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thedrifter
11-16-04, 07:04 AM
Wounded Troops Describe Fight
USA TODAY
November 16, 2004

LANDSTUHL, Germany - Four U.S. servicemen wounded last week in the Iraqi city of Fallujah on Monday described intense fighting with a skilled enemy, adept at markmanship and rigging booby traps.

The three Marines and an Army soldier were among 419 patients admitted to the U.S. military hospital here since the beginning of an offensive into Fallujah on Nov. 8. Most of the new patients are from that fighting.

The injured troops told reporters that Fallujah's streets were filled with booby traps. They said masked men with automatic rifles and grenade launchers targeted Americans with the aid of spotters who told them where the U.S. forces were located.

"They were willing to fight to the death," said Marine Lance Cpl. Travis Schafer, 20, of Puyallup, Wash. He suffered fractures in his right hand early in the operation. "It was house-to-house fighting, rooftop to rooftop, guys jumping from one roof to the next."

No one saw any civilians in Fallujah. "All the stores and shops were closed, and all the good Samaritans had left," said Marine Lance Cpl. Ryan Chapman, 22, of Lawrence, Kan. Marine Lance Cpl. Jeffery Owens, 21, of Harlan, Ky., said he saw many cars that were booby-trapped with explosives meant to kill a large number of U.S. forces at once.

Despite the difficult conditions, the men said they remain committed to finishing the task the U.S. forces set out to do in Iraq. "It's part of our job, to help the Iraqi people get their freedom," Chapman said.


All four servicemen will be sent home soon to recuperate, but they say it's hard to leave their comrades back in the field. "I'd go back (to Iraq) in a heartbeat," Chapman said. He was hit while on patrol in the turret of a Humvee. After an Iraqi national guardsman was shot by a sniper, Chapman scanned nearby rooftops and windows through the scope on the wire-guided missile launcher he operates. A sniper's bullet hit under Chapman's helmet, temporarily blinding him.

The bullet cracked Chapman's skull, but he said doctors told him he has no brain damage. "Everybody says I'm lucky, and I'll go with that," he said.

Ellie

thedrifter
11-16-04, 07:06 AM
Wounded Servicemen Describe Fallujah Fight

November 15, 2004

By Sandra Jontz, Stars and Stripes European Edition

LANDSTUHL, Germany - Getting the Purple Heart Medal for his war wounds doesn't mean Spc. Kris Clinkscales is a hero.

"Getting the Purple Heart just means the rocket found me," quipped the 22-year-old sniper from the 1st Cavalry Division's 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment out of Fort Hood, Texas.

Clinkscales spoke with reporters Monday while recuperating from wounds sustained a week ago in the massive offensive on the one-time insurgent stronghold of Fallujah. He took shrapnel to his right elbow and has temporarily lost some movement in the hand.

The four wounded servicemen paraded in front of the throngs of media representatives at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center were in good spirits and up to cracking periodic jokes between renditions of how they sustained their wounds.

Lance Cpl. Ryan Chapman, 22, of Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment based at Camp Pendleton, Calif., took a bullet to the head from a sniper he had been hunting.


"Everyone keeps telling me I'm lucky. I'll go with that," said the TOW missile launcher. "It's nothing too serious. [The bullet] cracked my skull, but it looks worse than it really is."


Since Saturday, the U.S. Army hospital has received 223 battle-injury patients from Iraq, of whom 16 are in the hospital's Intensive Care Unit and 196 already have been medivaced to stateside hospitals for further treatment, spokeswoman Marie Shaw said.

The four troops described the fierce battles they faced and the wounds that put them on operating tables, most for multiple surgeries.

The insurgents were well prepared for the offensive, the troops said. They effectively set up organized fighting positions throughout the city, strategically hid snipers, and blanketed the city with makeshift bombs.

And the huge stockpile of AK-47s, ammunition, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars available to the insurgents "shocked" U.S. and Iraqi forces as they launched their massive attack on the city, said Lance Cpl. Jeffery Owens, a supply clerk and machine gunner with Headquarters & Support Company, also with the 3-1. Owens received shrapnel wounds to his left calf.

Clinkscales, who had been in Iraq since March and participated in major offenses in Najaf in August, said the battle for Fallujah was far worse.

In Najaf, insurgents were not as well-equipped, and would launch ill-planned attacks on U.S. forces before retreating to the Imam Ali Mosque, one of the holiest of Islamic mosques, because they "knew it was off limits to us, and [one] the U.S. would not touch," he said.

Eventually, Iraqi forces drew out insurgents or forced them to flee the southern city.

"It was like playing tag as kids, and they'd come out and then run back to their safe base," Clinkscales said of the Najaf offensive.

For months, Fallujah had been a "no-go" zone, a designation that kept forces on the brim of the city and allowed insurgents to build their arsenal.

The one soldier and three Marines said they saw only dead insurgents in the streets of Fallujah, no civilian casualties.

It was easy for the troops to distinguish between the two, Clinkscales said. Aside from the obvious clue of armed men traveling in packs, the insurgents typically are young men, ages 18 to 23, who made it a point to cover their faces often with dark-colored scarves and did not wear the typical long, light-colored robes that the men wear.

Despite it all, the four said they'd return if they could. None sustained wounds that will require them to leave the military.

"If I could get a helmet on," Chapman said, pointing to the huge knot on the left side of his head, "I'd go back. Now. My brothers are still there."

Ellie

thedrifter
11-16-04, 07:06 AM
U.S. To Probe Shooting Of Wounded Iraqi
Associated Press
November 16, 2004

NEW YORK - The U.S. military is investigating the videotaped fatal shooting of a wounded and apparently unarmed Iraqi prisoner by a U.S. Marine in a mosque in the former insurgent stronghold of Fallujah, a Marine spokesman said.

The dramatic footage was taken Saturday by pool correspondent Kevin Sites of NBC television, who said three other prisoners wounded a day earlier in the mosque had also apparently been shot the next day by the Marines.

The incident played out as the Marines 3rd Battalion, 1st Regiment, returned to the unidentified Fallujah mosque Saturday. Sites was embedded with the unit.

Sites reported that a different Marine unit had come under fire from the mosque on Friday. Those Marines stormed the building, killing ten men and wounding five, Sites said. The Marines said the fighters in the mosque had been armed with rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47 rifles.

The Marines had treated the wounded, he reported, left them behind and continued on Friday with their drive to retake the city from insurgents who have been battling U.S.-led occupation forces in Iraq with increasing ferocity and violence in recent months.

