Operation Phantom Fury--Day 272 - Now Operations River Blitz; Matador--Day 167

'Quick Strike' Moves Into Area Where Marines Were Killed

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5, 2005 – About 1,000 Iraqi security force soldiers and U.S. Marines from Regimental Combat Team 2 moved into the city of Haqliniyah, Iraq, and the surrounding area today as part of Operation Quick Strike.

The operation began Aug. 3 with Iraqi soldiers and U.S. Marines positioning their units.

Coalition forces confirmed through gathered intelligence that terrorists are operating in these cities and surrounding areas.

Iraqi special operations forces this morning directed an air strike on terrorists hiding in buildings outside of Haqliniyah, about seven kilometers southwest of Haditha, where 20 Marines were killed in two widely reported attacks this week. Marine pilots attacked terrorists who were using these buildings to fire small arms at the Iraqi forces.

Elsewhere during the operation, while searching for evidence of terrorist activity, Iraqi soldiers and U.S. Marines came across two adjacent buildings with wires running between the structures. The wires were connected to numerous 155 mm artillery rounds scattered throughout both buildings. The two buildings were subsequently destroyed.

Tanks also fired on a building in Haqliniyah that terrorists were using to engage coalition forces with small-arms and rocket-propelled-grenade fire.

The intent of Operation Quick Strike is to interdict and disrupt terrorists' presence in the Haditha, Haqliniyah, and Barwanah areas, U.S. officials said. About 800 U.S. Marines and sailors and 180 Iraqi soldiers are participating in the operation.

In other news from Iraq, a 45-year-old Iraqi man died Aug. 4 from multiple organ failure as a result of gunshot injuries suffered while engaging coalition forces.

The detainee was evacuated to the 86th Combat Support Hospital on July 24 and underwent extensive surgery on his chest, arm and abdomen, officials said. He was transferred to the 344th Field Hospital in Baghdad on July 26, where he developed a serious tissue infection. Despite aggressive antibiotic therapy, the infection spread to the blood and eventually resulted in multi-organ failure and death, officials said.

The remains will be transferred to the family upon completion of an autopsy. This is standing procedure for all detainees who die while in custody of Multinational Force Iraq, officials said.

Also on Aug. 4, Iraqi security forces supported by coalition forces conducted a joint search for known terrorists in the Nasr area, just northwest of Nasiriyah. Iraqi and coalition forces detained 17 suspects and confiscated nine vehicles during the operation.

Elsewhere, Iraqi army soldiers detained three suspected terrorists after targeted searches in Mosul today. No injuries or damages were reported during the operations.

Terrorists attacked Iraqi police officers eating lunch near the market in Old Baqubah on Aug. 4 with small-arms fire. The officers returned fire and pursued their attackers, eventually catching two of them. The detainees were transported to a nearby jail for questioning.

(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq and Multinational Security Transition Command Iraq news releases.)

U.S. General: Taliban Weakened By Afghan Reconstruction

By Gerry J. Gilmore - American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5, 2005 – Members of the deposed Taliban, who had hosted and supported Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network in Afghanistan, are seeking to harass and stop coalition reconstruction efforts across the country, a senior U.S. military operations officer there reported Aug. 4.

The Taliban are "losing their legitimacy" in the eyes of Afghan citizens because of myriad coalition reconstruction projects, like road building, water purification, well digging, and school- and hospital-refurbishing, conducted across Afghanistan, Army Brig. Gen. James G. Champion, deputy commanding general of operations and intelligence for Combined Joint Task Force 76, told reporters at a news briefing via an audio link to the Pentagon.

As a result, the Taliban "are becoming more ruthless and continue to try and halt reconstruction," Champion said, noting the insurgents now operate in small groups and try to avoid major engagements with coalition forces.

Afghan National Army soldiers have "taken on the main role of combating terrorist activity" in Oruzgan province, the general said. "Every time the enemy has come into contact with Afghan and coalition forces here, they have been decisively defeated," Champion said.

There are now about 18,000 U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, Champion said, noting that U.S. and coalition forces have been aggressive in seeking out and engaging the enemy since good weather arrived this spring.

Champion said the insurgent situation in Zabul and northern Kandahar provinces is similar to that of Oruzgan: "The enemy attacks in small groups and are more cowardly in their tactics." Yet, despite enemy activity in these two provinces, there is still strong public support for the government of Afghanistan, Champion said, pointing to major coalition reconstruction projects in the region. The Tarin Kowt to Kandahar road is slated for early completion on Sept. 15, just days before the Sept. 18 Afghan elections. Champion noted that more than 2,000 Afghans are working in Zabul and northern Kandahar provinces on numerous reconstruction and development projects.

"With the completion of the TK to Kandahar road, we anticipate even more job opportunities," Champion pointed out.

Operation Thunder Cat nets 171 suspected terrorists

An Iraqi Soldier with 3rd Battalion, 3rd Iraqi Army Brigade searches a home in the west Abu Ghraib district of Baghdad during Operation Thunder Cat July 30. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Timothy Belt)

August 05, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Soldiers of the 256th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, and the 1st and 3rd Iraqi Army Brigades, 6th Division, conducted combined offensive operations called Operation Thunder Cat I July 26-30—a series of cordon-and-attack missions which resulted in the capture of 171 suspected terrorists.

