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BAGHDAD (AFP) - Thousands of Iraqis, some watched over by US Apache helicopters, demonstrated in Baghdad and other cities to condemn "terrorism" in their country. More than 200 protesters from the Iraqi National Congress and other political parties, women's groups and sheikhs in traditional dress gathered near the National Theatre in Baghdad and marched to a central Baghdad hotel. "This is the national campaign against terrorism and sabotage," said Abo Thaer, 55, a member of the Iraqi Communist Party. His party members turned out with giant red flags bearing the hammer and sickle. Participants Wednesday said the rallies marked International...

GRADUATION DAY: Despite the US invasion of Iraq and the delay of the school year, these Baghdad University graduates are trying to move forward with their lives. SCOTT PETERSON/GETTY IMAGES from the December 09, 2003 edition - http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1209/p01s03-legn.html Iraq's students say, 'Welcome back, professor' By Christina Asquith | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor BAGHDAD - After a decade of sanctions had left his physics lab a crumbling shell, Raad Mohammed decided it was time to go. In 1999, following a route trodden by thousands of the best and brightest of Iraq's academics, Dr. Mohammed escaped to Jordan without a...

So we didn't find WMD...... YET. This is for those who are discouraged at the constant bombardment of negative news about Iraq from the liberal, anti-Bush media and those who just want to be critical for their various reasons. SINCE PRESIDENT BUSH DECLARED AN END TO MAJOR COMBAT IN MAY The first battalion of the new Iraqi Army has graduated and is on active duty. Over 60,000 Iraqis now provide security to their fellow citizens. Nearly all of Iraq's 400 courts are functioning. The Iraqi judiciary is fully independent. On Monday, October 6 power generation hit 4,518 megawatts-exceeding the pre-war...

NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND7115 South Boundary BoulevardMacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894 December 8, 2003Release Number: 03-12-20 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TASK FORCE “ALL-AMERICAN” TRAINS NEW IRAQI SECURITY FORCES The 82nd Airborne Division and attached units, also known as Task Force “All American,” continue in the establishment of Iraqi security forces. Current enrollment shows Iraqis actively seeking to secure their own country and taking responsibility for their own safety and protection. Iraqi Civil Defense Corps (ICDC) recruits began moving from Fallujah to the Navea Training Center for the next ICDC class, which is...

Since May 1... By Charles Mitchell The next time you hear a network news story, or read a newspaper, keep these facts in mind and ask, why isn't this being reported? Below is the list that NEVER makes the Media Moguls' "news" headlines. They just keep printing the explosions, shootings, deaths and failures. Have faith! "Since May 1..." Since May 1...the first battalion of the new Iraqi Army has graduated and is on active duty* Since May 1... over 60,000 Iraqis now provide security to their fellow citizens. Since May 1...nearly all of Iraq's 400 courts are functioning. Since May...

Making a killing in the new Iraq as cars, TVs, food and fridges flood in Rory McCarthy in Abu Flus, where lack of taxes and tariffs means business, legal and illegal, is booming Monday December 8, 2003The Guardian All day long, televisions, fridges and crates of food are heaved by crane from the ship's overflowing hold to be packed into trucks waiting to race north to the markets of Basra, Baghdad and the northern Kurdish cities. Further along the dockside, a line of cars newly arrived from Dubai rolls off another ship. Dozens of ships crowd the docks each...

U.S.-Coalition Offensive Efforts in Iraq Bearing Fruit, Sanchez Says By Gerry J. GilmoreAmerican Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Dec. 7, 2003 – Recent U.S.-coalition operations against insurgents in Iraq are succeeding, a senior U.S. military commander said today during a briefing from Baghdad. "The only way you win in combat is to stay on the offensive," Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, commander of Combined Joint Task Force 7, told reporters, noting that insurgent actions against American and coalition forces have dropped off in recent weeks. In order not to aggravate Iraqi citizens during U.S.- coalition military operations against insurgents,...

NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND7115 South Boundary BoulevardMacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894 December 7, 2003Release Number: 03-12-16 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CELEBRATION BUILDS FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN COALITION, IRAQIS HATRA, IRAQ – Coalition soldiers, local patrons and international media danced traditional dances, sang customary songs and ate a feast of both American and Iraqi food as the sun went down on this ancient city. The evening’s celebrations ended the Ramadan season and included presentations from Maj. Gen. David H. Petraeus, commanding general, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), and Hatras Mayor Nofil Hamade Sultan. According to...

NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND7115 South Boundary BoulevardMacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894 December 7, 2003Release Number: 03-12-13 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE "ALL AMERICAN" TASK FORCE - Summary of Operations - Dec 7 AR RAMADI, IRAQ - The 82nd Airborne Division and attached units, also known as Task Force “All American,” continued operations within the Al Anbar province to provide security and assistance to the Iraqi people. These missions continue to move Iraq toward a free and sovereign nation. During the past 24 hours, the 82nd Airborne Division and subordinate units have conducted three...

2nd Lt. Luke Sparks, fire support and information operations officer for of C Company, Task Force 1st Battalion, 35th Armored Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, gets caught in a group hug by some neighborhood children at the Tashree community center playground in central Baghdad, Nov. 17, 2003. Sparks said that the soldiers’ interaction with local children has improved the U.S. Army’s relationship with the community. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Chad D. Wilkerson U.S. Soldiers Establish Tashree Community Center, Clinic, Playground   By U.S. Army Spc. Chad D. Wilkerson / 372nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment  ...

Insurgent Success Rate Down in Northern Iraq Attacks Against Coalition By John D. BanusiewiczAmerican Forces Press Service KIRKUK, Iraq, Dec. 6, 2003 - Attacks against coalition forces in northern Iraq have dropped significantly in recent weeks, and 95 percent of them fail to hurt coalition personnel or even damage coalition vehicles, the commander of the Army's 4th Infantry Division told visiting Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld here today. Maj. Gen. Raymond Odierno said that while the numbers of attacks went up at first when insurgents changed to more "stand-off" kinds of attacks using improvised explosive devices and rocket and...

U.S. military commanders throughout Iraq have been saying for months -- almost unequivocally -- that they are winning the war against Iraqi insurgents, religious extremists and foreign terrorists in their sectors. This, even as attacks against U.S. forces increased across the country and a series of high-profile bombings and helicopter shoot-downs helped create the impression in the world media that the insurgents were gaining ground. Vernon Loeb, defense correspondent for The Post, asked commanders from the four major U.S. Army divisions in Iraq why they thought they were winning, and what they used as measures of success. Responding via e-mail,...

Baghdad - About 1 000 Iraqis, mostly Shi'ites, rallied in central Baghdad to condemn "terrorism" against Iraqis and United States "liberation" forces on Friday as four Iraqis and a US soldier died in a bomb attack elsewhere in the capital. Dozens of children aged between five and 10 marched at the front of the protest, with flowers in their hands, under white banners proclaiming in red letters: "Children - innocent victims of terrorism" and: "Terrorism blocks any future for children". Organiser Sabih Hassan, head of a child protection association set up since the US-led invasion, said they had all "become...

Bush Appoints Baker as Envoy for Iraq Debt resident Bush named James A. Baker III, the former secretary of state, as his personal envoy to Iraq today to help the country grapple with its debt problem. "Secretary Baker will report directly to me," Mr. Bush said in a statement, "and will lead an effort to work with the world's governments at the highest levels, with international organizations and with the Iraqis, in seeking the restructuring and reduction of Iraq's official debt." Advertisement The White House press secretary, Scott McClellan, said the president made the appointment in response to a request...

  Provisional Reconstruction Team begins work in HeratBy Maj. Richard C. Sater Spc. Mary Miller and two young Afghan girls in traditional costume plant a tree at the conclusion of the opening ceremony for the Provincial Reconstruction Team headquarters. Miller is assigned to the 407th Civil Affairs Battalion, Fort Snelling, Minn. Maj. Richard Sater HERAT, Afghanistan (Army News Service, Dec. 4, 2003) -– Two little girls in traditional Afghan dress giggled as they helped plant a young pine tree outside a new building on the northwest side of town housing the headquarters for the Herat Provincial Reconstruction Team. The...

NORTH OF BAGHDAD, Iraq - Nobody shot at them or tried to blow them up, and everyone arrived in one piece. The Stryker brigade's first series of convoys, the advance party, made it safely to their destination in northern Iraq after another long ride Thursday. Much larger numbers were to arrive today and later until most of the Fort Lewis brigade's 5,000 or so soldiers get here to make the base one of the largest cities in this area. For security reasons, the Army will not allow The News Tribune to report the location of the camp or the brigade's...

Iraqis at Work Rend Rahim Francke, who will represent the Iraqi Governing Council in Washington, has her work cut out for her. by Claudia Winkler 12/03/2003 12:00:00 AM THERE'S NO GAINSAYING the quality of many of the people who are risking their lives to build the new Iraq. On that score, it was gratifying to learn that Rend Rahim Francke will represent the Iraqi Governing Council in Washington. A longtime supporter of the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, and one who pledges political allegiance only to the democratic center, Francke is discerning, judicious, determined, and brave.It's also true that she...

Iraq has many capable women ready to lead the country toward democracy. Yet women are severely underrepresented in the leadership established for the transition. As plans for a new governing structure are developed, the Iraqi Governing Council and the Coalition Provisional Authority should ensure women their rightful place at the decision-making table. Many Iraqi women are well-educated – doctors, lawyers and engineers who are already leaders in their communities. And regardless of education, women in Iraq are often heads of households who have kept their families and their country moving despite decades of war and severe abuse under Saddam Hussein's...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi political parties and coalition authorities are discussing the creation of a 1,000-member militia to bolster the U.S. military's fight against a guerrilla insurgency, U.S. and Iraqi officials said Wednesday. The militia would be formed by uniting fighters from five Iraqi political parties under the joint leadership of the U.S. military and the emerging Iraqi Civil Defense Corps, American officials in Baghdad and Washington said on condition of anonymity. Also Wednesday, U.S. soldiers captured a former Iraqi general suspected of recent contacts with Saddam Hussein (news - web sites). In another raid, Iraqi police and U.S. troops...

Tribes move to fill in security vacuum Baghdad, Iraq Press, December 5, 2003 – The continuing unrest and lack of security has prompted the authorities to rely on tribes to reinstate law and order. The Interior Ministry invited tribal chiefs in the area of Baghdad and its districts and asked them to form their own vigilante groups. The lightly armed groups will be responsible for security in their areas in the absence of Iraqi police or US-led coalition troops. Interior Ministry reports say that some tribes have done an excellent job in their own areas, with their vigilante groups inspecting...