Posted on 10/27/2004 8:17:21 AM PDT by Former Military Chick
Take a look at a fascinating Web site called Operation Truth (http://www.optruth.org), which was recently started by a group of military veterans to present the views of soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The group pledges to educate the American public about the wars in both those countries from the perspective of soldiers who have served there, especially when "political approaches to military operations" cause problems on the front lines.
It also offers soldiers' perspectives on issues that affect the troops, from the role of private contractors in military operations, to the efforts to cut combat pay and the closing of Veterans Administration hospitals. Not to mention the effects of "stop-loss" (preventing soldiers whose tours are completed from leaving the service).
Is this an antiwar group? I asked its founder executive director, Paul Rieckhoff, a first lieutenant in the New York National Guard who served in Iraq from the spring of 2003 to February 2004.
"We are not VVAW," Rieckhoff replied, referring to the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, in which the young John Kerry famously played an active role. "We are not against the war. A lot of us, me too, feel that it is salvageable.
"But it will take a dramatic change of strategy" to succeed in Iraq, Rieckhoff continued. "We want to force the politicians to be accountable and to devise a successful exit strategy," he said. He also wants to force politicians - many of whom have no military experience - to take responsibility for mistakes that have cost soldiers their lives.
Rieckhoff recalls how members of his unit asked, when deploying at Fort Stewart, for their body armor. Like tens of thousands of reservists, they were told they weren't getting any. The lack of Kevlar vests and ceramic plates caused untold numbers of casualties, and forced families to raise money to buy their sons and husbands the vital equipment. It took nearly a year to rectify the situation.
"It became a joke," said Rieckhoff, "that we were going to get our body armor off dead guys when we got to Baghdad."
The Army as presently constructed is not equipped to fight prolonged urban warfare, says the Operation Truth leader. The recent refusal of a Reserve unit in Iraq to deliver contaminated fuel to a dangerous area in unarmored vehicles provides a perfect example. In a war without front lines, American soldiers are often inadequately trained and equipped.
A former investment banker who joined the Reserves and conducted more than 1,000 patrols, Rieckhoff watched in dismay as U.S. officials disbanded the Iraqi army, creating an enormous pool of jobless Iraqis with guns who provided a recruitment bonanza for insurgent leaders. "In the South Bronx," he says, "if you gave a gang member $1,000 to throw a grenade at a cop car, he'd do it. In Iraq, they'd throw it at a humvee for $10."
It bothered him to see big companies like Bechtel brought in to fix buildings, while jobless Iraqis stood around and watched. "We would find Iraqi electricians to do the work," he said of his unit. It also bothered him to see some military commanders insist that their units kick down Iraqi doors in the middle of the night, even if the same door had been bashed earlier.
"You have to be strong and generous and try to understand their culture," he said of dealing with Iraqis, otherwise there are bound to be repercussions.
"Grunts are the ones who see what works," Rieckhoff points out. So he and his staff are trying to provide grunts, or officers, with a place to tell their stories and blog about their worries. You can see photos taken by servicemen, and footage of life in Iraq on the Operation Truth site.
Rieckhoff's hope is that the site will help link civilians with the human concerns of soldiers - a sensitivity he fears has diminished now that we have a professional army.
What does he think of the argument that it is unpatriotic to criticize Iraq operations while a war is on?
"To say you blindly support a policy is reckless," says this citizen-soldier. "In the military, you do an after-action review after every mission, about what went right and wrong. We need to do that as a country - about the war in Iraq."
---------------------------------------------------------
Contact columnist Trudy Rubin at 215-854-5823 or trubin@phillynews.com. Read her recent work at http://go.philly.com/trudyrubin.
I saw this guy interviewed on CNN a while back..he is definitely anti-Bush.
Operation Truth is the 527 that ran that ad exploiting an amputee Iraq vet. "We're not the VVAW" my @ss.
The author, Trudy Rubin, is left of left, she's pro-palestinian Jewish. No one Jewish I know in Philly likes her or reads her bull...t.
they're biggest 'endorsement' came from Governor Turnbuckle, Jesse Ventura.
that's about all you need to know.
stupid is as stupid does.
Thank you, sometimes it is hard to see through the dem BS and find the truth. New there was something fishy about this site.
1. INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT GAINING IN IRAQ
2. Precision Strikes Erode Zarqawi Network;
3. Logistics Training Center Opens in Iraq
1. INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT GAINING IN IRAQ
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Oct. 3, 2004 -- The key to winning the war in Iraq is to support
the Iraqis as they take on responsibility for their own future, and the
international community is increasingly doing just that, National Security
Advisor Condoleezza Rice said today.
Rice told George Stephanopoulos on ABC's "This Week" talk show this morning
that the international community is stepping up to the plate to be a part of
"an opportunity to build a different kind of Iraq as a lynchpin for a much
different Middle East."
A wide range of activities -- some new and some ongoing -- show this
international commitment, she said, particularly "the 30 countries on the
ground with us putting their people in harm's way."
Other demonstrations of support include NATO's establishment of a training
academy in Iraq for leadership training and Japan's upcoming donor's conference
"to hold people accountable for what they have pledged to the Iraqis." Also
promising, Rice said, is support for Iraq demonstrated by the Group of Eight
industrialized nations, or G8, leaders at their summit last summer.
"This is an international effort, … and there is a lot of international
support," Rice said.
