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BlueHummingbird News - Archive |
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BlueHummingbird, News Faces of the Fallen Number of Wounded in Action on Rise By Vernon Loeb Iraq Toll Reflects Medical Advances, Resistance Troops Face U.S. battlefield casualties in Iraq are increasing dramatically in the face of continued attacks by remnants of Saddam Hussein's military and other forces, with almost 10 American troops a day now being officially declared "wounded in action." ... From Reuters: Wed September 3, 2003 06:16 PM ET U.S. Goes to UN for Iraq Help, but Insists on Control By Steve Holland and Nadim Ladki WASHINGTON/BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The United States went to the United Nations on Wednesday in a policy shift on Iraq to seek troops and money, but said it would not give up its military command or dominant role in the country. ... In a move planned weeks ago, a Polish-led, 21-nation force took command of a chunk of central Iraq from U.S. Marines who had been in charge for several months. ... Sixty-seven U.S. and 11 British soldiers have been killed in attacks since Bush declared major combat over on May 1. ... From Reuters: Wed September 3, 2003 08:32 PM ET W.House Assembles Iraq Package, May Seek $65 Billion By Adam Entous From The Independent (UK): 07 September 2003 Britain and US will back down over WMDs By Andy McSmith, Raymond Whitaker and Geoffrey Lean Britain and the US have combined to come up with entirely new explanations of why they went to war in Iraq as inspectors on the ground prepare to report that there are no weapons of mass destruction there. The "current and serious" threat of Iraq's WMD was the reason Tony Blair gave for going to war, but last week the Prime Minister delivered a justification which did not mention the weapons at all. On the same day John Bolton, US Under-Secretary of State for arms control, said that whether Saddam Hussein's regime actually possessed WMD "isn't really the issue". The 1,400-strong Iraq Survey Group, sent out in May to begin an intensive hunt for the elusive weapons, is expected to report this week that it has found no WMD hardware, nor even any sign of active programmes. The inspectors, headed by David Kay, a close associate of President George Bush, are likely to say the only evidence it has found is that the Iraqi government had retained a group of scientists who had the expertise to restart the weapons programme at any time. Foreshadowing the report, Mr Bolton said the issue was not weapons, or actual programmes, but "the capability that Iraq sought to have ... WMD programmes". ... From The Washington Post: Sunday, September 7, 2003; Page A01 Al Qaeda Plans A Front in Iraq Strategy Shift May Signal Weakness By Peter Finn and Susan Schmidt, Washington Post Foreign Service BERLIN -- Two years after the attacks on the United States, Osama bin Laden's leadership cadre has been isolated and weakened and is increasingly reliant on the violent actions of local radicals around the world to maintain its profile. But the al Qaeda network is determined to open a new front in Iraq to sustain itself as the vanguard of radical Islamic groups fighting holy war, according to European, American and Arab intelligence sources. ... The occupation of Iraq -- once the home of the caliph, or universal leader, of Muslims -- is a galvanizing symbol for radical Islamic groups. On Internet sites and in mosques across the Islamic world, thousands of potential fighters are hearing -- and heeding -- calls to go to Iraq to fight the infidel, according to European and Arab intelligence sources who have tracked some of the movements of the recruits. ... "They are coming," said an Arab official from a country that borders Iraq. "They are coming from everywhere." ... From MSNBC NEWS SERVICES: Bush calls for ‘whatever is necessary’ WASHINGTON, Sept. 7 — In an address to the nation that combined policy with emotion, President Bush argued Sunday that the coalition of nations in Iraq is “rolling back the terrorist threat to civilization,” and that the United States must stay the course in postwar Iraq despite its continuing cost in lives and money. Four days before the second annivresary of the Sept. 11 attacks, Bush said the nation “will spend what is necessary to achieve this essential victory” in the war on terrorism. Bush said he plans to ask Congress for $87 billion to pay for military deployment in Iraq, and for reconstruction there and in Afghanistan. ... “THE MIDDLE EAST will either become a place of progress and peace, or it will be an exporter of violence and terror that takes more lives in America and in other free nations,” Bush said. ... Bush described Iraq as the central front in the war against terrorism and said that “enemies of freedom are making a desperate stand there, and there they must be defeated. This will take time and require sacrifice,” he said. “Yet we will do what is necessary, we will spend what is necessary, to achieve this essential victory in the war on terror, to promote freedom and to make our own nation more secure.” Bush said the current number of U.S. troops in Iraq — 130,000 — is sufficient but that more foreign troops are needed.. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/09/20030907-1.html From Forbes: 09.08.03, 9:17 AM ET Iraq Aid Will Dwarf U.S. Foreign Aid Budget By Dan Ackman NEW YORK - President George Bush last night proposed $87 billion in new spending to fight terrorism. While most of the money will go to military operations to wage war on terror in Iraq ($51 billion) and Afghanistan ($11 billion), about $20 billion is for the reconstruction of Iraq. If the money is appropriated, the U.S. will soon spend more on Iraq aid than it does on aid to the rest of the world combined. The $87 billion would come on top of the $79 billion that Congress approved in April for the initial costs of the war and its aftermath and for worldwide efforts against terrorism. ... In 2004, the U.S. budget for international assistance programs around the world was $17 billion, less than 1% of the federal budget overall. Now the U.S. may spend more than that on a single country. The current U.S. budget allocates $4.4 billion of the $17 billion to what the Office of Management and Budget calls "foreign military financing." The second-largest line item is "economic support," which comes to $2.5 billion. ... Administration officials have indicated that the U.S. spending will cover just a third of Iraq's total reconstruction costs, which it pegs at $50 billion to $75 billion next year, according to The Washington Post. ... While it is not known in detail how the money will be spent, of U.S. companies, it's likely that privately held construction giant Bechtel and oil field services company Halliburton will receive some benefit. ... From The Independent: 10 September 2003 Pentagon targets Latinos and Mexicans to man the front lines in war on terror By Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles With the casualty rate in Iraq growing by the day and President George Bush's worldwide "war on terrorism" showing no signs of abating, a stretched United States military is turning increasingly to Latinos - including tens of thousands of non-citizen immigrants - to do the fighting and dying on its behalf. ... From AP: Sep 12, 11:30 PM (ET) Turkey, U.S. OK Plan on Kurdish Rebels By SELCAN HACAOGLU ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - The United States and Turkey agreed Friday on "a joint plan of action" regarding Turkish Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, U.S. officials said. Turkey, NATO's only Muslim member, is considering a request by Washington to send peacekeepers to neighboring Iraq, but wants help in dealing with an estimated 5,000 rebels of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, that are based in northern Iraq. ... The State Department has branded the PKK, which now calls itself KADEK, as a terrorist organization. ... From Reuters: Fri September 12, 2003 09:02 PM ET Bush Urges Allies to Help Fight Chaos in Iraq By Caren Bohan HOUSTON (Reuters) - President Bush called on the international community on Friday to join the effort to build a stable postwar Iraq and said free nations could not be neutral in the "fight between civilization and chaos." Bush, facing doubts at home, pressed his case for help from abroad as he welcomed troops from the 3rd Infantry Division who returned to their home base in Georgia from Iraq. Bush offered a glimpse of the message he will take to the U.N. General Assembly when he speaks there on Sept. 23. "It's time for others to join us," the president said of the mission in Iraq, which has become more costly and dangerous than the administration had anticipated since President Saddam Hussein was ousted on April 9. ... Bush said Powell would "carry a message: No free nation can be neutral in the fight between civilization and chaos." ... "Terrorists in Iraq have attacked representatives of the civilized world and opposing them and defeating them must be the cause of the civilized world," Bush told the soldiers, who were dressed in camouflage and gathered with their families. ... From The Independent: 13 September 2003 Bush says 'no free nation can be neutral' in call for international support to help stabilise Iraq By Rupert Cornwell in Washington On the eve of a crucial meeting between the US and its key United Nations partners, President Bush yesterday issued an uncompromising demand for international support for Washington's faltering attempt to restore stability to Iraq. Speaking in his favourite setting of a military base, before a cheering audience of soldiers, Mr Bush said Colin Powell, the Secretary of State, would tell the other veto-holding members of the Security Council that "no free nation can be neutral in the fight between civilisation and chaos". His language - which was reminiscent of the "either-with-us-or-against-us" gauntlet he threw down immediately after 11 September - does little to suggest that the US will be prepared to give much ground in its pursuit of a new UN resolution authorising the dispatch of a multinational force to Iraq. ... From The NYT: September 13, 2003 U.S.-French Rift Reopened as Powell Arrives for Talks By STEVEN R. WEISMAN GENEVA, Saturday, Sept. 13 — Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, reopening the trans-Atlantic rift over Iraq — this time about expanding the authority of the United Nations there — said today that a French proposal to cut back the role of the American-led occupation was unacceptable. Arriving in Geneva after midnight for intensive talks on Saturday about what role the United Nations should play, Mr. Powell also labeled as "totally unrealistic" a French suggestion that Iraq establish a provisional government in a month, write a constitution by the end of this year and hold elections next spring, all under United Nations auspices. ... By contrast, American officials have said that a new Iraqi constitution probably could not be adopted until well into next year, and that it might take as much as a year after that for a democratically elected government to be installed. In the meantime, the United States wants to retain the main authority over the transition. ... From AP: Sep 13, 9:27 PM (ET) U.S. Apology Doesn't Appease Angry Iraqis By HAMZA HENDAWI FALLUJAH, Iraq (AP) - Angry mourners swarmed this central Iraqi city Saturday, firing into the air, attacking journalists and cursing the American occupation as they followed the flag-draped coffins of eight Iraqi police killed in a friendly fire incident involving U.S. troops. ... On Saturday afternoon, the eight coffins were carried into a mosque for religious rites before they were given to family members for burial. Outside, gunshots erupted throughout Fallujah as mourners fired into the air. Some in the crowd chanted: "There is no God but Allah, and America is the enemy of Allah." In an ominous message, Fawzi Namiq, the mosque's imam, said through loudspeakers: "Save your bullets for the chests of the enemy." ... The U.S. military issued an apology for the shooting and said an investigation had begun. However, military spokesman Lt. Col. George Krivo said the Americans only fired after they were "attacked from a truck by unknown forces." "Coalition forces," he said, "immediately returned fire and the subsequent engagement lasted approximately three hours. Regrettably during the incident extensive damage was done to the (Jordanian) hospital and several security personnel were killed, including eight Iraqis and one Jordanian national." The military, he said, wished "to express our deepest regret for this incident to the families who have lost loved ones and express our sincerest condolences." Meanwhile, Secretary of State Colin Powell arrived in Kuwait early Sunday, ahead of a trip to Iraq ... U.S. troops who had been directing reconstruction and other projects from the Fallujah mayor's office in the heart of the city were not there Saturday. Police at the mayor's office said the Americans' absence was understandable given Friday's events. Nearby, a black banner was strung across the front of the one-story headquarters of the Fallujah Protection Force, a 100-man, U.S.-trained force to which the eight dead policemen belonged. The banner carried the names of the eight and declared: "The Fallujah Protection Force mourns the martyrdom of its members who have been killed at the hands of American forces." From MSNBC NEWS SERVICES: Cheney: Iraq costs may escalate $87 billion request may not be the last, vice president says; poll finds skeptical public WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 — Vice President Dick Cheney said Sunday that President Bush’s request for $87 billion to pay for additional expenses related to the war in Iraq may not be the administration’s last. The cost of the campaign has come under severe question from those in Congress, by Democratic presidential candidates, and, according to a new poll, by a largely skeptical public. THE WHITE HOUSE said last week it will soon ask Congress to approve the $87 billion for military and reconstruction activities both in Iraq and in Afghanistan, with most of the request earmarked for Iraq. Asked on NBC’s “Meet the Press” if that would be the final such request, Cheney replied: “I can’t say that. It’s all we think we’ll need for the foreseeable future, for this year.” Cheney hinted Sunday that the Bush administration would seek more money than the $87 billion already requested to pay mainly for postwar costs in Iraq. He also said the administration does not know when the U.S. military presence in Iraq will end. “I don’t think anybody can say with absolute certainty at this point,” Cheney said. ... Some Democrats have suggested that some of the recently enacted Bush-backed tax cuts be rolled back to help pay for the $87 billion. But