Posted on 05/22/2005 6:56:43 PM PDT by TexKat
A girl who was watching American and Iraqi soldiers on patrol in front of her house smiles when she sees a news photographer as Airman First Class Andrew Pulido is on guard during a foot patrol in a northern neighborhood of Mosul May 10, 2005. He is assigned from the US Airforce to the 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment of the Styker Brigade, for the purpose of coordinating air support.
Looking down the barrel Sgt. Shaun Southern of the 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment of the Stryker Brigade adjusts his gunsight before practicing manual shooting with his 50-cal. machine gun at a range at Al Kindi, an Iraqi Army base near FOB Courage in Mosul, Iraq.
By Bob Kerr, The Providence Journal
I talked to Mike Yon by satellite phone. It was a little scratchy at times and helicopters intruded occasionally. But it was worth it.
He describes himself as an author, explorer and photographer. He uses his camera as a notepad, he says.
And earlier this month, he took notes that were seen around the world.
He is in Iraq, he says, because he didn't quite believe what he was seeing in the news. He is a former Green Beret, and he wanted to see for himself.
He and I share the belief that we just aren't getting a full and honest look at this war -- or even a steady helping of small, telling snapshots. It is part of the reason why I appreciate Joel Rawson, the Journal's executive editor, going to Iraq with photographer John Freidah to give us an idea of what the day-to-day life of some Rhode Island National Guard members is like.
And it is why I appreciate what Mike Yon does to satisfy the need to know more. [...]
He thinks Iraq represents a turning point in modern history and that it is difficult to understate its importance. He has been in other places where there was a struggle to introduce democracy. It is a messy process, he said.
And he saw perhaps the worst of the struggle in the city of Mosul a few weeks ago when he was with the Stryker brigade on normal operations.
At first, he had a photo opportunity in front of him that seemed like one of those timeless shots of soldiers and civilians claiming simple human contact in the middle of a war.
Then, it turned crazy. [...]
He is still sorting through the strange case of the photo that slipped from his control. But Army officials have told him something very good came from its release within Iraq. Iraqis saw the picture of a child killed by insurgents and started to come forward with information.
And others saw it, too. Intended or not, Yon has given us a look at innocents caught in the crossfire of a war without frontlines. He has let us see the other victims, the ones who die in far greater numbers than American troops but seldom claim a place in the nightly body count.
He has helped fill in a picture of the war in Iraq that has long been out of focus and sadly lacking in detail.
This is the photograph and story that Bob Kerr wrote about:
Little Girl
THE SHOW
At the end of the runway, the jet car waits. An airplane above has challenged Scott Hammack to a race. Jaws drop as the aircraft approaches and you put your hands over your ears to block the deafening noise. Scott kicks in the afterburner and accelerates. Before you can take a breath, the Air Force Reserve Jet Car is roaring down the runway in a veil of smoke and a shower of scarlet flames. You can feel the reverberations of mini sonic booms. Within seconds Scott approaches 400 mph and overtakes the plane. As Scott zooms past the aircraft, he pulls 4.5 G forces. Then he deploys the parachute to bring the car to a stop. 11 Gs of negative force rattle his body. The crowd cheers with delight as Scott gets out of the car and waves to his fans.
THE CAR
The Air Force Reserve Above & Beyond Jet Car is powered by a Westinghouse J-34 jet engine that develops 10,000 horsepower and 6,000 pounds of thrust. This engine was originally used in a North American Buckeye T-2A aircraft. The car is made of aluminum and magnesium, weighs 2,300 pounds, is 26 feet long, and uses 40 gallons of diesel fuel for each performance. Two ring-slot parachutes (one is a back-up) can bring the car to a stop in less than 2,000 feet. It also houses an on-board fire extinguisher system. The car is the first jet-powered ground act to break into the air show industry.
THE CREW
Scott Hammack’s wife, Linda, has been a full-time crew member for more than 10 years. Bill Braack rounds out the crew and is a flight engineer with the Air Force Reserve. Bill became a member of Scott’s crew more than five years ago.
