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No comic strips, no photos, no birdsong, just this reminder to those who'd like to help Spirit of America help the US Marines.
And kudos to Castle Argghhh for leading the charge!
TOP STORIES
1. Blasts At Iraqi Police Facilities Kill 68
(Washington Post)...Pamela Constable and Khalid Saffar
Five suicide car bombs exploded nearly simultaneously outside four police facilities in the southern city of Basra on Wednesday, killing 68 people, including children being driven to school, and wounding at least 200, authorities said.
2. Attacks On Basra Extend Violence To A Calm Region
(New York Times)...Ian Fisher
The suicide attacks in Basra on Wednesday shattered a week of relative calm in Iraq, bringing anger, mourning and upheaval to a mostly Shiite southern city that has been spared the worst of the violence in the yearlong American occupation.
3. U.S. Moves To Rehire Some From Baath Party, Military
(Washington Post)...Robin Wright
The United States is moving to rehire former members of Iraq's ruling Baath Party and senior Iraqi military officers fired after the ouster of Saddam Hussein, in an effort to undo the damage of its two most controversial policies in Iraq, according to U.S. officials.
4. U.S. Occupation Of Iraq Running Over Budget
(Los Angeles Times)...Esther Schrader and Janet Hook
With bills piling up from the conflict in Iraq, pressure is mounting on war planners in Washington to come up with additional money to fund U.S. efforts there. Republicans in Congress complained Wednesday that the Bush administration's plan to put off a request for more money until early next year was unrealistic. And the nation's top military official, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Richard B. Myers, said the growing violence was pushing the cost of the U.S.-led occupation far over budget, threatening a $4-billion shortfall by late summer.
5. Four Killed And 148 Wounded In A Suicide Bombing In Riyadh
(New York Times)...Neil MacFarquhar
A suicide bomber detonated a Chevrolet Blazer loaded with explosives in central Riyadh on Wednesday, shattering the facade of a police building, killing at least four people and wounding 148.
6. Bush Asks For Patience In Terror War
(USA Today)...Richard Benedetto
President Bush said Wednesday that the war on terror "is going to take a while" and pleaded for patience and resolve.
IRAQ
7. U.S. General At Falluja Warns A Full Attack Could Come Soon
(New York Times)...Eric Schmitt
The top Marine Corps general in Iraq said Wednesday that an American attack against insurgents in Falluja was "inevitable" within days unless the militants there immediately surrendered their heavy weapons and ammunition, as called for in a peace deal.
8. Insurgents Spark A Fierce Battle In Fallouja
(Los Angeles Times)...Tony Perry
Marines backed by helicopter gunships and F-16 jets fought a fierce five-hour battle in this city Wednesday with scores of insurgents armed with grenades, machine guns and mortar shells.
9. Fighting Resumes In Falluja; Return Of Families Is Halted
(New York Times)...John Kifner and Christine Hauser
The fragile peace effort here threatened to collapse Wednesday as insurgents fired mortars and battled with the marines, forcing the American military to stop the return of families who had fled the fighting. At the same time, a crucial part of the peace deal — the insurgents' promise to surrender their heavy weapons — got off to an almost comically slow start.
NA
10. General: 10 Percent Of Iraqi Forces Turned On U.S. During Attacks
(USA Today)...Connie Cass, Associated Press
About one in every 10 members of Iraq's security forces "actually worked against" U.S. troops during the recent militia violence in Iraq, and an additional 40 percent walked off the job because of intimidation, the commander of the 1st Armored Division said Wednesday.
11. Najaf Tribal Leaders Urge Sadr Militia To End Conflict
(Los Angeles Times)...Associated Press
Tribal leaders in this Shiite Muslim holy city called Wednesday for an anti-American cleric's militia to end its standoff with U.S. troops.
NA
12. Iraq Blast May Raise Religious Tension
(Wall Street Journal)...Farnaz Fassihi and Yochi J. Dreazen
A savage bombing in the Shiite city of Basra could unravel a nascent alliance between militants from Iraq's rival religious groups, threatening to inflame sectarian tensions that pose a much-feared threat to Iraq's stability.
