Sniper team's wary eyes keep Marines alive

[thedrifter]

Sniper team's wary eyes keep Marines alive
Submitted by: 1st Marine Division
Story Identification #: 20045257528
Story by Cpl. Shawn C. Rhodes



ZADAN, Iraq(May 23, 2004) -- The combat engineers of 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, assigned to the 1st Marine Division in Iraq have a special sort of guardian angel. But this one carries an M-40A3 sniper rifle

The battalion's Scout-Sniper Platoon joined the engineers, providing overwatch while the engineers uncovered weapons cache sites around what's known as 'Hill 55', a former hotbed of terrorist activity.

"Our mission here is to provide overwatch security to the engineers out there," said Sgt. Phil F. McCotter, a 24-year-old Marine sniper from Black Rock, Ireland. "Our job is to basically make sure no one tries to sneak up on them or plant a bomb in the area while they're gone."

The mission began for the sniper team at 4 a.m. when they cracked chemical lights inside their tent, so they could do a final check of their gear. They counted out weapons, night vision goggles, global-positioning systems and spotter scopes - just a few of the tools they rely upon for their role.

"There are only a few things we bring," McCotter said. "We have to travel light. For us, that means ammo, water, and food."

Engineers went to work with metal detectors, finding the buried munitions. After an initial assessment of the area, the sniper team picked a house that offered a good view of the area and keep them concealed.

"This mission didn't see us used in the traditional sniper role," explained Cpl. David Tollado, a 24-year-old Marine sniper from Montvale, N.J. "I'd much rather be given a target we have to acquire and then kill it. But units like the idea of having a sniper on board. It's a blanket of extra security."

The deadeye marksmen set up near windows inside the house, establishing a watch to keep an eye on the area. One sniper was scanning the area with binoculars or the scope of his rifle while the others kept communication with the battalion. They used field-expedient tools - copper wire - and ingenuity to extend the range of the antenna on their radio.

"We were in a dead zone, and communication can mean life or death for us and the engineers out there," McCotter said.

"If they need us or if we need them, it's important this thing works," he added, tapping the radio.

Keeping an eye on the engineers in the clearings in front of them and making radio checks with the surrounding units kept the team busy. In the lags of time, however, the team reminisced about humorous events they'd experienced when under fire.

"Do you remember that time when we were getting mortared and you grabbed my flak jacket by mistake, then wouldn't stand up even after the attack was over?" Tollado asked another team member.

Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Jeff L. Pursley, the team's leader and hospital corpsman, nodded and laughed at the memory.

"Yeah, I remember that mortar attack," Pursley said. "Was that when you covered your face with your hands, and I asked you what you were doing? You said you were laughing at a joke you heard earlier."

Amid the candor exchanged by the Marines, the farmers around the area continued on with their lives, tending their crops and their livestock. The snipers kept a close eye on anyone looking at the house or walking near it. When a group of cows walked by the windows of the room they were in, they decided it was time to leave.

"We were getting some bad looks from Iraqis passing by the house and every day we stayed was more dangerous for us," said Cpl. Olen P. Thyssen, a 27-year-old Marine sniper from Houston. "When our position was compromised by the locals, we knew it was time to go."

The team linked up with Company G, who had a platoon staying at another house in the area. They arrived to find the platoon keeping an eye on the surrounding area as well.

The snipers were seen as a welcome addition to the unit, even if for just the night.

"Our mission had been extended to a 96-hour time period by that time and we were glad to be somewhere we could get water and chow easily and lend a hand if we were needed," Pursley said.

It turned out the team was needed. At dusk, terrorists on a truck 500 meters away fired two rockets at the platoon's position. The Marines scrambled to the roof to engage the enemy and found the sniper team already there sighting in their target. Thyssen worked the scoped sights of his sniper rifle. He acquired his target with the help of one of his team members, shooting with precision aim.

The crack of his rifle was drowned out by the shouts and fire of the line platoon around him. Marines fired their rifles, machine guns and grenade launchers at the retreating vehicle. Illumination rounds were shot from a nearby mortar, lighting up the area as the darkness increased.

Marines shouted as the mortar tube thumped and the flare exploded above the fields in front of them. Other units were dispatched on mounted patrols to find the terrorists.

"They always wait until right before dark to attack," McCotter said. "It makes us harder to see them when they run away. They'll think twice before trying something like that again on us, though."


http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/200452575827/$file/Overwatch1lr.jpg

Sgt. Phil F. 'Mick' McCotter, a sniper with 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, scans the fields outside his hide during a mission recently. The Black Rock, Ireland Marine and his team of snipers kept watch over the area as combat engineers scanned for weapons caches. The snipers were on the lookout for terrorists planting explosives or those trying to attack the Marines as they worked.
(USMC photo by Cpl. Shawn C. Rhodes) Photo by: Cpl. Shawn C. Rhodes

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/200452581343/$file/Overwatch3lr.jpg

Marines from Company G, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment fire on terrorists in a truck who had launched rockets at them and sped away. Riflemen, machine gunners, snipers and mortarmen all gave the terrorists a taste of their own medicine during the hour of dusk.
(USMC photo by Cpl. Shawn C. Rhodes) Photo by: Cpl. Shawn C. Rhodes

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/FB63D1F38A2ACE5D85256E9F004132D4?opendocument


Ellie

[thedrifter]

U.S. Troops Capture Lieutenant of Al-Sadr

By ROBERT H. REID

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. troops captured a key lieutenant of radical Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr during overnight clashes in Najaf that killed 24 people and wounded nearly 50, hospital and militia officials said.

