U.S. Struggling to Get Soldiers Improved Armor

By MICHAEL MOSS, The New York Times, Published: August 14, 2005

For the second time since the Iraq war began, the Pentagon is struggling to replace body armor that is failing to protect American troops from the most lethal attacks by insurgents.
The ceramic plates in vests worn by most personnel cannot withstand certain munitions the insurgents use. But more than a year after military officials initiated an effort to replace the armor with thicker, more resistant plates, tens of thousands of soldiers are still without the stronger protection because of a string of delays in the Pentagon's procurement system.
The effort to replace the armor began in May 2004, just months after the Pentagon finished supplying troops with the original plates - a process also plagued by delays. The officials disclosed the new armor effort Wednesday after questioning by The New York Times, and acknowledged that it would take several more months or longer to complete.
Citing security concerns, the officials declined to say exactly how many more of the stronger plates were needed, or how much armor had already been shipped to Iraq.
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Bush gets first look at anti-war protest near ranch

By Patricia Wilson, Reueters, Fri Aug 12, 2005 3:51 PM ET

CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) - President George W. Bush got his first look at an anti-war vigil near his ranch on Friday as his motorcade took him by the protest site lined with small white crosses representing fallen American soldiers in Iraq.
When Bush's black sport utility vehicle carried him past the site to a Republican fund-raiser, the protest leader, Cindy Sheehan, whose son was one of the nearly 1,850 U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq, held up a sign that said: "Why do you make time for donors and not for me?"
Other signs said: "Iraq is Arabic for Vietnam," "Bring Them Home Now" and "Meet With Cindy."
The protest vigil began last Saturday and is being led by Sheehan, who has been demanding a meeting with Bush to discuss her opposition to the Iraq war.
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No Evidence Pentagon Knew of Atta, Panel Says: 9/11 Probers Reject Claims on Lead Hijacker

By Dan Eggen, Washington Post Staff Writer, Saturday, August, 13, 2005; Page A03

Investigators for the Sept. 11 commission have found no evidence to support allegations by a House Republican that lead hijacker Mohamed Atta was identified by a classified Pentagon program before the 2001 attacks, according to a commission statement issued last night.
Commission leaders Thomas H. Kean (R) and Lee H. Hamilton (D) said in the joint statement that panel staff members have found no documents or other witnesses to back up claims made by a U.S. Navy officer, who told the commission staff in July 2004 that he recalled seeing Atta's name and photograph on a chart prepared by another officer. Panel officials also said they have found no evidence to support similar claims made to reporters by a second person, a former defense intelligence official.
"None of the documents turned over to the commission mention Mohamed Atta or any of the other future hijackers," the commission statement said. "Nor do any of the staff notes on documents reviewed in the [Defense Department] reading room indicate that Mohamed Atta or any of the other future hijackers were mentioned in any of those documents."
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The Terrorist and the Grid

By GREGORY S. McNEAL, The New York Times, Published: August 13, 2005

AFTER the blackout of 2003, addressing the vulnerabilities of America's electrical grid was a top priority. Not only was the creaky system going to be repaired and restructured, its key facilities were going to be reinforced to guard against terrorism. After all, Al Qaeda documents suggest that terrorists have considered attacking the grid, which would cause chaos, wreak economic havoc, and possibly cost lives.
So here we are, nearly two years later, and is the grid safer? Sadly, no. Terrorists could still send a nation as powerful and modernized as the United States into the dark ages for weeks.
Here's why. Our electrical grid distributes energy throughout the nation on an as-needed basis. Generators transmit power over high-voltage lines using electrical substations. These substations are controlled by an enormous computerized switching system. This system uses sophisticated and difficult-to-replace solid-state and electro-mechanical relays. The relays prevent overloads and other failures from crippling the grid's electrical equipment and transmission facilities. Herein lies the vulnerability.
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No terror mastermind behind London bombers - report

By Kate Holton, Reuters, Sat Aug 13, 2005 12:55 PM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - Groups behind the July London bomb attack that killed 52 people and a failed attempt to strike again soon after appear to have been acting independently of an al Qaeda mastermind abroad, a newspaper reported on Saturday.
The Independent, quoting police and intelligence officials, said it was also likely that four July 7 suicide bombers were probably not linked to another group of four who failed to blow up explosives on buses and underground trains two weeks later.
But some of the report's conclusions were questioned by a terror analyst, who said it would be difficult for Islamic militants in Britain to prepare and set off explosive devices without some training in Pakistan, Afghanistan or elsewhere.
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Antiwar Activists Decry Media's Role in Promoting Pentagon Event