Thunder Cat was part of a much larger Task Force Baghdad operation called Operation Thunder. The focus of this operation and future operations is to disrupt and destroy the insurgency, said Brig. Gen. John Basilica Jr., 256th Bde. Combat Team commander.

"This operation was primarily an Iraqi Army mission, beginning with intelligence gathering, all the way through to the capture and detainment of the Anti-Iraqi Forces," he said. "Our brigade provided staff assistance to the Iraqi Security Forces and added combat power if needed."

Of the 127 suspected terrorists, 33 were specific brigade-level targets of the 1st Iraq Army Brigade captured by Soldiers from 2nd, 4th and 5th battalions.

"Operation Thunder Cat was an outstanding opportunity for the Iraqis to demonstrate their continued development into a fully operational combat unit," said Maj. Stuart Burruss, from New Orleans, executive officer for 2nd Battalion, 156th Infantry Regiment, who worked with the 5th Battalion, 1st IA Brigade during this operation.

"The 5th Bn. leaders did an outstanding job preparing for and executing the mission," he said.

This was proven by their performance, both technically and tactically sound. It was also shown by the high morale of the junior leaders and Soldiers, Burruss added.

One of the most successful operations belonged to 3rd Battalion, 3rd Iraqi Army Brigade, who captured 45 detainees in the west Abu Ghraib district of Baghdad. Soldiers of 2nd Battalion, 130th Infantry Regiment, 256th BCT, supported the mission by providing outer security.

Capt. Kurt Merseal from Steeleville, Mo., commander of C Company, 2/130th Inf. Bn., said the IA showed significant improvement throughout Thunder Cat. "The Iraqi Army has progressed so much as a team and unit, and it is satisfying for me to assist them in accomplishing our collective goal," he said.

"I noticed that the IA has improved their situational awareness, as well as working together as a team," said Staff Sgt. Ronald Floyd, a squad leader for C Co., 2/130th Inf. Bn., from Villa Grove, Ill. "As they improve, it helps Coalition Forces and Iraqi citizens move forward."

Joint missions involving forces from different commands creates challenges in planning, execution and reporting which adds significant complexity to the operations, explained Basilica.

Operation Thunder Cat was the first time these challenges were managed using state-of-the-art computer networks to coordinate the efforts of the three brigades.

"The Iraqi Army has done a superb job and I am very proud of what they accomplished. The measure of success for this operation is not only the number of insurgents captured, but proof positive of the Iraqi Army’s growth as a military force. It is also a clear indication that they are becoming stronger and more capable as a team," Basilica exclaimed.

By 1st Lt. Taysha Deaton - 256th Brigade Combat Team PAO

Secretary Recognizes 'America Supports You' Team Members

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld (center) thanks team members of the America Support You program. Joining him (from left) are Pete Maddox, Kristen Maddox, Shauna Fleming, Evelyn Polizzi, Mike Fleming, Tom Anton, Robin Fleming, Gail Chavez and Lester Surgener. (Photo by Tech. Sgt. Kevin J. Gruenwald, USAF)

August 05, 2005

LOS ANGELES, California -- Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld expressed personal words of appreciation to local grassroots supporters of U. S. servicemembers and the Defense Department's "America Supports You" program here Aug. 4.

Here to address the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, the secretary met briefly with the America Supports You team members to thank them for their tireless dedication in supporting troops and their families. "It's a great group," Rumsfeld said as he posed for photos with the volunteers.

Their efforts run the gamut, from 21-year-old Kristen Maddox's "Helping Our Troops" program that delivers specially requested items ranging from favorite snacks to hygiene items and shirts to deployed troops, to 11th-grader Shauna Fleming's "A Million Thanks" campaign that has sent 1. 6 million letters of appreciation to troops to help boost morale.

Linda Patterson and Joseph Spooner represented the 37-year-old "America Supporting Americans" program Patterson founded two weeks before her brother was killed in Vietnam, which has since grown to include more than 100 U. S. cities adopting deployed units. Evelyn Polizzi and Gail Chavez came as founders of the Torrence, Calif. , chapter of Blue Star Mothers of America, a support group for families whose loved ones are serving or have served in the military. Tom Anton and Lester Surgener came representing "Cooks from the Valley," a group that has purchased and prepared more than 40,000 12-ounce New York strip steaks for deployed or soon-to-deploy sailors, Marines and soldiers.

In his speech to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, Rumsfeld recognized the group and encouraged members to visit the America Supports You Web site, at www. americasupportsyou. mil, to learn about the vast array of activities families, schools, clubs, corporations and organizations are undertaking under the America Supports You program.

It's "a compilation of all the things that we know of that are being done across our country to support the troops and to support their families," he said. "And you will be impressed and amazed at the creativity and the generosity and the energy that is being put into this important activity. "

The effort "says a great deal about the hearts of the American people," the secretary said.

"We are, as a country, . . . greatly in the debt of those who raise their hands and say, 'Send me,'" Rumsfeld said. "Day in and day out across this globe, American men and women in uniform -- soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines -- are on the front line, fighting in this global war on terror. They're doing noble work. They are proud of what they are doing. And . . . our country is deeply in their debt. "

Supporters of the program told the American Forces Press Service they feel a personal bond with the troops and want to do whatever they can to remind them that the American people are behind them.

