Posted on 06/10/2003 9:35:16 PM PDT by null and void
Good Morning.
Welcome to the daily thread of Operation Infinite Freedom - Situation Room.
It is designed for general conversation about the ongoing war on terror, and the related events of the day. In addition to the ongoing conversations related to terrorism and our place in it's ultimate defeat, this thread is a clearinghouse of links to War On Terrorism threads. This allows us to stay abreast of the situation in general, while also providing a means of obtaining specific information and mutual support.
Basra oil facility in southern Iraq
Iraq oil exports could resume next week
Iraq's acting oil minister Thamir Ghadbhan on Wednesday gave administrator L. Paul Bremer a tour of the Basra's oil refinery and told the U.S. administrator that the facility's oil production has increased to almost pre-war levels -- about 140,000 barrels a day.
For the first time since the end of major combat, oil tankers could be filling up at Basra's offshore oil terminal to export Iraq's main natural resource as early as next week, the minister said.
Security has been less of a problem in Basra than in other areas of the country.
Earlier this month, Bush administration officials testified before a U.S. Senate panel that Iraq's oil production is now about 800,000 barrels per day and is expected to rise to about 1.5 million barrels per day later this summer, about 40 percent of its top pre-war output.
WOONSOCKET -- When you are fighting a war thousands of miles from home, a few words of encouragement and thoughtfulness can change a soldier’s outlook.
And when students of the Good Shepherd Catholic Regional School sent Army Pfc. Joshua Hebert letters and packages in Iraq, the former Burrillville resident and Good Shepherd student was impressed enough to make himself a promise.
"I just want to shake each one of your hands and say thanks," Hebert said while visiting his pen pals in Greg Cabana’s fifth-grade class at the Mendon Road school on Tuesday.
Hebert, 21, a member of the 1227 Aviation Battalion, out of Fort Hood, Texas, attended Good Shepherd between 1993 and 1995 and went on to graduate from Woonsocket High School in 2000.
Attending Johnson & Wales University’s culinary arts program at the time of the Sept. 11th attacks, Hebert said he joined the Army as a response to terrorism.
"You wake up everyday in this country and have freedom to wear what you want, and you have the freedom to go where you want," Hebert told Cabana’s fifth graders.
"But when all those people died on Sept. 11, it was a big eye opener for me and I felt I had to do something for the freedoms we have," he said.
The hardest part of being in the war was leaving his family in February. His wife Brittany was pregnant with his new daughter, Zahra at the time and went to North Carolina to live with her mother, Alexis. Zahra was born in March.
While living at Fort Hood, Hebert had been able to keep in touch with his parents, Debbie and Raymond Hebert of Pascoag, but saw that contact dwindle to just a few calls during the war.
A cook by trade at Fort Hood, Hebert found himself on duty as a guard just about 24-hours-day as his 400-member battalion moved from its initial base in Kuwait across Iraq and into Baghdad.
To illustrate the desert conditions his unit endured, Hebert told the Good Shepherd students to think of a beach at the ocean. "Now take away the water. All that sand. That’s what it’s like," he said.
While answering questions from the class, Hebert said the most he ever slept while in the war was to take naps of about three hours between his stints of duty.
When one of the students asked whether he had met any of the Iraqi people, Hebert said his unit had come upon civilians a number of times and provided them with water and food supplies.
"Most of the Iraqi people were happy we were there and very appreciative," he said.
Grace Keating wanted to know if women also served in Hebert’s unit. He said many did.
"At one time people thought women wouldn’t fight, but that’s not the case in the Army today. Women serve right beside the men and do everything that men do," he said.
Elizabeth Cole asked about whether Hebert had come under attack during the war, and the soldier responded that Iraqi Scud missiles were launched at their base in Kuwait and also along their route into Baghdad.
The soldiers were well trained to don their protect suits against chemical attacks and did so without any problems, he noted.
Two helicopter pilots flying with the battalion were captured by the Iraqis during the campaign but were eventually freed. Another 1227th Aviation Battalion member suffered a serious back injury during the war, he said.
