Iraq Govt Announces Emergency Powers Law

[snipowsky]

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- The Iraqi government on Wednesday announced a long-anticipated package of security laws to help put down a massive insurgency, including a provision allowing interim Prime...

[thedrifter]

Water purifiers keep Lejeune battalion alive
Submitted by: 1st Marine Division
Story Identification #: 20047731318
Story by Cpl. Shawn C. Rhodes



CAMP MAHMUDIYAH, Iraq(July 6, 2004) -- Cpl. Aaron J. Weakley's job sucks - 17,000 gallons of water everyday.

The 25-year-old from San Diego turns some of the nastiest, foulest sources of water into pure, crystal-clear hydration for Marines at 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment. In fact, here, the water source the Combat Service Support Battalion 1 Marine draws from is one of the worst imaginable - a large stream of runoff sewage water.

The water is what is left over from the local farm which means you'll find everything from human feces to micro bacteria in swimming in there. It's not as bad as it sounds, though.

Once Weakley and his fellow water purification specialists get done with it, it's cleaner than bottled water.

"This water is used for everything from cleaning animals to cleaning people before it gets to us," Weakley said. "Twenty minutes after we get it out of the river, the water is ready to drink."

The Reverse Osmosis Water Purification Unit, known as a ROWPU, makes this process possible. The 8,000-pound machines here put out 17,000 gallons of water a day, used for everything from cooking to shower water. The contaminated water is run through three filters that separate solid matter, microorganisms and finally bacteria.

After the water is put through the machines, Weakley and other specialists test it for quality. What they find is actually quite surprising.

"We judge the quality of water by solid matter," said Cpl. Joshua C Collins, a 22-year-old Largo, Fla. Marine who's also serving with CSSB-1. "The bottled water the Marines receive has about 250 parts solid matter to a million parts water. That's acceptable, but not as good as it could be. The water we produce has four or five parts solid matter to every million parts water. It's healthier to drink our the water we clean than the bottled water."

Another problem with the bottled water is the chlorine content, Collins explained. He said boxes of bottled water sit out in the sun for long periods of time, which evaporates the chlorine. Without chlorine the water can go bad. Water produced from the ROWPU is consumed almost immediately, ensuring a healthier warrior.

The water is tested once a week by the hospital corpsmen to ensure the ROWPU is doing its job.

All the infantrymen the purification specialists support are grateful for the job they're doing.

For many of the Marines it never occurs that the foul-smelling sludge they see every day is the same water they bathe and brush their teeth with but it's true.

"When we were in Iraq last year we had a major problem with water getting to us. It's great to have fresh water so close to us all the time," said Cpl. Cenk D. Moses, a 23-year-old rifleman from Lake Charles, La. "It's just one less thing to have to worry about. We all offer up our thanks for the water we desperately need."


http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/2004773169/$file/water1lr.jpg

Cpl. Aaron J. Weakley, a 25 year-old water purification specialist, holds in his hands some of the cleanest water found this side of the Euphrates River. The San Diego is part of Combat Service Support Battalion 1, supporting 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment.
(USMC photo by Cpl. Shawn C. Rhodes) Photo by: Cpl. Shawn C. Rhodes

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/20047732010/$file/water2lr.jpg

The water source for 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment comes from runoff of surrounding farms and contains everything from human feces to machine oil. It's hardly a challenge for the water purification specialists here who take water from 'sewage creek' and turn it into liquid cleaner than most bottled water.
(USMC photo by Cpl. Shawn C. Rhodes) Photo by: Cpl. Shawn C. Rhodes

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/8F2DC5F93A5BFF3F85256ECA0027ABBC?opendocument


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Behind the scenes crew keeps base buzzing <br />
Submitted by: 1st Marine Division <br />
Story Identification #: 2004773448 <br />
Story by Cpl. Macario P. Mora Jr. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
CAMP AL ASAD, Iraq(July 4, 2004) -- Gunnery...

