Operation Phantom Fury--Day 86 - Operation Day 2 After Iraqi's 1st Free Election in 50 Years

American soldiers with the Louisiana National Guard prepare for an early morning mission, Sunday, Jan. 30, 2005.

Ibrahim Jaafari (R), Iraq's current vice president, is a key leader of the fundamentalist alliance expected to become the biggest single bloc in the Iraqi national assembly after the historic weekend election(AFP/File/Tauseff Mustafa)

Shiite leader wants modern Islam, but execution for Saddam

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Shiite powerbroker Ibrahim Jaafari might get into trouble with his wife if he called for an Iraq where women could not drive, but he has no hesitation about supporting the death penalty for Saddam Hussein.

The current vice president is a key leader of the fundamentalist alliance expected to become the biggest single bloc in the Iraqi national assembly after the historic weekend election.

Some talk of Jaafari as a prime minister in the next government or in the near future.

A powerful Shiite government might worry some people outside of Iraq, but in an interview with AFP Jaafari sought to reassure that he wants Sunni Muslims, who boycotted the election, to be involved and he does not want a state that mirrors the theocracy in neighbouring Iran.

Jaafari, a doctor by training, is said to have close links with Iran.

After his Hezb al-Dawa al-Islamiyya (Islamic Call Party) took up arms against Saddam's regime, he fled to Iran in the early 1980s before moving to London in 1989. His five children still live in Britain and his wife worked there.

Jaafari was among the first exiled leaders to return after the 2003 US-led invasion. He was the first president of the now-defunct governing council named by the United States that year.

When talks were underway over the fundamental law which serves as Iraq's interim constitution, Jaafari was among those who favoured Islam as the only source of legislation.

But he distances himself from a hard line.

"Secularism originally meant opposing God and religion. Now it is not the same. Islam has changed too. It is different from country to country.

"It is true that some countries stop women from attending schools and others do not let women drive. For me that would be a problem. My wife is a surgeon, she cuts open abdomens, and I would never stop her doing surgery."

Jaafari said he wants social justice and human rights and points to the US example of a strongly religious country that keeps state affairs separate.

"The currency clearly states 'In God we trust'. Yet this doesn't necessarily mean that all Americans believe in God."

But he would like Islam to be Iraq's official religion. "It would be logical to mention Islam in the constitution. But it does not have to resemble Iran if that what is on your mind."

Jaafari, like many Iraqis, takes a hard line, however, on the kind of justice they want for the the country's former dictator.

"I think it is a public demand that his trial go ahead as soon as possible, it would not be right to delay the trial. Yesterday I spoke with the judge in the case. He said they will expedite the trial."

In the publicised mass purges of Shiites, members of Jaafari's Dawa party lost their lives.

"I think there is a need to excute the one who committed these crimes. But I will accept any result on condition that it is fair and organized by a fair government."

Jaafari's party is part of the United Iraqi Alliance, backed by Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the Iranian-born spiritual head of Iraq's Shiites.

Others in the alliance including Finance Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi and nuclear scientist Hussein al-Shahrastani are also possible candidates for the prime minister's post.

Jaafari said that if asked to become premier he would not refuse.

Jaafari believes a withdrawal of US troops battling the Sunni insurgency anytime soon could lead to a civil war.

"Despite their presence here in Iraq, terrorism exists," Jaafari said. "Can you imagine what will happen if we ask them to leave. This could mean the beginning of a civil war."

"We are trying our best not to have a civil war but if the multinational forces leave now, certainly there will be more and more assassinations, bombings and victims."

Improving security -- so Iraq can ask US and British forces to leave -- and forming a government that can satisfy the aspirations of the Sunni minority community, will be two key tasks for the next government, according to the vice president.

The Sunnis monopolised power under Saddam and for decades before. Many fear the prospect of Shiites taking control.

Jaafari said there was no sense of revenge. "We want Shiites back in power but at the same time we don't want to do what Saddam did."

Jaafari suggested top posts could be shared between the Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds.

"It is most likely that the next prime minister would be a Shiite, while the president and the head of the parliament would be a Sunni and a Kurd."

U.S. soldiers stand guard before escorting a convoy of ballots from a polling station in Jisr Diala on the outskirts of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Jan. 31, 2005. Iraqi and American forces escorted election officials with ballots and tally sheets to central collection points for tabulation of Sunday's landmark election.(AP Photo/John Moore)

Iraqi Vote May Not Resolve Sunni Dilemma

By HAMZA HENDAWI, Associated Press Writer

Mon Jan 31, 5:08 PM ET

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Just how many Sunni Arabs voted in Iraq's election might not be known for a long time. But one thing already is certain: A lot did not.

