Iraq War News

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July 07 2003 at 03:42PM



Baghdad - Watch your back, watch where their hands go, don't trust them if they look nervous. Don't trust them if they won't look you in the eyes, if they approach you suddenly, or come up and talk to you just for a minute, counsels specialist David Decker.

Keep your eyes on the rooftops, speeding cars, everyone in the crowd.

"Baghdad is a city where four million people love you and five percent wish you dead," Decker, from the Military Police, said on Monday after three soldiers were killed in less than 24 hours.

Decker leaned against a street wall, a healthy distance from Iraqis strolling up the sidewalk in the Azamiyah neighborhood, where Saddam Hussein supposedly made his last public appearance April 9 before his fate became a mystery.

'We stand out. We can't blend in like they do'
"You don't know who the good guys are, who the crazies are," Decker said and repeated his mantra.

"Watch your back, Watch your back."

He warned if you're American or a friend of the Americans you could be gunned down.

He mentions British freelance journalist Richard Wild shot dead outside Baghdad University on Saturday, the seven Iraqi police cadets killed the same day in a bombing in the western town of Ramadi, an Arab translator for the Americans gunned down in front of a storefront in Azamiyah last week.

A soldier shot dead in Azamiyah late Sunday. A second soldier killed hours later in a bomb explosion. His list goes on.

'Whenever the killers get an opportunity, they'll take you out'
"We stand out. We can't blend in like they do," said the bespectacled Decker, kitted out in desert fatigues, helmet, boots and body armour, and carrying a semi-automatic rifle.

Fear pervades US forces around the city. At a traffic circle on Karada street in central Baghdad, soldiers stand on the divider eying warily every vehicle that speeds by.

"I think it's going to get worse before it gets better," says Sergeant Michael Tucker beside his Bradley light armoured vehicle.

His friend, Specialist Bret Nuessen, chimes in: "They're going to get more desperate, to fight for whatever it is they believe in."

The two sit inside their cramped armoured vehicle and welcome the respite from patrolling Baghdad where they fear one misstep could lead to a bullet in the head.

"A lot of people have been alone for a second. Whenever the killers get an opportunity, they'll take you out," said Nuessen, speaking of the 29 soldiers killed in attacks since the United States declared its war here over at the beginning of May. - Sapa-AFP

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BAGHDAD, Iraq – The 4th Infantry Division conducted 10 raids in support of Operation Sidewinder resulting in nine detained individuals.

In a separate event, 4th ID raided a suspected arms market in the vicinity of Balad Ruz. Three Iraqi males, including the store owner were detained. Four rocket-propelled grenade launchers and four rocket-propelled grenade rounds were removed. Additionally, one rocket-propelled grenade, one set of night vision goggles and 227 rounds of various types of ammunition were confiscated elsewhere.

Mudhat Aagad Khalaf, a former regime Special Security Officer, turned himself in to a unit of the 4th ID. He was transported to a detention facility for further interrogation.

Coalition forces continued aggressive patrols throughout the country over the last 24 hours conducting 20 raids, 1,390 day patrols and 880 night patrols. They also jointly patrolled with Iraqi police conducting 187 day patrols and 148 night patrols. On their own, Iraqi police conducted nine day and eleven night patrols. The total raids and patrols resulted in 226 arrests for various criminal activities including five for murder, eight for car jacking, four for aggravated assault seven for burglary, and 25 for looting.

The 3rd Infantry Division held a press conference with the mayor of Fallujah and chief of Police to clarify the origin of the explosion in the vicinity of the mosque. A building in the mosque’s courtyard exploded June 30. In his statement, the mayor emphasized the explosion was not a U. S. attack, but Iraqis making explosive devices to be used against Coalition forces. Third Infantry Division soldiers responded to the scene after notification from a U.S. aircraft that spotted the explosion.

Source: Centcom

Britain, EU Set to Protest U.S. Military Tribunals at Guantanamo
Yahoo! News: War with Iraq: "WASHINGTON, D.C., July 7 (OneWorld) - Just as the administration of President George W. Bush has begun mending fences damaged by the U.S. war in Iraq in hopes that other countries will contribute peacekeepers to Washington's troubled occupation, its announcement Friday designating six of its foreign captives in the U.S. "war on terrorism" as eligible to be tried before military tribunals appears likely to annoy some of its strongest allies, especially Britain. (OneWorld.net)"

