Edwards courts Iowa,
defends war support
Jim Morrill
Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT)
DES MOINES, Iowa — U.S. Sen.
John Edwards pressed his case for
the presidency on Sunday with De
mocrats who will serve as the nation’s
first jury — Iowa caucus-goers.
The former North Carolina trial
lawyer hopes the case turns on one
main issue: the economy.
“You put me on a stage with
George Bush in 2004,” he said, “and
this will be the question to the
American people: Are you better off
than you were four years ago?”
Edwards spoke to more than
300 people and a national C-SPAN
audience at a town meeting spon
sored by Iowa Democratic Sen.
Tom Harkin.
It was his first major appearance
since reports last week showed that
he’d raised more money — $7A
million — than any other Democra
tic candidate during the first three
months of the year. But nine
months before the first contest of
the 2004 campaign, he still lags be
hind better-known rivals in Iowa.
A poll for one TV station last
month showed him with single-digit
support, despite several trips here
and high-profile help for the state
party and several local candidates.
Harkin’s forum, the first in a se
ries of meetings that will highlight
individual presidential hopefuls,
gave Edwards a high-profile plat
form. He spoke, often passionate
ly, to a largely sympathetic audi
ence of activists, teachers and
union members.
“Think to yourself 'Who do I
want making this case against
George Bush?’” he said. “What
kind of background — what kind of
energy and passion would I want
them to have?”’
He defended his stand on one is
sue where he and many seemed to
disagree — the war in Iraq.
“I believe in this cause,” he said.
“I believe we’re doing the right
thing. I know there are a lot of you
in this room who disagree with that.
... I think it’s important to maintain
our strength, particularly if we use
it for a foreign policy that is multi
lateral. It can be used as a tool that
can do a lot of good.”
Last week Edwards joined Bush
and Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole
at Gamp LeJeune in a common
show of support for U.S. troops. Ed
wards said on Sunday that he would
“cede nothing” to Bush, “no issue,
no part of the country.”
Some Democrats think that by
supporting the president on the
war, they can avoid traditional Re
publican attacks that they are soft
on defense and security.
“We have to show voters in this
country we are not only as tough as
they are, we’re tougher,” he said.
© 2003, The Charlotte Observer
(Charlotte, N.C.). Distributed by Knight
Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
Baghdad
continued from page 1
terrorist camp at Salman Pak, a vil
lage along the Tigris River about 20
miles southeast of Baghdad. They
took the ground in an overnight at
tack that they said destroyed 70 per
cent of the al Nida Division of the
Iraqi Republican Guard.
At least 13 Iraqis were killed in
the fighting, while others fled from
trenches and sandbag nests on
rooftops. Marines destroyed tanks,
armored personnel carriers and
buildings in the compound.
The 1st Marine Expeditionary
Force attacked the camp after learn
ing of its location from captured pro
Iraq fighters from other countries in
cluding Egypt and Sudan. U.S.
officials believe the camp, which in
cluded the shell of a Boeing 707 ap
parently used to practice for hijack
ings, was used by Saddam Hussein
to train foreign terrorists.
“It reinforces the likelihood of
links between his regime and exter
nal terrorist organizations,” said
U.S. Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks,
spokesman for the U.S. Central
Command in Doha, Qatar.
The apparent desertion of Iraqi
forces from potential battlegrounds
—punctuated by the discovery near
Baghdad of 16 abandoned T-72
tanks, Iraq’s best — had military
planners scratching their heads and
hoping for the best.
“Where have these guys gone?”
said Lt. Col. Dave Pere, senior watch
officer at the 1st Marine Expedi
tionary Force’s combat operations
center.
“It is my suspicion that there are
wholesale desertions.”
Marine intelligence officers also
reported that all six of Iraq’s Re
publican Guard divisions have
been so decimated that they are
rated only 10 percent or less bat
tle-effective.
U.S. forces continued to close
their circle around Baghdad, even
as they faced small attacks on their
base at Baghdad International Air
port. The first U.S. military air
craft, a C-130 cargo plane, landed
there on Sunday.
