U.S. Soldiers Seal Saddam's Home Village

AP | 10/31/03

[kattracks]

BAGHDAD, Iraq Oct. 31 — American soldiers on Friday sealed off the village where Saddam Hussein was born and ordered adults to register for identity cards, while insurgents mounted a series of harassing attacks on U.S. military and Iraqi government targets in the northern city of Mosul. Starting around midnight Thursday, U.S. soldiers, Iraqi police and civil defense forces moved into Uja, a small dusty village about 10 miles southeast of Tikrit.

Soldiers stretched concertina wire around the perimeter of the village and established checkpoints. Residents over the age of 18 will be required to have registration cards to move in and out of the village, U.S. officers said.

The New York Times reported Friday that senior U.S. officials believe the former Iraqi leader, who is believed to have been on the run since U.S. forces took over Baghdad in April, is playing a major role in coordinating and directing attacks against American troops.

"This is an effort to protect the majority of the population, the people who want to get on with their lives," said Lt. Col. Steve Russell, commander of the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment of the 4th Infantry Division.

Russell said he did not know whether Saddam was directing parts of the insurgency, but the village is the family home of many former Baathist regime members.

"There are ties leading to this village, to the funding and planning of attacks against U.S. soldiers," Russell said.

The U.S.-led coalition has been fighting a guerilla-style insurgency for months. So far, 117 soldiers have been killed by hostile fire since May 1, when President Bush declared major combat was over.

A total of 114 soldiers were killed in the active combat phase that began March 20.

Meanwhile, a roadside bomb exploded near a U.S. foot patrol on the outskirts of the northern city of Mosul and unidentified gunmen sprayed the city hall with automatic fire, officers said Friday. Nobody was injured in the attacks.

The violence in the north came after a bomb late Thursday rocked a row of shops in Baghdad's Old City, killing two people, and another exploded near a military police convoy north of the capital, slightly wounding two Americans.

In Baghdad's neighborhood of Salhiya, Iraqi police and U.S. troops on Thursday blocked a major street after residents informed authorities about a car parked under a pedestrian bridge fearing it is booby trapped. Bomb experts checked a white Mitsubishi parked a few hundred yards from the U.S. occupation authorities headquarters in Baghdad.

"At dawn, some people from the area came and told us there is a car that had been left in the street. We called the Americans and until now we don't know if it is booby trapped or not," police Sgt. Mohammed Tariq said.

In Washington, the House of Representatives approved a massive aid package requested by the Bush administration for nearly $65 billion for military personnel and operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and an additional $18.6 billion for reconstruction efforts in Iraq.

The Senate was expected to follow suit quickly.

The U.S. administration has been less successful in persuading international organizations including the United Nations and the international Red Cross to remain in Iraq. Prompted by Monday's attacks on three police stations and Baghdad office of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the organizations announced they would reduce staff and review their presence in Iraq.

Separately, the U.S.-installed Iraqi Governing Council said it was moving forward with setting up a war crimes tribunal to prosecute those accused of atrocities during Saddam Hussein's regime.

The decision to form the court was taken several weeks ago, council member Mouwafak al-Rabii said "but now we are taking practical steps to implement this decision and to create those war-crimes tribunal." He did not elaborate.

Human rights groups estimate several hundred thousand people were killed during Saddam's three decades in power. Multiple mass graves have been found throughout the country since the U.S.-led coalition deposed the dictator in April.

The U.S. administration repeatedly has stated that it wants past abuses to be prosecuted under an Iraqi-led legal system instead of an international tribunal akin to those for Rwanda and former Yugoslavia.

The United States currently has in custody dozens of high-ranking officials from their list of most-wanted Iraqi figures many of them being held at the high security prison at the Baghdad International Airport.

[Dog]

We better get a handle on the security in IRAQ.... ASAP. Flood the damn country with special ops and special forces......and allow them to go hunting.

[TPartyType]

I was listening to the radio the other day, driving through Montana, and they mentioned the death toll from traffic fatalities thus far this year: 200+

That got me to thinking. We have lost somewhere in the vicinity of 200 troops since the end of hostilities in Iraq. This is a heavy price to pay, to be sure, but, we need to maintain some perspective. If the body count in Iraq is roughly the same as traffic fatalities in one out of fifty states, should we be so distraught?

And, for what did those traffic fatalities die? Convenience? Mobility? Love of speed or alcohol? At least our brave men and women in Iraq are fighting and dying for something noble.

In a similar vein, some analyst on Fox News last evening noted that approximately the same number of police officers and fire fighters had given their lives protecting this country thus far this year as soldiers have died in Iraq.

[BillM]

If they reported killed and wounded in LA, Washington and other large centers everyday this way, The US would make Iraq look like a safe haven!

[TPartyType]

yeah, unfortunately . . .

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Amen, Dog.

