Posted on 03/02/2005 7:19:21 PM PST by TexKat
Staff Sgt. William Thomas Payne, his father Carl and Maj. Gen. Pete Chiarelli, stand together after Payne was awarded the Silver Star at the cross sabers monument in central Baghdad. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. John Queen, 3rd BCT Public Affairs
Zarqawi rallies Iraqi insurgency thanks to Al-Qaeda, US:
Published: 3/3/2005:
BAGHDAD - Jordanian Islamist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has rallied the insurgency in Iraq thanks to his endorsement by Al-Qaeda and demonization by the United States.
For several months, most claims of attacks carried out by the insurgency, dominated by supporters of the former Baathist regime, have been issued by groups purportedly linked to Zarqawi's network, formerly known as Tawhid wal Jihad (Unity and Holy War), Iraqi and US officials said.
Zarqawi's name is a convenient tag for toppled president Saddam Hussein's Baath party and security service veterans who want to disguise their involvement and gain popular support for their violence, the officials said.
"Baathists are no longer supported by the people in Iraq," said the interior ministry's intelligence chief Major General Hussein Kamal.
"The Baathists have chosen to hide behind the religious Jihadi front to regain the sympathy of the people and control the minds of the ignorant. This led Zarqawi to be the front.
"They (the Baathists) are working with the Islamists under joint leadership to gather intelligence and wage operations," he said. "By Islamists, I mean Al-Qaeda and others existing in Iraq."
He added that the partnership was also spurred by the crackdown on insurgents by the new Iraqi security forces.
Baathists saw the Al-Qaeda brand name as a useful calling card, Kamal said.
"They are hiding behind Al-Qaeda because Al-Qaeda is the biggest enemy to the United States and to the West."
A spokesman for the US Army's 42nd Infantry Division, in charge of four provinces north of Baghdad, including three of the most restless in the country, confirmed the prominence of the Baathist trend within the insurgency.
"Here in our region the vast majority of the insurgents are former regime elements," said Major Richard Goldenberg.
Kamal said: "No operation carried out by the Baathists has been claimed in the name of the Baath party. They have been using other names like the Islamic Army, Tawhid wal Jihad or the Salahaddin Brigade ... all cells linked to the Zarqawi group."
Statements are often an opportunity for groups to advertise themselves, even if they are not involved in the attack.
"It is one of two things: either the insurgents are claiming to be part of Zarqawi's vast network or they will make an attack and Zarqawi will take credit for it," the US military spokesman said.
A sound criterion to determine the actual involvement of foreign fighters is suicide attacks.
"Iraqis do not see a suicide attack as a good thing," Goldenberg said.
"The majority of suicide bombers are (non-Iraqi) Arabs and not Iraqis", concurred General Kamal, citing specifically Saudis and Yemenis.
"I don't have an exact number of how many of Zarqawi affiliates there are (in Iraq) but I would say that those who have entered the country illegally are in the hundreds. That is according to information given by Arab terrorists detained in Iraq," he said.
In a message attributed to Zarqawi and found in January 2004 in the possession of an alleged high-ranking Pakistani Al-Qaeda operative, the author lamented the lack of eagerness for martyrdom within the Iraqi insurgents.
"The Iraqi brothers still favour their own security and prefer to go back to the arms of their wives, away from all fears. The members of these groups sometimes boast that none of them has been killed or been taken prisoner," the document reads.
Goldenberg acknowledged the responsibility of the United States in the rise of Zarqawi, for whose capture Washington is offering the same bounty as for Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden: 25 million dollars.
"It is a two-edged sword because you create someone who is popular. For this maybe we gave him much momentum for his publicity, but at the same time the Iraqis see him as an outsider."
But even if the Baathists have profited from Zarqawi's notoriety, the attention in Iraq has awarded the Jordanian Islamist fame to rival bin Laden.
03/03/2005 13:11 GMT
AFP and Turkish Press
http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=37912
March 3, 2005 7:00 PM:
By Tabassum Zakaria
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a rare public mention of the mastermind of the September 11 attacks, President George W. Bush says stopping Osama bin Laden from a new attack on U.S. soil is "the greatest challenge of our day."