In the new $8 million dining facility on Forward Operating Base Marez in Mosul, Iraq, Army Sgt. Michael Boutte of the 73rd Engineer Company heads for a table. Boutte works within the Stryker brigade based out of Fort Lewis, which is currently deployed at Marez and at other bases around Mosul. PETER HALEY/THE NEWS TRIBUNE
MATT MISTEREK; The News Tribune
Last updated: May 22nd, 2005 07:23 AM
MOSUL, Iraq – The tile floors and marble-pattern tables and chairs gleam with a shade of white seldom seen at this dust-choked U.S. Army base. Filipino workers in tuxedo vests and matching ties keep the food stations heaped with fresh fruit and salads; others distribute gourmet-looking desserts from a well-stocked glass case. A gold-rimmed decanter and decorative wine glasses rest atop a faux brick fireplace, while the sound system plays Billy Joel’s “Only the Good Die Young.”
The words “chow hall” hardly seem to fit what military contractors have built in the middle of Forward Operating Base Marez, the most populous Army post in Mosul and home to thousands of Fort Lewis troops.
The $8 million dining facility, which opened at the beginning of the month, is meant to help soldiers relax a little before they head out for another mission. The restaurant atmosphere is an escape from the razor wire, portable toilets and endless miles of grit just outside the front door.
Most of all, it’s designed to help them forget what happened five months ago at the old chow hall about a quarter-mile down the road – and to make them less vulnerable to it happening again.
The new building was under construction Dec. 21 when an Islamic extremist, reportedly dressed as an Iraqi soldier, blew himself up in the plastic-and-aluminum tent where thousands of soldiers, contractors and others gathered to get their three squares a day.
Twenty-two people were killed in the lunchtime blast, including 14 U.S. soldiers, and more than 60 were wounded. Many were badly burned.
Six of the dead were from Fort Lewis, the largest number of casualties sustained at one time by either of the post’s two Stryker brigades that have deployed to Iraq since November 2003.
Something else was lost that day – an intangible quality that made the structure the size of a football field an appealing target for the insurgency.
“You’ve got the symbolism of what this place stands for,” said Maj. Rob White, an Arizona National Guardsman whose unit has on-base police duties. “This is the one place where we all come together on the battlefield.”
Soldiers at Marez, suddenly dispersed to makeshift dining rooms around the base, got by for months on sandwiches, meals-ready-to-eat in brown plastic pouches and prewarmed food delivered in insulated canisters. Their patience was rewarded May 1, when the new concrete-reinforced dining hall opened for business – the only hardened structure built for this purpose on any U.S. base in Mosul.
By VOA News
22 May 2005
German authorities have arrested a Palestinian man in connection with an alleged al-Qaeda plot to carry out a suicide attack in Iraq.
German federal prosecutors said Sunday they had arrested a stateless Palestinian identified only as 28-year-old Ismail Abu S. The prosecutors said they believe he took part in an insurance scam to raise money for the intended operation.
They added that they will conduct further investigations to determine whether he was aware of the al-Qaeda connection.
German authorities previously arrested the man's brother and an Iraqi alleged to have ties to al-Qaeda.
Some information for this report provided by AP and Reuters.
Sun May 22, 2005
DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Syrian authorities arrested the chief of the Arab Organization of Human Rights in Syria (AOHRS) on Sunday, the group said in statement.
"A political security unit of four and a driver entered the office of lawyer Mohammad Raadoun, the president of AOHRS, and escorted him to the political security office in (the port city of) Latakia," it said.
"We urge all honorable people for solidarity with us in a campaign for his release," the statement said.
Officials were not immediately available for comment.
Ammar Qurabi, the head of the group's media office, said he believed the arrest was related to statements issued by the group about the arrest of returning Islamist dissidents.
Syria told its embassies in March to facilitate the return of exiles, in what campaigners saw as a de facto amnesty for dissidents who had fled the country.
Rights activists say hundreds of Syrians living abroad for political reasons have taken advantage of the opportunity, but some have come back only to find themselves behind bars.
The group became active after President Bashar al-Assad introduced a measure of reform after assuming power in 2000 and freed hundred of political prisoners. The authorities later cracked down on activists, rights groups say.
© Reuters 2005
From correspondents in Baghdad
May 23, 2005
THE US military has denied any of its servicemen are missing after the claimed execution of a US pilot in Iraq.
It now appears the victim of an apparent hostage-taking and killing was an Iraqi-American businessman.
