Posted on 12/27/2004 10:11:49 PM PST by TexKat
Second Picture-- LOL!
28 December 2004
WASHINGTON — Writing in a US newspaper, Iraqi Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi yesterday stressed that former members of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party who have not committed crimes will be able to live normal lives if they respect the current law.
“We are reaching out to all Iraqis in a spirit of national unity and reconciliation, and will continue to draw a clear distinction between criminals of the former regime and those who are innocent of such crimes but found it necessary to join the Baath Party to earn a living,” Allawi wrote in an article published in The Wall Street Journal.
“All those who respect the rule of law will be respected by us and given the opportunity to live as productive citizens,” he continued. “Those who choose crime and terror will be defeated.”
The assurances came amid growing concern that Sunni Iraqis, who made up the core of former leader Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party, will boycott the January 30 elections for the National Assembly and thus rob any new government of its legitimacy.
Media reports suggested US officials were quietly talking with Iraqis about setting aside a number of top government jobs for Sunnis, whatever the results of the election.
In his article Allawi did not directly address those reports, saying only that he and his supporters will “seek to include all ethnic and religious communities” into the government.
But he dismissed the importance of boycott threats, saying that ”despite all the pessimism by the sceptics, we see encouraging signs as Iraqis enthusiastically register to vote, and thousands of candidates from across the political spectrum put themselves forward for election.”
I know, don't you just love it!!!
28 December 2004
WASHINGTON — The senior US military commander for Iraq, General John Abizaid, said that more US troops will be needed to patrol the northern city of Mosul during the January 30 election.
“It’s clear that Mosul will need additional boots on the ground during the election period,” Abizaid told CNN in an interview broadcast on Sunday.
The US military is investigating how a suicide bomber on Tuesday managed to penetrate security at a US base in Mosul, targeting a mess hall in a strike that killed 22 people.
Fourteen US soldiers died in the attack, the deadliest single assault so far against US forces in Iraq.
The suicide attack came as senior US officials warned that violence could worsen across Iraq ahead of the election.
Abizaid, the commander of US Central Command, did not disclose how many more troops he thought would be needed in Mosul in the interview from his Doha, Qatar, headquarters.
Camp Pendleton Loses Three More Marines
UPDATED: 9:29 pm PST December 27, 2004
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- Camp Pendleton has released the names of three more Marines killed in Iraq
Lance Cpl. Eric Hillenburg, of Indiana, Lance Cpl. James Phillips, of Florida, and Cpl. Raleigh Smith, of Montana, all died last Wednesday fighting in the Anbar province.
They were all members of the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment in the 1st Marine Division.
BOGOTA, Colombia (Reuters) - Two would-be bombers have been killed after explosives they were carrying went off in a working class neighbourhood of the Colombian capital Bogota, police say.
The identities and even the sex of the two who died was not clear, but police suspected they were Marxist rebels. They were carrying about 4.5 pounds (2 kg) of dynamite in the Candelaria neighbourhood.
The blast occurred late on Monday evening, breaking nearby windows but causing no other injuries.
MULHOUSE, France (Reuters) - A gas explosion has killed 17 people, injured 15 and left three missing in a council house in this eastern French city , firemen say.
ZAGREB (Reuters) - An explosive device has knocked off the head of a statue of late Yugoslav communist leader Marshal Josip Broz Tito in his native village, state news agency Hina has reported.
The blast wrecked the life-size statue of Tito, Hina quoted local police spokesman Josip Janzek as saying.
Tito created Yugoslavia after World War II and ruled with an iron fist until his death in 1980.
State television footage showed the overturned statue on the ground with its head missing in Kumrovec in northern Croatia.
"We think the explosive was wrapped around the head," a local official told the television.
Undated photo from the US Department of State shows Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Zarqawi, anointed by Osama bin Laden as Al-Qaeda's leader in Iraq, has topped a US wanted list since Saddam Hussein's capture but proved elusive despite a huge reward and relentless military pressure.(AFP/HO/File)
Iraq's most wanted man Zarqawi wins bin Laden's blessing
DUBAI (AFP) - Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, anointed by Osama bin Laden as Al-Qaeda's leader in Iraq, has topped a US wanted list since Saddam Hussein's capture but proved elusive despite a huge reward and relentless military pressure.
Accused of masterminding a large part of the Iraqi insurgency, Zarqawi was the reason behind the US-led assault on Fallujah in November, but is said to have fled the city when the offensive began.
Through his Tawhid wal Jihad (Unity and Holy War) group, which changed its name to "The Al-Qaeda Group of Jihad in the Land of Two Rivers", he brought the horror of slow, grisly, video-taped beheadings to Iraq.
Among a host of such outrages, the group murdered British hostage Kenneth Bigley in October and two of his US colleagues in September.
A father of four with two wives, Zarqawi also faces a death sentence in his native Jordan, where he was condemned in absentia in April to die for the 2002 killing there of a US official. Seven others were also convicted.
Zarqawi has been described as a "street thug" by King Abdullah II of Jordan. Unlike bin Laden, to whom he has allegedly swore allegiance in October, he has never appeared in videos or on audio tapes.
The only images of him are old grainy identity-style photographs.
Now, in a audiotape message puportedly from Bin Laden Monday, Zarqawi has for the first time been formally named as the head of Al-Qaeda in Iraq.
"The brothers in the group there must listen to him and obey him for what is good," the voice on the tape said.
Hailing the "daring" operations carried out by Zarqawi's group against US forces and the "apostate" interim government of Iyad Allawi, the voice added: "We in the Al-Qaeda Organization strongly welcome their joining hands with us."
Born Fadel Nazzal al-Khalayleh, Zarqawi was a poor student who never graduated from high school.
People in his home town Zarqa, from where he gets his name, remember a hot-headed youth, always armed with a pen-knife and a tattoo on his arm.
He became a radical for two reasons, those who knew him said.
He was shocked by the social openness that emerged in conservative Jordan with the arrival of tens of thousands of Palestinians who fled Kuwait after Iraq invaded the Gulf emirate in 1990.
He was also reportedly marked by a dream one of his sisters had, in which a sword came from the heavens bearing the word jihad (holy war) on one side and a verse from the Koran (the Muslim holy book) saying 'God will never abandon you and will never forget you.'
"This vision convinced him that he had a calling for an important role," a former acquaintance said.
After a period of delinquency, Zarqawi became awed by the teachings of radical Salafist Islamist Mohamad al-Makdessi, whom he met in Pakistan, where he worked as a journalist during 1988-1992 for mujahedeen newspapers.
In Jordan, Zarqawi was tried and sentenced in 1994 to 15 years in prison for membership of an illegal group and arms possession.
During the first eight months of his imprisonment he memorised the Koran, and thereafter continued to study the holy book during detention at Swaqa prison between 1995 and 1997.
A veteran of the Afghan war against Soviet occupation, a US-backed conflict in the 1980s that drew many Muslim idealists, his encounter with bin Laden took place in 2000 during visits to Pakistan and Afghanistan.
In late 2001, he was wounded in combat and lost a leg after taking up arms against US-led forces fighting to unseat the Taliban.
