Soldiers from B Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, remove debris from around a Stryker vehicle that was attacked by a suicide bomber on Monday in western Iraq. (James J. Lee / Military Times staff)
Posted on 08/02/2005 4:32:55 PM PDT by Gucho
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Tuesday, August 2, 2005
BAGHDAD — The U.S. military plans to establish an Iraqi security force along the Syrian border in 2006.
U.S. officials said about 10,000 Iraqi soldiers have been deployed in Anbar province in the western part of the country. So far, they said, the Iraqis require constant U.S. military support for operations, Middle East Newsline reported.
"At this point in time, we don't have any forces that are ready to stand up and conduct independent operations on their own," Maj. Gen. Stephen Johnson, commander of the Second Marine Expeditionary Force and responsible for much of Anbar, said. "But that's okay because they're making great progress in their development."
Officials said the Iraqi forces would share a military base with the United States at Rawah, near the Syrian border. They said the base would host Iraqi and U.S. forces assigned to eliminate insurgency strongholds in Anbar and block the flow of weapons and equipment from Syria.
Johnson, who is also commander of Multinational Forces West, told a July 22 briefing that the Iraqi military presence would increase over the next few months. He said that by the end of 2005 an entire Iraq Army division would be deployed in Anbar.
"By the end of the summer, we'll have an Iraqi division here in Al Anbar, and then, later on in the fall, greater numbers of forces will come in as their training is completed," Johnson said.
Johnson said that since May 2005 Iraqi troops have demonstrated significant improvement in operations with U.S. Marines and Army forces. The troops have been quick to identify improvised explosive devices and suspected suicide bombers.
Officials said the U.S. military has been forming the first police units in Anbar. The Marines have trained Iraqi officers in cities in Anbar and facilitated the construction of police forts.
Over the last eight months, the U.S.-led coalition has launched an effort to rebuild the police force in Al Anbar, particularly in such cities as Faluja and Ramadi. Officials said corrupt individuals and suspected insurgency operatives were dismissed and Iraqi authorities instituted what they termed a rigorous screening process.
"Right now there's about close to 400 police that have gone through this program and are back in the streets in Faluja and in the surrounding area," Johnson said. "We got a ways to go on that, but the schoolhouses are filled. The vetting process continues."
Still, Johnson said, Iraq's borders remain without an effective police force. He said much of Iraq's borders are porous.
"They still have a long way to go to seal off the border or to grow those facilities along the border," Johnson said. "There hasn't been anybody out there for a long time. So they have their work cut out for them."
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Tuesday, August 2, 2005
ABU DHABI — The United States has warned of an Al Qaida strike in Kuwait.
The U.S. embassy told Americans in Kuwait that they could be targeted for attack by Islamic insurgents. The embassy urged the Americans to remain on alert and report suspicious activity to authorities.
"Terrorist actions may include bombings, hijackings, hostage taking, kidnappings and assassinations," the embassy said in a warden message on July 30.
The statement said American civilians and soldiers could be targets of Al Qaida. Kuwait contains about 13,000 U.S. civilians and 10,000 soldiers, Middle East Newsline reported.
The embassy said security at official U.S. sites has been increased. As a result, Al Qaida could select to attack public transportation and residential areas.
"Increased security at official U.S. facilities may lead terrorists and their sympathizers to seek softer targets such as public transportation, residential areas and public areas where people congregate including restaurants, hotels, clubs and shopping areas," the warden message said.
[In January, Kuwaiti security forces clashed several times with Al Qaida insurgents who were said to have planned attacks against U.S. bases. About 40 of them have been held for trial.]
"Terrorists do not distinguish between official and civilian targets," the statement said.
Matthew and Mark. Sounds almost biblical. That looks like dangerous duty.
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By Jim Garamone - American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Aug. 2, 2005 – The chief of the coalition command charged with training Iraqi security forces said "enormous progress" has been made in the effort.
Army Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, who commands Multinational Security Transition Command Iraq, told National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" that more than 105 police and army combat battalions are "in the fight."
This breaks down to more than 93,800 members of the Iraqi police and 77,700 Iraqi servicemembers. The total number of forces "trained and equipped" is 171,500. This time last year, only one battalion was trained and equipped well enough to assist coalition forces, Pentagon officials said.