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Iraq After The War
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Iraq - A Report From The Frontlines
This is f___ing insane! Here I am in a little Eureka tent in the middle of Iraq during a dirt-storm smelling like a three day old corpse writing a letter on a computer. Oh I forgot to mention the fact that I have a bottle of Iraq's finest whiskey as well. This s___ would peel the tar off a road. It has little things floating in it but I don't really give a f___. I am going to drink some and hope I don't go blind. This country is not dry but we are prohibited from drinking. It seems like the politically correct thing now is to go to war without drinking. Well f____ that, I'm gonna drink tonight. This whole thing has been a mess from the beginning and it appears as though it will only get worse in the end. You will have to forgive me if I fail to break this up into proper paragraphs, I am just gonna ramble along and indent a few times just because. Just read along and pretend I am talking to you. Why don't we say "indent" when we talk? I guess it's because of inflection or some such nonsense. Anyhow, if I indent in the wrong place, just bear with it. Iraq, what a s___-hole this country is. I have been all the way to Baghdad and it all looks the same. It's one giant slum. In the country the people live in mud huts. Everything is dirt colored. I am south of Baghdad at a military airfield near a town called Al-XXX. We just left a dirt field that was by a town called An-XXXXXX or something like that. Every town here is Al something or other. We moved here and guess what? Another dirt field. We own the whole country and we choose to set up in dirt fields. They tell us the serious fighting is done and we are pretty much safe. There are no known enemy units left intact. Funny thing is that some of these people still want to shoot at Americans. I guess they didn't get the word, or perhaps they are pissed at us for liberating their country from them, for them. I guess they don't understand how good it was for us to invade their country. There is nothing like a good invasion by the infidels to put the local population in a first-rate mood. It really elevates the mood to a new level. I can see why these people are pissed off all the time, hell our homeless people live better then this in the states. Just to reinforce how well we have it we drive down the road in hundreds of truck throwing food out the windows to them. I bet that makes them proud, eating the infidel's trash. I wonder what the Koran has to say about that. We are winning there hearts and minds! In the Viet-Nam war they had a saying "We will win your hearts and minds or burn your f___ing huts down!" Well, how in the hell do you burn a mud hut down? I guess we will have to pour bottled water on them and melt them. As I sit here in my tent with the wind beating the s___ out of it and dirt filtering through the walls I am happy. I am living above ground! Can you believe I think living in a tent is a luxury? It's a small two man tent and I have it all to myself. I have a folding stretcher that was liberated by a Staff Sergeant and given to me. It just fits in the tent and has become my bed. It's not wide enough for my shoulders, and it's only three inches off the floor but it sure beats sleeping on cardboard in the bottom of a hole. I fill up the tent and I am not really sure who they use to measure these things to determine that they are two man tents. I guess they use skinny midgets as test dummies because I would have to be spooning with my tent-mate to fit two of us in here. The Marine Corps still frowns on those same sex relationships so I am forced to live alone. Most of the Marines are not of the midget variety so they rotate nights in the tent and nights in the dirt. I can't imagine being in here with another body that stinks as bad as I do. I would most likely puke or cause him to puke, either way it would just be fowler then it is now. It's been over a month since my last shower, and some days it's over a hundred degrees in the shade. Yes sir! You work up a sweat just breathing air. We do wash ourselves but pouring water over your head with a canteen cup and rubbing the mud around with a dirty rag doesn't really give you that Saturday night going on a date clean feeling. We call it changing the mud. I change the mud at least every three days so I am clean! In between mud changing's I wipe myself down with baby wipes. There is something about a 6'1" man armed with a rifle, pistol and a couple hand-grenades smelling like a baby's ass that is just not right. They really need to come up with commando scented baby wipes so we smell right. How the hell can you take over nations smelling like a baby's ass? It's embarrassing! We need to smell the part. The toilets. Yes in deed I can live in my bathroom after this. Have you ever thought of how nice that would be? Out here we have these lovely s__ers. I would say they were outhouses but that would be a lie. An outhouse would be an improvement over these things we have. There are three stalls or I should say three holes in which to drop a load in. They are not round holes they are triangular. It is simply a sheet of plywood and three holes. There are no seats so you just sit on the plywood. When you drop your load it falls into half a 55 gallon drum and there it sits so you may view the last Marines load. Now in a normal outhouse you would find a deep hole underneath and when it gets ¾'s of the way full you would dig a new hole and move the outhouse over that hole. You would fill in the old hole and be done for a month or so. Here in the Marine Corps we like to create new and fun things to do so we opt out on that method. We prefer to burn it. Oh yum what a treat. You find a group of Marines and assign them the job of burning the s___ers. It takes about four hours and five gallons of diesel fuel to burn one can. There are three in each s___er and they may only burn two at a time so at least one is available for deposits. These s___ers must be at least 50 feet from a work or sleep area. They surround the camp so no matter which way the wind blows you can have the lovely aroma of scorched s___ drifting through your area. It takes about eight hours to burn all three so you get eight hours of fragrance each day. It's not the most pleasant smell I have ever inhaled and when you accompany that with the aroma of baby wipes and sweating bodies it's just plane nasal overload. Imagine smelling a sweaty baby's ass packed with burnt s___, covered