Hailed the world over as a triumph of democracy, the vote is unlikely to bring into the fold a group that could prove crucial to peace in Iraq. Already there are strong indications Iraq's majority Shiites are most likely to emerge the clear winners, once the counting is complete.

In contrast, many Sunni Arabs shunned the vote, either out of fear or in response to boycott calls from clerics. A senior U.S. official, speaking Monday in Baghdad on condition of anonymity, cited the boycott calls, intimidation and absence of well-defined leaders as the factors behind the low Sunni turnout.

If confirmed, that low turnout could cast a shadow over the election's credibility and hand the bloody Sunni-led insurgency another reason to carry on.

In the Sunni heartland to the north and west of Baghdad, the insurgency has been fiercest, and religious militancy and deep resentment of Americans are widespread.

"Elections under occupation don't work," Mohanad Ismail said Monday, after he led some 30 men in noon prayers at Haidar Khana mosque on Baghdad's fabled al-Rasheed Street.

"They can only be held when the Americans leave. If not, then we will be voting for the occupation," said Ismail, a tall man with a heavy build and graying beard.

Elevated to elite status by Ottoman Turks, colonial Britain and finally Saddam Hussein (news - web sites), the Sunni Arabs have found it difficult to accept their place in postwar Iraq, where Shiites, long oppressed, now hold most power.

Their responses have varied. Militants and Saddam loyalists joined forces and launched the insurgency, now close to its two-year mark. More radical Sunnis accepted the banner of al-Qaida and committed horrific attacks against Iraqi security forces.

The overwhelming majority have excluded themselves from the U.S.-sponsored political process on the grounds it is engineered by an occupation force and has a clear sectarian slant.

"No one can marginalize us," declared Mohammed Yehia, a few yards from the Imam Abu Hanifa mosque in Baghdad's Sunni Azamiyah district.

"It's like the balance of terror: both the Sunnis and the Shiites need each other, or they both lose," said Yehia, a 25-year-old graduate of a teachers' college.

The loss of power and prestige has led many Sunnis, including some intellectuals, to adopt convictions deepening the gap between them and Shiite and Kurdish compatriots.

Some Sunnis contend mass graves uncovered after Saddam's ouster are filled with Iranians who infiltrated the country after the 1991 Gulf War, not Iraqi Shiites massacred by Saddam's forces.

In a similar vein, many Sunni Arabs insist the result of Sunday's vote was decided beforehand.

"Yesterday's elections were only an American project to serve America's interests and to prolong the presence of the invasion forces in this country," said Adnan Muhammad Yassin, 52. "Legally, the elections are unacceptable under the occupation. So this project is a failure and the coming days will prove this."

Yet some Iraqis, including Sunnis themselves, play down the significance of the low turnout, noting the new 275-seat National Assembly will be in office less than a year.

If a constitution is adopted later this year, a second election will be held by mid-December to produce a new parliament and government.

"Soon there will be another round of labor and another birth," said Baghdad University political scientist Nazim al-Jassour. "By the time the next general election is held ... all the parties that excluded themselves can participate."

The United States and its Iraqi allies believe bringing Sunni Arabs into the political fold will undermine the insurgency. The group also has long provided the backbone of the professional class.

That's partly the reason Shiite political leaders have repeatedly stated in recent days that, regardless of their performance in Sunday's vote, Sunnis would be invited to join the next government.

Nevertheless, such a gesture is certain to lure figures without a genuine base of popular support, widely dismissed as American stooges.

A Kurdish man plays a zurle, a traditional flute, as people dance in celebration in front of Kurdish Democratic Party headquarters in the village of Chira, northern Iraq, Monday, Jan. 31. 2005. Large turnout of Kurdish people, even in Mosul governorate, makes supporters believe that Kurdish parties will gain substantial number of votes in Iraqi national and local election. (AP Photo/Sasa Kralj)

Iraq Insurgents' Failure Raises Questions

Mon Jan 31, 4:50 PM ET

By SALLY BUZBEE, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq - They sent nine suicide bombers, killed more than 40 people, claimed to have shot down a British military plane and threatened to wash the streets with blood.

Insurgents' threats against Iraq's historic election appeared to have some impact, keeping Sunni Arab turnout low in certain areas when Iraqis voted Sunday. Yet the rebels did not stop the balloting altogether, raising questions of just how much ability and influence they have.

"There will still be some acts of violence," Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said Monday, claiming the elections had dealt the insurgency a major blow. "But the terrorists now know that they cannot win."

The elections were hailed as a success around the world, including in Sunni Arab countries like Jordan.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw suggested the elections dealt a psychological setback to the insurgents because it demonstrated Iraqis were committed to democracy.

"Yesterday's elections represent a real blow to this disgusting campaign of violence and intimidation," Straw said in London. "These elections were a moving demonstration that democracy and freedom are universal values, to which people everywhere aspire."

