"That's the Kurds territory which was not under Saddam's control.....but I think you know that.."
Not exactly. Time will tell............
.....The Bush administration has charged that Saddam
Hussein was or would soon be passing material for weapons
of mass destruction on to Muslim fundamentalist
organizations including al-Qaida......
...."We have found various documents, equipment, and
evidence that would indicate a presence of chemical or
biological weapons. It has been flown back to the United
States," a Special Forces company commander said Tuesday at
a joint press conference in Halabja, a Kurdish city in
northern Iraq. "At this point, (exploration) of the site is
ongoing."....
tribnet.com
.....Liberated areas of northern Iraq have produced
evidence of mass executions. In Kirkuk, a mass grave was
uncovered where Kurdish separatists are believed to have
been executed by Saddam's forces.
Near Kirkuk, U.S. military forces discovered about 1,500
unmarked graves last week near a military base and
industrial park. Officials believe they are the remains of
victims of Saddam's repression of ethnic minorities,
including Iraqi Kurds. Tens of thousands of Kurdish men
disappeared under Saddam and were killed, according to
human rights groups.......
washingtontimes.com
.....The Ansar group, which espouses a militant brand of
Islam, is said to have links with al-Qaeda, the global
terrorist network of Osama bin Laden. The Bush
administration also says it is supported by Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein, though most Kurdish officials cite Iran as
its chief backer.....
....US and Kurdish fighters also recovered documents
following their sweep, according to the official, who spoke
on condition of anonymity. He gave no other details, the
agency said.....
....The guerrillas fall under the command of the Patriotic
Union of Kurdistan, or P.U.K., the enthusiastically pro-
American party that controls most of the eastern sector of
Kurdish Iraq, or Kurdistan. They are known as peshmerga,
or “those who face death,” and they were happy yet anxious;
the night before, American cruise missiles had struck the
positions of the two Islamist groups who control the
territory a half mile to the east......
The targets include the Ansar al-Islam, who number as many
as eight hundred. Among them are about a hundred and fifty
so-called Arab Afghans, some of whom are believed to have
trained in the Al Qaeda camps of Afghanistan. The P.U.K.
and several American intelligence officials say that Ansar
al-Islam is sponsored by the regime of Saddam Hussein,
although others have disputed this claim......
newyorker.com
theage.com.au
smh.com.au
adn.com |