Petraeus said that while most of the Iraqi units rely heavily on coalition forces for support and guidance, "there are still some three dozen of them that are assessed to be in the lead." By this he means that the Iraqi units are leading the fight against the insurgents with minimal or no help from coalition forces.
Training for the Iraqi units goes on constantly both within Iraq and outside. Insurgent forces know the security forces are the best hope for Iraq, military officials have said repeatedly, and therefore they have targeted members of the police and army. A recent bombing killed 26 police recruits. Still, Iraqis are volunteering to serve their country, Pentagon officials said.
Coalition forces still provide support and leadership for many of the units. "It's not surprising that there would be need for the coalition," Petraeus said. He pointed out that it takes years to train officers and noncommissioned officers in the U.S. Army, and the effort in Iraq has been in place just slightly over a year.
The general said that given all the turmoil, he is impressed with how rapidly the Iraqis have stood their forces back up.
Given continued progress and acceptable conditions, Petraeus said, the United States may be able to reduce troop presence in the country next year, noting this depends on political progress as well as progress in the security capabilities of Iraqi forces.
Petraeus said his command will continue to train Iraqi units. He said some of the Iraqi units have excellent leaders and are doing a great job. Others, he acknowledged, are not. But given the "age" of many of these units, he said, "it's not surprising that units are trying to find themselves and gaining experience along the way."
The national forces need to mirror the proportions of the Iraqi population, the general said, adding that he is pleased with the efforts of the Iraqi government to integrate the units.
Petraeus said he's not surprised by the insurgency in Iraq. "Military leaders plan for toughest circumstances," he said. "Still, sometimes I have to work hard to grasp the magnitude and scope of what it is that we are doing to reestablish a country's entire military structure. We have to work hard to keep all this in our viewscreen because it is a colossal effort."
Petraeus will leave Iraq next month to be commander of the Army's Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. Army Maj. Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, who last week turned over the reins of the 1st Armored Division to Maj. Gen. Doug Robinson Jr., has been nominated for a third star, and if approved for promotion by the Senate, will replace Petraeus in Iraq.
Tue, Aug. 02, 2005
ROB GILLIES and BETH DUFF-BROWN - Associated Press
TORONTO - A jetliner carrying 309 people skidded off a runway while landing in a thunderstorm Tuesday, sliding into a ravine and breaking into pieces, but remarkably everyone aboard survived by jumping to safety in the moments before the plane burst into flames.
Fourteen people suffered minor injuries in the 4:03 p.m. crash landing of Air France Flight 358 from Paris - the first time an Airbus A340 had crashed in its 13 years of commercial service.
The plane, carrying 297 passengers and 12 crew, overshot the runway by 200 yards at Toronto's Pearson International Airport, said Steve Shaw, a vice president of the Greater Toronto Airport Authority.
The aircraft skidded down a slope into a wooded area next to one of Canada's busiest highways, and some survivors said that passengers scrambled up to the road to catch rides with passing cars.
"The plane touched ground and we felt it was going off road and hitting a ravine and that's when we thought that was really the end of it," said Olivier Dubois, a passenger who was sitting in the rear of the A340 Airbus.
"It was really, really scary. Everyone was panicking," Dubois told CTV. "People were screaming and ... jumping as fast as possible and running everywhere, because our biggest fear is that it would blow up."
Roel Bramar, who was also in the back of the plane, said he used an escape chute to get out of the plane.
"We had a hell of a roller coaster coming down the ravine," Bramer told CNN.
They said the power went off shortly before landing, perhaps after the plane was hit by lighting. But Dubois said he did not expect a crash landing and that there was no warning from the captain.
"It was very very fast," Dubois said. "As soon as the plane stopped, they immediately opened the side of the plane where we couldn't see anything and they told us to jump."
He said some passengers scrambled onto nearby Highway 401, where cars stopped, picked them up and took them to the airport. Two busloads of passengers were taken to an airport medical center.
Corey Marks told CNN he was at the side of the road when he watched the plane touch down and crash.
"It was around 4 o'clock, it was getting really dark, and all of a sudden lightning was happening, a lot of rain was coming down," Marks said. "This plane ... came in on the runway, hits the runway nice. Everything looked good, sounds good and all of a sudden we heard the engines backing up. ... He went straight into the valley and cracked in half."
A row of emergency vehicles lined up behind the wreck, and a fire truck sprayed the flames with water. A government transportation highway camera recorded the burning plane, and the footage was broadcast live on television in Canada and the United States.