Hebert’s only injury was a problem with sand in his eyes during a sandstorm that medics fixed up with an eye wash.
His scariest time was when he and two other members of his unit broke down while on a drive in Irag and had to wait a whole day without food or water to get a wheel fixed, he noted.
The soldiers also had to contend with scorpions, snakes, lizards, and a spider known as the camel spider that carried a bite capable of causing a serious skin infection, he said.
At times the desert heat topped 115 degrees and at night could drop into the low 50s and 40s, he told the students.
Through it all, Hebert said he just thought about getting back home to his family.
When asked by one of the students how it felt to be a hero, Hebert answered, "I don’t consider myself a hero. I was just doing my job.
"But I would like people to support me, just like you guys did," he added.
The best experience of the war was when he learned his unit was being sent home a week ago.
On the trip home, the unit stopped in Germany to change planes and a flight attendant for the flight back to Fort Hood had a surprise for the group, he said.
"She had cut out a piece of sod from her home so that we could walk on U.S. soil getting onto the plane," he said. The soldiers followed that gesture by dropping to kiss the ground when they arrived in Texas, he said.
Hebert said his best moment home was meeting his daughter for the first time and finding her to be so "wonderful."
Besides visiting Cabana’s Tuesday class, Hebert also stopped in at Larry Poitras’ office at the school, his former social studies teacher and now principal of Good Shepherd.
"It’s great to see him," Poitras said while escorting Hebert to a gathering of seventh- and eighth-graders in the school’s cafeteria.
"We covered all the world wars together and now here he is fighting another," Poitras said. After arriving home in Texas, Poitras said his former student first called his wife in North Carolina, then his parents in Burrillville.
"And then he called us third and that made us feel real good," the principal said.
Hebert’s mom said she was glad to have him back in Rhode Island even if only for a short visit before returning to Fort Hood.
"I'm happy and I'm sad because they are going to be leaving to go back to Texas," she said.
Posted on Wed, Jun. 11, 2003 Ledger-Enquirer reporter Sam Harper called Tuesday afternoon from London, on his way back to Columbus from Iraq and Kuwait. Harper had been with Fort Benning soldiers from the 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division for the past three months. He had spent the past week at Camp New York, in the Kuwaiti desert, with an advance team preparing for the 3rd Brigade's arrival from Baghdad. Harper's visa expired Tuesday. Here are excerpts from his conversation with editor Mike Burbach.
Where are you right now?
I'm in west London, near Heathrow Airport, at the Radisson Edwardian.
When did you leave the soldiers at Camp New York?
Monday afternoon. The white heat of Camp New York. 118-degree Camp New York.
What was going on there when you left? Plans were under way to make accommodations for arriving 3rd Brigade troops.
You're now on your way back home.
Correct.
How's it feel?
I can't really tell yet. It's almost like jet lag on a psychological scale. I can feel some sort of decompression happening. I'm sure there's going to be some adjustment. There's something to be said for living the hardscrabble life.
I've always respected military folks, but I have a deeper respect now, seeing the hardships they have to deal with. Even the ones that are trivial, but they mount up during the day, under the most adverse conditions. And I suppose that's what soldiers have always done.
You'd been with these soldiers for three months. What was it like leaving them?
I have to say, I had a little departure guilt. I had hoped to fly home with them. But, given the visa situation, and the uncertainty of their return date... I haven't really talked about leaving for the past couple of days. There's a touch of sadness in watching somebody go home and you don't know when you're going to get to do the same thing.
It's an interesting situation, being an embedded reporter. It makes you re-evaluate objectivity. Because you live with these guys and women, and you become part of what they do. And then you have a job to do as well, and you have to maintain a certain integrity about it.
The soldier's stress was combat and battle. Perhaps that balance was my stress. You know, they're good people, and you like them. You just hope and pray that somebody doesn't do anything wrong and you feel that you must report it, because you have to.
What did you do to keep hold on that balance?