Cheney rejected that idea. “I think it would be a mistake,” he said. “You can’t look at that without considering what its impact would be on the economy.” Cheney insisted that evidence will be found to back up the administration’s claims that the government of ousted President Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. Such evidence has not been found, despite the administration’s prewar claims that it knew where the weapons were. The suspected weapons were cited as a main rationale for going to war. ... From MSNBC: Transcript for Sept. 14 From AFP at SpaceWar: Sep 14, 2003 Iraqi WMD will be found: Cheney WASHINGTON (AFP) - US Vice President Dick Cheney said Sunday that he has "no doubt" that ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was engaged in developing weapons of mass destruction and that more evidence of the programs will be found. ... "The whole notion that somehow there's nothing to the notion that Saddam Hussein had (weapons of mass destruction) or developed WMD strikes me as fallacious, it's not valid," Cheney said. "On chemical weapons my guess is it's buried inside his civilian infrastructure, that's not an unusual place to put it." ... "In the final analysis we will find that the Iraqis did have a robust program. I'm not willing at all at this point to buy the proposition that somehow Saddam Hussein was innocent and he had no WMD and some guy out at the CIA, because I called him, cooked up a report saying he did. That's crazy. That makes no sense. It bears no resemblance to reality." ... From PTI News (India): Sunday, September 14, 2003 15:40 IST Report on Iraq WMD shelved as no evidence found by US-UK team London (PTI) - After failing to get any evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, the US and Britain have decided to delay indefinitely the publication of a full report on the controversial issue, media reported today. Efforts by the Iraq Survey Group, an Anglo-American team of 1,400 scientists, military and intelligence experts, to scour Iraq for the past four months to uncover evidence of chemical or biological weapons have so far ended in failure, 'The Sunday Times' claimed in its report. It had been expected that a progress report would be published tomorrow but MPs on the British Parliament's security and intelligence committee have been told that even this has been delayed and no new date set. ... From The Observer/Guardian (UK): Sunday September 14, 2003 America's hidden battlefield toll New figures reveal the true number of GIs wounded in Iraq By Jason Burke in London and Paul Harris in New York The true scale of American casualties in Iraq is revealed today by new figures obtained by The Observer, which show that more than 6,000 American servicemen have been evacuated for medical reasons since the beginning of the war, including more than 1,500 American soldiers who have been wounded, many seriously. ... From The Mercury News: Posted on Mon, Sep. 15, 2003 Seeking honesty in U.S. policy EX-U.S. DIPLOMAT SAYS WHITE HOUSE IS IN FULL RETREAT FROM IRAQ REALITY, By Joseph Wilson Also at http://truthout.org/docs_03/091703A.shtml From The NYT: September 17, 2003 OCCUPATION FOES Iraqis' Bitterness Is Called Bigger Threat Than Terror By DOUGLAS JEHL with DAVID E. SANGER WASHINGTON, Sept. 16 — New intelligence assessments are warning that the United States' most formidable foe in Iraq in the months ahead may be the resentment of ordinary Iraqis increasingly hostile to the American military occupation, Defense Department officials said today. ... From AP at Information Clearing House: Sept. 17, 2003 Bush: No Saddam Links To 9/11 WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush said Wednesday there was no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 — disputing an idea held by many Americans. "There's no question that Saddam Hussein had al Qaeda ties," the president said. But he also said, "We have no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with the Sept. 11" attacks. ... From South African Press Assoc.: 18/09/2003 00:39 - (SA) 'No link' between Saddam, 9/11 Washington - The White House on Wednesday denied ever linking Saddam Hussein to the September 11 terrorist attacks, even though US President George W Bush often cited those strikes in his case for the war in Iraq. "We said that we don't have any evidence to suggest a connection," said Bush spokesperson Scott McClellan, who told reporters he knew of no instance in which the US leader explicitly tied Iraq to al-Qaeda's devastating suicide strikes. ... From Associated Press, at Boston.com: 9/18/2003 19:00: Kennedy criticizes decision to go to war, calls for more accountability on spending By Steve Leblanc BOSTON (AP) The decision to go to war in Iraq was a fraud ''made up in Texas'' to give Republicans a political boost, Sen. Edward Kennedy said Thursday, calling the Bush administration's current Iraq policy ''adrift.'' ... ''There was no imminent threat. This was made up in Texas, announced in January to the Republican leadership that war was going to take place and was going to be good politically. This whole thing was a fraud,'' Kennedy said. ... Kennedy said a recent report by the Congressional Budget Office showed that only about $2.5 billion of the $4 billion being spent monthly on the war can be accounted for by the Bush administration. ''My belief is this money is being shuffled all around to these political leaders in all parts of the world, bribing them to send in troops,'' he said. ... ''No one questioned whether we were going to have a successful military policy,'' he said. ''What everyone questioned was whether we had a peace policy, and we have none. It's being made up every single day and American service men are paying for it and this is directly the responsibility of this administration and no one is being held accountable.'' From the New York Daily News at the Bradenton Herald: Fri, Sep. 19, 2003 Halliburton takes flak for Iraq deals By KENNETH R. BAZINET WASHINGTON - Halliburton's contracts in Iraq have skyrocketed to $2 billion, prompting new calls from lawmakers to investigate the propriety of the deals. Halliburton, formerly run by Vice President Dick Cheney, began work in Iraq with a $37.5 million no-bid contract in February to put out oil fires. That deal, expanded to include pumping oil, is now worth about $948 million, according to Halliburton figures provided to the New York Daily News. But the oil contract alone, awarded by the Army Corps of Engineers to Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown & Root, is potentially worth up to $7 billion, the military said. ... From AP: Sat, Sep 20, 2003 (8PM) Bush Will Call on U.N. for Help in Iraq By TERENCE HUNT WASHINGTON - Unbowed by arguments with allies, President Bush will challenge the United Nations with a call to action for money and troops in Iraq and Afghanistan despite lingering differences and a reluctance by many countries to make major contributions. Bush, addressing the General Assembly on Tuesday, will argue — just as he did last year — that the United Nations needs to meet its global responsibilities or risk being irrelevant. With rising U.S. casualties and high costs already causing problems for Bush, American taxpayers could face a bill, if other countries refuse to help, that is even larger than the $87 billion the White House has requested. Bush will make the case that an institution such as the United Nations has to show it is "actually