Bush confirmed U.S. reports that bin Laden had asked his chief ally in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, to plan attacks in the United States -- a warning that al Qaeda was still a threat to Americans at home.
"Recently, we learned that Osama bin Laden has urged the terrorist Zarqawi to form a group to conduct attacks outside Iraq, including here in the United States," Bush said on Thursday at a public swearing-in ceremony for Michael Chertoff, the new head of the Department of Homeland Security.
"Bin Laden's message is a telling reminder that al Qaeda still hopes to attack us on our own soil," Bush said. "Stopping him is the greatest challenge of our day."
Shortly after the September 11, 2001, attacks, Bush famously declared he wanted bin Laden caught "dead or alive," but in the years since he has been more sparing in bringing up the al Qaeda leader's name in public.
Bin Laden has eluded U.S. efforts to hunt him down, and he occasionally surfaces in a video or audiotape to show his followers he is still alive. U.S. intelligence believes he is hiding in the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
"We're on a constant hunt for bin Laden. We're keeping the pressure on him, keeping him in hiding," Bush said.
Zarqawi, blamed for orchestrating insurgent attacks against U.S. forces and Iraqis, has become the most hunted man in Iraq. In December, an audiotape message purportedly from bin Laden formally named Zarqawi as the head of al Qaeda in Iraq.
"And today, Zarqawi understands that coalition and Iraqi troops are on a constant hunt for him, as well," Bush said. "We're working every day and night to dismantle his network and to bring him to justice."
Since the September 11 hijacked-plane attacks, U.S. officials have publicly warned that extremists continue to target Americans and could launch another attack on U.S. soil.
Bush will visit the CIA later on Thursday in the wake of intelligence restructuring that created a new top intelligence official who will outrank the CIA director in the spy hierarchy.
Reuters
ABOARD USS BONHOMME RICHARD, At Sea (NNS) -- After answering a bridge-to-bridge distress call from a Kuwaiti fisherman Feb. 17, multipurpose amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (BHR) (LHD 6) chased two pirate boats away from a group of fishing dhows in the Persian Gulf.
BHR received the call when a fishing boat was seized by a group of pirates in Boston whalers. Bonhomme Richard made best speed in pursuit of the pirates, chasing them away from the group of dhows.
According to BHR Commanding Officer Capt. J. Scott Jones, just the presence of the big deck amphibious ship was enough to scare the bandits away.
“With 44,000 tons of combat power chasing after them, they got out of there in a hurry,” Jones said. “This proves again the deterrent capability of this ship and her Sailors and Marines. Just by being here, we were able to protect these fishermen.”
The San Diego-based ship is currently supporting maritime security operations around oil terminals that are vital to Iraq’s economy, and serving as one of the many maritime interception operations platforms to detect, deter and disrupt terrorist threats at sea.
“On our deployment so far, we have delivered more than 1 million pounds of humanitarian supplies to Indonesian tsunami survivors, sent Marines ashore to conduct exercises and chased pirate ships away,” Jones said. “We have always been there when called, and BHR’s Sailors and Marines continue to answer every bell.”
Bonhomme Richard, the flagship of Expeditionary Strike Group 5, is currently operating in the Persian Gulf in support of the sovereign government of Iraq and the maritime effort against terrorism.
For related news, visit the Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/Commander, U.S. 5th Fleet Navy NewsStand page at www.news.navy.mil/local/cusnc.
HEARTS.. AND BRAINS.. AND MUSCLES, ETC TO LIBERATE THOSE UNGRATEFUL FILTHS OR PERHAPS GOOD PEOPLE. ANY WHO DO NOT AFFORD ECONOMIC FAIRNESS BIG INTELLIGENT VETERANS I WILL RUIN WITHIN THE LETTER OF THE LAW.
FINANCIAL ADVISOR.
Thursday, March 3, 2005 Posted: 3:14 PM EST (2014 GMT):
(CNN) -- Pilot Steve Fossett has become the first person to fly solo nonstop round-the-world. His plane, the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer, touched down Thursday afternoon in Salina, Kansas, more than 66 hours after he lifted off from the same spot.
