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BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. and Iraqi forces have captured or killed hundreds of followers of Iraq's most wanted terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in recent months, including 20 top lieutenants and other senior members, the U.S. military said Friday. U.S. forces believe they just missed capturing al-Zarqawi himself during a Feb. 20 raid that netted two of his associates and a computer believed to belong to him. The claim came amid a surge in insurgent attacks that have taken more than 270 lives since Iraq's first democratically elected government was sworn in April 28. The February raid took place west of...

IRAQ’S terrorist mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is losing support and his men are suffering from low morale, American officials claimed yesterday after seizing a letter apparently intended for the Jordanian militant. “Morale is down and there is fatigue among mujahidin ranks,” the letter, whose authenticity cannot be verified, said. It also admonished Zarqawi for “abandoning” his followers after the siege of Fallujah last year. The Pentagon said that the letter provided a “certain amount of proof that [Zarqawi’s] influence and effectiveness is waning”. Nonetheless, insurgents have launched a wave of deadly attacks in recent days, killing around 170 people between...

  Margaret Hassan's killers seized in IraqBy Lutfi Abu Oun BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. and Iraqi forces raided homes on the outskirts of Baghdad on Sunday and detained several men believed to be linked to the death of British aid worker Margaret Hassan, who was kidnapped and killed late last year. Iraqi police said the morning raids happened not far from Madaen, a town just south of Baghdad where insurgents have been active in recent weeks. They said 11 people were seized, at least five of whom had admitted complicity in Hassan's murder. The arrests, which may mark a small breakthrough...

An official source at Ministry of Electricity affirmed that work to belittle power-cut hours following re-linking 400KV power with the service. The source made it clear that Baghdad enjoys nowadays 4000MW power that can make the cut schedule 3 for 3 hours, adding that the ministry has imported many towers to cover the affected ones due to sabotage acts. The source concluded that with reforming activities in the whole country, the power level would raise up to six thousand Mega Watt in the coming June.

THE WASHINGTON TIMES The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said yesterday that U.S. and allied forces in Iraq are winning the war against former Saddam Hussein loyalists, foreign terrorists and criminals. "I'm going to say this: I think we are winning," Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers said during a briefing at the Pentagon. "I think we're definitely winning. I think we've been winning for some time." Although terrorist car bombings have increased, the four-star general said, the number of attacks "is a poor measure of whether you're winning or losing."

(IsraelNN.com) Ultra orthodox Satmar Jews and police clashed violently in Jerusalem today following Satmar members' road block protests against building of Highway 6. The protestors want work to stop until ancient graves are relocated. Video films showed that Satmar residents threw blocks and metal objects at police, who burst through a synagogue and violently beat several people in order to free a policeman who was trapped in the synagogue. Filmed pictures showed police overturning tables in the synagogue and kicking people even after the policeman had been rescued.

WASHINGTON — The ability of Iraqi insurgents to attack U.S. troops and Iraqi civilians has remained constant over the last year, but American forces are slowly gaining better intelligence about them, top Pentagon officials said Tuesday. After a lull that followed Iraq's national election in January, the Pentagon has acknowledged that there has been a recent surge in attacks. Arms and money continue to flow to guerrillas, ensuring that they remain a potent force, officials say. "I think their capacity stays about the same, and where they are right now is where they were almost a year ago," said Air...

Baghdad / Al Ahali: Dr. Aiham Al Samera’i, minister of electricity, confirmed that the ministry engineering and technical cadres recently managed the provision of 2800 megawatts through the introducing of a number of new electric units besides the rehabilitation of other units. In press statements, he added that 2800 additional Megawatts are operating now. A portion of it would be pumped, these days, to the electric system and that these additional quantities would participate in increasing the hours of providing citizens with electricity and the increase of the distribution ratio. He confirmed that the next month would witness the opening...

Iraqi Security Forces Top 155,000; Positive Trends Continue By Jim Garamone American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, April 22, 2005 – There are more than 155,000 "trained and equipped" members of the Iraqi security forces, and trends are clearly positive, a senior defense official said during a Pentagon background briefing today. What's more, U.S. troop strength in Iraq went under 140,000 this week with the completion of the rotation of forces in and out of the country, he said. And, while there has been an increase in the number of attacks in Iraq, it is small, and coalition and Iraqi officials...

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - America's senior military commander in Afghanistan predicted Saturday the near-total collapse of the Taliban insurgency within a year, but he cautioned that militants remain a danger and could stage a "high-visibility attack" in coming months. Lt. Gen. David Barno, speaking at a news conference, did not give any details about a potential attack or say if he had specific intelligence about one. "As these terrorist capabilities grow more and more limited, the hard-core fanatics will grow more and more desperate to try and do something to change the course of events in Afghanistan," Barno told a...