A portion of the plane's wing could be seen jutting from the trees as smoke and flames poured from the middle of its broken fuselage. At one point, another huge plume of smoke emerged from the wreckage, but it wasn't clear whether it was from an explosion.
Airbus spokeswoman Barbara Kracht said the A340 has never crashed before in its 13 years of commercial service.
Chris Yates, an aviation specialist with Jane's Transport magazine, said the A340 is a very popular "workhorse" among carriers serving Asian and trans-Atlantic routes, with a very good safety record.
Although it was too early to draw any conclusions about the accident, Yates said, "we're probably talking about a weather-related issue here."
Although modern airliners are safer than ever, he said, extreme conditions can still be dangerous, especially during takeoff and landing.
"You can never account for weather," Yates said. "A thunderstorm can happen anywhere - it comes down to the judgment of the air traffic controller and the skill of the pilot to determine whether it's appropriate to land or to divert elsewhere."
Tuesday's airplane crash in Toronto came exactly 20 years after an American disaster that focused renewed attention to wind shear, a natural phenomenon that can make airplanes drop out of the sky.
While the cause of the Toronto crash has not yet been determined, the fact that it happened during a thunderstorm raises the possibility of wind shear.
The 1985 airline crash at Dallas-Forth Worth airport, which killed more than 137 people, made dealing with wind shear "a national imperative" for the U.S. federal government, said Larry Cornman of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo.
Since then, he said Tuesday, systems to detect wind shear have been installed at almost all major airports in the United States. Cornman said the Canadian government investigated installing such systems during the 1990s, but added he did not know how many have been installed.
Wind shear is a sudden change in wind speed or direction. The most dangerous kind, called a microburst, is caused by air descending from a thunderstorm.
The last major jet crash in North America was on Nov. 12, 2001, when American Airlines Flight 587 lost part of its tail and plummeted into a New York City neighborhood, killing 265 people. Safety investigators concluded that the crash was caused by the pilot moving the rudder too aggressively.
Toronto's Lester B. Pearson International Airport handles over 28 million passengers a year. Located 17 miles west of Toronto in the town of Mississauga, it has three terminals. Air France operates out of Terminal 3.
Paris-based Air France-KLM Group is the world's largest airline in terms of revenue. It is the product of the French flagship airline's acquisition last year of Dutch carrier KLM. For the year ended in March, the company earned $443 million on revenues of $24.1 billion.
Air France-KLM operates a fleet of 375 planes and flies 1,800 daily flights, according to the company's Web site. In the last fiscal year, it carried 43.7 million passengers to 84 countries around the globe. That made it the largest European carrier in terms of the number of passengers carried.
The A340 is part of the A330/A340 family of six related aircraft, all sharing the same frame, manufactured by Airbus, which is 80 percent owned by European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. Britain's BAE Systems PLC owns the rest.
The craft owned and flown by Air France is the A340-300. The plane, usually is equipped to carry 295 passengers, and fly 7,400 miles before refueling.
There are currently 237 of the A340-300 and its sister craft, the A340-200, in operation, according to the manufacturer.
(The New York Times)
The plane burned next to Highway 401. (Agence France-Presse)
Tuesday, August 2, 2005
Afghanistan's flag flies at half-mast in memory of the late Saudi King Fahd on the Afghan presidential palace in Kabul August 2, 2005. Muslim leaders from around the world gathered in Riyadh on Tuesday to pay their last respects to King Fahd at a simple funeral in keeping with Saudi Arabia's austere Islamic tradition. (REUTERS/Ahmad Masood)
TEHRAN, Aug. 2 (UPI) -- An explosive device Tuesday rocked a building harboring foreign companies in central Tehran, causing damage but no injuries, the Iranian News Agency reports.
IRNA said the building houses the offices of British Petroleum, British Airways and Mercedes Benz, producing panic among employees.
Police said an investigation was under way.
United Press International
Fatah member killed in Jabalia
GAZA, Aug 1 (KUNA) -- A member of the Fatah Movement was shot dead Monday by unknown gunmen in the Saftawi area of Gaza City.
Palestinian security sources said four gunmen stopped the car of Ahmad Abu Zayed, 36, and tried to kidnap him but when they failed they shot him in the chest, killing him instantly.
