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2003-2004 Index Department of Defense Articles

img81.gif Operation USO Care Package

img81.gifNavy and Army ROTC members "Run For Freedom"

img81.gif4/19/2004 Commander Calls War on Terror ‘National War for Our Survival’

img81.gif The Coalition is facing a “test of will” in Iraq. 4/7/2004

img81.gifApril 22, 2004, Rumsfeld Asks Editors To Tell Whole Story of War

img81.gifRumsfeld Thanks Troops for Actions, Sacrifices 9/6/2003

img81.gifRice: Stable Iraq Means Death Knell for Terrorism 9/8/2003

img81.gifRumsfeld, Sanchez Say Press Ignores Good News From Iraq 9/7/2003

img81.gifSubject: DoD Launches Quantum Leap-1   8/28/2003

img81.gifU.S. Attorney General: Patriot Act Important to War Against Terrorism 08/19/2003

img81.gifCheney Vows: Terrorism Will be Overcome 7/24/2003

img81.gif Air Guardsmen Detail Iraqi Freedom Close-air Support 7/16/2003 

img81.gifThunderbolt Over Baghdad, 'Pilot-Dude' Down in the Countryside 7/16/2003

img81.gifBush, Blair Cite Progress Against Terror 7/14/2003

img81.gifBlair Says Freedom, Liberty Best Weapons Against Terrorism

img81.gifBush: Harsh Treatment for Attackers, U.S. Not Leaving Till Iraq Is Free 7/2/2003

img81.gifFallujah Mosque Explosion Tied to Bomb-making Class 7/2/2003

img81.gifSaddam's 'Death Squads' Preventing More Iraqi Surrenders 3/27/2003

img81.gifBush: Massacre at Halabja Shows Evil of Hussein's Rule 3/15/2003

img81.gifMassacre at Halabja Known as 'Bloody Friday' by Iraqi Kurds 3/15/2003 (1988)

img81.gifMyers: Iraq Clearly a Present Danger to America 2/27/2003

img81.gif   Fort Hood Soldiers Cheer Commander in Chief During Visit 01/03/2003

img81.gifCIA, DIA Chiefs Detail Dire Threats 2/13/2003

 img81.gifHomeland Security: Tom Ridge: 'We Can Be Afraid or We Can Be Ready' 2/19/2003

2002 Department of Defense Articles

img81.gifSaddam's Web of Lies Conceals Iraq WMD Program 10/04/2002

img81.gifU.S. Troops in Another Incident in Kuwait 10/09/2002

img81.gifIllinois Charity Director Linked to Al Qaeda 10/09/2002

img81.gifDefense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld-a peek at how he thinks. 10/17/2002

img81.gifVirus of Terrorism 10/23/2002

 

Img148.gif4/30/1999 U.S. Will Pay Dearly For China’s Treachery-Tony Snow

 

 

Navy and Army ROTC members "Run For Freedom"

 

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 7, 2004 — Navy and Army ROTC members, as well as students,
faculty and staff at Old Dominion University and the local community are
lapping the school's perimeter in Norfolk, Va., during a six-day "Run for
Freedom" to honor every U.S. service member killed during the war on terror.

Organized by Jason Redman, a Navy SEAL attending the university through the
Navy's Seaman to Admiral Program, the event is a fundraiser to benefit families
of fallen service members. Proceeds will go to the Special Operations Warrior
Foundation, Freedom Alliance and Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors.

The run kicked off at 5 p.m. April 3 and continues 24 hours a day through mid-
day April 8, when university president Roseann Runte will lead a formation of
ROTC students during the final lap.

When the run is completed, hundreds of runners will have taken turns carrying
the American flag relay-style on a one-mile course around the campus, each
commemorating a service member lost during Operations Enduring Freedom and
Iraqi Freedom. Redman said plans originally called for the run to extend 650
miles, but that the number increases daily as U.S. casualties mount.

Some participants, particularly those in the ROTC programs, are running
multiple miles, with some tallying up more than 20 miles during the event.

The parents and five siblings of U.S. Army Spc. Donald L. Wheeler, a 22-year-
old native of Concord, Mich., arrived at the site to carry the flag around the
course in honor of their son and brother. He was killed Oct. 13 in Iraq when
his unit came under attack and was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.

