Posted on 02/15/2005 7:10:00 PM PST by TexKat
Standing Guard
Cotecna Inspections CEO Robert Massey testifies before a Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Investigations Subcommittee hearing on the U.N. Oil for Food Program on Capitol Hill Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2005. At right is former Cotecna Senior Vice President Andre Pruniaux. (AP Photo/Dennis Cook)
"Good morning Gucho and everyone. Appears to be a somewhat active morning Gucho."
Good morning TK. Yes, appears more active today than normal.
(Oops, forget that word normal :)
In this image taken from insurgents video released Wednesday Feb. 16, 2005 a woman who identified herself as kidnapped Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena appears pleading for her life and calling on U.S.-led troops to pull out of Iraq. Sgrena appeared sobbing and clasping her hands together as she makes appeals to camera in the video delivered anonymously to the offices of APTN in Baghdad, Iraq. In the upper left corner of the image, the words 'mujahedeen Without Borders' appears in digital red Arabic script. (AP Photo/Insurgent video via APTN ) TV OUT
Kidnapped Italian Reporter Shown on Tape
Also Wednesday, videotape obtained by Associated Press Television News showed hostage Giuliana Sgrena speaking in both French and Italian as she pleaded for the Italian government to pull out its troops.
"You must end the occupation, it's the only way we can get out of this situation," the 56-year-old journalist for the communist daily Il Manifesto pleaded. There was no indication when the tape was made, and the words "Mujahedeen Without Borders" appeared in digital red Arabic script on the video. The group was previously unknown.
"I ask the Italian government, the Italian people struggling against the occupation, I ask my husband, 'Please, help me,'" Sgrena said. "You must do all you can to end the occupation. I'm counting on you. You can help me."
Il Manifesto strongly opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and has fiercely criticized Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi's decision to deploy 3,000 troops in the U.S.-led multinational force in Iraq.
At one point she addressed her companion, Pierre Scolari, breaking into tears.
"Show all the pictures I have taken of the Iraqis, of the children hit by the cluster bombs, of the women. I beg you. Help me, help me to demand the withdrawal of the troops, help me spare my life."
Margrette Scobey, the US Ambassador to Syria, leaves the Syrian Foreign Ministry in Damascus, Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2004, after meeting Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa. Scobey, who was called home by her government Tuesday, delivered a message from U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Sharaa, dealing with the situations in Lebanon, Iraq and the Middle East peace process. The Bush Administration recalled Scobey back to Washington amid tensions over the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri in a massive car bombing in Beirut on Monday. (AP Photo/str ).
Shiite followers, some beating their backs with chains as a symbol of grief, flock to the Imam Hussein holy shrine in Karbala, Iraq Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2005 in the lead-up to the day of Ashoura, the tenth day of the month of Muharram which started last Thursday. Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, was beheaded in Karbala in 680 AD in a battle over the line of succession to the Prophet Mohammed, and the event is celebrated by Shiites today as the festival of Ashoura. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)
A private security guard stands in front of a monument built at the site of a mass grave in which victims of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s regime were burried. Four private security guards said their former employer, Custer Battles, allowed heavily armed guards to roam Iraq brutalizing civilians, while they were supposed to be guarding supply convoys from rebels(AFP/File/Saeed Khan)
Locals look on at a burning pipeline after saboteurs attacked the oil pipeline in northern Iraq near Beerat village in al-Fatha district, about 15 kilometers (10 miles) north of the city of Beiji in Iraq Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2005. (AP Photo/Bassem Daham)
Iraqis walk past the remains of a car bomb after it exploded against a U.S. military convoy in the northern city of Mosul, February 16, 2005. With insurgents still carrying out daily car bombings and other attacks, and kidnappings common, U.S. and other troops are expected to remain for months if not years to come and have dismissed the idea of setting a timetable to withdraw. REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousily
There is no evidence to support the claim that Iran is developing nuclear weapons, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog Mohamed ElBaradei, pictured, said in an interview published by The Washington Post(AFP/File/Eric Feferberg)
Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi (R) and German counterpart Joschka Fischer address the media in Berlin, February 16, 2005. Kharrazi said on Wednesday he had no information on reports of a powerful explosion near Iran's southern port city of Dailam. The reports moved financial markets, underscoring world jitters over growing tensions over U.S. charges that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann
South Korean soldiers are seen here in 2004. The United States has proposed a joint military exercise with South Korea that would involve special forces, military officials said(AFP/File)
US proposes joint training of special forces with South Korea
SEOUL (AFP) - The United States has proposed a joint military exercise with South Korea that would involve special forces, military officials said.
