This from a reader:

I am the spouse of a civilian contractor currently working in Iraq. There are thousands of them who do not receive any support assistance like the military does regarding letters of support and care packages. Many of them are prior military. There are also soldiers supporting the CPA from Nepal and many other countries and hundreds of Iraqi nationals risking their lives daily to support the cause.

The donations received would primarily go to the civilian contractors and Iraqi families and children in need. My husband has bought 26 pair of shoes for Iraqi civilians since he arrived there in April.

I have created a yahoo group which has over 90 members. the members are contractors and family members and general supporters: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/civiliansinraq

I am seeking donations from individuals and agencies that would like to contribute to these care packages in some way. Please conact me if you can offer assistance or publish this information. It would be greatly appreciated. Below is a partial list of items needed or requested. Please contact me if you have additional questions.

I will be adding to this list so please check for updates.

1. Baby wipes
2. mens,women and childrens: shoes, socks various sizes
3. first aid supplies: bandaids, triple anti-biotic cream, alcohol, q-tips etc.
4. foot powder, antifungal ointments
5. postage stamps to defray cost of shipping
6. calling cards
7. Toiletries for men and women: cologne, deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, soap, razors
8. childrens items: toys (this will be tough and you need to use good judgement, no GI Joes etc)
9. insect repellant
10. sun screen
11. sunglasses
12. hats or baseball caps
13. Powdered Kool-Aid and Gatorade
14. Batteries
15. Magazines
16. Beef jerky
17. Hand-held games
18. CDs and CD players
19. DVDs and DVD players
20. Paperbacks
21.Cookies
22. Snacks of any kind (especially ones that don't melt)
23 Tobacco products

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,
SW: moderator:civiliansinraq

From the BBC via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

Four people have been killed and at least 20 others wounded in a car bomb explosion in western Baghdad.

The explosion left a crater in the street and shattered windows around the area, according to eye witnesses.

It happened around lunchtime on a busy street close to the Green Zone, the sealed off area where the Coalition has its headquarters.

And from the AFP via The Australian :

The blast happened on Kindi street in front of a house belonging to Naim Haddad, a former senior Baath official from Saddam Hussein's regime.

Medics at the nearby Yarmuk hospital said they had received one dead person and 21 injured. Witness saw at least two more people killed in the explosion.

The house of the former Baath official, who was slightly wounded in the leg, was devastated by the blast. His wife and three children were also wounded in the explosion.

Yet he told reporters he did not believe he was the target of the attack.

Updating a previous post, from the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

CNN's Guy Raz has been travelling with the US military and says there has been heavy fighting in the southern Iraqi city.

”This was, according to the troops we were travelling with, the most intense fire fight they've seen in the past six weeks, an hour and half of regular non-stop fighting,” he said.

“There were tanks backed by armoured personnel carriers, the mission was to try and secure an Iraqi police station in the town of Kufa.”

From the AFP via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

One US soldier was killed and two others wounded when a homemade bomb hit their vehicle in the south of Baghdad.

Three Task Force 1st Armoured Division soldiers were wounded when their vehicle struck the explosive device at about 6:40pm local time yesterday.

The soldiers were evacuated to a military hospital in the capital where one of them died.

The AP / Boston Channel reports that:

President George W. Bush keeps in his White House offices a trophy of one his high points in the Iraq war: the pistol that Saddam Hussein held when soldiers pulled him from his underground hideaway.

Military specialists mounted the sidearm, and soldiers who helped in the deposed Iraqi president's capture presented it to the president, the White House said Sunday. The president keeps the gun in a small study adjoining the Oval Office.

Must admit: I find this a bit odd. It's not like Saddam presented it as a symbol of defeat.

