Posted on 06/10/2005 5:52:29 PM PDT by TexKat
Pfc. Brendon Piper, from the 443rd Civil Affairs Battalion, 304th Civil Affairs Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, keeps his eye on the vehicles to the rear of his convoy as they roll through Baghdad, Iraq. Photo by Ferdinand Thomas.
Marines from Golf Company, Battalion Landing Team, 2nd Bn. 8th Marines fire from a medium tactical transport vehicle (MTVR) during the convoy live-fire exercise at Udairi Range, Kuwait. Photo by: Lance Cpl. Daniel R. Lowndes
26th MEU flexes combat muscle in Kuwait
Submitted by: 26th MEU Story Identification #: 20056117443 Story by Gunnery Sgt. Mark E. Bradley
CAMP BUEHRING,Kuwait (June 11, 2005) -- After nearly a month on the ground in the Kuwait Desert, the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) is packing up and heading back to sea, having completed live-fire training here that exercised the full spectrum of this Marine air ground task force’s capabilities.
At Udairi Range, the MEU incorporated its assets into a comprehensive exercise that focused heavily on small-unit tactics and coordinated-arms training. The vast ranges here, designed to mirror many of the conditions coalition forces face in the region, provided an ideal venue for each aspect of the training.
During the exercise the MEU expended more than 360,000 rounds of small-arms ammunition, (.50 caliber and below), more than 9,000 hand-thrown and machine gun-launched grenades, 450 mortar rounds, 200 tank rounds, 730 artillery shells, 70 rockets and missiles, and over 2500 pounds of high-explosive demolition material weighing in at more than 60 tons, according to data complied by the MEU ammunition chief Gunnery Sgt. James S. Brown.
Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 162 logged more than 840 flight hours over the course of the training. Its pilots and aircrews flew 475 sorties in helicopters operating from Camp Buehring and AV-8B Harriers conducting security operations from the amphibious assault ship, USS Kearsarge (LHD 3).
MEU Service Support Group 26 had the huge task of sustaining the entire MEU during the training while also conducting small-unit and convoy proficiency training. The Command Element maintained the majority of its command and control assets at Camp Buehring and also put time in on the ranges.
Among the most beneficial ranges at Udairi were the convoy live-fire and the military operations in urban terrain ranges where Battalion Landing Team, 2nd Bn., 8th Marines, the ground combat element for the MEU, focused much of their effort.
“The convoy live-fire range was probably the most applicable range, if you will, because it allowed the complete integration of the Marine air ground task force, to include air, tanks and fire support along with a myriad of realistic target opportunities such as pop-up targets, tank targets and the whole nine yards,” said the MEU commander Col. Thomas F. Qualls.
Overall, Qualls said the MEU had three objectives for the exercise. “We came here to refresh ourselves, harden ourselves and to be ready,” he said.
Though few would look at a grueling desert combat exercise as refreshing, the point was to get mentally refreshed, Qualls explained. The time in Kuwait allowed the Marines to break from the tight confines of ship life and perform their jobs as Marines.
“The conditions here, with the temperatures sometimes reaching 115 degrees, are pretty harsh, Qualls said. “But it’s the very conditions we will operate in as a MAGTF in this area of responsibility in the future. So we are definitely much more hardened then we were when we got here,” he said
The MEU commander said the Marines and sailors are now more ready than ever to assume the role of the strategic reserve for U.S. Central Command. This mission brings with it a multitude of potential operations the MEU must be prepared to execute on a moments notice.
“That could be a non-combatant evacuation of a little-known country here in Central Command, it could mean heading straight into to Baghdad to reinforce operations going there or it could be a humanitarian relief mission somewhere in the AOR.” He said.
Though Qualls admitted that prior to deployment he expected the entire MEU to be engaged in operations in Iraq by this point, he sees the unit maintaining its role as the theater reserve as a positive indicator of successful operations in the newly liberated country.
“If you would have asked me six months ago where we were going, I would have said the whole MEU was going into Iraq. That’s what I emphasized, and that is what we prepared for during the pre-deployment workups,” Qualls said.
“Times have changed, and it’s a positive indication that the full compliment of the 26th MEU is not going into Iraq. That’s not to say that we can’t or won’t in the future, but for now we are not. I can tell you that we are conditioned and prepared for the strategic reserve and any mission that comes with it.”
To follow the 26th MEU (SOC) throughout the rest of its deployment, log on to www.usmc.mil/26thmeu.
By DONNA ABU-NASR - Associated Press Writer
June 11, 2005, 1:13 PM EDT
DAMASCUS, Syria -- Syrian forces raided a suspected terrorist hideout near the capital, killing two men, arresting a third and foiling alleged bombing plots that targeted the nation's Justice Palace, the official news agency reported.
A member of the Syrian security forces was killed and another was wounded in the Thursday clash in the Daff al-Shouk suburb of Damascus, according to a late Friday report by SANA.
The group's leader, Abu Omar, and an accomplice were killed and another suspect was arrested, SANA said. Identification cards found with the two slain gunmen identified them as Omar Barakat and Arfan Yassin, both Syrians.
The previously unknown group called itself Jund al-Sham for Jihad and Tawhid.......(Excerpt)
CAMP DELTA, Iraq -- Taking a knee to determine their location, Cpl. Adam Miller, 3rd Squad Leader, 2nd Platoon, Company I, looks at his global positioning system and calls in their position report. Photo by: Lance Cpl. Athanasios L. Genos
Submitted by: 2nd Marine Division Story Identification #: 200561144555 Story by Lance Cpl. Athanasios L. Genos
CAMP DELTA, Iraq (June 11, 2005) -- Cpl. Adam J. Miller, a squad leader with 2nd Platoon, led his men and Iraqi Security Forces soldiers on a routine patrol through the sand and dirt near Al Karmah as the sun peaked over the horizon.
Even though the Marines from Company I, 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, were on a routine patrol, any manner of dangers could arise. According to this Lakeville, Minn., native, Marines must remain vigilant and alert during their missions and most importantly fall back on the skills learned during basic training to accomplish their mission.
