monday, may 10,2004
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news
the university daily kansan 5A
Panel discussed deadly conflict continuing in Iraq
By Ron Knox and Patrick Cady editor@kansan.com Kansan staff writers
The ongoing conflict in Iraq will have more deadly months like April before U.S. troops withdraw from the area, said State Department Iraq coordinator Robert Silverman.
The combination of factors that lead to heightened violence last month, including Shiite takeovers in southern areas and uprisings in Fallujah and other northern cities could repeat themselves, leading to high military and Iraqi death counts, Silverman said.
"I think we all know that Iraq has not been an easy experience." he said.
David Schauner, moderator and Lawrence city commissioner; Dick Kurtenbach, executive director of the Western Missouri-Kansas chapter of the ACLU; Kris Kobach, law professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law and Rick Levy, law professor at the University of Kansas School of Law participated in a roundtable discussion titled,"Security, Liberty and the Patriot Act in the Post-War Era."The Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics and the University of Kansas Department of Political Science sponsored the two-day conference," One Year After Victory" in Iraq: International and Domestic Perspectives," from 1 to 5:30 p.m.
According to Defense Department reports, 137 U.S. soldiers died in Iraq in April, the majority from hostile attacks from gunfire and missiles.
Those deaths drew from a military force that is, at its current size, unsustainable, said Col. John Cary, professor at Command and General Staff College, a military training center.
Both speakers were part of a panel Friday during the "One Year After 'Victory' in Iraq," a two-day conference at the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics addressing the progress in Iraq since President Bush declared major military combat over on May 1, 2003.
The war in Iraq, and America's foreign policy in general.
changed drastically since Bush took office in 2001, said James Lindsay, vice president of the Council of Foreign Relations, who spoke before the discussions.
"It has been a revolution in American foreign policy," Lindsay said.
He said Bush and his administration's policy relied more on the will to apply power rather than whether America's power was right or wrong.
was right of wrong Participants in the second day of the conference focused on the domestics implications of the war on Iraq.
James Pfiffner, a professor of public policy at George Mason University and presidential scholar, gave a keynote speech on Bush and the decisions leading up to the war.
Two roundtable discussions followed his speech. The first debated the role of the war in the 2004 presidential race. The second took a hard look at the USA PATRIOT Act.
During this panel, which included staunch supporters and opponents of the bill, the audience took an active questioning role.
After one pointed question on the subpoena powers of the bill, Kris Kobach, a professor of law at University of Missouri-Kansas City, congressional candidate and supporter of the act, stated that mistrust of the government was essential for democracy.
Embryo.
Rene Ward, Overland Park
freshman, said she enjoyed the active aspect of the event.
"It was well orchestrated and good to see the different panelists and their different points
of view," Ward said.
Following the conference, the panelists and the organizers thought it was a success and a tribute to the mission of the
institute.
"We're fulfilling the promise of what this place could be," said Jonathan Earle, an associate director of academic programming and assistant professor of history who helped to organize the event.
Explosion kills Chechen president
— Edited by Ashley Arnold
The Associated Press
GROZNY, Russia — A bomb ripped through a stadium in the Chechen capital during a Victory Day ceremony yesterday, killing provincial president Akhmad Kadyrov, the Kremlin's point man for efforts to control separatist violence in the war-wracked region.
No group claimed responsibility for the explosion, which killed as many as 24 people, but suspicion inevitably fell on separatist rebels, who have made Kadyrov a top target and tried to assassinate him several times.
Police and soldiers launched an extensive search after the blast
and detained at least five people news reports said.
news reports said.
The attack harshly underlined the difficulties Russia faces in restoring order in the southern region despite a massive troop presence. It was expected to set off a new round of killing between Kadyrov's camp and his enemies.
The stadium's VIP section collapsed into a jagged hole in the explosion, sending up a plume of brown smoke. Panicked people, including many elderly dressed in their Sunday best, clambered over the bleachers as gunshots split the air amid the chaos.
Footage on Russia's NTV television showed men in uniform
dragging away the body of a man resembling Kadyrov and covered in blood.
in blood. The explosive was believed to be a land mine, said Sergei Kozhemyaka, a spokesman for the southern Russian branch of the Emergency Situations Ministry. NTV television quoted an investigator as saying the bomb was made from a 152 mm artillery shell and detonated with a wire or timer.
The bomb was planted under the concrete floor of the VIP podium where Kadyrov and other dignitaries were watching ceremonies marking the 59th anniversary of the defeat of the Nazis in World War II.
A second land mine was found nearby.
Investigators were trying to identify people who worked on the three-month renovation of the stadium, which was completed just recently, according to the ITAR-Tass news agency.
The Grozny emergency medical center said 24 people were killed and 46 others were wounded.
However, Russian President Vladimir Putin's representative in the southern Russian district, Vladimir Yakovlev, said six people died in the blast and 53 others were wounded, the Interfax news agency reported.
