IRAQ

7. Iran, Hezbollah Support Al-Sadr
(Washington Times)...Rowan Scarborough
Sheik Muqtada al-Sadr, the fiery Iraqi Shi'ite cleric who ordered his fanatical militia to attack coalition troops, is being supported by Iran and its terror surrogate Hezbollah, according to military sources with access to recent intelligence reports. Sheik al-Sadr's bid to spark a widespread uprising in Iraq comes at a particularly pivotal time. The United States is conducting a massive troop rotation that leaves inexperienced troops in some locations, including Fallujah, which is west of Baghdad and where Sunnis have mounted another series of rebellions.

8. U.S. Says It Won’t Move Quickly Against Sadr
(New York Times)...Douglas Jehl
American military commanders and civilian officials have decided to move slowly in carrying out any retaliation against Moktada al-Sadr, fearing that if American forces kill or arrest the rebellious Shiite cleric now, wider violence may be ignited, senior Defense Department officials said Tuesday.

9. Fear Of Losing Control Drives Assault
(USA Today)...Tom Squitieri
...The Marines planned on using different tactics even before the civilian contractors' murders. Marine officers had planned on having troops patrolling the streets and neighborhoods in an effort to win over the population and gather intelligence. But the killings last Wednesday required a quick and aggressive response and indicated the local police and civil defense forces can't be counted on to confront insurgents.

10. Marines Fight On, Roof To Roof
(Philadelphia Inquirer)...David Swanson
The fighting here started as a series of well-coordinated Iraqi ambushes of routine Marine patrols. It turned into a day of nonstop, house-to- house, roof-to-roof fighting with Marines at times surrounded and holding on desperately. It was a cacophony of fire for five or six hours, leaving the bodies of Iraqi attackers lying mangled in the dust, one with its head gone, but still clad in a vintage U.S.-made flak jacket. Marines stepped warily around the Iraqi bodies, looking for their own comrades. American Cobra and Chinook helicopters thumped overhead, and Bradley Fighting Vehicles rumbled on the roads.

11. Crackdown A Gamble, U.S. Officials Concede
(Miami Herald)...Warren P. Strobel and John Walcott
Bush administration officials sought Tuesday to cast the rebellion in Iraq as the work of a minority, saying plans to transfer sovereignty to Iraqis on June 30 remain on target despite spreading violence. Privately, however, senior officials said the spreading battle between the United States and followers of anti-American cleric Muqtada al Sadr could be a turning point in the yearlong U.S. effort to pacify and rebuild Iraq.

12. Attacks Against U.S. Urged On Audiotape
(Philadelphia Inquirer)...Samia Nakhoul, Reuters
An audiotape purportedly recorded by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, regarded by the United States as a top al-Qaeda operative, urges Islamic militants to step up attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq and their Shiite Muslim "collaborators." Zarqawi, widely believed to be in Iraq, was sentenced to death in absentia in Jordan yesterday in connection with the killing of U.S. aid worker Laurence Foley in October 2002.

13. Muslim Rivals Unite In Baghdad Uprising
(Washington Post)...Karl Vick
On the streets of Baghdad neighborhoods long defined by differences of faith and politics, signs are emerging that resistance to the U.S. occupation may be growing from a sporadic, underground effort to a broader insurrection by militiamen who claim to be fighting in the name of their common faith, Islam.

14. At Word Of U.S. Foray, A Baghdad Militia Erupts
(New York Times)...Jeffrey Gettleman
The word went out on Tuesday at noon, with the blast of the call to prayer: American soldiers had raided an office of Moktada al-Sadr, the radical Shiite cleric, and torn up a poster of his father, one of Iraq's most revered martyrs. The Khadamiya bazaar exploded in a frenzy. Shopkeepers reached beneath stacks of sandals for Kalashnikov rifles. Boys wrapped their faces in black cloth. Men raced through the streets, kicking over crates and setting up barriers. Some handed out grenades. Within minutes this entire Shiite neighborhood in central Baghdad had mobilized for war.

15. Clashes In Iraq Threaten To Undermine Political Process
(Washington Post)...Sewell Chan and Robin Wright
Three days of violent clashes have shaken the already fractious and fragile political process that is supposed to result in a sovereign Iraq in less than 90 days.

16. Anxious Moments In Grip Of An Outlaw Iraqi Militia
(New York Times)...John F. Burns
If Moktada al-Sadr has chosen a grand mosque in this Euphrates River town for a last stand against American troops, as many of his militiamen have claimed in recent days, he appears to be relying more on the will of God than anything like military discipline to protect him.

17. Iraqis Meet With War Crimes Trial Experts
(New York Times)...Marlise Simons
Ten Iraqi judges and prosecutors preparing to try Saddam Hussein and members of his government have quietly met here with veterans of international war crimes tribunals to draw on their experience of judging atrocities in the Balkans, Sierra Leone and Rwanda, according to the Iraqis and other participants.

NA
18. U.N. Envoy Busy Despite Violence
(USA Today)...Unattributed
United Nations envoy Lakhdar Brahimi met politicians, women’s groups and hu­man rights activists in Iraq in his quest to help the country decide on an interim gov­ernment to take power on June 30.

19. Japanese Troops Halt Operations
(Unattributed
Japanese troops helping with recon­struction in Iraq will suspend operations outside their base because of security con­cerns following clashes in a nearby city, a media report said.

20. Blix: Iraq Worse Off Than Under Hussein
(Dallas Morning News)...Associated Press
Iraq is worse off now after the U.S.-led invasion than it was under Saddam Hussein, Hans Blix told a Danish newspaper Tuesday.

DEFENSE DEPARTMENT

21. Rumsfeld Talks At Academy Of Changing Role Of Forces
(Annapolis Capital)...Earl Kelly
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said that Naval Academy graduates in the future should expect to serve in a military in which different branches of the service work closer together than in the past. Speaking to a small group of journalists at the academy, Mr. Rumsfeld said wars in the foreseeable future will be different from traditional wars that featured "big armies and big navies."

22. DOD Proposes Easing Green Laws
(Washington Post)...Unattributed
The Defense Department wants the government to ease environmental laws to avoid costly cleanups of military ranges and give states more time to handle air pollution from training exercises. The proposed changes were submitted to Congress as part of the Pentagon's renewed drive to ease several environmental laws in the name of military readiness.

NATIONAL GUARD/RESERVE

23. Fighter Jet Escort Of Passenger Planes Was Only For Show
(Washington Post)...Liz Seymour
Some of the tourists and office workers enjoying a sunny lunchtime in Washington yesterday were startled to see two fighter jets flying escort-style near two passenger planes, but it turned out to be an aerial photo shoot staged by the D.C. Air National Guard.

BUSINESS

24. Boeing's Tanker Program Unfazed
(Wichita Eagle)...Molly McMillin
As the political furor continues in Washington over Boeing's plan to sell or lease modified 767s as refueling tankers to the U.S. Air Force, life goes on for 900 Boeing Wichita workers already working on the tanker program.

NA
25. Boeing Tanker Profit Clause Flawed, Audit Says
(Bloomberg.com)...Tony Capaccio
Boeing Co. and the Air Force negotiated a "highly detrimental" provision in their proposed $23 billion aerial-refueling tanker program that doesn't adequately protect the government, Pentagon Inspector General Joseph Schmitz said in a report.

NA
26. Boeing Official Predicts Tanker Deal To Be Completed In '04
(National Journal's CongressDaily)...Amy Klamper
The president and CEO of the Boeing Co. defense and space unit said today that audits and investigations into the proposed lease of its airborne tankers will not keep the deal from moving forward.

SEPTEMBER 11

27. 'Armageddon' Plan Was Put Into Action On 9/11, Clarke Says
(Washington Post)...Howard Kurtz
An "Armageddon" program designed to ensure that the federal government would continue to function in the aftermath of a nuclear war was put into place during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. According to ABC's "Nightline," which plans to report its findings tonight, every federal agency shifted its control to an alternate headquarters outside Washington.

AFGHANISTAN

28. Afghanistan Not Ready For Election, U.N. Official Says
(Baltimore Sun)...Associated Press
Afghanistan's elections, already postponed until September, will still be jeopardized unless security improves and military forces are disarmed, a senior U.N. official warned yesterday. Undersecretary-General for Peacekeeping Jean-Marie Guehenno said it is vital that the Afghan government meet its commitment to speed up disarmament efforts, demobilize 40 percent of current militias and lock up all heavy weapons by June.

29. Mullah Omar Threatens Afghan Suicide Blitz
(London Sunday Times)...Christina Lamb
...Mullah Mohammed Omar, the leader of Afghanistan’s ousted Taliban regime, has broken his silence. Denying that he has been injured, he claims that the Taliban has created a 2,000-strong suicide squad and warns that it will attack targets ranging from women aid workers to people registering to vote in forthcoming Afghan elections. “We will kill all those who support the US and its allies in any manner,” he said. “America is the greatest evil on earth. Whoever is the friend of the US is the enemy of Islam. We have already consigned to hell more than 1,000 infidels, including Americans, their allies and their Afghan flunkies.”

