Al-Zarqawi Murdered Berg, CIA Concludes

WASHINGTON — Terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (search) was most likely the man who beheaded Nicholas Berg, the American citizen whose execution was captured on videotape and shown on an Islamic Web site, U.S. intelligence and military officials said Thursday.

Despite the poor quality of the digitized audio and video of the tape that has been circulating since it first appeared Tuesday, officials said an initial technical analysis concluded that there was a "high probability" Berg's killer was the notorious al-Zarqawi.

A more detailed study of the videotape is being done, intelligence officials said.

"All indications are that is the case," said Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez (search), the No. 2 U.S. military leader in Iraq. Asked whether he meant Zarqawi personally carried out the execution, Sanchez said, "All indications are he did it."

Asked about Zarqawi's whereabouts, the general said, "We believe he's moving around the country."

Berg's body was found in Baghdad on Saturday.

Meanwhile, sources close to the situation told Fox News that there was a "coincidental" link between Berg and accused Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui (search).

FBI agents interviewed Berg a few years ago when they were investigating the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, the sources said. He was interviewed because, unbeknownst to him, Moussaoui had used his e-mail account when he was in Oklahoma.


posted by Frodgie at 6:31 AM

 

Some prisoners freed from Abu Ghraib

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Four buses carrying an estimated 315 prisoners left Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison Friday, the first mass prisoner release since images of abuse at the hands of the U.S. military surfaced several weeks ago.

The buses were escorted by U.S. military Humvees and several cars apparently carrying family and friends of the prisoners. It was unclear where the buses were headed.

About a week ago, there were approximately 3,800 prisoners at Abu Ghraib. The new U.S. commander of detention operations in Iraq, Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, said he plans to reduce that number to between 1,500 and 2,000.

Miller took over for Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, who was relieved her of duty on Jan. 17, a day after the coalition military announced an investigation into allegations of abuse in the prison.


posted by Frodgie at 6:29 AM

 

We have four options in the Middle East.

A great moment in this morning’s Jim Hoagland column sums up the underlying issues in Iraq and the Arab world. Hoagland quotes an unnamed advisor to a ruling Arab monarch, who candidly said to him: “Sunnis make up 85 percent of the population of the Arab world. How can it be democratic” therefore for Shiites to rule an Arab country like Iraq?

Doesn’t that sum it all up? The crux of so many of the troubles of the Middle East is the refusal of the Sunni Arab population of the region to accept that any other group of people has a right to govern itself: not the Kurds, not Iraq’s two-thirds Shiite majority, not the Christians of Lebanon, and emphatically not the Jews of Israel.

And speaking of those Shiites, there’s a very interesting article in The New Yorker this week by George Packer profiling a member of the Shiite middle class: a doctor, an educated man, torn between religious traditionalism and his desire for a freer, more modern life.

How to resolve that contradiction is this man’s decision. Now he is free to make it.

This is a week when many pundits are succumbing to despair about the US mission in Iraq. So it’s worth remembering this stark dilemma that US policymakers have faced since 9/11:

The Arab Middle East has spawned murderous ideologies that threaten the peace and security of the whole world. You can’t “withdraw” from the Middle East: not when millions of Middle Easterners live in the West, not when the Middle East produces one-third of the world’s oil, and not when you can get from Riyadh or Baghdad to Boise, Idaho, in less than 24 hours.

posted by Frodgie at 6:27 AM

 

Rumsfeld dismisses criticism

ABU GHRAIB, Iraq — Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told troops in a surprise trip to the Abu Ghraib prison yesterday that he is "a survivor" who knows better than to take too seriously a score of calls from the press and politicians for his resignation over prisoner-abuse charges.
"I've stopped reading the newspapers," he said to cheers and applause from U.S. soldiers at the detention camp at the epicenter of the scandal that has plagued the Pentagon in recent weeks. "It's a fact. I'm a survivor."
posted by Frodgie at 6:25 AM

 

Bush Team to Rework Iraq Funding After Senate Balks

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Bush administration officials said they would rework a plan for a $25 billion reserve fund for Iraq (news - web sites) operations after Republican and Democratic senators on Thursday deplored it as an effort to get "a blank check" without congressional oversight.

In a frequently testy Senate Armed Services hearing, even reliable Republican allies balked at the White House's unusual proposal to let it allocate the money to help finance Iraq and Afghanistan (news - web sites) operations for coming months without the approval of Congress.

"Our forefathers would have scorned such arrogance as has been demonstrated by this request," said Sen. Robert Byrd, a West Virginia Democrat. "I'm going to support this $25 billion but we're going to put limitations on it."

Pressed by lawmakers, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and White House deputy budget director Joel Kaplan agreed to try to rework the plan to give Congress more oversight.

Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain criticized the administration's handling of Iraq, citing "mistakes that have been made which have led us to a situation which I think is very grave," and said Congress must increase its oversight.

Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry (news - web sites), a Massachusetts senator, said in a statement he would back the additional money despite voting against a previous supplemental bill for Iraq. "The situation in Iraq has deteriorated far beyond what the administration anticipated. The money is urgently needed," he said."


posted by Frodgie at 6:23 AM

 

Berg's family 'devastated' by videotaped execution

(CNN) -- Reaction to the videotaped execution of Nicholas Berg spread around the world Tuesday.

Contacted at home, the victim's father was devastated.

"I'm too upset to talk," Michael Berg told CNN. "We will release a statement to the press soon."

The Berg family was told by the State Department that Nicholas' body is now in Kuwait and may arrive back in the United States as early as Wednesday.

Nick Berg had gone to Iraq to work on communication towers.

His father previously had said his son "just really wanted to be part of something that was important. He supported the administration's being in Iraq, he supported everything they were doing and he wanted to help in a positive way by building, rather than breaking down."

posted by Frodgie at 6:13 AM

 

U.S. troops kill 13 al-Sadr loyalists

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- American soldiers have killed 13 Iraqi militia loyal to renegade Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and have detained 14 others in overnight fighting near Najaf, U.S. military officials said Tuesday.

Late Monday, members of al-Sadr's Mehdi Army attempted to ambush a U.S. convoy with small arms fire. No American forces were injured in the incident.

The U.S. military began a major offensive Sunday to retake control of parts of the city, reclaiming the governor's palace from al-Sadr's control.

Al-Sadr, who is wanted in connection with the killing of a rival cleric last year, launched an uprising against U.S. troops in April. Since then, coalition forces have cracked down on the cleric's strongholds while trying to avoid religious sites.

Al-Sadr is believed to be in Najaf ,where his militia remains in control of much of the Shiite holy city, although he travels to nearby Kufa to deliver weekly sermons on Friday.


posted by Frodgie at 6:38 AM

 

Bush praises Rumsfeld

grim President Bush yesterday stood shoulder to shoulder with his national defense team at the Pentagon and strongly endorsed Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld.
"You are courageously leading our nation in the war against terror. You're doing a superb job. You are a strong secretary of defense, and our nation owes you a debt of gratitude," Mr. Bush said in the Eisenhower Dining Room in his latest expression of confidence in Mr. Rumsfeld.
But also yesterday, Mr. Bush went to Mr. Rumsfeld's office at the Pentagon to view at least a dozen photographs of U.S. troops abusing Iraqi prisoners.
One senior White House official said the photos include some still images from one of at least two unreleased videotapes and show naked Iraqis being humiliated and mistreated in "a sexual way."

posted by Frodgie at 6:34 AM

 

Amnesty: British Troops Shot Iraqi Civilians

LONDON — British soldiers have shot and killed Iraqi civilians, including an 8-year-old girl, in situations where the troops were under no apparent threat, Amnesty International (search) alleged Tuesday.

A report by the human rights group said the military failed to investigate many cases in which British soldiers killed civilians in Iraq (search), and the inquiries they did undertake were too secretive.

The Ministry of Defense told The Associated Press that it would comment after it had time to examine the allegations in detail.

Amnesty also reported that armed groups and individuals had killed dozens or possibly hundreds of civilians in British-controlled southern Iraq, and many people were afraid to even discuss the killings. It said Iraqis had little confidence that the British military or Iraqi police could protect them.

"We are told in the U.K. that southern Iraq is comparatively safe and secure. Yet Iraqis on the ground have painted a very different picture," said Kate Allen, director of Amnesty International U.K. "People live in fear of armed groups who can strike with seeming impunity."

Amnesty said the allegations of killings by British forces were based on its representatives' visits to southern Iraq in February and March. The delegates interviewed shooting victims' families, witnesses, Iraqi police officers and Coalition Provisional Authority (search) officials, the report said.

The group said it could not estimate how many Iraqi civilian deaths British troops had caused.


posted by Frodgie at 6:31 AM

 

Tehran's Hidden Hand
Iran's mounting threats in Iraq.

The State Department's annual "Patterns of Global Terrorism" report was issued earlier this month, complete with its usual hit parade of terrorist groups, state sponsors and emerging trends. Predictably, Iran was singled out for the "planning of and support for terrorist acts," as well as assistance to "a variety of groups that use terrorism to pursue their goals." The report also fingers Iran for pursuing "a variety of policies in Iraq aimed at securing Tehran's perceived interests there, some of which ran counter to those of the Coalition." A statement castigating Iran for such activities was long overdue. However, Washington must now challenge Iran over this growing list of nefarious activities in Iraq that have been plaguing coalition reconstruction efforts.

