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Bush seeks support in Iraqi political process
A day after Iraq's historic elections, President Bush reached out to overseas skeptics of his Iraq policy Monday to try to enlist their help.

USATODAY.com | January 31, 2005 | 11:42 pm

General: Iraqi troops improve
The top U.S. general in Iraq said Wednesday that once Iraqi government forces take the lead in the war, the insurgency can be defeated and the American troop level reduced.

USA TODAY | January 26, 2005 | 11:40 pm

Parties waging a polite battle to control Najaf
In this city, the holiest in Iraq to the country's Shiite Muslim majority, political rhetoric is heating up. But unlike in some places in Iraq, the debate here isn't focused on religion or historic ethnic divisions, and there's little violence.

USA TODAY | January 25, 2005 | 11:34 pm

In Iraq, the question is: To vote or not to vote
A recent survey by the International Republican Institute found that 80% of Iraqis say they will probably vote this weekend. But unrelenting insurgent violence, the specter of post-election sectarian strife and confusion over complex ballots threaten to snuff out democracy before it can take hold.

USA TODAY | January 25, 2005 | 11:17 pm

Politics popular in Shiite areas
In Basra and other parts of heavily Shiite southern Iraq, people are embracing politics.

USATODAY.com | January 20, 2005 | 11:51 pm

Lengthy ballots, ad blitzes contribute to confusion
Less than two weeks before Election Day, many Iraqi voters still are unsure about some basics, such as: Who are they electing?

USATODAY.com | January 19, 2005 | 11:44 pm

Sunni leaders urge talks with insurgents to end 'stalemate'
Moderate Sunni leaders are urging the United States and Iraqi governments to change course and seek a cease-fire and negotiations with insurgents.

USATODAY.com | January 18, 2005 | 11:46 pm

Female Iraqi candidates risk lives
Members of Congress who traveled to the Middle East over the weekend got a harrowing lesson on the high price of democracy.

USATODAY.com | January 12, 2005 | 10:57 pm

U.S.: Elections will be credible
The Bush administration will consider the results of Iraq's elections credible even if most Sunni Muslims minority don't vote on Jan. 30.

USATODAY.com | January 12, 2005 | 10:57 pm

2 Iraq cities, separated by politics, await election
Sadr City and Fallujah illustrate both the hopes and risks of Iraq's march toward democracy.

USATODAY.com | January 11, 2005 | 10:58 pm

Polling places planned in Iraq's problem areas
The Iraqi Election Commission plans to set up polling stations in problem areas in Iraq despite insurgent attacks.

USATODAY.com | January 10, 2005 | 11:03 pm

Court-martial begins for Abu Ghraib figure
The court-martial of Army reservist Spc. Charles Graner, the man portrayed as the ringleader in the Abu Ghraib prisoner-abuse scandal in Iraq, is set to begin Friday at Fort Hood in Texas.

USATODAY.com | January 6, 2005 | 11:47 pm

Iraqi expatriates fear being left out of elections
Iraqi-American groups say disorganization and overly stringent requirements are plaguing an ambitious effort to allow expatriates worldwide to vote in Iraq's Jan. 30 elections.

USATODAY.com | January 6, 2005 | 10:48 pm

Allawi: Elections will go on
Iraqi interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi on Wednesday rejected growing calls for postponement of the national elections set for Jan. 30.

USATODAY.com | January 5, 2005 | 11:15 pm

Fallujans reluctant to return
So far, Fallujans are not lining up to return to what's left of their devastated city.

USATODAY.com | January 5, 2005 | 11:13 pm

Congress expects $100 billion war request
Congress expects the White House to request as much as $100 billion this year for war and related costs in Iraq and Afghanistan, congressional officials say.

USA TODAY | January 3, 2005 | 11:30 pm

More contracts steered to Iraqi firms
The U.S. government is shifting more reconstruction contracts toward Iraqi companies as violence makes it harder for American contractors to work.

USATODAY.com | January 3, 2005 | 11:00 pm

Iraqi election candidates crave coverage
As Iraq moves toward elections scheduled for Jan. 30, the media campaign is intensifying.

USATODAY.com | January 2, 2005 | 10:57 pm

Gas shortage fuels resentment in Iraq
Buying gasoline in Iraq is a serious undertaking. Determined motorists get up before their dawn prayers to join 2-mile-long lines. Sometimes they don't get to fill their tanks until evening. A black market is thriving.

USA TODAY | December 29, 2004 | 11:47 pm

Soldiers saw giant tent as inviting target for insurgents
Soldiers at the Forward Operating Base Marez near Mosul, Iraq base had long complained of feeling defenseless in the fabric-covered hall, which lately has been the target of mortar and rocket attacks almost daily.

USA TODAY | December 22, 2004 | 11:42 pm

U.S. contractor pulls out of Iraq rebuilding project
A Virginia company this week became the first large contractor to withdraw from the multibillion-dollar Iraq reconstruction drive, saying work there was too dangerous and costly.

USA TODAY | December 22, 2004 | 11:35 pm

Mosul attack showcases insurgents' intelligence
The implications of the audacious suicide attack in the center of a heavily guarded U.S. military base in Mosul go beyond a failure of base security.

USATODAY.com | December 22, 2004 | 11:11 pm

Mosul blast hits U.S. hard
A massive lunchtime explosion struck a flimsy mess tent filled with soldiers Tuesday at a military base near Mosul. It was one of the deadliest attacks yet against Americans in Iraq. Mlitary spokesmen in Baghdad and at the Pentagon said 19 U.S. soldiers were killed.

USA TODAY | December 21, 2004 | 11:45 pm

Soldiers who led invasion must return
Continuing insurgent attacks have forced the United States to boost its force in Iraq toward 150,000, its highest level yet.

USATODAY.com | December 19, 2004 | 11:08 pm

Chaplain, others look to lift Christmas spirit in war zone
Across Iraq, military chaplains will enter makeshift chapels on the morning of Dec. 25 and pray for peace on earth in a land where peace continues to be in short supply.

Gordon Trowbridge | Marine Corps Times | December 19, 2004 | 6:41 pm

Troops can't beat deals at PX
Flush with hazardous-duty pay and tax-free earnings, U.S. troops in combat zones often have more money to spend than things to buy. That's where the PX, or post exchange, comes in, providing a taste of home if only for the time it takes to eat a bag of Doritos.

C. Mark Brinkley | Army Times | December 16, 2004 | 11:22 pm

Army spending billions on new armored vehicles
The Army said Wednesday that it is spending $4.1 billion to armor all military wheeled vehicles in Iraq by June.

USATODAY.com | December 15, 2004 | 11:23 pm

Air Force boosts number of supply flights
Roads have become too dangerous for American convoys, the top Air Force general said Tuesday.

USATODAY.com | December 14, 2004 | 11:32 pm

Army Guard now says its Iraq troops figure was inaccurate
The Army National Guard said Monday it had given USA TODAY an inaccurate count of the total number of Guard troops in Iraq since the beginning of the war in March 2003, but still could not provide a precise count.

Dave Moniz | USA TODAY | December 14, 2004 | 10:29 am

Fair vote possible in Anbar, top Marine says

The U.S. military believes Iraq's rebellious Anbar province can be brought into national elections scheduled for January.

Gordon Trowbridge | Army Times | December 12, 2004 | 11:05 pm

U.S. military preparing restive Iraqi province for elections
The top U.S. officer in Iraq's rebellious Anbar province believes the region can be settled and brought into national elections scheduled for Jan. 30. Anbar, a hotbed of insurgent unrest, stretches from west of Baghdad to the Syrian border and poses perhaps the toughest challenge to the U.S. mission in Iraq.

Gordon Trowbridge | Army Times | December 10, 2004 | 9:09 pm

Weather wages own war in Iraq
For commanders in war, fighting the enemy can sometimes be only half the battle. Weather can be just as challenging. Consider Mosul. Daily temperatures can shift 40 degrees or more, and rain clouds or dust storms can pop up without warning.

C. Mark Brinkley | Army Times | December 9, 2004 | 11:47 pm

Combat engineers improvise to armor troop transport
There's a huge Army dump truck here that's unlike any other in the U.S. arsenal, a virtual Frankenstein's monster truck, bulging and rippling at its spot-welded seams. The soldiers from the 276th Engineer Battalion (Combat), an Army National Guard unit from Richmond, Va., know about improvising.

C. Mark Brinkley | Army Times | December 9, 2004 | 11:38 pm

Fallujah residents may return home within days
Military officials will be prepared within days for the return of civilians to the battle-scarred city of Fallujah, and local companies will soon begin clearing the way for reconstruction, the military official responsible for rebuilding efforts said Tuesday.

Gordon Trowbridge | Army Times | December 7, 2004 | 10:56 pm

Translators' fears disrupt Iraq communications
In recent weeks, insurgents have been waging a terror campaign in Mosul, assassinating police or individuals suspected of working with the U.S.-led coalition.

USATODAY.com | December 7, 2004 | 10:47 pm

Troops wary of Baghdad airport route
Soldiers call the road between Baghdad and the international airport "RPG Alley," a reference to rocket-propelled grenades and the frequency of attacks.

Steven Komarow | USA TODAY | December 2, 2004 | 10:59 pm

Insurgency leaves Mosul ill-prepared for elections
With only two months to go until Iraq's general elections, the local government in Mosul has yet to devise a plan for registering voters in one of the country's largest cities. Insurgents torched most of the city's records during an uprising last month.

C. Mark Brinkley | Army Times | December 1, 2004 | 11:39 pm

U.S. will boost troop levels in Iraq
The Pentagon will increase U.S. forces in Iraq to their highest level yet to provide security for upcoming elections. More than 10,000 soldiers and Marines who expected to head home before the Jan. 30 vote will now stay until March and 1,500 troops from the Army's 82nd Airborne Division will be soon join them.

USA TODAY | December 1, 2004 | 11:19 pm

U.S. faces daunting `Sunni problem'
The challenge for U.S. and Iraqi forces now is to get control of the insurgency in time for the elections without killing and alienating so many Sunnis that they feel rebellion is their only option.

John Yaukey | GNS | November 30, 2004 | 3:28 pm

Mosul's militants fight mostly from shadows
About 40 dead bodies turned up across Mosul last week. The message from insurgents to the public was simple: We're here, and we're watching.

C. Mark Brinkley | Army Times | November 28, 2004 | 10:17 pm

Bittersweet Thanksgiving for troops in Iraq
For U.S. service members, Thursday was a day for remembering family and friends far away.

Gordon Trowbridge | Army Times | November 25, 2004 | 10:46 pm

Police lack training, firepower in fighting insurgency
Iraq's fledgling police force has enough to do battling crime, but it is also on the front lines of an insurgency. When police chase off criminals or insurgents, the suspects reappear before the cops return to their station.

USA TODAY | November 25, 2004 | 10:35 pm

U.S. sees no pressure to return civilians to Fallujah
Fallujah has been freed from ``a sick, depraved culture of violence,'' but it is unclear when the thousands of residents who fled the city in recent weeks can return to their homes, Marine officials said Sunday.

Gordon Trowbridge | The Army Times | November 21, 2004 | 9:43 pm

Marines find enemy GPS device
After a fierce firefight between the Marines of Alpha Company's 3rd Platoon and more than 30 anti-U.S. insurgents in Fallujah, one Marine discovered a gold mine: a detailed layout of the enemy's defenses. A handheld Global Positioning System receiver apparently left by fleeing rebels.

Gordon Trowbridge | The Army Times | November 18, 2004 | 10:58 pm

Humvees go high-tech for soldier safety
The military has been spending millions to develop better weapons and vehicles, with a focus on the Humvee. Soldiers and Army officials say upgrades have been valuable because they've already helped save lives.

Frank Oliveri | GNS | November 15, 2004 | 7:50 pm

Marine unit sweeps Fallujah, tries to quell 'reinfestation'
U.S. troops occupying this rebellious city are engaged in a dangerous house-by-house effort to root out insurgents fighting the American-backed Iraqi government.

Gordon Trowbridge | The Army Times | November 14, 2004 | 7:28 pm

Wedding bells ringing for more Iraqis
Iraq is a dangerous place, but not all the shooting is hostile. Much of the noise on weekends comes from wedding celebrations.

USATODAY.com | November 11, 2004 | 10:45 pm

VA seeks prosthetic support for amputees
Erick Castro of Santa Ana, Calif., who lost his left leg in Iraq to a rocket-propelled grenade, is among the 25,000 amputees who have received artificial limbs. Finding a prosthetic technician near his home to keep it working is a problem but when Castro finds one, the VA will pick up the bill.

Dennis Camire | GNS | November 10, 2004 | 10:45 pm

Fallujah key to salvaging Iraq
The battle for Fallujah certainly won't end Iraq's Sunni Arab-led insurgency. But the mission the Iraqis are calling the ``new dawn'' is widely viewed as a bellwether for the country's future and a powerful indicator of when U.S. forces might be able to start leaving.

John Yaukey | GNS | November 9, 2004 | 9:49 pm

Relieved commander did not support troops, state soldiers' kin say
The commander of an Army Reserve unit whose soldiers refused a fuel convoy order in Iraq last week has been relieved of her duties, the military confirmed.

The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion-Ledger | October 21, 2004 | 11:43 pm

Poll: More Iraqis doubt nation's direction
More Iraqis say their country is headed in the wrong direction and they blame the poor security situation, a new poll has found.

USA TODAY | October 20, 2004 | 11:54 pm

Wives speaking for soldiers who refused convoy mission in Iraq
Patricia McCook and Jackie Butler have accepted a mission created when their husbands refused an order to transport fuel in Iraq last week. They are speaking for their husbands.

The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion-Ledger | October 20, 2004 | 11:44 pm

U.S., Iraqi forces gear up to retake Fallujah
An imminent offensive to break the resistance in Fallujah, a rebel stronghold about 35 miles west of Baghdad, could be one of the most decisive battles since the fall of Baghdad 18 months ago.

USA TODAY | October 20, 2004 | 11:50 am

Put to test, 300 Iraqi troops fled
About 300 Iraqi soldiers abandoned their 750-man unit after being deployed to Samarra last month for a joint U.S.-Iraqi operation to retake the militant-controlled city, according to a British coalition official.

USA TODAY | October 19, 2004 | 11:48 pm

U.K. considers redeploying Iraq troops
British military officials will Tuesday begin studying where to shift some of their forces in Iraq in order to free U.S. troops to pursue new operations against insurgents.

USA TODAY | October 18, 2004 | 11:49 pm

Soldiers face discharge for allegedly refusing Iraq order
Five members of an Iraqi-based platoon who allegedly refused a convoy order earlier this week were told they would be punished with a general discharge, the father of one of the soldiers said Saturday.

The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion-Ledger | October 17, 2004 | 12:49 am

U.S. Army reserves allegedly refused Iraq mission
A 17-member U.S. Army Reserve platoon deployed to Iraq has been placed under investigation for allegedly refusing a ``suicide mission'' to deliver fuel, a military spokesman said Friday.

The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion-Ledger | October 15, 2004 | 11:07 pm

Iraqi TV delivers twists on reality and reality shows
"Caricateera" — or Caricatures — is Iraq's answer to "Saturday Night Live," a variety show driven by biting political satire. It's must-see TV for millions of Iraqis.

USA TODAY | October 14, 2004 | 12:32 am

U.S. weapons report details corruption of oil-for-food program
However, Saddam Hussein's regime found ways to turn the program to its advantage. That corruption is detailed in a report released last week by the chief U.S. weapons inspector, Charles Duelfer.

USA TODAY | October 11, 2004 | 11:20 pm

Iraq water treatment plants to go online
After 12 years without sewage treatment, Baghdad's water treatment plants will be soon be in operation — a big step toward addressing health problems caused by contaminated water.

USA TODAY | October 1, 2004 | 7:07 pm

Security is deteriorating in Baghdad, some say
Some people who live and work in Iraq's capital — including U.S. civilian contractors, security firms and charity groups — see a deteriorating security situation.

USA TODAY | September 28, 2004 | 11:37 pm

Iraqi leader, Bush: Keep Iraqi elections on schedule
President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi are resolute on the next major step for Iraq: Hold Iraq's first elections on schedule in January despite an insurgency that threatens to derail them.

John Yaukey | GNS | September 23, 2004 | 11:19 pm

Allawi makes rounds on U.S. visit
Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi speaks to a joint session of Congress Thursday as an increasingly violent insurgency complicates his country's plans for its first Democratic elections.

USA TODAY | September 22, 2004 | 11:52 pm

Bush at U.N.: No retreat in Iraq
President Bush gave an unflinching defense of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq to the U.N. General Assembly Tuesday, arguing that in an age of terrorism, "there is no safety in looking away."

USA TODAY | September 21, 2004 | 11:44 pm

Reality check: Is there a connection between 9/11 and Iraq?
Here are the highlights of President Bush and John Kerry's positions on a link between Iraq and 9/11, along with what experts say.

John Yaukey | GNS | September 17, 2004 | 7:49 pm

Travel is still far away for many in Iraq
The right to travel was one of the most enticing of the freedoms Iraqis looked forward to after the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime. It has also been one of the most agonizingly elusive.

USA TODAY | September 16, 2004 | 11:20 pm

Senators slam administration on Iraq
Senators from both parties accused the Bush administration Wednesday of incompetence in its efforts to rebuild Iraq and said the United States could lose the war unless it improves security and gets more money into the Iraqi economy.

USA TODAY | September 15, 2004 | 11:42 pm

Bush asks to spend rebuilding funds on security
The Bush administration notified Congress on Tuesday that it wants to shift nearly $3.5 billion from water, power and other reconstruction projects to try to bring stability to Iraq.

USA TODAY | September 14, 2004 | 11:05 pm

Dozens dead after synchronized attacks shake Iraq
Insurgents hammered central Baghdad on Sunday with one of their most intense mortar and rocket barrages ever in the heart of the capital, heralding a day of violence that killed nearly 60 people nationwide as security appeared to spiral out of control.

USA TODAY | September 11, 2004 | 11:13 pm

Insurgency threatens Iraqi elections, U.S. exit plan
An especially bloody six weeks in Iraq have clarified what lies ahead for the U.S. troops there: an insurgency that won’t quit and Iraqi forces incapable of fighting it alone anytime soon. This could delay elections and a U.S. pullout.

John Yaukey | GNS | September 10, 2004 | 2:55 pm

U.S., Iraqi forces move to regain control of cities
U.S. and Iraqi government forces launched simultaneous operations Thursday aimed at regaining control of areas that have fallen to insurgents.

USA TODAY | September 9, 2004 | 11:15 pm

Reports pan Iraq reconstruction
Detailed new reports by two independent groups offer a devastating portrait of the 16-month-old U.S. reconstruction effort in Iraq, blaming ongoing violence there in large part on misplaced U.S. priorities, bureaucratic bungling and poor planning.

USA TODAY | September 8, 2004 | 11:20 pm

Toll brings home pain, patriotism across USA
As the death toll for U.S. personnel in Iraq passed 1,000 Tuesday, much of the nation was transfixed by hurricanes and presidential politics. But not everyone.

USA TODAY | September 7, 2004 | 11:51 pm

Convicted soldier testifies at England hearing
The only soldier convicted in the Abu Ghraib prisoner-abuse scandal told a military judge here Monday that he watched Pfc. Lynndie England stomp on the toes and fingers of three Iraqi prisoners, laugh, and then pose for photos with them after they had been stripped nude.

USATODAY.com | August 30, 2004 | 11:28 pm

Higher-ups at Abu Ghraib could face abuse charges
Military prosecutors said Tuesday they are weighing charges against high-ranking military intelligence officers responsible for interrogating prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison.

USATODAY.com | August 24, 2004 | 11:58 pm

Report: Poor planning set context for abuse
A report Tuesday by a commission that investigated abuses at Abu Ghraib prison is one of the most stinging indictments yet of the Bush administration's planning for the occupation of Iraq.

USATODAY.com | August 24, 2004 | 11:57 pm

Abu Ghraib probes shift public focus
Two new reports on abuses at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison jumped on to front pages and into the national debate this week — jolting reminders of the ongoing conflict's political impact amid weeks of sniping over Vietnam.

Jill Lawrence | USA TODAY | August 24, 2004 | 11:37 pm

Panel: Top officials played role in prison abuse
An independent panel investigating prisoner abuse in Iraq blamed top Pentagon officials and local commanders for creating conditions that led to "acts of brutality and purposeless sadism" toward some prisoners at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison.

Dave Moniz | USA TODAY | August 24, 2004 | 11:36 pm

Soldier accepts blame in Abu Ghraib case
The most senior U.S. soldier accused of abusing Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison is expected to plead guilty to some of the charges, according to a statement released by his attorney Monday.

Noelle Knox | USATODAY | August 23, 2004 | 11:08 pm

U.S. soldier challenges enlistment extensions
The U.S. military's policy of extending the enlistments of tens of thousands of troops to cover needs in Iraq violates federal law and the Constitution, an Iraq war veteran is alleging in a lawsuit.

USATODAY.com | August 18, 2004 | 11:53 pm

Report on Iraq abuse cites interrogators, clears leaders
A new Army report on prisoner abuse by intelligence personnel at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison cites misconduct by military interrogators but exonerates high-ranking Pentagon officials and senior U.S. military commanders, a Pentagon official said Wednesday.

USATODAY.com | August 18, 2004 | 11:44 pm

Iraq hospitals under siege
When Iraqi physician Mahmud Thamer stepped down from the U.S. military helicopter that carried him into Baghdad on June 6, 2003, after 34 years of exile, he found Iraq's health system in shambles — wrecked not only by war, but by decades of neglect and corruption.

USATODAY.com | August 18, 2004 | 11:35 pm

Iraq vet boiling over `Fahrenheit' cameo
There are a lot of things Sgt. Peter Damon doesn't like about ``Fahrenheit 9/11.''But what he likes least about the controversial new film by left-wing provocateur Michael Moore is the fact that he's in it.

Gina Cavallaro | Army Times | August 9, 2004 | 6:53 pm

Chaotic picture of Abu Ghraib emerges
No one disputes that chaotic conditions existed at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq before the prisoner-abuse scandal erupted there.

USATODAY.com | August 8, 2004 | 11:15 pm

Soldier England described as troublemaker at Iraqi prison
Army Pfc. Lynndie England was portrayed by Army prosecutors Wednesday as a disobedient office clerk who sneaked out of her quarters at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq to sleep with her prison guard boyfriend and joined with several out-of-control guards to humiliate prisoners.

USATODAY.com | August 4, 2004 | 11:34 pm

Pfc. Lynndie England: Photos taken 'for fun'
The seven U.S. soldiers charged in the Abu Ghraib scandal abused Iraqi prisoners "just for fun," an Army investigator testified Tuesday at the start of a hearing that will determine whether Pfc. Lynndie England will be court-martialed for taking part in the abuse.

USATODAY.com | August 3, 2004 | 11:15 pm

Marine who vanished says he didn't desert
The U.S. Marine who disappeared from his base in Iraq and turned up three weeks later in Lebanon said Monday he did not desert his post.

USATODAY.com | July 19, 2004 | 11:57 pm

Audit finds U.S. lax on control of oil money
U.S. officials who ran Iraq until last month lacked adequate controls to track their spending of its oil money, but records give no indication they committed any fraud, an international audit says.

