Thursday, July 31, 2003
GI killed in Iraq; Voting may be upcoming: "Iraq's U.S.-appointed governing council, struggling with questions about its legitimacy, could be replaced by an elected government after general elections in less than a year, Iraq's U.S. administrator said Thursday. An American soldier was killed as troops chased Saddam Hussein from hideout to hideout in northern Iraq."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Bush wants homosexuals out of marriage: "President Bush says Americans should respect homosexuals, but he wants to make sure marriage is defined strictly as a union between a man and a woman."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Vatican starts campaign vs. gay marriage: "The Vatican launched a global campaign against gay marriages Thursday, warning Catholic politicians that support of same-sex unions was "gravely immoral" and urging non-Catholics to follow their lead."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Planned air marshal cuts meet hostility: "A Bush administration plan to cut back the air marshal program that mushroomed after the Sept. 11 attacks was rejected by Republicans and Democrats in Congress."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Inspectors arrive in embattled Liberia: "As shells crashed in the distance, an early inspection team arrived in Liberia's capital to plan for a peacekeeping force that will seek to stop a civil war pushing the country toward outright chaos."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
N. Korea, U.S. trade harsh criticism: "North Korea and the United States traded harsh criticism on Thursday, with a U.S. official describing the communist nation as a "hellish nightmare" and the North accusing Washington of "all sorts of lies and plots.""
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Witness: Al-Qaida aided Indonesia attacks: "A suspected Muslim radical testified Thursday that the al-Qaida terror group financed Southeast Asian militant attacks in Indonesia, possibly including the Oct. 12 Bali blasts that killed 202 people."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Experts anxious over possible Net attack: "Government and industry experts are increasingly concerned about brewing hacker activity they consider a precursor to a broad Internet attack that will target a serious flaw in Windows software from Microsoft Corp."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Record producer Sam Phillips dead at 80: "Sun Records founder Sam Phillips, who decided that a then-unknown Elvis Presley deserved a recording contract when he heard him sing songs for his mother, has died. He was 80."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Ohio State bars star back from practice: "Ohio State tailback Maurice Clarett admits exaggerating the value of items he reported stolen from a car he was driving. As the NCAA investigates, school officials announced Clarett will be held out of preseason practice."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Bush wants homosexuals out of marriage: "President Bush says Americans should respect homosexuals, but he wants to make sure marriage is defined strictly as a union between a man and a woman."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Vatican starts campaign vs. gay marriage: "The Vatican launched a global campaign against gay marriages Thursday, warning Catholic politicians that support of same-sex unions was "gravely immoral" and urging non-Catholics to follow their lead."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Planned air marshal cuts meet hostility: "A Bush administration plan to cut back the air marshal program that mushroomed after the Sept. 11 attacks was rejected by Republicans and Democrats in Congress."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Inspectors arrive in embattled Liberia: "As shells crashed in the distance, an early inspection team arrived in Liberia's capital to plan for a peacekeeping force that will seek to stop a civil war pushing the country toward outright chaos."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
N. Korea, U.S. trade harsh criticism: "North Korea and the United States traded harsh criticism on Thursday, with a U.S. official describing the communist nation as a "hellish nightmare" and the North accusing Washington of "all sorts of lies and plots.""
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Witness: Al-Qaida aided Indonesia attacks: "A suspected Muslim radical testified Thursday that the al-Qaida terror group financed Southeast Asian militant attacks in Indonesia, possibly including the Oct. 12 Bali blasts that killed 202 people."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Experts anxious over possible Net attack: "Government and industry experts are increasingly concerned about brewing hacker activity they consider a precursor to a broad Internet attack that will target a serious flaw in Windows software from Microsoft Corp."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Record producer Sam Phillips dead at 80: "Sun Records founder Sam Phillips, who decided that a then-unknown Elvis Presley deserved a recording contract when he heard him sing songs for his mother, has died. He was 80."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Ohio State bars star back from practice: "Ohio State tailback Maurice Clarett admits exaggerating the value of items he reported stolen from a car he was driving. As the NCAA investigates, school officials announced Clarett will be held out of preseason practice."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Wednesday, July 30, 2003
Bush calls threat of new attacks 'real': "President Bush took personal responsibility for the first time Wednesday for using discredited intelligence in his State of the Union address, but predicted he would be vindicated for going to war against Iraq. He also warned of possible new al-Qaida attacks, possibly involving airlines."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Lawmakers to fight cuts for air marshals: "A suicide hijacking warning led the government to ask airlines to watch out for certain foreigners just days after it asked for cuts in the air marshal program that was boosted after the Sept. 11 attacks. Lawmakers from both parties said they would block any effort to reduce funding for air marshals."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
U.S. believes Saddam constantly on move: "After weeks of struggling to choose a leader, Iraq's U.S.-picked interim government named its first president Wednesday - a Shiite Muslim from a party banned by Saddam Hussein. U.S. troops, meanwhile, pressed the hunt for the ousted dictator and officers said it was "just a matter of time" before he is caught."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Peacekeepers arrive amid Liberia tumult: "An advance inspection team of a long-promised multinational peacekeeping force flew into Liberia's besieged capital Wednesday, as explosions and gunfire rocked Monrovia despite a new rebel pledge to cease fire."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Bush shuns calls to legalize gay marriage: "President Bush said Wednesday he respects homosexuals but draws the line at gay weddings, and he disclosed that government lawyers are exploring measures to legally define marriage as a union between a man and a woman."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
D.A. to seek retrial in police video case: "Prosecutors said Wednesday they will seek a retrial in the case of a white former police officer who was videotaped punching and slamming a handcuffed black teenager onto a squad car."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Weather slows Montana firefighting efforts: "A wildfire menacing Glacier National Park paused Wednesday, but uncooperative weather kept firefighters from making a full attack on the 14,200-acre blaze that has forced hundreds of people from their homes."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Stocks sag as Dow down 4, Nasdaq down 9: "Stocks fell modestly Wednesday after bearish comments from Intel and a profit warning from Pier One Imports offset strong earnings from CVS and ConocoPhillips. But many investors simply sat out the session, waiting for gross domestic product and employment data due out later this week."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Baryshnikov heads to 'Sex and the City': "He's Mr. Big in the dance world. Now Mikhail Baryshnikov is ready to take on Carrie Bradshaw in "Sex and the City.""
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Autopsy: Dennehy died of gunshot wounds: "Baylor basketball player Patrick Dennehy was shot in the head and died in the field where his body was found, according to an autopsy report released Wednesday."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Lawmakers to fight cuts for air marshals: "A suicide hijacking warning led the government to ask airlines to watch out for certain foreigners just days after it asked for cuts in the air marshal program that was boosted after the Sept. 11 attacks. Lawmakers from both parties said they would block any effort to reduce funding for air marshals."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
U.S. believes Saddam constantly on move: "After weeks of struggling to choose a leader, Iraq's U.S.-picked interim government named its first president Wednesday - a Shiite Muslim from a party banned by Saddam Hussein. U.S. troops, meanwhile, pressed the hunt for the ousted dictator and officers said it was "just a matter of time" before he is caught."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Peacekeepers arrive amid Liberia tumult: "An advance inspection team of a long-promised multinational peacekeeping force flew into Liberia's besieged capital Wednesday, as explosions and gunfire rocked Monrovia despite a new rebel pledge to cease fire."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Bush shuns calls to legalize gay marriage: "President Bush said Wednesday he respects homosexuals but draws the line at gay weddings, and he disclosed that government lawyers are exploring measures to legally define marriage as a union between a man and a woman."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
D.A. to seek retrial in police video case: "Prosecutors said Wednesday they will seek a retrial in the case of a white former police officer who was videotaped punching and slamming a handcuffed black teenager onto a squad car."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Weather slows Montana firefighting efforts: "A wildfire menacing Glacier National Park paused Wednesday, but uncooperative weather kept firefighters from making a full attack on the 14,200-acre blaze that has forced hundreds of people from their homes."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Stocks sag as Dow down 4, Nasdaq down 9: "Stocks fell modestly Wednesday after bearish comments from Intel and a profit warning from Pier One Imports offset strong earnings from CVS and ConocoPhillips. But many investors simply sat out the session, waiting for gross domestic product and employment data due out later this week."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Baryshnikov heads to 'Sex and the City': "He's Mr. Big in the dance world. Now Mikhail Baryshnikov is ready to take on Carrie Bradshaw in "Sex and the City.""
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Autopsy: Dennehy died of gunshot wounds: "Baylor basketball player Patrick Dennehy was shot in the head and died in the field where his body was found, according to an autopsy report released Wednesday."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Iraqis begin to accept Hussein deaths: "Skeptical Iraqis began to accept that Saddam Hussein's sons Odai and Qusai were dead after a new audiotape attributed to the fallen dictator acknowledged his sons had become martyrs in the fight against American occupation."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
U.S. aims to reduce air marshalls: "The Transportation Security Administration wants to reduce the number of air marshals to save money, even as the government is warning about the possibility al-Qaida may try more suicide hijackings."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
U.S. may query Saudi who knew hijackers: "Saudi Arabia's foreign minister says FBI and CIA agents in his country may question an employee of the Saudi civil aviation authority who befriended two of the Saudis involved in the 9-11 hijackings."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Israeli, Palestinian officials to meet: "Prisoner releases, dismantling settlement outposts and Israeli withdrawal from two more Palestinian towns will be the focus of high-level negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian leaders, after twin summits with President Bush, officials said Wednesday."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Mont. crews fight wildfire with flames: "Fighting fire with fire, state officials scrambled to burn 2,000 acres of trees and other fuel from the path of a 12,000-acre forest fire threatening Glacier National Park and a nearby village."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Judge warns reporters in Bryant case: "The judge presiding over Kobe Bryant's sexual assault case warned reporters that they may not get a seat in his courtroom if they publish the name or photograph of the basketball star's alleged victim. Critics said the ruling may be unconstitutional."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Heavy fighting erupts in Liberia: "Heavy fighting raged in Liberia's besieged capital Wednesday despite rebel declarations of a cease-fire, with President Charles Taylor's troops battling rebels trying to advance on his downtown stronghold."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Hormel fights to defend Spam name: "Hormel Foods has a message for a Seattle software company: Stop, in the name of Spam!"
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Stocks mixed amid upbeat, bearish reports: "Stocks were mixed in early trading Wednesday as an upbeat earnings report from ConocoPhillips was offset by Intel's bearish comments about sales."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Mueller hits slams from both sides: "The greatest switch-hitters in baseball history never had a night as grand as Bill Mueller's."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
U.S. aims to reduce air marshalls: "The Transportation Security Administration wants to reduce the number of air marshals to save money, even as the government is warning about the possibility al-Qaida may try more suicide hijackings."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
U.S. may query Saudi who knew hijackers: "Saudi Arabia's foreign minister says FBI and CIA agents in his country may question an employee of the Saudi civil aviation authority who befriended two of the Saudis involved in the 9-11 hijackings."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Israeli, Palestinian officials to meet: "Prisoner releases, dismantling settlement outposts and Israeli withdrawal from two more Palestinian towns will be the focus of high-level negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian leaders, after twin summits with President Bush, officials said Wednesday."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Mont. crews fight wildfire with flames: "Fighting fire with fire, state officials scrambled to burn 2,000 acres of trees and other fuel from the path of a 12,000-acre forest fire threatening Glacier National Park and a nearby village."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Judge warns reporters in Bryant case: "The judge presiding over Kobe Bryant's sexual assault case warned reporters that they may not get a seat in his courtroom if they publish the name or photograph of the basketball star's alleged victim. Critics said the ruling may be unconstitutional."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Heavy fighting erupts in Liberia: "Heavy fighting raged in Liberia's besieged capital Wednesday despite rebel declarations of a cease-fire, with President Charles Taylor's troops battling rebels trying to advance on his downtown stronghold."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Hormel fights to defend Spam name: "Hormel Foods has a message for a Seattle software company: Stop, in the name of Spam!"
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Stocks mixed amid upbeat, bearish reports: "Stocks were mixed in early trading Wednesday as an upbeat earnings report from ConocoPhillips was offset by Intel's bearish comments about sales."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Mueller hits slams from both sides: "The greatest switch-hitters in baseball history never had a night as grand as Bill Mueller's."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Tuesday, July 29, 2003
U.S. troops capture Saddam bodyguard: "American soldiers overpowered and arrested a bodyguard who rarely left Saddam Hussein's side Tuesday and said they obtained documents and information that could help them close in on the former dictator."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
9-11 report prompts Saudi visit to Bush: "Saudi Arabia's foreign minister is in Washington for talks with President Bush against a background of controversy over whether his country has connections with terrorists."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Sharon expected to make demands on Bush: "Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is exploring with President Bush the actions Israel wants from the Palestinians to reduce the threat of terror and advance peace prospects."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Airlines warned of possible hijack plots: "The Department of Homeland Security has told airlines and law enforcement agencies that al-Qaida may attempt new suicide hijackings sometime during the next few months."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Taylor's forces launch attack in Liberia: "President Charles Taylor's forces launched what they called a major counterattack Tuesday on the key port of Buchanan, battling to take back Liberia's second-largest city a day after it fell to insurgents."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Consumer confidence posts sharp drop: "Consumers, nervous about rising unemployment, lost confidence in their economic prospects in July, resulting in a sharp, unexpected drop in sentiment, according to the latest Conference Board survey."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Prince: al-Qaida trained Saudi militants: "Muslim militants arrested or killed in recent police raids were trained by al-Qaida in Afghanistan and possibly in the Saudi kingdom, the interior minister said in remarks published Tuesday."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Four killed in French forest fires: "Forest fires swept through the French Riviera on Tuesday, killing at least four people, devastating scenic woods and forcing the evacuation of thousands of people."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Dow falls 79 on consumer confidence drop: "An unexpectedly sharp decline in consumer confidence rattled Wall Street Tuesday, sending stocks lower on investor fears of a stumbling economy in the months ahead."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Surging Marlins beat D-backs 3-2: "Miguel Cabrera drove in three runs and Mark Redman gave up one run in 7 1-3 innings to lead the Florida Marlins over the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-2 Monday night."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
9-11 report prompts Saudi visit to Bush: "Saudi Arabia's foreign minister is in Washington for talks with President Bush against a background of controversy over whether his country has connections with terrorists."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Sharon expected to make demands on Bush: "Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is exploring with President Bush the actions Israel wants from the Palestinians to reduce the threat of terror and advance peace prospects."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Airlines warned of possible hijack plots: "The Department of Homeland Security has told airlines and law enforcement agencies that al-Qaida may attempt new suicide hijackings sometime during the next few months."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Taylor's forces launch attack in Liberia: "President Charles Taylor's forces launched what they called a major counterattack Tuesday on the key port of Buchanan, battling to take back Liberia's second-largest city a day after it fell to insurgents."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Consumer confidence posts sharp drop: "Consumers, nervous about rising unemployment, lost confidence in their economic prospects in July, resulting in a sharp, unexpected drop in sentiment, according to the latest Conference Board survey."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Prince: al-Qaida trained Saudi militants: "Muslim militants arrested or killed in recent police raids were trained by al-Qaida in Afghanistan and possibly in the Saudi kingdom, the interior minister said in remarks published Tuesday."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Four killed in French forest fires: "Forest fires swept through the French Riviera on Tuesday, killing at least four people, devastating scenic woods and forcing the evacuation of thousands of people."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Dow falls 79 on consumer confidence drop: "An unexpectedly sharp decline in consumer confidence rattled Wall Street Tuesday, sending stocks lower on investor fears of a stumbling economy in the months ahead."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Surging Marlins beat D-backs 3-2: "Miguel Cabrera drove in three runs and Mark Redman gave up one run in 7 1-3 innings to lead the Florida Marlins over the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-2 Monday night."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
A country in search of a vision in IraqWar.ru (English)
Iraqi Mortars Get Closer To "Sergeant Sean" in IraqWar.ru (English)
Second Senior Sheik in Saddam's Tribe Questions Sons Killing in IraqWar.ru (English)
U.S. soldier killed in daylight bombing in IraqWar.ru (English)
UK troops reveal their new ordeal in 120F Iraq in IraqWar.ru (English)
Saddam sons 'found with $100m' [Raid Story Changes Again!] in IraqWar.ru (English)
It's time to bring American troops home from Iraq in IraqWar.ru (English)
US soldier killed in Baghdad attack as council inches toward cabinet: "A US soldier has been killed in a Baghdad bomb attack, a day after an American raid in which five Iraqis died, as Iraq's Governing Council inched closer to naming its president and cabinet. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
US seizes 'Saddam guard' in BBC: War in Iraq
Victims of trigger-happy Task Force 20 - Rage triggered by US raid that claimed five lives (29 July 03) in Radio Free USA
Iraqi Mortars Get Closer To "Sergeant Sean" in IraqWar.ru (English)
Second Senior Sheik in Saddam's Tribe Questions Sons Killing in IraqWar.ru (English)
U.S. soldier killed in daylight bombing in IraqWar.ru (English)
UK troops reveal their new ordeal in 120F Iraq in IraqWar.ru (English)
Saddam sons 'found with $100m' [Raid Story Changes Again!] in IraqWar.ru (English)
It's time to bring American troops home from Iraq in IraqWar.ru (English)
US soldier killed in Baghdad attack as council inches toward cabinet: "A US soldier has been killed in a Baghdad bomb attack, a day after an American raid in which five Iraqis died, as Iraq's Governing Council inched closer to naming its president and cabinet. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
US seizes 'Saddam guard' in BBC: War in Iraq
Victims of trigger-happy Task Force 20 - Rage triggered by US raid that claimed five lives (29 July 03) in Radio Free USA
Monday, July 28, 2003
Iowa Falls Times-Citizen
Alden man on front line of Iraqi war
ALDEN - During the war in Iraq, people kept up-to-date through newspaper and television reports. Even in an age when video communication is nearly instaneous, people still visualize a picture in their minds of what war is really lize.
Former Alden resident Army Captain Joel Heinzeroth doesn't have to do that. He has had a front row seat to the war in Iraq.
As part of the U.S. Army's 75th Field Artillery Brigade, Heinzeroth has witnessed and experienced every facet of the war, serving as captain of a site survey team, which main objective was to search for weapons of mass destruction.
"There is nothing that can really prepare you for the types of things you see there," Heinzeroth said.
The former Alden resident was scheduled to return this week to Fort Sill, Okla., and is slated to return to Iraq sometime in October.
"It is really up in the air at this point. I could be gone up from six to eight months. The time goes by pretty fast when I am doing something," Heinzeroth commented.
Upon his return to Iraq, Heinzeroth will be in charge of six artillery guns and 120 soldiers. His top priority will be to conduct traffic control points and patrol various check points outside of Baghdad. Heinzeroth said two years is the longest the U.S. Army allows a commander or captain to remain at the head of a post, due to fear of burnout.
Nothing he will encounter during his second trip to Iraq should rattle him following his encounters during his first trip.
The beginning
Heinzeroth has served in the army for the past six years, following his graduation from Alden High School in 1992, and Northwest Missouri State University. He was stationed in Fort Sill, Okla., before traveling to Korea for one year.
One highlight for the Alden native was his promotion to captain in the summer of 2001. Heinzeroth then returned to Fort Sill, Okla. and was assigned to the 75th Artillery Brigade. The 75th team was eventually renamed as the 75th Exploitation Task Force. Ironically, Heinzeroth's crew received word that they would be heading to Iraq on Jan. 1...New Year's Day.
The United States' Department of Defense picked the 75th Exploitation Task Force to lead one of the most important missions of the war.
"Our mission was to search for the weapons of mass destruction," Heinzeroth said. Those were the same weapons President Bush mentioned in his speeches. And one of the administration's tenants as a reason for war.
"If we found them, we were to alert another squad that would go in and take samples," Heinzeroth said.
There were four site survey teams (SST's) and three mobile exploitation teams (MET's) on the mission. If Heinzeroth's crew found something, another team's objective was to take a sample and send it to Washington D.C. for analyzing.
The SST's consisted of 26 personnel, nine vehicles and seven hum-vee vehicles. Two Fox-NBC vehicles (Nuclear Biological Chemical) were also utilized. The Army Fox-NBC vehicles have nothing to do with the enbedded network news teams that were covering the war. They enable soldiers to stay inside the vehicles to take readings in contaminated areas.
On Feb. 12, Heinzeroth was flown in with 126 people and 50 vehicles on 10 C5's, the biggest cargo plane the U.S. Air Force has in its arsenal. Upon arrival in Iraq on Feb. 18, Heinzeroth endured 12-14 hours days of intense training, explaining the unfamiliarity of working with most of the soldiers on his mission.
Once training was complete, soldiers were assigned to two 3rd Infantry Division teams of Fort Stewart, Ga., or two teams from the Marines. Heinzeroth was placed in one of the 3rd Infantry Division groups.
The march to Baghdad
The first objective and an important hurdle for the U.S forces, was to secure the border into Iraq. Ten foot-high sand berms had been installed after the Gulf War in 1991. Once the berms were searched for land mines, six paths were cleared and marked to allow the U.S. toops to cross the Iraqi border. There was little resistance in taking the border from Saddam Hussein's regime.
In fact, Heinzeroth stated there was little resistance until U.S. forces arrived at Nasiriyah, a city about 150 kilometers from Baghdad.
"When we were going across the desert, moving these 167 vehicle convoys, I remember all of these dust storms that were kicking up, I could see other units off in the distance going in different directions to perform different missions. That is when it hit me...we were in enemy country," he said.
Hussein's militia put up a fight in Karbala, the last major town before Baghdad. Heinzeroth said one of the most difficult assessments to make during the war was the degree of danger.
"Basically the qualifying factor is the amount of organized resistance. When it is announced that a city has been secured by the United States, what we are saying is the other side is no longer fighting as a unit. That does not mean fighting no longer exists," Heinzeroth said.
When Heinzeroth's unit finally pushed into Baghdad, U.S. forces dealt with numerous attacks from Hussein's militia.
"They (militia) would pile into the back of regular trucks and attempt to filter into our rear units. We had to set defense parameters to make sure we were aware of those vehicles," Heinzeroth continued. "The people of Iraq were clearly told to stay away from us. Our group did have to shoot a driver because we were not sure if there was an explosive device attached to the person. That was a constant strain."
When Heinzeroth's group arrived in Baghdad, the infamous statue of Saddam Hussein had been pulled down four days earlier. The crew came upon numerous abandoned Iraqi tanks, many of which were partially destroyed in American air strikes.
"We set up headquarters at Baghdad International Airport for the next 30 days until June 1 and conducted various missions. We never did find any weapons of mass destruction. My team did not find anything," Heinzeroth said.
With their own hopes of finding Hussein, the liberated Iraqi people may have been their own worst enemy.
"People were damaging and taking stuff before we even had a chance to investigate it. There were even cases at the University of Baghdad, where foot and mouth disease cultures were stolen. It really damaged our chances of finding something," he said.
Being a farm kid from Alden, the last thing Heinzeroth expected to see in Baghdad was a Massey Ferguson tractor, but that is just what Heinzeroth found at the steps of one of Saddam's palaces.
Despite playing a role in the Iraq war, Heinzeroth has no reservations about returning this fall.
"This is what I do, and I think I will make a career out of it," Heinzeroth said.
Iowa Falls Times-Citizen
ALDEN - During the war in Iraq, people kept up-to-date through newspaper and television reports. Even in an age when video communication is nearly instaneous, people still visualize a picture in their minds of what war is really lize.
Former Alden resident Army Captain Joel Heinzeroth doesn't have to do that. He has had a front row seat to the war in Iraq.
As part of the U.S. Army's 75th Field Artillery Brigade, Heinzeroth has witnessed and experienced every facet of the war, serving as captain of a site survey team, which main objective was to search for weapons of mass destruction.
"There is nothing that can really prepare you for the types of things you see there," Heinzeroth said.
The former Alden resident was scheduled to return this week to Fort Sill, Okla., and is slated to return to Iraq sometime in October.
"It is really up in the air at this point. I could be gone up from six to eight months. The time goes by pretty fast when I am doing something," Heinzeroth commented.
Upon his return to Iraq, Heinzeroth will be in charge of six artillery guns and 120 soldiers. His top priority will be to conduct traffic control points and patrol various check points outside of Baghdad. Heinzeroth said two years is the longest the U.S. Army allows a commander or captain to remain at the head of a post, due to fear of burnout.
Nothing he will encounter during his second trip to Iraq should rattle him following his encounters during his first trip.
The beginning
Heinzeroth has served in the army for the past six years, following his graduation from Alden High School in 1992, and Northwest Missouri State University. He was stationed in Fort Sill, Okla., before traveling to Korea for one year.
One highlight for the Alden native was his promotion to captain in the summer of 2001. Heinzeroth then returned to Fort Sill, Okla. and was assigned to the 75th Artillery Brigade. The 75th team was eventually renamed as the 75th Exploitation Task Force. Ironically, Heinzeroth's crew received word that they would be heading to Iraq on Jan. 1...New Year's Day.
The United States' Department of Defense picked the 75th Exploitation Task Force to lead one of the most important missions of the war.
"Our mission was to search for the weapons of mass destruction," Heinzeroth said. Those were the same weapons President Bush mentioned in his speeches. And one of the administration's tenants as a reason for war.
"If we found them, we were to alert another squad that would go in and take samples," Heinzeroth said.
There were four site survey teams (SST's) and three mobile exploitation teams (MET's) on the mission. If Heinzeroth's crew found something, another team's objective was to take a sample and send it to Washington D.C. for analyzing.
The SST's consisted of 26 personnel, nine vehicles and seven hum-vee vehicles. Two Fox-NBC vehicles (Nuclear Biological Chemical) were also utilized. The Army Fox-NBC vehicles have nothing to do with the enbedded network news teams that were covering the war. They enable soldiers to stay inside the vehicles to take readings in contaminated areas.
On Feb. 12, Heinzeroth was flown in with 126 people and 50 vehicles on 10 C5's, the biggest cargo plane the U.S. Air Force has in its arsenal. Upon arrival in Iraq on Feb. 18, Heinzeroth endured 12-14 hours days of intense training, explaining the unfamiliarity of working with most of the soldiers on his mission.
Once training was complete, soldiers were assigned to two 3rd Infantry Division teams of Fort Stewart, Ga., or two teams from the Marines. Heinzeroth was placed in one of the 3rd Infantry Division groups.
The march to Baghdad
The first objective and an important hurdle for the U.S forces, was to secure the border into Iraq. Ten foot-high sand berms had been installed after the Gulf War in 1991. Once the berms were searched for land mines, six paths were cleared and marked to allow the U.S. toops to cross the Iraqi border. There was little resistance in taking the border from Saddam Hussein's regime.
In fact, Heinzeroth stated there was little resistance until U.S. forces arrived at Nasiriyah, a city about 150 kilometers from Baghdad.
"When we were going across the desert, moving these 167 vehicle convoys, I remember all of these dust storms that were kicking up, I could see other units off in the distance going in different directions to perform different missions. That is when it hit me...we were in enemy country," he said.
Hussein's militia put up a fight in Karbala, the last major town before Baghdad. Heinzeroth said one of the most difficult assessments to make during the war was the degree of danger.
"Basically the qualifying factor is the amount of organized resistance. When it is announced that a city has been secured by the United States, what we are saying is the other side is no longer fighting as a unit. That does not mean fighting no longer exists," Heinzeroth said.
When Heinzeroth's unit finally pushed into Baghdad, U.S. forces dealt with numerous attacks from Hussein's militia.
"They (militia) would pile into the back of regular trucks and attempt to filter into our rear units. We had to set defense parameters to make sure we were aware of those vehicles," Heinzeroth continued. "The people of Iraq were clearly told to stay away from us. Our group did have to shoot a driver because we were not sure if there was an explosive device attached to the person. That was a constant strain."
When Heinzeroth's group arrived in Baghdad, the infamous statue of Saddam Hussein had been pulled down four days earlier. The crew came upon numerous abandoned Iraqi tanks, many of which were partially destroyed in American air strikes.
"We set up headquarters at Baghdad International Airport for the next 30 days until June 1 and conducted various missions. We never did find any weapons of mass destruction. My team did not find anything," Heinzeroth said.
With their own hopes of finding Hussein, the liberated Iraqi people may have been their own worst enemy.
"People were damaging and taking stuff before we even had a chance to investigate it. There were even cases at the University of Baghdad, where foot and mouth disease cultures were stolen. It really damaged our chances of finding something," he said.
Being a farm kid from Alden, the last thing Heinzeroth expected to see in Baghdad was a Massey Ferguson tractor, but that is just what Heinzeroth found at the steps of one of Saddam's palaces.
Despite playing a role in the Iraq war, Heinzeroth has no reservations about returning this fall.
"This is what I do, and I think I will make a career out of it," Heinzeroth said.
Iowa Falls Times-Citizen
Backpacks to Ease Load of Iraqi Schoolchildren
Sitting in their Indiana home is a pile of these useful bags, as vital to schoolchildren as pencils, the alphabet and recess. While some are plain, others bright and one even plastic and transparent, all share an important purpose - charity.
A world away, the Salernos' son-in-law, Lt. Col. Christopher Conlin, is stationed in Najaf, Iraq, as commander of the First Battalion, Seventh Marines. Along with the U.S. Army, his unit is currently involved in Backpacks for Iraq, a program that donates backpacks containing school supplies to Iraqi children.
Meanwhile, at the military base of Twentynine Palms, Calif., their daughter, Ava Marie Salerno Conlin, cares for two young daughters while awaiting her husband's September return. A former physician in the U.S. Navy, Ava heads Backpacks for Iraq at Twentynine Palms, gathering and assembling the supplies before shipping them to Iraq.
Approximately 200,000 children attend school in the southern Iraqi province of An Najaf. The goal of Backpacks for Iraq is to supply every child before school begins in September, an ambitious feat that requires much effort, assistance and, yes, backpacks.
"They've sent over a couple hundred backpacks already," said Mary, "but it's hard because they live in a military base in the desert. There's really nothing there ... except Wal-Mart."
Thus, the Salernos are doing everything possible to help. With a little extra time and a lot of spare change, they've purchased dozens of backpacks from stores and garage sales. Two weeks ago, they shipped 68 bags to Twentynine Palms so Ava could fill them with such supplies as pencils, pens, paper, erasers and crayons.
"It's important to give each child a backpack," said Mary, noting that Iraqi children "have nothing."
"Some of the schools are in pretty bad condition," added Ed. The Salernos get this information from a reliable source, their son-in-law. Christopher's unit, which fought in the war, is now stabilizing and restoring hospitals, schools, electricity and water supplies throughout southern Iraq.
Contrary to the often-documented image of disgruntled American troops, Christopher's unit is adjusting successfully, according to Mary.
"They are happy there ... they get along well with the (Iraqi) people," she said. "My son-in-law had orders to return, but he didn't want to leave because he built a good rapport with the people. They trusted him and if he left, they'd have to revamp with someone else."
Their relationship with children is especially meaningful.
"(Christopher) went to the schools and seeing the little girls made him miss his daughters," said Mary. "It seems like the kids really like the Marines, handing them flowers."
A positive relationship with Iraqi children is important, she noted.
"I guess their feeling is they need to have the children see that Americans are good people. To get that country where it should be, you need to build up confidence with the younger generation."
Marines aren't the only ones helping Iraqi children. Their wives play a significant role in Backpacks for Iraq.
"This is mainly something that the women back on the base are doing. Not only does it help the kids in Iraq, but it helps the women get involved," Mary said.
Of course, wives like Ava Conlin receive enthusiastic support from their parents, thousands of miles away. As the only Indiana residents participating in this program, the Salernos have attempted to rouse community involvement.
They contacted a few Indiana schools, which expressed interest but were helpless during the summer hiatus. They also bargained with retail stores, managing to get discounts as low as $2.25 per backpack, but unable to obtain donations.
"It's an awkward time. People are on vacation," said Mary, reflecting on the mild community response. "Everyone thinks it's such a great idea, but nobody has done much more than that."
Nonetheless, the Salernos are unfazed. They continue to peruse the backpack aisle, looking for that good deal.
When school starts, American troops will distribute the backpacks with a big presentation, promoting their program to the world. Granted it is uncertain every child in An Najaf will receive their bag of supplies, but the Salernos respect the effort.
"The people who are doing it now eventually will come home, and it probably won't continue too far beyond this year. And if they get the government in there, the government can supply the kids." said Ed. "But for now ..."
"It's just to get them started," finished Mary.
If you would like to participate in Backpacks for Iraq, send backpacks or donations to Ed and Mary Alice Salerno at 445 N. Third Street, Indiana, PA 15701. New backpacks are preferred, but if they have been used, they should be in good condition, of a primary color and without any advertisement or logo.
Indiana Printing & Publishing Co.
A world away, the Salernos' son-in-law, Lt. Col. Christopher Conlin, is stationed in Najaf, Iraq, as commander of the First Battalion, Seventh Marines. Along with the U.S. Army, his unit is currently involved in Backpacks for Iraq, a program that donates backpacks containing school supplies to Iraqi children.
Meanwhile, at the military base of Twentynine Palms, Calif., their daughter, Ava Marie Salerno Conlin, cares for two young daughters while awaiting her husband's September return. A former physician in the U.S. Navy, Ava heads Backpacks for Iraq at Twentynine Palms, gathering and assembling the supplies before shipping them to Iraq.
Approximately 200,000 children attend school in the southern Iraqi province of An Najaf. The goal of Backpacks for Iraq is to supply every child before school begins in September, an ambitious feat that requires much effort, assistance and, yes, backpacks.
"They've sent over a couple hundred backpacks already," said Mary, "but it's hard because they live in a military base in the desert. There's really nothing there ... except Wal-Mart."
Thus, the Salernos are doing everything possible to help. With a little extra time and a lot of spare change, they've purchased dozens of backpacks from stores and garage sales. Two weeks ago, they shipped 68 bags to Twentynine Palms so Ava could fill them with such supplies as pencils, pens, paper, erasers and crayons.
"It's important to give each child a backpack," said Mary, noting that Iraqi children "have nothing."
"Some of the schools are in pretty bad condition," added Ed. The Salernos get this information from a reliable source, their son-in-law. Christopher's unit, which fought in the war, is now stabilizing and restoring hospitals, schools, electricity and water supplies throughout southern Iraq.
Contrary to the often-documented image of disgruntled American troops, Christopher's unit is adjusting successfully, according to Mary.
"They are happy there ... they get along well with the (Iraqi) people," she said. "My son-in-law had orders to return, but he didn't want to leave because he built a good rapport with the people. They trusted him and if he left, they'd have to revamp with someone else."
Their relationship with children is especially meaningful.
"(Christopher) went to the schools and seeing the little girls made him miss his daughters," said Mary. "It seems like the kids really like the Marines, handing them flowers."
A positive relationship with Iraqi children is important, she noted.
"I guess their feeling is they need to have the children see that Americans are good people. To get that country where it should be, you need to build up confidence with the younger generation."
Marines aren't the only ones helping Iraqi children. Their wives play a significant role in Backpacks for Iraq.
"This is mainly something that the women back on the base are doing. Not only does it help the kids in Iraq, but it helps the women get involved," Mary said.
Of course, wives like Ava Conlin receive enthusiastic support from their parents, thousands of miles away. As the only Indiana residents participating in this program, the Salernos have attempted to rouse community involvement.
They contacted a few Indiana schools, which expressed interest but were helpless during the summer hiatus. They also bargained with retail stores, managing to get discounts as low as $2.25 per backpack, but unable to obtain donations.
"It's an awkward time. People are on vacation," said Mary, reflecting on the mild community response. "Everyone thinks it's such a great idea, but nobody has done much more than that."
Nonetheless, the Salernos are unfazed. They continue to peruse the backpack aisle, looking for that good deal.
When school starts, American troops will distribute the backpacks with a big presentation, promoting their program to the world. Granted it is uncertain every child in An Najaf will receive their bag of supplies, but the Salernos respect the effort.
"The people who are doing it now eventually will come home, and it probably won't continue too far beyond this year. And if they get the government in there, the government can supply the kids." said Ed. "But for now ..."
"It's just to get them started," finished Mary.
If you would like to participate in Backpacks for Iraq, send backpacks or donations to Ed and Mary Alice Salerno at 445 N. Third Street, Indiana, PA 15701. New backpacks are preferred, but if they have been used, they should be in good condition, of a primary color and without any advertisement or logo.
Indiana Printing & Publishing Co.
U.S.: 'Noose is tightening' around Saddam: "Saying that "the noose is tightening" around Saddam Hussein and his top aides, U.S. forces raided safehouses in Baghdad and northern Tikrit and said the deposed dictator is unable to mount a resistance because he's too busy "trying to save his own skin.""
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Sharon in D.C. to meet with Bush tomorrow: "Bearing a package of goodwill offerings toward the Palestinians, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon prepared for talks with President Bush aimed at finding an elusive peace."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Philippine president orders mutiny probe: "A day after facing down a military mutiny, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Monday vowed to punish the plotters and ordered an investigation into the causes of the uprising that shook her presidency."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Bush making appearance before black group: "President Bush is making a rare appearance before a group that represents black Americans, part of an effort to build ties to a demographic group that overwhelmingly voted against him in 2000."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
U.S. urges rebels to pull out of Monrovia: "Shells slamming into tin-roof homes killed at least 16 civilians in Liberia's war-battered capital and the U.S. Ambassador appealed to rebels to lift their bloody eight-day siege of Monrovia to allow food and aid into the city."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Poll: Support for space program steady: "Two-thirds of Americans say the space shuttle should continue to fly despite two disastrous accidents, but enthusiasm for putting civilians aboard is declining, an Associated Press poll finds."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
U.S. delegation visits Guantanamo: "A congressional delegation has visited the prison for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay amid complaints of abuse by inmates."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Body identified as Baylor student Dennehy: "Combing through chest-high weeds under the blazing sun, authorities found evidence they say helped identify the body of Baylor University basketball player Patrick Dennehy, who had been missing for more than six weeks."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Sharon in D.C. to meet with Bush tomorrow: "Bearing a package of goodwill offerings toward the Palestinians, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon prepared for talks with President Bush aimed at finding an elusive peace."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Philippine president orders mutiny probe: "A day after facing down a military mutiny, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Monday vowed to punish the plotters and ordered an investigation into the causes of the uprising that shook her presidency."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Bush making appearance before black group: "President Bush is making a rare appearance before a group that represents black Americans, part of an effort to build ties to a demographic group that overwhelmingly voted against him in 2000."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
U.S. urges rebels to pull out of Monrovia: "Shells slamming into tin-roof homes killed at least 16 civilians in Liberia's war-battered capital and the U.S. Ambassador appealed to rebels to lift their bloody eight-day siege of Monrovia to allow food and aid into the city."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Poll: Support for space program steady: "Two-thirds of Americans say the space shuttle should continue to fly despite two disastrous accidents, but enthusiasm for putting civilians aboard is declining, an Associated Press poll finds."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
U.S. delegation visits Guantanamo: "A congressional delegation has visited the prison for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay amid complaints of abuse by inmates."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Body identified as Baylor student Dennehy: "Combing through chest-high weeds under the blazing sun, authorities found evidence they say helped identify the body of Baylor University basketball player Patrick Dennehy, who had been missing for more than six weeks."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Sunday, July 27, 2003
Iraqi killed as shooting erupts at anti-U.S. rally
Iraqi killed as shooting erupts at anti-U.S. rally
2003/7/28
KERBALA, Iraq, Agencies
An Iraqi man was killed and three wounded in the Shiite holy city of Kerbala on Sunday when protesters clashed with U.S. troops and Iraqi police, witnesses and hospital workers said.
Marines said two Kalashnikov rifle shots were fired during the protest and they returned fire. Reuters journalists saw troops fire in the air to try to disperse stone-throwers angry at the killing of another man by U.S. troops on Saturday.
Doctors at a hospital in the city, home to one of Shiite Islam's holiest shrines, said the man killed in Sunday's protest had been shot and showed the wound to a Reuters correspondent. One of the wounded, Shaer Abbas, said he had been hit with an electric cattle prod.
"During the protest, two rounds were fired from a building," a Marine officer told Reuters. "They were fired from an AK-47. We're investigating to make sure the firing has stopped."
Residents said unrest began on Saturday when locals accused U.S. troops of encroaching on the grounds of the revered Imam Hussein mosque. In resulting clashes, they said, an Iraqi died.
The Marine officer said the Iraqi killed on Saturday had been shot by troops because he was armed and posed a threat.
The death sparked Sunday's protest, with hundreds of men marching from the famed, gold-domed mosque waving banners and shouting anti-American slogans. As gunshots rang out, Marines dived for cover behind walls and many Iraqi police fled.
Soldiers arrested several protesters. At least one of the detained Iraqis was carrying a Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifle. In angry confrontations, Marines threw several protesters to the ground and pointed their weapons at the crowd.
The funeral of the Iraqi killed on Sunday was due to take place at 5 p.m. (1300 GMT) on Sunday afternoon, and was expected to be another potential flashpoint in the tense city.
Violence directed against U.S. troops in Iraq has been concentrated in Sunni Muslim areas, the heartland of support for Saddam Hussein. But recent protests and attacks elsewhere are a sign of anger among the country's majority Shiites too.
The China Post
2003/7/28
KERBALA, Iraq, Agencies
An Iraqi man was killed and three wounded in the Shiite holy city of Kerbala on Sunday when protesters clashed with U.S. troops and Iraqi police, witnesses and hospital workers said.
Marines said two Kalashnikov rifle shots were fired during the protest and they returned fire. Reuters journalists saw troops fire in the air to try to disperse stone-throwers angry at the killing of another man by U.S. troops on Saturday.
Doctors at a hospital in the city, home to one of Shiite Islam's holiest shrines, said the man killed in Sunday's protest had been shot and showed the wound to a Reuters correspondent. One of the wounded, Shaer Abbas, said he had been hit with an electric cattle prod.
"During the protest, two rounds were fired from a building," a Marine officer told Reuters. "They were fired from an AK-47. We're investigating to make sure the firing has stopped."
Residents said unrest began on Saturday when locals accused U.S. troops of encroaching on the grounds of the revered Imam Hussein mosque. In resulting clashes, they said, an Iraqi died.
The Marine officer said the Iraqi killed on Saturday had been shot by troops because he was armed and posed a threat.
The death sparked Sunday's protest, with hundreds of men marching from the famed, gold-domed mosque waving banners and shouting anti-American slogans. As gunshots rang out, Marines dived for cover behind walls and many Iraqi police fled.
Soldiers arrested several protesters. At least one of the detained Iraqis was carrying a Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifle. In angry confrontations, Marines threw several protesters to the ground and pointed their weapons at the crowd.
The funeral of the Iraqi killed on Sunday was due to take place at 5 p.m. (1300 GMT) on Sunday afternoon, and was expected to be another potential flashpoint in the tense city.
Violence directed against U.S. troops in Iraq has been concentrated in Sunni Muslim areas, the heartland of support for Saddam Hussein. But recent protests and attacks elsewhere are a sign of anger among the country's majority Shiites too.
The China Post
Saturday, July 26, 2003
Armed men seize Manila commercial center: "Dozens of armed men stormed a major commercial center in Manila's financial district early Sunday, hours after the president ordered the arrest of mutinous soldiers believed to be plotting a coup."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Three American soldiers killed in Iraq: "A grenade attack Saturday killed three U.S. soldiers and wounded four as they guarded a children's hospital northeast of Baghdad, scuttling hopes a widespread guerrilla insurgency might lose strength after the deaths of Saddam Hussein's elder sons."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Liberian president renews pledge to quit: "President Charles Taylor urged international peacekeepers Saturday to hurry to Liberia and renewed pledges to step down when they arrive, as shelling brought new carnage to the capital's trapped people."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Body is found in Baylor player search: "Authorities found a body Saturday in an area they had searched for missing Baylor basketball player Patrick Dennehy, but they could not immediately identify the remains."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
More than 200 celebrate slain councilman: "More than 200 people promised on Saturday to continue the anti-urban violence campaign championed by city Councilman James Davis, praising the slain politician for his life and work."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Palestinian: Bush, Abbas visit a success: "A top Palestinian official on Saturday called the meeting between Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and President Bush a success and urged Israel to move quickly to implement the U.S.-backed Mideast peace plan."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Three American soldiers killed in Iraq: "A grenade attack Saturday killed three U.S. soldiers and wounded four as they guarded a children's hospital northeast of Baghdad, scuttling hopes a widespread guerrilla insurgency might lose strength after the deaths of Saddam Hussein's elder sons."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Liberian president renews pledge to quit: "President Charles Taylor urged international peacekeepers Saturday to hurry to Liberia and renewed pledges to step down when they arrive, as shelling brought new carnage to the capital's trapped people."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Body is found in Baylor player search: "Authorities found a body Saturday in an area they had searched for missing Baylor basketball player Patrick Dennehy, but they could not immediately identify the remains."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
More than 200 celebrate slain councilman: "More than 200 people promised on Saturday to continue the anti-urban violence campaign championed by city Councilman James Davis, praising the slain politician for his life and work."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Palestinian: Bush, Abbas visit a success: "A top Palestinian official on Saturday called the meeting between Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and President Bush a success and urged Israel to move quickly to implement the U.S.-backed Mideast peace plan."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Philippines Coup Plot
Philippines Coup Plot
1:48 pm PST, 26 July 2003
The Philippine's President has ordered the army and police to arrest a small band of rogue junior officers and armed deserters following rumours of a coup.
The armed forces chief of staff says the suspects will be charged with mutiny and conspiracy to commit rebellion. They are still at large.
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's move came after the most influential church leader in the country, Cardinal Jaime Sin, warned of ongoing plots to overthrow the government.
The president says she has resolved the matter directly with the troops after hearing one group's grievances about pay and internal reforms.
But Mrs Arroyo said rebellious soldiers would be court martialled for breaking the chain of command and the law.
President Arroyo has faced coup rumours in the past over questions about her legitimacy as leader and graft in her government.
In the latest development, up to 30 rogue soldiers have set up explosives at a shopping mall in Manila's financial and diplomatic quarter.
News © 2001 to:
World News
Saturday
26 July 2003
Monrovia Battle Claims 1,000 Lives
Myanmar Plot Uncovered
Philippines Coup Plot
Monsoon Rains Flood Sub-Continent
Israeli Fence A Problem - Bush
Democracy At Work in Cambodia
News
1:48 pm PST, 26 July 2003
The Philippine's President has ordered the army and police to arrest a small band of rogue junior officers and armed deserters following rumours of a coup.
The armed forces chief of staff says the suspects will be charged with mutiny and conspiracy to commit rebellion. They are still at large.
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's move came after the most influential church leader in the country, Cardinal Jaime Sin, warned of ongoing plots to overthrow the government.
The president says she has resolved the matter directly with the troops after hearing one group's grievances about pay and internal reforms.
But Mrs Arroyo said rebellious soldiers would be court martialled for breaking the chain of command and the law.
President Arroyo has faced coup rumours in the past over questions about her legitimacy as leader and graft in her government.
In the latest development, up to 30 rogue soldiers have set up explosives at a shopping mall in Manila's financial and diplomatic quarter.
News © 2001 to:
World News
Saturday
26 July 2003
Monrovia Battle Claims 1,000 Lives
Myanmar Plot Uncovered
Philippines Coup Plot
Monsoon Rains Flood Sub-Continent
Israeli Fence A Problem - Bush
Democracy At Work in Cambodia
News
Friday, July 25, 2003
Sons' bodies may have 20 bullet wounds: "The U.S. military showed reporters the bodies of Odai and Qusai Hussein on Friday and said each body contained more than 20 bullet wounds. The faces had been partly reconstructed to appear as lifelike as possible."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Bush, Abbas meet in Mideast peace talks: "Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas said he would ask President Bush during an Oval Office meeting Friday to "push the Israeli government to fulfill its commitments" toward Middle East peace."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
U.S. troops may have captured top Iraqis: "Acting on a tip from an Iraqi informant, U.S. troops raided a house south of Tikrit on Thursday and captured five to 10 people believed to be members of Saddam Hussein's personal security detail, a senior U.S. general said Friday."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Shelling strikes U.S. Embassy in Liberia: "Mortar rounds thudded into the U.S. Embassy compound, homes and a school crowded with refugees in the bloodiest attack on Liberia's besieged capital in days, killing at least 12 Liberian men, women and children."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
House OKs importation of lower-cost drugs: "The House approved legislation early Friday allowing Americans to purchase prescription medicine abroad, voting 243-186 after a clash that pitted the hope of lower prices against the fear of counterfeit drugs."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
9-11 report leaves unanswered questions: "Almost 2 inches thick and 850 pages long, the congressional inquiry into the Sept. 11 attacks largely boils down to two intriguing words: What if?"
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Fire evacuates Glacier National Park: "A trio of wildfires roared unchecked through parched timber and into Glacier National Park, parts of which stood deserted Friday after a mass evacuation described as "the flow of traffic like rush hour in a large city.""
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Matt LeBlanc to star in 'Friends' spinoff: ""Friends" is paring down to one friend, Joey. Matt LeBlanc will star in a spinoff of the hit NBC comedy that will wrap up a 10-year run with the 2003-04 season, NBC Entertainment President Jeff Zucker announced Thursday. "Joey" will take over the 8 p.m. Thursday time slot held by "Friends.""
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Dow up 39, Nasdaq rises 3 on report: "Stocks opened higher Friday amid news that new home sales and orders for big-ticket factory goods both rose solidly in June, reinforcing other recent signs that the economy may be mounting a sustainable recovery."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Armstrong keeps grip on overall Tour lead: "Key rival Jan Ullrich nipped two seconds out of Lance Armstrong's overall lead in the Tour de France's 18th stage Friday, a boost for the German ahead of a time trial Saturday expected to settle their gripping duel for the Tour title."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Bush, Abbas meet in Mideast peace talks: "Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas said he would ask President Bush during an Oval Office meeting Friday to "push the Israeli government to fulfill its commitments" toward Middle East peace."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
U.S. troops may have captured top Iraqis: "Acting on a tip from an Iraqi informant, U.S. troops raided a house south of Tikrit on Thursday and captured five to 10 people believed to be members of Saddam Hussein's personal security detail, a senior U.S. general said Friday."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Shelling strikes U.S. Embassy in Liberia: "Mortar rounds thudded into the U.S. Embassy compound, homes and a school crowded with refugees in the bloodiest attack on Liberia's besieged capital in days, killing at least 12 Liberian men, women and children."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
House OKs importation of lower-cost drugs: "The House approved legislation early Friday allowing Americans to purchase prescription medicine abroad, voting 243-186 after a clash that pitted the hope of lower prices against the fear of counterfeit drugs."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
9-11 report leaves unanswered questions: "Almost 2 inches thick and 850 pages long, the congressional inquiry into the Sept. 11 attacks largely boils down to two intriguing words: What if?"
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Fire evacuates Glacier National Park: "A trio of wildfires roared unchecked through parched timber and into Glacier National Park, parts of which stood deserted Friday after a mass evacuation described as "the flow of traffic like rush hour in a large city.""
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Matt LeBlanc to star in 'Friends' spinoff: ""Friends" is paring down to one friend, Joey. Matt LeBlanc will star in a spinoff of the hit NBC comedy that will wrap up a 10-year run with the 2003-04 season, NBC Entertainment President Jeff Zucker announced Thursday. "Joey" will take over the 8 p.m. Thursday time slot held by "Friends.""
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Dow up 39, Nasdaq rises 3 on report: "Stocks opened higher Friday amid news that new home sales and orders for big-ticket factory goods both rose solidly in June, reinforcing other recent signs that the economy may be mounting a sustainable recovery."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Armstrong keeps grip on overall Tour lead: "Key rival Jan Ullrich nipped two seconds out of Lance Armstrong's overall lead in the Tour de France's 18th stage Friday, a boost for the German ahead of a time trial Saturday expected to settle their gripping duel for the Tour title."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Thursday, July 24, 2003
WorkingForChange-Shafting, not 'supporting,' the troops
Army Unit Rotation Plan in Support of Global War on Terrorism
DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF THE ARMY WASHINGTON, D.C. 20310-0101
23 JUL 03
INFORMATION FOR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS
SUBJECT: Army Unit Rotation Plan in Support of Global War on Terrorism
The Secretary of Defense has approved the Armys plan for moving major combat units into and out of Iraq and other theaters of operation. It should be no surprise to any deployable Army unit - active or Reserve Component - that they can be called to serve in a combat zone. All available forces will be made available to deploy in support of ongoing operations. The Army continues to perform training and readiness duties as it normally would in preparation for possible contingencies or deployments. The Armys role is to ensure Combatant Commanders are provided the forces and capabilities they require to accomplish their missions.
The Army will start to redeploy home the remainder of the 3rd Infantry Division in September 2003. The primary rotation plan centers on brigade-sized force packages for approximately one-year deployments with the goal of establishing 6-month rotations after Operation Iraqi Freedom 2 (OIF2). The overall size of the Army commitment to this mission will take into account contributions by our Coalition partners plans to support the theater. Likewise, efforts are underway to recruit an Iraqi army and to put up to 60,000 Iraqi policemen back to work. There is no doubt that the transition from dictatorship to democracy will take time, but our soldiers will help leave behind a free Iraq.
Operation Iraqi Freedom
OIF 1 (approximately 1 year)*** OIF2*** Projected
3rd Infantry Division (-) Replaced by 82d Airborne Division (-)* SEP-OCT 03
4th Infantry Division Replaced by 1st Infantry Division w/ eSB** MAR-APR 04
1st Armored Division Replaced by 1st CAV Division w/ eSB** FEB - APR 04
2nd Light CAV Regiment 1st CAV Division w/ eSB** MAR-APR 04
3rd Armored CAV Regiment Overlaps w/ 3rd Brigade, 2nd ID (SBCT)
(SBCT deploys in OCT 03 - 3rd ACR redeploys MAR-APR 04)
101st Airborne Division (AASLT) Replaced by Coalition Division FEB/MAR 04
2nd Brigade, 82d Airborne Div Redeploys JAN 04
173rd Airborne Brigade Redeploys APR 04
*6-Month Rotation
** Enhanced Separate Brigades (eSB - ARNG - 270 Day PSRC)- TBD
*** OIF 1 and OIF 2 are 12 Month Rotations
INFORMATION FOR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS
SUBJECT: Army Unit Rotation Plan in Support of Global War on Terrorism (cont)
Operation Enduring Freedom - Afghanistan
OEF - A3 OEF- A4 Projected
82d Airborne Division (-) Replaced by 10th Mountain Division (-) AUG 03
OEF - A4 OEF - A5 Projected
10th Mountain Division (-) Replaced by 25th Infantry Division (-) FEB 04
6-Month Rotation
Additionally, the National Guard and reserve have been used in a variety of peacekeeping operations around the globe, including Bosnia, Kosovo and the Multi-national Force and Observers mission in the Sinai. They have a demonstrated mission capability for peacekeeping operations. They are fully capable of ensuring that humanitarian and post-conflict operations in Iraq are not interrupted.
Bosnia - SFOR Projected
35th Infantry Division (-) Replaced by 34th Infantry Division (-) SEP 03
(KS ARNG) (MN ARNG)
Kosovo - KFOR
1st Infantry Division (-) Replaced by 28th Infantry Division (-) FEB 04
(PA ARNG)
Sinai - MFO
1-133d Infantry, 34 ID Replaced by 1-125th Infantry, 38th ID JAN 04
(IA ARNG) (MI ARNG)
All 6-Month Rotations
We owe it to our soldiers and their families to provide them with timely notifications for deployments and predictability of the length of those deployments. The Nations soldiers have done and will continue to perform their duties in the proudest tradition of the United States Army.
Point of contact for this notification is LTC Vic Samuel, (703) 697-1244, Office, Chief Legislative Liaison.
FURNISHED BY
OFFICE, CHIEF OF LEGISLATIVE LIAISON
OFFICE, ACTING SECRETARY OF THE ARMY
23 JUL 03
INFORMATION FOR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS
SUBJECT: Army Unit Rotation Plan in Support of Global War on Terrorism
The Secretary of Defense has approved the Armys plan for moving major combat units into and out of Iraq and other theaters of operation. It should be no surprise to any deployable Army unit - active or Reserve Component - that they can be called to serve in a combat zone. All available forces will be made available to deploy in support of ongoing operations. The Army continues to perform training and readiness duties as it normally would in preparation for possible contingencies or deployments. The Armys role is to ensure Combatant Commanders are provided the forces and capabilities they require to accomplish their missions.
The Army will start to redeploy home the remainder of the 3rd Infantry Division in September 2003. The primary rotation plan centers on brigade-sized force packages for approximately one-year deployments with the goal of establishing 6-month rotations after Operation Iraqi Freedom 2 (OIF2). The overall size of the Army commitment to this mission will take into account contributions by our Coalition partners plans to support the theater. Likewise, efforts are underway to recruit an Iraqi army and to put up to 60,000 Iraqi policemen back to work. There is no doubt that the transition from dictatorship to democracy will take time, but our soldiers will help leave behind a free Iraq.
Operation Iraqi Freedom
OIF 1 (approximately 1 year)*** OIF2*** Projected
3rd Infantry Division (-) Replaced by 82d Airborne Division (-)* SEP-OCT 03
4th Infantry Division Replaced by 1st Infantry Division w/ eSB** MAR-APR 04
1st Armored Division Replaced by 1st CAV Division w/ eSB** FEB - APR 04
2nd Light CAV Regiment 1st CAV Division w/ eSB** MAR-APR 04
3rd Armored CAV Regiment Overlaps w/ 3rd Brigade, 2nd ID (SBCT)
(SBCT deploys in OCT 03 - 3rd ACR redeploys MAR-APR 04)
101st Airborne Division (AASLT) Replaced by Coalition Division FEB/MAR 04
2nd Brigade, 82d Airborne Div Redeploys JAN 04
173rd Airborne Brigade Redeploys APR 04
*6-Month Rotation
** Enhanced Separate Brigades (eSB - ARNG - 270 Day PSRC)- TBD
*** OIF 1 and OIF 2 are 12 Month Rotations
INFORMATION FOR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS
SUBJECT: Army Unit Rotation Plan in Support of Global War on Terrorism (cont)
Operation Enduring Freedom - Afghanistan
OEF - A3 OEF- A4 Projected
82d Airborne Division (-) Replaced by 10th Mountain Division (-) AUG 03
OEF - A4 OEF - A5 Projected
10th Mountain Division (-) Replaced by 25th Infantry Division (-) FEB 04
6-Month Rotation
Additionally, the National Guard and reserve have been used in a variety of peacekeeping operations around the globe, including Bosnia, Kosovo and the Multi-national Force and Observers mission in the Sinai. They have a demonstrated mission capability for peacekeeping operations. They are fully capable of ensuring that humanitarian and post-conflict operations in Iraq are not interrupted.
Bosnia - SFOR Projected
35th Infantry Division (-) Replaced by 34th Infantry Division (-) SEP 03
(KS ARNG) (MN ARNG)
Kosovo - KFOR
1st Infantry Division (-) Replaced by 28th Infantry Division (-) FEB 04
(PA ARNG)
Sinai - MFO
1-133d Infantry, 34 ID Replaced by 1-125th Infantry, 38th ID JAN 04
(IA ARNG) (MI ARNG)
All 6-Month Rotations
We owe it to our soldiers and their families to provide them with timely notifications for deployments and predictability of the length of those deployments. The Nations soldiers have done and will continue to perform their duties in the proudest tradition of the United States Army.
Point of contact for this notification is LTC Vic Samuel, (703) 697-1244, Office, Chief Legislative Liaison.