The skills Miller refers to are techniques each infantry Marine learns while completing their military occupational specialty training at the School of Infantry. The Marines use these skills on a daily basis when conducting operations, like patrolling, while fighting in the Global War on Terrorism.
“It’s keeping yourself in the right frame of mind when you’re out there patrolling,” explained the 2001 Apple Valley High School graduate.
While on patrol, Marines keep their eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary. Attention to detail, one of the basic skills learned in recruit training, helps identify possible areas where insurgents may be taking refuge.
“We were out patrolling and I just happened to notice a mortar casing and now we may go back there in the future to check for any weapons caches buried in the ground or in houses,” Miller explained.
No matter what the location, Miller and his Marines look for anything that doesn’t belong or looks out of place. Some places they travel they will rarely find anything of great concern, but there may be one time when they hit the jackpot.
“In the vast desert area, we more than likely won’t find too much. But there is always a slight chance somebody or something may trigger us to find a large weapons cache,” Miller said.
“The possibility of keeping the enemy from firing at us and the locals is why we do the basic stuff everyday.”
Syrian Television footage shown Saturday, Jun. 11, 2005 showing weapons which were found at a rented apartment used by suspected terrorists in Damascus. Syrian security forces raided the hideout of a group of suspected terrorists near the capital Damascus on Thursday. A 90-minute gunbattle resulted in the killing of a member of the Syrian security forces. Another one was injured. One suspect was arrested. The group was planning to carry out bomb attacks on various interests in an attempt to destabilize security in Damascus and its suburbs, Syria's official news agency SANA reported.(AP Photo Syrian TV.).
Weapon's ammunition and communication equipment are displayed after they were found at a rented apartment used by suspected terrorists in Damascus in ths image from Syrian TV Saturday June 11, 2005. Syrian security forces raided the hideout of a group of suspected terrorists near the capital Damascus on Thursday. A 90-minute gunbattle resulted in the killing of a member of the Syrian security forces, another one was injured. One suspect was arrested. The group was planning to carry out bomb attacks on various interests in an attempt to destabilize security in Damascus and its suburbs, Syria's official news agency SANA reported.(AP Photo/Syrian TV)
Corporal Catrina Lansberry, 31-year-old member of the female search force attached to Regimental Combat Team-8, looks through the handbags of Iraqi women at the female search area of an entry control point in Fallujah, Iraq. Female searchers handle all women and children coming through an ECP, dealing with the cultural sensitivities of the Iraqi people. Photo by: Lance Cpl. Paul Robbins Jr.
Female Marines take on crucial role in Fallujah
Submitted by: 2nd Marine Division Story Identification #: 2005610235548 Story by Lance Cpl. Paul Robbins Jr.
FALLUJAH, Iraq (June 10, 2005) -- Marines have the responsibility of providing security here, and cultural sensitivities are a major concern for the Marines of 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines, Regimental Combat Team-8.
Female Marines have taken on a critical role in the Regimental Combat Team’s mission in an effort to show respect for the Iraqi culture.
The six members of Female Search Force, in support of RCT-8, occupy entry control points throughout the southern sector of the city.
“Female searchers have an important role,” said Capt. Sean K. Butler, 36-year-old commanding officer of Weapons Co., “They allow us to search Iraqi women and children as they come through the ECP.”
These Marines work out of the “female search area” at the ECP during operational hours.
While Iraqi men are searched by the Marines of the battalion, women and children pass through an alternate search area, hidden from the eyes of male Marines and civilians.
“It’s out of respect for Iraqi culture,” said Butler, a native of Mt. Shasta, Calif., “In this society, men and women don’t associate as freely as we do in the states.”
The female searchers also assist in the search of vehicles coming through the ECP’s.
Although not their regular job, the female searchers enjoy their role in the city’s security and the opportunity to work in support of a Marine infantry battalion.
“It’s great to be able to interact more with the infantry Marines,” said Lance Cpl. Christina J. Humphrey, a 22-year-old motor transport operator, now temporarily assigned to the Female Search Force.
The female searchers have been working with the Regimental Combat Team for more than three months, and have established themselves as valuable assets to the battalion’s operations.
Corporal Catrina Lansberry, 31-year-old member of the female search force attached to Regimental Combat Team-8, stands her post at the female search area in an entry control point in Fallujah, Iraq. Female searchers handle all women and children coming through an ECP, dealing with the cultural sensitivities of the Iraqi people. Photo by: Lance Cpl. Paul Robbins Jr.
“They have a keen understanding of what their role is and they go about their job as professionals,” Butler said.
The female searchers will continue to stand their posts with a bolstered pride, recognizing the necessity of their role in this environment, according to Humphrey, a native of Seattle, Wash.
“I’ve always wanted to do something that mattered,” said Lance Cpl. Georgia R. Shirley, 21-year-old motor transport mechanic, currently a member of the Female Search Force, “and now I’m able to do that here in Fallujah.”
Yes, it is. I was so angry I was banging on my dashboard.
During a recent visit to a clinic in Karmah, Iraq, Maj. Mark R. Fuller, Team 2 leader, Detachment 2, 5th Civil Affairs Group, listens to a doctor tell about the needs of the clinic. Fuller and his team were there to give guidance on the Provincial Ramadi Council and how the clinic leaders can get the supplies they need. Photo by: Cpl. Christi Prickett
5th CAG ensures clinic leaders make their voices heard
Submitted by: II Marine Expeditionary Force (FWD) Story Identification #: 20056113433 Story by Cpl. Christi Prickett
KARMAH, Iraq (June 10, 2005) -- Medical facilities are a vital part of a community and without them, people suffer. Families need to be able to receive medical care in order to complete daily activities.
Team 2, Detachment 2, 5th Civil Affairs Group has been working with several of the 22 clinics in the Karmah area to ensure the clinics are functioning properly.
