03 May 04 Morning Briefing

TOP STORIES

1. Report On Abuse Faults 2 Officers In Intelligence
(New York Times)...James Risen
An internal Army investigation has found a virtual collapse of the command structure in a prison outside Baghdad where American enlisted personnel are accused of committing acts of abuse and humiliation against Iraqi detainees.

2. Angry Ex-Detainees Tell Of Abuse
(Washington Post)...Scott Wilson
Day and night lost meaning shortly after Muwafaq Sami Abbas, a lawyer by training, arrived at Baghdad International Airport for an unexpected stay. In March, he was seized from his bed by U.S. troops in the middle of the night, he said, along with the rest of the men in his house, and taken to a prison on the airport grounds.

3. 11 Troops Killed In Attacks In Iraq
(Washington Post)...Rajiv Chandrasekaran and Scott Wilson
Eleven U.S. service members in Iraq were killed in four attacks by insurgents late Saturday evening and Sunday, including six who died in a mortar attack, the military reported. Meanwhile, the former Iraqi general chosen to head a new force here denied there were any foreign fighters in the city, calling into question his commitment to American military objectives, and a top U.S. commander said later the general would not be allowed to lead the armed men he has already assembled.

4. Hostage Is Free; 9 G.I.'s Killed In Iraq Attacks
(New York Times)...Dexter Filkins
An American contractor taken hostage by militants last month escaped from his captors on Sunday and ran into the arms of a group of passing American troops, on a day when nine other American soldiers died in violence across central and northern Iraq.

5. U.S., Seeking To Stabilize Iraq, Casts Baathists In Lead Roles
(New York Times)...John F. Burns and Ian Fisher
...While troublesome questions have since been raised about General Saleh's past links with Mr. Hussein's fearsome Iraqi Republican Guard that could lead to his removal, the force he is leading will still take over for the marines, who would prefer Iraqis to confront Iraqis and thus avoid stirring deeper anger against the occupation. The purpose of this change, American officials say, is twofold. First, it is meant to help restabilize the country by inviting some of its most educated and qualified professionals to reclaim their old jobs, and ultimately help rebuild Iraq. It is also intended to reverse the precipitous erosion of American popularity here, by gaining the backing of a constituency ? stalwarts of Mr. Hussein's old bureaucracy ? who have been embittered by their outcast status since the American-led invasion last year.

6. Israeli Vote Also Deals A Blow To U.S. Policy
(Los Angeles Times)...Mary Curtius
In rejecting Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to unilaterally withdraw from the Gaza Strip, Israel's Likud Party dealt a blow Sunday to President Bush's Middle East policy that he could ill afford after a month of setbacks.

IRAQ

7. Authority Of Iraqi General Questioned By Myers
(Los Angeles Times)...Tony Perry
Iraqi Maj. Gen. Jassim Mohammed Saleh consolidated his military role Sunday, even as Shiites, Kurds and the top U.S. general in Washington questioned whether he was the man to lead Iraqi troops in this predominantly Sunni city.

8. 137 Troops Lost Lives In Iraq During April
(USA Today)...Gregg Zoroya
The deadliest month for U.S. troops in Iraq ended Friday with 137 servicemembers having lost their lives. The overwhelming majority of them were victims of hostile action such as gunfire, rocket attacks and explosions.

9. On Or Off? Odd U.S. Alliance With An Ex-Hussein General
(New York Times)...John Kifner
...But just how muddled the situation has become was underlined Sunday when the general chosen by the Americans, Jasim Muhammad Saleh, declared that no foreign fighters were in the city after all. "There are no foreign fighters in Falluja, and the local tribal leaders have told me the same," he told the Reuters news agency. The situation became even more confused when the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Richard B. Myers, went on Sunday morning television talk shows to say that General Saleh would not be in charge of the Iraqi force.

10. Falloujans Cheer Changing Of Guard
(Los Angeles Times)...Raheem Salman
As U.S. Marines continued their withdrawal Sunday from Fallouja's dusty roads, residents sang and waved their head scarves in joy. Many returned to their battered homes, wondering who would rebuild the rubble.

