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WASHINGTON, May 12, 2006 – The Defense Department has been working hard with Congress for the past several months and has reached some conclusions about how the fee system for military health care should be changed, a top DoD official said here yesterday. "It's universally agreed that there is a serious issue, a serious problem, with the growing health care costs within the Department of Defense, and the potential adverse impact that that might have to sustain our great health benefit," Dr. William Winkenwerder Jr., assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, said in an interview. DoD has had a...

WASHINGTON, May 10, 2006 – Afghanistan has come a long way toward peace and stability since Operation Enduring Freedom began four and a half years ago, the commander of Combined Forces Command Afghanistan said here today. "Viewed from the baseline of October 2001, the start of Operation Enduring Freedom, progress made in Afghanistan to date is significant," U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Karl W. Eikenberry said during a Pentagon news conference. The growing and improving Afghan national security forces and ongoing reconstruction projects across the country are concrete evidence of progress, he said. The general said the international community must remain...

Nuri al-Maliki has not yet named his government but his progress report on Tuesday gave Iraqis a glimpse of the brisk style and inclusive discourse that have already won their new prime minister respect in many quarters. Two weeks after his nomination ended months of deadlock over his close ally and predecessor Ibrahim al-Jaafari, observers are struck by the night-and-day difference between the two Shi'ite Islamists in their approach to public appearances -- a contrast that some say extends to their handling of political affairs. Stepping promptly into the parliamentary chamber, Maliki gave a brief presentation on Tuesday, saying he...

BAGHDAD, May 6, 2006 – Coalition officials call it the "measles chart" -- a map of Iraq showing all the planned, in-progress and completed infrastructure projects that makes the country look like it has developed a case of the measles. Green is good on the chart. That indicates completed projects, and most of the dots, triangles, squares and diamonds on the map are green. Yellow means the projects are started, and there is a scattering of those around the country. Red means "planned - not started," and there are some of those - mostly in Anbar province and in eastern...

ABU Musab al-Zarqawi, the al-Qaeda chieftain in Iraq (or maybe not, see below), is changing tactics, said London's Sunday Times. Al-Zarqawi "is attempting to set up his own mini-army and move away from individual suicide attacks to a more organized resistance movement," wrote Michael Smith. Col. John Gronski of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard indicated why the change in tactics isn't such a good idea. Colonel Gronski is commander of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the Pennsylvania Guard's 28th Infantry Division, stationed in Ar Ramadi. Iraqi troops supported by Colonel Gronski's soldiers killed more than 100 insurgents in a...

HADITHA, Iraq (May 5, 2006) -- Since their arrival in the Al Anbar Province nearly two months ago, Marines here say Iraqi Security Forces are progressing toward relieving Coalition Forces and stabilizing the region. In this rural region along the Euphrates River valley, the transition from U.S.-led to Iraqi-led military operations is well on its way, according to one U.S. Marine who has spent nearly two months mentoring Iraqi soldiers in this region. But the atmosphere in this portion of western Al Anbar Province has changed since Saddam Hussein was removed from office in 2003. Instead of daily fire fights...

WASHINGTON, May 4, 2006 – Afghan national security forces are building capabilities every day and will soon be able to provide security for their country and be a strong partner in the war on terrorism, two U.S. and Afghan generals involved in training the forces said in a news briefing from Afghanistan today. The country's national security forces, including the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police, now number more than 60,000 and are conducting successful joint operations, said U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Robert Durbin, commander of Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan. The Afghan National Army is being built from...

HUSAYBAH, Iraq (May 3, 2006) -- Security, safety, and quality of life – three key elements to the continuing progress in this region of Iraq’s Al Anbar Province, according to local Iraqi leadership. Once a week, local sheiks and city officials meet with Iraqi Army and Coalition Forces officials in this small town near the Iraqi-Jordanian border, to discuss these topics and overall progress in this region along the Euphrates River. It’s also an opportunity for the city and tribal leaders to address any potential problems which might hinder that progress. At the latest of these town-hall-style meetings held April...

Iraqi politicians involved in negotiations on the formation of a new government said on Wednesday that an agreement on the top five ministries is close. The main political blocs hope to overcome wrangling over positions to form a government of national unity that will attempt to tackle sectarian violence and the battered economy and repair a crippled infrastructure to provide basic services. Nuri al-Maliki, the prime minister-designate from the dominant Shi'ite Islamist Alliance, has until May 22 to present a cabinet to parliament -- a month from his nomination, which ended months of political stalemate after an election in December....

BAGHDAD, Iraq (Army News Service, May 1, 2006) – For only the second time at the Iraqi Military Academy Al Rustamiyah, a class of newly commissioned lieutenants graduated the 12-month Officer Basic Course April 26. The class of 158 Iraqi officers – twice as many as the first class – will now attend specific branch training before being assigned to units throughout the country. The year-long course included detailed instruction on such basic soldiering skills as weaponry, small-unit tactics, communications and decision-making. The primary goal, according to academy leaders, was to prepare the officers to function effectively as small-unit leaders...