USATODAY.com | July 15, 2004 | 11:27 pm

WWII guidebook to Iraq is relevant today
Since invading Iraq, Americans have discovered that the country is a military, political and cultural minefield. But it's a lesson they could have learned from a pocket-sized booklet published six decades ago by the U.S. government.

USATODAY.com | July 15, 2004 | 11:13 pm

Assessment will decide if Marine fit for duty
Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun, the U.S. Marine who turned up in Lebanon after disappearing from his unit in Iraq, arrived Thursday at a base in Virginia, where doctors will assess whether he can return to duty.

USATODAY.com | July 15, 2004 | 11:07 pm

Al-Sadr's intentions, ambitions unclear
Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his spokesmen have been issuing conciliatory statements about working with the interim Iraqi government which took power two weeks ago. But it is still unclear whether the firebrand cleric is willing to play a constructive role or to disband his Mahdi Army.

USATODAY.com | July 15, 2004 | 11:02 pm

U.S., British probes reach similar findings
With some differences in the details, the reports by Britain's Lord Butler this week and the Senate Intelligence Committee last week reach the same conclusion about the flawed intelligence used to justify invading Iraq.

USATODAY.com | July 14, 2004 | 11:40 pm

Iraqi police collar hundreds of criminal suspects
More than 500 criminal suspects were in jail Tuesday after Iraqi police launched the largest anti-crime offensive since the country regained sovereignty two weeks ago.

USATODAY.com | July 13, 2004 | 11:28 pm

Fight for Ramadi exacts heavy toll on Marines
In a violent city where more Marines have died than anywhere else in Iraq, one was thought to be blessed with good fortune. Until the day his luck ran out.

USATODAY.com | July 13, 2004 | 11:26 pm

Military court hears Lynndie England case
A new Army lawyer was appointed to help defend Pfc. Lynndie England in the Abu Ghraib prisoner-abuse scandal on Monday, prompting a second delay in a hearing that will determine whether England will face a court-martial for allegedly mistreating Iraqis.

USATODAY.com | July 12, 2004 | 11:55 pm

U.S. troops face deadly challenges in Iraqi city of Ramadi
Ramadi may be the most dangerous city in Iraq. Though battles in places such as Fallujah and Najaf have gotten more attention, the Marine battalion in this provincial capital has encountered the most deadly combat fighting and logged the highest number of casualties of any U.S. battalion since the war in Iraq began.

Gregg Zoroya | USA TODAY | July 12, 2004 | 10:40 am

Pensacola soldiers: Iraqis grateful for U.S. help
Along with Army Reserve Maj. James Manzanares' painful recollections of the war’s human toll, Manzanares, who works at Nemours Children’s Clinic in Pensacola, Fla., is proud of the U.S. mission in Iraq. Now that Iraqi’s interim government has assumed sovereignty, men and women from the Pensacola area who have risked their lives say progress is being made.

Amber Bollman | The Pensacola News Journal | July 9, 2004 | 6:46 pm

Report: Flawed Iraq intelligence exposes national peril
The United States went to war in Iraq on false claims from an intelligence network so dysfunctional it raises grave concerns about being able to thwart future terrorist attacks, according to a Senate report released Friday and the lawmakers who wrote it.

John Yaukey | GNS | July 9, 2004 | 5:41 pm

Pivotal pre-war document was confident about Iraqi arsenal
Just before lawmakers voted to authorize the use of force against Iraq in October 2002, they were sent a pivotal 90-page report by the nation's intelligence community called the National Intelligence Estimate. Its assessments were reached without any U.S. or allied spies or operatives having seen any chemical or biological weapons in Iraq since 1995.

John Yaukey | GNS | July 9, 2004 | 3:08 pm

Several investigations focus on intelligence
The scathing Senate intelligence committee report on intelligence used to make a case for the war in Iraq is just part of a broad effort to identify and correct the way the government collects and uses intelligence in the age of terrorism.

Jon Frandsen | GNS | July 9, 2004 | 3:04 pm

Senate panel finds CIA's prewar spying was deficient
The CIA failed to penetrate Saddam Hussein's regime sufficiently before the war to find out what weapons Iraq possessed, and agency analysts applied faulty logic to the sketchy information they did have to conclude Saddam had weapons of mass destruction, a Senate committee report due out today says.

USATODAY.com | July 8, 2004 | 11:18 pm

Stability returning to Baghdad
Iraq's interim government, which began exerting influence even before it officially took political power last week, seems to be restoring a semblance of order to Baghdad's lawless streets.

USATODAY.com | July 7, 2004 | 11:42 pm

Senate panel to blast CIA, but not Bush, on Iraq intelligence
A blistering Senate report due out Friday is expected to lay most of the blame for the weapons of mass destruction debacle in Iraq on the CIA and largely spare the White House, according to lawmakers who have publicly discussed some of the analysis.

John Yaukey | GNS | July 7, 2004 | 11:25 pm

Insurgents will be defeated, interim Iraq president says
Iraqi President Ghazi al-Yawer predicted victory over the insurgency that has bedeviled U.S. troops, slowed reconstruction and left some cities ungovernable.

USATODAY.com | July 5, 2004 | 9:55 pm

Muslims around world debate hostage's fate
There is no word on Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun's whereabouts or fate. But there is plenty of word in the Muslim world, both here and abroad, about how he should be treated.

USATODAY.com | July 1, 2004 | 11:20 pm

Saddam won't make it easy to try him
The sound of clinking chains announced Saddam Hussein's arrival at the small makeshift courthouse on Thursday. During the 26-minute hearing, the 67-year-old former dictator was alternately nervous, feisty, angry, tired and impatient. He was never repentant.

USATODAY.com | July 1, 2004 | 10:58 pm

MPs: Some Iraqi guards as bad as prisoners
U.S. authorities in Iraq hired Iraqi prison guards to help staff Abu Ghraib and other prisons in Iraq, but the guards turned out to be almost as much trouble as the prisoners themselves, interviews and documents obtained by USA TODAY show.

USATODAY.com | July 1, 2004 | 12:04 am

Army recalls thousands for Iraq duty
The Pentagon is calling up nearly 10,000 more troops, more than half of them soldiers who had thought they had finished their active-duty time, Defense officials said Wednesday.

USATODAY.com | June 30, 2004 | 11:31 pm

U.S. to recall 5,600 troops for Iraq
The Pentagon is preparing an involuntary call-up of up to 5,600 discharged soldiers to help fill units depleted by fighting the two-front war on terror, the Army said Tuesday.

USATODAY.com | June 29, 2004 | 11:33 pm

Army using technology, intelligence to analyze execution video
The U.S. Army is combining advanced video analysis with information from intelligence agencies in its efforts to identify a man that Iraqi radicals execute on video. The Arab TV network Al-Jazeera obtained the video Monday with a statement claiming the man being executed was Spec. Keith Matthew Maupin, a Batavia, Ohio, resident missing since April 9 when his fuel-truck convoy was attacked in western Baghdad.

John Yaukey | GNS | June 29, 2004 | 6:24 pm

Next: A crash course in democracy
Ronald St. John, a political consultant with the International Republican Institute, recently asked some college students in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul to define democracy. One student stuck up his hand and answered: "Democracy means you can disobey laws you don't agree with." Iraqis have a lot to learn about democracy and not much time to learn it.

USATODAY.com | June 29, 2004 | 6:07 pm

Iraqi effort judged harshly
The U.S. administration in Iraq was bedeviled by staff shortages, escalating violence, lack of functioning Iraqi courts and continuing electrical power woes, a congressional report out Tuesday says.

USATODAY.com | June 29, 2004 | 6:02 pm

Women’s groups say U.S. hasn’t eased plight of Iraqi, Afghan women
Iraqi women’s rights deteriorated under U.S. occupation and could further worsen under Iraq’s new provisional government, according to a report released Tuesday by several women’s groups.

Greg Wright | GNS | June 29, 2004 | 6:00 pm

Last-minute handover confuses U.S. contractors in Iraq
Foreign contractors in Iraq, caught flat-footed by the early transfer of power Monday, say they're confused by last-minute edicts issued by the U.S. occupation chief setting out their liability under Iraqi law.

USATODAY.com | June 28, 2004 | 11:03 pm

New era is blessing for some, curse for others
One of the greatest challenges facing the new Iraqi government, which took power Monday, is creating a system where there are more Iraqis who are optimistic than disgruntled. For all the money spent, the U.S. occupation government has left much of society disillusioned, unemployed and too easily recruited by insurgents.

USATODAY.com | June 28, 2004 | 10:27 pm

What members of Congress are saying about the transfer of power
Here is what some members of Congress had to say about the expedited transfer of power in Iraq.

GNS | June 28, 2004 | 7:19 pm

Violence to test bond between U.S. and newly sovereign Iraq
U.S. ground commanders have been warning that the sovereignty transfer will not discourage insurgents. The difference as of Monday is that Iraqis now must try to take the lead in repelling them.


John Yaukey | GNS | June 28, 2004 | 4:17 pm

Security forces in Iraq brace for larger role
As the United States closes its occupation government and turns authority over to an interim Iraqi administration, security in the country is poised to take a different tack.

USATODAY.com | June 27, 2004 | 11:19 pm

Lugar optimistic despite Iraq setbacks
Only days ahead of a transition of power in Iraq, Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar, one of the nation's leading foreign relations experts, said Thursday he is optimistic that Iraq is on track toward a ``rough-and-ready democracy'' that will help stabilize the region.

Maureen Groppe | GNS | June 26, 2004 | 5:56 pm

Gore blasts Bush's Iraq strategy
Gore accused President Bush of abusing his powers and playing on the emotions of Americans to wage a campaign of deception for political gain.

Larry Bivins | GNS | June 24, 2004 | 7:20 pm

Power transfer in Iraq geared to elections
Many a pundit has discounted the handoff as mere symbolism. But it does at least point the way for an eventual U.S. exit - even if it fails to guarantee a successful one.

John Yaukey | GNS | June 24, 2004 | 4:25 pm

Iraq sovereignty raises questions about future
The sovereignty agreement is vague in places, raising questions about who will command U.S. troops starting Monday and what will happen to deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

John Yaukey | GNS | June 24, 2004 | 3:57 pm

Who will be in charge of security?
Iraqi leaders will have the power to veto major operations like the Marine mission recently in Fallujah.

Gannett News Service | June 24, 2004 | 3:45 pm

Comparisons made about postwar period
Bush administration officials have compared the occupation and rebuilding of Iraq to the occupations of Japan and Germany after World War II.

Gannett News Service | June 24, 2004 | 3:39 pm

White House responds to critics with policy disclosure
White House officials decided that they had no choice but to release documents Tuesday detailing their internal debate over interrogation policies, according to interviews with administration officials.

USATODAY.com | June 23, 2004 | 10:39 pm

Rumsfeld OK'd harsh treatment
In an extraordinary disclosure of classified material, the Bush administration released 258 pages of internal documents Tuesday that portray harsh interrogation techniques — including stripping terror suspects and threatening them with dogs — as a necessary response to threats from al-Qaeda terrorists.

USATODAY.com | June 23, 2004 | 10:38 pm

General promised quick results if Gitmo plan used at Abu Ghraib
The general who pushed for more aggressive interrogation tactics at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison predicted better intelligence within a month if his strategies were adopted, according to a copy of his classified plan obtained by USA TODAY.

USATODAY.com | June 23, 2004 | 10:36 pm

Generals ordered to testify on abuse
A military judge on Monday ordered top U.S. generals to answer questions about abuse at Abu Ghraib prison and ruled that the infamous facility should be preserved as a "crime scene" for now, not torn down as President Bush has suggested.

USATODAY.com | June 22, 2004 | 12:18 am

Kurds experiencing tranquility in Iraq
Imagine an Iraq where GIs are greeted with cheers rather than roadside explosives, where traffic flows in orderly processions, where the calm is undisturbed by car bombs or assassinations. Such an Iraq already exists in the northern third of the country, where the local Kurdish population has governed itself for the past 13 years.

USATODAY.com | June 20, 2004 | 11:04 pm

Power handoff in Iraq not likely to cut war costs
As Iraq struggles to stand on its own, the 116th Cavalry Brigade from Idaho's National Guard will be entering the newly sovereign country expected to be every bit as volatile as it was under American rule. Indeed, the price Americans pay in Iraq with blood and money will not likely abate anytime soon, despite the power handoff.

John Yaukey | GNS | June 18, 2004 | 4:23 pm

Bremer satisfied with Iraq's progress
Despite an increase in violence before the transfer of sovereignty to Iraqis, the American administrator of Iraq says the country is on a path to democracy that will carry it through to elections and a representative government early next year.

USATODAY.com | June 17, 2004 | 11:13 pm

Iraqis to regain control of the renovated Baghdad airport
Iraq's new leadership will take control of a rehabilitated Baghdad International Airport in the next few weeks. The hand-over is expected to open the door for the first normal commercial service since the U.S. invasion 15 months ago.

USATODAY.com | June 16, 2004 | 11:46 pm

Panel says Saddam didn't help al-Qaeda
There is "no credible evidence" that Saddam Hussein helped al-Qaeda plan and train for attacks against the United States, the commission investigating the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks said Wednesday. That finding disputes a rationale the Bush administration gave for invading Iraq.

USATODAY.com | June 16, 2004 | 11:38 pm

Contractors pay rising toll in Iraq
Eighty-five civilians working on U.S. government contracts or subcontracts have died in Iraq since spring 2003, according to Labor Department data obtained by USA TODAY.

USATODAY.com | June 16, 2004 | 11:27 pm

U.S. missed need for prison personnel in war plans
As investigators try to piece together what led to the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib in the fall of 2003, the shortage of trained personnel appears to be one of the keys to what went wrong.

USATODAY.com | June 14, 2004 | 11:06 pm

Ailing companies blame Iraq war
Hundreds of companies blame the Iraq war for poor financial results in 2003, many warning that continued U.S. military involvement there could harm this year's performance.

USATODAY.com | June 14, 2004 | 10:19 pm

Wounded Vt. guardsman anxious to get home
A mortar had ripped open Brooks' left leg and blown away part of his foot. Nearby lay the bodies of two fellow Vermonters.

Erin Kelly | GNS | June 14, 2004 | 5:57 pm

Fallujah Brigade tries U.S. patience
A top Marine officer here says the compromise that gave control of Fallujah to an Iraqi brigade in exchange for the withdrawal of Marines may be a failure.

USATODAY.com | June 13, 2004 | 11:18 pm

Bush wants NATO relief in Iraq
President Bush, eager to reduce U.S. responsibilities in Iraq, said Wednesday that he hopes NATO will take a more active role there.

USATODAY.com | June 9, 2004 | 11:51 pm

U.S. force in Iraq to grow as Marine deployment pushed up
The Pentagon will increase the number of U.S. troops in Iraq to around 145,000 this summer, from the current 140,000, in recognition of the continued difficulty coalition forces are having in providing security leading up to the hand-over of political power to Iraqis on June 30.

USATODAY.com | June 9, 2004 | 12:28 am

U.N. approves Iraq resolution
The United Nations Security Council handed the Bush administration an important foreign policy victory Tuesday by voting unanimously for a resolution backing the new caretaker government of Iraq and a multinational force under U.S. command.

USATODAY.com | June 8, 2004 | 11:05 pm

Lawmakers in both parties urge Congress to probe abuse
Congress should do more to investigate the abuse of prisoners at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison rather than let the military probe itself, members of Congress in both parties say.

USATODAY.com | June 7, 2004 | 11:55 pm

Iraq seeks '.IQ' domain to make its mark on Net
Iraq is making its first claim for an internationally recognized presence on the Internet.

USATODAY.com | June 3, 2004 | 11:53 pm

Allawi's ascent follows extensive PR campaign
Iraq's new prime minister waged an expensive lobbying and public relations campaign beginning last year to build political support — not in Baghdad, but in Washington.

USATODAY.com | June 3, 2004 | 11:47 pm

Gears grind as effort shifts into overdrive
The U.S.-funded reconstruction drive in Iraq is entering a make-or-break phase, ramping up to create 1.5 million jobs and set off a building boom despite grave doubts about the sustainability of the occupation.

USATODAY.com | June 3, 2004 | 11:42 pm

Army extends duty for soldiers
In the latest sign of the growing strains on thinly stretched U.S. armed forces, the Army has issued orders to block tens of thousands of soldiers heading to Iraq and Afghanistan from leaving the military or transferring to other units, the Pentagon said Wednesday.

USATODAY.com | June 2, 2004 | 11:57 pm

U.S. and Britain circulate revised Iraq resolution
The United States and Britain tried to smooth over objections to a United Nations resolution on Iraq on Tuesday with a version that would remove troops no later than early 2006.

USATODAY.com | June 1, 2004 | 11:17 pm

Cash crunch curbs rebuilding in Iraq
With bank lending almost non-existent and foreign investment in Iraq about as common as a snowstorm, Iraqi businesses are struggling to secure the credit they need for life after Saddam Hussein.

USATODAY.com | June 1, 2004 | 11:12 pm

Two Marines convicted of prisoner abuse
Two infantry Marines were convicted in courts-martial May 14 of abusing an Iraqi prisoner with electrical shocks, Marine Corps officials said May 27.

MarineTimes.com | May 28, 2004 | 8:13 pm

Militias threaten to split Iraq, entrench U.S. troops
There are worrisome signs Iraq's fractious Shiite, Sunni Arabs and Kurdish militias, deployed now along sensitive religious and ethnic fronts, intend to stay active as U.S. civil authorities attempt to bring Iraqis together under a sovereign government this summer.

John Yaukey | GNS | May 27, 2004 | 4:27 pm

5 more GIs may face abuse charges
At least five more Army soldiers involved in abuses at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison last fall are likely to be charged with criminal conduct in the next several weeks, a high-ranking Army officer with knowledge of the cases said Wednesday.

USATODAY.com | May 26, 2004 | 11:54 pm

Timing of general's departure questioned
Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez is likely to be judged the highest-ranking casualty of a foundering occupation and a corrosive prisoner abuse scandal, both of which tarnished the year he has been the top U.S. commander in Iraq.

USATODAY.com | May 25, 2004 | 11:04 pm

Analysis: Bush tries to broaden focus on Iraq war, dispel concerns about his leadership
In a springtime of sorrow and second guessing, President Bush on Monday sought to attack the doubts that threaten his presidency by portraying Iraq as a pivotal point in the war on terrorism, and a crossroads in history.

Chuck Raasch | GNS | May 25, 2004 | 12:31 am

Army may be sending training base troops to Iraq
The Army, pressing to meet the need for combat troops in Iraq, is making contingency plans to deploy an elite unit whose mission is to play the enemy in rigorous field exercises. It is the latest sign of the Army's personnel crunch, say some experts.

USATODAY.com | May 25, 2004 | 12:19 am

Analysis: Expectations on smaller scale than before war
President Bush faced a skeptical audience at a difficult time when he reassured Americans on Monday that he has a plan to restore peace in Iraq, give power to a democratic government and make America safer.

USATODAY.com | May 25, 2004 | 12:15 am

Lawyers seek dismissal of England's confession
Attorneys for Pfc. Lynndie England, the U.S. soldier who was photographed holding a leash around the neck of an Iraqi detainee at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison, will ask that her statements to investigators be thrown out because she was interrogated after she had asked for a lawyer.

USATODAY.com | May 24, 2004 | 11:59 pm

General who led Abu Ghraib prison guard unit has been suspended
The Army Reserve has temporarily taken command away from the general who oversaw U.S. prisons in Iraq while top officers evaluate her performance, Army Reserve officials said Monday.

USATODAY.com | May 24, 2004 | 11:57 pm

U.S. struggles to breach wall of Iraqi skepticism
Nearly every afternoon, coalition spokesman Dan Senor and Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt stride to the podium in Baghdad to talk about progress. U.S.-sponsored Iraqi radio, television and newspapers spread the word from Mosul in the north to Basra in the south. The trouble is, many Iraqis don't believe them.

USATODAY.com | May 24, 2004 | 11:55 pm

Rumsfeld's time 'absorbed' by abuse scandal
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has dropped virtually all his other duties and spent the better part of two weeks working on little besides the Iraqi abuse scandal.

USATODAY.com | May 24, 2004 | 11:16 pm

Bush to talk up plans for Iraq
An embattled President Bush, his support imperiled at home and abroad, launches a five-week campaign Monday intended to reassure Americans that he has an effective plan for Iraq and persuade foreign leaders to do more to help it succeed.

USATODAY.com | May 23, 2004 | 11:17 pm

'America's best friend in Iraq' angry over raid
Ahmad Chalabi picked the wrong day to sleep late. At 11 a.m. Thursday, as the man who helped fuel the Bush administration's drive to war in Iraq slumbered, Iraqi police and their American advisers were surrounding his home and office compound.

USATODAY.com | May 21, 2004 | 6:12 pm

Former exile's supporters seem to have cut him loose
The Bush administration, which has been divided about the way forward in Iraq, appears to have united on one point: Ahmad Chalabi will not be Iraq's next leader.

USATODAY.com | May 20, 2004 | 11:53 pm

Sanchez says he never saw rules for interrogation
An obscure Army captain wrote the interrogation rules. The general in charge never saw them, even though his title appears on the document as the officer who must approve especially harsh techniques. Yet somehow the rules wound up on the wall of the interrogation center at Abu Ghraib prison.

USATODAY.com | May 20, 2004 | 11:17 pm

Troops let sheiks tour prison in effort to gain trust
A group of 15 tribal leaders walked through the sprawling Abu Ghraib prison in an open session designed to be part of the damage-control process after the prisoner abuse was made public. It came the same day as the first U.S. soldier went to court-martial in the case.

Gina Cavallaro | Army Times | May 20, 2004 | 12:09 am

Iraqis say 40 killed at wedding
Forty people were killed Wednesday in a U.S. attack on a house that the Army says was a hideout for foreign fighters but that Iraqis said was the site of a wedding celebration.

USATODAY.com | May 20, 2004 | 12:02 am

Diplomat: U.S. Embassy to be strong friend to Iraq
Two U.S. officials tried Wednesday to explain how the operation of a new U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, the largest in terms of U.S. personnel, will differ from the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

USATODAY.com | May 19, 2004 | 11:33 pm

Conyers asks whether torture denial was lie
The ranking Democrat on the House of Representatives' Judiciary Committee wants a congressional probe into whether the Justice Department misled the Supreme Court last month when a government lawyer told the justices that the United States does not engage in torture.

USATODAY.com | May 19, 2004 | 11:32 pm

Soldiers' problem - doing the right thing, and recognizing the wrong
The topic of lawful orders has been a hot subject since the photos of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq became public. But U.S. military law is crystal clear on this subject: Service members have the right to refuse to obey an illegal order.

William H. McMichael | Army Times | May 19, 2004 | 6:06 pm

Soldiers' training stresses what not to do
One of the defenses that may emerge in the prosecution of the soldiers accused of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq is that they were poorly trained in the treatment of detainees. Army legal officials, however, insist that trainees are taught how to handle prisoners and deal with unlawful orders.

Matthew Cox | Army Times | May 19, 2004 | 6:00 pm

Wolfowitz: Length of force's stay in Iraq still unknown
Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, an architect of the Iraq war, said Tuesday he had failed to anticipate "the resilience" of Saddam Hussein's supporters and did not know how long the United States would have to keep 135,000 troops in Iraq.

