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thedrifter
11-08-04, 06:54 AM
U.S. begins Fallujah invasion


BY RICHARD A. OPPEL JR. AND ROBERT F. WORTH
NEW YORK TIMES

NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq - Explosions and heavy gunfire thundered through the outskirts of Fallujah on Sunday night and early today as U.S. soldiers and Marines seized the main city hospital and secured two key bridges over the Euphrates River.

It appeared to be the first stage of a long-expected invasion of the city.

Hours earlier, Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, faced with an outbreak of insurgent violence across the country, declared emergency law for 60 days across most of Iraq. The proclamation gave him broad powers that allow him to impose curfews, order house-to-house searches and detain suspected criminals and insurgents.

"We declared it today and we are going to implement it whenever and wherever it is necessary," Allawi told reporters inside the fortified compound that houses the headquarters of the interim Iraqi government. "This will send a very powerful message that we are serious."

Hazim Shalan, the interim Iraqi defense minister, called on his army Sunday to "liberate" Fallujah.

"This is the first time in the history of Iraq we have seen people being slaughtered like sheep under the umbrella of Islam," Shalan told Iraqi troops gathered at a base near Fallujah. "Your conscience and families call for you. They call for you to liberate this city."

Dancing, singing and thrusting their rifles into the air, the Iraqi soldiers seemed to know a rallying cry when they heard one.

"We are here to defend our country," said Ali, 28, a soldier from Nasiriyah who is in the Iraqi army's 1st Brigade. Like many of the Iraqi soldiers interviewed here, he gave only one name. "We have to get rid of terrorism. All the world looks down on Iraq now because of the terrorists who are not Iraqi. We will make them see Iraqi men ending the terrorism in Iraq."

Troops were on the move by 9 p.m. to the west and south of Fallujah, just across the Euphrates River, and after two hours of steady pounding by U.S. tanks, Bradley armored vehicles, artillery and AC-130 gunships, the hospital -- less than a mile from downtown Fallujah -- had been secured by U.S. forces and the Iraqi 36th commando battalion.

U.S. officials said the toughest fight was yet to come -- when American forces enter the main part of the city on the east bank of the river, including the Jolan neighborhood where insurgent defenses are believed to be the strongest.

Tracer fire lighted up the sky as the operation began, helicopters crisscrossed the battlefield, and at least one U.S. vehicle was fired on with a rocket-propelled grenade as U.S. and Iraqi forces converged on the hospital, called al-Fallujah. Shortly before midnight, U.S. forces were exchanging gunfire across a strategic bridge near the hospital with four to five insurgent positions on the other side.

"There has been extensive gunfire going across the river," said the U.S. commander of the Special Forces operation at the hospital. "Bradleys have been shooting over to the east of us, and there has been extensive machine-gun fire to the southwest of us."

Allawi said he would conduct a news conference today to provide more details about the state of emergency. Once it becomes clear what exactly Allawi wants to put into effect, U.S.-led forces will be deployed to help enforce the law, a senior U.S. military official said Sunday in an interview in Baghdad. That could include operating more checkpoints and increasing patrols.

Allawi said he had imposed the state of emergency only after getting the approval of his Cabinet and the office of the president, Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer.

With only three months until the country's first democratic elections, U.S. and Iraqi officials are grasping for any tool at their command to bring the insurgency under control. Guerrillas staged brazen attacks on Sunday that left at least 37 people dead across the country, showing they could seize the initiative even as U.S.-led forces geared up for their major offensive in Fallujah and the neighboring city of Ramadi.

At dawn, insurgents armed with bombs and Kalashnikov rifles raided three police stations and killed at least 21 people in the far west of rebellious Anbar Province, which encompasses those two volatile cities, said Col. Adnan Abdul-Rahman, an Interior Ministry spokesman. In an attack south of Baghdad, he said, guerrillas gunned down three officials from Diyala Province as those officials were driving to the funeral of a colleague who had been assassinated.

Several powerful explosions shook Baghdad in the afternoon Sunday. One came from a car bomb that detonated near the downtown home of the finance minister, Adil Abdel-Mehdi, killing one of his guards and shattering storefronts along the street, said Haithem al-Hassani, an aide in the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, a *****e political party to which Abdel-Mehdi belongs. A suicide car bomb near a Catholic church killed an Iraqi bystander and wounded a second, while two others in the western Baghdad area aimed at separate military convoys killed two U.S. soldiers and wounded five others, the military said.

That brought to at least 1,125 the number of U.S. troops who have died in the war.

The wave of attacks came a day after insurgents launched coordinated bomb and mortar attacks in Samarra and the surrounding area, killing at least 30 people, many of them Iraqi police officers. Those strikes demonstrated that a major U.S.-led offensive last month in Samarra, a "no go" zone for the Americans during much of the summer, had failed to rid the city of insurgents or secure key parts of town. The senior U.S. military official said that a "resurgence" of the insurgency had taken place because there was "a lag in providing sufficient Iraqi police."

"The challenge with police has been an ongoing one," he said.


Ellie

thedrifter
11-08-04, 06:55 AM
Marines Storm Part Of Fallujah
Associated Press
November 8, 2004

NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq - With warplanes pounding the city, U.S. Marines fought their way into the western outskirts of Fallujah on Monday, seizing a hospital and two bridges over the Euphrates River in the first stage of a major assault on the insurgent stronghold.

The U.S. military reported its first casualties of the offensive - two Marines killed when their bulldozer flipped over into the Euphrates River. Ten Iraqis were killed and 11 others injured during the night of fighting in Fallujah, according to doctors.

An AC-130 gunship raked the city all night long with cannon fire as heavy explosions from U.S. artillery continued into Monday morning. Warplanes carried out some two dozen sorties against the city, and four 500-pound bombs were dropped over Fallujah before dawn. Orange fireballs from high explosive airbursts could be seen above the rooftops.

With U.S. forces moving in from the northwest and west sides of the city, commanders said the toughest fight was yet to come: when American forces cross to the east bank of the Euphrates and enter the main part of the city - including the Jolan neighborhood where insurgent defenses are believed the strongest.

U.S. and Iraqi commanders have vowed to stamp out Sunni Muslim guerrillas who control Fallujah, part of a campaign to put down insurgents ahead of vital January elections. Marine commanders have warned the assault could bring the heaviest urban fighting since the Vietnam war.

Two Marine brigades and an Army brigade are currently positioned north of the city, the military said Monday.

By noon, Marines fighting their way into the city secured an apartment building in the northwestern corner of the city, said Capt. Brian Heatherman, of the 3rd Battalion 1st Marine Regiment.


"The Marines have now gained a foothold in the city," said Heatherman, 32, from Laguna Niguel, Calif.

Several hundred Iraqi troops were sent into Fallujah's main hospital after U.S. forces sealed off the area. The troops detained about 50 men of military age inside the hospital, but about half were later released.

The invaders used special tools, powered by .22 caliber blanks, to break open door locks. A rifle-like crackle echoed through the facility. Many patients were herded into hallways and handcuffed until troops determined whether they were insurgents hiding in the hospital.

In an apparent reference to the Iraqi troops, Fallujah clerics issued a statement Monday calling them the "occupiers' lash on their fellow countrymen."

"This statement is our last threat to you. We swear by God that we will stand against you in the streets, we will enter your houses and we will slaughter you just like sheep," the statement said.

The initial attacks on Fallujah began just hours after the Iraqi government declared 60 days of emergency rule throughout most of the country as militants dramatically escalated attacks, killing at least 30 people, including two Americans.

Government negotiators on Sunday reported the failure of last-minute talks for peace, though interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said dialogue with Fallujah leaders was still possible, even if a large-scale military action began.

Allawi, a secular-minded Shiite Muslim, has faced strong pressure from within Iraq's minority Sunni community to avoid an all-out assault.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and others have warned that a military offensive could trigger a wave of violence that would sabotage the January elections by alienating Sunnis, who form the core of the insurgency. About 60 percent of Iraq's 25 million people are Shiite.

On Monday, the Association of Muslim Scholars, an influential Sunni clerics group, condemned the assault on Fallujah. The group has threatened to boycott elections.

"The attack on Fallujah is an illegal and illegitimate action against civilian and innocent people. We denounce this operation which will have a grave consequences on the situation in Iraq," said spokesman Mohammed Bashar al-Faidhi.

After the seizure of Fallujah Hospital, its director Dr. Salih al-Issawi said he asked U.S. officers to allow doctors and ambulances go inside the main part of the city to help the wounded but they refused. There was no confirmation from the Americans.

"The American troops' attempt to take over the hospital was not right because they thought that they would halt medical assistance to the resistance," he said by telephone to a reporter inside the city. "But they did not realize that the hospital does not belong to anybody, especially the resistance."

During the siege of Fallujah last April, doctors at the hospital were a main source of reports about civilian casualties, which U.S. officials insisted were overblown. Those reports generated strong public outage in Iraq and elsewhere in the Arab world, prompting the Bush administration to call off the offensive.

The assault began after sundown on the outskirts of the city, which has been sealed off by U.S. and Iraqi forces, and the minaret-studded skyline was lit up with huge flashes of light.

As dawn broke Monday over Iraq, the roar of jet aircraft could be heard in Baghdad heading westward toward Fallujah.

"We want to secure the country so elections can be done in a peaceful way and the Iraqi people can participate in the elections freely, without the intimidation by terrorists and by forces who are trying to wreck the political process in Iraq," Allawi told reporters Sunday.

Over the weekend, insurgents launched a wave of attacks, car bombings and suicide blasts against Iraqi police and others in central Iraq - possibly an attempt to divert attention away from Fallujah. About 60 people were killed - including two Americans soldiers - and 75 injured in the attacks Saturday and Sunday.

Ellie

thedrifter
11-08-04, 06:55 AM
Military Snipers Learn From Competition <br />
Associated Press <br />
November 6, 2004 <br />
<br />
FORT BENNING, Ga. - Corp. Eugenio Mendoza, a young veteran of the Iraq war, had to carry his buddy for 50 yards,...

thedrifter
11-08-04, 06:56 AM
Insurgents Use Media To Fight Americans
Associated Press
November 8, 2004

NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq - U.S. military planners and intelligence analysts believe Iraqi insurgent leaders holed up in Fallujah will defend the city by combining scrappy fighting with a media blitz designed to provoke a worldwide outcry.

The insurgents understand that they cannot beat the U.S. military, but will probably try to hold off the assaulting forces, killing as many U.S. troops as possible and provoking a backlash in the United States over American casualties, U.S. Army officials say.