[thedrifter]

Handover brings little relief to U.S. troops <br />
<br />
By: DARRIN MORTENSON - Staff Writer <br />
<br />
Even after nominal political power was transferred from the U.S. authority to an interim Iraqi government,...

[thedrifter]

Marines keep terrorists at bay on Iraq's borders
Submitted by: 1st Marine Division
Story Identification #: 20047444459
Story by Sgt. Jose L Garcia



AL QAIM, Iraq(July 1, 2004) -- It's unforgiving duty on the Iraqi-Syria border. Long, hot days drag under the beating desert sun. Endless patrols meander miles of empty road and dunes at night. And it's keeping would-be terrorists at bay.

Marines from 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion patrol the western borders of Iraq day and night. The mission is to catch and destroy terrorist forces illegally entering Iraq.

Most of these are smugglers, a tradition of sorts for Iraqis. Smuggling has been around for thousands of years in this region. It's the latest crop of cross-border activity - foreign terrorism - that has Marines out on the prowl.

"We have to keep Syrians out or have Iraqis stop going into Syria and buy weapons," said Staff Sgt. Vince Peralta, 30, Weapons Company platoon sergeant from Los Angeles. "We have to stop them from using those weapons against Coalition Forces."

Not only are the foreign fighters a concern but also local Iraqis who attempt to cross the Iraqi border into Syria with stolen items and sell it for money or weapons. As odd as it sounds, sheep are one of the hottest commodities.

"Just a week ago we caught a sheep herder trying to cross the border into Syria with stolen sheep," Peralta said. "We have to stop bad people from stealing from Iraqis and make money that way."

The long patrols covering hundreds of miles each day take a toll not just on the Marines, but the vehicles on which they ride.

According to CWO 2 Richard Ortega, from Emmett, Idaho, and the battalion's maintenance officer, LAV crews patrol an average of nearly 6,000 miles a month in an area spanning 600,000 kilometers.

"Most of it through extremely rough terrain," Ortega said.

It's a job they couldn't get done with the relatively light, fast and armed vehicles. The LAR Marines credit their success to the mobility the LAVs have in covering many miles by driving up and down the border.

"With the mobility and strategic planning that we have, we can spot anyone coming across the border fast," Peralta said.

Patrolling the border is no easy task and danger lurks in the powdered desert land. Marines have taken a few hits by landmines and improvised explosive devices.

"Insurgents know we are up here," Peralta said. "We try not to kick out too much dirt so they don't know that we are here."

The schedule is nearly as brutal as the terrain for Marines. It's a non-stop mission. At the beginning of the deployment, crews would be out for a month and then would head back to headquarters for rest. The presence is still constant, but now they have changed to three-day rotations.

Despite the hot weather and rough terrain in the Iraqi border desert, Marines still relish the field.

"I enjoy being out here," said Cpl. Erik J. Orezechowski, 25, from Philadelphia, and a mortarman with Weapons Company. "It's what a Marine does - live in the field. I ask to come out here even when I'm not supposed to. It's an adventure day in and day out."

They do mounted and dismounted patrols throughout the day and night. The cycle keeps the vehicles ready and the Marines fresh.

"It's a good rotation," Peralta said, "I get to see my Marines relax, make phone calls, send e-mails and find out what's going on in the rear, but most important, do maintenance on our vehicles and clean weapons. We have to take care of our vehicles."


http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/2004744497/$file/lar1lr.jpg

Marines from 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion keeps a close watch on an improvised explosive device found near the Iraq-Syria border. The Marines patrol the western borders of Iraq day and night.
(USMC photo by Sgt. Jose L. Garcia) Photo by: Sgt. Jose L. Garcia

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/D4E8CBEBB189EF1C85256EC700301059?opendocument

Ellie

[thedrifter]

June 30, 2004 <br />
<br />
Marines help outfit Army Humvees with armor <br />
<br />
By Elliott Minor <br />
Associated Press <br />
<br />
<br />
ALBANY, Ga. — The Albany Marine Corps Logistics Base here has expanded its armor program for...

