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thedrifter
07-17-04, 05:57 AM
Marine service is a family tradition for deployed brothers
Submitted by: 1st Marine Division
Story Identification #: 200471764035
Story by Sgt. Jose E. Guillen



CAMP BAHARIA, Iraq(July 15, 2004) -- The Dilling family might just be out to redefine Marine brotherhood, with a father and three sons in uniform. Two of the brothers are deployed to Iraq.

The oldest of three sons, Lance Cpl. Anthony Dilling is an infantryman, the middle, Lance Cpl. Andrew Dilling, is an intelligence analyst and the third, Lance Cpl. Michael Dilling is a communications Marine like their father, a MSgt. Donovan Dilling, stationed at Marine Corps Base, Quantico, Va.

The youngest brother, 18-year-old Michael, is stationed at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

But for Anthony and Andrew, being deployed to Iraq a second time has especially bonded their relationship.

"War has brought us closer because we now have certain things only we can talk about," said Andrew, the 19-year-old middle brother assigned to I Marine Expeditionary Force.

Their bond became even tighter when the oldest brother, Anthony, was wounded soon after Andrew was temporarily assigned to his battalion to help in their intelligence section. Anthony was shot in the shoulder while driving near a tactical checkpoint just outside Fallujah.

"We've always been close, but after being deployed here twice and me getting shot, it made us a lot closer," said Anthony, a 20-year-old infantryman assigned to 2nd Battalion , 1st Marine Regiment.

"It scares me that he's here, but I think it scared him more when I got shot," Anthony said.

Anthony doted on his younger siblings, hoping they wouldn't deploy to Iraq.

"I initially didn't want either of them to come out here because Fallujah is a bad place," he said. "Then I heard Michael would be coming out here soon and wasn't too happy about that, but we go where the Marine Corps wants to send us.

"We deployed together last year, but this year it seems a little easier because we can see each other more often," said Andrew, who's based at another camp less than two miles away.

"It's cool that he lives near by because I was allowed to work at Anthony's battalion S-2 shop," added Andrew.

Anthony explained his father never really influenced them to join, rather it was the enjoyment his father had in his profession.

"I always saw how much fun my dad had as a Marine - plus I wanted a challenge," said Anthony said. "It was up to me to join, but he was happy when I did."

Still, military service is a bit of tradition among the Dillings.

"My grandpa was in the Navy and my great uncle was a Marine in Vietnam," said Anthony.

Anthony and Andrew are scheduled to return home later this year.

Anthony is currently still recovering from his wounds and is expected to return to his platoon.

"He's a good Marine who doesn't like sitting on the sideline while his platoon is out helping secure the highways," said Gunnery Sgt. Michael Siironen, the 34-year-old company gunnery sergeant for Company F, from Duluth, Minn.

Anthony is serving his third year of his enlistment, while Andrew his second and Michael on his first year.


http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/20047176439/$file/brothers1lr.jpg

Lance Cpl. Andrew M. Dilling (left), an intelligence analyst with the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force currently deployed in Iraq, accompanies his brother, Lance Cpl. Anthony Dilling, an infantryman with 2nd Platoon, Company F, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, to the battalion aid station to re-dress his wounds from enemy fire outside Fallujah, Iraq, July 8. The brothers are two of four in their family servinig in the Corps, including a younger brother at Camp Pendleton, Calif., and their father, at Marine Corps Base, Quantico, Va.
(USMC photo by Sgt. Jose E. Guillen) Photo by: Sgt. Jose E. Guillen

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/665CE9F5B294277285256ED4003AA5D4?opendocument


Ellie

thedrifter
07-17-04, 05:58 AM
Car Bomb Targets Iraqi Justice Minister

By DANICA KIRKA

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A car bomb struck the Iraqi justice minister's convoy as it passed through western Baghdad on Saturday, the latest in a wave of assassination attempts on government officials. Malik Dohan al-Hassan was unhurt but five bodyguards were killed.

The blast hit the tail end of al-Hassan's convoy at an intersection 500 yards from his home. At nearly the same time, a car bomb exploded outside an Iraqi National Guard headquarters in Mahmudiyah, 20 miles south of Baghdad. Two people were killed and 47 were wounded, hospital officials said.

