The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, March 21, 2003, Page 4, Image 4
Marine helicopter crash kills 12 Britons, 4 Americans
War
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Thursday and bombed limited tar
gets in Baghdad. But military com
manders withheld the massive on
slaught that would signal all-out
war as U.S. officials tried to talk
the Iraqi regime into giving up.
Coalition forces suffered their
first casualties in a helicopter
crash that left 12 Britons and four
Americans dead.
“The days of the Saddam
Hussein regime are numbered,”
Defense Secretary Donald H.
Rumsfeld predicted, although he
also said there was “no need for a
broader conflict” if Iraqi leaders
surrender.
On the second day of Operation
Iraqi Freedom, American officials
held out the tantalizing possibility
that Saddam had been killed in the
initial Wednesday night bombing
of Baghdad.
State-run Iraqi television said
Saddam survived and met with tof>
aides to counter the U.S.-led attack.
“We are resolved to teach the
criminal invaders hard lessons and
make them taste painful punish
ment,” declared the Iraqi military.
The onset of war sparked anti
war demonstrations across the
country — more than 1,000 were
arrested in San Francisco — and
at U.S. embassies around the
world. The State Department
warned U.S. citizens abroad of an
increased danger of terrorism.
Rep. Robert Andrews, D-N.J.,
said following a House briefing
with Rumsfeld that “the behavior
of those who’ve not surrendered
would suggest that they might.”
In southern Iraq, white Tight
glowed in the desert sky, and the
sound of explosions could be heard
from across the Kuwait-Iraq fron
tier as the 3rd Infantry Division
unleashed an artillery barrage.
Troops eager to cross the border
into Iraq cheered — and units
were soon on their way.
The 101st Airborne Division
rumbled across the desert in a vast
convoy — trucks, tankers,
humvees and more rolling along
under a round white moon.
Iraq sent missiles toward
Kuwait in retaliation for the pre
dawn attack against Saddam, and
American officials said the Iraqis
had set fire to some of their own
oil wells. Protecting the oil-rich
Basra region was one of the
American military’s goals as
Marines and Army special forces
headed into Iraq.
The Iraqi missiles landed harm
lessly in the Kuwaiti desert.
Officials said none of the Iraqi
missiles caused injuries, and one
was intercepted by a Patriot mis
sile. Thousands of American and
British troops donned protective
gear, but there was no evidence
the missiles carried chemical or
biological weapons.
Prime Minister Tony Blair,
Bush’s staunchest ally in the war ef
fort, went on television to tell his
country that British forces were “en
gaged from air, land and sea. Their
mission: to remove Saddam Hussein
from power and disarm Iraq of its
weapons of mass destruction,” he
said in the recorded address.
It was the second straight night
that cruise missiles and bombs
penetrated Baghdad.
This time, officials said the tar
gets included facilities of the
Special Republican Guard and the
Special Security Organization.
The organization, run by
Saddam’s younger son, Qusai,
oversees most security and intel
ligence activities in Iraq.
Red and white anti-aircraft
tracers lit the night sky and a huge
plume of smoke rose from the west
bank of the Tigris River in central
Baghdad.
But two officials, speaking on
condition of anonymity, said the
night strikes were not the begin
ning of the massive air assault
that Pentagon officials have said
they plan to unleash.
In Washington, the Senate unan
imously approved a resolution sup
porting U.S. military forces, while
protesters briefly blocked one of
the Potomac River bridges carry
ing traffic into the capital. Outside
the White House, demonstrators
shouted, “No blood for oil.”
In an unusual diplomatic move,
the Bush administration called for
the expulsion of Iraqi diplomats
by all countries that recognize and
deal with the government in
Baghdad.
The Bush administration seized
$1.75 billion in Iraqi assets already
frozen in the Gulf War, saying the
money would be used for humani
tarian purposes in Iraq.
Students
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
manitarian effort continues in
Iraq,” he said. “I would think a
large portion of the mobilization
process has occurred.”
Buchanan said that because
the standing Army was down
sized to about.500,000 soldiers dur
ing the Clinton administration,
many Army reservists are being
called to active duty.
“Even more so than we have in
past years, we’ve had to resort to
using reserves,” Buchanan said.
USC Army ROTC members
said they had been instructed not
to comment on their fellow ROTC
members’ mobilization.
Major Steve Luhrsen of USC
Navy ROTC said no members of
NROTC have been called to active
duty at this time.
