Posted on 09/12/2005 4:07:48 PM PDT by Gucho
By John D. Banusiewicz American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sept. 12, 2005 – The U.S. ambassador to Iraq today called the stakes in that war-torn country "huge," and said the time has come for Syria to decide whether it's in its own best interest to impede Iraq's progress.
In a special briefing at the State Department, Zalmay Khalilzad stressed the gravity of what's at stake in Iraq.
"Iraq is the centerpiece of the defining challenge of our time," he said. "As during the Soviet era, Soviet communism was the defining challenge of our time, now it's terrorism and extremism that's the defining challenge of our time."
What happens in Iraq will affect the rest of the world, the ambassador said. "What happens in Iraq will affect the region, and what will happen in that region will affect us all," he said. "We are all very dependent on the region."
If people like fugitive Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi - the head of al Qaeda operations in Iraq -- were to dominate Iraq, Khalilzad said, "it will make Afghanistan and the Taliban look like a picnic," given Iraq's resources and location.
"So the American public needs to know that what's involved here is huge, as what we did with the Soviet Union was huge, as what we did in World War II was huge," the ambassador said.
The United States wants a democratic, unified, self-reliant Iraq that can look after its own security and become prosperous so it can serve as the model for the broader transformation needed in the region.
"It will take a long time to do," he acknowledged. "Transforming regions such as the Middle East is not easy, but it's absolutely necessary. It's a region of the world that's producing most of the security problems of this era and, therefore, we need to deal with it. And the way to deal with it is to get Iraq right, first, as we work on the other problems of the region too." Progress, Khalilzad said, is evident in the fact that more than 190,000 Iraqis have been trained for the police and military forces. "Positively, too, we see Iraqis beginning to fight for themselves who are not even part of the security forces," he added, citing Sunni tribes that are standing up to Zarqawi's terrorists.
"It's critical for the success of Iraq that Iraqis, whether Sunni, Shiia or Kurd, protect their country, defend their country," he said. "And the sign that I see in these tribes, in Sunni tribes, standing up to Zarqawi, are positive developments."
The ambassador noted that a joint committee of U.S. and Iraqi leaders is working to define conditions for the increased transfer of security responsibility in Iraq to the Iraqis themselves. "We will come to some agreement with them in the next couple of months as to a vision of transfer of responsibility and a plan for transfer of responsibility that will be condition-driven, and we'll make that known to everyone," he said. "But the trend is towards increased transfer of responsibility to Iraqis and a decrease in the security responsibility for the United States and the coalition." Khalilzad noted that foreign fighters continue to make their way into Iraq through Syria - fighters who share Zarqawi's bleak vision for the future.
"The vision of these people, the Zarqawi people, for Iraq is not a democratic, unified, self-reliant, successful Iraq," he said. "It's an Iraq that's very much what we saw in Afghanistan under the Taliban: an Islamic caliphate with a dark vision to take the region back -- where women will not have the right to vote, where there will be no democracy, where there will be a center of international terror in a rich, powerful country."
Syria, he said, is allowing forces who want to prevent Iraq from succeeding, to enter Iraq.
"Our patience is running out with Syria," he said. "They need to decide, are they going to be with a successful Iraq or are they going to be an obstacle to the success of Iraq? Iraq will succeed. ... Syria has to decide what price it's willing to pay in making Iraq's success difficult. And time is running out for Damascus to decide on this issue." Iraq's Transitional National Assembly will vote within a few days on the final draft of a constitution that he called "an enlightened document." Objections by some Sunni Arabs to some language in previous drafts has slowed, but not stopped the process.
"It's a good document," Khalilzad said of the final draft. "As far as the Sunnis are concerned, there are discussions going on with them. I understand their difficulties. Because of the terrorists' threat there, some of the people who support the document cannot say it publicly because they're afraid."
Sunnis largely boycotted the TNA election, Khalilzad said, and now realize that was a mistake. "They are registering (for the Oct. 15 constitutional referendum)," he said. "I think the numbers are above 85 to 90 percent of people who are qualified to vote are registering to vote, and that's extremely positive."