Militants led by al-Qaeda's frontman in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, claimed today to have executed the man four days after he was seized in Baghdad.
"Your brothers in Al-Qaeda in the Land of Two Rivers got their hands on a US pilot who turned out to have bombarded several mosques and the Sheraton hotel in Baghdad during the invasion of Iraq, as well as several civilian homes," the group said in an internet statement.
The statement was accompanied by pictures of an Illinois driving licence identifying the purported victim as Neenus Y. Khoshaba, a US national born on November 27 1948.
The statement said that "after questioning this infidel, the divine verdict was applied to him".
Although the statement identified the hostage as a pilot, the US military has now denied that any of its servicemen had gone missing.
A high-ranking official with Iraq's Assyrian Democratic party identified Mr Khoshaba as a US-Iraqi businessman from an Assyrian family who was kidnapped last week.
"I can't confirm his death, but I can identify the hostage," the official said.
"Mr Khoshaba was a US-Iraqi businessman based in Chicago who moved back to Iraq after the war in 2003.
"He was apparently tricked by a group of people posing as representatives from the oil ministry, who told him that they were looking for someone with a dual nationality and had business opportunities to offer him.
"There had been no word from him since," he said.
Mr Khoshaba lived near Baghdad Jadida, in eastern Baghdad.
The group led by Zarqawi, Iraq's most wanted man, has claimed a string of devastating attacks as well as kidnappings since the fall of Saddam Hussein.
A new Iraqi Army soldier crouches on the side of a street during a mission with U.S. Marines with the 3rd Platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, May 16, 2006. Fifteen new Iraqi Army soldiers accompanied U.S. Marines with the 3rd Platoon and together conducted a cordon and search mission of a neighborhood. The three-hour joint-operation was geared toward keeping a military presence in area and establishing a positive relationship between Iraqi civilians and members of their own military. The Marines and their Iraqi counterparts executed the mission without incident. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Tom Sloan
U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Christopher A. Hook, a rifleman and team leader with the 2nd Squad, 3rd Platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, gives a young Iraqi boy candy during a search mission, in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, May 16, 2005. The three-hour joint-operation was geared toward keeping a military presence in area and establishing a positive relationship between Iraqi civilians and members of their own military. The Marines and their Iraqi counterparts executed the mission without incident. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Tom Sloan
Two new Iraqi Army soldiers walk down a staircase in a home during a mission with U.S. Marines from the 3rd Platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, May 16, 2005. Fifteen new Iraqi Army soldiers accompanied Marines with the 3rd Platoon and together conducted a cordon and search mission of a neighborhood. The three-hour joint-operation was geared toward keeping a military presence in area and establishing a positive relationship between Iraqi civilians and members of their own military. The Marines and their Iraqi counterparts executed the mission without incident. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Tom Sloan
A new Iraqi Army soldier sits in the back of a 7-ton truck with U.S. Marines from the 3rd Platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, as they travel to their destination in the city of Ar Ramadi, Iraq, May 16, 2005, for a mission. The three-hour joint-operation was geared toward keeping a military presence in area and establishing a positive relationship between Iraqi civilians and members of their own military. The Marines and their Iraqi counterparts executed the mission without incident. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Tom Sloan
U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Troy C. Arnold, squad leader and rifleman with the 2nd Squad, 3rd Platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, discusses with new Iraqi Army soldiers the details of a mission they’re about to conduct in the city of Ar Ramadi, Iraq, May 16, 2005. The three-hour joint-operation was geared toward keeping a military presence in area and establishing a positive relationship between Iraqi civilians and members of their own military. The Marines and their Iraqi counterparts executed the mission without incident. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Tom Sloan
U.S. Marine Cpl. Eric W. Witt, a rifleman with the 1st Squad, 3rd Platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, points a new Iraqi Army soldier in the direction where he needs to position himself during a mission in the city of Ar Ramadi, Iraq, May 16, 2005. The three-hour joint-operation was geared toward keeping a military presence in area and establishing a positive relationship between Iraqi civilians and members of their own military. The Marines and their Iraqi counterparts executed the mission without incident. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Tom Sloan
