Posted on 05/03/2005 5:50:30 PM PDT by TexKat
U.S. Army Spc. Evelyn Plocienik, assigned to the 940th Military Police Company, based out of Walton, Ky., stands guard during a contraband search in an internment camp at Camp Bucca, Iraq, April 23, 2005. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Arthur D. Hamilton
U.S. Army Sgt. Todd McCormick, assigned to the 940th Military Police Company, based out of Walton, Ky., searches detainees for contraband in an internment camp at Camp Bucca, Iraq, April 22, 2005. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Arthur D. Hamilton
Tue May 3, 5:02 PM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US military will resume vaccinations for troops against anthrax as early as this week but the once-mandatory shots will be voluntary, US defense officials said.
The program was halted in October by a court order, but the court last month agreed to soften the injunction to allow voluntary vaccinations after the Food and Drug Administration authorized their use on an emergency basis.
"It's basically one step at a time," said Colonel John Grabenstein, deputy director of the program. "It's going to be voluntary now."
When the FDA makes a final ruling on the effectiveness of the vaccine for anthrax, he said, "we'll reconsider what the right thing to do is from there on forward."
Grabenstein said the vaccines should resume by the end of this week or early next.
People offered the vaccinations will be informed of its benefits and possible side effects before hand.
The vaccinations will be limited for the most part to military units involved in homeland bioterrorism defense and those deployed in the Middle East and Korea.
More than 750,000 troops already have been vaccinated against anthrax, but the program has been plagued over the years by problems with supplies of the vaccines and questions about its efficacy.
U.S. Army Spc. Amber Hicks, assigned to the 940th Military Police Company, based out of Walton, Ky., finds a makeshift weapon during a contraband search in an internment camp at Camp Bucca, Iraq, April 22, 2005. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Arthur D. Hamilton
All Bucca escapees recaptured - BAGHDAD, Iraq, April 17, 2005
U.S. Army soldiers assigned to the 940th Military Police Company, based out of Walton, Ky., search detainees for contraband in an internment camp at Camp Bucca, Iraq, April 22, 2005. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Arthur D. Hamilton
U.S. Army soldiers assigned to the 940th Military Police Company, based out of Walton, Ky., search detainees for contraband in an internment camp at Camp Bucca, Iraq, April 22, 2005. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Arthur D. Hamilton
U.S. Army Spc. Brent Gardner, assigned to the 940th Military Police Company, based out of Walton, Ky., finds a makeshift weapon during a contraband search in an internment camp at Camp Bucca, Iraq, April 22, 2005. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Arthur D. Hamilton
A U.S. Army soldier assigned to the 940th Military Police Company, based out of Walton, Ky., displays a makeshift weapon found during a contraband search in an internment camp at Camp Bucca, Iraq, April 23, 2005. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Arthur D. Hamilton
Contraband found by U.S. Army soldiers during a search through tents in an internment camp at Camp Bucca, Iraq, April 23, 2005. The soldiers are assigned to the 940th Military Police Company, based out of Walton, Ky. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Arthur D. Hamilton
Contraband found by U.S. Army soldiers during a search through tents in an internment camp at Camp Bucca, Iraq, April 23, 2005. The soldiers are assigned to the 940th Military Police Company, based out of Walton, Ky. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Arthur D. Hamilton
Presenter: Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld; Spanish Minister of Defense Bono Tuesday, May 3, 2005
Presenter: Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Richard B. Myers Tuesday, May 3, 2005
QUESTION: What’s the bottom line of your 2005 Chairman’s risk assessment? How would you characterize the message your sending to Congress?
GEN. RICHARD B. MYERS: The message I’m sending to Congress is that the United States military can fulfill its tasks under the Nation Security Strategy, the National Defense Strategy and the National Military Strategy and we will be successful and prevail in anything that our Nation asks us to do under those strategies and that’s the bottom line.
QUESTION: Will there be a difference . . . .?
GEN. RICHARD B. MYERS: We measure ourselves. We have very high standards in how we measure ourselves against our current plans. And so that’s what we’re measuring. We’re measuring against timelines that are already in plans that have been established several years ago, a year ago . . . .so we measure ourselves against that. What we said is we will be successful. We will prevail. The timelines may have to be extended and we may have to use additional resources but that doesn’t matter because we’re going to be successful in the end. Our measurement goes out to the end of this year. It actually says that in the area that we have that the trend is to lower risk because of the support we’re getting from Congress with the regular budget and supplementals to make some of the issues that have come up from being at war for three and a half years.
QUESTION: If North Korea invades the South . . ?.
GEN. RICHARD B. MYERS: We will be successful and we will prevail. No doubt about it. Thank you very much.
QUESTION: (Inaudible airplane noise)
GEN. RICHARD B. MYERS: (Inaudible airplane noise) We will be successful. That’s the bottom line.
"The Murder Board" forum participants aim to thwart insurgent attacks by staying one step ahead of the insurgents.
By U.S. Army Spc. Ricardo Branch 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs Office
BAGHDAD, Iraq, May 3, 2005 — Throughout Operation Iraqi Freedom, U.S. soldiers witness the dangers of conducting daily operations in Iraq during an insurgency. To better understand and combat the anti-coalition forces attacking them, soldiers of the 256th Brigade Combat Team intelligence section gather and discuss the reasons and motivations behind terrorist acts in a meeting known as “The Murder Board.”
“In some cases you have to think like a terrorist, to understand one,” said U.S. Army Maj. John Michael Wells, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 256th Brigade Combat Team, intelligence officer.
“If you put yourself in the terrorists’ shoes and think of what they’d need and how to carry out a specific task, stopping them from doing those acts becomes easier,” said the New Orleans, La., native.
The 256th intelligence soldiers conduct “The Murder Board” specifically for that purpose.
Wells said all the analysts meet weekly in an open forum bringing their ideas to the table to explore what can be done to aid soldiers who encounter the enemy.
“Intel personnel don’t normally have to face a VBIED (vehicle borne improvised explosive device) or go on a raid, so we have to get a good picture or a story told from the reports,” said Sgt. Andrew Hyde, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 256th Brigade Combat Team. “We then try to figure out the next line of the story. Once we figure out what is going to happen next, we make recommendations to the commander on how to combat the enemy.”
The forum analyzes topics from fuel extortions, the Iraqi election, emerging terrorist cells and various other issues that directly impact the 256th Brigade Combat Team area of operations, and the overall stability of Iraq.
“Sometimes a problem will arise when everyone’s divided and that’s where the job becomes a challenge because you have to argue your point and find the grounds on which everyone agrees to come to a compromise,” Hyde said. The Lafayette, La., native found when the soldiers are in disagreement, problems are then exposed.
“It’s not a bad thing when you don’t agree, that’s when gaps are identified in the unit’s intelligence gathering. The soldiers can then fix the gaps in the theory and find the best way to present their findings through the chain,” he said.
The theory wrangling among the intel soldiers is also where the board gets its distinctive name.
“We call it ‘The Murder Board’ when the ideas you bring are being ‘murdered’ because as soon as the topic is up for discussion, soldiers are shooting it down with their own opinions,” Wells said. “As long as they can back it up, anything is fair game.”
Wells said he finds intelligence analysts, by nature, like to argue. “The Murder Board” gives them an opportunity to argue their ideas while making sure they have thought the details and checked all their facts.
“You know going in that all your points will be challenged, so you have to be prepared,” he said.
Spc. Joshua Schuttloffel, from Lennox, S.D., an intelligence analyst with 256th Brigade Combat Team, said this was his first time participating on “The Murder Board,” which he viewed as a valuable asset to the brigade.
Schuttloffel said this type of meeting is important to build upon the teamwork of the soldiers involved.
“You’re encouraging thought amongst all the soldiers from the top down,” he said. “They see the topic and then predict how and what the enemy may do.”
Although it can be challenging for them at times, the intel soldiers of the 256th Brigade Combat Team are motivated and ready for the challenges that sway the daily affairs of the brigade.