Loae Hassan, one of al-Hassan's bodyguards, said five members of the justice minister's security detail were killed in the convoy blast, which destroyed three vehicles. Among the dead was the minister's nephew.

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"A car was parking on the opposite direction of the road, when the driver, God curse him, saw us and exploded himself," said Hassan.

But the justice minister was not hurt, officials said.

"My understanding is that the minister is fine," said Col. Michael Formica, commander of the 1st Cavalry Division's 2nd Brigade.

Insurgents have targeted officials in the interim Iraqi government for assassination because of their decision to work with American forces. Guerillas see the officials as collaborators.

The blast that struck the minister's convoy carved a crater yards in diameter and two feet deep into the pavement. Flames lapped the charred skeleton of one car stopped alongside a pylon supporting a bridge.

Emergency personnel struggled to load a limp body into the back of an ambulance and then sped off, bouncing up on a curb to avoid a police vehicle parked in the middle of the road. A helicopter hovered overhead.

Shortly afterward, insurgents lobbed a hand grenade at a police patrol in the same neighborhood, badly injuring two police officers, said police Maj. Hashim Raed.

Earlier this week, militants killed the governor of Nineveh province and a senior official in the Industry Ministry. Guerillas also attacked a convoy of Foreign Ministry officials, killing one and wounding two others.

In the other blast, prospective recruits were waiting to get into the headquarters, said Dr. Dawoud Jassim Taie, director of the Mahmudiyah Hospital. Six of the wounded were National Guard troops while the rest were prospective recruits, he said.

National Guard troops became suspicious of a parked car near a checkpoint and opened fire, said one officer, who declined to be named. The bomb went off about 30 feet away from the checkpoint.

Insurgents have repeatedly targeted police and security officials in Iraq, because they are seen as being collaborators with the Americans.

It was possible the attacks were also tied to the date: Saturday marked the 36th anniversary of the coup that brought the Baath party to power in Iraq.

Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein took part in the bloodless military revolt and became the second most powerful man in the government. Eleven years later, he took full power.

Huge celebrations had been set during Saddam time to commemorate this anniversary, but after the ousting of Saddam, the July 17 celebration were swept aside.

Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi warned recently that terrorists would step up their attacks on the interim government and security officials. He also announced the formation of a new security agency to combat terrorism and vowed to annihilate guerrillas seeking to derail efforts to bring peace here.

Insurgents have also kidnapped dozens of foreigners in hopes of pressuring countries taking part in the U.S.-led coalition to withdraw. The strategy also appears intended to further isolate the United States, which already provides the bulk of the 160,000-member multinational force in Iraq.

The Philippines withdrew 11 more soldiers from Iraq on Friday to meet the demands of kidnappers holding a truck driver hostage, ignoring warnings from the United States that the move sends the wrong signal to terrorists.

The decision by Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to pull out peacekeepers outraged U.S. allies in the war on terror, who fear that bargaining for the life of Angelo dela Cruz will set a dangerous precedent.

The 51-member Filipino contingent had been scaled back to 43 in recent days. A further 11 Filipinos _ the head of the humanitarian mission and 10 other soldiers _ drove over the border into Kuwait on Friday in three vehicles and were seen off by a delegation of U.S. troops, said Lt. Col. Hashem Abdullah, an Iraqi officer at the border town of Safwan.

Despite the ferocity and number of attacks in recent days, most coalition countries said this week they are standing firm.

El Salvador's legislature approved an extension late Thursday of its 380 troops in Iraq. Italy, whose contingent of 3,000 troops is the third-largest in Iraq, has no plans to pull out. Neither does Poland, with 2,500 soldiers; Romania, with 730 infantry and military police; Denmark, with 500 troops; Hungary, with 300; nor the Czech Republic and Slovakia, with about 100 each.

Bulgaria, which has 480 troops in Iraq, was working desperately to win the freedom of a captive Bulgarian truck driver after another driver reportedly was killed this week. It reiterated its determination Friday to remain in Iraq, despite calls by lawmakers and other groups to pull out.

Arroyo had faced overwhelming pressure from the public at home, where many have family members working abroad. More than 7 million Filipinos work overseas.

