11/10/04

TOP STORIES

Corrections And Clarifications
(USA Today, November 10, 2004, Pg. 2)
Air Force Col. Christopher Bogdan and Marine Col. Jack Sparks are
active-duty officers. Their status as members of the U.S. military tribunal
conducting hearings on suspected Al Qaeda and Taliban operatives at
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was stated incorrectly in some editions Monday.

U.S. Forces Battle Into Heart Of Fallujah
Units Meet Scattered Resistance; Attacks Continue Elsewhere
(Washington Post, November 10, 2004, Pg. 1)
U.S. forces pushed into the heart of Fallujah, encountering roadside bombs,
rockets and gunfire on the second day of a battle to wrest control of the
Iraqi city from insurgents. Army and Marine units that entered from the
northeast and northwest on Monday night had fought their way to the city
center and beyond by Tuesday night, U.S. commanders said.

U.S.-Led Assault Marks Advances Against Falluja
(New York Times, November 10, 2004, Pg. 1)
After two days of street-to-street fighting, the American-led assault on
Fallujah has wrested at least a third of the city from insurgents, capturing
the mayor's office, two mosques, a commercial center and other major
objectives in the heart of the downtown and advancing past the main highway
through the city. The military said that at least 10 American service
members and two Iraqi soldiers had been killed in the assault.

Rebel Fighters Who Fled Attack May Now Be Active Elsewhere
(New York Times, November 10, 2004, Pg. 1)
Insurgent leaders in Fallujah probably fled before the American-led
offensive and may be coordinating attacks in Iraq that have left scores dead
over the past few days, according to American military officials in Baghdad.
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian militant who is the most wanted man in
Iraq, is almost certainly gone from the city, the officials said.

Reality Of Combat Hits U.S. Platoon
(Los Angeles Times, November 10, 2004, Pg. 1)
Bullets and mortar shells fly. A comrade falls. "We've seen fire every step
of the way."

In Taking Falluja Mosque, Victory By The Inch
(New York Times, November 10, 2004, Pg. 1)
The battle for Fallujah does not fall into any neat category, and even the
messy label of urban warfare does not capture the intensity and
unpredictability of the battlefield. In some places, the insurgents appear
to fire and fall back, perhaps trying to tease the Marines into ambushes or
dissolve into the grimy fabric of the city to fight another day. But
elsewhere, they hold their ground until the buildings around them are
obliterated or open fire abruptly from exposed positions and are literally
cut to pieces. Nothing makes sense, but the Americans' superior training and
firepower eventually seem to prevail.

After The Fallujah Fight, Then What?
(Christian Science Monitor, November 10, 2004, Pg. 1)
The most important aspect of the battle for Fallujah may be its aftermath.
That is because other Iraqi cities are watching. If U.S.-led forces take
Fallujah with relative quickness and efficiency, Samarra, Ramadi, and other
restive regions may decide that harboring insurgents is not worth it. But if
the attack stalls, or causes large numbers of civilian casualties, moderate
or politically uncommitted Iraqis might decide that the guerrilla fighters
could end up winners, after all.

IRAQ

Troops Push Deeper Into Fallouja
(Los Angeles Times, November 10, 2004)
U.S. and Iraqi forces pushed deeper into Fallujah, taking control of
mosques, the City Hall complex and other key buildings as they searched
house to house for weapons and guerrillas. Heavy fighting continued in some
areas, including the Jolan district.

U.S. Calls Its Casualties In Battle Light
(Philadelphia Inquirer, November 10, 2004)
American casualties in Iraq are mounting as the U.S.-led offensive in
Fallujah unfolds. Ten American troops have been killed in action and an
undisclosed number wounded-a toll described by a senior U.S. commander as
very light.

Sunni Party Leaves Iraqi Government Over Falluja Attack
(New York Times, November 10, 2004)
In the first major political backlash over the assault on Fallujah, the
country's most prominent Sunni political party said that it was withdrawing
from the interim Iraqi government, while the leading group of Sunni clerics
called for Iraqis to boycott the nationwide elections scheduled for early
next year. The moves seemed to promise that popular protest against the
American-led attack on the city, which is predominantly Sunni Muslim, is
likely to grow in coming days.