“It’s exciting to know that your thoughts can influence the whole brigade, if you can run them through the gauntlet of your fellow analysts and they become part of the final assessment,” Hyde said.
Whatever the outcome, the soldiers of the 256th intel section know their work will shape brigade operations and will hopefully help to better prepare the soldiers that must go out everyday on the streets of Baghdad.
“As long as we are here, we will continue to work hard to stay one step ahead of the insurgents,” Wells said.
U.S. Army Sgt. Caleb Wines, the noncommissioned officer in charge of optical fabrication, polishes a lens in his shop. Wines, who has gone out on many Cooperative Medical Assistance missions to provide eyeglasses to Afghans, estimates that he made 5,000 pairs of glasses during his deployment. Photo courtesy of 312th Medical Logistics Detachment
Medical Logistics Unit Wraps Up Deployment
The 312th Medical Logistics Detachment supported 40 local customers, including the Jordanian hospital in Mazar-e-Sharif and the Egyptian and Korean hospitals in Bagram.
By U.S. Army Pfc. Vincent Fusco 20th Public Affairs Detachment
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, May 3, 2005 — The soldiers of the U.S. Army Reserve's 312th Medical Logistics Detachment, from the 145th Medical Battalion in Seagoville, Texas, will be returning home this month after a year of dedication to the Class VIII supply mission here.
The 312th's mission was to provide items from lip balm and sunscreen to medicine, bandages and oxygen tanks to the Operation Enduring Freedom Theater.
"When we first got here, the forward distribution team was at Bagram while the warehouse was located at (Karshi- Khanabad)," said Richard R. Pierce, who works customer support and item management.
"We were working off of a 10-foot square concrete slab at first," said U.S. Army Sgt. Michael Sotelo, the noncommissioned officer-in-charge of shipping and receiving. "We had no security and had to keep the heat away from the products."
In the first half of the deployment, the warehouse and forward distribution team had to communicate through phone calls and e-mail traffic.
"We continued to work out of both locations, and became very efficient," said Staff Sgt. Chris Huth, the noncommissioned officer in charge of unit supply.
Upon the 312th's arrival, there was a two-week turnaround for supply orders. Now, the turnaround is only five days. To become more efficient and centralize all of the 312th's operations during their deployment, the detachment assisted from June to September last year in building warehouse that stands on Bagram today.
Problems with construction contracts and equipment delayed the construction of the facility, the biggest being the loss of a shelving contract. A temporary set of shelves were built to keep 157 top-line items ready for distribution.
When the permanent shelves are put in place during the next rotation, the facility should be able to have 5,000 line items available.
"We have good soldiers here," said Sotelo. "We had to make do with what we had for six months, and now we have everything we need. We always came through and customers always got their supplies."
The 312th provided support to 40 local customers, including the Jordanian hospital in Mazar-e-Sharif and the Egyptian and Korean hospitals in Bagram.
Staff Sgt. Jason Brooks, the noncommissioned officer in charge of biomedical maintenance, has taken his shop on 30 missions outside the wire.
"Our office is responsible for the repair and recalibration of the medical equipment in all of the Coalition hospitals and medical facilities in Afghanistan and Uzbekistan," said Brooks. "Last year, 80 percent of all medical equipment was shipped to and repaired in Germany. Now, only 5 percent is repaired there."
Before the 312th came along, there were no optical mission personnel. Sgt. Caleb Wines, the noncommissioned officer in charge of optical fabrication, has gone out on many Cooperative Medical Assistance missions to provide eyeglasses to Afghans.
"I've made 5,000 pairs of glasses over the year," said Wines. "The missions are a unique service to this area that I think the next rotation should continue."
During this rotation, Sgt. Miguel Suyon, Spc. Joseph Siar, and Spc. James Hyatt were promoted for their exceptional service to the 312th's mission.
"They will be the leaders when they deploy again," said Sotelo. "I always tell them, 'learn now so next time you can lead and be the example.'"
Mirzajanv, in the white sweater, was charged with belonging to Hizb ut-Tahrir.
By Kathy Gannon The Associated Press
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan -- Abdullah Modmarov, 33, was in the middle of a soccer game when Uzbek police waving their rifles hauled him off the field and arrested him on charges of belonging to an outlawed radical Islamic party.
The crackdown on Hizb ut-Tahrir -- or Party of Liberation -- has swept through cities and villages across the country, filling prison cells with thousands of observant Muslims or political dissidents imprisoned under the guise of religious extremism. Some belong to the party. Many such as Modmarov say they do not. Either way, the ban on the group that authorities see as a "farm team" for terrorist organizations like al-Qaida has not stopped its expansion across Central Asia, where it wants to overthrow secular governments and replace them by Islamic rule through nonviolent means.
Yet Hizb ut-Tahrir followers as well as the group's opponents, who were interviewed in four Central Asian countries, say the authorities' heavy-handed approach to quash the movement has actually fueled membership in the group -- and accelerated a leap by many to embrace other Islamic groups that are even more militant than Hizb ut-Tahrir.
Ibrahim Mirzajanov, a 21-year-old Uzbek who has spent more than three years in jail for religious activity, said he knew Muslims who used to promote the goal of an Islamic state through nonviolent means when they were with Hizb ut-Tahrir, but now have grown angry.
"The more there has been a crackdown, [the more] they have joined more violent militant groups because they want things to happen faster," Mirzajanov said. "They are fed up with Hizb ut-Tahrir because they say they have not been able to change anything."
Mirzajanov says he studied literature distributed by Hizb ut-Tahrir but never joined the movement.
Hizb ut-Tahrir, founded in 1953 in Jordan by Sheik Takuddin an-Nabahani shares the goal of creating a huge Islamic state with groups that are on the U.S. list of terrorist organizations, including the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, the Taliban and al-Qaida. Hizb ut-Tahrir sometimes meets with leaders of those groups, but its London-based spokesman, Imran Waheed, insisted, "We only talk and meet to try to convince them to our way of bringing about change, which is a nonviolent one.
"I believe that 99 percent of Muslim people anywhere in the world want the same thing, a caliphate to rule them," Waheed said by telephone, adding that Central Asia is one of the most fertile recruiting grounds for Hizb ut-Tahrir.
Hizb ut-Tahrir has been outlawed in all five Central Asian nations: Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. But there's plenty of fertile ground for extremism: Corrupt authoritarian regimes rule over bankrupt economies; legions of disillusioned youths are unemployed; and ruined social systems are bereft of basic health and education services once provided by the former Soviet Union.
Hence the openness to Hizb ut-Tahrir, which eschews violence but distributes inflammatory and increasingly anti-Semitic literature -- seeding the ground for even more radical groups.
A senior Western diplomat in Tajikistan, who would speak only on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic, likened the group to a "farm team" for other terrorist groups. Some Hizb ut-Tahrir members who are disgruntled "could take it that next step and engage in violence," the diplomat said, voicing worries of local authorities.
Alisher Khamidov, of the Brookings Project on U.S. Policy Towards the Islamic World, agreed. He said that "increasing suppression by secular authorities, as well as differences between competing factions within the party, indicate that the group could turn violent."
Some senior al-Qaida men are former Hizb ut-Tahrir members, according to terrorism experts.
Hizb ut-Tahrir organizers made their initial forays into Central Asia in the early 1990s. Its promise of a region without borders, ruled by a single Islamic body, grew in popularity as economies slumped and friction between countries caused borders to be sealed for the first time in 70 years, disrupting trade and firing resentment and ethnic divisions.
Ahmed Modmarov sitting in his one-room house in Margallan. Three of his sons were jailed on Hizb ut-Tahrir charges. Mikhail Metzel / AP
Gauging the membership of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Central Asia is difficult because the organization has gone underground to avoid government attacks. Some experts put it as high as 40,000.
Central Asian governments have muddied the picture with inflated numbers, by accusing opponents and political dissidents of being Hizb ut-Tahrir members to silence them. In Uzbekistan, for example, where human rights workers estimate at least 6,000 people are in jail for religiously motivated crimes, policemen knock on dissidents' doors and order them to confess to being members of Hizb ut-Tahrir, witnesses said.
