Status Of Abducted Americans A Mystery
Search Continues In Iraq After Conflicting Reports Swirl Over Safety Of Four Americans And An Austrian
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Search For Contractors Goes On
A group of private contractors were kidnapped as their convoy headed into Iraq. An Iraqi official says there has been a ransom demand for the four Americans and one Austrian. Elizabeth Palmer reports.
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"Shadow Army" In Iraq
Tens of thousands of civilians deployed in Iraq provide logistical support for the troops, but face grave danger as they transport supplies around the country. Armen Keteyian has more details.
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Brazen Kidnapping In Baghdad
Dozens of people were kidnapped at an Iraqi Education Ministry building. As Elizabeth Palmer reports, the kidnappings raise new questions about the government's commitment to reining in militias.
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Photo
In this undated photo released by the St. Louis Park Police Dept., former St. Louis Park police officer Paul Reuben is shown. Reuben, 39, was among four American security contractors and an Austrian co-worker escorting a convoy that was hijacked, his brother, Patrick Reuben, told KSTP-TV and the Star Tribune. (AP Photo/St. Louis Park Police)
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British soldiers patrol in Zubair, near Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, on Nov. 17, 2006. British and U.S. troops were searching for four abducted Americans whose convoy was hijacked Thursday in Safwan, an Iraqi city near the Kuwaiti border. (AP Photo)
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An Iraqi firefighter, left, arrives at the scene following an explosion in Baghdad on Nov. 16, 2006. (AP Photo)
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Held Hostage
Details on foreign workers and soldiers captured by insurgents in Iraq.
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Battle For Iraq
The government, the insurgency, key players, background and photos.
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Who's Who
Iraq Insurgency
More on the militant groups behind the insurgency in Iraq and their motivations.
Gunmen wearing police uniforms abducted the security team near Safwan, a largely Sunni Arab city of 200,000 people in southern Iraq. The attack took place shortly after the Westerners had crossed the Kuwaiti border with a large convoy of supply trucks.
The convoy was traveling on the Iraq Military Road, which is infrequently used by civilian vehicles. Sunni insurgents attack supply convoys on a daily basis, not only on the roads from Kuwait but also from Turkey in the north and Jordan in the west.
Convoys are heavily armed, but not heavily enough. They can be several dozen vehicles long and are often attacked in the middle, their weakest point, reports CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer.
Basra police Maj. Gen. Ali al-Moussawi refused to give details of the ransom demand late Friday after a series of confused and apparently incorrect reports that variously claimed the Austrian had been found dead and one of the Americans was gravely wounded. Another discounted report came from the Basra governor, who had said two Americans were freed and one hostage killed.
Al-Moussawi said police believed the five employees of the Crescent Security Co. were being held in the Safwan region along with trucks from the convoy.
Throughout the day, U.S. officials and the British military, which still has about 7,000 troops in the Basra region, said they had no information on the kidnapped men.Click here to read Armen Keteyian’s report on civilian contractors deployed in Iraq.
The confusion in reports from Iraqi officials apparently grew out of their having been unaware initially of a fresh incident on Friday involving a British security team that had been stopped by Iraqi customs police on the same road where the Crescent Security team was abducted.
In other developments:
Al-Moussawi said that as police checked the papers of the British security men in the lead vehicle, a car drove by at high speed and opened fire, killing one Briton and wounding a second in the car. British officials in Basra confirmed an incident involving security men but would provide no details.
The police major general speculated that Basra Gov. Mohammed al-Waili was not aware of that incident and had assumed the dead and wounded were from the group of five kidnapped the day before.
©MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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See all 111 CommentsSelah
Prior talk of partition will come to the fore, as Sunni and Shia realize religious differences are no weaker in Iraq than in Belfast. Perhaps, with no central authority commonly recognized, this is the only minimally-bloodless way out for all concerned.
Those opposed to partitioning the country must realize Iraq is an "unnatural" composite imposed by the Europeans after The Great War. The very concept of Iraq is the product of simple conditioning, backed by years of central control and authority in which all sectarian elements were ruthlessly hunted down and crushed. The same principle applied with former Soviet republics in Central Asia, which quickly seceded in the early 1990's as local Soviet garrisons were emptied.
It is an evidence,how much our media and govt are hiding the truth.A lot more soldiers are dying every day in this UNCONVENTIONAL WAR then we are told.There is no use of being in a STATE OF DENIAL.Democracy means govt of the people.The people of UNITED STATES whose TAX money funds this NON-SENSE war have the full right to know what's actually going on in IRAQ.
