Kerry's World

Note: Previous entry here

Must Read

Speaking of Rock 'n' Roll and bad behavior, here's a must read that you probably haven't...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - On a sunny morning earlier this month, Ray LeMoine and Jeff Neumann borrowed a shiny white GMC pickup from an Army sergeant and took a windows-down drive around the Green Zone, the complex that houses American civilian and military authorities in Baghdad.

With Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" blasting on the stereo, the two 20-somethings cruised the area "just to annoy" the streams of workers and soldiers on the sidewalks and streets. It took them less than five minutes to damage the truck, scraping it along another vehicle while trying to park.

Meet the wild boys of Baghdad, who've been charged by the American-led governing authority to assist Iraqi humanitarian aid groups resume relief efforts and to make sure that aid gets where it's needed.

Back in their office inside the massive convention center that houses many of the authority's offices, LeMoine paced with a snarl on his face and in his voice, his flip-flop sandals slapping against the white-tiled floor. Most of his Iraqi office mates stared at their computer screens, fearful of making eye contact.
He and Neumann had planned to deliver a dozen boxes of donated clothes to an aid group in the poorest slums of this sprawling metropolis. But the driver hadn't shown up. Neither had representatives from the aid group who had promised to accompany them.

"Chill, dude," responded Neumann, the duo's calmer half, who tries to keep a lid on LeMoine's temper. He wore a Boston Red Sox hat backward and a long-sleeved shirt that hid the tattoos that cover his arms from wrist to shoulder.

After a few minutes, they decided to make the delivery without the escort that is often mandatory for coalition employees who travel outside the complex. They would take the truck, whose factory-fresh appearance made it an obvious target for insurgents who set off roadside bombs against what they consider an occupying power.

Such flaunting of the rules is nothing new for these two. Almost nightly, they leave the security of the Green Zone to travel to hotels and residences around Baghdad that house many of the American and foreign journalists and aid workers they have befriended. There, they often party to excess early into the next morning.

"You kind of have to or you go nuts," Neumann said. "When you sit back and get rocketed for a half an hour or when you're in the Green Zone Cafe and three mortars go over ... you need a little relief."

In moments they were off, with two journalists in tow.

"It's going to be a cowboy mission," Neumann says.

Read the whole thing. These guys will be the first to have an Iraq-based movie or TV series about them. It might be called "Yankees Suck".

I hope it has a happy ending.

I wonder what Michele will think of this? (By the way, she's got a rockin' thing for you too.)

And I'm listening to "Freeborn Man" now. The Outlaws. Loud.

Springtime in Mudville

True to my word, I'm building entries on the blog and listening to BTO. "Roll on Down the Highway"? you bet. Very loud.

The world's finest highway system, (12,000 kilometers plus, and outside of urban areas no speed limit) starts about 2 miles from my driveway. I will have a hard time readjusting to American traffic.

Here's an offer: name a song in the comments and I'll test drive it and tell you the autobahn speed it leads to. You know what I mean, a song on the radio, you're into the music, it's a fine fine day and the road is yours and before you know it the needle pushes past 90...

When that happens here I don't have to slow down.

Which is also nice if you're in a real hurry, as I was yesterday, taking a dog to the vet's. A dog that had ingested poisonous plants and was exploding violently from both ends.

All's well that ends well though, and below you can see the puppy-sized version of the now-all-better dog that is now much bigger too. But that's one reason there were no entries on the ol' Blog yesterday. But what a beautiful day that was, blue sky and sun, and on the ride home a bug hit the windshield at around 180+ kmh, plus or minus bug speed. The first of the year.

Spring has sprung.

Grass Roots

A couple quick things to start your day uptempo:

If you haven't seen it via Instapundit, this rocks.

Almost missed this big response from military readers to the Opinion Journal.

And a few weeks ago I noted in reference to the Firefighters Union declaring support for Kerry that

there's something troublesome about the "firefighters support Kerry" theme that's been floating behind the lines of this story. A Union supports Kerry, but where do the rank and file stand? Among other requirements, being a Democrat in this day and age generally takes a "me first" attitude that just doesn't fit with the mindset of a fireman, anymore than with that of a soldier or a cop.

And here, (hat tip Hugh Hewitt) is evidence to support that theory.

Kerry stock, meanwhile, plummets, and in response the erstwhile Senator from Massachusetts (who's never met a gas tax hike he didn't like), is crying for relief.

Credit the Bush ads for the 'turnaround'? Hardly. Kerry walks into punches, to the point where it seems he's got to be one of Carl Rove's underlings. Either that or he's got a peanut brain in that Easter Island skull.

I think I'll be blogging to the sounds of BTO today...

31 March 04 Morning Briefing

Welcome to The Morning Briefing, from Baghdad to Washington and all points in between, this is one reason why Rummy's always ready for the droolers in the pool...

TOP STORIES

1. President To Let Rice Testify About 9/11
(Washington Post)...Mike Allen and Dan Eggen
President Bush reversed himself yesterday and agreed to permit his national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, to testify in public and under oath before an independent commission investigating the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Capitulating on a second point, Bush said he will submit to questions in a private session with all 10 commissioners, backing off his previous demand to meet only with Chairman Thomas H. Kean and Vice Chairman Lee H. Hamilton. Bush added a new restriction by saying he will appear only with Vice President Cheney at his side.

2. Bomb Kills Five U.S. Soldiers In Iraq
(New York Times on the Web)...Associated Press
A bomb exploded under a U.S. military vehicle west of Baghdad on Wednesday, killing five soldiers, the military said. At least four people, including one American and possibly other foreign nationals, were killed in a separate attack. Crowds burned and mutilated their bodies.

3. Noncitizen Soldiers Fight For U.S. And A Better Life
(Philadelphia Inquirer)...Paul Nussbaum
...Shortly after he sent the letter, Singh, 21, was killed when his armored patrol was ambushed about 65 miles west of Baghdad. A native of India, he was one of hundreds of "green-card soldiers" in Iraq, noncitizens fighting for the United States and for a chance to become Americans. At least 15 noncitizen soldiers have been killed in Iraq.

4. Arrested Development On Iraqi Police Force
(Los Angeles Times)...Mark Magnier and Sonni Efron
...But poor equipment, inadequate training and morale problems all but ensure that the police will not be ready to maintain law and order on their own for the foreseeable future amid an insurgency that continues to target cities, citizens and Iraqi police themselves. As a result, the U.S. military will be needed to provide extensive support long after June 30, Iraqi police and U.S. officials acknowledge.

5. Britain Detains 8 In Alleged Bomb Plot
(Los Angeles Times)...John Daniszewski and Sebastian Rotella
Counter-terrorism police arrested eight men suspected of preparing a major bombing in Britain and seized half a ton of ammonium nitrate, which authorities said could have been used to make a massive fertilizer bomb. The arrests Tuesday sent a ripple of fear through Britain, coming after this month's train bombings in Madrid — blamed on a Moroccan group linked to Al Qaeda — and on the same day that authorities in the Philippines said they had thwarted a major attack there.

6. Most Not Prepared For Attack
(USA Today)...Mimi Hall
Most Americans have not followed the government's advice to prepare for terrorism by stocking food and water, making a plan to contact family members and identifying a "safe room" in their homes, a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll shows.

IRAQ

7. Roadside Bombs Kill 2 U.S. Soldiers In Iraq
(Washington Post)...Sewell Chan
A U.S. soldier and a suicide bomber were killed Tuesday in separate incidents, according to military spokesmen. The soldier, who was not immediately identified, was killed by a roadside bomb that detonated as troops were on morning patrol near Ramadi, a city west of Baghdad, the U.S. military reported. The explosion also wounded one soldier. U.S. officials also said one soldier died and another was injured Monday when a roadside bomb caused their vehicle to veer off a road near Al Asad air base, about 11 miles northwest of Fallujah in western Iraq.

