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<p>This is, by far, one of the best series of reports on what is really happening in Iraq that I have seen. In the comments section underneath I will provide the links to the reports. It is long, but well worth the read.</p> <p>Right now let’s to go Baghdad for the real story in Iraq and MSNBC’s chief foreign affairs correspondent, Bob Arnot.</p> <p>Bob, thank you for joining us. It’s in the middle of the night over there. I want to ask you, are we getting anywhere in Iraq?</p> <p>Excerpted.</p>

SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia, Nov 14 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Friday called the Bush administration's decision to speed up a handover of power to Iraqis a positive step that reflected his own position. Annan had challenged the United States last month by outlining a rival blueprint that would transfer sovereignty to Iraqis within three months, similar to one the world body helped institute in Afghanistan. In his first comments on the apparent U.S. change of position, Annan told a news conference, "I know that the U.S. authorities are looking at the possibility of accelerating the transfer to the...

Iraqi Cabinet Takes Oath of Office September 03, 2003 Reuters Washington Post BAGHDAD - Iraq's first line-up of ministers to replace the ousted government of Saddam Hussein formally took office on Wednesday, vowing to lead the country to democratic self-rule. Ibrahim al-Jaafari, outgoing head of the U.S.-appointed Governing Council that is to supervise the ministries in consultation with Iraq's U.S.-led occupiers, described their appointment as a step toward meeting the needs of Iraqis neglected under Saddam. "Exceptional effort is demanded from every minister, and that he work for the rebuilding of Iraq, and do all that is needed to meet...

Iraqis Seek More Responsibility for Governance By Jim GaramoneAmerican Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Nov. 13, 2003 – The governing council wants to take on more responsibility for Iraq, and the Bush administration is more than willing to help them, said Condoleezza Rice, the president's adviser for national security. Rice spoke during a White House press conference today. She said the Iraqi Governing Council has demonstrated it is ready to take on more responsibility. She cited economic programs and currency reforms as two examples of these accomplishments. "Indeed, the ideas that (Coalition Administrator Paul) Bremer brought with him from Washington,...

CJTF-7 Public Affairs BAGHDAD, Iraq   Task Force ALL AMERICAN continues mission successfully AR RAMADI, Iraq – Task Force All American continues to conduct operations to help stop attacks against the Iraqi people and coalition forces.  By carrying out these operations, Iraq is moving towards a more self-controlled and peaceful country.  The All American Division went on 167 patrols, seven of which were joint patrols carried out with members of the Border Guard and Iraqi policemen.  One raid and one cordon and search were also performed over the last 24 hours.  These operations resulted in 25 detainees.Members of the...

Fewer than two years after its liberation from the Taliban, Afghanistan is debating a new constitution for its future. The draft, prepared by an all-party committee, is expected to come into force next year after being amended and approved through a process of popular consultations. Those who opposed the liberation of Afghanistan (largely because America played the central role in achieving it) have already dismissed the draft constitution as either irrelevant or as bad as what the Taliban had on offer. For their part, those who wished to see the back of the Taliban, virtually at any cost, have rushed...

BR>By Ron Jensen, Stars and StripesEuropean edition, Sunday, November 9, 2003 BAGHDAD, Iraq — The ongoing insurgency against the coalition is being diminished in Baghdad despite recent high-profile attacks that tend to leave the opposite impression, a general with the 1st Armored Division told reporters Friday afternoon.“We think the insurgency is waning,” said Brig. Gen. Mark P. Hertling, the assistant division commander for support. “The ones who continue to fight are losing their support.”The general spoke with reporters at Freedom Rest, the division’s rest and recreation hotel in Baghdad.Also, a senior military official said the U.S. military believes 500 to...

NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND7115 South Boundary BoulevardMacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894 November 9, 2003Release Number: 03-11-07 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PROCESSING CENTER BRINGS IN NEW IRAQI SOLDIERS AR RAMADI, Iraq – Iraqis hoping to join the newly rebuilt Iraqi Army began reporting to the military processing center at the government building in Ar Ramadi to begin the process of serving their country. A processing center has been established for Al Anbar in a small room of the governor’s building in Ar Ramadi. Here, hundreds of recruits gather hoping to be considered for...

NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND7115 South Boundary BoulevardMacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894 November 9, 2003Release Number: 03-11-06 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 101ST, NEW IRAQI SECURITY FORCES FIND CACHES, DETAIN CRIMINALS MOSUL, IRAQ – The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) soldiers and Iraqi security forces confiscated two weapons caches and detained 13 individuals during routine patrols conducted Nov. 8 in northern Iraq. The new Sinjar Police arrested eight people who were conducting an illegal checkpoint yesterday afternoon, and turned them over to Coalition forces as the detainees claimed affiliation with the Patriotic Union of...