Still, he acknowledged, the road ahead will remain tough. "Iraq is going through a difficult transition; that is clear," he said. "It's a difficult transition because the change in authoritarian regime, a one-man rule system, where one man was the constitution to a system where people are deciding for themselves their political system, participating in the process, respecting each others' right, compromising, self-relying more and relying less on government. These are processes that ordinarily would take decades.
"We are in Iraq learning how to crawl, walk and run at the same time," he continued. "We are doing multiple things simultaneously that ordinarily would ... be done sequentially over a very extensive period of time. We're making progress, but there are significant challenges that remain. I believe we have a good plan for how to proceed, and we need to stick with it and resource it."
By Samantha L. Quigley - American Forces Press Service
HUNTSVILLE, Ala., Sept. 12, 2005 – Iraq is safer, thanks to the efforts of a team that has destroyed hundreds of thousands of tons of captured enemy ammunition.
In June 2003, military officials in Iraq called on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Engineering and Support Center here, the core of expertise for ordnance and explosives, to handle an estimated 600,000 tons of captured enemy ammunition.
ESC was contacted for two reasons, officials said: coalition military leaders had determined that the amount of munitions was more than the military was prepared to handle, and securing a stockpile that large would divert military assets from the main mission of fighting the insurgency.
An ESC assessment team was sent to Iraq, and it submitted a proposal in July 2003, detailing what ESC could do and how the unit would do it, Stahl said. By Aug. 8 of the same year, contracts had been awarded. By Sept. 11, the first demolition was conducted, said Mike Stahl, program manager for ESC's Coalition Munitions Clearance Program.
"Everybody tells me that no, that was not an arbitrary date; that was a goal,'" he said.
Six self-sustaining depot sites were established to secure and demolish the munitions that were already in coalition forces' possession, Stahl said. The goal of beginning demolition from these sites by Dec. 1, 2003, was met, and to date about 406,000 tons of munitions have been destroyed through ESC and military disposal operations.
"No, 200,000 tons didn't go missing," he explained. Rather, the initial estimate of 600,000 tons proved to be too high. "I am convinced that there was never 600,000 tons there -- that the 400,000 tons is much, much closer, much more accurate," he said. Stahl said that Arlington near Bayji, the biggest depot, housed 50,000 tons.
Just as important as destroying the large caches at the depot sites, was "collapsing" the smaller sites, or consolidating their munitions at the depots, to keep the munitions from insurgents, Stahl said. The goal, he added, was to collapse all the sites by Sept. 30, 2004.
"If we could get everything outside ... collapsed into the six depots, then we had control of it," he said. The team provided its own security at the depots, and collapsing the smaller sites meant soldiers would no longer be needed to guard those locations. "We were securing the depots so it didn't require military personnel and they were freed up to the job that they really needed to do," Stahl said.
Transporting these caches to the depots left the teams vulnerable to insurgents on the roads, so, when possible, they destroyed the munitions in place.
The team's mission, however, does not account for unexploded ordnance, known as "UXO," that was deemed unsafe to move, Stahl said. "There were a lot of those sites left," he said. "There still ... is an extensive UXO mission." That mission belongs to the military explosive ordnance disposal teams in country. ESC, however, has six 25-person mobile teams to clean up UXO sites assigned to them by the military. These teams will continue their mission for the foreseeable future, Stahl said.
The team met its goal of collapsing the smaller caches collapsed by Sept. 30, and has destroyed all of the munitions in three of the six depots. That took about two years, Stahl said, allowing those three depots to be shut down.
The CMC program also is on schedule to close another depot soon, Stahl said. While the remaining two depots, Arlington and Buckmaster, near Tikrit, will remain open as legacy depots, disposal operations are expected to wrap up in the first quarter of fiscal 2006. The ESC will manage operations at those depots for at least a year, Stahl said.
ESC began the job with four primary missions, two of which have been completed: replacing active duty military and beginning the destruction of captured enemy ammunition, Stahl said. The other two missions - management of the CEA from "cradle-to-grave" and hiring and training local Iraqis in the safe handling and disposal of such munitions - are ongoing, he added.
