WORLD
CIZRE, Turkey – Turkish warplanes
and helicopter gunships reportedly
attacked positions of Kurdish rebels
just inside Turkey along the border
with Iraq on Wednesday, as Turkey’s
military stepped up its anti-rebel
operations.
Civilian and military leaders discussed
the scope and duration of a
possible cross-border offensive – a
move that Turkey’s Western allies are
trying to prevent.
An AP Television News cameraman
saw attack helicopters and several F-16
warplanes loaded with bombs take off
from an air base in the southeastern
city of Diyarbakir. The warplanes and
helicopter gunships bombed mountain
paths used by rebels to infiltrate from
neighboring Iraq, Anatolia reported.
On Sunday, Turkish helicopter gunships
penetrated into Iraqi territory,
and troops have shelled suspected
Kurdish rebel positions across the
border in Iraq, a government official
said Wednesday.
U.S.-made Cobra and Super Cobra
attack helicopters chased Kurdish
rebels three miles into Iraqi territory
on Sunday but returned to their bases
in Turkey after a rebel ambush killed
12 soldiers near the border, the of-
ficial said on condition of anonymity
because he was not authorized to speak
to the media.
An AP Television News cameraman
saw about a dozen transport helicopters
fly along Mount Cudi, near the border
with Iraq, on Wednesday. He saw at
least one warplane fly past Cizre, a town
close to the Turkish-Iraqi border.
Some 18 miles east of Cizre, a tank
battalion conducted military exercises.
Soldiers could be seen running and
ducking as tanks maneuvered around
a field.
Turkey, which has moved troops
to the Iraq border, warned Iraq and
Western allies on Tuesday that a
large-scale incursion was imminent
unless the U.S.-backed government
in Baghdad takes action against the
rebels. The Turkish government said
there would be no cease-fire with the
fighters, who want an independent
region in Turkey’s heavily Kurdish
southeast.
NATION
SAN DIEGO – The devastating
wildfires in Southern California have
caused at least $1 billion in damage
in San Diego County alone, officials
said Wednesday, while firefighters
hoped easing wind would give them
an advantage in stopping the flames.
The fires, now in their fourth day,
have destroyed 1,500 homes and
caused at least a half-million people
to flee – the largest evacuation in
state history. At least 1,200 of the
damaged homes were in San Diego
County.
“Clearly, this is going to be a $1 billion
or more disaster,” Ron Lane, San
Diego County’s director of emergency
services, told reporters during a news
conference.
The announcement of San Diego’s
staggering losses came as President
Bush signed a major disaster declaration
for California in the wake of
wildfires that have burned about
410,000 acres, or 640 square miles.
The declaration puts in motion
long-term federal recovery programs
to help state and local governments,
families, individuals and certain
nonprofit organizations recover.
“Americans all across this land care
deeply about them,” the president said
after a Cabinet meeting convened to
coordinate federal relief efforts. “We’re
concerned about their safety. We’re
concerned about their property.”
Twenty-one firefighters and at least
24 others have been injured. One
person was killed by the flames, and
the San Diego medical examiner’s
officer listed four other deaths as
connected to the blazes.
LOCAL
RICHMOND – A man who sold a
champion pit bull to suspended NFL
quarterback Michael Vick’s dogfighting
operation pleaded guilty Wednesday to
a federal dogfighting charge.
Oscar Allen entered the plea to
conspiracy to travel in interstate commerce
to aid in illegal gambling and to
sponsor a dog in animal fighting – the
same charge to which Vick and his
three co-defendants in the Bad Newz
Kennels operation pleaded guilty.
Vick is expected to be sentenced in
December.
Allen, 67, of the Williamsburg area,
is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 25,
2008. He faces a maximum of five
years in prison, a $250,000 fine and
three years of supervised release. He
was released until sentencing with
conditions, including a prohibition
on buying or selling any dogs.
U.S. Attorney Michael R. Gill
recommended that Allen spend no
time in prison if he complies with
conditions of the plea agreement,
because Allen cooperated with the
investigation, had no prior criminal
record and had limited involvement
with Bad Newz Kennels.
But U.S. District Judge Henry E.
Hudson said he isn’t bound by that
recommendation, and must take into
account federal sentencing guidelines
in the case.
Allen also admitted to advising Vick
and his co-defendants on managing
and caring for Bad Newz Kennels
pit bulls, and helping Vick and his
associates pit their dogs against each
other to determine which ones were
good fighters.