Nation & World News
Attack on Baghdad hotel leaves U.S. colonel dead
Deputy Defense Secretary
Paul Wolfowitz escaped
unharmed as hundreds
were evacuated Sunday
By E.A. Torriero
and Mike Doming
Chicago Tribune (KRT)
BAGHDAD, Iraq — A brazen dawn
attack Sunday on a heavily fortified ho
tel used by coalition forces and contract
workers killed a U.S. colonel, wounded
15 people and struck at the heart of
American power in the Iraqi capital.
Hundreds of people involved in the
U .S.-led occupation of Iraq evacuated
the AJ Rashid Hotel on Sunday hours
after the insurgents used a homemade
launcher to fire 8 to 10 rockets at the
well-guarded building, 'fhe attack oc
curred inside the so-called Green Zone,
which includes the hotel and Saddam
Hussein's Republican Palace, which is
now the coalition headquarters.
Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wol
fowitz, who was staying at the hotel, es
caped the attack without injury. His
voice breaking, Wolfowitz declared that
"these terrorist attacks will not deter us
from completing our mission."
Hours before the attack, a U.S.
Black Hawk helicopter came under
guerrilla fire Saturday and was de
stroyed outside a base in central Iraq,
shortly after Wolfowitz visited there.
There is nothing to indicate Wol
fowitz was a target in either attack, the
Pentagon said. Visiting Iraq to tout
American successes, Wolfowitz left the
country late Sunday as scheduled.
The daring assaults disturbed U.S.
officials and highlighted the vulnera
bility of the coalition to hit-and-run
attacks that the Pentagon says are es
calating in numbers and ingenuity.
Secretary of State Colin Powell
said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that
while the United States expected
postwar security to be a challenge,
"we didn't expect it would be quite
this intense this long."
The Rashid complex is one of the
most fortified American outposts in
Iraq. But, despite a maze of concerti
na wire, towering fortifications of
sand, high-tech surveillance and
American troop patrols, the 13-story
hotel is vulnerable to aerial assaults.
"As you were walking up
the stairway, all you'd see
is bloody footprints."
Spc. John Larkin
National Guard
Sunday morning's rocket attack was
the third series of volleys to hit the ho
tel compound in the last six weeks.
Workers and guests who frantically
fled the hotel Sunday morning in pa
jamas, shorts and T-shirts told of a
chaotic scene of water pipes bursting
as rockets hit at about 6 a m. on three
floors, including the 11th, one floor
below where Wolfowitz was staying.
Balconies were sheared off two
rooms, and windows were blown out
in the hotel.
U.S. Special Forces troops rushed
into the hotel as residents screamed
for medics.
American soldiers carried bloodied
victims out in stretchers, while other
victims walked out dazed, using tow
els and T-shirts to bandage wounds
caused by flying debris.
Most of the hotel guests were asleep
at the time of the attack and many
rushed barefoot across broken glass.
The hotel's main staircase was strewn
with glass that shattered during the at
tack, soldiers reported.
"As you were walking up the stair
way, all you'd see is bloody foot
prints," said Spc. John larkin of Jack
sonville, Fla., a National Guardsman
who assisted with first aid.
Four or five medics struggled to keep
a soldier alive who lost a limb from the
blast, Larkin said. One American, iden
tified by Wolfowitz as a colonel, died in
his room. Seven U.S. civilians were in
jured along with four American mili
tary personnel and four foreigners, the
U.S-led coalition said.
Some of the workers criticized the
coalition for not putting patrols
on the hotel roof and sealing off
nearby roads, where rockets have
been launched.
"Why didn't they take extra precau
tions after the previous attacks?"
asked one contractor, requesting
anonymity. "I will never go back and
live in there."
U.S. commanders theorize from an
initial assessment of the rocket
launcher found on a nearby street that
the attack had been planned for
months, said U.S. Army Brig. Gen.
Martin Dempsey said Sunday night.
The assault was timed to discour
age Iraqis and tarnish the coalition af
ter it reopened a crucial bridge over
the Tigris River and lifted curfew for
the holy month of Ramadan,
Dempsey said.
Wolfowitz insisted after the attack
that the U.S. would carry on its mission
in Iraq, but Democratic presidential
candidate Sen. Joseph Lieberman of
Connecticut said the attack emphasizes
the danger of the occupation.