Contrary to claims by US President George W. Bush, the fugitive has probably never mixed with followers of Saddam, a US officer has said.
At the moment, according to another high-ranking US officer, Zarqawi commands a force of 500 to 1,000 men, reinforced by some Iraqi fundamentalists.
A senior intelligence officer said in May that although Zarqawi does not drive the insurgency, his access to fighters and weapons are what make him dangerous.
Zarqawi celebrated his 38th birthday in October with a 25-million-dollar US bounty on his head.
He was treated in Baghdad....by Saddam.
A soldier from the Iraqi Regular Army (IRA) operates a vehicle checkpoint on a road to the Forward Operating Base Marez in Mosul, Iraq, Sunday, Dec. 26, 2004. Tension and mutual mistrust have increased there between locals and troops.
A soldier from the Iraqi Regular Army (IRA) operates a vehicle checkpoint on a road to the Forward Operating Base Marez in Mosul, Iraq, Sunday, Dec. 26, 2004. Tension and mutual mistrust have increased there between locals and troops.
"He was treated in Baghdad....by Saddam."
Washington claimed Zarqawi had been treated in a Baghdad hospital after losing a leg in a U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan. But that is now dubbed "disinformation" by U.S. intelligence officials, who say he actually has both legs. (Newsweek, Inc.)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6315334/site/newsweek/
Iraq Infiltration on U.S. Bases Well-Known:
Tue Dec 28, 3:21 AM ET:
By NICK WADHAMS, Associated Press Writer
CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq - American commanders are fully aware that Iraq (news - web sites)'s insurgents exploit their policy of employing locals on U.S. military bases but insist the practice will not stop, though some security measures may be tightened.
The vulnerability of the American stance was exposed on Dec. 21, when an Iraqi suicide bomber dressed in a military uniform detonated his explosives at a mess hall at Forward Operating Base Marez in Mosul, killing 22 people including 14 U.S. servicemembers.
Since then, security has been tightened at chow halls in some camps, with military guards demanding proof of identification more often and not allowing backpacks. Officials say they are constantly reviewing procedures to make sure such an attack doesn't happen again, but insurgents infiltrating camps is unavoidable.
"They're trying to infiltrate the base as much as possible, taking pictures, videos drawing diagrams, grabbing people who are coming off base to intimidate them into giving them locations where different facilities are located on the base or torturing them until they do tell them," said Lt. Col. Dan Wilson, deputy for current operations for the 1st Marine Division. "We know it is active and ongoing."
Officials describe force protection as a game of cat-and-mouse, constantly refining tactics on base to counter changes by Iraq's insurgents.
One aspect the insurgents also appear to have exploited is the American desire to give Iraqi security forces a greater role, to treat them more as equals and to try to get them to do their jobs on their own, without U.S. supervision.
While Iraqis who work on bases are vetted, Americans acknowledge that they don't do security checks on Iraqi forces on base, instead leaving that task to their Iraqi counterparts.
"We don't do a systematic vetting process on Iraqi security forces, their government that does that," Wilson said. "There's a certain trust factor that goes along with the Marines working with them."
Wilson said top-level military staff had asked bases to re-evaluate how they go about force protection, but things like allowing Iraqis on base would not change. Wilson refused to say what sort of ideas were being discussed, only that the ideas were being passed around with the goal of enhancing security.
Some changes have been more visible. Guards at mess halls are stricter about enforcing a policy that badges be visibly displayed. At the gym at Camp Fallujah, only those with Department of Defense (news - web sites) badges are now allowed.
Many U.S. bases employ dozens and dozens of Iraqi and other foreign contractors to drive trucks, do construction work and sweep trash. Iraqi work crews are usually accompanied by an escort. Some of the Iraqis live on base and don't tell their families or neighbors about the work they do, for fear of being attacked.
But with jobs so scarce in the country, they say there's little choice.
"Of course everybody is afraid, these people are criminals who will do anything to hurt people," said one Iraqi man working at Camp Fallujah, an electrician who identified himself as Mohammad. "But we can't find a good job except of these types of places."
Mohammad said he and his fellow workers live on the base and hail from Baghdad, far enough away that word hasn't spread about what they do. He said Iraqis are clamoring to get jobs on bases because there is no other option.
"In Iraq, our livelihood now depend on the Americans," he said. "This is what's best for us."
The workers he was with said they were generally pleased with the food, saying they liked the beef and chicken, as well as all the soda that is stacked in refrigerators at each end of Camp Fallujah's two mess halls.
American troops on the bases express widespread distrust about the Iraqis that work there, and have remarked that they all believe contractors are relaying intelligence back to insurgents on the outside.
But that won't lead to a change in policy, said Marine spokesman Lt. Lyle Gilbert.
"Contracting locals helps the economy. That's something we want to do," Gilbert said. "We want the Iraqi economy to flourish. We want them to have jobs, to have money, to get back on heir feet."
Gilbert said that closing off bases to Iraqis would be like "everybody in America closing their doors in fear and not going anywhere."
"We're here. They know we're here, and we know they're there. It's a fact of life," he said.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041228/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_base_infiltration_2
Japan to release US$97 million in Iraq aid for ambulances, other vehicles:
Tuesday December 28, 5:06 PM:
Japan said Tuesday it will disburse about 10 billion yen (US$97 million; €71.71 million) in aid to help war-ravaged Iraq fund public services and buy ambulances and police vehicles.
With that spending, Tokyo will exhaust all but US$100 million (€73.5 million) of a total of US$1.5 billion (€1.11 billion) in aid pledged for Iraq's reconstruction, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Shinichi Kadowaki.
Kadowaki said Tokyo's aid will enable Iraq's Health Ministry to buy 700 ambulances worth 5.83 billion yen (US$56.60 million; €41.84 million). Iraq's Home Affairs Ministry plans to spend 2.62 billion yen (US $25.45 million; €18.81 million) on 150 police buses and 500 police motorcycles, he said.
For southern Iraq's Muthana province, where about 550 Japanese non-combat troops are based for a humanitarian mission, Tokyo set aside 866 million yen (US$8.41 million; €6.22 million) for medical equipment at 32 health clinics and 658 million yen (US $6.39 million; €4.72 million) for garbage-collecting vehicles.
Japan's troops in Muthana' capital, Samawah, have been purifying water and rebuilding roads and schools since early this year.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's Cabinet this month extended the mission for another year through Dec. 14, 2005.
Critics worry that Japanese troops could be drawn into fighting with insurgents, and say the mission violates Japan's constitution, which bans the country from using force to settle international disputes.
Opinion polls show that a majority of voters oppose the military dispatch to Iraq.
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/041228/ap/d878i44g7.html
Rebel blitz on Iraq police posts:
Insurgents have launched multiple attacks on Iraqi police posts in Sunni Muslim strongholds north of Baghdad, reportedly killing at least 27 people.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4129361.stm
Australian warship HMAS Darwin heads back to Iraq:
PERTH, Australia (AFP) Dec 28, 2004:
The Australian warship HMAS Darwin left Perth for another tour of duty in the Gulf on Tuesday as hundreds of family and friends bid the 220 crew a tearful farewell.
