Posted on 05/05/2005 7:23:52 PM PDT by TexKat
Army Sgt. Chris Branson prepares a M2 .50-caliber heavy machine gun on top of his Humvee prior to departing for a live fire weapons training exercise for the Iraqi National Guard at Forward Operating Base Duke in Najaf, Iraq, on April 13, 2005. The U.S. Army is currently assisting in establishing Iraq's defensive forces as part of the rebuilding process of Operation Iraqi Freedom. DoD photo by Chief Petty Officer Edward G. Martens, U.S. Navy. (Released)
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WEAPONS SEARCH — Iraqi soldiers working with the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines, Regimental Combat Team-8, move through the gate of an Iraqi complex during Operation Southern Advance in Almariyah, Iraq, which was conducted April 24-28, 2005. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Paul Robbins Jr.
By John D. Banusiewicz American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, May 5, 2005 – Any remaining support among Iraqis for fugitive Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is fading as his network's attacks continue to take aim at their country's security forces and civilians, the director of operations for the Joint Staff said at a Pentagon news conference today. Marine Lt. Gen. James T. Conway, who commanded the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force during two combat tours in Iraq, said he's "absolutely confident" that if Zarqawi stays in Iraq, he'll be captured or killed.
"And I might add that I think his stock is running pretty thin with the Iraqi people," Conway said. "He continues to take credit for some of these massive attacks where Iraqis -- Iraqi civilians in particular -- are killed in large numbers. And it's our belief, and I think some of the trends are starting to indicate, that there's a saturation point that the Iraqi citizens are starting to get to." Iraqi citizens more frequently are providing authorities with tips helpful in fighting the insurgency, he noted.
Conway addressed reports that Zarqawi narrowly avoided capture during a recent raid on a hospital in Ramadi and that the terrorist mastermind might have been at the hospital because he is ill or injured.
"(The raid) was not based, necessarily, upon information that Zarqawi was there," Conway told reporters. "We have not been able to confirm that Zarqawi was either wounded in a firefight in Rawah or was receiving treatment at the hospital. We were simply told that a group of insurgents were there, and the Marines and soldiers responded, circled the hospital, and went in." No evidence of Zarqawi's presence at the hospital was found, he noted.
The general said forces involved in the search for Zarqawi respond any time they receive a tip that might lead his way. "And as you might imagine, with a $25 million reward on his head, we get a lot of tips and a lot of rumors of Zarqawi sightings," Conway said. The general noted he was "absolutely confident" that the terrorist leader would be captured or killed.
Conway said the capture in Pakistan of Abu Faraj al-Libbi, operations chief for Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda terror network, was accomplished with no U.S. military involvement.
"I think that the Pakistani people should be delighted that their security forces have completed such a sophisticated operation," the general said. "Remember, this guy tried to kill their president twice. He was their No. 1 terrorist, and now their commandos have taken him down and put him behind bars."
Conway said that with Libbi now in custody, other terrorists have something to think about. "I think it should send a strong message to bin Laden and his followers that you are not going to rest in peace as long as this global war on terrorism is in search of you and your compatriots," he said. "We will hunt you to your dying days and either capture you, or kill you if you resist."
Biography:
Two small pre-dawn blasts shattered windows at the British consulate on May 5, 2005 as voters in Britain went to the polls in a general election, police said. There were no injuries reported. The explosions occurred shortly before 4 a.m./0800 GMT and were caused by two primitive metal 'novelty grenades,' one in the shape of a pineapple, the other a lemon, both packed with gunpowder, police on the scene said. (Mike Segar/Reuters)
NY blast could have link to Britain or Middle East
By Mark Egan and Claudia Parsons
Thu May 5, 6:34 PM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two home-made grenades exploded on Thursday outside an office building whose tenants include the British Consulate and an executive linked to a company that has attracted protests for selling Israel bulldozers used to raze Palestinian homes.
Windows were shattered, but no injuries were reported. The attack took place as general elections were held in Britain, but New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg told reporters: "We do not at this point have any idea who did it or a motive."
"It is true the British Consulate is in that building, but I don't think anybody should jump to conclusions," Bloomberg said, adding no one had claimed responsibility.
Police chief Raymond Kelly told reporters he was looking at another possible target -- a board member of Caterpillar Inc. -- who works in the building. The company sells bulldozers used by Israel to raze Palestinian homes.
Kelly said there had been an protest outside the building by a group called Jews Against the Occupation on April 13.
On its web site, the group describes itself as "American Jews (who) reject the Israeli government assertion that it is 'necessary' to subjugate Palestinians for the sake of keeping Jews safe."
A spokesman for Caterpillar could not immediately be reached for comment. The board member, Gail Fosler, also chief economist of The Conference Board, could not be reached.
The Conference Board, a tenant of the building, compiles U.S. economic data gauging American economic activity.
Security experts said the incident highlighted New York's continued vulnerability despite its high-alert status and measures undertaken since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The explosions at the midtown Manhattan office block near the United Nations occurred shortly after 3:30 a.m./0730 GMT when two metal dummy grenades packed with gunpowder exploded in a concrete flower box, police said.
CYCLIST CAUGHT ON TAPE
Police were examining videotape from security cameras that appeared to show a cyclist lighting and then throwing the grenades toward the building before fleeing the scene, law enforcement sources said.
The incident briefly upset British financial markets. In the short general election campaign Prime Minister Tony Blair battled public anger against his support of the war in Iraq, although he looked set to win a reduced majority.
British Consul General Philip Thomas said: "I can't speculate about who this bomb might have been aimed at, whether it was us or someone else."
Howard Safir, police chief under former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, said security in New York remained a grave concern, given how easy it is to obtain explosives and parts that can be fashioned into crude but potentially deadly bombs in America.
He said such devices were typically used to generate publicity rather than casualties. The grenade shells, without explosives, can be bought on the Internet for about $7 each.
New York has remained on high alert since the Sept. 11 attacks, when hijacked planes destroyed the World Trade Center's twin towers. City police now regularly hold security drills with machine gun toting police ever more common.
(Additional reporting by Walker Simon and Irwin Arieff, and Christine Kearney)
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, May 5, 2005 – The U.S. military fighting the war on terrorism is far different from the military forces developed to confront the Soviet Union. Today's military is smaller than the Cold War force. It is already more agile and more flexible. And experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan show that joint operations enable the military to focus more power, more quickly exactly where it is needed.
The impetus to change will increase in coming years, and the base-realignment-and-closure process will allow the Defense Department to match force structure with the necessary capabilities.
The BRAC process is a chance for the department "to get it right, right now," said a senior defense official. Changes in the global military posture and the need to reduce overhead have combined to offer the military the perfect opportunity to rationalize the military infrastructure to the force structure needed for the future.
The process will also allow the military to improve its efficiency and place emphasis on joint training and operations. "A primary objective of BRAC 2005 is to examine and implement opportunities for greater jointness," officials said.
The process is meant to allow the secretary and the BRAC commissioners to look across traditional lines to examine the potential for jointness. In fact, in the department, the entire decision-making process is joint at every level, said officials.
There are more than 520,000 DoD-owned facilities worldwide. Some are small plots of land with radio or radar towers. Others are huge ranges and bases. All are being looked at to determine how each property fits into the new force-structure plan.
This force structure plan, together with statutory selection criteria, will be the basis for all decisions. Developed by the Joint Staff, the plan is based on the new national security and defense strategies. It looks out 20 years and tries to forecast threats; probable end-strength levels and anticipated funding levels. The selection criteria were published in the Federal Register in December 2003 and later modified by Congress. The final selection criteria are set out in the BRAC statute, which specifies that "military value" as the primary consideration in making any closure or realignment decision. Military value is reflected in the first four selection criteria and includes the current and future capabilities needed and the impact on operational readiness of a post, base, range or installation. This includes the impact an installation has on joint warfighting, joint training and joint readiness.
In addition, military value includes the availability and condition of land, facilities and associated airspace. Military officials have looked at training areas that will exercise forces in a variety of climates and terrains.
