Operation Phantom Fury--Day 121 - Now Operation River Blitz--Day 16

Various Media Outlets | 3/8/05

[TexKat]

A Syrian soldier grabs his rifle before pointing it to prevent pictures from being taken as they pack equipment on a loaded army truck during a redeployment of troops near the village of Stur, in the central mountains east of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, March 7, 2005. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)

Syrian Troops Begin Pullback in Lebanon

By HUSSEIN DAKROUB, Associated Press Writer

MDEIREJ, Lebanon - Syrian soldiers loaded trucks with furniture and other supplies and drove east from the Lebanese mountain posts they have held for decades, the first signs of a redeployment to Lebanon's Bekaa Valley announced Monday. But no deadline was set for their complete withdrawal, and Washington rejected the pullback as insufficient.

Lacking a timeline, the plan also was unlikely to satisfy the Lebanese opposition and the international community, which have demanded that all 14,000 Syrian soldiers leave the country.

More than 70,000 Lebanese shouting "Freedom! Sovereignty! Independence!" thronged Beirut in the biggest demonstration yet of anti-Syria anger that has fueled recent street protests. The demonstrators waved Lebanon's cedar-tree flag and thundered, "Syria out!"

"Yes, for withdrawal to the Bekaa, but, yes, first to the full withdrawal behind the Lebanese-Syrian border," opposition lawmaker Walid Eido told the protesters.

The demonstrators marched to the site of a Feb. 14 bombing that killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and touched off the angry but peaceful street protests that drove Lebanon's pro-Syrian government to resign a week ago. Many Lebanese accuse the Syrian government and their former government of responsibility for Hariri's death; both deny any involvement.

Earlier Monday, Syrian President Bashar Assad and his Lebanese counterpart, Emile Lahoud, met in Syria's capital, Damascus, to outline plans for shifting Syrian troops closer to the border by the end of March. But they were vague on the timing of a complete withdrawal from Lebanon.

Foes of the Syrian presence are calling for demonstrations to continue. One group raised a banner Monday reading read, "Today we have one target: To liberate our land."

But in a sign of the divisions in Lebanon, the militant Islamic group Hezbollah urged a counterdemonstration Tuesday to show loyalty to Syria and denounce international interference.

Syria has had troops here since 1976, when they were sent as peacekeepers during Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war. When the war ended, the troops remained and Syria has dominated Lebanon's politics since.

The United States, France, Russia, Germany and the U.N. Security Council have firmly demanded that Syria withdraw all the troops and stop interfering in the affairs of its smaller neighbor. French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder issued a joint statement Monday calling for a full pullout "as soon as possible."

President Bush telephoned Chirac on a flight to Pittsburgh and thanked him for the joint statement. "Both leaders are committed to a sovereign and independent Lebanon and they agreed to keep in close communications on the matter," White House spokesman Trent Duffy said.

Duffy said Bush also called Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah to "discuss regional issues and to thank him for his personal efforts to promote stability in Lebanon."

Washington wants a full withdrawal of Syrian soldiers and intelligence agents before Lebanese parliamentary elections expected in April and May.

"We stand with the Lebanese people, and the Lebanese people, I think, are speaking very clearly," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said. "They want a future that is sovereign, independent and free from outside influence and intimidation."

McClellan called the troop redeployment announced Monday "a half measure."

Assad and Lahoud said Syrian troops will first pull back from northern and central Lebanon to the east, near Syria's border. Then, military officers from both countries will have a month to decide how many Syrian troops should stay in the Bekaa Valley and how long.

After a negotiated time frame, the two governments will "agree to complete the withdrawal of the remaining forces," the announcement said.

In Washington, the Syrian ambassador to the United States, Imad Moustapha, told CNN that Syria would withdraw all its troops within a few months.

"We entered Lebanon to end a bloody civil war," Moustapha said. "Now we are withdrawing in compliance with international law. We are giving a good example to the rest of the Middle East."

A U.N. Security Council resolution in September called on Syria to withdraw its forces from Lebanon, stop influencing politics here and allow Lebanon to hold a presidential election as scheduled.

The statement issued by Assad and Lahoud said they respected all U.N. resolutions, but added that all "should be implemented without double standard," an apparent reference to U.N. resolutions calling on Israel to withdraw from Palestinian and Syrian lands occupied since 1967.

In the hours after the Syrian and Lebanese leaders met, a scattered movement of Syrian army vehicles began in central Lebanon.

Up to 15 Syrian trucks — carrying equipment, ammunition, weapons, mattresses, personal belongings, one towing a bulldozer, another towing a generator — were seen driving up the snaking highway through the mountains toward the Bekaa Valley. Crews repaired two trucks that broke down on the side of the road.

A jeep carrying a general climbed the road toward the Dahr El-Baidar mountain pass. Five trucks apparently carrying equipment covered by sheets crossed into Syria at sundown at the border point of Masnaa. Twelve empty trucks entered from Syria, apparently to pick up soldiers and equipment.

Syrian troops in northern Lebanon showed no signs of any movement.

___

Associated Press writers Sam F. Ghattas and Zeina Karam in Beirut and Bassem Mroue in Damascus, Syria, contributed to this report.

