U.N. congratulates Afghanistan, Karzai
UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan Tuesday congratulated Hamid Karzai on his inauguration as Afghanistan's first democratically elected leader.
Annan also pledged full support to completion of the agenda set out in Bonn, Germany, which three years ago this month set Afghanistan on the transition to full democracy.
"This election and the recently adopted constitution the president swore to uphold today are two key milestones in the building of a strong democratic state in that country," Annan said in a statement issued at U.N. World Headquarters in New York by his spokesman, Fred Eckhard..
"The Secretary-General wishes President Karzai and the people of Afghanistan success as they take on the multiple tasks of stabilization and reconstruction, including the preparation of the upcoming parliamentary elections," the statement said. "He is gratified by the contribution that the United Nations has been able to make to the process of transition so far."
Following the 2001 ouster of the Taliban regime by U.S.-led forces, the United Nations aided in reconstruction and other efforts before helping to prepare for elections. The U.N.- sponsored Bonn conclave set up provisional arrangements for eventual takeover by a permanent government
273 alleged sex assaults in Iraq theater
WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- U.S. service members reported 273 cases of sexual assault in Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan and Bahrain between August 2002 and December 2004.
The Miles Foundation reports the victims of assault are predominantly female service members. The alleged assailants are primarily American male active duty military, according to the foundation, a sexual assault victim's advocacy group.
Among the victims are 47 female reservists who were activated to serve in Iraq.
The list of alleged assailants includes seven who have multiple victims, Miles said. Some of the alleged assaults were committed by Iraqi, Kuwait and Saudi Arabian nationals, and members of coalition military forces including Pakistan, Italy, Australia and Great Britain.
There were 31 reported sexual assaults on U.S. military members in the United States prior to their deployment.
Homeless shelters getting Iraq vets
WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Veterans of the war in Iraq are starting to show up at homeless shelters, experts say.
"When we already have people from Iraq on the streets, my God," said Linda Boone, executive director of the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans. "I have talked to enough (shelters) to know we are getting them. It is happening and this nation is not prepared for that."
Some homeless-veteran advocates fear that similar combat experiences in Vietnam and Iraq mean that these first few homeless veterans from Iraq are the crest of a wave not seen since the Vietnam era.
"This is what happened with the Vietnam vets. I went to Vietnam," said John Keaveney, chief operating officer of New Directions, a shelter and drug-and-alcohol treatment program for veterans in Los Angeles. "It is like watching history being repeated," Keaveney said.
Experts said the high number of Iraq vets with mental illness seems almost certain to fuel the problem.
Data from the Department of Veterans Affairs shows that as of last July, nearly 28,000 veterans from Iraq sought health care from the VA. One out of every five was diagnosed with a mental disorder, according to the VA. An Army study in the New England Journal of Medicine in July showed that 17 percent of service members returning from Iraq met screening criteria for major depression, generalized anxiety disorder or PTSD.
Iraq KIA count hits 1,000
WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- At least 1,000 American troops have been killed in combat since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, the Pentagon reports.
The vast majority died after President Bush declared an end to major combat operations May 1, 2003. Of the total, 109 were killed during the invasion, and more than 887 troops have been killed in hostile action with insurgent forces in Iraq. Three Defense Department civilians have been killed. Another 275 have been killed in non-combat incidents, most of them accidents, according to the Defense Department. There have been at least seven homicides and 29 suicides.
November was the bloodiest month so far in Iraq with 135 American troops dead.
More than 9,765 troops have been wounded in action. Some 4,564 were only slightly wounded and returned to duty within three days.