11. Iraqi Force In Falluja, With City Still On Brink
(New York Times)...Christine Hauser
...Street by street, neighborhood by neighborhood, Falluja is balancing on the brink between conflict and recovery, after weeks of battling between American marines and insurgents. Which way things go may be determined in the next few days, as a new Iraqi security force struggles to bring order to the city after fighting that killed more than 600 residents, according to doctors.

12. No More Troops Needed In Iraq, Says Gen. Abizaid
(Washington Times)...Bill Gertz
The commander of U.S. forces in Iraq said yesterday the fighting in the country has been the toughest in months, but added that no more troops are needed unless fighting there intensifies.

13. New Defense Chief Voices Concerns Over Insurgency
(Boston Globe)...Thanassis Cambanis
Iraq's new interim defense minister, who will seek to build an army and civil defense corps out of an interim force in shambles, said he worries that insurgents will escape from Fallujah and further roil Iraq's fragile security forces before they are properly trained and equipped.

DEFENSE DEPARTMENT

14. U.S. Official: Abuse Allegations Are 'A Big Deal'
(Washington Post)...Sewell Chan
The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff acknowledged Sunday that allegations that Iraqi prisoners were abused at a detention facility run by the Army have set back efforts to cultivate a positive image for the U.S. military in the region.

NA
15. U.S. Begins Prisoner-Abuse Probes
(Wall Street Journal)...Farnaz Fassihi, Greg Jaffe and David S. Cloud
The Central Intelligence Agency and the Defense Department have launched multiple investigations into whether U.S. prisoners in Iraq were abused in an effort to elicit intelligence from them.

NA
16. 8 Programs, $40 Billion
(Defense News)...Gopal Ratnam
The U.S. Department of Defense is about to award contracts for a slew of new weapons that could reshape the business portfolios of major American defense contractors and determine winners and losers in the military?s transformation effort.

17. Military Sees No Evidence Of An Increase In Drug Use
(Washington Times)...Guy Taylor
Pentagon officials say they are not aware of an increase in the number of U.S. soldiers using illegal drugs, despite recent reports suggesting a growing problem, particularly among troops in Afghanistan.

18. Military Officials Dismiss Depleted Uranium Fears
(European Stars and Stripes)...Sandra Jontz
Since the war started last March, about 1,000 troops who indicated they might have been exposed to depleted uranium have been tested. Of those, three who have fragments of depleted uranium ammunition in their bodies have tested positive for higher-than-normal levels, but none show adverse health consequences, said William Winkenwerder Jr., assistant secretary of defense for Health Affairs.

GUANTANAMO

19. Guantanamo -- A Holding Cell In War On Terror
(Washington Post)...Scott Higham, Joe Stephens and Margot Williams
The newest prison in the war on terrorism is a multi-winged $31 million complex of gray concrete and steel designed to hold 100 captives for years to come. It stands in stark contrast to the original detention camp here, a collection of chain-link cages used two years ago to hold suspected terrorists and Taliban fighters caught when their sanctuary in Afghanistan collapsed.

ARMY

20. Tillman Was Killed Saving Comrades
(New York Daily News)...Maki Becker
...Pat Tillman, the NFL-star-turned-G.I., was awarded a Silver Star yesterday for saving fellow Special Operations soldiers last month from a sneak attack by heavily armed militants in Afghanistan, the military disclosed yesterday.

AIR FORCE

21. Woman To Head Air Force Fighter Squad Unit
(Arizona Daily Star (Tucson))...Carol Ann Alaimo
...Lt. Col. Martha McSally, who once claimed persecution by the military, is now getting a plum position never before awarded to a woman. She's about to become the Air Force's first female fighter squadron commander, the choicest job the service offers for an aviator of her rank.