Deadly Rockets Blast Way Through
(London Times, November 10, 2004)
The American military has been using novel and devastating methods to clear
Fallujah's streets. It has adapted a mine-clearing system, based on a
rocket-propelled hose with explosives attached, that was used for the first
time on D-Day on the fortified beaches of Normandy. Known as the Miclic, the
weapon is highly effective, but also indiscriminate and not normally
considered suitable for an urban environment.

Rebuilding What The Assault Turns To Rubble
Seabees, Other Units Began Planning Early For The Reconstruction Of Fallujah
(Washington Post, November 10, 2004, Pg. 20)
Weeks before Marine and Army units stormed into Fallujah, blowing up
buildings and blasting holes in insurgent positions, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Larry
Merola was already working on a plan to fix the damage. Merola, an architect
from Stoughton, Mass., is part of a Seabee team of engineers, builders and
carpenters responsible for estimating the battle damage long before the
first tank rolled.

Militants Unleash Wave Of Attacks Across Iraq
(London Times, November 10, 2004)
Resistance fighters seized the center of the western Iraq city of Ramadi as
the U.S. assault on Fallujah set off a wave of militant attacks across the
country. Local reports said that rebels moved in after a unit of U.S.
military snipers left a hotel from which they had been dominating the city
center.

Fighting Will Continue; The Only Question Is Where
Pentagon Weighs Next Target After Fallujah Offensive
(USA Today, November 10, 2004, Pg. 4)
The U.S.-led assault on Fallujah is the first of what promises to be a
series of military operations to secure towns and cities where insurgents
could disrupt upcoming elections and sow chaos throughout Iraq. Defense
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld declines to talk about where and when U.S. and
Iraqi troops might strike next. But he acknowledges that Fallujah was not a
climactic or final showdown with insurgent forces.

3 Marines And 2 Soldiers Were Killed Monday, Military Says
(Los Angeles Times, November 10, 2004)
In addition to the American troops killed in the fight for Fallujah, the
U.S. military announced that three Marines and two soldiers had died Monday
in other incidents.

Arms Monitor Reportedly Attacked
(Los Angeles Times, November 10, 2004)
CIA arms inspector Charles A. Duelfer, who conducted the fruitless
post-invasion search of Iraq for weapons of mass destruction, narrowly
missed being killed by a suicide car bomber in Iraq, CBS and NBC reported.
Two of his bodyguards died in the attack.

Aid Group Says It Will Quit Iraq
(New York Times, November 10, 2004)
The International Rescue Committee said it will cease its operations in Iraq
by the end of the year, becoming the latest aid organization to withdraw
from the country because of the deteriorating security situation. The
decision came just days after Doctors Without Borders, a medical relief
agency, announced that it was ending its operations in Iraq.

DEFENSE DEPARTMENT

Southcom Gets New Leader
(Miami Herald, November 10, 2004)
Surrounded by the brightly colored flags of 30 Latin American and Caribbean
countries, Army Gen. Bantz J. Craddock assumed leadership of the Pentagon's
Miami-based Southern Command, pledging to give "110 percent effort all day,
every day, and to lead by example from the front."

Pentagon Widens Procurement Investigation
(Washington Post, November 10, 2004, Pg. E1)
The Pentagon's investigation into the actions of a former Air Force official
who admitted giving preferential treatment to Boeing for several years is
expanding into a broad review of how the military buys weapons. The effort
could turn into the widest examination of the Pentagon procurement system
since the 1980s influence-peddling scandal known as Ill Wind.

Pentagon's Wynne: EADS Should Get To Join Tanker Race
(wsj.com, November 9, 2004)
The Pentagon's top acquisitions official said that the European Aeronautic
Defense and Space Co. should be allowed to enter competition for the Air
Force's new tanker fleet. "If it is a recompetition, it has to be full and
open," said Michael Wynne, acting undersecretary for acquisitions. "My view
is that we have to allow . . . EADS as good a view as any into this."

Effort To Realign Military Bases Abroad Seen As Short-Sighted
(GovExec.com, November 9, 2004)
Former military leaders and diplomats expressed concern that the Pentagon's
plan to restructure its forces abroad is driven too much by short-term
tactical needs rather than long-term strategic thinking and could disrupt
delicate diplomatic relations in the near future. Restructuring military
bases abroad should be viewed as a central aspect of foreign and defense
policy rather than a way to achieve immediate military objectives, the
officials told the congressionally mandated Commission on Review of Overseas
Military Facility Structure.