Other Iraqi and U.S. officials cautioned that the insurgents are nowhere near being on the ropes. And the Monday airing of a videotape claiming Islamic militants had shot down a British military plane on election day, killing 10 Britons, indicated they may still try for spectacular attacks.

Jordanian terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's militant group also pledged Monday to continue its attacks in Iraq despite the election. In a statement published on the Internet, the al-Qaida group in Iraq said the elections "will increase our strength and intention to get rid of injustice."

"Let Bush, Blair ... know that we are the enemies of democracy," the group said of the American president and British prime minister.

Nevertheless, the insurgents' failure to launch a catastrophic attack on election day may be a sign their power "has been more localized than thought previously," said Paul Sullivan, an Iraq expert at the U.S.-funded National Defense University in Washington.

It's possible insurgency leaders will lay low for a while. Or they may try for a quick, big attack to prove they are still potent, Sullivan said.

Violence in Iraq calmed for several weeks last summer after the U.S. handover of sovereignty to Iraqis, perhaps because insurgents wanted to devise a new strategy. But the violence soon broke out again, especially in heavily Sunni cities like Fallujah.

Iraq's interior minister, Falah al-Naqib, said Monday he did not think the election would stop the insurgents altogether. He claimed the rebels had used a handicapped child to carry out one of nine suicide bombings Sunday, calling it a sign of their depravity. Police at one Baghdad blast said the bomber did appear to have Down syndrome.

The attacks in all led to roughly 40 deaths — not extraordinary by Iraqi standards — leaving many to wonder why the rebels did not do more.

A higher-than-usual U.S. troop presence and extremely tight security may have helped tamp down the violence.

But many of the most extreme security measures — like a ban on most private driving and the closing of the country's borders and airport — are only temporary, said Jeremy Binnie, a London-based analyst for Jane's Terrorism and Insurgency Center.

The number of U.S. troops, now at 150,000 because of rotation overlap, already is scheduled to drop soon to 138,000.

It's also possible the insurgents simply chose not to strike, worried they would get caught, Binnie said.

Some U.S. and Iraqi officials gave the credit to Iraqi troops who guarded the polls. Allawi praised one who died while successfully keeping a suicide attacker from a polling site.

Marine Capt. Corey Collier of the 1st Battalion Second Marines, patrolling in the so-called "triangle of death" south of Baghdad, said Iraqi soldiers stayed at their posts when rockets fell during voting in the town of Musayyib.

But a U.S. diplomat in Baghdad, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Iraqi troops' success on election day doesn't necessarily mean they can defeat the insurgency going forward. The official predicted some insurgents may decide to ratchet up attacks.

He also noted that "anecdotal evidence" indicates Sunni participation was "considerably lower" than other groups.

That means the insurgents may have largely succeeded at their main election day goal — suppressing Sunni turnout, said Ken Katzman, an Iraq expert at the Congressional Research Service in Washington.

The main Shiite faction is likely to win the most votes and take the biggest role in the new government. Because of that, Sunnis "now feel certain that they are at the mercy of the Shiites," who comprise 60 percent of the population, Katzman said.

And that means the election, despite relatively low violence, probably will not "produce the factional reconciliation" hoped for, he said.

Bush is 'the big winner'

1 February 2005

PARIS — US President George W. Bush is “the big winner” of the Iraqi elections, which have raised the possibility of him withdrawing his troops, French newspapers said yesterday.

The conservative daily Le Figaro said Bush had a victory by seeing the elections carried out at all, despite violence gripping Iraq, and that now several questions should be posed, among them: ”And if, with this occasion, the Americans discover the beginning of an exit strategy?”

The presence of US troops was fuelling the insurgency even as ordinary Iraqis grew tired of the ongoing bloodshed to which they were subjected, it said, arguing that the elections now set the country on the right path.

“Ignorant of the world and blinded by their power, the Americans often only arrive at the right solution after having exhausted all the alternatives,” Le Figaro said, paraphrasing Winston Churchill.

Liberation, a left-leaning newspaper, also hailed Sunday’s polls, saying the strong turnout revealed the insurgents as “a violent minority whose power to persuade or intimidate is exerted only on part of the Sunni minority.”

The test for the government that is to be formed from the results will be to steer clear of a theocracy or a Shia monopoly, and to negotiate with the Sunnis to avoid ethnic strife.

It also said the new Iraqi leaders must set about organising the rapid withdrawal of the foreign forces in their country because ”more and more, they are part of the problem rather than the solution.”

Jordanian charged in murder of US diplomat

31 January 2005

AMMAN - Jordan’s state prosecutor on Monday charged a Jordanian man with the murder three years ago of a US diplomat for which Iraq’s most wanted man Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has been sentenced to death.

