Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris

Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro
de la Prensa-Baszn ()zeti
-J
not see the weapon's muzzle flash. . geant George Schëi.ifelè: spots insur-
Mercado sits smoldering. "If they let. gents with an RPG hiding behind a
us dismount, we could kill those guys in truck about 400 yards, or 365 meters,
five minutes," he says.
away.
. He grabs the radio and requests per- Cannon radios headquarters for permission
from Cannon to open the three- mission to use the vehicle's cannon and
inch-thick rear hatch.
high-explosive rounds. The. streets are
The lieutenantscans a landscape ut- empty, and injury to civilians is deemed
terly devoid of cover. "Permission unlikely, so permission is granted. .
denied," he answers. As if seconding his Shockey waits patiently, the cross
judgment, another rocket explodes, this hairs on the truck. The men come
one just yards from the Bradley. crouching around the comer again, the
Shrapnel clangs off the rear door. RPG visible. He squeezes the trigger,
.. Up front, Williams throws the Brad- and the Bradley echoes as the gun fires.
ley into gear and moves 50 feet back, The first shot is dead on. He squeezes
trying to deprive the insurgents of a sta- again, a three-round burst, and the men
tionary target. and the truck disappear in a ball of
The frustrated infantrymen in the flame.
back are glued to the screen, watching a Within minutes, two dozen Iraqis
war movie in which they, as the target, emerge from buildings to push cars
have a very intense interest.
away from the flames and pull down a
A half-dozen more explosions rock tent where gunmen had been seen takthe
vehicles over the next half hour, ing cover. Through the gun sight it
many coming within yards. But then seems as if they are arguing with severthe
commander of another Bradley, Ser- al men - maybe militia fighters - in an
aÜeyway 20 yards, or 18 meters, up the
street. The. residents must be harangUing
the men for bringing violence
down on them, the crew figures.
But Company A is moving out: over
the radio, the soldiers hear that the Iraqi
police have refused to check out .the
mosque.
Three of the Bradleys reverse direction
up the street. The fourth waits for
long seconds,. until a man reappears
from the alleyway, this time with an
AK-47 rifle. The Bradley's machine gun
barks, and the man tumbles backward.
Then the vehicle falls into formation
behind the others, and they go clanking
back through the streets of Sadr City.
They waste no time getting back to
the base, partly because they will probably
have to go back out again before the
night is over. The night missions are the
violent ones, and ambushes are guaranteed.
Gunfire and explosions echo
through Sadr Cityafter dark.
The New York TImes
UN, in 15-to-Ovote,
backs U.s. on Iraq
Plan calls for 'full sovereignty' transfer;
Bush seen as getting a big diplomatic lift
By Warren Hoge
UNITED NATIONS, New York: The
Security Council voted unanimously
late Tuesday in favor of an American-
British resolution to end the formal occupation
of Iraq on June 30 and transfer
"full sovereignty" to an Iraqi interim
government.
In addition to giving international legitimacy
to the new caretaker government,
the resolution authorizes an
American-led multinational force, now
at 160,000 troops, to use "all necessary
measures" in "partnership" with Iraqi
forces to bring peace. It also defines the
UN role in post-transition Iraq.
The vote will arm President George
W. Bush with a major diplomatic success
as he gathers with leaders of world
powers for a Group of 8 summit meeting
on Sea Island, Georgia.
Earlier in the day, before the vote
was taken, Bush said at a news conference
with Prime Minister Junichiro
Koizumi of Japan: "There were some
who said we'd never get one, and it
looks like, if things go well, it will be a
unanimous vote, thereby saying to the
world that members of the Security
Council are interested in working together
to make sure that Iraq is free and
peaceful and democratic."
Jean-Marc de la Sablière, ambassador
of France, which had been the most
demanding of the Coundlmembers in
seeking changes in the text, had also
predicted that it would be "a unimous
vote." The resolution went through
: four revisions in two weeks.
. [There was, however, a powerful signal
of discontent from Iraq as .Shiites
and Kurds argued over the wording of
the resolution. Kurds insisted that
Iraq's interim constitution be mentioned
as a way of underlining Kurdish
self-rule in the north of the country,
with Shiites saying such a clause would
undercut the authority
government. Page 3]
of the central
With the approval of the UN resolution,
Bush will now be able to 'Citesupport
from key Council countries like
France, Germany and Russia that were
vigorously opposed to the American
campaign.
A number of the Security Council
countries that had faulted the United
Sta:tes for disdaining the United Nations
before the war praised it for its
willingness to accept suggestions and
revisions in the negotiations that ended
Monday night.
Gunter Pleuger, the German ambassador,
said the United States and Britain,
co-sponsors of the resolution, had
been "very flexible and very cooperative."
Abdallah Baali, the ambassador of Algeria,
the only Arab nation on the Coun-
Cil,said the resolution was "the best we
could get under the circumstances."
The U.S. ambassador, John Negroponte,
who is going to Baghdad soon as
the United States envoy there, said, "We
have made a major effort to take into account
the comments that have been
made by various delegations, and we
think it is an excellent resolution."
The latest adjustment was made to
meet a French and German demand that
the relationship between Iraqi troops
and the American-led forces - outlined
in letters annexed to the measure
- be spelled out in the measure itself.
The letters, one from Iyad Allawi,
prime minister of the interim Iraqi government,
and the other from Secretary
of State Colin Powell, describe a partnership
between Iraqi forces and the
United States command "on the full
range of fundamental security and police
issues, including policy on sensitive
offensive operations."
Negroponte said that, though he believed
the letters spoke for themselves,
the United States had agreed to incorporate
a "summary paragraph" of what
they said into the resolution.
"The new text reflects our concern, it
meets 90 percent of our concern, and I
think we can live with that," said
Pleuger, who also predicted unanimous
approval.
Ambassador Heraldo Munoz of Chile
said the final text reflected suggestions
put-forward by his country, Spain and
Brazil that the resolution state that all
forces pledge to observe international
human rights laws.
In Georgia, Bush seemed to acknowledge
that the resolution would not necessarily
mean that allies would send
more troops to Iraq, but he nevertheless
seemed pleased with the final outcome.
"I expect nations to contribute as
they see fit," he said. "But of course the
key to long-term security in Iraq is for
all of us to work together to train Iraqi .
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