Iraq War News

A father a veteran and a reservist who has a son in Iraq asked to speak to tell the people what is going on.

Here is a direct quote of the commanders corner.
We have been recieving numerous state flags in response to my request to all the State Governors back in August. We will fly these flags in Iraq and then present them to soldiers from that state who have done an exceptional job. So far we have over 40 flags including Colorado, but if you are from Montana, Illinois,(here) Kentucky, or New York then you should send them a note since they denied our request to send us a state flag in support of their soldiers serving here.

Montana-http://www.discoveringmontana.com/gov2/css/staff/contact.asp
New York-http://www.state.ny.us/governor/
Illinois-http://www.illinois.gov/helpdesk/contact.cfm
Kentucky-http://gov.state.ky.us/
Go get em girls I have already contacted the governors office in Illinois. Iraq War News

If you do not think soldiers are suffering read this next article. The bravery of these soldiers just will bring a tear to your eye, why were we so remiss as not to help the families of these heroesIraq War News

By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY

MUQDADIYAH, Iraq — For the men of Alpha Company, whose world is this

insect-infested, agricultural village 60 miles north of Baghdad, major combat

operations didn't end when President Bush said so on May 1. They were just beginning.

Many of these GIs thought they had missed the war when they arrived here in

May. The heady days of March and April, when U.S. mechanized brigades swept

north from Kuwait to capture Baghdad, were someone else's war story. But Alpha

Company and the rest of 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, of the 4th

Infantry Division out of Fort Hood, Texas, in fact, missed nothing.

The furnace-like Iraqi summer and the terrors of combat have tested Alpha's

men in ways none could have imagined."You can say I was at war," Spc. Derrick

Grabener, 23, of Shreveport, La., says proudly. The Bradley Fighting Vehicle he

drives has twice been struck by roadside bombs in the five months he has been

here. "If I can put up with this, I can put up with anything life gives me."

Alpha Company has endured booby-trapped highways, where vegetable cans

stuffed with C-4 explosives, nuts and bolts were detonated by guerrillas. Alpha's

convoys were ambushed in date palm groves erupting with rocket-propelled

grenades (RPGs) and AK-47 rifle fire. And enemy fighters served up mortar fire over

breakfast, then broke down their weapons and vanished in seconds.

The 2nd Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division, which patrols this area and

includes this Alpha Company, has experienced among the highest number of daily

attacks from insurgents in Iraq. It has suffered six American soldiers killed

since July, the most recent two in a tank destroyed by a roadside bomb on Oct.

28. Alpha Company has had nine soldiers wounded or injured, seven of them

receiving Purple Hearts and three evacuated back to the USA.

"I don't want to forget anything," says Army Spc. Kevin Dunne, 24, of

Brooklyn, N.Y., who carries everywhere a small tape recorder to capture sounds of

incoming mortar, outgoing U.S. artillery and subsequent musings of his comrades.

He says many of the 35 men in his platoon are not completely certain what

they are doing in Iraq, except that it must be for some greater good. "We're all

thinking different things," he says. "But the bottom line is, it's all about

the United States. We're all here together. Let's get home together."

Makeshift calendars with months still waiting to be crossed out are scribbled

on the cement walls of barracks, most of which were once Iraqi military

quarters. The earliest the unit might return home is spring.

Summer was the worst. Temperatures were so intense that in a two-day period

in August, 60 soldiers in 2nd Battalion suffered heat exhaustion and had to be

revived by intravenous fluids. Men shoved pistols too hot to touch under vest

armor where their body temperatures cooled the weapons. Every morning, GIs

awoke soaked in sweat. "I honestly didn't think human beings could live in

140-degree heat," says the battalion surgeon, Lt. Col. William Smith, 53, of Murray,

Ky.

Diarrhea and gastroenteritis took their toll, as did swarms of sand flies —

maddening little hoppers that descend on an ankle or arm, creating a rippled

harvest of hard, itchy bumps. In the worst cases, they spawn ulcerated sores

impervious to antibiotics. Troops have taken to strapping on Hartz flea collars,

received in care packages from home, to their ankles.

