CALIFORNIA YANKEE

U.S. And Iraq Agree On Military Coordination

Iraq and the United States have reached an agreement on the coordination of U.S.-led troops.

Reuters reports:

The letters, obtained by Reuters, do not spell out what would happen if Iraqi leaders opposed a major military operation as they did during the U.S. assault on Fallujah.

But Britain's U.N. ambassador, Emyr Jones Parry, said the U.S. command could not carry out a major operation without Iraqi consent.

The letters will be attached to U.S.-British draft resolution that would endorse an interim Iraqi government to take office on June 30 and authorize a U.S.-led multinational force to "use all necessary means" to keep the peace. Iraq's say over military operations was a key unresolved

[. . .]

Allawi said he would chair a new Ministerial Committee for National Security, in which the U.S. command would participate. He said this group needed to "reach agreement of the full range of fundamental security and policy issues, including policy on sensitive offensive operations."

Britain's Jones Parry said his government understood that "the policy on sensitive offensive operations will require the assent of the (Iraqi) ministerial committee."

Powell, in a separate letter, said the U.S. command would "work to reach agreement on the full range of fundamental security and policy issues, including policy on sensitive offensive operations" in "partnership" with the Iraqis.

Draft Rumors Denied

Rumors that the government is secretly planning to bring back the draft have become so rampant that the Selective Service Administration has posted this notice on it's website:

Notwithstanding recent stories in the news media and on the Internet, Selective Service is not getting ready to conduct a draft for the U.S. Armed Forces -- either with a special skills or regular draft. Rather, the Agency remains prepared to manage a draft if and when the President and the Congress so direct. This responsibility has been ongoing since 1980 and is nothing new. Further, both the President and the Secretary of Defense have stated on more than one occasion that there is no need for a draft for the War on Terrorism or any likely contingency, such as Iraq. Additionally, the Congress has not acted on any proposed legislation to reinstate a draft. Therefore, Selective Service continues to refine its plans to be prepared as is required by law, and to register young men who are ages 18 through 25.

The Chicago Tribune reports that there is no truth to the rumors:

Lt. Col. Franklin Childress, spokesman for the Army's personnel branch, said he knew of no change in the Defense Department's policy of maintaining an all-volunteer military.

"We haven't done any preparations for a draft," he said.

Asked at a Pentagon town meeting with military personnel last month if there would be a draft after the election, Rumsfeld replied, "I don't think so.

"We don't need a draft," he added. "We're able to attract and retain all the people we need. . . . So I can't imagine that this country would go back to a draft."

[. . .]

A bill introduced in January 2003 by retiring Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-S.C.) would require all men and women 18 through 25 to "perform a period of military service or a period of civilian service in furtherance of the national defense and homeland security."

The measure was referred to the Senate Armed Services Committee, where it has yet to be acted upon.

Another bill introduced in the House in January 2003, would likewise require draft-age men and women to perform military or civilian national security service.

That bill was sponsored by Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), who said his bill would address the unfairness of having minorities shoulder a disproportionate share of the burden of military service.

He said the bill was meant to demonstrate his opposition to the war in Iraq and to emphasize that "there should be a more equitable representation of all classes of Americans making the sacrifice for this great country."

That bill was sent to the House Armed Services Committee and never acted upon. Also dormant in that committee is a measure by Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) that would abolish the Selective Service System.

Northwestern University professor Charles Moskos, a military authority and author of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy for homosexuals in the military, said two issues would have to be dealt with before the draft could be restored.

One is women, who are exempt from Selective Service registration but constitute 15 percent of the U.S. military. Though excluded from ground infantry and a few other combat roles, they command combat-area military police companies; fly bombers, fighters and attack helicopters; and command warships.

[. . .]

The other issue is the relatively few people needed for the military compared with the large population of 18-to-25-year-olds that would be eligible for the draft. A random lottery would interrupt the lives and careers of a relative handful of young people without affecting the majority.

Moskos said those problems could be addressed by a universal service requirement for young people that would have three service categories. One group would do traditional military service, a second would join homeland security efforts at the nation's ports and borders and a third would participate in civilian service projects, such as the Peace Corps or Habitat for Humanity.

Reinstating the draft, Moskos said, would address the lack of middle- and upper-class representation in the military.