ASIA/PACIFIC

30. Looking For Friendly Overseas Base, Pentagon Finds It Already Has One
(New York Times)...James Brooke
...Away for more than a decade, the B-52's, the United States' largest bombers, are back in Guam, part of a wide-ranging drive by the Pentagon to make this island, an American territory, a "power projection hub" on the edge of Asia. "We are openly talking about putting a fighter wing there, a tanker squadron there, a Global Hawk group there," Gen. William J. Begert, Pacific Air Forces commander, said by telephone from Hawaii, almost 4,000 miles east of here.

NA
31. China To Press U.S. Over Taiwan Arms Sales
(Wall Street Journal)...Associated Press
China will use a visit by Vice President Dick Cheney next week to press Washington to stop selling advanced weapons to rival Taiwan , arguing the practice damages regional stability, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said. Mr. Cheney's visit comes two weeks after the Pentagon approved the sale to Taiwan of an early-warning military radar system that could help the island defend itself against Chinese missiles.

NA
32. U.S. Backs Off Ambassador’s Comments
(USA Today)...Unattributed
The State Department praised Pakistan’s military efforts to track down extremist elements and ap­peared to back away from comments by a U.S. diplo­mat that the Pakistanis should be doing more. U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, said Monday that Pakistan must eliminate terrorist sanc­tuaries on its territory or the United States will do it. State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said there has been “concerted and courageous actions by Paki­stani forces” against al-Qaeda and Taliban forces.

GUANTANAMO

NA
33. U.S. Navy Lawyer Files Suit Over Tribunal Policy, Practices
(Wall Street Journal)...Jess Bravin
A U.S. Navy lawyer filed a lawsuit charging that planned military tribunals for foreign terror suspects are unconstitutional and that authorities at Guantanamo Bay might have tried coercing a prisoner's confession before he could meet with an attorney.

OPINION

34. As NATO Grows, So Do Russia’s Worries
(New York Times)...Sergei Ivanov
Russians have been remarkably calm about the latest stage in NATO's eastward enlargement — the addition of seven new members, including the neighboring Baltic states, last week. However, one question remains on all our minds: why is an organization that was designed to oppose the Soviet Union and its allies in Eastern Europe still necessary in today's world?

35. Two-Front Insurgency
(New York Times)...William Safire
In light of about a dozen American combat deaths yesterday, we should keep in mind our historic bet: that given their freedom from a savage tyrant, the three groups that make up Iraq could, with our help, create a rudimentary democracy that would turn the tide against terror.

36. A War President's Job
(Washington Post)...George F. Will
...Since Sept. 11, 2001, Americans have been told that they are at war. They have not been told what sacrifices, material and emotional, they must make to sustain multiple regime changes and nation-building projects. Telling such truths is part of the job description of a war president.

37. In Iraq, Without Options
(Washington Post)...Harold Meyerson
So now the president's war of choice has led to an occupation with no good options.

38. A Soldier Assures Us: Our Progress Is Amazing
(Houston Chronicle)...Joe Roche
I'm a soldier with the U.S. Army serving in the 16th Combat Engineer Battalion in Baghdad. The news you are hearing stateside is awfully depressing and negative. The reality is we are accomplishing a tremendous amount here, and the Iraqi people are not only benefiting greatly, but are enthusiastically supportive.

NA
39. Religious Fervor Takes Iraq Conflict Into A Scary Phase
(Wall Street Journal)...Gerald F. Seib
The U.S. suddenly finds itself trapped not so much in a civil war in Iraq, but in something different: a religious war.

40. North Korea And Nuclear Terror
(Washington Times)...William C. Triplett II
For all its good work, the September 11 commission is a debate about the past. The prime threat for the future, that a rogue state such as North Korea will sell a nuclear weapon to a terrorist group, is of a magnitude far greater than the threats we have faced heretofore, and the relevant authorities are just now beginning to come to grips with it.

41. Slowness Kills
(Wall Street Journal)...Holman W. Jenkins Jr.
Contract scandals have become the most purely partisan exercise related to the Iraq war, starting with the hilariously disingenuous attempts to link every snafu related to Halliburton's many duties and projects in the war zone with the vice president's office.

EDITORIAL

42. Iraq Needs A Credible U.N.
(New York Times)...Editorial
For the first time since last May, word came yesterday that American forces were engaged in serious combat in Iraq, this time against Iraqi insurgent forces who attacked American marines in a city southwest of Baghdad, and against an armed Sunni resistance in the town of Falluja. Reports of significant casualties on both sides in the pitched battle in the city of Ramadi were a grim and powerful reminder of how badly the United States needs a strong, credible and engaged United Nations.

43. All Nations Have A Stake In Stabilizing Iraq
(USA Today)...Editorial
...The flare-up of fighting shows how U.S. plans to turn over power to Iraqis on June 30 could be set back by unexpected events. Still, the sooner an independent Iraqi government can emerge, the sooner it can try to rally global support. A successful appeal would give the Iraqi people hope that the world community — not just U.S. troops — wants to help them achieve a peaceful future.

NA
44. Saddam's U.N. Financiers
(Wall Street Journal)...Editorial
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee opens hearings today on the Iraqi Oil for Food scandal, to be followed by the House later this month. We hope the Members are serious, because the unfortunate truth is that without pressure from the U.S. we'll never get to the murky bottom.

IRAQ

7. Security Posts Created In Iraq
(Washington Post)...Sewell Chan
On a day when violence raged throughout much of Iraq, the U.S. official in charge of the country announced the appointment of a defense minister and an intelligence director, who he said would help protect the nation.

8. Fallujah Leaders Set Defiant Tone
(USA Today)...Kevin Johnson
In a warning to the U.S.-led coalition, some local leaders in this restive city said they would endorse the continued killing of soldiers and foreign civilians as part of what they described as a justified resistance to the continued occupation of Iraq.

9. Militia May Disarm, But It Won't Dissolve
(Los Angeles Times)...Kim Murphy
Deadly clashes Sunday between soldiers with the U.S.-led coalition and fighters loyal to a radical Shiite cleric underscore the potential of militia groups to upset Iraq's transition to sovereignty and plunge the nation into armed conflict.

10. U.N. Envoy Arrives To Assist Transition
(Washington Times)...Unattributed
A U.N. team led by senior adviser Lakhdar Brahimi arrived in Baghdad yesterday to guide Iraqis on an interim government after the U.S.-led occupation ends on June 30, the United Nations said.

11. Petraeus To Get Key Job In Iraq
(Washington Post)...Thomas E. Ricks
Maj. Gen. David H. Petraeus, who spent most of the past year in Iraq as commander of the 101st Airborne Division, is being sent back to that country to oversee the organization and training of all Iraqi military and security forces, Pentagon insiders said yesterday.

12. Prober: I Knew In Days U.S. 'Wrong' On WMD
(New York Daily News)...James Gordon Meek
The CIA's former weapons hunter in Iraq realized within days of arriving in Baghdad last summer that dictator Saddam Hussein was no longer stockpiling a banned arsenal, according to a new report.

13. Press Office Spreads Good News For Bush
(Miami Herald)...Associated Press
Inside the marble-floored palace hall that serves as the press office of the U.S.-led coalition, Republican Party operatives lead a team of Americans promoting mostly good news about Iraq.

DEFENSE DEPARTMENT

14. Agency Follows The Money Trail
(Philadelphia Inquirer)...Seth Borenstein
...Defense Department Comptroller Dov Zakheim told Congress he created a special office of 25 defense contract agency auditors in Iraq last year and is increasing it to 31. He praised their work and said it showed how the Pentagon was unearthing its contracting problems and taking them seriously. Democrats also praise the agency but said it is being ignored.

15. U.S. Releases 15 More From Guantanamo
(Los Angeles Times)...Reuters
The United States has released 15 more prisoners from the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, sending them to Afghanistan, Turkey, Tajikistan, Sudan, Iraq, Jordan and Yemen, the Pentagon said Friday.

ARMY

16. Commander Punished As Army Probes Detainee Treatment
(Washington Post)...Thomas E. Ricks
The Army is investigating an allegation that U.S. troops killed an Iraqi detainee when they forced him and another man to jump from a bridge into the Tigris River, and a battalion commander has been disciplined for impeding the probe, officers familiar with the investigation said.

17. Army To Test N.Y. Guard Unit
(New York Daily News)...Juan Gonzalez
Army officials at Fort Dix and Walter Reed Army Medical Center are rushing to test all returning members of the 442nd Military Police Company of the New York Army National Guard for depleted uranium contamination.

18. Unit Gets New Look For Return To Iraq
(Atlanta Journal-Constitution)...Ron Martz
...The brigade will have a significantly different look when it returns to Iraq. It is the first of the Army's 33 combat brigades to undergo reorganization into smaller, more mobile units that can operate independently and can be picked up and sent anywhere in the world when needed.

AIR FORCE

NA
19. New Type Of Jet To Be Based In Va.
(Washington Post)...Unattributed
Langley Air Force Base in Hampton will be the first to receive the next-generation fighter jet, the F/A-22 Raptor, according to the Air Force.

