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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jacob Snyder who wrote (103953)	7/3/2003 7:42:38 AM
From: NightOwl	Respond to of 281500

Thank you Jacob. But I was discounting the religious furors of the post Alexander Crusades as pure aberrations brought on by excessive reliance upon Carl's "Duty and Country" analysis. As was subsequently proven by the Euro-Emolations of the Inquisition and Reformation the Devil, customarily, resides next door. ...If not on the next pillow. <vbg> 0\|0

To: Jacob Snyder who wrote (103953)	7/3/2003 10:04:49 AM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Iraq's resistance: A new Vietnam for the White House? By Patrick Cockburn The Independent Wednesday 02 July 2003 Enraged Iraqis promised vengeance after they dragged 10 bodies from the rubble of a building, destroyed by an explosion, beside the green domed al-Hassan mosque in the town of Fallujah west of Baghdad yesterday. "We will kill many American soldiers for this," said Abdullah, one of the crowd, as he looked at the ruins. "What would people say if this happened to a Christian church in America?" Iraqis in Fallujah, which has seen many clashes with American troops, say that a US plane fired a missile that killed people listening to a religious lecture late at night. This is hotly denied by the United States army, which says there were no American planes or helicopters over the town at the time. The deaths in Fallujah were at the start of a day that saw escalating violence in and around Baghdad - at least four people were killed or wounded when a rocket-propelled grenade was fired from a car into an American vehicle near the university. On the road from Baghdad to Fallujah, at Ghazalia, a partly burned US truck had jack-knifed into the metal barrier dividing the highway after it was blown up by a bomb. "It was a command-control-device," said an American soldier on guard. The rest of the convoy that had been attacked was parked further down the road. Local people said they had seen two injured US soldiers being taken away by helicopter, but they did not know if they were dead or wounded. Captain John Ives of the 2nd Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division denied that the US was in any way involved in the explosion in Fallujah. He said: "There were no US aircraft or helicopters in the area." He added that American troops had not arrived at the site of the blast until three hours later and he believed, from looking at the damage, that there had been an explosion inside the building. He denied claims that the mosque had been under surveillance, but he added that its Imam was known to oppose the US presence. The American troops had been careful not to set foot on land where the mosque stands to avoid offending religious sensitivities. It is not a consideration likely to do US forces in Fallujah much good. Angry local people outside the al-Hassan mosque would not hear of suggestions that bombs or missiles had been stored in the building. A jagged grey fragment of a shell or missile was passed from hand to hand by the crowd but it was impossible to tell if it was from an American or an Iraqi weapon. "A thousand of them should die for every Iraqi who was killed here," one said. "There is no God but Allah, America is the enemy of God," some people chanted, as a crane lifted pieces of concrete. Nevertheless some of those attending the lecture may have been fearful of being arrested for storing arms. Sheikh Laith al-Zobai, who had been speaking when the explosion happened, had left Fallujah general hospital within hours of having his foot amputated. He later died of his wounds. Fallujah, 35 miles west of Baghdad, has been a hotbed of anti-American activity since the war and scene of several confrontations involving US troops. Despite the mounting violence, Paul Bremer, the chief US official in Iraq, said at his weekly press conference in Baghdad yesterday the attacks were the work of a few surviving supporters of Saddam Hussein "getting more desperate" because they could see the success of the US and Britain in restoring normal life in Iraq. Mr Bremer claimed that "day by day things are continuing to improve" and listed the achievements of his administration. He added that evidence of Iraqi support for the Coalition Provisional Authority - as the occupation administration is known - was that more people were coming forward to give information about those attacking US forces. He also said that the attacks were often professional, carried out by groups of between five and seven men, often former members of the Republican Guard or the former Iraqi security services. A more telling sign of real US apprehensions is that Mr Bremer's press conferences, at which he dispenses resolute optimism in the face of increasing scepticism from journalists, take place at the National Convention Centre in central Baghdad behind enormous fortifications of barbed wire and concrete blocks. Iraqis interviewed about attacks on US forces largely approve of them. One Iraqi observer said: "Iraqis generally believe it is good that the Americans are attacked not because they support Saddam Hussein. But they think that the US takes them lightly because the war only lasted three weeks and therefore the Americans thought they could ignore Iraqi opinion about the reconstruction of their country." So far there is no sign that the attacks are centrally co-ordinated except at local level. But the friction between Iraqis and the US troops is increasing, particularly because of the failure to restore public security and the continuing shortage of electricity and water as the torrid summer heat increases. An explosion over the weekend at an ammunitions depot killed at around 15 people and injured at least four near Hadithah, 150 miles northwest of Baghdad, officials said yesterday. The mayor complained that American troops had been guarding it only sporadically. truthout.org