HMAS Darwin, a guided missile frigate, will replace the HMAS Adelaide which has been in the Gulf since August as part of Australia's contribution to the US-led coalition forces in Iraq.
It will be the Darwin's fifth mission to the Gulf and its task will include guarding Iraq's offshore export oil terminals and monitoring, intercepting and boarding vessels suspected of illegally trafficking oil, Defense Minister Robert Hill said.
"The men and women in HMAS Darwin have been working hard in preparation for this deployment and I know they will do an excellent job," Hill said during a farewell ceremony.
The Darwin was most recently deployed in the Gulf between November 2002 and April 2003.
Australia contributed 2,000 troops to the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 and currently has about 850 soldiers stationed in and around the country.
http://www.spacewar.com/2004/041228052443.rhy25gke.html
morning you 2.. wow, again lots of good info & pix. Thank you.
Tex.. next time "the pelvis" shows up on ANY thread to harrass you please PRIVATELY FReepmail me (and I would anyone who supported you via FReepmail & on yesterday's thread) with the post/link so we can assist you.
Okay?
Good morning :)
IRAQ: IWPR trains new generation of journalists:
28 Dec 2004 14:06:06 GMT:
ARBIL, 28 December (IRIN) - The London-based Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) has set up training courses in the Iraqi Kurdish city of Arbil to teach locals the basics of objective news reporting.
Selected for their writing and analytical capacities from among 80 applicants, the 20 participants in the second course IWPR has run in Iraq's Kurdish north are learning about interviewing and writing techniques and the ethics of journalism.
When the two weeks' training ends, they will be encouraged to continue working for IWPR as freelance reporters.
Working in close collaboration with IWPR editors, they can look forward to a $50 payment per article published on the Institute's website.
"The best thing about this course is that it is practical," Nejiba Mohamed, who is studying journalism at Arbil's Technical Institute, told IRIN. "At college, the teaching is so theoretical you might as well stay at home and read it in a book."
Young, and with no previous experience of journalism, Mohamed is typical of the people attending IWPR courses. Other students include a tax accountant and a health centre employee. Encouraging participants from a wide range of backgrounds is part of IWPR's policy.
"When we began working in Baghdad last year, we aimed our training sessions at journalists with four or five years' experience," Hiwa Osman, the IWPR editor who runs the Arbil course, told IRIN. "We found ourselves spending longer de-Baathifying them [a reference to Saddam Hussein's Baath party] than teaching them anything about reporting."
Forced out of Baghdad for security reasons, Osman and his colleagues continue to collaborate with working journalists. He has worked in several local Kurdish newspapers as "training editor" - teaching editors and following their work for a week.
But IWPR's main aim now is to train a generation of new journalists untainted by the bad habits of the former Iraqi regime.
Out of reach of Saddam Hussein's authority since 1991, Iraqi Kurdistan does have the beginnings of a truly independent press. But there is still a long way to go, IWPR students say.
"Kurdish newspapers are the mouthpiece of the parties, not the people," explained Abdul Ghafar, editor of a local magazine.
"Our journalists work on remote control," added journalism student Zina Eymen. "They're like puppets on a string."
Hiwa Osman agreed. "Kurdish journalism was born out of an unholy mixture of two trends - revolutionary propaganda and city-based journalism subservient to the regime in Baghdad", he explained. "Those trends have continued until today."
It is to counter this that he spends so much time inculcating the values of that most austere of disciplines - agency-style news reporting. Students spend nearly two hours piecing together lead paragraphs from essential pieces of information.
Then they transform themselves into editors, extracting essential information from long-winded paragraphs Osman gives them.
Work on interview technique is no less ground-breaking. IWPR trainers are fighting against a widespread tendency among Kurdish journalists to see interviews as hand-to-hand combat and to print them as proof of victory.
"When I asked one local journalist why he always published interviews word for word as question and answers, he told me it was the only way he had of showing his readers how brave he had been," said Osman.
Supported by a wide variety of donors, including the UK's Department for International Development (DFID), IWPR runs similar programmes in over a dozen countries in Central Asia, the Caucasus and Africa. For Osman, though, Iraq has particular reasons for needing well-trained local journalists.
"The most common complaint Iraqis make about coverage of their country is that it is shaped by outside factors," he said.
"Western reporting is still shaped by divisions into pro and anti-war camps, and al-Jazeera and other Arab TV stations talk about Iraq as though it was a purely Sunni Arab country," Osman added.
"By teaching these people, IWPR's idea is that they will be able to make their own voices, and their own priorities, heard by the outside world."
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/b2e48869778e250e3d464f71a9a1059f.htm
Tuesday, December 28, 2004. 11:42am (AEDT):
US, Britain holding 10,000 prisoners in Iraq:
Over 350 foreigners are among about 10,000 detainees being held in US-run prisons in Iraq, Iraq's Human Rights Minister Bakhtiar Amin Over says.
"US forces told us on December 23 that they are holding 353 foreign terrorists," Mr Amin said.
He says they include: 61 Egyptians, 59 Saudis, 56 Syrians, 40 Jordanians, 35 Sudanese, 22 Iranians, 10 Tunisians, 10 Yemenis, eight Palestinians and five Lebanese, among others.
US military detainee operations spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Barry Johnston refused to comment on the figures.
"I will not confirm numbers of specific nationalities held among foreign fighters," Lt Col Johnston said.
"As a matter of policy, we only share those numbers with government officials."
Both the Iraqi and US governments blame foreigners mainly from Syria and Iran for much of the violence in the country.
Mr Amin says 4,691 prisoners were being held in Camp Bucca near the southern port city of Umm Qasr, 3,411 in Abu Ghraib west of Baghdad and 818 in Al-Shuaiba British controlled Basra.
He also says that 104 are being held in Camp Cropper, near Baghdad's airport, where Saddam and other so-called "high-value" detainees are located.
Lt Col Johnson says the numbers were "generally correct" except for Abu Ghraib where the number is "closer to 2,500 at the moment".
Following revelations about prisoner abuse earlier this year in Abu Ghraib, the US military instituted several changes in the way detainees are held and interrogated.
The ranks of prisoners may have shot up again after hundreds were detained during major operations against insurgents south of the capital, in Samarra and Mosul, north of Baghdad and the massive assault on the former rebel stronghold of Fallujah, west of Baghdad.
-AFP
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200412/s1273053.htm
Good morning DC, thanks, will do.
Good morning Gucho.
BMP
Bump
Attacks in Iraq kill 42:
By Dhia Hamid in Samarra
December 29, 2004: (update)
AT LEAST 42 people were killed in a string of attacks on Iraqi security forces and other targets today after Osama bin Laden declared fugitive Jordanian Islamist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi his "emir" in the country.
In an audiotape purportedly recorded by the al-Qaeda leader, bin Laden also said all those who took part in landmark January 30 elections would be "infidels", raising the stakes in the run-up to the vote.
In one of a series of apparently coordinated strikes in Sunni Muslim strongholds north of Baghdad, insurgents stormed a police station in Dijla between Tikrit and Samarra and gunned down 12 policemen, police said.
