Operation Phantom Fury--Day 670 - Now Operations River Blitz; Matador--Day 565

New members of the Iraqi police stand at attention during their graduation ceremony in Najaf, 160 km (100 miles) south of Baghdad, September 7, 2006. (REUTERS/Ali Abu Shish) (IRAQ)

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Operation Phantom Fury--Day 669 - Now Operations River Blitz; Matador--Day 564

Bush Underscores Importance of Iraq in Terror War

By Donna Miles - American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 7, 2006 – Although some people may call the war in Iraq a diversion from the war on terror, terrorists disagree, and they recognize that their long-term success or failure hinges on what happens in Iraq, President Bush said today during an address in Marietta, Ga.

President Bush delivers his remarks on the global war on terror during a visit to Marietta, Ga., Sept. 7. (White House photo by Eric Draper)

Speaking to the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, Bush offered his fourth major address within the past week about the terror war, discussing the importance of Iraq and reaffirming his commitment to stay the course until achieving victory there.

“Osama bin Laden has proclaimed that the third world war is raging in Iraq,” Bush said. “Al Qaeda leaders have declared that Baghdad will be the capital of the new ‘caliphate’ that they wish to establish across the broader Middle East.”

One need only consider the terrorists’ investment in Iraq to know the stakes, Bush said. “It's hard to believe that extremists would make large journeys across dangerous borders to endure heavy fighting and to blow themselves up on the streets of Baghdad for a so-called ‘diversion,’” the president said. “The terrorists know that the outcome in the war on terror will depend on the outcome in Iraq. And so, to protect our citizens, the free world must succeed in Iraq.”

He cited progress in Iraq as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's unity government fights al Qaeda and the enemies of Iraq's fledging democracy. “They're taking increasing responsibility for the security of their free country,” he said.

The president acknowledged that the fighting in Iraq “has been difficult and it has been bloody,” and he praised the servicemembers who are carrying it out.

“We see that full measure and the strength of this nation in the men and women in uniform who fight this war and who have given their lives in the cause of liberty and freedom,” Bush said.

He recognized Army 1st Lt. Noah Harris, who died June 18 in Baqubah, Iraq, after a roadside bomb hit his Humvee, as an example of those soldiers and their sacrifice. Another Fort Benning, Ga., soldier, Cpl. William A. Long, also died in the attack.

Harris, 23, of Ellijay, Ga., joined the Army's 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, after the Sept. 11 attacks. “He told his dad that people had an obligation to serve a cause higher than themselves,” Bush said.

“In Iraq, Lieutenant Harris was an officer known for his toughness and his skill in battle and for the Beanie Babies that he carried with him to hand out to the Iraqi children,” the president said.

“He was also known for the photo of his parents' home in Ellijay that he used as a screen saver on his computer. When his troops asked why he chose that picture, he explained, ‘That is why I'm here,’” Bush said.

“Lieutenant Harris understood the stakes in Iraq,” Bush said. “He knew that to protect his loved ones at home, America must defeat our enemies overseas.”

Bush said Harris understood the importance of seeing the mission through in Iraq. “If America pulls out of Iraq before the Iraqis can defend themselves, the terrorists will follow us here home,” the president said.

“The best way to honor the memory of brave Americans like Lieutenant Harris is to complete the mission they began,” Bush said. “So we will stay, we will fight and we will win in Iraq.”

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All aboard at the Tameem Railway Station

The rehabilitation and new construction at the Tameem Railway Station is part of a vision for the future of the country. (Department of Defense photo by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Gulf Region North)

Thursday, 07 September 2006

By Polli Barnes Keller - U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Gulf Region North

KIRKUK — Neglected and oppressed during the Saddam era, the citizens of Iraq's northern city of Kirkuk are now rising to rebuild their city and their country’s economy. With operations back on-line in the local oil fields, additional infrastructure preparation for further economic growth is underway.

The rehabilitation of the Tameem Railway Station illustrates just one case of economic initiative in progress. The restoration of the facility is part of a vision for the future of Iraq through the development of basic services and strategic infrastructure. An operating rail system will assist in generating an economic recovery within the region by efficiently transporting people and goods.

“After years of neglect of the highways and road network, the construction boom we are seeing today in Kirkuk and the need to transport fuel and oil products by road is straining the transportation system," explainedMaj. Craig Guth, the Kirkuk Provincial Reconstruction Team engineer. "Rail is a much more efficient alternative and is necessary for Kirkuk’s continued future development.”

Renovations to the station - undertaken by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Gulf Region North division - included the construction of many out buildings, as well as rehabilitation to the existing main structures. A direct link to the region's high voltage electric grid was constructed and the lower floor of the station was rebuilt.

A view of the rail yard outside Kirkuk's Tameem Rail Station. (Department of Defense photo by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Gulf Region North)

The Corps of Engineers monitored all quality control activities to ensure the requirements of the contract were followed and construction met all quality standards.

In the past, during the Saddam regime, operational readiness and safety lapses were aggravated by a lack of maintenance. In the aftermath of the war, those problems were exacerbated by looting and ancillary damage that contributed to the station's disrepair.

“This station previously was an asset to the Kirkuk province for importing and exporting commodities, transporting postal cargo service, oil, gas, etc between Northern and Southern Iraq,” said Joe Domingo, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project engineer.

Now, restoring the station and improving its ability to handle increasing demands for freight storage will help fulfill the vision of Iraq’s future by laying the foundation for a growth economy.

Priming the pump in Jurn

US Soldiers going over water operations. (Department of Defense photo by Sgt Ashly Rice)

Thursday, 07 September 2006

By Sgt. Dennis Gravelle - 138th MPAD

JURN — Helping the Iraqi people rebuild an infrastructure devastated from years of neglect under Saddam Hussein is the challenge placed before U.S. military Civil Affairs units in Iraq. Restoring essential services and helping the Iraqi people meet their basic needs without having to rely on the Coalition is the ultimate goal of reconstruction efforts.

As part of this overall mission, providing a clean and accessible water supply comes as another step towards the establishment of stable and sanitary living conditions for the people of Iraq.

In the intense heat of an Iraqi summer, the need for clean drinking water is compounded. Yet for many small villages around the country, non-functional wells are a common occurrence.

Thus, when on Aug. 22 U.S. civil affairs personnel in the village of Jurn opened a restored water well to residents, it was cause for celebration. The well will provide a source of clean drinking water to the community, and thus help curb the spread of water-related illnesses.

Money to complete the Jurn restoration came from the Commanders Emergency Relief Fund. Lisa Lawson, a project engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Gulf Region North, explained:

“CERP is a sub category under a funding called Iraqi Reconstruction & Relief Effort ... This is what Congress authorized to help restore Iraq.”

Other funds are going to restoration projects throughout Iraq's norther Ninevah province, helping revitalize the region after years of systematic neglect by Saddam.

U.S. Army Soldiers with Alpha Troop, 1st Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, take a water break while conducting a mission with a civil affairs unit in Jubachi, Aug. 21. (Department of Defense photo by Air Force Master Sgt. Jonathan F. Doti)

For Jurn, the next phase of the well restoration will be the addition of a reverse osmosis filter. The filtration process reduces concentrations of dissolved solids in water, protecting against ions, metals and heavy particles. The method has been used extensively in other locations to convert brackish water to drinking quality, and to clean up wastewater. The enhancement to the Jurn well will provide a long-term solution to water quality issues that have plagued the community for years.

USAREUR forbids travel to Turkey without permission

By Charlie Coon - Stars and Stripes European edition

Thursday, September 7, 2006

Soldiers and employees of U.S. Army Europe have been forbidden to travel to Turkey unless given permission by high-ranking officials within the command, according to an order published Wednesday on the USAREUR Web site.

According to the posting, the order was issued due to a recent string of bombings and State Department warnings of further violence.