With a crowd and marching band to greet him, Fossett landed at Salina Municipal Airport around 2:49 p.m. ET.
Fossett, his legs a little wobbly, stepped out of the cockpit and hugged his wife, as well as his flight financier, Virgin Atlantic founder Richard Branson.
The flight wasn't without drama.
The 60-year-old pilot and his team considered abandoning the trip when they were over Hawaii on Wednesday because the experimental plane came up about 2,600 pounds of fuel short after taking off on Monday. He decided to press on because of favorable tail winds.
The team speculated that fuel was vented from four tanks shortly after takeoff.
Early warnings that the dramatic drop in fuel could force Fossett to land in Hawaii were later revised.
Fossett has proved himself to be a modern-day Magellan, the mariner who circumnavigated the globe from 1519 to 1521.
In 2002, he became the first solo balloonist to circle the globe nonstop, despite an on-board fire and dangerous winds. Two years later, he and his crew made the fastest circumnavigation on a sailing ship: 58 days.
The GlobalFlyer consists of three hulls attached to a 35-meter (114-foot) wing that measures more than half the wingspan of a Boeing 747. Twin "boom" hulls on either side of the cockpit hull each carry almost 2,500 kilograms (5,500 pounds) of fuel.
Atop the plane's 7-foot cockpit is a single jet engine.
The first nonstop global flight -- not solo like Fossett's -- without refueling was made in 1986 by Jeana Yeager and Dick Rutan, brother of GlobalFlyer designer Burt Rutan.
Last year, Burt Rutan led the first manned commercial flight to reach the edge of space. Rutan's SpaceShipOne won his team the $10 million X Prize, an award from a nonprofit foundation aimed at spurring civilian space flight.
Thu, Mar 03, 2005:
PARIS (AFP) - French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin called on the kidnappers of a French reporter taken hostage in Iraq to deal with government officials only -- and not a maverick MP mentioned by name in a video they released this week
Raffarin said the unidentified group holding Florence Aubenas, a senior correspondent with the Liberation newspaper, should communicate "only with official French services."
The prime minister, speaking after meeting political party leaders, also said that it would be "unacceptable" for the MP in question -- Didier Julia, a member of the ruling UMP party who has links to former members of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s regime -- to act alone to free Aubenas.
The French reporter, who disappeared in Baghdad January 5 with her Iraqi interpreter, was seen in a video broadcast Tuesday saying she was in a "bad" way and pleading for Julia to help her.
"This is urgent now. Help me! I ask especially Mr Didier Julia, the French deputy. Please Mr Julia. Help me! It's urgent. Mr Julia help me!" the 43-year-old senior correspondent said.
Aubenas's newspaper and French officials said it appeared the reporter had been forced by her kidnappers to appeal to Julia.
The MP, who speaks Arabic and has made frequent trips to Iraq and Syria, created controversy last September when he headed a failed mission to free two other French reporters taken in Iraq.
Those two journalists, who were eventually freed in December, accused him of jeopardising their lives through his independent venture, which confused and angered their kidnappers.
Julia has said he "probably" knew the group holding Aubenas and stressed in a statement to AFP Thursday that their only demand to date has been for him to become a mediator for her release.
He said he stood ready to help, but only if the government lifted a criminal investigation of his two assistants involved in the previous failed rescue mission.
Iraqi army hand over a flag during an activition ceremony of the Iarqi 41st Brigade in Baghdad on March 2. The 41st brigade is going to be incharge of the northeastern district of Baghdad which includes Sadr City.(AFP/File/Marwan Naamani)
Old guard Iraqi army commanders back in the mix
BAGHDAD (AFP) - The deputy commander of US forces in the Baghdad area greets a group of portly and mustachioed leaders in the new Iraqi army by kissing each one of them three times on the cheek.
One of the men embraced by Brigadier General Karl Horst is Jawad al-Dainiy, a 57-year-old decorated general whose 37 years in the Iraqi army closely tracked the ascent of ousted strongman Saddam Hussein.