Lance Cpl Tony Sledd; Spc Brian Michael Clemens, Kokomo, IN; Spc Rodrigo Gonzalez-Garza, TX; Chief Warrant Officer Timothy W. Moehling, Nevada; Chief Warrant Officer John D Smith, NV; Spc William J Tracy, NH; Spc Curtis A Carter, Lafayette, LA; Major Jay Thomas Aubin, Waterville, MA; Capt Ryan Anthony Beaupre, Bloomington, IL; 2nd Lt Therrel Childers, Harrison, MI; Lance Cpl Jose Gutierrez, Los Angeles, CA; Cpl Brian Matthew Kennedy, Houston, TX; Staff Sgt Kendall Damon Waters-Bey, Baltimore, MD; Lt Thomas Mullen Adams, La Mesa, CA; Chief Warrant Officer Andrew Todd Arnold, Spring, TX; Chief Warrant Officer Robert William Channell Jr, Tuscaloosa, AL; Lance Cpl Alan Dinh Lam, Snow Camp, NC; Spc Brandon S Tobler, Portland, OR; Spc Jamaal R Addisom, Roswell, GA; Sgt Edward John Anguiano, Los Fresnos, TX; Sgt Michael E Bitz, Ventura, CA; Lance Cpl Brian Rory Buesing, Cedar Key, FL; Sgt George E Buggs, Barnwell, SC; Pfc Tamario D Burkett, Buffalo, NY; Cpl Kemaphoom A Chanawongse, Waterford, CN; Lance Cpl Donald James Cline, Jr, Buffalo, NY; Master Sgt Robert J Dowdy, Cleveland, OH; Pvt Ruben Estrella-Soto, El Paso, TX; Lance Cpl David K Fribley, Lee, FL; Cpl Jose A Garibay, Orange, CA; Pvt Jonathan L Gifford, Macon, IL; Cpl Jorge A Gonzalez, Los Angeles, CA; Sgt Nicolas M Hodson, Smithville, MO; Pvt Nolen R Hutchings, Boiling Springs, sc; Pfc Howard Johnson II, Mobile, AL; Staff Sgt Phillip A Jordan, Brazoria, TX; Spc James Mark Kiehl, Comfort, TX; Chief Warrant Officer Johnny Villareal Mata, Amarillo, TX; Cpl Patrick Nixon, Gallatin, TN; Lance Cpl Eric J Orlowski, Buffalo, NY; Pfc Lori Ann Piestewa, Tuba City, AZ; 2nd Lt Frederick E Pokorney, Nye, NV; Sgt Brendon C Reiss, Natrona, WY; Cpl Randal Kent Rosacker, San Diego, CA; Capt Cristopher Scott Seifert, Easton, PA; Pvt Brandon U Sloan, Cleveland, OH; Lance Cpl Thomas J Slocum, Adams, CO; Major Gregory Stone, Boise, Idaho; Sgt Donald R Walters, Kansas City, MO; Lance Cpl Michael J Williams, Pheonix, AZ; Lance Cpl Thomas A Blair, Broken Arrow, OK; Cpl Evan T James, La Harpe, IL; Sgt Troy David Jenkins, Ridgecrest, CA; Sgt Bradley S. Korthaus, Scott, IA; Spc. Gregory P. Sanders, Hobart, IN; Corpsman Third Class Michael Vann Johnson, Jr, Little Rock, AK; Pfc Francisco A Martinez Flores, Los Angeles, CA; Staff Sgt Donald C May Jr, Richmond, VA; Lance Cpl Patrick T O'Day, Santa Rosa, CA; Spc William A Jeffries, Evansville, IL; Major Kevin Nave, Oceanside, CA; Gunnery Sgt Joseph Menusa, Tracy, CA; Cpl Robert Marcus Rodriquez, Queens, NY; Lance Cpl Jesus A Suarez Del Solar, Escondido, CA; Sgt Fernando Padilla-Rarnirez, San Luis, AZ; Sgt Roderic A Solomon, Fayetteville, NC; Staff Sgt James W. Cawley, Layton, UT; Spc Michael Edward Curtin, South Plains, NJ; Pfc Diego Fernando Rincon, Conyers, GA; Pfc Michael Russell Creighton Weldon, Conyers, GA; Lance Cpl William W White, Brooklyn, NY; Sgt Eugene Williams, Highland, NY; Capt Aaron J Contreras, Sherwood, OR; Sgt Michael V Lalush, Troutville, VA; Sgt Brian McGinnis, St. Georges, DE; Spc Brandon Rowe, Roscoe, IL; Sgt Jacob Butler, Wellsville, KA; Lance Cpl Joseph B Maglione, Lansdale, PA; Capt James F Adamouski, Springfield, VA; Lance Cpl Brian E Anderson, Durham, NC; Spc Matthew Boule, Dracut, MA; Master Sgt George A Fernandez, El Paso, TX; Pfc Christian D Gurtner, Ohio City, OH; Chief Warrant Officer Erik A Halvorsen, Bennington, VT; Chief Warrant Officer 2nd Clas Scott Jamar, Sweetwater, TX; Sgt Michael F Pedersen, Flint, MI; Sgt Todd James Robbins, Pentwater, MI; Chief Warrant Officer 3rd Clas Eric A Smith, Rochester, NY; Lt Nathan D White, Mesa, AZ; Pfc Chad E Bales, Coahoma, TX; Staff Sgt Wilbert Davis, AK; Cpl Mark Evnin, South Burlington, VT; Capt Edward J Korn, Savannah, GA; Staff Sgt Nino D Livaudais, Salt Lake City, UT; Sp Ryan P Long, Seaford, DE; Spc Donald Samuel Oaks, Jr, Harborcreek, PA; Sgt 1st Class Randy Rehn, Longmont, CO; Capt Russell B Rippetoe, Colorado; Cpl Erik H Silva, Chula Vista, CA; Capt Tristan N Aitken, State College, PA; Pfc Wilfred D Bellard, Lake Charles, LA; Spc Daniel Francis J. Cunningham, Lewiston, ME; Capt Travis A Ford, Ogallala, Nebraska; Cpl Bernard G Gooden, Mt Vernon, NY; Pvt Devon D Jones, San Diego, CA; 1st Lt Brian M McPhillips, Pembroke, MA; Sgt Duane R Rios, Hammond, IN; Capt Benjamin W Sammis, Rehobeth, MA; Sgt 1st Class Paul R Smith, Tampa, FL; Spc Larry K Brown, Jackson, MS; 1st Sgt Edward Smith, Chicago, IL; Sgt Stevon A Booker, Apollo, PA; Pfc Gregory P Huxley Jr., Forestport, NY; Pvt Kelley S. Prewitt, Birmingham, AL; Lance Cpl Andrew Julian Aviles, Palm Beach, FL; Cpl Henry L Brown, Natchez, MS; Capt Eric B Das, Amarillo, TX; Staff Sgt Lincoln D Hollinsaid, Malden, IL; 2nd Lt Jeffrey J Kaylor, Clifton, VA; Cpl Jesus Martin Antonio Medellin, Fort Worth, TX; Pfc Anthony S Miller, San Antonio, TX; Spc George A Mitchell, Rawlings, MD; Maj William R Watkins III, Danville, VA; Pfc Juan Guadalupe Garza, Jr, Temperance, MI; Sgt 1st Class John W Marshall, Los Angeles, CA; Pfc Jason M Meyer, Swartz Creek, MI; Staff Sgt Scott D Sather, Clio, MI; Staff Sgt Robert A Stever, Pendleton, OR; Sgt Jeffrey E Bohr, Jr, Ossian, IA; Staff Sgt Terry W Hemingway, Willingboro, NJ; Staff Sgt Riayan A Tejeda, New York, NY; Cpl Jesus A Gonzalez, Indio, CA; Lance Cpl David Edward Owens Jr, Winchester, VA; Spc Gill Mercado, Paterson, NJ; Pfc John E Brown, Troy, AL; Spc Thomas A Foley III, Dresden, TN; Cpl Armando Ariel Gonzalez, Hileah, FL; Spc Richard A Goward, Midland, MI; Pfc Joseph P Mayek, Rock Springs, WY; Cpl Jason David Mileo, Centreville, MD; Cpl John T Rivero, Gainesville, FL; Spc Roy Russell Buckley, Portage, IN; 1st Lt Osbaldo Orozco, Delano, CA; Spc Narson B Sullivan, North Brunswick, NJ; 1st Sgt Joe James Garza, Robstown, TX; Pfc Jesse A Givens, Springfield, MO; Sgt Sean C Reynolds, East Lansing, MI; Pvt Jason L Deibler, Coeburn, VA; Pfc Marlin T Rockhold, Hamilton, OH; Lance Cpl Cedric E Bruns, Vancouver, WA; Cpl Richard P Carl, King Hill, ID; Chief Warrant Officer Hans N Gukeisen, Lead, SD; Chief Warrant Officer Brian K Van Dusen, Columbus, OH; Lance Cpl Matthew R Smith, Anderson, IN; Pfc Jose Franci Gonzalez Rodriguez, Norwalk, CA; Lance Cpl Jakub Henryk Kowalik, Schaumburg, IL; Staff Sgt Patrick Lee Griffin Jr, Elgin, SC; Lance Cpl Nicholas Brian Kleiboeker, Irvington, IL; Spc David T Nutt, Blackshear, GA; Master Sgt Williams L Payne, MI; Cpl Douglas Jose Marencoreyes, Chino, CA; Spc Rasheed Sahib, Brooklyn, NY; Lt Col Dominic R Baragona, Ohio; Capt Andrew David Lamont, Eureka, CA; Lance Cpl Jason William Moore, San Marcos, CA; 1st Lt Timothy Louis Ryan, Aurora, IL; Sgt Kirk Allen Straseskie, Beaver Dam, WI; Staff Sgt Aaron David White, Shawnee, OK; Spc Nathaniel A Caldwell, Omaha, NE; Pvt David Evans Jr, Buffalo, NY; Sgt Keman L Mitchell, Hilliard, FL; Pvt Kenneth A Nalley, Hamburg, IA; Staff Sgt Brett J Petriken, MI; Maj Mathew E Schram, WI; Pfc Jeremiah D Smith, Odessa, MO; Sgt Thomas F Broomhead, Cannon City, CO; Staff Sgt Michael B Quinn, Tampa, FL; Staff Sgt Kenneth R Bradley, Utica, MS; Spc Jose A Perez III, San Diego, CA; Spc Michael T Gleason, Warren, PA; Spc Kyle A Griffin, Emerson, NJ; Spc Zachariah W Long, Milton, PA; Sgt Jonathan W Lambert, Newsite, MS; Spc Orenthial J Smith, Allendale, SC; Sgt Atanacio Haromarin, Baldwin Park, CA; Pfc Branden F Oberleitner, Worthington, OH; Petty Officer Third Class Doyle W Bollinger, Jr., Poteau, OK; Sgt Travis L Burkhardt, Edina, MO; Petty Officer Third Class David Sisung, Phoenix, AZ; Pvt Jesse M Halling, Indianapolis, IN; Sgt Michael E Dooley, Pulaski, VA; Pfc Gavin L Neighbor, Somerset, OH; Pfc Ryan R Cox, Derby, KA; Spc John K Klinesmith Jr, Stockbridge, GA; Pvt Shawn D Pahnke, Shelbyville, IN; Staff Sgt Andrew R Pokorny, Naperville, IL; Spc Joseph D Suell, Lufkin, TX; Pvt Robert L Frantz, San Antonio, TX; Sgt Michael L Tosto, Apex, NC; Pfc Michael R Deuel, Nemo, SD; Staff Sgt William T Latham, Kingman, AZ; Spc Paul T Nakamura, Sante Fe Springs, CA; Spc Cedric L Lennon, West Blocton, AL; Spc Andrew F Chris, CA; Lance Cpl Gregory E MacDonald, Washington, DC; Spc Corey A Hubbell, Urbana, IL; Spc Richard P Orengo, Puerto Rico; Cpl Tomas Sotelo Jr, Houston, TX; Sgt Timothy M Conneway, Enterprise, AL; Pfc Kevin C Ott, Columbus, OH; Sgt 1st Class Gladimir Philippe, Linden, NJ; Sgt Christopher D Coffin, Bethlehem, PA; Cpl Travis J Bradach-Nall, Multnomah County, OR; Pfc Edward J Herrgott, Shakopee, MN; Pfc Corey L Small, Berlin, PA; Sgt David B Parson, Kannapolis, NC; Spc Jeffrey M Wershow, Gainesville, FL; Spc Chad L Keith, Batesville, IN; Staff Sgt Barry Sanford, Sr, Aurora, CO; Sgt 1st Class Craig A Boling, Elkhart, IN; Pvt Robert L McKinley, Kokomo, IN; Sgt 1st Class Dan H Gabrielson, Spooner, WI; Sgt Roger D Rowe, Bon Aqua, TN; Lance Cpl Jason Andrew Tetrault, Moreno Valley, CA; Sgt Melissa Valles, Eagle Pass, TX; Spc Christian C Schulz, Colleyville, TX; Spc Joshua M Neusche, Montreal, MO; Cpt Paul J Cassidy, Laingsburg, MI; Sgt Jaror C Puello-Coronado, Pocono Summit, PA; Sgt Michael T Crockett, Soperton, GA; Cpl Cory Ryan Geurin, Santee, CA; Spc Ramon Reyes Torres, Caguas, Puerto Rico; Petty Officer Third Class David J Moreno, Gering, NE; Sgt Mason Douglas Whetstone, UT; Spc Joel L Bertoldie, Independence, MO; Second Lt. Jonathan D Rozier, Katy, TX; Sgt Justin W Garvey, Townsend, MA; Sgt Jason D Jordan, Elba, AL; Master Sgt David A Scott, Union, OH; Sgt 1st Class Christopher R Willoughby, Phenix City, AL; Cpl Mark A Bibby, Watha, NC; Spc Jon P Fettig, Dickerson, ND; Capt Joshua T Byers, NV; Spc Brett T Christian, North Royalton, OH; Cpl Evan Asa Ashcraft, West Hills, CA; Pfc Raheen Tyson Heighter, Bay Shore, NY; Staff Sgt Hector R Perez, Corpus Christi, TX; Sgt Juan M Serrano, Manati, Puerto Rico; Spc Jonathan P Barnes, Anderson, MO; Pfc Jonathan M Cheatham, Camden, AK; Sgt Daniel K Methvin, Belton, TX; Pfc Wilfredo Perez Jr, Norwalk, CN; Sgt Heath A McMillin, Canandaigua, NY; Sgt Nathaniel Hart Jr, Valdosta, GA; Spc William J Maher III, Yardley, PA; 1st Lt Leif E Nott, Cheyenne, WY; Pvt Michael J Deutsch, Dubuque, IA; Spc James I Lambert III, Raleigh, NC; Spc Justin W Hebert, Arlington, WA; Spc Farao K Letufuga, Pago Pago, American Samoa; Staff Sgt David L Loyd, Jackson, TN; Spc Zeferino E Colunga, Bellville, TX; Pvt Kyle C Gilbert, Brattleboro, VT; Staff Sgt Brian R Hellerman, Freeport, MN; Sgt Leonard D Simmons, New Bern, NC; Pfc Duane E Longstreth, Tacoma, WA; Pvt Matthew D Bush, East Alton, IL; Pfc Brandon Ramsey, Calumet City, IL; Spc Ryan G Carlock, Macomb, IL; Spc Levi B Kinchen, Tickfaw, LA; Sgt Floyd G Knighten Jr, Olla, LA; Staff Sgt David S Perry, Bakersfield, CA; Staff Sgt Joseph E Robsky, Jr, Elizaville, NY; Pfc Timmy R Brown, Conway, PA; Staff Sgt Richard S Eaton Jr, Guilford, CN; Pfc Daniel R Parker, Lake Elsinore, CA; Sgt Taft V Williams, New Orleans, LA; Sgt Steven W White, Lawton, OK; Pfc David M Kirchhoff, Cedar Rapids, IA; Spc Eric R Hull, Uniontown, PA; Sgt Bobby C Franklin, Mineral Bluff, GA; Spc Kenneth W Harris, Jr., Charlotte, TN; Pfc Michael S Adams, Spartanburg, SC; Lt Kylan A Jones-Huffman, Aptos, CA; Pfc Vorn J Mack, Orangeburg, SC; Spc Stephen M Scott, Lawton, OK; Spc Ronald D. Allen Jr., Mitchell, IN; Pfc Pablo Manzano, Heber, CA; Spc Darryl T Dent, Washington, D.C.; Sgt Gregory A Belanger, Narragansett, RI; Spc Rafael L Navea, Pittsburgh, PA; Lt Col Anthony L Sherman, Pottstown, PA; Staff Sgt Mark A Lawton, Hayden, CO; Sgt Sean K Cataudella, Tucson, AZ; Sgt Charles T. Caldwell, North Providence, RI; Staff Sgt Joseph Camara, New Bedford, MA; Staff Sgt Cameron B Sarno, Waipahu, HA; Pfc Christopher A Sisson, Oak Park, IL; Tech Sgt Bruce E Brown, Coatopa, AL; Spc Jarrett B Thompson, Dover, DE; Sgt Henry Ybarra III, Austin, TX; Sgt 1st Class William M Bennett, Seymour, TN; Master Sgt Kevin N Morehead, Little Rock, AR; Sgt Trevor A Blumberg, Canton, MI; Staff Sgt Kevin C Kimmerly, North Creek, NY; Spc Alyssa R Peterson, Flagstaff, AZ; Spc Craig S Ivory, Port Matilda, PA; Spc Richard Arriaga, Ganado, TX; Capt Brian R Faunce, Philadelphia, PA; Sgt Anthony O Thompson, Orangeburg, SC; Spc James C Wright, Morgan, TX; Spc Lunsford B Brown II, Creedmore, NC; Sgt David T Friedrich, Hammond, NY; Staff Sgt Frederick L Miller, Hagerstown, IN; Spc Paul J Sturino, Rice Lake, WI; Spc Kyle G Thomas, Topeka, KS; Spc Michael Andrade, Bristol, RI; Capt Robert L Lucero, Casper, WY; Sgt 1st Class Robert E Rooney, Nashua, NH; Seaman Joshua McIntosh, Kingman, AZ; Sgt Andrew Joseph Baddick, Jim Thorpe, PA; Staff Sgt Christopher E Cutchall, McConnellsburg, PA; Sgt Darrin K Potter, Louisville, KY; Spc Dustin K McGaugh, Derby, KA; 2nd Lt Todd J Bryant, Riverside, CA; Sgt Maj James D Blankenbecler, Alexandria, VA; Pfc Analaura Esparza Gutierrez, Houston, TX; Spc Simeon Hunte, Essex, NJ; Spc Tamarra J Ramos, Quakertown, PA; Pfc Charles M Sims, Miami, FL; Spc James H Pirtle, La Mesa, NM; Spc Spencer T Karol, Woodruff, AZ; Pfc Kerry D Scott, Mount Vernon, WA; 2nd Lt Richard Torres, Clarksville, TN; Spc Joseph C Norquist, San Antonio, TX; Pvt Sean A Silva, Roseville, CA; Staff Sgt Christopher W Swisher, Lincoln, NE; Spc James E Powell, Radcliff, KY; Pfc Jose Casanova, El Monte, CA; Pvt Benjamin L Freeman, Valdosta, GA; Spc Douglas J Weismantle, Pittsburgh, PA; Spc Donald L Wheeler, Concord, MI; Pfc Stephen E Wyatt, Kilgore, TX; Staff Sgt Joseph P Bellavia, Wakefield, MA; Cpl Sean R Grilley, San Bernardino, CA; Lt Col Kim S Orlando, TN; Spc Michael L Williams, Buffalo, NY; 1st Lt David R Bernstein, Phoenixville, PA; Pfc John D Hart, Bedford, MA; Staff Sgt Paul J Johnson, Calumet, MI; Pfc Paul J Bueche, Daphne, AL; Spc John P Johnson, Houston, TX; Pvt Jason M Ward, Tulsa, OK; Capt John R Teal, Mechanicsville, VA; Spc Artimus D Brassfield, Flint, MI; Sgt Michael S Hancock, Yreka, CA; Spc Jose L Mora, Bell Gardens, CA; Pfc Steven Acosta, Calexico, CA; Pfc Rachel K Bosveld, Waupun, WI; Lt Col Charles H Buehring, Fayetteville, NC; Pvt Joseph R Guerrera, Dunn, NC; Staff Sgt Jamie L Huggins, Hume, MO; Sgt Aubrey D Bell, Tuskegee, AL; Pvt Jonathan L Falaniko, Pago Pago, American Samoa; Pvt Algernon Adams, Aiken, SC; Sgt Michael Paul Barrera, Von Ormy, TX; Spc Isaac Campoy, Douglas, AZ; 2nd Lt Benjamin J Colgan, Kent, WA; 1st Lt Joshua C Hurley, VA; Spc Maurice J Johnson, Levittown, PA; Staff Sgt Daniel A Bader, Colorado Springs, CO; Sgt Ernest G Bucklew, Enon Valley, PA; Spc Steven D Conover, Wilmington, OH; Pfc Anthony D D'Agostino, Waterbury, CN; Spc Darius T Jennings, Cordova, SC; Pfc Karina S Lau, Livingston, CA; Sgt Keelan L Moss, Houston, TX; Spc Brian H Penisten, Fort Wayne, IN; Sgt Ross A Pennanen, OK; Sgt Joel Perez, Rio Grande, Puerto Rico; 1st Lt Brian D Slavenas, Genoa, IL; Chief Warrant Officer Bruce A Smith, West Liberty, IA; Spc Frances M Vega, Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico; Staff Sgt Paul A Velazquez, CA; Staff Sgt Joe N Wilson, MI; Pfc Rayshawn S Johnson, Brooklyn, NY; Spc Robert T Benson, Spokane, WA; Sgt Francisco Martinez, Humacao, Puerto Rico; Sgt 1st Class Jose A Rivera, Bayamon, Puerto Rico; Spc James A Chance III, Kokomo, MI; Sgt Paul F Fisher, Cedar Rapids, IA; Spc James R Wolf, Scottsbluff, NE; Command Sgt Major Cornell W Gilmore, Baltimore, MD; Chief Warrant Officer (CW3) Kyran E Kennedy, Boston, MA; Staff Sgt Morgan D Kennon, Memphis, TN; Staff Sgt. Paul M. Neff II, Fort Mill, SC; Sgt. Scott C Rose, Fayetteville, NC; Capt Benedict J Smith, Monroe City, MO; Chief Warrant Officer (CW5) Sharon T Swartworth, VA; Staff Sgt Gary L Collins, Hardin, TX; Pvt Kurt R Frosheiser, Des Moines, IA; Sgt Linda C Jimenez, Brooklyn, NY; Staff Sgt. Mark D. Vasquez, Port Huron, MI; Sgt Nicholas A Tomko, Pittsburgh, PA; Spc Genaro Acosta, Fair Oaks, CA; Spc Marlon P Jackson, Jersey City, NJ; Staff Sgt Nathan J Bailey, Nashville, TN; Spc Robert A Wise, Tallahassee, FL; Pfc Jacob S Fletcher, Bay Shore, NY; Sgt Joseph Minucci II, Richeyville, PA; Spc Irving Medina, Middletown, NY; Sgt Michael D Acklin II, Louisville, KY; Spc Ryan T Baker, Brown Mills, NJ; Sgt 1st Class Kelly Bolor, Whittier, CA; Chief Warrant Officer Alexamder S Coulter, TN; Spc Jeremiah J Digiovanni, Tylertown, MI; Spc William D Dusenbery, Fairview Heights, IL; Pfc Richard W Hafer, Cross Lanes, WV; Sgt Warren S Hansen, Clintonville, WI; Pfc Sheldon R Hawk Eagle, Grand Forks, ND; Sgt Timothy L Hayslett, Newville, PA; Pfc Damian L Heidelberg, Batesville, MI; Chief Warrant Officer Erik C Kesterson, Independence, OR; Capt Pierre E Piche, Starksboro, VT; Sgt John W Russell, Portland, TX; Chief Warrant Officer 2nd Clas Scott A Saboe, Willow Lake, SD; Spc John R Sullivan, Countryside, IL; Spc Eugene A Uhl III, Amherst, WI; Pfc Joey D Whitener, Nebo, NC; 2nd Lt Jeremy L Wolfe, WI; Capt Nathan S Dalley, Kaysville, UT; Staff Sgt. Dale A Panchot, Northome, MI; Capt James A Shull, CA; Spc Josph L Lister, Pleasanton, KA; Pvt Scott M Tyrrell, Sterling, IL; Capt George A Wood, New York, NY; Cpl. Gary B Coleman, Pikeville, KY; Pfc Damian S Bushart, Waterford, MI; Spc Robert D Roberts, Winter Park, FL; Staff Sgt Eddie E Menyweather, Los Angeles, CA; CW2 Christopher G Nason, CA; Cpl Darrell L Smith, Otwell, IN; Spc Rel A. Ravago IV, Glendale, CA; Command Sgt Major Jerry L Wilson, Thomson, GA; Spc David J Goldberg, Layton, UT; Spc Thomas J Sweet II, Bismark, ND; Sgt Ariel Rico, El Paso, TX; Staff Sgt Stephen A Bertolino, Orange, CA; Spc Aaron J Sissel, Tipton, IA; Spc. Uday Singh, Lake Forest, IL; Chief Warrant Officer Clarence E Boone, Fort Worth, TX; Spc Raphael S Davis, Tutwiler, MS; Sgt Ryan C Young, Corona, CA; Spc Arron R Clark, Chico, CA; Spc Ray J Hutchinson, League City, TX; Pfc Jason G Wright, Luzerne, MI; Spc Joseph M Blickenstaff, Corvallis, OR; Staff Sgt Steven H Bridges, Tracy, CA; Spc Christopher J Rivera Wesley, Portland, OR; Spc Todd M Bates, Bellaire, OH; Staff Sgt Richard A Burdick, National City, CA; Pfc Jerrick M Petty, Idaho Falls, ID; Staff Sgt Aaron T Reese, Reynoldsburg, OH; Spc Marshall L Edgerton, Rocky Face, GA; Sgt Jarrod W Black, Peru, IN; Pfc Jeffrey F Braun, Stafford, CN; Spc Rian C Ferguson, Taylors, SC; Staff Sgt Kimberly A Voelz, Carlisle, PA; Pfc Kenneth C Souslin, Mansfield, OH; Spc Christopher J Holland, Brunswick, GA; Spc Nathan Nakis, Corvallis, OR; Sgt Glenn R Allison, Pittsfield, MA; Pfc Charles E Bush Jr, Buffalo, NY; Pfc Stuart W Moore, Livingston, TX; 1st Lt Edward M Saltz, Bigfork, MT; Sgt Benjamin W Biskie, Vermilion, OH; Sgt Major Eric F Cooke, Scottsdale, AZ; Capt Christopher F Soelzer, SD; Major Christopher J Splinter, Platteville, WI; Sgt Michael E Yashinski, Monument, CO; Staff Sgt Thomas W Christensen, Atlantic Mine, MI; Staff Sgt Stephen C Hattamer, Gwinn, MI; Spc Charles G Haight, Jacksonville, AL; Spc Michael G Mihalakis, San Jose, CA; Staff Sgt Michael J Sutter, Tinley Park, IL; Captain Ernesto M Blanco, TX; Pvt Rey D Cuervo, Laguna Vista, TX; Sgt Curt E Jordan Jr, Green Acres, WA; Spc Justin C Pollard, Foothill Ranch, CA; Sgt Dennis A Corral, Kearney, NE; Spc Solomon C Bangayan, Jay, VT; Capt Kimberly N Hampton, Easly, SC; Capt Eric T Paliwoda, TX; Spc Marc S Seiden, Brigantine, NJ; Spc Luke P Frist, West Lafayette, IN; Pfc Jesse D Mizener, Auburn, CA; Staff Sgt Craig Davis, Opelousas, LA; Spc Michael A Diraimondo, Simi Valley, CA; Spc Christopher A Golby, Johnstown, PA; Sgt 1st Class Gregory B Hicks, Duff, TN; Spc Nathaniel H Johnson, Augusta, GA; Chief Warrant Officer Philip A Johnson, Jr, AL; Chief Warrant Officer Ian D Manuel, FL; Sgt Jeffrey C Walker, Havre de Grace, MD; Chief Warrant Officer Aaron A Weaver, FL; Staff Sgt Ricky L Crockett, Broxton, GA; Sgt Keicia M Hines, Citrus Heights, CA; Staff Sgt Roland L Castro, San Antonio, TX; Pfc Cody J Orr, Ruskin, FL; Spc Larry E Polley, Jr, Center, TX; Sgt Edmond L Randle, Miami, FL; Master Sgt Kelly L Hornbeck, Fort Worth, TX; Spc Gabriel T Palacios, Lynn, MA; Pfc James David Parker, Bryan, TX; Chief Warrant Officer 2nd Clas Michael T Blaise, TN; Chief Warrant Officer 2nd Clas Brian D Hazelgrove, Fort Rucker, AL; Spc Jason K Chappell, Hemet, CA; Pfc Ervin Dervishi, Fort Worth, TX; Staff Sgt Kenneth W Hendrickson, Bismarck, ND; Sgt Randy S Rosenberg, Berlin, NH; Sgt Keith L Smette, Fargo, ND; Spc William R Sturges Jr, Spring Church, PA; Staff Sgt Christoper Bunda, WA; Chief Warrant Officer Patrick D Dorf, MI; 1st Lt Adam G Mooney, Cambridge, MD; Capt Matthew J August, RI; Sgt 1st Class James T Hoffman, Whitesburg, KY; 2nd Lt Luke S James, OK; Staff Sgt Lester O Kinney II, Zanesville, OH; Sgt Travis A Moothart, Brownsville, OR; Sgt Cory R Mracek, Hay Springs, NE; Staff Sgt Sean G Landrus, Thompson, OH; Pfc Luis A Moreno, Bronx, NY; Cpl Juan C Cabral Banuelos, Emporia, KS; Pfc Holly J McGeogh, Taylor, MI; Sgt Eliu A Miersandoval, San Clemente, CA; Pfc Armando Soriano, Houston, TX; Staff Sgt Roger C Turner, Jr, Parkersburg, WV; 2nd Lt Seth J Dvorin, NJ; Spc Joshua L Knowles, Sheffield, IA; Staff Sgt Richard P Ramey, Canton, OH; Sgt Thomas D Robbins, Schenectady, NY; Sgt Elijah Tai Wah Wong, Mesa, AZ; Master Sgt Jude C Mariano, Vallejo, CA; Pfc William C Ramirez, Portland, OR; Sgt Patrick S Tainsh, Oceanside, CA; Spc Eric U Ramirez, San Diego, CA; Pvt Bryan N Spry, Chestertown, MD; Pfc Nichole M Frye, Lena, WI; Spc Michael M Merila, Sierra Vista, AZ; Spc Christopher M Taylor, Daphne, AL; 2nd Lt Jeffrey C Graham, Elizabethtown, KY; Spc Roger G Ling, Douglaston, NY; Sgt 1st Class Henry A Bacon, Wagram, NC; Chief Warrant Officer Matthew C Laskowski, Phoenix, AZ; Chief Warrant Officer Stephen M Wells, MA; Spc Michael R Woodliff, Port Charlotte, FL; Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael J Gray, Richmond, VA; Capt Gussie M Jones, LA; Pfc Matthew G Milczark, Kettle River, MN; Spc Edward W Brabazon, Philadelphia, PA; Sgt 1st Class Richard S Gottfried, Lake Ozark, MO; Fern L Holland; Robert J Zangas, Prince William County, VA; Pfc Bert E Hoyer, Ellsworth, WI; Staff Sgt Joe L Dunigan Jr., Belton, TX; Spc Christopher K Hill, Ventura, CA; Pfc Joel K Brattain, Santa Anna, CA; Spc Jocelyn L Carrasquillo, Wrightsville Beach, NC; Staff Sgt Clint D Ferrin, Picayune, MI; Spc Jason C Ford, Bowie, MD; Capt John F Kurth, WI; Sgt Daniel J Londono, Boston, MA; Sgt William J Normandy, Augusta, GA; 1st Lt Michael R Adams, Seattle, WA; Master Sgt Thomas R Thigpen, Sr, Augusta, GA; Spc Tracy L Laramore, Okaloosa, FL; Sgt Ivory L Phipps, Chicago, IL; Cpl Andrew D Brownfield, Summit, OH; Spc. Doron Chan, Highland, NY; Pfc Ricky A Morris, Jr, Lubbock, TX; Pfc Brandon C Smith, Washington, AR; Pfc Ernest Harold Sutphin, Parkersburg, WVA; Pfc Jason C Ludlam, Arlington, TX; Spc Clint Richard Matthews, Bedford, PA; Cpl David M Vicente, Methuen, MA; Spc Matthew J Sandri, Shamokin, PA; Maj Mark D Taylor, Stockton, CA; 1st Lt Michael W. Vega, Lathrop, CA; Pfc Christopher E Hudson, Carmel, IN; Pvt Dustin L Kreider, Riverton, KA; Lance Cpl Andrew S Dang, Foster City, CA; Pfc Bruce Miller, Jr, Orange, NJ; SSgt Wentz Jerome Henry Shanaberger III, Naples, FL; LCpl Jeffrey C Burgess, Plymouth, MA; LCpl James A Casper, Coolidge, TN; Spc Adam D Froehlich, Pine Hill, NJ; Pfc Leroy Sandoval Jr, Houston, TX; Master Sgt Timothy Toney, Manhattan, NY; Spc Jeremiah J Holmes, North Berwick, MA; Pfc Sean M Schneider, Janesville, WI; Master Sgt Richard L Ferguson, Conway, NH; Lance Cpl William J Wiscowiche, Victorville, CA; Pvt Brandon L Davis, Cumberland, MD; 1st Lt Doyle M Hufstedler, Abilene, TX; Spc Michael G Karr, Jr., San Antonio, TX; Spc Sean R Mitchell, Youngsville, PA; Pfc Cleston C Raney, Rupert, ID; Pfc Dustin M Sekula, Edinburg, TX; Pfc William R Strange, Adrian, GA; Civilian Emad Mikha, Seterling Heights, MI; Pfc John D Amos, II, Valparaiso, IN; Spc Robert R Arsiaga, San Antonio, TX; Lance Cpl Aric J Barr, Allegheny, PA; Spc Ahmed A Carson, McCalla, AL; Sgt Yihjyh L Chen, Saipan, Marianas Protectorate; Cpl Tyler R Fey, Eden Prarie, MN; Spc Israel Garza, Lubbock, TX; Spc Stephen D Hiller, Opelika, AL; Cpl Forest J Jostes, Albion, IL; Sgt Michael W Mitchell, Porterville, CA; Pfc Geoffery S Morris, Gurnee, IL; Spc Philip G Rogers, Gresham, OR; Spc Casey Sheehan, Vacaville, CA; Lance Cpl Shane L Goldman, Orange, TX; Pfc Moises A Langhorst, Moose Lake, MN; Spc Scott Q Larson, Jr, Houston, TX; Spc. David M McKeever, Buffalo, NY; Lance Cpl Christopher Ramos, Albuquerque, NM; Lance Cpl Matthew K Serio, North Providence, RI; Cpl Jesse L Thiry, Casco, WI; Pfc Benjamin R Carman, Jefferson, IA; Lance Cpl Marcus M Cherry, Imperial, CA; Pfc Christopher R Cobb, Bradenton, FL; Lance Cpl Kyle D Crowley, San Ramon, CA; Pfc Deryk L Hallal, Indianapolis, IN; Pfc Ryan M Jerabek, Oneida, WI; Lance Cpl Travis J Layfield, Fremont, CA; Petty Officer Third Class Fernando A Mendezaceves, Ponce, Puerto Rico; Sgt Gerardo Moreno, Terrell, TX; Lance Cpl Anthony P Roberts, Bear, DE; Sgt Lee D Todacheene, Farmington, NM; Staff Sgt Allan K Walker, Lancaster, CA; 2nd Lt John T Wroblewski, Oak Ridge, NJ; Spc Tyanna Avery Felder, Bridgeport, CN; Sgt 1st Class William W Labadie Jr, Bauxite, AK; Pfc Christopher D Mabry, Chunky, MS; Sgt 1st Class Marvin L Miller, Dunn, NC; Capt Brent L Morel, Martin, TN; Staff Sgt George S Rentschler, Louisville, KY; Lance Cpl Levi T Angell, Saint Louis, MN; Cpl Nicholas J Dieruf, Versailles, KY; Lance Cpl Phillip E Frank, Elk Grove, IL; Staff Sgt William M Harrell, Placentia, CA; Spc Isaac Michael Nieves, Unadilla, NY; 1st Lt Joshua M Palmer, Banning, CA; Lance Cpl Michael B Wafford, Spring, TX; Lance Cpl Christopher B Wasser, Ottawa, KA; Pfc Eric A Ayon, Arleta, CA; Sgt Felix M Delgreco, Simsbury, CO; Spc Peter G Enos, South Dartmouth, MA; Pfc Gregory R Goodrich, Bartonville, IL; Staff Sgt Raymond E Jones, Jr, Gainesville, FL; Spc Jonathan R Kephart, Oil City, PA; Sgt Elmer C Krause, Greensboro, NC; Staff Sgt Toby W Mallet, Kaplan, LA; Cpl Matthew E Matula, Spicewood, TX; Staff Sgt Don S McMahan, Nashville, TN; Pfc Chance R Phelps, Clifton, CO; Cpl Michael R Speer, Redfield, KS; Lance Cpl Elias Torrez III, Veribest, TX; Spc. Allen J Vandayburg, Mansfield, OH; Spc Michelle M Witmer, New Berlin, WI; Spc Adolf C Carballo, Houston, TX; Airman 1st Class Antoine J Holt, Kennesaw, GA; Spc Justin W Johnson, Rome, GA; Lance Cpl John T Sims Jr, Alexander City, AL; Cpl Daniel R Amaya, Odessa, TX; Pfc Nathan P Brown, South Glens Falls, NY; Chief Warrant Officer Lawrence S Colton, Oklahoma City, OK; Chief Warrant Officer Wesley C Fortenberry, Woodville, TX; Lance Cpl Torrey S Gray, Patoka, IL; 1st Lt Oscar Jimenez, San Diego, CA; Sgt Major Michael B Stack, Lake City, SC; Pfc George D Torres, Long Beach, CA; Lance Cpl Brad S Shuder, El Dorado, CA; Lance Cpl Robert P Zurheide Jr, Tucson, AZ; Pvt Noah L Boye, Grand Island, NE; Cpl Kevin T Kolm, Hicksville, NY; Staff Sgt Victor A Rosaleslomeli, Westminster, CA; Sgt Christopher Ramirez, McAllen, TX; Spc Frank K Rivers, Jr, Woodbridge, VA; Spc Richard K Trevithick, Gaines, MI; Staff Sgt Jimmy J Arroyave, Woodland, CA; Sgt Brian M Wood, Torrance, CA; Spc Marvin A Camposiles, Austell, GA; Staff Sgt. Edward W Carman, McKeesport, PA; Cpt Richard J Gannon II, Escondido, CA; Sgt Jonathan N Hartman, Jacksonville, FL; 1st Lt Robert L Henderson, II, Alvaton, KY; Pfc Clayton W Henson, Stanton, TX; Spc Michael A McGlothin, Milwaukee, WI; Spc Dennis B Morgan, Valentine, NE; Lance Cpl Michael J Smith Jr, Jefferson, OH; Lance Cpl Ruben Valdez Jr, San Diego, TX; Lance Cpl Gary F VanLeuven, Klamath Falls, OR; Cpl Christopher A Gibson, Simi Valley, CA; Sgt 1st Class Bradley C Fox, Orlando, FL; Spc Christopher D Gelineau, Portland, ME; Pfc Leroy Harris-Kelly, Azusa, CA; Cpl Jason L Dunham, Allegany, NY; Pfc Shawn C Edwards, Bensenville, IL; Staff Sgt Stacey C Brandon, Hazen, AR; Staff Sgt Cory W Brooks, Philip, SD; Petty Officer Third Class Nathan B Bruckenthal, Smithtown, NY; Capt Arthur L Felder, Louisville, AR; Chief Warrant Officer Patrick W Kordsmeier, North Little Rock, AR; Staff Sgt Billy J Orton, Humnoke, AR; Petty Officer 1st Class Michael J Pernaselli, Monroe, NY; Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher E Watts, Knoxville, TN; Spc Kenneth A Melton, Westplains, MO; Lance Cpl Aaron C Austin, Sunray, TX; Sgt Sherwood R Baker, Plymouth, PA; Sgt Lawrence A Roukey, Wesbrook, ME; Staff Sgt. Abraham D Penamedina, Los Angeles, CA; Pfc Marquis A Whitaker, Columbus, GA; Spc Jacob R Herring, Kirkland, WA; Staff Sgt Kendall Thomas, St Thomas, Virgin Islands; Spc James L Beckstrand, Escondido, CA; Sgt Ryan M Campbell, Kirksville, MO; Pfc Norman Darling, Middleboro, MA; Staff Sgt Jeffrey F Dayton, Caledonia, MI; Sgt Adam W Estep, Campbell, CA; Pfc Jeremy Ricardo Ewing, Miama, FL; Sgt Landis W Garrison, Rapid City, IL; Pfc Martin W Kondor, York, PA; Staff Sgt Esau G Patterson, Jr, Ridgeland, SC; Spc Ryan E Reed, Colorado Springs, CO; Spc Justin B Schmidt, Bradenton, FL; Petty Officer 3rd Class Christopher M Dickerson, Eastman, GA; Petty Officer 2nd Class Jason B Dwelley, Apopka, FL; Cpl Scott M Vincent, Bokoshe, OK; Cpl Joshua S Wilfong, Walker, WV; Sgt Joshua S Ladd, Fort Gibson, MI; Spc Ramon C Ojeda, Ramona, CA; Staff Sgt Oscar D Vargas-Medina, Chicago, IL; Spc Trevor A Wine, Orange, CA; Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael C Anderson, Daytona Beach, FL; Spc Ervin Caradine, Jr, Memphis, TN; Petty Officer 2nd Class Trace W Dossett, Orlando, FL; Pvt Jeremy L Drexler, Topeka, KA; Petty Officer Third Class Ronald A Ginther, Auburndale, FL; Petty Officer 2nd Class Robert B Jenkins, Stuart, FL; Petty Officer 2nd Class Scott R McHugh, Boca Raton, FL; Staff Sgt Todd E Nunes, Chapel Hill, TN; Capt John E Tipton, Fort Walton Beach, FL; Gunnery Sgt Ronald E Baum, Hollidaysburg, PA; 1st Lt Christopher J Kenny, Miani, FL; Pfc Lyndon A Marcus, Jr, Long Beach, CA; Staff Sgt Erickson H Petty, Fort Gibson, OK; Sgt Marvin R Sprayberry, III, Tehachapi, CA; Sgt Gregory L Wahl, Salisbury, NC; Pfc Jesse R Buryj, Canton, OH; Cpl Jeffrey G Green, Dallas, TX; Pfc Bradley G Kritzer, Irvona, PA; Spc James E Marshall, Tulsa, OK; Staff Sgt Hesley Box, Jr, Nashville, AR; Cpl Dustin H Schrage, Brevard, FL; Spc Philip D Brown, El Paso, TX; Spc James J Holmes, East Grand Forks, MN; Spc Isela Rubalcava, El Paso, TX; Spc Chase R Whitman, OR; Sgt Rodney A Murray, Ayden, NC; Pfc Andrew L Tuazon, Chesapeake, VA; Spc Kyle A Brinlee, Pryor, OK; Lance Cpl Jeremiah E Savage, Livingston, TN; Spc Jeffrey R Shaver, Maple Valley, WA; Pfc Brian K Cutter, Riverside, CA; Pfc Brandon C Sturdy, Urbandale, IA; Command Sgt Maj Edward C Barnhill, Shreveport, LA; Sgt Brud J Cronkrite, Spring Valley, CA; Sgt James W Harlan, Owensboro, KY; Pfc Michael A Mora, Arroyo Grande, CA; Spc Philip I Spakosky, Browns Mill, NJ; Senior Airman Pedro I Espaillat Jr, Columbia, MO; Staff Sgt Rene Ledesma, Abelene, TX; Spc Carl F Curran, Union City, PA; Spc Mark J Kasecky, McKees Rocks, PA; 2nd Lt Leonard M Cowherd, Culpeper, VA; Lance Cpl Bob W Roberts, Newport, OR; Pfc Michael M Carey, Prince George, VA; Staff Sgt William D Chaney, Schaumburg, IL; Staff Sgt Joseph P Garyantes, Rehoboth, DE; Spc Marcos O Nolasco, Chino, CA; Spc Michael C Campbell, Marshfield, MO; Pfc Leslie D Jackson, Richmond, VA; Sgt 1st Class Troy L Miranda, DeQueen, AK; Cpl Rudy Salas, Baldwin Park, CA; Staff Sgt Jeremy R Horton, Carneys Point, PA; Lance Cpl Stephen Andrew Zabierek, Chelmsford, MA; Staff Sgt Jorge A MolinaBautista, Rialto, CA; Spc Jeremy L Ridlen, Paris, IL; Spc Beau R Beaulieu, Lisbon, ME; Pfc Owen D Witt, Sand Springs, MT; Spc Alan N Bean, Jr, Bridport, VT; Pfc James P Lambert, New Orleans, LA; Pfc Richard H Rosas, Saint Louis, MO; Sgt Kevin F Sheehan, Milton, VT; Pfc Daniel P Unger, Exeter, CA; Lance Cpl Kyle W Codner, Wood River, NE; Cpl Matthew C Henderson, Lincoln, NE