Riyadh al-Nouri, al-Sadr's brother-in-law, offered no resistance when American troops raided his home during a series of clashes in this Shiite holy city, according to Azhar al-Kinani, a staffer in al-Sadr's office in Najaf.

The capture of al-Nouri would be a major blow to al-Sadr's al-Mahdi Army, which has been battling coalition forces since early April. Al-Sadr launched his uprising in response to a crackdown by coalition authorities who announced an arrest warrant against him in the April 2003 assassination of a moderate cleric in Najaf.


Al-Nouri was also sought in the 2003 killing.

Also Wednesday, masked gunmen opened fire on a convoy taking Russian technicians to work at a Baghdad power station, killing two and wounding at least five, Iraqi and Russian officials said. It was only the latest attack on employees with the Interenergoservis company.

In Moscow, the executive director of the company, Alexander Rybinsky, said Wednesday the firm would evacuate all its staff from Iraq. The attacks on the Russians could be an attempt to undermine international efforts to rebuild the country, since Russian expertise has played an important role in reviving Iraq's electricity industry and other infrastructure.

Elsewhere, the Polish command said a coalition base outside of Karbala, 50 miles north of Najaf, came under mortar fire late Tuesday. Demolition teams also defused three roadside bombs in the area, a spokesman for the Polish-led multinational force said Wednesday.

The mortar rounds were fired at Camp Kilo, where mostly Bulgarian troops are based, Maj. Slawomir Walenczykowski said. The attack resulted in no injuries or damage.

Fighting escalated in Shiite areas south of Baghdad in early April after al-Sadr launched an uprising against the U.S.-run occupation. Al-Sadr is sought in the April 2003 assassination of a moderate cleric in Najaf.

Al-Sadr's fighters have cleared out of Karbala following weeks of heavy clashes with U.S. and coalition forces. But clashes persist in Najaf and its twin city Kufa.

During the clashes overnight, militants fired rocket propelled grenades and mortars during three hours of skirmishes that ended about dawn, residents said. Some exchanges of fire were also reported around the city's Revolution of 1920 Square.

Fighting around some of the holiest cities of Shia Islam has angered many Shiites in Iraq and elsewhere and has led to calls for both the Americans and the militiamen to pull back from the shrines.

On Tuesday, the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf received slight damage. Both U.S. and Shiite forces blamed the other for the damage.

In the ambush on the Russian workers, police said the group was traveling in a bus when they were attacked about a few hundred yards from the Dora power station in southwestern Baghdad. One Iraqi was also killed, police said.

The wounded were taken to Yarmouk Hospital, where Dr. Adham Saadoun said some were in serious condition.

It was the second fatal attack against employees of Interenergoservis this month. On May 10, a group of Russian workers was seized after their vehicle came under attack in Musayyib, about 40 miles south of Baghdad. A third worker was killed in the attack.

Three Russian and five Ukrainian employees of Interenergoservis were abducted in Iraq last month, but were released unharmed the next day.

In Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry said it had repeatedly warned Russians of the dangers of living in Iraq, where violence is on the rise ahead of the return of sovereignty June 30.

The ministry blamed the deteriorating situation on the failure of the U.S.-run occupation authority "to guarantee the necessary security."

Attacks on infrastructure targets have stepped up in recent weeks. Bombings along key oil pipelines in northern and southern Iraq have resulted in temporary cutbacks in the export of petroleum _ the key to reviving Iraq's economy.

U.S. troops opened fire on a car in downtown Kirkuk, killing a man and injuring his wife, an Iraqi police official said Wednesday. The Tuesday night shooting broke out five minutes after the nighttime curfew went into effect at 11 p.m., said Police Gen. Sherko Shakir. The couple's baby was also in the Fiat, but was not hurt, he said.

There was no comment from U.S. officials.

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/05/26/ap/Headlines/d82q6p200.txt


Ellie

[thedrifter]

U.S. Hopes Resolution Gets Troops to Iraq

By BARRY SCHWEID

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is hoping a new U.N. resolution will induce fence-sitting governments _ maybe even some Arab states _ to send peacekeeping troops to Iraq.

So far, though, the United States has few takers.

"It remains to be seen," Secretary of State Colin Powell said Tuesday.


The uncertainty over troops underscores one of the many pieces of unfinished business as the United States begins the final push toward handing over political control to an interim Iraqi government by June 30. The White House said Tuesday the new Iraqi leaders will be named by early next week.

