Military

SHAPE News Morning Update

14 November 2003

IRAQ

• The Bush administration is rewriting its political plan for Iraq to speed the transfer of power with elections in the first half of next year and formation of a new government before a constitution is written, officials said. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said that it was necessary to give Iraqis control more quickly because “they are clamouring for it; they are, we believe, ready for it.” (AP 140201 Nov 03)
  
  
• The American general leading military efforts in Iraq will re-establish his headquarters in the region, reflecting what he described as “a sense of urgency” in the face of increasing attacks on U.S. and allied troops there. Gen. John Abizaid, head of U.S. Central Command, said resistance forces in Iraq number no more than 5,000, but are showing new levels of coordination. Gen. Abizaid also said that resistance forces posed “no military threat in Iraq that can drive us out.” (Reuters 140150 GMT Nov 03)
  
  
• U.S. forces in Iraq rejected on Thursday a human rights group’s allegation that they were failing to probe killings of civilians by soldiers and listed nine cases of possible misconduct under investigation. Human Rights Watch said in a report last month that U.S. troops were using excessive force, in some cases killing civilians and failing to conduct proper investigations into their deaths. “Iraq is currently a combat zone, and forces here are engaged in combat operations against determined enemy forces of significant size,” the task force said in a statement. “Based on these facts, appropriate rules of engagement have been established and are in full compliance with the law of war.” (Reuters 131812 GMT Nov 03)
  

WAR ON TERRORISM

• Parliament in Belgium adopted legislation on Thursday making it easier to charge terrorist suspects and punish those who provide support for terrorist groups. The move came one month after Belgium’s biggest anti-terror trial convicted one suspect to a maximum of ten years in jail for planning to blow up a Belgian military base where U.S. personnel is working. (AP 132201 Nov 03)
  
  
• Canada added three high-profile Palestinian groups to its list of banned terrorist organizations. The Palestine Liberation Front, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the PFLP-General Command all “knowingly engaged in terrorist activity,” Solicitor General Wayne Easter said in a news release in Toronto. The new listings increased to 34 the total number of organizations banned under the Anti-Terrorism Act. (AP 131906 Nov 03)