8. Marine Killed In Attack
(Los Angeles Times)...Tony Perry
One Marine was killed and five were wounded Tuesday in three attacks in this Sunni Triangle city west of Baghdad.

9. Iraqi Suicide Bombing Wounds 7 As Number Of Daily Attacks Rises
(New York Times)...Associated Press
A suicide bombing on Tuesday outside the house of a police chief killed the attacker and wounded seven others.

10. Weapons Inspector Testifies On Hill
(Washington Post)...Walter Pincus
The new chief U.S. weapons inspector for Iraq told Congress yesterday that no breakthrough has been made in the search for chemical or biological weapons but said new information supports a theory that Saddam Hussein may have been developing an ability to produce them on short notice.

11. Iraq Rebuilding Plan Reviewed
(Washington Post)...Jackie Spinner and Mary Pat Flaherty
The new inspector general of the U.S.-led interim authority in Iraq reported yesterday that though he is just beginning his own audits of reconstruction spending, he is concerned about the oversight of spending and control of cash.

NA
12. U.S. Undecided On NATO Role In Iraq
(USA Today)...Unattributed
The United States is weighing roles for NATO in Iraq but hasn't decided which of several options to support, a senior State Department official said. The ideas under discussion range from NATO taking over command of a multinational division to training peacekeeping and Iraqi forces to improve security in the country as it moves toward recovering its sovereignty on July 1, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Robert Bradtke said.

NA
13. Coalition Says Closed Shiite Weekly Incited Violence
(USA Today)...Unattributed
Coalition officials Tuesday defended a decision to close a Shiite weekly that it said was fomenting violence against coalition troops in Iraq.

14. Attacks On Iraqi Police Increase
(USA Today)...Kevin Johnson
...At least 350 officers have been killed and hundreds more wounded since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime last spring. Since May 1, when President Bush declared an end to major combat operations, 284 U.S. service members have died from hostile fire. Rebels have stepped up attacks against Iraqis in recent months. Police, who are often outgunned by insurgents, make easy targets for guerrillas who want to attack Iraqis cooperating with the coalition.

15. Hezbollah, Hamas Offices Reported In Iraq
(Washington Times)...Sharon Behn
The terrorist groups Hamas and Lebanon-based Hezbollah have opened offices in Iraq and are recruiting young men in the cities of Basra and Nasariyah, says the executive director of the American Islamic Congress.

16. Chalabi Poised To Lead Iraq
(Washington Times)...Arnaud de Borchgrave
With only three months to go before L. Paul Bremer trades in his Iraqi proconsul baton for beachwear and a hard-earned vacation, the country's most controversial politician is already well-positioned to become prime minister.

17. January Elections Seen As Essential Move To Restore Legitimacy
(Washington Times)...Agence France-Presse
Ahmed Chalabi, acting president of the U.S.-installed Iraqi Governing Council, said yesterday that it is essential to hold elections in January as scheduled and expressed satisfaction with his talks with a visiting U.N. team.

18. No Clear Favorite For Top U.S. Job In Iraq
(New York Times)...Steven R. Weisman
It is described as the most challenging diplomatic assignment in the world, and the toughest to fill. Three months before sovereignty is restored in Iraq, the Bush administration is still looking for an ambassador to replace L. Paul Bremer III as the chief American political presence in Baghdad.

19. Publicist Hired To Tell Iraqis Of Democracy
(New York Times)...Heather Timmons
The United States-led occupation in Iraq has enlisted a British public relations firm to help promote the establishment of democracy in the country.

20. World In Brief
(Washington Post)...Unattributed
The U.S.-led occupation authority in Baghdad is failing to meter Iraq's oil production, leaving a door open to smuggling, an international watchdog agency said.

21. Spanish Troops Break Up Violent Protest
(USA Today)...Unattributed
Spanish soldiers and Iraqi police broke up a protest by people seeking to join the police force in Najaf.

DEFENSE DEPARTMENT

22. Pentagon Drops Plan To Test Internet Voting
(Washington Post)...Dan Keating
The Pentagon has decided to drop a $22 million pilot plan to test Internet voting for 100,000 American military personnel and civilians living overseas after lingering security concerns, officials said yesterday.

23. Appropriators Press Pentagon Over Restructuring Costs
(National Journal's CongressDaily)...Amy Klamper
Top Senate appropriators called on the Pentagon today to be more forthcoming with the anticipated costs of its plan to sharply revise its overseas basing strategy and with the impact that will have on military construction and the round of base closings in 2005.

BUSINESS

24. Report Deepens Doubts On Air Force Tanker Deal With Boeing
(Philadelphia Inquirer)...Joseph L. Galloway and Alan Bjerga
A Defense Department inspector general's audit report on the negotiations between the Air Force and the Boeing Co. on a new aerial refueling tanker indicates that investigations into possible criminal conduct have widened, according to officials who are knowledgeable about the report.

NA
25. Tanker Deal Not 'Normal,' But Aircraft Needed, Jumper Says
(Aerospace Daily)...Kathy Gambrell
A deal to lease and buy KC-767 tankers from the Boeing Co. did "depart from the normal procurement procedures," but the goal was to accelerate the acquisition of the tankers, the Air Force Chief of Staff, Gen. John H. Jumper, told the House Appropriations Committee's defense subcommittee March 30.

26. Dicks: Congress May Need To Legislate Against Tanker Competition
(Defense Daily)...Sharon Weinberger
In another sign of renewed conflict over the Air Force plans to modernize its aging fleet of tankers, a Democratic member of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee said yesterday that Congress might have to legislate against allowing a foreign company in the U.S. military market for the lucrative refueling aircraft.

NA
27. Boeing's Stonecipher Expects Approval Of Tanker Deal
(Bloomberg.com)...Tony Capaccio
Boeing Co. Chief Executive Officer Harry Stonecipher said he expects the Pentagon to approve a $23.5 billion plan to lease and buy as many as 100 aerial refueling tankers once a probe of a potential conflict of interest is done.

WHITE HOUSE

28. A Clash On Classified Documents
(Washington Post)...Dana Priest
The Bush administration's uneven decision-making on which sensitive documents it declassifies has prompted criticism that the White House is selectively releasing information to bolster its foreign policy agenda and respond to political pressure.

29. Former Colleague Disputes Clarke's Terror Accusations
(Washington Times)...Bill Sammon and Stephen Dinan
A former Democratic colleague of Richard A. Clarke yesterday disputed the former White House analyst's accusations that President Bush was not sufficiently focused on terrorism before the September 11 attacks.

NAVY

30. Navy Probes Crashes Of 4 Jets
(Washington Times)...Guy Taylor
Four Navy fighter jets have crashed during training missions in the United States in the past seven days in what the Navy is investigating as a sudden series of unrelated "mishaps."

31. Lawmakers Split During Hearing On Navy’s Ship Request
(Norfolk Virginian-Pilot)...Dale Eisman
The shipbuilding industry’s top lobbyist came to a congressional hearing room on Tuesday determined to build momentum for dramatic increases in ship construction budgets.

ASIA/PACIFIC

32. Pakistan Government Cleared In Selling Of Nuclear Material
(Washington Times)...Bill Gertz
A Pakistani network that covertly sold nuclear goods used government aircraft but the Islamabad government was not involved in the transactions, a senior State Department official told Congress yesterday.

33. 'Madrid-Level' Bomb Attack Prevented, Philippines Says
(Los Angeles Times)...Richard C. Paddock
Philippine officials announced Tuesday that they had averted a "Madrid-level" bombing attack on shopping malls and trains here with the arrest of four alleged members of the Abu Sayyaf militant group.