in dust and you would about have it. I almost forgot the buzzing sensation you get while sitting on the hole. Flies! Hundreds of them, as soon as you drop trousers they attack. They are all over you and when you look at the mess below you realize what must be on their little feet. Perhaps these flies hover when they eat so they aren't tracking other peoples poop all over you. Do flies really barf on their food before they eat it? If they do that means as I empty my bowels I am getting a paintjob on my ass consisting of fly puke and someone else s___. Speaking of bugs, well I have fleas! Yes, indeed fleas! They are eating me alive. I guess they are sand fleas or some other nice sounding name. These little monsters just eat and eat and then I scratch and scratch. All of the scratching tends to rip open the skin and then you bleed. Now bleeding is a sure sign that you are among the living so I guess that is good in a sense. The problem is how to keep the little scabs and bloody wounds from becoming dirty and infected when you can't shower. That takes a little work and so far I have not found the answer. I am working on it. We were told that the dirt has an extremely high fecal content so we should avoid consuming it. We should wash ourselves regularly and avoid the dust. As I sit here covered in fecal laced dust I wonder how I am supposed to accomplish all of these things. I guess I will figure out a way to stop the wind and then we won't have dust storms. I am working on that but until then I will just drink my fecal mochas and enjoy the new taste sensations. I wonder if Starbucks will have that on the menu for us when we get home. Here in Iraq we also have mosquitoes, they attack right at sundown just like a normal mosquito. The only real difference between these here in Iraq and ours back in the land of flush toilets would be malaria. These mosquitoes are of the almost lethal variety. Knowing this makes you beat the crap out of yourself for about an hour each night and adds a whole new meaning to watching the sunset. After an hour of sunset aerobics we can then crawl into our sleeping bags to feed the fleas for a few hours. After feeding the little vampire fleas all night we rise to a bright sunny day! Soon it will climb into the triple digits and the wind will give us a fresh dusting of fecal powder to stick in the sweat produced because of the heat. When a Marine out here is eating and he says this tastes like s___ you can take that to the bank! He knows what he is talking about because the Preventive Medicine Technician gave us a class on the fecal content in the dirt of our little piece of Iraq. I must not forget my sleeping bag. Gosh what a treat that is. I have been sleeping in it since February and now it's May. I have slept in my bag at the bottoms of holes I dug, under vehicles, on top of vehicles, beside vehicles and inside vehicles. I have slept in my bag through sandstorms, rainstorms and brainstorms. I have even been known to sleep in my bag though explosions. Pretty much no matter what the day brings I end up in my bag. It's been a month since my last shower and guess what? I'll sleep in my bag that way too. There is so much grime and slime on it that the fecal dust won't even shake off anymore so I guess now I sleep in a s___bag! This is a desert so you may wonder where we get our water. I will tell you. It comes from the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers. It's dredged up from a canal about four miles from our pile of dirt. They attempt to purify it but I guess the science is not exact because we have all had Saddams Revenge. It's pretty good stuff because you get to throw-up from the top and the bottom. Sometimes you get to do them both at the same time. This is accompanied by a fever and wonderful stomach cramps. When you add the heat and constant sweating, bug-bites, lack of real showers filthy clothing and fecal dust everywhere it's lots of fun! Don't drink the water and then you get dehydrated so you end up the same way. At least when they re-hydrate you at the battalion aid station you get clean pure water. The only draw back to that method of re-hydration is the fact that you receive your water via an intravenous injection (IV). Well that's not fun either but at least you can pick your method of sickness. Drinking the water or not drinking the water it's the same damm thing. I know this all sounds pretty fun but it's really not. You don't want to plan your next camping trip with Iraq as a stop. This is not on the top ten lists of must see places. Some say that this is the birthplace of civilization, if that's true then God (if there is one) has a sense of humor. He is one funny entity. All joking aside as I look at these people and all that they don't have I am thankful for the things we do have as Americans. Most of these people don't know what a phone is and have never heard of cable TV. They don't have running water and they live worse everyday then I am living right now. The things we expect they don't even dream of. I wish everyone back there in the states could come over here and live like this for a week. How many relationships built on true love ended today over something that really doesn't mean s___? Just because someone got unhappy? We demand to be happy and run as soon as it gets rough. Do you want to know what rough is? In my eyes it's seeing children begging for our garbage on the side of the road. Seeing children happy when we toss food to them that we ourselves won't eat, seeing a Childs face light up because you gave him a bottle of clean water to drink. That is rough; imagine your child having to do that. We as Americans let everything else get in the way of what is important. Take a look around you and be thankful for what you have. Don't look at the house, cars, or your bank account for they mean nothing. Look at the ones you love, and what they really mean to you. Are those things that bother you all that important? Try to imagine your loved one living like I am. Imagine them living like these people live. I have been a Marine for 21 years and this has been the most rewarding thing I have done. I only have to imagine my son begging for food and I can see what's important. I and those around me are doing this so people we don't even know don't have to watch their children beg for food. Turn off the TV, Shut out the world for a night, draw your loved ones close and spend some time with them. They are all that matters. I am glad I got to visit because it reminds me to be thankful that I am an American. I am thankful.

