30 April 04 Morning Briefing

TOP STORIES

1. Marines Plan Handoff To Militia In Fallujah
(Washington Post)...Rajiv Chandrasekaran
U.S. Marines will withdraw from this violence-wracked city and hand over responsibility for pursuing insurgents to a new militia headed by former Iraqi army officers under a deal brokered by the top Marine general in Iraq, military officials here said Thursday. In Washington, senior Pentagon officials insisted a final agreement had not yet been reached, but Marine commanders here said they had received orders to prepare for a pullout that would begin Friday.

2. Fallouja Pullout May Be In Works
(Los Angeles Times)...Tony Perry, Jeffrey Fleishman and Patrick J. McDonnell
...The accord — which would bring an end to the Marines' nearly monthlong siege of this restive town — came as the Iraqi people and U.S. officials braced for a military offensive against as many as 2,000 insurgents in house-to-house combat.

3. Iraq's Deadliest Month
(USA Today)...Gregg Zoroya
By mid-April, it was already the deadliest month for U.S. troops in Iraq. By Thursday, the month's death toll had climbed to 134, more than the number of troops killed in the war's opening stages, from the invasion to the toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue in Baghdad.

4. Rebuilding Aid Unspent, Tapped To Pay Expenses
(Washington Post)...Jonathan Weisman and Ariana Eunjung Cha
Seven months after Congress approved the largest foreign aid package in history to rebuild Iraq, less than 5 percent of the $18.4 billion has been spent and occupation officials have begun shifting more than $300 million earmarked for reconstruction projects to administrative and security expenses.

5. Britain Seeks Legal Resolution For Deployment After June 30
(Washington Times)...Paul Martin
Britain warned yesterday that it will need a firm legal framework based on a U.N. resolution or a deal with the new Iraq government in order to keep its troops operating in the country after a June 30 transfer of sovereignty.

6. Bush And Cheney Tell 9/11 Panel Of '01 Warnings
(New York Times)...Philip Shenon and David E. Sanger
President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney were questioned in the Oval Office for more than three hours on Thursday by the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks. They said intelligence warnings they received throughout 2001 suggested that Al Qaeda was poised to strike overseas, not on American soil, according to accounts of commission and administration officials.

IRAQ

7. U.S. Weighs Falluja Pullback, Leaving Patrols To Iraq Troops
(New York Times)...John Kifner and Ian Fisher
...If it goes forward, the plan would mark a shift in the strategy to end weeks of violence that have cost many American and Iraqi lives as well as support for the war among ordinary Americans.

8. A Full Range Of Technology Is Applied To Bomb Falluja
(New York Times)...Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker
The airstrikes in Falluja in the past three days by American warplanes and helicopter gunships have been the most intense aerial bombardment in Iraq since major combat ended nearly a year ago, military officials said Thursday.

9. 8 Troops Killed By Suicide Bomber; 2 Other Soldiers Die
(Los Angeles Times)...Patrick J. McDonnell
The number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq during the bloodiest month since the U.S. invasion last year continued to swell Thursday, when at least 10 more soldiers were reported dead — eight of them victims of a car bomb south of the capital.

10. Allegations Of Abuse Lead To Shakeup At Iraqi Prison
(Washington Post)...Sewell Chan and Jackie Spinner
The commander of the U.S. military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has been transferred to Iraq to oversee the treatment of 8,000 detainees as part of an investigation into alleged sexual and physical abuse at a U.S. Army-run prison outside Baghdad, officials said Thursday.

11. Iraq Prison Staff Seen As Issue
(Los Angeles Times)...a Times Staff Writer
A U.S.-run prison in Iraq, where American troops are under investigation in connection with abuse of Iraqi prisoners, used private contractors to interrogate detainees, the attorney for an accused soldier has charged.

NA
12. US Wants More British Troops Sent To Iraq
(London Times)...Michael Evans and Robert Thomson
BRITAIN was yesterday encouraged to send more troops to Iraq by Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, who admitted that coalition forces were “going through a tough time” in attempting to restore order.

13. 'Several Thousand' Foreign Fighters Slip Into Iraq
(Washington Times)...Rowan Scarborough
The U.S. military says "several thousand" foreign fighters are in Iraq, a number that has remained fairly constant in recent weeks as those killed or captured are replaced by terrorists from across the border.