I kept in mind that people are human beings, and we all make mistakes. There's a way of reporting mistakes that's our job to do, just to let people know what's happening and to learn from them, but I think there's a way to do that without being insulting or over the top.
I hope I did that, but I think that fairness is the key. The soldiers were always very polite toward me, but I could tell that they were also very suspicious. But they learned that I was going to be fair with them. And keeping it from becoming personal. That may sound contradictory, being human but also being somewhat impersonal, but I don't think it is.
What's in your head now?
What's important. What's really important. Where I'll be in 20 years, and how I'll spend those 20 years doing it. I heard a lot of soldiers saying this as well. A certain level of appreciation of life, because that comes from war. You see how fast a life can be taken in the chaos of the moment, and you just start wondering. I'm still here, and I appreciate that I'm still here.
Now I'm sitting here thinking about coming home, and I don't think the things that bothered me so much will bother me so much. Like standing in a long line at Kroger's, or running through Columbus' stupid traffic light system.
On another level, there's the horror that comes with it. And that has to be channeled in a creative way.
Are there images that your mind goes back to?
Oh, yeah, yeah. Of course there are all the body parts and dismemberments and flies, stench, jarring images. The one that stands out to me is after we entered Baghdad, we were rolling down the road, and there was a man, shirtless, and I think he had a weapon, and he was in the middle of the road, and he wasn't quite dead, he was still moving around. The Iraqis had started taking off all their clothes, as a way to show they didn't have any weapons.
There was another man who looked about my age, maybe 42, 43, he was kneeling by the side of the road, in a loincloth, swinging back and forth, with his arms up, just muttering something, but he looked totally out of the moment. He didn't look like he knew where he was. As we went by, the last image I saw of him he was bending over the man in the street, then wandering off down the road. I don't know why that image keeps coming back to me.
Any other moments you're thinking about?
On April 6, the day we rolled into Baghdad. It was like a scene from the movie "Patton." I was standing out with Col. Allyn. We'd just arrived at the petroleum institute, which would become our base of operations
We'd been there about 15 minutes and Col. Allyn was around his Humvee with his officers, looking over plans. Col. Allyn had his coffee cup with him, and the gunfire erupted. Tracer fire firing up over our heads. RPG fire, machine-gun fire. I ducked down under the Humvee, and I looked up, and I'm not the only one who saw this, Dan Allyn was standing up, drinking his coffee, looking out at the gunfire, seeing where it was coming from.
It may have been only a couple of seconds, but it seemed like a long time. I saw him take a sip from his coffee. Then he ducked down, pulled his pistol and started issuing orders. He was surveying the field.
You left Baghdad last week. Then what?
I left Baghdad with an advance team out of Baghdad airport. My luggage was lost. Arrived in Camp New York early Wednesday morning. Very hot there. Dusty, hot. Preparing for the 3rd Brigade's return there. Food much better. Stress level reduced. Soldiers don't have to wear their battle gear there. Significantly hotter.
Stayed at a really nice hotel yesterday in Kuwait City. Makes me feel really uncomfortable doing that. Feels like you're being charged for air. I took a long bath. And then a long sleep. It was ummm, excellent.
Today, got up around 5:30, and I had to get some Kuwaiti dinar on credit, because I needed to take a cab to the airport. And the Kuwaiti airport, it's not a very busy airport. It was actually pleasant. The flight was very comfortable. I have to say I like British Airways. I don't want to do a commercial for them or anything, but I think U.S. airlines can learn something from them. They make you feel wanted.
Got to London about 2:30 today. Leave tomorrow at noon, British time, to Atlanta.
The military found my luggage on Sunday. The baseball gloves aren't there. That's all right. Some soldiers are using them.
Anything from your experience and conversations with soldiers that you think we ought to know back here?
Whether people supported or opposed the war, I would hope that these soldiers would get some sort of appreciation, because they sacrificed some of themselves, and gave up a lot of time at home with their families, and did a job that few people would do. They're not the ones that make the calls on the war.
