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http://tinyurl.com/gpcf NYTimes,Eric Schmitt July 11 WASHINGTON, July 10 - Gen. Tommy R. Franks said today that the Pentagon was nearing a decision on a policy to regularly rotate thousands of Army forces through Iraq for months and years to come. With 20,000 soldiers of the Army's Third Infantry Division scheduled to leave Iraq by September, defense officials are deciding what mix of Army and allied forces will replace them, and when. The troops other allied countries have sent to Iraq now and those due to arrive over the summer total about 30,000. At the same time, the Army has hired Halliburton's Kellogg Brown & Root subsidiary to feed and house up to 100,000 TROOPS in Iraq. The contractor could erect large tents, but an Army spokesman said today that the $200 MILLION project ordered last month could also include SEMI-PERMANENT WOODEN BUILDINGS similar to what American troops in Kosovo use. Taken together, the new troop policy and housing contract represent perhaps the most concrete examples of the Pentagon's long-term commitment to Iraq and acknowledgment that rebuilding the country will probably take years and large numbers of American forces..... SKIP Dan Carlson, a spokesman for the Army's Field Support Command in Rock Island, Ill., said the agreement with Kellogg Brown & Root called for the company to provide HOUSING for up to 100,000 forces at about 20 SITES THROUGHOUT IRAQ. The order was first reported this week by Inside the Army, a specialized publication about Army matters. ----- Original Message ----- From: "ppg" <ppg@nyc.rr.com> To: <casi-discuss@lists.casi.org.uk> Sent: Friday, July 11, 2003 8:54 PM Subject: [casi] Troops take over Iraqi training pool > http://iraqsport.com/articles/06/24_5.shtml > > US troops take over Iraqi swimmers' pool > By Kamal Taha - BAGHDAD > > Iraqi swimmers train in murky Tigris river after being kicked out by US > officials from only Olympic-sized pool in Baghdad. > Iraqi swimmers hoping to make a splash at the world championships in > Barcelona next month are having to train in the murky Tigris River because > the US Army have taken over the only Olympic-sized pool in Baghdad for their > troops, team trainer Faisal Sayed Jaffar said Thursday. > > Infantry Sergeant Billy Thierry, who is in charge of the al-Qadissiya pool, > said his orders were that the Iraqi Olympic team were entitled to use the > place only from 6:00 to 8:00 am. "This is totally unfair because most of the > 12 members of the Iraqi team are university students. In any case, we need > two three-hour training sessions, one in the morning and one in the > afternoon," Jaffar said. > > Jaffar appealed to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and world > swimming's governing body FINA to intervene if they are to get their > training schedule back on track in time for the championships. He said that > when a wave of looting swept the country following the US-led ouster of > Saddam Hussein's regime on April 9, team members rushed to the pool complex > to salvage what they could. "After three weeks of cleaning and repairing the > place, we were kicked out by US officials, who told us not to return," > Jaffar said. "All attempts by Iraqi officials to recover the pool were in > vain. Hence we have to train in the Tigris even though the conditions are > not suitable," he complained. > > Al-Qadissiya's indoor pool in eastern Baghdad was built by a South Korean > firm in 1983 and is the only one with the specifications of sports > competitions, in addition to serving as headquarters for the Iraqi Swimming > Federation. "Training in a river is very different from training in a > swimming pool," Jaffar explained. "There are no walls to turn, the water is > too troubled to regulate movements and the pressure of the water on the body > is totally different. It will be very difficult to compete with the world's > top swimmers." As a result, team members are not always showing up for the > training. "US soldiers are using the only suitable pool we have in Iraq for > their own entertainment. We have become strangers in our own country," said > Omar Faisal, a member of the team. > > The swimmers meet every afternoon near al-Ima bridge in northern Baghdad > wearing ordinary shorts and without swimming goggles since Uday Saddam > Hussein, the elder son of the deposed president who headed the Iraqi Olympic > Committee, liked only football and gave nothing to the swimmers. Jaffar said > that after the orgy of looting that swept Baghdad, he saw on street > pavements lots of trunks and goggles that had been tucked away in the > cupboards of the Olympic Committee. "I am asking the International Olympic > Committee and FINA to contact the US government to obtain the departure of > all American soldiers from all Iraqi sports facilities," he added. The > Al-Shaab stadium, where soccer tournaments used to take place, and the > Saddam basketball hall have also been taken over by the Americans. > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. > To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss > To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk > All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk