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thedrifter
11-03-04, 07:10 AM
Silver Eagles flex wing, stay strong on ship <br />
Submitted by: MCAS Beaufort <br />
Story Identification #: 20041028142638 <br />
Story by Lance Cpl. Justin V. Eckersley <br />
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USS HARRY S TRUMAN (Oct. 22, 2004)...

thedrifter
11-03-04, 07:11 AM
Deployment pay shouldn't burn holes in Marines' pockets
Submitted by: MCB Camp Pendleton
Story Identification #: 20041028141656
Story by Sgt. Jim Heuston



(Oct. 28, 2004) -- Corporal Adam R. York heard all the advice about not spending too much of his combat pay when he returned home.

Nonetheless, he recently found himself clearing his pickup truck bed at the PX loading dock to load up on goodies.

"I'm pretty much done spending," said York, a motor transport driver for 11th Marine Regiment -- who, like some Marines, could have blown the $9,000 he saved while deployed at exchanges open for business at U.S. base camps in Iraq.

Those exchanges are offering small- and big-ticket items -- including cars, motorcycles and Middle Eastern rugs priced at as high as $50,000.

York and his buddies were trying to fit a new large screen TV in the back of his truck, already loaded haphazardly with TMO boxes that needed rearranging to accommodate the TV. Car audio boxes were stacked up in the backseat window.

"They told us not to splurge," York said. After seven months of regular mortar attacks -- and with no bills to pay -- York thought a little splurging was in order.

But for many Marines returning from Iraq, getting bills under control is the first thing they should do, says Gerald A. Williams, a financial management consultant with Marine and Family Services.

"You don't have to take it all and get something right away," Williams said. "Put yourself in a habit of putting some away for yourself."

Williams speaks to units and individual Marines before they deploy and when they return. He says having a budget and sticking to it -- both in Iraq and at home -- is the key.

A private first class should return from Iraq with at least $7,000, according to figures taken from www.military.com. Nonetheless, some Marines are coming home broke, he said.

"They either blow their money over there or they blow it over here," Williams said.

Whether they return with a lot or a little, they should learn how to save and invest money, he said.

"Start off small. Don't take it all and dump it into a stock. You may lose all your money," Williams said.

Marines should start by putting maybe just $10 to $25 a payday into a mutual fund, or start an individual retirement account that takes a little out at a time, Williams said. Later, after they've established a habit of saving, they can look into something more aggressive, he said.

Ideally, those returning would have something sizable to plunk into an investment when they return. But some don't.

"It's the boredom that gets them," said Cpl. Bryan M. Reza, a motor transport driver for 9th Comm. "One kid spent a grand on DVDs."

Reza said that though the Marine is ultimately to blame, the exchanges in Iraq are part of the problem.

"The PXs are making it worse," Reza said. "I know that they look at it like they're doing us a favor, but I don't think they are. What is the PX out there for? Is it to make money off the Marines? They're spending thousands of dollars out there."

Reza saved more than $10,000 in Iraq in preparation to get out of the Marine Corps. It took most of what he made for the six months he was there to amass that amount, he said. The rest he spent on calling cards, he said.

Reza said that Marines are forewarned about financial problems before they deploy and when they return. But for many, it's just another transition brief they have to endure before they can go on liberty.

York agreed that many Marines in Iraq spend a lot of their money on things they don't need. But with little to do for entertainment -- and little access to news and information -- Marines turn to CDs and DVDs available at camp exchanges.

"It's music that keeps you sane over there," York said.

The splurging comes in two waves. Deploying Marines buy digital cameras, portable DVD players and laptops -- things they can carry.

"When they come back, they buy stuff for their new cars, and movies they need to catch up on," said Linda Huson, manager of Electricity, a home and car electronics store on Mainside.

Having the stuff Marines want to buy took some adjusting. As the first wave of Operation Iraqi Freedom II began, managers found themselves swamped for items they never expected Marines would take with them, Huson said.

"Who knew the Marines would go and fight a war with Gameboys?" Huson said.

But it's not just electronics.

The Army and Air Force Exchange Service has set up 30 exchanges in Iraq -- everything from a 30,000-square-foot superstore at Camp North Victory to an 800-square-foot outpost dubbed Freedom Rest, according to Judd Anstey, a public affairs specialist for AAFES in Dallas. AAFES even has set up tented bazaars where servicemembers can buy local jewelry and rugs. The rugs are priced at between $200 and $50,000, Anstey said.

Inside some of the exchanges, Marines can even arrange to buy cars and motorcycles from third-party contractors, Anstey confirmed. Service members have bought 154 Harley Davidson motorcycles and 127 vehicles since the AAFES began offering the service 11 months ago, Anstey said.

Families tend to be a little more discrete than single Marines about how they spend their money, Williams said. Nonetheless, some spouses go on protracted shopping sprees with the extra money while the servicemember is deployed. Others wait till they're reunited -- then celebrate together by breaking the bank.

Williams made a pitch for prudence.

"First get your bills under control and establish a budget," he said.

Williams is available for financial consultation from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays at Marine and Family Services, Building 13150. 760-725-6098. Walk-ins are welcome, and he will go to you if you don't have a car. He is also available at lunchtime.

To make an appointment, call 725-6098.

Gunnery Sgt. Matthew J. Hevezi, The Scout's press chief, contributed to this story. E-mail Sgt. Heuston at Jim.Heuston@usmc.mil.


http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/52C47E52C210E09885256F3B00646D78?opendocument


Ellie

thedrifter
11-03-04, 07:12 AM
Marine:‘I look at life a lot differently’
By SHERRI CONER
Daily Journal staff writer
sconer@thejournalnet.com

Nov. 1, 2004

While neighborhood kids were trick-or-treating Sunday, Cpl. Greg Stevens boarded a flight to Twentynine Palms, Calif.

After enjoying a 30-day leave in Franklin with his mother, Arlene Ballard, relatives and high school friends, Stevens returned to his Marine base Sunday.

He will likely be sent to Afghanistan soon.

“There’s still a mess over there to clean up,” says Stevens, 21.

One year after joining the Marines, this 2001 graduate of Whiteland Community High School was deployed to Iraq on Feb. 25, 2003.

“We kicked the war off the night of March 19,” Stevens says.

Stevens sat down and wrote a letter to his family. He gave the letter to a buddy to pass along to his mother if he was killed.

“He’s had the letter ever since,” Stevens says. “He’s tried to give it back to me a couple of times. But there’s no way I’m gonna accept it ’til I get out of the Marine Corps.”

Wearing a flak jacket with ballistic plates in the front and back to protect his torso from bullets, Stevens carries 70 pounds of equipment: 300 rounds of ammunition for an M-16 rifle, two grenades, two smoke grenades, two pop-up flares and his rifle.

He and three other Marines were assigned “straight-leg infantry,” Stevens says. “We were going house to house, fighting.”

Stevens was the rifleman beside a machine gunner, a grenadier and a team leader.

“We’re called fire teams,” he says.

Stevens is also a trained combat lifesaver.

“I can take care of anything,” he says. “You get shot, I patch you up. You get your arm blown off, I patch you up. And I can start an IV.”

Combat lifesavers assist the Navy Corpsman, a doctor assigned to their company.

“But if he’s not there, we do his job for him,” Stevens says.

They traveled long hours in Humvees.

“Those things are horrible,” Stevens says. “In 130-degree heat in the desert, you’re riding in this big metal tomb, pretty much.”

They slept on desert sand or inside armored vehicles. Sometimes they dug foxholes. But they always kept moving.

“We pushed all the way through Baghdad and 20 to 30 miles north of Baghdad,” Stevens says.

As he and other soldiers entered Iraqi cities, they never knew what to expect, he says.

The first time he was the target of enemy fire, “a million things ran through my head,” Stevens says. “But then you get used to it. You get in a mindset.”

When shooting erupted from houses along Iraqi streets, “We’d just start lighting the house up with everything we had,” Stevens says. “And then go in and take everybody out that was in it.

“You can’t have emotions when you do it. You just do it.”

After serving nine months, Stevens came home for a 30-day leave. But he didn’t talk much with anyone about the war experiences.

Four months later, Stevens was again deployed to Iraq, this time to the Syrian border. The mission included restoring power and water, rebuilding schools and training police.

“We were trying to get the country back up and running again,” Stevens says.

Terrorists planted bombs along roadways. Few Iraqi residents, if any, would step forward as informants for American soldiers.

“It was like a mafia,” Stevens says. “Terrorists had the place on lockdown. If somebody talked to us, they’d be dead in two days.”

In an effort to stop ambushes and growing numbers of American casualties, combined anti-armor teams with eight trucks began patrols.

“We’d be rolling around with four trucks on each side of the city so we could support each other if something happened,” Stevens says. “We drove around looking for a fight. When they attacked us, they showed themselves. So we killed the people that needed to be killed.”

During patrols of cities along the Syrian border, soldiers slept in trailers, which was a step up from the previous months: foxholes and sleeping bags on the sand.

“But you couldn’t drink the water,” Stevens says. “It had fecal matter in it.”

More than 200 soldiers from Stevens’ platoon were injured. And seven soldiers were killed in the seven months Stevens served for the second time in Iraq.

During a security stop in the city of Husayba, “one of the terrorist bombs (went) off. A couple of my buddies took shrapnel,” Stevens says.

At another point, a turret gunner was shot in the cheek.

“The bullet went out the back of his neck,” Stevens says.

As he had done seven times before, Stevens ran with his medic kit to the aid of the 22-year-old wounded soldier.

“Under fire, we patch them up, throw them on our backs and run out of the line of fire,” Stevens says. “I was bandaging the back of his neck. I had my fingers in his cheek. He came to and he started kicking and fighting and yelling. He was too stubborn to die.”

Once a soldier is down, a “medevac bird” arrives within 20 minutes.

“But it seems like an eternity,” Stevens says. “The helicopter just won’t fly fast enough, you know.”

On his first day of leave, Stevens and a buddy flew to Mississippi, then drove to Alabama to attend the Talladega auto race. The tickets were a gift from his mom, Stevens says.

When fireworks erupted somewhere in the crowd, Stevens and his buddy reacted involuntarily.

“We both jumped,” he says. “My heart was racing. I thought we both were gonna die.”

As quickly as they reacted, they realized they were safe and tried to laugh it off, Stevens says.

One day, he hopes to join a SWAT team, Stevens says. His father, the late Lester Stevens, served as an officer for 20 years with the Indianapolis Police Department.

For now, Stevens has 16 months of service left in the U.S. Marine Corps.

“It makes you grow up,” he says of the experience, “whether you want to or not. All the stuff I’ve seen and all that I know, it will make me a better person. Every day could be my last. I look at life a lot differently now.”

http://www.thejournalnet.com/Main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=113&ArticleID=46997

Ellie

thedrifter
11-03-04, 07:12 AM
Marine Faces Court Martial In Abuse Case <br />
Associated Press <br />
November 3, 2004 <br />
<br />
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - A Marine major acted cruelly in ordering a subordinate to drag an Iraqi prisoner by the...

thedrifter
11-03-04, 07:13 AM
Army NG Short On Recruits
Associated Press
November 3, 2004

DAYTON, Ohio - Free hunting and fishing licenses. More chances to get signing bonuses. Pink T-shirts for women.

The Army National Guard, which has fallen short of recruiting goals during the prolonged fighting in Iraq, is trying new marketing beyond the traditional enticement of college tuition aid.

"There are fewer people who are voluntarily expressing an interest - calling or returning postcards," said Lt. Col. Dan Kenkel, spokesman for the Guard in Nebraska.

Nationally, the Army Guard reached 88 percent of its goal of 56,000 recruits by the end of September, signing up 49,210.

"Recruiting is tougher than it's been in awhile," said James Sims, spokesman for the Ohio Guard, which is about 500 off its target of 2,100 recruits.

Guard officials around the country blame concerns about the Iraq war, Pentagon orders that keep some soldiers from leaving active duty and going into the Guard, and turnover among recruiters, some of whom have been sent overseas.

Of the 100,000 Army Guard members sent to Iraq, about 110 have died.

In the past, young people saw enlisting as a way to get college tuition with little risk to themselves, said Lt. Col. Greg Hapgood, spokesman for the Iowa National Guard. "Today, that risk has changed," he said.

The pink T-shirt bearing the words "Soldier Girl" was designed by Sgt. Stacey Weston, a recruiter in Indiana, to get the attention of potential recruits. She said the Guard quickly ran out of the first order of 800 shirts.

"A lot of young ladies are under the impression they can't be feminine if they join the military," Weston said. "I wanted to dispel that myth."


The Nebraska Guard was 87 soldiers short of its goal of 519 recruits. It is plastering several Dodge Stratuses with its decals and logos in hopes of catching the eye of potential recruits.

