USO Canteen FReeper Style ~ Military Reaction to the Commander in Chief ~ February 22 2003

4 days til helo ops night. Welcome home.*HUG* Nice callers? Weather conditions? How about some dessert since I'm so late.

Evening Brothers!

"Nice callers? Weather conditions?"

ok and good. LOL

Fantastic show!

God bless the Navy!!

Evening Tonk.

History: The faded glory of Iraq

Knight Ridder Tribune

Saddam Hussein's nation has been home to some of the most powerful empires in history. Iraq over the centuries saw the birth of civilization, built the first cities and vied to lead the Arab world. War could alter its history once again.

EARLY CIVILIZATIONS 550 B.C.-539 B.C.

Sumer and Babylon

Mesopotamia - the ancient region that includes most of present-day Iraq - comes from a Greek word meaning "between two rivers," referring to the plain between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Here the world's earliest civilizations developed. The Sumerians settled in southern Mesopotamia about 5500 B.C. They built sophisticated cities, including Ur, Lagash and Babylon, and invented irrigation, written language and the wheel. Around 1890 B.C., Babylon became independent from Sumerian rule and under Hammurabi the Great conquered all of Sumer. This Babylonian king created one of the earliest collections of written law, the Hammurabi code. The first empire of Babylon lasted until 1595 B.C., when it was overrun by Hittite warriors from the region that is now Turkey.

The Assyrian Empire

The Assyrians settled on the shores of the Tigris in northern Mesopotamia by 2000 B.C., and built their capital at Assur. The Assyrians, like the Hittites, were masters of warfare. By 650 B.C., they had created an empire that stretched from Syria to the Persian Gulf. Later Assyrian kings devoted themselves to the arts, and built a vast library in Nineveh.

The Second Babylonian Empire

The Chaldean people migrated into Mesopotamia around 1100 B.C., and came to dominate the city of Babylon. After destroying Assyria in 609 B.C., the new Babylonians created an empire under Nebuchadnezzar II that encompassed much of the former Assyrian realm. Among his conquests was Jerusalem, where he destroyed the city and forced the Israelites into slavery. Under Nebuchadnezzar's rule, the city of Babylon achieved mythic power and beauty.

CENTURIES OF CONQUERORS 539 B.C.-A.D. 637

The fate of Babylon, and all of Mesopotamia, then fell into the hands of foreign powers. First, the Persians in 539 B.C. took control, then the Greeks and Macedonians of Alexander the Great in 331 B.C. By the time the Parthians (a fierce central Asian tribe) gained control of the region in 126 B.C., many of the great cities - including Babylon - had been abandoned. After brief periods of Roman control, the Parthians were replaced in A.D. 227 by the Sassanid Persians, who remained in power until the birth of Islam.

ISLAM AND THE ARABS 637-1258

Shortly after the death of Muhammad in 632, Arab Muslim armies from what is now Saudi Arabia began vast conquests. In 637, they defeated the Sassanids in Mesopotamia. One hundred years later, the Arabs had forged an Islamic empire that stretched from Spain to China. In 752, the ruling Abbasid dynasty established its new capital near the small village of Baghdad. Under the Abbasids, Arab civilization reached new heights of science, culture and trade. By 800, Baghdad had grown into a wealthy city of more than 1 million people that matched the former glory of nearby Babylon - by then an ancient ruin. But the new Mesopotamians spoke Arabic and worshipped Allah.

MONGOLS AND TURKS 1258-1917

The Arab empire gradually lost power, and was finally destroyed in 1258 by Mongol horsemen sweeping in from the east. The Mongols neglected the region, and it deteriorated rapidly. Ottoman Turks incorporated Mesopotamia into their empire in 1534, but the neglect continued. By the 1700s, only about 15,000 people lived in Baghdad. The Ottoman Empire was also in decline, and by the 1800s, Great Britain had become involved in the Persian Gulf region. First, its interest was to protect its trade routes with India. Later, the British found a more important interest - oil.

BRITISH RULE AND INDEPENDENCE 1917-1958

Middle East oil was first discovered in Persia (now Iran) in 1908. When Turkey entered World War I on the side of Germany, the security of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company was a primary concern for Britain. British forces pushed the Turks out of Mesopotamia and captured Baghdad in 1917.

A new nation

In 1920, the League of Nations gave Britain a mandate over the region. In 1921, it was renamed Iraq, a new government was established and an Arab prince was installed as King Faisal I. But Britain controlled the new country's army, foreign policy, finances and oil resources. Iraqi opposition to British involvement grew throughout the 1920s, and an independence movement developed. In 1930, Britain agreed to eventual independence in exchange for continued use of military bases in Iraq. The mandate ended in 1932, and Iraq became a sovereign nation. King Faisal worked to unify the various ethnic and religious groups within Iraq's European-drawn boundaries. After King Faisal died in 1933, tribal fighting broke out, and Faisal's successors proved ineffective. Anti-British groups gained influence in the government.