Conventional Fighting. Ash-Sharq al-Awsat ran this headline on March 16, 2004: "American and Iranian Forces Exchange Fire on the Border." American officials claimed that one Iranian border guard was killed, and other reports indicated that three Iranians were killed, but Tehran denied that any such incident took place. This was not the first time that open hostilities were reported. Coalition officials indicated in January and February that Abu al-Khasib, the port just below Basra on the Shatt al-Arab, has been the scene of Iranian violence against Iraqis. Iranian Revolutionary Guards have opened fire upon Iraqi water patrols along the estuary separating their two countries. Iranian fighters are also inside Iraq, and they may or may not be sanctioned by Tehran.

posted by Frodgie at 6:30 AM

 

Bush Sees New Abuse Photos With 'Disgust'

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush examined new photos and video clips of American soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners Monday, reacting with "deep disgust and disbelief" during a Pentagon visit in which he underscored his support for embattled Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

The president spent the morning in damage-control mode at the Pentagon, where he convened an extraordinary gathering of top military, diplomatic, legal and intelligence advisers.

Seeking to douse speculation about Rumsfeld's future, Bush stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the secretary - along with Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Colin Powell, CIA Director George Tenet and other civilian and military officials - to offer a testimonial before television cameras. Then Bush went behind closed doors to view about two-dozen video clips and photos showing U.S. soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners.


posted by Frodgie at 6:20 AM

 

U.S. pushes deep into Shi'ite city

NAJAF, Iraq — U.S. forces stepped up pressure on Shi'ite gunmen loyal to radical cleric Sheik Muqtada al-Sadr, pushing with tanks into the holy city of Kufa and assaulting militia positions in the narrow streets of a Shi'ite enclave in Baghdad. About 30 Iraqis were killed.
Militiamen from Sheik al-Sadr's Mahdi's Army attacked police stations and set up checkpoints in the Shi'ite neighborhood of Sadr City, a heavily populated district in the eastern part of the capital, U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said.

U.S. troops moved in and secured two police stations in fighting that killed 18 militiamen, he said.

posted by Frodgie at 6:42 AM

 

VA restructuring hospital operations

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Veterans Affairs Department will close three hospitals in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Mississippi and build two new ones in Nevada and Florida as part of much-anticipated restructuring plan, The Associated Press has learned.

The agency also will add or remove medical services at dozens of other facilities.

VA Secretary Anthony Principi also has endorsed building 156 community-based outpatient clinics by 2012, with an emphasis on serving rural areas. Local VA officials had sought 270 clinics.

Principi was to release the plan Friday in Las Vegas. Several congressional officials who had seen it described the contents to the AP in advance.


posted by Frodgie at 6:38 AM

 

Our Weird Way of War
Our enemies know us only too well.

The wars since September 11 have once more revealed the superiority of Western arms. Afghanistan may be 7,000 miles away, cold, high, and full of clans, warlords, and assorted folk who have historically enjoyed killing foreign interlopers for blood sport, but somehow a few thousand Americans went over there and took out the invincible Taliban in eight weeks. What followed was not perfect, but Mr. Karzai offers far more hope than a Mullah Omar — and without half of Afghanistan ceded over as a terrorist sanctuary to plan another September 11.
Iraq is a long way away too. And the neighborhood is especially eerie, with the likes of hostile Syria and Iran, and triangulators on the dole like Jordan and Egypt. When we become ecstatic because a megalomaniac like Khaddafi says he's taken a hiatus from nuclear acquisition, you can see that good news over there is rare indeed.


posted by Frodgie at 6:30 AM

 

Bush aims to avoid father's mistakes

President Bush is resolved not to repeat what he thinks were the two fundamental blunders of his father's one-term presidency: abandoning Iraq and failing to vanquish the Democrats.
In one of several exclusive interviews with The Washington Times, Mr. Bush said his father had "cut and run early" from Iraq in 1991.
Mr. Bush also said Sen. John Kerry would "regret" disparaging the U.S.-led coalition that liberated Iraq, promising to use the Massachusetts Democrat's words against him in the election campaign.
The president, while acknowledging that "the rebuilding of Iraq is a difficult period," is optimistic about nurturing a democratic government there.

posted by Frodgie at 6:27 AM

 

First Trial Date Set in Iraqi Prisoner Abuse

BAGHDAD, Iraq — The U.S. military next week will begin the first in a series of courts-martial in the Abu Ghraib (search) prisoner abuse allegations, trials that could bring new revelations on whether the mistreatment of Iraqis was an aberration or stemmed from pressure from commanders.




Spc. Jeremy C. Sivits (search) of Hyndman, Penn., a member of the 372nd Military Police Company (search), will face a military court in Baghdad on May 19 — less than a month after photos of prisoners being abused and humiliated were first broadcast April 28.

Both the speed of the trial's scheduling and the venue in the Iraqi capital underscore the military's realization that it must demonstrate resolve in prosecuting those responsible for a scandal that threatens to undermine the U.S. mission in Iraq and President Bush's re-election chances.

Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, announcing the trial date, said the proceedings would be held in the Baghdad Convention Center, which houses the coalition press office, and be open to media coverage.


posted by Frodgie at 6:21 AM