NATIONAL GUARD/RESERVE

22. Near Reservists' Base, Disappointment At Accusations Of Abuse
(New York Times)...Sherri Day
Stop anyone in this quaint town surrounded by mountains, and they will have an opinion about the war in Iraq and recent accusations that Army reservists abused Iraqi prisoners.

WHITE HOUSE

23. Bush Lauds Armed Forces, Reporters
(Philadelphia Inquirer)...Kata Kertesz, Associated Press
President Bush tempered lighthearted remarks to a gathering of journalists Saturday with a declaration that the nation was in a "period of testing and sacrifice" spearheaded by a "new generation of Americans as brave and decent as any before it."

24. Bremer Regrets Criticism Of President
(Los Angeles Times)...Associated Press
L. Paul Bremer III, the U.S. administrator in Iraq, said Sunday that he regretted a statement he made more than six months before the Sept. 11 attacks that the Bush administration was "paying no attention" to terrorism.

CONGRESS

25. Outcry Grows Over Abuse Of Prisoners
(Washington Times)...Audrey Hudson
Congressional pressure grew yesterday on the Pentagon to press for a "credible" investigation into the abuse of prisoners of war in Iraq.

AFGHANISTAN

26. U.S., Afghan Officials Agree To Fight A New Insurgency
(Philadelphia Inquirer)...Unattributed
The U.S. military and Afghan officials have agreed to establish a new militia to fight an insurgency flaring across the south and east of the country, the Afghan Defense Ministry said yesterday. Recruited from militias across the country, the force will consist of 2,000 men, said Gen. Zahir Azimi, spokesman for the Defense Ministry spokesman.

27. U.S. Airstrikes In Afghanistan Kill 4 After Attack On Convoy
(Baltimore Sun)...Associated Press
U.S. airstrikes killed four alleged militants after an attack on a military convoy in eastern Afghanistan, but local officials said yesterday that the victims were policemen killed in a case of mistaken identity.

28. Afghan Faction Reaches Out To Karzai
(New York Times)...New York Times
Senior members of a mujahedeen party allied with Afghanistan's former Taliban rulers and opposed to the presence of American forces denounced violence at a news briefing here on Sunday and said they wanted to join the political process.

ASIA/PACIFIC

29. Pakistani Strategy Worries U.S. Military
(New York Times on the Web)...Associated Press
A top U.S. commander expressed concern Monday about Pakistan's counter-terrorism strategy near the Afghan border and said a ``significant'' number of foreign militants holed up there must be eliminated.

EUROPE

30. Doubts Surfacing On Abuse Of Iraqis In British Photos
(Washington Times)...Agencce France-Presse
Doubts arose yesterday over the authenticity of photos apparently showing British troops abusing an Iraqi detainee, after military sources quoted by the British Broadcasting Corp. said many aspects of the pictures were suspicious.

31. Britain To Send In A Further 4,000 Troops To Iraq Danger Zone
(London Sunday Telegraph)...Sean Rayment
Thousands of additional troops are to be sent to Iraq to take control of the Shia holy city of Najaf in the largest expansion of British Forces since the start of the Gulf war, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal.

32. German Protection Of U.S. Bases To End
(International Herald Tribune)...Reuters
Defense Minister Peter Struck said Germany would stop protecting U.S. military bases in the country at the end of 2004 and would not send troops to help a NATO force police Iraq, the newspaper Welt am Sonntag reported Sunday.

33. New Polish Prime Minister Vows To Back U.S. In Iraq
(Philadelphia Inquirer)...Unattributed
New Polish Prime Minister Marek Belka promised to push ahead with tough reforms and keep supporting the United States in Iraq as he took the helm yesterday, a day after Poland joined the European Union. Belka, 51, replaces Leszek Miller, who resigned as his government was paralyzed by unpopularity, division and corruption scandals.

MIDEAST

34. Many Leaving After Saudi Attack
(Philadelphia Inquirer)...Adnan Malik, Associated Press
American and European families packed their bags yesterday after a deadly attack on foreigners, and traumatized Saudi students recounted how the attackers summoned them to watch them drag a victim's body through the streets.