The Second World War

During World War II, some Iraqi leaders sought an alliance with the Axis powers. When the British attempted to use Iraqi air bases, according to the provisions of the 1930 treaty, fighting erupted. The Iraqi army was defeated, and the pro-Axis leaders fled the country. After the war, Iraq helped to form the Arab League. In 1948, Iraq joined with other members of the league in a war against the newly created state of Israel. The defeat of the Arabs set off popular demonstrations in Iraq. Oil revenues were flowing into the country by this time, and the government built many roads, schools and hospitals. But the sheer quantity of money entering the country caused serious inflation. And many Iraqis were resentful of the government's close ties to the West. Opposition to the monarchy mounted until, in 1958, army officers overthrew the government, killed King Faisal II (grandson of Faisal I), and declared Iraq a republic.

THE REPUBLIC 1958-present

The army officers of the coup, led by Gen. Abdul Karim Kassem, established a three-man Sovereignty Council, which issued a constitution. Kassem became the republic's premier. The new government reversed Iraq's pro-West policies, moved closer to communist nations and instituted land reform. Ethnic unrest continued, and, in 1961, the Kurds of the north were in open revolt.

The Baath Party

In 1963, members of the nationalist Baath Party assassinated Kassem. The Baathists were in power briefly before another army officer, Abdul Salam Arif, seized control. A bloodless coup, orchestrated largely by Saddam Hussein, succeeded in bringing the Baath Party to power permanently in 1968. A new constitution was written that made the party's absolute control official. The first Baath president, Ahmed Hasan al-Bakr, continued many of Kassem's socialist reforms, building a close relationship with the Soviet Union. In 1973, the Baath government completed a takeover of foreign oil companies working in Iraq. As world oil prices rose dramatically in the 1970s, Iraq's profits were enormous. When Bakr resigned in 1979, Saddam succeeded him.

War with Iran

The 1979 Iranian revolution was of great concern to the Iraqi government. Fundamentalists in Iran were supporting separatist Kurds in the north, and attempting to incite rebellion among Iraq's minority Shiite population in the south. Iraqi forces invaded Iran in 1980. The ensuing war killed 150,000 Iraqi soldiers, damaged Iraqi oil facilities, and ruined Iraq's economy. A cease-fire was agreed to in 1988. The Kurds, who openly supported Iran during the war, were attacked with poison gas in retaliation.

The Persian Gulf War

Citing disagreements over territory, oil production limits and money owed, Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990. The United Nations and a coalition of 39 countries, led by the United States, opposed the invasion. In January 1991, after the Iraqi government refused to withdraw, the coalition forces launched airstrikes against Iraq and the occupying forces in Kuwait. Iraqi missiles were fired at Israel and Saudi Arabia. In February, the ground war began. The Iraqi army was defeated after 100 hours of fighting. In March, Kurdish and Shiite uprisings broke out. They were soon crushed by Iraqi forces, and refugees streamed into Turkey and Iran. In April, to protect the Kurds, the coalition set up a "no-fly" zone, banning Iraqi aircraft north of the 36th parallel. A southern no-fly zone to protect the Shiites was established in August 1992.

The embargo and weapons inspections

As part of the formal cease-fire agreement, Iraq agreed to destroy all of its chemical and biological weapons, dismantle its nuclear weapons program, and submit to U.N. inspectors. In September 1991, the first U.N. inspection team entered Iraq, and found evidence that its nuclear weapons program was more advanced than had previously been believed. Iraqi cooperation with the United Nations didn't last long. In 1993, coalition forces hit Iraq with airstrikes twice - once for refusing to remove missiles from southern Iraq, and once in retaliation for a plot to assassinate former President Bush.

In 1994, large numbers of Iraqi soldiers moved toward the Kuwaiti border, but retreated in the face of a U.S. military buildup. In 1997, Iraq barred Americans from U.N. inspection teams, but after Russian mediation they were allowed to return. In 1998, Iraq declared that presidential palaces were off-limits to inspectors. It backed down under threat of force, but inspectors reported that the Iraqis were still not complying. U.N. inspection teams were permanently withdrawn from Iraq in 1998, and the United States and Britain launched four days of sustained airstrikes dubbed Operation Desert Fox.

In January 2002, President George W. Bush called Iraq part of an "axis of evil," and began threatening the use of force to bring about a "regime change" in Baghdad. On Nov. 8, the U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution requiring Iraq to allow weapons inspections or face "serious consequences."

