Posted on 12/30/2005 4:15:17 PM PST by Gucho
By Suzanne Presto
30 December 2005
Washington D.C. -- U.S. embassy officials in Iraq say an American teenager, who skipped school and flew to Baghdad, without his parents' permission, is on his way home.
American student Farris Hassan, 16, is bound to be in some trouble with his mother when he gets home. In mid-December, the Florida student decided to skip school, buy a plane ticket, and head to Baghdad, all without his parents' permission.
"As far as being punished for going to Iraq, I think he's going to lose some of his autonomy for a while. He's going to lose his passport for sure, and his access to money is going to be pretty limited, and he has to be under close supervision for a while," said Farris' mother, Shatha Atiya.
The teenager, whose parents are Iraqi, has said he was inspired by a high school journalism class to visit the war-torn country. Farris speaks no Arabic, and called attention to himself with his trendy Western attire. He says his solo adventures took him to Kuwait, Lebanon and Iraq.
Farris contacted his parents from the Middle East to let them know of his trip. He traveled to Lebanon, before hopping a flight bound for Baghdad.
Farris then sought out the offices of The Associated Press news agency, telling reporters he was in Iraq to do humanitarian work and to report news. The sight of a lone American teenager stunned AP journalists, such as Jason Straziuso. "We were amazed that he walked in by himself unaccompanied, and our very first thought was, 'Who was this kid? And how do we get him to safety?' So, it was at that point that we called the U.S. embassy," he said.
He remained in the embassy's care, until he boarded a U.S.-bound flight Friday.
An AP writer in Baghdad, Patrick Quinn, emphasized the dangers of traveling in Iraq, especially for a teenager on his own. "He was at very great risk. I don't think he realized just how much or how great the risk was. People get killed every single day in Baghdad, people get kidnapped every single day," he said.
Following Farris' journey, the U.S. State Department reiterated its travel warning, underscoring the dangers of trips to Iraq.
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Dec. 30, 2005 – Coalition forces today transferred command of northwest Iraq, and U.S. troops killed two terrorists Dec. 28, Multinational Force Iraq officials reported today.
Command of northwest Iraq transferred from Task Force Freedom to Task Force Band of Brothers during a ceremony in Mosul. The transfer consolidates operational areas into a single multinational division under the command of Task Force Band of Brothers, military officials said.
With its new command responsibilities, Task Force Band of Brothers includes the 1st and 3rd Brigade Combat Teams from the 101st Airborne Division, 1st and 3rd Brigade Combat Teams from the 3rd Infantry Division, the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, and the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team.
In the Dec. 28 incident near Dawr, troops from 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, killed two terrorists and recovered weapons following a "drive-by" attack, military officials said.
The terrorists opened fire on the soldiers from a moving vehicle. The soldiers returned fire, killing both attackers and disabling the vehicle. A search of the vehicle turned up homemade bombs, mortar rounds, AK-47 assault rifles and ammunition, a rocket-propelled grenade launcher with four rounds, a machine gun, 9 mm pistols and hand grenades.
(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq news releases.)
bump and bookmark. Have a very safe, blessed and happy New Year's Gucho....
Friday, December 30, 2005
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Four Afghan policemen were killed and eight wounded when insurgents detonated a bomb near their checkpoint, police said on Friday.
Thank you and you too eureka!
Fri Dec 30, 2005 - 5:12 PM ET
MIAMI (Reuters) - U.S. soldiers in Iraq encountered a baby girl with a life-threatening birth defect during a raid at her family's home and arranged to send her to their home state of Georgia for medical treatment, hospital officials said on Friday.
The baby, 3-month-old Noor, was due to arrive on Saturday at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, a pediatric hospital that is donating surgery and other care for the infant, hospital spokeswoman Kristina Flynn said.
Noor was born with spina bifida, a birth defect in which the spinal column fails to completely close, leaving part of the spinal cord exposed and susceptible to life-threatening infection.