The same five men were still in the mosque on Saturday, Sites reported.

On the video, as the camera moved into the mosque during the Saturday incident, a Marine can be heard shouting obscenities in the background, yelling that one of the men was only pretending to be dead.




The video then showed a Marine raising his rifle toward a prisoner lying on the floor of the mosque. The video shown by NBC and provided to the network pool was blacked out at that point and did not show the bullet hitting the man. But a rifle shot could be heard.

The blacked out portion of the video tape, provided later to Associated Press Television News and other members of the network pool, showed the bullet striking the man in the upper body, possibly the head. His blood splatters on the wall behind him and his body goes limp.

Sites reported a Marine in the same unit had been killed just a day earlier when he tended to the booby-trapped dead body of an insurgent.

A spokesman at Marine Corps headquarters in the Pentagon, Maj. Doug Powell, said the incident was "being investigated." He had no further details, other than to confirm the incident happened on Saturday and that the Marines involved were part of the 1st Marine Division.

On Tuesday, the U.S. military said in a statement that the 1st Marine Division is investigating an allegation of the unlawful use of force in the death of an enemy combatant in Fallujah during combat operations on Saturday.

The Marine has been withdrawn from the battlefield pending the results of the investigation, the U.S. military said.

"We follow the law of armed conflict and hold ourselves to a high standard of accountability," said Lt. Gen. John F. Sattler, commanding general of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. "The facts of this case will be thoroughly pursued to make an informed decision and to protect the rights of all persons involved."

Lt. Col. Bob Miller, who NBC said is heading the investigation, told the network that the rules of engagement allow the use of force in self-defense.

"Any wounded - in this case insurgents - who don't pose a threat would not be considered hostile," said Miller.

The events on the videotape began as some of the Marines from the unit accompanied by Sites approached the mosque on Saturday, a day after it was stormed by other Marines.

Gunfire can be heard from inside the mosque, and at its entrance, Marines who were already in the building emerge. They are asked by an approaching Marine lieutenant if there were insurgents inside and if the Marines had shot any of them. A Marine can be heard responding affirmatively. The lieutenant then asks if they were armed and fellow Marine shrugs.

Sites' account said the wounded men, who he said were prisoners and who were hurt in the previous day's attack, had been shot again by the Marines on the Saturday visit.

The videotape showed two of the wounded men propped against the wall and Sites said they were bleeding to death. According to his report, a third wounded man appeared already dead, while a fourth was severely wounded but breathing. The fifth was covered by a blanket but did not appear to have been shot again after the Marines returned. It was the fourth man who was shown being shot.

The CNN broadcast of the pictures used pixilation to cover parts of the video that could lead to public identification of the Marines involved.

NBC's Robert Padavick told members of the U.S. television pool that the Pentagon had ordered NBC and other pool members to make sure the Marine's identity was hidden because "they (the military authorities) are anticipating a criminal investigation as a result of this incident and do not want to implicate anybody ahead of that."

In New York, NBC spokeswoman Allison Gollust said the network did not broadcast the prisoner being shot because of the "graphic nature" of the video.

Ellie

thedrifter
11-16-04, 07:07 AM
November 15, 2004

Bush begins 2nd term amid major combat-zone concerns
Fallujah fight, force levels among issues

By Vince Crawley
Times staff writer


President Bush has won re-election, but the jury is still out on his democracy-building mission in Iraq, which is expected to dominate the beginning of his second term.
In his first news conference after recapturing the White House, the president Nov. 4 stressed that his goal for defending the nation includes building a democracy in Iraq, where elections are scheduled to take place in less than three months.

“I just strongly disagree with those who do not see the wisdom of trying to promote free societies around the world,” Bush said when asked about the troubled Iraq mission, which has claimed more than 1,100 American lives and at least 10 times as many Iraqis. “If we are interested in protecting our country for the long-term, the best way to do so is to promote freedom and democracy.”

Bush said he would soon meet with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to discuss U.S. troop levels and other military preparations for the upcoming Iraqi elections.

He also acknowledged that U.S. forces are preparing for possible assaults on Fallujah, a stronghold of insurgents, and other areas held by anti-U.S. forces.

“In order for Iraq to be a free country, those who are trying to stop the elections and stop a free society from emerging must be defeated,” Bush said. Iraq’s interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi, is “working with our generals on the ground to do just that,” Bush said. “There’s a recognition that some of these people … must be defeated. … That’s why you’re hearing discussions about potential action in Fallujah.”

Defeated presidential candidate John Kerry, who remains a Democratic senator from Massachusetts, strongly criticized the president during the campaign for not acknowledging the extent of problems in the Iraqi mission.

The 2003 invasion was marked by optimistic planning that assumed a swift, orderly withdrawal of American forces. Budget plans sent to Capitol Hill in the summer of 2003 discussed keeping about 150,000 American troops in Iraq for a few more months, followed by a steady withdrawal.

“The plan assumes that only a limited number of U.S. forces will remain to ensure the security of the Iraqi people and resources by the end of [fiscal year] 2004,” the now outdated budget report said. The end of fiscal 2004 was Sept. 30, a little more than a month before Election Day.

Instead of “only a limited number” of U.S troops, more than 140,000 American troops remain in Iraq, with some experts saying an even larger number is needed. On Oct. 30, Defense Department officials said they were delaying the departures of 6,500 troops from Iraq by up to two months. The officials cited increased violence and the rescheduling of the Iraq elections from early January to the end of that month.

However, a former Clinton administration expert on the Middle East said the Bush administration should strongly consider postponing Iraq’s elections until the country can be made secure enough for every region to vote.

“Elections do not equal democracy,” said Martin Indyk, a former State Department official and National Security Council adviser. “The process of building democracy in Iraq … just like building security and military forces is going to take time.”

Holding an election too soon, before the streets are safe enough for voters to venture to the polls, could decrease stability by alienating Iraq’s volatile Sunni minority, Indyk said at a Brookings Institution meeting Nov. 4.

On the other hand, other experts have warned that delaying the elections could fan the flames of the insurgency by extending the apparent U.S. occupation indefinitely.

James Steinberg, another Clinton-era State Department official who is now director of foreign policy studies at Brookings, said a worst-case scenario in Iraq could lead to a new version of the “containment” strategy used through the mid- and late 1990s, when Saddam Hussein’s Iraq was kept “in a box” by U.S. forces along the border and air patrols over no-fly zones. If post-Saddam Iraq cannot be made secure enough to foster a stable government, then U.S. forces could reposition themselves to an “over the horizon” role, Steinberg said. He described this as a “very unsatisfactory” fallback position “that has to be looked at more seriously than it has been in the past.”

