***Operation Infinite Freedom - Situation Room - 7 JUN 03/Day 80***

Everywhere TexKat goes, or Ragtime Cowgirl transcribes... | 7 JUN 03 | null and void

[Timeout]

You're not going to believe this, but there's a great program coming up on CNN (8pm EST):

Inside the War Room (Centcom in Doha, Qutar)

by Mike Boetcher

The early footage looks fantastic (they even warned of "graphic language"!).

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Nully, I may have missed it, but who are the vets(I am guessing) in first photo?

Paul C. Rock, president of the Vietnam Survivors group, stands with his fellow veterans and one of eight banners signed by the public. Hundreds of signatures fill the banners, which will be displayed during the parade. From the back left are Paul Rock, John Bennett, Pete Reynolds and Chuck DeSario. Kneeling in front from the left are Dean Magnuson, Bruce Carter, Larry Tidquist, Michael Smith, Pat Huss and Earl Kolbe. Photo courtesy of Paul C. Rock

[Timeout]

Nully,

Turn on CNN!

This program is terrific....footage like none we've seen before. They're showing the actual battle plans being decided at Centcom, all the high tech monitoring equipment, etc. Some good ground war footage, too.

It's old home week for the Sit Room!

[TexKat]

THE ROVING EYE

The Saddam intifada

The Iraqi Intifada already has a starting date: July 27. And guess who's the rebel with a cause in charge? None other than Saddam Hussein. He seems to be alive, well and in hiding.

This is the crux of an intelligence report received by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and confirmed by a number of sources in the Middle East to the website Free Arab Voice. According to sensitive, formerly secret information, Saddam's new leadership-in-hiding - where the number 2 is former defense minister Sultan Hashim Ahmad - is getting ready to launch what had been largely advertised before the Iraqi invasion, by once deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz and minister of information Mohammed al-Sahaf, among others: a guerrilla war supposed to bog down the US in a replay of Vietnam. For this undertaking, Saddam can count on an army of 40,000.

Why July 27? According to the magazine al-Watan al-Arabi, because this is the anniversary date of the Ba'ath Party coming to power, and the day that Saddam became president of Iraq in 1979 - information also confirmed by the al-Bayan newspaper, published in the United Arab Emirates.

No one inside and outside Iraq has produced firm evidence that Saddam has been killed - be it in the famous "decapitation strike" in Baghdad that started the war, or afterwards. As of the end of April, sources were telling Asia Times Online that he never left Iraq, and might be around the Tikrit region, or in Taramiyya, 30 kilometers northeast of Baghdad. There have been a wealth of rumors regarding his family in the past few weeks, including one that son Uday was ready to give himself up.

Will it be a guerrilla war, a jihad, or both? No one knows for sure. But the new information suggests that Saddam may already posses all the ingredients necessary for waging a guerrilla war. He may still exercise some kind of power, and some kind of command and control over a number of his (disappearing) troops, and he has managed to access his network of hiding places in a number of central provinces. He and his new leadership may have access to weapons, ammunition, military supplies and foodstuffs, scattered in urban and also rural bases. And his new Iraqi jihadis may be totally enmeshed in the local population, acting like dormant cells, waiting for attack orders while carrying out reconnaissance missions and bringing intelligence from the leadership to the base. There's a possibility that they are being helped by retired Russian guerrilla experts.

No Ba'ath Party or Iraqi army personnel are in the new secret, revamped leadership. It seems to be a very tight group. It includes of course the two sons, Qusay and Uday. It also includes Abdul Hamud and the notorious Ali Hasan al-Majid (none other than "Chemical Ali", who may have succeeded in escaping from Basra and later disappeared). Other notable members are longtime Saddam ally Taha Yasin Ramadan, former defense minister Sultan Hashim Ahmad, and Latif Nasif Jasem. Vice president Izzat Ibrahim has disappeared, as well as the commander of the Middle Euphrates, Mazban Khidr Hadi. The new secret leadership basically draws from Tikrit, Samarra and Mosul, and still seems to be Sunni-dominated.

Why July and not now? Saddam's timing seems to coincide with what many Shi'ite clerics and leaders have been saying all along: we will give the Americans something like two months, and then we will draw our own conclusions. The Shi'ites are already losing their patience with what is widely considered by Iraqis as American arrogance, indifference or foot-dragging.

Take for example Ayatollah Mohammed Baqr al-Hakim, who returned to the holy city of Karbala for the first time after 23 years in exile in Iran. Hakim heads the Supreme Assembly for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SAIRI), a former anti-Saddam opposition group that is arguably the strongest political force in post-war Iraq. The SAIRI holds one of the seven seats on the leadership council which the US is supposed to work with to set up a post-Saddam government.

