Posted on 03/30/2006 4:23:37 PM PST by Gucho
March 30, 2006
FORT MYER, Va. -- Twenty four Walter Reed Army Medical Center patients who were injured in the Global War on Terrorism were honored by the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) March 24.
The Old Guard gave the patients a tour of Arlington National Cemetery, where they also conducted a wreath laying at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Spc. Noah Bailey said he was happy to see so many servicemen and women showing their support at the Tomb.
"It felt good to get all that attention from other military members," said Bailey, who was with the 173rd Airborne Brigade based out of Vicenza, Italy.
Later at Fort Myer’s Conmy Hall, the patients were treated to an Army full-honor review ceremony.
The Fife and Drum Corps kicked off the review, with the Army Drill Team following. The Drill Team dazzled spectators with such signature moves as "The Fan" and a maneuver that involves tossing a rifle 15 feet in the air from the front to the rear of a moving formation.
Col. Bob Pricone, regimental commander of The Old Guard, thanked the patients for their selfless service.
"Our Soldiers want you to know we have the utmost respect and admiration for your bravery and commitment," he said.
The personal escort for the president of the United States, the Old Guard conducts ceremonies for heads of state and foreign dignities, as well as for fallen comrades at Arlington National Cemetery.
"But today," Pricone said, "the Soldiers and leaders of The Old Guard and the United States Army Band pay special recognition and honor to you, our wounded warriors."
(Editor’s note: Spc. Brian K. Parker is with the Old Guard Public Affairs Office.)
By Spc. Brian K. Parker
March 30, 2006
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Patrol Base Warrior, located in the Sadr Yusufiyah area, at one time was the lavish home of a sheik, who is now detained on charges of terrorism. Now, it is not much different than most patrol bases in Iraq: missions are planned and executed from the outpost just like any other base.
What is unique about Warrior is the atmosphere that exists there. American and Iraqi Soldiers have gone from having mutual respect for each other to developing genuine friendships.
Since establishing the base, the men are still busy, side-by-side, filling sand bags and baskets to increase force protection.
Thought they don’t speak the same language, the men laughed and joked with each other as they continued to fill thousands of empty sandbags.
"The Iraqi army has been helping us out since we got here," said Spc. Jimmy Schneiter, a team leader with Company C, 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment.
According to an interpreter, Iraqi soldiers are productive here because they are not separated or treated like outsiders.
"The Iraqi soldiers are made to feel like they are a part of the team, so they don’t get treated any differently than the Americans do," said the man known as "Fox", who has been an Army interpreter for the last 18 months.
Although his primary job is as an interpreter, Fox, a native of Baghdad, said he feels he is obliged to be much more.
"I like my job because I get to help the American and Iraqi forces," said Fox. "My job is more than just to be an interpreter. We help the Iraqi people and American forces understand each other."
Although he feels strongly about helping his country, Fox knows that his job is not without risks.
"If an insurgent only has one bullet, and has the chance to shoot a Soldier or an interpreter, he would shoot the interpreter," Fox stated. "The terrorists want space between the Iraqi people and the American forces. They need it in order to succeed."
He also believes that the Iraqi army will be ready to face the challenge of defending Iraq once the United States leaves.
"The IA is the future of Iraq," Fox said. "Eventually, the U.S. will be gone and these soldiers will be ready to protect democracy because they believe in what they are doing."
The Iraqi soldiers also feel a strong sense of parity and are glad to serve their country.
"After three years of working with the Americans, I haven’t felt until now, that I was safe with the Americans or that they didn’t hate me because I am Iraqi. Now I am treated like a soldier, and I am taken care of," said Sgt. 1st Class Mahdi Tahar. "If you want proof of that, look at our station now - it is an American and Iraqi station. We work together, fill sandbags together, we do the same jobs so we don’t feel different. It’s a very good feeling.
"I like working with the U.S. Army. They are helping us to build our own army," Tahar explained. "We are working together to capture insurgents, and are working to change history so that there will be good relations between the people of Iraq and the people of the United States."
Story by Spc. George Welcome - 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division
March 30, 2006
TIKRIT, Iraq -- Four caches were discovered yesterday in Salah Ad Din province by Soldiers from the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, Task Force Band of Brothers.
Pathfinders, infantry Soldiers who are specially trained to provide navigational assistance and advisory services to military aircraft, discovered weaponry and ammunition as they searched several suspected locations in the Sheri Lake area.
