1 June 04 Morning Briefing

TOP STORIES

1. U.S. Shifts Focus In Iraq To Aiding New Government
(New York Times)...Thom Shanker
Senior American commanders here say they are writing new orders to shift the focus of the military's mission from offensive combat operations to protecting a new Iraqi government and parts of the economy while building up Iraq's own security forces.

2. Army Investigates Wider Iraq Offenses
(Washington Post)...Bradley Graham
Over the past year and a half, the Army has opened investigations into at least 91 cases of possible misconduct by U.S. soldiers against detainees and civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan, a total not previously reported and one that points to a broader range of wrongful behavior than defense officials have acknowledged.

NA
3. At Abu Ghraib, Soldiers Faced Pressure To Produce Intelligence
(Wall Street Journal)...Christopher Cooper and Greg Jaffe
...Interviews with more than 20 interrogators and analysts at the prison -- most of whom haven't spoken out before -- suggest the problems at the now notorious Abu Ghraib prison were more complex than suggested by the widely distributed images of abuse. Seven guards have been accused of wrongdoing, and military and congressional investigators are looking into the case. The interviews show an intelligence system ill-equipped to battle a largely faceless insurgency. Interrogators and analysts at Abu Ghraib, some of whom say they had little experience interrogating prisoners, knew little about the enemy they were fighting. And they were working within a military-intelligence system that was never designed to incarcerate and interrogate thousands of prisoners for months on end.

4. Dates On Prison Photos Show Two Phases Of Abuse
(Washington Post)...Scott Higham, Joe Stephens and Josh White
...The date stamps reveal that the recording of the abuses started shortly after the MPs arrived at the prison and built to a crescendo of perversity, with the naked human pyramid on Nov. 8. One of the photographed incidents stands out because it contains military intelligence officers in the frame -- showing soldiers gathered around three naked men lying shackled together on Oct. 25. Finally, the photographs suggest that two distinct types of abuse occurred at the prison. First, sexual humiliation and crude brutality at the hands of the MPs. Then, the more targeted use of dogs.

5. Iraqis, U.S. Split On New Leaders
(USA Today)...Steven Komarow
The planned announcement Monday of a new Iraqi government was delayed, apparently by differences between U.S. authorities and the Iraqi Governing Council over the proposed leadership. As the U.S.-led civilian administration and members of the council wrangled over the new government, violence in the capital and near the southern city of Najaf claimed the lives of two U.S. soldiers and at least two dozen Iraqis.

6. Shiites Try To Save Truce
(Los Angeles Times)...Charles Duhigg and Edmund Sanders
Shiite leaders made a desperate effort Monday to salvage a truce between U.S. forces and militiamen loyal to radical cleric Muqtada Sadr, even as American military commanders declared that the insurgents had failed to honor the 4-day-old cease-fire.

IRAQ

7. At Least 5 More G.I.'s Are Killed In Iraq
(New York Times)...Edward Wong
At least five American soldiers died in Iraq during a 24-hour period that began Sunday, two of them fighting insurgents in the holy city of Kufa during the unraveling of a cease-fire agreement with a rebel Shiite cleric, military officials said Monday.

8. Car Bomb In Baghdad Kills Four Iraqis
(Washington Post)...Edward Cody
A powerful car bomb killed four Iraqis and wounded about 25 in downtown Baghdad Monday, while two U.S. soldiers were killed in clashes with insurgent Shiite militiamen that persisted despite a ragged truce around the sacred city of Najaf.

9. Iraqi Council Vote Postponed
(Washington Post)...Rajiv Chandrasekaran
The U.S.-led occupation authority ordered Iraq's Governing Council on Monday to postpone a vote on nominating a president because the council's favored candidate is opposed by the authority, council members said. Some members angrily accused the occupation authority of attempting to impose a choice on them.

10. 'I Want To Reconstitute Four Divisions Of The Army'
(London Sunday Telegraph)...Philip Sherwell and Colin Freeman
Ayad Allawi, Iraq's prime minister-designate, has told The Telegraph that he plans to recall four divisions of Saddam Hussein's old army and create a rapid reaction force and anti-terrorism unit to deal with the country's security crisis.

11. Northern Cities Getting Ready For Transfer Of Power
(Washington Times)...Kris Osborn
Here in Saddam Hussein's hometown, the senior U.S. military officer says attacks on coalition forces are down and rebuilding efforts are looking up as the June 30 transfer of power to an Iraqi government approaches.