The national security advisor acknowledged that "not everybody likes the fact
that we and others in the coalition believed that it was time to go to war"
against former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
"But sometimes you have do with what is right. You cannot wait for unanimous
consent," she said. "If you waited for unanimous consent, you would never do
anything in the international community."
Rice stood firmly by her conviction that the war against what she called "that
thorn in the side of any effort to build a different kind of Middle East" was
necessary. "I stand by the decision to go to war against Saddam Hussein and
remove this threat to American security that threatens the Middle East," she
said. "I stand by, to this day, the correctness of the decision."
Dismissing questions about questionable intelligence assessments about weapons
of mass destruction in Iraq, Rice insisted Saddam Hussein had an interest and
proven intent to pursue his nuclear weapons program. All indications show that
Iraq would have had nuclear weapons by the end of the decade, she said.
"A policymaker cannot afford to be wrong on the short side, underestimating the
ability of a tyrant like Saddam Hussein who had expertise and who had weapons
of mass destruction and had used them in the past and who kept a very strong
intent to keep those programs in place," she said. "And anyone who believes
that the world was a better place with a false sense of stability with this
dictator in power than we are now … isn't making a good judgment."
Rice called the war in Iraq an important part of the global war on terrorism.
"Iraq is not a diversion, but is in fact a central front on the war on
terrorism," she said.
"There is a reason that (terrorist leader Abu Musab) al-Zarqawi and other
terrorists are in Iraq and fighting so desperately," she said. "They are
fighting because they know that when there is a free and secure and
democratizing Iraq in the center of the Middle East, that their ideology of
hatred is going to be defeated."
While pointing out solid progress in bringing down the al Qaeda terrorist
network, Rice said, "it's not enough to deal with al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden"
in winning the war on terror.
"You have to change the circumstances that produce al Qaeda," she said. "And
that is what a free Iraq will do."
Biography:
National Security Advisor
Condoleezza Rice [http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/ricebio.html]
2. Precision Strikes Erode Zarqawi Network;
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Oct. 2, 2004 -- Multinational Force Iraq troops continued progress
in ridding Fallujah, Iraq, of foreign terrorists and their supporters, further
reducing the Zarqawi network's capability today with a precision strike on a
training facility on the city's outskirts, officials at the Combined Press
Information Center in Baghdad reported.
Meanwhile, multinational and Iraqi forces carried out joint operations today
near Hillah, in the Babil Province, and a U.S. soldier with Task Force Baghdad
was killed by small-arms fire late Oct. 1.
Coalition forces launched a strike at 6 p.m. Baghdad time on a building where
15 to 20 anti-Iraqi forces with links to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's terrorist
network were conducting military-style training. Intelligence sources said the
training was designed to help the terrorists disrupt Iraqi Security Forces
efforts and harass the local people, officials said.
An analysis of multiple intelligence reports confirmed that Multinnational
Force Iraq had accurately targeted the building while protecting innocent
civilians. Officials said "multiple measures" were used to ensure no innocent
civilians were present when the strikes took place.
Another precision strike, launched late Oct. 1, successfully took out a
confirmed Zarqawi site in northeast Fallujah. The terrorist group used this
site used to plan suicide attacks on innocent civilians and Iraqi forces,
officials reported. Sources said about 10 terrorists were at the safe house at
the time of the strike, shortly before 11 p.m. Baghdad time.
Intelligence indicated that no innocent civilians were at the site at the time
of the strike. Officials said multinational forces took measures to protect
innocent civilians and surrounding buildings, noting that the Zarqawi network
continues to disregard the safety of the Iraqi people by hiding among them.
Meanwhile, Polish soldiers from Multinational Division Central-South, U.S.
soldiers and Iraqi security forces carried out joint operations in Sayahiyah
and Raranijyah near Hillah, officials reported.
The operations, launched to prevent terrorist attacks and provide stability in
the region, netted 10 suspected terrorists, including a former general in
Saddam Hussein's army wanted by Iraqi police. Five of the suspects were
released after on-the-spot initial investigations. Also found were several AK-
47 weapons, ammunition and anti-Iraqi propaganda.
In other Operation Iraqi Freedom news, two U.S. soldiers with the 1st Cavalry
Division's Task Force Lancer received the Silver Star Medal during a Sept. 30
ceremony at Camp Hope, Iraq.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Jerry Swope, a platoon sergeant with 2nd Battalion, 5th
Cavalry Regiment's Company C, and Staff Sgt. Robert Miltenberger, a dismounted
squad leader with Company A, were honored for "exceptional valor" in combat
during Operation Lancer Fury.
That operation, conducted April 4-9 in the Sadr City section of Baghdad, was
launched in response to the first violent insurgency by rebel Shiite cleric
Muqtada al-Sadr's militia.
(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq press releases.)
3. Logistics Training Center Opens in Iraq
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Oct. 2, 2004 -- A new logistics training facility that gives
soldiers and units the technical help they need to use the Army's automated
logistics systems in theater officially opened at Logistics Support Area
Anaconda, in Balad, Iraq, Oct. 1.
The Automated Logistics Assistance Team training facility provides classroom
training and over-the-shoulder tailored training, according to officials at
Multinational Force Iraq.
Locating the center in Iraq saves units time and money and provides immediate
help to deployed soldiers, officials said. Otherwise, units would have to
travel to Kuwait or Fort Lee, Va., for training or assistance with the Army's
logistics computer systems.