Maddox, from Santa Ana, Calif. , said she started the "Helping Our Troops" program when a friend, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. John Richardson, deployed overseas for the third time, on her 21st birthday.

"All the people over there are my age. It's my generation over there," she said. "And since I can't be with them, I'm doing what I can, providing some of the things they want or need. "

Maddox prides herself on offering personalized service, allowing troops to make special requests, buying those items and sending them directly to the requester. With $5,000 of her own money, private and corporate donations, and operational costs covered by her father, Pete Maddox's, company, Commerce Technologies, she has sent more than 500 packages to deployed troops and hopes to ship off another 300 soon.

Fleming started "A Million Thanks" after her father, Mike Fleming, urged her to channel a high school project into doing something special for the troops. Two years earlier, her dad had started an annual campaign to send valentines to U. S. forces serving in the global war on terror. Shauna decided to follow his example and send "thank you" letters to the troops.

With support from her entire Orange Lutheran High School and other local California schools, the project grew by leaps and bounds. Letters poured in, "from a 2-year-old scribbling on paper to messages from World War II veterans," she said. In November, Shauna presented the program's millionth letter to President Bush during a ceremony at the White House, and now she hopes to start new chapters throughout the country to broaden the effort.

Patterson has watched "America Supporting Americans" blossom since 1968, when San Mateo, Calif. , became the first city to "adopt" a military unit, the 101st Airborne Division. At the time, Patterson's brother, Sgt. Joe Artavia, was deployed to Vietnam with the unit, but he was killed two weeks after the program began. Now, with more than 100 cities in 22 states participating, Patterson is keeping her brother's memory alive and hoping for even more growth for the program.

Much has changed in the United States since the program's beginnings, and Patterson said she's happy to see the American people rallying behind the men and women in the armed forces. "To see the country come together is extremely rewarding and beneficial to our troops," she said.

Polizzi and Chavez started Chapter 5 of Blue Star Mothers of America to help military families during their loved ones' deployments. "It's a stressful time for families," said Polizzi, whose son, Marine Lance Cpl. Ryan Polizzi, is about to deploy with his Marine Corps Reserve unit. Chavez' son, Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Daniel Stephenson, already has served two deployments, so she understands the comfort a support network provides for the families awaiting their safe return.

"The idea is to give you a sense of community, that you're all in this together," said Polizzi. "It keeps your minds on the positive things. "

Anton and Surgener began their "Cooks from the Valley" effort preparing gourmet steaks for sailors aboard aircraft carriers. They expanded the operation to feed a Marine battle group just before its members left for Iraq, and traveled to Fort Lewis, Wash. , to grill up steaks for a Stryker battalion. Now they have their hearts set on traveling to Iraq to treat deployed troops there to juicy American steaks.

"It's a piece of home that we're able to bring these men and women," Anton said. "It's a way of showing that absolute strangers care about absolute strangers. "

Part of the motivation for their effort is ensuring that today's military members never experience the lack of support Vietnam veterans like Surgener's father faced. "Each community and each person has something they can do for the military," Anton said. "Regardless of our political views, we all have an obligation to support our troops. "

While their efforts vary tremendously, all participants in the America Supports You program said they're consistently driven to do more and give more because of the letters, e-mails and calls of thanks they get from the troops they're helping support.

"They're just so thankful," Maddox said. "I've never met people with more honor and integrity than those who serve in the military. "

By Donna Miles - American Forces Press Service

Chaplains celebrate 230 years of service

U.S. Army Photo

August 05, 2005

ANACONDA, Balad, Iraq -- Soldiers gathered at Logistics Support Area Anaconda to recognize 230 years of dedicated service by U.S. Army chaplains July 22.

The Soldiers celebrated with a dinner provided by dining facility one and words of wisdom from the night’s guest speaker.

The anniversary dinner began with Chaplain (Col.) David Reese, 1st Corps Support Command chaplain, welcoming the guests and telling about the history of the chaplain’s corps.

"There could be no better place to celebrate 230 years of service than amongst warriors here in Iraq," Reese said.

The Army chaplain’s corps dates back to July 1775. In the beginning of the chaplain’s corps, the chaplains were given many duties and not utilized to their full potential, Reese said. However, times have changed and the US fully recognizes the need for chaplain support in the military.

Also, Reese recognized those who have supported chaplains and made their job possible along the way including commanders and sergeants major.

"Our job is made easier thanks to the support and great dedication of the noncommissioned officers and commanders who have stood behind us throughout the years," he said.

After Reese recognized and thanked the guests for their support, all were welcomed to take part in the dinner prepared by the dining facility employees.

Upon completion of their meals, the attendants were introduced to the night’s guest speaker, Chaplain (Col.) Lilton J. Marks, command chaplain, Training and Doctrine Command.

Marks stated what a privilege it is to be in Iraq to provide religious support to the troops during such trying times.

"We are not always afforded the luxury of living in happy times. Learning to face the cold winter winds is what we are doing now in Iraq," Marks said.

Marks continued to speak with the guests about the obstacles the chaplain’s corps has been faced with and the many more the future will bring.

"All of our challenges may cause confusion, but we must not lose our focus."

"We must have a vision for what we are to do for our nation, families and our troops," he said.

Marks also spoke about Iraq and the support servicemembers provide to the citizens.