12. For Iraqis, A Symbol Of Unkept Promises
(Los Angeles Times)...Nicholas Riccardi
...As much as civilian casualties or detainee abuse, the erratic reconstruction of their country has turned Iraqis against the occupation. Many people welcomed last year's invasion, hoping that the world's only superpower could elevate their wretched standard of living. But a year later, the promised $18 billion in U.S. reconstruction money is only now hitting the streets. Projects have been delayed by insurgent attacks and rampant corruption, committed by Iraqis but blamed on the Americans.

13. Memorial Day In A Combat Zone: Taps And Thanks
(Washington Post)...Jackie Spinner
...Hundreds of soldiers in the 1st Armored Division gathered at dusk inside an open hangar not far from the battlefield where four of the division's members had died in just the past 24 hours. The drums beat in rhythm with the patriotic sounds of the trumpets and clarinets, while soldiers with cigarette lighters rushed to keep a ring of torches burning as the sun set. The drill team clicked and clapped and stomped, their feet and guns a methodic waltz between human and machine. And members of the honor guard took their positions, flags hoisted against the backdrop of the airfield and a bombed-out hangar whose twisted metal looked more sinister as darkness set in.

14. Some Seek Date For U.S. Troops To Exit Iraq
(Washington Post)...Peter Slevin
Bursts of gunfire and bad news are prompting growing numbers of foreign policy experts to begin debating the contours of a U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq, echoing a national discussion reflected in opinion polls about the fate of the American mission.

15. Undersec'y Of Defense Eyed In Leak
(New York Daily News)...New York Daily News Staff
There's more trouble for Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith. An FBI investigation into who handed government secrets to disgraced Iraqi National Congress leader Ahmed Chalabi is focusing on Feith, the new U.S. News & World Report reveals.

NA
16. Schwarzenegger Exalts Troops
(Wall Street Journal)...Jim Carlton
While some Republicans shy away from reminding Americans of the soldiers dying in Iraq, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is going out of his way to pay them homage.

IRAQ -- ABU GHRAIB

17. Searing Uncertainty For Iraqis Missing Loved Ones
(New York Times)...Ian Fisher
...With all the anger over the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison, the scandal has deepened another reality for hundreds of Iraqi families — possibly thousands: a searing uncertainty over missing loved ones. The American military is taking steps to improve access to information for the families of arrested Iraqis, and families of prisoners and groups that work with them say that there has been improvement, but that the problem is far from resolved.

18. 3rd Of Detainees Who Died Were Assaulted
(USA Today)...Tom Squitieri and Dave Moniz
More than a third of the prisoners who died in U.S. custody in Iraq and Afghanistan were shot, strangled or beaten by U.S. personnel before they died, according to death certificates and a high-ranking U.S. military official.

19. Elgin Resident In Charge Says Abuse Won't Recur
(Chicago Tribune)...Richard Wronski
...Essick can't change those images, which President Bush called "appalling," but he vows the abuse won't happen again. His military police battalion, which took over Abu Ghraib in February, is better trained and supervised than its predecessor units, he said.

DEFENSE DEPARTMENT

20. Rumsfeld Tells West Point Class U.S. Needs Help To Prevail In Iraq
(New York Times)...Marc Santora
Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld told graduates at the United States Military Academy on Saturday that in order for the United States to prevail in Iraq and the wider campaign against terrorism, it must convince other nations to join in the struggle.

21. Rumsfeld Extols Lessons Of West Point
(Washington Post)...Associated Press
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, making no mention of the prisoner-abuse scandal that has led to calls for his ouster, told a cheering crowd of graduating cadets Saturday that they will help win the global fight against terrorism.

ARMY

22. Tillman Killed By 'Friendly Fire'
(Washington Post)...Josh White
Pat Tillman, the former pro football player, was killed by other American troops in a "friendly fire" episode in Afghanistan last month and not by enemy bullets, according to a U.S. investigation of the incident.

WHITE HOUSE

23. At Arlington, Bush Salutes The Dead Of Wars Past And Present
(New York Times)...Richard W. Stevenson
...Mr. Bush was introduced at Arlington by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who got a rousing round of applause from the crowd and responded by saying "Wow." Mr. Rumsfeld, whose job seemed in jeopardy a few weeks ago after disclosures about the abuse of Iraqi detainees by Americans, praised Mr. Bush, who in turn thanked Mr. Rumsfeld for what he called "great leadership."