Ahmed Modmarov, a human rights worker and the soccer player Abdullah's father, accuse Central Asian governments of keeping the threat of religious extremism alive to get U.S. aid.
Modmarov said his son had dipped his toe into Hizb-ut-Tahrir but was persuaded to leave the group. Still, he was arrested and two of his younger brothers also were thrown into prison just for being related to Abdullah, the father said.
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON (5/3/2005) — Few people dispute that the U.S. military has too much infrastructure to face the threats and opportunities of the 21st century. The question is: What's the best way to close or realign installations to match challenges of the new world?
Since 1988, the answer has been the Base Realignment and Closure Commission, and the BRAC process continues to move ahead with a new round in 2005.
While closing an individual base can be a problem, the process is designed to be nonpartisan. The first BRAC round came during the Reagan administration. The second in the first Bush Administration, and the third and fourth were under President Clinton.
Former Defense Secretary William S. Cohen first proposed the current round soon after taking office in 1997. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has been asking for a new round of closures and realignments since taking office in January 2001.
BRAC is a challenging process. The four previous BRAC rounds -- in 1988, 1991, 1993 and 1995 -- brought about 97 major closures, 55 major realignments and 235 minor actions, according to DoD figures. Overall, closing and realigning these installations saved American taxpayers around $18 billion though fiscal 2001 and a further $7 billion per year since.
A BRAC report submitted in March 2004 estimated there is 24 percent excess capacity in DoD.
Civilian and military leaders in the department have stressed that the military must become more agile and flexible to face the new challenges. Officials have repeatedly said the BRAC process must be seen as part of a larger effort to restructure the global footprint of the U.S. military. As part of this, U.S. bases overseas will close or morph into nonpermanent installations. Officials estimate the number of troops in Europe will drop from 100,000 to about 50,000.
In Korea, the number of U.S. forces is already dropping from 34,000. Officials have not released a final target number for troops on the peninsula.
The BRAC 2005 process builds on lessons learned from past rounds. Essentially, this year's legislation took previous versions and amended them.
This year's BRAC round was part of the 2002 National Defense Authorization Act. The process began with a memorandum from Rumsfeld to defense leaders entitled "Transformation Through Base Realignment and Closure."
By the end of 2003, DoD published the draft selection criteria. In March 2004, the department submitted the force-structure plan and infrastructure inventory to Congress. The next month, Congress approved the final selection criteria.
In March 2005, the president nominated the commissioners that will serve on the BRAC Commission. And this month, Secretary Rumsfeld will send the department's closure and realignment recommendations to the commission.
This year's BRAC Commission members are former Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi, commission chairman; former Nevada Rep. James H. Bilbray; Philip Coyle, a former DoD director of operational test and evaluation; retired Navy Adm. Harold W. Gehman Jr., a former commander of U.S. Joint Forces Command; former Utah Rep. James V. Hansen; retired Army Gen. James T. Hill, former commander of U.S. Southern Command; retired Air Force Gen. Lloyd "Fig" Newton, former commander of Air Education and Training Command; former Transportation Secretary Samuel K. Skinner; and retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Sue Ellen Turner, former director of nursing services in the Office of the Air Force Surgeon General.
The basic process is simple. The military services and joint cross-service groups develop closure and realignment recommendations. Military value is the primary consideration.
The law also mandates that the department use a 20-year force-structure plan in forming its recommendations.
The services examine each base's "service-unique" function. In a difference this year, cross-service groups will analyze functions that cross service lines. For example, all services have warehouses. So a joint group will analyze warehouse functions for all the services.
The cross-service groups are examining seven functional areas: educational and training, headquarters and support activities, industrial, intelligence, medical, supply and storage, and technical.
The most recent previous BRAC round used similar joint-service groups, but they could not make recommendations to the secretary. This year, recommendations from the joint groups are considered by the secretary the same way the services' submissions are.
Rumsfeld will publish his recommendations in the Federal Register no later than May 16 and will submit his recommendations to the BRAC Commission and Congress.
Once Rumsfeld submits his recommendations, the commission will hold hearings and examine the recommendations. The commission process runs through September 2005. The commission sends an "all-or-nothing list" to the president, meaning the president can approve all of the closures and realignments on the list or disapprove the entire list. If he approves, the list goes to Congress.
The House and Senate have 45 "legislative days" to disapprove the list. If they do nothing, the list automatically is approved and has the "force and effect of law."
04 May 2005 01:55:01 GMT
Source: Reuters
CANBERRA, May 4 (Reuters) - Australia has appealed on Al Jazeera television for the release of an Australian man held hostage by Iraqi militants, saying he has a serious heart problem and wants to reunited with his wife and child.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer made the plea on the Arabic television channel as an Australian emergency response team landed in Baghdad in a bid to free Douglas Wood, 63, an engineer who lives in California and is married to an American.
"Mr Wood is not a well man. He has had significant heart problems and he has a wife and he had three brothers and a child ... he wants to be able to see his family again," Downer said, according to a transcript of the interview.
"We would appeal to the people who have taken him hostage to release him and not to involve a man who is just providing assistance to the Iraqi people, not to involve him in politics, just to release him."
A two-minute video delivered to news agencies in Baghdad on Sunday showed Wood held at gunpoint. Downer said the video was credible and that Wood may have been kidnapped from his Baghdad apartment up to two days before it was released by his captors.
Wood called in the video for U.S., Australian and British authorities to withdraw their troops from the country.
Downer told Australian television on Tuesday that 400 foreigners had been kidnapped in Iraq since September 2003, with 30 of those killed and 15 still held hostage.
"There are any range of different reasons why people have been either released or they've been executed. In this case, the demand made through the (video) is, of course, a demand the terrorists must know is not going to be met," Downer said.
Australia, a staunch U.S. ally, was among the first to join the U.S.-led war on Iraq two years ago.
A further 450 Australian troops are due to arrive in southern Iraq over the coming weeks to provide security and train the Iraqi army. They will take the total number of Australian troops in and around Iraq to about 1,400.
Opinions polls showed in May last year that nearly two-thirds of Australians believed the war on Iraq was unjustified. Half of Australia believed it was not worth sending troops to Iraq, while 40 percent supported the conservative government's decision.
Howard won a fourth straight term at an election last October by crushing centre-left opposition Labor, whose leader had vowed to bring Australian troops home by Christmas.
Australia angered Spain and the Philippines last year when it accused them of encouraging terrorists by pulling their troops out of Iraq. The Philippines brought their troops home early to save the life of a Filipino hostage.
AlertNet news
11:42 AEST Wed May 4 2005 AAP
A US intelligence official says China is expected to stock three new missiles in the next decade in an aggressive military build-up that could threaten US power in the region.
Chairman of the National Intelligence Council, David Gordon says the move will coincide with China's growing influence in the Taiwan Straits.
Gordon has told a commission overseeing US military bases that a strategic arms upgrade is a continuing priority for China.
He says China has already begun an impressive program of military modernisation that's tilting the balance of power in the Taiwan Straits and improving China's ability to threaten US forces in the region.
Published in: Associated Press May 3, 2005
KARACHI, Pakistan -- Intelligence agents raided an Islamic seminary in southern Pakistan and arrested a suspected Taliban fighter wanted by Afghanistan in the 2001 killing of a pro-U.S. Afghan leader, officials said Monday.
The suspect, identified as Sirajul Haq, was detained late Sunday in eastern Karachi along with another man, an intelligence official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, in accordance with the policy of Pakistani intelligence officers not to make their names public.
Haq, an Afghan national, is wanted in the death of Abdul Haq, a pro-U.S. Afghan leader who was captured and killed by the Taliban in eastern Afghanistan in 2001. The two are not related.
The Taliban captured Abdul Haq, 43, when he slipped into his homeland from neighboring Pakistan on a secret mission to try to incite a rebellion against the hard-line Islamic militia. Haq, a prominent guerrilla commander who fought the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s, was executed in October 2001.