A new Iraqi Army soldier stands in the doorway of a home and posts security during a mission with U.S. Marines with the 3rd Platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, May 16. 2005. The three-hour joint-operation was geared toward keeping a military presence in area and establishing a positive relationship between Iraqi civilians and members of their own military. The Marines and their Iraqi counterparts executed the mission without incident. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Tom Sloan
U.S. Marine Cpl. Joel Jaime, squad leader for 1st Squad, 3rd Platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, talks on his radio to his fellow Marines while a new Iraqi Army soldier stands off to the side, in a joint operation in the city of Ar Ramadi, Iraq, May 16, 2005. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Tom Sloan
U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Anthony J. Diklich, a squad automatic weapon gunner with 2nd Squad, 3rd Platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, and a new Iraqi Army soldier charge out of the entrance of a residence after searching it during a mission in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, May 16, 2005. The three-hour joint-operation was geared toward keeping a military presence in area and establishing a positive relationship between Iraqi civilians and members of their own military. The Marines and their Iraqi counterparts executed the mission without incident. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Tom Sloan
U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Aaron C. Cardenas, a rifleman with the 2nd Squad, 3rd Platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, is joined by a new Iraqi Army soldier during a mission in the city of Ar Ramadi, Iraq, May 16, 2005. The three-hour joint-operation was geared toward keeping a military presence in area and establishing a positive relationship between Iraqi civilians and members of their own military. The Marines and their Iraqi counterparts executed the mission without incident. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Tom Sloan
A U.S. Marine with the 3rd Platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, runs through the entrance of a home during a mission while his comrade posts security in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, May 16, 2005. The three-hour joint-operation was geared toward keeping a military presence in area and establishing a positive relationship between Iraqi civilians and members of their own military. The Marines and their Iraqi counterparts executed the mission without incident. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Tom Sloan
A new Iraqi Army soldier crouches on the side of a street during a mission with U.S. Marines from the 3rd Platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, May 16, 2005. Fifteen new Iraqi Army soldiers accompanied Marines with the 3rd Platoon and together conducted a cordon and search mission of a neighborhood. The three-hour joint-operation was geared toward keeping a military presence in area and establishing a positive relationship between Iraqi civilians and members of their own military. The Marines and their Iraqi counterparts executed the mission without incident. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Tom Sloan
Last Update: Monday, May 23, 2005. 11:00am (AEST)
The chief of the Defence Force says he is confident Australia could set a timeline for the withdrawal of its troops from Iraq within six to eight months.
At the weekend, General Peter Cosgrove welcomed home his son who had been serving in Baghdad.
General Cosgrove says Australian troops will only stay in Iraq until their work is completed.
"I'd simply say that we are encouraged by the signs of the maturing Iraqi security forces in the Al Mutthana province," he said.
"That's good stuff and if it continues that way then we won't need to apprehend being there for years and years."
May 22nd, 2005
By: Mark Kilmer · Section: Diaries
From the transcript of this morning's Meet the Press:
MR. RUSSERT: "Well, you said there were weapons of mass destruction."
DR. DEAN: "I said I wasn't sure, but I said I thought there probably were. But the thing that really bothered me the most, which the 9-11 Commission said also wasn't true, is the insinuation that the president continues to make to this day that Osama bin Laden had something to do with supporting terrorists that attacked the United States. That is false. The 9-11 Commission, chaired by a Republican, said it was false. Is it wrong to send people to war without telling them the truth. And the truth was Osama bin Laden was a very bad person who was doing terrible things, but that Iraq was never a threat to the United States. That was the truth."
Ooops.
So the President keeps saying that OBL had something to do with supporting the terrorists who attacked the U.S. Dean thinks the 9-11 commission found that he had nothing to do with it.
I hope he misspoke, confusing Osama bin Laden's name with that of Saddam Hussein. My best political advice for Governor Dean: Do not speak in public and especially not in front of cameras.
Former NFL Player's Family Critical of Way Army Handled Investigation of His Death.
WASHINGTON May 23, 2005 — The family of former professional football Pat Tillman says the Army disrespected his memory by lying in its investigation of his death in Afghanistan last year.
In interviews with The Washington Post, the Army Ranger's mother and father said they believe the military and the government created a heroic tale about how their son died to foster a patriotic response across the country.
