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TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Two New Jerseyans just back from tours of duty in Iraq see hopeful signs amid the chaos in the war-torn country. The men, both with ties to South Jersey, were in Iraq to help with the rebuilding. Army First Lt. Yash Sinha of Bordentown helped oversee repairs of water and sanitation systems. Navy Lt. Brian Lindoerfer, a native of Pitman, assessed coalition buildings used to support the reconstruction. "I'm optimistic things will be better for the people there," Sinha, 29, told The Philadelphia Inquirer for Monday's editions. "About 80 percent of the Iraqis are very happy...

TO HEAR the media tell it, virtually nothing in Iraq is going right. Suicide terrorism, Abu Ghraib, sabotaged pipelines, swelling anti-American sentiment — the coverage has focused on almost all bad news, almost all the time. But don't be fooled. There are plenty of good-news stories in Iraq, too. Here are half a dozen. Moqtada al-Sadr's uprising is kaput. The firebrand cleric issued a statement on Wednesday directing his gunmen to stop fighting and go home. If they comply, the bloody rebellion he launched in April will have ended in failure. Sadr never managed to win mass support among Iraq's...

June 19, 2004 It's a Dirty Job, but They Do It, Secretly, in IraqBy JAMES GLANZ AGHDAD, Iraq, June 18 — It was an engineering success on the order of stringing the first cables for the Brooklyn Bridge or coaxing the first glimmer of starlight through some giant telescope to unravel the structure of the universe. But when it occurred late last month, the achievement remained cloaked in absolute secrecy, marked only by a quiet celebration among participants who may remain forever unknown to history.Raw sewage was treated in Baghdad.The stream of treated water that eventually found its way into...

MacDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - President Bush (news - web sites) gave a pep talk on Wednesday to U.S. forces in Afghanistan (news - web sites) and Iraq (news - web sites), claiming steady progress toward democracy in both countries despite a surge in violence in Iraq. "The future of a free Iraq is now coming into view," Bush told several thousand troops in a giant hangar at this waterfront Tampa, Fla., air base that is home to the U.S. Central Command. "A democratic free Iraq is on the way." His remarks were beamed to troops in Iraq and...

  U.S. Army General Dubbed Father of the Iraqi Army By U.S. Army Sgt. Jared Zabaldo / Office of Security Transition   BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 14, 2004 — Less than a year ago an unassuming man from Weatherford, Okla., arrived in this country to guide an organization that didn’t even exist – to build an army that wasn’t there.There was no plan, no force, and only slight guidance.And 363 days later – despite a host of staggering setbacks and difficulties with logistics, contractors, funding, cultural differences and a plan that changed in scope, size and overall delivery – Iraq’s...

The war in Iraq was no longer the negative for the government that it once was, Prime Minister John Howard told his party room today. A spokesman for the joint Liberal-National party room said Mr Howard had told members and senators the situation in Iraq had improved in recent weeks. Last month, Mr Howard admitted to the party room Iraq was a political negative for the government. But he now believed that was changing. "He had previously said that Iraq was a negative, but felt that in the past two weeks we have begun to see a turnaround," the spokesman...

Cheney Cites Progress in Afghanistan, Iraq By Sgt. 1st Class Doug Sample, USAAmerican Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, June 14, 2004 – Citing recent and upcoming events, Vice President Dick Cheney told a group in Florida today that the United States has made tremendous progress in Afghanistan and Iraq. Cheney spoke at the James Madison Institute, a Florida-based research and educational organization. "Who could have conceived that we would see the president of Afghanistan addressing a joint session of Congress, as Hamid Karzai will (June 15), to express his gratitude to the American people for the liberation of his nation?"...

The President's Plan for Iraq President Bush has outlined a five-step plan for Iraqi sovereignty. The President's plan calls for:  (1) handing over authority to a sovereign Iraqi government; (2) helping establish the stability and security in Iraq that democracy requires; (3) continuing to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure; (4) encouraging more international support; and (5) moving toward free, national elections that will bring forward new leaders empowered by the Iraqi people.  This past week proved that the President's Iraq plan is working - and that the international community is coming together to help the Iraqi people secure their future.  UN Security...

NOTE: Vice President Cheney will deliver remarks today on progress in the War on Terror at 11:30 a.m. from Orlando, Florida. BACKGROUND:Progress In IraqThe Iraqi People Are Moving Forward To Achieve Democracy: Iraq now has designated Iyad Allawi as prime minister, Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer as president, and two deputy presidents.  They will lead a government of 33 ministers that will take office immediately in preparation for transfer of full sovereignty on June 30. The United States and our allies, working with the United Nations, will help Iraq's new government prepare for national elections by January of 2005. President...

  Team effort fuels success in Iraq by Maj. Rich Doyle Air Education and Training Command Office of the Inspector General 6/8/2004 - RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFPN) -- Like many of my Air Force teammates, I recently returned from a four-month deployment to Iraq where we are helping to rebuild a nation ruined by a tyrant and to transform it from a bastion of terror to a free democracy. I consider my experience supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom to be one of the most worthwhile endeavors of my career, so I was very surprised by the pessimistic attitude regarding OIF among my...

