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Politics : Stop the War! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Karen Lawrence who wrote (5181)	3/29/2003 12:46:55 PM
From: Sultan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 21614

Plans Under Way for Christianizing the Enemy BY MARK O'KEEFE c.2003 Newhouse News Service Two leading evangelical Christian missionary organizations said Tuesday that they have teams of workers poised to enter Iraq to address the physical and spiritual needs of a large Muslim population. The Southern Baptist Convention, the country's largest Protestant denomination, and the Rev. Franklin Graham's Samaritan's Purse said workers are near the Iraq border in Jordan and are ready to go in as soon as it is safe. The relief and missionary work is certain to be closely watched because both Graham and the Southern Baptist Convention have been at the heart of controversial evangelical denunciations of Islam, the world's second largest religion. newhousenews.com

To: Karen Lawrence who wrote (5181)	3/29/2003 12:52:13 PM
From: Sultan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 21614

How Oil interests obscured US Govt. focus on Chemical Weapons Use by Saddam Hussein Rumsfeld ignored WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION in persuit of pipeline - New report documents Hawks' efforts on BECHTEL'S behalf Institute for Policy Studies - March 2003 ips-dc.org

To: Karen Lawrence who wrote (5181)	3/29/2003 12:56:46 PM
From: rrufff	Respond to of 21614

Since you enjoy "cut and paste" logic so much-- US, Kurds make a push in north Force a retreat near key city; B-52s target militant group By Charles M. Sennott, Globe Staff, 3/29/2003 HALABJA VALLEY, Iraq - US and Kurdish forces unleashed a furious offensive on the Islamic militant group Ansar al-Islam yesterday, pounding their mountain hideouts in eastern Iraq with more than 100 airstrikes and seizing the guerrilla fighters' strongholds with a coordinated air and ground attack. From dawn to dusk, this rugged terrain near the Iranian border echoed with B-52 bombing runs and precision missile attacks on Ansar al-Islam, which the US government says is linked to Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network. Several hundred US special forces soldiers joined the offensive, laying down coordinates for the US air power that backed up more than 6,000 troops of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the political party that runs the eastern sector of the self-governed Kurdish region established in northern Iraq in 1991. As night fell, Ansar al-Islam's 600 fighters appeared to be making a last stand. ''This is the end of Ansar,'' said a senior Kurdish military commander who led the troops in one sector of the fighting. As the return fire at the hilltop position stopped, PUK forces could be seen taking the ridge near Mila Khonara and firing a flare and bursts of tracer rounds into the sky, signaling to US and Kurdish forward observers not to send in any more artillery or airstrikes. The PUK military commander reported taking a string of villages that Ansar al-Islam had controlled, including Biyara and Sergat, where Ansar al-Islam had imposed a strict interpretation of Islam, ordering women to wear the veil and banning television sets. Yesterday, hundreds of civilians could be seen fleeing the village of Biyara just hours after it had been brought under PUK control. Early reports on casualties from the PUK and Kurdish radio reports were that two Kurdish fighters were killed and approximately 12 wounded, at least one critically. Kurdish officials estimated 30 Ansar al-Islam fighters had been killed and dozens wounded, although they said it would be impossible to provide accurate figures immediately. On Wednesday, Ansar al-Islam was offered a chance to surrender their weapons in return for amnesty. But after no more than two dozen of the fighters accepted the agreement, the US and Kurdish forces began their offensive. A second, more moderate Islamic group, Komala, which controlled several adjoining villages, was offered a similar amnesty, and almost all of its 1,000 fighters accepted the terms and were relocated with their families. That agreement cleared a wide plain and allowed the PUK and US forces to attack Ansar al-Islam from all sides. The porous border of Iran, which Ansar has often used as an escape route, was also blocked by Iran's Revolutionary Guard, leaving little refuge for the Ansar al-Islam fighters, according to Kurdish officials with ties to Iran. Still, some senior Kurdish officials privately expressed concern that the Ansar al-Islam fighters were shaving their beards and disappearing into sleeper cells to regroup in the aftermath of this offensive. For two years, Ansar al-Islam has carried out guerrilla hit-and-run attacks, suicide bombings, and assassinations in its war against the secular government of the PUK. Since the end of the war in Afghanistan, more than 100 Arab fighters schooled in bin Laden's theology and trained in Al Qaeda camps have joined Ansar al-Islam. These ''Arab Afghans,'' as they are referred to here, are believed to form the nucleus of its most hardened fighting units. This story ran on page A1 of the Boston Globe on 3/29/2003. © Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.