Time our guys are taken out of police mode and back to war mode. Somebody shoots from a building blow the building down stop playing nice guy.
Note to editor:
When you write the term "contractors", are you talking about "dry-wallers" or "flooring specialists", or do you mean something more like "mercenaries" or "killers for hire".
If you mean the latter, then we are talking about men who willingly sell their integrity and humanity to the highest bidder. It's difficult to think of a more contemptible profession.
Some 655,000 Iraqis killed so far, and millions more humiliated, imprisoned, tortured, and raped by various U.S. agents, since the beginning of the 2003, illegal Iraq debacle.
How many more will quench your thirst?
Now the apolologists are trying to blame the Iraqis and their puppet-government, for the devistating U.S. moral and military defeat in Iraq. This includes many prominent Democrats like Carl Levin. Disgusting.
I certainly hope that the U.S. has hit a low point, because this particular period in our history, is already an unbearable disgrace to our country.
"Fighting any enemy with one hand behind your back while being watched by everyone is a total lose and a waste of american lives.You can win this war if we played by the terrorists rules.Now lets start the killing machine."
And just when are you going to fight in Iraq?
Or are you all talk and you're going to let others do the fighting for you.
People like you are a great recruitment poster for insurgents.
This know-how could be transposed to the Iraqi army as well.
"Wearing (suicide) vests should be punishable by death."
That is stingingly ironic.
Gun trucks are civilian vehicles upgraded and in house maintained to operate in hostile and extreme climatic environments. They can be of an up-armored, semi-armored or soft skinned configuration, with each carrying all necessities to be self sufficient for extended periods of time
http://www.crescentsecuritygroup.com/
The war against Sadaam was won but the peace is already lost because the Iraqi Sunnis and Shiites do not want to set aside their differences hence there IS NO MILITARY SOLUTION.
This leaves the determination of whether or not their is a POLITICAL SOLUTION. It appears obvious that THERE IS NO POLITICAL SOLUTION and THEREFORE IT IS TIME TO LEAVE.
It would take a million dedictaed coordinated fighters to hold on for 10 years and MAYBE America could prop up an Iraqi Government that ling. Unless there are a million Western fighters willing to do this then the US should STRATEGICALLY REDEPLOY.
If the US does not like the new leaders that evolve, the arrogant US can always go in at any time later and take them out.
- - -And the US wonders why Iran is no pissed off - after having the US overthrow their government in 1953 and install the Torture Dictator Shaw and then supply Iraq with weapons to kill Iranians in the 1980s OF COURSE IRAN IS MAD AS HELL - WHY SHOULNT THEY BE?
What a joke! When has Dubya stood with anyone. Behind maybe-never with. He crawfishes faster than any politician in history. How many people has he dumped to keep from taking the blame for his actions-Rumsfield is only the latest of the parade?
You are correct. One of these particular vehicles was a white retro-fitted Suburban carrying a machine-gun in the rear section with three other gunners and a driver. His mother-my cousin-is still waiting to hear.
They know that the war for Iraq is lost and that Mr. Bush is a liar.
It is time to bring the troops home before anymore are killed.
Then there will be plenty of time for the US House of Representatives to investigate and then maybe impeach Mr. Bush for wrongly starting this war.
Then maybe the Republican Senators will see the logic of putting all the blame on Mr. Bush where it belongs instead of trying to blame Democrats.
And if Br. Bush were to get a little jail time for torture, kidnapping, and subverting the Constitution maybe future U.S. Presidents would behave better.
These "contractors" are in Iraq to enrich themselves from the catastrophe resulting from the illegal invasion of Iraq.
I support the idea of liquidating the assets of war-profiteering "contractor" firms, such as Bechtel, Halliburton, and Blackwater, as well as weapons pushers like the Carlyle Group, Lokheed Martin, and G.E., then to use the proceeds to create a reparations fund for the people of Iraq, Afghanistan, the U.S., etc.
These organizations have profited from death and misery for far too long. The people of the world have absorbed more than enough of their 'business expenses', and it is time to reconcile that debt.
Don't they know they've been defeated? Mission Accomplished Iraqi Rebels!!!
Sheeeeeesh! You'd think they'd just give up after Democracy was established there. Don't they realize that they voted, there were all those purple thumbs up!
I just wonder what cut-throats were on the ballot though that they voted. Wonder if they all voted for their own seperate "butchers" to go fight agsint this rival clan or that one.
Ohhhhhhhhhhhh voting//democracy is grand, especially in the land of the cut-throats!!!
I think we should drop leaflets all over the land telling all Iraqi's that President Bush has outwitted them, and show them alllllll pictures of that ship with that HUGE banner proclaiming, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!!