Four of the six areas inspected contained weapons caches consisting primarily of ordnance buried in the ground. After the cache contents were inventoried, the unit reported that a total of 20 rockets, 53 rocket propelled grenades, three anti-aircraft missiles with two launchers, one anti-tank missile, 24 mortar rounds, one mortar tube, and a variety of small caliber artillery rounds were discovered. In addition to the ordnance, the Soldiers also found several different items that are commonly used in the construction of IEDs.
All of the items were destroyed by Explosive Ordnance Disposal Soldiers.
Anyone with information as to the location of illegal weapons caches should contact their local Joint Coordination Center. People who report the location of weapons caches may be eligible for a reward.
By MSG Terry Webster - 101st ABN DIV
March 30, 2006
FOB KALSU, Iraq -- Iraqi and U.S. Soldiers assaulted an objective believed to be holding a terrorist cell leader in the town of Haswah, northern Babil province March 26.
The Soldiers are from 4th Company, 2nd Battalion, 4th Brigade, 8th Iraqi Army Division, and Company B, 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division,
The Iraqi Army provided the main assault effort while Soldiers from Co. B, 2-8 Inf. provided outer cordon security.
The suspected terrorist cell leader and six others were detained.
No damage to personnel, equipment or buildings occurred during the raid.
By MULTI-NATIONAL DIVISION - BAGHDAD 4th Infantry Division - CAMP LIBERTY
March 30, 2006
SYRACUSE, N. Y. -- The global war against terrorism is as much a struggle of ideas as it is a military conflict, the Pentagon's No. 2 military officer said here today.
The anti-terror war is actually a battle between Islamic moderates and extremists, and not a face-off between Western and Middle Eastern thought, Adm. Edmund P. Giambastiani, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during remarks at a luncheon at Syracuse University.
"This is not a clash between civilizations, but within one civilization - the Muslim world," Giambastiani said. "This, in many senses, is an ideological civil war between one hard-line view of what Islam means and what such a meaning demands. "
Radical Islam adherents like Osama bin Laden preach a violent, exclusionary world view that preys on the impoverished, young and uninformed among Islam's 1 billion-plus followers, Giambastiani said. However, Muslim expressions of faith are largely peaceful and have comfortably coexisted in the modern world, Giambastiani said. Mainstream Islamic thought also abhors and rejects the violence committed by bin Laden and his followers, the admiral said.
"In my view, this war of ideas targets the real center of gravity for what we call the 'Long War,'" Giambastiani said. The struggle between moderate and radical Muslims puts the interpretation of the religion at stake, he said.
"And that acceptance or rejection is at the heart of this war of ideas that we are in fact engaged in today," Giambastiani said.
Proponents of radical Islam want to chase the United States from the Middle East, Giambastiani said, and then overthrow the current governments, replacing them with functionaries that mirror radical ideology. The radicals also want to create safe havens across the world, he said, to be used to conduct ideological and terrorism training of new members.
The Islamic extremists don't fly a national flag, nor do they field conventional armies, navies, or air forces, Giambastiani said. The radicals' chief weapon is terrorizing innocent people, and they do so through the use of improvised explosive devices to gather headlines and spread fear.
"They use these IEDs to kill innocent civilians; victims with no tactical military value, but immense strategic import," Giambastiani said.
The terrorists employ fake companies to raise funds, bribe politicians and financiers and enlist sympathetic charitable and civic organizations to parrot their ideas, Giambastiani said. They employ the Internet for planning, recruiting, financing, propaganda and training, he added.
The radicals are plotting to obtain weapons of mass destruction, Giambastiani said, and their plans also include seizing control of the world's oil resources.
The ultimate goal of al Qaeda and other radical Islamic organizations is to "bankrupt and exhaust" the United States and other enemies and achieve world domination, the admiral said.
"These enemies in this global war on terrorism seek to abolish our - your -- way of life," Giambastiani pointed out. Governments that don't reflect the radicals' world view will be replaced "with the rules of an extremist, Islamic, empire," he said.
The Islamic radicals are unified by their extremist ideology, and their loosely knit terror networks make it difficult to catch and defeat them on a conventional battlefield, Giambastiani said.
"Ideas can't be eliminated by simply using guns," Giambastiani pointed out. And today, there's intense debate within the U. S. government and military about how to employ strategic communications to counteract the propaganda propagated by the terrorists, the admiral said.
