WP/Reuters: Rumsfeld Arrives at Desert Marine Base in Iraq

[DeepModem Mom]

Rumsfeld Arrives at Desert Marine Base in Iraq
Reuters
Sunday, October 10, 2004; 1:38 AM


AL-ASAD AIRBASE, Iraq, Oct 10 - U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld swept into an airbase in Iraq's western desert on Sunday to make a first-hand evaluation of operations to quell a raging Iraqi insurgency in his first such visit in five months.

Rumsfeld, in an unannounced trip, landed at al-Asad airbase near Haditha, 200 km (125 miles) northwest of Baghdad, aboard a C-17 transport plane from Bahrain to meet top marine commanders and address about 1,500 marines....

***

Rumsfeld, a key architect of last year's invasion, last visited Iraq on May 13, when he went to the notorious Abu Ghraib prison on the outskirts of Baghdad amid a mushrooming scandal over the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at the hands of U.S. forces.

Rumsfeld's trip comes about three weeks before the U.S. presidential election. President George W. Bush's Democratic challenger John Kerry has accused Bush of mismanaging the war and launching it on the pretext of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction that even Washington now admits did not exist....


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21335-2004Oct10.html

[Swamp Rat]

1. Going there to "find" some weapons Rummy?

I hope someone hands the Dummy a rifle and tells him to get his sorry ass to the front lines!

[Norquist Nemesis]

2. Nah...he's goin' in to shake hands with al-Sadr

just in case. He's an experienced diplomat dontcha know. /sarcasm

[UpInArms]

3. related article: Rumsfeld Says U.S. Faces Test of Wills in Iraq

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6459899

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Sunday the United States and its allies were engaged in a test of wills with insurgents in Iraq and would have to overcome the "pain and ugliness" of the conflict.

"They know they cannot defeat us militarily," Rumsfeld told about 1,500 marines gathered at an airbase in Iraq's western desert, where he arrived for a brief visit.

"But they are hoping they can win the test of wills.

"It's a battle of perception. They are hoping to cause members of the coalition to decide that the pain and the ugliness and the difficulty of the task is simply too great."

The U.S. military has about 138,000 troops in Iraq, the vast majority of a 160,000-strong coalition force which is battling to suppress an insurgency that has strengthened and deepened over the 18 months since Saddam Hussein's overthrow.

<snip>

As if to remind the U.S. defense secretary of the dangers in Iraq, a suicide car bomb killed 17 people, including seven women, near the Oil Ministry and a nearby police academy in Baghdad, a ministry spokesman said. Another bomber attacked a U.S. convoy, wounding one soldier and two Iraqis in the capital.

During his stop-over in western Iraq, Rumsfeld was peppered with questions by marines wondering when their deployments would be up. One asked if there was "any relief in sight."

<snip>

Rumsfeld, one of the chief architects of the war to overthrow Saddam, a man whose hand he once shook in the 1980s, was due to meet top U.S. commanders inside the Green Zone in central Baghdad, a heavily fortified complex that is regularly attacked by guerrillas firing rockets and mortars.

...more...

I hope everyone that reads that article clicks on to page 2 - finally a decent Reuters report regarding the lies of this mal-administration.

[thecrow]

14. I did! I did!

and I found this to be quizzical:

However, he told the marines that Iraq's own security forces were being steadily strengthened, with a targeted 150,000 Iraqi police, National Guardsmen and others expected to be on duty by January, up from about 100,000 currently.

Isn't it a weird coincidence that they are calling the Iraqi country protectors the "National Guard"?
Or does it mean the US National guard?
(Is this Smirky's irony that he should have a whole "national Guard under his thumb?)

Or are they using the "National Guard" label as interchangeable?
It's confusing and just plain weird.

[UpInArms]

15. truly interesting nomenclature

just what comprises the "National Guard" in these references?

[Moderator]

17. UpInArms

Per DU copyright rules
please post only four
paragraphs from the
copyrighted news source.


Thank you.


DU Moderator

[teryang]

4. Baghdad, Baghdad International, Green Zone

...too dangerous to visit.

[UpInArms]

5. related article: Rumsfeld: Violence May Get Worse In Iraq

http://www.thewmurchannel.com/news/3798215/detail.html

AL ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said violence in Iraq will probably get worse before next year's election, but he also brought a glimmer of hope to U.S. troops.