Here's a small incomplete list of American companies in Iraq doing all the business,, think of all the potential abductees...
Wonder how many "corporate" troops we have over in Iraq, hmmmmmmmmmmmm????
Abt Associates Inc.,,
Advanced Systems Development, Inc.
AECOM
AllWorld Language Consultants
American International Contractors, Inc.
American President Lines Ltd.
AOS, Inc.
Artel
Atlas Case, Inc.
Bald Industries
Bea Mauer, Inc.
BearingPoint Inc.
Bechtel Group Inc.
Blackwater Security Consulting L.L.C.
CACI International Inc.
Capital Shredder Corporation
Cartridge Discounters
CDW Government, Inc.
Cellhire USA
CH2M Hill
Chugach McKinley, Inc.
Comfort Inn
Complement, Inc., The
Contrack International Inc.
Creative Associates International Inc.
Dataline Inc.
Dell Marketing L.P.
Detection Monitoring Technologies
Development Alternatives Inc.
DHS Logistics Company
DynCorp (Computer Sciences Corp.)
Earth Tech, Inc.
EGL Eagle Global Logistics
EHI Company
Electric Generator Store, The
Environmental Chemical Corporation
EOD Technology Inc.
Expedited World Cargo Inc.
Explosive Ordnance Technologies Inc.
Export Depot
Fluor Corp.
Force 3
Foster Wheeler Co.
General Electric Company
Giesecke & Devrient America
Global Container Lines Ltd.
Global Professional Solutions
Global Services
GPS Store, Inc., The
Hardware Associates
Harris Corporation
Inglett and Stubbs LLC
Intelligent Enterprise Solutions
International American Products Inc.
International Global Systems, Inc.
International Resources Group
John S. Connor Inc.
JSI Inc.
Kellogg, Brown & Root (Halliburton)
Kollsman Inc
Kroll Inc.
Kropp Holdings
Lab Safety Supply
Laguna Construction Company, Inc.
LandSea Systems, Inc.
Landstar Express America Inc.
Liberty Shipping Group Ltd.
Logenix International L.L.C.
Louis Berger Group
August 6, 2003 NewsMax.com has obtained exclusive photos of a buried Iraqi jet fighter being recovered by U.S. Air Force troops. The Iraqi jet, an advanced Russian MiG-25 Foxbat, was found buried in he sand after an informant tipped off U.S. troops. The MiG was dug out of a massive sand dune near the Al Taqqadum airfield by U.S. Air Force recovery teams. The MiG was reportedly one of over two dozen Iraqi jets buried in the sand, like hidden treasure, waiting to be recovered at a later date. Contrary to what some in the major media have reported, not all the jets found were from the Gulf War era. The Russian-made MiG-25 Foxbat being recovered by U.S. Air Force troops in the photos is an advanced reconnaissance version never before seen in the West and is equipped with sophisticated electronic warfare devices. U.S. Air Force recovery teams had to use large earth-moving equipment to uncover the MiG, which is over 70 feet long and weighs nearly 25 tons.
What else is in the sand hills or in other countries..
Lucent Technologies World Services, Inc.
Management Systems International
McNeil Technologies, Inc.
Mediterranean Shipping Company
MEI Research Corporation
Michael Baker Jr., Inc.
Midwest Research Institute
Military Professional Resources Inc.
Miscellaneous Foreign Contract
Motorola Inc.
MZM Inc.
NANA Pacific
Native American Industrial Distributors Inc.
Night Vision Equipment Company
Ocean Bulkships Inc.
Odebrect-Austin
Outfitter Satellite, Inc.
Parsons Corp.
Parsons Energy and Chemicals Group
Perini Corporation
Raytheon Technical Services
Readiness Management Support LC (Johnson Controls Inc.)
Red River Computer Company
Research Triangle Institute
Ronco Consulting Corporation
S&K Technologies Inc.
Science Applications International Corp.
Sealift Inc.
Segovia Inc.
SETA Corporation
Shaw Group/Shaw E & I
Signature Science
Simmonds Precision Products
SkyLink Air and Logistic Support (USA) Inc.
Smith Office Machines Corporation
SPARCO
Stanley Baker Hill L.L.C.
Stanley Consultants
Staples National Advantage
Stevedoring Services of America
Structural Engineers
TECO Ocean Shipping Co.
Tetra Tech Inc.
Titan Corporation
Total Business
Transfair North America International
Triumph Technologies
Unisys Corporation
United Defense Industries, L.P.
USA Environmental Inc.