Also ongoing is the focus on safety.
Between the 600 government and contract workers and the 800 local Iraqis working on the project, the combined rate of accidents that resulted in lost time is about .23 per 200,000 hours worked, Stahl said. Though that is far below the Army's standard of 2 per 200,000 hours worked, he added, there has been an on-site fatality. A contractor was killed in an explosive accident on site during the Fourth of July weekend.
The team has lost nine Americans to hostile actions, as well, Stahl said. Those killed were part of a three-bus convoy that was attacked by insurgents on its way to the Buckmaster site in December, Stahl said. Several Iraqi workers also were killed in that attack.
Though 38,000 tons of munitions still are stored at depots, only 24,000 tons will be destroyed, Stahl said. The remainder will be retained for the new Iraqi army, he explained.
BBC World News Service - LIVE - Click RealAudio - Stream
BBC World News Service - LIVE - Windows Media - Stream
Click Radio Taiwan International (English)
Live TV Coverage of Discovery Crew
Click LBC 1152 AM London News Radio
Israel News Radio, 0430 UTC - English
Israel News Radio, 2000 UTC - English
Radio Pakistan News Bulletins (English)
Voice of Russia, 0300 UTC - English
Voice of Russia, 0800 UTC - English
Radio China International, 1500 UTC - English
Radio Polonia, 1700 UTC - English
Radio Australia, 0700 UTC - English
Radio Australia, 1100 UTC - English
"Mon Sep 12, 3:46 PM ET - A US tank is seen in Tal Afar..."
That's no tank.
I guess the reporters have switched to reporting imaginary military assets instead of the real deal. Makes distorting the facts easier.
Bump - From AFP.
Monday, September 12, 2005
Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf (R) shake hands with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in New York, September 12, 2005. Fed up with accusations it allows Taliban fighters to cross into Afghanistan, Musharraf offered on Monday to erect a fence between the two countries to prevent incursions from either side. (REUTERS/Chip East)
September 12, 2005
TIKRIT, Iraq -- Across North-Central Iraq this past week, deliberate raids by Iraqi Security Forces and Task Force Liberty Soldiers resulted in the capture of suspected terrorists and weapons, helping secure the region for upcoming elections.
The 116th Brigade Combat Team of Task Force Liberty and Iraqi security forces led the way in deliberate raids in Kirkuk Province this week, netting several wanted terrorists, an array of exotic weaponry to include a Sterling light machine-gun and a bag of swords, and Ba'ath Party relics including outdated ID cards bearing the image of deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
Fake police and oil company ID cards, computers, cameras, uniforms, two dozen rifles and pistols, three RPG sights, a land mine, information regarding the movement of Coalition forces, $2,300 (U.S.) and more than three million Iraqi Dinar were also captured in the raids, which took place in the North-Central Iraq cities of Kirkuk and Hawija. The 116th BCT detained more than a dozen individuals for questioning in the course of these missions.
Raids this week by the 1st BCT and Iraqi security forces in Salah Ad Din Province captured two wanted terrorists and seized two rifles, a pistol and several cellular and satellite phones. Four other individuals were detained for investigation.
Meanwhile, the 278th Regimental Combat Team of Task Force Liberty raided a series of targets near Jalula and other locations in Diyala Province , capturing five terrorist suspects and detaining more than a dozen others for questioning.
Source : CPIC - Iraq
September 12, 2005
CAMP STRIKER, Iraq -- The familiar "whop-whop-whop" of a U.S. helicopter is a comforting sound for Soldiers on the ground.
Whether Soldiers are conducting operations or walking across the forward operating base here in the heart of Baghdad, just knowing the birds are in the air ready to go is a true force multiplier.
The role of aviation is closely linked to the Task Force Baghdad units’ combat operations, providing everything from close combat attacks, air assault operations, air medical evacuations as well as routine air mission requests such as the Marne Express helicopter shuttle.