A U.S.-led coalition ousted the Taliban regime in late 2001 for harboring al-Qaida.
Another Pakistani intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the suspect arrested at the seminary was an official in the Taliban-run administration of the southern city of Kandahar, the Taliban's stronghold, but was not a senior figure in the militia.
The Afghan Embassy in Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, could not confirm Haq's arrest and officials at the Interior Ministry were not immediately available for comment.
In Afghanistan, a spokesman for Din Mohammed, governor of the eastern province of Nangarhar and Abdul Haq's brother, declined to discuss the arrest. Officials in Afghanistan's national government in Kabul did not respond to requests for comment.
One of the intelligence officials in Karachi said Afghan authorities had been offering a reward in exchange for information leading to Haq's arrest, but it was not clear how much was offered.
05:49 AEST Wed May 4 2005 AAP
AP - The French prime minister says his government has mobilised a team of more than 100 people to secure the release of a kidnapped reporter in Iraq and has made stable but intermittent contact in the case.
Jean-Pierre Raffarin did not specify with whom officials are communicating, but has told parliament that contacts have been established in efforts to free Florence Aubenas.
Aubenas, a veteran reporter for Liberation newspaper, was taken hostage on January the 5th with her Iraqi guide, Hussein Hanoun.
She was last seen leaving her Baghdad hotel.
Raffarin - in a brief address to mark World Press Freedom Day - said as long as dialogue is carried out, there is hope.
Published in: Reuters May 3, 2005
MUSCAT (Reuters) - An Oman court on Monday sentenced 31 Islamists to up to 20 years in jail for plotting to overthrow the pro-Western government of the Gulf Arab state, witnesses said.
They said six men were sentenced to 20 years while 24 were jailed for periods of seven to 10 years. One received a one-year sentence.
Human rights activist Abdullah Alryami said the men were also convicted of forming an illegal underground group, planning to oust the government of Sultan Qaboos by force, possession and sale of weapons and holding meetings to recruit members. The group includes preachers, Islamic scholars, university professors and government figures.
The government had accused the men of trying to set up Islamic clerical rule in Oman.
Witnesses at the hearings said the group denied planning to overthrow the government and insisted that their aim was to strengthen the Ibadi Muslim sect, to which Oman's ruler Sultan Qaboos and the majority of Omanis belong.
The imamate, a centuries-old Ibadi tradition of politico-religious leadership by an imam, was abolished in Oman in 1959. The men were arrested in December as part of an unprecedented crackdown on Islamists in Oman.
From CNN Producer Syed Mohsin Naqvi
Wednesday, May 4, 2005 Posted: 0202 GMT (1002 HKT)
LAHORE, Pakistan (CNN) -- Baton-wielding police attacked journalists Tuesday in several Pakistan cities as they tried to celebrate World Press Freedom Day, and arrested 37 of them during a rally outside parliament in Islamabad.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz ordered the journalists released, and a police source told CNN they were freed Tuesday night......(Excerpt)
May 3, 2005
By STEPHEN GRAHAM
KABUL (AP) - The U.S. military on Tuesday installed a new commander in Afghanistan - an army general who vowed to be "relentless" against insurgents dogging the country's recovery more than three years after the fall of the Taliban.
Lt.-Gen. Karl Eikenberry took over from fellow three-star general David Barno in a ceremony at the U.S. military headquarters in the Afghan capital, Kabul, with guests including Gen. John Abizaid, the chief of the U.S. Central Command.
Barno departs after more than 18 months in which the military broadened its focus from a so far fruitless search for top fugitives - such as Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Omar - toward stabilizing a new strategic ally through badly needed reconstruction and rebuilding its feeble government.
Coalition forces helped protect landmark elections won by U.S.-backed President Hamid Karzai last year, when voters chose him from a broad field including warlords and a lone female candidate as their best hope of ending years of punishing conflict. Afghans are to vote for their first post-Taliban parliament in September.
But the new commander assumes his post following a recent surge of violence that has killed several civilians, as well as dozens of rebels and two coalition soldiers, and as the military takes on a greater role in combating the country's runaway opium and heroin industry.
At Tuesday's rain-soaked ceremony, Eikenberry said he has seen "tremendous" improvements since September 2003, when he left Afghanistan after a year in charge of rebuilding its army. He said he would maintain Barno's course.
"We will continue to prosecute the war against terror in partnership with the Islamic government of Afghanistan, and will be relentless as we move forward," Eikenberry said in an inaugural speech to more than 100 members of the 18,000-strong coalition force. "So much has been accomplished. So much has to be done."
Abizaid, making an unannounced visit which included breakfast with Karzai, said Afghans were "brimming with confidence" in the progress of their country, which is enjoying an economic revival, but said "tough" combat operations were still needed.
"We're committed to seeing the job through, to ensuring that peace comes to Afghanistan, to helping the moderates win against the extremists in this fight that we're engaged in so boldly and so broadly across the Greater Middle East," Abizaid said.
050419-N-5313A-086 Mediterranean Sea (April 19, 2005) – A U.S. Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier launches from the flight deck of the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD 3) during flight operations in the Mediterranean Sea. Kearsarge and embarked 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit are on a regularly scheduled deployment in support of the Global War on Terrorism. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate Airman Sarah E. Ard (RELEASED)
Kearsarge on Station in Persian Gulf
Story Number: NNS050503-04 Release Date: 5/3/2005 11:28:00 AM
By Chief Journalist (SW/AW) Dave Nagle, USS Kearsarge Public Affairs
ABOARD USS KEARSARGE, At Sea (NNS) -- The multipurpose amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD 3) arrived on station in the Persian Gulf May 2.
Kearsarge, the command ship for the Kearsarge Expeditionary Strike Group, will serve as a sea base for the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit and command ship for Commander, Task Force (CTF) 51, conducting maritime security operations (MSO) along with the amphibious transport dock USS Ponce (LPD 15) and dock landing ship USS Ashland (LSD 48).
“Team Kearsarge is ready to carry out our mission, by working together with coalition forces to set the conditions for security and stability in the region and help provide the Iraqi people with the best opportunity for self-determination,” said Capt. Luke Parent, Kearsarge’s commanding officer.
MSO is aimed at setting the conditions for security and stability in the maritime environment. MSO complements the counter-terrorism and security efforts of regional nations. MSO denies international terrorists use of the maritime environment as a venue for attack or to transport personnel, weapons or other material.
MSO missions include protecting and maintaining sea lanes of communication, Visit, Board, Search and Seizure operations, humanitarian assistance and combat operations.
In addition, multinational forces work directly with Iraqi maritime forces to prevent attacks against oil terminals that are significant sources of revenue for the Iraqi people – revenue that is important to the rebuilding of Iraq.
Kearsarge, along with the other ships in the Kearsarge Expeditionary Strike Group, left its homeport of Norfolk, Va., March 25 for its regularly scheduled deployment.
For related news, visit the USS Kearsarge (LHD 3) Navy NewsStand page at www.news.navy.mil/local/lhd3.
BAGHDAD (Army News Service, May 3, 2005) – The Iraqi Army, police and U.S. Soldiers apprehended 84 suspected terrorists in 19 different combat operations conducted in and around Baghdad May 1 and 2.
The largest operation netted 40 terror suspects during raids carried out early in the morning May 2. Thirteen more suspected terrorists were captured in four other missions conducted Monday morning.
On May 1, Iraqi Security Forces and U.S. Soldiers conducted seven different missions and took 31 terror suspects into custody. The largest operation occurred after a terrorist fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a Task Force Baghdad patrol.
The Soldiers saw the gunner run down an alley and into a nearby mosque. U.S. Forces secured the area and Iraqi citizens on the scene identified the attacker. Iraqi police arrived at the site, entered the mosque and detained 18 suspects, including the attacker.
In a separate incident, three local national males parked a vehicle near a busy traffic circle in east Baghdad and exited the vehicle moments before it detonated.
While Task Force Baghdad Soldiers secured the area, Iraqi police detained the three suspects, who had tried to leave the scene in a taxi.
