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on a hazy morning in baghdad , more attention went to the latest suicide car bombing , in a town called baquba , than to the transit of a distant planet across the face of the sun . the transit began at 9 19 a.m. , about an hour and a quarter after the bombing . two visitors were turned away by security guards near the entrance to the astronomical dome in zawra park in the upscale monsur district . the doors to the dome appeared to be chained and locked . in another part of town , across the tigris_river from saddam_hussein 's former palace the area now called the green_zone and occupied by the united_states and its allies helicopters patroled the river as a guard on a platform aimlessly pounded an empty water bottle on the top of a concrete blast wall in the gathering heat . a group of journalists and photographers and another guard stood on top of a low building and took turns watching the transit through two pairs of cardboard glasses marked ''transit of venus june 8 , 2004'' that had improbably appeared . as the sun rose higher and became more intense , staring at the tiny shadow of venus for any length of time became gradually less attractive . around noon , one guard , an ak_47 slung over his right shoulder , saw the planet through the glasses and smiled , revealing damaged teeth . a binocular scan of the surrounding area turned up no other residents who were watching the transit , and few who were outside at all . james glanz	has a location of iraq
the members of the national dance troupe of iraq are performers without an audience . they rehearse daily , but hardly ever put on a show . yet each turn of the hip and dip at the waist in their choreographed pieces has become weighted with a dangerous new reality , even as they wait for the chaos around them to subside so they can perform again . in today 's iraq , with conservative religious parties and radical militias exerting growing influence over every aspect of life , even dancing is an act of bravery . ''society is overwhelmed by these religious ideologies , '' said tariq ibrahim , a male dancer in the baghdad troupe , the iraqi national folklore group . ''now a woman on the street without a head_scarf attracts attention . what about a woman onstage dancing ? '' together they are a band of 10 women and 15 men from varied religious backgrounds . once they toured the world together . today they are simply trying to survive , hoping one day to thrive again as a troupe . but the religiosity sweeping iraq does not bode well for their future . female participation in folk dancing is considered haram , or forbidden , in islam . ayatollah al sistani , the leading shiite_cleric in iraq , has issued strict guidelines against dancing in various situations . the country 's shiite led government , the dancers said , is naturally trying to marginalize them . ''religion in its essence does not match with art , '' said fouad thanoon , the group 's director and lead choreographer . ''so when religion and government come together , that will affect art very much . '' the group has more immediate worries about extremists . recently one of its members , bushra yousif , 21 , a petite woman with delicate features who has been with the group for six years , received a note at home warning her to leave within 48 hours . a bullet was included in the envelope . she was probably singled out because of her profession , she said , but she will continue to attend rehearsals every day . she loves dancing too much , she said describing it as the highest form of art to ' 'deliver a message through your body . '' ''dying for this group would be like being martyred , '' she said , adding that it is a risk she accepts . the group , which began in 1971 , is dedicated to preserving the folk dancing heritage of iraq , performing traditional dances drawn from across that country 's history and geography . the troupe 's first two decades were golden years , when dancers trained with master instructors from overseas and frequently went on international tours . in 1980 the dancers performed at the united_nations in new york and visited paris . they have gone to italy , japan and china 60 countries in all and won numerous prizes along the way . the economic_sanctions imposed by the united_nations in the early 1990s brought most of that to a halt . but just a year before the american led invasion in 2003 , the group enjoyed a rebirth with a burst of freedom under saddam_hussein 's government , performing almost every week here . ''the audiences were huge , '' mr . thanoon , the group 's director said . ''the theaters were overbooked . '' but the group has been in suspended animation since the invasion began . it has performed just four times in iraq and made two brief trips to jordan and dubai since 2003 . the violence that surrounds it makes holding performances impossible . ''it is absurd , '' mr . ibrahim said . ''it is not logical to have a performance group that only practices . '' maysoun al damalouji , an outspoken secular member of parliament who was the iraqi government 's senior deputy minister of culture until march , said she had worried about being able to protect the dancers , as well as others involved in artistic endeavors that were objectionable to certain religious groups . ''the dancers were not the only ones , '' she said . ''we were worried about having fashion shows because we had to protect the models . we found we could n't really do that . the best way of protecting them was not to have them shown in public . '' the dance troupe had mainly supported itself with ticket sales before the fall of mr . hussein 's government , but when performances ended that became impossible . the current government has not compensated for that loss , the dancers said . they receive tiny stipends , amounting to about 140 a month , but even that is not guaranteed . the money often does not come and is usually barely enough to cover each dancer 's rent . because the dancers rehearse every day from 9 30 a.m . to 1 30 p.m. , it is almost impossible for them to get second jobs . the present government , controlled by conservative religious parties , cares little for the arts , ms . al damalouji said , so it is not inclined to support groups like the dance troupe . ''iraq is without a doubt an islamic society , but islam is not our only culture , '' she said . ''all the other cultures are being denied by this government . there is an attempt to change iraqi culture in general . '' in this climate the dancers said they must censor themselves . the group recently played a small role in a theatrical production in support of the country 's national reconciliation plan , put on for some employees of the ministry of culture , but mr . thanoon advised his dancers , for their own sake , to minimize any shaking of their hips or shoulders . the result was a rigid routine that seemed more martial than elegant . ''it should be like this , '' liqaa shukr said , demonstrating with plenty of gyrating flourish . ''instead it is like this , '' she said , switching to the languid movements they wound up performing . certain folk dances have been eliminated completely from the group 's repertory for performances inside iraq because they might be considered too provocative . ''we need to match what 's going on now , not stand out , '' said najwa subhi , another female dancer . most of the women in the group go to elaborate lengths to hide their occupation from their neighbors , even though some of their faces are well known in iraq from their performances on television under the old government . ms . subhi , who lives in a mostly shiite neighborhood dominated by militiamen , said she told her neighbors that she had quit her dancing and was working as a receptionist . she told them that even hannah abdullah , one of the group 's founders and iraq 's best known dancer , had retired . ''i spread this idea that we are no longer dancing , '' she said . on a recent trip to jordan for a cultural festival , she had her husband load her luggage in the car in the middle of the night . even her husband 's family did not know that she was going to perform . she told them she was visiting her brother in kirkuk . rana anwar , who successfully auditioned for a spot in the troupe three months ago , has let her neighbors and friends continue to believe that she is still a student at a tourism institute in baghdad . ''it is very hard with what 's going on to become a dancer , '' she said . ''but my main goal is to show iraq is not a backward country . iraqi people like to dance , they like to sing . '' so the dancers continue to practice daily in front of empty seats at the national theater in central baghdad . the dilapidated hall has become their sanctuary from the country 's tumult . dumoaa jamal was with the group for 10 years , but her uncle forced her to quit after the invasion because he deemed it too dangerous . but she returned three months ago , and tries to allay his fears by making sure she comes to rehearsals dressed in inconspicuous clothing and a head_scarf hiding her long flowing hair . ''i wish it could be 24 hours a day , '' she said about the group 's rehearsals . ''when i enter the theater , it is as if everything from outside is gone . it is as if i have entered a different world . '' she feels like a bird on stage , she said . later , when she has donned her head_scarf , scrubbed the makeup from her face and stepped outside , reality returns . there is no more dancing , only walking as invisibly as possible .	has a location of iraq
phil sorenson did n't hear a knock at the door , but he knew his best friend had let himself in again because there was a commotion in the kitchen . cody wentz was standing at the refrigerator , chugging milk from a half gallon carton . he wiped his mouth on his sleeve , and sorenson could guess what would come next . ''you want to play some football ? '' sorenson said wentz would always ask . sorenson knew wentz 's dream was to leave williston , a prairie town of 12 , 512 so isolated that it shares a telephone book with a city two hours away . everyone around knew wentz wanted to play professional football . ever since they met on the high_school freshman team , sorenson had helped wentz chase that goal . so without hesitation , he trailed wentz to a field where they played catch , a ritual they followed even in winter , when the temperatures could dip to 50 below . football was there for sorenson and wentz at 17 , when they joined the national_guard to pay for college , and united them at 21 , when they were shipped to iraq , where the sport provided a connection to less complicated lives back home . but halfway around the world , it was the war that would separate them . to sign up for the north_dakota national_guard , phil sorenson drove seven hours to the military entrance processing station in fargo . he remembered thinking , ''woo hoo ! college money ! '' as he took the physical , signed the papers and repeated the oath . his brother jeff had enlisted after disappointing jobs at wal_mart and subway , and sorenson was drawn by the 5 , 000 enlistment bonus , the 150 monthly training pay and the tuition assistance . in williston , where the median_household_income is less than 30 , 000 , the money mattered . as soon as wentz heard from sorenson what the guard paid , he signed up , too . with a commitment of one weekend a month and two weeks a year for six years , they were confident their lives would stay pretty much the same . both high_school juniors then , they still drove to the dairy queen parking_lot at night and sat atop sorenson 's mother 's 1985 econoline van to holler at passers by . days revolved around football . their senior year , in 2000 , they started on the williston high_school_football team , which went 2 7 . sorenson , at 6 feet and 160 pounds , was the quarterback and the all conference safety . wentz , a bear of a guy at 5 11 and 215 , played defensive_tackle . ''they were always together , '' fred douglas , their former coach , said . ''no one could outwork cody . phil was n't as hard core , but he always got the job done . '' they could not have been more different , said jake schmitz , a tight_end who was a close friend . he said wentz was opinionated , driven and uncomplicated . ''but phil was different , '' he said . ''he was more of a mystery . '' to relax , sorenson went on long runs , drove to an empty field to listen to the wind or cross stitched football logos . wentz was forever restless he worked long shifts as a waiter and a cook to save money for football training and cars . after high_school , wentz won a partial athletic scholarship to the university of mary in bismarck . as a freshman , he played linebacker in practice but never dressed for games . the next semester , he left because he did not want to pay for tuition if he was not going to play . wentz developed an alternate plan , however far fetched train on his own and improve so that an n.c.a.a . division i team would recruit him . then , maybe , some pro_football team would notice him . wentz bulked up to 275 pounds . leo warmsbecker , his training partner , said wentz could bench press 375 pounds and squat 550 . meanwhile , wentz studied nursing at williston state , a two year college . sorenson took classes there , too , while working in the grain fields , still undecided about a career . once a month , they did their routine duty with the guard . off to war when phil sorenson and cody wentz enlisted in 2000 , the recruiter told them not to worry , sorenson recalled , because the last time the williston unit had been activated for federal duty was in 1961 for the berlin crisis , and it did not leave the country . but in december 2003 , their unit , trained to build bridges and roads and to demolish structures , was mobilized to go to iraq . sorenson thought it was his duty to serve . wentz thought fighting a foreign war was not a guardsman 's job . two nights after christmas , as a frigid 30 mile an hour wind swept the falling snow sideways , 105 soldiers boarded buses headed to fort_carson , colo . , to train with the 141st engineer combat battalion . fifty five of them were from williston 's unit , the rest from a unit in dickinson , three hours south . police officers and firefighters marched ahead of the buses as they drove out of williston . people lined the street , honking car horns and cheering . sorenson said wentz , usually boisterous , was silent as they waved goodbye through the bus windows . sorenson remembered that he and wentz tried not to cry . they climbed onto a pile of duffel bags and lay side by side for a trip that took nearly 25 hours on icy roads . the hum of the motor lulled them to sleep . after two months at fort_carson , phil sorenson and cody wentz were driving in an unarmored five ton gravel truck near balad , 50 miles north of baghdad , inside the unstable sunni_triangle , 6 , 500 miles from home . ''we better pray to god that we do n't get hit in this thing because we 'll all be dead , '' sorenson recalled saying to wentz , m_16 rifle in hand , as they stood surrounded by plywood boxes filled with sandbags in the back of the truck . fully armored_vehicles did not arrive for six months , sorenson remembered . sorenson said his unit was initially told it would conduct searches for insurgents . but for the next year , the 141st 's mission was to travel 15 to 20 miles an hour in search of roadside_bombs , a task for which sorenson said they had trained for about one day . infuriated by poor equipment and the lack of preparation , wentz wrote a four page letter to lloyd omdahl , a former lieutenant governor of north dakota who writes a newspaper column . in crisp , neat handwriting , wentz explained that he had been duped into believing his unit would not face overseas combat . ''we are doing a good job , but one of these times , 'good' will not be enough , '' he wrote . to allay their fears , he and sorenson talked about williston . wentz said he wanted to buy his parents a new house so they could move out of their trailer . sorenson missed the chicken supreme from the truck_stop restaurant kalley 's kitchen . they promised each other that if neither married , they would buy a house together , sit on the lawn in undershirts and whistle at women . they talked about dying or , worse , being wounded . ''we always said , 'if i lose any one of my limbs , make sure you 're behind me to shoot me in the head , ''' sorenson said . he and wentz turned to sports to feel tied to home , tossing a football in 130 degree heat and playing basketball on a makeshift court with some fellow soldiers from north_dakota and a national_guard unit from new york , the second battalion , 108th infantry . meanwhile , wentz wrote to his parents , ''i do n't want to look back on life and say i never did everything i could to make football become a dream come true . '' he lifted weights , often past midnight when it was cooler , using wheels and parts from a bradley_fighting_vehicle because there were no barbells . sorenson 's hobby was taking digital photographs and making videos , which he would send to friends and family . in one video that became a hit back home , he filmed wentz eating a four pound can of tuna sent by sorenson 's father because it had 300 grams of protein . sorenson had his camera along on an evening patrol last nov . 4 as his armored_humvee inched its way down a paved four lane highway between balad and ad dujayl . early in the mission , a roadside_bomb exploded between vehicles in their convoy , putting sorenson , the driver , and wentz , his gunner , on edge . to take their minds off the danger , they debated the virtues of their favorite n.f.l . teams , the minnesota_vikings and the detroit lions . suddenly , another bomb exploded , sending shrapnel into their humvee . it jumped the curb , hit a tree and caught fire . wentz was thrown to the floor , unconscious . sorenson leaped out and collapsed . his left foot and ankle were gone . he saw a hole in his left hand . as a medic placed a tourniquet on his leg and gave him morphine , sorenson cursed , screamed and asked , ''where 's cody at ? '' wentz , who was n't breathing but had a faint pulse , had been pulled out of the humvee and was lying on the ground . soon they were loaded onto a black hawk helicopter headed for a hospital . wentz died onboard . back in williston , his father , kenny , was mowing the lawn around a sign that said , ''cody 141st waiting for your safe return . '' his mother , joyce , was out playing bingo . a black hawk appeared in the sky , a signal that officers were arriving to notify a soldier 's family of his death . joyce wentz returned home and found them standing in her kitchen . no one had the heart to tell sorenson that wentz had died until late the next day . survival and guilt half a year later , in may , phil sorenson pulled up to the wentzes' new house in williston and tried to stay composed as he took it all in . parked in the driveway was cody wentz 's souped up purple 1973 plymouth duster . hanging in one closet were his extra large fatigues . scattered in a bedroom were his detroit lions memorabilia , from banners to beanie babies . inside a wooden box with an army silver seal were wentz 's ashes . sorenson looked away . wentz 's parents purchased the home in april with part of their son 's 250 , 000 life_insurance , which he had bought at the last minute . they received the standard death benefit , 12 , 000 , from the government . as sorenson toured the house , limping on his prosthetic leg , he clutched his wooden cane with his left hand , now held together by six metal rods . joyce wentz led him to a room in the finished_basement . ''this bedroom is yours , '' she said . on the way out , she whispered to visitors ''we do n't have cody , so we have phil . he 's all we have left of our son . '' though the wentzes say their pain has been unbearable , they insist that sorenson feels worse because he was there when cody died . they know he feels guilt about surviving , and they have gone out of their way to help him deal with that emotion . ''if you and cody had switched places , cody would n't have been able to handle it , so please do n't feel bad , '' kenny wentz told him . the 141st sent 475 soldiers to iraq . twenty six of them , including sorenson , received purple_hearts . four died wentz was the only one from williston . the unit returned on feb . 16 , which would have been wentz 's 22nd birthday . sorenson was promoted to sergeant that day . the next time he saw his unit was in may for a parade in williston to welcome the returning guard soldiers . at a party later that day at the community center , those soldiers were introduced . sorenson , wearing a t_shirt with wentz 's picture on it , rose slowly when his name was called . he turned toward the gathering of about 1 , 800 , who cheered loudest for him . flanking him , kenny and joyce wentz sat frozen and stared at the floor . ''how do you think i felt standing there in between my best friend 's parents ? '' sorenson said later . ''i 'm here and cody is not , and there are his parents crying , and there is the whole crowd looking at me wondering why i 'm still here . ''to tell you the truth , i think that is how i 'm going to feel my whole life . '' he dropped his forehead onto his cane and began to sob as the master of ceremonies said , ''soldiers , make sure to wear your name tags , so all of these burka free girls know who to kiss . '' ground zero phil sorenson said if he had not been injured , he would probably have gone back to school or applied for a full time job with the guard . he might have become a recruiter . although north_dakota 's national_guard and reserves have the country 's second highest number of deaths in iraq per million population , enlistments are strong . in april , recruiters enlisted 52 soldiers , the highest monthly total in three years , according to the state 's national guard bureau . while sorenson was in iraq , his brother jeff , 28 , re enlisted for six years to get the tax free 15 , 000 bonus . his brothers adam , 19 , and brent , 26 , are also in the guard . but now sorenson cannot imagine a military career . he has fallen in love . seven months ago , he met alaina sacramo , a volunteer with an organization called operation second chance . he was recuperating at walter_reed_army_medical_center in washington and she was visiting wounded soldiers as part of the group 's mission to assist returning soldiers with their return to duty or with their transition home . they clicked when she told him that her best friend had been killed in a car accident . he is convinced that wentz sent her from heaven . sorenson said he was angry because he thought his friend had died for nothing . but sacramo and others have helped him change his view . parents and spouses of some of those who died in the world trade center attack thanked sorenson when they visited washington . and in mid june , he and sacramo visited ground zero , and engine company 9 and ladder company 6 in chinatown . he said he wanted to talk to firefighters because he felt it would help him understand why he and wentz had gone to iraq . ''lots of us think you 're real heroes , especially after what happened here in new york , '' the firefighter nick lucenti told him . ''your sacrifices were not in vain . '' sorenson will leave the military at the end of july . even though sacramo lives near washington , sorenson said he would return to williston for at least a year , to be with his parents but also to spend time with the wentzes . he wants to take kenny and joyce wentz hunting with the rifle some townspeople recently gave him as a welcome home present . or , he said , he may simply hang out at their house . he imagines drinking a few beers , playing pinochle and reminiscing about cody before descending the stairs to his new room . about the series this article is one in an occasional series on the iraq_war 's effect on athletes . a previous article focused on two women who had shared a dream of playing pro_basketball and who sustained serious injuries in the war . in two arenas	has a location of iraq
one thing you have to say about george w . bush he 's got a great sense of humor . at a recent fund_raiser , according to the associated press , he described eliminating weapons_of_mass_destruction from iraq and ensuring the solvency of medicare as some of his administration 's accomplishments . then came the punch_line ''i came to this office to solve problems and not pass them on to future presidents and future generations . '' he must have had them rolling in the aisles . in the early months of the bush_administration , one often heard that ''the grown_ups are back in charge . '' but if being a grown up means planning for the future in fact , if it means anything beyond marital fidelity then this is the least grown up administration in american history . it governs like there 's no tomorrow . nothing in our national experience prepared us for the spectacle of a government launching a war , increasing farm subsidies and establishing an expensive new medicare entitlement and not only failing to come up with a plan to pay for all this spending in the face of budget_deficits , but cutting taxes at the same time . recent good economic news does n't change the verdict . these are n't temporary measures aimed at getting the economy back on its feet they 're permanent drains on the budget . serious estimates show a long term budget gap , even with a recovery , of at least 25 percent of federal spending . that is , the federal_government including medicare , which mr . bush has given new responsibilities without new resources is nowhere near solvent . then there 's international_trade policy . here 's how the steel story looks from europe the administration imposed an illegal tariff for domestic political reasons , then changed its mind when threatened with retaliatory tariffs focused on likely swing states . so the u.s . has squandered its credibility it is now seen as a nation that honors promises only when it 's politically convenient . what really makes me wonder whether this republic can be saved , however , is the downward_spiral in governance , the hijacking of public_policy by private interests . the new medicare bill is a huge subsidy for drug and insurance_companies , coupled with a small benefit for retirees . in comparison , the energy bill which stalled last month , but will come back has a sort of purity it barely even pretends to be anything other than corporate welfare . did you hear about the subsidy that will help shreveport get its first hooters restaurant ? and it 's not just legislation hardly a day goes by without an administrative decision that just happens to confer huge benefits on favored corporations , at the public 's expense . for example , last month the internal_revenue_service dropped its efforts to crack down on the synfuel tax break a famously abused measure that was supposed to encourage the production of alternative fuels , but has ended up giving companies billions in tax_credits for spraying coal with a bit of diesel oil . the i.r.s . denies charges by bill henck , one of its own lawyers , that it buckled under political pressure . coincidentally , according to the wall_street_journal , mr . henck has suddenly found himself among the tiny minority of taxpayers facing an i.r.s . audit . awhile back , george akerlof , the nobel laureate in economics , described what 's happening to public_policy as ''a form of looting . '' some scoffed at the time , but now even publications like the economist , which has consistently made excuses for the administration , are sounding the alarm . to be fair , the looting is a partly bipartisan affair . more than a few democrats threw their support behind the medicare bill , the energy bill or both . but the bush_administration and the republican leadership in congress are leading the looting party . what are they thinking ? the prevailing theory among grown up republicans yes , they still exist seems to be that mr . bush is simply doing whatever it takes to win the next election . after that , he 'll put the political operatives in their place , bring in the policy experts and finally get down to the business of running the country . but i think they 're in denial . everything we know suggests that mr . bush 's people have given as little thought to running america after the election as they gave to running iraq after the fall of baghdad . and they will have no idea what to do when things fall apart . op_ed columnist e mail krugman nytimes . com	has a location of iraq
an army inquiry has found no evidence to prove that american military personnel sent graphic photographs of iraqi war dead to an internet site in exchange for online pornography , army officials said wednesday . col . joseph curtin , an army spokesman , said investigators from the army 's criminal investigation command could continue their inquiry if more evidence came to light , like the identities of any american service personnel who actually provided the photographs . local commanders in iraq and afghanistan are expected to stress to their troops that such actions could violate military standards for good order and conduct , and to demand an end to the practice . but partly because it is not clear what specific provision of military law would make such conduct a felony , the matter is to be pursued by local commanders for possible administrative punishment rather than through a criminal inquiry , officials said . the preliminary inquiry into the web_site was hobbled because few identifying markings are visible in those photographs posted on the web_site that also include people in uniform . likewise , there is little information on the site to indicate where or when the photos were taken , who supplied the photos to the site , or whether some of the photos actually showed human remains or body parts . the photographs include those of people in american military uniforms standing around what appear to be dead bodies , some deformed by fire or explosion . others include graphic images of severed body parts and internal organs spilled onto the pavement . an official of the council on american islamic relations , the organization that wrote defense secretary donald h . rumsfeld demanding an inquiry into the matter , expressed frustration that the military had concluded that no felony occurred . ''i think the military 's conclusion is premature and it unfortunately will send the message that they are not taking this case seriously , '' said ibrahim hooper , the council 's spokesman . senator john w . warner , the virginia republican who is chairman of the armed services committee , said in an interview on wednesday that the panel might look into new allegations of abuse or misconduct in iraq . they include a report that members of the 82nd_airborne_division abused detainees in iraq as well as the allegations that soldiers provided photos of war dead to the pornography site .	has a location of iraq
the war in iraq may be complicated and confusing , but the memorial day story from it told in ''act of honor , '' tonight on the history_channel , is as basic and noble as war stories get one soldier chooses to die so that his comrades can live . the soldier was rafael peralta , a marine sergeant who was 25 when he was killed in the battle at falluja in november 2004 . the film reconstructs the path he took to reach that moment birth in mexico , immigration to san_diego in search of better schools , enlistment as soon as he got his green card . ( the program will also be broadcast in spanish on the history_channel en espa ol . ) it also provides a visceral look at street level life for the soldiers in iraq , drawing on a video diary shot by one of sergeant peralta 's platoon mates , sgt . timothy buquoi . sergeant peralta 's actions received considerable news coverage at the time , but the film finds additional compelling material after his death by looking in on his mother and siblings , who all sound as if the grief will never leave their voices . a younger brother named ricardo receives particular focus since he feels a duty to follow his brother into the marines , and he signs up for devil pups , a confidence building camp for teenagers held at camp_pendleton . in the muster at the end of the rigorous camp , a drill instructor tries to get him to voice pride in having made it through . ''you did it for yourself , right ? '' he says . but ricardo keeps answering , ''no , sir . '' the instructor finally gives up . the film does n't get into the difficult issues of the war whether the united_states should be there what the purpose is whether sergeant peralta died for nothing . his story as told here could be from any war , and his selfless act is awe inspiring in any context . does the film have a secondary agenda as a response to the anti immigration forces that would keep people like sergeant peralta from ever entering the united_states ? maybe , but so what ? heroism is heroism sacrifice is sacrifice . act of honor history_channel and history_channel en espa ol , tonight at 7 , eastern and pacific times 6 , central time . directed by lee hirsch edited by lars woodruffe marlene braga , executive_producer sarah foudy and lee hirsch , producers manny monterrey , co producer tinabeth pi a and michael skalicky , associate producers michael burke , director of photography . television review	has a location of iraq
when the senate next debates whether to debate the iraq_war , members would do well to visit walter_reed_army_medical_center , just five miles to the north . there they can run a stark reality check on how the country is failing the war 's wounded despite all those capitol orations about unstinting support of our fighting troops . as fine as the surgery wards have been through a five year torrent of battle casualties , walter_reed has seen the shameful growth of a parallel village of almost 700 traumatized and maimed outpatients . far too many of these souls wait lost and wasted , abandoned by the post 's and the army 's shambling bureaucracy . this outpatient world has become a holding ground for desperation and dysfunction , according to a washington_post investigative report . some drift away unnoticed , awol , while others huddle in their rooms , depressed and forgotten . the scenes uncovered by the post range from slumlord conditions in one residential building to drug abuse and suicide among desperate patients caught in a catch_22 , where psychologically damaged veterans are put in charge of fellow sufferers . a staff_sergeant who had his eye and skull shattered in iraq stumbled about after his release from a surgical recovery room . he was handed a map and ordered to find his way across the sprawling post to the outpatient unit . after he found his room he sat for weeks like some accidental tourist , with no doctor appointments and no official concern . ''should n't they contact me ? '' he wondered . the army is promising to rush repairs and extra personnel . but the shameful neglect at walter_reed is more proof of how america 's leaders despite all the rhetoric about unlimited support for the troops are failing the nation 's warriors in this disastrous war . editorial	has a location of iraq
an article in the special_education life section on sunday about andrew p . n . erdmann , senior adviser to iraq 's higher_education ministry , misstated the name of the university in st . louis where his wife is an assistant professor . it is washington_university , not the university of washington .	has a location of iraq
gen . george w . casey_jr . , the top commander in iraq , is reviewing a proposal to add hundreds of american military advisers to work directly with iraqi units , whose disappointing performance could jeopardize the long term american exit_strategy from iraq , senior military officials said monday . americans are training iraqi_police officers and national_guard troops to replace them in securing the country , but the results over all have been troubling , with growing desertion rates in the most violent provinces , gaps in leadership , and poor battlefield performance , american military officers and troops say . the advisers would bolster the iraqi will to fight , help train officers who would lead the troops , curb desertion and provide iraqi forces with the confidence that american units would back them up in some cases fighting alongside them if needed , military and pentagon officials said . several hundred american_troops are already embedded with iraqi units , following a long tradition in american military actions . but the proposal would greatly expand this presence . the details of the proposal are still being discussed among american and iraqi officials , and more troops would probably not be embedded until after the jan . 30 elections , in which iraqi forces will play a crucial part . embedding more americans with iraqis would mean diverting perhaps several hundred additional american_troops away from combat operations , military officials said . there are 150 , 000 american_forces in iraq . although diverting soldiers might be risky at a time when commanders say they need troops to press offensives against insurgents , the plan addresses a widely acknowledged need . american commanders have praised the skills of some iraqi forces , particularly new commando_units that have seen combat throughout the country . but the americans have criticized other iraqi forces for their slovenly appearance and lack of commitment , raising questions about how soldiers and marines will respond tojoining such units . there has been widespread concern in the bush_administration about the poor performance of iraqi troops . president_bush himself discussed the issue in a news conference on dec . 20 . ''they 've got some generals in place and they 've got foot soldiers in place , but the whole command structure necessary to have a viable military is not in place , '' he said . ''and so they 're going to spend a lot of time and effort on achieving that objective . '' if approved , the plan would expand and standardize steps already taken by some american units , including the army 's first cavalry division and some marine_corps units , to enhance the training that the iraqi_army , national_guard and police_forces receive after boot_camp . ''the development of iraqi_security_forces is , in my view , necessarily the main effort , '' brig . gen . carter_ham , commander of american_forces in northern iraq , said in an e mail message from his headquarters in mosul on monday . ''building capable and loyal iraqi forces is what will eventually lead to the defeat of the insurgency and to a sufficiently stable environment so that u.s . and other forces can begin to reduce our presence . '' general ham , noting the earlier efforts by some units , said , ''it 's time to apply it on a larger scale . '' ''it seems to me that this is something we want to start doing in the immediate post election period , '' he said . the proposal that general casey and his top aides are weighing has received support in principle from pentagon officials at a time when defense secretary donald h . rumsfeld has been urging commanders in iraq to accelerate the creation of iraqi_security_forces and to improve their quality , a senior pentagon official said monday . general casey , at a pentagon news conference on dec . 16 , said an exhaustive internal review of the military 's campaign plan for iraq concluded that training the local police and building a better border_patrol were two of three essential areas that were well behind schedule . the other area was establishing effective iraqi intelligence services . proponents of embedding programs readily acknowledge that they will lose the american_troops for active combat operations , but they insist that the iraqis' training and confidence has improved . ''it 's cost us , '' brig . gen . jeffery hammond , an assistant commander of the first cavalry division in baghdad , told reporters last week of the division 's 540 soldiers who are now assigned to iraqi national_guard units in the city . but , he added , ''it pays dividends . '' some influential lawmakers , however , including senator john w . warner , a virginia republican who heads the armed services committee and who recently visited troops in iraq , have expressed pessimism that iraqis will be able to develop independent security forces potent enough to thwart the insurgency . ''the raw_material is lacking in the willpower and commitment after they receive this training to really shoulder the heavy responsibilities , '' he said on the nbc_news program ''meet the press'' on dec . 19 . on paper , there are reasons for worry and for hope , military officials say . there are plans to produce a total of 179 , 600 police and border_patrol officers . of about 116 , 000 officers on duty now , only 73 , 000 are fully trained and equipped , according to pentagon statistics on dec . 27 . about half of a projected 100 , 000 iraqi_army , national_guard and commando troops are now operating . there are now 10 man adviser and support teams with each of 27 regular iraqi_army and intervention force battalions ( nine of which are still in training ) , their nine brigade headquarters ( three still in training ) and their three division headquarters , senior military officials in iraq said . in addition , adviser teams from army special_forces and other american units are with most of the iraqi national_guard forces . expanding on those adviser teams , the proposal before general casey would probably provide 10 man teams with 45 existing and 20 emerging national_guard battalions . in addition , the department_of_homeland_security is providing small teams to help train new iraqi border_police officers , a military official in iraq said . some details of the new plan were first reported by cnn on dec . 26 . some of the most ambitious plans are to bolster the abilities of the iraqi_police . the new iraqi government has fielded about a dozen police commando_units or other specialized units , whose performance american officers have largely praised . the commandos include former iraqi special_forces troops and have performed well , combining commando skills and weaponry with police powers to make arrests , a senior allied official in baghdad said monday . the approach would also provide assistance and mentoring to the 3 , 500 basic police graduates that academies in iraq and jordan are churning out every month . after the insurgent_attacks on police stations in mosul in november , in which most of the city 's police officers abandoned their posts , american officials , working closely with the iraqi government , have toughened the training to resemble more paramilitary operations and have enforced policies to cut down on iraqis' skipping out on leave . in mosul , american_forces have been assigned to all police stations . on saturday , iraqi_security_forces and their american advisers fought off a rocket_propelled_grenade attack on a police station in the southeast part of the city . a military spokesman , lt . col . paul_hastings , said it was the 12th time since nov . 10 that insurgents had tried to take over a police station , none of which have fallen to rebels in that period .	has a location of iraq
as a response to iraq 's concerted challenge to united_states planes , president_clinton has expanded the powers of military flight crews to fight back when threatened in the no flight zones over northern and southern iraq , the president 's national_security adviser acknowledged today . pentagon officials confirmed that one of the american missiles launched on monday missed its target by at least 18 miles and struck a residential area near basra , in southern iraq . eleven civilians were killed in american attacks that day , the iraqi government said . the national_security adviser , samuel r . berger , said of the new powers , ''our pilots understand , and our air_force understands , that if there are violations of the no_fly_zone , that our response be not simply against the particular source of the violation or source of the threat . '' he added , ''our response , as appropriate , will be against any of the air defense systems that we think makes us vulnerable . '' mr . berger disclosed the change in policy at a breakfast for reporters covering the military , saying it happened within the past month . since the four day air campaign against iraq last month , american planes have encountered nearly daily provocations from surface_to_air_missiles , ground fire and radar installations while patrolling the zones over southern and northern iraq , the pentagon says . the zones were set up to protect iraqi kurds and shiite_muslims from attacks by president saddam_hussein 's government . but until today the pentagon had not admitted that it had increased the authorization to respond beyond earlier rules . ''we 're responding in a different way , and it 's not tit for tat , '' said a defense_department official , who spoke on condition of anonymity . ''now if you challenge us , you threaten us , we 'll respond in the way we think best reduces the threat to our pilots . '' the bombing in basra on monday highlighted the risks of the new policy , which pentagon officials said was aimed at protecting pilots patrolling the no flight zones . to that end , the pilots may now attack a variety of installations within iraq 's air defense system even if those sites were not the immediate source of action against american planes . in acknowledging the errant missile today , kenneth h . bacon , the spokesman for defense secretary william s . cohen , said , ''we regret any civilian casualties , '' although he said american officials had ''no independent confirmation'' that the missile had killed any iraqis . today , american planes attacked five sites in the northern no flight zone after hostile action by iraqi forces , the defense_department said . lieut . col . steve campbell said iraqi antiaircraft_artillery systems near mosul had targeted the american planes with radar , indicating a possible intention to shoot them down . in response two f_15e fighter jets dropped precision_guided_bombs . earlier in the day , american planes fired on three other sites in northern iraq . the new bombing policy builds on what mr . berger described as the increasing diplomatic isolation and resulting frustration of president hussein . on sunday the iraqi foreign_minister , mohammed said al sahaf , walked out of an arab_league meeting in cairo when the assembled diplomats urged mr . hussein to comply with united_nations resolutions . mr . hussein 's growing antipathy toward his neighbors as well as his attacks on american planes , mr . berger said , ' 'reflects a man who is off balance . '' the new american policy reflects the new situation after the evacuation from iraq of experts from the united_nations special commission , which had made fitful progress toward finding and destroying weapons_of_mass_destruction . now with little hope of resuming the commission 's mission , the united_states has fallen back on a policy of containing iraq , to keep it from using its weapons against its neighbors . after giving up on persuading mr . hussein to live up to united_nations demands for disarmament , the united_states is again calling for the overthrow of the iraqi leader . ''while publicly saying this is a regime that should go , we 're reverting to a containment policy , '' said william quandt , professor of government and foreign_affairs at the university of virginia . ''but containment 's not terribly sexy . we lived with it with the soviet_union for 50 years and it worked . but it takes patience . '' and mr . hussein 's actions and language consistently provoke the ire and impatience of the united_states , to the dismay of its allies . only britain gave the united_states full support in its air attacks on iraq last month . at the united_nations , canada and france have submitted alternative proposals for dealing with iraq . in baghdad today , mr . hussein pressed his case against the united_states and said in a message about the civilians who were reported to have died in basra ''your blood will not have been spilled in vain . your blood will give flower to the tree of freedom , resistance and victory . ''	has a location of iraq
for the six months that specialist brian h . penisten of the army was gone , he tried to convince his fianc e that he was relatively protected , repairing military vehicles on a tightly secured air base in iraq , far enough away from the bullets and bombs . then he told her he was coming home . he had managed to get a rest and relaxation break , so , at least for two weeks , she really could be certain he was safe . it would also be enough time for the simple marriage ceremony they planned to hold in their colorado apartment this past friday . the justice of the peace had agreed to come by , the champagne was chilling , the carpet was cleaned . five hours before specialist penisten , 28 , boarded a chinook helicopter to begin making his way back to pueblo , his fianc e , johnna m . loia , recalled last week , he called to let her know he was on his way , and to remind her how close they were to their future . ''i love you , mrs . penisten , '' he said as he hung up . when a missile struck the chinook last sunday , 16 military personnel , specialist penisten among them , were killed and more than 20 others were wounded , making it the deadliest single incident for american_forces since president_bush declared that major combat in iraq was over on may 1 . for some families of those killed , the graveness of the loss was deepened by a knowledge that their soldier had been on the way home . ''after he called , i was actually counting down with my friend just how long it would be until he got to the front door , '' said ms . loia , 25 . ''i was so excited . i even started looking again at tv at all the crazy things that were happening in iraq because i knew that he would n't have to deal with all that . i knew he was out . he was so close to being out . '' for others , though , the circumstances brought a small edge of comfort to the gloom their soldiers had not been stranded on some terrifying military mission they would have had cheery thoughts , these relatives reasoned , for most of the final hours . sgt . keelan l . moss , 23 , had called his wife at fort_sill , okla . , in the middle of the night , the night before the helicopter took off , his mother , velma deawayne , said . he could not sleep , he said . he was too excited to get home , too ready for the next day to come . his family , which had gathered from houston and elsewhere , planned to hold thanksgiving dinner , weeks before the rest of the nation , as soon as he arrived . ''it almost makes it harder , just to know that he was almost here , but at least i know that he was happy , '' ms . deawayne said on friday . ''he was coming home to his family , so i know that 's how he was feeling that day , so excited , so happy . i 'm o.k . with that . and he is home , i guess . '' being chosen to go home , to get away from the violence , if just for a short visit , is highly coveted among the american_soldiers in iraq . since the military began offering furloughs in september , as a ' 'sanity check'' for weary soldiers , most everyone wants one . and priority , the soldiers say , has gone to those considered most in need with some major event in life happening back at home , a baby 's due date or a wedding . so most of the men and women boarding the chinook that day were considered the fortunate ones , and they knew it . staff sgt . paul anthony velazquez , 29 , was going home to fort_sill , to his new baby , born in june . he had a photograph , his mother said , but he had never gotten to see or touch the child the third in the growing family he was supporting . his mother , mary elizabeth , said sergeant velazquez signed up for the army right after high_school graduation in san_diego more than a decade ago , and stayed in , even as new terror threats mounted for the united_states . ''he did n't feel he 'd be able to find a job in this economy if he got out , '' she said . pfc . anthony d . d'agostino was going home to waterbury , conn . , to celebrate his 21st birthday , which would have come the thursday after the helicopter went down . some of his buddies had an outing planned for him , said harry owens , whose daughter , amanda , had been engaged to marry private d'agostino . not all the soldiers were going home for giddy reunions . sgt . ernest g . bucklew , 33 , needed to get back to enon valley , pa . , for the funeral of his mother , mary_ellen , who had died unexpectedly . now the family would conduct two funerals . and for many of the rest , like staff sgt . joe n . wilson , 30 , of crystal springs , miss . , there was no single , defining event to attend . no wedding , no funeral . just the prospect of two full weeks away from the desert and the dangers , and surrounded by doting family members . ''everybody was looking for him to come home , '' said thomas wilson , sergeant wilson 's uncle . likewise , specialist darius t . jennings , 22 , was to return to cordova , s.c . instead , his tiny community was mourning their third military loss in iraq . three graduates of orangeburg wilkinson high_school , a school of 1 , 800 , have perished there since late august . a few families did not know their soldiers had furloughs . the soldiers had planned to surprise them . so when news organizations began broadcasting reports of a helicopter crash , they had no reason , yet , to believe their own would be anywhere near . and when the news finally came , the surprise was crushing . pfc . karina s . lau , 20 , had told only her siblings that she was on her way home to livingston , calif . she wanted to see her parents' thrilled faces . ''she thought it would be a big surprise for us , '' her mother , ruth , said sadly on friday . ''never , never did she mention this . we were thinking that she was in a safe place over there . '' her daughter had joined the military nearly two years earlier , but her love , her mother said , was of singing and playing the clarinet . she was a perfectionist . she fought for higher grades in high_school . ''she wanted to be famous , to act and sing on broadway some day , '' ruth lau , her mother , said . in newark , sgt . joel perez 's wife , milagros , knew nothing of her husband 's furlough plans either , family members said . sergeant perez , 25 , told his parents that he was coming , but said he did not want to get his wife 's hopes up just in case the furlough was canceled at the last moment . instead , he hoped to surprise his wife and toddler daughter , jaileen , in honor of the couple 's third wedding anniversary , his mother , luisa mangual , said . that would have been last monday . sergeant perez enlisted in 1998 , and told his mother he loved the army . she was more reluctant than he was , and even more nervous when he told her about what he was seeing in iraq . the attacks were constant , he told her . even the children had weapons . but he also said he would be home soon . sergeant perez had grown up in newark and puerto_rico , where another soldier killed in the helicopter incident was from . that soldier was specialist frances m . vega , 20 , whose home was at fort buchanan in puerto_rico , army officials said . for others on the helicopter , the plans had been sudden and unexpected . they were granted rest and relaxation at the last moment , and now , their families could not help but look back and wonder why their soldier had to be so lucky , and so terribly unlucky , as to somehow get on that flight . in a twisted up way , being back on the ground in iraq suddenly looked safe . ''they had turned him down for it , but apparently when they increased the number , he got in , '' erma pennanen said of her son , sgt . ross a . pennanen , 36 , of lawton , okla . ''he should n't have been on that helicopter , '' she said . ''he was n't due for r and r . what was he doing on the helicopter instead of in a tank ? '' sgt . steven d . conover , 21 , of wilmington , ohio , had also been turned down for leave at first , his stepfather , michael earley said . but then he called back , mr . earley said , and reported that he would be coming after all . he wanted to fish with his older brother , he told them , and hunt with his grandfather . mr . earley said he asked his stepson why he could not simply drive to the airport in baghdad , not far from where he was . ''he said it was far too dangerous , that 's why they were taking helicopters , '' mr . earley recalled . staff sgt . daniel aaron bader , 28 , of colorado_springs had told his wife , tiffany , about the possibility of a break a month ago . then he called suddenly just over a week ago and said he was coming home , but had no exact date . ''obviously , my husband got on the wrong plane , '' tiffany bader said . they have a young daughter and had planned to talk during the furlough about whether to have a second one , mrs . bader said . not everyone on the helicopter was headed home . for two pilots and the crew , this was their daily work in iraq . first lt . brian d . slavenas , 30 , of genoa , ill . , and chief_warrant_officer bruce a . smith , 41 , of west liberty , iowa , were piloting the helicopter . both men died , as did sgt . paul f . fisher , 39 , of marion , iowa , who was a flight_engineer on the aircraft that day , and survived until thursday in a hospital . mr . smith had spent his time in iraq transporting troops , prisoners , food , equipment , and at one point , even , a huge cache of money that was found , his wife , oliva , said on friday . he loved to fly . and he was a stickler at it , she said . he was precise and picky . for years , when the couple would go for a drive or to run errands , he would make her quiz him on a set index cards he kept in the car of the emergency procedures on the chinook . that morning in the cockpit , as every time he got into a cockpit , ms . smith said , her husband would have been ''all business . '' even though the crowd he was carrying was cheery , knowing they were on their way home , she said , he would have been serious and focused as usual . he was known , loved and also gently teased , for that trait . ''this was a man who ironed his t shirts , '' ms . smith said . the struggle for iraq casualties	has a location of iraq
high above tampa stadium , in a grim counterpoint to children cavorting on the field in a pre game extravaganza , antiterrorist police in camouflage and black uniforms patrolled the roof . in the twilight before the game , super bowl xxv seemed secured . yet the elaborate precautions stemming from the persian_gulf_war were cut back an hour before game time because of the bottlenecks created by extra cautious screening of each fan . a huge force of yellow jacketed young men and women used hand held metal_detectors to check every person coming in . " what happened was that their bags were checked when they entered a fenced off area , and then again when they had to show their tickets , " said steve cole , a spokesman for the tampa police . " that slowed people down . finally , we opened up additional gates and we told them , 'check them and let them in . ' people were waiting 30 to 45 minutes . " cole said that in terms of crowd_control , this super_bowl went better than most tampa_bay buccaneer games . there were a total of 17 people arrested for scalping and 26 others ejected for various reasons . he said there were no threats and " as far as i know , no weapons were found . " three and a half hours before game time , the guards were taking up to a minute to clear some people . when a car pulled up to the press entrance , the occupants were asked to get out . " pop the trunk and hood , " the driver was asked . then several guards examined the engine and the trunk while another ran his hands under the fenders , searching for explosive_devices . still , only about 500 cars were permitted . there were , however , about 72 , 500 fans . " it 's just taking too long , " a tampa police_officer said an hour before the game . " they 'd never get the crowd in on time , so they just stopped being as thorough with the metal dectectors . searches become briefer until then , some people waited on line for upwards of 30 minutes . but the guards started to move the " wands " more quickly . and the searches of the bags became more perfunctory . forty minutes before the game , the stadium was virtually filled . " it took me a good 45 minutes to get from the hospitality tent to the gate , " said reggie williams , the former bengals linebacker and now the general_manager of the new york knights of the new world league of american football . two men from new york , standing next to each other , had contrasting experiences . although each was searched with a metal_detector , one was asked to open his bag and the other was n't . super_bowls always have a huge behind the scenes security force . this was not the first time explosives sniffing_dogs have been used . but the public and private security force of 1 , 700 exceeded anything at a previous super_bowl . concrete barriers ringed the stadium to prevent anyone from crashing into the structure . and the whole stadium was surrounded by a six foot chain_link_fence . perhaps because of the police , or simply because things were quiet , it seemed like business as usual to glenn eickhoff , the supervisor of the budweiser clydesdale horses . " this is a piece of cake compared to mardi_gras , " he said . at the budweiser compound , guests were asked to show blue ribbon wrist bands . no wrist band , no free beer . as the lines started to swell , there seemed to be little shoving or complaining . " i felt like a sardine , " said bonnie ciardi of tampa . " on the other hand , " said her companion , jim starks , " we made lots of new friends . " " i have n't seen anyone who was annoyed , " said one fan , while another complained that " the abc people came in and the officers parted the crowd for them . " georgia cogwell , a ticket taker since the stadium opened in 1976 , described the crowd as " beautiful . " the giants had an uneventful trip getting in . they had a siren blaring , light flashing police_car escort from front and back . they also were joined in the team buses by two private security guards . " the most exciting thing that happened was that a car came down the road from a local strip joint and the people inside started to advertise , " cole said . super bowl xxv security	has a location of iraq
