Posted on 05/24/2005 5:54:29 PM PDT by TexKat
U.S. forces secure the area after a bomb rigged to a parked car exploded next to an American convoy by the al-Dora bridge in Baghdad Tuesday, May 24, 2005 killing three of the soldiers, according to a U.S. military spokesman. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
Web posted at: 5/25/2005 3:31:57
Source ::: AFP
DUBAI: An Al Qaeda linked group said it was behind a car bomb attack on a convoy of a Kurdish official from the party of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani that killed five other people, according to a statement posted on its website yesterday.
The Army of Ansar al-Sunna said its militants detonated on Monday a car bomb against the convoy of an official from Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in the northern region of Kirkuk.
The official, who was not named in the statement, was "seriously wounded, and did not die," it said, calling on "those helping the Crusaders and the Jews... to repent."
Iraqi police said five people were killed and 19 others wounded when a driver in a pick-up truck blew himself up outside the town hall in the northern town of Tuz Khurmatu, 70km south of Kirkuk on Monday.
The PUK said party official Mohammed Mahmud was wounded and taken to hospital.
The Army of Ansar Al Sunna has claimed a string of attacks in Iraq, including murders of foreign hostages and Iraqis accused of "collaborating" with US-led forces.
It has often released video footage of the killings on Islamist websites.
Insurgents Flourish in Iraq's Wild West
The center of the rebel movement has shifted to Al Anbar province, near the border with Syria. But the U.S. has been moving its forces away.
By Mark Mazzetti and Solomon Moore
Times Staff Writers
May 24, 2005
WASHINGTON — The U.S. military's plan to pacify Iraq has run into trouble in a place where it urgently needs to succeed.
U.S. officials in Washington and Baghdad agree that Al Anbar province — the vast desert badlands stretching west from the cities of Fallouja and Ramadi to the lawless region abutting the Syrian border — remains the epicenter of the country's deadly insurgency.
Yet U.S. troops and military officials in the embattled province said in recent interviews that they have neither enough combat power nor enough Iraqi military support to mount an effective counterinsurgency against an increasingly sophisticated enemy.
"You can't get all the Marines and train them on a single objective, because usually the objective is bigger than you are," said Maj. Mark Lister, a senior Marine air officer in Al Anbar province. "Basically, we've got all the toys, but not enough boys."
MORE >>>> http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/complete/la-fg-milassess24may24,1,5373144,print.story?coll=la-iraq-complete <<<< MORE
Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld (right) escorts Afghan President Hamid Karzai to a full honors arrival ceremony welcoming Karzai to the Pentagon on May 23, 2005. Karzai and his delegation will later meet with Rumsfeld and his senior advisors for bilateral security discussions. DoD photo by R. D. Ward. (Released) 050523-D-9880W-232
Marine Lance Cpl. Howard Hoehmann takes aim at a target during machine gun drills aboard the USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19) while underway in the South Pacific on May 21, 2005. Hoehmann is assigned to the 2nd Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team Company, 3rd Platoon from Naval Weapons Station Yorktown, Va., which is deployed aboard the Seventh Fleet flagship. DoD photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Terry Spain, U.S. Navy. (Released)
Air Force Airman 1st Class Jeff Chairimonte attaches a reserve parachute to Capt. Matt Baugh at Aviano Air Base, Italy, in preparation for a parachute jump with soldiers from the Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade over Maniago, Italy, on May 19, 2005. Chairimonte and Baugh are attached to Tactical Air Control Party, Detachment 1, 4th Air Support Operations Group, Heidelberg, Germany. DoD photo by Staff Sgt. Michael R. Holzworth, U.S. Air Force. (Released)
U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Anacleto Zamora watches closely as an Iraqi National Guard soldier engages a down-range paper target in Irbil, Iraq, May 23, 2005. Zamora, assigned to the 1st Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne), along with a team of other Special Forces soldiers, are training the 103rd Infantry Battalion of the Iraqi National Guard in advanced infantry tactics. The soldiers are in the phase of their training which consists of shooting techniques. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Ferdinand Thomas