Military value also includes a "surge capability" that allows the department to accommodate mobilization.
Finally, military value includes the cost of operations and manpower implications.
The remaining criteria consider the extent and timing of potential costs and savings; the economic impact on existing communities in the vicinity of military installations; the ability of the infrastructure of communities to support forces, missions and personnel; and finally, the environmental impact, including the impact of costs associated with environmental restoration, waste management and environmental compliance.
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's BRAC recommendations are due to be published not later than May 16. At that point the BRAC Commission, led by former Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi, will examine the recommendations. The commission's findings are due to President Bush not later than Sept. 8.
The president must approve or disapprove the whole list; he cannot agree with some recommendations and disagree with others.
If he approves the recommendations, the list goes to Congress, where senators and representatives have 45 "legislative days" to enact a joint resolution of disapproval. If they do not, then the list has the force of law.
Under the BRAC statute, actions to close or realign a base must be initiated within two years of the date the president transmits the BRAC Commission's recommendations report to Congress and must be completed within six years of that same date.
Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife Cherie after he was being elected Member of Parliament for Sedgefield at the Sedgefield Constituency count at Newton Aycliffe, England Friday May 6, 2005. Blair has retained his Parliamentary seat, acknowledging that the Iraq war was divisive and urging Britons to 'look to the future.' (AP Photo/Scott Heppell)
Exit Polls: Blair Wins Historic Third Term
By ROBERT BARR, Associated Press Writer
LONDON - Tony Blair won a historic third term as prime minister Thursday but his Labour Party suffered a sharply reduced parliamentary majority in apparent punishment for going to war in Iraq, according to projections based on exit polls. A chastened Blair said "we will have to respond to that sensibly and wisely."
Such an outcome, if confirmed by the actual vote count, could set the stage for Blair to be replaced in midterm by a party rival such as Gordon Brown. As Treasury chief, Brown was widely credited for the strong economy that appears to have clinched Labour's victory, outweighing the bitterness many voters said they felt over Iraq.
"I know Iraq has been a divisive issue in this country, but I hope now that we can unite again and look to the future there and here," Blair said after results gave him a resounding victory in his constituency of Sedgefield in northeastern England, despite a challenge from the father of a British soldier killed in the Iraq war. Blair had to win his seat to keep his job as prime minister.
The BBC and ITV television stations projected Labour would win 358 seats in the 646-seat parliament, ahead of the Conservatives with 209. The Liberal Democrats — the only party to have opposed the Iraq war — were projected in third place with 53 seats, for them a disappointing gain of two seats.
The television projections, based on a survey of more than 16,000 voters in 115 closely contested districts, showed Labour with 37 percent of the popular vote, the lowest winning share ever.
If they are correct that Labour's majority will decline from the current 161 seats to 68, Blair could face difficulties controlling a faction of his party deeply disillusioned with his leadership, especially over Iraq.
"One of the conclusions of this is that he (Blair) certainly does not have a mandate to launch another war along with George Bush," said Robin Cook, who resigned from Blair's Cabinet in protest to the war.
Clare Short, who also quit Blair's Cabinet over the war, said Blair had proved a liability.
"I think everyone agrees we would have done better with a different leader," Short said.
Blair acknowledged the exit polls.
"It seems as if it's clear ... that the British people wanted the return of a Labour government but with a reduced majority, and we have to respond to that sensibly and wisely," he said.
The White House reacted cautiously. President Bush was expected to make a call to Blair once the vote count became clearer, aides said.
Former Conservative Defense Secretary Michael Portillo said the projected outcome could prove perilous for Blair.
"On these results I would have thought ... the Brown supporters will be wondering how quickly they can move Tony Blair out of Downing Street," he said.
Brown called the predicted Labour victory "historic" but said it was too early to say what the majority would be.
"This is the work that drives us on. This is the vision that gives enduring purpose to what we do. This is the task our party wants to take forward starting from this morning," Brown said after winning a seat in his constituency.
Partial official results showed 163 seats were won by Labour incumbents, 18 went to the Conservatives, 13 went to the Liberal Democrats and six went to other smaller parties. Results in 155 of 646 constituencies showed a turnout of 5,724,445 or about 57 percent of the electorate.
Counting was to continue through the night, and the winner would not be officially confirmed at least until Friday morning.
While Blair apparently was diminished in victory, Conservative leader Michael Howard gained stature as his party lost a third straight election but at least showed some signs of life.
The Conservatives were projected to take 33 percent. The Liberal Democrats were in third place with 22 percent.
A big part of the Conservative strategy was to make it a referendum on Blair, urging voters to "wipe the smirk" off his face. Although Howard supported the Iraq war, he attacked Blair, accusing the prime minister of lying about intelligence and the legality of the invasion and lacking a plan to win the peace.
But Blair benefited from the Conservatives' even greater unpopularity and a perception that the opposition is less capable of handling the economy.
And the government's strong economic record — Britain's growth is high and unemployment low compared to much of the rest of the European Union — appears to have outweighed the resentments over Iraq. Labour is also credited with improving public services such as health and education through investment.
Never before has the Labour Party won three straight elections. Margaret Thatcher accomplished the same feat for the Tories, the only other prime minister in modern British history to do so.
Still, the projected victory for Labour on Thursday stood in stark contrast to Blair's landslides in 1997 and 2001.
Blair's government only narrowly defeated Labour revolts in the last parliament, including the crucial vote to go to war in Iraq and legislation to introduce tuition fees for university students, allow more private funding for state-run hospitals and toughen anti-terrorism laws.
Other governments have coped with smaller majorities. Thatcher won with a majority of 43 in 1979. Her successor, John Major, struggled along with a majority of 21, which shrank toward zero at the end of his five-year term in 1997.
Blair says this will be his last term. A politically weakened Blair would find it difficult to persuade British voters to approve a proposed constitution for the European Union — which requires ratification by all member states.
During the campaign, the left-leaning Guardian newspaper offered free clothespins to any reader who requested one after a columnist urged reluctant Labour supporters to put aside opposition to the Iraq war and back the party for its domestic policies.
Iraq loomed large in voters' thinking.
"Iraq has been a big thing — trust," said Nicola Wyndham, 33, who voted for Labour four years ago but switched to the Liberal Democrats this time. "He (Blair) has had eight years to make an impact and he really hasn't. There are still problems with health, education and crime."
"I've turned from Labour to Liberal Democrat because I don't really believe what Labour are saying," said Marguerite Hoy, 64, a voter in Braintree, northeast of London.
Democratic Party volunteers from the United States joined Blair's campaign, including Stan Greenberg, Zack Exley, Bob Shrum and Karen Hicks.
Republicans, the traditional allies of British Conservatives, were not much in evidence. Bush's White House has kept the Tories at arms length in deference to his alliance with Blair.
In New York, two small makeshift grenades exploded early Thursday outside a building housing the British Consulate. The blast caused minor damage and no injuries.
May 05, 2005
Washington, DC, May. 5 (UPI) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Rumsfeld has approved $10 million to rush 10,000 new jammers to Iraq to help combat roadside bombs, Pentagon officials said Thursday.
The $10 million is being released under an emergency authorization provision approved by Congress that lets the Pentagon move up to $100 million without going through the standard reporting procedures so long as it is done for troop force protection reasons.
"We are replacing miles of paperwork and lots of bureaucracy with personal accountability," said House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter, R-Calif.
Each of the jammers costs $1,000. They were just tested last month and will be flooded into Iraq in the next two months, CQ Today reported this week.
The new jammer, the details of which are classified, can be hand-held or mounted to vehicles. The current Warlock jammer is vehicle-mounted and depends on power from the engine.
Jammers are not the cure all for the roadside bomb problem, but will help combat those detonated by a remote electronic signal from a cell phone or even garage door opener.