AF General: Raptor Has Deterrent Value
(Defense Today, November 10, 2004, Pg. 1)
The endangered F/A-22 Raptor fighter could play an important deterrent role
in the world, according to the deputy commander of the U.S. European
Command. But the future of the plane and other weapons systems will be on
the table as Pentagon policymakers face tight defense budgets and will be
forced to make "tough decisions" as the Defense Department gears up for the
Quadrennial Defense Review, Air Force Gen. Charles Wald said.

GUANTANAMO

U.S. Continues Tribunals, Plans To Appeal Ruling
(Philadelphia Inquirer, November 10, 2004)
Shackled in front of a three-member panel, Guantanamo Bay detainees
continued to go before military tribunals despite a landmark ruling that
could halt the proceedings and future trials. A federal court in Washington
ruled Monday that a detainee should not be tried by a military commission
until its rules conformed to the established code of military justice. The
U.S. government said it would continue the tribunals pending an appeal.

MARINE CORPS

Major Let Iraqi Die, Prosecutor Says
Defense Says Marine Felt Symptoms Faked
(San Diego Union-Tribune, November 10, 2004)
A Marine Corps major in charge of a detention facility in Iraq allowed a
prisoner to die because to him, the man "was getting what he deserved," a
military prosecutor told a court-martial jury at Camp Pendleton, Calif.,
during closing arguments. A defense attorney for Maj. Clarke Paulus argued
that Paulus believed the prisoner was faking his symptoms.

NAVY

Local Jets Are Flying Over Iraq At Same Pace As Start Of War
(Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, November 10, 2004)
Warplanes from the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy, manned by Hampton
Roads, Va., crews, are flying combat missions over Iraq at the same pace as
they did during the start of the war a year and a half ago-14-to
18-hour-a-day flight operations-according to Navy officials.

NATIONAL GUARD/RESERVE

Wounded Reservists In Limbo
Fort Carson 'Medical Hold'
(Denver Post, November 10, 2004)
Their fellow soldiers are home with family or still in battle in Iraq, but
75 soldiers are stranded in medical limbo at Fort Carson, Colo., neither fit
for duty nor allowed to go home for good. A pair of congressional staffers,
who visited the post this week to talk with about 35 of the soldiers from
the National Guard and Reserve, heard a raft of complaints about the
"medical hold" program that keeps them attached to the service but stuck far
from families and jobs.

WHITE HOUSE

Bush Visits Wounded G.I.'s And Families At Hospital
(New York Times, November 10, 2004)
As thousands of American-led troops continued their attack on Fallujah,
President Bush spent two hours with wounded service members at the Walter
Reed Army Medical Center and afterward wished Godspeed to the troops in
Iraq.

NATO Seeks To Bridge Europe's Differences With Washington
(Wall Street Journal, November 10, 2004, Pg. 15)
As the United States and Europe look for ways to bridge their differences,
NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer will meet President Bush today
and urge the administration to use the trans-Atlantic military alliance as a
solution. Scheffer said he will suggest that NATO, largely sidelined during
U.S. military campaigns in Afghanistan and in Iraq, should become the
laboratory where political disagreements like those over Iraq are resolved.

STATE DEPARTMENT

U.S. Foreign Policy Will Be 'Aggressive'
Powell Works Against 'Overhang'
(Washington Times, November 10, 2004, Pg. 13)
The Bush administration will pursue an "aggressive" second-term foreign
policy that will dispel the "overhang" cast over the first four years by
Iraq and the wider Middle East, Secretary of State Colin Powell told
reporters during a one-day visit to Mexico.

Bush Has Mandate To Continue Pursuing 'Aggressive' Foreign Policy, Says
Powell
(London Financial Times, November 9, 2004)
President Bush has won a mandate from the American people to continue
pursuing his "aggressive" foreign policy, but the Washington will also reach
out to the international community where it can, according to Secretary of
State Colin Powell.

Powell Invites European Allies To Span Gap On Iraq
(London Financial Times, November 9, 2004)
Secretary of State Colin Powell said that the United States wanted to bridge
differences with European allies over Iraq, but he offered few specifics on
any U.S. initiatives to rebuild transatlantic ties.