U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Anacleto Zamora helps an Iraqi National Guard soldier with his shooting posture in Irbil, Iraq, May 23, 2005. Zamora, assigned to 1st Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne), along with a team of other Special Forces soldiers, are training the 103rd Infantry Battalion of the Iraqi National Guard in advanced infantry tactics. The soldiers are in the phase of their training which consists of shooting techniques. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Ferdinand Thomas
An Iraqi National Guard soldier practices his marksmanship while U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers coach him on his form and aiming techniques in Irbil, Iraq, May 23, 2005. The soldiers assigned to a combined Special Forces Group are training the 103rd Infantry Battalion of the Iraqi National Guard in advanced infantry tactics. The soldiers are in the phase of their training which consists of shooting techniques. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Ferdinand Thomas
An Iraqi National Guard soldier practices clearing his weapon properly while two U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers carefully watch in Irbil, Iraq, May 23, 2005. The soldiers assigned to a combined Special Forces Group are training the 103rd Infantry Battalion of the Iraqi National Guard in advanced infantry tactics. The soldiers are in the phase of their training which consists of shooting techniques. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Ferdinand Thomas
U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Anacleto Zamora, second from left, explains to the English-speaking Iraqi Army soldier to get his troops ready for the next exercise in Irbil, Iraq, May 23, 2005. Zamora, assigned to the 1st Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne), along with a team of other Special Forces soldiers are training the 103rd Infantry Battalion of the Iraqi National Guard in advanced infantry tactics. The soldiers are in the phase of their training which consists of shooting techniques. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Ferdinand Thomas
The Arkansas National Guard welcomes home troops from all branches of the military from Arkansas who have been deployed worldwide fighting the war on terrorism, during a ceremony at the War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. Photo by Robert Carr.
Soldiers from the 940th Military Police Company, Kentucky Army National Guard, and Mongolian troops search for insurgents in Al Hillah, Iraq. Photo by Spc. Arthur Hamilton.
Soldiers from 2nd Platoon, Company B, 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, search for insurgents at a suspected hideout on the west side of the Diyala River, close to Baquba, Iraq. Photo by Spc. Gul Alisan.
Spc. Sarah Scully prepares to receive the Rising Star Print Journalist of the Year award from the Secretary of the Army Francis Harvey and Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks, Chief of Army Public Affairs. by Eric Cramer
By Joanna P. Hawkins
ARLINGTON, Va. (Army News Service May 24, 2005) - - The Army honored its best journalists at the Maj. Gen Keith L. Ware journalism awards ceremony May 24 at the Pentagon.
Secretary of the Army Francis J. Harvey and Brig. Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, Chief of Army Public Affairs, played host to the awards ceremony.
Sgt. Lorie Jewell, with the 107th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, received the Paul. D. Savanuck Print Journalist of the Year award, which recognizes outstanding military journalists. In an earlier ceremony, she also received the Thomas Jefferson Award as the top print journalist in the Department of Defense.
“There are so many people who deserve these awards,” said Jewell. “I’m happy and honored they selected me.”
Jewell gave credit to all the Soldiers who willingly opened up and shared their personal stories with her.
A Florida National Guard Soldier, Jewell is currently deployed as part of Multi-National Security Transition Command – Iraq. Before volunteering for her current assignment, she worked as a daily print journalist for the Tampa Tribune.
Sgt. 1st Class Mike Lavigne, with Soldiers Radio and Television in Alexandria, earned the John T. Anderson Military Broadcast Journalist of the Year award.
“This means more to me than any professional recognition I’ve ever gotten,” said Lavigne. He added that having his family at the ceremony made the recognition even more rewarding.
Lavigne is the senior correspondent for SRTV. He was a member of the Army’s Old Guard at Fort Myer, Va., before becoming a broadcaster in 1999.
Ali Leone received the Moss-Holland Civilian Print Journalist of the Year award for her work at the Fort Bragg "Paraglide." Leone admitted that she was shocked to receive the award and felt it was a great honor.
Spc. Sarah Scully, of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Corps at Fort Lewis, Wash., received the Rising Star Print Journalist of the Year honor for outstanding new writer. She said her award was for the Soldiers whose stories she had the opportunity to tell.