The center has been operating for several weeks, officials said. The official
opening ceremony was scheduled to coincide with the graduation ceremony for the
first group of soldiers to be trained in Iraq on a new company-level property-
accountability system, they said.
_______________________________________________________
NOTE: View the original version of this web page on DefenseLINK,
the official website of the U.S. Department of Defense, at
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Oct2004/n10022004_2004100203.html.
A vote for John Kerry is a symbolic betrayal of every
man who has ever gone to war to protect our ideals.
Listen to Kerry here
"Make yourself sheep and the wolves will
eat you." - Benjamin Franklin
1. INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT GAINING IN IRAQ
2. Precision Strikes Erode Zarqawi Network;
3. Logistics Training Center Opens in Iraq
1. INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT GAINING IN IRAQ
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Oct. 3, 2004 -- The key to winning the war in Iraq is to support
the Iraqis as they take on responsibility for their own future, and the
international community is increasingly doing just that, National Security
Advisor Condoleezza Rice said today.
Rice told George Stephanopoulos on ABC's "This Week" talk show this morning
that the international community is stepping up to the plate to be a part of
"an opportunity to build a different kind of Iraq as a lynchpin for a much
different Middle East."
A wide range of activities -- some new and some ongoing -- show this
international commitment, she said, particularly "the 30 countries on the
ground with us putting their people in harm's way."
Other demonstrations of support include NATO's establishment of a training
academy in Iraq for leadership training and Japan's upcoming donor's conference
"to hold people accountable for what they have pledged to the Iraqis." Also
promising, Rice said, is support for Iraq demonstrated by the Group of Eight
industrialized nations, or G8, leaders at their summit last summer.
"This is an international effort, … and there is a lot of international
support," Rice said.
The national security advisor acknowledged that "not everybody likes the fact
that we and others in the coalition believed that it was time to go to war"
against former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
"But sometimes you have do with what is right. You cannot wait for unanimous
consent," she said. "If you waited for unanimous consent, you would never do
anything in the international community."
Rice stood firmly by her conviction that the war against what she called "that
thorn in the side of any effort to build a different kind of Middle East" was
necessary. "I stand by the decision to go to war against Saddam Hussein and
remove this threat to American security that threatens the Middle East," she
said. "I stand by, to this day, the correctness of the decision."
Dismissing questions about questionable intelligence assessments about weapons
of mass destruction in Iraq, Rice insisted Saddam Hussein had an interest and
proven intent to pursue his nuclear weapons program. All indications show that
Iraq would have had nuclear weapons by the end of the decade, she said.
"A policymaker cannot afford to be wrong on the short side, underestimating the
ability of a tyrant like Saddam Hussein who had expertise and who had weapons
of mass destruction and had used them in the past and who kept a very strong
intent to keep those programs in place," she said. "And anyone who believes
that the world was a better place with a false sense of stability with this
dictator in power than we are now … isn't making a good judgment."
Rice called the war in Iraq an important part of the global war on terrorism.
"Iraq is not a diversion, but is in fact a central front on the war on
terrorism," she said.
"There is a reason that (terrorist leader Abu Musab) al-Zarqawi and other
terrorists are in Iraq and fighting so desperately," she said. "They are
fighting because they know that when there is a free and secure and
democratizing Iraq in the center of the Middle East, that their ideology of
hatred is going to be defeated."
While pointing out solid progress in bringing down the al Qaeda terrorist
network, Rice said, "it's not enough to deal with al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden"
in winning the war on terror.
"You have to change the circumstances that produce al Qaeda," she said. "And
that is what a free Iraq will do."
Biography:
National Security Advisor
Condoleezza Rice [http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/ricebio.html]
2. Precision Strikes Erode Zarqawi Network;
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Oct. 2, 2004 -- Multinational Force Iraq troops continued progress
in ridding Fallujah, Iraq, of foreign terrorists and their supporters, further
reducing the Zarqawi network's capability today with a precision strike on a
training facility on the city's outskirts, officials at the Combined Press
Information Center in Baghdad reported.
Meanwhile, multinational and Iraqi forces carried out joint operations today
near Hillah, in the Babil Province, and a U.S. soldier with Task Force Baghdad
was killed by small-arms fire late Oct. 1.
Coalition forces launched a strike at 6 p.m. Baghdad time on a building where
15 to 20 anti-Iraqi forces with links to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's terrorist
network were conducting military-style training. Intelligence sources said the
training was designed to help the terrorists disrupt Iraqi Security Forces
efforts and harass the local people, officials said.
An analysis of multiple intelligence reports confirmed that Multinnational
Force Iraq had accurately targeted the building while protecting innocent
civilians. Officials said "multiple measures" were used to ensure no innocent
civilians were present when the strikes took place.
Another precision strike, launched late Oct. 1, successfully took out a
confirmed Zarqawi site in northeast Fallujah. The terrorist group used this
site used to plan suicide attacks on innocent civilians and Iraqi forces,
officials reported. Sources said about 10 terrorists were at the safe house at
the time of the strike, shortly before 11 p.m. Baghdad time.
Intelligence indicated that no innocent civilians were at the site at the time
of the strike. Officials said multinational forces took measures to protect
innocent civilians and surrounding buildings, noting that the Zarqawi network
continues to disregard the safety of the Iraqi people by hiding among them.