since the hostilities in the persian_gulf began on jan . 16 , attendance has more than doubled at the intrepid sea air space museum in manhattan , which has had more than its share of financial problems in recent years . during the last few weekends there have been 5 , 000 visitors , compared with less than half that number in the same period last year . the curatorial staff of the museum a complex of the aircraft_carrier intrepid , the destroyer edson and the guided_missile submarine growler at 46th_street and the hudson_river is now racing to assemble and install the exhibition " war in the gulf the liberation of kuwait , " which begins on feb . 27 . " everyone has been hearing about tomahawks and patriots and scuds , but they 're vague about them , " lawrence sowinski , the museum 's executive director , said in an interview the other day . " we felt we had a responsibility to our public to interpret this war that may change the world . " explanation of deployment the new show will chronicle the events leading to the gulf conflict , explaining how the new high tech tools of the military trade are being deployed in the gulf . " these are artifacts of war like the swords in the metropolitan 's collection of arms and armor , " mr . sowinski said . " many of the items in our collection are very rare , and in the future , some will be as treasured as the one of a kind swords in the metropolitan . " the recent attendance boom has not solved financial difficulties . the museum currently has a deficit of " several hundred thousand dollars , " mr . sowinski said , because of the recession and the recent loss of about 200 , 000 in education grants from new york city . from 1985 to 1988 , the museum operated under chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy code , but it had been in the black until last fall , when new york city tourism fell victim to the recession . " right now , we 're looking hard to find some additional income , " mr . sowinski said . ingenuity and strength at times , the peculiar nature of the intrepid 's exhibits tests the mettle of its curators . on a recent morning , a fragile , 1 , 000 pound artifact worth 700 , 000 had to be moved into a carefully prepared niche . " not the usual museum installation , " said scott koen , the aircraft curator , after the heaving and aligning was done . the object was a_12 1 2 foot long harpoon cruise_missile , of the kind that has reportedly destroyed much of the iraqi navy in the persian_gulf_war , and the niche was an a 6 intruder attack bomber , like the ones that have been harrying iraqi troops in kuwait . some of the items for the new show have yet to arrive . a patriot_missile and a diorama displaying its deployment will soon be on the way from the raytheon company in lexington , mass . the museum has also found a spare 21 foot long tomahawk_cruise missile disarmed , of course in the factory of a titusville , fla . contractor . " we 're working with the national polish armed forces museum to get a scud_missile , " said mr . sowinski . " and we 've located a scud_missile launcher in germany but we have n't been able to find transportation for it yet . " in addition , the museum is negotiating with the israeli government for scud_missile fragments from iraqi attacks on tel_aviv . specially built models the exhibition will display more than 30 scale models of aircraft , ships and equipment , most of which are being constructed for the show . a number of the elements come from the museum 's collection . in addition to the intruder fighter and the harpoon missile , the museum has an av8 harrier jump jet , of the kind being used against the iraqis an f 4 phantom similar to the wild weasel missile hunting aircraft used by the kuwaiti air_force an a 7 corsair attack plane , and an m 60 main battle tank , the kind used by the saudis in the recent battle for the town of khafji . the museum also has a 2 , 700 pound armor piercing shell identical to those fired by the 16 inch cannons on the battleship missouri toward iraqi positions in kuwait . despite the fearsome power of much of the museum 's inventory , a large part of the collection is quite fragile and needs constant maintenance . plexiglas cockpits deteriorate after too many hours in the sun on the intrepid 's 900 foot flight_deck , ship and airplane parts are corroded by the salt air , and the three vessels require 85 , 000 worth of paint every year . to mr . koen , the aircraft curator , the installation of the harpoon missile " was pretty easy compared to some of the installations we 've done . " his toughest museum installation was a_10 , 000 pound regulus missile , which had to be mounted on the launcher of the growler . " but we found a way to do it , " he said . " once we got an 80 ton crane , the rest was easy . "	has a location of iraq
perhaps the most striking part of the iraqi political elite 's reaction on thursday to the changes in american politics is that there did not appear to be one . there were no soul searching speeches . no hand_wringing . no rallying calls for unity . parliament debated issues related to the country 's electoral_commission , and then went home early . the cabinet discussed floods in kurdistan , mosque reconstruction , cellphone frequencies and a small japanese loan . but there was scant mention of the shift in the american political landscape that the war here was central in bringing about . ''things were predictable , '' said ali al adeeb , a prominent shiite lawmaker who was just finishing lunch in the dining_area of the parliament building . two tables away , noor al din al hayali , a lawmaker from the largest sunni arab bloc , responded without emotion , ''when they announce changes , we 'll discuss them . '' the silence on the political front was matched in the iraqi news_media . among the major newspapers , only a kurdish one , ittihad , had a banner_headline announcing the resignation of the american secretary of defense . iraqi leaders had more pressing issues to handle . nine bombs exploded across the capital during the day , killing 18 iraqis and wounding 86 . a volley of deadly mortar attacks continued for a third day . bodies continued to surface 26 across the capital on thursday . part of the challenge faced by the americans here is the need to corral the increasingly fractious political class . it has been held together in the unsteady arrangement called a national_unity_government , but it appears to be splitting at the seams . ''it 's a government of sectarian disunity , '' adnan_pachachi , an iraqi statesman and lawmaker , said by telephone from london . ''there is distrust and dispute between ministers . the extremists on both sides are taking over . '' in parliament a hulking building with tinted_windows in the green_zone , the walled area where the iraqi government meets the mood was business as usual , which is to say glum . political leaders , hopelessly divided between shiites and sunnis , were sunk into their sectarian suspicions on thursday in the dining_area of the building . many could barely contain their derision for the other side as they chatted with colleagues and ate late lunches of sandwiches and french_fries . the shiites , for their part , were angry that the sunnis were insisting on a bigger role in government . the sunnis chose to boycott politics in the early months of the occupation , they said , a decision that cost them their say in the early efforts to form a new iraqi government . the anger was not helped by the 10 lethal mortar attacks across baghdad since sunday that have killed 15 people and wounded 87 . mortars shot by militants of both sects are an ever more popular way to carry out sectarian_killings here . in an off the cuff estimate of iraqi civilian casualties , iraq 's health minister , ali al shimari , said on an official visit to vienna that 150 , 000 iraqis had been killed in violence since the american invasion , according to the associated press . he did not say whether the figure included the deaths of iraqi_army soldiers and police officers . the figure assumes a monthly death toll of 3 , 300 , about the national toll given by the united_nations for july . in the parliament dining_area , sectarian anger was present at lunch . ''their existence in the political process was a mistake , '' mr . adeeb , the shiite lawmaker , said of the sunnis , sitting at a glass table , pushing back from an unfinished sandwich . ''some people in towafak , '' the largest sunni arab bloc , ''are extensions of the insurgency . they have militias in their guards . '' ''they do n't believe in democracy because it does n't serve their intents . they believe in taking power through coups . '' several tables away , mr . hayali , a towafak member , struck a similar note about the shiites . he said they controlled too much of the government , and that they would not allow the sunnis enough of a say over how things were run . the iraqi_security_forces are too heavily shiite and are full of people who want to kill sunnis , he said , his cellphone silently flashing . ''we believe that maliki seized all the power , '' he said , referring to prime_minister_nuri_kamal_al_maliki . ''our ministers in the government do not have broad authority . we have been waiting for seven months for him to achieve the balance we agreed upon . '' a committee that was supposed to have ironed out differences was never formed , he said . long promised action to remove militia members from security forces has also never materialized . his party is considering withdrawing altogether from the government , he said , although a threat to that effect on thursday from a hotheaded fellow member , abdel nasir al_janabi , did not reflect the position of the entire party , lawmakers said . there may be no way to resolve the differences . the shiites , a majority in iraq , have power for the first time , and are growing tired of having to share it with the sunnis , who long controlled the country and whose participation was forced upon them by the americans in the first place . ''all over the world , the winning bloc has the right to form its own government , but this did n't happen in iraq , '' said falah hassan shanshal , a member of the bloc controlled by moktada_al_sadr , a powerful shiite_cleric . ''the politicians were informed that the national government would have to be bigger than the political blocs . we were told that this was the only way to secure iraq . '' mr . shanshal hinted that there might be a cabinet shuffle , but said that even if there were , mr . maliki would have to consult the sunnis , who would retain control over the ministries they now lead . iraqis who did express an interest in the american political changes on thursday said they were a bittersweet vindication . many noted in satisfaction that there had finally been a decisive , public accounting on the american war_effort that many have seen as flawed from the very beginning . ''we did n't understand your president 's politics here , '' said sheik adel ibrahim subihawi , a shiite tribal leader from northeastern baghdad . ''all the good that you did in liberating iraq has been undone . '' egyptian opposes hanging hussein cairo , nov . 9 ( ap ) president hosni_mubarak of egypt on thursday warned against hanging saddam_hussein , saying it could make iraq explode into more violence . mr . mubarak , who is influential in the region and an american ally , appeared to speak for many in the region who are uneasy about seeing a former arab president tried and sentenced no matter how much they disliked mr . hussein 's government . ''carrying out this verdict will explode violence like waterfalls in iraq , '' mr . mubarak was quoted as saying by state run egyptian newspapers . the struggle for iraq	has a location of iraq
even if iraq qualifies today for the world_cup_finals , it is not certain whether iraqi soccer players will qualify for visas to enter the united_states , according to a state_department official . if iraq loses to japan in the asian qualifying_tournament in doha , qatar today , the question will be moot . if iraq wins , and other circumstances play out , the iraqis would qualify for the 24 team field next summer in the united_states . but , given the international economic embargo against iraq in place since the persian_gulf_war , the state_department is not giving any assurances that the iraqis would be allowed into the united_states to compete . we shall see " we 're not saying , 'if they qualify , yes they can come , ' or 'if they qualify , no they ca n't come , ' " a state_department spokesman , david johnso , n said yesterday . " we 're going to deal with the issue if it comes up . we ca n't come to a determination about their visas until we 've got their applications in front of us . " last summer , libyan athletes were prohibited from entering the united_states to participate in the world university games in buffalo . there is no blanket prohibition against granting visas to iraqis , but the international embargo would have to be considered , johnson said . this noncommittal stance has created a delicate situation for officials of world_cup usa '94 , who were given assurances by the reagan_administration in 1988 that all eligible teams would be given permission to enter the united_states next summer . " we do n't anticipate any problems with the teams from iraq 's group , " said jim trecker , senior vice_president and press officer of world_cup usa '94 . binding assurances andreas herren , a spokesman for fifa , said that the world soccer federation also had no doubt that iraqi players would be granted entry into the united_states to compete in the world_cup . " the guarantee of the reagan_administration is binding for subsequent administrations , " herren said . apparently , the state_department will be the final arbiter on that contention . soccer	has a location of iraq
when kimberly dozier , a cbs_news correspondent , was nearly killed last memorial day by a roadside_bomb in baghdad that took the lives of her crew , she became the story instead of reporting it . now , more than 25 operations later , ms . dozier is finally telling her own story , which will be a core part of ''flashpoint , '' a cbs special to be broadcast on tuesday night about the many lives transformed that day . ''the hardest part of it was re living parts of it i did n't remember , '' ms . dozier said during a recent interview at the cbs headquarters in midtown , where she returned to work earlier this year . it has been ''weird'' to be the journalistic subject , she said , but tracking down and interviewing the people who were with her that day has been cathartic . ''i 've asked myself why did i make it when the others died , '' she said , admitting that she sometimes felt discouraged as she learned to walk again , in a gantlet of surgery and therapy that took her from iraq to germany to new zealand , as well as to walter_reed_army_medical_center in washington and the national naval medical center in bethesda , md . ''you ask yourself that over and over , especially in the beginning . '' in the last year , using her journalistic skills and her memories to help shape ''flashpoint'' has been one of the easier challenges for the 40 year old ms . dozier . a tall woman with short blond_hair tucked neatly behind her ears , she was given 50 50 odds of surviving on may 29 , 2006 . she and her two member crew were hit that morning after leaving their armored_vehicle to shoot video in the street for a report about americans soldiers working with iraqi_security_forces . ''we were shredded by shrapnel , '' ms . dozier said , a hellish end for a report on a slow news day at home . besides the cbs cameraman paul douglas , 48 , and the sound man james brolan , 42 , capt . james a . funkhouser , 35 , of the army , and his iraqi translator , called sam in the program , died that day . several american_soldiers were critically_injured . ms . dozier had lost virtually all her blood by the time she arrived at a treatment center . her heart stopped twice . she looks fine now , but her heavily scarred legs contain titanium rods , and she has screws in her skull . she took shrapnel to the head , fractured her femur and was burned from her hips to her ankles . still , she is eager to return to the middle_east and to work , she said , mindful that what she went through is what happens to american_troops 20 times a day in iraq . ''i always , always wanted to be a foreign correspondent , '' she said , recalling growing up partially overseas , one of six children of a homemaker and a former marine who did overseas construction . ''i knew there had been some sort of explosion , '' ms . dozier recalled of her last day in the field , recounting her story in a generally matter of fact way . ''i just got knocked into blackness . my mind was going , but i could n't see or hear for a few minutes . i could smell fireworks . i did n't know at the time that my eardrums were shattered , so that explains why i could n't hear a lot . '' her first concern was what happened to her crew , she said . she got through it all with support from her family , her boyfriend and the prayers , she said , of people around the world . she is also grateful for the therapist for her head and those ones for her body . ''they call me a poster girl for how to recover or how to avoid p.t.s.d . , '' ms . dozier said , referring to post_traumatic_stress_disorder . ''flashpoint , '' a one hour special with katie_couric as anchor , portrays the war through the detailed stories of the many lives touched by the explosion that monday morning . staff sgt . nathan reed lost his lower right leg , among other injuries , and sgt . justin farrar suffers from such post_traumatic_stress that he is still unable to wear his uniform . ''flashpoint'' shows him leaning on a cane , sobbing , at captain funkhouser 's grave in texas . the special is also a portrait of mr . brolan and mr . douglas , who left behind wives and children . there are close ups of bloody wounds and of coffins , glimpses of a young daughter of captain funkhouser who says , ''my daddy was a hero and he died . '' ''flashpoint'' also zeroes in on how improvised_explosive_devices ( i . e.d . 's ) , like the one that hit the cbs team , are responsible for roughly half the american combat casualties in iraq . while ms . dozier comes across in the film and in person as intrepid , bright , and loyal to her colleagues and friends , at least one friend sees her as changed by her ordeal . ''she 's tough in the right way , '' said lin garlick , the executive editor of cbs newspath , the network 's 24 hour news service . ''she 's still kimberly with her stories , with her depth of feeling for people . but there 's a slight guardedness to her now . i think she 's seen more than the rest of us want to see . that 's reflected in her eyes at times and i do n't think that will ever leave her . '' ms . dozier , a former print and radio reporter who has covered the middle_east as a cbs correspondent since 2003 , has repeatedly asked herself if there is anything she could have done differently that memorial day . her answer is no . still , she sheds tears in ''flashpoint'' only when ms . couric asks about her crew . ms . dozier said that it took bob woodruff , the abc_news correspondent who was injured in iraq earlier in 2006 , to ease her guilt about her crew . ''he said 'you 're thinking , you 're the correspondent . you were in charge , you took them there that day . ' he said , 'look , those two guys did not get taken anywhere . they were their own bosses , ' '' she recounted . ''and the thing i will always remember , that really stuck with me and i 've needed to pull it out several times he said , 'if you think any differently , if you think of it any other way , you 're dishonoring their memories . ' '' ms . dozier is working on a book about her life and just finished an article for the new york times about how iraq combat is responsible for injuries that doctors have never encountered , also a topic of one of her reports for cbs . her return to television comes this sunday on ''cbs news sunday morning'' with a report about female soldiers whose combat injuries made them amputees . the journalism fire remains bright , ms . dozier said , but she is a different woman . ''you know that ticker you 've got running in your head going , 'got to please mom , got to please boss , got to' you 've got all these judges out there , '' she said . ''especially women do this . i have a freedom i never had before in terms of saying 'you know what ? i do n't care . ' because i know what 's important . ''	has a location of iraq
three days after an american military strike against baghdad , a united_states warplane fired a missile at an iraqi antiaircraft_artillery site today as iraq continued to interfere with american patrols and defy united_nations sanctions , administration officials said . president_clinton sought to play down the significance of the incident , which came after the american aircraft was targeted by iraqi radar as it patrolled the no flight zone declared by the united_nations over southern iraq . mr . clinton declined to blame president saddam_hussein directly for the assassination plot against former president george_bush , saying only that evidence pointed to iraqi government responsibility " at the highest levels . " and in response to a reporter 's question , mr . clinton defended his decision to attack only an iraqi intelligence installation in the american retaliation on saturday . 'the appropriate target' he said he believed the tomahawk missile attack on one of four iraqi intelligence headquarters had singled out " the appropriate target . " " i think everyone knows what our military is capable of doing , " mr . clinton said at a joint news conference with president carlos saul menem of argentina . " what we needed to show them was that we were fully possessed of the will to do it under these circumstances . " the state_department nevertheless said today that it was " inconceivable " that an operation like the assassination plot could have been planned and executed without mr . hussein 's knowledge and approval . nevertheless , administration officials acknowledged that there was no direct evidence of such involvement . even apart from the new clash in southern iraq , there were signs that baghdad would pose continuing problems . it continued its refusal to permit a united_nations team to install monitoring devices at a missile test site , as authorized under united_nations sanctions . tanks and planes repaired at the same time , a report by the staff of a congressional subcommittee concluded that after an extensive effort iraq had regained 80 percent of the conventional military manufacturing capacity it had before the persian_gulf_war . the study found that european companies had secretly provided iraq with equipment that enabled the rebound , and said baghdad had already repaired and returned to service most of the 2 , 500 battle tanks and 250 fixed_wing_aircraft that survived the war . the report said iraq had " pumped all available resources into rebuilding its military plants " without heed to the united_nations sanctions . it predicted that the iraq was " likely to re emerge as the dominant military power in the region in very short order . " the study 's conclusion meant that iraq had rebuilt factories capable of assembling modern tanks and producing artillery shells and other weapons , but it was not clear whether it had obtained the material necessary to build them . these conclusions were based on information gathered by the united_nations as well as interviews with european government officials , but not on any information gathered by united_states intelligence agencies . mr . clinton 's national_security adviser , anthony_lake , acknowledged that the administration had ordered new security measures , which he would not describe , since launching the attack on saturday . he called the precautions routine , but an increased security presence was evident at the white_house today . madeleine k . albright , the united_states representative at the united_nations , separately warned iraqi diplomats in new york that any attempt by baghdad to retaliate for the american attack would be met with " a clear , quick and overwhelming response , " an administration official said . the official said the broad written warning advised iraq against any action that would threaten american interests around the world or united_nations personnel or involved further repression against the iraqi people . the missile attack today by a united_states_air_force f4 g wild weasel on an iraqi air defense installation near the city of basra in southeastern iraq was the first such strike in more than two months . but it was only the latest move in a high stakes cat and mouse game between the american patrols and ground based iraqi defenders that has lasted for months . rules permit retaliation asked this afternoon about the incident , which occurred at 10 15 a.m . eastern daylight time and involved two air_force jets , mr . clinton said he " would n't read too much into it . " he noted that american pilots patrolling the flight exclusion_zone were permitted under united_states rules of engagement to retaliate when threatened . administration officials nevertheless acknowledged that united_states warplanes flying over the region had elected not to respond when targeted by iraqi radar several times earlier this month . they said the fact that the latest encounter turned violent might reflect heightened tensions among american pilots and iraqi ground crews alike . the no flight zone over southern iraq , like another in the north , was imposed by the united_nations to prevent iraqi forces from using aircraft in military operations against iraqi civilians . its terms prohibit iraq from interfering with the patrols . but baghdad has flouted those rules , just as it has periodically refused to allow united_nations inspectors to search some of its installations . no change of course in the latest standoff , iraq has refused since june 4 to allow a united_nations team to install cameras capable of monitoring activity at two missile test site . mr . clinton said last friday that he regarded the matter as " quite serious , " but administration officials said today that there had been no sign of an iraqi change of course since the missile strike on saturday . despite similar intransigence in the past , until recently iraq has ultimately allowed the united_nations inspectors to search its nuclear_installations and others associated with weapons_of_mass_destruction , and to destroy the equipment necessary to produce them . but the new congressional report , prepared for the house foreign_affairs subcommittee on international security , called attention to iraq 's success in rebuilding its conventional weapons plants , which have been given less international scrutiny . the document , made public at a hearing today , said iraq had relied on companies in jordan , france and germany to circumvent a united_nations embargo and buy spare_parts for its weapons industries . it said the installations that have been rebuilt could allow iraq to assemble t_72 tanks and experiment with ballistic_missiles . robert l . gallucci , the assistant secretary of state for political military affairs , said at the hearing that iraq also remained intent on rebuilding its nuclear_weapons capacity . but mr . gallucci said he had not seen the staff report and could not comment on it in detail .	has a location of iraq
an earthquake struck northern iraq , killing 20 people and injuring an undisclosed number of others , the official iraqi news_agency reported tonight . the quake destroyed 100 houses in two villages in the erbil area , said the report , which was monitored in london . it did not say when the quake struck .	has a location of iraq
anbar_province , long the lawless heartland of the tenacious sunni arab resistance , is undergoing a surprising transformation . violence is ebbing in many areas , shops and schools are reopening , police_forces are growing and the insurgency appears to be in retreat . ''many people are challenging the insurgents , '' said the governor of anbar , maamoon s . rahid , though he quickly added , ''we know we have n't eliminated the threat 100 percent . '' many sunni tribal_leaders , once openly hostile to the american presence , have formed a united front with american and iraqi government forces against al_qaeda in mesopotamia . with the tribal_leaders' encouragement , thousands of local residents have joined the police force . about 10 , 000 police officers are now in anbar , up from several thousand a year ago . during the same period , the police force here in ramadi , the provincial capital , has grown from fewer than 200 to about 4 , 500 , american military officials say . at the same time , american and iraqi forces have been conducting sweeps of insurgent_strongholds , particularly in and around ramadi , leaving behind a network of police stations and military garrisons , a strategy that is also being used in baghdad , iraq 's capital , as part of its new security plan . yet for all the indications of a heartening turnaround in anbar , the situation , as it appeared during more than a week spent with american_troops in ramadi and falluja in early april , is at best uneasy and fragile . municipal services remain a wreck local_governments , while reviving , are still barely functioning and years of fighting have damaged much of ramadi . the insurgency in anbar a mix of islamic militants , former baathists and recalcitrant tribesmen still thrives among the province 's overwhelmingly sunni population , killing american and iraqi_security_forces and civilians alike . this was underscored by three suicide car_bomb attacks in ramadi on monday and tuesday , in which at least 15 people were killed and 47 were wounded , american officials said . eight american service members five marines and three soldiers were killed in two attacks on thursday and friday in anbar , the american military said . furthermore , some american officials readily acknowledge that they have entered an uncertain marriage of convenience with the tribes , some of whom were themselves involved in the insurgency , to one extent or another . american officials are also negotiating with elements of the 1920 revolution brigades , a leading insurgent group in anbar , to join their fight against al_qaeda . these sudden changes have raised questions about the ultimate loyalties of the united_states' new allies . ''one day they 're laying i.e.d . 's , the next they 're police collecting a pay check , '' said lt . thomas r . mackesy , an adviser to an iraqi_army unit in juwayba , east of ramadi , referring to improvised_explosive_devices . and it remains unclear whether any of the gains in anbar will transfer to other troubled areas of iraq like baghdad , diyala_province , mosul and kirkuk , where violence rages and the ethnic and sectarian landscape is far more complicated . still , the progress has inspired an optimism in the american command that , among some officials , borders on giddiness . it comes after years of fruitless efforts to drive a wedge between moderate resistance fighters and those , like al_qaeda in mesopotamia , who seem beyond compromise . ''there are some people who would say we 've won the war out here , '' said col . john . a . koenig , a planning officer for the marines who oversees governing and economic_development issues in anbar . ''i 'm cautiously_optimistic as we 're going forward . '' a new calm for most of the past few years , the government center in downtown ramadi , the seat of the provincial government , was under near continual siege by insurgents , who reduced it to little more than a bullet ridden bunker of broken concrete , sandbags and trapped marines . entering meant sprinting from an armored_vehicle to the front door of the building to evade snipers' bullets . now , however , the compound and nearby buildings are being renovated to create offices for the provincial administration , council and governor . hotels are being built next door for the waves of visitors the government expects once it is back in business . on the roof of the main building , capt . jason arthaud , commander of company b , first battalion , sixth marines , said the building had taken no sniper fire since november . ''just hours of peace and quiet , '' he deadpanned . ''and boredom . '' violence has fallen swiftly throughout ramadi and its sprawling rural environs , residents and american and iraqi officials said . last summer , the american military recorded as many as 25 violent acts a day in the ramadi region , ranging from shootings and kidnappings to roadside_bombs and suicide attacks . in the past several weeks , the average has dropped to four acts of violence a day , american military officials said . on a recent morning , american and iraqi troops , accompanied by several police officers , went on a foot patrol through a market in the malaab neighborhood of ramadi . only a couple of months ago , american and iraqi forces would enter the area only in armored_vehicles . people stopped and stared . the sight of police and military forces in the area , particularly on foot , was still novel . the new calm is eerie and unsettling , particularly for anyone who knew the city even several months ago . ''the complete change from night to day gives me pause , '' said capt . brice cooper , 26 , executive officer of company b , first battalion , 26th infantry_regiment , first infantry division , which has been stationed in the city and its outskirts since last summer . ''a month and a half ago we were getting shot up . now we 're doing civil_affairs work . '' a moderate front the turnabout began last september , when a federation of tribes in the ramadi area came together as the anbar salvation council to oppose the fundamentalist militants of al_qaeda in mesopotamia . among the council 's founders were members of the abu ali jassem tribe , based in a rural area of northern ramadi . the tribe 's leader , sheik tahir sabbar badawie , said in a recent interview that members of his tribe had fought in the insurgency that kept the americans pinned down on their bases in anbar for most of the last four years . ''if your country was occupied by iraq , would you fight ? '' he asked . ''enough said . '' but while the anti american sheiks in anbar and al_qaeda both opposed the americans , their goals were different . the sheiks were part of a relatively moderate front that sought to drive the americans out of iraq some were also fighting to restore sunni arab power . but al_qaeda wanted to go even further and impose a fundamentalist islamic_state in anbar , a plan that many of the sheiks did not share . al_qaeda 's fighters began to use killing , intimidation and financial coercion to divide the tribes and win support for their agenda . they killed about 210 people in the abu ali jassem tribe alone and kidnapped others , demanding ransoms as high as 65 , 000 per person , sheik badawie said . for all the sheiks' hostility toward the americans , they realized that they had a bigger enemy , or at least one that needed to be fought first , as a matter of survival . the council sought financial and military support from the iraqi and american governments . in return the sheiks volunteered hundreds of tribesmen for duty as police officers and agreed to allow the construction of joint american iraqi_police and military outposts throughout their tribal territories . a similar dynamic is playing out elsewhere in anbar , a desert region the size of new york state that stretches west of baghdad to the syrian and jordanian borders . tribal cooperation with the american and iraqi commands has led to expanded police_forces in the cities of husayba , hit , rutba , baghdadi and falluja , officials say . with the help of the anbar sheiks , the military equation immediately became simpler for the americans in ramadi . the number of enemies they faced suddenly diminished , american and iraqi officials said . they were able to move more freely through large areas . with the addition of the tribal recruits , the americans had enough troops to build and operate garrisons in areas they cleared , many of which had never seen any government security presence before . and the americans were now fighting alongside people with a deep knowledge of the local population and terrain , and with a sense of duty , vengeance and righteousness . ''we know this area , we know the best way to talk to the people and get information from them , '' said capt . hussein abd nusaif , a police commander in a neighborhood in western ramadi , who carries a kalashnikov with an al capone style ' 'snail drum'' magazine . ''we are not afraid of al_qaeda . we will fight them anywhere and anytime . '' beginning last summer and continuing through march , the american led joint forces pressed into the city , block by block , and swept the farmlands on its outskirts . in many places the troops met fierce_resistance . scores of american and iraqi security troops were killed or wounded . the ramadi region is essentially a police_state now , with some 6 , 000 american_troops , 4 , 000 iraqi soldiers and 4 , 500 iraqi_police officers , including an auxiliary police force of about 2 , 000 , all local tribesmen , known as the provincial security force . the security forces are garrisoned in more than 65 police stations , military bases and joint american iraqi combat outposts , up from no more than 10 a year ago . the population of the city is officially about 400 , 000 , though the current number appears to be much lower . to help control the flow of traffic and forestall attacks , the american military has installed an elaborate system of barricades and checkpoints . in some of the enclaves created by this system , which american commanders frequently call ''gated communities , '' no vehicles except bicycles and pushcarts are allowed for fear of car_bombs . american commanders see the progress in anbar as a bellwether for the rest of country . ''one of the things i worry about in baghdad is we wo n't have the time to do the same kind of thing , '' lt . gen . raymond t . odierno , commander of day to day war operations in iraq , said in an interview here . yet the fact that anbar is almost entirely sunni and not riven by the same sectarian feuds as other violent places , like baghdad and diyala_province , has helped to establish order . elsewhere , security forces are largely shiite and are perceived by many sunnis as part of the problem . in anbar , however , the new police force reflects the homogeneous face of the province and appears to enjoy the support of the people . a growing police force military commanders say they cannot completely account for the whereabouts of the insurgency . they say they believe that many guerrillas have been killed , while others have gone underground , laid down their arms or migrated to other parts of anbar , particularly the corridor between ramadi and falluja , the town of karma north of falluja and the sprawling rural zones around falluja , including zaidon and amariyat al falluja on the banks of the euphrates_river . american_forces come under attack in these areas every day . still other guerrillas , the commanders acknowledge , have joined the police force , sneaking through a vetting procedure that is set up to catch only known suspects . many insurgents ''are fighting for a different side now , '' said brig . gen . mark gurganus , commander of ground forces in anbar . ''i think that 's where the majority have gone . '' but american commanders say they are not particularly worried about infiltrators among the new recruits . many of the former insurgents now in the police , they say , were probably low level operatives who were mainly in it for the money and did relatively menial tasks , like planting roadside_bombs . the speed of the buildup has led to other problems . hiring has outpaced the building of police academies , meaning that many new officers have been deployed with little or no training . without enough uniforms , many new officers patrol in civilian clothes , some with their heads wrapped in scarves or covered in balaclavas to conceal their identities . they look no different than the insurgents shown in mujahedeen videos . commanders seem to regard these issues as a necessary cost of quickly building a police force in a political environment that is , in the words of colonel koenig , ' 'sort of like looking through smoke . '' the police force , they say , has been the most critical component of the new security plan in anbar . yet , oversight of the police_forces by american_forces and the central iraqi government is weak , leaving open the possibility that some local leaders are using newly armed tribal members as their personal death_squads to settle old scores . several american officers who work with the iraqi_police said a lot of police work was conducted out of their view , particularly at night . ''it 's like the mafia , '' one american soldier in juwayba said . general odierno said , ''we have to watch them very closely to make sure we 're not forming militias . '' but there is a new sense of commitment by the police , american and iraqi officials say , in part because they are patrolling their own neighborhoods . many were motivated to join after they or their communities were attacked by al_qaeda , and their successes have made them an even greater target of insurgent car_bombs and suicide attacks . abd muhammad khalaf , 28 , a policeman in the jazeera district on ramadi 's northern edge , is typical . he joined the police after al_qaeda in mesopotamia killed two of his brothers , he said . ''i will die when god wills it , '' he said . ''but before i die , i will support my friends and kill some terrorists . '' the tasks ahead some tribal_leaders now working with the americans say they harbor deep resentment toward the shiite led administration of prime_minister_nuri_kamal_al_maliki , accusing it of pursuing a sectarian agenda . yet they also say they are invested in the democratic process now . after boycotting the national elections in 2005 , many are now planning to participate in the next round of provincial elections , which have yet to be scheduled , as a way to build on the political and military gains they have made in recent months . ''since i was a little boy , i have seen nothing but warfare against the kurds , iranians , kuwait , the americans , '' sheik badawie said . ''we are tired of war . we are going to fight through the ballot_box . '' already , tribal_leaders are participating in local councils that have been formed recently throughout the ramadi area under the guidance of the american military . iraqi and american officials say the sheiks' embrace of representative government reflects the new realities of power in anbar . ''out here it 's been , 'who can defend his people ? ' '' said brig . gen . john r . allen , deputy commanding general of coalition_forces in anbar . ''after the war it 's , 'who was able to reconstruct ? ' '' indeed , american and iraqi officials say that to hold on to the security gains and the public 's support , they must provide services to residents in areas they have tamed . but successful development , they argue , will depend on closing the divide between the shiite dominated government in baghdad , which has long ignored the province , and the local leadership in anbar , which has long tried to remain independent from the capital . if that fails , they say , the iraqi and american governments may have helped to organize and arm a potent enemy .	has a location of iraq
defense secretary donald h . rumsfeld declared today that the iraqi government was starting to crumble as he laid out eight broad objectives by which the bush_administration would define victory . saddam_hussein and his loyalists are ' 'starting to lose control of their country , '' mr . rumsfeld said . ''the confusion of iraqi officials is growing . their ability to see what is happening on the battlefield , to communicate with their forces and to control their country is slipping away . '' mr . rumsfeld listed eight sweeping goals that the bush_administration sought to achieve in the war . senior white_house aides said president_bush would monitor developments in the war from camp_david , the presidential retreat , where he was to be joined by senior members of his war council . although mr . rumsfeld did not mention the first persian_gulf_war in 1991 , to drive iraqi forces from kuwait , he was no doubt cognizant that the first president_bush was criticized for achieving battlefield success but not a decisive political victory over mr . hussein . ''our goal is to defend the american people , and to eliminate iraq 's weapons_of_mass_destruction , and to liberate the iraqi people , '' mr . rumsfeld said during a pentagon news briefing and defining the overall goal of the war . the first of the eight specific aims , mr . rumsfeld said , is to ''end the regime of saddam_hussein by striking with force on a scope and scale that makes clear to iraqis that he and his regime are finished . '' second , iraq 's arsenal of biological and chemical_weapons , and any program to develop nuclear_weapons , are also targets , as the american military has been ordered ''to identify , isolate and eventually eliminate iraq 's weapons_of_mass_destruction , their delivery systems , production capabilities , and distribution networks , '' mr . rumsfeld said . troops will then ' 'search for , capture , drive out terrorists who have found safe harbor in iraq , '' he added . next , he said , the allied forces will ''collect such intelligence as we can find related to terrorist networks in iraq and beyond . '' the fifth goal , mr . rumsfeld said , is to ''collect such intelligence as we can find related to the global network of illicit_weapons of mass destruction activity . '' the united_states also seeks ''to end sanctions and to immediately deliver humanitarian relief , food and medicine to the displaced and to the many needy iraqi citizens , '' mr . rumsfeld said . military forces also will ' 'secure iraq 's oil fields and resources , which belong to the iraqi people , and which they will need to develop their country after decades of neglect by the iraqi regime , '' mr . rumsfeld said . lastly , mr . rumsfeld said , the war_effort is ''to help the iraqi people create the conditions for a rapid transition to a representative self government that is not a threat to its neighbors and is committed to ensuring the territorial_integrity of that country . '' this morning , mr . bush gave a classified briefing on the military campaign to five congressional leaders he had summoned to the oval_office . ''we 're making progress , '' mr . bush told reporters at the start of the meeting . ''we will stay on task until we 've achieved our objective , which is to rid iraq of weapons_of_mass_destruction . '' the leaders at the meeting were the house speaker , j . dennis_hastert , republican of illinois bill frist of tennessee , the senate_majority_leader tom_daschle of south_dakota , the senate minority_leader representative tom_delay of texas , the house majority leader and representative_nancy_pelosi of california , the house minority_leader . mr . bush thanked the leaders for resolutions passed by both houses of congress supporting american_troops and commending the president as commander_in_chief . ''not only do we support those brave souls who are sacrificing on our behalf , but we want to thank their parents and their families for their dedication as well , '' mr . bush said . earlier , mr . bush met with mr . rumsfeld about the unfolding military campaign and attended a national_security_council meeting in the white_house_situation_room . after taping his weekly radio address , to be broadcast saturday morning , mr . bush took off early this afternoon from the white_house south lawn in a helicopter bound for camp_david . mr . bush also won formal support from the house of representatives today when , after hours of wrangling , the house voted 392 to 11 to adopt a resolution supporting the president 's ''firm leadership and decisive_action in the conduct of military operations in iraq . '' all the no votes came from democrats , while another 21 democrats and one republican voted ''present . '' the senate adopted its resolution unanimously on thursday afternoon . as more iraqi troops began to surrender today , some senior american military officers expressed wariness that secret talks with elite iraqi units like the republican guard and special republican guard would lead to significant surrenders . ''i 'd be cautious , '' said one senior officer . ''i would n't raise expectations . '' a nation at war the pentagon	has a location of iraq
an iraqi american businessman who profited from the united_nations oil for food aid program with iraq pleaded_guilty tuesday to four criminal counts . the case , against samir a . vincent , included charges that he had enlisted influential former american government officials , who were not identified , to discuss ways to help saddam_hussein avoid international economic_sanctions . the plea will result in the first conviction in the multipronged investigation of the oil for food program . attorney_general john_ashcroft said mr . vincent was cooperating with the inquiry . mr . vincent , a naturalized citizen who has long been involved in iraqi american affairs , pleaded_guilty to secretly working on behalf of the iraqi government to lobby american and united_nations officials about the sanctions program . in exchange , he received millions of dollars after being given the rights to sell millions of barrels of iraqi oil , according to the charges . the criminal information , as the list of charges is known , said mr . vincent had ''lobbied former officials of the united_states_government who maintained close contacts to high ranking members of both the clinton and bush administrations in an effort to convince the u.s . government to support of a repeal of sanctions against iraq . '' the document also said mr . vincent arranged a meeting in manhattan in september 2000 between a high ranking representative of the iraqi government and a former american government official to discuss strategy to persuade policy_makers to support the repeal of united_nations sanctions . in november 2001 , the charge said , mr . vincent delivered a message from officials of the iraqi_intelligence_service and the government of iraq to a former american official on the issue of whether baghdad would allow arms inspectors to return in exchange for the dropping of sanctions . it does not say if that was the same official involved in the september 2000 meeting . neither the criminal information nor a statement on tuesday by mr . ashcroft identified the former american officials who were said to have been involved . bryan sierra , a justice_department spokesman , declined to identify the former officials , but noted that the investigation was continuing . mr . vincent was charged with , among other things , acting as an unregistered agent of the iraqi government . that charge raises the possibility that the former official or officials could be in similar jeopardy if they were involved in taking up the iraqi government 's case . mr . vincent , who could face up to 28 years in prison , entered his plea on tuesday in federal district court in manhattan before judge denny chin . in addition to the federal criminal inquiry , a three member investigative commission has been appointed by secretary_general_kofi_annan of the united_nations . it is led by paul a . volcker , the former federal_reserve chairman . the volcker group , which may now have access to mr . vincent , is expected to issue an interim report in the next few weeks . the oil for food program was started in 1996 to help ease the effects on civilians of sanctions imposed after iraq invaded_kuwait in 1990 . under the program , iraq was permitted to sell its oil under the condition that the proceeds be put into a special account the government could use to buy relief supplies . the program is now widely regarded as having provided a means by which mr . hussein was able to skim millions of dollars . ''the hussein regime corrupted the oil for food program , '' mr . ashcroft said , ' 'depriving the iraqi people of food and medicine and undermining the sanctions . '' he described mr . vincent as one of mr . hussein 's accomplices in exploiting the program . the charging document asserts that , as a reward , mr . vincent was enabled to act as the broker for nine million_barrels of oil . david kelley , the united_states_attorney in manhattan , estimated that mr . vincent accumulated between 3 million and 5 million in profits . mr . vincent traveled to baghdad in the early 1990 's and drafted agreements with iraqi officials that provided for payments to him of millions of dollars for his role in helping persuade the united_nations to put the oil for food program into effect . it is unclear whether that money was in addition to the fees from the oil sales . mr . vincent 's name appeared on a list compiled by the c.i.a . and disclosed in october that identified people who had secretly benefited from the oil for food program . he operated a company called phoenix international l.l.c . in suburban virginia . he worked for years to improve united_states iraqi relations , including helping organize a tour of the united_states in 1999 by iraqi clerics who pressed for an end to sanctions during their meetings with american religious leaders , including the evangelist billy_graham .	has a location of iraq
in a lengthy phone conversation on tuesday , the former iraqi electricity minister who escaped from a baghdad jail on sunday ridiculed american and iraqi officials and said he fled because he did not trust the police and had received a tip that he would be assassinated within days . the official , aiham alsammarae , who telephoned this reporter , said , without offering proof , that he was already outside iraq after finagling his way aboard a flight at the baghdad_international_airport . incredulous iraqi security and justice officials disputed parts of his account , saying that a figure as recognizable as mr . alsammarae could not possibly have slipped onto a flight when he was the subject of a manhunt . mr . alsammarae , who holds dual american and iraqi citizenship , scoffed at those assertions and said they were made by officials who spent too much time inside the protected green_zone in central baghdad and did not understand how the country really worked . ''those suckers who are sitting in the green_zone , they cannot go out and see the people they are governing ? '' asked mr . alsammarae , whose unmistakable speech patterns in english reflect his iraqi and american backgrounds . ''this is a joke . ''so why i cannot take the airport ? it 's not because i am a smart cookie . any iraqi can do it , even if they have 10 , 000 court orders against him . this is iraq . '' one fact iraqi officials could not dispute mr . alsammarae , who had been jailed four months ago on corruption charges stemming from deals made when he was the electricity minister from august 2003 to may 2005 , was still free . if correct , mr . alsammarae 's tale of escape would mean that he not only worked his way free of the iraqi_police guarding the jail but also eluded the thousands of western and iraqi_security_forces stationed in the dense maze of checkpoints and blast_walls in the green_zone , which is the fortified heart of the american occupation and the iraqi government . when asked how he could have pulled off such an escape , mr . alsammarae , who moved to chicago in 1976 but returned to iraq just after the invasion , laughed uproariously for 20 seconds . then , recycling a famous line from an exchange about al capone in ''the untouchables , '' mr . alsammarae said with undisguised glee ''the chicago way . '' mr . alsammarae was the most senior iraqi official of the post saddam_hussein era to be arrested and jailed . his career over the past three years has had a meteoric trajectory , from his meeting with president_bush at the white_house in september 2003 to his arrest in august . although an appeals court overturned his only conviction last week , he faced additional charges and it was unclear whether he could be freed on bail under iraqi law . his escape is a serious embarrassment for the interior_ministry and the american led forces that are guarding the green_zone and struggling to shape the iraqi_police into an effective security force . iraqi officials expressed consternation when informed that mr . alsammarae had telephoned a reporter while on the lam . ''i have no information , '' said brigadier abdul_karim khalif , a spokesman for the interior_ministry . ''he escaped from us . '' mr . khalif did say that the police chief and his assistant at the station where mr . alsammarae had been held were under arrest and that they were being questioned on the escape . ''we are not just embarrassed by that , but we are very angry with our employees and this thing should not happen again , '' mr . khalif said . mr . khalif said that a jailbreak was a crime under iraqi law and that mr . alsammarae would be pursued on those grounds as well . ''now , he is a fugitive from justice , '' said rathi al rathi , head of the iraqi commission on public integrity , whose investigation led to mr . alsammarae 's prosecution . ''he will be on the run , and he will be pursued by interpol for the rest of his life . '' but mr . rathi said he did not believe mr . alsammarae had left iraq yet because the borders had been sealed . when informed of that assertion in an e mail message , mr . alsammarae could scarcely contain his disdain of mr . rathi , whose investigations mr . alsammarae believes are politically_motivated . ''ask him if he wants me to stop and pick him up tomorrow and show him the way out ! ! ! '' mr . alsammarae wrote in response . in a measure of just how murky the matter has become , mr . rathi himself has recently been accused of corruption in the finances of his own office . he has in turn dismissed those charges as political . mr . alsammarae shed little direct light on the two leading theories of how he escaped either with the help of a mysterious western private security firm that appeared at the station on sunday , or with the complicity of the iraqi_police . ''i do n't like to harm these people who helped me , '' he said . despite the charges against him , mr . alsammarae said he did not believe that the american authorities would arrest him in chicago . ''i hope they are smarter than that , '' he said . the struggle for iraq	has a location of iraq
the pentagon announced today that it had asked the defense_department 's inspector general to investigate the disappearance of most of the chemical detection logs maintained for american military commanders during the 1991 persian_gulf_war . it is estimated that 80 percent of the logs have disappeared . that has alarmed the ailing veterans who believe that the missing logs could show that their health problems are the result of exposure to chemical or biological_weapons during the war . in a statement , the pentagon 's senior official on gulf_war illnesses , bernard d . rostker , said , ''i have seen no evidence thus far that anyone intentionally destroyed the log . '' he made the statement as he prepared to hand over the investigation to the inspector general . the investigation will now be handled by the inspector general , eleanor hill , who is supposed to function as an independent watchdog for the department . the results of ms . hill 's investigations will be reported to congress . in an interim report made public last week , the defense_department said that its investigators had been able to track down only 36 of the estimated 200 pages of logs that should have recorded the detection of chemical or biological_weapons during the war . the report suggested that some logs had been destroyed by a computer virus in the war , while other copies , on computer disks and on paper , had been misplaced after the war when soldiers changed jobs . the investigation found that copies of the logs had disappeared from two locations after the war . the 36 pages that have been located , which were made public in 1994 , show that american military commanders received repeated warnings that iraqi chemical_weapons had been detected on the battlefield but labeled them all false_alarms . among the missing logs are those for march 4 through march 10 , when american_troops blew up a huge ammunition depot in southern iraq that was later determined to have contained tons of chemical_weapons . there is no conclusive evidence to show that american_soldiers were made sick by exposure to chemical or biological_weapons during the war . but the disappearance of the chemical logs has heightened an air of suspicion among veterans .	has a location of iraq
after patrolling places in places like falluja , where he was shot at and shot back , juan salas , a united_states_army sergeant , would pose his platoon around a sign destined for his soccer team back home . he would e mail the photo he had taken , asking his manhattanville_college teammates , in turn , for updates on their games . his teammates , who saved sergeant salas 's soccer jersey for him in the hope that he would return to wear it , sent back reports . the sergeant , 23 , pored over every last word and statistic from the games the valiants played without him , before going to sleep , often to the sounds of incoming shells . war is always about lives interrupted and , for those skilled and lucky enough , taken back up again . sometimes warriors return to peace with renewed perspective or relish other times with emotions more deadened . but whatever the soldier 's state of mind , there is in a sense no more peculiar place to return to than an idyllic college campus . and as sergeant salas runs with choppy , purposeful steps on the soccer field here , kicking a ball , backpedaling and kicking again , in the late afternoon sun , he has to shake himself from the surreal thought that he is here and not there . to him , even basic necessities seem extravagant . ''it 's the flushable toilet , the college food and the fact that you do n't hear artillery and can just wear normal clothes , have conversations and feel safe every little thing you appreciate , '' he said , a plane flying overhead while he played . it was only a corporate jet taking off from the nearby airport . the sergeant , a native of venezuela who is a naturalized american citizen , joined the national_guard at the start of college . raised by his mother in south_america new jersey and new york , he said he had learned not to sit still to keep moving or get old instantly . ''i just needed something to spice up my life , '' he said , his inky hair still shorn tight , military style , but with an easy laugh that seemed anything but regimented . he never expected to be called into action . then came his junior year and the callup . sergeant salas could hardly believe it was a reality . soon , he was in fort_bragg for a month , then landing in kuwait_city , then working in special_operations in various spots in the restive sunni_triangle , where he was shot at frequently and returned fire , killing more than once . sergeant salas seems overwhelmed with the joy of being home once more , a management student and stalwart of the soccer team . he was the fourth leading_scorer during his sophomore year . there are new frustrations , however . his fellow students , happy in their lives , untouched personally by war , occasionally seem irresponsible or slow moving . david baron , a junior on the soccer team , said that one day a bunch of players were bellyaching about a preseason run because the weather happened to be a touch humid . midfielder salas suddenly became sergeant salas he let the others know that until a person has been in 140 degree temperatures , carrying heavy equipment and taking fire , a person has not seen heat . ''we sort of shut our mouths and did n't complain , '' said mr . baron , who , like other teammates , says sergeant salas has boundless exuberance and keen insight . scott vieira , a junior soccer player , said ''when something goes wrong , he tells us to keep our heads up . he says people on that other side of the world have it a little worse than us . '' the sergeant , for his part , is comforted by the camaraderie that his team offers , though in a way a pale imitation of the ''amplified'' experience of the army . there are side benefits to being a war hero returning to a small liberal arts college . asked if his status helps in dating on campus , sergeant salas laughed . ''you have no idea , '' he said . ''they are treating me a lot better than before . '' in fact , he said , all students even those against the war , are curious about it . and they do n't let their political stance color their view of soldiers . he is glad to have served , he added , but cannot help reliving his joy the moment he was told that he would be coming home . he called his mother , elizabeth , and his sister , yurley , a junior at columbia_university . then he thought back to the valiant teammates who had saved his jersey for him and knew , finally , that he could look forward to seeing them , too . for the record e mail fuchs nytimes . com	has a location of iraq