"Armed men took control of the police station and executed 12 policemen, three of them officers," one police source said, adding that the attackers then dynamited the building.
Just outside Tikrit, the hometown of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein, three policemen were killed in an attack on a checkpoint.
Another four policeman and a national guardsmen were shot dead at a police station in Ishaki, south of the restive town of Samarra. Three guardsmen and three civilians were killed in a car bomb attack targeting a US-Iraq military convoy in Samarra, hospital sources said.
The US military confirmed a car bombing near a tank but said it had no record of the deaths and that there were no US casualties.
In Baquba, 50 kilometres northeast of the capital, six national guardsmen were killed in a suicide car bomb attack.
At al-Shurqat, 180 kilometres north of Samarra, two policeman were killed in an attack on their post, an officer said.
In the same area, an Iraqi intepreter for the US army was killed and an Iraqi businessman travelling with him was kidnapped, another officer said.
A roadside bomb killed one Iraqi civilian and wounded another on a road frequented by US convoys near Baiji, 200 kilometres north of Baghdad, a hospital official said.
Three Iraqi businessmen working with the US army were killed at Suleyman Beg, 155 kilometres north of Baghdad and a curfew imposed on the city afterwards, an officer said.
In Baghdad, a suicide bomber was killed and six people wounded in an attack against the convoy of an Iraqi national guard general Modher Abud as he was leaving his home, the interior ministry said.
Another policeman was killed in Balad when insurgents opened fire on security forces guarding a voter registration centre.
The latest bloodshed brought to at least 74 the number of people killed in attacks throughout the country since Sunday evening, including two US soldiers.
Iraq's nascent security forces have been crippled by a relentless and vicious campaign by insurgents, casting doubt on whether they would be able to handle securing next month's crucial elections without massive help from US-led troops.
Highlighting the perils in Iraq ahead of the first post-Saddam vote, a voice recording attributed to bin Laden and aired on al-Jazeera television Monday warned all those who participate in the vote would be "infidels."
The voice also anointed Zarqawi, Iraq's most wanted man who is blamed for some of the worst bombings, assassinations and beheadings, as bin Laden's representative in Iraq.
"The brother mujahed (holy warrior) Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is the emir of the al-Qaeda Organisation in the Land of Two Rivers," said the message, whose authenticity could not be confirmed.
"Brothers in the group must listen to him and obey him for what is good."
Zarqawi, who has a $US25 million ($32.63 million) price on his head, has previously professed his animosity and hatred towards Iraq's majority Shiite community calling it "the fifth column of Islam."
In the latest attack against Shiites and their leaders, a car bomb exploded Monday outside the headquarters of Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, the chief of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq party.
He escaped unscathed but 13 people were killed and scores wounded.
No one claimed responsibility for the attack but SCIRI spokesman Haitham al-Husseini blamed Saddam's old Baath party for the attack.
Hakim is the top candidate in the Shiite coalition grouping called the Unified Iraqi Alliance, which is the early election favourite due to its endorsement from Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the most revered Shiite cleric in Iraq.
The Democratic Party of the Iraqi Nation said the home of its secretary general, Mithal al-Alusi, was shelled in an assassination attempt on Monday.
In a major blow to US and Iraqi government efforts to attract a strong role of the once-dominant Sunni Muslim minority in the election, the community's main party announced on Monday it would not be taking part.
"We are obliged to pull out," party chief Mohsen Abdel Hamid told reporters, saying the decision was motivated by the refusal of authorities to postpone elections for six months to ensure broader participation and to better control the security situation.
In Washington, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Sunnis had to be represented in the future assembly if the body was to be "effective."
US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, meanwhile, is due in Ankara on Sunday to discuss differences over US policy in Iraq. Relations between the strategic partners were strained by the US-led invasion of March 2003 in which Turkey declined to participate.
Agence France-Presse
http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,11803643%255E1702,00.html
AFGHANISTAN: Why Iraq is Different:
December 28, 2004: The big difference between Iraq and Afghanistan is that the Taliban did not have a monopoly on fighting skills, and were only in power six years, compared to several decades for Saddam Hussein and the establishment of a police state. In Iraq, the opposition was disarmed and dismayed. In Afghanistan, the opposition was still fighting and holding territory in September, 2001, when the U.S. got involved. The Taliban style of governing represents the social customs of some of the Pushtun tribes of southern Afghanistan, which was resented by most other Afghans. While the Islamic radicalism of the Taliban has some appeal throughout Afghanistan, for every tough Islamic radical with a gun, there are several more equally tough and well armed Afghans who want no part of al Qaeda or Taliban plans.
December 27, 2004: American troops in Afghanistan look at the more intense combat in Iraq and regard their Afghan assignment not so bad after all. Afghanistan is, literally, in the middle of nowhere, with a country population right out of the Dark Ages. But the Afghans are friendlier, and much less hostile to American soldiers than the Sunni Arabs of Iraq. The Afghans don't like Arabs either.
December 25, 2004: Taliban groups continue to make attacks, but with little effect. In the south, about 40 Taliban attacked a government office compound. The attack failed, and at least two of the attackers were killed.
December 24, 2004: The Winter Offensive against the Taliban has led to the capture of several dozen members, and revealed details of what shape the organization is in. Apparently there are only about 2,000 members of the Taliban still armed and willing to fight. This is one reason why the Taliban has no impact on the recent elections. Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, is still directing his troops, but has to spend most of his time moving around to avoid capture. Mullah Omar is a major threat, because he can get away with authorizing assassination attempts on other Taliban leaders that are considering accepting an amnesty. As long as Omar and his gunmen are at large, they can still frighten a lot of Taliban away from working with the government. The government wants senior Taliban leaders, who tend to be senior tribal and religious figures as well, to get involved in politics. But as long as Mullah Omar and his armed followers are out there, political involvement could be fatal.
The Taliban are also being compared, unfavorably, to al Qaeda operations in Iraq. While Iraq and Afghanistan have about the same population, ten times as many American soldiers have been killed in Iraq. Then again, there are eight times as many American troops in Iraq. But no matter, al Qaeda has cut payments to the Taliban, which means the Taliban have less money to pass around. It’s not that everyone in the Taliban is on the payroll, but Taliban leaders are expected to have cash to give out. Sometimes the money is needed for married men who are having trouble feeding their families. The Taliban leaders are also expected to give cash rewards for successful attacks, and pay for medical care or burial expenses when a Taliban gunman is dead. Weapons, ammunition and vehicles must be purchased as well. The Arab led al Qaeda always had a low opinion of the Afghans, who they considered a bunch of ignorant hicks. Religious enough, but not very capable. This sounds pretty odd coming from Arabs, hardly the models of efficiency themselves, but that’s the way things work in al Qaeda. And the Arabs have the money, and are increasingly withholding it.
December 23, 2004: President Karzai installed a new cabinet, replacing several warlords with people possessing technical skills to do the job. The government feels it has the upper hand against the warlords, and now is the time to use it.
December 21, 2004: An ambush in the south left four policemen, and one Taliban fighter, dead. The police operations are meant to flush out Taliban, and this is done with constant patrols and road blocks.