USATODAY.com | May 18, 2004 | 11:41 pm

Report: Harsh interrogation OK'd for 1 inmate
Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez approved the use of sleep deprivation, intimidation by guard dogs, excessive noise and inducing fear as interrogation methods against a single Iraqi inmate at Abu Ghraib prison, according to a description in the classified annex of a military report.

USATODAY.com | May 18, 2004 | 11:28 pm

First prisoner abuse trial draws world media
Some Iraqis apparently will not be satisfied with the first court-martial of a soldier who allegedly took part in the abuse of inmates at the Abu Ghraib prison. They think execution is a more fitting punishment.

USATODAY.com | May 18, 2004 | 11:01 pm

Senators: War hinges on winning back support of Iraqi, U.S. public
The United States is in danger of losing the war in Iraq because of the rapidly eroding confidence of Iraqis and Americans alike, senators of both parties warned the Bush administration Tuesday.

Jon Frandsen | GNS | May 18, 2004 | 4:52 pm

Reporters given tour of improved Abu Ghraib
Amid continuing controversy over the treatment of Iraqi prisoners, U.S. Army officials on Monday unveiled dramatic improvements at the prison where soldiers are accused of routinely abusing their captives.

USATODAY.com | May 17, 2004 | 11:34 pm

Head of Governing Council killed in car bombing
A suicide car bombing killed the head of Iraq's Governing Council on Monday near the headquarters of the U.S. occupation. The attack came six weeks before the scheduled transfer of power to an Iraqi government.

USATODAY.com | May 17, 2004 | 11:20 pm

Report highlights USA's rights efforts
After a nearly two-week delay because of the furor over U.S. abuse of Iraqi prisoners, the State Department issued on Monday its annual report on American efforts to improve human rights conditions around the world.

USATODAY.com | May 17, 2004 | 11:19 pm

Soldiers' defense: Right and wrong got blurred
Army Sgt. Javal Davis lost his ability to tell right from wrong after months of seeing interrogations of Iraqi prisoners that relied heavily on sleep deprivation and sexual humiliation, his attorney says.

USATODAY.com | May 17, 2004 | 11:11 pm

For some Iraqis, jobs more pressing than politics
This weekend's open forum held by the Coalition Provisional Authority to discuss proposed rules for the first national elections in Iraq since Saddam Hussein was toppled, showcased the difficulties of cementing genuine self-governance amid continuing fears of terror attacks and the lack of basic services. And while Iraq's elites debate process, the masses crave jobs.

USAT.com | May 17, 2004 | 2:09 pm

Abuse inquiry may move up ranks
Four influential U.S. senators said Sunday that the Iraqi prison abuse scandal goes beyond low-level guards already charged, and that higher-level officials must be held accountable or the damage to U.S. credibility will spread.

USAT.com | May 17, 2004 | 2:07 pm

Former guard has a history of complaints
Army Spc. Charles Graner, an accused ringleader in the abuse of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, repeatedly has faced allegations of violence and psychological abuse in his personal life and at his job as a Pennsylvania prison guard.

USAT.com | May 17, 2004 | 2:01 pm

Military intelligence under scrutiny
As the first court-martial begins this week in the Iraq prison abuse scandal, attention is focused not only on the U.S. military guards accused of humiliating Iraqi inmates at Abu Ghraib prison but on a group not yet charged: the military intelligence and CIA officers the guards say ordered them to do it.

USATODAY.com | May 16, 2004 | 10:58 pm

Sermon offers signals of Iraqi Shiite public opinion
Sayed Mohamed al-Haidari, 59, a Shiite cleric with a reputation for pragmatism, offered an important signal of where mainstream Shiite opinion stands. But from a U.S. perspective, the results were mixed.

USATODAY.com | May 14, 2004 | 7:59 pm

U.S. missed chances to stop abuses
Pentagon and White House officials missed numerous opportunities to head off abuses at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, according to interviews, testimony and public documents that have emerged since the scandal erupted last month.

USATODAY.com | May 13, 2004 | 11:11 pm

Abu Ghraib, 9/11 complicate intelligence reforms
In coming months, policy-makers will have to decide how to repair the crucial component of gathering critical human intelligence in the national security framework, a glaring failure expected to be cited by an independent commission looking into the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

John Yaukey | GNS | May 13, 2004 | 5:44 pm

Money request coming next year
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Wednesday that the Bush administration will likely ask for more money for military operations in Iraq next year, beyond the $25 billion in additional funds it has already requested.

USATODAY.com | May 13, 2004 | 1:57 am

Iraq contractors fight thinning ranks, high insurance
The massive, U.S.-funded reconstruction of Iraq is largely on course, despite contractor fatalities, a drawdown in the number of foreign workers and sky-high insurance rates.

USATODAY.com | May 13, 2004 | 12:04 am

Role as U.S. ally gets riskier for Kuwait, Jordan
U.S. failings in Iraq have generated anger across the Arab world, including in this longtime American ally, where some say the United States needs to go beyond President Bush's apology for what he has called the "wrongdoing of a few."

USATODAY.com | May 12, 2004 | 11:42 pm

U.S. interrogators face 'gray areas' with prisoners
The abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. troops has put a spotlight on one of the murky aspects of America's war on terrorism: aggressive physical and psychological techniques that intelligence agents use to try to extract information from reluctant or hostile sources.

USATODAY.com | May 12, 2004 | 11:33 pm

Court-martial will lay foundation for other cases
Next week's court-martial of Army Spc. Jeremy Sivits is a crucial step in the U.S. military's investigation into who planned and participated in the scheme to sexually humiliate Iraqi prisoners, legal analysts say.

USATODAY.com | May 12, 2004 | 11:29 pm

FBI: Agents advised Berg to leave Iraq
Before his grisly execution, American businessman Nick Berg reportedly refused U.S. offers of assistance to leave Iraq, U.S. military and federal law enforcement officials said Wednesday.

USATODAY.com | May 12, 2004 | 11:26 pm

Abu Ghraib photos cause gasps in Congress
A graphic slide show shown to members of Congress on Wednesday included images of U.S. military forcing Iraqi prisoners into sexual poses and threatening them with dogs.

USATODAY.com | May 12, 2004 | 11:26 pm

Some in Baghdad say U.S. no longer wanted
Seven weeks before Washington plans to transfer limited sovereignty to an interim Iraqi government, the U.S. military says it is making steady progress. But in the battle for Iraqi "hearts and minds," the U.S. may be losing ground.

USATODAY.com | May 12, 2004 | 11:05 pm

Whistleblower asked mom's advice
Margie Blank remembers the phone call from Iraq sometime before Christmas. It was her son, Army Spc. Joseph Darby, 24, a reservist military police officer, and she could tell something was wrong. Darby alerted the Army, and ultimately the world, to the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. guards at Abu Ghraib prison.

USATODAY.com | May 11, 2004 | 11:41 pm

Pentagon to show senators new photos
U.S. senators will get their first look Wednesday at a new batch of photos of Iraqi prisoner abuse when Pentagon officials make them available for a brief, classified viewing.

USATODAY.com | May 11, 2004 | 11:25 pm

Poll: War opposition up amid Iraqi abuse scandal
Americans say they're disgusted and embarrassed by the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at the hands of grinning U.S. troops. The soldiers' behavior at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison, captured so vividly in photographs, is inexcusable to an overwhelming majority of the public.

USATODAY.com | May 10, 2004 | 11:41 pm

Bush: U.S. owes debt to 'superb' Rumsfeld
President Bush visited the Pentagon on Monday to shore up his embattled Defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, as the administration and Congress grappled with how to handle potentially explosive new photos of prisoner sexual abuse.

USATODAY.com | May 10, 2004 | 11:39 pm

Signs of abuse at Abu Ghraib dismissed
WASHINGTON — Days after a military prison guard in Iraq placed a compact disk containing photographs of prisoner abuse on the bunk of an Army investigator, the military's top officer knew that the Pentagon, and the country, were facing a major crisis.

USATODAY.com | May 10, 2004 | 10:55 pm

Red Cross report describes abuses in Iraq
The international Red Cross gave U.S. military officials at least a half-dozen warnings last year that Iraqi prisoners were being abused by American personnel, according to a confidential report the aid organization sent to top U.S. officials in February.

USATODAY.com | May 10, 2004 | 10:53 pm

Editorial: A failure of leadership at the highest levels
Around the halls of the Pentagon, a term of caustic derision has emerged for the enlisted soldiers at the heart of the furor over the Abu Ghraib prison scandal: the six morons who lost the war. But the folks in the Pentagon are talking about the wrong morons. But while responsibility begins with the six soldiers facing criminal charges, it extends all the way up the chain of command.

ArmyTimes.com | May 10, 2004 | 8:20 pm

Freed Iraqi describes Abu Ghraib
Amid the choking heat of a linoleum-floored holding cell, an accused carjacker wondered whether he was headed back to the notorious Abu Ghraib prison or forward to freedom.

USATODAY.com | May 9, 2004 | 11:07 pm

Iraq prison photos may represent historic turning point
Most photographs document history. A few change it. At first glance, the graphic snapshots from Abu Ghraib, the military prison in Iraq, appear destined to join those of Bull Connor's snarling dogs during the Civil Rights movement, and the naked Vietnamese girl running from her village after a napalm attack.

Ken Fuson | The Des Moines Register | May 8, 2004 | 4:51 pm

Iraq war separates U.S. Army married couple - forever
Love and the military brought them together seven years ago. Then war tore them apart. The conflict in Iraq separated the couple for about four months this year and reunited them on foreign soil, even if but for a moment, last month only to separate them again. This time, forever.

Vicki Welborn | The (Shreveport, La.) Times | May 7, 2004 | 9:32 pm

America has work to do on image
It could take decades for America to regain its image as a beacon of morality and humanitarian values after revelations that American troops tortured and humiliated Iraqi prisoners, public relations experts said.

Thejournalnews.com | May 7, 2004 | 7:55 pm

Rumsfeld's testimony may not save his job or boost U.S. credibility
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's appearance Friday before Congress to explain the torture and humiliation of Iraqi prisoners was a near-perfect version of the peculiar Beltway ritual of taking responsibility for a terrible problem - but not too much.

Jon Frandsen | GNS | May 7, 2004 | 7:49 pm

Rumsfeld takes responsibility for abuse of Iraqi prisoners
Perhaps the most ominous moment of Friday's electric hearings came when Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., warned ``the worst is yet to come."

John Yaukey | GNS | May 7, 2004 | 5:41 pm

Medics suffer as they care for war's wounded
Military medical workers are dedicated to caring for sick and wounded troops deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq. But the work takes an emotional toll.

Deborah Funk | Army Times | May 7, 2004 | 4:20 pm

Authorities try to speed delayed mail to troops
A mounting wave of anecdotal evidence, bolstered by a General Accounting Office report, show delays, disappearances and thefts within the military mail system take a toll on the morale of troops in Iraq and their families back home.

Karen Jowers | Army Times | May 7, 2004 | 4:14 pm

Rumsfeld faces lawmakers
President Bush voiced confidence in Donald Rumsfeld on Thursday as the Defense secretary prepared for questioning Friday by members of Congress angry and apprehensive over the Iraq prisoner-abuse scandal.

USATODAY.com | May 6, 2004 | 11:29 pm

Top general regretful but sees opportunities
Gen. John Abizaid, the top U.S. commander in the region that includes Iraq, said Thursday that the credibility of the U.S.-led coalition is suffering because of the scandal over the abuse of Iraqi prisoners. But he added that, so far, the damage has been limited.

USATODAY.com | May 6, 2004 | 11:24 pm

Q&A with Gen. John Abizaid
Gen. John Abizaid, head of U.S. Central Command, was interviewed at his headquarters in Doha, Qatar, by USA TODAY's Steven Komarow. Here are some excerpts from the interview.

USATODAY.com | May 6, 2004 | 11:20 pm

U.S. campaign in Iraq teetering on free fall
The past several days have seen a hemorrhaging of American credibility in Iraq and across the Arab world with a widening scandal involving Army guards who allegedly sexually abused and tortured Iraqi prisoners. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Friday will face questions from lawmakers who want to know how such treatment was allowed to happen.

John Yaukey | GNS | May 6, 2004 | 4:54 pm

Legal issues in prosecuting abuse perpetrators
President Bush says that those responsible for degrading Iraqi prisoners will be "brought to justice." A look at what that could mean.

USATODAY.com | May 6, 2004 | 4:03 pm

Tour provides glimpse of life at Abu Ghraib
Most of the 3,800 detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison are housed in canvas tents that hold 25 each. Inmates sleep on mats on the ground. A perimeter of barbed wire encloses the tents, plastic outhouses and outdoor showers.

USATODAY.com | May 6, 2004 | 4:01 pm

For Bush, TV interviews just the start of long ordeal
If the intensity of damage-control efforts is any gauge of the concern inside the White House about the scandal over mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners, President Bush and his advisers are very worried.

USATODAY.com | May 5, 2004 | 11:50 pm

Rumsfeld faces swelling tide of criticism
Hailed as a conquering hero after last year's quick victory over Saddam Hussein's army, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is fast becoming the focus of intense criticism over his handling of the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal.

USATODAY.com | May 5, 2004 | 11:42 pm

Skelton demands GAO probe of prisoner abuses in Iraq
The top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee has asked the General Accounting Office to probe the role of private security contractors in Iraq.

Pamela Brogan | GNS | May 5, 2004 | 8:18 pm

Failure to disclose Iraqi prison abuse worsens U.S. war situation
The abuse of Iraqi prisoners and the delay in making it public has cast further doubt on American motives for war, and winning back credibility could require the resignations of top officials.

Jon Frandsen | GNS | May 5, 2004 | 6:53 pm

Ney says Iraq prison abuse hearing would hurt morale, benefit U.S. enemies
An upcoming Senate hearing on Iraq prisoner abuse will hurt troop morale and benefit America's enemies, an Ohio Republican said Wednesday.

Greg Wright | GNS | May 5, 2004 | 6:45 pm

Losing a limb doesn't mean losing your job
In today's military, amputation doesn't automatically mean "medical retirement," a discharge because of a disability. High-tech advances in artificial limbs and improved methods of rehabilitation now allow a significant number of amputees to stay in uniform.

USATODAY.com | May 5, 2004 | 5:45 pm

At least 3 prisoners killed by U.S. personnel
The growing scandal involving abuses of Iraqi prisoners reached a new level Tuesday when top Army officials acknowledged that three detainees have been killed, including one who was trying to escape, and 10 other cases of prisoner deaths are under investigation.

USATODAY.com | May 4, 2004 | 11:24 pm

Furor over abuse expands at home and abroad
The Army is investigating the deaths of 10 prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan and has declared two others homicides as part of a growing probe of abuse by military prison guards. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Tuesday he is expanding investigations of prisoner abuse to include alleged incidents at bases in Cuba and the USA.

USATODAY.com | May 4, 2004 | 11:21 pm

Troop level in Iraq to remain through 2005
The U.S. military force in Iraq will remain at 138,000 troops through the end of next year, an acknowledgment that the Iraqi insurgency is more stubborn and dangerous than generals thought earlier this year.

USATODAY.com | May 4, 2004 | 11:19 pm

April ends with more deaths for U.S. troops
The deadliest month for U.S. troops in Iraq ended Friday with 137 servicemembers having lost their lives to hostile action such as gunfire, rocket attacks and explosions.

USATODAY.com | May 2, 2004 | 11:30 pm

Retreating Marines now patrolling Kharma
Marines who had been poised for an assault on Fallujah instead spent Sunday in Kharma, trying to win hearts and minds.

Gidget Fuentes | Marine Corps Times | May 2, 2004 | 5:07 pm

April violence exposes problems in U.S. Iraq plan
The recent fighting in the Iraq cities of Fallujah and Najaf, which has made April the deadliest month of the war for American forces, has raised troubling questions about the United States'strategy of securing Iraq and returning sovereignty to the Iraqis simultaneously.

John Yaukey | GNS | April 30, 2004 | 2:54 pm

Medevac crews hop around the globe to get wounded soldiers home
The military medevac system for Iraq and Afghanistan uses an array of regularly scheduled and on-demand flights. More than 12,000 patients have been flown out of the two war zones.

Army Times | April 30, 2004 | 2:47 pm

Brahimi holds USA's Iraq exit strategy in his hands
UNITED NATIONS - Lakhdar Brahimi, the 70-year-old former Algerian foreign minister, who also oversaw Afghanistan's political transition, appears to have become, by default, the Bush administration's best hope for an orderly political exit from Iraq.

USATODAY.com | April 29, 2004 | 11:54 pm

April is Iraq's deadliest month
By mid-April, it was already the deadliest month for U.S. troops in Iraq. By Thursday, the month's death toll had climbed to 134, more than the number of troops killed in the war's opening stages, from the invasion to the toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue in Baghdad.

USATODAY.com | April 29, 2004 | 11:11 pm

Poll finds optimism about what lies ahead
BAGHDAD — A new USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll shows Iraqis are optimistic about their future, despite deep, potentially dangerous divides among competing factions over the role of religion in government and autonomy for the Kurdish minority.

USATODAY.com | April 29, 2004 | 11:08 pm

In Fallujah, Marines adjust to changing plans
FALLUJAH, Iraq — Eleventh-hour negotiations late Wednesday cancelled planned joint U.S.-Iraqi security patrols here and put combat-ready Marines on standby.

ArmyTimes.com | April 29, 2004 | 10:57 pm

Pollsters often put lives at risk to administer surveys
The 60-plus Iraqis who conducted the USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll faced challenges including violence, radical clerics, discrimination, a tribal dispute and a bomb scare.

USATODAY.com | April 28, 2004 | 11:49 pm

More armored vehicles being sent to troops in Iraq
U.S. military commanders have sent additional tanks and armored personnel carriers to Marine and Army units in Iraq, and more are on their way.

USATODAY.com | April 28, 2004 | 11:42 pm

Poll: Iraqis out of patience
Only a third of the Iraqi people now believe that the American-led occupation of their country is doing more good than harm, and a solid majority support an immediate military pullout even though they fear that could put them in greater danger, according to a new USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll.

USATODAY.com | April 28, 2004 | 11:37 pm

Hearings start on choice for U.S. ambassador to Iraq
Even after it turns over political control to Iraqis on June 30, the United States will retain military control in Iraq, maintaining the right to send U.S. troops anywhere whether or not the new government approves, the Bush administration's nominee to be ambassador to Iraq said Tuesday.

USATODAY.com | April 27, 2004 | 11:45 pm

Soldier sisters choose not to rejoin Army units in Iraq
The two Wisconsin sisters of a female soldier killed this month in Baghdad said Tuesday that they will not rejoin their Army National Guard units in Iraq.

USATODAY.com | April 27, 2004 | 11:43 pm

Winning Fallujah risks losing Iraq
Nearly 14 months into a war that the Pentagon predicted would end quickly for occupying forces, the U.S. military faces what could be its most important series of battles since the 1968 Tet Offensive in Vietnam, when insurgents lost badly to U.S. troops but attacked so aggressively and so widely that they changed the course of the war.

USATODAY.com | April 27, 2004 | 11:41 pm

War images paint landscape of death
The images of war fill Americans with horror and rip at the collective resolve.

The Arizona Republic | April 26, 2004 | 3:59 pm

Marines to start patrolling Fallujah
Marines will begin training with Iraqi security forces on Monday in a step that could lead to joint patrols in the besieged city as early as Tuesday, a senior military commander said Sunday.

Gidget Fuentes | Marine Corps Times | April 25, 2004 | 7:53 pm

Congress remains frustrated over Iraq, demands bigger role
Critics charge the Bush administration's repeated failure to consult with Congress and answer questions about prewar planning for Iraq may have contributed to some of the serious missteps that have plagued the yearlong occupation. But after days of complaints this past week that it was repeating the same mistakes, administration officials appeared to be more forthcoming.

Jon Frandsen | GNS | April 23, 2004 | 4:10 pm

Former NFL player-turned-soldier killed in Middle East
Distraught Arizona Cardinals players and management on Friday set up a memorial to former strong safety-turned-soldier Pat Tillman, whose death in Afghanistan has been confirmed, outside the team's training camp in Tempe, Ariz. Flags flew at half staff on the campus of Arizona State University, Tillman's alma mater.

The Arizona Republic | April 23, 2004 | 2:52 pm

Iraq to siphon troops, tax dollars even after power transfer
If the transfer of authority goes as planned, Bush will be able to proclaim that his Iraq plan is on track. But little will change tangibly for Americans families whose loved ones are serving there or for taxpayers who can expect another hit to pay for stabilization and rebuiliding efforts.

John Yaukey | GNS | April 23, 2004 | 7:45 am

Q&A: What happens when power changes in Iraq?

Gannett News Service | April 23, 2004 | 7:27 am

Analysis: Iraqi military's brutal past limits use to U.S.
The Bush administration should not have been surprised that the new Iraqi army would resist fighting fellow Iraqis, given the history of Middle East dictators using military forces to crush internal opposition, several military analysts say.

USATODAY.com | April 22, 2004 | 11:54 pm

U.S. plans elite Iraqi force for security
The U.S.-led coalition is recruiting Iraqis for an elite volunteer unit that would fight fellow Iraqis resisting the occupation of the country.

USATODAY.com | April 22, 2004 | 11:50 pm

U.N. envoy to handpick Iraq's interim leaders
United Nations special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi will begin choosing leaders of an Iraqi interim government within weeks and hopes to select a prime minister by mid-May, a Bush administration official told a Senate hearing Thursday.

USATODAY.com | April 22, 2004 | 11:13 pm

Marines score sizable arms cache
A large amount weapons found in a modest Iraqi house last week and another big batch found in a building across the street are among the largest caches a Marine battalion has found so far. The discovery of the arms depot offers a window into how well-armed the enemy is.

Gidget Fuentes | Marine Corps Times | April 22, 2004 | 7:10 pm

Yellow ribbons pull at our hearts
On a recent weekend, Tricia Charles, her two daughters and a friend made 3,000 yellow ribbon pins for people who want to show their support for Army Pfc. Keith Matthew Maupin, the Batavia, Ohio, resident who is being held hostage in Iraq. Craft stores in the nearby Cincinnati area are reporting brisk sales of yellow ribbon.

ENQUIRER.com | April 22, 2004 | 5:40 pm

Lynch family understands
Keep praying. Those were the words that Greg Lynch Sr. — father of the most famous captured soldier in the Iraq war — had for friends and family of Pfc. Keith Matthew Maupin, kidnapped April 9 in an ambush by insurgents. For 12 days in 2003, Lynch and his family sat vigil, prayed together and anxiously waited for word that daughter Jessica would return home safely.

ENQUIRER.com | April 22, 2004 | 5:27 pm

Commentary: GI exhibits style, grace amid hype
Thank you, Shoshana Johnson. Thank you for your service to our country, for risking your life, for enduring 22 days as a prisoner of war in Iraq and, almost as important, exhibiting class, dignity and grace in the midst of controversy. Expect to hear a lot of that Sunday when the NAACP's Detroit branch honors you at its annual Fight For Freedom Dinner.