[TexKat]

Palestinian police officers march during a training session in the northern West Bank town of Tulkarem Monday March 7, 2005. Despite an attack by Palestinian militants that wounded two Israeli border police in the southern West Bank town of Hebron Monday, both sides said progress has been made on transferring West Bank cities to Palestinian security control, after weeks of deadlock over whether Israel would remove army roadblocks outside the towns as part of such a pullback. (AP Photo/Nasser Ishtayeh)

Palestinians to Control West Bank Town

Mon Mar 7,10:28 PM ET Middle East - AP

By ABED KHABEISA, Associated Press Writer

TULKAREM, West Bank - Marching in formation and jumping through flaming hoops, Palestinian forces prepared Monday to assume control in Tulkarem, the first of five West Bank towns to be handed over by Israel as part of a truce to end four years of bloodshed.

The handover, which could take place as soon as Tuesday, is an important test for Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. A strong performance by Palestinian police could lead to further progress. But failure to rein in militants could freeze the rapprochement.

In a setback for peace efforts, Palestinian militants wounded two Israeli border policemen, one seriously, in a shooting attack on a military post in the West Bank city of Hebron. The shooting took place near the Tomb of the Patriarchs, a shrine revered by both Muslims and Jews.

Hebron has been a flashpoint of violence between Israelis and Palestinians. A small community of Israeli settlers lives in the city center under heavy guard.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon condemned the shooting as an attack on Jews' freedom of religion.

"This attack again underscores Israel's unequivocal stand that in order to end terrorism, we must fight a determined battle against the terrorists, those who dispatch them and those who finance them," Sharon told lawmakers from his Likud Party. "Jews will continue to pray at the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron and to live there."

Since Sharon and Abbas declared an end to violence at a Feb. 8 summit, there has been a drop in fighting. But sporadic violence has persisted.

In the most serious attack, a Palestinian suicide bomber killed five Israelis outside a Tel Aviv nightclub Feb. 25. The assailant, dispatched by the Islamic Jihad group, came from a village near Tulkarem. That bombing prompted Israel to freeze the planned security handover in the West Bank.

Israeli and Palestinian military officials resumed negotiations late Sunday, and both sides said they expected a deal over Tulkarem in the near future.

Abbas and Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz were to meet Tuesday to wrap up the deal, Israeli officials said.

With negotiations in the final stages, Palestinian forces in Tulkarem stepped up preparations for the handover. Dozens of troops in military fatigues marched in formation and conducted calisthenic drills and martial-arts exercises at an abandoned dirt lot.

At one point, the soldiers formed a human pyramid and cried out "Jerusalem is ours!" Later, the soldiers sprinted and jumped headfirst through a smoldering hoop lined with a flaming cloth.

Elsewhere in town, camouflage troops congregated on a street corner, while blue-uniformed police patrolled the streets and directed traffic.

Tulkarem Gov. Izzedine al-Sharif said 2,500 Palestinian police are to be posted in the town and the main goals would be "to maintain security and law, to prevent any attacks against Israeli targets." He said the police are ready for their mission. "We are preparing many measures," he said, "like setting up permanent and mobile checkpoints."

Over the weekend, Abbas said his forces could do nothing to restore order and rein in militants until Israel allows Palestinian police to deploy in West Bank towns.

Giora Eiland, Sharon's national security adviser, told The Associated Press that Israel is concerned that Palestinian militant groups have taken advantage of the recent lull in fighting to regroup.

He said Israel has "reservations" about the effectiveness of the Palestinian exercises but added that "the training, of course, is up to them."

Other Israeli security officials said the presence of even poorly trained Palestinian forces is preferable to the virtual power vacuum currently in the area.

Tulkarem is on the 1949 cease-fire line that separates Israel from the West Bank at Israel's narrowest point, about 10 miles from the Israeli city of Netanya on the Mediterranean Sea. Netanya was the target of many suicide bombers before Israel built the section of its separation barrier that now blocks Tulkarem from three sides.

Much of the negotiations have focused on whether Israel would remove army roadblocks. The Palestinians have insisted on the removal of roadblocks. Israel insists they are necessary to stop attackers.

Al-Sharif said Israel had agreed to remove a main checkpoint on the road linking Tulkarem to Nablus. Israel will retain a roadblock south of the town, he said.

Also Monday, Jordan's King Abdullah II told Channel Two TV he would work to update a 2002 Arab peace offer to take into account Israel's concerns. The plan offered Israel recognition from the Arab world as part of a peace deal with the Palestinians that would include withdrawal from all of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, east Jerusalem and Golan Heights, with an agreed solution for Palestinian refugees. Israel objected to the concept of a total withdrawal and cast doubts on the sincerity of the offer.

[TexKat]

Bulgaria Blames U.S. Troops for Fatal Iraq Shooting

By Michael Winfrey

SOFIA (Reuters) - U.S. ally Bulgaria blamed U.S. troops on Monday for the fatal shooting of one of its soldiers in Iraq and demanded punishment of those responsible.

A Bulgarian inquiry into the shooting last Friday found that soldier Gurdi Gurdev -- Bulgaria's eighth casualty since the start of the war in March 2003 -- was almost certainly killed by "friendly fire" from nearby U.S. forces.

On the same day, U.S. soldiers shot dead an Italian secret service agent as he was taking freed hostage journalist Giuliana Sgrena to safety.

Defense Minister Nikolai Svinarov said Gurdev was killed when his unit shot warning rounds in an attempt to halt an Iraqi vehicle and then came under heavy fire.

"Someone started shooting at our patrol from the west, and in the same direction, 150 meters away, there was a unit from the U.S. Army," Svinarov told a news conference.

"The result (of the investigation) gives us enough grounds to believe the death of rifleman Gurdi Gurdev was caused by friendly fire."

Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg and President Georgi Parvanov summoned the U.S. ambassador in Sofia, and Parvanov later criticized U.S.-led operations as badly coordinated.

"This is a grave incident, and the confirmation of the facts prompts the conclusion that there are problems in the coordination and operational interaction among the allies," the president said in a statement.

"Bulgaria has undertaken a thorough investigation and will demand punishment for the guilty," the statement said.

Bulgarian Army Chief of Staff Nikola Kolev sent a letter to U.S. military chiefs asking for an investigation to clarify what happened and prevent similar incidents in the future, Svinarov said.

Bulgaria, which joined NATO last year and is an accession candidate for the European Union, has a 430-strong peacekeeping battalion stationed in the Iraqi town of Diwaniya.

Saxe-Coburg's government is one of the United States' staunchest allies, but its military presence in Iraq is unpopular among the Balkan state's 8 million people. Analysts say it could play a role in summer parliamentary elections.

The opposition Socialists have a wide lead over Saxe-Coburg's National Movement for Simeon II party and have promised to withdraw Bulgaria's troops from Iraq if it wins the ballot and leads the next government.

(Additional reporting by Kremena Miteva)

[TexKat]

U.S. Major General Eric T. Olson speaks during a news conference in Kabul March 7, 2005. Fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar has lost control of the insurgency in Afghanistan and the number of attacks has fallen dramatically, Olson said. (Ahmad Masood/Reuters)

British Worker Shot Dead in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan - Gunmen shot and killed a Briton who worked with Afghanistan's development ministry in a nighttime attack in downtown Kabul, police said Tuesday.

Two vehicles, one of them a black landcruiser, followed the British man's pickup truck then drove ahead of him and blocked his way, Gen. Sher Agha, a Kabul police commander, told The Associated Press.

From inside the landcruiser, an unidentified gunman opened fire, killing the man, before driving away, he said.

The attack happened about 10.15 p.m. Monday in front of the main guest house for U.N. workers in Kabul and the Dutch Embassy, he said. Agha did not name the victim.

The British Embassy could not immediately confirm the incident.

Agha said police were investigating the shooting.

U.N. spokesman Manoel de Almeida e Silva confirmed that a foreign national had been shot dead late Monday in Kabul, but said he was not U.N. personnel.

Since holding its first direct presidential elections in October, Afghanistan has enjoyed a period of relative calm, marked by a decline in attacks by Taliban and al-Qaida insurgents that have plagued restive areas of the south and east.

But in November, three foreign election workers were kidnapped in Kabul by a Taliban splinter group. They were released unharmed a month later.

In December, a Turkish engineer working on a U.S.-sponsored road project was kidnapped and killed by unidentified kidnappers in eastern Kunar province.

[TexKat]

A Chinese delegate walks into the Great Hall of the People during the National People's Congress in Beijing March 8, 2005. China outlined an anti-secession bill on Tuesday that allows military force to head off any independence bid by Taiwan, legislation that has heightened tensions in the Taiwan Strait. REUTERS/Jason Lee

China: Law Would Allow Action Vs. Taiwan

By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN, Associated Press Writer

BEIJING - China unveiled a law on Tuesday authorizing military action to stop rival Taiwan from pursuing formal independence, but said an attack would be a last resort if peaceful means fail.

Taiwan immediately lambasted the legislation, calling it a pretext for attack that "gives the (Chinese) military a blank check to invade Taiwan."

Chiu Tai-san, vice chairman of Taiwan's policy-making Mainland Affairs Council, speaks at a news conference to give Taiwan's official reaction to China's draft anti-secession law in Taipei on March 8, 2005. China unveiled an anti-secession bill on Tuesday that allows the use of military force to thwart and bid for independence by Taiwan but sought to ease U.S. Concerns by leaving itself other options. REUTERS/Richard Chung

"Our government lodges strong protest against the vicious attempt and brutal means ... to block Taiwanese from making their free choice," Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, which handles the island's China policy, said in a statement.

Chinese leaders say the law is meant to curb what they claim is an effort by Taiwan's president to make the self-ruled island's independence permanent. The legislation drew strong and immediate protest from Taiwan as an attempt to dominate the island.

The proposed law, read out before China's figurehead parliament by one of the body's leaders, doesn't give details of what developments might trigger an attack on Taiwan. The two sides have been separated since 1949 but Beijing claims the self-ruled island as its own territory.

The communist mainland has threatened repeatedly to invade if Taiwan tries to make its independence permanent, and the new law doesn't impose new conditions or make new threats. But it would codify the legal steps required before China would take military action.

"If possibilities for a peaceful reunification should be completely exhausted, the state shall employ nonpeaceful means and other necessary measures to protect China's sovereignty and territorial integrity," said Wang Zhaoguo, a leader of the National People's Congress, as he read from the law.

A leading member of Taiwan's parliament called on Chinese leaders not to act rashly, saying they should "rein in the horse before the precipice."

"We will not accept any resolution to allow the Chinese communists to unilaterally decide Taiwan's future," said Chen Chin-jun, a member of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party. "We will reject China's annexation and safeguard Taiwan's sovereignty and democracy."

Chinese officials say the law was prompted in part by Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian's plans for a referendum on a new constitution for the island. Beijing worries that it might include a declaration of formal independence.

"Every sovereign state has the right to use necessary means to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity," Wang said.

The United States has appealed to both sides to settle Taiwan's future status peacefully and says it doesn't want to see either change the status quo unilaterally. Washington is Taiwan's main arms supplier and could be drawn into any conflict over the island.

