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<p>BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- With U.S. troops heavily armed and bunkered behind concrete and razor wire, guerrillas are pointing their guns at softer targets like Iraqi police and civilians, top U.S. military and civilian officials said Tuesday.</p> <p>American officials expect attacks on Iraqis working with the coalition to surge as the U.S.-led administration begins handing power to local leaders.</p>

NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND7115 South Boundary BoulevardMacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894 November 23, 2003Release Number: 03-11-38 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE IRAQIS PREVENT IED ATTACK IN 82ND AIRBORNE DIVISION’S AREA OF OPERATION ISKANDARIYAH, Iraq – Iraqi civilians warned personnel from the Iraqi Railroad of an improvised explosive device placed on the tracks near Iskandariyah early this morning. The Iraqis flagged down the train to show them exactly where it was located. The IED was made from three 155mm artillery rounds, all linked together. An explosive ordnance disposal team, attached to the 82nd Airborne...

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Nov 22, 2003 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- Guerrillas battling the U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq are committing war crimes by attacking civilians collaborating with the occupation authorities, a human rights group said Saturday. International law, including the laws of war expressly forbid the targeting of civilians, said a statement released by New York-based Human Rights Watch. "All Iraqi civilians are protected by the Geneva Conventions," said Joe Stork, acting executive director of the Middle East and North Africa division. "It doesn't matter whether they sympathize with the U.S. occupation, or with the insurgents." The statement received in...

U.S. Soldiers Help Iraqis Build Playgrounds for Baghdad Kids By U.S. Army Spc. Chad D. Wilkerson 372nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment BAGHDAD, Iraq – The children came out in droves as the U.S. Army vehicles pulled up along the sidewalk in the Hayy Karkh district of central Baghdad.They were always excited to see Coalition soldiers, and this day was no different. The kids swarmed the soldiers as they walked across what was formerly a rotten community dump, where trash was piled in five-meter-high mounds. Some children were hanging and swinging on the arms and legs of the uniformed Americans,...

[...snip...] Thousands of slogans in the Arabic script snake across acres of gray walls that line city squares, apartments and office buildings, a perfect canvas for the outpourings of a population intoxicated by new freedoms. Hussein loyalists shout their yearning for the deposed dictator - "Saddam will come again" - followed by the coda on the same line from a detractor: "Through my behind!" [...snip...] "I walk around reading these writings, and some of them move me so much I don't know whether to laugh or to cry," said Amir Nayef Toma, 52, a retired radar operator in the Iraqi...

Wednesday, November 12, 2003 FALLUJAH, Iraq (AP) - U.S. troops opened fire on a truck carrying live chickens near the tense town of Fallujah, killing five civilians aboard the vehicle, including a father and his two sons, relatives said Wednesday. The shooting took place at a roadblock Tuesday night, they said. Fallujah is the site of numerous anti-American attacks and U.S. soldiers in the area have been on high alert. "They went to bring chickens . . . and they came back at 9 or 10 at night," said Khalid Khalifa al-Jumaily, whose two nephews were killed on the truck....

CJTF-7 Public Affairs BAGHDAD, Iraq Release #031109d  CMOC works hard to help Iraqi civilians AR RAMADI, Iraq – The 304th Civil Affairs Brigade out of Philadelphia, Penn. is working hard to restore normalcy to the people of Ar Ramadi, the capital city of the Al Anbar province.  The Civil Affairs specialists settle disputes, manage claims, locate resources and manage a host of other tasks designed to foster a lasting relationship between the Coalition Forces and the citizens of Iraq’s largest province.To facilitate this goal, the soldiers working under the 304th Civil Affairs Brigade have organized a permanent shop in the...

L. Paul BremerCoalition Provisional Authority AdministratorAddress to the Iraqi PeopleFor Broadcast 7 November 2003Ramadan MabrukI am Paul Bremer, Administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority.Ramadan is a time of reflection, a time to review the past year and consider the possibilities of the coming months.  It is a time to reflect on your future, a future of hope and dignity.Dignity is to be found in many things.·        There is dignity in following the faith of your ancestors.·        There is dignity in standing before any person proudly, with your head held high.·        There is dignity in providing for your family and...

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Nov. 3 — Until justice is done and Saddam Hussein is dead, Sadri Adab Diwan will carry with him the handwritten accusation that condemned his little sister to death. The sister, Hanaa, a high school student, "is conducting backward religious activity inside the school," a security agent wrote in black ink in October 1980, a time of widespread persecution of Shiite Muslims. "Please open a secret investigation."Soon afterward, Hanaa, a devout girl of 17, was arrested. She never returned home.It was only six months ago, after locating her yellowing case file in a government office, that her family...

ABU GHRAIB, Iraq - Amid burst of gunfire and prayer, Iraqi rioters waving portraits of Saddam Hussein battled U.S. troops and tanks on Friday, when a dispute over a marketplace outside Baghdad exploded into anti-American fury. Two Iraqis were killed, and 17 others and two U.S. soldiers were reported wounded. Farther west in Fallujah, a center of the anti-U.S. resistance, an explosion and fire struck the office of the mayor, who has cooperated with the U.S. occupation. In a melee that followed, one Iraqi was killed, and later Friday U.S. troops came under attack at the same spot. An Islamic...