capable of acting, and really willing to act, and not just debating," said Condoleezza Rice, his national security adviser. ... From Reuters: Sun September 21, 2003 07:57 PM ET Bush to Tell U.N. He Made 'Right Decision' on Iraq By Randall Mikkelsen " ... "I will make it clear that I made the right decision and that the others that joined us made the right decision. The world is a better place without Saddam Hussein," Bush said in an interview with Fox News's Brit Hume. ..." From The BBC: Sunday, 21 September, 2003, 19:25 GMT 20:25 UK Iraq adopts sweeping economic reforms The American-backed administration in Iraq has announced sweeping economic reforms, including the sale of all state industries except for oil. ... From AP: Sep 21, 8:50 PM EDT Iraq to Open Most of Economy to Investors By PAUL GEITNER, AP Business Writer DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- Aiming to reverse decades of economic decay under Saddam Hussein, Iraq's leadership council announced sweeping free-market reforms Sunday that would permit foreign investment and impose income taxes - but keep oil under government control. ... The reforms pave the way for a sell-off of the state-owned companies that dominated Iraq's economy under Saddam - if buyers can be found. ... The planned reforms mark a sharp departure to what former businessman al-Gailani called a "free and market-oriented economy," which - if successful - would set Iraq apart from its Arab neighbors. He pledged that Baghdad would "allow up to 100 percent foreign ownership in all sectors except natural resources." ... Six foreign banks will be permitted to take over local Iraqi banks completely in the next five years, al-Gailani said. ... Officials of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, which are holding their fall annual meetings in Dubai this week, praised Iraq's plans. ... From Reuters: Tue September 23, 2003 02:20 PM ET Bush Calls on U.N. to Help Rebuild Iraq By Steve Holland UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - President Bush called on a skeptical U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday to set aside past differences and help in Iraq's postwar reconstruction but he rejected proposals for a speedy transfer to Iraqi sovereignty. ... At The NYT: TEXT: Bush Delivers Remarks to the U.N. General Assembly & At MSNBC: Bush’s full remarks to U.N. From The BBC: Last Updated: Tuesday, 23 September, 2003, 19:27 GMT 20:27 UK Arab stations in Iraq face curbs The US-appointed Iraq Governing Council says it has decided to limit the operations of two leading Arabic news channels for "encouraging terrorism". The news channels have angered Iraqi officials in recent weeks by broadcasting pictures of masked men calling for attacks against US-led occupation forces in the country. "The Governing Council has decided to ban al-Jazeera and al-Arabiya from covering council activities and official press conferences, and to deny their correspondents access to ministries and council buildings for two weeks," the council said in a statement. The council plans to closely monitor the channels' output and provide clear guidelines for reporting, it said on Tuesday. ... From International Herald Tribune at The NYT: Published: October 7, 2003 Turkish Parliament Agrees to Send Peacekeepers to Iraq By BRIAN KNOWLTON From AP at The NYT: Published: October 8, 2003 Filed at 8:33 a.m. ET Turkey Still Plans to Send Troops to Iraq ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- Turkish officials dismissed opposition from Iraq's Governing Council to the deployment of Turkish peacekeepers ... The Bush administration has been pressing Turkey for months to send what would be the first major Muslim contingent of peacekeepers ... ``The interim council does not reflect or express the feelings of the Iraqi people,'' Education Minister Huseyin Celik said before leaving for the United States to attend a conference. ... The United States has asked Turkey to send some 10,000 soldiers. ... A U.S. administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity said Tuesday that the United States would insist that Turkish troops participate despite the Iraqis' opposition. ... From Asia Times: Oct 10, 2003 No money, no play: US on the brink in Iraq By Herbert Docena From Reuters: Sat October 11, 2003 09:33 AM ET Islamic Nations Tell U.S. to Quit Iraq, Support Syria By Munir Boweti PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (Reuters) - Muslim nations demanded "eviction of all foreign forces from Iraq" as they began a summit in Malaysia on Saturday, with only Turkey defending plans to deploy its troops alongside the U.S.-led alliance. They also voiced support for Syria after an Israeli air raid last weekend stoked fears of escalating conflict in the Middle East as Damascus warned it had the right of self-defense. Abdelouahed Belkeziz, Secretary-General of the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), said occupying forces should quickly withdraw from Iraq to give the United Nations a chance to reconstruct the country. ... From The Independent: 12 October 2003 US soldiers bulldoze farmers' crops By Patrick Cockburn in Dhuluaya US soldiers driving bulldozers, with jazz blaring from loudspeakers, have uprooted ancient groves of date palms as well as orange and lemon trees in central Iraq as part of a new policy of collective punishment of farmers who do not give information about guerrillas attacking US troops. ... From Scoop: Monday, 13 October 2003, 10:29 am US Soldiers to America: Bring Us Home Now Article: Jay Shaft From Reuters: Sat October 18, 2003 08:21 AM ET U.S. Forces Surround Office of Iraq Shi'ite Cleric KERBALA, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. troops on Saturday sealed off roads around the office and house of an Iraqi Shi'ite Muslim cleric whose followers the U.S. military has blamed for starting a shootout which killed three American soldiers. Soldiers surrounded the buildings in Iraq's holy Shi'ite city of Kerbala used by local cleric Sayyid Mahmoud al-Hassani with armored vehicles and helicopters circled overhead. ... U.S. forces backed by helicopters imposed a curfew in the Sunni town of Khaldiya west of Baghdad early on Saturday, stopping people from walking on the streets and shopkeepers from opening their stores, witnesses said. Soldiers sealed off the town and prevented journalists from entering. Witnesses from the town told Reuters residents had become angry after male U.S. soldiers had searched a woman, and the curfew appeared aimed at preventing disturbances. From Agence France-Presse at INQ7 News: Oct. 29, 2003 9:14 PM (Manila Time) Iraqi war dead estimated at 13,000: study WASHINGTON - An estimated 13,000 Iraqis, including as many as 4,300 non-combatants, were killed during the major combat phase of the war in Iraq, a research group found in a study made public Tuesday. The Project on Defense Alternatives said its estimate was based on a review of US combat data, battlefield press reports, and Iraqi hospital surveys. The study covered the period from March 19 to the end of April.. http://www.comw.org/pda/0310rm8.html From The BBC: Friday, 31 October, 2003, 16:24 GMT Iraq contracts 'won by Bush donors' Many of the US firms which won lucrative Iraqi reconstruction contracts are major donors to President George W Bush's political campaigns, according to a new report. The report, by pressure group the Centre for Public Integrity (CPI), claims that most of the