"We must respect the country’s diversity. We need a vision, a vision to help the people that have been oppressed. Our vision will enable us to look not what we are doing right now, but what we need to do for ourselves and this country. Let us open to people everywhere and uplift them. Give them a vision to reach. Let us be a part of that larger team."

He also spoke with the guests about the importance of understanding and upholding the corps values before helping with the Army’s values.

In closing, before the benediction, Marks said, "There is more to our lives than what we can see. We must always walk by faith, not by sight.

"We must not just talk the talk, but walk the walk as well," he said. "We need to take our service to the next level and maintain our vision, which will guide us through the next 230 years."

Editor’s note: Spc. Ruscio is a member of the 27th Public Affairs Detachment, Fort Drum, NY. She is currently deployed to Iraq in support of units at LSA Anaconda.

By Spc. Laura E. Ruscio - 27th Public Affairs Detachment

In Iraq, fighting roadside bombs is full-time job

8/6/2005 - 3:21:32

Source ::: Reuters

ABU GHRAIB, Iraq: US troops slowly shovel through garbage for the deadliest weapon they face. It's tedious work in blistering heat but they can't rest. Searching for roadside bombs in Iraq has become a 24-hour-a-day job.

"We have two 12-hour shifts a day, every day. We find that if we don't monitor all of our positions constantly it's a problem," said Captain Ryan Keys, from Lisbon, Maine.

"If we leave one area for two to three hours then come back, an IED (improvised explosive device) could be waiting for us."

American and Iraqi troops have been attacked with suicide bombs, car bombs, mortars and assault rifles. But the roadside bombs, which troops call IEDs, have been especially deadly.

Hidden in traffic cones, cans and even dead animals, they are the leading killer of US troops, accounting for more than 35 per cent of total deaths.

One of the devices tore into an amphibious assault vehicle and killed 14 Marines this week, reminding American commanders the makeshift device defies the world's most powerful military. US troops have embarked on a new strategy for fighting the bombs in Abu Ghraib, a rebel stronghold just west of Baghdad.

Instead of standard patrols, they try to pressure insurgents by maintaining a 24-hour presence in one area. It's designed to give guerrillas less time to hide bombs and force them to leave them on roads, where they are easier to spot.

Two 12-hour shifts of troops patrol highways and deploy snipers to kill guerrillas planting explosives.

Openly stopping Iraqi civilians for information puts them at risk so people are encouraged to leave tips on a telephone hotline.

Yesterday, US soldiers set out to uncover IEDs along Saddam canal, named after the former Iraqi leader. They slowly scanned for bombs with metal detectors and shovels.

"When you hit something solid you dig around the object so you don't hit any bombs," said Specialist Japheth Hester, 21, from Wilmington, North Carolina. Gunfire soon erupted across a highway beside the waterway. Soldiers said Iraqi troops were shooting at six insurgents they suspected of planting roadside bombs.

The suspects fled. The mother of one of them said he had just gone to the garden to tell his brother to come inside because Iraqi forces had arrived. "He did nothing wrong," said Malika Hussein.

Asked whether he had seen anyone planting bombs, one of the Iraqi soldiers said: "We expected them to plant bombs."

The conflicting and confusing accounts showed how difficult it can be to find good intelligence and track down those responsible for planting IEDs.

Nobody seemed to be in any hurry after the incident. A young girl held her doll and an Iraqi soldier stood near her with a rocket propelled grenade (RPG). A radio in a pick-up truck broadcast a man urging Iraqis to fight terrorism.

The US soldiers hunting roadside bombs are members of a squadron that played the enemy in training exercises for Iraq. They practised planting IEDs and staging ambushes at a California base. "We have an edge over others," said Captain Marc Pelini.

Breaking the hierarchy of the IED network is a daunting task. Pelini compares it to the Mafia in the United States.

"Commanders plan, mid-level people make bombs and there are people who just plant the bombs. This area has 40 percent unemployment, so some do it for the buck, for $100," he said.

Abu Ghraib has not had an Iraqi security force or police presence for eight months so getting Iraqi troops trained for joint patrols is a priority, said US officers. But many Iraqi soldiers remain poorly trained and nervous.

Israel orders cruise ships not to dock

8/5/2005 - 3:19:27 PM

Israeli Transportation Minister Meir Sheetrit today ordered four Israeli cruise ships carrying hundreds of tourists not to dock at the Turkish port of Alanya after receiving warnings of a possible terrorist attack, officials said.

“There was a warning,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev, who confirmed the ships were rerouted. He declined to say where they were sent, or provide details about the nature of the warning.

Israel’s Army Radio said the ships were carrying 3,500 Israeli tourists.

A spokesman for Turkey’s Interior Ministry had no information about ships being diverted or any threats in Alanya.

Islamic militants in Turkey affiliated with al Qaida bombed two synagogues, a London-based bank and the British Consulate in attacks in November 2003, killing 58 people and wounding hundreds more. More than 60 people are currently on trial in connection with the attacks.

The suspects said they originally planned to attack an Israeli ship in the Mediterranean, according to the prosecutor’s indictment.

During the trial, some of the defendants also testified that their ringleader had met with Abu Hafs al-Masri, a former top lieutenant of Osama bin Laden, in 2001 and discussed an attack on an Israeli ship making a call in Turkey, or on the southern Turkish Incirlik air base, which is used by US jets.