Observers have said if the elections do take place, it’s possible anti-U.S. authorities could be voted into power, resulting in a request for American troops to be asked to depart swiftly.

That scenario could result in a requirement to keep a large combat presence in Kuwait or other neighboring countries for as long as Iraq remains unstable.

Ellie

thedrifter
11-16-04, 07:07 AM
Marines sort out fighters, civilians in Fallujah drive <br />
<br />
By Edward Harris, Associated Press <br />
<br />
<br />
FALLUJAH, Iraq - U.S. Marines charged up the stairs in one of Fallujah's grandest buildings...

thedrifter
11-16-04, 07:08 AM
Patient Load Surges At Military Hospital
USA TODAY
November 15, 2004

LANDSTUHL, Germany - The number of injured U.S. military personnel arriving at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center this week, most from the offensive against insurgents in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, reached its highest level since April, a U.S. military official here said Sunday.

The troops coming in over the past week have been more seriously injured than usual, and twice as many have been wounded in battle, said Army Col. Rhonda Cornum, commander of the hospital. She added that the influx has not yet let up.

"When I see a sustained decrease over more than 24 hours, I'll believe it," Cornum said.

Landstuhl is a medical center that treats U.S. military personnel stationed in Europe, the Middle East and Afghanistan.

Patients treated here are not capable of returning to duty within seven working days.

Cornum said 419 patients, including one American civilian, have been flown for treatment to Landstuhl since Nov. 8, the day after the offensive began against militants in Fallujah, 40 miles west of Baghdad.

She said 95% of those patients have come from Iraq, and 5% from Afghanistan. Most of those from Iraq were wounded in Fallujah, but Cornum could not say exactly how many.

There have been two peaks in the patient load: 98 arrived Thursday, 44 on Friday, 94 on Saturday, and 49 on Sunday, Cornum said. All of the patients have been U.S. citizens.




Cornum said the last time the hospital experienced a similar surge of patients was in April, when U.S. forces led a previous offensive on Fallujah. Before the new offensive, the average number of patients admitted daily had been 32. In the past week, that number has more than doubled to 70. On Sunday, the number of patients in the hospital was 150, compared with the typical average of 100. The injuries suffered include gunshot and blast wounds and burns.

The seriousness of injuries is reflected by the number of inpatients.

About half the patients admitted since the Fallujah offensive began have needed to be hospitalized. Hospital spokeswoman Marie Shaw said most patients usually receive outpatient care.

More than 50% of incoming patients have had battle wounds this past week, compared with 25% before the offensive. Among those seriously injured patients, 37 are in the intensive care unit.

Because of the heavier-than-usual load and the increased seriousness of injuries, the hospital has had to call in help from military facilities in the area.

Doctors have been working longer shifts and skipping days off. The hospital also has had two times the normal number of chaplains on duty, Cornum said.

"This was not a holiday weekend for us," said Air Force Col. Todd Hess, deputy commander for clinical services, referring to Veterans Day.

The hospital staff numbered 1,800 before the invasion of Iraq in March 2003. A hospital reserve unit has joined the staff since then.

Some additional support staff has been brought in since the Fallujah offensive began. No specifics were provided.

The number of beds in the medical-surgical ward has grown from 64 to 117. The number could be increased if necessary, Cornum said. The intensive care unit has gone from 20 to 27 beds.

There is a bright spot amid the news of heavy casualties: Many more servicemembers survive battlefield injuries than during the Persian Gulf War, Cornum said.

Since the war in 1991, military forces have upgraded surgical teams near the battlefield and introduced medical transport flights that can get a servicemember to Landstuhl in 12 hours.

"Many people in other wars died of their wounds," Cornum said. "The number of survivors of injuries is much higher now."

Since the beginning of the war in Afghanistan, the staff at Landstuhl has treated 20,330 patients, Shaw said. Of those, more than 95% were Americans. More than 3,000 patients came from the Afghan conflict, and more than 17,200 from Iraq.

However, there are 36 nationalities among those patients, who include contractors for the U.S. military and servicemembers of coalition partners.

No Iraqis are being treated at Landstuhl.

Fourteen patients have died at Landstuhl since the invasion of Afghanistan in November 2001. None has died there during the latest Fallujah offensive.

Most patients stay three or four days, Shaw said.

Those who require further treatment are sent to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington or Bethesda (Md.) National Naval Medical Center.

Ellie

thedrifter
11-16-04, 07:09 AM
Kane'ohe Marines scouring Fallujah

• Two Kane'ohe Marines, sailor die in Iraq

By Gordon Trowbridge
Army Times

FALLUJAH, Iraq — There are no safe places in Alpha Company's neighborhood. Not schools, not hospitals, not places of worship.

The latest piece of evidence of this lay at Marine Capt. Lee Johnson's feet: A 6-foot-long machine gun, designed to be mounted in an armored vehicle.

"In a mosque?" Johnson asked one of the Iraqi soldiers who found the weapon.

"In a mosque," the Iraqi confirmed.

"Not good."

"No. Not good."

The Iraqi troops also discovered a cache of clothing and a student's copy book filled not with school lessons, the Iraqis said, but with Arabic instructions on firing weapons. The figures "RPG 7" appeared in bold English letters at the top of one page.

It wasn't the first such find, and it only added to Johnson's convictions on how to handle his little piece of Fallujah.

By the fifth day in the city for Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, the insurgents who have held Fallujah for months had become more reluctant to show themselves. But in the several-block area assigned to his company, Johnson's Kane'ohe-based Marines were treating every door, every window, and every building as a potential death trap.

"Virtually every building we've entered had something," Johnson said. Of several mosques the company had searched, only one was empty of weapons — and the hospital serving as the company command post had held ammunition, he said.

"They know our (rules of engagement)," Johnson said. "They know we're going to be careful with sensitive sites, and they take advantage."

Meanwhile, a neighborhood packed with explosives was devoid of civilians. No one in the company had reported finding a single family. No women, no children.

"The only thing here," said Lance Cpl. Cody Weathers, "are dogs and people shooting AK-47s at us."

And so, in Johnson's mind, being careful with his Marines' lives took the paramount position. Weapons stacked in a home? Bring in engineers or explosive ordnance disposal troops or, if necessary, light it up with an AT-4 antitank rocket. Two buildings suspected of harboring insurgents and weapons were destroyed using Javelin missiles.

