ken [ny)

Aug 20, 12:05 PM EDT
UN REFUSED OFFER OF SECURITY PRIOR TO BLAST
U.S. Officials: U.N. Refused Iraq Offer

By JOHN J. LUMPKIN
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.N. officials declined U.S. offers to provide
tighter security at their Baghdad headquarters so they would have a
friendlier image with the Iraqi public, American military officials
said.

Coalition military forces did not provide security for the U.N.
compound but patrolled the area, and one such patrol was nearby when a
truck bomb exploded Tuesday, Pentagon officials said.

U.N. officials in Iraq deliberately decided to forgo strict security
measures because the United Nations "did not want a large American
presence outside," U.N. spokesman Salim Lone said.

Just weeks ago, U.S. forces in Iraq began erecting labyrinthine
barriers around nonmilitary, "soft" targets in Baghdad to guard
against bombings like Tuesday's at U.N. headquarters.

FBI officials in Baghdad said Wednesday the explosives used in the
bombing included about 1,000 pounds of old weaponry, including one
single 500-pound bomb. They were left on a flatbed truck parked
outside the wall around the U.N. compound.

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American military and civilian officials in Iraq warned repeatedly
over the last two months that car bombings or similar surprise attacks
were strong possibilities.

American officials said it was unclear who conducted Tuesday's
bombing. Surviving members of Saddam's regime and foreign Islamic
militants are both capable of launching such attacks.

Officials are unsure to what degree these groups are coordinating
their activities as organizations, or with each other.

"The truth is, a person who wants to can attack at any time, at any
place, using any technique ... and the damage, of course, is done to
the Iraqi people," Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Tuesday
on National Public Radio's "Morning Edition" in an interview recorded
before the attacks.

Tuesday's bombing, which killed the top U.N. official in Iraq and more
than a dozen others, forced a reassessment of security efforts in
occupied Iraq.

"Obviously, the military and security people on the ground will be
looking at all those questions, as will the U.N. security people,"
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. "It's important that
people who are out there doing this important work, the people that
are out there helping Iraqi people, have appropriate security."

U.S. soldiers have seized tons of military explosives in raids on
Iraqi opposition hideouts in the past two months. American commanders
say they were worried that the forces attacking U.S. troops might turn
to attacking more vulnerable civilian targets.

"They are going after softer targets because they know they are
unsuccessful against military targets," Maj. Gen. Ray Odierno of the
Army's 4th Infantry Division said July 25. "The next step, in my mind,
would be something like car bombs and suicide bombers, and we have had
some discussion and prepared for that."

Vehicle barriers, checkpoints and armed guards are among the security
measures at compounds housing American troops and the U.S.-led
civilian administration in Baghdad. Some international aid
organizations and the interim Iraqi governing council have offices
inside the heavily guarded Coalition Provisional Authority compound in
the Iraqi capital.

Before the Aug. 7 bombing at the Jordanian embassy, the U.S.-led
civilian authority in Iraq warned other countries it could not
guarantee the safety of diplomatic people or property. It is still
uncertain who orchestrated that bombing as well, although some U.S.
officials have mentioned a jihadist group from northern Iraq as a
suspect.

Policing Iraq is the responsibility of the U.S.-led military coalition
occupying the country. U.S. officials say that, while coalition troops
and newly trained Iraqi police make hundreds of patrols daily,
security remains elusive.

About 32,000 Iraqi police are on the job, with more than 8,000 working
in Baghdad. Coalition authorities also are training Iraqis to provide
security, civil defense and military defense.

---
Ken (NY)
Chairman,
Department Of Redundancy Department
____________________________________
email:
http://www.geocities.com/bluesguy68/email.htm

"Eventually, socialists run out of other people's money."
--Baroness Margaret Thatcher

"This time I think the Americans are serious.
Bush is not like Clinton. I think this is
the end."
--Uday Hussein's final words,
in The London Sunday Telegraph

Q: What the hardest thing about rollerblading?
A: Telling your parents you’re gay.

malev

<snip - cut&paste>

eltoropoo

<trimmed newsgroup posting>

If the invasion was illegal, why hasn't the UN declared it as such? The
Iraqis have been in breech of the cease fire agreement for 10 years and the
US/UK decided enough was enough. This is simply a continuation of the '92
war, or rather, it's conclusion.

siegfried

quite interesting , so was the attack "organised" to show how US is
'necessary' to all of us ....?