"Pat had high ideals about the country; that's why he did what he did," Mary Tillman told the Post. "The military let him down. The administration let him down. It was a sign of disrespect. The fact that he was the ultimate team player and he watched his own men kill him is absolutely heartbreaking and tragic. The fact that they lied about it afterward is disgusting."
Tillman, a player for the Arizona Cardinals, left the National Football League after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to join the Rangers with his brother. After a tour in Iraq, they were sent to Afghanistan in 2004 to help hunt for the Taliban and Osama bin Laden.
Shortly after arriving in the mountains to fight, Tillman was killed in a barrage of gunfire from his own men, mistaken for the enemy as he got into position to defend them.
After a public memorial service, at which Tillman received the Silver Star, the Army told Tillman's family what had really happened.
The separate interviews with Tillman's parents, who are divorced, appeared on the Post's Internet site for Monday's editions.
Patrick Tillman Sr., a lawyer, told the Post he is furious about a "botched homicide investigation" and blames high-ranking Army officers for presenting "outright lies" to the family and to the public.
"After it happened, all the people in positions of authority went out of their way to script this," the father said. "They purposely interfered with the investigation, they covered it up. I think they thought they could control it, and they realized that their recruiting efforts were going to go to hell in a handbasket if the truth about his death got out. They blew up their poster boy."
10:00 The Hunt for Osama bin Laden and the War on Terrorism
Thursday May 12, 2005
Diane talks with former CIA agent Gary Schroen, who led the United States' first post-9/11 intelligence team into Afghanistan.
Monday May 23, 2005
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) Two carloads of gunmen assassinated a top aide to Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari's Cabinet and his driver on Monday, police said.
Wael al-Rubaei and his driver were attacked in the main street in central Baghdad's Mansour district at about 8:15 a.m. as they were heading to work, said police Lt. Majid Zaki.
Zaki said two carloads of gunmen sprayed automatic weapon fire at al-Rubaei's vehicle, killing the official and his driver.
The slaying follows Sunday's killing of another senior government official, Trade Ministry auditing office chief Ali Moussa.
State employees have been prime targets of insurgents bent on disrupting the U.S.-backed Iraqi government.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
In the interest of timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain occasional typographical errors.
Howard Dean confuses bin Laden, Saddam
Democrat leader insists on jail time for DeLay on 'Meet the Press'
Mon May 23, 2005 07:28 AM BST
KIRKUK, Iraq (Reuters) - A car bomb exploded on Monday near the convoy of a Kurdish official in the Iraqi town of Tuz Khurmatu south of Kirkuk, killing at least five people and wounding 18, police said.
They said several people in the convoy of the official, Mohammed Mahmoud Jigareti of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, had been killed and wounded, but Jigareti had survived.
Police said it was not yet clear whether the blast had been a suicide attack.
© Reuters 2005
Monday May 23, 2005
SAMARRA, Iraq (AP) - Three suicide bombers tried to attack an American military base in this city on Monday and wounded three U.S. soldiers, the military said.
Two suicide bombers detonated their car bombs at about 7 a.m. outside a U.S. base in downtown Samarra, 95 kilometers (60 miles) north of Baghdad, Maj. Richard Goldenberg said.
Three Task Force Liberty soldiers sustained non life-threatening wounds, Goldenberg added.
A third militant approached the scene wearing an explosives-packed vest and was shot by soldiers but still managed to set off his bomb, killing himself but causing no other injuries or damage, Goldenberg said.
U.S. and Iraqi security forces quickly cordoned off the area, blocking all vehicle and pedestrian traffic out of apparent fear that further terrorist attacks could be launched against the base.
Separately, a suicide bomber injured four Iraqi civilians in a Sunday attack in a neighborhood in Mosul, 360 kilometers (225 miles) northwest of Baghdad, the U.S. military said in a statement. - AP
Sun May 22, 4:46 PM ET
UMM QASR, Iraq - The weight of a fuel truck collapsed the roof of an escape tunnel being dug out of Camp Bucca, where more than 6,000 suspected terrorists and insurgents are being held....(Excerpt)
Mon May 23, 2005 12:28 PM BST
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A car bomb at a restaurant in northern Baghdad caused more than 50 casualties on Monday, Iraqi police said.
They did not know how many people had been killed and how many wounded, but said 52 people had been caught up in the blast, which struck the restaurant at lunch time.
© Reuters 2005
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.