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This Dagger went straight to the heart


By Juliana Gittler, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Tuesday, July 8, 2003



Courtesy of USMC
Marine Sgt J.D. McAfee, left, and Cpl. Michael Menkewicz pose with Dagger, their adopted dog, in Southern Iraq.


When Marine Sgt. Jared McAfee first saw the little puppy running beside his Humvee near the town of Diwaniyah, Iraq, during Operation Iraqi Freedom, it looked like a little ball of fur.

The puppy was dehydrated and hungry and not much bigger than a chew toy. He was nearly run over by passing vehicles.

McAfee scooped up the puppy, and he and passengers Staff Sgt. Patrick A. Sterling and Cpl. Michael Menkewicz gave it water and pound cake salvaged from a Meals, Ready to Eat.

“We just wanted to play with him, but everybody got attached to him so we decided to keep him,� Sterling said.

The Marines named the dog Dagger for the call sign they were using at the time. Dagger soon found his way into the platoon’s hearts — and about 20 combat missions.

During the platoon’s assignments around Iraq, first as part of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force and now with the 1st Force Reconnaissance Company of the 1st MEF, Dagger has met generals and sniffed his way to a cache of missiles in Al Kut.

“He goes everywhere with us,� Sterling said.

On a trip to Kuwait, he flew behind the controls of a C-130.

No one said the platoon couldn’t bring him onto the plane so they packed him into a dog carrier and hoped for the best.

“We pretty much walked him on the back of the C-130 like we owned the place,� Sterling said. “Twenty minutes into the flight the pilots asked if they could see our dog.�

Dagger’s been near gunfire and has been a guard dog since the very first night. He may be cute, but he also has an important task.

“That dog, he’s a morale boost for everyone,� Menkewicz said.

No one’s sure if Dagger is actually allowed to live with a platoon. “No one ever told me to get rid of him,� Sterling said.

Growing up with a bunch of guys living out of a Humvee hasn’t given Dagger the best social skills.

“There haven’t been many women around Dagger,� Sterling admits. He tends to growl at them for a while. But everyone loves the pup before long.

Friends and family of the platoon send fetch toys, squeaky balls and treats.

“He’s the best fed dog in Iraq, I guarantee that,� Sterling said.

The platoon of Marine reservists from Hawaii is part of the 4th Force Reconnaissance Company. It regularly moves between camps around Iraq and Kuwait, and Dagger always takes his special place in the Humvee — between the driver and passenger on top of a box of grenades during the war, but now atop a cooler.

Dagger has had all his shots in Kuwait and an examination by a veterinarian. When Sterling returns to his family in Oahu, he hopes to take the dog with him.

“They’re all waiting for Dagger to come home,� he said.

There’s a mountain of expenses and red tape in his way, but Sterling won’t give up.

“I can’t even comprehend not taking him back,� he said. “That dog, in my opinion, is a Marine.�

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“US officials need to get our [expletive deleted by the Post] out of here�, Staff Sergeant Charles Pollard, stationed in Baghdad as part of the 307th Military Police Company, told the Post. “I say that seriously. We have no business being here. We will not change the culture they have in Iraq, in Baghdad. Baghdad is so corrupted. All we are here is potential people to be killed and sitting ducks.�

Pollard added: “I pray every day on the roof. I pray that we make it safe, that we make it safe home. The president needs to know it's in his hands, and we all need to recognise this isn't our home, America is, and we just pray that he does something about it.�

Sergeant Sami Jalil, an Iraqi police officer under Pollard's command, said: “The truth has become apparent… The Americans painted a picture that they would come, provide good things to the Iraqi people, spread security, but regrettably… Iraqi people hate the Americans.�

At a press briefing held on June 30, US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld categorised the resistance forces, which have put the occupying forces on edge, as “looters, criminals, remnants of the Baathist regime, foreign terrorists who came in to assist and try to harm the coalition forces, and those influenced by Iran�.