34. Pakistan Backs Off 2d Claim On Al-Qaeda
(Philadelphia Inquirer)...Paul Haven, Associated Press
Pakistani officials yesterday again backed off claims that they killed or captured a major al-Qaeda fugitive, saying a man they believed was an intelligence chief for Osama bin Laden's organization was in fact a much less senior local figure.

35. 3rd Day Of Violence Claims 23 Lives In Uzbekistan
(New York Times)...Seth Mydans
As many as 23 people were reported dead on Tuesday in bombings and gun battles in Uzbekistan during a third day of violence in a strategic ally of the United States that borders Afghanistan.

AFGHANISTAN

36. Land Grabs Threaten Peace
(Washington Times)...John Zarocostas
Afghanistan could drift into a new conflict if the Karzai government fails to deal with widespread land grabbing and house confiscations by warlords, army commanders, drug dealers and Cabinet ministers, an independent U.N. human rights analyst said yesterday.

EUROPE

37. Russia: Defense Can't Stop Weapon
Unattributed
Russia has designed a ''revolutionary'' weapon that would make the prospective U.S. missile defense useless, Russian news agencies reported. If deployed, the new weapon would take the value of any U.S. missile shield to ''zero,'' the news agencies quoted a Defense Ministry official as saying.

38. Quick Action Urged Against New Ethnic Violence
(Washington Times)...David R. Sands
Renewed violence between ethnic Albanians and Serbs in Kosovo could drag down the entire Balkans if the United States and European powers do not act quickly and forcefully, regional leaders said in a series of interviews this week.

HAITI

39. Haiti: 18 Months To Elections, U.N. Envoy Says
(New York Times)...Warren Hoge
Haiti will need 18 months to hold elections following the departure last month of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and United Nations peacekeepers must be kept there for up to 20 years if the country is going to have guaranteed stability, Secretary General Kofi Annan's special envoy, Reginald Dumas, said after briefing the Security Council.

OPINION

40. What A Strong Russia Wants
(Wall Street Journal)...Sergei Lavrov
...An entirely reasonable question should be answered: How can Russia deal with its newfound foreign-policy opportunities? Russia has significantly enhanced her reputation as a responsible player in international affairs over the past four years. This has been achieved through a pragmatic policy, mainly subordinated to the interests of domestic development and oriented toward expanded dialogue and cooperation with the rest of the world. As part of this policy, Russia and the U.S. have become the closest of allies in the fight against international terrorism, while Russia-NATO relations have improved and a strategic partnership with the European Union has developed.

41. International Relations 101
(New York Times)...Robert M. Gates
Osama bin Laden and other terrorists are on the brink of achieving an unanticipated victory, one that could have long-term consequences for the United States.

42. 'Oil For Fraud?': The U.N.'s Response -- (Letter)
(Washington Post)...Edward Mortimer
The Post recommended an investigation into allegations of corruption involving the Iraqi oil- for-food program ["Oil for Fraud?" editorial, March 26]. U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan informed the Security Council earlier last week that he is launching just such an independent inquiry. The composition of the investigating body will be announced this week.

43. Difficult Military Duty of Defending Terrorists -- (Letters)
(Wall Street Journal)...John D. Hutson; Miles P. Fischer
Anyone reading your article "Defending the Enemy: Critics of Tribunals Gain Unlikely Allies: Lawyers in Uniform" (March 18) should not be surprised to learn of the audacity and tenacity of military defense counsel. I spent 28 years as a Navy judge advocate so I am well familiar with what they do.

44. The Military Chaplain -- (Letter)
(New York Times)...Lt. Col. Bill Costello, USA
To the Editor: Capt. James Yee ("Military Injustice," editorial, March 24) was never charged with espionage or characterized as traitorous by government officials. He was found guilty on adultery and pornography charges and processed through nonjudicial punishment.

EDITORIAL

45. Back On The Back Burner
(Washington Post)...Editorial
Remember Haiti? One month ago, shortly after President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was flown out of the country on a U.S. military aircraft, U.S. Marines began landing in the capital of Port-au-Prince as part of a multinational intervention to stop the spread of anarchy. It was a mission the Bush administration did its best to avoid, following years of neglecting Haiti and months of trying to hand off management of its mounting crisis to others. Thirty days later, the Marines are still there -- 1,900 of them -- but the country and its dire problems have once again vanished from the agendas of administration policymakers.

46. The Balkans Flare Up
(New York Times)...Editorial
As if the world needs a reminder of how hard it is for occupying outsiders to build a nation, Kosovo exploded this month. Five years after a NATO bombing campaign put an end to atrocities by ethnic Serbs against ethnic Albanians there, Albanian mobs burned Serb-owned houses to the ground. It's yet another distressing instance in which victims of ethnic cleansing have resorted to the same horrific type of violence.

47. Don't Forget Afghanistan
(Los Angeles Times)...Editorial
...Unfortunately, Pakistani soldiers botched an anti-terrorist campaign on their side of the border this month, out of ineptness or solidarity with the Taliban. Pakistan's cooperation in the anti-terrorism effort is still woeful. It needs to press harder; the U.S. and other countries need to match money and troops to their rhetoric and stop Afghanistan from backsliding into the depths.

30 Mar 2004 Morning Briefing

As a service to readers and fellow bloggers The Mudville Gazette presents The Morning Brief, the same compilation of news stories that leaders of the US armed forces get every morning.

Why? So if you run into General Myers in the elevator you'll have something to talk about.

TOP STORIES

1. 7 Former Communist Countries Join NATO
(Washington Post)...Thomas E. Ricks
President Bush welcomed seven former Communist countries into NATO yesterday, pressing the alliance's boundaries farther into what once was Warsaw Pact territory and emphasizing its post-Cold War rebirth as a partnership aimed increasingly at fighting terrorism in Europe and beyond.

2. Majority Supports Bush On Terrorism
(USA Today)...Richard Benedetto
Most Americans still approve of President Bush's leadership in the war on terrorism, even after a week of accusations that he failed to pay enough attention to intelligence warnings before the Sept. 11 attacks.

3. G.I.'s In Afghanistan On Hunt, But Now For Hearts And Minds
(New York Times)...David Rohde
Standing in a bleak, dust-covered village 15 miles from Pakistan, Lt. Reid Finn, a 24-year-old Louisiana native known as Huck, supervised as his men unloaded a half dozen wooden boxes with American flags on them.

4. Big Pay Luring Military's Elite To Private Jobs
(New York Times)...Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker
Senior American commanders and Pentagon officials are warning of an exodus of the military's most seasoned members of Special Operations to higher-paying civilian security jobs in places like Baghdad and Kabul, just as they are playing an increasingly pivotal role in combating terror and helping conduct nation-building operations worldwide.

5. Chicago, L.A. Towers Were Next Targets
(Washington Times)...Paul Martin
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, al Qaeda's purported operations chief, has told U.S. interrogators that the group had been planning attacks on the Library Tower in Los Angeles and the Sears Tower in Chicago on the heels of the September 11, 2001, terror strikes.

6. 9/11 Panel Wants Rice Under Oath In Any Testimony
(New York Times)...Philip Shenon and Richard W. Stevenson
The chairman and vice chairman of the independent commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks said on Monday that they would ask Condoleezza Rice to testify under oath in any future questioning because of discrepancies between her statements and those made in sworn testimony by President Bush's former counterterrorism chief.

IRAQ

7. U.S. Soldier Killed Near Baghdad
(Baltimore Sun)...Associated Press
A U.S. soldier was killed in a bomb attack west of Baghdad yesterday, and British troops in the south fired rubber bullets to disperse anti-coalition activists.