CJTF-7 Public Affairs BAGHDAD, Iraq   Local source leads paratroopers to weapons cache AL FALLUJAH, Iraq – Paratroopers from the 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment found a large weapons cache 20 miles northeast of Al Fallujah Nov 6.  The troops received the information about the cache from a local sheik.  The sheik, who has worked with coalition forces in the past, brought in a laser-guided anti-tank missile when he supplied the information.   The coalition soldiers confiscated three complete 82mm mortar systems, 66 60mm mortar rounds, 60 82mm mortar rounds, 50 120mm fuses, 1260 14.5mm rounds, 1000 14.5mm armor-piercing...

<p>RAMADI, Iraq -- In the marble-floored home of a tribal chieftain here in guerrilla-infested western Iraq, Lt. Col. Hector Mirabile dug into a big platter of rice, chicken and lamb. He shared the communal meal with a man whom the colonel's troops had arrested just a few weeks earlier for trying to get American soldiers killed.</p>

Officials Encouraged by Afghan Progress By Jim Garamone American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Nov. 4, 2003 – While Iraq is the central front of the war on terrorism, Afghanistan is a crucial theater also, DoD officials said today. More than 9,800 American service members continue to serve in Afghanistan, a place that Pentagon officials stress is still dangerous. An American Special Forces soldier was killed while operating with Afghan militia forces in Helmand province Oct. 30. The patrol made contact with a 10- to 15-member anti-coalition element. Coalition officials said the patrol engaged in a six-hour firefight and had...

CBS’s Bob Schieffer channels Tom Daschle. Last Tuesday, following President Bush’s press conference, Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle complained about Bush’s claim of progress in Iraq: "If this is progress, I don't know how much more progress we can take." Sunday, on Face the Nation, Schieffer echoed Daschle, “If this is winning, you have to ask the question: How much of this 'winning’ can we stand?” Schieffer’s full question to Republican Senator Richard Lugar: “The President said this week that we are winning and that this violence just shows that the other side is getting desperate. But if this is...

President Bush on Monday blamed the ongoing guerrilla attacks in Iraq on terrorists trying to intimidate the United States, and he vowed to "never run" from the mounting chaos and casualties. Bush gave two speeches in Alabama and made no specific reference to the helicopter downing on Sunday that killed 16 soldiers, the single deadliest attack against U.S. troops in Iraq. A senior aide said the president kept his remarks broad to "reflect reality without getting bogged down in one day's headlines." With polls showing a growing number of voters questioning the human and monetary costs of the occupation, Bush...

The United States and its allies are chewing their way through terror networks on every populated continent. On any given day, international terrorists and their leaders are surrendering, being captured or killed. Terrorist commanders from Iraq to Indonesia face life sentences in prison or await execution. Those who remain find their networks in tatters, their funding sources starting to dry up and fewer places to hide. Things have changed in the two years since 9/11. The terrorists now are the prey, though still a dangerous one.

On the dock of Abu Fulus port, 20 miles south of Basra, Bassem Saghair deftly works the controls of a crane as he unloads air-conditioning units from the hold of the Hussaini. The ship is one of a dozen crowding the waterfront that have sailed from Dubai up the Shatt al-Arab River laden with consumer goods. Saghair, 15, quit school for this job, which pays $360 a month, double the highest salary any Iraqi official earns from U.S.-occupation authorities. "Life is not bad," says Saghair, with a shy smile spreading under the beginnings of a mustache. Abu Fulus, which means...

Baghdad, Iraq Press, November 2, 2003 – Since the downfall of President Saddam Hussein, Iraqis have been relying on foreign broadcasts for news on events in their own country. And their major source of news is the Arabic versions of a Persian satellite television service from neighboring Iran, which many Iraqis can have access to without satellite dishes. But the monopoly of foreign media may soon come to an end as a group of Iraqi entrepreneurs have announced plans to set up a new television channel whose 24-hour broadcasts will initially cover the whole country. The investors, who have already...

<p>MOSUL, Iraq -- "Don't expect me to go on television to express gratitude," declared Iraqi historian Jazeel Abd al-Jabbar al-Jomard.</p> <p>U.S.-led forces ousted Saddam Hussein, a man Mr. Jomard despised, and helped rebuild the scholar's looted Mosul University, Iraq's second-largest. None of that has changed the short, thickset, 51-year-old professor's vehement opposition to Washington's policy and actions in the Middle East.</p>

Live coverage right now from Iraq. Good news but the leftwing media is still trying to dig up trouble where there is none.

<p>Basra, Iraq -- Over the past month, more than a dozen former senior members of Saddam Hussein's government have been shot dead in the streets of this normally peaceful city -- two of them this week alone, both shot in the head at close range.</p>