South Korea's defense ministry said it has yet to accept the proposal for joint training, probably in March.
"Our side has yet to send a response to the US side," a ministry official said. "If we agree, that will be part of our usual joint drills."
The joint drills have been staged by the allies annually to deter communist North Korea.
The United States has stationed troops in South Korea since the 1950-1953 war ended in a fragile armistice.
The number of US troops dropped from 37,500 to 32,500 last year as part of Washington's global military realignment and consolidation.
A further 5,000 troops are scheduled to quit South Korea in 2005-2006 and another 2,500 by 2008.
The realignment sparked security jitters in South Korea, which is still technically at war with the North.
Crowd kills suspected bomber:
From correspondents in Baghdad
February 17, 2005:
A CROWD of Shiite Muslims marking a religious ceremony spotted a suspected suicide bomber amongst them and, fearing he might blow himself up, beat the man to death, Iraqi police said today.
The incident occurred in the western Baghdad neighbourhood of Bayaa, a largely Shiite district, where residents were celebrating Ashura, a religious ritual honouring the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed.
The police said the crowd spied a man mingling amongst them who appeared to be wearing a vest strapped with explosives, like those used in suicide bombings.
They attacked him and beat the man to death," a police source said, adding that security forces had been powerless to prevent the mass onslaught. It was not clear if the man had actually been planning a suicide attack.
Iraqi security are on high alert for suicide attacks during Ashura following a series of bombings last year in which more than 170 people were killed in Baghdad and Kerbala, a holy city south of Baghdad where Ashura is most intensely celebrated.
All roads in and around Kerbala have been shut down for the festival, and Iraq's borders will be shut for five days from February 17 to prevent pilgrims flooding into the country from abroad. Last year Ashura attracted hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from Iran, Pakistan and further afield.
During Ashura, Shiites traditionally flail themselves with metal chains. At the climax of the festival, which falls on February 19 this year, some inflict cuts on their heads with long knives in a tradition that emulates the suffering of Hussein in 680 AD.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12276453-23109,00.html
Wed, Feb 16, 2005:
Iraqis are in charge of their country now and, so far, they're beating expectations.
The Monitor's View
Arab leaders everywhere, take note: It's likely that the interim president of largely Arab Iraq will not be Arab.
That's just one amazing twist expected from the results of Iraq's Jan. 30 election being released this week - one that sends a message to the Middle East that democracy can lead to the kind of persuasion and compromise that's badly needed in a region mainly run by force and dictate.
Iraq's election is bringing other surprises as well:
• Radicals who want clerics to rule lost badly in the election - a sign that Iraqis have learned well from the negative example next door in Iran.
• A welcoming hand is being extended by the winning Shiite parties to the group that largely didn't vote, the minority Sunnis, to help write the nation's constitution.
• The most pro-American group, the Kurds, won enough seats to become the key power broker and force the Shiite parties to woo them as a partner to form a necessary two-thirds majority in the legislative assembly. (Thus, a Kurd may be chosen as president.)
• For the first time, freely elected Iraqi leaders are engaging in political negotiations in which no one really knows the final outcome.
• All winning parties appear committed to the concept that Iraq need not be run by one group holding absolute power, and that strong minority interests should be respected.
• Despite the presence of 130,000 American troops in Iraq and the spending of billions of dollars by the US, the Bush administration appears to have little influence in the back-room talks over who will be selected as president and prime minister.
All this shows how elections can bring moderation to a divided society. Iraq isn't a full democracy yet - the assembly's main task is to write the constitution that will lead to another election. And Iraqi leaders still must work hard to quell the Sunni insurgents, and find a role for Islamic values - all the while avoiding a collapse of the nascent government.
But Iraqis are in charge of Iraq now and, so far, they're beating expectations.
Wednesday, February 16, 2005:
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld warned on Wednesday that terrorists are regrouping for another strike, but the United States is preparing to deal with any threat.
"The extremists continue to plot to attack again. They are at this moment recalibrating and reorganizing. And so are we," the Pentagon chief told members of the House Armed Services Committee in prepared testimony.
Offering his argument for President Bush's request for $419 billion in defense spending for fiscal 2006, Rumsfeld said the plan sets an ambitious course to "continue prosecuting the war and to attack its ideological underpinnings."
