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Rumsfeld addresses IraqisCentral Command: Weapons cache found
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Saturday outlined a bright future for Iraqis, saying he has seen "truly extraordinary" political, economic, social changes in the country since his last visit four months ago. He reminded the war-weary nation that the "coalition is committed to helping you succeed." In a taped address to the nation, aired Saturday afternoon on the Iraq Media Network -- a day before President Bush is to make an address on Iraq and terrorism in Washington -- Rumsfeld reminded the country that the Saddam Hussein regime is "finished." He urged Iraqis to help security forces root out the regime's remnants responsible for the guerrilla attacks against U.S. troops. "Baghdad is bustling with commerce. Universities and hospitals are open for business," Rumsfeld said. "A free press is flourishing, Iraqi banks have started taking applications for small business loans so Iraqi entrepreneurs can create jobs." He acknowledged the hardships and the instability Iraqis must cope with. "I know that life remains difficult for many of you. But visiting your country I can see the determination of so many brave Iraqis who are stepping forward to create a new nation where there is freedom and opportunity for all of the Iraqi people." He said the persistent violence in the country, including the recent bombings at the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad and the Shiite mosque in Najaf, is a sign of weakness and desperation of those who oppose the new Iraq and said the "Hussein regime is finished." Rumsfeld said nearly 50 nations have pledged almost $4 billion for reconstruction and "the 1.7 billion dollars the Baathists stole from you has been recovered -- money that is now being used for the benefit of the Iraqi people." (Full story) Central Command: Weapons cache foundLocal sources led U.S. soldiers to a major weapons cache near the northern Iraqi town of Bajar, the U.S. Central Command said Saturday, and a series of raids and sweeps in and around the town of Fallujah netted thousands of artillery and mortar rounds and 12 missiles. Central Command said 101st Airborne Division soldiers uncovered a large cache that included a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, four AK-47s, one 9 mm pistol, one assault rifle, 38 rocket-propelled grenade booster rockets, 500 rounds of machine-gun ammunition, 21 loaded AK-47 magazines, and 12 boxes of 12-gauge shotgun shells. Further south around Fallujah, Central Command said, 2nd Squadron (Sabre), 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment soldiers had targeted possible safe houses and dwellings of suspected Saddam loyalists in recent weeks. Central Command said such sweeps, combined with patrols, netted 1,080 122 mm artillery rounds; 928 mortar rounds; 8,991 rounds of 23 mm; 28 AK-47s; two pistols; 10 antitank missiles; 45 antitank mines; eight surface-to-air missiles; four kegs of gunpowder; 300 rounds of 130 mm high explosive ammunition; three boxes of hand grenades; 20 high explosive antitank munitions; 125 100 mm tank rounds; 134 rocket-propelled grenade rounds; two sniper rifles; 30 rounds of 37 mm anti-aircraft ammunition; one improvised explosive device; and one SA-7 system. Bush to speakPresident Bush is scheduled to address the nation Sunday night to talk about the war on terrorism, with a primary focus on developments in Iraq, a senior administration official said Friday. "We want to bring the country up to speed on where we are and where we are headed," the senior official said. The senior official said the speech would start at 8:30 p.m. EDT, run about 15 minutes and be delivered from the White House residence. "The president felt this was a good time to talk to the American people about our progress and the need to go forward," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters traveling with Bush following his economic speech in Indianapolis Friday.
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell is promoting the draft U.N. resolution that the Bush administration says would broaden the multinational presence in Iraq and help restore Iraqi sovereignty. "Far more Iraqis worry about our leaving too soon than about our staying too long," Powell said on Friday. "They need not worry, for we will neither leave too soon, nor stay too long." Powell's remarks at George Washington University in Washington came as U.N. Security Council members gathered at the British mission in New York to go over a working document of the proposed resolution. The draft resolution, Powell said, would invite the Iraqi Governing Council "to submit a plan and a timetable for them to write a constitution, develop political institutions and conduct free elections; all of this leading to their resumption of sovereignty over their own country." U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he believes a compromise may be reached. The three Security Council member nations that most adamantly opposed the U.S.-led Iraq war -- France, Russia and Germany -- have expressed concerns that in its current form the proposal doesn't provide enough power to the United Nations. "I think it is possible to get a compromise resolution," Annan told CNN in an exclusive interview. "There's going to be some discussions and negotiation but I think it is possible to get a compromise." (Full story, Text of draft resolution) Other developments
• Bernard Kerik, the former New York police commissioner, has "completed his assignment" as senior policy adviser to the Iraqi Interior Ministry, a senior official in the Interior Ministry told CNN Friday. Kerik's last day was Tuesday, and he has since left the country. A successor to his post is to be announced soon. Kerik was brought to Iraq in May to help rebuild the Iraqi police force. • Three gunmen opened fire Friday at a Sunni mosque in Baghdad as worshippers were leaving after morning prayers, wounding three people, one critically, according to Iraqi police and witnesses. Iraqi police said a truck carrying the gunmen drove up to the Qiba'a Mosque around 5:45 a.m. (9:45 p.m. Thursday EDT), and the men got out and fired on a crowd of about 30 to 40 people using automatic weapons and handguns. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but authorities said they are concerned it could signal a violent increase in tensions between Sunni and Shiite Muslims. • The son of Iraq's former deputy ambassador to the United Nations pleaded not guilty Friday to federal charges that he acted illegally as an agent of a foreign government. Wisam Noman Al-Anbuke, 24, was charged with providing information to Iraqi agents about Iraqi dissidents living in the United States, federal prosecutors said. Charges were filed against his 30-year-old brother, Raed Rokan Al-Anbuke, earlier this year. (Full story) • An Army sergeant was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the death of another soldier during a traffic accident in May, coalition authorities said Friday. Sgt. Oscar L. Nelson III was sentenced in a court-martial this week to seven years' confinement, demotion to the rank of private and a dishonorable discharge. (Full story) CNN's Ted Barrett, Dana Bash, Rym Brahimi, John King, David Ensor, Elise Labott, Barbara Starr and Ben Wedeman contributed to this report.
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