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thedrifter
10-19-04, 08:21 AM
Taking the Battle to the Enemy
U.S. and Iraqi forces launch high-risk probes of the insurgency in Fallujah and Ramadi. A TIME exclusive
By PHIL ZABRISKIE/FALLUJAH

Monday, Oct. 25, 2004
As lightening flashes intermittently in an otherwise clear sky, a group of more than 200 Marines begins to gear up on a dusty plain outside the Iraqi city of Fallujah. Officers bark orders, directing grunts into their vehicles. Tank drivers climb into turrets and crank up heavy-metal tunes. Infantrymen who moments earlier had been asking about baseball scores exhort one another to move forward. "This is what you trained for, Marine!" "You're the hunter! You're the predator!"

As the group prepared to move last Thursday on the city that has most bedeviled the U.S. occupation, the hyperbole seemed appropriate. Fallujah is the presumed base of Abu Mousab al-Zarqawi, the most potent terrorist in Iraq. And more than 100 suspected insurgents have been arrested in recent weeks in nearby villages. Now the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines along with the Army's Brigade Combat Team 2 and a company from the 2nd Tank Battalion — a combined force exceeding 1,000 troops — were about to launch the biggest move on Fallujah in months. The 3/5 would not enter the city but intended to go right up to the southeastern outskirts. The Army would move to the southwestern edge and the tankers to the northern limits, while F/A-18s continued to pound suspected insurgent hideouts. Yet this was not the big showdown everyone had expected but rather an attempt to see how the insurgents inside the city would respond. A Marine battle-operations officer called it "a dress rehearsal" for the ultimate combat. This was a scouting mission, a risk-filled feint supported by air power, an attempt to get an edge for the eventual showdown.

The latest counterinsurgency effort began in a week that included the start of Ramadan and saw the U.S. military — primarily the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force — move boldly to try to subdue the rebellion raging in Fallujah and Ramadi, the two most restive towns in Anbar, Iraq's most restive province. New forces were brought in, new strategies employed. But despite clear successes, the week's record of strikes and counterstrikes suggests that if, as the young Marine said, the Americans are predators, the prey is dictating the nature of the hunt.

The assault had begun in Ramadi two days earlier, when much of the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines joined the elite 36th Battalion of the Iraqi National Guard and their U.S. special- forces advisers to raid seven mosques in the city. As in Fallujah, attempts to prop up a local government in Ramadi have faltered amid violence, kidnappings and assassinations. Military bases in both places are frequently mortared. Unlike in Fallujah, though, in Ramadi the Marines are a regular presence in the streets. And they are hit daily by a mostly invisible enemy, bountifully armed with improvised explosive devices (IEDS), rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and automatic weapons. Most attacks occur on Ramadi's main road, dubbed Route Michigan. (When asked if they're in control of the city, a roomful of grunts responds with phrases like "Oh, f___ no!") The mosques offer support and sanctuary to fighters, the Marines say. Calls to attack Americans and the Iraqis working with them go out over the mosques' loudspeakers.

Iraq's 36th Battalion was called in because American troops are forbidden to enter mosques and because the 36th is battle tested, having taken part in earlier sieges in Najaf and Samarra. "God willing, we will go anywhere in Iraq and kill the terrorists," says battalion commander Fadil Jamel. With the 36th out front, the Marines play a supporting role.

The Ramadi operation, launched at 4 a.m., is designed to end before sunrise, before morning prayers. The Marines expect resistance, but as the 36th breaches the gate of Ramadi's main mosque, the city remains quiet. Sergeant Jose L. Carillo of the 2/5's Whiskey Company looks out from a position on a nearby rooftop. "These guys fight when they want to fight, not when we want them to fight," Carillo says of the insurgents, as he peers through night-vision goggles. "They just keep on recruiting. And, I don't mind saying it, we don't have enough people for what we're doing."

With the first search complete, Whiskey Company moves with the 36th to another mosque, while other units pursue other targets. Again, no resistance. The whole day is quiet. "That's not good. That means they're planning," says a Marine who asks not to be identified because he has told his wife he is in Kuwait. Indeed, the response comes at night. Shortly after 9 p.m., another company encounters resistance in the town. The Whiskey platoon, tasked as that night's Quick Reaction Force, gears up, led by company commander Captain Patrick Rapicault. "We'll probably get hit tonight," says his driver, Corporal Marc Ryan, who gazes at a picture of his sweetheart back home before speeding into town.

First stop is the government center, a heavily fortified observation post where two Marines had been wounded by mortar fire earlier that day. The stay is brief. "We're definitely being observed," says Rapicault, but the night seems calm enough, so the units decide to head back. They turn right out of the government center onto Michigan, then right again on Central. Halfway down the street, an IED detonates near the lead humvee. They have driven into an ambush. As Ryan steers through the smoke, red tracers streak through the air and bounce along the ground. RPGs fly from both sides of the road, and AK-47 fire crackles. Rapicault's gunner returns fire with the mounted .50-cal. machine gun; his counterparts in other vehicles do likewise. The convoy U-turns en masse, back to Michigan, then back to sanctuary in the government center. No one is injured. One humvee has a flat tire, and another has been hit with two RPGS, which were deflected by the armor. A Marine says his crew saw an RPG team running down an alley and tried to take it out with an automatic grenade launcher, but the weapon jammed.

In the empty, darkened hallways of the government center, Rapicault huddles with senior officers from both Whiskey and Echo companies, studying a map by flashlight, plotting the next move. Reports arrive that some 25 men are massing south of the ambush site. The Marines debate their options, then head out again to find these insurgents.