On their most recent trip, Maj. Mark R. Fuller, Team 2 leader, and Gunnery Sgt. Wesley F. Eyler, staff noncommissioned officer-in-charge of Team 2, met with doctors at one clinic to ensure they understood the new government in Al Anbar province and to drop off new supplies.
After meeting with doctors at a local clinic in Karmah, Iraq, Maj. Mark R. Fuller, Team 2, Detachment 2, 5th Civil Affairs Group, and an interpreter talk with a maintenance worker about the power at the clinic. Fuller, a Yuma, Ariz. native, spoke with the doctors about getting the supplies they need. Fuller says the doctors and towns people need to let there voices be heard with the Provincial Ramadi Council, which is the newest form of government in Al Anbar province. Photo by: Cpl. Christi Prickett
“The way things were handled in the past is changing,” said Fuller, a Yuma, Ariz. native. “When you want something done with money or anything else, the leaders in Karmah are going to have to use their new chain of command to get what they need. They used to be able to ask us [multi-national coalition forces] but not anymore. The pressure is now on the new government.”
The Provincial Ramadi Council distributes money for various projects to cities within Al Anbar province, such as Fallujah. From there, smaller towns like Karmah must let the city council know what their needs are in order for the money to be distributed properly.
Fuller explained Iraqis aren’t used to getting the things they deserve. In the past, they were given materials, but the distribution wasn’t equal.
“Many times the doctors are scared to move around the province due to the dangers of the area and because they aren’t used to getting what they need,” said Fuller. Eyler, a Hanover, Penn. native, said they must overcome that fear and make the system work.
“You need to step up as a leader.” said Fuller during a recent visit with the doctors. “You have a voice in the needs of your clinics. You must do whatever it takes to make your needs heard, even if that means jumping up and down on someone’s desk.”
Fuller believes the doctors have the leadership abilities needed to get things running as they should be around the clinics in Karmah.
“Things like antibiotics and birthing areas are needed most at the clinics,” said Eyler, who handles the majority of the medical assessments with the team. “We have given them hospital beds and blankets this past week. There is enough money now at the Provincial Ramadi Council for the supplies and projects needed, but again, they must go get the portion they deserve in Ramadi.”
When an operation was going on in Karmah last month, there was no vehicle movement through town, but the team was there to assist the clinics two ambulances.
“We were at the Civil Military Operations Center set up in Karmah, and the doctors would sound the sirens down the street,” said Eyler. “The CAG would then go to the clinic and escort the ambulances around town so people could still get the care they needed.”
The team wants to help out in any way they can.
“We are here to help,” said Eyler. “The town’s people just need to stand up and start taking charge. There is so much potential for the area and it’s up to them what happens.”
Retired Sgt. Maj. Betty Noble, the third woman to reach the rank of sergeant major, died May 25. She enlisted in the Marine Corps in June 1943 and served until November 1945 when women were released from the Corps after World War II. Photo by: Official USMC photo
One departed sergeant major made history; another preserved it
Submitted by: MCRD San Diego Story Identification #: 2005610112012 Story by Master Sgt. Janice M. Hagar
MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT SAN DIEGO, Calif. (June 10, 2005) -- Two retired sergeants major with significant ties to Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego recently died.
Retired Sgt. Maj. Betty Noble, the third woman to reach the rank of sergeant major, died May 25. She enlisted in the Marine Corps in June 1943 and served until November 1945 when women were released from the Corps after World War II.
Noble returned to the Marine Corps in March 1949 when women were authorized to become regular Marines. She served at a variety of duty stations throughout her 24-year career, including two tours of duty at MCRD San Diego. She served as the first sergeant for Women Marine Company during both tours, and she was the administration chief in the Depot adjutant's office. Her final assignment in the Marine Corps was sergeant major of the Women Recruit Training Battalion at MCRD Parris Island, S.C. She was the first woman sergeant major to retire from Parris Island.
Noble served as the parade reviewing officer for graduation here in March 2004.
"She was a great lady," said Barbara McCurtis, depot museum director. "She was very active in the Women Marines Association and was dedicated to preserving the history of women in the Corps. She donated many one-of-a-kind woman Marine uniforms to our museum, and she was also a contributor to the woman Marine collection at the Flying Leatherneck Museum at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. She will be greatly missed."
Another friend to the depot museum was retired Sgt. Maj. Dale Hatten, who died May 29. Hatten enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1955 and retired from his last duty station at Camp Pendleton, Calif. in 1979. He served three tours in Vietnam and he was awarded a Bronze Star medal with Combat V and the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with a silver star.
Another friend to the depot museum was retired Sgt. Maj. Dale Hatten, who died May 29. Hatten enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1955 and retired from his last duty station at Camp Pendleton, Calif. in 1979. He served three tours in Vietnam and he was awarded a Bronze Star medal with Combat V and the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with a silver star. Photo by: Official USMC photo
After he retired, Hatten became an active member in the 1st Marine Division Association. He became a docent at the Depot museum and he served on the museum board. Hatten was in charge of finding new acquisitions and was on the education and operations committee.
"Dale was one of our best docents," said McCurtis. "He had a natural curiosity for history and a passion for telling the history of the Corps to recruits and visitors. He and his wife were also in the antique business and the museum benefited from his generosity in the form of donated uniforms, equipment, books and photographs.
"Dale joined the museum team a few years ago, but when he came on board, he jumped in with both feet. If I needed something done, all I needed to do was call Dale and we would be good to go. He will also be greatly missed."
An Afghan protection unit member stands guard during Pakistani Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao's visit to Rahman Baba School, which is to be reconstructed with the help from Pakistan's government, in Kabul June 11, 2005. Sherpao is in Afghanistan on a two-day visit during which he is scheduled to meet with the high ranking Afghan officials. REUTERS/Ahmad Masood
Pakistan pledges border help for vote, Afghans say
11 Jun 2005 15:26:04 GMT
Source: Reuters
KABUL, June 11 (Reuters) - Pakistan has promised to help neighbouring Afghanistan improve security for its September election by preventing militants from crossing the border to launch attacks, the Afghan interior minister said on Saturday.