BUSINESS

35. CACI To Open Probe Of Workers In Iraq
(Washington Post)...Renae Merle and Ellen McCarthy
Defense contractor CACI International Inc. said yesterday it launched an independent investigation of its employees in connection with allegations that Iraqi detainees were abused by U.S. soldiers at an Army-run prison in Iraq.

36. War-Zone Security Is A Job For...Private Contractors?
(Christian Science Monitor)...Clayton Collins
For hundreds of foreign companies in the lucrative but perilous pursuit of business in violence-racked Iraq, security - especially the use of private forces instead of military personnel - has become an increasingly vexing issue.

OPINION

37. The Cruelest Month
(New York Times)...William Safire
...Casualties reached a peak. A Marine commander had to appeal to a Republican Guard general to come to terms with Baathist insurgents in Falluja. President Bush had to express America's disgust at the humiliation of Iraqi prisoners by a handful of sadistic guards. Taken together, that's about as bad as it gets. However, a certain grim logic suggests a turn for the better may be coming this summer.

38. 11-Step Program For Iraq Failure
(Los Angeles Times)...Lawrence J. Korb
The Bush team is repeating the mistakes the U.S. made in Vietnam.

39. Success Requires Patience
(Washington Post)...Niall Ferguson
...Unfortunately, lack of patience has been one of the major flaws of the Bush administration's policy toward Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein last year. This impatience is nothing new. It has been a recurrent feature in the history of American overseas intervention.

40. Refusal To Tally War's Price Costs Public Needed Debate
(USA Today)...Editorial
...Today, the fighting in Iraq has worsened, the Pentagon is keeping more troops in the field than it had planned, and the price tag keeps rising. That has prompted Republicans to join in complaints that the Bush administration has not come clean about the costs.

41. Too Late To Tweak Budget
(USA Today)...James Jay Carafano
Set aside, for a moment, the charge made by some lawmakers that President Bush is playing politics when he says Congress doesn't need to provide more defense money now. They claim he wants to avoid public debate over the cost of the war in Iraq. After all, the countercharge ? that war opponents are the ones trying to score political points ? is just as easily made and just as impossible to prove.

42. The Pentagon And Terrorism -- (Letter)
(New York Times)...Lawrence Di Rita
"How Pair's Finding on Terror Led to Clash on Shaping Intelligence" (front page, April 28) usefully demystifies the so-called Pentagon intelligence unit.

EDITORIAL

43. The Nightmare At Abu Ghraib
(New York Times)...Editorial
The American military made a strange and ill-starred decision when it chose to incarcerate Iraqis in Abu Ghraib, the prison that had become a byword for torture under Saddam Hussein and a symbol of everything the invasion of Iraq was supposed to end. As United States officials have known for months, some of the American soldiers brought their own version of sadism to the site. Now that the rest of the world knows as well, the Bush administration will have to do more than denounce the scandal as the work of a few bad apples.

NA
44. Abuse And Accountability
(Wall Street Journal)...Editorial
The reported abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. soldiers is disgusting and depressing, not least because it undermines the very purpose for which other Americans are sacrificing their lives.

45. Sadistic Abuse Of Iraqi Inmates
(Christian Science Monitor)...Editorial
Sometimes military justice doesn't do justice. That's the case involving US troops recently caught humiliating and threatening Iraq prisoners in obscene ways. No matter what those prisoners may have done to be locked up, these actions by a few soldiers sent to liberate a nation from the atrocities of a dictator were so inhumane and so damaging to US interests in the Middle East that the Pentagon should not be left alone to punish those involved.

46. Don't Sink 'Law Of The Sea'
(Los Angeles Times)...Editorial
...Under current law, U.S. warships have no right to patrol such waterways as the Malacca Strait, an area in Southeast Asia where piracy is common and terrorists affiliated with Al Qaeda sometimes traffic. The treaty would give U.S. military officials a legal basis for intervention.