Ryan once more turns right on Michigan. As the convoy approaches Central, an IED blows near the lead vehicle. Then two more-- 155-mm mortar shells wired with remote triggers — detonate on either side of Rapicault's humvee, only a few feet from the front tires. The blasts shower the humvee with sparks and dust, spider-webbing the windshield and nearly piercing the reinforced glass in two places. Ryan pushes through the smoke, struggling with steering and visibility, then hits a barrier on the side of the road. The vehicle is alone, no support front or back. More IEDs go off in the distance, and Rapicault shouts to Ryan to turn around. "We can't stop here!" he yells. The windshield is covered with oil, so the gunner shouts out directions, and Ryan feels his way back onto the road.

A few anxiety-ridden minutes later, the men again take cover in the government center. The other humvees lurch in on busted tires. Between Whiskey and Echo, seven vehicles have wheel or windshield damage. A few gunners are dazed. One has had his neck grazed by shrapnel, but again the men have evaded serious injuries thanks to the reinforced armor of their vehicles. For the next few hours they wait for a support team with extra tires. When the vehicles are fixed, the men will head out to swap with another platoon. Rapicault's humvee is disabled — this is the sixth time he has been hit — and efforts to tow it fail when it skids sideways into a concrete barrier, busting the axle.

All told, 13 IEDs have been detonated in Ramadi Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning. The explosions and the chase — it's not always clear who is chasing whom — continue into the next day. Two Echo Company Marines have been killed and one wounded by small-arms fire and an RPG attack. By noon Wednesday, things begin to settle. The battalion has detained 15 people and seized a weapons cache. The Americans believe they have killed 30 to 40 insurgents but can't say for sure because the insurgents quickly remove their dead and wounded. Rapicault calls it "a very successful day" and says he hopes the seizure of mortar shells, pipe bombs, AK-47s, machine guns and RPGs means the next few days, at least, will be quiet.

The push on Fallujah comes the following night. The tanks and troop carriers led by the 3/5 pull out of the base around 9 p.m. An AC-130 Spectre gunship — known to the Marines as "Basher"--is already in the air. After an hour, the battalion vehicles set off. The neon-green lights of the Fallujah mosques are visible in the distance. The main target, though, is an old soda factory just south of the city's main thoroughfare; insurgents are thought to be congregating in the area. The nerve center of the jihadist network, the military believes, is just to the west, in an area the Americans dub "Queens."

On their way toward the factory, the vehicles turn off a paved road onto a dusty plain and struggle with the uneven terrain and fine sand. One tank gets stuck for a spell. "So much for rolling right on in," says Captain Brian Chontosh, who heads the infantrymen of India Company. But they are protected. The deep percussion of artillery impacting the target area booms through the night, sending a huge black cloud into the sky. Aerial surveillance spots a pickup truck with a mounted machine gun moving in from the west. From above comes a deep rumbling sound. "Basher took it out," says a radio operator in Chontosh's carrier. Insurgents seen trying to set up a mortar position are killed with a TOW missile fired by another company. Around midnight, as the convoy approaches the factory, the Americans take gunfire from the upper floors and off both flanks. The shooters are immediately silenced by tank shells and heavy machine guns. India Company grunts dismount and move through the factory and surrounding buildings. There are no further exchanges.

Chontosh sets up a command post in the sand and lights a cigarette. "It's time for a defensive mind-set now," he says, settling back to await the insurgents' reaction. On a screen with a live satellite feed, he monitors movement in the surrounding area. There isn't much to see. Word from headquarters is that communications intercepts suggest the insurgents thought this was in fact the big showdown and had congregated in the middle of the city. But other than random bursts of small-arms fire, which is met with heavy fusillades, there is little action at the soda factory. Chontosh meets with the 3/5 commander, Lieut. Colonel Patrick J. Malay. They agree that things are looking good, but Malay says, "Let's not press our luck" by staying too long and "letting someone get lucky with a mortar." Twenty minutes later, they head out.

continued.....

thedrifter
10-19-04, 08:22 AM
By the end of last week's mission, Marines and Iraqi soldiers began to relax the checkpoints they had set up around the city. The military gamesmanship in Ramadi and Fallujah gave the U.S. useful information about the insurgents but certainly did not eliminate them. Company commanders know it will be a long struggle and that this is only one piece of it. No single battle can settle everything.

The U.S. believes its Fallujah bombing campaign has killed some top al-Zarqawi operatives, and military officials hope the latest mission will hamper his network's ability to operate. But the insurgency has shown a clear ability to regenerate itself after losses. And the rebels continue to adapt their tactics, adding TNT to their IEDs, for instance, to make them more lethal. In Ramadi they have begun attacking more at night; in Fallujah they have dug into defensive positions. A U.S. military battle-planning officer in Fallujah says the raid left a "big intel wake," information that will be useful later, he says, when the military moves to retake the city. No one can say when that will be. Corpsman Scott Pribble, a Navy medic with the 3/5, had said before last week's operation that he hoped he wouldn't be busy that night. He wasn't. But when asked about the eventual fight for control of Fallujah, he said, "Oh, we'll be busy then."

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101041025-725132-4,00.html


Ellie

thedrifter
10-19-04, 08:23 AM
Why I Joined the Marines
by omarg
There have been questions raised as to why a Muslim would join the US Military. Jane was tactful and polite and therefore I committed to answering her, but this does not apply to the unkind others. There are many reasons, but as an individual, I can only speak for myself. You see, Americans are not so collectivist as are members of the Bizarro Ummah and we do things which buck the norms of the Bizarro Ummah's members which can generate callous vitriolic.

On a personal level, I joined because of my experiences in Bosnia.

You see, like many people around the world, I've experienced the depths of human evil in ways I suspect few Americans have. I went to Bosnia as an aid worker, but learned quickly that this status in no way protected a Muslim of any nationality. One bright day after the worst of the horrors along the Sava River, after the Muslims of the world had abandoned us, hundreds of American jets flew low and fast bombing profiles against Serbian positions. Never in my life was I so proud to be an American, a nation I had once thought of as lewd and corrupt in my Salafi days. Days later, the Bosnian Army broke through and routed the Serbian Army, almost capturing their capital, Banja Luka. I knew then the horror was over and I knew exactly why: the application of American combat force. I was determined to never again be subject to such terror and the only way was to learn the skills of combat and be a part of the Armed Forces which stopped the Genocide.