The AP/Nashua telegraph are reporting that efforts to name the Iraqi President have stalled over differences between the Iraqi Governing Council and American authorities.

A council member said the United States and U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi favored ex-Foreign Minister Adnan Pachachi, who supports keeping foreign troops in Iraq until the security situation is stabilized.

However, most of the 22 members of the Governing Council support the current chairman, civil engineer Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer, who has been more critical of the U.S.-led occupation.

MSNBC:

A Pentagon e-mail said Vice President Dick Cheney’s office “coordinated” a multibillion-dollar Iraq reconstruction contract awarded to his former employer Halliburton, Time magazine reported on Sunday.

The e-mail, sent by an Army Corps of Engineers official on March 5, 2003, said Douglas Feith, a senior Pentagon official, provided arrangements for the RIO contract, or Restore Iraqi Oil, between Halliburton and the U.S. government, Time said.

The e-mail said Feith, who reports to Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, approved arrangements for the contract “contingent on informing WH (White House) tomorrow. We anticipate no issues since action has been coordinated w VP’s (vice president’s) office.”

A spokesman for Cheney said his office had no role in the contract process.

“Vice President Cheney and his office have had no involvement whatsoever in government contracting matters since he left private business to run for vice president,” said Kevin Kellems, a spokesman for Cheney.

An administration official familiar with the e-mail, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the memo merely mentions the fact that the White House had been given a standard courtesy call notifying that a contract decision that had already been made and was being publicly announced soon.

The original Time Magazine report is here.

Albawaba.com reports that Sunni politician Mohsen Abdel Hamid, a member of the Iraqi Governing Council and Secretary General of the Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP), was killed on Monday in an attack in Baghdad.

The Baltimore Sun is reporting that fighting continues today in Kufa, with Shiite militiamen ambushing a US patrol “with small arms fire, killing one U.S. soldier, and fired a rocket-propelled grenade on a tank, killing another American.”

CNN is reporting that a car bomb went off today outside the Green Zone in Baghdad, killing “at least two people.” It seems a motorcade carrying Prime Minister-designate Iyad Allawi had passed by just minutes before.

Welcome, and a fine Memorial Day to you all! Our goal at Winds of Change.NET is to give you one power-packed briefing of insights, news and trends from Iraq that leaves you stimulated, informed, and occasionally amused every Monday & Thursday. This briefing is brought to you by Andrew Olmsted of Andrew Olmsted dot com.

TOP TOPICS

• The Coalition raised a lot of eyebrows when it shifted tactics from purely military victories in Fallujah and Najaf to the current strategy of negotiation. The LA Times examines the rationale behind the change. US News notes that Sadr overestimated his own support, and so had to back down rather than press the issue. (Hat tip: Instapundit.)

• The initial battle for Iraq was deceptively easy, but the ultimate fight has been much harder. Wretchard takes a look at the changing face of war, and notes the changes the U.S. is making in Iraq to adapt.

• Going against the media orthodoxy, ABC News offers reasons to be optimistic about Iraq. It's no rosy-eyed view, and it doesn't ignore the problems, but it does a good job of pointing out that there are good things happening over there as well.

Other Topics Today Include: cease-fire violation in Najaf; Iraqis fight foreigners over their next President; more connections between Iraq and al Qaeda; spotlight on Abu Ghraib.

Read the Rest…

The New York Times reports that 20 death certificates for Afghan and Iraqi prisoners who died in American custody were completed in a 10-day rush only after the Abu Ghraib investigation become public, “even though some of the deaths occurred months — in some cases many months — before.”

Philip Sherwell and Colin Freeman report:

Iyad Allawi, Iraq's prime minister-designate, plans to recall four divisions of Saddam Hussein's old army to create a rapid reaction force and anti-terrorism unit to deal with the country's security crisis. On the eve of his appointment, the leader of the Iraqi National Accord laid out his strategy for bolstering the struggling security forces after the June 30 transfer of power. The INA still draws heavily on former Iraqi military and intelligence officers, and Dr Allawi believes the decisions last year to disband the old army en masse and introduce a rigid policy of sacking Baathists from all official posts contributed significantly to the collapse in law and order.

The Sidney Morning Herald reports:

The Prime Minister, John Howard, today maintained the search for weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) in Iraq would continue for some time yet, sparking Labor claims he was ignoring reality. Although no WMDs have been found in the country despite intense searching by the US-led coalition since the invasion in March last year, Mr Howard said he was not willing to concede none would be found. “I'm not willing to admit that. I saw a lot of intelligence before the war started and I was satisfied with that intelligence,” Mr Howard told Channel Seven. “Until all of the work has been completed, I'm not going to totally sign off on the issue.” He said the work of the Iraq survey group would go on for a long time

The Presidency of Iraq, that is.

From Reuters via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

With the top post of prime minister filled and likely accord on key ministries, Iraqi officials spoke of sharp disagreement on the largely ceremonial choice of head of state between Adnan Pachachi, veteran scion of a pre-Saddam political dynasty, and Ghazi Yawar, a youthful engineer long based in Saudi Arabia.

Many of the 23-member Iraqi Governing Council meeting on Sunday favoured Yawar, said one senior Iraqi politician. But US administrator Paul Bremer and UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi were putting the case for Pachachi, a former foreign minister.

Talks were going on after four hours, officials said.

Mr Brahimi and Mr Bremer struggled to strike a balance among Iraq's religious and ethnic groups.
[…]
Mr Pachachi, 81, was foreign minister in the 1960s, before Saddam came to power. His Baghdad-based family was a powerful force under the British-installed monarchy that fell in 1958. He has spent much of the time since in exile in Abu Dhabi.

Mr Yawar, in his mid-40s, is a leader of a prominent Sunni tribe from the northern city of Mosul. A civil engineer, he left Iraq in 1990 and ran a telecoms firm in Saudi Arabia.

Senior members of the Governing Council told Reuters after talks on Saturday that the 26 cabinet posts under Dr Allawi were all but agreed but there was a standoff over the presidency.

Others said negotiations were still open on other jobs too.

On Saturday, senior Governing Council member Ahmed Chalabi said the names of key ministers had been agreed.

“The Governing Council, Bremer and Lakhdar Brahimi agreed on the list,” he told Reuters. “It is not 100 per cent certain that the nominees will accept it but it is pretty sure they will.”

Dr Chalabi said Hoshiyar Zebari, now foreign minister in the US supervised government, would be defence minister. Another Kurd, Barham Salih, would take his job at the Foreign Ministry.
[…]
Technocrat Thamir Ghadban was nominated as oil minister, said Chalabi, a Shiite relative of Dr Allawi who ran a rival exile opposition party and has fallen out of favour with Washington.
[…]
Adel Abdul Mahdi, a Shiite, was nominated as finance minister, Dr Chalabi said. Sunni Samir Sumaidy would stay on as interior minister and Raja Habib Khuzai, a British-educated Shiite doctor, was nominated to the Health Ministry, he added.

“The list is correct as far as I know,” another senior Iraqi politician said, adding that it would be announced on Sunday.

Mr Zebari, who is not on the Governing Council, told Reuters on Saturday: “There have been no nominations for ministers. Talks are continuing. Efforts are focused on the presidency.”

Two vice presidents are expected to be a Kurd and a Shiite.

Note that the Governmental model is similar to that of many European states, with a (ceremonial) Head-of-State called the “President', and an actual executive head, called the 'Chancellor', 'Premier' or 'Prime Minister'. A similar setup is in Australia ('Governor-General' and 'Prime Minister) and the UK ('Monarch' and 'Prime Minister'). The role of such as 'President' is ceremonial, usually advisory, and to ensure smooth transition of the succession of Governments by rubber-stamping the newly elected ones in the name of the People, State or Crown.

From Time via The Australian :

US President George W Bush has been given a pistol Saddam Hussein had with him when he was captured and now proudly shows it to selected guests, Time magazine reported today.

The gun was taken from Saddam by US special forces when they caught the ousted president in a spider hole near his home town Tikrit last December, the report said.

The military had the pistol mounted, and it was presented to the president privately by some of the troops who ferreted out Saddam, Time said, citing unnamed sources.
[…]
“He really liked showing it off,” the report quotes an unnamed recent visitor to the White House as saying. “He was really proud of it.”

I rather think it was the Special Forces who gave it to him that he was proud of, and the fact they they thought enough of him to give it. Others will say it's theft of Iraqi property, it's all about Guns, revenge for Bush Sr., and after all, he's a Texan, isn't he? No matter.

From the BBC via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

Police in the central Iraqi town of Ramadi have surrounded the local office of Ahmed Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress and ordered it to be evacuated.

No reason has been given for the order, which is said to have come from the Iraqi Interior Ministry.

From the BBC via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

There have been renewed clashes in the Iraqi city of Najaf, three days after the US military and the rebel Shiite cleric, Moqtada al Sadr, agreed on a truce.

The clashes follow two days of skirmishes in nearby Kufa.

Witnesses say the fighting broke out around Najaf's vast ancient cemetery, where Shiite Muslims from around the world are buried.

From the AFP via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

The former editor-in-chief of an Iraqi newspaper funded by the US-led coalition says he has survived an assassination attempt that killed his bodyguard and driver.

Ismail Zayer headed the Al-Sabah newspaper, which was funded by the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority until he resigned in March to found the independent Al-Sabah Al-Jadid.

“On Saturday morning, a police car and three civilian vehicles parked in front of my house and a police officer told me he had a warrant to arrest me and confiscate my car, on charges it was used for criminal activities,” he said.

As he was not dressed, Mr Zayer asked for a few minutes to put some clothes on, leaving his son, driver and bodyguard in front of the house.

He took this opportunity to call a minister, who confirmed to him that no such warrant had been issued.

By the time he emerged from his house again, his son told him that the men had whisked his driver and bodyguard away.

Mr Zayer explained that he received a call from the police moments later telling him that his two employees had been found dead with their hands tied behind their backs.

From the AP via The Australian :

Iraq's top surgeons, neurologists and other doctors are fleeing Baghdad, bullied into exile by a growing gang of kidnappers seeking hefty ransoms from the country's affluent elite.

”The kidnapping of doctors has risen over the past few months, forcing the best practitioners to leave Iraq and settle in neighbouring countries to protect themselves,” said health ministry public affairs officer May Yassin.

May Yassin confirmed that some of the country's most qualified specialists had been abducted recently and released in exchange for ransoms ranging between $US1000 ($1400) and $US10,000 ($A14,000). “They were all kidnapped in their offices,” she said.

Many of the country's most renowned neurologists, cardiologists, gynaecologists, emergency surgeons and plastic surgeons have been kidnapped in recent months.

Just a reminder that we've opened our OpEd page to anyone wanting to post Memorial Day thoughts or rememberances. Some have already taken part; if you'd like to as well, email you post to me at alan at command-post dot org, and I'll post them first thing Monday morning.

From The Australian : The militia of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr is led by former loyalists of ousted president Saddam Hussein and “terrorists”, a spokesman for one of Iraq's main Shi'ite parties said today.

“The leadership of the Mehdi Army has been infiltrated by Baathists and terrorists and we have a list of their names,” Sheikh Qassem al-Hashimi, of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), told reporters.

“This group planned the assassination attempt against Sayed (honorific) Saddredin al-Kubbanji yesterday and it is the same group that killed Sayed Mohammed Baqer al-Hakim and Sayed Abdul Majid al-Khoei.”

Kubbanji, the Najaf-based representative of SCIRI, escaped unscathed an attempt on his life yesterday as he finished giving the weekly sermon at the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf.

Hakim, a founder of SCIRI and its former leader, was killed in a massive car bomb attack at the shrine in August while Khoei, a moderate and prominent cleric, was stabbed to death near the shrine in April 2003.

Sadr, who is holed up in Najaf under the protection of his militia, is wanted by the US-led coalition in Iraqi in connection with Khoei's murder.

From the AFP via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation):

Clashes erupted Saturday in the Iraqi city of Kufa between Shiite Muslim militiamen and US troops for the second consecutive day after a ceasefire agreement, an AFP correspondent said.

”Last night, it was calm, but this morning at 9:00 US troops were out in force and opened fire from their tanks on the Kufa bridge at Mehdi Army positions,” said militia source Sheikh Mohammed Ghazawi.

Fighters loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose private Mehdi Army has been waging an uprising against US-led coalition troops for nearly two months, retaliated, he added.

An AFP correspondent said Sadr's fighters fired mortars and other artillery from the wall of a mosque at US positions on the bridge.
[…]
On Friday, four Iraqis were killed and 13 others and two US soldiers were wounded in fighting in Kufa on the main day of rest in Iraq. Both Sadr aides and US forces accused each other of violating the truce.

In Baghdad, Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, coalition deputy operations director, also said 16 mortar rounds were fired at a US base close to neighbouring Najaf.

“These would appear to be violations of the agreement that he signed his name to,” Brig Gen Kimmitt said in reference to Sadr.

“It could take a couple of days before the true ceasefire that he offered holds, but we will wait and see and we will continue to respond as and when necessary,” he added.
[…]
But in an interview with Qatar's Al Jazeera television late Friday, Sadr said peace would only be possible when foreign forces left Iraq.