The US military has become obsessed with the need to groom men like Dainiy to lead Iraq's new armed forces in the hopes that they would slowly begin to take over security responsibilities from US troops and pave the way for a gradual reduction in their presence.
The question is whether these commanders, steeped in the ideology of Saddam's army, can adapt to the new realities to lead a cohesive and disciplined army that can fight and withstand relentless threats and attacks from insurgents.
Many among the former Iraqi military brass were banished two years ago when the US-led occupation at the time dissolved the army. They were courted again when US and Iraqi officials were hit with the realities of building an army from scratch.
Dainiy was officially recognised Wednesday during a ceremony at a US military base near Baghdad airport as commander of the newly-launched 41st Brigade of the Iraqi army. He had rejoined the army in November.
"I reached a conviction that I must take part in leading my country, eliminating terrorists and taking charge of security," he says.
Saddam pinned 24 medals to his chest and awarded him the prestigious Al-Qadissiyah sword for bravery.
The stout native of Salman Pak, south of Baghdad, resembles the archetypical member of the ex-dictator's inner circle of aides.
He sports a thick dyed mustache and is dressed in immaculately-pressed dark green fatigues and dons a black beret with an eagle pin attached to it.
His brigade will start with a core staff of 215 members and is expected to swell to 5,000 soldiers with the integration of battalions from the national guard, said Colonel Ed Tennent, a US military advisor helping train the Iraqis.
The plan is for the brigade to take control of securing a large section of Baghdad's east bank in six to nine months according to Tennent.
Its command area would include the teeming Shiite slum of Sadr City, which was the scene last year of fighting between US forces and militia loyal to firebrand cleric Moqtada Sadr before he disarmed.
On the capital's west bank, the 40th Brigade took over in February responsibility for the Sunni Arab insurgent strongholds of Haifa Street and Adhamiyah, albeit still marshalled by US military instructors.
The Iraqi army now numbers more than 50,000 soldiers. The government says it wants 100,000 troops trained by July and 150,000 by the end of the year.
US military commanders believe the right leadership is key to attaining this goal and they appear optimistic that a strategy of tapping Iraqi commanders who are not directly implicated in the former regime's brutality combined with training and mentoring new units is bearing fruit.
But some old timers in the Iraqi army are less sanguine than the Americans about the challenges that lie ahead.
"Do not forget we lived nearly half a century under one regime and we cannot adapt to the change from one day to the next," says Major General Daham Radhi al-Asal, 65.
"It is going to take time."
Asal, a graduate of Britain's Sandhurst academy, returned to the army one year ago and says that he wants to ingrain in the new soldiers a sense of loyalty to their nation and not a single leader as was the case with Saddam and not to act to oppress people.
Soldiers gather around Dainiy, who had vowed to "cut the heads of terrorists" in his address to them, and start waving their rifles in the air and dance and sing in praise of his name.
Many of them admitted on the side that they only joined the army out of economic necessity.
Iraq's army, once one of the largest and better trained in the region, became demoralised and drained after Saddam's endless wars with his neighbours.
Charles R. Smith
Thursday, March 3, 2005:
According to a former top Bush administration official, Russian special forces teams moved weapons of mass destruction out of Iraq to Syria.
"I am absolutely sure that Russian Spetsnatz units moved WMD out of Iraq before the war," stated John Shaw, the former deputy undersecretary for international technology security.
According to Shaw, Russian units hid Saddam's arsenal inside Syria and in Lebanon's Bekka valley.
"While in Iraq I uncovered detailed information that Spetsnatz units shredded records and moved all WMD and specified advanced munitions out of Iraq to Syria and Lebanon," stated Shaw during an exclusive interview.
"I received information from several sources naming the exact Russian units, what they took and where they took both WMD materials and conventional explosives. Moscow made a 2001 agreement with Saddam Hussein to clear up all Russian involvement in WMD systems in Iraq," stated Shaw.