In 1999, I was vindicated when the Marine Corps was ordered to prepare to invade Yugoslavia to destroy the armies once again butchering Muslims in Kosova. Although the Serbs surrendered after being warned of the imminent Marine invasion, again I saw that deadly force was the only way to stop genocide and terror. "Islamic Brotherhood" came up short and showed me that it could not in any way be relied upon. I will not let Bizarro-Ummati's hide behind 'brotherhood' as a way to get Muslims to acquiesce to their self-serving wantonness. They must be fought, more for the soul of the Ummah than for corporate interests.

I totally believe it was necessary to topple the Taliban regime after 9/11. You must ask yourselves, is it better to have toppled them or to tolerate their terror against the Afghans and sanctuary to al-Qaeda? In Iraq however, I respect people's objections to the war there and don't hold grudges because of peoples' pro- or anti-war stance. I don't seek to change people's minds over it; I think there are enough questions surrounding it to demand scrutiny of our elected officials. Certainly civilians have died in Iraq and Afghanistan which is just as tragic as the death of my friends at Shahi Kot, Fallujah or New York. No human is perfect and we make mistakes as well. What I will strenuously object to is anyone characterizing American troops as wanton murderers.

America is a 'good thing' and Islam is the best religion. The rantings of both the western bigot and the foreign Bizarro-Ummati are irrelevant and represent dying ways of life. Americans will be Muslims to the full and Muslims will be Americans to the full.

Ellie

thedrifter
10-19-04, 08:24 AM
United States Marines begin raids on Fallujah
Publish Date : 10/18/2004 10:33:00 AM Source : World News Onlypunjab.com

U.S. Marines launched air and ground attacks yesterday on the rebel bastion Fallujah after city representatives suspended peace talks with the government over Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's demand to hand over terror mastermind Abu Musab Zarqawi.

The raids began hours after terrorists struck deep inside Baghdad's heavily fortified green zone, setting off bombs at a market and a popular cafe that killed at least 10 persons — including four Americans — and wounded 20 others in the compound housing foreign embassies and Iraqi government offices.



It was the deadliest attack inside the 4-square-mile compound since the U.S. occupation began in May 2003.
Zarqawi's terror group, Tawhid and Jihad, claimed responsibility for the suicide attacks, according to a statement posted on an Islamist Web site.
Late yesterday, residents of Fallujah, 40 miles west of Baghdad, reported shuddering American bombardments using planes and armored vehicles in what they said was the most intensive shelling since U.S. forces began weeks of "precision strikes" aimed at Zarqawi's network.
In Washington, however, a senior military official, speaking on operational matters on the condition of anonymity, described the latest fighting as strikes against specific targets and of the same scope as previous attacks in Fallujah.
Warplanes and artillery pounded the city as two U.S. Marine battalions attacked rebel positions to "restore security and stability," 1st Lt. Lyle Gilbert, a spokesman for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, told CNN.
"It is going to be a long night," he said.
Maj. Francis Piccoli, spokesman for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, said two Marine battalions were engaged in the fight backed up by aircraft.
He would not indicate the attack was the start of a major campaign to recapture the city, saying he did not want to jeopardize any future operations.
Maj. Piccoli said the goal of the operation was to "disrupt the capabilities of the anti-Iraqi forces."
U.S. officials believe Zarqawi's terrorist group is based in Fallujah. The military said its targets were linked to the network, including a building being used to store weapons, two safe houses used to plan attacks, several illegal checkpoints and a weapons cache.
At least five persons were killed and 16 wounded in the raids, according to Fallujah General Hospital.
Residents said the Americans were attacking several areas with rockets, artillery and tanks. One resident said U.S. forces were using loudspeakers in the west of the city to urge Fallujah fighters to lay down their arms "because we are going to push into Fallujah."
Mr. Allawi warned Wednesday that Fallujah must surrender Zarqawi and other foreign fighters or face military attack.
Abu Asaad, spokesman for the religious council of Fallujah, said that "handing over Zarqawi" was an "impossible condition" since even the Americans were unable to catch him.
"Since we exhausted all peaceful solutions, the city is now ready to bear arms and defend its religion and honor and it's not afraid of Allawi's statements," Mr. Asaad said in an interview with Al Jazeera television.
The suicide bombings in Baghdad's green zone took place about 12:40 p.m. on the eve of the Islamic holy month, Ramadan.
The U.S.-guarded enclave — home to about 10,000 Iraqis, government officials, foreign diplomats and military personnel — spreads along the banks of the Tigris River in the heart of the capital. The area's trees and other greenery present a sharp contrast to the rest of dusty and arid Baghdad. The zone is centered on Saddam Hussein's mammoth Republican Palace, and there are dozens of smaller palatial buildings.
A waiter and restaurant patrons saw two men enter the Green Zone Cafe clutching large bags. One appeared nervous while the other seemed to be trying to reassure him, they said.
The two men ordered tea and talked for about 20 minutes — a waiter thought they spoke with Jordanian accents. The more confident of the two then walked out and hailed a taxi, the witnesses said. Minutes later a loud explosion rocked the compound.
The blast left a gaping crater in the pavement where the canopied restaurant once stood. Splatters of blood and pieces of flesh were scattered among the twisted metal, shards of glass and upended plastic chairs littering the scene. Thick, black smoke billowed from the compound.
"People were screaming ... stampeding, trying to get out," said Mohammed al-Obeidi, the owner of a nearby restaurant who was wounded by flying glass from the blast.
Two Iraqis were killed at the cafe and several U.S. Embassy employees suffered minor injuries there, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in Washington.
Four American employees of DynCorp security company were killed and two State Department employees were wounded in the blast in a vendor's alley near the U.S. Embassy annex. The outdoor bazaar caters to Westerners, selling everything from mobile phone accessories to pornographic DVDs.
The DynCorp employees who were killed include John Pinsonneault, 39, of North Branch, Minn.; Steve Osborne, 40, of Kennesaw, Ga.; and Eric Miner, 44, of South Windham, Conn. Ferdinand Ibaboa, 36, of Mesa, Ariz., was missing and presumed dead.
The green zone is a regular target of terrorists. Mortar rounds are frequently fired at the compound, and there have also been a number of deadly car bombings at its gates. Last week, a bomb was found in front of the Green Zone Cafe but did not explode.
Mr. al-Obeidi said security in the zone has weakened since Iraqi police took a greater role with the June transfer of power.
"Before it was really safe. They [the Americans] passed it over to the Iraqis ... the Iraqi Police. When they see someone they know, it's just, 'Go on in.' They don't understand it's for our safety," he said.
Following yesterday's attack, the U.S. military said intelligence reports indicated terrorists were planning more strikes to "gain media attention."
Security measures in the capital and surrounding areas would be "significantly increased for an undetermined period," a military statement said. They include more armed patrols, intensified security at Baghdad airport and elsewhere, and air patrols.
U.S. Embassy personnel were instructed to remain inside the embassy complex until further notice, Mr. Boucher said.
Across the Tigris River, two U.S. soldiers were killed yesterday in eastern Baghdad — one when his patrol came under small arms fire, the other in a roadside bombing — the U.S. command said. Two more American soldiers were killed when their Humvee was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade and caught fire during a raid in Ramadi, 70 miles west of the capital, the military said.

