In Iraq, “On April 21, 2003, his first day in Baghdad, [Office for Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance leader] LTG [Lieutenant General] [Jay] Garner also set up an interim Iraqi advisory group (the Senior Leadership Council) made up of key Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds. His idea was to put a local face on the occupation government–and […]
4/21/2003
In April 2003, “after several days of euphoria following the arrival of U.S. troops in Baghdad, the Iraqi capital erupted in a frenzy of crime and looting. American soldiers, without orders, manpower or a plan to intervene, stood by while government facilities were stripped of everything from furniture and fine art to plumbing and electrical […]
4/21/2003
While embedded with troops in Iraq, reporter Judith Miller witnessed an Iraqi speaking to members of her unit and gesturing. Under terms of her embedding agreement, she wasn’t allowed to talk to or identify the man, and military censors were allowed to edit her material. However, “Her piece, which landed on the front page of […]
4/18/2003
“…bin Laden remained silent during the first three weeks of Operation Iraqi Freedom; only on April 18, 2003, as U.S. forces entered Baghdad, did he issue a taped message calling on Muslims to mount suicide attacks on Coalition forces.” – Jeffrey Record, Wanting War, Page 71 […]
4/17/2003
“Footnotes to the 9/11 Commission report indicate that by April 17, 2003–a month and a half after he was captured–[9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh] Mohammed had already started providing substantial information on Al Qaeda. Nonetheless, he was kept in isolation for years. …a few officers began to question the reliability of his coerced confessions. Some also […]
4/16/2003
As stated in “The Report of the Iraq Inquiry – Executive Summary”: “General Franks issues his ‘Freedom Message to the Iraqi People.’ “ – Commissioned by the Prime Minister The Right Honourable Gordon Brown MP, “The Report of the Iraq Inquiry: Executive Summary,” IraqInquiry.org.uk, April 16, 2003 […]
4/16/2003
While giving a speech on the progress on the war at the Boeing Integrated Defense Systems Headquarters, President George W. Bush said: “In Afghanistan, we and our allies ended the rule of the Taliban and closed down camps where terrorists plotted and trained to attack us. In Iraq, our coalition has now removed an ally of terrorists […]
4/16/2003
“…on April 16, 2003, Secretary [of Defense Donald] Rumsfeld approved twenty-four interrogation tactics from among thirty-five recommended by the DOD [Department of Defense] Working Group for use on detainees at Guantanamo. Secretary Rumsfeld stated that if the U.S. Commander, [of] U.S. Southern Command required ‘additional interrogation techniques for a particular detainee,’ he should send a […]
4/16/2003
“A Defense Department spokesman said last night [June 7, 2004] that the March 2003 [Pentagon] memo [on interrogation procedures at Guantanamo] represented ‘a scholarly effort to define the perimeters of the law’ but added: ‘What is legal and what is put into practice is a different story.’ Pentagon officials said the group examined at least […]
4/16/2003
Saddam’s liaison with the UN inspectors, “Dr. Amir Al Sa’adi…was the first high-level Iraqi who surrendered to the allied troops [on April 16, 2003], after he learned that he was among the officials being looked for. As he gave himself up, he said to German television…’There are no weapons of mass destruction and time will […]