From the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

The US says it will oppose attempts by other members of the United Nations Security Council to set a date for coalition forces to leave Iraq.

The suggestion was raised in discussions on a draft Anglo-American resolution on the handover to an interim Iraqi Government due to happen on June 30.

China has proposed ending the mandate in January 2005, when Iraqis are to go to the polls for their first election in the post-Saddam Hussein era.

There has been support for this from France and Germany.

But the State Department's Richard Boucher disagrees, pointing to the insurgency of the past year.

“That demonstrates more than amply for us, and I'm sure for many others why one can't set an arbitrary date for the end of the mandate for the multinational forces,” he said.

“There may be security situations that arise, that need to dealt with, as they have over the last year.”

Interesting that even France now acknowledges that the US had a UN 'mandate' in the first place.

From the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

The United States has confirmed that Iyad Allawi, a Shiite Muslim, will be Iraq's prime minister in the interim government

”He will be the prime minister when the interim government is set up in the next two or three days,” the Bush administration official said.

“We thought he would be an excellent prime minister. I think that this is going to work.”

The official says special UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi recommended Mr Allawi after consulting widely with Iraqis, the hand-picked Iraqi Governing Council and US officials.

Mr Allawi would become prime minister when the interim government takes authority on June 30.

“We have endorsed his recommendation, the Governing Council has endorsed unanimously this recommendation, the Iraqis that he has talked to obviously (endorsed it),” the official said.

Iyad Allawi is a former member of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, who worked with the CIA to topple him.

Mr Allawi's nomination emerged by consensus at a meeting of the 25 US appointees on Iraq's Governing Council.

The United Nations was caught off guard when the Governing Council announced Mr Allawi had been chosen, but says it respects the decision.

UPDATE : the AFP has a rather different view. From the AFP, via The Australian :

Top US officials today sought to distance themselves from a decision by the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council to nominate Iyad Allawi as prime minister of the future interim government, saying the call belonged to UN special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi.

While making clear they followed with great interest deliberations within the council, the officials, including Secretary of State Colin Powell, said they believed it was up to Brahimi to select a government that would run Iraq after the June 30 handover of power.

“I'm pleased that Mr Allawi has that kind of support,” Powell told foreign reporters.

“But we are working with Ambassador Lakhdar Brahimi, the secretary-general's representative, and he is the one we are waiting to hear from, not only with respect to the prime minister, but the president, the two vice presidents, as well as all of the cabinet ministers.”

The ABC Headline is US endorses prime minister-to-be Allawi, the AFP/Australian's one US distances itself from Iraq PM. We report, you decide.

From the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

United States President George W Bush says he is working with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the wording of a new United Nations Security Council resolution on Iraq.

The British and American-sponsored resolution aims to bolster international support for the Iraqi Government but would allow coalition troops to operate almost indefinitely in the country.

That aspect has raised concerns in Russia and France, which both hold veto power.

Mr Bush says Mr Putin has agreed to work with him.

“We're working closely in the United Nations to get a new Security Council resolution and we're making progress on that resolution,” he said.

“I spoke to Vladimir Putin this morning about the resolution and we agreed to work together.”

From the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

US forces have used so much ammunition in Iraq and elsewhere that its main supplier will not be able to met demand, US officials have said.

The US Army needs two billion bullets a year, but the government owned supplier can only make 1.2 billion, officials said.

The US military say that operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and other theatres as well as training needs have push demand to its highest level since the Vietnam war.

Government-owned bullet maker Alliant Techsystems says it is in talks with the military about remedying the shortage.

Company's chief executive Dan Murphy is quoted in Britian's Financial Times as saying the company is witnessing its fastest increase in production since the Vietnam War, has hired 1,000 workers over the past three years and is working round the clock to meet demand.

The US Army has already given contracts for 70 million rounds each to an Israel weapons maker and another US company.

This Monday is Memorial Day in the United States, our annual day of remembrance for those who have given their lives in military service of our country. With the war in Iraq, Memorial Day this year promises to be more poignant than in several years past. As such, we want to honor our war dead on these pages as well.

On Monday, May 31st, Michele and I will publish readers’ Memorial Day remembrances on our Op-Ed page. Remembrances may reflect on the meaning of the day, or may offer a memorial to a particular person or people who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country, regardless of war or theater. If you'd like to share your thoughts on the day, remember a particular person, or just say thank you to those who have served, we welcome your words.

We will accept and post any submission as we receive it and without editing, presuming it is appropriate to the tenor of the call above, and that it honors our standards of respectful and civil discourse.

If you’d like your thoughts, or your remembrance of a fallen soldier or soldiers, to be posted this Monday, please email your submission to alan at command-post dot org.

• Humvee attacked in Kufa
• Abu Ghraib convoy attacked
• Russian and Ukraine citizens evacuate Baghdad
• Two Japanese reportes killed in Ambush. (No idea why Times Online has the word killed in quotes. Odd)

via wire services:

Three days ago, three NBC journalists, along with an Iraqi, were captured in Falljuah. NBC never released a statement about it due to security reason.

The hostages were released today, after mediation between Iraq leaders the gunment.


The four were indentified as correspondent Ned Colt, soundman Robert Colvill, cameraman Maurice Roper, and freelance Iraqi journalist Ashraf Al Taie. They were all said to be physically fine.

I posted the entry below on Avocare several weeks ago, and while I don't often cross-post between my personal blog and Command Post, upon reflection (and with the discussions happening here of late) I thought you might find it of interest.

~ Alan

——————————-

You have likely not heard of Tom Barnett. He is a professor of warfare analysis at the Naval War College and a Defense Department analyst. He’s also the man who in 1998 worked with senior executives at Cantor Fitzgerald to study how globalization was changing national security. More recently, though, he’s been briefing the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Pentagon staffers, and the intelligence community his view of the future of US national security and the military it will require, and he appears to be shaping their thinking.

His central tenet is that the world is divided into nation states that are either part of a global community linked by trade, migration and capital flows, or nation states that either refuse to join the mainstream, or can’t because they have no central government or are debilitated by crisis. And for us, Community:Good, Non-Community:Bad (as in the breeding ground of terrorism, disease, and economic imbalance).

Given such a world, Mr. Barnett believes the US military should include two forces: “Leviathan,” which would be a hard-hitting force capable of quickly overwhelming conventional foes, and “System Administrators,” which would focus on bringing dysfunctional states into the mainstream through nation-building operations, and which would travel the world during peacetime building local security forces and infrastructure.

His thoughts, currently captured in a 3-hour PowerPoint presentation he’s developed, are perking ears in the military, intelligence, and government community. He’s delivered the presentation more than 150 times, and recently to the Pentagon's Joint Chiefs of Staff. His is an interesting and important argument … the most readily available account of which is this article he wrote for Esquire in March, 2003. You can get a more recent take in this WSJ article, reprinted on Dr. Barnett's website.

And finally, if you really want a glimpse of the man behind Leviathan, you should visit his weblog. A recent post: The New Core pillars at risk (India). (What, you're not surprised he's a blogger, are you?)

Many of you are familiar with our regular Iraq Briefings over at Winds of Change.NET, offering a roundup of both military developments and political/economic news that is cross-posted here (I neglected to cross-post Monday's Iraq Briefing by Maj. Olmsted, so here it is).

We have a slot open right now.

Last time I put out this call for people to step up and take on these briefings, a guy named Dan Darling answered. We accepted, he delivered, his own blog Regnum Crucis grew in popularity, and now he's headed to a Washington think-tank thanks to his briefings. USMA Instructor Robin Burk also answered, and she ended up becoming a team member on our blog.

Winds of Change.NET had over 1,000,000 visitors in 2003, and we're on pace to top that in 2004. This is a great gig for the right person - and right now, 2 regular slots are open - including a weekly Iraq Briefing:

Read The Rest…

From the AFP via The Australian :

Britain is to send 370 extra troops to Iraq in the run-up to the June 30 handover of sovereignty in Baghdad, Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon announced today in parliament.

”I am announcing a net increase of around 370 troop numbers to bring the total of United Kingdom forces supporting operations in Iraq to about 8900,” said Mr Hoon in the House of Commons.

From the ABC :

British forces faced fresh accusations today of abusing Iraqi prisoners with details emerging of another civilian allegedly killed by soldiers.
[…]
British Army investigators have handed the case to state prosecutors and it could result in civil murder charges, a Ministry of Defence spokeswoman said.

”Papers regarding Hassan Abbad Saied have been referred to the Crown Prosecution Service,” she said.
[…]
An investigation is under way into the death of Baha Mousa, a 26-year-old hotel receptionist who was allegedly beaten to death during interrogations last September.
[…]
Human rights group Amnesty International says UK troops have been involved in killing at least 37 civilians since May 1 2003 including an eight-year-old girl.

Not mentioned in the ABC report is that the 'killings' of the 37 civilians allegedly occurred during Combat operations. (Source: Amnesty International) and had nothing to do with the alleged abuse of prisoners.

From the AFP via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

Radical cleric Moqtada Sadr and a council of Iraqi clerics have agreed on a truce to end fighting in three contested cities between his militia and the US-led coalition, US officials say.

”They appear to have peacefully resolved the situation in Najaf, Kufa and Karbala,” a senior US official said.

“This is a significant achievement.”

A second US official says the ceasefire agreement “resulted from the efforts of the Shiite clergy to convince Sadr to stop the fighting”.

The agreement was reached in Iraq, and details of the plan would be announced tomorrow in Baghdad, the official says.

The first official says the deal would stop the violence by Sadr's large and disruptive private militia, halt their attacks on US troops and end their presence in Government buildings in the three cities.

The agreement also appears to make provisions for the disposition of some members of Sadr's private Mehdi Army, who were allegedly connected to the killing of a rival cleric last year.

From the NY Times:

… we have found a number of instances of coverage that was not as rigorous as it should have been. In some cases, information that was controversial then, and seems questionable now, was insufficiently qualified or allowed to stand unchallenged. Looking back, we wish we had been more aggressive in re-examining the claims as new evidence emerged — or failed to emerge.

The problematic articles varied in authorship and subject matter, but many shared a common feature. They depended at least in part on information from a circle of Iraqi informants, defectors and exiles bent on “regime change” in Iraq, people whose credibility has come under increasing public debate in recent weeks. (The most prominent of the anti-Saddam campaigners, Ahmad Chalabi, has been named as an occasional source in Times articles since at least 1991, and has introduced reporters to other exiles. He became a favorite of hard-liners within the Bush administration and a paid broker of information from Iraqi exiles, until his payments were cut off last week.) Complicating matters for journalists, the accounts of these exiles were often eagerly confirmed by United States officials convinced of the need to intervene in Iraq. Administration officials now acknowledge that they sometimes fell for misinformation from these exile sources. So did many news organizations — in particular, this one.

Some critics of our coverage during that time have focused blame on individual reporters. Our examination, however, indicates that the problem was more complicated. Editors at several levels who should have been challenging reporters and pressing for more skepticism were perhaps too intent on rushing scoops into the paper. Accounts of Iraqi defectors were not always weighed against their strong desire to have Saddam Hussein ousted. Articles based on dire claims about Iraq tended to get prominent display, while follow-up articles that called the original ones into question were sometimes buried. In some cases, there was no follow-up at all.

Read it all. Notable, but not particularly surprising given that no media outlet is eager to broadcast its own failings, is that the mea culpa was relatively buried, placed in International / Mid East. If you were trying to find it on the home page, you had to look in the right-hand callout column. Others have noted this as well, including USA TODAY, which reported 'N.Y. Times' criticized for quiet mea culpa. Their lead:

For the second time in a year, the nation's so-called paper of record, The New York Times, has admitted that the record was flawed.

But unlike the Jayson Blair scandal, in which the paper detailed how the reporter fabricated and plagiarized a string of stories, the note “from the editors” published in Wednesday's newspaper did not single out anyone at theTimes for blame. Instead, in an 1,100-word note, editors said it was “past time” the Times examined its reporting in the lead-up to the Iraq war.

[This has been moved to the Global War on Terror section. I will move the comments as well]

US troops captured a key lieutenant of Iraqi rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr during overnight clashes in Najaf that killed 24 people and wounded nearly 50.

Riyadh al-Nouri, al-Sadr’s brother-in-law, offered no resistance when American troops raided his home during a series of clashes in the Shiite holy city, according to Azhar al-Kinani, a staffer in al-Sadr’s office in Najaf.

The capture of al-Nouri would be a major blow to al-Sadr’s al-Mahdi Army, which has been battling coalition forces since early April.

Two Russian civilian contractors and at least one Iraqi were killed Wednesday south of Baghdad when a bus taking technicians to a power station came under attack, Russian and Iraqi officials said.

An Iraqi and at five Russian workers were also wounded, two of them critically, as they headed to work at the station that the Russian workers were helping to rebuild, interim electricity minister Aiham al-Samarrai told reporters.

The Russians were all employees of the Interenergoservice company, the largest Russian employer in Iraq.

Interenergoservice will be pulling the rest of its employees out of Iraq.

According to Reuters:

The United Nations is expected to pick Hussain Shahristani, a Shi'ite nuclear scientist who spent years in Abu Ghraib prison under Saddam Hussein, as premier of a new interim Iraqi government, U.S. sources said on Tuesday.

From California Yankee

The top U.S. military officer in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, will be replaced as part of a command restructuring that has been in the works for several months, administration officials said Tuesday. The Pentagon also suspended Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski from her command.

Both have become symbols of lax supervision at the Abu Ghraib prison where U.S. soldiers allegedly abused Iraqi inmates.

From the AFP via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation):

A US soldier has been killed and four others wounded in a rocket attack on a coalition base north-west of Baghdad.

The US military says the attack happened at 2:20pm local time.

“One Task Force Baghdad soldier was killed and four others wounded during a rocket attack on a coalition base north-west of Baghdad,” the statement said.

via WhiteHouse.gov

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Thank you and good evening. I'm honored to visit the Army War College. Generations of officers have come here to study the strategies and history of warfare. I've come here tonight to report to all Americans, and to the Iraqi people, on the strategy our nation is pursuing in Iraq, and the specific steps were taking to achieve our goals.

The actions of our enemies over the last few weeks have been brutal, calculating, and instructive. We've seen a car bombing take the life of a 61-year-old Iraqi named Izzedin Saleem, who was serving as President of the Governing Council. This crime shows our enemy's intention to prevent Iraqi self-government, even if that means killing a lifelong Iraqi patriot and a faithful Muslim. Mr. Saleem was assassinated by terrorists seeking the return of tyranny and the death of democracy.

We've also seen images of a young American facing decapitation. This vile display shows a contempt for all the rules of warfare, and all the bounds of civilized behavior. It reveals a fanaticism that was not caused by any action of ours, and would not be appeased by any concession. We suspect that the man with the knife was an al Qaeda associate named Zarqawi. He and other terrorists know that Iraq is now the central front in the war on terror. And we must understand that, as well. The return of tyranny to Iraq would be an unprecedented terrorist victory, and a cause for killers to rejoice. It would also embolden the terrorists, leading to more bombings, more beheadings, and more murders of the innocent around the world.

The rise of a free and self-governing Iraq will deny terrorists a base of operation, discredit their narrow ideology, and give momentum to reformers across the region. This will be a decisive blow to terrorism at the heart of its power, and a victory for the security of America and the civilized world.

Our work in Iraq has been hard. Our coalition has faced changing conditions of war, and that has required perseverance, sacrifice, and an ability to adapt. The swift removal of Saddam Hussein's regime last spring had an unintended effect: Instead of being killed or captured on the battlefield, some of Saddam's elite guards shed their uniforms and melted into the civilian population. These elements of Saddam's repressive regime and secret police have reorganized, rearmed, and adopted sophisticated terrorist tactics. They've linked up with foreign fighters and terrorists. In a few cities, extremists have tried to sow chaos and seize regional power for themselves. These groups and individuals have conflicting ambitions, but they share a goal: They hope to wear out the patience of Americans, our coalition, and Iraqis before the arrival of effective self-government, and before Iraqis have the capability to defend their freedom.

Iraq now faces a critical moment. As the Iraqi people move closer to governing themselves, the terrorists are likely to become more active and more brutal. There are difficult days ahead, and the way forward may sometimes appear chaotic. Yet our coalition is strong, our efforts are focused and unrelenting, and no power of the enemy will stop Iraq's progress. (Applause.)

Helping construct a stable democracy after decades of dictatorship is a massive undertaking. Yet we have a great advantage. Whenever people are given a choice in the matter, they prefer lives of freedom to lives of fear. Our enemies in Iraq are good at filling hospitals, but they do not build any. They can incite men to murder and suicide, but they cannot inspire men to live, and hope, and add to the progress of their country. The terrorists' only influence is violence, and their only agenda is death.

Our agenda, in contrast, is freedom and independence, security and prosperity for the Iraqi people. And by removing a source of terrorist violence and instability in the Middle East, we also make our own country more secure.

Our coalition has a clear goal, understood by all — to see the Iraqi people in charge of Iraq for the first time in generations. America's task in Iraq is not only to defeat an enemy, it is to give strength to a friend - a free, representative government that serves its people and fights on their behalf. And the sooner this goal is achieved, the sooner our job will be done.

There are five steps in our plan to help Iraq achieve democracy and freedom. We will hand over authority to a sovereign Iraqi government, help establish security, continue rebuilding Iraq's infrastructure, encourage more international support, and move toward a national election that will bring forward new leaders empowered by the Iraqi people.

The first of these steps will occur next month, when our coalition will transfer full sovereignty to a government of Iraqi citizens who will prepare the way for national elections. On June 30th, the Coalition Provisional Authority will cease to exist, and will not be replaced. The occupation will end, and Iraqis will govern their own affairs. America's ambassador to Iraq, John Negroponte, will present his credentials to the new president of Iraq. Our embassy in Baghdad will have the same purpose as any other American embassy, to assure good relations with a sovereign nation. America and other countries will continue to provide technical experts to help Iraq's ministries of government, but these ministries will report to Iraq's new prime minister.

The United Nations Special Envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, is now consulting with a broad spectrum of Iraqis to determine the composition of this interim government. The special envoy intends to put forward the names of interim government officials this week. In addition to a president, two vice presidents, and a prime minister, 26 Iraqi ministers will oversee government departments, from health to justice to defense. This new government will be advised by a national council, which will be chosen in July by Iraqis representing their country's diversity. This interim government will exercise full sovereignty until national elections are held. America fully supports Mr. Brahimi's efforts, and I have instructed the Coalition Provisional Authority to assist him in every way possible.

In preparation for sovereignty, many functions of government have already been transferred. Twelve government ministries are currently under the direct control of Iraqis. The Ministry of Education, for example, is out of the propaganda business, and is now concerned with educating Iraqi children. Under the direction of Dr. Ala'din al-Alwan, the Ministry has trained more than 30,000 teachers and supervisors for the schools of a new Iraq.

All along, some have questioned whether the Iraqi people are ready for self-government, or even want it. And all along, the Iraqi people have given their answer. In settings where Iraqis have met to discuss their country's future, they have endorsed representative government. And they are practicing representative government. Many of Iraq's cities and towns now have elected town councils or city governments - and beyond the violence, a civil society is emerging.

The June 30th transfer of sovereignty is an essential commitment of our strategy. Iraqis are proud people who resent foreign control of their affairs, just as we would. After decades under the tyrant, they are also reluctant to trust authority. By keeping our promise on June 30th, the coalition will demonstrate that we have no interest in occupation. And full sovereignty will give Iraqis a direct interest in the success of their own government. Iraqis will know that when they build a school or repair a bridge, they're not working for the Coalition Provisional Authority, they are working for themselves. And when they patrol the streets of Baghdad, or engage radical militias, they will be fighting for their own country.

The second step in the plan for Iraqi democracy is to help establish the stability and security that democracy requires. Coalition forces and the Iraqi people have the same enemies — the terrorists, illegal militia, and Saddam loyalists who stand between the Iraqi people and their future as a free nation. Working as allies, we will defend Iraq and defeat these enemies.

America will provide forces and support necessary for achieving these goals. Our commanders had estimated that a troop level below 115,000 would be sufficient at this point in the conflict. Given the recent increase in violence, we'll maintain our troop level at the current 138,000 as long as necessary. This has required extended duty for the 1st Armored Division and the 2nd Light Cavalry Regiment — 20,000 men and women who were scheduled to leave Iraq in April. Our nation appreciates their hard work and sacrifice, and they can know that they will be heading home soon. General Abizaid and other commanders in Iraq are constantly assessing the level of troops they need to fulfill the mission. If they need more troops, I will send them. The mission of our forces in Iraq is demanding and dangerous. Our troops are showing exceptional skill and courage. I thank them for their sacrifices and their duty. (Applause.)