First-year criminal-justice stu
dent Chris Stinson said that while
he was initially against war, he
supports U.S. actions in Iraq and
USC students serving in the
armed forces.
“I wish it didn’t have to come
to that, but since they’re there, all
you can do is hope and pray for
their safety,” Stinson said.
First-year criminal-justice stu
dent Bryan Lelasher said he
^strongly supports the war and
hopes the service men come
home. "
“I hope they get returned safe
ly,” Lelasher said. “I’ve got full re
spect for them.”
Buchanan said USC students
should keep all service members
in mind in the days ahead.
“Say a prayer for your soldiers,
sailors, air men and marines as
they go do their mission,” he said.
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Ground Attack
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2
said Defense Secretary Donald
H. Rumsfeld, in Washington.
Yet conditions were some
times difficult. The Marines
drove through thick, swirling
dust storms. Troops detected
Iraqi tanks and armored vehicles
hidden behind sand berms by the
heat they gave off, and U.S. air
craft attacked the positions.
None of the forces apparently
encountered chemical or biolog
ical weapons. The Marines
passed burning oil wells, though
it was not known who had set
them afire. Flames shot up hun
dreds of feet, thickening the air
with black smoke.
Artillery, mortars and how
itzers rumbled for hours in the
nearly deserted far north of
Kuwait, mixed with bursts of
rocket launchers. The explosions
rattled tin roofs noisily on their
wood frames miles away and
shook concrete houses.
The attack came at the end of a
day that began with allied troops
at the other end of the gun bar
rel, as Iraq — responding to the
American bombardment of
Baghdad and other targets —
launched missiles into Kuwait,
where allied forces were primed
to attack.
The Iraqi military claimed in
a statement it had repulsed an
“enemy” attack at Al-Anbar
province, on Iraq’s border with
Jordan and Saudi Arabia. It was
not clear what force could be at
tacking from that point, and the
statement did not mention at
tacks in the south.
Associated Press writer Chris
Tomlinson, traveling with the
U.S. 3rd Infantry Division, also
contributed to this report.
Red Cross
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Department’s Armed Services
Blood Program to ensure that a
supplemental supply of blood is
available to soldiers in case the
defense’s supply runs out.
“People feel a strong sense of
patriotism that compels them to
do something to support our coun
try, and giving blood is the action
that many people will take,”
Maness said.
Nikki Snead, donor recruit
ment representative at the
Columbia Red'Cross, is responsi
ble for coordinating the blood
drive at USC. The drive was orig
inally to be held at Fort Jackson,’
but was moved to USC for security
reasons.
“USC has always been a big
supporter,” Snead said. “Right
now, as the country faces mili
tary action, it’s important for the
state and nation to supply
blood.”
Although the Defense
Department operates its own
Armed Services Blood Program
office, the need for blood remains.
Col. Glenn Fitzpatrick, director of
the Armed Services Blood
Program Office, said the need for
blood products increases signifi
cantly as new operations begin or
the tempo of current operations
increases.
“In such situations, the ASBPO
historically has contracted to ob
tain blood from civilian agencies,”
he said.
CEO and retired U.S. Navy
Rear Admiral Marsha Evans
said the Red Cross could be an
important source of supplemen
tary blood products to the mili
tary.
“The Red Cross is proud of its
history of providing life-saving
blood to the servicemen and wom
en of this country,” Evans said.
“With this agreement, the Red
Cross promises to continue this
critical service whenever and
wherever it is needed.”
The South Carolina Blood
Services Region is one of 36
American Red Cross blood-ser
Upcoming community blood drives include:
♦ FRIDAY, MARCH 21 Columbia Red Cross Blood Center, 2751
Bull St., 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
♦ MONDAY, MARCH 24 Columbia Red Cross Blood Center, noon
to 6:30 p.m.
♦ MONDAY, MARCH 24 Midlands Tech at Beltline, 316 Beltline
Blvd., 10a.m.to3 p.m.
vices regions tnrougnoui tne
country and provides blood to pa
tients in 54 hospitals in South
Carolina and Georgia. The Red
Cross must collect 500 units of
blood a day to meet the needs of
hospital patients in the region.
“Because blood is perishable
and has a limited shelf life of 42
days, it must be regularly re
plenished. It’s critical that peo
ple give blood regularly. That is
the only way to ensure we have
a safe and stable supply so that
lives can be saved,” Maness
said.
To be eligible to donate blood,
donors must be at least 17 years
old, weigh 110 pounds or more,
ana De in general gooa neann.
To sponsor or to set up an ap
pointment to donate blood, call 1
800-GIVE-LIFE.