Ohio has used Hummers - with oversized tires, televisions and booming sound systems - for the past few years to draw a crowd. The Guard also plans to increase the number of recruiters from 81 to 106.

The number of job-skill categories that pay signing bonuses of $3,000 to $8,000 - such as driving heavy equipment - will be upped from 19 to 30 in the Kansas Army Guard. And thanks to the Legislature, its members will be eligible for free fishing and hunting licenses and passes to state parks beginning in January.

Recruiter Lt. Col. Jane Harris said there is no way to tell how many recruits have been influenced by the new marketing.

Some potential recruits said they were still drawn mainly to the promise of college aid. The benefit ranges from full tuition reimbursement to aid of up to $4,500 a year to loan repayments.

Ted Trautman, 20, of Minneapolis, considered joining for the tuition benefits, but decided against it because he didn't want to fight in a war that might not be justified. Now a sophomore at Wittenberg University, he said none of the new incentives would have changed his mind.

Paul Meyers, 21, of Hilliard, noticed television ads that showed Guard members having fun and serving their country at the same time. An appeal to his patriotic duty was a factor in his decision to join the Guard, but tuition assistance was the main reason.

"Hopefully, I won't get deployed, but if I do, it happens," Meyers said.

The Air Guard was slightly more successful in recruiting, signing up 93 percent of its goal of 8,842.

Scott Woodham, spokesman for the National Guard Bureau, said the Air Guard is smaller and may have benefited from not having to recruit as many new members. It deploys overseas for three months at a time as opposed to one-year stints for the Army Guard.

In Iowa, where this year's 1,073 Army Guard recruits fell short of the usual 1,200, recruiters are shifting their focus to a slightly older target group - age 19 to 21 - because it seems a little more responsive to a patriotic appeal.

The Guard is handing out pens, key chains and posters bearing the American flag or with red, white and blue themes.

Guard Bureau spokesman Lt. Col. Mike Jones said that while such trinkets may not seem like much of an incentive to join, they can make potential recruits feel appreciated.

The Guard is also promoting local soldiers as role models, and members are appearing at more festivals and parades.

"That's marketing," Hapgood said. "That about people saying, 'There's my neighbor, and I didn't know he wore a uniform.'"

Ellie

thedrifter
11-03-04, 07:13 AM
Car Bombs Kill At Least 12 In Iraq
Associated Press
November 3, 2004

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Car bombs killed at least a dozen people in Baghdad and another major city Tuesday as pressure mounted on interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi to avert a full-scale U.S. attack on the insurgent stronghold Fallujah.

There was no word on an American and two other foreigners abducted Monday in Baghdad, although the kidnappers freed two Iraqi guards also captured in the attack.

Early Wednesday, Iraqi police said a Lebanese-American contractor was kidnapped from his Baghdad home. Lt. Col. Maan Khalaf said the contractor, who works for the U.S. Army in the Green Zone, was snatched from his home in Mansour neighborhood around midnight.

Khalaf said armed gunmen knocked at the door to his home and seized him when he answered the door. Interior Ministry spokesman Col. Adnan Abdul-Rahman identified the contractor as Lebanese-American Radim Sadeq, a contractor with a mobile phone company.

Also Wednesday, hospital officials said that a car bomb exploded near a bus carrying airport employees in Baghdad, injuring nine people.

Dr. Ayad Ali of Yarmouk Hospital said the explosion occurred on the main highway leading from the capital to the international airport.

Last month, gunmen ambushed a bus carrying Iraqi women to their jobs at Baghdad International Airport, killing one and wounding 14.

The stretch of road is considered one of the most dangerous highways in Iraq, with insurgents frequently targeting U.S. and Iraqi military convoys.


Meanwhile, kidnappers of aid worker Margaret Hassan threatened to turn her over to al-Qaida-linked militants notorious for beheading hostages unless Britain agreed within 48 hours to pull its troops from Iraq, Al-Jazeera television reported Tuesday.

Al-Jazeera broadcast a portion of a video showing a hooded gunman, and without sound. No group has claimed responsibility for Hassan's kidnapping and the broadcast showed no sign of any banner identifying who held her.

In London, Prime Minister Tony Blair's office and the British Foreign Office both declined to comment on the reported demand. Britain has 8,500 troops in Iraq, the second-largest contingent after the United States.

In northern Iraq on Tuesday, saboteurs blew up an oil pipeline and attacked an oil well, violence that is expected to stop oil exports for the next 10 days, Iraqi oil officials said. Iraq's oil industry, which provides desperately needed money for reconstruction efforts, has been the target of repeated attacks by insurgents.

At least eight people, including a woman, died early Tuesday when an explosives-laden car slammed into concrete blast walls and protective barriers surrounding the Education Ministry and exploded in Baghdad's Sunni Muslim district of Azamiyah.

Ten others were injured, including a 2-year-old girl, according to Al-Numan Hospital. Officials at Baghdad Medical City Hospital reported two more deaths and 19 injured. Dr. Raed Mubarak said he was unsure whether some of the wounded were transferred from other hospitals.

In Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad, a car bomb exploded near a military convoy carrying an Iraqi general, killing four civilians and wounding at least seven soldiers.

Iraqi police said the attack was an assassination attempt on Maj. Gen. Rashid Feleih, commander of a special task force, who was not injured. Feleih was apparently on his way to a news conference to talk about the role of the task force, according to police and media reports.

The violence came as American forces prepare for a major offensive against Fallujah and other Sunni militant strongholds north and west of Baghdad in hopes of curbing the insurgency so that national elections can be held in January.

U.S. forces have pounded insurgent positions around Fallujah almost daily, but American officials say the go-ahead for an all-out assault must come from Allawi, the interim prime minister.

However, new pressure mounted Tuesday on Allawi, a Shiite Muslim, to forego an assault and to continue negotiating with the hardline Sunni clerics who run the city, which has become a symbol of Iraqi resistance throughout the Arab world.

Mohammed Bashar al-Faidhi, spokesman of the Association of Muslim Scholars, said his clerical group would use "mosques, the media and professional associations" to proclaim a civil disobedience campaign and a boycott of the January elections.

"In the case of an incursion in Fallujah, there will be a call to boycott elections," al-Faidhi said. "In case of an incursion, more deterrent steps will be taken."

He said that a boycott call by the influential clerical group "will have a great resonance among the people of Iraq."

Such a call by Iraqi Sunnis would probably draw little support among the Shiite majority, believed to comprise about 60 percent of Iraq's nearly 26 million people. The country's leading Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, has been demanding elections for more than a year, and some Shiite preachers have been telling their followers that failing to vote would be sinful.

However, a boycott call could have resonance among central Iraq's Sunnis, who form the core of the insurgency, and inflame passions between the country's major religious communities. Interim President Ghazi al-Yawer, a Sunni, has also spoken out against an attack.

"It's not reasonable to call for elections that are supposed to be democratic and yet a peaceful city gets attacked by weapons, missiles, planes and bombs," said Nabil Mohammed, a professor at Baghdad University's Center for International Studies. He said an all-out attack would "elicit a very big response and support from Iraqis."

U.S. officials believe Fallujah is the stronghold of an al-Qaida faction led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, whose followers are responsible for numerous car bombings and beheadings of foreign captives.

Al-Zarqawi's group claimed in a Web posting Tuesday that it beheaded Japanese backpacker Shosei Koda after Tokyo refused to withdraw troops from Iraq. The claim was accompanied by a gruesome video showing the young Japanese, whose body was found Saturday in Baghdad, being beheaded on an American flag.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack in Baghdad in which an American, a Filipino and a Nepalese were taken hostage.

Twelve Americans have been kidnapped or are missing in Iraq. At least three of them have been killed - all beheaded by al-Zarqawi's group.

Ellie

thedrifter
11-03-04, 09:03 AM
No. 1101-04
Nov 02, 2004
IMMEDIATE RELEASE




National Guard and Reserve Mobilized as of November 3, 2004
This week, the Army announced an increase in the number of reservists on active duty in support of the partial mobilization, while the Air Force, Navy and Marines had a decrease. The Coast Guard number remained unchanged. The net collective result is 3,550 more reservists mobilized than last week.

At any given time, services may mobilize some units and individuals while demobilizing others, making it possible for these figures to either increase or decrease. Total number currently on active duty in support of the partial mobilization for the Army National Guard and Army Reserve is 153,488; Naval Reserve, 3,433; Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve, 10,109; Marine Corps Reserve, 11,444; and the Coast Guard Reserve, 1,120. This brings the total National Guard and Reserve personnel, who have been mobilized, to 179,594 including both units and individual augmentees.

A cumulative roster of all National Guard and Reserve personnel, who are currently mobilized, can be found at http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Nov2004/d20041103ngr.pdf .


Ellie

thedrifter
11-03-04, 09:31 AM
Marines prep for a shifting enemy
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From the November 03, 2004 edition
By Scott Peterson
Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

NEAR FALLUJAH, IRAQ - Breathing hard and leading with their rifles, a cluster of US marines takes cover behind a mountain of rubble. Another team dashes across a field, concealing themselves behind a large metal wheel.

"Rat-a-tat-tat!" shouts one, like a comic-book warrior. "You're dead!" declares another, at pretend insurgents.

If training is key to battlefield success, the marines of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force are trying to maximize their skills as they prepare for the type of urban offensive in Fallujah that most military experts anticipated 18 months ago, when US forces first entered Baghdad.

Senior US and Iraqi officials say an invasion of the city could begin within days, in a bid to decapitate the insurgency that has spread across Iraq. The challenge for these troops will be to stay one step ahead of a resistance that is constantly evolving, has become adept at using the Internet to share tactics, is fighting on its home turf, and has had months to prepare.

"They are changing all the time - it's cat and mouse, and we're trying to stay the cat," says Capt. Gill Juarez, an armored company commander from San Diego.

Some 52 Marines died in Fallujah and elsewhere in Iraq last April, when a US invasion force entered the city, igniting resistance across a string of cities.

"Their only advantage is they can use the asymmetric threat, and we can't go there, nor should we," says Captain Juarez, referring to guerrilla tactics that include roadside and suicide car bomb attacks, which killed eight marines near Abu Ghraib last Saturday.

On Juarez's desk in a Spartan makeshift operations center, is a worn book called "Russia's Chechnya Wars 1994-2000: Lessons from Urban Combat." The light armor commander has asked all his officers to read it, to understand how Russia's superior firepower - brought to bear destroying the Chechen capital, Grozny - did not bring victory.

"It's no secret for mechanized units: you're vulnerable [in urban warfare]," says Juarez. "You have to have dismounted security. I tell my scouts [marines on the ground] that they need to have eyeballs 'one feature over.' They need to know what's going on the other side of the wall or the berm."

Despite the mustering of US Marine and Army forces for any Fallujah invasion, and thousands of newly trained Iraqi troops to control the city afterward, not all in Iraq's interim government are convinced about the tough approach.

Ghazi al-Yawar, Iraq's interim president, criticized the effort, saying in an interview with a Kuwait newspaper that the standoff called for "continued dialogue." And Mohammed Bashar al-Faidhi, spokesman of the Association of Muslim Scholars, warned Tuesday that an assault on Fallujah would spur his Sunni clerical group to use "mosques, the media, and professional associations" to proclaim a civil disobedience campaign and a boycott of the January elections. Two Iraqi cities also saw fresh violence Tuesday as a car bomb in Baghdad killed at least six people, while in Mosul, a car bomb exploded near a military convoy, killing four civilians and wounding at least seven soldiers.

A further challenge in Fallujah, US commanders say, is the apparent ease and speed with which insurgents have adapted their tactics. And this offensive will be no surprise to Fallujah - the showdown has been telegraphed for weeks; more than 80 percent of the population of about 300,000 are believed to have left the city to avoid the invasion.

"They've had a lot more time to prepare," says Lt. Col. Michael Ramos of Dallas, a battalion commander. If past operations are any measure, the marines are likely to face an array of roadside bombs, booby traps, and other surprises.

Every vehicle in the city will be considered a potential car bomb; every person who remains, a potential insurgent. Guerrillas spread their expertise on the Internet and word of mouth throughout their strongholds. "The use of technology is really changing the face of warfare," says Colonel Ramos. "The speed with which you can spread an idea is so fast. The loop between action and innovation is getting smaller and smaller."

Despite those changes, the battle for built-up Fallujah is expected to be an infantry fight. And some insurgents still fight the old way, even against tanks.

"We've seen the enemy come running at our tanks with small arms fire," says Capt. Robert Bodisch, an M1A1 tank company commander, who adds that his units "every day reduce the insurgent population of Fallujah."

"I think they honestly believe they can damage us," says Captain Bodisch. "But then they are not around long enough to go back and tell their buddies." Still, the tanks are "not really designed to fight in an urban environment," the captain says. "We've had to change our tactics."

