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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (14462)	10/30/2003 2:14:44 AM
From: KLP	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 793691

U.S. Troops Detain Dozens in Iraq Raid apnews.myway.com Oct 29, 11:02 PM (ET) By KATARINA KRATOVAC (AP) Lt.Col. Steven Russell, center, commander of U.S. Army 4th Infantry Division 1-22 Infantry... TIKRIT, Iraq (AP) - American soldiers carried out pre-dawn raids Thursday in Saddam Hussein's hometown and detained more than a dozen suspects, some believed to be involved in setting up a new terrorist cell, the U.S. military said. Under the cover of darkness, 4th Infantry Division troops fanned out across downtown Tikrit, 120 miles north of Baghdad, raiding six houses. U.S. forces had "reliable intelligence" that the suspects were involved in establishing a "new terrorist network in Tikrit and planning terrorist attacks against coalition forces," Lt. Col. Steve Russell told The Associated Press after the operation. The area around Tikrit has been the scene of increased attacks on U.S. troops that coalition forces blame on Saddam supporters and members of his Fedayeen militia. This region in northern Iraq is part of the Sunni Triangle, an area to the north and west of Baghdad that is considered a hotbed of anti-American sentiment. U.S. troops detained 14 suspects, including four identified as "targeted individuals," said Russell, the commander of the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment of the 4th Infantry Division. Russell said the other 10 men were taken into custody for questioning because they were closely related to the four and could provide "additional information." "We continue to work against these cells, to disrupt, capture or kill them," Russell said. Sweeping into two houses at a time, the troops took all the men found on the premises into the courtyards, allowing women and children to remain inside the homes. The men were told to kneel on the ground as troops put hoods put over their heads and tied their hands behind their backs. Later, the men were led to a field near a local school and lined up against the school wall. The wall was painted with pro-Saddam graffiti and calls for Jihad, or Holy War, in Arabic: "God, our land, our president" and "Youth of Tikrit, rise up against Americans." An older man, the father of two of the suspects, was released and returned to his home while the rest were trucked away. The raiders discovered false identification cards and multiple fake license plates with "official government stickers" in one of the houses, Russell said. "This is obviously an early indication of the activity they were involved in," he added. The raiders have successfully cracked down on anti-coalition supporters in the region in the past, often acting upon local intelligence and tips from informants sympathetic to the efforts of the troops. "The trust in us has increased because we have put many bad guys away," Russell said.

To: LindyBill who wrote (14462)	10/30/2003 2:16:55 PM
From: greenspirit	Respond to of 793691