VETERANS

Fighting Strains VA Resources
One-Fifth Of Returning GIs Need Aid, Chief Says
(Atlanta Journal-Constitution, November 10, 2004, Pg. 4)
Although the number of U.S. military personnel engaged in Iraq and
Afghanistan is far smaller than in earlier major conflicts, their effect on
the Veterans Affairs Department will be significant, VA Secretary Anthony
Principi said. The VA already has seen about a fifth of the veterans of the
Iraq and Afghan conflicts for a variety of issues, he said, including wounds
that probably would have proved fatal in previous wars. And although the
proportion of those needing psychological help has not changed, Principi
said, the kind of fighting they face is likely to take a mental health toll.

CONGRESS

Reed To Assess Progress In Iraq And Afghanistan
(Providence Journal, November 10, 2004)
With the battle raging for control of the rebel-held city of Fallujah, Sen.
Jack Reed, Rhode Island Democrat and a member of the Senate Armed Services
Committee, left on his fourth wartime trip to Iraq to gauge the progress
against the enemy insurgency and the chances that legitimate national
elections can be held in less than two months.

NORTH KOREA

Deserter Lifts Veil On Closed Regime
Army Debriefed On Spy Program
(Washington Times, November 10, 2004, Pg. 13)
Former Army Sgt. Charles Robert Jenkins, sentenced last week to 30 days in
prison for deserting to North Korea four decades ago, may prove a valuable
source of intelligence on the world's most inaccessible country. Military
authorities rejected the offer of a plea bargain and went ahead with last
week's court-martial in Japan, but they are expected to debrief Jenkins
anyway. Jenkins has said he can confirm that "at least three other Americans
who are suspected of deserting to North Korea."

US Sets 'Red Line' Over NK Nukes
(Korea Times, November 10, 2004)
The United States has set a "red line" that the nuclear-ambitious North
Korea should not cross and has decided to consider more coercive options in
case Pyongyang transfers nuclear materials to a third party, a Japanese
newspaper reported. Quoting an unnamed high-level U.S. official in
Washington, the Yomiuri Shimbun said a "military strike could not be ruled
out."

MIDEAST

Progress Claimed In Missile Production
(Washington Times, November 10, 2004, Pg. 15)
Iran said that it is now able to make large numbers of its medium-range
Shahab-3 ballistic missile, which defense analysts think is capable of
hitting Israel or U.S. bases in the Persian Gulf.

EU Believes Iran Is 5 To 6 Years From Atom Bomb
Negotiations Aim To Keep Time Frame At That Length;
U.S. Has Shorter Estimate
(Wall Street Journal, November 10, 2004, Pg. 15)
European officials believe Iran is five to six years away from possessing a
nuclear weapon and say their goal in a proposed deal to suspend Iran's
uranium-enrichment activities is to ensure that Tehran gets no closer than
that.

U.S. Said To Be Skeptical Of Iran's Sincerity At Talks
(Philadelphia Inquirer, November 10, 2004)
The United States doubts Iran's good faith in talks with three European
powers trying to persuade the country to suspend activities that can help
make nuclear arms, Assistant Secretary of State Stephen G. Rademaker said.
An accord would require the Iranian government to continue its voluntary
freeze on enriching uranium and to stop related activities, but only until
the two sides reach a deal on European technological and trade support for
Iran.

Sand Barrier Keeps Militants From Iraq
(Washington Times, November 10, 2004, Pg. 14)
In the middle of the desert straddling Syria's border with Iraq, soldiers
are using bulldozers to create a wall of sand intended to prevent militants
from crossing into Iraq. The berm, which used to run intermittently along
the porous border, is being rebuilt, extended and floodlit. The sand barrier
ultimately will be 10 feet high and 80 miles long.

AFGHANISTAN

Kabul In Touch With Captors Of U.N. Aides
(New York Times, November 10, 2004)
The Afghan government said contact had been made with three United Nations
election officials kidnapped nearly two weeks ago, and it expressed hope
that they would be released soon. Despite continued threats by the
kidnappers, the latest news suggested that negotiations over the hostages
were progressing.

TERRORISM

'Sooner Or Later, We Will Get' Bin Laden, Says U.S. Envoy
(Baltimore Sun, November 10, 2004)
Thousands of American, Afghan and Pakistani soldiers are hunting for Osama
bin Laden and "sooner or later we will get him," Deputy Secretary of State
Richard Armitage told Pakistani television in an interview.

BUSINESS

Europeans Lobby In Washington For Military Work
(New York Times, November 10, 2004)
In these days of stark American and European differences over the Iraq war
and other issues, selling military equipment from a company with a French
and German imprint to the U.S. military may be a tall order. But just as
other foreign contractors, including Thales, BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce,
have begun to get a piece of the Pentagon's $400 billion budget, the
European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. is edging its way in, too, with a
series of small successes and a dose of old-fashioned American lobbying.

