A Soldiers Blog

From the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette :

Although Kerry was relatively restrained in disputing Allawiâ??s upbeat portrayal, some of his aides suggested that the Iraqi leader was simply doing the bidding of the Bush administration, which helped arrange his appointment in June.

" The last thing you want to be seen as is a puppet of the United States, and you can almost see the hand underneath the shirt today moving the lips ," said Joe Lockhart, a senior Kerry adviser.

White House officials denied scripting Allawiâ??s remarks.

From the AFP via The Australian :

US artillery and aircraft fire pounded sectors of the Iraqi rebel city of Fallujah today, sending up clouds of smoke, residents said.

The smoke shrouded the southeastern industrial zone, which houses mainly metal and mechanical workshops, as residents charged that US forces had lobbed artillery into the area.

Within minutes, the artillery fire was followed by an air strike on the Shuhada district in southern Fallujah.

From The Australian :

An Iraqi scientist-turned-author says the most significant pieces of his countryâ??s dormant nuclear program were buried under a lotus tree in his backyard, untouched for more than a decade before the US -led invasion in 2003.

But their existence, Mahdi Obeidi writes in a new book, is evidence that the international community should remain vigilant as other countries try to replicate Iraqâ??s successes before the 1991 Gulf war to develop components necessary for a nuclear weapon.

In The Bomb in my Garden, Obeidi details fallen Iraqi leader Saddam Husseinâ??s furious, and then abandoned, quest for a nuclear bomb.

" Although Saddam never had nuclear weapons at his disposal, the story of how close Iraq came to developing them should serve as a red flag to the international community ," Obeidi writes with his co-author Kurt Pitzer.

The Associated Press obtained an advance copy of the book, to be released Sunday.
[â?¦]
While only the former president knows fully why he didnâ??t restart his nuclear program, Obeidi believes Saddam may have realised the scope of the massive undertaking.

United Nations inspectors had dismantled the program, removed the enriched uranium stockpiles and exposed Iraqâ??s international network of suppliers. And Saddam was making a mint off the UN â??s oil-for-food program, while increasing his control over a population reliant on him for basics such as flour, Obeidi says. To get caught importing components needed to produce a nuclear weapon, the scientist says, would have ended the program.

Yet Saddam kept his Iraq Atomic Energy Commission running, apparently without weapons programs, as late as 2003.
[â?¦]
Obeidi, 60, was the creator of Iraqâ??s centrifuge, a key component in one method of enriching bomb-grade uranium. He considers it the most dangerous piece of nuclear technology because related advances make it possible to conceal uranium enrichment programs inside one warehouse.
[â?¦]
By the late 1980s, Iraq was making breakthroughs. However, the international help dried up as Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990. The UN arrived after Saddamâ??s 1991 defeat, intent on taking apart his weapons programs.

To hide signs of uranium enrichment then, Obeidi describes a massive demolition and reconstruction program he led to remove everything from the top soil to the coffee makers at his former centrifuge lab.

After the 2003 invasion, Obeidi attempted to take the nuclear secrets buried in his garden to US authorities. He describes disorganisation as the CIA and military intelligence wound up fighting over him.

Only after extensive negotiations involving former UN weapons inspector David Albright, who was in Washington, did Obeidi turn over all of his information.
[â?¦]
Looking back, Obeidi struggles to find words to describe how he could arm Saddam, whose government at one point kept him from his family for six months so he could work and left them fearing the walls had ears.

He says it was a matter of national pride and scientific pursuit, but more than anything, it was fear: " The idea of dozens of nuclear bombs in Saddamâ??s hands is horrifying in retrospect ."

From The Australian :

An Iraqi scientist-turned-author says the most significant pieces of his countryâ??s dormant nuclear program were buried under a lotus tree in his backyard, untouched for more than a decade before the US -led invasion in 2003.

But their existence, Mahdi Obeidi writes in a new book, is evidence that the international community should remain vigilant as other countries try to replicate Iraqâ??s successes before the 1991 Gulf war to develop components necessary for a nuclear weapon.

In The Bomb in my Garden, Obeidi details fallen Iraqi leader Saddam Husseinâ??s furious, and then abandoned, quest for a nuclear bomb.

" Although Saddam never had nuclear weapons at his disposal, the story of how close Iraq came to developing them should serve as a red flag to the international community ," Obeidi writes with his co-author Kurt Pitzer.