[thedrifter]

Courts in Marine-run zone get final send-off from soldiers
Submitted by: 1st Marine Division
Story Identification #: 20047531354
Story by Cpl. Paula M. Fitzgerald



AR RAMADI, Iraq(July 3, 2004) -- During the war last year, the courthouse here was nearly destroyed by looters.

Since then, soldiers with 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, have invested thousands of dollars in construction and equipment into the Al Anbar Province judicial system. The province includes the cities Marines work in such as Ar Ramadi and Falluja.

Soldiers from 1 BCT are here supporting the 1st Marine Division's security and stabilization mission.

In conjunction with a detachment of Marines from 3rd Civil Affairs Group, 1st BCT delivered the "last of the gifts" to Kamel Shihab Ahmed, chief judge of Al Anbar Province.

According to Army Capt. James Stamper, 1st BCT attorney, eight computers, one printer, 21 "second chance" vests and several radios were donated for distribution to courthouses throughout the province.

Stamper has been working with the judges and attorneys here since September. Until a few weeks ago, the Manhattan, Kan., soldier conducted claims operations from the courthouse.

"Claims are a great way to establish goodwill in the country," he explained. "Our job is to compensate Iraqi civilians whose property was damaged during raids or who were injured during combat."

Over time, Stamper got to know the judges and attorneys working in the province.
He described them as "competent and well-educated."

"The judicial system was probably the only branch of the Iraqi government that was mostly intact after the war," Stamper said. "The people know what they're doing. We've mainly been donating supplies and motivating them to clean the system up some."

That's because, like almost everything under Saddam Hussein's run, the legal system was plagued by corruption.

Haji Madi Soley Khalaf, the head of the Iraqi Property Claims Commission, has been practicing law since 1965.

"Before Saddam Hussein took over, judges had to have five years of experience in the courtroom. Saddam changed that and made it so lawyers could go to a two-year judges' school," Khalaf explained. "He did that so he would be able to have them on his side."

Most of Iraq's laws during Hussein's regime were beneficial to a small minority of citizens.

A placard displayed above the judges' seats in the courtroom here sums up Khalaf's beliefs. The saying, which comes from the Koran, reads, "If you judge among the people, you must be just."

In 1989, he tried to resign from his job as judge during Hussein's rule but was denied because he was not old or sick enough to rate an early retirement. His pay was cut in half, and he was forced to accept a lesser position as an attorney.

"I did not want to work under such corrupt laws," he said. "All I wanted to do was do true justice which would please God and that would help my clients."

Khalaf said before Hussein's Ba'ath Party was overthrown, the law did not protect "common people," but he and the hundreds of lawmen in Iraq are looking to change that.

"We are in the beginning stages. The government is still not strong enough yet," Khalaf
added. "We don't have a strong police system or military to enforce the laws."

Still, he said he's optimistic.

"If the people of Iraq give the new government their full support with the laws, we will be very successful," explained Khalaf.

Although Stamper will not be working from the courthouse anymore, he and his staff will maintain contact with the judges and lawyers.

"They didn't really have the resources for a strong judicial system before," Stamper explained. "Now they have the resources and good people. They'll do just fine."

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/20047531621/$file/law1lr.jpg

Lt. Col. John Elofson, commander of 3rd Civil Affairs Group, 1st Brigade Combat Team, delivers bulletproof vests to the courthouse in Ar Ramadi July 3. Soldiers from 1st BCT are supporting the 1st Marine Division's security and stabilization mission.
(USMC photo by Cpl. Paula M. Fitzgerald) Photo by: Cpl. Paula M. Fitzgerald

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/82CE14FACE7E35BD85256EC80027B9B6?opendocument

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Arabic class opens cultural window at Desert Talon
Submitted by: MCAS Miramar
Story Identification #: 200471153119
Story by - Cpl. Paul Leicht



MARINE CORPS AIR STATION YUMA, Ariz. -- Whether standing a guard post, carrying out a mission or delivering humanitarian supplies, most Marines deploying to Iraq will more than likely need to communicate with local Arabic-speaking Iraqis. Knowing what to say and how to say it can help ensure a successful mission, improve interaction with locals or even help save a life.