FURNISHED BY
OFFICE, CHIEF OF LEGISLATIVE LIAISON
OFFICE, ACTING SECRETARY OF THE ARMY
U.S. to release photos of Saddam's sons: "The United States hopes to convince skeptical Iraqis that two of Saddam Hussein's sons are dead by releasing photographs of their bodies, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld says."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Prove reveals lapses before 9/11 attacks: "Prior to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the CIA failed to act on intelligence it had about hijackers, the FBI was unable to track al-Qaida in the United States, and key National Security Agency communications intercepts never were circulated, a congressional investigation has concluded."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
House panel hears testimony on ephedra: "Major league baseball should not ban dietary supplements containing ephedra unless the government does, an official of the players' union testified Thursday to lawmakers looking into health problems related to the herbal stimulant."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
N.H. father pleads innocent in 2 deaths: "The father of two New Hampshire children whose disappearance has led to a cross-country search pleaded not guilty Thursday to murdering the youngsters, though the bodies have not been found."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
City Hall shooting leaves 2 people dead: "Mayor Michael Bloomberg himself walked through the metal detector at City Hall on Thursday morning, a day after a councilman allowed a rival politician to bypass security, leading to a shooting that left them both dead."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Gov. Davis prepares for political battle: "Gov. Gray Davis and his advisers prepared for a bruising campaign after state officials announced the nation's first gubernatorial recall election in 82 years is headed for the ballot."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Jobless claims hit five-month low: "The number of American workers signing up for jobless benefits plunged last week to the lowest level in five months, a fresh dose of good news for the economy's revival."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Polar bear turns purple after medication: "Paint the polar bear purple and the crowds will come."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Dow up 82, Nasdaq gains 21 on job claims: "A surprising drop in jobless claims sent stocks sharply higher Thursday on investor hopes of an accelerating economic rebound. Strong earnings from AT&T added to the market's good mood."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Armstrong maintains overall lead in Tour: "Saving himself and his overall lead for the great battle to come, Lance Armstrong cruised to a place-finish Thursday in the pancake-flat 17th stage of the Tour de France, his focus on an expected race-deciding time trial Saturday."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Prove reveals lapses before 9/11 attacks: "Prior to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the CIA failed to act on intelligence it had about hijackers, the FBI was unable to track al-Qaida in the United States, and key National Security Agency communications intercepts never were circulated, a congressional investigation has concluded."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
House panel hears testimony on ephedra: "Major league baseball should not ban dietary supplements containing ephedra unless the government does, an official of the players' union testified Thursday to lawmakers looking into health problems related to the herbal stimulant."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
N.H. father pleads innocent in 2 deaths: "The father of two New Hampshire children whose disappearance has led to a cross-country search pleaded not guilty Thursday to murdering the youngsters, though the bodies have not been found."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
City Hall shooting leaves 2 people dead: "Mayor Michael Bloomberg himself walked through the metal detector at City Hall on Thursday morning, a day after a councilman allowed a rival politician to bypass security, leading to a shooting that left them both dead."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Gov. Davis prepares for political battle: "Gov. Gray Davis and his advisers prepared for a bruising campaign after state officials announced the nation's first gubernatorial recall election in 82 years is headed for the ballot."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Jobless claims hit five-month low: "The number of American workers signing up for jobless benefits plunged last week to the lowest level in five months, a fresh dose of good news for the economy's revival."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Polar bear turns purple after medication: "Paint the polar bear purple and the crowds will come."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Dow up 82, Nasdaq gains 21 on job claims: "A surprising drop in jobless claims sent stocks sharply higher Thursday on investor hopes of an accelerating economic rebound. Strong earnings from AT&T added to the market's good mood."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Armstrong maintains overall lead in Tour: "Saving himself and his overall lead for the great battle to come, Lance Armstrong cruised to a place-finish Thursday in the pancake-flat 17th stage of the Tour de France, his focus on an expected race-deciding time trial Saturday."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Wednesday, July 23, 2003
Bush proclaims end to Saddam's regime: "President Bush on Wednesday hailed the deaths of Saddam Hussein's two sons as the clearest sign yet that "the former regime is gone and will not be coming back.""
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
U.S. captures senior Iraq Guard official: "U.S. forces captured a senior Republican Guard official Wednesday, a day after killing Saddam Hussein's sons Odai and Qusai in a four-hour gunbattle. But the bloody insurgency showed no signs of letting up, as attacks claimed the lives of two more American soldiers."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Mass. reports 1,000 church abuse victims: "Clergy members and others in the Boston Archdiocese probably sexually abused more than 1,000 people over a period of six decades, Massachusetts' attorney general said Wednesday, calling the scandal so massive it "borders on the unbelievable.""
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Iran says it holds al-Qaida operatives: "Iran is holding top members of the al-Qaida terror network, the intelligence minister said Wednesday, days after President Bush accused the country of harboring terrorists."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Abbas' future may rest on D.C. visit: "Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas could be ousted by the Palestinian parliament unless he returns from Washington with substantial concessions from Israel, the Palestinian information minister said Wednesday."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Rebels in Liberia battle on key bridge: "Rebels shelled Liberia's refugee-crowded capital and fought for control of a key bridge Wednesday, despite announcing a cease-fire considered essential for deployment of a multinational peacekeeping force to the West African nation."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
FBI wanted al-Qaida cells tracked in 2000: "Agents in charge of FBI offices across the country were instructed early in 2000 to scour their communities for al-Qaida operatives but they made only spotty progress before the Sept. 11 attacks, according to officials familiar with a congressional report on terrorism intelligence failures."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
James Brown announces breakup of marriage: ""Godfather of Soul" James Brown has announced his breakup from his wife, Tomi Rea Brown, with a full-page ad in the show-business trade newspaper Variety."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Dow down 43, Nasdaq slips 8: "A sluggish outlook from Boeing pressured Wall Street Wednesday as investors searched in vain for strong evidence of a resurging economy by year's end."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
American Hamilton wins first Tour stage: "Riding with a broken collarbone, veteran American racer Tyler Hamilton won his first ever stage in the Tour de France on Wednesday."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
U.S. captures senior Iraq Guard official: "U.S. forces captured a senior Republican Guard official Wednesday, a day after killing Saddam Hussein's sons Odai and Qusai in a four-hour gunbattle. But the bloody insurgency showed no signs of letting up, as attacks claimed the lives of two more American soldiers."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Mass. reports 1,000 church abuse victims: "Clergy members and others in the Boston Archdiocese probably sexually abused more than 1,000 people over a period of six decades, Massachusetts' attorney general said Wednesday, calling the scandal so massive it "borders on the unbelievable.""
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Iran says it holds al-Qaida operatives: "Iran is holding top members of the al-Qaida terror network, the intelligence minister said Wednesday, days after President Bush accused the country of harboring terrorists."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Abbas' future may rest on D.C. visit: "Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas could be ousted by the Palestinian parliament unless he returns from Washington with substantial concessions from Israel, the Palestinian information minister said Wednesday."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Rebels in Liberia battle on key bridge: "Rebels shelled Liberia's refugee-crowded capital and fought for control of a key bridge Wednesday, despite announcing a cease-fire considered essential for deployment of a multinational peacekeeping force to the West African nation."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
FBI wanted al-Qaida cells tracked in 2000: "Agents in charge of FBI offices across the country were instructed early in 2000 to scour their communities for al-Qaida operatives but they made only spotty progress before the Sept. 11 attacks, according to officials familiar with a congressional report on terrorism intelligence failures."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
James Brown announces breakup of marriage: ""Godfather of Soul" James Brown has announced his breakup from his wife, Tomi Rea Brown, with a full-page ad in the show-business trade newspaper Variety."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Dow down 43, Nasdaq slips 8: "A sluggish outlook from Boeing pressured Wall Street Wednesday as investors searched in vain for strong evidence of a resurging economy by year's end."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
American Hamilton wins first Tour stage: "Riding with a broken collarbone, veteran American racer Tyler Hamilton won his first ever stage in the Tour de France on Wednesday."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Tuesday, July 22, 2003
Saddam's sons believed dead in Iraq raid: "Saddam Hussein's sons Odai and Qusai were believed to have been killed Tuesday in a raid by U.S. forces who surrounded the home of a cousin, a senior U.S. official said. Two other Iraqis also were killed."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Ex-POW Lynch arrives home in W.Va.: "Former POW Jessica Lynch returned home to a flag-waving hero's welcome Tuesday, and in her first words since her rescue said: "It's great to be home.""
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Eiffel tower fire extinguished: "A fire broke out on the top of the Eiffel Tower on Tuesday, sending black smoke pouring from the 1,069-foot Paris landmark and forcing the evacuation of a stream of visitors."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Liberia rebel leader calls for cease-fire: "A Liberian rebel group engaged in an all-out battle for the country's war-torn capital said Tuesday they have ordered their troops to stop fighting."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
New Iraqi council makes debut at U.N.: "UNITED NATIONS - The fledgling Iraqi Governing Council made a cautious debut before the international community Tuesday. Protesters in the Security Council gallery denounced it as "illegitimate," and the U.N. chief welcomed it - but only as "an important first step towards the full restoration of Iraqi sovereignty.""
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Officials search Midwest for missing kids: "Prosecutors who charged a man with murdering his two children said Tuesday they were searching for a burial site, most likely in or near northern Indiana or northeastern Illinois."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Abbas to press Bush on peace process: "The United States should press Israel for a firm schedule of peace moves, a Palestinian official said Tuesday ahead of White House talks between Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and President Bush in a new U.S. effort for progress in the "road map" peace plan."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
New York bids farewell to salsa queen: "The body of Celia Cruz, pulled in a glass-walled carriage by twin white horses, rode Tuesday through Manhattan past throngs of fans offering a final farewell to the beloved "Queen of Salsa.""
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Stocks move higher on news of Iraq raid: "Wall Street regained a positive track Tuesday following news that four Iraqis were killed in a U.S. raid in Iraq. Investors were encouraged by reports that two of Saddam Hussein's sons might be among the dead."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Search for Baylor player centers on Waco: "The search for missing Baylor University basketball player Patrick Dennehy centered Tuesday on a gravel pit and the banks of the Brazos River, just miles from an apartment he shared with the former teammate accused of killing him."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Ex-POW Lynch arrives home in W.Va.: "Former POW Jessica Lynch returned home to a flag-waving hero's welcome Tuesday, and in her first words since her rescue said: "It's great to be home.""
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Eiffel tower fire extinguished: "A fire broke out on the top of the Eiffel Tower on Tuesday, sending black smoke pouring from the 1,069-foot Paris landmark and forcing the evacuation of a stream of visitors."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Liberia rebel leader calls for cease-fire: "A Liberian rebel group engaged in an all-out battle for the country's war-torn capital said Tuesday they have ordered their troops to stop fighting."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
New Iraqi council makes debut at U.N.: "UNITED NATIONS - The fledgling Iraqi Governing Council made a cautious debut before the international community Tuesday. Protesters in the Security Council gallery denounced it as "illegitimate," and the U.N. chief welcomed it - but only as "an important first step towards the full restoration of Iraqi sovereignty.""
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Officials search Midwest for missing kids: "Prosecutors who charged a man with murdering his two children said Tuesday they were searching for a burial site, most likely in or near northern Indiana or northeastern Illinois."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Abbas to press Bush on peace process: "The United States should press Israel for a firm schedule of peace moves, a Palestinian official said Tuesday ahead of White House talks between Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and President Bush in a new U.S. effort for progress in the "road map" peace plan."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
New York bids farewell to salsa queen: "The body of Celia Cruz, pulled in a glass-walled carriage by twin white horses, rode Tuesday through Manhattan past throngs of fans offering a final farewell to the beloved "Queen of Salsa.""
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Stocks move higher on news of Iraq raid: "Wall Street regained a positive track Tuesday following news that four Iraqis were killed in a U.S. raid in Iraq. Investors were encouraged by reports that two of Saddam Hussein's sons might be among the dead."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Search for Baylor player centers on Waco: "The search for missing Baylor University basketball player Patrick Dennehy centered Tuesday on a gravel pit and the banks of the Brazos River, just miles from an apartment he shared with the former teammate accused of killing him."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Sunday, July 20, 2003
War Blog News Updates
Saddam said alive but not behind attacks: "The top U.S. official in Iraq says he believes Saddam Hussein is still alive and remains in the war-battered nation, but is not orchestrating daily attacks on American troops. Also Sunday, two more U.S. soldiers were killed in an ambush in northern Iraq."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Dead U.K. weapons adviser was BBC source: "The British Broadcasting Corp. said Sunday that David Kelly, a Ministry of Defense scientist whose suicide intensified a fierce debate over intelligence used to justify war in Iraq, was its main source for a story at the center of the dispute."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Palestinians outlaw violent groups: "The Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers held a two-hour meeting Sunday, kicking off 10 days of international diplomacy aimed at solidifying a fragile Mideast cease-fire and advancing the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
12 Americans killed in Kenya plane crash: "A twin-engine plane carrying 12 American tourists and two South African crew members en route to a game reserve crashed into Mount Kenya, apparently killing everyone on board, Kenyan officials said Sunday."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Bush pushes re-election funds over $41M: "Since President Bush launched his bid for re-election on May 16, his campaign has raised at least $41.4 million, including $7 million on a two-day Texas swing that wound up with a Saturday evening reception."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
South Korea plays down nuke concerns: "South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun on Sunday played down concerns about North Korea's nuclear development despite U.S. and U.N. suspicions that Pyongyang may have begun producing plutonium for use in bombs."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Rebels press farther into Liberia capital: "Rebels advanced deeper Sunday into Liberia's war-ravaged capital Sunday, trading mortar, grenade and machine-gun fire with government troops after President Charles Taylor vowed to fight "to the last man.""
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Iraq nuke evidence was thin, experts say: "Even as the Bush administration concluded Iraq was reviving its nuclear weapons program, key signs - such as scientific data of weapons work and evidence of research by Iraq's nuclear experts - were missing, according to several former intelligence officials."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
9/11 victims angry over WTC construction: "A group representing the families of Sept. 11 victims has criticized Gov. George Pataki for allowing construction where the World Trade Center's twin towers once stood."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Norman, Watson end British Open in style: "Former champions Greg Norman and Tom Watson finished the 132nd British Open in style on Sunday while Ernie Els felt his title slipping away."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Saddam said alive but not behind attacks: "The top U.S. official in Iraq says he believes Saddam Hussein is still alive and remains in the war-battered nation, but is not orchestrating daily attacks on American troops. Also Sunday, two more U.S. soldiers were killed in an ambush in northern Iraq."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Dead U.K. weapons adviser was BBC source: "The British Broadcasting Corp. said Sunday that David Kelly, a Ministry of Defense scientist whose suicide intensified a fierce debate over intelligence used to justify war in Iraq, was its main source for a story at the center of the dispute."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Palestinians outlaw violent groups: "The Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers held a two-hour meeting Sunday, kicking off 10 days of international diplomacy aimed at solidifying a fragile Mideast cease-fire and advancing the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
12 Americans killed in Kenya plane crash: "A twin-engine plane carrying 12 American tourists and two South African crew members en route to a game reserve crashed into Mount Kenya, apparently killing everyone on board, Kenyan officials said Sunday."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Bush pushes re-election funds over $41M: "Since President Bush launched his bid for re-election on May 16, his campaign has raised at least $41.4 million, including $7 million on a two-day Texas swing that wound up with a Saturday evening reception."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
South Korea plays down nuke concerns: "South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun on Sunday played down concerns about North Korea's nuclear development despite U.S. and U.N. suspicions that Pyongyang may have begun producing plutonium for use in bombs."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Rebels press farther into Liberia capital: "Rebels advanced deeper Sunday into Liberia's war-ravaged capital Sunday, trading mortar, grenade and machine-gun fire with government troops after President Charles Taylor vowed to fight "to the last man.""
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Iraq nuke evidence was thin, experts say: "Even as the Bush administration concluded Iraq was reviving its nuclear weapons program, key signs - such as scientific data of weapons work and evidence of research by Iraq's nuclear experts - were missing, according to several former intelligence officials."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
9/11 victims angry over WTC construction: "A group representing the families of Sept. 11 victims has criticized Gov. George Pataki for allowing construction where the World Trade Center's twin towers once stood."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Norman, Watson end British Open in style: "Former champions Greg Norman and Tom Watson finished the 132nd British Open in style on Sunday while Ernie Els felt his title slipping away."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
US to seek new mandate on UN force, UN urges timeframe on Iraq sovereignty in IraqWar.ru (English)
Tempers flare in Baghdad as Iraqis seethe over US seige on cleric's home in IraqWar.ru (English)
16 US Troops Killed In Taliban Attack in IraqWar.ru (English)
North Korea Hides New Nuclear Site, Evidence Suggests in IraqWar.ru (English)
Two U.S. Soldiers Killed in Northern Iraq: "Two soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division were killed and another wounded early Sunday when their convoy came under rocket-propelled grenade and small arms fire in northern Iraq, the U.S. military said. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
U.S. Plans to Enlist Iraqis in Operations: "CAMP AS SALIYAH, Qatar, July 19 -- U.S. military commanders plan to train and arm thousands of Iraqis to conduct military missions alongside U.S. and British troops in an effort to restore security and quell resistance by forces loyal to ousted president Saddam Hussein, the new head of U.S. military forces in Iraq and the rest of the Middle East said today. (washingtonpost.com)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
TWO U. S. SOLDIERS KILLED, ONE WOUNDED IN RPG ATTACK in CENTCOM: News Release
Blair Rejects Recall of Parliament Over Scientist: "British Prime Minster Tony Blair Sundayrejected suggestions he should recall Parliament to debate thesuicide of a government employee embroiled in a dispute overthe Iraq war. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Iraq Nuke Evidence Was Thin, Experts Say: "Even as the Bush administration concluded Iraq was reviving its nuclear weapons program, key signs - such as scientific data of weapons work and evidence of research by Iraq's nuclear experts - were missing, according to several former intelligence officials. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
U.S. Air Raids in '02 Prepared for War in Iraq: "Air war commanders carried out a thorough plan to disrupt Iraq's military command and control system before the war."
In New York Times: World Special
U.S. to Train Iraqis for Military Missions-Report: "The new head of U.S. military forcesin the Middle East said the United States plans to train andarm thousands of Iraqis to conduct military missions alongsideU.S. and British troops, the Washington Post reported in itsSunday edition. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Turkey, U.S. talk measures against rebels: "The United States and Turkey have discussed possible military measures against an estimated 5,000 Turkish Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, the Turkish military said Saturday."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Report: U.S. Planned Pre-War Attacks on Iraq Defenses: "U.S. air war commanders carried out acomprehensive plan as far back as mid-2002 to disrupt Iraq'smilitary command and control system to prepare for the Iraqwar, The New York Times reported in Sunday editions. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
BBC comes under fire over death of Kelly: "Peter Mandelson, a former British minister and one of Prime Minister Tony Blair's closest allies, launched a bitter attack against the BBC and its role in the war of words that led to the suicide of former UN arms inspector David Kelly. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Lonely at the Top: " (The New York Times)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Tempers flare in Baghdad as Iraqis seethe over US seige on cleric's home: "Tempers boiled over in Baghdad as thousands of Shiites lay seige to the US adminsitrator's home and poured scorn on US troops who earlier surrounded the home of a prominent Shiite cleric. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Red Cross demands release of Iraqi scientists. in IraqWar.info
US wounded leaving Walter Reed in IraqWar.info
Wolfowitz Visits Mass Graveyard of Hussein's Victims: "Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz promised that the occupying forces would lend whatever aid necessary to help track down the killers."
In New York Times: World Special
Tempers flare in Baghdad as Iraqis seethe over US seige on cleric's home in IraqWar.ru (English)
16 US Troops Killed In Taliban Attack in IraqWar.ru (English)
North Korea Hides New Nuclear Site, Evidence Suggests in IraqWar.ru (English)
Two U.S. Soldiers Killed in Northern Iraq: "Two soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division were killed and another wounded early Sunday when their convoy came under rocket-propelled grenade and small arms fire in northern Iraq, the U.S. military said. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
U.S. Plans to Enlist Iraqis in Operations: "CAMP AS SALIYAH, Qatar, July 19 -- U.S. military commanders plan to train and arm thousands of Iraqis to conduct military missions alongside U.S. and British troops in an effort to restore security and quell resistance by forces loyal to ousted president Saddam Hussein, the new head of U.S. military forces in Iraq and the rest of the Middle East said today. (washingtonpost.com)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
TWO U. S. SOLDIERS KILLED, ONE WOUNDED IN RPG ATTACK in CENTCOM: News Release
Blair Rejects Recall of Parliament Over Scientist: "British Prime Minster Tony Blair Sundayrejected suggestions he should recall Parliament to debate thesuicide of a government employee embroiled in a dispute overthe Iraq war. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Iraq Nuke Evidence Was Thin, Experts Say: "Even as the Bush administration concluded Iraq was reviving its nuclear weapons program, key signs - such as scientific data of weapons work and evidence of research by Iraq's nuclear experts - were missing, according to several former intelligence officials. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
U.S. Air Raids in '02 Prepared for War in Iraq: "Air war commanders carried out a thorough plan to disrupt Iraq's military command and control system before the war."
In New York Times: World Special
U.S. to Train Iraqis for Military Missions-Report: "The new head of U.S. military forcesin the Middle East said the United States plans to train andarm thousands of Iraqis to conduct military missions alongsideU.S. and British troops, the Washington Post reported in itsSunday edition. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Turkey, U.S. talk measures against rebels: "The United States and Turkey have discussed possible military measures against an estimated 5,000 Turkish Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, the Turkish military said Saturday."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Report: U.S. Planned Pre-War Attacks on Iraq Defenses: "U.S. air war commanders carried out acomprehensive plan as far back as mid-2002 to disrupt Iraq'smilitary command and control system to prepare for the Iraqwar, The New York Times reported in Sunday editions. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
BBC comes under fire over death of Kelly: "Peter Mandelson, a former British minister and one of Prime Minister Tony Blair's closest allies, launched a bitter attack against the BBC and its role in the war of words that led to the suicide of former UN arms inspector David Kelly. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Lonely at the Top: " (The New York Times)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Tempers flare in Baghdad as Iraqis seethe over US seige on cleric's home: "Tempers boiled over in Baghdad as thousands of Shiites lay seige to the US adminsitrator's home and poured scorn on US troops who earlier surrounded the home of a prominent Shiite cleric. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Red Cross demands release of Iraqi scientists. in IraqWar.info
US wounded leaving Walter Reed in IraqWar.info
Wolfowitz Visits Mass Graveyard of Hussein's Victims: "Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz promised that the occupying forces would lend whatever aid necessary to help track down the killers."
In New York Times: World Special
Friday, July 18, 2003
Welcome to News-Journal!
U.S. soldiers blow up Saddam statue: "With a thunderous explosion from 12 pounds of plastic explosives, the U.S. military toppled a 30-foot statue of Saddam Hussein on horseback from its perch overlooking the dictator's hometown Friday. Soldiers also defused a huge homemade bomb near Baghdad's airport."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Bush, Blair defend claims about Iraq arms: "President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair contend they won't be proved wrong in their prewar claims about Iraq's weapons capabilities. Even if they are, says Blair, a menace has been defeated."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Analysts reportedly missed faked documents: "Documents alleging Iraq sought uranium from Africa were obtained months before President Bush cited them in making his case for war, but intelligence analysts did not look at them closely enough to know they were forgeries until after Bush had made the claim, U.S. officials say."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Philippines OKs cease-fire with rebels: "The Philippine government announced a cease-fire deal with a Muslim rebel group Friday, agreeing to drop arrest warrants against rebel leaders for alleged terrorism to pave the way for peace talks as early as next week."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Israel may free jailed Islamic militants: "Israel may release a few dozen Islamic militants along with several hundred other Palestinian prisoners, a move that could give a critical boost to lagging peace efforts, an Israeli newspaper reported Friday."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
New chip can be implanted in humans: "Borrowing from technology for tracking pets, a U.S. company on Thursday launched Mexican sales of microchips that can be implanted under a person's skin and used to confirm health history and identity."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Bush, Blair defend claims about Iraq arms: "President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair contend they won't be proved wrong in their prewar claims about Iraq's weapons capabilities. Even if they are, says Blair, a menace has been defeated."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Analysts reportedly missed faked documents: "Documents alleging Iraq sought uranium from Africa were obtained months before President Bush cited them in making his case for war, but intelligence analysts did not look at them closely enough to know they were forgeries until after Bush had made the claim, U.S. officials say."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Philippines OKs cease-fire with rebels: "The Philippine government announced a cease-fire deal with a Muslim rebel group Friday, agreeing to drop arrest warrants against rebel leaders for alleged terrorism to pave the way for peace talks as early as next week."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Israel may free jailed Islamic militants: "Israel may release a few dozen Islamic militants along with several hundred other Palestinian prisoners, a move that could give a critical boost to lagging peace efforts, an Israeli newspaper reported Friday."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
New chip can be implanted in humans: "Borrowing from technology for tracking pets, a U.S. company on Thursday launched Mexican sales of microchips that can be implanted under a person's skin and used to confirm health history and identity."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Thursday, July 17, 2003
Iraq war blog updates
U.S. Forces in Iraq Facing 'Guerrillas': "Saddam Hussein loyalists are fighting an increasingly organized "guerrilla-type campaign" against U.S. troops, and terror groups are reviving, too, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq says. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Yearlong Tours an Option for 'Guerrilla' War in Iraq: "The new commander of allied forces in Iraq warned that American troops are under attack from "a classical guerrilla-type campaign.""
In New York Times: World Special
In Ohio, Iraq Questions Shake Even Some of Bush's Faithful: "Although many supported the war in Iraq, some say they are growing uncomfortable with reports that the White House might have used inaccurate intelligence to justify it."
In New York Times: World Special
G.I. Killed and 6 Are Wounded in Stepped-Up Attacks: "Insurgents also unsuccessfully fired a surface-to-air missile at a C-130 cargo aircraft landing at the International Airport Wednesday morning."
In New York Times: World Special
U.S. Forces in Iraq Facing 'Guerrillas': "Saddam Hussein loyalists are fighting an increasingly organized "guerrilla-type campaign" against U.S. troops, and terror groups are reviving, too, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq says. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Yearlong Tours an Option for 'Guerrilla' War in Iraq: "The new commander of allied forces in Iraq warned that American troops are under attack from "a classical guerrilla-type campaign.""
In New York Times: World Special
In Ohio, Iraq Questions Shake Even Some of Bush's Faithful: "Although many supported the war in Iraq, some say they are growing uncomfortable with reports that the White House might have used inaccurate intelligence to justify it."
In New York Times: World Special
G.I. Killed and 6 Are Wounded in Stepped-Up Attacks: "Insurgents also unsuccessfully fired a surface-to-air missile at a C-130 cargo aircraft landing at the International Airport Wednesday morning."
In New York Times: World Special
'Saddam' tape denounces new Iraq council: "A speaker purported to be Saddam Hussein exhorted his followers to wage a holy war against U.S. and British forces in a new recording played Thursday - the anniversary of the revolution that put the former leader's party in power in Iraq."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
U.S. forces in Iraq facing 'guerrillas': "Saddam Hussein loyalists are fighting an increasingly organized "guerrilla-type campaign" against U.S. troops, and terror groups are reviving, too, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq says."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Palestinian, Israeli leaders to visit U.S.: "The Bush Administration is pushing a new round of Mideast diplomacy with White House visits by the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers later this month, as a truce by Palestinian groups has eased tensions slightly."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Police probe fatal Santa Monica accident: "An 86-year-old man whose car plowed through a crowded farmers market, killing nine and injuring up to 45 others, had recently damaged his own garage with his car, police said Thursday."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Tenet says official wanted Iraq claim: "CIA Director George Tenet told members of Congress a White House official insisted that President Bush's State of the Union address include an assertion about Saddam Hussein's nuclear intentions that had not been verified, a Senate Intelligence Committee member said Thursday."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Academics declare recession ended in 2001: "The 2001 recession, the country's first downturn in a decade, officially ended in November of that year, only eight months after it had begun, an academic group declared Thursday."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
'Six Feet Under' leads Emmy nominations: "The funeral home drama "Six Feet Under" received a leading 16 Emmy nominations Thursday, followed by three-time best drama winner "The West Wing" with 15."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Microsoft admits flaw in Windows software: "Microsoft Corp. acknowledged a critical vulnerability Wednesday in nearly all versions of its flagship Windows operating system software, the first such design flaw to affect its latest Windows Server 2003 software."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Dow off 27, Nasdaq dips 30 on IBM report: "Irked by a cautious outlook from IBM, investors collected profits Thursday for the third straight day."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Woods trails Norman at windy British Open: "Tiger Woods lost his ball Thursday on his very first shot at the blustery British Open, then pulled himself together to make two late birdies for a 2-over-par 73 at Royal St. George's."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
U.S. forces in Iraq facing 'guerrillas': "Saddam Hussein loyalists are fighting an increasingly organized "guerrilla-type campaign" against U.S. troops, and terror groups are reviving, too, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq says."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Palestinian, Israeli leaders to visit U.S.: "The Bush Administration is pushing a new round of Mideast diplomacy with White House visits by the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers later this month, as a truce by Palestinian groups has eased tensions slightly."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Police probe fatal Santa Monica accident: "An 86-year-old man whose car plowed through a crowded farmers market, killing nine and injuring up to 45 others, had recently damaged his own garage with his car, police said Thursday."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Tenet says official wanted Iraq claim: "CIA Director George Tenet told members of Congress a White House official insisted that President Bush's State of the Union address include an assertion about Saddam Hussein's nuclear intentions that had not been verified, a Senate Intelligence Committee member said Thursday."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Academics declare recession ended in 2001: "The 2001 recession, the country's first downturn in a decade, officially ended in November of that year, only eight months after it had begun, an academic group declared Thursday."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
'Six Feet Under' leads Emmy nominations: "The funeral home drama "Six Feet Under" received a leading 16 Emmy nominations Thursday, followed by three-time best drama winner "The West Wing" with 15."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Microsoft admits flaw in Windows software: "Microsoft Corp. acknowledged a critical vulnerability Wednesday in nearly all versions of its flagship Windows operating system software, the first such design flaw to affect its latest Windows Server 2003 software."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Dow off 27, Nasdaq dips 30 on IBM report: "Irked by a cautious outlook from IBM, investors collected profits Thursday for the third straight day."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Woods trails Norman at windy British Open: "Tiger Woods lost his ball Thursday on his very first shot at the blustery British Open, then pulled himself together to make two late birdies for a 2-over-par 73 at Royal St. George's."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Iraq war blog updates
Democrats Rip White House on Iraq Claim: "Senate Democrats insisted Wednesday that the White House was clearly responsible for including false information about Iraq's weapons program in President Bush's State of the Union speech. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Alleged Saddam Spy Charged With Perjury: "A community newspaper publisher accused of spying on Iraqi opposition groups in the United States for Saddam Hussein's intelligence service was charged Wednesday with perjury. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Senators Fight Over Iraq War Fund Figures: "Republicans defeated Democratic attempts Wednesday to force disclosure of Iraq war spending, a partisan fight in advance of expected bipartisan passage of a $386.6 billion defense spending bill that would let the military fight wars of the future. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Some U.S. troops may spend year in Iraq: "Some U.S. troops may have to stay for yearlong tours of duty in Iraq to fight an increasingly organized "guerrilla-type campaign" from Saddam Hussein loyalists, the war's American commander said."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
President Bush's ex-envoy for Afghanistan criticizes U.S. effort in Iraq (16 July 03) in Radio Free USA
Senate, FBI Probe Iraq Documents Flap: "Senators pressed CIA Director George Tenet on Wednesday about whether President Bush's use of false information on Iraq's weapons program was the result of an isolated error, deeper intelligence problems or political manipulation. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
CIA chief Tenet appears at closed-door hearing on Iraq intelligence: "The US Senate Intelligence Committee heard secret testimony from embattled CIA director George Tenet, who has taken the blame for President George W. Bush's disputed claim that Iraq tried to buy nuclear material from Africa. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Missile Fired at U.S. Plane in Iraq: "In a marked escalation in attacks, suspected insurgents tried to shoot down a U.S. transport plane with a surface-to-air missile Wednesday, killed an American soldier in a convoy and gunned down the mayor of an Iraqi city. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Pentagon fails to learn from Gulf War illnesses: " (USA TODAY)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Democrats Rip White House on Iraq Claim: "Senate Democrats insisted Wednesday that the White House was clearly responsible for including false information about Iraq's weapons program in President Bush's State of the Union speech. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Alleged Saddam Spy Charged With Perjury: "A community newspaper publisher accused of spying on Iraqi opposition groups in the United States for Saddam Hussein's intelligence service was charged Wednesday with perjury. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Senators Fight Over Iraq War Fund Figures: "Republicans defeated Democratic attempts Wednesday to force disclosure of Iraq war spending, a partisan fight in advance of expected bipartisan passage of a $386.6 billion defense spending bill that would let the military fight wars of the future. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Some U.S. troops may spend year in Iraq: "Some U.S. troops may have to stay for yearlong tours of duty in Iraq to fight an increasingly organized "guerrilla-type campaign" from Saddam Hussein loyalists, the war's American commander said."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
President Bush's ex-envoy for Afghanistan criticizes U.S. effort in Iraq (16 July 03) in Radio Free USA
Senate, FBI Probe Iraq Documents Flap: "Senators pressed CIA Director George Tenet on Wednesday about whether President Bush's use of false information on Iraq's weapons program was the result of an isolated error, deeper intelligence problems or political manipulation. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
CIA chief Tenet appears at closed-door hearing on Iraq intelligence: "The US Senate Intelligence Committee heard secret testimony from embattled CIA director George Tenet, who has taken the blame for President George W. Bush's disputed claim that Iraq tried to buy nuclear material from Africa. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Missile Fired at U.S. Plane in Iraq: "In a marked escalation in attacks, suspected insurgents tried to shoot down a U.S. transport plane with a surface-to-air missile Wednesday, killed an American soldier in a convoy and gunned down the mayor of an Iraqi city. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Pentagon fails to learn from Gulf War illnesses: " (USA TODAY)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Wednesday, July 16, 2003
Grenade kills U.S. soldier, Iraqi child: "A U.S. soldier and an eight-year-old Iraqi child were killed in and around the capital Wednesday, as pro-Saddam Hussein insurgents unleashed a string of violent attacks on the eve of a recently banned Baath Party holiday."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Texans face mess left in Claudette's wake: "Claudette began dissipating over South Texas on Wednesday morning after walloping the coastline with sustained winds of more than 85 mph, killing at least two people inland and littering its path with damage."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Tenet to testify on Iraq uranium claim: "CIA Director George Tenet was expected to testify behind closed doors Wednesday about President Bush's claim in his State of the Union address that Iraq was trying to buy uranium in Africa to restart its nuclear weapons program."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Sniper trial is moved to Virginia Beach: "The trial of sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad will be moved 200 miles from Prince William County to Virginia Beach, a judge ruled."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Ex-Marine arrested in missing girl case: "Toby Studabaker, the former U.S. Marine who disappeared with a 12-year-old English girl, has been arrested in Germany, British police said Wednesday."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Consumer prices rise 0.2 percent in June: "Consumer prices increased by a modest 0.2 percent in June, reversing a dip in April and a flat performance last month, as the cost of energy, clothes and airline fares rose."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
More than 100 may be dead in India floods: "More than 100 people were feared dead in flash floods caused by a heavy rain Wednesday in a remote hill area in northern India, the state's top elected official said."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
W.Va. county ready for Lynch, not media: "Residents here are ready with open arms to welcome back hometown sweetheart Pfc. Jessica Lynch. The potential media swarm she may generate is another thing entirely."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
U.S. stocks expected to open higher: "U.S. stocks are set to open higher Wednesday after positive second-quarter earnings from Dow Jones industrial average component Intel Corp."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Blalock gives AL win, World Series edge: "Hank Blalock's team is going nowhere. Thanks to him, though, a lot of his AL teammates have a much better chance to go all the way."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Texans face mess left in Claudette's wake: "Claudette began dissipating over South Texas on Wednesday morning after walloping the coastline with sustained winds of more than 85 mph, killing at least two people inland and littering its path with damage."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Tenet to testify on Iraq uranium claim: "CIA Director George Tenet was expected to testify behind closed doors Wednesday about President Bush's claim in his State of the Union address that Iraq was trying to buy uranium in Africa to restart its nuclear weapons program."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Sniper trial is moved to Virginia Beach: "The trial of sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad will be moved 200 miles from Prince William County to Virginia Beach, a judge ruled."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Ex-Marine arrested in missing girl case: "Toby Studabaker, the former U.S. Marine who disappeared with a 12-year-old English girl, has been arrested in Germany, British police said Wednesday."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Consumer prices rise 0.2 percent in June: "Consumer prices increased by a modest 0.2 percent in June, reversing a dip in April and a flat performance last month, as the cost of energy, clothes and airline fares rose."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
More than 100 may be dead in India floods: "More than 100 people were feared dead in flash floods caused by a heavy rain Wednesday in a remote hill area in northern India, the state's top elected official said."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
W.Va. county ready for Lynch, not media: "Residents here are ready with open arms to welcome back hometown sweetheart Pfc. Jessica Lynch. The potential media swarm she may generate is another thing entirely."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
U.S. stocks expected to open higher: "U.S. stocks are set to open higher Wednesday after positive second-quarter earnings from Dow Jones industrial average component Intel Corp."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Blalock gives AL win, World Series edge: "Hank Blalock's team is going nowhere. Thanks to him, though, a lot of his AL teammates have a much better chance to go all the way."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Tuesday, July 15, 2003
Iraq war blog updates
A US Soldier's Baghdad Internet Diary - A Grim Account in IraqWar.ru (English)
Baath Party Holidays Invokes Fears of Escalating Attacks in IraqWar.ru (English)
U.S. Soldier Killed in Iraq Attack, Car Blows Up in IraqWar.ru (English)
Upping the ante for Kim Jong Il in IraqWar.ru (English)
Costs To Repair Oil Facilities Triple in IraqWar.ru (English)
Coalition casualties accounted for (Updated 14th of July) in IraqWar.ru (English)
Iraq Cost Could Mount to $100 Billion in IraqWar.ru (English)
Iraqi attackers -- who are they? in IraqWar.ru (English)
'Get my son home' in IraqWar.ru (English)
Members of Iraq's Governing Council in IraqWar.ru (English)
Pipe dreams of Iraqi oil in IraqWar.ru (English)
Blair ignored CIA weapons warning in IraqWar.ru (English)
U.S. Mounts Bid to Quash Iraq Insurgency in IraqWar.ru (English)
Occupation Tests Shi'ite Patience in Iraq Holy City in IraqWar.ru (English)
Tough US policing winning no friends in IraqWar.ru (English)
Mystery Blast Highlights U.S. Military's Dilemma in IraqWar.ru (English)
Unlike Baghdad and Other Sunni Cities, U in IraqWar.ru (English)
Iraqis protest treatment in U.S. prisons in IraqWar.ru (English)
A US Soldier's Baghdad Internet Diary - A Grim Account in IraqWar.ru (English)
Baath Party Holidays Invokes Fears of Escalating Attacks in IraqWar.ru (English)
U.S. Soldier Killed in Iraq Attack, Car Blows Up in IraqWar.ru (English)
Upping the ante for Kim Jong Il in IraqWar.ru (English)
Costs To Repair Oil Facilities Triple in IraqWar.ru (English)
Coalition casualties accounted for (Updated 14th of July) in IraqWar.ru (English)
Iraq Cost Could Mount to $100 Billion in IraqWar.ru (English)
Iraqi attackers -- who are they? in IraqWar.ru (English)
'Get my son home' in IraqWar.ru (English)
Members of Iraq's Governing Council in IraqWar.ru (English)
Pipe dreams of Iraqi oil in IraqWar.ru (English)
Blair ignored CIA weapons warning in IraqWar.ru (English)
U.S. Mounts Bid to Quash Iraq Insurgency in IraqWar.ru (English)
Occupation Tests Shi'ite Patience in Iraq Holy City in IraqWar.ru (English)
Tough US policing winning no friends in IraqWar.ru (English)
Mystery Blast Highlights U.S. Military's Dilemma in IraqWar.ru (English)
Unlike Baghdad and Other Sunni Cities, U in IraqWar.ru (English)
Iraqis protest treatment in U.S. prisons in IraqWar.ru (English)
Iraqi Council to set up tribunals: "Iraq's first postwar national political body said on Tuesday it would set up a high commission to run a special court system to try former members of Saddam Hussein's regime and others accused of crimes against humanity."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Hurricane Claudette nears Texas coast: "An invigorated Hurricane Claudette lumbered toward the Texas shore early Tuesday, its outward edge lashing the coastline with heavy wind and rainfall."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Abbas, Arafat settle their dispute: "A Palestinian attacker stabbed a man to death and wounded another in Tel Aviv on Tuesday in what police called the first terror attack in an Israeli city since militant groups declared a truce June 29. Palestinian leaders, meanwhile, said they settled a rift that jeopardized peace efforts."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Bush: U.S. working hard to find Iraq WMD: "President Bush, facing questions about his credibility, says the United States is working overtime to prove Saddam Hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction before the United States invaded Iraq."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Feds refuse to produce al-Qaida witness: "The Justice Department acknowledges its defiance of a judge's order may cause dismissal of charges against accused Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui, but says it won't produce an al-Qaida prisoner for questioning by the defendant."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Encephalitis kills 110 children in India: "Mosquito-borne encephalitis has killed 110 children in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh in the past six weeks, health officials said Tuesday."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Hurricane Claudette nears Texas coast: "An invigorated Hurricane Claudette lumbered toward the Texas shore early Tuesday, its outward edge lashing the coastline with heavy wind and rainfall."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Abbas, Arafat settle their dispute: "A Palestinian attacker stabbed a man to death and wounded another in Tel Aviv on Tuesday in what police called the first terror attack in an Israeli city since militant groups declared a truce June 29. Palestinian leaders, meanwhile, said they settled a rift that jeopardized peace efforts."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Bush: U.S. working hard to find Iraq WMD: "President Bush, facing questions about his credibility, says the United States is working overtime to prove Saddam Hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction before the United States invaded Iraq."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Feds refuse to produce al-Qaida witness: "The Justice Department acknowledges its defiance of a judge's order may cause dismissal of charges against accused Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui, but says it won't produce an al-Qaida prisoner for questioning by the defendant."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Encephalitis kills 110 children in India: "Mosquito-borne encephalitis has killed 110 children in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh in the past six weeks, health officials said Tuesday."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Monday, July 14, 2003
Iraq war blog updates
Iraq-Niger uranium claim came from third country: Straw: "Britain cannot tell the United States how it knew that Iraq tried to get uranium from Niger because the information originated from a third country, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw revealed. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
U.S. Sweep Nabs Iraqi Brass: "U.S. troops trying to root out Iraqi fighters captured more than 200 people, including six former regime leaders, but violence continued: A grenade attack killed one soldier and wounded six others."
In CBS News: Iraq Crisis
Diplomat: U.N. Thinks British Proof Based on Fakes: "The United Nations nuclear watchdogbelieves Britain's evidence on Iraq trying to import uraniumfrom Africa is all based on forged documents, a diplomat closeto the agency said Monday. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Car Blows Up in Baghdad Near New Council Offices: "An explosion badly damaged a car incentral Baghdad Monday, a few hundred meters from a compoundhousing Iraq's new Governing Council, witnesses and the U.S.military said. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Analysis: Anatomy of a Quack-Mire: " (OneWorld.net)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Iraq to send delegation to U.N.: "The new governing council - a U.S.-sanctioned first step toward democracy in postwar Iraq - voted Monday to send a delegation to the U.N. Security Council. Violence against U.S. forces erupted again in the capital, with one soldier killed in a rocket-propelled grenade attack."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Iraq-Niger uranium claim came from third country: Straw: "Britain cannot tell the United States how it knew that Iraq tried to get uranium from Niger because the information originated from a third country, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw revealed. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
U.S. Sweep Nabs Iraqi Brass: "U.S. troops trying to root out Iraqi fighters captured more than 200 people, including six former regime leaders, but violence continued: A grenade attack killed one soldier and wounded six others."
In CBS News: Iraq Crisis
Diplomat: U.N. Thinks British Proof Based on Fakes: "The United Nations nuclear watchdogbelieves Britain's evidence on Iraq trying to import uraniumfrom Africa is all based on forged documents, a diplomat closeto the agency said Monday. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Car Blows Up in Baghdad Near New Council Offices: "An explosion badly damaged a car incentral Baghdad Monday, a few hundred meters from a compoundhousing Iraq's new Governing Council, witnesses and the U.S.military said. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Analysis: Anatomy of a Quack-Mire: " (OneWorld.net)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Iraq to send delegation to U.N.: "The new governing council - a U.S.-sanctioned first step toward democracy in postwar Iraq - voted Monday to send a delegation to the U.N. Security Council. Violence against U.S. forces erupted again in the capital, with one soldier killed in a rocket-propelled grenade attack."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Cannot find Weapons of Mass Destruction
Cannot find Weapons of Mass Destruction
These Weapons of Mass Destruction cannot be displayed
The weapons you are looking for are currently unavailable. The country might be experiencing technical difficulties, or you may need to adjust your weapons inspectors mandate.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please try the following:
Click the Regime change button, or try again later.
If you are George Bush and typed the country's name in the address bar, make sure that it is spelled correctly. (IRAQ).
To check your weapons inspector settings, click the UN menu, and then click Weapons Inspector Options. On the Security Council tab, click Consensus. The settings should match those provided by your government or NATO.
If the Security Council has enabled it, The United States of America can examine your country and automatically discover Weapons of Mass Destruction.
If you would like to use the CIA to try and discover them,
click Detect weapons
Some countries require 128 thousand troops to liberate them. Click the Panic menu and then click About US foreign policy to determine what regime they will install.
If you are an Old European Country trying to protect your interests, make sure your options are left wide open as long as possible. Click the Tools menu, and then click on League of Nations. On the Advanced tab, scroll to the Head in the Sand section and check settings for your exports to Iraq.
Click the Bomb button if you are Donald Rumsfeld.
Cannot find weapons or CIA Error
Iraqi Explorer
Find more on Weapons of Mass Destruction.
These Weapons of Mass Destruction cannot be displayed
The weapons you are looking for are currently unavailable. The country might be experiencing technical difficulties, or you may need to adjust your weapons inspectors mandate.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please try the following:
Click the Regime change button, or try again later.
If you are George Bush and typed the country's name in the address bar, make sure that it is spelled correctly. (IRAQ).
To check your weapons inspector settings, click the UN menu, and then click Weapons Inspector Options. On the Security Council tab, click Consensus. The settings should match those provided by your government or NATO.
If the Security Council has enabled it, The United States of America can examine your country and automatically discover Weapons of Mass Destruction.
If you would like to use the CIA to try and discover them,
click Detect weapons
Some countries require 128 thousand troops to liberate them. Click the Panic menu and then click About US foreign policy to determine what regime they will install.
If you are an Old European Country trying to protect your interests, make sure your options are left wide open as long as possible. Click the Tools menu, and then click on League of Nations. On the Advanced tab, scroll to the Head in the Sand section and check settings for your exports to Iraq.
Click the Bomb button if you are Donald Rumsfeld.
Cannot find weapons or CIA Error
Iraqi Explorer
Find more on Weapons of Mass Destruction.
Iraq war blog updates
'We should be proud of our role in Iraq' - Blair: "Tony Blair says Britain should be proud of the role it played in ousting Saddam Hussein from Iraq."
In Ananova: War In Iraq
Iraq Democracy Watch: "First impressions
The Governing Council made its first decision yesterday at its first meeting, banning all of Saddam Hussein's old holidays and instating a new one, the day the allied forces toppled Hussein's statue. They needed to act fast, as the NYT reports, since the Americans are anticipating an upsurge in resistance around two of the rapidly approaching old holidays.
The council's next decisions will surround the details of how it will be structured, such as whether they will have a rotating chair.
The Financial Times brings everything down to earth with the observation that, "council members, while united in hatred of Mr Hussein, appeared divided on the subject of the coalition presence in Iraq." Abdel Aziz al Hakim, the SCIRI representative, called the Americans "occupiers", and Ahmad Chalabi, the Pentagon's original favorite before the war, called us "liberators."
Tempers also flared over the question of what powers the governing council would have. Jalal Talabani, a council member and head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, said the council enjoyed "practically all the functions of a government". Mr al Hakim disagreed, saying the council's executive functions were limited but he hoped this would be fixed in stages.
So the Governing Council itself doesn't even agree on whether it has any power or not.
The Americans don't seem to agree, either. While Paul Bremer keeps on referring to how much power the Council will have, the NYT quoted a "senior administration official" speaking with regard to who will make the decisions about Iraqi oil revenues if the international community insists on a role:
It still hasn't entirely sunk into the international community, but the C.P.A. is the government of Iraq...There are already unfortunate misunderstandings on that. But I cannot underline that often enough. The C.P.A. is the government of Iraq."
U.S. troops attack Saddam loyalists: "Facing an increasingly organized and violent resistance, the U.S. Army stepped up pressure on pro-Saddam Hussein holdouts Sunday with a fourth large offensive in central Iraq."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Israelis turn focus to economic woes: "Vicki Knafo walked 120 miles from the Negev desert to Jerusalem to highlight her fight to stop the Israeli government from ending the social welfare benefits that have sheltered Israel's poor for half a century."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
U.S. troops seem safe in Southern Iraq: "While American troops in the center of Iraq face daily attacks, U.S. soldiers in this southern city say they feel safe and even welcome here."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Jailed Palestinians seek driver's release: "Representatives of Palestinian prisoners jailed by Israel called for the release of an Israeli taxi driver feared kidnapped by militants, a gesture that could help shore up fragile peace moves."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
US warns of more Iraq attacks in BBC: War in Iraq
Q&A: The Niger link in BBC: War in Iraq
Arab League boss cool toward Iraqi body: "The Arab League chief showed little eagerness to embrace a new U.S.-backed Iraqi national council as its people's representative, reflecting wider Arab wariness about America's intentions in Iraq."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
US soldier in Baghdad: 'I don't know what I'm doing here in this city' (13 July 03) in Radio Free USA
Saddam is hiding near Baghdad, says exiled spy chief (14 July 03) in Radio Free USA
Sweeping Out Saddam's Holdouts: "One GI was killed, and four were injured Monday, in fighting in Baghdad. Elsewhere, U.S. troops killed four suspected Saddam Hussein loyalists. This is a big day on the calendar: the anniversary of an important past victory by Saddam's party."
In CBS News: Iraq Crisis
Blast near Iraqi police station in BBC: War in Iraq
Press doubts over Iraqi council in BBC: War in Iraq
Core of weapons case crumbling: "Paul Reynolds unravels the US and UK claims about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction."
In BBC: War in Iraq
Iraqis split on new council in BBC: War in Iraq
US soldier killed, six wounded in Baghdad rocket attack in IraqWar.ru (English)
US raids in Iraq yield 200 suspects, large weapons haul in IraqWar.ru (English)
U.S.-Backed Iraqi Governing Council Meets in IraqWar.ru (English)
America's Spy Software Scandal in IraqWar.ru (English)
Post-war dessert, anyone? in IraqWar.ru (English)
'We should be proud of our role in Iraq' - Blair: "Tony Blair says Britain should be proud of the role it played in ousting Saddam Hussein from Iraq."
In Ananova: War In Iraq
Iraq Democracy Watch: "First impressions
The Governing Council made its first decision yesterday at its first meeting, banning all of Saddam Hussein's old holidays and instating a new one, the day the allied forces toppled Hussein's statue. They needed to act fast, as the NYT reports, since the Americans are anticipating an upsurge in resistance around two of the rapidly approaching old holidays.
The council's next decisions will surround the details of how it will be structured, such as whether they will have a rotating chair.
The Financial Times brings everything down to earth with the observation that, "council members, while united in hatred of Mr Hussein, appeared divided on the subject of the coalition presence in Iraq." Abdel Aziz al Hakim, the SCIRI representative, called the Americans "occupiers", and Ahmad Chalabi, the Pentagon's original favorite before the war, called us "liberators."
Tempers also flared over the question of what powers the governing council would have. Jalal Talabani, a council member and head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, said the council enjoyed "practically all the functions of a government". Mr al Hakim disagreed, saying the council's executive functions were limited but he hoped this would be fixed in stages.
So the Governing Council itself doesn't even agree on whether it has any power or not.
The Americans don't seem to agree, either. While Paul Bremer keeps on referring to how much power the Council will have, the NYT quoted a "senior administration official" speaking with regard to who will make the decisions about Iraqi oil revenues if the international community insists on a role:
It still hasn't entirely sunk into the international community, but the C.P.A. is the government of Iraq...There are already unfortunate misunderstandings on that. But I cannot underline that often enough. The C.P.A. is the government of Iraq."
U.S. troops attack Saddam loyalists: "Facing an increasingly organized and violent resistance, the U.S. Army stepped up pressure on pro-Saddam Hussein holdouts Sunday with a fourth large offensive in central Iraq."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Israelis turn focus to economic woes: "Vicki Knafo walked 120 miles from the Negev desert to Jerusalem to highlight her fight to stop the Israeli government from ending the social welfare benefits that have sheltered Israel's poor for half a century."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
U.S. troops seem safe in Southern Iraq: "While American troops in the center of Iraq face daily attacks, U.S. soldiers in this southern city say they feel safe and even welcome here."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Jailed Palestinians seek driver's release: "Representatives of Palestinian prisoners jailed by Israel called for the release of an Israeli taxi driver feared kidnapped by militants, a gesture that could help shore up fragile peace moves."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
US warns of more Iraq attacks in BBC: War in Iraq
Q&A: The Niger link in BBC: War in Iraq
Arab League boss cool toward Iraqi body: "The Arab League chief showed little eagerness to embrace a new U.S.-backed Iraqi national council as its people's representative, reflecting wider Arab wariness about America's intentions in Iraq."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
US soldier in Baghdad: 'I don't know what I'm doing here in this city' (13 July 03) in Radio Free USA
Saddam is hiding near Baghdad, says exiled spy chief (14 July 03) in Radio Free USA
Sweeping Out Saddam's Holdouts: "One GI was killed, and four were injured Monday, in fighting in Baghdad. Elsewhere, U.S. troops killed four suspected Saddam Hussein loyalists. This is a big day on the calendar: the anniversary of an important past victory by Saddam's party."
In CBS News: Iraq Crisis
Blast near Iraqi police station in BBC: War in Iraq
Press doubts over Iraqi council in BBC: War in Iraq
Core of weapons case crumbling: "Paul Reynolds unravels the US and UK claims about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction."
In BBC: War in Iraq
Iraqis split on new council in BBC: War in Iraq
US soldier killed, six wounded in Baghdad rocket attack in IraqWar.ru (English)
US raids in Iraq yield 200 suspects, large weapons haul in IraqWar.ru (English)
U.S.-Backed Iraqi Governing Council Meets in IraqWar.ru (English)
America's Spy Software Scandal in IraqWar.ru (English)
Post-war dessert, anyone? in IraqWar.ru (English)
Blair facing crisis of confidence: "Huge numbers of voters believe Tony Blair misled Britain over the Iraq conflict."
In Ananova: War In Iraq
US Soldier Dies in Baghdad Grenade Attack: "One U.S. soldier was killed and six werewounded when a military convoy came under attack withrocket-propelled grenades in central Baghdad Monday, a U.S.military spokesman said. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Two-thirds of British feel Blair nisled them over Iraq war: "Two thirds of British voters feel Prime Minister Tony Blair misled them over the case for launching a war in Iraq, according to a poll in the Daily Mirror newspaper. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
In Ananova: War In Iraq
US Soldier Dies in Baghdad Grenade Attack: "One U.S. soldier was killed and six werewounded when a military convoy came under attack withrocket-propelled grenades in central Baghdad Monday, a U.S.military spokesman said. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Two-thirds of British feel Blair nisled them over Iraq war: "Two thirds of British voters feel Prime Minister Tony Blair misled them over the case for launching a war in Iraq, according to a poll in the Daily Mirror newspaper. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Rumsfeld Warns of Attacks on U.S. Forces: "It could be a long, hot and deadly summer for American forces in Iraq, who may soon face increased attacks, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld says. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Two-thirds of British feel Blair misled them over Iraq war: "Two thirds of British voters feel Prime Minister Tony Blair misled them over the case for launching a war in Iraq, according to a poll in the Daily Mirror newspaper. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
U.S. Forces Launch Raid Against Iraqi In: "Facing an increasingly organized and violent resistance, the U.S. Army stepped up pressure on pro-Saddam Hussein holdouts Sunday with a fourth large offensive in central Iraq. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
US Soldier Dies in Baghdad Grenade Attack: "One U.S. soldier was killed and six werewounded when a military convoy came under attack withrocket-propelled grenades in central Baghdad Monday, a U.S.military spokesman said. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
In First Step, New Iraq Council Abolishes Hussein's Holidays: "The interim government abolished six national holidays during its inaugural meeting and made April 9, the day that Baghdad fell, the national day of a new Iraqi state."
In New York Times: World Special
Rumsfeld Says Iraq May Need a Larger Force: "Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said that the United States might need to send additional troops to quell an increasingly well organized guerrilla resistance."
In New York Times: World Special
Bush Aides Now Say Claim on Uranium Was Accurate: "Condoleezza Rice and Donald H. Rumsfeld said the claim that Iraq tried to buy uranium from Africa was accurate even if some of the underlying evidence was unsubstantiated."
In New York Times: World Special
Hope Mingles With Doubt on the Streets of Baghdad: "Many residents of Baghdad seem to believe that the new Iraqi Governing Council will be heavily influenced by its American overseers. But the agreement stops there."
In New York Times: World Special
British Tread Carefully in South Iraq: "The deaths of six soldiers in June shattered the illusion that the British occupation of the south was an example of stability in Iraq."
In New York Times: World Special
US Soldier Hurt in Iraq Grenade Attack-Witnesses: "A U.S. soldier was badly wounded Mondaywhen his military vehicle was hit by a rocket-propelled grenadein a Baghdad suburb, witnesses said. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
U.S. Steps Up Pressure on Iraqi Holdouts: "Facing an increasingly organized and violent resistance, the U.S. Army stepped up pressure on pro-Saddam Hussein holdouts Sunday with a fourth large offensive in central Iraq. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Two-thirds of British feel Blair misled them over Iraq war: "Two thirds of British voters feel Prime Minister Tony Blair misled them over the case for launching a war in Iraq, according to a poll in the Daily Mirror newspaper. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
U.S. Forces Launch Raid Against Iraqi In: "Facing an increasingly organized and violent resistance, the U.S. Army stepped up pressure on pro-Saddam Hussein holdouts Sunday with a fourth large offensive in central Iraq. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
US Soldier Dies in Baghdad Grenade Attack: "One U.S. soldier was killed and six werewounded when a military convoy came under attack withrocket-propelled grenades in central Baghdad Monday, a U.S.military spokesman said. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
In First Step, New Iraq Council Abolishes Hussein's Holidays: "The interim government abolished six national holidays during its inaugural meeting and made April 9, the day that Baghdad fell, the national day of a new Iraqi state."
In New York Times: World Special
Rumsfeld Says Iraq May Need a Larger Force: "Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said that the United States might need to send additional troops to quell an increasingly well organized guerrilla resistance."
In New York Times: World Special
Bush Aides Now Say Claim on Uranium Was Accurate: "Condoleezza Rice and Donald H. Rumsfeld said the claim that Iraq tried to buy uranium from Africa was accurate even if some of the underlying evidence was unsubstantiated."
In New York Times: World Special
Hope Mingles With Doubt on the Streets of Baghdad: "Many residents of Baghdad seem to believe that the new Iraqi Governing Council will be heavily influenced by its American overseers. But the agreement stops there."
In New York Times: World Special
British Tread Carefully in South Iraq: "The deaths of six soldiers in June shattered the illusion that the British occupation of the south was an example of stability in Iraq."
In New York Times: World Special
US Soldier Hurt in Iraq Grenade Attack-Witnesses: "A U.S. soldier was badly wounded Mondaywhen his military vehicle was hit by a rocket-propelled grenadein a Baghdad suburb, witnesses said. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
U.S. Steps Up Pressure on Iraqi Holdouts: "Facing an increasingly organized and violent resistance, the U.S. Army stepped up pressure on pro-Saddam Hussein holdouts Sunday with a fourth large offensive in central Iraq. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Sunday, July 13, 2003
Iraq war blog news
Three attacks on US forces in Afghanistan in IraqWar.ru (English)
Camp X-ray Brit Tries To Hang Himself in IraqWar.ru (English)
N.Korea Reprocessed All Nuclear Fuel Rods-Report in IraqWar.ru (English)
Rules for Terror Tribunals May Deter Some Defense Lawyers in IraqWar.ru (English)
Belgium Scraps War Crimes Law Which Angered U.S. in IraqWar.ru (English)
Rumsfeld's Shake-Up Bid Demotes Reserves in IraqWar.ru (English)
Iraq's most feared prison open for business again under U.S. control -- And Iraqis still fear it (11 July 03) in Radio Free USA
Canadians vote Bush least-liked president (12 July 03) in Radio Free USA
Rumsfeld warns attacks on troops may get worse: "Donald Rumsfeld has warned that attacks on American troops in Iraq may worsen this summer, but insists occupation forces are making progress."
In Ananova: War In Iraq
Officials say Bush uranium claim accurate: "The Bush administration said Sunday the president's statement in the State of the Union address about Iraq's seeking uranium was accurate and is supported by other British and U.S. information."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Kuwaiti ruler appoints new prime minister: "Kuwait's emir appointed his brother as prime minister on Sunday, separating the post from the crown prince for the first time in a move seen as a step toward political reform."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Egyptian newspaper editor Mahran dies: "An Egyptian newspaper editor serving a three-year jail sentence after sparking riots with an article about a monk's alleged sex-and-blackmail scheme died Sunday. He was 58."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Three attacks on US forces in Afghanistan in IraqWar.ru (English)
Camp X-ray Brit Tries To Hang Himself in IraqWar.ru (English)
N.Korea Reprocessed All Nuclear Fuel Rods-Report in IraqWar.ru (English)
Rules for Terror Tribunals May Deter Some Defense Lawyers in IraqWar.ru (English)
Belgium Scraps War Crimes Law Which Angered U.S. in IraqWar.ru (English)
Rumsfeld's Shake-Up Bid Demotes Reserves in IraqWar.ru (English)
Iraq's most feared prison open for business again under U.S. control -- And Iraqis still fear it (11 July 03) in Radio Free USA
Canadians vote Bush least-liked president (12 July 03) in Radio Free USA
Rumsfeld warns attacks on troops may get worse: "Donald Rumsfeld has warned that attacks on American troops in Iraq may worsen this summer, but insists occupation forces are making progress."