The hardships resulted in a winnowing out in Alpha. There were 172 troops on

the company roster when they entered Iraq. Nearly one in three have gone home,

dropping the number to 118. Replacements have pushed the company back up to

at least 129.

Soldiers who were wounded or ill, whose enlistments were up or who were

reassigned elsewhere left. Others, worn down by combat and problems at home,

couldn't take it anymore.

"They have become loners," says 1st Sgt. Jose Oquendo, 40, of Ponce, Puerto

Rico, Alpha's senior enlisted officer. "They just want to be by themselves.

They don't want to mingle. We do our mission, and they go sit by themselves. And

they sit."

One was suicidal. Another abused prescription drugs. A third drank

anti-freeze to escape combat. Nine in all left Alpha for reasons related to battle

stress. "It's weeding out the weak," Sgt. Ellis Johnson, 34, of St. Angelo, Texas,

the company medic, says with the dry candor of a combat veteran.

The company commander, Capt. Randy Alfredo, 34, of Casa Grande, Ariz., says

the greatest stress was the unexpected. "Not knowing where we were going, what

we were doing the next day, what we were doing the next hour if we were going

out for a mission that was a simple patrol and, the next thing you know, ended

up lasting 12 hours."

Alfredo says there were few things soldiers could count on when they ventured

out on missions. "You go walking across these irrigated fields, looking for

somebody who, you don't know, may be the enemy, through houses you don't know

are friendly or hostile," he says. "I think they (the battle stress cases) just

thought too much about it, rather than just do what they are trained to do."

And there was dealing with the slain enemy. Alpha has killed 47 insurgents in

raids and ambush counter-attacks. Then the soldiers collected the bodies,

loaded them into the back of the first sergeant's Humvee and transported them to

the local police station. This was not a task taught at Fort Hood. "At first

it was a shock," says Oquendo, "You never see that in the States. You don't

know how powerful the weapon that you have is, the amount of damage it can do to

a body, until you see that."

In six months, the learning curve for these GIs has been dramatic. Their

quick and overwhelming counter-fire in the face of ambushes has, their officers

believe, quelled direct assaults by the enemy, causing insurgents to rely more

on roadside-detonated bombs. The battalion lost its first soldier to an RPG

attack in October.

"When I told these guys to assault or charge or shoot back, nobody got

scared, nobody was still down. Everybody just got up and started shooting," says

Staff Sgt. Jimmy Ha, 24, of Aua, American Samoa, as he leads his squad on foot

patrol. "We were getting them first, before they get us."

"Battle-hardened would be the term for it," Alfredo says of his men, "either

that or (they) just have adapted to the situation as human beings do."

Here are a few of their stories:

Revenge creates own troubling memories

If anyone in Alpha Company needed a war, it was Army Spc. Kevin Dunne, 24, of

Brooklyn, N.Y. He was at Ground Zero on Sept. 11, 2001, providing security as

a member of the New York National Guard. Somewhere in the rubble were the

remains of three friends, including a former baseball coach who was a

firefighter.

"I was definitely going to get into the action," Dunne says in a Brooklyn

accent, and "give back a little of what they gave me."

He enlisted in the regular Army weeks after his Guard term ended last

December. By May, he was in Iraq.

But as much as they were fighting insurgents, he and the other soldiers were

helping build a local Iraqi police and militia and passing out school

supplies. Dunne's ire cooled as he struggled with what should be a proper war state of

mind.


"It's terrible. One minute they're waving at you. The next they're throwing

rocks," he says. "It was up to me to choose why I'm here — to kill the bad

guys, or to just try to make them better, help these people."

The choice was partly made for him one night in September when Alpha Company,

during a raid, cordoned off a neighborhood. Suddenly, a man emerged from a

house shooting a pistol at the Americans. Dunne, a few feet away, fired a single

round.

"He just flopped over," the soldier recalls.