None of this can happen unless there is tight coordination between the ground and the air. That’s where the Brigade Aviation Element in the 48th Brigade Combat Team comes in. The BAE is a new idea born out of the Army’s transformation, based on lessons learned in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Under the old system, temporary liaison officers helped combat brigades work with aviation assets. The LNOs were among the best Army pilots, but often came without proper equipment, training and personnel to plan missions for the various brigades.
"LNO is the old way of doing business," said Lt. Col. Bruce Chick, 48th BCT Aviation Officer. "Usually in the past, when they (48th Brigade) would mobilize or deploy, they would rely on the aviation brigades to send down LNOs."
Rather than being on "loan" to a brigade, the BAE concept puts aviation capability and assets with the ground commander for the duration of an operation or deployment.
With the 48th BCT primed for a deployment earlier this year, its commander, Brig. Gen. Stewart Rodeheaver, saw the need for a BAE within the brigade and started looking for the right Soldiers to work effectively as a team.
It paid off when the BAE stood up with a staff of six highly-experienced officers and NCOs. Before the team deployed, they became the first Army National Guard Brigade Aviation Element to be certified "combat ready" by the 24th Infantry Division.
They join two other active-duty BAEs who have already gone through the certification process.
"What it provides is an enhanced combat multiplier which the brigade has never had in the past," said Chick, a Monroe, Ga., resident. "It provides aviation support not only lift, but attack, UAV and fixed-wing capability to ground commanders."
The BAE team members know that what they do makes a difference in the lives of Soldiers.
"For every Soldier we put on an aircraft, that’s one less Soldier in a convoy that has the threat of improvised explosive devices," said Sgt. 1st Class Terry Sanders, operations noncommissioned officer in charge and a resident of Temple, Ga.
The team has been putting plenty of Soldiers in aircraft during Operation Iraqi Freedom 3. In the first 90 days in Iraq, the aviation team successfully completed more than 500 combat aviation missions, to include more than 2,600 flight hours, and nearly 3,300 personnel moved by air.
"We set precedence here. When the aircraft gets called up to help troops in contact, it gives us a good feeling to know we did something to help," said Staff Sgt. Cecil Beamon, operations NCO, a resident of Loganville, Ga.
By Staff Sgt. Britt Smith - 48th Brigade Combat Team PAO
Deutsche Presse-Agentur
AMMAN, 12 September 2005 — Jordan’s State Security Court (SSC) yesterday sentenced 12 Islamists to jail terms ranging from 18 months to three years after convicting them of plotting to attack US and Israeli targets, judicial sources said.
The tribunal acquitted four suspects for lack of evidence, they added. The 16-strong group was led by Abd Shehadeh Al-Tahawi.
After settling down in the northern city of Irbid, Al-Tahawi “continued to propagate his views and recruited young followers, including the defendants”, the statement said.
The defendants, who were arrested earlier this year, had planned to target tourists and archaeologists frequenting hotels in Irbid, as well as personnel of the General Intelligence Department, it added.
The SSC is currently trying scores of other suspects, most linked to the Jordanian fugitive Abu Mussab Zarqawi, who is widely believed to be leader of the Iraqi branch of Al-Qaeda.
Monday, 12 September 2005 - 12:09 GMT 13:09 UK
By Andrew North - BBC News, Kabul
Afghan officials say they have arrested two people they believe were intending to carry out suicide bomb attacks in the capital, Kabul.
The officials told the BBC the two men were found with explosives on them when they were arrested.
The past year has seen the worst violence in Afghanistan since 2001.
There are fears of more attacks by the Taleban and other militant groups in the run up to parliamentary elections on Sunday.
Particular target
The suspected suicide bombers were arrested on Sunday, officials said, in a central area of Kabul.
Two vehicles were also seized in the operation, they said.
The officials said they believed the two men had been trained in neighbouring Pakistan, although they did not provide any evidence.
Afghan officials in the past have accused the Pakistani authorities of failing to prevent extremists operating on their soil who then infiltrate Afghanistan.
There have been several suicide bomb attacks this year. The last one in Kabul in May killed three people.
An official said Kabul was on high alert because it was a particular target before polling day.