Radical endorses Iraq jihad

By Cameron Stewart

Aug 6, 2005

HE preaches that Osama bin Laden is a great man and he does not oppose local Muslims travelling to Iraq to fight Australian troops.

But 15 years ago, self-styled Melbourne Islamic radical Nacer Benbrika told a very different story to Australian authorities when pleading to stay in this country.

He told them it was "his love of the Australian lifestyle" that made him want to live here.

What is more, Benbrika, who now openly supports violent jihad overseas, told authorities in 1990 that he feared for his life if he were sent back to the "dangers" of his native Algeria.

Since then, Benbrika has freely roamed the dark side of Melbourne's Muslim community, teaching a radical interpretation of Islam to young, impressionable Muslim youths.

Now authorities fear that this 45-year-old former aircraft engineer poses a threat to the very Australian lifestyle he once claimed to love.

ASIO has twice raided his Broadmeadows home in connection with an investigation into suspected plots to blow up prominent Melbourne landmarks, including Flinders Street railway station.

His passport has been confiscated and Benbrika and his small band of devotees are monitored around the clock by ASIO and the Australian Federal Police.

In the face of dwindling community and political tolerance of such extremist views, Prime Minister John Howard yesterday criticised radical clerics such as Benbrika who openly supported jihad.

"A jihad is the epitome of intolerance, is the epitome of the negativity and darkness which we do not want in this country," Howard said.

But if this "darkness" was inside Benbrika when he arrived as a visitor to this country in 1989, he hid it well from those whose help he needed. According to Immigration Review Tribunal documents obtained by The Weekend Australian, Benbrika enjoyed the support of moderate Muslim leaders in his efforts to extend his visas and live in Australia.

One of these was Melbourne's most senior Muslim cleric and well-known moderate, Sheik Fehmi Naji Ell-Imam, of the giant Preston mosque in Melbourne's north. Fehmi wrote to authorities supporting Benbrika's claim to stay in Australia -- an act he now regrets.

"What happened in the past happened in the past," Fehmi told The Weekend Australian yesterday. "But nowadays he should not spread these ideas and thoughts. What he is preaching are not the teachings of Islam."

Fehmi's support for Benbrika soon rebounded on him. Another senior Muslim who also supported Benbrika's application to stay -- a decision he also regrets -- said the Algerian began attending Fehmi's Preston mosque and openly airing radical views.

"I did not know he was an extremist when I first met him but he made a lot of trouble at the Preston mosque," said the man, who asked not to be named.

"He was associated with a small group of extremists. He was not a stable man and he did a lot of damage to the community."

Fehmi soon found himself in a power struggle with the radical elements in the mosque, of which Benbrika was said to be a driving force.

Eventually, the moderates won and Benbrika and his followers moved on. For a time he attended the Brunswick prayer hall of controversial radical cleric Sheik Mohammed Omran. But sources say that even Omran was too moderate for Benbrika, who moved on and established his own small but hard-core group of young followers.

By this stage, Benbrika has won his battle to stay in Australia. He had overstayed his visa several times and in 1994 was deemed an "unlawful non-citizen". But two years earlier, on August 7, 1992, he had married a 20-year-old Lebanese woman called Rakia Abdullah. She was already an Australian citizen, having arrived here from Lebanon in 1988. He was finally granted a spouse visa in 1995 and became an Australian citizen in 1998.

Benbrika lives with his pregnant wife and their six children in a working-class suburb in Melbourne's north.

Before arriving in Australia, he worked as an electrical engineer with Algerian airlines. However, it is understood that he has not worked for any Australian airlines.

The family has frequently struggled to make ends meet and is believed to rely largely on social security.

According to Benbrika, his teachings are peaceful and he keeps to himself and his own community.

"I am not involved in anything here," he told ABC radio. "I am teaching my brothers here the Koran and the Sunna, and I am trying my best to keep myself, my family, my kids and the Muslims close to this religion."

But in the same breath, Benbrika made claims that have appalled moderate Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

"Osama bin Laden, he is a great man," he said. " Osama was a great man before 11 September, which they said he did it, and until now, nobody knows who did it."

Benbrika also said he would not stop any Australian Muslim from going to Iraq and fighting Western troops there, including Australian troops. 'According to my religion, jihad is part of my religion, and what you have to understand that anyone who fights for the sake of Allah, the first when he dies, the first drop of blood that comes from him out, all his sin will be forgiven."

But will Benbrika be easily forgiven for making such comments? As the Government prepares for a terror summit and considers tougher anti-terror laws, tolerance for such extremist statements is running low. Even moderate Muslims have experienced a backlash. The Preston mosque, with which Benbrika is no longer associated, was flooded with hate calls yesterday.

Meanwhile, Benbrika remains at liberty to spread his divisive messages and enjoy the Australian lifestyle he once claimed to cherish but now seems to despise.

Islamic forum takes aim at extremists

Aug 6, 2005

EXREMISTS trained at the hands of Jemaah Islamiah cannot be trusted with the community's youth, an Australian Islamic leader says.

Sheikh Salim Alwan Al-Hasani, chairman of the Darulfatwa Islamic High Council of Australia, was addressing about 200 people who gathered in Bankstown in Sydney's south-west last night for a three-hour anti-terrorism forum, Sunnis Against Extremism.