Soldiers with the Georgia Army National Guard's 48th Brigade Combat Team searched her family's home in a poor Baghdad neighborhood earlier this month, looking for insurgents. They found none, but the baby's grandmother showed the soldiers the purple pouch protruding from the child's back and the soldiers sought help in finding her treatment.
"All I could think of was my five children back at home and my young daughter," one of the soldiers involved, Lt. Jeff Morgan, told CNN.
"And I knew if I had the opportunity whatsoever to save my daughter's life, I would do everything possible. So my heart just kind of went out to this baby and these parents who ... were living in poverty and had no means to help their baby."
The military flew the infant, her father and grandmother on Friday to Kuwait, where they were to catch a commercial flight to Atlanta.
Childspring International, a children's medical charity, set up the trip and arranged for the baby's relatives to stay with an Arabic-speaking family while the infant undergoes medical treatment in Atlanta.
The baby's family name was withheld to protect them from potential retaliation for associating with U.S. soldiers.
© Reuters 2005
By Gerry J. Gilmore - American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Dec. 30, 2005 – Burgeoning reconstruction activity is now evident in and around Baghdad while terrorist attacks in the Iraqi capital city have weakened since the Dec. 15 elections, a senior U.S. military officer in Baghdad told reporters here today.
"When I fly around Baghdad these days, I see the city expanding in large numbers of houses being built on the edges of the city in nearly every direction," Army Maj. Gen. William G. Webster Jr., commander of Multinational Division Baghdad, told Pentagon reporters during a satellite news conference broadcast from Iraq.
This activity, Webster said, indicates Baghdad's residents have faith both in their rejuvenating economy and for the future.
Baghdad's municipal sewer and water services also have improved, Webster said, since his unit took over security duty for the city and surrounding region from the 1st Cavalry Division on Feb. 27. Webster is also the commanding general of the U.S. Army's 3th Infantry Division based out of Fort Stewart, Ga.
The military contingent under Webster's command, known as Task Force Baghdad, consists of around 30,000 troops including soldiers from Estonia, Georgia and Macedonia, as well as about 19,000 troops from the 3rd Infantry Division and other U.S. elements.
"Our mission was to improve the capabilities of the Iraqi security forces, fight the insurgency, to secure Baghdad and the surrounding areas, and support the (Iraqi) government's development," Webster said.
Over the past year, the number of Iraqi soldiers and police in Baghdad has increased 10-fold, Webster said. Today, soldiers of the Iraqi 6th Division and Iraqi special police are providing stability and law and order across 60 percent of Baghdad, the general said. A year ago, he said, there was only one Iraqi army battalion in Baghdad.
"And now there are 22 (Iraqi battalions) in Baghdad," Webster said, "with 12 of them in charge of their own areas of operations." The Iraqi 6th Division in Baghdad boasts six brigades, he said.
Large numbers of Baghdad's citizens felt secure enough to cast their ballots during the Dec. 15 election, Webster said, noting 60 percent or more of the city's registered voters went to the polls.
Iraqi security forces, supported by coalition troops, provided that security prior to and during the elections, Webster said. Task Force Baghdad troops and Iraqi security forces teamed up to conduct almost 2,500 different combat operations since Oct. 1, Webster said, and detained more than 3,600 insurgents over the course of more than 52,000 patrols.
"The pace of our operations, while intense, has disrupted the enemy and reduced car bombs by half," Webster said. U.S., Iraqi and coalition troops in the area are finding half of the terrorist-emplaced roadside bombs, he said, and there's been a 92-percent increase in the discovery of enemy weapons caches.
"This has put a big dent in the ability of the insurgents to continue to conduct operations," Webster said, noting that aggressive operations against the terrorists will go on.
Tremendous gains have been made against terrorists in the Baghdad area, Webster said, noting only about 10 percent of recent terrorist attacks have caused damage, injury or death. Iraqi, U.S. and coalition troops, Webster said, have disrupted the enemy's ability to effectively use car bombs and improvised explosive devices, or roadside bombs.
"We have disrupted that ability so that they're now conducting more drive-by shootings which usually don't hit anybody, or they're shooting indirect fire - mortars and rockets - which also is mostly unsuccessful," Webster said.