at first it seemed as if whoever planned the match had made some kind of mistake . only weeks away from a possible american attack on iraq , a professional soccer team from erbil , a city in kurdish controlled northern iraq , today played a team from baghdad , the capital . iraq 's president , saddam_hussein , has consistently repressed the kurds . the players from baghdad arrived unarmed , did their level best to win and depended on the kurdish police to protect them from more than 5 , 000 screaming kurdish fans , some openly hostile , others more conciliatory . ''this is sport , '' said mazar hossein , 24 , a barber . ''it has nothing to do with politics . '' the game was part of a nationwide professional soccer league featuring teams from the areas controlled by baghdad and from kurdish controlled regions . the players cross back and forth over the lines of control , along with thousands of other civilians . so today club erbil and club nafet whose name means oil squared off against each other at 2 30 p.m . spectators packed the sides of a utilitarian , two story concrete stadium where men and boys ate ice_cream , doughnuts and other snacks . the players from baghdad , dressed in green , struggled throughout , dominated by the yellow clad erbil squad . erbil 's fans danced , pounded drums and played dozens of dahauls , a traditional instrument that sounds like a high pitched clarinet . when the home team took a 1 0 lead , they danced in the aisles . the goal was the only one scored in the game , winning it for erbil . kurdish fans admit that they cheer more aggressively when teams from baghdad come to town , but said the roars should not be misunderstood . ''we dislike them as sports rivals , '' explained rehman majid , 16 , a restaurant worker . ''nothing more . '' the squads are a mix of players from across the country . kurdish fans cheered the loudest today for no . 34 , ahmed judea , a prolific scorer . mr . judea is an arab from baghdad , but he plays for erbil in the kurdish controlled north . ''there are arabs who play for us , '' said mr . hossein , the barber , who sounded proud of the fact . ''four or five . '' salah muhammad , 56 , a music teacher who brought a group of young girls to sing at the match , said iraqis blamed their government , not average iraqis , for killings of kurds . ''this is a struggle against the regime , '' he said . ''not against the people . '' yet fears of ethnic and religious strife if mr . hussein is removed from power are rising . kurds , shiite_muslims and other ethnic and religious groups have scores to settle with members of the arab sunni_muslim minority that rules iraq under mr . hussein . players from the baghdad team shied away from speaking after the game , which mr . majid , the restaurant worker , said represented that invaluable thing escape . ''the moment is different when we come out of the stadium and listen to the news , '' he said . ''this changes , and we are afraid . '' threats and responses friendly combat	has a location of iraq
an article on friday about a white_house inquiry into possible misconduct by stuart w . bowen jr . , a federal official whose investigations of fraud and waste in iraq reconstruction work have embarrassed the bush_administration , misstated the name of the office that is conducting the inquiry . it is the president 's council on integrity and efficiency , not the president 's council on integrity and excellence .	has a location of iraq
lead the next space_shuttle mission will carry aloft an 11 ton spy_satellite meant to peer down on iraqi troops and military gear involved in the persian_gulf crisis , an industry journal reported yesterday . the next space_shuttle mission will carry aloft an 11 ton spy_satellite meant to peer down on iraqi troops and military gear involved in the persian_gulf crisis , an industry journal reported yesterday . the united_states already has a small fleet of spy_satellites that can monitor iraqi troop_movements night and day , see through camouflage and hear the most sensitive battlefield communications . a new satellite would bolster those abilities . the secret military mission of the shuttle atlantis , now scheduled for nov . 10 from cape_canaveral , fla . , will loft an imaging satellite that will ''focus on the persian gulf_region to provide both strategic and tactical reconnaissance information for desert shield air and ground commanders , '' aviation week space technology reported in its oct . 22 issue . ''desert shield'' is the military 's name for the mission to defend saudi_arabia from possible attack by iraqi troops who invaded_kuwait on aug . 2 . aviation_week reported that the spy_satellite is code named air_force project 658 , weighs 22 , 000 pounds when fully fueled and carries cameras that radio pictures back to earth rather than sending back exposed film . the satellite , it said , would be deployed from the shuttle atlantis and boosted into an orbit 460 miles high . the journal also reported that the shuttle would be launched from cape_canaveral with an inclination to the earth 's equator of 28 . 5 degrees , which would be unusual for a mission to deploy a photographic spy_satellite . typically , these satellites go into higher inclination orbits so they can peer at a larger part of the earth 's surface , including much of the soviet_union . able to spot license_plates john e . pike , director of space policy for the federation of american scientists , a private group based in washington , said the shuttle mission would almost certainly launch a spy_satellite but that it might be one for monitoring electronic communications rather than taking pictures from space . the american government has about five picture taking craft that orbit hundreds of miles above the earth and beam photographic images back to the ground , all of them presumably spending some time peering down on the crisis zone . the most powerful of these satellites is said to be able to spot license_plates on cars and trucks . in addition , the government has a pair of listening satellites that eavesdrop on communications . reconnaissance experts , including former government intelligence officials , say the spy_satellites could give the united_states a decisive advantage if the current standoff in the middle_east turns violent , revealing the positions of troops , tanks , gun emplacements and other military hardware . spy_satellites have already played key roles in the crisis . president_bush 's decision to deploy american_troops to saudi_arabia was reportedly sealed by intelligence reports of menacing buildups of iraqi military units and signs the iraqis were loading chemical_weapons on aircraft . and the saudis decided to permit the stationing of american_troops on their land after such intelligence data were shared with them . only the united_states , the soviet_union and china now possess spy_satellites , although several nations are trying to acquire them . mideast_tensions	has a location of iraq
to the editor frank rich exposes the conflict that the television networks face ''iraq around the clock , '' march 30 . neither sitcoms nor reality_shows can match the drama of war , especially among viewers who know some of the actors . the networks will vie to provide around the clock coverage , and we will soon witness the inevitable world war iii brought to us by burger_king , hasbro , exxon and any other consumption propagandists insufficiently embarrassed by the association . glenn alan cheney hanover , conn . war tv	has a location of iraq
guerrillas and american_troops battled for hours here on friday in an intense firefight after a demonstration in support of saddam_hussein turned violent . in baghdad , rumors of terrorist attacks this weekend roiled the city . the daylong battle in abu_ghraib , a western suburb of baghdad that has been a center of hostility to the american led occupation , and the anxiety in the capital , underscored the deteriorating security situation here at the end of a week that began when four simultaneous car_bombs killed 34 people and wounded more than 200 . in addition , an american soldier was killed on friday in an attack west of baghdad . at least 33 united_states troops have died from hostile fire in october , compared with 16 in september , and the pace has increased in recent days . the soldier , from the 82nd_airborne_division , was killed by a roadside_bomb at 8 30 a.m . near khaldiya , about 45 miles west of baghdad , the military reported . four other soldiers were wounded . the death brought to 118 the number of american_troops killed in action since president_bush declared major combat operations over on may 1 . since the iraq_war began march 19 , 350 american_troops have died in combat or of other causes , and 2 , 160 more have been wounded , according to maj . linda haseloff , a military spokeswoman in tampa , fla . this weekend could see a surge in terrorist or guerrilla attacks , according to a spokeswoman here for the american military , who spoke on the condition of anonymity . ''there is a possibility of increased attacks , '' she said . ''nov . 1 and 2 are reportedly days of national resistance in iraq . we have been briefed that there is a possibility that there might be increased attacks at least on nov . 1 . '' administration officials in washington said fliers circulating in baghdad and basra urged a three day general_strike against the occupation . the flier , written in arabic and marked ''baath_party regional headquarters'' at the top , carries the following instructions , according to an american official ''carry out a general and comprehensive demonstration all over the nation for three days from the first daylight of nov . 1 , 2003 , and in all walks of life , that is , official and semiofficial bureaus and unions , and other means of transportation , and small and large business places , the kiosk and walking salespeople in the street , to prove to our enemy that we are a united people . '' schools , hotels and several neighborhoods have received specific threats , according to military sources and local residents , and there are persistent rumors that hundreds of islamic militants have infiltrated the capital . around baghdad , iraqi_police officers set up checkpoints at major intersections to look for weapons . private security companies , hired by the big hotels where foreign journalists and contractors are staying , dispatched teams of bomb_sniffing dogs to examine cars parked nearby . further increasing tensions , some prominent sunni_muslim clerics leading friday_prayers at local mosques railed against the american occupation and the iraqi political leaders who have been working with it . banners calling for jihad , or holy_war , against american_troops , have been put up around many important sunni mosques in the capital since the beginning of ramadan , the muslim holy month , on monday . the country 's sunni minority enjoyed privileges during the government of mr . hussein , and many worry about losing them if political power is allotted democratically . in abu_ghraib , about 10 miles west of baghdad , helicopters flew overhead and american_soldiers moved m1_abrams tanks into the area to counter iraqi guerrillas . the hollow thump of mortar rounds from guerrillas sounded near the center of town , a market where american_soldiers are attacked regularly . some american_troops fired from combat vehicles while others on foot took up fighting positions in the area , soldiers said . iraqis said there were civilian casualties , and a photographer for the new york times saw some wounded people , but the number of casualties could not be confirmed . a military spokesman in baghdad declined to comment . local residents and american_soldiers offered widely varying accounts of the genesis of the firefight . residents said the violence grew out of an effort in the morning by american_soldiers and iraqi_police officers to clear vegetable sellers from the street . soldiers threw a stun grenade into the crowd , injuring some iraqis , they said . after friday_prayers , a pro hussein demonstration of at least 1 , 000 people gathered , intensifying the confrontation , the residents said . ''people started calling , 'by blood and soul we sacrifice for you , saddam_hussein , ' '' said one witness , hamad ali . then the iraqi_police fired on the demonstrators , and a firefight broke out , mr . ali said . but american_soldiers said the violence flared when someone threw a grenade at troops patrolling the market , slightly wounding two soldiers . then the police station was hit by mortar shells , they said . on sunday_night , a mortar attack on the station killed at least one person and wounded two others . in northern iraq , american_troops sealed off awja , the village where mr . hussein was born , and began issuing identity cards to the villagers . u.n . panel to study security lapses by the new york times united_nations , oct . 31 secretary_general_kofi_annan said friday that he would appoint a panel to determine the responsibility for any security lapses and mismanagement at the united_nations mission in baghdad before the aug . 19 attack , which killed 22 people . in an open_letter to staff members , he also said he had ordered a revamping of the united_nations' security management system . mr . annan was responding to a report issued last week by investigators that said united_nations security practices and policies were ' 'dysfunctional'' and had left the baghdad mission vulnerable . ''i will spare no effort in acting on the conclusions of the panel 's report , '' he wrote . the struggle for iraq security	has a location of iraq
several weeks after two major reports detailed the abuse of detainees at abu_ghraib_prison , the pentagon is reviewing whether to reopen an inquiry into the case of four iraqis who said they were abused in january at an american base in iraq . the case of the iraqi men , employees of western news organizations , was dismissed by the pentagon months before the abuse at abu_ghraib was first reported . the case , which involves reports of practices similar to those carried out at abu_ghraib , could provide evidence that maltreatment of prisoners occurred elsewhere in iraq . the iraqis , who were arrested jan . 2 after trying to report on the downing of an american helicopter near falluja , said they were physically abused while being held for about three days at forward operating base volturno . they said american_soldiers hit them , deprived them of sleep and made them assume painful positions . they said they were threatened with sexual_assault and photographed while being forced to simulate sex acts . lawrence_di_rita , a defense_department spokesman , said that civilian and military lawyers at the pentagon were reviewing the case to determine whether more review in washington was necessary . until now , the pentagon has deferred to the commanders in the field and their investigations . mr . di_rita said it was likely to be a matter of days before the lawyers decided what , if anything , to do next . he said the decision to begin the current evaluation , mainly by lawyers on the military 's joint staff , was not influenced by the release in august of two reports that offered new details into detainee_abuse , one by three army generals and another by a panel led by former defense secretary james r . schlesinger . those reports criticized the leadership of lt . gen . ricardo s . sanchez , then the american commander in iraq . until now , his own review of the case was the highest level scrutiny it received . some defense officials have privately suggested the pentagon should reopen the case in light of that criticism . three of the iraqis work for reuters and the fourth for nbc_news . reuters and nbc officials expressed frustration at what they described as the pentagon 's incomplete inquiry case and nonresponsiveness . the three reuters workers , who were initially ashamed to speak about the abuse , were interviewed separately here in baghdad , while the nbc cameraman was interviewed by phone from falluja . ''the fact is that these allegations came before the abu_ghraib allegations they are not copycats in any way and deserve to be investigated seriously and objectively , '' said david a . schlesinger , global managing editor for reuters . ''but the pentagon appeared eager to quickly put the investigation to a close . '' bill wheatley , vice_president of news at nbc_news , said that after the abu_ghraib scandal came to light , he sent a letter to general sanchez asking that the inquiry be reopened but never received an answer . ''we do not feel to our satisfaction that the matter has been investigated thoroughly , '' he said . general sanchez declined to comment . maj . amy hannah , a spokeswoman for the 82nd_airborne_division , which was accused in the incident , also declined to comment on the case beyond the executive summary of the unit 's investigation . according to the four iraqis , the incident began in falluja after friday_prayer on jan . 2 . word had spread that an american helicopter had been shot down west of the city . the four headed separately toward the site , where american_soldiers were recovering the body of the captain and evacuating the co pilot . three of the iraqis began filming from a distance . according to the 82nd_airborne_division 's executive summary of its investigation , the soldiers received fire from the area where the iraqis were clustered and returned fire . eventually , the soldiers chased the four iraqis and took custody of them , taking them to the volturno base . the iraqis , who were initially accused of being insurgents posing as reporters , denied having anything to do with the firing . e mail exchanges between the baghdad bureau chief for reuters , andrew marshall , and officials at the 82nd_airborne show that the military was notified immediately that the men worked for reuters . the military detained the men for about 60 hours , the summary said . during their captivity , the iraqis said they were often hooded and repeatedly struck , elbowed and slapped . but they said the more serious abuse occurred in individual interrogations , and then when they were in a small cell together . each said the interrogations were conducted by two american_soldiers they said they did not know whether they belonged to intelligence or military_police units . an arabic interpreter was present , they said . salem ureibi , 54 , a reuters cameraman , said one of the soldiers repeatedly jabbed a pen up his nostrils and forced him to kneel with his hands in the air . the soldier , he said , threatened to make him sit on a stool with a nail sticking out that was attached to a wire . during his interrogation , ahmad mohammad hussein , 26 , another reuters cameraman , said an american punched him whenever he said , ''i swear to god . '' he said he was forced to chew and lick a slipper and suck his fingers . his cousin and driver , sattar jabar , 26 , said he was forced to chew on a slipper and insert his fingers into his anus . ''then he forced me to put two of the fingers into my nostrils , put the slipper into my mouth and raise my left hand , '' he said . ''he said i just looked like an elephant . '' all four said that they were forced to do push_ups , and that while doing so were told to pretend that they were having sexual_intercourse by moving their buttocks . many of the soldiers brought cameras and took photographs , they said . on jan . 8 , four days after their release , the three reuters workers were interviewed separately by mr . marshall , the bureau chief . a 22 page transcript , which contains most of the details they gave in recent interviews with the new york times , was given to the military . on jan . 9 , reuters sent an official letter of complaint to general sanchez , after which the 82nd_airborne opened an investigation . on jan . 29 , reuters received a three page copy of the inquiry 's unclassified executive summary . it said none of the soldiers involved in the detention of the four ''admit or report knowledge of any physical_abuse or torture . '' ''the detainees were purposefully and carefully put under stress , to include sleep_deprivation , in order to facilitate interrogation they were not tortured . '' pointing out that ahmad hussein and mr . jabar are cousins , it said ''the cousins' statements are not credible and may have been purposefully exaggerated as part of an anti coalition information campaign . '' reuters complained that the inquiry was inadequate , saying that investigators had not independently interviewed the iraqis and had relied only on the testimony of soldiers . through august , the news_agency sent several letters to the pentagon demanding that the investigation be reopened . but pentagon officials wrote back that the case was closed . in a short letter to reuters dated march 5 , general sanchez wrote that he was ''confident'' that the investigation had been ''thorough and objective . '' he added that investigators had concluded that the ' 'soldiers involved acted within the applicable rules of engagement , policies and procedures . '' soldier in scandal gives birth pfc . lynndie r . england , who is scheduled for court martial in january in the abuse of abu_ghraib prisoners in iraq , gave birth to her baby onmonday , her lawyer said . private england , who is stationed at fort_bragg , has said the father is cpl . charles graner_jr . , who also is charged in the case . she faces 19 charges including maltreatment and assault of prisoners and sexual_misconduct . her lawyers say she was under the sway of officers senior to her . the reach of war the detainees	has a location of iraq
iraq 's most wanted militant has pledged his loyalty to osama_bin_laden , the leader of al_qaeda , according to a message posted sunday on islamist_web_sites . the militant , abu_musab_al_zarqawi , a jordanian believed responsible for a number of bombings and beheadings here , wrote in the message that he agreed with al_qaeda 's strategy and the need for unity against ''the enemies of islam . '' the message said mr . zarqawi , leader of the group one god and jihad , believed mr . bin_laden to be ''the best leader for islam 's armies against all infidels and apostates . '' ''we announce that the one god and jihad group , its prince and its soldiers , has pledged allegiance to the sheik of the holy_warriors , osama_bin_laden , '' the statement said . the statement said mr . zarqawi had in been contact with al_qaeda for eight months , ''exchanging points of view , '' before reaching an understanding . there was no way to verify the authenticity of the message . one of the web_sites carrying the message also carried a videotape showing the beheading of an american , nicholas_berg , in may , which american officials believe was performed by mr . zarqawi . mr . zarqawi , 38 , is regarded by american commanders as one of the most prolific and brazen killers in iraq . they have offered a 25 million bounty for him the same amount as the bounty on mr . bin_laden . mr . zarqawi has claimed responsibility for several of the most deadly car bombings here and is believed responsible for the videotaped beheading of three americans , one briton and possibly others . he is also a suspect in the august 2003 bombing of the united_nations_headquarters in baghdad . a senior american military official said that based on the bombings and attacks for which mr . zarqawi has claimed responsibility , he is responsible for the deaths of 675 iraqis and 40 american , british and other foreign soldiers here , and for the wounding of more than 2 , 000 people . mr . zarqawi and his group are believed to be operating out of falluja , a city under the control of insurgents . in the past two months , american_forces have carried out nearly nightly airstrikes against targets in falluja believed to comprise what american military officials refer to as ''the zarqawi network . '' even so , mr . zarqawi 's whereabouts are unclear , as his precise role in the attacks for which he has taken credit . the americans say they have killed six of his group 's senior leaders . the vow of allegiance to al_qaeda would be something of a break for mr . zarqawi , who , according to some evidence , regards himself as a rival of mr . bin_laden . but it would not be their first contact . in february , the american military released a letter it said had been written by mr . zarqawi to senior leaders in al_qaeda , who are thought to be hiding in the mountainous area of the afghanistan pakistan border . in the letter , the author beseeched mr . bin_laden for help in iraq and made clear his subservience to him . according to american intelligence , mr . zarqawi 's request was rebuffed . mr . zarqawi was brought to the world 's attention in february 2003 , on the eve of the american invasion of iraq , by secretary of state colin l . powell . mr . powell told the united_nations that mr . zarqawi , who he said was linked to al_qaeda , was also linked to the iraqi leader , saddam_hussein . american intelligence officials are now skeptical that there was any link between mr . zarqawi and mr . hussein . the reach of war militant groups	has a location of iraq
prof . muhammad s . eissa has never been busier . each weekday he teaches arabic to students at the illinois institute of technology , and because the demand for experienced arabic instructors has overwhelmed the supply nationwide , his lectures are videotaped for replay in classrooms at a college and a university in utah . in his free time , dr . eissa , an egyptian born muslim , has also been lecturing church groups and rotary clubs that are suddenly eager for information about islam . as the pursuit of al_qaeda and america 's confrontation with iraq intensifies , arabic speaking educators and islamic organizations , as well as universities and schools across the nation , are straining to respond to requests by students and the public for information and instruction about the language and culture of islam . ''it 's just snowballed , '' said karin ryding , who heads georgetown_university 's arabic languages department , which offered five beginning arabic classes last semester , instead of the usual two . other universities reported similar increases or new courses because of the demand . historically , most americans have been only dimly aware of islam and its liturgical language , arabic , but this is not the first time that national interest has built to a fever . the 1979 hostage_crisis in iran led to a burst of study of the muslim_world , and the federal_government made more money available to train teachers of mideastern languages and for study abroad . by the mid 1980 's , however , government and public interest had waned , only to increase again , for a while , at the time of the persian_gulf_war . but now some of dr . eissa 's students are digging in for the long term , betting that an intellectual investment in arabic will pay off in their careers . ''if we go into iraq , we 're going to need to be over there for a long time to build it back , '' said lars longnecker , a third year law student who decided in december to study arabic . ''so i see our involvement in the mideast increasing , and i figured arabic would give me a leg up in that area . '' students across the country appear to agree . kirk belnap , a professor of arabic and the director of a federally_financed consortium , the national middle_east language resource center at brigham young university , said many universities were reporting ' 'double or triple enrollments'' in arabic classes . ''there 's been an explosion in interest , '' said john c . eisele , executive director of the american association of teachers of arabic . the college of william and mary in williamsburg , va . , where dr . eisele teaches , offered two beginning arabic classes last fall , but had to turn away 20 students . because the demand is similar nationwide , many colleges and universities , as well as half a dozen federal agencies , are seeking to hire people fluent in arabic . ''there 's a ton of jobs out there , '' dr . eisele said . it is not only college campuses that have experienced the surge in interest . in alabama , so many middle_school and high_school students asked about islam that nearly 200 alabama teachers signed up last summer for a course , understanding islam , taught by dr . angelia mance , associate director of the national council on geographic education . ''it was the most popular course i 've given , '' said dr . mance , who taught it in classrooms packed with teachers in the alabama towns of florence , jasper and hamilton . one of her students was gail spann , a public_school librarian whose son , johnny michael spann , an officer in the central_intelligence_agency , was killed in afghanistan in november 2001 , dr . mance said . ''war is god 's way of teaching world geography to americans , '' dr . mance said , quoting ambrose bierce , the 19th_century satirist . the islamic networks group , formed in the mid 1990 's by california muslims who believed their religion was being misrepresented in the public schools , has in recent months expanded its network of speakers bureaus to 25 cities from 18 , said maha elgenaidi , the group 's co founder , who grew up in ohio and pennsylvania . the speakers originally lectured about islam mostly in public schools , she said , but in recent months , the group has been flooded with invitations to explain the religion to police departments , groups for the elderly , community centers and rotary clubs . but if some americans are suddenly eager to learn about islam , there is much ignorance to overcome . even many university students ''lack a rudimentary knowledge of the nature of the islamic faith , '' according to a study published in the september issue of the journal of instructional psychology . after hearing statements betraying ignorance of islam , its authors , thomas mastrilli and deborah sardo brown , professors at west chester university in pennsylvania , circulated a questionnaire among 218 students about to become teachers in public schools . about half the students could not identify the koran as the islamic holy book or mecca as the holiest islamic city ( one in seven guessed jerusalem ) , their report said . not one of the students surveyed could name the world 's three most populous muslim countries pakistan , indonesia and bangladesh . the two professors called for more education about islam to foster religious tolerance . in contrast , a study released this month warned against too much tolerance of islam . it was written by gilbert sewell , a former education editor at newsweek who heads the american textbook council , a new york group opposed to multicultural teaching . mr . sewell examined seven widely used middle_school and high_school world history textbooks and concluded that publishers made ''an effort to circumvent unsavory facts that might cast islam in anything but a positive light . '' for instance , textbooks have ' 'defanged'' the term jihad , mr . sewell contended , defining it as muslims' struggle for spiritual improvement rather than more narrowly as holy_war . but several textbook publishers criticized mr . sewell 's objectivity . ''a lot of his language is just slanted against the religion of islam , '' said collin earnst , a spokesman for houghton_mifflin . bernard lewis , a princeton mideast scholar cited extensively by mr . sewell , declined through his assistant to comment on the report . rashid khalidi , a professor of history and near eastern languages at the university of chicago , called mr . sewell 's study ''a terribly biased document full of bigoted statements . '' mr . sewell and his critics agree on the importance of increasing americans' familiarity with islamic civilization the challenge to which dr . eissa has devoted his professional life since he began teaching arabic at american universities in 1978 . ''american interest in islamic affairs comes in waves and then it ebbs , '' dr . eissa said , just before video cameras focused on him as he began conjugating arabic verbs at the start of another class here . ''but this current tide of fascination seems more intense and wider in perspective . ''	has a location of iraq
worried about a political deadlock in iraq and a spike in mayhem from an emboldened insurgency , the bush_administration has pressed iraqi leaders in recent days to end their stalemate over forming a new government , with secretary of state condoleezza_rice and vice_president dick_cheney personally exhorting top kurdish and shiite politicians to come together . the white_house pressure , reported by iraqi officials in baghdad and an american official in washington on sunday , was a change in the administration 's hands off approach to iraqi politics . the change was disclosed as insurgents unleashed a devastating technique , with twin double bombings at a police academy in tikrit and an ice cream parlor in a shiite neighborhood of baghdad that killed 21 and wounded scores more . in both attacks , a second bomb detonated within minutes after the first , killing and wounding policemen and bystanders who had rushed to care for victims of the initial blasts . the explosions hit two of the favored targets of sunni arab insurgents police recruits , whose training is critical to improving security in iraq and providing the united_states an exit_strategy and shiites , who make up a majority in iraq but nearly three months after national elections have yet to form a new government a failure that american officials fear is giving strength and confidence to the insurgents . washington 's approach to the political negotiations had emphasized that the iraqis needed to form their own government without interference . but american and iraqi officials have increasingly blamed the delay for a rise in violence in recent weeks that has killed more than a hundred iraqis and threatens to destroy what remains of the political and security momentum that followed the successful jan . 30 elections . ms . rice on friday telephoned iraq 's new president , jalal_talabani , a kurd , to urge him to complete the government ''as soon as they could'' and ''to get a status of where things were , '' a senior state_department official in washington said sunday . the official stressed that ms . rice did not tell mr . talabani how to form a government , just that the process needed to be concluded . also , adil_abdul_mahdi , a leading shiite politician selected as one of the new iraqi vice_presidents , met with ms . rice and vice_president cheney at the white_house , the official said , where he was also told that the white_house wanted to see a government formed right away . ''it has taken awhile , and this is also a reflection of the fact that the iraqis themselves are pushing for a quicker government , '' the senior official said . ms . rice told both mr . talabani and mr . mahdi that more than enough time had passed , and a government needed to be formed now , the official said . ''we know it is not an easy thing to do , and this is the first time for them . '' the impact of the white_house pressure was unclear . on sunday , shiite leaders once again predicted they were on the verge of announcing their new government , perhaps as soon as monday . similar predictions have been proved wrong several times in recent weeks . but the shiites added a new twist on sunday , declaring they would no longer hold out for a deal with ayad_allawi , the outgoing prime_minister . dr . allawi , a secular shiite who is not liked by the main shiite political_alliance , had demanded several key posts for his party , including either defense or interior_minister , oil or finance minister , and deputy prime_minister . in an interview sunday , ali al adeeb a shiite member of the national_assembly and a leader in dawa , the party of the newly appointed prime_minister , ibrahim_al_jaafari said , ''allawi is out of the cabinet . we do n't need any delay because of this issue . '' many shiites believe dr . allawi is too sympathetic to sunnis , while many kurdish officials fear dr . jaafari is too islamist . late sunday , another shiite alliance adviser cautioned that while the ''current discussions'' do not include dr . allawi , it was unfair to say he has been ruled out of the cabinet ''because there is no government yet . '' he predicted that the shiites would not be able to announce a cabinet on monday . a senior allawi aide , rasim al awadi , said sunday afternoon that ''we 've heard nothing yet from'' the shiites about dr . allawi 's demands for cabinet posts . the shiite alliance controls a narrow majority of the 275 seats in the national_assembly , while the kurds have 75 seats and dr . allawi 's party 40 seats . on top of the squabble between the shiites and dr . allawi , some kurdish political leaders and others have been trying to slow the political process to force dr . jaafari out of his new post . under the interim_constitution , the prime_minister would relinquish the post if he fails to form a new government one month after his appointment . that clock runs out may 7 . many american officials say the political slowdown in baghdad is hurting the ability of iraqi_security_forces to repel and pursue insurgents . some regional government leaders are appointing police and security officials without consulting with the interior_ministry , as required by law . elsewhere , american officials say , the political vacuum has led to apathetic law enforcement and public_administration . ''they need to get going on variety of fronts , '' an american official in baghdad said friday . ''none of the iraqis we talk to think that the security situation in the past month has improved . a number of them think the security situation has grown more difficult . '' the violent streak that extended into sunday began with the dual car_bomb strike at the police academy in tikrit , saddam_hussein 's hometown and a heartland for sunni baathists 100 miles north of baghdad . a car_bomb exploded inside the grounds of the academy , followed less than half an hour later by another bomb , an official at the interior_ministry said . at least six iraqis were killed and 30 wounded . sunday_night a similar and deadlier strike hit the al riadhy ice cream parlor in the capital 's shula district , a working_class neighborhood in northwest baghdad where many poor shiites from places south like kut and diwaniyah migrated in the 1980 's seeking work . the first bomber struck about 8 50 p.m. , and the second blast rang out five minutes later , an interior_ministry official said . at least 15 people were killed and 50 wounded . the american military also reported two deaths at the hand of insurgents on saturday , a sailor assigned to the second marine division was killed by a homemade bomb while conducting operations in falluja . the marines released no other details . in eastern baghdad , a soldier from task_force baghdad was killed just after dawn on sunday when his patrol was hit by a homemade bomb . military officials also said they captured four more iraqis suspected of involvement in the downing of a civilian helicopter last week that killed six american security contractors and five others . the four iraqis join six iraqi suspects who were seized early saturday morning after iraqi tipsters led soldiers to the suspects' truck and homes , according to military officials . also , pakistani officials said malik mohammed javed , a pakistani embassy official kidnapped two weeks ago in iraq , was freed on sunday . ''he has reached the pakistan embassy in baghdad , '' the pakistani information minister , sheik rashid ahmed , told the associated press . ''he is safe , '' mr . ahmed said , but he refused to provided any other information and declined to say whether ransom was paid . the conflict in iraq politics correction april 26 , 2005 , tuesday a front page article yesterday about bush_administration pressure on iraqi political leaders to reach a compromise on a government included an erroneous identification provided inadvertently by a state_department official for an iraqi who had been telephoned by secretary of state condoleezza_rice . he was massoud_barzani , leader of a main kurdish political_party , not jalal_talabani , an iraqi kurd who is the new president .	has a location of iraq
nearly 90 iraqis were killed or found dead here on tuesday and wednesday , an interior_ministry official said , making for a particularly grim day even amid the intense sectarian_violence . at least 60 bodies were found throughout baghdad between 6 a.m . tuesday and 6 a.m . wednesday , the ministry official said . forty victims were unknown 20 were identified . nearly all were shot in the head , had clear signs of torture , or were blindfolded , bound or gagged , and most were discovered in neighborhoods of western baghdad with heavy sunni arab populations , he said . the other deaths reported by the ministry were in bombings and other attacks on wednesday . american military officials , who have been more aggressive in challenging body counts if they consider them inaccurate , disputed the number found , saying the actual number was roughly half what the ministry had reported . according to the baghdad morgue , whose statistics often prove to be higher than figures reported by news services or the interior_ministry , the bodies of 1 , 535 victims of violent deaths , an average of 50 a day , were received in august . in july , the average was 60 a day . a recent study of civilian deaths by the united_nations found that by june , iraqis across the country were being killed at a rate of more than 100 a day . as the iraqi_police gathered up the bodies , several car_bombs rocked baghdad , killing or wounding dozens more . among the attacks was a bomb that detonated shortly after 9 a.m . in southern baghdad , killing 15 people , including 7 iraqi_police officers , and wounding 25 police officers and civilians , an american military spokeswoman said . the interior_ministry also said a bomb planted in an unattended car near a police station in eastern baghdad exploded about 11 30 a.m. , killing eight policemen and wounding 19 civilians . the united_states military also said two american_soldiers had been killed . one died monday from wounds sustained in fighting in anbar_province , the largely insurgent controlled region west of baghdad . another was killed tuesday south of baghdad when his vehicle was hit by a roadside_bomb . in the capital 's heavily_fortified green_zone , a prosecutor in the genocide trial of saddam_hussein demanded wednesday that the judge be removed for showing bias toward the former dictator and for letting him harangue witnesses . mr . hussein is on trial for his role in the so called anfal military campaign in 1988 against kurdish villages in northeastern iraq . he and his co defendants are accused of genocide in the killing at least 50 , 000 kurds , including many in chemical_weapon strikes . he was tried earlier this year in the killing of 148 men and boys in 1982 in a shiite village , dujail , but that verdict is not expected for another month or two . during the court session on tuesday , mr . hussein called the kurdish witnesses who had described atrocities at the hands of mr . hussein 's military ''agents of iran and zionism . '' and he warned witnesses that he would ''crush your heads , '' according to an account by the associated press . as the trial resumed wednesday morning , a prosecutor , munqith al faroon , accused the judge of letting ''the defendants to go too far , with unacceptable expressions and words , '' according to a pool report filed by a reporter for the daily_telegraph of london . mr . faroon said the judge had allowed defendants to ''treat the chamber as a political forum . '' the judge , abdullah al amiri , who was a judge during mr . hussein 's rule , responded coolly , not raising his voice . ''the judge coordinates and makes peace among the people in his presence , '' he said . the court heard a powerful and graphic account from omer othman mohammed , who said he was a member of the kurdish pesh_merga militia who was caught in a chemical_weapon strike by iraqi jets in april 1988 that left him badly burned from his chest to his legs . ''it was so fast , we were shocked , '' mr . mohammed testified , according to the daily_telegraph 's pool report . ''the rockets did not explode , but they just broke . one hit close to me . when it broke , the chemical inside , it covered me . it was a liquid , not a gas . i was shocked . i was in pain . ''there was severe pain as if there was a high pressure on me or as if i was touching an electric current , or as if boiling water was being poured on my body . there are feelings you cannot describe to the people around you , even your loved ones . '' mr . mohammed said he got up after the attack and saw that pieces of the rockets had sliced through some of his comrades . ''i saw people without their heads , i saw legs and arms , '' he said . ''i saw parts of the body of my beloved friends . i called to a friend of mine and he came to me . i asked him for a mirror and asked him to bring me a first aid kit . i looked at my eyes and they were terribly red . i was suffering from terrible pain . ''	has a location of iraq
a front page article on wednesday about the testimony by judith_miller , a former reporter for the new york times , in the trial of i . lewis libby jr . referred incorrectly to an unrelated investigation by the libby prosecutor in a case involving ms . miller 's reporting on islamic charities . the prosecutor is trying to find out who ms . miller 's sources are , including by obtaining her telephone records . ms . miller is not herself under investigation in that case . the article also misstated the prosecutor 's surname at one point . he is patrick j . fitzgerald , not fitzpatrick .	has a location of iraq
to the editor frank rich does n't like the fox_news coverage of the war on iraq because it is cheerleading . it seems the american people want positive coverage , because fox 's ratings lead the pack . is n't it the height of arrogance for mr . rich to want it otherwise sort of like the french rooting against our coalition ? paul knopick laguna hills , calif . war tv	has a location of iraq
of the many art exhibitions across this country tracking the fallout from the war in iraq , perhaps none is more moving than paul fusco 's display of 46 color photographs at the aldrich contemporary art museum in ridgefield , conn . titled ''bitter fruit , '' the images document funerals in cities and towns across america for some of the almost 3 , 000 united_states soldiers killed in iraq since the war began . the photographs are powerfully emotive . arranged in a single row around the walls of a quiet room , they provide us with a front line view of funeral services , speeches and interment of the soldiers , as well as shots of grieving friends and family milling around outside churches or at cemeteries . this is not some weepy melodrama engineered for a hollywood movie , but a window onto a world of shocking and realistic grief . mr . fusco is no stranger to the casualties and suffering of war . born in 1930 in leominster , mass . , and currently living in new jersey , he served as a photographer in the united_states_army in korea from 1951 to 1953 . he later covered social issues and conflicts at home and around the world , with his photographs appearing in publications including time , the new york times magazine and newsweek . he was also a staff photographer for look magazine . the current series is a moving tribute to the soldiers and their families as well as a quiet protest . while the photographs veer away from direct confrontation with the political policy that sent united_states soldiers to iraq , their display of the casualties of the war cannot help but make us question its causes and consequences . mr . fusco elaborates somewhat on this theme in an artist 's statement for the exhibition , which was organized by magnum photos and has toured nationally . he argues that he wanted the pictures to serve as a visual rebuttal to what he believes is the bush_administration 's deliberate attempt to play down the tragedies of the war . ''the most obvious example of that effort , '' he writes , ''was closing the dover_air_force_base to the press let no one see the rows of flag draped coffins ready to be shipped to grieving families . '' since 2003 , mr . fusco has followed some of those coffins home , navigating an emotional and political minefield with tact and a kind of hands off diplomacy to secure poignant , pertinent pictures . he never gets too close to his subjects , shooting from a respectful distance , often with a very powerful zoom lens . he also avoids showing us scenes of inconsolable grief . though misfortune has befallen these people , he has elected to show them mostly in emotional control . they are portrayed with dignity . one of the most touching images was taken in springfield , vt . , in 2003 , at the funeral of a soldier identified only as sergeant rose . it shows a united_states_army commander in uniform handing a folded flag to a young woman , the widow of the fallen soldier , who is surrounded by her grieving friends and family . she chokes back tears , listening to what the commander is telling her . perhaps his words are of some comfort to her , but you know that she is torn apart inside . in another image , taken in ellsworth , minn . , in 2004 , residents line main_street holding american flags as they wait for a passing motorcade for the funeral of specialist bert hoyer . in chestertown , md . , in 2004 , at the funeral of private bryan nicholas spry , a young family stands in front of a pickup_truck defiantly holding signs in support of the dead soldier and the troops . it poignantly illustrates the strength and faith required by the friends and family of soldiers to remain supportive of a war that killed the person they loved . other images are more complex and ambiguous , showing us groups of unidentified people either huddled together in grief or dissolving away after a funeral . none of this is posed or even remotely staged mr . fusco seems to have snapped pictures where and when he could . for this reason , some of the images are a little out of focus , and the light levels vary considerably . but to me this does not detract from the pictures it only makes them more heartbreakingly real . how newspapers and other news_media cover the war in iraq has been a source of constant , often partisan political argument and complaint . mr . fusco sidesteps that issue , inviting us instead to dwell quietly on the human price of war . i can think of no better advice for the holiday season , when the families of war casualties everywhere feel the loss of loved ones the most . paul fusco , ''bitter fruit , '' aldrich contemporary art museum , 258 main_street , ridgefield , conn . , through feb . 25 . information ( 203 ) 438 4519 or www . aldrichart . org . art review	has a location of iraq
a leader of a high level panel studying american policy toward iraq said tuesday that prime_minister_nuri_kamal_al_maliki must take immediate action to improve security , end sectarian_killings , reduce corruption and deliver basic services if he wants to retain united_states support . the independent panel , led by former representative lee h . hamilton of indiana and former secretary of state james a . baker_iii , said it would make detailed recommendations to president_bush and congress after the midterm_elections . the group , formed at the request of congress and with the approval of the bush_administration , visited iraq for four days this month . members said they had met with more than three dozen iraqi officials , including mr . maliki . the group has also met with mr . bush , vice_president dick_cheney , secretary of state condoleezza_rice and defense secretary donald h . rumsfeld . panel members expect to meet soon with an iranian official , whom they did not identify , with the saudi ambassador to the united_states and with the foreign_minister of syria . if mr . bush is looking for an opportunity to revise american policy in iraq , the panel , known as the iraq_study_group , could be a catalyst . at a news conference here , mr . baker said he wanted the 10 member , bipartisan panel to forge a consensus because ''our report will not be particularly meaningful if it has dissenting_views . '' mr . hamilton , a former chairman of the house committee on foreign affairs , summarized findings from the panel 's first six months of work this way ''iraqis want a safer baghdad and safer communities . they want an end to sectarian_killings . they want electricity , water and a government that fights corruption . no one can expect miracles , but the people of iraq have the right to expect immediate action . they want to see progress on security , progress on national reconciliation and progress on the delivery of basic services . and so do we . '' moreover , mr . hamilton said ''the government of iraq must act . the government of iraq needs to show its own citizens soon , and the citizens of the united_states , that it is deserving of continued support . the next three months are critical . before the end of this year , this government needs to show progress in securing baghdad , pursuing national reconciliation and delivering basic services . '' mr . baker said he agreed with this assessment . a longtime political adviser to the bush_family , mr . baker could play a pivotal role in helping the white_house weigh policy changes , including a possible exit_strategy . on tuesday , mr . baker reaffirmed his view that the administration had ' 'seriously misjudged the difficulty of winning the peace'' in iraq . but he said that the panel would focus on the future and that it had not spent any time ''wringing our hands over what mistakes might or might not have been created in the past . '' in his 1995 memoir , mr . baker said he opposed ousting saddam_hussein in the persian_gulf_war in 1991 because he feared that such action might lead to an iraqi civil_war , to ''criticism from many of our allies'' and to an eventual loss of american support for an occupation . ''marching on baghdad was ridiculous from a practical standpoint , '' mr . baker wrote . in the memoir he also recalled arguing that ''even if saddam were captured and his regime toppled , american_forces would still be confronted with the specter of a military_occupation of indefinite duration to pacify the country and sustain a new government . '' only one member of the panel , former senator charles s . robb of virginia , ventured outside the heavily_fortified green_zone when the group went to iraq this month . mr . robb visited anbar_province , where the insurgents have been particularly active and the security situation has become dire .	has a location of iraq
concerned that sensitive information might leak out , some units of the united_states military are starting to clamp down on e mail communication from their soldiers and sailors , who have been using it from ships , bases and even desert outposts to stay in touch with family and friends . the uncertainty underscores the double edged nature of a technology that is providing a new opportunity for instantaneous interaction from remote locations , a development the pentagon believes is helping to improve morale in the field and among relatives back home . at the moment , much of the electronic communication is unmonitored by the military , providing an opportunity for what some fear could be inadvertent leaks . the air_force last week warned its service men and women that it might begin limiting or blocking electronic messages because some people had sent home sensitive information , including digital pictures that might have compromised unit safety . the navy has said that on submarines , it is monitoring all e mail traffic incoming and outbound . the army , while generally maintaining open access to e mail , is restricting some internet connections from certain bases . in the persian gulf_region , afghanistan and elsewhere , soldiers have been instructed not to send sensitive information specific rules are largely left to division and unit commanders on the theory that they are best able to judge what constitutes a threat to security . some military critics argue that there should be a clearer pentagon policy on how to deal with a communications system that goes far beyond what was available in previous conflicts . the critics assert that e mail and internet communications raise several potential problems it is voluminous and thus hard to monitor it can convey not only words but images and it is immediate , meaning that an enemy might be able to tap in to real time updates of troop_movements , the presence of a general , or a military outpost 's perimeter defenses . computer security experts are not particularly concerned that iraqi forces would devote much attention to trying to hack into e mail from the troops . the military 's sensitive operational information is kept on a proprietary network called the secret internet protocol network that is not connected to the internet , making it extremely hard for hackers to penetrate . what worries computer and military experts is the possibility that enemy forces may obtain a soldier 's message home that ends up being forwarded to someone sympathetic to iraq , or that outsiders might simply view a picture published on a publicly accessible web_site . ''the timeliness of the information is a major factor , and the volume of message traffic can be very dangerous , '' said keith eiler , a military historian with the hoover_institution at stanford_university . ''it 's a potentially serious problem and not one that is easily solved . '' mr . eiler said he would like to see a clearer policy perhaps some monitoring and censorship of communication , as was the case with letters in world_war_ii and korea , and to an extent with mail and telephone calls from vietnam . electronic connections bring an ease of communication not seen in the persian_gulf_war of 1991 before the widespread commercial use of the internet and e mail . ''it 's more wonderful than you can imagine , '' said gary k . richardson , a consultant in napa , calif . , whose 32 year old daughter , patricia , is with an army unit at an undisclosed location overseas . ''when you get a message , you know that her hands were just on the keyboard and that she was alive and well just a few minutes ago . '' mr . richardson , an army veteran of 24 years , served in vietnam and said that e mail was a marked improvement over the postal_service , which took weeks to deliver mail during that war . e mail , he said , is also superior in many ways to the crude radio based telephone system of the vietnam_era , which required various operators to patch through a call . censors listened in to make sure sensitive information was not disclosed . but mr . richardson said the military appeared to be aware of security risks with e mail . he said his daughter , who left about 10 days ago , recently sent him an e mail message indicating that if tensions rose , she might not be allowed to send messages . the computer technology also brings soldiers a slice of home . maj . richard patterson , the public affairs officer for the army 's 82nd_airborne_division , took a web camera with him to bagram , afghanistan . using the camera , major patterson took part in a video conference over the internet with his family , which allowed him to witness his daughter 's first birthday . ''through a microphone and speakers , i was able to sing her happy birthday and watch her make a mess out of the ice_cream and cake , '' he said . ''i could see my daughter 's first birthday . that is something that in world_war_ii , korea , vietnam , even the gulf_war you could n't do . '' all branches of the military said they had made an effort to keep e mail accessible . in the larger , more established camps , particularly near cities , soldiers have access to high speed connections from computer sites set up by the military . submarines and ships can connect to the internet through satellite links . in smaller outposts , like khost , an impoverished village on the border between pakistan and afghanistan , the internet connections are also made through satellite links , and may be limited to a handful of computers housed in military tents . in each military branch , service men and women are given strict instructions concerning what information should not be included in e mail messages , including their location , current or future operations , information on visiting dignitaries , or even comments about troop morale . but enforcement frequently is done on the basis of trust , military officials said . ''there are no restrictions on e mails , '' said lt . joshua rushing , a spokesman for the united_states_central_command in qatar , who said that once soldiers are given instructions on what not to send , ''it 's kind of up to the judgment of the individual person . '' lt . gen . peter m . cuviello , the army 's chief information officer , said e mail has been used on a limited basis by troops in some recent conflicts . ''we have not had a problem in bosnia , kosovo , sinai , east_timor , or korea in recent times , '' he said , ' 'so i do n't expect there is going to be a problem . '' general cuviello said the army probably would not shut off e mail or internet connections in the event of a war , but he said it would be used largely for operational purposes and that soldiers in the midst of the action would not have time to send e mail . ''they 'll be in tanks and in bradley 's , '' he said . but not all military units are as certain of a hands off approach . in the navy , e mail policy is left to commanders , except on the submarines . ''stealth is our greatest asset and must be protected , '' said lt . cmdr . bob mehal , a public affairs officer for the submarine forces . the air_force , considering a tighter policy , warned troops last week that units could ''curtail use of 'morale call' types of e mail'' in light of concern that some digital pictures sent from the gulf had been posted on an anti american site . the memo said that ' 'sensitive photos of forward operating bases'' had been posted on family and private web_sites , warning that ''adversaries could collect these photos and use them to plan attacks against united_states forces . '' families say the kind of information they receive is secondary . what is important , they say , is the contact , and e mail has made a world of difference . ''when you get up in the morning , the first thing you do before you get your coffee is check your e mail , '' said marta dreager , 48 , of albuquerque , whose 20 year old son , ian , is a lance_corporal in the marines . ''when one comes , it makes your whole day . '' threats and responses the military	has a location of iraq