Regardless of what is revealed, and I'm sure there will be revelations coming from this war, these soldiers for the most part were honorable and courageous and proved themselves by transitioning within 24 hours from warriors to peacekeepers. It is just really hard to explain how amazing that is, how complex that is, the psychological shift. Going from killing people, targeting people one day, to helping them the next.
When I left Monday they said, "Just remind everybody we're over here." So I'm going to do that.
Anything else?
I've seen it rain mud. It really does happen.
PORTLAND, OR (June 10, 2003) -- With summer temperatures soaring to above 110 degrees, sewage waste pooling on the streets and indications of increased rates of acute malnutrition in children under the age of five, Mercy Corps CEO Neal Keny-Guyer says that there are reasons to be concerned about the humanitarian conditions in Iraq.
Keny-Guyer, who recently returned from a ten-day visit to Mercy Corps' programs in Iraq and the West Bank, spoke about the challenges facing Iraqis during a press conference today at Mercy Corps headquarters in Portland, Oregon.
"I was struck by the level of poverty inside Iraq. You think of Iraq as a country with oil resources and a city like Baghdad that at least has the façade of being fairly modern. But there are villages throughout the south that are made entirely of mud brick and appear to be fairly poor," Keny-Guyer said.
"The sanitation issue real stood out in such an obvious way. You have children making boats and floating them in cesspools in the street. You really worry about the health implications of that."
Keny-Guyer said that open sewage is evident throughout Al Kut, the city where Mercy Corps is basing its relief programs in southern Iraq. He attributes the sanitation problem to two factors. The first is the deteriorating pipes that have not been sufficiently maintained for years and the second is the lack of reliable electricity to pump the sewage. The result is sewage seeping out of the pipes and into the streets, potentially contaminating drinking water.
"The drinking pipes are right next to the sewage pipes and both are mixing together. When I was there, in the southern parts, we saw the first reports of cholera," he said.
"The other aspect that is worrisome is that according to a UNICEF report acute malnutrition in children under five has risen from seven percent to 14 percent just since the conflict began. This may or may not be related to the unclean water that causes diarrhea and compounds the problem."
Keny-Guyer said that in addition to programs aimed at improving sanitary conditions, Mercy Corps is operating programs that provide basic medicines to hospitals, restoring services for disabled children and helping students and teachers return to school through a transportation program.
He described the security situation is southern Iraq as relatively good during the day and still uncertain at night where one can often hear gunfire.
"After seeing firsthand what Mercy Corps' staff is doing in Iraq, I came away enormously proud and impressed with their commitment, their courage, their dedication and what they have accomplished under enormously challenging circumstances," he said.
WASHINGTON, June 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate voted 97-1 to approve a bill on Wednesday that would ban all imports from Myanmar in response to the recent detention of pro-democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
Sen. Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said the import ban would send a strong signal to Myanmar's military government, which the United States has long criticized.
"The free world and free press have been quick to condemn (Myanmar's leaders). But strong words from foreign capitals must be matched by stronger actions," McConnell said.
Suu Kyi and about two dozen senior members of her National League for Democracy have been held at undisclosed locations in the Myanmar capital since they were taken into custody on May 30, sources told Reuters in Yangon.
DOHA (Reuters) - OPEC cannot permit Iraq to attend meetings of the cartel while Baghdad remains under the rule of an occupying U.S.-led authority, oil ministers said on Wednesday.
"We cannot have relations with Iraq until there is an internationally recognized government, that is a consensus," said Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez.
"This does not mean we do not want Iraq in the organization. We do want Iraq in OPEC and we think Iraq will want to stay in OPEC because they will need a reasonable price for oil," he said.
Ministers said the position, agreed during a ministerial meeting on Wednesday, was common to all international organizations that hold diplomatic status.
"OPEC is not a special case," said OPEC President Abdullah al-Attiyah of Qatar.
That means Baghdad will be excluded from production policy conferences until Washington transfers power to a U.N.-recognized sovereign Iraqi government.