"But, to my mind, we still haven't come up with a good enough strategy or even enough good ideas for competing in the war of ideas in this Islamic civil war in a way which strengthens the hand of the Islamic moderates against their hard-line, extremist co-believers," Giambastiani said.
In this struggle for the hearts and minds of the Islamic and Middle Eastern people, there's no doubt the United States' military "has great capability in our special forces to deal with other cultures," Giambastiani said to reporters during an after-luncheon news conference. And today, the "vast bulk" of the training of Afghan and Iraqi security forces is being performed by conventional U. S. military members embedded in training units, the admiral said.
Those U. S. trainers obviously have cultural and linguistic awareness as they work with and teach Afghans and Iraqis, Giambastiani said. "And we are extending this (concept) across-the-board" to more American soldiers and Marines, the admiral said.
By Gerry J. Gilmore - American Forces Press Service
March 30, 2006
BALAD, Iraq -- Trailing behind like a protective shadow, members of Bulldog Battery’s Counter Insurgency Platoon followed an Iraqi army patrol in an area south of Logistical Support Area Anaconda.
The Soldiers were there to ensure their IA counterparts properly conducted each phase of the operation and offered constructive criticism when the group rallied at Forward Operating Base O’Ryan after the patrol.
"We go out there and see if they’re doing the right stuff," said Sgt. Cesar Vazquez, a truck commander from Bulldog Battery, 3rd Battalion, 29th Field Artillery, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Task Force Band of Brothers. "Basically (we look for) the same things we would do."
As the patrol navigated through the dirt and sand roads, the IA Soldiers stopped and talked to residents to see if there had been any anti-Iraqi force activity in the area.
As the stream of vehicles moved further away from the nation’s capital the land became more desert-like with each revolution of the tires. The lush green around one of the largest compounds in Iraq was a distant memory as those images were replaced with layer upon layer of brown. The few green spots along this route seemed out of place.
For the IA Soldiers, this area is home. Because of the common bond of nationality and an ingrained knowledge of the area, IA Soldiers are at an advantage over the Coalition Forces."I have a good, familiar background with the people so he can ask about what is going on find who is good and who is bad," said Sgt. Abdullah, the IA patrol commander from 2nd Company, 4th Battalion.
There are few other factors more important to Iraqi control over their country than an effective army. Because of this, Coalition Forces work hard to ensure the Iraqis are fully prepared to assume the task of protecting their country. This, after all, is the Coalition Forces’ ticket home. "(We want to) make sure they know how to do it and to let us know that they will be capable of replacing us," Vazquez said..
Story by Sgt. Zach Mott - 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs Office
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs Karel De Gucht (C) arrives at the Kabul airport, Afghanistan March 30, 2006. De Gucht is in Afghanistan on a two-day visit. (REUTERS/Ahmad Masood)
Thursday, March 30, 2006
An Afghan man walks through the northern part of Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, March 30, 2006. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
March 30, 2006
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The United States will leave Iraq, "but we will not retreat from Iraq," President Bush said today during a speech at Freedom House here.
The president stressed that freedom is for all nations, not just a few fortunate ones, and that the march of freedom is the best guarantor of peace.
He said freedom is on the march in Afghanistan, Lebanon, Kyrgyzstan and Liberia, and that "the courageous people of Iraq have gone to the polls not once, not twice, but three times, choosing a transitional government, a democratic constitution, and a new government under that constitution. " Bush acknowledged that each country faces problems, but with the help of the international community, they can surmount them.
Bush said liberty is advancing in the midst of war. "At a moment when a global movement of great brutality and ambition is fighting freedom's progress with all the hateful violence they can muster, in this new century the advance of freedom is a vital element of our strategy to protect the American people and to secure the peace for generations to come," he said.
Bush defended his policy of preemption. He said the United States is fighting terrorists around the world before they can launch more attacks on the homeland. "On September the 11th, 2001, we saw the violence and the hatred of a vicious enemy and the future that they intend for us," he said. "That day I made a decision: America will not wait to be attacked again. We will confront this mortal danger. We will stay on the offensive. America will defend our freedom. "
He said confronting the terrorists in Iraq is the central front of the war on terror today. Bush said the stakes in Iraq are high, and the United States must help Iraqis overcome divisions to form one nation that respects the rights of all.
Bush directly confronted questions about the situation in Iraq. "In the wake of recent violence in Iraq, many Americans are asking legitimate questions: Why are Iraqis so divided? And did America cause the instability by removing Saddam Hussein from power?"