"He wants to make it as painful and costly as he can," said Army Maj. Eric Larsen, of the 1st Cavalry Division's 2nd Brigade. "He's testing us. How much are we willing to pay for that real estate?"

At the same time, the insurgents will seek to exploit public horror in the Muslim world as well as among U.S. allies over civilian deaths, with the goal of forcing the U.S. military and Iraqi governments to negotiate, Army officials said.

In April, the three-week U.S. siege of Fallujah was called off after mounting international pressure over high civilian casualties reported during the assault.

For the insurgents, victory means negotiating an end to the fighting and retaining some control over Fallujah, or at least keeping the Americans out of the city. If they can fight the Americans to a stalemate, it will be viewed as a victory in the Arab world.


"They believe they can achieve what they did in April," said Col. Michael Formica, who commands the 1st Cavalry Division's 2nd Brigade.

"Their goal is to maximize casualties and drag it out. They want to break the will of the United States back home, and bring the Iraqi government to the bargaining table. They want to set conditions to maintain control," he said.

Beyond these broad goals, the aims of Iraqi and foreign fighters differ, American officials believe. U.S. planners have long seen signs of a rift between the two sides.

Iraqi fighters inside the city seek autonomy from the U.S.-allied Iraqi government. They don't want to pursue the battle if the cost means the destruction of their homes and city.

But Muslim mujahedeen, including foreign fighters who have flocked to Fallujah, are thought to be willing to fight and die for the ultimate goal of an Islamic state. For them, Fallujah's destruction is a worthy sacrifice, the officials say.

Formica described Fallujah as the "Super Bowl" for foreign jihadis willing to fight to the death against foreign occupation.

Insurgents have had months to prepare their defense. Planners expect the toughest fight in Fallujah's old city and spiritual hub, the northern Jolan district.

The densely populated warren of narrow alleys and attached houses provides the best possible fighting positions for the insurgents, who hope to lure U.S. troops into "killing zones" - choke points with clean fields of fire, or booby-trapped buildings or areas that have been mined with homemade bombs.

Explosives-rigged buildings are such a worry that the U.S. Navy Seabees have established a special team to extract people from collapsed buildings.

The Army says guerrilla leaders have been training insurgents inside Fallujah, with experienced fighters giving newcomers pointers in bomb-building and other tactics.

The difficult part for the U.S. military will be distinguishing guerrillas from innocent civilians hunkering in their homes over the next few days.

"We want to make sure we're not too hesitant against the bad guys, but at the same time we're taking care of the people we're here to help," said an Army officer on condition of anonymity.

Ellie

thedrifter
11-08-04, 06:57 AM
Extremists Moving Across Iran-Iraq Border <br />
<br />
By LOUIS MEIXLER, Associated Press Writer <br />
<br />
ANKARA, Turkey - Islamic extremists have been moving supplies and new recruits from Iran into Iraq (news -...

thedrifter
11-08-04, 06:58 AM
Poll: Voters Most Want Stable Iraq
Associated Press
November 8, 2004

WASHINGTON - As President Bush mulls what to do after winning re-election, voters say his first priority should be resolving the situation in Iraq, where the fighting is growing more intense.

They also want Bush to cut the deficit, which ballooned under his watch, rather than pushing for more tax cuts, according to an Associated Press poll taken right after the election.

The voters' concerns stood in contrast to the priorities Bush cited after he defeated Democrat John Kerry. Bush pledged to aggressively pursue major changes in Social Security, tax laws and medical malpractice awards. Terrorism was a chief concern both for Bush and many voters in the poll.

"I earned capital in the campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it," Bush said a day after becoming the first president in 68 years to win re-election and gain seats in both the House and Senate.

Some 27 percent of respondents named Iraq as the top priority for the president's second term, ahead of issues such as terrorism, the economy and health care.

Only 2 percent named taxes as a priority. By more than a 2-1 margin, voters said they preferred that the president balance the budget rather than reduce taxes further.

After a campaign dominated by discussion of Iraq and terrorism, national security issues are at the top of voters' concerns along with the economy. Voters were asked to pick from a list of issues in the AP poll that included Iraq, terrorism, the economy, unemployment, health care, education and taxes.


Many voters on Election Day indicated they were also concerned about "moral values" - a broader concern than specific issues such as health care and education.

Republicans ranked terrorism first on the list, followed by Iraq and the economy as priorities for Bush. Democrats and independents were most likely to name Iraq, followed by the economy and health care, according to the poll conducted for the AP by Ipsos-Public Affairs.

"He has to go 500 percent in Iraq," said Ruth Shoemaker, an independent and a retiree from Chula Vista, Calif. "That's why I voted for the president."

Seven in 10 voters, including a majority of Democrats, would prefer that U.S. troops to stay in Iraq until the country is stable, instead of having them leave immediately.

U.S. troops are preparing for assaults on insurgent strongholds used as havens for those mounting increased attacks against coalition forces.

"There has got to be some kind of resolution in Iraq," said Erwin Neighbors, a Republican and a community college teacher from Moberly, Mo. "We can't fold our tent without accomplishing our goals."

On the domestic front, Bush says his plans to overhaul the tax laws would be "revenue-neutral" and would not cut taxes. Throughout the past year, however, he has urged Congress to make earlier tax cuts permanent.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office now sees $2.3 trillion in accumulated deficits over the next 10 years. That does not include the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Given the choice between balancing the budget and cutting taxes, voters chose balancing the budget by 66 percent to 31 percent. Just over half of Republicans as well as most Democrats and independents felt that way.

When the choice is between balancing the budget and spending more on education, health care and economic development, voters were divided. Slightly more wanted the additional domestic spending, 55 percent, than chose balancing the budget, 44 percent.

During his second term, Bush is likely to have an opening on the Supreme Court; Chief Justice William Rehnquist is seriously ill with cancer.

Six in 10 voters say they are comfortable that the president will nominate the right kind of person to serve on the court. Bush has sidestepped questions about who he would name if there were an opening.

But three-fourths of Democrats are uncomfortable with a potential Bush nomination to the high court.

"I'm very worried," said Carla Matlin, a Democrat and a marketing manager from the San Francisco area. "I'm afraid that, rather than mainstream judges, Bush will appoint judges that are way over on the right."

Asked whether Bush should appoint a justice who will uphold or overturn the Roe v. Wade decision that protected a woman's right to abortions, six in 10 said they want a justice who will uphold the landmark ruling.

Voters seem generally accepting of the election.

A majority, 54 percent, said the election results improved their confidence in the electoral system. Six in 10, including one-third of Democrats, said they felt "hopeful" after the election.

But more than eight in 10 Democrats, 84 percent, acknowledged their disappointment about the election results.

The AP-Ipsos poll of 844 registered voters was taken Nov. 3-5 and has a margin of sampling error of 3.5 percentage points.

Ellie

thedrifter
11-08-04, 06:58 AM
Guardsman Loses Deployment Challenge <br />
Associated Press <br />
November 8, 2004 <br />
<br />
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - A National Guard soldier ordered to duty in Iraq is challenging the military's &quot;stop-loss&quot; program...

thedrifter
11-08-04, 06:59 AM
Two Marines Killed in Fallujah Offensive

Mon Nov 8, 4:15 AM ET Middle East - AP



NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq - Two Marines were killed early Monday in Fallujah, the U.S. military said, making them the first casualties in the American-led offensive to retake the insurgent-held city.


The two Marines drowned when their bulldozer flipped over into the Euphrates River, the military said.


Their bodies were discovered at 8 a.m. in the river, the U.S. military said.


Their names were being withheld pending notification of next of kin.


U.S. forces stormed into the western outskirts of Fallujah early Monday, seizing the main city hospital and securing two key bridges over the Euphrates river in what appeared to be the first stage of the long-expected assault on the insurgent stronghold, 40 miles west of Baghdad.

Ellie


Rest In Peace


Sending My Prayers to Our Troops...........

cjwright90
11-08-04, 07:07 AM
All I have to say Miss Ellie, is Semper Fi to all our troops, Godspeed and God Be With Them.

thedrifter
11-08-04, 07:51 AM
Marines storm fortress Falluja


JIM KRANE
ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEAR FALLUJA, Iraq—U.S. forces stormed into the western outskirts of Falluja early today, seizing the main city hospital and securing two key bridges over the Euphrates river in what appeared to be the first stage of the long-expected assault on the insurgent stronghold.

An AC-130 gunship raked the city with cannon fire as explosions from U.S. artillery lit up the night sky. Intermittent artillery fire blasted southern neighbourhoods, and orange fireballs from high explosive airbursts could be seen above rooftops.

The assault came just hours after Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, faced with dramatically escalated rebel attacks that killed at least 37 people, including two Americans, declared emergency law for 60 days across most of Iraq. The proclamation gave him the power to impose curfews, order house-to-house searches and detain suspected criminals and insurgents.

"This will send a very powerful message that we are serious," Allawi told reporters inside the fortified compound in Baghdad that houses the headquarters of the interim Iraqi government.

Troops were on the move just after sundown to the west and south of Falluja, where defenders fought back with machine gun fire. Several hundred Iraqi troops were sent into the main hospital after U.S. forces sealed off the area. About 50 men of military age were detained, but half were later released.

American officials said the toughest fight was yet to come, when U.S. forces enter the main part of the city on the east bank of the river, including the Jolan neighbourhood where insurgent defences are believed the strongest. Commanders warned troops to expect the most brutal urban fighting since the Vietnam War.

Underscoring the instability elsewhere in Iraq, several explosions thundered through Baghdad, even as government spokesman Thair Hassan al-Naqeeb was announcing the state of emergency, which applies everywhere except for Kurdish-ruled areas in the north.

With only three months until the country's first democratic elections, U.S. and Iraqi officials are grasping for any tool at their command to bring the insurgency under control.

"We want to secure the country so elections can be done in a peaceful way and the Iraqi people can participate in the elections freely, without the intimidation by terrorists and by forces who are trying to wreck the political process in Iraq," Allawi told reporters.

He said he'd provide more details today about the state of emergency. Once it becomes clear exactly what Allawi wants, U.S.-led forces will help enforce the law, a senior U.S. military official said. That could include operating more checkpoints and increasing patrols.

Insurgents waged a second day of multiple attacks across the restive Sunni Triangle north and west of Baghdad, storming police stations, assassinating government officials and setting off deadly car bombs. About 60 people have been killed and 75 injured in two days of attacks.