In the city of Fallujah, there's been considerable violence by Saddam loyalists and foreign fighters, including the murder of four American contractors. American soldiers and Marines could have used overwhelming force. Our commanders, however, consulted with Iraq's Governing Council and local officials, and determined that massive strikes against the enemy would alienate the local population, and increase support for the insurgency. So we have pursued a different approach. We're making security a shared responsibility in Fallujah. Coalition commanders have worked with local leaders to create an all-Iraqi security force, which is now patrolling the city. Our soldiers and Marines will continue to disrupt enemy attacks on our supply routes, conduct joint patrols with Iraqis to destroy bomb factories and safe houses, and kill or capture any enemy.

We want Iraqi forces to gain experience and confidence in dealing with their country's enemies. We want the Iraqi people to know that we trust their growing capabilities, even as we help build them. At the same time, Fallujah must cease to be a sanctuary for the enemy, and those responsible for terrorism will be held to account.

In the cities of Najaf and Karbala and Kufa, most of the violence has been incited by a young, radical cleric who commands an illegal militia. These enemies have been hiding behind an innocent civilian population, storing arms and ammunition in mosques, and launching attacks from holy shrines. Our soldiers have treated religious sites with respect, while systematically dismantling the illegal militia. We're also seeing Iraqis, themselves, take more responsibility for restoring order. In recent weeks, Iraqi forces have ejected elements of this militia from the governor's office in Najaf. Yesterday, an elite Iraqi unit cleared out a weapons cache from a large mosque in Kufa. Respected Shia leaders have called on the militia to withdraw from these towns. Ordinary Iraqis have marched in protest against the militants.

As challenges arise in Fallujah, Najaf, and elsewhere, the tactics of our military will be flexible. Commanders on the ground will pay close attention to local conditions. And we will do all that is necessary — by measured force or overwhelming force — to achieve a stable Iraq.

Iraq's military, police, and border forces have begun to take on broader responsibilities. Eventually, they must be the primary defenders of Iraqi security, as American and coalition forces are withdrawn. And we're helping them to prepare for this role. In some cases, the early performance of Iraqi forces fell short. Some refused orders to engage the enemy. We've learned from these failures, and we've taken steps to correct them. Successful fighting units need a sense of cohesion, so we've lengthened and intensified their training. Successful units need to know they are fighting for the future of their own country, not for any occupying power, so we are ensuring that Iraqi forces serve under an Iraqi chain of command. Successful fighting units need the best possible leadership, so we improved the vetting and training of Iraqi officers and senior enlisted men.

At my direction, and with the support of Iraqi authorities, we are accelerating our program to help train Iraqis to defend their country. A new team of senior military officers is now assessing every unit in Iraq's security forces. I've asked this team to oversee the training of a force of 260,000 Iraqi soldiers, police, and other security personnel. Five Iraqi army battalions are in the field now, with another eight battalions to join them by July the 1st. The eventual goal is an Iraqi army of 35,000 soldiers in 27 battalions, fully prepared to defend their country.

After June 30th, American and other forces will still have important duties. American military forces in Iraq will operate under American command as a part of a multinational force authorized by the United Nations. Iraq's new sovereign government will still face enormous security challenges, and our forces will be there to help.

The third step in the plan for Iraqi democracy is to continue rebuilding that nation's infrastructure, so that a free Iraq can quickly gain economic independence and a better quality of life. Our coalition has already helped Iraqis to rebuild schools and refurbish hospitals and health clinics, repair bridges, upgrade the electrical grid, and modernize the communications system. And now a growing private economy is taking shape. A new currency has been introduced. Iraq's Governing Council approved a new law that opens the country to foreign investment for the first time in decades. Iraq has liberalized its trade policy, and today an Iraqi observer attends meetings of the World Trade Organization. Iraqi oil production has reached more than two million barrels per day, bringing revenues of nearly $6 billion so far this year, which is being used to help the people of Iraq. And thanks in part to our efforts — to the efforts of former Secretary of State James Baker, many of Iraq's largest creditors have pledged to forgive or substantially reduce Iraqi debt incurred by the former regime.

We're making progress. Yet there still is much work to do. Over the decades of Saddam's rule, Iraq's infrastructure was allowed to crumble, while money was diverted to palaces, and to wars, and to weapons programs. We're urging other nations to contribute to Iraqi reconstruction — and 37 countries and the IMF and the World Bank have so far pledged $13.5 billion in aid. America has dedicated more than $20 billion to reconstruction and development projects in Iraq. To ensure our money is spent wisely and effectively, our new embassy in Iraq will have regional offices in several key cities. These offices will work closely with Iraqis at all levels of government to help make sure projects are completed on time and on budget.

A new Iraq will also need a humane, well-supervised prison system. Under the dictator, prisons like Abu Ghraib were symbols of death and torture. That same prison became a symbol of disgraceful conduct by a few American troops who dishonored our country and disregarded our values. America will fund the construction of a modern, maximum security prison. When that prison is completed, detainees at Abu Ghraib will be relocated. Then, with the approval of the Iraqi government, we will demolish the Abu Ghraib prison, as a fitting symbol of Iraq's new beginning. (Applause.)

The fourth step in our plan is to enlist additional international support for Iraq's transition. At every stage, the United States has gone to the United Nations — to confront Saddam Hussein, to promise serious consequences for his actions, and to begin Iraqi reconstruction. Today, the United States and Great Britain presented a new resolution in the Security Council to help move Iraq toward self-government. I've directed Secretary Powell to work with fellow members of the Council to endorse the timetable the Iraqis have adopted, to express international support for Iraq's interim government, to reaffirm the world's security commitment to the Iraqi people, and to encourage other U.N. members to join in the effort. Despite past disagreements, most nations have indicated strong support for the success of a free Iraq. And I'm confident they will share in the responsibility of assuring that success.

Next month, at the NATO summit in Istanbul, I will thank our 15 NATO allies who together have more than 17,000 troops on the ground in Iraq. Great Britain and Poland are each leading a multinational division that is securing important parts of the country. And NATO, itself, is giving helpful intelligence, communications, and logistical support to the Polish-led division. At the summit, we will discuss NATO's role in helping Iraq build and secure its democracy.

The fifth and most important step is free, national elections, to be held no later than next January. A United Nations team, headed by Carina Perelli, is now in Iraq, helping form an independent election commission that will oversee an orderly, accurate national election. In that election, the Iraqi people will choose a transitional national assembly, the first freely-elected, truly representative national governing body in Iraq's history. This assembly will serve as Iraq's legislature, and it will choose a transitional government with executive powers. The transitional national assembly will also draft a new constitution, which will be presented to the Iraqi people in a referendum scheduled for the fall of 2005. Under this new constitution, Iraq will elect a permanent government by the end of next year.

In this time of war and liberation and rebuilding, American soldiers and civilians on the ground have come to know and respect the citizens of Iraq. They're a proud people who hold strong and diverse opinions. Yet Iraqis are united in a broad and deep conviction: They're determined never again to live at the mercy of a dictator. And they believe that a national election will put that dark time behind them. A representative government that protects basic rights, elected by Iraqis, is the best defense against the return of tyranny — and that election is coming. (Applause.)

Completing the five steps to Iraqi elected self-government will not be easy. There's likely to be more violence before the transfer of sovereignty, and after the transfer of sovereignty. The terrorists and Saddam loyalists would rather see many Iraqis die than have any live in freedom. But terrorists will not determine the future of Iraq. (Applause.)

That nation is moving every week toward free elections and a permanent place among free nations. Like every nation that has made the journey to democracy, Iraqis will raise up a government that reflects their own culture and values. I sent American troops to Iraq to defend our security, not to stay as an occupying power. I sent American troops to Iraq to make its people free, not to make them American. Iraqis will write their own history, and find their own way. As they do, Iraqis can be certain, a free Iraq will always have a friend in the United States of America. (Applause.)

In the last 32 months, history has placed great demands on our country, and events have come quickly. Americans have seen the flames of September the 11th, followed battles in the mountains of Afghanistan, and learned new terms like “orange alert” and “ricin” and “dirty bomb.” We've seen killers at work on trains in Madrid, in a bank in Istanbul, at a synagogue in Tunis, and at a nightclub in Bali. And now the families of our soldiers and civilian workers pray for their sons and daughters in Mosul and Karbala and Baghdad.

We did not seek this war on terror, but this is the world as we find it. We must keep our focus. We must do our duty. History is moving, and it will tend toward hope, or tend toward tragedy. Our terrorist enemies have a vision that guides and explains all their varied acts of murder. They seek to impose Taliban-like rule, country by country, across the greater Middle East. They seek the total control of every person, and mind, and soul, a harsh society in which women are voiceless and brutalized. They seek bases of operation to train more killers and export more violence. They commit dramatic acts of murder to shock, frighten and demoralize civilized nations, hoping we will retreat from the world and give them free rein. They seek weapons of mass destruction, to impose their will through blackmail and catastrophic attacks. None of this is the expression of a religion. It is a totalitarian political ideology, pursued with consuming zeal, and without conscience.

Our actions, too, are guided by a vision. We believe that freedom can advance and change lives in the greater Middle East, as it has advanced and changed lives in Asia, and Latin America, and Eastern Europe, and Africa. We believe it is a tragedy of history that in the Middle East — which gave the world great gifts of law and science and faith — so many have been held back by lawless tyranny and fanaticism. We believe that when all Middle Eastern peoples are finally allowed to live and think and work and worship as free men and women, they will reclaim the greatness of their own heritage. And when that day comes, the bitterness and burning hatreds that feed terrorism will fade and die away. America and all the world will be safer when hope has returned to the Middle East.

These two visions — one of tyranny and murder, the other of liberty and life — clashed in Afghanistan. And thanks to brave U.S. and coalition forces and to Afghan patriots, the nightmare of the Taliban is over, and that nation is coming to life again. These two visions have now met in Iraq, and are contending for the future of that country. The failure of freedom would only mark the beginning of peril and violence. But, my fellow Americans, we will not fail. We will persevere, and defeat this enemy, and hold this hard-won ground for the realm of liberty.

May God bless our country. (Applause.)

From the AFP via The Australian :

Three people, including a child, were killed today in a roadside explosion in Baghdad that destroyed their car only minutes before a US convoy drove by, witnesses said.

The dismembered, charred bodies of two adults and a child sat in the twisted car wreckage, according to an AFP correspondent at the scene.

“I saw a strong explosion,” said Shayma Naqib, a resident of the eastern Baghdad neighbourhood of Zayun, where the apparent roadside bomb attack was carried out.

“It went off minutes before a US convoy passed,” she said.

From the AFP via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation):

A US soldier and a US marine have died in a roadside bomb attack near the Iraqi city of Fallujah, the US military says.

”One US soldier and one US marine were killed and several other US forces and one civilian contractor were wounded when attackers detonated an improvised explosive device, at about 4:50 pm May 23 north-west of Fallujah,” the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force said in a statement.

“Reports indicate the device was placed in a parked vehicle and detonated as two US convoys passed on the highway,” the statement added.

The US military also reported that four soldiers were wounded by roadside bombs and four others by mortar attacks on a military facility in Baghdad on Sunday.

Another soldier was wounded by small arms fire when anti-coalition forces attacked an Iraqi police station in north-east Baghdad.

AP: Video Shows Iraq Wedding Celebration

A videotape obtained Sunday by Associated Press Television News captures a wedding party that survivors say was later attacked by U.S. planes early Wednesday, killing up to 45 people. The dead included the cameraman, Yasser Shawkat Abdullah, hired to record the festivities, which ended Tuesday night before the planes struck.

The U.S. military says it is investigating the attack, which took place in the village of Mogr el-Deeb about five miles from the Syrian border, but that all evidence so far indicates the target was a safehouse for foreign fighters.

“There was no evidence of a wedding: no decorations, no musical instruments found, no large quantities of food or leftover servings one would expect from a wedding celebration,” Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said Saturday. “There may have been some kind of celebration. Bad people have celebrations, too.”

But video that APTN shot a day after the attack shows fragments of musical instruments, pots and pans and brightly colored beddings used for celebrations, scattered around the bombed out tent.

The wedding videotape shows a dozen white pickup trucks speeding through the desert escorting the bridal car — decorated with colorful ribbons. The bride wears a Western-style white bridal dress and veil. The camera captures her stepping out of the car but does not show a close-up.

U.S. troops battled fighters loyal to a radical Muslim cleric in his stronghold of Kufa, and at least 32 insurgents and three civilians were killed, the military and witnesses said. Iraqi security forces patrolled another Shiite holy city, Karbala, after reports that militiamen had left.

The clashes broke out when American tanks and troops moved into Kufa for the first time in an effort to weaken the militia of Muqtada al-Sadr, who launched an uprising against the coalition in early April. The fiercely anti-U.S. cleric routinely delivers a sermon at Friday prayers in Kufa.

U.S. forces fought militiamen near Kufa's Sahla mosque and an Iraqi counterterrorism force then entered and “cleared” it, the military said in a statement. Soldiers seized a machine gun, two mortar tubes and over 200 mortar rounds as well as rocket-propelled grenade launchers and rounds, it said.

Radhi Mohammed, a mosque employee, said American troops smashed the door with an armored vehicle and killed people inside. An Associated Press photographer saw bloodstains on the floor that indicated someone had been dragged for at least 10 yards. There was blood in the bathrooms.

Maj. Gen. Martin Dempsey, commander of the 1st Armored Division, said U.S. forces had taken care not to damage Shiite Muslim shrines even though militiamen were using them as fighting positions.

“We have no intention of entering the shrines,” Dempsey said, adding that Iraqi security forces would enter them if necessary. The radical cleric's supporters have accused the military of desecrating holy places.

[Update to this story]

The U.S. military command on Sunday denied a report that the top U.S. general in Iraq was present during some interrogations at the Abu Ghraib prison and witnessed some of the abuse of Iraqi inmates.

…

“There was a news report published May 23, 2004, which suggests that Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, commander of Multinational Forces-Iraq was aware of, and in some instances, present at Abu Ghraib while detainee abuse was occurring,” the U.S. military said in a statement. “This report is false.”

From the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

The United States-led coalition have confirmed that about 20 people were killed in clashes in the central Iraqi city of Kufa.
[..]
“An estimated 20 militiamen were killed when coalition soldiers returned fire after being attacked with rocket propelled grenade (RPG) and small arms fire during a raid on the Selah mosque in Kufa,” the military spokesman said.

”There were no reports of coalition casualties,” he said.

“Coalition forces found four mortar tubes and rounds, rockets, RPGs and a machine gun stored in the mosque compound.”

From the AFP via The Australian :

Five Iraqis, including two children, were killed by a mortar explosion in Basra, a medic in the southern Iraq port city said.

The five were killed when a mortar shell hit their house in Al-Iskan in the northern outskirts of Basra, according to Mustafa Sahab, a doctor at the city's Port Hospital.

This is not yet widely reported, but I did see a lead on CNN TV, and the AJC (free reg required) has the story. Here's the lead:

A military lawyer for a soldier charged in the Abu Ghraib abuse case testified that a captain at the Baghdad prison said the highest-ranking U.S. military officer in Iraq was present during some “interrogations and/or allegations of the prisoner abuse,” according to a recording of a military hearing obtained by The Washington Post.

The lawyer said he was told that Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez and other senior military officers were aware of what was taking place on Tier 1A of Abu Ghraib. The lawyer, Capt. Robert Shuck, also said a sergeant at the prison was prepared to testify that intelligence officers told him the abuse of detainees on the cellblock was “the right thing to do.”

The second paragraph is obviously more important than the first … let the definition of “aware” begin.

CNN: U.S.: No evidence of wedding at attack site

Dozens of people killed in a U.S. attack in the Iraqi desert Wednesday were attending a high-level meeting of foreign fighters, not a wedding, and photos shown to reporters in Baghdad support that belief, according to the senior coalition military spokesman.

Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said six women were among the dead, but there is no evidence any children died in the raid early Wednesday near the Syrian border.

Coalition officials have said that as many as 40 people were killed in the attack.

He said that video showing dead children killed was actually recorded in Ramadi, far from the attack scene.

An Iraqi man interviewed by The Associated Press as the bodies of women and children were unloaded from a truck for burial said they had gathered for a wedding celebration when they were attacked.

“There may have been some kind of celebration,” Kimmitt said. “Bad people have celebrations too. Bad people have parties too.”

Kimmitt said that troops did not find anything — such as a wedding tent, gifts, musical instruments, decorations or leftover food — that would indicate that a wedding had been held.

Some details have emerged today about the situation at Abu Ghraib that are of note. From the Associated Press :

Many of the worst abuses that have come to light from the Abu Ghraib prison happened on a single November day amid a flare of insurgent violence in Iraq, the deaths of many U.S. soldiers and a breakdown of the American guards' command structure.

Nov. 8 was the day U.S. guards took most of the infamous photographs: soldiers mugging in front of a pile of naked, hooded Iraqis, prisoners forced to perform or simulate sex acts, a hooded prisoner in a scarecrow-like pose with wires attached to him.

It was unclear Friday whether most or all of the new pictures and video published by The Washington Post depicted events on Nov. 8. At least one photo, showing Spc. Charles Graner Jr. with his arm cocked as if to punch a prisoner, is described in military court documents as having been taken that day.

When Spc. Jeremy C. Sivits tearfully pleaded guilty Wednesday to abusing prisoners, he described fellow soldiers committing an escalating series of abuses on eight prisoners that included stamping on their toes and fingers and punching one man hard enough to knock him out.

Sivits is likely to testify about the events of Nov. 8 at courts-martial for other soldiers charged with abuse. Three of them declined to enter pleas at hearings Wednesday: Sgt. Javal Davis, Staff Sgt. Ivan “Chip” Frederick II and Graner.

The abuse came during Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting and reflection. The abused Iraqis, Sivits said, had been suspected of taking part in a prison riot that day. They were held at Abu Ghraib on suspicion of common crimes, not attacks on U.S. forces, said Col. Marc Warren, the top legal adviser to Iraqi commander Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez.

The day of abuse — a Saturday — capped what had been the worst week for U.S. troops in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion. Nearly three dozen had been killed in a surge of attacks that left some other soldiers frustrated and frightened. Insurgents had attacked the Abu Ghraib prison and other U.S. bases in the area with mortars several times in previous weeks.
[…]
The International Red Cross temporarily pulled out of Iraq on Nov. 8 because of the violence, which also had included a deadly car bomb outside the aid group's Baghdad headquarters on Oct. 27.

Three Iraqi prisoners escaped in the four days before Nov. 8 — and an additional half-dozen detainees escaped on that day, according to the military's internal report prepared by Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba.

Finally, a report not spun at 10,000 RPM. There's little comfort in it, but it explains a lot.

From the AFP via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

Coalition troops and the militia of Moqtada al-Sadr withdrew from the centre of the holy city of Karbala on Saturday, more than a month after the radical Shiite cleric launched an uprising in Iraq, AFP reported.

Ali al-Kazali, a high ranking member of Sadr's Mehdi Army militia, told AFP: “We have decided to remove all the (Mehdi) army presence from the centre of the city as we are waiting for the agreement with the other side to be finalised this afternoon.”

Then there's this AP report, via The Australian :

A US patrol of Bradley fighting vehicles, one M113 armoured personnel carrier and infantry conducted a three-hour patrol around the outskirts of Karbala's Old City district before dawn today. An Associated Press reporter who accompanied them reported no shooting.

The soldiers sat cramped inside the Bradley vehicles, night vision goggles strapped to their helmets and weapons at the ready. Then they returned to their base on the outskirts of town.

Sounds as if the AFP is half right.

From the AP via The Australian :

…today, the military said a US soldier was killed and three others were wounded in an attack on their vehicle south of Baghdad, and a marine died in a non-hostile incident. It said the soldiers' vehicle was “ambushed by a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device” in Mahmoudiyah, 30km south of Baghdad. The statement did not say when the attack occurred.

Two of the injured soldiers were evacuated to a combat hospital. The third wounded soldier returned to duty after treatment. All the casualties were from the US Army's 1st Armoured Division.

The military also said the marine, assigned to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, died yesterday near Camp Fallujah, west of Baghdad, while “conducting security and stability operations”.

From the AP via The Australian :

Abdul-Jabbar Youssef al-Sheikhli, the deputy minister in charge of security, was slightly injured in the forehead and right arm, said Hassan Hadi, a Health Ministry official. “I expect he will leave the hospital in a short time,” Hadi said.

Al-Sheikhli is a member of the Shi'ite Muslim Dawa party, which lost a prominent member this week in another fatal car bombing.
[…]
he blast outside al-Sheikhli's house occurred about 200 metres from the headquarters of the former Iraqi general security service in the Baghdad district of Baladiyat.

Police and US military officers at the scene said the dead included four Iraqi policemen and a female neighbour who died in her home.

US Army Capt Brian O'Malley of the 1st Cavalry Division, the US Army unit in charge of security in Baghdad, said the blast occurred about 8.05am local time (2.05pm AEST) and was caused by a “vehicle-borne improvised explosive device”.

It was unclear whether the bomb was detonated by a suicide attacker.

Interior Minister Samir Shaker Mahmoud al-Sumeidi visited the site and was mobbed by distraught neighbours who screamed at him to “come and see what happened to our homes”.

“God does not accept this,” one man shouted.

“It would seem that the criminals do not want the law to prevail or the security men to implement it,” he told reporters. “I want every honourable man in this country to condemn this crime.”

Minutes before al-Sumeidi arrived, scuffles broke out between police and a crowd that gathered outside the deputy minister's house. Police fired shots to disperse the crowd.

More than an hour after the blast, smoke rose from several wrecked cars, and debris was scattered in the street. The blast hurled two cars through a wall and onto the garden of the deputy minister's house.

There were bloodstains in the two-storey house and on the street, as well as outside the second-storey windows of nearby houses. Three palm trees in the garden of the deputy minister's home were blackened from the explosion.
[…]
In Baqouba, a town north of Baghdad, the president of Diyala University, Khosham Atta, survived an assassination attempt today when gunmen shot at his car as he went to work, the university said. Atta was unhurt.

From the AFP via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

A suicide bombing has taken place outside the Baghdad home of an aide of Iraq's interim interior minister, with the aide and his family wounded, the minister said.

“There was a suicide attack against one of my deputies outside his home in Baghdad. My aide and his family are in hospital,” Samir al-Sumaiday said, without giving any further details.

He did not identify the deputy hurt in the attack.

UPDATE : This time directly via the ABC's correspondent :

A car bomb has exploded in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, killing up to five people.

Witnesses have said a car packed with explosives crashed near the home of a government official.

The explosion lifted cars off the ground and shattered windows.

The engine block of one vehicle was thrown more than 50 metres away from the blast.

The car bomb exploded in the front yard of the home of Abdel Jabar Yussef, the Under Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior.

Mr Yussef and his family were injured.

Witnesses say up to 20 security guards were killed or injured in the blast.

The attack happened in a middle class neighbourhood in the east of the capital.

United States soldiers have sealed off the site.

Bewildered neighbours are starting to clean up the damage.

Many families were preparing to take their children to school when the explosion tore through the street.

From The Australian :

The US Army has reportedly taken disciplinary action against a soldier in military intelligence who alleged the army was trying to cover up the extent of the Iraqi prison scandal.

Earlier this week, Sergeant Samuel Provance told America's ABC television that dozens of soldiers had been involved in the abuse at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad. Only seven have been charged so far.
[…]
He said he was told he would face administrative action for failing to report what he knew at the time and for failing to take steps to stop the abuse.

“I see it as an effort to intimidate Sergeant Provance and any other soldier whose conscience is bothering him, and who wants to come forward and tell what really happened at Abu Ghraib,” the soldier's lawyer, Scott Horton, was quoted as saying.

Sgt Provance, 30, was part of the 302nd Military Intelligence Battalion stationed at Abu Ghraib in September.

From Reuters via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

United States and Iraqi forces have stormed the offices of rebel Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in the northern city of Kirkuk and detained 15 people suspected of a bomb attack there.

Stepping up pressure on Sadr, US forces also arrested one of his top aides near the city of Najaf, where fighters loyal to Sadr have “dug in” near shrines that are among the most sacred ground in Shiite Islam, Sadr's group said.

Major William Southard said weapons including hand grenades and guns were seized in the raid, which he said aimed to capture Abdulfatah al-Mousawi, Sadr's Kirkuk representative.

Mousawi was not in the building.

Office employee Hussein Ali said US forces arrested religion students and a cleric in the raid late on Thursday.

In a statement, Sadr aide Qays al-Khazali said another aide, Mohammad Tabtabai, had been arrested and his driver killed when US forces intercepted their car between Najaf and nearby Kufa, where Sadr led Friday prayers.

The chief US military spokesman in Iraq told a news conference in Baghdad the Kirkuk detainees were suspected of involvement in numerous attacks, including a bombing in a city market earlier this month that killed four people.

From NewsDay:

WASHINGTON — The Defense Intelligence Agency has concluded that a U.S.-funded arm of Ahmed Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress has been used for years by Iranian intelligence to pass disinformation to the United States and to collect highly sensitive American secrets, according to intelligence sources.

“Iranian intelligence has been manipulating the United States through Chalabi by furnishing through his Information Collection Program information to provoke the United States into getting rid of Saddam Hussein,” said an intelligence source Friday who was briefed on the Defense Intelligence Agency's conclusions, which were based on a review of thousands of internal documents.

The Information Collection Program also “kept the Iranians informed about what we were doing” by passing classified U.S. documents and other sensitive information, he said. The program has received millions of dollars from the U.S. government over several years.

…..

Patrick Lang, former director of the intelligence agency's Middle East branch, …

He described it as “one of the most sophisticated and successful intelligence operations in history.”

“I'm a spook. I appreciate good work. This was good work,” he said.

…

The links between the INC and U.S. intelligence go back to at least 1992, when Karim was picked by Chalabi to run his security and military operations.

…..

In 1995, for instance, Khidhir Hamza, who had once worked in Iraq's nuclear program and whose claims that Iraq had continued a massive bomb program in the 1990s are now largely discredited, gave UN nuclear inspectors what appeared to be explosive documents about Iraq's program. Hamza, who fled Iraq in 1994, teamed up with Chalabi after his escape.

The documents, which referred to results of experiments on enriched uranium in the bomb's core, were almost flawless, according to Andrew Cockburn's recent account of the event in the political newsletter CounterPunch.

But the inspectors were troubled by one minor matter: Some of the techinical descriptions used terms that would only be used by an Iranian. They determined that the original copy had been written in Farsi by an Iranian scientist and then translated into Arabic.

And the International Atomic Energy Agency concluded the documents were fraudulent.

This may very well provide a major explanation for the “intelligence failure” about WMD's. A sophisticated counter-intelligence operation was being run against the United States for years - across three administrations. Many of the WMD specifics came from this operation. There is an old Middle Eastern proverb that this brings to mind:

A camel was preparing to cross a road when a scorpion came up to him and said: “Mr. Camel, may I ride on your back across the river.”

The Camel replied: “But you will sting me and I will die.”

The Scorpion countered: “But if I do that, I will drown.”

Convinced, the Camel allowed the scorpion to climb upon his back, and started swimming the river.

Partway across, the scorpion stung the Camel.

The Camel, shocked, said: “Why did you do that? Now we will both die!”

The scorpion responded: “It's the Middle East, idiot!”

U.S. officials believe they have “rock solid” evidence that Iraqi Governing Council member Ahmad Chalabi, once a darling of the American government, passed secrets to Iran, Fox News has learned.

“There is no need for an investigation because we're quite certain he did it,” one senior Bush administration official said.

CNN: Spain pulls out last Iraq troops

The Spanish Defense Ministry says it has completed its troop withdrawal from Iraq, fulfilling a campaign pledge made by Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez.

At the time of the initial withdrawal announcement, there were 1,430 Spanish troops in Iraq, but nearly half of them had already left by Friday.

AP: Iraqis Arrest Four in Berg Beheading

Four people have been detained in the killing of American Nicholas Berg, whose decapitation was captured on videotape, an Iraqi security official and a U.S. military official said Friday. The Iraqi official said the group that killed Berg was led by a relative of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites).

The suspects were former members of Saddam Hussein's Fedayeen paramilitary organization, the Iraqi security official said on condition of anonymity. Iraqi police arrested them on May 14 in a house in Salaheddin province, north of Baghdad. The province includes Tikrit, Saddam's hometown.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a U.S. military official in Baghdad confirmed four people were in custody. The official did not say who was holding the suspects.

Cross-post from OTB

This looks like the same story that was reported here the other day, with just a few more details. Fox has this as breaking news.

Iraqi police have detained four people in connection with the killing of American Nicholas Berg, Fox News confirmed Friday.

Two were released after questioning, while the other two remained in custody.

An anonymous Iraqi security official told the Associated Press that the four were former members of Saddam Hussein's Saddam Fedayeen paramilitary organization, and were arrested a week ago in a house in Salaheddin province, north of Baghdad.

Cross-post from OTB

Yesterday's news the one-time Pentagon favorite Dr. Ahmad Chalabi's home was raided by Iraqi and US forces, coming a day after lavish funding for his Iraqi National Congress was abruptly cut off, has a lot of us scratching our heads. Several pieces in today's major papers try to clarify the situation.

NYT — Chalabi's Seat of Honor Lost to Open Political Warfare With U.S. [RSS]

By Thursday morning, when his home and office were raided by the Iraqi police and American troops seeking evidence of fraud, embezzlement and kidnapping by members of his Iraqi National Congress — and perhaps an explanation of his dealings with Iranian intelligence — Mr. Chalabi was already engaged in open political warfare with the Bush administration.

Now he says that with the liberation of Iraq, the United States should get out of the way. “My message is let my people go, let my people be free,” he said, clearly angry that his bedroom had been invaded and that his computers and papers had been confiscated. “We are grateful to President Bush for liberating Iraq, but it is time for the Iraqi people to run their affairs.”

***

Mr. Chalabi had no doubt what his role was: the man who led the liberation of Iraq. In an interview last winter, when he was leading an effort to keep the Iraqi Governing Council in power even after a new Iraqi government took office, Mr. Chalabi argued that he and others on the council “are the ones that opposed Saddam Hussein for all those years and, allied with the United States, overthrew him.”

“Now the United States wants to overthrow us?” he asked.

Reacting to that, Sheik Ghazi Marshal Ajil al-Yawar, another council member who is its president today, shook his head and said: “They think they are entitled to a role because they believe they overthrew Saddam Hussein. It was the United States that overthrew Saddam while we were eating TV dinners.”

Quite so.

LA Times — From Ally To Outcast In U.S. Eyes

Although Chalabi, a member of the Iraqi Governing Council, may still find himself in an important role in Iraq, his split with U.S. authorities invalidated one of the administration's assumptions about the war. They had bet on the wrong man.

Chalabi was one of the primary advocates for the war, and he was well positioned to argue the case as head of an umbrella exile group called the Iraqi National Congress, which he helped organize in the aftermath of the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

Chalabi, whose father once headed the Iraqi Senate, was educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and fled to Jordan with his family after a coup in Baghdad in 1958.

As head of the INC during the 1990s, he cultivated the support of influential members of Congress and leading neoconservatives. The most dramatic sign of U.S. confidence in Chalabi came on April 6, 2003, when U.S. forces airlifted him and about 500 INC fighters from northern Iraq to the southern city of Nasiriya, to help stabilize the country as American forces prepared to seize Baghdad.

As recently as March, one U.S. official marveled at Chalabi's skills in making the Americans think he was their most important contact with the Iraqis, and making the Iraqis think they needed him to get what they wanted from the Americans.

***

U.S. officials have been irritated at the adversarial role he has played within the U.S.-picked Iraqi Governing Council. He has openly clashed with L. Paul Bremer III, the U.S. administrator in Iraq, and pushed for the new Iraqi government to have more power, including over security forces and oil revenues.

He has been in the middle of an increasingly bitter fight with the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority over the investigation of the United Nations' “oil-for-food” program. U.S. officials are unhappy that he has been unwilling to turn over documents scooped up after the war that bear on the investigation.

Some U.S. officials complain that Chalabi has been parceling out the documents in small numbers each month to justify the $340,000 in U.S. aid to the INC. U.S. officials announced this week that the money was being halted because Iraq was about to regain its sovereignty.

NYT — Friends Like This [RSS]

Yesterday, American and Iraqi security forces raided and ransacked Mr. Chalabi's home and offices in Baghdad, supposedly as part of an investigation into still-unspecified offenses. Earlier in the week, the United States halted the monthly $335,000 payments it had been giving to the Iraqi National Congress, the Chalabi political organization. The money was supposed to be for intelligence gathering, and it had continued to flow even after it had become apparent that much of the information Mr. Chalabi had produced was dead wrong. He was one of the chief cheerleaders for the theory that Iraq had vast quantities of weapons of mass destruction. Secretary of State Colin Powell's disastrous misstatements to the United Nations about mobile weapons labs in Iraq now seem to have been based on fabrications by an informer linked to Mr. Chalabi.

Lately, Mr. Chalabi — who has no genuine political base — has concluded that anti-Americanism is the key to political popularity. He is also an opponent of Lakhdar Brahimi, the United Nations official whom the United States is counting on to form a new Iraqi government by June 30. As the Chalabi and American interests diverged, the relationship naturally soured. Nevertheless, the sight of American-controlled forces smashing their way into the home of a leading politician, even one this unappetizing, was troubling. American authorities' claims that it was an Iraqi operation were implausible; they failed to explain who would order the police to attack a member of the Governing Council because the interior minister said he had not.

Many people in the Bush administration have been growing angry at the way Mr. Chalabi keeps biting the hand that fed him so well for so long. Some of them also say the rosy picture he and his fellow exiles drew of Iraqis' welcoming the American troops along those never-seen flower-strewn highways contributed to one of the most disastrous miscalculations of the war: Donald Rumsfeld's decision to send too few troops to secure the country after Saddam Hussein fled.

There's little to recommend Mr. Chalabi as a politician, or certainly as an informer. But he can't be made a scapegoat. The Bush administration should have known what it was doing when it gave enormous credence to a questionable character whose own self-interest was totally invested in getting the Americans to invade Iraq. Mr. Rumsfeld desperately wanted to prove his theories of light warfare, and everyone in the White House, with their eyes on that big tax-cut plan, wanted to believe that Iraq was as the exiles said: practically begging to be invaded, and possible to run on the cheap.

Even at this late date, it's good to see that Washington is distancing itself from the man who is the symbol of all those disastrous blunders. But so far, the ham-handed raid seems only to have given the opportunistic Mr. Chalabi, with his absurd “let my people go” sound bite yesterday, a way to portray himself as a martyred Iraqi patriot.

I can't disagree with any of this.

WSJ, perhaps not surprisingly, disagrees: The Chalabi Treatment

Someday we hope U.S. officials will explain to us how in scarcely a year they managed to turn one of our closest allies in ousting Saddam Hussein into an opponent of American purposes. We're referring to Ahmed Chalabi, the member of the Iraqi Governing Council whose home and office were raided by coalition forces yesterday in Baghdad.

A coalition spokesman said the raid wasn't aimed at either Mr. Chalabi or his political organization, the Iraqi National Congress. Instead, U.S. sources say the police were looking for evidence as part of an Iraqi-led fraud probe into Iraqis connected to the Ministry of Finance that Mr. Chalabi has supervised as a member of the Iraqi Governing Council. We suspect that distinction will be lost on most Iraqi news reports.

For his part, Mr. Chalabi blamed a political vendetta inspired by U.S. regent L. Paul Bremer. And he claimed the police were hunting for records related to the U.N.'s corrupt Oil for Food Program that he's been investigating. His ties with the coalition are now “non-existent,” the businessman and former exile added.

We don't know enough of the facts to take sides. But we certainly think Mr. Chalabi deserves the benefit of the doubt, especially in light of his treatment by many U.S. officials over the past year. Some reporters still refer to him as the Pentagon's “favorite” to rule Iraq. If that's true we'd hate to see what happens to a non-favorite.

He's been vilified repeatedly in background quotes by U.S. “sources,” especially by State Department and CIA officials who won't forgive him for opposing their status quo views of Saddam and the Mideast. Far from being anointed as Iraq's version of Afghanistan's Hamid Karzai, Mr. Chalabi was named by Mr. Bremer as just one of 25 members to the unwieldy Governing Council.

***

One other irony, we suppose, is that yesterday's coalition raid might actually help Mr. Chalabi in political terms. It should certainly free him of any taint of being an American puppet. With Mr. Brahimi likely to freeze him out after June 30, Mr. Chalabi will be able to devote himself to building a party to run in the elections currently scheduled for January 2005. It's no compliment to our work in Iraq that we may have turned opposition to America into an Iraqi political asset.

True, although hardly surprising.

WaPo's Jim Hoagland — Cutting Off Chalabi

More recently Chalabi added White House staffers and occupation chief Paul Bremer to the long list of those he has offended and challenged with his domineering manner, prickly sense of nationalism and unshakable self-confidence. By coming out in open, bitter opposition to the latest U.S. transition plan and its rehabilitation of senior Baathists, Chalabi seems to have crossed a final red line.

There is a hugely serious argument to be had at this crucial time on the future of Iraq. Neither Chalabi nor the Americans have all of the answers exactly right. But the impression that heavy-handed tactics have been used primarily to silence an effective critic of re-Baathification is inescapable.

A moderate Shiite who once worked with the shah of Iran (and others) against Hussein, Chalabi has also clashed with Washington over his effort to forge better relations with the current regime in Tehran. And Bremer recently moved to undercut the Chalabi-initiated investigation into kickbacks and corruption in the United Nations' oil-for-food program.

The idea that this raid had nothing to do with Chalabi's bitter opposition to U.S. policy will be seen as laughable by Iraqis and other Arabs. They know of the long American record of supporting or accepting national kleptocracies in Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere. This raid at this time, when police and military power are urgently needed elsewhere, can only further deepen skepticism about America's dedication to the rule of law and basic fair play in Iraq.

Iraq is not Vietnam. But Baghdad is rapidly turning into a latter-day Saigon — a place where intelligence agents and prison guards are laws unto themselves and take revenge on uppity locals while senior Americans help or look the other way. Is this the “democracy” President Bush promised to Iraq?

Of course, Chalabi wasn't elected by anyone.

Obviously, Chalabi has been damaged goods for some time. He also didn't help matters by acting as if he were in charge when he clearly isn't or by biting the hand that was quite literally feeding him. Still, the timing of recent events is puzzling. Two potential explanations are, as one of the editorials implied, that Chalabi is being positioned as a scapegoat to take the blame for an operation that has been politically damaging. Aside from the moral implications of that, though, it makes little sense politically since most Americans don't know who Chalabi is and, regardless, will hold the president accountable for the war. Another possibility, which is a bit devious and conspiratorial, is that the Administration still believes Chalabi is the best option available and is trying to bolster his reputation by making him seem more heroic in Iraq. That seems flawed on a host of levels. A third possibility, and the most likely, is that it's more complicated than either of those explanations.

UPDATE: More detail on something alluded to in other accounts may explain things much better:

CBS News — America's 'Best Friend' A Spy?

Senior U.S. officials told 60 Minutes Correspondent Lesley Stahl that they have evidence Chalabi has been passing highly-classified U.S. intelligence to Iran.

The evidence shows that Chalabi personally gave Iranian intelligence officers information so sensitive that if revealed it could, quote, “get Americans killed.” The evidence is said to be “rock solid.”

Sources have told Stahl a high-level investigation is underway into who in the U.S. government gave Chalabi such sensitive information in the first place.

In addition, sources told Stahl that one of Chalabi's closest confidantes — a senior member of his organization, the Iraqi national congress — is believed to have been recruited by Iran's intelligence agency, the Ministry of Information and Security (MOIS) — and is on their payroll.

LA Times — War More Than Academic Exercise For West Point Class Of 2004 [Reg: otbblog/jamesotb]

For the class of 2004 here, the war in Iraq is much more than an academic exercise. The conflict has overshadowed their final year at West Point as they prepare to be commissioned as second lieutenants — and make the practical and psychological adjustments of shifting rapidly from students to trainees to combat commanders.

When this year's class entered the academy four years ago, the country was at peace. The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks were a year away. The U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq came during their “yearling” (sophomore) and “cow” (junior) years, respectively.

Now the cadets are bombarded with the latest updates on the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan — from newspapers, television, the Internet and from friends, relatives and mentors serving in the combat zones. They are very much aware that they could face the same difficult decisions confronting recent West Point graduates who are now officers leading soldiers into combat.

Cadets are commissioned as second lieutenants the day they graduate — this year after a scheduled commencement address by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. They attend an officer's basic course for several months to a year, depending on their specialty, and then report to an active-duty unit, many of which are preparing to deploy to Iraq.

On average, according to West Point officials, certain cadets could find themselves in Iraq in eight months to a year.

***

For several years, cadets have taken courses in Middle Eastern studies, Arabic and urban warfare. The academy also has created a “combating terrorism center” that brings in veterans of special operations units and other guest speakers with experience in counterterrorism.

But no matter how many combat veterans and commanders return to their alma mater to lecture on the realities of war, there is no way to fully prepare young men and women (16% of cadets are female) for the death and brutality of the combat zone. Many cadets say they realize they won't know how well prepared they are until they actually lead soldiers into combat.

“The academy does as good a job as possible to prepare the cadets for combat, but certainly actual combat isn't something you can fully prepare for until you're there,” said Capt. Aimee Hobby Rhodes, an assistant professor of law at the academy.

Since the Iraqi invasion began in March 2003, the academy said, 11 West Point graduates have been killed in action. They range from a lieutenant colonel who graduated in 1982 to a first lieutenant who graduated two years ago.

Commentary and analysis at OTB.