"We're not here to tear down the city," he said. "But I'm here to get my boys home. I'm responsible for husbands, sons, fathers, uncles of American families."

Alpha Company's job five days into the invasion of this city was simple: make sure insurgents didn't retake areas of Fallujah that the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines and other Marine and Army units had sped through on their way to objectives in the city's southern districts.

Already, Alpha company's officers worried that rebels had "infested" several blocks. So the company had begun a careful, painstaking, block-by-block sweep through its assigned area. That meant at least 20 controlled detonations over the course of the day. As firefights rang out in other sectors of the city, Alpha was dropping mortar shells on suspicious buildings, moving Marines through buildings and destroying arsenal after arsenal.

Much of the job fell to Lance Cpl. Christopher Gamboa, an 18-year-old from San Antonio. When an Alpha Company platoon entered a house and discovered a 55-gallon drum with a telephone, with wire attached, sitting on top, Gamboa got everyone out and called in an Army explosive ordnance disposal attachment. For one of the few times that day, the suspected booby trap was a false alarm.

"But we're not taking any chances," Gamboa said.

A sniper team watched over Alpha's three platoons as they fanned out across the city. The two men, during breaks between watches, showed off pictures of their young children.

Cpl. Travis Facenda had yet to see his daughter, born two months before. Cpl. Brad Thomas, a 30-year-old Texan who joined the Marine Corps three weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, had photos of his wife and 3-year-old son in the liner of his helmet.

"Just waiting to get back to them," Thomas said.

As they shared photos, three Iraqi soldiers moved up to take observation positions on the hospital roof. That raised some Marines' eyebrows. The Iraqis had developed a reputation for being trigger-happy, and Alpha Company's Marines placed them on the side of the building farthest from areas where friendly troops were working the streets.

Johnson said the Iraqi platoon of 41 soldiers arrived four days before the Fallujah operation began, leaving little time to integrate them into the company.

By the time the company crossed into the city, that number had fallen to 26. Some, Johnson was told, were sick or sent home, but there seemed little doubt that many had deserted.

Also, the remaining soldiers required occasional lessons in Marine discipline. The company had given them a sledge hammer and other tools to use in breaking into and clearing buildings. They lost the tools almost immediately, leaving them at a previous company position — prompting a chewing out, with Arabic translation, from the company's executive officer.

But overall, Johnson said, he'd been surprised at how well the Iraqis had performed.

"I'll be honest, I was concerned at first," he said. And he still didn't feel comfortable placing them in frontline positions. But they had proved valuable at sniffing out traps and weapons caches — in the courtyard of a mosque thoroughly searched by Marines, the Iraqis discovered a collection of 155mm artillery rounds buried in the courtyard.

As the sun set, Alpha Company had completed one of its most difficult tasks — turning over custody of roughly a dozen Iraqi prisoners captured over the course of the day.

Nearly all said they were residents of the city, staying to protect property or their families, but the Marines scoffed at such explanations. When the prisoners were quizzed, Johnson said they often didn't know landmarks or streets of the neighborhoods they claimed as home.

Interpreters said they thought a prisoner captured earlier in the operation was Syrian, feeding suspicions that foreign fighters were playing a large role in the Fallujah battle.

The thoughts of most of the Marines, however, were far away from factors as abstract as whether the rebels targeting them were from around the corner or from around the globe.

"We've been watching this war and wanting to come do this for almost two years," said Cpl. Niles Holland, a mortar team leader from Boston. "We've just been dying to get here and prove that Hawai'i Marines can do the job.

"And I'm here to get my boys back safe, take them home to their moms and wives and girlfriends. Because this place is no joke."


http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2004/Nov/13/ln/ln01p.html

Ellie

thedrifter
11-16-04, 07:10 AM
November 12, 2004 <br />
<br />
More cases of abuse at Gitmo surface <br />
<br />
By Paisley Dodds <br />
Associated Press <br />
<br />
<br />
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL STATION, Cuba — Two new cases of detainee abuse have surfaced at the...

thedrifter
11-16-04, 07:10 AM
U.S., Iraqi Troops Begin Mosul Ops
Associated Press
November 16, 2004

MOSUL, Iraq - The U.S. military said Tuesday that American and Iraqi troops have started operations to secure parts of the northern city of Mosul from insurgents.

U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces began moving in to secure police stations in the western part of the city, said Capt. Angela Bowman, with Task Force Olympia. Mosul is the third largest city in Iraq.

"We are in the process of securing all of police stations and returning the police to these stations to put in place a strong police presence," she said. "Some of those stations are in neighborhoods on the western side of the city where there has been insurgent activity and presence. We are now moving through the neighborhood."

The city's five bridges were closed off with the start of operations, she said.

Residents reported U.S. warplanes and helicopters hovering over the city, as loud explosions and gunfire were heard near the American base on the northern edge of Mosul.

Witnesses said three police stations already under the control of insurgents was blown up this morning before the militants left.

The Zuhour police station, and a substation in northeastern Mosul were destroyed, along with Qahira police station in the northern part of the city. No casualties were seen as the stations were controlled by the gunmen.

A mass insurgent uprising began in Mosul last week in apparent support of militants in the rebel bastion of Fallujah, just days after the start of the U.S. offensive there.


Masked and armed bands of men stormed more than a half dozen police stations, bridges and political offices in the city, clashing with U.S. troops and Iraqi forces.

The city's police force were overwhelmed, and in many places, failed to even put up a fight. Mosul Police Chief Brig. Gen. Mohammed Kheiri Barhawi was fired in the wake of criticism that some police forces had cooperated with insurgents during the attacks.

Reinforcements of about 300 Iraqi National Guards pulled from garrisons along Iran and Syria and a battalion of a special police task force from Baghdad were sent to Mosul in the wake of the violence.

In addition, the U.S. military recalled one infantry battalion that had been fighting in Fallujah to return to Mosul.

On Monday, a suicide driver detonated his car near an American military convoy in the western edge of Mosul, injuring five U.S. soldiers. The driver first tried to ram his vehicle into the convoy but missed. A second car then tried to approach the same patrol, but the troops opened fire, killing the driver.

Ellie

thedrifter
11-16-04, 07:17 AM
It's hard to get kosher food in the U.S. Marines

By Shlomo Shamir



Rabbi Irving Elson, a Jewish chaplain for the U.S. Marines, was on his way to lecture students in a rabbinical seminar in New York when he learned that a Jewish marines officer was among the casualties in the Fallujah battles.




