2A - The Michigan Daily - Monday, April 10, 2006
NATION/WORLD
Egypt's head questions Shiites' loyalty NEWS IN BRIEF /{li
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Mubarak angers Iraqi
leaders by saying most
Shiites' main loyalties lie
with Iran
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak angered Iraqi
leaders yesterday by saying Shiites there
and across the Middle East are more loyal
to Iran than to their own countries as he
gave a startlingly frank warning about
possible civil war in Iraq.
The flap highlights the escalating ten-
sions between predominantly Sunni Arab
countries - alarmed by possible Kurdish
and Shiite domination of their neighbor
- and Iraqis who say they are not getting
enough support from their Arab broth-
ers.
.rs"Definitely Iran has influence on
Shiites," Mubarak said in an interview
broadcast Saturday evening by Al-Ara-
biya television. "Shiites are 65 percent of
the Iraqis ... Most of the Shiites are loyal
to Iran, and not to the countries they are
living in."
He also said civil war "has almost
started" in Iraq.
"At the moment, Iraq is almost close to
destruction,"he warned.
Mubarak has rarely commented on
the situation in Iraq and his statements
usually are broad, vague expressions of
concern over the violence and political
turmoil there. Arab leaders also gener-
ally avoid pointed criticism of their fellow
leaders.
So the interview startled not only
Iraqis but also the Shiites who form large
communities in a number of Mideast
nations - particularly the Gulf, Saudi
Arabia and Lebanon. Some of them said
Mubarak's comments only fuel momen-
tum toward civil war.
Mubarak's spokesman, Suleiman
Awad, tried Sunday to soften the impact.
He said the president was talking about
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WASHINGTON
Intruder makes it to White House lawn
A screaming intruder made it onto the front lawn of the White House yesterday while
President Bush was at home before being apprehended by Secret Service officers.
Secret Service spokesman Eric Zahren described the man as "someone who has
come to our attention in the past as a fence jumper."
The bearded man, wearing blue jeans and a white T-shirt that said "God Bless
America," jumped the fence outside the White House and ran across the north lawn
while repeatedly yelling, "I am a victim of terrorism!"
Members of the Secret Service emergency response team, including one holding
a barking dog, chased the man with their guns drawn and surrounded him near the
row of cameras set up for television stand-ups.
"I have intelligence information for the president," he said, waving his arms in
the air. "I'm not afraid of you," he screamed at the officers who were ordering him
to the ground with guns drawn.
JERUSALEM
Israeli officals rule out peace talks with Abbas
Top Israeli security officials yesterday recommended cutting all ties with
the Hamas-led Palestinian government and ruled out peace talks with the
Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, as long as the Islamic militant group
refuses to renounce violence.
The recommendation, which essentially approved what has been Israeli
policy since Hamas won elections in January, raised the likelihood that Israel
will push forward with acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's plan to impose
a border in the West Bank by 2010.
In a statement, the ministers said there will be "no personal boycott" of
Abbas, but rejected any substantive negotiations with the Palestinian leader
- a moderate who hopes to restart peace talks.
The Israeli Security Cabinet, a small group of top government officials,
made the recommendation amid increasing Israeli military pressure on
Hamas in response to Palestinian rocket fire into southern Israel.
CARACAS, Venezuela
Chavez threatens to expel U.S. ambassador
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez -said the U.S. ambassador was "provoking
the Venezuelan people" and threatened yesterday to expel the American diplomat,
whose convoy was chased by pro-government protesters on motorcycles.
Chavez condemned the crowd of protesters for pelting U.S. Ambassador Wil-
liam Brownfield's car with eggs and tomatoes, saying his government "rejects any
kind of aggression."
But he suggested Brownfield, who was returning from a visit to a ballpark in
Caracas' poor Coche neighborhood, a Chavez stronghold, sought a confrontation
by failing to advise authorities adequately of his travel plans and venturing into a
place where his presence was unwelcome.
I
AP PHOTO
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, center, and President Omar El-Bashir inspect an honor guard as Mubarak arrives in Khartoum,
Sudan last week for talks with El-Bashir on the conflict in the Darfur region.
Shiite sympathy with Iran "in view of its
hosting of (Shiite) holy shrines."
"The president's statement about Iraq
was only reflecting his increasing wor-
ries about the deteriorating situation and
his keenness to maintain Iraq's national
unity'" Awad said in a statement carried
by the state news agency MENA.
That did not seem to mollify Iraqi
leaders.
Iraqi interim leadership said they were
"annoyed" by Mubarak's remarks.
"This is a stab in their (Shiites') patrio-
tism and their civilization," Iraq's three
highest-ranking Kurdish, Shiite and
Sunni Arab leaders - President Jalal Tal-
abani, Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari
and Parliament Speaker Adnan Pachachi
- said in a joint statement yesterday.
"Reality and historical facts show that
the Shiites always have been patriotic and
genuine Iraqis. This unfair accusation
against Shiites is baseless," Talabani, a
Kurd, later told Iraqi television.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari
complained to Egyptian counterpart
Ahmed Aboul Gheit about Mubarak's
remarks, an Iraqi diplomat in Cairo said
on condition of anonymity because he
was not authorized to release the infor-
mation.
Mubarak's comments are likely to
fuel complaints by Iraq's new Shiite and
Kurdish leaders that Sunni-led Arab
nations are biased toward the country's
Sunni Arab minority and do not consider
their government legitimate.