Shaw's assertions match the information provided by U.S. military forces that satellite surveillance showed extensive large-vehicle traffic crossing the Syrian border prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Moscow Paranoid About WMD
Shaw's information also backs allegations by a wide variety of sources of Russia's direct involvement in Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program. One U.N. bioterrorism expert announced that Russia has been Iraq's "main supplier of the materials and know-how to weaponize anthrax, botulism and smallpox."
Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Robert Goldberg cited former U.N. weapons inspector Richard Spertzel, who stated that Moscow supplied Baghdad with fermentation equipment to produce biotoxins.
According to Spertzel, the Russians on the U.N. inspection team in Iraq were "paranoid" about his efforts to uncover smallpox production.
Goldberg noted that no country has "done more to rebuild" Saddam's chemical and biological weapons programs or "been more aggressive in helping hide the truth" than Russia.
It is a fact that Saddam Hussein rose to power backed by Russian weapons and Russian money. Saddam was in debt to Moscow for over $8 billion for the arms he purchased from Russia when he was captured by U.S. forces.
The primary Iraqi chemical weapons were VX nerve gas and mustard gas, a blistering agent, both obtained from Russia.
According to the book "Russian Military Power," published in 1982, "It is known that the Soviets maintain stocks of CW (chemical weapons) agents."
The two primary Russian chemical weapons in the 1982 Soviet inventory were the nerve agent "VX" and "blistering agents - developments of mustard gas used so effectively in World War I."
Russian Chemical Weapons in Iraq
Iraq did most of its WMD killing using Russian-made MiG and Sukhoi aircraft equipped with chemical sprayers. In addition, Saddam used French-made artillery and helicopters to dump gas on Iranian troops and Iraqi Kurds.
Iraq obtained Russian delivery systems and the same inventory of Russian-made chemical weapons at the same time. Iraqi SU-22 Fitter attack jets were armed with Warsaw Pact-designed bombs filled with chemical weapons. Iraq used these Russian jet fighters to drop chemical weapons on Iranian troops during the Iran-Iraq war.
Iraq tried to use these SU-22 jets during the 1991 Gulf War, but they were detected and destroyed on the ground before they could launch a deadly chemical attack.
Other Russian weapons found with chemical weapons include the FROG-7 missile, 122 mm rockets, 152 mm artillery and the M-1937 82 mm mortars. All the Iraqi artillery missiles, rockets, shells and mortar rounds filled with chemical weapons are of Russian design.
Iraqi forces were trained by Russians in the use of chemical weapons and equipped by Russia with anti-chemical suits. The Iraqi armed forces were trained, equipped and supplied with the proper logistics to perform chemical warfare by Russia.
Lebanon and Syria
The arming of Iraq with such weapons has a direct impact on events today in the Middle East. The presence of former Iraqi WMD systems in Lebanon raises serious questions surrounding the Feb. 14 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Many blame Syria for Hariri's murder.
However, the possibility that Hariri discovered the location of the Iraqi WMD systems inside his country lends some credible backing to a Syrian assassination effort to silence him.
In addition, the sudden sale of advanced missile and other weapons to Damascus by Moscow also supports the allegation that Syria is hiding something for Russia.
Russian weapons makers have previously insisted on hard, cold cash payments for their missiles, especially after the fall of Saddam and the collapse of credit deals done with Baghdad. More importantly, the Syrian economy is in bad shape, making it difficult for Damascus to come up with the required money for advanced Russian weapons.
Instead, it now appears that Moscow has extended both very good terms and no down payment required to Syria for an extensive purchase of advanced missiles and weapons. This is in contrast to weapons sales to other "good" Russian customers such as China, which can afford to pay up front for weapon systems.
CIA Failed
There is no question that the Russian effort to remove Iraqi WMD systems was the most successful intelligence operation of the 21st century. The Russians were able to move hundreds of tons of chemical, biological and nuclear materials without being discovered by CIA satellites or NSA radio listening posts.
"There is a clear sense on how effective they were," noted Shaw.
"The fact that the CIA did not know shows just how successful the Russian operation was," he concluded.
RADIO AND TV SCHEDULE
Charles Smith will be on:
The Jerry Hughes Show on Friday, 3/4/05, at 3 p.m. Eastern time. Show information at http://www.cilamerica.com.