Soldiers would require permission from someone ranked lieutenant colonel or above, while civilians employed by USAREUR would require permission from someone ranked General Schedule-14 or higher.

“I wouldn’t say it’s unusual,” said Bruce Anderson, a spokesman for the Heidelberg, Germany-based command. “Our security people make constant evaluations of the situation in and around our theater and where our people are likely to go. We base that on a number of factors, and the State Department message plays a role in those.”

Anderson said he did not know when the order would be rescinded or how people within USAREUR would be informed if it is.

Turkey is a popular vacation destination that has many resorts along its Mediterranean and Aegean Sea coasts.

On Tuesday, a percussion bomb exploded next to the ruling AK Party’s offices in the western Turkish city of Izmir, but caused no injuries, the state news agency Anatolian reported. The bomb was left in a garbage container and shattered nearby windows in the major port city.

The U.S. Air Force has a base in Izmir.

Seven bombings occurred in the Turkish cities of Istanbul, Adana, Marmaris and Antalya between Aug. 25-28, injuring 60 or more people, including foreign tourists, and killing three Turkish nationals, according to the State Department.

The bombings were thought to have been carried out by allies or members of the Kurdish Workers Party, or PKK, which wants to create its own nation within southeastern Turkey and northern Iraq.

Air Force Gen. (Ret.) Joseph W. Ralston, the former commander of the U.S. European Command and supreme allied commander for NATO, was recently appointed by the State Department as a U.S. special envoy for countering the PKK.

Anderson said that soldiers and employees who travel to Turkey must know how to make contact with a U.S. Consulate in case of an emergency, as well as make contact with individual command. Supervisors are also required to be able to make contact with their subordinates who are traveling in Turkey, he said.

“Sometimes our soldiers and employees travel to other countries and don’t have their own force protection,” Anderson said. “Their security is the embassy. They need to know who can help them and know how to be able to contact those people and get help if they need it.”

Security tips

Here are some security measures travelers can take:

¶ Travel in small groups and vary movements;

¶ Always let someone know where you’re going and when you expect to return;

¶ Try to be inconspicuous; don’t draw attention to yourself;

¶ Be aware of your surroundings;

¶ Avoid spontaneous gatherings or demonstrations;

¶ If you happen to come upon a demonstration, remain calm and disengage from the situation;

¶ Stay away from high-risk places (Department of State consular information sheets for each country provide information on high risk places);

¶ Know emergency numbers and potential safe areas;

¶ Carry a cell phone if possible;

¶ Keep vehicle in good working order and fuel tank at least half full;

¶ If there is an incident at your destination or any location on your itinerary inform your unit of your status as soon as possible.

Source: U.S. Army Europe Web site

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Afghan, Coalition forces capture two terrorists

By COMBINED FORCES COMMAND – AFGHANISTAN, COALITION PRESS INFORMATION CENTER - KABUL, AFGHANISTAN

Sep 7, 2006

KABUL , Afghanistan — Afghan and Coalition forces conducted a counter terrorist operation Sept. 5 on a compound near the village of Pelankhel in the Khowst Province .

The compound was a refuge for al Qaeda facilitators linked to a known terrorist network. The operation successfully detained two terrorists targeted by Afghan and Coalition forces for leading anti-Afghanistan government elements.

Upon arrival, the assault force requested a peaceful surrender of people within the compound and no shots were fired. Several women and children were also present within the compound, but all were unharmed during the operation.

Weapons, night vision equipment and various electronic devices, which are suspected of being used for improvised explosive devices, were collected during a search of the compound.

The purpose of this operation was to capture the two terrorists, who are considered a significant threat to peace and stability in Afghanistan . Credible intelligence linked the targeted terrorists to plotting IED attacks against Afghan and Coalition forces in Khowst Province .

No Afghan or Coalition forces were injured during the operation.

Bush Issues Progress Report in Terror War

By Donna Miles - American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 7, 2006 – Five years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, the United States is safer because it’s made sweeping changes to close security gaps revealed that day and has taken the terrorist fight to the enemy, President Bush said today in Marietta, Ga.

Bush, addressing the Georgia Public Policy Foundation during his fourth major speech in the past week about the terror war, provided a progress report on steps taken since Sept. 11 to protect the American people and win the war against extremism.

The past five years have seen “an unprecedented campaign” that has succeeded in protecting the homeland from another terrorist attack, he said.

Bush outlined gaps in U.S. security exposed through the Sept. 11 attacks -- gaps he said allowed terrorists to plan the attacks, train to carry them out, board U.S. jetliners and kill almost 3,000 people -- and ways the nation has helped close these gaps.

Myriad initiatives within the U.S. government since Sept. 11 have helped make it far more difficult for terrorists to carry out an attack like the one that claimed 3,000 lives that day, he said.

But Bush emphasized that other attacks elsewhere in the world demonstrate that extremists haven’t given up their dreams of striking out against the United States. “Five years later, America still faces determined enemies, and we won’t be safe until those enemies are defeated,” he said.

The events of Sept. 11 revealed exactly how serious that enemy is and how committed it is to its cause, the president said. “9/11 lifted the veil on a threat that is far broader and more dangerous than we saw that morning: an enemy that was not sated by the destruction inflicted that day and is determined to strike again,” the president said.

“To answer this threat and to protect our people, we need more than retaliation, we more than a reaction to the last attack,” he said. “We need to do everything in our power to stop the next attack, and so America has gone on the offense across the world.”

Bush cited some of the results of that offensive:

-- Capturing or killing many of the most significant al Qaeda members and associates;

-- Killing Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of al Qaeda in Iraq and one of the organization’s most visible and aggressive leaders to emerge after 9/11;

-- Helping change governments targeted for overthrow by terrorist groups, such as Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, to become valuable allies in the war on terror;

-- Helping establish democracies in Afghanistan and Iraq, former sponsors of terrorism;

-- Forming a 90-nation coalition, the largest in the history of warfare, to find terrorists, dry up their funds, stop their plots and bring them to justice;

-- Launching the Proliferation Security Initiative, in which more than 70 nations are cooperating to stop shipments related to weapons of mass destruction;

-- Working with Russia on a new global initiative to combat nuclear terrorism;

-- Cooperating with Great Britain to persuade Libya to give up its nuclear weapons program;

-- Uncovering the A.Q. Khan black market nuclear network, “now out of business,” that was shipping equipment to Iran and North Korea; and

-- Helping the world unite in urging Iran to end its support of terror and give up its nuclear weapons ambitions.

The president emphasized that despite progress made, challenges remain ahead in defeating terrorism: Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, remain in hiding. Al Qaeda continues its terror campaign with deadly attacks. Terrorists and insurgents in Iraq have killed American troops and thousands of Iraqis. Syria and Iran continue their support for terror and extremism. Hezbollah has taken innocent lives in Israel and succeeded briefly in undermining Lebanon's democratic government. Hamas stands in the way of peace with Israel. All the while, extremists are leading an aggressive propaganda campaign to spread lies about the United States and incite Muslim radicalism.

“The enemies of freedom are skilled, and they are sophisticated, and they are waging a long and determined war,” the president said. “The free world must understand the stakes of this struggle. The free world must support young democracies. The free world must confront the evil of these extremists. The free world must draw the full measure of our strength and resources to prevail.”

Bush reminded the audience that, from the first days after Sept. 11, he had warned them they were in for a long, difficult struggle. “I told the American people that this would be a long war, a war that would look different from others we have fought, with difficulties and setbacks along the way,” he said. “The past five years have proven that to be true. The past five years have also shown what we can achieve when our nation acts with confidence and resolve and clear purpose.”

As the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks nears, Bush expressed confidence that the United States is on the right track. “Five years after Sept. 11, 2001, America is safer and America is winning the war on terror,” he said. “With vigilance, determination (and) courage, we will defeat the enemies of freedom, and we will leave behind a more peaceful world for our children and our grandchildren.”

