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Iraq Reconstruction Moving Ahead Again By Donna MilesAmerican Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, May 25, 2004 -- Security challenges in Iraq put a significant wrinkle into reconstruction efforts in early spring, but work is once again progressing rapidly on $5 billion in contracts awarded in March, the U.S. head of reconstruction in Iraq told Pentagon reporters May 24. Retired Navy Rear Adm. David J. Nash, director of the Iraq Program Management Office in Baghdad, said rebuilding continued throughout the tumultuous April 9 timeframe, even when 75 percent of the Iraqi workforce stopped showing up for work due to security concerns....

Falluja Leaders Say City Is Now Safest in Iraq 50 minutes ago Add World - Reuters to My Yahoo! By Ibon Villelabeitia FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters) - A month after hundreds were killed in fierce clashes between U.S. Marines and guerrillas, Falluja's leaders said Thursday the city is the safest in Iraq (news - web sites) and invited U.S. contractors back to rebuild it. Latest headlines: · Bush Says Iraqis Ready to Take Power AP - 2 minutes ago · Pelosi Criticizes Bush on Iraq Policies AP - 6 minutes ago · U.N. Investigates Oil-For-Food Corruption AP - 12 minutes ago...

As promised, on Fox News Sunday, in reaction to Nightline’s April 30 listing of the names of those killed in Iraq, Chris Wallace delivered a “What We’ve Accomplished” segment on his program. Wallace listed “ending the brutal regime of Saddam Hussein,” including “ending the systematic torture and murder of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis,” “ending the theft of billions of dollars from the Iraqi people” and “ending the threat that weapons of mass destruction will be developed and used”; Second, “quality of life” as “daily life has improved dramatically for the average Iraqi since the fall of Saddam” as “2,500...

CAIRO (Reuters) - Arab foreign ministers Monday endorsed the concept of democracy and human rights in a document prepared for an Arab summit expected to take place in Tunis this month, the Algerian foreign minister said. Abdelaziz Belkhadem told reporters after three days of talks at Arab League headquarters that the document also called for an independent judiciary and promoting civil society, and covered the status of women in the Arab world. "The most important features of the draft declaration is that it asserts the need to develop the Arab system of government and civil society ... in the field...

THE old Left has adopted "apologist" as its insult du jour. You hear and read constantly: "He's just an apologist for . . ." Context defines the word as propagandist or lying scoundrel. Mostly it is applied to people who don't see doom for the US and its allies in Iraq. I have myself been denounced recently as an apologist – for the Pope primarily, Iraq subsidiarily. Consulting the New Shorter Oxford, I found an apologist is "one who defends another, a belief, etc., by argument". This sounded respectable. Indeed, it brought to mind Sir Lancelot's entrance song in Camelot:...

  Bremer Names Former Anti-Saddam Activist as New Governor of Najaf By Rudi WilliamsAmerican Forces Press ServiceWASHINGTON, May 6, 2004 – A former prisoner of the Saddam Hussein regime who returned to Iraq from exile last year has been appointed as the new governor of Najaf province, coalition administrator Ambassador L. Paul Bremer III announced today in Baghdad. Emphasizing that Iraqi authorities and the coalition are cooperating to reaffirm the rule of law and to restore order to the middle Euphrates area, Bremer said Adnan al- Zurufi's appointment will enhance that cooperation. Bremer said he appointed Zurufi as Najaf's...

<p>May 7, 2004 -- THE last time I was in Iraq, I met with a delegation of graduate students from Baghdad's best universities. Two hours into the discussion, one student said something extraordinary to me. He likened us to "doctors" and Iraq to a "patient" who needed radical surgery: "You [Americans] have started the operation. We are on the operating table. You can't leave now. You've got to finish," he pleaded.</p>

Bush Defends Declaring End to Iraq Combat 1 hour, 47 minutes ago Add White House - AP to My Yahoo! By TERENCE HUNT, AP White House Correspondent WASHINGTON - President Bush (news - web sites) on Friday defended his speech a year ago on the deck of an aircraft carrier proclaiming the end of major combat in Iraq (news - web sites) and said "we're making progress, you bet" in bringing stability to the war-torn country. AP Photo Reuters Photo Slideshow: President Bush Latest headlines: · Kerry Says Bush Ignoring Imminent Threats AP - 40 minutes ago · Kerry Says...

Rumsfeld Cites Progress, Opportunity for Iraqi People By John D. BanusiewiczAmerican Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, April 30, 2004 – Acknowledging that the road to a free and sovereign Iraq is "bumpy," Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld pointed to a year of progress and said the Iraqi people have a "wonderful opportunity." Appearing on the MSNBC program "Hardball" April 29, Rumsfeld told host Chris Matthews that "amazing things" have happened in Iraq since Saddam Hussein was driven from power. "They've got a new currency," the secretary said. "They've got the schools open. They've got the hospitals open. They've got...