13. Spain Plans To Hasten Withdrawal Of Troops
(Washington Post)...Robin Wright and Bradley Graham
After announcing its decision last weekend to withdraw forces from Iraq, Spain has raised further ire in Washington by giving notice of plans to pull out faster than expected, a move that Bush administration officials said yesterday is complicating military operations in Iraq and could put lives in danger. Initially, officials here had expected the withdrawal to start in a month or two and be carefully coordinated with U.S. military commanders in Iraq. But the Pentagon received word earlier this week that about half of Spain's 1,300 troops would be leaving in the next 10 days and the rest within 20 days after that.
14. Members Of U.S. Coalition Reaffirm Support
(Washington Times)...Nicholas Kralev
Members of the U.S.-led Iraq coalition said yesterday that the decision of three countries to withdraw their troops from Iraq does not set a trend, while others said they were rethinking their position.
15. Islamic States Say They Could Back U.N.-Led Iraq Effort
(Philadelphia Inquirer)...Rohan Sullivan, Associated Press
Islamic countries are urging the United Nations to take the lead in Iraq when U.S. administrators give up power, and Pakistan and Malaysia said yesterday that they might send troops to protect U.N. personnel if the world body returned to the country.
DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
16. Accused Terrorists Face Different Kind Of Justice
(USA Today)...Toni Locy
Pentagon's tribunals will tip the scales slightly against suspects to try to protect national security.
17. Partial Missile Shield Called About Ready
(Los Angeles Times)...Associated Press
The United States is on track to activate a limited ballistic missile defense system by the end of the year, the program's director said Wednesday.
18. $30 Million Goal Set For Memorial At Pentagon
(Washington Post)...Timothy Dwyer
The Pentagon Memorial Fund will kick off a national fundraising drive today with the announcement of its first major corporate donation and the establishment of a Web site created by the designer of former presidential candidate Howard Dean's successful Internet fundraising campaign.
ARMY
19. A Dying Mother Tries To Get Her Son Home From Iraq
(New York Times)...Stephen Kinzer
...But instead of focusing on the children on the field, Ms. Confer found herself thinking of her 19-year-old son, Pvt. Joseph Wagner, who is in the Army in Iraq and cannot seem to make it home soon enough. Ms. Confer's anxiety about her son was sharpened by her having learned this month that she is terminally ill. "Everything we've heard so far has been negative," Ms. Confer said after the ballgames. "It seems like I'm not dying fast enough for them to send him home."
NA
20. Extended Tour Cuts A G.I.'s Life Short
(New York Daily News)...Maki Becker
Pfc. Clayton Henson was supposed to come home from Iraq on April 16. Instead, he was killed on April 17 when his convoy was ambushed in Diwaniyah.
21. Next Stryker Brigade Pronounced Ready For Action
(Seattle Post-Intelligencer)...Mike Barber
The nation's second Stryker brigade, which, like the first one, was developed at Fort Lewis, is ready to go.
AIR FORCE
NA
22. Jumper Defers To Rumsfeld On McCain's Tanker Documents Request
(Inside The Pentagon)...Elaine M. Grossman
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John Jumper says it is up to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld whether to release documents an influential senator has sought in an investigation of the service’s deal to lease tanker aircraft from Boeing.
NA
23. SBIRS High Needs Another $1 Billion, Raising Total Closer To $10 Billion Mark
(Defense Daily)...Amy Butler
Cost for the Pentagon’s troubled next-generation, space-based missile warning system will boost by $1 billion, raising the total bill for the Lockheed Martin [LMT] Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) High to nearly $10 billion, according to Air Force officials.
24. Air Force Touts Iraq Post-Combat Flights
(Washingtonpost.com)...John Solomon, Associated Press
U.S. warplanes are running about 150 flights a day inside Iraq to conduct combat operations, provide air support to ground troops and gather intelligence to help crush pockets of resistance by extremists, a top Air Force general says.
WHITE HOUSE
25. U.S. Aimed For Hussein As War Began
(Washington Post)...Bob Woodward
This is the fifth of five articles adapted from "Plan of Attack," a book by Bob Woodward that is a behind-the-scenes account of how and why President Bush decided to go to war against Iraq.
26. Bush Isn't Surprised Americans Expect Attack
(New York Times)...Elisabeth Bumiller
President Bush expressed no surprise on Wednesday that the majority of Americans think it is somewhat likely that there will be a terrorist attack in the United States before the November election, and he suggested that they had a reason to be concerned.