Why is this so hard for people to understand? I am so proud of the Iraqis for how far they have come in such a short time.
Hisham Abu Taha - Arab News
GAZA CITY, 12 September 2005 — Israeli troops lowered their national flag in the final phase of the historic Gaza pullout yesterday, as thousands of Palestinian troops, curious onlookers and gunmen assembled nearby, eager to take control after 38 years of Israeli military occupation.
The first army convoys left Gaza after sundown yesterday. Military jeeps and armored bulldozers drove slowly through the Kissufim crossing point, marking the beginning of the end of Israel’s presence in Gaza.
But the withdrawal, code-named “Last Watch,” was overshadowed by Israeli-Palestinian disputes, including over border arrangements and Israel’s last-minute decision not to demolish Gaza synagogues. The army was forced to cancel a former handover ceremony, initially set for yesterday, after angry Palestinians said they wouldn’t show up.
There was also concern about last-minute bloodshed. A 12-year-old Palestinian boy was among four Palestinians wounded by Israeli Army fire when a crowd got too close to the abandoned Gush Katif bloc of Jewish settlements. The Israeli commander in Gaza, Brig. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, warned against last-minute hitches, urging soldiers in a final meeting not to lose their cool or open fire hastily.
Maj. Gen. Dan Harel, the head of Israel’s southern command, said Palestinians fired shots during an official ceremony closing the Gaza division headquarters in the abandoned settlement of Neve Dekalim. He warned there were indications of attack on withdrawing troops.
“We are trying to thwart them,” Harel told The Associated Press. “As we speak now there are shots being fired in several different places,” he said, adding that the Palestinian Authority is working with the army to keep the situation under control.
About 5,000 soldiers were still in Gaza yesterday, and were to leave the Strip by daybreak today.
The withdrawal marks the first time the Palestinians will have control over a large, defined territory. They hope to build their state in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem — areas that Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast War.
Gaza is seen as a testing ground for Palestinian aspirations of statehood, but many Palestinians fear that after the Gaza pullout, Israel will not hand over additional territory.
But Kochavi, the Israeli commander in Gaza, expressed hope the pullout would be a step toward peace.
“The gate that will close behind us is also the gate that will open,” he said during the departure ceremony. “We hope it will be a gate of peace and quiet, a gate of hope and good will, a gate of neighborliness and if a bad wind breaks through then we will greet it with a force of troops ready and waiting.”
The Palestinians say the occupation has not ended, noting that Israel will continue to control Gaza’s airspace, territorial waters and border passages. “Despite Israeli claims to the contrary, the Gaza Strip will remain occupied Palestinian territory under international law,” said Palestinian Cabinet Minister Mohammed Dahlan.
In the ruins of Neve Dekalim, once the largest Jewish settlement in Gaza, Israeli troops held the somber central farewell ceremony yesterday, saluting, lowering the Israeli flag and singing the national anthem as they closed army headquarters in Gaza.
The departure is a “historic opportunity for a better future for both peoples,” Harel told the audience, including several bereaved parents whose sons were killed in fighting with Palestinians in Gaza.
Soldiers took snapshots of each other and smoldering piles of debris. One soldier said he was proud the pullout was taking place in an orderly manner, in contrast to the hasty retreat from Lebanon five years ago. “It’s a matter of professionalism,” said 2nd Lt. Sagiv Ofek.
On the Palestinian side, dozens of Palestinians troops set up positions on a sand dune, just south of Gaza City, near what was once the isolated settlement of Netzarim. One of the officers, Tarek Issa, waved a Palestinian flag. “I cannot wait to go and raise it inside. Today is the beginning of the victory,” he said.
Palestinians stood on rooftops and balconies to witness the Israeli departure.
The day began with twin decisions in the Israeli Cabinet — to end military rule in Gaza and not to raze 19 synagogues in former Jewish settlements there.
The vote on the military rule was largely symbolic. Israel has already withdrawn all of its 8,500 settlers from Gaza, leaving only soldiers there. But the unanimous decision finalized the historic withdrawal nearly two years after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon first proposed the pullout.