<p>HUSAYBAH, Iraq - As Marines commemorated the lives of five of their fallen comrades Thursday, some say that they may have turned a corner in their relationship with residents of the troublesome city of Husaybah.</p> <p>Marines say formerly truculent residents have begun waving and greeting them cordially, just days after some of the fiercest fighting and after Marines conducted harsh door-to-door searches of homes.</p>

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A red Hyundai sports coupe graces Iraq's first new car showroom, opened last week as violence rose to levels not seen since the war began. "We have sold 38 Hyundais already, but no coupes. They are considered too flashy in these circumstances," said Nihad Abdul Rahman, assistant general manager of Al-Kasid, exclusive agents for selling Hyundai Motor Company cars in Iraq. "Iraqis are looking for something affordable and reliable, and Hyundai fits the bill," he said after selling a $10,200 Elantra to a retired officer. ... But Khalaf Ganabi, the retired officer who bought the Elantra, was...

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) - Algeria has come a long way from years of relentless massacres by Islamic insurgents and a military lock on power, but some analysts say true democracy remains a dream for the new U.S. ally despite President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's landslide re-election. With many Algerians feeling disenfranchised, few political observers expect much change in this north African country, a top provider of natural gas to the northeastern United States. They say real power rests with a tiny cadre of military and political elites. Thursday's contest was billed as a crucial test of democracy, and foreign observers - though...

Iraq: Deminers Clear 1 Million Mines, Bombs From North, But Daunting Task Remains By Charles Recknagel Deminers say they have cleared 1 million mines and pieces of unexploded ordnance in northern Iraq since the toppling of Saddam Hussein a year ago. That is noteworthy progress toward removing a menace that today kills or injures at least 20 people a month in the area. But it also is a measure of how much still remains to be done. Prague, 26 March 2004 (RFE/RL) -- The largest international demining organization working in northern Iraq says it has cleared and destroyed 1 million...

Update from Iraq U.S./Coalition Forces including the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps (ICDC) are making great strides this week in Iraq. Due to all the coverage in the news we (TF 185th) felt it necessary to give a mid-week update and explain what’s really going on over here. We will cover two issues: The Fallujah situation and Shiite Muslim cleric Sadr situation. These situations are fully under control and will ultimately have a pro U.S./Coalition outcome. Conflict in Fallujah. For some time, the city has been used as a safe haven for former Saddam loyalists, foreign terrorists, criminals, and anyone else...

  Baghdad International Police Academy graduates second class By Cpl. Benjamin Cossel BAGHDAD, Iraq (Army News Service, April 6, 2004) -- After completing eight physically and mentally demanding weeks of training, 479 men and women officially joined the Iraqi Police Service during a graduation ceremony at the Baghdad Police Academy April 1st. This class was the second to graduate from the International Police Academy since the program’s inception in December of 2003. So far, 945 academy graduates -- men and women -- have joined the ranks of the Iraqi Police Service. “You, the men and women of the Iraqi...

Facts: 1.Educational Reform in Iraq. The Ministry of Education is back in the hands of Iraqis today. The Ministry has made remarkable progress in reforming the country's schools. More than 5.5 million children are back in the classroom, and girls now outnumber boys. Overall attendance during exam week was 97 percent. Teachers that were once bound to Saddam's propaganda now encourage open discussion, critical thinking, and the scientific method. This is the second ministry to transition to direct Iraqi control and represents a major milestone towards Iraqi self-government. 2.New Iraqi Customs Service The new Customs Service is making it easier...

A soldier assures us: Our progress is amazing By JOE ROCHE I'm a soldier with the U.S. Army serving in the 16th Combat Engineer Battalion in Baghdad. The news you are hearing stateside is awfully depressing and negative. The reality is we are accomplishing a tremendous amount here, and the Iraqi people are not only benefiting greatly, but are enthusiastically supportive. My job is mostly to be the driver of my platoon's lead Humvee. I see the missions our Army is performing, and I interact closely with the Iraqi people. Because of this, I know how successful and important our...

Iraqi polls bring secular success Jonathan Steele in Nassiriya Monday April 5, 2004 The Guardian Herded into lines by inexperienced police officers, hundreds of would-be Iraqi voters pushed into a sparsely equipped school at the weekend to cast their ballots for the local council of Tar. Deep in the marshlands of the Euphrates, the town of 15,000 people was the first to rise against Saddam Hussein in the abortive intifada of 1991. Now it was holding the first genuine election in its history. The poll was the latest in a series which this overwhelmingly Shia province has held in the...

WASHINGTON, April 2, 2004 – The "horrible, bestial" acts of a few people in Fallujah shouldn't obscure the significant gains the coalition has made in Iraq, said Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt during a phone interview from Baghdad today. "It is important to remember that Fallujah is a small part of the country, and the people who did this are just a very, very small part of the population there," said Kimmitt, deputy operations director for Combined Joint Task Force 7. The general said the vast majority of the Iraqi people have expressed their "outrage and shame" about the mutilation of...

  PRESS RELEASECoalition Provisional Authorityhttp://www.iraqcoalition.org April 1, 2004 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Mike Hardiman 914-360-6864 Hardimanm@orha.centcom.mil  Optimists Club Organizes Baghdad ChapterOptimists International can now claim Baghdad, Iraq as the home of its most recently organized chapter. Founded in 1919 with chapters in 28 countries, Optimists is a service organization best known for “bringing out the best in kids.” The new chapter held its organizational meeting at the former palace of Saddam Hussein, now the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) Headquarters in Baghdad. A group of 28 civilian CPA staff and Iraqi nationals attended. The meeting began with folk music entertainment...