Attacks launched by Taliban and other militants from the safety of Pakistan, the subject of Afghan and U.S. complaints, have been an irritant in relations between the neighbours since U.S.-led forces overthrew the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001.
But Afghan and U.S. officials said a Pakistani effort to seal the border contributed significantly to a peaceful voting day in the Afghan presidential election last October.
"Pakistan helped with security during the presidential election, with securing the border," Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali told a news conference after talks with visiting Pakistani Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao.
"Our hopes are that Pakistan would help us the way they helped in the presidential election, with the parliamentary election, and they promised to cooperate," Jalali said.
Taliban rebels have launched a wave of attacks in the south and east of Afghanistan in recent months. Hundreds of people have been killed and worry is mounting over security for the Sept. 18 parliamentary polls.
Sherpao told reporters earlier that Pakistan was clearing its western border of militants, many of whom had crossed the frontier from Afghanistan.
"The way Pakistani forces have reacted in the fight against terror shows that we don't want our soil and borders to be used for terrorist activities," Sherpao said.
"After the 9/11 incident, as our border with Afghanistan is very long, it was not possible to control properly and a lot of foreigners came to Pakistan," he said, referring to foreign al Qaeda members fleeing U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
"Our fight against them continues," he said.
Pakistan has been battling al Qaeda-linked militants along its Afghan border since last year. Hundreds of Pakistani troops and militants have been killed.
But some U.S. officials, while welcoming the action against al Qaeda members, have said Taliban fighters can still find safety in Pakistan.
Sherpao, attending the opening of a school rebuilt with Pakistani aid, said his country would help Afghanistan in areas such as education and health.
Pakistan supported the Taliban until the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States when it threw its support behind the U.S.-led war against terrorism.
By John D. Banusiewicz - American Forces Press Service
MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla., June 10, 2005 – The global war on terror is not the kind of conflict that will end clearly with a treaty signing, Vice President Richard B. Cheney told servicemembers here today.
The vice president arrived this morning to meet with senior military officials and to speak on the closing day of U.S. Special Operations Command's annual Special Forces Week.
Cheney commended the military men and women for their hard work and successes, but said challenging times still lie ahead. "It's not the kind of conflict that's going to end with a treaty signing on the deck of the USS Missouri at the end of the day," he said. "It's a conflict that will be with us for a good many years to come."
The nation's adversaries continue to plan attacks against the United States, the vice president said. "And the absolute best way for us to make certain they don't get any of those attacks off, killing more Americans, is to take the fight to them," he said. "And that's exactly what you all have been doing."
Passing along the gratitude of President Bush and the American people to the servicemembers gathered in a hangar to greet him, Cheney thanked them for their "fantastic performance."
"You do a great job," he added, "and our kids and grandkids ... will be a lot safer with the challenges and the difficult duties that you've all accepted."
Opinion
Jun 11, 2005
Amir Taheri
An obscure Arabic word is making a comeback from centuries of oblivion to dominate the debate about whom Muslims are allowed to kill in the service of political goals.
The debate has been triggered by the killing of large numbers of Muslims, including women and children, by Islamist insurgents in Iraq. Are such acts permissible? Judging by fatwas (religious opinions) and articles by Muslim theologians and commentators, the Islamic ummah (community) is divided on the issue.
Those who believe that killing innocent people, including Muslims, is justified in certain cases, base their opinion on the principle of tattarrus. The word, which originally meant "dressing up," was first used as a religious term in the book "Al-Mustasfa" ("The Place of Purification") by Abu-Hamed al-Ghazali (d.1127), to mean "using ordinary Muslims as human shields for Islamic combatants against infidel fighters."
In the 13th century, the theologian Ibn Tayimiah wove a whole doctrine around the term to justify the killing of Muslims while combating Mongol invaders. By century's end, however, the concept had fallen into disuse and a new consensus developed against the killing of noncombatants.
But in 1995 Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Egyptian mentor of Osama bin Laden, used the concept in his book "The Rule for Suicide-Martyr Operations." Arguing that the ends justify the means, al-Zawahiri insisted that the killing of Muslims, including women and children, was not a sinful act provided the combatants were fighting "the enemies of Islam."
More recently, that view has been endorsed by Yussuf al-Qaradawi, an Egyptian sheik working in Qatar. Initially, al-Qaradawi had ruled that only three categories of unarmed individuals could be killed: apostates, who have turned their back to Islam; homosexuals, who "dirty" the pure society ? and Israelis, including unborn children, who could grow up to join the Jewish army.
Now, however, al-Qaradawi has expanded his doctrine to allow for the killing of innocent Muslims in Iraq. His argument is stark: What matters is the broader interest of the Islamic ummah which could, under certain circumstances, necessitate operations in which Muslim civilians lose their lives.
That position is supported by several Saudi theologians, including Hammoud al-Uqalla, Ali al-Khudhair, Nasser al-Fahd, Ahmad al-Khalidi and Safar al-Hawali. Their argument is that the broader interest of the ummah requires the expulsion of the U.S.-led forces from Iraq and that the killing of innocent Iraqis in whatever numbers is of no concern to the combatants, whose place in paradise is assured.
Other Saudi theologians, including Abu-Muhammad al-Maqdasi and Abu-Basir al-Tartussi, go further and apply tattarrus to situations where no "infidel" troops are present. Thus they justify the killing of innocent Muslim Saudis in Saudi Arabia because, they claim, such actions could lead to the establishment of a "truly Islamic regime."
The starkest defense of tattarrus in its new sense has come from Abu-Musaab al-Zarqawi, the al Qaeda mastermind in Iraq. "Islam establishes a hierarchy of values in all domains," he wrote in a recent missive posted on Islamist Web sites. "In [that hierarchy], protecting the faith is more important than protecting the self. Killing the mutumarresoun [i.e, civilian Muslims who live under the control of the infidel] is necessary to prevent the faith of the infidel from striking root [in the land of Islam]."
