IRAQ

IRAQ - The Neo-Baathists & US Electioneering. Critics say that, if Allawi is a neo-Baathist, he may have a reasonto weaken Bush's chances of getting re-elected on Nov. 2. The rivalcandidate, John Kerry Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism. , has given Baghdadis a perception that aspresident he could end the US presence in this country sooner than aRepublican leader would do. This may explain why Allawi blamed theUS-led forces on Oct. 26 for insurgents' massacre of 49 freshlytrained Iraqi National Guard The Iraqi National Guard was part of the new Iraqi military but has since been absorbed by the New Iraqi Army controlled by the interim government. Following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, United States Coalition Provisional Authority Chief Paul Bremer disbanded the military apparatus recruits, saying the US military had shown"major negligence". By doing that, he gave Kerry ammunition toattack Bush. The assault, the deadliest of the guerrilla war, took place atnight on Oct. 23 in remote eastern Iraq, as three buses of unarmedguardsmen were heading south for their leave. Guerrillas ofZarqawi's group dressed as policemen waylaid the travellers at afake checkpoint, killed all 49 soldiers and their three civiliandrivers, mostly with shots to their heads, and burned the buses. (The relentless assaults on Iraqi security forces Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) is the Multi-National Force-Iraq umbrella name for the military and police forces that serve under the Government of Iraq.The armed forces are administered by the Ministry of Defense (MOD), and the Iraqi Police is administered by the Ministry of continued, as aSunni militant group For the Trotskyist entrist group active in the 1970s and 1980s, see the Militant tendency.The Militant Group was an early British Trotskyist group, formed in 1935 by Denzil Dean Harber, former leader of the Marxist Group, as an entrist group called the Army of Ansar Al-Sunna posted Internetphotos showing that it had captured 11 Iraqi guardsmen. Later the groupshowed how it killed them). Another issue damaging to Bush came up on Oct. 25, when the IAEA IAEAInternational Atomic Energy Agency. told the UN Security Council that 380 tonnes of high explosives in Iraqwent missing. US officials later said the explosives may have beensmuggled smug��gle?v. smug��gled, smug��gling, smug��glesv.tr.1. To import or export without paying lawful customs charges or duties.2. To bring in or take out illicitly or by stealth. to Russia, through Syria, shortly before the US-led invasioncaused Saddam's regime to collapse on April 9, 2003. "It isimpossible that these materials could have been taken from this site[Al-Qa'qa' south of Baghdad] before the regime'sfall", said Mohammed Al-Shara', a neo-Baathist who heads theScience Ministry's site monitoring See Web analytics. department and who previouslyworked with UN weapons inspectors under Saddam's regime.Shara' added: "The officials that were inside this facility(Qa'qa') beforehand confirm that not even a shred of paperleft it before the [the regime's] fall and I spoke to them about itand they even issued certified statements to this effect which theUS-led coalition was aware of". Shara' warned that othernearby sites with similar materials could have also been plundered. At a rally in Toledo on Oct. 28, Kerry said: "The presidentwas warned that those explosives were there - warned by theInternational Atomic Energy Agency International Atomic Energy Agency:see Atomic Energy Agency, International. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)International organization officially founded in 1957 to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy. . Today, the president's ownformer chief weapons inspector says it's likely these explosivesare being used against our troops". He added: "This presidentbelieves the buck stops everywhere but with the president of the UnitedStates The head of the Executive Branch, one of the three branches of the federal government.The U.S. Constitution sets relatively strict requirements about who may serve as president and for how long. ". Indeed, within minutes of Bush's Oct. 27 comments, it seemedthe president had been lured into precisely the conversation the Kerrycampaign was seeking. As if well prepared, the press was immediatelybombarded with a stream of e-mails from Kerry's surrogates savagingBush for his comments. Democratic staff and supporters were sent tocable news networks and radio stations. The Bush camp responded with its own surrogate on Oct. 28, sendingformer New York City New York City:see New York, city. New York CityCity (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. mayor Rudolph Giuliani on to the morning TV andradio shows. But he provided the Democrats with fresh fodder: "Nomatter how you try to blame it on the president, the actualresponsibility for it really would be for the troops that were there.Did they search carefully enough? Didn't they search carefullyenough?", Giuliani said on NBC NBCin full National Broadcasting Co.Major U.S. commercial broadcasting company. It was formed in 1926 by RCA Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), and Westinghouse and was the first U.S. company to operate a broadcast network. . The Democrats blasted the Bush campfor laying blame on US troops in harm's way harm's wayn.A risky position; danger: a place for the children that is out of harm's way; ships that sail into harm's way.. Kerry again pounded away on Oct. 29 on the explosives issue whileBush tried to move to other topics, saying Kerry showed a "completedisregard for the facts" and would "say anything to getelected". While Kerry mentioned the explosives repeatedly, hisaides issued statements contending that the administration was trying toduck the blame for failing to secure the Qa'qa' arms depot."Mr. President Mr. President