Iraqi Army and Iraqi police forces took an additional five suspects into custody during two other operations.
“The Iraqi Security Forces continued improvement and steady progress is to be applauded,” said Lt. Col. Clifford Kent, a Task Force Baghdad spokesperson. “More and more the Iraqi Army and Iraqi police forces are taking the fight to the terrorists and they’re succeeding in stopping them.”
In southeast Baghdad, residents of the Salman Pak neighborhood turned a weapons cache in to the Iraqi police. The Iraqi citizens gave the police 24 rockets, one improvised rocket launcher, 10 hand grenades and small arms ammunition.
In west Baghdad, two Task Force Baghdad units struck improvised explosive devices, and another unit came under small arms fire.
No one was injured in any of the three attacks, and the Soldiers captured a total of five suspects in the area of the three attacks.
(Editor’s note: Information provided by Task Force Baghdad.)
As meteorology and oceanography Marines, Cpl. Victor Rodriguez, a Chicago native, and Cpl. Michelle L. Gottschalk, Island Lake, Ill. native, work together to get accurate and timely weather information out to Camp Fallujah. Attached with G-2, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Headquarters Group, II MEF (FWD), the Marines know their job is an important part of completing the mission in Iraq. Photo by: Cpl. Christi Prickett
Stargazers, cloud watchers key to mission success
Submitted by: II Marine Expeditionary Force (FWD) Story Identification #: 20055321633 Story by Cpl. Christi Prickett
CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq (May 3, 2005) -- In a combat zone, accurate and timely weather predictions are vital for service members to complete their mission.
Tucked away in a small tent here, Cpl. Victor Rodriguez, meteorology and oceanography observer, G-2, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Headquarters Group, II MEF (Forward), has one of the few jobs where star gazing and cloud watching are allowed throughout the day.
Rodriguez makes hourly observations of visibility, sky conditions, winds and dew point using high technology equipment daily to gather information.
“I go outside every hour to take measurements,” said the Chicago native. “I observe the clouds and feel the wind speed.”
Rodriguez, who recently re-enlisted, feels his job is important for everyone on camp.
“People need to know what the weather will be for day-to-day accomplishments,” he said. “Pilots especially need the information.”
The pilots get information from the weather van or the air traffic control tower.
“The meteorology and oceanography Marines work closely with ATC to provide pilots with the information they need,” said Rodriguez.
There are two weather sensors on camp, known as the Weatherpak 2000.
“There are differences in wind speed and temperature in the two different locations, even though they aren’t very far apart,” said the 2000 graduate of Thornton Fraction North High School, Calumet City, Ill.
Rodriguez has been going through old observations to make an archive of the weather patterns here. He said it has never been done before.
“I am going over all the old hourly observations,” he explained. “I’m not sure why it has never been done, but I think it’s because no one knew how long we’d be here, so they didn’t think it was necessary. But I am putting the information together so it can be used in the future.”
The weather center is operated 24-hours a day.
Cpl. Michelle L. Gottschalk, METOC technician, G-2, II MHG, II MEF (FWD), works with Rodriguez during the day shift. She fixes the equipment when it breaks and also orders supplies and does other duties.
Gottschalk, an Island Lake, Ill., native, knows the weather equipment well.
“We are a team,” Gottschalk said. “We are teaching each other our jobs. For instance, I tell him about the cables or some of the equipment, and he lets me help out with the balloons.”
Once a day, Rodriguez releases a weather balloon which has a Global Positioning System and other small equipment attached to it. It is capable of taking temperature, dew point, surface, wind and humidity readings. Another balloon is released during the night shift.
“If you blow up the balloon too full, it pops,” said the 22-year-old. “It just took me lots of practice to get it right. The balloons I release average around 80,000 feet. If it’s filled improperly, it will only go about 40,000 feet which is okay, but not the best.”
The balloon has to be between 200 and 300 grams of pressure, and Rodriguez said the balloon can be read within five minutes of its release.
“After I release the balloon, I go to the computer inside our van and start reading the information,” said Rodriguez. “We then use the information to put on our Web site to be seen by military personnel.”
This is his first deployment to Iraq.
“The difference in my job here is that I hardly ever work with ground operations in the rear,” he said. “I have to pay attention to detail all the time, but more so now.”
Rodriguez says his favorite part of the job is knowing what’s happening before other people know about it.
“When the last sand storm came in, we could see it on our readings, and we were able to let everyone know about it,” he said. “We get to pass the information along that no one else knows about.”
EDITOR’S NOTE For more information about this article send e-mail to cepaowo@cemnf-wiraq.usmc.mil
Tuesday May 3, 12:38 PM
Indonesian police arrested three alleged Islamic militants they said belonged to the same terror group that carried out the 2003 suicide bombing of the J.W. Marriott Hotel, a senior officer said Tuesday.
The trio were arrested on Sunday in central Sulawesi province, said Lt. Col. Soleh Hidayat.
Officers seized two homemade guns, 15 bullets and powder normally used to make explosives, he said.
"These three people are suspected of being members of the network behind the bombing of the (J.W.) Marriot Hotel in Jakarta," he said without elaborating.
The hotel attack has been blamed on the al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah terror group. The same group is also accused in the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings and the 2004 Australian Embassy bombing.
Police have arrested five people in the hotel blast, which killed 12 people, including a suicide bomber. Several key suspects remain at large.
As dog handlers, Lance Cpl. Joseph A. Tullier, a Gonzalez, La. native, and Cpl. Matthew P. Cobb, a Topeka, Kan. native, both with 2nd Military Police Battalion, II Marine Expeditioary Force (FWD, work with their dogs at entry control points, on convoys and while doing security missions. The dogs are capable of finding many types of explosives and chasing down suspects. As dog handlers, Tullier and Cobb must be recertified with their dogs each year. Photo by: Cpl. Christi Prickett
Military working dogs essential tool in Iraq mission
Submitted by: II Marine Expeditionary Force (FWD) Story Identification #: 20055304858 Story by Cpl. Christi Prickett
CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq (May 3, 2005) -- When people talk about the United States Armed Forces, images of light-footed Marines or large Naval ships may come to mind. Not often mentioned are the nonhuman counterparts within the ranks.
Military working dogs first entered the service in March of 1942 to serve in the Army’s “K-9” Corps. Today, the dogs, who have an actual military service record book assigned to them, are still playing an active role in searching for explosives and seizing the enemy.
Master Gunnery Sgt. Samuel G. Colon, provost sergeant Multi National Force - West, and sergeant major of 2nd Military Police Battalion, II Marine Expeditionary Force (FWD), is in charge of making sure the dogs are safe when they are out with Marines and Sailors on missions.
“Our battalion provides well trained military working dogs and handlers,” said Colon, a Brooklyn, N.Y., native. “The dogs here are used to support the Marine Air Ground Task Force, first and foremost.”
Daily dog duties include trips to entry control points, maneuver and mobility support operations, cordon and knocks, main supply route security and mandatory training.
Training is constant with the dogs. Each dog must be certified before entering the area of operation, and they must be recertified with their handler each year.
The dogs are not a replacement for service members, but instead, offer strengths in areas where humans may be weak. They are capable of working in any type of combat environment.
“The best way the dogs are used is that they can chase down anyone,” said Air Force Tech. Sgt. Robert P. Hansen, military working dog handler assigned to 2nd MP Bn., II MEF (FWD). “A Marine might not be able to catch someone, but the dogs will.”
Another way the working dogs are used is for their sense of smell.
“At ECPs, dogs, Marines, and technology work together,” said Colon, a former dog handler. “The dogs are trained and capable of detecting all sorts of explosives.”
The dogs know progression of force just as service members are taught. Different voice and hand signals are given to clarify what the dog is to do.
“If someone is being belligerent, the dogs can sense it,” said Hansen. “The handler assesses the situation and if we feel the need to go further, the dog will do so when given the commands.”
Obedience is the first priority of the handlers, said Hansen.