At dawn, rebels armed with bombs and Kalashnikov rifles raided three police stations in Haditha and Haqlaniyah, 225 kilometres northwest of Baghdad, killing 22 policemen. Some were lined up and shot execution-style, according to police and hospital officials.

In an attack south of Baghdad, guerrillas gunned down three officials from Diyala Province as they drove to the funeral of an assassinated colleague, said Interior Ministry spokesman Col. Adnan Abdul-Rahman.

Insurgents dressed as policemen also abducted a dozen Iraqi National Guardsmen on their way home to the southern holy city of Najaf and killed them all, according to an official in a prominent Shiite political party.

Several powerful explosions shook Baghdad yesterday afternoon. One came from a car bomb that detonated near the downtown home of the finance minister, Adil Abdel-Mehdi, a leading Shiite politician, killing one of his guards and shattering storefronts along the street, said Haithem al-Hassani, an aide.

A suicide car bomb near a Catholic church killed an Iraqi bystander and wounded a second, while two others in the western Baghdad area aimed at separate military convoys killed two U.S. soldiers and wounded five others, the military said.

That brought to at least 1,129 the number of U.S. troops who have died in the war.

In a Web posting, the Al Qaeda affiliate group of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, believed headquartered in Falluja, claimed responsibility for the attacks on Haditha and Haqlaniyah.

"In the dawn of this blessed day, the lions of Al Qaeda in Iraq faced up to a group of apostates in the proud city of Haditha," said the statement, which could not be authenticated. "The lions stormed the city's police directorate and killed everyone there... the city has been completely liberated."

The wave of attacks came a day after insurgents launched coordinated bomb and mortar attacks in Samarra and the surrounding area, killing at least 30 people, many of them Iraqi police officers. Those strikes demonstrated that a major U.S.-led offensive last month in Samarra, a "no-go" zone for Americans during the summer, had failed to rid the city of insurgents or secure key areas.

Yesterday, U.S. troops began enforcing a round-the-clock curfew aimed at keeping all Iraqis off Samarra's streets.

The precarious situation there, coupled with the other weekend assaults, raised questions about the potential effectiveness of the attack on Falluja, where some 10,000 U.S. troops have amassed. Thousands of insurgents have dug in behind barricades and bomb-lined streets.

Doubts have been raised about whether Iraqi security forces and politicians can properly maintain order in Falluja should the offensive kill or drive out most of the guerrillas there. Some reports indicate many foreign fighters have already left, perhaps to stage attacks elsewhere or to strike back in Falluja once the Americans install Iraqi forces.

A weak Iraqi presence in the city after an offensive would simply mean another descent into chaos.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1099867808461&call_pageid=970599119419


Ellie

thedrifter
11-08-04, 09:04 AM
November 08, 2004

New documents give more insight into Abu Ghraib
But more prison-scandal paperwork is being withheld, ACLU officials say

By Deborah Funk
Times staff writer


The prison abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib, Iraq, was a classic example of the legal formula that “predisposition plus opportunity equals criminal behavior,” according to a recently released psychological assessment.
The assessment also reported the rape of a male juvenile prisoner by an interpreter and racist remarks by a U.S. military dog handler.

The assessment, by an Air Force psychiatrist who was part of the investigation team, was among about 6,000 documents the government has turned over by court order to the American Civil Liberties Union and other organizations that are probing allegations of prisoner abuse at U.S. detention facilities overseas.

But the ACLU, which announced the release of the documents in October, believes the government is withholding additional material that would more clearly explain where the ultimate blame lies for mistreatment of detainees at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere.

“What does the government have to hide? We’re not seeing all the responses,” said Amrit Singh, an ACLU attorney working on the case. “The documents we did get confirm the abuse was systemic and widespread. It was not confined to a few isolated incidents.”

The ACLU and other groups sued the government in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to obtain the documents. Officials with the Army, Defense Department and FBI say they have turned over all material that was legally required. Some material can be withheld to protect national security, confidential sources and investigations, for example.

The Army also has been “aggressively declassifying” information when possible, said Army Brig. Gen. John Adams, special assistant to the Army Provost Marshal General for Detainee Operations.

“We’re releasing every bit of information that we can legally,” Adams said.

Matthew Waxman, deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs, said defense officials are conducting “vigorous and transparent” investigations and holding individuals accountable for wrongdoing.

He said defense officials are taking lessons learned to improve detainee operations, detention facilities and training. For example, a $26 million hospital recently opened at Abu Ghraib, and cooperation has increased between Coalition and Iraqi government officials in reviews of whether to release or continue to detain individuals, he said.

The Army is rewriting its doctrine for military police and intelligence interrogators, and is clearly defining responsibilities and acceptable interrogation techniques, Adams said.

In a speech delivered in October in Warsaw, Poland, on humane treatment of detainees, Waxman said the United States has conducted eight major reviews and investigations and nearly 1,000 interviews into allegations of abuse. More than 40 people have been referred for court-martial and “dozens of others disciplined, removed from command or separated” from military service.

Meanwhile, four British men who were held at the U.S. detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for almost three years are suing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other U.S. military officials alleging they were tortured and suffered other human-rights violations in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay. Asif Iqbal, Rhuhel Ahmed, Jamal Al-Harith and Shafiq Rasul seek $10 million each.

Pentagon spokesman Air Force Maj. Michael Shavers said the four “were captured in Afghanistan fighting illegally for al-Qaida. They were properly classified as enemy combatants. Their detention was directly related to their combat activities as determined by an appropriate DoD official before they were transferred to Guantanamo.

“There is no basis in U.S. law to pay claims to those captured and detained as a result of combat activities,” he said. “A determination that a detainee should be transferred or released does not negate his status as an enemy combatant.”

Sparks that lit the fuse

Much of the government material to civil liberties groups was redacted, including pages of e-mails where messages were greatly or entirely deleted. Those include e-mails on legal issues at Guantanamo and legal analysis of interrogation techniques used there, according to the postings at www .aclu.org.

The psychological assessment report on Abu Ghraib said factors contributing to the abuse included throwing U.S. troops who already associated Muslims with terrorism into an unfamiliar Islamic culture, issues that “exaggerate differences and create misperceptions that can lead to fear or devaluation of a people.”

Poor living and working conditions for U.S. troops, a disparate detainee population whose future is uncertain and mortar attacks and riots also were factors. Friction between military police and intelligence personnel and a lack of training and supervision also contributed to the environment.


http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=0-MARINEPAPER-478480.php


Ellie

thedrifter
11-08-04, 09:53 AM
U.S.: 42 Insurgents Killed in Fallujah

By JIM KRANE, Associated Press Writer

NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq - Backed by a barrage from warplanes and artillery, American troops fought their way into the western outskirts of Fallujah on Monday, seizing a hospital and two bridges over the Euphrates River in the first stage of a major assault on the insurgent stronghold.


The U.S. military reported its first casualties of the offensive — two Marines killed when their bulldozer flipped over into the Euphrates. A military spokesman estimated that 42 insurgents were killed across Fallujah in the opening round of attacks.


Four foreigners, including two Moroccans and two unidentified people, were captured when U.S. and Iraqi forces swept into the first objective: Fallujah's main hospital, which the military and Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said was under insurgent control.


Iraqi soldiers stormed through the facility, blasting open doors and pulling handcuffed patients into the halls in search of gunmen.


Allawi said he had given the green light for international and Iraqi forces to launch the long-awaited offensive against Fallujah, considered the strongest bastion of Iraq (news - web sites)'s Sunni insurgents. "We are determined to clean Fallujah of terrorists," he said.


Allawi initially said 38 people were killed in the hospital seizure, but the U.S. military said no one was killed in the hospital operation. A military spokesman later gave a figure of 42 dead across the city since the Fallujah assault began. The spokesman, 1st. Sgt. Steven Valley, said the situation was "fluid" and information on casualties was difficult to pin down.


Doctors in Fallujah reported 10 people killed and 11 wounded during the bombardment overnight.


Throughout the morning, artillery and mortars pounded targets in Fallujah and on its outskirts, and a U.S. jet swooped low to fire rockets at insurgent positions. An AC-130 gunship raked the city all night long with cannon fire, and and before dawn, four 500-pound bombs were dropped, raising orange fireballs over the city's rooftops.


Outside the city. U.S. troops set up mortar positions and filled sandbags in preparation for an anticipated assault. U.S. troops clashed with insurgents in several locations along the outskirts of the city, firing rifle shots as they took cover around corners and behind the doors of their Humvees.


Commanders said the toughest fight was yet to come: when American forces cross to the east bank of the Euphrates and enter the main part of Fallujah — including the Jolan neighborhood where insurgent defenses are believed the strongest.


U.S. commanders have avoided any public estimate on how long it may take to capture Fallujah, where insurgents fought the Marines to a standstill last April in a three-week siege.


Marine commanders have warned the new offensive could bring the heaviest urban fighting since the Vietnam war. Some 10,000 U.S. Marines, Army soldiers and Iraqi forces are around Fallujah, where commanders estimate around 3,000 insurgents are dug in. More than half the civilian population of some 300,000 people is believed to have fled already.


Much depends on whether the bulk of the defenders, believed to be Iraqis from the Fallujah area, decide to risk the destruction of the city or try to slip away in the face of overwhelming force. Foreign jihadis may choose to fight to the end, but it's clear how many of them are still in the city.


Another issue is the role of Iraqi forces fighting alongside the Americans. A National Public Radio correspondent embedded with the Marines outside Fallujah reported desertions among the Iraqis. One Iraqi battalion shrunk from over 500 men down to 170 over the past two week — with 255 members quitting over the weekend, the correspondent said.


Clerics in Fallujah denounced Iraqi troops participating in the assault, calling them the "occupiers' lash on their fellow countrymen."


"We swear by God that we will stand against you in the streets, we will enter your houses and we will slaughter you just like sheep," the clerics said in a statement.


A senior aide to firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr urged Iraqi forces not to fight alongside U.S. troops.





"We appeal to the Iraqi National Guard and Iraqi police not to help the occupation troops as they want to target the Iraqi people in Fallujah," said Sheikh Abdul-Hadi al-Daraji. The Iraqi troops should not be a tool in the hands of the occupation troops."

In the first foray across the river into Fallujah proper, Marines on Monday morning secured an apartment building in the city's northwest corner, said Capt. Brian Heatherman, of the 3rd Battalion 1st Marine Regiment.

