U.S. Soldier Killed in Iraq and Occupation Is Defended An American soldier was killed today and one was wounded, compounding one of the worst weeks of the four-month-long occupation of Iraq and after an impassioned defense of the occupation by the top American administrator here, L. Paul Bremer III. In his remarks on Tuesday, however, Mr. Bremer acknowledged that "mistakes" had led to the deaths of innocent civilians and that finding the money to repair Iraq's crumbling infrastructure was a "substantial problem."� Paradoxically, one of the biggest challenges facing the American-led civilian authority is proving to be providing fuel for citizens of a country that boasts the world's second-largest oil reserves. Two days of riots in Basra, spurred by miles-long gasoline lines and electricity failures, were quelled Monday after British troops distributed gasoline from their own reserves. But fuel shortages may prove common, according to estimates by United Nations officials. They say the country is almost certain to endure shortages this winter of kerosene, a critical fuel for heating homes in northern Iraq, and liquefied petroleum gas, a common cooking fuel that has already seen a sixteen-fold price spike in some regions. In addition to the killings over the weekend of the two Iraqi policemen, Baghdad residents have been angered by recent American attacks that killed members of two families riding in their cars. "Look, it's a regrettable thing anytime there is the loss of innocent life," Mr. Bremer said in response to a question about civilian deaths. "There are, in combat operations, always going to be mistakes." http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/13/international/worldspecial/13CND-IRAQ.html