“From day one, trust and rapport are essential between the dogs and their handlers,” said Hansen. “It’s like the dogs know we’re going to be there for them the same way they’re there for us.”
The dog handlers are responsible for feeding, grooming and veterinary appointments. The Army provides all veterinary needs at the kennels.
Military working dogs have been involved in miltary operations dating back to the early 1940's and they still play a vital role in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Dog handlers Lance Cpl. Joseph A. Tullier, a Gonzalez, La. native, and Cpl. Matthew A. Cobb, a Topeka, Kan. native, both with 2nd Military Police Battalion, II Marine Expeditioary Force (FWD), work with the dogs daily. The dogs are taught progression of force just as service members. Photo by: Cpl. Christi Prickett
“I was a dog handler a long time ago,” said Colon, with a smile. “I have a special bond with all my Marines, but especially with the dogs and their handlers.”
The main purpose of the military working dogs is to alleviate positions where a service member would have to be put in harms way.
“Our dogs keep Marines and Sailors alive,” said Lt. Col. Richard A. Anderson, commanding officer, 2nd MP Bn., II MEF (FWD). “Whatever the commanding general deems as our main effort, we are there. We are tremendously flexible.”
EDITOR’S NOTE For more information about this article, send an e-mail to cepaowo@cemnf-wiraq.usmc.mil
Who won World War II?
By Konstantin Rozhnov
BBCRussian.com
The Nazi regime collapsed in May 1945, squeezed ever more tightly between two fronts - the Soviet Union on one side and the Western Allies on the other.
But which of these fronts was the most important?
Throughout the Cold War, and ever since, each side has tended to see its own contribution as decisive.
"In the West, for some time... public opinion has taken the view that the Soviet Union played a secondary role," says the Russian historian Valentin Falin.
On the other hand, opinion polls show that two-thirds of Russians think the Soviet Union could have defeated Hitler without the Allies' help, and half think the West underestimates the Soviet contribution.
Ribbentrop's view
Richard Overy, professor of contemporary history at King's College London, notes that after the war, Hitler's foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop listed three main reasons for Germany's defeat:
Unexpectedly stubborn resistance from the Soviet Union
The large-scale supply of arms and equipment from the US to the Soviet Union, under the lend-lease agreement
The success of the Western Allies in the struggle for air supremacy.
Mr Overy says that for decades Soviet historians underplayed the significance of US and UK lend-lease in the Soviet Union's success, but that Russia has recently shown just appreciation.
Mr Falin, however, says Russians never forgot the help they received from their allies.
"You ask any Soviet person, whether he remembers what a Dodge or a Willis is!" he says.
"The Americans supplied us with 450,000 lorries. Of course, in the final stages of the war this significantly increased our armed forces' mobility, decreased our losses and brought us, perhaps, greater success than if we had not such help."
Bombers
Mr Overy accepts that the Western powers played a smaller role on the battlefield itself than the Soviet forces but says their bombing campaigns made a huge contribution.
"Bombing diverted a lot of manpower and military equipment from the front in Russia, while it restricted the expansion of the German war economy," he says.
He also agrees that the West still only has a weak understanding of the Soviet Union's role.
"Because Britain and the US had to invade Europe by sea [Italy in 1943, and France in 1944] they have more of a sense of 'liberating' a German-conquered Europe," he says.
Second front
Mr Falin, meanwhile, argues that the war could have been brought to an end more quickly if the second front, in France, had been opened before 1944.
"How many millions of people would have remained alive?" he asks.
"Many death camps reached full power precisely in the second half of 1943 and in 1944."
Mr Overy says that the West has a view of the war as a global conflict, because of its fight against Japan, for example, whereas the Soviet view is of a "national crusade to repel the invader".
Mr Falin cites figures suggesting that German forces suffered 93% of their casualties on the Soviet front and argues that this shows the Soviet contribution was decisive.
But he adds that every single US, UK, Canadian or other Allied soldier who died "made a big, important and necessary contribution to the victory, which was a shared victory".
Do you agree or disagree with the views expressed in this article? Please send us your opinions.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4508901.stm
03/05/2005 - 19:14:25
Somalia's prime minister escaped unharmed in a blast that killed 10 and injured 60 as supporters turned out for a rally in Mogadishu's soccer stadium today.
Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi described the explosion as an accident. Another government official said investigators were looking into the cause and who might have been behind a blast that underlined the security fears that have kept Gedi's government from returning from exile in Kenya.
"What happened was an accident, which will not deter us and the international community from continuing our common endeavour to relocating the government back to Somalia," Gedi told reporters. The government has sat in Kenya since it was formed in 2004 and is opposed by Islamic extremists and some of the country's dozens of warlords. Somalia has been without a central government since 1991, when clan-based warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned their weapons on each other.
Today's blast happened about 10 metres from Gedi, Deputy Parliament Speaker Ismail Ilmi Boqore, who was with Gedi at the time, said. Boqore said none of the diplomats or government officials who accompanied Gedi to the rally was harmed.
"We are still investigating what caused the explosion, who was behind it and the exact number of the casualties of the day," said Col Abdi Hassan Awale, after giving journalists the initial casualty figures of seven dead.
"Most of the people were injured in what was a virtual stampede," Awale said. "Others sustained injury while jumping over the walls of the stadium."
Three other people died in Medina Hospital after they were brought from the stadium with injuries, said the hospital's Dr Abdi Ibrahim Jiya.
Checks to Mogadishu hospitals put the number of injured at 60 people.
Hundreds of people had gathered in the stadium to hear Gedi.
Gedi arrived in Somalia on Friday for his first trip home since he took office. Hundreds of people had cheered Gedi when he arrived at the airport, where members of Somalia's former military formed a guard of honour for him. Trumpets sounded and the Somali national anthem played.
President Abdulahi Yusuf Ahmed has called on the African Union to send 20,000 peacekeepers to secure Somalia and to guarantee the new government's safety and disarm the militias that currently roam the country with impunity. So far the AU has only offered to send a few thousand troops
CAMP AL QAIM, Iraq - Sgt. Jose Jimenez (left), 25, a crew chief with 2d Amphibious Assault Battalion and his team, Lance Cpl. Dustin Gonzalez and Sgt. Caleb Hall have been deployed to Iraq since Sept. 13, 2004. The Jacksonville, N.C., native and his platoon were in Fallujah for five months of their deployment before returning to western Iraq, where they've conducted missions in Husaybah. Photo by: Lance Cpl. Lucian Friel
AAV Marine recalls units deployment to Iraq
Submitted by: 2nd Marine Division Story Identification #: 20055323400 Story by Lance Cpl. Lucian Friel
CAMP AL QAIM, Iraq (May 3, 2005) -- As units supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004 and 5 end their 7-month deployments to Iraq and are replaced with fresh units, some Marines look back on their deployment in hopes of helping their successors be successful.
Sgt. Jose Jimenez, a crew chief with 2d Amphibious Assault Battalion, who's deployed to Iraq twice, believes it is essential to pass on experience gained on this deployment to those taking his and his platoon's place.
The Jacksonville, N.C., native and his platoon arrived in Iraq Sept. 13, 2004 set to support 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment in the Al Anbar province of western Iraq.
However, Jimenez ended up spend the next five months supporting 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment in Al Fallujah.
"We did a lot of mechanical patrols, raids and cordon and knocks. We were clearing house-by-house, sector-by-sector, and we were the primary medical evacuation vehicles," explained the 1999 graduate of Ridgefield Park High School, Ridgefield Park, N.J.
According to Jimenez it was the amphibious assault vehicles ability to take a hit and continue to function that made them successful.
"We had two vehicles take some armory piercing rocket propelled grenade fire that actually penetrated the vehicle," he explained. "We can take small arms fire with no problem. The big thing was improvised explosive devices and mines blowing the tracks off, but we didn't take any casualties, so we did pretty good out here."
This combat testing of his unit built Jimenez' confidence in his vehicles and the production of his team.