Elson, a tall, mustached man in marines uniform, who recently returned from active service in Iraq, tried to persuade the rabbinical students to join the marines after their ordination. He believes that "every young Jewish man and woman ordained to be rabbis should aspire to serve in the U.S. Marines."

"Believe me, the challenge to serve in the armed forces in a spiritual capacity, administering to the religious needs of Jewish soldiers, is greater and much more fascinating than the role of a rabbi in a synagogue," he says.

Elson never met First Lieutenant Andrew K. Stern, who was killed in Iraq in September, but he did know four other Jewish marines who were killed in Iraq. There are no official figures of the number of Jewish soldiers killed since the invasion to Iraq. An American soldier's dog tag bears his name, personal number, blood type and religion, but in its official announcements, the army does not refer to their religion.

"There are American soldiers in Iraq who do not reveal their Jewish identity and there are Jewish soldiers who don't bother to contact the chaplain," an official in the Jewish Chaplains Council's office in New York says. This makes it difficult to document authoritatively data on Jewish soldiers who have been killed during the war in Iraq.

Some 37 military rabbis are in active service, 11 in the U.S. Air Force and seven in the U.S. Navy. Chaplain (Rabbi) Lieutenant Commander Irving Elson, 44, is completing his 18th year of service in the U.S. Marines.

He first served as military rabbi at the Okinawa marine base. Between 1992 and 1994, he was rabbi of the Sixth Fleet. "We visited Haifa several times," he says. In the first Gulf War, he was based on an aircraft carrier "far from the real action."

When the preparations for the invasion into Iraq began, he was attached to a marine artillery brigade that spearheaded the invasion. Elson estimates that 800 to 1,000 Jewish American soldiers are taking part in the war. His first term in Iraq lasted nine months. He was sent there again in August 2004, returning to his San Diego base in October.

There are some 400 Jews in the Marines Expeditionary Force. Elson describes his service during the High Holy Days with Jewish marines in Iraq as "a spiritual experience" that will stay with him for many years. He was stationed at the Marine base on the outskirts of Fallujah, from where he would take off on a jeep or helicopter to visit Jewish marines.

He "stretched" Rosh Hashanah out to five days "because I wanted to hold holiday prayers every place I knew there were Jewish marines," he says. He held Rosh Hashanah prayers, including shofar blowing, 17 times. "In one place near a battlefield, I blew the shofar for two Jewish marines," he says. On Yom Kippur, despite the terrible heat, Jewish marines fasted all day.

"I decided to enlist as a rabbi to the army instead of looking for a synagogue, because in the army, religion is devoid of politics," he says. "Among the Jewish soldiers, there is no distinction between Reform, Conservative and Orthodox. I never ask a soldier which stream he belongs to. Every Jew gets equal treatment in the army."

The only complaint Elson has against the military authorities is the chronic shortage of kosher food rations. A Chicago plant manufactures kosher combat rations, but for some reason they are hard to come by. Elson says 3,000 kosher combat rations are stored in a base in Kuwait and for bureaucratic reasons the army is delaying their distribution. Every package of 12 standard rations has two vegetarian rations, "and this is what I lived on for months during my service in Iraq," he says.

Elson, who was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal, is married and father of three, wears a knitted skullcap and speaks Hebrew he learned during his studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Elson says that many senior marine commanders admire the IDF. "When they hear that I'm a rabbi, they ask if I've visited Israel and compliment the IDF."

"Jewish marines ask me what will happen to them if they are killed in battle, or why was their friend, a decent, good guy, killed in battle?" says Elson.

Many of the marines are 18 and 19-year-old men, who are stationed out of the United States for the first time.

"A Jewish marine recently asked me if he may say kaddish [mourning prayer] over a gentile marine who was a close friend of his and who was killed. I told him he was permitted to express his grief any way he felt. But I recommended he say psalms," says Elson.





Rabbi Irving Elson in Iraq.

















Top Articles

Switzerland: No sign of Arafat money here

There have been unconfirmed rumors over the years that Arafat controlled large assets in Swiss banks.

By AP

Hamas: Israel poisoned Arafat

Although doctors ruled out poisoning, the cause of the Palestinian Authority chairman's death is still unknown.

By Arnon Regular and Roni Singer

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/501141.html

Ellie

thedrifter
11-16-04, 08:03 AM
Marines: ''The enemy is broken'' in Falluja
Nov. 14, 2004



U.S. Marines spread through the deserted streets of Falluja on Sunday, kicking in doors during a dangerous house-to-house search for insurgents --targets of the U.S.-Iraqi military operation. American soldiers took sporadic gunfire from insurgents, who, a Marine general said, apparently want to "fight to the death." Between 1,000 and 2,000 insurgents have been killed in the week-long assault, Marine Lt. Gen. John Sattler said. The American death toll rose to 31, with six Iraqi forces also reported killed. Nearly 300 Americans have been wounded, Sattler said. "As of late last night, we have been in all parts of the city," Sattler told reporters. "We have liberated the city of Falluja." "The enemy is broken," Sattler said, but troops "have to go back to still isolated pockets" of insurgents. "If they are trapped and want to fight till death, we have no choice but to accommodate," the general said. Sattler said the military had about 1,000 people in custody and expected as many as 700 would be released after interrogation. Sattler accompanied the U.S. Central Command chief, Army Gen. John Abizaid, into the area. Abizaid spoke to many of the Marines and soldiers fighting the battle and told reporters they had "been very effective" in their efforts. Earlier, Marine Lt. Gen. Richard Natanski, commander of the 1st Marine Division, said the assault on Falluja had deprived the insurgents of their "base of operations." "This was their sanctuary," he said, describing the city as a place where insurgents could could rest and then re-arm themselves before attacking U.S. and Iraqi troops. "They no longer have that luxury."

http://www.indiadaily.com/breaking_news/12887.asp

Ellie

thedrifter
11-16-04, 09:05 AM
Former G.I.'s, Ordered to War, Fight Not to Go <br />
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- <br />
By MONICA DAVEY <br />
The New York Times <br />
Nov. 16, 2004 <br />
<br />
The Army has...

thedrifter
11-16-04, 09:56 AM
Received this e-mail from a friend over there now..

Ellie



Hi Everyone,

I am here in Fallujah and well. I have been forward for the last 36 hours or so and am back now in our camp for a bit before heading back out to the forward command post.

We are doing well...only 6 KIA and 68 WIA so far from our regiment. 7th Marines on our flank has taken some pretty good losses but we are killing the enemy in droves. They are hiding in houses that are heavily fortified and we just destroy the house with a tank shot or a bomb or missile.