The only point of dispute among supporters of tattarrus is related to procedural matters. Can Islamic combatants decide whom to kill and when or should they obtain a fatwa in every single case?
Showabel al-Zahrani, a Saudi militant and author of "Views of Theologians Concerning the Rules of Raids and Tattarrus" claims that what is needed is a "flexible understanding" of the concept. "To demand that a combatant get all his operations approved by a theologian in advance is a demand for inaction," he writes. "The better rule is to allow the combatant to do as he sees fit and have his actions approved afterwards."
Zarqawi, too, says there is no need for fatwas in each case: A fatwa issued by bin Laden in 1999 authorizing the killing of "enemies of Islam" is sufficient. It is up to the muqatelin (combatants) to decide who is an enemy of Islam.
Abu-Unus al-Shami, an insurgent leader killed in Baghdad last September, held a similar position. His claim was that the insurgents in Iraq had "permanent authority" to kill whomever they thought was necessary in order to "re-conquer Iraq for Islam."
Abu-Hufus al-Masri, the mastermind of the 2004 Madrid massacre, also claimed that the combatants had had the authority to decide when and where and against whom to strike: "We are at war against the infidel and its apostate allies," he wrote. "And in a war he who fights has the authority to decide what action is best, leaving the final judgment to The Most High."
Sheik Muhammad Hussein Fadhlallah, the spiritual leader of the Lebanese Hezbollah, however, says that combatants do not have such authority and should refer each case to an authorized "mujtahid" (guide) such as himself. Fadhlallah is uncomfortable by the fact that the majority of those killed by the insurgents in Iraq are Shiites like himself.
While the majority view among Islamist activists seems to justify tattarrus, many other voices are raised against it.
Grand Ayatollah Ali-Muhammad Sistani, the primus inter pares of Shiite theologians, condemns tattarrus in its current sense as an "innovation" (bid'aah) and has called on Iraqi Shiites not to embark on revenge killings against Sunni insurgents.
Sheikh Mohammad Sayyed Tantawi, dean of Cairo's al-Azhar University, insists that Islamic law "rejects all attempts on human life and all attacks on civilians."
"Nothing in Islam justifies the deliberate killing of non-combatants," Tantawi says. "Tattarrus applies to collateral damage in a war between two regular armies, and not to action perpetrated by self-styled combatants."
Najih al-Ibrahim, another Egyptian theologian, also castigates what he terms "the abuse of tattarrus."
"No one can use tattarrus to justify the shedding of innocent blood," he says. "The only time that tattarrus is allowed is when Muslim combatants have to kill a fellow Muslim who is captured by the infidel and may, under torture, reveal secrets that could help the infidel against the true believers. Apart from that, shedding Muslim blood is the gravest of sins in Islam."
Yet another Egyptian theologian, Hisham Abdul-Zahir, says the insurgents' killing of Iraqi civilians is "totally unjustifiable under any circumstances."
"Tattarrus is relevant only in the case of Muslim women and children who are captured in a war by the infidel," he says. "In such a situation, it would be permissible to kill them to prevent them from being converted into other faiths by the infidel or abused by infidel soldiers."
Jassim al-Shamri, a Saudi theologian, rejects the authority of the "self-styled ulema" to reinterpret Islamic concepts for political goals.
"These gentlemen sit in air-conditioned rooms and drink iced mango juice and issue fatwas for indiscriminate killing," al-Shamri says. "We never see any of them or their children sent on suicide missions."
Sheikh Abdul-Muhsin al-Ubaikan, a Saudi theologian, has proposed "a theological summit" to discuss tattarrus and related issues.
"Is it enough for an individual to say he is fighting for Islam in order to claim a license to kill anyone, anywhere and anytime?" al-Ubaikan asks.
Amir Taheri, an Iranian author and journalist based in Europe, is a member of Benador Associates.
Organisation of Bozorg Bazgasht (Big Return) is established and developed by Iranian Zartoshti (Zoroastrians) and by newly converted Iranian Zartoshtis in Europe spreading throughout the world. 70% of Iranian population is under 30 years of age and they are returning to their roots and to ancestor's religion because they feel the empty vacuum of their Persian identity being distracted from an invading ideology. We have proudly helped many to learn the faith and to convert to our ancestor's religion.
Iranian presidential candidate and former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani is surrounded by his bodyguards as he leaves a mosque in Tehran June 11, 2005. Rafsanjani, who was president from 1989 to 1997, is the front-runner for upcoming presidential elections scheduled for June 17. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj
In-fighting as Iranian hardliners face defeat in election
TEHRAN (AFP) - With less than a week to go before Iran's presidential election, the four hardliners in the race appear unable to unite behind a single name and eat into the lead of pragmatic conservative Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
Informal opinion polls in the Iranian press suggest that none of the eight candidates will be able to secure more than 50 percent of the vote needed to win on June 17. That means the top two would have to go into a run-off -- unprecedented in the 26-year history of the Islamic republic.
Furthermore the main reformist candidate, Mostafa Moin, has been campaigning hard and may even nudge out hardliners from the number-two position behind Rafsanjani, so far the favourite to succeed outgoing reformist Mohammad Khatami.
This has left the two main right-wing contenders, former police chief Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and ex-state TV boss Ali Larijani, trading angry shots at each other in the hope that one will pull out.
A Larijani campaign official, Hamid Reza Katuzian, complained to the state news agency IRNA that "members of the army and the police are supporting one of the candidates but should not think that this will be to his benefit."
He did not directly name Qalibaf, who is also a former top commander in the powerful Revolutionary Guards. But Qalibaf's high-profile and well-financed campaign has raised some questions about his financing.
And another Larijani aide, Manoucher Motaki, has accused police of blocking their campaign convoys.
The interior ministry has also alleged that one candidate -- again without mentioning Qalibaf -- has been trying to use individual members of the armed forces to convince their extended families whom to vote for.