Working beyond their current mission to establish and administer Marine aviation operations during Desert Talon 2-04, Marines with Marine Tactical Air Command Squadron 38 are learning how to speak with Iraqis in their own Arabic dialect during classroom instruction in the field here.

"Learning the basic language skills for the Iraqi Arabic dialect will help Marines better understand the Iraqi people on various levels," said Cpl. Christopher Lujan, S-3, MTACS-38. "This Arabic class will give (the Marines) the basic language survival tools they will need once they get to Iraq. I'm teaching the class using a Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Survival Guide for the Iraqi dialect which covers commands, warnings, instructions and also covers helpful words phrases and questions."

Lujan, a former student at DLI, who deployed to Iraq last year, said he has a high interest in the language and knows firsthand how important knowing the local language can be, especially in a hostile environment.

"Its vital that we as Marines have some basic level of understanding of the Iraqi dialect," explained Lujan. "The more they know about the culture and history of the Iraqi people, then they will interact with them more effectively whether it is out on an Iraqi street, back on base, at a bazaar or the chow hall. Anyone who deploys to Iraq or anywhere in the Middle East really needs to learn and understand the basics of Arabic."

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/200471163029/$file/Arabiclo.jpg

A Marine with MTACS-38 inspects an Iraqi Language Skills Guide and Command & Control Card after attending a basic Arabic class during Exercise Desert Talon at MCAS Yuma. The language kits, published by the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, include an audio CD to help servicemembers learn the basics of a native language before deploying or during contingency operations. Photo by: Cpl. Paul Leicht

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/9E680F9847BF5F8585256EC4006B3CE6?opendocument


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Jul 6, 10:15 PM EDT

U.S. Flies Radioactive Items Out of Iraq

By H. JOSEF HEBERT
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- In a secret operation, the United States last month removed from Iraq nearly two tons of uranium and hundreds of highly radioactive items that could have been used in a so-called dirty bomb, the Energy Department disclosed Tuesday.

The nuclear material was secured from Iraq's former nuclear research facility and airlifted out of the country to an undisclosed Energy Department laboratory for further analysis, the department said in a statement.

Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham described the previously undisclosed operation, which was concluded June 23, as "a major achievement" in an attempt to "keep potentially dangerous nuclear material out of the hands of terrorists."

The haul included a "huge range" of radioactive items used for medical and industrial purposes, said Bryan Wilkes, a spokesman for the Energy Department's National Nuclear Security Administration.

Much of the material "was in powdered form, which is easily dispersed," said Wilkes.

The statement provided only scant details about the material taken from Iraq, but said it included "roughly 1,000 highly radioactive sources" that "could potentially be used in a radiological dispersal device," or dirty bomb.

Also ferried out of Iraq was 1.95 tons of low-enriched uranium, the department said.

Wilkes said "a huge range of different isotopes" were secured in the joint Energy Department and Defense Department operation. They had been used in Iraq for a range of medical and industrial purposes, such as testing oil wells and pipelines.

Uranium is not suitable for making a dirty bomb. But some of the other radioactive material - including cesium-137, colbalt-60 and strontium - could have been valuable to a terrorist seeking to fashion a terror weapon.

Such a device would not trigger a nuclear explosion, but would use conventional explosives to spread radioactive debris. While few people would probably be killed or seriously affected by the radiation, such an explosion could cause panic, make a section of a city uninhabitable for some time and require cumbersome and expensive cleanup.

Nuclear nonproliferation advocates said securing radioactive material is important all over the world.

A recent study by researchers at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies concluded it is "all but certain" that some kind of dirty bomb will be set off by a terrorist group in the years ahead. There are just too many radioactive sources available across the globe, the report said.

"This is something we should be doing not just in Iraq," Ivan Oelrich, a physicist at the Federation of American Scientists, said when asked to comment on the Energy Department announcement.

