Friday, October 21, 2005, Corvallis Gazette-Times, Corvallis, Ore. www.gazettetimes.com A7 HE LJD TV reporter alleges action by U.S. troops in 'Afghanistan By DANIEL C00NEY Press writer l' KABUL, Afghanistan Is-1 Iamic clerics expressed outrage Thursday at television footage 'that purportedly shows U.S. soldiers burning the bodies of gerous to venture into unless accompanied by U.S. troops.
The network said the video was taken by a freelance journalist, Stephen Dupont. Dupont, who told The Associated Press that he was embedded with the Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade, said the burnings happened Oct. 1. He told SBS that soldiers in a U.S. Army psychological operations unit later broadcast taunting messages targeting the village, which was believed to be harboring Taliban fighters.
'They deliberately wanted to incite that much anger from the Taliban so the Taliban could attack them. That's the only way they can find them," Dupont said. that erupted after Newsweek said U.S. soldiers at the Guan-tanamo Bay detention facility desecrated Islam's holy book, the Quran. Newsweek later retracted the story.
The alleged body burning comes as the U.S. military is struggling to bolster its image in Afghanistan amid charges by Karzai of heavy-handed tactics in fighting the Taliban. Australia's SBS television network broadcast the video purportedly showing soldiers burning the bodies of two suspected Taliban fighters in hills outside Gonbaz village in the southern Shah Wali Kot district an area plagued by Taliban activity and considered by the local security forces as too dan and to me this is even worse," said Faiz Mohammed, a top cleric in northern Kunduz province. "This is against Islam. Afghans will be shocked by this news.
It is so humiliating. There will be very, very dangerous consequences from this." Anger also was evident in the streets. "If they continue to carry out such actions against us, our people will change their policy and react with the same policy against them," said Mehrajud-din, a resident of Kabul, who like many Afghans uses only one name. Another man in the capital, Zahidullah, said the reported abuse was like atrocities committed by Soviet troops, who were driven out of Afghanistan in 1989 after a decade of occupation. He warned that the same could happen to American forces.
"Their future will be like the Russians," Zahidullah said. In Washington, the U.S. government also condemned the alleged incident. The allegation was "very serious" and 'Very troubling," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. His comment came after the department said U.S.
embassies had been told to inform foreigners that abuse of remains "is not reflective of our values." The move suggested U.S. worries about an anti-American uproar like Afghan riots in May and ordered an inquiry. The operational commander of the U.S. military in Afghanistan, which launched its own criminal probe, said the alleged act, if true, was "repugnant." Worried about the potential for anti-American feelings over the incident, the State Department said it instructed U.S. embassies around the globe to tell local governments that the reported abuse did not reflect American values.
Cremating bodies is banned under Islam, and one Muslim leader in Afghanistan compared the video to photographs of U.S. troops abusing prisoners at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison. "Abu Ghraib ruined the reputation of the Americans in Iraq f' two dead Taliban fighters to other militants and warned of a possible violent anti-American backlash. President Hamid Karzai con-. the alleged desecration Wars National Guari short of gear i.
lllilMillliLl'Sr fejilli- Ifjii sit rn Vw.L.::. is JEFF CHIU Associated Press Divers and the Coast Guard search for children along Pier 7 in San Francisco on Thursday. Lashaun T. Harris, 23, was taken into custody Wednesday night after someone saw her drop the youngsters from the 10-foot pier not far from Fishermen's Wharf, a major tourist spot. Mom charged with throwing 3 into bay iiWi but over the last year and a half fought an increasingly unsuccessful battle with mental illness.
"It's confusing. I just want to know why she did it," said Demarcus Harris, a cousin. Lashuan Harris, the third oldest of seven siblings, had been living with her children in a Salvation Army shelter in Oakland since early September, said her oldest sister, Telicia Harris, 26. Before that, she lived with her mother in Oakland, with another sister in Jacksonville, and with the father of her children. She had been taking medication for her schizophrenia, but Telicia Harris said she did not know how consistently.
Associated Press Writer Jordan Robertson contributed to this story. mention a subsidy for set-top converter boxes. So, lawmakers will likely have to work out differences between the two bills. Stevens said he did not anticipate a big fight with the House over the deadline or the subsidy. The subsidy program would be paid for by money raised from the auction of the analog spectrum the broadcasters are vacating.