In Ananova: War In Iraq
Officials say Bush uranium claim accurate: "The Bush administration said Sunday the president's statement in the State of the Union address about Iraq's seeking uranium was accurate and is supported by other British and U.S. information."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Kuwaiti ruler appoints new prime minister: "Kuwait's emir appointed his brother as prime minister on Sunday, separating the post from the crown prince for the first time in a move seen as a step toward political reform."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Egyptian newspaper editor Mahran dies: "An Egyptian newspaper editor serving a three-year jail sentence after sparking riots with an article about a monk's alleged sex-and-blackmail scheme died Sunday. He was 58."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
iraq war blog updates
Iraq Democracy Watch: "Token Representation
Various headlines marked the first meeting of the new Governing Authority in Baghdad today. Last minute negotiations about who would be on the 25-person body lasted into the night, but finally got resolved in time. Out of 25 people, there are 13 Shi'ites, fve Sunni Arabs and Kurds each, one Assyrian Christian, and one Turkoman, who is conveniently also a woman.
The real surprise, according to this morning's NYT , is that "The new interim government will be dominated by the Iraqi exile leaders and Kurdish chieftains," as opposed to people who stayed in Iraq for the duration of Saddam Hussein. As the Washington Post reports, "the Iraqi opposition leaders "argued that placing more people with political skills on the council, even if they had lived outside the country, would give the group the best chance of success." Score one for Ahmad Chalabi and the INC.
Everyone is speculating about how much effective power the Concil will actually have. After it met today, according to a Yahoo news report ,
Entifadh Qanbar, a spokesman for [Ahmad] Chalabi, described the council's convening as "a positive step and a historic day for Iraq." " The United States has no intention of colonizing Iraq ,and Mr. Bremer has told me personally that he will not intervene and will stay clear from political decisions made by the council," he said. [Emphasis added.]
But, while no one is paying any attention, as the Guardian reports, the US "plans to mortgage Iraq's future oil supplies..."
Much of the revenue will be securitised over at least a decade under the proposals being pushed by the US Export Import Bank, the Bush administration's trade promotion body, and a lobbying group that includes key American contractors Bechtel and Halliburton.
Reports suggest that $30 billion of loans will be backed by Iraq's reserves, the second biggest in the world
The World Bank has said such commitments should only be made by a sovereign Iraqi government. The plans will complicate a conference on Iraq's existing $120bn debt, which the US wants European powers to cancel. [Emphasis added.] "
Iraq moves towards self-rule in BBC: War in Iraq
U.S. Kills Four in New Iraq Operation: "American forces killed four suspected pro-Saddam insurgents and arrested more than 50 people as they launched a fourth major offensive in central Iraq, an operation meant to blunt expected attacks on U.S. soldiers, military officials said. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
U.S. Mulls Annual Cash Payout for All Iraqis: "The United States is consideringpaying all Iraqis an annual dividend from a trust fundestablished with the country's oil revenues, U.S. administratorPaul Bremer said on Sunday. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Al-Qaeda elusiveness, Iraqi instability a double headache for US: "The thus-far fruitless hunt for deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and the uncertainty surrounding the whereabouts of al-Qaeda chieftain Osama Bin Laden are giving Washington a double headache as it battles worldwide terrorism and seeks stability in Iraq, experts say. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
UK's '45 Minutes to Deploy' Claim Was Error-Blix: "The British government made a"fundamental mistake" when it claimed Iraq's Saddam Husseincould deploy weapons of mass destruction in 45 minutes, theformer head of U.N. weapons inspectors Hans Blix said. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Iraq uranium claim creates trans-Atlantic rift: "Tony Blair is coming under mounting pressure to authorise an independent inquiry into the Iraqi dossiers affair after a trans-Atlantic split opened up over crucial intelligence."
In Ananova: War In Iraq
U.S. administrator: Iraq to be 'beacon' of freedom in CNN - War in Iraq
Dean: Bush's 'intelligence-handling a disaster' in IraqWar.ru (English)
Text of CIA Director George Tenet's statement in IraqWar.ru (English)
Plenty of intelligence but few facts on North Korea's weapons in IraqWar.ru (English)
Saddam Fedayeen behind attacks on U.S. soldiers in IraqWar.ru (English)
Rising Doubts in IraqWar.ru (English)
U.S. Forces Girding for Raids by Iraqis in IraqWar.ru (English)
Iraq's Most Feared Prison Opens Again in IraqWar.ru (English)
Poll: Majority in U.S. Think Iraq Casualties Too High in IraqWar.ru (English)
Blair to challenge Bush over Britons held at Camp Delta in IraqWar.ru (English)
Revealed: first dossier also dodgy in IraqWar.ru (English)
Bush Declares His Faith in Tenet and C.I.A.: "After the C.I.A. director took the blame for approving unsubstantiated information about Iraq's nuclear program, President Bush said he considered the matter closed."
In New York Times: World Special
Iraq Democracy Watch: "Token Representation
Various headlines marked the first meeting of the new Governing Authority in Baghdad today. Last minute negotiations about who would be on the 25-person body lasted into the night, but finally got resolved in time. Out of 25 people, there are 13 Shi'ites, fve Sunni Arabs and Kurds each, one Assyrian Christian, and one Turkoman, who is conveniently also a woman.
The real surprise, according to this morning's NYT , is that "The new interim government will be dominated by the Iraqi exile leaders and Kurdish chieftains," as opposed to people who stayed in Iraq for the duration of Saddam Hussein. As the Washington Post reports, "the Iraqi opposition leaders "argued that placing more people with political skills on the council, even if they had lived outside the country, would give the group the best chance of success." Score one for Ahmad Chalabi and the INC.
Everyone is speculating about how much effective power the Concil will actually have. After it met today, according to a Yahoo news report ,
Entifadh Qanbar, a spokesman for [Ahmad] Chalabi, described the council's convening as "a positive step and a historic day for Iraq." " The United States has no intention of colonizing Iraq ,and Mr. Bremer has told me personally that he will not intervene and will stay clear from political decisions made by the council," he said. [Emphasis added.]
But, while no one is paying any attention, as the Guardian reports, the US "plans to mortgage Iraq's future oil supplies..."
Much of the revenue will be securitised over at least a decade under the proposals being pushed by the US Export Import Bank, the Bush administration's trade promotion body, and a lobbying group that includes key American contractors Bechtel and Halliburton.
Reports suggest that $30 billion of loans will be backed by Iraq's reserves, the second biggest in the world
The World Bank has said such commitments should only be made by a sovereign Iraqi government. The plans will complicate a conference on Iraq's existing $120bn debt, which the US wants European powers to cancel. [Emphasis added.] "
Iraq moves towards self-rule in BBC: War in Iraq
U.S. Kills Four in New Iraq Operation: "American forces killed four suspected pro-Saddam insurgents and arrested more than 50 people as they launched a fourth major offensive in central Iraq, an operation meant to blunt expected attacks on U.S. soldiers, military officials said. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
U.S. Mulls Annual Cash Payout for All Iraqis: "The United States is consideringpaying all Iraqis an annual dividend from a trust fundestablished with the country's oil revenues, U.S. administratorPaul Bremer said on Sunday. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Al-Qaeda elusiveness, Iraqi instability a double headache for US: "The thus-far fruitless hunt for deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and the uncertainty surrounding the whereabouts of al-Qaeda chieftain Osama Bin Laden are giving Washington a double headache as it battles worldwide terrorism and seeks stability in Iraq, experts say. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
UK's '45 Minutes to Deploy' Claim Was Error-Blix: "The British government made a"fundamental mistake" when it claimed Iraq's Saddam Husseincould deploy weapons of mass destruction in 45 minutes, theformer head of U.N. weapons inspectors Hans Blix said. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Iraq uranium claim creates trans-Atlantic rift: "Tony Blair is coming under mounting pressure to authorise an independent inquiry into the Iraqi dossiers affair after a trans-Atlantic split opened up over crucial intelligence."
In Ananova: War In Iraq
U.S. administrator: Iraq to be 'beacon' of freedom in CNN - War in Iraq
Dean: Bush's 'intelligence-handling a disaster' in IraqWar.ru (English)
Text of CIA Director George Tenet's statement in IraqWar.ru (English)
Plenty of intelligence but few facts on North Korea's weapons in IraqWar.ru (English)
Saddam Fedayeen behind attacks on U.S. soldiers in IraqWar.ru (English)
Rising Doubts in IraqWar.ru (English)
U.S. Forces Girding for Raids by Iraqis in IraqWar.ru (English)
Iraq's Most Feared Prison Opens Again in IraqWar.ru (English)
Poll: Majority in U.S. Think Iraq Casualties Too High in IraqWar.ru (English)
Blair to challenge Bush over Britons held at Camp Delta in IraqWar.ru (English)
Revealed: first dossier also dodgy in IraqWar.ru (English)
Bush Declares His Faith in Tenet and C.I.A.: "After the C.I.A. director took the blame for approving unsubstantiated information about Iraq's nuclear program, President Bush said he considered the matter closed."
In New York Times: World Special
Saturday, July 12, 2003
Iraq War Blog Updates
Spaniards on Way to Back U.S. in Iraq: "Spain will begin sending soldiers to Iraq on Saturday, after cabinet approval of a peacekeeping force of 1,300 troops."
In New York Times: World Special
Hit man stalks U.S. soldiers in Iraq in IraqWar.ru (English)
UK pressed for uranium evidence in IraqWar.ru (English)
US warned over Iraq law enforcement in IraqWar.ru (English)
US Senate unanimously approves measure seeking NATO, UN support in Iraq in IraqWar.ru (English)
Iran cargo ship visits port in North Korea, Seoul aide says in IraqWar.ru (English)
Officials knew of dodgy Iraq file in IraqWar.ru (English)
Bush Knew Iraq Info Was False in IraqWar.ru (English)
The Niger connection: what we know, what we don't know, and what we may never be told in IraqWar.ru (English)
Pentagon: 1,000 troops wounded in Iraq war in IraqWar.ru (English)
US Commander Says Hussein had National Plan of Resistance in IraqWar.ru (English)
The war isn't over for the father of two soldiers in Iraq in IraqWar.ru (English)
African oil of growing importance to U.S. in IraqWar.ru (English)
Guardsman from Bon Aqua killed in Iraq in IraqWar.ru (English)
Fort Carson servicewoman fatally wounded in Iraq in IraqWar.ru (English)
Two US soldiers wounded north of Baghdad in IraqWar.ru (English)
Franks: 10-25 Attacks a Day on U.S. Troops in Iraq in IraqWar.ru (English)
U.S. satellite feeds to Iran jammed in IraqWar.ru (English)
Ayatollah says Iraqi Shi'ites may turn against US in IraqWar.ru (English)
U.S. Troops Wounded in Iraq, Bush Defends War in IraqWar.ru (English)
Heavy clashes in Ramadi in IraqWar.ru (English)
Israel demanding halt to Iran's enriched uranium production in IraqWar.ru (English)
The GOP?s Liberian Connection in IraqWar.ru (English)
Coalition casualties accounted for (Updated 11th of July) in IraqWar.ru (English)
Slain Marine's father says he lost job for speaking against Iraq war in IraqWar.ru (English)
Two Iraqis Wounded After U.S. Patrol Attacked in IraqWar.ru (English)
'Heavy-handed policing by US risks Iraq peace' in IraqWar.ru (English)
U.S. Forces Hunt For Organizers Of Attacks in Iraq in IraqWar.ru (English)
US May Link Arrow Sale With Troops To Iraq in IraqWar.ru (English)
Turkey: USA Must Punish Perpetrators in IraqWar.ru (English)
C.I.A. Chief Takes Blame in Assertion on Iraqi Uranium: "George J. Tenet accepted responsibility for letting President Bush use information that turned out to be unsubstantiated."
In New York Times: World Special
Former P.O.W.'s Hospital Stay May End Soon: "Pfc. Jessica D. Lynch is expected to leave a hospital and be back home in West Virginia by the end of the month."
In New York Times: World Special
Hussein's Perennial Optimist Reappears: "Iraq's former information minister, nicknamed "Comical Ali," made a sudden appearance in Abu Dhabi, saying he might not return to his homeland."
In New York Times: World Special
U.S. Forces Girding for Raids by Iraqis: "A possible new wave attacks over the next week would coincide with anniversaries tied to Saddam Hussein and the Baath Party."
In New York Times: World Special
G.I.'s Turn Over Policing of Iraqi Town to Local Force: "American authorities agreed to reduce the number of their soldiers at the Falluja central police station from more than 20 to 1 or 2."
In New York Times: World Special
A Perfect War?: "The Defense Department says violence in Iraq is the unavoidable consequence of a triumphant war plan."
In New York Times: World Special
Spaniards on Way to Back U.S. in Iraq: "Spain will begin sending soldiers to Iraq on Saturday, after cabinet approval of a peacekeeping force of 1,300 troops."
In New York Times: World Special
Hit man stalks U.S. soldiers in Iraq in IraqWar.ru (English)
UK pressed for uranium evidence in IraqWar.ru (English)
US warned over Iraq law enforcement in IraqWar.ru (English)
US Senate unanimously approves measure seeking NATO, UN support in Iraq in IraqWar.ru (English)
Iran cargo ship visits port in North Korea, Seoul aide says in IraqWar.ru (English)
Officials knew of dodgy Iraq file in IraqWar.ru (English)
Bush Knew Iraq Info Was False in IraqWar.ru (English)
The Niger connection: what we know, what we don't know, and what we may never be told in IraqWar.ru (English)
Pentagon: 1,000 troops wounded in Iraq war in IraqWar.ru (English)
US Commander Says Hussein had National Plan of Resistance in IraqWar.ru (English)
The war isn't over for the father of two soldiers in Iraq in IraqWar.ru (English)
African oil of growing importance to U.S. in IraqWar.ru (English)
Guardsman from Bon Aqua killed in Iraq in IraqWar.ru (English)
Fort Carson servicewoman fatally wounded in Iraq in IraqWar.ru (English)
Two US soldiers wounded north of Baghdad in IraqWar.ru (English)
Franks: 10-25 Attacks a Day on U.S. Troops in Iraq in IraqWar.ru (English)
U.S. satellite feeds to Iran jammed in IraqWar.ru (English)
Ayatollah says Iraqi Shi'ites may turn against US in IraqWar.ru (English)
U.S. Troops Wounded in Iraq, Bush Defends War in IraqWar.ru (English)
Heavy clashes in Ramadi in IraqWar.ru (English)
Israel demanding halt to Iran's enriched uranium production in IraqWar.ru (English)
The GOP?s Liberian Connection in IraqWar.ru (English)
Coalition casualties accounted for (Updated 11th of July) in IraqWar.ru (English)
Slain Marine's father says he lost job for speaking against Iraq war in IraqWar.ru (English)
Two Iraqis Wounded After U.S. Patrol Attacked in IraqWar.ru (English)
'Heavy-handed policing by US risks Iraq peace' in IraqWar.ru (English)
U.S. Forces Hunt For Organizers Of Attacks in Iraq in IraqWar.ru (English)
US May Link Arrow Sale With Troops To Iraq in IraqWar.ru (English)
Turkey: USA Must Punish Perpetrators in IraqWar.ru (English)
C.I.A. Chief Takes Blame in Assertion on Iraqi Uranium: "George J. Tenet accepted responsibility for letting President Bush use information that turned out to be unsubstantiated."
In New York Times: World Special
Former P.O.W.'s Hospital Stay May End Soon: "Pfc. Jessica D. Lynch is expected to leave a hospital and be back home in West Virginia by the end of the month."
In New York Times: World Special
Hussein's Perennial Optimist Reappears: "Iraq's former information minister, nicknamed "Comical Ali," made a sudden appearance in Abu Dhabi, saying he might not return to his homeland."
In New York Times: World Special
U.S. Forces Girding for Raids by Iraqis: "A possible new wave attacks over the next week would coincide with anniversaries tied to Saddam Hussein and the Baath Party."
In New York Times: World Special
G.I.'s Turn Over Policing of Iraqi Town to Local Force: "American authorities agreed to reduce the number of their soldiers at the Falluja central police station from more than 20 to 1 or 2."
In New York Times: World Special
A Perfect War?: "The Defense Department says violence in Iraq is the unavoidable consequence of a triumphant war plan."
In New York Times: World Special
Friday, July 11, 2003
Iraq War Blog Updates
Suspected rebels kill 4 people in Turkey: "Suspected Kurdish rebels raided a village in southeastern Turkey, killing four villagers and injuring another, an official said Friday."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Two Iraqis Wounded After Attack on U.S. Troops: "Two Iraqis were wounded when theirvehicle was caught in crossfire after a rocket-propelledgrenade attack on a U.S. patrol near Baghdad airport, the U.S.military said on Friday. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
'Comical Ali' Leaves Baghdad, Might Not Return: "Former Iraqi Information MinisterMohammed Saeed al-Sahaf, who earned the nickname "Comical Ali"during the U.S.-led war on Iraq, made a sudden appearance inAbu Dhabi on Friday, saying he might not return to hishomeland. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Iraqis Call For Self-Rule: ""A conference of 900 Iraqi notables have demanded the quick establishment of an Iraqi government to combat the lawlessness and insecurity that reign three months after the overthrow of President Saddam Hussein and his Ba'athist regime. The group said the transitional government should have a six-month mandate, renewable once only, to draw up a constitution for the new Iraq. The move puts new pressure on the occupying forces to agree to some form of Iraqi government, rather than the interim political council which the United States now favours." Zaki Yahya reports from Najaf for the Institute for War and Peace Reporting."
In Electronic Iraq
CIA tried to persuade British to drop Iraq uranium allegations: "The US Central Intelligence Agency tried unsuccessfully last September to persuade the British government to drop from an official intelligence paper a passage alleging that Iraq had sought to buy uranium in Africa, The Washington Post reported. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Paris Club seeks swift restructuring of Iraq's debt: "The Paris Club of creditor nations said it is ready to restructure Iraq's public debt of more than 21 billion dollars (18.5 billion euros) as soon as possible. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Suspected rebels kill 4 people in Turkey: "Suspected Kurdish rebels raided a village in southeastern Turkey, killing four villagers and injuring another, an official said Friday."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Two Iraqis Wounded After Attack on U.S. Troops: "Two Iraqis were wounded when theirvehicle was caught in crossfire after a rocket-propelledgrenade attack on a U.S. patrol near Baghdad airport, the U.S.military said on Friday. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
'Comical Ali' Leaves Baghdad, Might Not Return: "Former Iraqi Information MinisterMohammed Saeed al-Sahaf, who earned the nickname "Comical Ali"during the U.S.-led war on Iraq, made a sudden appearance inAbu Dhabi on Friday, saying he might not return to hishomeland. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Iraqis Call For Self-Rule: ""A conference of 900 Iraqi notables have demanded the quick establishment of an Iraqi government to combat the lawlessness and insecurity that reign three months after the overthrow of President Saddam Hussein and his Ba'athist regime. The group said the transitional government should have a six-month mandate, renewable once only, to draw up a constitution for the new Iraq. The move puts new pressure on the occupying forces to agree to some form of Iraqi government, rather than the interim political council which the United States now favours." Zaki Yahya reports from Najaf for the Institute for War and Peace Reporting."
In Electronic Iraq
CIA tried to persuade British to drop Iraq uranium allegations: "The US Central Intelligence Agency tried unsuccessfully last September to persuade the British government to drop from an official intelligence paper a passage alleging that Iraq had sought to buy uranium in Africa, The Washington Post reported. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Paris Club seeks swift restructuring of Iraq's debt: "The Paris Club of creditor nations said it is ready to restructure Iraq's public debt of more than 21 billion dollars (18.5 billion euros) as soon as possible. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Iraqi police seek to avoid U.S. troops: "With daily shootings and rocket attacks against U.S. soldiers claiming two more lives, even Iraqi policemen said Thursday they want to keep a safe distance from coalition troops for fear of getting caught in the crossfire."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
The Liberian Conflict: a case for regional peace enforcement? in RISQ
U.S. said to doubt British intelligence: "U.S. intelligence officials had doubts about the quality of a British intelligence report alleging Iraq was seeking uranium from Africa in the weeks just before and after President Bush made the allegation in his State of the Union address in January, senior U.S. officials said Thursday."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Bomb explodes in Pakistan office: "A bomb on Friday shattered windows in a 10-story office building in Pakistan's troubled port city of Karachi, killing one person, police and witnesses said."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
US Senate unanimously approves measure seeking NATO, UN support in Iraq: "The US Senate unanimously approved a measure calling on the White House to consider requesting NATO and UN troops in Iraq. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Troop rotation system to be finalized shortly in IraqWar.info
Britain making waves about Gitmo Brits in IraqWar.info
Suspected in Luxor massacre extradited: "A suspected planner of the 1997 Luxor massacre that killed 62 people - mostly tourists - was handed over by Uruguayan authorities to Egyptian police Thursday, according to news reports."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Bush Knew Iraq Info Was False: "When President Bush told the nation, incorrectly, that Iraq had tried to buy uranium from Africa, he did so despite being warned by the CIA that it wasn't true, CBS News has learned exclusively."
In CBS News: Iraq Crisis
America's Iraq: "Two months after the welcome demise of Saddam Hussein's regime, it has become customary to say that the US won the war and is losing the peace in Iraq. This formulation, coined to describe US neglect of Afghanistan following the fall of the Taliban, gives the Bush administration too much credit. There were never any serious plans to "win the peace" in Iraq, as is obvious from the chaotic aftermath of the large-scale combat. The editors of Middle East Report comment."
In Electronic Iraq
Senate Pushes for NATO, U.N. Help in Iraq: "The U.S. Senate voted unanimously onThursday to encourage President Bush to reach out to NATO andthe United Nations for help in peacekeeping and rebuilding inIraq, reflecting mounting worries in Congress that the post-waroperation is stumbling. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Beeb asks viewers about Iraq coverage: "Iraq: Pubcaster plans quarterly report on aud feedback BBC governors are to poll U.K. viewers about whether they feel the pubcaster's programs are biased in light of its controversial coverage of the Iraq war."
In Variety.com - Iraq
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
The Liberian Conflict: a case for regional peace enforcement? in RISQ
U.S. said to doubt British intelligence: "U.S. intelligence officials had doubts about the quality of a British intelligence report alleging Iraq was seeking uranium from Africa in the weeks just before and after President Bush made the allegation in his State of the Union address in January, senior U.S. officials said Thursday."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Bomb explodes in Pakistan office: "A bomb on Friday shattered windows in a 10-story office building in Pakistan's troubled port city of Karachi, killing one person, police and witnesses said."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
US Senate unanimously approves measure seeking NATO, UN support in Iraq: "The US Senate unanimously approved a measure calling on the White House to consider requesting NATO and UN troops in Iraq. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Troop rotation system to be finalized shortly in IraqWar.info
Britain making waves about Gitmo Brits in IraqWar.info
Suspected in Luxor massacre extradited: "A suspected planner of the 1997 Luxor massacre that killed 62 people - mostly tourists - was handed over by Uruguayan authorities to Egyptian police Thursday, according to news reports."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Bush Knew Iraq Info Was False: "When President Bush told the nation, incorrectly, that Iraq had tried to buy uranium from Africa, he did so despite being warned by the CIA that it wasn't true, CBS News has learned exclusively."
In CBS News: Iraq Crisis
America's Iraq: "Two months after the welcome demise of Saddam Hussein's regime, it has become customary to say that the US won the war and is losing the peace in Iraq. This formulation, coined to describe US neglect of Afghanistan following the fall of the Taliban, gives the Bush administration too much credit. There were never any serious plans to "win the peace" in Iraq, as is obvious from the chaotic aftermath of the large-scale combat. The editors of Middle East Report comment."
In Electronic Iraq
Senate Pushes for NATO, U.N. Help in Iraq: "The U.S. Senate voted unanimously onThursday to encourage President Bush to reach out to NATO andthe United Nations for help in peacekeeping and rebuilding inIraq, reflecting mounting worries in Congress that the post-waroperation is stumbling. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Beeb asks viewers about Iraq coverage: "Iraq: Pubcaster plans quarterly report on aud feedback BBC governors are to poll U.K. viewers about whether they feel the pubcaster's programs are biased in light of its controversial coverage of the Iraq war."
In Variety.com - Iraq
Thursday, July 10, 2003
war blog Iraq war updates
Turkey Warns U.S. That Its Troops Will Fire Back, Milliyet Says in IraqWar.ru (English)
Holy war called for in Iraq in IraqWar.ru (English)
Two More U.S. Soldiers Killed in Iraq in IraqWar.ru (English)
Iraqi Police Tell U.S. Troops -- Get Out of Town in IraqWar.ru (English)
Arms control, intelligence experts accuse Bush administration of misrepresentation in IraqWar.ru (English)
Iraqi oil deals up for grabs in IraqWar.ru (English)
U.S. report on 9/11 to be 'explosive' in IraqWar.ru (English)
Franks: 10-25 Attacks a Day on U.S. Troops in Iraq: "U.S. troops in Iraq face 10 to 25attacks a day, partly because they are hunting for Baathists,"jihadists" and fighters crossing the border from Syria, Gen.Tommy Franks, who ran the war against Baghdad, said onThursday. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Turkey Warns U.S. That Its Troops Will Fire Back, Milliyet Says in IraqWar.ru (English)
Holy war called for in Iraq in IraqWar.ru (English)
Two More U.S. Soldiers Killed in Iraq in IraqWar.ru (English)
Iraqi Police Tell U.S. Troops -- Get Out of Town in IraqWar.ru (English)
Arms control, intelligence experts accuse Bush administration of misrepresentation in IraqWar.ru (English)
Iraqi oil deals up for grabs in IraqWar.ru (English)
U.S. report on 9/11 to be 'explosive' in IraqWar.ru (English)
Franks: 10-25 Attacks a Day on U.S. Troops in Iraq: "U.S. troops in Iraq face 10 to 25attacks a day, partly because they are hunting for Baathists,"jihadists" and fighters crossing the border from Syria, Gen.Tommy Franks, who ran the war against Baghdad, said onThursday. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
POWs awarded $1 billion from Iraq in IraqWar.ru (English)
Iraq civilian body count passes 6,000 in IraqWar.ru (English)
U.S. might ask NATO to take over control of Iraq occupation in IraqWar.ru (English)
Kill looters, urges US archaeologist in IraqWar.ru (English)
Rumsfeld Says Iraq Is Becoming Stable in IraqWar.ru (English)
Iraqis killed in police station attack in IraqWar.ru (English)
Iraq to Spend Over $6B on IT Development in IraqWar.ru (English)
Skeptical Iraqis Watch New Police in Gunfight in IraqWar.ru (English)
'US a dog, Britain its tail' in IraqWar.ru (English)
Families live in fear of midnight call by US patrols in IraqWar.ru (English)
Iraqi Resistance Carries Out First Martyrdom Operation ? in IraqWar.ru (English)
Iraq civilian body count passes 6,000 in IraqWar.ru (English)
U.S. might ask NATO to take over control of Iraq occupation in IraqWar.ru (English)
Kill looters, urges US archaeologist in IraqWar.ru (English)
Rumsfeld Says Iraq Is Becoming Stable in IraqWar.ru (English)
Iraqis killed in police station attack in IraqWar.ru (English)
Iraq to Spend Over $6B on IT Development in IraqWar.ru (English)
Skeptical Iraqis Watch New Police in Gunfight in IraqWar.ru (English)
'US a dog, Britain its tail' in IraqWar.ru (English)
Families live in fear of midnight call by US patrols in IraqWar.ru (English)
Iraqi Resistance Carries Out First Martyrdom Operation ? in IraqWar.ru (English)
Wednesday, July 09, 2003
Crash caused Lynch's 'horrific injuries'
KEEP YOUR HELMET ON!
Crash caused Lynch's 'horrific injuries'
By Rowan Scarborough
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
The Army will release a report tomorrow on the ambush of the 507th Maintenance Company in Iraq that will show Pfc. Jessica Lynch and another female soldier suffered extensive injuries in a vehicle accident, but not from Iraqi fighters.
The deadly March 23 battle in Nasiriyah, in central Iraq, has emerged as perhaps the most famous incident in the war both for what happened and for what was reported to have happened, but did not.
The Army's 15-page report officially will debunk accounts that Pfc. Lynch emptied two revolvers at her attackers and was shot and stabbed before being taken prisoner of war. In fact, she was riding in a Humvee that was struck by a projectile during a frantic attempt to escape the ambush. She suffered "horrific injuries," said Pentagon sources familiar with the report.
Pfc. Lori Ann Piestewa, a good friend of Pfc. Lynch's, was driving the Humvee. The strike on the vehicle caused her to lose control. The utility vehicle smashed into a disabled tractor-trailer at more than 45 mph, critically injuring Pfc. Piestewa, the Pentagon sources said.
Rumors surfaced that Pfc Piestewa, 23, of Tuba City, Ariz., was killed by Iraqis at the scene. But the Pentagon sources said she died later at a Nasiriyah hospital of injuries suffered in the crash. She was the only military woman to die in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Pentagon statistics show.
Pfc. Lynch also was pulled from the wreckage and taken to the same hospital. "Lynch survived principally because of the medical attention she received from the Iraqis," one source said.
A week later, she became one of the war's most recognized faces. A combat camera crew recorded American special-operations forces carrying her broken body on a stretcher from the hospital to a rescue aircraft.
The report also will show that the company's senior enlisted soldier, 1st Sgt. Robert Dowdy, worked furiously to reorganize the 507th 13-vehicle convoy so it could make a retreat. Traveling in Pfc. Piestewa's Humvee, Sgt. Dowdy stopped, got out of the vehicle and tried to motivate other soldiers. Two soldiers whose truck was disabled got into the Humvee with Sgt. Dowdy and the two female soldiers.
"This was a fight," a Pentagon source said. "They got popped at different locations. There were battles. They were fighting back."
The Humvee sped away from the scene and likely was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade. Sgt. Dowdy was killed instantly. A Pentagon source said it was not clear whether the two male soldiers in the back seat were killed by enemy fire or the accident.
The Army's report, which will be released at the Pentagon, was written by the service's Training and Doctrine Command, and by Army personnel at the Pentagon. It is based largely on an extensive commander's investigation, called a 15-6, which is the Army regulation that authorizes investigations of major incidents.
The sources said the 15-6 report itself will not be released. The Army's Criminal Investigative Command also is investigating the incident and its aftermath to see if any Iraqis have committed war crimes.
The report being released is restricted to the actions of soldiers in the ambush and does not deal with war-crimes issues or the time six 507th soldiers spent in captivity.
After the ambush, the Iraqis showed a videotape of some 507th members with gunshot wounds to the head in apparent execution-style killings. Of some 30 soldiers traveling in the convoy, 11 were killed and six, including Pfc. Lynch, were taken prisoner.
U.S. commandos rescued Pfc. Lynch, 19, on April 1 after her captives had fled the hospital. She suffered extensive fractures. After a series of surgeries, she is undergoing rehabilitation at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in the District.
The nation's fascination with the Palestine, W.Va., resident grew even more intense after The Washington Post reported in a front-page story that she had waged a fierce gunbattle with Iraqi attackers. The Post subsequently retracted that account in an extensive investigative story on the ambush and her hospital stay.
After the ambush, a U.S. Central Command spokesman said the company took a wrong turn. Instead of heading north to support a Patriot antimissile battery, the convoy ended up in a section of Nasiriyah teeming with Iraqi paramilitary and soldiers.
Pentagon sources said the 15-6 report does not find fault with the actions of any 507th member.
Fort Bliss, Texas, where the 507th is based, last week awarded medals for bravery to nine surviving members, including Sgt. Curtis Campbell, who fought off attackers.
"Actually, I was just doing my job," Sgt. Campbell told KFOX-TV in El Paso. "And there were so many individuals who collectively did so many great things. Given the situation that we were in, the training that we received helped us all to survive the situation. And because it was an ambush, the only way through an ambush is to go through and fight your way through, and each soldier did exactly what they were trained to do."
Crash caused Lynch's 'horrific injuries'
By Rowan Scarborough
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
The Army will release a report tomorrow on the ambush of the 507th Maintenance Company in Iraq that will show Pfc. Jessica Lynch and another female soldier suffered extensive injuries in a vehicle accident, but not from Iraqi fighters.
The deadly March 23 battle in Nasiriyah, in central Iraq, has emerged as perhaps the most famous incident in the war both for what happened and for what was reported to have happened, but did not.
The Army's 15-page report officially will debunk accounts that Pfc. Lynch emptied two revolvers at her attackers and was shot and stabbed before being taken prisoner of war. In fact, she was riding in a Humvee that was struck by a projectile during a frantic attempt to escape the ambush. She suffered "horrific injuries," said Pentagon sources familiar with the report.
Pfc. Lori Ann Piestewa, a good friend of Pfc. Lynch's, was driving the Humvee. The strike on the vehicle caused her to lose control. The utility vehicle smashed into a disabled tractor-trailer at more than 45 mph, critically injuring Pfc. Piestewa, the Pentagon sources said.
Rumors surfaced that Pfc Piestewa, 23, of Tuba City, Ariz., was killed by Iraqis at the scene. But the Pentagon sources said she died later at a Nasiriyah hospital of injuries suffered in the crash. She was the only military woman to die in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Pentagon statistics show.
Pfc. Lynch also was pulled from the wreckage and taken to the same hospital. "Lynch survived principally because of the medical attention she received from the Iraqis," one source said.
A week later, she became one of the war's most recognized faces. A combat camera crew recorded American special-operations forces carrying her broken body on a stretcher from the hospital to a rescue aircraft.
The report also will show that the company's senior enlisted soldier, 1st Sgt. Robert Dowdy, worked furiously to reorganize the 507th 13-vehicle convoy so it could make a retreat. Traveling in Pfc. Piestewa's Humvee, Sgt. Dowdy stopped, got out of the vehicle and tried to motivate other soldiers. Two soldiers whose truck was disabled got into the Humvee with Sgt. Dowdy and the two female soldiers.
"This was a fight," a Pentagon source said. "They got popped at different locations. There were battles. They were fighting back."
The Humvee sped away from the scene and likely was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade. Sgt. Dowdy was killed instantly. A Pentagon source said it was not clear whether the two male soldiers in the back seat were killed by enemy fire or the accident.
The Army's report, which will be released at the Pentagon, was written by the service's Training and Doctrine Command, and by Army personnel at the Pentagon. It is based largely on an extensive commander's investigation, called a 15-6, which is the Army regulation that authorizes investigations of major incidents.
The sources said the 15-6 report itself will not be released. The Army's Criminal Investigative Command also is investigating the incident and its aftermath to see if any Iraqis have committed war crimes.
The report being released is restricted to the actions of soldiers in the ambush and does not deal with war-crimes issues or the time six 507th soldiers spent in captivity.
After the ambush, the Iraqis showed a videotape of some 507th members with gunshot wounds to the head in apparent execution-style killings. Of some 30 soldiers traveling in the convoy, 11 were killed and six, including Pfc. Lynch, were taken prisoner.
U.S. commandos rescued Pfc. Lynch, 19, on April 1 after her captives had fled the hospital. She suffered extensive fractures. After a series of surgeries, she is undergoing rehabilitation at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in the District.
The nation's fascination with the Palestine, W.Va., resident grew even more intense after The Washington Post reported in a front-page story that she had waged a fierce gunbattle with Iraqi attackers. The Post subsequently retracted that account in an extensive investigative story on the ambush and her hospital stay.
After the ambush, a U.S. Central Command spokesman said the company took a wrong turn. Instead of heading north to support a Patriot antimissile battery, the convoy ended up in a section of Nasiriyah teeming with Iraqi paramilitary and soldiers.
Pentagon sources said the 15-6 report does not find fault with the actions of any 507th member.
Fort Bliss, Texas, where the 507th is based, last week awarded medals for bravery to nine surviving members, including Sgt. Curtis Campbell, who fought off attackers.
"Actually, I was just doing my job," Sgt. Campbell told KFOX-TV in El Paso. "And there were so many individuals who collectively did so many great things. Given the situation that we were in, the training that we received helped us all to survive the situation. And because it was an ambush, the only way through an ambush is to go through and fight your way through, and each soldier did exactly what they were trained to do."
La. soldiers say goodbye to families, prepare for deployment
La. soldiers say goodbye to families, prepare for deployment
By DAVID LEIVA
The Associated Press
7/9/03 6:31 PM
BOGALUSA, La. (AP) -- When he found out that the Louisiana National Guard unit headquartered six blocks away was going overseas, Rafeal Trevino signed up.
On Wednesday morning, Pfc. Trevino, 22, stood with about 100 other soldiers and their families with the 205th Engineers Battalion at a farewell ceremony. The battalion will replace another unit stationed in Afghanistan.
"It's just duties, it's part of the job just like any civilian job," Trevino said, his 4-year-old daughter on his shoulders.
His wife doesn't see it that way, fearing her husband will run into suicide bombers or land mines.
"I'm scared to death he's going to come back in a box," Beverly Trevino said at the ceremony held on a high school baseball field.
The 205th leaves Thursday for Fort Polk. After two weeks there, the battalion will be shipped off, and they're not expected back for a year.
In tight-knit Bogalusa, where about 13,365 people live on 10 square miles, the loss of the soldiers will be felt.
"They're our people, this is my home," said Angelo Pepe, who helped organize a meal of spaghetti, pecan pie and red, white and blue cake for the departing soldiers and their families.
The town raised $5,000 for the going-away ceremony for the troops.
"Rural communities are more attuned to military service," said Sgt. 1st. Class Joe Srofe, head of retention.
Many soldiers returned after Sept. 11, he said.
"I re-enlisted when I knew we were going," said Sgt. Tracy Idiaquez, a 30-year-old first-grade teacher. Last year, she was named Teacher of the Year at Byrd Avenue Elementary.
Master Sgt. Tony Mizell recently returned from Afghanistan with the 769th Engineers Battalion and he volunteered to go back with the 205th. He has been with the Guard for 28 years and sees the current conflict as his calling.
"It's just like playing baseball. You're sitting on the bench all these years," Mizell said. "You get a chance to get off the bench and go play. That's the way I look at it."
Mizell is a welding instructor at a local vocational technical college.
Persian Gulf War veteran Maj. John Rowe's children made a goodbye banner out of a while table cloth for him. They painted their names and wrote the family motto on it: "Stand tall, finish strong."
"It kept the kids busy," said Janna Rowe, who was at the ceremony to see her husband off. "Kept their mind off of things."
Maj. Rowe is a physician assistant with the unit.
"The soldiers are called at a very important time," said Maj. Gen. Bennett Landreneau, the Louisiana Guard's top officer. "Recent events remind us of the perils. These perils are faced by all members of the armed forces."
In January, a soldier from the 769th stepped on an anti-personnel mine near Kabul, Afghanistan while clearing the area of mines. His right foot was amputated.
For Capt. Tim Maker, the unit commander who stayed in even though he moved to Atlanta, it also means not being home for his first wedding anniversary.
"We're proud to do this," he said with his wife, Valerie by his side.
Mike and Tanya Conway, of Picayune, Miss., walked out of the armory with a yard sign they paid $12 to show their support of the troops. But he couldn't hide his feelings.
"We don't like it. I'd be lying if I said I was in favor of this," Mike Conway said. "I have my doubts."
In all, about 500 troops with the 205th will be deployed. The unit builds roads, air fields, hospitals and base camps. The battalion is one of four that makes up the Pineville-based 225th Engineer Group.
Military officials said this is the first time the 205th has been called up for overseas duty since World War II.
As of Wednesday, there are 2,093 Louisiana Army National Guardsman on active duty, the Defense Department said. The total number of Reserve and National Guards nationwide on active duty is 204,100.
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By DAVID LEIVA
The Associated Press
7/9/03 6:31 PM
BOGALUSA, La. (AP) -- When he found out that the Louisiana National Guard unit headquartered six blocks away was going overseas, Rafeal Trevino signed up.
On Wednesday morning, Pfc. Trevino, 22, stood with about 100 other soldiers and their families with the 205th Engineers Battalion at a farewell ceremony. The battalion will replace another unit stationed in Afghanistan.
"It's just duties, it's part of the job just like any civilian job," Trevino said, his 4-year-old daughter on his shoulders.
His wife doesn't see it that way, fearing her husband will run into suicide bombers or land mines.
"I'm scared to death he's going to come back in a box," Beverly Trevino said at the ceremony held on a high school baseball field.
The 205th leaves Thursday for Fort Polk. After two weeks there, the battalion will be shipped off, and they're not expected back for a year.
In tight-knit Bogalusa, where about 13,365 people live on 10 square miles, the loss of the soldiers will be felt.
"They're our people, this is my home," said Angelo Pepe, who helped organize a meal of spaghetti, pecan pie and red, white and blue cake for the departing soldiers and their families.
The town raised $5,000 for the going-away ceremony for the troops.
"Rural communities are more attuned to military service," said Sgt. 1st. Class Joe Srofe, head of retention.
Many soldiers returned after Sept. 11, he said.
"I re-enlisted when I knew we were going," said Sgt. Tracy Idiaquez, a 30-year-old first-grade teacher. Last year, she was named Teacher of the Year at Byrd Avenue Elementary.
Master Sgt. Tony Mizell recently returned from Afghanistan with the 769th Engineers Battalion and he volunteered to go back with the 205th. He has been with the Guard for 28 years and sees the current conflict as his calling.
"It's just like playing baseball. You're sitting on the bench all these years," Mizell said. "You get a chance to get off the bench and go play. That's the way I look at it."
Mizell is a welding instructor at a local vocational technical college.
Persian Gulf War veteran Maj. John Rowe's children made a goodbye banner out of a while table cloth for him. They painted their names and wrote the family motto on it: "Stand tall, finish strong."
"It kept the kids busy," said Janna Rowe, who was at the ceremony to see her husband off. "Kept their mind off of things."
Maj. Rowe is a physician assistant with the unit.
"The soldiers are called at a very important time," said Maj. Gen. Bennett Landreneau, the Louisiana Guard's top officer. "Recent events remind us of the perils. These perils are faced by all members of the armed forces."
In January, a soldier from the 769th stepped on an anti-personnel mine near Kabul, Afghanistan while clearing the area of mines. His right foot was amputated.
For Capt. Tim Maker, the unit commander who stayed in even though he moved to Atlanta, it also means not being home for his first wedding anniversary.
"We're proud to do this," he said with his wife, Valerie by his side.
Mike and Tanya Conway, of Picayune, Miss., walked out of the armory with a yard sign they paid $12 to show their support of the troops. But he couldn't hide his feelings.
"We don't like it. I'd be lying if I said I was in favor of this," Mike Conway said. "I have my doubts."
In all, about 500 troops with the 205th will be deployed. The unit builds roads, air fields, hospitals and base camps. The battalion is one of four that makes up the Pineville-based 225th Engineer Group.
Military officials said this is the first time the 205th has been called up for overseas duty since World War II.
As of Wednesday, there are 2,093 Louisiana Army National Guardsman on active duty, the Defense Department said. The total number of Reserve and National Guards nationwide on active duty is 204,100.
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BBC's War Coverage Cements Independence and Ire: "The BBC can rightly claim that its rowwith Tony Blair's administration has cemented its independencefrom government, analysts said on Tuesday. But neither side hasemerged unscathed in the heated battle over the BBC's coverageof the Iraq war and Britain's public broadcaster is underpressure to make changes to safeguard its image as one of theworld's most trusted news organizations. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
9/11 commission frustrated by Bush administration intimidation: "A New York Times article written yesterday tells the story of a 9/11 commission intimidated and..."
In Catalyzer Newsroom
Iraqi oil tender for BP and Shell: "BP and Shell are poised to start selling oil from Iraq after successful tender bids."
In Ananova: War In Iraq
U.S. Seizes Two on Iraq Most-Wanted List: "Saddam Hussein's former interior minister and a top member of his Baath party have been taken into custody, the latest in a list of 55 most-wanted fugitives from the ousted regime, the U.S. military said Wednesday. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Army Details Ambush That Injured Lynch: "An Army report on the ambush of the 507th Maintenance Company in Iraq says fatigue, bad communications and other difficulties arising in "the fog of war" all factored into the deaths of 11 and capture of six, including still hospitalized Pfc. Jessica Lynch. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
US army report denies Private Jessica shooting claims: "Claims that Private Jessica Lynch was shot and stabbed as she fought with Iraqi soldiers before being taken prisoner have been debunked by a US Army report."
In Ananova: War In Iraq
Iraqi with alleged ties to 9/11 hijacker in U.S. custody in CNN - War in Iraq
Blair: WMD reports 'accurate' in CNN - War in Iraq
Clamor Over Iraq Nuke Claim: "The White House's withdrawal of its claim that Iraq had tried to buy uranium from Africa is leading Democrats here, and opposition lawmakers in Britain and Australia, to call for deeper inquiries into prewar intelligence."
In CBS News: Iraq Crisis
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
9/11 commission frustrated by Bush administration intimidation: "A New York Times article written yesterday tells the story of a 9/11 commission intimidated and..."
In Catalyzer Newsroom
Iraqi oil tender for BP and Shell: "BP and Shell are poised to start selling oil from Iraq after successful tender bids."
In Ananova: War In Iraq
U.S. Seizes Two on Iraq Most-Wanted List: "Saddam Hussein's former interior minister and a top member of his Baath party have been taken into custody, the latest in a list of 55 most-wanted fugitives from the ousted regime, the U.S. military said Wednesday. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Army Details Ambush That Injured Lynch: "An Army report on the ambush of the 507th Maintenance Company in Iraq says fatigue, bad communications and other difficulties arising in "the fog of war" all factored into the deaths of 11 and capture of six, including still hospitalized Pfc. Jessica Lynch. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
US army report denies Private Jessica shooting claims: "Claims that Private Jessica Lynch was shot and stabbed as she fought with Iraqi soldiers before being taken prisoner have been debunked by a US Army report."
In Ananova: War In Iraq
Iraqi with alleged ties to 9/11 hijacker in U.S. custody in CNN - War in Iraq
Blair: WMD reports 'accurate' in CNN - War in Iraq
Clamor Over Iraq Nuke Claim: "The White House's withdrawal of its claim that Iraq had tried to buy uranium from Africa is leading Democrats here, and opposition lawmakers in Britain and Australia, to call for deeper inquiries into prewar intelligence."
In CBS News: Iraq Crisis
WMD Retraction Fuels Probe Calls: "The White House's withdrawal of its claim that Iraq had tried to buy uranium from Africa is leading Democrats here, and opposition lawmakers in Britain and Australia, to call for deeper inquiries into prewar intelligence."
In CBS News: Iraq Crisis
Coalition still struggles, three months after fall of Baghdad: "US-led coalition forces marked three months since they captured Baghdad, struggling to restore services in the face of continued attacks from guerrilla bands. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
U.S. Troops Seize Large Weapons Cache Near Baghdad: "U.S. forces have seized a large cacheof rocket-propelled grenades (RPG), the weapon of choice foranti-American guerrillas in Iraq, near a flashpoint town westof Baghdad, the U.S. military said on Wednesday. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
As George Bush tours Africa US Congress set to slash Africa aid (9 July 03) in Radio Free USA
White House 'warned over Iraq claim' (9 July 03) in Radio Free USA
Vehicle crash caused Lynch's 'horrific injuries' (9 July 03) in Radio Free USA
UN rules out mass repatriation of Iraqi refugees this year: "The UN refugee agency said that it was ruling out the mass repatriation of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees this year because of growing insecurity in the country. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Iraq Democracy Watch: "Parallel Justice Systems (Sound familiar?)
Back at the end of June, Amnesty International filed a news release calling for the US to "give hundreds of Iraqis detained since the beginning of the occupation the right to meet families and lawyers and to have a judicial review of their detention." AI is also calling for investigations into allegations of "ill-treatment, torture, and death in custody."
The UK Times OnLine today paints a vivid portrait of the issue of the detainees, including children "accused of petty offences including writing anti-American graffiti."
There are two primary detention camps, one outside of the Baghdad Airport called, "Camp Cropper," and another outside Hussein's old Abu Ghraib prison, to the west of Baghdad.
In an unrelated article portraying a small town's council leader, the NYT gave another glimpse into how the detentions are affecting daily life.
According to the LA Times ,
This has, apparently, created a parallel justice system, according to Amnesty:
The Coalition authorities contend that "acknowledge they face 'serious short-term problems' " in putting the trappings of a valid justice system into effect says the LA Times.
The situation is close to impossible, with the tremendous demands for security in order to ensure everything from rebuilding to the effective distribution of food and other humanitarian aid.
But it must be possible at the very least to allow visitors, provide humane conditions, not to arrest children (or at least keep them in a separate facility), to keep prisoners of war separate from suspected criminals, and to avoid arrests over trivial issues...until the justice system can be brought up to speed. "
In CBS News: Iraq Crisis
Coalition still struggles, three months after fall of Baghdad: "US-led coalition forces marked three months since they captured Baghdad, struggling to restore services in the face of continued attacks from guerrilla bands. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
U.S. Troops Seize Large Weapons Cache Near Baghdad: "U.S. forces have seized a large cacheof rocket-propelled grenades (RPG), the weapon of choice foranti-American guerrillas in Iraq, near a flashpoint town westof Baghdad, the U.S. military said on Wednesday. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
As George Bush tours Africa US Congress set to slash Africa aid (9 July 03) in Radio Free USA
White House 'warned over Iraq claim' (9 July 03) in Radio Free USA
Vehicle crash caused Lynch's 'horrific injuries' (9 July 03) in Radio Free USA
UN rules out mass repatriation of Iraqi refugees this year: "The UN refugee agency said that it was ruling out the mass repatriation of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees this year because of growing insecurity in the country. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Iraq Democracy Watch: "Parallel Justice Systems (Sound familiar?)
Back at the end of June, Amnesty International filed a news release calling for the US to "give hundreds of Iraqis detained since the beginning of the occupation the right to meet families and lawyers and to have a judicial review of their detention." AI is also calling for investigations into allegations of "ill-treatment, torture, and death in custody."
The UK Times OnLine today paints a vivid portrait of the issue of the detainees, including children "accused of petty offences including writing anti-American graffiti."
There are two primary detention camps, one outside of the Baghdad Airport called, "Camp Cropper," and another outside Hussein's old Abu Ghraib prison, to the west of Baghdad.
In an unrelated article portraying a small town's council leader, the NYT gave another glimpse into how the detentions are affecting daily life.
Mr. Dari said he received 10 to 12 complaints a day about weapons, cars or relatives taken by the Americans. One man came to report that American soldiers had taken away his deaf relative a month ago for having a picture of Saddam Hussein in his house, and that he had not been seen since.
According to the LA Times ,
Across Iraq, about 3,000 men are being held without formal charges in high-security facilities sealed off from public scrutiny...The Iraqi legal system, which could process those arrested for crimes covered by local penal codes, is barely functioning.
This has, apparently, created a parallel justice system, according to Amnesty:
some detainees fall into the "black hole" detention center at the airport; their family has no news of them and they are only entitled to a review of their detention within three weeks by a US military lawyer. Others arrested for similar offences are taken to Iraqi police stations and receive the protection of the procedures in the 1971 Criminal Procedure Code: their files are brought before an Iraqi examining magistrate within 24 hours. They are entitled to release if there is insufficient evidence against them.
The Coalition authorities contend that "acknowledge they face 'serious short-term problems' " in putting the trappings of a valid justice system into effect says the LA Times.
The situation is close to impossible, with the tremendous demands for security in order to ensure everything from rebuilding to the effective distribution of food and other humanitarian aid.
But it must be possible at the very least to allow visitors, provide humane conditions, not to arrest children (or at least keep them in a separate facility), to keep prisoners of war separate from suspected criminals, and to avoid arrests over trivial issues...until the justice system can be brought up to speed. "
Tuesday, July 08, 2003
Yahoo! News Photos - Iraq
spliffs bader (spliffslips@aool.com) has sent you a news slideshow
Yahoo! News Photos - Iraq
Personal message:
Iraq war photos 07-08-03
Yahoo! News Photos - Iraq
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?p=news&g=events/ts/082701iraqplane&i=index&e=1&tmpl=sl&ns=0&l=&m=&c=
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  Email this slideshow | A man counts Iarqi dinar as he waits with others to fill their cans in the long gas lines, Tuesday, July 8, 2003, in Babylon City, 60 kms (38 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq (news - web sites). Bickering and fighting at the lines at over crowded gas stations in the hot sun for the rationed fuel leads some station owners to have U.S. soldiers guard and maintain peace at the pumps. (AP Photo/Wally Santana)
|
Monday, July 07, 2003
Turkey's reversing secularism, moves toward Islamic standards in IraqWar.ru (English)
Baghdad Back To Stone Age in IraqWar.ru (English)
Dust and despair at Iraqi police post in IraqWar.ru (English)
Retired diplomat: Iraq intelligence twisted by administration in IraqWar.ru (English)
Troop morale in Iraq hits 'rock bottom' in IraqWar.ru (English)
2 More GIs Killed In Iraq: "Separate attacks on U.S. military convoys in Baghdad have left two more American soldiers dead. Hours earlier, a U.S. soldier was shot to death while waiting to buy a soft drink at Baghdad University; and a British reporter was killed in Baghdad."
In CBS News: Iraq Crisis
Violence in Iraq spreads beyond military: "A U.S. soldier waiting to buy a soft drink at Baghdad University was shot and killed Sunday by an assailant who fired once from close range in the third such assault in nine days."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
U.S. Soldier Dies in Baghdad Shooting: "An assailant shot and killed a U.S. soldier waiting to buy a soft drink at Baghdad University, firing once from close range in the third such assault in nine days on Sunday. The style was coldly similar to the killing of the young British freelance cameraman, who was shot in the head outside a Baghdad museum on Saturday. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Arab media: Iraq's former ambassador dies: "Nizar Hamdoun, Iraq's former U.S. and U.N. ambassador and a key figure in restoring Iraqi-U.S. relations in the 1980s, has died in New York following a long battle with leukemia, an Arab newspaper reported Sunday. He was 58."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Baghdad Back To Stone Age in IraqWar.ru (English)
Dust and despair at Iraqi police post in IraqWar.ru (English)
Retired diplomat: Iraq intelligence twisted by administration in IraqWar.ru (English)
Troop morale in Iraq hits 'rock bottom' in IraqWar.ru (English)
2 More GIs Killed In Iraq: "Separate attacks on U.S. military convoys in Baghdad have left two more American soldiers dead. Hours earlier, a U.S. soldier was shot to death while waiting to buy a soft drink at Baghdad University; and a British reporter was killed in Baghdad."
In CBS News: Iraq Crisis
Violence in Iraq spreads beyond military: "A U.S. soldier waiting to buy a soft drink at Baghdad University was shot and killed Sunday by an assailant who fired once from close range in the third such assault in nine days."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
U.S. Soldier Dies in Baghdad Shooting: "An assailant shot and killed a U.S. soldier waiting to buy a soft drink at Baghdad University, firing once from close range in the third such assault in nine days on Sunday. The style was coldly similar to the killing of the young British freelance cameraman, who was shot in the head outside a Baghdad museum on Saturday. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Arab media: Iraq's former ambassador dies: "Nizar Hamdoun, Iraq's former U.S. and U.N. ambassador and a key figure in restoring Iraqi-U.S. relations in the 1980s, has died in New York following a long battle with leukemia, an Arab newspaper reported Sunday. He was 58."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
U.S. troops raiding Iraqi homes
KEEP YOUR HELMET ON!
U.S. troops raiding Iraqi homes in search of weapons and suspects are trampling on a particularly important Muslim sensibility the sanctity of the home.
Many Iraqis see the pre-dawn raids as the single most offending practice of the U.S. occupation. They're part of hundreds of cultural clashes that occur daily between Iraqis and Americans.
U.S. troops have been raiding homes in search of members of Saddam Hussein's toppled regime and illegal weapons since the fall of Baghdad. But the raids have become much more frequent in recent weeks, focusing on areas north and west of the Iraqi capital where the former dictator enjoyed his strongest support.
Iraqis complain the raids expose women to soldiers when they are not properly dressed raising questions of honor in much of Iraq and terrify children. They say the soldiers force doors open rather than use keys on offer, go through personal belongings and humiliate the men in front of their families by cuffing their hands and ordering them to lie face down on the ground.
U.S. officials counter that soldiers don't intend to mistreat Iraqis. The raids, they say, are carried out professionally and for genuine security reasons.
"They're humiliating," Mahmoud al-Samarrai, 50, said of the raids. "Some of our fellow Muslims and Arabs say the Americans liberated us. If they think this is liberation, then we wish them the same," said the retired civil servant from Samarra, a stronghold of Saddam supporters north of Baghdad and a frequent target of U.S. raids.
Iraqis, like Muslims everywhere, observe a rigid etiquette when entering someone else's home. The process is designed to safeguard the privacy and allow time for women to move out of sight or to change into more appropriate dress covering the body with loose garments and using a scarf to conceal the hair in line with Islamic practice.
Traditionally, men visiting another's home pause outside to announce their presence through a loud clearing of the throat, shouting a greeting or calling out the name of the man of the house. They wait outside until the head of the family tells them to proceed.
Many rural homes in Iraq have a special room with a separate entrance that's used exclusively by the head of the family to receive male guests, an arrangement that keeps women out of the visitors' sight.
Under Islamic law, taking out the eye of someone who spies on someone else's home need not be punished.
"Our homes have sanctity, but these American aggressors have no way of knowing that," said Hatem Ahmed, a mosque imam and a lecturer at Baghdad University. "They have become a heavy burden on us and it's time they left," he said.
An Associated Press reporter who accompanied U.S. troops during a recent raid on a Baghdad house said the soldiers stormed in, shouting and swearing. They rushed into a living room. Women shrieked while clutching crying babies.
"Sit down!" the soldiers screamed at the women. Then they kicked open the home's doors, found a man and dragged him outside. The man was handcuffed and sat against a wall until herded onto a truck and taken for questioning.
In Fallujah, a city west of Baghdad where U.S. troops have come under frequent attacks, men as old as 60 recounted raids on their homes when they were handcuffed and told to stand facing a wall.
U.S. military commanders say they must balance security with efforts to win the trust of Iraqis.
"I will not deny that there are times when we have been forceful and knocking down doors," said Maj. Anthony Aguto of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment in al-Anbar province, scene of the worst violence against U.S. forces. "We do that when we feel that we are in danger or threatened or when we have reliable intelligence on weapons."
Aguto said there were instances when the use of force was unnecessary, with soldiers quickly calming members of the household and offering sweets to the children.
"My men are culturally sensitive," he declared, adding that many of them find house raids to be "distasteful but necessary."
Capt. Michael Calvert, the regiment's spokesman, said that in cases when intelligence that led to a house raid was found to be false, U.S. troops returned to the raided dwelling and carried out repairs.
U.S. troops raiding Iraqi homes in search of weapons and suspects are trampling on a particularly important Muslim sensibility the sanctity of the home.
Many Iraqis see the pre-dawn raids as the single most offending practice of the U.S. occupation. They're part of hundreds of cultural clashes that occur daily between Iraqis and Americans.
U.S. troops have been raiding homes in search of members of Saddam Hussein's toppled regime and illegal weapons since the fall of Baghdad. But the raids have become much more frequent in recent weeks, focusing on areas north and west of the Iraqi capital where the former dictator enjoyed his strongest support.
Iraqis complain the raids expose women to soldiers when they are not properly dressed raising questions of honor in much of Iraq and terrify children. They say the soldiers force doors open rather than use keys on offer, go through personal belongings and humiliate the men in front of their families by cuffing their hands and ordering them to lie face down on the ground.
U.S. officials counter that soldiers don't intend to mistreat Iraqis. The raids, they say, are carried out professionally and for genuine security reasons.
"They're humiliating," Mahmoud al-Samarrai, 50, said of the raids. "Some of our fellow Muslims and Arabs say the Americans liberated us. If they think this is liberation, then we wish them the same," said the retired civil servant from Samarra, a stronghold of Saddam supporters north of Baghdad and a frequent target of U.S. raids.
Iraqis, like Muslims everywhere, observe a rigid etiquette when entering someone else's home. The process is designed to safeguard the privacy and allow time for women to move out of sight or to change into more appropriate dress covering the body with loose garments and using a scarf to conceal the hair in line with Islamic practice.
Traditionally, men visiting another's home pause outside to announce their presence through a loud clearing of the throat, shouting a greeting or calling out the name of the man of the house. They wait outside until the head of the family tells them to proceed.
Many rural homes in Iraq have a special room with a separate entrance that's used exclusively by the head of the family to receive male guests, an arrangement that keeps women out of the visitors' sight.