The Charlie Smith Show on the American Freedom Network on Monday, 3/7/05, at 11 a.m. Eastern time. Show information at http://www.americanewsnet.com/
Thu, Mar 03, 2005 (6 minutes ago)
A Greenfield man has been indicted on accusations he tried to sell the names of U.S. intelligence agents to Iraq before the 2003 fall of Saddam Hussein's regime.
Shaaban Hafiz Ahmad Ali Shaaban, 52, was arrested this week and attended an initial hearing in federal court Thursday, U.S. Attorney Susan W. Brooks said in a news release.
Shaaban, also known as Shaaban Shaaban Hafed and Joe H. Brown, is suspected of making a deal to sell the names. He isn't accused of providing the information or receiving money for it, Brooks told RTV6's Linda Allen.
The allegations focus on events that are alleged to have occurred before the United States invaded Iraq in 2003.
"Agreeing to provide names of United States operatives to Iraq in the months immediately preceding the war are very serious charges that go to the heart of the nation's security," Brooks said in the release.
Information on whether investigators believe he had those names wasn't immediately available.
The indictment came after an investigation by the FBI (news - web sites), which was assisted by the Department of Homeland Security, the news release said.
Shaaba, according to the indictment, went to Baghdad in late 2002 and agreed to obtain -- from a third party in another country -- the names of U.S. intelligence agents working in Iraq and sell them to Saddam Hussein's intelligence service for $3 million.
The indictment alleges that Shaaban began his trip to Iraq on or about Oct. 26, 2002, flying from Chicago to Paris to Damascus, Syria. He allegedly went to Iraq from Syria.
While in Iraq in November 2002, he allegedly offered to sell to Iraqi intelligence officers the names of about 60 U.S.-connected agents working in Iraq, according to the indictment. He named a price of $5 million and said he would get the names from a third party, the indictment alleges.
Details on how Shaaban allegedly planned to get the names from the third party wasn't immediately available.
The indictment alleges that the Iraqi officers agreed to a fee of $3 million and required that Shaaban provide a sample of the information before payment. The indictment doesn't indicate that Shaaban provided any names or received payment.
The indictment also alleges that Shaaban:
Sought Iraqi support to establish a TV station in the United States that would broadcast pro-Iraqi news
Sought an arrangement in which he would be paid a fee by Iraq to organize volunteers to act as human shields to protect Iraqi infrastructure during the 2003 war Broadcast messages of support for the Iraqi government on Iraqi media stations, advocating support for Iraq and encouraging others to resist the United States
The government has charged Shaaban with conspiracy; acting as a foreign agent without notification; violations of Iraqi sanctions under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act; unlawful procurement of an identification document; and unlawful procurement of naturalization.
A pretrial court date has been set for April 25.
Watch RTV6 at 6 p.m. for coverage of this story and revisit this page later for updates.
Task Force Thunder Ready for Enemy Fair-Weather Fighters:
Despite frigid temperatures, troops trained throughout the winter months to maintain their readiness.
By U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Bradley Rhen
Combined Task Force Thunder:
FORWARD OPERATING BASE SALERNO, Afghanistan, March 3, 2005 — As the temperatures gradually begin to rise and the snow starts melting throughout Afghanistan, anti-government and anti-Coalition militants are expected to resume attacks.
Historically, fighters take respite during Afghanistan’s harsh winters and reemerge in the spring with a brief increase in attacks.
In the last few weeks, several people claiming to be Taliban spokesmen have called media outlets to let them know they will launch their “spring offensive” when the weather gets fairer.
However, these fair-weather fighters shouldn’t expect to catch the Coalition on their heels this year, said Maj. Duke Davis, operations officer for Combined Task Force Thunder at Forward Operating Base Salerno in Khost province.
“We’ve already experienced the attacks, and anything that they launch at us, we’ll be ready to address.” Davis said.
Compared to near zero level of activity during the winter, Davis said any event or attack is going to seem like an increase, but he certainly doesn’t expect an overwhelming offensive.