In agreeing to pull out peacekeepers, Arroyo also decided not to allow any more Filipino workers come to Iraq. But that does not affect the thousands of Filipinos already at U.S. bases performing menial tasks such as serving food and cleaning toilets to free military personnel for crucial combat duty.

Associated Press writer Hrvoje Hranjski in Manila, Philippines, contributed to this report.

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/07/17/ap/headlines/d83sfc700.txt


Ellie

thedrifter
07-17-04, 05:58 AM
Accused U.S. Army deserter to travel to Japan on Sunday; Tokyo, Washington discuss his future <br />
<br />
By: KENJI HALL - Associated Press <br />
<br />
TOKYO -- When an accused U.S. Army deserter who spent nearly 40...

thedrifter
07-17-04, 05:59 AM
Working dogs fight heat to fight terrorism
Submitted by: 1st Marine Division
Story Identification #: 200471764823
Story by Sgt. Jose E. Guillen



CAMP BAHARIA, Iraq(July 16, 2004) -- The hanging, drooling tongues of Santo and Rek, two military working dogs, is all the proof needed to show that the dog days of summer are here in Iraq.

Fortunately for dogs assigned to Regimental Combat Team 1, they've got Cpls. Donald R. Paldino and Darin Cleveringa , trained dog handlers who've partnered with the pups for more than two years. They're the Marines responsible for keeping the dogs' noses cool and moist in the hot, dry climate.

"We're constantly trying to accommodate the dogs as much possible," said Paldino, a 22-year-old military policeman from Oxford, Mass.

Paldino, deployed to Iraqi from Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., has been serving with Santo, a 4-year-old Czechoslovakian Shepherd, for two years.

"For some dogs it's okay to have a 103-degree body temperature and for others it's not," explained Cleveringa, a 22-year-old military policeman from Rock Valley, Iowa, who deployed with Rek from Marine Corps Logistics Base, Barstow, Calif. "So we're constantly watching their body temperature because they can over-heat at any time."

Cleveringa had a close call with Rek, a German Shepherd. During a patrol, Rek's body temperature, reached 104 degrees. He was airlifted to Baghdad for medical attention.

Panting, not wanting to move and heavy breathing are common signs a dog is trying to stay cool, Cleveringa explained.

"If they start panting and breathing really fast - they're in trouble and need to be (evacuated)," Cleveringa said.

Paldino and Cleveringa concocted their own method for keeping the dogs fresh for duty. They hooked up a generator and two fans in their vehicle.

"We actually have two mist-fans that are connected to a water container and a generator that's mounted on top of the humvee," Cleveringa said. "Those fans really help a lot as long as the water is iced."

The hot weather takes a toll on the dogs and cuts into the time they're effective.

"Being out in the desert during a mission or standing-by for a patrol to kick off burns them out, which only makes them effective for shorter time," Paldino said. "It's really disappointing when we have to wait hours for a mission under the sun because then they can only sniff for about 15 minutes."

Paldino said better equipment like a hard high-back humvee - wide enough for two kennels - with an air-conditioning unit would help keep military dogs fresh and more combat effective in Iraq.

For now, they rely on more hands-on methods for cooling.

Ice vests and soaking a dog's belly, legs and head with cool water also helps keep body temperatures down.

With only a handful of veterinarians in the region, Paldino and Cleveringa found themselves working with corpsman to help ease some of the rigors.

"There just aren't too many vets around, but our 'docs' are helping out where they can," Paldino explained.

"The 'docs' have a tub they fill with water for the dogs," Cleveringa said. "One day they gave our dogs some IVs to get them fully hydrated."

According to Paldino, support for the dogs is pouring in from families and organizations back home.

"Every time we get care packages, it's never for us, it's all for the dogs," Cleveringa said. "They get more mail than we do."

Paldino and Cleveringa also spend a portion of their time sending lessons-learned back to Marine units in the United States who are preparing to deploy with working dogs.

"We're constantly calling our units back in the states about what works and what doesn't, what gear to bring and what not to bring," Cleveringa said.