"I understand it was pretty emotional," said Redman, student battalion
commander of the school's Navy ROTC unit.

Redman said the primary goal of the event is raise awareness of the sacrifices
military members families like Wheeler's make in the name of the freedom.

He said running around the clock, even in the dead of night, increases
awareness of the ongoing nature of the mission, and the fact that service
members fighting the war on terror can't take time out when they're tired,
hungry or simply want to go home.

"This is a very fitting way for our campus community to honor these courageous
men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country," he said.

Related Site:
Old Dominion University Army
ROTC [
http://courses.lib.odu.edu/rotc/]
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_______________________________________________________
NOTE:  This is a plain text version of a web page.  If your e-mail program
did not properly format this information, you may view the story at
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Apr2004/n04072004_200404075.html
Any photos, graphics or other imagery included in the article may also
be viewed at this web page.



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terrorist attacks and the war against terrorism: "Defend America"
at
http://www.DefendAmerica.mil.

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Operation USO care package

    

image001.jpg

Thank you for your past support of Operation USO Care Package.  With your help, 178,583 care packages were distributed to deployed service members through December of 2003.  CLICK HERE  to read the entire newsletter in Adobe Acrobat. 

The picture here shows the new look of the Care Package along with some of the included items.  These bags are only a part of the package that each troop receives.

Our many activities through the holiday season were instrumental in helping us send such a large number of care packages to our deployed troops.  Those programs include:

USO and Pianist/Composer Jim Brickman Join Forces to "Send a Little Christmas" to our Troops - Brickman's new holiday CD, Peace, features the emotionally-charged song, "Sending You A Little Christmas,"........CLICK HERE to read the entire article in Adobe Acrobat.

 

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4/19/2004 Commander Calls War on Terror ‘National War for Our Survival’

 

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 19, 2004 -- The war on terror isn't a conflict limited to Afghanistan and Iraq, but rather, "a national war for our survival as a
nation," according to the commander of the Defense Department's largest
warfighting organization, the Army's 18th Airborne Corps.

Army Lt. Gen. John R. Vines, who commands about 85,000 soldiers in four combat divisions — all of which have seen combat in Southwest Asia — told the American Forces Press Service last week at Fort Bragg, N.C., that the war on terror boils down to defending the United States against the forces of evil. "Evil is out there, and evil wishes to attack us," he said.

Vines said the American public frequently talks about how the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, "changed the world for everyone."  But terrorists had been fighting the United States long before the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, he said, launching more than 100 attacks against Americans around the world.

"Whether you date it from when militants overran the U.S. Embassy in Iran in 1979 or the Marine Corps barracks and U.S. Embassy were both bombed in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1983 or whether it was the bombing of the USS Cole in October 2000 or the (U.S. embassies) in Kenya or Tanzania in 1998 or Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia in 1996 or the World Trade Center in 1993," Vines said, "we have been under attack from extremists."

Despite these attacks, Vines said it took an event as dramatic as the World
Trade Center attacks, "in prime time in one of the media capitals of the world, to drive home the fact that these people are serious about destroying us."

Vines said the Sept. 11 attacks did change the way the United States views
terrorism — something he called "long overdue." "It ceased to be a law-enforcement issue and became, at least in the mind of our government, a war," Vines said. "We were not on a war footing prior to Sept. 11."

Today, with U.S. forces waging the war on terror in Southwest Asia and
elsewhere around the globe, Vines said the United States is "asking some
extraordinary things" of its service members.

"We are in a struggle, and there are some incredible sacrifices and service by our men and women," he said. "They need our 100 percent support and we need to make sure that the American citizens know the heavy load they are carrying and value the sacrifices they are making."

He praised the "extraordinary heroism and extraordinary professionalism" of the individual soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who have joined forces to protect the United States against terrorism. Their efforts, he said, have been "absolutely amazing and inspirational" to anybody who sees them.

Vines said success in combat isn't about military hardware or technology. "It boils down to the individual soldiers. It's about having people who have the commitment, the courage, the will and the warrior values to confront the forces that threaten us," he said. "And only so long as we have those men and women who are able and willing to confront this will we be safe."