Speaking at the Imam Hussein golden domed mosque, the holiest shrine of the 12 Shi'ite imams, Hakim asked, "Why is the running of the country and the government not transferred to Iraqis? Are they still minors who cannot govern their country?" Hakim is in favor of a government "representing all Iraqis" to be set up as soon as possible. "We reject occupation. We want and are working for an authority, an administration and a government which does not play with words." He blames the Anglo-Americans for the still rampant lawlessness. In his view, the unfinished war "allows American and British soldiers to kill Iraqis at any moment under the pretext that they feel threatened. If they are not able to bring security, these young men can do it", he said gesturing to his followers in Karbala.

Saddam will certainly be betting on unrest all over Iraq concerning the American occupation, but he will also be betting on new developments in the struggle between Sunni and Shi'ite forces to get more say on the new Iraqi government. Saddam's strategy for his reemergence would be to keep the Americans guessing, while exploring breaches in their security machine, in the manner of legendary Vietnamese General Vo Nguyen Giap, a favorite of Iraqi strategists.

It's possible that the new secret leadership itself leaked some crucial data that ultimately led to former Ba'ath officials being arrested or surrendering to the Americans. From Saddam's point of view, this surrendering en masse also keeps the Americans busy and diverts their attention from planning the immediate future of Iraq (not that Washington is in a terrible hurry to get things going).

The intelligence report received by the CIA describes a secret Monday, April 7 meeting chaired by Saddam - the day that American forces penetrated beyond the outskirts of Baghdad. At this meeting, Saddam apparently confirmed that he had been betrayed by the leaders of the Republican Guard and Special Republican Guard.

According to Free Arab Voice, "He spoke of a high-ranking military personality with deep hatred, and said that this person had known all the secrets, the methods of issuing orders, and their secret codes. This person was the one who led the act of treachery and issued the orders for the forces to withdraw, as if they had come from Saddam Hussein personally. It was in this way that immediate and sudden withdrawals took place from all positions at one stroke, their weapons being taken away. The withdrawal covered the Republican Guard, the Special Forces, and all the regular and semi-regular forces, leaving no one to defend Baghdad except a few hundred Arab volunteers who were not included in those orders and who were not integrated into the leadership's chain of command."

This matches what Asia Times Online reported on The Baghdad Deal on April 25, and the buying off of Iraqi generals so they would not fight has also been recently admitted on the record by General Tommy Franks, who headed the war in Iraq.

And the news agency Agence France Presse, in a report dated May 26 from Paris, citing a Le Journal du Dimanche report, says that Saddam was betrayed by one of his cousins, General Maher Sufian al-Tikriti, head of the Republican Guards, who, along with a 20-strong entourage of other Republican Guards, left Iraq aboard a US military transport aircraft on April 8, the day before US forces swept into Baghdad.

Seemingly, the "master of betrayal" - whether al-Tikriti or not - knew all of Saddam's secret passwords and thus was able to issue the fake orders for the troops to abandon what would have been the Battle of Baghdad. One of the plot participants may have been the husband of Saddam's youngest daughter, Halla, Jamal Mustafa al-Umar, who surrendered to the Americans. Saddam apparently now hates him with a vengeance.

A handwritten letter dated April 28 (Saddam's birthday), said to have been written by the former president, addresses "the Iraqi people and the sons and daughters of the Arab nation and the Islamic world community, and to honorable people everywhere" and in effect calls all Iraqis to engage in an intifada against the American occupation forces, saying that it is the foreign occupation and not Sunni or Shi'ite that is the "only issue that your great Iraq is living today".

The letter was authenticated by the London-based al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper. As Saddam is living underground and in secrecy, all he can do, for obvious security reasons, is send letters. And to dream of a revolution. Taliban leader Mullah Omar in Afghanistan promised and delivered: the US is actually confronted by a guerrilla war in the Afghan Pashtun belt. What about Saddam of Arabia: is it delirium or just wishful thinking? The answer on July 27.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Steve Harrigan is 'king' of the jungle w/ this bunch. They need adult supervision and training, it seems.

I think the UN "peacekeepers" should go through basic training in the USA - a UN embed program - and as long as our troops eat MREs and live in tents at taxpayer expense - so can the UN diplomats..."sensitivity training" for jet-setting busybodies. (^;

A good read:

June 6, 2003, 7:00 a.m.
Legitimacy Test
The U.N. moral-authority problem.

By Rev. Robert A. Sirico - National Review

 

[TexKat]

Inside the War Room is good. It was on last Sunday. Very informative.

