Military

SHAPE News Morning Update

17 September 2003

IRAQ

• Defense Secretary Rumsfeld said Tuesday that he had no reason to believe that Iraq’s deposed President Saddam Hussein had a hand in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. At a Defense Department news conference, he was asked about a poll that indicated nearly 70 percent of American respondents believed the Iraqi leader probably was personally involved. At his Pentagon news conference, he reiterated his belief that U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq are making satisfactory progress in stabilizing the country. (AP 162039 Sep 03)
  
  
• In a letter shown to The Associated Press on Tuesday, a U.S. general promised to treat Saddam Hussein’s fugitive defense minister with the “utmost dignity and respect” if he surrendered. A mediator, Dawood Bagistani, a human rights activist in Mosul, said U.S. forces also were willing to take Sultan Hashim Ahmed’s name off the 55-most wanted list if he turned himself in for questioning. Special treatment for Ahmed by U.S. forces could be an effort to defuse the continuing guerrilla-style attacks. The offer - made in a letter dated Aug. 28, by Maj. Gen. David Petraeus - was in response to a request by Ahmed’s family and tribal chiefs that the Army remove Ahmed’s name from the most-wanted list in return for his surrender. Bagistani had said he would go on local television on Tuesday night to tell Ahmed that the Americans had agreed to take his name off the list if he first surrendered. That announcement was later postponed until Wednesday, he said. The offer, Bagistani said, would call for Ahmed to be kept in American custody only long enough for him to be thoroughly questioned. He could then return to normal life and would not be prosecuted by the Americans. (AP 161821 Sep 03)

OTHER NEWS

• Syria is allowing militants to cross its border into Iraq to kill U.S. soldiers and is aggressively seeking to acquire and develop chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, a senior Bush administration official said in Washington. He said on Tuesday that Syria continues to support organizations the United States lists as terrorist groups. John Bolton, undersecretary of state for arms control, told a House of Representatives hearing that the U.S. was trying to change Syria’s behavior through diplomatic means and urged lawmakers to let the effort run its course before passing trade restrictions and other measures. After testifying to the House International Relations Committee’s panel on the Middle East and Central Asia, Bolton left for Moscow, where he is to talk with the Russians about proliferation of nuclear technology in Iran. Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, detailed Syria’s unconventional weapons capability, quoting from an unclassified CIA report to Congress that was issued in April and covers the first six months of 2002. She said Syria’s recent agreement with Russia concerning close cooperation on nuclear power “raises grave questions regarding the Syrian regime’s true objectives on the nuclear front.” (AP 170140 Sep 03)
  
  
• Hundreds of rural Moroccans lined up under a searing sun on Tuesday for U.S. medical treatment for toothaches, cataracts, broken bones and other ailments. While stretched thin in hostile zones like Iraq or Afghanistan, the U.S. military is conducting a two-week humanitarian mission in an effort to drum up goodwill and polish its image in an allied Muslim country recently hit by terrorism. Nearly 100 U.S. medical staffers landed in the North African kingdom 10 days ago for Operation Medflag, an annual effort to deliver temporary medical care to Africa. American military leaders say the operation helps bolster the image of U.S. forces in Morocco, where polls show people overwhelmingly opposed military action in Iraq. “When they see the activities that we’re engaged in, they realize the (negative) stereotypes they may have heard are not accurate,” said Rear Adm. Lewis Crenshaw, deputy commander for U.S. Naval Forces Europe. Military officials say this year’s edition has been especially productive, with more than 5,100 people treated since the operation began on Sept. 6. (AP 161848 Sep 03)