Meanwhile, Polish soldiers from Multinational Division Central-South, U.S.
soldiers and Iraqi security forces carried out joint operations in Sayahiyah
and Raranijyah near Hillah, officials reported.
The operations, launched to prevent terrorist attacks and provide stability in
the region, netted 10 suspected terrorists, including a former general in
Saddam Hussein's army wanted by Iraqi police. Five of the suspects were
released after on-the-spot initial investigations. Also found were several AK-
47 weapons, ammunition and anti-Iraqi propaganda.
In other Operation Iraqi Freedom news, two U.S. soldiers with the 1st Cavalry
Division's Task Force Lancer received the Silver Star Medal during a Sept. 30
ceremony at Camp Hope, Iraq.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Jerry Swope, a platoon sergeant with 2nd Battalion, 5th
Cavalry Regiment's Company C, and Staff Sgt. Robert Miltenberger, a dismounted
squad leader with Company A, were honored for "exceptional valor" in combat
during Operation Lancer Fury.
That operation, conducted April 4-9 in the Sadr City section of Baghdad, was
launched in response to the first violent insurgency by rebel Shiite cleric
Muqtada al-Sadr's militia.
(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq press releases.)
3. Logistics Training Center Opens in Iraq
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Oct. 2, 2004 -- A new logistics training facility that gives
soldiers and units the technical help they need to use the Army's automated
logistics systems in theater officially opened at Logistics Support Area
Anaconda, in Balad, Iraq, Oct. 1.
The Automated Logistics Assistance Team training facility provides classroom
training and over-the-shoulder tailored training, according to officials at
Multinational Force Iraq.
Locating the center in Iraq saves units time and money and provides immediate
help to deployed soldiers, officials said. Otherwise, units would have to
travel to Kuwait or Fort Lee, Va., for training or assistance with the Army's
logistics computer systems.
The center has been operating for several weeks, officials said. The official
opening ceremony was scheduled to coincide with the graduation ceremony for the
first group of soldiers to be trained in Iraq on a new company-level property-
accountability system, they said.
_______________________________________________________
NOTE: View the original version of this web page on DefenseLINK,
the official website of the U.S. Department of Defense, at
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Oct2004/n10022004_2004100203.html.
1. INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT GAINING IN IRAQ
2. Precision Strikes Erode Zarqawi Network;
3. Logistics Training Center Opens in Iraq
1. INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT GAINING IN IRAQ
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Oct. 3, 2004 -- The key to winning the war in Iraq is to support
the Iraqis as they take on responsibility for their own future, and the
international community is increasingly doing just that, National Security
Advisor Condoleezza Rice said today.
Rice told George Stephanopoulos on ABC's "This Week" talk show this morning
that the international community is stepping up to the plate to be a part of
"an opportunity to build a different kind of Iraq as a lynchpin for a much
different Middle East."
A wide range of activities -- some new and some ongoing -- show this
international commitment, she said, particularly "the 30 countries on the
ground with us putting their people in harm's way."
Other demonstrations of support include NATO's establishment of a training
academy in Iraq for leadership training and Japan's upcoming donor's conference
"to hold people accountable for what they have pledged to the Iraqis." Also
promising, Rice said, is support for Iraq demonstrated by the Group of Eight
industrialized nations, or G8, leaders at their summit last summer.
"This is an international effort, … and there is a lot of international
support," Rice said.
The national security advisor acknowledged that "not everybody likes the fact
that we and others in the coalition believed that it was time to go to war"
against former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
"But sometimes you have do with what is right. You cannot wait for unanimous
consent," she said. "If you waited for unanimous consent, you would never do
anything in the international community."
Rice stood firmly by her conviction that the war against what she called "that
thorn in the side of any effort to build a different kind of Middle East" was
necessary. "I stand by the decision to go to war against Saddam Hussein and
remove this threat to American security that threatens the Middle East," she
said. "I stand by, to this day, the correctness of the decision."
Dismissing questions about questionable intelligence assessments about weapons
of mass destruction in Iraq, Rice insisted Saddam Hussein had an interest and
proven intent to pursue his nuclear weapons program. All indications show that
Iraq would have had nuclear weapons by the end of the decade, she said.
"A policymaker cannot afford to be wrong on the short side, underestimating the
ability of a tyrant like Saddam Hussein who had expertise and who had weapons
of mass destruction and had used them in the past and who kept a very strong
intent to keep those programs in place," she said. "And anyone who believes
that the world was a better place with a false sense of stability with this
dictator in power than we are now … isn't making a good judgment."
Rice called the war in Iraq an important part of the global war on terrorism.
"Iraq is not a diversion, but is in fact a central front on the war on
terrorism," she said.
"There is a reason that (terrorist leader Abu Musab) al-Zarqawi and other
terrorists are in Iraq and fighting so desperately," she said. "They are
fighting because they know that when there is a free and secure and
democratizing Iraq in the center of the Middle East, that their ideology of
hatred is going to be defeated."
While pointing out solid progress in bringing down the al Qaeda terrorist
network, Rice said, "it's not enough to deal with al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden"
in winning the war on terror.
"You have to change the circumstances that produce al Qaeda," she said. "And
that is what a free Iraq will do."
Biography:
National Security Advisor
Condoleezza Rice [http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/ricebio.html]
2. Precision Strikes Erode Zarqawi Network;
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Oct. 2, 2004 -- Multinational Force Iraq troops continued progress
in ridding Fallujah, Iraq, of foreign terrorists and their supporters, further
reducing the Zarqawi network's capability today with a precision strike on a
training facility on the city's outskirts, officials at the Combined Press
Information Center in Baghdad reported.