Civilians in the city complicate the picture, and have recently limited the marines' ability to shoot. While any battle for Fallujah is likely to err on the side of more firepower, officers have shown the marines they are serious about strict rules of engagement.

When a civilian was shot dead and three wounded by marines early Monday at a checkpoint, where mixed signals to stop or go appear to have been sent to the Iraqi driver, investigating officers took the unit aside and questioned individual marines within hours of the incident.

But tactics are what now occupy the marines, as they work to integrate armor and infantry for battle. They have even refitted their gas masks, armed with longstanding intelligence about a potential threat of a poison-gas attack.

The dry runs with combat units this week are yielding lessons, and ironing out issues before they turn into battlefield problems. "Good job on concealment - you guys were up a little bit too long," says Cpl. Steven Komin of Mundeleine, Ill., standing on a crushed concrete platform to address the fire teams after the combat drill. "You've got to move quickly - sometimes you won't have cover at all; just work with what you have."

"We're looking forward to this," says Lance Cpl. Geoffrey Bivens of Katy, Texas, one of the marines doing the mock urban combat training. "Now [insurgents] are really scared to come close to us. They know it's suicide."

"They're just spraying and praying," says Lance Cpl. Lance Fischer, of Bradenton, Fla., dismissing insurgent rifle fire. "They're not trained marksmen, like we are."

That sparked a warning from Corporal Bivens: "Yeah, but they're spraying and praying at chest height."


Ellie

thedrifter
11-03-04, 09:48 AM
Marines' 'Night Walkers' Watch Over Dark Skies <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
By Jackie Spinner <br />
Washington Post Staff Writer <br />
Wednesday, November 3, 2004; Page A03 <br />
<br />
NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq, Nov. 2 -- From the air, there...

thedrifter
11-03-04, 10:22 AM
Falluja awaits U.S. crane that toppled Saddam statue


By Michael Georgy
Reuters

NEAR FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters) - The new crew of the U.S. Marine vehicle that pulled down Saddam Hussein's statue during the fall of Baghdad hope to make their own mark in an expected onslaught on Iraq's rebel stronghold of Falluja.

"We are hoping to make history of our own in the fall of Falluja," said Lance Corporal Justin Patman, 22.

"We want to be known for our own success in Iraq, not just as the vehicle that tore down Saddam Hussein."

The M-88 crane vehicle, which normally retrieves tanks hit during fighting, was used to help Iraqis knock down a statue of the toppled Iraqi leader in a packed central Baghdad square in one of the most memorable images of the 2003 war.

Nineteen months later it sits in a sea of tanks at a base near Falluja where Marines are awaiting orders to attack Saddam loyalists and Muslim militants in what has become the epicentre of a relentless Sunni Muslim-led insurgency.

There may be no statues in Falluja for Saddam or for Washington's most wanted man in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. But the M-88 crew want to be part of what they hope will be a historic victory in the city, located west of Baghdad.

A victory in Falluja would not be as dramatic as toppling Saddam and his statue but the stakes are still high.

Iraq's U.S.-backed interim government believes pacifying Falluja would help stabilise other rebel cities ahead of national assembly elections scheduled for January.

Now the M-88 seen across the world when Baghdad fell on April 9, 2003 will be part of an offensive aimed to wipe out the former Iraqi leader's followers in Falluja.

"We see this as a chance to end unfinished business in Iraq," said Staff Sergeant Joel Hill.

It may not be easy.

The tank retriever's crew has had a limited taste of what fighting in Falluja could be like. It has rescued tanks hit by rocket-propelled grenades or landmines in nearby areas.

Fixing or retrieving 70-ton tanks can take hours, leaving the crew exposed to insurgents positioned along nearby sand hills or firing from distant buildings.

Those risks will multiply in full-blown fighting in the narrow streets and alleys of Falluja -- and the M-88 has thinner armour and fewer weapons than the tanks it rescues.

The crew has not been attacked on missions around Falluja so any incursions into the city could expose them to fierce fighting in an unfamiliar urban battlefield.

The M-88 is known by all Marines in the platoon it is attached to as the one that hauled down Saddam's statue, but some of its crew see it as just another tank retriever.

"I just want to do the job and get home," said Lance Corporal Jason Oliver, 20. "I try not to think about Saddam or what may happen in Falluja."


Ellie

thedrifter
11-03-04, 11:02 AM
Iraqis Ignore U.S. Vote Amid Bloodshed, Kidnapping

By Alistair Lyon

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqis traumatized by violence barely heeded the U.S. election on Wednesday as a suicide bomber attacked a U.S. checkpoint near Baghdad airport and kidnappers seized five more foreigners, including an American.


During vote counting before President Bush (news - web sites) clinched victory over Democratic challenger John Kerry (news - web sites), many Iraqis kept their television sets tuned to Ramadan religious programs.


"Will Kerry turn occupation into liberation? No. Has Bush kept his promises? No. Whoever wins we will be at their mercy," said Raad Fadel, selling musical instruments in Baghdad.


Bush's deadliest Islamist enemy Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) said the U.S. president had dragged America into a quagmire in Iraq (news - web sites) and warned for the first time of retaliation for Iraqi deaths.


"Bush's hands are sullied with the blood of those on both sides just for oil and to employ his private companies," the al Qaeda leader said in a full Internet broadcast of a video aired in part by Arabic Al Jazeera television last week. "Remember that for every action, there is a reaction."


Hungary and the Netherlands said they would withdraw their troops from a U.S.-led multinational force in Iraq by March.


Before Kerry conceded defeat, U.S. Marines watched television coverage of the Bush-Kerry contest at a base near Falluja, west of Baghdad.


"A Bush win would mean we would stay the course in Iraq. A Kerry win means we would probably leave before the job is done," said 1st Lieutenant Tony King, 33.


First Lieutenant Sara Hope, 24, had only one thought in mind: "I am leaving in March no matter who wins."


Attacks and kidnappings have intensified as Marines step up pressure on Falluja and Ramadi before an expected offensive to retake rebel cities to enable elections to go ahead in January.


A suspected suicide bomber blew up his vehicle on the main road to Baghdad airport, killing an Iraqi security man and wounding seven civilians, witnesses and hospital staff said.


The U.S. military said there were no American casualties in the attack on the approach to a U.S. checkpoint that controls access to the international airport in southwest Baghdad.


BODIES UNDER BRIDGE


Reuters photographs showed soldiers loading a corpse in a black bag into a military ambulance. A U.S. spokesman at the airport later said it was the body of an Iraqi security man.


American soldiers were also photographed collecting body parts from the debris-strewn scene in pink plastic bags.


The explosion reduced the four-wheel-drive vehicle apparently used by the suicide bomber to a charred heap of twisted metal. Two other cars were burned and damaged.


An Interior Ministry spokesman said river patrol police had found three unidentified bodies under a bridge across the Tigris on Tuesday. He said they were mutilated but could not confirm an earlier report that they had been decapitated.





Al Jazeera said militants had beheaded three Iraqi National Guards that a previously unknown group accused of spying for U.S. troops in Iraq and helping arrest insurgents.

The channel aired footage showing three men with a masked man behind them, but did not broadcast the beheadings.

A U.S. embassy spokesman said he had no word on the three bodies, or on a U.S.-Lebanese contractor named Radim Sadiq who was seized in Baghdad's western suburb of Mansour on Tuesday.

He said the embassy also had no information on an American national kidnapped along with a Filipino accountant and a Nepali from their Saudi company's office in Mansour on Monday.

Four Jordanian truck drivers were kidnapped in western Iraq on Tuesday, a Foreign Ministry official in Amman said.

Another militant group said it beheaded a man it called a senior member of Iraq's armed forces in the northern city of Mosul and posted a video of the killing on its Web site.

The Army of Ansar al-Sunna accused the officer, Major Hussein Shunun, of helping U.S. forces against insurgents.

The Care International charity that employs British-Iraqi captive Margaret Hassan said it was distressed by the latest video issued by her kidnappers and urged them to free her.

The tape showed Hassan -- seized by unidentified kidnappers in Baghdad on Oct. 19 -- fainting on camera with water thrown at her to revive her, a witness who saw the tape told Reuters.

Hassan's unidentified captors threatened to turn her over to a group led by al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi within 48 hours unless British troops quit Iraq, Al Jazeera said.

Zarqawi's group has claimed responsibility for hostage beheadings and some of Iraq's bloodiest suicide attacks.

Gunmen killed an Oil Ministry official, Hussein Ali, as he left his home in Baghdad, the Interior Ministry spokesman said.

No Iraqi oil was flowing from a northern pipeline to Turkey after this week's sabotage attacks, shipping sources said. (Additional reporting by Waleed Ibrahim, Lin Noueihed and Terry Friel in Baghdad, Michael Georgy near Falluja, and Dubai, Beirut and Amman bureaus)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&ncid=578&e=10&u=/nm/20041103/ts_nm/iraq_dc


Ellie

thedrifter
11-03-04, 01:02 PM
LtGen. James T. Conway's Speech from the George P. Shultz Lecture Series
October 8, 2004


THANK YOU, DR SCHULTZ FOR THE INTRODUCTION AND GOOD EVENING TO OUR SPECIAL GUESTS, MARINES, FRIENDS AND FAMILIES OF MARINES.

I AM HONORED TO BE WITH YOU THIS EVENING. YOU KNOW THIS THE SECOND TIME I HAVE SPENT AN EVENING IN THIS BALLROOM. THE FIRST TIME I WAS A MARINE 1ST LT ASSIGNED THE USS KITTY HAWK IN THE YARDS AT A PLACE CALLED HUNTERS' POINT. WE HAD A SPECIAL EVENT IN THIS ROOM AND A MARINE LT GENERAL CAME AND SPOKE TO US.

I RETURNED FROM IRAQ ON SEPTEMBER 13 TH , ALMOST A MONTH AGO, AND I WAS SURPRISED AT HOW THE ELECTION THIS YEAR HAS CAPTURED THE NEWS. BUT POLITICS PERVADES OUR SOCIETY AND THERE SHOULD BE NO SURPRISE. ADMIRAL CROWE USED TO SAY THAT HE DIDN'T LIKE POLITICS * SO HE JOINED THE NAVY. ALL THE NAVY GUYS WOULD LAUGH AT THAT. BUT I MUST TELL YOU THAT POLITICS EXIST IN THE MARINE CORPS AS WELL. INDEED THERE IS A STORY THAT GOES ALL THE WAY BACK TO WORLD WAR II.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I HAVE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO LEAD OUR MAGNIFICENT MARINES AND SAILORS IN PLANNING FOR, OR IN COMBAT, FOR 17 OF THE LAST 23 MONTHS. THE EXPERIENCE HAS BEEN BOTH SADDENING AND INSPIRATIONAL. SAD, TO SEE YOUNG MEN WHO WILL CARRY GRIEVOUS WOUNDS THROUGH LIFE * AND FOR THOSE KILLED IN ACTION; FATHERS SHOULD NOT HAVE TO BURY THEIR SONS. INSPIRATIONAL, BECAUSE I HAVE SEEN SOME OF THE NATION'S FINEST YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN PERFORM SO VERY UNSELFISHLY AND IN WAYS THAT I WOULD HAVE THOUGHT IMPOSSIBLE. I WOULD LIKE TO TALK WITH YOU THIS EVENING ABOUT SOME OF MY OBSERVATIONS AND EXPERIENCES ARISING FROM BOTH OPERATIONS IRAQI FREEDOM I AND II; TO CONTRAST THOSE TWO VERY DIFFERENT CONFLICTS; AND FINALLY TO LOOK AT WHAT I PERCEIVE TO BE "THE WAY AHEAD" IN IRAQ . AT THE END OF REMARKS I WOULD BE DELIGHTED TO TAKE YOUR QUESTIONS.

I THINK IT IMPORTANT THAT YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT WE THOUGHT WE WERE GOING TO ACCOMPLISH IN THE FALL OF 2002. MY COMMANDERS AND I BELIEVED WE WERE THERE TO REMOVE SADDAM HUSSEIN'S REGIME AND TO DESTROY HIS WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION. OUR NATION HAD SUFFERED A TERRIBLE WOUND THE YEAR BEFORE AND WE BELIEVED THAT WHEN OUR COMMANDER IN CHIEF STOOD LOOKING AT THAT MASSIVE HOLE IN THE GROUND IN NEW YORK * AND AT THE BLACKENED WEST SIDE OF THE PENTAGON, THAT HE SAID TO HIMSELF AND THOSE AROUND HIM, "NEVERMORE". NEVER AGAIN WOULD A NATION * OR A PEOPLE * BECOME A THREAT TO OUR UNITED STATES WITHOUT US ACTING FIRST; NEVER AGAIN WOULD WE ABSORB A FIRST BLOW, AND THE LOSS OF THOUSANDS OF OUR COUNTRYMEN. THE US MILITARY HAD ACTED RAPIDLY AND DECISIVELY IN AFGHANISTAN AND WE FELT THE PRESIDENT THEN LOOKED AT OTHERS WHO HAD THE MALEVOLENT INTENT, AND THE CAPABILITY, TO HARM OUR PEOPLE. AS MARINES, WE FELT WE WERE THE SPEAR-POINT OF A PREEMPTIVE POLICY THAT WOULD PROTECT OUR HOMELAND AND MAKE THE WORLD SAFER AGAINST THE SCOURGE OF TERRORISM. WE BELIEVED IT THEN * AND WE BELIEVE IT EVEN MORE TODAY.

OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM WAS BROKEN INTO FOUR DISTINCT PHASES. A DEPLOYMENT PHASE, A SHAPING PHASE; A DECISIVE OPERATIONS PHASE AND PHASE FOUR WAS THE RECONSTRUCTION PHASE. WE WERE VIRTUALLY CERTAIN THERE WOULD BE A FIGHT, THE PRESIDENT HAD SAID PLAINLY THAT IT WAS AN "EITHER - OR" SITUATION. EITHER SADDAM GAVE UP HIS WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION * OR WE WOULD GO TO WAR. WE SAW NO ACQUIESCENCE ON SADDAM'S PART SO WE ENCOURAGED OUR HIGHER HEADQUARTERS TO QUOTE "SAIL THE FLEET". DURING JANUARY AND FEBRUARY 03, THE MARINE CORPS FLEXED ITS EXPEDITIONARY MUSCLE * 60,000 MARINES, SAILORS, AND THEIR HEAVY EQUIPMENT DEPLOYED TO KUWAIT IN 45 DAYS. THERE CAN BE NO QUESTION, OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM, JUST AS OPERATION DESERT STORM OVER A DECADE BEFORE, WAS FIRST AND FOREMOST A LOGISTICAL VICTORY. NO OTHER NATION ON EARTH COULD EVEN HAVE ATTEMPTED SUCH A MONUMENTAL TRANSFER OF MEN AND MATERIEL, TO A MOONSCAPE ON EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE GLOBE, IN PREPARATION FOR AN ATTACK.

OUR ORGANIZATION FOR COMBAT REMAINED DYNAMIC THROUGHOUT PHASES I AND II. THE MEF WAS ASSIGNED TO THIRD ARMY WHERE WE JOINED WITH V CORPS AS THE GROUND FORCE. THEY WOULD BE THE MAIN ATTACK IN A FAST MOVING SWEEP ACROSS MAINLY DESERT TERRAIN SOUTHWEST OF BAGHDAD . WE WOULD BE THE SUPPORTING ATTACK, CROSSING RIVERS AND ALONG POORER AVENUES OF APPROACH. OUR ROLE WAS TO LOOK LIKE THE MAIN ATTACK, PICK A FIGHT WITH ANYBODY THAT WOULD ENGAGE US, AND YET KEEP BATTLEFIELD GEOMETRY SO WE WERE ABREAST OR EVEN SLIGHTLY IN ADVANCE OF V CORPS. BOTH FORCES WERE TO FOCUS LIKE A LASER ON BAGHDAD . WHEN TURKEY CLOSED IT'S BORDERS TO COALITION FORCES, THE ENTIRE BRITISH 1 ST ARMORED DIVISION WAS ASSIGNED TO THE MEF. MARVELOUS TROOPS AND LEADERS, WITH FIRST RATE EQUIPMENT, THEY SWELLED OUR RANKS TO JUST SHORT OF 90,000 MARINES, SOLDIERS, AND SAILORS. I TOLD THE COLORFUL BRITISH FORMATIONS, WITH THEIR MULTI-COLORED BERETS AND SCOTTISH PLAIDS, THAT THERE WAS A TIME IN OUR COUNTRY WHERE THE PHRASE "THE BRITISH ARE COMING" WAS USED TO SCARE THE CHILDREN. HOWEVER, IN THIS INSTANCE AMERICAN MARINES IN KUWAIT WERE INDEED GLAD TO HEAR IT.

THE ALL VOLUNTEER FORCE HAS PROVIDED US WITH AN AMAZING QUALITY OF MARINE AND SAILOR. BIGGER STRONGER, AND FASTER THAN HIS NAMESAKE OF DECADES PAST * HE AND SHE ARE ALSO MORE INFORMED, AND THEREFORE MORE OPINIONATED, MORE INQUISITIVE. MY COMMANDERS AND I CONSTANTLY SPOKE TO THE TROOPS IN THEIR TRAINING BASES IN KUWAIT TO PROVIDE INFORMATION AND SQUELCH RUMORS. THEIR NUMBER ONE QUESTION WAS " IS THE COUNTRY BEHIND US?" THEY HAD READ OR HEARD ABOUT THE LARGE ANTI-WAR DEMONSTRATIONS IN THE U.S. AND ELSEWHERE, AND WANTED ASSURANCES. WE TOLD EACH FORMATION NOT TO WORRY ABOUT IT * TO JUST DO THEIR JOBS. THAT THE AMERICAN CITIZEN WAS MATURE ENOUGH IN HIS BELIEFS THAT EVEN IF THEY DIDN'T SUPPORT THE WAR, THEY WOULD STILL SUPPORT THE TROOPS. WE TOLD THEM THAT SEVENTY-FIVE PERCENT OF THEIR COUNTRYMEN WERE BEHIND THEM NOW, AND THAT FIGURE WOULD ZOOM TO NINETY-FIVE PERCENT WHEN THE SHOOTING STARTED. FRANKLY, WE SAID "**** ON THE OTHER FIVE PERCENT *THERE IS ALWAYS THAT NUMBER THAT JUST DON'T GET IT." THE TROOPS WERE OK WITH THAT.

IN WHAT HAD BECOME A PREDICTABLE U.S. PATTERN, AN AIR CAMPAIGN WAS PLANNED TO PRECEDE THE GROUND ATTACK. FORTY DAYS WAS REDUCED TO 16 DAYS AND THAT WAS CUT IN HALF TO AN 8 DAY PERIOD OF "SHOCK AND AWE" BY THE AIR PLANNERS. INCREASING REPORTS OF EXPLOSIVES BEING MOVED INTO THE SOUTHERN OIL FIELDS, HOWEVER, MADE IT APPARENT THAT AIR ATTACK COULD BE THE SIGNAL FOR IRAQI FORCES TO DEMOLISH THE OIL PLATFORMS IN A CALCULATED ACT OF SENSELESS DESTRUCTION. SINCE RAPID, AND INTACT, SEIZURE OF THE SOUTHERN OILFIELD PRODUCTION WAS A MEF MISSION * WE WERE AN EARLY ADVOCATE OF LAUNCHING THE GROUND ATTACK BEFORE AN AIR CAMPAIGN. FOR A TIME THE BEST WE COULD DO WAS SET A SIMULTANEOUS ATTACK OF AIR AND GROUND. BUT THERE IS AN OLD ADAGE, WELL REMEMBERED, THAT "THE ENEMY GETS A VOTE". WITHOUT WARNING OR PROVOCATION, 0N 20 MARCH SADDAM STARTED DESTRUCTION IN THE FIELDS. OUR ATTACK WAS MOVED FORWARD INITIALLY 24 HOURS * THEN EIGHT HOURS MORE! IT'S OK TO DELAY AN ATTACK, SO LONG AS YOU REST THE TROOPS; MOVING AN ATTACK FORWARD IS VERY MUCH ANOTHER MATTER. THAT SAID, I COULD NOT HAVE BEEN MORE PLEASED WITH THE RESPONSE OF MY COMMANDERS, AIR AND GROUND, AS WE THUNDERED ACROSS THE INTERNATIONAL BORDER A FULL 32 HOURS AHEAD THAN THE PLAN.

OUR INTELLIGENCE OFFERED DIFFERENT ANALYSES OF ENEMY STRENGTH, INTENTIONS, AND WHERE HE WOULD USE HIS CHEMICAL WEAPONS. WE FACED THREE IRAQI CORPS IN OUR SECTOR * TWO REGULAR ARMY AND ONE REPUBLICAN GUARD, CONSISTING OF NINE TOTAL DIVISIONS. WE WERE LED TO BELIEVE THAT MAJOR PORTIONS OF SOME OF THOSE DIVISIONS WOULD CAPITULATE *THE DIVISION MOST LIKELY TO COLLAPSE BEING THE 11 TH INFANTRY DIVISION AROUND AN NAZARIAH. WE WOULD FIND THE OPPOSITE TO BE TRUE. SOME INTELL EXPERTS THOUGHT SADDAM WOULD UNLEASH HIS CHEMICAL WEAPONS AS SOON AS WE CROSSED THE KUWAITI BORDER, OTHERS THOUGHT WHEN WE CROSSED THE EUPHRATES RIVER . MY OWN VIEW WAS THAT THEY WOULD HIT US WITH CHEMICALS AS WE APPROACHED THE REPUBLICAN GUARD DIVISIONS ANCHORED ON THE TIGRIS RIVER SOUTHEAST OF BAGHDAD . TAKING NO CHANCES, WE CROSSED THE LINE OF DEPARTURE IN THE BULKY CHEMICAL SUITS AND STAYED IN THEM FOR TWO AND A HALF WEEKS

THE MARINE EXPEDITIONARY FORCE HAS BEEN HONED BY OUR PREDECESSORS TO BE THE MOST EFFICIENT KILLING MACHINE ON THE BATTLEFIELD. WITH INTEGRATED GROUND, AIR, AND LOGISTICS ELEMENTS, UNDER A SINGLE COMMANDER, THE MEF GENERATED A LEVEL OF SPEED AND MOMENTUM THAT ONLY THE ENEMY COULD FULLY APPRECIATE. THE MEF HAD AVAILABLE OVER 340 COMBAT AIRCRAFT THAT COULD GENERATE ALMOST 700 SORTIES EACH DAY AGAINST ANY TARGET WE CHOSE. DURING THE GULF WAR IT TOOK TEN BOMBS TO DESTROY EACH TARGET * DURING OIF A SINGLE AIRCRAFT COULD DESTROY TEN TARGETS. IT HAS BEEN SAID THAT THE IRAQIS MELTED AWAY, BUT, THAT DOES NOT GIVE PROPER CREDIT TO THE IRAQI ARMY. WHEN THEY MASSED, THEY WERE BLOWN AWAY BY THE EFFECTS OF OUR DEEP AIR. A CAPTURED IRAQI TANK BRIGADE COMMANDER TOLD OF MAKING AN 80 MILE FORCED MARCH IN ORDER TO POSITION HIS TANKS EAST OF BAGHDAD . ON THE FIRST NIGHT, IN ORDER TO REST HIS TROOPS HE MOVED HIS TANKS INTO PALM GROVES. AT O200, DURING THE WORST SAND STORM IN 20 YEARS, UNDER COMPLETE COVER OF DARKNESS AND DEEP IN THE PALM GROVES, MARINE AIR BEGAN THE SYSTEMATIC DESTRUCTION OF HIS TANKS. WHEN 30 HAD BEEN DESTROYED BY PINPOINT BOMBING HIS TROOPS THEN MELTED AWAY. HE TOLD US, "I WANTED TO ORDER THEM BACK * BUT KNEW THAT IF I DID, IT MEANT CERTAIN DEATH."