Luther Keith | The Detroit News | April 22, 2004 | 5:11 pm

Lawmakers want answers from Bush on Iraq
A chorus of Republican and Democratic senators holding hearings Tuesday on Iraq wanted to know how the Bush administration plans to stabilize the volatile nation of Iraq, to which it will transfer sovereignty June 30 as Bush has promised. And they want to know why the administration has provided scant information about its Iraq strategy.

John Yaukey and Jon Frandsen | GNS | April 21, 2004 | 2:31 pm

Wolfowitz denies secret Iraq war funding
Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz denied on Tuesday to angry Democrats on Capitol Hill that the Bush administration secretly financed preparations for the war in Iraq long before last year's invasion.

USATODAY.com | April 20, 2004 | 11:08 pm

Lawmakers want answers from Bush on Iraq
Lawmakers returning from their spring recess had plenty of questions, strongly worded advice and, in some cases, outrage for the Bush administration and its handling of Iraq.

John Yaukey and Jon Frandsen | GNS | April 20, 2004 | 10:17 pm

Powell denies he was out of loop on Iraq
Secretary of State Colin Powell denied Monday that concerns about the war in Iraq he voiced in a new book by Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward have led to tensions with senior U.S. officials such as Vice President Cheney.

USATODAY.com | April 19, 2004 | 11:53 pm

Bush names U.N. ambassador as envoy to Iraq
John Negroponte has been in the U.S. foreign service for nearly 40 years, served all over the world and is widely regarded as a quintessential diplomat. But his latest assignment could be his ultimate test — molding a functioning government in Iraq.

USATODAY.com | April 19, 2004 | 11:45 pm

Baghdad's brief return to normalcy shattered
An uprising by both Sunni and Shiite Muslims that began two weeks ago has pushed up prices, emptied Baghdad's streets and made travel outside the capital difficult.

USATODAY.com | April 18, 2004 | 11:03 pm

Fallujah cease-fire leaves Marines anxious
U.S. military commanders, frustrated by a weeklong truce and talks aimed at ending hostilities in Fallujah, say the pause in offensive operations is giving insurgents a chance to reorganize and rearm.

USATODAY.com | April 18, 2004 | 11:01 pm

Iraq duty deters re-enlistment
The number of soldiers staying in the Army is falling just as the demand is increasing in Iraq. Through March 17, nearly halfway through the fiscal year, the Army fell about 1,000 short of meeting its goal of keeping 25,786 soldiers whose enlistments were ending or who were eligible to retire, a 96% retention rate.

USATODAY.com | April 15, 2004 | 11:01 pm

Biden: Firm leadership needed in Iraq
Administration missteps are pushing Iraq toward a broad-based anti-America insurgency that must be stopped, Sen. Joseph Biden said Thursday.

Jon Frandsen | GNS | April 15, 2004 | 5:39 pm

20,000 soldiers' Iraq duty to be extended 90-120 days
The Pentagon will announce as early as Thursday a plan to keep about 20,000 Army troops in Iraq for 90 to 120 days longer than scheduled to help combat rising violence, Pentagon officials said Wednesday.

USATODAY.com | April 14, 2004 | 11:50 pm

A welcome home for wounded GIs
John Gonsalves, a construction supervisor in Wareham, Mass., created a charity to raise money to build houses adapted for U.S. soldiers badly wounded in Iraq. The project became a reality in March and has brought in $60,000 in five weeks.

USATODAY.com | April 14, 2004 | 11:35 pm

Killing of Italian hostage heightens concerns about other captives
The reported killing of an Italian hostage Wednesday heightened concerns over the fates of Mississippian Thomas Hamill and three to four dozen other U.S. and foreign nationals who have been abducted in Iraq over the last few weeks.

Ana Radelat | GNS | April 14, 2004 | 9:05 pm

Cease-fire violations frustrate Marines
The commander of a Marine Corps division poised to resume fighting in Fallujah, where a wavering, six-day cease-fire has been in place, vowed Wednesday to wipe out anti-coalition forces and reopen the city.

Gidget Fuentes | Marine Corps Times | April 14, 2004 | 4:30 pm

Young Shiite cleric poses big problems for U.S.
Whether a menace is worse than a martyr is a question that frames the debate U.S. commanders in Iraq must now grapple with as they decide how to deal with the fiercely anti-American Shiite clerk, Muqtada al-Sadr, who is eluding arrest in an Iraqi mosque.

John Yaukey | GNS | April 14, 2004 | 4:02 pm

Is Iraq becoming another Vietnam?
Mounting casualties and growing guerrilla resistance. Skepticism about the justification for going to war in the first place. No clear strategy for finishing the job and coming home. Is Iraq becoming another Vietnam?

USATODAY.com | April 13, 2004 | 11:54 pm

Family faces agony, duty
The Witmer family is planning a funeral for Spc. Michelle Witmer, 20, a National Guard member killed Friday. And they are praying that their two other daughters — Charity, who is Michelle's twin, and Rachel, their older sister — will choose not to return to their units in Baghdad.

USATODAY.com | April 13, 2004 | 11:53 pm

Bush goes on camera to show he's in command
President Bush's goals Tuesday night were clear: Look firm. Sound firm. And be firm about why he thinks the war in Iraq is a critical part of the war on terrorism.

USATODAY.com | April 13, 2004 | 11:47 pm

Marines battle in Fallujah
Despite a temporary cease-fire, Marines in this cordoned-off city continued to battle sniper fire, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars Tuesday, and an ambush killed one Marine and wounded four others.

Gidget Fuentes | Marine Corps Times | April 13, 2004 | 11:41 pm

Adding U.S. troops in Iraq may not help
President Bush's promise to send more troops to Iraq if U.S. commanders request them still may not stabilize the country, many military analysts say.

USATODAY.com | April 13, 2004 | 11:31 pm

Cease-fire brings little rest for Marines around Fallujah
While a cease-fire continued Monday around Fallujah, a volatile city 35 miles west of Baghdad, Marines continued to clear buildings and destroy weapons they uncovered, including material for suicide bombings.

Gidget Fuentes | Marine Corps Times | April 12, 2004 | 9:40 pm

For one Fallujah family, harrowing trek to safety
When Mahmoud Salaiman Abid awoke on April 5, he was surprised to see U.S. Marines sealing off Fallujah. At 2 p.m., a mortar shell exploded in his front yard. For Abid and his family, their hellish captivity was just beginning.

USATODAY.com | April 12, 2004 | 9:22 pm

Iraq's moderate Shiites under siege from Islamic radicals
Beneath the rebellion by radical Shiites raging in Iraq is a brewing war within Islam. It is rooted in fundamentalists' hatred of any Muslims seen as allied with the West. Even modest success by these revolutionaries would be disastrous for the United States, reversing democratic reforms across the Arab world and turning the region into a fertile ground for the kind terrorism that exploded Sept. 11.

John Yaukey | GNS | April 9, 2004 | 3:30 am

Some advocate letting Iraq split along ethnic lines
The looming threat of a civil war among Iraq's major religious and ethnic groups - the Sunni Arabs, the Shiites and the Kurds - has given rise to the idea of carving up Iraq along sectarian lines.

John Yaukey | GNS | April 9, 2004 | 3:15 am

Warring Shiites imperil hope for stable government
Escalating clashes between U.S. forces and Iraq's majority Shiites are threatening not only to plunge Iraq into chaos but to shatter the already shaky underpinnings for a democratic government and delay a homecoming for American troops.

John Yaukey | GNS | April 8, 2004 | 3:10 am

Shiites in Mich. fear Iraq's becoming 'beacon of instability'
One year after American soldiers helped Iraqis pull down the statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad, some American Shiites increasingly express doubts that the United States is stabilizing their homeland, let alone creating a democracy.

Gregg Krupa | The Detroit News | April 8, 2004 | 2:30 am

War doesn't keep students from military college fair
Diana Valdez, 16, wants to be a pediatrician, even if it means joining the Army and fighting a war in some far-off place like Iraq. Valdez was one of 2,500 students from Chicago's public schools attending a military college fair on Wednesday. Representatives from 25 colleges with military programs were trying to attract young men and women to be future officers.

USATODAY.com | April 7, 2004 | 11:40 pm

Iraq fighting heavy on two fronts
U.S. forces unleashed repeated ground and air attacks on insurgents in the Sunni Muslim stronghold of Fallujah on Wednesday. The attacks included an airstrike on a mosque compound after Marines came under fire from inside the building. On a second front, coalition forces in southern Iraq and in Baghdad again engaged militiamen loyal to the radical anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

USATODAY.com | April 7, 2004 | 11:16 pm

Majority Shiites can make or break U.S. plans in Iraq
With this week's bloody revolt, Iraq's Shiites have emerged as the most dangerous threat to U.S. authorities struggling to stabilize Iraq and eventually get American troops out.

John Yaukey | GNS | April 7, 2004 | 3:56 am

U.S. will keep major presence in Iraq after June 30 power transfer
On June 30, the U.S. civil authorities in Baghdad are scheduled to transfer sovereignty to the Iraqis. Here are some questions and answers surrounding the sovereignty transfer.

John Yaukey | GNS | April 7, 2004 | 3:50 am

Fear of losing control drives assault
U.S. Marines fighting dangerous street battles in a Sunni stronghold west of Baghdad hope the aggressive new tactics will finally subdue insurgents there.

USATODAY.com | April 6, 2004 | 11:34 pm

A delicate time for U.S. mission
Is the U.S. occupation of Iraq in grave peril? The Bush administration had always expected resistance from Iraq's Sunni Muslims, who benefited from the regime of Saddam Hussein. But now, just days after the fight against Sunni insurgents took a vicious new turn with the killing and mutilation of four American civilians, elements of Iraq's Shiite majority are mounting a resistance of their own.

USATODAY.com | April 6, 2004 | 12:23 am

Al-Sadr threat comes to head
Muqtada al-Sadr has been a menace to the U.S.-led coalition in Baghdad since the day after Saddam Hussein's regime fell.

USATODAY.com | April 6, 2004 | 12:20 am

Pentagon delays U.S. troops' trip home
A decision by the Pentagon to increase the number of U.S. troops in Iraq is a reversal of its plan to steadily reduce the U.S. force level there.

USATODAY.com | April 6, 2004 | 12:18 am

Fallujah leaders set defiant tone
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.

USATODAY.com | April 4, 2004 | 10:54 pm

Role of security companies likely to become more visible
Blackwater Security Consulting, which lost four employees in Wednesday's Fallujah ambush, is one of about 25 private security groups employed to guard officials and installations, train Iraq's new army and police. The companies are likely to be more visible after June 30, when sovereignty is transferred from the U.S.-led coalition to an Iraqi government.

USATODAY.com | April 1, 2004 | 11:39 pm

Many distance themselves from 'savage' killings in Fallujah
Many Iraqis in Baghdad reacted the same way most Americans did to the gruesome images broadcast around the world Wednesday. They expressed revulsion and condemned the killings. After ambushing and killing four American contractors, a group of Iraqis burned the bodies in front of cameras and dragged the corpses through Fallujah.

USATODAY.com | April 1, 2004 | 11:25 pm

Military response vowed in Fallujah
U.S. officials vowed Thursday to bring overwhelming military might to the outlaw city of Fallujah a day after insurgents killed five U.S. soldiers and dragged the charred corpses of four American civilians through the city.

USATODAY.com | April 1, 2004 | 11:17 pm

Media careful about what images to show
It was a sentiment felt in newsrooms across the country after the gruesome deaths of four American contractors in Fallujah, Iraq, left news executives grappling with the sensitive issue of accurately illustrating Wednesday's horror without offending viewers and readers.

USATODAY.com | March 31, 2004 | 11:53 pm

Grisly video could shake confidence
Even after a year of war and hundreds of U.S. deaths in Iraq, the photographs from Fallujah, Iraq, have the power to horrify: Scenes of an Iraqi man clubbing the charred corpse of one American, of a body being dragged behind a car, of two bodies hanging from the top of a bridge.

USATODAY.com | March 31, 2004 | 11:50 pm

Attacks on Iraqi police increase
At least 350 Iraqi police 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.

USATODAY.com | March 30, 2004 | 11:41 pm

Continuing search finds no weapons of mass destruction
U.S. arms investigators scouring Iraq are finding more evidence of Iraq's prewar interest in chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. But inspectors haven't found any weapons, and Saddam Hussein's still-loyal deputies are refusing to talk, the new chief U.S. weapons inspector said Tuesday.

USATODAY.com | March 30, 2004 | 11:17 pm

Rumors are a bombardment that never stops
Minutes after suicide bombers attacked Shiite Muslim pilgrims in Baghdad and Karbala this month, rumors that U.S. forces were responsible for the attacks ran rampant. U.S. officials were taken aback. They failed to take into account the rapidly adaptable and sophisticated propaganda abilities of the anti-U.S. insurgency.

USATODAY.com | March 29, 2004 | 11:50 pm

Iraq's economy shakes off Saddam's shackles
An exhilarating but virtually lawless economy has risen from the ashes of Saddam Hussein's government. Business opportunities are everywhere in Baghdad, but so are corruption and crime.

Paul Wiseman | USA TODAY | March 28, 2004 | 11:56 pm

Blast clues lead to dead ends
None of a handful of fatal attacks the United States is investigating involving civilians in postwar Iraq has been solved, senior law enforcement officials say.

Kevin Johnson | USA TODAY | March 28, 2004 | 11:52 pm

Study: Army must end spate of suicides
U.S. soldiers have committed suicide at a higher-than-usual rate during the invasion and occupation of Iraq, a new Army study says.

USATODAY.com | March 24, 2004 | 11:05 pm

Bremer: Iraq security top concern
Marking 100 days before the United States cedes political power an Iraq government, the top U.S. administrator said the country was "on the path to full democracy."

USATODAY.com | March 24, 2004 | 11:02 pm

In Baghdad, fewer guns on the streets
As recently as three weeks ago, there was no shortage of dealers openly entertaining offers for weapons. All of that is abruptly changing.

USATODAY.com | March 23, 2004 | 10:07 pm

'Happy, you'll be missed'
It was personal, and soldiers from the 25th Infantry Division (Light) were there to say goodbye to Pfc. Ernest Harold Sutphin — the first fatality of this yearlong deployment — as their brother, their roommate, their friend.

The Honolulu Advertiser | March 23, 2004 | 3:39 pm

In Lynch's home a year later - changes in spirit
It was a year ago Tuesday that Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch was captured in Nasiriyah, Iraq, after her unit was ambushed in the early days of the Iraq war. Things have settled down in her hometown now.

Bob Withers | The Huntington Herald-Dispatch | March 22, 2004 | 11:28 pm

507th ambush shows all soldiers must be able to fight
They were a support unit trained to change tires, repair vehicles and keep the Army moving forward, but on March 23, 2003, Fort Bliss' 507th Maintenance Company was pushed into combat with Iraqi soldiers - something the unit was not prepared to handle.

ElPasoTimes.com | March 22, 2004 | 4:29 pm

A year later, ex-POWs cope with memories of fateful day
Army Spc. Edgar A. Hernandez is more than 500 miles away from El Paso, Texas, Fort Bliss and his old unit. But the young soldier can't escape the memories of the day he was captured by Iraqi soldiers as a member of the 507th Maintenance Company.

| March 22, 2004 | 4:27 pm

Fear remains constant in Iraq; security top priority
For Iraqis, views toward the American military presence is textbook love-hate. What Iraqis say about it - ``occupation'' as it is invariably called - often depends on where you are and with whom you speak.

John Yaukey | GNS | March 19, 2004 | 3:48 pm

Bush uses war anniversary speech to reassert commander role
President Bush stepped back into the role of commander in chief Friday, delivering a somber speech to foreign diplomats at the White House on the anniversary of the war in Iraq.

Chuck Raasch | GNS | March 19, 2004 | 3:47 pm

Iraq campaign altered warfare

Howard Wilkinson | The Cincinnati Enquirer | March 19, 2004 | 3:04 pm

Bush: 'Defense of freedom is always worth it'
President Bush defended the war in Iraq on Thursday as a U.S. ally said he was misled about Saddam Hussein's weapons and is considering withdrawing troops.

USATODAY.com | March 18, 2004 | 11:40 pm

Insurgents increasingly hit vulnerable foreigners
For weeks, a pair of civilian engineers — one German and the other Dutch — made a daily, roundtrip commute of about 100 miles from their hotel in Baghdad to a new sewage treatment plant in Rezaza. On Tuesday, they and their armed Iraqi escorts were murdered, the latest victims in a string of recent assaults as insurgents focus on so-called "soft targets."

USATODAY.com | March 18, 2004 | 11:22 pm

Nation building becomes key part of U.S. policy
One of the little-noticed but lasting legacies of the war in Iraq and the war on terrorism is how the once-scorned notion of "nation building" has become a crucial element of American foreign policy.

Jon Frandsen | GNS | March 18, 2004 | 8:29 pm

Bush extends time spent with families of fallen 101st soldiers
President Bush expressed appreciation to members of the 101st Airborne Division for sacrifices made in Operation Iraqui Freedom during the past year at the Ft. Campbell, Ky., Army base.

The (Nashv ille) Tennessean | March 18, 2004 | 1:48 pm

One year after war, security is greatest concern for Iraqis
The picture of a bustling, energetic Baghdad one year after the Iraq war began is superficial. While the city is indeed coming alive after years of political oppression and economic depression, there is constant anxiety about personal security.

USATODAY.com | March 17, 2004 | 11:38 pm

Car bomb rips through Baghdad hotel, killing dozens
A car bomb exploded outside a hotel in Baghdad on Wednesday, killing at least 27 people and injuring 40. The explosion collapsed part of the multistory building and threw bodies onto the street. The bombing came two days before the first anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

Kevin Johnson | USA TODAY | March 17, 2004 | 7:24 pm

Grenade victim looks back, keeps walking
Capt. Greg Holden thinks about that March 23 every time he looks at the scars on his left leg. Holden nearly lost his left leg early that morning in Kuwait after a fellow soldier allegedly attacked with grenades and small-arms fire.

Matthew Cox | Army Times | March 17, 2004 | 5:34 pm

March 23 is a day remembered all too well
If every day of the war had been like March 23, the world might be a very different place.

C. Mark Brinkley | Army Times | March 17, 2004 | 5:14 pm

Nation divided on success of war
When President Bush announced on March 19, 2003 that the invasion of Iraq had begun, the main justification for ordering American men and women into war was that U.S. national security depended on it. Are Americans safer because of that decision? Polls show a nation divided.

USATODAY.com | March 16, 2004 | 11:31 pm

Bush urges allies' troops remain in Iraq
President Bush on Tuesday called on America's coalition allies to keep their troops in Iraq, saying, "It's essential that we remain side-by-side with the Iraqi people."

USATODAY.com | March 16, 2004 | 11:14 pm

Iraq caught between pull of violence, push for peace
The March 2 attacks that killed 180 people, perhaps more than any other, have raised an important question on the ground in Iraq now: Can the center hold against the rampant violence intended to plunge Iraq into civil war by fomenting sectarian violence?

John Yaukey | GNS | March 16, 2004 | 3:52 pm

New Iraq scouting program a test of diplomacy
In a nation as divided as Iraq by religion and ethnicity, scouting is seen as a model of public diplomacy, a common interest that may one day bind Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish boys and girls. So a quiet, almost covert effort is under way to rekindle the long-dormant scout programs of Iraq.

Greg Barrett | GNS | March 15, 2004 | 6:15 pm

Back from war's abyss
Loud noises shock them more than they once did. Their alertness is sharper. Ordinary things, like being able to hug their children, have taken on new significance.

The Arizona Republic | March 14, 2004 | 7:37 pm

Kyl says White House did not mislead country before Iraq war
There was "nothing devious" in the way the Bush administration handled intelligence information before deciding to invade Iraq, Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona said Friday.

Sergio Bustos GNS | March 12, 2004 | 6:57 pm

Iraq changes war-making and intelligence gathering
The campaign in Iraq, now a year old and counting, showcased how far American war-making has come. At the same time, the war in Iraq has also revealed that the nation‘s intelligence network is still mired in a Cold War mindset, ill-suited to handle the war on terror with its small secretive organizations that are almost impossible to penetrate.

John Yaukey | GNS | March 12, 2004 | 12:35 am

Security, self-rule will dominate year 2 for U.S. in Iraq
The U.S. campaign in Iraq is moving forward, but toward what? Iraqis are making progress establishing democratic self-rule, but problems abound. Here are some questions and answers surrounding the future of Iraq and the American presence there.

John Yaukey | GNS | March 12, 2004 | 12:33 am

News analysis: Bush’s credibility takes hit over Iraq war
A year after the opening barrage on Baghdad, President Bush’s decision to go to war in Iraq remains a much larger point of contention than many in his administration expected.

Chuck Raasch | GNS Political Editor | March 12, 2004 | 12:31 am

Essay: Public paying less attention to Iraq war a year later
Somewhere out there is a war. Or whatever it is now. Iraq has entered the gray courtyard of the national consciousness. Still too dangerous and too bloody and too unsettled to be forgotten. But too familiar now to always hold attention. That is what a year can do.

Mike Lopresti | GNS | March 12, 2004 | 12:26 am

Bush's credibility takes hit over Iraq war
A year after the opening barrage on Baghdad, President Bush's decision to go to war in Iraq remains a much larger point of contention than many in his administration expected.

Chuck Raasch | GNS | March 11, 2004 | 5:34 pm

Sons of Saddam had fled to Syria
Two sons of Saddam Hussein escaped to Syria after the U.S. invasion of Iraq a year ago but were ultimately expelled by the Syrian regime, former and current Bush administration officials say.

USATODAY.com | March 11, 2004 | 12:10 am

Air Force to probe charges Guardsmen brought souvenir rifles from Iraq
The U.S. Air Force is investigating allegations that Kentucky Air National Guardsmen violated military regulations by bringing home AK-47 rifles taken as battlefield souvenirs in Iraq.

The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal | March 10, 2004 | 9:46 pm

Group urges release of details on Piestewa's last hours
The Army should release details from its investigation into Spc. Lori Piestewa's treatment and death in the hours after her capture by Iraqis nearly a year ago, the president of a national group that opposes putting women in combat said Tuesday.

Billy House | The Arizona Republic | March 9, 2004 | 10:38 pm

Soldier accused of grenade attack gets trial date
A military judge set a July 12 trial date Tuesday for a 101st Airborne Division soldier charged with killing two officers and attempting to kill others in a grenade attack in Kuwait last year early in the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

The (Louisville, K.Y.) Courier-Journal | March 9, 2004 | 7:12 pm

Iraqi women juggle freedom and 'duty'
Iraq is wrestling to determine the role both women and tradition will play in society after the United States returns sovereignty on June 30.

USATODAY.com | March 7, 2004 | 11:07 pm

Wounded soldiers face challenging transition
Soldiers who died in Iraq and Afghanistan make headlines, but the injured often don't merit a mention until later, if at all. It is true that they have not lost their lives. But they have lost much.

Katya Cengel | (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal | March 7, 2004 | 6:40 pm

Adjustment difficult for returning soldiers
Coming home from war is hard for soldiers. Even the most optimistic will tell you the problems can be large and small, mental, physical and emotional.