Iraq: Facts and figures

ABOUT IRAQ

Capital: Baghdad

Population: 23.3 million, slightly larger than the population of Texas

Population density: 139 people per square mile

Languages: Arabic (official), Kurdish

Religion: Iraqis are primarily Muslims (Christians and others account for only 3 percent of the population). The country has about 60 percent to 65 percent Shiite Muslims, and 32 percent to 37 percent Sunni Muslims.

Area: About 167,400 square miles, slightly more than twice the size of Idaho

Government: Republic

Leader: President and Prime Minister Saddam Hussein

GDP (2001 estimate): $57 billion

Monetary unit: Dinar

Crude oil reserves (2000 estimate): 113 billion barrels

Industries: Textiles, chemicals, oil refining, cement

Agricultural products: Grains, including wheat, barley and rice; dates; cotton

Military: Army: 424,000; navy: 2,000; air force: 30,000; air defense command (missiles): 17,000; security and border guards: 44,000

Missiles: Short-range missiles of various types, including Scuds, capable of reaching Israel

Nuclear warheads: Not yet

Terrorist links: Sponsors dissident activity overseas and supports various terrorist groups, allowing some to maintain offices in Iraq

Web site: http://www.iraqi-mission.org

KEY PLAYERS

Biographical information about Saddam Hussein and his family is hard to pin down. No official biography is available for Saddam, and information about his children is spotty. But here are some facts about the family, drawn from various sources:

SADDAM HUSSEIN

Full name: Saddam Hussein al-Tikriti

Born: April 28, 1937, in Iraq's Tikrit District, north of Baghdad

Family: Married Sajida Khairalla in 1963; two sons, three daughters

Education: Student, University of Cairo law school, 1962; law degree, University of Baghdad, 1971

Early years: In 1959, Saddam participated in an assassination attempt on Iraqi Prime Minister Abdul Karim Kassim. He was wounded, and lived in exile in Syria and Egypt for four years. He returned to Iraq in 1963.

Political career: Joined Baath party in 1957; acting deputy chairman, Revolutionary Command Council, 1968-69; deputy chairman, 1969-79; chairman, 1979 to present; president of Iraq, 1979 to present; prime minister, 1994 to present
UDAI SADDAM HUSSEIN

Alternate spellings: Odai, Uday

Born: 1964

Business and political career: Controls Iraqi media, including a major television network and newspaper; runs a militia group; heads Iraq's Olympic committee

Assassination attempt: In December 1996, an assassination attempt failed, leaving him severely wounded.

QUSAY SADDAM HUSSEIN

Alternate spelling: Qusai

Born: 1966

Business and political career: Thought to head Iraq's internal security forces, possibly the nation's Special Security Organization, which interrogates and executes political enemies and their families, and guards Iraq's chemical and biological arsenal

Assassination attempt: In August 2002, Qusay was wounded in the arm during an assassination attempt.

OTHER RELATIVES

Two of Saddam's daughters married brothers, who defected in the mid-1990s and spoke of overthrowing Saddam.

They later returned to Iraq after being assured of their safety. The two men died several days after returning to Iraq in an alleged shootout.

TRIBAL LOYALTY

Tribal identity is strong in Iraq. Much of Saddam's government is made up of members of his family from Tikrit. Many of Saddam's personal protection unit, the Anm Al Khass, come from Tikrit.

Other tribes in Iraq include the Dulain, the Abu Hamdan, Zobeida and hundreds more. Previous Iraqi rulers have tried to crush the tribes, but Saddam has nurtured them, hoping to win their support.

Formerly part of the Ottoman Empire, Iraq became an independent kingdom in 1932. A "republic" was proclaimed in 1958, but in actuality a series of military strongmen have ruled the country since then, the latest being SADDAM Husayn. Territorial disputes with Iran led to an inconclusive and costly eight-year war (1980-88). In August 1990 Iraq seized Kuwait, but was expelled by US-led, UN coalition forces during January-February 1991. The victors did not occupy Iraq, however, thus allowing the regime to stay in control. Following Kuwait's liberation, the UN Security Council (UNSC) required Iraq to scrap all weapons of mass destruction and long-range missiles and to allow UN verification inspections. UN trade sanctions remain in effect due to incomplete Iraqi compliance with relevant UNSC resolutions.

Bush, Spain's Aznar to Plot Strategy on Iraq U.S. President George W. Bush welcomes Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar to his ranch in Crawford, Texas. A new resolution regarding Iraq is expected to be introduced to the United Nations next week. President Bush and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar will plot strategies on Saturday to win an uphill battle for a U.N. resolution paving the way for possible war on Iraq.

I hope we the USA move our bases to Spain. Spain is our friend.

HiJinx, that slide show is spectacular! Thanks for putting it in the format it's in. (I know nothiing of formats.) I couldn't see the other one. Thanks, Brian, for sending it to snippy so we could share.

I Hope NONE of our Military will believe this.
In the Marine Corps we are taught to believe nothing we hear and 10% of what we see. This may be true and it may be a PLANT.