Prosecutor Mahmud Obeidat accused Moamar al-Jaghbir of “plotting to carry out terrorist acts leading to the death of an individual,” according to the charge sheet.

Jaghbir was arrested in Iraq by US forces and handed over to the Jordanian authorities in May.

Jordan’s state security court, a military tribunal, sentenced Jordanian Zarqawi and seven others to death in April 2004 for the murder of Laurence Foley, 62, of the US aid agency USAID.

Two other people were sentenced to six and 15 years of hard labor, and the 11th defendant was acquitted.

Foley was shot dead at close range on October 28, 2002, outside his west Amman home by a lone gunman.

Of the 11 people on trial for Foley’s murder, five were present in court in April while the other six were tried in their absence, including Jaghbir.

But in line with Jordanian law he must face a new trial now that he has been arrested and is in custody.

Jaghbir “is one of the members of the group who conspired to carry out attacks against Americans in the kingdom”, including the murder of Foley, Obeidat told AFP.

Zarqawi, whose real name is Fadel Nazzal al-Khalayleh, was accused of being the brains behind the assassination.

Zarqawi is Al Qaeda’s frontman in Iraq and has a 25-million-dollar US bounty on his head.

‘Iraq vote heralds reform in Arab world’

31 January 2005

AMMAN - Iraq’s election will help set the wheel of reform moving in the Arab world and “there is no looking back”, Jordan’s King Abdullah said on Monday.

“I think what we saw yesterday in Iraq is a positive thing,” King Abdullah told CNN a day after Iraq held its first multi-party election in 50 years. “I think this is a thing that will set a good tone for the Middle East and I am optimistic.”

His remarks were the most supportive yet by an Arab leader of the US-backed political process in Iraq.

“People are waking up, (Arab) leaders understanding that they have to push reform forward and I don’t think there is any looking back,” said the king, a close ally of Washington.

He said he didn’t believe autocratic Arab leaders were ”shaking in their boots” because of the voting in Iraq but said political reform was now an open subject in Arab societies.

“Once you open the door to reform and it’s allowed to be discussed in society, as it is throughout the Middle East, it is very difficult to close again,” he said.

The monarch said the high turnout in Iraq’s election sent a clear message to insurgents bent on destroying the US-backed political process in Jordan’s eastern neighbour.

“If there is one thing we can take away from yesterday, it is that the Iraqis have really come together and are stronger than the extremist groups that have been trying to destabilise Iraq over the past 24 months,” King Abdullah declared.

He urged Iraq’s new 275-member parliament, which is set to be dominated by Shi’ite Muslims and Kurds, to work for an inclusive administration that would embrace the Sunni Arab minority, which showed little enthusiasm for the election.

The king, a Sunni who traces his roots to the Prophet Mohammad, said it was clear Iraqi Sunnis felt marginalised.

“This new government is responsible for drafting the new Iraqi constitution so we want this to be inclusive. We want the process to include all sectors of Iraqi society,” he said.

Asked about earlier remarks warning of a rise of Shi’ites close to Iran in Iraq, King Abdullah said he was talking in a political, not a sectarian context.

Some Sunni Arab governments are anxious about a Shi’ite-led Iraq. Sunnis form the vast majority of Muslims worldwide.

Democrats offer Bush speech ideas

By Thomas Ferraro

February 1, 2005 6:30 AM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The two top Democrats in the U.S. Congress have challenged President George W. Bush to draft an "exit strategy" in Iraq and work with them in his drive to revamp the Social Security retirement programme.

With Bush set to deliver his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night, the Democratic pair made a political pre-emptive strike or, as they put it, a "pre-buttal," in a joint appearance of their own at the National Press Club.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, hailed as "a milestone" Sunday's Iraqi elections, when millions defied threats and went to the polls.

"But on Wednesday night," Reid said, "the president needs to spell out a real and understandable plan for the unfinished work ahead: defeat the growing insurgency, rebuild Iraq, increase political participation by all parties ... and increase international involvement."

Without offering a timetable, Reid added, "Most of all, we need an exit strategy so that we know what victory is and how we can get there."

House of Representatives Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, focused her remarks on domestic matters, and took aim at the administration's drive to revamp Social Security by allowing workers to invest part of their payroll taxes in stocks and bonds.

Many oppose such private accounts, fearing that they could undermine, rather than strengthen, the program.

"We can solve this long-term challenge without dismantling Social Security and without allowing this administration's false declaration of a crisis to justify a privatisation plan that is unnecessary, unaffordable and unwise," Pelosi said.

"To be sustainable, any long-term solution must be bipartisan," Pelosi said.

An updated Congressional Budget Office projection released on Monday estimates the retirement system will exhaust its trust fund by 2052, 10 years later than projections cited by Bush.

