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 The Pentagon Ealy Bird 23 Jan 2008 Use of these news items does not reflect official endorsement. Reproduction for private use or gain is subject to original copyright restrictions. Item numbers indicate order of appearance only. This is the single print version. Use the PRINT command in your browser to print the entire Early Bird as one document. (NOTE: This single file format is a long document and can use 50 or more pages of paper.) IRAQ
Washington Post January 23, 2008 Pg. 1 Iraq's New Law On Ex-Baathists Could Bring Another Purge By Amit R. Paley and Joshua Partlow, Washington Post Foreign Service BAGHDAD -- Maj. Gen. Hussein al-Awadi, a former official in Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, became the commander of the Iraqi National Police despite a 2003 law barring the party from government. But now, under new legislation promoted as way to return former Baathists to public life, the 56-year-old and thousands like him could be forced out of jobs they have been allowed to hold, according to Iraqi lawmakers and the government agency that oversees ex-Baathists. "This new law is very confusing," Awadi said. "I don't really know what it means for me." He is not alone. More than a dozen Iraqi lawmakers, U.S. officials and former Baathists here and in exile expressed concern in interviews that the law could set off a new purge of ex-Baathists, the opposite of U.S. hopes for the legislation. Approved by parliament this month under pressure from U.S. officials, the law was heralded by President Bush and Iraqi leaders as a way to soothe the deep anger of many ex-Baathists -- primarily Sunnis but also many Shiites such as Awadi -- toward the Shiite-led government. Yet U.S. officials and even legislators who voted for the measure, which still requires approval by Iraq's presidency council, acknowledge that its impact is hard to assess from its text and will depend on how it is implemented. Some say the law's primary aim is not to return ex-Baathists to work, but to recognize and compensate those harmed by the party. Of the law's eight stated justifications, none mentions reinstating ex-Baathists to their jobs. "The law is about as clear as mud," said one U.S. senior diplomat. The confusion has been compounded because the information on former party members comes from the de-Baathification commission headed by Ahmed Chalabi, the former deputy prime minister who as an Iraqi exile sought to convince U.S. officials that Hussein's government had weapons of mass destruction. In light of the absence of such weapons, many Iraqi and U.S. officials are suspicious of his commission's statistics. In an interview at his lavish home in the Mansour district, Chalabi said the new legislation would drive out some of the former Baathists his commission had allowed to return to government. The new measure, he said, is much harsher than the existing policy and a draft of the law that the United States had encouraged parliament to pass. "Put this under the category of: Be careful what you wish for," Chalabi said. 'This Law Is Bait' The new law was supposed to ease the homeward passage of former Baathists such as Muhammed Kareem. After 35 years as a civil servant in the Oil Ministry, Kareem fled his home in Basra after the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003. Four fellow Baathists from the ministry in Basra had turned up dead. Searching for him, militiamen had ransacked Kareem's house. Kareem, 53, and his family moved to Amman, Jordan, where they live in a sparsely furnished basement apartment. He has one abiding wish: to return to Iraq. But sitting at his kitchen table last week, flipping through a draft of the law, he was despondent. "This is a bomb on the road of reconciliation," said Kareem, a former director general in the ministry. "This law does not bring anything new. This does not serve national reconciliation that all Iraqis are hoping for. On the contrary, it envisions hostility, hatred, discrimination and sectarian strife." Kareem, along with other Baathists who were purged from their jobs after the invasion, argues that the law typifies the animosity that Iraq's Shiite-led government has for the bureaucrats of Hussein's regime. They say the climate is nowhere near safe enough for them to identify themselves to the government as former Baathists. Kareem, who was a senior Baath Party member, said the new law does grant him the right to a pension, which would greatly benefit his family. He has not had a steady salary in five years, and has been living off the charity of friends and relatives, but said he would not attempt to claim the pension. "This law is bait," he said. "I have to go back to Basra and apply for the pension through several measures. If I get killed, nobody will know who did it." Kareem and other former Baathists advocate nullifying the law and the concept of de-Baathification in general. They say it discriminates against their political party at a time when other parties have also been associated with militias, death squads and major crimes. Trying to abolish an ideology and outlaw a political party seems to him both impossible and undemocratic. "Aren't I the son of an Iraqi? Aren't I an Iraqi myself? Don't I have the right to live in Iraq?" he added. "This law is a punishment not only to the Baathists but to his sons and grandsons. So where is the justice in it?" The Shiite-Sunni Divide The very first decree of the U.S.-led occupation government was to disband the Baath Party and purge its members from the government. Issued on May 16, 2003, Coalition Provisional Authority Order No. 1 also banned the top four ranks of the Baath Party from public-sector jobs. U.S. officials believed the order would remove about 20,000 Baathists, or 1 percent of the 2 million people in Iraq said to be party members, according to L. Paul Bremer, then the occupation administrator. In an interview, Bremer said the decree was meant to retain the core of the bureaucracy and allow those who joined the party out of necessity during Hussein's rule to keep their jobs. Because it was difficult for non-Iraqis to discern who was or was not a true believer, Bremer said, he hastened to turn the implementation over to the Iraqis on the appointed Governing Council. "And there I made my mistake," Bremer said. He blamed the Iraqi politicians who oversaw the de-Baathification process in mid-2003 for going beyond the intention of the order and purging thousands of additional people, including about 11,000 teachers. The Iraqis tell a different story. According to Ali Faisal al-Lami, executive director of the de-Baathification commission, Bremer's order pushed 140,000 Iraqis out of their jobs. In addition to banning all members of the top four ranks of the party, it also forced out the senior government managers who belonged to the next two levels of the party. When the de-Baathification commission started work in January 2004, it decided that Bremer's original order had gone too far, Lami said. He said the commission immediately allowed all ex-Baathists from the two lower levels to return to government, a group that included 102,000 people. That left 38,000 ex-Baathists who were banned from government and whose status the commission would consider, Lami said. Most of them, about 32,000, belonged to the fourth level and held a rank of division member, or firqah, Lami said. The commission allowed all division members to apply to return to government and, over the four-year history of the commission, about half were reinstated, Chalabi and Lami said. Only 170 applications from division members were rejected, Chalabi said. But many Sunnis and Western diplomats question those statistics and accuse Chalabi, a secular Shiite, of treating fellow Shiites more favorably than Sunnis. "They gave exceptions only for one side," said Khalaf al-Elayan, head of the Iraqi National Dialogue Council, a Sunni group that represents many ex-Baathists. "If you were a Shia Baathist, you could return. If you were a Sunni Baathist, you could not." Western diplomats agreed. "Chalabi has implemented the law in an extremely partisan fashion," said one diplomat, who, like others interviewed, spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid offending Iraqi officials. Awadi, the police commander and a Shiite, said he took up his post two years ago at the request of the Interior Ministry, which told him that he had been granted a waiver by the de-Baathification commission. The commission says he was a division member, based on his confidential case file. Awadi said he was a lower-level member. Chalabi said that his commission has applied the law equally to Sunni and Shiites and that the agency does not maintain statistics on the sect of applicants. "We saved the lives of many Sunnis by helping them to come back to government," he said. Abu Saif, a Sunni ex-Baathist division member who spoke on condition that only his nickname be used, said he applied to the commission 15 months ago to return to his job