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany - Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson hosted a United Service Organizations concert special here that is scheduled to air May 23 on ABC. The show includes perfomances by Brian McKnight, Willie Nelson, Big and Rich and comedian Jimmy Kimmel. Photo by: Courtesy photo
Harrier mechanic reunites with parents on national television
Submitted by: 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing Story Identification #: 2005552047 Story by Cpl. C. Alex Herron
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany (May, 5, 2005) -- An AV-8B Harrier mechanic with Marine Attack Squadron 311 was reunited with his parents at a United Service Organizations concert special in Ramstein Air Base, Germany, recently.
Sgt. Doug Acero, an avionics technician with VMA-311 has been deployed to Al Asad, Iraq, since November 2004. He served with the ‘Tomcats’ of VMA-311 and augmented Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, in Fallujah from November 25 to Jan. 25, 2005.
“I don’t feel like I deserve this to happen to me. I just consider myself really lucky. This was an awesome surprise,” said Acero.
Acero traveled to Ramstein thinking he was only picked to represent his unit at a USO concert, not to see his parents for the first time in seven months.
“I had no idea what was going on, but I realized something had been planned for me when I arrived at the concert,” said the Sugar Land, Texas, native.
Upon arrival to the show, Acero was met by a team of production assistants who wanted to make sure he wouldn’t see his parents until show time.
“I wasn’t allowed to go anywhere,” he said. “I always had someone watching me and not allowing me to do anything without an escort. They stuck me in the front row and told me to not move for the entire concert.”
Acero wasn’t the only one in his family chomping at the bit waiting for something to happen. His parents, Gloria and Jamie, were hidden away in the “green” room until the moment they would be allowed to finally hug their son for the first time in months.
“I just wanted to see him so badly,” said Jamie Acero. “I saw him on the screen in the green room during the show because he was up front and I could barely hold in my excitement.”
Ninety minutes into the taping Doug began questioning if anything was going to happen. Not knowing that in a few minutes he would be hugging his mother on stage in front of the thousands on-hand and millions of viewers when it airs on TV.
“I was thinking that getting to sit up front was all that they would be doing,” Acero said. “Earlier they had said that I was going to get called on stage, but they never told me why so I just figured they ran out of time to do whatever they had planned for me.”
Soon after thinking nothing was going to happen, Acero was called on stage with the show’s hosts, Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson. While on stage the three made small talk about what he missed most about home and what he wished he could do if he was home now.
“Of course I miss my family and friends the most,” said Acero.
Before he knew it a video of his parents and younger sister wishing him safety and a quick return home played on stage. All of a sudden his parents walked on stage to meet him with open arms.
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany - Sergeant Doug Acero, avionics technician, Marine Attack Squadron 311 waves to the crowd at the taping of a USO concert special scheduled to air May 23 on ABC. Acero was reunited with his parents as a surprise for the show. He has been serving in Iraq since November and hadn't seen his parents for more than eight months. Photo by: Courtesy photo
“When I hugged my mom I just didn’t want to let go,” he said. “I have been without them for so long. I just didn’t want to let go. It was a cool moment that I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”
After the reunion, the Aceros spent the next couple of days sight seeing and catching up on news from home.
Acero has another three weeks in Iraq until he is scheduled to return home and can continue the short reunion he experienced with his family in Germany.
The Acero’s family reunion can be seen on May 23 when the concert airs on ABC with performances by Jessica Simpson, Nick Lachey, Brian McKnight, Willie Nelson, Jimmy Kimmel and country duo Big and Rich.
-For more information on this story please e-mail Cpl. Herron at herronca@acemnf-wiraq.usmc.mil-
Three Iraqi soldiers and an unidentified American soldier, second from right, storm a house outside the city of Baqouba, 57 km (35 miles) northeast of Baghdad, Thursday, May 5, 2005. US and Iraqi soldiers searched a palm grove where they suspected insurgents were hiding with weapons. (AP Photo/Jacob Silberberg)
An Iraqi translator, right, name not given, questions a man about a pipeline fire near his home, while US Army Sgt. Jason Johnston, left, of Forgan, Ok., stands guard near the city of Baqouba, 57 km (35 miles) northeast of Baghdad, Iraq Thursday, May 5, 2005. According to neighbors, the pipeline caught fire around midday. (AP Photo/Jacob Silberberg)
Dr. Ahmad Nabhan, imam of the Colorado Muslim Society, stands in the prayer room of the mosque in Denver, Thursday, May 5, 2005, as he waits to start the afternoon prayer session. Nabhan leads the mosque that was attended by American engineer Aban Elias, who was kidnapped on May 3, 2004, near Fullujah, Iraq. The case involving Elias, who has not been seen since appearing in a video aired on an Arab television station, is now believed to be the longest kidnapping of an American civilian in the Iraq war.(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Iraqi soldiers escort a detained suspect during a raid in the village of Buhruz, south of the city of Baquba. US and Iraqi soldiers detained 14 suspects and seized a huge amount of weapons in the raid.(AFP/Ali Yussef)
Toronto police arrest masked protesters who approached the Toronto Stock Exchange building to demonstrate against military contracts held by SNC Lavalin Group, who were holding their annual meeting of shareholders, May 5, 2005. Protesters were angry that SNC-Lavalin was producing ammunition components that were being used by the American military in Iraq. REUTERS/J.P. Moczulski
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The 37 tractors turned over to the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture. Originally found in Sadr City, the tractors were repaired and transported by the 256th Brigade Combat Team soldiers and eventually released to the farmers in need of the equipment. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Thomas Benoit
Soldiers Help Ensure Agricultural Success
Iraqi government and the Ministry of Agriculture work together to bring Iraqi farmers a brighter future
By U.S. Army Spc. Ricardo Branch 3rd Inf. Div. Public Affairs Office
CAMP TIGERLAND, Iraq, May 5, 2005 — Soldiers of the 256th Brigade Combat Team ensured farmers of the greater Baghdad area will be able to boost their agricultural development immensely with farm equipment during an equipment signoff event at the Al Radwaniyah Provincial Civil Military Operations Center May 2, 2005.
"We're about to make a bit of history today," said Brig. Gen. John Basilica, Jr., commander of the 256th Brigade Combat Team. "Handing off this equipment will give assistance to the farmers of the region and provide better agriculture to the Iraqi people."
256th Brigade Combat Team signed over 37 tractors, 16 water pumps, and 56 five-horsepower generators to the Ministry of Agriculture to pass down to farmers in need of the equipment.
"It's really been a three-fold mission however, as we've already given seeds, fertilizer and now equipment, this will help promote and improve the chances for Iraqis to feed themselves." Brig. Gen. John Basilica, Jr.
U.S. Army Brig. Gen. John Basilica, Jr., commander of the 256th Brigade Combat Team, signs documents handing over responsibility for farming equipment to the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture at the Al Radwaniyah Provincial Civil Military Operations Center May 2, 2005. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Thomas Benoit
The equipment, originally purchased under the old regime, lay dormant in a Sadr City warehouse for the past three years. Upon finding the equipment, the soldiers transported it to a secure area for repairs and eventual distribution to the farmers.
Present to receive the farming equipment, Saub Hussien, a representative of the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture, said the equipment being signed over will be put to good use for the Iraqi people.
"We want to thank the U.S. government and U.S. Army for their support and efforts to make this happen," he said. "Their help will make Iraqi's agriculture better and assist many farmers of this area and many others like it."
The hand off of equipment is part of an effort for the soldiers of 256th Brigade Combat Team, who have provided agricultural aid for some time.
"This is all part of Operation Amber Waves, which was initiated during 1st Cavalry Division's time," Basilica said.
"The 256th Brigade Combat Team is out here to assist the local farmers with improving their farming and really just make this signoff happen."
"It's really been a three-fold mission however, as we've already given seeds, fertilizer and now equipment," he said. "This will help promote and improve the chances for Iraqis to feed themselves."
Approximately 100 local farmers and members of the United Farmers of Iraq witnessed the transfer.
Sheik Rasheed Al Shably, director of the UFI, says the tractors will be a great help in reconstructing and improving the Iraqi agricultural economy.
By providing tractors and a trained operator to any farmer submitting a request, the farmers and government of Iraq are committing themselves to improving agriculture for all of the Iraqi people, he said.