Instead, he expects a small increase in low-level attacks, but thinks the enemy is banking on a historical trend and perhaps even a bit of hope that their forces are going to come out and conduct major attacks when the warm weather comes.
“But I’m not so sure their message and their threats are associated with any distinct capabilities that they’ve shown,” Davis said. “They’re making those statements perhaps in hope, and based on trends, that their insurgent fighters are actually going to come out and do that. I certainly would not give credit to an overarching operational or strategically coordinated action”
“This enemy is going to do what they typically do, which is increase attacks in the spring, but they’re going to run into an [Afghan National Army] and an [Afghan National Police] force that is much more capable of addressing those threats on their own feet, let alone with assistance from the U.S, ” U.S. Army Maj. Duke Davis
Task Force Thunder is still conducting its own “winter offensive,” Operation Thunder Freedom, which was developed to exploit the success of last year’s presidential election. The operation’s intent was to stay active throughout the winter against the enemy, and continue training the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police so they are more able to address enemy attacks themselves in the spring.
“There’s a lot of emphasis on what the enemy is going to be able to do, but I will tell you that the [Afghan National Army] and [Afghan National Police], in conjunction with U.S. forces, are set and our capabilities are greater than they’ve ever been,” Davis said. “This enemy is going to do what they typically do, which is increase attacks in the spring, but they’re going to run into an [Afghan National Army] and an [Afghan National Police] force that is much more capable of addressing those threats on their own feet, let alone with assistance from the U.S.”
Unlike the enemy, U.S. and Coalition service members continued operations throughout the winter, no matter the weather.
U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Orlando Arocho, a squad leader with Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, said he and his fellow Marines are always ready for anything the enemy throw at them. When they weren’t out on missions, Arocho said he and his fellow Marines were constantly training to maintain their readiness - even when it was cold outside.
No matter how chilly it got, the Long Island, N.Y., native said the Marines never decided it was too cold to go on missions.
“No, no, that never happens,” he scoffed. “The Marine Corps just doesn’t do that. We have plenty of cold weather gear that the Marine Corps issues us, and that’s just no excuse.”
Between their fear of the cold and their tactics, Arocho said he doubts the fortitude of the enemy fighters.
ational Police] have done throughout the winter months."
“They like to hit and run - it’s almost like a sport to them,” he said. “They’re playing with people’s lives here and trying to suppress the country, and it’s just not going to happen. They’re just cowards. They get no respect.”
Even if the enemy does reemerge from its hibernation and attack, their abilities are questionable. After all, staying indoors for several months probably hasn’t helped their war fighting skills.
“In our opinion, they have not improved at all,” Davis said. “They just went into hibernation. What we’ve done is we’ve actually improved ourselves. We’re coming out that much better and that much better prepared because of what the [Afghan National Army] and [Afghan N
http://www.defendamerica.mil/articles/mar2005/a030305wm4.html
Members of the Iraqi army parade during an activition ceremony of the Iarqi 41st Brigade in Baghdad on March 2.(AFP/File/Marwan Naamani)
BAGHDAD, Iraq - A new online magazine purportedly posted by al-Qaida's affiliate in Iraq has launched an effort to recruit Muslims to rid Iraq of infidels and apostates — its names for Americans and their Iraqi partners.
The colorful, well-designed magazine is named Zurwat al-Sanam, Arabic for "The Tip of the Camel's Hump" — a reference among Islamic militants to "the epitome of belief and virtuous activity."
The inaugural 43-page issue was posted two days after al-Qaida in Iraq, the group led by Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, claimed responsibility for an attack Monday against police and army recruits that killed 125 people in Hillah, just south of Baghdad.
The group has also said it was behind car bombings and attacks that killed 14 police officers Wednesday. Al-Zarqawi's organization has been blamed for many of the bombings, kidnappings and beheadings in Iraq.
Washington-based counterterrorism expert Evan Kohlmann told The Associated Press the magazine aims at "conveying the sense that the organization is professional, capable and really understands what they're doing."
It was designed as "an attempt to refute the idea that al-Zarqawi and these people are desperate. ... It shows that these people have time on their hands and don't have to worry about mobility."