Brian Jones, a spokesman for the Republican Party, replied, "While President Bush is looking to work with Democrats in confronting the challenges facing our nation, the Democrat leaders' attacks on a speech that has not even been delivered are a sad reminder of their determination to score partisan political points even at the cost of accomplishing the business of the American people."

Millions of Americans are certain to tune in at 9 p.m. on Wednesday (2 a.m. British time Thursday) to the State of the Union address, an annual event that hands the president a major opportunity to speak to the nation and the world.

Afterward, Reid and Pelosi will deliver their party's official response. If history is any indication, many will have turned off their TVs or switched channels by the time they speak.

Still, as former Democratic House Speaker Tom Foley put it, Reid and Pelosi will likely be addressing their biggest audiences ever. "They will be heard," said Foley, who attended the pair's joint appearance.

As a result of the Republicans' success in the November elections, Reid and Pelosi face expanded majorities in Congress as they seek to rally public support for the Democratic case for change.

Pelosi said, "As the president begins his second term, it is fitting that we pause to look at where our nation stands, where we are headed and what better course of action should be taken."

Rise of Shiites to power for the first time in an Arab state in 11 centuries

Arab states fear Iraq poll aftermath

Sunni Arab states fear advent of Shiite government in Iraq will fan political reform calls, boost Iran.

By Hassen Zenati - CAIRO

Sunni Arab states fear the emergence of a hostile Shiite government in Iraq after the first free elections there in 50 years that may also add pressure on them to introduce their own political reforms.

"Victory for Sistani," the Cairo daily Nahdat Misr headlined Monday, referring to the Iran-born Shiite spiritual leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani who engineered a joint list that is widely expected to win power for Iraq's long oppressed majority community.

Cairo University law professor Mohammed Nur Farhat asked if there had not been "an understanding, even partial, between the United States and Iran," paving the way for the Shiites' expected rise to power for the first time in an Arab state in 11 centuries.

Jordan expressed concern that the Shiites might enjoy a monopoly of power in the new national assembly after the much lower turnout reported from areas inhabited by the Sunni Arab elite that dominated Saddam Hussein's regime and all previous Iraqi governments.

King Abdullah II said the Iraqi leadership must strive to bring the country's Sunni minority into the fold and ensure that the constitution to be drafted by the elected parliament is inclusive.

"The Sunnis, I still believe, do feel marginalised," said the monarch, who had expressed fears of meddling by Shiite Muslim Iran in the election and noted that Sunni participation in the vote "a lot lower than any of us hoped".

The pro-government Amman daily Al-Rai urged Sunnis not to be tempted by anti-US insurgents into jeopardising Iraq's unity.

"The Iraqis are... requested now to unite and safeguard their Arab identity... and not bet on the will and plans of foreigners, terrorists, extremists," an editorial said.

Saudi consultative council member Abdul Aziz al-Fayez questioned suggestions that turnout had been surprisingly high even in Sunni Arab areas, insisting the true level remained to be seen.

He also challenged the "fairness of the process," especially as it was held while Iraq remained "under US-led occupation."

Commentators across the region predicted that Washington's success in organizing the Iraqi elections would encourage neo-conservatives within the US administration in their ambitions to promote political reform across the region.

"While the world faces problems of a global scale, the United States has a single preoccupation - what they call democracy," complained a commentary in the government-owned Cairo daily Al-Akhbar.

"American democracy is a damaged good that the United States is trying to spread across the world in the interests of domination, oppression and obscurantism," it said.

Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmad Nazif said earlier this year that "the Egyptian people do not attach priority to political reforms.

And President Hosni Mubarak on Saturday rejected calls for an amendment to the constitution to make the presidency directly elected by the people, in place of the present system under which a plebiscite is held on a single candidate nominated by parliament.

"I am not going to make a change that would go down as a black day in Egyptian history," he told reporters Saturday.

But analysts warned that the pressure for reform now risked becoming unstoppable, however much authoritarian governments around the region tried to resist it.

"Democracy is an idea that is now on the march in the Middle East even if the efforts to contain it are immense," said Amr al-Shubaqi of the Al-Ahram Centre for Political Studies in Cairo.

