Tuesday, December 2, 2003

* US troops fighting their way out of urban ambushes with tanks and cannons
killed 54 insurgents on Sunday in the bloodiest combat reported since the end
of the war that ousted Saddam Hussein’s regime. But residents of the central
Iraqi town of Samarra, 100km north of Baghdad, said many of those killed were
civilians hit by indiscriminate American fire. The clash followed weekend attacks
across Iraq that killed seven Spanish intelligence agents, two South Korean
engineers, two Japanese diplomats and their Iraqi driver, a Colombian contractor
and two US soldiers. A US military spokesman said that Iraqi insurgents in Samarra
– many wearing uniforms of Saddam’s Fedayeen paramilitary force – used mortars,
assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades in simultaneous attacks on two
US convoys at opposite sides of the town. The ambush was apparently an attempt
to seize new Iraqi banknotes being delivered by the Americans. Buildings were
left pockmarked by hundreds of bullet holes, and about two dozen cars were crushed,
apparently run over by armored vehicles. A bus had its front sheared off, and
fences and walls of several homes were destroyed, apparently by shelling. Hospital
director Abed Tawfiq said at least eight civilians had been killed and ‘more
than 60 people wounded by gunfire and shrapnel from US rounds are being treated
at the hospital’.

* Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has called for the United States to use
its influence to revive negotiations between his country and Israel. He highlighted
the lack of such talks as a gaping hole in America’s Middle-East strategy. The
President said neglecting the Syrian-Israeli dispute was a prime example of
the Bush administration’s preaching visionary change in the Middle East without
adopting practical measures to attain it. He insisted that Damascus had already
taken many of the actions demanded by the Bush administration in terms of policing
its borders and shutting the offices of Palestinian militants. He insisted that
America’s low standing in the Arab world could be overcome and that Syria did
not regard the US as an adversary. Despite bitter differences over Iraq and
renewed efforts in Washington to punish Syria as a sponsor of terrorism, Mr.
Assad said his intelligence agencies continued to cooperate closely with the
Central Intelligence Agency. They had provided information enabling the US authorities
to foil planned attacks on Americans on at least seven occasions. He said Syria
was no longer permitting anti-American volunteers to pass at official border
crossings, but said he was powerless to control infiltrations across Syria’s
480km border with Iraq. He dismissed the idea that foreign fighters were a key
element in the Iraqi resistance.

* India and Pakistan agreed yesterday to resume air links and allow over flights
after a two-year halt, laying the ground for India’s prime minister to travel
to Pakistan next month for a regional summit. The agreement came six days after
the nuclear-armed neighbors began a ceasefire in the disputed Kashmir region
in a fresh bid to calm turbulent relations, and is the latest in a series of
steps – most of them largely symbolic – by the countries this year. The breakthrough
on air links came after Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf offered on Sunday
to end a ban on Indian flights over its territory, the main obstacle to resuming
air services severed since January last year. Aviation officials said the frequency
of flights between the two countries would be worked out soon. A bus service
connecting New Delhi with the Pakistani city of Lahore was resumed in July,
and is the only transport between the neighbors. The ban on overflights hurt
airlines in both countries, but Indian airliners suffered more as dozens of
west-bound flights had to fly around Pakistan, increasing costs by millions
of dollars. India insists there cannot be bilateral talks on the margins of
the summit until Pakistan stops sponsoring Islamic militants fighting its rule
in Muslim-majority Kashmir. Pakistan denies directly backing the rebels in their
14-year revolt and has repeatedly urged talks to end the 56-year-old dispute
over the Himalayan region.

*****

Creative Writing Faculty Reading
Featuring Rachel Pastan, Sibelan Forrester, Sujane Wu, Craig Williamson, and
Nathalie Anderson. Sponsored by Small Craft Warnings
Scheuer Room, 4:00 p.m.

Faculty Panel on Post-War Iraq
Scheuer Room, 7:00 p.m.

American Narrative Cinema Film Screening: “Clueless”
LPAC Cinema, 7:00 p.m.

*****

SPORTS UPDATE

by Alex Glick
Gazette Reporter

The men’s basketball team defeated the Philadelphia Biblical Crimson Eagles
82-66 last night at Tarble Pavilion. The victory brings the Garnet’s record
to an even 2-2.

The Eagles won the jump ball and scored first. They kept the game close within
the first couple of minutes, but there was no turning back after Dillon McGrew
’07 scored his first of two 3-pointers, bringing the score to 7-4. Swat began
an offensive onslaught, and they led by 13 points with a little more than 13
minutes left in the first half. The Eagles began to put on the pressure on and
came within 2 points of Swat at one point in the half.

The Garnet picked up the pace and led 47-29 by the half’s end. Swarthmore’s
offense was largely assisted by several rebounds they picked up throughout the
half; the Eagles had a difficult time in scoring after missing shots since the
Garnet were so persistent in picking up defensive rebounds.

The Eagles started off the second half on a positive note, continuing to bring
their score closer to that of the leading Garnet. The Eagles came within four
points with a little more than 9 minutes remaining in the second half, but their
offensive effort was not enough to gain the lead.

Swarthmore’s offense and defense picked up within the last 9 minutes as they
continued to pick up rebounds, steals, and blocks. As a team, the Garnet picked
up a season-high 13 steals and 9 blocks; Swarthmore blocked only 3 shots in
each of their first three games.

Matt Gustafson ’05 earned 16 points, while Jim Dalton ’06 brought in 13. First-year
center Jeff Maxim earned an impressive 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Perhaps the biggest news of the night was how Jacob Letendre ’04 shattered
the career assist record with 11 assists in the game. Letendre’s career total
now stands at 284 in a season that is only 4 games young. Letendre can also
set the record for most career steals with only 11 more this season.

The Garnet will hope to add another win to their record when they travel to
Lehigh on Wednesday night.

*****

Today:
Women’s basketball hosts Ursinus, 7:00 p.m.

Tomorrow:
Men’s basketball at Lehigh, 7:30 p.m.

*****

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I was so naive as a kid I used to sneak behind the barn and do nothing.”
–Johnny Carson

*****

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