"The fact that the opposition, the
terrorists, the insurgents, fired rockets
at the hotel where Paul Wolfowitz was
and got away with it is shocking. Why
aren't we protecting the perimeter?
Where did they get those sophisticat
ed rockets?" Lieberman asked on
"Face the Nation."
(c) 2003, Chicago Tribune. Distributed
by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information
Services.
Interest in recalling
governors spreading
Constituents of several
states are inspired by the
recall election in California
By Seth Freedland
The Orange County Register (KRT)
SANTA ANA, Calif. — The political
energy California voters sparked
seems to have spread to some other
states facing similar troubles.
In the 18 states with the ability to re
call elected officials, several elections of
ficials reported a spike in interest and
inquiries about recalls. But only a few
pro-recall groups have been able to get
their movements running. These states
have recalls in the works:
Arizona
A group says it has 10,000 of the
300,000-plus signatures needed to re
call Democratic Gov. lanet Napoli
^ tano.
The petition submitted to the secre
tary of state's office 1 ists the grievances.
, A sample: "She has shown little to no
regard for the Legislature of the state
of Arizona and has assumed their au
thority upon herself by the use of line
item vetoes.... She has made promis
es to a number of communities who
supported her during her election
campaign and now find themselves
disadvantaged by her failure to per
form them."
Recall committee spokesman Kyle
Logan said, "We had already had estab
lished (our campaign) before you guys
knew who won. (But) the spotlight def
initely inspired us to file this recall."
"We're waiting for somebody to
back us with money," he said. "But
people despise this governor. This
will happen."
Napolitano spokesman Paul Allvin
said he isn't worried: "If anyone tried
(a recall of Napolitano), it wouldn't
go anywhere."
Nevada
A group of Nevada conservatives
upset about the largest tax increase in
state history began recall proceedings
Wednesday against Republican Gov.
Kenny Guinn. Complaints all center
on the issue of taxes.
Guinn pushed through an $836 mil
lion tax increase, including a payroll tax
bringing in more than $320 million
over the next two years. Two bank taxes
add an additional $39 million. Recall
proponents say all these taxes are only
necessary due to Guinn's "mismanage
ment" of the state budget.
"I'm hoping people in Nevada look
at California and get excited about the
possibilities," said Tony Dane, chair
man ofThe Committee to Recall Gov
ernor Guinn.
By Oct. 8, however, Christopher
Hansen, vice chairman of the Recall
Guinn Committee, said his group has
collected only about 12,000 signa
tures. Supporters must secure 128,019
signatures of registered voters in the
next month to put the recall on elec
tion ballots.
Guinn spokesman Greg Bortolin
said, "It is absurd for anybody to
think we have given the time of day to
this recall effort."
(c) 2003,The Orange County Register
(Santa Ana, Calif.). Distributed by Knight
Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
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CONDOMS
continued from page 1
She also said funding for the proj
ect might be difficult to obtain, espe
cially in a time of budget tightening.
But she pointed out that condoms are
low-cost or often free.
Freshman Jessica Hirschy said she
thought the project would be a won
derful idea as long as the condoms
were distributed very discreetly.
"If parents visit and they see a big
box of condoms in the bathroom,
that's not going to give a good impres
sion of dorm life," she said.
Freshman Colin Culbreth thought
putting condoms in the residence
halls would promote safer sex, adding
that there are probably a lot of stu
dents who are too embarrassed to get
them from the health center.
Mabry said her group is hoping to
see its project implemented by the
end of the school year.
The group is currently doing research
and trying to figure out how many Uni
versity groups they will have to go
through to make the project happen.
Also, group members are in contact
with similar groups on campuses across
the nation. Mabry said that on Nov. 4,
the group's first meeting, a solid time
line will be established for the project.
For more information or to get in
volved, contact Students for Choice at
346-0644, or by e-mail at
S4Choice@gladstone.uoregon.edu.
Contact the people/cutture/faith
reporter
at jaredpaben@daiiyemerald.com.
017463
Hallouieen,
Friday Oct. 31st & Saturday Hov. ut;
TW
—at 9pm, EMU Ballroom—
Tickets at the EMU ticket office.
The cost is $6.00 for students
& $8.00 for the general public.
FREEH After Party in Fish Bowl FREEII
Great Prizes for Rocky Horror Trivia
& Costume Contests
Free Refreshments) I
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
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Call University Housing at 346-4277
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