armed with a few tattered iraqi schoolbooks , maria talat sets out each morning to do battle against an educational system that often seems to be an arm of saddam_hussein 's vast propaganda machine . " i took the books with maps of the middle_east and redrew the boundary between iraq and kuwait myself , " said miss talat , 26 , a kurdish primary_school teacher , referring to baghdad 's claim that kuwait is part of iraq . " i ripped out the front page with the picture of saddam_hussein . i crossed out the passages that glorify him and his baath_party . and i began to teach , for the first time in my life , what i believe to be true . " there have also been other , more obvious changes in north since the iraqi authorities withdrew 18 months ago , when the persian_gulf_war coalition set up a security zone for the four million kurds in the region . the kurdish government here , elected in the spring , has removed huge paintings and billboards of mr . hussein and has ended the fawning press coverage and the songs and poems written in his honor . in their place are portraits of kurdish martyrs , kurdish radio and television stations and ballads extolling the century long struggle for a kurdish homeland . change in the schoolroom but it is in the educational system where change seems to have the most meaning . " we see education as the foundation of our nation , but then so did the iraqi baath_party , " said dr . nasir ghafoun ramadan , the kurdish minister of education . " the educational system was the main tool the ruling baath leaders used to propagate their ideology . and in this we are determined to be different . our schools are strictly apolitical . " the more than 1 , 100 schools in the kurdish state have banned political organizations , pictures of kurdish leaders and political slogans . " students are not marched out into the street to greet some kurdish political leader , " dr . ramadan said , " as they once did in the past when some iraqi official was in town . " the kurdish authorities also administer their own versions of iraqi national exams and grant diplomas , although the results are not recognized by the government in baghdad . classes are conducted in kurdish . teachers use iraqi textbooks , which are written in arabic , and translate the lessons into kurdish . no kurdish language textbooks are available . although strapped for funds , the kurdish government devotes 25 percent of its budget to the region 's 840 primary schools , 153 junior high_schools , 100 high_schools , assorted trade and agricultural institutes and two universities . still , schools are unable to print their own books and students are forced to make do with what the iraqis left behind . students , for example , fill up notebooks and then erase them to use again . subjects including kurdish history , which was forbidden under iraqi rule , are taught without the aid of textbooks . they also face other obstacles like those at the kurdistan primary_school here , where 800 students study in two shifts with too few desks , broken windows and doors , chipped plaster and insufficient lighting . boys and girls , often without proper coats , wrap their arms across their chests in an effort to keep warm in a room where the heating system does not work . among the teachers are dissidents who were once banned from the classrooms . one of them is adel_abdel rahman , a_37 year old physical_education teacher who deserted from the iraqi_army in 1986 . he spent five years taking care of chickens in a village before returning to his profession after the iraqi withdrawal . the only piece of gym equipment he has is a ball , paid for by the teachers . home is a concrete hovel before the iraqis left , the building housed an elite school for the children of baath_party officials . next door is a walled in compound that once belonged to top party members . the houses there are now used by kurdish government ministers . across the road facing the school , lies a sprawling slum of concrete hovels , which are home to many kurds who were evicted from 4 , 000 villages demolished by the iraqi government over the last 15 years . the children from the slum were not allowed to study in the party school , but once the iraqis departed , the doors were opened to everyone . many of the students suffer from the food shortages that torment the north . and the students are often sick . the combined effect , teachers say , makes it difficult for them to concentrate . " when karzan comes home he is cold and hungry , " said nachine hamed of her 7 year old son . " he keeps asking me for a notebook . " the teachers , too , find it difficult to feed their own families because prices have risen more than 100 times since iraq imposed an embargo on the north 15 months ago . after school the other day , maadi kako habib , the school 's director , stood next to the taxi he drives at night to earn extra money . the school 's 18 teachers and 2 assistants filed past , many to their second jobs as store clerks or vendors . " we lack everything from chalk to books , " mr . habib said . " we do not earn enough to live on , but then before we were not allowed to teach . we only acted in political theater . " miss talat , the schoolteacher , added , " each day our life is more precarious , and i teach with urgency now , trying desperately to instill in the children something they will always carry with them . "	has a location of iraq
information supplied by an iraqi scientist that iraq destroyed chemical_weapons and biological_warfare equipment before the war has shifted the focus from finding such weapons to locating key people who worked on the programs , experts and military officers said . the effort to find the building blocks of a program for unconventional_weapons and ' 'dual use'' equipment with military and peaceful applications has also taken on new urgency , experts said . ''the paradigm has shifted , '' said a member of the mobile exploitation team alpha , an american military team hunting for unconventional_weapons in iraq . ''we 've had a conceptual jump in how we think about , and what we look for in iraq 's program . we must look at the infrastructure , not just for the weapons . '' the team member spoke to this reporter , who was accompanying the group . based on what the iraqi scientist had said about weapons being destroyed or stocks being hidden , military experts said they now believed they might not find large caches of illicit chemicals or biological_agents , at least not in iraq . they said this would increase their reliance on documents and testimony from individual iraqis to help them piece together the scope , organization , and goals of the programs that the united_states has said saddam_hussein created and concealed from the world . american officials said they had surveyed more than half of the 150 sites that american intelligence organizations once considered the most likely places to hide unconventional arms and that they had found no stockpiles of chemical or germ agents . members of the search team have now joined other allied military forces in scouring baghdad for scientists and military officers who worked in such programs , experts said . they are also re examining lists of ' 'dual use'' equipment found at previously examined sites . a second change in the operation involves how the teams are conducting searches . in theory , the 75th_exploitation task_force , a mixture of military units from several pentagon agencies and led by the commander of the 75th field_artillery brigade from fort_sill , okla . , was supposed to deploy teams from task_force headquarters . but col . richard r . mcphee , the commander , cannot move the force close to baghdad because of concerns about protecting its sensitive equipment . so he has permitted the teams to push forward on their own to get to what the military terms ''time sensitive targets . '' two of the four mobile teams originally assigned to search for unconventional_weapons have since been reassigned to investigate war_crimes or sites unrelated to weapons . that leaves only two teams to investigate suspected weapons sites and tips . however , the number of other units involved in the weapons search has been expanded from four to seven , officials said . on sunday_night , weapons experts from the alpha team met with ahmad_chalabi , an iraqi opposition_leader who has returned to iraq with pentagon backing after 45 years in exile , to explore the possibility of exchanging information . military planners and weapons experts say their experience with the iraqi informant has underscored the need to respond quickly . ''the truth is not perishable , '' said maj . gen . david h . petraeus , the commander of the 101st_airborne_division , which is now supporting the team 's weapons hunt . ''but timeliness is important . '' as troops from the division moved through a small town in southern iraq nearly two weeks ago , the iraqi scientist slipped a note in arabic to an ambulance driver in a military convoy . the driver passed the note to his unit 's chemical officer , but its significance was almost overlooked . written under a pseudonym , the note said its author had proof that information was kept from international weapons inspectors . beside stating that iraqi officials had destroyed chemical_weapons and equipment just before the war , and that they had tested biological_agents on animals , the note asked for a meeting with a ''qualified'' scientist . it also asked for appropriate security provisions and for immunity from prosecution for the iraqi informant . although the unit sent an officer and a translator to contact the iraqi , the note and a report on the meeting never made it to the group charged with vetting such tips . the members of the alpha mobile exploitation team did not learn of the existence of the informant until six days later , and said they feared he might have fled , having heard nothing from the americans . aftereffects the search	has a location of iraq
militiamen loyal to the rebel_shiite_cleric_moktada_al_sadr seized a police station in the center of najaf on thursday , set prisoners free and allowed looters to plunder the building , witnesses and iraqi security officials said . it was the worst infraction of a cease fire negotiated less than a week earlier between mr . sadr 's militiamen and an alliance of american trained iraqi_security_forces and american occupation troops deployed outside najaf . a hospital official said at least five people were killed and 29 were wounded in the violence thursday . the gunmen withdrew from the police station after several hours , but they returned throughout the day as the looting went on . at night , militiamen set fire to eight new police cars , witnesses reported . the dead included one policeman , three insurgents and one civilian , said hussein hadi , an administrative assistant at the hakim hospital . he said the wounded included a policeman and two children . each side accused the other of shooting first and breaking the cease fire , which was announced on june 4 by adnan zurfi , the governor of najaf . it was unclear whether the gunmen were acting on the orders of senior commanders in mr . sadr 's militia , known as the mahdi army , or had acted independently . american military officials have said they are unsure if mr . sadr controls all his fighters , many of whom are youths from the poor neighborhood of sadr_city in northeastern baghdad . a american soldier died of wounds sustained during an attack in eastern baghdad on wednesday , the united_states military said in a statement released friday . four other soldiers were wounded in the attack , the statement said . the cease fire was the second one negotiated in the last several weeks american_soldiers and the mahdi army kept fighting after the first agreement was announced may 27 . by thursday night , soldiers with the first armored division , which is assigned to the region , had not intervened in najaf , which is regarded as holy_city to iraqi shiites . ''we do n't want the americans to interfere in the confrontations , '' mr . zurfi said . ''we will deal with the situation , and if we need help , we will ask the americans to participate . '' later , the governor gave the mahdi army 24 hours to back down . but the destruction of the police station showed that the iraqi_security_forces had failed to protect it against the militiamen , raising the question of whether such iraqi forces are ready to take responsibility for securing the country and battling insurgents following the transfer of sovereignty on june 30 . elsewhere on thursday , the arab satellite network al_arabiya broadcast a videotape showing masked men with assault_rifles guarding four turkish hostages . the gunmen identified themselves as members of a group called the jihad squads , and demanded that turkish companies stop doing business in iraq . a senior american_army officer was quoted by reuters as saying the military had detained four arab men with fake journalist credentials trying to enter the fortified american headquarters in baghdad . the men were apparently posing as a television_crew and were trying to drive a van into the compound . they were stopped when a sensor machine alerted guards to traces of explosive material on them , reuters quoted the officer as saying . mr . sadr has remained a major problem for the american led occupation forces . he is wanted in connection with the killing of an american backed cleric last april , but the americans have hesitated in arresting or killing him for fear of angering his shiite_muslim followers . ''we have called upon him and others to abide by the rule of law and to respect peaceful means , '' iyad_allawi , the prime_minister of the new iraqi_interim_government and a shiite , said at a news conference on thursday . ''any continuity of using force will be dealt with by the iraqi government in a very serious and strong way . '' qais al khazali , a spokesman for mr . sadr , said the najaf incident thursday started when the police tried to raid a building housing an islamic organization that was guarded by members of the mahdi army . in the nearby city of karbala , where american_forces fought the mahdi army for nearly three weeks last month , police officers seized a pickup_truck carrying heavy weapons at a checkpoint north of the city , a police spokesman said . support for mr . sadr still runs high in parts of the capital . posters of him were seen thursday covering many walls in the neighborhood of kadhimiya . the reach of war shiite_militias	has a location of iraq
his name is termite and he came to iraq to kill bugs . instead , he works in a gym down the road from where bombs go off and policemen get shot , honing a different sort of violence . ''hit him ! hit him ! hit him ! '' termite yelled on a recent day , squatting ringside , watching two boxers slug it out . ''how do you say faster ? '' he said , turning to a translator . ''essra ! essra ! '' termite , whose real name is maurice watkins , is a 47 year old chevrolet salesman from houston , now in charge of iraq 's olympic boxing team , a quixotic bunch of teenage_boys and lumpy men , statuesque prospects and human punching bags . for a team that just received shoes , it 's a long road to athens . but where others see challenges , termite , who used to be a prizefighter , sees talent . every day , he bursts into the hilla sports club , where the boxing team trains , and belts out , ''iraq is back ! iraq is back ! '' the motto has become the rallying cry for all of iraq 's athletes . they have waited years in a shadowland of corruption and abuse . this summer , for the first time in decades , swimmers , wrestlers , weight_lifters , soccer players and runners have a chance to compete freely and without fear . even a 50 year old woman who is blind in one eye is trying to make it as a javelin thrower . ''we are very optimistic about our athletes , '' said salah hadi , a spokesman for the iraqi olympic_committee . ''but it is very hard for the iraqis because they have gone through so much . '' boxers were treated especially brutally under the old regime . if a fighter lost a key match , he might have to square off with uday_hussein , the son of saddam_hussein and the former head of the iraq 's olympic_committee . ''no one wanted to spar with uday , '' said razool jabur , one of termite 's assistant coaches and a longtime cornerman . ''it was like he watched rocky too many times . uday would hit you and hit you . but if you returned a punch , he would shoot you . '' there were other horror stories , too . uday_hussein made soccer players who lost kick cement balls . some female athletes were raped . the situation became so bad , the international_olympic_committee suspended iraq from the games in may . it was reinstated last month . the country has not groomed an olympic boxer since 1992 . iraq has not won a medal in any olympic event since 1960 ( a bronze in weight_lifting ) . but this year , the i.o.c . guaranteed the country at least one boxing slot and several slots for other events . some of the biggest obstacles are gone uday was killed in july , during a shootout with american_soldiers . part of the budget for the boxing program comes from assets seized from saddam_hussein 's fallen regime . but problems remain . hilla , a mostly shiite community about 50 miles south of baghdad , is a violent place . two cnn employees were killed here in january , and not far away , two american civilians working for the united_states_government were shot to death last week . because the streets are so dicey , termite 's boxers , ages 17 to 31 , do their road work indoors . they run their miles in small laps , around and around again . termite said there was a bounty on his head . but he does n't wear body_armor because , he said , ''i do n't want anyone to think i do n't trust the iraqi people . '' termite used to be a contender . he even fought for a title once . but the highlight of his boxing life , it seems , was coming to iraq . ''i was in texas and the war was fixing to start , '' he recalled . ''and i looked at my wife , and i says , 'honey , i think i 'm the one to change that country . ' ''and she says , 'termite , you ca n't go around changing countries . ' ''and i said , 'honey , you can try . ' '' his eyes mist up every time he tells the story . even his wife calls him termite . that was february 2003 . two months later , termite was in basra swatting flies . his family owns a pest_control business that is how he got his nickname and even though termite had moved on to selling chevys , he has never forgotten his roots . he went to work for kellogg brown root , a military contractor in iraq , as a fumigator at army bases . his work ethic so impressed a general that he was hired to do pest_control at camps across the south . word soon spread that termite had been a boxer . he looks like one . his shoulders are thick . his nose has that recrafted by blunt force quality . he brims with the energy of a shaken soda can . after ditching his olympics chances to turn professional , he compiled a 58 5 2 record under different weight classes he took a shot at the junior_welterweight title in 1980 , when he fought on the muhammad_ali larry_holmes undercard in las_vegas . he lost . in october , american administrators hired termite as a sports adviser . when he arrived at the hilla sports club , he had little to work with . no ropes , no heavy bags , no mouthpieces . many boxers were going toe to toe with bare toes . ''the first thing i did was get them shoes and socks , '' termite said . then he turned to their style . ''these guys were n't boxing , '' he said . ''they were going to war . '' but one middleweight stood out , zoheir jabbar . he was fast . he was graceful . he was built like a piece of art . and he was hungry . ''man , this kid went six rounds during ramadan while fasting , '' termite said . ''look at him shuffle . he 's my sugar_ray . '' at a recent practice , jabbar , 26 , danced and jabbed against a heavyweight , chipping away at the bigger man 's chin and his resolve . ''mr . termite , he 's like a scientist , '' jabbar said afterward . ''he gave us a specific program . he gave us a goal . '' termite settled on a tempered fighting style that was part power , part precision . but it 's not clear how well it is working . in january , termite took 11 boxers to a qualifying_tournament in the philippines . none placed . he is now sorting out complications so the team can travel to china later this month for another match . some of the money for travel comes from the occupation authorities , along with new equipment , snazzy green and red sweatsuits and a small computer lab . and better grub . ''meat , meat , meat that 's all they ever ate , '' termite said . ''i had to introduce them to carbohydrates . '' he kept some rituals , though . instead of hugging at the end of the sparring matches , the fighters kiss on the cheek . ''it 's an iraqi thing , '' termite explained . language does not seem to be a barrier . termite usually has translators with him . when he does n't , the boxers understand what his body says . at the recent practice , he bobbed up and down outside the ring , hurling punches into the air , barking out instructions , using every ounce of self restraint to keep from leaping back into the ring and mixing it up with the young fighters himself . as practice drew to a close , he gathered the musky team around him and shouted out one last time ''iraq is back ! iraq is back ! '' the chant pumped them up . then they charged out of the gym , gloves over their shoulders , shadows of sweat under their arms , their eyes glowing like the medals they are chasing . olympics	has a location of iraq
four suicide_bomb attacks struck iraqi_police and an iraqi_army base in a 16 hour wave of insurgent violence in the northern city of mosul on saturday and sunday , killing 38 people and wounding scores more . one american commander said the violence continued a trend in the past few weeks of insurgent_attacks intensely focused on iraqi_security_forces . the attacks came as defense secretary donald h . rumsfeld echoed remarks by his advisers in recent months suggesting that the insurgency could last as long as a dozen years and that iraq would become more violent before elections later this year . the rate of insurgent_attacks remains steady , but the typical attack has grown more lethal , mr . rumsfeld said on ''fox_news_sunday . '' ''they 're killing a lot more iraqis , '' he said . bush_administration officials have been at odds with military leaders over the strength and resiliency of the insurgency . gen . john p . abizaid , the top commander in the middle_east , said last week that the insurgency was undiminished , seemingly countering a remark days before by vice_president dick_cheney , who asserted it was in its ''last throes . '' with polls showing that support for the war is dropping , president_bush is expected to use a prime time speech on tuesday at fort_bragg in fayetteville , n.c. , to press his case for a large continued military presence in iraq and explain why the administration 's strategy will eventually work . the success of iraqi forces is the linchpin of the united_states' exit_strategy from iraq , as many battle commanders contend that the country will slip into a civil_war if the united_states withdraws large numbers of troops before iraqi forces are ready to take over . ''there 's only one way for the insurgents to win that 's to drive us out before the iraqis are ready to assume the battle space , '' general abizaid said sunday on the cnn program ''late edition . '' ''if that 's what happens , they could win . but it 's very , very clear to me that we 're going to stay the course . '' mosul , the third largest city in iraq and the hub of the north , had a security collapse in november when almost all of the police officers and most iraqi troops stationed around the city abandoned their posts some helped ransack their own bases . the crisis forced the american military to pull troops from the fight in falluja to reinforce soldiers here . american units have given a boost to efforts to train and equip iraqi_police officers and troops here , and american commanders hope iraqi forces will be able to provide much of the security for elections . those hopes have been bolstered by the capture in recent days of top terrorist leaders in mosul , including muhammad shakara , the head of abu_musab_al_zarqawi 's network in northern iraq . but the attacks over the weekend on a traffic checkpoint , a police headquarters , a hospital security gate and the principal iraqi_army base in the north , al kasik demonstrated how susceptible the iraqi forces remain to suicide strikes . ''the trend the past month has been targeting the iraqi_security_forces , '' said maj . mike lawrence , executive officer of the unit that oversees most of western mosul , the first battalion of the 24th_infantry . on sunday , the zarqawi network claimed responsibility in an internet posting for the two deadliest attacks in mosul . so far , major lawrence said in an interview , iraqi forces are not running away . in november , he said , they bolted after what in most cases was only the threat of violence . the attacks in mosul over the weekend began saturday night when a suicide car_bomb exploded at a police checkpoint about 8 p.m. , killing five officers and wounding two more . the bombing was followed sunday by a 6 a.m . strike on the bab al tob police station in central mosul . a truck holding what the military estimated was 1 , 000 pounds of explosives hidden beneath fruit and melons parked next to the police station . the bomb ripped apart the station and killed 10 policemen , military officials said . two civilians were also killed , and eight policemen wounded . an iraqi policeman at the scene told a reporter that as the truck drove toward the station , a policeman ''opened the barbed wires for him , thinking that he was trying to cross the street to unload his cargo in the nearby wholesale market , '' adding , ''the suicide_bomber was able to get close to the gate of the police station and blow himself up . '' shortly after that attack , a suicide_bomber struck al kasik , a major army base west of mosul , killing 16 iraqi civilians and wounding seven others , the military said . around noon , a man wearing a hidden explosive vest laced with ball_bearings approached guards at al jamouri hospital in central mosul , acting as if he needed medical attention . the guards took him inside , where he detonated his vest . the blast killed five iraqi_police officers , the military said . at least 10 more people were killed in other violence across iraq , including six police commandos gunned down in western baghdad and a high ranking police official assassinated in southern baghdad , according to an interior_ministry official . one american soldier was killed in baghdad on sunday by a homemade bomb , the military said . and in kirkuk , insurgents wired an explosive belt onto a dog and detonated the device when the dog wandered into an iraqi_police patrol , wounding one policeman . in washington , mr . rumsfeld and general abizaid said the american led operation in iraq was making progress , but acknowledged that the insurgency had become increasingly deadly and could last for years . ''insurgencies tend to go on five , six , eight , 10 , 12 years , '' mr . rumsfeld said on ''fox_news_sunday . '' ''coalition_forces , foreign forces are not going to repress that insurgency . we 're going to create an environment that the iraqi people and the iraqi_security_forces can win against that insurgency . '' mr . rumsfeld also acknowledged that american and iraqi officials had met with people who presented themselves as insurgents , but on the nbc_news program ''meet the press'' he said of the iraqis , ''they 're not going to try to bring in the people with blood on their hands , for sure , but they certainly are reaching out continuously , and we help to facilitate those from time to time . '' between them , mr . rumsfeld and general abizaid appeared on all five major sunday network news programs . gen . george w . casey_jr . , the top american commander in iraq , plans to speak on several morning network news programs on monday . the administration 's exit_strategy from iraq hinges on training enough iraqi military and police_forces to take over for american and allied troops . but some senior american officers have said it could be two years before enough iraqis are trained sufficiently and the insurgency is weakened to the point where iraqis can handle things on their own . ''it 's clear to me that by the middle of the early part of spring next year to the summer of next year , you 'll see iraqi_security_forces move into the lead in the counterinsurgency fight , '' general abizaid said sunday on the cbs_news program ''face the nation . '' ''that does n't mean that i 'm saying we 'll come home by then . we 'll have to judge how they 're doing , how the political process is , how the situation is abroad . ''	has a location of iraq
morning rounds at the tampa veterans hospital , and a phalanx of specialists stands at joshua cooley 's door . inert in his bed , the 29 year old marine reservist is a survivor of an iraq car bombing and a fearsome scramble of wounds profound brain injury , arm and facial fractures , third degree burns , tenacious infections of the central nervous system . each doctor , six in all on a recent day , is here to monitor some aspect of his care . as they cluster at the threshold , one gently closes the door not to shield their patient from bad news , but to avoid overstimulating the nervous system of a man whose frontal lobe has been ripped by shrapnel . not that the news right now is good corporal cooley is spiking a fever , presumably because of his newest problem , blood_clots in his left leg . the doctors sort through a calculus of competing interests . should they prescribe a blood thinner to dissolve the dangerous clots , even though that could cause more bleeding in the brain ? or should they just wait ? at this point , the doctors decide , the clots pose the greater risk . thousands of miles from the battlefield , intricate medical choices have become routine here , at one of four special rehabilitation centers the government created last year to treat the war 's most catastrophically wounded troops . ''these soldiers were kept alive , '' said dr . steven g . scott , the tampa center 's director . ''now it 's up to us to try and give them some meaningful life . '' with their concentrated batteries of specialists and therapists , these centers are developing a new model of advanced care , a response to the distinctive medical conundrum of the iraq_war . with better battlefield care and protective_gear , the military is saving more of the wounded , yet the insurgents' heavy reliance on car_bombs and buried explosives means the survivors are more damaged and damaged in more different ways than ever before . to describe the maimed survivors of this ugly new war , a graceless new word , polytrauma , has entered the medical lexicon . each soldier arriving at tampa 's polytrauma rehabilitation center , inside the giant veterans hospital , brings a whole world of injury . the typical patient , dr . scott said , has head injuries , vision and hearing loss , nerve damage , multiple bone fractures , unhealed body wounds , infections and emotional or behavioral problems . some have severed limbs or spinal cords . ''two years ago we started seeing injured soldiers coming back of a different nature , '' recalled dr . scott , who is also the hospital 's chief of physical medicine and rehabilitation . then last spring , with a congressional mandate , the department_of_veterans_affairs created the four new centers , formalizing changes that a few top veterans hospitals were already starting to make . after weeks or months of intensive care in military hospitals , more than 215 soldiers and a few more each week still a tiny fraction of the roughly 16 , 000 soldiers who have been wounded in iraq have been sent here or to the other centers , inside v.a . hospitals in california , minnesota and virginia . the surge in complex casualties , doctors found , required major reorganizing , enabling them to focus extraordinary medical and therapeutic expertise on each patient and to offer counseling , housing and other aid to their often shellshocked wives , children and parents . ''in the outside world you might have two or three consultants seeing a patient , '' said dr . andrew koon , a specialist in internal_medicine who was checking laboratory results on a portable computer during bedside rounds . ''here it 's not unusual to have 10 specialists on board . '' the multiple wounds have required medical balancing acts and unusual cooperation across departments . one quadriplegic patient was so weakened by recurring infections that doctors had to wait a year before removing shrapnel from his neck . in other cases , the risk of new infection has delayed treatment of the spasms that some paralyzed patients suffer , which can require an implanted pump to inject medicine into the spinal column . of some 90 soldiers with extreme injuries who were treated in tampa over the last year only one has died , of a rare form of meningitis . the drama here is more excruciatingly drawn out over months and months of painstaking physical and psychological therapy , the patients and their families start learning the boundaries of their future lives . quiet struggles the medical challenges are often persistent and daunting , but the real focus of the new centers is rehabilitation . even as doctors battle drug resistant bacteria blown into wounds with iraqi dirt , patients start relearning to talk and focus their thoughts , to walk and run or maneuver a wheelchair . some go home in almost normal shape for others , simply swallowing is a milestone . to spend several recent days here is to witness a panorama of quiet struggles . a young man with brain and nerve damage slowly fits big round pegs into big round holes . another beams after jogging a full minute for the first time since his injury , but cannot voice his mix of pride and impatience because shrapnel destroyed the language center in his brain . a quadriplegic is lifted by a giant sling from his bed to a high tech wheelchair , which he has learned to drive with a mouthpiece . progress on these wards can be measured in agonizing increments . corporal cooley , a 6 foot 6 inch former deputy_sheriff , arrived in tampa on sept . 29 after more than two months at the bethesda naval hospital outside washington . his doctors and relatives were encouraged when , after another couple of months , he wriggled his fingers and feet , and answered yes no questions with blinks . ''they got him to make noises the other day , '' offered his wife , christina . ''he 's doing really well . '' at ' 'rehab rounds'' one recent day , assorted therapists took up corporal cooley 's case , reporting on small steps forward and compromises along the way . the speech therapist said he was responding to questions with blinks about 30 percent of the time when she was alone with him , but less if distracted . she described her gingerly efforts to train him to swallow , using thin pudding , apple sauce and ice chips . the respiratory therapist said his tracheotomy had to be changed to a larger , cuffed device that would allow them to expand his lower right lung . the speech therapist groaned , ''that will make it harder to swallow . '' they agreed that the lung had to take priority , but the speech therapist added , ''let 's get rid of that cuffed trach as soon as possible . '' brain_injuries the signature wounds inflicted by the blast waves and flying shrapnel of explosives are pervasive , and they tend to dictate the arc of care . ''it 's really the brain injury that directs how we approach other impairments , '' dr . barbara sigford , v.a . 's national director of physical medicine and rehabilitation and chief of the minneapolis polytrauma center , said in a telephone interview . ''many types of rehab rely on intact thinking , learning and memory skills . '' using advanced prosthetic limbs , for example , requires control of specific muscles patients without that capacity must use simpler models . blind people are normally taught to navigate using their memory of the environment if memory is spotty , they must find other ways . in the recreational therapy room in tampa on a recent day , several men are being led through a round of uno , a card_game that involves matching numbers and colors . some play well . some fumble trying to pick up cards . one rocks in frustration at his inability to summon the word ''blue . '' sgt . antwain vaughn , 31 , an army combat_engineer who took a roadside blast in the face on aug . 31 , arrives late and in a wheelchair . a padded helmet covers a large indentation where his shattered skull will receive a metal plate . sergeant vaughn came to tampa after two months on a ventilator and feeding_tube . in addition to brain_damage , facial fractures , pulmonary problems , blood_clots and infections , he lost an eye and has trouble with complex tasks , something the card_game could help . here he has learned to swallow and eat and in daily therapy , when he is feeling up to it , he is working to reclaim a life . but this time , he will not join the game . ''my head 's hurting a lot , '' he quietly tells the group . head injuries have also left some soldiers in a peculiar psychological box . before iraq , most head injuries at the tampa hospital involved car accidents , said dr . rodney d . vanderploeg , the chief of neuropsychology . though it may seem counterintuitive , soldiers with penetrating brain_injuries , in which a fragment crashed through their skulls , are far more likely to remember the attack and its bloody aftermath , perhaps including the deaths of friends , he said . these memories often cause great psychological stress . but psychotherapy becomes especially difficult if injury has impaired a patient 's insight and understanding . making progress in the hallways , the banter tends to be upbeat , as perhaps it needs to be for patients and staff . a patient shows off his stair climbing wheelchair . others compare the merits of prosthetic leg models . nearly every patient vows , not always realistically , that he will get back on his feet and more . ''the way i see it , if i get able to walk a little bit , then eventually i 'm going to walk a lot , '' said specialist charles mays , 31 , who was left with multiple fractures and partial paralysis of his legs after being blasted out of his humvee by a vertically buried rocket south of baghdad . sometimes the hallways bring success stories like specialist nicholas boutin , who was slowly walking on his own to speech therapy in a hockey helmet , apparently not at all self conscious about the red pit where an artificial eye will be implanted or about the large dent where a piece of skull will be replaced . specialist boutin , 21 , had arrived in tampa just five weeks before , mute and hardly able to swallow , his right arm and leg almost useless . during a midnight patrol in a village near samarra , an insurgent dropped a grenade into his bradley_fighting_vehicle . fragments sprayed into his face and the left side of his brain , leaving him with broca 's aphasia able to comprehend but not to speak . he weathered fungal infections , facial pain where nerves were damaged and the destruction of his pituitary gland and a maxillary sinus , the kind of internal wound that can torment a person for life . but now , after hard hours each day in therapy , he can jog briefly and write messages with his right hand . as speech therapists coax the right side of his brain to take over lost functions from the left , he has begun to make one word responses and spontaneously utter a few words at a time . soon he will head home to georgia for continued therapy . ''yes , '' he uttered instantly when asked if he felt he was progressing . determination gleamed from his remaining eye . behind closed doors , though , bravado sometimes gives way to depression , explosive anger , survivors' guilt . some patients sit quietly with glum faces or obsess endlessly about their buddies and time in iraq . as much as the nurses are often buoyed by their patients' progress , they say the relentless intensity of the work can sometimes bring them to tears . they spend as much time interacting with stressed out relatives as with the patients . ''relatives take out their frustrations on the nurses , '' said laureen g . doloresco , assistant nursing chief . ''it 's also hard on the nurses because of the youth of the patients . many of them have sons the same age . '' support systems at the bedsides of many of these young men are their equally young wives , whose lives have also been wrenched onto unexpected paths . before he was sent to iraq last jan . 1 , corporal cooley and his wife were partners on the vice narcotics squad of a sheriff 's department in central_florida . they married just before his deployment . soon after the car bombing on july 5 , she and her husband 's parents were summoned to the american military_hospital in landstuhl , germany , and warned to expect the worst . after the car_bomb detonated , near the town of hit , corporal cooley had been pulled from his burning amtrack , an armored_vehicle , unconscious and with a gaping hole in his head . the medics had at first refused to load him onto the evacuation helicopter , christina cooley later learned . they changed their minds when they heard a moan . ms . cooley recalled telling doctors that they were showing her the wrong patient , that this bloated figure was not her husband . she was convinced only after she saw his tattoos . she also saw , though , that he was breathing on his own . days later , he was flown to the bethesda naval hospital , and for two months , his wife and the in laws she still barely knew shared a hotel room and spent their days around corporal cooley 's bed in intensive care . here in tampa , despite continued medical setbacks like the blood_clots , attention was turning to his potential for physical and mental recovery . so far , he had been put in a chair for a few hours a day and strapped into a ''tilt board'' at a 45 degree angle for 10 minutes at a time , to forestall the drops in blood_pressure that occur when long prone patients raise up . his wife finds hope where she can . corporal cooley often stares vacantly , she said , and ''you do n't know if he 's there . '' but one day when she asked him , ''who 's my hero ? '' he pointed a finger toward himself . their home county , outside tampa , has raised money that she plans to use on an accessible house . ''i hope he 'll walk through the door of that house , '' she said . ''if not , i 'll take him as a vegetable . i 'll take care of him the rest of my life . i love that man to death . '' overhearing her , dr . scott , the center 's director , marshaled his characteristic optimism . ''he can already move both legs , '' he said . ''it 's possible he can be rehabbed to walk . how far he 'll go we just do n't know . '' the polytrauma centers themselves remain works in progress , sharing lessons with one another and with the major military hospitals by videophone , and pushing scientific inquiry into the myriad , often invisible effects of explosive blasts . the department_of_veterans_affairs says it has not calculated the cost of establishing the centers , bolstering their staffs and treating patients so long and intensively . the tampa hospital 's director , forest farley jr . , said that here alone , it was ' 'several millions of dollars . '' though the average stay in polytrauma centers is 40 days , many patients remain for months and some for more than a year . in the end , a few must go to nursing homes , but most go home , where they receive continued care at less specialized veterans hospitals , with oversight from the centers . some require round the clock home aides and therapists and costly equipment , paid for by the government on top of monthly disability payments . even so , wives or parents often must give up their jobs . for the worst off , the ongoing annual costs largely hidden costs of this war can easily be several hundred thousand dollars or more . ''we expect to follow these patients for the rest of their lives , '' dr . scott said . ''but i have a great deal of concern about our country 's long term commitment to these individuals . will the resources be there over time ? '' the wounded	has a location of iraq
it has come to resemble a bazaar , this pleading and wheedling and haggling for the release of a hostage . each day , it seems , a new group of graying senior statesmen , publicity seeking politicians and desperate women and children arrive in baghdad hoping to find some way , any way , to barter with president saddam_hussein over freedom for countrymen or loved ones held hostage by iraq . while they clearly feel the visits convey a certain legitimacy to iraqi policies in the persian_gulf crisis and provide mr . hussein with an important , highly_publicized forum to explain his point of view , even iraqis seems to be tiring of it all . it is not so much the family visits that are the annoyance indeed , mr . hussein has invited all families of hostages to come to baghdad for christmas but the seemingly_endless pilgrimage of celebrities and near celebrities who want the role of peacemaker and hostage negotiator . 'it has gone too far' " we do n't invite most of these people , " an iraqi official said . " and when they come they all want to meet saddam , and they all want to meet the foreign_minister , and they want the best hotel rooms and the best food . frankly , i think that it has gone too far . " the stream of envoys has included several former heads of state , among them former leaders of britain , west_germany and japan the current president of austria , kurt waldheim several members of the british and canadian parliaments , and jean marie le pen , the leader of the far right french national front , who has praised mr . hussein while urging the french government to withdraw from the multinational military force in the gulf . surely the strangest hostage release campaign of recent days has been the " good will tour " of muhammad_ali , the former heavyweight boxing champion . mr . ali , who became a hero in the muslim_world after he converted to islam in the 1960 's and changed his name from cassius clay , suffers from the impaired muscular control of parkinson 's syndrome , and he has attended meeting after meeting in baghdad despite his frequent inability to speak clearly . u.s . is critical the bush_administration has criticized visits to iraq by these unofficial envoys , saying that americans and other westerners traveling here are being used for iraqi propaganda and could risk being taken hostage themselves . " i basically believe these people are playing into the propaganda game that iraq is holding here , " said joseph c . wilson 4th , the deputy_chief_of_mission at the united_states embassy and the highest ranking american diplomat remaining in baghdad . " these people traveling to iraq are making a serious mistake . " but the visits seem to work , at least if the visitors' only goal is to get hostages released . that was clear again today , when mr . hussein announced that he would free three americans whose families had come to baghdad . " he 's a very nice man , very sincere , " mary trundy of brockton , mass . , said of the iraqi leader after meeting him today in baghdad and learning that her brother , john stevenson , would be released shortly . " i got all teary during the meeting , and president hussein had to ask one of his aides to get me some kleenex . " vala fouroohi of bellevue , wash . , said he was not concerned that his efforts to free his father , fred f . harrington , might be used as propaganda by the iraqis . " if this is propaganda , fine , " he said after attending the same meeting with president hussein . " but at least i have my father back . " both mr . stevenson , a computer specialist , and mr . harrington , a seattle businessman , were captured in kuwait after it was invaded by iraq on aug . 2 . when it became clear that an international military alliance might be created to try to force iraq out of kuwait , mr . hussein announced that thousands of westerners and japanese in iraq and occupied kuwait would be detained as " foreign guests , " the term used by the iraqi government to describe the hostages . first mission three weeks after the kuwait invasion , mr . waldheim arrived in baghdad and quickly won agreement for the release of more than 70 austrians . his success appeared to inspire several other statesmen , who have since descended upon the iraqi capital to meet with mr . hussein . former prime_minister yasuhiro_nakasone of japan won the release of 74 japanese citizens . a former west_german chancellor , willy brandt , took home nearly 120 of his countrymen . " this is the sort of spectacle that saddam wanted , " said a european diplomat who has watched the procession with dismay . " he wanted to be seen on television and on the front pages shaking hands and smiling with these men . " western diplomats say that so many retired foreign leaders wished to enter baghdad earlier this month to discuss hostages that a former prime_minister of new zealand , david lange , was forced to wait in new delhi for a visa until iraqi government officials had enough time to see him . " it 's basically a situation of do n't call us , we 'll call you , " said lloyd axworthy , a member of the canadian parliament who is in baghdad with two colleagues trying to secure the freedom of about 45 canadians held by iraq . mr . axworthy bristled at the suggestion that he was a pawn in iraq 's propaganda efforts . " we 're here to say we 're deeply concerned about finding a peaceful resolution to this crisis , and that it 's difficult to have a peaceful resolution while there are hostages , " the lawmaker said . " we 're not offering iraq anything . we do n't have the authority to make deals . " signs of trading but in just the last few days , there have been the first signs that members of the international alliance against iraq may indeed give in and begin trading for hostages , in at least some fashion . on saturday , for example , nearly 25 tons of donated medical supplies arrived in baghdad from italy , which has about 270 hostages trapped in iraq and kuwait . on sunday , iraqi officials praised italy 's generosity and suggested that dozens of italian hostages would soon be freed . baghdad radio confirmed that the release of " a large number " of italians was imminent . that same day , newspapers in tokyo reported that the japanese government was considering what was described as a " similar donation " of medical supplies . more than 150 japanese citizens are still being held hostage in iraq . mideast_tensions	has a location of iraq
order took a slightly firmer hold on baghdad today as american_soldiers and a few iraqi_police officers patrolled the capital 's devastated streets together for the first time , but looting , shooting and burning continued almost a week after saddam_hussein 's government fell . a few more shops reopened , though many had little to sell , and more cars plowed through intersections where the stoplights were still dead . there were fewer looters , but also much less to loot . in this moment between chaos and calm , emotions here are occupying equally unsettled ground . there is growing joy in the realization that mr . hussein is really gone but anger that american_troops have not stepped in strongly enough to prevent further destruction in the city . ''the situation of iraqis is as if one eye is crying and one eye is laughing , '' said sayid hashem al shamaa , a shiite leader at the kadhimiya shrine here in baghdad . two american_soldiers were reported killed today and two others were injured in what was described as a grenade accident at a checkpoint in southern baghdad . but none were reported killed by snipers or in combat . with the threat diminished by a few notches , united_states soldiers seemed more relaxed , chatting more with ordinary iraqis . one humvee along a highway was crowded with iraqis talking calmly with the soldiers , a scene that would have been unlikely several days ago . but the general situation remained tense . in saddam city , a shiite neighborhood now renamed sadr_city in honor of a slain shiite_cleric , some radicals called for the founding of an islamic_state as gun_battles erupted again today between rival groups , some of them , residents say , from other arab_nations . checkpoints manned by gunmen under the control of shiite religious leaders were still in place along the main roads there , taking the role of regular police officers . to help consolidate the calm , 20 iraqi policemen set out on the first joint patrol with american_marines in eastern baghdad this afternoon . several looters were reported arrested during the patrol . in the last two days , in response to impassioned pleas for more order , american_marines have also begun patrolling on their own to stop looters . there were reports tonight that an american soldier shot dead a looter in eastern baghdad today , though the accounts could not be confirmed . despite the efforts to restore calm , sporadic gunfire resounded from the banks of the tigris_river into the night . electricity was still cut off , and many iraqis said that prevented them from reopening shops and schools . this afternoon , an interior_ministry building where identity cards were issued was set alight , and at dusk three thick black plumes of smoke hung over the nearby tigris . looters also made their way into the central_bank , carting off hoards of cash . the entire national store of children 's vaccines against polio , german measles and a number of other childhood diseases was destroyed by thieves who ripped out crucial refrigeration systems . lath akram , the storekeeper for the vaccines in a section of the iraqi health ministry , said ''there is no vaccine at all . nothing , nothing , no equipment . seventy percent of the children will die if they do not receive the vaccines . '' ambivalence toward the presence of americans seems to have lessened little in the week since they arrived here . the feelings were evident on a bridge over the tigris when a squad car of four uniformed iraqi_police officers , one of the first such patrols , worked to disperse looters ripping apart a metal guardrail . a crowd gathered and demanded to know if they were working for the americans . ''no , no , '' said one of the officers , abbas adel , 26 . ''we 're working for the iraqi people . '' the crowd did not believe him . ''well , yes , we are working under the control of the americans , but only until things settle down , '' mr . adel said . ''but we are still a real iraqi_police force . '' in all , there seem to be more problems and dangers than the american_soldiers here can handle and they are largely receiving the blame for it . in the sliekh district in northern baghdad , a row of houses exploded in a blast that sent up a huge plume of smoke , injuring what an ambulance driver said was 40 people . the craters were rimmed with iraqi shells , and it turned out that many of the surrounding houses in this purely residential neighborhood had been used to store tons of ammunition for the iraqi_army . a nearby kindergarten and high_school were also piled high with ammunition . some residents said the explosion had been caused by children playing in the ammunition others said it was the work of forces still loyal to mr . hussein . either way , they said in anger and frustration , american_soldiers had the responsibility to end the danger quickly . ''since the americans are the only people who have control in this country , it is their job to search all the empty houses and schools to make sure they are safe , '' said hazwan rawin , 45 , who lives near the houses in which the explosions took place . the united_states military tried to put an iraqi_police force on the street today , an effort that culminated with the joint patrols by american_soldiers and iraqi policemen this afternoon . the effort got off to a shaky start this morning when about 3 , 000 former policemen gathered for a little over 100 jobs . the men , who only a few weeks ago were enforcers for the hussein government , began jumping up and down on a portrait of mr . hussein , declaring their formerly unquestioned leader ''nothing'' and ''a dog . '' chaos ensued . finally , marine officers ordered the new american anointed police chief , gen . zuhair abdel razak al nami , to start over with a list of approved policemen . the twist of events was not lost on the americans to restore order , they were relying on the forces of very the government they had come to overthrow . ''we 're going to have to use some of these people , it 's a reality , '' said maj . mark stainbrook , a marine officer overseeing the operation . a nation at war the streets	has a location of iraq
mohammad ali fayadh and afrah abas stood on either side of a poster for the 42nd world archery championships , flanked by members of the international_olympic_committee and officials of the state_department yesterday at the roosevelt hotel in manhattan . it was not their skill as archers that brought attention to ali fayadh and abas , but rather that they are members of the iraqi delegation sent to the championships . they are among the first athletes to compete in the united_states since saddam_hussein was deposed . five other archers from iraq , three men and two women , will also compete in the championships , scheduled for july 14 20 at van_cortlandt_park in the bronx and in central_park in manhattan , hoping to earn a spot in the 2004 olympic_games in athens . ''we are very happy and excited to participate in this event , '' mustafa saraj , the coordinator of the iraqi team , said . in june , i.o.c . members and state_department officials worked out a plan to send iraqi athletes to international competitions and to try to rebuild iraq 's athletic programs . iraqi athletes are also expected to compete in the wrestling world_championships in september . the archery team have no facility in iraq and its members are spread throughout the country . after this week 's competition , the iraqi archers will train at the national archery center in chula vista , calif . brandon lilly olympic sports archery	has a location of iraq
on a recent thursday evening , a courtyard on the 19th_century campus of swarthmore college was unusually quiet . the beer pong tables near the dormitory rooms were temporarily empty , and students had scattered except for a few who were inside one of the stone buildings , preparing to work into the early morning . haley loram , 19 , was typing a report on the abrupt resignation of iraq 's beauty_pageant winner . ''she 's being called queen of the infidels , '' ms . loram mused . ''that sounds like a band name . '' amelia templeton , 22 , was working on a piece about baghdad 's real_estate market , while other reporters were examining an expert 's analysis of the counterinsurgency . this is the home of war news radio , a weekly half hour broadcast that aims to supplement the american news_media 's coverage of iraq by using computer software and 20 something ambition . ''they know more about iraq than most reporters , except those reporters actually in iraq , '' said marty goldensohn , a radio veteran and journalist in residence at the university . on the air since march 2005 , the program is gaining in popularity . thousands of listeners hear it via the web_site , www . warnewsradio . org , where broadcasts are available every friday through streaming audio or mp3 downloads . also , 22 public radio stations in the united_states broadcast it weekly , as well as stations in australia and italy . david gelber , a producer for ''60 minutes'' and a 1963 alumnus of swarthmore , came up with the idea in 2004 after remembering a similar program on pacifica radio during the vietnam_war with paul fischer as host . mr . gelber also realized the danger that makes it difficult for reporters in iraq . ''a lot of stories were n't getting covered , '' he said . so he suggested the radio broadcast , even though swarthmore had no journalism program and no reliable recording studio . marjorie murphy , a history professor , agreed to oversee the program , though some of her colleagues at this liberal arts college near philadelphia initially pooh poohed it as not meeting swarthmore 's rigorous academic standards , ms . murphy said . the college recruited about a dozen students who soundproofed their first studio with egg cartons . later , swarthmore invested 100 , 000 in recording and editing equipment , and downloaded computer software , skype , which allows users to call free anywhere in the world via the internet . students interviewed mr . goldensohn and hired him , he said , even after he told them their early writing samples were ''incomprehensible , academic english . '' but they were fast learners . ''now i rewrite maybe one sentence , '' mr . goldensohn said . tevye kelman , 22 , said the staff members decided to focus on stories they thought listeners could relate to , rather than ''one long body_count . '' their favorite broadcasts include an iraqi 's futile attempt to compete in the skeleton at the winter_olympics and the dangerous experience of being at a checkpoint , both from the viewpoint of a solider and from an iraqi father whose daughter was killed at one by a car_bomb attack . over the last year , the students have put together an online database of potential iraqi sources . ''i 've talked with american reporters , and we 're both calling baghdad , '' said eva barboni , 21 . ''they ca n't leave their hotel room , and they 're calling a mile away . i 'm calling from 6 , 000 miles away . '' ms . templeton checks in regularly with an iraqi college student . once , when she could not reach him in a period of rising violence , she began to worry . a few weeks later she learned he had been caught in a crackdown a parental one . he had not performed well on exams , and his father took away his cellphone . ''it was an amazing moment'' of cultural common ground , ms . templeton said . the marine_corps recently added a link to war news radio from its web_site . barak a . salmoni , a civilian who provides educational and cultural resources to the marines and who has taught a course about conflicts in the middle_east at swarthmore in past years , said marines serving in iraq have told him they sometimes listened . ''they slap it on their ipods , '' mr . salmoni said . wren elhai , 19 , said the war news radio staff had not absorbed the increasing attention ''we 've all been too busy to really stop and think about how crazy all this really is . ''	has a location of iraq
secretary of state colin l . powell said friday that he had had assurances from the intelligence_community that one of the principal charges he made in a speech to the united_nations last year that iraq had mobile weapons laboratories had been multisourced and was solid at the time . mr . powell urged a presidential commission examining intelligence problems in iraq to look into what he said was a failure by the central_intelligence_agency . speaking to reporters on a flight home from europe , mr . powell said he had sought to highlight the laboratory charge in his presentation to the united_nations in february 2003 because it was especially ' 'dramatic . '' but he said he included it only after studying four sources that were used to compile the intelligence . ''i looked at the four elements that they gave me for that one , and they stood behind them , '' he said of his intelligence briefers . ''now it appears not to be the case that it was that solid . '' the remarks were mr . powell 's broadest acknowledgment yet that his united_nations presentation , which the bush_administration saw as a formal and comprehensive case for the iraq_war , was based at least in part on erroneous information . ''at the time i was preparing the presentation , it was presented to me as being solid , '' the secretary said . mr . powell has been dogged by questions about his united_nations presentation which included satellite photos and transcripts of radio intercepts since the end of the american led invasion last year . the skepticism toward his case increased this year after david a . kay , the chief american weapons inspector , said he did not believe that further searching would turn up any unconventional_weapons in iraq . the inspectors in iraq concluded that the mobile units had not been used for making weapons and might have had some benign purpose . mr . powell urged the presidential commission to ' 'see whether the intelligence agency had a basis for the confidence that they placed in the intelligence at the time . '' the commission , which is headed by laurence h . silberman , a federal_judge , and former senator charles s . robb of virginia , will not present its findings until next spring . ''if the sources fall apart , we need to find out how we got ourselves into that position , '' mr . powell said , ''and i 've had discussions with the c.i.a . about that . ''	has a location of iraq