[Timeout]

Didn't know it was a re-run.

They just previewed the next segment where Centcom staff are all in full MOPP gear with an incoming missile headed right for 'em. (How do they type on their keyboards with those gloves on?)

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Oh, man...late again. Great show. Thanks, T.

"General McKiernan has made it his duty to talk to the families who died in combat."

Tough work.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

What about Saddam of Arabia: is it delirium or just wishful thinking? The answer on July 27.

No. It's Saddam's apologists in the press intentionally stirring up trouble and inciting fear. So many backsides to cover after all these years.

Any reporter that pushes this "Saddam is ALIVE and will rule again" Baghdad Bob BS is a sadistic monster - their employer, as well. Saddam is never, never, never going to rule over the Iraqi people again.

They've been terrorized enough. They don't need to be raped repeatedly by these bastards in the press. Sorry, but ENOUGH!

Saddam and every one of his evildoer co-horts - Bin Laden, Arafat, and the lil terrorist wannabes are not now, not ever going to be a match for the US military, the Coalition allies and the American people.

[TexKat]

Saddam Will Attack If U.S. Strikes First

Saddam Will Attack If U.S. Strikes First

If the United States attacks Iraq again, blood will flow on home soil.

Exclusive to American Free Press

By James P. Tucker Jr.

Americans will be killed by suicide bombers in public places in this country and biological and chemical weapons of mass destruction will be unleashed if the United States attacks Iraq again, as planned for early next year, said Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in a recent interview.

Hussein made this clear recently in a five-hour meeting with his inner circle. What transpired at the meeting was deliberately leaked to the Arabic newspaper Al-Watan-Al Arabi.

In no uncertain terms, Hussein said he would wait for the United States to strike the first blow and respond with “everything” both on the battlefield and “all other fronts.” When the Iraqi president referred to “other fronts,” he meant U.S. soil.

Present at the war council were two new officials “who were recently assigned by [Saddam’s youngest son] Qusay to organize intelligence cells abroad.” This refers to “sleepers” already in the United States waiting for the signal to set off bombs.

Referring to the permission President Bush gave the CIA to “assassinate or arrest me,” Saddam said the United States “has left Iraq no room to be tolerant.”

The president’s “war on us is now declared and he is publicly leaking information today that he gave orders to use all means and weapons to violate Iraq’s sovereignty and international law by assassinating me in Iraq,” Saddam said.

Saddam then said he wanted to hear the views of others “calmly without getting emotional.”

According to Al-Watan Al-Arabi, the first to speak was Ali Hasan al-Majid, who is widely known as “Chemical Ali” because of his specialty:

“Mr. President, the Iraqi people have tolerated the intolerable from these Americans . . . has the time not come to take the fight to their own homes in America? They wanted this to be a war on all fronts, so let it be a war on all fronts and using all weapons and means.”

From others:

• “The Americans must know that the heroes of Iraq can become human bombs in the thousands, willing to blow up America in particular.”

• “I am confident that our entire nation will be set aflame [by the Americans] and they must know that the entire region will turn into rubble with Israel at the forefront.”

• “If [Osama] bin Laden truly did carry out the September attacks as they claim, then as God is my witness, we will prove to them that what happened in September is a picnic compared to the wrath of Saddam Hussein.”

Saddam’s eldest son Uday and several others kept insisting that Iraq should launch pre-emptive strikes against the United States but Hussein stood firm on his position that his country would not strike the first blow, reported Al-Watan Al-Arabi.

The United States is using “all its dominion and tyranny not just to humiliate Iraq, but . . . every Arab in the land of Arabs and every Muslim in the land of Islam . . . Just as [Bush] rejected Yasser Arafat, he will reject Saddam Hussein, and tomorrow [Syria’s] Bashar al-Assad, and after that, another Arab leader until U.S. dominion reaches the rights, wealth and destiny of the Arab [world],” Saddam said.

“Bush, his gang and his intelligence bodies should know that as soon as they start this battle or we get wind of its beginning, Iraq will turn from reaction to action . . . At that moment everything will be handed over to Saddam Hussein to directly oversee retaliation plans . . . using all the weapons and fronts available,” reported Al-Watan Al-Arabi.

PREEMPTIVE STRIKES

When his son Uday still insisted that Iraq should launch pre-emptive strikes, Saddam responded:

“So far, the U.S. has done nothing except take a decision on paper. A number of officials know from experience that implementation will not be easy. What’s important today is to wait for the U.S. to throw the first punch and then we will not just react, but will act and take actions.”