"The Marines have now gained a foothold in the city," said Heatherman, 32.

He said there were some Iraqi casualties as the troops seized the building, where Marines found an improvised bomb hanging above a doorway — one of the many variety of booby traps they expect to come across in the urban battle.

U.S. and Iraqi commanders have vowed to stamp out Sunni Muslim guerrillas controlling Fallujah and other cities north and west of Baghdad ahead of vital January elections.

Allawi said emergency measures would be imposed on Fallujah and Ramadi, another insurgent stronghold nearby, beginning at 6 p.m. Roads and government facilities in the two cities will be closed, all weapons will be banned, Iraq's borders with Syria and Jordan will be closed and Baghdad's international airport will be shut down for 48 hours.

Allawi's government announced Sunday that it was imposing a 60-day state of emergency across Iraq — except for the Kurdish-run north.

One key reason to take Fallujah hospital early was likely to control information: The facility was the main source of Iraqi death tolls during the first U.S. siege of Fallujah in April, and U.S. commanders accused doctors there of exaggerating numbers.

The U.S military said Monday that insurgents had been in control of Fallujah General Hospital — located on the west bank of the Euphrates — and were "forcing the doctors there to release propaganda and false information."

The reports of hundreds of civilians killed in the April siege — and scenes of soccer fields turned into mass graves for the dead — generated strong public outrage in Iraq and elsewhere in the Arab world, prompting the Bush administration to call off the offensive. U.S. officials insisted the numbers were overblown.

The new offensive, launched after sundown Sunday, came after government negotiators reported the failure of last-minute peace talks. "We have no other option but to take the necessary measures to protect Iraqi people from these killers and liberate Fallujah," Allawi said.

The Association of Muslim Scholars, an influential Sunni clerics group that has threatened to boycott elections, condemned the assault on Fallujah, calling it "an illegal and illegitimate action against civilian and innocent people."

Over the weekend, insurgents launched a wave of attacks in central Iraq in an apparent attempt to divert attention away from Fallujah. About 60 people were killed — including two Americans soldiers — and 75 injured.

____

Associated Press correspondents Tini Tran, Mariam Fam, Katarina Kratovac and Maggie Michael in Baghdad contributed to this report.


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=1&u=/ap/20041108/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_041108142527


Ellie

thedrifter
11-08-04, 11:03 AM
November 08, 2004 <br />
<br />
Sailors will serve longer Japan tours with Marines <br />
<br />
By Mark D. Faram <br />
Times staff writer <br />
<br />
<br />
For sailors, duty with the Marine Corps just got tougher. <br />
Sailors taking orders...

thedrifter
11-08-04, 12:02 PM
U.S. Troops Launch Fallujah Offensive

By JIM KRANE, Associated Press Writer

NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq - Thousands of U.S. troops, backed by armor and a stunning air barrage, attacked the toughest strongholds of Sunni insurgents in Fallujah on Monday, launching a long-awaited offensive to put an end to guerrilla control of the Sunni Muslim city.



After nightfall, U.S. troops advanced slowly on the northwestern Jolan neighborhood, a warren of alleyways where Sunni militant fighters have dug in. Artillery, tanks and warplanes pounded the district's northern edge, softening the defenses and attempting to set off any bombs and boobytraps before troops moved in.


At the same time, another force of 4,000 troops pushed into the northeastern Askari district, the first large-scale assault into the insurgent-held area of the city, the military said.


Iraqi troops were expected to be involved in the attack, but there was no immediate word on their actions.


Before the thrust into the heart of the city, the U.S. military reported its first casualties of the offensive — two Marines killed when their bulldozer flipped over into the Euphrates. A military spokesman estimated that 42 insurgents were killed across Fallujah in bombardments and skirmishes during the day.


AP reporter Edward Harris, embedded with Marines near the railroad station just outside the city's northern edge, said U.S. forces hammered the Jolan district with airstrikes and intense tank fire to soften up defenses. The Marines reported that at least initially they did not draw significant fire from insurgents, only a few rocker-propelled grenades that caused no casualties.


Earlier Monday, in preparation for the full assault, U.S. and Iraqi forces seized two bridges over the Euphrates River and a hospital on Fallujah's western edge that they said was under insurgents' control.


Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said he gave the green light for international and Iraqi forces to launch the long-awaited offensive against Fallujah, aimed at breaking the backbone of the guerrillas before elections set for January.


"We are determined to clean Fallujah of terrorists," he told a press conference in Baghdad.


Marine commanders have warned the new offensive could bring the heaviest urban fighting since the Vietnam war. Some 10,000 U.S. Marines, Army soldiers and Iraqi forces are around Fallujah, where commanders estimate around 3,000 insurgents are dug in. More than half the civilian population of some 300,000 people is believed to have fled already.


Allawi also announced he was using emergency powers he was granted the day before to impose a round-the-clock curfew on Fallujah and the nearby town of Ramadi, starting at sundown Monday. All roads and government institutions in the two cities will be closed and no one will be allowed to carry weapons. Also, he announced the borders with Syria and Jordan were sealed, and Baghdad International Airport was closed for 48 hours.


Before the main assault, Allawi visited the main U.S. base outside Fallujah to rally Iraqi troops.


"The people of Fallujah have been taken hostage ... and you need to free them from their grip," he told the soldiers at the camp, who swarmed around him when he arrived. "Your job is to arrest the killers but if you kill them, then so be it."


"May they go to hell!" the soldiers shouted, and Allawi replied: "To hell they will go."


The prelude to the assault was a crushing air and artillery bombardment of the city that built from the night before, though Monday morning and evening then rose to a crescendo by Monday night — with U.S. jets dropping bombs constantly and big guns pounding the city every few minutes with high-explosive shells.


As the main assault began in Fallujah, thunderous explosions could be heard across central Baghdad, some 40 miles to the east. Earlier, insurgents attacked a church in the capital, setting it ablaze and wounding 20 people, police said.



http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=1&u=/ap/20041108/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_8

Ellie


GodSpeed......

thedrifter
11-08-04, 12:14 PM
Iraqi, U.S. Troops Begin 'Phantom Fury' in Fallujah
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Nov. 8, 2004 -- Iraqi and U.S. forces began their long-awaited assault today against insurgents in Fallujah, Iraq, in an operation dubbed "Phantom Fury."

According to various news reports, thousands of soldiers and Marines have moved into Fallujah neighborhoods believed to be harboring the most insurgents. Earlier, Iraqi troops took two bridges and a hospital in northern Fallujah, Multinational Force Iraq officials said today. Officials described the situation around the insurgent stronghold as "fluid."

Interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi gave the go-ahead for Iraqi and U.S. forces to rid the city of insurgents and foreign terrorists. In a news conference today in Baghdad, Allawi said his government is determined to drive the terrorists out of Fallujah. He said he makes this move after all peaceful means to solve the problem have not worked out.

"I have given my authority to the Iraqi forces to spearhead the attacks," Allawi said.

On Nov. 7, the prime minister declared a state of emergency in all of Iraq except for the Kurdish-controlled area in the north.

The Iraqi 36th Commando Battalion took the bridges and hospital today and detained 38 men.

Marine artillery and U.S. aircraft have hit terrorist hideouts in the city. Pentagon officials said Marines and soldiers in the area have observed secondary explosions after the strikes. This often signifies that ammunition or explosives were at the site that was struck, officials explained.

Coalition forces are hitting anti-Iraqi forces where they show themselves. News reports indicate U.S. Marines and soldiers are firing mortars and artillery at concentrations of insurgents and foreign terrorists.

The offensive in Fallujah is one of the most telegraphed military operations in history. That is by design, said Pentagon officials. The city normally has a population of about 300,000. With all the warnings, officials estimate that between 50,000 and 60,000 people are left in the city. Even so, Multinational Force Iraq officials report terrorists in the city are preventing families from leaving Fallujah. According to residents, terrorist plan to use citizens as human shields, then claim they were attacked by friendly forces.

News accounts said that officials estimate between 5,000 and 6,000 insurgents and foreign terrorists are in the city.

Multinational Force Iraq officials have received reports that terrorists in Fallujah are building a system of tunnels joining mosques and schools within the city. The tunnels reportedly would be used to transport weapons and ammunition throughout protected sites in the face of the Multinational Force assault.

Under international law, mosques are granted protected status because of their religious and cultural significance. However, such sites lose their protected status when insurgents use them for military purposes.

The 1st Marine Expeditionary Force is in command of coalition and Iraqi forces at the city. The 1st Marine Division and U.S. Army armored units from the 1st Infantry Division -- along with Iraqi allies -- stand ready on the northern part of the city, news accounts said.


Ellie


Prayers being sent..........

thedrifter
11-08-04, 12:41 PM
Jitters before assault wearing on soldiers
By Anne Barnard, Globe Staff | November 8, 2004

NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq -- The hulks of the 69-ton M1A1 Abrams tanks were barely visible on the dark desert plain, but the rumble of their engines filled the night.

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Across a rise in the terrain, the city of Fallujah lay in darkness. Nothing moved. It was the first time the company had seen the city, but it had loomed in their imagination since they came to Iraq in the spring.

''I expected there'd be more shooting," said Second Lieutenant Andrew Hoeprich, 23. His brother was stationed in Fallujah last year with the 82d Airborne Division. Now it was Hoeprich's turn. He was part of a task force of the First Infantry Division called in from bases on the other side of the country for what could be the biggest battle since the US invasion of Iraq.

But the anticipation was wearing on the soldiers. If ordered by the Iraqi government to invade Fallujah, they will be among more than 10,000 US soldiers and Marines to storm the city in a battle US commanders hope will deal a decisive blow against an insurgency centered there that has killed nearly 1,200 US troops.

It is a prospect that has them by turns excited, nervous, and solemn. Three-quarters of the way through its yearlong tour, the company has not had a single soldier killed.

''I realize that with this operation, that could change. I have to accept that there could be losses," the company commander, Captain Paul Fowler, 33, said as the tanks idled earlier Friday night, waiting for the patrol to begin.

''I don't want that to happen. These guys are like my kids."

Lieutenant Eric Gregory leaned on the Bradley Fighting Vehicle he commands and said it was about time to go into Fallujah.

''Either you go, or you don't," he said.

The company has spent most of its time near Baqubah, the city that forms the easternmost point of the rebellious Sunni Triangle. And while there are many factors that make the area different from Fallujah, they credit Baqubah's relative calm to their aggressive approach.