"I've gained more confidence in these vehicles, which is good because they're about 27-tons of aluminum and I wasn't too sure about them taking fire. But, it's done its job out here. During OIF 1 we left with twelve vehicles and only came back with five and this time we came back with all of them. So, I think this was a successful deployment," he explained.
According to Jimenez, they weren't able to get a lot of sleep and the days seemed to run into each other while they were in Fallujah. Still, he founds something he enjoyed about being deployed.
"The Marines we got here are good Marines, and I enjoyed the down time we had just doing fun stuff after everything was over. I enjoyed being a section leader and taking my Marines out here and bringing them all back," he explained.
Jimenez believes that conditions in Iraq have become better since his first deployment here in 2003.
"Communication to call home is better now. Before there were no phones, no showers, no chow hall and now, we have all of that. So, it's a lot better than what it was," he explained.
After five months in Fallujah, Jimenez returned to Al Qaim to finish out his deployment.
"We've encountered some ambushes out here, but mainly we've had a lot of IEDs and mines. There's really no urban combat out here, but it's still dangerous," he said.
The Marines with 2d AAB will soon be replaced by Marines with 4th AAB out of Norfolk, Va.
Jimenez has a lot of advice to pass on to them based off his experiences out here.
"Fourth AAB knows their job, and I think they'll do good things here. We're trying to leave these vehicles completely ready for them. They just need to know that it's real out here. Don't get complacent and use common sense," he continued. "I've been here for two deployments and it's been different each time and it's always going to be different. But, I know some of the guys replacing us and I'm confident in their abilities."
After all he faced in Iraq, Jimenez is preparing to return to the United States and to his wife, Laura, in Jacksonville.
"It feels good to be going home, but I'm not home until I'm off the bus in North Carolina, so until then, I'm still in the game, all of us are. But after two deployments to Iraq, I can't wait to get home to my wife," he explained.
CAMP AL QAIM, Iraq - Lance Cpl. Lesley T. Raulerson, an infantryman with Company K, 3rd Battalion, 2d Marine Regiment reads the Holy Bible before Sunday services in Iraq. The Jacksonville, Fla., native graduated from Mandarin High School in 2002 and joined the Marine Corps to make a sacrifice for other people. After his service is over, the 20-year-old wants to become a pastor. Photo by: Lance Cpl. Lucian Friel
'Hitler's nurse' breaks silence
Monday, 2 May, 2005, 12:52 GMT 13:52 UK
A survivor of Adolf Hitler's wartime bunker in Berlin has been tracked down, a German newspaper claims.
The Berliner Zeitung relates 93-year-old Erna Flegel's account of the last days of World War II, under the headline "I was Hitler's nurse".
Mrs Flegel said she stayed in the bunker after Hitler killed himself and was there when Soviet troops arrived.
She said Hitler was so paranoid that he even suspected spies had filled his cyanide capsule with false poison.
From January 1943 until the end of the war, Mrs Flegel's job was to give medical treatment to Hitler and his inner circle, she told the paper.
She was interviewed by US secret service agents in 1945, but otherwise has kept silent about her experiences for the past 60 years, the Berliner Zeitung says.
Now, however, she said she had decided to speak out, telling the paper: "I don't want to take my secret with me to the grave."
'Merciless' mother
Mrs Flegel's story does not challenge what is already known, but does add new details.
She said of Hitler: "By the end, he didn't trust anyone any more - not even the cyanide capsule he swallowed."
She also recalled trying to save the lives of the six children of Josef Goebbels, Hitler's propaganda chief, but said his wife Magda, who poisoned them, was "merciless".
Mrs Flegel said that after Hitler's suicide, Goebbels took over as leader, but no-one paid any attention to him.
"His last subordinates shot themselves in succession," she said. "And those who didn't shoot themselves tried to flee."
She said she remained, however. "I had to look after the wounded."
In the newspaper interview, Mrs Flegel described the atmosphere in the bunker as the noise of approaching Soviet forces grew.
"You could feel that the Third Reich was coming to an end," she said. "The radios stopped working and it was impossible to get information."
Mrs Flegel added that when the Soviet troops arrived, they were well-behaved and advised her to lock her door.
She said she stayed for several days, and was one of the last people to leave the bunker.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4505415.stm
Associated Press
NEWPORT, Ind. - An Army contractor will begin chemically neutralizing a stockpile of deadly nerve agent left over from the Cold War, military officials said.
Officials had initially declined, for security reasons, to divulge the exact date workers would begin destroying the more than 250,000 gallons of VX stored at the Newport Chemical Depot.
However, officials announced Tuesday "it would be best for the community to know," said Jeffrey Linblad, spokesman for the Army's Chemical Materials Agency. The process will begin Thursday.
VX is a liquid with the consistency of mineral oil that can kill a healthy adult male with a single pinpoint droplet.
The VX neutralization at the depot is expected to create 4 million gallons of a chemical byproduct called hydrolysate that requires additional treatment before disposal.
The process is expected to take more than two years, and the byproduct will be stored at the depot until officials decide how to dispose of it.
The Army wants to transport the hydrolysate - which has been compared to liquid drain cleaner - to a DuPont plant in New Jersey for treatment and disposal in the Delaware River. The plan has sparked opposition in New Jersey and Delaware.
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Army officials knew within days of Pat Tillman's death that the former NFL player had been killed by fellow Rangers during a patrol in Afghanistan but did not inform his family and the public for weeks, The Washington Post reported.
A new Army report shows that Gen. John P. Abizaid, the theater commander in Afghanistan, and other top Army officials were aware an investigation had determined the death was caused by an act of "gross negligence" four days before a nationally televised memorial service, the Post reported after reviewing nearly 2,000 pages of documents it had obtained.
Tillman, 27, turned down a multimillion-dollar contract with the Arizona Cardinals to join the Army after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He was taking cover behind a boulder along a canyon road near the Pakistani border when a firefight erupted at twilight on April 22, 2004.
The Post reported on its online edition Tuesday night that troops on the scene said they were immediately sure Tillman was killed by a barrage of American bullets.
The documents show that officers erroneously reported that Tillman was killed by enemy fire, destroyed critical evidence and initially concealed the truth from his brother, also an Army Ranger, who was near the attack, the Post reported.
The memorial service in San Jose, Calif., took place May 3, 2004. The Army announced May 29 that Tillman likely died because of friendly fire.
Brig. Gen. Gary M. Jones, who prepared the report, concluded there was no official reluctance to report the truth.
02 May 2005
A recent security operation in Pakistan has unveiled interesting details about Al-Qaeda's funding of its operatives.
A recent security operation in the lawless tribal zones of Pakistan resulted not only in the arrest of several militants linked to Al-Qaeda, but also revealed the terrorist network's ability to channel funds from one place to another and maintain a pension system for its cadres.
Counter-terrorism officials in Pakistan said they learned about the financial dealings of Osama bin Laden's network when they arrested two Alegerian militants in the Pakistani city of Peshawar in April.
According to officials, Al-Qaeda runs a sophisticated network for transferring money where and when it is required for various operations, as well as for payment of its operatives.
For example, when Pakistani authorities initiated a dialogue with tribesmen in South Waziristan several months ago in an effort to restore peace in the tribal areas, local tribesmen told them that they had obtained huge loans from the terrorist group and had no option but to offer its members shelter or to work for its interests in the region.
The Pakistan Army later paid US$533,000 to some of the most-wanted militants in the area of South Waziristan to enable them to clear their debts and bury their guns. Insiders said Al-Qaeda paid out 10 to 12 times that amount to other militants in the last few years in order to keep up the momentum in the region.
Over the years Al-Qaeda has established a solid network to both generate and transfer funds. Experts believe militants have various sources through which they obtain money, including direct donations from wealthy businessmen committed to their cause, donations collected through zakat [poor due] as well as contributions from religious groups.
New evidence indicates that these militant organisations have also been raising funds from drug trafficking and money channelled through charity organisations which, experts believe, have became important sources of funds for these networks.
303 words; 1,126 in total
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Good night TK :))
ABU DHABI (AFP) May 03, 2005
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) took delivery Tuesday of the first batch of an order for 80 F-16 fighters from the United States, estimated to cost 6.4 billion dollars, the official WAM news agency reported.