as a brigadier general at the Defense Ministry. The 55-year-old resident of the capital's Dora district lost his job after Bremer's original order and has been unemployed for most of the years since. Abu Saif said he has yet to receive any response from the commission. "I think they are filled with corruption and sectarianism," he said. He plans to reapply under the new law and hopes he can return to his $17,000-a-year job. Still, he is wary. "I can't give my opinion about the law right now until the government implements it," he said. "We will wait . . . we will see." Exclusion From Key Ministries U.S. officials strongly encouraged the approval of a law dealing with former Baathists and circulated a draft bill to politicians, according to Falah Hassan Shanshal, chairman of the parliament's De-Baathification Committee, and other lawmakers. But unlike the draft, the legislation approved by parliament on Jan. 12 would restrict division members from working in a host of government agencies, including the Defense, Interior, Foreign and Finance ministries. Since scores of division members -- at least 7,000, according to the de-Baathification commission -- occupy jobs in those ministries, that means the new law could purge them from their current positions. "The new law is much harsher than what the Americans wanted," Chalabi said. U.S. officials say they believe the law is likely to result in more ex-Baathists returning to government and hope none will be removed. But they recognize that the outcome depends on implementation, which will be overseen largely by a new seven-member commission nominated by the Iraqi cabinet and confirmed by parliament. "Will they name people who are liberal and nonpartisan, or is it going to be perceived as in the control of the people who have an agenda to purge Sunni Arab influence?" said a senior U.S. official. "That's the first thing people will look at." Shanshal, head of parliament's De-Baathification Committee, said he wasn't sure how many former party members would be affected by the law, and whether more ex-Baathists would be forced out of government. But he said he did not understand why Americans are so focused on that question. "Why is the United States not asking about the victims of the Baath Party?" said Shanshal, a member of the Shiite party led by anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. "I don't understand why you are so interested in the executioners and forget about the victims of Saddam and his bloody regime." Partlow reported from Amman and Baghdad. Special correspondents Yasmine Mousa in Amman and Zaid Sabah, K.I. Ibrahim, Saad al-Izzi and Naseer Nouri in Baghdad contributed to this report. http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20080123575033.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_1561624_AEr PjkQAAWuCR5dzxwS1lg%2FOtC0&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilenam e=e20080123aaindex_concat.html&cred=tn4xYp91FPYNa4 x0fHldRUc0FDOePpqc3La8UUvrSHywIlKYIxcb9S68LWAhsq#T OP">RETURN TO TOP USA Today January 23, 2008 Pg. 8 Troops at Risk -- IEDs in Iraq First U.S. Soldier In Iraq Dies In New Mine-Resistant Vehicle WASHINGTON-- The U.S. military on Tuesday announced the first death of a soldier in a bomb attack involving one of its newest models of armored vehicles. The death occurred Saturday when a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle rode over a homemade bomb buried in a road in Arab Jabour, south of Baghdad. Three other soldiers in the MRAP vehicle survived the blast, Maj. Anton Alston, a military spokesman, said in an e-mail. Soldiers have died in the past in older-model MRAP trucks used by explosive ordnance teams and combat engineers. The death of Army Spc. Richard Burress, 25, of Naples, Fla., was the first since Defense Secretary Robert Gates made fielding the vehicles for front-line infantry units the Pentagon's No. 1 priority last spring. The truck's design-- a crew capsule that rides a few feet above the road with a V-shape hull to deflect a blast-- helps troops survive roadside-bomb attacks better than Humvees. Saturday's attack came from a deeply buried improvised explosive device, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said. Such IEDs often use hundreds of pounds of explosives capable of flipping an armored vehicle. Burress was the truck's gunner, Morrell said. Gunners serve atop the truck, in its turret, and are more exposed to attack than those inside. An investigation will determine whether Burress died in the explosion or when the vehicle rolled over, Morrell said. The vehicle's crew compartment was not punctured, Morrell said. The soldiers inside sustained broken bones. Their injuries would have been worse in a vehicle with less armor, he said. Gates, who last week visited an assembly facility for MRAP vehicles in Charleston, S.C., remains committed to the $22 billion program, Morrell said. About 12,000 of the trucks have been ordered, and more than 2,200 have been shipped to Iraq. -- by Tom Vanden Brook http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20080123575091.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_1561624_AEr PjkQAAWuCR5dzxwS1lg%2FOtC0&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilenam e=e20080123aaindex_concat.html&cred=tn4xYp91FPYNa4 x0fHldRUc0FDOePpqc3La8UUvrSHywIlKYIxcb9S68LWAhsq#T OP">RETURN TO TOP Yahoo.com January 22, 2008 Pentagon Confident In Armored Vehicles Despite First Fatality WASHINGTON (AFP) -- The Pentagon said Tuesday it was more confident than ever in the MRAP armored vehicle, even after a soldier's death in Iraq showed for the first time that they are vulnerable to roadside bombs. The soldier, a gunner who was partially exposed, was killed Saturday when a buried roadside bomb exploded with such force that it blew the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle into the air and caused it to roll over. The explosion failed to penetrate the vehicle's crew compartment, however, and three soldiers inside escaped with broken bones in their feet and bruises, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said. Morrell said that Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who the day before the attack had paid a high profile visit to a military factory that equips the vehicles, "is not questioning the protection provided by MRAPs." "He is in fact more convinced than ever that these vehicles do indeed save lives," Morrell said. Gates has championed the deployment of the MRAP vehicles, launching a crash program in May that has produced 2,225 of them. Of those, 1,508 are already being used by US soldiers in Iraq and while 45 of them are in operation in Afghanistan, Pentagon officials said. With a budget of 22.4 billion dollars, the MRAPs have emerged as the Pentagon's top acquisition program with 12,000 MRAPs on order and plans to increase the total buy to 15,400. The vehicles have a V-shaped hull that are designed to deflect the blast of under-belly explosions, but are heavier than the armored HUMVEES they are replacing. Gates was sold on them when he learned that no one had been killed in an MRAP in Iraq. But the attack Saturday in Arab Jabbour on the southern outskirts of Baghdad show that even the more heavily armored MRAPS are not impervious to roadside bombs. "We're still in our preliminary stages of reviewing this particular attack," Morrell said, adding that it was "a very large, deep-buried IED (improvised explosive device)." "This MRAP -- and, again, I don't know which model it was precisely -- ran over that bomb. And the force of the explosion caused the MRAP to literally lift into the air and overturn," he said. "Regrettably, of course, we lost the gunner," Morrell said, adding that it was still unclear whether he was killed by the blast or the rollover. "But I think everybody is still amazed at the fact that, despite the size of this bomb, these vehicles are proving to be every bit as strong and as lifesaving as we hoped they would be," he said. http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20080123575104.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_1561624_AEr PjkQAAWuCR5dzxwS1lg%2FOtC0&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilenam e=e20080123aaindex_concat.html&cred=tn4xYp91FPYNa4 x0fHldRUc0FDOePpqc3La8UUvrSHywIlKYIxcb9S68LWAhsq#T OP">RETURN TO TOP Los Angeles Times January 23, 2008 Top Marine In Iraq Sees Pluses, Minuses As the commander of forces in Anbar prepares to leave, he's optimistic about the province's future but critical of post-invasion U.S. moves. By Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer AL ASAD, IRAQ — As he prepares to leave Iraq after a year as the top Marine, Maj. Gen. Walter E. Gaskin is upbeat about the future of Anbar province but candid about U.S. mistakes made in the early years of the war that allowed the insurgency to grow. U.S. officials created a "perfect storm" after the March 2003 invasion that allowed the insurgency to attract recruits, Gaskin said in interviews here this week. He listed the top three mistakes: disbanding the Iraqi army, banning members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party from involvement in government and shutting down state-run enterprises. "We created that storm that forces of Al Qaeda took full advantage of," Gaskin said. The result, he said, was a wave of insurgent violence in Anbar, the sprawling province west of Baghdad. The Marines have had major responsibility for the region since 2004 and fought two prolonged battles with insurgents in Ramadi, the provincial capital, in the first year. Gaskin's comments echoed widespread criticism of the early U.S. policies not only from analysts and politicians but also from some senior military officials. They came as the Marines are in the process of handing off authority in several areas. On Tuesday, responsibility for western Anbar was transferred from the Camp Lejeune, N.C.