"This deployment has been a huge learning lesson for us and for the next wave of K-9s," Paldino added.


http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/200471765144/$file/dogs1lr.jpg

Cpl. Donald R. Paldino and Cpl. Darin Cleveringa, both military policeman attached to 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, pause for a moment from their dogs Santo and Rek at an outpost near Fallujah. The handlers must take active measures to keep the dogs cool in the baking Iraqi sun.
(USMC photo by Sgt. Jose E. Guillen) Photo by: Sgt. Jose E. Guillen

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/7AF057B665FD9FFB85256ED4003B5CC6?opendocument


Ellie

thedrifter
07-17-04, 06:01 AM
The Iraqi Endgame

We Americans generally, and the media in particular, have an obsessive desire to assign blame. Every time something goes wrong, we leave no stone unturned in a Herculean effort to determine who was at fault and precisely what they did. The trouble with this approach is that we often do it at the expense of spending time and attention to determine how to repair the problem.

Iraq is a prefect case in point. Day after day we're still being inundated with reports, articles, books, and a never-ending stream of pundits' columns about whose fault it was that prewar intelligence wasn't precise and perfect. Was it the fault of the CIA? If so, who was specifically responsible? Was the failure at the White House? Were Bush and Cheney hearing what they wanted to hear, or were they deceiving the American people? Was Secretary of State Powell squeaky clean in all of this, or was he at fault to some extent? And on and on.

In the meantime, tens of thousands of American troops are at risk every minute of every day. The constant flow of our dead men and women keeps coming into Dover Air Force Base. I think the time has come to convert a substantial part of the time and effort from finger-pointing to debating what we should do now.

We have removed one of the world's most despicable tyrants from power. Personally, I think this is good for the Iraqi people and the rest of the world. But regardless, we are now in a quagmire, and we need an endgame. What the hell do we do to exit?

Neither President Bush nor John Kerry is displaying any leadership on the issue. One mouths platitudes in sound bite form. The other says, "Let's involve the Europeans," which is absurd because hell would freeze over before France and Germany gave us any help.

The endgame debate I'd like to hear might proceed along the lines of, "Let's forget about democracy for Iraq as we know it in the United States. Iraq will never be like Ohio."

Instead, let's concentrate on getting stability, even at the price of democracy. That means a strong man to run the country. Someone hopefully less cruel and pernicious than Saddam Hussein.

Here, we may have gotten lucky for once. Iraq's new Prime Minister, Iyad Allawi, seems perfect. He's a Shiite, which is critical because sixty percent of the country is Shiia. At the same time, he was once a member of Saddam Hussein's Baath party, maybe even one of their thugs. So he has contacts with the Sunni military men. Finally, he also worked with the CIA. And he can be tough and hard-nosed.

The ideal scenario is that Allawi and the new Iraqi army, with American assistance, quells the insurgency. Next January, the constitution is adopted. Elections take place. Allawi is elected. We declare victory and go home.

Not very likely. Another scenario is Allawi puts down the insurgents, stabilizes the country, elections are pushed off indefinitely, though promised. Again we declare victory and go home. This one could happen as well.

One major uncertainty is what it will take to defeat the insurgents. Can Allawi do it, even with American help?




Unfortunately, we didn't seal Iraq's borders after the war. So every Islamic terrorist who wanted to strike a blow against the United States, and there are many, drifted across one of the porous borders from Iran, Syria or Saudi Arabia. They didn't have to bring their own arms. The Sunni military, Saddam's ardent supporters, whom we turned loose, rendering them jobless and embittered rather than employed, had plenty of arms to go around. This combination of foreign Jihadists and Sunni warriors has been waging the insurgency.

Allawi's strategy is to wean the Sunnis away from the Jihadists. He hopes to bring them under his tent. But what if it doesn't work?

Then the only other possibility is a massive show of force against the insurgents. This is the strategy the Israelis used against the intifada, and it has radically brought down the number of terrorist attacks. It might work in Iraq, but it might also turn ordinary Iraqis against Allawi who is already at risk for seeming like an American puppet.

Then there is one other troubling and disquieting possibility that has to be considered. We now have most of our eggs in Allawi's basket. Unfortunately, this is the Middle East where assassinations of leaders have affected events all too often--a Jordanian king who dared to negotiate with the Israelis, an Israeli Prime Minister who dared to relinquish land to the Palestinians. And there are many others. You can be sure that these insurgents are plotting to assassinate Allawi right now. And what if they succeed? What's our Plan B?