Meanwhile, multinational and Iraqi forces carried out joint operations today
near Hillah, in the Babil Province, and a U.S. soldier with Task Force Baghdad
was killed by small-arms fire late Oct. 1.
Coalition forces launched a strike at 6 p.m. Baghdad time on a building where
15 to 20 anti-Iraqi forces with links to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's terrorist
network were conducting military-style training. Intelligence sources said the
training was designed to help the terrorists disrupt Iraqi Security Forces
efforts and harass the local people, officials said.
An analysis of multiple intelligence reports confirmed that Multinnational
Force Iraq had accurately targeted the building while protecting innocent
civilians. Officials said "multiple measures" were used to ensure no innocent
civilians were present when the strikes took place.
Another precision strike, launched late Oct. 1, successfully took out a
confirmed Zarqawi site in northeast Fallujah. The terrorist group used this
site used to plan suicide attacks on innocent civilians and Iraqi forces,
officials reported. Sources said about 10 terrorists were at the safe house at
the time of the strike, shortly before 11 p.m. Baghdad time.
Intelligence indicated that no innocent civilians were at the site at the time
of the strike. Officials said multinational forces took measures to protect
innocent civilians and surrounding buildings, noting that the Zarqawi network
continues to disregard the safety of the Iraqi people by hiding among them.
Meanwhile, Polish soldiers from Multinational Division Central-South, U.S.
soldiers and Iraqi security forces carried out joint operations in Sayahiyah
and Raranijyah near Hillah, officials reported.
The operations, launched to prevent terrorist attacks and provide stability in
the region, netted 10 suspected terrorists, including a former general in
Saddam Hussein's army wanted by Iraqi police. Five of the suspects were
released after on-the-spot initial investigations. Also found were several AK-
47 weapons, ammunition and anti-Iraqi propaganda.
In other Operation Iraqi Freedom news, two U.S. soldiers with the 1st Cavalry
Division's Task Force Lancer received the Silver Star Medal during a Sept. 30
ceremony at Camp Hope, Iraq.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Jerry Swope, a platoon sergeant with 2nd Battalion, 5th
Cavalry Regiment's Company C, and Staff Sgt. Robert Miltenberger, a dismounted
squad leader with Company A, were honored for "exceptional valor" in combat
during Operation Lancer Fury.
That operation, conducted April 4-9 in the Sadr City section of Baghdad, was
launched in response to the first violent insurgency by rebel Shiite cleric
Muqtada al-Sadr's militia.
(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq press releases.)
3. Logistics Training Center Opens in Iraq
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Oct. 2, 2004 -- A new logistics training facility that gives
soldiers and units the technical help they need to use the Army's automated
logistics systems in theater officially opened at Logistics Support Area
Anaconda, in Balad, Iraq, Oct. 1.
The Automated Logistics Assistance Team training facility provides classroom
training and over-the-shoulder tailored training, according to officials at
Multinational Force Iraq.
Locating the center in Iraq saves units time and money and provides immediate
help to deployed soldiers, officials said. Otherwise, units would have to
travel to Kuwait or Fort Lee, Va., for training or assistance with the Army's
logistics computer systems.
The center has been operating for several weeks, officials said. The official
opening ceremony was scheduled to coincide with the graduation ceremony for the
first group of soldiers to be trained in Iraq on a new company-level property-
accountability system, they said.
_______________________________________________________
NOTE: View the original version of this web page on DefenseLINK,
the official website of the U.S. Department of Defense, at
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Oct2004/n10022004_2004100203.html.
A vote for John Kerry is a symbolic betrayal of every
man who has ever gone to war to protect our ideals.
Listen to Kerry here
"Make yourself sheep and the wolves will
eat you." - Benjamin Franklin
1. INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT GAINING IN IRAQ
2. Precision Strikes Erode Zarqawi Network;
3. Logistics Training Center Opens in Iraq
1. INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT GAINING IN IRAQ
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Oct. 3, 2004 -- The key to winning the war in Iraq is to support
the Iraqis as they take on responsibility for their own future, and the
international community is increasingly doing just that, National Security
Advisor Condoleezza Rice said today.
Rice told George Stephanopoulos on ABC's "This Week" talk show this morning
that the international community is stepping up to the plate to be a part of
"an opportunity to build a different kind of Iraq as a lynchpin for a much
different Middle East."
A wide range of activities -- some new and some ongoing -- show this
international commitment, she said, particularly "the 30 countries on the
ground with us putting their people in harm's way."
Other demonstrations of support include NATO's establishment of a training
academy in Iraq for leadership training and Japan's upcoming donor's conference
"to hold people accountable for what they have pledged to the Iraqis." Also
promising, Rice said, is support for Iraq demonstrated by the Group of Eight
industrialized nations, or G8, leaders at their summit last summer.
"This is an international effort, … and there is a lot of international
support," Rice said.
The national security advisor acknowledged that "not everybody likes the fact
that we and others in the coalition believed that it was time to go to war"
against former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
"But sometimes you have do with what is right. You cannot wait for unanimous
consent," she said. "If you waited for unanimous consent, you would never do
anything in the international community."