NA - Original press release here
8. Rebuilding To Create Thousands Of Jobs
(USA Today)...Unattributed
U.S. administrator Paul Bremer said he expects 50,000 Iraqis to be working on U.S.-funded jobs at construction sites across the country by the time Iraq is sovereign June 30. Construction is set to begin in six key sectors: electricity; water resources and public works; security and justice; transportation and communications; buildings, education and health; and oil.

NA
9. Bremer: Full Police Force To Take Year
(Philadelphia Inquirer)...Ken Dilanian
In an uncommonly downbeat assessment of Iraq's security challenges, U.S. administrator L. Paul Bremer told local officials yesterday that it would take at least a year for Iraq to hire, equip and train enough police and border guards to meet its needs.

10. Marines Hunt Smugglers At Iraq-Syria Border
(Los Angeles Times)...Tony Perry
Along hundreds of miles of lonely desert along the Iraq-Syria frontier, U.S. Marines have begun an aggressive effort to block weapons and foreign fighters from flowing into Iraq through one of the world's most notorious smuggling corridors.

11. Securing Iraq's Frontier, Step By Step
(Los Angeles Times)...Kim Murphy
This country's 900-mile border with Iran is now officially closed at all but three remote posts. The mission of the lonely sentinels here: to prevent combatants and weapons from seeping into a nation that already has more than enough of both.

NA
12. Deal To Outfit Iraqi Army Creates A Stir
(Wall Street Journal)...Christopher Cooper
Washington has doled out billions of dollars to reconstruct Iraq, but no contract has sown more hard feelings and confusion than a midsize deal to outfit the new Iraqi army.

13. Army Says Troops Killed Two Iraqi Journalists
(Washington Post)...Sewell Chan
The U.S. Army accepted responsibility Monday for the shooting deaths of two Iraqi journalists this month near a roadblock in the capital but said the killings were accidental.

14. Attacks Test Muslim Unity In Iraq
(Washington Post)...Karl Vick
Abdulsattar Abdulraheem, a stringy 72, looked up from the bag of portland cement at his feet. While patching a hole in his driveway, he laid his dusty hands on a metaphor for the common quality Iraqis say will spare them a civil war.

15. Saddam Mum In Interrogations
(Washington Times)...Associated Press
He doesn't have an attorney in the room, but Saddam Hussein apparently is practicing what most lawyers would advise: Don't talk. Diplomatic and military officials say the former Iraqi leader has provided little useful information in interrogations so far — and may even be having fun.

16. Five Penalized By U.N. Chief In Iraq Bombing
(New York Times)...Warren Hoge
Acting on a damning report of United Nations security failures in the bombing of its Baghdad headquarters last August, Secretary General Kofi Annan fired his chief of global security, demoted a second senior official, penalized three staff members and received — but did not accept — the resignation of his own deputy, his spokesman said Monday.

17. U.N. Envoy Sent To Shape Plan For Iraq
(Washington Post)...Robin Wright and Anthony Shadid
A U.N. special envoy heads to Baghdad this week to chart a course for forming a new Iraqi government in just six to eight weeks, amid growing signs that the pivotal players in Iraq's political drama are deeply divided over how to proceed.

18. Senate Panels To Get New Iraq Weapons Report
(New York Times)...Douglas Jehl
The new chief American weapons inspector in Iraq has prepared a classified report on the hunt for illicit weapons there and will brief two Senate committees in closed sessions on Tuesday about his interim findings, Congressional officials say.

19. Rumors Are A Bombardment That Never Stops
(USA Today)...Tom Squitieri
...Fighting the information war on the streets and in the bazaars of Iraq's cities and villages is proving as tough as combating the elusive fighters who attack soldiers. In November, the coalition set up a 50-member rumor-control team in recognition of the importance of the information war. The team monitors rumors on the streets and in cafes, what's published in countless Iraqi newspapers and what appears on television.

20. US Fights Shifting Iraqi Foes
(Christian Science Monitor)...Dan Murphy
...For now, the US military is staying focused on the insurgents. Brig. Gen. Mark Hertling, commander of the 1st Infantry Division and head of security in and around Baghdad, sees four threats.

DEFENSE DEPARTMENT

NA
21. Pentagon Blasts Air Force Contract For Boeing Tankers
(Wall Street Journal)...Andy Pasztor
The Pentagon's inspector general, lambasting some Air Force acquisition procedures, dealt a potentially crippling blow to Boeing Co.'s controversial plans to quickly provide air-refueling tankers to the military. In a briefing to congressional staffers yesterday, Inspector General Joseph Schmitz and his staff summarized the conclusions of a report that criticizes the Air Force for relying on "an inappropriate procurement strategy" for the tankers, along with failing to use "prudent acquisition procedures," comply fully with five federal statutes and falling short of adequately protecting taxpayers.

22. Pentagon Favors Boeing Deal
(Washington Post)...Unattributed
The Pentagon's inspector general said there is "no compelling reason" to block an Air Force plan to acquire 100 air refueling tankers from Boeing, despite significant questions about the deal.

WHITE HOUSE

23. Rice 9/11 Testimony May Be Released
(Washington Post)...Mike Allen
After resisting for months, White House officials worked yesterday to negotiate a compromise that would allow public release of national security adviser Condoleezza Rice's testimony before the independent commission looking into the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, according to administration aides.

24. Colleague Of Ex-Official Disputes Part Of Account
(New York Times)...David E. Sanger
A senior national security official who worked alongside Richard A. Clarke on Sept. 11, 2001, is disputing central elements of Mr. Clarke's account of events in the White House Situation Room that day, declaring that it "is a much better screenplay than reality was."

POLITICS

25. Battleground In The Heartland
(Washington Post)...David Maraniss
Voters torn between support of military, concerns about war.

ARMY

26. Muslim Chaplain Appeals Reprimand
(Seattle Post-Intelligencer)...Mike Barber
Army Capt. James Yee, 36, a Muslim chaplain the Army tried but failed to link to a suspected espionage ring at Guantanamo Bay naval station in Cuba, has appealed his reprimand for committing adultery and storing pornography on an Army computer.

NAVY

27. Navy Jet Crashes Off San Diego
(Los Angeles Times)...Deborah Schoch
A Navy fighter jet experienced engine problems and plunged into the Pacific Ocean on Monday, but the two crew members ejected and were rescued, Navy officials said.

28. Navy Pilot Safe After Jet Crashes In Eastern Tenn.
(Baltimore Sun)...Unattributed
A Navy F-18 fighter jet on a training mission crashed yesterday, but the pilot ejected and was taken to a hospital with a broken ankle, authorities said. The one-seat plane, based at the Naval Air Station Atlanta, went down about 11 a.m. and hit some trees about 30 miles north of Chattanooga, the Navy said. No one on the ground was injured. The pilot's name was not released.

MARINE CORPS

29. Marine May Be Punished For 'Friendly Fire' Deaths
(Washington Post)...Will Dunham, Reuters
A U.S. Marine Corps general will consider possible disciplinary action against a ground-based Marine air controller faulted in the most deadly U.S. "friendly fire" incident in the Iraq war, officials said yesterday.

TERRORISM

30. Officials: U.S. 'Outed' Iran's Spies In 1997
(USA Today)...Barbara Slavin
After a bombing killed 19 U.S. airmen at a barracks in Saudi Arabia in 1996, the Clinton administration struck back by unmasking Iranian intelligence officers around the world, significantly disrupting Iranian-backed terrorism, according to a high-level U.S. official and a former top official who was serving at the time of the operation.