A final vote on the law is scheduled for March 14. It is certain to pass, because the NPC routinely approves all legislation already decided by Communist Party leaders.

Wang repeated Chinese complaints that Taiwanese independence activists are a "serious threat to peace and security in the Taiwan Straits and the Asia-Pacific region as a whole."

The legislation lays out legal requirements for taking military action, saying the Chinese Cabinet and the government's Central Military Commission "are authorized to decide on and execute nonpeaceful means and nonpeaceful measures."

China and Taiwan have no official ties and most direct travel and shipping between the two sides is banned. But Taiwanese companies have invested more than $100 billion in the mainland and the two sides carry on thriving indirect trade.

Until recently, China military was thought to be incapable of carrying out an invasion across the 100-mile-wide Taiwan Strait. But Beijing has spent billions of dollars in recent years on buying Russian-made submarines, destroyers and other high-tech weapons to extend the reach of the 2.5 million-member People's Liberation Army.

Chinese leaders have appealed repeatedly in recent months for Taiwan to return to talks on unification. But they insist that Taiwanese leaders must first declare that the two sides are "one China" — a condition that Chen has rejected.

In an apparent attempt to calm Taiwanese public anxiety about the law, Wang said it promises that Chinese military forces would take all possible steps to protect Taiwanese civilians. He said the rights of Taiwanese on China's mainland also would be protected.

[TexKat]

Accused U.S. Marine sent Iraqis 'a message' Prosecutors in officer's murder case likely will underscore his 'bravado'

Posted: March 8, 2005

A statement by the Marine officer charged with pre-meditated murder for killing two Iraqi insurgents is expected to provide support for defense attorneys as well as prosecutors, who likely will underscore his attempt to "send a message" to Iraqis and fellow servicemen.

A pre-trial, or Article 32, hearing next month will determine whether 2nd Lt. Ilario G. Pantano will face a court-martial that could lead to the death penalty.

As WorldNetDaily reported, Pantano's quick-reaction platoon, operating in the Sunni Triangle town of Mahmudiyah, detained the Iraqis April 15, 2004, after securing a terrorist hideaway where the Marines found a weapons cache. Pantano contends the Iraqis disobeyed his order in Arabic to stop, prompting him to open fire on them.

A spokesman for the Marine Corps Second Division command at Camp Lejeune, N.C., where Pantano is based, says he understands the outrage from Americans supportive of U.S. troops but urges patience until the prosecution presents its case.

Prosecutors charging Pantano with two counts of pre-meditated murder likely will highlight the officer's statement last June that he emptied two magazines of M-16 ammunition on the Iraqis and left their bodies on display to "send a message," according to the Star-News newspaper of Wilmington, N.C., where the officer is living with his wife and two children.

The prosecution's case is based primarily on the accusation of radio operator Sgt. Daniel Coburn, who was at the scene with Navy medical corpsman George A. Gobles.

The Star-News obtained copies of the charge sheet and the testimonies of Gobles and Pantano.

Pantano told the investigator, "I had made a decision that when I was firing I was going to send a message to these Iraqis and others that when we say, 'no better friend, no worse enemy,' we mean it. I had fired both magazines into the men, hitting them with about 80 percent of my rounds."

The phrase, coined by controversial Gen. James Mattis of the Marine Corps Combat Development, means the Marines can be a good friend to the Iraqi people but a fierce foe if attacked.

"I simply knew that I had told my platoon that if we were engaged in a gunfight, we would send a strong message that we were not going to be attacked," Pantano said. "Again, I believed that by firing the number of rounds that I did, I was sending a message that we were 'no better friend, no worse enemy.'"

The charge sheet says Pantano was "derelict in the performance of his duties" by leaving the bodies "on display in order to send a message to the local people."

Those actions likely will be used by prosecutors to paint a picture of Pantano's state of mind during the incident, but his lawyer, Charles Gittins, insists it's irrelevant, pointing out the officer did not use the slogan or make up the sign until after the men were dead.

Pantano "had been placed in a position to have to use deadly force," Gittins told the Wilmington paper. "The sign is indicative of a young lieutenant who just had the stuff scared out of him, using Gen. Mattis' words as a little bravado under the stress of the moment. And he took it down on his own after thinking about it. The sign doesn't have anything to do with the exercise of self-defense."

The charge sheet says Pantano ordered Gobles and Coburn to "look away" from him as he pointed his rifle at the Iraqis. But Gittins maintains the men were facing outward because they took up sentry positions.

"He didn’t tell them where to look," Gittins said. "He ordered them to take up positions to provide security. They knew what that meant and acted accordingly."

The incident began when Pantano, Coburn and Gobles were outside the suspected insurgent hideaway and saw two men attempting to flee in a white SUV.

The Marines disabled the car by shooting the tires, then handcuffed the Iraqis. After hearing weapons were found in the house, Pantano had the cuffs removed and ordered the Iraqis to search the SUV, fearing the vehicle could be booby-trapped.

"As the sergeant and the corpsman served as my guardian angels, I told the two Iraqis via hand signals to search the car and to pull apart the seats," Pantano said. "They were talking the whole time. ... I told them several times to be quiet by saying 'stop' in Arabic. They continued to talk."

Pantano said he told them to be quiet again, then "they quickly pivoted their bodies toward each other. They did this simultaneously, while speaking in muffled Arabic. I thought they were attacking me and I decided to fire my M-16A4 service rifle in self-defense. I believed that they were attacking me, and I felt I was within the rules of engagement to fire."