Waving Kurdish scarves and flags of Democratic Party of Kurdistan people dance in celebration in front of Party headquarters in the village of Chira, northern Iraq, Monday, Jan. 31. 2005. Large turnout of Kurdish people, even in Mosul governorate, makes supporters believe that Kurdish parties will gain substantial number of votes in Iraqi national and local election.(AP Photo/Sasa Kralj)

Farid Ayar, left, spokesman for the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq (IECI), and the IECI's Chief of Electoral Office Adel al-Lami speak to the media in Baghdad, Iraq Monday, Jan. 31, 2005. A day after the vote, jubilant Iraqis sifted through ballots, tallying the results of an election that millions hoped would lead to democracy and hasten the departure of 150,000 American troops. The writing in the background is the name of the IECI in Arabic on the top line and in Kurdish on the lower line. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Iraqi police celebrate a day after the Iraqi elections in southern city of Basra, Monday, Jan. 31, 2005. A day after the vote, jubilant Iraqis sifted through ballots, tallying the results of an election that millions hoped would lead to democracy and hasten the departure of 150,000 American troops. (AP Photo/Nabil Aljurani)

Iraqi police and a British soldier celebrate a day after the Iraqi elections in southern city of Basra, Monday, Jan. 31, 2005. A day after the vote, jubilant Iraqis sifted through ballots, tallying the results of an election that millions hoped would lead to democracy and hasten the departure of 150,000 American troops. (AP Photo/Nabil Aljurani)

Iraqi soldiers gather for a raid on insurgent targets in Mosul, Iraq Monday, Jan. 31, 2005, one day after national elections. Jubilant Iraqis sifted through ballots Monday, tallying the results of a vote that millions hoped would restore democracy for the first time in a half-century and lead to the departure of 150,000 American troops. (AP Photo/Jim MacMillan)

A U.S. Army sniper scans the horizon through his rifle scope during a raid on insurgent targets in Mosul, Iraq Monday, Jan. 31, 2005, one day after national elections. Jubilant Iraqis sifted through ballots Monday, tallying the results of a vote that millions hoped would restore democracy for the first time in a half-century and lead to the departure of 150,000 American troops. (AP Photo/Jim MacMillan)

An Iraqi soldier walks past U.S. Army tanks in Mosul, Iraq Monday, Jan. 31, 2005, one day after national elections. Jubilant Iraqis sifted through ballots Monday, tallying the results of a vote that millions hoped would restore democracy for the first time in a half-century and lead to the departure of 150,000 American troops. (AP Photo/Jim MacMillan)

An Iraqi woman walks past Iraqi and U.S. Army soldiers during a raid on insurgent targets in Mosul, Iraq Monday, Jan. 31, 2005, one day after national elections. Jubilant Iraqis sifted through ballots Monday, tallying the results of a vote that millions hoped would restore democracy for the first time in a half-century and lead to the departure of 150,000 American troops. (AP Photo/Jim MacMillan)

U.S. Army 1st Battalion, 24th Regiment soldiers emerge from an armored Stryker combat vehicle for a raid on insurgent targets in Mosul, Iraq Monday, Jan. 31, 2005, one day after national elections. Jubilant Iraqis sifted through ballots Monday, tallying the results of a vote that millions hoped would restore democracy for the first time in a half-century and lead to the departure of 150,000 American troops. (AP Photo/Jim MacMillan)

Residents celebrate on the street waving flowers, flags and posters of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, in Baghdad's Shiite enclave of Sadr City, Monday, Jan. 31, 2005. A day after the vote, jubilant Iraqis sifted through ballots, tallying the results of an election that millions hoped would lead to democracy and hasten the departure of 150,000 American troops. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

An Iraqi policeman flashes the victory sign while escorting a convoy of ballots from a polling station in Jisr Diala on the outskirts of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Jan. 31, 2005. Iraqi and American forces escorted election officials, ballots and tally sheets to central collection points for tabulation of Sunday's landmark election.(AP Photo/John Moore)

Iraqi policemen, their vehicles decorated in celebration of Sunday's landmark election, escort a convoy of ballots from a polling station in Jisr Diala on the outskirts of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Jan. 31, 2005. Iraqi and American forces escorted ballots, election officials and tally sheets to central collection points in Baghdad for tabulation of Sunday's landmark election.(AP Photo/John Moore)

U.S. Army Spc. Luke Saunders dances with Iraqi policemen as they celebrate the arrival of a convoy of ballots from a polling station to a central collection point in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Jan. 31, 2005. Iraqi and American forces escorted election officials, ballots and tally sheets to central collection points for tabulation of Sunday's landmark election. Saunders is with the 443rd Civil Affairs Battalion and is from Green Bay, WI.(AP Photo/John Moore)

Iraqi policemen celebrate as a convoy of ballots arrives from a polling station to a central collection point in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Jan. 31, 2005. Iraqi and American forces escorted election officials, ballots and tally sheets to central collection points for tabulation of Sunday's landmark election.(AP Photo/John Moore)

Residents celebrate on the street waving flowers, flags and posters of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani and al-Hakim, in Baghdad's Shiite enclave of Sadr City, Monday, Jan. 31, 2005. A day after the vote, jubilant Iraqis sifted through ballots, tallying the results of an election that millions hoped would lead to democracy and hasten the departure of 150,000 American troops. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Gilbert Narsa, an Iraqi immigrant living in Modesto, CA, holds a sign thanking America "for liberating Iraq," outside a polling station in Irivine, CA. Naras was with a group of Iraqi Assyrians who were supporting their ticket, slate 139, the Assyrian National Assembly. (AFP / Getty Images Photo)