WE EMPLOYED A REVITALIZED CONCEPT FOR REPORTING THE WAR WITH MULTIPLE MEDIA EMBEDDED IN OUR FORMATIONS. THAT MEANT THAT WE OWED THEM FOOD & SHELTER, TRANSPORTATION, AND THE OPPORTUNITY TO GET THEIR STORIES OUT TO A WAITING PUBLIC. THE PROGRAM WAS NOT WITHOUT ITS FAULTS -- HOWEVER -- ON THE WHOLE IT WAS A HUGE SUCCESS. THE MEMBERS OF THE MEDIA LIVED THE LIFESTYLE OF "THE GRUNT", THEY EXPERIENCED THE COLD, THE WET, AND THE BITING SAND STORMS. THEY SAW THE RAW EMOTIONS AS MARINE AGGRESSIVENESS OVERCAME FOG AND FRICTION, AND AS THE EXHILARATION OF BATTLE WAS TEMPERED BY THE REALITIES OF CASUALTY EVACUATION. THEY REPEATEDLY MARVELED AT THE PROFESSIONALISM OF THE 19 YEAR OLD LANCE CORPORALS AS THEY HANDLED ALL THE ABOVE. THE STORIES THEY FILED WERE 95% POSITIVE ACCOUNTS OF THE COURAGE AND STEADFASTNESS OF THE UNITS, AND THERE WERE MORE THAN A FEW TEARFUL FAREWELLS AS THEY LEFT US. NOT SINCE THE DAYS OF ERNIE PYLE AND WORLD WAR II, HAD SUCH BONDING OCCURRED BETWEEN THE MEDIA AND THE AMERICAN FIGHTING MAN.

continued..........

thedrifter
11-03-04, 01:03 PM
IN EVERY WAR, THERE ARE THOSE THINGS THAT WILL MAKE YOU SMILE AND THINGS THAT WILL MAKE YOU CRY. ONE SUCH INCIDENT OCCURRED AS ARMOR COLUMNS ATTACKED UP HIGHWAY 6 SOUTHEAST OF BAGHDAD . OUR ARMOR AVAILABILITY HAD BEEN FANTASTIC. DIFFICULT TO MAINTAIN, WE HAD STILL SHOWN READINESS RATES OF 93 AND 94 PERCENT ON TANKS AND TRACKS RESPECTIVELY. AS I STOOD WATCHING THE TROOPS MOVE UP THE HIGHWAY I BETTER UNDERSTOOD WHY. STEAMING PAST ME AT 40 MPH I SAW ONE AMPHIBIOUS ASSAULT VEHICLE TOWING ANOTHER. SITTING ATOP THE SECOND VEHICLE WERE THREE MARINE MECHANICS, WITH FEET AND HANDS DOWN INTO THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT, WORKING ON THE ENGINE. I SAID TO THE DIVISION COMMANDER STANDING NEXT TO ME, "GEN MATTIS, THAT IS A SAFETY VIOLATION * GOD BLESS `EM!" LATER IN THE ATTACK ON BAGHDAD THE 1 ST BATTALION, 8 TH MARINES GOT INTO A SERIOUS FIGHT IN AND AROUND THE IMAM ALI MOSQUE IN THE NORTH-CENTRAL PORTION OF THE CITY. THEY KILLED ROUGHLY 250 REPUBLICAN GUARDS, BAATHISTS, AND SADAAM FEDAYEEN AS THEY TOOK THEIR OBJECTIVES. FIRST CASUALTY REPORTS COMING IN ON OUR SIDE WERE ONE GUNNERY SERGEANT KILLED AND 41 TROOPS WOUNDED. THE NEXT DAY THAT FIGURE ZOOMED TO 1 KIA AND 73 WOUNDED. AS WE ASKED HOW THAT HAPPENED, WE LEARNED OF THE LCPL WHO CAME IN TO THE BATTALION AID STATION WEAK AND WITH A BLOODY ARM. THE CORPSMAN ASKED HIM HOW MANY TIMES HE HAD CHANGED THE BANDAGE AND THE MARINE TOLD HIM THAT HE HAD LOST COUNT. THE DOC, AS HE SHOULD, GOT IN THE MARINE'S CASE AND THE TROOPER SAID DOC I'M NOT THE ONLY GUY OUT THERE LIKE THAT. INDEED HE WAS NOT AND AS THE COMPANY COMMANDERS AND FIRST SERGEANTS EXAMINED THEIR MEN, THEY CAME ACROSS THE ADDITIONAL CASUALTIES. ASKED WHY THEY DIDN'T TURN THEMSELVES IN TO THE AID STATION FOR TREATMENT AND POSSIBLE EVACUATION THEY ANSWERED, "SIR, I AM THE ONLY AUTOMATIC RIFLEMAN LEFT IN MY SQUAD", OR "SIR, I THOUGHT THERE MIGHT BE ANOTHER BIG FIGHT TODAY", OR JUST "SIR, I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE MY BUDDIES". LADIES AND GENTLEMAN WITH TROOPS LIKE THOSE THE OUTCOME OF OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM WAS NEVER IN DOUBT.

AFTER SECURING BAGHDAD WE THEN DISPATCHED A LIGHT ARMOR COLUMN NORTH TO TAKE OUT ANY REMAINING RESISTANCE AROUND SADDAM'S BIRTHPLACE, VICINITY OF TIKRIT. THE MEF HAD ATTACKED FURTHER AND FASTER THAN ANY UNIT IN AMERICAN HISTORY SO, FEELING PRETTY SPIRITED, I ANNOUNCED TO MY ARMY BOSS, LT GEN DAVE MCKIERNAN, THAT MARINES ARE ASSAULT TROOPS, THAT WE DON'T DO NATION BUILDING, AND WERE READY FOR BACKLOAD. HE SAID TO ME, GET YOUR BUTT DOWN SOUTH AND GET STARTED WITH RECONSTRUCTION UNTIL I CAN GET YOU RELIEVED. IN FACT, WE SPENT FIVE AND A HALF MONTHS IN THE SOUTHERN PROVINCES OF IRAQ IN PHASE IV OPERATIONS. WE FOUND OUR 1920'S VINTAGE "SMALL WARS MANUAL", WRITTEN BY MARINES ON DUTY IN NICARAGUA AND HAITI , TO BE VERY APPLICABLE TO THE SITUATIONS WE FACED IN CITIES LIKE NAJAF, KARBALA , AND SAMAWAH. ONE PASSAGE CAPTURED THE ESSENCE OF OUR ACTIVITIES; IT SAID, " CONCEIVED IN UNCERTAINTY, RECONSTRUCTION OPERATIONS ARE OFTEN CONDUCTED WITH PRECARIOUS RESPONSIBILITY, AND DOUBTFUL AUTHORITY, UNDER INDETERMINATE ORDERS, LACKING SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS." OUR BATTALION COMMANDERS AND THEIR COMPANY COMMANDERS THRIVED UNDER THOSE CONDITIONS AND RAPIDLY BECAME EFFECTIVE LITTLE POTENTATES UNTIL WE TURNED OVER OUR SECTOR, AND COULD BREAK THEM OF IT, IN SEPTEMBER OF 03.

I MEF HAD BEEN BACK AT OUR BASES IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ROUGHLY FIVE MONTHS WHEN WE WERE UNEXPECTEDLY ORDERED BACK TO IRAQ FOR OIF II. WE WERE TASKED TO REPLACE THE 82 ND AIRBORNE WITH A 25,000 MARINE AIR-GROUND TASK FORCE IN THE AL ANBAR PROVINCE DURING MARCH 04. ON ARRIVAL, OUR NUMBERS GREW TO 30,000 WITH THE INCLUSION OF A VERY CAPABLE ARMY BRIGADE COMBAT TEAM. OUR RESPONSIBILITIES INCLUDED THE TURBULENT CITY OF FALLUJAH AND MAJOR PORTIONS OF THE IRAQI-SYRIAN BORDER. OUR NEW AREA WAS ABOUT THE SIZE OF WYOMING AND INCLUDED MOST OF THE "SUNNI-TRIANGLE" WHERE SADDAM HAD DRAWN MANY OF HIS BEST OFFICERS FOR THE REPUBLICAN GUARD AND OTHER ELITE UNITS.

RETURNING TO WESTERN IRAQ WAS VERY DIFFERENT FROM OUR EXPERIENCES IN THE SOUTH. THE TRIBES WERE SUNNI, VICE SHIA, THEY WERE ALREADY QUITE HOSTILE TOWARD COALITION FORCES, AND OUR ABILITY TO EMPLOY OUR PROVEN TECHNIQUES WAS MUCH ABATED. IN THE FIVE AND A HALF MONTHS IN THE SHIA PROVINCES WE HAD BEEN ATTACKED FREQUENTLY * BUT HAD NOT LOST A SINGLE MARINE TO ENEMY FIRE. AFTER TWO WEEKS IN THE AL ANBAR PROVINCE, BY THE TIME OF THE TRANSFER OF AUTHORITY WITH THE 82 ND, WE HAD LOST FIVE KILLED IN ACTION. OUR VISION TO WIN HEARTS AND MINDS WAS MET SQUARELY WITH A 300% INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF ATTACKS IN OUR SECTOR.

INITIALLY WE FOUND IRAQI SECURITY FORCES IN THE REGION VERY UNDEPENDABLE. IRAQI SOCIETY IS DRIVEN BY LOYALTY TO THE TRIBAL SHEIKS AND RELIGIOUS IMAMS AND THIS CULTURAL NORM MADE IT FREQUENTLY IMPOSSIBLE TO RELY ON THE POLICE OR NATIONAL GUARD UNITS AS EFFECTIVE PARAMILITARY FORCES. FURTHER THEY WERE INTIMIDATED BY THE INSURGENTS AND WERE WATCHING TO SEE WHICH SIDE WAS GOING TO WIN. AS WE BUILT THE FORCES TO BE MORE SECULAR, HOWEVER, AND PROVIDED THEM WITH THE WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT THEY NEEDED TO SUCCEED, THEY BECAME MUCH MORE RELIABLE. INDEED, IN THE RECENT FIGHTING IN SAMARRA , NAJAF AND THE NORTHERN BABIL PROVINCE, ARMY AND MARINE COMMANDERS HAVE GIVEN THE IRAQI SECURITY FORCES, ESPECIALLY THE REGULAR ARMY, A SOLID "B" FOR THEIR PERFORMANCES THERE.

COALITION FORCES LEARNED MANY LESSONS ABOUT INFORMATION OPERATIONS OR "IO", IN SOUTHWEST ASIA AND WE FRANKLY NEED TO GET BETTER IN OUR APPROACH AT EVERY LEVEL. WE TENDED TO TREAT ALL MEDIA THE SAME, ASSUMING A LEVEL JOURNALISTIC INTEGRITY AND RESPONSIBLE REPORTING. THE ARAB MEDIA, HOWEVER, WAS DIFFERENT. WE FOUND RIGHT AWAY IN FALLUJAH THAT AL JAZEERA AND AL ARABIA WERE BOUND BY NO SUCH PRINCIPLES OF INTEGRITY AND ROUTINELY PROVIDED A SHRILL AND OUTRAGEOUS PERSPECTIVE TO AN ARAB PUBLIC * ALL TOO WILLING TO BELIEVE SUCH DISTORTIONS. EVENTUALLY WE TREATED THEM AS ENEMY COMBAT CAMERA AND CONTROLLED THEIR ACCESS TO OUR ACTIONS. OUR MOST CONSISTENT AND EFFECTIVE IO MESSAGE TO THE IRAQIS WAS THAT "YOU MAY NOT WANT US HERE AND WE DON'T PARTICULARLY WANT TO BE HERE * BUT WE AREN'T LEAVING UNTIL THERE IS A LEVEL OF STABILITY AND SECURITY IN IRAQ , SO HELP US TO ACHIEVE THAT END". ONE OF THE CORPORALS IN OUR HEADQUARTERS SUGGESTED AN EFFECTIVE PSYCHOLOGICAL OPERATIONS MESSAGE: TO THWART WOULD-BE SUICIDE BOMBERS AND MARTYRS, HE SAID, WE SHOULD ASSURE THEM THAT THERE COULD NOT POSSIBLY BE 71 VIRGINS AWAITING THEM IN HEAVEN * BECAUSE AS OUR HYMN SAYS "THE STREETS ARE GUARDED BY UNITED STATES MARINES!"

THERE WAS AN AMAZING FIGURE THAT ACCOMPANIED OUR CASUALTY RATES IN IRAQ . IN TRAINING AND EXERCISES BEFORE DEPLOYMENT WE INSISTED ON PRESERVATION OF THE "GOLDEN HOUR" FOR CASUALTIES ANYWHERE IN THE BROAD EXPANSE OF OUR AREA OF OPERATIONS. AS A RESULT OF SUPERB PLANNING * AND EXECUTION AT ALL LEVELS -- FOR EVERY 11 MARINES OR SAILORS WHO WERE HIT, ONE WOULD BE KILLED BUT SEVEN OF THE REMAINING TEN WOULD BE RETURNED TO DUTY ALMOST IMMEDIATELY. NEVER BEFORE IN COMBAT HAD SUCH RECOVERY FIGURES BEEN THE NORM. OUR PROTECTIVE GEAR, THE HELMETS AND SAPI PLATES WORKED. OUR CORPSMEN IN THE LINE COMPANIES WERE MAGNIFICENT, AS WERE THE MEDEVAC PILOTS AND THE DOCS AT ALPHA AND BRAVO SURGICAL COMPANIES. THEY WERE TRULY THE "ANGELS OF THE BATTLEFIELD" AND, WHEN WE SEE EACH OTHER AGAIN, NONE WILL EVER BUY THEIR OWN DRINK AS LONG AS I AM AT THE BAR.

continued.......

thedrifter
11-03-04, 01:04 PM
ONE MORE WORD IF I MIGHT ON CASUALTIES. IT'S IS NOW ACCEPTED WISDOM TO SAY THAT THERE HAVE BEEN OVER A THOUSAND U.S. TROOPS KILLED IN IRAQ SINCE MARCH O3. THAT IS A BIT OF A MISSTATEMENT, IF I MIGHT EXPLAIN: AS OF YESTERDAY THERE WERE 806 TROOPS THAT HAD BEEN KILLED IN ACTION. THE NUMBER OF 1000 PLUS INCLUDES THOSE WHO DIED OF NON-BATTLE INJURIES *WHILE IN IRAQ . CERTAINLY EVERY DEATH IS REGRETTABLE, BUT THE SERVICES HAVE PEOPLE DIE, WORLDWIDE, VIRTUALLY EVERY DAY TO SOME FORM OF ACCIDENT OR ILLNESS. I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO ADD AN ELEMENT OF PERSPECTIVE TO OUR BATTLE CASUALTIES. I WILL SPEAK ONLY TO THE MARINE CORPS AND SAY THAT WE HAVE SUFFERED 228 TOTAL KILLED IN ACTION IN 14 MONTHS OF COMBAT. IN VIETNAM , DURING MARCH OF 1966, OPERATION UTAH IN QUANG NGAI PROVINCE SAW THE 3RDMARINE DIVISION LOSE 231 MARINES IN FOUR DAYS. OPERATION STARLIGHT IN AUGUST THE PRECEDING YEAR COST 242 LIVES IN THREE DAYS. OUR HEARTS GO OUT TO THE FAMILIES OF ALL THOSE KILLED * BUT OUR CASUALTIES CANNOT BE CONSIDERED SEVERE IN VIEW OF THE IMPORTANCE OF WHAT MARINES ARE DOING TODAY IN SERVICE TO THIS GREAT NATION.