 

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The Coalition is facing a “test of will” in Iraq. 4/7/2004

Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 7, 2004 – The coalition is facing a "test of will" in Iraq,
and it will meet that test, Defense Department leaders said at a press briefing
today.

"We will certainly not allow fugitives from Iraqi justice to stop progress
toward a better life for 25 million people," Defense Secretary Donald H.
Rumsfeld said. "We will not allow Sadr to get away with murder. We will not
allow Zarqawi and others to block the path to a free Iraq."

He was referring to radical Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose militia
is fighting coalition forces, and fugitive Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-
Zarqawi, believed to be behind terrorist activities in Iraq.

Rumsfeld also said troop levels in Iraq are higher than normal because of the
deployment and redeployment of U.S. forces in Iraq. Officials stressed that no
decisions have been made yet, but some units may extend past their one-year
tour if conditions dictate that.

"We have military plans to systematically address the situations we are
currently facing," Rumsfeld said. "Those plans are now being implemented.
Because we're in the midst of a major troop rotation, we have a planned
increase in the number of U.S. troops in the (U.S. Central Command) area of
responsibility, and indeed in Iraq.

"We're taking advantage of that increase," he said, "and we will likely be
managing the pace of the redeployments to allow those seasoned troops with
experience and relationships with the local populations to see the current
situation through."

Extending troops past their year is just one option Army Gen. John Abizaid,
CENTCOM commander, is looking at, officials said. Other options include
earlier-than-planned deployment of troops scheduled to go to Iraq, and shifting
coalition troops within the country.

"We've said it every week, every month from the very beginning that the
commanders on the ground make a continuing assessment as to the number of
troops they believe they need and the kinds of troops they need," Rumsfeld
said. "They make recommendations, and I sign deployment orders. You can be
certain that if they want more troops, we will sign deployment orders so that
they'll have the troops they need."

Rumsfeld said the vast majority of the Iraqi people want freedom for their
country. "Nonetheless, … as the date for Iraq's transition to self-government
approaches, those opposed to a free Iraq will grow increasingly desperate. And
indeed they are," he said.

Rumsfeld said the combat in Iraq is "a power play between those who favor
terrorism and a return to oppression, and those determined to have freedom and
self-government.

He said the Iraqi people would reject the terrorists and former Baathists. "The
overwhelming majority of the Iraqi people oppose them, and given a free choice,
the Iraqi people will choose the rule of law, not rule by murderers," Rumsfeld
said. "This much is certain: those who oppose the Iraqis people transition to
freedom and self-rule will not be permitted to derail it."

Coalition forces are taking the battle to the enemy. Two types of enemy are
attacking coalition forces in Iraq now, said Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers,
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The 1st Marine Expeditionary Force is
taking on one type of enemy in Fallujah and Ramadi, consisting of Baathist
remnants, Iraqi extremists, foreign terrorists and members of the Zarqawi
network, he said.

The second enemy consists of "thugs and gangs that would associate themselves
with Sadr," the chairman said. This group is small – between 1,000 and 6,000
through all of Iraq – but it is active in Baghdad, Amarah, Nasiriyah, Kut,
Basra, Karbala and especially in Najaf, he added.

Myers said the two enemies have only one thing in common: "a desire to keep
Iraq from progressing towards peace and freedom and self-rule."

Myers also spoke about the performance of Iraqi security forces in the recent
fighting. He said they are a part of Operation Vigilant Resolve in Fallujah.
"They're part of the outer cordon, and perhaps some operations inside," Myers
said. "There are other Iraqi forces that are actually conducting operations in
Fallujah, with our forces. I'm told that's going very well.

"There are other instances where Iraqi forces have not been as aggressive," he
acknowledged. He said a priority has to be to properly equip and train Iraqi
forces.

Rumsfeld said the Iraqi forces would be more effective once the U.S. military
is freed from some of the constraints on U.S. ability to train and equip the
Iraqi security forces. "There's just too many rules and regulations and laws
and procedures that are based on peacetime constraints that impede and slow the
progress towards getting Iraqi forces trained and equipped and deployed in ways
that are effective," he said.