contractors gave more money to Mr Bush's 2000 presidential campaign than to any other in the last 10 years. The report covers 70 companies and individuals who between them have won reconstruction contracts in Afghanistan and Iraq worth up to $8bn (£4.8bn). ... The report also drew attention to extensive links between the companies and the US government and military. It claimed that 60% of the firms employed people who have worked for previous US governments, members of Congress, or the US army. ... Windfalls of War, Winning Contractors From The NYT: November 7, 2003 Turkey Won't Send Troops to Iraq By DAVID STOUT From The NYT: November 8, 2003 With a U.S. Nod, Turkey Says It Won't Send Force to Iraq By DAVID E. SANGER WASHINGTON, Nov. 7 — With the quiet blessings of the White House, Turkey said Friday that it was withdrawing its offer to deploy troops to help stabilize Iraq. The decision ended a lengthy and almost entirely futile effort by the Bush administration to solicit large numbers of foreign troops to bolster the American presence. ... From Reuters: Sun November 9, 2003 04:39 PM ET U.S. Warplanes Renew Bombing of Iraq Targets By Dean Yates BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. warplanes bombed targets in Iraq on Sunday in air strikes that resumed last week for the first time in more than six months after the shooting down of three U.S. helicopters. ... In the new air strikes, F-16 fighter-bombers dropped three 500-pound bombs near the flashpoint town of Falluja, in the area west of Baghdad where 16 American soldiers were killed when a U.S. Chinook helicopter was downed a week ago. ... Attacks on U.S. troops have left 150 dead in Iraq since President Bush declared major combat over on May 1. ... U.S. troops in Tikrit have launched a new operation in the hostile area to hunt down guerrillas. "If necessary, we'll carry out more shows of force," said Major Josslyn Aberle, spokeswoman for the 4th Infantry Division in Tikrit. ... From AFP at Daily Times (Pak): Monday, November 10, 2003 US Republicans halt Iraq probe WASHINGTON: The leader of US Senate Republicans has suspended a politically damaging inquiry into possible inadequacies or misuse of pre-war intelligence on Iraq, saying it was being manipulated “to politically wound the president of the United States.” ... From The Philadelphia Inquirer: Posted on Wed, Nov. 12, 2003 CIA has a bleak analysis of Iraq By Jonathan S. Landay A report found more civilians there are supporting the resistance. It conflicts with upbeat public assessments. WASHINGTON - A new, top-secret CIA report from Iraq warns that growing numbers of Iraqis are concluding the U.S.-led coalition can be defeated and are supporting the insurgents. The report paints a bleak picture of the political and security situation in Iraq and cautions that the U.S.-led drive to rebuild the country as a democracy could collapse unless corrective actions are taken immediately. ... The CIA analysis suggests U.S. policy in Iraq has reached a turning point, as the Bush administration moves to escalate the war against the guerrillas and accelerate the transfer of political power to Iraqis. ... U.S. officials have become deeply frustrated with not only the inaction by the Iraqi council, but also with its nepotism and infighting. ... The report, one official said, warned that aggressive U.S. counterinsurgency tactics could induce more Iraqis to join the guerrilla campaign that has killed at least 153 U.S. soldiers - 35 of them this month - since Bush declared an end to major combat operations on May 1. ... The CIA report raised the concern that majority Shiite Muslims could begin joining minority Sunnis in turning against the occupation. ... In another finding, the CIA report said there was no way to completely seal Iraq's borders with Syria, Turkey, Iran, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to infiltration by foreign Islamic extremists bent on killing Americans. From Reuters: Fri November 14, 2003 03:57 PM ET Bush Vows to Stay in Iraq Until It 'Free, Peaceful' By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush promised on Friday the United States would stay in Iraq until it was free and peaceful as he sought to allay concerns from Congress he was trying to get out of Iraq too rapidly. ... "Look, we will stay until the job is done, and the job is for Iraq to be free and peaceful. A free and peaceful Iraq will have historic consequences," Bush said. ... Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said last week 43,000 Reserve and National Guard troops and nearly 70,000 regular Marine and Army soldiers were being notified for duty in an Iraq rotation plan that would reduce U.S. forces there to 105,000 by mid-2004 from 132,000 now. ... "America needs the Guard and Reserves more today than we have had in decades. We're at war," Bush said. ... Bush told reporters in the Oval Office during a picture-taking session with Ciampi that "we will stay there until the job is done, and then we'll leave." Bush suggested the United States would not leave Iraq until ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was found. "We'll find Saddam Hussein," he said. He was more explicit on that point on Wednesday when he told British journalists the United States would not give up until both Saddam and al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden were found. ... At The Star-Ledger: Tuesday, November 18, 2003 GIs razing homes of suspected Iraqi insurgents Families say they were given 5 minutes to get out BY JEFF WILKINSON, KRT NEWS SERVICE TIKRIT, Iraq -- In a tactic reminiscent of Israeli crackdowns in the West Bank and Gaza, the U.S. military has begun destroying the homes of suspected guerrilla fighters in Iraq's Sunni Triangle, evacuating women and children, then leveling their houses with heavy weaponry. ... From Reuters: Wed November 19, 2003 02:24 PM ET U.S. Hits Iraq Guerrilla Targets with Heavy Weapons By Luke Baker BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. Navy fighter jets flew sorties over northern Iraq from an aircraft carrier in the Gulf Wednesday as American forces pounded suspected guerrilla hideouts with heavy weapons. ... U.S. military spokesmen said the latest offensive formed part of operations Iron Hammer and Ivy Cyclone Two -- campaigns launched in the past 10 days to combat the growing number of guerrilla attacks which have killed 179 U.S. soldiers in just over six months. Jets from the USS Enterprise aircraft carrier dropped 1,000-pounds bombs on targets near the northern town of Kirkuk, the U.S. military said. Other fighter planes dropped 2,000-pound bombs around Baquba, a restive town about 40 miles north of Baghdad. In Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, the 4th Infantry Division pounded targets with mortars, tanks and Hellfire missiles. In Baghdad, the 1st Armored Division continued its campaign of evening attacks on areas believed to be used by guerrillas. Explosions echoed across the capital after darkness fell. ... From Iraqwar.ru: 19.11.2003 [12:01] Pentagon explores option to export northern Iraqi oil via Israel Kirkuk-Haifa pipeline, closed for 55 years, is back on the agenda ... From The Guardian: Thursday November 20, 2003 War critics astonished as US hawk admits invasion was illegal By Oliver Burkeman and Julian Borger in Washington International lawyers and anti-war campaigners reacted with astonishment yesterday after the influential Pentagon hawk Richard