Mike Klein | Des Moines Register | March 7, 2004 | 6:36 pm

Lieberman calls for bipartisan effort on Iraq policy
Democrats and Republicans must rise above election-year battles and work together to win the war against terrorists who threaten both Iraq and the United States, Sen. Joe Lieberman said Thursday.

Katherine Hutt Scott | GNS | March 4, 2004 | 10:17 pm

Closing the Iraqi bomb 'supermarkets'
To find bomb-making materials in Iraq, you don't have to go far.

William Cole | The Honolulu Advertiser | March 4, 2004 | 8:41 pm

Female soldiers take toughness for granted
American women have participated more extensively in combat in Iraq than in any previous war in U.S. history.

The (Sioux Falls, S.D.) Argus-Leader | March 4, 2004 | 8:25 pm

U.S. faces big test in ambitious troop rotation
Sometime in early April, the Army will hand over the task of patrolling this hardscrabble region to the Marine Corps as part of the Pentagon's plan to replace virtually every U.S. soldier in Iraq this year. No one is quite sure what will happen in Fallujah or in other places that will witness this massive turnover of GIs.

USATODAY.com | March 3, 2004 | 10:53 pm

Plant offers troops in Iraq doors to safety
Jeff Bell knows there is a mother, father, brother or sister shielded by each set of armored doors he assembles for Humvees used by U.S. troops in Iraq. The need to protect those soldiers is the reason workers at the Rock Island Arsenal are working round-the-clock.

The Des Moines Register | March 3, 2004 | 6:47 pm

U.N.: Iraq had no WMD after 1994
A report from U.N. weapons inspectors says they now believe there were no weapons of mass destruction of any significance in Iraq after 1994.

USATODAY.com | March 2, 2004 | 11:40 pm

Architect envisions new Baghdad
Boston architect Hisham Ashkouri, who has returned to his Iraqi homeland after decades in exile, and a Baghdad businessman are partners, shopping their vision of Cinema Sinbad, a $115 million luxury hotel and movie theater complex in Iraq's capital.

USATODAY.com | March 2, 2004 | 11:37 am

U.N. weapons inspector sees vindication in U.S. frustration
Demetrius Perricos, acting head of the United Nations weapons inspection program, can't disguise his satisfaction that almost a year after the invasion of Iraq, U.S. inspectors have found the same thing that their much-maligned U.N. counterparts did before the war: no banned weapons.

USATODAY.com | March 1, 2004 | 11:16 pm

Iraq's constitution leaves questions unanswered
Iraq's Governing Council announced Monday that its 25 members had agreed unanimously to a new constitution. But concerns remain about the issues the 63-clause document did not resolve.

USA TODAY.com | March 1, 2004 | 10:54 pm

Bush seeks to keep Iraq probes out of White House
With the election eight months away, President Bush and key Republicans in Congress are scrambling to make sure that mounting Iraq investigations stay focused on the intelligence community.

John Yaukey | GNS | March 1, 2004 | 9:57 pm

Saddam allies appear ready to abandon fight
Tired of being hunted house to house, village to village first by the U.S. military, more than 20 high-echelon Baath Party officials and many more midranking members from southwest of Kirkuk said Friday they want to carry the fight against Americans no more.

William Cole | The Honolulu Advertiser | March 1, 2004 | 3:26 pm

Cleric in Iraq eases election demands
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani's statement was the first sign that there could be an agreement on creating a transitional Iraqi government before elections are held.

Tom Squitieri | USATODAY.com | February 27, 2004 | 10:25 am

U.S. begins reducing its on-the-street presence
In a strategy dubbed "lead from behind," American forces will remain a phone call away, with quick-reaction units ready to rush in if needed.

Army Times | February 26, 2004 | 4:07 pm

U.S. contractors deal with harsh Iraqi environment
Many of the same life-threatening dangers that confront U.S. soldiers in Iraq's searing heat also are present for the men and women who voluntarily work to keep the intricate machines of warfare running.

Florida Today | February 24, 2004 | 5:52 pm

Rebuilding Iraq includes reopening its stock exchange
Policing Wall Street might seem like a lark compared with Ann Exline Starr's new gig: getting Iraq's stock market trading again.

The (Wilmington) News Journal | February 24, 2004 | 5:47 pm

Uncertainty clouds plans for Iraq
Security concerns and political fragmentation could impede the U.S. plan to hand power back to Iraqis by June 30, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a report released Monday.

USA TODAY.com | February 23, 2004 | 10:52 pm

U.S. soldier in Iraq unscathed after close encounter with rocket
Ruben Garcia, a 27-year-old serviceman stationed in Iraq, is a lucky man, having emerged unscathed after an anti-tank rocket blasted through a wall near his head.

Robert Hodierne | Military Times | February 21, 2004 | 11:13 pm

Power could transfer to an expanded Iraqi council
The Bush administration is leaning toward transferring political power in Iraq this summer to an expanded version of the Iraqi Governing Council it appointed last July, a U.S. official with knowledge of Iraq planning said Tuesday.

USATODAY.com | February 18, 2004 | 9:55 pm

Army studies lessons of Iraq
The U.S. invasion of Iraq may have rolled over Saddam Hussein's forces in a matter of weeks — but it could be a poor model for future fights, a draft of an Army study of the war warns.

USATODAY.com | February 17, 2004 | 11:59 pm

Chaplain goes wherever he's needed
Combat stress teams counsel soldiers, but chaplains are on the front lines of soldiers' lives.

Honolulu Advertiser | February 17, 2004 | 5:59 pm

Base network tends to needs of the families left behind
"The families are back home with the day-to-day grind and it never fails, it's Murphy's Law. Everything that can go wrong will go wrong," said Marine 1st Sgt. Douglas Power.

Honolulu Advertiser | February 17, 2004 | 5:54 pm

New round of mothers leave children behind
Nearly 60,000 women have deployed in support of Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. They make up about 15 percent of the total forces. During Desert Storm, 49,755 women were deployed.

Florida Today | February 17, 2004 | 5:20 pm

U.S. forces train in Arab culture
As the Army and Marines prepare more than 100,000 fresh troops for Iraq, regular training is being supplemented with a helping of Arabic culture.

USATODAY.com | February 16, 2004 | 11:03 pm

Guard troops put through paces of Iraq
U.S. troops preparing for duty in Iraq are getting some unique training to get them ready.

USATODAY.com | February 16, 2004 | 9:20 pm

Fallujah attacks kill 17 Iraqi policemen
Insurgents staged simultaneous morning assaults on three police stations, a civil defense base and the mayor's office Saturday in what one Iraqi military leader called a ``well-coordinated and well-financed attack.''The insurgents almost overran one police station, freeing about 20 prisoners and killing 17 policemen.

Army Times | February 14, 2004 | 4:44 pm

U.S., Shiites wrestle over Iraqi self-rule
Someone's got to give - soon. Fortunately for the Bush administration, the standoff with a leading Iraqi cleric over how to transfer governing authority back to the Iraqis may be edging toward compromise, at least temporarily. At stake is the success of the U.S. campaign in Iraq and potentially the Bush presidency.

John Yaukey | GNS | February 13, 2004 | 7:58 pm

Iraq arms hunt in doubt in '02
A classified U.S. intelligence study done three months before the war in Iraq predicted a problem now confronting the Bush administration: the possibility that Iraqi weapons of mass destruction might never be found.

USATODAY.com | February 12, 2004 | 11:51 pm

U.N. envoy echoes objection to early Iraq vote
A top U.N. envoy told Iraq's most important religious leader Thursday that national elections would not be feasible before a June 30 deadline for transferring political power to Iraqis, diplomats at the United Nations and in Washington said.

USATODAY.com | February 12, 2004 | 9:53 pm

U.S. wary of Iranian influence in Iraq
The Bush administration is increasingly concerned about a buildup of Iranian spies and militants in Iraq and about Iran's support for groups with a history of anti-U.S. terrorism.

USATODAY.com | February 12, 2004 | 9:51 pm

Suicide blast kills 47 in Baghdad
A suicide bomber detonated a car full of explosives outside a crowded military recruiting center here Wednesday, killing 47 people and injuring 55 others.

USATODAY.com | February 11, 2004 | 10:51 pm

Bremer predicts 'more dark days ahead' in Iraq
Paul Bremer, the top U.S. administrator in Iraq, said Wednesday that there will be "more dark days ahead" but Americans should expect Iraqi self-government by the end of 2005.

John Hill | The (Shreveport, La.) Times | February 10, 2004 | 10:34 pm

U.S. governors tour Baghdad
Six U.S. governors were whisked through the streets of the Iraqi capital Tuesday in a two-day visit. Iraq was only just deemed safe enough to risk bringing the governors to meet the troops and learn about the country's struggling new economy.

Greg Hahn | The (Boise) Idaho Statesman | February 10, 2004 | 5:19 pm

New Iraqi police chief takes the heat
The U.S.-led coalition occupying Iraq, facing continuing attacks from anti-occupation fighters, is eager to turn responsibility for security over to Iraqis like Police Chief Aboud Farhan al-Isawi. Isawi, 52, says he took the job because he was concerned that growing lawlessness would destroy his hometown.

USATODAY.com | February 10, 2004 | 5:09 pm

Bremer expects violence to persist
Although coalition forces have seized about 650,000 tons of weapons in Iraq, more than 1 million tons remain unaccounted for, Bremer said.

James Carroll | (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal | February 9, 2004 | 12:59 pm

President defends Iraq war decision
President Bush confronted the two most troubling issues of his re-election campaign in a rare hourlong TV interview aired Sunday. He called the Iraq war "a war of necessity" and said his economic policies are beginning to pay off.

USATODAY.com | February 8, 2004 | 11:45 pm

Cell-phone service connects in Baghdad
Baghdad's consumers welcomed the arrival of cell-phone service over the weekend. But there were grumbles about the high fees charged by the city's new monopoly.

Paul Wiseman | USA TODAY | February 8, 2004 | 11:18 pm

McCain seen as legitimizing presence on panel
Sen. John McCain's presence on a panel charged with investigating U.S. intelligence gathering will give the group immediate credibility because of his willingness to criticize the Bush administration, key lawmakers say.

Sergio Bustos | GNS | February 6, 2004 | 7:14 pm

Bush trying to steer Iraq probe, Democrats say
President Bush capped a week of trying to defuse controversy over flawed prewar intelligence on Iraq Friday, appointing an independent panel to examine the issue and a broad spectrum of other potential national security problems. Democrats question the scope of the probe, and its completion date of March 31, 2005 - well after the presidential election.

John Yaukey | GNS | February 6, 2004 | 6:54 pm

Iraq intelligence panel includes experts, lawmakers
President Bush appointed seven of the nine members of an independent commission charged with investigating whether faulty intelligence about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs led the United States to war.

GNS | February 6, 2004 | 6:20 pm

Analysis: Spy chief counters criticism of CIA
The defense offered Thursday by CIA Director George Tenet came down to this: The spy agency never said the threat posed by Iraq was "imminent," it got some things about Iraq right, and it will take time to find out what the agency got wrong.

USATODAY.com | February 5, 2004 | 11:50 pm

CIA chief defends intel officials' prewar efforts
CIA Director George Tenet said Thursday that the agency never claimed Iraqi weapons were an imminent threat, an assertion critics say calls into question the Bush administration's justification for the war.

USATODAY.com | February 5, 2004 | 11:02 pm

CIA chief to rebut agency's critics
CIA Director George Tenet plans to give a speech today rebutting allegations by former chief U.S. arms inspector David Kay that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction and that U.S. intelligence is fundamentally flawed.

USATODAY.com | February 4, 2004 | 11:52 pm

What comes to light in Iraq reflects on Powell
After more than three decades of public service, Colin Powell's U.N. speech to ease world concerns about the looming invasion of Iraq looks less like a crowning moment and more like a smudge on his resume.

USATODAY.com | February 4, 2004 | 10:42 pm

How U.S. misjudged Iraq's arsenal
The way U.S. intelligence analysts misinterpreted photographs from Iraq - basing their conclusions more on supposition than fact - helps explain how the United States misjudged Iraq's arsenal.

USATODAY.com | February 4, 2004 | 12:23 am

Questions loom about Iraq probe
President Bush's announcement Monday that he will launch an independent investigation into pre-war intelligence on Iraq has raised questions among Democrats about how far the probe will go and when it will start.

John Yaukey | GNS | February 2, 2004 | 8:51 pm

Iraq's Green Zone is nerve center, haven
At the center of Iraq's capital, the business of running a nation of 25 million people never ends. In monolithic buildings along broad streets lined with date palms, the international team of civilians and soldiers works and lives in a fortified area of about 5 square kilometers. It is the nerve center of the fragile new Iraq.

The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal | February 2, 2004 | 3:54 pm

Payday bombing' kills nine at Iraqi police station
A suicide bomber drove up to a civilian police station crowded with officers collecting their monthly pay and detonated an explosion that killed nine and wounded 60, according to American military police. No Americans were among the dead or wounded, according to the M.P.s.

Robert Hodierne | Army Times | January 31, 2004 | 4:29 pm

Senators want Guard, Reserves to get full health benefits
With National Guard and reserve troops being deployed more than ever before, four senators renewed their effort Wednesday to give them the same health coverage as full-time soldiers.

Raju Chebium | GNS | January 28, 2004 | 11:55 pm

'We were almost all wrong'
Pre-war U.S. intelligence warnings about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction were wrong, former chief U.S. weapons inspector David Kay told a Senate committee Wednesday. Kay said the lapse constitutes a massive intelligence failure, but one with many accomplices.

USATODAY.com | January 28, 2004 | 11:31 pm

Analysis: Ethnic tensions threaten Bush's plan
The rejection of U.S. plans to return self-rule to Iraq by a leading Shiite Muslim cleric - seen as a sign of a potential Shiite power grab - is only one of several rifts.

John Yaukey | GNS | January 28, 2004 | 5:23 pm

Bush defends war despite no WMD findings
President Bush backed away Tuesday from his often-repeated conviction that weapons of mass destruction — the primary justification for the U.S.-led invasion to remove Saddam Hussein from power — would be found in Iraq.

USATODAY.com | January 27, 2004 | 11:55 pm

Saddam's intent cited as basis for going to war
If deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein didn't have weapons of mass destruction before the war, then he had the means to make them at the first opportunity and represented a threat worthy of elimination. This is the essence of the latest case the Bush administration is making for defending the war in Iraq.

John Yaukey | GNS | January 27, 2004 | 3:08 pm

Former weapons chief cites faulty intelligence
Former top U.S. weapons investigator David Kay blames the intelligence community, not President Bush, for drawing a false conclusion that Iraq had large stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction prior to the U.S.-led invasion in March.

USATODAY.com | January 27, 2004 | 12:20 am

Muslim cleric's growing influence worries U.S.
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani brings to mind Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Shiite Muslim cleric who ousted the U.S.-backed shah of Iran a quarter-century ago.

Barbara Slavin, USA TODAY | January 25, 2004 | 11:27 pm

Guard survey hints at exodus
Just as the Pentagon is increasingly relying on the National Guard and other part-time troops for duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, an internal Guard survey suggests that the demanding deployments could prompt a significant number of its soldiers to quit the military.

USATODAY.com | January 22, 2004 | 11:13 pm

U.S. pushes the U.N. to help with Iraq exit
The Bush administration and its Iraqi allies pressed the United Nations on Monday to come back to Iraq and help salvage an increasingly troubled plan for reshaping post-Saddam Hussein Iraq.

USATODAY.com | January 20, 2004 | 1:08 am

Cheney says it's too soon to tell on Iraqi arms
Vice President Cheney says he believes "the jury's still out" on whether Iraq had the chemical and biological weapons that were the Bush administration's justification for war.

USATODAY.com | January 20, 2004 | 1:06 am

U.S. seeks compromise with cleric
The Bush administration summoned its top Iraq envoy to the White House for urgent talks Friday on how to accommodate demands by Iraq's most powerful Muslim cleric for direct elections.

USATODAY.com | January 15, 2004 | 11:16 pm

Bush: Canada eligible in Iraq reconstruction contracts
President Bush moved to ease tensions with Canada on Tuesday by reversing course and declaring Canadian companies eligible to bid on a second round of U.S.-financed prime reconstruction contracts in Iraq.

USATODAY.com | January 13, 2004 | 11:56 pm

O'Neill: Iraq planning came before 9/11
Paul O'Neill, President Bush's Treasury secretary in the first two years of his presidency, says the Bush administration was planning to invade Iraq long before the Sept. 11 attacks and used questionable intelligence to justify the war.

USATODAY.com | January 12, 2004 | 11:28 pm

Attacks down 22% since Saddam's capture
Attacks against coalition forces in Iraq have dropped 22% in the four weeks since Saddam Hussein's capture, military records show.

USATODAY.com | January 12, 2004 | 11:26 pm

Army updates training
The Army is overhauling its basic training to help recruits survive the particular dangers of missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

USATODAY.com | January 7, 2004 | 11:25 pm

NBC shows graphic tape of POWs Piestewa, Lynch
NBC Nightly News aired Tuesday night graphic videotape shot by Iraqi state television showing soldiers Lori Piestewa and Jessica Lynch in an Iraqi hospital, both gravely injured, following an ambush on their military convoy in March.

The Arizona Republic | December 31, 2003 | 8:52 am

Return of U.S. war dead kept solemn, secret
Since 1991, the media have been banned from covering the arrival of military remains at Dover Air Force Base. The Delaware base houses the military's largest mortuary, where bodies are prepared for burial before they are sent to the families' hometowns. In March, before the Iraq war began, the Pentagon clamped down on similar coverage from military installations around the world.

USATODAY.com | December 30, 2003 | 10:38 pm

Soldiers make their own holiday family
The Christmas holidays bring thoughts of home and families for the 130,000 other American servicemen and women in Iraq. Capturing Saddam Hussein made them proud, but they know their job in Iraq isn't over. These troops have a second family now, the soldiers in their unit.

Steven Komarow | USA TODAY | December 24, 2003 | 8:26 am

U.S. snipers taking aim at Iraqi insurgents
The sun was sinking when Sgt. Randall Davis spotted his target, an armed Iraqi on a rooftop. Davis knew he was watching another sniper. He fired once, killing the sniper, his eighth confirmed kill. The encounter was part of Operation Ivy Blizzard, aimed at clearing guerrillas.

Matthew Cox | Army Times | December 23, 2003 | 7:07 pm

Saddam's past victims could stand in judgment
If Iraqis conduct the trial of Saddam Hussein, as President Bush suggested this week, his fate could rest with a panel of five judges overseen by a Supreme Court justice imprisoned by Saddam last year.

Greg Barrett | GNS | December 18, 2003 | 2:59 pm

Saddam's life and defiant reputation at stake
By all accounts Saddam Hussein is a shrewd survivalist, evidenced by his thuggish reign of three decades, his escape of U.S. assassination attempts, and his first words uttered Saturday after he was captured. But whether or not he will negotiate for his life or try to burnish his defiant image remains to be seen.

Greg Barrett | GNS | December 18, 2003 | 2:55 pm

Army colonel's patience helped him catch Saddam
The Army colonel who led the operation that captured Saddam Hussein is the son of Irish immigrants and had always wanted to be a soldier. It was a moment Hickey has been preparing for his entire life.

USATODAY,com | December 17, 2003 | 11:32 pm

Saddam's capture boosts Bush
The capture of Saddam Hussein has given President Bush his highest job-approval rating in six months, improved his standing against Democrats who want his job and increased confidence that U.S. goals in Iraq will be accomplished.

USATODAY.com | December 17, 2003 | 11:26 pm

U.S. tries to trip up Saddam
Saddam Hussein is being shown videotapes of anti-Saddam protests in Iraq, the unearthing of mass graves and the torture and execution of prisoners during his reign, two U.S. officials who are receiving reports on his interrogation said Tuesday.

USATODAY.com | December 16, 2003 | 11:34 pm

Experts: Saddam holds on to ego
For a man whose name in Arabic means "he who confronts," Saddam Hussein went meekly into captivity. His failure to commit suicide surprised many observers, who thought Saddam would fear humiliation more than the grave. But Iraq experts say Saddam acted out of a raw desire to survive and because he believes he can still influence his country and the Arab world.

USATODAY.com | December 16, 2003 | 11:26 pm

Q&A: As POW, Saddam will be held according to international law
The capture of Saddam Hussein raises a range of questions about his legal status and future, as well as the United States' responsibilities under international law in dealing with him.

Toni Locy | USA TODAY | December 16, 2003 | 6:51 am

Forces nearly threw grenade into hideaway
The search for Saddam Hussein was almost as much a hunt for a man who helped hide, feed and protect Iraq's former dictator as for Saddam himself. The name of the man is a U.S. military secret. All commanders will say is that he is a big-bellied, middle-aged man whose family is close to Saddam — and that on Saturday afternoon, the fat man sang.

Steve Komarow | USA TODAY | December 15, 2003 | 11:53 pm

Caution urged on trial of Saddam
President Bush pledged Monday he will work with Iraqi's fledgling government in coming up with a way to try former Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein that will withstand international scrutiny.

Brian Tumulty | GNS | December 15, 2003 | 11:23 pm

Soldiers' disbelief dissipates as capture rumor proves true
The news of Saddam Hussein's capture began with whispered rumors that soon grew into the story soldiers couldn't stop talking about.

Matthew Cox | Army Times | December 15, 2003 | 11:20 pm

Saddam's capture shouldn't affect troop deployments
The capture of Saddam Hussein is a morale boost for those with family members serving in Iraq, but it probably won't shorten their loved ones' time overseas, experts said Monday.

Frank Oliveri | GNS | December 15, 2003 | 11:06 pm

Dictator was only figurehead for insurgents, experts say
In the end, the Iraqi strongman looked physically and politically weak. Saddam Hussein had returned to the simple, hardscrabble region of his youth where he was found living in a mud hut with few accessories.

Greg Barrett | GNS | December 15, 2003 | 10:59 pm

Analysis: Capture a boost for Bush

Judy Keen | USA TODAY | December 15, 2003 | 10:14 am

Poll: Americans celebrate success, but not victory in Iraq
It was the news so many had awaited for so long, with less and less hope. But when it came Sunday, Americans' joy was tempered by fear that Saddam Hussein's capture will no more end the fighting in Iraq than the fall of his statue in a Baghdad square did eight months ago.

Rick Hampson | USA TODAY | December 15, 2003 | 10:12 am

Debate begins on how Saddam trial will proceed
Hours after Saddam Hussein's capture, the jockeying began over how the former Iraqi leader should be put to trial: by Iraqis who say he committed atrocities against his own people, or by an international court like those that have weighed crimes against humanity.

Toni Lacy, Kevin Johnson | USA TODAY | December 15, 2003 | 10:09 am

Strategy shift nets a disheveled Saddam
When U.S. soldiers first searched two houses in a rural village of orange, lemon and palm groves near the Tigris River Saturday, they thought they had missed Saddam Hussein again. But then they saw two men running away. And then they found $750,000 in $100 bills. And when they looked at the bottom of a dingy, 6-foot hole, they found a wonderful surprise: a disheveled man with a bushy beard who turned out to be the most prized quarry of the Iraq war.

USATODAY.com | December 15, 2003 | 10:07 am

Bush moved with caution before revealing capture
President Bush first learned of Saddam Hussein's apparent capture around 3 p.m. ET on Saturday, more than 13 hours before the rumor hit news wires.