20. Safety Concerns Again Ground Academy Aircraft
(Colorado Springs Gazette)...Bill Hethcock
Fewer than 10 weeks after returning to the sky, 45 gliders and other aircraft were ordered grounded Friday by the Air Force Academy because of safety concerns.

TERRORISM

21. Spain Says Blast Killed Head Of Terror Cell
(Washington Post)...Pamela Rolfe
The alleged ringleader of the March 11 train bombings in Madrid was among four suspects who blew themselves up Saturday night as police stormed an apartment where they were hiding, Spain's interior minister said Sunday.

SEPTEMBER 11

22. Leaders Of 9/11 Panel Say Attacks Were Probably Preventable
(New York Times)...Philip Shenon
The leaders of the independent commission investigating the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks agreed Sunday that evidence gathered by their panel showed the attacks could probably have been prevented.

23. Rice To Face Questions On Clarke
(Washington Post)...Charles Lane
The chairman of the national commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks outlined his strategy yesterday for questioning national security adviser Condoleezza Rice when she appears Thursday for public testimony.

CONGRESS

24. June 30 Goal Is Questioned By 2 Senators
(New York Times)...Felicity Barringer
L. Paul Bremer III, the civilian administrator in Iraq, is scheduled to hold a closed-door briefing on Capitol Hill early this week, two senior senators said Sunday. They warned that the June 30 date for transferring sovereignty to the Iraqis might be premature.

25. Key Senator Criticizes Prewar Data
(Los Angeles Times)...Bob Drogin
The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said Sunday for the first time that Saddam Hussein's alleged mobile germ factories and labs probably "did not exist," and he sharply criticized prewar U.S. intelligence about Iraq's suspected weapons.

26. Silence On Deaths Of Iraqi Scientists Troubles Lawmaker
(Washington Times)...Rowan Scarborough
A Republican congressman says U.S. arms inspectors need to make the public better aware that Iraqi insurgents are assassinating scientists who could hold the key to Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction.

ASIA/PACIFIC

27. Japan Support Of Missile Shield Could Tilt Asia Power Balance
(New York Times)...Norimitsu Onishi
As the United States races to erect a ballistic missile defense system by the end of the year, it is quietly enlisting Japan and other allies in Asia to take part in the network, which could reshape the balance of power in the region.

RUSSIA

28. U.S. Defense Visit
(Moscow Times)...Associated Press
Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov will travel to the United States next week, visiting a facility that oversees transformation and modernization of NATO's military capabilities and participating in a conference on terrorism.

BUSINESS

NA
29. Boeing Will Soon Be Free To Bid For Rocket Work
(Wall Street Journal)...Andy Pasztor
The U.S. Air Force is about to reinstate Boeing Co. as an upstanding corporate citizen, making it eligible again for a share of government rocket work valued at as much as $5 billion through the end of the decade.

NA
30. The Dark Side Of Acquisition Reform
(Defense News)...David Phinney
...But the reforms also have spawned new varieties of contracts that may be too big and complex to effectively manage and oversee — especially because federal contracting and auditing staffs have been cut in half since the end of the Cold War. This reduction in force, Pedeleose and others say, has made it more difficult for contract auditors to do their jobs while making it increasingly tempting for companies to inflate their prices.

31. Defense Department Orders Viisage Printers
(Washington Post)...Anitha Reddy
The Defense Department agreed to buy 1,700 printers from Viisage Technology Inc. to print up to 10 million employee identification cards that could eventually store a range of biometric information, from fingerprints to retinal scans.

32. Combat In Iraq Dulls Appetite For Trade
(New York Times)...New York Times
Violence in Iraq is making foreign companies think twice about attending the country's first trade expo since Baghdad fell, an event aimed at bringing foreigners together with local businesses and government officials to plan Iraq's reconstruction.

33. Pentagon May Revise Aerial Tanker Plans
(Los Angeles Times)...Bloomberg News
The Pentagon is considering cheaper alternatives to replace its fleet of aerial refueling tankers after a $23-billion plan to lease and buy as many as 100 Boeing Co. 767s was delayed by a conflict-of-interest probe.

34. Boeing Tanker Falls Into 'If' Realm
(Wichita Eagle)...Alan Bjerga
...While still a believer that leasing Boeing tankers to the Air Force is the fastest way to fill a military need, Roberts, a staunch supporter of the $23.5 billion program, acknowledges that others think differently, and might end up killing plans for the Air Force to lease 20, then buy 80 tankers.

OPINION

35. Planes The Air Force Doesn't Need
(Washington Post)...George C. Wilson
Imagine paying $300 million for just one fighter plane. That's enough to build a 300-bed hospital or 10 new high schools, or pay for the national school lunch programs in the District, Maryland and Virginia for more than a year. Yet, the way things are going, now $300 million is what one Air Force F-22 fighter plane is going to cost us taxpayers.

36. Bold Basing Plan
(Washington Times)...Michael O'Hanlon
In an effort under way since 2001, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his regional combatant commanders are completing a plan to revamp how the United States stations its military forces overseas.

37. The Lessons Of Mogadishu
(Wall Street Journal)...Mark Bowden
...The rebels in Iraq who ambushed those American security workers in Fallujah ought to be hunted down and brought to justice, but they are not the only ones responsible. The public celebration that followed was licensed and encouraged by whatever leadership exists in Fallujah. Whether religious or secular, its insult, warning, and challenge has been broadcast around the world. It must be answered. The photographic evidence should be used to help round up those who committed these atrocities, and those who tacitly or overtly encouraged it. A suitable punishment might be some weeks of unearthing the victims of Saddam Hussein's mass graves.

38. The Floo Floo Bird
(New York Times)...William Safire
...Today we are engaged in the wrong debate. The brouhaha about whether the new Bush administration treated the threat of Al Qaeda as "important" versus "urgent" is history almost as ancient as whether F.D.R. did enough to avert Pearl Harbor.

39. Corruption Charges Threaten Valuable U.N. Role In Iraq
(USA Today)...Editorial
...The charges could be shrugged off as the unfortunate but all-too-typical type of corruption that defines both dictators and international aid programs, except for one thing: The scandal tars an organization that could play a crucial supporting role in U.S. efforts to turn Iraq into a stable democracy. The oil-for-food corruption scandal raises serious questions about how the U.N. would handle that daunting job.

40. U.N. Record In Iraq Is Strong
(USA Today)...Joy Gordon
There has been much discussion lately about the ''scandal'' of the U.N.-run oil-for-food program. The Iraqi Governing Council charges that hundreds of Iraqi officials, foreign companies and Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein skimmed 10% or so from the humanitarian contracts.

41. Bases In Iraq -- (Letter)
(Chicago Tribune)...William J. Luti, Deputy undersecretary
It is important to correct a misleading impression left by "14 'enduring bases' set in Iraq; Long-term military presence planned" (News, March 23). Iraq belongs to the Iraqis. Iraqi bases belong to the Iraqis.

EDITORIAL

42. Mystery Tribunal
(Washington Post)...Editorial
THE JUSTICE Department denies any detailed knowledge of it. The State Department's ambassador for human rights refuses -- "at this time" -- to answer questions about it. The Defense Department refers questions to the Coalition Provisional Authority -- and the CPA doesn't respond to queries about it. Given the nearly complete absence of information, how is it possible to judge the progress of Iraq's war crimes tribunal?

43. Tripoli Can Show The Way
(Los Angeles Times)...Editorial
...Iran may be more like Libya. It has no nuclear weapons yet, and the trade-offs for giving up its nuclear program — world recognition and economic aid — could be persuasive. Washington, London and their allies have carrots to offer Iran as well as sticks; they should extend both to get Tehran to stop concealing key elements of its nuclear program from international inspectors. Stopping nuclear proliferation should be the goal of every country. Having Kadafi preach that gospel will help.

It was July 8, 1972, and Ritchie, then a 30-yearold Air Force captain, was leading a flight of four F-4 Phantoms over Vietnam. Suddenly, a radar control plane 100 miles away picked up “two blue bandits” — two Russian-made MiG-21s — just north of his position.

During the next 89 seconds, Ritchie threw his big, smoky jet into a classic, low-altitude dogfight with lightning-fast turns and even a barrel roll. It ended with the two North Vietnamese jets exploding and plunging to earth.

They were Ritchie’s third and fourth air-to-air victories of the war.

Less than two months later, on Aug. 28, on his second tour and his 339th combat mission, Ritchie downed his fifth MiG.

That magic number made Ritchie the Air Force’s only ace pilot since the Korean War, and the only American pilot to shoot down five MiG-21s, the most advanced fighter U.S. pilots faced at the time.

Ritchie’s final kill — and the dogfight a month earlier — made him a legend in the Air Force and among those who know anything about airpower.

In part, that’s because he might be the last.

The changing nature of warfare makes such men a rare breed. For example, in World War II, there were 1,285 aces, but that number had dropped to 43 in the Korean War. Ritchie and Navy Cmdr. Randy Cunningham were the only aces in the Vietnam War.

Indeed, such men are becoming a rare breed. The US military now so dominates the air that few, if any, nations can compete. In the first Gulf War Saddam left his planes on the ground. Arguments as to why and whether this was a sensible move on his part are academic; a fully launched Iraqi Air Force would likely have delayed the inevitable outcome of that engagement by only a few hours. (And perhaps resulted in a good number of new American aces.)