Rumsfeld desperately wants journalists to ignore the real factors which have led to mass protests and armed resistance by Iraqis to the US occupation.

Iraqi opposition to occupation is not the result of nostalgia for Saddam Hussein's rule (although this definitely exists, particularly in areas like Baghdad which have suffered severe power and water shortages since the war), but anger at the brutality of the occupation and the belief, seemingly confirmed by pronouncements from Washington, that the US intends to continue the occupation until Iraq's oil is under the control of the big US oil companies and a stable US puppet regime is installed.

Anger at the occupation forces has been fuelled by incidents such as the June 26 killing of Mohammed Kubaisi, a 12-year-old who lived in al Jihad in western Baghdad, by a US soldier during a search of houses in the area. According to his family, Kubaisi had climbed onto a roof to watch the search. United Press International reported that Kubaisi's mother, Wafaa, asked: “Why would an American with all his technology kill a child?�

Bob Graham, a journalist for the London Evening Standard, filed a report on June 19 after interviewing soldiers from the 3/15th US Infantry Division's Bravo Company. The soldiers' comments reveal the kind of mentality that the war and occupation have created, leading to tragedies like Kubaisi's murder.

Sergeant John Meadows told Graham: “You can't distinguish between who's trying to kill you and who's not. Like, the only way to get through shit like that was to concentrate on getting through it by killing as many people as you can, people you know are trying to kill you. Killing them first and getting home.�

Corporal Michael Richardson, just 22 years old, said: “At night time you think about all the people you killed… There's no chance to forget it, we're still here, we've been here so long. Some soldiers don't even fucking sleep at night. They sit up all fucking night long doing shit to keep themselves busy — to keep their minds off this fucking stuff. It's the only way they can handle it.�

Richardson added that all the soldiers in his unit were resentful that they had not been sent home. “It pisses everyone off, we were told once the war was over we'd leave when our replacements get here. Well, our replacements got here and we're still here�, he told Graham.

Another soldier added: “We're more angry at the generals who are making these decisions and who never hit the ground, and who don't get shot at or have to look at the bloody bodies and the burnt-out bodies, and the dead babies and all that kinda stuff.�

The deteriorating morale of the US troops stationed in Iraq is starting to worry the Pentagon brass, since they have very little possibility of replacing them with fresh troops. The July 3 Washington Post revealed: The [US] Army now has more than half of its 10-division active duty force assigned to Iraq. There is the equivalent of another division deployed in Afghanistan, and two to three are typically kept in reserve for a potential confrontation with North Korea. And, because the Army likes to keep three or four divisions training and preparing to eventually replace each division in action, the Pentagon at the moment has no troops to replace many of those on extended deployments in Iraq.�

Prewar Intel Still Under Scrutiny: "A House of Commons committee says Tony Blair and his aides did not appear to lie about Iraq's prewar capabilities, but did overplay shaky intelligence. A former U.S. diplomat cast doubt on a key White House claim."

In CBS News: Iraq Crisis



Iraq Violence Claims 3 GIs: "Two shootings and a bomb attack killed three U.S. soldiers, as violence spread to targets including Iraqi policemen, a British cameraman and a United Nations facility."

In CBS News: Iraq Crisis



Two U.S. soldiers die in Baghdad attacks in CNN - War in Iraq



Turk Military Condemns U.S. Over Iraq Incident: "Turkey's military on Monday bitterlycondemned the U.S. army for seizing commandos in Iraq in anincident mirroring soured ties between the two NATO allies. (Reuters)"

In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq



Franks Says Troop Levels Are Sufficient in Iraq: "Retiring U.S. Gen. Tommy Franks saidon Monday U.S. troop levels were sufficient in Iraq and herepeated a taunt made by President Bush for Iraqi militantsattacking U.S. forces to "bring them on." (Reuters)"

In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq

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Ambushes kill three U.S. troops in 24 hours, as coalition forges ahead with democracy plans

JIM KRANE, Associated Press Writer Monday, July 7, 2003

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



(07-07) 12:37 PDT BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) --

Gunfire and explosions in Iraq killed two more U.S. servicemen and wounded four. But despite the worsening guerrilla warfare, the U.S.-led administration called two new city councils to order Monday -- one in the southern Shiite city of Najaf and the other in the chaotic capital.

The councils -- which join other municipal governments with limited powers emerging around Iraq -- are expected to act as a proving ground for national leaders, as the United States tries to lay the ground for an eventual transition to democracy.

U.S. advisers also announced an initial economic agenda, including establishment of an independent Iraqi central bank, and plans to rid the country of bank notes bearing the image of Saddam Hussein -- after printing millions of them last month.

In two days of attacks in Baghdad, three U.S. soldiers have been killed, raising the total to 30 American combat deaths since major hostilities ended May 1.