I don't have answers to these questions, but I raise them to indicate that this is where our attention should be focused right now. The meaningful debate should be about our exit strategy. That's what I would like to hear from Bush and Kerry. That's what our congressional committees should be discussing. Let that debate begin while we still have a chance to develop a strategy


Ellie

thedrifter
07-17-04, 06:01 AM
07-15-2004

Good/Bad News From Iraq



We had a tanker get attacked by RPG yesterday about 2 k's from here, by the time the army got there the police chief from mosul had killed one insurgent and had IEDC secure the vehicle while they looked for the second guy. Seems at least some of the Iraqi's are tired of the **** and are going to stand up to the thugs, even though at the same time he was killing the PRG guy, his governor was down the road a piece being killed by another group.

Also, we are actually having people stop and report what is going on down on highway one which is another sign that the people are getting tired of the senseless killings. They let us know makes and models of cars that are doing the attacking and we have been authorized to do traffic stops outside our gate on suspect vehicles, no mortars in 2 days by the way!!!

Things may be looking up.

Grunt Sgt

http://www.sftt.org/cgi-bin/csNews/csNews.cgi?database=Special%20Reports.db&command=viewone&op=t&id=272&rnd=256.34790287212604


Ellie

thedrifter
07-17-04, 06:28 AM
U.S. military shifting weaponry from North Korean border in preparation for Iraq mission

By: HANS GREIMEL - Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea -- Around-the-clock train and truck convoys are moving military hardware from the tense border with North Korea as the U.S. Army prepares to redeploy 3,600 troops to Iraq.

The massive logistical feat began July 7 and is moving hundreds of Abrams tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles, Humvees and artillery pieces to the southern port city of Busan to be shipped out under tight security.

About 3,600 troops from the U.S. Army's 2nd Infantry Division, dug into encampments between Seoul and the heavily fortified border with North Korea, will follow their equipment to Iraq.


The division's entire 2nd Brigade would begin pulling out of South Korea next week, and the entire unit would be in Iraq by the end of August, Gen. Richard Cody, the Army's vice chief of staff, said at the Pentagon on Friday. It is expected to operate in western Iraq with Marine Corps units, Cody said.

The redeployment -- one of the biggest realignments in a decade along the Cold War's last frontier -- was announced in May and signals the first significant change of U.S. troop levels in South Korea since the early 1990s.

It underscores how the U.S. military is stretched to provide enough forces to cope with spiraling violence in Iraq while also meeting its other commitments.

The equipment is arriving around-the-clock at the Busan port, where soldiers are working two 12-hour shifts, U.S. Army spokeswoman Maj. Kathleen Johnson said.

"This is a very intensive operation, involving a large amount of equipment," Johnson said. "The scale of this operation is about five times that of what we ordinarily do."

The 2nd Infantry Division's 14,000 troops form the mainstay of the 37,000 U.S. troops in South Korea.

For decades, the U.S. troops have buttressed South Korea's 650,000-member military in guarding against the communist North's 1.1 million-member military, the world's fifth-largest.

Since announcing the redeployment of the 3,600 soldiers to Iraq, Washington also has said it plans to withdraw about a third of the remaining troops by the end of 2005 as part of a global realignment.

Talk of reducing the U.S. military presence is sometimes unsettling in South Korea, which still has painful memories of the North Korean invasion that triggered the 1950-53 Korean War.

Many South Koreans fear that a reduction in U.S. troops might shake the delicate military balance on the peninsula amid tensions over the North's nuclear weapons program. It also has prompted President Roh Moo-hyun to say his country is ready to play a bigger role in defending itself.

U.S. troops led U.N. forces during the Korean War, defending South Korea from North Korea, which was backed by China and the former Soviet Union. The U.S. troops have since stayed on.

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/07/17/military/21_35_507_16_04.txt


Ellie

thedrifter
07-17-04, 06:29 AM
H. Thomas Hayden: World War IV


Many may not realize it but the United States is engaged in our fourth world war. There was World War I (1914-1918), World War II (1939-1945), World War III (The Cold War: 1950-1990), and now World War IV, which started 9-11-01 and expanded with the invasion of Iraq and is now spreading all over the world.

