***Operation Infinite Freedom - Situation Room

Yes, everything is a bed of roses in Iraq, its only the media drumming up false info. No we don't have our troops dying on a daily basis.

Via CNN Pentagon reporter stating that they are now seeing an organized attempt to ambush U.S. military. U.S. Soldier Killed, Another Wounded in Iraq Attack

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - One American soldier was killed and another critically wounded on Tuesday when they were attacked with rocket-propelled grenades as they collected arms at a checkpoint in Baghdad, the U.S. Central Command said.

ONE OF ELEVEN PHOTOS** A U.S. Army soldier walks over the body of an Iraqi dressed in civilian clothing in Baghdad, April 9, 2003. The soldiers from the A Company 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment had fired into the building after being shot at by rocket propelled grenades or RPGs.

At least 40 U.S. troops have now been killed by assailants in Iraq since the capital fell to American forces on April 9. A U.S. soldier was shot to death at a checkpoint near the Syrian border late on Sunday.

"One paratrooper from the 82nd Airborne Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team was killed and a second injured Tuesday afternoon in a rocket-propelled grenade attack while operating a weapons collection point in southwest Baghdad," the military's Central Command said in a release from the region.

"The soldiers were evacuated to a field medical facility for treatment and one soldier later died of his injuries. The injured soldier is listed in critical condition," it said.

The command said the soldiers were manning the weapons collection point when a van with four passengers stopped in a nearby alleyway approximately 250 yards from their location.

"Two attackers exited the van, and each fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the squad. One RPG struck a vehicle and the other landed short of the soldiers' location. Eyewitnesses at the scene of the attack said the attackers fled down the alleyway," the release said.

U.S. forces increased patrols and searches in the area in an effort to find the attackers, the command added.

Names of the dead and wounded soldiers were withheld pending notification of next of kin.

U.S. forces are currently operating weapons collection points throughout Baghdad in accordance with a policy that allows Iraqis to turn in weapons under an amnesty.

A total of 183 American troops have now died in Iraq -- including 127 in "hostile fire" -- since the beginning of the U.S.-led war that ousted missing Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Since Baghdad fell on April 9, 40 have been killed in hostile action.

3 Palestinians Killed by Israeli Army

JABALIYA REFUGEE CAMP, Gaza Strip - Israeli tanks and helicopters fired toward a Palestinian residential area in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, killing three Palestinians and wounding 30, doctors said.

It was not immediately clear what prompted the Israeli fire. At about the same time, Palestinians fired six homemade rockets from northern Gaza, with four landing in Israel, including in the border town of Sderot, the Israeli military said.

The Palestinians killed Tuesday lived in an area between the town of Beit Hanoun and the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza, close to the border fence with Israel.

The three were identified as members of the Abed Rabbo family, two 19-year-old men and a 16-year-old girl. Dr. Moawiya Hassanain, director of Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, said 30 residents were wounded.

Iran's atomic energy chief Gholamreza Aghazadeh speaks to journalists at a press conference in Tehran June 10, 2003. Iran denied Tuesday having any hidden nuclear facilities that should have been declared to U.N. inspectors, following a critical U.N. report of Tehran's nuclear program that Washington called 'deeply troubling.' The International Atomic Energy Agency report accused Iran of failing to declare the import of uranium in 1991 and of failing to show where and how it was processed.

Iran Open to More Nuclear Monitoring

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran would agree to additional international monitoring of its nuclear development, but only if it is allowed to acquire more advanced technology, the head of the country's atomic program said Tuesday.

The U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, which visited Iran's nuclear facilities earlier this year, wants Tehran to allow inspectors unfettered access to its facilities without prior notice.

Washington accuses Tehran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons and is pressing the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency to declare Iran in violation of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Iranian officials insist the nuclear program is entirely peaceful, aimed only at producing electricity.

A Look at Mideast 'Road Map' Compliance

A week ago, Israeli and Palestinian leaders met President Bush in Aqaba, Jordan, and committed to a three-stage "road map" to peace and Palestinian statehood by 2005. On Tuesday, a week of threats and violence culminated in a botched attempt by Israel to kill Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi.

Some questions and answers about how the parties' actions conform to their road map obligations:

Q: What have the sides done to comply with the road map?

