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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 17, 2003)
Nation & World News U.S. launches offensive strike against attackers The insurgents have been targeting U.S. troops and may be linked to a helicopter crash that killed 17 soldiers By Jeff Wilkinson and Maureen Fan Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT) TIKRIT, Iraq — The U.S. military on Sunday launched a fresh series of at tacks on insurgent positions in central and northern Iraq, as the investigation continued into the crashes in Mosul of two helicopters on Saturday evening that killed 17 101st Airborne Division soldiers — in the worst sin gle-incident death toll since the be ginning of the Iraq war. In Mosul, with scout helicopters overhead and surrounded by jeering crowds, investigators picked through the wreckage of the downed helicop ters, but were unable to confirm re ports that they had collided after one was fired on and perhaps struck by a rocket-propelled grenade. In Tikrit, the 4th Infantry Division launched the latest in a series of offen sive strikes — this one dubbed Opera tion Ivy Cyclone Two — aimed at rooting out the insurgency that has been attacking coalition forces 35 times a day. The overnight operation that ex tended well into Monday morning in volved close air support for ground troops and the use of heavy weaponry not seen since the main phase of the war that ended on May 1, including the launch of a satellite-guided missile with a 500-pound warhead from a mobile launch pad north of Baghdad. The missile struck an insurgent training center on an island on the Little Zab River west of the northern city of Kirkuk. In Tikrit, army units fired artillery and tank rounds at insurgent positions early Monday morning, destroying a number of houses, including one be longing to a senior official of Saddam Hussein's former government. Also on Sunday, Al Arabia Television broadcast an audiotape that it said was Saddam Hussein's voice for the first time since just after his sons were killed in Mosul in July. Giving greetings for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in measured tones and with a tired ca dence, the speaker called on Iraqis to fight the transitional authority. It was not immediately clear whether he was referring to the upcoming provisional government that Iraq's Governing Council announced on Saturday — or to the council itself, which is to be phased out. Occupational forces are in trouble, the speaker said, in an apparent refer ence to all military forces working with the Americans. The two helicopters downed in Mo sul were on separate missions, flying after dark when the incident occurred about 6:30 p.m., a spokesman said. They crashed on two rooftops about 250 yards apart. One Black Hawk carrying 12 sol diers was responding to reports of a bank being fired upon in the Bab Sinjar neighborhood in west Mosul. Seven soldiers were killed and five injured in that crash. It is unclear whether the helicopter collided with another Black Hawk transporting 10 soldiers to an undis closed location. All 10 soldiers in the second helicopter were killed. "Our main concern right now is to recover all of the remains and do a thorough investigation,” said 101st Division spokesman Maj. Trey Cate. Spc. Michael Pearson, 21, of Liver more, Colo., said he was angry about the incidents "because there is noth ing we can do about it. They were good men and women, and they did n't deserve to die that way." The two soldiers were part of a large cordon of troops securing the perime ter of a four-lane boulevard in the working-class residential area where the crashes occurred. At each intersection, large crowds, mostly young men and boys, taunted the soldiers. The soldiers responded by shouting, cocking their weapons and at least once threatening the crowds with billy clubs. "We hate them, * said Ahmed Abdul lah, 21, who sells cigarettes from a street cart. "We don't want them here Every one is happy they lost the helicopters." Mohammed Ahmed, a 40-year-old grocer, said the people of the city, Iraq's third largest, are becoming in creasingly frustrated with civilian deaths they blame on U S. soldiers. There is also lingering resentment of the United States because of the hard ships brought by 13 years of U N. sanctions after the first Gulf War, and a perception that the ruling coalition hasn't moved fast enough to provide basic services such as telephone serv ice and dependable power. "The people here like Saddam be cause life was better," before the U S wars, he said. (c) 2003, Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services. Wilkinson reported from Tikrit and Mosul; Fan reported from Baghdad. Medicare drug plan awaits congressional approval bush says he will actively push’ the prescription drug plan despite widespread skepticism by opponents By James Kuhnhenn Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT) WASHINGTON — President Bush and congressional leaders on Sunday began the hard work of selling a complex, newly forged Medicare pre scription drug plan to skeptical con servatives and reluctant Democrats in hopes of getting Congressional approval by week's end. The plan would help millions of seniors fill their prescriptions, a long sought Democratic goal that would cost $400 billion over 10 years. It also would expand the role of the private sector in Medicare and broaden the use of tax-free health savings ac counts, a Republican priority. "There's going to be immense pres sure on members of both the House and the Senate to support this bill," President Bush said on the South Lawn of the White House. "I will be actively pushing the bill because it conforms to the principles I laid out for prescription drugs for our seniors: choice for seniors, accountability for the Medicare plan." Top negotiators and their staffs re leased details of the plan Sunday, about 20 hours after the deal was sealed late Saturday. But congression al budget experts planned to work late into Monday to determine the actual cost of the various provisions. Still, lawmakers who have been working on the bill since early sum mer were buoyant Sunday. Over the last few weeks, they had subsisted on sodas and pistachio nuts in tense meetings as Republican leaders pressed them for a final deal. On Sunday they presented a biparti san face. Two Democratic negotiators — Sens. Max Baucus of Montana and John Breaux of Louisiana — joined top Republicans to lend their support. "What we have on balance is a moderate plan ... that gets the job done/' Breaux said. That opposition could still sink the bill. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said he hopes to have final passage by the end of next week — even on Sunday if necessary. But critics already were lining up, and they included Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., an expert on health care and a supporter of the original pre scription drug bill that passed the Senate last summer. Speaking on CBS's "Face the Na tion" Sunday, Kennedy predicted the bill would fail. 'Ibis has been a litmus test by those who have never supported and Ousted Medicare, to make sure that they had the provisions in there that was going to begin the dismantling of Medicare. And that's unacceptable," he said. (c) 2003, Knight Ridder/ Tribune Information Services. Consider: Of the 4,409 estimated smokers at the UO, approximately 1,455 will die prematurely from tobacco. (American Cancer Society Formula) Consider: Tobacco is the single leading cause of death in the US. Consider: According to the 2003 UO Health Center Survey, 81% of UO smokers have considered quitting. American Cancer Society's Great American Smoke-Out Thursday, November 20th □ Bracelet Project Put the name of a loved one who has suffered from a tobacco related illness on a hospital bracelet and wear it this Thursday. Bracelets are now available at the Peer Health Ed office in the UO Health Center. a Free Nicotine Replacement Pick up free patch or gum at the Peer Health Education Office or call 346-4456 for an appointment. □ Quit tobacco for the day For lasting cessation tips, come by the UO Health Center for a Quit Kit. We’re at the corner of Agate and 13th. UO Health Center Health Education Program Call 346-0562 for information. I I university of Oregon healthcenter.uoregon.edu