To: Jacob Snyder who wrote (103953)	7/10/2003 2:29:55 AM
From: Sam Citron	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Rumsfeld Doubles Estimate for Cost of Troops in Iraq [to $3.9 Billion per month]: NYT By THOM SHANKER WASHINGTON, July 9 - Gen. Tommy R. Franks said today that violence and uncertainty in Iraq made it unlikely that troop levels would be reduced "for the foreseeable future," and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld nearly doubled the estimated military costs there to $3.9 billion a month. "We have about 145,000 troops in there right now," General Franks told the Senate Armed Services Committee. He said he had talked to "commanders at every level inside Iraq," and found that the size and structure of those forces were appropriate for the current situation. Mr. Rumsfeld has never laid out a timetable for bringing American troops home, and has repeatedly pledged that the forces would stay as long as required, but no longer. Even so, the acknowledgement today of the scope of the long-term military commitment to Iraq was the strongest indication to date that the reconstruction effort requires the continued deployment of large numbers of troops - and that the undertaking carries a hefty price tag. Under intense questioning from Senator Robert C. Byrd, Democrat of West Virginia, Mr. Rumsfeld or his aides telephoned Pentagon financial officers during a break and reported back to the committee that cost estimates for the Iraq campaign had reached $3.9 billion per month, on average from this past January through September. A Pentagon official said the $3.9 billion figure "is the estimated cost to maintain the current force level in Iraq," which includes expenses for military operations, including fuel, transportation, food, ordnance and personnel, but not reconstruction costs. The $3.9 billion figure is almost double the $2 billion per month estimate issued by administration officials in April. In addition, the cost of operations in Afghanistan are now $900 million to $950 million monthly, Mr. Rumsfeld said. During a grueling four-hour hearing, committee members alternately complimented the military's war plan but criticized the Pentagon's planning for the postwar stabilization of the nation. In particular, Mr. Rumsfeld was pressed to detail efforts to reach out to allies - including those like France and Germany who opposed the war - for contributions of troops to replace Americans. General Franks, who stepped down this week from the top job at Central Command, gave no indication that commanders were requesting more troops to combat guerrilla-style attacks. When pressed to predict how long a force comparable to the current one would be needed, he said, "It is for the foreseeable future." Moments later, Mr. Rumsfeld sought to erase the impression that those comments meant that the American commitment could not shrink more rapidly. "The numbers of U.S. forces could change, while the footprint stayed the same, in the event that we have greater success in bringing in additional coalition forces, in the event we are able to accelerate the Iraqi Army," he said. With American forces suffering almost daily attacks in Iraq, that statement did not satisfy Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, who challenged Mr. Rumsfeld by saying that "we have the world's best-trained soldiers serving as policemen in what seems to be a shooting gallery." Mr. Kennedy said that "the lack of a coherent plan is hindering our efforts at internationalization and aggravating the strain on our troops." Mr. Rumsfeld said 142,000 military personnel had returned to their home bases, although most of those serve in the Air Force and Navy, leaving the burden in Iraq to American ground forces. The current ground force figure, 145,000, is down from its peak of 151,000. And he announced the withdrawal of one high-profile unit from the war zone, saying all three brigades of the Third Infantry Division, which spearheaded the attack on Baghdad, would leave Iraq by September. In sketching how Iraqis will help stabilize their nation, General Franks said that 35,000 Iraqi police officers had been hired and that plans called for training a new Iraqi army of 12,000 within one year and 40,000 within three years. nytimes.com