Perle conceded that the invasion of Iraq had been illegal. In a startling break with the official White House and Downing Street lines, Mr Perle told an audience in London: "I think in this case international law stood in the way of doing the right thing." President George Bush has consistently argued that the war was legal either because of existing UN security council resolutions on Iraq - also the British government's publicly stated view - or as an act of self-defence permitted by international law. But Mr Perle, a key member of the defence policy board, which advises the US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, said that "international law ... would have required us to leave Saddam Hussein alone", and this would have been morally unacceptable. French intransigence, he added, meant there had been "no practical mechanism consistent with the rules of the UN for dealing with Saddam Hussein". ... Mr Perle's view is not the official one put forward by the White House. Its main argument has been that the invasion was justified under the UN charter, which guarantees the right of each state to self-defence, including pre-emptive self-defence. On the night bombing began, in March, Mr Bush reiterated America's "sovereign authority to use force" to defeat the threat from Baghdad. ... From the New York Times at Common Dreams: Thursday, November 27, 2003 U.S. Plan in Iraq to Shift Control Hits Major Snag by Joel Brinkley and Ian Fisher BAGHDAD, Iraq, Nov. 26 — The American plan to turn over power in Iraq more quickly was thrown into disarray on Wednesday when the country's most powerful cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, made public his opposition to a proposal for indirect elections. "All of us are groping around right now," an administration official said in Washington, acknowledging that the plan worked out earlier this month by the Iraqi Governing Council and L. Paul Bremer III, the American administrator of Iraq, would have to be revised. Spokesmen for Ayatollah Sistani, who exercises strong influence over Iraq's majority Shiites, said he insisted that the election, planned for June, be a direct ballot and not the caucus-style vote called for in the American plan. He also insists that the new Iraqi government have a more overtly Islamic character. ... From The ASSOCIATED PRESS at MSNBC: Former Iraqi general dies during interrogation BAGHDAD, Iraq, Nov. 27 — A former Iraqi general died while under interrogation, the U.S. military said Thursday. ... From AFP: Mon Dec 1, 3:31 PM ET Mystery shrouds whereabouts of bodies of 54 insurgents said killed by US SAMARRA, Iraq (AFP) - The US military said it believed 54 insurgents were killed in intense exchanges in the northern Iraqi town of Samarra the previous day but commanders admitted they had no bodies. The only corpses at the city's hospital were those of ordinary civilians, including two elderly Iranian pilgrims and a child. ... From Reuters: Mon December 1, 2003 10:31 PM ET U.S. Troops Kill 54 Guerrillas in Iraq Firefight By Khudair Majeed SAMARRA, Iraq (Reuters) - American troops killed 54 guerrillas in a fierce battle to fight off coordinated ambushes on armored convoys carrying large quantities of banknotes in the tense Iraqi town of Samarra, the U.S. Army said on Monday. ... Military spokesman Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt told a Baghdad news conference that 54 "enemy combatants" were killed in firefights that raged for most of Sunday afternoon in Samarra, 62 miles north of Baghdad. "In this engagement, an estimated 54 enemy personnel were killed, an estimated 22 enemy were wounded, and one is in captivity," he said. Colonel Frederick Rudesheim, commander of the U.S. 4th Infantry Division's 3rd Brigade Combat Team, earlier told reporters at the U.S. base in Samarra that 46 guerrillas were killed and 11 captured. Police said eight civilians had also been killed, including an Iranian pilgrim. Doctors said they had only seen six bodies, but Rudesheim said this did not mean U.S. forces had misjudged the number of insurgents killed. "The adversary we face in this area will not bring all the casualties to the local hospitals," he said. One policeman in Samarra, Captain Sabti Awad, said American troops fired randomly, killing and wounding civilians, after the U.S. convoys were attacked while they delivered money to banks. Rudesheim said troops only fired aimed shots. Rudesheim said some of the attackers wore the black clothing and headscarves of deposed President Saddam Hussein's Fedayeen militia. ... From The Independent: 02 December 2003 Iraqis deny US accounts of fierce fight with 'guerrillas' By Phil Reeves in Samara " ... Iraqi officials say only eight people died, including a 71-year-old Iranian pilgrim called Fathollah Hejazi, whose charred passport they were showing to all-comers. The old man had, it seems, come to visit the ancient gold-domed Shi'ite mosque in this once-peaceful town on the banks of the Tigris. ... Iraqi witnesses were unanimous that Americans were to blame, pointing to a hole in a nearby cemetery wall which looked like the work of a shell fired from an Abrams tank. The US military stuck by its story of the battle, and by its estimation of the Iraqi death toll. Fifty-four Iraqis died, it said, all combatants. Major Gordon Tate, a spokesman at the headquarters of the 4th Infantry Division in Tikrit, insisted the US military was "confident" about its assessment of the "battle damage". ... " ... said Samarra's hospital information officer, Sa'id Hassan Ali al-Janabi, ... his list of the injured - 55 names, including five women. These were, he insisted, all civilians, some with light injuries but a few with wounds so critical that they had been moved to hospitals in Baghdad or Tikrit. ... " From The NYT: December 4, 2003 U.S. Rejects Iraqi Plan to Hold Census by Summer By JOEL BRINKLEY BAGHDAD, Iraq, Dec. 3 — Iraqi census officials devised a detailed plan to count the country's entire population next summer and prepare a voter roll that would open the way to national elections in September. But American officials say they rejected the idea, and the Iraqi Governing Council members say they never saw the plan to consider it. The practicality of national elections is now the subject of intense debate among Iraqi and American officials, who are trying to move forward on a plan to give Iraqis sovereignty next summer. As the American occupation officials rejected the plan to compile a voter roll rapidly, they also argued to the Governing Council that the lack of a voter roll meant national elections were impractical. The American plan for Iraqi sovereignty proposes instead a series of caucus-style, indirect elections. ... From Reuters: Thu December 4, 2003 12:07 PM ET Powell Asks for NATO Help in Iraq By Luke Baker BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Secretary of State Colin Powell urged NATO to take a more prominent role in postwar Iraq on Thursday, days after a dozen people allied to the United States were killed in attacks throughout the country. ... In an address to NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, Powell called on the 19-nation alliance, some of whose members opposed the war to overthrow Saddam, to take a bigger role in Iraq, where it currently provides only indirect support. "The United States welcomes a greater NATO role in Iraq's stabilization," Powell said, according to the text of prepared remarks ... From