In the first of back-to-back testimony, the defense secretary said the times ahead will be challenging and focused on two central realities of the War on Terror (search). He said the fight to defeat terrorism can't be won by military means alone and that other agencies must be involved as well. Rumsfeld said, "The United States cannot win a global struggle alone."
"It will take cooperation among a great many nations to stop weapons proliferation (search)," he said. "It will take a great many nations working together to locate and dismantle global extremist cells. It takes a great many nations to gather and share the intelligence crucial to stopping future attacks."
Rumsfeld spoke to lawmakers increasingly concerned about an exit strategy for Iraq, a timetable for troops to return home and the skyrocketing costs of the war. Earlier this week, President Bush asked Congress for $82 billion in emergency money to fund the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
"The future of this conflict is not predictable. So additional funds will have to be requested as required," Rumsfeld said Wednesday.
Iranian Officials: Blast Caused By Construction By VOA News:
16 February 2005:
Iranian officials say an explosion Wednesday near the southwestern port city of Daylam was caused by construction work, and was not a hostile attack.
News of the blast raised concerns, because it was in the same province where Iran and Russia are building a nuclear reactor. However, the blasting site was about 150 kilometers north of the Bushehr nuclear facility.
Earlier state television reported that residents had seen an aircraft overhead at the time of the blast. The television channel reported that the explosion may have been caused by a fuel tank dropping from an Iranian airplane.
Some information for this report provided by Reuters, AP and AFP. (stay tuned for a possble 4th scenario :)
http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-02-16voa110.cfm
Saudi militant in Iraq shows suicide bomb skills:
16 Feb 2005 17:10:58 GMT:
Source: Reuters
By Michael Georgy
BAGHDAD, Jan 16 (Reuters) - A Saudi militant from al Qaeda smiles and points to a wire taped to 20 large artillery shells in the back of an ambulance. Then he speeds to his death, ramming into a U.S. base in Iraq, a new video shows.
The undated video, which shows the man with hand grenades and a bullet belt strapped to him, is the latest example of just how determined Muslim militants are to driving American forces out of Iraq as part of a publicised holy war.
"I am going to serve God," he says to his mother on the video before going up in flames in the suicide bombing near the Syrian border. "I hope to see you there. I say goodbye to this life. All I ask is that you pray for me."
The video identified the militant, who appeared to be in his thirties, as Abu Mu'aad al-Janubee, a member of al Qaeda in Iraq, a group headed by Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The tape was obtained by Reuters on Wednesday.
Zarqawi, Iraq's most wanted man with a $25 million U.S. bounty on his head, has claimed that his followers have carried out some of the deadliest bombings in postwar Iraq.
Sitting against a backdrop of a map of Iraq and images of flames engulfing the sky, Janubee is one of scores of militants inspired by Zarqawi, who draws followers from across the Arab world.
Composed and soft-spoken, Janubee appealed to all Muslims and noted that more young men are taking up al Qaeda's cause. He condemned those who were not interested in fighting holy war.
CALLS FOR HOLY WAR
"Why do some Muslims fight and struggle while others just drink and eat?" asked Janubee, wearing a checkered headdress and brown robe. "All Muslims should fight occupiers in all countries."
Militants like Janubee pose perhaps the biggest security risk for Iraq's interim government and American troops.
Iraqi security forces who hope to take over security from U.S. troops have borne the brunt of frequent suicide attacks, which are usually impossible to prevent.
On Wednesday, two suspected suicide bombers were detected in Baghdad. One blew himself up, killing an Iraqi soldier, while the other was beaten to death by a crowd, apparently before he could detonate the explosives strapped to his body.
A relaxed Janubee stood beside the ambulance and pointed to the trigger mechanism attached to a wire that ran across the shells, which are abundant in Iraq.
"This is the wire and this is where it is attached. Then you press this button," he said as he gently touched a switch attached to the ambulance steering wheel. "So what do you think of it?" Janubee asked, smiling into the camera.
Then he covered the shells with a white cloth, climbed into the ambulance and headed down the street, beeping and flashing his rear-light signal before striking the target.
The blast sent a bright orange fire ball and plume of black smoke skywards, rattling nearby motorists.
U.S. Marines said they killed and captured hundreds of foreign fighters from countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran and Yemen during an offensive that flattened some parts of Iraq's former rebel stronghold of Falluja in November.