War planes and drones crowded
the skies over the city, so much so
that air controllers were added to
guard against collision. A massive
buildup of U.S. Marines continued
on roads leading into Baghdad’s east
ern edge, where intersections were
commandeered and military vehi
cles blocked roads.
Facing scattered fighting, Army
units passed remnants of an Iraqi
force already devastated, appar
ently by air strikes or artillery.
Blackened Iraqi tanks and dead
soldiers littered the roadside. Dogs
fed on some corpses.
“I saw a hundred dead bodies to
day, easily,” said Army Spc. Vince
Austin, 24, of Brooklyn, N.Y.
On Simday, teams were examining
two missiles extracted from a myste
rious pit near the town of Aziziyah, 50
miles southeast of Baghdad.
Marines were led to the site by vil
lagers who said the Iraqi military
buried something recently, then
covered it with cement and a layer of
dirt. The missiles were marked with
a chemical symbol, but it was not
immediately determined what they
contained, if anything.
As if to underscore the U.S. military
might that is being brought to bear on
Baghdad, U.S. officials said on Sunday
that their soldiers and armor killed
about 2,000 Iraqi soldiers during a
weekend raid on the capital.
Yet they also said they saw signs
of how challenging the battle for
Baghdad could be. Central Com
mand said it believes Iraqi soldiers
have moved into mosques and hos
pitals, including the “Mother of All
Battles” Mosque and Saddam Hospi
tal, both of which remained on the
allied coalition’s no-strike list to
avoid civilian casualties.
© 2003, Knight Ridder/Tribune
Information Services. Gerlin of The
Philadelphia Inquirer was with the
Marines southeast of Baghdad. Las
seter of the Lexington Herald-Leader
was with the 101st Airborne Division at
Albu Muhawish, Iraq. Thomma an
chored from Washington. Also con
tributing: Drew Brown with the Army's
3rd Infantry Division at Baghdad Inter
national Airport; Ken Dilanian of The
Philadelphia Inquirer with the 173rd
Airborne Brigade at Bashur, Iraq; Juan
O. Tamayo of the Miami Herald at Ma
rine Command Headquarters in cen
tral Iraq; and S. Thorne Harper of The
Macon Telegraph with the 3rd Infantry
Division northwest of Baghdad.
ASUO candidates for the 2003-04 school year
(As of 5 p.m. April 6)
ASUO President/Vice
President
John Drake / Joe Boyd
Garrett Hinds
Jeremy L. Jones
Maddy Melton / Eddy Morales
Christa Shively/Greg Bae
Pierre Spence / Jack Mantel
Jarrett White / Greg McNeill
ASUO Program Finance
Senators
Seatl
Alyce Chong
Adrian T. Gilmore
Hargobind Khalsa
Dam ion Meany
Richard Reed
Seat 2
Greg Diamond
Joseph Jenkins
Mike Martell
Kevin Odil
Mena Ravassipour
Seat 3
Colin Andries
Beth Overgard
Mike Sherman
Chris Sittner
EMU Board Finance Senators
Seat 4
Gabe V. Kjos
Rodrigo Moreno Villamar
Julian Pscheid
Seat 6
James George
Jerad Nicholson
Athletic Department Finance
Senators
Seat 7
Andrew Faust
Laura Schulthies
Seat 8
Jesse Harding
Anthony Kuchulis
Vincent Martorano
Seat 9
Anthony R. Cain
Kevin Day
Patrick T. Sullivan
Academic Senators
Seat'll, Undeclared
Rebecca Shively
Seat 12, AAA
no candidates
Seat 13, Arts & Letters,
Journalism
Jennifer Cuptill
Alicia Lindquist
Stefan Myers
Ashlee Stefani
Seat 15, Social Science
Kevin Curtin
Sami Hayden
Jordan Marx
Dan Occhipinti
Cabriela Serrano
Adam Turcott
Seat 16, Science
Paul Griffes
Turn to Candidates, page 9
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