"Darulfatwa calls the international religious community to take on its responsibilities and to intensify its efforts in fighting this abhorrent phenomenon and to work towards weeding out its poisonous and deviant ideologies," Sheikh Al-Hasani told the meeting.

"Those who were trained at the hands of Jemaah Islamiah, the Wahhabis or HizbutTahir cannot be trusted with the community's youth."

Nor could they be trusted with the custody of mosques, academic institutions or schools, he said.

"To hide them in our midst and to protect them is in fact a carte blanche ... to continue their disrepute against the good name of our Islamic community," he said. "Silence over them potentially produces new generations of badly informed youth."

Prime Minister John Howard commended the group of Sunni Muslims for organising the forum, stressing that Australians would never accept that terrorist networks act on behalf of the Islamic world.

Representing Mr Howard, Federal MP for Mitchell Alan Cadman told the gathering the Prime Minister was optimistic about the outcome of the fight against terrorism in Australia.

"We in Australia will never accept that organisations such as al-Qaeda or Jemaah Islamiah speak or act in any way on behalf of the Islamic world," Mr Howard said in his message.

Australian society was resilient, open and respectful of differences, Mr Howard said.

"The shared values that make up a strong and peaceful nation will enable us to deal with the challenges ahead," he said. "And I believe that we have every reason to be optimistic about the future."

The president of Muslim Women Welfare of Australia, Mrs Faten El-Dana, said parents played an important role in preventing new generations of extremists.

"Mainly the mother, who spends more time with the children," she said. "The mother is the one who keeps a close eye on the activities of her children and people they associate with."

Labor's federal member for Watson, Tony Burke, said the opposition was deeply impressed by the conduct of the Islamic community but could not downplay the threat of a terrorist attack.

"The threat is real," he said. "The commitment of everybody here tonight shows the absolute importance of having the rejection of terrorism ... something that happens in every community conversation."

Bankstown Police Commander Mike Plotecki said it was important to learn from the English experience, following the London bombings last month, to avoid the emergence of homegrown terrorists.

"Because if we don't, we are going to go along a very similar path to the English," he said.

"We need to guard strongly against anything that marginalises, stereotypes and vilifies our Muslim communities."

http://www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,16169404%255E421,00.html

Some Bombs Used in Iraq Are Made in Iran, U.S. Says

By ERIC SCHMITT

August 6, 2005

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 - Many of the new, more sophisticated roadside bombs used to attack American and government forces in Iraq have been designed in Iran and shipped in from there, United States military and intelligence officials said Friday, raising the prospect of increased foreign help for Iraqi insurgents.

American commanders say the deadlier bombs could become more common as insurgent bomb makers learn the techniques to make the weapons themselves in Iraq.

But just as troubling is that the spread of the new weapons seems to suggest a new and unusual area of cooperation between Iranian Shiites and Iraqi Sunnis to drive American forces out - a possibility that the commanders said they could make little sense of given the increasing violence between the sects in Iraq.

Unlike the improvised explosive devices devised from Iraq's vast stockpiles of missiles, artillery shells and other arms, the new weapons are specially designed to destroy armored vehicles, military bomb experts say. The bombs feature shaped charges, which penetrate armor by focusing explosive power in a single direction and by firing a metal projectile embedded in the device into the target at high speed. The design is crude but effective if the vehicle's armor plating is struck at the correct angle, the experts said.

Since they first began appearing about two months ago, some of these devices have been seized, including one large shipment that was captured last week in northeast Iraq coming from Iran. But one senior military officer said "tens" of the devices had been smuggled in and used against allied forces, killing or wounding several Americans throughout Iraq in the past several weeks.

"These are among the most sophisticated and most lethal devices we've seen," said the senior officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the delicate intelligence reports describing the bombs. "It's very serious."

Pentagon and intelligence officials say that some shipments of the new explosives have contained both components and fully manufactured devices, and may have been spirited into Iraq along the porous Iranian border by the Iranian-backed, anti-Israeli terrorist group Hezbollah, or by Iran's Revolutionary Guard. American commanders say these bombs closely matched those that Hezbollah has used against Israel.

"The devices we're seeing now have been machined," said a military official who has access to classified reporting on the insurgents' bomb-making abilities. "There is evidence of some sophistication."

American officials say they have no evidence that the Iranian government is involved. But Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and the new United States ambassador in Baghdad, Zalmay Khalilzad, complained publicly this week about the Tehran government's harmful meddling in Iraqi affairs.

"There is movement across its borders of people and matériel used in violent acts against Iraq," Mr. Khalilzad said Monday.

But some Middle East specialists discount any involvement by the Iranian government or Hezbollah, saying it would be counter to their interests to support Iraq's Sunni Arab insurgents, who have stepped up their attacks against Iraqi Shiites. These specialists suggest that the arms shipments are more likely the work of criminals, arms traffickers or splinter insurgent groups.

"Iran's protégés are in control in Iraq right now, yet these weapons are going to people fighting Iran's protégés," said Kenneth Katzman, a Persian Gulf expert at the Congressional Research Service and a former Middle East analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency. "That makes little sense to me."

American commanders say they first saw the use of the new explosives in the predominantly Shiite area of southern Iraq, including Basra, but their use by insurgents steadily migrated into Sunni-majority areas north and west of Baghdad. It was unclear how the transfers were taking place.