With the Ministry of Agriculture and government working side-by-side, farmers now turn to the government for aid.
"This sends a strong signal that the Iraqi government and Ministry of Agriculture are working together and providing the level of assistance that they should," Basilica said. "Now if a farmer has an issue, he turns to the Ministry of Agriculture, who will assist them further."
Bush OKs Demotion of Abu Ghraib General
By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer
Thu May 5, 6:48 PM ET
WASHINGTON - In the first disciplinary action against a senior officer in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal, the Army said Thursday it has demoted Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, whose Army Reserve unit was in charge of the prison compound during the period of abuse.
The Army also said it cleared three other, more senior generals of wrongdoing in the prisoner abuse cases, actions that had been previously reported but not publicly confirmed by the Army.
That means Karpinski is the only general to be disciplined thus far. Messages left with Karpinski at her home in Hilton Head, S.C., and with her attorney were not immediately returned.
The Army described its investigations as exhaustive, requiring six months of work including sworn-statement interviews with 82 people, including L. Paul Bremer, who was the top civilian authority in Iraq at the time, and Gen. John Abizaid, the commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East.
The Senate Armed Services Committee has said it intends to hold hearings soon to assess whether senior Defense Department civilian and military leaders were adequately held accountable for Abu Ghraib.
Among those cleared by the Army was Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, who was the top Army general in Iraq at the time of the prisoner abuses. He has been faulted by some for leadership failures but has never been accused of ordering or sanctioning any abuse of prisoners.
The Army said it could not substantiate two allegations against Sanchez: dereliction in the performance of duties pertaining to detention and interrogation operations and improperly communicating interrogation policies.
Sanchez is currently the commander of 5th Corps, headquartered at Heidelberg, Germany.
Karpinski was demoted to colonel, a move that required approval by President Bush. She also received a written reprimand by Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Richard Cody and was formally relieved of command of the 800th Military Police Brigade on April 8, the Army said in a statement.
The Army's inspector general investigated four allegations against Karpinski: dereliction of duty, making a "material misrepresentation" to investigators, failure to obey a lawful order and shoplifting. Only the shoplifting and dereliction of duty allegations were substantiated.
The Army did not explain the specifics of the allegations, but a number of previous investigations of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuses have accused Karpinski of failing to maintain order and prevent the abuses. She has said publicly that she was not given full authority over Abu Ghraib and that when photographs of the abuse became public she was made a scapegoat.
A U.S. government official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Karpinski was accused of shoplifting a cosmetic item from a shop at a domestic Air Force base while she held the rank of colonel. Karpinski did not report her arrest for this misdemeanor on a later background check, the official said. In an interview with CBS News last year, Karpinski denied shoplifting.
Without providing their names, the Army also said Thursday that one colonel and two lieutenant colonels linked to detainee abuses in Iraq and Afghanistan were given unspecified administrative punishment. Also, two other lieutenant colonels were given letters of reprimand.
More than a dozen other lower-ranking officers, whose names were not released, also received various punishments.
_ Three majors were given letters of reprimand and one of the three also was given an unspecified administrative punishment.
_ Three captains are to be court-martialed, one captain is to be given an other-than-honorable discharge from the Army, five captains received letters of reprimand, and one was given an unspecified administrative punishment.
_ Two first lieutenants will be court-martialed, another got a letter of reprimand and one was given administrative punishment.
_ One second lieutenant was given an other-than-honorable discharge and another was given a letter of reprimand.
_ Two chief warrant officers are to be court-martialed.
The Army said other cases involving officers linked to detainee abuse are still open, but it did not say how many.
News Photo Home U.S. Army Pfc. Ray Brownlee stands a night watch at Forward Operating Base Hotel as a storm rapidly approaches Najaf, Iraq, on April 26, 2005. Brownlee is attached to 1st Battalion, 198th Armor, Headquarters Company, 155th Brigade Combat Team deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. DoD photo by Chief Petty Officer Edward G. Martens, U.S. Navy. (Released)
By Jim Miklaszewski - Correspondent
NBC News
Updated: 10:05 p.m. ET May 5, 2005
Military officials said Thursday substantial progress has been made in armoring United States military vehicles in Iraq — but given the increasing number and sophistication of those enemy roadside bombs, that is clearly not good enough.....(Excerpt)
That is a kool pic. I'd love to see a bigger version of that.
DoD Identifies Army Casualty No. 440-05 IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 5, 2005
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Sgt. Stephen P. Saxton, 24, of Temecula, Calif., died May 3 in Baghdad, Iraq, when his unit was conducting a route security mission and an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV. Saxton was assigned to the Army’s 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Carson, Colo.
DoD Identifies Army Casualty No. 439-05 IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 5, 2005
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Sgt. John E. McGee, 36, of Columbus, Ga., died May 2 near Diwaniyah, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his convoy vehicle. McGee was assigned to the Army National Guard’s 2101st Transportation Company, Camden, Ala.
DoD Identifies Marine Casualty No. 438-05 IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 5, 2005
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Capt. Kelly C. Hinz, 30, of Woodbury, Minn., died May 2 from injuries received when the F/A-18 Hornet aircraft he was piloting crashed in Iraq while flying in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was assigned to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 323, Marine Aircraft Group 11, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif. His unit was embarked aboard the U.S.S. Carl Vinson.
DoD Identifies Army Casualty No. 436-05 IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 5, 2005
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Sgt. Kenya A. Parker, 26, of Fairfield, Ala., died April 30 in Baghdad, Iraq, of a non-combat related medical condition. Parker was assigned to the Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.
This undated photo provided by theU.S. Navy shows Marine Corps pilot Maj. John C. Spahr, who was identified by officials as one of two fighter pilots who were killed when their planes crashed in south-central Iraq monday, May 2, 2005. Spahr was executive officer of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 323, based at Marine
Wow steel_resolve!!
(AFP)
5 May 2005
JERUSALEM - Israel denied any involvement on Thursday after a Pentagon expert was arrested by the FBI on charges of disclosing top secret information about Iraq to a prominent pro-Israel lobby group.
“Israel considers this arrest as a non-issue. We have no involvement and we have not received any document from this person,” a senior foreign ministry official told AFP.
Lawrence Franklin, who served on the Iran desk in the office of Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, turned himself in to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Washington on Wednesday after the charges were unsealed.
Franklin, 58, is alleged to have revealed classified information about potential attacks on US forces in Iraq to two employees of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee at a restaurant in Arlington, Virginia in June 2003.
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom was also quoted by the Yediot Aharonot daily as denying any Israeli involvement.
“Israel has intimate strategic relations with the United States, which include exchanges of classified information,” Shalom said.
“Israel will not do anything to harm those relations. Anyone who imagines that we were involved in this affair is mistaken.”
Israel pledged not to spy on the United States after the case of Jonathan Pollard, an intelligence analyst for the US Navy, who passed on thousands of secret documents in 18 months before his arrest in November 1985.
Pollard was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1987, but Israel only admitted that he was one of its spies 11 years later. It has since lobbied Washington to grant him a pardon.
“We have excellent cooperation with the Americans at all levels and we have no need of documents of the sort that were in this person’s field,” the foreign ministry official said.
“It is possible that he has passed on a document of which we are ignorant to other Americans,” he added. “In any case this is not the Pollard affair.”
Presenter: Lawrence Di Rita, Pentagon Spokesman; and Lieutenant General James T. Conway, Director, Operations, Joint Staff Thursday, May 5, 2005 2:40 p.m. EDT
Friday, May 6, 2005
The Federal Security Service said Thursday that it had foiled a series of major terrorist attacks ahead of Victory Day celebrations, discovering both a truck bomb and a cache of poisons allegedly intended for chemical attacks in cities across the North Caucasus and other regions.
A truck carrying more than a ton of explosives was found near Grozny, said Major General Ilya Shabalkin, chief spokesman for the federal forces in the North Caucasus. The truck frame and chassis had been outfitted with about 1,200 kilograms of explosives for an attack allegedly planned by Chechen rebel leaders Shamil Basayev, Doku Umarov and Abdul-Khalim Sadulayev, the successor to slain rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov.