A senior administration official in Baghdad said the list had been narrowed, but that no final decisions have been made on the names of the Iraqi interim government. "We're down to a handful of names for each of the positions and in some cases a smaller number than that," the official said, on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, the United States and Britain appeared at odds over how much control Iraq's caretaker government will have over American-led military operations after the handover.

In London, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Iraqis should have the final say over any major U.S.-led military operations. The "final political control as to whether you go into a place like Fallujah in a particular way _ that has to be done with the consent of the Iraqi government," Blair said.

But Powell said U.S.-led troops will do "what is necessary to protect themselves."

Iraq's new government will have a consulting and coordinating role over U.S. troop operations, but that role still needs to be defined, said the administration official in Baghdad. The issue would be the first one addressed by the United States and members of the interim government once its leaders are named, the official said.

Powell said several countries have said they would consider sending troops.

For months the administration has publicly urged other nations to join the 32 countries with troops already in Iraq. While a dozen or so were said to be weighing a positive response, only Pakistan so far has indicated it might go along.

On Monday, Pakistan said it was considering the U.S. request, but only for a special force to protect U.N. facilities in Iraq.

By contrast, three countries _ Spain, the Dominican Republic and Honduras _ have decided to withdraw their troops from Iraq.

Denmark, a key U.S. ally, apparently has decided not to bolt. The parliament is due to vote June 2, but the Danish foreign ministry said two weeks ago that the 500 Danish soldiers on duty in southern Iraq would remain there an additional six months.

Gen. John Abizaid, commander of U.S. troops in the Middle East, has said he favors the inclusion of more international troops, especially more Muslim troops.

"For example, Morocco, Pakistan, Tunisia _ they all have very capable and very professional forces that could be added to the stability equation" once Iraq regains its political sovereignty, Abizaid said last month.

But last Sunday, Amr Moussa, the secretary-general of the Arab League, said "the Arab countries were not part of the war waged on Iraq." And so, he said, "I can't see participation in the near future."

Britain, Italy, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Poland and Romania are among the U.S. allies that have contributed troops to the U.S.-led effort to stabilize Iraq.

Several allies, especially France and Germany, are conspicuous by their absence. The two NATO countries opposed the war from the outset and France on Tuesday repeated its strong refusal to ever send in soldiers.

Whether they would remain on the sidelines if a NATO force was sent to Iraq was not clear.

"I am not sure yet what NATO might or might not do," Powell said.

Apart from ideological differences, the risks to troops make participating a difficult step for many countries to take.

The United States has borne the brunt of the casualties. Of the 155,000 coalition troops in Iraq, some 135,000 are American. The Pentagon is struggling to maintain even that level, and some critics of the Bush administration's strategy in Iraq have complained that too few U.S. troops have been committed.

As of Monday, 797 U.S. military personnel had died since the beginning of military operations in Iraq last year, according to the Defense Department.

The British military has reported 60 deaths; Italy, 20; Spain, eight; Bulgaria, six; Ukraine, five; Thailand, two; Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia and Poland, one each.

Associated Press Writer Deb Riechmann contributed to this report.

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/05/26/ap/Headlines/d82q717g0.txt


Ellie

[thedrifter]

BRAVERY, BLOOD & LIES

By RALPH PETERS

May 25, 2004 -- IF the recent retreat from Fallujah showed the world how to get counter-insurgency operations exactly wrong, the U.S. Army has been giving lessons on how to do it right in its campaign against Muqtada al-Sadr's thugs.
Each confrontation has its own requirements in Iraq. In Fallujah, we had an opportunity to strike swiftly and eliminate several hundred terrorists. Instead, the decision was made to hand the city over to our enemies to achieve a "peaceful solution."

The result? Ambushes and roadside bombs continue to kill Marines in the Fallujah area - Marines who fought bravely and well, only to see victory snatched from their hands by their own superiors.

In the broader insurgency led by the renegade Shia cleric Sadr, the military task was more complex. With outbreaks of violence in the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala, as well as in a teeming Baghdad slum, the Army faced the risk of alienating the greater Shia population if sacred shrines were violated or civilian casualties soared.

But our commanders on the ground also had advantages, which they seized. Sadr's thugs had no deep support - on the contrary, local people wanted them to leave their neighborhoods and stop misusing sacred sites. No senior cleric supported Sadr, a vainglorious junior mullah. And we had good intelligence - some of it coming from the population Sadr pretended to represent.

The Army couldn't just blast its way into downtown Najaf or Karbala, given the religious sensitivities involved. Instead, troops from our 1st Armored Division, "Old Ironsides," methodically peeled away one layer of resistance after another. Shrines weren't violated. Civilians were spared. Damage was minimized. Yet, thanks to the skill of our soldiers and their leaders, Sadr's gangsters were slaughtered by the hundreds.

In some Shia areas, Sadr's "uprising" proved to be much ado about nothing and swiftly collapsed. Elsewhere, fighting raged. In Sadr City, the Baghdad slum, our soldiers promptly moved to take control - recognizing that Sadr had drawn most of his recruits from its fetid alleys.