14. Boat Bombings Herald New Style Of Fighting In Waters Off Iraq
(Norfolk Virginian-Pilot)...Dale Eisman
American commanders expect that the Arab terrorists or Iraqi insurgents behind Saturday’s unsuccessful suicide attacks on offshore Iraqi oil facilities will attempt more such boat bombings in the coming weeks, according to a senior defense official .

15. Book Names Iraqi In Alleged '99 Bid To Buy Uranium
(Washington Post)...Susan Schmidt
It was Saddam Hussein's information minister, Mohammed Saeed Sahhaf, often referred to in the Western press as "Baghdad Bob," who approached an official of the African nation of Niger in 1999 to discuss trade -- an overture the official saw as a possible effort to buy uranium.

DEFENSE DEPARTMENT

16. Pentagon To Try To Fix War Zone Voting Woes
(Washington Post)...Dan Keating
Plagued by a history of problems delivering mail, especially in wartime, the Pentagon will soon be unveiling a program to do a better job of getting ballots overseas and back so units deployed in combat zones and elsewhere can cast votes in the fall presidential election.

17. U.S. To Set Free 40 Gitmo Prisoners
(UPI.com)...Anwar Iqbal, United Press International
The United States has agreed to hand over 40 Pakistani prisoners detained at the Guantanamo Bay prison facility to Pakistan, diplomatic sources told United Press International Thursday.

ARMY

18. 'I Need To Go And Do This'
(Washington Post)...Joshua Partlow
...Yesterday, under a blue sky striated by the white contrails of jets, Stack was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery. More than 100 people followed a horse-drawn caisson under the warm sun to his grave site. Stack was posthumously awarded the Silver Star, the military's third-highest honor for heroism in combat. He was the 58th soldier killed in Iraq to be buried at Arlington.

AIR FORCE

19. Air Force Chaplain Is Relieved Of Duties By Catholic Archbishop
(Philadelphia Inquirer)...Richard N. Ostling, Associated Press
The Rev. Thomas P. Doyle, an Air Force chaplain and an ardent champion of sex-abuse victims among America's Roman Catholic clergy, has been dismissed from his chaplain duties by his archbishop and is forbidden to lead public Masses.

CONGRESS

20. Wolfowitz Comes Up Short On Troop Deaths
(Los Angeles Times)...Esther Schrader
Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz, testifying Thursday before a congressional subcommittee, drastically underestimated the number of American soldiers killed in Iraq since the war began.

21. Fund For U.S. Operations In Iraq Proposed
(Los Angeles Times)...Reuters
Lawmakers are considering setting up a special reserve fund to pay for U.S. military operations in Iraq, which would avert the need for President Bush to formally request extra Iraq funds before the November election.

NA
22. Negroponte Wins Senate Panel Nod
(Washington Times)...Unattributed
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday approved President Bush's selection of John D. Negroponte, the ambassador to the United Nations, to be the first U.S. ambassador to Iraq after the planned June 30 transfer of sovereignty to a new Iraqi authority.

23. Peacekeeping Force Planned For Africa
(Washington Times)...Bill Gertz
The Pentagon and State Department are planning to set up a 75,000-member international peacekeeping force for Africa, senior Bush administration officials told Congress yesterday. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage disclosed the plan during a hearing of the House Appropriations subcommittee on foreign operations.

NA
24. Hunter Says He Will Press For Increase Of 39,000 Troops Over Next Three Years
(CQ Today)...John M. Donnelly
The House Armed Services Committee’s defense authorization bill for fiscal 2005 will mandate an increase of 39,000 soldiers and Marines over the next three years, the panel’s chairman said in an interview.

STATE DEPARTMENT

NA
25. Powell, During European Trip, Shows His Continuing Appeal
(Wall Street Journal)...Bob Davis
...Through a series of talks with European leaders of countries with troops in Iraq, he also did his best to prevent the U.S.-led coalition from buckling further after Spain pulled out its troops.

TERRORISM

NA
26. Report Says Terrorism Fell In 2003
(Wall Street Journal)...David S. Cloud
The number of international terrorist attacks fell to the lowest level on record last year, but the recent bombing in Madrid indicates that the U.S. and its allies haven't succeeded in stopping al Qaeda's ability to launch major operations.