December 20, 2004: Canadian peacekeepers in Kabul found a large ammunition cache in Kabul. A tip from a local led to the finding of over 500 rocket and mortar rounds.
December 18, 2004: Islamic radical warlord and terrorism promoter Gulbuddin Hekmatyar has apparently made himself unpopular with his erstwhile Iranian supporters. Or maybe it was the threat of greater trade sanctions. But Iran has seized four
http://www.strategypage.com//fyeo/qndguide/default.asp?target=AFGHAN.HTM
IRAQ: The War That Isn't Reported:
December 26, 2004:
http://www.strategypage.com//fyeo/qndguide/default.asp?target=Iraq
A man checks a destroyed police station 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of Tikrit, Iraq, Tuesday Dec. 28, 2004. Twelve policemen died when gunmen attacked the station. (AP Photo/Bassem Daham)
Iraqi National Guards inspect a living room after a car bomb targeted the home of a senior Iraqi National Guard officer in the Azimiyah neighborhood, Baghdad Tuesday Dec. 28, 2004, injuring nine of his guards and passersby. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)
Iraqi National Guard secure the area following a car bomb in a residential neighborhood in northern Baghdad. At least 42 people were killed in a string of attacks on Iraqi security forces and other targets after Osama bin Laden declared fugitive Jordanian Islamist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi his 'emir' in the country.(AFP)
Iraqis march through the scene of a suicide car bomb explosion, denouncing the attack and showing their support for Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, the head of the Shiite party which was targeted in this morning's attack in Baghdad, December 27, 2004. A suicide car bomber killed 13 people, but SCIRI leader Abdel Aziz al-Hakim survived and said his thousands of armed militiamen would not fight back. (Akram Saleh/Reuters)
By Lin Noueihed BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Plagued by violence and fearing reprisals, many of Iraq's Sunni Muslims say they had resolved to stay at home on election day long before Osama bin Laden said anyone who voted was a infidel.
With only a month to go until Iraq's first free poll, many Iraqis in the Sunni north and west said they would not vote while U.S.-led troops remained on Iraqi soil anyway. Even those who once dreamed of casting their ballot now say they are too busy trying to stay alive to think about the January 30 poll.
"It makes no sense to put your life in danger to vote when the Americans will put whoever they want in power anyway," said Mohammed, a Baghdad resident who refused to give his full name, on Tuesday.
"Whatever Bin Laden says, people had already made up their minds not to vote. I didn't even register."
An audio tape purportedly from the al Qaeda leader was aired on Monday, urging Iraqis to boycott the poll and saying anyone who took part was an infidel.
But Iraqis dismissed the Saudi-born militant's threats as outside interference. They had more pressing worries.
"I'm not bothered about the election; all I want is to return to Falluja and for violence to stop throughout Iraq," said Said al-Dulaimi, 42, who fled last month's U.S.-led offensive in the western Iraqi city.
"Bin Laden knows nothing about Iraq; he is an extremist who lives in caves. He lost 75 percent of his support in Iraq by making everyone who votes in elections an infidel."
Most of Falluja's population is still sheltering outside the city after the U.S. attack aimed at crushing foreign fighters led by al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
U.S. and Iraqi officials admit some Sunni provinces are still not ready for elections. The possiblity that they will be excluded has raised fears over the legitimacy of a poll in which only Iraq's 60-percent Shi'ite majority in the south and Kurds, who already have automony in the north, take part.
MARKED FOR ATTACK
In Mosul, Iraq's third largest city, extremists have stuck posters up in mosques warning those who vote will be punished. Last month, insurgents overran police stations in the city of three million and most officers deserted. People feel they have no authority to turn to.
In Samarra, 100 km (60 miles) north of the capital, rebels have distributed leaflets warning residents to keep away from polling stations because they were marked for attack.
Three officials from Iraq's Independent Electoral Commission, which is organising the poll, were dragged from their cars in Baghdad this month and killed in broad daylight.
Northern polling stations have been attacked with rockets.
"I won't participate in the election because I am scared," said Omar Selham, 29, a businessman from the northern city of Mosul, whose population is mainly Sunni Arab with some Kurds.
"Anyway, the American presence in the country gives you the impression that the election is false and unfair."
U.S. officials are pushing for Iraqis to give Sunni Arabs, who make up 20 percent of Iraq's population, government posts even if they win few seats in the election because their constituents could not or would not vote.
On Monday, Iraq's leading Sunni party said it was pulling out of the election because violence in Sunni areas meant it would not be fair to the minority which dominated the country under ousted president Saddam Hussein.
That left even those who were willing to brave bombs and bullets to take part with few choices to vote for.
"We would participate if the Muslim Clerics' Association and Iraqi Islamic Party ran, because they are our guidance," said Sheikh Mohammed Abdul Hadi, 55, a preacher from Falluja. "But they pulled out of the election so we will not take part."
Insurgency in Iraq 'will not end': Powell
WASHINGTON, Dec 28 (AFP) - US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Tuesday that the insurgency in Iraq "will not end," as insurgents are determined to derail the country's democratic transition.
Powell reiterated that Iraq's January 30 elections will take place as scheduled and that the US and Iraqi forces are working to have security in place for the polls.
But, he told CBS television, "the insurgency will not end."
"These insurgents are determined to have no representative government. They want to go back to a tyranny," Powell said.
"And so the insurgency will continue and the insurgency will have to be defeated by coalition forces, but increasingly the insurgency will be defeated and brought under control, if not completely defeated, by Iraqi forces that we are building up as rapidly as we can," he added.
Powell, who spoke to several US television networks early Tuesday, said he hoped the Iraqi Islamic party, the country's main Sunni movement, would reconsider its decision to boycott the elections.
"The party that pulled out, we hope that they will review their actions and take another look at security closer to the event, and perhaps rejoin the process," he told Fox News.
The elections will "go off well" in most of the country, but the security situation in the Sunni-dominated areas needs to improve to encourage voters to turn out, Powell said.
"In the Sunni area, which is the most populated part of the country, we have an insurgency that is raging, and we will be devoting all of our coalition efforts and the efforts of Iraqi military and police forces to bring this under control so that people will feel secure and safe in coming out to vote," he told Fox.
Powell also said an audiotape attributed to Osama bin Laden shows that the Al-Qaeda chief is linked to Iraq's most wanted man, Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
He added that the CIA has yet to confirm the authenticity of the tape, which was broadcast Monday by Al-Jazeera television.
In the audiotape, the speaker recognizes Zarqawi as Al-Qaeda's leader in Iraq. The speaker also calls for a boycott of Iraq's January 30 elections.
"If it is Osama bin Laden -- and the CIA has not made a final judgment on that -- it certainly rhetorically puts them together," Powell told CNN.
"We now have two murderers, two terrorists, two thugs, talking to each other. I don't know what this rhetorical support will translate into, but we're moving right ahead toward elections on the 30th of January," Powell told Fox News.
By Tim Moynihan, PA A British soldier has been found dead with a gunshot wound in Iraq, the Ministry of Defence said today.
Sergeant Paul Connolly was discovered at Shaibah Logistic Base, south west of Basra, on Sunday.