A: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites) issued a declaration at Aqaba accepting the principle of a Palestinian state. On Monday and Tuesday, Israel dismantled 10 uninhabited settlement outposts in the West Bank. Under the road map, Israel has to remove dozens of outposts established since Sharon took office in March 2001.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas denounced terror against all Israelis and said the "armed intefadeh" must end. He also called for an end to anti-Israel incitement among Palestinians and has tried to persuade Hamas and other militant groups to end the attacks.

Q: Did Israel violate the road map in targeting Rantisi?

A: The road map calls on Israel to take "no actions undermining trust, including deportations, attacks on civilians, confiscation and/or demolition of Palestinian homes and property," and other actions. However, there is no direct ban on targeted killings of militants.

Q: Was Hamas in violation of the road map?

A: While Hamas is not a party to the road map, its recent actions — including Sunday's attack by a Hamas gunman and two others that killed four soldiers at an Israeli army outpost in Gaza — violated the road map's call for "an unconditional cessation of violence." On Friday, Hamas cut off talks with the Palestinian Authority on a truce with Israel, although some officials said it remained under consideration.

Q: Was the Palestinian Authority in violation of the road map?

A: The road map calls for "sustained, targeted and effective operations aimed at confronting all those engaged in terror and the dismantling of terrorist capabilities and infrastructure" as well as "commencing confiscation of illegal weapons" — which would apply to weapons held by Hamas and other militant groups.

The Palestinian Authority says it is not ready to take on security responsibility in all its territory — and that in any case the truce and disarming would come by persuasion and not forceful coercion. Israel rejects this and demands "100 percent effort" to block militants' attacks.

Criminal Court Resumes Work in Iraq

FALLUJAH, Iraq - A young man said he just happened by a store that hundreds of people were looting. A middle-aged man said he'd never seen an assault rifle police found in his car. And an old man argued grenades were a more efficient way of fishing.

In a sweltering courthouse Tuesday, an Iraqi judge held the first criminal hearings in Fallujah since the war began when U.S. military police brought him three suspects.

All three men pleaded innocent.

Judge Jamal Khleif Rejab listened carefully to their statements, scrutinized the police reports and decided there should be trials. He ordered U.S. Army attorneys to arrange for the arresting officers to appear with the suspects within 10 days.

Remarks by the President and Ugandan President Museveni in Photo Opportunity

3:20 P.M. EDT

PRESIDENT BUSH: It's my honor to welcome President Museveni back to the White House. Mr. President, you have shown extraordinary leadership on a lot of issues, but the one issue that's really captured the imagination and the hearts of the American people is your extraordinary leadership on HIV/AIDS in your country. You've shown the world what is possible, and I want to congratulate you for that leadership.

I also want to thank you for your steadfast support on the war against terror. And I'm glad you're here.

Before we begin our discussions I do want to say something on the Middle East. I am troubled by the recent Israeli helicopter gunship attacks. I regret the loss of innocent life. I'm concerned that the attacks will make it more difficult for the Palestinian leadership to fight off terrorist attacks. I also don't believe the attacks help the Israeli security. I've been in touch with all parties in the region. I am determined to keep the process on the road to peace. And I believe with responsible leadership by all parties, we can bring peace to the region. And I emphasize, all parties must behave responsibly to achieve that objective.

So, Mr. President, I'm glad you're here. Welcome. I'd like for you to make a few comments, please, sir.

PRESIDENT MUSEVENI: Thank you, sir. I'm very glad that I'm here. First of all, I congratulate President Bush for his leadership in fighting terrorism. Terrorism is a very irresponsible way for expressing one's dissatisfaction. It uses indiscriminate violence. It doesn't discriminate between combatants and non-combatants. That's why we oppose terrorism.

We fought with guns for the freedom of our countries. I fought for many years, but I've never used terrorist means. Freedom fighting is not the same thing as terrorism. If you must use violence, you should assure that violence is directed at the combatant, not at the non-combatant.

Secondly, I salute President Bush for his decision a few years ago to open American markets to African value-added products. You hear so much of poverty in Africa, but, in fact, Africa is a very rich continent. The only problem is that we must simply move the value to the outside. We export only raw materials, we don't export value-added products. So I'm very glad that President Bush opened the American market for our goods.