In a separate incident, unidentified gunmen opened fire at two members of the military intelligence in the Wihda Street of Gaza City. The two men were seriously injured.
http://www.kuna.net.kw/home/Story.aspx?Language=en&DSNO=757040
3:22 pm PDT - August 2, 2005
TIKRIT, Iraq -- Police in Iraq say it appears to be a massive case of food poisoning.
More than 100 Iraqi soldiers have been hospitalized after getting sick at their base in northern Iraq. Hospital officials say the troops are suffering from fever, vomiting and stomach pain.
The base is in Tikrit, the hometown of Saddam Hussein.
A police official said they are investigating the source of the food poisoning.
The Associated Press.
Army Times reporter Matthew Cox describes attack
Embedded reporter Matthew Cox was injured today during a suicide car bomb attack. Photographer James J. Lee took a number of pictures of the scene following the attack. Start here and scroll forward through the gallery.
Aug 2, 2005
By Matthew Cox, Times staff writer
AL BU HARDEN, Iraq — I heard the two shots from Spc. Eddie Martinez’s M16 rifle, but I had no idea he was firing at a suicide car-bomber steering straight for us.
It was about 4:30 p.m. Aug. 1 and Army Times photographer James Lee and I were standing near the rear ramp of B Company commander Capt. Mark Ivezaj’s Stryker combat vehicle.
I heard the “Pop, pop” of Martinez’s weapon and then a deafening roar before a tremendous force knocked me to my hands and knees. The suicide bomber had detonated his white Suburban packed full of explosives fewer than 25 feet away from the front end of the Stryker.
It was hard to see anything. Dust, earth, gravel and car parts flew everywhere.
I knew something had exploded, but I was in a daze. My first instinct was to crawl for cover, but I was so disoriented I didn’t know where to go.
A sharp, tingling pain bit into my lower left leg. And I kept hearing a shrill ringing noise in both ears.
The next thing I remember was standing up and looking at James, who also had been knocked off his feet but now in the Stryker waving me inside.
I got inside. Ivezaj, commander of the 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment company, stopped on his way out the door make sure James and I were OK. It seemed like everyone was yelling.
Outside the Stryker, blackened vehicle parts littered the road. James yelled for me to check the back of his neck for burns. It looked OK, I told him.
Then Martinez, who had been standing in the left rear “air guard” hatch, began holding his bleeding hand outstretched and yelling something.
“He needs a bandage!” James shouted, handing me a cravat he’d been using as a sweat rag.
I grabbed the rag and started wrapping it around Martinez’s fingers. My hands were shaking.
His account continues...Army Times reporter Matthew Cox wounded in Iraq- Army Times
Monday, August 1, 2005. 0:21am (AEST)
Iraq's special tribunal has denied reports an unidentified man attacked ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein during a court hearing in Baghdad and that the pair exchanged blows.
"This report is wrong. The tribunal respects human rights in its treatment of those accused," a court spokesman said.
The spokesman says that there was "neither a verbal, nor a physical" attack on Saddam.
The former dictator's defence team said on Saturday the 68-year-old was attacked by an unidentified man as he was leaving the courtroom after a hearing on Thursday.
"There was a fist fight between them," Saddam's lawyers said in a statement.
"The head of the court did not intervene to stop the assault."
Thursday's hearing of the tribunal related to possible charges against Saddam Hussein over the brutal suppression of a Shiite uprising in 1991, following the Gulf War that ended Iraq's occupation of Kuwait.
"If the report was correct, the attack would have been punished under the law," a tribunal statement said.
"We respect the law that says the accused is innocent until proven guilty."
Earlier this month, the tribunal filed the first charges against Saddam over the 1982 killing of 143 residents of the village of Dujail, north-east of Baghdad, where he had been the target of a failed assassination bid.
No date for his trial has yet been set.
Saddam was ousted in April 2003 after the US-led invasion of Iraq and was captured in December of that year near his hometown of Tikrit.
He and several of his alleged henchmen are in US custody at a base near Baghdad Airport, awaiting trial on charges of crimes against humanity.
- AFP
NASA set for delicate shuttle heat shield repair
03 Aug 2005 01:26:38 GMT
Source: Reuters
HOUSTON, Aug 2 (Reuters) - NASA on Tuesday prepared for an unprecedented spacewalk to the belly of space shuttle Discovery to remove dangling cloth strips from the ship's delicate heat shield and pondered another potential problem.