Oelrich hesitated to characterize the threat posed by the uranium and other radioactive material secured in the secret U.S. operation because few details were provided about the material. The Energy Department refused to say where the material was shipped.

But Oelrich said it is widely believed that medical and industrial isotopes can be used in a dirty bomb.

The low-enriched uranium taken from Iraq, if it is of the 3 percent to 5 percent level of enrichment common in fuel for commercial power reactors, could have been of value to a country developing enrichment technology.

"It speeds up the process," Oelrich said, adding that 1.95 tons of low-enriched uranium could be used to produce enough highly enriched uranium to make a single nuclear bomb.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAQ_DIRTY_BOMB?SITE=DCTMS&SECTION=HOME


Ellie

[thedrifter]

A Marine's thoughts on war in Iraq
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By THELMA GRIMES
Benson (Az.) News-Sun
July 7, 2004

"Not everyone will ever taste what true freedom is, but for us here, one day we'll be some of the few and proud that will know what true freedom tastes like. Never take for granted anything in life."

That was not a speech given at the 4th of July celebration over the weekend, those are words from U.S. Marine Corps. Pfc. Richard Dimas, a 2003 Benson High School graduate, in a letter to the News-Sun.

Dimas, 18, continues to face the eyes of danger every day in Iraq.

Dimas' letter, dated June 9, was his reply to the newspaper's May 12 feature story on him in a Community Profile special section.

"In high school, you have a fight and you lose a friend for a week or two," Dimas wrote in the two-page letter. "Well, here it's a different story. Here if you fight with your friend and lose him it's not for a day or a week, it's forever, except what you have to remember him by. I've lost too many friends to count on my hands and I still have three months left (of his 16-month deployment). I pray every day to again enjoy all my freedom in the states."

Along with expressing his love for home and country, Dimas also addressed several issues involving Operation Iraqi Freedom, a war started more than a year ago. One of the issues brought up by Dimas was the Abu Ghraib prisoner-abuse scandal in Baghdad, Iraq's capitol.

In May, more than 20 photographs emerged in the media portraying the alleged abuse of Iraqi prisoners. The abuse revelations, along with publication of photographs, prompted international condemnation and apologies from President George W. Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Dimas did not address the entire scandal, but mentioned one picture.

"I would ask that you not believe all the news reports," Dimas said. "I'm sure you, along with all the world, saw a picture with bodies stacked chest high with two soldiers beside them," Dimas said. "The two soldiers were military police and the bodies were not 'innocent prisoners.' They are insurgents that tried to ambush a patrol. They were taken to the prison until their bodies could be taken care of. One picture of two people that have never even been involved in a firefight standing by the bodies was taken, and in a way, it's been turned against us (Marines and soldiers serving in Iraq). We only kill men that attempt to do harm."

As for his experiences, Dimas said the media continues to report news stories about Fallujah and Baghdad, two cities where coalition forces continue fighting insurgents. However, little is reported about Ramadi, Dimas said.

"The city of Fallujah is bad, don't get me wrong, but there is a town well overlooked because of Fallujah," Dimas wrote. "AR Ramadi, Iraq has seen more U.S. Marines go home with a flag draped over a pine box than Fallujah. The war here is different. Marines in Fulujah are sitting and waiting for the enemy and all the grunts. Infantry Marines are backed by tank battalions and cobras - you've seen the news. But for us 90 some Marines in Ramadi, we've got each other and a humvee. We don't sit back and wait. We're tasked with going to the enemy. We have no backup for 20 to 30 minutes if called in, but by then, the firefight is over."

A long way from home, Dimas is part of the Marines Expeditionary Night Force, one of 14,000 troops deployed from Camp Pendleton, a marine base near Oceanside, Calif.

Among his duties in Iraq, Dimas seeks out the opposition and confiscates weapons.

His mother, Jessie Dimas, said her son called Tuesday (June 27), noting he was in good spirits.