A Spanish radio journalist is being held in the Iraqi city of Najaf by a Shiite group linked to rebel cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, state radio reported on Friday.

Spanish National Radio said its correspondent Fran Sevilla, who reported the Spanish troops' withdrawal from their base at Diwaniya earlier on Friday, was unharmed but his telephone was about to be confiscated.

“He was intercepted by a group of militants of the Shiite leader al-Sadr. He phoned to say where he was, in a mosque in Najaf, and that they were going to take away his phone,” state radio editor Javier Arenas told the radio.

“He is physically fine.”

REUTERS: Jazeera Newsman Killed in Clashes in Iraq

Arab news channel al-Jazeera said on Friday one of its employees was killed overnight in clashes between U.S. forces and militiamen loyal to radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

It said Rashid Hamid Wali was killed in fighting in the southern city of Kerbala where U.S. forces are battling to put down a weeks-old rebellion by Sadr's militia.

“Our colleague Rashid Hamid Wali was martyred while the team of al-Jazeera was filming the clashes between U.S. forces and the Mahdi Army in the Bab Baghdad area in Kerbala last night,” the channel announced.

It said Wali was on the fourth floor of his hotel when bullets, fired at the hotel where they worked, killed him. It did not say if Wali was a cameraman or correspondent.

From the AFP via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

Ten civilians, including an Iraqi working for Al Jazeera television were killed in overnight fighting between US troops and Shiite militia in the holy cities of Karbala and Najaf.

Hospital sources said another 16 people were wounded in the violence which erupted in the two cities between coalition troops and the private militia of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

Dr Ali Aradawi, head of the hospital's casualty department said nine bodies were taken to the morgue at Karbala city hospital.

Another 10 people were brought in with injuries.

In Najaf, Kifah Shamal, director of the Hakim hospital said one civilian was killed and six others wounded in a short burst of heavy fighting near the city's cemetery.

American AC-130 gunships and tanks pounded militia positions early Friday near two shrines in the center of the holy city of Karbala, and the U.S. military said it killed 18 fighters loyal to a rebel cleric.

U.S. troops and Iraqi police on Thursday suddenly surrounded and raided Chalabi's house — and police also searched offices of his organization, the Iraqi National Congress.

CIA sources told Fox News there are reports that the INC passed information to Iran, but as far as what type of information, the sources said that isn't known for sure.

Defense officials also told Fox News there was speculation that INC members allegedly shared information with Iran (search) and misused funds and property belonging to the Iraqi Governing Council.

CBS News reported that the U.S. has evidence Chalabi has been passing highly classified U.S. intelligence to Iran, citing senior U.S. officials.

CBS said the “rock solid” evidence was said to show that Chalabi himself gave Iranian intelligence officers information so closely guarded that if revealed it could “get Americans killed.”

Update: Newsday is reporting that Aras Karim Habib, Chalibi's aide, may have also been a spy for Iran.

[Habib] is a Shia Kurd who ran a program for Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress which the Pentagon funded to gather Saddam Hussein-era documents and provide informants until it abruptly dropped its support this month. The Information Collection Program had received $340,000 a month since October 2002.

A U.S. intelligence source said that information about Karim's activities came in part from a detainee at the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where hundreds of Taliban and al-Qaida fighters are being held.

Another source with access to sensitive intelligence and who was interviewed separately confirmed that the United States had developed information leading the government to believe that “this guy is an agent of the Iranians.”

Welcome! Our goal is to give you one power-packed briefing of insights, news and trends from the global War on Terror that leaves you stimulated, informed, and occasionally amused every Monday & Thursday. Today's “Winds of War” is brought to you by Dan Darling. of Regnum Crucis.

TOP TOPICS

• Pakistani tribal politics resemble a bad sitcom. Another tribal lashkar has been raised for the alleged purpose of going after foreign terrorists hiding out in Waziristan, though I would feel a lot better about this if they didn't simply show up and ask if any foreigners were in the area and move on after receiving “No” for an answer. Former al-Qaeda training camp commander and Waziri tribal leader Nek Mohammed, meanwhile, is back on the warpath over the government's hideously unreasonable belief that he does not possess the right to harbor international terrorists on Pakistani soil. By way of good news, it seems that four al-Qaeda suspects were captured in the Northwest Frontier Province, but it doesn't appear that the tribal lashkars had anything to do with it.

• The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders killed 35 insurgents near Amarain the first British bayonet charge in 22 years . The British are also staging a show of force in the surrounding area.

• According to former trainers for the Vinell Corporation, the first set of Riyadh bombings was perpetrated with the active knowledge and assistance of the Saudi National Guard, which is charged with the protection of the Saudi royal family. I myself considered this a no-brainer given where the explosives came from, but this would appear to substantiate earlier reports that al-Qaeda has pretty much infiltrated the most of the Saudi military.

Other Topics Today Include: Iraq Briefing; Iran Reports; Afghan disarmament begins; Pakistan women being trained as suicide bombers; HSBC banks bombed in Turkey; Thai separatists are Wahhabis; plot against Israeli embassy in Australia; al-Qaeda member visited Japan; Spain busts al-Qaeda recruiters; Pentagon can't confirm Abderrazak reports; Egypt thwarts Muslim Brotherhood coup attempt; Gambia busts a sleeper; al-Qaeda gearing up for another major attack in Saudi; and a talking toilet!

Read the Rest…

From the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

United States troops and Iraqi police have raided the office of Governing Council member Ahmed Chalabi.

Police seized computers and documents.

Soldiers and police entered the headquarters of the Iraqi National Congress (INC) Party.

The INC is led by member of the US-appointed Governing Council Mr Chalabi.

A nearby house also used by Mr Chalabi was raided by US troops and Iraqi police.

The troops removed computers, files and other equipment.

No one was arrested and Mr Chalabi was absent.

Soldiers have sealed off the compound in southern Baghdad.

The Pentagon announced earlier this week that it had stopped funding Mr Chalabi's party.

US officials have expressed concern about the accuracy of intelligence information provided by the INC.

Note that last line.

U.S. Troops and Iraqi police searched the residence of Ahmad Chalabi yesterday. They also searched the office of Iraqi National Congress. Reports are that they were looking for fugitives.

Some witnesses say that boxes were taken out of the house and loaded into trucks, while others say that there were people led out of the house as well, presumably members of Chalabi's entourage.

One of Chalabi's aides accused the U.S. forces of pressuring Chalabi.

*These reports were culled from various wire services - most complete story so far is here*

Update: Newsday has a more comprehensive story up now:

There was no comment from the U.S. military press office.Police sealed off the residence in the city's fashionable Mansour district and would not allow reporters to approach. At least two Humvees could be seen, with a dozen U.S. troops milling about.

Several armed Westerners were also seen, wearing flak vests and using SUVs without license tags — vehicles associated here with U.S. security.

**

Musawi said the U.S.-Iraqi force surrounded the compound about 10:30 a.m., while Chalabi, a member of the Iraqi Governing Council, was inside. They told Chalabi's aides that they wanted to search the house for Iraqi National Congress officials wanted by the authorities.

The aides agreed to let one unarmed Iraqi policeman inside to look around.

“The Iraqi police were very embarrassed and said that they (the Americans) ordered them to come and that they didn't know it was Chalabi's house,” Musawi said. “The INC is ready to have any impartial and judicial body investigate any accusation against it. There are American parties who have a list of Iraqi personalities that they want arrested to put pressure on the Iraqi political force.”

Musawi said the Americans also seized computers from INC offices.

I'm not sure why I'm not finding more mentions of this development in the usual suspects of US mainstream media. In any event, the U.S. has quietly announced that they will no longer fund the Iraqi National Congress (headed by Ahmad Chalabi). The U.S. has been providing monthly payments of $335,000.

Two explanations are playing right now—

“This is a long-term support [for the INC] — pre-war and during the war — for years and years and years. So, as we turn over sovereignty, [ending the financial support is] an essential step. We are going to leave Iraq to the Iraqis, because if the Iraqis are sovereign and have their own government, the U.S. should not support one political group or another, financially or in any other way,” Kipper said.

and on the other side—

But it is the quality of that intelligence that is at issue as the United States severs its formal relationship with Chalabi and his group, according to Mark Burgess, an analyst at the Center for Defense Information, a policy research center in Washington.

Burgess tells RFE/RL that members of the Bush administration must be embarrassed that they put so much trust in the INC. But he says the Bush administration ultimately has no one to blame but itself.

“[Chalabi] was telling [Bush administration officials] something they wanted to hear. They just wanted to believe it. It would have been nice had it worked out that way. Maybe they let their wishful thinking cloud their better judgment. Maybe they thought it was worth the risk. Maybe they thought, 'Well, you know, if it looks, six months down the line, like it's not going to work — a year down the line — we'll stop funding him, and we'll wipe our hands of him,' ” Burgess said.

I blog, you decide.

The U.S. version differs greatly from the Iraqi version:

According to the military, at 3 a.m. local time Wednesday, coalition forces conducted an operation against a suspected foreign fighter safe house in the open desert. The house was 25 kilometers from the Syrian border, 85 kilometers southwest of Husaybah (search), military officials said.

Coalition forces came under hostile fire and called for support from the air. After the strike, coalition forces recovered numerous weapons, foreign passports, a SATCOM radio and two million Iraqi and Syrian dinars, military officials said.

The attack killed about 40 people, officials said.

A Coalition Press Information Center official said that since it was carried out during a raid on a suspected safe house, the air strike would therefore be “within the rules of engagement.”

That official reiterated that the objective was a suspected hideout, and had no information about a wedding party.

Pentagon officials Wednesday denied alleged eyewitness reports of a U.S. attack on a wedding party in a remote area of western Iraq that killed innocent civilians.

“Our report is that this was not a wedding party, that these were anti-coalition forces that fired first, and that U.S. troops returned fire, destroying several vehicles, and killing a number of them,” a Pentagon spokesman said.

One note about the area in which the attack took place:

The area, a desolate region populated only by shepherds, is popular with smugglers, including weapons smugglers, and the U.S. military suspects militants use it as a route to slip in from Syria to fight the Americans. It is under constant surveillance by American forces.

More than 40 people have been killed in a US helicopter attack in Iraq, according to AP news agency.

Al Arabiya television has put the death toll at more than 20 civilians.

Iraqi officials have said the helicopter fired on a wedding in the west of the country.

Television footage has shown Iraqis digging graves and burying many bodies.

The US military said it could not confirm the report and is investigating.

Update: No confirmation yet, but FOX and CNN are also reporting this in their breaking news headlines.

AP:

Iraqis interviewed on the videotape said partygoers had fired into the air in a traditional wedding celebration. American troops have sometimes mistaken celebratory gunfire for hostile fire.

“I cannot comment on this because we have not received any reports from our units that this has happened nor that any were involved in such a tragedy,” Lt. Col. Dan Williams, a U.S. military spokesman, wrote in an e-mail in response to a question from The Associated Press.

“We take all these requests seriously and we have forwarded this inquiry to the Joint Operations Center for further review and any other information that may be available,” Williams said.

The video footage showed mourners with shovels digging graves. A group of men crouched and wept around one coffin.

Al-Ani said people at the wedding fired weapons in the air, and that American troops came to investigate and left. However, al-Ani said, helicopters attacked the area at about 3 a.m. Two houses were destroyed, he said.

Update: This from wire services:

Senior military officials in Washington said their initial information was that U.S. forces conducted a strike on “anti-coalition vehicles” along the Iraqi-Syrian border.

Military policeman Jeremy Sivits, was sentenced to a year in jail Wednesday after confessing he and colleagues abused Iraqi prisoners. Sivits was also expelled from the army.

According to Reuters:

The court imposed a maximum sentence on Sivits but it was not enough for protesters outside Abu Ghraib prison, scene of the scandal that erupted when pictures were published of naked and terrified Iraqi inmates being abused and sexually humiliated.

“It's a kangaroo court, set up just to placate Iraqis,” said Hala Azzawi, mother of one of some 3,000 Iraqis held at the jail near Baghdad, notorious as Sadam Hussein's torture center.

“I wish they would get death, it's less than they deserve.”

Sivits, a 24-year-old reservist with the rank of Specialist, pointed the finger at others, against whom he will testify under a plea bargain, over the abuses.

From California Yankee.

Spc. Jeremy C. Sivits was found guilty Wednesday of three counts of abuse in the first court-martial stemming from mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison.

Sivits pleaded guilty to three counts of abuse. The court-martial then found him guilty of all charges. In a quirk of military law, if the defendant pleads guilty, they have to prove to the court they are guilty and the court then formally renders a finding.

Sivits, at times struggling to hold back tears, was charged with mistreating detainees, dereliction of duty for failing to protect them from abuse, cruelty and forcing a prisoner “to be positioned in a pile on the floor to be assaulted by other soldiers.”

Sivits went on to describe in detail some of the abuses that went on in Abu Ghraib. He reached a pre-trial agreement with prosecutors to testify against the other defendants.

UPI

Coalition Provisional Authority staff came under attack in Nasiriyah, Iraq and were evacuated from their headquarters late Monday, military officials said.

The building was attacked by the militia loyal to the young cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who is wanted in connection with the murder of another cleric in Najaf a year ago, U.S. Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said Tuesday.

“Coalition forces are securing the property while Sadr militia are using hit-and-run tactics in various parts of the city,” Kimmitt said.

A coalition headquarters in al-Amarah was also attacked with seven mortar rounds on three occasions Monday, he said.

AFP

United States prison guard Jeremy Sivits has pleaded guilty to charges relating to the abuse and humiliation of inmates inside Iraq's Abu Ghraib jail at a court martial in Baghdad.

Sivits, 24, admitted conspiracy to maltreat detainees, maltreatment of detainees and dereliction of duty around November 8 last year in the first trial over the scandal that has rocked the US-led coalition and President George W Bush's administration.

Sivits, who holds the rank of specialist, admitted leading a detainee to a pile of inmates on the floor and then took a photograph of them while another guard, Specialist Charles Graner, kneeled on them.

Sivits admitted an amended charge, saying he was involved in a conspiracy to pile inmates on top of each other in a pyramid but accepted only that someone had taken a photograph.

Sivits sat next to his military lawyer during the hearing, speaking only to confirm that he understood details of the proceedings.

He faces up to a year in jail.

That's what was inside the artillery shell found yesterday.

Tests of the artillery shell that detonated in Iraq on Saturday have confirmed that it did in fact contain an estimated three or four liters of the deadly sarin nerve agent, Defense officials told Fox News Tuesday.

The artillery shell was left as a roadside bomb, the U.S. military said Monday. Two U.S. soldiers were treated for minor exposure to the nerve agent when the 155-mm shell exploded before it could be rendered inoperable. Three liters is about three-quarters of a gallon; four liters is roughly a gallon.

The soldiers displayed “classic” symptoms of sarin exposure — most notably dilated pupils and nausea, officials said. The symptoms ran their course fairly quickly, however, and as of Tuesday, the two had returned to duty.

Four people were arrested in connection with the beheading of Nick Berg, an American seeking work in Iraq, Agence France-Presse reported, citing unidentified Iraqi officials.

Further information on the suspects and their links to the case wasn't immediately available.

(Bloomberg)

FNC cites a AFP report that four people have been arrested in the murder of Nick Berg.

CPA presser just started. I'll post relevant updates.

UPDATE: No mention in the opening statements by Gen. Kimmitt or Dan Senor. Questions ensue…CNN reporter asks about arrests, Gen. Kimmitt denies any knowledge.

Link Roundup:

Khaleej Times

News.com.au

UPDATE 2: Apparently, there has been four people detained. There are mixed signals whether they are or are not in connection with the Berg murder.

From the IMHO department, these arrests may be people with knowledge about the murder and murderers.

As many of you know, the Winds team strongly supports a charity called Spirit of America, who recently raised over $US 1.5 million to help set up locally owned media in Iraq that can compete with Al-Jazeera (known to Kurds and Shi'ites as “The Sunni News Network” for its previous support of Saddam and ongoing hostility).

This drive built on earlier efforts to acquire, organize, pack and ship over $50,000 worth of school supplies, medical kits, and toys for distribution to needy Iraqis by the 1st Marine Division (Winds Links: organizing the event, after-event success report, early results in Fallujah).

Now, we have more good news to report: media gear for 7 Iraqi owned and operated TV stations has arrived at Camp Blue Diamond – the Marines Division Headquarters in Ar Ramadi, Iraq.

USMC Lt. Col. John Lutkenhouse reports on their plans:

Read The Rest…

“Terrorists are trying to stop Iraq's march to sovereignty and peace,” L. Paul Bremer said at the memorial service for Izzadine Saleem, who was killed by a homicide bomber Monday at a checkpoint near the coalition's Baghdad headquarters. “We must continue the political process leading to an interim government next month and to elections next year.”

That new Iraqi government will take over after the U.S.-led coalition relinquishes power on June 30, Bremer vowed.

I'm donning my hat as someone who took a RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force) Advanced course on NBC (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical) warfare many years ago.

Sarin is a Nerve Agent. Unless the dose is massive, it works by paralysing the muscles that keep you breathing. It is similar in chemical composition to many pesticides, which are also Organophosphate compunds. In fact, Sarin was first developed as a pesticide, and any factory capable of making commonly used Organophosphate pesticides (such as Malathion and Parathion) is also easily convertible to one making Sarin, often no conversion as such is neccessary, just change the initial ingredients and the settings. What makes a perfectly legitimate pesticide factory into a WMD factory are facilities for filling shells, bombs and rockets, or storing weapons-grade chemical munitions.

Sarin's chemical formula is C4-H10-F-O2-P .

The weaponised form is known as GB. (Parenthetically, all gas weapons have a 2-letter code, from CS for 'tear gas' through to 'VX' for a very nasty persistant nerve gas). It's not really a gas, it's a liquid that vapourises at room temperature. Fog and Mist are similar, they're not gasses, they're actually lots of water droplets suspended in air. GB is similar in effect to the other so-called 'G-agents' Tabun(GA), and Soman(GD).

GB is non-persistant; that is, a few minutes after it's been released, it's relatively safe to enter the affected area. Persistant weapons (such as VX) contaminate the area so it's dangerous for weeks or months.

Chemicals such as GB and VX are (obviously) very dangerous to handle and to store. They also degrade over time. But it's possible to use only slightly less effective Binary Agents that are much safer to have around, and last longer in storage. Instead of one deadly poison, you have two much less dangerous chemicals. When mixed thoroughly (and possibly heated) the two chemicals combine to form the agent - usually GB or VX, plus a few incidental byproducts.

A binary artillery shell is projected from an artillery piece with an acceleration of over 100g, and spins at thousands of RPM. It also gets very hot, from the flame of the propellant, but also from air friction. This is quite enough to break the membrane separating the two chemicals, and mix them very thoroughly indeed. By the time the shell reaches the target, the chemical reaction is complete, and a small bursting charge shatters the shell and spreads the fog of droplets over a wide area.

If the artillery shell is (accidentally or deliberately) detonated without being fired from an artillery piece, there is very little mixing of the chemicals. Although the chemicals are not totally safe (I wouldn't drink them, for example), the amount of Sarin produced would be very small, and chemical wounds would be minor and easily treatable.

This appears to be what happened in Iraq recently.

The shell itself has been identified as a 155mm shell, that is, not a common former-Soviet or Chinese calibre. (They use mainly 152mm, though 155mm Chinese guns exist). 155mm is about 6 inches, and refers to the width of the shell. 155mm is used by NATO countries, such as the USA and UK, but also by pretty much everyone else, including Serbia and Australia.

Before the weapons embargo in 1991, Saddam Hussein had the following 155mm artillery pieces that we know about:

76 French GCT Self-Propelled (SP) Howitzers
18 Ex-Iranian M109 SP Howitzers (Captured)
3 Italian Palmaria SP Howitzers
92 German FH70 towed guns
200 Austrian GHN45 towed guns
18 French Type 1950 towed howitzers
124 South African G45 towed guns

That Iraq had the ability to manufacture its own Binary-Sarin weapons and 155mm shells has been known for years, and appears in UNSCOM reports dating to 1991.

The USA ceased producing binary-agent chemical shells due to a Congressional Mandate nearly 20 years ago.

From the AFP via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

United States forces say they have killed at least 50 militiamen loyal to radical Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in heavy overnight clashes in Iraq's south.

US Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt says fighting in the downtown area of the Muslim holy city of Karbala continued for much of the night.

Coalition forces estimated up to 30 people were killed.

In Nasiriyah, Brig Gen Kimmitt says coalition forces killed about 20 Sadr loyalists in air strikes.

A civil engineer from the northern city of Mosul was sworn in Monday to replace the assassinated leader of the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council.

The council selected Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawar as president after a suicide bomber killed Izzedine Salim on Monday morning in Baghdad, rattling the U.S.-backed coalition as it prepares to hand over sovereignty of the country to Iraqis on June 30.