An Iraqi National Guard soldier prays next to a U.S. soldier from the 2-325th Airborne Infantry Regiment at a polling station being secured by a joint Iraqi and American force two days before the electoins in a school on the troubled western district of Mosul. (Newsday / Moises Saman)

Iraqi expatriate Benjamin Nissan, a beautician who said he likes to dress like Elvis Presley, casts his ballot in Skokie, Ill. (AP Photo)

Iraqi expatriate Imam Husham Al-Husainy celebrates with poll workers after casting his ballot in Iraq's National election at a polling place in the Detroit suburb of Southgate, Michigan. (Rebecca Cook / Reuters)

Iraqi actresses rehearse backstage for a play that encourages Iraqis to participate in the elections. Backed by the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, the main Shiite party in Iraq, a group of Iraqi actors perform a play that explores the dangers facing Iraq and accentuates the importance of the elections. (Getty Images Photo)

An investigation is underway into the cause of a crash of a British military transport plane in Iraq which killed 10 people, in Britain's biggest single loss of life since the invasion of Iraq. Here a floral tribute outside the gates to RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire(AFP/Martyn Hayhow)

Investigation underway into deadly British plane crash in Iraq

LONDON (AFP) - An investigation is underway into the cause of a crash of a British military transport plane in Iraq which killed 10 people, in Britain's biggest single loss of life since the invasion of Iraq.

British officials have so far declined to comment on the cause, or on claims made by an Al-Qaeda linked extremist group that it shot down the RAF C-130 Hercules on Sunday northwest of Baghdad.

On Monday Ansar al-Islam, an Al-Qaeda linked extremist group, posted a statement on an Islamist website claiming it downed the plane.

US defence officials have noted there was some indication of ground fire at the time of the crash, but did not say the plane was downed by hostile fire.

"There are some indications of some ground fire but nobody is in a position to confirm" the cause, said a senior defence official, who asked not to be identified.

A second defence official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said there were early reports of small arms fire when the RAF C-130 aircraft went down, and added the cause was under investigation.

British Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon said in a statement, "we are aware of reports that the aircraft may have been shot down, but we are not in a position to come to any conclusions until the investigation is complete."

Hoon said nine Royal Air Force personnel and one soldier are missing, believed dead, following the crash.

The Ministry of Defence said earlier a "thorough investigation" into the cause of the crash had begun.

Al-Jazeera television aired a video purporting to show the downing of the plane, saying the footage was filmed by the "Islamic National Resistance in Iraq," the second group to claim to have shot down the plane.

The footage showed a finger pressing a button, purportedly launching a rocket seen in the video, followed by a fireball and wreckage of what was alleged to be the plane.

On Tuesday the British tabloid Sun newspaper, citing sources at the defence ministry, said, however, it had been told investigators were looking into whether a bomb had been placed in the plane itself, as the craft was flying too high to be hit by a missile.

"It is clear the C-130 exploded in mid-air and shattered into thousands of pieces," the source told the paper.

"A bomb could have been planted on the plane when it refuelled in Baghdad and stopped to collect passengers and cargo."

An officer with the US-led military coalition in Baghdad, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the plane had been heading to Balad, 70 kilometers (40 miles) north of Baghdad.

Balad houses one of the largest US airbases in Iraq and has two runways, according to Britain's Press Association news wire.

Air Vice-Marshall Tony Mason, a military expert, said the crash, which occurred during a spate of attacks aimed at sabotaging the first democratic elections in Iraq for 50 years, could have been caused by "hostile action.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told the BBC on Monday that the crash resulted in "the largest single loss of British service lives" since Britain joined the US-led invasion of Iraq nearly two years ago.

The previous largest single loss of British lives was when eight soldiers were killed in a helicopter accident on March 21, 2003. Prior to the crash 76 British troops had lost their lives in Iraq in combat or accidents.

Britain currently has about 8,700 troops in Iraq

A Canvas of Tears and Blood

My Marine son, Adam called me a few minutes ago. For the first moment or two I didn’t recognize his voice; it was raspy, tired and older than when I spoke with him last. I suppose that is to be expected. One doesn’t endure the hell that he has and go on with business as usual.

“Son, are you okay? “ I asked quietly. The response was forced. “I’m not sure,” he said.

“Adam, I’m so sorry. I am so very sorry,” I struggled to get the words out.

His whispered voice screamed with pain. “Dad, I was supposed to be on that helicopter. That should have been me.”