The truck was discovered on a road Thursday morning, Shabalkin said.
Security services have been on watch for major terrorist attacks around Victory Day. Militants have struck twice in the past on the holiday, killing Kremlin-backed Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov at a parade in Grozny last year and bombing a parade in the southern Russian town of Kaspiisk in 2002, killing 43 people.
"The truck was fully prepared for a blast. The only thing left to do was to put a suicide-bomber behind the wheel and turn on the electric detonator," Shabalkin said.
He said that two men who had driven the truck were detained and were being interrogated.
The FSB said Thursday that rebel leaders had also planned attacks using poisons and toxic substances in the capitals of the North Caucasus region and several large regional centers elsewhere in Russia. A specially equipped cache containing a cyanide-based substance was discovered during the course of combat in an unnamed settlement on the Chechen-Ingush border, the FSB said in a statement. The components, which are not produced in Russia or elsewhere in the former Soviet Union, had been brought in from abroad, it said.
"Experts have concluded that the application of these strong-acting poisons in minimal doses in crowded places, in vital enterprises and in water reservoirs could produce numerous victims," the FSB said. "According to experts, the contents of a single 4-gram container could kill around 100 people."
The FSB said a militant group operating in Ingushetia had been involved in the planned chemical attacks. It said the main organizer was a Jordanian named Abu Majahid, who it said had arrived in Chechnya in 1992 and served as an emissary of al-Qaida. The attack was to have been carried out by the so-called Amanat, or Silence, jamaat, a group of adherents to the extremist Wahhabi branch of Islam, the FSB said. The jamaat is headed by Alash Daudov, a former police official whom it accused of complicity in the 2002 Chechen rebel seizure of Moscow's Dubrovka theater, attacks on police in Grozny and Nazran last summer and the Beslan school attack. No independent confirmation of the raids was available.
But the FSB supplied photographs showing a small amount of explosive alongside a truck. Separate pictures of the seized poison showed a man in a white coat holding a phial of clear liquid.
05 May 2005 23:12:35 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Jim Wolf
WASHINGTON, May 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. Army told Congress on Thursday it had sharply reduced the proportion of military casualties from roadside bombs in Iraq even as they have become increasingly powerful in the past year.
Even as insurgents continue to launch devastating attacks on Iraqi police, politicians and civilians, the ratio of death and injury among among U.S. troops from roadside "improvised explosive devices" has fallen by three-quarters, two generals told the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee.
But members of the panel said more must be done quickly to protect U.S. forces. The committee's ranking Democrat, Ike Skelton of Missouri, faulted the Bush administration for going to war in Iraq without "the right equipment for the fight."
Last spring, nearly every attack from an improvised explosive device caused a casualty in the U.S.-led coalition that ousted President Saddam Hussein in 2003, two brigadier generals working on the problem testified before the panel, which has prodded the Pentagon to do more to protect troops.
"We have drastically reduced this ratio to about one casualty for every four IED detonations, and we continue to drive (it) down," said Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sorenson, an Army acquisition, logistics and technology official; and Brig. Gen. Joseph Votel, director of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's Joint IED Defeat task force.
In a prepared joint statement, they cited improved protection from armored vehicles, electronic countermeasures, greater situational awareness, use of personal body armor and better training and "operational focus."
Army commanders deployed in Iraq with only 235 Humvee light trucks with added-on armor in May 2003, the generals said. The war-fighting U.S. Central Command now has almost 8,000 such "up-armored" Humvees in its fold and there is funding for a total of 10,345 vehicles, they said.
Skelton, in a statement after the hearing, said, "We started the occupation of Iraq without a post-combat plan and without the right equipment for the fight.
"Furthermore, we were too slow to react when it became clear that post-combat operations would be just as dangerous as the combat phase," he said.
The threat of radio-controlled IEDS remains "pervasive" in both Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army generals said. Brig. Gen. William Cato of the Marine Corps, who also testified, described the Iraqi insurgents as constantly ratcheting up the threat.
"As we've added armor, they've added explosives," he said.
About 70 percent of U.S. casualties, both killed and wounded, are attributed to IEDs, Marine Corps Lt. Gen. James Conway, director of operations for the U.S. military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a Pentagon briefing later in the day.
05 May 2005 22:47:35 GMT
Source: Reuters
WASHINGTON, May 5 (Reuters) - President George W. Bush on Thursday extended economic sanctions on Syria imposed last year and said the Arab country supported terrorism and was undermining efforts to stabilize Iraq.
Bush extended a ban on certain U.S. exports to Syria and other sanctions that were imposed on May 11, 2004, to "beyond May 11, 2005" but did not specify a date.
Bush accused Syria of supporting terrorism, pursuing weapons of mass destruction, undermining efforts to stabilize Iraq and "continuing its occupation of Lebanon" and said this posed a "continuing, unusual, and extraordinary threat" to the United States.
The United States demanded Syria remove all its troops and intelligence officers from Lebanon after the Feb. 14 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. Syria ended its 29-year military presence in Lebanon last week.
The sanctions severed banking relations with the Commercial Bank of Syria, froze the assets of Syrians suspected of involvement in terrorism or WMD development, and prohibited Syrian flights to and from the United States.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- A Libyan seized in Pakistan this week was the fourth purported No. 3 leader of al-Qaida killed or captured since the Sept. 11 attacks, but the global dragnet has yet to reach up the terror group's hierarchy to the main prizes -- Osama bin Laden and his right-hand man, Ayman al-Zawahri.
Pakistani and U.S. officials hope the arrest of Abu Farraj al-Libbi after a shootout in a graveyard Monday may change that.i At least five other al-Qaida suspects have been detained in Pakistan over the past week, intelligence officials say.
We are on the same page. I like that photo! Hope everything is going well.
BEIRUT, Lebanon -- An upsurge in insurgent attacks during the past week that has killed nearly 250 Iraqis poses a stark question: Will the new Iraqi regime be able to govern?
The attacks mainly have targeted Iraq's nascent security forces, or people applying to become part of the army and police. Insurgents also have targeted members of the Shia majority and Kurdish minority - the two groups that dominate the incoming government.
May 06, 2005 edition
By Neil MacDonald | Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor
BAGHDAD – Sunni Arab politicians, increasingly frustrated at being shut out of key cabinet posts, say that a meaningful role in Iraq's new government would help them restrain insurgent violence. Spectacular bombings and other attacks, mostly directed at Iraqi security forces, have overshadowed hopes of political progress in the week since Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari formed his partial cabinet.
Sunni moderates are eager to distance themselves from the "terrorists" behind the bombing campaign, which intensified following the formation of Iraq's new government last Thursday. But they also blame the sustained violence on continual disappointments for their community ever since Iraq's Jan. 30 elections.
Adding to frustrations among Sunnis is the fact that 10 of their nominees for the coveted post of defense minister apparently have been turned down by Shiite leaders.
Mishan al-Jabbouri, a Sunni Arab member of the National Assembly, says that the latest political impasse was "definitely related" to the surge in violence, although those Sunnis who signed on for the political process more than three months ago still remain "fully committed to it."
Prime Minister Jaafari says he wants his government to include the Sunni minority, whose disaffected ranks form the main support base for the insurgency. But three months of haggling between the Shiite-dominated United Iraqi Alliance and the second-place Kurdistan Alliance has seemingly left a shortage of political capital to throw the Sunnis' way.
Potentially influential Sunnis, meanwhile, are often tainted by association with former ruler Saddam Hussein.
Mindful of bringing middle-class army officers and restive tribes inside the government tent, Jaafari promised to assign the defense ministry to a Sunni.
The defense ministry nearly went to Sadoun Dulaymi, a former Saddam Hussein-era general with roots in western Iraq's tribal Sunni heartland. But last-minute objections from within the Shiite bloc forced Jaafari to instead bring an incomplete cabinet list to the National Assembly, with himself as acting defense minister, while negotiations with a small and loosely organized Sunni faction continued.