The stand will send ripples of concern around international oil markets. Traders are concerned that an isolated Baghdad, under Washington's influence, could leave the organization it helped form over 40 years ago.
"OPEC is on the horns of another dilemma," said Peter Gignoux, head of the London energy desk at Citigroup.
Baghdad has already missed two OPEC meetings since the U.S. invasion in March.
Cartel officials said the group's Vienna-based secretariat would move now to contact Baghdad for the first time since the war to maintain ties with the interim authority.
"We are waiting for an Iraqi oil minister. Until that time we will contact Iraqi officials to see how we can cooperate," said Attiyah.
As yet there is no clear timetable for any transition in Baghdad to a full Iraqi government.
Washington is planning, in about four weeks time, to install an Iraqi interim political council that can try to name candidates to organizations like OPEC.
But members of that council will not have diplomatic status and a full Iraqi government may not be in place for a year or more. It remains unclear whether or not OPEC will recognize the interim political council.
Iraq is expected to resume exports in a week's time but has said it could take a year to restore supplies to pre-war volumes of 2.7 million barrels a day.
Its huge reserves give it the potential to reach six or seven million barrels daily in years to come, output that would dwarf all but Saudi Arabia's in OPEC.
MOSCOW - A military court sentenced a former Russian intelligence officer on Wednesday to 18 years in prison for espionage on behalf of a U.S. intelligence service.
Alexander Zaporozhskiy was arrested in Russia in 2001 and charged with state treason in the form of passing on information about Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service and its officers, said Yevgeniy Komissarov, a spokesman for the Moscow military district court.
Zaporozhskiy, 52, worked as a deputy chief of the first department of the Foreign Intelligence Service until 1997, Komissarov said.
The court decision also stripped him of his rank of colonel and of merit medals, Komissarov said.
Zaporozhskiy pleaded not guilty, Komissarov said. He will appeal the sentence to Russia's Supreme Court, said his lawyer, Maria Veselova, according to the ITAR-TASS news agency.
Cuba Claims EU Serving American Interests
HAVANA - Cuba lashed out at the European Union on Wednesday, accusing the 15-nation bloc of serving U.S. interests through recent criticisms of the Fidel Castro government.
Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque, using language usually reserved for Washington, accused Spain's government of funding dissident groups that Havana claims are being organized by the United States.
Perez Roque made a vague threat to Madrid's Spanish Cultural Center in Havana, saying "Cuban authorities will take the appropriate measures to convert this center into an institution that truly meets the noble aim of popularizing Spanish culture."
Thai Seize Marked Bangkok Map for Terror
BANGKOK, Thailand - Authorities confiscated a Bangkok tourist map with circled targets from three Thai Muslims arrested in an alleged plot to attack foreign embassies and U.S. interests in Thailand, police said Wednesday.
Police also announced they are seeking another Thai Muslim suspected of being part of the alleged plot.
The three in custody are suspected members of Jemaah Islamiyah, the Southeast Asian terrorist group accused of carrying out the deadly Oct. 12 bombing on the island of Bali, said Maj. Gen. Suwat Tumrongsisakul, assistant commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau.
Police arrested the three on Tuesday, hours before Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was in the United States meeting with President Bush. Previously, the prime minister rejected claims that Muslim extremists were operating in the mainly Buddhist kingdom.
WASHINGTON - The military is investigating whether U.S. troops were responsible for the death of an Iraqi prisoner of war, officials said Wednesday.
The criminal investigation is the first involving the death of a prisoner in U.S. custody in Iraq. The British are investigating both the deaths of two Iraqis who were under British control and allegations of beatings or torture of prisoners by British troops.
U.S. authorities found the corpse of a 52-year-old prisoner Friday at a camp run by the 1st Marine Division near Nasiriyah, officials said. The man had been held at the camp in southern Iraq since his capture May 3, U.S. Central Command said in a statement.
Officials said the prisoner was not one of the 55 Iraqis most wanted by the Americans. More than half of the former Iraqi officials on that list have been captured and are being interrogated by American forces.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Amid the failure so far to find Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction, the CIA said on Wednesday it had enlisted a former chief U.N. nuclear weapons inspector to refine the search.