As most Americans know by now, we lost 31 of our boys last Tuesday when the CH-53 Sea Stallion they were flying in went down in an Iraqi field about 200 miles west of Baghdad. When the incident first crossed my news wire I was only seconds from going on the air. It took my breath away and I prayed a quiet prayer for all of the families but, to be honest, I never even considered that Adam, a Lance Corporal in the Corp, would be in that part of the country. Days earlier he told me his team would be moving out but even he was uncertain where they would land.

As the day progressed and the news said the guys were from Charlie Company I became even more concerned. My wife, Laurie, and I awaited word but it didn’t come. As the minutes ticked into hours every devastating thought a person can have ran through my mind. As Laurie paced and emailed, I sat in my office working on the next show. I had to stay busy. I had to keep my mind off the “sandbox” and the tragedy that had just changed families’ lives forever. Finally, 17 hours after the accident we heard from a source that our son had been spotted on the ground and that he was okay. We breathed for the first time all day.

I’m a pretty strong soul and a man who doesn’t often express emotions, but since that fateful day I find myself tearing up as my mind races to that point in time. Today, though, was the worst. Today, I heard the full story. It broke my heart.

“Dad, I was the last guy on that helicopter. I stowed my pack and was inside when an officer from the other copter yelled out my name. ‘Ankarlo, jump out of there and climb into our copter. We need you to be stick man’.”

The night was windy. It was draped in a heavy desert fog but still the Stallions had to fly. Charlie Company had just received their security orders. And so, off they went. Our helicopter pilots have to fly their crafts close to the ground, with few lights on, to avoid enemy fire. They stay low so the surface-to-air missiles won’t blow them out of the sky. In fact, at this low altitude the enemy fire actually bounces off the helicopters before they can explode.

“I am so numb dad. I’m just numb. I saw an explosion and looked out a side window but wasn’t sure if the flash came from the other chopper or not. To avoid fire our pilot swerved back and forth and finally shot straight up. We actually lost power for about 15 seconds and were plummeting back to the ground when he finally regained control. We were sure we were all gonna die but we thought the other copter was okay,” he explained in an honest but devastated tone. “It wasn’t until we landed that we were told it had crashed. At first we were told a few guys had died, and then it was 10; then it was 20 and finally the whole group. Dad, I knew every one of those guys. They were my friends. Now they are all dead. Dad, they’re all dead.” A long paused followed. He was in too much pain and I didn’t have a clue what to say. What does one say to a guy who just saw all his friends get wiped out? A tired cliché would be the worst route. We sat in silence.

“Dad, why am I alive? I was strapped in and we were taking off. Why was I yanked off that copter?” His hoarse voice strained to say more but he couldn’t. I cried with Adam for a moment. “Son, who can explain this? I certainly can’t. I will tell you that thousands of people are covering you in prayer and I don’t doubt that played a major role; but your pop can’t explain the questions you are asking. Only God can do that, and He may choose never to do it,” I offered the only comfort I knew.

Around Christmastime Adam sent us some movies he had taken of his pals. There is serious war footage from the day they took Fallujah but there was a lot of time devoted to guys in their twenties just cutting up and having some fun. “Dad, almost all the guys on those tapes…” his voice trailed off. He didn’t have to say another word. I knew where he was going. It was just too surreal. The next pictures I will see of them will include their families crying around their flag-draped coffins. War hurts.

After a few minutes Adam wanted to share a few more details, “We went back to the wreckage but the biggest piece left was only about four feet in diameter. Everything was torn to bits,” he explained. “I looked for my pack but it was incinerated. Every letter, every thing I have over here was burned. Dad, your book, the one you wrote and that I have shared with about a hundred guys over here, is nothing but ash. I should have been with that pack.” I finally jumped in, “No you shouldn’t have. You are suffering from something called Survivor’s Guilt. Why them and not me? It’s a natural emotion and you have to work through this, but in the end, if you believe in God and know that He’s looking out for you, then you have to believe He knows what He’s doing. I don’t understand it but that’s all you have to hold on to.” We prayed a short prayer and choked back the tears. “I’ve gotta go dad. They just called us back to action. They are loading us on to another helicopter. We’ve got a mission to do before Sunday’s election.”

As he started to go I whispered, “Stay safe.” It sounded so trite when it fell off my tongue. “Stay safe,” what kind of advice was that I wondered? “I’ll try. I love you dad.” For the first time, he sounded like he really was on the other side of the world and with that, the call disconnected.

For the longest time after our conversation, I sat quietly; privately. While staring at a darkened room I realized in the deepest sense of the term what the ultimate price of freedom is. My son, America’s son, painted its picture in stark detail. Its color is red and it has stains that flow like rivers. Those rivers came when a few Marines and God Himself poured out their tears like rain to create a priceless portrait of sadness and hope.

Darrell Ankarlo
Copyright 2005
Ankarlo.net

To see more of Adam's photos, click here.

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