The New York Times at Yahoo: Sat Dec 6, 2:34 PM ET Tough New Tactics by U.S. Tighten Grip on Iraq Towns By DEXTER FILKINS ABU HISHMA, Iraq, Dec. 6 — As the guerrilla war against Iraqi insurgents intensifies, American soldiers have begun wrapping entire villages in barbed wire. In selective cases, American soldiers are demolishing buildings thought to be used by Iraqi attackers. They have begun imprisoning the relatives of suspected guerrillas, in hopes of pressing the insurgents to turn themselves in. ... American officials say they are not purposefully mimicking Israeli tactics, but they acknowledge that they have studied closely the Israeli experience in urban fighting. Ahead of the war, Israeli defense experts briefed American commanders on their experience in guerrilla and urban warfare. The Americans say there are no Israeli military advisers helping the Americans in Iraq. ... http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/07/international/middleeast/07TACT.html From AP at The San Francisco Chronicle: Sunday, December 7, 2003 10:53 PST Card dismisses questions over prewar intelligence as `moot' By SCOTT LINDLAW WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush's chief of staff dismissed as "a moot point" any lingering question about whether Bush relied on faulty intelligence to justify the invasion of Iraq. ... More than seven months after Bush declared major combat over, American inspectors have not found the weapons of mass destruction, which Bush accused Iraq of hiding and used as a major reason for going to war. ... In October 2002, Bush said Iraq had "a massive stockpile of biological weapons that has never been accounted for and is capable of killing millions." ... The White House has said repeatedly it believes such weapons eventually will be found, but Card did not repeat that prediction Sunday. "We think there's evidence of some programs that they had," he said. "I can't speak to whether they were ongoing or not ongoing. All I can tell you is his intent was not very good." ... The chief of staff renewed a pledge to cut the deficit by half in the next five years -- a promise that came into doubt after Bush last month persuaded Congress to spend an additional $87 billion for Iraq rebuilding and military costs. ... From The New Yorker: Issue of 2003-12-15, Posted 2003-12-08 MOVING TARGETS by SEYMOUR M. HERSH Will the counter-insurgency plan in Iraq repeat the mistakes of Vietnam? The Bush Administration has authorized a major escalation of the Special Forces covert war in Iraq. ... Its highest priority is the neutralization of the Baathist insurgents, by capture or assassination. The revitalized Special Forces mission is a policy victory for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who has struggled for two years to get the military leadership to accept the strategy of what he calls “Manhunts”—a phrase that he has used both publicly and in internal Pentagon communications. Rumsfeld has had to change much of the Pentagon’s leadership to get his way. “Knocking off two regimes allows us to do extraordinary things,” a Pentagon adviser told me, referring to Afghanistan and Iraq. One step the Pentagon took was to seek active and secret help in the war against the Iraqi insurgency from Israel, America’s closest ally in the Middle East. ... The critical issue, American and Israeli officials agree, is intelligence. There is much debate about whether targeting a large number of individuals is a practical—or politically effective—way to bring about stability in Iraq, especially given the frequent failure of American forces to obtain consistent and reliable information there. Americans in the field are trying to solve that problem by developing a new source of information: they plan to assemble teams drawn from the upper ranks of the old Iraqi intelligence services and train them to penetrate the insurgency. ... An American who has advised the civilian authority in Baghdad said, “The only way we can win is to go unconventional. We’re going to have to play their game. Guerrilla versus guerrilla. Terrorism versus terrorism. We’ve got to scare the Iraqis into submission.” ... From The Guardian: Tuesday December 9, 2003 Israel trains US assassination squads in Iraq Julian Borger in Washington Israeli advisers are helping train US special forces in aggressive counter-insurgency operations in Iraq, including the use of assassination squads against guerrilla leaders, US intelligence and military sources said yesterday. The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) has sent urban warfare specialists to Fort Bragg in North Carolina, the home of US special forces, and according to two sources, Israeli military "consultants" have also visited Iraq. ... US special forces teams are already behind the lines inside Syria attempting to kill foreign jihadists before they cross the border ... From The NYT: December 9, 2003 Pentagon Bars Three Nations From Iraq Bids By DOUGLAS JEHL WASHINGTON, Dec. 9 — The Pentagon has barred French, German and Russian companies from competing for $18.6 billion in contracts for the reconstruction of Iraq, saying it was acting to protect "the essential security interests of the United States." The directive, issued Friday by Paul D. Wolfowitz, the deputy defense secretary, represents the most substantive retaliation to date by the Bush administration against American allies who opposed its decision to go to war in Iraq. The administration had warned before the war that countries that did not join in an American-led coalition would not have a voice in decisions about the rebuilding of Iraq. But it had not previously made clear that companies in those countries would be excluded from competing for a share in the money for Iraq's reconstruction that the United States approved last month. Under the guidelines, which were issued on Friday but became public knowledge today, only companies from the United States, Iraq and 61 other countries designated as "coalition partners" will be allowed to bid on the contracts, which are financed by American taxpayers. ... From The Associated Press at ABC News: War Crimes Court Established for Iraq BAGHDAD, Iraq Dec. 10 — Iraq's U.S.-appointed interim government established a war crimes tribunal Wednesday to try former members of Saddam Hussein's regime, and two U.S. soldiers were killed and four wounded in a northern city. ... Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim, president of Iraq's Governing Council, said the new tribunal will cover crimes committed from July 17, 1968 the day Saddam's Baath Party came to power until May 1, 2003 the day President Bush declared major hostilities over. ... U.S. authorities are holding several dozen of Saddam's top aides who could be tried by the new tribunal. ... Noor al-Din, a former appeals court judge, said the tribunal could try Saddam, who has eluded capture, in absentia. ... From AP at Yahoo: Wed Dec 10, 2:17 PM ET AP: Iraq to Stop Counting Civilian Dead By NIKO PRICE, Associated Press Writer BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi Health Ministry officials ordered a halt to a count of civilian casualties from the war and told workers not to release figures already compiled, the head of the ministry's statistics department told The Associated Press on Wednesday. ... the Health Ministry's civilian death toll count had been reported by news media as early as August, and the count was widely anticipated by human rights organizations. The ministry issued a preliminary figure of 1,764 deaths during the summer. ... The U.S. military doesn't count civilian casualties from its wars, saying only that it tries to minimize civilian deaths. ... The Associated Press conducted a major investigation of Iraq's wartime civilian casualties, documenting the deaths of 3,240 civilians between March 20 and April 20. That investigation, conducted in May and June, surveyed about half of Iraq's hospitals, and reported that the real number of civilian deaths was sure to be much higher. The Health Ministry's count, which was to be based on the records of all Iraq's hospitals, promised to be more complete. The ministry began its survey at the end of July, when shaky nationwide communication links began to improve. It sent letters to all hospitals and clinics in Iraq, asking them to send back details of civilians killed or wounded in the war, ministry officials said then. Many hospitals responded with statistics, Mohsen said, but last month Shabandar told her that Abbas wanted the count halted. He also told her not to release the information she had already collected, she said. ... From The NYT: December 11, 2003 Bush Seeks Help of Allies Barred From Iraq Deals By DAVID E. SANGER and DOUGLAS JEHL WASHINGTON, Dec. 10 — President Bush found himself in the awkward position on Wednesday of calling the leaders of France, Germany and Russia to ask them to forgive Iraq's debts, just a day after the Pentagon excluded those countries and others from $18 billion in American-financed Iraqi reconstruction projects. ... From Reuters: Thu December 11, 2003 10:24 PM ET Pentagon: Halliburton May Have Overcharged in Iraq By Sue Pleming WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Pentagon audit of Halliburton, the oil services firm once run by Vice President Dick Cheney, found the company may have overbilled the U.S. government by more than $120 million on Iraq contracts, U.S. defense officials said on Thursday. ... So far the company has generated about $2 billion in business from the March contract and more than $2 billion from the logistics contract ... From The Financial Times: December 11 2003 22:33 Businessmen use Bush link to win deals By Stephen Fidler and Thomas Catán Two businessmen instrumental in setting up New Bridge Strategies, a well-connected Washington firm designed to help clients win contracts in Iraq, have previously used an association with the younger brother of President George W. Bush to seek business in the Middle East, an FT investigation has found. John Howland, the company president, and Jamal Daniel, a principal, have maintained an important business relationship with Neil Bush stretching back several years. ... From The Independent: 12 December 2003 Bush laughs off critics of 'spoils of war' bidding By Rupert Cornwell in Washington George Bush poured fuel on the flames of the Iraq contracts dispute yesterday with a sneering dismissal of a suggestion by the German Chancellor that the decision to bar Germany, France Russia and Canada from bidding might violate international law. "International law? I'd better call my lawyer," the American President joked in response to a reporter's question at the White House. ... From The Washington Post: Friday, December 12, 2003; Page A39 Iraqi Protesters Oust Appointed Governor Demonstrators Defy U.S. Occupation With Demand for an Election By Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Washington Post Foreign Service 
From AFP at SpaceWar: Dec 14, 2003Saddam captured: Pentagon official WASHINGTON (AFP) - A bearded, dishevelled Saddam Hussein was captured alive overnight in a raid in a residential area of Tikrit, a senior Pentagon official said Sunday. ... From AP at Yahoo: Sun Dec 14, 9:12 AM ET Wesley Clark calls for transparent trial of Saddam By ANTHONY DEUTSCH AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - U.S. presidential candidate Wesley Clark called Sunday for a transparent trial for captured Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein that ensured him full legal rights under international law. ... From CNN: Sunday, December 14, 2003 Posted: 9:31 PM EST (0231 GMT) Saddam to face war crimes tribunal BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Despite being sarcastic and unrepentant, Saddam Hussein will get a fair trial before a war crimes tribunal that was approved just last week, members of the Iraqi Governing Council have said. ... From The BBC: Monday, 15 December, 2003, 02:49 GMT Iraqi leaders demand Saddam trial Iraqi leaders say they want Saddam Hussein put on trial in Iraq for crimes against humanity following his capture. ... US President George Bush said he "will face the justice he denied to millions," without giving details of conditions or venue for the trial. But the head of Iraq's interim council Abdel Aziz al-Hakim said he wanted the ousted leader "judged by Iraqi judges"... From Greg Palast: Sunday, December 14, 2003 Jessica Lynch Captures Saddam Ex-dictator Demands Back Pay from Baker DEBKAfile Special Report: December 14, 2003, 6:55 PM (GMT+02:00) Indications Saddam Was Not in Hiding But a Captive From Reuters: Monday, December 15, 2003 11:39 a.m. ET Bush Says Saddam Must Have Public Trial ... "What needs to happen is he needs to be brought to justice and the Iraqi citizens need to be very much involved in the development of a system that brings him to justice. And there needs to be a public trial and all of atrocities need to come out," Bush told a news conference. ... From AP: (12-15) 09:12 PST Bush says Saddam will be put on trial By TERENCE HUNT WASHINGTON - President Bush said Monday that Saddam Hussein will be put on public trial for his crimes, in a manner to be set in consultation with Iraqis brutalized across three decades of tyranny. "All the atrocities need to come out and justice needs to be delivered," Bush said at a year-end news conference. ... From Reuters: Monday, December 15, 2003 12:54 p.m. ET Bush: U.S., Iraq to Determine Saddam Trial Terms By Randall Mikkelsen WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush said on Monday that the United States would play a key role in organizing Saddam Hussein's trial but Iraqis should decide whether he will face possible execution. "We will work with the Iraqis to develop a way to try him that will stand international scrutiny," Bush told a news conference. "The Iraqis need to be very much involved." ... Bush warned that U.S.-led occupation forces in Iraq faced continued difficulties and dangers after Saddam's capture, but Iraq was on the right track. ... "The terrorists in Iraq remain dangerous. The work of our coalition remains difficult and will require further sacrifice. Yet it should now be clear to all: Iraq is on the path to freedom," he said. Bush gave no indication the capture would lead to an early withdrawal of U.S. troops and reassured Iraqis the United States would "stay the course.' ... From The Washington Post: Monday, December 15, 2003; 12:45 PM Bush: 'Good Riddance' to Hussein (A transcript of President Bush's year-end news conference, including his remarks on the capture of Saddam Hussein) From Michael Moore at t r u t h o u t: Monday 15 December 2003 We Finally Got Our Frankenstein By Michael Moore NEXT Page - Iraqi Freedom Previous Page - New Iraq BACK to Index Some Blogs on Iraq: Baghdad Burning - Today in Iraq - Back To Iraq 3.0 Cost of the War in Iraq
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