Rice stood firmly by her conviction that the war against what she called "that
thorn in the side of any effort to build a different kind of Middle East" was
necessary. "I stand by the decision to go to war against Saddam Hussein and
remove this threat to American security that threatens the Middle East," she
said. "I stand by, to this day, the correctness of the decision."
Dismissing questions about questionable intelligence assessments about weapons
of mass destruction in Iraq, Rice insisted Saddam Hussein had an interest and
proven intent to pursue his nuclear weapons program. All indications show that
Iraq would have had nuclear weapons by the end of the decade, she said.
"A policymaker cannot afford to be wrong on the short side, underestimating the
ability of a tyrant like Saddam Hussein who had expertise and who had weapons
of mass destruction and had used them in the past and who kept a very strong
intent to keep those programs in place," she said. "And anyone who believes
that the world was a better place with a false sense of stability with this
dictator in power than we are now … isn't making a good judgment."
Rice called the war in Iraq an important part of the global war on terrorism.
"Iraq is not a diversion, but is in fact a central front on the war on
terrorism," she said.
"There is a reason that (terrorist leader Abu Musab) al-Zarqawi and other
terrorists are in Iraq and fighting so desperately," she said. "They are
fighting because they know that when there is a free and secure and
democratizing Iraq in the center of the Middle East, that their ideology of
hatred is going to be defeated."
While pointing out solid progress in bringing down the al Qaeda terrorist
network, Rice said, "it's not enough to deal with al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden"
in winning the war on terror.
"You have to change the circumstances that produce al Qaeda," she said. "And
that is what a free Iraq will do."
Biography:
National Security Advisor
Condoleezza Rice [http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/ricebio.html]
2. Precision Strikes Erode Zarqawi Network;
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Oct. 2, 2004 -- Multinational Force Iraq troops continued progress
in ridding Fallujah, Iraq, of foreign terrorists and their supporters, further
reducing the Zarqawi network's capability today with a precision strike on a
training facility on the city's outskirts, officials at the Combined Press
Information Center in Baghdad reported.
Meanwhile, multinational and Iraqi forces carried out joint operations today
near Hillah, in the Babil Province, and a U.S. soldier with Task Force Baghdad
was killed by small-arms fire late Oct. 1.
Coalition forces launched a strike at 6 p.m. Baghdad time on a building where
15 to 20 anti-Iraqi forces with links to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's terrorist
network were conducting military-style training. Intelligence sources said the
training was designed to help the terrorists disrupt Iraqi Security Forces
efforts and harass the local people, officials said.
An analysis of multiple intelligence reports confirmed that Multinnational
Force Iraq had accurately targeted the building while protecting innocent
civilians. Officials said "multiple measures" were used to ensure no innocent
civilians were present when the strikes took place.
Another precision strike, launched late Oct. 1, successfully took out a
confirmed Zarqawi site in northeast Fallujah. The terrorist group used this
site used to plan suicide attacks on innocent civilians and Iraqi forces,
officials reported. Sources said about 10 terrorists were at the safe house at
the time of the strike, shortly before 11 p.m. Baghdad time.
Intelligence indicated that no innocent civilians were at the site at the time
of the strike. Officials said multinational forces took measures to protect
innocent civilians and surrounding buildings, noting that the Zarqawi network
continues to disregard the safety of the Iraqi people by hiding among them.
Meanwhile, Polish soldiers from Multinational Division Central-South, U.S.
soldiers and Iraqi security forces carried out joint operations in Sayahiyah
and Raranijyah near Hillah, officials reported.
The operations, launched to prevent terrorist attacks and provide stability in
the region, netted 10 suspected terrorists, including a former general in
Saddam Hussein's army wanted by Iraqi police. Five of the suspects were
released after on-the-spot initial investigations. Also found were several AK-
47 weapons, ammunition and anti-Iraqi propaganda.
In other Operation Iraqi Freedom news, two U.S. soldiers with the 1st Cavalry
Division's Task Force Lancer received the Silver Star Medal during a Sept. 30
ceremony at Camp Hope, Iraq.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Jerry Swope, a platoon sergeant with 2nd Battalion, 5th
Cavalry Regiment's Company C, and Staff Sgt. Robert Miltenberger, a dismounted
squad leader with Company A, were honored for "exceptional valor" in combat
during Operation Lancer Fury.
That operation, conducted April 4-9 in the Sadr City section of Baghdad, was
launched in response to the first violent insurgency by rebel Shiite cleric
Muqtada al-Sadr's militia.
(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq press releases.)
3. Logistics Training Center Opens in Iraq
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Oct. 2, 2004 -- A new logistics training facility that gives
soldiers and units the technical help they need to use the Army's automated
logistics systems in theater officially opened at Logistics Support Area
Anaconda, in Balad, Iraq, Oct. 1.
The Automated Logistics Assistance Team training facility provides classroom
training and over-the-shoulder tailored training, according to officials at
Multinational Force Iraq.
Locating the center in Iraq saves units time and money and provides immediate
help to deployed soldiers, officials said. Otherwise, units would have to
travel to Kuwait or Fort Lee, Va., for training or assistance with the Army's
logistics computer systems.
The center has been operating for several weeks, officials said. The official
opening ceremony was scheduled to coincide with the graduation ceremony for the
first group of soldiers to be trained in Iraq on a new company-level property-
accountability system, they said.
_______________________________________________________
NOTE: View the original version of this web page on DefenseLINK,
the official website of the U.S. Department of Defense, at
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Oct2004/n10022004_2004100203.html.