The subsidy would be available for all those households with older televisions. imP 'The bottom line is that our inventory is now at 34 percent" of what it should be. Lt. Gen. H.
Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau tain items, such as armored vehicles. By July 2005, the Army National Guard had transferred more than 101,000 pieces of equipment from stateside units to equip those bound for overseas. More than 64,000 items, worth $1.2 billion, have been left overseas for other units, the auditors found. Further, the practice has "exhausted" the National Guard's inventory of more than 220 high-demand items, such as radios, night-vision goggles and trucks, the report said. Overall, the National Guard is down to 34 percent of its normal inventory of equipment, and the Army still hasn't developed a plan for replacing lost or missing items, the report said.
As a result, some units have been unprepared to respond to natural disasters when they return home. Because West Virginia's 1092nd Engineer Battalion left its equipment in Iraq for another unit, its troops found themselves without front-end loaders and dump trucks necessary for flood relief. The battalion had to rent the equipment it needed, said Maj. Gen. Allen E.
Tackett, West Virginia's adjutant general. "I believe this situation must be addressed before the next hurricane, earthquake or tsunami finds us ill-equipped to respond to a threat as potentially deadly as any enemy attack," he said. Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis, said he and Sen. Christopher Bond, are working to ensure that the National Guard gets the $1.3 billion it needs in the next supplemental spending bill. "Quite simply, we are robbing the nondeployed Peter to pay the deployed Paul," he said.
"I understand the need to prioritize, but this shouldn't have to be a zero-sum game." makers By DREW BROWN Knight Ridder Newspapers WASHINGTON The Army National Guard has lost so much critical equipment in Iraq and Afghanistan that its ability to respond to a national emergency could be severely hampered, says a government report released Thursday. Lt. Gen. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, told the House Government Reform Committee that the Guard needs $1.3 billion to replace or upgrade radios, helicopters, tactical vehicles, heavy engineering equipment, chemi- cal detection gear and night-vision goggles, which are essential to responding to national emergencies such as the recent Gulf Coast hurricanes and terrorist attacks. Blum's testimony, along with that of other top National Guard and military officials and the governors of Idaho and Pennsylvania, coincided with the release of a new Government Account-' ability Office report, which says the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have left many Army National Guard units dangerously short of critical equipment.
The shortages threaten the National Guard's ability to prepare its forces for future missions at home and overseas, the auditors found. "The bottom line is that our inventory is now at 34 percent" of what it should be, Blum said. "National Guard officials believe that the National Guard's response to Hurricane Katrina was more complicated because significant quantities of critical equipment, such as satellite communications equipment, radios, trucks, helicopters and night-vision goggles were deployed to Iraq," said U.S. Comptroller General David M. Walker in a statement accompanying the report's release.
The report found several reasons for the problem: The National Guard is experiencing its biggest use of forces since World War II. More than 30 percent of Army troops in Iraq are National Guard soldiers. The Army traditionally has equipped National Guard units with only 70 percent of the combat equipment they need, under the assumption that if sent overseas, they would have time to obtain the rest before deployment. Current operations, especially in Iraq, have created an unprecedented demand for cer- The Coast Guard called off its search, but the San Francisco police and fire departments continued to scour the baj for the two bodies. "We are going to be out here until we find them," said police spokeswoman Maria Oropeza.
The district attorney's office charged Harris, of Oakland, with three counts of murder and three counts of assault on a child with great bodily injury. Because multiple murder charges are involved, she could face the death penalty. Harris was scheduled to be arraigned today, officials said. About a dozen family members spent Thursday afternoon meeting with police investigators and praying near the pier. They described Harris as a devoted mother who used to work as a nurse's assistant at a retirement home in Oakland, Relatives say mother had schizophrenia By LISA LEFF Associated Press writer SAN FRANCISCO A -vwoman seen dropping her young sons into San 'Francisco Bay from a downtown pier was charged with murder Thursday while anguished relatives kept vigil and rescuers combed the chilly water for the bodies of two of Ithe victims.
Lashuan T. Harris, 23, was v. being held in a hospital jail ward after police saw her pushing an empty baby stroller away from the pier where a witness reported spotting a woman drop the chil Senate works to aid in upgrade to digital TV dren into the water Wednesday night. The body of Harris' middle child, Taronta Greeley, 2, was recovered late Wednesday about two miles from the 10-foot pier not far from Fishermen's Wharf, a major tourist spot. The other children Treyshun Harris, 6, and Joshoa Greeley, 16 months were missing and presumed dead Thursday after more than 24 hours in water with a swift current.