27. Iran 'Will Be Dealt With,' Bush Says
(Washington Post)...Mike Allen
President Bush told newspaper editors in Washington yesterday that Iran "will be dealt with, starting through the United Nations" if it does not stop developing nuclear weapons and begin total cooperation with international inspectors.
CONGRESS
28. Troops For Iraq To Cost $700 Million
(Washington Times)...Bill Gertz
Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, yesterday told a House committee initial estimates for keeping additional troops in Iraq through July for security reasons will cost about $700 million.
29. $4 Billion Shortfall Seen On Iraq War
(Philadelphia Inquirer)...Pauline Jelinek, Associated Press
Increased violence in Iraq is pushing the cost of the war over budget, threatening a $4 billion shortfall by late summer, the top U.S. military officer said yesterday.
30. Limited Iraqi Sovereignty Planned
(Washington Post)...Josh White and Jonathan Weisman
The new Iraqi interim government scheduled to take control on July 1 will have only "limited sovereignty" over the country and no authority over U.S. and coalition military forces already there, senior State and Defense officials told Congress this week.
NA
31. Pentagon Funded Mideast Plans In Secret Prior To Iraq-War Vote
(Wall Street Journal)...David Rogers
The Pentagon acknowledged that in tandem with its secret planning for the Iraq war two years ago, it funded 21 military-related projects in the Mideast when the Bush administration had yet to seek a war resolution from Congress.
32. House Approves Tax Relief For Troops
(New York Times)...Associated Press
The House voted unanimously Wednesday to let National Guard and Reserve troops who are suffering financially tap into retirement savings without penalty. Some Democrats, however, called for more support for the troops.
33. Hagel Seeking Broad Debate On Draft Issue
(Washington Post)...Helen Dewar
Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), a Vietnam War veteran and an influential member of the Foreign Relations Committee, wants the United States to consider reviving the draft as part of a broader effort to ensure that all Americans "bear some responsibility" and "pay some price" in defending the nation's interests.
34. Bremer Accused Of Delaying Probe
(Washington Times)...Shaun Waterman, United Press International
An adviser to the Iraqi Governing Council yesterday accused U.S. administrator L. Paul Bremer of deliberately slowing the IGC's probe into a $10 billion kickback scandal that is bound to embarrass the United Nations.
NORTH KOREA
35. North Korean Ends 'Candid' China Visit
(Washington Post)...Edward Cody and Anthony Faiola
China announced Wednesday that the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Il, had reached a "broad common understanding" with the Chinese government during three days of talks in Beijing on the crisis over his country's nuclear weapons program and will make his "own contributions" to resolving the dispute.
ASIA/PACIFIC
36. U.S. Cautions Taiwan On Independence
(Washington Post)...Glenn Kessler
The Bush administration, in its first broad response to vows by Taiwan's recently reelected president to craft a constitution, warned Taiwan yesterday that unilateral moves toward independence could prompt a Chinese military response "that could destroy much of what Taiwan has built and crush its hopes for the future."
37. U.S. To Continue Sale Of Defensive Arms To Taiwan
(Washington Times)...Bill Gertz
The United States will continue to sell defensive arms to Taiwan under the provisions of a 1979 law, but the island nation's government should not move toward formal independence, a senior State Department official told Congress yesterday.
BUSINESS
38. Northrop Lied To U.S., Papers Say
(Los Angeles Times)...Peter Pae
Northrop Grumman Corp. lied to the Air Force to cover up problems with a radar-jamming system it was developing in the late 1980s and submitted fraudulent bills on other equipment, according to documents unsealed Wednesday.
39. Violence In Iraq Forces 2 Big Contractors To Curb Work
(New York Times)...James Glanz
The insurgency in Iraq has driven two major contractors, General Electric and Siemens, to suspend most of their operations there, raising new doubts about the American-led effort to rebuild the country as hostilities continue.
NA
40. Defense Firms Post Earnings Gains
(Wall Street Journal)...Jonathan Karp, J. Lynn Lunsford and Andy Pasztor
A trio of major aerospace and defense firms reported double-digit increases in first-quarter earnings against a backdrop of increased defense spending and the beginnings of a gradual recovery in commercial aviation.
41. Woman Loses Her Job Over Coffins Photo
(Seattle Times)...Hal Bernton
A military contractor has fired Tami Silicio, a Kuwait-based cargo worker whose photograph of flag-draped coffins of fallen U.S. soldiers was published in Sunday's edition of The Seattle Times.
More to come