In short, "the insurgency has weakened since the (Dec. 15) elections," Webster said.
Yet, there likely will be continued terrorist violence, he said, until the new Iraqi government is seated and its security forces are fully trained and deployed.
Webster said his command's goal is to transfer full responsibility for security in Baghdad over to Iraqi security forces.
"Conditions are being set to allow the Iraqis to run and secure their own country," Webster said.
Webster said his unit is slated to return to the United States over the next 30 days after having served a one-year tour of duty in Iraq. The 3rd Infantry Division also was deployed to Iraq in 2003 for Operation Iraqi Freedom, and it played a prominent role in the seizure of Baghdad from Saddam Hussein's forces.
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| Person of note who died |
Date of death | Age | Profession |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kerry Packer | 26th December | 68 | Media Magnate |
| Vincent Schiavelli | 26th December | 57 | Actor |
| Vincent "the Chin" Gigante | 19th December | 77 | Mafia godfather |
| Jack Anderson | 17th December | 83 | Pulitzer prize winning journalist |
| John Spencer | 16th December | 58 | Actor - Leo McGarry, The West Wing |
| Richard Pryor | 10th December | 65 | Comedian |
| Tony Meehan | 28th November | 62 | Drummer, The Shadows |
| Richard Burns | 25th November | 34 | Rally driver - former World Champion |
| George Best | 25th November | 59 | Footballer |
| Pat Morita | 24th November | 73 | Actor - Mr Miyagi, The Karate Kid |
| James King | 20th November | 80 | Opera Tenor |
| Chris Whitley | 20th November | 45 | Singer |
| David Austin | 19th November | 70 | Cartoonist - The Guardian |
| Lord Lichfield (Thomas Patrick John Anson) | 11th November | 66 | Photographer |
| Harry Thompson | 7th November | 45 | TV Producer- Have I Got News For You |
| John Fowles | 5th November | 79 | Writer - The French Lieutenant's Woman |
| Sheree North | 4th November | 72 | Actress |
| Pat Simmons | 29th October | 85 | Voice of Speaking Clock |
| Rosa Parks | 24th October | 92 | civil rights campaigner |
| Elmer Dresslar | 16th October | 80 | Actor - voice of Jolly Green Giant |
| Ronnie Barker | 3rd October | 76 | Comedian |
| Leo Sternbach | 28th September | 97 | Chemist - invented Valium |
| Robert Wise | 14th September | 91 | Director - Sound of music |
| Sir Joseph Rotblat | 31st August | 96 | Atomic Scientist, Nobel Peace prize winner |
| Michael Sheard | 31st August | 65 | Actor - Mr Bronson, Grange Hill |
| Dr Robert Moog | 21st August | 71 | Developed electronic synthesiser |
| Marjorie "Mo" Mowlam | 19th August | 55 | Politician - former N.I. Secretary |
| Barbara Bel Geddes | 8th August | 82 | Actress - Miss Ellie, Dallas |
| Robin Cook | 6th August | 58 | Politician - former Foreign Secretary |
| Ibrahim Ferrer | 6th August | 78 | Cuban singer |
| Fahd bin Abdul Aziz bin Saud | 1st August | 83 | King of Saudi Arabia |
| James Doohan | 20th July | 85 | Actor - Scotty, Star Trek |
| Sir Edward Heath | 17th July | 89 | Ex Prime Minister |
| Gretchen Franklin | 11th July | 94 | Actress - Ethel, Eastenders |
| Evan Hunter (Ed McBain) | 6th July | 78 | Crime Writer |
| Luther Vandross | 1st July | 54 | Singer |
| Christopher Fry | 30th June | 97 | Playwright |
| Richard Whiteley | 26th June | 61 | TV Presenter |
| Anne Bancroft | 6th June | 73 | Actress |
| Sir John Mills | 23rd April | 97 | Actor |
| Andrea Dworkin | 9th April | 58 | Feminist |
| Prince Rainier III of Monaco | 6th April | 81 | Monarch |
| Saul Bellow | 5th April | 89 | Writer, Nobel prize winner |
| John Paul II | 2nd April | 84 | Pope |
| James Callaghan | 26th March | 92 | Former UK Prime Minister |
| Dave Allen | 11th March | 68 | Comedian |
| Peter Benenson | 25th February | 83 | Founder Amnesty International |
| Hunter S Thompson | 21st February | 67 | Writer |
| Arthur Miller | 10th February | 89 | Playwright |
| Ernst Mayr | 3rd February | 100 | Evolutionary Biologist |
| Johnny Carson | 23rd January | 79 | TV Chatshow Host |
For a far more comprehensive list of dead famous people visit the dead/ People Server
BAGHDAD, Dec 30 (KUNA) -- Iraqi deputy premier Ahmed Chalabi was named acting oil Minister Friday, after relieving Minister of oil Ibrahim Bahr al-Ulum of his duties for one month, due to protesting on the state's decision to raise petrol price.