"John of Aix" <j.murphyNOSPAM@libertysurf.fr> a écrit dans le message de
news: bi33cd$4tkp4$38@ID-157326.news.uni-berlin.de...

kel

Kofi Annan has already said that the invasion was "outwith the UN Charter".
That IS saying it was illegal.

ken [ny)

On Fri, 22 Aug 2003 08:22:00 +0100, "Kel"
<osterman@NO.THANKS.blueyonder.co.uk> ranted:


To be "illegal", a law must have been broken by our liberation
of the Iraqis. Exactly what law was that?
And by the way, that pompous little shit Annan yesterday said
the lack of security at the UN compound in Baghdad was the fault of
the "occupying countries" (the coalition). He later backed off -
without apology - when he discovered that the UN leadership in Iraq
had turned down the US offer of a security perimiter. Typical UN - one
hand is unaware of what the other hand is doing. Look for another
useless security council resolution.
Cordially,
Ken (NY)
Chairman,
Department Of Redundancy Department
____________________________________
email:
http://www.geocities.com/bluesguy68/email.htm

"Eventually, socialists run out of other people's money."
--Baroness Margaret Thatcher

"This time I think the Americans are serious.
Bush is not like Clinton. I think this is
the end."
--Uday Hussein's final words,
in The London Sunday Telegraph

We have suffered greatly from the United
Nations. Under no circumstances should
any Muslim or sane person resort to the
UnitedNations. The United Nations
is nothing but a tool of crime.
--Osama bin Laden, November 3, 2001

Q: What the hardest thing about rollerblading?
A: Telling your parents you’re gay.

crazyjoe

The U.N. is a group of gutless cowards who love to come to NYC and buy
tons of American goods to be brought back to their shit countries. The U.N.
should leave America and maybe set up shop in France where they can play
their lying scam games and pat themselves on the back.

eltoropoo

In order for it to be "illegal", there has to be a law that was
broken. This is the conclusion to the '92 war. Because Iraq was in
breech of the cease-fire agreement, the US had the authority to
invade. Go read the resolutions with regards to the '92 cease-fire.

kel

news:<uwj1b.2883$JY6.254@news-binary.blueyonder.co.uk>...


In what way was Iraq in breach of the cease fire agreement? And it is for
the UN to specify if the cease fire has been broken not undividual states.

ken [ny)

On Fri, 22 Aug 2003 17:21:02 +0100, "Kel"
<osterman@NO.THANKS.blueyonder.co.uk> ranted:


Security council resolution, passed by all fifteen member
nations, "warns Iraq that "it will face serious consequences" if it
continues to violate its obligations as spelled out in the resolution.
Iraq did not comply, therefore Iraq was disarmed. If that is
illegal, then the fifteen nations that signed it broke the law.


The US was requested not to secure the UN compound, possibly
by the very envoy that was later killed.

Don't compare the US Army to a police department. And - the UN
is in charge of UN security. They could have brought in those useless
"blue helmets" that are always stumbling around war zones.
Regards,
Ken (NY)
Chairman,
Department Of Redundancy Department
____________________________________
email:
http://www.geocities.com/bluesguy68/email.htm

"Eventually, socialists run out of other people's money."
--Baroness Margaret Thatcher

"This time I think the Americans are serious.
Bush is not like Clinton. I think this is
the end."
--Uday Hussein's final words,
in The London Sunday Telegraph

We have suffered greatly from the United
Nations. Under no circumstances should
any Muslim or sane person resort to the
UnitedNations. The United Nations
is nothing but a tool of crime.
--Osama bin Laden, November 3, 2001

Q: What the hardest thing about rollerblading?
A: Telling your parents you’re gay.