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DAC, MND-B Soldiers provide humanitarian-assistance to residents of Adhamiyah

BAGHDAD – An Iraqi citizen from Baghdad’s Adhamiyah neighborhood accepts a bag of food from members of the Adhamiyah District Advisory Council Saturday. The DAC and Soldiers from the 414th Civil Affairs Battalion, Multi-National Division – Baghdad, contracted with area vendors to provide more than 15 generators to local leaders, school headmasters and business owners as well as more than 3,000 bags of food to families of Adhamiyah. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Brandon LeFlore, 363rd MPAD)

By Sgt. Brandon LeFlore - 363rd MPAD

Sep 7, 2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq – The District Advisory Council of Adhamiyah and Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers from the 414th Civil Affairs Battalion provided humanitarian-assistance to Iraqi families in support of Operation Together Forward in Adhamiyah Saturday.

Only days after Iraqi army and MND-B Soldiers cleared the area, the 414th CA Bn. set up a civil military operations center in Adhamiyah to bring local leaders and military officials together to discuss the needs of the people while members of the DAC handed out generators and food.

“We’re showing the Iraqi people that we’re here to help them,” said Capt. Andrew Corbin, native of Austin, Texas, and civil affairs team leader with 414th CA Bn.

The DAC and Soldiers from the battalion contracted with area vendors to provide more than 15 generators to local leaders, school headmasters and business owners as well as more than 3,000 bags of food to families in the Adhamiyah district.

“We’re giving out food to those who are in need,” said Mohammed, a local resident and member of the DAC through an interpreter. “It’s good to be able to cooperate with the people of the city.”

Soldiers from the 414th CA Bn. said they recognized the need to show support for the citizens of Adhamiyah.

“This area has been neglected, and the residents have had problems with electricity, sewage and water,” said Corbin. “So, we set up the CMOC to bring local leaders together to support their people.”

“The generators will provide power so that local residents may have lights and hopefully make their futures brighter,” added Sgt. Michael Frei, military policeman and personal security detachment, 4th Infantry Division.

Following the humanitarian mission, Soldiers from the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, along with their commander, Col. Michael Shields, went out into the streets of Adhamiyah to meet with residents of the neighborhood to discuss safety, street cleaning and any other needs identified by the community.

“All the people I’ve talked to in Adhamiyah say they like the security that’s been established,” said Shields. “We’d like to build on that.”

Residents of Adhamiyah came out in large numbers, filling the streets for an opportunity to talk to Shields, 172nd SBCT Soldiers, and Command Sgt. Maj. Riling, MND-B, as they walked through the neighborhoods. The Soldiers made it a point to talk to local residents who have been employed as street cleaners for Adhamiyah to ensure the workers are getting paid. A key question posed was whether residents felt safer walking around their neighborhood. “Since Coalition Forces came into Adhamiyah, we’ve seen less violence,” said Nomar, a resident of Adhamiyah through an interpreter. “I feel safe. The longer Coalition Forces stay, the better it will get.”

“There’s a lot of good things planned for Adhamiyah,” remarked Shields. “We’re working to fix electricity, sewer and water issues and working to get the hospital back up and running.

ADDITIONAL PHOTO:

BAGHDAD – An Iraqi woman walks away with a bag of food given by members of the Adhamiyah District Advisory council Saturday. The DAC and Soldiers from the 414th Civil Affairs Battalion, Multi-National Division – Baghdad, contracted with area vendors to provide more than 15 generators to local leaders, school headmasters and business owners as well as more than 3,000 bags of food to families of Adhamiyah. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Brandon LeFlore, 363rd MPAD)

BAGHDAD – Col. Michael Shields, commander, 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, Multi-National Division – Baghdad, listens to the concerns of a resident of Adhamiyah Saturday. Shields, along with Command Sgt. Maj. Ronald Riling, 4th Infantry Division, and Soldiers from the 172nd SBCT, walked the streets of Adhamiyah to meet the residents and gauge the needs of the people. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Brandon LeFlore, 363rd MPAD)

BAGHDAD – Sgt. Kevin Smith, a New York native and an infantryman with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, Multi-National Division – Baghdad, provides perimeter security while Col. Michael Shields, commander, 172nd SBCT; Command Sgt. Maj. Ronald Riling, 4th Infantry Division; and Soldiers from the 172nd SBCT, walked the streets of Adhamiyah to meet the residents and gauge the needs of the people. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Brandon LeFlore, 363rd MPAD)

BAGHDAD – Sgt. Kendall Phillips, 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, Multi-National Division – Baghdad, peers through a set of binoculars from the turret of an Stryker vehicle Saturday while Col. Michael Shields, commander, 172nd SBCT; Command Sgt. Maj. Ronald Riling, 4th Infantry Division; and Soldiers from the 172nd SBCT, walked the streets of Adhamiyah to meet the residents and gauge the needs of the people. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Brandon LeFlore, 363rd MPAD)

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WEAPONS TRAINING – Iraqi army soldiers engage targets at a firing range in Mosul, Iraq, Sept. 1, 2006. The Iraqi soldiers are training under the guidance of U.S. Army soldiers from the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment during a week-long advanced training course. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Christa Martin)

Deputy Secretary: 9/11 Changed America Forever

By Donna Miles - American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 7, 2006 – Five years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England views them over the course of three distinct days he said forever changed America: one day the country celebrated its greatness, the next, that greatness came under attack, and the third day, the nation began striking back.

On Sept. 10, 2001, England, then secretary of the Navy, joined President Bush to host Australian Prime Minister John Howard on a tour of the Washington Navy Yard. It was a day of pomp and circumstance, with flags, bands, speeches and marches, England recalled during a recent interview with the Pentagon Channel and American Forces Press Service.

Looking back, England said he thinks of Sept. 10 as “the last day of normalcy” before the next day’s attacks.

That normalcy was shattered in the early-morning hours of Sept. 11, when terrorists struck the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon and a commercial jet commandeered by terrorists crashed in Somerset County, Pa.

England had traveled to Forth, Texas, the previous night to deliver a speech and was flying back to the Pentagon when he got word of the terrorist attacks.

England noticed F-15 Eagle fighter jets escorting his Navy plane, one of the few aircraft in the U.S. still flying at the time, he later learned. As the plane approached Andrews Air Force Base, Md., F-16 Fighting Falcon jets took over the escort mission until England’s jet landed.

Once on the ground, England heard more of the grim news. The attack on the Pentagon had wiped out the Navy’s new command center and, with it, every one of its employees.

But England’s time for mourning would come later. He hurried to a hastily assembled command center at the Navy Yard, where he and his staff monitored the unfolding events.

The next evening, Bush arrived at the Pentagon to meet with key defense officials, including England. There, with parts of the building still burning, smoke weighing heavy in the air, flashing lights outside and sirens still going off intermittently, the president painted a picture of what the attacks meant for the country.

“He looked around the room and told everybody, ‘I will never forget what happened,’” England recalled. Bush then began pointing around the room, telling those assembled that they can’t forget these events. Bush reminded those in the room that “we are charged with the safety and the security of the United States of America,” England said.

“He said, ‘Get ready,’” England recalled. The president told the group the U.S. response would require all aspects of national power -- diplomatic, economic and military -- and that the military aspect must succeed for the others to work.

“He also said this is not going to be a short fight … (and) is … not going to be quick and easy,” England said. Bush compared fighting terrorism to removing a cancer, rather than a mole, and told the group to “be prepared for a long war.”

The message Bush delivered that day has proven to be right on the mark, England said. “The president knew immediately and instinctively what the situation was,” he said. “His instincts were absolutely correct on 9/12, and he has never wavered one bit.”

