Explosions rock Baghdad
BAGHDAD, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- U.S. warplanes bombarded Baghdad's Sadr City Tuesday, targeting suspected positions of Shiite militiamen loyal to cleric Moqtada Sadr.
A series of explosions rocked Baghdad followed by exchange of gunfire between suspected insurgents and Iraqi police, security sources said.
Initial information said the explosions resulted from mortars that crashed in several neighborhoods in the eastern part of the Iraqi capital, injuring at least three people.
The mounting violence followed a bloody day of car bomb explosions and suicide attacks that killed at least 20 people and wounded dozens in Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul Monday.
Also Tuesday, the U.S. army said an American soldier was killed in Baghdad in an attack against his military convoy late Monday.
Bremer: U.S. had too few troops in Iraq
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va., Oct. 5 (UPI) -- The U.S. civilian who formerly governed Iraq after the coalition invasion says the United States did not have enough troops there.
Paul Bremer, administrator for the U.S.-led occupation government until the handover of political power on June 28, told a conference the second mistake was in part due to not having enough troops -- not stopping the widespread violence and looting that occurred after Saddam Hussein's ouster, the Washington Post reported.
"We paid a big price for not stopping it because it established an atmosphere of lawlessness," Bremer said at an insurance conference in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. "We never had enough troops on the ground."
But in an e-mailed statement to the newspaper late Monday night, Bremer stressed he fully supports the Bush administration's plan for training Iraqi security forces as well as its overall strategy for Iraq.
"I believe that we currently have sufficient troop levels in Iraq," he wrote. He said all references in recent speeches to troop levels related to the situation were when he arrived in Baghdad in May 2003.
Rumsfeld says Iraq-al-Qaida link weak
WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says he has seen no "strong, hard evidence" to link Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida, USA Today reported Tuesday.
Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York Monday, Rumsfeld initially declined to answer questions about pre-war intelligence, but finally gave in after cat-calling began.
He acknowledged there were "differences in the intelligence community" about the relationship between Saddam and al-Qaida. He said he has "seen that answer migrate in the intelligence community in a lot of amazing ways."
Before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, Rumsfeld said there was evidence of cooperation between al-Qaida and Saddam.
The independent commission that investigated the attacks and response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks concluded in June there was "no credible evidence that Iraq and al-Qaida cooperated on attacks against the United States." The panel also said "contacts" between al-Qaida and Iraq "do not appear to have resulted in a collaborative relationship."
Israel now within Iran's missile range
TEHRAN, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- A former Iranian leader said Tuesday Iran's missile fleet is larger and has longer range than previously disclosed, putting Israel within striking range.
Former Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani said in a speech to the Aerospace Research Institute in Tehran the country has missiles with a range of 1,250 miles.
That puts Israel and U.S. bases in the Middle East in range, although Iran has said it would only act in self-defense, the BBC reported.
In August, Iran test-fired a new version of its Shahab-3 missile, known to have a range of about 800 miles.
The Israelis have voiced concern about signs of Iran's growing military potential, and also about Iran's belligerent manner. The chief of Israeli military intelligence says Iran could be six months from being able to produce a nuclear weapon.
Rafsanjani was president for two terms between 1989 and 1997, and remains among the most influential conservative politicians in Iran. He is also believed to have been the architect of Iran's nuclear programs.
Vice presidential debate has high stakes
CLEVELAND, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- A USA Today advance poll shows U.S. Democratic vice presidential contender John Edwards is favored to win Tuesday night's debate with Dick Cheney.
The spread was small, with 40 percent favoring Cheney, and 15 percent with no opinion in a survey with a margin of error of 4 points.
"This may be the most important vice presidential debate in modern history," says Timothy Walch, director of the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum. "More people will tune in because last week's debate created a buzz of publicity."
Widespread consensus was Sen. John Kerry outperformed President George Bush at their first debate, held in Miami.
Aides said Edwards, a criminal lawyer, will try to follow Kerry's example from last week's debate with Bush by drawing stark differences with the administration's policy in Iraq and on key domestic issues.
On the other side, Cheney "won't be fancy or funny or gimmicky," said campaign adviser Mary Matalin. Cheney's goal will be to show "why these first post-Cold War, post-Sept. 11 policies will make us safer."
