As Baghdad Curfew Ends, Discovery of Missing Soldier's ID Provides Hope

June 17, 2007 — -- The U.S. military's announcement this weekend that it recovered the ID cards of two American soldiers provided some hope to one family.

Gordon Dibler, stepfather of missing Pvt. Byron Fouty, 19, from Michigan, said the family holds on to the idea he still may be alive.

"It's exciting, but I'm pulled both ways, of course," Dibler said on "Good Morning America Weekend Edition" from Madison Heights, Mich.

After a gunfight in Samarra June 9 in which two Americans were wounded, they burst into what's been described as an al Qaeda safe house to find the ID cards of two soldiers who have been missing for over a month.

The second card belonged to Spc. Alex Jiminez, 25, of Kansas.

The men have been missing since their patrol was ambushed May 12. The body of a third soldier captured that day, Pvt. Joseph Anzack Jr, was later found in the Euphrates River. A video posted by an al Qaeda front group claimed all three soldiers were killed, but offered no proof.

Dibler said he hopes his stepson's captors will open their hearts and see Fouty is a young man who needs to return home. He added he was up this morning until 3 a.m. hoping and praying for the missing soldier. Dibler said the prayers from others have helped.

Dibler did not hesitate when asked what he would say to his stepson if he saw him today.

"Today, I would just tell him I love him and miss him," he said. "I'd probably ask him, 'What's next?'"

He said he was pleased to see the military continue the search.

"The efforts that are being made for the search was encouraging," Dibler said.

The news of the IDs came as Defense Secretary Robert Gates wrapped up his fourth visit in six months to Baghdad. He told reporters to expect more changes soon.

"While I indicated yesterday that I think we'll see some trends and be able to point in some directions by September, the full impact of the surge is really just beginning to be felt," Gates said.

Gates was there to press Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to make political progress before President Bush reports to Congress in September. He is the third high-ranking U.S. official to deliver that message just this week.

U.S. ambassador Ryan Crocker told reporters today patience with the Iraqi government is wearing thin.

"Progress has been frustratingly slow," he said.

U.S. officials praised Maliki for fast action in locking down Baghdad and Samarrah with a curfew after Wednesday's bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarrah. An attack on the same shrine last year set off a wave of bloody sectarian killings between Shiites and Sunnis.

The five days of curfew have ended in Baghdad, and Iraqis have begun slowly venturing out. It was first real test of whether Iraq can avoid plunging into a new wave of sectarian violence.

The streets of the capital remain unusually quiet. The lockdown is still in effect in Samarra, and many Baghdad residents are wary of being the first to see if it's safe to go outside.

Even during the lockdown, there were retaliatory bombings of Sunni mosques, sporadic gunfights, massive protests and deadly mortar strikes in the Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone.

The raid that turned up the ID cards could be the first of many. The top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, announced the U.S. military has launched a major new offensive against al Qaeda strongholds in key Baghdad neighborhoods where American troops have not been operating. He said the operation is possible because U.S. forces have finished bringing a surge of 30,0000 additional troops here.

"Now for the first time, we are going to a couple of the really key areas in the belts," he said.