But the suicide bombings show no signs of easing anytime soon as foreign militants still cross porous borders into Iraq to carry out their missions.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/GEO653323.htm
Who benefits from al-Hariri's death?
By Ahmed Janabi
Wednesday 16 February 2005, 20:57 Makka Time, 17:57 GMT:
Brutal assassinations continue to be the signposts of Lebanon's political history despite the passage of 15-odd years since the end of the civil war.
Between 1989, when the Taif Accords were signed, and 2005, armed militias that once called the shots, have largely disappeared from Lebanon's cities, towns and villages.
Yet the phenomenon of political assassination shows no sign of ending.
Rashid Karami, Bashir al-Jumail, Dani Shamun, Rene Muawad, Kamal Jumblatt, Hasan Khalid, Abbas al-Musawi and Rafiq al-Hariri - the list of Lebanese politicians and officials who have fallen prey to the assassin's bullet or bomb in the last three decades is a long one indeed.
The same technique that was used to kill president Muawad in October 1988 was used in last Monday's attack which killed present-day Lebanon's most prominent political figure Rafiq al-Hariri, the man regarded as the leader of Lebanon's reconstruction revolution after the civil war.
Blow against Syria
As in all the previous cases, al-Hariri's death is seen by many Lebanese politicians as a bid to destabilise their country.
Bushra al-Khalil, a Lebanese lawyer and political activist, told Aljazeera.net the plot against al-Hariri's life targeted Syria.
"If we look at the way the assassination has been conducted, it is very sophisticated, I knew al-Hariri's security measures - no local system could have breached them.
"The question is, who stands to benefit from his death? Syria's enemies. I think al-Hariri's death is part of the plan to divide the region into tiny helpless sectarian states. This plan has started in Iraq and it will continue to hit all other Arab countries."
Al-Khalil said the killing was an attempt to force Syria to leave Lebanon before hitting it and commencing the region's carve-up.
"If we look at who all have been adding fuel to the fire in the recent past, we will find sectarian leaders and promoters of sectarian division such as Walid Jumblatt and Amin al-Jumail, who had killed a lot of Lebanese people during the war just because they were not from their sects."
Al-Khalil considers the killing of al-Hariri as the most dangerous and destabilising incident since the assassination of Egyptian president Anwar al-Sadat in 1981.
"Al-Hariri was the guardian of stable Arab-Western relations. His success in this area had pulled the rug from under the feet of the traditional godfathers of such relationships.
Pan-Arab figure
According to al-Khalil, opposition leaders who have been pouring out their anger at Syria and claiming that al-Hariri was one of them and he was killed because he opposed Syria, are dissembling.
"Al-Hariri did not agree with them. He was grateful to Syria. He was a real pan-Arab figure who would not tolerate harm to come to any Arab country," she said.
Al-Hariri had said before his death that he knew there were people working to discredit his Arabism and nationalism.
Striking a similar note, Imad Fawzi al-Shuaibi, head of Strategic Studies Centre, Damascus, told Aljazeera the former Lebanese prime minister was not an enemy of Syria.
"Obviously al-Hariri's assassination was a blow against Syria and Lebanon. He was not an enemy of Syria. He was a historic and traditional friend and ally of Syria.
"He did have disagreements with Syria lately, but he did not call for the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon, or stir up hostility towards Syria or demand an end to Syria's role in Lebanon. He only had a different point of view" al-Shuaibi said.
In his opinion, the huge crowds that bid farewell to al-Hariri on Wednesday were not demonstrating their support for the Lebanese opposition, but rather were expressing their gratitude to, and admiration for, al-Hariri."
People's emotions
Al-Shuaibi's views seem to be diametrically opposed to those of former Lebanese president Amin al-Jumail, who said the thousands of Lebanese citizens who attended al-Hariri's funeral wanted to express their desire for "independence".
"This is a Lebanese plea to the whole world, an attempt to get all countries to take note of Lebanon's misfortune - the violations of freedom and democracy going on in the country.
"This is a very important expression of people's emotions. They are disgusted with the current [political] dispensation and the Syrian presence in Lebanon. They want to deliver a message to the whole world that the Lebanese authorities do not represent them and do not share their emotions.
"Now they are all together in calling for Lebanon's liberty and independence", al-Jumail said.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/7EFAB726-9014-495D-8939-187E68035462.htm
16/2/2005, 06:48 (UAE):
Reuters
Beirut: Criminal investigators pursued the painstaking task of sifting through the debris, examining the cars turned into charred wrecks by the blast and collecting human remains for DNA tests.