In the latest slayings, a roadside bomb killed one soldier traveling in an Army convoy Monday, and a second American was shot to death in a Sunday night gunbattle in the troubled Sunni Muslim neighborhood of Azamiyah, the military said. Both soldiers belonged to the Army's 1st Armored Division, the Germany-based unit occupying Baghdad.

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G.I.'s Kill 11 Who Ambushed Patrol in Iraq; No U.S. Casualties
Fri Jul 4, 2:55 PM ET


By AMY WALDMAN The New York Times

BAGHDAD, Iraq (news - web sites), July 4 A day after attacks against the United States-led coalition in Iraq escalated, American forces killed 11 attackers who ambushed them near the town of Balad today, the military said.

Officials said no American soldiers were harmed in the failed ambush, in which the attackers used small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades against an American patrol.


The incident today came less than 24 hours after an American soldier was killed in Baghdad and 18 were injured, also near Balad, on Thursday night. Those attacks, and the ambush today, seemed to affirm the comments of the commander of allied forces in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez of the Army, who said on Thursday, "We're still at war."


A military spokesman said a soldier was shot to death at 8:30 p.m. Thursday as he sat inside a Bradley fighting vehicle protecting the Baghdad Museum. About two hours later, a support base near Balad, about 60 miles north of Baghdad, came under mortar attack, wounding the 18 soldiers, two seriously.


Those two attacks followed a day of violence in which 10 soldiers were wounded in three other separate incidents, including a rocket-propelled grenade attack on a busy Baghdad Street at 10 in the morning.


In Dubai, , the Arab television satellite network Al Jazeera broadcast an audiotape today of a voice purporting to be that of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) claiming he is still in Iraq and urging Iraqis to aid the escalating resistance attacks against allied forces.


There was no way of determing whether the tape was authentic, but the mere perception that it might be could strengthen the influence of Mr. Hussein on Iraqis loyal to him at a time when the United States is intent on ending any effect he might be having on the growing resistance. On Thursday, the State Department said it was offering a reward of up to $25 million for information leading to the capture of Mr. Hussein or confirmation of his death.


With the violence seemingly escalating daily, the offer of a bounty for Mr. Hussein seemed to reflect the renewed urgency allied officials and military commanders attach to finding the deposed leader and his two sons, whose specter they believe is fueling the growing resistance to the American occupation.


"Until we know for sure, their names will continue to cast a shadow of fear over this country," L. Paul Bremer III, the American civilian administrator of Iraq, said on Thursday in his weekly address to the Iraqi people.


In Washington, a group of senators just back from a three-day visit to Iraq were even more emphatic on Thursday about the need to capture or kill Mr. Hussein.


"There's a pervasive climate of fear that is impeding the recovery, particularly in central and southern Iraq," said Senator Susan Collins, a Maine Republican. "There is a fear that he will return, that he will come back. And that fear prevents us from making progress as rapidly as we otherwise would, and that fear emboldens those who would attack our troops."


The $25 million reward for Mr. Hussein is the same amount offered for Osama bin Laden ,the leader of Al Qaeda. Mr. Bremer said up to $15 million apiece would be offered for similar information on Mr. Hussein's sons, Uday and Qusay.


Mr. Bremer said in an interview on Sunday that the "general assessment" of people he talked to was that Mr. Hussein was still in Iraq.


While Mr. Bremer maintained that the threats and violence against American soldiers and civilians, as well as the Iraqis working with them, would not deter reconstruction, General Sanchez made clear at a news conference Thursday that rebuilding the country and fighting the enemy would have to take place side by side.


While saying the daily attacks on American forces did not appear to be centrally coordinated, the general acknowledged that there had been an "increase in sophistication of the explosive devices." He said 25 soldiers had been killed in action and 177 wounded since May 1, when Mr. Bush declared the official cessation of major hostilities.


The multiple attacks came a day after Mr. Bush seemingly invited confrontation with militant Iraqis, saying, "Bring 'em on." The American-led alliance, he said, has adequate force to deal with the security situation. Thursday's attacks seemed to defy that assertion. They also suggested that sapping the resistance might not be as simple as capturing or killing Mr. Hussein. The attacks occurred in diverse locations: a Sunni area west of Baghdad that staunchly supported the former government, a Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad that did not and the center of the city.


In the Baghdad neighborhood of Kadhimiya on Thursday, a gunman opened fire on a group of soldiers from the First Armored Division on foot patrol at 2:30 a.m., wounding one of them. The soldiers returned fire, killing the gunman and wounding a 6-year-old boy with him, according to an American military spokesman.