American soldiers on Friday sealed off the village where Saddam Hussein was born and ordered adults to register for identity cards, while insurgents mounted a series of harassing attacks on U.S. military and Iraqi government targets in the northern city of Mosul. Starting around midnight Thursday, U.S. soldiers, Iraqi police and civil defense forces moved into Uja, a small dusty village about 10 miles southeast of Tikrit.

~~~

If you want on or off my Pro-Coalition ping list, please Freepmail me. Warning: it is a high volume ping list on good days. (Most days are good days).

[Loyal Buckeye]

The murder caital of the U.S., Detroit, reports 35 killed per month.

[Leisler]

The right kind of fence.

[RushLake]

From your "nom de guerre" I assume you are an Ohioan. I don't know what media you are reading or hearing, but the media in the Detroit area does not report the Detroit murder rate. Your numbers are news to me. The print and air media in our area is too busy going gaa gaa over governer Jenny from the block. Jenny has declared Detroit a "cool city", and has promised reparations for years of evil white oppression. The mayor of Detroit is the self proclaimed "mayor hip hop" with the very cute diamond stud in his ear. Any situation this metrosexual just can't concern itself with the realities of the gritty world--just not fem and cool.

[JSloth]

FBI Crime Statistics:

http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius_02/02prelimannual.pdf

[LadyPilgrim]

Yes, and I would also point out. the Scriptures say. "It is appointed unto man once to die, after this the judgement". Heb. 9:27.
Whether these men are in Iraq, California, Spain, Russia, or Alabama,
or anywhere else in the world.

They were going to die on this day!
Our day is appointed by our Creator!
He does not change it according to war, or anything else!

[LadyPilgrim]

Yes, and I would also point out. the Scriptures say. "It is appointed unto man once to die, after this the judgement". Heb. 9:27.
Whether these men are in Iraq, California, Spain, Russia, or Alabama,
or anywhere else in the world.

They were going to die on this day!
Our day is appointed by our Creator!
He does not change it according to war, or anything else!

[Alamo-Girl]

Bump!

[windchime]

AP doesn't report the reaction of the residents of Uja to security methods being employed. Hopefully, most will be cooperative and the bad guys will be eliminated.

[Constitution Day]

Heh heh. I wish.

[windchime]

freeperfromnj posted AP report that stated the following:

"By morning, dozens of men from Uja had lined up outside the local police station, waiting to give personal information and have their picture taken for a computer-made ID card.

As an example to others, the police chief said he was first to get an ID card."

Sounds promising.

[ken5050]

Good perspective..here's another one..remember, I think it was 10+ years ago..when some 200+ US soldiers were killed when there charter flight home for Christmas crashed in the Atlantic....

[blackie]

Smoke 'em out!

[TexKat]

A crocodile puppet decorates a U.S. Army vehicle October 31, 2003 at a check point in al Awja, Iraq, Saddam Hussein's birthplace. Saddam may be behind attacks on U.S. troops and others in Iraq, Washington officials were quoted as saying on Friday, as diplomats warned Americans in Baghdad to be particularly on their guard in the coming days. Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters

Iraqi Civil Defense Corp (ICDC) members stand guard at a checkpoint as a soldier of the U.S. Army 4th Infantry division, top left, sits atop his Bradley fighting vehicle in the village of Uja, outside of Tikrit, 193 km (120 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2003. American soldiers on Friday sealed off the village where Saddam Hussein was born and ordered adults to register for identity cards that will let them move in and out of the community - a hotbed of anti-American sentiment. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

Iraqis wait for new identity cards behind razor wire outside a police station in al Awja, a village outside Tikrit, Iraq October 31, 2003. Saddam Hussein may be playing a key role in coordinating and directing attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq, The New York Times reported late on Thursday, quoting senior U.S. officials. The officials cited intelligence reports showing Saddam was acting as a catalyst or a leader in the armed resistance, probably from somewhere near Tikrit , his hometown, the Times said. Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters

A U.S. Army 4th Infantry Division soldier guards an entrance to a local police station as Iraqis queue outside to get ID cards in the village of Uja, outside of Tikrit, 193 km (120 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2003. American soldiers on Friday sealed off the village where Saddam Hussein was born and ordered adults to register for identity cards that will let them move in and out of the community - a hotbed of anti-American sentiment. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

Iraqi workers install concertina wire around the village of Uja, outside Tikrit, 193 km (120 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2003. American soldiers on Friday sealed off the village where Saddam Hussein was born and ordered adults to register for identity cards that will let them move in and out of the community - a hotbed of anti-American sentiment. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

A U.S. Army 4th Infantry Division soldier guards as Iraqis stand in a queue to get ID cards in a village of Uja, outside of Tikrit, 193 km (120 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2003. American soldiers on Friday sealed off the village where Saddam Hussein was born and ordered adults to register for identity cards that will let them move in and out of the community - a hotbed of anti-American sentiment. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

[speekinout]

Thursday, U.S. soldiers, Iraqi police and civil defense forces moved into Uja, a small dusty village about 10 miles southeast of Tikrit.

That's an important sentence. Iraqis are becoming an ever more important part of this struggle for peace.
And we know that because they are also becoming the main targets for the terrorists.

Learning how to fight terrorists is just beginning. They've been around for awhile, but they've been mostly ignored. People mourn the victims, and then move on.
I hope those days are gone.