European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 22, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6 stars and stripes Mideast edition june 2007 hold in Steele faces multiple charges for allegedly helping prisoners at Camp Cropper stars and stripes pleas in the aiding Heeney Case against a former top military Jailer in Iraq have been officials said army William Steele was to enter pleas tuesday during an arraign ment at the Victory base courthouse near but those pleas have been deferred to an unspecified Steele faces seven counts on four charges aiding the enemy unauthorized posses Sion of classified materials giving special privileges to and maintaining an inappropriate relationship with an interpreter and disobeying a lawful order and possess ing Steeles court martial is scheduled for during the tuesday de sense officials asked that Steele be re leased from pretrial prosecutors opposed the and the Mili tary Richard has 10 Days to decide on the the former commander of a prison in Camp Cropper in allegedly allowed detainees to make unsupervised phone Calls using his cell if Steele could face the death penalty for aiding the of has been charged in connection with a series of incidents be tween october 2005 and february when he was head of the 451st military police detachment at Camp Cropper and later was the 89th military police Bri Gades senior patrol officer near Camp none of the charges made reference to Steele allegedly fraternizing with a detainees As had been earlier according to testimony in previous Legal Steele exchanged emails with the detainees bought computer software for her and used government Money to buy cuban cigars and hair Dye for Saddam Hussein be fore the dictator was Steele is being held in a detention facility in in any drink will do Hadi a Man drinks water thursday from a Hose in the iraqi capitals chronic Power outages have in turn caused severe water shortages in most parts of the Many residents also complain that Baghdad water is not fit for Rice Baghdad embassy posts Are first priority by Matthew Lee the associated press Washington Secretary of state condole Ezza Rice has or dered embassy posts in Bagh dad filled ahead of others world saying it is essential Diplo Mats sent to Iraq be the most Quali in a Cable sent to All mis Sions abroad and obtained wednesday by the associated Rice disclosed a new hiring plan amid increasing criticism of american efforts in it is de signed to prevent a potential severe vacancy problem in reduce resistance from Antiwar elements in the state department who have been accused of holding up appointments and discouraging diplomats from going to we must ensure that these top priority requirements Are met be fore any other staffing decisions Are Rice said in the to that we have decided to take the unprecedented step of creating a special country specific assignment Cycle for commencing with the release of this Mes the move could hold up appoint ments to other posts and or some Diplo Mats to accept positions at what is the largest embassy in the More than 300 foreign service officers and civil service officers re port to the Baghdad embassy in As of june percent of those positions were but there Are growing concerns that the depart ment May soon face a significant Rice shortfall because of the oneyear rotation that diplomats serve in it is my fervent Hope that we will continue to see sufficient num Bers volunteering for Iraq ser but we must be prepared to meet our requirements in any Rice said in the unclassified Cable sent the Steps follow an earlier offer for any Diplomat wanting to learn arabic to leave their current Post immediately for two years of Lan Guage training and Onward Post ing to Iraq and an Appeal from the new ambassador in Ryan for the urgency of the Iraq operation to be made Clear to state department by they also come amid private accusations from some senior officials that Iraq War foes inside the state department and its Union have compromised staffing and operations at the embassy through either direct efforts or Gates no plans now to extend Iraq Tours the associated press Secretary Robert Gates said thurs Day that extending deployments of troops now in Iraq beyond the current 15 months was a worst Case scenario and that he did not anticipate it he also told a Pentagon news conference he could not say How Long american forces would have to stay at increased Levels in the Effort to secure military deployments were recently extended to 15 months from 12 he said it was his Hope to move As soon As Possi ble Back to 12month deploy with a year at and then eventually to 12month terms with two years at Gates was asked about a recent surge in violence and increased attacks on the reason for the Spike in Vio Lence is our troops and the iraqi troops Are going into areas where they Haven been for some they anticipated there would be a High level of Gates asked about the prospects for leaving troops in Iraq at their current High Gates Well just to have to wait and see the Progress of these Peter outgoing chair Man of the joint chiefs of said the current Offen Sive was exactly what needs to be he said it buys time for the iraqi this is the right thing to he noted that decisions would be made after reports on Progress Are made in september by David the top com Mander in and Ryan Crock the ambassador Gates mental health question  be on applications by Lisa Burgess stars and stripes the de sense departments Security clearance applications should no longer ask whether applicants have Ever sought treatment for mental health according to Secretary of defense Robert Gates told Pentagon reporters thursday that he will very aggressively pursue removing the question about mental health treatment from Dods Security clearance too Many Dod employees do not seek mental health care specifically because they fear losing their Security Gates there Are five Levels of Security clearances from Low est to they Are confident top sensitive compartmentalized information and single scope background in removing the question about mental health treatment from Security applications is one of More than 300 recommendations offered by the Dods task Force on mental health in a report re leased last the report said the military is falling significantly Short of pro Viding service members and families with adequate mental health lacking the personnel and financial resources to support the Force in much less this is something that we must and will get Gates said calling for a Cul Ture of support for psychological Gates said that while Congress has Given Dod six months to come Back with a plan to implement the 331 recommendations of the mental health task i have no intention of waiting that he is asking for the recommendations to be completed within 60 to 90 he it is our moral obligation and duty to make sure servicemen Bers Are taken care of in body and Gates they have done their we must do email Lisa Burgess at