“This week, there has been
somewhat of an increase in peo
ple calling to set up appointments,
which can be attributed to the lo
cal media,” said Rhonda
O’Banion, spokeswoman for the
American Red Cross in Columbia.
“The Red Cross has provided a
convenient outlet to students and
faculty and staff at Carolina to
give blood to help build a safe and
stable supply.”
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gamecockudesk@hotmail.com
Compound
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
from stealth fighters, was aimed at
a residential complex where U.S.
intelligence believed Saddam, and
possibly his sons, were sleeping.
After the attack, intelligence re
ports indicated Iraq’s leaders were
not organizing any coordinated re
sponse in Baghdad or in the rest
of the country, suggesting the lead
ership might be in chaos or cut off
from communicating with field
commanders.
A defiant Saddam was on Iraqi
television a'few hours after the
strike. Officials said the taped mes
sage did not prove he was alive.
It appeared to be him and not a
look-alike, officials said after ini
tial analysis. A voice analysis was
under way.
There was nothing in the tape
that made specific reference to the
attack, or other events, that would
confirm it was made in the hours
after the strike.
However, the fact that Saddam
read the speech from a steno pad
indicated a fairly impromptu pro
duction, suggesting it came after
the strike, the officials said.
If Saddam survived, U.S. offi
cials hoped the surprise attack at
least would make him distrustful
of his inner circle, leaving him
less able to command.
Associated Press writers John
Solomon, Ken Guggenheim and
Robert Burns contributed to this
story.
Protests
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2
to protect the freedom and lib
erties that each of us enjoys on
an everyday basis and should
receive nothing but support for
their actions.”
Joey Oppermann, a third
year history student, helped or
ganize yesterday’s rally. He said
it is important that students
show their discontent with the
Bush administration’s deci
sions.
“It’s the students’ duty more
than others’ to stand up. It’s im
portant for us to take leader
ship,” he said. “If we can’t dis
agree with and stand up against
the norm, what kind of respon
sible adults will we become?”
Though the rally remained
peaceful, some remarks were
made as the protestors marched.
“There were some comments
yelled at us, such as ‘We are go
ing to send you to Baghdad,’ but
we just need to realize they love
‘ our country just as much as we
do. They just express it in dif
ferent ways,” Catanese said.
Anti-war demonstrators
blocked morning traffic in
Washington, San Francisco and
Philadelphia and chanted “no
blood for oil” outside the White
House on Thursday in reaction
to U.S. military strikes against
Iraq.
Protestors also demonstrat
ed around the country to show
their disapproval of war in Iraq.
As many as 150 protesters
temporarily shut down the in
bound travel lanes of one of
Washington’s Potomac River
crossings, snarling rush-hour
traffic. Some 50 demonstrators
bicycled through downtown
Washington carrying signs that
said “Bikes not Bombs.” Three
people were arrested.
“There are many, many peo
ple here and around the world
that are opposed to this war,”
said Dana Hubbard, 54, of
Washington.
Outside the White House,
about 50 anti-war protesters
gathered in the chilly rain,
shouting “no blood for oil!”
Police blocked Pennsylvania
Avenue in front of the White
House to protesters and pedes
trians.
In San Francisco, at least 175
protesters were arrested after
blocking streets and snarling
traffic across the city, police
said. Police and firefighters used
power saws to separate
protesters linked with metal
pipes.
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blocked the entrances to the
downtown federal building,
forcing police to detour mo
torists around the area. About
100 were arrested.
Not every demonstrator op
posed the military action. While
many students at Brown
University in Providence, R.I.,
held signs denouncing war, Alec
O’Neill stood at the edge of the
crowd, wearing a handmade T
shirt that read, “I am threatened
by Iraq.” On the back were the
words “Regime change now.”
“We are taking on a real and
present threat,” said O’Neill, 21,
of Red Hook, N.Y.
Several polls taken before the
strikes began found that about
two-thirds of Americans sup
ported the war, but most pre
ferred winning United Nations
support before an attack.
The Associated Press
contributed to this story.
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Congress
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2
Republican fire for saying Bush
“failed so miserably at diploma
cy that we’re now forced to war.”
With airstrikes in Baghdad be
ginning Wednesday night,
Daschle and most other critics
moderated their tone. “We may
have had differences of opinion
about what brought us to this
point, but the president is the
commander in chief and today we
unite behind him,” Daschle said.
But some of the most vocal op
ponents of the war continued
their criticism.