Snopes.com, the debunker of urban legends, says "probably not" to claim that the draft will be reinstated by Spring 2005. The concern generated by this rumor is demonstrated by the fact that the claim that "The U.S. military will be reinstituting the draft"is number seven on the Snopes top searches page.

Be Careful What You Send

The Associated Press reports that text messages, like e-mail and Internet instant messages, are saved on servers. That means they can be obtained in used against the sender in legal proceedings. According to the Associated Press:

"One of the false assumptions that people make is that when they hit the delete button, messages are gone forever, but nothing can be further from the truth," said Jeff Kagan, an independent telecommunications analyst in Atlanta.

[. . .]

"Don't ever say anything on e-mail or text messaging that you don't want to come back and bite you."

Criminal cases in Europe and Asia have hinged on text messages:

In Sweden, police and prosecutors used text messages to prove that a nanny influenced by a pastor of a religious sect shot and killed his wife while she slept and then killed a neighbor next door with whom she was alleged to be having an affair.

And police in southern Japan are examining e-mail and text messages as part of the investigation into last week's box-cutter killing of a 12-year-old girl, allegedly by an 11-year-old classmate.

Text messages have also been used in U.S. cases:

In the United States, text messages had a role in a Medford, Ore., case in which a man convicted of killing his wife had sent e-mail and text messages to terrorize her. In Conyers, Ga., a 17-year-old boy was arrested for investigation of solicitation of sodomy after a 12-year-old girl's parents complained of sexually explicit messages she had received.

Text messages may also play a roll in Kobe Bryant's rape case:

In the Bryant case, defense attorneys said text messages were exchanged among the woman who has accused Bryant of rape and two other people - the former boyfriend and a person as yet unidentified - in the hours after the alleged June 30 attack.

Four months later, Bryant's attorneys subpoenaed AT&T Wireless Communications Inc., seeking the messages. The company fought the subpoena, but retained the messages. The company fought the subpoena, but last month state District Judge Terry Ruckriegle ordered the company to turn the messages over to him.

He will review them in private to determine whether they are relevant to the case, in which Bryant has pleaded not guilty.

The lesson to be learned here is that you shouldn't say or send anything that you wouldn't want to see quoted in a newspaper.

U.S. Forces Softening Iraq Tactics

The Associated Press reports that U.S. forces in Iraq are softening tactics and minimizing combat operations:

The new stance has seen the U.S. military halt offensives in the rebel-held cities of Fallujah and Najaf without achieving its goals of capturing radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr or the killers of U.S. contractors. Those deaths led to the bloody three-week siege of Fallujah in which 10 Marines and hundreds of Iraqis died.

The siege of Fallujah outraged many Iraqis, who felt that the Americans used disproportionate firepower against the city.

"What happened in Fallujah and other places will not be repeated," said Iraq's incoming prime minister, Iyad Allawi, who heads the interim government taking office June 30. Allawi said U.S. forces will not be allowed to launch future offensives in Iraq without his permission.

Brigadier General Mark Hertling, who yesterday said Sadr's militia has been defeated, said that the U.S. Army's offensive in Najaf is slowing because American troops devastated al-Sadr's rebel fighters in two months of gritty combat. Hertling seems to disagree with the Associted Press' suggestion that U.S. forces are taking a different approach:

"Softer stance? We took a hard line with these guys and killed over a thousand," Hertling wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "Concessions? We agreed to stop hunting down what was left of the militia long enough for them to disband."

Sadr's Forces Leave Najaf and Kufa

Supporting General Hertling's statement that Sadr's militia has been defeated, the New York Times reports that Moktada al-Sadr's forces are withdrawing from Najaf and Kufa:

Shiite leaders and American officials said the armed followers of Mr. Sadr, known as the Mahdi Army, had cleared out of many parts of Najaf, and seemed to be getting ready to leave altogether. The Shiite leaders said American forces, who encircled the city in recent weeks, had also cleared out of the city center and areas near the Imam Ali Shrine, one of the holiest sites in Shiite Islam.

[. . .]

"The people of Najaf are walking the streets, the cars are moving on every avenue and the Iraqi police have moved back in," said Adnan Ali, a senior official with the Dawa Party, whose leaders took part in the negotiations. "This is a good step forward."