http://www.onlypunjab.com/fullstory904-insight-Marines+begin+raids+on+Fallujah-status-2-newsID-5352.html


Ellie

thedrifter
10-19-04, 08:24 AM
U.S. asks Britain to move troops <br />
<br />
<br />
By Paul Martin <br />
THE WASHINGTON TIMES <br />
<br />
<br />
LONDON — U.S. commanders have asked Britain to shift 650 crack troops from southern Iraq to more dangerous positions...

thedrifter
10-19-04, 08:25 AM
US Marines come under attack from Syrian territory
by Jon Elmer (bio)

Oct 16 - American Marines patrolling a 250 kilometer stretch of the Iraq-Syria border have come under increasing mortar attacks from inside Syrian territory near the border town of Husaybah, the Associated Press is reporting. According to Lieutenant Colonel Chris Woodbridge, it remains unclear who is firing the 82mm shells.

The Bush Administration has pressured Syria to tighten border security in the Husaybah area, which lies on the Euphrates River. The ravines and brush in that area of the otherwise desert frontier of the Al-Anbar province have reportedly made it a popular crossing point for militants en route to the Iraqi heartland.

In May, the so-called Syria Accountability Act was invoked to impose economic sanctions on Syria in response to the Bush administration's accusations of what it calls Syria's support for terror and failure to stop militants from entering Iraq.

For its part, Syria reports it has placed hundreds of troops along the border, but says the area is too large to control. Indeed, the US has been erstwhile unable to seal off the Iraqi side since the occupation began.


http://newstandardnews.net/content/?action=show_item&itemid=1122


Ellie

thedrifter
10-19-04, 08:26 AM
Inching Along, One More Piece to Rebuild Iraq
By JAMES GLANZ

Published: October 17, 2004

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Oct. 16 - Call it the Iraqi version of the tortoise and the hare.

On a six-day journey this week, more than 500 tons of house-size components on their way to the capital crept across Al Anbar Province, a grimy and murderous border region, at the white-knuckle pace of 10 to 15 miles an hour. Protected by an armada of helicopters, Bradley tanks, Humvees and bulletproof Land Cruisers, the convoy looked like the makings of some kind of space program, but in fact it carried sections of an enormous generator, financed by American taxpayers, to upgrade the Iraqi power grid. In operations like this, Iraq's physical reconstruction inches forward.

But lined up against the reconstruction effort is the danger that strikes with seemingly inescapable suddenness all over Iraq: in one recent example involving a similar convoy, two Jordanian drivers working for the company whose trucks move the generators were gunned down.

Pressure is increasing on the Bush administration to show that the rebuilding effort will win this race, and that some of the many projects that have been delayed or temporarily abandoned will soon improve the lives of Iraqis, giving them a reason to trust the government and reject the anarchy of the insurgency.

More than any other sector of the infrastructure, it is the electrical grid that fills officials with hope. True, virtually every project is behind schedule, and few goals have been met. Indeed, officials involved with reconstruction expend great effort revising the overly optimistic projections made by the American occupation authorities in previous months. But there are, finally, more megawatts on the grid than before the invasion, and with a number of big projects under way behind the scenes, officials say it is just the start.

"We're getting the crisis back under control," said Simon Stolp, the program manager for electricity at the Project and Contracting Office, which is managing billions of dollars of Congressionally mandated reconstruction money. "There are a whole basket of positive things to be seen," he said.

The grid had been deteriorating under the pressure of sanctions and neglect ever since it was put back together after American bombers destroyed it in 1991, but Mr. Stolp said those problems were quickly becoming a thing of the past.

"There will be more megawatts on the grid next summer than there have been at any period of time since the gulf war," Mr. Stolp said.

Iraqi electricity experts are less impressed. Saad Shakir Tawfiq, a scientist who leads Iraqi teams working at several power plants, said he was surprised that his relatively upscale Baghdad neighborhood was still subjected to regular blackouts, two hours off, and four hours on.

"It's the time of year when everybody switches off air-conditioners, and nobody uses heaters," Dr. Tawfiq said. "There should be a surplus."