Mortally wounded, the man crawled back into his house and Dunne followed. He

saw him lying on the floor, bleeding. Nearby, he spotted the man's daughter,

probably 8 or 9 years old.

"He was just lying there hurting. And I was hoping. 'I hope you do die,

because you shouldn't have come out shooting,' " Dunne recalls. "But then I'm

looking at the little girl and I'm saying, 'This is going to suck.' I grew up

without having a father around."

Now with his 9/11 recollections, Dunne has another memory."I still think

about it," he says of the man he killed, "just for the girl."

New dad planned a perfect reunion

Spc. Rudy Fernandez, 19, of Santa Ana, Calif., had his own mission, planned

in detail. Six months in this bug-infested, heat-ridden country and the

unthinkable was happening: He was going home, among the lucky few granted 15-day

leaves in the States.

He would see for the first time a son, Rudy Fernandez III, born Oct. 14. His

wife, Crystal, knew the leave was granted, but didn't know when her husband

would arrive. Rudy wanted it that way.

From the roof of the police station here in Muqdadiyah, manning a machine

gun, Fernandez spelled out his plan.

A friend would pick him up at John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana. He would order

roses, a dozen white ones and one red for their single year of marriage. With

friends and family distracting Crystal, Rudy would sneak into their house and

position himself in the living room, like it was just another lazy day at

home.

"As soon as she comes in, I'm going to go: 'Hey, how you doing, baby?' "

Fernandez said, sporting a big grin. Then it would be nothing but family, homemade

Mexican tamales and menudo, and holding a newborn son, "knowing that I

created him. And then just telling my wife that I appreciate her."

In a telephone call from California days later, he says it went off almost

like clockwork. "She was all in shock," he says, triumphantly.

On verge of suicide, soldier helped through trying time

For soldiers like 24-year-old Spc. Joseph Martin, severe stress and

depression can turn as deadly as enemy fire. Problems run deeper than just surviving in

this dangerous place.

Back home in Wichita Falls, Texas, a bank repossessed the Ford Explorer owned

by Martin and his wife, Misty. The couple — who have two small boys, Tanner,

8, and Dawson, 5 — had filed for bankruptcy last year. And Misty was

struggling to find work.

Their marriage was unraveling. In the glacial pace of the mail, the only link

soldiers had for a time with home, Martin and his wife exchanged hateful

words.

In July, with temperatures here well over 100, Martin would sit in the

latrine, M-16 rifle in hand, tears in his eyes, and consider shooting himself.

"I just felt I had nothing left to live for. I know that sounds like a

cliché. But Misty and the kids were my life," he says. "I just looked at the future,

and I felt like I was going to end up being alone."

According to the Army, the deaths of 16 soldiers in Iraq are now believed to

be suicides.

Army stress managers who spoke with Martin wanted to send him home.

But 1st Sgt. Jose Oquendo wouldn't hear of it. He made Martin his driver,

listened to his problems and arranged a two-week leave.

For the next several days, Martin is back in the States visiting his boys.

"Without him (Oquendo) having my back, I don't know where I would be today,"

Martin says.

When the battalion finally got a satellite phone for soldiers to use, Martin

and his wife reconciled their anger, if not their marriage.

"We've gotten close in a different way. It's not like we're married. It's

more like we're friends," he says. "I like it like that. It's better than hating

each other."

Bradley driver survives roadway bombs twice

The Army calls them IEDs, improvised explosive devices. They are bombs buried

in roadways and detonated by remote control as Americans drive past. The IEDs

are now among the most effective ways to kill U.S. troops.

Spc. Derrick Grabener says the first IED he drove his Bradley Fighting

Vehicle over blew up below the exhaust vent on the vehicle's right side. "Everything

filled with smoke, dust, rocks. Everybody was coughing. You didn't really

know what was going on. All you saw was a bright flash and you're like, 'Is this

really happening?' " he says. "It took five minutes before we figured out it

was a bomb."

The blast rocked the 35-ton vehicle. But the armor held. The next time, a few

weeks later, the bomb went off almost directly underneath the driver's seat.