Under Islamic law, taking out the eye of someone who spies on someone else's home need not be punished.
"Our homes have sanctity, but these American aggressors have no way of knowing that," said Hatem Ahmed, a mosque imam and a lecturer at Baghdad University. "They have become a heavy burden on us and it's time they left," he said.
An Associated Press reporter who accompanied U.S. troops during a recent raid on a Baghdad house said the soldiers stormed in, shouting and swearing. They rushed into a living room. Women shrieked while clutching crying babies.
"Sit down!" the soldiers screamed at the women. Then they kicked open the home's doors, found a man and dragged him outside. The man was handcuffed and sat against a wall until herded onto a truck and taken for questioning.
In Fallujah, a city west of Baghdad where U.S. troops have come under frequent attacks, men as old as 60 recounted raids on their homes when they were handcuffed and told to stand facing a wall.
U.S. military commanders say they must balance security with efforts to win the trust of Iraqis.
"I will not deny that there are times when we have been forceful and knocking down doors," said Maj. Anthony Aguto of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment in al-Anbar province, scene of the worst violence against U.S. forces. "We do that when we feel that we are in danger or threatened or when we have reliable intelligence on weapons."
Aguto said there were instances when the use of force was unnecessary, with soldiers quickly calming members of the household and offering sweets to the children.
"My men are culturally sensitive," he declared, adding that many of them find house raids to be "distasteful but necessary."
Capt. Michael Calvert, the regiment's spokesman, said that in cases when intelligence that led to a house raid was found to be false, U.S. troops returned to the raided dwelling and carried out repairs.
Attacks Kill 3 U.S. Soldiers in Baghdad
KEEP YOUR HELMET ON!
Baghdad
By PAUL HAVEN
Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq
US soldiers stand guard as an Iraqi motorist kneels on the side of the road to be frisked at a mobile checkpoint in Kadhamiya north of the capital Baghdad, Iraq Monday July 7, 2003 where hours earlier a convoy was attacked and a US soldier was killed. US troops on patrol in Baghdad and other areas have been coming under attack almost daily. (AP Photo/Wally Santana)
Iraq's cascade of violence claimed more American lives, with a bomb attack on a military convoy killing one U.S. soldier Monday and gunmen slaying another in an ambush on a patrol in the capital.
Three American soldiers have been killed in attacks in Baghdad in a 24-hour period. Four other U.S. soldiers were wounded in a grenade attack on their convoy in the restive town of Ramadi west of Baghdad.
Early Monday, insurgents threw a homemade bomb at a U.S. convoy in northern Baghdad, killing a soldier, said Sgt. Patrick Compton, a spokesman for the military.
The night before, two gunmen ambushed a platoon in the Adhamiyah neighborhood of northern Baghdad, and in the firefight that followed an American was killed, a military statement said.
"Soldiers pursued the attackers and during an ensuing firefight, the soldier was killed. One gunman was killed and the other wounded," the statement said.
Earlier Sunday a U.S. soldier shot in the head at close range as he waited to buy a soft drink at Baghdad University.
With ambushes, shootings and bombings taking place daily _ blamed on Saddam Hussein loyalists and other disgruntled Iraqis _ 30 American soldiers have been killed by hostile action since President Bush declared major combat over on May 1.
Despite increasing attacks against Americans, no extra troops are needed there now, Gen. Tommy Franks, the war's retiring commander, said Monday. "The sense that I have right now is that it's not time to send in additional troops," he told ABC's "Good Morning America." "We want ... to continue to move forward with establishing security by working with the Iraqis."
In northern Iraq, U.S. forces on Sunday released 11 Turkish special forces detained last week, the Turkish military said, ending a diplomatic standoff between the two NATO allies.
In Ramadi, 60 miles west of Baghdad, attackers fired a rocket-propelled grenade on a U.S. convoy late Sunday, wounding four American soldiers, the military said. One Iraqi suspect was killed and another wounded.
Tension has increased in the town since a bomb blast on Saturday killed seven Iraqi police recruits as they graduated from a U.S.-taught training course. Dozens more were injured.
The U.S. military blamed the attack on pro-Saddam Hussein insurgents seeking to target those working with the Americans, but many in Ramadi said they thought the Americans themselves were behind the incident.
Ramadi, one of several Sunni-majority towns along the Euphrates River west of Baghdad, was a stronghold of support for Saddam, and has been the site of frequent attacks that have killed Americans as well as Iraqis.
Both of the American soldiers killed in convoy attacks in Baghdad were from the Army's 1st Armored Division, the Germany-based division which is charged with occupying the Iraqi capital.
The killing of the U.S. soldier waiting to buy a soft drink Sunday was similar to the slaying of a young British freelance cameraman, who was shot in the head outside a Baghdad museum on Saturday.
The death of the cameraman and a grenade attack on a U.N. compound raised concern that Iraq's worsening insurgency _ until now targeting only coalition troops and Iraqis accused of U.S. collaboration _ will spread to Westerners in general.
U.S. troops on patrol in Baghdad and other areas have been attacked several times a day, and Iraqi police and civilians perceived to be working with the occupying forces also have been targeted.
U.S. Army Maj. William Thurmond said it was too early to tell whether a pattern was emerging that would suggest insurgents are targeting foreign civilians, but he said such a strategy could thwart news gathering and humanitarian relief efforts.
"Hopefully they're isolated events and we won't have to face them in the future," Thurmond said. "It might work to the advantage of someone who's trying to fight the coalition."
The killing of the television cameraman, 24-year-old Richard Wild, occurred around midday, while the victim was carrying no apparent sign that he was a reporter.
Wild, who arrived in the country two weeks ago aiming to be a war correspondent, was killed by a single pistol shot fired into the base of his skull from close range, colleagues said. The assailant fled into the crowd and was not apprehended.
In a similar incident, an assailant with a pistol shot and critically injured a U.S. soldier in the neck on June 27 as he shopped on a Baghdad street.
The release of the Turkish special forces came after Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke to Vice President Dick Cheney for about half an hour on the phone Sunday.
The soldiers _ and 13 Iraqi staff and security guards who were also held _ were returned to their office in the northern city of Sulaymaniyah by helicopter Monday, Anatolia reported.
Baghdad
By PAUL HAVEN
Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq
US soldiers stand guard as an Iraqi motorist kneels on the side of the road to be frisked at a mobile checkpoint in Kadhamiya north of the capital Baghdad, Iraq Monday July 7, 2003 where hours earlier a convoy was attacked and a US soldier was killed. US troops on patrol in Baghdad and other areas have been coming under attack almost daily. (AP Photo/Wally Santana)
Iraq's cascade of violence claimed more American lives, with a bomb attack on a military convoy killing one U.S. soldier Monday and gunmen slaying another in an ambush on a patrol in the capital.
Three American soldiers have been killed in attacks in Baghdad in a 24-hour period. Four other U.S. soldiers were wounded in a grenade attack on their convoy in the restive town of Ramadi west of Baghdad.
Early Monday, insurgents threw a homemade bomb at a U.S. convoy in northern Baghdad, killing a soldier, said Sgt. Patrick Compton, a spokesman for the military.
The night before, two gunmen ambushed a platoon in the Adhamiyah neighborhood of northern Baghdad, and in the firefight that followed an American was killed, a military statement said.
"Soldiers pursued the attackers and during an ensuing firefight, the soldier was killed. One gunman was killed and the other wounded," the statement said.
Earlier Sunday a U.S. soldier shot in the head at close range as he waited to buy a soft drink at Baghdad University.
With ambushes, shootings and bombings taking place daily _ blamed on Saddam Hussein loyalists and other disgruntled Iraqis _ 30 American soldiers have been killed by hostile action since President Bush declared major combat over on May 1.
Despite increasing attacks against Americans, no extra troops are needed there now, Gen. Tommy Franks, the war's retiring commander, said Monday. "The sense that I have right now is that it's not time to send in additional troops," he told ABC's "Good Morning America." "We want ... to continue to move forward with establishing security by working with the Iraqis."
In northern Iraq, U.S. forces on Sunday released 11 Turkish special forces detained last week, the Turkish military said, ending a diplomatic standoff between the two NATO allies.
In Ramadi, 60 miles west of Baghdad, attackers fired a rocket-propelled grenade on a U.S. convoy late Sunday, wounding four American soldiers, the military said. One Iraqi suspect was killed and another wounded.
Tension has increased in the town since a bomb blast on Saturday killed seven Iraqi police recruits as they graduated from a U.S.-taught training course. Dozens more were injured.
The U.S. military blamed the attack on pro-Saddam Hussein insurgents seeking to target those working with the Americans, but many in Ramadi said they thought the Americans themselves were behind the incident.
Ramadi, one of several Sunni-majority towns along the Euphrates River west of Baghdad, was a stronghold of support for Saddam, and has been the site of frequent attacks that have killed Americans as well as Iraqis.
Both of the American soldiers killed in convoy attacks in Baghdad were from the Army's 1st Armored Division, the Germany-based division which is charged with occupying the Iraqi capital.
The killing of the U.S. soldier waiting to buy a soft drink Sunday was similar to the slaying of a young British freelance cameraman, who was shot in the head outside a Baghdad museum on Saturday.
The death of the cameraman and a grenade attack on a U.N. compound raised concern that Iraq's worsening insurgency _ until now targeting only coalition troops and Iraqis accused of U.S. collaboration _ will spread to Westerners in general.
U.S. troops on patrol in Baghdad and other areas have been attacked several times a day, and Iraqi police and civilians perceived to be working with the occupying forces also have been targeted.
U.S. Army Maj. William Thurmond said it was too early to tell whether a pattern was emerging that would suggest insurgents are targeting foreign civilians, but he said such a strategy could thwart news gathering and humanitarian relief efforts.
"Hopefully they're isolated events and we won't have to face them in the future," Thurmond said. "It might work to the advantage of someone who's trying to fight the coalition."
The killing of the television cameraman, 24-year-old Richard Wild, occurred around midday, while the victim was carrying no apparent sign that he was a reporter.
Wild, who arrived in the country two weeks ago aiming to be a war correspondent, was killed by a single pistol shot fired into the base of his skull from close range, colleagues said. The assailant fled into the crowd and was not apprehended.
In a similar incident, an assailant with a pistol shot and critically injured a U.S. soldier in the neck on June 27 as he shopped on a Baghdad street.
The release of the Turkish special forces came after Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke to Vice President Dick Cheney for about half an hour on the phone Sunday.
The soldiers _ and 13 Iraqi staff and security guards who were also held _ were returned to their office in the northern city of Sulaymaniyah by helicopter Monday, Anatolia reported.
Sunday, July 06, 2003
U.S. forces killed two insurgents
KEEP YOUR HELMET ON!
U.S. Soldier Shot and Killed in Baghdad
By JIM KRANE
.c The Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - An assailant shot and killed a U.S. soldier waiting to buy a soft drink at Baghdad University, firing once from close range in the third such assault in nine days on Sunday. The style was coldly similar to the killing of the young British freelance cameraman, who was shot in the head outside a Baghdad museum on Saturday.
U.S. troops on patrol in Baghdad and other areas have been attacked several times a day, and Iraqi police and civilians perceived to be working with the occupying forces also have been targeted. In the most serious such attack, a bomb blast in the western town of Ramadi killed seven Iraqi police recruits as they graduated from a U.S.-taught training course on Saturday. Dozens more were injured.
U.S. Army Maj. William Thurmond said it was too early to tell whether a pattern was emerging that would suggest insurgents are targeting foreign civilians, but he said such a strategy could thwart news gathering and humanitarian relief efforts.
``Hopefully they're isolated events and we won't have to face them in the future,'' Thurmond said. ``It might work to the advantage of someone who's trying to fight the coalition.''
The killing of the television cameraman, 24-year-old Richard Wild, occurred around midday, while the victim was carrying no apparent sign that he was a reporter.
Wild, who arrived in the country two weeks ago aiming to be a war correspondent, was killed by a single pistol shot fired into the base of his skull from close range, colleagues said. The assailant fled into the crowd and was not apprehended.
The U.S. soldier killed Sunday at Baghdad University also was shot at close range. The soldier from the Army's 1st Armored Division was evacuated to a combat support hospital after the midday shooting. He died later, the U.S. military said.
In a similar incident, an assailant with a pistol shot and critically injured a U.S. soldier in the neck on June 27 as he shopped on a Baghdad street.
On Saturday, insurgents fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the United Nation's International Organization for Migration office in Mosul, 240 miles northwest of Baghdad. The grenade slammed into a wall and damaged several cars, said Hamid Abdel-Jabar, a spokesman for the U.N. special representative in Iraq.
``There's no place for that in any civilized part of the world,'' Thurmond said. ``As soon as we get hold of them, they're gone. We'll find them. We'll attack them. And if necessary we'll kill them.''
Meanwhile, the United States agreed Sunday to release 11 Turkish special forces detained during a raid in northern Iraq - ending a standoff that strained efforts by the NATO allies to repair relations frayed over the Iraq war, a Turkish official said.
The Turkish soldiers will spend the night at a guest house in Baghdad and will be handed over to Turkish officials in Sulaymaniyah ``at daylight'' Monday, the high-level government official said on condition of anonymity.
The announcement came after Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke to Vice President Dick Cheney for about half an hour on the phone Sunday.
Also in Sulaymaniyah, Iraqi Turks and Turkish army officers suggested a local U.S. military commander overstepped his authority in ordering the raid. A Turkish paper said the raid came amid reports that Turks were planning to kill an unnamed senior Iraqi official in Kirkuk. Gul has denied any Turkish plot.
In other news:
An Australian NBC News sound engineer, Jeremy Little, died Sunday at a military hospital in Germany from complications following surgery for wounds he suffered June 29 in a grenade attack in Fallujah, NBC News said. Little, 27, was wounded when insurgents fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the military vehicle in which he was riding.
A group calling itself Wakefulness and Holy War claimed responsibility on Sunday for attacks on U.S. troops in Fallujah, a Sunni Muslim-dominated town 35 miles west of Baghdad. ``We are carrying out operations against the American occupation here in Fallujah and other Iraqi cities,'' said the statement, released on Iran-financed al-Alam TV in Baghdad. ``Saddam and America are two faces of the same coin.''
U.S. forces killed two insurgents who fired a rocket-propelled grenade as they drove toward an army outpost in the capital on Saturday.
Insurgents fired a rocket-propelled grenade into a U.S. Army compound in the town of Abu Sada al-Sagra early Sunday, lightly injuring one soldier.
The military announced the end of a seven-day sweep dubbed Sidewinder, in which 30 Iraqis were killed and 282 detained, while 28 U.S. soldiers were wounded. The military said it confiscated ammunition stocks and hundreds of weapons
U.S. Soldier Shot and Killed in Baghdad
By JIM KRANE
.c The Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - An assailant shot and killed a U.S. soldier waiting to buy a soft drink at Baghdad University, firing once from close range in the third such assault in nine days on Sunday. The style was coldly similar to the killing of the young British freelance cameraman, who was shot in the head outside a Baghdad museum on Saturday.
U.S. troops on patrol in Baghdad and other areas have been attacked several times a day, and Iraqi police and civilians perceived to be working with the occupying forces also have been targeted. In the most serious such attack, a bomb blast in the western town of Ramadi killed seven Iraqi police recruits as they graduated from a U.S.-taught training course on Saturday. Dozens more were injured.
U.S. Army Maj. William Thurmond said it was too early to tell whether a pattern was emerging that would suggest insurgents are targeting foreign civilians, but he said such a strategy could thwart news gathering and humanitarian relief efforts.
``Hopefully they're isolated events and we won't have to face them in the future,'' Thurmond said. ``It might work to the advantage of someone who's trying to fight the coalition.''
The killing of the television cameraman, 24-year-old Richard Wild, occurred around midday, while the victim was carrying no apparent sign that he was a reporter.
Wild, who arrived in the country two weeks ago aiming to be a war correspondent, was killed by a single pistol shot fired into the base of his skull from close range, colleagues said. The assailant fled into the crowd and was not apprehended.
The U.S. soldier killed Sunday at Baghdad University also was shot at close range. The soldier from the Army's 1st Armored Division was evacuated to a combat support hospital after the midday shooting. He died later, the U.S. military said.
In a similar incident, an assailant with a pistol shot and critically injured a U.S. soldier in the neck on June 27 as he shopped on a Baghdad street.
On Saturday, insurgents fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the United Nation's International Organization for Migration office in Mosul, 240 miles northwest of Baghdad. The grenade slammed into a wall and damaged several cars, said Hamid Abdel-Jabar, a spokesman for the U.N. special representative in Iraq.
``There's no place for that in any civilized part of the world,'' Thurmond said. ``As soon as we get hold of them, they're gone. We'll find them. We'll attack them. And if necessary we'll kill them.''
Meanwhile, the United States agreed Sunday to release 11 Turkish special forces detained during a raid in northern Iraq - ending a standoff that strained efforts by the NATO allies to repair relations frayed over the Iraq war, a Turkish official said.
The Turkish soldiers will spend the night at a guest house in Baghdad and will be handed over to Turkish officials in Sulaymaniyah ``at daylight'' Monday, the high-level government official said on condition of anonymity.
The announcement came after Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke to Vice President Dick Cheney for about half an hour on the phone Sunday.
Also in Sulaymaniyah, Iraqi Turks and Turkish army officers suggested a local U.S. military commander overstepped his authority in ordering the raid. A Turkish paper said the raid came amid reports that Turks were planning to kill an unnamed senior Iraqi official in Kirkuk. Gul has denied any Turkish plot.
In other news:
An Australian NBC News sound engineer, Jeremy Little, died Sunday at a military hospital in Germany from complications following surgery for wounds he suffered June 29 in a grenade attack in Fallujah, NBC News said. Little, 27, was wounded when insurgents fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the military vehicle in which he was riding.
A group calling itself Wakefulness and Holy War claimed responsibility on Sunday for attacks on U.S. troops in Fallujah, a Sunni Muslim-dominated town 35 miles west of Baghdad. ``We are carrying out operations against the American occupation here in Fallujah and other Iraqi cities,'' said the statement, released on Iran-financed al-Alam TV in Baghdad. ``Saddam and America are two faces of the same coin.''
U.S. forces killed two insurgents who fired a rocket-propelled grenade as they drove toward an army outpost in the capital on Saturday.
Insurgents fired a rocket-propelled grenade into a U.S. Army compound in the town of Abu Sada al-Sagra early Sunday, lightly injuring one soldier.
The military announced the end of a seven-day sweep dubbed Sidewinder, in which 30 Iraqis were killed and 282 detained, while 28 U.S. soldiers were wounded. The military said it confiscated ammunition stocks and hundreds of weapons
Another US soldier was slain in Baghdad Sunday
KEEP YOUR HELMET ON!
Fatigued, US troops yearn for home
Another US soldier was slain in Baghdad Sunday, the latest in a pattern of attacks.
By Scott Peterson | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
BAGHDAD Facing repeatedly delayed go-home dates and attacks by elements of a population they were sent to protect, American troops in Iraq are under increasing stress. The killing of a US soldier Sunday at Baghdad University epitomizes the non-combat violence that leaves US forces on tenterhooks - and waiting for a ticket home.
"A lot of guys, because the dates have been tossed around, have lost hope," says Capt. John Jensen, an engineering battalion chaplain. "Nobody's been able to answer that question: when?"
Related stories
07/07/2003
Fatigued, US troops yearn for home
07/07/2003
Troop morale in Iraq hits 'rock bottom'
more stories...
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Write a letter to the Editor
Printer-friendly version
Permission to reprint/republish
Soldiers who came to Iraq expecting to spend their time in combat have found themselves, after the war proper, mired in the day-to-day realities of maintaining order and rebuilding a battered nation. "The actual combat happened very fast, so the biggest stress we see now is peacekeeping," says Col. Robert Knapp, who heads the 113th Medical Company combat-stress unit on the grounds of the presidential palace in Baghdad.
"Our people are not really trained for peacekeeping, and not equipped for riot control. They are trained to fight the enemy and kill them," Colonel Knapp says.
The troops came to Iraq prepared to fight; but after President Bush declared the end of major combat on May 1, their workload has included containing looting, restoring social services, and training Iraqi policemen.
The bloody shift from war to occupation has already taken 26 American lives since then.
And with an average of 13 contacts a day with armed resistors, American troops ply the roads of Baghdad nervously and often get stuck in traffic, leading exposed soldiers to brandish assault rifles, and keep their pistols drawn.
The trauma of this conflict is varied: Soldiers say they have seen remarkable scenes of killing and carnage; others speak of fears they face daily, doing urban patrols against an unseen, ghostlike enemy. Others have been away from home too long, with the absence and new dangers fraying their families' patience.
One result is that the US Army is planning a screening process and two-week "decompression" session for soldiers going home, to look for danger signs, reacclimatize them to civilian life, and advise them on getting to know loved ones again.
The military community was shocked by the murder last summer of four wives in six weeks at Ft. Bragg, GA, after Special Forces returned home from Afghanistan.
Ready to go are units like the 3rd Infantry Division (3ID), which fought its way up from Kuwait, carried out the bold "Thunder Run" into Baghdad in the early days of April - and a quarter-year later is still kicking around in the flash point city of Fallujah, west of Baghdad.
"The frustration is so great, you just wonder if it's going to cause someone to snap," says Maj. Patrick Ratigan, chaplain for the 2nd Brigade Combat Team in Fallujah. This unit was told that the way home was through Baghdad, and subsequent exit dates have come and gone, as the deployment stretches to 10 months.
"They are tired, and there is a lot of tension with marriages. Wives are frazzled with kids; they are experiencing the same frustration," says Chaplain Ratigan.
One soldier that came to him in recent days was meant to be married on July 5 - a date with special meaning to his fiancιe, and one that looked likely when the unit shipped out last September.
The war itself and its aftermath are also having an impact, the chaplains say.
"Some people have seen a lot of bodies, and others had to collect them and were traumatized by that," Ratigan says. The Army's aim is to avoid a repeat of Vietnam, when "soldiers were in a firefight today, and tomorrow they come home and are unwelcome."
"I don't know how anybody is going to be when we get back. I'm a changed person," says Staff Sgt. Antony Joseph, a public-affairs officer in Fallujah. "You can't see death and destruction and not be changed by it. What does it do to those who cut people down? Some have seen their friends die next to them."
Such events have been felt throughout the 3ID, which was counting on victory parades, not largely ungrateful and sometimes hostile Iraqis. Unlike Gulf War I in 1991, this for many was up close and personal.
"I never saw any bodies back then, but this time we would pull into somebody's backyard and start shooting," says Juan Carlos Cardona, a field artillery sergeant and platoon leader, who leads day and night patrols west of Baghdad. "Intelligence was telling us that anybody you saw could be a terrorist - that was a new experience."
Though Sergeant Cardona says Iraqis have yet to unanimously praise their efforts at winning hearts and minds - by distributing fresh water in a local village and protecting propane supplies - he dreams every day of going home. After his alert level has been so high for so long, though, he says he will ease into it.
"I've already told my wife that I'm not going to drive for a week or two, and I'm probably going to be afraid to drive at night," Cardona says. "That stuff messes up your mind - you're driving at night, then think you see an RPG [rocket-propelled grenade] aimed at you."
Soldiers say they are also concerned about their reception and worry that the negative press about the US inability to stamp out resistance, heavy-handed behavior, and mismanaging the occupation will take some of the shine off their swift assault on Baghdad.
"We are not seeing people exhausted, but people with discipline problems - another sign of combat stress," says Colonel Knapp. "If they had gone home sooner, they would go home to a parade, put on their ribbons, and felt much better about themselves."
The combat stress unit at the palace usually receives five or six cases a day, who are screened, and often stay for several days, for counseling and group therapy on issues like anger management.
Separation is especially difficult now, since the "war mission" has changed, Knapp says. "The message they hear from home is: 'The war is over, why aren't you coming home?' The feeling from the US of being needed is not as much as it could be."
Maintaining a sense of pride and self worth is the message the chaplains send repeatedly, despite what they see as disparaging reporting in the US media about the occupation.
"These guys are still heroes, did a fantastic mission, and are still up to it," says Chaplain Jensen. "If you ask them to go back to the front line to combat and give them bullets, they would do it."
Still, for most, the war ended three months ago, and they were expecting a civilian administration, and Iraqis themselves, to take over. Going home has become a fantasy.
"I never thought I would miss so many things: washing the dishes for my wife, a shower once a day, a beer here and there, and relaxing and listening to music - all this sort of good stuff," says Cardona.
"I can't wait just to curl up with my wife, and wake up and not worry if I am going to get killed."
Fatigued, US troops yearn for home
Another US soldier was slain in Baghdad Sunday, the latest in a pattern of attacks.
By Scott Peterson | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
BAGHDAD Facing repeatedly delayed go-home dates and attacks by elements of a population they were sent to protect, American troops in Iraq are under increasing stress. The killing of a US soldier Sunday at Baghdad University epitomizes the non-combat violence that leaves US forces on tenterhooks - and waiting for a ticket home.
"A lot of guys, because the dates have been tossed around, have lost hope," says Capt. John Jensen, an engineering battalion chaplain. "Nobody's been able to answer that question: when?"
Related stories
07/07/2003
Fatigued, US troops yearn for home
07/07/2003
Troop morale in Iraq hits 'rock bottom'
more stories...
E-mail this story
Write a letter to the Editor
Printer-friendly version
Permission to reprint/republish
Soldiers who came to Iraq expecting to spend their time in combat have found themselves, after the war proper, mired in the day-to-day realities of maintaining order and rebuilding a battered nation. "The actual combat happened very fast, so the biggest stress we see now is peacekeeping," says Col. Robert Knapp, who heads the 113th Medical Company combat-stress unit on the grounds of the presidential palace in Baghdad.
"Our people are not really trained for peacekeeping, and not equipped for riot control. They are trained to fight the enemy and kill them," Colonel Knapp says.
The troops came to Iraq prepared to fight; but after President Bush declared the end of major combat on May 1, their workload has included containing looting, restoring social services, and training Iraqi policemen.
The bloody shift from war to occupation has already taken 26 American lives since then.
And with an average of 13 contacts a day with armed resistors, American troops ply the roads of Baghdad nervously and often get stuck in traffic, leading exposed soldiers to brandish assault rifles, and keep their pistols drawn.
The trauma of this conflict is varied: Soldiers say they have seen remarkable scenes of killing and carnage; others speak of fears they face daily, doing urban patrols against an unseen, ghostlike enemy. Others have been away from home too long, with the absence and new dangers fraying their families' patience.
One result is that the US Army is planning a screening process and two-week "decompression" session for soldiers going home, to look for danger signs, reacclimatize them to civilian life, and advise them on getting to know loved ones again.
The military community was shocked by the murder last summer of four wives in six weeks at Ft. Bragg, GA, after Special Forces returned home from Afghanistan.
Ready to go are units like the 3rd Infantry Division (3ID), which fought its way up from Kuwait, carried out the bold "Thunder Run" into Baghdad in the early days of April - and a quarter-year later is still kicking around in the flash point city of Fallujah, west of Baghdad.
"The frustration is so great, you just wonder if it's going to cause someone to snap," says Maj. Patrick Ratigan, chaplain for the 2nd Brigade Combat Team in Fallujah. This unit was told that the way home was through Baghdad, and subsequent exit dates have come and gone, as the deployment stretches to 10 months.
"They are tired, and there is a lot of tension with marriages. Wives are frazzled with kids; they are experiencing the same frustration," says Chaplain Ratigan.
One soldier that came to him in recent days was meant to be married on July 5 - a date with special meaning to his fiancιe, and one that looked likely when the unit shipped out last September.
The war itself and its aftermath are also having an impact, the chaplains say.
"Some people have seen a lot of bodies, and others had to collect them and were traumatized by that," Ratigan says. The Army's aim is to avoid a repeat of Vietnam, when "soldiers were in a firefight today, and tomorrow they come home and are unwelcome."
"I don't know how anybody is going to be when we get back. I'm a changed person," says Staff Sgt. Antony Joseph, a public-affairs officer in Fallujah. "You can't see death and destruction and not be changed by it. What does it do to those who cut people down? Some have seen their friends die next to them."
Such events have been felt throughout the 3ID, which was counting on victory parades, not largely ungrateful and sometimes hostile Iraqis. Unlike Gulf War I in 1991, this for many was up close and personal.
"I never saw any bodies back then, but this time we would pull into somebody's backyard and start shooting," says Juan Carlos Cardona, a field artillery sergeant and platoon leader, who leads day and night patrols west of Baghdad. "Intelligence was telling us that anybody you saw could be a terrorist - that was a new experience."
Though Sergeant Cardona says Iraqis have yet to unanimously praise their efforts at winning hearts and minds - by distributing fresh water in a local village and protecting propane supplies - he dreams every day of going home. After his alert level has been so high for so long, though, he says he will ease into it.
"I've already told my wife that I'm not going to drive for a week or two, and I'm probably going to be afraid to drive at night," Cardona says. "That stuff messes up your mind - you're driving at night, then think you see an RPG [rocket-propelled grenade] aimed at you."
Soldiers say they are also concerned about their reception and worry that the negative press about the US inability to stamp out resistance, heavy-handed behavior, and mismanaging the occupation will take some of the shine off their swift assault on Baghdad.
"We are not seeing people exhausted, but people with discipline problems - another sign of combat stress," says Colonel Knapp. "If they had gone home sooner, they would go home to a parade, put on their ribbons, and felt much better about themselves."
The combat stress unit at the palace usually receives five or six cases a day, who are screened, and often stay for several days, for counseling and group therapy on issues like anger management.
Separation is especially difficult now, since the "war mission" has changed, Knapp says. "The message they hear from home is: 'The war is over, why aren't you coming home?' The feeling from the US of being needed is not as much as it could be."
Maintaining a sense of pride and self worth is the message the chaplains send repeatedly, despite what they see as disparaging reporting in the US media about the occupation.
"These guys are still heroes, did a fantastic mission, and are still up to it," says Chaplain Jensen. "If you ask them to go back to the front line to combat and give them bullets, they would do it."
Still, for most, the war ended three months ago, and they were expecting a civilian administration, and Iraqis themselves, to take over. Going home has become a fantasy.
"I never thought I would miss so many things: washing the dishes for my wife, a shower once a day, a beer here and there, and relaxing and listening to music - all this sort of good stuff," says Cardona.
"I can't wait just to curl up with my wife, and wake up and not worry if I am going to get killed."
Yahoo! News Photos - Iraq
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Yahoo! News Photos - Iraq
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07-06-03
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| Sun Jul 6, 6:55 PM ET | | 1 of 292 |
 Email this slideshow | An Iraqi youth with his head and face covered in a keffiyeh to protect him from the sun, walks past US soldiers shopping for provisions at a super market in Ramadi.(AFP/Karim Sahib)
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KEEP YOUR HELMET ON!
''I can confirm there's some type of action going on in Ramadi,'' a U.S. military spokesman told Reuters, adding that security was on alert but he could give no further details.
Seven recruits to a U.S.-backed Iraqi police force were killed on Saturday in an explosion outside a police station on a main street in Ramadi.
U.S.-led occupying forces have been coming under almost daily attack in recent weeks, more than two months after U.S. President George W. Bush declared major combat over on May 1 after toppling Saddam Hussein in April.
''I can confirm there's some type of action going on in Ramadi,'' a U.S. military spokesman told Reuters, adding that security was on alert but he could give no further details.
Seven recruits to a U.S.-backed Iraqi police force were killed on Saturday in an explosion outside a police station on a main street in Ramadi.
U.S.-led occupying forces have been coming under almost daily attack in recent weeks, more than two months after U.S. President George W. Bush declared major combat over on May 1 after toppling Saddam Hussein in April.
Latest Bombing Is Aimed at Iraqis Working With U.S.: "The attack, which came during the graduation ceremony for the first American-trained class for a new police force, killed seven and injured more than 70."
In New York Times: World Special
In Iraq's Disorder, the Ayatollahs May Save the Day: "The Bush administration seems ambivalent about how close to get to some leaders of Iraq's Shiites, a diverse mix of secularists, moderates and radicals."
In New York Times: World Special
U.S. Envoy Says Bush 'Twisted' Iraq Intelligence: "A former U.S. ambassador whoinvestigated a report about Iraq buying uranium from Niger forthe CIA accused the Bush administration on Sunday of twistingintelligence to exaggerate the threat posed by Saddam Hussein. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
U.S. Envoy Says Bush 'Twisted' Iraq Intelligence: "Now piling on: Joseph Wilson. From Reuters :
In Command Post: Irak
Iraq: the human toll (part two) in IraqWar.ru (English)
A Century of Small Wars Shows They Can Be Won in IraqWar.ru (English)
Blair interview: the transcript in IraqWar.ru (English)
Anti-Terrorism: Bush takes crusade to Africa in IraqWar.ru (English)
In New York Times: World Special
In Iraq's Disorder, the Ayatollahs May Save the Day: "The Bush administration seems ambivalent about how close to get to some leaders of Iraq's Shiites, a diverse mix of secularists, moderates and radicals."
In New York Times: World Special
U.S. Envoy Says Bush 'Twisted' Iraq Intelligence: "A former U.S. ambassador whoinvestigated a report about Iraq buying uranium from Niger forthe CIA accused the Bush administration on Sunday of twistingintelligence to exaggerate the threat posed by Saddam Hussein. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
U.S. Envoy Says Bush 'Twisted' Iraq Intelligence: "Now piling on: Joseph Wilson. From Reuters :
A former U.S. ambassador who investigated a report about Iraq buying uranium from Niger for the CIA accused the Bush administration on Sunday of twisting intelligence to exaggerate the threat posed by Saddam Hussein.We'll have the Times piece as soon as it's up."
Joseph Wilson, Washington's envoy to Gabon from 1992 to 1995, detailed in his role in investigating the report -- which turned out to be a forgery -- in an article in the New York Times on Sunday.
In Command Post: Irak
Iraq: the human toll (part two) in IraqWar.ru (English)
A Century of Small Wars Shows They Can Be Won in IraqWar.ru (English)
Blair interview: the transcript in IraqWar.ru (English)
Anti-Terrorism: Bush takes crusade to Africa in IraqWar.ru (English)
Saturday, July 05, 2003
U.N.: Iran Must Reassure World on Nukes in IraqWar.ru (English)
Latest Bombing Is Aimed at Iraqis Working With U.S. in IraqWar.ru (English)
MoD accuses BBC of 'skulduggery' over Iraq documentary in IraqWar.ru (English)
Two Britons at Guantanamo face the death penalty in IraqWar.ru (English)
Saddam 'destroyed weapons in 1990s' in IraqWar.ru (English)
Fourth of July celebrations dampened by war in Iraq in IraqWar.ru (English)
'Saddam' mocks U.S. in IraqWar.ru (English)
British journalist shot dead in Iraq in IraqWar.ru (English)
Poland wants a stake in Iraqi oil in IraqWar.ru (English)
Kuwait Awakes from Saddam Dream to New Nightmare in IraqWar.ru (English)
Poland Acknowledges Oil Ambition in Iraq in IraqWar.ru (English)
Dinar Declares Jihad on Dollar in IraqWar.ru (English)
Force down rogue state jets, say US, Australia in IraqWar.ru (English)
Latest Bombing Is Aimed at Iraqis Working With U.S. in IraqWar.ru (English)
MoD accuses BBC of 'skulduggery' over Iraq documentary in IraqWar.ru (English)
Two Britons at Guantanamo face the death penalty in IraqWar.ru (English)
Saddam 'destroyed weapons in 1990s' in IraqWar.ru (English)
Fourth of July celebrations dampened by war in Iraq in IraqWar.ru (English)
'Saddam' mocks U.S. in IraqWar.ru (English)
British journalist shot dead in Iraq in IraqWar.ru (English)
Poland wants a stake in Iraqi oil in IraqWar.ru (English)
Kuwait Awakes from Saddam Dream to New Nightmare in IraqWar.ru (English)
Poland Acknowledges Oil Ambition in Iraq in IraqWar.ru (English)
Dinar Declares Jihad on Dollar in IraqWar.ru (English)
Force down rogue state jets, say US, Australia in IraqWar.ru (English)
Force down rogue state jets, say US, Australia in IraqWar.ru (English)
Turkish fury at US Iraq 'arrests': "BBC :
More ..."
In Command Post: Irak
British journalist shot dead in Baghdad: "A British journalist has been shot dead in Baghdad, witnesses said."
In Ananova: War In Iraq
Blast in Turkish capital injures dozens: "A powerful explosion at a downtown gas station rocked the capital, Ankara, on Saturday, injuring dozens of people, police said."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Pakistan probes al-Qaida link to Massacre: "Pakistani authorities raised the possibility Saturday that Taliban fugitives and their al-Qaida allies carried out a massacre of 44 Shiite Muslims at a mosque in this southwest Pakistani town across the border from Afghanistan."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Turkish fury at US Iraq 'arrests': "BBC :
Turkey has protested to the United States, after accusing American troops of arresting 11 of its soldiers in northern Iraq.
"It's a totally ugly incident, it's something that shouldn't have happened," said Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Several hours later, Mr Erdogan said some of the men had been released but did not specify the number.
Reports in the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet suggested the special forces troops were detained in the city of Sulaymaniyah on Friday on suspicion of planning an attack on a regional governor.
More ..."
In Command Post: Irak
British journalist shot dead in Baghdad: "A British journalist has been shot dead in Baghdad, witnesses said."
In Ananova: War In Iraq
Blast in Turkish capital injures dozens: "A powerful explosion at a downtown gas station rocked the capital, Ankara, on Saturday, injuring dozens of people, police said."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Pakistan probes al-Qaida link to Massacre: "Pakistani authorities raised the possibility Saturday that Taliban fugitives and their al-Qaida allies carried out a massacre of 44 Shiite Muslims at a mosque in this southwest Pakistani town across the border from Afghanistan."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
British Journalist Shot Dead in Baghdad
KEEP YOUR HELMET ON!
Posted on Sat, Jul. 05, 2003
British Journalist Shot Dead in Baghdad
Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq - A British journalist was shot and killed outside the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad on Saturday, witnesses said.
The identity of the journalist, a freelance television producer, was not immediately known. Fellow journalists, asking that their names not be used, said the male journalist was outside the museum when he was shot.
Ambushes, shootings and other attacks, blamed on loyalists of Saddam Hussein, have plagued American soldiers in Iraq in recent weeks - but so far there has been no sign of journalists being explicitly targeted. An American soldier guarding the museum was shot and killed by a sniper on Thursday.
The British Foreign Office contacted in London confirmed that a man had been shot but said details were still sketchy.
"We are urgently investigating reports of a British freelance journalist being shot today in Baghdad," a spokesman said.
The foreign office was trying to identify the body of a man thought to be in his mid-20s, at which stage next of kin will be informed."
The death brings to 16 the number of journalists killed in Iraq since the start of the war on March 20.
Posted on Sat, Jul. 05, 2003
British Journalist Shot Dead in Baghdad
Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq - A British journalist was shot and killed outside the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad on Saturday, witnesses said.
The identity of the journalist, a freelance television producer, was not immediately known. Fellow journalists, asking that their names not be used, said the male journalist was outside the museum when he was shot.
Ambushes, shootings and other attacks, blamed on loyalists of Saddam Hussein, have plagued American soldiers in Iraq in recent weeks - but so far there has been no sign of journalists being explicitly targeted. An American soldier guarding the museum was shot and killed by a sniper on Thursday.
The British Foreign Office contacted in London confirmed that a man had been shot but said details were still sketchy.
"We are urgently investigating reports of a British freelance journalist being shot today in Baghdad," a spokesman said.
The foreign office was trying to identify the body of a man thought to be in his mid-20s, at which stage next of kin will be informed."
The death brings to 16 the number of journalists killed in Iraq since the start of the war on March 20.
Ramadi some 100 km (60 miles) from the capital
KEEP YOUR HELMET ON!
Blast hits Iraqi police station, several casualties
Khaleej Times, (Reuters)
5 July 2003
BAGHDAD - A big explosion rocked a police station in an Iraqi town west of Baghdad on Saturday, inflicting several casualties, al Jazeera television reported.
The Arabic channel, quoting its own correspondent in Ramadi some 100 km (60 miles) from the capital, said the blast occurred near the station, where US troops were believed to be training Iraqi policemen.
Jazeera, citing witnesses, said four people had been killed and others had been wounded. It did not give their nationalities. The channel showed images of pools of blood on the ground at what it said was the scene of the attack.
The US militarys central press office in Iraq said it had not yet received any reports of the incident. Twenty-six US and six British soldiers have been killed since US President George W. Bush declared major combat over in Iraq on May 1 after the war that ousted Saddam Hussein.
US officials blame isolated Saddam loyalists for the guerrilla attacks. But some Iraqis say the violence reflects more widespread discontent with their US-led occupiers.
Ramadi is in a mainly Sunni Muslim region north and west of Baghdad which was long a bastion of support for Saddam and has been the scene of many of the recent attacks.
Blast hits Iraqi police station, several casualties
Khaleej Times, (Reuters)
5 July 2003
BAGHDAD - A big explosion rocked a police station in an Iraqi town west of Baghdad on Saturday, inflicting several casualties, al Jazeera television reported.
The Arabic channel, quoting its own correspondent in Ramadi some 100 km (60 miles) from the capital, said the blast occurred near the station, where US troops were believed to be training Iraqi policemen.
Jazeera, citing witnesses, said four people had been killed and others had been wounded. It did not give their nationalities. The channel showed images of pools of blood on the ground at what it said was the scene of the attack.
The US militarys central press office in Iraq said it had not yet received any reports of the incident. Twenty-six US and six British soldiers have been killed since US President George W. Bush declared major combat over in Iraq on May 1 after the war that ousted Saddam Hussein.
US officials blame isolated Saddam loyalists for the guerrilla attacks. But some Iraqis say the violence reflects more widespread discontent with their US-led occupiers.
Ramadi is in a mainly Sunni Muslim region north and west of Baghdad which was long a bastion of support for Saddam and has been the scene of many of the recent attacks.
Staff Sgt. Isaac Day
KEEP YOUR HELMET ON!
LONG LINES of U.S. soldiers heaped their cardboard plates with the holiday smorgasbord and chowed down in Husseins ornate banquet halls. Many then escaped the 112-degree heat with a cool dip in the ousted Iraqi presidents indoor swimming pool.
It was a big kick in his face, said Staff Sgt. Isaac Day, 27, of Tarpon Springs, Fla., grinning broadly as he lounged poolside beneath marble columns. Not only are we going to sleep in your house, were going to celebrate the Fourth of July here.
After weeks of enduring heat, homesickness and increasing attacks from Iraqi factions opposed to their presence, about 3,500 Army troops luxuriated in a brief respite this weekend, benefiting from Husseins taste for excess and U.S. military leaders efforts to boost morale.
The Armys 4th Infantry Division, which has taken up residence at Husseins massive compound here near the banks of the Tigris River, has transformed a mini-palace into The Soldiers Inn Recreation Center, an amusement center for off-duty troops.
Within the marble walls of the R&R complex, which opened two weeks ago, a desert-weary soldier can watch fairly recent Hollywood movies in a private cinema, play pool beneath domed, hand-painted ceilings, plug into the Internet or swim in the pool, which was inaugurated today with the help of Husseins former pool man.
FINDING A WAY TO RELAX
When the soldiers come in, theyve got this dead look on their faces, almost like theyre in a trance, said Spec. Jason Crippen, a 24-year-old Missouri reservist who runs the equipment checkout desk for the recreation center. When they leave, theyre smiling and laughing.
Among the popular sporting goods are fishing poles available for casting into the network of ponds and lagoons fed by the Tigris. Soldiers catch carp, catfish and eels, but toss them back for fear of pollution from the murky green waters, Crippen said.
Today, in celebration of the first summer holiday since U.S. troops invaded Iraq, soldiers handed out hot dogs, hamburgers and non-alcoholic beer to troops stationed at checkpoints and other locations outside major bases. Hollywood action hero Arnold Schwarzenegger visited several bases, dishing out one-liners and pep talks.
At the Tikrit compound, Spec. Michael Chap, 21, a cable installer from Mount Pleasant, Tex., sat in the hot shade of a beach umbrella sipping tepid water and watching colleagues splashing in a pond. From his vantage point, he could see three of the more than 40 palaces, mini-palaces and mega-mansions nearby.
Its like watching Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, said Chap, who was browned by the sun. You watch that and you know how were living.
PERFECT FOR SECURITY
The Tikrit compound, located about two hours northwest of Baghdad, is surrounded by high fences and guard towers perfect for military security. Though the main Presidential Palace was rendered uninhabitable by U.S. missile strikes during the war, various components of the 4th Infantry Division and other units that make up Task Force Iron Horse have staked out their own palaces during the last two months.
Communications specialists have set up shop in a balconied waterfront mansion that looks like a sandstone wedding cake. The public affairs office is set in the cavernous marble atrium lobby of another palace. Engineers and other teams have taken over the Water Palace, a geometrically shaped building surrounded by green-tinted pond water.
Visitors arriving for todays volleyball tournaments, cookout and band concert experienced a change in surroundings after weeks in tents, battered Iraqi military barracks or other makeshift accommodations. Military officials said they hope to rotate about 500 soldiers every two or three days through the recreation center, though only about 200 visitors arrived today. With 26,000 troops now assigned to Task Force Iron Horse, it may be months before most soldiers can visit.
Some of the 3,500 troops based here played down the extravagant setting to the temporary visitors. The chandeliers arent really crystal and gold, a soldier-resident confided. When you look closely, you see theyre glass and tin.
There is one deficiency in even the biggest palaces a shortage of bathrooms. Mammoth buildings with dozens of rooms, extravagant marble lobbies and seemingly endless hallways might have only five bathrooms. Thus, in military style, even the grandest palace has a row of portable toilets in its parched garden.
STILL A SOLDIER, NOT A KING
Military officials defended the takeover of the palace complex as one of the best locations in the region to provide security and a decent quality of life for soldiers. They discounted concerns that local Iraqis, who still cannot visit the complex, might view the U.S. presence as being just as imperious as that of Hussein.
When we first came here, I was in awe, said Sgt. Mike Tenorio, 22, a member of his units honor guard from Austin, Tex. I didnt expect to come here and live in a palace. Now, he said, Its all right living in a palace, but Id rather be back living in my duplex with my wife and kids.
Meanwhile, back at the pool, Staff Sgt. Day said that after years of reading bedtime fairy tales to his 5-year-old daughter, Doe, he sent her an e-mail saying he now lives in a palace.
Daddy, are you a king? she asked in return.
Im not a king, said Day. Im a soldier living in a palace.
LONG LINES of U.S. soldiers heaped their cardboard plates with the holiday smorgasbord and chowed down in Husseins ornate banquet halls. Many then escaped the 112-degree heat with a cool dip in the ousted Iraqi presidents indoor swimming pool.
It was a big kick in his face, said Staff Sgt. Isaac Day, 27, of Tarpon Springs, Fla., grinning broadly as he lounged poolside beneath marble columns. Not only are we going to sleep in your house, were going to celebrate the Fourth of July here.
After weeks of enduring heat, homesickness and increasing attacks from Iraqi factions opposed to their presence, about 3,500 Army troops luxuriated in a brief respite this weekend, benefiting from Husseins taste for excess and U.S. military leaders efforts to boost morale.
The Armys 4th Infantry Division, which has taken up residence at Husseins massive compound here near the banks of the Tigris River, has transformed a mini-palace into The Soldiers Inn Recreation Center, an amusement center for off-duty troops.
Within the marble walls of the R&R complex, which opened two weeks ago, a desert-weary soldier can watch fairly recent Hollywood movies in a private cinema, play pool beneath domed, hand-painted ceilings, plug into the Internet or swim in the pool, which was inaugurated today with the help of Husseins former pool man.
FINDING A WAY TO RELAX
When the soldiers come in, theyve got this dead look on their faces, almost like theyre in a trance, said Spec. Jason Crippen, a 24-year-old Missouri reservist who runs the equipment checkout desk for the recreation center. When they leave, theyre smiling and laughing.
Among the popular sporting goods are fishing poles available for casting into the network of ponds and lagoons fed by the Tigris. Soldiers catch carp, catfish and eels, but toss them back for fear of pollution from the murky green waters, Crippen said.
Today, in celebration of the first summer holiday since U.S. troops invaded Iraq, soldiers handed out hot dogs, hamburgers and non-alcoholic beer to troops stationed at checkpoints and other locations outside major bases. Hollywood action hero Arnold Schwarzenegger visited several bases, dishing out one-liners and pep talks.
At the Tikrit compound, Spec. Michael Chap, 21, a cable installer from Mount Pleasant, Tex., sat in the hot shade of a beach umbrella sipping tepid water and watching colleagues splashing in a pond. From his vantage point, he could see three of the more than 40 palaces, mini-palaces and mega-mansions nearby.
Its like watching Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, said Chap, who was browned by the sun. You watch that and you know how were living.
PERFECT FOR SECURITY
The Tikrit compound, located about two hours northwest of Baghdad, is surrounded by high fences and guard towers perfect for military security. Though the main Presidential Palace was rendered uninhabitable by U.S. missile strikes during the war, various components of the 4th Infantry Division and other units that make up Task Force Iron Horse have staked out their own palaces during the last two months.
Communications specialists have set up shop in a balconied waterfront mansion that looks like a sandstone wedding cake. The public affairs office is set in the cavernous marble atrium lobby of another palace. Engineers and other teams have taken over the Water Palace, a geometrically shaped building surrounded by green-tinted pond water.
Visitors arriving for todays volleyball tournaments, cookout and band concert experienced a change in surroundings after weeks in tents, battered Iraqi military barracks or other makeshift accommodations. Military officials said they hope to rotate about 500 soldiers every two or three days through the recreation center, though only about 200 visitors arrived today. With 26,000 troops now assigned to Task Force Iron Horse, it may be months before most soldiers can visit.
Some of the 3,500 troops based here played down the extravagant setting to the temporary visitors. The chandeliers arent really crystal and gold, a soldier-resident confided. When you look closely, you see theyre glass and tin.
There is one deficiency in even the biggest palaces a shortage of bathrooms. Mammoth buildings with dozens of rooms, extravagant marble lobbies and seemingly endless hallways might have only five bathrooms. Thus, in military style, even the grandest palace has a row of portable toilets in its parched garden.
STILL A SOLDIER, NOT A KING
Military officials defended the takeover of the palace complex as one of the best locations in the region to provide security and a decent quality of life for soldiers. They discounted concerns that local Iraqis, who still cannot visit the complex, might view the U.S. presence as being just as imperious as that of Hussein.
When we first came here, I was in awe, said Sgt. Mike Tenorio, 22, a member of his units honor guard from Austin, Tex. I didnt expect to come here and live in a palace. Now, he said, Its all right living in a palace, but Id rather be back living in my duplex with my wife and kids.
Meanwhile, back at the pool, Staff Sgt. Day said that after years of reading bedtime fairy tales to his 5-year-old daughter, Doe, he sent her an e-mail saying he now lives in a palace.
Daddy, are you a king? she asked in return.
Im not a king, said Day. Im a soldier living in a palace.
Battery B, 2 nd Battalion of the 142 nd Field Artillery Brigade
KEEP YOUR HELMET ON!
Siloam Springs : Battery B back in Hog country
BY MICHELLE BRADFORD
Posted on Friday, July 4, 2003
SILOAM SPRINGS During the past 10 months, a Northwest Arkansas unit of the Army National Guard has earned a reputation for bringing Southern hospitality to Arizonas high desert. "Everywhere we went, whether it was shopping at Wal-Mart or to get a haircut, people would stop us and say, Youre with that unit from Arkansas. Were so glad youre here, " 1 st Sgt. Tom Rhamy said Thursday.
Rhamy and the rest of Battery B, 2 nd Battalion of the 142 nd Field Artillery Brigade gathered Thursday for a homecoming party at the Siloam Springs armory.
The 94-man battery is fresh off a 10-month homeland security assignment at Fort Huachuca, Ariz. Since September, the unit has controlled access to the 114-square-mile U.S. Army intelligence base.
Southeast of Tucson, Fort Huachuca is in the foothills of the Huachuca Mountains and surrounded by the Sonoran Desert. "Ten months ago today we were mobilized and left a lot of you at home," Capt. Shelby Heflin told the guardsmen and their families Thursday. "This [party] is for those of you whove had to carry the load at home. Youve made quite a sacrifice. We appreciate it."
Heflin, the battery commander, said guardsmen are happy to be back with their wives, children and Multiple Launch Rocket System the units main weapon.
Smiles were wide when guardsmen finished their mission June 13 and left Arizona for Fort Chaffee, Heflin said. There, they trained with their rocket system for about a week, then spent another seven days in demobilization at Fort Sill, Okla.
Demobilization involved paperwork required for the completion of active duty status and physical and medical exams. Guardsmen were also reminded of the federal Uniformed Services Employment and Re-employment Rights Act of 1994.
It requires employers to rehire guardsmen and reservists in the same job at the same pay when they return from duty. Rhamy said most Battery B guardsmen have been assured by their employers that jobs they left are waiting for them.
Waiting for Sgt. Dusty Hern at the armory was Daddys Little Buddy. Dyllen Hern was born April 29 while Dusty Hern was at Fort Huachuca. "Hes what happened while I was gone," Dusty Hern said of the infant in a camouflage Tshirt. "Well, he actually happened before you were gone," his wife, Becka Hern, said.
Dozens of area businesses and residents pitched in for Thursdays homecoming by donating door prizes, food and their time.
Toddlers sprayed water guns and ducked under rows of tables in the un-air-conditioned armory. The aroma of barbecue tempted those around it. Guardsmen held their wives hands and rubbed their shoulders.
Walter Gray, owner of Tower BBQ in Siloam Springs, smoked chicken donated by Tyson and served enough Tower ribs to feed 200. "The wives started out making cupcakes, and we stepped in to make sure there would be plenty to eat for everyone," Gray said. "Its the right thing to do. These men have gone off and protected all the values we cherish so much. I wouldnt have it any other way."
Securing Fort Huachuca wasnt the standard mission for the 142 nd Brigade.
Nicknamed "Lethal Weapon" after its rocket system, the brigade is trained to obliterate the enemy with heavy field artillery.
At Fort Huachuca, guardsmen checked people and vehicles entering the base and manned swift-action response teams.
The mission freed up Fort Huachuca military police to focus on a stretch near the U. S.-Mexico border where homeland security concerns are high. Military police set up surveillance posts on a southern edge of the base, which is nine miles from Mexico.
Battery B was known on base as the friendly soldiers who "called the Hogs" and deep-fried whole turkeys at Thanksgiving.
They were replaced by an Army National Guard unit from Phoenix.
The Department of Defense activated selected National Guard units across the county to secure military bases after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Heflin said Fort Huachuca officials honored the guardsmen with plaques, certificates and an Arizona flag flown over the capitol at Phoenix in their honor. "They really hated to see us go," he said.
Siloam Springs : Battery B back in Hog country
BY MICHELLE BRADFORD
Posted on Friday, July 4, 2003
SILOAM SPRINGS During the past 10 months, a Northwest Arkansas unit of the Army National Guard has earned a reputation for bringing Southern hospitality to Arizonas high desert. "Everywhere we went, whether it was shopping at Wal-Mart or to get a haircut, people would stop us and say, Youre with that unit from Arkansas. Were so glad youre here, " 1 st Sgt. Tom Rhamy said Thursday.
Rhamy and the rest of Battery B, 2 nd Battalion of the 142 nd Field Artillery Brigade gathered Thursday for a homecoming party at the Siloam Springs armory.
The 94-man battery is fresh off a 10-month homeland security assignment at Fort Huachuca, Ariz. Since September, the unit has controlled access to the 114-square-mile U.S. Army intelligence base.
Southeast of Tucson, Fort Huachuca is in the foothills of the Huachuca Mountains and surrounded by the Sonoran Desert. "Ten months ago today we were mobilized and left a lot of you at home," Capt. Shelby Heflin told the guardsmen and their families Thursday. "This [party] is for those of you whove had to carry the load at home. Youve made quite a sacrifice. We appreciate it."
Heflin, the battery commander, said guardsmen are happy to be back with their wives, children and Multiple Launch Rocket System the units main weapon.
Smiles were wide when guardsmen finished their mission June 13 and left Arizona for Fort Chaffee, Heflin said. There, they trained with their rocket system for about a week, then spent another seven days in demobilization at Fort Sill, Okla.
Demobilization involved paperwork required for the completion of active duty status and physical and medical exams. Guardsmen were also reminded of the federal Uniformed Services Employment and Re-employment Rights Act of 1994.
It requires employers to rehire guardsmen and reservists in the same job at the same pay when they return from duty. Rhamy said most Battery B guardsmen have been assured by their employers that jobs they left are waiting for them.
Waiting for Sgt. Dusty Hern at the armory was Daddys Little Buddy. Dyllen Hern was born April 29 while Dusty Hern was at Fort Huachuca. "Hes what happened while I was gone," Dusty Hern said of the infant in a camouflage Tshirt. "Well, he actually happened before you were gone," his wife, Becka Hern, said.
Dozens of area businesses and residents pitched in for Thursdays homecoming by donating door prizes, food and their time.
Toddlers sprayed water guns and ducked under rows of tables in the un-air-conditioned armory. The aroma of barbecue tempted those around it. Guardsmen held their wives hands and rubbed their shoulders.
Walter Gray, owner of Tower BBQ in Siloam Springs, smoked chicken donated by Tyson and served enough Tower ribs to feed 200. "The wives started out making cupcakes, and we stepped in to make sure there would be plenty to eat for everyone," Gray said. "Its the right thing to do. These men have gone off and protected all the values we cherish so much. I wouldnt have it any other way."
Securing Fort Huachuca wasnt the standard mission for the 142 nd Brigade.
Nicknamed "Lethal Weapon" after its rocket system, the brigade is trained to obliterate the enemy with heavy field artillery.
At Fort Huachuca, guardsmen checked people and vehicles entering the base and manned swift-action response teams.
The mission freed up Fort Huachuca military police to focus on a stretch near the U. S.-Mexico border where homeland security concerns are high. Military police set up surveillance posts on a southern edge of the base, which is nine miles from Mexico.
Battery B was known on base as the friendly soldiers who "called the Hogs" and deep-fried whole turkeys at Thanksgiving.
They were replaced by an Army National Guard unit from Phoenix.
The Department of Defense activated selected National Guard units across the county to secure military bases after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Heflin said Fort Huachuca officials honored the guardsmen with plaques, certificates and an Arizona flag flown over the capitol at Phoenix in their honor. "They really hated to see us go," he said.
Lance Cpl. Blair
KEEP YOUR HELMET ON!
Many of the pictures showed the humvees that he and his unit lived in during most of their time in the desert. With a rotating missile turret perched on the rear of the vehicle and a heavy fifty-caliber machine gun attached to its side, the vehicles were designed to help provide a defense against attack from low-flying aircraft.
Im a stringer gunner. We shoot down low-altitude aircraft, but there was no air threat out there. So we were basically grunts, Cannon said. We were grunts with vehicles.
On the night of March 20, Cannons regiment waited just south of the border with Kuwait as missiles flew overhead, and on the 21st his unit crossed the line of departure, remaining in Iraq until May 4.
Spending two weeks in An Nasiriyah and time in Al Kut, his unit was deployed to areas that confronted the American military with persistent resistance. One member of the unit was wounded and one killed in action just two days after crossing over into Iraq.
The single casualty came in An Nasiriyah. Mistakenly targeted by friendly fire, one of his units vehicles was attacked by an American A-10 aircraft flying overhead. Both the men in the truck jumped out and ran from the misdirected American attack.
Lance Cpl. Blair was missing in action for two days before troops found his body, killed by bullets from an Iraqi Kalashnikov, Cannon said.
He was the first LAD (low-altitude defense) gunner ever to die in combat, Cannon said. They named an airfield for him in Iraq. Its called Blair Field.
He described nights spent in holes dug with a folding entrenching tool, while enemy fire whizzed over their heads and functioning on no more than four hours of sleep.
While attached to a rifle platoon in Al Kut, Cannon said, We got fired at from across the river just about every night.
The reality of the armed conflict in Iraq ran contrary to what Cannon had expected to face as a young Marine. I didnt think it was anything like it was, he said.
In a scenario closer to the first Gulf War, he imagined a heavy air offensive that was going to pave the way for a more antiseptic ground assault. It was more ground fighting than anything else, Cannon said. There was constantly something going on over there. There was never a sign of peace.
Faced with frequent incoming fire, he said he developed an attitude of resignation and eventually became numb to the bullets aimed in his direction. After a while, you just ignore it. If you get hit with one, you get hit with one. You just stop caring, he said.
Now sitting in his parents house surrounded by family and having spent the past night in his own bed, the war has been brought into stark relief, the two incongruous worlds brought together.
Ill have dreams that Im home, but Ill be in full uniform, and my family is here. But I look again, and theyre gone. Then I look outside, and theres a war going on, he said.
