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Lt. Col. Scott Rutter (U.S. Army, Ret.), who led the liberation of Baghdad International Airport, gives his views on the War on TerrorWith regard to terror and safety; let there be no doubt that we as Americans are better off today than we were one year ago. We are on the offense and are taking a stand. Individuals that are part of terror networks and working to attack our country are currently being caught before their acts are committed. The recent communication intercepts and coordination with French Intelligence resulting in the cancellation of several commercial airline flights on Christmas...

SAMs and political gambles Posted: December 19, 20031:00 a.m. Eastern By Tom Marzullo© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com Baghdad International Airport has seen a number of tumultuous events in the last year, but this run of luck is not over by a long shot as yet. For what is coming up is a sizable political gamble on the part of the Bush administration. What I refer to is the resumption of civilian flights into Baghdad. Managing to get that airport open for routine business is certainly a noticeable outward sign of progress toward normalcy, as defined by the international media and diplomats. So do please...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Guerrillas hit a U.S. Air Force transport plane with a surface-to-air missile, causing the engine to explode, a senior Pentagon source said Wednesday. The plane landed safely. The C-17 had just lifted off from Baghdad International Airport before dawn Tuesday when the engine exploded, slightly injuring one of the 16 passengers and crew, said U.S. Air Force Capt. Carrie Clear of 447th Air Expeditionary Group, based at the airport. The plane returned to the airport and landed safely, Clear said. A senior Pentagon official, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the explosion as a direct hit by...

<p>November 28, 2003 -- President Bush paid a Thanksgiving visit to troops in the field yesterday, a mission meant to convey various messages - not the least of which being the most obvious: "I bring a message on behalf of America," the president said. "We thank you for your service, we're proud of you, and America stands solidly behind you."</p>

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Nov 27, 2003 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- It was the biggest of holiday surprises. The troops were getting ornery, 300 of them sitting for over an hour, waiting - for no good reason, it seemed - to get in the chow line at the Bob Hope Dining Hall at Baghdad International Airport and get their turkey dinners. Finally, a visibly nervous U.S. administrator L. Paul Bremer III strode to the podium with Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the U.S. military commander in Iraq. The two dispensed a few quick words. Bremer then turned to Sanchez and said he...

SAM Hits Cargo Jet, 3 Dead as Ops Continue in Iraq By Jim GaramoneAmerican Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Nov. 23, 2003 -- Baghdad International Airport was closed to all civilian traffic after a DHL cargo aircraft was hit by surface-to-air missiles Nov. 22, coalition officials said during a press conference today in Baghdad, Iraq. Three U.S. soldiers also were killed in Iraq, said Army Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, deputy operations director for Combined Joint Task Force 7. Kimmitt said gunfire was involved in the deaths of the soldiers, but would not comment further. Coalition officials said the airport will...

BAGHDAD (AP) -- A civilian cargo plane landed at Baghdad International Airport Saturday with its wing on fire, the military and witnesses said. The plane was trailing thick smoke and part of its wingtip was missing as it overflew Baghdad's Mahmoudiya district prior to touching down, said a witness who asked not to be identified. Capt. Carrie Clear, a spokeswoman for the U.S. military base at the airport, said the pilot had declared an in-flight emergency. The plane, belonging to the DHL package delivery service, landed safely and no one was hurt, she said. The military spokeswoman said an...

U.S., Australian airmen defend base BAGHDAD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, Iraq -- (From left) Sgt. Nathan Hogg, Staff Sgt. Shawn Schwantes, Aircraftman Lucas Kilpatrick and Senior Airman Sheridan Conklin meet up during their air base defense patrol. Hogg and Kilpatrick are members of the Royal Australian Air Force, and Schwantes and Conklin are assigned to the 447th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron. Schwantes is deployed from the 319th Security Forces Squadron at Grand Forks Air Force Base, N.D., and Conklin is deployed from the 9th SFS at Beale AFB, Calif. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Brian Ferguson) View Larger Download...

Airmen keep theater mail flowing BAGHDAD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, Iraq -- Airman 1st Class Christine Mayor, Senior Airman Alaine Wallace and Capt. Denise Freimuth load mail onto pallets in 100-plus degree temperatures. The 447th Expeditionary Communications Squadron team handles more than 150,000 pounds of mail flowing to and from air post offices at American camps in Iraq every day. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Keith Reed) View Larger Download HiRes by Master Sgt. Scott ElliottAir Force Print News 10/27/2003 - BAGHDAD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, Iraq -- Eighteen airmen, most wearing two or three stripes, spend several hours a day in a sun-baked warehouse...

BAGHDAD -- Welcome to Iraq, home of the Whopper. Deep inside Baghdad International Airport, past a vehicle search, a body search and four checkpoints, soldiers are lined up for burgers and fries. They have come by plane from Mosul, 220 miles north, for onion rings. They have picked up Chicken Royale sandwiches while picking up buddies flying back from a two-week home leave. They have begged and borrowed Humvees, making up any excuse for a trip to the airport and a reminder of what the pink mixture of ketchup and mayonnaise oozing from a fresh Whopper tastes like. "It tastes...