The Associated Press obtained an advance copy of the book, to be released Sunday.
[â?¦]
While only the former president knows fully why he didnâ??t restart his nuclear program, Obeidi believes Saddam may have realised the scope of the massive undertaking.

United Nations inspectors had dismantled the program, removed the enriched uranium stockpiles and exposed Iraqâ??s international network of suppliers. And Saddam was making a mint off the UN â??s oil-for-food program, while increasing his control over a population reliant on him for basics such as flour, Obeidi says. To get caught importing components needed to produce a nuclear weapon, the scientist says, would have ended the program.

Yet Saddam kept his Iraq Atomic Energy Commission running, apparently without weapons programs, as late as 2003.
[â?¦]
Obeidi, 60, was the creator of Iraqâ??s centrifuge, a key component in one method of enriching bomb-grade uranium. He considers it the most dangerous piece of nuclear technology because related advances make it possible to conceal uranium enrichment programs inside one warehouse.
[â?¦]
By the late 1980s, Iraq was making breakthroughs. However, the international help dried up as Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990. The UN arrived after Saddamâ??s 1991 defeat, intent on taking apart his weapons programs.

To hide signs of uranium enrichment then, Obeidi describes a massive demolition and reconstruction program he led to remove everything from the top soil to the coffee makers at his former centrifuge lab.

After the 2003 invasion, Obeidi attempted to take the nuclear secrets buried in his garden to US authorities. He describes disorganisation as the CIA and military intelligence wound up fighting over him.

Only after extensive negotiations involving former UN weapons inspector David Albright, who was in Washington, did Obeidi turn over all of his information.
[â?¦]
Looking back, Obeidi struggles to find words to describe how he could arm Saddam, whose government at one point kept him from his family for six months so he could work and left them fearing the walls had ears.

He says it was a matter of national pride and scientific pursuit, but more than anything, it was fear: " The idea of dozens of nuclear bombs in Saddamâ??s hands is horrifying in retrospect ."

published March 24, 2003; last updated Sept. 21, 2004

I'm still updating this list, validating its links and accepting new submissions. I'd also forward this thought from regular reader "Klaatu". Maybe you want to consider sending one of these to Iraq:

* Check this out from Stars and Stripes . This is a book I've sent several copies of to 'son of klaatu' to pass around in Iraq: " Modern Iraqi Arabic ," with 6 audio CDs. Or " Your First 100 Words in Arabic ," which is cheaper ($9.00), and has tear out flash cards with pronunciation.

* Winds of Change.NET has been working closely with Spirit of America . They're assisting the U.S. Marines deploying to the Sunni Triangle with toys and other helpful giveaways, helping Iraqi women start small businesses, helping Iraqi men enter building trades, etc.

* A reader has a message for many of the organizations listed here : If your organization is a registered U.S. nonprofit (usually 501c3), please head over to http://www.guidestar.com and input your organization's EIN and information. This will help alert people to who you are and what you do - EIN # is needed for those people who work for corporations that give matching gifts.

Now, on to the various countries and organizations...

* Battlefront Aid
* Extending a Helping Hand Abroad
* Getting It There
* Australian Forces
* British Forces
* Canadian Forces
* Danish Forces
* Israel
* Polish Forces
* US Forces: Care Packages & Gifts
* US Forces: Other Aid
* USA: Civilians in the War Zones
* Add to Our List

From Reuters via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

Iraqi National Guard forces backed by US troops have freed a Jordanian hostage captured last month in the southern town of Nassiriya.

Al Arabiya Arabic television station has aired footage showing the released Jordanian and said Iraqi and US forces had arrested 16 people suspected of kidnapping him and demanding a ransom of $250,000 for his release.

" When they captured me they didnâ??t know I was Jordanian, they only wanted to steal the car.

"But when they searched us they found my Jordanian identification papers and took me so they can make some money ," said the tired-looking man, who did not give his name.

From the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

The rebel Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has appealed for the release of 18 Iraqi National Guardsmen being held hostage by a group demanding Sadrâ??s closest aide be released from police custody.

Arabic television showed footage of the captured guardsman, with a message from a group calling itself the â??Mohammed bin Abdullah Brigadeâ?? saying the hostages would be killed in 48 hours unless Hazem al-Araji was freed.

He was arrested by US troops and Iraqi security forces on Sunday.

But in a statement today released through a spokesman, Sadr said he totally rejected abductions.

He called on the kidnappers to desist from their action and immediately free the people they are holding.