Qalibaf, 43, is desperate to shake off his image as a military man, a major turn-off for Iranian voters, and has been campaigning as a slick populist technocrat who is "full of youth".
The Qalibaf campaign is also trying to pile the pressure on Larijani -- a thin, greying 48-year-old and more of a traditional conservative -- to pull out.
"If we want to present a united front, we should take the decision before the first round," said one of Qalibaf's aides, Parviz Sarvari. "If not, there is reason to be worried."
The two other hardliners -- Mohsen Rezai and Tehran Mayor Mahmoud Ahmedinejad -- are also under pressure to drop out. Opinion polls have credited them with just a few percentage points each.
The Larijani campaign has said Ahmedinejad will pull out in the coming days, although this has been denied by the mayor's campaign as being part of a "propaganda war".
On the reformist side, Moin has been campaigning aggressively in the hope that he can lure disappointed reformist supporters to the polls on Friday.
Moin was initially disqualified from even standing in the polls, but then approved after supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei intervened. The regime had feared that Moin's disqualification could spark a damaging voter boycott.
A top reformist official, Behrzad Nabavi, said that "unless there is some dramatic development or unless they cancel a lot of the votes, Moin will be in the second round" against Rafsanjani.
US corporal Manuel Jaimez, member of Echo Company 2nd platoon of the 3rd BN 7th Infantry scans the area under a highway overpass close to the area where a road side bomb targeted a US military convoy, south of Baghdad.(AFP/Yuri Cortez)
An Iraqi soldier mans his gun as he watches the traffic along a highway close to the area where a road side bomb targeted a US military convoy, south of Baghdad.(AFP/Yuri Cortez)
Bodies lie on the ground near Qaim, Iraq, a town near the Syrian border, in this image made from video Saturday, June 11, 2005. Iraqi authorities found 21 bodies on Friday, 129 kilometres (80 miles) west of Haqlaniyah, along a highway that meanders along the Euphrates River and into Syria. The victims were thought to be off-duty Iraqi soldiers who left their base near Qaim two days earlier in civilian clothes aboard two minivans, headed to Baghdad for a vacation. (AP Photo/APTN)
Bound bodies lie along a roadside near Qaim, Iraq, a town near the Syrian border, in this image made from video Saturday, June 11, 2005. Iraqi authorities found 21 bodies on Friday, 129 kilometres (80 miles) west of Haqlaniyah, along a highway that meanders along the Euphrates River and into Syria. The victims were thought to be off-duty Iraqi soldiers who left their base near Qaim two days earlier in civilian clothes aboard two minivans, headed to Baghdad for a vacation. (AP Photo/APTN)
Bound bodies lie along a roadside near Qaim, Iraq, a town near the Syrian border, in this image made from video Saturday, June 11, 2005. Iraqi authorities found 21 bodies on Friday, 129 kilometres (80 miles) west of Haqlaniyah, along a highway that meanders along the Euphrates River and into Syria. The victims were thought to be off-duty Iraqi soldiers who left their base near Qaim two days earlier in civilian clothes aboard two minivans, headed to Baghdad for a vacation. (AP Photo/APTN)
By Waleed Ibrahim and Mussab Khairallah
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. air strikes killed an estimated 40 insurgents in western Iraq on Saturday, the military said, but in Baghdad a suicide bomber attacked the headquarters of an elite police unit, killing three.
Seven precision-guided U.S. air strikes on the outskirts of the town of Karabilah killed the insurgents who were stopping vehicles at gunpoint and threatening Iraqi civilians, said a U.S. military statement.
The military said there were no U.S. casualties when Marines engaged large groups of insurgents armed with rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns and AK-47 assault rifles.
The U.S. military said there were no reports of civilian casualties. It was not immediately possible to confirm the insurgent casualty figures independently.
While U.S. forces struck guerillas in their heartland of Anbar province, a former Iraqi police commando blew himself up in a failed bid to assassinate the leader of the anti-insurgent Wolf Brigade in Baghdad, killing three other policemen in the attempt, the Interior Minister said.
The motive was unclear but the mainly Shi'ite Muslim force has been at the center of controversy about aggressive methods and accusations of a sectarian "dirty war" on minority Sunnis.
In an Internet claim of responsibility, the Sunni insurgent group linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda said: "Our brother would not accept the humiliation of ... Sunni men and women."
Minister Bayan Jabor said the suicide bomber, a former member of the unit, had walked into its Baghdad headquarters with the morning shift, wearing the Brigade's military uniform.
Major General Mohammed Qureishi, the unit's fearsome chief, was unhurt in the blast. Better known by the nom de guerre Abu Walid, he runs his own television show, "Terrorism In The Grip Of Justice," on which alleged insurgents make confessions.
"(The bomber) failed to reach him so he blew himself up in the courtyard," Jabor told a news conference. Two other former members of the unit were being hunted as suspects, he added.
Body parts littered the compound near the Interior Ministry which houses the Wolf Brigade. One officer was hurt. Al Qaeda in Iraq, responsible for dozens of suicide bombings, named the attacker as Abu Mohammed al-Dulaimi, apparently a Sunni Iraqi.
The force, set up by Qureishi last year under formal Interior Ministry control, comprises hundreds of commandos drawn mainly from poor Shi'ite districts of the capital. With their distinctive wolf's head insignia, they have become folk heroes to some Shi'ites but an object of fear and mistrust for Sunnis.
The U.S. Council on Foreign Relations suggested last week it was "the most feared and effective commando unit in Iraq."
SECTARIAN FRICTIONS
Qureishi denies accusations his men have attacked innocent members of the Sunni Muslim minority that dominated the Shi'ites under Saddam Hussein. He denies killing Sunni clerics.
Some Sunnis compare the Wolf Brigade to sectarian militias.
The Shi'ite-led government has recently called for a continuing role for militias such as the Kurdish peshmerga in the north of Iraq and the Badr Brigade, the armed wing of the Shi'ite party to which Interior Minister Jabor belongs.