Iraq's new prime minister, Iyad Allawi, declared in an interview that the fighting was over. "The armed presence in Najaf and Kufa has ended," he told Associated Press Television News.

[. . .]

A coalition official said American forces had pulled out of the center of town but were running joint patrols with Iraqi forces within the city.

A senior Iraqi official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, suggested that Mr. Sadr had grown demoralized in the face of political isolation and relentless military pressure. American commanders claim to have killed hundreds of Mr. Sadr's fighters in the past weeks.

"There is every indication that the man is in a deplorable state of affairs," said the senior Iraqi official. "He feels very weak. The Mahdi Army has suffered big losses."

President Ronald Reagan 1911-2004

President Bush's Remarks Upon the Death of President Ronald Reagan

This is a sad hour in the life of America. A great American life has come to an end. I have just spoken to Nancy Reagan. On behalf of our whole nation, Laura and I offered her and the Reagan family our prayers and our condolences.

Ronald Reagan won America's respect with his greatness, and won its love with his goodness. He had the confidence that comes with conviction, the strength that comes with character, the grace that comes with humility, and the humor that comes with wisdom. He leaves behind a nation he restored and a world he helped save.

During the years of President Reagan, America laid to rest an era of division and self-doubt. And because of his leadership, the world laid to rest an era of fear and tyranny. Now, in laying our leader to rest, we say thank you.

He always told us that for America, the best was yet to come. We comfort ourselves in the knowledge that this is true for him, too. His work is done, and now a shining city awaits him. May God bless Ronald Reagan.

Reagan's 1994 Letter to the Public

My Fellow Americans,

I have recently been told that I am one of the millions of Americans who will be afflicted with Alzheimer's disease.

Upon learning this news, Nancy and I had to decide whether as private citizens we would keep this a private matter or whether we would make this news known in a public way.

In the past, Nancy suffered from breast cancer and I had my cancer surgeries. We found through our open disclosures we were able to raise public awareness. We were happy that as a result many more people underwent testing.

They were treated in early stages and we were able to return to normal, healthy lives.

So now, we feel it is important to share it with you. In opening our hearts, we hope this might promote greater awareness of this condition. Perhaps it will encourage a clearer understanding of the individuals and families who are affected by it.

At the moment I feel just fine. I intend to live the remainder of the years God gives me on this earth doing the things I have always done. I will continue to share life’s journey with my beloved Nancy and my family. I plan to enjoy the great outdoors and stay in touch with my friends and supporters.

Unfortunately, as Alzheimer's disease progresses, the family often bears a heavy burden. I only wish there was some way I could spare Nancy from this painful experience. When the time comes, I am confident that with your help she will face it with faith and courage.

In closing let me thank you, the American people, for giving me the great honor of allowing me to serve as your president. When the Lord calls me home, whenever that may be, I will leave with the greatest love for this country of ours and eternal optimism for its future.

I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead.

Thank you, my friends. May God always bless you.

Sincerely, Ronald Reagan.

President Reagan Dies

Fox News reports that President Reagan has passed away.

God bless!

UPDATE: The Associated Press reports:

Ronald Reagan , the cheerful crusader who devoted his presidency to winning the Cold War, trying to scale back government and making people believe it was "morning again in America," died Saturday after a long twilight struggle with Alzheimer's disease, a family friend said. He was 93.

He died at his home in California, according to the friend, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The friend said the family has turned to making funeral arrangements. A formal statement was expected later.

The White House was told his health had taken a turn for the worse in the last several days.

Five years after leaving office, the nation's 40th president told the world in November 1994 that he had been diagnosed with the early stages of Alzheimer's, an incurable illness that destroys brain cells. He said he had begun "the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life."

Reagan body was expected to be taken to his presidential library and museum in Simi Valley, Calif., and then flown to Washington to lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda. His funeral was expected to be at the National Cathedral, an event likely to draw world leaders. The body was to be returned to California for a sunset burial at his library.

Reagan lived longer than any U.S. president, spending his last decade in the shrouded seclusion wrought by his disease, tended by his wife, Nancy, whom he called Mommy, and the select few closest to him. Now, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton (news - web sites) are the surviving ex-presidents.