ABOUT HALFWAY THROUGH THE DEPLOYMENT FOR OIF II TAC-1, OUR COMMANDANT WON A MAJOR VICTORY IN WASHINGTON DC. THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE HAD QUESTIONED OUR SEVEN MONTH ROTATION POLICY AND INITIALLY FELT THAT ALL SERVICES SHOULD ADHERE TO THE ARMY'S 12 MONTHS "BOOTS ON THE GROUND" APPROACH. WE ARGUED THAT OUR OVERALL OPERATIONAL TEMPO WAS EQUAL TO, OR GREATER THAN, ANY OTHER SERVICE . FOR INSTANCE ALL THE MEF'S MAJOR HEADQUARTERS WERE IN KUWAIT OR IRAQ FOR 18 OF THE 22 MONTHS I WAS THE MEF COMMANDER. WE ARGUED THAT SIX OR SEVEN MONTH ROTATIONS WERE THE NORM FOR THE MARINE CORPS * THOUGH NOT AS FREQUENTLY AS WE ARE EXPERIENCING NOW * AND THAT WE RISKED "BREAKING THE FORCE" IF WE POSED AN EVEN MORE SERIOUS BURDEN ON OUR YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN, ESPECIALLY THOSE WITH FAMILIES. THE SECRETARY SAID TO THE COMMANDANT "OK, I GOT IT." IN THE PENTAGON, YOU ARE NEVER SURE THAT YOU HAVE COMPLETELY WON A FIGHT; BUT WE FELT MUCH BETTER WHEN MR. RUMSFELD BEGAN ASKING THE ARMY CHIEF OF STAFF TO EXPLAIN WHY THEY WEREN'T DOING SEVEN MONTH ROTATIONS.

OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM II CONTINUES. THOUGH WE HAVE RECENTLY HAD THE MEF CHANGE OF COMMAND AND OUR FIRST SEVEN MONTH ROTATION IS NEARING COMPLETION * MARINES FROM I MEF WILL CONTINUE TO BE IN IRAQ UNTIL APRIL OR MAY 05. THAT SAID, OUR VIEW SINCE JUNE 28 TH AND THE DECLARATION OF NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY, IS THAT IRAQI SECURITY FORCES MUST WIN THE INSURGENCY IN IRAQ . JUST AS FRANCE COULD NOT HAVE "WON" OUR AMERICAN REVOLUTION, AND BRITAIN COULD NOT HAVE "WON" THE MALAYSIAN INSURGENCY WE CAN ONLY SET THE CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESS BY THE HOST NATION. EVEN THEN, WE MUST ACT TO ENSURE AN IRAQI LEAD. WE POSTED A QUOTE ON THE BULKHEAD OF OUR OPERATIONS CENTER THAT CAPTURED THE ESSENCE OF OUR APPROACH; IT READ, "DO NOT TRY TO DO TOO MUCH WITH YOUR OWN HANDS. BETTER THE ARABS DO IT TOLERABLY THAN YOU DO IT PERFECTLY. IT IS THEIR WAR, AND YOU ARE HERE TO HELP THEM, NOT WIN IT FOR THEM. ACTUALLY, ALSO, UNDER THE VERY ODD CONDITIONS OF ARABIA , YOUR PRACTICAL WORK WILL NOT BE AS GOOD AS, PERHAPS, YOU THINK IT IS. IT MAY TAKE THEM LONGER AND IT MAY NOT BE AS GOOD AS YOU THINK, BUT IF IT IS THEIRS, IT WILL BE BETTER." THE QUOTE WAS WRITTEN IN 1917 AND COMES FROM T.E. LAWRENCE, PERHAPS BETTER KNOWN AS " LAWRENCE OF ARABIA ".

I WOULD NEXT LIKE TO SHIFT GEARS AND OFFER JUST A COUPLE OF THOUGHTS THAT CONTRAST OPERATIONS IRAQI FREEDOM AND OIF II. TO BEGIN WITH, THEY WERE TWO VERY DIFFERENT SCENARIOS: OIF WAS A CLASSIC OFFENSIVE OPERATION . WE NEVER LOST THE INITIATIVE DURING OIF AS WE PUT THE ENEMY ON HIS HEELS FROM THE OUTSET AND KEPT HIM THERE UNTIL WE HAD SECURED ALL OBJECTIVES. OIF II HAS EVOLVED INTO A CLASSIC INSURGENCY . IN OIF II, OUT OF NECESSITY TO MAINTAIN LOGISTICAL HUBS, WE OPERATED FROM FIXED SITES *BUT THAT ALLOWED THE ENEMY TO MATCH OUR FREEDOM TO MANEUVER. OURS WAS MORE A DEFENSIVE ROLE WITH EMPHASIS ON HEAVY OFFENSIVE PATROLLING AND SIGNIFICANT CIVIL AFFAIRS WORK. THERE WAS A CONSTANT EFFORT TO HOLD THE INITIATIVE, BOTH MILITARILY AND PSYCHOLOGICALLY, BECAUSE AS THE MILITARY DICTUM SAYS, THE COMMANDER WHO MAINTAINS THE INITIATIVE *WINS.

DURING OIF II, FOR REASONS NOT STILL NOT CLEAR, THE MEDIA WAS BENT ON PROVIDING A COMPARATIVELY MORE NEGATIVE SLANT. OUR OBSERVATIONS WERE WELL SUMMARIZED BY THE REPORTER WHO, WHEN ASKED TO COME OUT FROM BAGHDAD TO COVER THE OPENING OF A WOMEN'S HOSPITAL, DECLINED TO DO SO BY TELLING OUR PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER HE "WASN'T REALLY LOOKING FOR A GOOD NEWS STORY". WHETHER IT CAN BE CHALKED UP TO ELECTION YEAR REPORTING, EDITOR DISDAIN FOR THE EMBED PROCESS, OR THE FACT THAT MOST REPORTERS NEVER GET OUT OF BAGHDAD * I CAN'T SAY. KATIE O'BEIRNE IS A POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, BUT SHE MAY HAVE OFFERED SOME INSIGHT TO THE PROBLEM WHEN SHE REMARKED,"YOU'VE GOT TO REMEMBER, MOST JOURNALISTS SPENT THEIR HIGH SCHOOL YEARS BEING STUFFED INTO LOCKERS BY THE KIND OF MALES WHO ARE RUNNING OUR MILITARY. NOW THEY'RE DETERMINED TO GET EVEN." WHAT I CAN TELL YOU IS THAT MY PERCEPTION SINCE BEING HOME IS THAT ANY BAD NEWS COMING OUT OF IRAQ IS NOT PROPERLY BALANCED WITH THE GREAT THINGS OUR TROOPS FROM ALL THE NATIONS ARE DOING. JUST KEEP IN MIND, FOLKS, THAT COALITION FORCES CONTINUE TO CREATE JOBS AND IMPROVE THE IRAQIS QUALITY OF LIFE. FURTHER, FOR EVERY PATROL YOU HEAR ABOUT THAT GETS HIT * THERE ARE PROBABLY 300 OTHERS THAT DAY THAT DID NOT.

ONE THING THAT REMAINED A CONSTANT DURING BOTH OPERATIONS WAS THE MAGNIFICENT PERFORMANCE OF THE TROOPS. WHETHER INFANTRYMEN RUNNING TOWARD ENEMY FIRE, MECHANICS WORKING IN 130 DEGREE HEAT, COBRA PILOTS DUELING WITH HEAVY CALIBER MACHINE GUNS IN SUPPORT OF GROUND TROOPS, OR CORPSMEN DASHING FORWARD TO TREAT A WOUNDED MARINE * OUR YOUNG AMERICAN TROOPS WERE UNBELIEVABLE IN THEIR RESOLVE, DISCIPLINE AND COURAGE UNDER FIRE. THE STORY OF LCPL SIDES OFFERS YET ANOTHER EXAMPLE: A MEMBER OF THE MEF HEADQUARTERS, HE WAS A DRIVER OF A 7 TON TRUCK ON CONVOY ONE NIGHT IN MAY. HIS VEHICLE WAS HIT WITH A MASSIVE EXPLOSION AND BLOWN ONTO ITS SIDE. THE GUNNER IN THE CUPOLA, SGT. MCALLISTER, WAS THROWN FROM THE TURRET AND BROKE HIS ARM. CRAWLING BACK UNDER HEAVY ENEMY FIRES TOWARDS THE FLAMING WRECK, HE COULD ONLY ENTER THE VEHICLE BACK THROUGH THE GUN TURRET. AS HE LOWERED HIMSELF DOWN INTO THE CAB TO HELP LCPL SIDES, WHO WAS PINNED, HE HEARD THE MARINE SAY HIS LAST WORDS, " YOU GOT TO GET OUT OF HERE MAC * I'M ON FIRE, MAN." I WILL TELL YOU, THE OLDER GENERATION OF OFFICERS AND STAFF NCOS WORRIED ABOUT THIS NEW GENERATION "Y". WE SAW THEM AS THE JOY-STICK GENERATION AND WERE CONCERNED THAT THEY MIGHT NOT MEASURE UP WHEN THE TIME CAME. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, LET ME ASSURE YOU, IN THE HANDS OF THESE YOUNG WARRIORS OUR CORPS * INDEED OUR NATION * HAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT.

LASTLY, LET'S TALK BRIEFLY ABOUT THE WAY AHEAD IN IRAQ ? LOTS OF PEOPLE HAVE AN OPINION * I'LL OFFER YOU MINE: I BELIEVE THERE WILL BE ELECTIONS IN IRAQ IN JANUARY AND I SUSPECT VERY SHORTLY AFTERWARDS YOU WILL START TO SEE A REDUCTION IN U.S. FORCES * NOT BECAUSE U.S. PLANNERS WILL SEEK IT, RATHER BECAUSE THE IRAQIS WILL DEMAND IT. I USED TO THINK THAT AMERICANS WERE IMPATIENT, BUT WE DON'T HOLD A CANDLE TO THE IRAQIS. WE ARE SEEN AS INFIDELS AND NON-BELIEVERS, AND FURTHER, MOST IRAQIS NOW CONSIDER US OCCUPIERS. THEY WILL EXPECT US TO PROVIDE REGIONAL SECURITY FOR A LONG TIME BECAUSE WE HAVE DESTROYED THEIR ARMY. BUT THEY WILL BE WILLING TO ACCEPT RISK REGARDS INTERNAL SECURITY IN EXCHANGE FOR A REDUCED COALITION PRESENCE.

I THINK OUR STRATEGIC PLANNERS HAVE GOT IT RIGHT. IF I ASKED EACH OF YOU IN THE AUDIENCE TONIGHT TO NAME FIVE COUNTRIES WHO EXPORT TERRORISTS YOU WOULD LIKELY NAME IRAN , SYRIA ; MANY WOULD EVEN LIST OUR OLD ALLY SAUDI ARABIA . LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, GEOGRAPHICALLY IRAQ SITS RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF ALL THOSE COUNTRIES! WHEN THEY ESTABLISH A FREE AND DEMOCRATIC IRAQ , IT PROBABLY WON'T BE JEFFERSONIAN, BUT IT WILL PUT A STAKE IN THE VERY HEART OF THE REGION OF TERRORIST PRODUCING STATES. WE WILL NOT JUST BE KILLING TERRORISTS, RATHER, WE WILL BE DOING SOMETHING ABOUT THE VERY CAUSE OF TERRORISM. IN A REGION THAT HAS MADE LITTLE PROGRESS OVER THE CENTURIES, IRAQ HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BE A PROSPEROUS AND POWERFUL REGIONAL PLAYER. INDEED, A SUCCESSFUL NATION NEEDS FIVE THINGS: ARABLE LAND ; A FRESH WATER SUPPLY; A LITERATE POPULATION; AN EXPORTABLE PRODUCT; AND A SEA-PORT. IRAQ HAS ALL THESE RESOURCES * AND YOU CAN ADD TO THE MIX STRONG LEADERSHIP IN THE PERSONA OF PRIME MINISTER ALAWI. ARGUABLY, I WOULD OFFER THE FUTURE OF IRAQ IS QUITE POSITIVE.