''When anything pops up, we hit them hard, and then they don't pop up for quite a while," he said.

Sitting around the Bradley in the dark, the men reminisced about their two earlier forays into urban battle, to take back the Baqubah police station from insurgents, once in April and again in June.

In the second battle, tanks and Bradleys fired on insurgents and eventually called in air support to drop two 500-pound bombs.

''That hole in the civic center -- that's mine," Gregory said.

An hour later Friday night, the Bradley was humming toward Fallujah. The troops, sitting in total darkness in the back, heard only the scrabbling of the tracks on asphalt as their seats vibrated with a hum like a dentist's drill.

Page 2 of 2 -- Just outside the gate of the base, the convoy stopped. ''Looks like someone crouching down over there, about five o'clock," a voice crackled over the radio. Then, shortly, ''No, looks like it's just a rock formation."

After what seemed like forever, the tanks and Bradleys were lined up just outside Fallujah. Time passed slowly. An Army combat cameraman lay down in the dust to look at the stars. Finally, the crash of airstrikes began. The soldiers watched as the smoke and red sparks rose over the city. The lights on a mosque minaret went out, then, a few minutes later, flashed on again. Had the electricity gone out, or was it a signal?

Still no one shot at them. Eventually, the convoy headed back to base. At 6 a.m., the tired soldiers climbed out of their vehicles and headed for breakfast.

The base hummed. All the activity over the past few weeks feels like a smaller version of the massing of troops in Kuwait before the invasion: troops rushing for perhaps their last haircut and hot meal for days to come; commanders wondering about worst-case scenarios.

For Fowler's company, the biggest question is how their tanks will function in Fallujah's tight streets.

''As tankers, we don't like the urban environment. We've been training for so long to fight the Russians at ranges like 3,000 meters," said Sergeant First Class James Woody, 39, of Portsmouth, Va.

''In the city, people can throw stuff down on us. Our guns can't swing high enough, they can't swing low enough."

''But we have to do it," he added. ''And we will."

His tank was lined up in a dusty lot with the rest of the company. Stenciled on the barrel of its 120mm cannon was the slogan, ''Anger Management."

Earlier, Fowler sat down with his platoon leaders to sketch out the role the company will play if the invasion goes forward.

''We're going into a long, long battle," he said, urging them to get their soldiers to rest.

''Once you're on the ground, everything is going to get real confusing real fast."

Yesterday, the battalion lined up in formation, each company behind its battle flag, for a motivational talk by the commander, Lieutenant Colonel Peter Newell. He told his soldiers to chase their enemies if they flee.

''You guys are going to run like gazelles," he said.

He told them to be aggressive yet careful. ''We don't want to level the city," he said. ''We want the people of Fallujah to understand what democracy is all about. In order to do that, they've got to have a town to reoccupy."

A chaplain offered a brief prayer. Then the troops fell out, headed off to the chow hall for a meal of spare ribs. As one soldier rushed away, he said to a friend, ''Now let's go blow [stuff] up!"

Anne Barnard can be reached at abarnard@globe.com.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2004/11/08/jitters_before_assault_wearing_on_soldiers?pg=2


Ellie

thedrifter
11-08-04, 02:06 PM
U.S. Commander Predicts Iraq Confrontation

By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer

WASHINGTON - The top U.S. commander in Iraq (news - web sites) on Monday predicted a "major confrontation" on the streets of Fallujah as a U.S.-led force of as many as 15,000 troops pressed to retake control of the Sunni Muslim city.


Gen. George Casey said that the offensive, which began on Sunday, was proceeding on schedule and that he expected the insurgents to use homemade roadside bombs and car bombs as their "weapon of choice."


With as many as 15,000 troops participating in the siege, he predicted that insurgent defenders on the outer edges of the city would fall back into the city center for a "major confrontation" with U.S. and allied Iraqi forces.


As the fighting raged in Iraq, Casey said in a conference call with reporters at the Pentagon (news - web sites) that the 50 to 70 percent of the city's roughly 200,000 people had left, meaning there could be as many as 100,000 people still there. Some insurgents managed to slip away, he said, while others "have moved in."


Casey was asked if he had enough troops for the operation.


"We absolutely do," he said. "If I came across a situation where I needed more troops, I will ask for them."


Casey described the Iraqi rebels as "an amorphous group of terrorists and insurgents" and said not one single group appeared to be in change.


"The Iraqi people are fighting to throw off the mantle of terror and intimidation so that they can elect their own government and get on with building a better life for all Iraqis," he said. "The elimination of Fallujah as a terrorist safe haven will go a long way toward those goals."


Casey said U.S. troops had secured a hospital used as a staging area by Sunni insurgents and two bridges across the Euphrates River. One of the bridges was where Iraqis hung the charred bodies of at least two of four American contractors last March.


Both the bridges and the hospital are on a peninsula.


"We went in and did it very quickly," Casey said.


He refused to give a specific count or breakdown of the U.S. and Iraqi forces involved in the operation, but said 10,000 to 15,000 was "in the ballpark."


Casey said there were "a good number of Iraqi battalions involved in this operation." He said that more battalions would be involved in the fighting in Fallujah than the two battalions involved in Najaf last summer and the five used in recent fighting in Samarra.


Casey predicted that insurgent fighters now positioned on the outskirts of the city "will probably fall back toward the center of the city, where there will probably be a major confrontation."


Forces from Britain's Black Watch battalion were participating, working along the west bank of the Euphrates River to disrupt any insurgent movement between Baghdad and Fallujah, Casey said.


In a series of telephone calls, Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) briefed the foreign ministers of Poland, Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Jordan about the military operation.


"He's calling countries that are obviously concerned about the situation," said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher.





U.S. forces, coalition forces and Iraqi forces will do everything they can to avoid civilian casualties, Boucher said. "The Iraqi government is determined to deal with the situation of lawlessness that existed in Fallujah and a few other towns," he said.

In response to reports that Javier Solana, the senior European Community diplomat, was skeptical of going through with elections in January in an unsettled environment, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said "we are working closely with the Iraqi forces to bring about a security enviornment so that elections can be held."

And Boucher said both the United States and Iraq are very strong in wanting to have the elections held on time.


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=3&u=/ap/20041108/ap_on_re_mi_ea/us_iraq_5

Ellie

thedrifter
11-08-04, 02:17 PM
Marines roll away tensions
Chariot race offers fun before assault.

Published Sunday, November 7, 2004
NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq (AP) - For U.S. Marines awaiting orders to attack Iraq’s rebel-held Fallujah, the bags are packed, trucks are loaded and letters have been sent home, leaving one final pre-assault diversion: the "Ben-Hur."

Blowing off steam, hundreds of Marines took their cue from the 1959 Charlton Heston classic and gathered yesterday at a base near Fallujah for a slapstick chariot race featuring cobbled-together carts and confiscated Iraqi horses.

"These men are about to face the greatest personal and professional tests of their lifetimes," said Lt. Col. Willy Buhl, commander of 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines.

"We wanted to lighten things up, take the tension off what we’re about to do," said the 42-year-old commander from Los Gatos, Calif., who dreamed up the "First Annual ‘Ben-Hur’ Memorial Chariot Race."

The Marine charioteers, wearing togas over their body armor, waved baseball bats done up as spiked maces and jumped into carts forged from cast-off vehicle parts. The makeshift chariots were pulled by Iraqi horses commandeered from looters in the area.

Some 10,000 U.S. troops have encircled Fallujah, a city 40 miles west of Baghdad, to attack Sunni Muslim fighters there - if the final go-ahead is given by Iraq’s interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.

U.S. jets pounded Fallujah early yesterday in the heaviest airstrikes in six months - including five 500-pound bombs dropped on insurgent targets. Insurgents struck elsewhere in central Iraq with suicide car bombs, mortars and rockets, killing more than 30 people and wounding dozens, including more than 20 Americans.

Fallujah is believed to be the headquarters of militant groups, including some responsible for the wave of car bombings and beheadings of foreign and Iraqi hostages. By capturing the insurgent sanctuary, U.S. and Iraqi government forces hope to restore enough order nationwide to enable the country to hold a general election by the end of January.

Yesterday, Marines who endure daily mortar and rocket fire packed unneeded personal belongings into shipping crates, loaded up their Humvees and spoke of what they expected was the last mail pickup for some time.

Tension and anticipation ran high among the young Marines surrounding Fallujah, many of whom have never tasted combat.

"We’re ready to go. I’m just ready to get this done. I want to go and kill people so we can go home," said Lance Cpl. Joseph Bowman, 20, from North Zulch, Texas. "Kill them and go home that’s all we can do now."

But first, the Marines had a little fun with the horses.

"Friends, Romans, Marines: Lend me your ears for the rules," bellowed the master of ceremonies - Capt. Jonathan Vaughn, 30, of Cleveland. "If all horses die before the finish line, whichever makes it the farthest wins."

Vaughn’s rule seemed prudent since some of the horses didn’t look in prime racing shape, although none died. And the race didn’t come off exactly as planned. One steed turned on its charioteer in the first race and tried to bite the Marine - who fended the horse off with a wooden trident, drawing loud cheers.

Instead of chariot-to-chariot races, the Marines held timed heats. Among the highlights for the assembled Marines: When the camp dog, Butch, limped onto the racecourse and grazed on the horses’ droppings.

A weapons team duo eventually prevailed in the final heat. The horse ran straight over the finish line, scattering Marine bystanders and slamming snout-first into sand-filled barriers. The horse was unhurt.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

http://www.showmenews.com/2004/Nov/20041107News018.asp

Ellie

thedrifter
11-08-04, 02:57 PM
Former Marine takes on a new platoon: middle-schoolers


By NICOLE SWEENEY
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
Posted: Nov. 7, 2004

When you first see Stan Loper at the head of the classroom, he seems quiet but firm, gentle but unflappable. Soothing instrumental music floats from a CD player in the corner.

But then he orders his middle-schoolers at the Milwaukee Education Center to stand in a line for a morning ritual. And suddenly, as he starts shouting like a drill sergeant, his 12 1/2 years as a Marine become evident.

"Who are we?" he barks.

"Club Faith!" the kids scream.

"Who are we?"

"Club Faith!"

"Who are we?"

"Club Faith!"

"Are we friendly?"

"Yes!"

The children finished shouting out the acronym's meaning: friendly, able, intelligent, talented and hopeful - words they came up with themselves. Loper created the "Club Faith" concept to inspire a sense of community and pride.