There is no negotiating or surrender for those guys. If we see the position and positively ID them as bad guys, we strike. When they run, we call it maneuver and we strike them too. Why? Yesterday the muj attacked an ambulance carrying our wounded. The attackers were hunted down and killed without quarter. These guys want to be martyrs.....we're helping.

Don't hear a lot of this on the news huh? Fox News is doing a pretty good job over here so stick with them for coverage. This is the only way this place can ever be safe. And in the midst of all this we're helping to restore power and protect and feed and evacuate the ordinary citizens of Fallujah.....although most left the city as soon as the muj moved in.

And today is the Marine Corps's 229th birthday. It is only fitting that we are engaged in combat and serving our country today. The beer, cake and steaks will flow once we're all done. As the Regiment's S-4, it's one of my responsibilities to see that they get just that. But for now it's chow and water and fuel and ammo.....lots of ammo.

My thoughts are with all of you and thanks for keeping us in your prayers.....I'm sure God is around here somewhere, above all of this...keeping an eye on things and protecting the just and the angels.....that's what our KIAs are referred to as.....but we all hope he turns a blind eye on the muj and their false beliefs as we find them and kill them. And I'm just here doing my job.

1st Marine Division Camp Fallujah, Iraq

thedrifter
11-16-04, 12:17 PM
Fight for Fallouja Began With a Ruse <br />
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- <br />
By Patrick J. McDonnell <br />
Times Staff Writer <br />
November 16, 2004 <br />
<br />
FALLOUJA,...

thedrifter
11-16-04, 02:28 PM
3 Marines with ties to N.C. die in Iraq
Lumberton man among casualties


By JERRY ALLEGOOD, Staff Writer

Three Marines with ties to North Carolina, including one from Lumberton, were killed in the Anbar province of Iraq in the last few days, the Marine Corps said Monday.
Lance Cpl. Benjamin S. Bryan of Lumberton was among those killed in the conflict, his father, Danny Bryan, said Monday.

Bryan said he didn't know why his son chose the Marines or how he felt about his service in Iraq.

But he knew this: "He was my hero. He was an American hero."

The younger Bryan, who was single, had worked odd jobs before joining the Marines nearly four years ago and had already been to Iraq "in the first wave," his father said. Bryan, a member of 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton, Calif., died Saturday.

When Bryan was home, he liked fishing and camping, and he enjoyed cooking.

"His favorite was spaghetti, from scratch," his father said.

Danny Bryan said a funeral had not been scheduled.

The Marine Corps also said that Marine Lance Cpl. Wesley Canning and Marine Cpl. Kevin J. Dempsey, who were based out of Camp Lejeune, were killed in recent days.

As early as high school, Canning made it clear to folks in his hometown of Friendswood, Texas, he wanted to pursue a career in the Marine Corps.

He talked about his military plans with friends, counselors and teachers. During his senior year, he wore a different Marine T-shirt to school every day, said Myrlene Kennedy, principal of Friendswood High School.

"That's all he talked about," she said Monday. "He didn't want anything to interfere."

Canning, 21, died in combat in Iraq on Wednesday. Dempsey, 23, of Monroe, Conn., a member of the 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, died Saturday.

Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell has ordered all state flags be lowered to half-staff in remembrance of Dempsey until sundown on the day of his burial.

"I am deeply saddened to learn of the loss of Corporal Dempsey," Rell said in a statement. "All of Connecticut joins me in honoring his service to our nation."

Canning, who served with the 2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, was remembered as a well-mannered student at Friendswood High School, where he graduated in 2002. Kennedy, the principal, said Canning had told people that he wanted to serve 20 years in the Marines and then go into law enforcement.

"He was a Marine through and through," she said.

She said Canning's enthusiasm for the military continued after he enlisted. On a return visit to the school, she said, he thanked his teachers for helping him prepare.

Kennedy said the school has a "wall of honor" display that pays tribute to graduates who have served in the military. She said Canning will be remembered for his sacrifice for freedom.

She said the young Marine's death "hits us all pretty hard."

Staff writer Jerry Allegood can be reached in Greenville at (252) 752-8411 or jerrya@newsobserver.com.

http://newsobserver.com/news/story/1833779p-8149369c.html

Ellie

thedrifter
11-16-04, 02:31 PM
Iraq ; Marines, Iraqi forces root out Fallujah insurgents

Iraq News, FALLUJAH, Iraq -- Soldiers with the Iraqi Security Forces are clearing rooms, securing locations and patrolling the dangerous streets of Fallujah alongside U.S. Marines in support of Operation Phantom Fury.

At the request of the Interim Iraqi Government, Multi-National Forces in Iraq along with ISF began Operation Phantom Fury to eliminate AIF sanctuaries in Fallujah and allow the IIG to restore a legitimate government to the city.



"They are doing everything the Marines are doing," said 2nd Lt. Kevin M. Kimener, 25, an intelligence officer with 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment. "They've been incorporated into everyday activities here."

Armed with AK-47s, the ISF soldiers are attached to Marine units currently operating in Iraq. Together, they are rooting out insurgents from the restive city of Fallujah.





"They have good minds, kind hearts and are great warriors," said Brig. Gen. Dennis J. Hejlik, deputy commanding general of I Marine Expeditionary Force.

Before sending the ISF with Marines forces into Fallujah, 3/5 trained the Iraqi forces in basic infantry skills, with emphasis on marksmanship.



Although their warfighting skills aren't as advanced as the Marines, the ISF possess certain advantages over the Marines when operating in Fallujah.

"They speak the language, recognize the terrorists and insurgents and can identify the nationality of individuals (in Fallujah) without hearing them speak," said Kimener, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio. "They're also familiar with any writing, banners and documents that we may come across."


Despite the ISF's advantages, operating in insurgent hotspots like Fallujah still poses dangerous risks for both U.S. and Iraqi forces. One ISF soldier was shot and killed While clearing a room in the upper level of a building in northwest Fallujah Nov. 10. He was attached to Company I, 3/5, and requested to lead his squad into the building. The Marine that followed was wounded.

The brave actions of the ISF soldier allowed the rest of the squad to successfully engage and eliminate several anti-Iraqi forces, said Kimener. They want to be here and will continue to fight.




The ISF will continue to fill a critical role in the security and stability of Fallujah following the completion of Operation Phantom Fury.

"They will be able to identify insurgents and individuals foreign to the country, as well as civilians who are coming back and starting their lives over again," said Kimener.