Richard Benedetto | USA TODAY | December 14, 2003 | 11:46 pm

Capture's significance to be decided in due time
By the time he was caught, Saddam Hussein no longer headed a government, commanded an army or claimed the allegiance of leaders anywhere in the world. But the sight of the ousted Iraqi dictator, disheveled and compliant, was a powerful moment nonetheless.

Susan Page | USA TODAY | December 14, 2003 | 11:43 pm

With capture, campaign takes new turn
With President Bush savoring a day of triumph, the major Democratic candidates instead focused their criticism on former Vermont governor Howard Dean, whose opposition to the Iraq war helped him become the front-runner for the nomination.

Jill Lawrence | USA TODAY | December 14, 2003 | 11:38 pm

Saddam's arrest likely to lift stocks
The capture of America's most-wanted man in Iraq is expected to deliver a short-term boost to U.S. financial assets.

Adam Shell, Barbara Hagenbaugh | USA TODAY | December 14, 2003 | 11:34 pm

Editorial: Capture a victory but effect in question

Florida Today | December 14, 2003 | 6:20 pm

Many Americans pleased with news of Saddam's capture
Americans reacted cautiously and soberly Sunday to the big news from Iraq, acknowledging that the capture of Saddam Hussein probably will not end the fighting now any more than the fall of his statue in Baghdad did eight months ago.

USATODAY.com | December 14, 2003 | 6:00 pm

TV networks move quickly on Saddam news
For Tom Brokaw, Tim Russert and other news anchors, reporters and editors, Saddam's arrest marked the beginning of a frenetic morning followed by a long news day.

USATODAY.com | December 14, 2003 | 5:55 pm

Saddam's arrest cause for joy, continued caution
For Baghdad residents and Iraqi expatriates, the image of a haggard, defeated Saddam Hussein in U.S. custody has transposed the long shadows of Iraq's occupation.

Greg Barrett | GNS | December 14, 2003 | 5:55 pm

Saddam's capture could be catalyst U.S. needed
President Bush promised Iraqis Sunday that the capture of Saddam Hussein was proof that freedom had taken permanent root in their still-bloodied nation.

Jon Frandsen | GNS | December 14, 2003 | 4:38 pm

Analysis: Captured Saddam opens new chapters in foreign, domestic debates
The pictures of a disheveled Saddam Hussein, pulled from a hole in the ground, could not have been more powerful images for the Bush administration, for doubters among the Iraqi people and for reluctant bystanders in the international community. But the picture gets a bit fuzzier as George W. Bush's foreign policy and presidential politics are recalibrated in a newly affirmed post-Saddam era.

Chuck Raasch | GNS | December 14, 2003 | 3:45 pm

Perspective: Saddam has well-deserved place in history’s hall of infamy
Saddam Hussein was not the most prolific killer of the 20th century. But the former Iraqi dictator’s cruelty certainly matched anything Stalin or Hitler meted out. Here’s a look at where the former Iraqi dictator, captured Dec. 13 in a raid near his hometown of Tikrit, and his regime fit into the dark pantheon of 20th century despotism.

John Yaukey | GNS | December 14, 2003 | 11:40 am

Context: Saddam’s ruthless ambition sapped Iraq’s prosperity
It was Saddam’s goal to rule a unified Arab world that ultimately led to the collapse of Iraqi society and his own political demise. When he retreated from the invading U.S. soldiers in April, he left a distinct imprint — a nation in ruin.

John Yaukey, Greg Barrett | GNS | December 14, 2003 | 11:34 am

Saddam’s political, military history

Gannett News Service | December 14, 2003 | 11:33 am

'The tyrant is a prisoner,' Bremer says after Saddam captured
U.S. troops captured Saddam Hussein Saturday night, ending an eight-month manhunt and erasing the final vestige of a regime that has been the target of two wars and has preoccupied U.S. foreign policy for more than a decade. The 66-year-old former dictator, bearded and haggard, was pulled from a six-foot-deep hole in the rural village of Ad Dawr, just a few miles from his hometown of Tikrit and 90 miles north of Baghdad.

USATODAY.com | December 14, 2003 | 11:23 am

Congress pushes for larger military
Members of Congress from both parties are pushing for the first significant increase in the size of the active-duty military in 16 years, despite resistance from the Pentagon.

USATODAY.com | December 12, 2003 | 10:52 pm

Support for Bush, war going back up
Public support for the war in Iraq, on the downswing since establishing the peace there turned messy, has climbed back to its highest level since August, a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll shows.

USATODAY.com | December 9, 2003 | 11:36 pm

Sabotage continues in Iraq
Long gas lines and lengthy power outages are again plaguing the Iraq's capital city, the result of continued sabotage of oil pipelines and attacks on contractors.

USATODAY.com | December 8, 2003 | 11:54 pm

On patrol, trainees find 'regular-Army' mindset
National Guardsmen in North Carolina are training for a special assignment - duty in Iraq.

USATODAY.com | December 8, 2003 | 11:36 pm

Skin lesions afflict troops in Iraq
Nearly 150 U.S. soldiers in Iraq have been diagnosed with a parasitic skin disease, and hundreds more could unknowingly be infected.

USATODAY.com | December 5, 2003 | 8:19 pm

Iraqi Governing Council in 'a serious crisis'
It was supposed to be the key to Iraq's democratic future. But six months after its creation as a bridge to democracy, the Iraqi Governing Council may be hampering the U.S.-led coalition's efforts to speed up the transfer of political power to Iraqis.

USATODAY.com | December 4, 2003 | 11:18 pm

Secrecy minimized Bush's risk in visiting Iraq
President Bush took a modest risk flying into Baghdad to visit U.S. troops on Thanksgiving, experts say. Although insurgents have yet to shoot down a large civilian or military airplane, they've been trying.

Dave Moniz | USA TODAY | November 27, 2003 | 10:57 pm

Cash for public works in Iraq runs dry
Money that the Army uses to hire Iraqis to repair roads, sewers and small civic projects has run dry, forcing frontline commanders to suspend a critical part of their campaign to win public support.

Steve Komarow | USA TODAY | November 24, 2003 | 11:35 pm

Iraq 'Plan C' relies on security, cooperation of Shiites
It's being called ``Plan C'' for Iraq: establish security by June or sooner and transfer authority to a provisional Iraqi government by July. This third version of the U.S. occupation and rebuilding strategy for Iraq coalesced over the past several weeks amid a spate of attacks against U.S. troops.

John Yaukey | GNS | November 21, 2003 | 7:14 pm

Bush: Troops to stay as needed
President Bush declined Thursday to rule out the possibility that the number of U.S. troops in Iraq could grow.

USATODAY.com | November 20, 2003 | 11:30 pm

CIA will examine raw data on Iraq
CIA Director George Tenet has ordered investigators to substantially widen their internal probe of Iraq intelligence to consider whether the agency missed telltale signs that Iraq had gotten rid of its weapons of mass destruction before the U.S.-led invasion last March.

USATODAY.com | November 19, 2003 | 11:30 pm

Military's new strategy relies on old favorites
U.S. forces hope a new offensive in Iraq using artillery, tanks and aircraft will take the initiative away from insurgents and their recent successes.

USATODAY.com | November 19, 2003 | 10:56 pm

Poll finds Bush's job approval at 50%
President Bush's job approval rating is sagging, and in several other categories he is at or near the lowest point of his presidency, a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll finds.

USATODAY.com | November 18, 2003 | 11:40 pm

Bush carries defense of Iraq war to England
President Bush arrived in Britain on Tuesday for the first state visit of a U.S. leader as police braced for massive protests.

USATODAY.com | November 18, 2003 | 11:28 pm

Poll: Support for U.S. handling of Iraq war drops
A thin majority of Americans still believe the situation in Iraq was worth going to war, but most are unconvinced that the war has made the United States safer from terrorist attacks, a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll shows.

USATODAY.com | November 18, 2003 | 11:17 pm

Insurgency in Iraq invokes ghosts of Vietnam for Bush
As the Bush administration scrambles to stabilize an unexpectedly volatile occupation in Iraq, no shortage of critics are comparing the campaign there to the war in Vietnam. Most of it is just politics.

John Yaukey | GNS | November 17, 2003 | 4:18 pm

Bremer back in Iraq with orders to speed transfer
The U.S. administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, returned to Baghdad on Thursday with orders from President Bush to speed the transfer to Iraqi political rule, possibly by holding elections early next year.

USATODAY.com | November 13, 2003 | 11:13 pm

Bush blunt with Bremer: He wants results
For months, President Bush has insisted he was satisfied with the pace of progress in Iraq. No more. In three private, top-level meetings at the White House on Wednesday morning, Bush made his impatience and frustration clear, telling chief Iraq administrator Paul Bremer he had to find a way to make the transition to Iraqi rule work faster and better.

USATODAY.com | November 12, 2003 | 11:12 pm

Guerrillas' strategy becomes clear: Isolate the U.S.
The attack on Italian forces Wednesday in southern Iraq is part of a guerrilla strategy to isolate the United States as it attempts to win international support for rebuilding the country, military analysts say.

USATODAY.com | November 12, 2003 | 10:59 pm

CIA report: More Iraqis shift support to resistance
A classified CIA report warns that a growing number of Iraqis, convinced that the U.S.-led coalition can be defeated, may be inclined to support Iraqi insurgents, U.S. officials said Wednesday.

USATODAY.com | November 12, 2003 | 10:48 pm

Troops recover 4,300-year-old statue
American military police hunting stolen antiquities here didn't expect to be shoveling feces as part of their investigation.
It paid off, however, when the MPs uncovered one of the Iraqi National Museum's most valuable pieces at the bottom of a Baghdad cesspool.

USATODAY.com | November 12, 2003 | 10:35 pm

Piestewa went to war for Lynch, book says
Lori Piestewa had medical clearance to stay home from Iraq because of a shoulder injury but chose to deploy because of her deep friendship with rescued POW Pfc. Jessica Lynch, according to a book about Lynch released this week.

Mark Shaffer | The Arizona Republic | November 12, 2003 | 5:24 pm

Pressure mounts on Iraqi council
Chief U.S. administrator in Iraq Paul Bremer abruptly returned to Washington on Tuesday amid signs the Bush administration is considering changes to improve security in Iraq and hasten the return of Iraqi sovereignty.

USATODAY.com | November 11, 2003 | 10:57 pm

Lynch biographer recalls time spent with family
Former New York Times reporter Rick Bragg talks with The Herald-Dispatch about how he got the job of writing Jessica Lynch's story.

Bob Withers | The Herald-Dispatch | November 11, 2003 | 8:47 pm

Lynch steps into public spotlight
Former POW Jessica Lynch has gone from the quiet comfort of her home in West Virginia to the glitz and glamour of the Big Apple. She is in New York all week, making personal appearances in connection with her biography, "I Am a Soldier, Too: The Jessica Lynch Story," by Rick Bragg, which publisher Alfred A. Knopf released on Veterans Day.

Bob Withers | The Herald-Dispatch | November 11, 2003 | 8:39 pm

War far from over for some GIs
The men of Alpha Company, whose world is this insect-infested, agricultural village of Muqdadiyah, Iraq, 60 miles north of Baghdad, thought they had missed the war when they arrived in May. But they, in fact, missed nothing. The furnace-like Iraqi summer and the terrors of combat have tested Alpha's men in ways none could have imagined.

USAT.com | November 10, 2003 | 12:11 pm

Iraq woes, overtaxed troops challenge pre-emption strategy
President Bush's doctrine of pre-emption, which thrust almost 300,000 Americans into an increasingly controversial and violent $164 billion war in Iraq, has gone into hiding. Understandably it was a lot more popular immediately after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks than it is now.

John Yaukey | GNS | November 7, 2003 | 5:22 pm

Lynch's neighbors weigh in on book's revelations
Jessica Lynch's family has kept quiet, and to themselves, and many in Wirt County think they now know why.

Bob Withers | The Huntington Herald-Dispatch | November 6, 2003 | 11:22 pm

Lynch book contains details of assault, medical records
An authorized biography of former prisoner of war Jessica Lynch says she was sexually assaulted after her unit was ambushed in Nasiriyah, Iraq.

Bob Withers | The Huntington Herald-Dispatch | November 6, 2003 | 11:19 pm

Next step will be tough choice
When it comes to Iraq, all the options on what to do next are difficult ones. Two weeks of escalating violence against U.S. forces, including the downing of a helicopter that killed 16 soldiers, are fueling a debate over whether the United States should deploy more troops or bring them back.

USATODAY.com | November 6, 2003 | 10:56 pm

Some veterans of Vietnam see Iraq parallel
Iraq isn't Vietnam, not yet at least. But as criticism of the Bush administration's conduct of the war there intensifies, a number of prominent Vietnam War veterans say they are frequently reminded of the way the White House fumbled away public support for the only major war the United States ever lost.

USATODAY.com | November 6, 2003 | 10:50 pm

Turkey's Iraq pledge may pay off later
Turkish peacekeepers may never set foot inside Iraq, but the offer itself has restored the U.S.-Turkey alliance to its former close, cooperative union.

USATODAY.com | November 5, 2003 | 11:55 pm

McCain: Force levels in Iraq inadequate
Sharply criticizing the Bush administration's accelerating effort to turn the Iraq war over to Iraqi security forces, Sen. John McCain said Wednesday that the United States should send at least an additional 15,000 U.S. troops to Iraq.

USATODAY.com | November 5, 2003 | 10:27 pm

Copter attack victim was about to marry
Last weekend, Spc. Brian Penisten, 28, had just begun his long journey home from Iraq for a two-week furlough. He was going to marry Johnna Loia, 25, this Friday in Pueblo, Colo. But on Sunday, an Iraqi guerrilla missile shot down the Chinook helicopter carrying Penisten, a mechanic. He and 14 other soldiers were killed.

USATODAY.com | November 4, 2003 | 11:22 pm

To U.S. forces, Saddam's hometown is Dodge City
Standing sentry at a bank, Army Staff Sgt. Jason Shields talks about his three kids and a wife back home who worries about him serving here in Tikrit, the hometown of Saddam Hussein. As he chats, his eyes dart nervously from one passing vehicle to the next. For U.S. soldiers posted here, these dusty streets are like Dodge City.

USATODAY.com | November 4, 2003 | 11:14 pm

Iraq exit scenarios clouded by violence, politics
Many Americans now ask themselves, especially after the downing of a U.S. helicopter near Baghdad Sunday that killed 16 soldiers: How and when will the United States get out of Iraq? The Bush administration is certainly feeling pressure for answers to those and other questions.

John Yaukey | GNS | November 3, 2003 | 4:54 pm

Attacks make it hard to see light at end of tunnel
The deaths of 16 U.S. troops in Iraq on Sunday underscored concerns that President Bush's strategy in postwar Iraq is driven more by a wish than a plan. Although his critics emphasize the rising death toll, Bush insists things will improve, leading to fewer casualties and increased stability.

USATODAY.com | November 3, 2003 | 10:50 am

Severity of threat made clear
The shooting down of an Army Chinook helicopter Sunday, just days after Iraqi guerrillas destroyed a 68-ton Abrams tank and attacked the most heavily guarded hotel in Baghdad, signals a new, more lethal level of sophistication by an adversary seeking to drive U.S. and allied forces out of Iraq.

USATODAY.com | November 3, 2003 | 10:47 am

Lawmakers reject loans as part of $87 billion Iraq package
House and Senate negotiators decided Wednesday that U.S. aid to Iraq this year will be in the form of grants, not loans. It was a victory for President Bush on his $87 billion request to secure and rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan.

USATODAY.com | October 29, 2003 | 10:59 pm

Iraqi insurgency growing more effective, deadly
In the nearly six months since President Bush declared major combat over in Iraq, guerrilla forces have grown bolder, more sophisticated and more deadly.

USATODAY.com | October 28, 2003 | 11:23 pm

Bush support slips amid terror attacks
Independent voters, who some say are key to President Bush's re-election hopes next year, are losing confidence in his leadership in Iraq as attacks there continue, a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll has found.

USATODAY.com | October 28, 2003 | 8:47 pm

Banner day for clarifying backdrop at Bush's appearance
President George W. Bush's staff played more of a role in the ``Mission Accomplished'' sign that hung on the USS Abraham Lincoln than the president suggested Tuesday in a Rose Garden news conference.

The Military Times | October 28, 2003 | 7:45 pm

Bush plan in Iraq faces critical months ahead
President Bush on Tuesday sought to cast the recent wave of violence in Baghdad as a futile attempt by ``suiciders'' to thwart undeniable progress in rebuilding Iraq. But that assessment may well face some of its most severe tests over the coming months.

John Yaukey | GNS | October 28, 2003 | 3:32 pm

Lynch's rescuer visits her hometown
Odeh Al-Rahaief, the Iraqi attorney who alerted U.S. military authorities to the whereabouts of Jessica Lynch in Nasiriyah, Iraq, visited Lynch's hometown on Monday. He was unable to visit with the former prisoner of war.

The (Huntington, W.Va.) Herald-Dispatch | October 27, 2003 | 9:03 pm

Iraq needs cash to get cash from its oil fields
The alms bowl will be passed around a table of international delegates here Thursday and Friday as the Bush administration tries to scrape together $55 billion to help rebuild Iraq.

USATODAY.com | October 23, 2003 | 11:35 pm

2 Marines charged in death of Iraqi POW
Two Marines have been charged in the death of a POW who was a high-ranking Iraqi Baath party official captured with a weapon that belonged to the Army maintenance company ambushed outside Nasiriyah, Iraq, in March, Marine officials said.

Christian Lowe | Marine Corps Times | October 23, 2003 | 7:53 pm

Rumsfeld memo: A grim outlook
Reaction to a Pentagon memo highlighting Donald Rumsfeld's concerns about the war on terrorism was mixed Wednesday. Supporters applauded the Defense secretary's candor, and some Bush administration foes cited it as proof the war is floundering.

USATODAY.com | October 22, 2003 | 11:47 pm

Biden cautions against prematurely bringing home troops
Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he wants the troops home as much as anyone but doesn't want to sacrifice the peace by pulling out before Iraq is stabilized and rebuilt.

Erin Kelly | GNS | October 22, 2003 | 6:25 pm

Senate: White House didn't pressure CIA on Iraq findings
A Senate investigation has found no evidence that the Bush administration pressured CIA analysts to tailor their intelligence to suit the White House's views on the threat posed by Iraq.

USATODAY.com | October 21, 2003 | 11:38 pm

Expectations remain low for donors conference in Madrid
The United States will probably not get pledges anywhere near the estimated $55 billion needed to rebuild Iraq when 70 countries gather in Madrid on Thursday for a donors conference.

USATODAY.com | October 21, 2003 | 11:35 pm

House wins moral victory on Iraq, but Bush threatens veto
Backers of making reconstruction money for Iraq a loan won a symbolic victory in the House on Tuesday. But the money will likely go to the struggling but oil-rich nation with no strings attached. The House's 277-139 vote was nonbinding, but Bush critics said it was a stunning display of discontent with the administration's Iraq policy.

Jon Frandsen | GNS | October 21, 2003 | 7:59 pm

Danger puts distance between council, people
Insurgents have stepped up attacks on government officials, police and other Iraqis working with the U.S.-led coalition.

USATODAY.com | October 20, 2003 | 11:08 pm

Powell: U.S. will 'take as much money as we can get' for Iraq
The Bush administration will seek foreign contributions to rebuild Iraq later this week without a final commitment for $20 billion it is seeking from Congress.

USATODAY.com | October 20, 2003 | 11:04 pm

Empty Baghdad airport full of potential
The reopening of Baghdad International to commercial flights, originally scheduled for July, has been repeatedly delayed because of threats from rebels with surface-to-air missiles or anti-aircraft guns. Coalition officials want to reopen the airport as a symbol that the country is returning to normal and to give its economy a boost.

USATODAY.com | October 20, 2003 | 1:32 pm

Congress passes Iraq spending bill, but with reservation
The House and Senate on Friday approved spending nearly $87 billion on the occupation and reconstruction of Iraq, but the Bush administration must contend with surprising defiance that Republican lawmakers said signaled a new congressional assertiveness on Iraq.

Jon Frandsen | GNS | October 17, 2003 | 7:38 pm

Iraq costs rise with little relief in sight
If the nearly $87 billion aid and security package for Iraq seems a bit steep to the average taxpayer, the cost of the war has been doubly heavy for the Robison family of Krum, Texas, and others like them. While the family breadwinner serves in Iraq with an Army Reserve unit, Candance Robison and their two small children must get along without a full salary.

John Yaukey | GNS | October 17, 2003 | 7:30 pm

Iraq weighs on some economists
The swelling federal deficit and growing long-term costs — both political and financial — of the U.S. war in Iraq are having an impact on the economy, according to a USA TODAY survey of economists.

USATODAY.com | October 14, 2003 | 11:50 pm

Baghdad firefighters do battle almost barehanded
Most Baghdad firefighters are working without equipment like respirators or fire-retardant clothing. When they respond to fires they sometimes encounter armed gangs. The traffic is so bad it can take 20 minutes to respond to a fire 4 miles away.

USATODAY.com | October 14, 2003 | 11:45 pm

Battalion commander takes responsibility for form letters
An Army battalion commander has taken responsibility for a campaign that sent hundreds of identical letters to hometown newspapers promoting his soldiers' rebuilding efforts in Iraq. Army officials said the mass mailing was the wrong way to get the message out, but they didn't know if the commander would be disciplined.

Ledyard King | GNS | October 14, 2003 | 8:23 pm

Iraq spending questioned in rock-solid Bush country
As Congress opens debate this week on President Bush's $87 billion request for military operations and reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan, even the most conservative voters in the nation are questioning the cost, in blood and treasure, of the U.S. war in Iraq.

USATODAY.com | October 13, 2003 | 10:47 pm

New U.S. Iraq resolution sets deadline
The Bush administration renewed efforts Monday to win United Nations backing for its policies in Iraq, floating a new draft resolution to facilitate a transition from U.S. to Iraqi rule.

USATODAY.com | October 13, 2003 | 10:45 pm

Army says it doesn't know who wrote soldiers' letters
An Army spokesman maintained Monday that commanders have no knowledge of a letter-writing campaign involving soldiers whose names appeared on form letters to hometown newspapers promoting their accomplishments in Iraq.

Ledyard King | GNS | October 13, 2003 | 7:46 pm

Army probes soldier suicides
Alarmed by the number of suicides among soldiers in Iraq, the Army has asked a team of doctors to determine whether the stress of combat and long deployments is contributing to the deaths.

USA TODAY.com | October 13, 2003 | 7:18 pm

Same letter praising Army in Iraq pops up across nation
A Gannett News Service search found identical letters from different soldiers with the 2nd Battalion of the 503rd Airborne Infantry Regiment in 11 newspapers across the country. The form letter describes their successes rebuilding Iraq.

Ledyard King | GNS | October 13, 2003 | 7:15 pm

Soldiers help get Iraq back in business
The return of an oil refinery, bombed during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, to full operation is important to the local economy. It's also a key part of a coalition strategy to rebuild Iraq's neglected, dilapidated oil-production infrastructure and turn the world's second-largest holding of proven crude reserves into cash to rebuild the country.

