Free Republic

Britain to pull 5,500 troops out of Iraq By Sean Rayment, Defence Correspondent (Filed: 03/04/2005) Defence chiefs are planning to reduce the size of the British military force in Iraq from 9,000 to 3,500 troops within 12 months as part of a phased withdrawal from Iraq, The Telegraph can reveal. In the first stage of Britain's "exit strategy", troops will be withdrawn from three of the Army's five military bases in southern Iraq by April 2006. The withdrawal of British troops is possible because Iraqis are ‘starting to take control of their own situation’ The move also fits in with...

N.C.'s flu disaster plan 10/5/2004 3:45 PM By: News 14 Carolina Staff The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has a flu disaster plan. Officials are preparing to respond to a possible worldwide flu pandemic. A pandemic is illness and death worldwide, caused by a resistant flu strain. Researchers are working on developing vaccines. Health officials said people can help by getting their flu shot and limiting travel during a flu epidemic. North Carolina predicts a pandemic would cost an estimated one million doctor visits, 22,000 hospitalizations and almost 5,000 deaths.