"I believe words are powerful," said Loper, a solidly built man whose sharp green jacket was smudged with chalk by midmorning. "It's my military background. I believe if you keep saying it, you start living it."

After years in the Marines, Loper, 41, now finds himself in command of students with emotional and behavioral disabilities. It's his second year as a special education teacher, a calling he found with the help of the national program Troops to Teachers.

The Troops to Teachers program aims to get retired military personnel into some of the nation's neediest schools. Wisconsin's program has turned out 66 teachers since 1995, but program director Steve Campbell hopes to boost participation now that a recent law change opened the program to National Guard and Reserve members.

"There's a continuing shortage of teachers," Campbell said. "We're channeling what we believe are highly qualified people into a high-needs area of the country."

Military folks can be a perfect fit for schools, he said.

"These people tend to be role models for kids," he said. "They look sharp, and they're just the kind of people that others tend to emulate. They're just the kind of people you want in your school."

Loper left the service in 1993 and worked for a few years as a physical therapist aide at a veterans hospital. But then he started thinking about teaching as a way to serve again. He earned a master's degree in educational psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and started teaching for Milwaukee Public Schools last year. He's still taking classes at the Milwaukee Teacher Education Center to earn his certification.

"A lot of people step back and say how bad the public schools are, but they don't do anything about it," Loper said. "I didn't want to sit on the sidelines."

Special education seemed a natural fit from the start, especially when he saw how many regular education teachers were losing their jobs because of budget cuts.

"I knew they had a need for special ed teachers, so I knew there was job security there," he said.

A few of his students are exceptionally bright but just can't function in a normal classroom setting, he said.

Still, Loper insists on order when he can.

On a recent morning, Loper's students drifted slowly into Room 103. A few wandered around the classroom.

"Sit down, William," he told one. "Sit down, William. Sit down, William," he repeated, quietly but firmly, until the boy finally took his seat.

"I think the Marine stuff has opened him to a lot of patience with the kids," said colleague Lois Arrington, who is also a special education teacher.

It has also shaped his work ethic. Even though he usually gets to school by 7:15 a.m., he sometimes is still there at 10:30 p.m. The janitor teases him about setting up a cot in his classroom.

The Marine's tough-as-nails reputation would seem to be the perfect background in handling unruly middle-schoolers. But not always, Loper said.

"I think people think it's supposed to help, but with these kids, you've got to use any strategies that work," he said.

He believes in positive feedback, and his lessons are constantly punctuated with: "Good job, guys. Excellent."

"He's helpful," said eighth-grader Devonte Egerson, 14. "He teaches us math if we don't know it. He helps us if we still don't understand."

Loper has also devised a few tricks in his short time on the job. He's dubbed one his "ticket economy." Students receive a blue admission ticket to get into his classroom each day and earn red tickets for good behavior. When they earn enough tickets, they trade them in for something from his "prize box," which is loaded with snacks, toys, books and puzzles.

"Last year, he was very humble and very open to see how it works. You could see he was doing a lot of observing," Arrington said. "This year, he's finding his way, what works for him."

The job came with a few surprises. Many of his kids are on medications, and Loper soon realized it was his responsibility to dole out the pills at the right times.

And when students haven't taken their medications, the job can get even stickier. Students can be unresponsive or out of control, even hurling strings of swear words.

"Some days, they come in and they're pretty explosive," he said.

But Loper said his experience working with veterans with psychological problems also prepared him for the job. And he's determined to let not even the toughest days get him down.

"They have their problems, but I don't take it personally," he said. "They need some assistance. They need someone who's going to stick around."

He relishes the small victories - when he's grading papers or tests and notices that a student really got a concept. He's always touched when one student, who is cognitively disabled, asks at the end of the day, "Mr. Loper, can I get a hug?"

He sometimes sees his job as similar to a preacher's.

"You throw seeds of knowledge out there," he said. "You don't know exactly how it's going to affect them. You may not see it right away."

Ellie

thedrifter
11-08-04, 03:12 PM
Fallujah fighting rages as 12 die in air strikes

Mon Nov 8, 7:07 AM ET Mideast - AFP



FALLUJAH, Iraq (AFP) - Black smoke plumed above western Fallujah as US and Iraqi troops battled to secure a hospital and two bridges, while marines entered the northwest of the rebel enclave.


US warplanes and artillery shells also pounded the centre of the city during the morning, leaving 12 people dead, according to an official from a local clinic.


Amid mounting expectations of a full-out assault to wrest the city from the control of militants, Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi announced that a curfew would be imposed on Fallujah as well as neighbouring Ramadi from 1500 GMT.


A barrage of rocket, mortar and gunfire rained down on Iraqi troops as they tried to raise the new Iraqi flag at Fallujah's main hospital on the western edge of the city, which was seized during a pre-dawn operation with the US marines, a reporter embedded with the military said.


The marines and Iraqi special forces met minimal resistance when they took control of the positions.


But that all changed within hours as the soldiers were forced to fight for the territory, using combat helicopters, planes and tanks, the reporter said.


A number of buildings, suspected of being used by insurgents, were completely destroyed and a several others were on fire following five hours of clashes that still raged on, the reporter said, adding that at least five plumes of smoke were spewing into the air.


The hospital, so far, had sustained minimal damage and there were no apparent US casualties but it was impossible to gauge how many insurgents had been killed, according to the reporter.


Some 20,000 US and Iraqi troops are gathered around Fallujah, west of Baghdad, awaiting Prime Minister Iyad Allawi to signal an all-out assault or a stand down as he battles to crush a bloody insurgency ahead of elections planned by January.


In signs of the noose around the city tightening, marines pierced its northwest outskirts, entering a complex of several buildings, including two apartment blocks, a school, a mosque and a government building, said an AFP reporter embedded with the marines.


Some 230 Iraqis were found still living in the complex, some milling about in their underwear. They would be evacuated from the city, the reporter said, noting that women and children were among the inhabitants.


Clamping down on movement, US troops banned men aged from 15 to 50 from entering or leaving Fallujah, warning they could become a target.


Women and children will be allowed to leave the city but cannot return until "order is restored," the US military said, according to an AFP photographer with the troops.


"Attention, attention! All men aged between 15 and 50 are forbidden from entering or exiting (the area)," loudspeakers on top of US military vehicles declared in Arabic as they drove around the outskirts of the city.


US commanders estimate that 2,000 to 2,500 fighters, some loyal to Iraq (news - web sites)'s most wanted man Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, are inside the city and its surrounding areas, ready to fight.


"The predictions are that they are going to stay and fight us here," said Major Todd Desgrosseilliers.


The military believes that another 10,000 men could join in the battle.





Demonstrating their determination in the face of the enormous US and Iraqi military force, machinegun fire erupted from Fallujah since the early morning as US warplanes pounded suspected fighter positions.

An official at a local clinic said 10 people were killed when a US aircraft bombed their house near the Faruq mosque in the centre of Fallujah, while two hours later, shells landing near a local cemetery killed two other people.

The US military has conducted an intensifying campaign of aerial bombardments against the city, coupled with artillery fire in recent days as expectations of an all-out offensive rises and the chances of a peaceful resolution fade.

About 80-to-90 percent of Fallujah's 300,000-strong population is thought to have fled to city due to fears of an imminent showdown.

Allawi's spokesman said on Sunday that the tough-talking prime minister was engaged in a last-ditch attempt to avert a military showdown, but he was gloomy about the prospect of success.

Attempts to broker a peaceful solution between Baghdad and local leaders collapsed last month after Allawi threatened Fallujah with invasion if they did not surrender militants, such as Al-Qaeda front man in Iraq Zarqawi.

City leaders insist that the Jordanian-born Zarqawi, wanted for a string of deadly attacks and beheading of hostages, does not reside there.

A previous siege of the city by US marines in April left hundreds dead and ended in a stalemate.


http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20041108/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_us_fallujah_041108120702


Ellie

thedrifter
11-08-04, 03:28 PM
Weekend Warriors No More
By Kathleen T. Rhem
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Nov. 8, 2004 – The term "weekend warriors" no longer applies to today's National Guardsmen and reservists, the Defense Department's top reserve affairs official said.

In many cases, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs Thomas Hall said in an interview Nov. 4, today's reservists and guardsmen are nearly full- time participants in the war on terror.

Deployment rates for current operations are changing the way the reserve components go about advertising and recruiting. It's all about managing expectations, Hall said.

"You really don't want to set an expectation and then not meet it," he said. "You want to tell people up front that this is what it's all about."

Recruiters today need to create a different expectation among prospective guardsmen and reservists, their families and employers. "That expectation is you're not going to be a weekend warrior," Hall said. "We're going to have to use you in a more robust way in the future."

He explained that officials are now working to determine what exactly "more robust" means. "Will we need you once in every five years? Once in every six years? Will we need you for a year at a time? How will that affect your lifestyle? How will that affect your decision to come into the Guard and Reserve?" Hall asked. "Does your particular type of job allow you that flexibility? And what will be your employer's reaction to that?"

Recruiters are also selling service in the National Guard and Reserve to families much more than in the past. "One of the things (recruiters) will tell you is they're recruiting the mothers and fathers and grandfathers and family. You used to recruit the individual. But now, you need to convince the mother or father or the grandfather or the grandmother that their son or grandson or granddaughter ought to serve. So you need to talk to the whole family," Hall said. "So the advertising of the Guard and Reserve and the way in which we produce these different advertisements and talk to people is different than it used to be."

Another key to keeping recruiting and retention numbers up is to keep benefits at an attractive level. The 2005 National Defense Authorization Act, signed by President Bush Oct. 28, contains a slew of new and increased medical and education benefits for reserve component servicemembers, as well as increases in certain bonuses and allowances.

"The (Defense) Department is committed … to continuing to work on benefits and making it very attractive to serve," Hall said. "So I think people will continue. We need to watch it, and we'll continue to watch our recruiting and retention to make sure it's OK."

So far it has been OK for manning the Guard and Reserve. With one exception, the reserve components met their recruiting and retention goals for fiscal 2004. The Army National Guard finished the year 2 percent below its end- strength target of 350,000 soldiers. The Army Guard came in with 342,000 soldiers at the end of fiscal 2004.

And, Hall said, he prefers to look at that figure as 98 percent successful rather than 2 percent failure.

Benefits and recruiting efforts aside, Hall said he believes what keeps the U.S. military's reserve components stocked with willing and able troops is the dedication, resolve and patriotism of Americans.