A government source, that preferred not to be named, said Chalabi will oversee the Ministry's affairs until forming a new government and naming a new oil minister.
Naming Chalabi came after closure of Biji refinery, biggest in Iraq, because oil tanker drivers were threatened to be killed or kidnapped.
Closure of this refinery burdens the oil Ministry with USD 20 million daily.
BAGHDAD, Dec 30 (KUNA) -- Four Iraqis were killed and 23 wounded when mortar shells fell on a vehicle pick-up stop in the al-Sadria district in downtown Baghdad Friday evening, a police source announced.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source said the four were killed when a shell directly struck their car; other shells caused severe damage to vehicles at the stop.
By David Allen - Stars and Stripes Pacific edition
Saturday, December 31, 2005
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — Listen up, maggots! Marine “Gunny” R. Lee Ermey is returning to Okinawa to “take some Qs and kick some A’s.”
Ermey, a former Marine drill instructor and film and television actor, will be signing copies of his new book, “Mail Call,” at the Kadena Bookmark Jan. 9 from 3 to 7 p.m. and the Foster Bookmark Jan. 10 from 1 to 5 p.m.
Ermey received a Golden Globe nomination and the Boston Society of Film Critic’s Best Supporting Actor’s award for his role as the hard-bitten Marine drill instructor in Stanley Kubrick’s Vietnam War movie “Full Metal Jacket.” He’s been a featured actor in numerous films, including “Dead Man Walking,” “Mississippi Burning,” and “Apocalypse Now,” and is the host of The History Channel’s “Mail Call,” which focuses on investigating military technology over the ages.
Ermey served 11 years in the Marine Corps, serving a tour in Vietnam in 1968 with Marine Wing Support Group 17. He later served two tours on Okinawa, where he ran a bar in Kin for three years after his medical discharge in 1972. He later went to college on the G.I. Bill, graduating from the University of Manila in the Philippines as a drama major.
For a long time Ermey, now 61, specialized in playing Americans in advertising campaigns in the Philippines, becoming the country’s “Marlboro Man.”
In May 2002 Ermey received an honorary promotion to gunnery sergeant from the commandant of the Marine Corps, becoming the first retiree in Marine Corps history to receive such an honor.
According to blurbs published on Ermey’s Web site (www.rleeermey.com), the book includes photos, historical anecdotes and interviews with top experts and active-duty servicemembers.
Stars and Stripes - Mideast edition
Saturday, December 31, 2005
Soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division foiled a “drive-by” attack, killing two suspected insurgents and seizing a small arsenal of weapons.
Members of the 1st Brigade Combat Team were on patrol in the Ad Dawr area of Iraq when a civilian vehicle approached their position, and men inside the car began shooting at the soldiers. The soldiers returned fire, killed both the vehicles’ occupants and disabling the car.
When they searched the car, the soldiers found several weapons: two roadside bombs ready to be put into place, 10 mortar rounds, four assault rifles with 1,000 rounds of ammunition, a rocket-propelled grenade launcher with four rockets, a machine gun, three pistols and two hand grenades.
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