to the editor frank rich shrewdly compares the abu_ghraib photos not to pornography but to america 's infamous lynching postcards , which were made long before the influence of x rated dvd 's . but the cards could not have been mailed , as he writes , during the heyday of mary pickford and shirley temple the postmaster general forbade their delivery in 1908 . this , of course , did not prevent the postcards being sold . nor does it alter the validity of mr . rich 's charge that christian conservatives who blame porn for the abu_ghraib torture photos are political hypocrites , shifting responsibility from the bush_administration . jerome weeks dallas abu_ghraib	has a location of iraq
two years ago , joel soler chose to go on a dangerous journey to the middle_east to shoot an irreverent biography of a dictator who was then , in mr . soler 's words , ''a dead story . '' now the subject of ''uncle saddam , '' which is being shown tuesday on cinemax , is probably the world 's most talked about person . as the world debates about war with iraq , mr . soler 's film introduces a strange new perspective on saddam_hussein . did you know that saddam likes to be greeted with a kiss near the armpit ? that he sometimes fishes with grenades ? that he is building the world 's largest mosque near a man made island shaped exactly like his thumbprint ? these are among the personal details mr . soler has gathered in his highly_selective and darkly humorous biography , meant to highlight what he calls the ''camp'' aspects of a dictator 's rule . ''when i went to baghdad , my goal was n't to get saddam himself , '' mr . soler , 34 , said recently over lunch in the east_village . ''i knew he did n't speak to anyone . my goal was his entourage . no one had done those interviews . '' to get them , mr . soler , a freelance television_journalist and french citizen who lives in the united_states ( because of a death_threat , he declines to say where ) , spent six weeks in baghdad and a month in egypt and jordan . he interviewed mr . hussein 's interior_designer , his architects , his cousin and his personal filmmaker , as well as exiled former ministers . mr . soler also made contacts who later smuggled out film of mr . hussein , which he combined with his own images to make this fast_paced , opinionated film . the cult of personality around mr . hussein is mocked by the soundtrack music including ''no regrets'' and ''la vie en rose'' and the tongue_in_cheek narration written by the comedian scott thompson of the ''kids in the hall'' troupe . ''i wanted to bring a deadpan tone , '' said mr . thompson , who was mr . soler 's companion when they collaborated on the film . ''you 're dealing with such a monster , there 's no need to oversell it through words . '' though an invitation to iraqis to stay in the presidential palace as human shields against bombing is described in the narration as ''a giant sleepover party , '' mr . soler does not shy away from the grim realities of mr . hussein 's rule . about half of the film traces the ways he has shut out , imprisoned or killed many members of his own family . from the beginning of the project , mr . soler had to use subterfuge . as a french citizen he enjoyed an advantage , since france has historically had good relations with iraq . ''i pretended i was doing a movie against u.s . sanctions , '' mr . soler said of his application to the iraqi embassy in paris . ''you do n't say , 'i 'm going to do a funny homage to saddam . ' that does n't work too well . '' mr . soler , who once studied sumerian art at the louvre , also said he was interested in iraq 's architecture . ''if i was with saddam 's interior_designer , yes , i asked him about the palaces , but then at a certain point i would just ask , 'what is saddam like ? ' '' mr . soler recalled . once his camera crew arrived , his questions began to unnerve the two government agents who accompanied him everywhere , as well as the interviewees . ''they knew that it 's a death sentence to say the wrong thing about saddam , '' mr . soler said . but he grew increasingly bold . during an interview with one of mr . hussein 's chief designers and architects , hussam khadori , mr . soler locked the government agents out of the room . ''they were furious with me , '' mr . soler said . ''the question was , how far could i push my luck ? '' he found out quickly . the next day , he said , the agents took him to a hospital , ostensibly to show the tragic consequences of the economic_sanctions against iraq . ''they put me in a hospital room , and a nurse came toward me with a needle , '' mr . soler recalled . ''the agent told me , 'we 're going to do a series of blood tests . ' i said , 'what ? ' i jumped up on the exam table and said , 'you call my ambassador right now . ' '' mr . soler was given a choice , he said take the tests ( for which no reason was given ) or leave the country at once . he chose the latter . the drama did n't end once filming was finished . one night , the house he shared with mr . thompson was covered in blood red paint and a small kerosene bomb exploded in his garbage can . a note in the mailbox instructed mr . soler to ''burn this satanic film or you will be dead . '' he also learned that the two iraqi agents assigned to him had been punished for letting him roam . ''do i feel guilty ? '' mr . soler asked . ''not really , since they are agents of that regime . but i did feel guilty when i got a call from the state_department saying that two of saddam 's designers had been murdered . '' mr . khadori was one of them . it 's not known if the killings were connected to ''uncle saddam'' mr . khadori 's murder occurred well before the film was completed . ''joel was very young and more cavalier when he started the project , '' mr . thompson said . ''this made him realize that everything you do has repercussions . '' mr . soler was raised in n mes , france . though both his parents had grown up in algeria when it was a french colony , he knew little of the arab_world until he started traveling in dubai and other middle_eastern cities when he was in his 20 's . ''it spoke to my heart , '' mr . soler said of the middle_east . ''even though i am christian , i have a real passion for islam the islam of muhammad . if it was n't for the islam of today , i would have converted . '' now he is also studying arabic . so far , ''uncle saddam'' is scheduled for broadcast in many countries but not his own . ''i got so much backlash for this film in france , '' mr . soler said . ''i got one letter from a network saying that they did n't want to buy an american propaganda movie . '' he said that his only worry was that the film would add to american misperceptions about the region . ''there is so much anti arab feeling here , and i know my movie is not going to help , '' mr . soler said . ''but i hope that people who see this movie know the difference between saddam and islam , and saddam and arabs . '' uncle saddam cinemax , tuesday , 7 p.m . eastern television radio	has a location of iraq
the department of defense has identified 785 american service members who have died since the start of the iraq_war . it confirmed the death of the following american yesterday campbell , michael c. , 34 , specialist , army marshfield , mo . first infantry division . the struggle for iraq	has a location of iraq
a soldier 's eye view of combat can be harrowing and true and reveal nothing about who is winning the war , be it the battle of borodino , the invasion of normandy or the assault on falluja . ''a company of soldiers , '' an excellent ''frontline'' documentary on pbs tonight , does not presage peace or quagmire in iraq . instead it casts a light , close up and unwaveringly , on how the occupation looked and felt to a small group of soldiers in a small outpost in southern baghdad at a particularly violent period in november 2004 . and that snapshot , of course , says more about the nature of war than any number of satellite photos and pentagon briefings . with a bumpy night_vision lens , the filmmakers show just how unwieldy urban_warfare is . they show how camaraderie hardens into love under fire and how violence , when it rains down out of nowhere , shocks and terrifies even the best trained troops . it is impossible to conclude from this documentary whether american policy will succeed , though from this close to the ground the hurdles look insurmountably high . instead , a complicated war is broken down into small pieces to show how some individuals rise to occasions that have no nobility of their own . and , less helpfully , the pbs film also reveals how absurd the culture wars back home have become . because soldiers screamed obscenities during an ambush , an increasingly cautious pbs sent out an expurgated version to its stations , overruling ''frontline'' producers and common_sense . pbs often offers two versions of its programs when the topic is sensitive . here , pbs executives took the unusual step of offering only the edited version of the film for direct retransmission . stations that preferred the unedited_version were required to sign a waiver acknowledging that the normal legal protection offered by pbs will not apply if the unedited_version is found to violate federal broadcast standards . ( most stations , including wnet in new york , have chosen to broadcast the unedited_version at 10 p.m. , a time period that is less stringently monitored . ) last november , more than 60 local abc affiliates refused to broadcast ''saving private ryan , '' steven_spielberg 's film about world_war_ii , because of concerns that its graphic language would attract indecency action by the federal communications commission , even though the agency 's commissioners made it pretty clear that such fears were groundless . ( there are always complaints from viewers when mr . spielberg refused to edit images of naked men and women in ''schindler 's list'' for television in 1997 , nbc went along , assuming viewers would not consider nudity the most disturbing sight in a film about the holocaust . the network received angry letters anyway . ) but the fact that pbs could fear that the f.c.c . would equate coarse language used by soldiers in combat with expletives used by rock stars on an awards show is more shocking than any of the obscenities shown in or omitted from the documentary . and there are not that many , anyway . the ''frontline'' crew spent the month of november following company d , of the first battalion , eighth cavalry regiment . the first profanity on the show is a ' 'damn'' uttered by a soldier checkmated during a chess game in the barracks . that relative_calm , however , is disrupted by a sudden surge in violence sparked by the american led assault on falluja . ''every day , every time we roll out , there 's something to worry about , '' a soldier explains while driving his armored_vehicle through city traffic . ''vbed 's , r.p.g . 's , gunfire , r.p.g . 's , '' he adds , referring to vehicle borne explosive_devices and rocket propelled grenades , ''you name it , it 's out there . there 's just so much stuff they throw at us , it 's ridiculous . '' on one patrol , a roadside_bomb explodes under a humvee directly in front of the one carrying the television_crew . the screen goes black , and what can be heard is men swearing and shouting , over and over , ''are you o.k . ? '' in another scene , the men get word that a gunner , specialist travis babbitt , was hit by a sniper during a skirmish and killed . capt . jason whiteley delivers an impromptu tribute , and the pauses between words as he struggles to hold back tears speak as loudly as his actual words . there are some playful moments , and many sad , troubling ones . but mostly , it is a documentary of young soldiers under siege from an invisible enemy . it is an antidote to tales of torture of iraqi inmates at abu_ghraib a respectful and sympathetic portrait of american_troops risking their lives . ''a company of soldiers'' shows more violence and death than ''gunner palace , '' a documentary about soldiers in the 2 3 field_artillery 's headquarters , the gutted former palace of saddam_hussein 's son uday in baghdad , that is to be released in theaters next month ( with an r rating because of language ) . but like ''gunner palace , '' this documentary shows how troops dedicated to a humanitarian agenda building schools and opening markets are forced to put all that aside to fight an insurgency that refuses to be smothered . 'frontline' 'a company of soldiers' pbs , tonight check local listings . directed by tom roberts edward jarvis , producer . michael sullivan , executive_producer of special projects for frontline david fanning , executive_producer for frontline . an october films production for wgbh frontline and bbc . television review	has a location of iraq
in the worst days of the war , some iraqi doctors here and around the country say they performed surgery by the light of kerosene lanterns . they boiled dressings from one patient to use on another . they collected water from the streets and backed up sewers for straining and boiling . and at times they buried their patients in the garden when the morgues overflowed . western trained iraqi physicians and surgeons , who a year ago diagnosed ailments with multimillion_dollar cat scan systems , the latest x_ray machines and lab facilities , have reverted to basic medical tools the stethoscope , the thermometer , the probing hand and their gut instincts . the combination of allied bombing , postwar rebellion and the trade_embargo against iraq has left many parts of the country 's medical establishment in ruins and its western trained doctors beleaguered by the overload of casualties , destruction and disease . improvisation and anger many physicians said in interviews that they were coping by improvisation . some doctors , who asked not to be identified , severely criticized the iraqi government of president saddam_hussein for what one characterized as his " criminality " in inviting the devastation of the country . dr . walid al rawi , showing a reporter and a visiting american physician around the grounds of the bomb damaged basra teaching_hospital , where he is administrator , hissed and shooed away a pack of snarling dogs . " since the war , they have become more aggressive because they ate human bodies , " he said . across town , the tahrir hospital in basra 's old port district lost most of its windows when a bomb struck near its outpatient clinic . ten miles away in zubair , allied bombs struck the city 's only hospital , medical officials here said , making it unusable . a doctor 's account at basra general_hospital , dr . rajha thamer , who was recently named director general of the city 's health authority , said that during the war he was serving in nasiriya , where he witnessed the aftermath of a bridge bombing on feb . 4 . " i was in my office " at 3 p.m. , he said , just as thousands of civilians were walking home , many of them trekking across the bomb cratered euphrates_river bridge because it would no longer support vehicles , when the bomb struck . " by the time i got there , there were hundreds of people in the river , " dr . thamer said . " by the end of the day , more than 180 casualties were brought into the hospital and we recorded 100 deaths . " at basra teaching_hospital , dr . rawi , 42 years old , considered himself somewhat lucky that after the outbreak of war in january he was able to supply electricity and clean_water to his 435 bed institution after allied bombers knocked out the national electric power grid serving the rest of this city . but a week after the allied bombing in and around basra began , dr . rawi discovered that war has a way of intruding . cleaning the dirty water on jan . 17 , after the opening blackout of the war , the diesel motors of four big generators installed just for such an emergency kicked in to provide current and heat to the operating rooms , intensive_care_unit and wards . for drinking_water , the hospital 's engineers took a pump down to the shatt al arab waterway , which flows in front of the hospital , and began pumping river water contaminated by sewage from upstream into a holding tank . after consulting his bacteriologist , dr . rawi ordered a liter of laundry bleach poured into every 15 , 000 liters of river water in the tank . the chlorine laden bleach went to work on the bacteria from the river . it seemed to do the job , he said . in baghdad at the yarmuk teaching_hospital , the chief of the surgery department , dr . mohsen al_ani , recalled the night of feb . 13 , when 52 burn cases came in after f_117 stealth planes bombed the amiriya air_raid_shelter , where hundreds of civilians had taken refuge during a night of attacks . " we had to use the open method of burn treatment , " the doctor said , because of the shortage of bandages and dressings , " and this calls for the patient to lie completely naked without cover . " " there was no electricity or water on the wards , " he said , " and we lost a lot of burn cases because there was no heating and they died of the cold and shock . " nearby , at the 400 bed saddam pediatric hospital , dr . qasm ismail , the director , said that on the first night of the allied bombing campaign , his 400 bed installation was nearly full when the electricity failed and the explosions sent panic through the wards . " mothers grabbed their children out of incubators , took intravenous tubes out of their arms , " he said . " others were removed from oxygen tents , and they ran to the basement , where there was no heat . i lost more than 40 prematures in the first 12 hours of the bombing . " in karbala , scene of a rebellion by shiite_muslims , the husseini hospital itself became a target , and its upper floors today are riddled with holes from tank artillery rounds fired into the building . makeshift burial ground the hospital 's young surgical chief , who refused to be identified by name , said that at the height of the rebellion , " all of the people we operated on died . " " there was no postoperative care , " he said . " we were seven doctors , three times in the operating theater per day . at one time , we had 65 bodies in the garden and still today we have 15 cadavers buried there . " far to the north , in erbil , a kurdish center , dr . khurshid dizaye , 56 , is in charge of ward no . 3 at the pediatric hospital . " this hospital was running on kerosene lanterns during the war , " he said . " can you imagine doing a caesarean section in this situation ? " the doctor , who in 1975 joined a kurdish rebellion against baghdad only to see it fail , has devoted the years since to his pediatric practice among the kurds of the erbil area . " you ca n't imagine how much we have suffered from this war , " he said , " and although i speak english , i am not able to express all of my feelings about it . "	has a location of iraq
american intelligence agencies and presidential commissions long ago concluded that saddam_hussein had no unconventional_weapons and no substantive ties to al_qaeda before the 2003 invasion . but now , an unusual experiment in public_access is giving anyone with a computer a chance to play intelligence analyst and second guess the government . under pressure from congressional republicans , the director_of_national_intelligence has begun a yearlong process of posting on the web 48 , 000 boxes of arabic_language iraqi documents captured by american_troops . less than two weeks into the project , and with only 600 out of possibly a million documents and video and audio files posted , some conservative bloggers are already asserting that the material undermines the official view . on his blog last week , ray robison , a former army officer from alabama , quoted a document reporting a supposed scheme to put anthrax into american leaflets dropped in iraq and declared ''saddam 's w.m.d . and terrorist connections all proven in one document ! ! ! '' not so , american intelligence officials say . ''our view is there 's nothing in here that changes what we know today , '' said a senior intelligence official , who would discuss the program only on condition of anonymity because the director_of_national_intelligence , john d . negroponte , directed his staff to avoid public debates over the documents . ''there is no smoking_gun on w.m.d. , al_qaeda , those kinds of issues . '' all the documents , which are available on fmso . leavenworth . army . mil products docex . htm , have received at least a quick review by arabic linguists and do not alter the government 's official stance , officials say . on some tapes already released , in fact , mr . hussein expressed frustration that he did not have unconventional_weapons . intelligence officials had serious concerns about turning loose an army of amateurs on a warehouse full of raw documents that include hearsay , disinformation and forgery . mr . negroponte 's office attached a disclaimer to the documents , only a few of which have been translated into english , saying the government did not vouch for their authenticity . another administration official described the political logic ''if anyone in the intelligence_community thought there was valid information in those documents that supported either of those questions w.m.d . or al_qaeda they would have shouted them from the rooftops . '' but representative peter hoekstra , the michigan republican who is chairman of the house intelligence committee and who led the campaign to get the documents released , does not believe they have received adequate scrutiny . mr . hoekstra said he wanted to ''unleash the power of the net'' to do translation and analysis that might take the government decades . ''people today ought to be able to have a closer look inside saddam 's regime , '' he said . mr . hoekstra said intelligence officials had resisted posting the documents , which he overcame by appealing to president_bush and by proposing legislation to force the release . the timing gives the documents a potent political charge . public doubts about the war have driven mr . bush 's approval rating to new lows . a renewed debate over saddam_hussein 's weapons and terrorist ties could raise the president 's standing . ''as an historian , i 'm glad to have the material out there , '' said john prados , who has written books on national_security , including one that accuses the administration of distorting prewar_intelligence . he said the records were likely to shed new light on the iraqi dictatorship . some of the documents , also included in a new study by the united_states military , already have caused a stir by suggesting that russian officials passed american war plans to mr . hussein 's government as the invasion began . but mr . prados said the document release ''ca n't be divorced from the political context . '' ''the administration is under fire for going to war when there was no threat so the idea here must be to say there was a threat , '' he said . that is already the assertion of a growing crowd of bloggers and translators , almost exclusively on the right . so far they have highlighted documents that refer to a meeting between osama_bin_laden and an iraqi intelligence officer in sudan in 1995 a plan to train arab militants as suicide bombers and a 1997 document discussing the use of ' 'special ammunition , '' chemical_weapons , against the kurds . but the anthrax document that intrigued mr . robison , the alabama blogger , does not seem to prove much . it is a message from the quds army , a regional militia created by mr . hussein , to iraqi military_intelligence that passes on reports picked up by troops , possibly from the radio , since the information is labeled ''open source'' and ''impaired broadcast . '' no anthrax was found in iraq by american search teams . ''no offense , but the mainstream media tells people what they want them to know , '' said mr . robison , who worked in qatar for the iraq_survey_group , which did an exhaustive search for weapons in iraq . the document release may help the president , he said , but that is not the point . ''it 's not about politics , '' mr . robison said . ''it 's about the truth . '' the truth about prewar iraq has proven elusive . the february 2003 presentation colin l . powell , the secretary of state at the time , to the united_nations appeared to provide incontrovertible proof of iraqi weapons , but the claims in the speech have since been discredited . given that track record , some intelligence analysts are horrified at exactly the idea that excites mr . hoekstra and the bloggers that anyone will now be able to interpret the documents . ''there 's no quality_control , '' said michael scheuer , a former central_intelligence_agency specialist on terrorism . ''you 'll have guys out there with a smattering of arabic drawing all kinds of crazy conclusions . rush_limbaugh will cherry pick from the right , and al franken will cherry pick from the left . '' conservative publications have pushed for months to have the documents made public . in november , mr . hoekstra and senator pat_roberts of kansas , chairman of the senate_intelligence_committee , asked mr . negroponte to post the material . when that request stalled , mr . hoekstra introduced a bill on march 3 that would have forced the posting . mr . negroponte began the release two weeks later . under the program , documents are withheld only if they include information like the names of iraqis raped by the secret_police , instructions for using explosives , intelligence sources or ' 'diplomatically sensitive'' material . in addition , the intelligence official said , known forgeries are not posted . he said the database included ''a fair amount of forgeries , '' sold by iraqi hustlers or concocted by iraqis opposed to mr . hussein . in previous internet projects , volunteers have tested software , scanned chemical compounds for useful drugs and even searched radiotelescope data for signals from extraterrestrial life . the same volunteer spirit , though with a distinct political twist , motivates the arabic speakers who are posting english versions of the iraqi documents . ''i 'm trying to pick up documents that shed light on the political debate , '' said joseph g . shahda , 34 , a lebanese born engineer who lives in a boston suburb and is spending hours every evening on translations for the conservative free republic site . ''i think we prematurely concluded there was no w.m.d . and no ties to al_qaeda . '' mr . shahda said he was proud he could help make the documents public . ''i live in this great country , and it 's a time of war , '' he said . ''this is the least i can do . ''	has a location of iraq
for the first time in nearly five years , the ''cbs evening news'' climbed out of third place last week to finish second in the television ratings race , drawing more viewers in a week than ''world_news_tonight'' on abc , according to figures from nielsen media research . while ''nbc_nightly_news with brian_williams'' easily won the week , beating both the cbs and abc broadcasts by more than a million viewers , the second place showing by cbs especially in a sweeps week could foreshadow a trend if replicated on a sustained basis . ''cbs evening news , '' with 7 . 39 million viewers last week , beat abc by about 80 , 000 viewers , although since september abc has led cbs by an average of about a million viewers nbc has in turn led abc by about a million . already , cbs has sought to seize on the tightening race as a means of providing momentum to katie_couric , who will replace bob schieffer as anchor of the ''cbs evening news'' in september . at least as of yesterday afternoon , abc said it could not say who it expected to slide behind its anchor desk in early september to go up against ms . couric and mr . williams . the release of the nielsen figures coincided with another moment of uncertainty for abc_news . when stephen mcpherson , president of abc entertainment , announced the network 's fall prime time schedule yesterday morning , one abc newsmagazine , ''20 20 , '' was on it , but another one , ''prime time , '' was not . mr . mcpherson said that the network had ordered a full season 's worth of episodes for ''prime time , '' but he said he did not yet know when the program would return , or if it would have a regular time slot . but a more pressing priority , as the network addressed its advertisers in new york and prepared for a regular meeting today with its affiliate stations , was to provide reassurance that it would field a competitive evening news broadcast come september . elizabeth vargas , who has mostly led ''world_news_tonight'' alone since her co anchor , bob woodruff , was seriously wounded in iraq in january , is due to give birth to her second child in mid august . abc has not announced how much maternity leave she expects to take , or who might fill in for her . under one scenario being given serious consideration within the executive_suite of abc_news , charles gibson , the longtime anchor of ''good morning america , '' would leave that program permanently to become a full time co anchor of ''world_news_tonight , '' said one person who has been directly apprised of the plan but was not authorized to disclose it . ms . vargas , under that proposal , would rejoin mr . gibson after her leave , and mr . woodruff , whose recovery is slow but progressing , would begin to contribute to the program as his health improves , eventually , perhaps , as a third co anchor . but moving mr . gibson out of ''good morning america'' could hurt that program as it prepares to mount another run at the longtime ratings leader , ''today'' on nbc , which is replacing ms . couric with meredith vieira of ''the view , '' the abc talk show . if mr . gibson were to leave , the person with knowledge of the plan said , it is not clear how long diane_sawyer , one of his two co hosts on ''good morning america , '' would remain on the program . another option moving ms . sawyer to the evening news and leaving mr . gibson behind would also leave the morning show short handed . in an interview yesterday , jon banner , executive_producer of ''world news , '' would not discuss any contingencies other than to say that ''those decisions are being dealt with . '' of yesterday 's ratings report , mr . banner said ''we obviously would like to be doing better . we should be doing better . '' still , cbs has been gaining on abc in a year of extraordinary upheaval , including the death in august of peter_jennings , the anchor of ''world news . '' meanwhile , within the nielsen data are trends that could also give some pause to nbc and cbs . since september , nbc , like abc , has been losing viewers . and while cbs has actually gained nearly 300 , 000 viewers over that period , it has done so with mr . schieffer as anchor , and he will be leaving soon . ''from our perspective , it is just one week , '' said sean mcmanus , who became president of cbs_news in november . ''but it is very satisfying . ''	has a location of iraq
two years ago , the united_states_government promised to build more than 140 badly needed health clinics in iraq , bringing basic care to underserved areas outside the big cities . that could have done a lot of good , saving innocent iraqi lives and building good will for the united_states in places where it has grown dangerously scarce . a generous cost plus contract was awarded to parsons inc . , an american construction firm , to do the work , supervised by the army_corps_of_engineers . now , with roughly 200 million already spent and financing from washington set to run out in less than nine months , it appears extremely unlikely that most of those clinics will ever be built . as the washington_post reported earlier this month , the army_corps_of_engineers predicts that no more than 20 clinics will actually be completed out of 142 . america 's good intentions should not be allowed to expire with so pathetically little achieved . the country 's three years in iraq have been a cavalcade of squandered opportunities and unanticipated outcomes . many of those are now , sadly , beyond retrieval . the health clinics are not . there appears to be plenty of blame to go around for the health clinics fiasco . high on the list comes the bush_administration 's stubborn refusal to factor the deteriorating military situation into reconstruction planning . by the time this contract was awarded , in the spring of 2004 , it should have been clear that special security measures would be needed in many areas . beyond that , there appear to be some serious questions about the performance by parsons and the quality of supervision by the army_corps_of_engineers . the office of the special_inspector_general_for_iraq_reconstruction is looking into many of these issues and is expected to issue a report later this month . sorting out the specific responsibilities is important for avoiding similar contracting debacles in the future . just as important is delivering on the original promise of health clinics . a new plan should be drawn up , taking a more realistic account of security conditions , and new financing needs to be found . new , and tighter , contracts need to be written and enforced . recent decades have been cruel to the children of iraq , a country that was a regional leader in health_care 30 years ago . then came saddam_hussein 's diversion of iraq 's wealth into weapons , wars and palaces , 12 years of crushing international_sanctions and finally , the invasion , occupation and insurgency . more children have probably died from lack of clean_water and sanitation , malnutrition , and lack of health_care than from the missile , bomb and rocket attacks of invading armies and insurgent militias . that terrible history cannot be undone . but iraqi children and their parents can still be helped to overcome some of the enduring health consequences . let it not be said that thousands more iraqis died needlessly because america walked away from its promise of health clinics with less than 15 percent of the job done . editorial	has a location of iraq
the director of the political office in diyala_province for the powerful anti american shiite_militia leader moktada_al_sadr was shot and killed by troops during a raid on sunday , a sadr political spokesman said monday . a statement by the united_states military did not identify the official who was killed . it said iraqi troops had killed a leader of ''rogue'' and criminal elements of mr . sadr 's mahdi army in diyala who had directed attacks on american_forces as well as ''kidnappings , assassinations and other violence targeting iraqi civilians and iraqi_police . '' but a spokesman in baghdad for mr . sadr 's political movement , salah al agaili , identified the official as ali khazim al hamdani . the spokesman said that mr . khazim had been the chief of mr . sadr 's political office in diyala and that he had not turned rogue or otherwise distanced himself from the sadr movement . the spokesman also termed the death a ''provocation . '' some american officials familiar with diyala , a volatile province north of baghdad , have said that mr . khazim provided intelligence to the american military , beginning last summer . in one instance , they said , mr . khazim supplied information that led to the capture of shiite_militiamen who had killed three american_soldiers with a powerful roadside_bomb near baquba last fall . one american official said that at one point last year mr . khazim sought to reduce the mahdi militia 's emphasis on attacking american and iraqi forces , but that the effort had helped put mr . khazim in conflict with other more militant factions associated with the mahdi army , including forces allied with abu dera , the feared shiite death_squad commander . in an interview last year , mr . khazim explained that mahdi militiamen were pouring into diyala to protect shiites being terrorized by sunni insurgents . ''if my brothers are killed , we have to react to that , '' he said . sunni insurgents have overrun much of diyala_province and killed or driven out thousands of shiites . they often attack the province 's shiite dominated security forces , whose commanders , american officials have said , include officers with close ties to shiite_militias and death_squads .	has a location of iraq
a woman walked up to the gate of a new army and police recruitment center in tal_afar , a northern city , on wednesday and blew herself up , killing 8 people in addition to herself and wounding 57 , hospital and security officials said . the bomber , who the associated press reported was dressed in men 's clothing , struck at 10 45 a.m . outside the gate of a building that houses the new recruitment center and an american military office that processes compensation forms for iraqis , the officials said . she detonated her belt of explosives , spraying metal balls into a crowd that had gathered , awaiting a security check , they said . al_qaeda in mesopotamia , the terrorist group led by the jordanian militant , abu_musab_al_zarqawi , claimed responsibility for the attack in a posting on a web_site . the posting said the attack had been aimed at the recruitment center , which opened just five days earlier . the attack occurred as the military finished several weeks of sweeps in tal_afar , whose successes had been frequently trumpeted by iraqi officials . the suicide_bombing was the deadliest of several strikes on wednesday , which left at least 19 people dead throughout iraq . in washington , president_bush predicted more violence in iraq before the national vote on oct . 15 on a constitution , but he said the terrorists would not succeed . ''they ca n't stand elections , '' mr . bush said in the white house rose garden , where he was flanked by his top military command . ''the thought of people voting is an anathema to them . '' tal_afar , which is close to the syrian border , has long been a problem spot for the military , which says it is a gateway into the country for foreign_fighters . suicide bombers in iraq are rarely women , though there has been at least one other . during the american invasion in 2003 , a woman driving an explosive packed vehicle blew herself up near an american checkpoint in anbar_province in western iraq . in tal_afar , the bomber , in a familiar pattern , struck at the most vulnerable iraqis . saleh al qadu , the head doctor at tal_afar 's main hospital , said soldiers brought nine bodies in plastic bags to the hospital . one bag held the bomber 's head , he said . the american military said that the blast had killed 5 people and wounded 30 , and that the targets had been civilians outside its military claims office . dr . qadu said the building housed the recruitment center and the claims department . in other attacks , an explosion on wednesday in najaf in the south tore through the house of a guard for the rebellious cleric_moktada_al_sadr , killing one of the guard 's brothers and another relative , and wounding eight others . a police official said the blast occurred in the house , but sahib al amiri , an aide to mr . sadr , said a grenade had been thrown at the house from a passing car . violence against american_forces surged , with the military announcing that four soldiers had been killed in three days in attacks in falluja , west of baghdad , and safwan , near the kuwait border . in baquba , north of baghdad , a car_bomb exploded at a military checkpoint at 3 45 p.m. , killing a civilian and wounding 13 , including 8 police officers , an interior_ministry official said . scattered violence left four people dead in baghdad . at 8 a.m . a roadside_bomb that apparently was meant for a police commando unit killed a civilian . gunmen began shooting at american_forces near the ghazilia bridge in western baghdad , killing an iraqi police_officer . in sadr_city , the shiite_slum in eastern baghdad , another police_officer was killed .	has a location of iraq
iraq saw a brutal era end , and an uncertain one begin . after threatening to do so for a year , the bush_administration sent troops into iraq to unseat saddam_hussein . from the start , on march 19 , little happened according to plan . airstrikes proved less shocking to iraq than anticipated . but lines of iraqi defenders barely materialized , giving way to skirmishing by irregular iraqi forces , which did little to stall the rapid american advance . with the fall of baghdad in april , the full horror of saddam_hussein 's rule was revealed in dusty lots of mass graves and the anguished search for loved ones lost to iraqi gulags . the city itself quickly descended into power shortages and looting . for many iraqis , the relief over mr . hussein 's removal turned to impatience with the pace of rebuilding efforts and resentment over the presence of american_troops . mr . hussein 's loyalists disappeared from view to wage a resistance that left more americans dead than before president_bush declared major combat operations over on may 1 . the american toll climbed above 300 , with more than 2 , 100 wounded . terror bombings , perhaps aided by outside fighters , heightened the sense of unease by making targets of anyone assisting the new democratic experiment , even those rarely drawn into the conflict before , like the red_cross and the united_nations . the american military responded with a more aggressive mix of bombings and raids , and the bush_administration responded by speeding up plans for a transfer of sovereignty , proposing to hand power to an interim iraqi government by next summer . weapons_of_mass_destruction , the primary reason stated by bush_administration officials for choosing war , proved more elusive than mr . hussein . bearded and disheveled , the strongman who terrorized iraqis for 35 years , was found on dec . 13 cowering in a hole near tikrit .	has a location of iraq
an internet statement posted in the name of his islamic militant group said tuesday that america 's most wanted man in iraq , abu_musab_al_zarqawi , had been injured ''for the sake of god , '' a term commonly used by militants in iraq to refer to wounds sustained at the hands of american or iraqi troops . the statement gave no details of the injury or how it was inflicted , but it appealed to all muslims to pray for the ' 'speedy recovery'' of mr . zarqawi , who has claimed responsibility for scores of suicide bombings , ambushes , drive by assassinations and hostage killings , and attracted an american bounty of 25 million . last week , a statement issued in his name on the same web_site justified the killing of iraqi civilians in the course of insurgent_attacks , saying it was ''necessary if you must kill them to get at the enemy . '' the web posting , whose authenticity could not be confirmed , came as a series of insurgent_attacks killed nine american_troops across iraq on monday and tuesday , bringing the three day total of dead american servicemen to 14 . the attacks on tuesday included a suicide car bombing on an expressway in southern baghdad that killed three soldiers and reduced their humvee to a tangle of charred scrap . the attacks continued a wave of insurgent violence that has killed 58 american_troops and about 600 iraqi civilians since the beginning of may . the claim that mr . zarqawi was injured followed a series of unconfirmed_reports that the jordanian born militant , named by osama_bin_laden as al_qaeda 's chief representative in iraq , sought hospital treatment in the past month in at least two cities in the desert of western iraq . on monday last week , iraqi and american_forces mounted a nighttime cordon around the karkh hospital in central baghdad after a tip that mr . zarqawi had gone there for treatment , but they found no trace of him . for weeks , american commanders in iraq have said they believed they were closing in on mr . zarqawi , and they have cited the arrest of more than 20 of his ''trusted lieutenants , '' including leaders of his terrorist cells , propaganda chiefs , bomb makers , drivers and others . but an american general in iraq who was reached by telephone on tuesday took a cautious view of the report that the militant leader had been injured , saying that while the american command did not discount the report , ''we are n't banking on it , either . '' ''it could be a ruse to throw us off his trail , '' the officer said . at the pentagon , civilian and military officials said they had no evidence to either prove or disprove the report on mr . zarqawi . some who studied the web posting said they believed it to be authentic . one of the first reports of the posting came from a washington based monitoring organization , the site institute , which scrutinizes internet postings by islamic terrorist groups and offers subscribers english translations of the arabic texts . its director , rita katz , said in a telephone interview that the statement claiming mr . zarqawi had been injured appeared first on an internet message board that has been used regularly for pronouncements by mr . zarqawi 's group , al_qaeda in mesopotamia . ''i believe this is a very authentic message , '' ms . katz said . ''i really believe this came from al_qaeda_in_iraq . '' in a summary accompanying its translation , the site institute described the statement as ''a seeming elegy . '' the statement , signed by abu maysara al iraqi , the zarqawi organization 's spokesman , described the militant leader 's islamic zeal as a ''priceless thing'' for the insurgents , and added ''even the prophet was injured . let everybody know that the injury of our leader is an honor and causes us to surround our enemy tighter and is an encouragement for us to increase the intensity of attacks upon them . '' mr . zarqawi , who is in his mid 30 's , was first reported to be in iraq during the last years of saddam_hussein 's rule , when western intelligence reports said he had fled jordan for refuge with an a qaeda linked islamic group , ansar ul islam , that operated in the mountains of iraqi_kurdistan , along the iranian border . after the american led invasion two years ago , he became the leader , or sheik , of the islamic militants , many of them from other arab countries , who joined hard line remnants of mr . hussein 's government in mounting the insurgency . the american command , and mr . zarqawi 's own web_site pronouncements , have depicted him as a pimpernel figure , moving undetected between the main centers of violence , in baghdad , falluja , ramadi , mosul and elsewhere . but since the american led offensive that recaptured falluja in november , which killed scores of islamic militants and scattered others , american commanders have made the destruction of his network a priority , mounting operations they say have resulted in scores of his followers in addition to 20 of his top lieutenants being captured or killed . mr . zarqawi has had several narrow escapes . earlier this month , american officers confirmed that he had come close to being captured during an american raid along the euphrates_river north of ramadi on feb . 20 . the commanders said a pickup carrying mr . zarqawi made an abrupt u_turn near an american checkpoint between the cities of hit and haditha , 100 miles east of the syrian border , setting off a chase . the officers said mr . zarqawi leapt from the pickup and hid beneath an overpass , leaving his driver and another man to be captured , along with mr . zarqawi 's laptop computer and more than 100 , 000 in cash . disclosure of the incident came as a 1 , 000 man marine battle group mounted a weeklong offensive farther west along the euphrates , seeking to disrupt or destroy parts of the zarqawi network . on may 13 , an iraqi general was quoted in a report by the bbc 's monitoring service as saying that mr . zarqawi had suffered critical head injuries during an american bombing raid on the border town of qaim . the iraqi officer was quoted as saying that mr . zarqawi had been treated for his injuries at a ramadi hospital , but had left before iraqi forces arrived . other reports appearing in iraqi newspapers , also unconfirmed , have said mr . zarqawi was in a hospital in haditha and went undetected when it was searched by american_troops in early may . a report in the sunday_times of london quoted an unidentified doctor in ramadi as having said that ''well dressed'' aides of mr . zarqawi 's took him to a hospital there on may 11 , four days after the marine offensive began , and that he was ''bleeding heavily'' from unspecified wounds . the paper quoted the doctor as saying that he tried unsuccessfully to persuade mr . zarqawi to remain for treatment , only to be offered and to have refused ''a wad of u.s . dollars to secure his silence . '' the latest deaths among american_troops included four soldiers from the 155th brigade combat team who were killed monday after a homemade bomb exploded near their convoy during what the american command described as ''combat operations'' in haswa , south of baghdad . also on monday , a marine at a base in ramadi was killed by what the military said was indirect fire , which normally means a rocket or mortar . on tuesday , three soldiers were killed in central baghdad when their humvee was struck by a suicide car_bomb the latest in a wave of similar attacks across baghdad in recent weeks . the explosion occurred as an army convoy neared an american base in the rashid area of south baghdad , an area of frequent insurgent_attacks . half an hour later , a crewman in a bradley armored_vehicle that was serving as an observation_post elsewhere in baghdad was killed in a drive_by_shooting , according to a command statement . there was more violence against iraqi civilians on tuesday , including a car_bomb explosion near a school in baghdad , killing at least two and wounding eight , the police said , though unconfirmed_reports later in the day put the death toll at six . reports from the scene suggested that none of the victims were students . the reach of war the insurgency	has a location of iraq
when the pentagon 's top brass denounced critics of the war strategy on tuesday at a news conference , victoria clarke , the pentagon spokeswoman , was just as stunned as the reporters in the room and the wider television audience . beforehand , ms . clarke had briefed defense secretary donald h . rumsfeld and gen . richard b . myers , the nation 's highest ranking military officer , about what topics might come up . but their remarks were not part of the script , and only complicated her goal to make sure there is a measured message from the pentagon . ''she thought it was a little over the top , '' said one pentagon official . ms . clarke , who was sitting just off camera , said later she had no comment on the briefing . only days ago , things seemed much more in control for ms . clarke . she was savoring positive reviews from the news_media for being the chief advocate of placing journalists with troops on the battlefield , and from the military brass for eliciting flattering coverage of the troops . but suddenly , ms . clarke , who is known as torie , finds herself with an immense public_relations challenge that is partly of her own making . now that the news_media has better access to the troops , she is being peppered almost hourly with queries from the battlefield about topics as varied as checkpoints , rations , rescues and killings of civilians . more troubling , she faces a growing chorus , including several retired_generals , questioning whether the war plan of mr . rumsfeld and his lieutenants was ill advised and whether the administration fueled unrealistic expectations that iraqis would welcome american_troops with open arms . episodes like the news briefing on tuesday are part of the most difficult trial yet for ms . clarke , 43 , who has devoted her career in politics and public_relations to working with clients in tricky situations . as a campaign aide , she defended the first president_bush as his popularity evaporated in the polls . she later represented the cable industry when it infuriated consumers with rising rates and poor service . by most accounts , ms . clarke has been pivotal in easing some tensions between the military and the media two famously cantankerous institutions . and she defends the pentagon 's decision to station reporters with the troops . colleagues said she had a crucial role in selling the idea to her superiors . ''we think it 's the right thing to do , '' said ms . clarke , pointing out that nearly 600 american and foreign reporters were traveling , eating and sleeping with the troops on the battlefield . ''so far , so good . there has never been as much access to leadership in the building military and civilian . i really want the american people to see how incredible these young men and women are . '' but her policy might haunt her , particularly as strains emerge and the war appears more complex than first envisioned and sold to the american public . retired_generals offer instant critiques on cable news networks troops stalled on the battlefield complain to interviewers and a handful of reporters have divulged too much specific information from the front . it falls to ms . clarke to confront that dissonance and project harmony . ''torie has the very difficult job of squaring the circle between the reality of war and the media 's expectations and preconceptions of what war is , '' said michael murphy , a republican strategist . ''it 's very tough real_estate . '' ms . clarke , who as an assistant secretary of defense is the pentagon 's highest ranking civilian woman , had little preparation for the world she inhabits . in her debut briefing for reporters in 2001 , she admitted she knew little about the military and might stumble over details . ''i am not going to be able to stand up here and disassemble the tail rotor of a helicopter for you , '' she said . she vowed to leave the logistics to the experts and focus on her 6 year old son 's admonition to ''not mess up . '' as a tamer of moods , ms . clarke brings a stern schoolteacher 's gaze to the task , as well as a withering wit and a daring sense of fashion . her pink and purple ensembles are so splashy against the pentagon olive drab that one columnist this week called her ''a hothouse flower growing in a bed of moss . '' a former tomboy and athlete , ms . clarke uses full advantage of her height she is six feet_tall to hold her ground . ''you 've got to have the stature to stand there next to rumsfeld and not look like you 're a 13 year old boy or girl , '' said dan schnur , a republican public_relations consultant . ''she has the presence to pull that off . '' in recent briefings , she has unsettled reporters with graphic photographs of iraqis who had been tortured or harmed by chemical_weapons she has baited mr . hussein by feeding speculation that he might be dead she has teased mr . rumsfeld for his hard guy manner and poked fun at access demanding reporters , who , she said , would be satisfied only if they were ''on the receiving end'' of airstrikes . within the pentagon , ms . clarke fancies herself as a surrogate for plain_spoken , ordinary americans , contending with a dangerous world and learning as they go . in a building where employees use acronyms to show off , she asks for memorandums to be rewritten ''in english . '' she has been known to let her young children ages 7 , 6 and 4 prowl the pentagon 's heavily_guarded halls . she has made inroads with reporters . ''i give torie credit for opening up this process , '' said mark thompson , the defense_department correspondent for time magazine . ''this is a radical change . '' there is , of course , a strategic element to placing journalists with troops . providing instant information can effectively undercut propaganda efforts by a less technologically sophisticated enemy . the first one on the scene shapes the news . ms . clarke denies trying to sculpt a positive image of the war . ''i do n't buy into that theory , '' she said . ''war is war , and it 's bad and it 's ugly and people get hurt and people die . i do n't think you can manage it in any way . i think the best thing you can do is demonstrate as much of the truth as possible . '' still , there are bonuses . reporters are less likely to criticize the troops that cocoon them . and units that fretted that they did not get appropriate credit in persian_gulf_war now say they feel their battlefield victories will be chronicled . despite her claims to openness , ms . clarke is aware of the need to keep secrets . when she chooses to withhold , she can be maddeningly tight_lipped , reporters say . she professes to like journalists and says she does not mind life in the glare of television lights . she is one of a circle of powerful republican women , who have brought media savvy to the administration , including mary_matalin , karen p . hughes and charlotte beers . the so called gang of four remain friends , though their ranks in government are diminishing as they have sought to return to private life . ms . clarke , meanwhile , soldiers on , working 14 hour days . she catches up with her husband , j . brian graham , an executive at fannie_mae , and her children at night or in brief phone chats . she dismisses a question about her grinding schedule , and gestures to a television screen showing troops sleeping in mudholes . ''i get to go home at night , '' she said . in sewickley , pa . , a suburb northwest of pittsburgh , ms . clarke grew up in a family of five daughters . her father is a doctor , still practicing in his 80 's her mother taught her girls they could become whatever they wanted . ms . clarke 's older sisters are a journalist at abc an actress who has appeared in episodes of ''law and order'' and ''sex in the city'' and businesswomen in executive_search and real_estate firms . in college , first at north_carolina_state , then at george_washington here , she was an indifferent student . lorraine voles , a former aide to vice_president al_gore and a close friend , was a journalism major with ms . clarke . she recalls taking notes for her friend and frantically phoning her to alert her to exams . ms . clarke much preferred riding horses in the virginia countryside and working in the graphics department of the washington star during college . ''she 's wicked smart , '' ms . voles said . ''but academics were n't her strong suit . '' when the star closed in the early 1980 's , ms . clarke drifted into politics . she took a job as an assistant white_house photographer , working for vice_president george_bush . her next job was working for john_mccain , then a junior congressman . mr . mccain , who is now an influential republican senator from arizona , remembers ms . clarke as a competent professional who also knew how to have fun . ''she was n't a lounge lizard , or anything like that , '' he said . ''she just enjoyed a night out dinner with friends , things like that . it was all very healthy . '' after work , she drank cocktails , went to parties , danced to motown and enjoyed the singles scene in washington . she helped usher mr . mccain through the keating five savings and loan scandal and the criticism he faced by voting against the deployment of marines to lebanon in 1983 . in 1992 , ms . clarke became press_secretary for the re election campaign of president_bush . she got off a few zingers before losing . referring to challenger bill clinton , she quipped , ''i do n't think americans can trust people who spend more time blow drying their hair in the morning than i do . '' the following year , she joined the national cable_television association , the trade lobby for an industry whose public image was dismal . as strategic counsel there , ms . clarke found herself persuading cable executives that for their own good , they needed to be more responsive or face being regulated out of business . after a few years in public_relations and advertising , ms . clarke took on the pentagon job . the work , she said , is the most important of her life . ''i 've worked in lots of places and at the end of the day you could look at your colleagues and say . 'well , you know , it ai n't life and death , ' '' she said . ''around here it is . '' a nation at war the pentagon spokeswoman correction april 4 , 2003 , friday an article yesterday about the pentagon spokeswoman victoria clarke misattributed a comment about how she uses her six foot height to hold her ground in a tough job . it was a republican strategist , rich galen not dan schnur , a public_relations consultant who said ''you 've got to have the stature to stand there next to rumsfeld and not look like you 're a 13 year old boy or girl . she has the presence to pull that off . ''	has a location of iraq
the united_nations has rejected an iraqi request to present evidence that it is complying with the terms of the agreement that ended the persian_gulf_war , the iraqi delegate to the united_nations said today . the iraqi government had asked the united_nations to hear a government delegation give an account of iraq 's compliance with the security_council resolutions on eliminating its weapons_of_mass_destruction before allowing a united_nations weapons inspection team to carry out a crucial task in its monitoring program , installing a camera at a missile testing site . on monday , the inspection team withdrew to protest iraq 's refusal to allow the installation . the security_council , which in the past warned of " serious consequences " if the camera was not installed , is to be briefed on wednesday by the head of the united_nations special commission on iraq , rolf_ekeus , who was traveling to new york from europe today . possible impasse the description of the situation by the iraqi delegate , nizar_hamdoon , made it appear that an impasse had been reached , though in the past iraq has yielded to united_nations demands when faced with threats of reprisals . " it 's like the chicken and the egg , " mr . hamdoon said in a telephone interview . " we agree in principle that the camera can be installed but we have some technical matters to discuss . they say that we ca n't talk about the technical matters until the camera is installed . " a united_nations official said that the security_council resolution that deals with the elimination of all of iraq 's weapons_of_mass_destruction , including ballistic_missiles , did not allow for any negotiation of terms . " our position is that iraq agreed to some very precise demands , " said the official , who asked not to be identified . " we sent the inspection team to install the camera , and it is not a negotiable issue . " oil sale pact a senior iraqi official , riyadh al qaysi , the under secretary general of the foreign ministry , is due here on wednesday to reopen talks with the united_nations on a security_council offer that would allow iraq to sell up to 1 . 6 billion worth of oil . the security_council offer carries stipulations that 30 percent of the proceeds of the sales be used to pay reparations to victims of the iraqi_invasion_of_kuwait and that the rest be used for humanitarian purposes . the iraqis have so far refused the offer on the grounds that any restrictions on oil sales are an infringement of iraqi sovereignty . the iraqis were said specifically to object to a requirement that the oil be shipped via pipeline through turkey , which would make it easier to monitor the amounts sold . an official here said that the iraqis were showing signs that they were ready to agree to that that provision .	has a location of iraq
to the editor senator joseph r . biden_jr . is right to press the administration to clarify its objectives after attacking iraq ( ''senate panel to ask bush aides to give details on his iraq policy , '' news article , july 10 ) . no invasion can be just a military enterprise . unless it achieves something useful on a political level , any american lives lost will have been entirely wasted . achieving something useful politically in iraq means replacing saddam_hussein 's government with one that is not only decent and just , but also competent and stable , and that manages to command the support of the majority of the iraqi people . the alternative is for the united_states to stay in iraq for a lot longer than the five years mr . biden refers to . attention is currently focused on the military aspects of this operation , but that 's the easy part . mark sedgwick cairo , july 10 , 2002 the writer is an assistant professor of history , american university in cairo .	has a location of iraq