Spc. Chris Higginbotham, 21st Theater Support Command in Kaiserslautern, Germany, earned the Rising Star Broadcast Journalist of the Year for outstanding new broadcaster.
Higginbotham said receiving this honor is a reflection of the good leadership in his command.
The Rising Star awards recognize excellence in military journalism from the newest members of the career field.
Jewell received the Army Meritorious Service Medal in recognition of her achievements. Lavigne, Scully and Higginbotham each received the Army Commendation Medal.
Award recipients also received gifts from the Association of the United States Army, the Army Times and the Non-Commissioned Officers Association.
Harvey met informally with the honorees before the ceremony, congratulating them on their achievements and soliciting their comments.
He thanked the honorees for their outstanding work and commitment to excellence.
“These outstanding Army journalists have made significant contributions and the Army is better for their contributions,” Harvey said.
Editor's Note: Images of all winners are available at the Army Images Web site: http://www4.army.mil/armyimages/index.php?search=&btn=Search+Army+Images&range=all
The Al-Qaeda network is actively seeking to destablize west Africa, partly through its links with ex-Liberian president Charles Taylor, pictured in 2003, who has given sanctuary to the network's operatives, a UN-backed court said.(AFP/File/Georges Gobet)
Al-Qaeda and Liberia's Taylor working to destabilize West Africa: UN
Tue May 24, 6:38 PM ET
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - The Al-Qaeda terror network is active in West Africa and seeks to destabilize the region through its links with Liberian former president Charles Taylor, members of a UN appointed tribunal said.
Taylor faces a 17-count indictment by the Special Court for Sierra Leone. He is accused of arming and training rebels in exchange for so-called "blood diamonds."
The main target is Guinea, where Taylor has been linked to the January 19 assassination attempt on President Lansana Conte, the tribunal's main researcher said at a press conference here.
Chief investigator Al White emphasized that the researchers have been "receiving credible, reliable information" on the destabilization plans "from sources and witnesses we've been dealing with for three years in the region."
The sources report that Taylor "is actively involved in trying to destabilize the region and there will be another threat and another attempt very, very soon," White said.
Until Taylor is brought to justice "he will be an immediate, clear and present danger to peace and security not only in Liberia but in the entire West African region," White added.
White also said that Taylor was linked to unrest in nearby Ivory Coast.
Taylor, the former president of Liberia, is charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity by the Special Tribunal for his role in that neighboring country's 1991-2001 civil war.
Nigeria granted him asylum in August 2003 believing that, despite an international arrest warrant, the move would help facilitate peace in Liberia.
Within a month of arriving in Sierra Leone in May 2002 members of the tribunal "ran smack dab in the middle of Al-Qaeda," said tribunal prosecutor David Crane.
"Al-Qaeda has been in West Africa. It continues to be in West Africa and Charles Taylor has been harboring members of Al-Qaeda," Crane said.
Taylor harbored Al-Qaeda members, including those who participated in the 1998 US embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya, said Crane. "We also have activities as late as 6 April 2005," he said.
In late February Taylor flew to Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, where he met with one Francis Kalawalo, who later announced a bid for president in the October 2005 Liberian elections.
Taylor gave Kalawo money to support his presidential bid, Crane said.
"The key is that the money that was passed, we expect to be money that was sent from a bank in Dubai to Charles Taylor through a courier named Mohamed Mustafa Fahil who is an Al Qaeda operative," Crane said.
The money was delivered to Taylor in Calabar, the southwestern Nigerian town where he is spending his time in exile, Crane said.
Fadil "was known to many people as Mohamed Fattal, and they knew him as a Middle Eastern businessman since 1997" and was a frequent Taylor visitor, White added.
According to the investigator's information Taylor is "looking to leave and leave soon, particularly if in fact Guinea does fall and falls soon -- and you heard it from us," White said.
On May 4 the US House of Representatives passed a measure calling on Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo to cancel Taylor's political asylum.
Wednesday May 25, 2005, 12:42 pm
SYDNEY, May 25 (Reuters) - AWB Ltd. (ASX: AWB.ax) , Australia's monopoly wheat exporter, said on Wednesday it expected the fate of disputed wheat shipments stuck in an Iraqi port to be settled in several days.