WASHINGTON - Violence may be surging in Iraq, but there's another thing Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz says Iraqis fear: President Bush getting booted from office. Wolfowitz, speaking at Georgetown University, said a worried resident of the southern city of Najaf asked him in July at a town hall meeting, "What's going to happen to us if George Bush loses the election?" Wolfowitz didn't mention the Democrats, but he suggested the question sums up Iraqi fears that a new team in the White House would abandon them. Wolfowitz said he tried to assure the Iraqis, but "when they hear...

Eighteen Iraqi children are on the road to recovery after receiving free medical care in Germany earlier this month. The German state of Rhineland-Pfalz, home of the Kaiserslautern military community, volunteered to provide the children with medical treatment not available in Iraq. The U.S. Air Force transported the 18 to Ramstein Air Base, Germany, on Oct. 6. Most of the children suffer from congenital, acquired or traumatic conditions; two were injured during the recent war. The German Red Cross took 17 of the children to 12 Rhineland-Pfalz hospitals, where an array of specialty doctors began treatment. The 18th patient was...

Iraq: Young Iraqis Eager To Work For Good Salaries From U.S. By Valentinas Mite Many Iraqis work with U.S.-led coalition forces, as translators or minor clerks. Some have been killed during attacks on U.S. forces. But many Iraqis say they will continue to cooperate with the Americans. Some say they do it for the money. But others say their reasons are more personal, and more patriotic. Baghdad, 23 October 2003 (RFE/RL) -- Many young Iraqis are cooperating with the coalition forces occupying their country -- working as interpreters or drivers or doing basic administrative work in U.S. military and...

A Fresh Start for Iraqi Children Bechtel joins with Iraqi contractors and workers to renovate damaged schools   Most of the schools in Iraq escaped damage during the conflict that toppled Saddam Hussein, but they’re damaged nonetheless. Years of neglect under a harsh regime left them dilapidated, and at many schools, whatever dignity remained was stripped away, along with plumbing, wiring, light fixtures, and desks, during the wave of looting and vandalism that followed the fighting. So when the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) took on the task of rebuilding key aspects of the country’s infrastructure, one of...

by Master Sgt. Scott Elliott Air Force Print News 10/19/2003 - FRENCH VILLAGE, Iraq -- Most airmen deployed to nearby Baghdad International Airport live and work there, but a few have managed to mingle among the local residents. Besides doing their jobs, they said they feel they are building a bridge in American-Iraqi relations. “The Iraqis I’ve met are great,” said Senior Airman Matt Read, a medical technician with the 447th Expeditionary Rescue Squadron. “They’re very friendly and appreciate us being here.” Read and other medical professionals based with him helped open a medical clinic here Oct. 18, and plan...

WASHINGTON -- When Gallup set out recently to poll Baghdad residents, the biggest surprise may have been the public's reaction to the questioners: Almost everyone responded to the pollsters' questions, with some pleading for a chance to give their opinions. "The interviews took more than an hour to do, people were extremely cooperative with open-ended questions," said Richard Burkholder, director of international polling for Gallup. "People went on and on." But many of those Iraqis still have sharply mixed feelings about the U.S. military presence. The Gallup poll found that 71 percent of the capital city's residents felt U.S. troops...

BAGHDAD, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Ali Tawfeek feels safer taking his wife and one-year-old son Ahmad shopping in the evening now after months of fear for his family in the lawless days in Baghdad following the flight of Saddam Hussein. But as life slowly recovers some normality, deadly bombings that have brought the battle between Iraqi guerrillas and U.S. troops to the city's streets is a new source of anxiety. "It's safe here in this street," Tawfeek said this week. "But these attacks are making us worry. We see a U.S. checkpoint or vehicle and know it's a target....

<p>The war in Iraq has been worth the hardship, according to those who have lived through both.</p> <p>Despite continued violence and few basic amenities, 62 percent of Baghdad residents believe the ousting of Saddam Hussein justified "any hardships they might have personally suffered," according to a Gallup poll released yesterday.</p>

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Most residents of Baghdad say that ousting Saddam Hussein was worth the hardships they've endured since then, says a Gallup poll that shows they are divided on whether the country is worse off or better off than before the U.S. invasion. Two-thirds, 67 percent, say they think that Iraq will be in better condition five years from now than it was before the U.S.-led invasion. Only 8 percent say they think it will be worse off. But they're not convinced that Iraq is better off now -- 47 percent said the country is worse off than...

A new Gallup poll of Baghdad residents released today shows 62 percent think ousting Saddam Hussein was worth any hardships they have personally endured since the invasion of Iraq by coalition forces. The poll was the first scientific survey "assessing the postwar social and political climate of Baghdad’s 6.4 million citizens," the Gallup Organization said in a statement. The group says it has committed to a multi-year task of reporting Iraqis' opinions. The poll was conducted in homes across Baghdad. Galllup says 1,178 hour-long interviews were conducted. Among the poll's findings: Nearly two-thirds (62 percent) of Baghdad’s citizens think ousting...