two newsday journalists who had been working in baghdad since late february are presumed missing after last contacting their editors on monday afternoon , the newspaper said yesterday . the journalists , matthew mcallester , 33 , a reporter , and moises saman , 29 , a photographer , were last seen at their hotel , the palestine , on monday evening , several journalists from other news organizations said . iraqi officials were seen detaining and threatening to expel several journalists at the hotel that evening , apparently over concerns about their visas , but newsday has not confirmed whether mr . mcallester and mr . saman were part of that group , said anthony marro , the newspaper 's editor . ''we do n't know where they are , '' mr . marro said . ''we do n't know who they 're with . '' the committee to protect journalists , an advocacy organization , said yesterday that at least one other journalist based in baghdad , molly bingham , a freelance photographer , was also missing and might have been expelled . mr . marro said that editors at newsday , in melville , n.y. , spoke with mr . mcallester and mr . saman last week about the wisdom of their remaining in baghdad . dozens of journalists have left the city , either by choice or after being ordered out by their employers . ''they were adamant , '' mr . marro said of his two man team . ''they felt very strongly about staying . '' the journalists' visas were to have expired last monday , mr . marro said . but mr . mcallester sent his editors an e mail message last weekend saying that he and mr . saman had received press credentials that would permit them to stay . ''they said they were legitimate and fine for the long run , '' mr . marro said . ''they were very happy about that . '' both journalists have traveled extensively for the paper . mr . mcallester is newsday 's united_nations bureau chief . mr . saman most recently covered the war in afghanistan . military ejects correspondent boston , march 27 ( ap ) a reporter for the christian science monitor has been ordered out of iraq after the pentagon said he revealed the position of a marine unit in a television interview . philip smucker , a freelance reporter for the monitor and the daily_telegraph of london , reported the unit 's position wednesday in an interview on cnn , the pentagon said . the monitor said mr . smucker had not revealed information that was not already available . a nation at war journalists	has a location of iraq
sabotage attacks have cut the power flowing through more than 100 of the lines that form the backbone of iraq 's electrical_grid since the american led invasion last year , and nearly 1 , 200 of the huge towers supporting the lines have been toppled , according to an internal iraqi government report obtained by the new york times . while most of the damage occurred last year and has since been repaired , the report shows that in the first months of 2004 , far more attacks occurred than were publicly reported by the iraqi government or occupation forces . the report details 68 incidents , ranging from shelling towers to shooting apart lines , in the first three months of this year alone . the report does not contain statistics since march . the information is generally compiled only at the end of each quarter , said an iraqi government official who provided the report . but american and iraqi officials knowledgeable about the electrical_grid here said that the pace of the attacks had increased in recent months . ''if they 've knocked down 1 , 200 towers , it seems to me that they 've knocked down every line at least once , '' said hoff stauffer , a senior consultant and an authority on electrical grids at cambridge_energy_research_associates , a massachusetts firm . mr . stauffer said that the numbers suggested that maintaining iraq 's grid could be ''fairly hopeless , '' and that so called distributed generation in which each hospital or housing complex has a separate generator might be a better option until security improves . the sabotage numbers , the first gauge of the scale of efforts by guerrilla fighters to bring the country to a standstill by striking at infrastructure , emerged on the day that iraq 's new prime_minister , iyad_allawi , gave an assessment of the impact of the attacks . in a country where demand for electricity far outstrips supply , leading to regular , rotating blackouts and unpredictable power failures , sabotage to the electrical infrastructure has caused ''a nationwide loss of power of more than four hours per day , '' dr . allawi said . around baghdad , informal surveys suggest that residents have electricity 6 to 12 hours a day , with 8 hours being typical . ''terrorists have increasingly targeted our country 's infrastructure , '' dr . allawi said . ''these saboteurs are not freedom fighters , they are terrorists and foreign_fighters opposed to our very survival as a free state . anyone involved in these attacks is nothing more than a traitor to the cause of iraq 's freedom and the freedom of its people . '' transmission_lines are not the only part of the electrical system that has been damaged . on thursday , new details emerged about the shutdown of a large power plant in baiji the day before . it occurred when burning oil from a sabotaged oil line flowed into the tigris_river and threatened an intake for cooling water at the plant , iraqi government officials said . other plants were forced to make up for the shortfall on an emergency basis . ''they told me , 'keep your unit running , even if you have to catch it with your hands , ' '' said bashir khalaf omir , director of the doura power plant in baghdad . but the transmission_lines are the arteries of the system , carrying electricity to users around the country , and the iraqi government report reveals that sabotage to the lines has occurred virtually everywhere in mosul , kirkuk and baiji in the north , in basra and nasiriya in the south , in haditha in the west and in baghdad itself . ''there are lots of attacks happening , '' said raad al haris , the deputy minister for electricity , adding that the number had increased in recent months . ''they saw that there is progress with the electricity and they want to stop everything , '' mr . haris said of the fighters . rick kelley , a spokesman for washington group international , a contractor that restored a major transmission line from the baiji power plant to baghdad , confirmed that the line had been attacked at least twice , most recently on june 2 . mr . kelley said that the company had been asked by the occupation authorities to prepare a plan for a ''quick reaction'' team that would identify instances of sabotage and immediately repair the damage . some engineers said that because long stretches of the grid were being repaired and extended in work financed by the united_states , iraqi oil revenues and other sources , more and more alternate routes are available for electricity to flow to consumers when part of the system is damaged . those engineers also pointed out that as repaired sections of line were charged with electricity , damaging them can be much more hazardous to saboteurs . ''the system is getting more robust , '' said maj . david e . bitner of the united_states_army_corps_of_engineers who is operations officer for a 1 . 36 billion project called restore iraqi electricity . ''it 's getting more stable , so the effects are mitigated to some extent by that fact . '' the reach of war infrastructure	has a location of iraq
saddam_hussein was not locked into leg irons . he did n't writhe in a police hold he did n't appear with his hands cuffed . instead , he was handled , on camera , with latex gloves . his tangled hair was inspected , ostensibly for bugs . his mouth was examined , apparently for strep , or cyanide pills . to all this mr . hussein yielded , obediently widening his jaws for the throat exam . or the dna sample . or the cavity search ? whatever it was . a frank looking video of the intimate indignities and almost comically symbolic violations of the former iraqi dictator and american b te noir was released by the pentagon on sunday , the day after it was shot . formally it 's a deft piece of work , with striking moments the underside of mr . hussein 's tongue , radiantly orange in the doctor 's light , is a shot for film students . and if hirsute mr . hussein is the villain of the piece , the hero is the faceless doctor , his head fastidiously shaved , who pesters and jabs . in the major markets , the clip played well . predicting on cnn that it would send the stock_market soaring in kuwait_city , mamoun fandy , a middle_east scholar , called mr . hussein 's lice and strep check ''the picture of the year in the arab_world . '' the american world , too , was overwhelmed by the strange images . paul slavin at abc_news called the scenes ''transcendent , '' and the cable networks played the video of mr . hussein at every chance , offering for occasional counterpoint a shot of mr . hussein post exam , after a shave . so how did the united_states military pull it off ? that is , not how did they make that we got him video ricochet around the world , but how did they get the shot ? who invaded , with camera , not only mr . hussein 's spider hole existence , but also his private lice check ? the answer a combat camera crew that , though trained for battle , wield sony pd 150 's along with its rifles , documenting military operations in high resolution digital_video . the cameras weigh four pounds and cost about 4 , 000 each . ''it 's not betacam of course , '' staff sgt . wesley wooten , a combat cameraman , explained in a telephone interview from baghdad . ''but it 's the next best thing in my opinion . '' sony pd 150 's are the same cameras many photojournalists use , but some combat camera operators , like the one who shot mr . hussein 's medical exam , still manage to give their video a raw , low fi look . perhaps that 's because they are often in the dark about what to shoot until the last minute . ''they 'll say , 'we got a mission you need to be there in half an hour , ' '' sergeant wooten said . giovanni lorente , a spokesman for coalition_forces in baghdad , added that a certain amount of foresight during pre production had contributed to the success of this latest video . ''the units that basically captured saddam_hussein had received information , '' he said . ''within the planning they also plan to send video teams . '' sometimes , for the members of the combat camera crew , the roles of soldier and documentarian come into conflict , sergeant wooten said . ''basically what we 're trained for is that the camera is our first weapon , '' he said , with a laugh suggesting he had his own ideas . ''and then our attack weapon is secondary to the camera . but there comes a point where you have to make a choice . me personally , i try to do both . we 're lucky enough to carry pistols . it gives you some more protection . you can shoot and shoot at the same time . '' like others in baghdad , sergeant wooten could not or would not name the auteur behind the video of mr . hussein . but he admitted that recording the newly captured mr . hussein was a plum assignment , with recognition attached . ''whenever we turn in documentation , our name is attached to it , '' he said . normally , however , the work of the combat camera operators is rarely seen . sometimes , at the height of its relevance , it 's digitally transmitted back to central_command during a raid or battle . but as for the fate of the video , it is up to the pentagon to decide how to distribute or whether to merely archive their images . in the case of mr . hussein 's close up , american officials sought an image that would persuade speakers of every language that they had him . the video does indeed show mr . hussein off to exquisite disadvantage . if the first gulf_war has come to be remembered in the iconic image of a laser guided bomb going deep down into a hole , the video of a uniformed american doctor 's tongue depressor bunker busting mr . hussein 's private places may prove equally memorable . critic's_notebook	has a location of iraq
about a third of the soldiers and marines returning from iraq will visit mental_health clinics at least once in the first year after they come home , even though the military refers fewer than one in 20 for psychological consultation , researchers are reporting today . the study , the first to track recent veterans' use of mental_health services , tells a mixed story about combat stress . most of the veterans who sought help did not receive diagnoses of mental_illnesses like post_traumatic_stress , and many consulted clinics just once , the study found . the results suggest that the stigma attached to seeking help is weaker than previously thought , experts said . moreover , they added , many veterans appear to seek mental_health services for the same reasons that civilians do marital problems , difficulties sleeping or at work and difficulties readjusting . yet the study , which appears today in the journal of the american_medical_association , calls into question the military 's effort to estimate the mental_health costs of iraq and whether it can predict its effects on government services . clinics of the veterans_affairs department have treated an estimated 50 , 000 iraq veterans for mental_health concerns . no one knows how many are still to come , and predictions vary_widely . studies showing high rates of mental_illness in vietnam veterans were conducted long after that war . and the number of people using veterans_affairs mental_health services has increased by 60 percent since 1995 , experts estimate , mostly as a result of vietnam veterans seeking help for post_traumatic_stress . the post deployment screening was in part intended to identify and treat such problems before they arose and strained capacity further . the new study found that of those veterans who visited clinics after returning from iraq , only a small fraction had been referred by military screeners and that most appeared to screeners not to have significant emotional problems . dr . michael kussman , principal deputy under secretary for health at the veterans_affairs department , said the high use of mental services in the study was not a surprise . ''a large proportion of people coming back are dealing with normal reactions to abnormal conditions , '' dr . kussman said in an interview . he added that just a small fraction of the post_traumatic_stress cases were new veterans , and that the agency had ''the infrastructure and is poised and ready to continue to treat new veterans . '' other researchers said the study raised more questions than it answered . ''the approach used to screen for signs of mental trouble is a very sensible one , but i think one question we have to ask now is why is it failing to identify those who seek help , '' said richard j . mcnally , a professor of psychology at harvard who was not involved with the study . ''one possibility is that soldiers about to return home may be disinclined to acknowledge symptoms right away but become concerned about them later on . '' in the study , dr . charles hoge led a team of researchers at the walter reed army institute of research in silver_spring , md . , who analyzed the records of 303 , 905 army soldiers and marines who returned from foreign postings from may 2003 to april 2004 . about two thirds of them had been in iraq the others had been in afghanistan or other stations like bosnia . all had completed postdeployment questionnaires that asked about symptoms of depression , thoughts of suicide or violence against others , hypervigilance and nightmares , among other problems . the records included the use of health_care services for about a year after the return home . the researchers found that 19 percent or those returning from iraq showed signs of emotional difficulties , compared with 11 percent from afghanistan and 8 percent from other deployments . more than a third of the iraq veterans visited mental_health clinics at least one time back home , the highest rate compared with the others . ''we do know that many mental_health concerns tend to emerge two to three months after people get back and that screening at that time should provide us another opportunity'' to identify those at risk , said dr . hoge . dr . kussman , a retired military man , agreed . when a tour is ending , he said , ''you do n't want to answer questions , '' adding , ''all you want to do is go home . ''	has a location of iraq
should we never have watched at all ? so barbara_bush had instructed us in a ''good morning america'' interview showcased the day before the war began . the president 's mother told diane_sawyer she would watch ''none'' of tv 's war coverage because ''90 percent'' of it would be speculative . mrs . bush continued ''why should we hear about body bags and deaths and how many , what day it 's gonna happen ? . . . it 's not relevant . so why should i waste my beautiful mind on something like that ? '' a beautiful mind is indeed a terrible thing to waste , but not having one , i took mrs . bush 's words as the see no evil musings of a mom spinning for her son . now that the fog of war begins to lift , however , i realize she was prescient . a los_angeles times poll last weekend found that 69 percent of americans turned to the three cable news networks first for war coverage with newspapers , local tv news , regular network news and the internet trailing far behind . but to what end ? if cable has taught us anything during ''war in iraq , '' it is this battalions of anchors and high tech correspondents can cover a war 24 7 and still tell us less about what is going on than the mere 27 predigital news hounds who accompanied the american_troops landing in normandy on d day . speculation , while rampant , has in some ways been the least of the coverage 's ills . by this point we instinctively know that whenever a rent a general walks over to a map , it 's time to take a latrine break . what has most defined this tv war on cable is the networks' insistence on letting their own scorched_earth campaigns for brand supremacy run roughshod over the real action in iraq . the conveying of actual news often seems subsidiary to their mission to out flag wave one another and to make their own personnel , rather than the war 's antagonists , the leading players in the drama . for anchors like brian_williams and wolf_blitzer , kuwait_city is a backdrop that lends a certain amount of gravitas ( though not as much as it would have during the last persian_gulf_war ) , but could n't they anchor just as well from new york city ? it 's not as if they 're vying to interview the locals . while a study by the project for excellence in journalism found that reports from embedded journalists were 94 percent accurate , it also discovered that in only 20 percent of those reports did the correspondents share the screen with anyone else . there 's almost nothing in the war , it seems , that cannot be exploited as a network promo . fox 's anchors trumpeted an idle news briefing remark by gen . richard b . myers that ' 'reporters just have to be fair and balanced , that 's all'' as an official endorsement of the network 's ''fair and balanced'' advertising slogan . at cnn , a noble effort by dr . sanjay gupta , an embedded medical reporter , to rescue an injured 2 year old iraqi boy by performing on the scene brain surgery was milked for live reports . lest anyone not grasp the most important moral of this incident , dr . gupta himself declared that ''it was a heroic attempt to try to save the child 's life'' after the child had died . as for msnbc last in war , last in peace , last in the nielsens with or without ''donahue'' the battles for basra and baghdad were mere bagatelles compared to its take no prisoners battle with fox to emerge as the most patriotic news channel in the land . who was the most ''treasonous'' villain in the war ? according to msnbc , it was fox 's geraldo rivera , who revealed american troop_movements on camera . according to fox , it was msnbc 's peter_arnett , who gave an interview to iraqi tv . as the two networks stoked the flames of this bonfire of the vanities , neither took time out from their proxy war to devote much ( if any ) coverage to an actual american serviceman who might have committed actual treason . that would be sgt . asan akbar of the 101st_airborne , who was arrested ( and subsequently charged with murder ) in the fragging incident that led to the deaths of two soldiers and the wounding of at least 14 others at camp pennsylvania . how fleeting was his infamy . but it 's not only the sergeant akbar story that has vanished from view . whatever happened to afghanistan , al_qaeda , the israelis and the palestinians ? tv viewers are now on more intimate terms with aaron brown and shep smith 's perceptions of the war than we are with the collective thoughts of all those soon to be liberated ''iraqi people'' they keep apotheosizing . iraqis are the better seen than heard dress extras in this drama , alternately pictured as sobbing , snarling or cheering . even saddam_hussein remains a villain from stock , since the specific history of his reign of terror gets far less airtime than the tacky d cor of his palaces and the circular information free debates about whether he 's dead or alive . when victoria clarke at the pentagon says saddam is responsible for ' 'decades and decades and decades of torture and oppression the likes of which i think the world has not ever seen before , '' no one on fox or msnbc is going to gainsay her by bringing up hitler and stalin . to so much as suggest that the world may have seen thugs even more evil than saddam is to engage in moral relativism which , in the prevailing foxspeak of the moment , is itself tantamount to treason . in retrospect we can see that patriotism as a tv news marketing ploy was inevitable after dan rather took flak for interviewing saddam in february . there was nothing either exceptional or un american about mr . rather 's interview it showed us a calculating dictator spewing unalloyed propaganda , none of which earned him the sympathy of any american viewers . but the uproar that ensued , stoked by the white_house , sent the clear message that news not upholding the administration 's message was verboten during wartime ( unless the critique is delivered by paid network military consultants ) . the resulting mood has at times made american television seem to march in lockstep as much as state controlled tv in iraq . the tale of pfc . jessica_lynch is a powerful story of a brave soldier and an equally brave rescue mission . but as packaged on tv , and not just by the cable news networks , it was sometimes corrupted into a propagandistic epic at war with the facts . if journalism is the first draft of history , this mutant strain is at best the first draft of the made for tv movie . private lynch 's father himself had to correct the record after reports of his daughter 's gunshot and stab wounds repeatedly outpaced her doctors' findings as if her genuine , serious injuries were not grave enough to justify the tv weight given to her ordeal . ''somebody in the army is trying to turn her into audie murphy , '' a senior defense_department official told the daily news as the mediathon spiraled out of control . meanwhile , the los_angeles times reported that randy kiehl of comfort , tex . , the father of a soldier who was taken prisoner in the same ambush , had to surf the web to find al_jazeera images that might reveal what would turn out to be the tragic fate of his own son . such images were kept off american television . ''it 's a news judgment where we would of course be mindful of the sensibilities of our viewers , '' a cnn spokeswoman told the wall_street_journal , explaining her network 's decision to minimize the savagery and blood of warfare . all the american networks and much of print journalism have made a similar decision even though some on air correspondents , notably abc 's ted_koppel , have questioned it . of course , no reader or viewer should be inundated with gore . but when movies like ''saving private ryan'' and ''black hawk down'' arrived , they were widely applauded for the innovative realism of their battle scenes . would n't it make sense that media depictions of an actual war at least occasionally adhere to the same standard ? is the decision to sanitize ''war in iraq'' really a matter of ''news judgment'' or is it driven by business ? certainly , horrific images would make it tough , if not impossible , to sell commercials which returned with accelerating frequency to the cable networks after the altruistic first few days of the war . as a result , the prewar joke , that this war would be the ultimate reality show , has come true . its life and death perils are airbrushed whenever possible in the same soothing style as the artificial perils of ''survivor . '' it may not be coincidence that bbc , which is commercial free , refused to turn away when blood splashed on its camera lens late last sunday_night during its first hand report on the friendly fire incident that killed 19 kurds . then again , the unsparing first hand written accounts of battle in the major newspapers dexter filkins of the new york times described literal eye for an eye combat near baghdad last weekend are not replicated by the verbal storytelling of many tv correspondents either . appearing recently on jon_stewart 's ''daily show , '' anthony swofford , the former marine who wrote the best selling ''jarhead'' about his experience in the '91 gulf_war , said that he had shut off his tv this time after three or four days and ' 'stayed with the print . '' for all the tv pictures , he noted , ''the actual experience of combat does n't make it to the other side of the screen . '' he and barbara_bush are not alone in tuning out . by late march , cable news ratings had fallen roughly 20 percent from their early highs . eventually a war presented with minimal battlefield realism , canned jingoism and scant debate is going to pall as television no less than it does as journalism . at this rate , it may be only days before sars sends iraq into the same cable memory hole currently occupied by the rest of the middle_east , assuming a resurgence of child abductions does n't come along to trump them both .	has a location of iraq
the department of defense has identified 886 american service members who have died since the start of the iraq_war . it confirmed the death of the following americans yesterday barcus , collier e. , 21 , pfc . , army mchenry , ill . first infantry division . colvill , robert e . jr . , 31 , sgt . , army anderson , ind . first infantry division . davies , shawn m. , 22 , specialist , army aliquippa , pa . first cavalry division . emanuel , william r . iv , 19 , specialist , army stockton , calif . first infantry division . fischer , jeremy j. , 26 , sgt . , army_national_guard lincoln , neb . 267th ordnance company . garmback , joseph m . jr . , 24 , specialist , army cleveland first infantry division . holmes , terry , 22 , cpl . , marines hollywood , fla . first marine division . nachampassak , krisna 27 , sgt . , marines burke , va . first marine division . peters , dustin w. , 25 , staff sgt . , air_force el_dorado , kan . 314th logistics readiness squadron . reed , christopher j. , 20 , pfc . , marines craigmont , idaho first marine division . sampler , . sonny g. , 23 , specialist , army oklahoma_city first infantry division . schmunk , jeremiah w. , 21 , specialist , army_national_guard first battalion , 161st infantry , first cavalry . spink , trevor , staff sgt . , marines 36 , of farmington , mo . first marine division . tarango griess , linda ann , 33 , sgt . first class , army_national_guard sutton , neb . 267th ordnance company . the reach of war	has a location of iraq
ross_perot , whose position on raising taxes has shifted in recent years , said yesterday that , as president , he would " absolutely not " raise taxes , except in the case of " an incredible emergency . " mr . perot went on to pledge not to raise taxes in any event without some unspecified form of advance " clearance " from the american people . at the same time that he promised to hold the line on taxes , mr . perot also said during a two hour television appearance that while he opposed the balanced_budget_amendment defeated yesterday in the house of representatives , he would favor laws that outlaw deficit_spending and require a balanced_budget . mr . perot said it would be possible both to cut taxes and reduce the deficit a goal that eluded president_ronald_reagan by forming a national " consensus " about targeting waste and cutting spending . " then we 'll work our way down to where the big money is , " he said , " and there is a huge amount of waste in the way the system works now . " excerpts , page_a14 . with his broad_brush proposals on taxes and a wide range of economic and social issues on the nbc program " today , " mr . perot provided the most far reaching plan to date for how he would govern as president . but he offered no clues on what his ideas would cost , how much they might save or how he would secure congressional approval of them . those proposals , ranging from continued support for legal abortion to the prevention of foreclosure on the farm mortgages of persian_gulf veterans , amounted to a prescription for radical changes in how the government operates . the undeclared presidential_candidate followed his usual practice of omitting details about budget and tax proposals and how he would shape legislation . instead , he offered the kind of sweeping overview normally associated with party platforms . a mix of proposals but taken together , the outline sketched by the texas businessman showed that he was proposing a mix of democratic and republican proposals that would inject the federal_government into the center of managing the economy and the practices of american business . on social_policy , mr . perot would depart strikingly from current republican policy on abortion , which he said must be " a woman 's choice . " on guns , mr . perot , who has yet to support any gun_control legislation , repeated his assertion that he wanted to " get the guns out of the hands of violent people . " but he offered no proposals to achieve that goal . on the economic side , mr . perot called for something akin to the democratic proposal for an industrial_policy that would provide freer credit and tax breaks for small businesses and involve the government in long range planning with major corporations . mr . perot saved his sharpest partisan shots for president_bush and the republicans . he said he would outlaw lobbying for foreign governments by former government officials , contending that the bush campaign was rife with such lobbyists . he also accused mr . bush of encouraging the growth of iraqi military power and then hiding the details of american relations with saddam_hussein under a false cloak of national_security . the attacks on mr . bush drew a sharp retort from the bush campaign , whose spokeswoman zeroed in on mr . perot 's lack of detail and his changing tax position . torie clarke , press_secretary for the bush campaign , said of mr . perot " the guy is full of ambiguities and hypocricies and delusionary tactics . he 's trying to make people believe things are happening that are just not true . the stuff about farmers being pulled off their farms because of the war and losing their farms when they got back , that 's just not true . they 're apocryphal anecdotes . a couple of years ago , he was saying tax increases are the only way to go . now you ca n't tell where he is . " ms . clarke asserted that there were " no specifics " in what mr . perot has to say . " it 's very hard to react to ross_perot because you ca n't figure out where he is on anything , " she said . " let 's have ross_perot deliver a budget like the president 's , of comparable size , with comparable specifics and then we 'll talk . let 's see if he has any clue how to run this country and address the tough issues . " in 1987 , mr . perot wrote in an op_ed article for the washington_post " we must cut spending and raise taxes to pay our bills . we all know it . " yesterday , he said he would only support a tax increase during wartime . " you 've got to stop raising taxes , " he said . " you 've got to bring discipline . so , unless there 's some kind of incredible emergency that i ca n't envision , absolutely not . " 'get rid of the pac money' he said he would " get rid of " political_action_committees . he and his employees have supported the committees with large contributions as far back as the nixon_administration . he linked such reforms to controlling spending . " get rid of the foreign lobbyists , " he said . " get rid of the pac money . pass a law to stop deficit_spending . pass another law to balance the budget . he added , " if you want to raise taxes , you have to come to the people and get their clearance because you have n't been responsible . " it was unclear if mr . perot , in speaking of " clearance " was talking about a referendum or some kind of testing of public opinion involving his idea of televized " town hall " meetings to shape national policy . aides to gov . bill clinton , who appeared tuesday on " today , " said the democrat was working this morning and did not see mr . perot . but these staff members said the dallas businessman 's lack of specificity showed the weakness of his candidacy . " he 's ronald_reagan without the substance , " said paul begala , a senior strategist for mr . clinton . " there 's just no there there . " mr . perot has made many of these same policy recommendations in other forums . but in sitting down for two hours and answering questions from viewers and from the co host of " today , " katherine couric , mr . perot gave what may have been his largest audience ever its most detailed look at his economic plans . on social_security at the same time , the texas billionaire , who at times appeared uncharacteristically nervous , verbally dodged and weaved when it came to issues in which his views seemed less well formed or areas he deemed less important . for instance , when a viewer from vero beach , fla . , asked whether his plan to save 20 billion in social_security payments meant cutting off benefits for retirees earning more than 60 , 000 , mr . perot spent several minutes rambling about the generosity of americans , the people who fought in world_war_ii and korea and the preoccupation of people with their grandchildren . he even recited a few lyrics from " tomorrow , " a song from the musical " annie . " " are you satisfied with that answer ? " ms . couric asked the caller after mr . perot finished . " well , he did n't really answer the question , " the caller replied , forcing mr . perot to say that he might ask elderly people making over 60 , 000 to give up their benefits voluntarily .	has a location of iraq
munther al fadhal believes that there is no place for religion in a new constitution for iraq . he favors the establishment of relations between iraq and israel . he even thinks iraq should outlaw the death_penalty . such an agenda might not seem surprising in washington or in sweden , dr . fadhal 's temporary home . but in iraq , even after saddam_hussein , and in much of the arab_world , it is very radical indeed , challenging deeply felt views about islam , israel and arab autonomy . and yet , this very weekend , aboard an american military plane , dr . fadhal is beginning a trip home to iraq to try to put his ideas in place . as the designated senior adviser to the iraqi justice ministry , he will be one of the leaders of a 150 strong team of exiles plucked by the pentagon from posts in america and europe to help shape the new iraq . a look at the team , assembled in a mere two months by deputy defense secretary paul d . wolfowitz , shows how boldly the united_states is trying to import secular , democratic notions to an iraq whose political future remains the subject of profound division and flux . it also underscores some of the considerable risks involved . ''maybe in five or six years they 'll understand that this guy is a good guy , '' dr . fadhal said the other day over lunch near the pentagon , referring to himself . more immediately , though , he said he expected that iraqis who stayed behind through mr . hussein 's rule would view him with hostility , not just as an import but ''as an agent or a spy . '' as a precaution , he said , he has arranged for six kurdish bodyguards to meet him in baghdad , to supplement his american military guards . pentagon officials have described the team of advisers , which works from united_states financed offices in virginia and is called the iraqi reconstruction and redevelopment council , as primarily administrators whose job will be to smooth a transition to an iraqi led authority by resuscitating moribund ministries and restarting basic services . ''it 's an enormously valuable asset to have people who share our values , understand what we 're about as a country , and are in most cases citizens of this country , but who also speak the language , share the culture and know their way around iraq , '' mr . wolfowitz said in a telephone interview . he said the iraqi advisers would not play political roles . ''they are going to give us technical advice , '' he said . but some iraqi exile leaders say the creation of the team was too narrow and overly influenced by the views of mr . wolfowitz and fellow conservatives , who have espoused a vision of bold change in iraq . ''this is insulting , '' said imam husham al husainy , an iraqi shiite leader who runs the karbalaa islamic education center in detroit , which is aligned with the supreme council on islamic_revolution in iraq , a group that is based in iran and has kept at arm 's length from the american government building effort . ''we do n't follow others , '' imam husainy said in dismissing as ''yes men'' the members of the pentagon assembled team . ''where is the democracy if you 're just dictating our ideas ? that 's not democracy . '' certainly most of the advisers espouse liberal , secular ideals that are at odds even with those of many other iraqi exiles as well as powerful forces inside iraq . the leader of the group is emad dhia , a 51 year old engineer and pharmaceutical executive on leave from pfizer in ann_arbor , mich . among the other important advisers are dr . fadhal , a legal scholar and author of a draft iraqi constitution , and khidhir hamza , a nuclear scientist who , with help from the central_intelligence_agency in the 1990 's , became one of iraq 's most prominent defectors . the seeds for the exiles' team were planted at a reception that mr . wolfowitz attended in washington last fall , pentagon officials and the exiles say . there , joanne dickow , an iraqi american from michigan who was an administration appointee at the energy department , discussed iraqi american and arab_american views about the war with mr . wolfowitz . he asked if it would be useful to reach out to iraqi americans . after a flurry of meetings in the detroit area between iraqi exiles and defense_department officials , the plans for the group were devised at a february meeting at the pentagon and cemented after a rally in dearborn , mich . , on feb . 23 at which mr . wolfowitz was the leading attraction . the team was assembled over the next two months , in a round the world burst of telephone negotiations and voice_mail messages left by mr . dhia . by the middle of this coming week , at least two dozen exiles will be installed in key temporary posts advising jay_garner , the retired lieutenant_general who has been the country 's day to day administrator , and l . paul_bremer , the retired state_department official who is expected to be appointed iraq 's senior american overseer . some american officials openly hope that some of the iraqis will stay on even longer to serve under the transitional government that iraqi political leaders themselves are trying to assemble , under american and british supervision , with a target date now set for late this month or early june . the roots of the exiles' team led back to the iraqi forum for democracy , which mr . dhia co founded in 1998 . composed mostly of secular professionals from across the spectrum of iraq 's shiite , sunni , kurdish and christian populations , the group 's declared mission has been ''to promote democracy and democratic values for iraq by peaceful means . '' some iraqi american critics said they were troubled by the speed of the process . ''many of us are really upset that we did n't know about this , '' said raz rasool , who fled iraq in 1998 and is a member of the advocacy_group women for a free iraq . ''they started this two months ago , and we read about it just this week . '' in the interview , mr . wolfowitz took issue with the idea that the selection process had been improper . ''what we 're saying is they share our values , so we should n't be dealing with them ? '' he said . dr . wolfowitz announced plans to form the exile team at the feb . 23 rally . still , the pentagon has been guarded in answering inquiries about the team , although officials say their motivation is to provide security . during their time in the washington area , mr . dhia , who returned to baghdad late last month , and other team members have lived and worked in apartments and offices paid for by the united_states_government , and received salaries and pocket money paid by american taxpayers . before heading to baghdad , each team member has been required by the pentagon to undergo several days of training at american military bases , to learn how to protect themselves against possible attack . in baghdad , dr . fadhal said , the team will live and work in compounds guarded by american_soldiers . but technically , they are working for saic , a defense_contractor , and their heavily_guarded offices outside washington have been equipped with telephone numbers and e mail addresses that betray no hint of a pentagon link . most members of the team have post graduate degrees , according to pentagon officials and the exiles themselves . a substantial number are naturalized citizens of the united_states or european_countries . while some are well known , many others are not . among the latter group , mohammad ali zainy , an american citizen designated as senior iraqi adviser to the ministry of oil , held only a mid ranking position in that ministry before he fled iraq in 1982 . now 64 , he worked in colorado as an oil company executive and energy consultant before joining the center for global energy studies in london , where he has been analyst for several years . dr . hamza , also 64 , on the other hand , is a nuclear_physicist who became well known in the west after he fled iraq in 1994 , first to libya and then to the united_states . his six months of experience in 1987 as director of iraq 's efforts to develop nuclear_weapons made him valuable to the c.i.a. , which , after rebuffing his initial attempts , ultimately helped dr . hamza and his family resettle in the washington area . david_albright , a former united_nations weapons inspector who is president of the institute for science and international security , an advocate of the inspections , worked closely with dr . hamza in the late 1990 's , but describes him as becoming sharply critical of the process . he said dr . hamza believed that the inspections threatened to undermine his overarching goal of ousting mr . hussein . ''if the inspections work , then the regime_change ca n't happen , ' '' mr . albright says dr . hamza told him . dr . fadhal , 52 , who left iraq after the 1991 persian_gulf_war , was a law professor in baghdad who had drawn attention to himself by criticizing iraq 's occupation of kuwait . he fled first to jordan and then to sweden , where he and his family now live . along with others who are now part of the pentagon team , he was among 32 iraqi exiles who helped to prepare a state_department report last year on the future of iraq . in that role , he prepared a draft of an iraqi constitution , a task that he said he hoped to complete on behalf of a future iraqi transitional government , among other tasks . ''i will take care of the ministry of justice in iraq , and abolish all of saddam 's legal system , '' he said , ''to create the new legal system toward democracy that will accept human_rights , that will fight corruption in iraq , and create new laws to build democracy . '' a shiite_muslim whose family is from the holy_city of najaf , dr . fadhal now describes himself as a secularist who believes that islam should play no role in iraq 's constitution . that would set a future iraq apart even from pro western arab countries like egypt , where the constitution describes islam as the principal source of the country 's laws . in that regard , dr . fadhal 's views are more secular than those of most iraqi opposition groups , and go beyond even the most recent stance taken by the bush_administration . the white_house said last month that it would not allow iraq to become a theocratic state like iran , but could endorse what it called an ''islamic democracy'' for the country . ultimately , dr . fadhal said , he would prefer for family reasons to work abroad for a new iraqi government perhaps as its ambassador to sweden or to a united nations organization in geneva . he would not rule out serving as a future minister of justice , but said he recognized that he and other exiles would face high hurdles . ''i have a dream , '' he said , ''to build in iraq a civil_society , a democracy , like switzerland or sweden . but now there is chaos and risk from islamic fanatic groups , and from the baath_party and from the arab terrorists who supported the hussein government . ''the iraqi people have been brainwashed , '' he said , ''and it is our responsibility to build a new brain . '' aftereffects the advisers correction may 7 , 2003 , wednesday a front page article on sunday about a pentagon project to enlist exiles to help reshape iraq referred_imprecisely in some editions to official reticence . the pentagon has been guarded in replying to inquiries about the project , citing security . but deputy defense secretary paul d . wolfowitz made it public on feb . 23 ''under close wraps'' did not signify complete silence . in some editions the article also misstated the scope of a conversation last fall between mr . wolfowitz and joanne dickow , an iraqi american at the energy department . she spoke with him about the views of arab_americans and agreed to help him meet iraqi americans she did not encourage him to reach out to them as part of a campaign to rally sentiment against iraq 's rulers .	has a location of iraq
the iraqi authorities said sunday that they had found the bodies of 46 people who had been killed . in addition , two suicide bombers blew themselves up near a town courthouse just north of baghdad , killing five other people and narrowly missing a regional governor . in a series of grisly discoveries on sunday that are becoming increasingly common here , the interior_ministry said , the authorities found the corpses , some of soldiers and some apparently of civilians , in baghdad and three other cities . some were found in a garbage_dump and some at a poultry farm , among other locations . the authorities did not identify the dead or provide details about who might be behind the killings . the day was also punctuated by three assassinations , including one of a shiite_cleric . the killings came as secretary of state condoleezza_rice made a surprise visit to iraq , and one day after the american military said it had completed a major offensive against insurgents in the desert in western iraq near the border with syria . the newly formed iraqi government on sunday made its first substantive public remarks about the recent surge in violence , which has killed more than 400 iraqis since late april . laith_kubba , the spokesman for prime_minister ibrahim_al_jaafari , said that the government would crack down on the insurgents and that proposals to carry out that mission were forthcoming . ''iraq has suffered from the spread of criminal networks throughout the country , '' mr . kubba said . ''these criminals are trying to demonstrate and prove that the government is incapable of protecting the people . '' ''these groups are professional groups , '' he said . ''they do not hesitate to kill hundreds of iraqis with no remorse . '' among the bodies found sunday were 13 that had been partly buried in a garbage_dump near a shiite_slum here . their hands were bound , and some appeared to have been blindfolded , a witness said . they appeared to have been killed recently , officials said . later in the day , the defense ministry said 10 iraqi soldiers had been found with their throats cut , near ramadi , an insurgent_stronghold north of baghdad . eleven bodies of men thought to be poultry workers who had been shot dead were found south of baghdad near the town of iskandariya , in an area prone to insurgent attack . on sunday_night , an interior_ministry official reported yet another discovery in shaab , a town north of baghdad , the police found 12 bodies in two areas . the victims were wearing only underwear , with their hands tied behind their backs , and they had been shot in the head execution style , the official said . in an organized series of shootings , a senior industry ministry official and his driver were shot dead while driving to work in the southwestern part of baghdad . a few hours later , one of the grand_ayatollah_ali_al_sistani 's aides in baghdad , sheik qasim al ghirawi , and his son were shot dead , also while riding in a car . in a third shooting , an official in the education ministry and his son were killed south of baghdad . the double suicide_attack took place in baquba , a town just north of baghdad that is an insurgent_stronghold . a car bomber blew himself up near a courthouse , narrowly missing the governor of diyala_province . in an increasingly common tactic , another bomber attacked soon after at a nearby spot , killing 5 other people and wounding 24 , an interior_ministry official said . three men whom the iraqi authorities have described as palestinians and one iraqi were shown confessing on an iraqi television_program saturday night to having engineered a suicide_bombing attack in a busy baghdad market on thursday . the group appeared on a daily program that features interviews with men captured in security raids , called ''terror in the hands of justice . '' maj . gen . muhammad hussein , the iraqi_army commando unit leader who said he had taken them into custody , said in an interview that those described as palestinians were seized after a shiite_militia , the badr brigade , captured the iraqi . the men were in their 30 's and 40 's , he said , and were captured in their apartments and in a car repair shop , where one of them is accused of having prepared the explosive laden car . general hussein said that the men had fake syrian and iraqi passports and that they had been identified as palestinians by their speech and the baghdad area where they lived . but on sunday , a sunni religious group , the muslim scholars association , said the men were innocent and ''had never borne arms , '' agence france press reported . sunni arabs , embittered over what they say has been unfair treatment by the shiite led government , often express resentment of policing by iraq 's new predominantly_shiite force . general hussein , a shiite , contended in the interview that religion was not a factor in making security arrests . a militant islamic group , ansar_al_sunna , on sunday released a video on a web_site that appeared to show insurgents attacking a convoy and shooting four people dead . it was not clear who the victims were in the violent scene , in which the gunmen continued to shoot bodies of men who appeared to be already dead . another web_site that tracks videos issued by insurgents suggested that there might be a connection with the kidnapping last week of a japanese man , akihiko saito , near an american base west of baghdad . the governor of the western province of anbar , raja nawaf farhan al mahalawi , who had been kidnapped early last week as the american military carried out an offensive in western iraq , was freed sunday , the associated press reported . the report said that the kidnappers had told his family that they were holding him until american_forces ceased their military action in the area . the american military said it had detained 21 suspected insurgents in and around the northern city of mosul on sunday .	has a location of iraq
even as the united_states remains deeply engaged in iraq , defense secretary donald h . rumsfeld and the armed services are considering sweeping changes to decades old pentagon practices and ingrained military culture to prepare faster for any future war . the official ''lessons learned'' from the war are still being compiled . but the end of major combat operations in iraq is already providing an opportunity to question how the military 's forces are configured in what numbers and where and to seek new ways of building additional combat power rapidly if needed to defend american interests . as four aircraft_carriers return from the war with iraq , the navy is analyzing ways to compress the lengthy maintenance cycles for its 12 carrier battle groups . proposals under consideration would allow the navy to routinely press more warships into service , even doubling if needed the three carrier battle groups normally on patrol , a schedule that has driven navy personnel and budget planning for decades . the air_force , which has already withdrawn more than 100 aircraft from the gulf area , is regrouping its 10 sets of air combat forces and talking to the navy about sharing reconnaissance missions . officers in the army , whose tanks dashed hundreds of miles to baghdad through the punishing iraqi desert , have spent recent days analyzing how to reorganize their decade old system of prepositioning large arsenals of armored_vehicles in warehouses and aboard ships throughout the region . and the marines are starting to pull back forces from iraq to their ships so they can be ready to steam to another crisis on short notice . this work is not built around any particular adversary or threat , but is intended to give the president a fresh set of military capabilities he may need to defend american interests . even so , the analysis responds to the fast changing global terrorist threat , and to nuclear tensions growing on the korean_peninsula . the process has given rise to a new pentagon buzz phrase . previously , this period was known as a time of ' 'reconstituting the force'' but that resonates of returning to a prewar status_quo . today , the task is ' 'setting the force , '' and the goal is to use the return from iraq to freshly configure the military . mr . rumsfeld is touring the persian gulf_region this week , and a significant part of his time will be spent discussing the military presence there . but the debate has implications for base structure across the united_states and the world , in particular in germany and south_korea , as well as for long standing personnel , training , readiness and budget policies . mr . rumsfeld made transforming the military the goal of his tenure , and the war served as a battlefield laboratory . the first test for the military was deploying forces toward iraq with speed and flexibility , compared with the slow buildup to the 1991 persian_gulf_war . the second was carrying out the war plan with flexibility to defeat changing iraqi tactics , as well as engaging iraqi forces with speed , precision and deadliness . now , in the months ahead , the military will be judged by a third test , how efficiently it withdraws its forces , refills its bins of weaponry and prepares for future missions . inspiring the review is the new military_strategy adopted by mr . rumsfeld 's pentagon in 2001 . this strategy requires the military to defend the united_states against external attacks deter aggression in four critical regions of the world northeast asia , east_asia , the middle_east southwest asia and europe assure decisive victory in a major war against one adversary while almost simultaneously swiftly defeating the efforts of another and , all the while , conduct limited contingency operations . for its part , the navy is preparing a ''fleet response concept'' that envisions a carrier force that can mobilize on short notice and in greater numbers to hot_spots , and is experimenting with leaving ships at sea longer than the traditional six months by rotating in fresh crews to operate them . most importantly , the navy is considering whether it should be more flexible in the schedules for its battle groups , which have gone to sea on timetables so regular that potential adversaries know months in advance when they will sail . adm . vern clark , the chief_of_naval_operations , sent an unusual message this month to every commander . the navy declined to release a copy of the unclassified message , but several officers who received the communication quoted its contents . ''make no mistake . our post operation_iraqi_freedom navy will be different , '' the admiral wrote . ''we are posturing for the long haul . for all the forces heading home , our mission now is to re cock this force . i ask you to challenge every assumption . '' the air_force has brought more than 100 aircraft home . another 50 warplanes that were stationed at incirlik air base in turkey , enforcing the no flight zone over northern iraq for the past decade , left earlier , their mission ended by the war . the first priority is to allow returning pilots , crews and other personnel to spend time with their families . then the units need to unpack their gear , tend to their jets and other equipment and resume regular training programs , a priority for each service . several years ago , the air_force divided its aircraft into 10 sets , called air expeditionary forces , intended to deploy in pairs for 90 days . four air expeditionary forces were sent to the fight in iraq , as well as parts of four others . a senior air_force official predicted the service would get four of the units back into regular schedules by early summer , but it could take a year before the entire rotation is back on track . in addition , the official said , the air_force was looking at how its rc 135 reconnaissance planes could find greater efficiencies by working closely with the navy 's ep 3 aircraft . both planes collect electronic transmissions like radar signals or cellphone conversations . the army has a great challenge as it moves to set its force . though it remains unknown how many thousands of americans will remain in iraq for the stabilization mission , and for how long , it is certain that most will be army troops . even so , with the rapid victory over saddam_hussein 's government , the pentagon canceled orders that would have sent the first cavalry division , based at fort_hood , tex . , to iraq . those troops and armor are now poised at home for any future mission , a role that one senior officer called ''our strategic hedge . '' one senior army officer discussed how the service would fulfill its post_war mission in iraq even as officers analyze issues like whether to restock warehouses in the gulf with the same number of armored_vehicles as they would have a decade ago , after the first gulf_war , and how quickly spent artillery shells can be replaced with a new generation of precision ordnance . ''we will fight our battles even as we transform , '' this officer said . aftereffects military_strategy	has a location of iraq
over the last two years , abu_musab_al_zarqawi established the web as a powerful tool of the global jihad , mobilizing computer savvy allies who inspired extremists in iraq and beyond with lurid video clips of the bombings and beheadings his group carried out . on thursday the electronic network that he helped to build was abuzz with commentary about his death , with supporters posting eulogies , praising what they called his martyrdom and vowing to continue his fight . one qaeda ideologist who calls himself lewis attiya allah declared that mr . zarqawi 's death was a ''victory'' for islam , saying , ''allah chose him'' and ''we are all al zarqawi , '' according to the site institute in washington , which tracks militants' web postings . an online jihadist publication called sada al jihad , or echo of jihad , declared , ''our nation can provide more sons , '' adding , ''the day of revenge is coming soon , very soon . '' the flood of web tributes , their tone more defiant than sorrowful , reached an audience that mr . zarqawi had greatly expanded . while other militants , from the chechen separatists to hamas palestinians , had built web_sites to spread their message , mr . zarqawi and his aides were the first to take full advantage of the technology . mr . zarqawi 's web propaganda generated and probably embellished his reputation in the iraqi insurgency . but it also helped secure the internet as a center of terrorist recruitment and instruction , partly supplanting the role of old qaeda training camps in afghanistan , according to counterterrorism officials and analysts . in recent months , his video messages and vivid images of violence have been posted on multiple computer servers to avoid downloading delays , with one version designed for viewing on cellphones . ''i would call him the alexander graham bell of terrorist propaganda , '' said evan f . kohlmann , who follows militants' web_sites at globalterroralert . com . ''it 's a new day for these groups because of him . '' in april , when mr . zarqawi posted a video that showed his face for the first time , sympathizers posted translations of his speech within hours in english , german , french , dutch and other languages . a london man , younis tsouli , who was arrested on terrorism charges in october , is believed to have played a critical role in spreading mr . zarqawi 's communiqu s , which the authorities say have helped incite homegrown terrorist plotters and suspects in many countries , including the 17 men arrested last week in canada . ''while osama_bin_laden traditionally relied on al_jazeera and the media to disseminate his propaganda , zarqawi went straight to the internet , which enabled him to produce graphic videos that would never have been shown on the mainstream media , '' said rita katz , director of the site institute . videotape that showed a masked man , thought to be mr . zarqawi , as he beheaded an american businessman in iraq , nicholas_berg , in 2004 became a gruesome model for others seeking similar notoriety . videos later posted in thailand showed people being beheaded by militants ''who looked into the camera and said one word 'zarqawi , ' '' mr . kohlmann said . since his first communiqu appeared on a jihadist web forum in april 2004 , mr . zarqawi 's media operation has posted hundreds of others , often with video clips . lasting only a minute or two , the clips gave jihadist oratory far more immediacy masked snipers shoot at american_soldiers a suicide_bomber 's car speeds toward an armored_personnel_carrier before disappearing in a fireball a bomb detonates in a truck convoy , with drivers fleeing the flames . sometimes mr . zarqawi 's media efforts , overseen by an associate who calls himself abu maysara al iraqi , were more ambitious . an hourlong video released in 2004 , called ''the winds of victory , '' collected pictures of suicide bombings and other attacks in a slick production that was serialized on jihadist web_sites . volunteers abroad have played an important role in distributing the material . mr . tsouli , the man arrested in london , and believed to be the web operator using the online name irhabi 007 ( irhabi is arabic for terrorist ) , became known worldwide for duplicating and posting mr . zarqawi 's messages . ''if a beheading appears on a web_site , it can sometimes be taken down in seconds , '' said gabriel weimann , a professor at the university of haifa in israel and the author of ''terror on the internet . '' ''but if someone like irhabi downloads it and posts it all over the web , the message gets out . '' what appears to be surveillance video of washington monuments on mr . tsouli 's computer was also found in the possession of two georgia men arrested in march and april , according to a law enforcement official who spoke only on condition of anonymity . the georgia men , ehsanul islam sadequee and syed haris ahmed , in turn , had contacts with some of the 17 men arrested in ontario last week . ''very often these people do n't know one another , '' mr . weimann said . ''but they 're all connected on the net . '' the struggle for iraq the internet	has a location of iraq
