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| 5/24 |
| 2005/4/27 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:37379 Activity:moderate |
4/26 Is CNN reading the motd? Sometimes, occasionally, the facts of the
matter are spelled out cleanly to the people.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/04/27/iraq.main/index.html
It is unlikely Iraq shipped banned weapons material into Syria before
the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, according to a report released by the Iraq
Survey Group, a CIA/Pentagon team searching for Iraqi weapons
programs. In October, the group said that the 1991 Persian Gulf War
likely destroyed Iraq's capabilities of producing weapons of mass
destruction and that Iraq had none when the United States invaded.
After the October report, Vice President Dick Cheney and other U.S.
officials said they believed Iraq possessed such material before the
war and had moved it across the border into Syria, where the weapons
may have been transferred to terrorists. The group's final report --
released Monday on the U.S. Government Printing Office's Web site --
threw doubt on that possibility. The group also said it had been
unable to complete its investigation because of security concerns and
couldn't rule out an "unofficial" transfer of material. The report
said that 12 years of international sanctions against Baghdad after
the Gulf War had damaged Iraq's scientific community and these
experts' skills were in a state of "natural decay." The group added it
was unlikely that scientists were capable of recreating the destroyed
weapons programs, meaning Iraq would have possessed little, if
anything, to transfer.
\_ How does all that add up to CNN reading the motd? When I see a
headline that someone in the Senate "illyased" a debate, I'll
believe they're reading the motd.
\_ What does it mean to "illyas" a debate? Are the Dem's
currently illyasing the judge debate in the Senate? I know
the Republicans are thinking of nuking it...
\_ WTF?? I went to the link just now and http://CNN.com removed all of this
stuff from the URL. Oh well, at least it's here: -op
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/04/26/iraq.main/index.html |
| 5/24 |
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| www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/04/27/iraq.main/index.html BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraq's transitional National Assembly suffered a d ifficult setback Wednesday when gunmen shot and killed a lawmaker on her doorstep -- the first assembly member assassinated since the assembly w as voted into power on January 30. Lamee'a Abd Khidawi, a member of outgoing interim Prime Minister Ayad All awi's legislative bloc, was shot to death when she answered the door to her house, Baghdad emergency police said. The slaying follows recent unsuccessful assassination attempts on two oth er assembly members -- Mish'an al-Jabouri, near Tikrit; There is not a clear procedure to fill a vacant National Assembly seat. The news came a short time before Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Iraq's prime minist er-designate, told reporters he has proposed a new government and the as sembly will vote on it Thursday. Al-Jaafari said that the "character of the government" will reflect the c ountry's diversity. At least seven of the new government positions will be going to women, he said. The new government will reflect the country's geographic, religious, nati onal and political differences, he said. Al-Jaafari said the step will help erase the sins of the past, bring stab ility and joy to the nation's future, and bring hope to Iraqis. "We want to return the smiles to the faces of the children," he said. Officials at President Jalal Talabani's office said they had yet to recei ve the list, but expected it to arrive soon. Talabani must approve the list before the 275-member assembly votes on th e nominees. Interactive: Iraqi government organizational chart) Politicians in this diverse country have had difficulty finding common gr ound in the three months since 8 million Iraqis went to the polls. Lawmakers, in jockeying for power, have been trying to satisfy the needs of their supporters and other groups who want to be represented in impor tant government positions. The Shiite-led United Iraqi Alliance came out on top in the January elect ions. The Kurdish bloc and interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's list had strong showings as well. Suspected insurgents arrested The US military and Iraqi security forces have arrested 17 suspected in surgents in the northern Iraqi cities of Mosul and Tal Afar, the militar y said Wednesday. Troops arrested eight people on Wednesday in Mosul, the third most populo us city in Iraq and a hotspot in Ninevah province. In Tal Afar, near the Syrian border, forces arrested one person and confi scated a small weapons cache. On Tuesday, eight other people were detained and an unspecified number of weapons were found. Iraq likely didn't ship WMDs to Syria It is unlikely Iraq shipped banned weapons material into Syria before the 2003 US-led invasion, according to report released by the Iraq Survey Group, a CIA/Pentagon team searching for Iraqi weapons programs. In October, the group said that the 1991 Persian Gulf War likely destroye d Iraq's capabilities of producing weapons of mass destruction and that Iraq had none when the United States invaded. Full story) After the October report, Vice President Dick Cheney and other US offic ials said they believed Iraq possessed such material before the war and had moved it across the border into Syria, where the weapons may have be en transferred to terrorists. The group's final report -- released Monday on the US Government Printi ng Office's Web site -- threw doubt on that possibility. The group also said it had been unable to complete its investigation beca use of