Iraqi deserter: Much of army will surrender when U.S. arrives

By JONATHAN S. LANDAY
Knight Ridder Newspapers

SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq - An Iraqi army deserter on Friday described Saddam Hussein's military as being rife with corruption, outfitted with inoperable equipment and populated by troops ready to surrender the instant that U.S. forces attack.

"The regular army won't fight and my friends are looking forward to the day the Americans begin the war so that they can surrender," said Ali Qadir Jadir, a veteran tank mechanic of the 34th Brigade of the 1st Mechanized Division.

Ali said none of the 128 soldiers in his unit, the Qurtuba Battalion, are willing to die for Saddam Hussein. But few will risk desertion before a U.S. invasion, preferring to surrender en mass when it begins, he said.

Kurdish officials say one or two deserters a week come over from Saddam-controlled territory.

The information Ali gave in a two-hour interview with Knight Ridder showed he had detailed knowledge of the Iraqi army practices, ranks, and tank mechanics, and knew the correct designations of army units along the frontline between Kirkuk and Mosul. There was no way to confirm his story independently.

He said he had deserted before. Saddam is known to order deserters be put to death. Ali said he had served prison terms but was saved from execution by amnesties. He said he was especially needed by the army because it did not have enough mechanics. He gave his rank as first-class assistant officer, the equivalent of a U.S. sergeant major.

The interview took place at the main security center in Sulaimaniyah, headquarters of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, one of the two parties that run the Kurdish enclave. He had turned himself in several days earlier to PUK security officials and said he expected to be released after interrogation.

Ali offered a rare look inside one of the frontline combat units that Saddam is relying on to repulse a U.S. invasion of northern Iraq.

His descriptions are corroborated by U.S. intelligence profiles of regular units of Iraq's 350,000-strong army.

Few tanks work. Officers sell spare parts, new uniforms and food. Wages and meals are meager, and surrender is frequently discussed despite ubiquitous informers, Ali said.

Commanders give daily pep talks to their troops because "they want to persuade the soldiers of how strong the Iraqi army is," he said. "They don't know that the soldiers know better about how weak the army is."

The 34th Brigade - part of the Iraqi Army's 5th Corps - is deployed in Makhmur, about halfway between the cities of Kirkuk and Mosul, on the frontlines with the Vermont-size enclave in northern Iraq that Saddam relinquished to rebel Kurds in 1991.

Kirkuk and Mosul and the oilfields that they control are expected to be the prime targets of any U.S. assault in the north.

Frontline Kurdish commanders confirmed the 34th Brigade's location as Makhmur.

Ali said while regular troops would surrender, a division of Saddam's elite Republican Guard would put up a stiff defense of Kirkuk, which sits atop some of Iraq's largest proven petroleum reserves.

Senior commanders frequently declared in speeches to their troops that Kirkuk's oil wells will be blown up like Kuwait's oil fields were at the end of the 1991 Gulf War, said Ali. He said he thought it was an empty threat.

"Once one of the officers was speaking about how strongly we would have to challenge the American attack," he continued. "One of the soldiers asked him `If they are going to use their air force, what can we do with our Kalashnikovs?' The officer became angry and said `We have a big army and we can stand in the face of an attack.'"

Ali said he was using his real name in the interview. He said he had hidden his wife and two children and that he expected them to arrive in the Kurd-held enclave.

Ali and his family are Kurds and hold identity cards from Sulaimaniyah, one of the Kurdish enclave's main cities, which allows them to travel between the region and the rest of Iraq.

He said he left his unit on Jan. 28 and stayed with relatives in Kirkuk. Just over a week ago, a relative drove him to the Kurd-held town of Chamchamal, smoothing the way with bribes at Iraqi checkpoints, he said.

Ali is a short, bearded man whose smile is scarred by wounds he said he suffered in a mine explosion during the 1980-88 war with Iran.

He said he volunteered for the army in 1974. He first trained in electronics and then as a tank and motorcycle mechanic.

Ali said his unit was made up of 28 T-55 and T-62 tanks, which were built in the late 1950s and 1970s, respectively. The former Soviet Union produced those tanks, and Iraq has been unable to replace them because of a U.N. arms embargo imposed after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

The aging tanks need frequent maintenance and replacement parts. Only four of them work, Ali said. Officers sell much of the unit's oil and spare parts, he said.

"When it comes to food, it's not proper or enough because the officers would steal from the soldiers' supplies," he said. "The roofs of the dugouts where we slept were leaking, and we didn't have enough transportation."

The only material the unit has in large supply, he said, is ammunition.

Good nite all. Eve says I got to go to bed now.

God bless all of you and thank you for supporting and praying for our troops and allies.

1630 Indians introduce pilgrims to popcorn, at Thanksgiving