Some are calling it a clash of civilizations.

Due to the lack of experienced military personnel in the White House and the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, it is most likely that those who are trusted with the responsibility to lead the defense of the United States know not what they do.

There have been two colossal Intelligence failures in the last year:

1. Saddam Hussein and his alleged Weapons of Mass Destruction, and the alleged threat to the region and vital U.S. national security interest.

2. The total lack of understanding of the Arab Muslim culture, psyche, and eagerness for martyrdom.

While I believe that Saddam would need to be removed if the U.N. would not do it, I did NOT support the half-baked concept of operation, the inept and misguided "occupation" mentality, the void created by the low number of "occupation" troops, the disbanding of the Iraqi army, and the firing of the entire governing apparatus. The invasion should have been done swiftly and with overwhelming force.

It is the second failure of ALL the U.S. intelligence agencies to fully appraise the uneducated and totally unprepared National Command Authorities on basic Arab Muslim culture. This brings on the utmost concern for the future.

Anyone with half a brain or who has ever lived in any part of a strict Muslim Arab country could explain the psyche of the macho Arab Muslim male and could have predicted the fight that is being seen throughout Iraq.

Now the Homeland Defense Agency tells us to prepare for the war that is to come to the very steps of every city hall in America.

Unfortunately, the liberal dominated news media, and the highly gullible, liberal representatives, both Democrat and Republican, would give all the rights and freedoms needed by the mujahadin jihadist to totally destroy the United States of America.

The first strike in World War IV came on
9-11-01. Now we have a written declaration of war.

"The Mujahidin's Roadmap," distributed by the Abu-Hafs al-Masri Brigades (Al Qaeda) and translated by FBIS on July 1, 2004, lists their aims in the coming stage:

1. To enlarge the circle of the struggle by distributing the operations all over the world.

2. Undermine the investor's confidence in the U.S. economy.

3. Expose the Crusader-Zionist scheme.

4. Scatter and exhaust the enemy.

After these steps comes the role of the anticipated strike by the mujahidin that will make the United States yield or break its will and leave its agents so that the mujahidin can settle accounts with the allies of the United States, both in the West and the "peaceful" Muslim countries.




"The brothers (Muslim) from the victorious community are required:

1. To be sincere in your devotion to Allah the Exalted and know that victory is at the doors...

2. To form small organizations under different names, like Monotheism and Jihad Group, the Abu-Hafs al-Masri Brigades, etc. This will make it difficult for the enemy to discover and hunt them down and will scatter the security organs' efforts.

3. To learn jihad on the basis of the Shari'ah (Muslim law).

4. To undergo physical and military training, and to spread this among the sons, relatives, clans those who will come next because the battle will be long.

5. To learn modern skills like computers, the Internet, and anything that is of use...

6. To ignite a psychological war against the enemy."

The nation (Islam) is required to pray for the mujahidin and support them morally and financially. They are required to establish small cells inside and outside the cities and shelter them. They say: "Therefore, when ye meet the unbelievers [in fight], smite them at their necks; at length, when ye have thoroughly subdued them, bind a bond firmly [on them] thereafter [is the time] either generosity or ransom."

A message to Sheik Usama bin Laden and those with him:

"…along the course we are continuing, determined to fight, and wishing [to meet] our Allah. It is perseverance until death, Allah willing."

A message to the martyrs:

"Among the believers are men who have been true to their covenant with Allah… Your chaste bodies pave the road of jihad… Our dead are in paradise and their dead are in hell."

The strategy with the enemy (U.S.A.) is:

"Allah the Exalted and Sublime says: 'O ye who believe, persevere in patience and constancy; vie in such perseverance; strengthen each other; and fear Allah; that ye may prosper.'"

Summary:

"The Americans, Jews, and the Crusader West are our enemies, and they are combatants. They must be killed wherever they are caught. Arabs and Muslims who support them are considered to be like them and must be killed because they are apostates."

From the sayings of mujahid Sheik Abdallah Azzam: "O preachers of Islam, seek death and [everlasting] life will be given to you."