In the city of Ramadi, about 65 miles west of Baghdad, six soldiers were wounded when their two-vehicle convoy drove over an improvised explosive device at 6:30 a.m. Thursday.

Ramadi has become a center of resistance to the American-led occupation. It is about 30 miles west of Falluja, where an explosion at a Sunni mosque killed at least six people on Monday night. An allied investigation blamed a bombmaking class being held in a building adjacent to the mosque, but many residents accused the Americans of firing a missile into the mosque and promised revenge against American troops.

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RETURNING TROOPS
Monday, July 07, 2003


About 200 soldiers from the 62nd Engineer Battalion are headed home. The soldiers return to Fort Hood today after almost six months in Iraq. They`ll be at the Abrams Physical Fitness Center on base at 2:00pm this afternoon. And another group of soldiers returned to Fort Sill last night. They arrived in Lawton where they were welcomed with a welcome home ceremony.

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Image shows Arabic television channel al Jazeera screen shot aired July 4, 2003 with an audio tape purporting to be from ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein (news - web sites). CIA (news - web sites) officials said on July 7 that they believe Saddam's voice was on the broadcast audiotape that warned of more bloodshed in Iraq (news - web sites) and urged Iraqis to support resistance to U.S. forces. Photo by Chris Helgren/Reuters tape, which sounded like Saddam. Related Resources: Special Coverage: Iraq Add News Photos to My Yahoo!

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Two US soldiers killed in Iraq
From correspondents in Baghdad
08jul03

TWO US soldiers and two Iraqis were killed overnight in separate attacks in Iraq, overshadowing the first session of Baghdad's city council, which the coalition hailed as a major step in Iraq's recovery.

The latest shootings followed a rocket attack on a US patrol in Ramadi, west of Baghdad, which left four US soldiers wounded, a US military spokesman said, without disclosing their condition.
Two Iraqis were killed, one in a Baghdad shootout and one in Ramadi when US troops returned fire, Corporal Todd Pruden said, while a military statement said a soldier shot in Baghdad yesterday had died of his wounds.

Residents said the Iraqi man who died in Ramadi was killed in the crossfire as he sat in his car with his son, who was also shot and wounded.

The attacks also preceded the death at a US military hospital of a freelance Australian soundman working for NBC News, one week after he was wounded in a grenade attack in Fallujah, a town outside Baghdad.

Jeremy Little, 27, was wounded on June 29 while embedded with US troops.

He was the second journalist to die from injuries sustained in Iraq within 48 hours after British journalist Richard Wild was shot and killed in Baghdad on Saturday.

The US military has repeatedly insisted attacks on its troops would not affect its efforts to introduce democracy in Iraq or get its oil-dependent economy up and running in order to fund the huge bill for reconstruction.

Top US civil administrator Paul Bremer said that the coalition had agreed a budget of nine trillion dinars - around $US6 billion ($8.86 billion) - until the end of the year, with just over half the funds coming from oil revenue.

In a televised address to the Iraqi people, he also announced that the New Iraqi Dinar, introduced in 1991 and bearing the image of toppled president Saddam Hussein, was to be replaced at parity with new banknotes.

Baghdad's city council meanwhile held its inaugural meeting with Bremer hailing the event as perhaps the most important stride taken since Saddam Hussein's regime fell on April 9.

"Today is a very important day in Baghdad. Indeed it is perhaps the most important day since April 9," Bremer told the meeting.

"Today marks the resumption of the democratic system in Baghdad which has not been here for 30 years."

"At a time when malicious people in Baghdad are making a threat to the peace-loving citizens of this wonderful city, you have shown courage and honour, perseverance and self confidence," he said.

With the formation of the 37-member Baghdad city council, all major cities in Iraq now have a representative council body, a coalition official said.

The formation of an Iraqi national government, however, is still at least one year off, according to coalition officials, with Iraqis making no secret of their frustration at the slow progress towards direct elections.

With groups bursting onto the political scene in anticipation of elections, representatives of major political groups met in the Kurdish-held north to discuss plans by the US-led administration for an interim governing body.

Representatives of Iraq's seven main parties at the meeting hailed plans for the formation of a transitional governing council as "a step in the right direction toward the creation of an interim Iraqi government".

The governing body is due to be unveiled in one week and will be charged primarily with staffing the ministries and appointing a committee to draft a new Iraqi constitution.

Iraqi frustration has been compounded by the fragile security situation and a continuing lack of basic services nearly three months after the fall of Saddam's regime.

The coalition has admitted that failing to account for the ousted president has hindered its progress in Iraq, and last week announced a $US25 million ($36.91 million) reward for information leading to his capture.

US intelligence officials said that an audiotape broadcast last week issuing dire warnings to US troops in Iraq by a speaker claiming to be deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was probably authentic.