31. Officials Hopeful Of Al-Qaida Leader's Death
(Baltimore Sun)...Associated Press
Intercepted radio conversations indicate al-Qaida's top intelligence chief might have been killed in fighting in Pakistan, intelligence officials said yesterday, but they admitted they cannot produce his body. The radio transmissions disclosed that a man named Abdullah had been killed and that the death caused a great deal of distress among the al-Qaida forces, a Pakistani intelligence official said on condition of anonymity.

NATO

(Subscription)
32. New NATO Nations Should Find Niche Military Capability, Secretary General Says
(Defense Daily)...Ann Roosevelt
The seven new NATO members should develop niche military capabilities to support the alliance’s military forces and missions, Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said ahead of White House accession ceremonies yesterday.

MIDEAST

33. Iran Says It Stopped Making Uranium-Enrichment Device
(Philadelphia Inquirer)...Unattributed
Iran announced yesterday that it had stopped building centrifuges for uranium enrichment, a bid to allay suspicions about its nuclear intentions as U.N. inspectors visit the country. Iran suspended uranium enrichment last year under strong international pressure. But it continued to build centrifuges, which are used in enrichment, despite criticism that such activity violated the spirit of its pledge to cease enrichment.

ASIA/PACIFIC

34. 19 Killed In Uzbekistan; Terrorism Blamed
(New York Times)...Seth Mydans
Nineteen people were killed and at least 26 wounded in a series of terrorist incidents in the Central Asian nation of Uzbekistan, the Uzbek prosecutor general said Monday.

35. Taiwan's President Maintains Hard Line
(Washington Post)...Philip P. Pan and David E. Hoffman
President Chen Shui-bian declared Monday that his narrow reelection victory was a mandate from voters to press ahead with an aggressive agenda to develop Taiwan as an "independent, sovereign country" despite the risk of war with China.

AFGHANISTAN

36. U.S. To Nearly Double Its Aid To Afghanistan
(Washington Post)...Unattributed
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell is expected to nearly double the U.S. commitment to Afghanistan's reconstruction at a donors conference this week in Berlin.

37. Madrid To Double Afghanistan Contingent
Spain's incoming government, under pressure over its plan to withdraw its troops from Iraq, has agreed to double the country's contingent in Afghanistan to 250 soldiers this summer, an aide to the future defense minister said yesterday.

OPINION

NA
38. Kerry's Stalling On Base Closures Delays Big Savings
(USA Today)...Editorial
Imagine a $400 billion business that relies increasingly on borrowed money because its revenues have fallen far short of expenses. Yet it isn't allowed to shut down unnecessary plants because of politics. That's the situation the U.S. Department of Defense faces in trying to close military bases that no longer are needed.

39. Kerry Proceeds With Caution
(USA Today)...John M. Shalikashvili
America is at war. And the next president will inherit enormous responsibilities to keep America safe and win the war on terror. He will face key decisions on the size of America's military and how best to rebalance the roles of the active and reserve components.

40.A Dollop Of Deeper American Values
(Washington Post)...Joseph S. Nye Jr.
...After the war in Iraq, I spoke about soft power to a conference co-sponsored by the Army. One of the speakers was Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. When someone in the audience asked Rumsfeld for his opinion on soft power, he replied, "I don't know what it means." That is part of our problem. Some of our leaders don't understand the importance of soft power in our post-Sept. 11 world.

41. Funds To Secure Afghanistan
(Washington Times)...Said Tayeb Jawad
At the donors' conference tomorrow in Berlin, we will present a detailed report on how to secure Afghanistan's future — and the security internal stability brings to the world.

42. Constitutional Tempest In Iraq
(Washington Times)...Bruce Fein
Volcanic. That characterizes a heated symposium I attended in Ankara, Turkey, last week sponsored by the Foreign Policy Institute and Bilkent University to appraise "Iraq on the way to its new Constitution." The attendees included Iraqi participants in the March 8, 2004, interim constitution promulgated by the 25 member Iraqi Governing Council (IGC). Other attendees hailed from Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.

43. Cooperation, Not Control, Key To Iraqi Democracy
(USA Today)...DeWayne Wickham
Last week, while much of the nation's attention was focused on the swirling debate over how and why the U.S. went to war in Iraq, the Bush administration formally extended America's military dominance of that troubled country.

44. Keep Iraq Above Politics
(Los Angeles Times)...James R. Schlesinger and Thomas R. Pickering
In the coming months, President George W. Bush and Sen. John F. Kerry will disagree about many critical national security issues, including the timing of the decision to go to war with Iraq and the effectiveness of our efforts since major combat ended.

EDITORIAL

45. Hearts, Minds And Padlocks
(New York Times)...Editorial
With so many forces trying to prove that America cannot bring stability and democracy to Iraq, it was sad to see the Bush administration's proconsul there, Paul Bremer III, issuing an order that is likely to set back both of those desirable goals.

46. Countdown In Iraq
(Washington Post)...Editorial
With only 93 days before the United States is to end its postwar occupation of Iraq, American troops still are immersed in a bloody and inconclusive conflict.

47. Time To Send In The Marines
(Long Island Newsday)...Editorial
One of the most biting arguments against President George W. Bush's obsessive focus on the Iraq war is the resulting dilution of military resources that could have been used to search out and destroy al-Qaida in its Afghan and Pakistani redoubts. That criticism will continue to haunt the Bush White House, but it's not too late to make up for that mistake. That's what the Pentagon is now doing. The timing is right.

Two Face II - The Sequel!!

(Note: Part One here.) Okay, I was going to leave John Kerry alone for the rest of the evening, but now I must dedicate this comic book to all Pandagon readers...

Grim

Okay, Grim offers a post on a grim anniversary, one for worthwhile reflection on Internationalism and US intervention on foreign soil - or lack thereof. He's optimistic, so don't be fooled by the nickname.

For more such, don't forget the MilBlogs page.

John Kerry Wants to Control Your Life Too

Having been forced to dance like Howard Dean's meat puppet through the grueling months of the Democratic campaign (longer than his 'nam tour - ed) John Kerry now wants to pull the strings for others:

"If Condoleezza Rice can find time to do '60 Minutes' on television before the American people, she ought to find 60 minutes to speak to the commission under oath," Kerry said while campaigning Saturday.

He think he owns her or something?

Really I haven't heard anything that witty from the white skined African American Catholic pro abortion anti-war war hero presidential candidate since he said this earlier this month:

""If the president of the United States can find time to go to a rodeo, he can spend more than one hour before the commission," Kerry said.

And you know he could have said it in French if he wanted too? The guy is just two steps ahead of everyone.

Maybe in November we can tell him where to go.

Can you Help?

Just read an e-mail from Pierre Legrand at The Pink Flamingo Bar and Grill, one of the earliest members of the "Friends of MilBlogs" list. He passes on a letter he received from the very good folks at Operation Air Conditioner:

We are working hard to get air conditioners out to our troops in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom 2 and any donation you can make to us would be greatly appreciated. Please even $5, $10 or $20 is fine. We were able to do so much last summer for our troops and I would like to continue but we operate on donations and people just are sick of hearing about the war and have essentially stopped donating all together.

Emphasis added.

I don't know, Pierre. I've got a list of charity sites that includes Operation AC down the side of this blog. I get roughly 1-2 thousand visitors a day on weekdays, (depending on inbound links) but the respose to a simple request for words of encouragement to the troops a couple posts down has been somewhat underwhelming. Perhaps it's easier to donate a few bucks to charity than to write a few words. For many I'm sure that's true. I will now shamelessly bring out the guilthammer.