Five years later, England, now Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s deputy, said Sept. 11 has left an indelible impression on the Pentagon, the Defense Department and U.S. armed forces.

He said he marvels at the commitment men and women in uniform demonstrate as they confront the enemy that attacked U.S. shores on Sept. 11.

“The men and women in uniform … know exactly why they serve,” he said. “And particularly if you go over to Iraq or Afghanistan, people know exactly why they are there. They know that this is about defeating terrorism, and they know that we would rather have the fight there than here.”

England compared today’s military members to those of previous generations who served the country when its freedom was threatened. “If you go back 230 years, at times of great need and danger to the country, Americans have stepped forward from all walks of life to protect and defend the country,” he said.

They did so, not just for themselves and their fellow citizens, but for future generations, he said. “And that is where we are today; all these great Americans have stepped forward to serve,” he said.

Five years after the Sept. 11 attacks, England said he still gets asked occasionally why the United States is fighting the terror war. He said he quickly reminds people that the U.S. never chose to go to war.

“America was attacked,” he said. “This was a war brought to our shores. … We are in this war whether we want to be or not. … And we need to win this war.”

England said it’s important that the nation remember the events of Sept. 11 and the message it sent the United States.

“It’s important to remember what happened the day (and the fact that) close to 3,000 people died,” he said. “And the reason (terrorists) killed 3,000 people that day is because they didn’t know how to kill 30,000 or 300,000 or 3 million. But if they had known how to, … they would have.

“And they are still trying,” England said. “That’s why you can never forget 9/11, and that is why we are in this long war on terrorism.”

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Gordon England

9/11: Keeping the Heart of the Pentagon Beating

By Jim Garamone - American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 7, 2006 – Sept. 11, 2001, started beautifully. But by 10 a.m., the clear blue skies were marred by black smoke rising above horrific scenes of death and destruction.

The personnel of the National Military Command Center, deep inside the Pentagon, come in early -- 5:30 a.m. -- but already they could tell the day was going to be gorgeous. As the first faint blush of dawn touched the Pentagon, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The temperatures promised to be in the upper 70s with little humidity.

Pushing aside the urge to play hooky, the men and women of the NMCC came into the building and began what they believed would be a typical day.

Dan Mangino was -- and still is -- an operations officer in the command center. “It was just a typical day,” he said. “It’s always exciting to come to work here, because even on typical days, there is so much to do. You end your shift every day knowing you helped the military accomplish something.”

Steve Hahn is also an operations officer at the center. He was just returning from leave with his son that day and was hoping to catch up on work.

The day began to change at 8:46 a.m. That’s when the first plane hit the World Trade Center, in New York. “We monitor the television networks in the center, and along with the rest of America we saw the smoke pouring from the tower,” Hahn said.

“At first, we thought it was a terrible accident,” Mangino said. “But then the second plane hit the other tower, and we knew immediately that it was a terrorist attack.”

Personnel in the center shifted into hyperdrive. One of Mangino’s deputies was to stand up working groups and task forces immediately. “I knew at that point it was a terrorist attack and initiated the process to stand-up a working group in advance of the direction that would come down later,” he said.

Phones in the center began ringing off the hook. Mangino said he knew he would have little time in the days ahead, so he quickly ran to the concourse to get some money out of an automated teller machine.

He was on his way back to the center when United Airlines Flight 77 hit the Pentagon between the third and fourth corridors. It was 9:38 a.m. “I was in the A Ring and saw the fireball above the roof of the building,” he said. “I didn’t know what had hit us, but I knew we had been hit.”

Hahn, in the center, did not feel the impact. “I didn’t know (the Pentagon had been hit) until I heard the news report on television,” he said.

Though the building had been hit, DoD’s heartbeat kept on strong and steady. The command center never lost connectivity. Officials received and sent updates from the White House, combatant commands, and other federal agencies, such as the Federal Aviation Administration, intelligence agencies and law enforcement agencies.

Mangino sprinted back to the center. He was greeted by a sea of calm. “There was no panic, no raised voices,” he said. “We train for emergencies all the time, and that training took over.”

“It was very professional, and very calm,” Hahn said. “In the initial few minutes, we had to figure out what we needed to do. It takes a few minutes to sink in, and then you have to figure out what to do. We talked and decided that we had to marshal some of our people at the alternative location and began the process.”

The people in the center had no way of assessing the damage to the building, which was substantial. The aircraft hit next to the Pentagon heliport at ground level. The plane was moving in excess of 400 miles per hour, officials said, and it sliced into the building almost to the B Ring. The fuel aboard the 757 exploded, and flame-specked black clouds enveloped that area of the five-sided building.

Fifty-nine crew and passengers and five terrorists were aboard the airplane; all died immediately.

The plane hit a section of the building that had been recently renovated and incorporated the newest force protection measures. Also, many offices were empty, awaiting occupants. As it was, 125 Pentagon employees -- military and civilian -- perished in the attack. Hundreds suffered injuries.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld felt the building shake from his office. He ran to the courtyard and helped evacuate casualties and viewed the triage site.

He then moved to the National Military Command Center.

Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers was then vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He had been nominated as chairman and was making the rounds of Senate offices on Capitol Hill. The chairman -- Army Gen. Hugh Shelton -- was over the North Atlantic on his way to NATO meetings. When the second plane hit the World Trade Center, Myers immediately left the Hill and rushed back to the Pentagon to get to the command center.

He said it was obvious early on that the attacks were the work of al Qaeda. American officials in the National Military Command Center were charting the course to attack al Qaeda while the building was still burning from the attack.

One of the areas hit in the attack was the new Navy Operations Center. Hahn said that many of the people in the NMCC worked closely with the Navy watch standers. “That morning I got a phone call from a Navy wife who was inquiring about her husband,” he said. “I didn’t know at that point that they had moved in to the area that was at the impact point. I had to give her a noncommittal answer, because I just didn’t know. Five years later, I still remember her voice.”

Added to all this confusion were reports that another airliner -- United Flight 93 -- had been hijacked and was on its way to Washington. “We were told the Pentagon could be its target,” Mangino said. “But there was no panicking. You do what you’ve got to do. That’s what’s expected of you.”

The response of reservists who drilled at the center was gratifying to both Hahn and Mangino. “Many called in and just said ‘I’m yours. Where do you want me?’” Mangino said. “There were no complaints, no hassles, just a need to do something constructive.”

Another reservist showed up with no orders and just began to work, Hahn said. Still another packed a backpack with food and walked the seven miles from her house to the command center. “There was no food here, so she was a real hero,” Hahn said with a smile.

He said the watch team was “up to their necks in alligators” and all helped in manning phones. “We had to double up on some of the desks and stayed that way for a couple of weeks,” he said.

Training came to the fore, Mangino said. “We train everyone to the same level of proficiency -- military and civilian, active and reserve,” he said. “It paid off. The week before, we had an exercise setting up the alternative command center. Because of that, there were remarkably few problems in setting it up for real.”

Later in the day, the command center began filling with smoke. All areas surrounding the center had to be evacuated because of the build-up of smoke and carbon monoxide from fires on the other side of the building. But people wanted to stay and complete their missions.

Hahn left the command center at about 10 p.m. Mangino stayed through the night, and Hahn relieved him in the morning. The two men were “port and starboard” leaders through the next several months.

Looking back on the experience, both men praised their co-workers in the center. “I was so proud of the professional manner that everybody just went on with their work,” Mangino said. “Things were really not good here, but we still had missions to complete. And they continued working. They were troopers, every one of them.”

“Everyone wanted to do whatever it took,” Hahn said. “Military and civilian, they all wanted to help and would work as long as they physically could.”