"That's the one that scared me the most," Grabener says. "I couldn't see

anything for a minute or so because the flash (coming through a floor vent) was so

bright. It's almost as if it just came from inside the Bradley."

"I was trying to check myself to see if I was all right. ... All I could

taste was gunpowder in my mouth. And my Bradley commander, Sgt. (William) Soto, he

was trying to holler on the mike, 'Are you all right?' " Grabener says. "I

was just yelling, 'I want you to kill them! I want you to kill them!'

"Leader delays retirement 'to take these guys back'

The war could have been over for 1st Sgt. Jose Oquendo six weeks ago. The

senior enlisted officer for Alpha Company had planned to retire from the Army. He

had done his 20 years. "I could have been home eating Big Macs," he says with

a grin.

But leaving Alpha hasn't been so simple. He shepherded the men of Alpha

through their first months of living on the ground in pup tents, eaten alive by

sand flies. He knows every ambush and counter-raid. He ticks off how many babies

have been born to his troops while they have been away — 13.

ALPHA COMPANY'S TRAVELS

The men of Alpha Company left Fort Hood, Texas, and arrived in Kuwait in

early April. They drove into Iraq on April 22, traveling 450 miles to Baquoba,

north of Baghdad. By the first week in May, the company was positioned in the

town of Muqdadiyah, northeast of Baqouba.

Alpha, commanded by Capt. Randy Alfredo, is made up of platoons of about 30

to 40 troops. Each platoon is broken down into squads of nine or 10 soldiers.

The company is called Alpha because it is the first of four companies that

make up the 2nd Battalion of the 8th Infantry Regiment. The battalion commander

is Lt. Col. John Miller. Miller's battalion, known as the 2-8, was the first

battalion to land in France on D-Day. Its motto is, "First at Normandy." The

battalion is based in Muqdadiyah.

The 2-8 is part of the 2nd Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division. Brigades are

typically made up of 3,000 to 5,000 troops. The 2nd Brigade, headquartered in

Baqouba, is responsible for patrolling that city and surrounding areas.The

4th Infantry Division has a jurisdiction that spans much of the northern portion

of the volatile "Sunni Triangle." The division is headquartered in Tikrit.

Source: USA TODAY research
Iraq War News

IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nov 12, 2003
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Statement by Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld on the Bombing in An Nasiriyah



I offer my condolences to our coalition comrades and their families, as
well as to those innocent Iraqis killed in today's attack. Attacks such as this
bombing cannot stop the progress being made in Iraq, and only serve to strengthen
the coalition's resolve. The best way we can honor the sacrifices of all coalition
partners, including U.S. servicemembers, is by ensuring success and by achieving
freedom and stability in Iraq.

Iraq War News

The body of Army Pfc. Karina Lau is carried out of St. Jude Thaddeus Catholic Church in Livingston, Calif., Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2003. Lau died on Nov. 2, along with 15 other U.S. soldiers, when their helicopter was shot down over Iraq .(AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) Yahoo! News - Top Stories Photos - AP

U.S. Forces Target Facility in Baghdad

By ANJA NIEDRINGHAUS
.c The Associated Press

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - U.S.-led coalition forces launched a military operation in Baghdad late Wednesday, targeting a facility used by insurgents and setting off explosions that reverberated through the Iraqi capital.

Earlier Wednesday, a suicide truck bomber attacked the headquarters of Italy's paramilitary police in Nasiriyah, killing 26 people - including 18 Italians - and possibly trapping others in the debris.

``The facility is a known meeting, planning, storage and rendezvous point for belligerent elements currently conducting attacks on coalition forces and infrastructure,'' the Pentagon said in a statement from Washington.

``The destruction of this structure will deny enemy forces any use of it in the future.''

The 1st Armored Division operation came hours after the Nasiriyah bombing - the deadliest assault on American allies in Iraq since the U.S.-led occupation.

Up to a dozen detonations were heard about 9:15 p.m., apparently centered away from the heart of the city.

