VOLUME ill, ISSUE 18
U.S. REPELS IRAQI ATTACK
. . As of 11 p.m.Tuesday EST
Bombing runs jf
Mosul for the / / Iraq's capital city of
fourth night ina/ Tikrit / Baghdad was once again
rOW ' * t itruc * t forces. Overall,
| D A / bombing was scaled down due to
< * ..k_, heavy winds and sandstorms.
\ Baghdad t U.S. Marines captured a hospital in
W, An Nasiriyah from which
Karbala. " Iraqi soldiers have been
Tuesday between ¥ .AnNastnyalf Coalition forces
the cities of Najaf and Basra have secured near-
Karbala— about 100 miles • \ total control of the
south of Baghdad. At least port city of Umm
150 Iraqi soldiers died in the /'/UfnlrfQasr Qasr. Fighting
fighting; it is unknown if any U.S. continued in the city of
troops were killed. A sandstorm " Basra, although some
prevented U.S. troops from using air l\U WAII \ residents have risen
forces in the fighting. U p against thefraqi forces. Both cities are key
to coalition control of the country's only
(j 5 the Persian GulL
■ i r _ _ Armw Sites of Reported path
Iraq Army bombings of coalition forces
source: cnn or battles thus far dth/staff
War impacts
study abroad
experience
BY KIRSTEN FIELDS
STAFF WRITER
While studying abroad in Sevilla, Spain, this
semester, junior Adam Tindel was caught in a protest
of thousands in the center of Madrid.
“At first, I found it interesting,” Tindel said. “Then
it got more and more crowded until we were hardly
able to move —a very uncomfortable feeling.”
Tindel said it took him and his friends more than
an hour to walk several hundred feet.
With the United States at war with Iraq, UNC stu
dents studying abroad this semester are having dra
matically different experiences than previous stu
dents have had. Wherever they go, students studying
abroad are finding it difficult to avoid the war in some
form or another.
Another UNC student studying abroad,
sophomore Laura Fischer, experienced a “particular
ly disturbing” protest in Copenhagen, Denmark. As
people were holding protest signs, a recording of “The
Star-Spangled Banner” played on loudspeakers, with
sounds of explosions and screams injected into the
song.
Things turned violent when people hit and spit on
a man holding a U.S. flag. The police had to step in to
break up the fight. Fischer said this was one of the
first times she truly felt scared.
“All of this does make me uneasy,” Fischer said.
Junior Ben Garren has been studying in Sussex,
England, since September and said the anti-war
protests did not start with the United States’ decla
ration of war.
“Before the war began, there was a good number of
protests, including the largest ever in England,
against the war,” Garren said.
The UNC Study Abroad Office has been commu
nicating regularly with students in other countries via
e-mail to ease their concerns.
Garren said the e-mails have advised the students
to “basically use common sense” by avoiding large
demonstrations and areas, such as McDonald’s,
where Americans might congregate.
Study Abroad Director Bob Miles said students
planning to study abroad attend an orientation before
they leave the country during which safety and secu
rity issues are addressed.
Students are advised to register at the U.S.
embassies in their respective countries so there is
contact information available in the case of an emer
gency.
“We tell students to avoid behavior that will
decrease their ability to keep safe,” Miles said. The
SEE ABROAD, PAGE 4
sHHbr Hi %W* ' 1 ft r ul
1 mBL \* * 7~jS
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PHOTO COURTESY OF MILES HONEYCUTT
Thousands of people in Sevilla, Spain, gather to
protest the war in Iraq. The sign states, "Ban
Bush Drop Bush, not bombs.”
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’SILENT MAJORITY’
Campus conservatives say they
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At least 150 Iraqis killed in fierce fighting 100 miles south of Baghdad
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
U.S. infantry troops fought off a desert
attack by Iraqis on TUesday, inflicting heavy
casualties in a clash less than 100 miles from
Baghdad.
Defense officials said between 150 and
500 Iraqis were killed in the battle near An
Najaf, adding that there were no immediate
reports of American casualties.
Iraqis launched their attack on a day of
howling sandstorms weather bad enough
to slow the U.S.-led drive toward the Iraqi cap
ital. After the sandstorm lifted in Baghdad,
pre-dawn explosions struck the city.
Warplanes bombed targets in the north
ern part of the country and briefly knocked
government television off the air in the cap
ital. And U.S. troops in control of a vast Iraqi
air base sealed 36 bunkers, designated as
possible hiding places for weapons of mass
destruction.
British forces also battled for control of
Basra, a southern city of 1.3 million sliding
toward chaos.
U.S. officials also issued fresh cautions
about the possible use of chemical weapons
by Iraqi troops, although none have yet been
Uncertain war costs,
length affect economy
Investors, business hold off on spending
BY MARGAUX ESCUTIN
STAFF WRITER
The developments in the war
with Iraq could bear a relationship
to the volatility of the stock market
as it becomes apparent that resolv
ing the conflict might take longer
—and cost more than original
ly expected.
On Thesday, President Bush sub
mitted a formal request to Congress
for $74.7 billion to pay for the first
installment of the war with Iraq.
The market reacts quickly to
information changes, such as news
from Iraq of the vacillating progress
of U.S. troops, said William
Reichenstein, professor of finance
at Baylor University. “Prices reflect
expectations. As new information
reaches the market, it reacts to it.”
Military setbacks during the
weekend prompted realization
that the war might be a prolonged
endeavor and impacted the market
negatively, he said.
The Dow Jones industrial aver
age Monday dropped 307 points
the largest one-day drop since
Sept. 3. The market rebounded
slightly Tuesday, closing up 66
points. Many businesses put
investment projects on hold
because they do not know how the
war will unfold, said UNC eco-
used in the sue-day-old war or even found
by the invading troops.