Ellie

thedrifter
11-16-04, 04:07 PM
Nov. Ranks 2nd in U.S. Deaths in Iraq <br />
<br />
By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer <br />
<br />
WASHINGTON - U.S. deaths in Iraq (news - web sites) this month are approaching 100, making it the second-deadliest...

sgt.lane
11-16-04, 04:30 PM
I think the army should be ashamed that being called upon and not answering the call. I understand there would be a few exceptions, not 733 holy cow. I realize that if I should be called "what would I do"-- I will tell you exactly what I would do- pack my trash, hit the door....................

thedrifter
11-16-04, 05:27 PM
Army Artillerymen Support Marines, Others in Operation Al Fajr
By John Valceanu
American Forces Press Service

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Nov. 16, 2004 -- While the battle against terrorists and insurgents moved from house to house through the streets of Fallujah, Iraq, a group of U.S. soldiers on the outskirts of the city rained precise destruction down on the enemy in support of the coalition's front-line fighters.

Artillerymen of the 1st Cavalry Division's Battery A, 3rd Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, fired roughly 1,600 rounds against enemy targets during a two-week period. Supporting Operation Al Fajr, the field-artillery soldiers provided indirect fire support with their M-109 Palladin 155 mm self-propelled howitzers to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, fellow soldiers of the 1st Cavalry Division, Iraqi forces and other coalition troops.

"We've had very good results. Our fires have been very effective, and I'm glad we've been able to make a contribution to this important fight," said Army Capt. Michael Burgoyne, Battery A commander.

The unit's success during the mission is due to the professionalism and dedication of his soldiers, Burgoyne said. "They are excited to be here, doing the jobs they enlisted to do," he said. "They have been completely dedicated to firing effectively and safely."

Safety is of paramount importance during artillery operations, when there is literally no margin for error. This is never more true than in a situation such as the one in Fallujah, where the soldiers were firing in direct support of friendly forces within a small, confined area, Burgoyne said.

An artillery shell landing just slightly off target could have disastrous consequences, causing many casualties among friendly troops. Fortunately, Burgoyne said, the battery's excellent performance kept the rounds on target, preventing tragedies.

Three major sections must work in concert in order to function effectively. Forward observers on the ground near the target call in the exact location of where the strike is to take place. The fire-direction center receives the information, processes it and transmits it to the gun crews who operate the actual guns.

"We have guys on the ground who mark the targets with lasers. Our forward observers are very good, and our guns have been accurate," Burgoyne said. "We haven't had to adjust our fire too much."

Since Operation Al Fajr has been led and conducted primarily by the Marine Corps, many of the forward observers who called in strikes during the fierce fighting have been Marines. According to Burgoyne, this joint aspect worked well, and there were no communication problems between the Marine forward observers and the Army artillerymen.

"We've turned out to be a good team, working here with the Marines," Burgoyne said. "They are very professional, and we were able to accomplish the mission together."

A good example of the full collaboration between the artillery soldiers and their Marine Corps comrades, according to Burgoyne, involved a group of Marines pinned down in a trench by heavy enemy fire.

"They called in our fire on the enemy positions, and we accomplished the mission," Burgoyne said. "The enemy was very close to the Marines, but they were eliminated, and the Marines were able to get out of that trench and drive on with their mission."

For the artillerymen, supporting Operation Al Fajr has meant concentrating and working very hard for extended periods. "We've been working long hours -- 12- to 16-hour shifts. That's been pretty tough," said Army Pfc. Roy Beach, a Battery A fire-direction specialist.

Beach said he is glad, however, for the opportunity to do the job for which he was trained. For the first few months of their deployment, Beach said, he and his fellow artillerymen found themselves performing a variety of non-artillery missions.

"When we first got here, we went on patrols and conducted raids. We did a lot of infantry stuff," Beach said. "It's good to have a chance to do our jobs as artillerymen."

Army Gen. John Abizaid, commander of U.S. Central Command, visited the battery Nov. 14 and observed them conduct a fire mission during Operation Al Fajr. Abizaid said he was impressed with their performance.

"Captain Burgoyne and his young soldiers are a perfect example of the great troops we have fighting and winning this war," Abizaid said.


Ellie

thedrifter
11-16-04, 06:41 PM
November 15, 2004 <br />
<br />
II MEF is ready to grab Iraq reins, general says <br />
<br />
By C. Mark Brinkley <br />
Times staff writer <br />
<br />
<br />
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — The commander of the Marine force headed to Iraq next year...

thedrifter
11-16-04, 10:18 PM
A teacher's chronicles of war
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By JOHN ANASTASI
The Intelligencer

Over a four-month span this year, Lansdale Catholic history teacher David Kelly, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, conducted 193 interviews with troops stationed in Iraq.

Working for the corps' History and Museums Division, Kelly documented what men and women serving at Camp Fallujah, Camp Al Asaad and other locations saw and did for an unclassified history of events related to the Iraq war.

"My job was to talk to Marines and sailors who were in combat and write summaries of what they had done," said Kelly, whose work will be combined with that of other field historians, then be made available to the public.

Kelly returned to Lansdale Catholic in September and, on Monday, discussed the experience with the students.

Last spring, attached to the First Marine Expeditionary Force, Kelly arrived at Camp Fallujah, located about 3 miles outside Fallujah. Interviewing troops who were not stationed at the camp meant rides in armored Humvees and Super Cobra attack helicopters.

"There were times when I asked myself, 'Why did I say yes to this?' " Kelly said.

But rather than devote the bulk of Monday's presentation to his own experiences, the field historian chose to share the stories of those he interviewed, framing the accounts with photographs he took of the men and women.

He talked about Navy corpsman Cynthia Kuehner, who was in Iraq for just one week when a rocket hit just outside her aid station. She assisted a fellow physician who was hurt in the blast.

Kelly told the audience that Marine Lt. Troy Saylor of Charlie Company's First Tank Battalion drove his tank onto a battlefield during a skirmish to rescue an injured Iraqi man who was hit by one of the insurgents' stray rounds.

He recalled Navy corpsman Eric Giles whose vehicle was attacked. He leaped to the ground to help a lieutenant whose legs were broken, not even realizing his arm had sustained a deep cut.

"I was humbled by how dedicated and smart these people were," Kelly said.

He attended a memorial service at Camp Fallujah July 18 for Cpl. Jeffrey Lawrence, Lance Cpl. Scott Dougherty, Lance Cpl. Justin Hunt and Pfc. Rodricka Youmans, four Marines who were killed when an explosive device detonated during a patrol July 6 in Al Anbar Province.