"They ask: After free elections, why are the Iraqi people having such a hard time coming together? And can a country with so many divisions ever build a stable democracy? They ask why we can't bring our troops home now and let the Iraqis sort out their differences on their own. "
He said that much of the violence Americans see in Iraq is a legacy of Saddam Hussein's rule. "He was a tyrant who exacerbated sectarian divisions to keep himself in power," the president said.
President George W. Bush takes a question from the audience at Freedom House, Wednesday, March 29, 2006 in Washington, where President Bush discussed Democracy in Iraq and thanked the Freedom House organization for their work to expand freedom around the world. (White House photo by Eric Draper)
Before Saddam Hussein, Iraqis of all ethnic, tribal and sectarian affiliations lived together peacefully. "To prevent these different groups from coming together to challenge his regime, Saddam Hussein undertook a deliberate strategy of maintaining control by dividing the Iraqi people," Bush said. "He stayed on top by brutally repressing different Iraqi communities and pitting them one against the other. He forced hundreds of thousands of Iraqis out of their homes, using expulsion as a weapon to subdue and punish any group that resisted his rule. By displacing Iraqi communities and dividing the Iraqi people, he sought to establish himself as the only force that could hold the country together. "
Saddam used poison gas on the Kurds in the north and military force to drive out Shiia Arabs in the south. He drained the swamps of the Shatt al-Arab, destroying the lives and history of the March Arabs.
But the Iraqi dictator also oppressed his fellow Sunni Arabs. "One of the great misperceptions about Iraq is that every Sunni enjoyed a privileged status under Saddam's regime," Bush said. "In the mid-1990s, Saddam rounded up scores of prominent Sunni economists and lawyers and retired army officers and former government officials. Many were never heard from again. "
Iraq is physically and emotionally scarred by three decades of Saddam's tyranny, the president said, and these wounds will take time to heal.
He challenged assertions that Iraq was stable under Saddam and that stability is now endangered. "While liberation has brought its own set of challenges, Saddam Hussein's removal from power was the necessary first step in restoring stability and freedom to the people of Iraq," he said.
The enemies of freedom are using Saddam's tactics to exploit the wounds the dictator made on the nation's psyche. "For the Saddamists, provoking sectarian strife is business as usual," he said. And this fits right in with terror groups' aims for the nation. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, wants a civil war in Iraq.
An audience member directs a question to President George W. Bush during his appearance at Freedom House, Wednesday, March 29, 2006 in Washington, where President Bush discussed Democracy in Iraq and thanked the Freedom House organization for their work to expand freedom around the world. (White House photo by Eric Draper)
"The terrorists and Saddamists have been brutal in the pursuit of this strategy," the president said. "They target innocent civilians. They blow up police officers. They attack mosques. And they commit other acts of horrific violence for the cameras. Their objective is to stop Iraq's democratic progress. "
Now these same forces are trying to stop the formation of an Iraqi unity government. "They've learned they cannot succeed by facing coalition and Iraqi forces on the battlefield, so they've taken their violence to a new level by attacking one of Shiia Islam's holiest sites," Bush said. By blowing up the Golden Mosque in Samarra, they hoped the act would provoke Shiia Arabs into civil war.
"Yet despite massive provocations, Iraq has not descended into civil war," he said. "Most Iraqis have not turned to violence. The Iraqi security forces have not broken up into sectarian groups waging war against each other. Instead, Sunni, Shiia and Kurdish soldiers stood together to protect religious sites, enforce a curfew and restore civil order. " Bush said the Iraqi government must confront armed militia groups that engage in kidnappings, executions and other acts of violence. In some cases, local police turned a blind eye to the outrages. "There's no place in a free and democratic Iraq for armed groups operating outside the law," he said. "It's vital to the security of a free Iraq that the police are free of militia influence. And so we're working with Iraqi leaders to find and remove leaders from the national police who show evidence of loyalties to militias. "
American units are partnering with Iraqi national police to teach them about the role of a professional police force in a democratic society. "We're making clear to Iraqi leaders that reining in the illegal militias must be a top priority of Iraq's new government when it takes office," he said.