U.S. space agency managers were looking into whether a damaged insulating blanket beneath the shuttle commander's window could break off and strike Discovery during its return to Earth next week at the end of the first shuttle mission since the destruction of sister ship Columbia in 2003.
NASA could add a fourth spacewalk to Discovery's mission if more repairs are needed, said shuttle deputy program manager Wayne Hale. A decision was expected on Thursday.
Instead of taking a planned half-day off on Tuesday, the Discovery crew prepared for the unplanned heat shield work slated for the third spacewalk of the mission. It was set to begin at 4:14 a.m. EDT (0814 GMT) on Wednesday.
Stephen Robinson and Soichi Noguchi were to attach a platform loaded with spare gear to the outside of the International Space Station, to which Discovery is docked. Robinson then was to strap himself onto the station's 58-foot (18-metre) robot arm for a ride beneath the shuttle's belly.
His job is relatively simple, but he runs the risk of damaging the shuttle's ceramic-tiled heat shield.
"No doubt about it, this is going to be a very delicate task," Robinson said, adding that his greatest concern was keeping his helmet from bumping the bottom of the shuttle.
"Nothing is going to happen fast," Robinson said. "It's going to be like watching grass grow."
'RIGHT ON THE EDGE'
NASA is concerned that two pieces of protruding cloth, which are among the thousands of "gap fillers" tucked between the shuttle's heat-resistant tiles for cushioning during launch, could disturb the smooth flow of air that envelopes the ship during its initial plunge into the atmosphere.
As the air thickens, turbulence develops, heating the shuttle to temperatures that exceed 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit (1,371 degrees Celsius).
The protruding gap fillers, which stick up about an inch (2.5 cm) from the surface of the shuttle's belly, could raise temperatures dangerously high, particularly for the shuttle's leading-edge wing panels, which failed on Columbia.
"The analysis suggests that we would be right on the edge of the capability of the (wing panels)," said flight director Paul Hill.
Damaged by a 1.67-pound (0.75-kg) chunk of foam insulation that fell off the ship's fuel tank during launch, the wing broke off during Columbia's descent through the atmosphere on Feb. 1, 2003. All seven astronauts aboard perished.
NASA wants Robinson to pull out the protruding gap fillers, using his gloved hand or forceps. A backup plan was to use a small hacksaw to trim the fillers to fit flush against the surrounding tiles.
The repair could be completed in 10 minutes or take more than an hour.
Robinson and Noguchi already have made two spacewalks on the mission. During Wednesday's outing, Robinson will become the first astronaut in the 24-year shuttle program to venture beneath one of the ships in space.
"It sounds scarier than it is," Hill said.
Discovery and the International Space Station are orbiting 220 miles (350 km) above Earth. While managers are pleased with the mission so far, Discovery will be the last shuttle to fly for a while.
NASA's main goal after the Columbia accident was to fix the fuel tank so it would not shed large pieces of foam during launch.
It failed its first test-flight during Discovery's launch on July 26, when a chunk of foam nearly as large as the one that downed Columbia flew off the tank. Three other areas of the tank shed unacceptably large pieces of foam as well, forcing NASA to ground the shuttle fleet.
In addition to the tank problem, Hale said on Tuesday the gap filler problem also must be solved before another shuttle flies. The program is set to be phased out in 2010 in favor of a yet-to-be-developed spacecraft.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N02594960.htm
AlertNet news
Tue Aug 2, 6:07 PM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States condemned the arrests of members of a Polish association in Belarus and said they were part of a "continuing pattern of harassment" of the community.
The State Department comment came after Belarus authorities reportedly arrested two more Polish community leaders and warned politicians from Poland against interference in the country's internal affairs.
"The United States condemns the actions taken by the Belarussian government against the Union of Belarussian Poles," acting State Department spokesman Tom Casey said in a statement.
"The arrest of the Union's members, the closure of its newspaper and use of riot police to seize the Union's office are part of a continuing pattern of harassment against those seeking to peacefully express their views."
US officials have called the regime of President Alexander Lukashenko the last remaining dictatorship in Europe.
Casey said Belarus has closed most local offices of three major parties in the last two months, jailed activists and levied massive fines against the few remaining independent newspapers.
"The United States calls on Belarus' leadership to end these abuses and to respect the rights of the Belarussian people," he said.
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