It is his family, though, that helps him let go of the past few months and the things he has seen. It was hard going through what I went through, Cannon said. I have a little kid now and that helps me get through a lot of the stuff Im going through right now.
I dont take anything for granted, he said.
While Cannon readjusts to a life away from a war zone, his family all seem to glow with pride.
Still holding her grandson in her arms, Davis, a former member of the Air Force and now with the Army National Guard, recalls when her only son enlisted.
I tried to convince him to go into the Air Force but he said he wanted to join the Marines because theyre the first into combat, and he said he wanted the challenge, she said. Hes my hero definitely. For him to choose the Marines and say he wanted the challenge, you dont see men like that any more.
Davis said when her son first learned he was coming home he called and said Mama, Ill never be the same person again. I left as a kid and Im coming back as a man. Looking at Cannon its hard to believe he is only 20 years old, and looking at Cannon its hard to believe that at 20 years old he is already a veteran.
When he leaves Sunday to return to Cherry Point, N.C., Melissa Shirley is going with him. The two plan to get married by the end of the month. We were supposed to get the marriage license yesterday, but we were too late, she said.
Many of the pictures showed the humvees that he and his unit lived in during most of their time in the desert. With a rotating missile turret perched on the rear of the vehicle and a heavy fifty-caliber machine gun attached to its side, the vehicles were designed to help provide a defense against attack from low-flying aircraft.
Im a stringer gunner. We shoot down low-altitude aircraft, but there was no air threat out there. So we were basically grunts, Cannon said. We were grunts with vehicles.
On the night of March 20, Cannons regiment waited just south of the border with Kuwait as missiles flew overhead, and on the 21st his unit crossed the line of departure, remaining in Iraq until May 4.
Spending two weeks in An Nasiriyah and time in Al Kut, his unit was deployed to areas that confronted the American military with persistent resistance. One member of the unit was wounded and one killed in action just two days after crossing over into Iraq.
The single casualty came in An Nasiriyah. Mistakenly targeted by friendly fire, one of his units vehicles was attacked by an American A-10 aircraft flying overhead. Both the men in the truck jumped out and ran from the misdirected American attack.
Lance Cpl. Blair was missing in action for two days before troops found his body, killed by bullets from an Iraqi Kalashnikov, Cannon said.
He was the first LAD (low-altitude defense) gunner ever to die in combat, Cannon said. They named an airfield for him in Iraq. Its called Blair Field.
He described nights spent in holes dug with a folding entrenching tool, while enemy fire whizzed over their heads and functioning on no more than four hours of sleep.
While attached to a rifle platoon in Al Kut, Cannon said, We got fired at from across the river just about every night.
The reality of the armed conflict in Iraq ran contrary to what Cannon had expected to face as a young Marine. I didnt think it was anything like it was, he said.
In a scenario closer to the first Gulf War, he imagined a heavy air offensive that was going to pave the way for a more antiseptic ground assault. It was more ground fighting than anything else, Cannon said. There was constantly something going on over there. There was never a sign of peace.
Faced with frequent incoming fire, he said he developed an attitude of resignation and eventually became numb to the bullets aimed in his direction. After a while, you just ignore it. If you get hit with one, you get hit with one. You just stop caring, he said.
Now sitting in his parents house surrounded by family and having spent the past night in his own bed, the war has been brought into stark relief, the two incongruous worlds brought together.
Ill have dreams that Im home, but Ill be in full uniform, and my family is here. But I look again, and theyre gone. Then I look outside, and theres a war going on, he said.
It is his family, though, that helps him let go of the past few months and the things he has seen. It was hard going through what I went through, Cannon said. I have a little kid now and that helps me get through a lot of the stuff Im going through right now.
I dont take anything for granted, he said.
While Cannon readjusts to a life away from a war zone, his family all seem to glow with pride.
Still holding her grandson in her arms, Davis, a former member of the Air Force and now with the Army National Guard, recalls when her only son enlisted.
I tried to convince him to go into the Air Force but he said he wanted to join the Marines because theyre the first into combat, and he said he wanted the challenge, she said. Hes my hero definitely. For him to choose the Marines and say he wanted the challenge, you dont see men like that any more.
Davis said when her son first learned he was coming home he called and said Mama, Ill never be the same person again. I left as a kid and Im coming back as a man. Looking at Cannon its hard to believe he is only 20 years old, and looking at Cannon its hard to believe that at 20 years old he is already a veteran.
When he leaves Sunday to return to Cherry Point, N.C., Melissa Shirley is going with him. The two plan to get married by the end of the month. We were supposed to get the marriage license yesterday, but we were too late, she said.
1st Lt. Eric Moberley
KEEP YOUR HELMET ON!
U.S. soldiers patrol Fallujah's mean streets
By Tom Lasseter
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
FALLUJAH, Iraq - Soldiers walked slowly past the mosque, looking up at its tower and blue mosaic tile. Their machine guns pointed out toward the night, they passed in and out of darkness, with dim streetlights casting long shadows.
Fallujah is a sweltering hot city on the bank of the Euphrates, and at 1:30 in the morning, the temperature stood at about 100 degrees.
Sweat was dripping down 1st Lt. Eric Moberley's neck as he made his way up one narrow alley after the other.
"Ever since the war ended, the action started," Moberley said. "I don't see an end to it all any time soon ... it's like anarchy. The police don't do anything. They won't go out at night because they're afraid."
Moberley and his fellow soldiers, of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division were brought in to help the 3rd Infantry Division get the town under control.
The 3rd Infantry itself came to town to relieve the 82nd Airborne Division, which ran into a lot of problems, including a late April demonstration in which at least 12 local residents were shot and killed.
Moberley's orders to Fallujah came, he said, with a description: "They said it was like the Wild West."
Perhaps more than any other part of the country, Fallujah has come to symbolize the failure of U.S. forces to bring peace and stability to Iraq.
Troops stationed in the city are dangerously out of touch with the people they are trying to control. Commanders admit they have no idea who is repeatedly attacking them or why.
Their principal conduit to the people of the town is a mayor backed by coalition forces who commands little respect even across the street from his office. Hostility to the United States is growing at an alarming pace, perhaps already crossing a point of no return.
No fewer than three soldiers have been killed and 21 wounded in Fallujah since major combat operations ended May 1st: an average, roughly, of one soldier hit every two days.
Beyond that, there is an unknown number of daily attacks that don't result in military casualties. There have been at least three rocket-propelled grenade ambushes during the past week.
On Sunday, one tore through a 3rd Infantry vehicle. None of the soldiers was injured. A journalist was hit; his pelvis was shattered and a mass of flesh was torn from his side.
Col. Joseph DiSalvo commands the second brigade of the 3rd ID, the major Army presence in Fallujah. He said he's at a loss about who's shooting at his men.
"I have no idea. It could be former Baath Party members. It could be mob-type people. It's hard to say because there are so many elements here with agendas," DiSalvo said. The violence comes, he said, in "in random-type ambushes, that are very hard to hunt down and stop because of the randomness."
It's gotten to the point, DiSalvo said, where emboldened locals are apparently launching green flares to signal oncoming tanks' patrols, and red ones for soldiers on foot. But, he conceded, that correlation is "a supposition," not something he can pin down for sure.
There is a map tracking flare incidents on the wall of an intelligence unit tent at the 3rd Infantry Division camp.
A nearby chart has a drawing of a hunter holding a bunch of dead ducks by the neck and slashes on it for Iraqi fighters killed, under the phrase "Operation Smackdown."
Also on the wall is a list of details about the attacks so far, including the apparent preferred hours of operation: 7 p.m. to 2:30 a.m.
Because the Army has not located a central base of operations for the attacks, or organizing force behind them, commanders are left to send out patrols during that nighttime slot in hope of drawing fire, then hunting down the attackers.
"It takes a lot of patience, because it's a lot of hard work out there and coming back with nothing," DiSalvo said.
Although DiSalvo would not use the term, patrols such as Moberley's are essentially bait. And soldiers may have a price on their heads. Because a lot of the shooters have been found carrying large amounts of cash, Army officials have concluded that they're being paid to shoot soldiers.
Many Fallujah residents say the attacks were first motivated by anger about house searches, but are now fueled by a cycle of revenge that comes out of incidents like the April demonstration.
"The martyr's families will get revenge, and the coalition forces will shoot randomly and kill others, then the other families will revenge their sons, and that will continue until they are gone forever," said a town resident who goes by the name of Abu Mustafa, "father of Mustafa."
"You get the feeling we're still not wanted here," said Sgt. Hocken Smith of the 3rd Infantry, who said his unit gets shot at almost every night while on patrol. "They were told we were going to liberate and not occupy, and they want us out."
Standing next to Smith at a row of concrete barracks on the outskirts of Fallujah, Sgt. Anthony Sollano said, "Our morale's kind of low right now. We're just ready to go home. ... It sucks, pretty much."
The soldiers of the 3rd ID, the two men pointed out, were deployed to Kuwait more than eight months ago, fought the main thrust of the Iraqi war, and are still taking fire from people who speak a language they don't understand.
Despite all that, DiSalvo said he thinks the majority of Fallujah residents support the American presence and have been impressed with task forces of soldiers working to repair the sewage and electrical infrastructure.
"We've turned the corner," he said. "The hearts-and-minds thing, we've done that. But we've got probably 20 percent on the fence."
As proof, he said, the town's mayor, Taha Alwani, has often told the press that he welcomes the U.S. troops.
Ask almost anyone in Fallujah, though, and they'll say they hate the Americans and do not trust Alwani, who was installed, not voted in, with the blessing of the United States.
Alwani, a former Iraqi exile, which makes him a foreigner in the eyes of many, spoke recently about the residents of Fallujah.
Because they were misled by deposed dictator Saddam Hussein for so many years, he said, Fallujah citizens are unable to make decisions for themselves.
"They do not know what is good for them. Until now, they do not know how to think," he said. "The people are still confused."
The Army has in the past week strung concertina wire around much of the outside of the mayor's office and adjacent police station, and put up sand-filled walls guarded by a tank to the rear of the block.
It was Alwani that the Army turned to after the Monday explosion of a building in a mosque compound that killed 10 Iraqis.
On Thursday, Alwani said that he knew the Americans were not behind the explosion, which killed the mosque's spiritual leader, or imam.
Engineers with the 3rd Infantry Division have since said the debris pattern shows conclusively that the explosion came from inside. The U.S. Army's Central Command sent out a release saying there'd apparently been a bomb-making class going on at the time.
A lot of people in Fallujah no longer care what the Americans or Alwani say. They're convinced the U.S. launched a missile at the building, targeting Imam Laith Khalil, who'd spoken against the presence of troops in the city.
Amar Mahmoud, standing at a soda stand less than a block from the mayor's office, said he was sure the Americans attacked the mosque. In return, he said, "they will be killed in the streets, one by one."
A few yards away, Bilal Kubaisi, who owns a tire store, said, "They attacked the mosque. The mayor does not represent the people of Fallujah."
The killings, he said, will come soon.
Out on foot patrol at night, Lt. Moberley walked right past Kubaisi's store. With his men fanning out to the left and right of him, Moberley kept checking a map of the city, trying to figure out which way to go.
At some point, they turned off the main road, back down another side street. Stepping into darkness, they went ahead, wondering what the next block might bring.
U.S. soldiers patrol Fallujah's mean streets
By Tom Lasseter
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
FALLUJAH, Iraq - Soldiers walked slowly past the mosque, looking up at its tower and blue mosaic tile. Their machine guns pointed out toward the night, they passed in and out of darkness, with dim streetlights casting long shadows.
Fallujah is a sweltering hot city on the bank of the Euphrates, and at 1:30 in the morning, the temperature stood at about 100 degrees.
Sweat was dripping down 1st Lt. Eric Moberley's neck as he made his way up one narrow alley after the other.
"Ever since the war ended, the action started," Moberley said. "I don't see an end to it all any time soon ... it's like anarchy. The police don't do anything. They won't go out at night because they're afraid."
Moberley and his fellow soldiers, of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division were brought in to help the 3rd Infantry Division get the town under control.
The 3rd Infantry itself came to town to relieve the 82nd Airborne Division, which ran into a lot of problems, including a late April demonstration in which at least 12 local residents were shot and killed.
Moberley's orders to Fallujah came, he said, with a description: "They said it was like the Wild West."
Perhaps more than any other part of the country, Fallujah has come to symbolize the failure of U.S. forces to bring peace and stability to Iraq.
Troops stationed in the city are dangerously out of touch with the people they are trying to control. Commanders admit they have no idea who is repeatedly attacking them or why.
Their principal conduit to the people of the town is a mayor backed by coalition forces who commands little respect even across the street from his office. Hostility to the United States is growing at an alarming pace, perhaps already crossing a point of no return.
No fewer than three soldiers have been killed and 21 wounded in Fallujah since major combat operations ended May 1st: an average, roughly, of one soldier hit every two days.
Beyond that, there is an unknown number of daily attacks that don't result in military casualties. There have been at least three rocket-propelled grenade ambushes during the past week.
On Sunday, one tore through a 3rd Infantry vehicle. None of the soldiers was injured. A journalist was hit; his pelvis was shattered and a mass of flesh was torn from his side.
Col. Joseph DiSalvo commands the second brigade of the 3rd ID, the major Army presence in Fallujah. He said he's at a loss about who's shooting at his men.
"I have no idea. It could be former Baath Party members. It could be mob-type people. It's hard to say because there are so many elements here with agendas," DiSalvo said. The violence comes, he said, in "in random-type ambushes, that are very hard to hunt down and stop because of the randomness."
It's gotten to the point, DiSalvo said, where emboldened locals are apparently launching green flares to signal oncoming tanks' patrols, and red ones for soldiers on foot. But, he conceded, that correlation is "a supposition," not something he can pin down for sure.
There is a map tracking flare incidents on the wall of an intelligence unit tent at the 3rd Infantry Division camp.
A nearby chart has a drawing of a hunter holding a bunch of dead ducks by the neck and slashes on it for Iraqi fighters killed, under the phrase "Operation Smackdown."
Also on the wall is a list of details about the attacks so far, including the apparent preferred hours of operation: 7 p.m. to 2:30 a.m.
Because the Army has not located a central base of operations for the attacks, or organizing force behind them, commanders are left to send out patrols during that nighttime slot in hope of drawing fire, then hunting down the attackers.
"It takes a lot of patience, because it's a lot of hard work out there and coming back with nothing," DiSalvo said.
Although DiSalvo would not use the term, patrols such as Moberley's are essentially bait. And soldiers may have a price on their heads. Because a lot of the shooters have been found carrying large amounts of cash, Army officials have concluded that they're being paid to shoot soldiers.
Many Fallujah residents say the attacks were first motivated by anger about house searches, but are now fueled by a cycle of revenge that comes out of incidents like the April demonstration.
"The martyr's families will get revenge, and the coalition forces will shoot randomly and kill others, then the other families will revenge their sons, and that will continue until they are gone forever," said a town resident who goes by the name of Abu Mustafa, "father of Mustafa."
"You get the feeling we're still not wanted here," said Sgt. Hocken Smith of the 3rd Infantry, who said his unit gets shot at almost every night while on patrol. "They were told we were going to liberate and not occupy, and they want us out."
Standing next to Smith at a row of concrete barracks on the outskirts of Fallujah, Sgt. Anthony Sollano said, "Our morale's kind of low right now. We're just ready to go home. ... It sucks, pretty much."
The soldiers of the 3rd ID, the two men pointed out, were deployed to Kuwait more than eight months ago, fought the main thrust of the Iraqi war, and are still taking fire from people who speak a language they don't understand.
Despite all that, DiSalvo said he thinks the majority of Fallujah residents support the American presence and have been impressed with task forces of soldiers working to repair the sewage and electrical infrastructure.
"We've turned the corner," he said. "The hearts-and-minds thing, we've done that. But we've got probably 20 percent on the fence."
As proof, he said, the town's mayor, Taha Alwani, has often told the press that he welcomes the U.S. troops.
Ask almost anyone in Fallujah, though, and they'll say they hate the Americans and do not trust Alwani, who was installed, not voted in, with the blessing of the United States.
Alwani, a former Iraqi exile, which makes him a foreigner in the eyes of many, spoke recently about the residents of Fallujah.
Because they were misled by deposed dictator Saddam Hussein for so many years, he said, Fallujah citizens are unable to make decisions for themselves.
"They do not know what is good for them. Until now, they do not know how to think," he said. "The people are still confused."
The Army has in the past week strung concertina wire around much of the outside of the mayor's office and adjacent police station, and put up sand-filled walls guarded by a tank to the rear of the block.
It was Alwani that the Army turned to after the Monday explosion of a building in a mosque compound that killed 10 Iraqis.
On Thursday, Alwani said that he knew the Americans were not behind the explosion, which killed the mosque's spiritual leader, or imam.
Engineers with the 3rd Infantry Division have since said the debris pattern shows conclusively that the explosion came from inside. The U.S. Army's Central Command sent out a release saying there'd apparently been a bomb-making class going on at the time.
A lot of people in Fallujah no longer care what the Americans or Alwani say. They're convinced the U.S. launched a missile at the building, targeting Imam Laith Khalil, who'd spoken against the presence of troops in the city.
Amar Mahmoud, standing at a soda stand less than a block from the mayor's office, said he was sure the Americans attacked the mosque. In return, he said, "they will be killed in the streets, one by one."
A few yards away, Bilal Kubaisi, who owns a tire store, said, "They attacked the mosque. The mayor does not represent the people of Fallujah."
The killings, he said, will come soon.
Out on foot patrol at night, Lt. Moberley walked right past Kubaisi's store. With his men fanning out to the left and right of him, Moberley kept checking a map of the city, trying to figure out which way to go.
At some point, they turned off the main road, back down another side street. Stepping into darkness, they went ahead, wondering what the next block might bring.
Lieutenant-Colonel Bill Rabena
KEEP YOUR HELMET ON!
U.S. soldiers find weapons hidden in graves
05.07.2003 - 12:00
By Daniel Trotta
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Under cover of darkness, they climbed over the cemetery wall and leapt from grave to grave in search
of booty hidden within the sarcophagi.
The U.S. soldiers on Operation Grave Digger found roughly what they were after in Baghdad's King's Cemetery on Saturday:
six AK-47 rifles, five fragmentation grenades, loads of ammunition, bayonets and other weapons including an RPK machine
gun.
They also detained half a dozen people, mostly curfew violators but also one man who approached their outer cordon with a
9 mm pistol in his waistband, a grenade in his pocket and papers believed to be plans for an attack.
With an average of 13 attacks a day on the U.S.-led occupation forces and 26 Americans killed since major combat was
declared over on May 1, searches of this kind have taken on urgency. The grenades especially were considered a good find.
"They've been attacking us specifically with this stuff and we know that they are taking some out of there and moving it to
Falluja," said Major Scott Sossaman, referring to an anti- American hotbed some 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad.
A prior raid also turned up rocket-propelled grenades and launchers, the weapon of choice for guerrillas.
When they first began graveyard searches, the soldiers randomly removed the lids of the sarcophagi, empty boxes atop the
bodies buried underground. Then they discovered how to tap on the lids and listen for signs of a cache.
Because weapons were stored there, the cemetery was no longer protected under rules of engagement, according to
officers of the 2-3 Artillery Battalion, part of the First Armoured Division. Local people and special operations forces had tipped
them off about the caches.
The soldiers launched Operation Grave Digger after midnight, in the hours of the U.S. imposed curfew, to avoid attracting a
crowd or potential protests from anyone offended by foreigners disturbing the graves of their ancestors.
"One of those rounds was earmarked for a soldier or a convoy... We may have saved somebody's life... It definitely weighs in
favour if you've got to step through a graveyard like this," said Lieutenant-Colonel Bill Rabena, commanding officer of the
artillery unit.
U.S. soldiers find weapons hidden in graves
05.07.2003 - 12:00
By Daniel Trotta
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Under cover of darkness, they climbed over the cemetery wall and leapt from grave to grave in search
of booty hidden within the sarcophagi.
The U.S. soldiers on Operation Grave Digger found roughly what they were after in Baghdad's King's Cemetery on Saturday:
six AK-47 rifles, five fragmentation grenades, loads of ammunition, bayonets and other weapons including an RPK machine
gun.
They also detained half a dozen people, mostly curfew violators but also one man who approached their outer cordon with a
9 mm pistol in his waistband, a grenade in his pocket and papers believed to be plans for an attack.
With an average of 13 attacks a day on the U.S.-led occupation forces and 26 Americans killed since major combat was
declared over on May 1, searches of this kind have taken on urgency. The grenades especially were considered a good find.
"They've been attacking us specifically with this stuff and we know that they are taking some out of there and moving it to
Falluja," said Major Scott Sossaman, referring to an anti- American hotbed some 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad.
A prior raid also turned up rocket-propelled grenades and launchers, the weapon of choice for guerrillas.
When they first began graveyard searches, the soldiers randomly removed the lids of the sarcophagi, empty boxes atop the
bodies buried underground. Then they discovered how to tap on the lids and listen for signs of a cache.
Because weapons were stored there, the cemetery was no longer protected under rules of engagement, according to
officers of the 2-3 Artillery Battalion, part of the First Armoured Division. Local people and special operations forces had tipped
them off about the caches.
The soldiers launched Operation Grave Digger after midnight, in the hours of the U.S. imposed curfew, to avoid attracting a
crowd or potential protests from anyone offended by foreigners disturbing the graves of their ancestors.
"One of those rounds was earmarked for a soldier or a convoy... We may have saved somebody's life... It definitely weighs in
favour if you've got to step through a graveyard like this," said Lieutenant-Colonel Bill Rabena, commanding officer of the
artillery unit.
Bravo Co. 3rd Battalion 69th Armor
KEEP YOUR HELMET ON!
Soldier honors the memory of those who died in Iraq
By Rose Post, Salisbury Post
Capt. Jim Lee went to Iraq to fight a war -- and did.
But he and his soldiers also made the media limelight.
The captain is the son of Gibby and James Lee and the brother of Crystal Houston, all of North Kannapolis, and when he showed up on CBS' "60 Minutes" in early April, his brother-in-law, Dale Houston, just happened to be clicking the remote ...
Of course, he recognized him instantly and screamed for his wife.
"Crystal! There's Jimmy!" and the family crowded around the television set, completely transfixed.
Capt. Lee graduated from South Rowan High School, where he played football and went on to be starting center for Catawba College his freshman year.
But on Sunday, March 30, when he showed up on the television screen, it was because he was in Iraq with the U.S. Army and commander at a checkpoint where a suicide bomber killed four American soldiers the day before.
And he was surprised when he received a copy of a Salisbury Post that had a story about his appearance on "60 Minutes" and his family's reaction to his appearance.
"I had no idea it would end up on there," he wrote. "Skynews did the interview. I figured it would only air in Europe or something."
But since that "60 Minutes" appearance, he said, he's been on "Good Morning, America," and "Nightline" ("two times each -- weird") and personally feels "blessed to command such a fine group of soldiers" and share what they had done.
"I will never forget what they did here or the ultimate sacrifice six soldiers paid while under my command. My company (Bravo Co. 3rd Battalion 69th Armor) -- "Black Knights" -- just recently returned to Kuwait and completed turn-in of our equipment. We now await further instructions. ...
"The company not only fought well, but performed outstanding during our Stability and Support Operations in Baghdad.
"We conducted patrols, raids against militia, guarded the UN's World Food Program warehouse, assisted with the distribution of propane and fuel, and assisted in the paying of over 15,000 teachers in the Al Rasafa school district.
"Many of my soldiers made friends with the locals where they were invited for dinner regularly.
"I dined with a retired Iraqi general, the Catholic bishop here in Baghdad, as well as many other key locals in my assigned sector. The locals welcomed us with open arms.
"We are ready to leave and join our families back at Ft. Stewart as soon as 3rd Infantry Division gets word to redeploy.
"Additionally, I am ready to get home to N.C. for some barbecue, Cheerwine and Sun Drop, but most importantly, to visit family and friends."
And he concluded his letter with thanks to everyone for their "continued support."
Contact Rose Post at 704-797-4251 or rpost@salisburypost.com.
Soldier honors the memory of those who died in Iraq
By Rose Post, Salisbury Post
Capt. Jim Lee went to Iraq to fight a war -- and did.
But he and his soldiers also made the media limelight.
The captain is the son of Gibby and James Lee and the brother of Crystal Houston, all of North Kannapolis, and when he showed up on CBS' "60 Minutes" in early April, his brother-in-law, Dale Houston, just happened to be clicking the remote ...
Of course, he recognized him instantly and screamed for his wife.
"Crystal! There's Jimmy!" and the family crowded around the television set, completely transfixed.
Capt. Lee graduated from South Rowan High School, where he played football and went on to be starting center for Catawba College his freshman year.
But on Sunday, March 30, when he showed up on the television screen, it was because he was in Iraq with the U.S. Army and commander at a checkpoint where a suicide bomber killed four American soldiers the day before.
And he was surprised when he received a copy of a Salisbury Post that had a story about his appearance on "60 Minutes" and his family's reaction to his appearance.
"I had no idea it would end up on there," he wrote. "Skynews did the interview. I figured it would only air in Europe or something."
But since that "60 Minutes" appearance, he said, he's been on "Good Morning, America," and "Nightline" ("two times each -- weird") and personally feels "blessed to command such a fine group of soldiers" and share what they had done.
"I will never forget what they did here or the ultimate sacrifice six soldiers paid while under my command. My company (Bravo Co. 3rd Battalion 69th Armor) -- "Black Knights" -- just recently returned to Kuwait and completed turn-in of our equipment. We now await further instructions. ...
"The company not only fought well, but performed outstanding during our Stability and Support Operations in Baghdad.
"We conducted patrols, raids against militia, guarded the UN's World Food Program warehouse, assisted with the distribution of propane and fuel, and assisted in the paying of over 15,000 teachers in the Al Rasafa school district.
"Many of my soldiers made friends with the locals where they were invited for dinner regularly.
"I dined with a retired Iraqi general, the Catholic bishop here in Baghdad, as well as many other key locals in my assigned sector. The locals welcomed us with open arms.
"We are ready to leave and join our families back at Ft. Stewart as soon as 3rd Infantry Division gets word to redeploy.
"Additionally, I am ready to get home to N.C. for some barbecue, Cheerwine and Sun Drop, but most importantly, to visit family and friends."
And he concluded his letter with thanks to everyone for their "continued support."
Contact Rose Post at 704-797-4251 or rpost@salisburypost.com.
Hundreds of bodies found in Iraqi mass grave
KEEP YOUR HELMET ON!
Hundreds of bodies found in Iraqi mass grave
Reports from Iraq say as many as 300 bodies have been found in a mass grave in the north of the country.
A correspondent with the French news agency AFP says the remains are believed to be those of Kurdish victims of the deposed regime of Saddam Hussein.
He says hair and bits of clothing were clearly visible at the bottom of a hole five metres wide in a barren desert plain near the town of Hatra, about 300 kilometres north-west of the capital, Baghdad.
Witnesses say at least 50 bodies have been removed since digging began two days ago.
Kurds have reported discovering several mass graves in northern Iraq.
Hundreds of bodies found in Iraqi mass grave
Reports from Iraq say as many as 300 bodies have been found in a mass grave in the north of the country.
A correspondent with the French news agency AFP says the remains are believed to be those of Kurdish victims of the deposed regime of Saddam Hussein.
He says hair and bits of clothing were clearly visible at the bottom of a hole five metres wide in a barren desert plain near the town of Hatra, about 300 kilometres north-west of the capital, Baghdad.
Witnesses say at least 50 bodies have been removed since digging began two days ago.
Kurds have reported discovering several mass graves in northern Iraq.
| spliffslips's Album: fourth of july 2003 Click on the link above to view the 27 pictures in this album. | |
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War Blog Iraq War Updates
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In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Cleric Wants Bigger U.N. Role in Iraq: "The United Nations should play a larger role in helping form a new Iraqi government that would eventually usher out U.S.-led occupying forces, a senior Shiite Muslim cleric said in this holy city Friday. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
'Saddam Tape' Urges Resistance; 11 Iraqis Killed: "An audio tape purporting to be fromSaddam Hussein and aired by Arabic television channel alJazeera Friday urged Iraqis to support resistance to U.S.forces and warned Americans of more bloodshed to come. (Reuters)"
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American troops plead for reinforcements in IraqWar.ru (English)
Airfield in Iraq Was Site of WWII Battle: "MiG-21 jets rust away where biplanes once stood ready, and American troops now patrol its grounds. But Habaniyah airfield has changed little since 1941, when it was the scene of a decisive battle for British control of the Middle East. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Cleric Wants Bigger U.N. Role in Iraq: "The United Nations should play a larger role in helping form a new Iraqi government that would eventually usher out U.S.-led occupying forces, a senior Shiite Muslim cleric said in this holy city Friday. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
'Saddam Tape' Urges Resistance; 11 Iraqis Killed: "An audio tape purporting to be fromSaddam Hussein and aired by Arabic television channel alJazeera Friday urged Iraqis to support resistance to U.S.forces and warned Americans of more bloodshed to come. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Japanese troops prepare for Iraq deployment in IraqWar.info
U.S. Troops in Iraq Make Most of July 4th: "U.S. soldiers observing Independence Day held barbecues at bases across Iraq on Friday and celebrated along with Kurdish allies, who are also marking the anniversary of the establishment of their first government. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
'Need to give back to my nation' in CNN - War in Iraq
KEEP YOUR HELMET ON!
Onalaska soldier is ready to come home
By JOAN KENT of the Tribune staff
When Kim Williams answered her phone at work June 27, the man on the other end of the line said, "I bet you never thought I'd remember your work number." Advertisement
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Not knowing who in the world it could be, she asked, "Who the hell is this?"
To her surprise, the caller responded, "It's your son."
Matthew T. "Rudy" Williams, son of Kim and John Williams of Onalaska, is stationed with the U.S. Army in Iraq with the 3rd Infantry.
He said he was calling on a satellite phone that belonged to one of Saddam Hussein's sons. Kim Williams said the soldiers "borrowed" the phone after occupying the son's abandoned house.
"Matt said he was OK," Kim Williams recalled. "They found some chicken in the freezer and had an old-
fashioned barbecue."
She also said he joyfully reported that they got to take showers at the house before going on the road again to move north.
Williams, who will be 21 on July 14, joined the Army in June 2002 and left for Kuwait soon after graduating from basic and infantry training at Fort Benning, Ga. last September.
He is a 2000 graduate of Aquinas High School. There he was nicknamed Rudy after the movie of the same name because of his short height, spunk and determination, his mother said.
She keeps a journal of all his calls. At 6:30 a.m. April 11, she said, he called from Saddam Hussein's palace. He said he was in better shape than his Humvee, which had been shot up. "He was driving," Kim Williams said. "They were under heavy gunfire. Luckily, the bullets didn't penetrate the windshield and hit him."
In the June 27 phone call, Matt said he was tired of being tired and tired of the conditions, which included temperatures of up to 130 degrees.
"He said he was tired of the heat, the bugs and the
b.s.," she said. "He said he can't wait to get home and fish, and he wants anything but water to drink."
But his mother said he was in better spirits than when he wrote a letter she received June 23. "That was very depressing," she said. "When you have young, well-trained 20-year-olds saying they are fatigued, it's time to send in fresh troops."
In that letter, Kim Williams said, Matt told about holding one end of a stretcher with a wounded soldier who refused to give up his gun. The soldier shot an Iraqi soldier and saved all the men as Matt was loading him onto a helicopter.
All his reports are not so somber, though, his mom said, reporting that he has told his parents it's great to drive the Humvee in the sand at
50 miles an hour and not have a cop after him.
Matt had been told that he would be home by his sister Meredith's May 24 wedding, but that didn't happen, his mother said. "He was upset, but we told him, That's OK. You have a job to do, and we expect you to it well.' "
In a letter to the La Crosse Tribune, John Williams said he, six brothers and his father all served in the military. "All total over 70 years of service to our country," he said. "I had always looked up to my dad and brothers as my heroes, but there now is a greater hero in our lives. I am proud that he is my son and more honored to say that he is my greatest hero."
Kim Williams will mail Matt's birthday box soon. In it she plans to pack party noisemakers, party hats, 21 candles, a disposable camera and cupcakes. "I'm going to tell him to pretend this is the chocolate cake I make for deer hunting and for his birthdays," she said. "It's our famous Bavarian chocolate cake."
The family will have a party here to celebrate his birthday and take pictures to send him, she said. But she said they plan an even bigger party when he comes home.
Joan Kent can be reached at (608) 791-8221 or jkent@lacrossetribune.com.
Onalaska soldier is ready to come home
By JOAN KENT of the Tribune staff
When Kim Williams answered her phone at work June 27, the man on the other end of the line said, "I bet you never thought I'd remember your work number." Advertisement
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Not knowing who in the world it could be, she asked, "Who the hell is this?"
To her surprise, the caller responded, "It's your son."
Matthew T. "Rudy" Williams, son of Kim and John Williams of Onalaska, is stationed with the U.S. Army in Iraq with the 3rd Infantry.
He said he was calling on a satellite phone that belonged to one of Saddam Hussein's sons. Kim Williams said the soldiers "borrowed" the phone after occupying the son's abandoned house.
"Matt said he was OK," Kim Williams recalled. "They found some chicken in the freezer and had an old-
fashioned barbecue."
She also said he joyfully reported that they got to take showers at the house before going on the road again to move north.
Williams, who will be 21 on July 14, joined the Army in June 2002 and left for Kuwait soon after graduating from basic and infantry training at Fort Benning, Ga. last September.
He is a 2000 graduate of Aquinas High School. There he was nicknamed Rudy after the movie of the same name because of his short height, spunk and determination, his mother said.
She keeps a journal of all his calls. At 6:30 a.m. April 11, she said, he called from Saddam Hussein's palace. He said he was in better shape than his Humvee, which had been shot up. "He was driving," Kim Williams said. "They were under heavy gunfire. Luckily, the bullets didn't penetrate the windshield and hit him."
In the June 27 phone call, Matt said he was tired of being tired and tired of the conditions, which included temperatures of up to 130 degrees.
"He said he was tired of the heat, the bugs and the
b.s.," she said. "He said he can't wait to get home and fish, and he wants anything but water to drink."
But his mother said he was in better spirits than when he wrote a letter she received June 23. "That was very depressing," she said. "When you have young, well-trained 20-year-olds saying they are fatigued, it's time to send in fresh troops."
In that letter, Kim Williams said, Matt told about holding one end of a stretcher with a wounded soldier who refused to give up his gun. The soldier shot an Iraqi soldier and saved all the men as Matt was loading him onto a helicopter.
All his reports are not so somber, though, his mom said, reporting that he has told his parents it's great to drive the Humvee in the sand at
50 miles an hour and not have a cop after him.
Matt had been told that he would be home by his sister Meredith's May 24 wedding, but that didn't happen, his mother said. "He was upset, but we told him, That's OK. You have a job to do, and we expect you to it well.' "
In a letter to the La Crosse Tribune, John Williams said he, six brothers and his father all served in the military. "All total over 70 years of service to our country," he said. "I had always looked up to my dad and brothers as my heroes, but there now is a greater hero in our lives. I am proud that he is my son and more honored to say that he is my greatest hero."
Kim Williams will mail Matt's birthday box soon. In it she plans to pack party noisemakers, party hats, 21 candles, a disposable camera and cupcakes. "I'm going to tell him to pretend this is the chocolate cake I make for deer hunting and for his birthdays," she said. "It's our famous Bavarian chocolate cake."
The family will have a party here to celebrate his birthday and take pictures to send him, she said. But she said they plan an even bigger party when he comes home.
Joan Kent can be reached at (608) 791-8221 or jkent@lacrossetribune.com.
At this point, I must ask, how do our men in arms do what they do?
KEEP YOUR HELMET ON!
At this point, I must ask, how do our men in arms do what they do? We so often forget that their dilemma is not just age-old material challenges of time and space Iraq, remember, is 7,000 miles away, hot, dry, and surrounded by overt enemies and canny neutrals but the exasperating conditions of both postmodern warfare and fighting in the Middle East in general. Both combine to diminish, if not apologize for, the idea of victory, military prowess being defined not as proof of heroism, discipline, and elan, but almost a shameful admission of outdated bellicosity and abject imperialism or colonialism. Indeed, the restraint on the enormous firepower at our military's disposal has almost earned contempt for hesitancy rather than ensured appreciation of magnanimity.
Various explanations come to mind for the unshakeable nature of our soldiers put into such impossible circumstances. Of course, there are the age old motivators in play: unit morale, group loyalty, ingrained training, chain of command, democratic idealism, patriotism, and simple self-survival all play their roles and an understandable desire to return as quickly as possible to the United States. But there is also transcendence at work; such soldiers believe in their role of doing something good for millions in dire need. It seems just as true that the military has somehow distilled from the rest of us Americans an elite cohort with the most direct ties to the old breed of the sort who fought at Okinawa, rolled with Patton, and reconstituted Japan. Such soldiers somehow remain oblivious to unfounded criticism, confident in their own prowess, and convinced that their nation and its military are clear forces for good.Full Story
At this point, I must ask, how do our men in arms do what they do? We so often forget that their dilemma is not just age-old material challenges of time and space Iraq, remember, is 7,000 miles away, hot, dry, and surrounded by overt enemies and canny neutrals but the exasperating conditions of both postmodern warfare and fighting in the Middle East in general. Both combine to diminish, if not apologize for, the idea of victory, military prowess being defined not as proof of heroism, discipline, and elan, but almost a shameful admission of outdated bellicosity and abject imperialism or colonialism. Indeed, the restraint on the enormous firepower at our military's disposal has almost earned contempt for hesitancy rather than ensured appreciation of magnanimity.
Various explanations come to mind for the unshakeable nature of our soldiers put into such impossible circumstances. Of course, there are the age old motivators in play: unit morale, group loyalty, ingrained training, chain of command, democratic idealism, patriotism, and simple self-survival all play their roles and an understandable desire to return as quickly as possible to the United States. But there is also transcendence at work; such soldiers believe in their role of doing something good for millions in dire need. It seems just as true that the military has somehow distilled from the rest of us Americans an elite cohort with the most direct ties to the old breed of the sort who fought at Okinawa, rolled with Patton, and reconstituted Japan. Such soldiers somehow remain oblivious to unfounded criticism, confident in their own prowess, and convinced that their nation and its military are clear forces for good.Full Story
Kevin Ott
KEEP YOUR HELMET ON!
By Associated Press, 7/4/2003 14:23
Kevin Ott had worked with a youth group and sang in the church choir in his hometown of Orient, Ohio. He decided to join the military after the Sept. 11 attacks, and even when he was deployed to Iraq, his father says, he wasn't afraid of dying.
''He was completely at peace,'' said Charles Ott.
Ott's body along with that of another soldier were discovered June 28 near Baghdad, three days after they were reported missing some 25 miles away. Ott, 27, was part of an artillery unit based at Fort Sill.
Pam Condo, 49, remembered the time her brother gave her a ride on his beloved motorcycle.
''I was afraid because I knew he loved to go really fast, but to my surprise, he went really slow because he knew I was scared,'' she said.
Ott played defensive end for a season at Bluffton College, was on the football and basketball teams in high school, and coached his nephew's little league team, Condo said. His calls and letters during the war were reserved, but his family could tell he was proud.
''He absolutely loved Army life,'' Charles Ott said.
Army Pvt. Shawn Pahnke
Shawn Pahnke grew up with military pride his father was a Vietnam veteran and his grandfather served in World War II and he was fulfilling his lifelong dream to serve in the military.
''His last letters talked about how proud he was to be a soldier,'' said his father, Tom Pahnke. ''He was glad that he was finally doing what he was trained to do.''
Pahnke, 25, of Shelbyville, Ind., was killed June 16 by a sniper in Iraq. He had enlisted in October after getting married and was stationed in Germany.
Tom Pahnke said his son missed the birth of his son, Dean, on March 20, but was able to speak with his wife, Elisha, on a cell phone.
''She had Shawn on the phone talking to him while she had the baby,'' Tom Pahnke said. ''Shawn was able to hear the baby cry for the first time and know that he had a son.''
Army Spc. Jose Amancio Perez III
Combat medic Jose Amancio Perez III's irrepressible sense of humor was matched only by his genuine desire to help others.
''One of the things he always wanted to do was be a paramedic, and he was using the combat medic as a step to do that and help people,'' said Spec. Alvie Jones.
''He had an amazing sense of humor. He could crack a smile out of a stone wall.''
Perez, 22, from San Diego, Texas, and stationed at Fort Sill, died May 28 when his convoy was ambushed.
When his flag-draped casket arrived in his hometown of about 5,000 people where his family is one of the largest the hearse was met by hundreds of neighbors lining the roadway, waving flags and holding candles. Residents later raised two long columns of flags to attention.
Perez was remembered as a sharply dressed, competitive young man who worked hard but knew how to enjoy himself.
''He also loved the Army,'' said his best friend, Rene Salaiz. ''He spoke of it proudly, just like when he caught an interception in a (high school) football game. He flashed his dog tags around.''
Army Military Police Staff Sgt. Brett Petriken
Brett Petriken was such a loyal Detroit Lions football fan that he had game tapes sent to him overseas.
''He loved to watch them, win or lose,'' said his stepmother, Kathy Petriken.
He also loved a good joke, and knew how to make people feel at ease, said his uncle, Dave Petriken. ''Nobody had a bad word to say about him,'' he said.
Petriken, 30, from Flint, Mich., and stationed in Germany, was killed in a traffic accident May 26 in Iraq.
Just before he left for Iraq, he told his mother not to worry.
''He said `I have a bulletproof vest and a bulletproof Humvee. Mom, I'm trained for this,''' Deborah Petriken said.
Jeff Blanchard, a former high school substitute teacher, said Petriken was ''just a clean-cut, polite, nice young man.''
''You never had to ask him to be quiet, you never had to ask him to sit down,'' he said. ''When it's that quality of an individual, it really hurts.''
Petriken is survived by his wife, Christina, and 8-year-old daughter.
Army Staff Sgt. Andrew R. Pokorny
Andrew Pokorny's commitment to the Army and his fellow soldiers had been unwavering ever since he joined the service fresh out of high school and began his career as a mechanic.
''He just loved the camaraderie. He loved being with other soldiers, the soldiers who were under him,'' said his wife, Martha. ''Everything about them came first.''
Pokorny, 30, of Naperville, Ill., died June 13 in a vehicle accident in Iraq. He was stationed at Fort Carson.
Martha Pokorny said her husband's commander told her Pokorny had saved another soldier's life before losing his own.
His sister, Barbara Bonnet, said that despite her worries she had understood her brother's commitment to his job.
''This was his thing. He was proud to be doing it,'' she said. ''He was ready to get down there and do it and do it right.''
Martha Pokorny said her husband also served six months as a mechanic with the Army Rangers in Mogadishu, Somalia, in 1992.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Gladimir Philippe
The eldest of nine children, Gladimir Philippe called home from Iraq often and counseled his little brother to swear off girls and keep his head on straight.
''He was like my best friend and my brother at the same time,'' said Fedlyn Philippe, 16, Gladimir's youngest brother. ''He was a person I could just talk to. I looked up to him a lot.''
Philippe's body and that of a fellow soldier were found May 28 near Baghdad. The soldiers were reported missing three days earlier from the town of Balad, 25 miles north of the Iraqi capital.
Philippe, 37, of Roselle, N.J., was part of an artillery unit based at Fort Sill. He enlisted in the Army in 1988 after graduating from high school.
The Army ''was something (Gladimir) chose to do,'' his brother said. ''He always told me not to join. He told me to play basketball and keep my head strong and don't worry about girls, and to do good in school.''
Army Maj. Mathew E. Schram
Mathew E. Schram grew up wanting to be a soldier, and joined ROTC in college before enlisting in the Army in 1989. He and his girlfriend, also an Army major, thought nothing about it when he was shipped out to the Middle East in April.
''We thought it was over. I wasn't worried about him at all,'' said Kam Gunther, 34.
Schram, 36, of Brookfield, Wis., and stationed at Fort Carson, died May 26 when his convoy was ambushed.
''Mat might have been a little embarrassed by all the attention he got,'' his father, Earl Schram, said after his son was honored posthumously.
''He was kind of a modest man. He wouldn't tell somebody else to do something if he wasn't willing to do it himself.''
The Rev. Daniel Pakenham said Schram lived by his principles.
''He set his mind on this and his heart and he lived by it,'' Pakenham said. ''He lived by it to the extent he would give his life for it. That's eloquence.''
Army Pfc. Jeremiah D. Smith
When Jeremiah D. Smith was killed in Iraq on May 26, it wasn't just his family who felt the loss. There also were his comrades at Fort Riley.
Smith, 25, of Odessa, Mo., was a cavalry scout in Baghdad putting him out front looking for possible trouble awaiting his fellow soldiers. He was escorting heavy equipment transporters when his vehicle hit unexploded ordnance, killing him.
''He was a hard-nosed hard charger who didn't stop,'' said Staff Sgt. Ryan Rust, who saw Smith just about every day at Fort Riley. ''We were brothers in arms. I respected him very much.''
Smith was married and had two daughters, ages 3 and 5.
His father, Doug Smith of Odessa, said his son was proud of being a soldier.
''But what he really wanted to do was to become a teacher,'' his father said. ''And he was going to use his Army benefits to pay for college. He wanted to help teach young people about life.''
Army Spc. Orenthial J. Smith
Orenthial J. Smith joined the high school football team his senior year, as a wide receiver and kicker. He didn't play every game, but that was OK the coach says Smith was happy just being part of the team.
''He liked the camaraderie and the relationships he built with the guys he played with,'' said Carlos Cave, football coach at Allendale-Fairfax High School in South Carolina. ''He tried extra hard. He always did whatever that was asked of him.''
Smith, 21, died June 22 after an attack on his convoy south of Baghdad. He joined the military right out of high school, and was stationed in Germany.
Smith's mother, Iratean, said her son had hoped to make the military his career. But still, she said, he had reservations about the war.
''He loved the Army, but he didn't like the war,'' she said.
After arriving in Iraq, her son told her ''Bush is trying to say the war is over, but the war is far from over,'' she said.
Army Sgt. Joseph Suell
Joseph Suell was known for giving it his all, whether on the basketball court or in the Army.
''Joseph was a dedicated young man,'' said Jesse Walker, Suell's basketball coach at Lufkin (Texas) High School. ''He gave everything he had, did what the coaches asked, never made excuses and was always on time.''
Suell, 24, a supply specialist stationed at Fort Sill, died June 16 in Iraq of a non-combat-related cause. His death is being investigated.
Suell was a point guard on his high school basketball team, earning honorable mention all-district status in 1996 and 1997, Walker said.
Ronald Kellam, who worked with Suell for seven months, said in an e-mail to the Lufkin Daily News from Iraq that Suell was a hero, doing a job many at home take for granted.
''A hero in his family's eye, a hero to many of the soldiers that he worked with. Joe's death came as a real shock to everyone here,'' he said.
''The day that Joe died was a day that I lost a brother.''
Survivors include his wife, Rebecca.
Army Sgt. Michael L. Tosto
Michael L. Tosto was a tank driver who didn't die from combat, but from pneumonia that his mother said developed rapidly and killed him before he could be airlifted from Baghdad to a military hospital in Germany.
Tosto, 24, who grew up in Chatham County, N.C., and was stationed in Germany, died June 17. Family members say his death came less than 48 hours after he started showing symptoms of pneumonia. He had been assigned to duty in Baghdad April 30.
Tosto is survived by his wife, Stephanie, and 19-month-old son, Cameron.
The last time his mother, Janet Tosto, heard his voice was when he called on her May 5 birthday.
''He loved driving tanks,'' said his mother, of Atlantic, N.C. ''He didn't like being away from his family now, and he just loved that little boy, but he really enjoyed what he did.''
His mother said Tosto's wife had received two letters from him since he died in which he was ''talking about how much he loved her and how much he wanted to spend the next 80 years with her.''
Army Staff Sgt. Michael B. Quinn
Michael Quinn was an ''all-American boy'' who helped raise sheep in high school, then enlisted in the Army to pay for college. He turned out to become a career Army man.
''He was a gung-ho soldier,'' said stepfather Peter Folgner.
Quinn, 37, of Tampa, Fla., and stationed at Fort Carson, died May 27 at a checkpoint shooting in Iraq.
''He would put his heart and soul into whatever he was doing,'' said his mother, Sally Quinn Taylor.
Folgner said Quinn planned to retire in four years and then move to Mississippi, where he hoped to become a military instructor. He is survived by his wife, Melissa, and 9-year-old son.
''He fought for our freedom, that we would have less danger from terrorists, and he was killed by terrorists, not soldiers,'' Folgner said.
By Associated Press, 7/4/2003 14:23
Kevin Ott had worked with a youth group and sang in the church choir in his hometown of Orient, Ohio. He decided to join the military after the Sept. 11 attacks, and even when he was deployed to Iraq, his father says, he wasn't afraid of dying.
''He was completely at peace,'' said Charles Ott.
Ott's body along with that of another soldier were discovered June 28 near Baghdad, three days after they were reported missing some 25 miles away. Ott, 27, was part of an artillery unit based at Fort Sill.
Pam Condo, 49, remembered the time her brother gave her a ride on his beloved motorcycle.
''I was afraid because I knew he loved to go really fast, but to my surprise, he went really slow because he knew I was scared,'' she said.
Ott played defensive end for a season at Bluffton College, was on the football and basketball teams in high school, and coached his nephew's little league team, Condo said. His calls and letters during the war were reserved, but his family could tell he was proud.
''He absolutely loved Army life,'' Charles Ott said.
Army Pvt. Shawn Pahnke
Shawn Pahnke grew up with military pride his father was a Vietnam veteran and his grandfather served in World War II and he was fulfilling his lifelong dream to serve in the military.
''His last letters talked about how proud he was to be a soldier,'' said his father, Tom Pahnke. ''He was glad that he was finally doing what he was trained to do.''
Pahnke, 25, of Shelbyville, Ind., was killed June 16 by a sniper in Iraq. He had enlisted in October after getting married and was stationed in Germany.
Tom Pahnke said his son missed the birth of his son, Dean, on March 20, but was able to speak with his wife, Elisha, on a cell phone.
''She had Shawn on the phone talking to him while she had the baby,'' Tom Pahnke said. ''Shawn was able to hear the baby cry for the first time and know that he had a son.''
Army Spc. Jose Amancio Perez III
Combat medic Jose Amancio Perez III's irrepressible sense of humor was matched only by his genuine desire to help others.
''One of the things he always wanted to do was be a paramedic, and he was using the combat medic as a step to do that and help people,'' said Spec. Alvie Jones.
''He had an amazing sense of humor. He could crack a smile out of a stone wall.''
Perez, 22, from San Diego, Texas, and stationed at Fort Sill, died May 28 when his convoy was ambushed.
When his flag-draped casket arrived in his hometown of about 5,000 people where his family is one of the largest the hearse was met by hundreds of neighbors lining the roadway, waving flags and holding candles. Residents later raised two long columns of flags to attention.
Perez was remembered as a sharply dressed, competitive young man who worked hard but knew how to enjoy himself.
''He also loved the Army,'' said his best friend, Rene Salaiz. ''He spoke of it proudly, just like when he caught an interception in a (high school) football game. He flashed his dog tags around.''
Army Military Police Staff Sgt. Brett Petriken
Brett Petriken was such a loyal Detroit Lions football fan that he had game tapes sent to him overseas.
''He loved to watch them, win or lose,'' said his stepmother, Kathy Petriken.
He also loved a good joke, and knew how to make people feel at ease, said his uncle, Dave Petriken. ''Nobody had a bad word to say about him,'' he said.
Petriken, 30, from Flint, Mich., and stationed in Germany, was killed in a traffic accident May 26 in Iraq.
Just before he left for Iraq, he told his mother not to worry.
''He said `I have a bulletproof vest and a bulletproof Humvee. Mom, I'm trained for this,''' Deborah Petriken said.
Jeff Blanchard, a former high school substitute teacher, said Petriken was ''just a clean-cut, polite, nice young man.''
''You never had to ask him to be quiet, you never had to ask him to sit down,'' he said. ''When it's that quality of an individual, it really hurts.''
Petriken is survived by his wife, Christina, and 8-year-old daughter.
Army Staff Sgt. Andrew R. Pokorny
Andrew Pokorny's commitment to the Army and his fellow soldiers had been unwavering ever since he joined the service fresh out of high school and began his career as a mechanic.
''He just loved the camaraderie. He loved being with other soldiers, the soldiers who were under him,'' said his wife, Martha. ''Everything about them came first.''
Pokorny, 30, of Naperville, Ill., died June 13 in a vehicle accident in Iraq. He was stationed at Fort Carson.
Martha Pokorny said her husband's commander told her Pokorny had saved another soldier's life before losing his own.
His sister, Barbara Bonnet, said that despite her worries she had understood her brother's commitment to his job.
''This was his thing. He was proud to be doing it,'' she said. ''He was ready to get down there and do it and do it right.''
Martha Pokorny said her husband also served six months as a mechanic with the Army Rangers in Mogadishu, Somalia, in 1992.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Gladimir Philippe
The eldest of nine children, Gladimir Philippe called home from Iraq often and counseled his little brother to swear off girls and keep his head on straight.
''He was like my best friend and my brother at the same time,'' said Fedlyn Philippe, 16, Gladimir's youngest brother. ''He was a person I could just talk to. I looked up to him a lot.''
Philippe's body and that of a fellow soldier were found May 28 near Baghdad. The soldiers were reported missing three days earlier from the town of Balad, 25 miles north of the Iraqi capital.
Philippe, 37, of Roselle, N.J., was part of an artillery unit based at Fort Sill. He enlisted in the Army in 1988 after graduating from high school.
The Army ''was something (Gladimir) chose to do,'' his brother said. ''He always told me not to join. He told me to play basketball and keep my head strong and don't worry about girls, and to do good in school.''
Army Maj. Mathew E. Schram
Mathew E. Schram grew up wanting to be a soldier, and joined ROTC in college before enlisting in the Army in 1989. He and his girlfriend, also an Army major, thought nothing about it when he was shipped out to the Middle East in April.
''We thought it was over. I wasn't worried about him at all,'' said Kam Gunther, 34.
Schram, 36, of Brookfield, Wis., and stationed at Fort Carson, died May 26 when his convoy was ambushed.
''Mat might have been a little embarrassed by all the attention he got,'' his father, Earl Schram, said after his son was honored posthumously.
''He was kind of a modest man. He wouldn't tell somebody else to do something if he wasn't willing to do it himself.''
The Rev. Daniel Pakenham said Schram lived by his principles.
''He set his mind on this and his heart and he lived by it,'' Pakenham said. ''He lived by it to the extent he would give his life for it. That's eloquence.''
Army Pfc. Jeremiah D. Smith
When Jeremiah D. Smith was killed in Iraq on May 26, it wasn't just his family who felt the loss. There also were his comrades at Fort Riley.
Smith, 25, of Odessa, Mo., was a cavalry scout in Baghdad putting him out front looking for possible trouble awaiting his fellow soldiers. He was escorting heavy equipment transporters when his vehicle hit unexploded ordnance, killing him.
''He was a hard-nosed hard charger who didn't stop,'' said Staff Sgt. Ryan Rust, who saw Smith just about every day at Fort Riley. ''We were brothers in arms. I respected him very much.''
Smith was married and had two daughters, ages 3 and 5.
His father, Doug Smith of Odessa, said his son was proud of being a soldier.
''But what he really wanted to do was to become a teacher,'' his father said. ''And he was going to use his Army benefits to pay for college. He wanted to help teach young people about life.''
Army Spc. Orenthial J. Smith
Orenthial J. Smith joined the high school football team his senior year, as a wide receiver and kicker. He didn't play every game, but that was OK the coach says Smith was happy just being part of the team.
''He liked the camaraderie and the relationships he built with the guys he played with,'' said Carlos Cave, football coach at Allendale-Fairfax High School in South Carolina. ''He tried extra hard. He always did whatever that was asked of him.''
Smith, 21, died June 22 after an attack on his convoy south of Baghdad. He joined the military right out of high school, and was stationed in Germany.
Smith's mother, Iratean, said her son had hoped to make the military his career. But still, she said, he had reservations about the war.
''He loved the Army, but he didn't like the war,'' she said.
After arriving in Iraq, her son told her ''Bush is trying to say the war is over, but the war is far from over,'' she said.
Army Sgt. Joseph Suell
Joseph Suell was known for giving it his all, whether on the basketball court or in the Army.
''Joseph was a dedicated young man,'' said Jesse Walker, Suell's basketball coach at Lufkin (Texas) High School. ''He gave everything he had, did what the coaches asked, never made excuses and was always on time.''
Suell, 24, a supply specialist stationed at Fort Sill, died June 16 in Iraq of a non-combat-related cause. His death is being investigated.
Suell was a point guard on his high school basketball team, earning honorable mention all-district status in 1996 and 1997, Walker said.
Ronald Kellam, who worked with Suell for seven months, said in an e-mail to the Lufkin Daily News from Iraq that Suell was a hero, doing a job many at home take for granted.
''A hero in his family's eye, a hero to many of the soldiers that he worked with. Joe's death came as a real shock to everyone here,'' he said.
''The day that Joe died was a day that I lost a brother.''
Survivors include his wife, Rebecca.
Army Sgt. Michael L. Tosto
Michael L. Tosto was a tank driver who didn't die from combat, but from pneumonia that his mother said developed rapidly and killed him before he could be airlifted from Baghdad to a military hospital in Germany.
Tosto, 24, who grew up in Chatham County, N.C., and was stationed in Germany, died June 17. Family members say his death came less than 48 hours after he started showing symptoms of pneumonia. He had been assigned to duty in Baghdad April 30.
Tosto is survived by his wife, Stephanie, and 19-month-old son, Cameron.
The last time his mother, Janet Tosto, heard his voice was when he called on her May 5 birthday.
''He loved driving tanks,'' said his mother, of Atlantic, N.C. ''He didn't like being away from his family now, and he just loved that little boy, but he really enjoyed what he did.''
His mother said Tosto's wife had received two letters from him since he died in which he was ''talking about how much he loved her and how much he wanted to spend the next 80 years with her.''
Army Staff Sgt. Michael B. Quinn
Michael Quinn was an ''all-American boy'' who helped raise sheep in high school, then enlisted in the Army to pay for college. He turned out to become a career Army man.
''He was a gung-ho soldier,'' said stepfather Peter Folgner.
Quinn, 37, of Tampa, Fla., and stationed at Fort Carson, died May 27 at a checkpoint shooting in Iraq.
''He would put his heart and soul into whatever he was doing,'' said his mother, Sally Quinn Taylor.
Folgner said Quinn planned to retire in four years and then move to Mississippi, where he hoped to become a military instructor. He is survived by his wife, Melissa, and 9-year-old son.
''He fought for our freedom, that we would have less danger from terrorists, and he was killed by terrorists, not soldiers,'' Folgner said.
U.S. Army Col. Tony Puckett,
KEEP YOUR HELMET ON!
Veteran to celebrate holiday on U.S. soil
By LIZ JONES
SNS Staff Writer
U.S. Army Col. Tony Puckett, second from left, discusses a security plan with Col. Micky Freeland at the Al Tuwaithe Nuclear Research Facility in Iraq. Puckett, a Shawnee native, recently returned to Fort Sill from Iraq.
One Shawnee Army officer will celebrate this Independence Day on American soil after spending six months in the Persian Gulf region and Iraq.
Col. Tony Puckett, a Shawnee native, returned to Fort Sill from Iraq on June 16.
A 1976 Shawnee High School graduate, Puckett dreamed of a military career in high school, a dream that began to come true when he received a congressional appointment to West Point.
Puckett, who also served in Operation Desert Storm, was deployed overseas Jan. 13 and was sent to Iraq April 20.
"We've had a lot of technological advances since (the first Gulf War)," Puckett said, although living conditions for most troops had not improved since the 1991 war.
Puckett spent time at Camp Doha near Kuwait City and in one of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's presidential palaces in Baghdad. He lived and worked in the palace compound, which was larger than the Oklahoma State Capitol, Puckett said.
The palace, one of many across Iraq, had no windows and no utilities when they moved in, Puckett said. The heat was stifling and they slept under mosquito nets.
Soon, though, the windows were replaced and electricity and water restored.
"It was fantastic architecture and materials in the building," Puckett said, but added that the decor consisted of "just gaudy cheap furniture."
Furniture was made of cheap plastic, appliances were painted gold and artwork and decorations were garish, he said. The palace was topped with four large bronze likenesses of Hussein's head.
Puckett said he saw little combat when he arrived in Baghdad, but did experience bombings at Camp Doha.
He said he had a close call in Baghdad when a looter attacked him with a bayonet.
"I didn't have my weapon out." Puckett said he disarmed the attacker, who was then taken into custody.
Even so, Puckett said, he did not fear for his life but instead concentrated on the task at hand.
"You never think those kind of thoughts," he said.