Gina Cavallaro | Army Times | October 7, 2003 | 2:36 pm

Kay: Iraq isn't cleared of WMD charges
Chief U.S. weapons inspector David Kay complained Sunday that initial reaction to his interim report on Iraqi weapons focused too much on the failure to find chemical or biological weapons and not enough on secret laboratories and rocket programs investigators have found.

USATODAY.com | October 6, 2003 | 11:38 pm

Rice will manage Iraq's 'new phase'
President Bush is giving his national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, the authority to manage postwar Iraq and the rebuilding of Afghanistan.

USATODAY.com | October 6, 2003 | 11:32 pm

Battle for Iraq money reflects weakening confidence in Bush
The success of President Bush's plan for financing the reconstruction of Iraq hinges largely on the support of the countries abroad and lawmakers at home who have harshly criticized his approach to the war and occupation.

Jon Frandsen and John Yaukey | GNS | October 3, 2003 | 6:23 pm

Attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq increase
Attacks on U.S.-led forces in Iraq have escalated over the past several months, and insurgents are now launching an average of 17 assaults a day against patrols, convoys and bases, an analysis of coalition security reports shows. The data also show insurgents are using more sophisticated tactics and weapons.

USATODAY.com | October 2, 2003 | 11:40 pm

Unemployed Iraqis turn their anger on coalition
With 4 million jobless in Iraq, it's no wonder that street crimes and attacks against U.S. forces have skyrocketed, an Iraqi says. Even a peaceful demonstration can quickly turn violent.

USATODAY.com | October 2, 2003 | 11:34 pm

An insurgency isn't easily cracked
Since May 1, when President Bush declared major combat operations over in Iraq, 87 U.S. troops have been killed in action and 720 troops wounded.

USATODAY.com | October 2, 2003 | 11:32 pm

Iraq inspector: No weapons found so far
A costly and continuing search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq has turned up no illegal weapons. What has been found points only to limited weapons development, according to an interim report released Thursday by the chief U.S. arms searcher.

USATODAY.com | October 2, 2003 | 11:29 pm

Back in school, Iraqis have a lot of unlearning to do
Iraqi children began their school year Wednesday with new clothes, new book bags and a new curriculum that has been purged of former leader Saddam Hussein's political ideology.

USATODAY.com | October 1, 2003 | 11:37 pm

Former exile Chalabi lobbies Congress for aid
Ahmad Chalabi lobbied Congress Wednesday for billions in aid to the new Iraq he has spent years trying to bring into reality.

USATODAY.com | October 1, 2003 | 11:36 pm

GOP senators join push to make some Iraq aid a loan
The White House lost crucial support Wednesday among prominent Senate Republicans as it worked to block changes to its $87 billion military and reconstruction plan for Iraq and Afghanistan.

USATODAY.com | October 1, 2003 | 11:34 pm

Guard and Reserve essential to U.S. military operations
With tens of thousands of troops deployed around the world, U.S. leaders face a hard fact: It is becoming impossible for the United States to go to war without calling National Guard and Reserve forces to active duty.

The Des Moines Register | October 1, 2003 | 6:59 pm

Military's reliance on `civilian soldiers' taking toll
National Guard and Reserve forces - part-time soldiers who for years were called "weekend warriors" - find themselves increasingly assigned to the front lines in Iraq and other trouble spots in America's widening war on terror to make up for a shrunken regular Army.

The Des Moines Register | October 1, 2003 | 6:52 pm

Republicans to support Iraq, Afghanistan aid request
Senate Republican leaders rejected calls from Democrats and some in their own party Monday to make major changes in President Bush's $87 billion request to occupy and rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan. They said they plan to rush the package to the Senate floor as early as Tuesday night and win approval by week's end.

USATODAY.com | October 1, 2003 | 12:10 am

Small weapons prove the real threat in Iraq
U.S. forces haven't found Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction, but they're literally stumbling over a much more immediate threat: weapons of individual destruction.

USATODAY.com | October 1, 2003 | 12:07 am

Some Iraqis say Bush money request doesn't address needs
A few Iraqis have some advice for lawmakers regarding certain parts of a $20.3 billion request for rebuilding Iraq: save your money.

USATODAY.com | September 29, 2003 | 11:20 pm

Powell, Rice defend intelligence behind decision to go to war
Bush administration officials insisted Sunday that they relied on solid information about Iraq's weapons before going to war. They disputed charges by members of the House Intelligence Committee that outdated, sketchy intelligence was used to justify the invasion.

USATODAY.com | September 29, 2003 | 11:18 pm

Muslim chaplains in military certified by institutions now under investigation
All 12 of the military's Muslim chaplains got their required religious endorsements from institutions affiliated with groups now under investigation by federal officials for ties to Islamic terrorists, the Military Times papers will report Monday.

Military Times | September 26, 2003 | 4:46 pm

Soldiers enjoying short-lived R&R
A steady stream of battle-weary American soldiers is flowing away from the combat zones of Iraq and Afghanistan, as part of the Army's Fighter Management Program. Every day, 250 troops arrive at the U.S. air base at nearby Al Udeid for some R&R - rest and recreation.

Gina Cavallaro | Army Times | September 26, 2003 | 2:55 pm

Poll: Baghdadis favor form of democracy
Most people here want Iraq's next government to be something like a democracy, according to a Gallup Poll. That finding suggests the wishes of many Iraqi people are roughly in line with U.S. hopes for this country.

USATODAY.com | September 25, 2003 | 11:08 pm

Turkish troops may join force
The Turkish military has told the Pentagon it will send as many as 10,000 peacekeepers to Iraq by year's end if the United Nations votes to authorize an international force.

USATODAY.com | September 24, 2003 | 11:53 pm

Bush gives little ground in speech to U.N. audience
The applause was polite for President Bush after he gave his high-stakes speech to U.N. delegates Tuesday, but Bush's unyielding, almost defiant address appeared to do little to encourage the world to help rescue the troubled reconstruction of Iraq.

USATODAY.com | September 24, 2003 | 11:53 pm

Chirac signals flexibility on Iraq
Despite continuing differences with the United States over the wisdom of the war in Iraq, France is willing to contribute to Iraqi reconstruction and could back a new United Nations resolution, French President Jacques Chirac said Wednesday.

USATODAY.com | September 24, 2003 | 11:47 pm

Congress will probably use federal charge card for Iraq costs
There is little doubt now that Congress will approve the $87 billion President Bush is seeking for the occupation of Iraq, but there is no agreement on how to limit the potential fiscal harm to this country either.

Jon Frandsen | GNS | September 24, 2003 | 11:38 pm

Germany promises to help U.S. in rebuilding
President Bush won a pledge Wednesday of help rebuilding Iraq from German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who was a leading opponent of the Iraq war.

USATODAY.com | September 24, 2003 | 11:37 pm

Iraqi council wants quick transfer of power
The provisional Iraqi Governing Council, a U.S. creation, is pressing for a rapid transfer of power from U.S.-led coalition authorities, a position at odds with the Bush administration and more in line with the views of France.

USATODAY.com | September 23, 2003 | 11:49 pm

Senators question $20.3B for rebuilding
The Bush administration faced pointed new criticism Monday of its expensive Iraq reconstruction plans from a key Senate panel, but it was unclear whether opponents will mount enough resistance to deny the White House the money it is asking for.

USATODAY.com | September 22, 2003 | 11:04 pm

Bush: No proof of Saddam role in 9/11
Most Americans suspect that Saddam Hussein was somehow connected to the Sept 11, 2001, attacks, polls show. The Bush administration has said since before the war with Iraq that Iraq has ties to al-Qaeda, which carried out the plot. Wednesday, however, President Bush said there was no solid evidence that Saddam was directly connected to the attacks on New York and Washington.

USATODAY.com | September 17, 2003 | 11:19 pm

507th weapons records lost in battle
U.S. Army records that could show why weapons used by members of the 507th Maintenance Company - Jessica Lynch's unit - when they were ambushed in Iraq jammed were destroyed in the attack, the Army says.

Laura Cruz | El Paso Times | September 17, 2003 | 8:56 pm

Resistance is delaying Iraqi self-rule, Powell says
Secretary of State Colin Powell said Sunday that he is encouraged by Iraq's steps toward self-rule, but that the task is hampered by terrorist infiltrators taking advantage of the country's porous borders.

USATODAY.com | September 16, 2003 | 12:01 am

Some may not want to send troops
Even if the Bush administration gets a new United Nations resolution authorizing an international force, many world leaders face formidable problems in trying to convince their people of the wisdom of sending troops to a country where U.S. soldiers are attacked almost daily.

USATODAY.com | September 16, 2003 | 12:00 am

U.S. cuts its hopes for help in Iraq
The Pentagon has sharply sliced the number of foreign troops it hopes will help stabilize Iraq, but even the 10,000 to 15,000 it is now seeking may be unattainable.

USATODAY.com | September 15, 2003 | 11:58 pm

U.S. rejects French-German idea on U.N. role
President Bush said Wednesday he is willing to compromise on a United Nations resolution that would expand the U.N.'s role in Iraq, but U.S. officials privately rejected a proposal by France and Germany that would establish U.N. authority over reconstruction efforts.

USATODAY.com | September 10, 2003 | 11:47 pm

Owner of chic salon mourns loss of customers
Women who once had to make appointments weeks in advance to have their hair dyed, nails polished and eyebrows tweezed by Baghdad stylist Majid Alubaidy are holed up in their houses. Most are too afraid of muggers, kidnappers and bandits to leave home, even for these fundamental rituals of Iraqi womanhood.

USATODAY.com | September 4, 2003 | 11:57 pm

Realities push Bush back to U.N.
President Bush's decision to ask for the United Nations' help in postwar Iraq is an admission that the current situation there cannot be sustained — militarily, financially or politically.

USATODAY.com | September 4, 2003 | 12:16 am

U.S. seeks support for new U.N. role
The Bush administration, in a significant policy shift, began seeking support Wednesday for a resolution that would give the United Nations a much larger role in Iraq.

USATODAY.com | September 4, 2003 | 12:14 am

Senators praise Bush's U.N. move despite concerns it's late
Key senators said Wednesday that President Bush's offer to exchange some control in Iraq with the United Nations for greater international help came late, but not too late to stabilize the country and help it become a democracy.

Jon Frandsen | GNS | September 3, 2003 | 6:56 pm

Officials: No Iraq price tag for now
Despite increasing demands from Congress for details of the costs of postwar Iraq, the Bush administration is likely to wait two months before submitting its first rebuilding estimate, administration officials say.

USATODAY.com | September 2, 2003 | 11:44 pm

Records show high-tech U.S. goods sold to Iraq despite embargo
Officials are trying to determine whether U.S. or foreign companies knowingly violated sanctions against Iraq and U.S. Customs laws - or unwittingly sold the goods, including computers, laboratory equipment and aircraft parts, to third parties who then dealt with Saddam Hussein's regime.

Donna Leinwand, Jim Michaels | USA TODAY | August 28, 2003 | 10:30 pm

Most say Iraq war was worth fighting
The news from Iraq is mostly bad, and criticism of President Bush from Democrats is relentless. But nearly two-thirds — 63% — of Americans say the war in Iraq was worth fighting, a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll shows.

USATODAY.com | August 27, 2003 | 11:28 pm

Chaos doesn't thwart Baghdad's recovery
Lost amid news of the horrific attacks and Iraqis' complaints about the disorder that war has brought to their nation are signs that this capital city of more than 5 million people is slowly returning to normal and that most people are getting on with their lives.

Jim Michaels, Donna Leinwand | USA TODAY | August 27, 2003 | 11:01 pm

Former POW receives honorable discharge
Pfc. Jessica Lynch received an honorable discharge from the U.S. military last week while she visited Walter Reed Army Medical Center for a checkup, her attorney said Wednesday. The injuries suffered by the former POW would have made it impossible for her to return to active duty, he said.

The (Huntington, W.Va.) Herald-Dispatch | August 27, 2003 | 6:04 pm

Bush urges patience in Iraq
President Bush forcefully defended his Iraq policies Tuesday in St. Louis, amid a mounting death toll of U.S. troops in Iraq and growing demands that he solicit military help from more allies.

Richard Benedetto | USA TODAY | August 26, 2003 | 11:08 pm

Bremer: U.S. seeks more Iraqi help
The top U.S. official in Baghdad said Sunday there is an "emerging problem" of foreign terrorists moving into Iraq, but he rejected calls for more U.S. troops to be sent in to help stabilize the country.

USATODAY.com | August 25, 2003 | 11:29 pm

Snarled justice system frustrates Iraqi judges
While Iraq's criminal courts sit nearly idle, thousands of looters and other suspects detained by coalition forces languish in prisons because of delays in translating cases into Arabic and transporting prisoners to trials.

Jim Michaels | USA TODAY | August 25, 2003 | 10:20 pm

Pentagon resists push for more troops
Despite increasing violence in Iraq and a growing call for the Bush administration to increase the U.S. military presence there, the Pentagon seems unlikely to raise force levels anytime soon.

USATODAY.com | August 21, 2003 | 11:42 pm

Future of Iraq and Bush now more intertwined than ever
Now approaching four months since President Bush declared the end to major hostilities, Iraq has become a diplomatic and political hot spot for him. His political future and Iraq's are becoming more intertwined by the day.

Chuck Raasch | GNS | August 19, 2003 | 8:12 pm

Bush faces crucial question in Iraq: Is it time to get help?
With the devastating bombing of the United Nations building in Baghdad on Tuesday, President Bush is now faced with either convincing Americans and the international community that the U.S.-dominated coalition in Iraq can still rebuild the nation, or admit that it's time to get help.

John Yaukey | GNS | August 19, 2003 | 8:10 pm

Troops in Iraq winning battle against natural enemy - heat
History has shown that how an army battles nature can be as important as how it battles the enemy. In Iraq, the U.S. Army says it is winning a dangerous struggle with this desert nation's brutal summer heat.

Donna Leinwand, Jim Michaels | USA TODAY | August 18, 2003 | 9:54 pm

Coalition starts drive to bring troops home from Iraq
Members of the Bring Them Home Now campaign told reporters Wednesday that President Bush lied about reasons for going to war. No weapons of mass destruction have been found and Bush has not proved a link between former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and the al-Qaida terrorists, the group said. They're launching a campaign to recall U.S. troops from war-torn Iraq.

Greg Wright | GNS | August 13, 2003 | 7:05 pm

No Al-Qaida link seen in embassy bombing

Jim Michaels | USA TODAY | August 12, 2003 | 10:34 pm

Bush favors control over help in Iraq despite attacks on troops
By late summer, the Pentagon will have little more than half the 30,000 additional foreign troops it was hoping for to relieve its force of 145,000, prompting bipartisan calls from Capitol Hill for the Bush administration to encourage more international involvement in Iraq.

John Yaukey | GNS | August 12, 2003 | 5:59 pm

U.S. secures only half foreign troops sought
New foreign peacekeeping troops are set to begin arriving in Iraq in mid-August, but months of U.S. arm-twisting have produced only about half the soldiers the Pentagon was counting on.

USATODAY.com | August 5, 2003 | 11:11 pm

Army rules out some causes for pneumonia among troops in Iraq
Recent serious cases of pneumonia among U.S. soldiers in Iraq and the war region, including two fatalities, were not caused by anthrax, smallpox, severe acute respiratory syndrome or Legionnaires' disease, the Army doctor in charge of preventative medicine said Tuesday.

Pam Brogan | GNS | August 5, 2003 | 5:28 pm

Reunion is sweet as mother returns from Iraq

| August 5, 2003 | 3:03 pm

Speculation, fact hard to separate in Iraq 'tubes' story
President Bush has been under heavy criticism for 16 disputed words in his State of the Union address about Iraq's attempts to buy uranium in Africa. Far less attention has been paid to the next 20 words he said that night - the administration's other prime piece of evidence alleging that Saddam Hussein was trying to build a nuclear bomb.

Bill Nichols and John Diamond | USA TODAY | July 31, 2003 | 11:12 pm

Tipster to get $30 million U.S. reward
The Bush administration has approved the payment of a $30 million reward to the tipster who led U.S. forces to Saddam Hussein's two eldest sons, the State Department said Thursday.

Jack Kelley | USA TODAY | July 31, 2003 | 11:08 pm

U.S. suspects new weapons sites
Iraqi scientists and documents from Saddam Hussein's regime are leading investigators to new sites suspected of being part of Iraq's alleged program to produce banned weapons.

John Diamond | USA TODAY | July 31, 2003 | 11:03 pm

Bush endures questions to clarify controversies
Bush's sunny performance in the Rose Garden was meant to convey his confidence and diminish the significance of issues that have clouded his summer.

Judy Keen | USA TODAY | July 30, 2003 | 11:13 pm

Bush accepts blame for faulty Iraq intelligence in State of the Union address
The president based much of his argument for going to war on the threat posed by Iraq’s development of weapons of mass destruction, in violation of terms that ended the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

Laurence McQuillan | USA TODAY | July 30, 2003 | 8:25 pm

Senate panel hits Defense officials with questions on Iraq
A testy Senate Foreign Relations Committee grilled Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz Tuesday on the Bush administration's reasons for the war in Iraq and the mounting costs of winning the peace.

Barbara Slavin | USA TODAY | July 29, 2003 | 11:13 pm

Athletes seek new start for Iraq's scarred sports
Scarred by years of threats, torture, imprisonment and extortion at the hands of Saddam Hussein`s older son, Odai, the Iraqi sports community may require as much rebuilding as this country`s political system and electrical grid. The killing of Odai, and his younger brother, Qusai, by U.S. forces last week did not sweep away the damage done to Iraqi sports.

Andrea Stone | USA TODAY | July 29, 2003 | 7:01 pm

Public confident Saddam will be killed or captured, poll says
Public confidence that Saddam Hussein will be killed or captured jumped dramatically since his sons were slain last week. But the rising death toll of American troops continues to be a worry, a new USA TODAY-CNN-Gallup Poll shows.

Richard Benedetto | GNS | July 28, 2003 | 6:02 pm

U.S. comes up empty-handed in raid of home
The raid on a Baghdad neighborhood by U.S. troops Sunday afternoon that left five Iraqis dead and revealed no sign of Saddam Hussein enraged many residents of al-Mansour, an area of middle-class Sunni Muslims who received better treatment than Shiite Muslims under Saddam.

USATODAY.com | July 28, 2003 | 4:06 pm

Recycled Iraqi assets aid reconstruction
The United States is bringing millions of dollars in U.S. currency seized from fallen Iraqi leaders back to the United States, changing the money into smaller denominations and shipping it back to Iraq for reconstruction efforts, government officials said.

Jane Norman | The Des Moines Register | July 28, 2003 | 4:05 pm

U.S. seizing, recycling Saddam's millions
On this day, the soldiers of the Iowa National Guard's 1168th Transportation Company are carrying a pallet-load of cash stashed away by Saddam Hussein and located by American troops after the fall of Baghdad to the airport in Kuwait City an hour away. To the men and women of the Red Oak, Iowa-based unit, it's sort of fun, but not really a big deal.

John Carlson | The Des Moines Register | July 28, 2003 | 3:59 pm

U.S. probing pneumonia incidents among Middle East troops
The U.S. government is investigating whether the death of a Missouri National Guardsman is related to 11 other incidents of severe pneumonia among soldiers stationed in the Middle East. The U.S. Army Surgeon General's Office confirmed Friday two teams of epidemiology experts will investigate the 12 cases, two of which were fatal.

Eric Eckert | Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader | July 28, 2003 | 3:57 pm

9-11 report has Washington pondering its place in the world
The capital of the free world is torn by two competing world views: one that positions the United States as sole protector of its destiny, and another that says the United States cannot - and should not - go it alone. Never was that more apparent than on Thursday, a busy day of review and reassessment of the world since Sept. 11, 2001.

Chuck Raasch | GNS | July 24, 2003 | 4:18 pm

Questions dog White House days
It's not over yet. The White House can't seem to put an end to questions about disputed intelligence on Iraq's nuclear weapons program. The issue dominated the daily White House news briefing again Wednesday.

USATODAY.com | July 23, 2003 | 11:14 pm

Pentagon unveils troop rotation plan
The Defense Department said Wednesday that it will bring home long-serving Army and Marine troops from Iraq by October, replacing them with fresh U.S. and international troops who could serve there for up to a year.

USATODAY.com | July 23, 2003 | 11:03 pm

Lynch family celebrates homecoming as media seeks story
Jubilation was the order of the day along Mayberry Run Road when former prisoner of war Jessica Lynch arrived at her newly renovated home in Palestine, W.Va. News media outlets hope to land an interview.

The Herald-Dispatch | July 23, 2003 | 8:06 pm

Bush, in Rose Garden speech, tries to broaden focus on Iraq
Bush used the killings of Odai and Qusai Hussein in Mosul to bring the conflict in Iraq back to a larger moral theme, and to ask for international help.

Chuck Raasch | GNS | July 23, 2003 | 3:45 pm

Sons followed father's cruel path
The announcement that the two brothers had been killed in a six-hour firefight with U.S. forces in Mosul on Tuesday was the most powerful sign since the fall of Baghdad that the circle was closing on Saddam's regime.

USA TODAY | July 22, 2003 | 10:59 pm

Appalachian culture mistrusts outside media
Since the capture, rescue and recuperation of renowned Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch, the Lynch family has remained relatively quiet. Experts who have studied Appalachian culture point to a community mindset that results in a fear of being misrepresented by ``outsiders.''

The (Huntington, W.Va) Herald-Dispatch | July 22, 2003 | 10:44 pm

The media came - and Lynch's hometown was ready
About 50 media personnel arrived on Sunday to prepare for Tuesday's coverage of former POW Jessica Lynch's homecoming. By mid-afternoon Tuesday, more than 350 media personnel had gone through a West Virginia Division of Tourism check-in point.

The (Huntington, W.Va.) Herald-Dispatch | July 22, 2003 | 10:39 pm

Killing Saddam's sons good news for Bush, troops
Odai, the drug-using sadist, and Qusai, the merciless military commander being groomed to rule Iraq, struck almost as much terror in Iraqis as their father Saddam Hussein. Confirmation that both sons were killed Tuesday after a firefight north of Baghdad comes as much needed good news for both Baghdad and Washington.

John Yaukey | GNS | July 22, 2003 | 10:37 pm

Rescued POW Lynch returns to W.Va.
Wounded Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch, the first rescued prisoner of war in Iraq, returned Tuesday to her native West Virginia. She began her first public comments with words of thanks.

The (Huntington, W.Va.) Herald-Dispatch | July 22, 2003 | 3:49 pm

Piestewa's brother remembers his lost sister
The shiny watch made it back from Iraq, but Wayland Piestewa's sister, Lori, did not. Wayland pulled the watch from his pocket and showed it to a group of 50 high school journalism students - the first time he has shown it to anyone outside his family.

Kristen Go | The Arizona Republic | July 22, 2003 | 1:31 pm

War in Iraq's aftermath hits troops hard
More than three months after Baghdad fell, American soldiers are not being treated like liberators. Instead, they are mired in a guerrilla war, according to Gen. John Abizaid, the commander of U.S. forces in the region.

