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War is Hell
Be careful what you Wish for..............
By The Associated Press
Major developments about Iraq (news - web sites) on Monday:
_ An international Red Cross report said coalition intelligence officers estimated that 70-90 percent of Iraqi detainees were arrested by mistake, and that Red Cross observers saw U.S. officers mistreating Abu Ghraib prisoners by keeping them naked in dark, empty cells.
_ President Bush (news - web sites) issued a strong endorsement of embattled Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, telling him, "You are doing a superb job." Bush pledged that those who abused prisoners would be brought to justice.
_ Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites) told a news conference he did not know the specifics of Red Cross allegations of U.S. and British abuse of Iraqi prisoners until "the last few days."
_ Gen. John Abizaid, top commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, expressed "deep regret" for the abuse of Iraqi prisoners, Bahrain News Agency said. Abizaid was in Bahrain on a tour of the region.
_ Control over Abu Ghraib will be negotiated after Iraqis regain sovereignty June 30, the U.S. said.
_ The military indicated that no television cameras will be allowed in the courtroom at next week's court-martial of Spc. Jeremy C. Sivits, the first trial in the prison abuse scandal.
_ An attorney for Pfc. Lynndie R. England, shown in photographs smiling and gesturing at naked Iraqi prisoners, said the "farm girl from West Virginia" is taking the fall for military shortcomings.
_ A U.S. aircraft destroyed a Baghdad office of Muqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shiite cleric.
_ U.S. commanders had asked Spanish forces to help hunt down or kill a religious leader, but Spain refused, saying its mission was humanitarian, the defense minister, Jose Bono said. Bono did not specify whether he was referring to al-Sadr.
_ U.S. Marines, escorted by Iraqis, entered the center of Fallujah for the first time since the end of the bloody siege last month.
_ Insurgents bombed the Faw oil pipeline in southern Iraq on Saturday, slashing daily Iraqi oil exports by about 25 percent, or 450,000 barrels per day, an official said Monday.
_ Gunmen fired on a vehicle in the northern oil city of Kirkuk, killing two foreign construction workers and their Iraqi driver, the city's police chief said.
_ Al-Taff Martyrs Brigade, a previously unknown group, warned foreigners in Basra — especially Americans, Britons and Kuwaitis — that they will be targeted for kidnapping and assassination.
_ Fifty-five percent of the 1,001 adult Britons surveyed for The Independent newspaper said British troops should be withdrawn once sovereignty is handed over to the interim Iraqi government June 30; 28 percent were opposed.
_ Amnesty International alleged British soldiers have shot and killed Iraqi civilians, including an 8-year-old girl, in situations where the troops were under no apparent threat. |