Analysts say that the bombs exploding around Baghdad starting the next morning probably came in response to the government's limited progress, rather than its lack of completeness. Nevertheless, repeated rejections of nominees for the defense portfolio have deepened the Sunni's sense of underrepresentation.
A Sunni businessman says that Sunni negotiators have reached the point of saying "take it or leave it."
In the past, the Iraqi military offered a respectable, secure career path, particularly for middle-class Sunnis. Many officers have rejoined Iraq's newly formed army, asserting that their first loyalty is to Iraq rather than to any particular leadership.
But with Shiite parties holding more than half the seats in parliament, some of the new army's most effective officers now face vocal threats of a wide-ranging anti-Baathist purge. >p>Having one of their own in the defense ministry, the Sunnis say, would provide a reasonable assurance that purges would be kept off the government's agenda.
According to Jabbouri, the Shiite prime minister has been "very cooperative" and is taking Sunni needs into consideration, but "the radicals" within the United Iraqi Alliance "tried to change the situation."
Several Sunni politicians appeared confident that a new deal had been reached just a day before the official swearing in of Jaafari's partial cabinet on Tuesday.
At a meeting earlier this week, Sunni tribal leaders continued to discuss possible strategies for Sunni participation in the drafting of Iraq's permanent constitution.
Amid frustration over their ongoing exclusion from meaningful participation, however, a few tribal sheikhs said they would consider taking up arms. Jabbouri declined to discuss the extent, or the nature, of the leverage that the moderate Sunnis who are on board with the political process can exert over the antigovernment insurgency. Nevertheless, bringing influential Sunnis into the fold may now be more important than ever, says Jabbouri and other observers.
The deadliest attack this week occurred Wednesday in Arbil, 220 miles north of Baghdad, when a suicide bomber detonated himself in a lineup of recruits for the Kurdistan regional police force, killing at least 50.
But most of the violence has been in and around the capital, where another bomber killed 11 people inside an army recruiting office the next day. Other attacks brought the total death toll since last Friday to over 200, including at least 10 US soldiers and numerous Iraqis.
Of Iraq's three main ethnic groups, the Sunni Arabs suffer most from a lack of cohesion.
"Who represents the Sunnis? No one can tell you," a US diplomat says, referring to the perpetual difficulty of negotiations over Sunni inclusion.
Thanks endthematrix. Yes, God is still on the throne and is still blessing. Praise Him!!
Members of the New York National Guard horse around as they pose in the National Guard Armory on Lexington Ave in Manhattan after receiving their Purple Heart Medals for injuries while serving in Iraq. (Newsday Photo/ Robert Mecea)April 23, 2005
GEN. CONWAY: I heard that report just shortly before stepping over here. I checked with my DDO and those people in our Regional Operations Directorate who are responsible for that portion of the world. The report is false. The Marines have not landed, but the situation is still well in hand.
Q The situation is still -- (laughter) -- well in hand?
GEN. CONWAY: (Chuckles.)
MR. DI RITA: Come on, Charlie. Work with us here.
Q So no U.S. troops have gone ashore --
GEN. CONWAY: That's correct, Charlie, that there's no indication that the people in the Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa have landed on the Somali coast. They're still in Djibouti and conducting operations.
Bump
President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin are to meet Sunday.
U.S. position on Baltics angers Russians - CNN
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The White House on Thursday sought to calm Russian anger over the U.S. call for Moscow to renounce the Soviet Union's 1940 annexation of Baltic states, even as President Bush promised to raise the issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Nope, the Marines may not have landed....that's a true statement.
Any MSM on this?
050505-N-5608F-010 Washington, D.C. (May 5, 2005) - Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld takes a moment to thank the men and women overseas fighting the global war on terrorism. Rumsfeld also spoke about the "America Supports You" concert series that kicked off at the Pentagon. The concert series, which will visit the museum and display ship USS Intrepid, Iraq and Afghanistan is a part of a nationwide initiative to showcase and communicate American support for the armed forces. U.S. Navy photo by Journalist 1st Class Kristin Fitzsimmons (RELEASED
050505-N-5608F-012 Washington, D.C. (May 5, 2005) - Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is presented with a rear deck lid (trunk) decal from the Lowe's NASCAR Racing Team and the senior vice president of Lowe's Companies. The "America Supports You" decal will be on the Lowe's No. 48 racecar during the NASCAR races held during May, "National Military Appreciation Month." Rumsfeld spoke about the "America Supports You" concert series that kicked off at the Pentagon. The concert series, which will visit the museum and display ship USS Intrepid, Iraq and Afghanistan is a part of a nationwide initiative to showcase and communicate American support for the armed forces. U.S. Navy photo by Journalist 1st Class Kristin Fitzsimmons (RELEASED)
050505-N-5608F-011 Washington, D.C. (May 5, 2005) - Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld prepares to help unveil the Lowe's No. 48 Chevrolet racecar, driven by NASCAR Nextel Cup point leader Jimmie Johnson. Rumsfeld spoke about the "America Supports You" concert series that kicked off at the Pentagon. The concert series, which will visit the museum and display ship USS Intrepid, Iraq and Afghanistan is a part of a nationwide initiative to showcase and communicate American support for the armed forces. U.S. Navy photo by Journalist 1st Class Kristin Fitzsimmons (RELEASED)
050505-N-5608F-009 Washington, D.C. (May 5, 2005) - Country music artist Craig Morgan helps kick off the "America Salutes You" concert series at the Pentagon by singing a song set dedicated to the men and women of the armed forces. Morgan enlisted in the Army at the age of 18 and began his song career while taking part in a banquet honoring the military's first Airborne Unit and writing a song about the celebration. "America Supports You," is a nationwide initiative to showcase and communicate American support for the armed forces. U.S. Navy photo by Journalist 1st Class Kristin Fitzsimmons (RELEASED)
050505-N-5608F-008 Washington, D.C. (May 5, 2005) - Country music artist Craig Morgan helps kick off the "America Salutes You" concert series at the Pentagon by singing a song set dedicated to the men and women of the armed forces. Morgan enlisted in the Army at the age of 18 and began his song career while taking part in a banquet honoring the military's first Airborne Unit and writing a song about the celebration. "America Supports You," is a nationwide initiative to showcase and communicate American support for the armed forces. U.S. Navy photo by Journalist 1st Class Kristin Fitzsimmons (RELEASED)
050503-M-5607G-038 Al Asad, Iraq (May 3, 2005) - A U.S. Marine Corps CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter from the 2d Marine Aircraft Wing, lifts a High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) from the flight line of Al Asad, Iraq, to infantry units inserted at a forward location. Marines assigned to 3rd battalion 25th Marines will use the HMMVW during Operation River Sweep in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Alicia M. Garcia (RELEASED)
050413-N-6501M-010 Najaf, Iraq (April 13, 2005) - U.S. Army's 2nd Battalion/198 Armor, facilitated a live fire weapons training exercise for the Iraqi National Guard (ING) at Forward Operating Base Duke in Najaf, Iraq. ING personal received training on weapons safety, maintenance and proper handling. The U.S. Army is helping establish Iraq's defensive forces as part of the rebuilding process of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). U.S. Navy photo by Chief Photographer's Mate Edward G. Martens (RELEASED)
Many would like to forget him, but the professor's arrest has stilled some dissent.
TAMPA - Sami Al-Arian is the University of South Florida's own private ghost. You can't see him on campus anymore, but he's still there.
It has been two years since Al-Arian was put in prison to await trial on terrorism-related charges, and in most visible ways USF has returned to normal.
The gathering spots in the center of the campus, where speeches, protests and rallies were almost daily occurrences, are quiet again.
Faculty-administration relations, bruised by the dismissal of Al-Arian, who was a tenured engineering professor at the university, are more cordial if not entirely warm.
Fundraising is no longer threatened by angry alums. The administration, the board of trustees and faculty have reached new understandings. "Two years have passed . . . things are better than they were," said Roy Weatherford, president of the faculty union.