BAGHDAD -- Welcome to Iraq, home of the Whopper. Deep inside Baghdad International Airport, past a vehicle search, a body search and four checkpoints, soldiers are lined up for burgers and fries. They have come by plane from Mosul, 220 miles north, for onion rings. They have picked up Chicken Royale sandwiches while picking up buddies flying back from a two-week home leave. They have begged and borrowed Humvees, making up any excuse for a trip to the airport and a reminder of what the pink mixture of ketchup and mayonnaise oozing from a fresh Whopper tastes like. "It tastes...

Birgit Smith's husband, Paul, who was killed in Iraq, may get the Medal of Honor. "It doesn't bring my husband back," she said. HOLIDAY, Fla. — It was back on April 4 when Birgit Smith last wrote her husband, Sgt. First Class Paul Ray Smith. "Life without you here is just not the same," she wrote in a tight, neat cursive.She printed out an envelope and stamped it. He was already dead.Two men in uniform came to the door that night, another sergeant and a chaplain. Of course, she knew what the visit meant, but the timing seemed all...

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Unidentified guerrillas fired two missiles at a U.S. transport plane taking off from Baghdad just hours before Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld flew out of Iraq, military officials said on Sunday. The missiles missed their target and caused no damage. "Multiple missiles were fired which missed the aircraft," a U.S. military spokeswoman said of the incident, which happened on Saturday morning. Rumsfeld was thought to have passed through the airport on his way out to Kuwait, but the U.S. military refused on Sunday to comment on his exact travel route in and out of Baghdad. The military said,...

Exclusive Military Sources reveal anti air missile was fired Wednesday night at United State military plane over Baghdad International Airport. Attack launched when Rumsfeld was en route to Iraq. Plane was bound to land at this airport.Rumsfeld arrives Thursday in Baghdad. On unannounced trip to Iraq, Gulf and Afghanistan, he calls for 10,000 more troops for Iraq to be provided by other nations other than the United States and Iraiqs themselves of whom 50,000 are already in place.Secretary of State Powell begins drafting United Nations Security Council motion to mandate international force for Iraq under United States Command.

BAGHDAD, Iraq I got a tour the other day of Baghdad's rebuilt airport, which is now quite beautiful, but still hasn't opened out of security concerns. Our tour guides even took us through passport control to show off their new computers that will check for incoming terrorists. As they showed us around, a question occurred to me that I posed to them: "What happens if someone gets off a plane with an Israeli passport?" After all, Iraq under Saddam Hussein not only didn't have diplomatic relations with Israel, it considered itself at war with Israel.All of the officials present shrugged...

BAGHDAD, Iraq — A little baksheesh can go a long way in Iraq. At least, that is what U.S. military commanders hunting for Saddam Hussein and his loyalists are hoping. American troops began this month handing out rewards (such “tips” are known in Arabic as baksheesh) to anyone who gives them credible information on the whereabouts of the fugitive former Iraqi leader or any of his elusive supporters. With unemployment in Iraq around 70 percent, soldiers are turning to an incentive that has been successful since Mesopotamians settled on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers thousands of years ago. “The hope...

Landmine blast near Baghdad airport kills US soldier Reuters Baghdad, July 31 A US soldier was killed and three were wounded when their vehicle hit a landmine on the road to the American base at Baghdad International Airport on Thursday, a military spokesman said. An armoured personnel carrier carrying soldiers from the 1st Armored Division hit the landmine around midday, he said. The attack brings the number to 52 of US soldiers killed in guerrilla attacks since Washington declared major combat over on May 1. Overnight, gunmen killed one soldier from the 4th Infantry Division and wounded two in an...

Seven More Airlines Get OK to Fly to Iraq .c The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - Seven more airlines have been given permission to begin scheduled flights between the United States and Iraq, the government said Tuesday. It may be a while, though, before it is safe for Iraq's commercial airports to open. The Transportation Department approved applications to fly cargo for five airlines: Air Transport International, Gemini Air Cargo, Evergreen International Airlines, Atlas Air and Polar Air Cargo. Two others, North American Airlines and Continental Airlines, were given permission to fly cargo and passengers. The Coalition Provisional Authority this...

VIII: The Story of a Palestinian Mujahid - Abu Khaled Al-Ahram's reporter Rasha Sa'ad interviewed a Palestinian fighter when he returned home. The following are excerpts from the interview: "'I cannot believe that I am alive. I was in hell and Allah brought me back,' said Abu Khaled, who joined other Arab volunteers in the battle at Baghdad's airport in early April. Abu Khaled's - not his real name - story begins one month earlier. It was back in March that Abu Khaled, a Palestinian, was deported from Jordan. Unable to immediately return to the West Bank, he had to...

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Pilots guiding military aircraft on the long flights into Baghdad International Airport might be forgiven if they briefly feel they’ve strayed off course. Thousands of miles off course: to a land far to the southeast known for kangaroos, koala bears … and air traffic controllers? At a base in Iraq that formerly housed Saddam Hussein’s private jets, Americans are everywhere. It’s probably the largest concentration of U.S. troops in Iraq. But it’s the Australian air force that’s been tasked with bringing flights safely in and out of the airport. “We know how the military side works,” said...