The U.S.-led occupying forces are uneasy about that but officials say the fighting readiness of such militias make them useful elements in the fledgling government's armory.
Sunni leaders are negotiating with the Shi'ite-dominated parliament for a bigger role on a committee charged with drawing up a constitution. Violence in Sunni areas and boycott calls meant few of the 20 percent minority voted in January's election, leaving them under-represented in parliament.
On Friday, the main Sunni political grouping rejected an offer of 15 seats on a committee of 69, demanding 25 places.
The Shi'ite chairman of the committee, Humam Hammoudi, told Reuters on Saturday the Sunnis were being "unreasonable" in their demands. Since the aim was to reach consensus, precise numbers of delegates were not so important, he said.
"Increasing the numbers on the committee ... would open the door wide to endless talk," Hammoudi said, repeating the offer of 15 seats for the Sunnis which the government has endorsed.
With drafting already under way by the present committee of 55, Hammoudi said he was confident of meeting an Aug. 15 deadline for proposing a draft text.
MORE ATTACKS
Shi'ites and leaders of the 20 percent Kurdish ethnic minority have made clear they want Sunni involvement to help defuse the insurgency ravaging Baghdad and Sunni areas to the west and north. Jabor said on Saturday the government was open to talks with any movement which forswore violence.
After a relative calm in recent days, possibly due in part to a crackdown by U.S. and Iraqi forces, the capital saw several attacks. A car bomb exploded in a street in a Shi'ite area of Baghdad overnight, killing 11 people and wounding 29.
Eleven people died and two were wounded when gunmen opened fire from two cars on a minibus carrying labourers toward the city. The attack happened near Latifiya, in the troubled area to the south that has become known as the "triangle of death."
A suicide attacker blew up a truck bomb outside the Slovakian embassy, wounding four Iraqis. That attack was also claimed by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's Al Qaeda in Iraq group.
(Additional reporting by Maher Mohammed, Michael Georgy, Lutfi Abu Oun and Alastair Macdonald in Baghdad, Sami Jumaili in Kerbala and Maher al-Thanoon in Mosul)
American fighter planes equipped with precision-guided missiles launched airstrikes on an Iraqi town near the Syrian border Saturday, killing about 40 "insurgents" who were stopping and searching civilian cars, the US Army stated.
Seven missiles were fired at heavily armed men near Karabilah, close to the town of Qaem, the Marines said in a statement. The "insurgents" were armed with AK-47 assault rifles, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers and had "set up a barricade on a main road to the city and were threatening Iraqi civilians," the military said.
U.S. warplanes backed by helicopters started the airstrikes at 11:40 a.m. and ended them at 4 p.m. "once all the targets were destroyed," the military said. About 40 "insurgents" were killed. "The coalition aircraft and fighter jets and attack helicopters from the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing attacked the insurgent compound and surrounding area targeting the armed men," the statement said, according to The AP. "There are no reports of civilian casualties or collateral damage."
Unraveling the Saga of Zarqawi's Injury
By Michael Scheuer
The recent torrent of Internet and print media stories about the wounding and demise, and then the resurrection and return to battle, of al-Qaeda's commander in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, kicked up a great deal of dust but little solid information. After the initial announcement of al-Zarqawi's wounding was circulated on the Internet on May 24, 2005 (posted on www.alhesbah.org among other sites), little has been clear except that he was wounded "lightly," is still fighting, and has reported to Osama bin Laden that all is well with him and the mujahideen in Iraq. What conclusions should be draw from this episode that -- as reported in the Western media -- reeks of melodrama?
Two weeks on there are several conclusions that can be based on the material now available. First, it does indeed seem that al-Zarqawi was wounded in a battle that occurred in May in the area of al-Qaim, near the Syrian border in Iraq. That multi-day engagement featured an offensive near al-Qaim pitting a force of U.S. Marines against the Iraqi Mujahideen, including al-Zarqawi and his group. The media reports that fighting was intense around al-Qaim, and that casualties were heavy: U.S. military spokesmen claim that nine Marines were killed and 40 wounded, while 125 insurgents were killed. No total for insurgent wounded was given, but al-Zarqawi was among them.
Initial reports on 24 May said that al-Zarqawi was shot in a lung and offered little hope for his survival; his organization‘s website soon confirmed the news of his wounding and asked Muslims worldwide to pray for him. (See "Reports of Zarqawi's Injuries Continue amidst Talk about Possible Successor" in Terrorism Focus, Volume II, Issue 10) On May 25, a user by the name of Abu Doujanah al-Tunisi of the "media committee of al-Qaeda in Iraq," posted a statement on an Islamist website reporting that because of the seriousness of Zarqawi's injuries, he had been "temporarily" replaced by Shaykh Abu Hafs al-Qarni, a senior military adviser of al-Qaeda‘s military committee in Iraq. Al-Qaeda quickly shot back with a message that al-Qarni had not replaced al-Zarqawi -- temporarily or otherwise -- but did not clear-up the condition of his health. There the matter stood until al-Qaeda, with its traditional sure flair for surprise and drama, announced on the afternoon of May 30 that al-Zarqawi would speak via tape to Osama bin Laden, a statement that was advertised as "A Message from a Soldier to His Commander." [1]
Al-Zarqawi's message to bin Laden suggests that the former took advantage of his injury to achieve at least six important objectives:
1) Zarqawi acted to assure his own fighters and al-Qaeda's supporters around the world that he was physically able to continue the war. Following al-Qaeda's tradition, neither the group nor al-Zarqawi himself sought to hide his wounding; saying "my wounds are light" and all other reports "which left minds boggled … are sheer rumors, which are baseless." It also seems likely that the confusion over whether al-Qaeda had named a temporary commander to replace al-Zarqawi arose more from the difficulties of communicating inside Iraq than from a deliberate effort to misinform. Parenthetically, al-Qaida's ability to handle al-Zarqawi's wounding deftly, and then exploit it for propaganda successes, speak volumes about the quickly developed quality and physical security of al-Zarqawi's media apparatus.