It did not specify the number of warplanes received at an official ceremony attended by Abu Dhabi's crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan.
The UAE signed a contract for the sophisticated F-16 Falcon fighters built by Lockheed Martin Corp in March 2000 for delivery that was due to have started at the end of 2004 and run through 2007.
In March 2003, the Gulf state launched work to upgrade two airforce bases to cope with the deliveries of the multi-role "Block 60" fighters.
Oil-rich Abu Dhabi has had logistical agreements with the United States since the 1991 Gulf War which have seen US aerial refuelling tankers and C-130 transporters use UAE facilities.
The Desert Falcon will have special fuel tanks for extended range, new cockpit displays, a new mission computer and other advanced features including US Northrop Grumman radar for improved tracking of multiple targets.
It was the first such sale outside NATO countries and followed the UAE's purchase of 30 French Mirage 2000-9 combat planes in November 1998 as part of a self-reliance policy.
General Electric (GE) won a contract worth more than 400 million dollars to supply the engines for the fighters.
In the wake of the 1991 Gulf War to drive Iraq from Kuwait, the UAE launched an ambitious defence program which included the purchase in 1994 of more than 400 Leclerc tanks from the French firm GIAT.
ONTARIO, Calif--May 3, 2005--The U.S. Army has placed an order with BAE Systems for 32 portable combat helicopter refuelling systems for a total value of $8 million. The latest booking is part of a multi-year contract expected to be worth more than $100 million.
The Advanced Aviation Forward Area Refuelling Systems (AAFARS) are used by U.S. troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, principally to fuel AH-64 Apache, UH-60 Blackhawk, and CH-47 Chinook helicopters. The Army's Tank Automotive and Armament Command (TACOM) is purchasing the refuelling systems.
"We are pleased to partner with BAE Systems to ensure that our helicopter fleet is equipped with the latest and most modern refuelling capability available in the market," said Mathew Marturano, system acquisition manager of the Army's Force Projection Program Office.
The latest booking is the ninth order in a production run that is expected to total 372 systems.
"This rugged system is helicopter-transportable and soldier-portable. Assembly has been field-proven with a set-up time of 20 minutes and tear down in 25 minutes," said Tom Herring, vice president and general manager of Integrated Solutions for BAE Systems. "The system also is designated as a critical component of the Army's modernization plan."
AAFARS is a modular, lightweight, portable combat refuelling system designed for rapid refuelling of forward-area military helicopters in support of deep strikes. The system has a 240 gallon-per-minute pump that can fuel four helicopters simultaneously at a rate of 55 gallons per minute each.
Wednesday May 04, 2005
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) Two American soldiers died in roadside bomb attacks by insurgents in Baghdad, the U.S. military said Wednesday.
The two separate attacks on U.S. convoys in the capital occurred Tuesday, and further information was being withheld pending notification of the victims' relatives.
As of Tuesday, at least 1,585 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
At least 1,211 died as a result of hostile action, according to the Defense Department. The figures include four military civilians.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press)
Wed May 4, 2005 02:49 AM ET
ARBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - A suicide bomber blew himself up in the Kurdish city of Arbil in northern Iraq on Wednesday, killing at least seven people, Kurdish security guards and witnesses said.
Witnesses and police said the blast targeted a local office of a Kurdish party. But Kurdish security guards said the bomb was aimed at a building used by the Interior Ministry.
© Reuters 2005
Today 04 May 2005 | 10:16 KT
BAGHDAD, May 4 (KUNA) -- Gunmen assassinated a Municipal Council member in a drive-by shooting on Wednesday 10 kilometers north of Ba'quba town, northeast of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.
Iraqi police sources said to KUNA on background that unknown gunmen driving a Kia opened machine gunfire on the Volkswagen car of Municipal Council member Ali Mehdi Alaiwi killing him instantly.
Eyewitnesses told police that the gunmen fled the scene of the shooting after confirming the death of Alaiwi.
Today 04 May 2005 | 10:21 KT
BAGHDAD, May 4 (KUNA) -- A civilian was killed in an attack on Iraqi police in the northern city of Mosul, a statement by the Multinational forces said Wednesday.
The statement added that police came under light weapon gunfire as they worked to secure an area where army sappers were defusing explosives in the northern city.
In other developments, the Multinational forces said its fighters and Iraqi army units seized two explosive caches in northern Iraq.
According to the statement, a citizen tipped off authorities on the caches which contained 6,000 mortar rounds and 15 detonators.
Wed May 4, 2005 8:40 AM BST
ARBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed at least 60 people and wounded 150 in the Iraqi Kurdish city of Arbil on Wednesday, a health official said.
The suicide bomber blew himself up at the local offices of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, which also served as a recruiting centre for police.
Witnesses and police said the blast targeted a local office of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, one of two main parties in a Kurdish coalition that came second during the Jan. 30 polls.
The attack in the Kurdish city will step up pressure on the new Iraqi government, which was sworn in on Tuesday but is incomplete with five permanent ministers and two deputy prime ministers yet to be named.
Iraq's new leaders are trying to ease sectarian tensions which have deepened since the elections turned Shi'ites and Kurds into the most powerful groups and sidelined Sunnis, who were dominant under Saddam Hussein.
© Reuters 2005
Today 04 May 2005 | 11:17 KT
BAGHDAD, May 4 (KUNA) -- Several key suspects were arrested during a joint military operation with the Iraqi army in Al-Zaab area in northern Iraq, the US army said Wednesday.
A statement by the Multi-National Forces said that Task Force Freedom recently finished carrying out joint night raids with the Iraqi army to arrest several suspects in Al-Zaab area.
It noted that with the coordination of the Iraqi army, the American soldiers carried out air and land attacks to arrest militants who are suspected of belonging to a group loyal to Abu Musaab Al-Zarqawi.
The statement quoted sources saying that these operations were successful as the helicopters were able to locate the sites of these militants without being able to escape.
The names and nationalities of the suspects were not revealed.
Attorney general refutes recent reports of diminished risk
From Kevin Bohn - CNN
Tuesday, May 3, 2005 Posted: 9:49 PM EDT (0149 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has dismissed recent media reports in which some government officials said the al Qaeda threat to the United States has diminished and that the terror group is focusing mostly overseas.
"I believe to the contrary, that despite our successes, the threat posed by al Qaeda and other similar groups is still very real," Gonzales said in remarks prepared for delivery Tuesday morning to a law enforcement conference in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.....(Excerpt)
May 04, 2005
By Jerry Seper - THE WASHINGTON TIMES
More than 20,000 men were trained at al Qaeda terrorist camps in the late 1990s and a top Justice Department official believes some of them will try again to strike targets in the United States, but is not convinced they will succeed.
Criminal Division prosecutors and investigators, working with state and local authorities, have disrupted more than 150 terrorist cells and threats from Portland, Ore., to Lackawanna, N.Y., incapacitating more than 3,000 known operatives. They also have charged 375 persons in terrorism-related cases, 195 of whom already have pleaded guilty or been convicted, and removed from the country more than 500 people linked to September 11.....(Excerpt)
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Staff Report
PESHAWAR: The Taliban and Al Qaeda are two different things, said former Afghan foreign minister Maulvi Wakil Ahmed Mutawakil in an interview, adding, “Taliban was a movement while Al Qaeda was not. Taliban were the sons of Afghanistan soil while Osama was least interested in Afghanistan and was more focussed on the Middle East. Taliban condemned the 9/11 attack while Al Qaeda owned it.
The Taliban should shun an alternative path to talks with the government, and President Hamid Karzai should also hold negotiations to bring peace and stability to Afghanistan on a permanent basis, Mutawakil told a Pakistan-based Pashto language Khyber TV channel on Monday night.
The present situation in Afghanistan does not warrant the Taliban to consider an alternative path to talks and such actions that could bring more problems to Afghanistan should not be followed, Mutawakil said.
The TV station di