Meanwhile, battalion task forces from the 1st AD cordoned the holy cities. With precision and patience, they avoided traps set by the militiamen that would have profaned the sacred tomb complexes. Fighting door-to-door and through a vast cemetery, they staged lightning raids in the hours of darkness, keeping the enemy under pressure.

Whenever Sadr's militiamen made the mistake of coming out to fight, the soldiers from the "First Tank" efficiently helped them achieve martyrdom - with remarkably low friendly or civilian losses.

As weeks of skillful fighting approach a climax, Sadr's thugs have been driven from Karbala, Najaf has quieted and our forces have punched deep into his stronghold of Kufa. His militia has been broken. His deputies have been arrested or killed. And Sadr himself is cornered, physically and politically.

Now comes the most dangerous phase of the operation. With our troops on the verge of bringing Sadr to justice, the only thing we have to fear is yet another intervention by the guys in ties. If we snatch defeat from the jaws of victory again by letting Sadr off the hook, we will throw away the textbook example of success our Army just delivered.

Sadr needs to come out of his hiding place in handcuffs or in a shroud.

Writing for my fellow soldiers 10 years ago, I warned that one of the consistent American weaknesses in the future would be the impulse of our own diplomats to rush to the rescue of our enemies just when our military had them on the ropes. It happened in Fallujah. We can't afford to let it happen again.

Don't worry about making a martyr out of Sadr. Even his fellow Shias want him dead.

. . . while the media whine

AMERICANS can be proud of the superb job our troops are doing, not only against Sadr, but throughout Iraq. Yet, revealing their prejudices in an election year, many "leading" media outlets are determined to turn Iraq into a failure.

The endless orgy of coverage of the Abu Ghraib incident, for example, is insufferable. The successes and sacrifices of more than a hundred thousand soldiers go ignored, while a sanctimonious media focuses on the viciousness of a few ill-led criminals in uniform.

The truth is that Abu Ghraib was the story big media longed for, a scandal journalistic vultures could turn into strategic roadkill. Press coverage of our military's many successes has been scant.

Development projects go ignored. If soldiers don't complain, they don't get camera time. When our forces successfully target a terrorist hideout, the evidence doesn't matter. The media leaps to validate enemy lies that a "wedding party" was attacked.

Not one voice in the media raised the possibility that terrorists willing to slaughter 3,000 civilians on 9/11 might be perfectly willing to murder a dozen or so Arab women and children to set up a propaganda victory. Increasingly, our enemies make sophisticated use of our own roundheels media - which is always ready to credit evil men with virtue, while assuming that American soldiers are wrong.

Recent press and broadcast stories have focused sympathetically on the plight of military deserters. Ludicrous stories of abuse told by Iraqis looking for a cash handout are presented without the least skepticism. And in the most disgraceful essay of this new century, Susan Sontag, writing in The New York Times Magazine, associated the prisoner-abuse affair with the massacres in Rwanda and the Holocaust.

Really? Does Ms. Sontag truly believe that Abu Ghraib equals Auschwitz? Does she know a single American soldier? How simple the world must look from behind her desk . . .

This is not an argument for censorship. America needs a free media. But we also need a responsible media. Abu Ghraib was an ugly little story that big media exaggerated into a strategic disaster - with no thought for the consequences for our troops, our country or the people of Iraq.

For too many journalists, sensation trumps all else. American successes, such as the Army's recent victories, are an annoyance. Doesn't anyone care about the truth?

Ralph Peters is the author, most recently, of "Beyond Baghdad."

http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/24640.htm


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Boat mechanics keep mission afloat for Small Craft Company
Submitted by: 1st Marine Division
Story Identification #: 200452463616
Story by Lance Cpl. Macario P. Mora Jr.



HADITHAH DAM, Iraq(May 19, 2004) -- Small Craft Company is keeping their boats afloat with a little bit of ingenuity, a steady amount a sweat and healthy dose of determination.

The Small Craft Company detachment here, from Camp Lejeune, N.C., is operating its boats on the hard work and creativity of its Marines.

It's no small task for the Marines maintaining and operating Zodiac Combat Reconnaissance Raiding Crafts, Rigid Raiding Crafts and Riverine Assault Crafts. They're constantly using the boats in troop transport missions, reconnaissance patrols and supply transports. They're also doing it with equipment that's outlived its lifespan by at least ten years.

"These guys make it happen," said Sgt. Chris Cayo, a RAC boat captain from Carthage, Texas. "Most of the time we don't even know anything is wrong because they're constantly fixing stuff."

The company's been busy on the water here in western Iraq. They're protecting the dam here, a source of hydroelectric power for much of Al Anbar Province. It's a key site to keep power flowing to Iraqi citizens. The Marines are constantly patrolling, countering threats.

Still, the operations take a toll on the equipment.

"It seems like every time we go out something breaks down," said Cpl. Matthew B. Lupton, a boat mechanic from Roselle, Ill. "Thankfully, though, nothing major has happened."

Weeks before deploying to Iraq the maintenance platoon worked around the clock to ensure they were ready for combat.

