Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 9, 2004)
Nation & World News 9 U.S. soldiers killed in helicopter attack Authorities also report that ground fire hit an Air Force cargo plane carrying 63 passengers yesterday By Hannah Allam and Tom Lasseter Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT) FALLUJAH, Iraq — Insurgents appar ently shot down a U.S. military heli copter Thursday, killing all nine soldiers on board and strewing debris across farmland near the central Iraqi town of Fallujah, southwest of Baghdad. It was the deadliest attack on Amer ican soldiers since Nov. 2, when insur gents downed a Chinook helicopter, killing 16 soldiers, also near Fallujah. It came one day after a mortar attack near the Baghdad airport killed one U.S. soldier and injured 30. In a separate incident, a U.S. Air Force C-5 cargo plane carrying 63 passengers and crew was struck by ground Fire shortly after it took off from Baghdad International Airport around 6:20 a.m. The plane re turned to the airport and landed safely. No one was injured. Mark Voorhis, a spokesman for Air Mobil ity Command at Scott Air Force Base, 111., said it was unclear whether the plane had been struck by a mis sile or some other weapon. Military officials provided little infor mation on the downing of the helicop ter, saying only that nine soldiers had died when a UH-60 Black Hawk went down at about 2:20 p.m. in southern Fallujah. A military spokesman said the helicopter was on a routine mission but didn't say what that mission was or identify the unit to which the helicop ter or soldiers were assigned. Four witnesses in the area reported seeing rockets fired at the aircraft, and they described how farmers cheered as they watched through binoculars as rescue workers pulled the dead from the helicopter. "We saw rockets hit the tail of the helicopter and then it broke in two," said Omar Kanoun, 27, who had trudged through potato fields for a clear view of the crash site. "I gave my binoc ulars to my nephew, and we watched the Americans count the bodies." The helicopter crash came during what is developing into a particularly violent week. On Wednesday night, a U.S. soldier was killed and 30 others wounded in a mortar attack on the sleeping quar ters of a military base about halfway between Baghdad and Fallujah. A Jor danian field hospital just outside Fal lujah was hit Wednesday by a rocket attack that injured no one, but it left structural damage. Two French con tractors were killed Monday night in a drive-by shooting. While no one was injured in the shooting of the C-5 cargo jet at the Baghdad airport, it was at least the sec ond time insurgents succeeded in hit ting an aircraft at the airport. Meanwhile, a much-touted release of Iraqis detained in U.S. sweeps against suspected insurgents apparent ly didn't begin Thursday as scheduled. Dozens of Iraqis waited outside Abu Ghraib prison for at least 100 detainees who were scheduled for release under a coalition gesture to win over the likely supporters of such insurgents. As the hours went by with no word of a re lease, patience wore thin for the rela tives camped outside prison gates. "It's another lie," said Nouri Alaboudi, who arrived at dawn for news of a nephew arrested in a weapons raid three months ago. "We've been waiting here all day, and no one has left. I can't see my nephew, I can't find out anything about him. So we're just hoping." U.S. Iraq administrator L. Paul Bre mer had announced the release Wednesday, but on Thursday, a senior coalition spokesman, Dan Senor, confirmed in a roundabout way that no prisoners had been released. Un der the program, each detainee will be released to a tribal leader or cleric who will guarantee his behavior. (c) 2004, Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services. Knight Ridder Newspapers correspondent Drew Brown in Washington contributed to this report. Lasseter reports for the Lexington Herald-Leader. Poll: Saddam’s capture heightened Bush’s support Two national surveys show President Bush gained popularity with Hispanic voters in the last month By Elaine De Valle Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT) MIAMI — More Hispanics support the war in Iraq and the Bush adminis tration now than before Saddam Hus sein was captured, but they still lag be hind the general public's approval rating, results from two national sur veys show. A majority of Hispanics — 54 per cent — said Bush was doing an "ex cellent" or "good" job when polled earlier this month by the Pew His panic Center. The same question in a similar sur vey taken in December shows Bush had the approval of only about 46 percent of Hispanics. In both polls, the approval rating by Hispanics was several percentage points lower than the general population. The widely publicized capture also shifted the Hispanic community's stance on U.S. troops. Before Saddam was caught, more Latinos said troops should come home immediately, while a majority now say coalition forces should stay in Iraq. But most Hispanics worry the president doesn't have a clear plan to withdraw from Iraq, and in both polls, 70 percent said the adminis tration should concentrate more on the economy. The combined results of two polls released Thursday — one done be fore Saddam's capture Dec. 13, and one conducted last week — identify important changes in Hispanic atti tudes toward Iraq, the economy and the presidential election, said Roberto Suro, director of the Pew Hispanic Center. "This shows serious inroads into what had previously been a tradition ally Democratic constituency," Suro said in a telephone conference call with journalists. "There is sort of good news and bad news for President Bush," Suro said. "There's a volatility in the His panic population in response to events in Iraq and that will be good news for the president as long as events go well. But it could clearly turn the other way." While only 27 percent of Hispanics said in December that they wanted to see Bush re-elected, 37 percent of the January respondents said they would support his 2004 bid. Sergio Bendixen — president of the Coral Gables, Fla.-based Bendix en & Associates, a public opinion research firm that specializes in the Hispanic population and did the fieldwork for both Pew Hispanic surveys — said the results show Lati nos can go either way. "These two polls less than 30 days apart show volatility and tend to re inforce those who strongly feel that the Latino vote is a swing vote in American politics and is going to be a swing vote in the 2004 election," Bendixen said. Teresa Martinez, who oversees the voter mobilization project of the Na tional Council of La Raza, agreed that Hispanics are emerging as swing vot ers, but said Latinos tend to be con cerned about the same issues as the general public. "However, when we look at what weaknesses the president has, Latinos focus on the economy," Martinez said. "The signal is loud and clear. Latinos have a positive approval rating for the president because they like him, he's very likable. "But they are still looking at how he's doing at issues and policies and are concerned that he is still not doing enough for the economy." Milian says other factors also may have affected the attitudes of Hispan ics toward the president and the war, beginning with the number of His panics fighting. "Hispanics have traditionally been overrepresented in the military, particularly in the enlisted rank," Milian said. "That unprecedented move to give 15,000 soldiers, by executive order, a special dispensation to expedite citizenship, I think that was impor tant too." (c) 2004, The Miami Herald. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services. 017922 Happy New Year! Here’s what’s happening in the Oregon Daily Emerald this January: SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS January 9: Pac-10 Basketball Preview January 14: Duck BuckS(TM) January 21: Bridal Guide January 26: Career Fair Guide DAILY FEATURES News, Commentary, Sports EVERY DAY Pulse entertainment section every Thursday CLASSIFIEDS NEW Don’t Do-It-Yourself Service Directory Every Monday in the Classifieds Spiritual Directory Every Friday in the Classifieds ONLINE Check out our website and sign up for daily email updates at www.dailyemerald.com. expires 2/29/04 Good at 13th & High Street PakMail location only. • 343-1313 Not valid with any other offer or promotion. Must mention ad. 2004 Emerald City Bridal Show January 17th® 18th Lane Events Center, sponsored by: (The Hffltstf r-fkiarii Springfield New* Admission: $7.00 Over 100 local companies to assist you with all your wedding needs. SMQW hours fashion showtimfs SATURDAY 10:00 AM-5:00 PM 11:00 AM & 2:30 PM SUNDAY II :00 AM-5:00 PM 12:30 PM & 3:00 PM www.oregonweddingshows.com