The British Navy's dominance of the sea in centuries past may be comparable, but the translation of that dominance to ground supremacy is not as direct. Couple the overwhelming might of American airpower with the increasingly sophisticated networked ground combat units and you quickly gain appreciation for the concept of "full spectrum dominance" - an appreciation certain other 'world leaders' would do well to acknowledge.

Still, in spite of rapid progress, some "seat of the pants" flying traditions carry on to this day. But even so, as the following Air Force Times story (no online version available) regarding another anniversary indicates, some changes from years gone by are evident:

The enormous image on the IMAX screen draws oohs and aahs from the assembled crowd: the dull green surface of an A-10 attack jet, disfigured by a ragged, two-foot-long hole revealing honeycombed skin and ruptured control lines.

A click, and more gasps at the new photo — hundreds of tiny shrapnel punctures in the rear fuselage. Click. The swiss-cheese pattern marring an engine. Click. Surfaces blackened by burning hydraulic fluid.

Up come the lights, and standing at the podium in the National Air and Space Museum’s IMAX Theater is the show’s real star, the 5-foot-5 woman who piloted this crippled jet from near-disaster over Baghdad to a note-perfect landing in Kuwait.

<...>

Her story, by now told several times over, bears repeating: Flying as wingman to Lt. Col. Richard Turner, the 75th’s commander, Campbell had completed her final strafing pass over enemy troops in Northern Baghdad on April 7, 2003, a day obscured by low clouds and dust-choked desert air. A sharp shake told Campbell she’d been hit, and unresponsive flight controls told her the damage was bad. Warning indicators and gauges told her she’d lost all hydraulics.

Staring at the rapidly approaching Baghdad landscape, Campbell switched to her jet’s manual reversion system, a backup to the A-10’s dual hydraulic systems. Manual reversion uses mechanical cables and links to operate flight controls as an emergency system designed to get a pilot over friendly territory before ejecting.

Instead of bailing out, Campbell flew the several hundred miles back to the 75th’s Kuwait home, Al Jaber Air Base. She safely landed the horribly wounded jet, duplicating a feat that had been tried three times — once successfully — during the Persian Gulf War.

She repeats the tale to the museum audience with well-practiced good humor. After playing gun camera footage of her touchdown in Kuwait, she smiles and proclaims it one of her better landings, to laughs and applause.

(Note: Photos can be seen here.)

The story and her background make her a public affairs dream. Air Force Academy grad. Holder of master’s and MBA degrees. Her radio call sign is KC — draw your own conclusions as to whether that’s for "Kim Campbell" or her media-friendly nickname, "Killer Chick." Articulate, she is effusive in her praise of her squadronmates, the unit’s aircraft maintainers, the workers who designed and built the A-10 — praise that comes with a sincerity indicating that she doesn’t just say such things because they’re the right things to say.

<...>

Her story has become another piece of evidence for defenders of the rugged A-10, a defense she gladly joins. Like many Warthog pilots, Campbell lavishes praise on the jet. "My story would have ended very differently," she tells the museum audience, "if I’d been flying any other aircraft." She says she’s encouraged by talk of new engines and electronics upgrades for the A-10 fleet.

Flying in combat, she said, has convinced her of the A-10’s importance. So has the flow of letters, e-mails, even a note on a napkin from ground troops thanking her and fellow A-10 pilots for timely attacks on enemy troops.

"The thing to recognize is when the weather is bad and the troops on the ground need help, you’re going to have to take risks," she said. "That’s our job.

"When you get a note from somebody saying, ‘If you’d been a few minutes late, I wouldn’t be here now,’ that’s what it’s all about."

And there is, of course, plenty of curiosity about her gender. One listener to her museum lecture asks about her academy class: How many women? How many became fighter pilots? A woman in the audience asks, "Did you ever get any negative feedback being a woman in the Air Force?"

"My time at the academy, my time in the Air Force has been 100 percent positive," she answers. "I’ve never gotten any negative feedback because I’m a female."

And after her lecture, in the Air and Space Museum’s spacious central gallery, parents guide young daughters forward for Killer Chick’s autograph.

The USAF Academy marked its 50th anniversary on April 1st 2004.

IRAQ

7. Favored By Saddam, Fallujah Seething Since His Fall
(USA Today)...Steven Komarow
Fallujah is a hardscrabble town where the U.S. occupation started badly and never recovered.

8. Mix Of Pride And Shame Follows Killings And Mutilation By Iraqis
(New York Times)...Jeffrey Gettleman
As the rage cooled in Falluja on Thursday and the burned and beaten bodies of four American civilians were wrapped in white cloth, many townspeople said they were torn between pride in the attack and shame over the mutilations.

9. Commander Calls Fallujah Most Difficult Area
(St. Louis Post-Dispatch)...Ron Harris
It is easily the most dangerous region in Iraq. Scores of Iraqis and U.S. servicemen and women have died in and around this city of about 250,000, located just 30 miles west of Baghdad, since President George W. Bush declared the end of major hostilities in May.

10. To Iraqi Press, Killing Of Americans Was Not Biggest News Of The Day
(New York Times)...Christine Hauser
The gruesome killing of four Americans in Falluja on Wednesday was almost automatically the lead article in newspapers across the United States on Thursday, but not in four of the leading papers in Iraq.

11. As Iraq Handover Looms, Transition Questions Remain
(Christian Science Monitor)...Dan Murphy and Howard LaFranchi
With Iraq hurtling towards sovereignty, US administrator Paul Bremer is running out of time.

12. Violence Likely To Rise As Iraq Turnover Nears
(Washington Times)...Sharon Behn
The savage attack on U.S. civilians in the city of Fallujah is a sign of the violence to come in the countdown to the June 30 turnover of sovereignty to Iraqis, security experts said yesterday.

13. U.N. Mission To Address Turnover
(Washington Times)...Betsy Pisik
A U.N. political mission will arrive in Baghdad soon for a listening, and perhaps prodding, tour of Iraqi leaders who, just 90 days before the return of sovereignty, still do not agree on how an interim government will be selected.

14. Powell Sees New U.N. Resolution On Role In Iraq
(Los Angeles Times)...Times Staff and Wire Reports
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell added momentum Thursday to the drive for a new U.N. Security Council statement on Iraq, telling Germany's ZDF television, "I think there will be a new resolution."

DEFENSE DEPARTMENT

15. Southcom Consolidation Idea Is Not Well-Received
(Miami Herald)...Frank Davies
Top Pentagon officials are studying a plan to combine the U.S. Southern Command, based in Miami, with the Northern Command, created in 2002 to defend the U.S. homeland from terrorist attacks.

NA
16. Rumsfeld Promises No Action On Tankers Until After Independent Study
(Defense Daily)...Sharon Weinberger
Even with the preliminary results of an Inspector General report now out, Rumsfeld in a recent letter promised Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) that no action would be taken on Air Force tankers until after an independent study is completed by the Pentagon’s outside advisory body, the Defense Science Board.

NA
17. Forces Need Improved Intelligence, More UAVs, Commanders Say
(Aerospace Daily)...Brett Davis
Military forces overseas need more unmanned aerial vehicles and improved intelligence-gathering technology, regional commanders told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee April 1.

18. Pentagon Wants To Hear From All Corners About New Pay System
(Washington Post)...Stephen Barr
In the next few weeks, Pentagon officials hope to set up a process that will reach out to Defense Department managers, employees, unions and others for advice and ideas on how to design a new civilian pay and personnel system.

19. Pentagon Making Case For New Nukes
(UPI.com)...Pamela Hess, United Press International
A panel of independent advisers is counseling the Pentagon to develop smaller, specialized nuclear weapons using money saved from cutting back on the number of older nuclear warheads and their attendant maintenance costs.

20. Corrections
(Washington Post)...Unattributed
An April 1 article incorrectly stated that March was the second-deadliest month for the U.S. military since the start of the Iraq war. It was the second-deadliest month since May 1, when President Bush declared the end of major combat

WHITE HOUSE

NA
21. Rice Is To Testify To The 9/11 Panel Next Thursday
(Wall Street Journal)...Scot J. Paltrow
The 9/11 Commission reserved Thursday as the day for National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice to testify publicly under oath, with much at stake politically for the Bush administration.

22. After 2 Months, Bush's Iraq Panel Starts To Stir
(New York Times)...Douglas Jehl
Nearly two months after President Bush named a bipartisan commission to look into intelligence failures on Iraq and weapons proliferation, the panel is only now beginning its work, a spokesman for the group said Thursday.

NA
23. Bush To Attend AFA Graduation In June
(Denver Post)...Unattributed
President Bush has chosen the Air Force Academy for his annual service-academy commencement address, on June 2. The motto of this year's graduating class: "Parati ad Bellum" - "Ready for war."

CONGRESS

24. Legislators Seek U.S. Intelligence Director
(Washington Post)...Walter Pincus
The Democratic members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence yesterday recommended establishment of a director of national intelligence who would have both budgetary and operational control over the CIA and the much larger collection of Pentagon and other agencies that collect and analyze intelligence.

