Americans everywhere should be thankful for service members serving in Iraq, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said today. "We’re truly fortunate there are so many wonderful young men and women who are willing to step forward and volunteer to serve," he said at a Pentagon news conference. "Their accomplishments deserve full recognition." The secretary delivered a list of coalition accomplishments for the week of Nov. 17-23. During that time, coalition service members conducted almost 12,000 patrols and more than 230 targeted raids. They captured about 1,200 enemy forces and killed 40 to 50 and wounded 25 to 30. "It provides a sense of the determined offensive pressure which the coalition is applying against the enemy," Rumsfeld said. In one day, soldiers of the 4th Infantry Division in the Baathist Triangle of Baghdad, Ramadi and Tikrit confiscated a huge stock of weapons. Included in their catch were 17 AK-47 assault rifles, 11 other rifles, one pistol, three rocket-propelled grenade launchers, 53 grenades, six containers of artillery propellant, 60 120 mm and 250 60 mm mortar rounds, 50 blasting caps, 10 blocks of C-4 explosive, 10 sticks of TNT, 50 mortar fuses, and 40 spools of wire used to detonate improvised explosive devices. Rumsfeld also listed the rebuilding accomplishments in Iraq. All the hospitals and 95 percent of the clinics are open. More power is being generated than in pre-war days. About 2.1 million barrels of oil are flowing from Iraqi wells for home consumption and for export earnings. The Iraqi courts are running, there are 170 free newspapers, and the education system has 5.1 million Iraqi children back in school, with 97,000 young Iraqi men and women applying for college.
Average SAT 1070 |