The accuser, Coburn, claims Pantano shot the men in the back. Gobles' version of events largely supports Pantano, but the Navy corpsman says he believed the Iraqis were moving away from the lieutenant.

Gittins believes the descrepancy is a matter of perspective, based on where each man was standing, and says the two Iraqis were shot not only in the back, but all over their bodies.

The lawyer describes Coburn as a "disgruntled" officer with a grudge who had to be relieved of command by Pantano for poor performance.

"Ilario didn't need to wait to see if they were going to kill him before he acted," Gittins told the Star-News. "They made a deadly choice not to listen to a U.S. Marine at a time when they had already been identified as potential killers."

The Washington Times said some press reporting on the case has wrongly stated that the SUV did not carry weapons. But a source close to the investigation said the car's two seats were not bolted down -- an insurgent tactic for hiding and quickly retrieving weapons.

Also the trunk had cans filled with nails and bolts, projectiles often used in improvised explosive devices, or IEDs.

Asking Bush for support

Meanwhile, Rep. Walter B. Jones, R-N.C., has sent a letter to President Bush, asking that he support Pantano.

"In an August 2004 executive order detailing your desire to strengthen our intelligence activities, you stated that to improve our ability to prevent terrorist threats, we are to 'give the highest priority to the detection, prevention, disruption, preemption, and mitigation of the effects of terrorist activities against the territory, people, and interests of the United States of America,'" Jones wrote. "It is my strong belief that Lt. Pantano was serving in the interests of the United States when he engaged the enemy and sought to preempt their actions through any means necessary."

Jones said Pantano's situation could cause further questioning about the war in Iraq and may even lead some potential enlistees to second-guess their decision.

"The ongoing war in Iraq has taken a toll on this nation," he said. "Families have been torn apart by the loss of a loved one who has paid the ultimate price in service to our country. Charging Lt. Pantano with murder is not only wrong, but is also detrimental to morale in America. This sends a potentially flawed message to those considering enlisting in the military."

Jones also argued the case could cause other Marines to question their own actions, possibly endangering both their own life and the continued success of the war on terror.

Last month, the FBI began investigating threats against Pantano after a website, using an address nearly identical to one launched by the officer's family, posted photographs depicting Pantano beheaded by a hooded jihadist, according to Gittins.

The lieutenant's mother, Merry Pantano, told WND yesterday she is overwhelmed by the amount of support she is getting on behalf of her son, about 60 e-mails a day.

Many messages are from veterans, going back to World War II.

"This is not just for Ilario," she said of her organization. "This is for other soldiers and Marines, as well, caught in this kind of combat-related situation where they have to face life and death decisions and then are forced to defend themselves in the court system."

Related stories:

FBI probing threat against accused Marine

Accused Marine featured in gripping story

Witness backs accused Marine's story

Marines urge patience in accused-officer case

Marine's charges set 'terrible precedent'

[TexKat]

Beirut set for pro-Syrian protest

By Nadim Ladki BEIRUT (Reuters) - Pro-Syrian protesters will take to the streets of Beirut today in a show of strength highlighting deep divisions in Lebanon over Syria's role in the country.

Syria, under world pressure to quit its neighbour, promised on Monday to pull back its troops to eastern Lebanon this month under a two-stage withdrawal, but the United States dismissed the plan for failing to set a deadline for a full pullout.

U.S. President George W. Bush's administration warned Syrian leaders it would "hold their feet to the fire", and Britain, Germany and Lebanon's former colonial power France also put pressure on Damascus.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad agreed the withdrawal plan in talks with Lebanese President Emile Lahoud in Damascus. Syrian forces intervened in Lebanon's civil war in 1976 and Damascus still has some 14,000 troops in the country.

Tuesday's protest, called by the Shi'ite Muslim Hizbollah group and its allies to show support for Damascus and oppose what they call Western meddling, was widely expected to attract a large turnout. Shi'ites form Lebanon's largest religious sect.

Hizbollah (Party of God) warned of mayhem if Syrian troops were to leave Lebanon, where the 1975-90 civil war ended with a fragile balance between the country's diverse main religious groups. Lebanon is due to hold a general election by May.

Set up by Iran's Revolutionary Guard in 1982, Hizbollah is the only Lebanese faction to keep its guns. It won wide popularity after helping drive Israeli troops from southern Lebanon in 2000. Washington says it is a terrorist group.

SYRIA UNDER PRESSURE

Syria's role in Lebanon has come under fierce fire since a February 14 bomb attack in which former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri was killed. Damascus denied any involvement in the blast.

Opposition demonstrators, mainly Christian and Druze with some Sunnis, have staged several large anti-Syrian protests since Hariri's killing.

On Monday, tens of thousands of flag-waving opposition demonstrators again took over central Beirut's Martyrs Square to demand a complete Syrian withdrawal. "Freedom, sovereignty, independence," they chanted.

While Assad and Lahoud were meeting, Syrian soldiers based in the Lebanese mountain towns of Hamana, Mdairij, Soufar and Aley were dismantling communications equipment or loading military gear and belongings onto army trucks, witnesses said.

Some trucks with equipment and a few dozen soldiers from several posts headed eastwards. Other troops stayed behind.

A Lebanese security source said the troops were sending their equipment to other posts closer to the border to enable them to move out quickly when orders come later this week.

Under the agreement by Assad and Lahoud, Syrian troops will complete their move to eastern Lebanon by March 31. The Syrian and Lebanese militaries will then decide how long the troops should stay in the eastern areas before returning home.

On Saturday, Assad promised a troop pullback but said Damascus would still play a role in its much smaller neighbour.

Bush and French President Jacques Chirac confirmed in phone talks they were determined to obtain the full application of a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for all foreign forces to leave Lebanon, French officials said.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan described Assad's proposals as "half measures" and unsatisfactory.

"This does not add up to Syria leaving Lebanon. Nobody has said all troops are leaving Lebanon," said a U.S. State Department official, declining to be named.

Reuters

[Gucho]

Fort Campbell Troops Work to Save Lives in Iraq


Bump - A good article.

[Gucho]

Senior interior ministry official gunned down in Baghdad

Tuesday, March 08, 2005:

BAGHDAD - A high-ranking official with the interior ministry in Iraq was gunned down in broad daylight outside his home in Baghdad on Tuesday, a security source said.

"Major General Ghazi Mohammed Issa, the deputy director of the interior ministry's naturalisation department, was killed outside his home at 8 am (0500 GMT) by masked gunmen in a car," Sabah Kadhim, a senior advisor at the ministry, told AFP.

Issa, an expert on naturalisation, was due to leave Tuesday for Iran to vet Iraqi refugees expelled from under Saddam Hussein's old regime who now wished to return home, Kadhim said.

More than 1,300 police and members of the national guard have been killed by rebels since the fall of Saddam Hussein in April 2003.

03/08/2005 11:37 GMT

AFP and Turkish Press

[OXENinFLA]

Cool...MNF-IRAQ is back online.

Iraqi and U.S. officials gathered for a "brick laying" ceremony in Baghdad on Mar. 3, 2005, marking the beginning of construction for what is expected to become Iraq's premiere medical training facility. Iraq's minister of Health and Construction and the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Mr. John D. Negroponte, cemented together symbolic bricks following a formal ceremony with speeches by both. USAF Photo by MSgt Dave Ahlschwede. (Released)

Combat photographer Technical Sergeant Mike Buytas looks on as an Iraqi boy passes by with his new pair of shoes and socks on Feb 18, 2005. Airmen from the 332nd Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron distributed 1,100 pairs of children and adult shoes to three villages near Balad AB, Iraq, during Operation Sole Train. USAF photo by 1st Lieutenant Ron Alombro. (Released)

Combat photographer Master Sergeant Ricky Fitzgerald shares his viewfinder with an Iraqi girl on Feb 18, 2005, during a shoe distribution operation by Airmen from the 332nd Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron who distributed 1,100 pairs of children and adult shoes to three villages near Balad AB, Iraq as part of Operation Sole Train. USAF photo by 1st Lieutenant Ron Alombro. (Released)

[Gucho]

"Extremely Large" Caches Found

March 08, 2005:

From the AFP via The Australian :

In the restive northern city of Mosul, two suspected insurgents were killed and two wounded during a raid by US troops in search of weapons yesterday, a military statement said, adding that two "extremely large" caches were seized.

The arms caches included 200,000 rounds of ammunition, over 950 mortar rounds and over 1850 pounds of explosives, it said.

US soldiers repelled an attack in Dujail, east of Baquba, yesterday killing two insurgents and detaining five, said a statement.

In Ramadi, the provincial capital of Anbar province, new Iraqi commandos conducted a raid on a hospital today "to investigate possible insurgent activity taking place on the premises," said a US military statement.

A car bomb was detonated near a US-Iraqi security checkpoint yesterday in eastern Ramadi, said another statement without giving further details or saying if there were any casualties.

[Gucho]

Cool...MNF-IRAQ is back online.


Bump

[Gucho]

Good morning TK, all.


Mid East Edition

[Gucho]

Abducted Jordanian released in Iraq after ransom paid

Tue, Mar 08, 2005:

AMMAN (AFP) - A Jordanian businessman abducted in Iraq was released after his associates paid a 100,000 dollar ransom and is on his way to Amman, his family said.

Ibrahim Maharmeh, who was seized Friday by unknown kidnappers in the upmarket Mansur neighbourhood of Baghdad, was set free Monday, his brother Bilal Maharmeh told AFP.

Maharmeh, who lives almost permanently in Baghdad where he owns a house and runs and import-export business, was abducted after word got around that he had sold a property in Iraq for over 200,000 dollars, his brother said.

His assistants in Baghdad negotiated with the abductors, whose identity was not immediately known, to reduce an initial ransom demand of 250,000 dollars down to 100,000 dollars, Bilal said.

"There was concern when the kidnappers said last night they needed one more hour to release Ibrahim although they had received the ransom, but they finally set him free," Bilal said, adding that Ibrahim was on his way to Amman.

Several Jordanians, most of them truck drivers, have been abducted in Iraq since the downfall of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) in April 2003 but most of them returned home unharmed, although in some cases relatives said a ransom was paid.

[Gucho]

Al-Qaida spies feared looking for CIA jobs

March 8, 2005:

By Bob Drogin, Times Staff Writer

WASHINGTON — U.S. counterintelligence officials are increasingly concerned that Al Qaeda sympathizers or operatives may have tried to get jobs at the CIA and other U.S. agencies in an effort to spy on American counterterrorist efforts.

So far, about 40 Americans who sought positions at U.S. intelligence agencies have been red-flagged and turned away for possible ties to terrorist groups, the officials said. Several such applicants have been detected at the CIA.

"We think terrorist organizations have tried to insinuate people into our hiring pools," said Barry Royden, a 39-year CIA veteran who is a counterintelligence instructor at the agency.