TERRORISM

25. Untested Islamic Militants Emerging, U.S. Official Says
(Washington Post)...Robin Wright
A new cadre of untested Islamic militants is emerging to take the place of leaders in Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, which is now under "catastrophic stress" as a result of international operations over the past 30 months, the senior State Department counterterrorism official told a House International Relations subcommittee yesterday.

26. Squeeze On Osama
(New York Daily News)...James Gordon Meek
Osama Bin Laden is so hounded by U.S. forces that he no longer controls Al Qaeda, a top American counterterrorism official said yesterday.

AFGHANISTAN

27. U.S. Officials Call For More Efforts To Curb Afghan Opium
(Los Angeles Times)...Sonni Efron
Afghanistan's opium poppy cultivation has soared, and this year's harvest could be twice as large as last year's near-record crop unless eradication efforts are stepped up immediately, a State Department official said Thursday.

28. International Supporters OK Spreading Out Afghan Force
(Philadelphia Inquirer)...Geir Moulson, Associated Press
Afghanistan's international backers agreed yesterday to help make the country more secure by dispatching troops outside the capital and reaffirmed their long-term support for the pro-Western government of President Hamid Karzai.

ASIA/PACIFIC

29. Beijing Advises Taiwan Caution
(Washington Times)...Combined Dispatches
China yesterday cautioned the United States against sending the "wrong message" to Taiwan after the Pentagon approved the sale of a $1.7 billion early warning radar system to the self-ruled island.

30. S. Korea To Send New Iraq Troops
(Los Angeles Times)...Associated Press
South Korea will send nearly 3,600 troops to the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, the military said today, two weeks after Seoul rattled allies by scrubbing plans for a mission to the northern town of Kirkuk.

AMERICAS

31. For Handful Of U.S. Troops, A Hopeful Homecoming
(Los Angeles Times)...Henry Chu
Through the crisply appraising eyes of a military man, U.S. Marine Col. Mario LaPaix gazes out at this city and sees a strife-torn capital that needs the help of American troops to restore calm.

32. Colombia's Peace Process Grinds To A Halt
(Los Angeles Times)...Ruth Morris
With peace talks stagnating between the government and right-wing paramilitary forces, warlords operating along the miry Magdalena River announced a gesture of goodwill: the unconditional withdrawal of hundreds of fighters from this grimy oil town and several hamlets upstream. But the deadline, March 14, came and went with little fanfare and no visible troop movement, deepening concerns that Colombia's peace process has entered an unruly and precarious phase.

BUSINESS

33. Slain Contractors Were In Iraq Working Security Detail
(Washington Post)...Dana Priest and Mary Pat Flaherty
The four men brutally slain Wednesday in Fallujah were among the most elite commandos working in Iraq to guard employees of U.S. corporations and were hired by the U.S. government to protect bureaucrats, soldiers and intelligence officers.

34. Private Firms Take On More Military Tasks
(Christian Science Monitor)...Ann Scott Tyson
The deaths of security workers in Fallujah show risks of 'outsourcing' war-zone jobs.

35. Bush Puts Penalties On Nuclear Suppliers
(New York Times)...Judith Miller
The Bush administration is imposing sanctions on 13 foreign companies and individuals in seven countries that it says have sold equipment or expertise that Iran could use in nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs, according to administration and congressional officials.

36. GAO Hoists Red Flag Over Costly Boeing Army Project
(Seattle Times)...Darrell Hassler and Tony Capaccio, Bloomberg News
Boeing's family of Army ground-combat systems, designed to improve battlefield communications, may exceed projected costs and not meet requirements, the General Accounting Office said yesterday.

37. Flaws In Osprey Being Corrected
(Seattle Post-Intelligencer)...Tony Capaccio, Bloomberg News
The Boeing Co. and Textron Inc. are making progress in correcting flaws in the assembly of the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft that have hampered production and raised costs, the General Accounting Office said in a report yesterday.

OPINION

38. An Offer Of Help On Iraq
(Washington Post)...E. J. Dionne Jr.
The gruesome killings and mutilations in Fallujah on Wednesday and the new attacks yesterday raise serious doubts about the administration's confident predictions that it will be able to hand over power to Iraqi authorities by June 30.

NA
39. What Has Gone Right In Iraq
(Boston Globe)...Jeff Jacoby
...Operation Iraqi Freedom stands as one of the great humanitarian achievements of modern times. For all the Bush administration's mistakes and miscalculations, for all the monumental challenges that remain, Iraq is vastly better off today than it was before the war. And the Iraqi people know it.

40. No End In Sight
(New York Times)...Bob Herbert
...If you talk to the troops who have served in Iraq, you can only marvel at their bravery and commitment to duty, and the lack of bellyaching at the difficult hands they were dealt. I've interviewed several servicemen and servicewomen who have returned from the war zone, including some who were horribly wounded, and I've yet to hear one of them utter any variation of the complaint, "Why me?" But I inevitably come away from these conversations asking the question for them. Why were they ever placed in harm's way in Iraq? Wednesday's atrocity was inexcusable — unconscionable — and those responsible should be tracked down and punished. But even if that happens, the greater tragedy of the war itself will continue indefinitely.

41. Need An Army? Just Pick Up The Phone
(New York Times)...Barry Yeoman
...Think about it: a private military firm might decide to pack its own bags for any number of reasons, leaving American soldiers and equipment vulnerable to enemy attack. If the military really can't fight wars without contractors, it must at least come up with ironclad policies on what to do if the private soldiers break local laws or leave American forces in the lurch. What happened in Falluja was a tragedy, no matter what uniform the slain men wore. Private contractors are viewed by Iraqis as part of the occupation, yet they lack the military and political backing of our combat troops. So far, the Pentagon has failed to prove it can take responsibility for either the actions or the safety of its private-sector soldiers.

42. For Rights, A Wrong Choice
(Washington Post)...Edward M. Kennedy
...With Haynes playing a key role, the administration arrogantly refuses to follow the plain language of the Geneva Conventions, which guarantee basic legal protections to soldiers of all nations. It categorically denies that any of the more than 600 detainees at Guantanamo -- even those who served in the army of the former Afghan government -- qualify as prisoners of war. It flatly refuses to convene the special tribunals required by the Geneva Conventions to resolve doubts about the status of particular prisoners, even though we have routinely done so in such cases in the past.

EDITORIAL

43. A Response To Fallujah
(Washington Post)...Editorial
...The reality is that during the past month there has been a major increase in casualties, both U.S. and Iraqi, military and civilian, even as a troop rotation has reduced the number of U.S. forces by 20 percent and replaced many regular Army units with reservists. The turning point against Iraqi insurgents that U.S. commanders have been talking about for months simply hasn't happened in Fallujah or elsewhere in the Sunni heartland, and other parts of the country are growing more dangerous. The lack of security is not only blocking economic recovery: As June 30 rapidly approaches, the risk is growing that the end of the occupation period will be followed not by a transition to democratic government but by chaos or civil war.

44. Four Deaths In Falluja
(New York Times)...Editorial
...At the same time, letting those emotions shape the future of American occupation policy in Iraq — pushing it either toward vengeful reprisals or toward a panicky, casualty-driven withdrawal — would be a terrible mistake. America's future course in Iraq must be decided on broader considerations, especially the prospects for successful nation-building.

45. Why America Won't Cut And Run
(Chicago Tribune)...Editorial
...No Americans want to see the lives of their fellow citizens--soldiers or civilians--extinguished, particularly in such grisly ordeals as Wednesday's two group killings in Iraq. But for a year now, Americans have demonstrated a conviction not to let their nation's foreign policy be driven by death tolls in a far-off land.

IRAQ

7.Anger In City Shows No Sign Of Abating
(Los Angeles Times)...Esther Schrader and Tony Perry
After a year of trying, the U.S. military can't figure out how to quell the rage in Fallouja, perhaps the most dangerous city in Iraq's most dangerous region.

8. Progress Is Ongoing In Iraq, White House Says
(Washington Post)...Mike Allen and Paul Farhi
After yesterday's brutal attacks on American civilians in Iraq, President Bush and his aides insisted progress continues there and vowed not to back away, as the United States did after grisly images of U.S. soldiers emerged from Somalia in 1993.

9. U.S. Optimism Is Tested Again After Ambush Kills 4 In Iraq
(New York Times)...John F. Burns
Hours after the deaths of the four American civilians who were dragged from their vehicle and mutilated in Falluja on Wednesday, an American general went before reporters in Baghdad with the air of measured assurance that has characterized every daily briefing on the military situation across Iraq.

10. A Deadly War Against Weapons Of Less Destruction
(Los Angeles Times)...Tony Perry
Hardly a day passes without Marine Lance Cpl. Donzell King being lectured about improvised explosive devices, which have killed and maimed more U.S. service personnel in Iraq than any other weapon.

11. Administration May Face Tough Sell On Its Next Ambassadorship To Iraq
(Los Angeles Times)...Paul Richter and Edmund Sanders
...A U.S. official in Iraq said those who have been under consideration for the post include Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz, senior National Security Council aide Robert D. Blackwill and career diplomat Thomas R. Pickering.