Over Washington, it was a beautiful sunset on Sept. 11, 2001, but one stained by the smoke and flames of terrorism.

http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?id=734

No Silver Bullet to Counter Explosive Devices, Head of Anti-IED Office Says

By Jim Garamone - American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 7, 2006 – DoD is spending almost $3.5 billion this year to defeat improvised explosive devices, and the effort’s leader today said he expects the same level of funding in fiscal 2007.

Retired Army Gen. Montgomery C. Meigs said the Joint IED Defeat Organization is using an all-encompassing approach to counter the threat of IEDs, terrorists’ main weapon in attacks against coalition forces and civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In Iraq alone, IEDs have killed almost 1,000 servicemembers.

There is no “silver bullet” solution to the leading cause of death for coalition troops, Meigs told media during a briefing in the organization’s headquarters here. IEDs are a complex problem posed by a networked terrorist foe. For example, Meigs said, the enemy has changed preferred triggers for IEDs about every six to nine months to stay ahead of U.S. military countermeasures.

IEDs are generally nothing more than artillery shells the enemy plants in the ground rather than shoots from a howitzer or mortar. The specifics of the battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan and the type of counterinsurgency operations being fought there negate much of the advantage superior coalition forces typically enjoy against conventional foes, Meigs said.

Fighting a conventional war means keeping the enemy far away and then killing them before they can kill you. “The whole impetus is to keep them away,” he said. In Iraq and Afghanistan, the battlefield is towns, villages, cities and rural areas, where it is tough to tell friend from enemy. As a result, the enemy gets close to coalition targets.

“This is a very cagey enemy who has the advantage of going to the marketplace for his (research and development),” Meigs said. “(The enemy) takes advantage of local tribal environmental factors to deliver his fires very close to the target. This is just his artillery system; that’s the way we have to think about it. There’s no mystery here. The curiosity is in how it is delivered.

“We are making progress in defeating this system,” he said. “But we’ve got to have operational and strategic patience. You are not going to solve this overnight,” he added. The general likened the effort to minimize damage from IEDs to the effort the Allies used against the U-boat menace of World War II. That effort took years and the brainpower of thousands on both sides of the Atlantic, and it took the bravery of hundreds of thousands of sailors to finally counter the threat.

The best way to stop the IED threat is to not have the devices planted in the first place. Meigs said attacking the terror network is the key to that. Good intelligence and targeting terror cells -- taking them down from top to bottom -- is the best offensive tactic. Tips from Iraqis have been most helpful in handling the threat. Unfortunately, tips in Iraq have dropped in the past few months as sectarian violence has flared, he said. In April, there were 5,900 civilian tips. In July, that number dropped to 3,700.

Degrading the terror network is also proceeding. Meigs said the coalition has taken out 11 “tier 1” terrorists, or national leaders. Coalition forces have taken out 76 “tier 2” terrorists, or provincial leaders. They have killed or captured 134 tier 3 terrorists since January 2005.

Defeating the devices once they are planted is the heart of the defensive effort against IEDs. The organization has funded additional armor to be used against the “explosively formed penetrators.” The kits are being added to all armored vehicles in Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition, the organization is funding IED-detection systems, electronic countermeasures and new ways to neutralize the devices.

Training the force is also important to defeating this threat. The organization is involved with getting feedback from troops confronting the threat and ensuring it is embedded in training troops deploying to Iraq or Afghanistan. Meigs -- who commanded NATO troops in Bosnia in the 1990s -- said realistic training is a must for countering the threat.

Meigs said the combination of efforts is working. Even as terrorists have increased the number of IEDs planted, the number of U.S. casualties from the devices has remained about the same. The Joint IED Defeat Organization will continue to fund promising technologies, test capabilities and improve training for those deploying.

14 High-Level Terrorists Processed Into Guantanamo Bay

By Kathleen T. Rhem - American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 7, 2006 – Fourteen men believed to be high-level terrorist leaders arrived in recent days at U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and were transferred to Defense Department custody without incident, the commander of the U.S. military detention facility there said today.

President Bush announced yesterday that the 14 men -- including individuals believed to be behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the bombings of the USS Cole in Yemen and two U.S. embassies in Africa -- had been moved to Guantanamo Bay and would stand trial by military commissions.

“They arrived safely, and all appeared to be in good condition,” Navy Rear Adm. Harry B. Harris, commander of the joint task force that runs the detention facility, said.

Harris briefed reporters in the Pentagon over the telephone. He said he personally verified the identification of the 14 individuals and assumed control of them on behalf of the Defense Department.

Once the men arrived on the island base, they were moved across the bay by ferry. Guantanamo Bay’s airfield is on the western side of the bay, while the confinement facility is on the opposite side.

At the detention facility, they began “the standard in-processing procedure,” Harris said. “The transfer went very well, from my perspective -- a textbook operation, I believe.”

The 14 suspected senior terrorists underwent medical and dental examinations and are receiving basic items standard to all Guantanamo Bay detainees. Officials have said in the past that basic items include a “finger toothbrush" -- short and stubby so it can't be used as a weapon -- toothpaste, soap, shampoo, plastic flip flops, and cotton underwear, shorts, pants and a shirt.

Harris said the individuals will receive culturally sensitive meals, Korans in their native languages, access to other reading material, and the right to send and receive mail. The International Committee of the Red Cross will have access to the men, as it does to all Guantanamo detainees, he added.

Harris declined to say when the men arrived at the base or give further details about their detention. “For security and operational reasons, I cannot provide any additional details on their housing arrangements,” he said.

The admiral stressed that these are dangerous men, captured in the war on terrorism. “This (Joint Task Force) … exists to ensure that extremely dangerous individuals, such as these men, are unable to engage in their efforts to plan or conduct terrorist attacks,” he said.

Harris also praised the men and women assigned to Joint Task Force Guantanamo. “I am confident in the men and women at Guantanamo, and I am proud to be their commander. They, and their families that support them in our mission here, serve our nation proudly and with honor,” he said. “I could not ask any more of them.”

Related Sites:

Click Video

Audio Recording of Admiral Harris’s Briefing

Joint Task Force Guantanamo

Detainee Affairs

200th QF-4 Drone delivered to Tyndall

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla.— A QF-4 Drone in flight as it is tracked by a missile at Tyndall AFB, Fla. The drones are used as moving targets to test weapons. (Courtesy photo)

By 691st Armament Systems Squadron

Sep 7, 2006

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. — One Eglin squadron plays a key role in keeping fighter pilots’ air-to-air warfighting skills sharp by providing them real aircraft as flying targets.

The 691st Armament Systems Squadron, made up of 52 military, civilian and contract workers, delivered the 200th QF-4 drone this spring to Tyndall AFB, Fla., where it will be flown as a remote-controlled aerial target.

“We enable the warfighter to test and train against targets that are representative of what they would face in combat,” said Audrea Feist, 691st ARSS Full Scale Targets IPT lead. “It’s a great feeling knowing that the product we provide enhances our warfighters’ readiness.”

The QF-4 is an F-4 fighter that has been converted into a drone to resemble enemy aircraft.

The Air Force, Navy and Army use these drones for developmental/operational test and evaluation, weapon system evaluation and for live-fire lethality testing for ground-to-air and air-to-air missiles, according to Glenn Ragsdale, QF-4 lead engineer.

BAE Systems Electronics and Integrated Solutions has been a key contractor in converting the aircraft into drones, said Lt. Col. Shaun House, 691st ARSS commander.

The process begins with the F-4 aircraft being retrieved from the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center, better known as the “boneyard” at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz. The aircraft are repaired and brought back to flying status and flown to BAE in Mojave, Calif., where electronic components are added to enable the aircraft to fly without a pilot in the cockpit.

After completion of the drone conversion process, which takes about 160 days, BAE conducts a test flight, and the converted aircraft is then flown to either Tyndall or Holloman AFB, N.M.