Trial date set for soldier in abuse case
The Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Stung by a worldwide outcry, the U.S. military announced yesterday the first court-martial in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse allegations, ordering a reservist to face a public trial in Baghdad on May 19.
Spc. Jeremy C. Sivits of Hyndman, Pa., a member of the 372nd Military Police Company, will face a military court less than a month after photos of prisoners being abused and humiliated were first broadcast April 28.
Both the speed of the trial's scheduling and the venue in the Iraqi capital underscore the military's realization that it must demonstrate resolve in prosecuting those responsible for a scandal that threatens to undermine the U.S. mission in Iraq and President Bush's re-election chances.
Brig. Gen, Mark Kimmitt, announcing the trial date, said the proceedings would be held in the Baghdad Convention Center, which houses the coalition press office, and be open to media coverage.
age:
Bush promised Saturday that "we will learn all the facts and determine the full extent of these abuses. Those involved will be identified. They will answer for their actions."
their actions.
Sivits is one of seven soldiers facing charges but appears to be a
lesser figure in the case. Some of the others will likely face a general court martial, which can give more severe punishments than the "special" court martial that will try Sivits. His trial could produce evidence for prosecuting others believed more culpable.
Sivits is believed to have taken some of the photos that triggered the scandal. His father, Daniel Sivits, said last month his son "was told to take a picture, and he did what he was told." He said his son trained as a mechanic but found himself performing military police work for which he was unqualified.
when he was saying it had no comment yesterday morning.
Solvits was charged with conspiracy to mistreat detainees, dereliction of duty for failing to protect prisoners and maltreatment of detainees. Seven officers have received career-ending reprimands.
If convicted, Sivits could face one year in prison, reduction in rank to private, forfeiture of two-thirds of his pay for a year, a fine or a bad conduct discharge. Penalties could include only one, all or any combination of those punishments.
Sivits will be able to choose between trial before a single military judge or a three-member panel of senior officers. He has the right to a civilian attorney and will have access to military counsel.
The Associated Press
The military policeman who blew the whistle on fellow soldiers who were photographed abusing Iraqi detainees has an independent streak and knew "right from wrong," say people who know him.
Spc. Joe Darby was commended in a military report for alerting superiors after discovering photographs of fellow 372nd Military Police Company personnel abusing prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison.
prison.
Darby, 24, who is still on duty overseas, "didn't worry about what people thought," said Robert Ewing. Darby's history teacher and football coach at North Star High in Jennings, Pa. "He wasn't one that went along with his peers."
Darby's tip led to an investigation of prisoner abuse that has outraged people around the world and changed the tenor of America's war effort in Iraq.
The military said yesterday that Spc. Jeremy C. Sivits, 24, of Hyndman, also from Pennsylvania, will be the first soldier to face a court martial in connection with the abuse. He faces trial May 19 in Baghdad.
Darby "didn't realize that he had done anything that was super special," said sister-in-law Maxine Carroll. "The way he looks at it, he was just doing his job."
was just doing. Carroll said the family is concerned some people will view Darby's decision to turn in fellow
soldiers as traitorous, rather than heroic, especially in Cresaptown, Md., where he lives and where the 372nd is based.
"It scares you a little," she said.
It scares you a lot. Friends and former neighbors in Pennsylvania said they are proud of Darby.
Darby.
“There is just so much violence in the world, and someone has to stop it,” said Gilbert Refiner, 50, who lived across the street from Darby when Darby was young. “Joe, he did his part.”
The family moved to Jenners, Pa., in the early 1990s, neighbors said, in southern Pennsylvania coal country just a few miles from the spot where an airliner hijacked by terrorists crashed on Sept. 11, 2001.
In Jenners, the Darbys probably had a tougher time in the blue-collar town than most. Darby's stepfather was disabled in a construction accident. His mother stayed home to care for his young brother, and money was tight.
Darby worked evenings after school. He attended North Star High in nearby Boswell, then left to study forestry at Somerset County Vocational and Technical High School.
School. After he married his wife, Bernadette, the couple moved to Virginia, where he worked as an auto mechanic before enlisting.
Reffner described Darby as polite and respectful. He said the family had little money when he was growing up.
ARE YOU AN AMERICAN STUDENT PAYING NON-RESIDENT TUITION?
The Governor of Kansas is about to sign legislation to offer resident tuition worth more than $7,200 a year to certain undocumented aliens.
To offer this benefit to illegal aliens is discriminatory under federal law unless all enrolled U.S. citizens are offered resident tuition rates including all out-of-state American students.
Students who oppose illegal immigration and unfair discrimination against Americans can join a lawsuit being prepared to challenge this unlawful decision and protect your rights.
You can help. If you are a United States citizen who will enroll as a full-time non-resident student at any Kansas public university in 2004-2005, please leave a message at (877) 627-3247 or email kansastuition@yahoo.com to receive full information.