“While I support the troops, I
cannot support this mission,”
said Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D
Ohio, a presidential candidate.
“President Bush has launched
an unprovoked attack.”
Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., said
the president “has created this
disaster to cover up his failed
diplomatic, social and economic
agenda.” Stark said the
Republican budget proposal,
which does not include war
costs, shows how “George Bush
and his Republican henchmen
mistreat our troops.”
Republicans have remained
solidly behind Bush.
Forum
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3
“Those with political influence
get fed first from the trough,” Neal
said.
Panelists also discussed how the
budget is determined. State Rep.
Tracy Edge (R-104th District) of the
Ways and Means Committee de
scribed how the Board of
Economic Advisers’ revenue pro
jections are important in creating
the budget. He also said that the
timing of the revenue projections
can make a difference since the
projection might have changed by
the time it gets to the Senate from
the House.
Edge said that revenue pro
jections are helpful in creating
the budget and that overall, “our
forecasting, I think, is improv
ing."
Sen. Phil P. Leventis (D-35th
District) of the Senate Finance
Committee said legislators place
tax relief before the budget when
the budget should be the priority.
With 40,000 people per year com
ing to South Carolina and de
manding services, the state bud
get actually needs to increase in
order to keep up, he said.
“If we don’t increase our bud
get at a certain rate, we’ve not
only not maintained the status
quo, we’ve moved back,” Leventis
said.
Fourth-year government stu
dent Chad Sellers said he was glad
that he attended the discussion be
cause “the stuff they’ve talked
about tonight affects people our
age more than it affects anybody
else in the state.”
The debate was the latest in a
series of public seminars spon
sored by the West Forum on
Politics and Policy, which was
founded in 2002 as a nonpartisan,
nonprofit organization in USC’s
Department of Government and
International Studies.
Other panelists included Sen.
John W. Drummond (D-lOth
District), president pro tempore
emeritus of the State Senate, and
Rep. David Wilkins (R-24th dis
trict), speaker of the House.
The purpose of the discussion
was to “promote civic values of
broad informed democratic polit
ical involvement” and “advance
public understanding of political
processes,” according to the West
Forum objectives.
“They brought up a lot of im
portant issues,” Sellers said. “It’s
nice that men in such high places
can use common sense instead of
getting caught up in the politics of
it all.”
Neal pointed out that South
Carolina is one of the poorest
states in comparison with its
neighbors, and as such, it will have
to appropriate money more wise
ly.
“Unfortunately, we have some
terrible budgeting policies,”
Leventis said. “What we’ve got to
do is take a broader view, take a
transformational view in dealing
with our budget.”
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Roberts
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3
Roberts also addressed stu
dents’ parking concerns. He is
against eliminating freshman
parking because he said that
would decrease the number of in
coming freshman and that a small
er student body would cause an in
crease in tuition. “Students are go
ing to be more willing to come to
USC if they know they’re not go
ing to have to worry about park
ing,” Roberts said.
Roberts instead proposes
adding bicycle path? and more
shuttle routes so that students
would not need to drive so much.
Roberts said he also realizes
that, because USC is in the mid
dle of one of the biggest cities in
the state, it is not always the
safest place to be, especially at
night.
To address this problem, he
plans to create a student security
council, which he said would help
the USC police eliminate suspi
cious activities on campus and
would also make improvements
such as increasing the lighting
around campus.
“Little stuff like that would
make students feel more secure
when they’re walking around
campus, whether it’s at night or
during the day or anytime,”
Roberts said.
Roberts would like to reorga
nize the way the student-activity
fee is distributed among organi
zations on campus because, as he
sees it, some organizations are
getting more than they need,
while others are not getting
enough.
Overall, Roberts thinks the key
to an efficient SG is student in
volvement, and he stresses the im
portance of communication be
tween students and SG.
“I’m just trying to get the stu
dents’ opinions to where they need
to get to be heard and be known so
that something can be done about
them,” Roberts said.
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Wright
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3
Wright also hopes to establish
better relations between SG and
city and state governments and
policymakers.
She said she would like to see
USC mimic how other schools
use student fees. Other schools’
fee money is broken down, she
said, so that students can see
how that money is used.
“Student Government should
have a say on how fee money is
used,” she said. “A lot of issues
students have revolve around
that.”
According to Wright, SG
needs an overhaul before it can
legitimately address some of the
more visible problems at USC.
“Our biggest problem, I’d
have to say, is budget cuts. But
I’m not claiming I can fix them,”
she said.
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