Biographie:
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld [/bios/rumsfeld_bio.html]
Gen. Richard B. Myers [/bios/myers_bio.html]
Gen. John Abizaid [
http://www.centcom.mil/aboutus/cdrbio.htm]
<spacer type=vertical size=5>


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April 22, 2004, Rumsfeld Asks Editors To Tell Whole Story of War

 

 

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service



WASHINGTON, April 22, 2004 – Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld appealed to
American newspaper editors here today to tell the whole story about the global
war on terrorism.

Rumsfeld spoke at a conference of U.S. newspaper editors, and told the group
their publications are uniquely posed to help debate in America because they
have the room for detail and nuance.

"To know the whole story about what's going on in Iraq today, America and other
nations need to hear not just the truth that there are attacks and setbacks, …
but also why these attacks are happening and why the terrorists and the regime
remnants are lashing out," Rumsfeld said. "And this is where the print media
can play a special role. You have the space to give context -- to inform the
public about things that don't make the sound bite on evening news. Terrorists
and bomb-throwers get headlines, to be sure. The good people of Iraq and
Afghanistan do not."

Nor do the courageous men and women of the coalition who have deployed to the
countries, Rumsfeld added. Military and civilian personnel have deployed to
help Iraqis and Afghans get on a path to self-government and to self-reliance,
he said. "They do not make headlines, but they are making a difference," the
secretary told the editors.

"The vast majority of the Iraqi people are not rioting, they're not looting,
they're not shooting, he continued. "For every bomb that goes off in Baghdad,
there are many bombs that are defused as a result of coalition soldiers acting
on information they receive from Iraqi people.

"For every building that's damaged by mortar fire, there are many schools and
hospitals and clinics that are being built and repaired," he continued. "And
for every Iraqi soldier who was reluctant to fight in the past few weeks, there
are tens of thousands of Iraqi security officials who are fighting every day
for the Iraqi people, and there have been over 300 Iraqi security forces that
have been killed in recent months."

The secretary had harsh words for the Arab television news services Al-Jazeera
and Al-Arabiyah. He said the two media outlets "are routinely telling the world
lies about coalition actions."

He said that as the Arab population becomes used to freedom, it will be able to
discern truth from lies. "Afghans and Iraqis are now free," he said. "After
decades of being fed lies by dictatorial regimes and the controlled press, they
are starting to thirst for the truth.

"Just as Americans have, so too free Afghans and Iraqis will eventually develop
their own sense of balance, their own inner gyroscopes, and an ability to
absorb what they hear," he said.


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Rumsfeld Thanks Troops for Actions, Sacrifices 9/6/2003

 

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

 

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Sept. 6, 2003 – American service members can be very proud of the roles they are playing in Iraq and around the world, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said here today. Rumsfeld is in Iraq visiting American service members and
meeting with military and coalition leaders. He is using the trip to get a feel for conditions in the country. Rumsfeld spoke to members
 of the 4th Infantry Division in Tikrit, to soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division in Mosul and the 1st Armored Division here. He also visited with the Polish-led Multinational Division Central-South in Al Hillah. U.S. Marines are helping the division as it settles in.

At each location, he thanked the service members for their sacrifices and their willingness to volunteer to perform what is still a dangerous mission. At the 4th Infantry Division – which is in the heart of remaining support for the former regime in an area some soldiers call "Baathland" – the secretary said the soldiers are doing a truly outstanding job.

"It's noticed, it's appreciated, it's important," the secretary said. Rumsfeld said the job is important not only to the Iraqi people, but also to the region and the world. "I recognize that the circumstance for you here is far from perfect and you have family and loved ones at home, … but the appreciation that the president of the United States and I and the American people have for the sacrifice you make and the sacrifice your families make is enormous," he said.

At the 101st, he told the soldiers they helped free more than 23 million people. "It's an enormous accomplishment," the secretary said. "You will never forget it. "I have been watching and observing, and needless to say, am interested in all that you do," he continued. "The difficulties of what you do (are) well known. The fact that you've lost some of your colleagues is well known. The accomplishments, however, are less well known."