"The magnitude of the blast suggested the work of a technically sophisticated group with access to hi-tech explosives was behind the explosion rather than a small group," Lebanon's Daily Star said, quoting military experts.
Sources close to investigators said the explosion was triggered by a car bomb packed with 200 to 250 kilogrammes of TNT and did not rule out that powerful C-4 plastic explosives were used.
A military expert ruled out that the bomb was detonated by remote control, saying that Hariri's convoy as well as his own armoured-plated car was equipped with electronic sensors capable of disabling bombs or detonating them at a distance.
Meanwhile, a statement attributed to Al Qaida and posted on the Internet denied Islamists had killed Hariri, saying Lebanese, Syrian or Israeli intelligence were behind the attack.
Iraq's top candidate to be prime minister promises moderation:
Wednesday, February 16, 2005:
By MAGGIE MICHAEL
Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The shy family doctor who emerged Tuesday as the most likely candidate to become Iraq's first democratically elected prime minister said ending the nation's rampant violence is his top priority and that U.S. troops would remain as long as they are needed to achieve that goal.
In an exclusive Associated Press interview, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a 58-year-old moderate Shiite Muslim politician who fled a brutal crackdown by Saddam Hussein in 1980, also talked about drafting a constitution that will draw not only on Islam for inspiration.
"Islam should be the official religion of the country, and one of the main sources for legislation, along with other sources that do not harm Muslim sensibilities," said al-Jaafari, who currently serves as Iraq's interim vice president.
He said he supports women's rights, including the right to be the president or prime minister, as well as self-determination and individual freedoms for all Iraqis.
The interview took place in the office of al-Jaafari's home in the U.S.-guarded Green Zone in central Baghdad. Islamic art, much of it Quranic verses with intricate Arabic calligraphy in gold that are common in Iraq, adorned the walls. An Iraqi flag was hanging from a pole set on a floor stand in the background. A computer was on his desk.
Ashraf Qazi, the U.N. envoy to Iraq, was waiting outside as Al-Jaafari's staff prepared fish and rice for their dinner meeting.
Al-Jaafari, who lived in London and is the leader of the Dawa Party, became the top contender for Iraq's top government post after his main rival, Adel Abdul Mahdi, dropped out. Ahmad Chalabi, a former Pentagon favorite, was still in the running for prime minister, but was considered by many to be a long shot.
"We have two candidates for the alliance, Ahmad Chalabi and Ibrahim al-Jaafari, but al-Jaafari is the most likely to be the alliance candidate," said Humam Hamoudi, a spokesman for the Shiite political alliance that has provisionally won more than half the seats in the new National Assembly.
But Chalabi remains a compromise candidate and could be picked as an alternative to al-Jaafari if opposition to him is too high among Kurds, who took 26 percent of the vote, and Sunni Arabs, who largely stayed away from the polls but whose participation may be needed to quell the stubborn insurgency.
The alliance is endorsed by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the spiritual leader of Iraqi Shiites. One of Sistani's aides told the AP on Tuesday that he has refused to endorse a single candidate for prime minister, but has let it be known in the past that he would support al-Jaafari.
Al-Jaafari, who spoke Arabic during the interview, said that recent deals among Iraq's religious parties pointed toward his victory.
"I hear from here and there, but I can't tell to what extent it is a consensus," he said, wearing a blue suit, a polka-dot tie and a neatly trimmed gray beard. "I feel like some of our brothers are convinced, but it takes time to reach consensus."
Al-Jaafari said that if he is confirmed as prime minister, he would first try to stymie the violence that has crippled the country's recovery from decades of war and hardship.
"The security situation is at the top, as it is a pressing element," al-Jaafari said. As a result, he said he would not push for the United States and its allies to withdraw their troops from Iraq any time soon.
"Blood is being spilled, and the land is under attack," he said. "How about if we decided to get these troops out of Iraq?" he said, suggesting that the situation would be much worse than it is now.
But al-Jaafar has kept some distance from the U.S. occupation.
He boycotted a U.S.-organized meeting of Iraqi politicians near the biblical city of Ur in April 2003. While he served on the Governing Council appointed by the U.S. government shortly after the invasion, he turned down the Americans' offer of protection.
But he did serve on the council and became vice president of the interim government that replaced it.