can refer to: A male President Mr. President (radio series), a radio series featuring episodes from the lives of the Presidents of the United States Mr. President (TV series), a 1987 TV series starring George C. Scott Mr. ", Kerry said, "it's long since timefor you to start taking responsibility for the mistakes you made". Kerry portrayed the missing explosives as the latest piece ofevidence that the Iraq war Iraq War:see under Persian Gulf Wars. Iraq Waror Second Persian Gulf WarBrief conflict in 2003 between Iraq and a combined force of troops largely from the U.S. and Great Britain; and a subsequent U.S. made Americans less safe, not more so, asBush often insisted. With a military investigation under way, aMinneapolis affiliate of ABC-TV broadcast film it said was taken onApril 18, 2003, nine days after US troops reached Baghdad, showingscores of crates inside an Iraqi bunker that it said were marked"explosive". The station, KSTP KSTP Kerala State Transport Project (India), said the film was shot by acrew embedded with a unit of the 101st Airborne Division. An anchor saidKSTP had determined with global positioning system Global Positioning System:see navigation satellite. Global Positioning System (GPS)Precise satellite-based navigation and location system originally developed for U.S. military use. technology, and bytalking to Noun 1. talking to - a lengthy rebuke; "a good lecture was my father's idea of discipline"; "the teacher gave him a talking to"lecture, speechrebuke, reprehension, reprimand, reproof, reproval - an act or expression of criticism and censure; "he had to members of the unit, that the crew and its military escort onthat day headed from a point a short distance south of theQa'qa' arms depot and made a brief trip north. That would haveplaced them in or very near the facility. Some of the crates shown inthe film were stamped with the words "Al-Qaqaa StateEstablishment" in English; others bear orange stickers marked"Eksplosiv - Explosive". The station said members of the 101stshowed the news crew "bunker after bunker of material labelled"explosives". It reported that entry was gained with "thesnap of a bolt cutter Noun 1. bolt cutter - an implement for cutting boltscutlery, cutting tool, cutter - a cutting implement; a tool for cutting " to a chain, and that the bunkers were notsecured thereafter. A reporter and photographer said that Iraqis were"coming and going freely" in the area. The issue proved nettlesome for the Bush camp, which has said thedisappearance was being investigated and that there was no proof theexplosives had been used against coalition troops. On Oct. 28, Kerryaides sent out a transcript and later a video of Giuliani suggestingthat the fault might lie with the first US troops to reach the depot,not the president. Sen. John Edwards This article or section contains information about one or more candidates in an upcoming or ongoing election.Content may change as the election approaches. , Kerry's running mate running maten.1. The candidate or nominee for the lesser of two closely associated political offices.2. A companion.3. A horse used to set the pace in a race for another horse. , said itwas wrong to blame the troops. "Our men and women in uniform didtheir job", he said, adding: "George Bush didn't do hisjob". In Ohio Kerry reminded an audience of Bush's commentthat Americans should not want a commander-in-chief who "jumps toconclusions without knowing the facts". He then added, "Well,Mr. President, I agree with you"; he listed times when he said Bushhad done exactly that. In August, it was Kerry who was drawn out of a prolonged anddamaging silence and forced to confront slurs about his military recordmade by the Republican-sponsored Swift Boat Swift Boat is another term for a Fast Patrol Craft.Swift Boat Veterans For Truth is the original name of the Swift Vets and POWs for Truth.Swiftboating Veterans for Truth. Theirclaims, which the media amplified, reversed the momentum Kerry had builtup. But even when he addressed the smears, some Democrats fretted thathe had only drawn greater attention to the issue. With the explosives,the press is once again in the middle. Whatever the details, deadly weapons are missing and could havegone to the terrorists. This serves Kerry's case that Bush'swar in Iraq has made the world less safe. Kerry said on Oct. 28:"Here's the bottom line on the missing explosives in Iraq:They're not where they're supposed to be. You were warned toguard them. You didn't guard them". Over 100,000 Iraqi Civilians Killed Since March 20, 03: On Oct. 29,the International Herald Tribune International Herald TribuneDaily newspaper published in Paris. It has long been the staple source of English-language news for American expatriates, tourists, and businesspeople in Europe. (IHT IHT International Herald Tribune (newspaper)IHT Inheritance Tax (UK)IHT Institution of Highways & Transportation (UK)IHT Intermittent Hypoxic Training ) quoted a new US study as sayingmore than 100,000 civilians had probably died in Iraq as direct orindirect consequences of the March 20, 2003, US-led invasion. The studywas made by a research team at Johns Hopkins Noun 1. Johns Hopkins - United States financier and philanthropist who left money to found the university and hospital that bear his name in Baltimore (1795-1873)Hopkins2. University's BloombergSchool of Public Health in Baltimore. The report was scheduled forpublication on the Internet on Oct. 29 by The Lancet, the Lancet, TheBritish medical journal established in 1823, published weekly from New York and London. Its founder and first editor, Thomas Wakley, considered at the time a radical reformer, stated that the intent of the new journal was to report on hospital lectures and Englishmedical journal. The figure is far higher than previous mortality estimates. The IHTsaid: "Editors of the journal decided not to wait for Lancet'snormal