MY BELIEF IS THAT EVERY DAY WE ARE IN IRAQ BRINGS US ANOTHER STEP CLOSER TO IRAQI VICTORY. IRAQI INFANTRY AND COUNTER-TERRORISM FORCES ARE BEING STOOD UP AT A RATE THAT WILL FIELD 27 SECULAR BATTALIONS, TRAINED AND EQUIPPED, BY MARCH OF NEXT YEAR. THESE BATTALIONS ARE LOYAL TO THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT AND HAVE THE SUPPORT OF AVERAGE IRAQI CITIZENS. WHEN THEY FOCUS THEIR FULL ATTENTION ON THE INSURGENTS AND FOREIGN FIGHTERS, THEY WILL HAVE LITTLE PROBLEM GAINING ACTIONABLE INTELLIGENCE FROM THEIR COUNTRYMEN. WILL THERE CONTINUE TO BE BOMBINGS AND ATTACKS? I FULLY EXPECT SO, BECAUSE THE TERRORISTS RECOGNIZE THE THREAT TO THEIR VERY EXISTENCE. HOWEVER, I ANTICIPATE IRAQIS, WILL ONE DAY SOON, MAKE SHORT WORK OF THE PRINCIPAL THREATS TO THEIR GOVERNMENT.

FOR THE UNITED STATES AND ITS ALLIES, IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN , ARE IMPORTANT BATTLEGROUNDS IN THE WAR ON TERRORISM * NOT THE WHOLE WAR. MANY OF THE YOUNG ARABS THAT WE KILL ARE WOULD-BE SUICIDE BOMBERS, WHO ARE COMING TO THOSE PLACES TO ATTEMPT TO KILL AMERICANS. THESE, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, ARE THE SAME FANATICAL MISFITS WHO WOULD OTHERWISE BE SEEKING THEIR WAY INTO LOS ANGELES OR BOSTON . WE ARE ENGAGED IN A DEFENSE AGAINST THESE PEOPLE FAR AWAY FROM OUR BORDERS, AND OUR FAMILIES. THAT'S OK WITH OUR TROOPS; THEY UNDERSTAND IT, AND THEY VERY MUCH PREFER TO TAKE CARE OF BUSINESS IN IRAQ . FOR THOSE HISTORY BUFFS OUT THERE, I WOULD SUGGEST TO YOU THE ANALOGY THAT THIS IS 1942 IN THE WAR ON TERRORISM AND THAT SUCCESS IN IRAQ MAY WELL BE THE TURNING POINT * OUR NORTH AFRICA OR GUADALCANAL. AMERICAN AND COALITION FORCES WILL COVERTLY OR OVERTLY * BATTLE TERRORISTS IN MANY OTHER LOCATIONS ACROSS THE GLOBE, BUT HISTORY MAY WELL SHOW IRAQ WAS OUR MOST IMPORTANT FIGHT.

continued..........

thedrifter
11-03-04, 01:04 PM
FINALLY, THERE ARE THREE THINGS I WOULD ASK OF YOU FOLKS HERE TONIGHT AS WE JOURNEY DOWN THE ROAD AHEAD: FIRST, DON'T WAIT FOR THE HISTORIANS TO PUT THEIR CONTEXT ON THE WORLD WE LIVE IN TODAY. AS AMERICANS WE MUST REALIZE THAT THE NATION IS AT WAR ON TERRORISM . AS THE PRESIDENT HAS SAID, IT MAY BE A LONG WAR BECAUSE OF THE NATURE OF THE ENEMY; SOME PERIODS WILL BE MORE INTENSE THAN OTHERS; BUT THINK OF THE NATION AT WAR * INSTEAD OF ENJOYING AN INTERRUPTED PEACE * AND IT WILL SHAPE YOUR OUTLOOK. SECOND, AND RELATED TO THE ABOVE, DON'T LOSE YOUR PATIENCE, OR MORE IMPORTANTLY YOUR RESOLVE , TO SEE THE JOB DONE. OUR ENEMY KNOWS THAT POPULAR SUPPORT IS THE CENTER OF GRAVITY FOR ANY AMERICAN GOVERNMENT ENGAGED IN CONFLICT AND HE WORKS TO DISSEMBLE THAT SUPPORT EVERY DAY. YOU ARE THE ULTIMATE THE TARGET OF THE BE HEADINGS AND BOMBINGS. SO STAY THE COURSE. WINNING IN IRAQ , AND THE BATTLES TO FOLLOW, ARE CENTRAL TO YOUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN LIVING FREE FROM THE FEARS OF TERRORISM AND ABLE TO ENJOY THE WORLD WE LIVE IN. OUR FOREFATHERS HAVE PROTECTED THOSE FREEDOMS, NOW IT'S OUR TURN. THIRD, I ASK THAT YOU CONTINUE TO SUPPORT THE TROOPS. THEIR EXTERIOR IS HARDENED AND BATTLE-READY. BUT * THEIR PSYCHES ARE MORE FRAGILE, AND SUSCEPTIBLE TO THE CONVICTIONS OF THEIR COUNTRYMEN. WITHOUT YOUR SUPPORT THEIR WILL WOULD WEAKEN, THEIR CONFIDENCE WANE, AND THEIR MORALE WOULD SUFFER. HOWEVER, WITH THE ENTHUSIASTIC SUPPORT OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, OUR FORCES ARE THE MOST FORMIDABLE, MOST RESPONSIVE, AND MOST DISCIPLINED TROOPS ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH. I CAN ONLY HOPE THEY MAKE YOU * AS THEY HAVE MADE ME -- VERY, VERY PROUD.

THANK YOU LADIES AND GENTLEMEN FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE WITH YOU HERE THIS EVENING * I'D BE HAPPY NOW TO TAKE YOUR QUESTIONS...

Ellie

thedrifter
11-03-04, 02:24 PM
Marines near Fallujah pleased by Bush win

Near Fallujah-NBC) Nov. 3, 2004 - Marines stationed near the Iraq town of Fallujah reacted Wednesday to the US presidential election, watching the Internet for election results.

Some Marines were happy President Bush is headed for another four years in office.

Corporal Adam Deem, "I think it's great. The greatest news I've had since I've been over here. That's pretty much all I can say, I'm a Bush fan. I'm glad top be here."

Corporal Benjamin Ainsworth, "I'm just happy that Bush won, because most of the military support him, and he does support us a lot. I'm just happy that he won."

Sergeant Gary Allen, "Well, I guess I'm glad President Bush won, because I like to have a bit of continuity, keep the same man in office, and he's been doping a pretty good job. I'm happy with the turnout."

posted 2:08pm by Chris Rees


http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=2517322


Ellie

thedrifter
11-03-04, 03:19 PM
Marines cast votes for better equipment
U.S. election battle echoes only faintly in Iraq, where winning means survival

BY EDWARD HARRIS
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Nov 2, 2004


NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq - U.S. Marines squaring off against Iraqi insurgents say they expect trouble in Iraq for years no matter who wins the White House.

What they want is better equipment, more pay and a clear exit strategy from their next commander in chief.

Many Marines fighting in Iraq's Sunni Triangle don't talk much about the race between President Bush and Sen. John Kerry. For them, the focus is on staying alive and following orders that they don't expect to change: Defeat the insurgency and help rebuild Iraq.

But what really concerns them is the prospect of an open-ended mission lacking a final benchmark for victory.


"We obviously can't just leave Iraq now and waste all of the good work the Marines have done here," said Hospital Corpsman Quinton Brown, a 24-year-old Chicagoan attached to the 1st Marine Division.

"Regardless, I want to see the next president give us an idea how we're going to end the occupation," he added. "What are we doing while we're here? What's next? Bush has done that to some degree. But we need more."

Troops on the ground say they've heard nothing from either Bush or Kerry indicating Marines will soon leave Iraq.

"It doesn't matter who the president is. Our role should be less and less here - the Iraqis want to do it themselves. But we'll be here for at least the next four years," said Lance Cpl. Charles Revord, 24, of National City, Mich.

Marines say they need better equipment, particularly well-armored Humvees.

"You see those Humvees out there?" said Lance Cpl. Jonathan Sandoval, gesturing at vehicles jerry-rigged with armor plating so heavy it bows the vehicles' axles. One of the Humvees, its top open to the elements, has been peppered by shrapnel from roadside bombs.

The Marines see their Army counterparts driving professionally armored, closed-back Humvees - provoking an old rivalry. "We work with the worst, but we do the best," said Sandoval, a 20-year-old from Los Angeles.

Marines say they would like a boost in danger pay, an increase in base salaries and better health benefits for their families. "It's a pride thing," said Sgt. Israel Sanchez, 27, also from Los Angeles.

"Tax cuts, that's what everyone wants - tax-free paychecks," said Revord. "But that's just a dream, of course."

As for the political fight that has swirled back home, Marines say it seems millions of miles away.

Battlefield unity is crucial to survival, so they shy from divisive issues, the Marines say. Members of one Marine company suspect it's Bush country, but no one has taken a tally.

"We don't ask who voted for who. We're focused on our mission," said Sanchez. "We just want to get back home and get on where we left off."


http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD/MGArticle/RTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031778884171


Ellie

thedrifter
11-03-04, 04:07 PM
U.S. Marines Say Cameraman Died in Gunbattle

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Tuesday a cameraman killed in the Iraqi city of Ramadi while on assignment for Reuters had died in a gunbattle between Marines and insurgents


"Marines from the 1st Marine Division of the I Marine Expeditionary Force engaged several insurgents in a brief small arms firefight that killed an individual who was carrying a video camera earlier Monday morning," it said in a statement.


It was the military's first response to questions from Reuters about the killing.


Video footage of the incident showed no apparent fighting and no sounds of shooting in the vicinity before Dhia Najim was killed by a single bullet. He filmed heavy clashes between Marines and insurgents earlier in the day but that fighting had subsided.


Najim's colleagues and family said they believed he had been shot by a U.S. sniper.


Reuters Global Managing Editor David Schlesinger said: "We reject the clear implication in the Marines' statement that Dhia was part of an insurgent group.


"This claim is not supported by the available evidence. I strongly urge the U.S. military to conduct a proper investigation into this tragic event."


The cameraman was near his house in the Sunni Muslim city's Andalus district when he was hit by a single bullet in the back of the neck that killed him instantly.


Video shot from an upper floor of a building nearby shows Najim, at first half-hidden by a wall, move into the open. As soon as he emerges, a powerful gunshot cracks out and he falls to the ground, his arms outstretched.


Civilians are seen gathering calmly at the scene immediately afterwards to look at his lifeless body.


Marine snipers are posted in Ramadi, news photographs taken on Sunday show.


CONCERN AT JOURNALIST DEATHS


State Department spokesman Adam Ereli told reporters in Washington on Monday that officials were "deeply disturbed" by deaths of journalists in Iraq (news - web sites), including Najim's. "We rededicate ourselves now to providing an environment in which the free press can do its work," he said.


The Committee to Protect Journalists in New York urged the U.S. military to prove its commitment to that goal.


"U.S. officials should conduct a thorough, immediate, and public investigation into Najim's death," the CPJ said in a statement.


Ereli was commenting on a spate of attacks on journalists in Iraq, including a bomb attack on Al Arabiya television at the weekend which killed seven people. He was speaking before the Marines' statement.


The military statement said: "Identification badges found on the dead man confirmed employment with a major news agency.





"Inspection of videotape in the camera revealed footage of previous attacks on Multi-National Force military vehicles that included the insurgent use of RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades), an IED (roadside bomb) and small arms fire."

It was not immediately clear how the U.S. military had been able to view the tape in Najim's camera or check his identity cards. Reuters has asked for the camera to be returned.

"The insurgents fled the scene with their wounded but left the body of the dead man along the side of the road," the military statement said.

Najim, who left a wife, three daughters and a son, worked freelance, supplying occasional material to Reuters Television. He was born in 1957.

The last footage received by Reuters from him on Monday was shot from behind a red metal container in a dusty street. It shows U.S. Humvee vehicles speeding across an intersection amid flashes from gunfire and explosions.

Marines are gearing up for an expected offensive against insurgents and Islamist militants in Ramadi and Falluja as part of efforts to pacify Iraq before elections in January.