In the interview, he said he shares the Kurdish and Shiite desires for federalism in Iraq.
"I am looking for a constitution that would be a clear mirror of the composition of the Iraq people," he said. It should be "based on respecting all Iraqi beliefs and freedoms."
But he opposes any attempts to break Iraq apart, following a nonbinding referendum in the Kurdistan region promoting independence.
"Federalism doesn't mean separation from the nation state," he said.
Even though he leads the Dawa Party, which is part of the clergy-endorsed United Iraqi Alliance, his views contrasted with the official platform on the party's Web site.
The party explicitly urges for the "Islamization" of the Iraqi society and the state, including the implementation of Sharia, or Islamic law.
He dismissed the apparent contradiction, saying only, "theory is different from practice."
Al-Jaafari was born in Karbala, the home of Shiites' holiest shrine, and attended medical school at Mosul University. He joined the Dawa Party in 1966, but fled Iraq in 1980 when Saddam cracked down on the party's leaders.
"The same day I left Iraq was the day Saddam's security raided the hospital I was working in, looking for me," he said.
He changed his name from al-Ushayqer to al-Jaafari, fearing that the Iraqi intelligence services would hunt him down. He fled through Syria and spent 10 years in Iran before moving to London to join the Iraqi opposition in exile.
"At the time I left Iraq, all the world's doors were closed in our faces," he said of those who wanted to reform Iraq. "Not like now."
Iraq's election commission will not certify the provisional results of the Jan. 30 elections, announced Sunday, until all challenges are resolved -- a process which could take days or even weeks. On Tuesday, a commission official said at least six complaints had been filed so far. All complaints must be filed by Wednesday.
Once the results are certified, the present government must set a timetable for installing the new government. There have been no indications on how long that might take, and will depend on back-room dealmaking among the parties.
In addition to helping select and approve the prime minister and largely ceremonial president, the assembly will serve as a lawmaking body. But its most important task is to create a committee to draft a permanent constitution.
Iraqis will vote on the proposed constitution by Oct. 15. If they approve, elections for a permanent government to replace the assembly will be held in December. If voters reject the charter, the National Assembly will be dissolved and a new transitional assembly will be elected in December to take another stab at constitution-writing.
http://www.napanews.com/templates/index.cfm?template=story_full&id=92820145-4151-4E2E-B7C0-AAAFAE1DF09B
D@mn, that's big Cake.........
SOUTHERN IRAQ – An estimated 8,000 to 10,000 men arrived by foot, bus, and other vehicles by sun up Feb. 14, at an airfield outside an Iraqi Army base in an effort to join Iraq’s army, officials said. Of that, close to 5,000 made it through a screening process that led them onto the base, which is home to several thousand Iraqi Soldiers and a contingent of U.S. service members, officials said. Most will be transferred to other bases in Iraq to supplement existing units. The process was a result of the largest recruitment effort for the Iraqi Army to date, said U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Anthony Woodley of the Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq.....................[snip]
MOSUL, Iraq – Multi-National Forces from 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), received an Iraqi citizen’s tip of a possible car bomb in northern Iraq Feb. 13. Soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, received word through a Joint Coordination Center hotline call made by an Iraqi citizen of a car bomb in northern Mosul. The 3-21st cleared the area before the bomb was detonated, saving lives. No Multi-National Forces or Iraqi citizen injuries were reported. These types of courageous acts demonstrate the commitment of Iraqi citizens to ensuring a safe and peaceful Iraq. Iraqi Security Forces and Multi-National Forces encourage citizens of Iraq to continue to cooperate with security forces and turn in military weapons and equipment.
Iraq - 'The Past, Present and Future of the Cradle of Civilization'!
Who killed Rafiq Al-Hariri?
The PM of Lebanon RH is a multi-billionaire was killed today in brutal and indiscriminately way of assassination in Beirut.
Who killed RH?
Syria?
Al-Qaida?
Palestinians?
Israelis?
Internal opposition group?
Personal?
Al-Jazeera showed a video by Palestinian who claimed that a group called AL-Nasrah W Al-Jihad in the Sham region is responsible. This is a name look like related to Al-Qaida.
Irrespective of who killed RH, this is another terrorist attack. It is also a farther evidence to get rid of the dictatorship governments in ME and the need for freedom and democracy.
posted by hammorabi @ 2/14/2005 11:20:00 AM
Comments (84)
http://hammorabi.blogspot.com/
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.