Still, combat can take an emotional toll, he said. "It's not something personal to you ... it's an all-encompassing emotional trauma," he said, comparing it to the nationwide pain that followed the Sept. 11, 2002, terror attacks.
Another difficulty was the separation from his wife and daughters.
Puckett said the Army has a good family support system and he was able to keep in close contact with his family.
"They've become used to it," said the officer, who in his 23-year time in the Army has also spent time in Bosnia, Panama, Namibia and Italy.
"You miss your family dearly," he said, "but this is what we spend our careers training to do."
Veteran to celebrate holiday on U.S. soil
By LIZ JONES
SNS Staff Writer
U.S. Army Col. Tony Puckett, second from left, discusses a security plan with Col. Micky Freeland at the Al Tuwaithe Nuclear Research Facility in Iraq. Puckett, a Shawnee native, recently returned to Fort Sill from Iraq.
One Shawnee Army officer will celebrate this Independence Day on American soil after spending six months in the Persian Gulf region and Iraq.
Col. Tony Puckett, a Shawnee native, returned to Fort Sill from Iraq on June 16.
A 1976 Shawnee High School graduate, Puckett dreamed of a military career in high school, a dream that began to come true when he received a congressional appointment to West Point.
Puckett, who also served in Operation Desert Storm, was deployed overseas Jan. 13 and was sent to Iraq April 20.
"We've had a lot of technological advances since (the first Gulf War)," Puckett said, although living conditions for most troops had not improved since the 1991 war.
Puckett spent time at Camp Doha near Kuwait City and in one of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's presidential palaces in Baghdad. He lived and worked in the palace compound, which was larger than the Oklahoma State Capitol, Puckett said.
The palace, one of many across Iraq, had no windows and no utilities when they moved in, Puckett said. The heat was stifling and they slept under mosquito nets.
Soon, though, the windows were replaced and electricity and water restored.
"It was fantastic architecture and materials in the building," Puckett said, but added that the decor consisted of "just gaudy cheap furniture."
Furniture was made of cheap plastic, appliances were painted gold and artwork and decorations were garish, he said. The palace was topped with four large bronze likenesses of Hussein's head.
Puckett said he saw little combat when he arrived in Baghdad, but did experience bombings at Camp Doha.
He said he had a close call in Baghdad when a looter attacked him with a bayonet.
"I didn't have my weapon out." Puckett said he disarmed the attacker, who was then taken into custody.
Even so, Puckett said, he did not fear for his life but instead concentrated on the task at hand.
"You never think those kind of thoughts," he said.
Still, combat can take an emotional toll, he said. "It's not something personal to you ... it's an all-encompassing emotional trauma," he said, comparing it to the nationwide pain that followed the Sept. 11, 2002, terror attacks.
Another difficulty was the separation from his wife and daughters.
Puckett said the Army has a good family support system and he was able to keep in close contact with his family.
"They've become used to it," said the officer, who in his 23-year time in the Army has also spent time in Bosnia, Panama, Namibia and Italy.
"You miss your family dearly," he said, "but this is what we spend our careers training to do."
Worried moms await the safe return of sons
KEEP YOUR HELMET ON!
Worried moms await the safe return of sons
Friday, July 04, 2003
By LARRY HANOVER
Army Lt. Christian Fierabend has lost his stepfather since he departed for the battlefields of Iraq. He focuses on next year's wedding plans to keep his morale up.
Army Spc. Gary Cheesman Jr. gets updates through letters and e-mail about his gravely ill father, who awaits a liver transplant that might never come. He depends on photos of the nearly 4-month-old, blue-eyed son he has yet to meet to brighten his days.
Both Ewing born-and-bred soldiers have missed irreplaceable moments in their lives.
On this Fourth of July, while Saddam Hussein's regime has been vanquished and President Bush has declared the end of major fighting, their mothers know all too well that Iraq remains a dangerous place.
They want to feel assured that their sons will get back to living their lives but cannot rest until they leave the Middle East and set foot on American soil.
"I feel they're all in danger, every one of them," said Shirley Lewis, Gary Cheesman's mother. "I'm extremely worried. If I sit, if I look at pictures all over the house, I get upset and I do cry. I try not to think about it, but it's in your every waking moment - is he OK, is he all right?"
Although many among those originally deployed have returned home, the United States is a long way from reducing its presence in Iraq, with 146,000 remaining to hunt down members of Hussein's former regime and keep the peace.
Meanwhile, casualties continue to mount. Since Bush's declaration on May 1, at least 69 U.S. soldiers have died - 26 as the direct result of hostilities, the rest from accidents and other causes. Before that, 138 Americans were killed.
In that time, the telephone has been both a salvation and a source of paralyzing trepidation for Lewis and Carol Fierabend-Houghton, Christian's mother.
Each has depended on its ring, which generally comes between 3 a.m. and dawn, to hear the comforting sounds of her son's voice from half a world away.
But in those disconcerting moments from unconsciousness to wakefulness to actually lifting the handset, each has been wrought with fear of bad news - about their sons or loved ones.
Shirley Lewis' 49-year-old ex-husband, Gary Cheesman Sr., is awaiting a liver transplant he might not live to receive. Every time the phone rings late at night, she's deathly afraid it will be the call saying her ex-husband is being hospitalized for the final time, forcing her to contact the Red Cross to rush their son home on temporary leave to say his goodbyes.
Carol Fierabend-Houghton, a computer teacher at Gregory Elementary School in Trenton, worried that it was the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia calling about the condition of her husband Harry Houghton, Christian's stepfather. Harry died June 8 at age 45, having survived a heart-lung transplant 13 years earlier but never able to get the second lung transplant he needed.
The stress has sapped her, but Fierabend-Houghton never regretted those early-morning calls of reassurance from Christian, which come once every three weeks.
"We only speak maybe five minutes at a time and there's a one-second delay, so we can't have a regular conversation," Fierabend-Houghton said. "One time I asked what town he was in and they cut me off, so I imagine they listen. He's just calling to tell me he's OK, not to worry; and for me to tell him what's going on at home."
Fierabend has coped with the uncertainty of life at war in his own way. Shortly before shipping out from Fort Sill, Okla., he used the occasion of his 24th birthday to get engaged to fiancee Mary McDermott. Their wedding is set for August 2004.
Fierabend-Houghton still has anxiety about her son making it home for his wedding, despite the slowdown of hostilities. Before his death, Harry would plead with her to stop watching CNN and stop reading the newspapers because she would become too upset.
In fact, even the calls and letters sometimes amplified her worries about Fierabend, platoon leader of a field artillery unit. Fierabend said in his last e-mail he was back at his base outside Baghdad on a peacekeeping mission but soon was to head out to the desert for duties he was not permitted to describe.
"He has told me on numerous occasions when he's on the field, they'll take the Humvee and Iraqi people will come up to him asking questions," Fierabend-Houghton said. "Knowing what I've been reading in the papers, on the news, knowing there's actually citizens turning on the military, it worries me.
"But he tells me he's OK. I think sometimes they're told to say that to keep the families from worrying."
The pattern, she said, has been for soldiers to rotate home after six to eight months. She hopes the same will hold true for her son, which would bring him home for Thanksgiving.
Gary Cheesman Jr. has much to look forward to whenever he returns to his base at Fort Campbell, Ky.
Wife Cristin, a fellow member of the 101st Airborne Division, gave birth to their first child, Gary III, on March 7 - one day after Gary Jr.'s 26th birthday and two weeks after he headed for the Middle East.
For better or worse, Shirley Lewis' son does not seem to fear confronting Iraqi citizens. A troublemaking youth in Ewing who has thrived under military discipline, Cheesman has tattoos all over his arm and an American flag on his helmet with a devil in the center, she said.
He shows them off while going into the middle of Mosul to purchase supplies, as shown in a letter to his mother last May.
"I tell them I'm the Jersey devil," he wrote. "It freaks them out. They call me Ali Baba."
Gary, based at a captured helicopter airport, drives a Humvee on his supply missions and, as evidenced by a commendation he cited in an e-mail, took part in countless missions to the front lines. His efforts contributed to the capture of four prisoners and counterintelligence that may have helped the American advance on Karbala and Baghdad, the commendation said.
Cheesman, who is trained to rappel out of helicopters, complains mostly of heat that can reach 130 degrees, says his mother, who now lives in West Amwell. She has told him two fellow soldiers have died from the heat.
But he has promised her he will return home. As with all mothers with children in Iraq, that promise does not mean she can rest.
"I think the major hostilities are over, but you still have the small things and they're just as dangerous," Gary's mother said. "Anybody with a gun is just as dangerous."
Worried moms await the safe return of sons
Friday, July 04, 2003
By LARRY HANOVER
Army Lt. Christian Fierabend has lost his stepfather since he departed for the battlefields of Iraq. He focuses on next year's wedding plans to keep his morale up.
Army Spc. Gary Cheesman Jr. gets updates through letters and e-mail about his gravely ill father, who awaits a liver transplant that might never come. He depends on photos of the nearly 4-month-old, blue-eyed son he has yet to meet to brighten his days.
Both Ewing born-and-bred soldiers have missed irreplaceable moments in their lives.
On this Fourth of July, while Saddam Hussein's regime has been vanquished and President Bush has declared the end of major fighting, their mothers know all too well that Iraq remains a dangerous place.
They want to feel assured that their sons will get back to living their lives but cannot rest until they leave the Middle East and set foot on American soil.
"I feel they're all in danger, every one of them," said Shirley Lewis, Gary Cheesman's mother. "I'm extremely worried. If I sit, if I look at pictures all over the house, I get upset and I do cry. I try not to think about it, but it's in your every waking moment - is he OK, is he all right?"
Although many among those originally deployed have returned home, the United States is a long way from reducing its presence in Iraq, with 146,000 remaining to hunt down members of Hussein's former regime and keep the peace.
Meanwhile, casualties continue to mount. Since Bush's declaration on May 1, at least 69 U.S. soldiers have died - 26 as the direct result of hostilities, the rest from accidents and other causes. Before that, 138 Americans were killed.
In that time, the telephone has been both a salvation and a source of paralyzing trepidation for Lewis and Carol Fierabend-Houghton, Christian's mother.
Each has depended on its ring, which generally comes between 3 a.m. and dawn, to hear the comforting sounds of her son's voice from half a world away.
But in those disconcerting moments from unconsciousness to wakefulness to actually lifting the handset, each has been wrought with fear of bad news - about their sons or loved ones.
Shirley Lewis' 49-year-old ex-husband, Gary Cheesman Sr., is awaiting a liver transplant he might not live to receive. Every time the phone rings late at night, she's deathly afraid it will be the call saying her ex-husband is being hospitalized for the final time, forcing her to contact the Red Cross to rush their son home on temporary leave to say his goodbyes.
Carol Fierabend-Houghton, a computer teacher at Gregory Elementary School in Trenton, worried that it was the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia calling about the condition of her husband Harry Houghton, Christian's stepfather. Harry died June 8 at age 45, having survived a heart-lung transplant 13 years earlier but never able to get the second lung transplant he needed.
The stress has sapped her, but Fierabend-Houghton never regretted those early-morning calls of reassurance from Christian, which come once every three weeks.
"We only speak maybe five minutes at a time and there's a one-second delay, so we can't have a regular conversation," Fierabend-Houghton said. "One time I asked what town he was in and they cut me off, so I imagine they listen. He's just calling to tell me he's OK, not to worry; and for me to tell him what's going on at home."
Fierabend has coped with the uncertainty of life at war in his own way. Shortly before shipping out from Fort Sill, Okla., he used the occasion of his 24th birthday to get engaged to fiancee Mary McDermott. Their wedding is set for August 2004.
Fierabend-Houghton still has anxiety about her son making it home for his wedding, despite the slowdown of hostilities. Before his death, Harry would plead with her to stop watching CNN and stop reading the newspapers because she would become too upset.
In fact, even the calls and letters sometimes amplified her worries about Fierabend, platoon leader of a field artillery unit. Fierabend said in his last e-mail he was back at his base outside Baghdad on a peacekeeping mission but soon was to head out to the desert for duties he was not permitted to describe.
"He has told me on numerous occasions when he's on the field, they'll take the Humvee and Iraqi people will come up to him asking questions," Fierabend-Houghton said. "Knowing what I've been reading in the papers, on the news, knowing there's actually citizens turning on the military, it worries me.
"But he tells me he's OK. I think sometimes they're told to say that to keep the families from worrying."
The pattern, she said, has been for soldiers to rotate home after six to eight months. She hopes the same will hold true for her son, which would bring him home for Thanksgiving.
Gary Cheesman Jr. has much to look forward to whenever he returns to his base at Fort Campbell, Ky.
Wife Cristin, a fellow member of the 101st Airborne Division, gave birth to their first child, Gary III, on March 7 - one day after Gary Jr.'s 26th birthday and two weeks after he headed for the Middle East.
For better or worse, Shirley Lewis' son does not seem to fear confronting Iraqi citizens. A troublemaking youth in Ewing who has thrived under military discipline, Cheesman has tattoos all over his arm and an American flag on his helmet with a devil in the center, she said.
He shows them off while going into the middle of Mosul to purchase supplies, as shown in a letter to his mother last May.
"I tell them I'm the Jersey devil," he wrote. "It freaks them out. They call me Ali Baba."
Gary, based at a captured helicopter airport, drives a Humvee on his supply missions and, as evidenced by a commendation he cited in an e-mail, took part in countless missions to the front lines. His efforts contributed to the capture of four prisoners and counterintelligence that may have helped the American advance on Karbala and Baghdad, the commendation said.
Cheesman, who is trained to rappel out of helicopters, complains mostly of heat that can reach 130 degrees, says his mother, who now lives in West Amwell. She has told him two fellow soldiers have died from the heat.
But he has promised her he will return home. As with all mothers with children in Iraq, that promise does not mean she can rest.
"I think the major hostilities are over, but you still have the small things and they're just as dangerous," Gary's mother said. "Anybody with a gun is just as dangerous."
Capt. Frank Leija
KEEP YOUR HELMET ON!
I understand the pain and I really understand wanting our soldiers to come home, But we like our soldiers must be brave and hang in there. They need us to be strong so they can complete their mission. May God Bless Our Troops and their families.
July 4, 2003
Anger Rises for Families of Troops in Iraq
By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN
ORT HOOD, Tex., July 3 Luisa Leija was in bed the other morning, she recalled, when her 9-year-old daughter bounded in the room, saying, "Mommy, mommy, there's a man in uniform at the door."
Ms. Leija, the wife of a young artillery captain in Iraq, threw on a robe and took a deep breath. She dashed to the door, thinking: "This is not happening to me. This can't be happening to me."
A soldier in full camouflage was on the doorstep. It was a neighbor locked out of his house.
Ms. Leija is still upset. The panic has passed, but not the weariness. Or the anger. Anger that her husband, Capt. Frank Leija, has not come home yet, even though President Bush declared two months ago that "major combat operations in Iraq have ended." Anger that the end of that stage has not meant the beginning of peace, that the Army has assigned new duties for her husband and his men that have nothing to do with toppling Saddam Hussein.
And anger that the talk in Washington is not of taking troops out of Iraq, but of sending more in.
"I want my husband home," Ms. Leija, a mother of three children, said. "I am so on edge. When they first left, I thought yeah, this will be bad, but war is what they trained for. But they are not fighting a war. They are not doing what they trained for. They have become police in a place they're not welcome."
Military families, so often the ones to put a cheery face on war, are growing vocal. Since major combat for the 150,000 troops in Iraq was declared over on May 1, more than 60 Americans, including 25 killed in hostile encounters, have died in Iraq, about half the number of deaths in the two months of the initial campaign.
Frustrations became so bad recently at Fort Stewart, Ga., that a colonel, meeting with 800 seething spouses, most of them wives, had to be escorted from the session.
"They were crying, cussing, yelling and screaming for their men to come back," said Lucia Braxton, director of community services at Fort Stewart.
The signs of discomfort seem to be growing beyond the military bases. According to a Gallup poll published on Tuesday, the percentage of the public who think the war is going badly has risen to 42 percent, from 13 percent in May. Likewise, the number of respondents who think the war is going well has dropped, from 86 percent in May to 70 percent a month ago to 56 percent.
The latest poll was based on telephone interviews with 1,003 adults. It has a sampling error of three percentage points.
News this week has not helped. Today, eight American soldiers were hurt in hit-and-run attacks, and an enraged crowd of Iraqis stomped a burned Humvee.
"The soldiers were supposed to be welcomed by waving crowds. Where did those people go?" said Kim Franklin, whose husband is part of an artillery unit, 3-16 Bravo, also known as the Bulldogs, commanded by Ms. Leija's husband.
In the postwar and pre-peace phase, it is not Green Berets or top-gun fighter pilots who are being killed. The casualties have been mostly low-ranking ground troops who are performing mundane activities like buying a video, going out on patrol or guarding a trash pit.
Those are the types of missions that the Bulldogs are on. With major battles over and little use for field cannon that can shoot 15 miles, the unit has been running checkpoints and searching houses north of Baghdad, rarely firing a shell.
The Bulldogs took up their assignment in April along with 20,000 other soldiers from Fort Hood. Yellow ribbons now droop from the trees where they used to meet at dawn and stretch before exercises. The grass is long and dead. The blacktop that once echoed with roll call and the stomp of a thousand combat boots is hot, quiet and empty.
Army bases can be drab places in the best of times. Fort Hood right now is downright depressing. Even on the Fourth of July.
"I tried every trick in the book to get out of this," said Maj. William Geiger, the commander of the rear detachment for the artillery soldiers who has remained here.
There is not much glory in helping single mothers have their cars repaired or overseeing insurance benefits. But that is the work of the officer left behind, and in the last few weeks, that effort has become harder.
"The anxiety is way up there," Major Geiger said.
Seven soldiers from Fort Hood have been killed. More and more people are dreading that knock on the door. But there are other worries, too. War can find the weakest seam of a military marriage and split it open. After the Persian Gulf war, divorce rates at certain Army bases shot up as much as 50 percent, an Army study showed.
"That's my biggest fear," Valerie Decal, the wife of an artillery sergeant, said. "That my husband will come back different. Even if you're G.I. Joe, if you have to kill someone, that's not something you just forget about."
Ms. Decal is stumped about what to do when the doorbell rings and her 19-month-old son runs to answer, saying, "Dada, dada."
"What do I tell him?" she asked.
Yeshica Padilla, wife of an artillery lieutenant, said her toddler daughter threw a tantrum the other day, saying she wanted to eat pizza on the floor "with Daddy."
And Ms. Padilla keeps having the same dream.
"I can see my husband, but he is hiding from me," she said.
No Bulldogs have been killed, but their wives are constantly bracing for it.
" `Names pending release, names pending release' I hate that expression," Ms. Decal said of the way the military announces casualties and being told who they are.
The women console themselves by making bracelets for their husbands and sending care packages. Ms. Padilla included a Best Buy circular in a recent box at her husband's request. Winter Travis shipped the latest issue of Parents magazine, not at her husband's request.
Ms. Travis is seven months pregnant and married to an artillery sergeant.
"And whether he likes it or not, he's coming back a daddy," she said.
Great efforts are made to stay upbeat. On a recent day, a group of Bulldog wives chatted in Ms. Leija's living room, popping cheese cubes in their mouths and swigging lemonade.
But things are becoming more intense, they said. The widening chaos in Iraq means that their husbands will stay longer, and the women do not need a poll to tell them that public opinion is shifting.
"When my husband first deployed, the people at work were so sweet, giving me days off, saying take whatever time I need," recalled Ms. Franklin, who answers telephones at a financial institution near the fort. "But it's not like that today. Now they look at me kind of funny and say: `Why do you need a day off now? Isn't the war over?' "
Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company | Home | Privacy Policy | Search | Corrections | Help | Back to Top
I understand the pain and I really understand wanting our soldiers to come home, But we like our soldiers must be brave and hang in there. They need us to be strong so they can complete their mission. May God Bless Our Troops and their families.
July 4, 2003
Anger Rises for Families of Troops in Iraq
By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN
ORT HOOD, Tex., July 3 Luisa Leija was in bed the other morning, she recalled, when her 9-year-old daughter bounded in the room, saying, "Mommy, mommy, there's a man in uniform at the door."
Ms. Leija, the wife of a young artillery captain in Iraq, threw on a robe and took a deep breath. She dashed to the door, thinking: "This is not happening to me. This can't be happening to me."
A soldier in full camouflage was on the doorstep. It was a neighbor locked out of his house.
Ms. Leija is still upset. The panic has passed, but not the weariness. Or the anger. Anger that her husband, Capt. Frank Leija, has not come home yet, even though President Bush declared two months ago that "major combat operations in Iraq have ended." Anger that the end of that stage has not meant the beginning of peace, that the Army has assigned new duties for her husband and his men that have nothing to do with toppling Saddam Hussein.
And anger that the talk in Washington is not of taking troops out of Iraq, but of sending more in.
"I want my husband home," Ms. Leija, a mother of three children, said. "I am so on edge. When they first left, I thought yeah, this will be bad, but war is what they trained for. But they are not fighting a war. They are not doing what they trained for. They have become police in a place they're not welcome."
Military families, so often the ones to put a cheery face on war, are growing vocal. Since major combat for the 150,000 troops in Iraq was declared over on May 1, more than 60 Americans, including 25 killed in hostile encounters, have died in Iraq, about half the number of deaths in the two months of the initial campaign.
Frustrations became so bad recently at Fort Stewart, Ga., that a colonel, meeting with 800 seething spouses, most of them wives, had to be escorted from the session.
"They were crying, cussing, yelling and screaming for their men to come back," said Lucia Braxton, director of community services at Fort Stewart.
The signs of discomfort seem to be growing beyond the military bases. According to a Gallup poll published on Tuesday, the percentage of the public who think the war is going badly has risen to 42 percent, from 13 percent in May. Likewise, the number of respondents who think the war is going well has dropped, from 86 percent in May to 70 percent a month ago to 56 percent.
The latest poll was based on telephone interviews with 1,003 adults. It has a sampling error of three percentage points.
News this week has not helped. Today, eight American soldiers were hurt in hit-and-run attacks, and an enraged crowd of Iraqis stomped a burned Humvee.
"The soldiers were supposed to be welcomed by waving crowds. Where did those people go?" said Kim Franklin, whose husband is part of an artillery unit, 3-16 Bravo, also known as the Bulldogs, commanded by Ms. Leija's husband.
In the postwar and pre-peace phase, it is not Green Berets or top-gun fighter pilots who are being killed. The casualties have been mostly low-ranking ground troops who are performing mundane activities like buying a video, going out on patrol or guarding a trash pit.
Those are the types of missions that the Bulldogs are on. With major battles over and little use for field cannon that can shoot 15 miles, the unit has been running checkpoints and searching houses north of Baghdad, rarely firing a shell.
The Bulldogs took up their assignment in April along with 20,000 other soldiers from Fort Hood. Yellow ribbons now droop from the trees where they used to meet at dawn and stretch before exercises. The grass is long and dead. The blacktop that once echoed with roll call and the stomp of a thousand combat boots is hot, quiet and empty.
Army bases can be drab places in the best of times. Fort Hood right now is downright depressing. Even on the Fourth of July.
"I tried every trick in the book to get out of this," said Maj. William Geiger, the commander of the rear detachment for the artillery soldiers who has remained here.
There is not much glory in helping single mothers have their cars repaired or overseeing insurance benefits. But that is the work of the officer left behind, and in the last few weeks, that effort has become harder.
"The anxiety is way up there," Major Geiger said.
Seven soldiers from Fort Hood have been killed. More and more people are dreading that knock on the door. But there are other worries, too. War can find the weakest seam of a military marriage and split it open. After the Persian Gulf war, divorce rates at certain Army bases shot up as much as 50 percent, an Army study showed.
"That's my biggest fear," Valerie Decal, the wife of an artillery sergeant, said. "That my husband will come back different. Even if you're G.I. Joe, if you have to kill someone, that's not something you just forget about."
Ms. Decal is stumped about what to do when the doorbell rings and her 19-month-old son runs to answer, saying, "Dada, dada."
"What do I tell him?" she asked.
Yeshica Padilla, wife of an artillery lieutenant, said her toddler daughter threw a tantrum the other day, saying she wanted to eat pizza on the floor "with Daddy."
And Ms. Padilla keeps having the same dream.
"I can see my husband, but he is hiding from me," she said.
No Bulldogs have been killed, but their wives are constantly bracing for it.
" `Names pending release, names pending release' I hate that expression," Ms. Decal said of the way the military announces casualties and being told who they are.
The women console themselves by making bracelets for their husbands and sending care packages. Ms. Padilla included a Best Buy circular in a recent box at her husband's request. Winter Travis shipped the latest issue of Parents magazine, not at her husband's request.
Ms. Travis is seven months pregnant and married to an artillery sergeant.
"And whether he likes it or not, he's coming back a daddy," she said.
Great efforts are made to stay upbeat. On a recent day, a group of Bulldog wives chatted in Ms. Leija's living room, popping cheese cubes in their mouths and swigging lemonade.
But things are becoming more intense, they said. The widening chaos in Iraq means that their husbands will stay longer, and the women do not need a poll to tell them that public opinion is shifting.
"When my husband first deployed, the people at work were so sweet, giving me days off, saying take whatever time I need," recalled Ms. Franklin, who answers telephones at a financial institution near the fort. "But it's not like that today. Now they look at me kind of funny and say: `Why do you need a day off now? Isn't the war over?' "
Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company | Home | Privacy Policy | Search | Corrections | Help | Back to Top
Friday, July 04, 2003
Saddam tape, violence sours Independence Day for US troops in Iraq: "American hopes for a "grand style" US Independence Day for troops in Iraq were shattered by more deadly violence and the broadcast of a tape purported to be of Saddam Hussein warning that cells of fighters had been established throughout the country to fight coalition forces. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Voice said to be Saddam airs on Arab TV: "A voice purported to be Saddam Hussein's, aired on the Arab television station Al-Jazeera on Friday, said he is in Iraq directing attacks on American forces and called on Iraqis to help the resistance against the U.S.-led occupation."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Al-Jazeera broadcasts purported tape of Saddam Hussein: "Qatar's Al-Jazeera satellite television station brodacast what it said was a taped message from ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein dated June 14. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
US forces release Shiite Muslim leader in Iraq: "US troops released a Shiite Muslim leader in this town northeast of Baghdad, a day after his detention sparked a protest by thousands of his supporters, according to an AFP correspondent at the scene. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Voice purported to be Saddam airs on TV: "A voice purported to be Saddam Hussein's aired on the Arab television station Al-Jazeera on Friday, saying he is still in Iraq and vowing more attacks on Americans."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Voice said to be Saddam airs on Arab TV: "A voice purported to be Saddam Hussein's, aired on the Arab television station Al-Jazeera on Friday, said he is in Iraq directing attacks on American forces and called on Iraqis to help the resistance against the U.S.-led occupation."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Al-Jazeera broadcasts purported tape of Saddam Hussein: "Qatar's Al-Jazeera satellite television station brodacast what it said was a taped message from ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein dated June 14. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
US forces release Shiite Muslim leader in Iraq: "US troops released a Shiite Muslim leader in this town northeast of Baghdad, a day after his detention sparked a protest by thousands of his supporters, according to an AFP correspondent at the scene. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Voice purported to be Saddam airs on TV: "A voice purported to be Saddam Hussein's aired on the Arab television station Al-Jazeera on Friday, saying he is still in Iraq and vowing more attacks on Americans."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
War Blog Updates
Giscard puts the EU on track in RISQ
US breaching Geneva Conventions over Iraq nuclear plant: Greenpeace: "Environmental group Greenpeace accused US-led authorities in Iraq of breaching international law and refusing to allow United Nations experts to assess contamination at a nuclear plant near Baghdad. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Attacks Leave U.S. Soldier Dead, 10 Hurt: "Mortar rounds slammed into a U.S. base north of Baghdad, wounding at least 10 American troops, and a U.S. soldier was killed in a convoy attack in the capital, the military said Friday. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
US soldier shot dead, 19 wounded in two separate attacks in Iraq: "One US soldier was shot and killed in Baghdad, while 19 others were wounded in a mortar attack near the town of Balad, north of the Iraqi capital, US army spokesmen said. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
US offers reward for Saddam in BBC: War in Iraq
Death on the road to Basra in BBC: War in Iraq
Sniper Kills U.S. Soldier, Mortars Wound 10 in Iraq: "A sniper killed a U.S. soldier inBaghdad while a mortar attack on an American military base tothe northwest wounded at least 10 others on Thursday night, theU.S. military said on Friday. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Senators Disagree on Iraq WMD Evidence: "Senators just returned from Iraq differed on whether U.S. officials there had turned up solid evidence of weapons of mass destruction programs. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Japan set to send troops to Iraq in BBC: War in Iraq
US soldier shot dead in Iraq: "BBC :
More ..."
In Command Post: Irak
SOLDIER KILLED PROTECTING BAGHDAD MUSEUM in CENTCOM: News Release
US intelligence relied on old data in assessing Iraqi weapons: "A CIA internal review panel has concluded that US intelligence analysts lacked new, hard information about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction after UN inspectors left Iraq in 1998 and relied on data from the early and mid-1990s in the run-up to the Iraq war, The Washington Post reported. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
US soldier killed in convoy attack: "A US soldier has been killed in an attack on his convoy in Baghdad."
In Ananova: War In Iraq
U.S. offers $25 million reward for Saddam in CNN - War in Iraq
US intelligence relied on old data in assessing Iraqi weapons: "A CIA internal review panel has concluded that US intelligence analysts lacked new, hard information about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction after UN inspectors left Iraq in 1998 and relied on data from the early and mid-1990s in the run-up to the Iraq war, The Washington Post reported. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
U.S. 'Still at War,' General Declares; 10 G.I.'s Wounded: "The U.S. also announced a reward of up to $25 million for the capture of Saddam Hussein or confirmation of his death."
In New York Times: World Special
Anger Rises for Troops' Families as Deployment in Iraq Drags On: "Military families, so often the ones to put a cheery face on war, are growing vocal about their frustrations as their loved ones remain in Iraq with no return date in sight."
In New York Times: World Special
After Tour, Senators Warn U.S. Is Spread Thin in Iraq: "A bipartisan group of senators, returning from Iraq, warned that American troops are stretched thin and face continuing attack."
In New York Times: World Special
Iraq Museum Reopens With Assyrian Treasures: "Invited guests flocked to the Iraq Museum to see the treasures of Nimrud, a collection of vessels, gold jewelry and a gold crown from the Assyrian Empire."
In New York Times: World Special
U.S. Puts Bounty on Hussein and Sons: "The U.S. government put a $25 million bounty on Saddam Hussein and $15 million on his sons Thursday, seeking to quell a spreading insurgency fueled by uncertainty over the ousted Iraqi leader's fate. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Giscard puts the EU on track in RISQ
US breaching Geneva Conventions over Iraq nuclear plant: Greenpeace: "Environmental group Greenpeace accused US-led authorities in Iraq of breaching international law and refusing to allow United Nations experts to assess contamination at a nuclear plant near Baghdad. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Attacks Leave U.S. Soldier Dead, 10 Hurt: "Mortar rounds slammed into a U.S. base north of Baghdad, wounding at least 10 American troops, and a U.S. soldier was killed in a convoy attack in the capital, the military said Friday. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
US soldier shot dead, 19 wounded in two separate attacks in Iraq: "One US soldier was shot and killed in Baghdad, while 19 others were wounded in a mortar attack near the town of Balad, north of the Iraqi capital, US army spokesmen said. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
US offers reward for Saddam in BBC: War in Iraq
Death on the road to Basra in BBC: War in Iraq
Sniper Kills U.S. Soldier, Mortars Wound 10 in Iraq: "A sniper killed a U.S. soldier inBaghdad while a mortar attack on an American military base tothe northwest wounded at least 10 others on Thursday night, theU.S. military said on Friday. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Senators Disagree on Iraq WMD Evidence: "Senators just returned from Iraq differed on whether U.S. officials there had turned up solid evidence of weapons of mass destruction programs. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Japan set to send troops to Iraq in BBC: War in Iraq
US soldier shot dead in Iraq: "BBC :
One United States soldier serving in Iraq has been killed and at least 19 wounded in two separate attacks, the US military says.
One serviceman from the First Armoured Division was shot dead in Baghdad on Thursday night, when his Bradley vehicle came under sniper fire.
In the second attack, mortar rounds were fired at a US military base near the town of Balad, north of Baghdad.
More ..."
In Command Post: Irak
SOLDIER KILLED PROTECTING BAGHDAD MUSEUM in CENTCOM: News Release
US intelligence relied on old data in assessing Iraqi weapons: "A CIA internal review panel has concluded that US intelligence analysts lacked new, hard information about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction after UN inspectors left Iraq in 1998 and relied on data from the early and mid-1990s in the run-up to the Iraq war, The Washington Post reported. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
US soldier killed in convoy attack: "A US soldier has been killed in an attack on his convoy in Baghdad."
In Ananova: War In Iraq
U.S. offers $25 million reward for Saddam in CNN - War in Iraq
US intelligence relied on old data in assessing Iraqi weapons: "A CIA internal review panel has concluded that US intelligence analysts lacked new, hard information about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction after UN inspectors left Iraq in 1998 and relied on data from the early and mid-1990s in the run-up to the Iraq war, The Washington Post reported. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
U.S. 'Still at War,' General Declares; 10 G.I.'s Wounded: "The U.S. also announced a reward of up to $25 million for the capture of Saddam Hussein or confirmation of his death."
In New York Times: World Special
Anger Rises for Troops' Families as Deployment in Iraq Drags On: "Military families, so often the ones to put a cheery face on war, are growing vocal about their frustrations as their loved ones remain in Iraq with no return date in sight."
In New York Times: World Special
After Tour, Senators Warn U.S. Is Spread Thin in Iraq: "A bipartisan group of senators, returning from Iraq, warned that American troops are stretched thin and face continuing attack."
In New York Times: World Special
Iraq Museum Reopens With Assyrian Treasures: "Invited guests flocked to the Iraq Museum to see the treasures of Nimrud, a collection of vessels, gold jewelry and a gold crown from the Assyrian Empire."
In New York Times: World Special
U.S. Puts Bounty on Hussein and Sons: "The U.S. government put a $25 million bounty on Saddam Hussein and $15 million on his sons Thursday, seeking to quell a spreading insurgency fueled by uncertainty over the ousted Iraqi leader's fate. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
U.S. Troops Kill 11 Iraqi Ambushers
KEEP YOUR HELMET ON!
U.S. Troops Kill 11 Iraqi Ambushers
By JAMIE TARABAY
.c The Associated Press
BALAD, Iraq (AP) - U.S. troops killed 11 Iraqis who ambushed a convoy outside Baghdad on Friday, one of the heaviest clashes yet in the daily grind of attacks on American forces, and a message purportedly from Saddam Hussein called for stepped-up resistance to the U.S.-led occupation.
The ambush came hours after mortars hit a nearby base, wounding 18 U.S. soldiers, and a sniper shot and killed an American soldier guarding the Baghdad museum, the military said.
The Arab television station Al-Jazeera aired an audiotape Friday with a voice purported to be that of Saddam. In the tape, the speaker said he was directing resistance to American forces and called on all Iraqis to support the attacks.
``Not a day passes without them (suffering) losses in our great land thanks to our great mujahedeen (holy warriors),'' the speaker on the tape said. ``The coming days will, God willing, be days of hardship and trouble for the infidel invaders.''
The United States has put a $25 million bounty on Saddam's head, and U.S. officials say that the mystery over his whereabouts is encouraging anti-U.S. attacks - though they insist the resistance is not centrally organized.
The speaker on the tape - purportedly Saddam - said he was in Iraq and gave the date as June 14. There was no immediate way to confirm the tape's authenticity but those who know Saddam's voice said it sounded like his.
The insurgency has raised fears of a political and military quagmire just two months after President Bush declared an end to major combat on May 1. At least 27 U.S. troops have been killed in hostile fire since Bush's statement.
The ambush Friday came on a highway near Balad, 55 miles north of Baghdad, when 11 men attacked a convoy with rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire, the military said.
Soldiers of the Army's 4th Infantry Division fired back, killing all the men. None of the Americans was injured.
U.S. forces have frequently been ambushed on the roads of central Iraq - usually by small groups of insurgents who fire small arms or grenades then flee.
In another bold attack, four mortar rounds rocked a huge U.S. base near Balad late Thursday, injuring 18 soldiers, said Maj. Edward Bryja, of the Army's 3rd Corps Support Command. Flares and tracer bullets sliced across the night sky after the blasts.
Two soldiers were seriously injured, with one undergoing surgery in a hospital located on the base and another evacuated for treatment, Bryja said. Others suffered cuts and small punctures from flying shrapnel, and nine soldiers quickly went back to duty, Army officials said.
``This is the first time the base was attacked - and the first time we've seen mortars,'' said Sgt. Grant Calease, who said he and other soldiers would nonetheless carry on with a July 4th steak barbecue.
The wounded soldiers belonged to Task Force Iron Horse, a 33,000-member unit that has been conducting raids in mainly Sunni Muslim central Iraq - the latest sweep aimed at putting down insurgents.
On Friday, attackers detonated an explosive on a highway in Baghdad's western outskirts, injuring three passengers in a civilian car and two U.S. soldiers traveling in a Humvee convoy, according to an Associated Press photographer on the scene.
On Thursday evening, a sniper shot and killed a U.S. soldier manning the gunner's hatch of a Bradley fighting vehicle outside the national museum, Pruden said. His name was not immediately available.
Despite the attacks, many of the U.S. troops planned July 4th barbecues at bases around the country.
``We should be celebrating with our families. It is sad. Everybody wants to go home. I am glad that we came here to liberate Iraq, but I think it is time for soldiers to see their families,'' said Sgt. Thas Eagans from Irving, Texas.
A few were invited to join Arnold Schwarzenegger for a screening at Baghdad International Airport of the muscle-bound actor's latest movie, ``Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.''
Schwarzenegger addressed a rambunctious crowd of soldiers in one of Saddam Hussein's former presidential palaces located inside the airport compound.
``It is really wild driving around here, I mean the poverty, and you see there is no money, it is disastrous financially and there is the leadership vacuum, pretty much like in California right now,'' he said.
Schwarzenegger, 55, has indicated he may run for governor of Californian as a Republican if residents there vote to recall the Gov. Gray Davis.
``I play terminator, but you guys are the true terminators,'' he told the soldiers, before heading to the base at Balad that came under attack.
In the north, American forces planned joint celebrations with Kurdish officials. The Kurds celebrate July 4 as the anniversary of their first government's election in 1992.
U.S. officials have said the insurgency is being fueled by doubts about Saddam's fate and crushing it is crucial.
The American sweep, dubbed Sidewinder, has netted at least 20 ``high-value'' targets, but none of the most wanted Iraqi fugitives. Arms and ammunition, including hundreds of rocket propelled grenades, or RPGs, have also been seized.
On Thursday, U.S. troops near Baqubah, northeast of the capital, tried to lure attackers into an ambush on a stretch of road known as ``RPG Alley'' because of the frequent attacks on U.S. forces there. One suspect was killed and three captured in the operation, said Lt. Kurt Chapman, with the Army's 4th Infantry Division.
The last reported sighting of Saddam was on April 9, a day before the capital fell, in northeast Baghdad. He was the target of at least two major U.S. air strikes, but there was never any proof either was successful.
U.S. Troops Kill 11 Iraqi Ambushers
By JAMIE TARABAY
.c The Associated Press
BALAD, Iraq (AP) - U.S. troops killed 11 Iraqis who ambushed a convoy outside Baghdad on Friday, one of the heaviest clashes yet in the daily grind of attacks on American forces, and a message purportedly from Saddam Hussein called for stepped-up resistance to the U.S.-led occupation.
The ambush came hours after mortars hit a nearby base, wounding 18 U.S. soldiers, and a sniper shot and killed an American soldier guarding the Baghdad museum, the military said.
The Arab television station Al-Jazeera aired an audiotape Friday with a voice purported to be that of Saddam. In the tape, the speaker said he was directing resistance to American forces and called on all Iraqis to support the attacks.
``Not a day passes without them (suffering) losses in our great land thanks to our great mujahedeen (holy warriors),'' the speaker on the tape said. ``The coming days will, God willing, be days of hardship and trouble for the infidel invaders.''
The United States has put a $25 million bounty on Saddam's head, and U.S. officials say that the mystery over his whereabouts is encouraging anti-U.S. attacks - though they insist the resistance is not centrally organized.
The speaker on the tape - purportedly Saddam - said he was in Iraq and gave the date as June 14. There was no immediate way to confirm the tape's authenticity but those who know Saddam's voice said it sounded like his.
The insurgency has raised fears of a political and military quagmire just two months after President Bush declared an end to major combat on May 1. At least 27 U.S. troops have been killed in hostile fire since Bush's statement.
The ambush Friday came on a highway near Balad, 55 miles north of Baghdad, when 11 men attacked a convoy with rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire, the military said.
Soldiers of the Army's 4th Infantry Division fired back, killing all the men. None of the Americans was injured.
U.S. forces have frequently been ambushed on the roads of central Iraq - usually by small groups of insurgents who fire small arms or grenades then flee.
In another bold attack, four mortar rounds rocked a huge U.S. base near Balad late Thursday, injuring 18 soldiers, said Maj. Edward Bryja, of the Army's 3rd Corps Support Command. Flares and tracer bullets sliced across the night sky after the blasts.
Two soldiers were seriously injured, with one undergoing surgery in a hospital located on the base and another evacuated for treatment, Bryja said. Others suffered cuts and small punctures from flying shrapnel, and nine soldiers quickly went back to duty, Army officials said.
``This is the first time the base was attacked - and the first time we've seen mortars,'' said Sgt. Grant Calease, who said he and other soldiers would nonetheless carry on with a July 4th steak barbecue.
The wounded soldiers belonged to Task Force Iron Horse, a 33,000-member unit that has been conducting raids in mainly Sunni Muslim central Iraq - the latest sweep aimed at putting down insurgents.
On Friday, attackers detonated an explosive on a highway in Baghdad's western outskirts, injuring three passengers in a civilian car and two U.S. soldiers traveling in a Humvee convoy, according to an Associated Press photographer on the scene.
On Thursday evening, a sniper shot and killed a U.S. soldier manning the gunner's hatch of a Bradley fighting vehicle outside the national museum, Pruden said. His name was not immediately available.
Despite the attacks, many of the U.S. troops planned July 4th barbecues at bases around the country.
``We should be celebrating with our families. It is sad. Everybody wants to go home. I am glad that we came here to liberate Iraq, but I think it is time for soldiers to see their families,'' said Sgt. Thas Eagans from Irving, Texas.
A few were invited to join Arnold Schwarzenegger for a screening at Baghdad International Airport of the muscle-bound actor's latest movie, ``Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.''
Schwarzenegger addressed a rambunctious crowd of soldiers in one of Saddam Hussein's former presidential palaces located inside the airport compound.
``It is really wild driving around here, I mean the poverty, and you see there is no money, it is disastrous financially and there is the leadership vacuum, pretty much like in California right now,'' he said.
Schwarzenegger, 55, has indicated he may run for governor of Californian as a Republican if residents there vote to recall the Gov. Gray Davis.
``I play terminator, but you guys are the true terminators,'' he told the soldiers, before heading to the base at Balad that came under attack.
In the north, American forces planned joint celebrations with Kurdish officials. The Kurds celebrate July 4 as the anniversary of their first government's election in 1992.
U.S. officials have said the insurgency is being fueled by doubts about Saddam's fate and crushing it is crucial.
The American sweep, dubbed Sidewinder, has netted at least 20 ``high-value'' targets, but none of the most wanted Iraqi fugitives. Arms and ammunition, including hundreds of rocket propelled grenades, or RPGs, have also been seized.
On Thursday, U.S. troops near Baqubah, northeast of the capital, tried to lure attackers into an ambush on a stretch of road known as ``RPG Alley'' because of the frequent attacks on U.S. forces there. One suspect was killed and three captured in the operation, said Lt. Kurt Chapman, with the Army's 4th Infantry Division.
The last reported sighting of Saddam was on April 9, a day before the capital fell, in northeast Baghdad. He was the target of at least two major U.S. air strikes, but there was never any proof either was successful.
Thursday, July 03, 2003
ambusher fired a grenade at a U.S. Army convoy
KEEP YOUR HELMET ON!
Assault On Humvee Leaves Six Injured
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - An Army truck hit an explosive west of Baghdad today injuring six U.S. soldiers, and assailants in the capital wounded two other American soldiers in separate attacks, U.S. military officials and witnesses said.
The violence comes a day after President Bush vowed that anti-U.S. attacks would not keep the United States from fulfilling its mission in Iraq.
An explosion during a demonstration in Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, killed one person and injured at least five. The demonstrators were protesting the U.S. Army's alleged detention of the city's top Shiite cleric.
During the hostilities, U.S. soldiers also injured a six-year-old boy and killed another bystander, as well as an Iraqi gunman, military officials and civilian witnesses said.
In Ramadi, 60 miles west of Baghdad, a two-Humvee convoy struck an explosive early Thursday, wounding six soldiers, said Sgt. Patrick Compton, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad.
And an ambusher fired a grenade at a U.S. Army convoy in downtown Baghdad Thursday morning, wounding one soldier, witnesses said.
As the convoy moved along Baghdad's Haifa Street, a man fired a rocket-propelled grenade while standing in a car's sunroof; the grenade exploded beneath an Army Humvee, said Saddam Juwad, 22, a bystander. Most of the soldiers jumped from the Humvee before the explosion, Juwad said. One soldier who appeared to be injured was evacuated, Juwad and other witnesses said.
As the attackers sped away, U.S. soldiers began firing wildly, Fuad Hassan Alwan and other witnesses said, killing the driver of another car. As a Humvee sat burning in the street an hour after the attack, witnesses pointed to a pool of blood on the street where the victim had fallen.
"We heard an explosion. I threw myself to the ground and my brother was shot," said Hassan. "The Americans shot at us. My brother has two bullet wounds and he is now in the hospital."
In a firefight in the west Baghdad neighborhood of Kadamiyah, a soldier from the Army's 1st Armored Division was wounded Thursday morning and a six-year-old boy was injured, Compton said.
In a separate incident overnight, soldiers of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division killed a gunman who fired at them, and also wounded a boy, Compton said.
In Baqouba, witnesses said a plastic bag filled with explosives exploded in the middle of a crowd of several hundred demonstrators, who were protesting the U.S. Army's detention of Ali Abdul Kareem al Madani, the city's top Shiite cleric.
After the blast outside the governor's office, people screamed and ran in different directions. U.S. soldiers patrolling from atop a nearby building fired shots into the air.
Kahtan Adnan, an aide to al-Madani, said about 200 U.S. troops raided the cleric's home, arresting him, his son and eight other people at the home. On Thursday morning, many of the cleric's books were strewn about on the floor of the home and several vehicles outside had their windshields smashed.
Witnesses said the U.S. troops caused the damage.
"I am an Iraqi Muslim," said Qassem al Saadi, one of the demonstrators demanding al-Madani's release. "They humiliated our leader and desecrated his holy books."
Compton said he had no information about arrests in Baqouba.
In another development, the Iraqi National Museum reopened its doors Thursday for the first time since the war. Looting at the museum provoked an international outcry after Baghdad fell on April 9, but U.S. occupation authorities say most of the museum's items - including the world-famous treasures of Nimrud - have now been accounted for.
Insurgents have stepped up their attacks in recent days, hurling grenades, ambushing convoys and shooting troops patrolling the streets. A U.S. Marine who was injured along with three of his peers when their vehicle was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade south of Baghdad on Tuesday died from his wounds, the U.S. military said Wednesday.
That brought to 26 the number of U.S. forces killed in hostile fire since Bush declared an end to major combat on May 1.
Also Wednesday, a U.S. Marine was killed and three others were injured while clearing mines near the south-central Iraqi city of Karbala, the U.S. military said. The cause of their deaths was not immediately released.
The British foreign secretary and American senators visiting Iraq played down concerns that the U.S.-led occupation risks descending into a Vietnam-style quagmire, saying the remnants of Saddam Hussein's regime will be crushed.
"A quagmire? No," Jack Straw told reporters Wednesday at the British mission in Baghdad. "These actions against the coalition forces won't succeed and will be dealt with."
To quell the burgeoning resistance, U.S.-led forces have launched a series of lightning raids across Iraq. One such operation northeast of Baghdad entered its fifth day Thursday, and has netted "20 high-value targeted individuals" consisting of former leaders of Saddam's Baath Party, former leaders of Saddam's Fedayeen militia and a former Iraqi military intelligence officer, a military statement said.
The statement did not give the identities of those detained, and no one on the United States' top 55 list of most-wanted Iraqi fugitives was among them.
Assault On Humvee Leaves Six Injured
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - An Army truck hit an explosive west of Baghdad today injuring six U.S. soldiers, and assailants in the capital wounded two other American soldiers in separate attacks, U.S. military officials and witnesses said.
The violence comes a day after President Bush vowed that anti-U.S. attacks would not keep the United States from fulfilling its mission in Iraq.
An explosion during a demonstration in Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, killed one person and injured at least five. The demonstrators were protesting the U.S. Army's alleged detention of the city's top Shiite cleric.
During the hostilities, U.S. soldiers also injured a six-year-old boy and killed another bystander, as well as an Iraqi gunman, military officials and civilian witnesses said.
In Ramadi, 60 miles west of Baghdad, a two-Humvee convoy struck an explosive early Thursday, wounding six soldiers, said Sgt. Patrick Compton, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad.
And an ambusher fired a grenade at a U.S. Army convoy in downtown Baghdad Thursday morning, wounding one soldier, witnesses said.
As the convoy moved along Baghdad's Haifa Street, a man fired a rocket-propelled grenade while standing in a car's sunroof; the grenade exploded beneath an Army Humvee, said Saddam Juwad, 22, a bystander. Most of the soldiers jumped from the Humvee before the explosion, Juwad said. One soldier who appeared to be injured was evacuated, Juwad and other witnesses said.
As the attackers sped away, U.S. soldiers began firing wildly, Fuad Hassan Alwan and other witnesses said, killing the driver of another car. As a Humvee sat burning in the street an hour after the attack, witnesses pointed to a pool of blood on the street where the victim had fallen.
"We heard an explosion. I threw myself to the ground and my brother was shot," said Hassan. "The Americans shot at us. My brother has two bullet wounds and he is now in the hospital."
In a firefight in the west Baghdad neighborhood of Kadamiyah, a soldier from the Army's 1st Armored Division was wounded Thursday morning and a six-year-old boy was injured, Compton said.
In a separate incident overnight, soldiers of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division killed a gunman who fired at them, and also wounded a boy, Compton said.
In Baqouba, witnesses said a plastic bag filled with explosives exploded in the middle of a crowd of several hundred demonstrators, who were protesting the U.S. Army's detention of Ali Abdul Kareem al Madani, the city's top Shiite cleric.
After the blast outside the governor's office, people screamed and ran in different directions. U.S. soldiers patrolling from atop a nearby building fired shots into the air.
Kahtan Adnan, an aide to al-Madani, said about 200 U.S. troops raided the cleric's home, arresting him, his son and eight other people at the home. On Thursday morning, many of the cleric's books were strewn about on the floor of the home and several vehicles outside had their windshields smashed.
Witnesses said the U.S. troops caused the damage.
"I am an Iraqi Muslim," said Qassem al Saadi, one of the demonstrators demanding al-Madani's release. "They humiliated our leader and desecrated his holy books."
Compton said he had no information about arrests in Baqouba.
In another development, the Iraqi National Museum reopened its doors Thursday for the first time since the war. Looting at the museum provoked an international outcry after Baghdad fell on April 9, but U.S. occupation authorities say most of the museum's items - including the world-famous treasures of Nimrud - have now been accounted for.
Insurgents have stepped up their attacks in recent days, hurling grenades, ambushing convoys and shooting troops patrolling the streets. A U.S. Marine who was injured along with three of his peers when their vehicle was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade south of Baghdad on Tuesday died from his wounds, the U.S. military said Wednesday.
That brought to 26 the number of U.S. forces killed in hostile fire since Bush declared an end to major combat on May 1.
Also Wednesday, a U.S. Marine was killed and three others were injured while clearing mines near the south-central Iraqi city of Karbala, the U.S. military said. The cause of their deaths was not immediately released.
The British foreign secretary and American senators visiting Iraq played down concerns that the U.S.-led occupation risks descending into a Vietnam-style quagmire, saying the remnants of Saddam Hussein's regime will be crushed.
"A quagmire? No," Jack Straw told reporters Wednesday at the British mission in Baghdad. "These actions against the coalition forces won't succeed and will be dealt with."
To quell the burgeoning resistance, U.S.-led forces have launched a series of lightning raids across Iraq. One such operation northeast of Baghdad entered its fifth day Thursday, and has netted "20 high-value targeted individuals" consisting of former leaders of Saddam's Baath Party, former leaders of Saddam's Fedayeen militia and a former Iraqi military intelligence officer, a military statement said.
The statement did not give the identities of those detained, and no one on the United States' top 55 list of most-wanted Iraqi fugitives was among them.
National Guard's 957th Multi-Role Bridge Company
KEEP YOUR HELMET ON!
07-02-2003: news-local
Bismarck soldier wounded in Iraq
By TONY SPILDE, Bismarck Tribune
Something clearly was amiss in Jonathan Sigl's voice.
Where was the enthusiasm? The sweetness abandoned it, too. All that was left for his mother to decipher in an 8 p.m. phone call Monday was the hollow, recognizable shell of Sigl's voice. It is hard enough to understand someone when he calls Bismarck from Iraq without him not sounding like himself.
"Are you OK?" Julie Haussler asked her son. It had been four weeks since she'd talked to him.
"Yes."
"Tell me what you've been doing."
"You're probably going to hear about something that happened," Sigl said.
What that was -- what stole the charm from his voice -- was something mothers dread to hear. Her 22-year-old son had been injured by enemy fire.
Sigl, a specialist in the North Dakota National Guard's 957th Multi-Role Bridge Company, had been patrolling the Euphrates River near Ar Ramadi when five to eight enemy mortar shells exploded near the water. He caught shrapnel in his back and shoulders.
The mortars injured no other soldiers. Within five minutes, Sigl was transported to a medical aid station, Guard spokesman Rob Keller said. The attack came at about 1:45 a.m. Tuesday, Iraq time.
About two hours later -- 8 p.m. CDT Monday -- Sigl called home.
"He just didn't sound right," Haussler said. "I could tell he was being cautious about what he said. He didn't come out and say anything. I had to ask the questions. He was really controlled, but I could tell, you know, that he ... wanted a release."
Sigl told his mother he was hurt, but it could have been worse. He didn't give her many details. Those she got Tuesday morning in a call from the National Guard.
"One thing I'm really grateful for is he called before the Guard did," Haussler said. "I wouldn't have wanted that phone call without talking to him first."
Haussler said her son wants to stay in Iraq with his unit to finish its mission. Part of that mission is patrolling the Euphrates in assistance to the Army's 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, a task given the 957th a month ago.
"I'd like him to come home," Haussler said. "He's on our minds all of the time. He said it might be dangerous where he is, but it's what he does. That scares me."
Keller said staying or leaving Iraq won't be up to Sigl. Medical professionals will decide whether he is well enough to stay. He was in good condition Tuesday.
"The information we have now is that he is doing well, which is very good news," Keller said. "It's the best news parents could have."
The 6-foot-3 Sigl, who enjoys wakeboarding, was starting his second semester at North Dakota State University when he got the call in February that the 957th was mobilizing. The unit trained for two months at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., before shipping out to Kuwait in April. It moved into Iraq shortly thereafter.
Sigl's father, Jerry Sigl, lives in Mandan.
Another North Dakota soldier, Spc. Alan Raymond Hill, 20, of Dunseith, who serves with the 978th Military Police Company based at Fort Bliss, Texas, suffered minor shrapnel wounds while patrolling in a Humvee north of Baghdad about a month ago.
(Reach Tony Spilde at 250-8260 or tspilde@ndonline.com.)
07-02-2003: news-local
Bismarck soldier wounded in Iraq
By TONY SPILDE, Bismarck Tribune
Something clearly was amiss in Jonathan Sigl's voice.
Where was the enthusiasm? The sweetness abandoned it, too. All that was left for his mother to decipher in an 8 p.m. phone call Monday was the hollow, recognizable shell of Sigl's voice. It is hard enough to understand someone when he calls Bismarck from Iraq without him not sounding like himself.
"Are you OK?" Julie Haussler asked her son. It had been four weeks since she'd talked to him.
"Yes."
"Tell me what you've been doing."
"You're probably going to hear about something that happened," Sigl said.
What that was -- what stole the charm from his voice -- was something mothers dread to hear. Her 22-year-old son had been injured by enemy fire.
Sigl, a specialist in the North Dakota National Guard's 957th Multi-Role Bridge Company, had been patrolling the Euphrates River near Ar Ramadi when five to eight enemy mortar shells exploded near the water. He caught shrapnel in his back and shoulders.
The mortars injured no other soldiers. Within five minutes, Sigl was transported to a medical aid station, Guard spokesman Rob Keller said. The attack came at about 1:45 a.m. Tuesday, Iraq time.
About two hours later -- 8 p.m. CDT Monday -- Sigl called home.
"He just didn't sound right," Haussler said. "I could tell he was being cautious about what he said. He didn't come out and say anything. I had to ask the questions. He was really controlled, but I could tell, you know, that he ... wanted a release."
Sigl told his mother he was hurt, but it could have been worse. He didn't give her many details. Those she got Tuesday morning in a call from the National Guard.
"One thing I'm really grateful for is he called before the Guard did," Haussler said. "I wouldn't have wanted that phone call without talking to him first."
Haussler said her son wants to stay in Iraq with his unit to finish its mission. Part of that mission is patrolling the Euphrates in assistance to the Army's 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, a task given the 957th a month ago.
"I'd like him to come home," Haussler said. "He's on our minds all of the time. He said it might be dangerous where he is, but it's what he does. That scares me."
Keller said staying or leaving Iraq won't be up to Sigl. Medical professionals will decide whether he is well enough to stay. He was in good condition Tuesday.
"The information we have now is that he is doing well, which is very good news," Keller said. "It's the best news parents could have."
The 6-foot-3 Sigl, who enjoys wakeboarding, was starting his second semester at North Dakota State University when he got the call in February that the 957th was mobilizing. The unit trained for two months at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., before shipping out to Kuwait in April. It moved into Iraq shortly thereafter.
Sigl's father, Jerry Sigl, lives in Mandan.
Another North Dakota soldier, Spc. Alan Raymond Hill, 20, of Dunseith, who serves with the 978th Military Police Company based at Fort Bliss, Texas, suffered minor shrapnel wounds while patrolling in a Humvee north of Baghdad about a month ago.
(Reach Tony Spilde at 250-8260 or tspilde@ndonline.com.)
Table of casualties in Iraq
KEEP YOUR HELMET ON!
03 Jul 2003 18:07:52 GMT
FACTBOX-Table of casualties in Iraq
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LONDON, July 3 (Reuters) - The toll of U.S. and British soldiers killed in combat since the end of major fighting in Iraq rose to 25 on Thursday after the U.S. army said two soldiers found dead were killed in action.
U.S. military officials also said one U.S. marine was killed and three were injured on Wednesday during mine-clearing operations in Kerbala, south of Baghdad.
Following is a table of U.S., British and Iraqi casualties in the Iraq war and its aftermath as announced by U.S., British and Iraqi authorities or independently confirmed by Reuters correspondents.
NOTE: The figure in brackets indicates the part which occurred after May 1 when U.S. President George W. Bush declared hostilities over.
U.S. AND BRITISH TROOPS KILLED:
COMBAT/ATTACKS
United States 139 (25)
Britain 14 (6)
NON-COMBAT
United States 64 (40)
Britain 29 (4)
IRAQIS KILLED:
MILITARY 2,320#
CIVILIANS *
# = U.S. military estimates relating only to fighting in or near Baghdad. No other figures available.
* = Website www.iraqbodycount.net run by academics and peace activists puts Iraq's civilian deaths at between 6,018 and 7,661 based on incidents reported by at least two media sources.
NOTE: NON-COMBAT is defined as accidents, U.S. or British fire killing/wounding their own troops or other incidents unrelated to fighting.
03 Jul 2003 18:07:52 GMT
FACTBOX-Table of casualties in Iraq
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LONDON, July 3 (Reuters) - The toll of U.S. and British soldiers killed in combat since the end of major fighting in Iraq rose to 25 on Thursday after the U.S. army said two soldiers found dead were killed in action.
U.S. military officials also said one U.S. marine was killed and three were injured on Wednesday during mine-clearing operations in Kerbala, south of Baghdad.
Following is a table of U.S., British and Iraqi casualties in the Iraq war and its aftermath as announced by U.S., British and Iraqi authorities or independently confirmed by Reuters correspondents.
