Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Occupying jraq PHOTO COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS Iraqi men walk past the destroyed U.N. headquarters building in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, January 27, 2004. 6 U.S. soldiers killed in separate roadside attacks • BY HAMZA HENDAWI TIIK ASS(H:iATEU I'llESS BAGHDAD, IRAQ - The United Nations agreed to send a team to Iraq to help break the impasse over choosing a new government, if the Americans — who lost six more soldiers Tuesday in road side bombings — can provide ad equate security. A bomb that exploded south of Baghdad killed three U.S. soldiers and wounded three others Tuesday night, hours after a sep arate bombing west of the capital killed three U.S. paratroopers and wounded one, the military said. In addition, two employees of Cable News Network died in a shooting south of Baghdad. Elsewhere, U.S. troops killed ^ three suspected members of a guerrilla cell during raids Tuesday in the central Iraqi town of Beiji, the Army said. And a sus pected car bomb was discovered near coalition and Iraqi Governing Council offices. The United States has cited the ongoing violence in arguing against demands by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al Sistani for the direct election of a provisional legislature, which in turn will select a government to take power by July 1. Instead, Washington wants the lawmakers chosen in 18 region al caucuses. The Americans and the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council asked U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to send a team to determine whether an early election would be feasible. In Paris, Annan said he be lieves the United Nations can play “a constructive role” in help ing to break the impasse, and would send such a team to Iraq “once I am satisfied that the (coalition) will provide adequate security arrangements.” Annan said the mission will solicit the views of Iraqis to find alternative ways to choose a pro visional government. Shiite Muslim leaders have said al Sistani wants to hear alternatives to the caucus plan if the U.N. team says it’s not feasible to hold elections by the end of June. The U.N. chief also said send ing in “blue helmet” peacekeep ers was not on the agenda, al though he favored a multination al force for Iraq sometime in the future. “I believe what we can antici pate would be a multinational force authorized by the Security Council, which could help and work with Iraqis to stabilize Iraq and make it safer,” Annan said. “This would be a multinational force, with the support of the Security Council, and not ‘blue helmets’ per se.” The decision to seek U.N. help marked a major policy reversal by the Bush administration, which had sought to minimize the U.N. role since U.S.-led forces invaded the country on March 20. The latest U.S. blueprint for Iraq, announced Nov. 15, made no men tion of the United Nations. Annan withdrew international staff from Iraq last year after two attacks on the U.N. headquarters. U.N. officials had said Annan insisted on a clear, significant role in Iraq before he would con sider returning international staff. In New York, U.N. spokeswom an Marie Okabe said a two-mem ber U.N. security team arrived in Baghdad on Tuesday to begin as sessing the security situation ahead of the U.N. elections team. Iraqi leaders have urged the United Nations to return to pro vide legitimacy to the new gov ernment and avoid the stigma of association with the U.S.-led oc cupation. Bush reasserts confidence in war decision BY TERENCE HUNT THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON - President Bush on Tuesday vigorously de fended his decision to go to war against Iraq despite chief inspec tor David Kay’s conclusion that Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction, as the United States had believed. Bush said he had “great confi dence” in the intelligence com munity, which had provided pre war estimates about what Saddam had in his arsenal. Bush refrained from saying that weapons of mass destruction would be discovered eventually. Bush had cited Saddam’s alleged weapons as jus tification for the war. “There is no doubt in my mind that Saddam Hussein was a gath ering threat to America and oth ers. That’s what we know,” Bush said. The issue was injected into the presidential campaign when re tired chief U.S. weapons inspector David Kay said he had concluded, after nine months of searching, that deposed Saddam did not have stockpiles of forbidden weapons. Confronted with Kay’s statement, administration officials declined to repeat their once-ironclad as sertions that Saddam had them. “There is no doubt in my mind the world is a better place without Saddam Hussein,” Bush said Tuesday. “America is more se cure. The world is safer and the people of Iraq are free.” Bush spoke with reporters in the Oval Office during a meeting with Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski. The Polish leader defended Bush. “It’s very difficult today to judge how it was — when he had (weapons), when he decided to continue these projects of mass de struction weapons,” Kwasniewski said. Kwasnieswki said a top U.N. weapons inspector had told him that “absolutely, Iraq is ready to produce (weapons) if it is neces sary to keep the power of the dic tatorship of Saddam and to play such an important role in the re gion.” A year ago, the president ap peared certain about Iraq’s arse nal. “The dictator of Iraq has got weapons of mass destruction,” Bush said on Jan. 22, 2003. On Tuesday, Bush said, “It’s very im portant for us to let the Iraq sur vey group do its work so we can find out the facts and compare the facts to what was thought.” Democrats pounced on Kay’s conclusion as evidence that President Bush duped the nation about a principle reason for going to war. Campaigning in New Hampshire, Sen. John Kerry, seeking the Democratic presiden tial nomination, said Bush had misled the people. “When the pres ident of the United States looks at you and tells you something, there 'should be some trust. He’s broken every one of those promises,” the Massachusetts senator said. Howard Dean, another Democratic candidate, said, “The White House has not been candid with the American people about virtually anything with the Iraq war.” Sen. Joe Lieberman, another Democratic candidate campaign ing in New Hampshire, urged an investigation or congressional hearings “on the intelligence that some of us saw directly, and the statements that the administra tion was making and the empha sis the administration was putting on weapons of mass destruction. Friday, January 30th 10pm - 2am Russell House Lobby — I