"Dangerous guy"....who "had been in the US all his life"
May 5, 2005
MIM: As Dr. Daniel Pipes had pointed out, at least 15% of all Muslims have the potential to be radicalised. The case of U.S. army sergeant Karim Iraq is case in point. http://abcnews.go.com/US/print?id=731064
Army Sergeant Arrested As Deserter at Parents' Home in Fla.; Anti-American Notes Found in Backpack
The Associated Press
May. 5, 2005 -
An Army sergeant who left his Georgia post six months ago was tracked down at his parents' home after a notebook with anti-American and anti-Semitic writings was found in his discarded backpack.
Karim Iraq, 25, was arrested as a deserter and is being held without bail at the Palm Beach County Jail, sheriff's officials said.
His father said the soldier fled Fort Stewart after the Army extended his enlistment because he had soured on the U.S. military mission in Iraq. The father said the soldier was also harassed over his Palestinian heritage.
"He was feeling rejected or discriminated against for the last year or so.... He said he'd been made fun of all of the time. He never fit in. They made fun of his name. They always looked at him like he's an outsider," Zayed Iraq said.
Karim Iraq was arrested Tuesday, a day after the backpack was found Monday at a gas station within miles of his parents' home in this West Palm Beach suburb. The father said the bag was probably left there by a burglar who had broken into the soldier's truck days earlier.
Authorities said a notebook inside the backpack contained handwritten notes cursing the military, freedom and the United States. A message reading "Die you know who you are!!!" appears with an image of the Star of David in a circle with a line through it.
"He's a dangerous guy with anti-American slogans and a deserter. It's someone we want to get off the street immediately," sheriff's Capt. Gregory Richter said.
Zayed Iraq said his Detroit-born son was proud of his service in Iraq and Kuwait on two previous tours but had become disenchanted and did not want to go back to the Middle East for a third time.
"It's not like he hates the U.S. He's been here all his life. It's the only country he ever knew. Half the country doesn't agree with the president," Zayed Iraq said.
Iraq's commander will determine whether he faces administrative punishment or a court-martial. If he is court-martialed, the maximum penalty under normal circumstances is up to five years in prison. During war, the maximum penalty is death, but the Army hasn't executed a soldier since 1961.
The case was referred to the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security.
Elehassan Society in Gaza used distribution of medical supplies to finance Palestinian Islamic Jihad's acts of terror
May 5, 2005
MIM :It was Michael Fechtner and the Tampa Tribune who went public with the Al Arian story in 1995.Steven Emerson had been aware of Sami Al Arian's Jihadist activities since 1993 and was the first person to 'out ' him as a terrorist in his 1993 documentary 'Jihad in America.
"..The Tampa Tribune's Michael Fechter began reporting on Al-Arian's activities in May 1995. The Tribune stands fully behind Fechter and his work. His has been a labor of years, in the course of which he has read thousands of pages of court documents and spoken with scores of individuals. His work in dozens of stories has met the highest standards and withstood the test of time..." http://archive.salon.com/tech/letters/2002/01/29/al_arian/
by Master Sgt. Andrew Gates 354th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
5/5/2005 - EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska (AFPN) -- With a handshake and the roar of a jet engine at Fort Polk, La., an Eielson unit became the first in the Air Force to own the latest addition to the service’s inventory – the Stryker armored vehicle.
In a May 5 ceremony at Fort Polk, 3rd Air Support Operations Squadron officials obtained five of the Army’s high-tech armored vehicles. The squadron is assigned to the 354th Operations Group at Eielson, but its primary customer is the Army’s 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team at Fort Wainwright, Alaska.
“This is an unbelievable joint victory,” said Lt. Col. Russell Smith of the Stryker addition that furthers jointness between Air Force and Army.
This joint effort between the two services will help serve the Army better by protecting Airmen who guide reconnaissance and attack aircraft during combat operations, said Colonel Smith, 3rd ASOS commander. As a liaison between ground forces and aerial units, the squadron’s Airmen can help the ground-bound Solders “see” what is over the next hill or building.
“We are the Air Force experts at the ground commander’s right hand,” Colonel Smith said. “Without airpower expertise on the battlefield, we leave the great American Soldier on the ground ‘naked.’ The Army has transformed into an agile and light fighting force, but in doing so, it has become far more reliant upon air power.”
To control that air power and fully implement its use in combat, the 3rd ASOS provides two types of specialized teams, Colonel Smith said. Tactical Air Control Parties perform the majority of the missions. They manage the air space above the ground troops, guiding in reconnaissance and surveillance aircraft such as unmanned aerial vehicles, and pointing out enemy forces to pilots performing close air support missions. The control parties also communicate with higher headquarters officials and plan and direct theater airlift by bringing in transport aircraft as needed.
The control parties are make up of Joint Terminal Attack Controllers and Radio Operators, Maintainers and Drivers. The ROMADs, as they are called, are junior Airmen of the control parties, while the JTACs are more seasoned Airmen specially trained to give weapons delivery clearance to close-air support aircraft. On a day-to-day level, these two specialties work side-by-side with Soldiers.
“I provide close air-support, or CAS, for the Army,” said Tech. Sgt. Dale Ellis, a controller and 3rd ASOS noncommissioned officer in charge of operations. “I help them plan how best to use aircraft, such as the A-10 (Thunderbolt II) for those missions protecting the ground troops. Then, I control the air strike (if it is necessary) -- I direct the employment of ordnance onto target.”
They give the pilot “eyes” on the ground -- especially during a very fluid combat situation, said Airman 1st Class Joseph Aton, a ROMAD.
“We provide the Air Force pilots with what the ground situation is – where the threats are, where the targets are and where the friendly forces are,” Airman Aton said. “We are also able to improve understanding, since we know what information the pilots need to perform their mission.”
“We are a force multiplier for the Soldiers,” Sergeant Ellis said. “We have the strongest Army in the world, but sometimes the bad guys need to be softened up (by attacking from the air) – that’s where we come into play.”
The other specialized team, the combat weather team, provides weather assessments to the commander.
“They don’t just report the weather,” Colonel Smith said. “We have to tell the ground commander how the weather will impact the ongoing battle plan. The current or anticipated weather may significantly affect what types of aerial support we can provide, and how effective that support will be.”
Both teams constantly communicate with the Soldiers in the field.
“We are responsible for augmenting the Army (commander’s ground) plan with Air Force assets and capabilities,” Colonel Smith said. “These assets will always include nonlethal effects as well as lethal. Today in Iraq, our Air Force mission is weighted heavily on our intelligence, surveillance and reporting capability and less so on the kinetic (weapon) effects we have come to associate with the Air Force.”
As more Army units move into the Stryker vehicle, Colonel Smith said it is crucial that the 3rd ASOS and similar units can use the same equipment. In the past, TACPs usually traveled outside installations in Humvees with additional armoring. Currently in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Strykers don’t normally travel with Humvees.
“The Stryker is faster than the traditional Humvee and much more survivable, especially in urban situations,” Colonel Smith said. “The armor provides protection against many traditional battlefield dangers. Since January 2004, that protection has been augmented with a cage of slat armor which offers protection against rocket-propelled grenades. The vehicle can also travel through less hospitable terrain than the Humvee and has a higher wheel clearance.”
“You want to be alongside in a Stryker. A Humvee can’t keep up,” Colonel Smith said.
Another advantage is the ability to better focus on their job. When using a Humvee, one of the Airmen drove, but the Stryker will be driven by one Soldier while another will be the vehicle commander.
While Soldiers maintain responsibility for the movement of the vehicle, Colonel Smith said the smoother ride allows TACPs and ROMADs to continue their jobs while the vehicle is moving. Communication was more limited in a Humvee while driving.
Besides speed and survivability, another important aspect of the vehicle is connectivity, Colonel Smith said. Since each vehicle possesses a ground-based tracking system, operators can quickly get a total picture of the battle space outside the vehicle. Crews can easily tell the “good guys” from the “bad guys,” he said. But without communication, he said even knowing where the enemy is isn’t necessarily enough.