I'm also glad that he set up the Millennium Challenge Account. That money should be used to aid trade. I don't believe in aid as an end in itself. I believe in trade. Trade is one that can lead to mutual benefits for all countries in the world. Therefore, aid should be ahead of trade, should aid in order to trade.

And, finally, I thank him for the money set up for the AIDS fund, the $15 billion. So I really am glad I'm here. We shall discuss more in our private discussion.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you for coming.

PRESIDENT MUSEVENI: Thank you.

END 3:25 P.M. EDT

Op/Ed - USA TODAY

War on terror cannot excuse wasteful military spending

Since 2001, when the war on terrorism became the top U.S. priority, military spending has jumped 26%. Next year, it will exceed $400 billion, more than one-sixth of the entire federal budget. And that assumes optimistically that U.S. operations in Iraq will wind down soon.

Such a sizable rise in spending might seem essential to protect citizens from terror attacks. Yet as Congress works to complete a 2004 defense-spending plan in the coming days, lawmakers are displaying neither the discipline nor the focus demanded by an open-ended war on terror in an era of growing federal deficits. Instead, they continue to spend freely on old weapons the Pentagon wants to scrap, bases no longer needed and low-priority projects that mainly benefit well-connected suppliers.

First Lady, JCS Chairman Praise Service Members at Gala

WASHINGTON, June 10, 2003 – The men and women of America's armed forces received a personal thank you from first lady Laura Bush and an award from a national media owners' and managers' group at a gala here June 9.

Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, accepted the Guardian Award on behalf of all U.S. service members at the Service to America Summit dinner held at the Ronald Reagan Building in downtown Washington.

Sponsored by the National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation, the event was also part of Operation Tribute to Freedom, an ongoing DoD-public program that thanks service members for their contributions and sacrifices to the nation in the war against terrorism.

Mrs. Bush received NABEF's Leadership Award for her efforts in improving the lives of America's young people through early reading and learning programs.

However, "the most deserving award winners are the men and women of the United States military," the first lady declared to the audience.

Over the past year "the world witnessed the courage and the resolve of our military" during operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, Mrs. Bush noted.

America's troops, she added, "have conducted themselves with compassion and we pray that they will return safely and soon."

Mrs. Bush and the Joint Chiefs chairman both received standing ovations from the audience when they were introduced. In his remarks, Myers thanked the foundation for the award and praised service members "for their dedication, their professionalism (and) their selfless service to our nation."

The four-star general then introduced, to a round of applause, five service members who'd accompanied him to the dinner: Army Pfc. Patrick Malone, a broadcaster with the 3rd U.S. Infantry (The Old Guard); Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Cara Hunt, a broadcaster with the Naval Media Center, Air National Guard Senior Airman Alex Smith, a military policeman with the 171st Air Refueling Wing; Marine Staff Sgt. Steven Williams, also a broadcaster at the Naval Media Center; and Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Patrick McNeilly, a member of the Coast Guard's Atlantic Strike Team.

Myers asserted that he and the nation "owe a debt of gratitude" to America's troops for their dedication, professionalism, and "the sacrifice that they're willing to make and not just their sacrifice, but the sacrifice of their families."

The four-star general observed that as JCS chairman he couldn't "be prouder" representing "not only these five (service members), but all our armed forces."

Smith, a Pittsburgh native who recently returned stateside after a tour of duty at Baghdad International Airport in Iraq, noted it "was a real honor" to attend the dinner.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing," the 19-year-old airman remarked, adding, "I'm only an E-4; to be able to meet a four-star general, especially Gen. Myers" was a definite thrill.

Recent Iraqi Attacks May Have 'Element of Organization'

LISBON, Portugal, June 10, 2003 – Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld does not believe that the recent spate of attacks on U.S. soldiers in Iraq is the result of any "well-organized nationally directed campaign," he said June 9.

But, he noted, there are people who say that in certain parts of Iraq "it looks as though it has an element of organization to it as opposed to being random."

The attacks on coalition forces north and west of Baghdad are not just a criminal enterprise, Rumsfeld said on the plane flying here. He said his impression is that the attacks are coming from the paramilitary Fedayeen Saddam, die-hard Baath Party members, Iraqi Republican Guards and other sympathizers with Saddam Hussein's former regime.