-based 2nd Marine Regiment to the Camp Pendleton-based 5th Marine Regiment. Early next month, Gaskin will return to Camp Lejeune after being relieved by Maj. Gen. John Kelly as commanding general of Multinational Force West. Kelly is commanding general of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward) from Camp Pendleton. Once considered the most violent area in Iraq, Anbar now is often cited by President Bush and others as an area where attacks against coalition forces have dropped dramatically. Gaskin, who commands 35,000 Marines and soldiers, credits the turnaround to an alliance between U.S.-led forces and tribal sheiks who have turned against the insurgency. "Nothing happens out here without tribal approval," he said. "They were tribal before they were Muslims." Gaskin said the insurgency was still capable of attacks, particularly using suicide vehicles. But he expressed confidence that the progress made in Anbar was permanent, particularly when backed up by economic projects sponsored by the U.S. He is effusive in his praise of the sheiks, who were initially shunned by U.S. officials as anachronistic. "They respect and trust us, and we respect and trust them," he said. The sheiks, particularly those from tribes who led the Anbar Awakening, a volunteer security force, are not reluctant to remind the Americans of their role in suppressing the insurgency and to press their status as valued allies of the U.S. A week ago, sheiks from the Albu Mahal, one of the first tribes to side with the U.S., asked the Marines to release from jail a police chief suspected of corruption. The chief was released after the sheiks promised to monitor his conduct. A few days later, sheiks from the Albu Mahal, Al Jugayfi and Albu Nimr tribes asked Gaskin to press the Baghdad government to certify a list of their tribesmen as potential police officers despite their previous links to the insurgency. The Marines promised to do so, with the caveat that they cannot force the Ministry of Interior to do anything. In exchange for helping the sheiks, Gaskin has stressed to them that the future of Anbar has to include a legal system apart from tribal law, which often includes retribution and blood feuds. "We have seen enough of violence," said Col. Patrick Malay, commander of the 5th Marine Regiment. "Now is the time to build, for the rule of law." http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20080123575095.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_1561624_AEr PjkQAAWuCR5dzxwS1lg%2FOtC0&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilenam e=e20080123aaindex_concat.html&cred=tn4xYp91FPYNa4 x0fHldRUc0FDOePpqc3La8UUvrSHywIlKYIxcb9S68LWAhsq#T OP">RETURN TO TOP Washington Times January 23, 2008 Pg. 3 Al Qaeda Chase Seen As Constant Forces take fight to Iraq’s north By Sara A. Carter, The Washington Times Extensive military intelligence has allowed coalition forces to push al Qaeda out of numerous provinces in northern Iraq, but a top commander remained cautious, saying the terrorist group's ability to re-emerge is constant. Army Maj. Gen. Mark P. Hertling, commander of coalition forces in northern Iraq, told reporters yesterday that Operation Iron Harvest, meant to drive al Qaeda out of safe havens, has conducted 40 operations since mid-December with Iraqi security forces. Those operations led to the deaths of more than 130 extremists and the arrests of more than 370 others, including 40 "high-value individuals." "It's also in this area that we have found significant weapons caches and had some very tough fights," said Gen. Hertling, who spoke to reporters at the Pentagon via satellite from Iraq. "Our soldiers have seen the effects of the enemy's intimidation of local citizens along with brutal murders and barbaric violence." U.S. and Iraqi forces have focused during the past few weeks on an area known as the "Breadbasket," which comprises about 45 square miles in northeastern Iraq, in an effort to root out al Qaeda militants who have taken refuge in the region since being driven out of Anbar province. While the rest of Iraq has seen significant decreases in violence over the past six months, the eastern Diyala province is proving difficult for coalition forces. Yesterday, a suicide bomber detonated near a high school in Diyala's provincial capital of Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad. Twenty-one persons, including students and one policeman, were wounded in the attack, the Associated Press reported. The commander added that al Qaeda is receiving help from foreign fighters in the region. Coalition forces have captured extremists from Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Morocco and other neighboring countries since the operation began. "I wouldn't want to put a percentage on it though because I think that would allow our enemy to see just how much intel we have on them," he said. Last month after coalition operations began in Muqdadiyah, U.S. military officials were informed that some al Qaeda leaders and militants had escaped the operational area but that they have "still seen significant success in these operations in Muqdadiyah," Gen. Hertling said. Al Qaeda is facing a backlash, however, from the Iraqi people, who are now assisting coalition forces in locating extremists, he said. In the town of Shirin, in the northern region, a 12-year-old girl "was brave enough" to sketch a map disclosing the names and locations of terrorists "who were still in the area and who had harassed her and killed two of her brothers," he added. "They would come in; they would kill the local citizens; they would cut off their heads; parade heads down the streets of town — very brutal and violent tactics," the general said. "And what you would see as a result of that is people were afraid to either go to the police or stand up against these people." http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20080123575034.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_1561624_AEr PjkQAAWuCR5dzxwS1lg%2FOtC0&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilenam e=e20080123aaindex_concat.html&cred=tn4xYp91FPYNa4 x0fHldRUc0FDOePpqc3La8UUvrSHywIlKYIxcb9S68LWAhsq#T OP">RETURN TO TOP USA Today January 23, 2008 Pg. 8 Bomber Hits High School Near Baghdad Roadside blast goes off near another school in capital By Christopher Chester, Associated Press BAGHDAD -- A suicide bomber pushing an electric heater atop a cart packed with hidden explosives attacked a high school north of Baghdad on Tuesday, leaving students and teachers bloodied. The bombing -- one of two attacks near Iraqi schools on the same day -- follows a wave of recent blasts against funerals and social gatherings. The recent attacks coincide with a U.S.-led offensive trying to uproot insurgents from strongholds around Baghdad. In the suicide attack, the bomber posed as a shopper or merchant transporting an electric heater on a chilly winter day. The blast struck the front of a two-story schoolhouse in Baqouba a half-hour after classes began. Panicked parents rushed to find their children. A 25-year-old male bystander was killed, and 21 people were wounded � 12 students, eight teachers and one policeman, said a doctor at Baqouba General Hospital who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was afraid of being targeted by militants. The school's headmaster, Ahmed Alwan, said he was in his office when the attacker blew himself up at the outside gate, leaving a crater in the street. "After the tremendous explosion, there was total darkness in my room," he said. "The false ceiling and the books on the shelves fell on me, and an object hit my head." "I can't think of any reason to target students," said Mohammed Abbas, 15, his head wrapped in a bandage. His father stood near his hospital bed in Baqouba, about 35 miles northeast of Baghdad. "We did not expect that explosions would reach our school," Abbas said. In the other attack, a roadside bomb exploded next to a girl's high school in Baghdad's western district of Amiriyah, wounding a 7-year-old boy who was passing by. In recent attacks, insurgents have bypassed the heavy security at major events to strike less prominent targets. During last week's observances of Ashoura, the most important religious day in the Shiite calendar, there were no attacks on the main procession in the holy city of Karbala, where hundreds of thousands marched. Instead, militants struck with suicide bombings and rocket fire on small gatherings of worshipers north of Baghdad. At a tribal gathering near Fallujah on Sunday, the bomber was a 15-year-old boy carrying a box of candy. Women are being used more in suicide bombings -- four times in the past three months. The U.S. military has gained command of many key areas in central Iraq with the help of Iraqi troops and "Awakening Councils" -- mostly Sunni tribal groups that have turned against al-Qaeda in Iraq. "There were no police or army inside my school," Alwan said. "I think that the goal of this attack was to destroy any sign of education and culture in this country." http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20080123575041.