“His death is being investigated by the Royal Military Police, but initial inquiries do not indicate hostile action or other suspicious circumstances,” the MoD said in a statement.
It added: “Sgt Connolly, inevitably nicknamed ‘Billy’, served with the Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers, attached to 21 Engineer Regiment of the Royal Engineers. Aged 33, he came from Crawley in West Sussex, and was separated, with three children.
“He joined the REME in 1989 and, after initial military training, became a metalsmith.
“He progressed to become a master welder, responsible for fabricating and welding a wide range of military equipment.
“His skills were put to the test on operations and exercises all over the world including Germany, Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Kosovo, Canada and Kenya.
“More recently, he deployed to Iraq in October 2004 in support of 21 Engineer Regiment helping to rebuild the critical infrastructure in southern Iraq.”
Lieutenant Colonel Nick Cavanagh RE, the commanding officer of 21 Engineer Regiment, said: “Paul’s death is a real tragedy and a terrible shock for his many comrades both in the regiment and the wider family of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.
“He was a highly capable soldier and a hugely popular character who was widely respected and admired. He will be sorely missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this most difficult time.”
Former Marine and actor R. Lee Ermey shares a laugh with Marine Lance Cpl. Luke Connally at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego, Calif., on Dec. 22, 2004. Ermey is speaking with wounded Marines and personally thanking them for their service and sacrifices they have made during Operation Iraqi Freedom and the war on terror. Ermey is known for his role as Gunnery Sgt. Hartman in the film "Full Metal Jacket" and the television show "Mail Call." DoD photo by Journalist 1st Class Joshua Smith, U.S. Navy. (Released)
CONFISCATED GOODS – U. S. Army 82nd Airborne Division soldiers carry armloads of negative propaganda and a computer, following a raid on a mosque in Baghdad, Iraq, Dec. 23, 2004. The raid, performed by the 303rd Iraqi National Guard, U.S. Army 82nd Airborne and 10th Mountain divisions, netted large amounts of negative propaganda and seven rifles. No injuries or shots were fired in the mosque. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Jeremy L. Wood
TACOMA, Wash. -- More members of the Washington National Guard will leave this week for a yearlong deployment in the Middle East.
About 80 soldiers with the 941st Personnel Services Battalion and 541st Personnel Services Detachment are expected to fly out of McChord Air Force Base in coming days. Guard officials said they did not know the troops' specific destination.
"We're fairly certain it will be someplace in Iraq," said Master Sgt. Jeff Clayton, a Guard spokesman.
Soldiers gathered Monday night with their families and friends during a ceremony at Camp Murray, headquarters of the Washington National Guard.
The two units will join more than 3,340 Washington Guardsmen already working in Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia - 3,200 are with the 81st Brigade Combat Team, based mainly in Balad and Baghdad.
The deploying guardsmen will perform administrative duties such as record keeping for awards and promotions and tracking soldiers' movements.
Another 20 guardsmen with the 144th Army Liaison Team are training at Fort Lewis for an assignment in Afghanistan where they will spend a year working with NATO and U.S. forces.
Meanwhile, the 122nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, the 116th Rear Area Operations Center from Ellensburg and the 248th Rear Area Operations Center from Port Orchard are three guard units nearing an end of their tours in Iraq.
Thanks OXENinFLA. R. Lee Ermey, thats my boy. He looks to be a little bit stouter in this pic.
Paul Volcker, who leads the probe into the oil-for-food program.
U.N. probe points to Iraq's oil-smuggling
By EDITH M. LEDERER ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
UNITED NATIONS -- Paul Volcker, who is heading an investigation of alleged corruption in the U.N. oil-for-food program, said in an interview that most of the money illegally obtained by Saddam Hussein was from smuggling, which was known by the U.N. Security Council but not stopped.
In the interview set for broadcast Tuesday with Alhurra, the U.S. government-backed television station tailored for Arab audiences, Volcker questioned the reliability of reports that Saddam diverted amounts ranging from $1.7 billion to $21 billion from the $60 billion oil-for-food program.
The former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman said there was a lot of confusion between money from smuggling and money obtained illegally under the oil-for-food program, and he refused to give any estimates.
"The big figures that you see in the press, which are sometimes labeled oil-for-food - the big figures are smuggling, which took place before the oil-for-food program started and it continued while the oil-for-food program was in place," he said, according to a transcript obtained Monday by The Associated Press.
The Security Council authorized the oil-for-food program to help Iraqis cope with U.N. sanctions imposed after Saddam's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Launched in December 1996, it allowed the former Iraqi regime to sell oil provided the money went primarily to buy humanitarian goods and pay reparations to victims of the 1991 Gulf War.
Saddam's government decided on the goods it wanted, who should provide them, and who could buy Iraqi oil - but the Security Council committee overseeing sanctions monitored the contracts.
In a report in October, top U.S. weapons investigator Charles Duelfer said Saddam was able to "subvert" the oil-for-food program to generate an estimated $1.7 billion in revenue outside U.N. control from 1997-2003. In addition, Iraq brought in over $8 billion in illicit oil deals with Jordan, Syria, Turkey and Egypt through smuggling or illegal pumping from 1991-2003 when sanctions were in place, he said.
U.S. congressional investigators reported in November that Saddam made more than $21.3 billion in illegal revenue - over $13 billion from smuggling and about $7 billion by subverting the oil-for-food program.
"Without question, (there were) problems in the oil-for-food area," Volcker said. "But when you look at those $10 billion figures, or $20 billion figures, most of those numbers are so-called smuggling, much of which was known and taken note of by the Security Council, but not stopped."
Volcker refused to speculate on why the council didn't stop the smuggling, but indicated the issue would likely be addressed in his reports. An initial report is expected in January and a final report in the summer, he said.
Volcker stressed that his inquiry is focused on "what went wrong or right inside the U.N." in managing the oil-for-food program.
The investigation isn't just focusing on whether U.N. officials may be guilty of corruption, he said, but on other issues: Did U.N. officials follow proper procedures? Was there "bad administration rather than corrupt administration?" What were the directions from the Security Council, and what was its responsibility?
But Volcker said the investigation can't avoid the question of smuggling, including why the Security Council didn't take action to stop it and the responsibility of the five permanent veto-wielding members - the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China.
With serious allegations against the United Nations as an institution, and congressional calls for Secretary-General Kofi Annan's resignation over the oil-for-food allegations, Volcker said an investigation is needed "to clear the air."
"And if there were mistakes made, that ought to be revealed. If there was corruption, malfeasance, that ought to be revealed. And my hope is that will strengthen in the end confidence in the institution because it will have to reform," he said.