The attack in Nasiriyah was the deadliest toll suffered by non-American coalition forces since the occupation began in April, and the first such attack in this relatively quiet Shiite Muslim city. The bombing appeared aimed at sending a message that international organizations are not safe anywhere in Iraq.

Col. Gianfranco Scalas said 18 Italians were killed: 12 Carabinieri paramilitary police, four army soldiers, an Italian civilian working at the base and an Italian documentary filmmaker. A spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition said at least eight Iraqis were also killed. About 15 people were wounded, although their nationalities were not known, Italian officials said.

``Unfortunately, it's not possible to exclude the presence of other fatalities,'' Defense Minister Antonio Martino told parliament.

There were fears of others trapped beneath the debris, and bulldozers worked to clear rubble. As night fell, however, soldiers said rescue efforts had ended.

Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi called the bombing a ``terrorist act,'' while Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi pledged that it wouldn't derail his country's commitment to helping Iraq.

Witnesses said the truck driver got past guards after a car ran a roadblock, distracting the sentries.

The truck rammed the gate of the Italian compound and exploded in front of the Carabinieri building, which was the former chamber of commerce building, a coalition spokesman, Andrea Angeli, said.

He said the force of the explosion blew out windows in another building across the Euphrates River. All the vehicles parked outside the stricken building exploded in flames.

Angeli said secondary explosions from ammunition stored in the compound rocked the area moments after the main blast.

Also Wednesday, U.S. troops in Baghdad accidentally fired on a car carrying a member of the Iraqi Governing Council. The council member, Mohammed Bahr al-Uloun, escaped injury but the driver was wounded.

And a roadblock in Fallujah, a restive city west of the capital, U.S. troops fired on a truck carrying live chickens Tuesday night, killing five civilians.

``They went to bring chickens ... and they came back at 9 or 10 at night and we were waiting for them,'' said Khalid Khalifa al-Jumaily, whose two nephews were killed on the truck. ``The Americans fired on them.''

The U.S. military said it no immediate information on the shootings.

In separate attacks, an American soldier was killed when a roadside bomb exploded near a U.S. patrol by the town of Taji northwest of Baghdad, the U.S. military said. A 1st Armored Division soldier died of wounds suffered in a roadside bombing in Baghdad on Tuesday.

Their deaths bring to 153 the number of soldiers killed by hostile fire since President Bush declared an end to active combat May 1.

The truck bomb in Nasiriyah, about 180 miles southeast of Baghdad, went off at about 10:40 a.m. in front of base of the Carabinieri's multinational specialist unit, the Italian paramilitary police said.

Italy has sent about 2,300 troops to help rebuild Iraq. About 340 Carabinieri are based in Nasiriyah, along with 110 Romanians.

Alice Moldovan, a spokeswoman for Romania's Defense Ministry, said there were no reports of Romanian victims.

Carabinieri are paramilitary police under the Defense Ministry, and frequently serve in international missions such as in Afghanistan and the Balkans.

Since August, car and truck bombs have targeted several international buildings in Baghdad, including the United Nations headquarters, the offices of the international Red Cross, the Al-Rasheed Hotel and the Turkish and Jordanian embassies.

Although Nasiriyah has been quiet in recent months, it was the scene of heavy fighting during the war. It was where the 507th Maintenance Company was ambushed in March and where a number of Americans were captured, including Jessica Lynch.

Italy had suffered no combat deaths during the occupation. The Italian official heading U.S. efforts to recover Iraq's looted antiquities, Pietro Cordone, was in a car that came under mistaken U.S. fire in September in northern Iraq. His Iraqi interpreter was killed.

Earlier Wednesday, a member of the Iraqi Governing Council said the body was not to blame for the lack of progress in drafting a constitution that would enable democratic elections and a return to Iraqi independence.

The comments by Mahmoud Othman, a Sunni Kurd member of the U.S.-appointed body, follow reports that Bush's national security advisers are frustrated by the council's performance and are consulting with Iraq's top American administrator, L. Paul Bremer, over how to break the deadlock.