24. Bush Keeps Gun Hussein Had In Cave As A Trophy
(Miami Herald)...Associated Press
President Bush keeps in his White House offices a trophy of one of his high points in the Iraq war: the pistol that Saddam Hussein held when soldiers pulled him from his underground hideaway.

CONGRESS

25. Sounding The Alarm On Nuclear Proliferation
(Washington Post)...Peter Slevin
The Armed Services Committee was not exactly the assignment the self-described South Carolina country lawyer imagined for himself when he arrived as a House of Representatives rookie in 1983.

HAITI

26. Haiti's Security, Financial Woes Leave Even The Police Fearful
(Washington Post)...Kevin Sullivan
...A U.S.-led military force of 3,600 troops has been patrolling the country since Aristide's departure, but is phasing out starting Tuesday, to be replaced by a U.N. peacekeeping team, led by Brazil, with 6,700 soldiers and more than 1,600 civilian police officers. Officials said 1,900 U.S. troops would be rotated out of the country over the next several weeks. Haiti has been almost totally dependent on foreign troops for its security and foreign aid to stave off insolvency and feed its people. Floods last week that killed at least 1,300 people underscored the country's near-total dependence on the international assistance. For days, the only aid to reach people in the disaster areas was donated food ferried in on U.S. and Canadian military helicopters.

NA
27. Offering Aid To Haiti, Marines Extend Stay
(USA Today)...Wire services
U.S. Marines had expected to leave Haiti today, but they could be staying another month to help flood victims and maintain order.

MIDEAST

28. Saudi Gunmen Still Missing
(Los Angeles Times)...Megan K. Stack
Authorities searched without success Monday for any sign of the missing suspected Islamic gunmen who terrorized oil company offices and housing compounds in this city over the weekend. Three of the assailants disappeared in a stolen car Sunday morning after killing 22 people, and have managed to evade a nationwide manhunt.

NA
29. Israel, US Conclude Strategic Talks
(Jerusalem Post)...Arieh O'Sullivan
The first high-level strategic dialogue between Israel and the United States in two years concluded Monday after two days of talks. Meeting in Tel Aviv, the Defense Policy Advisory Group (DPAG) was a forum for both sides to discuss and plan far-reaching mutual strategic goals. The United States sent Douglas Feith, the undersecretary of defense for policy, to head the talks.

ASIA/PACIFIC

30. US Pullout Talks To Begin Next Week
(Korea Times)...Ryu Jin
...U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is scheduled to outline Washington’s security strategy for the Asia-Pacific region at the annual Asian security meeting in Singapore this week.

31. U.S.: China Rethinking Military Tactics
(Washington Post)...Associated Press
The speed with which U.S. ground forces captured Baghdad and the prominent role played in Iraq by U.S. commandos have led China to rethink how it could counteract the American military in the event of a confrontation over Taiwan, the Pentagon says.

AFGHANISTAN

32. U.S. Lacks Plan To End Afghanistan Drug Trade
(Washington Times)...Rowan Scarborough
...Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited Afghanistan in April and told Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld that the opium-producing plant is a threat to stability, two officials said. "I know he has raised those concerns with the secretary," said a senior defense official. "There is a general understanding that al Qaeda is raising money" from the drugs. But officials say that given the political and security picture in the emerging democracy, it is better to leave the crop alone — for now.

33. Afghans Wary Of Karzai Dealings
(Christian Science Monitor)...Scott Baldauf
...Over the past few weeks, President Hamid Karzai - lauded by the US government as a defender of democracy - has held a series of meetings with top military commanders famous for their defeat of Soviet forces and for running a murderous four-year government after that. Presidential spokesmen call the talks an effort at ensuring a stable election process, free of intimidation. Critics - and even the commanders themselves - say the talks were about something else, a deal to promise key cabinet posts to warlords in exchange for their support of President Karzai's candidacy.

34. 4 Afghan Soldiers, 4 GIs Killed In Attacks
(Chicago Tribune)...Noor Khan, Associated Press
...The attack came hours after an explosion killed four Special Forces soldiers traveling in a Humvee, one of the deadliest attacks on U.S. troops trying to stop resurgent militants from wrecking planned national elections.

EUROPE

NA
35. Europe Steels Itself For Visits By Bush
(Wall Street Journal)...Marc Champion, Gabriel Kahn, Hugh Pope and Charles Fleming
Paris is raising its security alert to maximum, protest marchers have been holding rehearsals in Rome, and Turkey is preparing to install antiaircraft batteries around five-star hotels in Istanbul. President Bush is coming to Europe.

