THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2006
NEWS
IRAQ
5A
U.S. troops: Children strike convoys
Shiite militias accused of encouraging young gangs' attacks against soldiers
BY ANTONIO CASTANEDA ASSOCIATED PRESS
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Shiite militias are encouraging children — some as young as 6 or 7 — to hurt stones and gasoline bombs at U.S. convoys, hoping to lure American troops into ambushes or provoke them into shooting back, U.S. soldiers say.
Gangs of up to 100 children assemble in Sadr City, stronghold of radical anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army militia, and in nearby neighborhoods, U.S. officers said in interviews this week.
American soldiers have seen young men, their faces covered by bandanas, talking with the children before the rock-throwing attacks begin — and sometimes handing out slingshotso the volleys will be more accurate, the troops said.
"It's like a militia operation. They'll mass rocks on the last or second-to-last vehicle" in a U.S. patrol, said Capt. Chris L'Heureux, of Woonosocks RDI. "There's
no doubt in my mind that they're utilizing these kids in a deliberate, thought-out way."
Al-Sadr's followers insist they are not organizing attacks by children.
"Such behavior by Iraqi children is spontaneous and the natural reaction from innocent children who are witnessing horrible deeds committed by the occupation forces in Iraq," Ali al-Yassiri, an aide to al-Sadr, told The Associated Press.
Militants have used children before. Marines in the volatile city of Ramadi say Sunni Arab insurgents often send children to check out U.S. defenses or warn of approaching patrols. And Israeli troops have long faced stone-throwing Palestinian kids.
But the increased use of children in the high-profile Baghdad battle poses a new challenge to American troops seeking to curb Iraqi militias. The tactic also shows the lengths to which militants will go in confronting U.S. troops in a high-stakes fight for control of the capital.
The incidents have seemed to increase since U.S. soldiers moved
their security crackdown into Shitte neighborhoods surrounding eastern Baghdad's Dadr City.
The U.S. crackdown in the capital is aimed at curbing the power of the Mahdi Army and other sectarian militias.
At one checkpoint, soldiers said hundreds of rocks rained down on their vehicles as they sealed off a neighborhood during a house-to-house search for weapons and militants.
U. S. officers believe the militias are trying to provoke American soldiers into firing on the children or chasing the soldiers into areas where snipers lie in wait.
"Right now the reason were not (pursuing) is because it's a trap." 1st Lt. Bernard Gardner, 25, of Kninear, Wyo., said as a group of children pelted his Stryker armored vehicle with rocks. "There's probably one or two snipers out there waiting for us to get in range."
The soldiers are also leery of firing even warning shots in return — worried that could inflame sectarian passions and turn Shite civilians against the Americans. Par
of the offensive's aim is to bolster public confidence in coalition and Iraqi forces.
"If we point a gun at a kid and they take a photo of it, they'll make a zillion flyers out of it," Gardner said. "That's why we have to be so delicate with the rock throwers."
He said just one bullet fired near a group of children would be "like the shot he heard 'round the world.'"
Most children, even in traditionally hostile areas, typically approach U.S. troops to ask for water or candy, not to ambush them.
Even as unruly gangs roamed the areas near Sadr City on one recent day, soldiers kept playing with curious children on tamer blocks nearby.
Army intelligence officers say they predicted before the offensive began this summer that militants in Baghdad would make use of children.
As expected, the harassment started with small groups of youngsters throwing stones, then escalated into bigger groups of children hurling larger rocks and even pieces of cement blocks.
COURTESY PHOTO
Everclear's lead singer, Art Alexakis, is looking forward to coming to Lawrence. The band will perform at the Granada Theatre on Sept. 28.
cically looking forward to touring with Everclear, a band he said he has always admired.
Shawn Lillig, Basehor senior and creator of the facebook.com group "Everclear=Best Band Ever," said he was planning to attend the show and that he had loved Everclear since he bought "So Much For the Afterglow."
"It was the first CD I ever purchased," Lillig said. "Art is one of the best songwriters of the last 10 or 15 years."
Lillig said he had fond memories from many of the Everclear
CRIME
concerts he has attended, including an intimate performance at the Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire St., in 2004 and one concert when the members of the band walked on the up-raised hands of the audience.
EVERCLEAR (CONTINUED FROM1A)
Tickets for the Sept. 28 show are on sale at any Hy-Vee or at the Granada Theater box office.
Kansan staff writer Ben Smith can be contacted at bsmith@kansan. com.
Abducted newborn reunited with family
Edited by Mindy Ricketts
ASSOCIATED PRESS
UNION, Mo. — An abducted newborn girl was found alive Tuesday and appeared to be well at a hospital, according to the doctor who treated her. A woman was arrested, according to broadcast reports.
Peter McCarthy, an emergency room physician at St. John's Hospital
Police had received more than 500 leads in the investigation. On Tuesday, they gave the baby's father, James Woods, a polygraph test, which he passed.
in Washington, Mo., said 11-day-old Abigale Lynn Woods has been reunited with her mother, father and other relatives.
friday a woman entered her rural home, attacked her with a knife and stole the baby, who was a week old at the time.
Earlier in the day, officials inten
"The family is elated and thankful to everyone in the community who prayed for them." McCarthy
"The family is elated and thankful to everyone in the community who prayed for them."
PETER MCCARTHY Emergency room physician
said. "The baby was hydrated, nourished and in good condition when she arrived at the hospital."
The child's mother, 21-year-old
Stephenie Ocsbenbine, told policie
The sheriff's department refused to confirm the reports when contacted by The Associated Press. A news conference was scheduled
Franklin County Sheriff Gary Toelke told KSDK-TV in St. Louis on Tuesday evening that the baby was found alive in an abandoned house near Lonedell, not far from where the crime occurred. Toelke said a woman has been arrested.
sified the search around the family's home near the town of Lonedell, blocking off highways and roads leading to the residence. A helicopter circled above the home, search dogs were brought in and divers planned
to search two small ponds.
Robert Bardot, who owns property near Ochsenbine's home, said FBI agents contacted him and asked to search houses on nearby properties he owns. He said that agents searched the same properties Sunday and that he wasn't sure why they were returning.
The abductor has been profiled as someone who had a child die recently or as someone who could not have children, told people she was pregnant and needed to steal a child so her lie would not be found out.
JONBENET CASE
Plea deal for murder suspect would waive three charges
a plea deal Tuesday on child pornography charges that would free him on probation.
Assistant
District
Attorney Joann
Risse said
prosecutors
would waive
SANTA ROSA, Calif. — One-time JonBenet Ramsey suspect John Mark Karr was offered
BY MARCUS WOHLSEN ASSOCIATED PRESS
Karr
three of the five child pornography possession charges against him if he pleaded guilty on two remaining charges.
Karr, -41, would get credit for time served and would be placed on probation for three years. He also
Karr's bail was set at $200,000 after Judge Cerena Wong called him a flight risk. Karr spent several months in the Sonoma County jail in 2001 awaiting trial on the child porn charges and fled after being released.
would be required to register as a sex offender.
Amparan said the public had received a "false picture" of Karr, whom he described as a "Southern gentleman with a sense of humor."
Defense lawyer Robert Amparan said that he would discuss the deal with Karr but that he still believes his client is innocent.
Amparan would not say whether his client could afford bail but said Karr would remain behind bars for now.
Karr, a schoolteacher, was arrested Aug. 16 after making phone calls and writing e-mails suggesting he killed Ramsey, a 6-year-old beauty queen, in her Boulder, Colo., home in December 1996.
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