Here is the kinda stuff I would love to see Rummy get rid of. _____________________________________________ Accused Army officer gets support By Rowan Scarborough THE WASHINGTON TIMES washingtontimes.com Friends and military advocates yesterday rallied around a U.S. Army officer who had been charged with assault in the interrogation of an Iraqi who provided critical information about pending attacks on American soldiers. "He's getting a bum rap," retired Army Col. Mike Kryschtal said about his friend, Lt. Col. Allen B. West of the 4th Infantry Division. The Washington Times reported yesterday that Col. West, desperate to learn information about pending attacks in Iraq, fired his pistol twice into the air to scare the detained Iraqi into talking. An Army official at the Pentagon confirmed to The Times that Col. West had been charged with one count of aggravated assault. Col. West faces a maximum eight-year prison sentence if convicted at court-martial. The Army's public affairs office at the Pentagon referred questions to the 4th Infantry Division's spokesman in Iraq. The officer did not return phone messages or e-mails yesterday. It is typical for the military to release a "charge sheet" once criminal counts are filed. An Army official said the 4th Division's staff judge advocate, who brought the assault charge, had not provided a copy to Army lawyers at the Pentagon. Col. West's wife says she has retained an attorney in North Carolina. The attorney did not return a reporter's phone messages yesterday. Contacted by e-mail by The Times this week, Col. West said the division's staff judge advocate had given him a choice: resign and lose all retirement benefits, or face court-martial proceedings. "Al West is an outstanding officer," said Col. Kryschtal, who served with Col. West in South Korea in 1995 and 1996. "His actions were consistent with his selfless dedication to duty and the welfare of his soldiers. The fact that he reported this incident speaks to his integrity. He should be commended, not persecuted, for saving the lives of our soldiers." News of the charges hit a visceral note with some active and retired soldiers. They questioned the Army's decision to charge Col. West, a 19-year veteran who says he reaches 20-year retirement this Saturday. The soldiers say their colleagues in Iraq are operating in a dangerous environment where the next step could be their last, as loyalists of Saddam Hussein attack them relentlessly. "I suspect there is a great deal of sympathy for Colonel West, especially among the combatants in Iraq and among families of soldiers here at home," said retired Army Lt. Col. Robert Maginnis, who recently toured Iraq and visited 4th Infantry soldiers. "The difficulty that the 4th ID faces is that the enemy is wearing civilian clothes and hiding behind women and children. So when you ask a battalion and company commanders to stop the violence against the Iraqi people and against soldiers, the pressure to use aggressive interrogation techniques seems to be reasonable." The Times contacted Col. West in Iraq via e-mail this week. He responded by providing a narration of his actions on Aug. 21 when he questioned the Iraqi in a town north of Tikrit. He went to question the Iraq policeman after an informant said the detainee was involved in deadly ambushes of American soldiers. "I did not want to expose my soldiers to a possible attack," he said. "When they told me they were not progressing I decided to go along. I asked for soldiers to accompany me and told them we had to gather information and that it could get ugly. "I did use my 9 mm weapon to threaten him and fired it twice. Once I fired into the weapons-clearing barrel outside the facility alone, and the next time I did it while having his head close to the barrel. I fired away from him. I stood in between the firing and his person." Col. West, an artillery battalion commander, said he reported the incident to his superior officer. The Army says the aggressive interrogation method constitutes an assault under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Col. West said in an e-mail yesterday, "I really wanted to stay hidden but that is no longer possible. I am now at a critical decision point to resign. I cannot afford to be sent to jail and my daughters never see their daddy again. My family is all I have now."

To: LindyBill who wrote (14462)	11/1/2003 1:38:49 AM
From: JF Quinnelly	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793691

Don't blame Rummy for the Apaches.That is not the "light" that is being talked about. This is from one of James Kitfield's articles on the Iraq war; Rummy is about as senior a "senior civilian" as can be found: govexec.com According to Army sources, the Army's own initial analysis of the Iraq war reflected much more ambivalence about the battle plan and its relevance for future wars. At senior civilians' insistence, for instance, the Army substituted Apache helicopters for heavy-artillery systems. Yet on the Apaches' first deep strike over Baghdad suburbs—the kind of urban environment that characterized much of the Iraqi campaign— virtually all of the helicopters were damaged by ground fire; one went down, and its crew was captured. Moreover, a later attack by Apaches using modified and more-cautious tactics hit relatively few enemy targets. "We thought from the very beginning that the war plan was too heavy on Apaches," said a senior Army officer involved in developing and executing the Iraqi Freedom campaign. "We also conducted our own analysis because we knew that certain people would use this lessons-learned exercise to rewrite the history of this war in a way that would prove their personal agendas in terms of where the Army should be headed." Mark Helprin has written some cogent commentary on the Iraq strategy that addresses the light-heavy debate. Some appears here: claremont.org Before the Iraq War, high officials were seriously considering an invasion force of 500 backed by air power. The numbers climbed steadily: 5,000, 10,000, 20,000, 25,000, 40,000, 50,000, 60,000, and so on, with the supposedly retrograde "heavy army" prevailing finally, and 300,000 troops in the theater. When offered vehement advice to go into Iraq with massive force and many times overkill, a brilliant and responsible senior official responded, almost with incredulity, "Why would we need the force that you recommend, when in the Gulf War we used only 10 percent of what we had?" In the Gulf War, we did not occupy a country of 23 million.