CIA Director George Tenet announced the appointment of David Kay to serve as an Iraq-based special adviser to help find the weapons. Kay led three United Nations arms inspection missions in Iraq during 1991-92.
"His understanding of the history of the Iraqi programs and knowledge of past Iraqi efforts to hide WMD will be of inestimable help in determining the current status of Saddam Hussein's illicit weapons," Tenet said in a statement.
Oh great. NOW Lott's gonna get tough.
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Have y'all been following Eponymous Dowdifications on Best of the Web Today? As a take-off on Maureen Dowd's mangling Dubya's statement, readers have been sending in their own thoughts on Dowd's columns. Some examples from her column today on clothes shopping:
Ruth Papazian: "I really don't like . . . following . . . the . . . rules . . . of . . . journalism."
Willie Delwiche: "I know . . . I . . . have . . . a slightly peevish tone. . . . I hate . . . President Clinton . . . and . . . The Times."
Jim Trager: "President Clinton . . . was surprised to see that . . . tough . . . successful . . . women . . . like to have . . . an easier, more pleasant, quicker experience."
Barbara Luter: "I know . . . trained poodles . . . in Washington . . . who . . . are . . . a little suspicious of . . . President Clinton."
Moshe Bell: "I . . . like . . . making totally illogical and irrelevant comments. . . . I . . . play into stereotypes. . . . My . . . journalism . . . is . . . comedy."
Howard Walker: "I know this is an odd bias, but I really . . . like . . . gigolos . . . like former . . . President Clinton."
David Ortiz: "Maybe . . . my . . . bad . . . journalism . . . is a . . . sign of . . . The Times's . . . demise."
[I especially love that last one!]
| PM considering US military base |
| The Age (Australia), by None Cited - 6/11/2003 |
| The federal government would consider an approach from the United States about basing US military forces in Australia, Prime Minister John Howard said today. But he said there had been no formal US moves to provide bases for US forces as part of a plan to combat terrorism in South-East Asia, especially Islamist extremists based in Indonesia. |
| Cuban Musician Defects to U.S. After Mexico Concert |
| Reuters, by unattributed - 6/11/2003 |
| Popular Cuban musician Carlos Manuel Pruneda has defected to the United States after giving a concert in Mexico City, U.S. officials said on Wednesday. He and a group that included his mother and sister were given asylum after crossing the international bridge from Matamoros, Mexico, into Brownsville early on Monday... |
| U.S. works on Iraq deployment deal |
| Washington Times, by Desikan Thirunarayanapuram |
| - 6/11/2003 |
| Indian Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani said yesterday that he expects India and the United States to finalize an agreement early next week for India to send peacekeepers to Iraq. |
| '32 Times Pulitzer could be yanked |
| NYDailynews.com, by Paul Colford |
| - 6/11/2003 7:48:02 PM |
| More than 70 years later, a Pulitzer Prize won by a Moscow correspondent for The New York Times is being reconsidered. A subcommittee of the Pulitzer board is reviewing the 1932 award won by Walter Duranty , an admirer of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. |
CAMP DOHA, Kuwait -- Coalition Forces continue to patrol Iraq to eliminate crimes against people and property, rid populated areas of weapons, ammunition and explosives, and stop the black market trade in fuel and other commodities. Coalition Forces also continue to conduct joint security patrols with Iraqi police to increase the professionalism of the police force and prepare them for their role in a self-governed Iraq.
Task Force "Ironhorse" Launches Operation Peninsula Strike
The operation took place in two major stages. The first stage of the operation involved moving soldiers and equipment into strike positions, intelligence gathering, and coordination with local police. During the second stage, raids were conducted within the area of operation via land, air and water to capture or destroy subversive elements. Air assault teams, ground attack squads, raid teams, river patrol boats and local security combined forces to block off escape routes and operate check points to ensure the operation’s success.