Last month, Zebari lashed out at Arab
leaders in a summit in Khartoum, Sudan
- that Mubarak did not attend - telling
them they are to blame if Iran has influ-
ence because they have not supported Iraq
since Saddam Hussein's fall in 2003.
Iraq has demanded Arab countries fol-
low through on promises to send ambas-
sadors to Baghdad, and it sees their
failure to do so as a lack of support and
recognition. Iraqi leaders also want their
Arab neighbors to forgive their debt and
condemn the insurgents, most of whom
are Sunni Arabs.
VA hospital helps vets cope with trauma Nepal opposition vows anti-monarchy action
I
Veterans of wars in Iraq,
-Afghanistan suffer from brutal
memories of conflict
HINES, Ill. (AP) - Josh Dobbelstein drives as
close to the middle of the road as he can. Over on the
side, in a plastic bag or stuffed in the carcass of a dead
Kdog, that's where he knows the enemy intent on killing
him hides bombs.
Just the other day he dove to the floor of a vehicle he
;vas riding in when he mistook the sound of a trucker
hitting his brakes for a machine gun
They are the kinds of precautions that keep soldiers
at war alive. But Dobbelstein left Iraq more than 16
months ago, and for him they are vestiges of a war he
can't seem to shake.
He's trying, though. The 23-year-old is getting help
from a clinic at Hines VA Hospital just outside Chi-
cago set up to help veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan
with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Programs for veterans suffering from what once was
called "shell shock" aren't unique. At Hines, though,
every veteran who comes in for treatment, no matter
the reason, is checked out for post-traumatic stress
disorder. And they all have access both to individual
therapy and a support group with fellow veterans.
"If they register for any type of care, for a rash or
depression, they will be screened," said Chirag Raval,
a psychiatrist at Hines who has treated about 150 vet-
erans at the clinic he established after serving three
months in Iraq.
The effort, which Hines officials say is unlike any
in the nation, is evidence that VA hospitals and mili-
tary leaders are finding new ways to locate and help
veterans returning Iraq in Afghanistan.
In Florida, for example, the Pensacola Naval Hos-
pital has placed advertisements in civilian newspa-
per to make families - not just veterans themselves
- aware of its counseling program. Navy hospitals
are also reaching families through a series of online
videos about post-traumatic stress syndrome.
"They are a different breed and they need to be han-
dled differently," Raval said of the Iraq and Afghani-
stan veterans.
A cornerstone of the treatment is the recognition
that while these veterans share experiences familiar to
anyone who has seen combat, their war was different.
"You never really knew the enemy," said Dob-
belstein, whose job included scouring roadways for
explosive devices. "It could be the guy standing next
to you who detonated the bomb, for all you knew."
That meant never dropping your guard.
"It's like you're driving down the highway, and you're
like, 'Just let me see it, let me see it, don't let me miss
something that could get us killed,"' Dobbelstein said.
Raval said because everyone from truck drivers to
infantrymen were at risk, virtually all of his patients
have seen a bomb explode or known someone injured
or killed.
"On the base where I was, the psychiatrist before
me was injured when a mortar exploded in front of
him," he said. "So, nobody's safe."
Because the focus is on a particular group of vet-
erans, those who come to Hines recognize quickly
they aren't the only ones who, for example, become
enraged when another vehicle gets too close when
they're driving.
"I know I'm not alone, I'm not the only one feeling
this," said Jim Dinella, a former Marine and member
of the support group at Hines.
One recent study found a third of U.S. soldiers who
served in Iraq the first year of the war later sought
mental health treatment - a statistic that suggests
thousands of veterans might need help.
The Department of Veterans Affairs says it is step-
ping up its efforts to offer psychological help - point-
ing out that besides readjustment counseling at more
than 200 community-based Vet Centers established
after Vietnam, 44 Returning Veterans Outreach and
Care programs were established last year and more
than 40 more are scheduled to open.
But there is concern that many of today's veterans
aren't getting the help they need. One reason is that
they aren't asking for it out of fear they could derail
their military careers.
"A lot of guys, they see it as a nick in their armor:
'If want to do 20 (years) or more, I don't want to be
seen as a nut case,"' said Capt. Jeffrey Weyeneth, a
psychiatrist at Pensacola Naval Hospital, who esti-
mates that continued counseling programs reach
only about a tenth of the troops returning from Iraq
and Afghanistan.
Steve Robinson, director of the National Gulf War
Center, a veterans advocacy group, says the bigger
problem is that there aren't enough places for veterans
to get help. As a result, Robinson said it's unclear how
many veterans didn't get help because it wasn't avail-
able when they asked for it.
The crisis in this Himalayan nation deepened yesterday as angry crowds demand-
ing the restoration of democracy took to the streets across Nepal in defiance of a
daytime curfew, throwing stones at security forces and burning government offices.
With King Gyanendra and his swelling opposition both refusing to back down,
the situation appeared to be reaching its most volatile point since he seized absolute
power more than a year ago. The well-armed communist insurgency has allied
itself with the political opposition, which vowed Sunday to continue demonstra-
tions indefinitely. The government warned of harsher measures in response.
- Compiled from Daily wire reports
CORRECTIONS
A story on Friday's front page (Alum came to 'U' after months as POW) incor-
rectly said University alum Leon Zimmerman enlisted in the U.S. Air Force during
World War II. Zimmerman enlisted in the Army Air Corps, the Air Force's predeces-
sor. The Air Force was not created until 1947.
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