The government then conducts a flight test prior to acceptance of the drone. Once this process is complete, the Air Force and sister services, as well as allied nations, use the QF-4 to test the lethality and accuracy of their weapons systems.

The Air Force has issued contracts to BAE for a total of 243 QF-4 aerial targets.

Breaks my heart.
I wish there was a "silver bullet to counter explosive devices."

Click Kunar Province - Afghansitan (Video)

Thu 7 Sep 2006 - 06:32 AM EDT

The New York-based Tenth Mountain Division are curbing militant attacks in dangerous regions of Afghanistan.

Yep, I agree with you.

I know you do.

Marine helicopter makes weather-based hard landing

By Multi-National Corps, Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory

Sep 7, 2006

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq – A CH-53 helicopter executed a hard landing in Al Anbar Province today due to reduced visibility caused by dust. There were no injuries caused by this event.

The hard landing was not a result of enemy action. The helicopter belongs to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, I Marine Expeditionary Force.

The Marines completed their mission and all personnel were recovered safely.

Kurd leader calls for constitutional solution for flag dispute

IRBIL, Sept 7 (KUNA) -- Masoud Al-Barzani, President of the Kurdish region in Northern Iraq called on the Iraqi parliament on Thursday to find a constitutional solution for the controversy that surrounds the Iraqi flag.

Al-Barzani said in a letter sent to Iraqi parliament speaker Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani that a new flag representing all Iraqis must be agreed upon according to article 12 of the constitution. He added that some parties were trying to utilize this issue to trigger conflicts in the country.

The Kurd official said that he held talks with Iraqi President and Iraqi Prime Minister regarding this matter. He made the remark in an address before the Kurd region parliament.

Al-Barzani few days ago banned raising the national Iraqi flag, an action that triggered wide disputes throughout Iraq.

Russians confirm postponement of training exercise with U.S.

By Kevin Dougherty - Stars and Stripes European edition

Friday, September 8, 2006

The Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed Wednesday that it has “postponed” an upcoming bilateral training exercise with the United States, citing the “undefined status of foreign military forces” on its soil.

Set to start later this month, the two-week exercise, called Torgau 2006, “will have to take place as soon as a related agreement comes into force after ratification by PfP (Partnership for Peace) nations,” the ministry said in a press statement. There was no mention of when the issue may be resolved or of a possible future date for the joint exercise, the third in a series that began in 2004.

A U.S. Embassy official in Moscow said Wednesday that the Duma, Russia’s legislative body, was still debating the issue. But the official referred to the delay as only a “hiccup.”

“The Russians decided to postpone it,” the official said. “We know it will be possible to conduct the exercise” once legislators work things out.

However, several published news reports attributed the postponement to a growing rift between Washington and Moscow, something the U.S. Embassy official rejected. In particular, observers noted recent anti-NATO demonstrations in the Crimea and protests by Communist Party officials over the Torgau event.

“If the relationship was deteriorating,” the official said, “would there be all this cooperation in these other areas?”

Next week, for example, U.S. military officials, their Russian counterparts and other agencies from the two nations will participate in a two-day symposium on AIDS in the military.

In April 2005, Russia and NATO officials formally signed a status of forces agreement, which spells out rules governing the movement, training and overall presence of foreign soldiers in a particular country. At the time of the signing, NATO spokesman James Appathurai said the agreement wouldn’t take effect until the Russian parliament ratified it.

“We don’t expect any trouble” receiving parliament’s approval, Appathurai said at the time of the 2005 signing. “ … There remain some more technical steps to follow, but this will happen very, very quickly and it will certainly not hold up any cooperation that we’re doing now.”

A month later, in the absence of the agreement’s ratification, U.S. and Russian forces still conducted Torgau 2005. About 275 troops took part in joint maneuvers at a base near Moscow.

The U.S. military spent months preparing for this year’s exercise, set to take place from Sept. 23 to Oct. 4 at the Mulino Training Area in Nizhny Novgorod, a region of central Russia about 250 miles east of Moscow. Plans call for a variety of activities, from live fire and field training to a computer-assisted command post drill, according to Bruce Anderson, a spokesman for U.S. Army Europe.

About 220 U.S. troops from Germany were to participate, including the 1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 5th Signal Command, 21st Theater Support Command, 1st Armored Division and members of the USAREUR staff.

USS Wasp joins Lebanon support mission

A Joint Task Force Lebanon MC-130P Combat Shadow refuels an MH-53M Pave Low helicopter over the Mediterranean Sea last month. Both aircraft belong to Air Force 352nd Special Operations Group, deployed from RAF Mildenhall, England. (Dennis Brewer / Courtesy of U.S. Air Force)

By Sandra Jontz - Stars and Stripes Mideast edition

Friday, September 8, 2006

The Norfolk, Va.-based amphibious assault ship USS Wasp arrived in the eastern Mediterranean Sea on Wednesday, relieving the USS Mount Whitney as the command and control ship for support missions to the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, according to a Navy news release.

The Wasp, which sailed without its normal Marine Expeditionary Unit, joins the guided-missile destroyer USS Barry, in the region since July, and the USNS Kanawha. The Navy also extended the deployment of a Florida-based cruiser, the USS Hue City.

The amphibious transport dock USS Trenton and High Speed Vessel Swift had been in the region, but no longer are part of the task force poised to respond to military or humanitarian contingencies, officials said.

Navy Capt. John Nowell, commander of Task Force Bravo, a maritime subtask force of the overall Joint Task Force Lebanon, now will control U.S. maritime assets from Wasp.

“As tactical commander — both from a command and control perspective, as well as being on the unit that can head to the beach if needed — it’s a great multipurpose platform,” he said in a statement about the Wasp.

The Mount Whitney, based in Gaeta, Italy, now will sail home.

Vice Adm. John “Boomer” Stufflebeem, commander of JTF Lebanon, earlier appointed Air Force Col. Brad Webb to command Task Force Alpha, the air and land components, and Nowell to lead Bravo, the maritime side of things.

U.S. European Command assumed control of missions and requirements from Central Command on Aug. 23.

Blair won't set specific date for exit

Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair returns to Downing Street , London Thursday Sept. 7, 2006. Blair promised Thursday to resign within a year, hoping to appease critics in his governing Labour Party who are calling for his departure by revealing a time frame he had badly wanted to keep private. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Sept. 7, 2006 - 7:54PM

By BETH GARDINER - Associated Press Writer

LONDON — Prime Minister Tony Blair, his reputation in Britain badly damaged by his refusal to break ranks with President Bush, gave in Thursday to a fierce revolt in his Labour Party and reluctantly promised to quit within a year.

Blair, whose popularity began sinking when he committed his nation to the U.S.-led war in Iraq three years ago, had long resisted calls to publicly set a timeframe for his departure from office. He feared such an announcement would make him a lame duck and sap his remaining authority.

But ultimately, the foreign leader best known to Americans could find no other way to end days of public turmoil that were severely damaging Labour, which has been in power for nearly a decade but now trails the opposition Conservatives in the polls.

"I would have preferred to do this in my own way," Blair said, as he conceded that the party's annual conference this month would be his last. Next year's conference is scheduled for September 2007.

He refused to set a specific departure date, saying, "The precise timetable has to be left to me and has to be done in the proper way."

Blair appeared to have struck a deal with his expected successor, Treasury chief Gordon Brown, who signaled his support in a statement minutes before Blair spoke to television cameras at a north London school.

The key question is whether the prime minister's exit strategy will be detailed and speedy enough to satisfy the impatient Labour legislators who forced his hand.

Early signals were that it would buy the 53-year-old Blair time _ but not much. He's eager to reach the 10-year anniversary of his 1997 assumption of office, which would be in May.

White House spokesman Tony Snow said Blair and Bush still had a lot of work to do together.

"He's a valued ally," Snow said. "And at this point, we're not sitting around writing encomia for Tony Blair. We're instead busy working with him."