A variety of units are incorporated into the operation, using the overwhelming firepower and effects of a joint and combined arms team. Army infantry, armor, artillery, aviation, and engineers, along with Air Force elements continue to work together to accomplish the mission. Because of operational security concerns, specific information regarding the units participating in the operation cannot be discussed until the operation is concluded.
Coalition forces detained 397 suspects and numerous weapons systems and ammunition. A curfew is in place from 10 p.m. until 4 a.m., which allows civilians to transit the area that acknowledge U.S. authority. Task Force Ironhorse continues to seize illegal weapons in support of the National Weapons Policy implemented on June 1, 2003.
Weapons Turn-In Program:
Iraqi citizens voluntarily turned in a variety of weapons under the Weapons Turn-In Program that began June 1. As of today, Iraqi citizens have delivered to Weapons Collection Points a total of 85 pistols, 72 semi-automatic rifles or shotguns, 363 automatic rifles, 40 machine guns, 120 anti-tank weapons (i.e., rocket-propelled grenade launchers), 10 anti-air weapons, and 230 grenades and other explosive devices.
The amnesty period for the Weapons Turn-In Program will run through June 14.
Coalition Activity:
A local farmer led a Coalition patrol to a previously undiscovered weapons cache in Mosul. The patrol confiscated 3,000 x 12.7mm rounds, three mortars with tripods, 3 rocket-propelled grenades, and four firearms. The weapons were secured at the local police station and then delivered to a brigade weapons collection point.
A 4th Infantry Division patrol discovered three ammunition bunkers in Northern Iraq that contained thousands of rocket-propelled grenades, anti-tank/anti-personnel mines, and mortar rounds. The patrol detained 9 personnel with shovels and pick-axes who had attempted to loot the ammunition. The bunkers were secured and are in the process of being destroyed.
The 101st Airborne Division hired an additional 50 former Iraqi military personnel to increase the power of the Joint Iraqi Security Company being stood up in Northern Iraq.
Marines detained 17 individuals in An Najaf after responding to explosions near an ammunition bunker. Four of the detainees were found with empty artillery shells in their vehicles.
Fifteen more Iraqi police officers were hired in the city of Al Sammawah.
The police chief of Al Dinawiah was removed from his position due to allegations of corruption.
The 101st Airborne Division detained two individuals for running a black-market fuel ring in Mosul. A truck and a supply of propane and gasoline were also seized.
Coalition forces captured and detained two more alleged war criminals. They are Latif Nusayyif Jasim Al-Dulaymi, Ba'ath party military bureau deputy chairman (#18), and Husayn Al Awadi, Ba'ath party regional chairman - Ninawa governorate (#53 BG in the former regime’s chemical corps).
Police Activity in the Last 24 Hours:
Coalition Forces conducted 8 raids and a total of 2,595 patrols throughout Iraq. Of those patrols, they conducted 253 joint Iraqi and Coalition patrols. They also detained or arrested 264 individuals for a variety of criminal activities including looting, curfew violations, weapons violations, theft, larceny and dealing drugs.
Recent Police Activity:
While on patrols in north and central Baghdad, US military police came across several types of unexploded ordnance (UXO). The discoveries varied from small missiles, to rocket propelled grenades and launchers, blasting caps, fuses and grenades. All areas were clearly marked and cordoned by the military police as explosive ordnance experts dispose of the ordnance.
A possible murder reported in northwest Baghdad was investigated during a joint patrol. Iraqi police investigators questioned several suspects at the scene of the crime, and then transported all suspects to the local station for further processing.
Three assailants, believed to be arms dealers, assaulted an off duty Iraqi policeman in northern Baghdad. A joint patrol was sent to the suspects' house(s) to make an arrest. A search of the premises revealed one AK-47. The Iraqi police apprehended one of the assailants and took him to the Al Hurriyah police station for questioning.
MACDILL, AFB, FL-On June 6, an Iraqi detainee being held at a Coalition facility in the vicinity of An Nasiriyah was found deceased. The detainee had been in Coalition custody since May 3.