[. . .]

Over two terms, from 1981 to 1989, Reagan reshaped the Republican Party in his conservative image, fixed his eye on the demise of the Soviet Union and Eastern European communism and tripled the national debt to $3 trillion in his singleminded competition with the other superpower.

Taking office at age 69, Reagan had already lived a career outside Washington, one that spanned work as a radio sports announcer, an actor, a television performer, a spokesman for the General Electric Co., and a two-term governor of California.

At the time of his retirement, his very name suggested a populist brand of conservative politics that still inspires the Republican Party.

He declared at the outset, "Government is not the solution, it's the problem," although reducing that government proved harder to do in reality than in his rhetoric.

[. . .]

At 69, Reagan was the oldest man ever elected president when he was chosen on Nov. 4, 1980, by an unexpectedly large margin over incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter.

Near-tragedy struck on his 70th day as president. On March 30, 1981, Reagan was leaving a Washington hotel after addressing labor leaders when a young drifter, John Hinckley, fired six shots at him. A bullet lodged an inch from Reagan's heart, but he recovered.

Four years later he was re-elected by an even greater margin, carrying 49 of the 50 states in defeating Democrat Walter F. Mondale, Carter's vice president.

Reuters:

Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, who forged a conservative revolution that transformed American politics, died on Saturday after a decade-long battle with Alzheimer's disease, U.S. media reported. He was 93.

Sadr's Militia Defeated

Australia's News.com.au reports that Brigadier General Mark Hertling said Sadr's militia has been defeated:

"The Moqtada militia is militarily defeated. We have killed scores of them over the last few weeks, and that is in Najaf alone," Brigadier General Mark Hertling, one of the top US commanders in charge of Najaf, told AFP.

"Over the past several days, Moqtada's militia has lost much of their stomach for fighting," he said, also declaring victory in the central cities of Kut, Diwaniyah and Karbala, dogged by fighting over the past two months.

"We have also destroyed their weapons stores and their offensive capability," he said.

It's disappointing, but not surprising that the mainstream media in the U.S. hasn't reported this positive development.

UPDATE: Agence France-Presse reports an official from Sadr's office in Najaf dismissed General Hertling's comments:

"The Americans are spreading lies. If they had destroyed the Mehdi Army as they said, they could have entered Najaf, but they could not," said Sayyed (honorific) Hossam al-Husseini.

"We have not withdrawn our forces and we won't until they do the same," he added.

Kerry Jokes About VP Choice

The Associated Press reports that Kerry was just joking when he told a Detroit radio station on Friday that he'd name his running mate "in a matter of days:"

In an interview with WJR in Detroit, Kerry was asked who he was considering for vice president.

"Yeah, we'll have that done very, very shortly. We've really got most of them in place and we're on the short list and we'll have it done in a matter of days," Kerry replied.

Asked if he would announce the choice on he show, the senator said sarcastically: "Yeah, absolutely. That was my plan, and let me see now, I'll run through the list."

Kerry Spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter explained:

There is no announcement imminent. And we won't have more to say on the subject until Senator Kerry makes a decision on who is the best possible running mate.

Sounds like Kerry had a VP choice before he didn't have a VP choice.

Marines Plead Guilty to Iraqi Abuse

The Associated Press reports:

Pfc. Andrew J. Sting of Bradner and Pfc. Jeremiah J. Trefny entered their pleas at a May 14 court-martial in Iraq, according to a statement by the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force in Iraq. It was released Thursday.

Sting pleaded guilty to charges of assault, cruelty and maltreatment, dereliction of duty, and conspiracy to assault. He was sentenced to a year in prison, a reduction of rank, forfeiture of pay and a bad-conduct discharge.

The family's lawyer, Thomas Sobecki, said the Marines initially gave Sting a reprimand, but charged him after the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal unfolded. He said there was no investigation and a quick plea bargain.

[. . .]

Trefny pleaded guilty to cruelty and maltreatment, dereliction of duty, false official statement, violating a lawful order, and conspiracy to commit assault. He was sentenced to eight months in prison, reduction of rank and forfeiture of all pay, and he will also receive a bad-conduct discharge.

The punishment received by the Marines is similar to that received by Abu Ghraib Guard Jeremy Sivits.