When it comes to reporting on the Iraq War, the Old Media might as well be an appendage of the anti-war wing of the Democratic Party. It is astonishing how little coverage we've seen of the positive trend there over the last few months. I realize many just chalk up the media's emphasis on bad news as intrinsic to journalism: the attitude that if nothing is going wrong, it's not really newsworthy. But that just doesn't wash. How could anyone seriously contend that a reduction in the anarchy isn't newsworthy? What could be more important than signs indicating we might...

More foreign terrorists are entering Iraq, as al Qaeda desperately tries to maintain its level of operations with less cooperation from Iraqis. Interrogations of captured terrorists and information from informants and electronic monitoring indicates that the al Qaeda effort is faltering. Al Qaeda is having an increasingly difficult time getting Iraqis to participate in attacks that might kill Iraqis. This is apparently behind two recent large scale attacks on American troops. One was an ambush, involving over 40 attackers. Most of the attackers were killed when the American MP escort got into action. One of the MP NCOs who led...

Amid the danger for U.S. troops and civilians in Iraq there's also plenty of hope: The American mission includes reconstruction projects that are revitalizing parts of Iraqi society, especially the schools. Iraqi schoolchildren are eager to learn, and many people say the country's school system is one of the bright spots in the wake of the U.S.-led invasion two years ago. But there is still much to do. Most of Iraq's schools are still run down and out of date. According to the Ministry of Education, 5,000 additional schools are needed, and repairs are required at 80 percent of existing...

(AP) — There are growing signs of hostility between secular Iraqi insurgents and Muslim extremists — some of them foreigners — fighting under the banner of al-Qaida. In Ramadi, the capital of Anbar Province and a stronghold of the insurgency, homegrown Iraqi fighters have begun recently to air their differences in menacing fliers plastered on walls and distributed in mosques — making threats and denouncing the tactics of the extremists, according to witnesses who have seen the fliers. Some of the fliers threaten reprisals against the militants or threaten to inform police of their identity and whereabouts. Ramadi's insurgents argue...

More foreign terrorists are entering Iraq, as al Qaeda desperately tries to maintain its level of operations. This effort is faltering. Al Qaeda is having an increasingly difficult time getting Iraqis to participate in attacks that might kill Iraqis. This is apparently behind two recent large scale attacks on American troops. One was an ambush, involving over 40 attackers. Most of the attackers were killed when the American MP escort got into action. One of the MP NCOs who led this counterattack is likely to get a medal for her bravery, and the way she drilled her troops beforehand to...

ASHINGTON, March 30 - A Department of Homeland Security internal report that assesses terrorist organizations, their anticipated targets and preferred weapons concludes that the threat to the United States presented by North Korea and several other countries long described as "state sponsors of terrorism" is declining. "In the post-9/11 environment, countries do not appear to be facilitating or supporting terrorist groups intent on striking the U.S. homeland," says the draft report, which is intended to help the Homeland Security agency define its spending priorities through 2011.Of the six nations identified by the State Department as terrorist sponsors, five of them...

He's speaking now.

March 29, 2005: The U.S. is spending $83 to upgrade two of the 14 airbases it uses in Afghanistan. The main base, Bagram, north of the capital, and Kandahar, in the south, will get most of the money. Shindand air base, near the Iranian border, is being turned over to NATO forces that are taking over in western Afghanistan. About 150 American warplanes operate inside Afghanistan, plus some heavy bombers (B-52s and B-1s) that fly in from Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. March 26, 2005: More Taliban are surrendering, and the government expects about a thousand to openly turn...

23 gunmen killed, arrested in blast and search operations south of BaghdadBAGHDAD, March 27 (KUNA) -- Seven gunmen were killed and 16 others were arrested Sunday in wide-scale blast and search operations executed by Iraqi and US forces south of here. Security spokesperson told reporters that the blast and search operations were carried out in Haswa, Iskandaria, Msayyab and other areas in northern Babylon Province with the support of US helicopters. (Excerpt) Read more at Kuwait News Agency ... Four protestors, suicide bomber die, 53 terror suspects arrested in IraqMeanwhile, Iraqi Army forces backed by Multinational troops arrested 53 terror...

Iraqi resistance begins to crack after elections Jason Burke, chief reporter Sunday March 27, 2005 The Observer The Iraqi resistance has peaked and is 'turning in on itself', according to recent intelligence reports from Baghdad received by Middle Eastern intelligence agencies. The reports are the most optimistic for several months and reflect analysts' sense that recent elections in Iraq marked a 'quantum shift'. They will boost the government in the run-up to the expected general election in May. Though the reports predict that violence against coalition troops and local forces is likely to continue for the foreseeable future, at least...