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_1561624_AEr PjkQAAWuCR5dzxwS1lg%2FOtC0&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilenam e=e20080123aaindex_concat.html&cred=tn4xYp91FPYNa4 x0fHldRUc0FDOePpqc3La8UUvrSHywIlKYIxcb9S68LWAhsq#T OP">RETURN TO TOP New York Times January 23, 2008 Iraq Parliament Purges Hussein Vestiges On Flag By Abeer Mohammed and Solomon Moore BAGHDAD — Iraqi lawmakers adopted a modified version of the national flag on Tuesday, removing three stars that symbolized the Baathist ideals of unity, freedom and socialism, and Saddam Hussein’s handwritten calligraphy of the Koranic incantation “Allahu akbar.” The incantation, which means God is great, will remain on the flag, though it will now be written in a different calligraphic style. Members of Parliament voted 110 to 50 for the flag, which was introduced in 2004 and bears the red, white and black stripes of Iraq’s original banner. The design preserves a sense of continuous national identity, while purging the flag of Baathist allusions, supporters say. Kurdish politicians, many of whom survived the genocidal gas bombings by Hussein forces in the Anfal, or spoils of war, campaign of the 1980s, were among the fiercest critics of the old flag. In 2006, Massoud Barzani, president of the semiautonomous Kurdistan Regional Government, refused to fly the flag from government offices, prompting fear of Kurdish separatism. On Tuesday, however, Kurdish lawmakers pushed for a compromise, dropping their insistence on yellow lettering for the Arabic inscription, for a design without Baathist references. Zuhair Humadi, a senior adviser to the Shiite-led Iraqi government, said the Kurds sought the deal before an international conference of members of Arab Parliaments in weeks. “They won’t come if only the Kurdish flag is flying,” Mr. Humadi said of the Arab leaders. “And Barzani wanted that meeting to be in Kurdistan, and he will not allow Saddam Hussein’s flag to be flown. So they agreed to this.” The new flag continues to generate disagreements and conflicting national narratives among Iraqis. One supporter was Hameed Meala, a member of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, which for years had waged an armed struggle with Mr. Hussein’s forces. Regarding the three stars, Mr. Meala said, “It is obvious that they refer to unity, freedom and socialism — the goals of the Baath Party, as announced during Saddam’s regime.” However, two other Shiite factions, Fadhila Party and the Sadr movement; the Sunni-led Tawafiq Party; and the nationalist Iraqia List favored keeping the stars. “We wanted the verse to be written in Kufic script and to keep the three stars,” said Ahmed al-Masody, a Sadrist lawmaker. “We would have announced that they don’t symbolize the Baath Party, but other principles, like justice.” Several lawmakers said that because the flag had been changed out of Kurdish expediency, they expected it to be changed again. The flag is the second design to be introduced in Iraq since the American-led invasion in 2003. In 2004, the American-appointed Iraqi Governing Council announced a white, blue and yellow flag with a prominent Islamic crescent. That design was scrapped after Iraqis criticized it for being too radical a change from the original, and too similar to the blue and white flag of Israel. Iraqi politicians then kept the old design, including the three stars, but replaced Mr. Hussein’s writing with an angular pre-Islamic script that originated in Kufa, a city in southern Iraq. During Mr. Hussein’s 24-year dictatorship, his name and face adorned state buildings, national monuments and public squares. Since the American-orchestrated toppling of Mr. Hussein’s statue in Firdous Square in Baghdad, Iraqis have aggressively removed Baathist references from the national landscape. Last year, politicians decided to dismantle one of Iraq’s most recognizable landmarks, two gigantic arms holding aloft crossed swords and a collection of helmets to symbolize Mr. Hussein’s proclaimed victory over Iran during a 1980-1988 war. Mr. Hussein is believed to have provided the original cast for the arms. Iraqis expressed varying opinions about the new flag. “We refuse this change, because this flag does not favor any political group, but represents the unity of Iraq,” said Sheik Mohammad Saleh al-Butchery, a spokesman for the Falluja Tribal Council in Sunni-dominated Anbar Province. Kareem Jameel, a 45-year-old journalist in Basra, a predominantly Shiite, called the change necessary. “If we want to build a new Iraq, then we have to change Saddam’s flag,” he said. But many Iraqis, burdened by uncertain security, frequent electricity failures, poverty and disenchantment with their leadership, complained that Parliament had more important things to worry about than flag designs. “The government’s priorities should be to make people happy by getting rid of terrorism, providing security and purging the country from gangs and militiamen,” said Idress Yunis, 35, a Baghdad shop owner. News of the adoption of the flag was released amid reports of sporadic violence throughout Iraq. In Diyala Province, north of Baghdad, Iraqi police officers said they had found the bodies of a family, a father, his three sons and three nephews. They had been shot to death and discovered in Buhruz, the police said. In Baquba, the provincial capital, a water boiler packed with explosives exploded near a high school and a checkpoint for an American-allied tribal security force, killing three people and wounding 12 students, the Iraqi police said, and, separately, a gunman killed a civilian near a medical clinic. The bodies of two more Iraqis, a woman and a policeman, were discovered about 30 miles outside Hilla in the south, the Iraqi police said. And in Basra, gunmen killed an Iraqi policeman, witnesses said. Reporting was contributed by Alissa J. Rubin, Balen Y. Younis, and Wissam A. Habeeb from Baghdad, and Iraqi employees of The New York Times from Baghdad, Baquba, Hilla, and Basra. http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20080123575022.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_1561624_AEr PjkQAAWuCR5dzxwS1lg%2FOtC0&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilenam e=e20080123aaindex_concat.html&cred=tn4xYp91FPYNa4 x0fHldRUc0FDOePpqc3La8UUvrSHywIlKYIxcb9S68LWAhsq#T OP">RETURN TO TOP Christian Science Monitor January 23, 2008 Pg. 1 How Fear Turns To Resolve In One Iraqi Village US-Iraqi forces persuade a remote town in Diyala Province to fight against Al Qaeda insurgents. By Scott Peterson, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor DULIM, IRAQ -- Masked militants of Al Qaeda in Iraq have been defeated – for the moment – in their battle to control this frontline farming village. For two years, this remote outpost 20 miles northeast of Baghdad, endured an Al Qaeda presence that imposed its will with killings and intimidation, forcing one sheikh out of town a few months ago. Last week, that same sheikh returned with a US Army Cavalry unit backed by an Iraqi Army battalion. He had persuaded the Americans that his people were "desperate" to create a US-funded militia to take on Al Qaeda in Iraq. But Sheikh Thamir Hassan Ali miscalculated, underestimating Al Qaeda's fearful grip. The imam at the Dulim mosque refused to cooperate, adamant that setting up a Concerned Local Citizens (CLC) group would be a "declaration of war" against Al Qaeda. Only days before, militants had come, warning villagers that "collaborators" would die. The story of how this village weighed the risks and eventually chose to side with the Americans – after days of rancorous debate and prodding by US officers, the safety of their families and survival of the village in the balance – shows in microcosm how Al Qaeda is losing ground across Iraq. But it also illustrates the challenges faced by US and Iraqi forces as they sweep across parts of Iraq long under militant sway, making promises of support and armed backup that villagers have heard many times in the past, with little positive result. The current four-province offensive has "caused