friction between the broadcast networks and the cable_news_network escalated yesterday when two network news executives accused cnn of making concessions to the iraqis in exchange for cnn 's special access to news from baghdad in the first three weeks of the war in the persian_gulf . a cnn executive called the charges " desperate . " the networks also moved to limit cnn 's use of reports from network correspondents by changing the rules governing the television news pool reports . cnn has repeatedly denied it won special access to news in baghdad through a deal with the iraqi government . since the end of the first week of the war , only cnn has had a correspondent , peter_arnett , broadcasting from the iraqi capital . iraqis use cnn phone but last weekend , cnn admitted it had allowed iraqi officials to use cnn 's satellite telephone , though only for limited purposes . ed turner , the executive vice_president of cnn , said that the iraqis had only used the phone to relay requests for visas for other journalists . he added that early reports of iraqi officials' using the phone for other purposes were unfounded . but joanna bistany , a vice_president of abc_news , said she did not believe the cnn story that the phone was being used only for visa requests . " it does n't make sense at all , " ms . bistany said . a news executive with another network , who spoke on the condition of anonymity , questioned why the iraqis would need to use cnn 's telephone rather than a telex . no one who could officially speak for nbc or cbs would comment for the record . 'absolutely nothing improper' mr . turner said he trusted his people in baghdad when they said the iraqis have used the phone for no other purposes . " we have done absolutely nothing improper , " he said . " why would we jeopardize our credibility with something like this ? " he disparaged the comments by the other networks as the reaction of " people who are behind on a story . " he added , " when you 're desperate , you 'll say desperate things . " mr . turner also deplored the decision by the other networks to prevent cnn from using the on camera pool reports filed by correspondents from the other networks . " we think it 's unfortunate that they have limited the world 's opportunity to see their correspondents , " he said . when an abc correspondent was the pool reporter , his name , face and voice appeared on cnn . the other networks would use the scenes and script from the pool report but would not actually show the correspondent . " we were keeping cnn on the air with our people , " ms . bistany said . she said that the president of abc_news , roone arledge , had decided that something should be done about the pool arrangement after he saw several abc correspondents , including james wooten , reporting on cnn before they appeared on abc . " cbs or nbc does n't put jim wooten on , " ms . bistany said . last week the networks took a vote on changing the rules of the pool so that only the video and script of a pool reports could be used on another network . the vote was three to one . " we voted against it . " mr . turner said . " mr . wooten 's fans worldwide will be disappointed . " ms . bistany said cnn had been particularly reluctant to share access and equipment . the other news executive said the cnn story about the iraqis' using the satellite_phone to set up visas for other journalists " in itself raises questions about why no other north_american journalists were allowed in for so long . " mr . turner agreed that cnn had interceded on behalf of journalists except those from other news organizations in north_america . " this is a very competitive story , " he said . he added that cnn had also used its phone for such purposes as asking the iraqis to help a cbs_news executive in his search for that network 's missing correspondent , bob simon . but he said cnn had done nothing to stop other north_american journalists from obtaining visas . ms . bistany said abc was able to get a correspondent , bill blakemore , and equipment into baghdad last week by convincing the iraqis that " most of america was n't seeing anything from iraq because it was only going out on cable . " in an apparently unrelated incident , cnn 's offices in atlanta and washington had to be evacuated yesterday after a bomb threat . the network carried a tape of a pentagon news conference for 45 minutes , then resumed its regular schedule .	has a location of iraq
president_clinton warned iraq today that its continuing refusal to allow united_nations inspectors to monitor missile test sites could have " quite serious " consequences , and he said the matter must be resolved soon . the blunt statement reflected increasing american impatience with the renewed iraqi intransigence . despite a similarly strong warning from the united_nations_security_council , iraq has given no sign that it will back down from its refusal to permit the inspections . the standoff , which began in early june , has become the most serious between iraq and the united_nations since one around the time mr . clinton took office . that dispute involved baghdad 's refusal to allow united_nations inspectors to use their own aircraft on flights to and from iraq and culminated in american led air_strikes against iraqi targets . no retaliation planned white_house officials said today that the united_states was not contemplating any immediate resort to military force . but they said mr . clinton was determined to make clear that the united_states would not tolerate further iraqi interference with the united_nations inspections authorized under the sanctions imposed after iraq 's defeat in the persian_gulf_war . the president 's remarks , issued during an early morning appearance on the the south lawn of the white_house , introduced mr . clinton in a role made familiar by president george_bush , voicing threats intended to persuade iraq to back down . but some american officials said today that they believed that heightened operations by iraq 's military may reflect its willingness to risk western retaliation again for the perceived benefits of standing up to the united_states and the united_nations . the security_council adopted a resolution last friday warning of " serious consequences " if baghdad refused to accept the installation of united_nations cameras at the missile test sites . but iraq has continued to insist that it has cooperated with the united_nations resolutions and is trying to persuade the security_council to lift the sanctions . a newspaper controlled by the son of president saddam_hussein said this week that baghdad 's destiny was " to go all the way , and act decisively to break the embargo . " asked by a reporter this morning how he viewed the standoff , mr . clinton immediately responded that it was " quite serious . " he added , " i would expect that the matter will have to be resolved one way or the other in the fairly near future . " mr . clinton spoke at an impromptu news conference after a ceremony at which , as expected , he announced the appointment of kristine m . gebbie , the former washington_state health commissioner , as the country 's first aids policy coordinator . white_house officials said that harold varmus , a nobel_prize winning molecular biologist from the university of california , remained the leading candidate to take over the national_institutes_of_health , but mr . clinton made no announcement on the nomination . a monitoring dispute the latest dispute between the united_states and iraq has to do with a united_nations effort to monitor two iraqi test sites south of baghdad to make sure that iraq does not produce missiles with a range of more than 150 kilometers , the maximum permitted under the terms that ended the war . the united_nations has said that baghdad has also refused to allow its specialists to destroy equipment that could be used to produce chemical_weapons . a team led by a russian inspector , nikita smidovich , arrived in baghdad on june 4 to install sensitive american made cameras at the two sites , but it has not yet been permitted to do so . in recent days , american officials have said that iraq appears to have taken steps to put its air defense on a heightened state of alert as if to guard against an attack . although saying baghdad appeared most concerned about a strike from iran , the officials have said the moves could reflect concern about a western air raid . in episodes that began on june 3 , united_states warplanes have detected new efforts by iraqi antiaircraft units to track their flights over southern iraq , the american officials said . the united_states pilots subjected to that scrutiny have not perceived themselves to be endangered by it and have chosen not to respond with military force , as the current american rules of engagement allow them to do . but the episodes appeared to reflect heightened monitoring near the iranian border . on june 3 and 4 , they said , american warplanes on three occasions spotted tracer fire from antiaircraft_batteries in eastern iraq , and one of the aircraft reported that it might have been illuminated by a ground based radar . a similar episode occurred on june 16 , when two navy flight crews also reported signs of being monitored by iraqi radar in eastern iraq , the officials said . the final two episodes , which occurred on june 20 , involved more radar contacts detected by two air_force planes . all were described by the american officials as violations of united_nations rules prohibiting interference with the patrols .	has a location of iraq
old soldiers , it turns out , do n't just fade away not when a war is being carried live on cnn , msnbc , fox_news and the broadcast networks . instead , a whole constellation of retired one , two , three and four star generals including many who led the recent wars in afghanistan , kosovo and the persian_gulf can be seen night and day across the television firmament , navigation aids for viewers lost in a narrative that can be foggier than war itself . the generals bring a new , deep perspective to the coverage of the war . many of them led the same units that are fighting in iraq or commanded , trained or shared barracks and beers with the current commanders . at their best , they can introduce a laconic , pithy sang froid that smooths out the sometimes frantic reporting of television journalists at the front , who tend to see the war through the narrow lens of immediacy . ''if things have n't gone exactly according to script , they 've gone according to plan , '' lt . gen . greg newbold , formerly of the marines , said on abc_news last friday . he should know until late last year he was helping to draw up those plans as the director of operations for the joint_chiefs_of_staff . but the generals' performances raise some questions , including how much they really know and whether they are disclosing more than they should . some receive occasional briefings from the pentagon , but like most reporters , they stay current by checking with their friends in the military and studying all the public information they can gather . on the other hand , their evident sympathies with the current commanders , not to mention their respect for the military and immersion in its doctrines , sometimes seem to immunize them to the self imposed skepticism of the news organizations that now employ them . rarely , unless pressed , do the generals bluntly criticize the conduct of the war , a detailed review of their recent remarks discloses . instead , they tend gravely to point out the timeless risks of combat . in the early hours of this morning , though , after the sharpest fighting to that point of the war far resulted in scores killed , wounded or captured , gen . wesley k . clark , an army retiree who was the top nato commander during the kosovo war , questioned whether the central_command had committed enough soldiers . ''i would have preferred more forces there , '' general clark said , noting that three divisions expected to join the war had not yet arrived . ''our boots on the ground strength is low , '' he continued . ''the command believes they can do the job , and i do n't know the details , but i trust their judgment . but if you ask me , as an old soldier , i like to have an insurance policy . '' more typical was a description by gen . wayne a . downing , a former army leader of the special_operations command and a gulf_war commander in 1991 , of gen . tommy r . franks , the iraq_war 's overall regional commander . ''tommy started off as an enlisted helicopter door gunner in vietnam , '' general downing said , rattling off the story of his old comrade 's career as if by rote . ''he 's not going to go down there and mess with his people . not only is tommy comfortable and well liked by his superiors , which a lot of people are , but tommy has n't made his money by looking up . he 's made his money by looking down . '' when it comes to explaining the nuts and bolts of an operation , the technical details of weapons , the decisions facing american and british commanders , the generals often perform reasonably well . even more interesting , if more speculative , are their musings on what the iraqi high command might be thinking . ''let 's give the iraqis some credit , '' said gen . michael c . short , retired from the air_force , in a discussion on msnbc about the iraqis' habit of blasting the skies of baghdad with antiaircraft_guns . ''some of them are solid military professionals . they will know where their command and control targets are . they will have looked around 360 degrees and say , 'where will the cruise_missile have to go to get to this target ? we 'll put guns in that area . ' '' lt . gen . bernard e . trainor , retired from the marines , who after leaving the joint staff became a military analyst for the new york times and now appears on msnbc , pondered the iraqi command 's mindset as american_forces neared baghdad today . ''if he moves , we kill him if he stays put , we kill him , '' general trainor said . ''and regardless of what they 're told to do over the network , whatever is left of the command and control , unless it comes down to using chemical_weapons , then the rest of it is just ancillary . if this is going to be the communication of red telephone , if you will , to tell people to launch chemical_weapons and we 're reaching that point in the operation if they 're going to use their stuff , they 'd better start thinking about it , because pretty soon we 're in downtown baghdad . '' general clark , leaning over a big table in cnn 's studio and using a long stick to move figurines around a map of the theater , is careful to note that the movements he describes or predicts are only approximations of the actual situation . ''the other military analysts and i continue to hear feedback that people are still concerned that somehow we 're giving away plans , '' he said the other night . ''and you know , i just want to reassure everybody that we 're very sensitive to that , that none of us have seen those plans . and we would n't ask our military colleagues about them . we 're hypersensitive to the safety of the soldiers . ''and so , we 're very careful about what we say , '' he added . ''there 's a whole lot going on in this battlefield that we 're not reporting , not talking about , not speculating on . '' general clark , whose meetings with democratic activists have fueled speculation that he wants to run for president , may be the smoothest and most urbane of the former generals to have turned , as churchill might have put it , from war war to jaw jaw . if general clark were ever to run for office , his prolonged exposure on television during the war could only boost his name recognition , and it may be that his political instincts mellow the tone that a more pugnacious commentator might provide . for other generals , the fame that comes with the studio lights may not match the fortune . even the less prominent ones , who are not under long term contract , can make 500 per appearance . to a man , they emphasize the gravity of what the military is up to in iraq . ''it 's not entertainment , '' general clark said . a nation at war military commentators	has a location of iraq
last august , richard n . perle , the former bush_administration adviser who advocated strongly for the iraq invasion , found himself surrounded by antiwar demonstrators on the mall in front of the washington monument . he did n't want to be there , but for ''the case for war , '' a documentary laying out his arguments , his producers insisted that he confront his most emotional critics , with television cameras rolling , to add journalistic balance . he clearly looks uncomfortable in the film , to be shown on pbs in two weeks . ''it was n't a particularly pleasant experience , '' mr . perle said in an interview . ''what you do n't see is a long period where they are hurling epithets at me . '' for six consecutive nights beginning april 15 pbs will turn over two hours of prime time to ''america at a crossroads , '' a series of 11 programs , including mr . perle 's , meant to engage debate over contentious post_9_11 issues , from the origins of islamic fundamentalism to the perceived tradeoffs the united_states has made between security and liberty . getting past the epithets has n't been easy . the series was conceived in 2004 by the corporation for public broadcasting , the entity that administers federal money for public radio and television , to prove to congress that public television was worthy of its more than 300 million annual subsidy . even now congress is debating the white_house 's request to cut public_broadcasting 's funds by 25 percent . the corporation financed the series with 20 million in federal money , an enormous sum for chronically struggling independent filmmakers . but , perhaps inevitably , such a charged project became caught up in the nation 's culture wars . at a ''crossroads'' briefing in new york in march 2004 filmmakers angrily vented concerns that the series was being politically manipulated . their ire was directed at michael pack , then the corporation 's senior vice_president for television . he had been brought in the year before to diversify the voices on public television , a mandate that included financing more conservative programming to balance a lineup that his superiors perceived as overly liberal . skeptical pbs programmers , who have autonomy over their schedule , had to be persuaded to show the series , even as relations with the corporation deteriorated amid revelations that its chairman , kenneth y . tomlinson , had improperly monitored pbs for the political leanings of some guests . mr . tomlinson was forced out in november 2005 . delays while a new team did its own due diligence pushed the air date back . given all that was happening behind the scenes , the project was ''inevitably going to be seen in a political context , '' said robert macneil , the longtime pbs journalist . mr . macneil was hired to be host of ''crossroads'' and to add editorial expertise , one of many steps public television officials took to save the investment . the corporation 's advisory team of experts was replaced by five new advisers . weta , the washington public television_station that oversees ken burns 's documentaries , was brought in to manage the project . ''i think the genesis of it was distorted , and that was a shame , '' said jacoba atlas , an independent producer who was a top pbs programming executive when ''crossroads'' was developed . ''it did not feel that the genesis of it was organic to the needs of public television , '' she said , but added that ''it has been rescued'' by the weta team and mr . macneil . of the 440 proposals submitted , some of them solicited by corporation officials , 34 were given production money , and 21 finalists received sums , from 350 , 000 to more than 1 million . but even more than the money , the issue of who would be given plum access to the public airwaves caused intense debate . some of the 10 finalists that did n't make the lineup this month will be shown later . the series incorporates numerous voices that might not usually be found on public television , including , in an odd twist , president_bush 's chief domestic policy adviser , karl zinsmeister . he has a producer credit on ''warriors , '' a sympathetic portrait of soldiers , filmed in iraq in 2005 . mr . zinsmeister , an editor at the american_enterprise_institute when the film was commissioned , recused himself from finishing it after his white_house appointment last may , turning the production over to his wife , ann zinsmeister , and the director ed robbins . ''the case for war'' survived the gantlet as well , although the british producer who conceived it , brian lapping , also recused himself after publicity over his friendship with mr . perle . mr . perle said his critics had a straightforward goal ''they simply did n't want public television , which they think they own , to do a program that included me . '' he said the film was necessary because ''one of the administration 's failures has been a failure to communicate why we went there , what the thinking was behind it . '' ''now i think it is very hard to have a constructive dialogue , '' he added . ''it has descended into accusations of misrepresentation . '' in the film he debates forceful opponents of his iraq reasoning , including richard c . holbrooke , former american ambassador to the united_nations , and abdel bari atwan , editor of al quds al arabi , a london based newspaper . critics will argue which side is more persuasive , but mr . perle has the last word . that was too much for john schidlovsky , founding director of the international reporting project at johns_hopkins_university and one of the ''crossroads'' outside advisers . mr . schidlovsky resigned from that post in december after the perle film made the final cut . he did not respond to requests for comment . in an e mail message to the weta team he wrote , ''in a series as comprehensive as this nationwide 12 hour production , i believe it is editorially imbalanced for pbs to present only one viewpoint on this important story . '' leo eaton , the series 's producer , defended the film 's inclusion . ''whatever one thinks of perle and of the philosophies that took us into iraq , '' he said , ''it is a hugely important part of american policy , and i do n't think the neoconservative view has ever been put out on american television . '' meanwhile some muslim leaders are unhappy about ''faith without fear , '' in which a canadian journalist , irshad manji , gets an hour to outline her call for changes in what she sees as overly monolithic muslim societies . as in mr . perle 's film , ms . manji 's views come with a counterpoint her observant muslim mother . according to pbs guidelines the ''crossroads'' producers had no editorial control . ''that does n't mean they ca n't make comments , '' said mr . robbins , the director of ''warriors . '' ''and right from the start there was the competition of who was going to be chosen . '' ms . manji engaged in intense debates with weta and pbs , which cited sensitivity in forbidding her to show some of the danish editorial cartoons that provoked muslim riots last year . ''was that my decision ? '' she said . ''ultimately no . '' but she decided to take a strategic approach ''is the message of this film important enough to get out , and if it is , then am i going to throw myself on the sword of a cartoon ? '' not all the filmmakers were as willing to compromise . martyn burke , who did n't make the initial cut his work is still in progress objected to what he called heavy handed oversight , including improper interference from one adviser , who was later reprimanded by weta . the styles of the films vary . a two hour history , ''jihad the men and ideas behind al_qaeda , '' opens the series . ''operation homecoming'' is an impressionistic view of war through soldiers' writing . ''europe 's 9 11'' uses re creations to look at european struggles with extremism . and ''the muslim americans'' is as straightforward as its title . two newsweek reporters investigate the muslim_brotherhood from egypt , and new york times television profiles indonesia , the world 's largest muslim nation . viewers who watch the entire series are ''going to have a much more nuanced view of islam , '' mr . macneil said . ''i think it 's going to perform a valuable service . '' the new corporation president , patricia harrison , interviewed before she made her case for financing to the house appropriations committee , said ''crossroads'' needed to be seen in the context of public_broadcasting 's wide array of programming . ''we truly are the only place where that viewer or listener gets treated as the citizen they should be , that they are , as opposed to just a consumer all the time , '' she said . mr . pack , who left the corporation in february 2006 , said in an interview that the final series , with its diversity of voices , ''vindicates the process . '' there was , he said , ''a sort of paranoia that these would all be right wing shows , that this was part of some conspiracy . '' nonetheless , given the long , difficult path for ''crossroads , '' there are lingering doubts about whether the corporation for public broadcasting , a lightning_rod for political controversy , is best suited to initiate similar future projects . geneva overholser , a washington based faculty member of the missouri school of journalism , said ''crossroads'' appeared to be worth the effort . pbs , because of its federal financing , must grapple with issues of journalistic balance that are ' 'more complex than that of mainstream media , '' she said . but she cautioned public broadcasters to be wary of the constant cries of political bias ''we 've come to a juncture in this country that if we do n't charge on despite all the criticism , then we 're just not going to have journalism in the public interest . '' television	has a location of iraq
for most americans , the persian_gulf_war was a fireworks of images , many courtesy of cnn the spectacular nighttime bombing of baghdad the flaming kuwaiti oil wells the iraqi air_raid_shelter destroyed by an american bomb and the american barracks destroyed by an iraqi missile president saddam_hussein patting the head of a young hostage a battered american prisoner speaking into an iraqi camera the hundreds of thousands of troops massed in the desert the pathetic surrenders of stunned iraqi soldiers the carnage along the " highway of death " back to iraq the briefings that made instant television stars of colin l . powell and h . norman_schwarzkopf . these and more are all on show again in " the gulf_war , " a four hour recapitulation and critical analysis on the fifth anniversary of a war that began with miscalculations , was fought with mistakes and ended in what is described here as a ragged victory . missing from the famous televised briefings were the disagreements and infighting among policy_makers in washington and commanders in the field . by this account , president george_bush and others of his generation saw president hussein 's aggression as a challenge like that of hitler 's , while officers who had served in vietnam , including general powell , resisted having to fight another unpopular war in a distant country . tonight 's chroniclers note the miscalculations both in washington and baghdad . the pentagon underestimated the iraqi dictator 's ambitions and overestimated his military prowess . as for president hussein , he is reported to have convinced himself that americans would never fight . a former iraqi intelligence officer describes his boss 's erratic behavior and shaky decisions as reality intruded . the players at the time , including secretary of state james a . baker 3d , prime_minister margaret_thatcher of britain , president hosni_mubarak of egypt and foreign_minister tariq_aziz of iraq , have their say . so do american fighters , accompanied by vivid views from cockpit and tank and their commanders relive somewhat testily their own battles over tactics . particular attention is given to the political complexities for the american arab alliance of iraq 's scud_missile attacks on israel washington 's assurances that american patriot_missiles were destroying the scuds are debunked . president_bush , after some public bumbling about the reasons for going to the aid of kuwait , is credited with forging a remarkable coalition in support of the war . the narrator says , " the man often derided as a political wimp had maneuvered his generals , his country and most of the world to join his stand in the desert . " general schwarzkopf , however , is a target of repeated criticism , particularly from bernard e . trainor , a former military correspondent of the new york times and one of the retired_generals whom the war brought employment as television analysts . among the american commander 's more far reaching errors , general trainor says , was to allow the beaten iraqis to continue to fly their armed helicopters , enabling them to crush anti hussein resistance in their country . what critics still count as a premature ending of the war is attributed largely to general powell , who comes through in this assessment as the least bloody minded military leader in history . he had no taste for further slaughter of the retreating iraqis , which , not incidentally , might have played badly on american television , so iraq was left with its best troops fairly intact . general powell , frequently on screen tonight , becomes a central figure of this steadily illuminating documentary , typifying the tension between political and military calculations from the halting start to the abrupt end of a big but brief , successful yet unsatisfying war . ( from friday through next tuesday , a e will also mark the anniversary with hourlong programs about president hussein , general powell and general schwarzkopf and two hours on the war itself . ) 'nova' 'terror in the mine fields' pbs , tonight at 8 ( channel 13 in new york ) war is the pbs theme tonight . if this report on the millions of mines still in the ground in cambodia , killing and maiming thousands of civilians each year , is not grim enough , the presence of american_troops in mine strewn bosnia brings the danger closer to home . the first american casualty was from an antitank land mine . here is everything you might want to know or prefer not to know about how mines of various sorts mangle and murder , the difficulties of detecting and defanging them and efforts around the world to ban or limit the cheap and popular little killers . the hour ends with the news that the khmer_rouge which , remarkably , allowed a " nova " camera to film a training course in mine laying is still planting mines faster than they can be detected . frontline the gulf_war pbs , tonight and tomorrow ( channel 13 , new york , at 9 ) written and produced by eamon matthews for the bbc and fine_art productions jenny roberts , editor . for frontline ben loeterman , producer phil mcdonald , jean boucicaut , glenn hunsberger , editors david fanning , executive_producer . narrated by will lyman . television review	has a location of iraq
the iraqi men 's soccer team continued its unlikely run in the olympics when it beat costa_rica , 2 0 , on sunday_night to make the quarterfinals with one round of qualifying_matches left . while empty seats heavily outnumbered fans at karaiskaki stadium , where the capacity is 33 , 353 and attendance was announced at 12 , 150 , the game was nonetheless played in a frenzied atmosphere . most of the fans were iraqis who had congregated in athens to support the team , and on sunday_night they were massed along one side of the field . none of the fans seemed to be sitting . shirtless young men balanced on the railing separating the stands from the field , unconcerned by the drop to the track below . every cut and thrust of the game and every call was greeted with wild cheering or enraged booing . one young fan who gave his name as sizar and said he had come to athens from iraq three years ago yelled joyously ''it is mad ! iraqis from germany , netherlands , england ! '' midway through the second half , iraq , which beat portugal in its first game , 4 2 , began to apply pressure with a series of corner_kicks , and the costa ricans finally paid for their inability to clear the ball . on the third consecutive corner , in the 67th minute , the ball fell to muhammad mulla hawar on the edge of the penalty area . he struck it sweetly on the volley with his left foot and into the goal , rippling the net a couple of feet off the ground . before the ball dropped to the grass , half a dozen fans brandishing iraqi flags raced onto the field , where they were chased by dozens of security guards . five minutes later , with costa_rica pressing , iraq launched a counterattack . hawar dashed up the left and curled a high ball across the goal mouth , where karim mahdi drilled in a header . ''i am very pleased that iraq has reached the quarterfinals , '' said adnan hamad majeed , iraq 's coach . ''especially considering the very difficult times . '' olympics soccer qualifying_round	has a location of iraq
investigative reports on the war in iraq , racial relations and the safety of workers at a major manufacturer of cast_iron pipes are among the winners of this year 's alfred i . du_pont columbia_university awards for broadcast journalism , considered to be among the most prestigious in media . the 13 awards , 4 of them bestowed on programs broadcast on pbs , were announced yesterday and are to be presented on jan . 21 at columbia . among the winning entries , all of them recipients of silver batons , was ''the tip of the spear , '' a prime time special on abc with ted_koppel of ''nightline'' as anchor and based on his three week experience as a journalist embedded with american_troops in iraq . cbs_news also won a war related award for coverage of the pentagon and of the war itself by david martin , a reporter , and mary walsh , a producer . and national_public_radio was cited for 250 hours of war coverage , including anne garrels 's report about an iraqi teenager who thrust a container of human remains at reporters and john burnett 's investigation of the bombing of civilian targets . the aftermath of the sept . 11 , 2001 , terrorist attacks , which dominated the awards last year , was also the subject of a winning entry this year a two hour documentary on the pbs series ''frontline , '' ''faith and doubt at ground zero , '' which explored the impact of the attacks on people 's spiritual lives . ''frontline'' also won two other batons . one was for a series that examined problems in the american child_welfare system . another was for a documentary , ''a dangerous business , '' about work related injuries , several of them fatal , at foundries owned by mcwane inc . , on which frontline , the new york times and the canadian broadcast company collaborated . an independently produced documentary about race in america , ''two towns of jasper , '' also on pbs , as part of the series ''p . o.v . , '' was the fourth production on the network to win a baton this year . hbo and maysles films were cited for ''lalee 's kin the legacy of cotton , '' a documentary about the relationship between poverty and education . among the television stations cited as this year 's du_pont winners were kbci in boise , idaho khou in houston kmgh in denver wesh in orlando , fla . and wtvf in nashville .	has a location of iraq
hundreds of news articles and opinion pieces have described president_bush 's decision to escalate the iraq_war as a ''hail mary pass . '' but that 's the wrong metaphor . mr . bush is n't roger staubach , trying to pull out a win for the dallas_cowboys . he 's charles keating , using other people 's money to keep lincoln savings going long after it should have been shut down and squandering the life savings of thousands of investors , not to mention billions in taxpayer_dollars , along the way . the parallel is actually quite exact . during the savings and loan scandal of the 1980s , people like mr . keating kept failed banks going by faking financial success . mr . bush has kept a failed war going by faking military success . the ' 'surge'' is just another stalling tactic , designed to buy more time . oh , and one of the favorite techniques used by the owners of savings and loan associations to generate phony profits it involved making high interest loans to crooked or flaky real_estate developers came to be known as the ''texas strategy . '' what was the point of the texas strategy ? bank owners were certainly gambling with other people 's money , of course in the hope of a miraculous recovery that would bail out their negative balance_sheets . but the real point of the racket was a form of looting as long as they could keep reporting high paper profits , s . l . owners could keep rewarding themselves with salaries , dividends and sweetheart business deals . mr . keating paid himself a million dollars just weeks before his holding_company collapsed . which brings us to iraq . the administration has spent the last three years pretending that its splendid little war is n't a big disaster . there have been the bromides ( we 're making ''good progress'' ) the promises ( we have a ' 'strategy for victory'' ) and , as always , attacks on the media for not reporting the good news from iraq . who you gonna believe , the president or your lying eyes ? now mr . bush has grudgingly sort of admitted that things are n't going well but he says his ''new way forward'' will fix everything . so it 's still the texas strategy the war 's architects are trying to keep their failed venture going as long as possible . the hail mary aspect the off chance that somehow , things really will turn out all right is the least of their motivations . the real intent is a form of looting . i 'm not talking mainly about old fashioned war profiteering , although there is no question that profiteering is taking place on an epic scale . no , i 'm saying that the hawks want to keep this war going because it 's to their personal and political benefit . true , mr . bush ca n't win another election with phony claims of success in iraq , the way he did in 2004 . but escalation buys him another year or two to claim that we 're making progress and it gives him another chance to prove that he 's the decider , beyond accountability . and as for pundits who promoted the war and are now trying to sell the surge for a little while longer they can be very important people who have the president 's ear . meanwhile , the nation pays the price . the heaviest burden in death , shattered bodies , broken families and ruined careers falls on those who serve . to find the personnel for the bush escalation , the pentagon must lengthen deployments in iraq and shorten training time at home . and the back door draft has become a life_sentence there is no limit on the cumulative amount of time citizen soldiers can be required to serve on active_duty . mama , do n't let your children grow up to be reservists . the rest of us will pay a financial price for the hundreds of billions squandered in iraq and , more important , a price in reduced security . escalation wo n't bring victory in iraq , but it might bring defeat in afghanistan , which the administration will continue to neglect . and it has pushed the military to the breaking point . mr . bush calls his critics ''irresponsible , '' saying that they do n't have an alternative to his strategy . but they do setting a timetable for withdrawal , so that we can cut our losses , and trying to save what can be saved . it is n't a strategy for victory because that 's no longer an option . it 's a strategy for acknowledging reality . the lesson of the savings and loan scandal was that when a bank has failed , you should n't let the owner string you along with promises you should shut the thing down . we should do the same with mr . bush 's failed war . op_ed columnist	has a location of iraq
on a recent rainy afternoon , ahmad nader ali sat in a booth at the shreifinet cafe , sending instant_messages to his brother who lives in finland on one screen window and his fianc e , nour , on another . a tiny web camera sat atop the computer , beaming live images of him to nour 's home screen across baghdad . ''because of the situation , i 'm not able to go and see her often , '' said mr . ali , a confident 20 year old with slicked back hair who runs a men 's clothing store . ''everybody does it like this . '' nearby , partially hidden by wood paneled booths , were a dozen other young men staring intently at their screens , most chatting simultaneously on three or four different e mail accounts . all of them were paying 1 , 500 dinars an hour about a dollar to escape the gray confines of baghdad 's blasted walls for a while . two heavyset men sat on a black faux leather couch by the door , keeping a watchful_eye on the street . three years ago , the internet was virtually unknown in iraq . today , baghdad has dozens of internet cafes like shreifinet , which consists of three sparely decorated rooms with a total of 34 computers and a satellite_dish on the roof . most of the cafes also transmit wireless services to home internet users in the surrounding area for a monthly fee in parts of central baghdad there are about 20 overlapping wireless_networks . the universal hunger to get online has made computer and web services one of the few bright_spots in iraq 's stagnant economy . on sinaa street , the two lane thoroughfare in central baghdad lined with computer and software stores , business is brisk . companies that install wireless_networks and satellite dishes are also thriving , despite the irritation caused by frequent power failures . so are many internet cafes . ''i have to work to persuade people to come to my clothes shop , '' mr . ali said . ''but you do n't need to advertise to tempt customers to come in here . '' few people on earth have more incentive to communicate online ( and indoors ) than iraqis , who risk their lives every time they go out for a quart of milk . the internet can also be a way to get around the rising islamization of everyday life . young people caught flirting on the street even in baghdad are sometimes chastised or even beaten by self proclaimed islamists , but no one can stop them on the web . ''if you look at the chat_rooms , it is mostly young guys and girls , '' mr . ali said . but islamists and insurgents have their own uses for the web . diatribes against the american presence , along with detailed bomb making instructions and tributes to the latest suicide bombers , appear regularly on iraqi chat_rooms and web_sites . the total number of people using the internet , like most iraqi statistics , is partly guesswork . there are 215 , 000 subscribers on the state owned internet company , but that does not include the internet cafe users , who are probably far more numerous , said eva wohn , a legal adviser to iraq 's communications ministry on telecommunications issues . after their long isolation , young iraqis are quickly erasing their technological gap with the west . in some ways they are even further along . thanks to the absence of piracy laws here , many iraqis use software that is not yet in common use in the united_states . the new microsoft vista operating system , for instance , scheduled to be introduced for commercial use in late 2006 , is already widely used here . large numbers of iraqis can be found on the dozens of arabic chat_rooms listed on yahoo messenger , a popular platform for instant_messaging . there are dozens of iraqi web_logs , ranging from political sites , to forums for young people seeking spouses , to ''hashasha'' ( www . 7shasha . com ) , a comic site whose name means ''hashish smokers . '' angry sectarian conversations often break out , especially in arab chat_room 12 , which is popular with iraqi shiites ( the number signifies the 12 great imams of shiite islam ) . like many internet cafe users , mr . ali has no access at home . he lives in doura , a dangerous area where there are almost no internet cafes and few wireless_networks . he could get service on a land line , but he works long hours and prefers to do all his e mailing at shreifinet , which is not far from his clothing store . that calculus has been good for ramzi al shreifi , 32 , the owner of shreifinet . he took over the lease of his two story building just off karrada street from a travel_agency in the fall of 2003 and renovated it , painting the two columns out front bright_yellow . a kurdish company installed a satellite_dish on the roof , charging him 2 , 600 a month for his service . he also mounted wireless transmission equipment , and now has 25 home customers , paying 50 each to use his signal . in the past year , his gross_income has grown by half , to about 6 , 000 a month , mr . shreifi said , a tidy sum by iraqi retail standards . ''it would have been more , but there is competition , '' he added . there are about 15 internet cafes in inner karrada , a busy commercial area that is one of baghdad 's safer neighborhoods , mr . shreifi said . his cafe is open until 10 p.m. , and would stay open all night if not for the curfew imposed by the iraqi government , he said . he has been luckier than many baghdad business owners no robberies , no violence . mr . shreifi has plans to expand . there are hundreds of people in the area who would like to get wireless service . the problem , he said , is that there are no rules governing the internet anyone with enough money for a satellite can transmit to whomever he or she like , and some do not require passwords so that many people can log on free . mr . shreifi also suspects that his signal is sometimes affected by american military officials in the green_zone who may be jamming frequencies used by insurgents . still , by baghdad standards , it is a good living . ''most days this place is almost full , '' mr . shreifi said .	has a location of iraq
the security_council unanimously_approved a resolution today overhauling its economic_sanctions against iraq , with the goal of dampening their impact on civilians while keeping pressure on saddam_hussein . the new measure , passed 15 to 0 , will allow far more consumer goods from bicycles to sewing_machines to enter iraq , even as it continues to block items that could be used for military purposes , like high speed computers . it represents the most radical redrawing of the sanctions since 1996 , when baghdad was allowed to trade oil for food . though the resolution appears to ease the sanctions imposed after iraq invaded_kuwait in 1990 , it was seen as a significant victory for the united_states and its allies on the council . the resolution was intended to blunt any drive to end the sanctions altogether and to deflate criticism that the measures are hurting ordinary iraqis more than their leader . it also seemed part of the diplomatic groundwork the bush_administration is seeking to lay as it presses its case that mr . hussein should be removed from power , perhaps by force . ''the focused controls on military relevant goods and simplified procedures for civilian goods eliminates excuses for inaction or evasion of u.n . sanctions on iraq , '' the white_house spokesman , ari_fleischer , said today . the new sanctions system takes effect in july , and would have to be renewed in six months . the sanctions are to stay in place until united_nations weapons inspectors can verify that iraq has met the obligations it agreed to after its defeat in the persian_gulf_war to dismantle programs to develop weapons_of_mass_destruction . in its war against terrorism , the bush_administration has cited iraq 's chemical , nuclear and biological_weapons programs as a prime threat . iraqi officials , perhaps looking to stave off american action , have in recent months discussed with secretary_general_kofi_annan the possibility of reopening the country to inspections . the last inspectors left iraq in december 1998 , on the eve of four nights of american and british airstrikes after repeated standoffs with iraqi officials . washington 's european allies on the council applauded the resolution , saying it puts the onus on the iraqi government to spend its oil revenues wisely and to meet its obligations . ''it removes saddam 's spurious excuses for the suffering he inflicts on the iraqi people and puts more pressure on the regime , '' the british foreign_secretary , jack_straw , said in a statement . acknowledging the mounting threats against iraq , its ally and neighbor syria , which currently holds a rotating seat on the council , had pushed for language in the resolution to recognize iraq 's right to defend itself . the syrian proposals were rejected earlier this week . but the syrian delegate to the united_nations , mikhail wehbe , insisted today that it was ''high time'' to lift the sanctions against iraq . he also used the occasion to criticize the council for failing to compel israeli cooperation with a united_nations inquiry into israel 's attack on the jenin refugee_camp last month . in the end , though , mr . wehbe said his country would assent to the resolution to maintain unity on the security_council and help it ' 'retrieve its credibility , '' particularly in the arab_world . iraq 's representative , mohammed_aldouri , had little to say about the potential impact of the resolution , except that it offered his country little to celebrate . the new system , he said , would erect expensive bureaucratic hurdles to the import of necessary goods . ''i can tell you , my country , we are always unhappy to see these kinds of resolutions coming out of the security_council , '' he said . ''it will be very costly for iraq . '' he declined to say whether the resolution would prompt baghdad to suspend the export of oil , as it did last month in protest against israeli military action in the west_bank . at the moment , all exports to iraq , except food and some medicines , are scrutinized by a sanctions committee of the security_council . any member can block such imports , and the united_states has used the system to keep more than 5 billion worth of goods from reaching baghdad . under the new system , the sanctions committee will ponder the fate of only those items that figure on a lengthy list of goods that may be used for military purposes . high speed computers are part of that list anything with chips as fast as a pentium iv , for instance , but not one with a pentium iii . certain kinds of communication equipment fall under the 300 page list of ' 'dual use'' goods as well , but consumer goods like domestic appliances and farm equipment do not . united_nations officials will be responsible for culling items that fall within the list . those that do will be forwarded to the sanctions committee , which will have 30 days to decide whether they can be allowed into iraq . the resolution was the product of a compromise between the united_states and russia , iraq 's staunchest ally on the council . the russian ambassador , sergey_lavrov , today praised the resolution as an important tool to restore iraq 's infrastructure , but said his country would continue to push for more . ''it is only through the lifting of the sanctions that iraq can rebuild its economy , '' he said .	has a location of iraq
soldiers will often say that survival depends on the ability to make quick judgments about countless small things . was that a cat or a sniper i saw in the window ? is that car speeding up because its occupants are being pursued or because they want to kill me ? and that bump in the roadside , is it a divot from the last convoy or a trace of an improvised_explosive_device ? little wonder then that ''over there , '' the first television dramatic series about a war in progress , is coming under fire , from people who served in iraq , for getting the small things wrong . television requires drama . soldiers prefer precision . so when a group of grunts is shown clumped together on a berm making themselves a rich target or an improvised_explosive_device has a little flag on it , they tend to question the series as a whole . through the web and various veterans groups , the new york times contacted more than a dozen soldiers , all of whom had been on active_duty in iraq and have since returned . they had a variety of opinions on the war they served in , but were almost universally negative about the show that attempts to depict it . ( a spokeswoman for the united_states_army declined to comment on the series . ) when steven bochco 's ''over there'' began last month , many military blogs immediately began pumping round after round of ack ack into it , suggesting that it is both opportunistic and clueless . ( the fx series will broadcast the fifth of its 13 episodes tonight . ) ''there are a few bad war movies and tv shows , but this one takes the cake , '' said a recent post to boots on the ground , a blog written by an army soldier currently serving in iraq ( bootsonground . blogspot . com ) . ''if the inaccuracies they made in this new show was to keep the real enemy from watching and knowing our real tactics , then they did a superb job . '' mr . bochco , who was lauded for the authenticity of his cop shows ''hill street blues'' and ''nypd blue'' is a bit mystified by the response . ''anecdotally , we have been getting a good response from soldiers , but some of them tend to get hung up on the specifics of what you are doing , whether that piece of equipment or that particular weapon is wrong , '' mr . bochco said in a telephone interview two weeks ago . ''but by and large , i think they are impressed with the show 's reality , our attempt to convey the truthfulness of the experience and portray their emotional lives as well . '' you could understand why mr . bochco feels a bit fragged . he set out to render visible a war , one that has produced thousands of dead and wounded , that goes conveniently unnoticed by most americans . he has never been to iraq , but hired several consultants who had served , in order to get an authentic look and feel for his series . to the civilian eye , his portrait of men and women fighting for their lives and their country , usually in that order , is a reminder that the rhetoric of politicians exacts a savage consequence from those who must live the reality of warfare . and that the series is appearing while the conflict is still under way reflects the immediacy of this war , which can be seen in almost real time , while etching its remoteness to most people here . ''this is a war that does not immediately affect most of the country , '' said robert timmons , who lives on staten_island and served in the army infantry in iraq in 2003 . ''people here see yellow_ribbons on cars , but they see very little of the reality of the war other than short stories on cnn when american_soldiers die . this series is over the top , but anything that brings attention to a war that is not getting much coverage is helpful . '' but soldiers who fought in iraq , many of whom brought high expectations to the series , said that the devil is in the details . ''we see sand , we see guns and we see people in helmets , '' said benjamin flanders , who served as a military_police sergeant in 2004 and 2005 as a member of the new hampshire national_guard in and around baghdad . ''but i do n't think that it addresses the real issues of being a soldier or what is going on in iraq . '' rowe stayton , a former lawyer who volunteered for duty in the army_national_guard at age 50 , said that the series had affected him even though , as a fire team leader in 2004 , the war he experienced was a close in , urban affair , not a battle fought out in vast expanses of the desert . ''there are parts of it that still bring to mind thoughts and memories of things that i have not been thinking about for months and years , '' he said . an episode about events going awry at a checkpoint was particularly vivid . ''innocent_civilians did get shot . it is in the nature of the war , but we used a tremendous restraint . '' much of what mr . bochco is taking hits over has to do with the generic requirements of television . to create storylines , he uses characters who scan to some people as clich s the gung_ho all american white kid who is maimed , the bitter dope smoking black guy . and necessarily , action must be compressed , which does not reflect the grinding reality of real time soldiering , a mix of weeks of boredom interrupted by occasional moments of terror . in blogs and interviews , soldiers suggested that the army unit mr . bochco depicts saw more action in the first few episodes than they did in their entire tours . ''vets are concerned with getting it right , '' said paul rieckoff , a former army platoon leader and the executive director of operation truth , a veterans' advocacy_group . ''and i think it is sad that no percentage of the proceeds go to any veterans or family charities . some of the money that is being made should go to the people who have died . '' ''over there'' has received its share of favorable reviews . but after a brisk start the series garnered 4.1 million viewers for its first show , making it the most watched cable program on the night it ran it then lost almost half its audience in the second week , dropping to 2.6 million viewers . in the third week , it managed to find a plateau , and then last week , ''over there'' had just a 2 share , suggesting that there is not much momentum building over all . so far , the show has had a 2.4 rating average , which is far from a hit , but it bettered the average performance of the critically acclaimed ''rescue me'' in the same time slot last year . if the show is going to find the kind of attention that will sustain it , the audience will probably be among civilians . ''the reviews from g.i . 's i 've seen are 100 percent negative there is no array , '' said john harriman , a vietnam_veteran and author who created the mudville gazette , an online community of soldiers who support the war and those fighting it ( www . mudvillegazette . com ) . mr . harriman said that soldiers were amazed to see anachronistic vietnam_era helicopters , and pointed out that the squad depicted seems to be just getting to know one another , which does not comport with how units are deployed . mr . bochco said that within the limits of television and his budget , he is proud of what he and his team have accomplished . ''let me put it this way , '' he said . ''if i had even a small amount of the money that the country is spending to fight this war , every detail would be there and it would look amazing . '' mr . bochco , who created a jittery visual lexicon with ''nypd blue , '' has again innovated in ''over there , '' adopting a fuzzy , satellite_phone look , while using the short form jargon of ''sopranos'' cum soldiers to emphasize the high intensity experience . some soldiers , however grudgingly , will admit that he got a few things right . a shot of a soldier on a computer sending a video message to his wife that is panned away from to show her in bed with another man rings true , as does the theme of boots on the ground paralyzed by politics from above . the fact that a convoy that ends badly was out on a beer run sounded familiar to some , as well . sean huze , an actor who volunteered for the marines after the sept . 11 attacks and who served in iraq in 2003 , is dealing with some similar issues in the current run of ''the sand storm , '' a play about his experiences in the war that is being performed through sept . 25 at the metrostage in alexandria , va . ''i think it was certainly a noble effort that mr . bochco made , '' mr . huze said . ''it 's funny , i have spoken to people who were n't 'over there , ' and they had an overwhelmingly positive reaction to the show . having experienced the war as an infantry soldier in the marines , it 's hard not to pick it apart . but if it sparks a conversation , it can probably do a lot more good than the talking heads who are always going on about this war . ''	has a location of iraq