Iraq has refused to unload the last three wheat shipments under a one-million-tonne supply contract from Australia, its biggest supplier, because it says they are contaminated with iron dust.
Australia has said its own tests on the cargoes, currently at anchor off the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr, show no contamination.
"We hope it will be resolved in the next several days," Managing Director Andrew Lindberg told Reuters.
Sgt. Anthony Johnson a wheeled vehicle operator with the 396th Transportation Company, 87th Corps Support Battalion, Division Support Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, is awarded the Purple Heart by Col. Brian R, Layer, DSB commander May 17.
8:27 PM PDT, May 24, 2005
By Jeffrey Fleishman, Times Staff Writer
BAGHDAD — Scar tissue from shrapnel runs like a shiny thread above Jawad Ali's ear. It rises like a blister on his thumb. His skin is a diary of these brutal streets. He slipped out of his bulletproof vest the other day and pulled down his collar, exposing a bullet wound from an insurgent attack on his way to work.
"I was interviewed on Iraqi TV five months ago," said Ali, a 19-year police veteran with a wife and four daughters. "The insurgents must have seen me and identified me. The next morning when I came toward the station, I was shot in my civilian clothes. These days I'm afraid of nothing but God. It is our manhood that keeps us coming to work." ........(Excerpt)
Good night TK.
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
By Lawrence Messina, Associated Press Writer
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - A Pentagon analyst previously accused of leaking top-secret information to a pro-Israel group was charged Tuesday with illegally taking classified government documents out of the Washington area to his West Virginia residence.
Lawrence A. Franklin, 58, was not authorized to take such documents to his home in Kearneysville, according to the federal charge issued along with an arrest warrant by U.S. Attorney Thomas E. Johnston.
Franklin surrendered to FBI agents and appeared before a federal magistrate in Martinsburg. He was released Tuesday on $50,000 bond and faces a June 9 hearing on the latest charge.
Franklin's lawyer, Plato Cacheris, was not immediately available for comment following the court appearance.
The FBI found 83 classified documents in Franklin's home in the Eastern Panhandle town in June 2004, the documents said. Investigators say 38 of those documents were top secret and 37 others were classified as secret.
Tuesday's charge of unlawfully possessing classified federal defense documents focuses on six of the documents, which were written between October 2003 and June 2004. Four were CIA documents, including three about al-Qaida and one involving Osama bin Laden. Two of those documents were classified top secret, the rest as secret.
Franklin was authorized to carry such documents within the Washington-Baltimore-Richmond area but not to West Virginia, the announcement said.
Franklin, a specialist in Iranian and Middle Eastern affairs, had consented to the June 2004 search while the FBI investigated whether Israel improperly obtained U.S. secrets. He lost his clearance to review top secret documents that same month.
He was charged May 3 with providing top-secret information about potential attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq to two executives of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the influential pro-Israel lobbying group.
Franklin faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted of the charge filed Tuesday. The earlier charge carries a similar prison term.
During a May 4 hearing for the previous charge, Franklin posted $100,000 bail and agreed to surrender his firearms and passport. He has a preliminary hearing Friday on that charge.
Abbas arrives in Washington expecting U.S. support
25 May 2005 04:28:52 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Wafa Amr
WASHINGTON, May 24 (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Washington on Tuesday for his first White House visit, to assure U.S. President George W. Bush he is a serious partner for peace with Israel, officials said.
Abbas' visit is the first by a Palestinian president since 2000, when Middle East peace negotiations collapsed into violence for which U.S. officials often blamed Abbas' late predecessor, Yasser Arafat.
"We want from the United States a clear political position regarding the implementation of the road map as well as economic aid," he told reporters, referring to the U.S.-backed plan for Middle East peace. "We hope we can get it."
Palestinian officials said Abbas expects strong support from Bush for his democratization and reform efforts but he has scaled back expectations of concrete U.S. promises to push Israel to enter "final-status" negotiations on a Palestinian state once Israel withdraws from the occupied Gaza Strip in three months.
Washington, eager to end the deadlock in the peace process, has welcomed Abbas' ability to extract a cease fire from Palestinian militant groups and his efforts to achieve statehood through democratic and peaceful means.
