Dawn Patrol

• Bin Laden's 'emir' in Iraq is wounded

  Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the most wanted insurgent in Iraq, has been wounded in fighting, the group he leads said on Tuesday. A statement issued by al-Qaeda in Iraq said the Jordanian ...
  

  • Al Qaeda issues call for vengeance
    AL QAEDA in Iraq called yesterday for an increase in attacks against its enemies in revenge for an injury suffered by Abu Musab al Zarqawi, the most wanted terrorist in Iraq.

• Iraqi Insurgency On A Deadly Comeback
  Iraq's insurgents, described earlier this year by U.S. officials as a dwindling force, have resisted military efforts to halt their attacks and have an apparent new bombing strategy to inflict headline-grabbing casualties, according to diplomatic and academic experts.

• U.S. launches new Iraq offensive
  1,000 troops encircle city of Haditha, target insurgents
  About 1,000 U.S. Marines, sailors and soldiers encircled this Euphrates River city in the troubled Anbar province Wednesday, killing at least three insurgents after launching the second major operation in this vast western region in less than a month, an official said
  
  • A Series Of Iraqi-Led Raids Nets Hundreds Of Suspects
    In what American military officials said was the largest Iraqi-led operation to date and evidence that the country's fledgling army was up and running, hundreds of Iraqi soldiers fanned out Sunday and Monday in a dangerous western suburb here, arresting 437 people they accuse of having ties to the insurgency

• Beleaguered Iraqi Police Maintain Sense of Honor
  Poorly equipped men are shot at and lured into traps. Still, they show up at the station.
  Scar tissue from shrapnel runs like a shiny thread above Jawad Ali's ear. It rises like a blister on his thumb. His skin is a diary of these brutal streets. He slipped out of his bulletproof vest the other day and pulled down his collar, exposing a bullet wound from an insurgent attack on his way to work

• South Korean Unit Trains Iraqi Troops
  The Defense Ministry said yesterday the South Korean Zaytun unit in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil has been training about 400 Iraqi soldiers and police since February, an action that could incite Iraqi insurgents to target the Korean contingent.

• Peace in Iraq 'will take at least five years to impose'
  It could take at least five years before Iraqi forces are strong enough to impose law and order on the country, the International Institute of Strategic Studies warned yesterday.

• Marine back from Iraq
  At a certain point, Shiling said he was totally on-edge, waiting for a trip home to see his family. But, Shiling said many parts of his time in Iraq were positive -- especially the days he helped transport the Iraqi election officials in and out of Fallujah.

• Iraq Suspends Oil Exports to Turkey
  Iraq has suspended oil exports to the Turkish port of Ceyhan because of a production shortage in the northern fields of Kirkuk, an Iraqi official said Tuesday. The northern pipeline and facilities regularly are sabotaged by insurgents.

• The pipeline that will change the world
  It is 42 inches wide, 1,090 miles long and is intended to save the West from relying on Middle Eastern oil. Nothing has been allowed to stand in its way - and it finally opens today

• FBI accused over torture in detention
  Two US citizens yesterday alleged that FBI interrogators were complicit in their torture and illegal detention by Pakistani security forces over an eight-month period.

• Veterans Sue Over Care At D.C. Home
  A group of veterans living at the U.S. Armed Forces Retirement Home filed a class-action suit yesterday on behalf of all its residents, claiming that drastic budget cuts by the Defense Department have resulted in substandard medical care.

• 'Nightline' to air list of war dead
  "Nightline," which stirred up controversy last year with its decision to read the names of the 721 US military personnel who had lost their lives in the Iraq war, is going to do it again

• PBS President Denies One-Party Influence
  The Public Broadcasting Service does not allow political pressure to influence content decisions, PBS President Pat Mitchell said Tuesday, defending the public television network from accusations of liberal bias.

• The Media Blame Game In Iraq War
  ...In other words, there is no "basic media mistrust of the military." That doesn't mean, of course, that there are never articles that critique the military on a specific subject as part of normal journalistic work. But media mistrust regarding Iraq has rightly focused on civilian administration officials. The reason has nothing to do with Vietnam syndrome, but everything to do with watching Pentagon civilians make repeated mistakes that undercut the Iraq effort. Unlike Newsweek, those officials rarely admit their mistakes.

• Parties Face Off Before Vote On Women In Combat
  Democrats and Republicans staked out positions on women in combat yesterday on the eve of an expected House vote on legislation that would, by law, prevent the military from moving women into ground combat units
  
  • Let Lawmakers Decide
    This week, the House of Representatives will debate whether the Defense Department or the American people should decide if women fight in direct ground combat
  • War Makes Recruiting Women Tough
    As the Iraq war wears on and casualties mount, young women are marching away from the Army.

• House passes stem cell bill despite threat of veto
  Despite a veto threat from President Bush, the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday easily approved bipartisan legislation that would permit more federal funding of stem cell research on human embryos that would otherwise be discarded.

• Military, Families Get State Help
  National guardsmen and military reservists will have access to grants to help bridge the gap between their civilian and military pay, more veterans' widows will get a tax break and military personnel will get cheaper hunting and fishing licenses under bills signed into law Tuesday by Gov. Jeb Bush.

• England waives Article 32 hearing in prison abuse case
  Pfc. Lynndie England on Tuesday surrendered her right to challenge the seven charges she faces as a result of the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal, moving her one step closer to a new military trial.

• Japan vows to continue whaling despite Australian campaign
  Tokyo will not yield to foreign pressure seeking to stop it from whaling, a fisheries official said after Australia stepped up a campaign against Japan's annual hunt in the name of scientific research.

• Abbas arrives in Washington expecting U.S. support
  Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Washington on Tuesday for his first White House visit, to assure President Bush he is a serious partner for peace with Israel, officials said

• Embryonic Stem Cell Debate Moves to Senate
  In defiance of a presidential veto threat, senators who support embryonic stem cell research are pushing for a quick vote on a bill passed by the House that would lift restrictions on such studies.