Here's an excerpt from a recent e-mail I sent this past week. Having read the above email and the one that prompted my morale posts in the first place, I realize that this really sums up the whole moment in time for me right now:

The Pentagon released results of a morale survey of troops in Iraq earlier this week. No surprise, they weren't overjoyed to be in Baghdad taking shots while trying to restore electricity. In contrast recent Iraqi opinion polls show the citizens consider themselves better off now, have hope for a brighter future, and would like the Army to leave as soon as that electricity is stable.

Meanwhile, a former US President says at a Democratic Party event celebrating the unofficial annointing of the heir apparent, that

"I am deeply concerned that our leadership today has been eroded by global doubts about our government's commitment to the basic principles of truth, peace and human rights," Carter said. "We see trust and friendship toward the United States at its lowest point in history."

"Respected human rights leaders no longer see our country as a noble example to be emulated, but as a focus of their almost universal condemnation."

Par for the course in a week that began with "anti-war" protests, moved to attempts to blame the president for 911, and saw anti-Bush demonstrators come to blows with the pro-Bush crowd. With over seven months to go to the elections, flames are being fanned.

This "low troop morale" story is really about the Pentagon taking steps to improve that number, but will of course be used by the folks responsible for the activities above as further evidence that they are in the right.

We are at war and troops are in harms way. Actions by people on the homefront do affect the troops overseas. People are aware of that, but it's becoming background noise, and it should never be ignored.

It may be corny but I guess I'm saying a little WWII-style home front patriotism isn't a bad thing - it did help defeat Hitler, Mussolini, and Hirohito after all. Funny that we shy away from such behavior now. If that's desirable then I guess that certain Vietnam-era testimony still has it's intended effect.

So give please, those who can.

Gotta shake the blues now. Regroup, recharge, press on.

It's what we do.

Today France...

Did you know that Greyhawk Manor, the current home of yours truly, sits on top of a wooded hill virtually on the border between Germany and France?

PARIS, March 28 -- President Jacques Chirac and his ruling conservative party suffered a crushing defeat in regional midterm elections Sunday, with the opposition Socialists and their Green and Communist allies seizing control of the vast majority of regional councils. The results represented a sharp rebuke for the government, which has attempted to reform France's costly health care, pension and education systems.

Chirac's party was expected to lose control of a number of regional councils after its poor showing in last week's first round of voting. But the scale of Sunday's defeat immediately prompted speculation that Chirac's prime minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, could be replaced in a sweeping post-election cabinet reshuffle this week.

"It's not just a defeat," said Alain Duhamel, a veteran political analyst and commentator. "It's a disaster."

All of which explains the guillotine I saw on the back of a westbound truck on the autobahn today.

And there's no word yet on whether the new French aristocracy has endorsed their cousin John for President of the US.

Jesus and John

Lets catch up with good John Kerry, who stopped for mass on his way home from skiing, even though it nearly made him late for the vote against Laci and Connor's law:

The last time a major political party put forward a Roman Catholic candidate for President, he had to confront bigotry and suspicion that he would be taking orders from Rome. Forty-four years later, the Democrats are poised to nominate another Catholic—another Senator from Massachusetts whose initials happen to be J.F.K.—

Most folks probably didn't notice the similarities.

"He had me at 'notBush'" said a typical Democratic voter. But for those desiring the false sense of hope that their candidate has a moral compass,

Kerry is a former altar boy who complains when his campaign staff does not leave time in his Sunday schedule for Mass, who takes Communion and describes himself as a "believing and practicing Catholic, married to another believing and practicing Catholic." But just last week he made a rare appearance on the Senate floor to vote against a bill that would make harming a fetus a separate offense during the commission of a crime. The vote put Kerry on the same side as abortion-rights advocates in opposing specific legal rights for the unborn—and against nearly two-thirds of his fellow Senators.

So Kerry wants to be the second Catholic President, pretty much in the same manner of wanting to be the second black president, and although he hasn't yet attacked Bush using gangsta rap he has fired some scriptural rounds into the enemy camp:

Polls consistently show that Americans prefer their leaders to be religious, and in running to unseat the most openly devout President in recent years, Kerry has at times put a pious cast on his own rhetoric. In a speech at a Mississippi church on March 7, he said Bush does not practice the "compassionate conservatism" he preaches, and quoted James 2: 14, "What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?"

Kerry's invocation of deeds-based vs. faith-based theology is a great topic for late night seminary debates. Worth noting, in the medieval Catholic Church one could purchase one's way into heaven, in Islam one must perform certain tasks (observe the five pillars) and in perverted versions of Islam one can enter heaven immediately and with great reward for flying planeloads of infidels into buildings full of infidels. In contrast Christianity is a faith-based religion.

But the President has been a man of faith and deeds. Kerry's sound bite, like most scripture quoted without context, depends heavily on a lack of public understanding of the topic. Or perhaps on the vain hope that Christians are poorly educated and easily led...

However, grant that support for most all of Kerry's postions requires a high degree of faith, if you will, since there are certainly no facts to back his assertions, and his proposals would have you suspend belief in anything but miracles.

Absent divine guidance, let's Google that March 7th church speech and see which diocese got the blessed visitation.

JACKSON, Miss -- Aligning himself with the civil rights movement and elements of faith in the fight for equality, Sen. John Kerry on Sunday (Mar 7th) called on members of an African-American church here to march against cynicism and disaffection.

"I don't agree with the hollowness of the politics, nor do you, that tries to divide black from white, rich from poor, Massachusetts from Mississippi," Kerry told a crowd of about 600 at the predominantly black Greater Bethlehem Temple Church.

Obviously it's not in his best interest to divide all rich white folk from poor Jackson urbanites. But as one church member said, "he had me at 'notBush'"

Although civil rights activist Al Sharpton of New York is still in the Democratic race, black voters and elected officials said they want to support a candidate with a better chance at defeating President Bush.

President Clinton was often known as the first black president, Kerry said recently. "I wouldn't be upset if I could earn the right to be the second."

<...>

Democrats historically have relied on the support of African-Americans at the polls, a courtship that often begins in church. But this year, with the election expected to be extremely close, Democrats are saying they can no longer afford to take black votes for granted.

Visiting black churches is an honored rite of the presidential campaign, and Kerry used the occasion Sunday to debut a speech melding policy with religion, springing from the bedrock of civil rights.

Quoting James 2:14, Kerry, a Catholic, said, "We'll be tested to see how much we really remember the words of the Scripture, What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?"

And that's apparently one of the themes developed by the Kerry Kult during the ski week in Idaho. No word on whether it occurred to them in a divine flash of inspiration or if, like Kerry's foreign leader support, the idea simply sprang from voices in his head. Whatever the case, Kerry's repeating the theme at black churches around the country, this past weekend in St Louis.

"Today we are told that, after 3 million lost jobs and so many lost hopes, America is now turning a corner," the pending Democratic presidential nominee said. "But those who say that, they're not standing on the corner of Highland Street, where two 15-year-old teenagers were hit in a drive-by shooting last week."

Kerry never mentioned Bush by name, instead aiming his criticism at "our present national leadership." In appealing to worshippers to oppose the devout Christian president, Kerry cited scripture and an African proverb: "When you pray, move your feet."

"The scriptures say, what does it profit, my brother, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?" Kerry told the congregation at New North Side Baptist Church. "When we look at what is happening in America today, were (sic) are the works of compassion?"

<...>

Kerry is Roman Catholic, but his support for abortion rights is at odds with Vatican teachings.

"I don't tell church officials what to do, and church officials shouldn't tell American politicians what to do in the context of our public life," Kerry said in an interview with Time posted on the magazine's Web site Sunday.

Kerry says his faith was instilled in him in childhood and that in Vietnam he wore a rosary around his neck when he went into battle. When Kerry got home from the war, he went through what he calls a "period of a little bit of anger and agnosticism, but subsequently, I did a lot of reading and a lot of thinking and really came to understand how all those terrible things fit."