It sounds like the work of the George Soros center of policy. Below is another take from someone on the inside.
http://www.nypost.com/commentary/32733.htm
New York Post Online Edition: commentary
I WANT MY GI SON TO SERVE UNDER BUSH
By STEVE DUNLEAVY
Are they permitting postings by those supporting the war effort? ----or are those being censored out?
I just went to check that out. I was so creeped out by the site, I just went away.
Kerry a traitor : new film tells some things clearly
http://www.vnsfvetakerry.com/kerry_a_traitor__new_film_tells_some_things_clearly_____.htm
Vietnam Special Forces against Kerry
http://www.vnsfvetakerry.com/
Kerry's Fake Warriors Named
http://www.vnsfvetakerry.com/kerrys_fake_warriors.htm
THE BEST OF THE CBS Authentic Documents Files (humor)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1213658/posts
Our taxes in 2004
http://www.scaryjohnkerry.com/taxes.htm
One Vietnam Veteran Against Kerry
Swift Boat Veterans for Truth
Vietnam Special Forces Veterans Against Kerry
POW/MIA Family Members Against John Kerry
Kerry Lied, While Good Men Died
Vietnam Veterans for Academic Reform
Winter Soldiers.Com
Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club 68-69 says Stop Hanoi Kerry!
THE OLD SOLDIERS' HOME
John Kerry, Hero? POW/MIA Forum
Vets Against Kerry
Vietnam Veterans Against John Kerry
Vietnam Vets Against John Kerry
Examining the Myths of the Vietnam War
Vietnam Veterans Against Kerry.org
Vietnam Veteran Against Kerry
Don Bendell, Special Forces
Honorable Vietnam Vet Marches Summer 2004
Swift Boat Brotherhood
U.S. Vets & Vietnamese Unite to Oppose Kerry
Real Heroes Voices
Screaming Eagle 101st Airborne, Vietnam Veteran
Vietnam Veterans Against Kerry
Green Beret.Net John Kerry, War Hero?
Combat Vets Against Kerry
LIDDY FILE Vietnam Vets Against Kerry
Combat Veterans For Bush
The Gun Zone -- The Case Against Kerry
Vets for Bush
Veterans & Friends Against Kerry WebRing
First Cav Div Website
In Honor of Our Vietnam War Veterans
Wildgun's C Troop 11th Cav
Kerry, truth, veterans, 2004 Presidential Campaign
River Vets
Weekend Webmaster - ron-siddell.com
John Kerry History Page 25th AVN
Vietnam Vet Against Kerry Bartimus.net
Stop Hanoi John
Links to Anti Kerry sites & News reports, Viper's Vietnam Veterans Page
Viper's Vietnam Veterans Page, A Vietnam Veteran & Proud
Vietnam Veterans & Proud Site Ring
Welcome
INDEX PAGE
Vietnam veterans protest Kerry
Kerry a traitor : new film tells some things clearly ....
Dan Rather & Bush National Guard Service
Flash: John Kerry’s Unbelievable Last-Ditch Weapon
Revenge
Kerry, Kerry, quite contrary-DOA
Democrats For Bush
Communist Connection
REJECT JOHN KERRY-RESTORE HONOR
Kerrys Fake Warriors
Time Line For John Kerry
UNITED NATIONS
Kerry Sinking Swift Boat...tells it like it is!
Kerry & MIA/POWS
ZELL MILLER VS KERRY
Kerry Documents/Pic's
Open Letter to Bush by a Veteran
Kerry Lied While Good Men Died Rally Update
Recent Postings
Kerry Admitted 1n 1971, He Wrote The Combat Reports
Families of POWs Frightened By Kerry
Score Card: America/SwiftVets 5 Communist/Kerry 0
Kerry Caught in Bed with China-FBI Files
The John Kerry Committee-Pro Communist thru and thru
Bring It On-Ok We Will
Military Records & The Plot Thickens
Kerry's Real Problem!
'atrocity' charge against comrades remains uncorrected
BACKTRACKS ON FIRST PURPLE HEART AWARD
Swiftees & Rood Evaluation
Kerry's Silver Star
Kerry's Bronze Star Analyzed
The Sampan incident by Pat Buchanan
The Book Kerry Doesn't Want You To Read "The New Soldier"
Kerry's Record
A Matter Of Honor, Swit Boat Vets
America Likes Quite Hero's Dole Tells Kerry
Kerry's Camp Concedes to lies
Kerry's Cambodia Speech
Why Stop John Kerry
Maj Gen Brady (MOH) Writes
War Criminal
Excerpts Testimony
ThePointofNoReturn
KERRY QUOTES FROM 71
Geneva Convetnion
Aid and Comfort
Kerry's War Record
Kerry Betrayed POW/MIA
US VETS DENOUCNED AS CRIMINALS
John Kerry, the Sunshine Soldier
Kerry betrayed Veterans in 1971
VIETNAM POW'S AGAINST KERRY
KERRY & POWS
Kerry & Bendict Arnold
US REAL WAR CRIMINAL
WEST POINT SPEECH ABOUT KERRY
Winter Soldier
KERRY'S COMMUNIST CONNECTIONS
Viet Vets of America
Lt Wm Calley Murder Case
Another Swift Boat Captain denies Hostile Fire
Kerry is a SCAREDY CAT!
Kerry, Make All Of Your Records Available!