"This is our first combat operation with the company," Cayo explained. "So, we came as prepared as we could."

One of the biggest problems for the water-borne Marines in Iraq has been rocks jamming the propellers in the engines; not allowing water flow through the engines and keeping the boats out of the fight.

"We've had a few down from blown engines," said Sgt. Joe Alvarez Jr., an electronic system repair specialist from Syracuse, N.Y. "But once we get our equipment from Al Asad they'll be up and running again. We work with what we got."

The maintenance cycles are even more hectic than that of their combat operations. Marines are constantly up to their elbows in grease and are equally at ease with a wrench in their hand as they are with a rifle.

"We've been busy due to an increase in missions," Alvarez said. "So we're using our downtime to ensure they're ready."

Small Craft Marines are also finding out they're in greater demand. Combat missions increased since they first arrived in theater with the 1st Marine Division. They filled in for regular infantry forces and as situations in the region changed, their boats became a greater asset to area commanders.

"When we first got here we were doing a lot of ground stuff," Cayo said. "We had to act as the react force and do a lot of other things. But, now... we've been able to focus more of our attention on the water and our boats."

According to Sgt. Johnny Bentacu, section maintenance chief from Albuquerque, N.M., helping keep the boats afloat is made easier by following a few simple rules.

"Attention to detail is essential on these boats," Bentacu said. "We're doing good with what we have. My guys are the best for the job. We may not have all the parts we need but we get by with what we got."

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/200452463833/$file/boat1lr.jpg

Marines from Small Craft Company remove the engine from a Zodiac combat reconnaissance raiding craft. The maintenance crew uses outdated equipment on boats nearly ten years past shelf life and piece together useable crafts. The company's biggest problem since setting sail in Iraq has been rocks jamming the propellers in the engines.
(USMC photo by Sgt. Jose L. Garcia) Photo by: Sgt. Jose L. Garcia

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/5D58C65860F72E7C85256E9E003A4096?opendocument


Ellie

[cjwright90]

This is not an argument for censorship. America needs a free media. But we also need a responsible media. Abu Ghraib was an ugly little story that big media exaggerated into a strategic disaster - with no thought for the consequences for our troops, our country or the people of Iraq.
<hr>
I think the reporter said this well. Semper Fidelis.

[thedrifter]

Veteran: Iraqis want U.S. presence

By PATRICK PETERSON

THE SUN HERALD


GULFPORT - During last year's war with Iraq, Marine Staff Sgt. Jerod Murphy was disappointed by many negative news reports, but he received only positive support when he returned to recover from a wound.

Murphy received a Purple Heart for a bullet wound to the elbow he suffered on March 26 of last year. Negative news from the U.S. had a discouraging effect on U.S. troops in Iraq, he said.

"None of it was positive," said Murphy, who added that U.S. troops in Iraq got much of their news from the BBC, which is not pro-American.

"If there was one protester, he was getting his five minutes of fame," he said.

Despite continuing public reservations about the war in Iraq, Murphy said that as a veteran, he has received hugs, handshakes and free lunch from people who have supported U.S. troops.

Murphy said he believes a majority of Iraqis support the U.S. presence in their country.

"Do they want us there?" he asked. "Absolutely."

He added that fellow Marines, still serving in Iraq, confirm that view.

Last year, Murphy, an active-duty Marine, served with a reserve platoon from Gulfport. Murphy and the mobilized reservists left Gulfport on Feb. 1, 2002.

Murphy was wounded six days into the war and the day after the unit made a tense passage through Nasiriyah. Murphy said part-time Marines, many of them college students, rose to the occasion during the war.

"They stepped up to the plate and knocked a home run," he said.

As the platoon's maintenance chief, Murphy had worked long hours in the days preceding the war to bring the unit's Amtracs up to working condition for battle. The platoon depended on his mechanical skills but was able to continue when he was wounded.

"The Reserves continued without missing a beat," he said. "This has been my best duty in 10 years with the Marine Corps."

http://www.sunherald.com/mld/thesunherald/news/local/8751930.htm


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Tests Confirm Sarin Gas In Bomb
Associated Press
May 26, 2004


WASHINGTON - Comprehensive testing has confirmed the presence of the chemical weapon sarin in the remains of a roadside bomb discovered this month in Baghdad, a defense official said Tuesday.

The determination, made by a laboratory in the United States that the official would not identify, verifies what earlier, less-thorough field tests had found: the bomb was made from an artillery shell designed to disperse the deadly nerve agent on the battlefield.

The origin of the shell remains unclear, and finding that out is a priority for the U.S. military, the defense official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Some analysts worry the 155-millimeter artillery shell, found rigged as a bomb on May 15, may be part of a larger stockpile of Iraqi chemical weapons that insurgents can now use. But no more have turned up, and several military officials have said the shell may have been an older one that predated the 1991 Gulf War.

It likewise is not known whether the bombers knew they had a chemical weapon. Military officials have said the shell bore no labels to indicate it was anything except a normal explosive shell, the type used to make scores of roadside bombs in Iraq.