The seizure of the recent arms shipment from Iran was first reported on Thursday night by NBC News and CBS News.

The influx of the new explosives comes as allied commanders are stepping up efforts to stop the infiltration of fighters, weapons and equipment along Iraq's porous borders with Iran and Syria. Ten days ago, for instance, Iraqi border enforcement agents seized a major shipment of weapons, apparently small arms, that officials suspect may have come from Iran, Maj. Gen. J. B. Dutton of the British Marines, commander of allied forces in southern Iraq, told reporters on Friday in a conference call from Basra.

More troubling are the broad array of roadside bombs that range from the improvised explosives made from modified 155-millimeter artillery shells and other materials to antitank mines like those that military officials say caused the blast on Wednesday that killed 14 marines and an Iraqi civilian in western Iraq.

American troops and the insurgents have been engaged for months in an expanding test of tactics and technology, with the guerrillas building bigger and more clever devices and the Americans trying to counter them at each turn.

"The terrorists are trying to adapt to that level of protection that our forces have; they have been motivated to try to find a way to get advantage," Brig. Gen. Donald Alston, a military spokesman in Baghdad, said at a news conference on Thursday. "And occasionally, we're seeing I.E.D.'s that are sufficiently lethal as to challenge some of the level of protection."

Military officials say they are thwarting about 40 percent of the roadside bombs before they detonate, employing a range of countermeasures from jamming devices that disrupt the frequency of the explosives' triggers, to heightened patrols. Last week, the military successfully cleared 115 roadside bombs, General Alston said. But such bombs remain the No. 1 killer of American troops in Iraq.

"It's not just about the armor that you carry," he said. "It's about your tactics, and it's about how you evolve and develop those and try to defend yourself before those things detonate as well."

US aims to empty Cuba terrorist camp by 70pc

August 6, 2005

Legal problems have plagued the Guantanamo prosecutorial process that has been blocked for months by court challenges. (AP)

The Bush administration is negotiating the transfer of nearly 70 percent of the detainees at the US detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to three countries as part of a plan to share the burden of keeping suspected terrorists behind bars.

American officials said they have reached an agreement with the government of Afghanistan to transfer most of its nationals to Kabul's ``exclusive'' control and custody. There are 110 Afghan detainees at Guantanamo and 350 more at the Bagram airfield near Kabul. Their transfers could begin in the next six months.

Pierre-Richard Prosper, the US ambassador at large for war crimes, said similar agreements are being pursued with Saudi Arabia and Yemen, whose nationals make up a significant percentage of the Guantanamo population. He held talks in Saudi Arabia this week, but they stopped with King Fahd's death.

The decision to move more than 20 percent of the detainees at Guantanamo to Afghanistan and to largely clear out the detention center at Bagram is part of a broader plan to significantly reduce the population of ``enemy combatants'' in US custody. Senior US officials said it is the first major step toward whittling down the Guantanamo population to a core group of people that the US expects to hold indefinitely.

``This is not an effort to shut down Guantanamo,'' said Matthew Waxman, deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs, shortly after leaving Kabul with Prosper. ``Rather, the arrangement we have reached with the government of Afghanistan is the latest step in what has long been our policy - that we need to keep dangerous enemy combatants off the battlefield.

``We, the US, don't want to be the world's jailer. We think a more prudent course is to shift that burden onto our coalition partners.''

The negotiations come amid intense international and domestic pressure on US detention operations, with allegations of mistreatment and abuse as well as concern that detainees have been held for years without being prosecuted for their alleged crimes. Legal problems have also plagued the prosecutorial process at Guantanamo, which has been blocked for months as detainees' attorneys present challenges in US federal courts.

``The Guantanamo issue is clearly a liability for the Bush administration, and emptying it has become a priority,'' said John Sifton, a specialist on Afghanistan and detainee issues at Human Rights Watch, an international monitoring group. ``It's not a victory for human rights if a whole set of people deprived of their liberty are then moved to another place and continued to be deprived of their liberty unlawfully.''

The agreement with Afghanistan is the largest of its kind so far. The US is also working to send 129 Saudis and 107 Yemenis from Guantanamo to the custody of their home countries.

If the US government is able to arrange the transfer of detainees who came from all three countries, the population at Guantanamo will drop by 68 percent, from 510 to 164.

Prosper and Waxman said that before transfers can occur the detainees' home countries must commit to taking steps that will prevent them from re-engaging in hostile activity and commit to humane treatment.

The US considers all the remaining detainees to be medium- or high-risk and not eligible for release, as has happened with about 70 detainees released earlier to about a dozen countries.

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/stdn/std/World/GH06Wd01.html

U.S. Navy subs en route to Russia undersea rescue

06 Aug 2005 00:36:51 GMT

Source: Reuters

By Charles Aldinger

WASHINGTON, Aug 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy dispatched rescue crews and unmanned submarines to the Russian Far East on Friday to join an attempt to rescue seven Russian sailors trapped in a military mini-submarine on the Pacific floor.

Two remote-controlled, deep-diving "Super Scorpio" submersibles left San Diego for Petropavlovsk on Kamchatka Peninsula on an Air Force C-5 with a team of 30 Navy operators, said Jon Yoshishige, a spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

A third Super Scorpio was also to join the effort from Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington, as were seven civilian divers from Louisiana with two special suits to allow dives to extreme depths, he said.