Ramadi, 110 km (68 miles) west of Baghdad, lies in mainly Sunni central Iraq where anti-U.S. sentiment runs high.


http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20041102/ts_nm/iraq_cameraman_dc_9


Ellie

thedrifter
11-03-04, 06:02 PM
U.S. Court-Martial Begins Over Iraqi POW Death <br />
<br />
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Court-martial proceedings have begun against the last of nine U.S. Marines charged over the death of an Iraqi war prisoner...

thedrifter
11-03-04, 06:20 PM
Marines' center symbolic of failed plans to win Iraqi hearts and minds


By Tom Lasseter
Knight Ridder Newspapers

WITH U.S. FORCES NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq - A group of U.S. Marines at the Fallujah Liaison Team headquarters were busy talking this week about their hopes for reconstruction when two 60 mm mortar rounds landed across the street, exploding loudly.

A barrage of American artillery fired in response, roaring and booming.

Everyone ran inside a low concrete building, and sat in silence, waiting to see if more mortar rounds were on the way.

And that was the end, for a while, of discussions about rebuilding Fallujah.

With Marines gearing up for an all-out assault to retake the city from rebel fighters, the liaison team's headquarters near the city are a stark reminder of the failed plans Americans have had, since the war's early days, to win this area.

When the Marines arrived in Fallujah last March, they planned to win hearts and minds by learning Iraqi customs, sipping tea with local leaders and handing out candy and soccer balls while on foot patrol.

But the liaison office is now more an outpost in enemy territory than the outreach center it was intended to be.

Guards looking through binoculars can see the blue-domed mosque and minarets down the road. But the compound is surrounded by high walls and dirt berms designed to discourage suicide bombers. The only residents the Marines speak with are those who travel to the compound, often to discuss being compensated for destroyed property or relatives who've been killed in fighting.

There are currently no reconstruction projects inside the city, and Marines are grateful when the incoming rounds are just mortars, not rockets. Most of the Marines who work at the liaison office, which is about a mile from Fallujah, have never set foot inside its city limits.

The Marines have $6 million earmarked for fixing battle-damaged buildings and repairing essential services within a month of an assault on Fallujah. Tens of millions of dollars more would follow.

The money, though, would become available only after a fight that could be days or weeks away; one that could ruin whole blocks of houses and buildings in a city already hit hard by daily U.S. airstrikes.

On a recent afternoon, brothers Ahmed and Mahmoud were waiting at the office to sign a contract for rebuilding a dilapidated mosque outside town. Young and wearing traditional Arab robes, they wouldn't give their last names to reporters, for fear of being shot by insurgents.

"There have been a lot of people killed because they were working for the Americans," Ahmed said.

It's not just contractors who've been killed. Marine Capt. Brian McLean said the commander of an Iraqi national guard battalion was kidnapped in August. Before dumping him dead on the side of the road, his captors beat him savagely and poured boiling water over his head.

Walking in to discuss their contract with Lt. Cmdr. David Hahn, Ahmed and Mahmoud shook hands, then put their hands over their hearts, a show of respect common in tribal areas such as Fallujah.

After sitting down to talk about the mosque, Ahmed pointed to a map on the table and told Hahn's translator that it was the spot where the mosque was.

Hahn's eyebrows raised in an unhappy arc. He turned to the translator and said, "Do not translate what I say, OK?" Then he motioned to the place Ahmed had indicated and told a reporter, "We call this the triangle of death."

Hahn looked at Ahmed, then asked the translator to tell him, "If you feel it's not safe to work, then don't work."

When the brothers left, Hahn said he knew that members of contractors' families had been murdered and kidnapped. Many of the contractors who aren't killed or kidnapped, he said, have to make steep payments of protection money to insurgents.

But this, he said, is Iraq: "You'd rather have them with a shovel than a gun in their hand."

When Ahmed and Mahmoud walked out of the liaison compound, their heads were down and they moved quickly. Unseen eyes might be watching.


Ellie

thedrifter
11-03-04, 06:50 PM
LA County Honors Marines With Proclamation



Submitted by: Los Angeles Public Affairs
Story by Staff Sgt. Sergio Jimenez

LOS ANGELES (Nov. 3, 2004) -- In honor of the 229th Marine Corps Birthday, The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors recognized the Marines for their service to the nation during a morning proclamation ceremony at the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration here today.

Staff Sgt. Jeffrey Corcoran, training chief, and Sgt. Jaime Arroyo, H&S Co, 2nd Battalion, 23rd Marines, Encino, Calif., and Marines from Public Affairs Office Los Angeles accepted a scroll from Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, 3rd District, proclaiming Nov. 7-13, "United States Marine Corps Week" throughout Los Angeles County.

Yaroslavsky praised the Marines as he read from a scroll that bore the Marine Corps and County seals and had text written in sweeping red and blue calligraphy.

"Since their inception, Marines have served as sharpshooters from ships riggings in close battles, earning their well-deserved reputation as 'riflemen,'" read Yaroslavsky. Throughout history, Marines have "marched in step, guiding and leading the country and asserting 'we will be the first to fight,' and, in confronting trouble in 'Any clime and place,' they have served with honor and distinction from 'the halls of Montezuma, to the shores of Tripoli,'" read Yaroslavsky.

Yaroslavsky went on to recognize the Marines for their community support. "Whereas in Los Angeles, 57 years ago, they showed another caring side by launching the "Toys For Tots" program to ensure that needy children receive gifts during the holiday season," read Yaroslavsky.

According to Corcoran, it was an honor to accept the scroll on behalf of the Marine Corps. Corcoran, who has volunteered for more than 25 Toys For Tots events, said the scroll will hang on one of the company's walls as a proud display of the partnership between the Marines and the community.

"The Los Angeles community has always been very respectful and appreciative of the Marine Corps," said Corcoran. "When we were in Iraq, we received many care packages from grade school kids in Los Angeles," he said. "That's the way it works, we support them, and they support us."


Ellie

thedrifter
11-03-04, 06:54 PM
US marines poised outside Zarqawi's Iraq stronghold

NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq (AFP) Nov 02, 2004
US marines are on guard outside the rebel bastion of Fallujah, where they believe at least 2,000 fighters are ensconced, the majority of them followers of Iraq's most wanted man Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
The US-led coalition and the Iraqi government are fighting to reassert control over lawless Fallujah, which fell into the hands of insurgents after an aborted marine-led assault on the city in April.

Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi warned Fallujah's residents in October to hand over Zarqawi, who is suspected of masterminding the insurgency's deadliest attacks and beheadings of hostages, or face a military onslaught.

The US military believes some of Zarqawi's top men are in Fallujah, but is not sure about the whereabouts of the leader himself.

"Zarqawi's network is firmly planted in Fallujah. Is he there? We don't know. His key lieutenants are definitely there implementing his strategy of exporting terror," a marine battlefield officer told AFP.

"He probably has five to six key guys under him carrying out his intentions in Fallujah."

The Jordanian-born Zarqawi, whose group has declared allegiance to the Al-Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden, has a 25 million dollar price on his head.

US military officials said their problem in tracking down militants is that Zarqawi's network is a loose affiliation where insurgents pledge allegiance to their leader and receive cash and fighters from him. But the chain of command does not follow traditional lines.

"It's hard to get a grasp of their overall leadership," the officer said.

He said Zarqawi relies for local muscle on a Fallujah resident named Omar Hadid who leads a 1,000-1,500 strong force including many Syrian and Jordanian fighters.

"He is a local guy, a hometown hero," the officer said, adding that Hadid saw evicting US forces from Iraq "as a crusade and decided to take up arms."

Hadid, who the US military says displays leanings toward radical Islam and has links to Saddam Hussein's toppled regime, emerged as a popular figure after the April fighting in Fallujah, the officer said.

"He has such a built up name, people send him foreign fighters. They send him recruits," the officer said, adding that around 70 percent are foreigners from Jordan and Syria.

On top of Hadid's guerrilla force, at least five foreign and Iraqi advisors to Zarqawi operate in Fallujah and help plot the ruthless militant's national strategy of bombings, kidnappings and assassinations, the officer said.

"Hadid is more of a battlefield commander. The others are in a more advisory role."

Along with Hadid's fighters, another 1,000 militants are thought to be ready to battle US forces if they enter the Sunni Muslim dominated city, with fighters gathering under the banners of local religious clerics.

"Other groups are organised around local mosques. People might say 'I'm with the Islamic Army of Iraq'. I don't see an organised effort. It's more 'I want to go fight the Americans'."

On top of the few thousand hardcore militants, the officer says the city counts another 10,000 military age males who might decide to join the fight in the case of a US-led assault.

"It's an unknown factor. Some might leave the city, some might stay to fight. Most would probably leave."

The marines believe the city, with an estimated population of 250,000, has already seen a mass exodus of civilians, triggered by an escalation in US miliary operations around Fallujah and other rebel bastions like Samarra earlier this year.

"I've heard up to 65 percent of the city has left," a marines spokesman, Captain P.J. Batty, told AFP.

As the government prepares to make a final decision on whether negotiations can rid Fallujah of its insurgents and restore law and order, the US marines are there to keep up the pressure.

Along with the almost nightly air strikes on suspected insurgent positions, marines regularly patrol the city's perimeter and set up spot checkpoints.

"These insurgents in Fallujah, they can surrender or not. If they want to come out and fight us, they are welcome too. If they (Iraqis) can come up with a political solution, ... that's the ultimate solution," said Major Todd Desgrosseilliers, the second in command of the battalion assigned to Fallujah.

"When the politics breakdown that is when the fighting begins."


http://www.spacewar.com/2004/041102150305.ku52tmk7.html


Ellie

RichLundeen
11-03-04, 06:56 PM
"In July 1987, VMFA-115 returned to the Western Pacific to participate in the Unit Deployment Program at MCAS Iwakuni, Japan. The Squadron was recognized for superior maintenance, receiving the Secretary of Defense's Phoenix Award for Maintenance Excellence for 1987, and earned the Hanson Award as Marine Corps Fighter Squadron of the Year for both 1987 and 1988. This was the first time a Marine Fighter Squadron had won the Hanson Award for two consecutive years.

In 1989, VMFA-115 returned to the Philippines and supported government forces during a coup attempt in that country. The squadron flew armed CAP and escort missions until the situation stabilized. The Squadron's efforts were recognized again as the coveted Hanson Award became a "Silver Eagle" possession in 1990 for the third time in four years."

I was in 115 Powerline during this whole period. Silver Chickens RULE.

Semper Fi

Rich

thedrifter
11-03-04, 08:03 PM
Bin Laden Accuses Bush of Iraq Quagmire

By NADIA ABOU EL-MAGD, Associated Press Writer

CAIRO, Egypt - Terror mastermind Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) claimed in new video footage broadcast Wednesday that President Bush (news - web sites) ignored warnings against invading Iraq (news - web sites) because he was dazzled by the country's "black gold" and ended up leading the United States into a quagmire.


The full video, portions of which were broadcast Friday, was posted on a Web site used by Islamic groups Wednesday. The tape show the author of the Sept. 11 attacks accusing Bush of acting out of what he calls "private" interests — and allusion to his oil business past.


Bush ignored the warnings because "the darkness of the black gold blurred his vision and insight, and he gave priority to private interests over the public interests of America," bin Laden says in the portions of the tape that the Arab network Al-Jazeera did not broadcast Friday.


"The war went ahead. The death toll rose. The American economy bled, and Bush became embroiled in the swamps of Iraq that threaten his future," bin Laden said.


Accusing America of oppressing and killing Arabs, bin Laden asks: "Is defending oneself and punishing the aggressor objectionable as terrorism? If it is, then it is unavoidable for us."


Al-Jazeera, which is based in Qatar, published a transcript of the full tape on its Web site on Monday. The transcript matches the video posted on the Islamic Web site.


Analysts say bin Laden issued the tape in a bid to influence the U.S. presidential elections, which took place four days after Al-Jazeera broadcast it.


In another partial portion of the video released Monday, bin Laden vowed to bleed America to bankruptcy, boasting that for every $1 al-Qaida has spent on terrorist strikes, it has cost the United States $1 million in economic fallout and military spending, including emergency funding for Iraq and Afghanistan (news - web sites).


"As for the size of the economic deficit, it has reached record astronomical numbers," bin Laden said, estimating the deficit at more than $1 trillion.


Actually, the war against terror and other factors have resulted in an expected $377 billion shortfall for 2003 — the highest deficit since World War II accounting for inflation. The total U.S. national debt is near the $7.4 trillion statutory limit.


The terror mastermind credited the religiously inspired Arab volunteers that he fought with against the Soviets in Afghanistan with having "bled Russia for 10 years, until it went bankrupt and was forced to withdraw in defeat." He suggested the same strategy would work against the United States.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041104/ap_on_re_mi_ea/egypt_bin_laden_tape


Ellie