He said coalition forces do not have the same problems in the southern part of the country, because most of the battles were fought there. "The regime sympathizers (in the north) did not get into a battle and, therefore, a lot of them didn't get killed as they did down south," he said. "So there are probably more of them per square mile in the northern portion of the country between Baghdad and Tikrit than there are in other portions of the country."

Rumsfeld said the United States is talking to 41 countries about support to the coalition effort in Iraq. On June 6, he said there was the possibility of up to three divisions' worth of troops would ultimately join the U.S., British, and Australian coalition.

The secretary said he had a meeting June 8 with Indian officials and sounded out the possibility of India providing troops in Iraq. "We feel good about it," he said. "We're hopeful that we'll get a sizable set of forces in Iraq. The first ones would likely be in September."

He said the composition of U.S. forces in the country – which now number about 145,000 – is being changed. "We've been adding ground forces in Iraq," he said.

U.S. Central Command has moved out air and naval forces from the region. CENTCOM is "mixing and matching" for the forces it will need in the months ahead. The secretary said that at this stage there isn't a great need for heavy armor, artillery or rocket battalions.

"There is a need for presence – ground forces," he said. And those ground forces will be heavy with military police, civil affairs personnel, interpreters and infantrymen.

Rumsfeld also addressed the perception that many Iraqis are not cooperating because they still fear Saddam Hussein. He said the Iraqi people were afraid of the vicious and repressive dictator. "And if they fear he might come back, they might be somewhat slower to say what they know," he pointed out.

The thought of Saddam returning to power may be fueling the attacks on coalition forces, but they will not succeed, the secretary said.

In the meantime, coalition forces will "just keep looking for him. We'll find him," Rumsfeld said.

Kidnapped Peru Gas Project Workers Freed-Police

AYACUCHO, Peru (Reuters) - All 60 workers held by suspected leftist rebels who stormed a remote gas pipeline construction camp in southeastern Peru were freed on Tuesday, police sources said.

"The problem is solved. All (hostages) are safe and sound," a high-level police official, requesting anonymity, told Reuters in the mountain city of Ayacucho. He said the raiders had fled and were being pursued by security forces.

The police official said the released workers were in the custody of police special forces. It was not clear if they were released or rescued by security forces, which had ringed the camp after it was attacked around dawn on Monday.

Argentina's Techint group, which is building the pipeline for the giant Camisea natural gas project, employed the workers at the camp in Toccate in the Ayacucho region south-east of Lima.

Thousands of Iranians Protest Near University

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Thousands of Iranians took to the streets in the early hours of Wednesday, chanting anti-government slogans in so far peaceful protests after police surrounded a Tehran student dormitory, witnesses said.

"Political prisoners must be freed," some 3,000 people shouted in a square near Tehran University, the scene almost four years ago of the biggest pro-reform unrest since the 1979 revolution -- which was also led from the same campus.

Other chants were directed against Iran's clerical rulers, a most unusual development. Residents said the chants were the most extreme since the unrest four years ago.

Many people said they had gathered after hearing calls by U.S.-based Iranian exile satellite television channels to go to the campus after student protests there on Tuesday.

But hundreds of police blocked their way and stood guard around dormitories where Tuesday's student protests took place. The witnesses said some protesters lit fires in the streets but police had not intervened.

Many in Iran have lost faith in moderate President Mohammad Khatami (news - web sites) and his lack of progress in reforming the 24-year-old Islamic Republic in the face of strong conservative opposition from the holders of powerful positions within the state.

High unemployment and frustration with Iran's strict Islamic laws have fed discontent among the overwhelmingly youthful population, around 70 percent of which is under 30 and has little memory of life before the revolution.

Analysts say the reformers have been further weakened by a resurgent hardline faction which is determined not to loosen its grip on power now that U.S. troops are on both the eastern and western borders of Iran, in Afghanistan and Iraq

Despite the reformers' overwhelming victories in presidential and parliamentary polls since Khatami came to office in 1997, most of their efforts to institute change have been blocked by conservatives appointed as political watchdogs.

Late last year Iran saw its biggest pro-reform protests for three years after academic dissident Hashem Aghajari was sentenced to death for blasphemy. The conviction was later overturned.

The initial court verdict in November sparked almost two months of protests as thousands of students boycotted classes and staged rallies, insisting Aghajari's trial and sentencing highlighted political repression and a lack of free speech.