Also, three senior counterintelligence officials said they feared terrorist groups may be trying to place an "insider" in America's fast-growing counterterrorist planning and operational networks as part of a long-term strategy to compromise U.S. intelligence efforts.

But unlike Royden, the officials added that it was still unclear if anyone had been assigned to infiltrate U.S. intelligence to commit espionage for a terrorist group. No one has been arrested, and no one has been linked to any new "sleeper cell" of suspected terrorists in America.

Royden's remarks came at a national conference on counterintelligence held over the weekend at Texas A&M University. Other counterintelligence officials were interviewed separately.

The officials said that those who had come under suspicion were filtered out during the application process for providing false information, failing lie detector tests, applying to multiple spy services or flunking other parts of the application procedure.

But fear of possible penetration has grown because of what one official called "an intense competition" among America's intelligence, military and contractor organizations.

They are seeking to hire thousands of skilled linguists, trained analysts and clandestine operatives who can blend into overseas communities to collect intelligence and to recruit foreign agents inside terrorist cells.

In some cases, the officials said, those most qualified for such sensitive jobs — naturalized Americans who grew up in the Middle East or South Asia, for example, and who are native speakers of Arabic, Farsi, Dari, Urdu and other crucial languages — have proved the most difficult to vet during background checks.

In addition, because of restrictions imposed by U.S. privacy laws, authorities at one spy service may not know that someone they had rejected later found a job at another agency or at a defense contractor working on classified systems.

"We're looking at that very carefully," said one counterintelligence official.

Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network has used sophisticated reconnaissance and surveillance techniques in the past. Operatives have tested security systems at embassies and airports, taken photographs or sketched diagrams of potential targets, and used encrypted communications and computer programs to frustrate U.S. spying.

The FBI has assigned counterintelligence officers at its 56 field offices since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, said Timothy D. Bereznay, a senior FBI official. The effort is less intensive than in the mid-1980s, the height of the Cold War, when the bureau assigned a fourth of its agents to spy-hunting efforts.

Despite the deployment during that era, CIA officer Aldrich H. Ames, FBI agent Robert P. Hanssen and other American moles compromised hundreds of secret agents and intelligence projects, causing far more damage to national security than any spy sent by Moscow or its allies.

The Sept. 11 commission and several congressional investigations have sharply criticized the CIA and other intelligence agencies for hiring too few linguists who are fluent in Arabic or other target languages. They also have cited the CIA's failure to recruit or plant any agents inside Al Qaeda who could provide reliable intelligence.

With vast increases in funding from Congress after the 2001 attacks, the 15 U.S. intelligence agencies launched sweeping recruitment programs. Most have been deluged with thousands of resumes and job applications, forcing several spy services to contract background checks to private firms.

The CIA director, Porter J. Goss, last month gave the White House plans to increase by 50% the number of CIA clandestine officers and analysts in an effort to improve intelligence on terrorist groups and the spread of weapons of mass destruction. During his Senate confirmation hearings in September, Goss said the agency would need years to train and deploy enough case officers to meet the current challenge.

"The great bulk of what we need is more than five years out there," he said at the time.

The National Security Agency, the spy service that eavesdrops on communications to collect intelligence, announced plans last fall to hire 7,500 employees over the next five years to push the total NSA payroll to about 35,000. Among those being sought are linguists in Arabic and Chinese, regional analysts, communications signals intelligence specialists and computer experts.

The Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency also has taken its job search public, running ads for human intelligence officers for the first time in the Economist and other publications. The little-known DIA hired TMP Worldwide, a New York-based advertising and communications firm, to improve its name recognition and attract more candidates.

The need to vastly improve counterintelligence efforts dominated the weekend Texas conference, which drew scores of current and former intelligence officials. The Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive, which Congress created in 2002 to coordinate counterintelligence efforts across the government, cosponsored the conclave, which was open to the media.

Michelle Van Cleave, director of the office, said the Bush administration had adopted a strategy that called for more pre-emptive action against foreign intelligence services and others viewed as threats to national security. She and other officials described the United States as the principal target for intelligence services from up to 90 countries around the world.

Paul Redmond, a longtime CIA officer who works for the counterintelligence office, called it an "actuarial certainty" that spies have infiltrated U.S. security agencies. He warned that, because of efforts since Sept. 11 to more widely share critical intelligence as part of broader reforms, the danger of espionage was growing.

"I think we're worse off than we've ever been," he said.

R. James Woolsey, who served as CIA director from 1993 to 1995, urged the agency to step up protections against spying by adherents of Wahabism and other extreme forms of militant Islam, which he compared to the threat from Soviet-era Communism.

"The Wahabis are not just a religious movement," he said.

Lisa Bronson, the undersecretary of Defense in charge of vetting exports of defense-related materials, said China has "2,000 to 3,000 front companies" working in America to obtain so-called dual-use civilian equipment or information that could be used to help Beijing's military.

Retired Navy Adm. William O. Studeman, a former NSA director who now sits on a panel that is reviewing U.S. intelligence efforts for the White House, said that "advertent and inadvertent leaks have now rivaled espionage" to compromise classified information.

Several speakers said that hacking of classified U.S. computer systems could pose the most dangerous threat. Spies who once needed to patiently photograph page after page of secret documents now, in theory, can quickly transmit millions of computerized pages into cyberspace or onto tiny devices holding gigabytes of data.

Former President George H.W. Bush, whose presidential library is at Texas A&M, opened the weekend conference with a fervent defense of the CIA. He headed the agency from November 1975 to January 1977.