Rumsfeld said the provincial governor of Nineveh, where Mosul is, was very complimentary of the American soldiers' contributions. He listed the division's work in building schools and roads, fixing bridges, and helping with thousands of small projects making life better for the average Iraqi as examples of this work. "I hope that as you
go forward, those accomplishments become as well known as the difficulties," he said. "We're on a path … that will
ultimately succeed. There have been bumps in the road and there will be bumps in the road going forward."

At each location, Rumsfeld took questions from the soldiers. At the 1st Armored Division, a soldier asked about whether separation pay and hazardous duty pay were going to drop. The secretary answered that while Congress has such a
proposal on the table, he would be surprised if the pay dropped. He also was asked about the status of the reserve components – especially regarding deployments. He said the department is studying the balance between the active and reserve components. Some skill sets are only in the reserves, and that means they get called up almost regularly, he explained. "If they wanted … that, they would be on active duty as opposed to being in the Guard and reserve," the secretary said. The study will be out soon, and it will seek to relieve the stress on these communities,
he assured the soldiers. At Mosul, a soldier asked about the possibility of an end- trength rise. Rumsfeld said the department  should try other options before asking for more people. He cited a study showing that 320,000 military personnel are in jobs
that could be done by civilian workers. The department needs legislation to implement those changes. "We have nothing more
important, nothing more valuable to the armed forces, than the men and women in uniform," he said. "We simply have to find modern ways of managing that force so that we can attract and retain and deal fairly and
responsibly with each of you, and all of your colleagues around the world."

 

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Rice: Stable Iraq Means Death Knell for Terrorism 9/8/2003


By John D. Banusiewicz
American Forces Press Service



WASHINGTON, Sept. 8, 2003 – Successful completion of the mission in Iraq will severely undermine the goals and strategies of terrorists, President Bush's national security adviser said today.

Foreign fighters are coming to Iraq because "Iraq, if it is prosperous and stable, in a different kind of Middle East, is going to be the death knell for terrorism." Condoleezza Rice said in an interview with Katie Couric on NBC's "Today" program. Rice said that although the number of foreign fighters coming to Iraq is unknown, "they clearly understand that a victory for the peace in Iraq, like the military victory we've had there, will mean that their goals and their strategies will be severely undermined."

Referring to President George W. Bush's Sept. 7 address to the nation, Rice said, "I think the American people got a very good explanation from the president about why our resoluteness, our will, our willingness to use our power, is going to defeat terrorism. And that's the only way to do it." She echoed the president's reminder that the difficulty of the mission has come as no surprise. "The administration always knew that it was going to be difficult to bring Iraq to peace, prosperity and stability after almost 30 years of brutal Baathist rule," she said. Saddam Hussein's regime,
she added, impoverished the country by using its resources to obtain weapons of mass destruction "and to build castles to Saddam Hussein." If anything was underestimated, Rice said, it was how much damage Hussein had done to his own people, to their mentality and to the country's infrastructure. "For instance, the country had probably only 50 percent of the electrical generating power that it actually needed," she said. With about $20 billion of the $87 billion the president will ask Congress to provide for the coming year's efforts in Iraq, Rice said, Iraqi resources will need to be
mobilized and the international community will need to pitch in. "But we believe that this is the right amount of money for reconstruction over the next year, and that with this money we can do things like accelerate the building of the Iraqi army, accelerate the building of Iraqi police forces (and) civil defense forces to protect infrastructure," she said.
"This is a well-thought-out program by (Coalition Provisional Authority head) Jerry Bremer and his people."

Rice said a resolution the United States has submitted to the U.N. Security Council to further involve other nations in the effort is not the first of its kind. Two previous resolutions – 1483 and 1500 – deepened the involvement of the international community, she said, and the proposed resolution submitted to Security Council members would further that process. "Let's remember that it was the U.N. headquarters that was attacked by these terrorists," she said, referring

to the Aug. 19 truck bomb that destroyed the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad, killing special representative Sergio Vieira de Mello and roughly 20 others. "The terrorists understand that their goal is to destroy civilization, to destroy freedom. And if we have a stable and prosperous Iraq, and therefore a more stable and prosperous Middle East, there's no doubt that the entire world is going to benefit from that."  Establishing a unified multinational command led by the United States is another important aspect of the proposed U.N. resolution, Rice said. "It's very important to have unified command, and the United States has by far the bulk of the forces there," she said. "But I think if you read the comments of (U.N.) Secretary General Kofi Annan and of others, understanding that in a military sense, unified command under the command
of the largest contributor is all that makes sense. And that largest contributor is the United States."