No one was injured in the shell's initial detonation, but two American soldiers who removed the round had symptoms of low-level nerve agent exposure, officials said last week.

The shell was a binary type, which has two chambers containing relatively safe chemicals. When the round is fired from an artillery gun, its rotation mixes the chemicals to create sarin, which is supposed to disperse when the shell strikes its target.

Since it was not fired from a gun but was detonated as a bomb, the initial explosion on May 15 dispersed the precursor chemicals, apparently mixing them in only small amounts, officials said then. In battle, such shells would have to be fired in great numbers to effect a large body of troops.

Iraq's first field-test of a binary-type shell containing sarin was in 1988, U.S. defense officials have said.

Saddam's government only disclosed the testing and production after Iraqi weapons chief Lt. Gen. Hussein Kamel al-Majid, Saddam's son-in-law, defected in 1995. Saddam's government never declared any sarin or shells filled with sarin remained.

Saddam's alleged stockpile of weapons of mass destruction was the Bush administration's chief stated reason for invading Iraq. U.S. weapons hunters have been unable to validate the prewar intelligence.

Some trace elements of mustard agent, an older type of chemical weapon, were detected in an artillery shell found in a Baghdad street this month, U.S. officials said previously. The shell also was believed to be from one of Saddam's old stockpiles.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

May 26, 2004

Troops capture top aide of radical cleric

By Robert H. Reid
Associated Press


BAGHDAD, Iraq — U.S. troops captured a key lieutenant of radical Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr during overnight clashes in Najaf that killed 24 people and wounded nearly 50, hospital and militia officials said.
Riyadh al-Nouri, al-Sadr’s brother-in-law, offered no resistance when American troops raided his home during a series of clashes in this Shiite holy city, according to Azhar al-Kinani, a staffer in al-Sadr’s office in Najaf.

The capture of al-Nouri would be a major blow to al-Sadr’s al-Mahdi Army, which has been battling coalition forces since early April. Al-Sadr launched his uprising in response to a crackdown by coalition authorities who announced an arrest warrant against him in the April 2003 assassination of a moderate cleric in Najaf.

In Baghdad, diplomatic sources confirmed reports published Wednesday that Dr. Hussain al-Shahristani, a science adviser to the Iraqi government who spent years in Abu Ghraib prison, was among several people under consideration for the job of prime minister of an interim government to take power June 30. The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, emphasized that no decision had been made and other candidates were under consideration.

Before the Iraq war, al-Shahristani was among the Iraqi exiles who had insisted that Saddam maintained weapons of mass destruction. In February 2003, he told CBS’ “60 Minutes” that such weapons may have been hidden in tunnels for a Baghdad subway that never opened.

Despite his concerns about mass destruction weapons, al-Shahristani said in London in 2002 that he was “extremely concerned of the consequences” of an invasion of Iraq on the people Iraqi people.

Also Wednesday, masked gunmen opened fire on a convoy taking Russian technicians to work at a Baghdad power station, killing two and wounding at least five, Iraqi and Russian officials said. It was only the latest attack on employees with the Interenergoservis company.

In Moscow, the executive director of the company, Alexander Rybinsky, said Wednesday the firm would evacuate all its staff from Iraq. The attacks on the Russians could be an attempt to undermine international efforts to rebuild the country, since Russian expertise has played an important role in reviving Iraq’s electricity industry and other infrastructure.

Elsewhere, the Polish command said a coalition base outside of Karbala, 50 miles north of Najaf, came under mortar fire late Tuesday. Demolition teams also defused three roadside bombs in the area, a spokesman for the Polish-led multinational force said Wednesday.

The mortar rounds were fired at Camp Kilo, where mostly Bulgarian troops are based, Maj. Slawomir Walenczykowski said. The attack resulted in no injuries or damage.

Fighting escalated in Shiite areas south of Baghdad in early April after al-Sadr launched an uprising against the U.S.-run occupation. Al-Sadr is sought in the April 2003 assassination of a moderate cleric in Najaf.

Al-Sadr’s fighters have cleared out of Karbala following weeks of heavy clashes with U.S. and coalition forces. But clashes persist in Najaf and its twin city Kufa.

During the clashes overnight, militants fired rocket-propelled grenades and mortars during three hours of skirmishes that ended about dawn, residents said. Some exchanges of fire were also reported around the city’s Revolution of 1920 Square.

Fighting around some of the holiest cities of Shia Islam has angered many Shiites in Iraq and elsewhere and has led to calls for both the Americans and the militiamen to pull back from the shrines.

On Tuesday, the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf received slight damage. Both U.S. and Shiite forces blamed the other for the damage.

In the ambush on the Russian workers, police said the group was traveling in a bus when they were attacked about a few hundred yards from the Dora power station in southwestern Baghdad. One Iraqi was also killed, police said.

The wounded were taken to Yarmouk Hospital, where Dr. Adham Saadoun said some were in serious condition.