"In the front of the auditorium were their rifles, boots, helmets and goggles," he said. "It was my saddest day in Iraq. I didn't know them, but I knew about 20 people in their unit. They were close. Like brothers."

After the presentation, Kelly said the Marines he met were confident in what they were trained to do. They were eager to take Fallujah months ago but a political settlement halted their plans. The city was largely retaken by the end of last week, following days of heavy fighting.

"Thirty-some soldiers have died," he said. "I think not as many would have been killed in April."

Kelly's students said they enjoyed the opportunity to hear about their teacher's work in Iraq.

"I was very impressed," said sophomore Anthony Zollo. "I have a lot more respect for Mr. Kelly now."

Junior Aaron Benner agreed.

"Most of us have class with him or they are in the plays (which Kelly helps direct)," Aaron said. "It was different because he wasn't there last year. Something was missing. This was like seeing a whole different side of someone that they really don't talk about."

John Anastasi can be reached at (215) 957-8166 or janastasi@phillyBurbs.com.

Ellie

thedrifter
11-16-04, 10:19 PM
Confronting Iraq
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Confronting Iraq" is a powerful new documentary produced by Roger Aronoff, to attempt to set the record straight and to examine some of the big issues related to this war. Did the U.S. really act unilaterally, motivated by greed and politics, in an unnecessary war? Or is it a just and necessary war - part of a larger war - against the unrelenting forces of radical Islam? Was Saddam Hussein's regime bent on developing and proliferating Weapons of Mass Destruction? Or had he destroyed them all after the first Gulf War? Did the Iraqi government have ongoing relations with Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization, al Qaeda, among others, or is this a pretext dreamed up in Crawford Texas to justify going to war? The West is engaged, whether it likes it or not, in a clash of civilizations, in a war it never sought. It is unlike any war in our history.

How have the various participants Confronted Iraq. The Bush administration? The Clinton administration? The media? The intellectuals and pundits? The Leftist opposition? Michael Moore? We tackle these complex issues, through dramatic footage and insightful interviews, in a thought provoking, powerful, and at times humorous and ironic manner.

More info: http://www.confrontingiraq.net/main.htm


Ellie

thedrifter
11-16-04, 11:42 PM
Aid Worker Hassan Believed Slain in Video

By MARIAM FAM, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Margaret Hassan, the British aid worker kidnapped after decades of helping Iraqis, is believed to have been murdered by her captors, a British government official said Tuesday, based on a video that showed a hooded militant shooting a blindfolded woman in the head


No other female hostage is known to have been killed in the wave of kidnappings that have beset Iraq (news - web sites).


More than 170 foreigners have been abducted this year, and at least 34 killed. One woman — a Polish-Iraqi citizen — remains captive.


Hassan's family in London said the longtime director of CARE in Iraq was likely the victim, and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said analysis of the video received by Al-Jazeera television showed Hassan has "probably been murdered, although we cannot conclude this with complete certainty."


CARE said it was in mourning for the 59-year-old Briton, a veteran humanitarian worker known around the Mideast for her concern for Iraqis — particularly during the years of U.N. sanctions, whose effects on children she vocally denounced.


"To kidnap and kill anyone is inexcusable," Straw said. "But it is repugnant to commit such a crime against a woman who has spent most of her life working for the good of the people of Iraq."


In an emotional appeal on Al-Jazeera, Hassan's Iraqi husband, Tahseen Ali Hassan, said he had heard of the video but did not know whether it was authentic.


"I appeal to those who took my wife (to tell me) what they did with her. ... I want my wife, dead or alive. If she is dead, please let me know of her whereabouts so I can bury her in peace," he said, his voice choked with tears.


The video shows a hooded militant firing a pistol into the head of a blindfolded woman wearing an orange jumpsuit, said Al-Jazeera spokesman Jihad Ballout. The station received the tape a few days ago but had not been sure of its authenticity until recently, he said.


"We invited British diplomatic officials to come and view it," he told The Associated Press. "It's now likely that the image depicts Mrs. Hassan."


Ballout said the station would not air the video and would not broadcast any acts of killing, outside war. Al-Jazeera has been under pressure not to show videos of kidnapped foreigners.


Hassan was abducted in Baghdad on Oct. 19 on her way to work, the most prominent of more than 170 foreigners kidnapped in Iraq this year. Her captors issued a series of videos showing her weeping and pleading for Britons to act to save her. In one video, she fainted and a bucket of water was thrown on her to revive her.


In one video, she begged British Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites) to withdraw troops from Iraq and calling for the release of female Iraqi prisoners.


On Sunday, U.S. Marines found the mutilated body of what they believe was a Western woman on a street in a Fallujah during the U.S. assault on the insurgent stronghold. The U.S. command said the body had not been identified as of Tuesday night.


Besides Hassan, the only Western woman known to be held was Teresa Borcz Khalifa, 54, a Polish-born longtime resident of Iraq seized last month.


A Blair spokesman said the prime minister "sends his sympathy to the family of Margaret Hassan and shares their abhorrence at the cruel treatment of someone who devoted so many years of their life to helping the people of Iraq."


CARE said it was "with profound sadness" that it learned of the video. "The whole of CARE is in mourning," said the group, which closed its Iraq operations after the kidnapping.





Hassan's four brothers and sisters also said they believe she is dead, although their statement did not mention the video.

"Our hearts are broken," they said in a statement released by the British Foreign Office. "We have kept hoping for as long as we could, but we now have to accept that Margaret has probably gone and at last her suffering has ended."

The family said, "Those who are guilty of this atrocious act, and those who support them, have no excuses."

Al-Jazeera reported on Nov. 2 that Hassan's captors threatened to turn her over to followers of Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Three days later, al-Zarqawi's al-Qaida in Iraq group called for Hassan's release and promised to free her if she fell into their hands, according to a message posted on a Web site known for publishing messages from Islamic militant groups.

Al-Zarqawi and his men have been blamed for numerous deadly car bombings and the slayings of foreign hostages, including three Americans and a Briton.

Born in Ireland, Hassan also held British and Iraqi citizenship. She met her husband at the university and moved with him to Baghdad. Friends said she converted to Islam. Before the war, Hassan mostly worked on projects to provide clean water and improve education, said Carel de Rooy, a UNICEF (news - web sites) representative who once worked with her there. Hassan was an outspoken opponent of the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein (news - web sites).

Ellie