"This country is at war. Every citizen is at war. We had international terrorists come and murder our citizens and families and children in this country," he said. "We're all committed, so I think this nation has always responded collectively to the call to colors."

He said record turnout at Nov. 2's national elections is a great example that Americans want to be involved in their country. "Basically, down deep, I find people are patriotic," Hall said. "And part of that involvement is service in the armed forces. And I think we'll continue to get the people that we need."


Ellie

thedrifter
11-08-04, 04:41 PM
AAFES Rolls Out Tastes of Home for Deployed Troops
Special to American Forces Press Service

DALLAS, Nov. 8, 2004 -- Convenience food is a familiar part of Americans' daily lives. And for American troops in Iraq who want a change from meals ready to eat, the Army and Air Force Exchange Service continues its tradition of bringing a taste of home to troops deployed in support of the war on terror.

AAFES has opened new name-brand fast-food restaurants in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan, with more to come in those and other Operation Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom locations.

AAFES opened a Burger King and Subway in Kandahar, Afghanistan; Subway restaurants at Ganci, Kyrgyzstan, and Camp Danger, Iraq; and Burger King and Pizza Hut restaurants at Balad Air Base, Iraq.

"This is a good morale boost for sure," said Air Force Airman 1st Class Stephanie Heck, a member of 332nd Expeditionary Operational Support Squadron, deployed to Balad. "It's also nice to have a little something from back home."

Army Brig. Gen. James Chambers, commanding general of the 13th Corps Support Command, and Air Force Col. Blair Hansen, commander of the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing, were present for the grand opening ceremony at Balad, where the two restaurants together pulled in $22,000 in sales the very first day.

"It was a great turnout," said Terry McCoy, AAFES chief of Operation Iraqi Freedom food programs. "Everybody worked hard, and it came off very well."

The opening of these Burger King and Pizza Hut restaurants brings the total number of AAFES name-brand fast-food operations in Iraq to eleven with five Burger Kings, four Pizza Huts and two Subways.

AAFES also runs 3 name-brand fast-food restaurants in Afghanistan. There are 77 name-brand AAFES-run restaurants in OEF/OIF as a whole.

In Afghanistan, another Subway is also planned for Bagram, along with a combination Dairy Queen/Orange Julius and Popeye's Chicken. Additionally, a combination Dairy Queen/Orange Julius is projected for Kandahar and a Dairy Queen for Camp Phoenix.

"A Pizza Hut in Kandahar will open in the next couple of weeks," said Jerry Hanson, contracting officer for OEF/OIF with AAFES European Region. "We also have Subways planned for Balad, Taji, Sather, Bucca and Victory South, Iraq."

AAFES has even purchased a portable Blimpie Xpress trailer for use at remote training locations. It is currently supporting troops in training at Fort Bliss, Texas, and is located at Dona Ana Base Camp, a remote training site for units on the way to OEF.

"Wherever our deployed, or soon-to-be-deployed, troops are, AAFES is right there alongside them, bringing that one-of-a-kind taste of home," an AAFES spokesman said in a written statement.

(Courtesy of an AAFES news release.)



Ellie

thedrifter
11-08-04, 04:47 PM
Zarqawi Rallies Muslims as U.S. Strikes Falluja

DUBAI (Reuters) - A statement in the name of al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi called on Muslims on Monday to take up arms against their U.S. enemy as American troops mounted a massive offensive against the rebel-held Iraqi city of Falluja.


"Oh people, the war has begun and the call for jihad has been made," said the Zarqawi statement posted on an Arabic internet Web site often used by Islamists.


"Despite all the agonies that we are suffering, by God, the enemies will only see things that will harm them," he said. "Let us resist them with all our might and let us spend all that is precious in fighting them. Be patient, it is only a matter of days before victory will come with the help of God."


Zarqawi made his appeal as Iraqi and U.S. troops began a huge operation to wrestle back Falluja from Muslim insurgents -- though his statement did not mention the city by name.


Another militant group, the Islamic Army in Iraq (news - web sites), posted a statement on its Web site calling for intensified attacks on U.S.-led forces and for more hostage takings.


"In such circumstances the leadership of the Islamic Army in Iraq orders all its forces to escalate operations to the highest level and urges the mujahideen everywhere to repel the infidel," said the statement which also did not mention Falluja by name.


The U.S. military says 1,000 to 6,000 fighters -- Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) supporters and foreign Islamic militants led by Zarqawi -- are holed up in the town's alleyways and on rooftops.


"Why don't you seize the opportunity so that you will be spared the pain of the grave? You should know that martyrs are considered alive in heaven," Zarqawi's statement said.


It accused Muslim scholars of leaving militants "to face the most powerful force on earth" and surrendering land to "Jews and crusaders and their tails -- the infidel rulers."


Zarqawi's Al Qaeda Organization of Holy War in Iraq has claimed responsibility for hostage beheadings and some of Iraq's bloodiest suicide attacks.


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=564&e=9&u=/nm/20041108/ts_nm/iraq_zarqawi_call_dc_1


Ellie

thedrifter
11-08-04, 05:15 PM
Rumsfeld: Rule of Iraq Assassins Must End

By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer

WASHINGTON - Defeating the insurgents in Fallujah is critical in the battle for a free Iraq (news - web sites) because "one part of the country cannot remain under the rule of assassins," Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Monday.


"These are killers. They chop people's heads off," he told a Pentagon (news - web sites) news conference hours after American and U.S.-trained Iraqi troops launched an assault on Fallujah.


Rumsfeld and Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said victory in Fallujah would not end the insurgency or eliminate the need for more fierce combat in coming weeks.


"These folks are determined," Rumsfeld said, referring to the estimated several thousand Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) loyalists and Islamic extremists who are believed to be mainstays of the insurgency. He said they were still getting money and recruits from outside Iraq.


An undetermined number of insurgents escaped before the fighting began and will try to set up operations elsewhere in Iraq, Gen. George Casey, the top American commander in Iraq, said by telephone from Baghdad in a question-and-answer session with Pentagon reporters.


Rumsfeld said the battle for Fallujah, which began Sunday and intensified on Monday, should not be seen as a final showdown with the insurgents, although Fallujah is their main base.


"It's going to take time," Rumsfeld said, for enough ordinary Iraqis to reach a "tipping point" and turn on the insurgents.


"It's a tough business and I think it's going to take time," Rumsfeld said.


Some leaders of the insurgency probably slipped out of Fallujah before the fighting began, Myers said,


The defense secretary said the insurgents are criminals, assassins, terrorists and remnants of Saddam's government, and he said they cannot be allowed to "run roughshod" over the city.


Appearing with Rumsfeld, Myers said there was reason to believe that the insurgents would use innocent civilians as shields, making it more difficult for the attacking U.S. forces.


"There are also indications that they want to fight in a more conventional way," Myers added without elaborating.


Rumsfeld said he was confident that Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi would not pull the plug on the U.S.-led offensive and that U.S.-trained Iraqi troops would acquit themselves well.


"The decision to go (into Fallujah) included the decision to finish and to finish together," Rumsfeld said. He noted that circumstances were different last April when U.S. Marines began an offensive in Fallujah only to be ordered to withdraw a few days later.


U.S. officials have said for months that military force alone could not end the insurgency and that ordinary Iraqis would have to decide they wanted to play a bigger role in helping U.S. forces.


Rumsfeld alluded to opinion polls in Iraq that suggest that more people are fed up with the violence and are blaming the insurgents rather than the U.S. forces depicted by some as occupiers.


"I don't know how many weeks or how many months" it will take to reach a point where the weight of public opinion favors the new Iraqi government instead of the insurgents, he said. "Nobody knows."





Every U.S. military operation is given a code name, and at Allawi's request the Fallujah offensive is called "al-Fajr," which Casey said means "the dawn." He said it involved between 10,000 and 15,000 American and British troops and an unspecified number of Iraqi troops.

Casey, meanwhile, said he did not expect to ask for additional U.S. troops to help with security prior to the elections in January, but he added that he could not rule it other, either. There currently are about 142,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, up several thousand from a few weeks ago.


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&e=3&u=/ap/20041108/ap_on_re_mi_ea/us_iraq

Ellie

thedrifter
11-08-04, 05:59 PM
Service scheduled for fallen Marines as more prepare to leave

KANEOHE, Hawaii A memorial honoring an Arizona Marine and seven others killed by a suicide attack in Iraq is scheduled for today in Hawaii.

The eight Marines being memorialized at Kaneohe were killed when a car bomb exploded near a truck just outside of Fallujah.

Twenty-two-year-old Corporal Christopher J. Lapka, of Peoria, was among those killed. He was a member of the 1st Battalion, 3rd Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, Third Expeditionary Force from Kaneohe.

Also, some one-thousand Marines are scheduled to arrive at the Marine Corps Base Hawaii today and tomorrow to prepare for deployment. An advance team from the unit has already left.

The Marines are headed to Iraq as an all-out assault on the guerrilla sanctuary of Fallujah is on the horizon.

___

On the Net:

Marine Corps Base Hawaii: http://www.mcbh.usmc.mil

Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=2533551


Ellie

Phantom Blooper
11-08-04, 06:09 PM
Marines Rest, Play, Write 'Just in Case' Letters
For some in Charlie Company near Fallouja, thoughts turn to mortality as an expected assault nears. Others focus on the fight.

By Patrick J. McDonnell
Times Staff Writer
Published November 7, 2004

NEAR FALLOUJA, Iraq - The Marines call it "rest and refit" - a time to kick back, catch up on some letters home, listen to music.

Saturday was one of those days. After weeks of sometimes intense training for an invasion of rebel-held Fallouja, Marines tossed footballs, batted around a baseball fashioned from tape, played cards, made trips to the PX.

"You got to have that break," said 1st Sgt. Jose Andrade of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, one of the units poised for attack on the edge of town. "Marines can put their game face on when they need to. But it's unforgiving out there. We're targets."

It may have been their last day off for a while.

Final preparations and fine-tuning continued. The daily artillery and aerial bombardments of Fallouja continued. Marines disassembled their weapons, brushing out the grit and lubricating moving parts. Commanders reviewed assault routes. The troops readied packs, contemplating how much personal gear to bring to a battle that could last for many sleepless days and nights.

For some in Charlie Company, thoughts turned to mortality, not usually a prime topic among young men in their late teens and 20s, some barely out of high school. But casualties are inevitable in any battle for Fallouja.