The largely peaceful protests turned violent at times. Hundreds were arrested by baton-wielding police, and Islamic vigilantes attacked rallies.

Dozens of pro-reform intellectuals, journalists and student leaders have been jailed as part of a conservative crackdown that followed the student protests in 1999.

Iranians protest against clerics - BBC

Hundreds of people have taken part in a late-night demonstration against the government in the Iranian capital, Tehran.

The action began as a protest against plans to privatise some universities, correspondents say.

But as the crowds swelled, they started marching through the streets around Tehran University chanting slogans against the hardline Iranian religious establishment.

Police were present but reports say they did not intervene in the noisy but peaceful demonstrations.

Nully I wonder if this has anything to do with that other nutcase that attacked the stewardess and others with the sticks a couple of weeks ago on a quantas flight

Ex-Qantas worker denies terror links (June 11, 2003)

BILAL Khazal, the former Qantas baggage handler alleged by the CIA to have ties with al-Qaeda, last night declared he was innocent and had no links to terror.

Mr Khazal, organiser of the Islamic Youth Movement in Sydney's southwest, said he was a victim of religious and racial profiling and denied being Osama bin Laden's man in Australia, though he described bin Laden as a "good man".

He said the CIA had wrongly named him.

Mr Khazal believes the US and Israel were behind the September 11 attacks and the Bali bombing, he told Channel 9's A Current Affair program.

The Mufti of Australia, Sheik Taj el-Din Al Hilaly, yesterday supported Mr Khazal, declaring he posed no threat to national security.

"There's nothing to be alarmed about, he is not a terrorist, there is no evidence to say he is ... this is alarmist," he said through translator Keysar Trad. "If he was a terrorist, why hasn't be been arrested?"

But sources in Sydney's Islamic community told The Australian Sheik Hilaly was "kidding himself" if he believed Mr Khazal was innocent.

"We know he recruits young people who are stupid ... They are desperate ... Even though ASIO is watching him he has not stopped his activities," said a source who would not be named. "They have more members then ever before."

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer would not reveal yesterday when Mr Khazal's passport had been revoked. "We have been concerned about him" and had confiscated his passport," he said, adding that Mr Khazal was appealing against the decision.

The Australian

Indonesian Muslim women rally for peace in Aceh in Jakarta, June 8, 2003

Indonesia Asks Sweden to Crack Down on Acehnese Leaders

Indonesian officials have given the Swedish government what they say is legal evidence that exiled Acehnese separatists in Sweden are engaging in terrorism in the Southeast Asian nation.

An Indonesian delegation provided the information to Sweden's foreign ministry in Stockholm Tuesday. Delegation leader Ali Alatas, a former Indonesian foreign minister, said the evidence links the leaders of the rebel Free Aceh Movement now living in Sweden to terrorist attacks, including the bombing of shopping malls and the Jakarta Stock Exchange. Mr. Alatas accused the Acehnese leaders of instigating an armed rebellion.

Loose Nukes In Iraq Not WMD? - Rush Limbaugh

June 10, 2003

Here's a very interesting and disturbing item, dated May 29th from Jane's Intelligence Digest, a publication that deals with armaments, military forces, and strategy.

"Throughout May, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has expressed mounting concern at the outbreak of looting that has been taking place at Iraq's abandoned nuclear sites - which number around 1,000 in total. JID has commissioned a leading British nuclear analyst to assess the security risk posed by the missing material and the golden opportunities the chaos in Iraq may have presented to international terrorists…

"The Baghdad Nuclear Research Facility, another important nuclear site that has been looted, houses the remains of the Osirak reactor bombed by Israel in 1981 and the USA during the 1991 Gulf War. It contains spent reactor fuel, as well as radioactive isotopes including caesium and cobalt - materials that could be used by terrorists for making radiological dispersal devices (commonly known as 'dirty bombs'). Terrorists could obtain the material either directly or from looters selling material on the black market."

Am I missing something here? If there is a threat that terrorists might use the material produced or discarded at these nuclear facilities, then why aren't they classified as weapons of mass destruction or potential weapons of mass destruction?

This is a legitimate threat. We're talking nuclear looting at these plants. For crying out loud he had a nuclear program going on! And yet this doesn't seem to satisfy some of the ongoing demands that we find evidence of those WMDs? This is very curious.

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