Iraqis scoff at Bush’s claim that there are no war plans on his desk—they are at the Pentagon, imposed on military leaders by blood-lusting “neo-conservative” civilian defense chiefs who want to solidify Israeli hegemony in the Middle East and Big Oil’s control of natural resources there.

An attack on Iraq had originally been planned for late summer or early fall, but was delayed until next year under pressure from Europeans at the Bilderberg meeting last spring.

The constant references to “all fronts” and “all weapons” is particularly chilling. When Russia began disarming the former Soviet Union, missiles and other war instruments were sold to whoever would buy them.

“Saddam has acquired long-range ICBM missile systems from the old Soviet arsenal,” writes Nick Guarino in his newsletter, The Wall Street Underground. “With technical help from Chinese engineers, Saddam is close to being able to launch those rockets at targets in the United States.”

Not only have the Iraqis “purchased nuclear weapons systems outright, on the international black market, but they have also been able to produce nuclear weapons themselves,” Guarino writes. “They have acquired a whole shopping list of systems from the Soviets.”

“It’s not if, but when” the United States attacks Iraq, Bill Powell writes in Fortune magazine. He addresses the huge economic and other crises the war will produce but seems to accept it all as inevitable.

If attacked, Saddam plans to nuke Israel. Israel would nuke back, turning the Middle East into an inferno. Saddam may now have intercontinental missiles that can strike the United States. It could become a global inferno.

Other experts dispute reports that Saddam has acquired so-called weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

Among those raising doubts about whether Iraq has developed a vast arsenal of WMDs are former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter and seasoned journalist Nita Renfrew.

A detailed analysis of the history of Iraqi arms stockpiling was reported in AFP’s June 10 issue.

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*sigh* Not only am I on dial up, I don't have cable TV either. (Rilly GOT to get a job!)...

[DollyCali]

makes two of us Nully

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Saddam's Surgeons: First, Do Harm
Washington Post ^ | 06/08/03 | Maryam Elahi and Adam Kushner

For most people, it's unimaginable to think of physicians assuming the role of torturers and executioners. Yet under Saddam Hussein this is what took place. Whether the complicity was forced or voluntary, physicians participated for years in the state's apparatus of cruelty and terror. As researchers for Physicians for Human Rights in Iraq, we spoke to many doctors who reported on complicity in these heinous acts. The state wanted them to have "dirty hands," said one senior surgeon, who told us that they acted on a government mandate ordering all surgeons to participate in cutting off the ears and branding the foreheads of army deserters. In one hospital, all surgeons -- general, orthopedic, plastic, cardiac and neurosurgeons -- were reportedly required to perform the mutilation.
Excerpted - click for full article ^
Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26668-2003Jun6.html

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

NATO ambassadors see display of naval might

By Scott Schonauer, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Saturday, June 7, 2003

Scott Schonauer / S&S
A Royal Navy helicopter hovers over the water with the USS Porter in the background during a NATO maritime demonstration off the coast of Alicante, Spain, on Thursday.


Scott Schonauer / S&S
The USS Porter cruises in the Mediterranean Sea on Thursday as part of a NATO maritime demonstration.


Scott Schonauer / S&S
U.S. Marine Gen. James Jones, left, Frederico Trillo, Spain's minister of defense, and NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson stand before a color ceremony Thursday morning in Alicante, Spain.

OFF THE COAST OF ALICANTE, Spain — A row of nine ships from seven nations cruised out into the Mediterranean Sea with only a couple of football fields of water between them.

On command, they steered in unison to the left like a group of Olympic synchronized swimmers on cue. Some background music from the bridge, perhaps a rendition of Swan Lake, would have been fitting.

The turn was the simplest of maneuvers in a day of Harrier fly-bys, troop drops onto ship decks and small-arms demonstrations.

While ship captains were not vying for high marks from judges, they were performing on Thursday — for NATO ambassadors, VIPs and about 60 journalists. The purpose was to show alliance policymakers what NATO’s naval forces can do and to give an example of the alliance’s value and solidarity.

The timing was appropriate.

Although the sea display was planned months ago, the maritime showcase comes when the alliance’s 19 member nations are trying to smooth the rifts caused by March’s Iraq war and modernize their forces for post-Sept. 11 challenges.

“One of the things that I’ve said consistently is that we don’t give enough value to what is already here in NATO,” said Marine Gen. James Jones, who is both the top American officer in Europe and the alliance’s top commander on the continent, “and the Standing Naval Forces in the Mediterranean and in the Atlantic are prime examples of a very integrated force that is a world-class force with world-class capabilities to include amphibious force projection. That is an essential component of the NATO Response Force,” he said, referring to the creation of a flexible rapid-reaction force that the alliance agreed to form during a meeting last December in Prague, Czech Republic. The aim of the force is to respond to crisis situations on a moment’s notice. Member countries would rotate in and out of the force an undetermined number of troops and assets.