Vinnell Corporation (Northrop Grumman)
Ward Transformer Sales & Services
Washington Group International
WECSYS
Weston Solutions, Inc.
Zapata Engineering
Re: "there were all those purple thumbs up!"
That put a smile on my face. Good one!
The MiG is capable of flying at speeds of over 2,000 miles an hour, or three times the speed of sound, and at altitudes of over 75,000 feet.
The Foxbat may also be equipped with ad-vanced Russian- and French-made electronics that were sold to Iraq during the 1990s in violation of a U..N. ban on arms sales to Baghdad. The buried aircraft at Al Taqqadum were covered in camouflage netting, sealed and, in many cases, had their wings removed before being buried more than 10 feet beneath the Iraqi desert. X Marks the Spot The discovery of the buried Iraqi jet fighters illustrates the problem faced by U.S. inspection teams searching Iraq for weapons of mass destruction. Iraq is larger in size than California, and the massive deserts south and west of Bagh-dad were used by Saddam Hussein to hide weapons during the first Gulf war. U.S. intelligence sources have already uncovered several mass grave burial sites in the open deserts with an est-imated 10,000 dead hidden there. In addition, Iraq previously hid SCUD missiles, chemical weap-ons and biological warheads by burying them under the desert sand.
http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/product-compint-0001138179-page.html
American President Lines LTD.
I love Goliath's banner on their hosting site that has this comp info on it.....
GOLIATH-knowledge on demand...!!!!
http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/product-compint-0001138179-page.html
let's see if this one comes out correct....
While there are rumors of Iraqi chemical and biological weapons being shipped to nearby Syria, the weapons may very well still remain inside Iraq buried under the vast desert wastelands. Some critics of the Bush adminis-tration have claimed that the inability of U..S.. forces to uncover weapons of mass destruction is proof that the president misled the nation into the war with Iraq.
Re: "What else is in the sand hills or in other countries.."
Nothing significant has been found, despite several multi-million dollar efforts. Rumsfeld claimed that he "knew where they (WMD) were". He didn't, because there were none.
The war against Iraq is an illegal war of aggression, and is a notably among the most disgraceful moments in our nation's history.
I think that Bush will go down in history as the puppet-front-man for the greatest terrorist organization ever. The failures of the Bush regime and their collaborators are epic.
Thanks for the list. Source please?
Lord knows, all the presidents men have been working feverishly to hide them over there so they can discover them and say, "by gull, look we we done did foundediddiddid,,, we found these weapons here!!! tole ya so,"
Then everyone will weep across America for doubting, even some people who stand by the President during any and all inclement political weather,, and are unwavered in their steadfast support yet all the while knowing they smell a dirty dirty rat in the rice bag....!!!
There will be parades and expensive memorials, even a bust of the President thrusting a sword into the bust of Saddam, the famed butcher of baghdad,,, baby killa....!!!!!!
And everyone the world over will blush and weep, and live happily ever after.
Good nite..!!
http://www.laweekly.com/news/news/made-in-the-usa-part-iii-the-dishonor-roll/2889/
Thanks for the list. Source please?
Posted by FeelFree1 at 05:18 PM : Nov 17, 2006******
Oh, sorry, I'll post some links to where I found the companies, I don't think it's all of them, I'm still compiling the list....
I found a few "updated" lists via the web though....
Thank you. Good job!
http://www.jobline.net/jobiraq1.htm
http://www.icasualties.org/oif/Civ.aspx
however I do agree that it is well and truely time for us to get out of Iraq, I dont hear any news of Iraqis helping find our men etc and it appears that they dont want us there and hate our guts... Muslims hate us and the quran say's that they are not allowed to be our friends (unless it is to convert us) because we are infidels, mohammad's orders are to destroy all who will not submitt until the WHOLE world is for Allah... and once their numbers and weapons are enough to do so, they will do so.
I just wish our leaders and the media would read the last three quarters of the quran and others of their holy books to see what we are up against and to see what they intend for us. The first part of thequran is pretty much like other religious books, talking of peace, however once their numbers grew to become a force, allah changed his mind and it became revengeful.. We have to realise that there cannot be any moderate muslims, the quran says that if they dont go to war then they are called they are counted as apostates and are also slaughtered... but as the media is totally left we have to realise that we dont hear all the truth.
Getting letters from loved ones from our forces in Iraq, seem to paint a different picture, I would love to see letters from our returned soldiers, and see what is the truth...
however I do agree that it is well and truely time for us to get out of Iraq, I dont hear any news of Iraqis helping find our men etc and it appears that they dont want us there and hate our guts... Muslims hate us and the quran say's that they are not allowed to be our friends (unless it is to convert us) because we are infidels, mohammad's orders are to destroy all who will not submitt until the WHOLE world is for Allah... and once their numbers and weapons are enough to do so, they will do so.