Salim Alshimary of Basra, Iraq, left, and Saleh Thanon of Basra, Iraq shout in in Arabic to soldiers during a training scenario at Camp Atterbury in Edinburgh, Ind., Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2004. The Army has been using Iraqi nationals to help troops develop language and cultural skills since the invasion of that country in March 2003. They are among about 1,000 Arab speakers the Army uses for training, said Bob Close, spokesman for U.S. Army Forces Command. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
Saleh Thanon of Basra, Iraq, left, yells in Arabic to Sergeant First Class Philip Ziegler of North Olmstead, Ohio during a training scenario at Camp Atterbury in Edinburgh, Ind., Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2004. The Army has been using Iraqi nationals to help troops develop language and cultural skills since the invasion of that country in March 2003. They are among about 1,000 Arab speakers the Army uses for training, said Bob Close, spokesman for U.S. Army Forces Command. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
Iraqis teaching U.S. troops its culture
By KIMBERLY HEFLING ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
EDINBURGH, Ind. -- As American soldiers attempted to tow a Humvee hit by a fake roadside bomb, Saleh Thanon, an Iraqi national, taunted them with insults.
"Criminal, get out of my country!" Thanon yelled in Arabic, heckling the troops in a mock Iraqi village. "I don't want you in my country. You're killing people."
Harsh words for someone who professes to love America, but Thanon is just doing his job. He's training troops for Iraq, and he wants them to be ready.
The Army has been using Iraqi nationals to help troops develop language and cultural skills since the invasion of that country in March 2003. They are among about 1,000 Arabic speakers the Army uses for training, said Bob Close, spokesman for U.S. Army Forces Command.
At least eight mobilization stations are using Iraqis to help Guard, reserve and active troops prepare for deployments, Close said. Among them are Camp Atterbury, 30 miles south of Indianapolis; the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, La., and the National Training Center at Fort Irvine, Calif.
Some days, the Iraqis play welcoming townspeople, friendly mayors or Iraqi police; on others, they portray terrorists or hostile villagers.
The training represents a change in philosophy for the military, said David R. Segal, director of the Center for Research on Military Organization at the University of Maryland. Army troops have long received language help as they prepared for battle, but cultural training was nonexistent in such conflicts as the Vietnam War, he said.
Winning over the Iraqi people, who play a key role in this mission, is crucial to success, Segal said. "This is a war where cultural knowledge may be more important than the number of bullets that you have," he said.
Many of the participating Iraqis immigrated to the United States after the 1991 Persian Gulf War to escape oppression under Saddam Hussein's regime. Some are now American citizens.
Their work with U.S. troops is coordinated by defense contractors such as Goldbelt Eagle, which is paid $15 million to provide role players at five military bases. President Wayne Smith said applicants typically hear about the jobs through word of mouth or recruiters.
All participants must pass rigorous screenings by a private investigator and the government.
Thanon and his friend Salim Alshimary said they sought the work to help their homeland.
"I love this job, trying to help the U.S. military understand my language and my culture and save lives, both of them, the Iraq and the U.S.," Thanon said.
Alshimary, 36, of Basra, Iraq, said he deserted from the Iraqi Army after the 1990 invasion of Kuwait. He believes he would have been killed if he had not left the country.
He has been surprised by the postwar violence in his homeland.
"We never thought this bad stuff would happen," he said. "We thought it would be easy and it will be very quick."
It has been neither, which makes understanding the Iraqi culture essential, participants said.
Thanon, who attended Basra University and coached soccer in Iraq, advises the troops to not touch women and not to yell at children; both actions perceived as disrespectful.
In one scenario, he pretends to be the head of a household who won't cooperate with the troops unless they are polite.
"That way, I will help you get into my house and search my house and be friendly," Thanon said.
"We know the Americans go over to help us, but there are some people in Iraq that can't understand that because they see them do things in different ways."
Segal said those cultural differences were evident in the media portrayal last month of the shooting of a wounded and apparently unarmed man by a Marine in a Fallujah mosque.
The Arabic media expressed outrage that the Marines wore boots in the mosque - a taboo in the Muslim faith. The issue was hardly mentioned in the American media, Segal said.
Maj. Gen. Bruce Robinson, commander of the 98th Division, which recently deployed from Camp Atterbury to help train the Iraqi military, said the cultural lessons have been beneficial.
"We go in as guests to a host country and poised to respect the cultures and customs of that culture," Robinson said.
Saddam in an exclusive interview: The Americans will leave Iraq by the small door
28/12/2004 Sonia s-babnet
It's an interview published in Egyptian magazine "al ousboua" (the week ) by its editor Mustapha bakri in which Mr Douleïmi the defence lawyer of saddam gives details about his four-and-a-half hour meeting with Saddam Hussein .
In his first interview since his arrest, Iraqi president Saddam Husseïn expressed to his lawyer Khalil Douleïmi his confidence in Resistance.
Saddam, as describes by Douleïmi is in good health, serene and was convinced that Bush will leave Iraq by the small door. Saddam started the interview by reciting poetry with the great astonishment of Douleïmi who asked him whether this poetry were his. Saddam: Yes, it is mine, I wrote it inside the prison. The prison cannot break the determination of an Arab militant
Douleïmi: Mr. President, I am the representative of the Committee of defense. Do you have something to say to me? Saddam:I want to know first what was the effect of my first appearance before the court.
Douleïmi: It had a great effect on the Arab and Iraqi public opinion. According to everyone’s opinion, it was not your judgement, but of those who claim to judge you. Saddam:This court is not legal, it is the product of the occupation (...), it is a ridiculous scene setting (...). The Americans came to Iraq to destroy the Iraqi State and all the other assertions of Bush are only one pure lie. Douleïmi: Claims of Bush were all untrue. This is in your favour
Saddam:When we said that Iraq did not have weapons of massive destruction it was the truth. For that we opened the ground of Iraq to the inspectors. We wanted to show to the whole world that we want to cooperate. But, alas, the United States made "fi" of all that and occupied Iraq without legal proof.
Douleïmi: In this context, there are remarks of Kofi Annan who said that this occupation is illegal.
Saddam:This is something important , it is necessary to keep it for the History. Kofi Annan cannot take any more of the American lies. If God wants it, Bush will be lonely after the whole world will know that he is a liar. He will leave Iraq by the small door because Iraqi Resistance is well prepared. It was prepared quite ahead of war. I had joined together the military and political commands and we had prepared this new page of the war against the Americans. What arrives today is not the fruit of chance.
Douleïmi: President Saddam Hussein questioned me on the manner with which the media treated the Iraqi question. I spoke to him about three models in fact Mustapha Bakri, editor of "Al Ousboû" (the Week), of Abdelbari Atwan, editor of "Al Qods Al Arabi" and Fahd Al Rimawi, editor of "Al Majd" of Jordan.
Saddam:Mustapha Bakri is a good person, he never changes position and I would like you to transmit my greetings to him.
Abdelbari Atwan is also very courageous person like Fahd Rimawi. And do not forget to transmit my consideration to George Gallaway who did everything to defend Iraq, to Ramsee Clark 
, Mahatir Mohamed, Nelson Mandela and all the free Arabs. You say to them that Saddam is imperturbable and optimistic and that he is convinced that the victory is close. I am afraid for Syria. Like Iraq, this country is in the collimator. Moreover, I repeated on several occasions that the whole Arab Nation is aimed. It is a crusade, a racist war which aims the Arabs and Islam at the same time.