``Such accusations are unreasonable and do no good for the country,'' Othman said. ``The Governing Council should not alone bear the responsibility of any inefficiency.''

Othman acknowledged the constitutional process was moving too slowly but said Iraq's U.S.-led administration bore much of the blame.

``This is supposed to be a partnership based on equality,'' Othman said in an interview. ``But when Americans want to find solution for their problems, they do it in any way that suits them.''

Bremer said Wednesday after meeting with administration officials in Washington that he believed the Iraqis were becoming ``more and more effective in their assumption of authority.''

``I don't think it's fair to say the IGC is failing,'' Bremer said.

Bremer attended a White House meeting Tuesday with Secretary of State Colin Powell, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and other key officials.

Administration officials expressed disappointment in the council's work but said Bush was not about to disband it.

``The notion that we are about to throw the council to the wolves is exaggerated,'' a senior administration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. ``But there is a need to put some energy into the political transition.''

U.S. officials believe key members of the Iraqi council are stalling in hopes of winning concessions from American leaders under political pressure to turn over power to the Iraqis. In contrast, Bremer wants to transfer sovereignty after the Iraqis draft a constitution and hold national elections.

Othman denied members of the body were intentionally stalling work on the new charter in order to exert pressure on Bremer.

``It is true that council members are demanding more powers, but they are not trying to use the slowness in the process of work as a weapon to gain concessions,'' he said.

The Iraqis have yet to agree on how to choose delegates to draw up a constitution.

Also Wednesday, Iraqi police in Qadisiyah detained several people suspected of involvement in an apparent rocket attack that brought down a U.S. Black Hawk helicopter near Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit last week, killing six soldiers, a U.S. official said.

Before dawn, nearly the entire 500-member police force of Tikrit searched door-to-door in a dusty suburb looking for weapons and insurgents.

U.S. Army chaplain Matthew Madison, front right, leads a prayer during the burial of Army Sgt. Francisco Martinez, 28, of Humacao, Puerto Rico at the National Cemetery of Bayamon, Puerto Rico, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2003. Martinez who was assigned to B Detachment, 82nd Soldier Support Battalion (Airborne) at Fort Bragg, N.C., was killed Tuesday Nov. 4th by a roadside bomb in Iraq .(AP Photo/Javier J. Freytes)

Italian troops secure an area after a suicide bomber drove a tanker truck in their headquarters in the southern city of Nasiriyah, some 300 kilometers, 180 miles, north of Baghdad, Wednesday Nov. 12 2003. (AP Photo/Nabil Aljurani) Yahoo! News - World Photos - AP

Posted on Wed, Nov. 12, 2003

U.S. Forces Launch Operation in Baghdad
Associated Press

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S.-led coalition forces launched a military operation in Baghdad late Wednesday, setting off a series of explosions that rumbled through the center of the Iraqi capital.

In Washington, a Pentagon official confirmed the operation but gave no details about exact location or reason.

Up to a dozen detonations were heard about 9:15 p.m., apparently centered away from the heart of the city.

The operation came hours after a deadly suicide bombing at a headquarters for Italian forces in Iraq in the southern city of Nasiriyah - the heaviest assault on American allies since the U.S.-led occupation.

CentreDaily.com - Your State College Everything Guide

Bob Arnot reports Military shooting mortars at insurgents. The war continues.Care Packages

SHAME ON YOU!

An Italian Army soldier gestures next to the barracks building which was destroyed by a car bomb, at the headquarters of Italy's paramilitary police in Nasiriyah, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2003. At least 17 Italian soldiers and eight Iraqi civilians died. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus) Yahoo! News - World Photos - AP

A map of Iraq locating the attack on the Italian police base in Nasiriyah, which left at least 17 Italian troops dead(AFP) Yahoo! News - World Photos - AFP

IN IRAQ

Iraqi terrorists attacked the UN in Iraq, and the UN ran. Then they attacked the Red Cross, and the Red Cross ran. Today they attacked a contingent of Italian military policemen in Nasariah. As many as 20 might be dead. So, now might be a good idea not to steel ourselves for an Italian withdrawal from Iraq.