NOTE: The figure in brackets indicates the part which occurred after May 1 when U.S. President George W. Bush declared hostilities over.
U.S. AND BRITISH TROOPS KILLED:
COMBAT/ATTACKS
United States 139 (25)
Britain 14 (6)
NON-COMBAT
United States 64 (40)
Britain 29 (4)
IRAQIS KILLED:
MILITARY 2,320#
CIVILIANS *
# = U.S. military estimates relating only to fighting in or near Baghdad. No other figures available.
* = Website www.iraqbodycount.net run by academics and peace activists puts Iraq's civilian deaths at between 6,018 and 7,661 based on incidents reported by at least two media sources.
NOTE: NON-COMBAT is defined as accidents, U.S. or British fire killing/wounding their own troops or other incidents unrelated to fighting.
Democracy, Whiskey, Se- OOOPS!: "From today's " Winds of War " briefing, over at Winds of Change.NET:
U.S. authorities discovered that the acronym of the reconstituted Iraqi army, the New Iraqi Corps, is an Arabic slang word for fornication. The name has been changed to the New Iraqi Army. (Hat Tip: The Week magazine)"
In Command Post: Irak
Bush utters taunt about militants: 'bring 'em on' (3 July 03) in Radio Free USA
Israel makes cosmetic show of peace as it builds the Bethlehem wall (3 July 03) in Radio Free USA
Arrest of Shiite leader by US forces sparks protests: "US forces arrested a Shiite Muslim leader in the town of Baquba overnight, sparking a protest by thousands of his supporters, his family and an AFP correspondent said. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Two Iraqis killed, 10 US soldiers wounded in separate attacks: "Three separate attacks in northern Iraq left at least two Iraqis dead and 10 US soldiers wounded, military officials and witnesses said, as violence continued to overshadow rebuilding efforts. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Iraq Democracy Watch: "Call me Cassandra...
The Bush administration isn't able to keep a lid on the facts surrounding our needing more support in Iraq. The Financial Times reports that, "diplomats and analysts believe Washington is struggling to put together sufficient numbers [of troops] to tackle a military and political undertaking that was severely underestimated."
The article then goes on to list the military powerhouses that we are trying to enlist for help, such as Lithuania, Romania, Mongolia and Fiji.
In a disturbing turn, indicating that events may well eventually just spiral out of our control, the UK Times OnLine reported that Ayatollah Mohammad Baqr al-Hakim, head of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), "yesterday warned US-led forces in Iraq that he is prepared to use force against them if they do not return Iraq to the Iraqis."
To understand the significance of this, remember that Hakim was on the original seven-member advisory board that the US had put together to help kick-start a political transition in the country. And that his group has repeatedly renounced violence, and even continues to do so for the time being. Oh, and that SCIRI has a 10,000 man armed branch, all trained.
"
Attacks in Iraq injure eight U.S. troops: "An Army truck hit an explosive west of Baghdad on Thursday injuring six U.S. soldiers, and assailants in the capital wounded two other American soldiers in separate attacks, U.S. military officials and witnesses said."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
U.S. authorities discovered that the acronym of the reconstituted Iraqi army, the New Iraqi Corps, is an Arabic slang word for fornication. The name has been changed to the New Iraqi Army. (Hat Tip: The Week magazine)"
In Command Post: Irak
Bush utters taunt about militants: 'bring 'em on' (3 July 03) in Radio Free USA
Israel makes cosmetic show of peace as it builds the Bethlehem wall (3 July 03) in Radio Free USA
Arrest of Shiite leader by US forces sparks protests: "US forces arrested a Shiite Muslim leader in the town of Baquba overnight, sparking a protest by thousands of his supporters, his family and an AFP correspondent said. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Two Iraqis killed, 10 US soldiers wounded in separate attacks: "Three separate attacks in northern Iraq left at least two Iraqis dead and 10 US soldiers wounded, military officials and witnesses said, as violence continued to overshadow rebuilding efforts. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Iraq Democracy Watch: "Call me Cassandra...
The Bush administration isn't able to keep a lid on the facts surrounding our needing more support in Iraq. The Financial Times reports that, "diplomats and analysts believe Washington is struggling to put together sufficient numbers [of troops] to tackle a military and political undertaking that was severely underestimated."
The article then goes on to list the military powerhouses that we are trying to enlist for help, such as Lithuania, Romania, Mongolia and Fiji.
In a disturbing turn, indicating that events may well eventually just spiral out of our control, the UK Times OnLine reported that Ayatollah Mohammad Baqr al-Hakim, head of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), "yesterday warned US-led forces in Iraq that he is prepared to use force against them if they do not return Iraq to the Iraqis."
"We call for using the legal and peaceful methods in order to put an end to this invasion and occupation, by using at first the peaceful methods and ways," he told The Times in the holy city of Najaf. "If this will not give success, then we will think about other methods."
To understand the significance of this, remember that Hakim was on the original seven-member advisory board that the US had put together to help kick-start a political transition in the country. And that his group has repeatedly renounced violence, and even continues to do so for the time being. Oh, and that SCIRI has a 10,000 man armed branch, all trained.
"
Attacks in Iraq injure eight U.S. troops: "An Army truck hit an explosive west of Baghdad on Thursday injuring six U.S. soldiers, and assailants in the capital wounded two other American soldiers in separate attacks, U.S. military officials and witnesses said."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Maj. Dan Chachakis
KEEP YOUR HELMET ON!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted on Thu, Jul. 03, 2003
Patrols Increase at Vital Iraqi Oil Line
BASSEM MROUE
Associated Press
NAJAF, Iraq - Days after thieves set off a huge explosion along Iraq's most vital oil pipeline, U.S. troops have stepped up patrols and the Oil Ministry said Thursday it is working on a deal with southern tribal leaders to help protect the line from criminals and saboteurs.
The pipeline has been closed since Monday, the day after thieves trying to steal oil breached the line, causing an explosion and oil spill. The pipeline is not expected to be back on line for about another week, said Diyaa Mousawi, head of the pipeline department at the South Oil Company, which controls southern Iraq.
Mousawi said the Oil Ministry would start discussing making cash payments to tribal leaders in return for help protecting the pipeline.
Mousawi told The Associated Press that three of the thieves were killed in the explosion. He said two giant containers were found near the breaches, about 25 miles west of Najaf, one with a capacity of 11,600 gallons and the other able to hold 4,200 gallons.
The pipeline, which runs between the Rumaila oil fields in the southern city of Basra and the main switching station at the western town of Haditha, is considered the country's main oil lifeline, Mousawi said. He said it has a capacity of transporting 1 million barrels a day, but was recently operating at about 120,000 barrels a day.
It was the first serious damage caused to the pipeline in the southern part of the country.
Since the collapse of President Saddam Hussein's government in April, the country has been plagued by looting and sabotage attacks against government buildings and infrastructure installations, as well as frequent attacks on U.S. and British troops.
Mousawi said the Americans were slow to react to Monday's pipeline attack, allowing the surviving thieves to get away.
"We would have been able to catch the saboteurs," he said. "They sent a patrol but it was slow."
Maj. Dan Chachakis, a U.S. military officials in Najaf, said the number of patrols had increased along the pipeline, and that two suspects had been captured.
"We caught some people on the pipeline last (Wednesday) night. We captured four trucks, two personnel and two pumps," he said. "We have been getting more aggressive."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted on Thu, Jul. 03, 2003
Patrols Increase at Vital Iraqi Oil Line
BASSEM MROUE
Associated Press
NAJAF, Iraq - Days after thieves set off a huge explosion along Iraq's most vital oil pipeline, U.S. troops have stepped up patrols and the Oil Ministry said Thursday it is working on a deal with southern tribal leaders to help protect the line from criminals and saboteurs.
The pipeline has been closed since Monday, the day after thieves trying to steal oil breached the line, causing an explosion and oil spill. The pipeline is not expected to be back on line for about another week, said Diyaa Mousawi, head of the pipeline department at the South Oil Company, which controls southern Iraq.
Mousawi said the Oil Ministry would start discussing making cash payments to tribal leaders in return for help protecting the pipeline.
Mousawi told The Associated Press that three of the thieves were killed in the explosion. He said two giant containers were found near the breaches, about 25 miles west of Najaf, one with a capacity of 11,600 gallons and the other able to hold 4,200 gallons.
The pipeline, which runs between the Rumaila oil fields in the southern city of Basra and the main switching station at the western town of Haditha, is considered the country's main oil lifeline, Mousawi said. He said it has a capacity of transporting 1 million barrels a day, but was recently operating at about 120,000 barrels a day.
It was the first serious damage caused to the pipeline in the southern part of the country.
Since the collapse of President Saddam Hussein's government in April, the country has been plagued by looting and sabotage attacks against government buildings and infrastructure installations, as well as frequent attacks on U.S. and British troops.
Mousawi said the Americans were slow to react to Monday's pipeline attack, allowing the surviving thieves to get away.
"We would have been able to catch the saboteurs," he said. "They sent a patrol but it was slow."
Maj. Dan Chachakis, a U.S. military officials in Najaf, said the number of patrols had increased along the pipeline, and that two suspects had been captured.
"We caught some people on the pipeline last (Wednesday) night. We captured four trucks, two personnel and two pumps," he said. "We have been getting more aggressive."
3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment
KEEP YOUR HELMET ON!
In Iraq and in Colorado, soldiers and wives wait and worry
AP Photos NY385-NY391
By JIM KRANE and COLLEEN SLEVIN
Associated Press Writers
RAMADI, Iraq (AP) - In the wrecked skeleton of a former Iraqi military warehouse, 200 soldiers stand at rigid attention, jaws set, faces buffeted by a hot desert wind, saluting a memorial for Staff Sgt. William Latham.
An American flag whips the air above a pair of boots with an erect M-16 between them, a helmet atop its barrel.
For the soldiers of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, based at Fort Carson, Colo., the memorial is all too familiar. Latham was the ninth of 10 soldiers from the regiment to die in Iraq since May.
But if war and its aftermath is tough for the soldiers - their choked voices and wet eyes at Latham's memorial show their burden - most say it is harder still for their families back home.
---
''God has tested my faith here more than once. It's getting harder and harder every day,'' says Spc. Jason Richards, 32, his voice barely audible above the wind. Richards is a member of the Bradley armored vehicle crew that Latham commanded.
''You think we're helping them and then they kill one of our buddies,'' he says. ''I don't understand how they can hate us so much. It just clouds your reasons for being here.''
As he speaks, members of his unit kneel before the Latham memorial, crossing themselves.
Richards, originally from Yardley, Pa., feels torments beyond the death of his crew chief. In June, he chased and shot an armed Iraqi man who ignored calls to stop. Before shooting the man, Richards says, he fired 17 warning shots. Afterward he and his crew rushed over and administered first aid. The man died.
Richards recalls talking with an Army counselor to help him deal with his conscience.
''I asked him 'Why is God testing me so much?''' Richards says. ''Now I'm going to suffer in hell for killing this guy.''
Richards says he calls and e-mails his wife, Stephanie, to talk about his troubles. Each time he does, he ratchets up her fears.
After killing the Iraqi, he called Stephanie, who'd just given birth to his first child. He tried to tell his wife about the shooting, but couldn't.
''I started choking up. I told her I had to go. I hung up.''
---
At the beginning of the war, Stephanie Richards was upset to see peace protests, considering them an insult to soldiers. Now she's distressed to see Iraqis protesting the American presence.
''He's missing all of this at home to help them and they're throwing rocks at him and killing his friends,'' the 23-year-old says, sitting at her parents' kitchen table in Colorado and holding 2-week-old Andee.
Lately, she's upset to hear people saying the war is over. To her, it seems like her husband and other soldiers are sitting ducks.
''I'm not going to have my husband killed after the war is over,'' she says.
''I don't want him there, they don't want him there and he doesn't want to be there. So let them come home.''
Growing up in the shadow of Fort Carson, Stephanie saw the unpredictability of military life and swore she'd never marry an Army guy. But she changed her mind after meeting Jason Richards, and married him three months later. They moved up their wedding date by a year because of rumors he would be sent overseas.
After he got his deployment orders, the couple met with a chaplain to help each understand what the other would be going through, and to help them remain a strong couple after the war.
She misses cooking pierogies and sausages for him and talking with him as he took a bath after a long day of training. But her daughter is a comfort. Andee reminds her of Jason in little ways - her voracious appetite, the ability to sleep through vacuuming as she sucks in her bottom lip and pouts.
Every day Stephanie takes a picture of the baby so her husband can catch up when he gets back. Though she's never met her father, Andee calms down when she listens to a tape of him reading Doctor Seuss' ''Oh, the Places You'll Go.''
Jason eventually told her about shooting the Iraqi. He didn't say much, but she could tell the shooting was tearing him up inside and she tried to reassure him.
''If it's between you and the other guy, you're the one who has to come home,'' she recalls saying.
But she also felt hopeless that she couldn't hold him or cheer him up.
''I just said 'I'll hold you when you're back home,''' she says. ''He can cowboy up for work but when he comes home he needs T.L.C.''
---
Justin Armstrong, a 23-year-old sergeant in the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, and his wife, Dorie, had grown accustomed to gathering at Tom and Kelli Broomhead's house on Fort Carson to play softball, drink beer and eat homemade gumbo.
The Broomheads, a decade older than the Armstrongs, helped show the younger couple the ropes of military life.
Tom Broomhead died May 27 in an ambush. His house on Fort Carson will be a lot different now.
''That's going to be my first stop when I get home,'' Armstrong says, eyes moist, square-jawed face smudged with dirt. ''I'm going to go and give Kelli a hug.''
Since his friend's death, Armstrong's been more careful. ''Some say paranoid. I say cautious.''
He checks every last thing on his Bradley, going through all the security and safety minutiae. For good reason: He's been shot at 10 or 15 times. Three or four times, he's fired back.
The dogged Iraqi resistance puzzles Armstrong and others in the 3rd ACR's 2nd Squadron, known as Saber Squadron.
Armstrong thinks Iraqis believe the Americans have come to steal the country's oil. Others say the Iraqis think U.S. troops are Israelis in disguise. It makes Armstrong angry to think his best friend was killed on the authority of such rumors.
''They don't understand that we're here to free them from a dictator. They think we're here to kill them,'' says Armstrong, his uniform encrusted with white salt stains from sweating under heavy body armor.
A few weeks ago, the 3rd Infantry Division took over in restive Fallujah and Saber Squadron got sent to Ramadi - still rough, but not quite as bad. Soon, though, the 3rd ACR will be sent back to Fallujah.
''They keep sending us letters saying we're so glad you're out of there. They don't realize we're going back in,'' Armstrong says. ''I don't have the heart to tell her. There's no sense in worrying her.''
Armstrong's wife mails him disposable cameras so he can take pictures of absolutely everything - his cot in the dust-caked barracks, his Bradley, Iraqis and their living conditions.
He and the rest of his unit live in a former Iraqi paratroop barracks with ragged holes in the walls where the windows used to be. Armstrong keeps a sniper rifle wrapped in burlap camouflage strips hanging on the wall. A copy of The Count of Monte Cristo lays on his cot, an old-fashioned wood frame version patched with parachute cord.
There's a pinup girl on one wall, a poster of a Wendy's double cheeseburger on another. The stenciled visage of Saddam Hussein stares down from the ceiling, its eyes scratched out.
Even though the base is near the banks of the Euphrates, there is almost no vegetation. The fine ''moondust'' that covers the ground billows through the open windows every time a Bradley passes. There's a quarter-inch on the floor under Armstrong's cot. It falls on him as he sleeps.
''She'd think it was disgusting,'' he says of his wife.
---
Dorie Armstrong, 22, knows her husband doesn't tell her everything that's happening. She knows he doesn't want her to worry as she waits in Colorado for his return.
''Sometimes he'll just say 'I have a story to tell you but I'll wait till I get home.'''
She does the same and tries to stay upbeat, sending photographs of her brother's new baby to her husband, a proud first-time uncle.
''I don't want him to have to worry about me,'' she says.
The Armstrongs met in high school in La Grande, Ore., and married three years ago, just a few days after Justin finished basic training. Their honeymoon was a trip to Fort Carson, where the young couple were quickly adopted by the Broomheads.
These days, Dorie writes funny stories to her husband about the newest addition to their family - a 5-month-old Labrador named Daisy. As their older dog Roscoe apparently stood by, Daisy somehow knocked down Dorie's flower pots and ate all the evidence.
Dorie sent her husband a picture of the two dogs sprawled on the couple's bed.
''He's always saying there won't be a spot in the bed when he comes back,'' she says.
She's been busy since he left - studying to become a registered nurse during the day and working at a nursing home at night - and that helps keep worrying at bay. She and a neighbor whose husband also is in Iraq take turns cooking dinner for each other and taking day trips to keep their minds off what's going on.
Every day, she wears half of a Mizpah pendant the couple bought the day before deployment along with an American flag pin on top of a yellow ribbon.
She tries to follow news reports about what is happening in Iraq without dwelling on them.
''You feel guilty because you can't wait to hear what unit it was and when it's not your husband's you're relieved,'' she says.
---
In Iraq and in Colorado, soldiers and wives wait and worry
AP Photos NY385-NY391
By JIM KRANE and COLLEEN SLEVIN
Associated Press Writers
RAMADI, Iraq (AP) - In the wrecked skeleton of a former Iraqi military warehouse, 200 soldiers stand at rigid attention, jaws set, faces buffeted by a hot desert wind, saluting a memorial for Staff Sgt. William Latham.
An American flag whips the air above a pair of boots with an erect M-16 between them, a helmet atop its barrel.
For the soldiers of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, based at Fort Carson, Colo., the memorial is all too familiar. Latham was the ninth of 10 soldiers from the regiment to die in Iraq since May.
But if war and its aftermath is tough for the soldiers - their choked voices and wet eyes at Latham's memorial show their burden - most say it is harder still for their families back home.
---
''God has tested my faith here more than once. It's getting harder and harder every day,'' says Spc. Jason Richards, 32, his voice barely audible above the wind. Richards is a member of the Bradley armored vehicle crew that Latham commanded.
''You think we're helping them and then they kill one of our buddies,'' he says. ''I don't understand how they can hate us so much. It just clouds your reasons for being here.''
As he speaks, members of his unit kneel before the Latham memorial, crossing themselves.
Richards, originally from Yardley, Pa., feels torments beyond the death of his crew chief. In June, he chased and shot an armed Iraqi man who ignored calls to stop. Before shooting the man, Richards says, he fired 17 warning shots. Afterward he and his crew rushed over and administered first aid. The man died.
Richards recalls talking with an Army counselor to help him deal with his conscience.
''I asked him 'Why is God testing me so much?''' Richards says. ''Now I'm going to suffer in hell for killing this guy.''
Richards says he calls and e-mails his wife, Stephanie, to talk about his troubles. Each time he does, he ratchets up her fears.
After killing the Iraqi, he called Stephanie, who'd just given birth to his first child. He tried to tell his wife about the shooting, but couldn't.
''I started choking up. I told her I had to go. I hung up.''
---
At the beginning of the war, Stephanie Richards was upset to see peace protests, considering them an insult to soldiers. Now she's distressed to see Iraqis protesting the American presence.
''He's missing all of this at home to help them and they're throwing rocks at him and killing his friends,'' the 23-year-old says, sitting at her parents' kitchen table in Colorado and holding 2-week-old Andee.
Lately, she's upset to hear people saying the war is over. To her, it seems like her husband and other soldiers are sitting ducks.
''I'm not going to have my husband killed after the war is over,'' she says.
''I don't want him there, they don't want him there and he doesn't want to be there. So let them come home.''
Growing up in the shadow of Fort Carson, Stephanie saw the unpredictability of military life and swore she'd never marry an Army guy. But she changed her mind after meeting Jason Richards, and married him three months later. They moved up their wedding date by a year because of rumors he would be sent overseas.
After he got his deployment orders, the couple met with a chaplain to help each understand what the other would be going through, and to help them remain a strong couple after the war.
She misses cooking pierogies and sausages for him and talking with him as he took a bath after a long day of training. But her daughter is a comfort. Andee reminds her of Jason in little ways - her voracious appetite, the ability to sleep through vacuuming as she sucks in her bottom lip and pouts.
Every day Stephanie takes a picture of the baby so her husband can catch up when he gets back. Though she's never met her father, Andee calms down when she listens to a tape of him reading Doctor Seuss' ''Oh, the Places You'll Go.''
Jason eventually told her about shooting the Iraqi. He didn't say much, but she could tell the shooting was tearing him up inside and she tried to reassure him.
''If it's between you and the other guy, you're the one who has to come home,'' she recalls saying.
But she also felt hopeless that she couldn't hold him or cheer him up.
''I just said 'I'll hold you when you're back home,''' she says. ''He can cowboy up for work but when he comes home he needs T.L.C.''
---
Justin Armstrong, a 23-year-old sergeant in the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, and his wife, Dorie, had grown accustomed to gathering at Tom and Kelli Broomhead's house on Fort Carson to play softball, drink beer and eat homemade gumbo.
The Broomheads, a decade older than the Armstrongs, helped show the younger couple the ropes of military life.
Tom Broomhead died May 27 in an ambush. His house on Fort Carson will be a lot different now.
''That's going to be my first stop when I get home,'' Armstrong says, eyes moist, square-jawed face smudged with dirt. ''I'm going to go and give Kelli a hug.''
Since his friend's death, Armstrong's been more careful. ''Some say paranoid. I say cautious.''
He checks every last thing on his Bradley, going through all the security and safety minutiae. For good reason: He's been shot at 10 or 15 times. Three or four times, he's fired back.
The dogged Iraqi resistance puzzles Armstrong and others in the 3rd ACR's 2nd Squadron, known as Saber Squadron.
Armstrong thinks Iraqis believe the Americans have come to steal the country's oil. Others say the Iraqis think U.S. troops are Israelis in disguise. It makes Armstrong angry to think his best friend was killed on the authority of such rumors.
''They don't understand that we're here to free them from a dictator. They think we're here to kill them,'' says Armstrong, his uniform encrusted with white salt stains from sweating under heavy body armor.
A few weeks ago, the 3rd Infantry Division took over in restive Fallujah and Saber Squadron got sent to Ramadi - still rough, but not quite as bad. Soon, though, the 3rd ACR will be sent back to Fallujah.
''They keep sending us letters saying we're so glad you're out of there. They don't realize we're going back in,'' Armstrong says. ''I don't have the heart to tell her. There's no sense in worrying her.''
Armstrong's wife mails him disposable cameras so he can take pictures of absolutely everything - his cot in the dust-caked barracks, his Bradley, Iraqis and their living conditions.
He and the rest of his unit live in a former Iraqi paratroop barracks with ragged holes in the walls where the windows used to be. Armstrong keeps a sniper rifle wrapped in burlap camouflage strips hanging on the wall. A copy of The Count of Monte Cristo lays on his cot, an old-fashioned wood frame version patched with parachute cord.
There's a pinup girl on one wall, a poster of a Wendy's double cheeseburger on another. The stenciled visage of Saddam Hussein stares down from the ceiling, its eyes scratched out.
Even though the base is near the banks of the Euphrates, there is almost no vegetation. The fine ''moondust'' that covers the ground billows through the open windows every time a Bradley passes. There's a quarter-inch on the floor under Armstrong's cot. It falls on him as he sleeps.
''She'd think it was disgusting,'' he says of his wife.
---
Dorie Armstrong, 22, knows her husband doesn't tell her everything that's happening. She knows he doesn't want her to worry as she waits in Colorado for his return.
''Sometimes he'll just say 'I have a story to tell you but I'll wait till I get home.'''
She does the same and tries to stay upbeat, sending photographs of her brother's new baby to her husband, a proud first-time uncle.
''I don't want him to have to worry about me,'' she says.
The Armstrongs met in high school in La Grande, Ore., and married three years ago, just a few days after Justin finished basic training. Their honeymoon was a trip to Fort Carson, where the young couple were quickly adopted by the Broomheads.
These days, Dorie writes funny stories to her husband about the newest addition to their family - a 5-month-old Labrador named Daisy. As their older dog Roscoe apparently stood by, Daisy somehow knocked down Dorie's flower pots and ate all the evidence.
Dorie sent her husband a picture of the two dogs sprawled on the couple's bed.
''He's always saying there won't be a spot in the bed when he comes back,'' she says.
She's been busy since he left - studying to become a registered nurse during the day and working at a nursing home at night - and that helps keep worrying at bay. She and a neighbor whose husband also is in Iraq take turns cooking dinner for each other and taking day trips to keep their minds off what's going on.
Every day, she wears half of a Mizpah pendant the couple bought the day before deployment along with an American flag pin on top of a yellow ribbon.
She tries to follow news reports about what is happening in Iraq without dwelling on them.
''You feel guilty because you can't wait to hear what unit it was and when it's not your husband's you're relieved,'' she says.
---
DoD Identifies Army Casualty
KEEP YOUR HELMET ON!
NEWS RELEASE from the United States Department of Defense
No. 479-03
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jul 02, 2003
(703)697-5131(media)
(703)428-0711(public/industry)
NEWS RELEASE from the United States Department of Defense
No. 479-03
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jul 02, 2003
(703)697-5131(media)
(703)428-0711(public/industry)
DoD Identifies Army Casualty
The Department of Defense announced today that 1st Sgt. Christopher D. Coffin, 51,
of Bethlehem, Pa, died on July 1 on Highway 8 in Iraq. Coffin's vehicle ran into a
ditch while trying to avoid a civilian vehicle.
Coffin was assigned to the 352nd Civil Affairs Battalion, Riverdale, Md. The
incident is under investigation.
352nd Civil Affairs Battalion, Riverdale, Md. The
incident is under investigation.
NEWS RELEASE from the United States Department of Defense
No. 479-03
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jul 02, 2003
(703)697-5131(media)
(703)428-0711(public/industry)
NEWS RELEASE from the United States Department of Defense
No. 479-03
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jul 02, 2003
(703)697-5131(media)
(703)428-0711(public/industry)
DoD Identifies Army Casualty
The Department of Defense announced today that 1st Sgt. Christopher D. Coffin, 51,
of Bethlehem, Pa, died on July 1 on Highway 8 in Iraq. Coffin's vehicle ran into a
ditch while trying to avoid a civilian vehicle.
Coffin was assigned to the 352nd Civil Affairs Battalion, Riverdale, Md. The
incident is under investigation.
352nd Civil Affairs Battalion, Riverdale, Md. The
incident is under investigation.
We will NEVER Forget
KEEP YOUR HELMET ON!
As attacks and accidents continue in Iraq, America quietly passes 200th casualty
By ANGIE WAGNER
Associated Press Writer
They were men with military dreams - husbands, sons and fathers from proud communities and doting families.
One had a mischievous grin, another sang in the church choir. Some wanted to be teachers or police officers, while one dreamed of being a pastor and another a smokejumping firefighter. One relished showing his fellow soldiers how to milk a cow.
It has been two months since President Bush declared the end of major combat, but still the casualties come - at least 63 U.S. troops have died since that announcement, at least 38 of them since Memorial Day, and more than 200 in all. Some were killed in combat, some in accidents, or friendly fire, or illness.
While ''Taps'' and ''Amazing Grace'' continue to play at funerals across the country, some of the fallen troops' families wonder if the sacrifices are recognized as much now as during the height of war.
''Most everybody seems to be ignoring it,'' said Debra Deuel, a retired Air Force and Gulf War veteran whose son, Army Pfc. Michael Deuel, was shot to death June 18 while on guard duty in Baghdad.
''Our boys are still over there, and they are still in danger. The president never did say the war was over. They misunderstood what he said,'' she said.
Always a daredevil, Michael Deuel wanted to learn parachuting in the military and eventually become a smokejumping firefighter. He loved to bowl and read, and called the San Diego Chargers and Padres his favorite teams. He grew up in Cheyenne, Wyo., and was a member of the Army's 325th infantry regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division, based at Fort Bragg, N.C.
Kelli Broomhead can't bring herself to look at her husband's things in their Fort Carson, Colo., home. She refuses to open a closet or drawers. Instead, she tells herself her husband is coming home.
Army Sgt. Thomas F. Broomhead was killed May 27 at a checkpoint in Fallujah when two Iraqis stepped from their car and opened fire. He had been deployed only since April 6, the couple's anniversary.
A devoted Colorado Rockies and Denver Broncos fan, Broomhead, 34, also loved karaoke. His wife used to tease him about his last name, and then it became hers, too, in 2000. Her three young sons called him Dad, and always received individual letters from him.
The memories comfort her, especially the picture he took of himself before leaving for Iraq. He captured his own mischievous smile, and Kelli hung the photo in their home. The day after his death, a Mother's Day card arrived, full of compliments from her husband.
For some soldiers, like Army Pfc. Branden Oberleitner, it was the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that compelled them to join the military.
On June 5, the 20-year-old from Worthington, Ohio, was killed and five other soldiers wounded when they were fired on by a rifle-propelled grenade in Fallujah.
''Branden did not die because of God's will, but because men and women hate too much and love too little,'' the Rev. Alan Sippel told mourners at his funeral.
The Sept. 11 attacks also motivated Pfc. Kevin Ott to enlist, and the 27-year-old's father says he wasn't afraid of dying. ''He absolutely loved Army life,'' said Charles Ott, of Orient, Ohio.
Ott and Sgt. 1st Class Gladimir Philippe, 37, of Roselle, N.J., were reported missing June 25 after last being seen at their post 25 miles north of Baghdad. Their bodies were discovered three days later near Baghdad as the American death toll topped 200.
Ott's sister, Pam Condo, remembered the time her brother gave her a ride on his beloved motorcycle.
''I was afraid because I knew he loved to go really fast, but to my surprise, he went really slow because he knew I was scared,'' she said.
Philippe's father brought his family to New York from Haiti in 1970 and moved to New Jersey two years later. The eldest of nine children, Philippe entered the Army in 1988 and served in the Gulf War.
He called home nearly every week to counsel his youngest brother, who looked up to the veteran soldier as a role model and best friend.
The Army ''was something (Gladimir) chose to do,'' said Fedlyn Philippe, 16. ''He always told me not to join. He told me to play basketball and keep my head strong and don't worry about girls, and to do good in school.''
It was Cpl. Gavin Neighbor's dedication and sense of humor that endeared him to his fellow soldiers. Some paratroopers already home from Iraq felt guilty that their friend had died, Neighbor's uncle, Mike Bonham, said.
''I thanked them for helping make him what he was,'' Bonham said. ''And they said, 'He helped make us what we are.' ''
Neighbor, 20, knew he wanted to be an elite soldier. The Somerset, Ohio, resident also joined the Army after the terrorist attacks. He made it through Airborne training and joined the 82nd, one of the most storied units in American military history.
He had been accepted to Ranger school, but turned it down to deploy to the Middle East. On June 10, he was killed in Baghdad by a rocket-propelled grenade.
Martha Pokorny's husband, Army Staff Sgt. Andrew Pokorny, based at Fort Carson, was on his way back from patrol June 13 when his M113 armored personnel carrier went over a 4-foot drop-off on a roadside, causing the vehicle to roll over. Eight other soldiers were injured.
''Everybody thinks that everything's OK now and it's not,'' she said. ''He's the 10th one to be killed from Fort Carson. We know it's real.''
Pokorny, 30, also left behind three children.
Some soldiers, such as Marine Sgt. Jonathan W. Lambert, always knew they would serve in the military.
From Iraq, the married father of a 2-year-old daughter sent an e-mail to his hometown newspaper, The Banner-Independent of Booneville, Miss. He wanted to tell the town about Iraq, the Marines and what it took to defend freedom.
''I'm not writing to you to toot the horns for the Marine Corps,'' Lambert wrote, ''but many people look at the big picture and forget what it took to make it.
''It takes people dedicated to protect this nation. I have respect for all services, law enforcement and especially the firemen. We know that this is more than a job, we do it for our children, grandchildren, friends and family.
''To make sure,'' he wrote, ''that their future will be protected as ours is today.''
Lambert, 28, died June 1 from injuries suffered in a Memorial Day Humvee accident in southern Iraq.
---
EDITOR'S NOTE - Angie Wagner is the AP's Western regional writer, based in Las Vegas.
AP-WS-07-03-03 1425EDT
As attacks and accidents continue in Iraq, America quietly passes 200th casualty
By ANGIE WAGNER
Associated Press Writer
They were men with military dreams - husbands, sons and fathers from proud communities and doting families.
One had a mischievous grin, another sang in the church choir. Some wanted to be teachers or police officers, while one dreamed of being a pastor and another a smokejumping firefighter. One relished showing his fellow soldiers how to milk a cow.
It has been two months since President Bush declared the end of major combat, but still the casualties come - at least 63 U.S. troops have died since that announcement, at least 38 of them since Memorial Day, and more than 200 in all. Some were killed in combat, some in accidents, or friendly fire, or illness.
While ''Taps'' and ''Amazing Grace'' continue to play at funerals across the country, some of the fallen troops' families wonder if the sacrifices are recognized as much now as during the height of war.
''Most everybody seems to be ignoring it,'' said Debra Deuel, a retired Air Force and Gulf War veteran whose son, Army Pfc. Michael Deuel, was shot to death June 18 while on guard duty in Baghdad.
''Our boys are still over there, and they are still in danger. The president never did say the war was over. They misunderstood what he said,'' she said.
Always a daredevil, Michael Deuel wanted to learn parachuting in the military and eventually become a smokejumping firefighter. He loved to bowl and read, and called the San Diego Chargers and Padres his favorite teams. He grew up in Cheyenne, Wyo., and was a member of the Army's 325th infantry regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division, based at Fort Bragg, N.C.
Kelli Broomhead can't bring herself to look at her husband's things in their Fort Carson, Colo., home. She refuses to open a closet or drawers. Instead, she tells herself her husband is coming home.
Army Sgt. Thomas F. Broomhead was killed May 27 at a checkpoint in Fallujah when two Iraqis stepped from their car and opened fire. He had been deployed only since April 6, the couple's anniversary.
A devoted Colorado Rockies and Denver Broncos fan, Broomhead, 34, also loved karaoke. His wife used to tease him about his last name, and then it became hers, too, in 2000. Her three young sons called him Dad, and always received individual letters from him.
The memories comfort her, especially the picture he took of himself before leaving for Iraq. He captured his own mischievous smile, and Kelli hung the photo in their home. The day after his death, a Mother's Day card arrived, full of compliments from her husband.
For some soldiers, like Army Pfc. Branden Oberleitner, it was the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that compelled them to join the military.
On June 5, the 20-year-old from Worthington, Ohio, was killed and five other soldiers wounded when they were fired on by a rifle-propelled grenade in Fallujah.
''Branden did not die because of God's will, but because men and women hate too much and love too little,'' the Rev. Alan Sippel told mourners at his funeral.
The Sept. 11 attacks also motivated Pfc. Kevin Ott to enlist, and the 27-year-old's father says he wasn't afraid of dying. ''He absolutely loved Army life,'' said Charles Ott, of Orient, Ohio.
Ott and Sgt. 1st Class Gladimir Philippe, 37, of Roselle, N.J., were reported missing June 25 after last being seen at their post 25 miles north of Baghdad. Their bodies were discovered three days later near Baghdad as the American death toll topped 200.
Ott's sister, Pam Condo, remembered the time her brother gave her a ride on his beloved motorcycle.
''I was afraid because I knew he loved to go really fast, but to my surprise, he went really slow because he knew I was scared,'' she said.
Philippe's father brought his family to New York from Haiti in 1970 and moved to New Jersey two years later. The eldest of nine children, Philippe entered the Army in 1988 and served in the Gulf War.
He called home nearly every week to counsel his youngest brother, who looked up to the veteran soldier as a role model and best friend.
The Army ''was something (Gladimir) chose to do,'' said Fedlyn Philippe, 16. ''He always told me not to join. He told me to play basketball and keep my head strong and don't worry about girls, and to do good in school.''
It was Cpl. Gavin Neighbor's dedication and sense of humor that endeared him to his fellow soldiers. Some paratroopers already home from Iraq felt guilty that their friend had died, Neighbor's uncle, Mike Bonham, said.
''I thanked them for helping make him what he was,'' Bonham said. ''And they said, 'He helped make us what we are.' ''
Neighbor, 20, knew he wanted to be an elite soldier. The Somerset, Ohio, resident also joined the Army after the terrorist attacks. He made it through Airborne training and joined the 82nd, one of the most storied units in American military history.
He had been accepted to Ranger school, but turned it down to deploy to the Middle East. On June 10, he was killed in Baghdad by a rocket-propelled grenade.
Martha Pokorny's husband, Army Staff Sgt. Andrew Pokorny, based at Fort Carson, was on his way back from patrol June 13 when his M113 armored personnel carrier went over a 4-foot drop-off on a roadside, causing the vehicle to roll over. Eight other soldiers were injured.
''Everybody thinks that everything's OK now and it's not,'' she said. ''He's the 10th one to be killed from Fort Carson. We know it's real.''
Pokorny, 30, also left behind three children.
Some soldiers, such as Marine Sgt. Jonathan W. Lambert, always knew they would serve in the military.
From Iraq, the married father of a 2-year-old daughter sent an e-mail to his hometown newspaper, The Banner-Independent of Booneville, Miss. He wanted to tell the town about Iraq, the Marines and what it took to defend freedom.
''I'm not writing to you to toot the horns for the Marine Corps,'' Lambert wrote, ''but many people look at the big picture and forget what it took to make it.
''It takes people dedicated to protect this nation. I have respect for all services, law enforcement and especially the firemen. We know that this is more than a job, we do it for our children, grandchildren, friends and family.
''To make sure,'' he wrote, ''that their future will be protected as ours is today.''
Lambert, 28, died June 1 from injuries suffered in a Memorial Day Humvee accident in southern Iraq.
---
EDITOR'S NOTE - Angie Wagner is the AP's Western regional writer, based in Las Vegas.
AP-WS-07-03-03 1425EDT
Yahoo! News Photos - War with Iraq
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 Email this slideshow | U.S. forces have found documents that could lead shortly to 'breakthrough' news about Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s weapons of mass destruction, Republican Sen. Pat Roberts, back from visiting Iraq (news - web sites), said July 3, 2003, but Democrats on the trip seemed less convinced. Sen. John Warner (C), Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee (news - web sites), speaks to reporters in Baghdad July 1, 2003 with members of the Senate panels on Armed Services and Intelligence including Carl Levin (2nd L), Pat Roberts (R) and John D. Rockefeller (2nd R). Photo by Faleh Kheiber/Reuters
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NC Soldier injured
KEEP YOUR HELMET ON!
ND Guard Member Injured in Iraq
(AP) -- A North Dakota National Guard soldier has been injured in Iraq. Officials say the injuries are not serious.
Specialist Jonathan Sigl of Bismarck was wounded shortly before 5:00 p-m Central time yesterday while on boat patrol near Ar Ramadi. The 22-year-old is with the 957th Multi-Role Bridge Company.
Guard spokesman Rob Keller says Sigl suffered shrapnel wounds to his back and shoulder when mortar rounds landed in the area of the patrol on the Euphrates River. Keller says officials believe the mortar rounds were enemy fire.
Sigl was taken to a medical aid station -- where he is reported to be doing well. His mother -- Julie Haussler of Bismarck -- says she talked to her son, and that he sounded a bit shook up but said he was fine.
She says Jonathan wants to stay in Iraq with his fellow soldiers.
Keller says no other members of the unit were hurt. He says no other details about the incident are immediately available.
Keller says Sigl's injury is believed to be the first attack-related injury to a North Dakota Guard member in Iraq.
Members of the Fargo-based 142nd Engineer Battalion also are in Iraq.
ND Guard Member Injured in Iraq
(AP) -- A North Dakota National Guard soldier has been injured in Iraq. Officials say the injuries are not serious.
Specialist Jonathan Sigl of Bismarck was wounded shortly before 5:00 p-m Central time yesterday while on boat patrol near Ar Ramadi. The 22-year-old is with the 957th Multi-Role Bridge Company.
Guard spokesman Rob Keller says Sigl suffered shrapnel wounds to his back and shoulder when mortar rounds landed in the area of the patrol on the Euphrates River. Keller says officials believe the mortar rounds were enemy fire.
Sigl was taken to a medical aid station -- where he is reported to be doing well. His mother -- Julie Haussler of Bismarck -- says she talked to her son, and that he sounded a bit shook up but said he was fine.
She says Jonathan wants to stay in Iraq with his fellow soldiers.
Keller says no other members of the unit were hurt. He says no other details about the incident are immediately available.
Keller says Sigl's injury is believed to be the first attack-related injury to a North Dakota Guard member in Iraq.
Members of the Fargo-based 142nd Engineer Battalion also are in Iraq.
Saddam hometown starts post-war reconstruction plan
KEEP YOUR HELMET ON!
NEWSDESK
03 Jul 2003 16:02:07 GMT
Saddam hometown starts post-war reconstruction plan
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Hassan Hafidh
TIKRIT, Iraq, July 3 (Reuters) - A former Iraqi army officer appointed by U.S. adminstrators to run ousted President Saddam Hussein's home town said he could make it look like a European city in four years if reconstruction goes ahead as planned.
Hussein al-Jibouri, appointed governor of the town of Tikrit, 175 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, said some rebuilding had begun and a four-year reconstruction plan was expected to start soon.
"If the four-year reconstruction plan is implemented, Tikrit would look like a European city," Jibouri told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.
He said rebuilding work worth four billion dinars ($2.8 million) over four years would focus on building bridges, schools, roads, water systems and power stations.
Saddam's face adorned every lamp post in Tikrit before U.S.-led forces invaded Iraq and ended his rule in April. The town profited from Saddam's largesse during his 24-year rule and streets and services were among the best in Iraq.
Mindful of that past and securing stability of the area, Jibouri said he made sure Iraqi companies would carry out most of the reconstruction work and that at least half of the labourers would be Iraqi nationals.
"We have put a condition to the U.S.-led administration in Iraq that most of reconstruction should be done by Iraqi companies and 50 percent of the workers taking part should be Iraqis," he said.
Jibouri said his governorate had assets of 10 billion dinars inherited from the former administration and he intended to pay government employees and former army personnel from that sum.
After Saddam fell, many Iraqis, especially state employees, began to protest that they were no longer receiving any money and their living conditions were plummeting.
Jibouri said he had handed over 1.5 billion dinars in salaries to civil servants and army personnel in the last two months. He said salaries of June had been provided by the coalition administration in Baghdad.
FROM A STRONG TRIBE
Jibouri said he was chosen by the U.S.-led coalition because he was from a strong tribe, called al-Jibour living in and around Tikrit.
Again with security in mind, Jabouri said he opposed a decision by U.S. civil administrators over the dissolution of the Iraqi army and Saddam's ruling Baath party.
With the agreement of U.S.-led forces, he used some members from both the army and the Baath party in the local administration, arguing that if these people were made redundant, they could create problems.
"I have moved some army officers to the Iraqi police force and the others were employed by offices in the governorate," he
While U.S. and British troops struggle to enforce law and order in Baghdad and other parts of Iraq, Jibouri said he was confident of securing order in Tikrit and surrounding areas.
"The Americans have chosen me for the post because I come from a strong tribe and I have good experience in dealing with a situation such as Iraq is seeing," he added.
Jibouri made his comments just days after the chief of Saddam's tribe was gunned down by unknown assailants a few metres (yards) from the governor's office.
NEWSDESK
03 Jul 2003 16:02:07 GMT
Saddam hometown starts post-war reconstruction plan
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Hassan Hafidh
TIKRIT, Iraq, July 3 (Reuters) - A former Iraqi army officer appointed by U.S. adminstrators to run ousted President Saddam Hussein's home town said he could make it look like a European city in four years if reconstruction goes ahead as planned.
Hussein al-Jibouri, appointed governor of the town of Tikrit, 175 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, said some rebuilding had begun and a four-year reconstruction plan was expected to start soon.
"If the four-year reconstruction plan is implemented, Tikrit would look like a European city," Jibouri told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.
He said rebuilding work worth four billion dinars ($2.8 million) over four years would focus on building bridges, schools, roads, water systems and power stations.
Saddam's face adorned every lamp post in Tikrit before U.S.-led forces invaded Iraq and ended his rule in April. The town profited from Saddam's largesse during his 24-year rule and streets and services were among the best in Iraq.
Mindful of that past and securing stability of the area, Jibouri said he made sure Iraqi companies would carry out most of the reconstruction work and that at least half of the labourers would be Iraqi nationals.
"We have put a condition to the U.S.-led administration in Iraq that most of reconstruction should be done by Iraqi companies and 50 percent of the workers taking part should be Iraqis," he said.
Jibouri said his governorate had assets of 10 billion dinars inherited from the former administration and he intended to pay government employees and former army personnel from that sum.
After Saddam fell, many Iraqis, especially state employees, began to protest that they were no longer receiving any money and their living conditions were plummeting.
Jibouri said he had handed over 1.5 billion dinars in salaries to civil servants and army personnel in the last two months. He said salaries of June had been provided by the coalition administration in Baghdad.
FROM A STRONG TRIBE
Jibouri said he was chosen by the U.S.-led coalition because he was from a strong tribe, called al-Jibour living in and around Tikrit.
Again with security in mind, Jabouri said he opposed a decision by U.S. civil administrators over the dissolution of the Iraqi army and Saddam's ruling Baath party.
With the agreement of U.S.-led forces, he used some members from both the army and the Baath party in the local administration, arguing that if these people were made redundant, they could create problems.
"I have moved some army officers to the Iraqi police force and the others were employed by offices in the governorate," he
While U.S. and British troops struggle to enforce law and order in Baghdad and other parts of Iraq, Jibouri said he was confident of securing order in Tikrit and surrounding areas.
"The Americans have chosen me for the post because I come from a strong tribe and I have good experience in dealing with a situation such as Iraq is seeing," he added.
Jibouri made his comments just days after the chief of Saddam's tribe was gunned down by unknown assailants a few metres (yards) from the governor's office.
25 million for Saddam Dead or Alive
KEEP YOUR HELMET ON!
U.S. Offers $25M for Saddam's Capture
By JIM KRANE
.c The Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - U.S. administrators announced a $25 million reward Thursday for information leading to the capture of Saddam Hussein or confirmation of his death - an effort to resolve the fate of the ousted Iraqi leader and help end the violence blamed on his supporters.
Attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq persisted Thursday, with nine Americans wounded in an explosion and two ambushes in Baghdad. U.S. soldiers killed two Iraqis and wounded several others, including a 6-year-old boy, in the violence. Another Iraqi was killed in an explosion during an anti-U.S. demonstration outside the capital.
The reward for Saddam matches the $25 million that Washington is offering its other top fugitive: Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaida leader missing since U.S. forces helped dislodge the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
On top of the money for Saddam, the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority also said it would pay $15 million for information on either of Saddam's two sons, Odai and Qusai.
U.S. officials have said the continuing mystery over Saddam's fate is encouraging resistance against the U.S.-led occupation, as the daily ambushes and other attacks against Americans increase. At least 26 U.S. troops have been killed in hostile fire since major combat was officially declared over on May 1.
``We believe it is important to do everything we can to determine his whereabouts, whether he is alive or dead. in order to assist in stabilizing the situation and letting the people of Baghdad be absolutely sure that he's not coming back,'' Secretary of State Colin Powell told reporters in Washington.
Saddam was last reportedly seen alive in the war's waning days in the Azamiyah neighborhood of northeastern Baghdad. At least two U.S. airstrikes targeted him during the war but it is not known if any were successful.
President Bush vowed Wednesday that anti-American attacks would not keep the United States from fulfilling its mission in Iraq.
On Thursday, a two-Humvee convoy hit an explosive in the town of Ramadi, 60 miles west of Baghdad, injuring six U.S. soldiers, said Sgt. Patrick Compton, a military spokesman.
In Baghdad, an attacker fired a grenade at a U.S. Army convoywounding two soldiers. Troops returned fire, killing an Iraqi bystander and injuring others, witnesses said.
As the American convoy moved along Baghdad's Haifa Street, a man fired a rocket-propelled grenade while standing in a car's sunroof. The grenade exploded beneath an Army Humvee, said Saddam Juwad, 22, a bystander. Most of the soldiers jumped from the Humvee before the explosion, Juwad said. One soldier who appeared to be injured was evacuated, Juwad and other witnesses said.
Another limping U.S. soldier sobbed and shook as a comrade helped him into a car.
As the attackers sped away, U.S. soldiers began firing wildly, Juwad and other witnesses said, killing the driver of another car. As a Humvee sat burning in the street an hour after the attack, witnesses pointed to a pool of blood on the street where the victim had fallen.
``We heard an explosion. I threw myself to the ground and my brother was shot,'' said Fuad Hassan Alwan. ``The Americans shot at us. My brother has two bullet wounds and he is now in the hospital.''
In a separate ambush Thursday, a sniper fired on a patrol in the west Baghdad neighborhood of Kadamiyah, wounding a soldier from the Army's 1st Armored Division, Compton said. Soldiers fired back, killing the attacker and wounding a six-year-old boy who was with the man, he said.
The soldier and the boy were in stable condition in a military hospital, Compton said.
In Baqubah, northwest of Baghdad, witnesses said a plastic bag filled with explosives blew up in the middle of a crowd of a few hundred Iraqi demonstrators, who were protesting the U.S. Army's detention of Ali Abdul Kareem al-Madani, the city's top Shiite cleric. Witnesses said one man was killed and five wounded.
But Capt. Josh Felker of the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry division said the explosion occurred when a grenade blew up in a man's hands, injuring three bystanders. Felker said the man may have been preparing to toss the grenade over a wall surrounding a local government compound that also houses a U.S. military office.
After the blast, protesters screamed and ran in different directions. U.S. soldiers patrolling from atop a nearby building fired into the air.
Kahtan Adnan, an aide to al-Madani, said U.S. troops raided the cleric's home in Baqubah, arresting him, his son and eight others at the home.
Also Thursday, a soldier from the 1st Armored Division died in a non-combat incident, the military said. The soldier's name was withheld until his family is notified.
U.S. Offers $25M for Saddam's Capture
By JIM KRANE
.c The Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - U.S. administrators announced a $25 million reward Thursday for information leading to the capture of Saddam Hussein or confirmation of his death - an effort to resolve the fate of the ousted Iraqi leader and help end the violence blamed on his supporters.
Attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq persisted Thursday, with nine Americans wounded in an explosion and two ambushes in Baghdad. U.S. soldiers killed two Iraqis and wounded several others, including a 6-year-old boy, in the violence. Another Iraqi was killed in an explosion during an anti-U.S. demonstration outside the capital.
The reward for Saddam matches the $25 million that Washington is offering its other top fugitive: Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaida leader missing since U.S. forces helped dislodge the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
On top of the money for Saddam, the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority also said it would pay $15 million for information on either of Saddam's two sons, Odai and Qusai.
U.S. officials have said the continuing mystery over Saddam's fate is encouraging resistance against the U.S.-led occupation, as the daily ambushes and other attacks against Americans increase. At least 26 U.S. troops have been killed in hostile fire since major combat was officially declared over on May 1.
``We believe it is important to do everything we can to determine his whereabouts, whether he is alive or dead. in order to assist in stabilizing the situation and letting the people of Baghdad be absolutely sure that he's not coming back,'' Secretary of State Colin Powell told reporters in Washington.
Saddam was last reportedly seen alive in the war's waning days in the Azamiyah neighborhood of northeastern Baghdad. At least two U.S. airstrikes targeted him during the war but it is not known if any were successful.
President Bush vowed Wednesday that anti-American attacks would not keep the United States from fulfilling its mission in Iraq.
On Thursday, a two-Humvee convoy hit an explosive in the town of Ramadi, 60 miles west of Baghdad, injuring six U.S. soldiers, said Sgt. Patrick Compton, a military spokesman.
In Baghdad, an attacker fired a grenade at a U.S. Army convoywounding two soldiers. Troops returned fire, killing an Iraqi bystander and injuring others, witnesses said.
As the American convoy moved along Baghdad's Haifa Street, a man fired a rocket-propelled grenade while standing in a car's sunroof. The grenade exploded beneath an Army Humvee, said Saddam Juwad, 22, a bystander. Most of the soldiers jumped from the Humvee before the explosion, Juwad said. One soldier who appeared to be injured was evacuated, Juwad and other witnesses said.
Another limping U.S. soldier sobbed and shook as a comrade helped him into a car.
As the attackers sped away, U.S. soldiers began firing wildly, Juwad and other witnesses said, killing the driver of another car. As a Humvee sat burning in the street an hour after the attack, witnesses pointed to a pool of blood on the street where the victim had fallen.
``We heard an explosion. I threw myself to the ground and my brother was shot,'' said Fuad Hassan Alwan. ``The Americans shot at us. My brother has two bullet wounds and he is now in the hospital.''
In a separate ambush Thursday, a sniper fired on a patrol in the west Baghdad neighborhood of Kadamiyah, wounding a soldier from the Army's 1st Armored Division, Compton said. Soldiers fired back, killing the attacker and wounding a six-year-old boy who was with the man, he said.
The soldier and the boy were in stable condition in a military hospital, Compton said.
In Baqubah, northwest of Baghdad, witnesses said a plastic bag filled with explosives blew up in the middle of a crowd of a few hundred Iraqi demonstrators, who were protesting the U.S. Army's detention of Ali Abdul Kareem al-Madani, the city's top Shiite cleric. Witnesses said one man was killed and five wounded.
But Capt. Josh Felker of the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry division said the explosion occurred when a grenade blew up in a man's hands, injuring three bystanders. Felker said the man may have been preparing to toss the grenade over a wall surrounding a local government compound that also houses a U.S. military office.
After the blast, protesters screamed and ran in different directions. U.S. soldiers patrolling from atop a nearby building fired into the air.
Kahtan Adnan, an aide to al-Madani, said U.S. troops raided the cleric's home in Baqubah, arresting him, his son and eight others at the home.
Also Thursday, a soldier from the 1st Armored Division died in a non-combat incident, the military said. The soldier's name was withheld until his family is notified.
War Blog updates
Palestinian police march into Bethlehem,: "Israeli troops killed a militant and Palestinians fired shells at an Israeli settlement in Gaza, the first violence since Palestinian security took control of Bethlehem in the latest step along the "road map" plan to end 33 months of fighting."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Analyst: Iraqi WMD Evidence Often Lacking: "Current, reliable information on Iraq's weapons efforts was sometimes lacking but U.S. intelligence analysts did not exaggerate their findings under pressure from Bush administration officials trying to build a case for war, says Richard Kerr, who is heading the intelligence community's internal review of its prewar performance on Iraq. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Palestinian police march into Bethlehem,: "Israeli troops killed a militant and Palestinians fired shells at an Israeli settlement in Gaza, the first violence since Palestinian security took control of Bethlehem in the latest step along the "road map" plan to end 33 months of fighting."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Analyst: Iraqi WMD Evidence Often Lacking: "Current, reliable information on Iraq's weapons efforts was sometimes lacking but U.S. intelligence analysts did not exaggerate their findings under pressure from Bush administration officials trying to build a case for war, says Richard Kerr, who is heading the intelligence community's internal review of its prewar performance on Iraq. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
War blog iraq\war updates
Palestinians take control in Bethlehem: "A Palestinian flag fluttered in Manger Square as Palestinian police marched into Bethlehem Wednesday, taking control of the ancient West Bank city after Israel withdrew under a U.S.-backed peace plan."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Bush Builds Motley Peace Posse in Iraq: "Poland is sending 2,300 soldiers. Ukraine promises 1,800. Small bands of Macedonians and Albanians are already here. And Sri Lanka says it's ready to consider requests for help. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Palestinians take control in Bethlehem: "A Palestinian flag fluttered in Manger Square as Palestinian police marched into Bethlehem Wednesday, taking control of the ancient West Bank city after Israel withdrew under a U.S.-backed peace plan."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Bush Builds Motley Peace Posse in Iraq: "Poland is sending 2,300 soldiers. Ukraine promises 1,800. Small bands of Macedonians and Albanians are already here. And Sri Lanka says it's ready to consider requests for help. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
8 soldiers wounded
KEEP YOUR HELMET ON!
Attacks in Iraq Injure Eight U.S. Troops
By JIM KRANE
.c The Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - An Army truck hit an explosive west of Baghdad on Thursday injuring six U.S. soldiers, and assailants in the capital wounded two other American soldiers in separate attacks, U.S. military officials and witnesses said.
The violence comes a day after President Bush vowed that anti-U.S. attacks would not keep the United States from fulfilling its mission in Iraq.
An explosion during a demonstration in Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, killed one person and injured at least five. The demonstrators were protesting the U.S. Army's alleged detention of the city's top Shiite cleric.
During the hostilities, U.S. soldiers also injured a six-year-old boy and killed another bystander, as well as an Iraqi gunman, military officials and civilian witnesses said.
In Ramadi, 60 miles west of Baghdad, a two-Humvee convoy struck an explosive early Thursday, wounding six soldiers, said Sgt. Patrick Compton, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad.
And an ambusher fired a grenade at a U.S. Army convoy in downtown Baghdad Thursday morning, wounding one soldier, witnesses said.
As the convoy moved along Baghdad's Haifa Street, a man fired a rocket-propelled grenade while standing in a car's sunroof; the grenade exploded beneath an Army Humvee, said Saddam Juwad, 22, a bystander. Most of the soldiers jumped from the Humvee before the explosion, Juwad said. One soldier who appeared to be injured was evacuated, Juwad and other witnesses said.
As the attackers sped away, U.S. soldiers began firing wildly, Fuad Hassan Alwan and other witnesses said, killing the driver of another car. As a Humvee sat burning in the street an hour after the attack, witnesses pointed to a pool of blood on the street where the victim had fallen.
``We heard an explosion. I threw myself to the ground and my brother was shot,'' said Hassan. ``The Americans shot at us. My brother has two bullet wounds and he is now in the hospital.''
In a firefight in the west Baghdad neighborhood of Kadamiyah, a soldier from the Army's 1st Armored Division was wounded Thursday morning and a six-year-old boy was injured, Compton said.
In a separate incident overnight, soldiers of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division killed a gunman who fired at them, and also wounded a boy, Compton said.
In Baqouba, witnesses said a plastic bag filled with explosives exploded in the middle of a crowd of several hundred demonstrators, who were protesting the U.S. Army's detention of Ali Abdul Kareem al Madani, the city's top Shiite cleric.
After the blast outside the governor's office, people screamed and ran in different directions. U.S. soldiers patrolling from atop a nearby building fired shots into the air.
Kahtan Adnan, an aide to al-Madani, said about 200 U.S. troops raided the cleric's home, arresting him, his son and eight other people at the home. On Thursday morning, many of the cleric's books were strewn about on the floor of the home and several vehicles outside had their windshields smashed.
Witnesses said the U.S. troops caused the damage.
``I am an Iraqi Muslim,'' said Qassem al Saadi, one of the demonstrators demanding al-Madani's release. ``They humiliated our leader and desecrated his holy books.''
Compton said he had no information about arrests in Baqouba.
In another development, the Iraqi National Museum reopened its doors Thursday for the first time since the war. Looting at the museum provoked an international outcry after Baghdad fell on April 9, but U.S. occupation authorities say most of the museum's items - including the world-famous treasures of Nimrud - have now been accounted for.
Insurgents have stepped up their attacks in recent days, hurling grenades, ambushing convoys and shooting troops patrolling the streets. A U.S. Marine who was injured along with three of his peers when their vehicle was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade south of Baghdad on Tuesday died from his wounds, the U.S. military said Wednesday.
That brought to 26 the number of U.S. forces killed in hostile fire since Bush declared an end to major combat on May 1.
Also Wednesday, a U.S. Marine was killed and three others were injured while clearing mines near the south-central Iraqi city of Karbala, the U.S. military said. The cause of their deaths was not immediately released.
The British foreign secretary and American senators visiting Iraq played down concerns that the U.S.-led occupation risks descending into a Vietnam-style quagmire, saying the remnants of Saddam Hussein's regime will be crushed.
``A quagmire? No,'' Jack Straw told reporters Wednesday at the British mission in Baghdad. ``These actions against the coalition forces won't succeed and will be dealt with.''
To quell the burgeoning resistance, U.S.-led forces have launched a series of lightning raids across Iraq. One such operation northeast of Baghdad entered its fifth day Thursday, and has netted ``20 high-value targeted individuals'' consisting of former leaders of Saddam's Baath Party, former leaders of Saddam's Fedayeen militia and a former Iraqi military intelligence officer, a military statement said.
The statement did not give the identities of those detained, and no one on the United States' top 55 list of most-wanted Iraqi fugitives was among them.
EDITOR'S NOTE - Associated Press writer Sabah Jerges contributed to this report from Baqouba.
07/03/03 07:49 EDT
Attacks in Iraq Injure Eight U.S. Troops
By JIM KRANE
.c The Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - An Army truck hit an explosive west of Baghdad on Thursday injuring six U.S. soldiers, and assailants in the capital wounded two other American soldiers in separate attacks, U.S. military officials and witnesses said.
The violence comes a day after President Bush vowed that anti-U.S. attacks would not keep the United States from fulfilling its mission in Iraq.