Obsessed by bombs and bullets, the West ignores a political renaissance, says Amir Taheri, newly returned from Iraq Iraq today is no bed of roses, I know. I have just come back from a tour of the country. But I don’t recognise the place I have just visited as the war zone depicted by the Arab and western media.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq (news - web sites)'s most influential Shiite figure gave tacit endorsement to the U.N.-appointed government Thursday, breaking nearly three months of silence over the country's political future. But the supreme religious leader in neighboring Iran dubbed the body a "lackey" of America The opposing statements coincided with an eighth straight day of fighting in the holy Shiite city of Kufa between U.S. soldiers and militiamen loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. At least six Iraqis were killed and 11 injured, hospital and militia officials said. Three U.S. soldiers were wounded. Late Thursday, Shiite negotiators who have...

NAJAF, Iraq (AP) - Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric gave his tacit endorsement to the new interim government Thursday, and urged it to lobby the U.N. Security Council for full sovereignty to erase "all traces" of the American-run occupation. Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani did say that the new government, appointed Tuesday by a U.N. envoy, lacks the "legitimacy of elections" and does not represent "in an acceptable manner all segments of Iraqi society and political forces." "Nevertheless, it is hoped that this government will prove its efficiency and integrity and show resolve to carry out the enormous tasks that...

Whether Ahmed Chalabi or Iyad Alawi emerged as the interim Prime Minister of Iraq, liberals were going to be unhappy. Until the home of Iraqi National Congress director Ahmed Chalabi was raided by U.S. soldiers and Iraqi police, liberals hated him. They said he was a puppet of the Pentagon, that he fed the United States bad intelligence in order to promote war in Iraq, and that he was one of those dreaded “neocons” we keep hearing about. “Neocon pundits,” wrote David Olive in the Toronto Star, “see Ahmed Chalabi as America's best hope in post-war Iraq. But to many...

Iraqis took over control of civilian air traffic at Baghdad Airport yesterday, but they won't assume full responsibility for the country's airspace until later this year. The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) will retain control of most of Iraq's airspace during a five-step handover process. The transition to Iraqi civilian control is seen as essential to establishing an independent civilian aviation system (DAILY, May 10).

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A senior Bush administration official Tuesday hailed the appointment of a new Iraqi government and said the Coalition Provisional Authority would remain sovereign until June 30 to help the new leadership phase in. The official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity, also confirmed that the Iraqi Governing Council, in office since July, had voted to dissolve effective immediately to allow the new government to begin taking over its responsibilities. He also said the new Cabinet would begin negotiations on the status U.S. and other coalition forces in Iraq after June 30 "fairly soon." The official said...

WASHINGTON — Have you read the encouraging headlines from Iraq? "Monthly U.S. Combat Deaths Down by Half in May" is one. "Radical Shiite Cleric's Militia Decimated in Holy Cities" is another, and finally: "Iraqi Leaders, Defying U.S. and U.N. Dictates, Choose Prime Minister." No, those were not headlines anybody could see. In Gloomy Gus newsrooms, good news is no news. ***********SNIP************** [C]onsider the possibility, for a change, that on our Memorial Day, we have cause for cautious optimism. Rather than admit this, our dovish defeatists have turned themselves into the hardest of hardliners. **************SNIP************** Of course, if coalition forces were...

Arab Report: Despite War and Occupation, Political and Civil Rights Improving in Iraq The Associated Press Published: May 30, 2004 CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Associated PressDespite war and occupation, Iraq has seen a surge in human rights organizations, political parties and independent newspapers - entities almost unheard of under Saddam Hussein, said a report by an Arab think tank. The report by Egypt's Ibn Khaldoun Center for Development Studies welcomed the promise of elections, the freedom of expression and independence of the media but was careful not to credit the Americans for the progress. "Even though all indications of political...

Asphalt refinery rehabilitated Mosul, Iraq Press, May 29, 2004 – Iraq’s only asphalt refinery in Qayara has been rehabilitated after being idle for more than nine years. The refinery used to supply the bulk of Iraq’s needs of asphalt, a commodity the country urgently needs to maintain and expand its networks of roads and highways. Built in 1959, the refinery was bombed in 1986 during the war with Iran and had remained idle since. US army engineers spent half a million dollars to breathe life into the refinery and currently churns out 300 tons of asphalt a day. The refinery’s...

  Iraqi Helicopter Pilots Graduate from Flight Training   BAGHDAD, Iraq, May 27, 2004 — Nineteen Iraqi airmen will graduate today from flight training conducted at the Royal Jordanian Air Force in Amman, Jordan, according to Coalition Provisional Authority officials. The aviators will pilot helicopters in the fledgling Iraqi air force. All 19 airmen, pilots from the former regime, were offered and accepted an opportunity to join the new Iraqi air force in Jan. 2004. The candidates were immediately sent to Jordan to begin a two-phase training program-all 19 candidates will graduate May 27.Phase one of the flight training...