That rosary isn't clearly visible in any of the many photos. But what a great scene it will make in the movie version, as our hero dons it and genuflects before initiating divine carnage, bringing full wrath of Old Testiment Yahweh upon his enemy.

Now brace yourselves it's going to get worse:

He is enough of a stickler for Catholic rules to have sought an annulment of his 18-year first marriage before marrying again.

The previous two quoted passages, the 'nam rosary and the annulment, along with the next one, were originally all one amazing paragraph. It had to be cut to be savored and digested. Like a father welcoming the prodigal son, the generous Time editor gives us too much of a feast.

The Boston Globe's revelation last year that his paternal grandparents were born Jewish and converted to Catholicism has triggered "some fascination," he says, and some frustration over not knowing more about his religious heritage. "I wish my parents were alive and I could ask them all the questions," he says.

Well, you'll meet them again in heaven John.

But there are dark clouds gathering, as he doesn't have everyone at notBush.

...this time, the controversy over his religion may develop within the Catholic Church itself. Kerry's positions on some hot-button issues aren't sitting well with members of the church elite. Just listen to a Vatican official, who is an American: "People in Rome are becoming more and more aware that there's a problem with John Kerry, and a potential scandal with his apparent profession of his Catholic faith and some of his stances, particularly abortion."

And you can read the whole thing to learn more. But suffice to say it's a story of our hero's battle against those "elite" - those Pharisees, if you will. But it's also a story of those who'd look beyond the fact that John Kerry is notBush, those who resist his call to "follow me." Kerry is every bit as Catholic as he is black, as pious as he is heroic, and his protests to the contrary are worthy of scorn, and exemplary of his uncertain positions on everything. Still, he's a matter of obvious concern too, for he is notBush, and for many that's messianic, or at least close enough.

29 March 04 Morning Briefing

As a service to our readers and fellow bloggers, the Mudville Gazette presents The Morning Briefing, the same compilation of news from around the world that top US militay officials are starting their day with. Links in this section are presented without editorial comment and do not represent an endorsement by this web site, the DoD, any component thereof, etc.

Don Rumsfeld has a copy in the limo on the ride in. Why shouldn't you start your day the same way? We ask only that you, like our SecDef, use this information only for good.

(Well, you could also hat tip this way should you use this info or find it potentially useful.)

By the way if you're a blogger and find an article here you'd like to use as in an entry on your blog, feel free to leave a comment here and use the url entry to link your story.

TOP STORIES

1. Rice Defends Refusal To Testify
(Washington Post)...Dana Milbank and Walter Pincus
National security adviser Condoleezza Rice, at the center of a controversy over her refusal to testify before the Sept. 11 commission, yesterday renewed her determination not to give public testimony and said she could not list anything she wished she had done differently in the months before the 2001 terrorist attacks.

2. President Asked Aide To Explore Iraq Link To 9/11
(New York Times)...Eric Lichtblau
The White House acknowledged Sunday that on the day after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, President Bush asked his top counterterrorism adviser, Richard A. Clarke, to find out whether Iraq was involved.

3. G.I.'s Padlock Baghdad Paper Accused Of Lies
(New York Times)...Jeffrey Gettleman
American soldiers shut down a popular Baghdad newspaper on Sunday and tightened chains across the doors after the occupation authorities accused it of printing lies that incited violence.

4. Shiites Organize To Block U.S. Plan
(Washington Post)...Anthony Shadid
...The clergy's campaign is steeped in the religious symbolism that binds much of the country's Shiite majority, whose political ascendancy is a defining feature of postwar Iraq. It turns on a term -- legitimacy -- that is far easier to deny than to bestow. The campaign signals a willingness to confront U.S. authorities at a moment when time is short, as the American administration prepares to formally end the occupation on June 30 and turn over authority to an interim Iraqi government.

5. Iraq Economy Shakes Off The Shackles Of Saddam
(USA Today)...Paul Wiseman
...Anything goes these days in Baghdad's teeming streets, crowded souks and back alleys. An exhilarating but virtually lawless economy has risen from the ashes of Saddam Hussein's government. Business opportunities are everywhere, but so are corruption and crime.

IRAQ

6. Iraqi Minister Escapes Attack
(Washington Times)...Christopher Torchia, Associated Press
Gunmen opened fire yesterday on a convoy carrying Iraq's minister of public works, killing a driver and a bodyguard and injuring two persons, the U.S.-led coalition said. The minister, Nisreen Berwari, was unharmed.

7. U.S. Soldiers Kill 4 Insurgents In Iraq
Associated Press
U.S. soldiers in the northern city of Mosul shot and killed four rebels suspected of involvement in attacks in the region, the military said Monday. Two American soldiers were wounded in the firefight.

8. U.S. Plan Seeks To Build Civilian-Run Iraqi Army
(Washington Post)...Sewell Chan
U.S. officials are moving rapidly to create a civilian-run Iraqi Defense Ministry that will work in tandem with the American military after the handover of Iraqi sovereignty on June 30 and could form the nucleus of a strategic alliance between the two countries.

9. Iraqis Take Control Of Health Ministry
(Washington Post)...Sewell Chan
U.S. officials turned over control of the Health Ministry to Iraqi officials Sunday, making it the first autonomous ministry of the 25 slated to become so by the formal end of the U.S.-led occupation on June 30.

10. Blast Clues Lead To Dead Ends
(USA Today)...Kevin Johnson
Danger, lack of records in Iraq help foil investigators.

11. U.S. Pitches In For Iraqi Kids
(Washington Times)...Willis Witter
Contributions of clothes and toys from Americans to poor Iraqi children have swamped flights of military mail into Baghdad, forcing officials to scramble for ways to handle an influx of generosity that no one had anticipated.

(Paid reg required)
12. Devil's Advocate Takes Up Brief To Defend Saddam
(London Times)...Charles Bremner
A FRENCH lawyer who has made his name defending tyrants and terrorists claims that he has been engaged to defend Saddam Hussein and will call Donald Rumsfeld, the US Defence Secretary, and other officials to show that the Americans and British were the true criminals in Iraq.

DEFENSE DEPARTMENT

13. Censored Study On Bioterror Doubts U.S. Preparedness
(New York Times)...Judith Miller
Two years after a report on the 2001 anthrax attacks was completed, the Pentagon has released parts of the unclassified document, which concludes that the nation is woefully ill-prepared to detect and respond to a bioterrorist assault.

14. Shifts From Bin Laden Hunt Evoke Questions
(USA Today)...Dave Moniz and Steven Komarow
...The Bush administration says the hunt for bin Laden continued throughout the war in Iraq. Officials say it's wrong to speculate that he would have been captured, or other terrorist attacks prevented, if the Iraq war hadn't happened. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, speaking on ABC's This Week, called the example of the Special Forces switch "simplistic."

15. Growing Doubts On Vaccine In Military
(Washington Post)...Marilyn W. Thompson
With each report on the absence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Airman Jessica Horjus asked a question: If inspectors could find no signs of anthrax, why should the Pentagon risk her health by requiring her to get the anthrax vaccine?

16. Defense Panel Faults Nuclear Plans
(Washington Post)...Walter Pincus
A prestigious Defense Department panel has recommended major changes to the United States' nuclear arsenal, saying the current plans to refurbish the existing weapons stockpile will not protect the nation from new threats from rogue states and terrorist groups.

ARMY

17. Gitmo Cleric: I'm On Watch List
(New York Daily News)...James Gordon Meek
The former Muslim chaplain at Guantanamo Bay probed, and later cleared, for spying and aiding the enemy has been stopped seven times from boarding U.S. airliners, his lawyer said yesterday.