By David Montgomery, Washington Post Staff Writer, Friday, August 12, 2005; Page C01

Organizers of next month's planned antiwar demonstrations yesterday criticized media organizations, including The Washington Post, for co-sponsoring with the Department of Defense an event to remember the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks and to support the troops in Iraq.
The Defense Department-sponsored Freedom Walk will proceed from the Pentagon to the Mall near the Reflecting Pool on the morning of Sept. 11. Country music star Clint Black is donating his time to perform a concert after the walk that will be broadcast to troops overseas. The Post, WTOP radio, WJLA-TV and NewsChannel 8 are donating public service announcements in advance of the event. Non-media co-sponsors include Lockheed Martin, Subway and the Washington Convention and Tourism Corp., according to the Defense Department's Web site for the walk.
"The Pentagon has done some kind of event on 9/11 ever since it happened because we came under attack," said Allison Barber, deputy assistant secretary of defense for communications. "It's to commemorate the victims of 9/11. It's to honor our veterans past and present."
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Sept. 11 Panel Explores Allegations About Atta: GOP Congressman Says Lead Hijacker Was Under Pentagon Scrutiny Before 2001

By Dan Eggen, Washington Post Staff Writer, Friday, August 12, 2005; Page A09

Staff members of the Sept. 11 commission are investigating allegations by a Republican congressman that lead hijacker Mohamed Atta had been identified as a potential threat by a highly classified Defense Department program a year or more before the attacks occurred.
Commission officials confirmed a report in yesterday's New York Times that two staff members interviewed a uniformed military officer, who alleged in July 2004 that a secret program called "Able Danger" had identified Atta as a potential terrorist threat in 1999 or early 2000.
Panel investigators viewed the claim as unlikely, in part because Atta was not recruited as an al Qaeda operative until a trip to Afghanistan in 2000 and did not enter the United States until June of that year, officials said.
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Officials See Risk in the Release of Images of Iraq Prisoner Abuse

By JULIA PRESTON, Published: August 12, 2005, The New York Times,

Senior Pentagon officials have opposed the release of photographs and videotapes of the abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, arguing that they would incite public opinion in the Muslim world and put the lives of American soldiers and officials at risk, according to documents unsealed in federal court in New York.
Gen. Richard B. Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a statement put forth to support the Pentagon's case that he believed that "riots, violence and attacks by insurgents will result" if the images were released.
The papers were filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan in an ongoing lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union to obtain under the Freedom of Information Act the release of 87 photos and four videotapes taken at Abu Ghraib. The photos were among those turned over to Army investigators last year by Specialist Joseph M. Darby, a reservist who was posted at Abu Ghraib.
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Officials Warn of Possibility of Attack Around Sept. 11

By ERIC LICHTBLAU and WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM, The New York Times, August 12, 2005

WASHINGTON, Aug. 11 - A group of F.B.I. counterterrorism analysts warned this week of possible terrorist attacks in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago around Sept. 11, but officials cautioned on Thursday that they were skeptical about the seriousness of the threat.
he warning grew out of intelligence developed from an overseas source indicating that terrorists might seek to steal fuel tanker trucks in order to inflict "mass casualties" by staging an anniversary attack, officials said.
The information led F.B.I. joint terrorism task forces in Los Angeles and Newark to alert other government and law enforcement officials privately this week about the threat, law enforcement officials said. Several government officials in Washington who were briefed on the threat said it was described as credible and specific enough to warrant attention.
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President Tries to Resolve Mixed Signals After Pentagon Remarks

ANNE E. KORNBLUT, The New York Times, Published: August 12, 2005

CRAWFORD, Tex., Aug. 11 - Faced with mounting casualties and signs of diminished support for the war, President Bush said Thursday that while the United States was making progress in Iraq, it was too soon to say when the number of American troops could be scaled back.

Mandel Ngan/AFP--Getty Images
President Bush, flanked by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, spoke to reporters at his ranch in Crawford, Texas.