12. Vatican Plays Down Opposition To War
Unattributed
A top Vatican official played down the Vatican's opposition to the war in Iraq. French Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the Vatican foreign minister during the war, said it objected to the means of disarming Saddam, not the ends. He said Pope John Paul II shared Washington's ultimate aims in Iraq. "The Holy See is not pacifist," he said. "It is a peacemaker."

NA
13. Thousands Protest Newspaper Closure
(USA Today)...Unattributed
Thousands of protesters blocked streets in central Baghdad for hours to demand that a newspaper shut down by coalition forces be allowed to resume publishing. Paul Bremer, the top U.S. administrator in Iraq, on Sunday ordered the weekly Al-Hawza, run by supporters of Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, closed for 60 days. Coalition officials said they support a free press but won't tolerate material that foments violence against American or other other coalition troops.

14. U.N. Council To Help Probe Of Oil Program
Unattributed
The United Nations Security Council said Wednesday that it will cooperate with an independent investigation into allegations of corruption in the U.N. "oil-for-food" program in Iraq under Saddam Hussein.

DEFENSE DEPARTMENT

15. Defense Dept. To Encrypt All Wireless Communication
(Washington Post)...Joab Jackson, Government Computer News
The Defense Department will soon issue a policy to guide the use of WiFi equipment, said Ronald Jost, the department's director of wireless technology. Jost spoke yesterday in Washington at the National High Performance Computing Conference.

16. Military Schools Producing Army Of Solid Performance
(USA Today)...Fredreka Schouten, Gannett News Service
...Defense Department schools, like those at this sprawling post on the Kentucky-Tennessee border, inspire fierce devotion, and with good reason. Students at the schools consistently rank near the top on federal reading, writing and math tests.

ARMY

17. Officer Tells Hearing Of Her 2 Sexual Assaults In Army
(New York Times)...Lynette Clemetson
For the first time since the Department of Defense ordered a senior-level investigation into reports of sexual assaults against servicewomen stationed in the Central Command area surrounding Iraq, an officer who said she had been sexually abused told her story on Wednesday at an open hearing before Congress.

18. Muslim Chaplain's Attorney Contests Military Spy Claims
(Washington Times)...Rowan Scarborough
A defense attorney filed legal papers yesterday rebutting the U.S. military's contention that it never accused Army Capt. James J. Yee, a Muslim chaplain, of being a spy.

19. General Called Unfit For Case
(Miami Herald)...Coralie Carlson, Associated Press
A Muslim chaplain appealing convictions on Army charges of adultery and downloading pornography argued Wednesday that the commander of the U.S. Southern Command should take himself off the case, saying a letter published in The New York Times proves bias.

CONGRESS

NA
20. HAC-D Questions Air Force On C-17 Contract
(Defense Daily)...Sharon Weinberger
The chairman of the House Appropriations Committee defense subcommittee expressed concerns at hearing Tuesday about the way the Air Force has handled the second multiyear procurement contract for Boeing [BA] C-17 aircraft.

21. House Backs 'Parity' In Federal Pay Raises
(Washington Post)...Charles Babington
The House defied Bush administration objections yesterday and voted to continue giving civilian federal employees the same pay raises that military personnel receive.

TERRORISM

NA
22. Kamikaze Terrorism Wasn't A New Idea
(Wall Street Journal)...Scot J. Paltrow
Despite official assertions that the U.S. had little reason to suspect before Sept. 11 that airliners would be used as weapons, there is new evidence that the federal government had on several earlier occasions taken elaborate, secret measures to protect special events from just such an attack.

23. N. Korea, Al Qaeda Union A Threat
(Washington Times)...Bill Gertz
U.S. military commanders in the Pacific warned Congress yesterday that North Korea could provide nuclear arms to terrorist groups such as al Qaeda.

AFGHANISTAN

24. Led By U.S., Nations Pledge Billions To Revive Afghanistan
(New York Times)...Christopher Marquis
Nations from around the world have pledged $4.4 billion in aid and low-cost loans to help stabilize and rebuild Afghanistan next year, with the United States accounting for about half of the contributions so far, American officials said Wednesday.

25. More Troops Join Hunt For Insurgents In Afghanistan
(Dallas Morning News)...Associated Press
A force of 2,000 Marines has begun arriving in Afghanistan as part of a stepped-up mission to crush Taliban-led insurgents and flush out al-Qaeda fugitives.

26. Afghan Army Moves Into Unruly Province Near Iran
(New York Times)...Carlotta Gall
...But the soldiers, sent from Kabul by President Hamid Karzai, are far more than a friendly presence. Since they arrived with their American trainers, they have quietly, without fuss, changed the political and military dynamics in western Afghanistan.

ASIA/PACIFIC

NA
27. Taiwan's Chen Touts Peace, Bigger U.S. Role In Region
(Wall Street Journal)...Jason Dean
President Chen Shui-bian tried to reassure the U.S. that he wouldn't draw it into a conflict with China, while urging Washington to take a "more active, constructive" role in bringing about dialogue between the two longtime adversaries across the Taiwan Strait.

28. Pentagon Announces Plans To Sell Radars To Taiwan
(Washington Post)...Bradley Graham
The Pentagon announced plans yesterday to sell Taiwan two long-range early-warning radars and associated equipment totaling nearly $1.8 billion in cost as part of an effort to bolster the island's defenses in the face of a Chinese missile buildup.

MIDEAST

29. Iran Restricted Inspectors, IAEA Says
(Los Angeles Times)...Douglas Frantz
An internal report by the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency challenges Iran's contention that it has provided international inspectors with free access to workshops where it has manufactured parts for centrifuges.

EUROPE

30. Powell Targets Europe Vision
(Washington Times)...Nicholas Kralev
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell yesterday became the first senior U.S. official to concede publicly that the United States and Europe have been pursuing different world visions for more than two years and said it was time those paths converged.

NATO

31. Karadzic Site Raided By NATO
(Philadelphia Inquirer)...Radul Radovanovic, Associated Press
Gunfire and an explosion resounded early today as NATO troops surrounded a building in Pale, the city where top war-crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic has taken refuge.

POLL

32. Most Say They Are Less Safe Since 9/11
(Washington Post)...Christopher Lee
Fewer than half of all Americans think the country is safer now than it was on Sept. 11, 2001, and more than three-quarters expect the United States to be the target of a major terrorist attack at home or abroad in the next few months, according to a new poll.

33. Clarke's Charges Gain Acceptance
(Los Angeles Times)...Ronald Brownstein
Most Americans accept Richard Clarke's key criticisms of President Bush's anti-terrorism record, but a majority also thinks that politics influenced the timing of the charges by the former White House aide, a Los Angeles Times poll has found.

BUSINESS

34. U.S. Deal To Lease Tankers Criticized
(Washington Post)...R. Jeffrey Smith
The Air Force negotiated a contract to lease refueling aircraft from Boeing Co. that could cost hundreds of millions to several billions of dollars more than it should, and followed a procurement strategy that demonstrated poor stewardship of Defense Department funds, according to a long-awaited report by the department's inspector general.

35. Tanker's Senate Backers Back Off
(Wichita Eagle)...Alan Bjerga
The senators who helped push Boeing's controversial 767 aerial-tanker program through Congress last fall backed away from it Wednesday, saying problems with the program's costs and capabilities and how the contract was negotiated must be resolved. "As we look at the facts, they are very serious," said Sen. John Warner, R-Va. and chairman of the Armed Services Committee, after a closed briefing on a report from the Pentagon's inspector general on the $23.5 billion agreement for the Air Force to acquire 100 refueling aircraft from Boeing.

36. Lockheed Deal In Jeopardy As Titan Bribery Probes Continue
(Los Angeles Times)...Bloomberg News
Titan Corp. said in a regulatory filing Wednesday that Lockheed Martin Corp. may not complete its purchase of the San Diego company if criminal probes into alleged bribes of foreign officials by Titan consultants aren't resolved by April 12.

37. BAE Systems Wins Two Weapons Contracts
(Washington Post)...William Welsh, Washington Technology
BAE Systems has won contracts totaling $170 million from the Army and Air Force to develop and upgrade weapons systems, the company announced yesterday.

38. Baghdad Oil Summit Still On For April
(Moscow Times)...Bloomberg
Iraq, holder of the world's second-largest oil reserves, will go ahead with a planned meeting with international oil companies and financial institutions next month as it seeks help to more than double oil output.

39.Hey, You! How About Lunch?
(Wall Street Journal)...Jonathan Karp
...In Iraq, meanwhile, soldiers plan to use such sound beams to communicate with people approaching checkpoints. They even could be used to induce headaches among people who don't respond to authorities.

OPINION

40. Dangerous Indecision In Iraq
(Washington Post)...Jim Hoagland
The Bush administration went into Iraq with a bold political vision of regime change and a daring military strategy that used speed instead of armored mass to conquer the battlefield. A year later clarity and decisiveness have gone missing in both the political and military spheres in Iraq.

41. Keep Freedom Of Press In Iraq
(USA Today)...Hassan Fattah
Closing a newspaper often hurts more than it helps. The paper could have been forgotten as an embarrassment. Its coverage may have been dismissed as yet another example of bad journalism.