RUSSIA

36. Russia Joins Anti-WMD Alliance
(International Herald Tribune)...Reuters
Russia on Monday joined a U.S.-led alliance of countries prepared to board ships and raid suspect factories to stem the trade in weapons of mass destruction.

POLL

37. Marines, Air Force 'Most Important'
(Washington Times)...Jennifer Harper
Americans have always had a keen interest in their military, but a new Gallup poll reveals the nation's opinion of the armed forces is not ironclad. The U.S. Army and the Marine Corps are now tied with the Air Force as our choice for "the most important branch of the United States armed forces," the poll found.

BUSINESS

38. Cash Crunch Curbs Rebuilding In Iraq
(USA Today)...David J. Lynch
...With bank lending almost non-existent and foreign investment in Iraq about as common as a snowstorm, Iraqi businesses are struggling to secure the credit they need for life after Saddam Hussein. Whether these midsize businesses succeed or fail with their job-creating expansions is critical for stability: Iraq's anti-American insurgency is largely made up of unemployed young men. If the economy generated more jobs, extremists couldn't recruit foot soldiers as easily.

39. Halliburton Was Helped By Cheney, Time Says
(International Herald Tribune)...Agence France-Presse
A Pentagon e-mail said that Vice President Dick Cheney coordinated a huge Halliburton government contract for Iraq, Time magazine reported Monday, despite Cheney's denial of interest in the company, which he ran until 2000.

NA
40. Oil Exports Reported To Reach $10 Billion
(Washington Times)...Unattributed
Iraqi crude oil sales since last year's U.S.-led invasion have topped $10 billion, the U.S.-led authority governing Iraq said yesterday.

OPINION

41. In Praise Of Do-Gooders
(Wall Street Journal)...John McCain
...It is critical to realize that the Red Cross and the Geneva Conventions do not endanger American soldiers, they protect them. Our soldiers enter battle with the knowledge that should they be taken prisoner, there are laws intended to protect them and impartial international observers to inquire after them.

42. Iraq And The Conservative Crackup
(Washington Post)...E. J. Dionne Jr.
...With the splits on Iraq exposed, other splits within conservatism become more obvious. Small-government conservatives feel ever more free to speak out against the large budget deficits over which Bush has presided. Anti-immigration conservatives speak out against the president's immigration policies. Pro-military conservatives criticize Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's dominion over the Pentagon, reflecting the views of many in the military brass who never much liked Rumsfeld or his plans.

43. Progress In Iraq
(New York Times)...William Safire
...Present Iraqi leaders like Alawi are clearly asserting themselves. We will not like all they insist upon. But they are lurching toward a democratic decision, and despite the hand-wringing of Gloomy Gus & Company, that's real progress.

NA
44. Playing Loose With Missile Defense?
(Washington Times)...Curt Weldon
The Missile Defense Agency is moving forward toward the goal of a layered defense capability against missile attack. Given the pace of missile and weapons of mass destruction proliferation among hostile, irresponsible regimes such as North Korea, a layered U.S. missile defense program can only be considered prudent "good government."

45. A Plea For Enlightened Moderation
(Washington Post)...Pervez Musharraf
The world has been going through a tumultuous period since the dawn of the 1990s, with no sign of relief in sight. The suffering of the innocents, particularly my brethren in faith -- the Muslims -- at the hands of militants, extremists and terrorists has made it all the more urgent to bring order to this troubled scene. In this spirit, I would like to set forth a strategy I call Enlightened Moderation.

46. Filling The Information Gaps On Al Qaeda
(Washington Post)...Victor Comras
The hearings of the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks focused national attention on the need to repair and strengthen our internal defenses against al Qaeda and terrorism. They underscored the importance of information sharing among government agencies. They even suggested that such information sharing might have thwarted the attackers. This same theme now needs to be examined on an international level.

47. U.S. Is Lost In Afghanistan
(Chicago Sun-Times)...Robert Novak
The handful of valiant American warriors fighting the ''other'' war in Afghanistan is not a happy band of brothers. They are undermanned and feel neglected, lack confidence in their generals and are disgusted by Afghan political leadership. Most important, they are appalled by the immense but fruitless effort to find Osama bin Laden for purposes of U.S. politics. This bleak picture goes unreported because journalists are rarely seen there. It was painted to me by hard U.S. fighters who are committed to the war against terrorism but have a heavy heart. They talked to me not to undermine policy but to reveal problems that should and can be corrected.