The sheriff's department would not say why Harris was in the hospital, but she suffered from schizophrenia and had threatened to hurt her children, according to Britney Fitzpatrick, her 16-year-old half-sister. "She told my mama she was going to feed them to the sharks," Fitzpatrick said. "No one thought it was that serious." 2009, as the firm date for television broadcasters to end their traditional analog transmissions and send their broadcasts via digital signals. Digital television promises sharper pictures and better sound than analog TV. But millions of Americans with older TV sets rely solely on free, over the-air-television, and they'll need some type of a converter box to keep receiving their television service.
Cable and satellite cus Non-fatal firearm related violent crimes Rape, sexual assault, robbery and aggravated assault 1 4 million incidents E3 Victims Crimes With firearms 1.82 1.8 million 4. 1.6 1.4 1.2 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 i i I k' .111 I 4 0 '89 '91 '93 '95 '97 '99 '01 '03 AP ill 1 1 li i iiu '93 '95 '97 '99 '01 '03 II llllhmi 1UU1AU1UL. tomers won't be affected. Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, said Congress needs to do something to help consumers with the older analog sets, an estimated 21 million households. "If we're mandating this (digital) conversion, we cannot leave people behind because they can't afford" digital television sets, he said.
The draft of a House bill would end analog transmissions on Dec. 31, 2008. It does not House vote protects gun I By JENNIFER C. KERR Associated Press writer WASHINGTON Lawmak-l ers want to spend $3 billion to I make sure millions of Americans won't wake up to blank TV 'screens when the country makes She switch to all-digital broad-upcasts. The subsidy was approved 'Thursday by the Senate Commerce Committee as part of legislation that would set April 7, Gun violence down from 1990s highs Legislation designed to make it harder for victims of gun violence to sue gun companies is headed to President Bush.
In 2003, 27 percent of murders, robberies and aggravated assaults were committed with firearms. Fatal selected crime estimates with firearms Murders, robberies and aggravated assaults 1 it a By LAURIE KELLMAN Associated Press writer would be subject under the laws of your state to a lawsuit," he added. "I guess that does not apply to gun manufacturers." Closely watched is a Massachusetts case in which the family of Danny Guzman killed with a handgun stolen from Kahr Arms is suing the company, alleging it did not have enough security at its factory, according to Daniel Vice, staff attorney with the Brady Center To Prevent Handgun Violence. Guzman, 26, was shot in 1999 outside a Worcester nightclub with a 9mm handgun stolen by a Kahr employee with a criminal record, the family's attorney said. Supporters of the bill say it still would permit lawsuits against importers, manufacturers and dealers where criminal wrongdoing is found.
Gun makers and dealers still would be subject to product liability, negligence or breach of contract suits, the bill's authors say. and gave Bush and his Republican allies on Capitol Hill a rare victory at a politically troubled time when several top White House officials and GOP congressional leaders are under investigation. When Bush signs the measure into law, a half-dozen pending lawsuits filed by cities and counties against the gun industry would be dismissed. The localities that are plaintiffs to those suits include Los Angeles, San Francisco, Cleveland, Gary, Ind. and New York City.
Antigun groups said pending suits by families of people murdered in gun crimes also could be dismissed. "This is a get-out-of-liability-free card," said John Russo, city attorney for Oakland, one of 11 cities and counties in California whose suits against the industry would be dismissed. "If you were to do something that brought harm to somebody else, you WASHINGTON Congress voted Thursday to sweep away the ability of gun crime victims to sue firearms manufacturers and dealers for damages, answering complaints by President Bush and the gun industry that big jury awards could lead to bankruptcy. Opponents called the 283-144 vote in the House proof of the gun lobby's power over the Republican-controlled Congress, but Bush said he looked forward to signing the bill. "Our laws should punish criminals who use guns to commit crimes, not law-abiding manufacturers of lawful products," the president said.
The Senate passed the bill, 65-31, in July. The bill's passage was the National Rifle Association's top legislative priority 73 75 '77 79 '81 '83 '85 '87 iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiil SOURCE: Department ot Justice.
