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<p>PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (AP) -- The president of the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council said Wednesday his country will "definitely" hold elections in 2004.</p> <p>A U.S.-drafted resolution being discussed at the United Nations calls on the Governing Council to announce a timetable by Dec. 15 for elections and the drafting of a new constitution.</p>

Many BBC News Online readers have e-mailed with questions about ordinary Iraqis and whether life is returning to normal for them. To tell you the truth, I'm not sure you can talk about a return to normality for the ordinary people of Iraq. I have heard some Baghdadis describe their past life under Saddam Hussein's dictatorship as being like a dream in which they experienced many things - often very bad things. But they could never share those experiences with others for fear of being suspected of disloyalty to the regime or even just harbouring doubts about it. Secrets revealed...

Bush Insists He's 'In Charge' of Iraq PolicyMon October 13, 2003 06:10 PM ET By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush on Monday rejected complaints from some members of Congress that he needs to assert more control over Iraq policy, saying, "The person who is in charge is me." A key Republican lawmaker, Indiana's Sen. Richard Lugar, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on Sunday that "the president has to be president" as top advisers appeared to disagree over Iraq. Bush gave a series of television interviews on Monday to regional news outlets as part of a...

<p>Army Maj. Russell J. Chun is a patient man who takes victories one at a time in Iraq, and often in small doses, but he would like the American public to know those small victories are occurring.</p> <p>Take something as basic as unemployment statistics.</p>

For Immediate ReleaseOctober 11, 2003 President's Radio Address      Audio THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Six months ago this week, the statue of Saddam Hussein came down in the center of Baghdad, and Iraq began the transition from tyranny to self-government. The goal of our coalition is to help the Iraqi people build a stable, just and prosperous country that poses no threat to America or the world. To reach that goal, we are following a clear strategy. First, coalition forces in Iraq are actively pursuing the terrorists and Saddam holdouts who desperately oppose freedom for the Iraqi people. Secondly, we are...

Bush Touts New Iraq Currency as Sign of Progress Sat Oct 11,10:23 AM ET Add U.S. National By Caren Bohan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites), seeking to bolster public support for his Iraq (news - web sites) policies, on Saturday hailed the launch of the country's new currency as a sign of economic promise. Reuters Photo Latest headlines: · Shiite Muslims Converge on Iraq Holy City AP - 44 minutes ago · Islamic Summit Prepares to Welcome Iraq AP - 1 hour, 7 minutes ago · Bush: Strategy Helps Iraq Make Progress AP - 1 hour,...

President Addresses Top Priorities: Economic & National Security Remarks by the President to New Hampshire Air National Guard, Army National Guard, Reservists and Families Pease Air National Guard Base Portsmouth, New Hampshire      Fact Sheet9:50 A.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: Thanks for coming. Thanks for such a warm welcome. I'm pleased to be back in the great state of New Hampshire again. (Applause.) And I'm honored to be with the Army and Air National Guard, and with reservists from every branch of our military. (Applause.) You are demonstrating that duty and public service are alive and well in New Hampshire. You...

Bremer Cites 'Tremendous' Progress in Rebuilding Iraq By Donna MilesAmerican Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Oct. 10, 2003 – Acknowledging that "organized extremists" continue to attack coalition forces, the administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq cited "tremendous" progress in creating a secure environment, restoring essential services and beginning economic and democratic transformation. Six months after Saddam Hussein was deposed, Ambassador L. Paul Bremer III said he doesn't think it's entirely true that the violence in Iraq hasn't decreased. Bremer made the comment in an interview with Charlie Gibson on ABC's "Good Morning America" today. "We certainly have attacks...

NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND7115 South Boundary BoulevardMacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894 October 10, 2003Release Number: 03-10-01 NINEVAH PROVINCE SCHOOLS BENEFIT FROM SEIZED IRAQI ASSETS MOSUL, Iraq – Coalition soldiers and non-governmental organizations partnered to rebuild more than 800 schools in the Ninevah Province, current home of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). The division’s Commander’s Emergency Relief Program, which draws from Iraqi government funds seized after the first Gulf War, has to date spent $2,040,513 on 330 completed school projects including the recently opened Ninevah Province Education Headquarters in Mosul. The...

<p>White House Web site guests got some straight talk about postwar Iraq yesterday from Dan Senor, senior adviser to L. Paul Bremer, who's spearheading the multinational rebuilding effort in the war-torn country.</p> <p>Mr. Senor, who has spent the last six months in Iraq, answered questions submitted online as part of "Ask the White House," a live, public forum that has featured more than 50 Bush administration officials since April.</p>

Privacy Policy   Welcome to "Ask the White House" -- an online interactive forum where you can submit questions to Bush administration officials. Visit the "Ask the White House" archive to read other discussions with White House officials. Dan Senor Biography Dan SenorHi, I'm Dan Senor. I'm in Washington for a few days after having spent the last 6 months in Iraq. I've been working for Ambassador Bremer on a number of reconstruction, policy and communication issues. I'll be returning to Iraq within the next two weeks but look forward to answering your questions on the reconstruction while I'm here....