42. The Long Haul
(Washington Post)...T. X. Hammes
Over the past nine months, the conflict in Iraq has emerged as an insurgency. While that fact is widely recognized, our policies have not adjusted to reflect the much longer timelines inherent to insurgency. Recent history shows insurgencies span decades.

43. Don't Cut The Hawsers On Law Of Sea Treaty -- (Letter)
(Wall Street Journal)...Sen. Richard G. Lugar
Your March 29 editorial on the Law of the Sea Convention fails to comprehend the damage to U.S. interests that could occur if we choose not to ratify it.

NA
44. 'Win-Win' Stories -- (Letter)
(USA Today)...Lt. Col. Ralph Sigler, USA
Regarding the debate on military-base closings, we need to look at “win-win” stories of prior closings, such as Quonset Point Naval Base in Rhode Island.

EDITORIAL

45. Dream-Filled Missile Silos
(New York Times)...Editorial
The Pentagon is foolishly racing to deliver on President Bush's grandiose 2000 campaign promise to have a still unproven, money-munching missile defense system deployed in time for the November election. It's supposed to provide protection against incoming ballistic missiles. But, so far, the rush into the old "Star Wars" dream amounts to an extravagant political shield.

NA
46. The Fallujah Massacre
(Wall Street Journal)...Editorial
It's always a good idea to resist the temptation for event-driven handwringing about Iraq. Nobody should have expected America's job there to be easy, and the car bombs and other attacks are intended by our enemies to obscure the genuine progress being made. That said, let us offer an observation: It is not a good sign that Iraqis feel free to mutilate the bodies of dead Americans in front of the world's TV cameras.

47. Fallujah Atrocity: U.S. Must Track Down Members Of Mob
(Dallas Morning News)...Editorial
It is hard for those of us who sit in our safe American homes to comprehend the barbarism on display in Fallujah yesterday.

IRAQ

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

DEFENSE DEPARTMENT

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

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

BUSINESS

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

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

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

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

WHITE HOUSE

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

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

NAVY

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

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

ASIA/PACIFIC

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

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

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

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

AFGHANISTAN

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

EUROPE

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

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

HAITI

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

OPINION

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

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

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

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

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

EDITORIAL

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

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

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

IRAQ

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

DEFENSE DEPARTMENT

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

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

WHITE HOUSE

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

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

POLITICS

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

ARMY

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

NAVY

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

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

MARINE CORPS

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

TERRORISM

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

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

NATO

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

MIDEAST

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

ASIA/PACIFIC

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

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

AFGHANISTAN

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

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

OPINION

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

EDITORIAL

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

<...>

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

<...>

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

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

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

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

Now brace yourselves it's going to get worse:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

DEFENSE DEPARTMENT

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

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

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

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

ARMY

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

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

MARINE CORPS

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

AIR FORCE

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

ASIA/PACIFIC

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

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

AFGHANISTAN

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

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

AFRICA

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

HAITI

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

MIDEAST

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

NATO

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

EUROPE

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

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

TERRORISM

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

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

BUSINESS

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

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

OPINION

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

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

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

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

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

EDITORIAL

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

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

TOP STORIES

1. Rice Is Agreeable To Return For More Of 9/11 Panel's Queries
(New York Times)...Adam Nagourney and Richard W. Stevenson
Under mounting pressure from Democrats about its response to the investigation into the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the White House offered Thursday to have Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser, answer more questions from the Sept. 11 panel. At the same time, President Bush forcefully denied accusations that he had ignored the severity of the threat from Al Qaeda.

2. Up To 2,000 Marines To Go To Afghanistan From Gulf
(New York Times)...Eric Schmitt
As many as 2,000 marines now aboard ships in the Persian Gulf will be sent to Afghanistan in the coming weeks to reinforce the American-led operation there to combat fighters of Al Qaeda and the Taliban, Pentagon officials said Thursday.

3. U.S. Officials Fashion Legal Basis To Keep Force In Iraq
(New York Times)...John F. Burns and Thom Shanker
With fewer than 100 days to go before Iraq resumes its sovereignty, American officials say they believe they have found a legal basis for American troops to continue their military control over the security situation in Iraq.

4. In City Seen As Iraqi Success, Extremists Rise
(Philadelphia Inquirer)...Ken Dilanian
...Shiite religious extremists, backed by armed militias, are waging a campaign of intimidation to enforce a strict Islamic code of conduct in Iraq's second-largest city. Neither the Iraqi police nor the British military forces that occupy Basra seem willing or able to stop it.

5. Sudden, Painful Rebirth Unsettles Stagnant Region
(Los Angeles Times)...Megan K. Stack
...The United States has paid for the war and the occupation with a profound anti-American backlash. The fires of jihad have been fueled in the hearts of a new generation of extremist recruits. Sectarian tensions are spilling from Iraq, drawing out tribal, religious and ethnic splits in neighboring countries and raising fears of instability.

IRAQ

6. 3 Troops Killed In Iraq Attacks
(Washington Post)...Sewell Chan
Two U.S. soldiers and a Marine were slain over the past two days in separate attacks, including a fierce firefight in which five insurgents were also killed, the military announced Thursday.

NA
7. U.S. Marines Come Under Fire From Syria Near Border Of Iraq
(Wall Street Journal)...Greg Jaffe and David S. Cloud
U.S. Marines and their helicopters have come under regular fire in recent days from Syria's side of its border with Iraq, and some U.S. officials say the fire sometimes seems to be coming from Syrian border guards.

8. New Iraq Defence Ministry Announced
(London Financial Times)...Nicolas Pelham
The US-led administration in Iraq has announced the re-establishment of the Iraqi Ministry of Defence it dissolved last May, to be manned by civilians. A minister is expected to be appointed next week.

9. Iraqi Police Target Of Guerrilla Attacks
(Washington Times)...Christopher Torchia, Associated Press
At least 350 U.S.-trained Iraqi police officers have been killed in the past year, and rebel attacks one likely to increase before the coalition hands over sovereignty on June 30, U.S. military officials warned .

10. US Soldiers Face Charges Of Prisoner Abuse
(Christian Science Monitor)...Ann Scott Tyson
...The breaches involve only a tiny fraction of the more than 150,000-strong US occupation force, which military ethicists and human rights groups have given generally good marks for their comportment in Iraq. Still, such violations could cause disproportionate damage to the US military's image among Iraqis.

11. At Prison Gate, Iraqi Families Vent
(Christian Science Monitor)...Dan Murphy
Indefinite detentions are within the law, US says, but angry Iraqis liken practice to Hussein's repression.

NA
12. For The Japanese Military, Iraqi Desert Is Now Land Of The Rising Property Price
(Wall Street Journal)...Yochi J. Dreazen
...Both of those armies come from nations Iraqis consider wealthy. To some Arab communities, that could spell easy money as troops new to the region's ways -- especially its formidable bargaining -- scout for land and supplies.

13. Chalabi, Nimble Exile, Searches For Role In Iraq
(New York Times)...Dexter Filkins
...Now, with his credibility under assault in Washington, Mr. Chalabi is reinventing himself, searching for a new political constituency in a country where the people hardly know him — and very few trust him, according to a recent opinion poll. Though he has shown himself to be one of the most energetic of Iraq's new leaders, he is largely bereft of a grass-roots following. Now Mr. Chalabi, who spent the last 45 years outside the country, has begun trying to appeal to Iraqis who bore the brunt of Mr. Hussein's rule.

DEFENSE DEPARTMENT

14. U.S. Still Weighing Troop Roles
(Washington Times)...Rowan Scarborough
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said yesterday that plans to shift forces in Asia and Europe have not yet reached a point where proposals have been taken to the countries involved.

NA
15. Rumsfeld Says Much Talk Of Iraq Military Options Early On
(Wall Street Journal (wsj.com))...Alex Keto, Dow Jones Newswires
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said Thursday there was much talk of exactly what options the U.S. had in regards to Iraq early in the Bush administration, but said this was natural considering that Iraq was shooting at U.S. aircraft.

16. Pentagon Can Hire 2,500 Experts For National Security Needs
(Washington Post)...Stephen Barr
A new Pentagon policy will allow the Defense Department to hire as many as 2,500 experts with state-of-the-art knowledge in fields of critical importance to national security.

17. Retired Brass Urge Delay In Anti-Missile Shield
(Reuters)...Unattributed
Forty-nine retired U.S. generals and admirals are urging President Bush to postpone the scheduled launch this year of a multibillion-dollar missile shield and spend the money instead on securing potential terror targets. In a letter to be released at a news conference today, the officers say the complex technology is untested and a poor use of scarce defense dollars.

ARMY

18. In Army Survey, Troops In Iraq Report Low Morale
(Washington Post)...Thomas E. Ricks
A slim majority of Army soldiers in Iraq -- 52 percent -- reported that their morale was low, and three-fourths of them said they felt poorly led by their officers, according to a survey taken at the end of the summer and released yesterday by the Army.

19. U.S. Army Finds Its Suicide Rate In Iraq Is Higher Than For Other G.I.’s
(New York Times)...Eric Schmitt
A major Army study has found that suicide-prevention teams were left behind when units left their home bases to go to war in Iraq, mental-health workers felt untrained to treat combat stress, and many soldiers seeking help for depression and emotional problems faced significant hurdles getting care.