Democracy is the only way forward to peace in Iraq and the greater Middle East, the president said. "Democracy is the only form of government where every person has a say in the governance of a country," he said. "So Iraqis are working to overcome past divisions and build a free society that protects the rights of all its citizens. "
President George W. Bush addresses his remarks to an audience at Freedom House, Wednesday, March 29, 2006 in Washington, where President Bush discussed Democracy in Iraq and thanked the Freedom House organization for their work to expand freedom around the world. (White House photo by Eric Draper)
The president commented on calls by some Americans to pull U. S. troops out of Iraq now. "I know the work in Iraq is really difficult," he said. "But I strongly feel it's vital to the security of our country. The terrorists are killing and maiming and fighting desperately to stop the formation of a unity government, because they understand what a free Iraq in the heart of the Middle East means for them and their ideology. They know that when freedom sets root in Iraq, it will be a mortal blow to their aspirations to dominate the region and advance their hateful vision. So they're determined to stop the advance of a free Iraq, and we must be equally determined to stop them. "
If the coalition leaves before the job in Iraq is finished, then terrorist will fill the void and turn Iraq into a haven where they can plan and train and rest with impunity, the president said. "I know some in our country disagree with my decision to liberate Iraq," he said. "Whatever one thought about the decision to remove Saddam from power, I hope we should all agree that pulling our troops out prematurely would be a disaster.
"If we were to let the terrorists drive us out of Iraq, we would signal to the world that America cannot be trusted to keep its word," he continued. "We would undermine the morale of our troops by betraying the cause for which they have sacrificed. We would cause the tyrants in the Middle East to laugh at our failed resolve and tighten their repressive grip. The global terrorist movement would be emboldened and more dangerous than ever. For the security of our citizens and the peace of the world, we will not turn the future of Iraq over to the followers of a failed dictator or to evil men like (Osama) bin Laden and Zarqawi. "
By Jim Garamone - American Forces Press Service
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Nineteen Charged With Racketeering to Support Terrorist Organization
Wednesday March 29, 2006 - 4:36 pm ET
(Source: United States Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Michigan; Bureau)
DETROIT, March 29 /PRNewswire/ -- A Federal Grand Jury in Detroit charged nineteen individuals with operating a global racketeering conspiracy in an indictment unsealed today, announced United States Attorney Stephen J. Murphy. The indictment alleges that portions of the profits made from the illegal enterprise were given to Hizballah, a foreign terrorist organization. Nine of the individuals were arrested this morning.
U.S. Attorney Murphy was joined in the announcement by Daniel D. Roberts, Special Agent in Charge of the Detroit FBI; Valerie J. Goddard, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); Brian M. Moskowitz, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Maurice Aouate, Special Agent in Charge of the Detroit Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation; and Michael Cleary, Special Agent in Charge, FDA Office of Criminal Investigation.
The indictment charges that between 1996 and 2004, a group of individuals worked together in a criminal enterprise to traffic in contraband cigarettes, counterfeit Zig Zag rolling papers and counterfeit Viagra, to produce counterfeit cigarette tax stamps, to transport stolen property, and to launder money. The enterprise operated from Lebanon, Canada, China, Brazil, Paraguay and the United States. The indictment, returned by a federal grand jury on April 14, 2004, was sealed pursuant to a court order until today.
Arrested this morning by members of the Detroit Joint Terrorism Task Force ("JTTF") were: Karim Hassan Nasser, 37, of Windsor, Ontario; Fadi Mohamad- Musbah Hammoud, 33, of Dearborn; Majid Mohamad Hammoud, 39, of Dearborn Heights; Jihad Hammoud, 47, of Dearborn; Youssef Aoun Bakri, 36, of Dearborn Heights; Ali Najib Berjaoui, 39, of Dearborn; Mohammed Fawzi Zeidan, 41, of Canton; Imad Majed Hamadeh, 51, of Dearborn Heights; Adel Isak, 37, of Sterling Heights.
Also named in the Indictment, but not arrested today because they currently reside outside of the United States were: Imad Mohamad-Musbah Hammoud, 37 of Lebanon, formerly of Dearborn; Hassan Ali Al-Mosawi, 49, of Lebanon; Hassan Hassan Nasser, 36, of Windsor, Ontario; Ali Ahmad Hammoud, 64, of Lebanon; Karim Hassan Abbas, 37, formerly of Dearborn; Hassan Mohamad Srour, 30, of Montreal, Quebec; Naji Hassan Alawie, 44, of Windsor, Ontario; and Abdel-Hamid Sinno, 52, of Montreal, Quebec.
Theodore Schenk, 73, of Miami Beach, Florida was not arrested today but will be voluntarily surrendering himself for arraignment on April 10, 2006.