Iraqis continue to show their mettle in engagements with anti-Iraqi forces, and continue to take over battlespace from Coalition forces. Prime Minister-designate al-Maliki said this week that he hopes to have a unity government in place within a week. This news has led to reports that the U.S. will be able to significantly decrease our troops in Iraq by the end of this year. In addition, the improved security conditions in Iraq have allowed Iraqis to carry on with their lives. The continuing handover of battlespace to Iraqis is a promising trend. In the Maysan province, British troops expect to...

WASHINGTON, April 30, 2006 – Coalition and Afghan forces have found many weapons caches, taken suspected insurgents into custody, and provided medical care to civilians in recent operations in Afghanistan. Successes continue in the Afghan government's "Peace through Strength" program, designed to encourage reconciliation with legitimate authorities. The program allows Afghans to reconcile with provincial and national authorities at any time by turning in illicit arms and pledging allegiance to the legitimate Afghan government. In return, the Afghans become eligible for allied employment and assistance programs. Sixteen local nationals turned in a variety of weapons April 22. The Afghans,...

BANI DA HAR, Iraq (April 26, 2006) -- It was pitch dark when four insurgents were captured in this town of 3,000 nestled along the Euphrates River in Iraq’s Al Anbar Province. With the prisoners secured and on their way to a detention facility; Iraqi soldiers celebrated the achievement with stoic professionalism. They’re proud of the fact more insurgents are off the streets of this small town, and that they captured the bandits without the assistance of the U.S. Marines – which has been an uncommon occurrence in the few years since the end of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003....

BAGHDAD, Iraq (April 25, 2006) – Iraqi Security Forces this week again demonstrated an increased role in the security of this country as they continue to assume more responsibility, build capabilities and foster trust within Iraqi communities. During a transfer of authority ceremony April 24 at Forward Operating Base Hotel, the Iraqi Army’s 1st Brigade, 8th Division, assumed security responsibility for nearly 11,583-square-mile area of the An Najaf Province. Col. Saadi Saleh Muhsin of 1st Brigade and Col. Majeed Muhammed Hannoon of 2nd Brigade each assumed responsibility for a battalion sized area of operations as witnessed by Najaf Governor Assad...

The selection of a compromise prime minister in Iraq is a major victory for that country’s fledgling political class, and for the Bush administration. Purveyors of doom on Iraq now have some explaining to do: If the country is in the midst of a full-scale civil war fatal to our project there, how is it that elected representatives of the major factions were able to sit down and hammer out an agreement on the top positions in a national unity government? Iraq pessimists act like they have a special immunity from ever having to recalibrate their view of the conflict,...

WASHINGTON, April 23, 2006 – After months of deadlock, Iraq reached an "important milestone" in its journey toward democracy with an agreement on top leadership posts for a national unity government, President Bush said yesterday. The parliament elected a president, two vice presidents, a parliament speaker and two deputies yesterday. President Jalal Talabani then named Jawad al Maliki as prime minister-designate. "This agreement represents compromise and consensus among many different Iraqi groups and it came after months of patient negotiations," Bush said in a speech at the California Highway Patrol Academy in Sacramento. "The agreement reflects the will of the...

Moving Closer To Success In IraqIraq: Can Americans handle good news from Baghdad? We may soon see, as Iraqi politicians finally move toward forming a new government. The major good news from the past week was the decision by Ibrahim Jaafari to step aside and let his fellow Shiites name someone less divisive as their choice for prime minister. At this writing, his aide Jawad al-Maliki was in line for the post. Sunni Arab and Kurd leaders seemed willing to accept al-Maliki in the interest of unity. So why are we concerned that the public and politicians back in the...

Iraqi Police have trained more like para-military forces than conventional police officers. U.S. Police Transition Teams continue to work with Iraqi police officers, training them in police techniques such as handcuffing and making arrests to help prepare the IPs for their conventional role. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Brent Williams   High-Res Image Iraqi Police Take the Lead in Baghdad The Iraqi Police Force fights a faceless enemy but demonstrates daily the ability to rapidly respond to terrorist and criminal activity. By U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Brent Williams 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division BAGHDAD, Iraq, April 21, 2006...

AL-QAEDA chief Osama bin Laden operates in an increasingly narrow area along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region, US spy chief John Negroponte said. "I think he's operating from a narrower and narrower corner of space in that Pakistan-Afghanistan border area," Mr Negroponte told NBC television's Today Show. Asked what worried him most, he replied: "It's the international terrorists. It's al-Qaeda. What is it we don't know?" The former ambassador to Iraq oversees 16 spy agencies - including the CIA - as the first director of national intelligence, a post set up as part of an effort to reform counter-terrorism efforts after...

WASHINGTON - President Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao failed Thursday to break new ground toward resolving differences over trade and nuclear standoffs with Iran and North Korea during a meeting marred by a protest. No breakthroughs had been expected at the meeting — Hu's first visit to the White House, and both he and Bush acknowledged at a picture-taking session that much work remained to be done and that the two sides would strive for progress in these areas. A welcoming ceremony on the South Lawn for Hu's first visit as Chinese leader was briefly marred by the screams...