Standing Naval Forces in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean were formed about 11 years ago to bolster the alliance’s naval force. After the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks in the United States, NATO launched the largest maritime operation in its 54-history: Operation Active Endeavour.

The mission includes patrolling the Mediterranean and the Strait of Gibraltar to deter terrorists from using the water routes and to gather intelligence on suspicious ships traveling in the region.

NATO has lauded the operation as a shining example of how the alliance is contributing to the global war against terrorism.

Since the operation started, illegal immigration has dropped 50 percent and insurance companies have decreased premiums on commercial ships using what is seen as safer sea routes by as much as 20 percent.

Thursday’s demonstration off the coast of southeastern Spain is an annual event, but it offered a snapshot of how land and air forces in NATO would operate in the future.

~~~

[TexKat]

Iraqi Resistance Report XIV - June 5, 2003

Al-Quds al-Arabi, London, Thursday, 5 June 2003. The Iraqi Resistance announces the killing of eight Anglo-American troops and wounding of 16 others. Baghdad: Quds Press - The General Command of the Armed Forces and the Resistance and Liberation of Iraq has declared that it has killed a number of American soldiers. A communique issued by the Command stated that its resistance fighters killed eight Americans and wounded 13 others during the last 24 hours in operations carried out by "the Fedayeen of Iraq, the al-Faruq Brigades, and courageous men of the army."

The communique added that three American tanks had been totally destroyed in the al-Jihad District adjacent to the road to Saddam International Airport.

In addition, four military vehicles were destroyed in the areas of Balad, ad-Diwaniyah, ar-Ramadi, and al-Fallujah, in handgrenade attacks in the hours of the past day and night.

The communique said that, in answer to the random shooting Iraqi citizens by the Americans, the Command had ordered the use of "special means" to respond. The document gave no further details about the nature of those "special means."

The communique said that in the Governorate of at-Ta'mim "our forces killed an American soldier and a lackey during an attack on an American convoy conveying a number of thieves from London and Washington who were pretending to have diplomatic status. Among them was a female criminal representing Tony Blair," to use the language of the communique. It added that "a detachment of our forces carried out a guerrilla operation in area of al-Basrah, killing a British soldier and wounding three other troops."

[TexKat]

Latif Yakia is on the phone with Rita Cosby now. He is Uday's body double that now lives in England. He states that he talked with Uday via the telephone 12 to 14 days ago and that Uday is still in Iraq in bad condition. Also on Rita's show in person is a former Iraqi wrestler by the name of Najim Alekabi. They do not want to turn Uday over to U.S., for fear the U.S. may make a deal with Uday. They instead want revenge.

[DollyCali]

mandate ordering all surgeons to participate in cutting off the ears and branding the foreheads of army deserters. In one hospital, all surgeons -- general, orthopedic, plastic, cardiac and neurosurgeons -- were reportedly required to perform the mutilation.

How disgusting

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Kat, how did you find the 'freearabvoice.org'? Appears to be run by members of the vast Iraqi Info Ministry. Claiming they have a legitimate army and putting out press releases...looks like a job for special ops (or precision weapons).

---

Finding Weapons of Mass Destruction
Bush Country ^ | 06/05/03 | Paul Walfield

~~~

Starting from the beginning again, Saddam Hussein is gone from power. People are no longer being dragged away in the middle of the night by his henchman and placed into torture chambers. Family members aren’t being whisked away into the night, never to be seen again because Saddam was angry at some other member of their family. Young girls aren’t being pulled out of class to satisfy Saddam’s son Uday’s sick perversions.

Terrorism was dealt a blow in that they no longer have a friend in Baghdad, and there is no fear that they, the terrorists, will get their hands on chemical, biological or radiological weapons from the regime in Iraq. Homicide bombers are also without additional funding from Baghdad. Yet, many in the world, the U.S. included, feel cheated because a motive for the war has not been proven correct yet, even if the war itself was and is ultimately justified.

~~~

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

The Redneck Family Tree, aka "I'm My own Grandpa."

It goes back to the Grand ole Opry in the early 1930's/ A comedy singing team known as Lonzo and Oscar did the song. ~ thanks, Common Tator.

They don't write 'em like that anymore. (^:

Night, all. Sweet dreams.

[null and void]

Moving On To Next Thread
***Operation Iraqi Freedom***
Situation Room - Day 81