With the outbreak of the Iraq war in 2003, Blair began to lose the iron control he once exercised over his party.

Long derided by critics as the U.S. president's "poodle," he suffered a further blow at July's G-8 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia. An open microphone caught a chat in which he seemed embarrassingly subservient to Bush, who greeted him by shouting "Yo, Blair!"

Anger over his handling of this summer's Mideast fighting and anxiety over the party's slide in the polls fueled the rank-and-file's impatience for him to leave quickly, or at least to say when he planned to go. Blair's refusal to call for an early end to the Israel-Hezbollah fighting in Lebanon was the final provocation for many once-loyal supporters.

It served as yet another reminder of his close alliance with Bush _ a friendship widely detested within the Labour Party _ and stirred bitter memories of Blair's decision to commit Britain to the Iraq war despite intense public opposition.

That conflict is the root of his political problems, and continued bloodshed in Iraq keeps it in the headlines. The war has severely damaged his credibility and was widely seen as the reason Labour suffered a sharply reduced majority when he led it to a third straight election win last year.

Blair promised before that vote that he would not seek a fourth term.

A resurgent Conservative Party with a dynamic young leader, David Cameron, has added recently to his woes.

Cameron, benefiting from Labour's troubles, said the government was at war with itself.

"What's happened today isn't going to end the uncertainty," he said in a statement. "It will probably only add to the paralysis. And frankly Britain deserves better than this."

Brown's statement, though, seemed aimed at showing Labour remained united.

Opening a children's sports tournament in Glasgow, Scotland, Brown said that although he has had questions about Blair's plans, he would support his decisions.

"When I met the prime minister yesterday I said to him ... it is for him to make the decision," said Brown, who looked relaxed and cheerful. "I will support him in the decisions he makes."

Chris Bryant, who organized a letter in which 15 Labour lawmakers called this week for the prime minister's resignation, said he was encouraged.

"I hope we can get on with an open and transparent process of appointing our new leader sooner rather than later," he said.

Eight junior officials quit Wednesday rather than remove their names from the letter.

Their revolt had raised the possibility that Labour's eventual change of command would be rancorous and messy _ reminiscent of Margaret Thatcher's abrupt, involuntary departure from office in 1990 at the hand of rebels in her Conservative Party _ rather than the "stable, orderly transition" that Blair has long promised.

The prime minister apologized on Labour's behalf for the tumultuous week, which also reportedly included shouting matches with Brown.

"With everything that's going on here and in the world (it) has not been our finest hour," Blair said.

The two men, now fierce rivals, jointly overhauled Labour in the 1990s, dragging it to the political center and making it electable again after 18 years in opposition.

Political legend says they struck a deal about the party's future at a chic north London restaurant shortly after then-leader John Smith died suddenly in 1994. Brown would stand aside and give Blair a clear shot at the top job, the gossip goes, if Blair committed to step down midway through a second term as prime minister and let his old competitor take the job.

Both have refused to comment on the rumor, but more than a year into Blair's third term Brown and his allies were clearly growing impatient.

Eager to prevent the eventual handover from getting even uglier _ and throwing the elections expected in 2009 to the Tories _ many party heavyweights strongly backed Brown as the next Labour leader and prime minister.

"I have no doubt that when the time comes next year, the party will choose Gordon to succeed Tony _ and it's right that he should," said Peter Hain, Blair's secretary for Northern Irish affairs.

Theories about the exact timing for a leadership change abound.

Speculation focused on May but Blair's spokesman said widespread guesses about a specific date were "just plain wrong."

British governments usually serve maximum five-year terms before the House of Commons must face re-election. The prime minister is almost always the leader of the party that commands a parliamentary majority.

But an election can happen more quickly _ either because the prime minister loses majority support in the Commons, or chooses to call an early election in hopes of increasing the government's majority. If a prime minister resigns or dies, an election is not required; the new leader of the governing party can become prime minister if backed by a Commons majority.

Brown, 55, keeps a low public profile.

Politically, he has been described as a brilliant thinker who has kept a steady hand on Britain's previously fickle economy in his role as Treasury chief and masterminded Labour's landslide election wins in 1997 and 2001.

But he lacks Blair's gregarious nature and polish and some Labour supporters worry he won't score as well with voters.

USAF Still Searching For Missing Major In Kyrgyzstan

Major Jill Metzger, a personnel officer at the 376th Air Expeditionary Wing at Manas Air Base, Kyrgyzstan, has been declared as missing following her visit to a Bishkek shopping center Sept. 5, 2006. (AP Photo/U.S. Air Force Photo-HO)

September 7, 2006

Matthew Borghese - All Headline News Staff Writer

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - U.S. Air Force special investigators are in Kyrgyzstan in an effort to find the missing Major Jill Metzger.

Metzger went missing September 5, and according to officials, she was last seen by a group of her coworkers at the Zum shopping center in the capital city of Bishkek.

Col. Joel "Scott" Reese, commander of the 376th Air Expeditionary Wing, where Metzger was a personnel chief, says "We will not rest until we find Major Metzger."

"She is an extremely valuable member of our warfighting team, and we are doing everything in our power to locate and return her to safety."

The Pentagon says a 22-member task force of U.S. special agents and their support crew are working closely with local authorities using every available means to find information concerning her whereabouts. The city's police force combed public transportation and hospitals and distributed flyers with her photo and physical description throughout the city.

Reese says "The local law enforcement agencies are giving us outstanding support in our time of need. We are all committed to Major Metzger and her family and ask for continued thoughts and prayers from our world-wide Air Force family."

Israel signals a staggered end to Lebanon blockade

Fri 8 Sep 2006

JOSEF FEDERMAN

ISRAEL has lifted its aerial blockade of Lebanon, but said it would keep its naval blockade of the country in place until international forces could take over.

Israeli officials said the United Nations was still working out logistical issues, which they expected to be resolved within 48 hours.

They spoke on condition of anonymity because the issue was an internal "UN matter", adding that Israel was ready to transfer responsibility as soon as the international force was ready.

Bowing to pressure from the United Nations and others, Israel pledged on Wednesday to lift the embargo, saying international forces would take over the task of preventing arms from reaching Hezbollah.

Israel said Italian, French, British and Greek troops would patrol Lebanon's coast until German naval forces arrived within two weeks.

Israel imposed the air, land and sea blockade shortly after the 34-day war against Hezbollah erupted on 12 July, when reserve soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev were seized on the Israeli side of the border.

Mr Olmert's office said Israel had received assurances from the United Nations and US that international forces in Lebanon were ready to monitor the airports and seaports.

German airline Lufthansa was among the first European carriers to announce it was resuming flights to Beirut.

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1326552006

Support for al Qaeda waning, UK think-tank says

08 Sep 2006 - 00:01:32 GMT

Source: Reuters

LONDON, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Five years after it carried out the attacks of Sept. 11, al Qaeda remains a powerful organisation but its support is waning, a leading British think-tank said on Friday.

The U.S.-led response to the attacks has "seriously undermined" the group's ability to recruit, communicate and fund itself, but has also inadvertently enhanced al Qaeda's image, the Royal Institute of International Affairs said in a report.

"Five years after Sept. 11, a mixed picture of al Qaeda's fortunes is emerging," the report's author Dr Maha Azzam said.

"Although its image as a powerful terrorist organization has been enhanced, its leaders hide in caves and have lost the broad support of Muslims in the Arab world who oppose its terror tactics and its justification of violence in the name of Islam."

Azzam said al Qaeda faced "a very serious challenge to its legitimacy and potential popularity, which is being undermined, somewhat unexpectedly, from within the Muslim world itself."

She cited the electoral successes of mainstream Islamist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt as evidence that al Qaeda was losing out to non-violent Islamist movements in a battle for support.