significant damage" to Al Qaeda and killed 130 militants, the US Army commander for northern Iraq Maj. Gen. Mark Hertling said yesterday. Shortly before the pre-dawn US helicopter ride back to his village of Dulim last week, the beaming Sunni sheikh asserted, "People are so desperate to set up CLCs here, to protect their families. They need someone to be on their side. Absolutely this is a war against Al Qaeda. We are against them." But the fear was palpable in the frigid muddy village, as dawn heralded a critical choice for villagers. The new American and Iraqi military presence – ushered in by the black-robbed Sheikh Thamir – was initially seen as raising the danger level. "If anyone registers for CLCs, [Al Qaeda in Iraq] will put them in the road and kill them," lamented one man, standing outside the school where villagers were supposed to sign up for the civilian militia. Only one person made the commitment that day. "We are afraid. We don't have enough weapons to protect ourselves, and with this gun I can't protect myself against mortars." He had just received a text message on his cellphone: 150 members of Al Qaeda are gathering in a nearby district, ready for revenge. He heard of another town where "Al Qaeda in five minutes killed everyone, including women breastfeeding. They destroyed that town completely. We don't want to repeat that." US Army Capt. Dustin Heumphreus, commander of Arrow Troop, 2nd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, tried to calm the man – and a host of others milling about in the background – using as examples several other towns made safe by effective CLCs. He also noted that now the US and Iraqi military presence itself had broken any deal the town may have had with Al Qaeda. Their best choice was to join the CLCs. "The whole process depends upon brave men willing to stand up and defend against Al Qaeda," said Captain Heumphreus. "We will eventually leave. When we do, what will be left in place? What is stronger, one man with an AK-47? Or a whole village coming together in a coordinated defense?" The CLC concept, also called Sahwa or "Awakening" elsewhere in Iraq, spread last year throughout Sunni areas with heavy insurgent activity and is one reason violence has dropped nationwide. Elsewhere in Diyala Province, which has long been an Al Qaeda in Iraq stronghold, US forces have been surprised by the scale of turnout for CLCs. The $350-a-month salary – $450 for shift leaders – is a draw. Fatigue with insurgent brutality plays a role, too. But the numbered green sashes CLC participants wear also make them targets. Here in prevaricating Dulim, the sashes were seen as a potential death warrant if too few signed up. After the first CLC registration attempt failed, the US captain privately took Sheikh Thamir to task. "If I leave now, all we've achieved is a grand homecoming for you," Heumphreus told the sheikh. "If you don't stand up and keep the roads open, what will keep Al Qaeda from killing everybody?" "The job you did was great, and I thank you for it!" pleaded the sheikh, his eyes watering up. "Some people still have fear in their chests. Please understand." Even the soldiers tasked with creating the CLCs recognize that mustering yet another armed group in Iraq is controversial. "Granted, it's working short term, but it's a short-term fix to a long-term problem," says a US intelligence officer who asked not to be named. "Once we pull out of here, it's just aiding ethnic violence. It looks good on paper ... violence is down 10-fold. But ...they are still attacking us." "Sure it looks like a militia and smells like a militia, but we really are trying to tie them to the Iraqi Army and Iraqi Police," says Capt. Timothy Gillett, executive officer of Arrow Troop. Armed CLCs are not meant to stray from their checkpoints. "It's a contract. It's security, but untrained. You have a kindergarten-level Blackwater," he says referring to the largest US private security contractor. Vacillating by the people of Dulim meant that Heumphreus made a decision to extend the three-day operation for himself and one of three platoons, recognizing that the CLC effort would fail otherwise. An Iraqi unit also decided to stay on, boosting confidence among villagers that they would not again find themselves isolated. Reminders of the dangers are close. A suicide bomber Tuesday struck a school in the provincial capital of Baqubah, killing one and wounding 21. In the neighboring province of Salahuddin on Monday, a suicide bomber targeted a funeral, killing 18. Dulim has been cut off for more than two years by roadside bombs and therefore beyond easy reach of US and Iraqi troops. The village has had to fend for itself, and follow Al Qaeda rules. One young man says he was told at gunpoint to stop trimming his beard, and to hike his dishdasha robe higher around his ankles, in the custom of Sunni fundamentalists. Masked gunmen made regular visits, he says, often surrounding the mosque to challenge the imam, who eventually hired his own crew of 10 guards so he could finish his sermons. "You are the only village that does not help us, so you are against us," says the man, quoting the militants. "None of your sons join us. You are with the Americans. You are with Sahwa." One farmer finally ran out of patience three months ago when Al Qaeda members tried to steal the water pump used to irrigate his fields. Munir Rabiyeh Abdu-Monem shot one of the militants and wounded two others. Days later, Al Qaeda returned, grabbed the farmer, and called the whole village around to watch. "Whoever pulls a gun on us, this is what will happen," declared one militant, before shooting three bullets into the farmer's head. In this town he is now considered a "martyr." "We call him a hero, because he's the only one who raised his gun," says the young man. "Everybody has his picture in his pocket." On the third morning in the village, the American captain met with the imam and village elders and reminded them of Martyr Munir. Sunnis in western Iraq "decided they did not want outsiders telling them how they should dress, how they should act," Heumphreus told the men. "Unless you stand with a common defense, you will be weak." The imam listened to the speech, and replied that past appeals for government help went unanswered. American promises of two years ago went unfulfilled. "So we tried with all our strength and all our wisdom to protect the people," the imam said. "We had a lot of dark days. God gave us the breath to survive." In the warmth of the morning sun, the imam finally agreed that the men would join the CLC. But by dusk, only seven had signed up, gingerly putting on their bright sashes and praying for a larger turnout. The American decision to stay a few more days in Dulim tipped the balance. By Tuesday of this week, 60 men had joined the CLCs in Dulim and were manning three checkpoints around the town. So far, Al Qaeda has not responded. "The power [of the people] is bigger than what Al Qaeda was expecting," Sheikh Thamir said Tuesday, contacted by phone. US and Iraqi forces remain for the time being. "People are happy, and have started to work again on their farms. I hope other villages will make the same decision, to release people from the fear of Al Qaeda." http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20080123575019.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_1561624_AEr PjkQAAWuCR5dzxwS1lg%2FOtC0&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilenam e=e20080123aaindex_concat.html&cred=tn4xYp91FPYNa4 x0fHldRUc0FDOePpqc3La8UUvrSHywIlKYIxcb9S68LWAhsq#T OP">RETURN TO TOP Kansas City Star January 20, 2008 Pg. 12 Army Commander Updates Leavenworth Officers On Iraq Security By Scott Canon, The Kansas City Star LEAVENWORTH -- Iraqis could be chiefly in control of the security in the north of their country within a year, says the general recently returned from commanding forces there. Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon told officers at Fort Leavenworth last week that he expected Iraqi security forces to take the lead in day-to-day patrols in the northern provinces within 12 to 18 months if U.S. commanders continue to build up the capabilities of the Iraqis and the population's confidence in them. The first province transferred to Iraqi security was Muthanna in July 2006, followed by Dhi Qar, An Najaf, Maysan, part of Irbil, Sulaymaniyah, Dahuk, Karbala and Basra. The general thinks Diyala, Salah ad Din, Ninawa, Al Tameen provinces and the rest of Irbil could see Iraqis assuming the lead in security in little over a year. Mixon said gains in the north came ahead of last year's U.S. troop surge and before the rewriting of American doctrine for fighting the insurgency. As early as November 2006, he said, his troops were setting up smaller remote bases more in touch with the lives of ordinary Iraqis and courting tribal sheikhs and provincial officials. "I don't know what's new about counterinsurgency," Mixon said. That runs counter to enthusiasm generated among officers by a new and much-lauded counterinsurgency manual published in 2006 under the direction of Gen. David Petraeus when he was the commander at Leavenworth. It was the first revision of U.S. counterinsurgency doctrine in decades, and was notable for the way it valued collaboration with a civilian population and de-emphasized the use of brute military power. The adoption of the manual was followed quickly by President Bush sending a surge of 30,000 troops into Iraq and putting Petraeus in charge of troops in the country. "It's a myth that all of a sudden we published the manual, then all of a sudden we got counterinsurgency," Mixon told a handful of officers from Leavenworth's counterinsurgency center. Urban warfare studies at Fort Polk, La., for years have underscored the importance of winning the support of civilians in an occupied country through negotiation, he said. The military has long urged understanding local culture and improving people's living conditions. When Mixon was the top commander in northern Iraq for a 15-month stretch that ended late last year, troops worked to secure the region's bountiful oil fields - although the general said exports could still be stifled by a single terrorist explosion - rebuilt schools, and repaired water and power facilities. The effort included public relations work, from military commanders hosting regular radio call-in shows to arranging the telecasts of widows of suicide bombing victims receiving suitcases full of Iraqi currency in compensation. "We're not going to win by killing everybody," the general said. "You've got to kill the right people - the leaders, the bomb makers and the people who just don't want to give up the fight. "But you can't kill everybody. You have to win them over." http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20080123575042.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_1561624_AEr PjkQAAWuCR5dzxwS1lg%2FOtC0&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilenam e=e20080123aaindex_concat.html&cred=tn4xYp91FPYNa4 x0fHldRUc0FDOePpqc3La8UUvrSHywIlKYIxcb9S68LWAhsq#T OP">RETURN TO TOP New York Times January 23, 2008 Web Site Assembles U.S. Prewar Claims By John H. Cushman Jr. WASHINGTON — Students of how the Bush administration led the nation into the Iraq war can now go online to browse a comprehensive database of top officials’ statements before the invasion, connecting the dots between hundreds of claims, mostly discredited since then, linking Saddam Hussein to Al Qaeda or warning that he possessed forbidden weapons. The Center for Public Integrity, a research group that focuses on ethics in government and public policy, designed the new Web site to allow simple searches for specific phrases, such as “mushroom cloud” or “yellowcake uranium,” in transcripts and documents totaling some 380,000 words, including remarks by President Bush and most of his top advisers in the two years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Warnings about the need to confront Iraq, by President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, the national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, and two White House press secretaries, among others, can be combed line by line, and reviewed alongside detailed critiques published after the fact by official panels, historians, journalists and independent experts. There is no startling new information in the archive, because all the documents have been published previously. But the new computer tool is remarkable for its scope, and its replay of the crescendo of statements that led to the war. Muckrakers may find browsing the site reminiscent of what Richard M. Nixon used to dismissively call “wallowing in Watergate.” The database is online at The Center For Public Integrity. Charles Lewis and Mark Reading-Smith of the research center say their work has documented “at least 935 false statements” on hundreds of occasions, particularly that Iraq had unconventional weapons, links to Al Qaeda, or both. The database shows how even after the invasion, when a consensus emerged that the prewar intelligence assessments were flawed, administration officials occasionally suggested that the weapons might still be found. The officials have defended many of their prewar statements as having been based on the intelligence that was available at the time — although there is now evidence that some statements contradicted even the sketchy intelligence of the time. President Bush said in 2005 that “much of the intelligence turned out to be wrong” but that “it was right to remove Saddam Hussein from power.” http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20080123575065.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_1561624_AEr PjkQAAWuCR5dzxwS1lg%2FOtC0&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilenam e=e20080123aaindex_concat.html&cred=tn4xYp91FPYNa4 x0fHldRUc0FDOePpqc3La8UUvrSHywIlKYIxcb9S68LWAhsq#T OP">RETURN TO TOP Reuters.com January 22, 2008 Pentagon Tries To Cool Talk On Petraeus By Andrew Gray, Reuters WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon sought on Tuesday to cool talk about future assignments for Army Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq, following reports he was a candidate for the top NATO command post. Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said Defense Secretary Robert Gates was very pleased with the leadership provided by both Petraeus and the current NATO commander, Army Gen. John Craddock. "Until the secretary recommends to the president otherwise and the president approves otherwise, those two commanders will continue in the roles that they now have," he said. "But he greatly respects them both and appreciates their service." Both the New York Times and the Washington Post reported this week that Petraeus -- a media-friendly counter-insurgency expert with a doctorate from Princeton University -- was being considered as the next NATO Supreme Allied Commander, Europe. Craddock has held the job only since December 2006 and NATO commanders normally serve three years in the post. Petraeus has been praised for implementing a new counterinsurgency strategy in Iraq which U.S. officials say played a big role in a decline in violence there last year. He has been in his current post, one of the most grueling in the U.S. military, since last February and had already served two previous tours in Iraq. Asked if it was fair to say that deliberations were under way on the future roles of Petraeus and Craddock, Morrell said the Pentagon made "contingency plans for virtually everything in the world." "It would be neglectful of us if we didn't think long term about how our commanders should be functioning and where they are best utilized and when," he said. "But I wouldn't read too much into the fact that there are discussions ongoing in this building about the way ahead in Iraq or Afghanistan or Europe or any other command that we have," Morrell added. The New York Times on Monday quoted an unnamed senior Pentagon official as saying Petraeus deserved a new assignment and noting that the NATO post was a highly prestigious job. Petraeus was a candidate for the job but no final decisions had been taken, the official was quoted as saying. There are a relatively small number of posts in the U.S. military for four-star generals. The Times said one approach being considered was that Petraeus would be nominated and confirmed for the NATO post before the end of September, when the U.S. Congress is expected to break for the presidential election. He might stay in Iraq for some time after that but would move to NATO before a new president takes office in January, it said. http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20080123575045.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_1561624_AEr PjkQAAWuCR5dzxwS1lg%2FOtC0&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilenam e=e20080123aaindex_concat.html&cred=tn4xYp91FPYNa4 x0fHldRUc0FDOePpqc3La8UUvrSHywIlKYIxcb9S68LWAhsq#T OP">RETURN TO TOP New York Times January 23, 2008 Military Measure Goes To President WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate approved a revised military spending bill on Tuesday and sidestepped a veto showdown with President Bush. The 91-to-3 vote sends the $696 billion measure, which includes a 3.5 percent raise for troops, to Mr. Bush for his expected signature. The president had rejected an earlier version of the bill because of a provision that would have guaranteed that victims of state-sponsored abuse could sue a foreign government in court and collect judgments by seizing its assets inside the United States. Mr. Bush said that would have exposed the new Iraqi government to potentially costly lawsuits over abuse under Saddam Hussein. The administration estimated that Iraq had more than $25 billion of assets invested in the United States that could be tied up in litigation. Democrats reluctantly revised the measure to allow Mr. Bush to grant immunity to Iraq, as long as he determines that doing so promotes Iraqi reconstruction and that the Iraqi government remains a “reliable ally” in the fight against terrorism. The House passed the new bill last week, 369 to 46. The measure, which also includes money for veterans benefits, makes the 3.5 percent salary increase retroactive to Jan. 1. http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20080123575027.