security concerns and couldn't rule out an "unofficial" transfer of material. The report said that 12 years of international sanctions against Baghdad after the Gulf War had damaged Iraq's scientific community and these exp erts' skills were in a state of "natural decay." The group added it was unlikely that scientists were capable of recreatin g the destroyed weapons programs, meaning Iraq would have possessed litt le, if anything, to transfer. Other developments Iraqi is offering a $1 million reward for information leading to the ar rest of al-Baqi abd al-Karim al-Abdallah al-Sadun, a high-ranking Baathi st during the Saddam Hussein regime. The government said al-Sadun funds insurgents in eastern and central Iraq and is wanted for supervising the torture and killing of about 500 civilians in 1991. An American soldier with Task Force Liberty died Tuesday after being in jured in a vehicle accident near Muqdadiyah, about 60 miles (97 kilomete rs) northeast of Baghdad, the US military said. The number of US tro ops killed in the Iraq war is 1,572, according to the military. CNN's Ryan Chilcote, Enes Dulami, Ayman Mohyeldin and Barbara Starr contr ibuted to this report. |
| www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/04/26/iraq.main/index.html WASHINGTON (CNN) -- It is unlikely Iraq shipped banned weapons material i nto Syria before the 2003 US-led invasion, according to report release d by the Iraq Survey Group, a CIA/Pentagon team searching for Iraqi weap ons programs. In October, the group said that the 1991 Persian Gulf War likely destroye d Iraq's capabilities of producing weapons of mass destruction and that Iraq had none when the United States invaded. Full story) After the October report, Vice President Dick Cheney and other US offic ials said they believed Iraq possessed such material before the war and had moved it across the border into Syria, where the weapons may have be en transferred to terrorists. Addenda to the group's final report -- released Monday on the US Govern ment Printing Office's Web site -- threw doubt on that scenario. "ISG judged that it was unlikely that an official transfer of WMD materia l from Iraq to Syria took place," the report said. The group also said it had been unable to complete its investigation beca use of security concerns and couldn't rule out an "unofficial" transfer of material. The report said that 12 years of international sanctions against Baghdad after the Gulf War had left Iraq's scientific community decimated and th ese experts' skills in a state of "natural decay." The group added it was unlikely that scientists were capable of re-creati ng the destroyed weapons programs, meaning Iraq would have possessed lit tle, if anything, to transfer. "It is worth noting that even if ISG had been able to fully examine all t he leads it possessed, it is unlikely that conclusive information would have been found," the report said. Instead, the report said, detainees interviewed by the group "uniformly d enied any knowledge of residual WMD that could have been secreted to Syr ia." Charles Duefler, head of the Iraq Survey Group, recommended that many of the detained scientists could be released because they had been cooperat ive, were no longer a security risk and had no more information to share . US troops in Iraq nearly captured Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al- Zarqawi earlier this year, American officials said Monday. In February, US troops were tipped off that al-Zarqawi might be in the Ramadi area, west of Falluja and Baghdad, sources said. At one point, troops chased down a suspicious vehicle, later determining the insurgent leader had been in it but had managed to escape, officials said. A lieutenant of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was seized from the vehic le, two sources said. The sources said a computer also was found with a treasure trove of infor mation, including direct connections to bin Laden. The sources said the find indicates al-Zarqawi and bin Laden are communic ating and that couriers for the al Qaeda leader are able to get into Ira q Last year, al-Zarqawi pledged his allegiance to bin Laden, who later prai sed the insurgent leader's work against US-led coalition troops in Ira q Al-Zarqawi and his group -- called al Qaeda in Iraq -- is blamed for doze ns of attacks on US and Iraqi forces as well as beheadings of Western hostages. Full story) Other developments An American soldier with Task Force Liberty died Tuesday after being in jured in a vehicle accident near Muqdadiyah, about 60 miles (97 kilomete rs) northeast of Baghdad, the US military said. The number of US tro ops killed in the Iraq war is 1,572, according to the military. A former Wall Street trader who rejoined the Marines after the Septembe r 11, 2001, attacks is scheduled for a military preliminary hearing Tues day in the shooting deaths of two Iraqis last year. Full story) Iraqi President Jalal Talabani met briefly Tuesday with Prime Minister- designate Ibrahim al-Jaafari for an update on progress in putting togeth er a list of Cabinet members in the new government. Al-Jaafari didn't su bmit a draft proposal of the Cabinet members, said a spokesman in Talaba ni's office. Concerned about an uptick in violence and a May deadline for a new Iraq i government, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Vice Presiden t Dick Cheney have reached out to Iraqi leaders in recent days to accele rate the decision-making process, US officials said Monday. |
| CNN.com -> www.cnn.com/ About 250 prisoners freed from Abu Ghraib The United States today freed about 250 detainees from Abu Ghraib prison, site of alleged abuses that prompted global outrage and led to days of hearings on Capitol Hill. Today marks the first mass prisoner release since the abuse scandal broke several weeks ago. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had visited the prison Thursday. |