But Mr. Stolp said that Iraqis, with their newfound freedom, were buying more and more electrical appliances and sapping the network, and even Dr. Tawfiq conceded that it could take a while for the big generation projects to get more electricity into the homes of Iraqis.

The 340-mile journey the generator convoy took from Jordan, which a reporter joined for the final 75 miles, showed how determined the Americans are to push ahead with big electricity projects.

The mission passed within a few miles of the insurgent strongholds of Ramadi and Falluja before the convoy of 42 vehicles reached Baghdad, snaking its way through the city's edgy streets in the dead of night. Workers climbed ladders to snip overhead power lines that were in the way, bulldozed obstacles on the ground and fixed a tank that had broken down in the convoy's path.

Gunshots rang out repeatedly, although most of them came from American soldiers firing into the air to keep traffic back.

"This is one of those you'll-never-get-it-done tasks," said John Yourston, a former member of the British special forces and now the operations director in Iraq for Olive Security, a private company that directed the journey, from scouting out the route to positioning the tanks traveling in the convoy.

The military's shorthand for the mission was MOAG, for Mother of All Generators. "It's a monster, isn't it?" Mr. Yourston said.

The MOAG, along with a giant gas turbine to power it and two other huge truckloads of equipment, arrived intact at a south Baghdad power plant at first light on Wednesday morning, two days before the start of Ramadan.

The generator is one of a pair manufactured by General Electric that are now set to be installed at the south Baghdad plant as part of a project to add more than 200 megawatts to the grid. That would more than double the current output of the ancient steam turbines at the plant and contribute substantially to the roughly 5,000 megawatts that the entire country is producing at the moment, said Abdul Hassan Qasim, the plant's director.

"What is produced by this turbine," Mr. Qasim said of the latest delivery, "is essential to Baghdad, because it is in the heart of Baghdad."

So the juice will go right to power-starved consumers without being dissipated in long transmission lines, he said. David DeVoss, a spokesman for the United States Agency for International Development, which is administering the financing, said the estimated cost for the project was $162 million. Bechtel, the international engineering and construction giant, manages the work for the agency.

Originally scheduled to be producing electricity by December, the generators are not expected to be ready until June. The pace slowed and security costs soared after the insurgency broke out across the country in April. Two months later, three General Electric employees were killed by a suicide bomber while riding in a convoy in Baghdad.

Now the work site, which employs some 260 Iraqis, resembles Fort Knox, as one Bechtel employee put it. (Fearing reprisals, the company asked that none of its employees be named, and that no photographs showing landmarks around the compound be taken.) The site is surrounded by high concrete blast walls, and there is a bunkerlike inner perimeter where project managers work.

Whenever a Westerner ventures from the inner perimeter and mingles with the Iraqi workers, he is accompanied by rifle-toting guards from ArmorGroup, another private security company. In addition, the site is protected by about 80 of the Nepalese guards known as Ghurkas. There are guard towers, checkpoints and sandbagged refuges for protection in case of a mortar attack.

Like the Western managers and engineers, all of the security personnel must be fed and housed at the site. "Security threw this project all out of whack," said a Bechtel official working inside the compound. "There's no telling what it's going to cost." He cautioned, however, that not all of the cost increases could be attributed to security. Officials involved with the reconstruction say they are in negotiations with General Electric over cost increases.

Mr. DeVoss said he had no information on how much of the contract would be eaten up by security, but other officials say the proportion has risen to 30 percent and higher on similar projects.

Still, it seems unlikely that an exact reckoning of security costs for the MOAG will ever be made. At various times the convoy was protected by the Army's First Cavalry Division; the Second Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment; and at least three other military units. Capt. Charley Von Bergen of the Marines guessed that 500 soldiers had been involved in one way or another, but he conceded that there was no solid estimate. Through it all, the MOAG kept rolling along, stenciled along its bottom edge with the word "fragile" and the universal sign for equipment that is easily damaged - a wineglass.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/17/international/middleeast/17recon.html?pagewanted=2&oref=login


Ellie

thedrifter
10-19-04, 08:27 AM
October 14, 2004

Hearing resumes for officer who ran Iraqi prison

By Seth Hettena
Associated Press


CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — A Marine officer who ran a jail in Iraq where a prisoner died is set to return to a courtroom for the first time since his case took a dramatic turn nearly a month ago. The last time Maj. Clarke Paulus appeared in court, a military judge threatened “extreme measures” if prosecutors couldn’t find out what happened to missing medical evidence taken from the body of the Iraqi prisoner.
On Thursday, the military judge, Col. Robert Chester, must deal with what his threat turned up: The Army pathologist who autopsied the Iraqi, Nagem Hatab, found his larynx in her freezer at an Army base in Germany. An unmarked rib cage that may be Hatab’s was found at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, D.C.

Paulus, who briefly ran the jail at the prison camp known as Camp Whitehorse, is accused of ordering one of his men to drag the Iraqi, Nagem Hatab, by his neck after the Iraqi suffered a severe bout of diarrhea and collapsed while in custody.

The 35-year-old Marine from New Jersey is facing up to 4½ years in prison if he’s convicted of aggravated assault, dereliction of duty and maltreatment of prisoners.

Court-martial is scheduled to begin at Camp Pendleton, the Marine base north of San Diego, next month.

Keith Higgins, Paulus’ civilian defense attorney, filed an order to preserve all evidence nearly a year ago. He said it was “disheartening and extremely troubling” that military doctors would act so carelessly with evidence that he deemed crucial to clearing his client’s name.

Marine guards have testified Hatab was targeted for rough treatment because they believed he had a role in the ambush of an Army convoy that killed 11 soldiers and led to the capture of Pfc. Jessica Lynch and others.

The missing bones are just one of several errors in the investigation of Hatab’s death that became known at a hearing last week.