A full and thorough investigation into the death is being conducted by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and the findings of the investigation will be released when the investigation is complete.
CAMP DOHA, Kuwait – Coalition Forces continue to assist in developing a safer and more secure environment in Iraq through the following activities: NORTHERN AND CENTRAL IRAQ
Coalition Forces recently:
• Continued "Task Force Neighborhood" cleanup operations in As Shurah.
• Paid $27,000 in OCPA funds for water projects in the Kirkuk/Mosul area.
• Completed delivery of the civil servant funds, and supervised mayoral elections in Muqudadiya in which an interim mayor was elected.
• Delivered 20 tons of propane within Baghdad Tuesday.
• Hauled and consolidated 88 tons of captured Iraqi ammunition. 8,281 tons of ammunition has been consolidated out of Baghdad to date, with 9 of 23 sites remaining to be cleared.
• Supported a feasibility study for an open-air market in Mosul.
• Reported a World Food Program convoy of 159 trucks departed Turkey with 5,200 metric tons of food for delivery in Dohuk, Mosul, Irbil, and Sulaymaniah. Also reported 201 trucks departed from Jordan with 3,600 metric tons of food for delivery in Baghdad, Babil, Anbar, and Wasit.
• Met with the World Food Program to discuss traffic issues associated with humanitarian shipments transiting the Iraq/Jordan border.
• Received a medical donation for pharmaceutical supplies from Sukhtian Group (Sukha Pharmaceuticals Division) valued at $140,000. Sukhtian Group has also tentatively agreed to provide an aid package specifically for displaced Palestinians within Iraq.
• Met with the mayor of Al Fallujah, Chief of Police, Imam’s and Sheiks to discuss city reconstruction efforts. Also met with city industrial leaders to discuss re-establishment of infrastructure, such as the cement factory, power plants, and automobile plant.
• Developed an information campaign to encourage recruitment efforts among former Iraqi military members for positions as Iraqi facility security guards.
• Delivered a 2 1/2 ton truckload of medical supplies to the Al Karmah Primary Health Center and $3000 to the municipality water department in order to establish potable water service to 11,000 people in the area.
• Utilized contracting and purchasing officers to buy generators for a water treatment facility in Baghdad. Also continued to assess city police departments for renovation work (electrical, masonry, plumbing and basic construction) scheduled to begin in the next several days.
• Successfully repaired several police cars in Baghdad and acquired several others, which will be painted and marked prior to putting them on joint patrol in the city.
• Conducted assessments of the judicial system in Al Fallujah and discussed establishment of a criminal docket, courthouse buildings security, and salary payments. Also reported what may be the first criminal trials completed in Iraq since the end of the war.
• Received 193 benzene and 27 propane trucks in Mosul/Kirkuk area from Turkey on Tuesday. Also reported forces observed 166 humanitarian assistance shipments entering Iraq from Syria in the last 24 hours.
• Reported 700 million Iraqi Dinars and $380,000 in salary payments were distributed to civil servants in the past 24 hours.
SOUTHERN IRAQ
• Repaired a broken water main in As Samawah that restored water service to an educational facility. Also located two school warehouses with a large amount of school supplies.
• Reported that chemicals are scheduled to arrive in An Nasariyah that will allow the electric power plant to start up two remaining turbines.
• Facilitated delivery of 16 truckloads of medical supplies for distribution to hospitals in An Nasariyah and a reserve of 10 truckloads for storage.
• Provided diesel refuelers that continued to increase diesel reserves at the An Najaf electric power plant.
• Supervised $40 stipend payments to more than 1,800 pensioners through the retirement office.
• In Ad Diwaniyah, the Governor, new chief of police as well as representative leadership from the former police force attended a Coalition hosted security conference. The agenda set the stage for police force transformation, discussion on how to maintain / improve security and how to gain further trust and confidence from the local population in their new police force. The police academy class continues to train 280 students.
• Reported the Karbala TV station is fully functional, and broadcasting daily from 5 pm to midnight.
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