"He has talked a little bit about what he is going though over there, but not too much," Jessie said. "He tries not to say too much because he doesn't want to worry us, but he seems to know to call on days that I worry the most."

When Dimas calls, Jessie said he asks what's on the news, which she can no longer stand to watch and how the family is.

"I fear for him," Jessie said on Wednesday. "I want him to come home safely, they say three months, but that keeps changing. To me he was just a child when he left, and has probably lived through so much already. But he was always hyped up about becoming a Marine. He was persistent to join the Marines so we let him."

In his letter, Dimas said people have asked why volunteer to fight in a war or join the military.

"Most will never understand what it's about," he said. "I encourage the city (Benson) to make a memorial for all the fallen soldiers that have made a difference. It's the least the town can do, considering most of Benson wouldn't die for a stranger, just so that stranger can enjoy life."

Richard is the son of John and Jessie Dimas of Benson.



Ellie

[thedrifter]

THE CONFLICT IN IRAQ
Fresh Insurgent Violence Kills 4 Marines, 14 Iraqis
Prime minister declares war on guerrillas. Masked men appear on TV threatening to hunt and slay Zarqawi.

By Carol J. Williams, Times Staff Writer


BAGHDAD — Insurgent violence flared in Iraq on Tuesday after more than a week of relative calm, killing four U.S. Marines in the west, a city official in Baghdad and at least 13 mourners at the funeral for an assassination victim in the volatile region north of the capital.

The attacks, apparently aimed at undermining Iraq's new government, prompted interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi and his supporters to declare war on the guerrillas, who also have sabotaged oil pipelines and power plants.

Recent attacks on the country's economic infrastructure have slashed vital oil-export revenue and deprived Iraqi households of power to run fans and air conditioners in the 120-degree afternoon heat.

Borrowing a tactic from the insurgents, five masked men of unknown political alliance and calling themselves the Salvation Movement appeared on Al Arabiya satellite television threatening to hunt down and kill Jordanian-born fugitive Abu Musab Zarqawi unless he and his supporters left the country. Zarqawi, whose militant group is believed to be loyal to Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda terrorist network, has claimed responsibility for some of the most gruesome crimes of the insurgency that has been fighting U.S.-led forces in Iraq.

"The criminal Zarqawi and his henchmen must leave Iraq immediately," said one of the masked men, seated at a table in front of four other armed men, one shouldering a rocket launcher. "Islam has nothing to do with this criminal…. We swear to Allah we will capture him and his followers and kill them as a gift to our people."

The group's threat appeared aimed at bolstering support for the Iraqi leadership as it struggles to bring stability to the country, but a senior U.S. military official warned that there was no room for vigilantes in the new Iraq, even those targeting the guerrillas.

"Militias are not consistent with the institutions of a democratic nation," said the official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity. "There are Iraqi security forces that are capable of conducting those operations. Those who would like to express their outrage at Zarqawi and be part of the effort to capture or kill him, we would refer them to the nearest recruiting station."

It was unclear whether the masked men were connected to the interim government or any of the political parties represented in the Cabinet.

The group's appearance mimicked those of insurgents on Arabic-language TV stations, including suspected Al Qaeda collaborators who claimed to have kidnapped U.S. Marine Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun.

On Tuesday, Lebanese relatives of the Marine, who went missing from his unit June 19, reported that they had been informed that the 24-year-old was free.

"We got solid assurances that my brother is alive and was released today," Sami Hassoun told reporters outside his home in Tripoli, Lebanon, according to Associated Press. Reached later by telephone, he refused to comment further.

Wassef Ali Hassoun did not surface Tuesday, and the report could not be immediately confirmed. U.S. military officials in Baghdad said they had no word on his whereabouts. "We've been following the issue in the press," a senior U.S. spokesman said.

The multinational force, as the troops of the former U.S.-led occupation coalition are now called, reported that four Marines were killed in action Tuesday in Al Anbar province in western Iraq, which includes Fallouja, an insurgent stronghold. The spokesman said he had no further information on the circumstances of their deaths. Three Marines were killed in the province Monday.