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_1561624_AEr PjkQAAWuCR5dzxwS1lg%2FOtC0&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilenam e=e20080123aaindex_concat.html&cred=tn4xYp91FPYNa4 x0fHldRUc0FDOePpqc3La8UUvrSHywIlKYIxcb9S68LWAhsq#T OP">RETURN TO TOP Washington Post January 23, 2008 Pg. 2 Army Off Target On Recruits Percentage of High School Graduates Drops to New Low By Josh White, Washington Post Staff Writer The percentage of new recruits entering the Army with a high school diploma dropped to a new low in 2007, according to a study released yesterday, and Army officials confirmed that they have lowered their standards to meet high recruiting goals in the middle of two ongoing wars. The study by the National Priorities Project concluded that slightly more than 70 percent of new recruits joining the active-duty Army last year had a high school diploma, nearly 20 percentage points lower than the Army's goal of at least 90 percent. The National Priorities Project, a Massachusetts-based research group that examines the impact of federal budget policies and has been outspoken against the Iraq war, said the number of high school graduates among new recruits fell from 83.5 percent in 2005 to 70.7 percent last year. "The trend is clear," said Anita Dancs, the project's research director, who based the report on Defense Department data released via the Freedom of Information Act. "They're missing their benchmarks, and I think it's strongly linked to the impact [of] the Iraq war." The study also found that the number of "high quality" recruits -- those with both a high school diploma and a score in the upper half on the military's qualification test -- has dropped more than 15 percent from 2004 to 2007. After linking the recruiting data to Zip codes and median incomes, it found that low- and middle-income families are supplying far more Army recruits than families with incomes greater than $60,000 a year. "Once again, we're staring at the painful story of young people with fewer options bearing the greatest burden," said Greg Speeter, the project's executive director. The Army previously acknowledged that it has not met the 90 percent mark since 2004, and yesterday officials at U.S. Army Recruiting Command disputed the group's numbers but not the trend. They said that 79.1 percent of its active-duty recruits in 2007 had a high school diploma, down from 87 percent in 2005. "It's really an indication of the difficult recruiting environment we're in, both with the impact of the ongoing wars, an economy competing for high school graduates, and a decline in the percentage of students who graduate from high school," said Douglas Smith, a spokesman for the recruiting command. "But we're not putting anyone in the Army that we don't feel is qualified to serve as a soldier." The independent study's data were based on more than 66,000 new recruits and did not include roughly 14,000 recruits who had prior military service and most of whom would have high school diplomas. It was unclear yesterday if the recruiting command's higher numbers included new recruits only or covered all recruits in 2007. Both groups agree that the Army has met its high recruitment goals for the past two years by lowering acceptance standards, offering signing bonuses and loosening age restrictions. The National Priorities Project said that Defense Department studies have shown that a high school diploma is an indicator of future success in the military, with about 80 percent of those with high school diplomas finishing the first term of enlistment and about half of the others making it that far. When recruits are unsuccessful in the Army, the service loses on its investment in training and has to recruit again. Edwin Dorn, a professor at the University of Texas and former undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness under President Bill Clinton, said such lapses are not of short-term concern but could be a long-term problem. "There is a relationship between high school graduation and how trainable people are, and more importantly there is a relationship between the likelihood that you'll stay on active duty," Dorn said. http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20080123575076.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_1561624_AEr PjkQAAWuCR5dzxwS1lg%2FOtC0&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilenam e=e20080123aaindex_concat.html&cred=tn4xYp91FPYNa4 x0fHldRUc0FDOePpqc3La8UUvrSHywIlKYIxcb9S68LWAhsq#T OP">RETURN TO TOP San Antonio Express-News January 23, 2008 Texas Is Top State For Army Recruiting By Sig Christenson, Express-News The good news on the Army recruiting front is that Texas is No. 1. The bad news: the young boots are less educated. A report released Tuesday by the National Priorities Project found that Texas and Harris County produced more Army recruits last year than any other state or county in America. Bexar County ranked fourth, sending 814 people to boot camp. But the number of "high-quality" recruits has continued a downward slide nationwide since 2004. Recruits in that group hold a traditional high school diploma and score in the upper half of the Armed Forces Qualification Test. Only 44.6 percent did that last year, down from 60.9 percent in 2004. "All of this is going to impact on the ability of the (Army) to perform the mission," University of Maryland military sociologist David Segal said. "They are not going to perform as well in Iraq, and they are far less prepared to go anywhere else." The nonpartisan Northampton, Mass.-based group analyzed Army Recruiting Command data on more than 67,000 first-time recruits who entered basic training in the 2007 fiscal year. It found that 70.7 percent of recruits nationwide graduated from high school in 2007, down from 83.5 percent in 2005. Army Recruiting Command spokesman Douglas Smith said the service's numbers for recruits with traditional diplomas were higher than those in the National Priorities Project's report. He said 79.07 percent of active-duty recruits held high school diplomas last year. But Smith agreed the numbers reflected a general downturn in graduates from the past — 81.2 percent in 2006, 87 percent in 2005 and 92.45 in 2004. He said his office had not seen the report and declined to comment. One apparent difference in the numbers is the Army's inclusion of recruits with military experience. Once small, the segment of prior-service recruits has risen substantially since 2005. The National Priorities Project's Anita Dancs said her group has not included them in its analysis because the primary focus of past Pentagon and congressional research has been on first-time recruits. Dancs said Texas recruits with a high school diploma were higher than the national average, at 75 percent. The state ranked 16th in "Tier 1" boots, those with a 12th-grade education or better. Bexar County and Harris County, which produced 1,025 recruits, bested the nation last year in that category, too, but Texas reflected the nationwide drop in both the number of recruits and their quality — 85.6 percent Tier 1 recruits in 2005 compared with 76.1 percent the following year. The number of Texans joining up, meanwhile, peaked at 2.4 per 1,000 in 2006 and fell to 2.2 last year, Dancs said. Harris and Bexar counties showed a similar drop-off, but both were higher than the national average of 1.6 per 1,000. Dancs did not have education data for the Houston and San Antonio areas from previous years. But the Army's Alamo City recruiting battalion reported that just half of all active-duty boots and one in three reservists were high school grads. The San Antonio Recruiting Battalion, No. 1 in the nation the past three years, signed 1,510 active-duty recruits in 2007 and 333 for the Army Reserve, said Maj. Neil Mahabir.When asked to explain why fewer recruits here held diplomas, he said, "The demographics in San Antonio and our region may be a lot less high school graduates." National Priorities Project Executive Director Greg Speeter blamed the war in Iraq for the downturn, saying youths "are naturally thinking twice before signing up to fight an unnecessary war with no end in sight." Retired Army Lt. Gen. Ted Stroup, deputy chief of staff for the Army from 1994 to 1996, said a dichotomy is developing as the war rages in Iraq and Afghanistan. People support the troops in public, but authority figures known as "influencers" may be warning young people away from service. "You could say that 2008 may be the make or break year for Army recruiting," he said. "Just on the basis of chance I would have expected to see one or two states go against the trend, and I'm just not seeing that here," said Segal, the University of Maryland military sociologist. "It means that it's a very robust trend. It means the Army is really in trouble, and I think the Army knows that." The last time the Army looked this bad was in 1980, he recalled, when the service's then-chief of staff Gen. Edward C. "Shy" Meyer warned Congress that the service was going "hollow" — becoming a shell of its former self. "I don't think it's hollow yet, but that's the direction we're going in," Segal commented. "We are weakening the Army, we are straining the Army, we are nowhere near a hollow army," said Brookings Institution analyst Michael O'Hanlon, who added that the Army is "in far better shape" than in that era. But former Reagan administration assistant defense secretary Lawrence Korb disagreed. "The Army is low quality," he said, noting that the service allowed 1,620 felons to join last year. "I think when you get down that low, you're broken." http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20080123575102.