USATODAY.com | July 21, 2003 | 11:47 pm

Lynch's friends line streets
Pfc. Jessica Lynch, 20, is the POW whose capture and rescue made her the most famous face of the Iraq war. Questions remain about the details of her ordeal in Iraq. But the people here who prayed for Lynch after her capture and during her recovery say that doesn't diminish her courage.

USATODAY.com | July 21, 2003 | 11:44 pm

Rescued POW Lynch awarded medals for Iraq actions
Wounded Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch, the first rescued prisoner of war in Iraq, was awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and POW medals Monday at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

GNS | July 21, 2003 | 9:10 pm

Lynch may affect perception of women in combat
As former POW Jessica Lynch prepares to return home to West Virginia Tuesday - after more than three months of treatment and physical and occupational therapy at Walter Reed Army Medical Center - the impact of her story on the future of women in the military has yet to be crafted.

Jean Tarbett | Huntington Herald-Dispatch | July 19, 2003 | 7:49 pm

Americans eager to hear Lynch speak
Former POW Jessica Lynch breaks her silence Tuesday. She's expected to arrive by helicopter in her home of Wirt County, W.Va., and give a statement before riding with a motorcade to her newly remodeled home. The statement will be the first that she's made aloud, and Americans everywhere are eager to hear what she'll say.

Jean Tarbett | Huntington Herald-Dispatch | July 19, 2003 | 7:43 pm

When Lynch goes home, it'll be to a much bigger place
Well wishers at Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch's home when she gets there Tuesday might want to watch her facial expressions closely. She will see - for the first time - a family home that has virtually doubled in size and now features handicap-accessibility.

Bob Withers | The Huntington Herald-Dispatch | July 18, 2003 | 7:32 pm

Well wishes - and lots of mail - will greet Lynch
Vast throngs of people are expected to line the streets of Elizabeth and Palestine, W.Va., Tuesday to welcome Pfc. Jessica Lynch home, but some of the residents have tackled large numbers for four months now - specifically, the mountains of mail addressed to Lynch.

The Huntington (W.Va.) Herald-Dispatch | July 18, 2003 | 6:43 pm

Gunnery sergeant's enterprise prospers in Karbala
Gunnery Sgt. Brian Davis didn't expect his deployment to Iraq to be his first venture into small business. But with creature comforts hard to come by in this town about 50 miles south of Baghdad, Davis' duties include improving the quality of life for his Marines with Headquarters and Support Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines.

Christian Lowe | Marine Corps Times | July 18, 2003 | 5:48 pm

Soldiers, families speak out
Military towns are known as much for their stoicism as their patriotism. So it's a little unsettling to residents here, home to Fort Stewart and the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, that some soldiers in Iraq and their wives here at home are publicly unburdening their anxieties and frustration.

USATODAY.com | July 17, 2003 | 11:47 pm

Acts of sabotage declining, U.S. administrator says
Despite deadly attacks on U.S. forces, the top civilian administrator in Iraq said Thursday that the number of attempts to sabotage power lines, pipelines and other infrastructure have decreased over the past six weeks.

USATODAY.com | July 17, 2003 | 11:44 pm

Congress gives Blair a cheering-up
In his country, British Prime Minister Tony Blair is in political trouble. His appearances at Parliament's "question time" have provoked angry heckling from legislators on the left and right. But when he appeared before a joint session of Congress on Thursday, the British leader got a reception that can only be described as rapturous.

USATODAY.com | July 17, 2003 | 11:43 pm

Senate probe on Iraq intelligence aims at White House staff
Pressure mounted on President Bush Thursday to clear up how questionable intelligence about Iraq made its way into his State of the Union speech, and a key Senate committee chairman said he would ask some of Bush's top national security advisers to testify about their role.

Jon Frandsen and John Yaukey | GNS | July 17, 2003 | 7:15 pm

Thoughts of family sustained 507th soldier during ambush
Army Sgt. Matthew Rose is among the first members of Fort Bliss' 507th Maintenance Company to talk openly about events that led to the deadly March 23 attack on U.S. soldiers during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He said he thought only of his wife and six children during the ordeal.

Laura Cruz | El Paso Times | July 17, 2003 | 1:26 pm

U.S. troops in Iraq facing guerrilla warfare
The new commander of U.S. forces in Iraq said Wednesday that coalition troops are facing a "classical guerrilla-type campaign" from insurgents whose tactics are growing more sophisticated.

USATODAY.com | July 16, 2003 | 11:59 pm

A gung-ho young soldier falls victim to a Baghdad sniper
Army Spc. Jeffrey Wershow never let his guard down. His buddies nicknamed him "The General" because he strode about with a sense of purpose and confidence. Wershow, 22, was a stickler for rules and regulations. So it was a shock on July 6 when the aspiring politician from Gainesville, Fla., was gunned down on the campus of Baghdad University after buying a 7-Up.

USATODAY.com | July 16, 2003 | 11:59 pm

Senate committee to widen its intelligence inquiry
The Senate Intelligence Committee indicated Wednesday that it will widen its investigation into President Bush's disputed charges last January about Iraq's attempts to buy uranium in Africa, going beyond the CIA's responsibility to examine the White House's role in the controversy.

USATODAY.com | July 16, 2003 | 11:29 pm

Justice Dept. delegation to Iraq couldn't work or talk
Members of an American delegation sent to Iraq to begin restoring that nation's civilian justice system made little progress and were restricted from publicly discussing their work, said a federal judge who was part of the group.

USATODAY.com | July 16, 2003 | 11:27 pm

Family, friends excited about Lynch homecoming
If all goes according to plan, Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch is coming home on July 22. And all of Wirt County is excited.

Bob Withers | Huntington Herald-Dispatch | July 16, 2003 | 12:02 am

Key lawmakers predict Saddam's arsenal will be found
Reps. Porter Goss, R-Fla., and Jane Harman, D-Calif., leading members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, predicted evidence of Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction program will be found, but warned that the findings might not be what Americans expect.

John Yaukey and Larry Wheeler | GNS | July 15, 2003 | 5:33 pm

Tenet taking the hit on Iraq
CIA Director George Tenet's hold on power, already weakened by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, has reached its most tenuous point now that he has been blamed for President Bush's unsubstantiated charge in his State of the Union address that Iraq sought to buy uranium for nuclear weapons from Africa.

USATODAY.com | July 14, 2003 | 11:56 pm

Timeline of events leading to Iraq assertion
Here are key events in the controversy over President Bush's assertion that Iraq was seeking to buy uranium ore from Africa.

USATODAY.com | July 14, 2003 | 11:51 pm

Uranium case riddled with questions
Sixteen words in President Bush's State of the Union address alleging that Iraq tried to buy uranium in Africa have exploded six months later into a controversy over the Bush administration's case for war in Iraq.

USATODAY.com | July 14, 2003 | 11:48 pm

Senators' call for NATO in Iraq will be hard for Bush to ignore
The Senate's striking 97-0 resolution asking the president to approach NATO for help on the ground in Iraq with a peacekeeping force similar to the one deployed in the Balkans takes the debate over involving NATO from Sunday talk shows and editorial pages and drops it square on the desk of President Bush.

John Yaukey | GNS | July 11, 2003 | 5:55 pm

Spouses, kids endure own agonies of war
After Lydia Teutsch puts her two daughters to bed each night, the young captain's wife tidies up her home. Her husband, Christian, is in Iraq, and she knows that at any hour, a casualty officer and chaplain could arrive with terrible news.

USATODAY.com | July 10, 2003 | 11:17 pm

Powell: Critics of Bush reaching
Secretary of State Colin Powell defended the Bush administration Thursday against intensifying criticism of the use of bogus intelligence to help make the case for war on Iraq. But he was pressed to explain how the tainted evidence made it into President Bush's State of the Union address.

USATODAY.com | July 10, 2003 | 11:13 pm

Kerry says Bush bungled Iraq war
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry accused President Bush Thursday of bungling the occupation of Iraq and demanded he seek international help in bringing order to the country. Kerry warned that America was now perceived as ``an occupying power'' and that Iraqi resistance could grow if a broader coalition does not become involved.

Jon Frandsen | GNS | July 10, 2003 | 6:38 pm

Angry Iraqi leaders anxious to fill political vacuum
The disconnect between what some Iraqi leaders believe they had been promised in postwar Iraq and the reality of founding a democracy there is at the core of increasingly strained relations with the United States. Even members of the seven leading Iraqi exile groups that argued for the U.S.-led invasion feel a sense of betrayal.

Greg Barrett | GNS | July 10, 2003 | 3:11 pm

White House downplays role of faulty report
The Bush administration defended on Wednesday its decision to go to war against Iraq and downplayed the role of discredited intelligence in the decision.

USATODAY.com | July 9, 2003 | 11:48 pm

Allies balk at sending troops
The Pentagon is beginning to bring some of the longest-serving ground troops home from Iraq but is having trouble with its long-term plan to replace American troops with soldiers from other nations.

USATODAY.com | July 9, 2003 | 11:40 pm

Army report sheds little light on women soldiers' actions
An official Army report on the Iraqi ambush of the 507th Maintenance Company pays scant attention to any individual actions taken by Pfc. Jessica Lynch or Spc. Lori Piestewa.

Billy House | The Arizona Repubic | July 9, 2003 | 9:06 pm

Number of troops in Iraq expected to remain steady
The U.S. force size in Iraq likely will remain at about 145,000 for ``the foreseeable future,'' possibly scaled back only by several thousand as foreign troops rotate in this summer, the war's top two commanders said Wednesday.

John Yaukey | GNS | July 9, 2003 | 5:11 pm

Bush defends prewar uranium claim
The president said he is "absolutely confident" in his actions despite the discovery that one claim he made about Saddam Hussein's weapons pursuits was based on false information. He made the claim in his State of the Union address.

Judy Keen | USA TODAY | July 9, 2003 | 10:26 am

Former NFL player back safely from Middle East
Former Arizona Cardinal football player Pat Tillman and his brother Kevin have returned stateside from Operation Iraqi Freedom and have been selected by the Army to participate in a three-month-long elite Ranger training regimen.

Tim Tyers | The Arizona Republic | July 8, 2003 | 5:38 pm

Abizaid known for bravery, brains
The new commander of U.S. military operations in the region that includes Iraq comes to the job with unusual credentials. Army Gen. John Abizaid, who replaced Gen. Tommy Franks on Monday as head of U.S. Central Command, is a fluent Arabic speaker who studied at the University of Amman in Jordan and has an advanced degree from Harvard.

USATODAY.com | July 7, 2003 | 11:47 pm

Marine whose unit helped rescue Lynch killed in crash
A Marine whose unit was involved in rescuing Army Pvt. Jessica Lynch died in a weekend car crash after returning home for the first time since fighting in Iraq, authorities said.

Paul Alongi | The Greenville (S.C.) News | July 7, 2003 | 7:12 pm

Photographer seeks out subject of picture made famous at war‘s start
The image of the small boy, wounded in an American attack, in the arms of a clean-cut American medic who carried him to safety appeared on front pages around the world. Army Times photographer Warren Zinn, who took the photo, went back to the now sleepy village over the weekend to find out the human costs of America's war in Iraq.

Christian Lowe | Marine Corps Times | July 6, 2003 | 6:24 pm

U.S. in a race to head off guerrilla war
Guerrilla-style attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq have increased. Since May 1, when President Bush declared major combat operations over, 25 U.S. soldiers have been killed in hostile action. To counter the attacks, U.S. forces are using a two-pronged strategy they have favored since the early days of the Vietnam War.

USATODAY.com | July 2, 2003 | 11:35 pm

U.S. forces capture Iraqis suspected of leading attacks
U.S. forces in a series of predawn raids on Tuesday captured two top Baath Party leaders suspected of organizing attacks against coalition troops and the sabotage of Iraqi infrastructure. The raids in this town south of Saddam's birthplace of Tikrit came on the third day of a major counter-insurgency push dubbed Operation Sidewinder.

Christian Lowe | Marine Corps Times | July 1, 2003 | 6:13 pm

Attacks, weapons controversy eroding public confidence
The failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and the recent spate of deadly attacks on U.S. troops there is sharply eroding public confidence in the war effort, a USA TODAY-CNN-Gallup Poll shows.

Richard Benedetto | GNS | June 30, 2003 | 10:42 pm

Iraqi resentment will fuel rise in troop deaths, experts warn
The country's citizens are angry the Bush administration has failed to create an elected government in Baghdad and has not yet restored basic services.

Greg Wright | GNS | June 30, 2003 | 10:24 pm

Humanitarian groups alarmed by water emergencies in Iraq
On May 15, the newly arrived chief of the U.S.-led civilian authority described Basra's water quality as good. The pronouncement was in stark contrast with comments from World Health Organization and UNICEF officials who at that moment were warning of waterborne epidemics in Iraq's second-largest city.

Greg Barrett | GNS | June 30, 2003 | 12:23 pm

Archaeologists beseech U.S. to safeguard Iraqi sites
At the Fifth World Archaeological Congress in Washington, D.C., last week, the fate of Iraq's antiquities was a continuing topic of concern.

Dan Vergano | USA TODAY | June 29, 2003 | 10:57 pm

Iraqi people paying for Saddam loyalists' attacks
Paul Bremer, the top U.S. administrator in Iraq, blames rogue elements of ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's Baath Party for a recent rash of attacks on U.S. forces and Iraqi infrastructure, which he says are hurting the Iraqi people.

Christian Lowe | Marine Corps Times | June 26, 2003 | 4:50 pm

Buying own gear is common for troops
Col. Mike Smith, a senior officer in the Army unit that equips front-line soldiers, was not surprised when an internal "lessons learned" study of equipment used in the war in Iraq turned up a long list of gear so ill-regarded by soldiers that they spent their own money to modify or replace it.

USATODAY.com | June 25, 2003 | 11:27 pm

Lugar says U.S. efforts lagging in Iraq
A day after returning from viewing reconstruction efforts in Iraq, the Senate's leader on foreign relations, Richard Lugar, said the United States has to ``fundamentally correct'' its ability to help nations like Iraq rebuild and become working democracies.

Maureen Groppe and Erin Kelly | GNS | June 25, 2003 | 5:57 pm

Rumsfeld downplays reports convoy attack targeted Saddam
The Defense Secretary said Tuesday that he had "no reason to believe" Saddam Hussein or any senior Iraqi officials were killed in a U.S. strike on a convoy near the Syria-Iraq border last week.

USA TODAY | June 24, 2003 | 10:44 pm

Saddam's former soldiers to receive pensions

Steven Komarow | USA TODAY | June 23, 2003 | 11:22 pm

U.S. to rebuild Iraqi army
The Iraqi army, gutted by U.S. forces during three months of war and officially disbanded only weeks ago, soon will be rebuilt by the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority, officials said Monday.

Christian Lowe | Marine Corps Times | June 23, 2003 | 5:50 pm

Pressure mounts on Bush to open up Iraq intelligence probe
The Bush administration and key congressional Republicans have thus far managed to keep the investigation of intelligence used to justify pre-emptive war against Iraq behind closed doors on Capitol Hill. But there are signs the pressure for a more public airing of the intelligence is having an effect.

John Yaukey | GNS | June 20, 2003 | 4:16 pm

U.S.: Weapon search has barely begun
President Bush is not worried about charges that he exaggerated the threat of Iraq's weapons, in part because he believes the search has barely begun, senior administration officials say.

USATODAY.com | June 19, 2003 | 10:59 pm

Iraq work puts Bechtel in spotlight
The decaying opulence of Saddam Hussein's former palace grounds in Baghdad is home to a squadron of Bechtel engineers camped out Beverly Hillbillies-style in a collection of two-bedroom portable homes. "This place is surreal," says Thor Christiansen, a Bechtel project manager. Almost as surreal has been the growing interest in Bechtel.

USATODAY.com | June 19, 2003 | 10:55 pm

U.S. troops could be in Iraq for a decade
Defense Dept. officials told Congress on Wednesday that permanent facilities may have to be built in Iraq to house them.

Tom Squitieri | USA TODAY | June 18, 2003 | 10:33 pm

No. 4 most-wanted Iraqi captured
U.S. forces have captured Saddam Hussein's presidential secretary and No. 4 on the Pentagon's most-wanted list of Iraqi leaders.

Jack Kelley | USA TODAY | June 18, 2003 | 7:29 pm

Iraqi museum to repair 5,000-year-old vase
A priceless vase returned to the Iraqi National Museum is damaged but can be repaired, the museum's director said Tuesday.

USATODAY.com | June 17, 2003 | 10:54 pm

Broad purges wiped out most Iraqis helping CIA
In the 12 years between the two wars the United States fought against Iraq, Saddam Hussein waged a bloody and largely successful campaign to find and kill Iraqis spying for the CIA.

John Diamond | USA TODAY | June 16, 2003 | 10:45 pm

Weak spy network hurt U.S. hunt for arms in Iraq
Slightly more than a year before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, the CIA launched a major effort to rebuild its network of Iraqi agents, which had been badly depleted by repeated purges.

John Diamond | USA TODAY | June 16, 2003 | 10:43 pm

Short conflict, less ammo kept war cost down
A short conflict that used fewer missiles, sparked fewer oil field fires and created fewer refugees than anticipated produced a lower-than-expected financial cost for the major combat in Iraq.

USATODAY.com | June 12, 2003 | 10:57 pm

Uranium reports doubted early on
Almost a year before President Bush alleged in his State of the Union address that Iraq tried to buy uranium ore in Africa — seeming proof of an Iraqi effort to build a nuclear bomb — the CIA gave the White House information that raised doubts about the claim.

USATODAY.com | June 12, 2003 | 10:43 pm

Iraqis in custody say Saddam survived
Iraqi officials in U.S. custody have told coalition investigators that Saddam Hussein and his sons survived the March 19 and April 7 airstrikes on residential compounds where the CIA believed they were meeting, and that they are still in Iraq, senior U.S. military officials here say.

USATODAY.com | June 12, 2003 | 10:34 pm

Modest former POW basks in glow of congressional tribute
The Congressional Black Caucus honored former prisoner of war Shoshana Johnson in a rousing and emotional tribute Thursday. The event attracted dozens of congressional staffers, U.S. Army officials and a gaggle of reporters and photographers who packed a large room in the Rayburn House Office Building.

Sergio Bustos | GNS | June 12, 2003 | 7:55 pm

Troops, families await war's real end

USATODAY.com | June 12, 2003 | 11:40 am

Expedition verifies looting of Iraqi ruins, museums
An archaeological team reports extensive looting of ancient cities in Iraq, and it said hundreds of thieves dug up some sites.

USATODAY.com | June 11, 2003 | 11:57 pm

Bush to troops: Mission accomplished
President Bush ended his trip to Europe and the Middle East on Thursday reveling in the approving roar of troops at Camp As Sayliyah.

USATODAY.com | June 5, 2003 | 11:30 pm

Bush's war doctrine questioned
The Bush administration's policy of taking pre-emptive military action against dangerous nations faces growing scrutiny from members of Congress who voted for war in Iraq but now wonder why Saddam Hussein's alleged weapons of mass destruction have not been found.

USATODAY.com | June 5, 2003 | 11:24 pm

In postwar Iraq, stability is missing in action
Nearly two months after U.S. forces stormed into Baghdad and toppled Saddam Hussein's government, Iraq's capital seethes with insecurity.

USATODAY.com | June 5, 2003 | 12:25 am

Relief for U.S. troops lacking
The Pentagon's search for troops from other nations to replace U.S. soldiers in the force that is stabilizing postwar Iraq has fallen short of expectations, and U.S. officials face the prospect of keeping more U.S. forces in Iraq than they had hoped, diplomats and military officials say.

USATODAY.com | May 29, 2003 | 11:21 pm

Lynch family thanks community upon return home
The parents of rescued prisoner of war Jessica Lynch, returning home for daughter Brandi's high school graduation, thanked their community and the nation Thursday for the support the family has received over the past two months.

The (Huntington, W.Va.) Herald-Dispatch | May 29, 2003 | 5:40 pm

On Cairo's streets, anxiety, anger toward U.S.
More than six weeks after the fall of Baghdad, the Arab world is still spinning in shock. A chronic mood of uncertainty, fear and rage as thick as the layer of dust that permanently coats this city at the heart of the Middle East has settled over the region.

USATODAY.com | May 28, 2003 | 11:11 pm

Iraq war's widows learn to cope
They are young women. And they are all widows. As the servicemen and women who fought the Iraq war trickle home, Latricia Bellard, Jill Kiehl and Shauna O'Day are among the dozens whose spouses will not be returning.

USATODAY.com | May 28, 2003 | 10:25 pm

'Saddam generation' waking up
After 24 years of Saddam's suffocating tenure, Iraq's youth are waking up from an almost-comatose state.

USATODAY.com | May 28, 2003 | 12:26 am

Army opens probe into 507th ambush
Brig. Gen. Howard Bromberg, commander of the 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command at Fort Bliss, Texas, has ordered a ``commander's inquiry,'' into the March 23 ambush in Nasiriyah, Iraq, that made Pfc. Jessica Lynch and five other soldiers from her unit prisoners of war.

Huntington (W.Va.) Herald-Dispatch | May 27, 2003 | 9:16 pm

Arlington ceremony honors Indian soldier killed in Iraq
WASHINGTON - More than 400 people turned out on Memorial Day to salute Army Spc. Lori Piestewa, many of them bringing gifts, songs they'd written, and other tributes to the fallen soldier's family.

Billy House | The Arizona Republic | May 26, 2003 | 11:22 pm

Emotional reunion for Piestewa, Lynch families
In a bittersweet and intensely private reunion, Pfc. Jessica Lynch was visited Saturday by the mother, father, and two young children of her fallen friend and comrade, Army Spc. Lori Piestewa.

Billy House | Arizona Republic | May 24, 2003 | 6:09 pm

Army posthumously promotes female POW killed in Iraq
The Army on Thursday announced that Lori Piestewa has been promoted, posthumously, from the rank of private first class to Army specialist. Meanwhile, a U.S. lawmaker says an "after-action" report into what happened to the Tuba City, Ariz., native and other members of the 507th Maintenance Unit is complete.

Arizona Republic | May 22, 2003 | 7:33 pm

Lynch on road to full recovery, physician says
Pfc. Jessica Lynch is expected to make a full recovery and is progressing well through physical and occupational therapy, said Dr. Greg Argyros, the physician heading up a team working with the former prisoner of war at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Huntington (W.Va.) Herald-Dispatch | May 22, 2003 | 7:17 pm

Basra: 'Day by day, life is for the better'
Long plagued by poverty and often targeted for retribution by Saddam Hussein's regime, Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, is showing signs of revival.

USATODAY.com | May 19, 2003 | 11:45 pm

Weapons search could take years
The search for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction could take years to complete, a senior Pentagon official told Congress Thursday.

USATODAY.com | May 16, 2003 | 12:25 am

Many Iraqi expats eager to go home and prosper
Ali Al-baaj, who left Iraq for the USA in 1992, after Desert Storm, is eager to go back and rebuild the country — literally.

USATODAY.com | May 16, 2003 | 12:20 am

Congress steps up criticism of rebuilding in Iraq
Members of Congress stepped up criticism of the administration for not acting quicker to clamp down on increasing lawlessness in Iraq, but Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the Pentagon still is deciding how many troops are needed.

Jon Frandsen | GNS | May 16, 2003 | 12:13 am