The national security adviser said U.S. force levels in Iraq are correct and at the level military commanders say they need. "We should also note," she added, "that some of these deployments are probably temporary – that American troop strength, for instance, has been coming down in the Balkans over the last couple of years."

Rice said the president was talking about moving forward when he addressed the nation the previous night.

"Saddam Hussein is no longer in power, and Saddam Hussein was the problem with weapons of mass destruction," she said. "It was he who had a thorough appetite for weapons of mass destruction. It was he who had used weapons of mass
destruction. It was he who was using the wealth and patronage of the country to develop weapons of mass destruction. "We have every reason to believe that a stable, prosperous and democratizing Iraq will not be a problem in this regard," she continued. "Removing Saddam Hussein removes the threat of weapons of mass destruction."

 

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Rumsfeld, Sanchez Say Press Ignores Good News From Iraq 9/7/2003

 

 

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service



BAGHDAD, Iraq, Sept. 5, 2003 – American officials here took on the press for not reporting the "good news" coming out of Iraq. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld visited the headquarters of the U.S. 4th Infantry Division in Tikrit and the headquarters of the 101st Airborne Division in Mosul Sept. 5. Following the visit, he held a press conference. He said that as he came back, he was told a member of the traveling press said it was a good trip, but there really wasn't any news in it. That obviously annoyed the secretary. "There was news up there," Rumsfeld said during the press conference held in one of Saddam Hussein's palaces. "There was good news. Important good news." He said constructive things are happening throughout

Iraq. "The Iraqi people are being substantively benefited and advantaged by being rid of that vicious dictator," he said.

He pointed to the surroundings and said that anyone who doubts whether the Iraqi people are better off should just examine the palaces and the enormous sums of money Saddam spent on the military. Officials estimate that Saddam spent
up to 35 percent of the country's gross domestic product on the military, the intelligence service and other means of staying in power. "It's a tragic, heartbreaking thing to see how the Iraqi people suffered over these past decades," he said. Rumsfeld said coalition forces have built or rebuilt schools, ensured hospitals are working and helped universities function. In addition, coalition forces are helping to dig wells, refurbish the irrigation system and rebuild roads. Specialists are helping to maintain and rebuild the oil, electric and water infrastructure. Rumsfeld said the scope

and speed of such operations are impressive. "If one looks back at Germany or Japan or Bosnia or Kosovo and measures the progress that has taken place in this country in four or five months, it dwarfs any other experience that I'm aware of," Rumsfeld said.

He said he is not wearing rose-colored glasses in looking at the situation. He stressed that the road ahead will be hard and have many bumps, but that it is worth traveling. Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, commander of Combined Joint Task Force 7, also took exception to media coverage of the situation in Iraq. "It is very disturbing to me to sit here every day and watch the news back home that focuses on the bad things that are occurring in Iraq," he said.

The general says it makes it seem as if the sacrifices of coalition troops is not being appreciated. He said there is progress in every area of the country. "We ought to make sure that America knows that their sons' and daughters' sacrifices are for a good cause," he said. "We have eliminated a dictator here. We are making a difference every single day."

Sanchez also addressed charges that the security situation in the country mandates that he needs more U.S. troops. He said soldiers are experiencing about 14 to 16 attacks per day from individuals or very small groups. "I have about 160,000 service

members here," he said. "I don't need any more forces here. When you look across this country … there is no practical threat. There is no tactical threat, there is no strategic threat or operational threat that exists to the coalition or to America.

"One battalion's worth of coalition power can accomplish the task of defeating any threat that may surface in the coming months,
" he continued. "We can do this. We are doing this. We are making a difference. And we need to capture the great news that is

out there and make sure that America knows what their sons and daughters … are doing in Iraq."