gen . h . norman_schwarzkopf , commander of american_forces in the 1991 persian_gulf_war , said today that he did not believe that iraqi chemical_weapons had anything to do with the mysterious health problems reported by thousands of veterans of the war . nor , general schwarzkopf said , did he recall any confirmed reports during the war that american_troops had been exposed to iraqi chemical or biological_weapons . ''we had lots of alarms , but i personally know of no incident in which there was any chemical uncovered , '' he said in his first detailed interview on the subject since the pentagon 's announcement this year that thousands of troops might have been exposed to nerve_gas after the destruction of iraqi ammunition depot shortly after the war . ''and this was my no . 1 intelligence priority , '' he said . ''there was no chemical exposure at all that i know of . it 's very important to me that the true information get out so that people do n't think that there is some giant conspiracy . '' in a telephone interview from colorado , where he is on vacation , general schwarzkopf , who is retired , said that he did not know why several pages were missing from a military log that should have recorded reports of chemical or biological detections during the war . pentagon officials said on wednesday that they had been unable to track down the missing entries from computer disks that had once contained the chemical_warfare logs , despite an exhaustive search . there are several gaps in the otherwise meticulously kept logs , including an eight day period in march 1991 in which american combat engineers blew up the kamisiyah ammunition depot , which was later determined to have contained chemical_weapons . the pentagon has announced that it will notify more than 20 , 000 veterans of the war that they may have been exposed to sarin , a nerve_gas , and other chemical agents as a result of the explosions . ''i have absolutely no idea why there are missing parts from it , '' general schwarzkopf said of the logs . ''all this shows is that whoever at centcom was gathering all the logs probably did n't take very good care of them when they came back from the gulf . '' centcom is the united_states_central_command , which oversaw the troops . while the logs were maintained at his wartime headquarters in riyadh , the saudi capital , general schwarzkopf said he never saw them , nor was information from the logs routinely brought to his attention . ''it sticks in my craw when people say these logs were prepared for me , '' he said . ''it 's a routine staff log that is kept at that level . i never saw it . ''i 'm not making apologies for anybody . i more than anybody else wish to hell we could find the logs . '' he said he suspected that portions of the logs might have been misfiled or lost as soldiers used the logs to prepare so called after action reports . ''to my mind , this is the type of log that would not be kept always , because the information from that would have been incorporated into some higher log , '' he said . he said he agreed with the findings of several expert panels that were unable to find any clear link between iraqi chemical_weapons and the illnesses reported by thousands of veterans . ''given all the knowledge that i personally have , i am quite convinced that this does n't have anything to do with it , '' he said of chemical_weapons . ''i think there 's a huge amount of misinformation , '' he continued . ''this gulf_war_syndrome thing is truly unfortunate , and i 've met some of the vets who have this . these are my guys , and i feel terrible about it . ''the problem is that nobody knows what 's causing it , and every major medical examination that has taken place to date four of them , being totally independent has said there 's no evidence that it 's related to chemical_weapons . '' government studies have shown that while veterans of the war were not hospitalized and did not die at unusual rates in the first two and a half years after the war , they do report other serious health problems , including digestive ailments and chronic_fatigue , at far higher rates than troops who did not serve in the gulf . general schwarzkopf said that when he first heard that the veterans were falling ill , he feared it was a reaction to immunizations given to troops during the war to protect them from a possible iraqi biological attack using botulism . the vaccine had not been formally licensed by the food and drug administration , and there was debate about its safety . ''subsequently , '' he said , ''i 've been told by the experts'' that the vaccine was not responsible for gulf veterans' health problems . ''i just hate to see the troops suffer , '' he said . ''that 's the most hurtful thing thing to me . and secondly , it does hurt me that anybody would think that for any reason in the world that i would go ahead and deliberately allow my troops to be exposed to something like that and then cover it up . it 's crazy . '' he said he was particularly angry about reports suggesting that he and his deputy commanders had hidden in an air tight bunker in riyadh during the war while american_soldiers on the battlefield were facing attack from iraqi chemical_weapons . he said that the ventilation system in his headquarters drew air from the street and that ''people kind of giggled'' about how little protection there was from the possibility of a chemical attack . ''i had gas_masks and protective overgarments , too , '' he said . ''we were just as susceptible as anybody else . '' general schwarzkopf 's account was similar to that of gen . colin l . powell , the former chairman of the joint_chiefs_of_staff , who said in an interview this week that while chemical detection alarms had sounded repeatedly during the war , american commanders in the gulf were unable to confirm them and concluded that they were false_alarms . general schwarzkopf said he recalled a specific chemical detection report received early in the war from czech troops in a chemical detection unit deployed in northern saudi_arabia alongside american_soldiers . he said that after learning of the czech report , he ordered a deputy commander ''to get our very best detection_equipment out there and check this thing out thoroughly . '' ''we sent the fox vehicles in , because they are the very best thing we had to check that out , '' he said , referring to chemical detection vehicles . ''they swept the whole area and said , false_alarm . '' general schwarzkopf said he had no recollection of the decision to blow up the kamisiyah depot , nor of any reports at the time that the depot might have contained nerve_gas . ''who ordered kamisiyah to be blown ? '' he asked . ''beats the hell out of me is the correct answer . '' he said that after the united_states and its allies had driven iraqi forces out of kuwait and occupied parts of southern iraq , american_forces were ordered to destroy iraqi ammunition storage sites . ''what we did n't want to do is leave all of these captured materiel that we 've found tanks , artillery_pieces and the sort intact so that the iraqis grab it and use it five years from now , '' he said . ''the order went out , therefore , to destroy all abandoned military equipment . '' he added , ''there 's no doubt in my mind that whichever commander ordered the blowing up of kamisiyah did so in following the instructions that he had received . ''	has a location of iraq
i was actually at the super_bowl . yup . and i too was upset about the halftime show but not just because of janet jackson 's antics . after the show ended , i said to my wife how can we present something to america and the world that is this frivolous and gross when we have 115 , 000 u.s . soldiers at war in iraq , dying at one per day ? i realize this is irrational there 's no rule that says the super_bowl show must honor america 's soldiers at war . but that halftime show has become a kind of national moment and the grotesque way it came out really captured what has bothered me most about how this war is being conducted the whole burden is being borne by a small cadre of americans the soldiers , their families and reservists and the rest of us are just sailing along , as if it has nothing to do with us . and what bothers me even more is that this dichotomy is exactly what the bush team wants . from the outset , it has adopted the view that this war will be handled by the pentagon alone . we do n't need the state_department and its ideas about nation_building . we do n't need the u.n . we do n't need our traditional allies . and most of all , we do n't need the public . the message from the white_house has been ''you all just go about your business of being americans , pursuing happiness , spending your tax cuts , enjoying the super_bowl halftime show , buying a new hummer , and leave this war to our volunteer army . no sacrifices required , no new taxes to pay for this long term endeavor , and no need to reduce our gasoline consumption , even though doing so would help take money away from the forces of islamist intolerance that are killing our soldiers . no , we are so rich and so strong and so right , we can win this war without anyone other than the armed_forces paying any price or bearing any burden . '' this outlook is morally and strategically bankrupt . it is morally bankrupt because 1 percent of america is carrying the whole burden of this war . after the super_bowl , i went to tampa to visit centcom headquarters and gen . john_abizaid and his staff . they run the war in iraq . i met many soldiers there , from the women serving as analysts in the intelligence center to the strategic planners just back from baghdad , who had been separated for months from their families or knew comrades killed or wounded in iraq . yet their morale , their professionalism and their belief in this mission are still amazingly high . if you want the antidote to all the creeps in that super_bowl show , spend a day at centcom . i promise you , you will walk away with one overriding feeling we do not deserve these people . they are so much better than the country and the administration they are fighting for . we owe them so much more respect , so much more sacrifice of our own and so much better leadership from a bush team whose real sin is not hyping saddam 's threat , but sending americans to remove him without a plan for the morning after . all i have to do is see what happened to the kurds the other day this proud mountain people who have built a nice little democracy and free_market in northern iraq , only to have it suicide bombed by islamists to be reminded that this is a just war . it is a war of the forces of tolerance , pluralism and decency against the forces of intolerance , bigotry and religious fascism . ''but the great mistake of the neocons and this administration , '' notes my friend george packer , the new yorker writer who has done great reporting from iraq , ''was to think that america could fight this war alone . we could not win the cold_war without our democratic allies abroad , and without real sacrifice at home , and we cannot win this one without both either . this is a huge , long term war of ideas that needs our public 's participation and that of our allies . but this administration has never summoned that . '' we can defeat saddam alone . but we ca n't build a decent political center in iraq alone . we do n't have enough legitimacy or staying power . we need to enlist all our allies including france , germany and the u.n . security_council in this titanic struggle . the bush team has eaten crow on w.m.d . the europeans have eaten crow on saddam . it 's time now to put the alliance that won the cold_war back together . the antiwar left is wrong however mangled was the bush road to war , it is a war for the values of our civilization . but the bush conservatives are also wrong . it ca n't be won with an ''idealism'' that is selfish , greedy , arrogant , incapable of self_criticism and believing that all that matters is our will and power and nothing else . op_ed columnist	has a location of iraq
as a convoy of humvees crawled down a sandy , bumpy road , a bomb exploded . inside one vehicle , the gunner collapsed . ''we have a casualty down and wounded , '' a sergeant yelled into his radio handset . ''we need a medical evac and helicopter . '' specialist jeffery kavanaugh , 21 , the gunner , lay motionless , still breathing but gurgling . the driver tossed him a bandage . no one else in the vehicle moved to help . later , recalling those moments , specialist kavanaugh said he wondered what would have happened if this were iraq , not a training exercise in the pine forests of new jersey . ''if i was really hurt , would they let me just die there ? '' he said . the bush_administration has announced troop_reductions , and some politicians in washington are debating whether the united_states should pull out altogether . but none of that matters to the men of the 654th military_police company , a newly formed unit of the virginia army_national_guard . their reality is that american_soldiers are still needed to patrol the streets of iraq , and within a few weeks this patchwork company will be doing just that . ''if there has been ups and downs in the news about the war , we have n't noticed , '' said capt . lowell nevill , the 654th 's commander . ''we 're in another world here . '' for two months , the group of 157 veterans and rookies has lived on tiger base , a 30 acre re creation of iraq at fort_dix , one of two bases in the united_states that offers an immersion course for new security forces , said lt . col . norberto cintron , who is in charge of the training . they awaken before 5 a.m . and hear muslim prayer calls five times a day . they eat flavorless food , use portable_toilets and sleep on cots , 12 to a tent . in military exercises , simulated grenades and improvised_explosive_devices , or i.e.d . 's , explode , and soldiers like specialist kavanaugh dramatize severe or fatal wounds . despite the emphasis on physical preparation , the trainers and soldiers at fort_dix say the most important skills they will learn here are loyalty and teamwork , which will help them survive a year at war . ''none of us thought we were going to be able to come together and do this , '' said pfc . michael goodrich , 19 , who had straight a 's in high_school and gave up college_basketball scholarships to join the national_guard last year . ''after awhile , we pretty much gave up complaining , because we realized we were stuck with each other for a year . ''it 's just like working together on a basketball_team . but being on a basketball_team wo n't get you killed going to iraq just might . '' the 654th arrived here in early november , a mixture of men whites , blacks , asians and hispanics from different economic backgrounds plucked from more than 10 national_guard units from virginia and pieced together to form a unit big enough to serve as a military_police company in iraq . like a weekend softball team , these men represented a range of ages ( 19 to 50 ) , athleticism ( college athletes to couch potatoes ) and professional backgrounds ( including policemen , a cook and a dog trainer ) . most came from field_artillery units . some , slightly less than 10 percent , had served in iraq and volunteered to return . captain nevill , 33 , who has a bachelor 's degree in cultural anthropology from the university of virginia , is in charge of this unit . at home , he is a patrolman for the manassas police department . here , he is responsible for these men . in the shared misery of tiger base , captain nevill said , he saw his soldiers transformed from individuals to a cohesive unit , especially after a grueling transition to military life limited sleep and no days off . many of his men contracted nagging coughs or upper respiratory infections , particularly when temperatures dipped into single digits and the tent heaters stopped working . ''we 're not running or lifting weights , but we 're athletes of another kind , '' captain nevill said , wearing his required helmet and bulletproof_vest . ''it 's endurance and toughness . it takes the body a long time to get used to that . '' although the gym often goes unused , soldiers work out during drills more mental than physical . the training for the guard has evolved . units deployed early in the war sometimes received a week or two of training . now , the training for security forces at specialized sites like fort_dix lasts at least two months and includes more complex simulations . but the 654th will not know how prepared it is until it comes under live fire . ''what 's going to take them to get with the program is a bullet whizzing by their head or an i.e.d . blowing up next to them , '' said sgt . first class donald wilson , a trainer here who likened this work to his days as an adult league basketball coach . only then , sergeant wilson said , will they find out ''how good a team they 've become . '' every day , convoys from the 654th roll through a makeshift iraqi city with hidden threats . when the men see the sign ''the city of balad welcomes you , '' gunners grasp their m 249 's and 50 caliber machine_guns . the convoys pass a blue mosque and aluminum shipping_containers made to look like buildings , each spray_painted with arabic or english phrases like ''go home usa . '' sometimes snipers shoot blanks at the humvees , inciting a simulated firefight . civilians , including iraqis living in the united_states , occasionally linger in the streets like movie extras . some are instructed to look friendly and wave , others to grimace and yell in arabic . soldiers must react to cues purple smoke means a rocket_propelled_grenade has hit , white means a roadside_bomb . and when a trainer hands a soldier like specialist kavanaugh a pocket size card describing an injury or death , he must act the part . the first time pvt . christian chandler , 20 , traveled through fort_dix 's balad , he was a nervous wreck . hoping to become a cosmetologist or a massage therapist , he joined the guard to earn extra money and then trained to be an administrative specialist . now he is a gunner , which he said , ' 'surprised and shocked and scared me'' because gunners are vulnerable . private chandler said he felt sick when he saw the arabic words for ''stop or i will shoot'' written phonetically on the windshield of his vehicle so he could memorize them . he was so skittish , he once lost control of a humvee and plowed into a tree . his team leader , sgt . jamie padgett , said private chandler was initially unwilling to pop out of the gunner 's hatch . ''we had to pretty much push him up there , '' he said . as weeks went on , private chandler convinced himself he could be a worthy gunner because he was athletic . he played high_school basketball in smithville , va . , though as a senior his team lost every game . in the final weeks here , he began wearing a black ski mask , revealing only his eyes , to keep warm and to look menacing . one day , he picked up his machine_gun and growled . ''do i look mean now ? '' he said , before laughing . going back to look for revenge not everyone in the 654th is a rookie . about a dozen have served in iraq in the same tightly_knit engineering unit . they returned from a yearlong deployment in march after losing two men on dec . 21 , 2004 , when a suicide_bomber blew himself up in a dining hall in mosul . the returning soldiers volunteered for this mission out of loyalty to their buddies . sgt . jon faulkner was friends with those soldiers , both 20 , and took it hard when they died . he said all he could think about was returning to iraq , where he could help protect less experienced men in his new unit . he keeps rereading a poem another soldier sent in an e mail message to him , including these lines this is the life i have to live . this is the soul to the devil i give . you have your parties and drink your beer while young men are dying over here . ''i 'm here kind of for revenge , '' said sergeant faulkner , a 21 year old archaeology student . ''i 'll keep going to iraq until the war is over . '' sergeant faulkner , from fredericksburg , va . , said that as a boy he was the target of bullies but that he grew into an aggressive young man . he played on two state championship soccer teams in high_school , then joined the national_guard because , he said , ''i love getting shot at and i love shooting back . '' he is serious about his work , always giving orders , hardly smiling . his commanders say he is a good soldier . still , his colleagues shy away from asking him about iraq because they are afraid to upset him . when his fellow soldiers said goodbye to their families in october , sergeant faulkner said , he wanted the emotional moments to end . ''let 's get boots on the ground , '' faulkner recalled thinking , ' 'so we can kill something . '' 'we 're basically dinosaurs' specialist david newton worried about the na_ve , overzealous and hardheaded young soldiers both rookies and veterans he saw when he arrived at fort_dix . ''these guys will need me as a medic , '' said specialist newton , 40 , a cook and college student from chesterfield , va . , who re enlisted in the national_guard in 2004 after a_10 year break . ''before i left , i made a promise to some of these young guys' wives that i 'd bring their husbands home in one piece . well , maybe not in one piece , but they 'll come home . '' specialist newton and guardsmen like him , many with active_duty experience , weather jokes about being old enough to have had moses as a boot_camp instructor and about their lack of technological expertise . but they have developed a paternal bond with the rookies . staff sgt . lee stanford , 50 , a former marine_corps chief_warrant_officer nicknamed old school , said , ''it takes all types to make a good squad . not everybody has to be 19 and in perfect shape to be a good team player . '' his job , he said , was to bring his 12 man squad home . sgt . ernest grigsby , 39 , who is unmarried and has no children , is out of shape but said he had nothing to lose by going to iraq so ' 'some 20 year old would n't have to die or lose his legs . '' while keeping a humvee warm for officers during a seven hour training exercise one night at fire base falluja , specialist newton said , ''we 're basically dinosaurs here , but i really do believe they need us for our experience and patience . '' outside , the wind and freezing_temperatures cut through the soldiers' gore tex jackets , reddened their faces and numbed their hands . the gunners aimed for pop up targets glowing in the dark . the barrage of gunfire echoed as tracer_rounds zoomed like red lasers . trainers were also simulating an attack on the base , detonating fake mortars every few minutes , causing blinding flashes and deafening blasts . ''i 'm not going to lie to you , 90 percent of us are apprehensive about going to iraq , '' specialist newton said as another mortar hit . ''we 'd be crazy if we were n't . '' to relieve stress , he smokes two packs of cigarettes daily , cracks jokes and serenades his buddies with songs from elvis_presley films like ''harum scarum'' and ''kissin' cousins . '' but at night in his bunk , he becomes solemn . ''every day i think about the chances of these kids dying there , '' specialist newton said . ''it 's my burden . in the end , i 'll watch their back , and i hope they 'll watch mine . '' anxious , but ready the 654th completed its final test this week . on one day , the men reacted to six car_bombs , two incoming mortars , two roadside_bombs , one rocket_propelled_grenade and several hand thrown grenades , resulting in a total of seven casualties . after one of those exercises , one of the trainers , sgt . first class tony paden , told them , ''you guys stay tight , stay a good team , because you 're going to need each other to stay alive over there . '' the soldiers stood in the biting wind , faces drawn , camouflage uniforms dirty , knowing those words were true . by this time , they also knew what to expect death or injuries , maybe lost limbs . their wives or girlfriends could leave them . they could welcome newborns , not by touch but by e mail . ''you can see it in their eyes that they are scared , '' said sergeant wilson , the trainer . ''but it 's good to be scared . nothing brings a group of guys closer than sharing the same fear . '' the men were given nine days' leave to spend the holidays with their families . private chandler , the reluctant gunner , planned to take his girlfriend to dinner at an applebee 's . specialist newton , the veteran , wanted to embrace his wife . sergeant faulkner , the serious soldier , hated the thought of wasting time . private goodrich , the basketball_player who had three friends die in iraq , left early to marry jacqueline mccown in richmond on christmas_eve . early next month , each soldier in the 654th will return alone to fort_dix and begin packing for iraq . soon after , they will board a flight together , their world now shrunk to a team of 157 men . about the series this article is the last in a series about the role sports play in the lives of american_soldiers deployed to iraq and of their families . in two arenas	has a location of iraq
for most americans , the persian_gulf_war was a fireworks of images , many courtesy of cnn the spectacular nighttime bombing of baghdad the flaming kuwaiti oil wells the iraqi air_raid_shelter destroyed by an american bomb and the american barracks destroyed by an iraqi missile president saddam_hussein patting the head of a young hostage a battered american prisoner speaking into an iraqi camera the hundreds of thousands of troops massed in the desert the pathetic surrenders of stunned iraqi soldiers the carnage along the " highway of death " back to iraq the briefings that made instant television stars of colin l . powell and h . norman_schwarzkopf . these and more are all on show again in " the gulf_war , " a four hour recapitulation and critical analysis on the fifth anniversary of a war that began with miscalculations , was fought with mistakes and ended in what is described here as a ragged victory . missing from the famous televised briefings were the disagreements and infighting among policy_makers in washington and commanders in the field . by this account , president george_bush and others of his generation saw president hussein 's aggression as a challenge like that of hitler 's , while officers who had served in vietnam , including general powell , resisted having to fight another unpopular war in a distant country . tonight 's chroniclers note the miscalculations both in washington and baghdad . the pentagon underestimated the iraqi dictator 's ambitions and overestimated his military prowess . as for president hussein , he is reported to have convinced himself that americans would never fight . a former iraqi intelligence officer describes his boss 's erratic behavior and shaky decisions as reality intruded . the players at the time , including secretary of state james a . baker 3d , prime_minister margaret_thatcher of britain , president hosni_mubarak of egypt and foreign_minister tariq_aziz of iraq , have their say . so do american fighters , accompanied by vivid views from cockpit and tank and their commanders relive somewhat testily their own battles over tactics . particular attention is given to the political complexities for the american arab alliance of iraq 's scud_missile attacks on israel washington 's assurances that american patriot_missiles were destroying the scuds are debunked . president_bush , after some public bumbling about the reasons for going to the aid of kuwait , is credited with forging a remarkable coalition in support of the war . the narrator says , " the man often derided as a political wimp had maneuvered his generals , his country and most of the world to join his stand in the desert . " general schwarzkopf , however , is a target of repeated criticism , particularly from bernard e . trainor , a former military correspondent of the new york times and one of the retired_generals whom the war brought employment as television analysts . among the american commander 's more far reaching errors , general trainor says , was to allow the beaten iraqis to continue to fly their armed helicopters , enabling them to crush anti hussein resistance in their country . what critics still count as a premature ending of the war is attributed largely to general powell , who comes through in this assessment as the least bloody minded military leader in history . he had no taste for further slaughter of the retreating iraqis , which , not incidentally , might have played badly on american television , so iraq was left with its best troops fairly intact . general powell , frequently on screen tonight , becomes a central figure of this steadily illuminating documentary , typifying the tension between political and military calculations from the halting start to the abrupt end of a big but brief , successful yet unsatisfying war . ( from friday through next tuesday , a e will also mark the anniversary with hourlong programs about president hussein , general powell and general schwarzkopf and two hours on the war itself . ) 'nova' 'terror in the mine fields' pbs , tonight at 8 ( channel 13 in new york ) war is the pbs theme tonight . if this report on the millions of mines still in the ground in cambodia , killing and maiming thousands of civilians each year , is not grim enough , the presence of american_troops in mine strewn bosnia brings the danger closer to home . the first american casualty was from an antitank land mine . here is everything you might want to know or prefer not to know about how mines of various sorts mangle and murder , the difficulties of detecting and defanging them and efforts around the world to ban or limit the cheap and popular little killers . the hour ends with the news that the khmer_rouge which , remarkably , allowed a " nova " camera to film a training course in mine laying is still planting mines faster than they can be detected . frontline the gulf_war pbs , tonight and tomorrow ( channel 13 , new york , at 9 ) written and produced by eamon matthews for the bbc and fine_art productions jenny roberts , editor . for frontline ben loeterman , producer phil mcdonald , jean boucicaut , glenn hunsberger , editors david fanning , executive_producer . narrated by will lyman . television review	has a location of iraq
the veterans_affairs and defense departments declared for the first time last week that service in the persian_gulf_war a decade ago has been linked to a subsequent illness , namely amyotrophic_lateral_sclerosis , or a.l.s. , a fatal neurological illness better known as lou_gehrig 's disease . the v.a . announced that gulf_war veterans suffering from the malady could receive disability compensation and survivor benefits based on the presumption that their illness was service related . that was a humane decision that will ease the burdens on the 20 or so gulf_war veterans still suffering from this devastating illness and the survivors of some 20 others who have already died . but whether the v.a . study finding a link between gulf_war service and a.l.s . will be accepted as valid by peer reviewers at the scientific_journal to which it has been submitted is yet to be determined . all previous attempts to link gulf_war service with specific diseases have produced negative or inconclusive results . the federal action was prompted by preliminary evidence from a mammoth epidemiological study in which investigators tried to identify all cases of a.l.s . that had occurred in some 700 , 000 gulf_war veterans and in some 1.8 million other veterans who served elsewhere at the same time . they found that those who served in the gulf_war were nearly twice as likely as other service members to have developed the disease . the highest rates were found in the air_force , and next highest in the army . personnel serving in the navy and marine_corps seemed at no greater risk of a.l.s . in the gulf than elsewhere . the chief question that will need to be addressed by peer reviewers is whether the study was able to ferret out cases of a.l.s . with equal success in both groups , namely those who served in the gulf and those who did not . with all the uproar in recent years about illnesses found among gulf_war veterans , it seems likely that the researchers identified everybody with a.l.s . in that group . the issue will be whether the study , through advertising and contacting patients' groups and doctors , was able to find virtually all the cases in the other group as well . if they missed some , the difference between the two groups might disappear , and service in the gulf would not be associated with risk of the disease . as the study progresses , researchers and patient advocacy groups hope it might provide clues to help unravel the causes of this rare and mysterious illness . one intriguing finding that air_force personnel had higher rates than other servicemembers would mesh with an earlier study suggesting that civilian pilots may have a higher than normal risk of motor neuron diseases . researchers have already begun trying to identify what factors might explain the a.l.s . cases found among gulf veterans . their initial quick scan came up with nothing obvious . but if peer_review validates the finding that gulf veterans were at particular risk , the search will intensify .	has a location of iraq
the last time ted_koppel traveled across the iraqi desert , it was at the start of the united_states led invasion in march , accompanying the tanks of the third infantry division . this week mr . koppel is on the road again with an abc_news crew , retracing his steps from the kuwaiti border to baghdad for ''nightline . '' ten months ago , the only way into battle was alongside united_states troops as a so called embedded reporter . mr . koppel distinguished himself with calm , analytic reporting and a cool demeanor . by choosing the constraint of following the same route , he left himself at the mercy of fate , and little of note happened on monday_night 's program , about the trip from the border to the baghdad airport . once he reached baghdad and could make contact with different military units , mr . koppel found more newsworthy events . for last night 's program he and his crew went along on a raid conducted by the 82nd_airborne_division , which led to the capture of two suspects sought by american_forces , said leroy sievers , a ''nightline'' executive_producer . the next day , mr . sievers said by telephone from baghdad , mr . koppel visited an iraqi youth center that the american military was building as a peace offering to the local population it came under attack by rocket propelled grenades when mr . koppel and his crew were in a nearby building . not everything was as journalistically fruitful . the road trip , the subject of the one hour special ''nightline'' on monday , consisted mostly of insipid interviews with local iraqis and time consuming car trouble . hearing about television journalists' logistical difficulties in a war zone is akin to listening to a friend describe her strange dream of the night before it never is as gratifying for the listener . some of the best moments were flashbacks to march , when mr . koppel was reporting in an oversize helmet and combat fatigues , sounding as calm and composed under fire as a tennis expert commenting on a wimbledon match . as the week progresses , mr . koppel is likely to find other interview subjects and images more worthy of his analytic skills . but even on monday , there was some information to be gleaned from what mr . koppel 's cameras were not allowed to show . in april , when mr . koppel arrived at the baghdad airport , he reported that officers expressed surprise at how little resistance they met . and he had carte_blanche to report on what he saw . this time american military officials would not allow him to film any of the concrete barriers or other security measures set up to guard the airport from attack . mr . koppel asked an officer why everyone on the base seemed so ''uptight . '' the officer corrected him politely , saying that the soldiers were not overly tense , just ''vigilant . '' as the noise of helicopters forced the interview to a close , the officer smiled defensively and yelled that the racket was ''the sound of freedom . '' nightline abc , weeknights at 11 35 eastern and pacific times 10 35 , central time the tv watch	has a location of iraq
one night recently , just after dusk , a convoy of humvees came to an abrupt halt as it was leaving this military base . a soldier in the passenger seat of the lead vehicle climbed out , camera in hand , and stared , agape , at the silhouettes of seven figures gliding in skates atop a large concrete slab . ''hey guys , can you believe this ? '' he yelled to his fellow soldiers inside the humvee , just before snapping a few photos and driving off . ''hockey in iraq . now i 've seen everything . '' there is basketball for soldiers in iraq , college courses for soldiers in iraq , even salsa dancing lessons for soldiers in iraq . but roller hockey for soldiers in iraq must be among the rarest recreational activities of all . here at warhorse , though , near the city of baquba , about 35 miles northeast of baghdad , hockey has become a nightly ritual . soldiers from company b of the 203rd forward support battalion , third infantry division , gather at 7 p.m . to lace up their skates and play hockey on an area of concrete separated from the base 's helipad by blast_walls . the soldiers' 16 sets of in line skates and 13 hockey sticks were donated by sporting_goods stores in wisconsin . the single goal the soldiers use was fashioned with tent poles they welded together and netting normally used as a sun barrier . some soldiers had skated before . some had played roller hockey before . others , like staff sgt . glennville fox from palatka , fla . , had done neither . ''i 'm not very nimble , but this just helps me pass the time , '' he said after missing a shot on goal , losing his balance and falling to the ground face first , spread eagle . on the other side of the goal , specialist eric armstrong let out a belly laugh as he weaved around other players , an orange rubber ball on the tip of his stick . he shot and scored . then the players promptly lost the ball in the darkness . ''while still in kuwait , i joked that we 'd be playing hockey here in a few months , but i was totally kidding , '' said specialist armstrong , 20 , who is from appleton , wis . , and has played hockey since he was 10 . ''now it 's weird to play this here , because iraqis have probably never even seen hockey , or ice , for that matter . ''but after awhile , i could n't watch another movie , could n't play another video_game , '' he said . ''i needed hockey . '' specialist armstrong and a few other players work security , escorting convoys down the perilous roads to and from warhorse , an area rife with roadside_bombs . other times , specialist armstrong searches people entering the base , including injured iraqis en_route to the aid_station . ''we search them even though they have cut up legs and shot off arms or flesh hanging off of them , '' he said . ''people have been known to strap bombs to their legs even then , so we have to keep the base safe . now you know why we use hockey to distract us from our day jobs . '' convoy security missions are just as stressful , but sometimes boring because there may be long waits at either end of the trips . before his hockey equipment arrived , specialist armstrong said he often spent that down time dreaming about playing in the national_hockey_league or trying to remember how it felt to dance across the ice with a hockey stick in his hand . in other times of ennui , he found different ways to occupy his time . once , he ran full speed at a giant roll of bubble wrap to see if he would bounce off . ( he did . ) he then had grand plans to leap from the top of his housing unit while bear hugging that bubble wrap , but one of his noncommissioned_officers put a stop to it . finally , after a few months in iraq , he decided to ask his mother , kris armstrong , to buy 13 sets of inline skates , 13 hockey sticks and 2 sets of goalie equipment with the money he had saved while overseas . when she went to sporting_goods stores to buy them , specialist armstrong said , she ended up persuading the managers to donate more than 2 , 000 worth of equipment . kris armstrong spent about 150 to send that gear to iraq . the equipment arrived two weeks ago and was the best package from home that specialist armstrong could dream of , he said . since then , more and more soldiers have shown up to play . one night last week , more than a dozen soldiers in desert camouflage uniforms or gray t shirts and black shorts sat in a row of dusty plastic chairs , most of them smoking cigarettes before the game began . they leaned their weapons most have m_16 rifles , some with grenade_launchers against concrete barriers and slipped on their skates while a group of cafeteria workers from africa played cricket in the background . before the game began , specialist armstrong quickly fixed the goal with duct_tape . the night before , another soldier had trouble braking and skated through the metal frame . when specialist armstrong was finished , the group set out for nearly two hours of gliding and , in some cases , colliding . ''hey , did you do this damage to me yesterday ? '' sgt . thomas miller , 25 , from carmine , ill . , said to specialist armstrong , while pointing to a welt on his right shin . ''better me than some iraqi , '' specialist armstrong said , as he skated off smiling . roller hockey	has a location of iraq
the defense_department is planning to administer experimental drugs , which experts say include a botulism vaccine , to troops in the persian_gulf . the vaccine , which may protect against a deadly bacterial toxin that could be used by iraq , has been previously tried only by laboratory workers who handle the toxin . this experience provides too little data for the food and drug administration to declare the vaccine effective . experts say the vaccine seems reasonably safe but definitive data on this point too are lacking . on dec . 21 , the department of defense obtained a special waiver needed to require troops to take experimental drugs and vaccines , in case of combat or " threat of combat . " although troops must accept standard medical treatments , until now they have not had to accept experimental ones without signing an informed_consent statement . " as far as i know , there has never been another situation in this nation where people waived their right to give informed_consent , " to receiving experimental treatments , said dr . arthur caplan , director of the center for biomedical ethics at the university of minnesota . a request to the f.d.a . in a letter to the f.d.a . asking permission for the waiver , dr . enrique mendez , assistant secretary for defense , health_affairs , said that the department wanted to give troops " a vaccine long recognized by the centers_for_disease_control as the primary preventive treatment for a particular disease , " but for which there was too little data to support a license . this vaccine , experts say , is against botulism toxin . the toxin that causes botulism is produced by bacteria that stay dormant in spores in soil . the spores grow into toxin secreting bacteria in airless conditions , like cans of food that receive insufficient heat treatment . the toxin can paralyze even in minute amounts because it adheres to the ends of nerves , preventing communication . defense_department officials referred calls to susan hanson , a pentagon spokeswoman , who said that the department " very carefully stayed away " from stating which experimental drugs or vaccines it wanted to administer to troops , but that " there are some clues in the letter to the f.d.a. " an f.d.a . spokesman , jeffrey nesbit , said he could not discuss any requests by the defense_department to administer experimental drugs or vaccines to troops , but he confirmed that another vaccine widely expected to be given to troops , a vaccine against anthrax , was already licensed by the f.d.a . so it could not be the one mentioned in the letter . few have received vaccine but dr . michael grodin , who is the associate director of the law , medicine , and ethics program at boston_university , said he learned of the pentagon 's plans in a telephone call to dr . edward d . martin , deputy assistant secretary of defense for health_affairs . dr . martin , he said , did not request that dr . grodin keep their conversation secret . reciting from his conversation with dr . martin , dr . grodin explained that the botulism vaccine is experimental because too few people have received it to know if it works . but although the vaccine 's efficacy is uncertain , dr . grodin said , " it is fairly safe from what they know . " dr . martin told dr . grodin that the other experimental drugs that the troops might receive were pyridostigmine , an antidote to nerve_gas , and diazepam , sold under brand names like valium , which can combat seizures associated with nerve_gas attacks . both these drugs are already approved , dr . martin said , but not for these uses . confrontation in the gulf	has a location of iraq
the abc_news anchor , bob woodruff , and a cameraman , doug vogt , who were badly wounded in a roadside_bomb explosion in iraq , are responding slowly to treatment , officials at an american military_hospital in germany where they are being treated said monday . ''doctors have had good early signs of reaction , signs of slow improvement , '' said a hospital spokeswoman , marie shaw . mr . woodruff 's brother , david , who visited him on monday , said his condition had improved since he and mr . vogt were flown from a military field_hospital in iraq to the landstuhl regional medical center here . ''he 's been getting great care since he 's been here , and he 's been improving , and we 're hopeful , '' david woodruff said outside the hospital . he declined to give details . abc_news said the two men might be transferred to a hospital in the united_states for further treatment , as soon as tuesday . officials here said they had not yet found a suitable hospital for the transfer . mr . woodruff faces , at minimum , an arduous convalescence . a person close to the family said he had suffered multiple broken ribs , a broken shoulder and a skull fracture . bomb fragments pierced his neck and back , though apparently not his brain . doctor have kept him unconscious , this person said , and the extent of his head wounds was not clear . mr . woodruff underwent three hours of surgery on monday to remove shrapnel , another person close to the family said . both people spoke anonymously because they did not want to speak publicly for the family . mr . woodruff , 44 , and mr . vogt , 46 , arrived at 8 30 a.m . monday on a military transport plane carrying 31 wounded soldiers about a normal daily influx for this hospital . doctors spent the first few hours conducting tests to determine how they had weathered the seven hour flight . ''they were treated by our trauma and critical care team , and are undergoing evaluation and re testing , '' the hospital 's commander , col . w . bryan gamble , said in an interview . he said their lives had probably been saved by the body_armor they wore . the men were wounded when the bomb exploded while they were standing in the open hatch of an iraqi military vehicle . mr . woodruff said a few words after he was hit , said tom_brokaw , the former nbc_news anchor , who spoke to mr . woodruff 's wife , lee , and later reported on that conversation on the ''today'' show . ''these improvised devices can give very significant injuries to many parts of the body the extremities , the face , the torso , '' colonel gamble said , adding that both men were ''heavily sedated . '' lee woodruff also arrived at the hospital on monday , as did vivian vogt , mr . vogt 's wife . abc_news sent a senior executive , robert murphy . ''as we have known , doug is in somewhat better condition than bob , '' david westin , the president of abc_news , said in a statement . ''but the doctors are pleased with how they came through the transfer . '' ''we have a long way to go , '' he said . ''but it appears that we may have also come some distance from yesterday . '' the explosion occurred as mr . woodruff and mr . vogt were riding in the iraqi vehicle near taji , a tense area northwest of baghdad . they had been part of a news team accompanying units of the fourth infantry division and had initially traveled in a united_states_army armored_humvee . before the attack , they switched to the more lightly armored iraqi vehicle , the network reported . colleagues at abc_news said mr . woodruff and mr . vogt were careful and had not taken any undue risks . they were wearing body_armor , helmets and ballistic glasses . doctors here noted that the equipment , while protecting their bodies , would not have shielded their necks or faces . fragments from roadside_bombs tend to blow upward , which makes helmets less effective , said col . ronald place , a surgeon and deputy commander of the hospital . colonel place said the condition of mr . woodruff 's brain would be a crucial issue for his recovery prospects . mr . brokaw said doctors had told mrs . woodruff that the swelling in her husband 's brain had subsided . ''in bob 's case , that had been a big concern , '' mr . brokaw said on ''today . '' ''yesterday they had to operate and remove part of the skull cap to relieve some of the swelling . '' doctors at the landstuhl hospital learned of the explosion on television , and on the assumption that mr . woodruff and mr . vogt would be flown here , began following their treatment on a web based tracking system , as the men were flown from the scene in taji to a field_hospital in balad . the system , colonel place said , allows landstuhl to do a sort of electronic triage , preparing doctors and equipment . the struggle for iraq wounded journalists	has a location of iraq
the war in iraq is just a week old , but it is clear that saddam_hussein has learned a lot since his forces were routed in the persian_gulf_war in 1991 . like other leaders facing larger , technologically superior forces , he has found ways to improvise and to take advantage of the fact that the fighting is taking place on his home ground . he is waging a campaign of harassment and delay . it is not likely to change the outcome of the war , but it will prolong the fighting , make it more costly for his adversaries and profoundly affect the way it is seen in other arab countries and around the world . already , the iraqis have forced coalition_forces to delay their main force attack on baghdad until basra , which they had hoped to bypass , can be subdued and until the road north can be made considerably more secure . ''we underestimated the capacity of his paramilitary_forces , '' said a senior uniformed officer at the pentagon . ''they have turned up where we did not expect them to , and they have fought with more resourcefulness than we expected them to demonstrate . '' another pentagon official conceded ''it 's clear that saddam went to school on desert_storm . it is clear saddam went to school on kosovo . he has learned how america attacks . '' the north_vietnamese , the palestine_liberation_organization , the irish_republican_army in northern_ireland and the serbs in kosovo have all shown how an outmanned , outgunned force can fight back . mr . hussein has obviously concluded that he cannot win a soviet style land battle against an adversary that controls the air , so this time his tanks are not arrayed on the desert , waiting to be plastered by allied missiles , although he appears to be willing to use armored divisions south of baghdad . nor can he be confident that a centralized command will work . it , too , would be vulnerable to allied air attack . so the iraqi leader is leading a kind of guerrilla defense , conducted by the fedayeen irregulars , who number perhaps 60 , 000 , plus hard core members of mr . hussein 's baath_party and other paramilitary_forces . american intelligence officials say command has been devolved to provincial level . the desert does not afford the kind of cover that the jungles , caves and mountains of vietnam did , although periodic sandstorms can enable the iraqis to mount ambushes . but the streets and alleys of iraqi cities are ideal places for urban guerrillas who can blend into the crowds to operate , just as those of belfast and tel_aviv have done . not only are the guerrillas hard to root out , but doing so also works against the american desire to be seen as agents of liberation , not agents of conquest . who is a fedayeen fighter and who is a civilian ? marines tell stories of iraqis changing in and out of uniform . a civilian bus turns out to be a troop_transport . guerrillas cluster near schools and hospitals . in several cases , troops carrying white flags have opened fire . iraqis do not play by the rules of west_point and sandhurst . if the frustrated allies call in artillery and air_strikes on urban_areas , civilian casualties are almost inevitable . if they do not , stability is difficult to establish and maintain , which makes it hard to bring in the urgent relief supplies on which they count to create an image of beneficence . british armored units are confronted with that conundrum near basra at the moment . a decision has apparently been made to fight for the city , but the tactics and the timing are not yet clear . in any event , the british and the american_marines fighting with them are surely going to become involved in some kind of street by street , if not house by house , urban_warfare . the questions posed are difficult if not impossible to answer . how many iraqi civilians can be killed ( with the attendant effect on world and to some degree american opinion ) to save the life of one american soldier ? even the news of the first american casualties caused domestic concern about the cost and length of the war to rise , according to polls taken in the last several days . ''they want to draw us in , bleed us , wear us down , '' said a veteran of democratic administrations . ''that puts pressure on the white_house in the most damaging ways . '' united_states officials had thought the shiite_muslims of southern iraq would prove reluctant to shelter the fedayeen . so far , that judgment has proved incorrect , although the extent to which fear and coercion have led the local population to cooperate with mr . hussein 's hard line followers remains unclear . as mao famously said , the populace constitutes the water in which the guerrillas can swim like lethal fish . in city after city , they are swimming . even in a strictly military sense , as contrasted to a political military sense , the coalition_forces need to subdue the cities and towns along the road to baghdad . they are operating at the end of unusually long supply lines , stretching in many cases all the way back to kuwait . these could easily be cut by fedayeen and other irregulars operating out of the shadows . marines protecting a fuel convoy racing north toward the allied forces deployed south of baghdad reported taking fire throughout the journey , but the convoy made it anyway . it will happen again . a nation at war news analysis	has a location of iraq
the hosts of ''today'' and ''good morning america'' began yesterday on their feet , standing like evening news anchors alongside maps and images of iraq marking the fourth anniversary of the war by looking back at its disappointments . images of roadside_bombings and sectarian carnage flashed across the screen along with a clip of vice_president dick_cheney in 2003 saying that american_troops would be ''greeted as liberators . '' president_bush delivered a televised rebuttal with a live address to the nation . standing in front of a long shelf of books in the roosevelt room , a stance meant to project wisdom more than power , mr . bush assured viewers that since the january troop increase , there were ' 'some hopeful signs'' on the ground . the war has changed dramatically since the early , heady days of shock and awe . television over the past four years has changed with it , not always for better but not necessarily for worse . most americans , spared tax increases , rationing or a draft , still have no direct sense of the war beyond the television set . when asked in january what sacrifices americans have made , mr . bush replied , ''they sacrifice peace of mind when they see the terrible images of violence on tv every night . '' the networks , which covered the early days of the invasion on tiptoe , worried that their patriotism in the wake of 9 11 would be questioned , have grown more openly skeptical . but news programs are not the only place where viewers are exposed to the conflict in iraq . since the invasion , and most particularly in the aftermath of the abu_ghraib scandal , the war on terror has surfaced as a subplot or subliminal theme , not just on ''24'' or ripped from the headline crime series like ''law order , '' but even on reality_shows and sitcoms . on nbc 's ''30 rock , '' the network executive played by alec baldwin tells co workers that he is dating secretary of state condoleezza_rice . most of the shows echo the public 's disenchantment after abu_ghraib and the military failures in iraq . sometimes the iraq conflict takes over an entire plotline an episode of ''criminal minds , '' a cbs series about serial killers and psychopaths , turned its focus to a muslim terrorist suspect being held at guant_namo without due process . ( he is thrown on the floor of an interrogation room in his underpants , hands and feet bound by chains and his face bruised from beatings . ) other times , references to the war pop up almost gratuitously . on cbs 's ''without a trace , '' an f.b.i . agent described a potentially disastrous pipe leak in the ocean as ''the ecological equivalent of iraq . '' television shows process news events much faster than ever before , but not much more directly than they did at the time of ''hogan 's heroes , '' ''m a s h'' or ''china beach . '' they do not grapple any more straightforwardly with the larger issues of whether the war is right or wrong , or even try to paint the full reality of the war itself . ''the unit , '' a cbs series about the derring do of top secret special_forces , prefers to set its combat scenes elsewhere than iraq , sometimes as close as afghanistan , but more often africa or asia . that could be because steven bochco 's ''over there , '' a 13 episode series about soldiers fighting in iraq , was not a hit . shown on fx , it was the first television drama about the conflict , and hard to watch a series that turned a war into entertainment while it was still being fought . producers and writers prefer a more elliptical approach , siphoning off the most dramatic and troubling elements . on abc 's ''brothers sisters , '' the drug addicted youngest brother is a damaged veteran of the war in afghanistan . even ''grey 's anatomy'' wriggled its way into the war meredith 's half sister , molly , gave birth while her husband was in iraq . but most of all , shows write in references to torture and the abuse of prisoners , perhaps because those acts so sharply undermine the idealization of civil_servants and servicemen on shows like ''csi'' or ''ncis'' on cbs . fox 's ''24'' is a counterterrorism thriller that supports the notion that in the war against extremism , the use of torture is both necessary and effective . it 's the exception . last season ''sleeper cell , '' a series on showtime , dramatized the opposite argument the terrorist leader , farik , sat in a c.i.a . prison , withstanding gruesome psychological and physical torture and taunting his captors about their ambivalence about such methods . ''you americans are so obsessed with yourselves , '' farik says , ''that you care more about analyzing your guilt than achieving victory . that is why we will win , and you will lose . '' ( the c.i.a . outsources him to the less inhibited interrogators in saudi_arabia . ) torture is turned into a joke on ''saturday_night_live'' or ''the daily show with jon_stewart , '' as well as on the much discussed and now defunct fox series ''arrested development . '' at the end of that sitcom 's run in 2006 , two bluth brothers traveled to baghdad to seek their other brother 's release from an iraqi prison . ''it 's u.s . run , '' one says . ''god knows what they are doing to him . '' the topic is anything but funny on dramas . on nbc 's ''heroes'' two los angeles police officers race to interview a suspect unfairly tagged as a muslim extremist . ''he 's got one hour before homeland_security sends him down the rabbit hole as a suspected terrorist , '' an officer says . crime series have long dramatized the tensions between police officers and the f.b.i. , but over the past four years the f.b.i . 's handling or mishandling of the terrorist threat has provided new fodder for conflict . on tnt 's show ''the closer , '' the f.b.i . tries to take over a homicide case from the los angeles police department , arguing that the murder is a matter of ''national_security . '' an iranian suspect tells an agent that he has legal rights . ''really ? '' the agent replies . ''you might want to take a closer look at the patriot act . '' americans do n't watch the news as closely as they should , but the news has a way of closing in on popular_culture . the tv watch	has a location of iraq
an article on dec . 16 about sean penn 's visit to iraq misstated the timing of an earlier trip by a hollywood actor to a land in hostile confrontation with the united_states jane_fonda 's visit to north_vietnam in 1972 . it was in july , not at christmas .	has a location of iraq
except for one detail , salesmen everywhere would recognize the office of husam muhanad , one of iraq 's biggest computer importers . the walls are painted a restful lime_green . potential buyers can relax on a synthetic leather couch . nothing sits on the glass top of mr . muhanad 's desk except for a small calculator , the better to keep prospects focused on the deal at hand . then there is the kalashnikov rifle that mr . muhanad keeps tucked behind a cabinet , just in case . doing business in iraq these days is not easy . but small businesses like mr . muhanad 's are sometimes bustling . the problems are obvious . only a few banks are open here , and the power fails with depressing regularity . baghdad is mostly peaceful during the day , but roadside_bombs and violent demonstrations can at any moment turn its streets into carnivals of chaos . the biggest companies are state owned dinosaurs that have outdated equipment and too many employees with too little to do . the unemployment rate nationwide is estimated at 60 percent or more . but senaa street , a strip where mr . muhanad has his store , is one of those pockets that offers a note of hope . on the east side of the busy two lane road , a dozen dusty buildings house the technical university of baghdad , an engineering school with 14 , 000 students . the new semester has just begun . on the west side , two story office buildings house scores of computer stores , while on the sidewalk shoeshine boys and tea vendors vie for customers . secretary of defense donald h . rumsfeld has said that 5 , 000 new businesses have opened in iraq since may 1 . there is no way to know exactly , but the consensus on the street is that business has improved since american_troops ousted saddam_hussein . united_nations sanctions have ended , meaning that the stores can import computers more easily , and , without tariffs , prices are falling . a 17 inch color monitor that sold for 125 before the war is now 100 . ''it 's better now , '' said najwa sahib , co owner of al khabeer , which translates as the expert , on the second floor of baghdad 's equivalent of a minimall . like other merchants on the street , ms . sahib closes each day about 3 p.m . because she fears armed robberies . still , she sells about 40 computers a month , mainly to american businesses , relief organizations and students . at al khaiyal the imagination a dingy store whose floors are crowded with disassembled computers , aqueel naji and two employees sell pirated copies of microsoft windows for 1 , 750 iraqi dinars , or less than 1 . mr . naji said his income had risen since the war ended , in part because he no longer had to bribe mr . hussein 's security officials . internet cafes have become important customers of the stores since the fall of mr . hussein . under the old government , iraqis could not get on the internet except through a handful of state owned and monitored cafes that blocked access to sites that were considered subversive . now , baghdad is sprouting stores and cafes offering internet_access for about 75 cents an hour , and private companies offer satellite connections . with baghdad 's still spotty telephone system , internet_access is reserved for those with satellite connections . mr . muhanad is now working to open his own internet cafe . his employees have repainted three rooms near his office that he had used for storage but where he now plans to install 30 computers . a former accountant , mr . muhanad opened his importing business in 1998 , spending about 20 , 000 to bring in 20 personal_computers . sales grew quickly , and by last year , he had become one of the biggest computer importers in iraq , with 30 employees , he said . to avoid united_nations sanctions , mr . muhanad brought in computers by ship through the persian_gulf and overland from jordan . in 2002 , he smuggled shipments of computers more than a dozen times , bringing in hundreds each time , he said . mr . hussein 's ministries were his biggest customers . mr . muhanad said that he did not pay bribes , but that he did offer ''gifts'' to ministry officials . ''maybe a pen , maybe a laptop . '' as the united_states intensified pressure on mr . hussein before the war , business slowed , and then nearly stopped . to protect his stores from looting , he moved his inventory to the homes of his employees . figuring correctly that any new government would not want to pay the bills left over from the days of mr . hussein , he stopped selling computers to the government and instead devoted his time to demand the payments of old debts . as a result , mr . muhanad collected 75 percent of the money he was owed before the war began , giving him a big edge over competitors . he reopened in june , he said . ''i was reluctant to start , but i had many employees , and they needed salaries , and i had to break my fear , '' he said . business rapidly recovered , and he now sells more than 100 computers each month to iraqi and western customers , along with what he describes as tens of thousands of dollars worth of parts and accessories . with business strong and his internet cafe about to open , mr . muhanad expects to hire two new workers this month . still , he said he believed that iraq 's economy would recover only slowly . mr . muhanad , who takes a taxi to work because he fears being the victim of a carjacking if he drives himself , said businesses would not make big new investments until security improved . then there is the problem that after a generation of working for the state or for inefficient state businesses , many educated iraqis are not used to the risk taking or long hours demanded by the private_sector . ''for 35 years , they are used to being supported by the government , '' mr . muhanad said . ''to change their behavior we need more time . ''	has a location of iraq