<p>BAGHDAD — For the first time since Baghdad fell April 9, the capital city and most of the country have enjoyed four straight days without a significant outage. Coalition officials are optimistic they can keep the lights on because sabotage and looting has dropped and electricity output is near prewar levels. Cooling temperatures have also helped.</p>

Violence and terrorism in post-war Iraq, while a legitimate subject for the press, often overshadows the progress made in the region. Statements by Iraqi officials as well as a number of editorials published in Iraqi and Arab newspapers would indicate that the situation in Iraq, particularly in Baghdad, has been steadily improving. Last week's decision by the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) to reduce the number of night time curfew hours to four is an indication of growing confidence in Iraq's security. Certainly there is a sense of optimism about the future, confirmed by a number of polls taken in...

TIKRIT, Iraq (AP) - With a map of Saddam Hussein's hometown spread out before him, Lt. Col. David Poirier huddled with Brig. Gen. Hamid Nasim Abdoullah, a deputy provincial police chief who had just received a tip on a member of the Iraqi resistance. Speaking in muted tones around the Iraqi policeman's desk, the two men and their staffs worked a joint plan to arrest the suspect. The planning session was just one of many carried out between the 720th Military Police Battalion from Fort Hood, Texas, and a new Iraqi police force that was selected, trained and equipped by...

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush, facing growing doubts about his handling of postwar Iraq, is launching a concerted campaign to convince Americans that the United States is making solid progress in the war against terror despite growing casualties and setbacks. The White House offensive will include a series of speeches by Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, as well as high-profile trips to Iraq by Cabinet secretaries to illustrate areas of progress, such as the reopening of schools and the introduction of a new currency, officials said Tuesday night. Bush at times will reach...

<p>FIFTEEN attacks on American forces each day. Car bombs, ambushes, riots. That's pretty much the Iraq story in the American media. But it's not the whole story, or even most of it.</p> <p>Yes, we do get attacked by mortar fire at my base; yes, some of our convoys do get ambushed. But Iraq isn't all violence, all the time. And perhaps that's why so little of the story is being reported.</p>

Bush Cites 'Steady Progress' in Iraq By John D. BanusiewiczAmerican Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Oct. 5, 2003 – With the first battalion of 750 soldiers trained for the new Iraqi army, President Bush said coalition efforts continue to make "steady progress" toward Iraqi self-government. "For decades, Iraq's army served the interests of a dictator," Bush said in his weekly radio address Oct. 4. "Today, a new army is serving the Iraqi people. And less than a year from now, Iraq will have a 40,000-member military force, trained and dedicated to protecting their fellow citizens." More than 80,000 Iraqis now...

Comment Free after 50 years of tyranny We may have fought for the wrong reasons, but there is more good than bad in post-Saddam Iraq Julie FlintSunday October 5, 2003The Observer Half a century ago, in a blistering denunciation of the Korean war, the British war correspondent Reginald Thompson wrote: 'It was clear that there was something profoundly disturbing about this campaign and something profoundly disturbing about its commander-in-chief.' Thompson's words could equally well apply to the US-led campaign in Iraq and its commander-in-chief: George W. Bush, head of a cabal that seeks to install a client regime in...

BAGHDAD Wisam Karim stands ankle deep in glass two hours after his hotel has been bombed. He's bracing for a visit to the pregnant widow of the night porter, who was killed when 15 pounds of explosives deposited along the outside wall destroyed several rooms. Considering this, Karim's assessment of Baghdad these days is not what you would expect. "Things have gotten much, much better recently," says the 42-year-old manager of the Aike Hotel in south Baghdad, which housed the NBC News bureau until the blast 10 days ago. "I'm here 16 hours a day. I see everything going on....

On the reconstruction of Iraq, everybody is a genius. Every pundit, every ex-official and, of course, every Democrat knows exactly how it should have been done. Everybody would have had Iraq up and running by now. Everybody, that is, except the Bush administration, which, in its arrogance and stupidity, has so botched the occupation that it is "in danger of losing the peace" — so sayeth Sen. John Kerry, echoing ex-Gov. Howard Dean, Sen. Ted Kennedy and many others down the Democratic food chain. A bit of perspective, gentlemen. What we came upon in Iraq was a country that had...