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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 6, 2004)
Today Thursday Friday High: 68 High: 71 High: 68 Low: 49 Low: 50 Low: 49 Precip: 50% Precip: 0% Precip: 60% IN BRIEF Record flu vaccine shortage hits U.S. WASHINGTON — Americans’ sup ply of flu vaccine was abruptly cut in half Thesday, prompting the govern ment to ask most healthy adults to de lay or skip flu shots so that the elderly and others most at risk from influenza can get scarce supplies. British regula tors unexpectedly shut down a major flu-shot supplier Thesday, prompting a record shortage in this country just as flu season is about to begin. White House staunchly defends Iraq policy WASHINGTON — The White House staunchly defended its Iraq pol icy Thesday as new questions emerged about President Bush’s prewar deci sions and postwar planning. An im pending weapons report undercut the administration's main rationale for the war, and the former head of the Amer ican occupation said the United States had too few troops in Iraq after the in vasion. Four weeks before Election Day, Sen. John Kerry pounced on the acknowledgment by former Iraq ad ministrator Paul Bremer that the Unit ed States had “paid a big price” for in sufficient troop levels. U.S.-Iraqi forces launch major offensive BAGHDAD, Iraq — More than 3,000 U S. and Iraqi troops launched a major operation Tliesday against insurgent strongholds just south of Baghdad, their second mission in five days to wrest control from militants whose at tacks threaten national elections seen as crucial to stabilizing this turbulent country. The operation in Babil province — an area notorious for kid nappings and ambushes and home to the fabled, ancient city of Babylon — follows last week's U.S.-Iraqi drive to oust insurgent forces from Samarra, about 60 miles north of Baghdad. Turkey edges closer to European Union entrance BRUSSELS, Belgium — The Euro pean Union head office will likely push for stringent and long-term conditions to membership for Tlirkey as part of its expected approval on Wednesday to start entry negotiations, which are like ly to last at least 10 years. The 30-member executive Euro pean Commission is expected to warn Ankara in its recommendation that any backtracking on human rights or other democratic reforms could cause a delay in negotiations. Body found in Willamette River still unidentified DUNDEE — A body was discov ered in the Willamette River over the weekend, and authorities on Tliesday still could not determine the man's identity or what caused his death. A child on a day outing with his family spotted the body floating face down on Sunday. Yamhill County District Attorney Brad Berry said an autopsy was performed Monday at the state Medical Examiner’s Office in Portland. “What we know is more about what did not happen,” the district at torney said. “He was not shot, stabbed or strangled.” — The Associated Press Voters rally in Afghanistan as weekend elections near Thousands gather in support of three presidential candidates; elections focus is on recovery from war BY AMIR SHAH THE ASSOCIATED PRESS GHAZNI, Afghanistan — Watched over by American bodyguards and sharpshooters, Afghanistan’s eternal ly optimistic interim president told a campaign rally of 10,000 people Tlies day that this weekend’s election is a key step in their recovery from decades of war and hardship. The gathering was one of three big rallies by leading presidential contenders on the most active day yet in a campaign that has mostly been waged behind closed doors, with the candidates courting the support of tribal elders who can in fluence how whole villages vote. It was only President Hamid Karzai’s second campaign trip out of the capital since an assassination at tempt by Taliban rebels last month, and security was tight. Truckloads of Afghan police lined the road lead ing to the dusty field, and everyone attending the rally had to pass through security checkpoints as U.S. helicopters flew overhead. Karzai, the overwhelming favorite among the 18 contenders, said Satur day’s election is an opportunity to build a new future for a country that has known nothing but war, drought and poverty for a quarter century. “Brothers and sisters of Afghanistan, I ask you to vote for me freely, with no pressure,” Karzai told the crowd in Ghazni, about 75 miles south of Kabul. “We want a proud Afghanistan, a stable Afghanistan, a peaceful Afghanistan. ” After the rally, he mingled in the crowd, shaking hands with an old man who pressed closer to meet him. “Don’t push him! Don’t push him!” Karzai told his security detail when they tried to keep the man away. “This is democracy. This is emotion!” People in the crowd danced and sang, while drummers beat out a traditional song. Karzai’s main rival, former Interior Minister Yunus Qanooni, addressed more than 2,000 people at the Kabul sports stadium to appeal for support. Qanooni, an ethnic Tajik, is expected to finish second but hopes to hold Karzai below the majority vote need ed to avoid a runoff. In the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif, Uzbek strongman Abdul Rashid Dostum told several thou sand people that Karzai’s govern ment had fallen short on promises of reconstruction and improved se curity. Afterward, Dostum mounted a brown horse — his electoral sym bol— as the crowd pressed in around him, chanting his name. Afghan police raid hideout Monday On Monday, Afghan soldiers and police raided a hideout where Tal iban militants were suspected of preparing attacks to disrupt the presidential election, prompting a three-hour battle that killed seven insurgents, officials said Tuesday. Seven police officers were report ed killed Tliesday when their vehicle struck a land mine close to the Pak istani border, and police said gun men shot at a U.N. vehicle, wound ing three Afghan election workers. The Taliban, which was driven from power by a U.S.-led coalition in late 2001, has staged a string of at tacks on election workers, made fre quent rocket assaults on U.S. bases and sprung occasional ambushes. But the rebels have not launched the major assault that many people had feared in the days leading up to the vote. Officials said they were confident the rebels would not be able to mount attacks capable of stopping the vote. “The elections will be secure, not so much because the remnants of the Taliban or the terrorist forces are sav ing their energies to launch attacks on the day of the election,” said Jawed Ludin, a spokesman for Karzai. “Our intelligence is that in fact there is not much energy left there. ” In neighboring Pakistan, the In ternational Organization for Migra tion, which organized a four-day voter registration drive among Afghan refugees, said about 740,000 had signed up to vote in the elec tion. 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