The Super Scorpios, which can cut through steel cables, will be moved by truck to a Russian ship and taken to the scene in an attempt to aid in the rescue.

The vessels are 4 feet (1.2 metres) long, 4 feet (1.2 metres) wide and 8 feet (2.4 metres) high and weigh 4,500 pounds (two tonnes).

Lt. j.g. Maria Miller, a Navy spokeswoman at the Pentagon, said they were capable of diving to an ocean depth of 5,000 feet (1,500 metres). "It has the capability of cutting steel cable 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick," she said.

In Russia, officials said they requested help after the small Russian submarine apparently became tangled in the cable from a fishing net.

"We're going to move the resources that we think can be helpful to the scene as rapidly as possible," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters in Washington. He said the Russian government was leading the rescue effort and had asked for U.S. assistance.

Whitman noted the U.S. move followed steps by the American and Russian navies to work more closely in such areas as undersea rescue. The two militaries conducted a bilateral undersea rescue exercise in the Mediterranean off the coast of Italy in June.

"While every situation is certainly unique and presents its own set of challenges, it's not something that hasn't been thought through. And it has been rehearsed to some degree and practiced," the spokesman said. (Additional reporting by Adam Tanner in San Francisco)

AlertNet news

Hiroshima marks 60th anniversary of U.S. atomic bombing

A Japanese mother holds her little boy as she prays for the atomic bomb victims of Hiroshima before a cenotaph at Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima August 6, 2005, the 60th anniversary of the world's first atomic bombing of the city. Tens of thousands of people from around the world gathered in Hiroshima on Saturday to mark the 60th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the city and to renew calls for the abolition of nuclear arms. (REUTERS/Yuriko Nakao)

Japan Today

Saturday, August 6, 2005 at 11:21 JST

HIROSHIMA — Hiroshima marked the 60th anniversary of its 1945 atomic bombing Saturday, with the mayor urging the United Nations to establish a committee to try to realize and maintain a nuclear weapon-free world.

"We propose that the First Committee of the U.N. General Assembly, which will meet in October, establish a special committee to deliberate and plan for the achievement and maintenance of a nuclear weapon-free world," Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba said in a peace declaration read at a memorial service at the Peace Memorial Park.

The memorial began at 8 a.m., with a moment of silence observed at 8:15 a.m., the time the world's first atomic bomb detonated above the city at an altitude of about 600 meters.

About 55,000 people — many of them aging survivors of the atomic bombing — attended the memorial, about 10,000 more than last year, city officials said.

About 81,600 atomic-bomb survivors live in Hiroshima, their average age being 72.8.

In the peace declaration, Akiba underscored the need for such a committee in the wake of the breakdown in talks of the Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in May in New York.

"We expect that the General Assembly will then act on the recommendations from this special committee, adopting by the year 2010 specific steps leading toward the elimination of nuclear weapons by 2020," Akiba said.

Akiba described Aug. 6 as a "time of inheritance, of awakening, and of commitment, in which we inherit the commitment of the (atomic-bomb survivors) to the abolition of nuclear weapons and realization of genuine world peace, awaken to our individual responsibilities, and recommit ourselves to take action."

The declaration comes as an urgent call for the world to redouble its efforts on disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation after the NPT talks, held every five years, ended without substantive agreement, and in light of existing nuclear arsenals and growing nuclear threats, especially nuclear terrorism.

According to Akiba, the collapsed NPT talks showed that the nuclear weapon states believe that nuclear weapons will protect them and ignore the world's appeal for a nuclear weapon-free world.

After the peace declaration was read, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will address the memorial service in which he is expected to vow and maintain the Constitution and Japan's three avowed principles of not producing, possessing, or allowing nuclear weapons on its soil.

Akiba urged the Japanese government to "work energetically in the First Committee and General Assembly to ensure that the abolition of nuclear weapons is achieved by the will of the majority."

For the first time in 10 years, the city also invited atomic-bomb survivors who live outside Japan.

Taking into account the plight of aging atomic-bomb survivors, many of them without health benefits, Akiba called on the Japanese government to "provide the warm, humanitarian support appropriate to the needs of all aging (bomb survivors), including those living abroad and those exposed in areas affected by the black rain."

U.N. Undersecretary General Nobuyasu Abe will deliver a message from U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan.

Other guests attending the memorial included Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Hidehisa Otsuji, whose ministry is in charge of policies for the rehabilitation of atomic-bomb survivors, and Kaj Nordquist, a member of the Swedish Parliament.

Also present were ambassadors or representatives from more than 30 countries including Australia, Russia, Iran, Mexico, and Sweden.

Representatives of survivors in Japan and abroad, kin of victims, and local children will be among those who will lay flowers at the cenotaph. After the Peace Declaration, about 1,000 doves are scheduled to be released.

The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and its aftereffects had killed an estimated 140,000 people by the end of 1945.

This year, the names of 5,375 more people recognized as atomic-bomb victims by the city since Aug. 6 last year will be added to the cenotaph in the Peace Memorial Park, bringing the total number of victims to 242,437.

Just a little over a week before the ceremony, the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims was damaged by a right-wing extremist with a hammer and chisel.

The United States dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki on Aug. 9, 1945 and World War II ended six days later. (KYODO)

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