Bush said it "burns me up to see the agency under fire" for flawed intelligence on prewar Iraq. He compared recent criticism to the Watergate-era congressional probes of domestic spying, assassination plots and other illegal CIA operations.

Congress "unleashed a bunch of untutored little jerks out there" to investigate the CIA then, Bush said. The inquiries, led by Sen. Frank Church (D-Idaho) and Rep. Otis G. Pike (D-N.Y.), led Congress to create the first intelligence oversight committees and to pass numerous laws to prevent further abuses.

[Gucho]

15 beheaded corpses found in Iraq:

From correspondents in Latifiyah
March 09, 2005:
From: Agence France-Presse

THE Iraqi army said today it found 15 beheaded corpses, both men and women, on an old military base near Latifiyah south of Baghdad.

The army raided the old Hatin army base, now believed to be used by insurgents, and found the corpses, said Captain Mohammed Abdel Hussein al-Saedi.

The soldiers launched the operation after reports some Shiite pilgrims on their way to the holy cities of Karbala and Najaf had disappeared near Latifiyah, around 40km south of Baghdad, where rebels frequently launch attacks, Capt. Saedi said.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12489510-38201,00.html

[Gucho]

U.S. troops, insurgents clash west of Baghdad: interior ministry

Tuesday, Mar 08, 2005:

BAGHDAD (AP) - Clashes erupted between U.S. troops and insurgents Tuesday in the troubled city of Ramadi west of the capital, leaving at least two people dead, officials said.

In Baghdad, gunmen assassinated the deputy chief of the Interior Ministry's immigration office, Gen. Ghazi Mohammed Issa, in a drive-by shooting in the western suburb of Ghazaliya, a top ministry official said on condition of anonymity.

In an Internet statement, al-Qaida in Iraq purportedly claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Interior Ministry official said gunmen also attacked a convoy of trucks carrying food for the Trade Ministry in Salman Pak, southeast of the capital. Three civilians were killed in the assault and at least one of the trucks was set on fire.

[Gucho]

Sixteen-year-old Haider Ghazi holds a portrait of his assassinated father, Major General Ghazi Mohammed, after he was shot dead by gunmen in Baghdad March 8, 2005. Gunmen shot dead Mohammed, a senior police officer who worked in the Iraqi interior ministry in Baghdad, in a drive-by shooting on Tuesday, ministry sources said. In an Internet statement, al Qaeda's wing in Iraq said it was behind the assassination. REUTERS/Ali Jasim

[OXENinFLA]

Saving Lives & Limbs with New Armor

[There's a short video at the link, but get your barf bag ready.]

Jacksonville, FL -- More than 11,000 soldiers return home from Iraq with injuries. Many have lost limbs or lost vision.

"Vests are saving the lives of our soldiers right now because they are protecting the vital organs," said U.S. Senator Bill Nelson. "But they're coming back alive without arms and without legs."

That's because there isn't much armor available, and what is available is too bulky for soldiers to move around comfortably or react quickly.

The armor is also very thick, which many soldiers don't want to wear in Iraq's high temperatures.

That's why Jacksonville-based Armor Holdings has teamed up with Florida State University to design better body armor for troops.

The research team showcased prototypes to Senator Nelson Monday morning.

"It looks a little bit like a football outfit," said Senator Nelson. "But it's going to be a much lighter material."

The new armor is also resistant to rifle fire.

It covers the soldier's neck, arms and legs, as well as the head and torso.

It will also let the soldier move around easier.

On top of new armor for limbs, the research team is working on better eye protection.

The new armor is still in the research phase. It should be ready for troops within one year.

[Gucho]

IRAQ: Saudis Dominate al Qaeda Terrorists:


March 8, 2005: The wild west atmosphere in Sunni Arab areas hides the fact that a lot more of the violence is Sunni against Sunni. This is because an increasing number of Sunni Arabs are supporting the central government and getting attacked by terrorists because of it. Most of the conflict is more confrontational than combat. Groups of armed men will stare at each other, without any shots being fired. It's really basic gang warfare, with groups of armed civilians claiming streets and neighborhoods, making it clear that turf would be defended by force. With more Iraqi police available, the American troops can more easily get to know the pro-government Iraqi groups, and coordinate operations against the terrorists.

Some of the terrorists are foreigners. But only about ten percent of the terrorists killed are al Qaeda, the rest are pro-Saddam or pro-Sunni Arab domination. Based on information posted on al Qaeda web sites (praising individual "martyrs" who died in Iraq), some 60 percent of the al Qaeda terrorists in Iraq are from Saudi Arabia. Another ten percent are from Syria, seven percent from Kuwait, about 15 percent from many other Moslem nations, and eight percent from Iraq. Over twenty al Qaeda members are being killed a month in Iraq, and many more captured. Those captives admit that their "emir" (leader) is Abu Musab al Zarqawi, but add that Iraqi Sunni Arabs are supplying a lot of technical assistance, equipment and cash. Recent al Qaeda captives have been unhappy with the direction the "war" is taking, because of the large number of Iraqis who are getting killed, and the growing hostility, by Iraqis, against al Qaeda. While Iraqi Sunni Arabs see the fighting as one of survival for Sunni Arab Iraqis, al Qaeda is on a Mission from God to drive infidels (non-Moslems) from the region. These two goals are colliding in a messy fashion.

http://www.strategypage.com//fyeo/qndguide/default.asp?target=IRAQ.HTM