During a surprise visit to 1,500 U.S. Marines at an air base in western Iraq on Sunday, Rumsfeld said Iraqi security forces could be strong enough by January to allow some troop withdrawals. It's the first time Rumsfeld has openly mentioned the possibility of reducing U.S. troop strength as early as the beginning of next year.

On Saturday, Rumsfeld told reporters that the U.S. may need more troops in Iraq to ensure legitimate national elections in January. Rumsfeld said he prefers that any increase in troops come from other countries. But, he said it "makes sense" to deploy more U.S. troops if need be.

...more...

and they have this related article:

http://www.thewmurchannel.com/news/3797693/detail.html

Rumsfeld: U.S. May Bring More Troops To Iraq Before Election

MANAMA, Bahrain -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said U.S. commanders in Iraq might request more U.S. troops to ensure legitimate national elections in January.

Rumsfeld said he prefers that any increase in troops come from other countries. But, he said it "makes sense" to deploy more U.S. troops if need be.

Rumsfeld made his comments to reporters flying with him from Washington to Bahrain, which is headquarters for the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet.

...more (but not much)...

[jmcgowanjm]

11. Those troops have to be on the way already n/t

[saigon68]

6. "kick their ass and steal their gas"

He's there to reassure the Marines that is OK to "GREASE" a few "RAG-HEADS"

[0007]

7. Anything Rumsfeld touches, looks at, or talks about is.......

.... ________________________ fill in the blank

[teryang]

8. Non-commitment, not reassuring, the irony

http://www.islandpacket.com/24hour/special_reports/iraq/story/1722556p-9540324c.html

"Our hope is that as we build up Iraqi forces we will be able to relieve the stress on our forces and see a reduction in coalition forces over some period of time, probably post-Iraqi election. But again, it will depend entirely on the security situation here in this country," Rumsfeld said.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/al-asad.htm

<Al Asad Airfield, the second largest airbase in Iraq, is located in northern Iraq approximately 180 kilometers West of Baghdad and 12 kilometers Southwest of the Euphrates River.> <snip>

The angel of death "swept into" al-asad, formerly known as Qadisiyah:

<Qadisiyah Airbase is named after the great battle of May 636 at Al Qadisiyah, a village south of Baghdad on the Euphrates. The Iranians, who outnumbered the Arabs six to one, were decisively beaten. From Al Qadisiyah the Arabs pushed on to the Sassanid capital at Ctesiphon, enabling Islam under Caliph Umar to spread to the East. During the 1980s, Baathist publicists regularly called the Iran-Iraq War a modern day "Qadisiyah" exploiting this age-old enmity in its propaganda and publicizing the war as part of the ancient struggle between the Arab and Persian empires.>

[jmcgowanjm]

13. Six US troops killed in ambush near al-Hadithah.10/1

Iraqi Resistance forces attacked a large US column
heading from al-'Anah to al-Hadithah with two rockets at
6:18pm. Resistance sharpshooters also fired on the convoy
and fighters opened up with RPG7s, C5Ks and CBK9s. Six
US troops were killed in the attack. Two troop carriers were
set ablaze, on of them carrying two armored vehicles that
were also destroyed by gunfire. The second transport
was carrying an Abrams tank that was only lightly
burned, however.

Local residents say that the number of Resistance fighters who took part in the attack was between 25 and 30.

The US base in the Rawi area near al-Hadithah ws bombarded by two Grad rockets at 7:00am Friday.

http://www.neravt.com/left/war/resistance1001-04.html

[Algorem]

9. I'd feel a little frag ile if I was him over there.

[truth2power]

16. Good one!! n/t

[Media_Lies_Daily]

10. Give the prick a rifle and send him out on patrol in Falluja.

[Ezlivin]

12. Yes! And in an unarmored Humvee with no personal body armor

And just for good measure, cut his benefits when he returns home and make sure that his job has been eliminated in his absence.

[henslee]

18. God forbid Rummy gets grazed by a bullet... how would it play? That

Iraq is more dang. than ever or would it translate into sympathy for Rummy and Admin?

[riverwalker]

19. I wonder if FUBAR Don

put on his blue rubber gloves for more fun at the prison. The frickin' sadistic pervert is the most disgusting vile human on the planet.