Hatab’s organs, which were removed during the autopsy, were destroyed when they were left for hours in the blazing heat on an Iraqi airstrip. A summary of an interrogation the Marines conducted with Hatab shortly before his death at the camp also is missing, as is a photo of Hatab taken during questioning.

Marine Sgt. Gary Pittman was convicted earlier this month of dereliction of duty and abuse of prisoners at Camp Whitehorse, but was cleared of assaulting Hatab. Pittman, the first person court-martialed in connection with abuses at Camp Whitehorse, was sentenced to 60 days of hard labor and demoted to private.



http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-451711.php


Ellie

thedrifter
10-19-04, 08:52 AM
In Ramadi, U.S. Seizes 17 Accused of Aiding Insurgency
By EDWARD WONG

Published: October 18, 2004

RAMADI, Iraq, Oct. 17 - Marines and Special Forces soldiers captured 17 men suspected of working with the Iraqi insurgency in a raid of nine Ramadi homes early Sunday, including a couple of midlevel leaders and a senior aide to a man believed to be organizing guerrillas in this city, American officers here said.

The senior aide was described by the American officers as a lawyer for Muhammad Daham Abid, one of the most wanted men in Ramadi. The officers said Mr. Abid was an Iraqi who has organized insurgent cells and is in close contact with the mujahedeen in the rebel stronghold of Falluja, a city just 25 miles to the east.

Mr. Abid had been detained once before by American troops but had been let go after he agreed to stop recruiting men to fight the occupiers, said Lt. John McKinley of the Second Battalion, Fifth Marines. Mr. Abid reneged on his promise, Lieutenant McKinley said, and "we've been after him for a long time."

The raid was carried out from one of several Marine bases that ring Ramadi, the restive capital of Anbar Province in the heart of the so-called Sunni Triangle, where resistance to the American-led occupation of Iraq has been especially intense and where insurgents have moved with relative impunity. Some American officials have said the occupation forces must pacify Ramadi and Falluja before legitimate nationwide elections can be held in January.

The Americans have been pounding Falluja with virtually daily airstrikes, including one on Saturday night, and officers here said those attacks might have driven some insurgents toward Ramadi.

An Iraqi informant identified all 17 men captured in the raid Sunday as "bad guys," Lieutenant McKinley said. The marines rarely have someone on hand who can immediately identify detainees and are forced instead to rely on photographs to verify identifications.

Special Forces soldiers and marines also confiscated cellphones, desktop computers and about $600, as well as a lot of Iraqi dinars, Lieutenant McKinley said.

He added that the marines were hoping to find more dollars, because insurgent leaders are known to pay about $150 to impoverished young men to take part in one attack on American forces. The midlevel leaders detained Sunday morning are suspected of being financiers, the lieutenant said.

Interrogators found that one of the detainees was partly deaf in his left ear and had burn marks on the right side of his neck, signs that he had fired rocket-propelled grenades, Lieutenant McKinley said.

Mr. Abid is one of three men on a "most wanted" poster that hangs in a base cafeteria here. The others are Muhammad Mahmoud Latif and Abdul Aziz Mahmoud al-Fahadawi, both believed to be insurgent leaders. In the poster, the words "Detain on Sight" are written in red below separate photographs of the three bearded men.

Marines here have been bracing for an upsurge in violence during Islam's holy fasting month of Ramadan, which began Friday.

One base outside Ramadi known as Combat Outpost was attacked Saturday with nearly a half dozen mortar rounds and at least one rocket. One mortar round destroyed a red water tank by the base's showers, and another exploded outside the cafeteria, sending marines rushing out with plastic plates of food in hand.

Hours later, about 100 marines and Special Forces soldiers took part in the Ramadi raid, suiting up about 2 a.m. on Sunday and rolling west in a convoy through the city center. They crouched in the back of open-backed armored trucks, not daring to peek out at the empty streets.

They dismounted at the Meelab district, a neighborhood that officers say is rife with fighters and insurgent safe houses, and started moving along rows of cinder-block two-story homes, the stink of open sewage heavy in the air.

As one group of marines approached a house, one of them smashed through the front metal gate with a hand ax and the others rushed into the courtyard. An orange-and-white taxi sat in the driveway.

They found six men, a teenage boy, a woman and a girl sleeping on thin mattresses on the living-room floor. No one spoke English. The woman rocked back and forth in a yellow robe.

"Tell the men to get against the wall, hands behind their backs," Staff Sgt. Brice Bartlette said to an Iraqi interpreter who wore a Marine uniform and whom the Americans called Barry.

A Special Forces soldier rushed through the rooms of the house with a green duffel bag, stuffing equipment into it.

A marine watched over four women and four children who had been herded into a dark room in the rear. In the front room, Barry told Sergeant Bartlette that the boy was 12 years old.

The sergeant told his men to leave the boy behind. The marines put plastic handcuffs on the men and strips of white cloth over their eyes.

A white-haired man collapsed to the ground outside the house and began sobbing, saying he could not walk, but two marines dragged him to his feet and sat him in the back of a truck with the other detainees.



http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/18/international/middleeast/18ramadi.html?oref=login


Ellie

thedrifter
10-19-04, 09:30 AM
Always faithful to fellow Marines
Sunday, October 17, 2004
WALTER BRYANT
News staff writer
Once a Marine, always a Marine.

That sums up the spirit of a team of Birmingham area Marine veterans who visit fellow Marine veterans every Tuesday at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Visitors are drawn from the Howlin' Mad Smith Detachment of the Marine Corps League, a support organization for Marines and their families.

Jim Upshaw, the team's leader, has been a member of the team for five years, but says it has been around a lot longer.

"We let them know they are still part of the Marine Corps," he said of the brief visits to patients.

The emphasis is on visiting Marines. But if there is a veteran from another branch of the armed forces in the same room, team members hand out letters of appreciation.

"So we salute you if you served in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, Seabees or any other special military service for our country," the letters read in part.

