Guard troops fail drug tests prior to deployment to Iraq

DES MOINES, Iowa — Thirty-four Army National Guard and Reserve troops, including 21 from Iowa, tested positive for drug use on the eve of their deployment, but most were sent to Iraq anyway, despite the Army's "zero-tolerance" policy.

Officials at Fort McCoy, Wis., which serves as a multistate jumping-off point for Reserve and Guard troops, said some of the soldiers apparently used the drugs with the intention of getting caught and sent home.

"On a certain level, it would be perverse to throw people out because of their misconduct, when other people who did not engage in that misconduct are having to put their lives on the line," said Eugene Fidell, a military-law expert with the National Institute of Military Justice.

Others who tested positive were deemed by medical officials to be infrequent users who posed no risk to themselves or their fellow soldiers in the field.

"A positive on their drug test is not going to keep them here, unless there's a dependency issue," said Linda Fournier, a Fort McCoy spokeswoman. "These units have to have so many people to go overseas."

The troops may face punishment after they return to the United States.

Under current policy, soldiers with three or more years of service often are discharged for positive drug tests. Younger soldiers sometimes opt for rehabilitation at the discretion of their commanders.

Syria denies infiltration coming from its border

DAMASCUS, Syria — Syrian Vice President Abdel-Halim Khaddam denied yesterday that foreign militants were crossing its border to fight U.S. forces occupying Iraq.

"There is no infiltration from Syria, and there are no factions in Syria that are trying to cross into Iraq," Khaddam said.

"The Iraqis are 25 million people. Do they need tens of infiltrators from Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran or Turkey? This is part of a political campaign," he told reporters after a daylong meeting with a delegation of more than 150 visiting Iraqi tribal leaders.

"The Syrian border is desert, 600 km (360 miles), so Syria is not required to place soldier by soldier to protect the border."

Also ...

The number of Italian military personnel killed in Wednesday's suicide attack in the southern city of Nasiriyah reached 19 yesterday when a severely wounded soldier was taken off life support and pronounced dead in Kuwait. ... Gunmen yesterday killed a translator working for Mosul's municipal administration together with his son. ... A Portuguese journalist abducted by gunmen was released unharmed yesterday about 36 hours after being abducted near Basra in southern Iraq.