18. Army Spouses Expect Reenlistment Problems
(Washington Post)...Thomas E. Ricks
...Morgan's experience is part of a significant change in Army life brought about by the post-9/11 world: The extended, or repeated, deployments that have characterized the Army since then have intensified the burdens traditionally borne by military families. And most of the spouses who have remained behind are wondering how long the Army can keep it up.

MARINE CORPS

19. Report Details 'Friendly Fire' Casualties In Deadly Battle
(Los Angeles Times)...Hector Becerra, Robert J. Lopez and Rich Connell
As many as 10 Marines may have been killed by friendly fire in the midst of the deadliest battle of the Iraq war when a Marine air controller mistakenly cleared Air Force A-10 jets to shoot on U.S. positions, according to a long-awaited military investigation.

AIR FORCE

20. Cadet Accused Of Rape Allowed Back In Academy
(Miami Herald)...Robert Weller, Associated Press
An Air Force Academy cadet who had been accused of rape and threatened to crash a glider into a dining hall was allowed to remain at the school for several more months, during which he was arrested for sodomizing a woman in a wheelchair and accused of raping another cadet, according to files obtained by The Associated Press.

ASIA/PACIFIC

21. Musharraf Has Rumsfeld's Support In Nuclear Case
(Los Angeles Times)...Chuck Neubauer
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Sunday that there was no reason to believe that Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, was involved in the nuclear black-market network operated by the country's former top atomic scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan.

22. Conflict Ends In Pakistani Tribal Lands
(Washington Post)...Pamela Constable
A deadly, 12-day confrontation between government troops and Islamic fighters in a remote tribal region reached a peaceful settlement Sunday after the militants released 12 paramilitary fighters and two civilian officials held hostage for more than a week and soldiers began pulling out of the area.

AFGHANISTAN

23. New Attacks In Afghanistan Raise Concerns About Security
(New York Times)...Reuters
After President Hamid Karzai formally postponed Afghanistan's presidential and parliamentary elections, from June to September, new violence on Sunday underlined the security concerns behind the delay.

NA
24. Afghans to Seek $4.5 Billion In New Assistance
(Wall Street Journal)...Michael M. Phillips
Afghanistan, faced with mounting violence and public frustration at the slow pace of reconstruction, will ask the U.S., Europe and other donors this week to contribute $4.5 billion in new aid for the coming year.

AFRICA

25. U.S. Seeks Military Access In N. Africa
(Los Angeles Times)...Esther Schrader
Citing evidence that North Africa is increasingly becoming a refuge for Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations, a top Pentagon official said Friday that the U.S. was stepping up efforts to win military access to small bases from Morocco to Mali and ramping up aerial and maritime surveillance of the region.

HAITI

26. Troops Offer Hand, And Native Tongue
(Miami Herald)...Michael A.W. Ottey
...Henriquez, born in Haiti, is one of about two dozen men and women of Haitian background serving with the U.S. military here, playing critical roles in the multinational peacekeeping force deployed to quell a bloody February revolt.

MIDEAST

NA
27. Israeli Arms, Gear Aid U.S. Troops
(Defense News)...Barbara Opall-Rome
The shroud of secrecy obscuring U.S.-Israel cooperation in special operations was lifted slightly last week to reveal a host of Israeli-developed technologies and weapon systems now or soon to be in use by U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

NATO

28. Baltic States Mark New Era With NATO
(Philadelphia Inquirer)...Michael Tarm, Associated Press
...Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia are among seven former Soviet bloc countries formally joining NATO today, and they are realizing a long-denied dream - entering a military alliance by choice instead of by coercion.

EUROPE

29. Prodi Would End Italy's Role In Iraq
Associated Press, Reuters
Romano Prodi, the president of the European Commission who also leads Italy's largest opposition coalition, said in a letter published over the weekend that leftists would end Italy's military role in Iraq if elected to power.

30. Keep Bases Here, Germany Implores U.S.
(Miami Herald)...Melissa Eddy, Associated Press
As host to 170,000 American soldiers and dependents, Germany has a lot to lose under Pentagon plans to shift forces out of western Europe, and officials in areas facing a pinch are lobbying heavily for them to stay.

TERRORISM

31. Hamas Leader Calls Bush Foe Of Muslims
(New York Times)...Greg Myre
The new Hamas leader, Dr. Abdel Aziz Rantisi, said Sunday that President Bush is the enemy of Muslims and that God has declared war on the United States.

32. U.S., Allies Stingy In Sharing Terror Intelligence
(Philadelphia Inquirer)...Dafna Linzer, Associated Press
More than two years after the Bush administration won pledges of support from dozens of countries eager to join the war on terrorism, Washington and its allies still keep a jealous hold on intelligence - snarling the sharing of information needed to shut down al-Qaeda.

BUSINESS

33. Air Force Work Renewal Brightens SI's Outlook
(Washington Post)...Anitha Reddy
SI International Inc. won a contract potentially worth $800 million to continue providing communication network support to the Air Force Space Command, removing a major uncertainty that has hung over the stock for months.

34. Tanker Bid Was Tailored To Boeing
(Philadelphia Inquirer)...Joseph L. Galloway
The Air Force gave the Boeing Co. five months to rewrite official specifications for 100 aerial refueling tankers so that the company's 767 aircraft would win a $23.5 billion deal, according to e-mails and documents obtained by The Inquirer's Washington Bureau.

OPINION

35. Expanding The Alliance Of Democracies
(Wall Street Journal (Europe))...R. Nicholas Burns
In ceremonies today in Washington, D.C., U.S. President George Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell will preside over an event that has been little noted by the European press, but that bears momentous historic significance: the accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization of Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia -- the greatest round of enlargement in NATO's 55-year history.

36. An Essential War
(Wall Street Journal)...George P. Shultz
We have struggled with terrorism for a long time. In the Reagan administration, I was a hawk on the subject. I said terrorism is a big problem, a different problem, and we have to take forceful action against it. Fortunately, Ronald Reagan agreed with me, but not many others did. (Don Rumsfeld was an outspoken exception.)

37. The Question We Should Be Asking
(Washington Post)...William Raspberry
...But I can't get past the previous question: Why are we in Iraq?

38. Follow-Up To Kofigate
(New York Times)...William Safire
Never has there been a financial rip-off of the magnitude of the U.N. oil-for-food scandal.

39. South Koreans Cuddle Up To The North
(Wall Street Journal)...Danny Gittings
...But why keep American lives at risk in a country in denial about the nature of the enemy? And why is it in our strategic interest to stay, if that cripples our options? If Kim Jong Il were caught peddling plutonium to al Qaeda, President Roh would probably find some excuse to do nothing. A pullback of U.S. forces to Guam, by contrast, would free us from South Korean shackles in responding to such proliferation.

EDITORIAL

40. An Insulting Waste
(Washington Post)...Editorial
..."Don't ask, don't tell" wastes federal resources while impugning the patriotism and wrecking the careers -- at the convenience of the brass -- of Americans who want to serve their country. It is past time to repeal the policy.

41. Bottom-Of-The-Sea Treaty
(Wall Street Journal)...Editorial
...But the treaty's central flaw remains unfixable: It is not in the best interests of the U.S. to have its maritime activities -- military or economic -- subject to the control of a highly politicized U.N. bureaucracy. That was a bad idea in 1982 and it's even worse today, as we fight the war on terror. It's also a terrible precedent, especially as we do more in space.

Bloggers, Don Your Hats of Blue!

Fresh from the success of the oil-for-food program the UN now wants more control of the internet. Personally I think Al Gore missed his chance to hand it to them when he invented it, and now it's too late.