Also today we learn of a CIA report which says that the security situation in Iraq is going to get a lot worse before it gets any better, this is because more Iraqis are deciding to join the terrorists in their attacks on Americans.

Yes, things are rough .. and it's easy to be pessimistic about the eventual outcome. These terrorists know full well that they cannot defeat the American and British forces in Iraq. They know that if the American forces stay long enough to train and equip an Iraqi defense force, and long enough to assist Iraqis in forming a popularly elected government based on freedom and economic liberty, they, the terrorists, are doomed. The ONLY way the terrorists can win, the ONLY way they can clear the way for Saddam's return to power in Iraq and the inevitable bloodbath that would follow, the ONLY way is for them to influence public opinion in America to the point that political survival depends on withdrawing. The price we would pay for that action in the future would be incalculable. Terrorists would sense America's weakness ... and anyone who has ever dealt with a bully knows full well what happens when a bully is encouraged by weakness.

It's a time for the American people to be strong. Maybe it would help if they would start running those videos of those airplanes crashing into the World Trade Towers again.
boortz.com: Nealz Nuze Today's Nuze

People run away from the site of a bomb blast in Nassiriya, about 180 miles south of Baghdad, November 12, 2003. A car bomb ripped trough an Italian military police base, killing at least 14 Italians and eight Iraqis in what appeared to be a suicide attack. (Alfredo Cunha/Jornal De Noticias via Reuters) Yahoo! News - Top Stories

Italian military police walks in front of the smoke from a bomb blast in Nassiriya, about 290 km (180 miles) south of Baghdad November 12, 2003. A car bomb ripped trough the Italian military police base in the Iraq town of Nassirya on Wednesday, killing at least 14 Italians and eight Iraqis in what appeared to be a fresh suicide attack. (PORTUGAL OUT) (MANDATORY CREDIT) REUTERS/Alfredo Cunha-Jornal de Noticias Yahoo! News - World Photos - Reuters

Italian Army soliders secure the area next to the barracks building which was destroyed by a car bomb at the Italian forces headquarters , in Nasiriyah, Iraq on Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2003. At least 17 Italian soldiers and eight Iraqi civilians died. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus) Yahoo! News - World Photos - AP

He said that Iraqis were already playing a greater role in the day-to-day running of their country.

Mr Bremer admitted the situation in Iraq was "tough" hours after a bomb devastated an Italian base there.


A lorry bomb which hit the base in the southern town of Nasiriya killed at least 23 people, including 15 Italians.

"He [President Bush] remains steadfast in his determination to defeat terrorism in Iraq and steadfast in his determination to give the Iraqis authority over their country - authority they are already beginning to assume very quickly in the area of security and in the area of running the Iraqi ministries," Mr Bremer told a news conference.

Mr Bremer defended the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council's (IGC) work, saying it was unfair to say that it was failing.

BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Bush 'set on' handover in Iraq

IRAQ: EXPLOSION IN ITALIAN HQ IN NASIRIYA, INJURIES
(AGI) - Baghdad, 12 November - A powerful explosion occurred today in the carabinieri HQ in Nasariya, in southern Iraq. "I can tell you that there was a powerful explosion", was the first comment by Captain Marco Mele. According to carabinieri sources, there were injuries among both the military and the civilian population. The base struck, renamed 'Animal House', is in the former Chamber of Commerce, on the banks of the Euphrates.
121652 NOV 03Agenzia Giornalistica Italia - News In English

Bomb attacks in Iraq kill two U.S. soldiers


TIKRIT, Iraq, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Two U.S. soldiers were killed and four wounded in two separate bomb attacks in Iraq on Tuesday, the American military said on Wednesday.

North of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, one soldier was killed and two wounded when their vehicle drove over a bomb planted on a road on Tuesday evening.

"A 4th Infantry Division soldier was killed by an IED (improvised explosive device) which detonated under the vehicle he was travelling in," spokeswoman Major Josslyn Aberle said.