A final translation by FBIS:

"Let Muslims be assured that the strike is coming to the United States like the morning dawn, but at the proper place and time for the mujahidin. We will obtain victory..."


Ellie

thedrifter
07-17-04, 11:52 AM
In the middle of Iraq, a familiar voice - 07/16/2004 <br />
<br />
Two Monroe County military men meet by chance. <br />
<br />
By JOE DIAZ <br />
<br />
<br />
Special to The Evening News

thedrifter
07-17-04, 07:37 PM
Joe Galloway: A Modest Proposal for Getting out of the Iraq Mess

WASHINGTON - Well, it's a fine old mess they've gotten us into.

President Bush says he was right to invade Iraq even if none of the reasons for going turned out to be true - and what we need to do is "stay the course." Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld says, "It's quite clear to me that we do not have a coherent approach to this (the war against terrorism)."

Our president says that the country is much safer today because of his decisions. Our secretary of homeland security says that we need to be on the alert for a big al-Qaeda terror attack inside the United States any day now.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have taken the lives of nearly 1,000 American soldiers and Marines to date. They threaten to break utterly our Army and Marine Corps, not to mention the misused and overworked Reserve and National Guard units.

Retired Navy Capt. John Byron, in the July issue of Proceedings of the Naval Institute, writes: "The war in Iraq is wrecking the Army and the Marine Corps. Troop rotations are in shambles and the all-volunteer force is starting to crumble as we extend combat tours and struggle to get enough boots on the ground.

"We have broken our social contract with the members of the National Guard and the reserve forces, misusing them as substitutes for active forces in an open-ended operation in Iraq that is well short of national emergency. These backup forces are demoralized and headed for the door."

This administration cannot admit that mistakes have been made. Not even one mistake. If they do the whole house of cards might tumble. But if you won't admit a mistake, how do you go about correcting it? When you find you're in a hole, stop digging.

So here is a modest proposal to begin improving our situation in Iraq: We will withdraw our forces to desert enclaves along the Iraqi borders with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Since the Iraqis don't want us patrolling their streets, we won't. We will hand that duty over to the newly sovereign Iraq government and its police, militia and army.

By building our camps in the vicinity of borders with friendly nations we will greatly shorten our supply lines and remove them from Iraq's roads. There will be no American trucks on the highways to be blown up, burned and looted.

We will guarantee Iraq's security from external threat. It will be up to the Iraqis whether they now build for themselves a new, peaceful country.

Our military camps should have a 20-mile clear field of fire all around and signs in eight languages warning that all who trespass face imminent death. This should allow us to begin reducing the 140,000 soldiers and Marines now tied down securing and policing Iraq and its cities and towns and highways.

A division each - 15,000 troops - in three enclaves, north, south and central, should be enough to maintain the presence. Two Army divisions, one Marine, all of them active duty. That will free the National Guard and Reserves, who now make up nearly half the force, to go home and resume their normal lives.

All matters of contracting for rebuilding and rehabilitating basic services in Iraq would then be handled by the Iraqi government, using their oil revenues. No American contract employees would remain in Iraq, except for those working for the American military inside the three American enclaves.




That would mean no Americans available for kidnapping or brutal televised execution.

There would then be two standard answers for almost any question about a problem in Iraq:


It's not our problem.
It's not our business.

How's that for a way out of the mess?


Ellie

thedrifter
07-17-04, 08:31 PM
July 16, 2004

Marine battalion returns home from Iraq

By Gidget Fuentes
Times staff writer


CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — They left home in December with orders to Okinawa, Japan, but with an eye on Iraq, and by spring they were knee-deep battling fighters in Iraq’s hotbed of insurgency.
But on Thursday, the men of 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, stepped off white government buses and waded into the warm embrace of hundreds of families and friends who gathered at Camp Pendleton’s Camp Horno to welcome them home.

Staff Sgt. Coleman Kinzer wrapped his arms around his fiancée. “I’m real happy,” said Kinzer, 26, third platoon sergeant with 1/5’s Bravo Company.

Since he left home, Religious Program Specialist 1st Class Geoff Gotsch pinned on a new rank and became a father. On this day, Gotsch was beaming with pride and amazement at the homecoming.