For this reason they were baited on Iraq, this country with the long civilization. It would be said that they want to be avenged. They conspired against the legitimate regime of Iraq and monopolized the power by the force. And if they still remain in Iraq, it is that their objective is other than the inversion of Saddam regime.
Douleïmi: He asked me if they conduct ed an attack against Falloujah again? I answered by the assertion. He counteracted:
Saddam:I was sure, Falloujah will never surrender. I know what Resistance is capable in this city. The majority of the commanders of Resistance are old Al Qods army. They are highly trained.
Douleïmi: He asked me about Intifadha. I said that it‘s going well. But I avoided speaking to him about the death of Arafat.
Saddam:The Palestinians are determined, may God bless them.
Douleïmi: I questioned the president on which way he have been captured all while telling him the various versions.
Saddam:When it is a question of making lies, they are very strong. I was sure that they were going to do everything to humiliate me in front of my people. What they showed is not other than a film of cow servant boy and bad invoice in addition. Reality it is that I was with a friend in the locality of Saleheddine. It was at the end of the day and I was reading Coran. When I rose to make the prayer, I suddenly was surprised by Americans who besieged me. I was without weapon, and could not defend myself. I was then imprisoned and I was wildly tortured during the first and the second day. But, for all to say to you, I do not know if it is my friend who sold me, or, if it were the subject of pressures.
An agent with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service stands guard during a recent VIP visit on Al Asad, Iraq. Along with providing personal security for important persons, NCIS's primary mission is to prevent and solve crimes that threaten the war fighting capability of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. Photo by: Staff Sgt. Chad McMeen
NCIS has distinct mission in Iraq's Al Anbar province
Submitted by: 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing Story Identification #: 2004122812245 Story by Cpl. Joel A. Chaverri
AL ASAD, Iraq (Dec. 28, 2004) -- Marines and Sailors deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom have a guardian angel: the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
In charge of law enforcement and counterintelligence for the Navy & Marine Corps, NCIS's mission is to, "prevent and solve crimes that threaten the warfighting capability of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps."
NCIS agents in Al Anbar work hand-in-hand with the I Marine Expeditionary Force, protecting the service members from crimes such as terrorism, homicide, theft and more, making sure that threats against the military are eliminated and criminals are brought to justice.
Because of their role in counterintelligence and counterterrorism, the names of NCIS agents in theatre are kept secret for their personal protection.
"We have detachments all over Iraq," said a senior NCIS official visiting Al Asad, "because we want to do everything possible to get the job done."
The agents are trained as criminal investigators and are experienced in military affairs and federal law enforcement.
"Our agents are well trained," said the official. "They are intelligent and dedicated to protecting our troops."
Protecting the troops means investigating suspicious incidents like medically unattended deaths (which may include vehicular deaths) and eliminating the possibility of criminal action.
"We want to rule out every possibility of foul play," said the official. "We have no desire to see crime, but if it's there, we'll find it."
Although NCIS collects all of this information, it's not their job to prefer criminal charges.
"We play a 'fact finding' mission," said the official. "Things we discover we report to the command and they decide on the proper course of action."
On a base of primarily military personnel in an occupied country, there isn't as much outside influence as there would be on a base surrounded by civilians who had much greater access to the base (as in the United States or allied countries).
"The crime here isn't as significant as it could be," said the official. "Here on Al Asad we have a small population and we keep a close watch on the foreign national contractors."
Recently NCIS has been working on a number of crimes ranging from arson to identity theft.
"We'll send out emails to commands to make sure that everyone knows of the potential threats around base," said the official. "We want to stop criminal activity before it occurs."
While certain steps are taken to prevent activity, occasionally incidents do occur. When this happens, the agents jump into action as they did in the recent suicide bombing of a formation of Iraqi Police just outside the entrance to Al Asad.
"We collected fingerprints from the scene so that we could possibly identify the bomber," said one NCIS agent. "If we can identify him, we might be able to identify which terrorist network was behind the attack."
NCIS is also responsible for providing personal security for high-level officials, and other people who could be targets of a criminal or terrorist attack.
Along with all of theses responsibilities, NCIS has also been able to add a few more missions under its belt.
"We have the ability to do finger printing, so we use the station for assisting those wanting to get their American citizenship," said the official. "Service members deployed to Iraq who are not yet American citizens usually have to wait to get back to the states to get their finger prints taken. But why wait when we can do it here?"
All of these undertakings and extra tasks are just more accomplishments that the NCIS can add to their repertoire of faithful service to the Navy/Marine Corps team.
"Over the past few years NCIS has evolved into a much more professional organization and has gained a lot more publicity," said the official. "Hey, we even have a TV show!" referring to CBS's "Navy NCIS."
Through its actions, the NCIS has proved their dedication to ensuring the security of on-base personnel.
"It all comes down to keeping Marines in combat as safe as possible when on their base," said the official.
What was that? I did not hear you.
NEWS RELEASE HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND December 28, 2004 Release Number: 04-12-59 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Multi-National Forces, Iraqi Security Forces Attacked From Mosque
MOSUL, Iraq -- Multi-National Forces and Iraqi Security Forces conducting a joint patrol here on Dec. 28 were attacked with small arms fire by anti-Iraqi insurgents from a mosque. A Iraqi National Guard soldier was wounded in the attack.
Soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, and the Iraqi National Guard, quickly maneuvered on the mosque. However, the insurgents fled as the Soldiers approached. ING Soldiers searching the mosque found evidence that a safe haven was given to the insurgents so they could conduct anti-Iraqi operations.
The Interim Iraqi Government and the Ninevah Provincial Governor has made it clear that any mosque used as a base of operations to conduct attacks against ISF or MNF is subject to search. Also, anyone using a position of authority to incite violence or jihad against the Iraqi government, ISF or MNF will be subject to arrest and detention.
The wounded ING soldier was transported to a Multi-National Forces facility here for treatment.
TEXT PROVIDED BY THE TASK FORCE OLYMPIA, MULTINATIONAL BRIGADE-NORTHWEST PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT LT COL PAUL HASTINGS AT PAUL.HASTINGS@US.ARMY.MIL
NEWS RELEASE HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND
December 28, 2004 Release Number: 04-12-60 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Five VBIED’s Detained in Babil Province
CAMP ECHO, Iraq-In the afternoon of Dec 28, five VBIED’s (vehicle-borne improvised explosive device) were detained by Iraqi Police (IP) and Polish soldiers from 1st Battle Group of Multi-national Division Central-South (MND CS) from Camp Charlie. A joint IP and MND CS forces patrol stopped vehicles on the road approximately 1.5 kilometers north of Al – Mashru in Babil Province. Further investigation determined that all vehicles were filled with parts of artillery shells and grenades.
Soldiers determined it is likely that these vehicles were prepared as VBIED’s. Eight suspects were detained and handed over to IP station in Al-Hillah.
IP escorted all vehicles away from urban area and US Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) removed and destroyed all explosive material taken from the vehicles. The investigation is ongoing.
For more information, please contact the Public Information Office of Multi-National Division Central-South, at Thuraya 00 873 762 197 788 or e-mail piomndcs@poczta.onet.pl or visit their website at www.piomndcs.org.
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