An explosion during a demonstration in Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, killed one person and injured at least five. The demonstrators were protesting the U.S. Army's alleged detention of the city's top Shiite cleric.
During the hostilities, U.S. soldiers also injured a six-year-old boy and killed another bystander, as well as an Iraqi gunman, military officials and civilian witnesses said.
In Ramadi, 60 miles west of Baghdad, a two-Humvee convoy struck an explosive early Thursday, wounding six soldiers, said Sgt. Patrick Compton, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad.
And an ambusher fired a grenade at a U.S. Army convoy in downtown Baghdad Thursday morning, wounding one soldier, witnesses said.
As the convoy moved along Baghdad's Haifa Street, a man fired a rocket-propelled grenade while standing in a car's sunroof; the grenade exploded beneath an Army Humvee, said Saddam Juwad, 22, a bystander. Most of the soldiers jumped from the Humvee before the explosion, Juwad said. One soldier who appeared to be injured was evacuated, Juwad and other witnesses said.
As the attackers sped away, U.S. soldiers began firing wildly, Fuad Hassan Alwan and other witnesses said, killing the driver of another car. As a Humvee sat burning in the street an hour after the attack, witnesses pointed to a pool of blood on the street where the victim had fallen.
``We heard an explosion. I threw myself to the ground and my brother was shot,'' said Hassan. ``The Americans shot at us. My brother has two bullet wounds and he is now in the hospital.''
In a firefight in the west Baghdad neighborhood of Kadamiyah, a soldier from the Army's 1st Armored Division was wounded Thursday morning and a six-year-old boy was injured, Compton said.
In a separate incident overnight, soldiers of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division killed a gunman who fired at them, and also wounded a boy, Compton said.
In Baqouba, witnesses said a plastic bag filled with explosives exploded in the middle of a crowd of several hundred demonstrators, who were protesting the U.S. Army's detention of Ali Abdul Kareem al Madani, the city's top Shiite cleric.
After the blast outside the governor's office, people screamed and ran in different directions. U.S. soldiers patrolling from atop a nearby building fired shots into the air.
Kahtan Adnan, an aide to al-Madani, said about 200 U.S. troops raided the cleric's home, arresting him, his son and eight other people at the home. On Thursday morning, many of the cleric's books were strewn about on the floor of the home and several vehicles outside had their windshields smashed.
Witnesses said the U.S. troops caused the damage.
``I am an Iraqi Muslim,'' said Qassem al Saadi, one of the demonstrators demanding al-Madani's release. ``They humiliated our leader and desecrated his holy books.''
Compton said he had no information about arrests in Baqouba.
In another development, the Iraqi National Museum reopened its doors Thursday for the first time since the war. Looting at the museum provoked an international outcry after Baghdad fell on April 9, but U.S. occupation authorities say most of the museum's items - including the world-famous treasures of Nimrud - have now been accounted for.
Insurgents have stepped up their attacks in recent days, hurling grenades, ambushing convoys and shooting troops patrolling the streets. A U.S. Marine who was injured along with three of his peers when their vehicle was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade south of Baghdad on Tuesday died from his wounds, the U.S. military said Wednesday.
That brought to 26 the number of U.S. forces killed in hostile fire since Bush declared an end to major combat on May 1.
Also Wednesday, a U.S. Marine was killed and three others were injured while clearing mines near the south-central Iraqi city of Karbala, the U.S. military said. The cause of their deaths was not immediately released.
The British foreign secretary and American senators visiting Iraq played down concerns that the U.S.-led occupation risks descending into a Vietnam-style quagmire, saying the remnants of Saddam Hussein's regime will be crushed.
``A quagmire? No,'' Jack Straw told reporters Wednesday at the British mission in Baghdad. ``These actions against the coalition forces won't succeed and will be dealt with.''
To quell the burgeoning resistance, U.S.-led forces have launched a series of lightning raids across Iraq. One such operation northeast of Baghdad entered its fifth day Thursday, and has netted ``20 high-value targeted individuals'' consisting of former leaders of Saddam's Baath Party, former leaders of Saddam's Fedayeen militia and a former Iraqi military intelligence officer, a military statement said.
The statement did not give the identities of those detained, and no one on the United States' top 55 list of most-wanted Iraqi fugitives was among them.
EDITOR'S NOTE - Associated Press writer Sabah Jerges contributed to this report from Baqouba.
07/03/03 07:49 EDT
Wednesday, July 02, 2003
Baghdad Blogger
KEEP YOUR HELMET ON!
Baghdad Blogger
Basra under the Brits feels like another country. But you must learn to bargain when it comes to blood money
Wednesday July 2, 2003
The Guardian
Going down south to Basra is like going into another country. You are literally going through another time zone. The war was in full throttle when daylight-savings time should have come into place, but since there was no government to organise it some governorates just didn't change their time. So when you go through Samawah and Nasiriyah you enter a different time zone, and then come back into +4 GMT zone when you get to Basra.
The other reason why it feels like you are going into another country is the British presence in the south. The first thing you notice is that everything is smaller, their vehicles are tiny compared with what the Americans are using in Baghdad. They have these cute little tanks which go really fast, our driver called them "baby-tanks". As we were entering Basra we encountered a small convoy, just a couple of vehicles escorted by the British equivalent of a Humvee. On the top sat a soldier with a BIG gun.
In Baghdad that gun would be pointing either at the car right behind the military vehicle or at the sidewalk, scanning the buildings. But the British guy wasn't pointing at anything, he was just looking around with the gun turned in, at an angle that would have shot him in the foot if it had gone off by accident. You appreciate this only after you have been driving behind an American Humvee and praying that your car doesn't backfire or make strange noises, because the US soldier has that gun pointing right at you.
The next thing was getting into Basra and being stopped at the checkpoint. One soldier in a floppy hat waving his hand for you to slow down, and when you lower the window he actually greets you with "al salamu alaikum". That got him some appreciative giggles - imagine that happening in Baghdad. Everybody here in Basra is so much more laid back, even after the incidents in al-Majar al-Kabir. To their credit they didn't decide to punish the whole population and clamp down on them.
I did go to al-Majar yesterday. I went to the police station and got to meet some of the people who are calling themselves "the emergency brigade". They are a creepy lot. There is so much that is not being told and so many glances going back and forth between them, you just know that they are hiding something bad.
How the British ever decided to let this "brigade" handle the security in that governorate is a mystery to me. How could they make a deal with a self-appointed "supervising committee" in Amarah which then decides to form an armed "emergency brigade"?
I don't think the idea in itself is wrong. Local problems need local solutions, and if the Iraqis can govern themselves, and by all means we should, then let us do it. But the "coalition forces" also have to know who they are getting in bed with.
The flip side of this decision is the way the British have dealt with the issue of Iraqis killed by the British forces by mistake. The south is very tribal. Killing someone, especially if he came from a powerful tribe, might start a chain of revenge killings unless the two tribes were to agree on some sort of compensation, ie blood money. So while we are sitting with some people in Amarah we hear the following story.
During a wedding celebration, two young men fire celebratory shots into the air. A British patrol happens to be near by, they think they have a couple of Fedayeen shooting at them. Bang bang, the Iraqis are dead.
The British take the bodies to the hospital, and after conducting an investigation they find out they were not Fedayeen, a mistake has been made. So the next day two British officers, two Iraqi lawyers and a translator go to the hospital and ask how the locals deal with this sort of thing. The concept of "Fasil" or blood money is explained to them. A couple of days later the word spreads that the British have paid 15 million Iraqi dinars in blood money to the families of the two Iraqi men. Further bloodshed was stopped. Perfect.
I am not discussing the moral correctness of blood money. This is the way things are done here and if this money will stop any sort of revenge killings then it is worth it. No, I only have one comment: being foreigners, they paid too much. Habibi, everything is bargainable here, and paying 15 million in blood money will ruin the blood money market - it is way too much. You should improve your tribal connections and get someone to bargain for you.
Baghdad Blogger
Basra under the Brits feels like another country. But you must learn to bargain when it comes to blood money
Wednesday July 2, 2003
The Guardian
Going down south to Basra is like going into another country. You are literally going through another time zone. The war was in full throttle when daylight-savings time should have come into place, but since there was no government to organise it some governorates just didn't change their time. So when you go through Samawah and Nasiriyah you enter a different time zone, and then come back into +4 GMT zone when you get to Basra.
The other reason why it feels like you are going into another country is the British presence in the south. The first thing you notice is that everything is smaller, their vehicles are tiny compared with what the Americans are using in Baghdad. They have these cute little tanks which go really fast, our driver called them "baby-tanks". As we were entering Basra we encountered a small convoy, just a couple of vehicles escorted by the British equivalent of a Humvee. On the top sat a soldier with a BIG gun.
In Baghdad that gun would be pointing either at the car right behind the military vehicle or at the sidewalk, scanning the buildings. But the British guy wasn't pointing at anything, he was just looking around with the gun turned in, at an angle that would have shot him in the foot if it had gone off by accident. You appreciate this only after you have been driving behind an American Humvee and praying that your car doesn't backfire or make strange noises, because the US soldier has that gun pointing right at you.
The next thing was getting into Basra and being stopped at the checkpoint. One soldier in a floppy hat waving his hand for you to slow down, and when you lower the window he actually greets you with "al salamu alaikum". That got him some appreciative giggles - imagine that happening in Baghdad. Everybody here in Basra is so much more laid back, even after the incidents in al-Majar al-Kabir. To their credit they didn't decide to punish the whole population and clamp down on them.
I did go to al-Majar yesterday. I went to the police station and got to meet some of the people who are calling themselves "the emergency brigade". They are a creepy lot. There is so much that is not being told and so many glances going back and forth between them, you just know that they are hiding something bad.
How the British ever decided to let this "brigade" handle the security in that governorate is a mystery to me. How could they make a deal with a self-appointed "supervising committee" in Amarah which then decides to form an armed "emergency brigade"?
I don't think the idea in itself is wrong. Local problems need local solutions, and if the Iraqis can govern themselves, and by all means we should, then let us do it. But the "coalition forces" also have to know who they are getting in bed with.
The flip side of this decision is the way the British have dealt with the issue of Iraqis killed by the British forces by mistake. The south is very tribal. Killing someone, especially if he came from a powerful tribe, might start a chain of revenge killings unless the two tribes were to agree on some sort of compensation, ie blood money. So while we are sitting with some people in Amarah we hear the following story.
During a wedding celebration, two young men fire celebratory shots into the air. A British patrol happens to be near by, they think they have a couple of Fedayeen shooting at them. Bang bang, the Iraqis are dead.
The British take the bodies to the hospital, and after conducting an investigation they find out they were not Fedayeen, a mistake has been made. So the next day two British officers, two Iraqi lawyers and a translator go to the hospital and ask how the locals deal with this sort of thing. The concept of "Fasil" or blood money is explained to them. A couple of days later the word spreads that the British have paid 15 million Iraqi dinars in blood money to the families of the two Iraqi men. Further bloodshed was stopped. Perfect.
I am not discussing the moral correctness of blood money. This is the way things are done here and if this money will stop any sort of revenge killings then it is worth it. No, I only have one comment: being foreigners, they paid too much. Habibi, everything is bargainable here, and paying 15 million in blood money will ruin the blood money market - it is way too much. You should improve your tribal connections and get someone to bargain for you.
War Blog Iraq Updates
EgyptAir says keen to reopen Baghdad route swiftly in IraqWar.ru (English)
Iran Foreign Minister says Tehran should continue talks with London in IraqWar.ru (English)
Bush, Putin Discuss Iran, North Korea in IraqWar.ru (English)
Baghdad Blogger in IraqWar.ru (English)
U.S. needs international help in Iraq in IraqWar.ru (English)
Iraq attacks pose political challenge for Bush in IraqWar.ru (English)
Pentagon Reassessing Violence As Shi'a Leaders, Iran Deny Roles in IraqWar.ru (English)
Anti-Saddam chief shot for speaking out in IraqWar.ru (English)
US Blames Blast on Bomb Class as Iraqi Ire Simmers in IraqWar.ru (English)
U.S. Marine Killed in Iraq Mine Explosion in IraqWar.ru (English)
Straw Visits Iraq, U.S. Soldier Dies from Wounds in IraqWar.ru (English)
Bush warns militants who attack U.S. troops in Iraq in IraqWar.ru (English)
Bush: U.S. will prevail in Iraq in IraqWar.ru (English)
'Bomb factory' caused Iraq blast: "BBC :
Full article ..."
In Command Post: Irak
Coalition 'will not pull out of Iraq': "BBC :
Full article ..."
In Command Post: Irak
Multinational Peace Force Forming in Iraq: "Poland is sending 2,300 soldiers. Ukraine promises 1,800. Small bands of Macedonians and Albanians are already here. And Sri Lanka says it's ready to consider requests for help. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
EgyptAir says keen to reopen Baghdad route swiftly in IraqWar.ru (English)
Iran Foreign Minister says Tehran should continue talks with London in IraqWar.ru (English)
Bush, Putin Discuss Iran, North Korea in IraqWar.ru (English)
Baghdad Blogger in IraqWar.ru (English)
U.S. needs international help in Iraq in IraqWar.ru (English)
Iraq attacks pose political challenge for Bush in IraqWar.ru (English)
Pentagon Reassessing Violence As Shi'a Leaders, Iran Deny Roles in IraqWar.ru (English)
Anti-Saddam chief shot for speaking out in IraqWar.ru (English)
US Blames Blast on Bomb Class as Iraqi Ire Simmers in IraqWar.ru (English)
U.S. Marine Killed in Iraq Mine Explosion in IraqWar.ru (English)
Straw Visits Iraq, U.S. Soldier Dies from Wounds in IraqWar.ru (English)
Bush warns militants who attack U.S. troops in Iraq in IraqWar.ru (English)
Bush: U.S. will prevail in Iraq in IraqWar.ru (English)
'Bomb factory' caused Iraq blast: "BBC :
A fatal explosion at a mosque in the Iraqi town of Falluja was caused by a bomb-making class, the US military has said.
Local residents have blamed the blast, which killed nine people, on a US missile attack, saying aircraft had been heard overhead just beforehand.
The US denies this version of events, saying investigations by the military and the Fallujah police had exonerated US military forces of any involvement.
The flashpoint town, 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Baghdad, has been the scene of regular attacks on US troops since clashes with the local population in April in which the Americans killed at least 15 people.[...]
"The explosion was apparently related to a bomb manufacturing class that was being taught inside the mosque," US Central Command said in a statement.
Full article ..."
In Command Post: Irak
Coalition 'will not pull out of Iraq': "BBC :
The United States and Britain have insisted they will not pull out of Iraq, despite attacks on their troops.
On a visit to Iraq, UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the incidents had increased London's and Washington's determination to root out remnants of Saddam Hussein's regime and his Baath party.
Mr Straw's comments echoed US President George W Bush's pledge on Tuesday to meet attacks with "direct and decisive force".
Full article ..."
In Command Post: Irak
Multinational Peace Force Forming in Iraq: "Poland is sending 2,300 soldiers. Ukraine promises 1,800. Small bands of Macedonians and Albanians are already here. And Sri Lanka says it's ready to consider requests for help. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
U.S. Soldier Dies from Wounds in Iraq Attack: "A U.S. soldier who was wounded onTuesday in an attack on his military convoy in Baghdad has diedfrom his injuries, the U.S. military said on Wednesday. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Bush insists US troops will stay in Iraq, another soldier killed: "US President George W. Bush has insisted his troops will not be driven out of Iraq "before freedom is fully established", while an opinion poll showed less than one third of Americans believe he told them the whole truth before the war. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Saudis arrests suspect in May 12 attacks: "Police arrested a suspected militant linked to May suicide attacks in Riyadh, the official Saudi Press Agency reported Wednesday."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Bush insists US troops will stay in Iraq, another soldier killed: "US President George W. Bush has insisted his troops will not be driven out of Iraq "before freedom is fully established", while an opinion poll showed less than one third of Americans believe he told them the whole truth before the war. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Saudis arrests suspect in May 12 attacks: "Police arrested a suspected militant linked to May suicide attacks in Riyadh, the official Saudi Press Agency reported Wednesday."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Yahoo! News Story - World Photos - AP
Personal message:
wAR bLOG Iraq War Photo
World Photos - AP
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Majority in US believes Bush 'stretched truth' about Iraq: poll: "For the first time since the beginning of the war in Iraq, a solid majority of Americans believe the Bush administration either "stretched the truth" about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction or told outright lies, according to a new opinion survey. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Final details set for Bethlehem handover: "Israeli and Palestinian leaders promised painful concessions at a summit that raised hopes of ending nearly three years of violence, and the two sides worked out final details to put Bethlehem back under Palestinian control."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
U.S. Tells Iraqi Towns to Stop Insurgents: "Shrouded in early morning mist, U.S. tanks, Humvees and Apache helicopters roared into the town of As Sadah to deliver a message: Don't let insurgents use your town to attack American forces. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
US contracts to rebuild Iraq spawn cottage industry of lawyers, consultants: "Business interest in US government contracts to rebuild war-ravaged Iraq is spawning a cottage industry among lawyers, consultants and sub-contractors. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Bush firm despite Iraq attacks in BBC: War in Iraq
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Final details set for Bethlehem handover: "Israeli and Palestinian leaders promised painful concessions at a summit that raised hopes of ending nearly three years of violence, and the two sides worked out final details to put Bethlehem back under Palestinian control."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
U.S. Tells Iraqi Towns to Stop Insurgents: "Shrouded in early morning mist, U.S. tanks, Humvees and Apache helicopters roared into the town of As Sadah to deliver a message: Don't let insurgents use your town to attack American forces. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
US contracts to rebuild Iraq spawn cottage industry of lawyers, consultants: "Business interest in US government contracts to rebuild war-ravaged Iraq is spawning a cottage industry among lawyers, consultants and sub-contractors. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Bush firm despite Iraq attacks in BBC: War in Iraq
Bush firm despite Iraq attacks in BBC: War in Iraq
Bush: Iraq Transformation Is a 'Long-Term' Project: "President Bush on Tuesday saidIraq's transformation would be a "massive and long-termundertaking," indicating an early U.S. exit was consideredunlikely. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Former U.S. Army Chief Warns of Long Haul in Iraq: "A former four-star U.S. army general wholed a major and controversial attack during the liberation ofKuwait in 1991, warned on Tuesday that U.S. troops could belocked into Iraq for the next decade. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Iraq Attacks Wound U.S. Troops, Imam Dies After Blast: "Six American soldiers were wounded inIraq Tuesday and a group of visiting senators said there couldbe more attacks on U.S. troops after a fatal blast at a mosquefueled Muslim anger with the occupying forces. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Israeli-Palestinian summit sends hope: "Bitter enemies not long ago, the Israeli defense minister and Palestinian security chief chattered away like old friends Tuesday, sending a picture of hope in the effort to end 33 months of violence."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Bush: Iraq Transformation Is a 'Long-Term' Project: "President Bush on Tuesday saidIraq's transformation would be a "massive and long-termundertaking," indicating an early U.S. exit was consideredunlikely. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Former U.S. Army Chief Warns of Long Haul in Iraq: "A former four-star U.S. army general wholed a major and controversial attack during the liberation ofKuwait in 1991, warned on Tuesday that U.S. troops could belocked into Iraq for the next decade. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Iraq Attacks Wound U.S. Troops, Imam Dies After Blast: "Six American soldiers were wounded inIraq Tuesday and a group of visiting senators said there couldbe more attacks on U.S. troops after a fatal blast at a mosquefueled Muslim anger with the occupying forces. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Israeli-Palestinian summit sends hope: "Bitter enemies not long ago, the Israeli defense minister and Palestinian security chief chattered away like old friends Tuesday, sending a picture of hope in the effort to end 33 months of violence."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
As Toll Rises, Families Wait, Worry
KEEP YOUR HELMET ON!
As Toll Rises, Families Wait, Worry
2 months after Iraq war declared over, soldiers' loved ones back home coping with the uncertainty
By PETER WARD, Sun Staff
LOWELL When she hears news about an American soldier killed in Iraq, Michelle Latour shudders.
"I have no idea if it's my brother," Latour, of Puffer Avenue in Lowell's Centralville neighborhood, said of Air Force Senior Airman Gary Latour, 24.
"My wife is a nervous wreck," added her father, Paul Latour, a janitor at the Cardinal O'Connell School. "That's her baby. She'll be glad once he's back in the states."
Also relieved will be dozens of Greater Lowell families of soldiers among the United States' 146,000 troops still stationed in Iraq and Kuwait as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. President Bush declared combat in Iraq over on May 2. But in recent weeks, more than a dozen U.S. and British troops have died from gunfire or bomb blasts.
The war is not over, insist the families.
ON THE HOME FRONT: Paul and Dolly Latour hold a picture of their son, Air Force Senior Airman Gary Latour, who continues to serve in Iraq. Joining them, from left, are family members Emily Mascari, 7, Amanda Mascari, 13, Joe Mascari, Michelle Mascari, Doris Montmarquette, Paul Latour, Elaine Thibeault, Marcelle Thibeault, Jennifer Latour, Edgar Montmarquette, Stephanie Mascari, 11, Al Montmarquette, Lorraine Latour, and Richard Latour. SUN / BOB WHITAKER
"There's still enemies out there," said Mona Champoux of Lowell, whose son, Eric Durand, a Chelmsford postal carrier, is a private first class in an Army unit north of Tikrit in Iraq. "It's still nerve-wracking."
Anxiety is settling in among soldiers' spouses, kids and siblings who have had to live with an unsettling feeling about their loved one's safety, coping with an absence in the family and uncertainty over when their loved one may come home.
Diane Monbleau of Dracut, mother of 35-year-old Army Maj. Philip Monbleau, recently spent five weeks at Fort Huachuca in Arizona helping her daughter-in-law during the birth of the couple's third child. Monbleau was allowed to come home from Kuwait for two weeks, for which the family is grateful, then returned to Kuwait.
"Although it was very rewarding for me to see my grandchildren and be of help to my daughter-in-law, it was very costly as I took a leave of absence from my job without pay," said Monbleau. "As with many families, the children are most affected by the absence of their fathers or mothers."
The family of Army Staff Sgt. Norman Lyko of Dracut wife Nancy, and children Timothy, 12, Aimee, 9, and Catherine, 8 were accustomed to his annual departures for stints in the reserves.
And in April, it seemed the same.
"It was teary, but nothing more than normal, but this is finally taking a toll, especially on our 12-year-old son," said Nancy Lyko.
His deployment first to Fort Drum, N.Y., in February, then to Kuwait in April meant his wife had to stop working nights while her husband was away. It also meant missing two of his children's birthdays, his wedding anniversary and the first Holy Communion at St. Francis Church on May 3 of their 8-year-old daughter, Catherine.
Some people find it disconcerting that the patriotic fervor and focus on America's fighting force, once intense, seems to be fading.
"More like, 'Out of sight, of mind,'" said Dawn Sheehy, mother of Army Sgt. Michael Blute, 27, of Lowell. She said co-workers at her job at Boise-Cascade in Billerica had filled bins with snacks and toiletries that were shipped to her son's 59th Military Police Company in Turkey, Kuwait and Iraq. But when she recently looked, "The box was empty."
The spate of recent killings in Iraq has made families especially grateful for the scratchy phone calls and brief e-mails they receive.
"I talked to him the other day, and I don't know if he's going to Iraq or was in Iraq. He can't tell me, but he's OK," said John Lindsay, father of Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Brian Lindsay, 20, a Lowell High School graduate who operates a Howitzer cannon on a military vehicle. "We're a little anxious for him to come home."
Lindsay, a contract employee for Materials Systems in Littleton, paused during the interview.
"I get choked up when I talk about him," he said.
Brian's deployment had at least one unintended consequence.
His parents, divorced, had once been "at each other's throats," as Lindsay put it.
But because their son was alternating dispatches to his parents, the pair was now informing each other about the latest communication.
"Brian said, 'It's about time you and Mom actually had a conversation,'" Lindsay said.
A soldier's absence can cause financial hardship for family members waiting at home.
Luckily, that's not the case for Nancy Lyko, the Dracut wife of the staff sergeant in Kuwait, who in the Army earns twice what he makes at home.
"So financially we're doing fine, and that's making his whole time away easier on us," she said.
Lorraine Mellen of Lowell, a 63-year-old disabled former copy machine specialist, was collecting $200 a month in rent from her son, Army Reservist Sgt. Frank Saucier, when he was living in an upstairs apartment with his brother, Roland.
"I'm able to manage," said Mellen.
Saucier, a military police officer deployed to the Middle East on Easter Sunday, has written letters home describing Iraq's blistering heat and how he got a glimpse of Saddam Hussein's castle.
"I put the TV on in the morning and if something happens I think it won't be him," she said. "But he went to Bosnia and he came back. He went to Desert Storm and he came back. He'll come back."
Some soldiers have returned home or are on the way.
This past weekend, Jerry and Marie Mayotte traveled to Norfolk, Va., to welcome home their son, Navy seaman Timothy "T.J." Mayotte, 22, who's been abroad since January.
His father and 17-year-old brother, Keith, will be among 600 family members transported to Mayotte's ship, the U.S.S. Kearsarge, on the last night before it heads into home port.
Despite the relief and happiness of her son's return, "I feel bad," said Marie Mayotte. "We have friends whose son is a Marine still over there and they have no idea when he's coming back. So my yellow ribbon and candle are staying put until there's a resolution. I originally put them up for T.J. Now, they'll stay up longer."
Peter Ward's e-mail address is pward@lowellsun.com .
ON THE HOME FRONT: Paul and Dolly Latour hold a picture of their son, Air Force Senior Airman Gary Latour, who continues to serve in Iraq. Joining them, from left, are family members Emily Mascari, 7, Amanda Mascari, 13, Joe Mascari, Michelle Mascari, Doris Montmarquette, Paul Latour, Elaine Thibeault, Marcelle Thibeault, Jennifer Latour, Edgar Montmarquette, Stephanie Mascari, 11, Al Montmarquette, Lorraine Latour, and Richard Latour. SUN / BOB WHITAKER
As Toll Rises, Families Wait, Worry
2 months after Iraq war declared over, soldiers' loved ones back home coping with the uncertainty
By PETER WARD, Sun Staff
LOWELL When she hears news about an American soldier killed in Iraq, Michelle Latour shudders.
"I have no idea if it's my brother," Latour, of Puffer Avenue in Lowell's Centralville neighborhood, said of Air Force Senior Airman Gary Latour, 24.
"My wife is a nervous wreck," added her father, Paul Latour, a janitor at the Cardinal O'Connell School. "That's her baby. She'll be glad once he's back in the states."
Also relieved will be dozens of Greater Lowell families of soldiers among the United States' 146,000 troops still stationed in Iraq and Kuwait as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. President Bush declared combat in Iraq over on May 2. But in recent weeks, more than a dozen U.S. and British troops have died from gunfire or bomb blasts.
The war is not over, insist the families.
ON THE HOME FRONT: Paul and Dolly Latour hold a picture of their son, Air Force Senior Airman Gary Latour, who continues to serve in Iraq. Joining them, from left, are family members Emily Mascari, 7, Amanda Mascari, 13, Joe Mascari, Michelle Mascari, Doris Montmarquette, Paul Latour, Elaine Thibeault, Marcelle Thibeault, Jennifer Latour, Edgar Montmarquette, Stephanie Mascari, 11, Al Montmarquette, Lorraine Latour, and Richard Latour. SUN / BOB WHITAKER
"There's still enemies out there," said Mona Champoux of Lowell, whose son, Eric Durand, a Chelmsford postal carrier, is a private first class in an Army unit north of Tikrit in Iraq. "It's still nerve-wracking."
Anxiety is settling in among soldiers' spouses, kids and siblings who have had to live with an unsettling feeling about their loved one's safety, coping with an absence in the family and uncertainty over when their loved one may come home.
Diane Monbleau of Dracut, mother of 35-year-old Army Maj. Philip Monbleau, recently spent five weeks at Fort Huachuca in Arizona helping her daughter-in-law during the birth of the couple's third child. Monbleau was allowed to come home from Kuwait for two weeks, for which the family is grateful, then returned to Kuwait.
"Although it was very rewarding for me to see my grandchildren and be of help to my daughter-in-law, it was very costly as I took a leave of absence from my job without pay," said Monbleau. "As with many families, the children are most affected by the absence of their fathers or mothers."
The family of Army Staff Sgt. Norman Lyko of Dracut wife Nancy, and children Timothy, 12, Aimee, 9, and Catherine, 8 were accustomed to his annual departures for stints in the reserves.
And in April, it seemed the same.
"It was teary, but nothing more than normal, but this is finally taking a toll, especially on our 12-year-old son," said Nancy Lyko.
His deployment first to Fort Drum, N.Y., in February, then to Kuwait in April meant his wife had to stop working nights while her husband was away. It also meant missing two of his children's birthdays, his wedding anniversary and the first Holy Communion at St. Francis Church on May 3 of their 8-year-old daughter, Catherine.
Some people find it disconcerting that the patriotic fervor and focus on America's fighting force, once intense, seems to be fading.
"More like, 'Out of sight, of mind,'" said Dawn Sheehy, mother of Army Sgt. Michael Blute, 27, of Lowell. She said co-workers at her job at Boise-Cascade in Billerica had filled bins with snacks and toiletries that were shipped to her son's 59th Military Police Company in Turkey, Kuwait and Iraq. But when she recently looked, "The box was empty."
The spate of recent killings in Iraq has made families especially grateful for the scratchy phone calls and brief e-mails they receive.
"I talked to him the other day, and I don't know if he's going to Iraq or was in Iraq. He can't tell me, but he's OK," said John Lindsay, father of Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Brian Lindsay, 20, a Lowell High School graduate who operates a Howitzer cannon on a military vehicle. "We're a little anxious for him to come home."
Lindsay, a contract employee for Materials Systems in Littleton, paused during the interview.
"I get choked up when I talk about him," he said.
Brian's deployment had at least one unintended consequence.
His parents, divorced, had once been "at each other's throats," as Lindsay put it.
But because their son was alternating dispatches to his parents, the pair was now informing each other about the latest communication.
"Brian said, 'It's about time you and Mom actually had a conversation,'" Lindsay said.
A soldier's absence can cause financial hardship for family members waiting at home.
Luckily, that's not the case for Nancy Lyko, the Dracut wife of the staff sergeant in Kuwait, who in the Army earns twice what he makes at home.
"So financially we're doing fine, and that's making his whole time away easier on us," she said.
Lorraine Mellen of Lowell, a 63-year-old disabled former copy machine specialist, was collecting $200 a month in rent from her son, Army Reservist Sgt. Frank Saucier, when he was living in an upstairs apartment with his brother, Roland.
"I'm able to manage," said Mellen.
Saucier, a military police officer deployed to the Middle East on Easter Sunday, has written letters home describing Iraq's blistering heat and how he got a glimpse of Saddam Hussein's castle.
"I put the TV on in the morning and if something happens I think it won't be him," she said. "But he went to Bosnia and he came back. He went to Desert Storm and he came back. He'll come back."
Some soldiers have returned home or are on the way.
This past weekend, Jerry and Marie Mayotte traveled to Norfolk, Va., to welcome home their son, Navy seaman Timothy "T.J." Mayotte, 22, who's been abroad since January.
His father and 17-year-old brother, Keith, will be among 600 family members transported to Mayotte's ship, the U.S.S. Kearsarge, on the last night before it heads into home port.
Despite the relief and happiness of her son's return, "I feel bad," said Marie Mayotte. "We have friends whose son is a Marine still over there and they have no idea when he's coming back. So my yellow ribbon and candle are staying put until there's a resolution. I originally put them up for T.J. Now, they'll stay up longer."
Peter Ward's e-mail address is pward@lowellsun.com .
ON THE HOME FRONT: Paul and Dolly Latour hold a picture of their son, Air Force Senior Airman Gary Latour, who continues to serve in Iraq. Joining them, from left, are family members Emily Mascari, 7, Amanda Mascari, 13, Joe Mascari, Michelle Mascari, Doris Montmarquette, Paul Latour, Elaine Thibeault, Marcelle Thibeault, Jennifer Latour, Edgar Montmarquette, Stephanie Mascari, 11, Al Montmarquette, Lorraine Latour, and Richard Latour. SUN / BOB WHITAKER
On This Day
KEEP YOUR HELMET ON!
On this day
03jul03
321 Roman emperor Constantine, a Christian, proclaims Sunday a day of rest and religious observance.
1583 Russia's Tsar Ivan the Terrible kills his son Ivan in a fit of rage.
1608 The city of Quebec is founded by French explorer Samuel de Champlain.
1665 Dutch fleet is defeated by English off Lowestoft, England.
1695 British fleet bombards St Malo in France.
1778 Prussia declares war on Austria, starting War of Bavarian Succession.
1806 Michael Keen, of Isleworth, exhibits the first edible cultivated strawberry, which he calls Keen's Seedling.
1849 French forces enter Rome despite resistance by Giuseppe Garibaldi and restore Pope Pius IX.
1863 Three-day US Civil War Battle at Gettysburg ends in a major victory for the North as Confederate troops retreat. About 37,000 fell on both sides.
1866 Prussians defeat Austrians at Battle of Koenigraetz, deciding the Seven Weeks' War and effectively excluding Austria from a Prussian-dominated Germany.
1898 Captain Joshua Slocum arrives at Newport, Rhode Island, after completing the first solo circumnavigation of the world.
1904 Death of Theodor Herzl, Hungarian-born Zionist leader who in 1897 became first president of the World Zionist Organisation.
1928 John Logie Baird transmits the world's first colour television pictures in London.
1940 More than 1000 French soldiers die when British ships destroy the French fleet at Oran and Mers-el-Kebir in Algeria to prevent them falling into enemy hands.
1944 Soviet forces recapture Minsk from Germans, capturing 100,000 troops.
1950 US and North Korean troops clash for first time in Korean War.
1954 Rationing brought on by World War II finally ends in Britain, nine years after the war ended.
1962 Algeria becomes independent after 132 years of French rule.
1965 Roy Rogers' horse, Trigger, dies, aged 33.
1969 Brian Jones, a founder member of the British rock group Rolling Stones, drowns in his swimming pool after a drug overdose.
1971 Indonesians vote in their country's first national election in 16 years; Singer Jim Morrison of The Doors dies in Paris at age 27.
1972 Pakistan and India sign a peace treaty, ending hostilities triggered by the civil war in East Pakistan, now Bangladesh.
1988 In the last weeks of the Iran-Iraq war, The USS Vincennes shoots down an Iranian jetliner over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.
1993 German Steffi Graf wins her third consecutive Wimbledon title as she defeats Jana Novotna of the Czech Republic.
1994 Pete Sampras defeats Goran Ivanisevic to win the Wimbledon men's championship, 7-6 7-6 6-0.
1995 Roman Catholics riot in Northern Ireland, outraged at an early parole from prison of a British paratrooper convicted of killing a Belfast woman.
1996 British Prime Minister John Major announces that the historic Stone of Scone, the ancient symbol of Scottish kings, is to be removed from London's Westminster Abbey after 700 years and returned to Scotland.
1997 The Parliament of Western Samoa votes to amend the constitution to simplify the country's name to Samoa.
1998 Colombia's second-largest guerrilla group releases 15 young women held hostage for two weeks, accused by the rebels of being army spies disguised as good Samaritans.
1999 In their first match-up in three years, world chess champion Garry Kasparov beats his bitter rival, Anatoly Karpov to win the Siemens Giants chess tournament.
2000 Opposition candidate Vicente Fox is declared the winner in Mexico's presidential elections in a stunning victory that ends the ruling party's 71-year lock on the presidency.
2001 Flashing the defiance that marked his 13 years in power, former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic refuses to enter a plea on war crimes charges in his first appearance before a UN tribunal at The Hague.
2002 A US gunship flying over Oruzgan Province in southern Afghanistan fires on civilian targets after mistaking celebratory gunfire at a wedding for hostile fire, killing at least 40 Afghan civilians and wounding 100 others.
On this day
03jul03
321 Roman emperor Constantine, a Christian, proclaims Sunday a day of rest and religious observance.
1583 Russia's Tsar Ivan the Terrible kills his son Ivan in a fit of rage.
1608 The city of Quebec is founded by French explorer Samuel de Champlain.
1665 Dutch fleet is defeated by English off Lowestoft, England.
1695 British fleet bombards St Malo in France.
1778 Prussia declares war on Austria, starting War of Bavarian Succession.
1806 Michael Keen, of Isleworth, exhibits the first edible cultivated strawberry, which he calls Keen's Seedling.
1849 French forces enter Rome despite resistance by Giuseppe Garibaldi and restore Pope Pius IX.
1863 Three-day US Civil War Battle at Gettysburg ends in a major victory for the North as Confederate troops retreat. About 37,000 fell on both sides.
1866 Prussians defeat Austrians at Battle of Koenigraetz, deciding the Seven Weeks' War and effectively excluding Austria from a Prussian-dominated Germany.
1898 Captain Joshua Slocum arrives at Newport, Rhode Island, after completing the first solo circumnavigation of the world.
1904 Death of Theodor Herzl, Hungarian-born Zionist leader who in 1897 became first president of the World Zionist Organisation.
1928 John Logie Baird transmits the world's first colour television pictures in London.
1940 More than 1000 French soldiers die when British ships destroy the French fleet at Oran and Mers-el-Kebir in Algeria to prevent them falling into enemy hands.
1944 Soviet forces recapture Minsk from Germans, capturing 100,000 troops.
1950 US and North Korean troops clash for first time in Korean War.
1954 Rationing brought on by World War II finally ends in Britain, nine years after the war ended.
1962 Algeria becomes independent after 132 years of French rule.
1965 Roy Rogers' horse, Trigger, dies, aged 33.
1969 Brian Jones, a founder member of the British rock group Rolling Stones, drowns in his swimming pool after a drug overdose.
1971 Indonesians vote in their country's first national election in 16 years; Singer Jim Morrison of The Doors dies in Paris at age 27.
1972 Pakistan and India sign a peace treaty, ending hostilities triggered by the civil war in East Pakistan, now Bangladesh.
1988 In the last weeks of the Iran-Iraq war, The USS Vincennes shoots down an Iranian jetliner over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.
1993 German Steffi Graf wins her third consecutive Wimbledon title as she defeats Jana Novotna of the Czech Republic.
1994 Pete Sampras defeats Goran Ivanisevic to win the Wimbledon men's championship, 7-6 7-6 6-0.
1995 Roman Catholics riot in Northern Ireland, outraged at an early parole from prison of a British paratrooper convicted of killing a Belfast woman.
1996 British Prime Minister John Major announces that the historic Stone of Scone, the ancient symbol of Scottish kings, is to be removed from London's Westminster Abbey after 700 years and returned to Scotland.
1997 The Parliament of Western Samoa votes to amend the constitution to simplify the country's name to Samoa.
1998 Colombia's second-largest guerrilla group releases 15 young women held hostage for two weeks, accused by the rebels of being army spies disguised as good Samaritans.
1999 In their first match-up in three years, world chess champion Garry Kasparov beats his bitter rival, Anatoly Karpov to win the Siemens Giants chess tournament.
2000 Opposition candidate Vicente Fox is declared the winner in Mexico's presidential elections in a stunning victory that ends the ruling party's 71-year lock on the presidency.
2001 Flashing the defiance that marked his 13 years in power, former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic refuses to enter a plea on war crimes charges in his first appearance before a UN tribunal at The Hague.
2002 A US gunship flying over Oruzgan Province in southern Afghanistan fires on civilian targets after mistaking celebratory gunfire at a wedding for hostile fire, killing at least 40 Afghan civilians and wounding 100 others.
Bush: No return to tyranny in Iraq: "With public optimism about the war slipping, President Bush on Tuesday reaffirmed his commitment to Iraq, saying that resistance fighters pushing the U.S. death toll ever higher will not force America out of the nation before freedom takes root."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Firms Line Up for Corporate Invasion of Iraq: "U.S. and foreign companies swarmedto a private investors conference on Iraq on Tuesday seekingbusiness opportunities in a tight post-war market so fardominated by big U.S. firms. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Bush sets no timetable for Iraq withdrawal: "Two months after declaring "victory" in Iraq, President George W. Bush worked to shore up eroding US support for what he described as the open-ended mission of building democracy there. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Sharon, Abbas renew Mideast peace push: "Standing side by side, the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers rededicated themselves Tuesday to peace efforts and spoke of a shared future for their peoples, using conciliatory language not heard here in three years."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Firms Line Up for Corporate Invasion of Iraq: "U.S. and foreign companies swarmedto a private investors conference on Iraq on Tuesday seekingbusiness opportunities in a tight post-war market so fardominated by big U.S. firms. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Bush sets no timetable for Iraq withdrawal: "Two months after declaring "victory" in Iraq, President George W. Bush worked to shore up eroding US support for what he described as the open-ended mission of building democracy there. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Sharon, Abbas renew Mideast peace push: "Standing side by side, the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers rededicated themselves Tuesday to peace efforts and spoke of a shared future for their peoples, using conciliatory language not heard here in three years."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Deadly Explosion in Iraqi Town Fuels Anger Against Americans in IraqWar.ru (English)
Yet another attack on US troops in Iraq in IraqWar.ru (English)
U.S. Forces in Iraq Continue Under Attack in IraqWar.ru (English)
Violence wracks Iraq, 4 US troops killed in IraqWar.ru (English)
Iraq BBC row blows up again in IraqWar.ru (English)
Syria Aiding Guerilla War Against U.S. Troops in Iraq in IraqWar.ru (English)
Syria - New Line on Washington?s Iraq War Map in IraqWar.ru (English)
Blast Sets U.S. Vehicle on Fire in Baghdad in IraqWar.ru (English)
Mr Fixit finds his vision hard to sell in IraqWar.ru (English)
Afghan Rebel Leader Vows to Oust U.S. in IraqWar.ru (English)
Yet another attack on US troops in Iraq in IraqWar.ru (English)
U.S. Forces in Iraq Continue Under Attack in IraqWar.ru (English)
Violence wracks Iraq, 4 US troops killed in IraqWar.ru (English)
Iraq BBC row blows up again in IraqWar.ru (English)
Syria Aiding Guerilla War Against U.S. Troops in Iraq in IraqWar.ru (English)
Syria - New Line on Washington?s Iraq War Map in IraqWar.ru (English)
Blast Sets U.S. Vehicle on Fire in Baghdad in IraqWar.ru (English)
Mr Fixit finds his vision hard to sell in IraqWar.ru (English)
Afghan Rebel Leader Vows to Oust U.S. in IraqWar.ru (English)
Tuesday, July 01, 2003
War Blog News Updates Iraq
More violence in Iraq; U.S. casualties likely in IraqWar.ru (English)
Explosion at Mosque Kills 10 Iraqis in IraqWar.ru (English)
Court: Iran Hostages Can't Sue Captors in IraqWar.ru (English)
Gunmen kill head of Saddam's tribe in Tikrit in IraqWar.ru (English)
Failure to help kids upsets soldier in IraqWar.ru (English)
US forces under fire in IraqWar.ru (English)
Coalition casualties accounted for (Updated 30th of June) in IraqWar.ru (English)
More violence in Iraq; U.S. casualties likely in IraqWar.ru (English)
Explosion at Mosque Kills 10 Iraqis in IraqWar.ru (English)
Court: Iran Hostages Can't Sue Captors in IraqWar.ru (English)
Gunmen kill head of Saddam's tribe in Tikrit in IraqWar.ru (English)
Failure to help kids upsets soldier in IraqWar.ru (English)
US forces under fire in IraqWar.ru (English)
Coalition casualties accounted for (Updated 30th of June) in IraqWar.ru (English)
Israel Cuts Off Ties With BBC Over Controversial Documentary in IraqWar.ru (English)
Iraqis begin warming to US presence in IraqWar.ru (English)
Reporter Injured in Iraq Grenade Attack in IraqWar.ru (English)
U.S. weighs aid to Palestinian Authority: "Pleased with the performance of Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and his new finance minister, the Bush administration is considering a resumption of direct aid to the Palestinian Authority - with a big boost to help strengthen its security forces."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Pentagon Working on Iraq Troop Needs: "Amid renewed violence in Iraq, the Pentagon is trying to figure out how many postwar troops should stay and when it can bring home some of the longest-serving. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Mideast officials look like old friends: "Bitter enemies not long ago, the Israeli defense minister and Palestinian security chief chattered away like old friends Tuesday, sending a picture of hope in the effort to end 33 months of violence."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Few al-Qaida ties seen in Iraq arrests: "U.S. forces in central Iraq have detained a handful of people suspected of ties to al-Qaida, but American intelligence officials describe them as mostly low-level operatives with unclear purposes in the country."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
No signs U.S. considering force vs. Iran: "There are no signs the United States is about to use force to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons. And even if the Bush administration were so inclined, its closest allies might not go along."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
US army attacked in Baghdad: "BBC :
Full article ..."
In Command Post: Irak
Iraqis begin warming to US presence in IraqWar.ru (English)
Reporter Injured in Iraq Grenade Attack in IraqWar.ru (English)
U.S. weighs aid to Palestinian Authority: "Pleased with the performance of Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and his new finance minister, the Bush administration is considering a resumption of direct aid to the Palestinian Authority - with a big boost to help strengthen its security forces."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Pentagon Working on Iraq Troop Needs: "Amid renewed violence in Iraq, the Pentagon is trying to figure out how many postwar troops should stay and when it can bring home some of the longest-serving. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Mideast officials look like old friends: "Bitter enemies not long ago, the Israeli defense minister and Palestinian security chief chattered away like old friends Tuesday, sending a picture of hope in the effort to end 33 months of violence."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Few al-Qaida ties seen in Iraq arrests: "U.S. forces in central Iraq have detained a handful of people suspected of ties to al-Qaida, but American intelligence officials describe them as mostly low-level operatives with unclear purposes in the country."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
No signs U.S. considering force vs. Iran: "There are no signs the United States is about to use force to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons. And even if the Bush administration were so inclined, its closest allies might not go along."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
US army attacked in Baghdad: "BBC :
US troops have come under fresh attack in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, with reports saying at least three soldiers were injured.
In one incident in central Baghdad, a military vehicle was wrecked, apparently by a rocket-propelled grenade.
Reports from the scene quoted eyewitnesses as saying three soldiers and one other person were killed, but several hours later there was no confirmation from the American authorities.
Full article ..."
In Command Post: Irak
International Replacements Readied for US troops Iraq in IraqWar.info
Iraq Democracy Watch: "We really know how to pick 'em
The Financial Times reports that Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the highest ranking Shia cleric in Iraq, and the most apolitical, has called for an Iraqi elected body to draft a constitution. The idea would be that "all Iraqi communities should nominate representatives to attend a national conference in Baghdad that would elect an Iraqi government and convene a constitutional council."
This is NOT what Paul Bremer, the head of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), wants at all, of course. He wants a U.S.-appointed advisory council, instead. And some sort of conference on writing up a constitution with the help of American advisors who would draft the first version.
Given that Ayatollah Sistani is seen as being the most supportive of the Shi'ite clerics of the American presence, and the least likely to get involved with politics, AND that he is by far the most influential Shi'ite religious figure, his pronouncement no doubt highlights the fact that if there is anything that the various Iraqi leaders agree on, it is that they all want Iraq to be moving far faster towards a democracy than the Americans are willing to permit.
Meanwhile, the Middle East On-Line says today that:
Too bad we had to arrest the mayor we installed in that very city after we cancelled the elections (see previous post ). The NYT reports that, "Accusations against the governor include kidnapping, holding hostages and pressuring government employees to commit financial crimes."
After admitting that we made a bad mistake because "actually trying to judge who was who in Iraq, what people's character was based on past performance, was always going to be difficult..." we have decided nonetheless to choose a new governor from a local council, the members of which were all also appointed by the Americans.
I can see why Ayatollah Sistani is a bit skeptical of Mr. Bremer's approach on the national level. "
Spinning the War -- Still: "Seems like support for the war in Iraq is starting to slip. A CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll shows that public support for the war is now at 56 percent, down from 73 percent in April. That means current support for the war is just about where it was in early January (53 percent) when the White House was making its case for the campaign."
In Back to Iraq 2.0
Troops Hit With Bombs & Blame: "American soldiers came under fire again in Iraq, both from insurgent fighters and civilian critics. Grenades hit U.S. vehicles in two attacks, and five Iraqis died in a mosque blast that some blamed on U.S. bombing."
In CBS News: Iraq Crisis
Iraq Democracy Watch: "We really know how to pick 'em
The Financial Times reports that Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the highest ranking Shia cleric in Iraq, and the most apolitical, has called for an Iraqi elected body to draft a constitution. The idea would be that "all Iraqi communities should nominate representatives to attend a national conference in Baghdad that would elect an Iraqi government and convene a constitutional council."
This is NOT what Paul Bremer, the head of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), wants at all, of course. He wants a U.S.-appointed advisory council, instead. And some sort of conference on writing up a constitution with the help of American advisors who would draft the first version.
Given that Ayatollah Sistani is seen as being the most supportive of the Shi'ite clerics of the American presence, and the least likely to get involved with politics, AND that he is by far the most influential Shi'ite religious figure, his pronouncement no doubt highlights the fact that if there is anything that the various Iraqi leaders agree on, it is that they all want Iraq to be moving far faster towards a democracy than the Americans are willing to permit.
Meanwhile, the Middle East On-Line says today that:
US troops patrolling the holy Shiite Muslim city of Najaf heap praise on Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani for having used his community standing to foster a smooth coexistence between the people and coalition forces.
"The most important aspect why this city is so stable is that we have someone like Ayatollah Sistani," said Marine Major Rick Hall...
Too bad we had to arrest the mayor we installed in that very city after we cancelled the elections (see previous post ). The NYT reports that, "Accusations against the governor include kidnapping, holding hostages and pressuring government employees to commit financial crimes."
After admitting that we made a bad mistake because "actually trying to judge who was who in Iraq, what people's character was based on past performance, was always going to be difficult..." we have decided nonetheless to choose a new governor from a local council, the members of which were all also appointed by the Americans.
I can see why Ayatollah Sistani is a bit skeptical of Mr. Bremer's approach on the national level. "
Spinning the War -- Still: "Seems like support for the war in Iraq is starting to slip. A CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll shows that public support for the war is now at 56 percent, down from 73 percent in April. That means current support for the war is just about where it was in early January (53 percent) when the White House was making its case for the campaign."
In Back to Iraq 2.0
Troops Hit With Bombs & Blame: "American soldiers came under fire again in Iraq, both from insurgent fighters and civilian critics. Grenades hit U.S. vehicles in two attacks, and five Iraqis died in a mosque blast that some blamed on U.S. bombing."
In CBS News: Iraq Crisis
Explosion at Mosque Kills Five Iraqis: "A massive explosion destroyed a mosque in this restive town, killing at least five Iraqis and injuring four others, witnesses and officials said Tuesday. The blast raised tensions in a region already simmering with anti-American activity. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
U.S. Troops Attacked Again in Iraq, Blast Near Mosque: "American soldiers were hurt in twoseparate attacks in Baghdad on Tuesday and an explosion besidea mosque in the troubled town of Falluja killed at least oneIraqi. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Cleric Wants Iraqis to Write Constitution: "Iraq's leading Shiite cleric has issued a ruling condemning the idea of a constitutional council put together by the American occupation authority."
In New York Times: World Special
Trying to Set Up Democracy in a Divided Kurdish Region: "A look at the Kurds' faltering experiment with democracy shows how difficult it will be to establish a pluralistic political system in Iraq."
In New York Times: World Special
Bloggers gain protection from libel: "Bloggers not liable for libel."
In Back to Iraq 2.0
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
U.S. Troops Attacked Again in Iraq, Blast Near Mosque: "American soldiers were hurt in twoseparate attacks in Baghdad on Tuesday and an explosion besidea mosque in the troubled town of Falluja killed at least oneIraqi. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Cleric Wants Iraqis to Write Constitution: "Iraq's leading Shiite cleric has issued a ruling condemning the idea of a constitutional council put together by the American occupation authority."
In New York Times: World Special
Trying to Set Up Democracy in a Divided Kurdish Region: "A look at the Kurds' faltering experiment with democracy shows how difficult it will be to establish a pluralistic political system in Iraq."
In New York Times: World Special
Bloggers gain protection from libel: "Bloggers not liable for libel."
In Back to Iraq 2.0
US rejects Iraq 'quagmire', oil exports resume, blasts persist in Fallujah: "Iraq's return to normality was boosted as oil exports resumed, but three explosions in the flashpoint city of Fallujah and the arrest of a US-appointed governor in southern Najaf on kidnap and theft charges clouded the US-led drive to rebuild Iraq. (AFP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
U.N. nuke watchdog chief to visit Iran: "The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency will visit Iran to hold new talks on the country's nuclear program, officials announced Monday."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Iraqis Begin Warming To US Presence: "From tomorrow's Christian Science Monitor (we're on the editorial preview list):
In Command Post: Irak
'Looters' killed in Iraq blast in BBC: War in Iraq
Amnesty criticizes U.S. interrogations: "An Iraqi businessman detained during a raid on his home says U.S. interrogators deprived him of sleep, forced him to kneel naked and kept him bound hand and foot with a bag over his head for eight days."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Israel offers Bethlehem to Palestinians: "Israel agreed to return the West Bank town of Bethlehem to Palestinian control after its pullback Monday from the Gaza Strip, crucial steps that advance a U.S.-backed "road map" to Palestinian statehood and raise hopes that 33 months of violence may be nearing an end."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Palestinians in Gaza town seek new start: "Packing a holstered pistol and a no-nonsense look, a commander from Yasser Arafat's presidential guard kept watch Monday for Islamic militants who in the past have fired crude rockets into Israel from this farming village."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
U.N. nuke watchdog chief to visit Iran: "The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency will visit Iran to hold new talks on the country's nuclear program, officials announced Monday."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Iraqis Begin Warming To US Presence: "From tomorrow's Christian Science Monitor (we're on the editorial preview list):
"There is a debate," the mayor says. "When you go to the street, people say: 'We are against the Americans.' But sheikhs, imams, and educated people say: 'Don't hurt the Americans, because that hurts us, too.'""
Mayor Hamid even presided over a meeting last Friday during which religious leaders in Fallujah "agreed that it was no longer allowed to shoot Americans in the city, and instead to work with the Americans. All of them agreed."
That shifting attitude reflects the results of a first-ever poll of Iraqis, reported by CBS earlier this month, that nearly two-thirds of Baghdad residents want US forces to stay until Iraq is stable and secure, and that only 17 percent want US troops to go home immediately. Iraqis say that result is accurate, but by default: While they are grateful the US has removed Saddam Hussein, and note that US troops are now critical to reestablishing yearned-for security, they still don't approve of their stay here.
"They are occupiers," says Fallujah truck driver Nouri Khalil, clicking his small wooden prayer beads while waiting for business on a sweltering street corner. "But if they leave, there will be no security. We want the Americans to form an Iraqi government, so they can go."
In Command Post: Irak
'Looters' killed in Iraq blast in BBC: War in Iraq
Amnesty criticizes U.S. interrogations: "An Iraqi businessman detained during a raid on his home says U.S. interrogators deprived him of sleep, forced him to kneel naked and kept him bound hand and foot with a bag over his head for eight days."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Israel offers Bethlehem to Palestinians: "Israel agreed to return the West Bank town of Bethlehem to Palestinian control after its pullback Monday from the Gaza Strip, crucial steps that advance a U.S.-backed "road map" to Palestinian statehood and raise hopes that 33 months of violence may be nearing an end."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Palestinians in Gaza town seek new start: "Packing a holstered pistol and a no-nonsense look, a commander from Yasser Arafat's presidential guard kept watch Monday for Islamic militants who in the past have fired crude rockets into Israel from this farming village."
In Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
3 Iraqis Killed Near Fallujah: "June 30 - Three Iraqis were killed on Monday morning in the town of Abu Ghraib, to the south west of the Iraqi capital Baghdad."
In War In Iraq from www.FeedRoom.com
CIA Pulls Iraqi Centrifuge Photos Off Its Web Site: "The CIA abruptly removed from itsWeb site photos that showed key uranium enriching equipmentfound hidden in Iraq because they revealed secrets thatcountries seeking to develop nuclear weapons might findhelpful, analysts said Monday. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Amnesty Criticizes U.S. Interrogations: "An Iraqi businessman detained during a raid on his home says U.S. interrogators deprived him of sleep, forced him to kneel naked and kept him bound hand and foot with a bag over his head for eight days. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Amnesty Criticizes U.S. Interrogations: "From the Kansas City Star / AP :
In Command Post: Irak
Reporter Injured In Iraq Grenade Attack: "The reporter is with NBC; this report is from The Guardian :
In Command Post: Irak
'Many dead' in Iraq blast: "BBC :
Full article ..."
In Command Post: Irak
In War In Iraq from www.FeedRoom.com
CIA Pulls Iraqi Centrifuge Photos Off Its Web Site: "The CIA abruptly removed from itsWeb site photos that showed key uranium enriching equipmentfound hidden in Iraq because they revealed secrets thatcountries seeking to develop nuclear weapons might findhelpful, analysts said Monday. (Reuters)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Amnesty Criticizes U.S. Interrogations: "An Iraqi businessman detained during a raid on his home says U.S. interrogators deprived him of sleep, forced him to kneel naked and kept him bound hand and foot with a bag over his head for eight days. (AP)"
In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Amnesty Criticizes U.S. Interrogations: "From the Kansas City Star / AP :
An Iraqi businessman detained during a raid on his home says U.S. interrogators deprived him of sleep, forced him to kneel naked and kept him bound hand and foot with a bag over his head for eight days.FYI, here's the link to the Amnesty International press release, and here's the link to their report."
Khraisan al-Abally's story, told to an Associated Press correspondent, comes as an Amnesty International report released Monday harshly criticizes American interrogation techniques.
A U.S. Army officer confirmed receiving a complaint from al-Abally, but coalition officials declined to discuss his account. The activist group Human Rights Watch said it was trying to corroborate his story.
In Command Post: Irak
Reporter Injured In Iraq Grenade Attack: "The reporter is with NBC; this report is from The Guardian :
Insurgents fired a rocket propelled grenade at a military vehicle in the restive town of Fallujah, injuring an "embedded'' reporter with NBC News, the military said Monday. Three Iraqis were killed when their pickup truck slammed into a vehicle helping evacuate the wounded reporter."
In Command Post: Irak
'Many dead' in Iraq blast: "BBC :
An ammunition dump has exploded in Iraq, killing at least 25 people, according to reports.
Many of the dead were said to have been looting the site at the time, looking for artillery casings to sell.
Local residents quoted by Reuters news agency said scores of people were also injured in the blast, which happened in a desert area near the town of Haditha, about 260 kilometres (160 miles) north-east of the capital, Baghdad.
A spokesman for US Central Command in Baghdad said that the dump was Iraqi, not American.
Because of that, he said, US forces in the area were not taking responsibility for caring for the wounded.
Full article ..."
In Command Post: Irak
I thought you might be interested in this article
I thought you might be interested in this article:
Wanted: Fewer Troops in Iraq
by Greg Buete
http://www.techcentralstation.com/1051/defensewrapper.jsp?PID=1051-350&CID=1051-070103E
Long but very interesting article
Wanted: Fewer Troops in Iraq
by Greg Buete
http://www.techcentralstation.com/1051/defensewrapper.jsp?PID=1051-350&CID=1051-070103E
Long but very interesting article
7 Soldiers Killed
KEEP YOUR HELMET ON!
7 U.S. Soldiers Killed, 4 Injured In Baghdad: Al-Jazeera
The U.S. Humvee attacked by RPG in the al-Mustansiriya
BAGHDAD, July 1 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) Seven U.S. soldiers were killed and four others injured Tuesday, July 1, in two separate attacks in central and southern Baghdad as the United States rebuffed reports that Iraq was becoming a quagmire for its troops.
7 U.S. Soldiers Killed, 4 Injured In Baghdad: Al-Jazeera
The U.S. Humvee attacked by RPG in the al-Mustansiriya
BAGHDAD, July 1 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) Seven U.S. soldiers were killed and four others injured Tuesday, July 1, in two separate attacks in central and southern Baghdad as the United States rebuffed reports that Iraq was becoming a quagmire for its troops.
Grenades slam into U.S. vehicles in Iraq: "Rocket-propelled grenades slammed into U.S. military vehicles in two attacks in and around Baghdad on Tuesday, and a massive explosion at a mosque in the town of Fallujah killed at least five Iraqis and injured four others."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Mideast leaders to meet in peace push: "Israeli army trucks moved equipment Tuesday from a base near Bethlehem ahead of a planned withdrawal from the West Bank town, as the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers prepared to discuss their next peace moves."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Mideast leaders to meet in peace push: "Israeli army trucks moved equipment Tuesday from a base near Bethlehem ahead of a planned withdrawal from the West Bank town, as the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers prepared to discuss their next peace moves."
In JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