The indictment alleges that Imad Hammoud, along with his partner, Hassan Makki, ran a multi-million dollar a year contraband cigarette trafficking organization headquartered in the Dearborn, Michigan, area between 1996 and 2002. Makki pleaded guilty in 2003 in federal district court in Detroit to racketeering and providing material support to Hizballah. Some of the cigarettes were supplied to the organization by Mohamad Hammoud, who was convicted in 2002 in federal district court in Charlotte, North Carolina, of, among other crimes, racketeering and providing material support to Hizballah. Makki and Mohamad Hammoud, who were not charged in the indictment unsealed today, were identified as unindicted co-conspirators. They both are currently serving prison sentences relating to their activities in this matter.
The indictment charges that the group would obtain low-taxed or untaxed cigarettes in North Carolina and the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation in New York and bring them into Michigan and the State of New York for the purpose of evading tens of millions in state cigarette taxes. The enterprise obtained large profits by reselling the cigarettes at market prices in Michigan and New York. The enterprise sometimes used counterfeit tax stamps to make it appear that the state taxes had been paid.
The indictment charges that portions of the profits made from the illegal enterprise were given to Hizballah. Some members of the enterprise charged a "Resistance Tax," being a set amount over black market price per carton of contraband cigarettes, which their customers were told would be going to Hizballah. Some members of the enterprise also solicited money from cigarette customers for the orphans of martyrs program run by Hizballah in Southern Lebanon to support the families of persons killed in Hizballah suicide and other terrorist operations.
The U.S. Secretary of State has designated Hizballah a foreign terrorist organization. An entity may be designated as a foreign terrorist organization if the Secretary of States finds that: (1) the organization is a foreign organization; (2) the organization engages in terrorist activity; and (3) the terrorist activity of the organization threatens the security of United States nationals or the national security of the United States.
"Fighting terrorism and keeping our citizens safe from its reach are the number one priorities of this Office. The law enforcement agencies involved in the case unsealed today must be applauded for their collective effort to bring together an investigation with this sort of global reach," U.S. Attorney Murphy said. "Together, we will use all of the legal tools available to us to disrupt criminal activity that funds terrorist organizations."
Daniel D. Roberts, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Detroit Michigan advised "The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) will continue to aggressively identify, investigate and dismantle these criminal enterprises operating in the United States, as well as the rest of the world when their profits are used to support a foreign terrorist organization such as Hizballah."
"Investigating contraband cigarette trafficking has been, is, and will continue to be a top priority for ATF, particularly when there is nexus to a known terrorist organization such as Hizballah," stated Special Agent in Charge Valerie J. Goddard, ATF Detroit.
According to Brian M. Moskowitz, Special Agent in Charge of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Office of Investigations in Detroit, "ICE will continue to work with other law enforcement agencies to dismantle criminal organizations. Racketeering is a serious crime and ICE will continue to investigate those who exploit our borders to facilitate their criminal enterprise."
The FDA Office of Criminal Investigation under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael E. Cleary, Chicago Field office remains committed to working with their partners in law enforcement to protect the public's health and safety.
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government's burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
In announcing the indictment, United States Attorney Stephen J. Murphy commended the work of the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Special Agents of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Internal Revenue Service, the Food and Drug Administration, Michigan State Police and the Dearborn Police Department. The case is assigned to Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kenneth Chadwell and Barbara McQuade.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060329/clw073.html?.v=39
Once again Gucho. Big bump!
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Friday, March 24, 2006
WASHINGTON — The U.S. military plans to introduce direct energy weapons in Iraq later this year.
As part of Project Sheriff, the Army also plans to introduce directed energy weapons in Afghanistan. Officials said the weapons would employ short-range and millimeter waves.
The Defense Department has accelerated development of energy beam weapons for non-lethal missions in Iraq. The weapons would be supplied to the U.S. Army to help control hostile crowds without the use of gunfire.
The Pentagon has granted a contract to Raytheon to development the weapons. The company has already delivered a prototype vehicle and conducted demonstrations.
"This system will protect U.S. and allied war fighters operating in dangerous urban settings while reducing the number of civilian casualties," Mike Booen of Raytheon said.
The weapons have been integrated into the Stryker combat vehicle. Other platforms would also receive the energy beam systems, officials said.
The first prototype with energy weapons was delivered earlier this year. Officials said three prototypes would be produced and sent to Iraq in mid-2006.
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