Upshaw, a 66-year-old retiree from Fultondale, was an aviation electronics technician with a helicopter unit of the 2nd Marine Air Wing from 1955 until 1958.

The visitors hand fellow veterans coffee mugs or bumper stickers with Marine logos.

"Here, you earned it," said Upshaw, handing a coffee mug to Anthony Wilson of Birmingham.

After a few introductions from Upshaw and other visitors, the conversation turns to military shop talk: what years they were in uniform or their assignments. Heads nod as a deep sense of brotherhood is felt by the patient and the visitation team.

"The best to you," Upshaw said, as the group excused themselves to visit other Marine patients.

While walking to the next hospital room, he said some patients make a point of standing up or sitting on the edge of their beds when the team visits, a sign of respect for the visitors. Others patients may not feel well or are attached to so many tubes that standing is impractical.

Because of privacy laws, visitors never ask a patient what he's being treated for.

"This is sacred ground," Upshaw said, explaining the satisfaction he receives from the Tuesday visits.

The unexpected visitors made Wilson feel good about having served in the Corps from 1972 until 1976.

"That's what we do, look out for each other," he said.

Patricia Fetzer, director of volunteer services at the VA Medical Center, said a visitation team that comes every week and seems to be self motivated is a joy to have. She never has to worry if Upshaw and the others will get tired of coming and drop by the wayside.

Upshaw said he has no plans to stop visiting.

"They will have to run me off," he said.

To suggest a person for Good Work, contact Sherrel Stewart at 325-2445, by fax at 325-2283, or e-mail her at sstewart@bhamnews.com.

E-mail: wbryant@bhamnews.com

http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1098004748180190.xml

Ellie

thedrifter
10-19-04, 10:12 AM
Combat heroism commended
October 17,2004
ERIC STEINKOPFF
DAILY NEWS STAFF

Military officials won't say much about a mission Air Force Capt. James S. Peterson flew more than two years ago. Still, they believe he deserved formal recognition for his actions.

On Jan. 14, 2002, in an undisclosed location, Peterson took 12 Special Forces soldiers aboard his MH-53M Pave Low IV helicopter and flew them into enemy territory to storm an al-Qaida compound. It was supposed to be a precision attack causing minimum damage to nearby buildings and few, if any, civilian casualties.

Before the Special Force team could be moved into position, however, Peterson's helicopter took fire.

For now, security precludes much more about the incident from being revealed. Nevertheless, Air Force Secretary James G. Roche recently visited New River Air Station, where Peterson currently serves as a V-22 Osprey test pilot, and presented the aviator with the Distinguished Flying Medal. It's the Air Force's eighth-highest medal for action.

"The Distinguished Flying Cross has a reputation earned through sweat and guts," said Roche, noting that Charles A. Lindberg, who in 1927 became the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, was the original recipient. Other notables include Navy Cmdr. Richard Byrd, first to fly over the North Pole, and Amelia Earhart, the first woman to make a trans-Atlantic flight.

According to his citation, Peterson completed his mission - but it wasn't easy.

He flew with no light and almost no visibility. As bullets whizzed through the night air, Peterson lead his three-chopper sortie to a "small and extremely dusty landing zone," according to his citation.

Once the Special Forces team completed its assault on the al-Qaida compound, and Peterson retrieved the soldiers along with seven captured detainees, the copter returned to the air - where an undisclosed emergency "flooded the cockpit with an intense light." Blinded, Peterson was forced to pass the controls to another pilot.

The crew fixed the problem in flight, averting a forced landing deep in enemy territory.

"Peterson's leadership and superior airmanship resulted in the safe and successful capture of seven al-Qaida operatives," the citation reads, adding it has provided the United States with intelligence vital to future missions in the Global War on Terrorism."


Contact Eric Steinkopff at esteinkopff@jdnews.com or 353-1171, Ext. 236.


http://www.jacksonvilledailynews.com/SiteProcessor.cfm?Template=/GlobalTemplates/Details.cfm&StoryID=26543&Section=News


Ellie

thedrifter
10-19-04, 01:09 PM
Marines Show Frustration In Iraq
Associated Press
October 19, 2004

QAIM, Iraq - The sound of the Black Hawk medical helicopter is an ominous sign for the Marines patrolling this forgotten western corner of Iraq that borders Syria. It means that one of them is seriously wounded or killed at the hands of their elusive enemy or the bombs he had laid in waiting.

The sound of roaring engine, shattering evening calm, gets immediately followed up with a quick whisper among the troops, trying to find out who was it, this time.

At this Marine base few miles away from the Syrian border to the far west of the restless Anbar province, the news spreads quickly.

"We are losing guys left and right," says Cpl. Cody King, 20, of Phoenix, Ariz. "All we are doing around here is getting blown up," he says, not hiding his anger.

Most of the incidents these days in this far flung corner of Iraq, enveloped by an endless desert, dried up river beds and winding dirt roads, include 155 mm artillery shells, mines and other sort of crude home made bombs, which are among the biggest killer of troops in this war. They make the Marine's enemy faceless and only heighten the feeling of vulnerability, not assuaged by the limited armor at their disposal.

King and his fellow Marines from the weapons company of the 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, spoke in between patrols, huddled together and sifting through their log book venting their anger and frustration, but never speaking of fear.

Among other things their green leather bound book lists are the number of times their company was hit by homemade bombs since they got to Iraqi two months ago. Written in fine careful print, the book contains names of those who were killed or wounded during those incidents.

On Sept. 3, during their first patrol since coming back to Iraq, a thunderous blast ripped through a group of Marines that King was with, as they were providing security for the engineers repairing a bridge over the Euphrates river, near the town of Ubayd.

Four Marines were killed and three were wounded when a home made bomb went off, sending shrapnel and debris flying. Some of the those killed were barely recognizable, said King, who escaped unscathed.