“All that connectivity is useless without the proper communication channels,” Colonel Smith said. “That’s what’s really neat about having (these) dedicated vehicles. We have permanent mounts for our radios, antennae, tactical computer and our unmanned aerospace vehicle monitoring system. We can give the ground commander a complete picture of the area outside his Stryker -- both from the air and from the ground. This connectivity lets him make critical decisions in a fraction of the time it took before.”
From the standpoint of the users, the new Strykers will help the team do its job much better, Sergeant Ellis said.
“The new Strykers are definitely a lot safer than the up-armored Humvees,” he said. “They are top-notch and have all the equipment that we need to do the job.”
That realization, from the first air support and operations Airmen returning from Iraq, spurred the process to get the Strykers assigned to the unit, Colonel Smith said.
To prepare for the Stryker turnover, and an impending deployment later this summer, the 3rd ASOS Airmen have gone through extensive training, including Stryker driver training and emergency procedures.
That training culminates with a month-long, full-scale exercise this month at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk. This full-scale exercise is like the Air Force’s Red Flag exercises, Colonel Smith said.
“There are also some massive logistical challenges associated with this (summer’s) deployment,” the colonel said. “We had to ship our vehicles and tactical gear to Louisiana, unload it and conduct training. Then we’ll have to pack it up again and load our stuff for shipment overseas. This has been and will continue to be an enormous challenge to continue our ramped up training in spite of not having our full complement of fighting gear.”
As the team incorporates the TACP Stryker into day-to-day activities, Airmen continue to regularly train with the Soldiers they support.
“We try to train with the Army every week,” Airman Aton said. “We teach them about certain aspects of our job while we learn more about their job. If we are able to understand each other better, we can work better together.”
Part of the training is also to “grow” young troops, such as Airman Aton, into seasoned controllers, Sergeant Ellis said.
“When I started in this job, I liked the excitement of going to war and being on the pointy end of the spear. I knew that I was making a difference,” he said. “Now that I have done that a few times, I like knowing that the young guys find it exciting and want to learn so they, too, can make a difference.”
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Staff Sgt. John Bankston (left) and Airman 1st Class Matt McCaskey search for their opponents during the Warrior Day force-on-force competition. The Airmen are assigned to the 96th Comptroller Squadron. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Mike Meares)
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Master Sgt. Stacy Esposito crawls through a cloud of red smoke during the Warrior Day obstacle course competition. She is assigned to the 96th Air Base Wing. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Mike Meares)
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Lt. Col. Gus Kirkikis is pulled into the pit during the Warrior Day tug-of-war competition here April 29. The pit was filled with various food products from Meals, Ready-to-Eat. Colonel Kirkikis is assigned to the 796th Civil Engineer Squadron. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Mike Meares)
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Master Sgt. Jarvis Amos leads his team as they pull a Humvee toward the finish line during a Warrior Day event. He is assigned to the 96th Civil Engineer Group's fire department. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Mike Meares)
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, pictured, and Romanian Foreign Minister Razvan Ungureanu met in Washington to discuss redeployment of US troops in Europe. Bucharest is seeking an opportunity to host US forces in any potential redeployments of American forces(AFP/File/Martin Bernetti)
(TFF Press Release)
MOSUL, IRAQ (May 5, 2005) – Iraqi Security Forces and Multi-National Forces from 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team) detained seven suspected terrorists and seized two large weapons caches during operations in northern Iraq Wednesday.
Troops from 23rd Battalion, 6th Brigade Iraqi Intervention Force detained one individual suspected of terrorist activity during a raid in southern Mosul. Suspect is in custody with no ISF injuries reported.
Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 8th Field Artillery Regiment detained four individuals and seized a large weapons cache during a cordon and search operation southwest of Mosul. The cache included 45 rocket propelled grenade heads, four BKC automatic rifles, six RPG launchers, 2,570 rounds of small arms ammunition, 35 RPG chargers, 15 mortar rounds, two sticks of TNT, 15 blasting caps, and one mortar tube. Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment discovered a large weapons cache during a search operation southwest of Mosul. The cache included six mortar rounds, two machine guns, 1,000 rounds of machine gun ammunition, eight explosive charges, and other explosives. Weapons and ammunition were confiscated for future destruction. Suspects are in custody with no MNF injuries reported.
Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment detained two individual suspected of terrorist activity during a raid in western Mosul. Suspects are in custody with no MNF injuries reported.
Despite terrorist cells engaging in various acts of desperate violence Iraqi Security Forces and Multi-National Forces are continuing to apply pressure on the terrorists.
Coordinated efforts between Iraqi Security Forces, Multi-National Forces and concerned citizens who provide tips for Security Forces have resulted in a trend toward improved security. Anyone with information on anti-Iraqi insurgent activities should call the Joint Coordination Center’s telephone numbers at 513462 or 07701623300.
Picture released by the U.S. Army Tuesday, May 3, 2005 shows a U.S. Army soldier comforting a child fatally wounded in a car bomb blast in Mosul, 360 km (225 miles) northwest of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, May 2, 2005. 15 Iraqis were wounded in the combined suicide bomb attack. (AP Photo/U.S. Army)
Infantryman's wife saw the photo and knew
THE SOLDIER WITH A SOFT HEART
BY ANDREW METZ STAFF WRITER; Craig Gordon of the Washington Bureau contributed to this story.
May 5, 2005
On a day of carnage, it was an intimate image: a soldier clutching a child in his arms.
When Amy Bieger, mother of three boys, wife of an infantryman in Iraq, saw the picture on the Internet on Tuesday night, she stared at the little feet dangling in the nook of the man's arm, at the soldier's helmeted head pressed to the child's face. She stared and tears welled up.
"I said 'Oh my God, it is one of our soldiers,'" Bieger, 34, said yesterday from her home outside the Fort Lewis, Wash., Army post. "Then I stared at the [name] patch. I made out the rank and then the last four letters of the name and I knew it was my husband."
Amid an ongoing surge in violence in Iraq, Maj. Mark Bieger, the operations officer for the 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, emerged Monday from the scene of double bombings in Mosul with a fatally wounded girl in his arms.
Freelance photographer Michael Yon caught the 35-year-old West Point graduate cradling the child, and in short order the anonymous tableau of compassion and violence was touching people around the country.
"In some ways, his name or rank doesn't matter - he is first and foremost an American soldier," said Meredith Weipert, a North Carolina elementary school teacher whose stepbrother is on the same Stryker combat team. "I hope this image is seared into the heart of the American people."
U.S. military officials declined to provide information about the incident, and Amy Bieger said her husband offered her few details. But, she said, it was just like him to be in the thick of things and drawn to children. When he was deployed last year, the local paper ran a picture of his youngest son, Owen, then 3, running through a field, American flag in hand.
Bieger's dad, Dan, from Hereford, Ariz., said, he wasn't surprised either but was worried about the impact on his son. "When I saw it, it kind of ripped us up," he said. "You can't go through that stuff without changing."
Amy Bieger said that as she peered at the photo Tuesday she recognized her husband's "body language and the way his arms were wrapped around her."
"He has definitely told me stories when he sees older kids playing over there, they just remind him of his boys back here," she said. "He has a huge soft heart for an infantryman."
A Marine from 1st Platoon, Fox Company, Battalion Landing Team 2nd Bn., 8th Marines, slides down a rope suspended nearly 20 feet from the flight deck of USS Ponce (LPD-15) May 4. Photo by: Sgt. Roman Yurek
26th MEU Marines keep sharp in Arabian Gulf
Submitted by: 26th MEU Story by: Computed Name: Sgt. Roman Yurek Story Identification #: 200555173211
ABOARD USS PONCE(May 4, 2005) -- “This is fast rope, not slow rope,” shouts a helicopter rope suspension training master from a ledge 20 feet above the flight deck of the amphibious transport dock USS Ponce (LPD 15).
One-by-one Marines from Fox Company and Assault Amphibian Vehi