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ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) - Unlike earlier wars, nearly all Arlington National Cemetery gravestones for troops killed in Iraq or Afghanistan are inscribed with the slogan-like operation names the Pentagon selected to promote public support for the conflicts. Families of fallen soldiers and Marines are being told they have the option to have the government-furnished headstones engraved with "Operation Enduring Freedom" or "Operation Iraqi Freedom" at no extra charge, whether they are buried in Arlington or elsewhere. A mock-up shown to many families includes the operation names. The vast majority of military gravestones from other eras are inscribed with just the...

HOPKINSVILLE, Ky. (AP) - With studies showing divorce rates as high as 21 percent among couples where one spouse has been sent off to war, the Army is spending $2 million on a variety of marriage programs, including vouchers for romantic getaways to places like the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tenn. When Sgt. Jose Bermudez returned from Iraq early this year, he came home to a new baby and a troubled marriage. "We were on the brink of divorce," Mandy Bermudez acknowledged as the couple ate lunch recently with their three children, all under age 3. The Bermudezes were among...

"President Bush tells us we're making progress in Iraq, yet his own advisers say the situation is growing worse each day. He said we could secure the peace with less than 140,000 troops, yet with 90% of active duty troops deployed overseas, the mission remains" Also: "90% of active duty brigades deployed overseas" http://www.bushandthedraft.com/facts.html

A traveling exhibit that examines war's consequences will be on display at Central Library from Oct. 8 through 14 (one week only!). “Beyond Fear-Toward Hope” is a multimedia journey through the words, images and sounds of the Iraqi War. Visitors move through a memorial to the war's soldiers (rows of empty boots) and civilian victims (wall of names), statements made to justify the war, an outline of war expenses, and an interactive opportunity to contribute toward peace. The exhibit was created by the Great Lakes American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and is being brought here by Kansas City's AFSC. Grand...

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Afghanistan's first-ever direct presidential election began Saturday, with people across this ethnically diverse land casting the first ballots in an improbable experiment with democracy. After 25 years of near constant war - and under a Taliban threat of ruinous violence - voters descended on bombed-out schools, blue-domed mosques, and bullet-pocked hospitals to choose their leader for the first time in their history.

In his strongest statement yet, the Democratic presidential nominee suggested that if Bush fails to recognize the severity of problems in Iraq, then if Kerry takes office in January he will face a situation as chaotic as the Middle East in the early 1980s. "If the president just does more of the same every day and it continues to deteriorate, I may be handed Lebanon, figuratively speaking," Kerry told reporters at a brief news conference.

The waiting room was full of a crowd waiting for the train. A young man was eating bread. An old woman beside him said, "Excuse me, would you give me some bread? I haven't eaten anything for two days. I am really hungry." "I am sorry, but look at me," the man replied. "I gave my clothes for food." The old woman dropped her head without saying any more. At that moment someone shouted, "Listen to me, is this the socialism we pursue? No other way but to sit and starve to death?" Everyone turned their eyes toward the man....

"UPDATE: Jeff Harrell forwards a link to USA Today's collection of the recently discovered Bush/TANG documents. Funny thing, though: There are six documents here, not four. USA Today has all four of the memos listed in the sidebar for the CBSNews.com article plus two additional documents dated February 2, 1972 and June 24, 1973, respectively. The two new docs have the same font as the other four, and that pesky little raised superscript makes yet another cameo in the June 24th document." This links to http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-09-09bushdocs.pdf

At the White House, press secretary Scott McClellan said he couldn't say specifically whether Mr. Bush signed Standard Form 180, but the president did request and release his own military records in February. "I don't believe he signed any form, but he did authorize making his military records available publicly," Mr. McClellan said. "We have released all the records, and reporters were allowed to look at his medical records as well."

LONDON (Reuters) - The revelation that a mole within al Qaeda was exposed after Washington launched its "orange alert" this month has shocked security experts, who say the outing of the source may have set back the war on terror. Reuters learned from Pakistani intelligence sources on Friday that computer expert Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan, arrested secretly in July, was working under cover to help the authorities track down al Qaeda militants in Britain and the United States when his name appeared in U.S. newspapers. ... The New York Times obtained Khan's name independently ....