It was the second fatal attack against employees of Interenergoservis this month. On May 10, a group of Russian workers was seized after their vehicle came under attack in Musayyib, about 40 miles south of Baghdad. A third worker was killed in the attack.

Three Russian and five Ukrainian employees of Interenergoservis were abducted in Iraq last month, but were released unharmed the next day.

In Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry said it had repeatedly warned Russians of the dangers of living in Iraq, where violence is on the rise ahead of the return of sovereignty June 30.

The ministry blamed the deteriorating situation on the failure of the U.S.-run occupation authority “to guarantee the necessary security.”

Attacks on infrastructure targets have stepped up in recent weeks. Bombings along key oil pipelines in northern and southern Iraq have resulted in temporary cutbacks in the export of petroleum — the key to reviving Iraq’s economy.

U.S. troops opened fire on a car in downtown Kirkuk, killing a man and injuring his wife, an Iraqi police official said Wednesday. The Tuesday night shooting broke out five minutes after the nighttime curfew went into effect at 11 p.m., said Police Gen. Sherko Shakir. The couple’s baby was also in the Fiat, but was not hurt, he said.

There was no comment from U.S. officials.


http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-2952469.php


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Al-Sadr Offers to Remove Militia From Najaf

Wednesday, May 26, 2004



NAJAF, Iraq — Radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr (search) agreed Wednesday to withdraw his militia from Najaf (search) and hand the city back to Iraqi police, the government said, raising hopes for an end to weeks of fighting that threatened some of Shia Islam's holiest sites.

The announcement by National Security Adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie (search) took place after U.S. troops arrested al-Sadr's key lieutenant in a pre-dawn raid. Clashes late Tuesday and early Wednesday between U.S. troops and militia fighters killed 24 people and wounded nearly 50 here, hospital and militia officials said.

There was no confirmation by al-Sadr. However, an agreement to abandon Najaf would be a major step toward ending his uprising in the south only weeks before a new Iraqi government takes power June 30, formally ending the U.S.-led occupation.

Al-Rubaie, a Shiite and former Governing Council member, said al-Sadr made the offer in a letter to the city's Shiite clerical hierarchy. According to al-Rubaie, al-Sadr offered to remove his fighters from Najaf -- except for those who live there -- but demanded that U.S. and other coalition troops "return to base," allowing Iraqi police to regain control of the city.

The young Shiite radical also demanded "broad discussions" within the Shiite community over the future of his al-Mahdi Army militia and that legal proceedings against him in a murder case be deferred until then.

Al-Sadr said he is making this offer because of "the tragic condition" in Najaf after weeks of fighting between his militiamen and the Americans and the slight damage suffered by the city's holiest shrine, the Imam Ali mosque.

Fighting around some of the holiest cities of Shia Islam has angered many Shiites in Iraq and elsewhere and has led to calls for both the Americans and the militiamen to pull back from the shrines.

On Tuesday, the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf received slight damage. Both U.S. and Shiite forces blamed the other.

American forces seized al-Sadr's key lieutenant, Riyadh al-Nouri, during a raid on his Najaf home about 4 a.m. Wednesday. U.S. officials said al-Nouri offered no resistance.

Al-Nouri's arrest was a major blow to the al-Mahdi Army (search), which has been fighting coalition forces since early April in Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad and in the Shiite heartland south of the capital.

Al-Sadr launched his uprising after the U.S.-led occupation authority launched a crackdown on his movement. An Iraqi judge has issued an arrest warrant charging both al-Sadr and al-Nouri in the April 2003 assassination of a moderate cleric, Abdul Majid al-Khoei.

U.S. officials have expressed their desire for a peaceful settlement to the standoff but have insisted that al-Sadr disband his "illegal militia" and submit to "justice before an Iraqi court."

"We still are committed to finding a peaceful resolution to this problem," Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, coalition deputy chief of operations, told reporters in Baghdad before word of al-Sadr's offer. "But until that peaceful resolution comes forward ... we will continue to conduct military operations directed against his forces."

In addition to the Najaf clashes, U.S. officials said American soldiers fought 21 small engagements with militiamen in Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood late Tuesday and early Wednesday. No casualty figures were released.

With signs of hope on the security front, steps toward organizing a new government hit a snag Wednesday when a leading candidate for prime minister, Dr. Hussain al-Shahristani, took himself out of the running.

U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, tasked with choosing members of the new government, said in a statement released by his spokesman in New York that al-Shahristani "himself clarified that he would prefer to serve his country in other ways."

Al-Shahristani, a Canadian and British-educated nuclear scientist, spent years in Abu Ghraib prison after he says he refused to work on nuclear weapons. He escaped during the 1991 Gulf War and made his way to Jordan.

Brahimi hopes to put together a new government by the end of the month -- only four weeks before the administration is due to take office.

Meanwhile, efforts to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure were dealt a blow Wednesday when masked gunmen killed two technicians from a Russian energy firm as they headed to work at a power station. Their company said it would evacuate all staff from Iraq.

