Senator KerrySenator Kerry: End US Occupation of IraqThu Jul 17 23:34:13 2003208.152.73.131Senator Kerry: End US Occupation of Iraq Agence France-Presse http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/071803A.shtml Wednesday 16 July 2003 Washington, DC - US Senator and Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry called for an end to the US occupation of Iraq and criticized the administration's use of now discredited intelligence as a basis for launching the war. "I fought in Vietnam, and half the wall -- half the (Vietnam Veterans Memorial) wall -- is filled with the names of people who were there because leaders were filled with pride and wouldn't make the right decisions," Kerry told NBC television. "We need to get the sense of American occupation over with. We need to protect our troops. And that means that pride should not prevent this administration from going to the United Nations and doing what they should have done in the first place," he declared. Kerry also criticized US President George W. Bush's use in his January 28 State of the Union address of the erroneous claim that Iraq sought to buy nuclear material from Africa. Central Intelligence Agency Director George Tenet has taken responsibility for that claim and was to testify before a congressional panel investigating the matter later Wednesday. "Remember the old saying, Harry Truman's saying, 'The buck stops here'? Right now, apparently, the buck stops at Langley (CIA headquarters). And there are a lot of questions about the political input to this intelligence," Kerry told NBC's "Today" show. "We have to see what happened." The US senator for Massachusetts, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations committee, also criticized the administration's efforts leading up to the war in Iraq, launched on March 20. "I made it very clear that their diplomacy leading up to the war was inadequate," Kerry said. "I said I thought the president should have even done more diplomacy before he went to war. I said to the president, 'Mr. President, don't rush to war. You need to build the large coalition necessary in order to win the peace.' "And I said very clearly, winning the war was not what was difficult, it's winning the peace," Kerry said. "And I don't think the president put a plan together to do that." Go to Original U.S. General Says Iraq Has Become a Guerrilla War Reuters Thursday 17 July 2003 WASHINGTON - U.S. troops are facing a classic guerrilla war in Iraq, spearheaded by Saddam Hussein loyalists, and American forces need to adapt their tactics to crush this increasingly organized resistance, the head of U.S. Central Command said on Wednesday. This contrasted with an assessment given by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on June 30 that it was not ``anything like a guerrilla war or an organized resistance.'' But Central Command chief Gen. John Abizaid, who commands American forces in Iraq, said a guerrilla war is exactly what U.S. troops are confronting. ``I think describing it as guerrilla tactics being employed against us is, you know, a proper thing to describe in strictly military terms,'' Abizaid said in a Pentagon briefing. Abizaid, who replaced the retiring Gen. Tommy Franks at the helm of Central Command earlier this month, also said U.S. troops should be prepared for yearlong deployments in Iraq, a staple of the Vietnam War but used only rarely since then. ``I think if you look at contemplating keeping the force structure stable for a while, until the security situation improves, that yearlong employments or deployments are possible for certain units ... So we've done it before and we can do it again,'' Abizaid said. He said U.S. forces are battling remnants of Saddam's Baath Party throughout Iraq, with various cells of six to eight resistance fighters ``receiving financial help from, probably, regional level leaders.'' He said there was ``no evidence of central command.'' The general also said there was ``a lot of information that indicated that there were significant terrorist groups and activities,'' including from the group Ansar al-Islam and perhaps elements of al Qaeda. He said there were foreign fighters in ``not significant numbers.'' Mid-level officials of Saddam's government, including from the old intelligence and security agencies and the Special Republican Guard, ``have organized at the regional level in cellular structure, he said. They ``are conducting what I would describe as a classical guerrilla-type campaign against us. It's low-intensity conflict in our doctrinal terms, but it's war however you describe it.'' Lawrence Di Rita, Rumsfeld's chief of staff and acting chief Pentagon spokesman, told reporters that whether or not the ``guerrilla'' label is apt is ``almost beside the point'' and an ``academic discussion.'' Abizaid said resistance forces are better coordinated, more sophisticated and ``less amateurish.'' ``The level of resistance, I'm not so sure I would characterize it as escalating in terms of number of incidents. But it is getting more organized and it is learning. It is adapting -- it is adapting to our tactics, techniques and procedures. And we've got to adapt to their tactics, techniques and procedures,'' he said. A senior defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said ``there's a zillion upsides'' to yearlong deployments from the perspective of commanders, but there is concern about keeping troops in the all-volunteer U.S. military away from their families for so long. Some U.S. troops in Iraq have complained publicly about the uncertainty of when they are returning home. Rumsfeld testified last week that the entire 3rd Infantry Division definitely would be back home by September. But officials backtracked this week, saying the goal was to bring them home sometime this fall, hopefully September, depending on security conditions.(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)------------------------------------------------------------- CIA Did Not Receive Niger Documents Until Feb. 2003 http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/071803B.shtml GOP Blocks Iraq Investigation in Senate http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/071803C.shtml Tenet: White House Insisted on Using Niger Evidence http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/071803D.shtml The Life and Death of a US Soldier in Iraq http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/071803E.shtml The Spies Who Pushed for War http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/071803F.shtml Newsweek: Enter the FBI http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/071803G.shtml Jean-Marcel Bouguereau | A Black Month of July http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/071803H.shtml Senator Carl Levin: "Not Just Sixteen Words" http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/071803I.shtml David Corn | A White House Smear http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/071803J.shtml NOW with Bill Moyers http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/071803K.shtml Waxman Letter: 'Punish Those Who Misled' http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/071703A.shtml Cheney Under Pressure to Quit Over False War Evidence http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/071703B.shtml Iraq Pressure on Bush Mounts as U.S. Soldier Killed http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/071703C.shtml Tour of Duty or Deplorable Deployment? http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/071703D.shtml Bush Faced Dwindling Data on Iraq Nuclear Bid http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/071703E.shtml Showdown Nears Over Terrorism Detentions http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/071703F.shtml Three Essential Errors Committed in Iraq http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/071703G.shtml CIA: Assessment of Syria's WMD Exaggerated http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/071703H.shtml Grassroots Uprising Fights to Protect Rights and Freedoms http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/071703I.shtml Teacher's Anti-War Playing Cards Flying Off Bookstore Shelves http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/071703J.shtml Core of Iraq Weapons Case Crumbling http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/071603A.shtml Nicholas Kristof | 16 Words and Counting http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/071603B.shtml U.S. Troops Shocked by Move to Keep Them in Iraq http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/071603C.shtml VIPS | Intelligence Unglued http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/071603D.shtml Paul Krugman | Pattern of Corruption http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/071603E.shtml Afghan Minister Warns U.S. Credibility at Stake http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/071603F.shtml Robert Scheer | A Firm Basis for Impeachment http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/071603G.shtml Prosecutors Defy Judge, 9/11 Terrorist May Be Released http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/071603H.shtml White House Projects Record $455B Deficit http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/071603I.shtml Iraqis Don't Fear the 'Shadow of Saddam' http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/071603J.shtml Bush, Blair Defend Decision to Remove Saddam Hussein from Power http://usinfo.state.gov/usinfo/Archive/2003/Jul/17-628217.html http://usinfo.state.gov/homepage.htm
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