Al-Yawar, a Sunni Muslim who would have assumed the rotating council presidency June 1, will complete Salim's term and serve through the scheduled handover.

A former Saddam Hussein era general appointed by the Americans to lead an Iraqi security force in the rebellious Sunni stronghold of Fallujah urged tribal elders and sheiks Sunday to support U.S. efforts to stabilize Iraq.

Standout quote:

“We can make them (Americans) use their rifles against us or we can make them build our country, it's your choice.

Welcome! Our goal at Winds of Change.NET is to give you one power-packed briefing of insights, news and trends from Iraq that leaves you stimulated, informed, and occasionally amused every Monday & Thursday. This briefing is brought to you by Andrew Olmsted of Andrew Olmsted dot com.

TOP TOPICS

• A suicide car bomb killed the head of Iraq's Governing Council and at least eight other Iraqis in Baghdad. Abdel-Zahraa Othman, also known as Izzadine Saleem, was the second member of the Governing Council to be assassinated. The council selected Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer, a civil engineer from the northern city of Mosul, to replace Saleem. Although this may be a difficult blow to U.S.attempts to stabilize Iraq, the Governing Council was slated to turn whatever power it had over to the interim government July 1. If this attack doesn't derail the transition, the new government should be able to move on from this attack without great difficulty.

• A report claiming that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld approved the use of tougher interrogation techniques is drawing a strong backlash from the Pentagon. Phil Carter takes a look at the report and the Pentagon reaction to it.

• Ryan Boots of Sound & Fury offers “The Carnival of the Liberated” a set of highlights from Iraqi bloggers last week.

• If the interim Iraqi government asks the Coalition to leave Iraq, America will do so. So says Secretary of State Colin Powell, settling a minor controversy that arose when Thursday's Congressional testimony offered two different answers to the question. Powell also said the U.S. would accept a theocratic government in Iraq, if that was the result of the elections.

Other Topics Today Include: the U.S. puts down an uprising in Baghdad; Coalition command structure revised; Fallujah townspeople and al-Sadr discuss cooperation; al-Sadr's political success; Saddam told he could be given back to 'his' people.

Read the Rest…

MAARIV: Two Russian hostages freed in Iraq

Two Russians abducted by guerrillas in Iraq earlier this month were freed Monday in the southern outskirts of Baghdad. Andrei Meshcheryakov and Alexander Gordiyenko were kidnapped on May 10.

Fox News has just reported that an artillery shell filled with Sarin gas has been discovered in Iraq. Will follow with a link ASAP.

UPDATE:

From Gen. Kimmitt's presser:

155 mm round.

It was rigged as an IED.

It detonated before it could be rendered inoperable.

Small amount of agent was dispersed.

Believe Weapon Stocked from Ex-regime time.

(Now some reporter is asking questions about Abu Gharib—go figure)

UPDATE 2:
Per Lyle's comment, the General indicated that whoever placed it was not aware that the shell contained sarin; rather the person(s) most likely used what they presumed to be a standard artillery shell as an IED and, unwittingly, had one that contained sarin that they had secured from a stockpile from the Hussein regime.

CNN and FNC both have 'Breaking News' banners; no link as of yet.

UPDATE 3:

FNC has the first link.

UPDATE 4:

Last of the updates as the news sites are covering the story now.

Artillery shell IED was in the area near the Baghdad airport.

A few US soldiers suffered very minor effects of exposure to the agent, have been treated and released.

A Sarin shell is a binary weapon. To oversimplify, this means there are two parts to the weapon consiting of chemicals that must be mixed to produce sarin agent. Because of the way the IED was rigged, only miniscule amounts of the two chemicals reacted with each other, thus only a small amount od Sarin was released.

The incident occurred a “couple of days ago.”

And in the IMHO department: The understated way the news was announced by Gen. Kimmitt during his regular presser seems to illustrate the CPA and the Army's intention not to make this a 'big' announcement. However, most news outlets are running with the story as a significant development.

Links:

FNC

CNN

AP

Reuters

UPDATE 5:

Okay, more updates. FNC reports senior administration officials have said approximately 2 weeks ago there was another shell that contained mustard gas and may have been from among the over 550 mustard gas shells that Saddam had not accounted for to the UN weapons inspections teams.

Gas was found to be somewhat inert by the Survey Group.

The final total: $14,777.16, and my wife and I kicked in the difference to make it an even $15,000.

We deposited the fund in the Tom Family Education Trust right away … the transactions (needed to make two due to PayPal's transaction limit) were complete by 12:15 AM. Here's the proof (click to see full sized):

I was on the phone with Susan when we announced it in the chat room, and she had the kids with her … they were all thrilled. As I heard Hannah say in the background: “That's a lot of money!” That's right, Hannah, and we hope it helps you get a wonderful education.

I'm bushed, but as readers go you guys are the best. Thanks for all the encouragement, support, and contributions … I'm going to personally thank every single person who gave, not matter how long it takes. And remember: lots of people doing a little bit make a big difference.

Thanks for strengthening the good.

From FOX News:

BAGHDAD, Iraq — The head of Iraqi Governing Council (search) was killed Monday in a car bombing near a U.S. checkpoint in central Baghdad, an Iraqi official said.

Abdel-Zahraa Othman, also known as Izzadine Saleem (search), was among four Iraqis killed in the blast, according to Redha Jawad Taki, a member of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, a Shiite Muslim organization.

Saleem, the name he went by most frequently, was a Shiite and leader of the Islamic Dawa Movement (search) in the southern city of Basra. He was a writer, philosopher and political activist, who served as editor of several newspapers and magazines.

There is so much spin in mainstream press reporting from Iraq that it has become impossible to sort out what exactly is happening. Casualty lists of 'Insurgents', 'Militants', 'Fighters', innocents caught in the crossfire, victims of deliberate terrorism, and coalition military casualties have been deliberately conflated in order to further some agenda or other.

From the AFP, via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

Overnight fighting has claimed 15 coalition and Iraqi lives and left dozens wounded in several Iraq cities, according to military and hospital sources.

Nine Iraqis were killed and 14 others were injured during clashes overnight between radical Shiite militiamen and Italian troops in the southern city of Nasiriyah, hospital sources said on Monday.

The clashes followed fighting on Sunday during which six Italian soldiers were injured, one seriously, as the coalition troops were forced to temporarily abandon a position on one of the main bridges.

Twenty-eight people were also hurt on Sunday when a shell hit a market in the centre of the city, 375 kilometres south-east of Baghdad, where the Italians and the Mehdi Army of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr continued to exchange fire.

Meanwhile, a US soldier was killed and two others injured in a gun battle in a city south of Baghdad, the American military said in a statement.

The soldiers, from the 1st Armoured Division, were not named.

The statement did not specify the city where the clash happened.

In Karbala, at least five Shiite militiamen were killed and 32 injured during fighting overnight between US troops and fighters loyal to Moqtada al-Sadr, hospital sources said.

Read carefully, and you'll see that '15 Coalition.. lives' is actually one US soldier.

Reporting what appears to be the same incidents, but may be completely different, is the AP via The Australian :

Fighters loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr drove Italian forces from a base in the southern city of Nasiriyah and attacked coalition headquarters there with grenade and mortar fire as tensions in the Shiite region escalated.

Two US soldiers died elsewhere and gunmen killed three Iraqi women working for the US led-coalition.
[…]
Two Iraqi fighters were killed and 20 were wounded in battles in Nasiriyah, mostly at two bridges across the Euphrates, residents said.
[…]
At least 10 Italians were wounded, one critically, contingent spokesman Lt. Col. Giuseppe Perrone told The Associated Press by phone. He said the Italians relocated to the nearby Tallil air base.
[…]
Also in Nasiriyah, a convoy transporting the Italian official in charge of the city, Barbara Contini, came under attack as it neared the headquarters of the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority, Perrone said. Two Italian paramilitary police were wounded.
[…]
Elsewhere in southern Iraq, assailants in Basra fired a mortar shell that hit a house near a British military base, killing four Iraqi civilians, including 2-year-old twin girls, witnesses said. Four people were wounded. All the victims were related.

Gunmen fired on a minibus and detonated explosives in Baghdad on Sunday, killing two Iraqi women and their driver and injuring another woman. Police said the women were working for the Americans but did not specify their jobs.

Early yesterday, a female Iraqi translator working with US troops was killed and another was critically injured when gunmen broke into their houses in Mahmoudiyah, Dawood al-Taee, director of the city's hospital, said.

The civilian killings appeared to be part of a rebel strategy to deter co-operation between Iraqis and the coalition, which plans to hand over sovereignty on June 30.

One US soldier was killed on Saturday night when a bomb exploded beside a vehicle in Baghdad, the Army said. A second soldier died of wounds suffered during a fire fight on Saturday south of the capital, the military said.

So a 'temporary position on a bridge' in one article is a 'base' in the other. At least one of the reports is wildly innaccurate, possibly both.

• Coalition Evacuates HQ in Nasiriyah

Most of the civilian staff of the U.S.-led coalition was evacuated from their headquarters in the southern city of Nasiriyah because of growing threats from Muqtada al-Sadr's militiamen, a coalition official said Sunday.

• New Yorker magazine says Rumsfeld ok'd abuse:

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has been accused of personally authorising a secret programme that encouraged abuse of Iraqi prisoners.
An article in The New Yorker magazine says Mr Rumsfeld extended a programme already in use in Afghanistan.

The operation encouraged coercion and sexual humiliation of Iraqi prisoners to gain intelligence, it says.

The Pentagon denies the allegations.

The Christian Science Monitor has an extensive article on the rise of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi:

A one-legged poison expert from Jordan could be the brutal new star of Islamic terrorism.
The man in question - Abu Musab al-Zarqawi - isn't yet the equal of Osama bin Laden, say experts. But he may be fast gaining influence and importance in the loosely organized world of Islamic militants by orchestrating attacks aimed at the US presence in Iraq

The obvious headline of the day award goes to the Nashua Telegraph:

Iraq could wind up as central election issue .

You think?

Gunmen fired on a minibus in Baghdad on Sunday, killing two Iraqi women who were working for the U.S.-led coalition, and assailants in a southern city killed a translator for the coalition and critically injured another in attacks on their houses, police and witnesses said.

Insurgents and U.S. troops battled across Iraq as talk of Shiite peace moves competed with sounds of mortars and gunfire in Najaf, the stronghold of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mehdi Army militia.

The death count over the last 24 hours was high for insurgents: 21 in the Baghdad area, 16 near Amarah, and four in Karbala, where coalition troops and the Mehdi militia have been fighting for the last four days, coalition officials said Saturday.

FOX:

Guerrillas fired a mortar round at an Iraqi army recruiting center in the northern city of Mosul, killing four people and injuring 19, hospital officials said. The shell landed in a crowd of people who were waiting to sign up for the military. Insurgents have previously targeted police and army recruitment centers in an effort to undermine Iraqi involvement in the U.S.-led coalition.

The US military confirmed a large explosion at about midday on Saturday at the sprawling headquarters of the US-led coalition in Baghdad.

A spokeswoman said the military was investigating the blast in the so-called Green Zone at around 12:15 pm.

[See also previous story here]

American troops continued to battle militiamen loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Saturday in the southern city of Karbala as the U.S. military announced that five GIs had died.

According to the military, three soldiers died from wounds received in separate rebel attacks while another was killed after a military vehicle overturned. The fifth soldier's death stemmed from natural causes.

From the Boston Globe :

The recent actions of Boston City Councilor Chuck Turner were reckless and inflammatory. With no regard for truth or consequences, Turner unveiled graphic photographs at a Tuesday press conference, suggesting that the images portrayed the rape of Iraqi women by US soldiers. The display was an all-time low for a member of the City Council. Turner, now in his third term, used twisted logic to justify the photo array. While stopping short of claiming authenticity, Turner argued that “the American people have a right and responsibility to see the pictures” in light of recent revelations regarding abuse of Iraqi prisoners.

Turner's photos appear to match ones found on a pornographic website. Yesterday the Globe apologized for including a photo showing the images with the article about Turner's claims.

The Boston Globe put a picture of Councilor Turner handing over the pictures, all of which were 'Not Work Safe', firmly on the front page. Probably the first time unretouched violent pornographic images have made it to the front page of a mainstream US newspaper.

Updating a previous post : From The Australian :

Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper issued a humbling apology to its 1.9 million readers today over its publication of faked photographs supposedly showing British soldiers torturing Iraqi prisoners.

“Sorry .. We Were Hoaxed,” was the banner headline on its front page, the rest of which - encased in a black border - was taken up with a contrite editorial comment.
[…]
“It is now clear that the photographs the Mirror published of British soldiers abusing an Iraqi prisoner were fakes,” the paper said.
[…]
“We also say sorry to the Queen's Lancashire Regiment and our army in Iraq for publishing these pictures.”

From The Australian :

THE United States, Britain, Italy and Japan would pull their troops out of Iraq if asked by the new interim authority that takes control after June 30, the foreign ministers of the four countries said today.

But US Secretary of State Colin Powell said it was highly unlikely they would be asked to leave.

“Were this interim government to say to us, we really think we can handle this on our own and it will be better if you were to leave, we will leave,” he told a joint news conference after chairing a foreign ministers' meeting of the Group of Eight industrial countries.

Mr Powell said he had no doubt that the interim Iraqi government would welcome the continued presence and operation of the US-led coalition's military forces.

Also from The Australian :

Australia would withdraw its troops from Iraq if it was asked to do so by the interim Iraqi government, a spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer said today.

But the Australian government did not expect that an interim Iraqi government, due to take power on June 30, would ask for Australian troops to leave, the spokesman said.

From Reuters via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

Insurgents have killed two US soldiers from the 1st Armored Division in separate attacks south of Baghdad, the US military said in a statement on Saturday.

One soldier died from wounds received in a mortar attack on his unit on Friday, while the other died of bullet wounds sustained in a sniper ambush the same day, the statement said.
[…]
A US military spokesman said recently that US forces faced as many as 50 attacks a day with rocket-propelled grenades, assault rifles or mortars throughout in the country.

From the AFP via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

Ten militiamen fighting for Moqtada al-Sadr in the holy city of Najaf have been killed in clashes with coalition forces, a spokesman for the firebrand Iraqi Shiite cleric said.

”The Mehdi Army has 10 martyrs,” Sheikh Ahmed Shibani said, adding that the worst fighting took place in the vast cemetery area north-west of the shrine of Imam Ali, the most sacred site in Shiite Islam.

“We are ready to confront any American force whatever its size,” he added, without specifying whether anyone was wounded in the fighting.

The US-led coalition had no immediate comment on the report.

Friday's clashes, which broke out early morning and lasted for six hours, were among the most intense fighting to rock Najaf since the stand-off with Sadr which began more than a month ago.

Sadr, who is leading a rebellion across Iraq against the US-led coalition forces, is wanted over the murder of a rival cleric last year and has stated that he wants to lead his followers to martyrdom.

We're in the home stretch!

It's been a great day, and I don't know about you, but I feel GREAT. But we're not done yet … the donations doors are still open, and will be for another 2 1/2 hours, so if you haven't yet given, there's still time. Every dollar helps buy Susan's kids a book or a class or a college meal. (If you're wondering what this is all about, scroll down the page, or go here.)

We'll be opening the Command Post chat room tonight at 11 EDT. Susan Tom will be joining us, and we'll celebrate the good right up to Midnight EDT, at which time I'll announce the final total and we'll pop the virtual champagne. We hope you'll join us (we'll post the chat room link at 11 EDT).

But remember: there's still time to give, and every dollar helps. Here's how you can help send the Tom kids to college, and thanks for helping to strengthen the good:

FOX:

Four Iraqis were killed and dozens wounded when U.S. tanks and helicopters descended on this holy city Friday and fired on positions held by fighters loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who blasted America in a sermon.

The U.S. attack represented the strongest U.S. push yet against al-Sadr, whose forces fought intense battles with American forces this week in another holy city, Karbala.

Haidar Raheem Naama, an official at the city's main hospital, said that four Iraqis died and 26 were wounded in Najaf, most of whom were civilians. At least three militiamen were killed, and their coffins were brought to the shrine for family and friends to pray for their souls.

“America is the enemy of God!” their fellow fighters shouted.

Nearly 300 fighters from al-Sadr's militia gathered outside the al-Sadr office after fighting ebbed in the late afternoon, chanting slogans in support of their leader.

Some carried what they said were parts of U.S. military hardware, including what resembled the door of a Humvee and empty ammunition belts.

“Our morale is sky-high and we are not scared of anyone,” said a militiaman who only gave his first name, Mahdi. “We will die for sayed Muqtada,” he said, using the title “sayed” that is reserved for descendants of the Prophet Muhammad.

I just heard from Susan Tom and she'll be joining our “Celebrate The Good” party in the chat room tonight. We'll activate the room at 11 PM EDT, and at midnight I'll announce the final contribution amount and we'll all open a virtual (or real, if you have it) bottle of champagne.

And remember: the contribution door is open until then … so please continue to strengthen the good by contributing, linking, or spreading the word!

I've been working very hard to thank everyone who's given, but I want to use this moment in particular to thank the person who just contributed $1,000 to the Tom Family Education Trust.

That said, everyone deserves a ton of thanks … no donation is really any better than any other, and I'm extremely thankful to the hundreds of people … many unemployed or down on their luck … who gave $5 or $1 to the cause. We've proved something here: a lot of people, giving in a little way, can make a big difference. You know who you are, and you were beyond generous.

Now … there are still 12 hours left in the drive … keep spreading the word!

We did it. Sometime early last night we broke through $10,000, and the contributions keep coming it. We’re now at $11,338 and building … from here until Midnight tonight, it’s all gravy.

I thought you’d want to read this email from Susan, which I received yesterday afternoon:

Hi Alan,
I think we are all speechless. I told the kids last night that there was a website that was raising money for their education and the biggest response was, “NO WAY!!!” This is just awesome. I was never worried that I could raise them up but I was worried about sending them to college. Thank you so much. That seems so inadequate but we do thank everyone with all our hearts.
Susan

I also had the chance to speak with Susan at length last night, and she’s a wonderfully pragmatic, candid, and intelligent person. She’s also a bit caught off-guard by the attention (“All of the sudden I’m getting all these emails …”): from her perspective, she’s simply doing what’s good, and she kept blessing all of you (and I kept saying, “No, Susan … bless YOU!”).

Doing what's good. It's what YOU’VE done … all 470+ (and climbing) of you who took the moment to respond to evil by strengthening something good … the two of you who contributed $500 (!!), the many who contributed $100, and the many, many of you who gave what you could … $10, $5, or $1 … leaving notes like, “I’m sorry I couldn’t do more,” or “I’m unemployed, but I have $10.”

I have news for you: none of you should ever feel sorry for what we’ve done together here. As I wrote yesterday, giving $1 is no worse that $100, and is infinitely better than giving nothing because you've done something good.

Today’s the last day. I honestly didn’t think I’d be writing on Friday morning that we’d already reached the goal. So if the theme for Wednesday was “Strengthen the Good,” and the theme for Thursday was “Build the Momentum,” the theme for today is “Blow Away the Goal.” Let’s raise as much as we can for Susan and the kids … every dollar is part of a textbook, every $10 is a college meal. It’s a great cause and it’s causing a ripple effect of good and good feelings around the world. So for the next 16 hours let’s keep on the pressure, finish strong, and blow away the goal.

What you can do:

• If you’re here for the first time, consider a donation (PayPal link and address for checks below).

• If you're a blogger, consider linking to this post and the original.

• Much of Wednesday’s traffic was due to an Instapundit link, and much of yesterday’s was because of a link from Lileks. So if you are another high-traffic blogger, especially from the “left” (Kos, Atrios, etc.) where the story hasn't had as much exposure, or if you have a good relationship with a high-traffic blogger, please consider linking or asking them to link … another avalanche today will really help us blow away the goal.

• If you’re not a blogger, help spread the word: email the page URL or this link to anyone who you think might feel good for reading Susan’s story or who might consider making a contribution.

It’s a remarkable thing, what we’ve done together over the past two days. It shows a lot about the goodness in people, and the number of bright stories that surround us that, unfortunately, are so often drowned out by the evil we see in the world. But this was a great response: to strengthen the good.

So great, in fact, that we want to celebrate what we’ve done. Tonight Michele and I are hosting an online “Celebrate The Good” party in the Command Post Chat Room! We’ll open the chat room at 11:00 PM EDT, and everyone who has given (and everyone who didn’t) are invited to join us to talk about the Toms, the past two days, and what else we’ve seen that’s good today. Then at Midnight, I’ll announce the final total, and we’ll pop the virtual champagne. I’ll also call Susan and see if she’ll join us to share her thoughts and the thoughts of the kids. It may just be the three of us, but that's OK … the real fun was in the doing.

Between now and then, don’t let up. There are still some 4 billion people who know nothing about this effort, so get out the word, and help us blow away the goal.

Thanks for helping to strengthen the good … let’s help send these kids to college.