OPINION

Rebels, Guns And Money
James A. Marks
(New York Times, November 10, 2004)
A retired Army major general who was the senior intelligence officer for the
invasion of Iraq writes that one of the goals in the Fallujah offensive is
to gather more information on how the insurgents wage war and what their
support systems are throughout the country. "Thus it is vital that we have
included several thousand Iraqi troops in the operation. The press may
emphasize that the Iraqis do not have the skills and training to close on
and kill the insurgents, and that the heavy lifting will be left to us.
That's true, but the criticism misses the point. The Iraqis will be of great
help in talking to the locals and gathering leads."

A German Lesson For Remaking Iraq
Anne Applebaum
(Washington Post, November 10, 2004, Pg. 27)
Fifteen years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, East Germany is proof that
it is possible to do everything right and still leave millions of people
feeling cheated by liberation years later. "I don't know whether Iraq will
ever be a 'success,' but even if it is, we may not know for several decades.
If it was a grave misjudgment to ignore that fact before the Iraqi war
began, it would be no less catastrophic to do so now."

Fortunate Son
William McGurn
(New York Post, November 10, 2004)
"On this day in a Philadelphia tavern, the Continental Congress gave birth
to the Marine Corps almost a full year before the Declaration of
Independence. More than two centuries later in Fallujah, America still looks
to the Marines to do the job no one else can. And no one knows better than
Mindy Evnin the price: On a dusty Iraqi roadside in April 2003, her son,
Cpl. Mark Evnin, gave his life wearing that same uniform. But you hear only
admiration for the Corps from Mindy."

Net Access Could Knock Down Barriers To Freedom In Iraq
Kevin Maney
(USA Today, November 10, 2004, Pg. 4B)
There could be no more effective way to promote democracy and free markets
in Iraq than to significantly boost the number of Iraqis using the Internet.
"Why? Because many of the mullahs and despots who preach hatred of the West
fear the Internet. The Net brings information and ideas that can't be
controlled. It lets people communicate and organize. It is freedom of the
press on steroids."

Forgotten POWs, Forgotten Honor
John Norton Moore
(Washington Post, November 10, 2004, Pg. 27)
An attorney for a group of former American POWs tortured by Saddam Hussein's
regime during the Persian Gulf War writes that the Bush administration
continues to stonewall paying any compensation, while White House spokesman
Scott Mclellan repeats the mantra: "There is simply no amount of money that
can truly compensate these brave men and women for the suffering that they
went through."

EDITORIAL

The Rule Of Law At Gitmo
(New York Times, November 10, 2004)
A prosecution before the first American military commission since World War
II was halted this week, just as it was getting started, by a federal judge
in Washington who ruled that the proceedings lacked the basic elements of a
fair trial and violated the Geneva Conventions. The government is appealing
the case, but meanwhile America's image abroad will take another beating,
and our soldiers will be in even greater danger in the future of being
denied Geneva Convention protections should they be captured. The
administration should bring its policies into compliance with the law.

Court Rules In Favor Of Geneva Conventions
(Miami Herald, November 10, 2004)
"By deviating from 50 years of legal precedent and the internationally
accepted Geneva Conventions in its treatment of so-called enemy combatants
at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the Bush administration could put at risk American
soldiers captured in armed conflicts overseas. If the United States does not
abide by the Geneva Conventions that protect prisoners of war, why should
our enemies?"

Prisoner Rights Protect Everyone
(Seattle Times, November 10, 2004)
"The rules for the treatment of prisoners of war are not utopian. They are
the distilled wisdom of centuries. They have protected the lives of
Americans held captive by foreign powers. We should follow them."

Mixed Signals On Intelligence
(Chicago Tribune, November 9, 2004)
President Bush should make it clear to all parties involved in House-Senate
negotiations over intelligence reform legislation that he genuinely supports
the Senate's view of an intelligence director with broad budget authority,
not a shadow bureaucrat with a fancy title and no power as envisioned by the
House. "The president campaigned hard, and successfully, on the promise that
he would be the better candidate to ensure America's safety and aggressively
pursue the war on terrorism. The security of the United States depends, to a
great extent, on overhauling America's intelligence capabilities. It's time
for Congress and the president to deliver on that."

Source: Defense News