Attacks blamed on loyalists from his Baath Party and Fedayeen militia fighters have shown no sign of any let-up, despite US insistence that attacks are not increasing.

The outgoing commander of US troops in Iraq said it is too soon to deploy additional American forces, despite a growing chorus of calls for a stronger US military presence following the recent spate of attacks.

"It's not time to send in additional troops," said General Tommy Franks in an interview with ABC television.

From: spliffslips

War Blog Updates

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Saddam Recording Deemed Authentic by CIA
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By JOHN J. LUMPKIN
Associated Press Writer

July 7, 2003, 1:20 PM EDT

WASHINGTON -- The recording of Saddam Hussein aired Friday is probably authentic, CIA officials said. But the poor quality of the recording prevents absolute certainty.

"The CIA's assessment, after a technical analysis of the tape, is that it's most likely his voice," said CIA spokesman Bill Harlow on Monday. "The exact date of the recording cannot be determined."

Intelligence officials said the recording is filled with background noise that prevents their technical analysts from being more certain.

The speaker claims the recording was made on June 14. It was aired on the Arab al-Jazeera television network Friday.

Intelligence officials said there were no references in the message that absolutely ruled out the possibility that it was prerecorded before June 14.

Still, the CIA's determination that the tape was probably authentic would further buttress most intelligence analysts' belief that Saddam survived the war, including at least two attempts aimed at killing him.

In the recording, the speaker purporting to be Saddam said he is still in Iraq and directing attacks on American forces there. He called on Iraqis to resist the U.S.-led occupation.

U.S. forces in Iraq have been targeted daily by ambushes, and dozens have died since the war's major fighting ended.

Last week, the U.S. government put a $25 million bounty on Saddam's head, and offered $15 million for each of his sons, Odai and Qusai. American officials say the mystery over Saddam's whereabouts fuels anti-U.S. attacks by his loyalists.

In the audiotape, the speaker says: "People have been asking why they haven't heard the voice of Saddam Hussein. We face a lot of trouble in getting our voice to you even though we have been trying."

The speaker defended the quick fall of Saddam's regime during the U.S.-led invasion in March and April, saying it was a necessary retreat.

Copyright (c) 2003, The Associated Press

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This article originally appeared at:
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-saddam-recording,0,6387338.story

Visit Newsday online at http://www.newsday.com

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Bosnia troops forwarding care packages to servicemembers in Iraq


By Ivana Avramovic, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Monday, July 7, 2003



Courtesy of U.S. Army
Sgt. 1st Class Brad Lechner of Troop B, 1st Squadron, 167th Cavalry Regiment in Bosnia repackages items to forward to his son, Cpl. Gabriel Lechner of 2nd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment of 101st Airborne Division, deployed to Iraq.


CAMP McGOVERN, Bosnia and Herzegovina — Care packages that started arriving for Task Force North troops from Nebraska took them by surprise. First came 14 boxes, then another 25.

Different organizations and church groups, mostly from Nebraska, sent the National Guard soldiers baby wipes, toilet paper, shampoo, tooth paste — items U.S. troops in Iraq need, but not the ones in Bosnia.

“We got everything we need here,� said Sgt. 1st Class Bradley Lechner of Troop B, 1st Squadron, 167th Cavalry Regiment. “It’s not hard to find what you need.�

Camp McGovern’s troops have a great dining facility. They have enough showers and toilets. Free laundry service is available daily. A post exchange provides any extras they need, and there is even a cafe on the camp.

Then 1st Sgt. Larry Fisher remembered that Lechner’s son, Cpl. Gabriel Lechner of the 2nd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment of 101st Airborne Division, is deployed to Iraq and suggested the packages be forwarded to troops there.

Lechner knew how difficult it was to get some basic toiletries while deployed to the Persian Gulf region, since he was stationed in Kuwait two years ago.

So Camp McGovern troops removed the cards addressed to U.S. troops in Bosnia, rewrapped the packages and mailed them five at a time, so not to overwhelm the mail.

Lechner sent a heads-up e-mail to his son that mail is coming.

“I think they were just so happy to get anything,� Lechner said. “We don’t have it near as bad as the guys there.�

Fisher wrote a thank-you letter for the organizations and church groups that sent the packages and sent it to Nebraska papers. He did not mention that the packages were forwarded to troops who need them more, afraid that might offend the senders.

The troops at McGovern often receive packages of school supplies that they pass out to Bosnian kids when they are out on missions. But when they are asked what they need personally, it is hard to think of things.

“I couldn’t tell them what to send because we really don’t need anything,� Fisher said.

“In Iraq it’s the opposite because they don't have any conveniences.�

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