FORT STEWART, Ga. - A soldier who said he refused to return to duty because he opposes the war in Iraq left his unit as its job became more dangerous, his commanding officer testified Thursday. Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejia, an infantryman with the Florida National Guard, is charged with desertion after failing to return to his unit in Iraq after a two-week furlough in October. He said his experiences in Iraq turned him against the war, and he claims he deserted his unit partly to avoid orders to abuse Iraqi prisoners. Capt. A.J. Balbo, the lead prosecutor, said in his...

Michelle Myers says the president's rhetoric encouraged abuse at Abu Ghraib Here at Berkeley, however, liberal students know exactly who to hold responsible for the dehumanization of the detainees. Ultimately, the person to blame for Abu Ghraib is George W. Bush. The real explanation for Abu Ghraib, according to many Berkeley students, has something to do with the ease with which this president turns the world into his enemy. .... Soldiers are internalizing the president’s rhetoric and rationalizing it as true.

Here's the left at work. It's a "Rate-a-soldier" site that disparages American fighting men and women who died in Iraq. http://americasdumbestsoldiers.com/?id=274http://americasdumbestsoldiers.com/?id=274This particular soldier, for example, died when his artillery ammunition carrying vehicle (FASV) rolled into canal at night in COMBAT when his battery was maneuvering into position during the fight for Baghdad Airport. The front of the vehicle pitched nose up and the ammo rounds came crushing down on the vehicle occupants, trapping them underwater. Despite the best efforts of others in the battery, the occupants of the FASV died. He's number 6 on the list of "America's Dumbest Soldiers"....

We are obsessing about the wrong question. It is not: Is our purpose in Iraq morally sound? Of course it is. The question today, as from the beginning, remains: Is that purpose achievable? Doability does not hinge on the pictures from Abu Ghraib. It hinges on what happens on the ground with the insurgencies. The greater general uprising that last month's panic-mongers had predicted has not occurred. The Sadr insurgency appears to be waning. Senior Shiite clerics, local leaders and demonstrators in the streets of Najaf have told Moqtada Sadr to get out of town. Meanwhile, his militia is being...

Military report details abuse at Army prison in Iraq, magazine says May 1, 2004, 7:45 AM EDT NEW YORK -- Iraqi detainees were subject to "sadistic, blatant and wanton criminal abuses" at the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad, according to a U.S. Army report obtained by The New Yorker magazine. The internal report detailed such abuses as pouring phosphoric liquid from chemical lights on detainees, pouring cold water on naked detainees and threats of rape, the magazine says in an article for its May 10 issue. Other mistreatment of prisoners included "beating detainees with a broom handle and a chair"...

NewsMax.com Wires Friday, WASHINGTON – President Bush has condemned the apparent mistreatment of some Iraqi prisoners. "Their treatment does not reflect the nature of the American people. That's not the way we do things in America. I didn't like it one bit." He was asked about photos showing Iraqi prisoners naked except for hoods covering their heads, stacked in a human pyramid, one with a slur written in English on his skin. That and other scenes of humiliation have led to criminal charges against six American soldiers. Arab television stations were leading their newscasts on Friday with the photos. "I...

April 23, 2004 Bob Jacobs Headquarters, Washington (Phone: 202/358-1600) NOTE TO EDITORS: n04-059 COLUMBIA CREW MISTAKENLY IDENTIFIED AS IRAQI WAR CASUALTIES Many news organizations across the country are mistakenly identifying the flag-draped caskets of the Space Shuttle Columbia's crew as those of war casualties from Iraq. Editors are being asked to confirm that the images used in news reports are in fact those of American casualties and not those of the NASA astronauts who were killed Feb.1, 2003, in the Columbia tragedy. An initial review of the images featured on the Internet site www.thememoryhole.org shows that more than 18 rows...

Suicides in Iraq, Questions at Home - Pentagon Tight-Lipped as Self-Inflicted Deaths Mount in Military ... The Washington Post contacted more than a dozen families of soldiers whose causes of death were listed as non-combat related. Some said that although the military had not provided further details, information from soldiers in the field indicated that the deaths were from "friendly fire" or an accidental weapons discharge. For others awaiting the results of an investigation, the possibility of suicide was too painful to bear. "I am not ready to hear that," said the mother of one soldier who died from a...