Ok, now we are preparing for DHS code red...if that happens, don't dare come to pick up your kids!
Miscellaneous Tidbits You Should Be Aware Of...
by reporter 15 Replies latest social current
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reporter
No Sign of Scuds or Banned Arms in Iraq Yet -U.S.
Sat March 22, 2003 08:50 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. forces in Iraq have yet to find any evidence of the suspected chemical or biological weapons that prompted the invasion, a U.S. general said on Saturday.Gen. Stanley McChrystal, vice director for operations on the U.S. military's Joint Staff, also told a briefing that none of the missiles fired by Iraq so far in the war had been a Scud.
Scud missiles, along with chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, are among the arms that Iraq was barred from possessing by U.N. resolutions after the 1991 Gulf War.
President Bush and his ally British Prime Minister Tony Blair accuse Iraq of having violated the resolutions and say President Saddam Hussein could provide weapons of mass destruction to groups like al-Qaeda.
Asked if any Scuds had been found by the U.S.-British forces that have invaded Iraq, McChrystal said:
"To my knowledge, we have not discovered any to this point," adding: "So far there have been no Scuds launched, which is very positive today."
Asked if any signs of chemical or biological weapons had been found, the general replied: "We have found no caches of weapons of mass destruction to date."
Iraq says it has destroyed all its stocks of chemical and biological weapons.
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reporter
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Israel taking part in war: Iraq March 24, 2003IRAQI Foreign Minister Naji Sabri said no Iraqi city had fallen to US-led forces, and alleged that Israel was taking part in the four-day-old war to topple President Saddam Hussein.
"No city has fallen into their hands. Umm Qasr, which is a small, isolated community, is still resisting," Sabri, the first Iraqi official to travel abroad since the start of the war, told reporters at Cairo's airport.The British military said today coalition troops were encountering small pockets of resistance from elite Iraqi troops in Umm Qasr, Iraq's only deepwater port which is just across the Kuwaiti border.
Fighting is still reported to be taking place round Basra and in Nasiriyah on the Euphrates river.
Sabri, arriving in Egypt after a stop in Syria, also charged that Israel was involved in the war.
Iraq is "sure that the Zionists are participating in the aggression, after having found an Israeli missile," he said, saying that Baghdad was "fighting a tripartite American-Anglo-Zionist aggression."
The statement follows a report on official Iraqi television that an Israeli-made missile had been found in Baghdad.
During the 1991 Gulf war, Iraq fired 39 Scud missiles at Israel, which exercised restraint after heavy US pressure not to upset the coalition which included a number of Arab countries.
Agence France-Presse -
reporter
Donald seems to have drunk too much of the Aspartame he helped put on the market, because his memory is flawed. Only yesterday, the US was showing photos of captured Iraqi POWs on TV.
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com
And Donald, how about this photo of a prisoner...
Is this in conformance with the Geneva conventions?
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animal
Cool... your own forum!
Animal
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reporter
Gary Hart: Code Red is coming
By William Jackson
GCN Staff
The war with Iraq has increased the risk of a terrorist attack on America, said former Sen. Gary Hart, who now is co-chairman of the Commission on National Security for the 21st Century. -
reporter
Hey animal! that pic right above your post kinda looks like you...
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reporter
World News
March 17, 2003
Israeli special forces join 'secret front' in Jordan
By Ian Cobain and Stephen FarrellAS HUNDREDS of thousands of men and machines mass in Kuwait, a highly secretive military build-up is also under way on President Saddam Hussein’s western flank. Special forces from the United States and Britain have begun to conduct long-range reconnaissance missions from their bases along the 113-mile border between Iraq and Jordan, military sources have told The Times. Remarkably, Israeli forces are also said to be involved.
Jordan is highly sensitive about military activity in a swath of land 50 miles deep along its border with Iraq, where residents talk of the rumble of transport aircraft landing at remote airstrips.
Jordan acknowledges that American troops are there, but insists they are to defend its own territory and airspace.
One Western military expert said yesterday: “It is a very discreet operation, but the special forces are certainly there. You may not see any tanks dashing across the border from Jordan when the war begins, but there will be significant special forces activity.
“These forces are already providing targeting information on Iraqi assets — so called Scud-hunting — and as they push east towards Baghdad, you can expect to see a very fluid front line.”
The secrecy has two objectives: to keep Iraq guessing and to avoid provoking a Jordanian population bitterly opposed to the coming war.
On Saturday, about 5,000 people chanted “no to foreign troops in Jordan” as they demonstrated in Amman.
The US Air Force is already targeting Iraqi positions in the western desert and on Friday a B1B bomber was used for the first time to attack an installation just across the border.