As the pace of combat quickened, U.S. and
British officials sought to prepare the public
for something less than a quick campaign
and predicted difficult days to come.
Still, President Bush forecast victory. “The
Iraqi regime will be ended ... and our world
will be more secure and peaceful,” he said.
Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein saw it differ
ently. State television carried what it
described as a message from him to tribal and
clan leaders, saying, “Consider this to be the
command of faith and jihad, and fight them.”
If confirmed, the initial reports of fighting
near An Najaf would make it the biggest
ground clash of the war, as well as the first
encounter between advancing U.S. infantry
and the Iraqi units guarding the approach to
Hussein’s seat of power.
A senior military official said the U.S.
troops had hunkered down against a sand
storm when Iraqis either Republican
Guard or paramilitary Iraqi troops traveling
on foot opened fire with rocket-propelled
grenades.
Some of the 7th Cavalry’s equipment was
Hi
if in
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE WHITE HOUSE
President Bush said the money he
requested will go toward fueling
ships, tanks and aircraft, as well
as airlifting supplies to Iraq.
nomics Professor Michael Salemi.
Consumers, preoccupied with
war news and wondering if oil
prices will rise, will wait to see what
happens. Because the economy
depends on consumers, businesses
are reluctant to take new employ
ees and begin projects, Salemi said.
But Bush’s appeal for almost $75
billion did not affect the market so
much as reaction to the weekend’s
events. “We knew that... the war
would probably cost us SIOO bil
lion,” Reichenstein said. “The price
reaction on Monday was due to the
negative events over the weekend.”
SEE ECONOMY, PAGE 4
SPORTS
BIG APPLE BOUND?
Tar Heels face Georgetown for chance to
reach NIT semifinals in New York. PAGE 9
$758 will
not cover
war costs
BY GILLIAN BOLSOVER
STAFF WRITER
President Bush delivered a price
tag for the Iraqi war Tuesday, but
some are wondering if nearly $75
billion will suffice for the total cost
of war.
Experts say that this value will
cover the cost of military opera
tions but that reconstruction is
going to need additional funding.
Iraqi oil revenues could form a sig
nificant part of these efforts.
Bush said in a speech Tuesday
morning at the Pentagon that he is
sending a $74.7 billion wartime
supplemental appropriations bill
to Congress.
“This money will cover the cur
rent cost of fueling our ships and
aircraft and tanks and of airlifting
tons of supplies into the theater of
operations,” the president said. “My
request includes funds for relief
SEE COST, PAGE 4
WEATHER
TODAY P.M. T-storms, High 78, Low 41
THURSDAY Sunny, High 65, Low 39
FRIDAY Partly Cloudy, High 65, Low 44
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 2003
damaged in the attack, the official said.
The unit is part of the Army force driving
on Baghdad. Some elements of the force are
farther north, near Karbala, with only the
Medina armored division of the Republican
Guard between them and Baghdad. Muslim
clerics in Iran warned against military
threats to shrines in Iraq. An Najaf is the
burial place of Imam Ali, son-in-law of the
Prophet Mohammed.
Details of the situation inside the south
ern city of Basra, Iraq’s second largest, also
were sketchy. British journalists reported
that residents were staging an uprising
against pro-Hussein forces and that Iraqi
troops were firing mortars at them.
British forces staged a raid on a suburb of
the city, captured a senior leader of the ruling
Baath party and killed 20 of his bodyguards.
“He’s sitting there in his little room think
ing he’s having a good morning and whap,
we’re in, whap, we’re out,” boasted Col. Chris
Vernon, a British Army spokesman.
The Iraqis denied all of it. “The situation
is stable,” Information Minister Mohammed
SEE WAR, PAGE 4
Lejeune
loses 11
Marines
in Iraq
Jacksonville
mourns deaths
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
JACKSONVILLE lt was sup
posed to be a joyful week for Cpl.
Jarred Pokora, with a brief leave to
celebrate the birth of his daughter
before a possible deployment to
Iraq.
But news that at least 11
Marines from Camp Lejeune have
been killed in Iraq has plunged
this garrison town into mourning.
“You live, you work, you do
everything with these guys,” said
Pokora, a 21-year-old member of
the 2nd Marine Expeditionary
Force from Springfield, 111.
He serves in the same regiment
as 2nd Lt. Frederick Pokomey Jr.,
one of the nine Marines killed
Sunday in fighting near An
Nasiriyah, 230 miles southeast of
Baghdad.
Pokomey s brother-in-law, Rick
Schulgen, said the family was
grieving for “a proud father, a
proud husband and a proud
Marine” whom they hope to bury
in Arlington National Cemetery.
“His first love was his family.
His second love was the Marines,”
Schulgen said. “Anyone that was
blessed by knowing Fred has suf
fered an indescribable loss. We all
hurt deeply.”
Also among those killed was
Lance Cpl. David Fribley, 26, of
Fort Myers, Fla. His father said
Fribley knew Americans could face
tactics like those used by the Iraqis
near An Nasiriyah.
“That’s part of war,” Garry
Fribley said from the family’s
home in Atwood, Ind. “It’s time to
take the gloves off. We’re so intent
on being the nice guys, and (Iraqi
soldiers) are not going to abide by
anything.”
Two other Camp Lejeune
Marines have died in noncombat
accidents.
The U.S. flag near the USO cen
ter flew at half-staff, and an enor
mous yellow bow was tied to a rail
ing outside. Some 17,500 of the
30,000 Marines assigned to Camp
Lejeune are overseas, and flags
and signs in their support dot
roadsides and businesses all over
Jacksonville.
Matt Sutton, 35, a Marine cor-
SEE LEJEUNE, PAGE 4
Mk