The attack on employees of Russia's Interenergoservis company was the third on Russian workers in Iraq since last month. The latest ambush occurred as the company bus was approaching the Dora power station in southwestern Baghdad. At least five people were wounded.

In Moscow, the executive director of the company, Alexander Rybinsky, said Wednesday the firm would evacuate all its staff from Iraq.

The Russian Foreign Ministry blamed the deteriorating situation on the failure of the occupation authority "to guarantee the necessary security."

U.S. officials have warned of an upsurge in attacks by insurgents seeking to prevent the establishment of a sovereign Iraqi government. The Americans hope that once Iraqis realize that they now wield genuine power in their country, the steam will go out of the insurgency.

However, attacks on infrastructure targets have stepped up in recent weeks. Bombings along key oil pipelines in northern and southern Iraq have resulted in temporary cutbacks in the export of petroleum -- the key to reviving Iraq's economy.

Elsewhere, three Iraqis were killed and nine were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded Wednesday in southwest Baghdad, the U.S. command said. Two of those killed and one of the wounded were believed to have been trying to set the bomb, the command said without elaborating.

A roadside bomb exploded Wednesday on Baghdad's Tahreer Square near a main bridge across the Tigris River, damaging a U.S. Army vehicle. There was no word on casualties.

In Baqouba, about 30 miles northeast of Baghdad, five people were killed and seven others wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near a convoy that included the city's police chief, who escaped injury.

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,120944,00.html


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Flying beans and bullets to Marines in the Iraqi desert


AL-ASAD, Iraq (AFP)
SpaceWar.com
May 26, 2004

They fly across the desert daily, facing scorching heat, sandstorms and the risk of enemy fire to deliver beans and bullets to their fellow US marines in remote western Iraq.

At night, the "Wolfpack" chopper crews often fly secretive missions to insert troops in areas where anti-coalition forces are thought to operate.

And sometimes, when the fighting gets bad, they retrieve bodies from the battlefield.

The men of HMH-466 (San Diego-based) operate in some of the harshest conditions in Iraq, flying their CH-53 Super Stallions across Al-Anbar province, an insurgent stronghold where several US helicopters have been downed.

Their area of operation encompasses hundreds of kilometers (miles) of lung-choking sand and dust, that start just west of Baghdad and stretch all the way to the Syrian border.

US commanders say the porous border is a favorite point of entry for foreign fighters wanting to join the battle against the occupation forces.

But, the Super Stallion crews at the sprawling Al-Asad base, 180 kilometers (110 miles) northeast of Baghdad, worry more about the desert conditions than they do about the insurgency.

"There's always the shepherd who doesn't like us and who squeezes off a few rounds," says the squadron's commander Lieutenant Colonel Mark Jebbons.

"But our worse enemy is the weather."

Sandstorms, which troops of the US-led coalition have learned to hate since they invaded Iraq in March last year, can reduce visibility to zero in a matter of minutes.

And the storms' winds can rapidly turn a ride into a stomach-churning experience.

"The desert environment is challenging," says Major Milo Shanks, the squadron's operations officer.

"Helicopters and sand don't mix well."

Despite the unique desert challenges, flying the supply run to the remote bases can get tedious.

"It's pretty boring," says Captain Dennis Hahn, 32, as he pilots his bird over a seemingly endless swathe of flat desert to deliver water and military food rations to a marine base in Al-Qaid, on the Syrian border.

But more than anything, "it's hot," he says, as the temperature inside the chopper passes the 40 degree Celsius (100 degree Fahrenheit) mark by mid-morning.

Save for the crew and a couple of passengers, his helicopter, which can seat 70, was virtually empty, the thousands of bottles of mineral water and bags of military food hanging below the chopper, secured by a strap and a massive hook.

Today, he will do three runs, each taking two hours.

At the start of the day, the two gunners standing on either side of the helicopter, one of the world's largest, fired their 50 mm machine-guns into the desert sands to test their weapons.

The tricky part of the mission is hooking up the cargo, which consists of several pallets held together with netting.

Hahn slowly drops the chopper to within a metre (a few feet) of the ground, following the directions of his crew chief, who lies on his stomach to peer out of the "hell hole", the opening in the belly of the chopper through which the lifting strap and hook are lowered.

On the ground, another marine hooks up the cargo as the chopper hovers dangerously close to his head, producing so much static electricity that he needs to use a cable to ground himself.

"I've been electrocuted, landed on, knocked on the head. It's all part of the job," says Corporal Terry Miller, 31.

For practice, the helicopter teams airlift a MiG-23, one of dozens of Soviet-made aircraft coalition forces found hidden in the sand around Al-Asad, once an Iraqi airbase that was the pride of Saddam Hussein.

And for fun? "There's really not much time for that," says Sergeant Robert Skinner, 29, sweating profusely as he works on a faulty engine set up on blocks outside a hangar.

When he doesn't fix engines, he works as a crew chief on one of the CH-53s, a job that entails manning a gun, directing the loading of the chopper and watching out for anything on the ground that may suggest insurgent activity.

"We're working our butts off," says Skinner.

Ellie