"President Abbas will prove to Mr. Bush he is a serious partner for peace. He will brief Mr. Bush on his achievements on democratization and security reforms," a senior Palestinian official said.
"But he will also make clear that democracy cannot flourish under occupation and will ask for help to end that occupation," another official told Reuters.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told pro-Israel lobbyists in Washington that Bush would emphasize the importance of Abbas enhancing democracy in the Palestinian areas.
"We are democratizing, and now we want our freedom," Palestinian Finance Minister Salam Fayyad said.
WARY OF GAZA PLAN
Officials said Abbas will tell Bush in talks at the White House on Thursday he has serious concerns about Israel's mid-August disengagement plan. The plan, including the evacuation of all 21 Jewish settlements in Gaza and four out of 120 in the West Bank, would threaten Bush's vision for the establishment of a viable Palestinian state.
Palestinians welcome the prospect of taking over Gaza but say that if Israel keeps larger tracts of the West Bank as the trade-off, it would be impossible to set up a viable, territorially contiguous state.
"President Abbas will ask Bush for assurances that the final status of the West Bank and Gaza will not be preempted by the Gaza disengagement plan," a senior Palestinian official said.
On Tuesday in Washington, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, in a speech to the most powerful U.S. pro-Israel group, the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee, proposed coordinating with the Palestinian Authority Israel's planned pullout from the Gaza Strip.
He said such cooperation would enable Israel and the Palestinians "to embark on a new era of trust and build our relations with the Palestinian Authority."
ABBAS TO PRESENT BUSH WITH SETTLEMENTS MAPS
Officials said Abbas will show Bush on Thursday maps that detail the expansion of settlement activity in the West Bank, including Arab East Jerusalem -- a violation of the road map -- and that show how a barrier snaking through the West Bank - jeopardizes Bush's two-state vision.
"Abbas will also tell Bush that the Palestinians have made historic compromises by showing him a map of historic Palestine and a map of the West Bank and Gaza which the Palestinians now seek for a state and that comprise only 22 percent of all of Palestine," one official said.
A third map Abbas will show Bush will highlight how limited the Gaza disengagement plan would be "and show that in return for evacuating 21 small settlements in Gaza, Israel was building many more in the West Bank and plans to eat up big chunks of the West Bank by annexing large settlement blocs there."
"The Americans understand our concern but it remains unclear whether they have a clear political vision for what comes after the Gaza evacuation," a senior Palestinian official said.
AlertNet news
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N25351264.htm
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
An Iraqi girl holds stuffed toys sent to Iraq by Teddy Bears for Peace, which was started by Buck Payne. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Army Major Russell Goemaere)
Stuffed toy bears given to Iraqi kids as message of love.
By Erica Franklin - JOURNAL REPORTER
Despite a near-death experience in a military helicopter crash in July 2003, Army Capt. Taryn Burgess has made strides to create peace with Iraqis.
In April, with the crash still in her memory, Burgess had her father, Buck Payne, of Winston-Salem, buy $100 worth of teddy bears with money from her checking account to send to Iraqi children. His daughter's act of kindness inspired Payne to form Teddy Bears for Peace.
Payne said that his daughter, having seen the terrifying and dreadful living conditions of the Iraqi children, believes that every child at least deserves a teddy bear to cuddle at night and play with during the day. He used that thought to make a pitch for donations of teddy bears or money to buy bears in a letter he sent to community organizations.
As of May 20, Teddy Bears for Peace has sent more than 1,000 stuffed animals to U.S. battalions to give away to Iraqi children to show love and harmony for humankind. The organization hopes to give away many more.
Payne said that the idea is to improve the negative opinions some Iraqis have about Americans. He said he hopes that those Iraqis might change their minds if they see Americans doing something nice for their children.
"We are not trying to win the war with the teddy bears, but if it would help to end it one day sooner and at least put a long-awaited smile on a child's face, it will be worth our efforts," Payne said.
Burgess said she believes that the effort is important in helping change the attitudes of Iraqis.
"We may never change the parents' minds of us and this new government they are starting as a whole, but this can play a big difference in helping to win the hearts of the children so they see us as their allies and friends, not as their enemies," Burgess said in an e-mail conversation from Iraq.