Abu Maysara al-Iraqi, the designated "media coordinator" for al-Zarqawi's group, posted the magazine on the Internet late Wednesday.
Saved as an attachment, it has appeared on at least two extremist Islamic Web sites that have previously posted al-Qaida statements and claims of responsibility.
Mainly a rehash of letters, tracts and texts that have previously appeared on the Internet, the magazine includes a vow of fealty from al-Zarqawi to Osama bin Laden and a pledge to keep fighting.
It also includes excerpts from a bin Laden letter commending al-Zarqawi's fighters. The letter appears to be a patchwork of past speeches made by bin Laden.
Al-Zarqawi pledged allegiance to bin Laden last year in a letter posted on the Internet. In an audiotape aired later on the Al-Jazeera television network, bin Laden endorsed al-Zarqawi as his deputy in Iraq.
The letter from bin Laden appearing in the magazine refers to al-Zarqawi as the "emir" of al-Qaida in Iraq and calls on people to "obey him."
"There's a great difference between the sincere mujahedeen emirs who give up leadership for the sake of their religion and nation, and the region's kings and presidents, who refuse to unite the nation and scrap borders drawn by the crusaders," bin Laden writes.
The cover includes Al-Qaida in Iraq's logo of an AK-47 standing in an open Quran, with a globe in the background and an arm and finger pointed upward. It also has pictures of President Bush, bin Laden, and Abu Anas al-Shami — the late spiritual leader of al-Qaida in Iraq.
The magazine includes a profile of al-Shami, who was killed in a September airstrike in the western Baghdad suburb of Abu Ghraib. Al-Shami, a Palestinian, was a close aide to al-Zarqawi.
It says "enlightening Muslims and calling upon the people to follow the faith and way of Sunnis" was its main goal. Dated February 2005, it promised to be the first of many issues.
Elsewhere, al-Zarqawi's spokesman Abu Maysara defines al-Qaida in Iraq as "a group of Sunnis" seeking "to regain all the lands of Muslims from the hands of the infidels and the apostates."
Sunni Arabs, who make up about 20 percent of Iraq's population but were favored under Saddam Hussein's regime, have been prominent in the insurgency, which began with the U.S. occupation and has persisted through the election of a Shiite-dominated government.
The group's "edict committee" also condemns democracy and elections as "Western" and "un-Islamic" concepts.
"Democracy and parliaments, my brothers, are from the religion and desires of the infidels," the article says. "Democracy means the rule of the people ... which means that who is to be obeyed and worshipped is man, not God."
Abu Maysara calls on all Arabs to heed the call of jihad — or holy war.
Similar online magazines have appeared in the past, including the widely circulated "Sawt al-Jihad," issued by al-Qaida in Saudi Arabia, and "Al-Khansaa" aimed mostly at women.
The authenticity of such magazines is hard to verify.
Experts said many of the new magazine's articles appeared to conform with bin Laden and al-Qaida ideology.
Cairo-based Islamic expert Mohamed Salah said it appeared credible because of "the language and production" involved.
"Experience has shown that they (militants) have become very qualified in using the Internet," Salah said. "They seem to be waging an online war and they seem to be winning it."
According to Kohlmann, the counterterrorism expert, the magazine is an indication that the group is trying to improve its recruitment efforts.
"This is more real propaganda than the regular statements on the (online) forums. They graduated into a new world of propaganda," he said.
U.S. Army Spc. Lizbeth Robles, 31, of Vega Baja, Puerto Rico is shown in this undated handout photo provided by her family on Wednesday, March 2, 2005. Robles died on Tuesday in an Army hospital in Tikrit, Iraq from injuries suffered in a vehicle accident this week. She was part of the 360th Transportation Company, in Fort Carson, Colorado. (AP Photo/El Nuevo Dia)
New Online Magazine Urges Jihad in Iraq
BAGHDAD, Iraq - A new online magazine purportedly posted by
al-Qaida's affiliate in Iraq has launched an effort to recruit Muslims to
rid Iraq of infidels and apostates — its names for Americans and their
Iraqi partners.
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