More than a few Marines spent time fashioning "just in case" letters - missives of thanks, appreciation and farewell to loved ones back home, sometimes left with buddies or stuffed in a flak jacket, the better not to alarm relatives unnecessarily.

"That's the first time I thought about death," said Lance Cpl. Stephen Ross O'Rourke, 19, of Cincinnati, who had just addressed one to his father, though he didn't send it. "I don't think anyone should have to write a letter like that."

Asked about what he wrote, O'Rourke said, "Just memories."

Such correspondence is practically as ancient as warfare. Behind the bravado of everyday barracks banter is a recognition that a single bullet or shard of shrapnel could hit its mark, leaving loved ones to grieve.

"It's a weight off your shoulders," Lance Cpl. Chris Stepp, 19, of Tennessee said of his letter. "You know things are taken care of, just in case."

Mostly, however, the Marines here appeared upbeat. Many were practically bursting with anticipation, sensing they were about to embark on a historic chapter in service history.

"This is why you join the Marine Corps," said Stepp, taking a break on the concrete patio outside the barracks.

His friend Lance Cpl. Dan Dawe interjected: "At least that's why grunts join the Marine Corps."

They chafe for action - and a shot at Fallouja, the worldwide symbol of defiance against U.S. power, the place where four American contractors were killed last spring and their bodies mauled in a scene televised worldwide.

"We've been wanting to go into Fallouja for a long time," said Lance Cpl. Michael Fleharty, a 29-year-old from Detroit who majored in English and anthropology at Western Michigan University and is among the older Marines in his barracks. "This is the place where they hung Americans from a bridge."

Cpl. Yuriy Shirinyan, 21, who moved to Hollywood from Russia when he was 14, has special reason to want a run at Fallouja. His platoon was patrolling near the city last July when a roadside bomb almost killed him. He escaped with a concussion when his helmet stopped a shard of shrapnel.

His best friend, Cpl. Miguel Perez, was shot in the ensuing firefight that night and is recovering from his wounds.

"This is payback," Shirinyan said. "Anyone who says he's not nervous, who thinks he's too hard-core to be nervous, is probably going to get hurt. We're all nervous, but you have to fall back on your training as a Marine."

Although the conflict in Iraq has been bloody, set-piece battles such as the one looming in Fallouja - the kind of combat that Marines say they are especially good at - have not been the norm.

The enemy has been mostly a phantom, the hidden force behind a planted roadside bomb, a lethal rocket-propelled grenade, a sniper's bullet.

"Mostly, the enemy here has had a chance to tuck and run," Fleharty said, taking a break from reading a book. "Well, there's no place for them to run anymore.... Hopefully, they're not going to be able to filter back into the population like they've done before."



Semper-Fi! "Godspeed!,Fair winds and Following seas!":marine:

thedrifter
11-08-04, 06:55 PM
Bush: Fallujah offensive to assure Iraq January vote

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Less than a week after his own re-election, George W. Bush launched an offensive on rebels held up in Fallujah to assure that Iraq (news - web sites) elections set for January will be held.


The US president OK'ed the huge mobilization on Friday at a National Security Council meeting.


On Monday he met with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at the White House before US and Iraqi troops launched the attack.


"Success in Fallujah will deal a blow to the terrorists in the country and should move Iraq further away from a future of violence to one of freedom and opportunity for the Iraqi people," Rumsfeld said during a press conference later Monday.


"I think it's a tough business, and it's going to take time."


For Bush, elected Tuesday for a second, four-year term, Fallujah is a test of wills to assure that elections, scheduled for January, are held as planned, opening to door to the return of 140,000 US troops deployed in Iraq.


"We fully expect (the election) will happen in January," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters, in response to European European Foreign Minister Javier Solana's statement earlier in the day, which put the January date in doubt.


Solana, speaking to reporters in The Hague (news - web sites), said the situation "from the point of view of security does not give much of a hope that that will be realized."


Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi announced Sunday a state of emergency for 60 days saying it was necessary to ensure the successful conduct of the elections in January.


"Sixty days gets very close to the electoral time: Therefore that is not a good sign to have elections in time," Solana said.


McClellan disagreed.


"If you look at what the United Nations (news - web sites) election officials said just last week, they talked about the efforts already under way to register people in Iraq, and they talked about the thousands of registration clerks that are in place and the sites that are in place for people to go and register in Iraq.


"And we have continued to work closely with the Iraqi forces to address the ongoing security challenges."


Allawi has "made it very clear that he was reaching out to people who wanted to participate in the political process.


"Unfortunately, there remain some terrorists and insurgents who do not want a political solution; they seek to spread fear and chaos and destruction," McClellan said.


The only solution "is to go on the offensive and bring them to justice. That's what the Iraqi forces are doing and we are there to partner with them in that effort," McClellan added.


On Friday, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan (news - web sites) said that operation "Phantom Fury," as the US military calls it, could actually undermine the chance of January elections.





Bush and Annan spoke by telephone Saturday, but sources close to the US administration said the conversation was only about Bush's re-election.

A UN spokesman however said the conversation touched on Iraq as well, and that Annan reiterated his point of view.

"We would like to see the United Nations continue to be involved and take a greater role," McClellan said Monday.

Bush was pleased Friday by a promise from the European Union (news - web sites) to provide 30 million euros for Iraq's elections, to train police and administrators, and for long-term trade cooperation.

However there is still a split between Britain, Italy and Poland -- European countries that back the US-led occupation -- and those who do oppose it led by France and Germany.

On Friday Bush will welcome to the White House British Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites), who has been his staunchest ally in Iraq. Blair decided just before US elections to redeploy elite British troops to more dangerous assignments to allow US troops to prepare for the battle for Fallujah.


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1521&e=6&u=/afp/20041108/pl_afp/us_iraq_fallujah_bush_041108225120


Ellie

thedrifter
11-08-04, 07:50 PM
Major operation to retake Fallujah to begin Tuesday: minister

BAGHDAD (AFP) Nov 08, 2004
Large-scale operations to retake Iraqi's rebel-held Fallujah will begin Tuesday, Iraq's Defense Minister Sheikh Hazem Shaalan said after the launch of a major offensive against the city late Monday.
"The assault was launched today... Fallujah is completely surrounded and under siege," he told reporters in Baghdad after US and Iraqi forces launched a ground and air attack codenamed Operation Phantom Fury.

"Tomorrow is the large-scale operation to retake the city," he added. "We've called it Operation Dawn. God willing, it's going to be a new, happy dawn for the people of Fallujah."

He said some insurgents have already started fleeing the rebel city, which has been ringed by thousands of US troops for weeks, and vowed to track them down.

"Some of the terrorists have moved to areas southwest of the city and Baghdad," he said. "But our intelligence services are tracking them and we are going to get them and teach them a lesson that they would never forget."

He said thousands of leaflets were dropped on Fallujah Monday to tell people how to deal with the Iraqi forces.

"We also apologised to the people of Fallujah before the start of the operation and warned them that it was going to start, and we intend to compensate them handsomely for their losses," he said.

Shaalan, who accompanied Prime Minister Iyad Allawi on a visit to Iraqi forces camped outside Fallujah, would not say how many Iraqi soldiers were taking part in the operation.

However, a defense official in Washington said about 12,000 US and Iraqi forces were taking part in Operation Phantom Fury.

Shaalan said there would be more operations against other hotspots in Iraq like the northern city of Mosul where he said some foreign fighters from countries to the west have gathered, without mentioning Syria by name.

"We will launch operations in Mosul, because some groupings that came from neighbouring western countries are trying to step up terror operations there."

Mosul has seen a rash of car bombings against Iraqi and US forces in recent weeks.





All rights reserved. © 2004 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.

http://www.spacewar.com/2004/041108190129.ebzr9it6.html


Ellie

thedrifter
11-08-04, 08:12 PM
Muslim Groups Urge Iraqis to Abandon Falluja Assault

By Lin Noueihed

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Muslim leaders urged members of Iraq (news - web sites)'s fledgling security forces on Monday to refuse to fight alongside U.S. troops storming the rebel-held city of Falluja, where Iraqi units have deserted in the past.


Anti-U.S. Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr joined a call by a powerful Sunni Muslim group, saying the siege of Falluja risked further destabilizing the rest of Iraq.


"We have called on the Iraqi National Guard, army and police not to participate with the occupation forces in attacking Falluja," Sadr spokesman Abdul Hadi al-Darraji told Reuters.


"We condemn this attack that will escalate the security situation inside Iraq."


Last time U.S. forces tried to take Falluja in April some Iraqi units refused to fight and the assault failed.


An uprising led by the fiery Sadr was also raging in the holy Shi'ite city of Najaf at the time and spread to Baghdad's Sadr City slum.


Iraqis, just a fraction of the total 10,000 to 15,000 combined troops in the latest offensive, did join Monday's initial push into Sunni Muslim Falluja.


But Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told a news conference desertions were a problem.


On Friday, an Iraqi commander deserted hours after receiving a full briefing on U.S. plans to storm Falluja, where U.S. and Iraqi leaders say Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) loyalists and foreign Islamists leading a relentless insurgency are entrenched.


But U.S. commanders said the captain, a Kurd, had no known contacts in Falluja and was unlikely to contact the rebels.


It was not clear if other Iraqi soldiers, including former Kurdish Peshmerga guerrillas and former members of Saddam's army, had refused to fight in Falluja this time.


Hours before the assault, the Muslim Clerics Association, a national group with influence over some rebels in Falluja, urged Iraqi troops not to join the U.S.-led action.


"We call on the Iraqi forces, the National Guard and others who are mostly Muslims ... to beware of making the grave mistake of invading Iraqi cities under the banner of forces who respect no religion or human rights," it said in a statement.


"Beware of being deceived that you are fighting terrorists from outside the country, because by God you are fighting the townspeople and targeting its men, women and children and history will record every drop of blood you spill in oppressing the people of your nation."


Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has vowed to crush insurgents behind daily bombings, killings and kidnappings in Iraq ahead of elections due by the end of January.


He visited frontline troops to offer encouragement just before the assault began.


"Your job is to arrest the killers but if you kill them then let it be," he said, according to a pool report.





"May they go to hell," shouted the soldiers. "To hell they will go," Allawi replied.

The clerics association, which has helped negotiate the release of foreign hostages in Iraq, has threatened to boycott the poll if assaults on the Sunni heartland escalate.


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20041109/ts_nm/iraq_falluja_muslims_dc


Ellie