Marine deaths per month in Iraq, have in recent months exceeded those suffered by the Army, even though the Army have at least three times as many troops in Iraq. It is difficult to pinpoint the reasons for the unusually high death toll for the Marines because they limit details on the circumstances of battle deaths to either "enemy action" or "non-combat related."

The Army specifies the type of weapon that caused the death as well as the city where it happened.

"After you lose so many Marines, you just keep fighting to stay alive," King, a son of a Vietnam veteran, say.

But for some of the Marines lack of armor, few vehicles and too restrictive rules of engagement are partly to blame.

"We need more armor, more vehicles and more bodies," says King.

Gunnery Sgt. Jason Berold, says that rules, as they are now, are very frustrating. Unless they see insurgents shooting at them or have otherwise what they call positive identification, little they can do but watch as they leg it and melt among the people.

"It is very frustrating," says Berold, 38, of Los Angeles.

"All we are doing is getting Americans killed and we cannot do much about it," says King, as the other marines in the room nod in approval.

"None of us are scared of going out ... as long as you get one bad guy."

But now because of the existing rules of the engagement, the only thing left after the incidents, is to "pick up your dead and wounded and get out of there as soon as possible," King says.

Sgt. Ryan Hall, 27, says that a "50:50" chance of getting blown on patrol, is a good bet among his troops. As he walks outside the compound, Hall, of Abilene, Texas, points to the damage that their company vehicles, have suffered in the recent patrols. There are cracks in the armored windshield of their Humvees from flying shrapnel. Holes on the back and damage to its side.

As they spoke, shortly after darkness fell in this distant base, another sound of the helicopter signaled what they all knew.

"You do not know whether he will survive," King says.

That night alone, only one made it, after a suicide car bomber ram into their patrol near the town of Qaim. Two soldiers and one Marine died.

Ellie

thedrifter
10-19-04, 02:13 PM
1st Radio Battalion trains, supports WTI <br />
Submitted by: MCAS Yuma <br />
Story Identification #: 20041017214917 <br />
Story by Cpl. Michael Nease <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz. (Oct. 14, 2004) --...

thedrifter
10-19-04, 02:57 PM
October 19, 2004

Fallujah safehouses hit

Associated Press


BAGHDAD, Iraq — U.S. forces destroyed several safehouses of terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and weapons storage sites late Monday in the southern areas of Fallujah, the U.S. command said.
The attacks began about 11 p.m. and lasted until after midnight, the command said in a statement. The statement did not specify whether the attacks were airstrikes, although numerous such attacks have been launched against targets in the insurgent stronghold in recent weeks.

“Multiple secondary explosions indicate a significant amount of explosives or ammunition inside the houses,” the statement said.

It added that recent attacks have forced leadership changes in al-Zarqawi’s Tawhid and Jihad movement, which has claimed responsibility for numerous car bombings and the beheading of foreign hostages.

“Specifically reported to operate at locations in Fallujah are Abu Musab al-Zarqawi associates identified as replacements for senior leadership recently killed in Multinational Force-Iraq strikes,” the statement said.



http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-458981.php


Ellie

snipowsky
10-19-04, 04:10 PM
We should hit Syria next!

thedrifter
10-19-04, 05:12 PM
Baghdad Needs 10,000 More Policemen - U.S. General <br />
<br />
<br />
By Luke Baker <br />
<br />
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. general in charge of Baghdad said Tuesday it would be at least another eight months before the...

thedrifter
10-19-04, 05:43 PM
Reservists Doubt Their Combat Readiness
Agence France-Presse
October 19, 2004

An internal U.S. Defense Department survey has shown substantial doubts among many Army Reservists about their preparedness for wartime missions, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

The newspaper said the survey, conducted in the spring, found that almost half of Army Reserve soldiers believed their units were not "well prepared" for their wartime missions.

Army Reservists who had served in Iraq graded their units' readiness for war even lower, the report said.

Only 45 percent of those veterans said their unit was "well prepared for its wartime mission", compared with 54 percent of Army Reservists overall, according to the paper.

It said the survey had been sent electronically to 55,794 Reservists in all military branches in April, May and June. Thirty-nine percent of them responded.

"We do the survey as a source of leading indicators to adjust our personnel policies," the Journal quoted David Chu, Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, as saying.

As a result of the survey, the Pentagon in some instances tripled enlistment bonuses to as much as 15,000 dollars for a six-year commitment, the paper quotes Chu as saying.

The paper said the results also indicated that the desire of the part-time soldiers to stay in the Reserves and National Guard was eroding.

About 59 percent of Army Reservists and 62 percent of Army National Guard soldiers said they intended to stay in the military, down about 10 percentage points from 12 months earlier, according to the report.

Ellie

thedrifter
10-19-04, 06:59 PM
US troops won't give up IAI Pioneer UAV

"Defense Systems Daily": US Marines in Ramadi and Falluja easily spotted the enemy thanks to Pioneer.

Ran Dagoni, Washington 17 Oct 04 16:28

Britain's "Defense Systems Daily" is full of praise for the operational performance of Israel Aircraft Industries' (IAI) Pioneer unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in combat in Iraq.
IAI and AAI Corporation established a joint venture, Pioneer UAV Inc., to build the Pioneer for the US Army. The US Marine Corps also uses the Pioneer.

AAI is trying to develop its own UAV, called "Guardian". It presents the Guardian at arms shows, and has tried to market it to the US Navy. However, the Marines want to keep the Pioneer.

There have been reports that the Pioneer is in use in Iraq, but this is the first confirmation by the US Army. "The Marines fighting armed resistance in Ramadi and Falluja have easily spotted the enemy thanks to the Pioneer," states "Defense Systems Daily".

In contrast to larger UAVs used by the US armed forces, the Pioneer is a tactical system equipped only with sophisticated cameras.

Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on October 17, 2004


http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=844980&fid=942


Ellie