"It is now clear that al Qaeda has failed to transform itself into a widespread movement," the report said.

"It ... echoes the concerns of Muslim majorities but has achieved diminishing support for its tactics, despite the emergence of supporting cells over several years in states as divergent as Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Britain."

Azzam said al Qaeda attacks in Saudi Arabia and Jordan had backfired because they had killed Muslims and alienated many in the Islamic world.

The group's former leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, claimed responsibility for the bombing of three hotels in Jordan last year in which 60 people, mostly Muslims, were killed.

Al Qaeda has also been blamed for deadly attacks in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the Islamic world.

Azzam said one of al Qaeda's biggest successes was in convincing people to accept there was a link between terrorism and Western foreign policy.

"This is likely to affect and challenge policy-makers for some time to come," Azzam said.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L07908376.htm

Iran produces 1st laser-guided bomb 'Herald'

Thursday September 07, 2006

Defense Minister Brigadier General Mostafa Najjar said here Thursday that the army has successfully test fired a 2000-pound laser-guided bomb named 'Qassedak' (Herald) which serves to enhance national defense capability.

The test-fire was conducted in military exercise of Army of the Islamic Republic of Iran called 'Zolfaqar Blow'.

Zolfaqar is the name of sword of Imam Ali (AS), the first Imam of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) infallible household.

With production of the new laser-guided bomb, Iran is now among those leading countries which possess such strategic weapon, he said.

He lauded the efforts of Iranian military experts and offered congratulation to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed forces Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei and the noble Iranian nation on such a landmark success.

IRAQI ARMY TARGETS ANTI-IRAQI FORCES IN MULTIPLE RAIDS

9/8/2006

BAGHDAD – Iraqi Army units, with Coalition Force advisers, conducted multiple raids on September 6 to capture individuals connected with insurgent activities that target Iraqi Army, Coalition Forces and Iraqi citizens.

In a raid in Habbiniyah, Iraqi Army forces captured two individuals engaged in insurgent activities against Iraqi and coalition forces. One individual was especially wanted as he was a suspected improvised explosive device emplacer believed connected with multiple attacks against coalition forces. Two other individuals were detained during this operation.

In another raid in Taji, a suspected insurgent engaged in an intimidation campaign against Iraqi citizens was captured. The suspect had recently taken control of an insurgent cell whose previous leader had been captured by Iraqi security forces and was currently engaged in the systematic kidnapping of fellow citizens.

In an additional raid in Ramadi, a suspected sniper and four others suspected of detonating IEDs against Iraqi and coalition forces were captured.

All raids occurred without further incident with no reported casualties.

Eight killed as Iraq Shi'ites converge on festival

08 Sep 2006 - 15:38:26 GMT

Source: Reuters

By Sami al-Jumaili

KERBALA, Iraq, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Mortars killed eight people as hundreds of thousands of pilgrims converged on an Iraqi holy city on Friday for a religious festival where Shi'ite leaders renewed demands for sweeping new powers in their region.

Organisers, who say visitors to Kerbala could reach 2 million by Saturday's climax, said a heavy security presence by police and Iraqi troops had so far succeeded in keeping out the Sunni al Qaeda suicide bombers who have hit previous rituals.

"The situation now is very good," said Kerbala police chief Brigadier Abdul Razzak al-Taie. "If conditions continue like this through the night then we will have succeeded."

Suppressed under Saddam Hussein's Sunni-led secular regime, Shi'ite Muslim rites like this week's Shaabaniya, which celebrates the birth of a 9th century imam, are hugely popular now that the Shi'ite majority is enjoying political dominance.

Thousands of the faithful streamed through the streets of Kerbala, 110 km (70 miles) south of Baghdad, headed to shrines, praying and chanting and joining in outdoor feasts.

Four people were killed and six wounded by mortars on the road near Mussayab, just north of the city. Four others were killed and 34 wounded in two other attacks over the past day.

Worshippers also heard Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, head of the biggest Shi'ite Islamist political party SCIRI, repeat demands for legislation to let the mainly Shi'ite regions of the oil-rich south merge into an autonomous federal region.

"Yes, Yes to Federalism!" men chanted as Hakim poured scorn on his old enemy: "Where is he now, Saddam, the vile?"

SCIRI-supported proposals for legislation on the mechanics of federalism caused uproar in parliament on Thursday before an agreement among the factions to delay a constitutional deadline for passing a law. Sunnis want last year's constitution amended.

"Everyone has the right to enjoy federalism," Hakim told the crowd. His vision of a Shi'ite "super-region" with freedoms like those of the Kurds in the north also troubles U.S. officials, who say it could fall under hostile Iranian Shi'ite influence.

US TROOP NUMBERS UP

Sectarian violence, and friction between Arabs and ethnic Kurds over the northern oilfield, has been killing some 100 people a day, the United Nations estimates. U.S. officials have joined Iraqi leaders in warning of a risk of civil war.

With an eye to their own withdrawal, U.S. troops are training an Iraqi army. They handed formal command of it to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Thursday. But they have also sent in reinforcements to Baghdad hoping to suppress the worst of the violence in the mixed city at the heart of the state.

With U.S. troop numbers now at 145,000, up 14 percent since July, commanders say they pushed down the death rate in the capital in August by surging through problem neighbourhoods in large numbers. Monthly figures from the Baghdad morgue show a drop of 17 percent to 1,536 bodies brought in, the U.N. said.

Though less than the decline of over 40 percent in killings mentioned by U.S. and Iraqi officials for August, a full picture of violence against civilians will not be clear until the Health Ministry publishes data on other deaths, said Gianni Magazzini, the United Nations' human rights representative in Iraq.

Total civilian deaths from violence were estimated at over 3,000 in July by various officials. Partial August data from the Health Ministry last week showed a decline of about a quarter.

On Friday, a car bomb attack on one of Baghdad's local police chiefs killed a policeman and a bystander and police found six tortured and bound victims of death squad killers.

Maliki's four-month-old national unity coalition is racing against time to bring down sectarian tension, partly by bringing Sunnis into government. Al Qaeda renewed its threat of violence against Sunnis who join the U.S.-backed political process.

The latest of several prominent tribal leaders in the Sunni north and west was gunned down in Hawija, near Kirkuk. Ibrahim al-Khalaf, chief of the Bagara tribe and a city councilman, was killed in a drive-by shooting on Friday, a security source said.

The previous evening Al Jazeera television broadcast what it said was a tape of supposed Al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the successor to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, warning Sunni politicians: "Our swords ... thirst for more of your rotting heads. You have lied to yourself and betrayed your nation."

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L08181116.htm

Two U.S. Soldiers, Afghan Civilians Killed in Kabul Suicide Attack

American Forces Press Service

KABUL, Afghanistan , Sept. 8, 2006 – A suicide attack on a coalition convoy in central Kabul today killed two U.S. soldiers and wounded another.

U.S. officials in Afghanistan said the blast, near the U.S. Embassy in downtown Kabul, also killed an unconfirmed number of Afghan civilians.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with their families and their fellow teammates,” Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin C. Freakley, commander of Combined Joint Task Force 76, said. “Additionally, we are very sorry for the death of our Afghan allies who were killed by these Taliban extremists who care nothing about human decency or life.”

The U.S. soldiers were assigned to a Provincial Reconstruction Team helping to rebuild roads and schools, provide power, and complete hundreds of other projects to improve the lives of the Afghan people.

“These acts of violence only confirm our resolve; we remain vigilant in our efforts to help the people of Afghanistan restore peace and security,” Freakley said. “Their sacrifice will not be forgotten.”

With today’s attack, 125 Afghan civilians and seven U.S. service members have been killed since January at the hands of the Taliban extremists in suicide bombings, officials said.

(From a Combined Forces Command Afghanistan news release.)

Related Sites:

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