20. Federal Officials Set Aside Worries Over Desert Tortoise, Rare Plant
(Los Angeles Times)...Louis Sahagun
Reversing an earlier opinion, federal wildlife managers have concluded that expanding tank training at the Army's Ft. Irwin in the Mojave Desert is not likely to jeopardize desert tortoises or the last remnants of a rare plant.

AIR FORCE

21. Judge Won't Dismiss Guantanamo Spy Case
(Washington Post)...Reuters
A U.S. military judge denied a motion Thursday to dismiss the case against a Syrian American airman accused of spying at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

NATIONAL GUARD/RESERVE

22. U.S. Sent Medically Unfit Soldiers To Fight In Iraq
(Miami Herald)...David Goldstein
To meet the demand for troops in Iraq, the military has been deploying some National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers who aren't fit for combat.

GUANTANAMO

23. Terror Suspect Will Get Day In Court
(Los Angeles Times)...Associated Press
Australian terrorist suspect David Hicks will be able to challenge his detention at the Guantanamo Bay military base in eastern Cuba before the U.S. Supreme Court, his Australian lawyer said today.

WHITE HOUSE

24. Bush Defends Response To Threats Of Terrorism
(Washington Post)...Amy Goldstein
President Bush sought Thursday to knock down allegations that the administration was inattentive to the threat posed by al Qaeda before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, saying he would have "used every asset, every resource, every power of this government" to prevent the terrorist hijackings had he been warned of them.

CONGRESS

25. Lawmakers Keep Up Fight Against 2005 Base Closures
(Norfolk Virginian-Pilot)...Dale Eisman
Lawmakers launched a new attempt Thursday to derail plans for additional base closings in 2005, challenging Pentagon claims that the military has too many facilities and arguing that it may need more in the future.

26. Cornyn Wants To Land More Troops In Texas
(San Antonio Express-News)...Gary Martin
As the Pentagon looks to realign its global force structure, Sen. John Cornyn on Thursday urged Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to station returning U.S. military troops at Texas military installations.

27. Defense Officials Press Attack On Entitlement Growth
(Newport News Daily Press)...Tom Philpott
A senior Defense official has warned Congress against creating an entitlement-rich military that the nation cannot afford.

28. U.S. Lawmaker Vows To Scrutinize Expensive Aircraft Programs
(DefenseNews.com)...Jason Sherman
A key U.S. lawmaker warned the Pentagon that two big-ticket tactical aircraft programs — the F/A-22 Raptor and Joint Strike Fighter — face increased scrutiny by Congress.

29. Lawmakers Approach Rumsfeld
(Hartford Courant)...Michael Remez
Connecticut's Democratic lawmakers wrote Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld Wednesday to express concern about the Navy's decision to delay choosing who will build the next-generation presidential helicopter.

30. Leaders Push Pentagon Memorial
(Washington Times)...Sean Salai
Two Virginia Republican congressmen say they will do whatever it takes — including asking Congress for financial help — to speed up the construction of a memorial honoring those killed in the September 11 terrorist attack on the Pentagon.

SEPTEMBER 11

31. Pols Take Heat For Not Avenging Cole Attack
(New York Daily News)...James Gordon Meek
The failure of both the Clinton and Bush administrations to retaliate against Al Qaeda for bombing the destroyer Cole emboldened the terrorists, experts and victims' family members said yesterday.

ASIA/PACIFIC

32. Al Qaeda Urges Musharraf's Overthrow
(Washington Times)...Sarah El Deeb, Associated Press
A tape purportedly recorded by Ayman al-Zawahri, the No. 2 figure in the al Qaeda terror group, called Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf a "traitor" and urged people to overthrow his government.

33. Anti-Al Qaeda Force, Militants Stalemated
(Miami Herald)...Malcolm Garcia
A military offensive to nab a key al Qaeda operative who officials now say was probably never in the area has become a prolonged stalemate between the Pakistani army and militants and could be a major political liability for Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf.

34. U.S. Base's Transfer On Hold
(Washington Times)...Takehiko Kambayashi
Despite a 1996 agreement that the United States would return a major military facility to Okinawa prefecture within five to seven years, U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma and its 1.75-mile-long runway remains in the middle of residential areas of Ginowan, a city in southern Okinawa, taking up 25 percent of its space.

35. Governor Seeks Balance Between Reality And Ideal
(Washington Times)...Takehiko Kambayashi
Okinawa Gov. Keiichi Inamine, first elected in 1998 and re-elected in December 2002, spoke to Washington Times reporter Takehiko Kambayashi about the U.S. military presence in his tropical island prefecture of Japan.

RUSSIA

36. Russia Sees U.S., NATO Actions As Reason To Watch Its Back
(Los Angeles Times)...David Holley
Russian Defense Minister Sergei B. Ivanov warned Thursday that American development of new types of nuclear weapons, armed actions that bypass the U.N. Security Council and anti-Russian attitudes inside NATO could force his nation to adopt tougher defense measures.

AMERICAS

(NA Subscription only)
37. Colombia Asks US To Boost Drugs War Manpower
(London Financial Times)...Andy Webb-Vidal
The US appears set to boost the level of its aid to Colombia to help combat its illegal drugs industry and the rebel groups financed by the narcotics trade. The development follows a four-day visit by Alvaro Uribe, Colombian president, to Washington, which ended yesterday.

BUSINESS

38. Comanche's Cancellation Brings Layoffs
(Washington Post)...Greg Schneider
Boeing Co. and Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. have begun laying off workers because of the Army's decision last month to cancel the Comanche stealth helicopter program.

OPINION

39. Stand Firm
(Wall Street Journal)...John Howard
...Yet in the wake of the indiscriminate slaughter of almost 200 commuters in Madrid, global commentary seems as much focused on the political implications for Western governments as on the perpetrators. It will be doubly tragic if mass murder is rewarded with even the perception that our resolve has weakened.

40. The Wrong War
(New York Times)...Bob Herbert
The most compelling aspects of Richard Clarke's take on the world have less to do with the question of whether the Bush administration could somehow have prevented the Sept. 11 attacks and much more with the administration's folly of responding to the attacks by launching a war on Iraq.

41. 'Wartime President' MIA
(Washington Post)...David Ignatius
...Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's crisp, candid testimony illustrated why so many people once assumed he would someday be president himself. He lauded the committee's work and then explained the difficulties he faced in framing a military response to al Qaeda in the months before Sept. 11. Perhaps most important, he reached out to the families of Sept. 11 victims in the hearing room, speaking of "the pain and the heartbreak and the suffering of the families whose loved ones perished."

42. Sept. 11, Lies And 'Mistakes'
(Washington Post)...Charles Krauthammer
...Clinton was in office eight years, not eight months. As Clarke himself said in a 2002 National Security Council briefing, the Clinton administration never made a plan for dealing with al Qaeda and never left one behind for the Bush administration.

43. Military Is Limited In Fighting Terror
(Long Island Newsday)...Marie Cocco
...The coldest stare might now be better fixed upon the independent 9/11 commission's look at the role of the military in fighting this war on terror that is like no other war. Nothing the military has done so far has brought victory.

EDITORIAL

44. Army Misfires In 'Spy' Case
(Los Angeles Times)...Editorial
The Army used a megaphone to announce the arrest of Capt. James Yee as a spying suspect last October. It dismissed the criminal case with a whisper last Friday night, its timing designed to minimize the effect of the news. This week, foolishly digging itself a deeper hole, the Army issued a written reprimand to Yee, a Muslim chaplain who ministered to prisoners at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

45. Guantanamo Captives In A Legal No-Man's Land
(Miami Herald)...Editorial
More than two years since the Pentagon opened a Guantánamo Bay prison for terror suspects, the United States still is operating outside an established legal framework or international standards. Since the Supreme Court decided to consider challenges to indefinite detention at Guantánamo, however, the administration has accelerated the release of detainees, finally allowed others to meet with lawyers and announced plans for an administrative panel that would review detainees for release.

46. A President's Job
(Wall Street Journal)...Editorial
Give President Bush's critics credit for versatility. Having spent months assailing him for doing too much after 9/11 -- Iraq, the Patriot Act, the "pre-emption" doctrine -- they have now turned on a dime to allege that he did too little before it. This contradiction is Mr. Bush's opportunity to rise above the ankle biting and explain to the American public what a President is elected to do.

47. The Wrong Target
(New York Times)...Editorial
...The White House is so thin-skinned and defensive, however, that it simply cannot bring itself to join what ought to be a grown-up national conversation of how best to deal with terrorism. Its schoolyard name-calling does no one any good, least of all Mr. Bush, who is made to appear far more interested in undermining Mr. Clarke's credibility than in addressing the heart of his critique.

48. Oil For Fraud?
(Washington Post)...Editorial
Mr. Annan owes it to the Iraqis to make this investigation real and thorough. If the United Nations cannot disprove its critics -- and punish wrongdoers, if any -- it will be harder to trust the organization to manage humanitarian and peacekeeping missions in the future.

More to come