Burgess is a graduate of West Forsyth High School and Campbell University. She has been in the Army since May 1999.
On the night of July 3, 2003, she was the co-pilot of a Kiowa helicopter that crashed outside of Baghdad. The helicopter dove to the ground from just 12 feet, but its 5,200-pound frame caused a severe impact in a crash brought on by the desert heat and wind-whipped sand. Burgess and the other pilot, Chief Warrant Officer Steve Salinas, escaped with bruises. Burgess went back to work the next day.
As she continued to serve in Iraq, she continued to notice the plight of the children, which led her to reach out to her father. Then, when others heard of Payne's efforts, they immediately began to help.
Guy Schuman, the president of the Winston-Salem Warthogs baseball team, became one of many people helping collect teddy bears. The Warthogs sponsored Teddy Bears for Peace Night, in which tickets were sold as "buy-one-get-one-free" if a person donated a teddy bear.
"We saw this as a way for us to assist Buck and his group in some small way to positively affect the lives of children who are living through a very stressful time and situation," Schuman said.
Payne, a member of Calvary Baptist Church, said that other members of his church have helped to promote Teddy Bears for Peace. He said that the members talked to others in the community; these others included members of other churches.
Members of Center Grove Baptist Church, Reynolda Presbyterian Church, and Word for Wisdom Fellowship have helped with the donation, collection and shipping of bears.
Pat Macy, a member of Reynolda Presbyterian Church, said that it's one thing to attend church, but another "to be a church."
"Although we could not be there to wrap our arms around the children, it was our prayer they (Iraqi children) would receive love and support from God by way of the teddy bears," Macy said.
"We were inspired by Taryn's vision. It is wonderful to see the outpour of love and concern in a simple yet tangible way."
Teddy bears have been collected in storage containers donated by Lentz Transfer & Storage Co. and shipped to Burgess, who then sends them to the 443 Civil Affairs Battalion.
From there, the bears are given to different units to hand out to Iraqi children during outings near orphanages and hospitals.
At first, Payne thought the organization would have to stop operations at the end of this month because of the limited amount of help and support. Today, he said, he looks forward to continuing.
"We plan to send our story to Oprah and the president, and see where we can go from there," Payne said.
• Erica Franklin can be reached at 727-7381 or at efranklin@wsjournal.com
• People who would like to donate to Teddy Bears for Peace can visit one of the churches mentioned or the Forsyth County offices of the N.C. Farm Bureau, where Payne works. The bureau's main office in the county is at 4280 Patterson Ave. in Winston-Salem. Payne also said that people can call him at 766-9099.
May 25, 2005
Antonio Castaneda - Associated Press
HADITHA, Iraq -- About 1,000 U.S. Marines, sailors and soldiers encircled this Euphrates River city in the troubled Anbar province Wednesday, killing at least three insurgents after launching the second major operation in this vast western region in less than a month, an official said.
The offensives are aimed at uprooting insurgents who have killed more than 620 people since a new Iraqi government was announced on April 28.
Helicopters swept down near palm tree groves, dropping off Marines who blocked off one side of Haditha, while other troops on foot and in armored vehicles established checkpoints and began moving toward the center of this city, 140 miles northwest of Baghdad. U.S. warplanes circled overhead.
"Right now there's a larger threat than should be in Haditha, and we're here to tell them that they're not welcome,'' said Lt. Col. Lionel Urquhart, commander of the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, which is part of the operation.
The assault, called Operation New Market, focused on this city of about 90,000 people. Earlier this month insurgents launched a multistage attack from a Haditha hospital, killing four U.S. troops in an ambush that included a suicide car bomber, a roadside bomb, and gunfire from fortified positions in the hospital, which was partially destroyed in the attack.
According to initial reports, three insurgents were killed in gun battles that broke out after U.S. forces entered this town before dawn, Marine Capt. Christopher Toland told an Associated Press reporter embedded with U.S. forces.
Two Marines were also wounded and evacuated, Toland said.
Ooh. I like the new breaking news icon! I also really really like the breaking news!
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Red X...
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