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_1561624_AEr PjkQAAWuCR5dzxwS1lg%2FOtC0&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilenam e=e20080123aaindex_concat.html&cred=tn4xYp91FPYNa4 x0fHldRUc0FDOePpqc3La8UUvrSHywIlKYIxcb9S68LWAhsq#T OP">RETURN TO TOP Los Angeles Times January 23, 2008 2 Afghans Testify At Marine Inquiry They say they had pulled over on the highway when a convoy in March shot at them without cause. As many as 19 died. By David Zucchino, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — Two Afghan men testified Tuesday that a Marine special operations convoy fired on their vehicles without provocation during an incident last March in which as many as 19 Afghans were reported killed. Testifying from Afghanistan by video link, the men told a court of inquiry that they had pulled their vehicles to the side of the highway when the Marines suddenly opened fire. They said they did not see anyone fire at the convoy, which had been struck by a van packed with explosives moments before. One Marine was slightly wounded in that attack. The men were the first Afghans to testify at the court of inquiry, now in its third week of investigating the March 4 encounter near Jalalabad. An Afghan human rights group has accused the 30-Marine convoy from Special Operations Company F of firing indiscriminately at civilians. A U.S. Army colonel apologized to Afghans last spring, saying the killing and wounding of "innocent Afghans at the hands of Americans is a stain on our honor." Haji Liwani Qumandan, a Pashtun tribal elder, said through a translator that the blue Toyota SUV that he was driving was riddled by "thousands of bullets" from three Marine vehicles. He said the gunfire killed his father and 12-year-old nephew, and wounded him in the back. "They were shooting at everyone," Qumandan said. Several Marines from the six-Humvee convoy, along with their Afghan American interpreter, have testified that they heard gunfire after the bomb blast and believed they were under fire as part of a "complex ambush." One Marine, Staff Sgt. Mohamed Sheik, testified that he saw a "Kalashnikov-type" weapon on the ground next to a blue Toyota SUV. Qumandan testified that no one in his car had a weapon -- "not even a knife." Told of Sheik's testimony, Qumandan replied: "Whoever said that, this is an absolute lie. If I had a weapon, where is it?" No weapons have been introduced at the inquiry. Marines have testified that they did not see any enemy gunmen. At least two Humvee gunners have told investigators they fired at gunmen shooting at the convoy. The gunners have been advised by lawyers not to testify because, unlike Marines who have testified, they have not been granted immunity from prosecution Defense lawyers sparred with Qumandan, pointing out inconsistencies in his testimony. Qumandan said he did not see or hear the car bomb. But other witnesses have described a large, powerful explosion and said the blue Toyota was parked next to the bomb site moments after the blast. "I was in a panicked and nervous state," Qumandan explained. Reminded that he had told a reporter last spring that he heard the explosion and stopped his car, Qumandan shrugged and said: "I can't remember what I said yesterday." The lawyers said Qumandan told U.S. investigators last spring that a fourth person was in the vehicle in addition to his father and nephew. Qumandan said a headless corpse was brought to his home, along with the bodies of his father and nephew, by villagers who mistakenly believed the man had been shot in Qumandan's car. In fact, he said, the man was killed near his car. Defense lawyers also suggested Qumandan faked his wounds, showing investigators old wounds from his days as a mujahedin commander fighting the Soviets. Qumandan said he provided security for U.S. operatives funneling cash and weapons to the mujahedin. Asked if he now backed the Taliban or Al Qaeda, Qumandan replied: "We hate the Taliban and Al Qaeda." A U.S. military intelligence officer testified Tuesday that Qumandan's name cleared a database of known Taliban and Al Qaeda members or supporters. Qumandan demanded payment for his shot-up car and $10,000 in Afghan currency that he said had disappeared from his car after the shooting. "You guys have done a lot of damage to me," he told the court. The second Afghan witness, Nangyli, testified that as he approached the convoy in his red Toyota van, he obeyed Marines' hand signals to pull over. About 30 seconds later, he said, the Marines abruptly opened fire on his van, which carried seven passengers. "Their vehicles started moving and shooting at the same time," said Nangyli, who, like many Afghans, uses only one name. Nangyli said he was wounded in the leg by the same bullet that struck his 15-year-old nephew in the neck. A video screen in court showed the boy in a wheelchair next to his uncle and father at the American base in Jalalabad from which the Afghan witnesses spoke. The boy's father, a police official named Ziudin, was not present at the shooting but said he viewed it as an unfortunate incident. "I forgive [the Marines] with my heart," he said. He asked the court if his son could be taken to the United States for treatment, but he was told that was not within the court's power. The inquiry is a fact-finding body, not a court of law. Its panel, three Marine officers with combat experience, is probing the conduct of the convoy and two of the unit's top officers. No one has been charged in the case. Maj. Fred C. Galvin, the company commander, and Capt. Vincent J. Noble, the convoy platoon commander -- both of whom were in the convoy -- are "designated parties" represented by lawyers. The panel will report its findings to the commander of the Marine Corps Forces Central Command, who will decide on any further action. http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20080123575018.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_1561624_AEr PjkQAAWuCR5dzxwS1lg%2FOtC0&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilenam e=e20080123aaindex_concat.html&cred=tn4xYp91FPYNa4 x0fHldRUc0FDOePpqc3La8UUvrSHywIlKYIxcb9S68LWAhsq#T OP">RETURN TO TOP New Orleans Times-Picayune January 20, 2008 Pg. 18 Marine Corps' Leader Gets Local Geography Lesson He says fleet needs Gulf Coast shipyards By Paul Purpura, West Bank bureau The Marine Corps' top brass was in New Orleans last week to discuss issues concerning that military branch while getting a feel for the local geography and its post-Katrina reality, the nation's top Marine said. New Orleans is home to the Marine Forces Reserve headquarters, which was at the heart of a visit that included a bus tour of the 9th Ward, which Gen. James Conway called "tragic." "I found myself wishing the nation would understand better and could take the bus ride I took, to be able to see how devastating it's been and how tough its going to be to recover from all of that," Conway, the Marine Corps commandant, said during an interview. The quarterly meetings are usually held in Washington, D.C., to discuss of leadership and organizational issues, he said, "but this one was an exception, and it's because we have a couple of issues." One, he said, is understanding New Orleans' geography, with its east bank, West Bank, the federal city plan for Algiers and the Naval Air Station-Joint Reserve Base in Belle Chasse, and its relationship to the Marine Forces Reserve headquarters. "That's all pretty abstract to us in Washington, D.C.," Conway said. "And so we saw a need to get out and understand the whole lay of the land better for future discussions as a result of what happens with BRAC," the base realignment and closure process. The other reason for the visit, he said, was to allow general officers to become more familiar with the amphibious shipbuilding operations on the Gulf Coast. Northrop Grumman Shipsystems builds the San Antonio class of amphibious transport dock ships in Avondale and Pascagoula, Miss., including the USS New Orleans, which was completed last year. Conway said the Navy and the Marine Corps, which deploy to war aboard the vessels, need more of them. |