2) Zarqawi used his message to bin Laden to tie his wounding to the recent battle between insurgents and the U.S. Marines in al-Qaim. Al-Qaeda has long identified the Marines as the only courageous and respectable U.S. fighters, and al-Zarqawi focused attention on the battle against the Marines at al-Qaim, describing it "as one of the greatest battles of Islam." "O beloved commander [bin Laden]," al- Zarqawi wrote, "your soldiers are, by the grace of God, writing remarkable chapters about sacrifice and the defense of religion and the honor of Muslims in the city of al-Qaim…." While the Marines cleared al-Qaim area, al-Zarqawi used the survival of his forces as evidence of victory, a tactic al-Qaeda consistently employs in the media to show Muslims that its fighters can battle the best American forces and survive. "Al-Qaim," al-Zarqawi told Muslims, "is the battleground and arena of men; the legend of the Marines collapsed in it… The goals of their crusade vanished at the gates of al-Qaim"
3) Zarqawi also told the Muslim world about the developing cooperation among insurgents groups in Iraq. He explained that in the fighting at al-Qaim, insurgent forces included the "Muhajiroun" (emigrants) -- fighters who came to Iraq from other Muslim countries -- and the "al-Ansar" (supporters), from among the native Iraqi insurgents. This is an important issue for the West to watch because, if true, it suggests that non-Iraqi fighters are integrating with native Iraqis at a rate that far exceeds that at which Arab fighters integrated with the Afghan mujahideen during the jihad against the Soviets. The language employed by Zarqawi also seems intended to evoke the setting of the first Muslim community in Medina, which was similarly made up of al-Ansar and Muhajiroun. Interestingly, Zarqawi's statements also appeal to the modern takfir wal-hijra ideology, which calls for a period of isolation from unbelievers and a hijra, or emigration, to create a pure community, as occurred for the earlier generation of mujahideen in Afghanistan. Whether Iraq will become a long-term training ground and safe haven for mujahideen is yet to be determined, but a higher rate of foreign fighters entering Iraq to join the insurgency will certainly bolster the community of mujahideen for the short-term.
4) Al-Zarqawi's message to bin Laden also again acknowledged the rules that bin Laden laid down for attacks on Muslims in Iraq; that is, such attacks are permissible under Islamic law if they are aimed at Muslims supporting the foreign and infidel occupying power. Al-Zarqawi explained his attacks on Shi'as and Kurds were religiously justified because these peoples were lead by Shi'a Ayatollah al-Sistani, who was supporting the U.S.-dominated regime and thus is the "leader of infidelity and heresy," and by Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani, who was likewise assisting the U.S. coalition and so had made himself into an "enemy of God and a "Zio-American." Al-Zarqawi strongly implied that Iraqis taking direction from al-Sistani and Talabani would be regarded by al-Qaeda as heretics and enemies.
5) Al-Zarqawi's message also underscored his status as bin Laden's lieutenant, not his equal or rival. From the opening line -- "From a soldier standing in the line of fire … to his gracious commander" -- al-Zarqawi made clear his allegiance to bin Laden, and prayed that God "protect you and give you a long life and make you a thorn in the side of your enemies and grant you martyrdom in the end. We are awaiting your orders and instructions." Al-Zarqawi even implied that his forces fought the U.S. Marines to avenge the recent loss of a senior member of bin Laden's inner circle. "O our Shaykh [bin Laden]," al-Zarqawi wrote, "if the Byzantine dog Bush was pleased by the arrest of our brother Abu-al-Faraj al-Libi, he was disturbed by what happened to his soldiers at al-Qaim and elsewhere in the Land of the Two Rivers [Iraq]."
6) Al-Zarqawi concluded his message with an attempt to increase U.S. anxiety about al-Qaeda's future plans in Iraq. Al-Zarqawi told bin Laden that "I think the plan that was drawn up has reached you or is on its way to you," adding that "the enemy, praise be to God, is proceeding as was planned for it. We, praise be to God, are about to tighten the noose on it." Al-Zarqawi thus left doubt in his readers' minds: are his activities in Iraq part of a larger, near-term al-Qaeda attack plan, or was he simply trying to "terrorize" his foes? The brilliant analyst Bruce Hoffman has described al-Zarqawi as a "master of disinformation," [2] and no small part of the brilliance is leaving substantial doubt in his enemies' mind about what al-Qaeda has on tap.
And there may still be another shoe to drop in the al-Zarqawi saga. His message to bin Laden gives al-Qaeda's overall chief an excellent opportunity to respond, both to congratulate al-Zarqwai on his personal survival and his "success" against the U.S. Marines, and to exploit the uncertainty created by al-Zarqawi's reference to the attack plan that "was drawn up... and has reached you or is on its way to you." In this context, it seems fair to conclude that al-Zarqawi and his media committee succeeded in turning his wounding to the clear advantage of the Iraqi insurgency and Osama bin Laden.
Notes
1. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, "A Message from a Soldier to his Commander," lajnah22m3.co.uk/forums, 30 May 05. (All quotes in the rest of the article are from this document except for note 2 below.)
2. Katherine Schrader, "Search for al-Zarqawi Highlights Problems," AP, 31 May 2005.
A number of civilians have died in a collision between a bus and an Afghan army truck in the south of the country, Afghan authorities said.
Saturday, 11 June, 2005, 16:28 GMT 17:28 UK
The interior ministry said three civilians died and seven were wounded in the collision on the road from Kandahar to the Pakistan border.
A spokesman said earlier reports that the truck was a US vehicle and 10 people were killed were wrong.
A US army spokesman had said he had not heard of any US involvement.
Local Afghan police had initially reported that a US Humvee was involved and that US troops had cordoned off the area.
It was not clear what caused the crash.
A spokesman for a firm that organises security guards for the road concerned told the BBC the crash took place at 0830 local time (0400 GMT).
An investigation is under way.
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