6A THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS
MONDAY. OCTOBER 3,2005
MILITARY
Gary Skidmore/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Spc. Greg Lee mans a M-B240 machine gun in the back of a Humvee during training at Fort Riley on Thursday. Lee is with 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry of 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division that is getting ready for a second tour in Iraq.
'Suck factor'on soldiers' minds
BY JOHN MILBURN THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
FORT RILEY — Capt. Mike Squires forms up members of "Bandito Charlie" Company and begins a dry run through a training course. "Hop in the war wagon," said Squires, motioning toward the back seat of a desert-brown Humvee.
That Humvee already has been to Iraq. It still carries scars from an IED, or improvised explosive device, that was along a roadside. "It was probably a
155mm artillery shell," Squires adds matter-of-factly. "Fortunately, everybody was all right."
The 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry of the 1st Brigade and the rest of the 1st Infantry Division, the famed "Big Red One," expects to return to Iraq in a few months. It is the second yearlong stint for about 40 percent or more of the soldiers in the brigade.
About 3,400 Fort Riley soldiers currently are in Iraq. Those now training for a second tour don't show much fear about returning.
But some of them talk about the "suck factor" — working long hours, enduring extreme heat and having to take showers with bottled water. Some of them wonder when Iraq's military will be ready to fend for itself.
A top Army official said Thursday that only one Iraqi battalion was capable of combat, dampening hopes that the Americans could be ready to start reducing their numbers.
buck stopped with us," said Sgt. Jon Smith, of the 1st Battalion, 34th Armor. "I'm still waiting for them to take a little more ownership in their country."
Some critics have compared Iraq conflict to the lengthy and ultimately unpopular Vietnam War.
"Before, we were the law. The
Brigade commander Col. Bart Howard prefers a comparison with the American Revolution, seeing a parallel in troops first winning a war, then building a nation and then protecting its borders.
SUPREME COURT
President mum about nominee
BY DEB RIECHMANN
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — President Bush is watching his first Supreme Court nominee, Chief Justice John Roberts, take the helm of the high court today while weighing his options for nominating a second justice who also could shape the bench for years to come.
"He's still working," White House chief of staff Andy Card said Sunday about the president's effort to choose a replacement for retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. "Still considering lots of options."
The White House will not disclose who is on Bush's short list, or hint when an announcement will be made.
Legal experts who are in touch with administration officials say the president is most likely to choose a woman to replace O'Connor, even though many of the often-mentioned candidates are white men.
There continues to be talk in legal circles that he could pick one of three longtime Bush loyalists: White House counsel Harriet Miers, the first women president of the Texas State Bar and Bush's former personal attorney; Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Bush's longtime friend, who would be the first Hispanic on the court; and corporate lawyer Larry Thompson, who was the government's highest ranking black law enforcement official when he was deputy attorney general during Bush's first term.
Other candidates mentioned most frequently in recent days include conservative federal appeals court judges J. Michael Lutig, Priscilla Owen, Karen Williams, Alice Batchelder and Samuel Alito; Michigan Supreme Court justice Maura Corrigan; and Maureen Mahoney, a well-respected litigator before the high court.
Justice Stephen Breyer, when asked if he thought Bush should appoint another woman, deflected the question, replying, "For me to talk about the appointment process is a little bit like ... seeing the recipe for chicken a la King from the point of view of the chicken."
Appearing Sunday on ABC's "This Week," Breyer said, "We're a big country, and there are people of many different points of view, and it's helpful, not harmful, to have a court made up of people of diverse backgrounds, points of view and so forth."
today, Bush is going to the Supreme Court for a formal ceremony at which Roberts, who was confirmed by the Senate 78-22 and sworn in at the White House on Thursday, assumes the role of chief justice. Following tradition, Roberts will don his robe for the first time and take the center seat last held by the late former Chief Justice William H. Rehquist.
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