In Khalis, north of Baghdad, a car bomb exploded at a memorial for the father of Mayor Uday Alkhadran, who was the intended target of an assassination attempt Monday that killed the older man. Six dead and 34 injured people were brought to a hospital after Tuesday's blast, a witness said. He said he thought the death toll was at least 20 from what he had seen of the carnage. News agencies in the town reported 13 confirmed dead.

"The car was parking near where all the people were gathered," said the witness, Ghasan Sabah. "There were remains scattered everywhere, and they are still on the ground for anyone to see."

Khalis is near Baqubah, scene of recent fierce fighting between U.S. troops and insurgents who had sought to thwart the recent hand-over of sovereignty from the Coalition Provisional Authority to Allawi's interim government.

In Baghdad on Tuesday, gunmen presumed to be part of the guerrilla movement killed Sheik Sabah Naji, a member of the municipal council from the Adhamiya neighborhood.

Allawi lashed out at insurgents in a formal declaration in which he vowed to defeat those sabotaging national resources and public utilities.

"Evil forces are continuing to inflict damage on the people of Iraq," the prime minister said. "Not only are they killing our innocent Iraqi civilians, they are also inflicting significant damage to Iraq's economy."

Noting that two attacks on Iraq's main oil-exporting pipeline had cut deeply into the flow of crude as well as the country's ability to generate electricity, Allawi said Iraq's security forces were "capable and persistent on bringing these cowardly criminals to justice."

Allawi has moved quickly in his first week in office to show Iraqis that the government, though temporary and appointed by the CPA, is dedicated to restoring security and reuniting the country.

An Iraqi criminal court arraigned former President Saddam Hussein three days after the sovereignty hand-over, and the government is expected to announce today a slate of emergency measures that can be invoked to crack down on insurgents, including curfews and broader police powers of search and seizure.

Allawi also has said leaders were discussing an amnesty offer to encourage former Hussein loyalists to stop taking part in the resistance now that U.S. authorities had ceded the government to Iraqis. He is also reconsidering decisions made during U.S. rule to fire former Baath Party members from state positions and to exclude former national army officers from the new security forces.


http://www.latimes.com/la-fg-iraq7jul07,1,324893.story


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marine hailed as hero in Iraq war
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Associated Press
July 07, 2004

A Montgomery, Alabama native's actions during an ambush on his fellow Marines in Iraq has earned him a pair of medals for bravery.

Maj. Ron Peterson said he was riding in one of five U.S. military vehicles bound for Baghdad International Airport on May 5 when two roadside bombs exploded, wounding three of the 20 or so passengers. Ten militants then began firing AK-47s at the group.

Peterson quickly organized a rescue for the platoon commander, platoon sergeant and vehicle gunner, suffering a slight concussion and temporary hearing loss in the process.

"It happened so quick, so fast, your training kicks in," Peterson told the Montgomery Advertiser for a story Wednesday. "I wanted to make sure we took care of everybody. There was no way we were going to leave anyone."

Peterson received the Bronze Star with Combat V for heroism under enemy fire and a Joint Service Combination Medal for meritorious service. He also was recommended for a Purple Heart.

He returned June 28 after nearly six months in Iraq with the 3rd Transportation Support Battalion. His wife, Roxanne, and their two daughters were proud of him and excited about his homecoming, but the story of the ambush was difficult for Roxanne Peterson to hear.

"At first I was nervous and didn't want to hear it," she said. "I was worried to even hear about the experience. But a friend told me to listen to what (Ron) had to say, because it would give him an emotional release from the experience.

"I was concerned that he was having issues," she said. "And there are a lot of Marines who don't have an emotional outlet to release what they are feeling. I asked God to help me be strong enough to hear what I didn't want to hear."

Peterson told his mother, Ventry Lewis, about the attack the night after it happened. Lewis said her son seemed destined to be a war hero.

"He used to play soldier as a little boy," she said. "He told me that in the Marines you have to be a strong person and strong-minded, and he's all that."



Ellie