Bosnia War Hero O'Grady: Kerry Committed Treason
Life-altering moment was a figment of his imagination?
And it didn't happen in January, either!
Buchanan-Kerry's Lies
COMMAND AND CONFIDENCE
DNC email asking all to repudiate Swift Boat Vets
Kerry's war record by Robert Novak
My Letter to Senator McCain, Ref SWIFTVET Ad
JIM RASSMANN-KERRY'S LONE SF LT
Who is Max Cleland?
Rally-We Need Your Help
Kerry-North Vietnam's War Hero
Kerry's Lies Documented
Kerry Lied About Being In Cambodia
KERRY'S AWARDS
America-Are you listening
The Kerry Doctrine on War
Kerry is the communist choice-Please Read
Kerry's Voting Record
Unfairenheit 9/11
The Campaign of Hate and Fear
May He Rot in Hell
Kerry unfit for office -- sign petition to prosecute!
Letters Vet Family Members
LETTERS FROM REAL VIETNAM VETS
KIA/MIA Families Against Kerry
STUDENTS CALL AGAINST KERRY
Fact Sheets
Letter From Vietnamese Lady
Letters from Civilians
EIB Interview: Rush Limbaugh interviews John E. O'Neill
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_082704/content/eib_interview.guest.html
Swift Boat Vets for Truth - 4 TV Ads - Medals, SellOut, Gunner, Any Questions?
http://swift4.he.net/~swift4/index.php?topic=Ads
The Real Story on John Kerry's Military Service
http://swiftvets.com/
Below: C-SPAN Streaming Videos (all RealPlayer)
Swift Boat Veterans for Truth Press Conference -- May 04, 2004 (1:21:52)rtsp://video.cspan.org/project/c04/c04050404_antikerry.rm
Below: C-SPAN Streaming Videos (all RealPlayer)
John O'Neill on Sen. John Kerry -- April 21, 2004 (30:12)rtsp://video.cspan.org/project/c04/c04_wj042104_oneill.rm
Below: C-SPAN Streaming Videos (all RealPlayer)
John Kerry debates John O'Neill on the Dick Cavett Show -- June 30, 1971 (2:01:17)
rtsp://video.c-span.org/project/c04/c04_rwh081504.rm
Media Research Center - Liberal Media Bias in Bush-Kerry Face-offhttp://www.mrc.org/cyberalerts/2004/cyb20040806.asp
Kerry's Self-Indictment
Published: 7/30/2004
By: Ben Johnson
Vietnam Propagandist for President?
Published: 7/26/2004
By: Jim Warner
The Biggest Liar of Them All
Published: 7/30/2004
By: David Horowitz
Monumental Mistake
Published: 8/30/2004
By: Joel Mowbray
It's Kerry's Anti-War Record They Resent
Published: 8/27/2004
By: Jeff Jacoby
Admitted War Criminal Cries Foul
Published: 8/26/2004
By: Ann Coulter
The Swift Truth
Published: 8/26/2004
By: Lowell Ponte
Kerry's Soggy Tall Tale
Published: 8/23/2004
By: John E. O'Neill and Jerome L. Corsi
Startling Comparisons
Published: 8/12/2004
By: Michael P. Tremoglie
Brothers Banding Together Against Kerry
Published: 8/12/2004
By: Ann Coulter
Kerry: Yep, I'm Back to Pro-War
Published: 8/12/2004
By: Joel Mowbray
Kerry Froze in the Cold War
Published: 8/11/2004
By: Joshua Muravchik
John Kerry's Real Vietnam Record
Published: 8/10/2004
By: Robert Novak
Vietnam...Today
Published: 8/9/2004
By: Jeff Jacoby
Kerry's Arafat Yes-Man
Published: 8/2/2004
By: David Bedein
Democratic Party "Leper" Endorses Bush
Published: 8/2/2004
By: Jerome Zeifman
Teresa's Odd Speech
Published: 7/30/2004
By: Thomas Lifson
John Kerry's Stalinist Campaign Slogan
Published: 7/29/2004
By: Barbara Kay
Teresa Heinz Kerry Becomes a Campaign Issue
Published: 7/29/2004
By: Dick Morris
John Edwards: A Workingman's Nightmare
Published: 7/28/2004
By: Lowell Ponte
Teresa Heinz Kerry's 1975 Anti-Kennedy Screed
Published: 7/27/2004
By: David Guarino
Kerry, Catholics and Capital Punishment
Published: 7/23/2004
By: Michael P. Tremoglie
The Democrats' Clinton - Kennedy Divide
Published: 7/22/2004
By: Dick Morris
"Stronger at Home, Respected in the World"?
Published: 7/21/2004
By: Don Feder
Kerry's (Latest) Position on the War on Terror
Published: 7/19/2004
By: Joel Mowbray
Over His Head
Published: 7/7/2004
By: Ben Johnson
John Kerry's Winning Formula: Invisibility
Published: 6/28/2004
By: Dick Morris
Kerry's Religious Adviser Wanted "Under God" Taken Out of Pledge of Allegiance
Published: 8/4/2004
External Source: Washington Times
Teresa Heinz Kerry Lies About "un-American" Comment, Tells Reporter, "Shove It."
Published: 7/27/2004
External Source: Washington Times
Communist Goals - Take Back America
http://www.usasells.com/CommunistGoals.html
I prefer this site:
http://www.patriotsforbush.com/
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