The Palestinians want full control over the Gaza-Egypt border after Israel’s withdrawal, saying free movement of people and goods is essential for rebuilding Gaza’s shattered economy. Israel wants to retain some control, at least temporarily, fearing that militants will smuggle weapons into Gaza. Israel last week unilaterally closed the Rafah border crossing, the main gateway for Gaza’s 1.3 million Palestinians, to the outside world.
Last week, Israel agreed in principle that foreign observers could eventually replace Israeli inspectors at Rafah. However, Israel said it could be months before the border reopens, and that a final deal would depend on Palestinian willingness to crack down on militant groups.
In the meantime, it plans to reroute border traffic through alternate Israeli-controlled crossings and turning security control of the border to Egyptian forces, 750 of whom have deployed at the border this weekend.
The Israeli Cabinet also voted 14-2 against demolishing the synagogues, even though many of the ministers previously approved the demolition as part of the pullout. Critics said last-minute political considerations prompted several Cabinet members to change their minds
September 12, 2005
Passengers Freed on Hijacked Colombian Jet
Sep 12, 2005 - 7:49 PM US/Eastern
By ANDREW SELSKY
Associated Press Writer
BOGOTA, Colombia -- A father in a wheelchair and his son used two grenades to hijack an airliner Monday, but peacefully surrendered five hours later after allowing the crew and passengers, including one American, to leave the plane, authorities said.
The Aires plane, believed to be carrying 20 passengers and five crew, had left the southern city of Florencia when it was commandeered, air force Gen. Edgar Lesmez said. The plane landed in Bogota, its original destination, but at a military airfield next to the civilian El Dorado Airport.
After speaking with government negotiators and a Roman Catholic priest while the twin-propeller plane stood on the tarmac, the two hijackers gave up and came down from the plane, said Martin Gonzalez, spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority. The crew also exited, he said.
The two men were arrested and were being questioned by police, said German Navas, a congressman close to the negotiations.
Speaking to reporters at the airport, Navas said the older man in the wheelchair was a former civil servant who said he hijacked the plane because he was angry after not receiving state compensation for an injury. Navas said the hijackers had smuggled two grenades onto the plane.
Shortly after landing in Bogota, the hijackers allowed women passengers and two babies to exit the plane and later allowed the remaining passengers off the aircraft while keeping the crew on board.
An American citizen was among the passengers, said a U.S. official in Bogota who spoke on condition of anonymity. Further details on the American were not available.
Also on board was Colombian congressman Antonio Serrano, his assistant, Consuelo Barragan, told RCN television.
Gonzalez, the aviation authority spokesman, identified the hijackers as Luis Ramirez, about 42, and his son Linsen Ramirez, about 22.
They did not appear to belong to any of Colombia's illegal armed groups, said Gen. Alberto Ruiz, chief of operations for the National Police. "They seem to be common citizens," he told reporters.
The drama riveted Colombians, who tuned to radios and TV sets. They listened to one hostage describe the scene in a furtive cell phone conversation with local RCN radio. "They have indicated to us they have explosives," Reinaldo Duque said in a hushed voice from the plane.
Duque, who works in Colombia's Congress, said all the passengers were herded to the rear of the Dash-8 plane while a priest spoke with the hijackers in the front.
Luis Octavio Rojas, director of the Florencia airport, told The Associated Press that the hijacker's wheelchair had been too large to pass through a metal detector and that the man was not patted down by security agents,
"But they did give him and the chair a visual inspection," Rojas said.
It was the second time an Aires flight was hijacked on the same route.
In February 2002, members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia hijacked an Aires plane flying from Florencia to Bogota, forced it to land on a rural highway and kidnapped a Colombian senator who was aboard. Other passengers and the crew were left alone.
That hijacking led the government to cancel peace talks with the rebel group, which has been waging war in this Andean nation for four decades. The senator, Jorge Gechen Turbay, president of the Senate's peace commission, remains a hostage.
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/09/12/D8CJ184O0.html
Associated Press
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
