Admiral Kelly, Captain Card (ph), officers and sailors of the USS Abraham
Lincoln, my fellow Americans, major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In
the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed.

http://www.milparts.net/bush-on-uss-lincoln.html

-------------------------------------------------

Before the two deaths were announced, the Pentagon put the US combat toll at
120 since Washington declared major hostilities ended exactly six months ago
Saturday.

During the main six-week thrust previous to May 1, 114 US soldiers were
killed by hostile fire.
The latest US casualties come one day after a soldier was killed and four
others from the 82nd Airborne Division were wounded when a device exploded
in Khaldiyah, 80 kilometres (50 miles) west of the capital.

Admiral Kelly, Captain Card (ph), officers and sailors of the USS Abraham
Lincoln, my fellow Americans, major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In
the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed.

http://www.milparts.net/bush-on-uss-lincoln.html

-------------------------------------------------

Two US soldiers killed as Iraq braces under new terror alert

Sat Nov 1, 5:42 AM ET

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Two US soldiers were killed in a bomb attack in the northern
Iraqi city of Mosul as the country braced for more violence on a rumoured
day of resistance, exactly six months after President George W. Bush
declared major fighting over.

The US military said two soldiers were killed and two others wounded when a
in a bomb went off in Mosul, 370 kilometers (230 miles) north of Baghdad.

"Two 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) soldiers were killed and two were
wounded in an improvised explosive device attack," the division said in a
statement.

A traffic policeman and another witness said the Americans were traveling in
civilian clothes in two unmarked vehicles, which were both damaged by two
simultaneous blasts at a main square in the city center.

Before the two deaths were announced, the Pentagon put the US combat toll at
120 since Washington declared major hostilities ended exactly six months ago
Saturday.

During the main six-week thrust previous to May 1, 114 US soldiers were
killed by hostile fire.
The latest US casualties come one day after a soldier was killed and four
others from the 82nd Airborne Division were wounded when a device exploded
in Khaldiyah, 80 kilometres (50 miles) west of the capital.

Meanwhile, Baghdad was semi-paralyzed Saturday amid fears of new bloodshed
fueled by rumours that opponents of the US occupation of Iraq would mark a
"day of resistance" and carry out more terror attacks.

The usually congested traffic was reduced to a trickle, and several schools
were completely empty.
Several businesses shuttered their doors and numerous civil servants did not
show up for work, while guards and Iraqi police were posted around schools
and public buildings.

Some relief organizations shut down for the day and the US consular offices
urged US nationals to exercise extra caution.

This followed widespread rumors that leaflets warned Saturday would be a
"day of resistance" against coalition forces, but reporters could not find
any leaflets.

The violence was unrelenting Friday, particularly in the so-called Sunni
triangle west and north of Baghdad, where US soldiers have faced the most
resistance from loyalists of ousted president Saddam Hussein.

In the Abu Gharib area US troops and Iraqi police clashed with residents
after two US soldiers were wounded by grenades hurled at their convoy.
Police said one of their men was killed and a medic, as well as another
witness, said three civilians were killed by gunfire.

US forces were also involved in an exchange of fire on Friday in the
flashpoint town of Fallujah, 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of Baghdad, after
two rocket-propelled grenades were fired at them.

The US State Department Friday renewed a less-than-one-month-old travel
warning for Iraq, alerting US citizens there of a threat to civil aviation
in addition to increasing attacks on foreign targets.

The mounting violence has begun to worry Iraq's neighbours, particularly
Syria, which has called for a two-day meeting starting Saturday to discuss
the dangers to regional stability.

Iraqi interim foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari left Baghdad on Friday heading
for Damascus to attend alongside Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia,
Syria and Turkey.

Syria allowed him to take part in an 11th hour climbdown that cleared the
way for the participation of Washington's Arab allies, Jordan, Kuwait and
Saudi Arabia, which had all threatened to boycott the talks otherwise.

But US Secretary of State Colin Powell said there was no evidence that
Saddam was coordinating some of the attacks against US forces in Iraq, as
was reported by the New York Times Friday.

In an ABC television interview, Powell flatly rejected the comments by
unnamed senior US officials in the Times saying there were indications
Saddam may be directing attacks from his hometown Tikrit.

"I don't know where he is or what he's doing, but we really don't have the
evidence to put together a claim that he is pulling all the strings," said
Powell.

Nevertheless, US forces sealed Friday the town of Ouja, Saddam's birthplace,
to count the adult population in an effort to root out suspected former
regime loyalists.

"There are ties leading to this village, to the funding and planning of
attacks against US soldiers," said Lieutenant Steven Russel of the 4th
Infantry Division.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=1&u=/afp/20
031101/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_worldwrap_031101104228


--
"From the brief time that we did spend occupying Iraqi territory after the
war, I am certain that had we taken all of Iraq, we would have been like the
dinosaur in the tar pit ? we would still be there, and we, not the United
Nations, would be bearing the costs of the occupation. This is a burden I am
sure the beleaguered American taxpayer would not have been happy to take
on."

? Norman Schwarzkopf, from his 1993 autobiography, "It Doesn't Take a Hero."