A military statement said a bomb attack in Baghdad earlier on Tuesday fatally injured a 1st Armored Division soldier and wounded two. He died of his wounds around 9 p.m. (1800 GMT) on Tuesday, five hours after the attack.

The attacks brought to at least 155 the number of U.S. soldiers killed in action since Washington declared major combat over on May 1.

Washington blames loyalists of ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and foreign guerrillas for the increasing attacks on U.S.-led occupation forces in Iraq.

11/12/03 07:53 ET

Yahoo! News - World Photos - Reuters: "Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts arrived on the 'The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ' stage via motorcycle wearing jeans, a denim shirt and a leather jacket during his appearance Nov. 11, 2003, at the NBC studios in Burbank, Calif. Leno (L) looks on as Kerry greets the audience. Kerry discussed his presidential campaign and his thoughts on the war in Iraq . Photo by Reuters (Handout) "

An Iraqi plaincloth policeman defuses a homemade explosive device left on a side walk in downtown Baghdad Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2003. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim) Yahoo! News - World Photos - AP

Iraqi plainclothed policemen arrest a man, left, who they suspect of planting a timed explosive device in Baghdad Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2003. Iraqi police found and disabled the device. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim) Yahoo! News - World Photos - AP

A man watches a car burning and firefighters in action after a bomb attack in Nassiriya, about 180 miles south of Baghdad, November 12, 2003. A car bomb ripped trough an Italian military police base in Nassiriya, killing at least 14 Italians and eight Iraqis in what appeared to be a suicide attack. Photo by Reuters Yahoo! News - World Photos - Reuters

Iraq Cops Search for Helicopter Suspects

By JIM GOMEZ
.c The Associated Press

QADISIYAH, Iraq (AP) - Hundreds of Iraqi police searched door-to-door Wednesday in a dusty suburb of Saddam Hussein's hometown, looking for weapons and insurgents in an area near where a U.S. helicopter went down.

An American military force watched, but stayed back letting the Iraqis handle the search themselves.

Nearly the entire 500-member police force of Tikrit, north of Baghdad, conducted the searches in the northern suburb of Qadisiyah starting after dawn, initially discovering mortars and a homemade bomb but making no arrests.

Brandishing Kalashnikov rifles, the Iraqi policemen knocked on doors, shook the hands of residents and uttered Islamic greetings before searching the sandstone homes.

A convoy of U.S. troops in Humvees and Bradley fighting vehicles stood ready to provide firepower a few blocks away.

``I think it's fantastic, it's a very positive step,'' said Lt. Col. Steven Russell of the 4th Infantry Division who led the U.S. backup force. ``It's the first time that we have seen them actually take the lead on a large-scale operation, plan it and execute it.''

Hamed Muzhir, the police chief of Salahuddin, said he asked the Americans to provide a backup force in case of an emergency but wanted to show that his police could control their own town.

``We work together with American forces but maybe we don't need their forces because we have forces, we have weapons,'' he told reporters.

``This is our country,'' he added.

Tikrit, a desert town of about 120,000 people 120 miles north of Baghdad, has been a hotbed of anti-American sentiments. Attacks against coalition forces have intensified in recent weeks in the region.

The area that was searched is near where a U.S. Black Hawk helicopter went down Friday, killing six U.S. soldiers. U.S. officers believe it was shot down.

Following the crash, U.S. forces dropped bombs and fired mortars at the region near the crash site in a show of force aimed at discouraging future attacks. Three buildings which insurgents were believed to use for shelter were destroyed.

As the search got underway, Iraqi policemen set up roadblocks.

``You see a lot of police out here, but I just don't see them searching,'' Russell said, as his convoy passed by one neighborhood. Then he lightened up when he saw some Iraqi policemen stop a truck.

``They're getting good. They are searching the trucks too,'' he said.



11/12/03 07:09 EST
Iraq War News

Italy is determined its forces will remain in Iraq despite an attack on a southern police base in which at least 12 officers were killed, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said.(AFP/File/Gerard Cerles) Yahoo! News - Mideast Photos - AF