27. Bremer Warned Bush Was Lax On Terrorism
(Los Angeles Times)...Associated Press
L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator in Iraq, said in a speech six months before the Sept. 11 attacks that the Bush administration was "paying no attention" to terrorism.

AFRICA

28. Why A Village Well Is A Weapon In The War On Terror
(New York Times)...Marc Lacey
...Not just in Siyu but throughout the Horn of Africa sick people line up by the hundreds for checkups by military doctors. Pastoralists bring their huge herds of cows and sheep and goats for deworming by military veterinarians. Parents cheer as military engineers refurbish their children's schools. Despite its Peace Corps-like approach, though, the Pentagon still has some hearts and minds to win in its periodic visits to the island.

NORTH KOREA

29. North Koreans Agree To Mid-Level Talks
(Washington Post)...Anthony Faiola and Edward Cody
North Korea agreed Thursday to attend a round of mid-level diplomatic talks starting May 12 aimed at dismantling its nuclear weapons program but bluntly stated that it must receive a "reward" for taking even the preliminary step of a nuclear freeze.

AMERICAS

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30. General Says More U.S. Troops Are Needed To Help Colombia
(Wall Street Journal (wsj.com))...Associated Press
...U.S. Army Gen. James Hill, the commander of U.S. military operations in Latin America, said Washington's ability to provide advice and training as Colombia carries out offensives against the insurgent groups has been hurt by Congress' stipulation that no more than 400 U.S. troops and 400 American contractors can be in this Andean country at one time.

UNITED NATIONS

31. U.S. Weighs U.N. Proposal For An Interim Iraqi Leader
(New York Times)...Steven R. Weisman
The Bush administration is considering a United Nations proposal to appoint Iraq's current planning minister, a Shiite, as prime minister when the American occupation is dissolved on June 30, administration officials said Thursday.

32. Brahimi Holds USA's Iraq Exit Strategy In His Hands
(USA Today)...Barbara Slavin
...The 70-year-old former Algerian foreign minister, who also oversaw Afghanistan's political transition, appears to have become, by default, the Bush administration's best hope for an orderly political exit from Iraq. With U.S. blessing, he will pick a prime minister and cabinet to replace a U.S.-appointed council June 30 and govern Iraq until elections early next year.

POLL

33. Most Believe Saddam Is Guilty Of Atrocities, Will Be Put To Death
(USA Today)...Steven Komarow
Iraqis expect Saddam Hussein to be put on trial this year, found guilty and sentenced to death for murdering Iraqi civilians, a new poll shows.

34. Poll Finds Optimism About What Lies Ahead
(USA Today)...Cesar G. Soriano and Steven Komarow
A new USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll shows Iraqis are optimistic about their future, despite deep, potentially dangerous divides among competing factions over the role of religion in government and autonomy for the Kurdish minority.

MEDIA

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35. Iraqi Television Viewers Get More Options
(Wall Street Journal)...Christopher Cooper
Asked recently how he would counter suggestions from pan-Arab broadcaster al-Jazeera that U.S. soldiers were targeting civilians in Iraq, Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, coalition-forces spokesman, offered a terse reply: "Change the channel." The U.S. is hoping to give Iraqis more opportunities to do just that.

36. Some Stations To Block 'Nightline' War Tribute
(New York Times)...Bill Carter
Sinclair Broadcast Group, one of the largest owners of local television stations, will pre-empt tonight's edition of the ABC News program "Nightline," saying the program's plan to have Ted Koppel read aloud the names of every member of the armed forces killed in action in Iraq was motivated by an antiwar agenda and threatened to undermine American efforts there.

BUSINESS

37. Marines Lead Way In Approving C-130J For Use
(Atlanta Journal and Constitution)...Dave Hirschman
The Marines gave Lockheed Martin's C-130J Hercules a boost Thursday when it became the first U.S. military branch to approve the airplanes for operational use.

NA
38. Lockheed F/A-22 Begins Combat Testing, Air Force Says
(Bloomberg.com)...Tony Capaccio
Lockheed Martin Corp.'s F/A-22 Raptor fighter jet began four months of combat testing today, the final step before full production of planes worth at least $22.6 billion begins, after the Pentagon and Air Force gave approval.

More to come...

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