I just wish our leaders and the media would read the last three quarters of the quran and others of their holy books to see what we are up against and to see what they intend for us. The first part of thequran is pretty much like other religious books, talking of peace, however once their numbers grew to become a force, allah changed his mind and it became revengeful.. We have to realise that there cannot be any moderate muslims, the quran says that if they dont go to war then they are called they are counted as apostates and are also slaughtered... but as the media is totally left we have to realise that we dont hear all the truth.
Getting letters from loved ones from our forces in Iraq, seem to paint a different picture, I would love to see letters from our returned soldiers, and see what is the truth...
Yeah but I heard this was another conspiricy flic,, put out by the libs, dems and commies....!!
When Rush Limbaugh wakes up and salutes it I'll watch it, but until then, I'm nodding off with my El Rushitan....!!
however I do agree that it is well and truely time for us to get out of Iraq, I dont hear any news of Iraqis helping find our men etc and it appears that they dont want us there and hate our guts... Muslims hate us and the quran say's that they are not allowed to be our friends (unless it is to convert us) because we are infidels, mohammad's orders are to destroy all who will not submitt until the WHOLE world is for Allah... and once their numbers and weapons are enough to do so, they will do so.
Our leaders and the media should read the last three quarters of the quran and others of their holy books to see what we are up against. The first part of the quran is pretty much like other religious books, talking of peace, however once their numbers grew to become a force, allah changed his mind and it became revengeful.. We have to realise that there cannot be any moderate muslims, the quran says that if they dont go to war then they are called they are counted as apostates and are also slaughtered... but as the media is totally left we have to realise that we dont hear all the truth.
Getting letters from loved ones from our forces in Iraq, seem to paint a different picture, I would love to see letters from our returned soldiers, and see what is the truth...
I would like to suggest the 'Lincoln Group' and the 'Rand Corporation' for your list. They have provided massive propaganda support for the U.S. debacle in Iraq.
however I do agree that it is well and truely time for us to get out of Iraq, I dont hear any news of Iraqis helping find our men etc and it appears that they dont want us there and hate our guts... Muslims hate us and the quran say's that they are not allowed to be our friends (unless it is to convert us) because we are infidels, mohammad's orders are to destroy all who will not submitt until the WHOLE world is for Allah... and once their numbers and weapons are enough to do so, they will do so.
Our leaders and the media should read the last three quarters of the quran and others of their holy books to see what we are up against. The first part of the quran is pretty much like other religious books, talking of peace, however once their numbers grew to become a force, allah changed his mind and it became revengeful.. We have to realise that there cannot be any moderate muslims, the quran says that if they dont go to war then they are called they are counted as apostates and are also slaughtered... but as the media is totally left we have to realise that we dont hear all the truth.
however I do agree that it is well and truely time for us to get out of Iraq, I dont hear any news of Iraqis helping find our men etc and it appears that they dont want us there and hate our guts... Muslims hate us and the quran say's that they are not allowed to be our friends (unless it is to convert us) because we are infidels, mohammad's orders are to destroy all who will not submitt until the WHOLE world is for Allah... and once their numbers and weapons are enough to do so, they will do so.
Our leaders and the media should read the last three quarters of the quran and others of their holy books to see what we are up against. The first part of the quran is pretty much like other religious books, talking of peace, however once their numbers grew to become a force, allah changed his mind and it became revengeful.. We have to realise that there cannot be any moderate muslims, the quran says that if they dont go to war then they are called they are counted as apostates and are also slaughtered... but as the media is totally left we have to realise that we dont hear all the truth.
It may be the Presidents way of determining the fate of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Any time Our Leader has Steped up to Support or stand with, beside or encourage somebody ... that person later resigned, was fired or did not get re-elected. Look at the 2006 Elections, mot os the Republicans that did get re-eclectd avoided any public press coverage with Mr. Bush. What happended to FIMA's Leader within a day after the "Your Doning A Great Job Brownie"? Before the 2006 Elections, Bush swore to "Remain Steadfast wiht Rommy, following the Election results being known he had Rommy resign the next day. The more he backs the Prime Minister the more "Political Clout" this guy loses, adn the weaker the President looks for backing a man whocant get the Militia to Dis Arm adn bring some proportion of peace.
Does this mean The Prime Ministe's fate is also, soon to be doomed?
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