved to be among the most studious of his peers at the University of Baghdad's medical school.

But these days, Kadhem, now a second-year resident at Sadr City Hospital, is looking for a way out of his profession. Recently, he and five of his colleagues applied for jobs at the Iraqna mobile phone company to answer a customer help line--unskilled work he is more than willing to take so he can quit a job he has come to loathe.

"Almost anything is better than being a doctor in Iraq now," said Kadhem, 26, who didn't get the call center job. "The situation is so difficult in the medical field that many of us would quit if we could."

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