“I’m shocked,” said Gotsch, 32, of Pottstown, Pa., as he surveyed the large, balloon-festooned crowd erupting with joyful cries and screams and took his newest daughter, five-month-old Grace, into his arms.

Most of the infantry battalion, with the exception of Charlie Company and some members of Headquarters and Service Company, arrived on buses from March Air Reserve Base, an hour’s drive north of Camp Pendleton, after flying commercial from Camp Victory in Kuwait. The other Marines are due home this weekend.

More than 600 Marines and sailors with 1/5 are among the first battalions to return home this year from combat duty in Iraq. Another battalion — 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment — returned to its home at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif., earlier in the week.

Both battalions originally deployed to Japan on scheduled overseas deployments and were ordered to join I Marine Expeditionary Force units in Iraq.

The battalion spent most of April in Fallujah, a flashpoint in the Sunni Triangle that has remained a hornet’s nest for insurgents bent on attacking U.S. troops and derailing Iraqi progress. The battalion lost 11 men, most during the fierce fighting in the initial assaults into the city, and some Marines were disheartened when they and two other battalions were pulled back in early May to allow Iraqi security forces to control the city. Company searches netted truckloads of weapons, ammunition, homemade rockets and bombs, mortar tubes and several suicide belts. Its combat tour in west-central Iraq ended with several missions supporting civil affairs projects in the area.

“They performed fantastically,” said battalion commander Lt. Col. Brennan T. Byrne. “No one could have asked more of them. We’re all glad to be back.”

Marines caught up on sleep during the flights, and reveled in a 2 a.m. greeting during a refuel stop in Maine. But an air of excitement replaced the anxieties many felt during their four months operating in Iraq as part of a 25,000-strong force led by I MEF.

“Everyone was in a good mood,” Gotsch said.

Finally, they felt relief.

“There are smiles across their faces, the smiles that they try to hide,” Kinzer said.

Like many in the battalion, Kinzer planned to take 30 days of leave. But first, after enduring weeks of heat and fine blowing sands, he had one thing in mind: “Take a shower.”

Other Marines had partying on their minds.

One set of brothers — Lance Cpls. Victor Didra, 25, and Rick Didra, 24 — itched to get quickly settled and begin a long-awaited celebration.

The bars and beaches of Oceanside are at the top of their plans. “We’re going to get drunk until we can’t stand anymore,” offered Victor Didra.

In earlier interviews, during their time in Fallujah, the Didra brothers of George, Wash., lived and breathed combat, and they unhesitatingly itched for the chance to knock down the fighters who threatened their brothers in arms. “I enjoyed it,” conceded Rick Didra. “But when it came right down to it, I like being home.”

But the young Marine added he still has some fight in him. “I’ve got three more years,” he said.

With four yellow balloons in her hand, Virginia H. Curiel of Arleta, Calif., beamed a huge smile. For five hours, she had waited in the summer heat for her son, Lance Cpl. Aldo Hernandez, a 20-year-old mortarman.

After an initial check that only a mother can do, Curiel proclaimed him “complete.” Now, he was here. “He looked great,” she said. “He’s relaxed. I’m surprised.”

For awhile, worry occupied her days, ever since his mid-April phone call when he was first wounded from shrapnel during an enemy ambush. His wounds earned him a Purple Heart medal, which he received several days ago.

That April 13 ambush left Lance Cpl. Brent Goldstone with some shrapnel wounds, too, and earned him the Purple Heart.

Like Hernandez, Goldstone phoned his father to let him know he was OK.

The call warmed Marty Goldstone’s heart, but the emergency-room physician from Chicago knew what those injuries probably entailed. For weeks, he worried and wondered. “I’m trying to be cool but I’m nervous,” he said. During the fighting in Fallujah, “I didn’t hear from him for a month.”

Marty Goldstone, who signed the papers allowing his son to enlist at age 17, didn’t rest until he laid eyes on Brent, noticing an L-shaped scar on his neck that his son dismissed.

The son shared his father’s relief. “Everybody was pretty excited,” Brent Goldstone said. “I’m just glad to get the hell out of there.”


http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=0-292925-3091639.php


Ellie