publication date in early November, but instead to place theresearch online on Oct. 29, apparently so it could circulate before theUS presidential election". This also shows the extent to which theAmerican society has become polarised, with Democrats and Republicansfighting tooth and nail to win the presidency. The finding will generate intense controversy, not only in the USbut across the globe, since the Bush administration has not estimatedcivilian casualties Civilian casualties is a military term describing civilian or non-combatant persons killed or injured by military action. The description of civilian casualties includes any form of military action regardless of whether civilians were targeted directly. from the conflict. Independent groups have put thenumber at most in the tens of thousands. In the study, according to according toprep.1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.2. In keeping with: according to instructions.3. the IHT, teams of researchers fanned outacross Iraq in mid-September to interview nearly 1,000 families in 33previously selected locations. Families were interviewed about birthsand deaths in the household before and after the invasion. The IHT article added: "Although the paper's authorsacknowledge that thorough data collection was difficult in what iseffectively still a war zone, the data they managed to collect areextensive: Iraqis were 2.5 times more likely to die in the 17 monthsfollowing the invasion than in the 14 months before it". Before the invasion, the study says, the most common causes ofdeath in Iraq were heart attacks, strokes and chronic diseases."Afterward, violent death was far ahead of all other causes". The IHT quoted Dr. Gilbert Burnham of the Johns Hopkins study teamas saying: "We were shocked at the magnitude but we're quitesure that the estimate of 100,000 is a conservative estimate". Hesaid the team excluded deaths in Falluja in making their estimate, sincethat city was the site of unusually intense violence. In 15 of the 33 communities visited, residents reported violentdeaths in the family since the conflict started. They attributed many ofthose deaths to attacks by coalition forces mostly air strikes and mostof those killed were women and children. The risk of violent death was58 times higher than before the war, the researchers reported. "Thefact that more than half of the deaths caused by the occupation forceswere women and children is a cause for concern", the authors wrote. The team, led by Dr. Les Roberts Les Roberts is the name of: Les Roberts (mystery novel writer) Les Roberts (epidemiologist) Les Roberts (radio host) , included researchers from theJohns Hopkins Centre for International Emergency, Disaster and RefugeeStudies as well as doctors from Al-Mustansiriya University MedicalSchool in Baghdad. The IHT article added: "There is bound to beskepticism about the estimate of 100,000 excess deaths, which translatesinto an average of 166 excess deaths a day since the invasion. But somewere not surprised". The IHT quoted Scott Lipscomb, an associate professor atNorthwestern University, as saying: "I am emotionally shocked, butI have no trouble in believing that this many people have beenkilled". Lipscomb works on a Website called www.iraqbodycount.net.That project, which collates only media-reported deaths, currently putthe maximum death toll at just under 17,000. "We've alwaysmaintained that the actual count must be much higher", Lipscombsaid, according to the IHT. The IHT article added: "The Lancet researchers were highlytechnical in their selection of interview sites and data analysis,although interview locations were limited somewhat by theresearchers' decision to cut down driving time when statisticallypossible to minimize risk to the interviewers". Although the teams relied primarily on interviews with localresidents, the IHT said, "they also requested to see at least twodeath certificates at the end of interviews in each area, to try toensure that people had remembered and responded honestly". Theresearch team "decided that asking for death certificates in eachcase, during the interviews, might cause hostility and could put theresearch team in danger". Some of those killed may have been insurgents Insurgents,in U.S. history, the Republican Senators and Representatives who in 1909–10 rose against the Republican standpatters controlling Congress, to oppose the Payne-Aldrich tariff and the dictatorial power of House speaker Joseph G. Cannon. , not true civilians,the authors noted. Also, the rise in mortality included a rise inmurders and some deaths attributable to the deterioration of medicalcare. "But the majority of excess mortality is clearly due toviolence", Burnham said, according to the IHT. The paper is "studied and scientific, reserving judgment onthe politics of the Iraq conflict". But in an accompanyingeditorial, Richard Horton, editor of The Lancet, is "acerbic and tothe point about its message". The paper was received in October,"but it was peer-reviewed and edited at top speed because of itspolitical importance". "From a purely public health perspective it is clear thatwhatever planning did take place was grievously in error", Hortonwrote, adding: "The invasion of Iraq, the displacement of a crueldictator and the attempt to impose a liberal democracy by force have, bythemselves, been insufficient to bring peace and security to thecivilian population". The IHT quoted Horton as adding: "Democratic imperialism hasled to more deaths, not fewer". In their paper, the IHT noted, "Roberts and his colleagues areextremely critical of the Bush administration and the US Army for notreleasing estimates of civilian deaths". The IHT quoted the authors as saying in their paper: "Thisstudy shows that with moderate funds, 4 weeks, and 7 Iraqi team memberswilling to risk their lives, a useful measure of civilian deaths couldbe obtained".