At least 5,000 US troops are already in Jordan, according to an official source in Amman. One Western diplomat in the capital said, however, that the true figure was nearer 7,000. Thousands more are expected to arrive soon, and although some will be training Jordanian Armed Forces and manning the three Patriot anti-missile batteries defending Amman and the northern city of Irbid, about half are thought to be special forces troops.
Marwan Muasher, Jordan’s Foreign Minister, conceded last week that the number of foreign troops may have risen to 2,000 or 3,000.
“We are not denying that there are special forces troops in Jordan, we are not denying that there are US troops in Jordan . . . but I want to make it absolutely clear that their presence is for purely defensive purposes,” he said.
“There are no troops for any offensive operations, and there are no troops in the tens of thousands, as has been reported in the press.
“We have made it clear that we are not participating in this war.”
Scattered among the Americans are an estimated 100 British special forces troops, some of whom are thought to be from the Royal Marines’ Special Boat Service (SBS), the Marines’ equivalent of the SAS.
Intriguingly, members of Sayeret Matkal, Israel’s commando force, are also said by Western military experts to have carried out covert reconnaissance operations inside the Western Iraqi desert. They are thought to be pre-empting a repeat of the first Gulf War when Saddam fired 39 Scuds at Israel.
In return for its political gamble, Washington has promised Jordan an economic aid package worth hundreds of millions of dollars or more, according to one official source in Amman.
King Abdullah has said that he is confident that Jordanians will benefit “economically, politically and strategically” from the pragmatic position that he is taking.
But the official source added: “We wish we had a more understanding public.”
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Francois
In Re: No WMD Yet Found in Iraq.
Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
Be patient.
francois
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reporter
Ohhhh, I'm patient as the day is long ... oops they did discover this: not WMD necessarily, but "probibited ordinance"...
Troops Find Missile Arsenal
March 24, 2003
From a correspondent with British troops near Basra
BRITISH troops outside Basra have discovered cruise missiles and warheads hidden inside fortified bunkers as part of a massive arsenal abandoned by Saddam Hussein's disintegrating southern army.
Cases of rockets, giant anti-shipping mines and other ammunition were piled from floor to ceiling in dozens of bunkers at what is marked on maps as the Az Zubaya Heliport.
The most disturbing find was two Russian-made Al-Harith anti-shipping cruise missiles, each 6m long and 1m in diameter, and nine warheads, hidden in two enormous reinforced concrete bunkers.
Another missile, as yet unidentified, was found still crated up at the rear of one of the bunkers.
Some of the boxes were clearly marked with the names of British manufacturers.
The scale and possible implications of the weapons find took British forces by surprise and has raised fresh questions about the extent of the Iraqi war machine and the ability of weapons inspectors to cope with the task of scouring such a vast country for prohibited ordnance.
The discovery of the missiles - date-marked 2002 - came as British troops from the Black Watch Regiment fought to secure the area around Iraqi's second city, Basra, in preparation for its capture.
The vast complex, surrounded by chainlink fence and barbed wire, was found to the southwest of the town, defended by a network of earth works and with tanks and other armoured vehicles dug in to the surrounding area.
The defenders had fled after coming under attack from coalition forces.
Outside the perimeter fence were about 40 bunkers packed with a mixture of RPGs and other ammunition.
Inside, 22 larger fortified bunkers contained larger weaponry including the Al-Harith missiles.
The missiles, with Al-Harith 2002 stencilled in red paint on the side, and covered with cyrillic writing, were housed in 20m-long concrete bunkers, 8m high, buried under earth and protected by sliding steel double doors 30cm thick.
Painted grey, the missiles had two wings, each about 60cm in span and three tail fins of a similar size.
There was no indication of the nature of the warheads fitted and experts were called in to examine the find.
Also housed inside the reinforced bunkers were what appeared to be large anti-shipping mines, 1m in diameter, and a host of other munitions.
On one box, written in English, were the words: "Contract AS Navy. 5/1980 Iran."
Corporal Steven Airzee said: "The initial sight was a shock. We were trying to figure out what they were.
"You have to wonder whether the weapons inspectors have been there because they looked pretty big."
The entrance to the heliport was decorated with a picture of Saddam Hussein in military uniform.
The area was surrounded by wrecked vehicles and abandoned sandbagged fox holes, some flying white flags, and was overlooked by a network of watch towers. -- (oh boy!)
There were fears that weapons could have been taken from some of the bunkers lying outside the perimeter fence.
Lieutenant Angus Watson said: "The complex is massive and we were surprised to find a lot of the kit intact, easily enough for a whole brigade."
The troops also discovered hundreds of leaflets lying on the floor, dropped by coalition planes, urging the defenders to surrender.
The leaflets, and evidence of an aerial or artillery attack, appeared to have persuaded the Iraqis to abandon their posts without a fight.
Agence France-Presse
http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,6178105%255E1702,00.html