Speaking in unusually personal terms, forced on him in part by the defiant presence outside his ranch here of the mother of an American soldier killed last year in Baghdad, Mr. Bush said he had considered and rejected calls by some antiwar protesters for an immediate withdrawal.
He also signaled that, despite planning by senior Pentagon officials for a potential troop reduction as early as next spring, he was not certain Iraqis could handle their own security well enough for the United States to begin leaving anytime soon.
Mr. Bush dismissed such talk as "speculation based upon progress that some are seeing in Iraq as to whether or not the Iraqis will be able to take the fight to the enemy."
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Deadliest Month for Nat'l Guard and Reserves in Iraq

Fox News, (via AP), Friday, August 12, 2005

WASHINGTON — The National Guard and Reserve suffered more combat deaths in Iraq during the first 10 days of August — at least 32, according to a Pentagon (search) count — than in any full month of the entire war.
More broadly, Pentagon casualty reports show that the number of deaths among Guard and Reserve forces has been trending upward much of this year, totaling more than 100 since May 1. That ranks as the deadliest stretch of the war for the Guard and Reserve, whose members perform both combat and support missions.There is little evidence to suggest that part-time troops are being specifically targeted by the insurgents, since the Guard and Reserve troops are mostly indistinguishable from — and interchangeable with — regular active-duty troops.
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Mass Transit Threat Alert to Be Lowered

NYT, (via THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, Published: August 12, 2005, Filed at 1:04 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Homeland Security Department decided to lower the terror threat level for the nation's mass transit systems after Friday's rush hour, government officials said.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff was expected to end the high alert for city buses, subways and trains after 36 days of being at code orange in response to the deadly July 7 rush-hour bombings in London.
His order would return the national mass transit threat level to code yellow, signifying an elevated risk instead of the high-alert orange, a senior U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the announcement had not been made yet.
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City Begins Releasing Thousands of Oral Histories of 9/11

By JIM DWYER, The New York Times, Published: August 12, 2005

A rich vein of city records from Sept. 11, including more than 12,000 pages of oral histories rendered in the voices of 503 firefighters, paramedics, and emergency medical technicians, were made public this morning.
The city began releasing the histories - a mosaic of vision and memory recalling the human struggle against surging fire, confusion, and horror - this morning. They were compiled by the New York City Fire Department beginning in October 2001. , but to this date, no one from the department has read them all or used them for any official purpose.
The city also began releasinga written log of calls to the 911 system, many from trapped office workers, as well as tapes of fire dispatchers. Other records, including tapes of 911 operators, are being assembled and are not yet ready for release, city officials said.
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NOTE: NYT Complete Coverage, "THE 9/11 RECORDS"

Bush to mother who lost son in Iraq: 'I grieve'

By Steve Holland, Reuters, Thu Aug 11, 2005 6:32 PM ET

CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) - President George W. Bush said on Thursday he sympathized with a mother who lost a son in Iraq and has been leading a protest vigil near his ranch, but that he would not pull U.S. troops from Iraq now as she has demanded.
"I grieve for every death," Bush said as Cindy Sheehan remained camped out about five miles away. For six days she has been demanding Bush meet with her about her son, Casey Austin Sheehan, an Army specialist killed in combat in Baghdad in April 2004.
"It breaks my heart to think about a family weeping over the loss of a loved one. I understand the anguish that some feel about the death that takes place," Bush said.
But, he added, "pulling the troops out would send a terrible signal to the enemy."
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War, Just a Click Away

By Robert MacMillan, washingtonpost.com Staff Writer, Wednesday, August 10, 2005; 9:27 AM

"Apocalypse Now" rearranged my head when I was 16 or so.
After hearing my breathless review, my father remarked that the film was as far from a realistic depiction of war as you're likely to get. I suspected at the time that he might be wrong.
Now I know it for sure.
The proof lies in the video clips posted on ifilm.com's new section, "Warzone." For those who aren't yet hooked on Web video, ifilm.com is a site where people post video of everything you can think of from movie previews to cows wearing lingerie to the famous CNN Crossfire flap between Tucker Carlson and the Daily Show's Jon Stewart.
Warzone, which debuted last week, contains video purportedly shot, edited and submitted by U.S. and other coalition troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. And to prove the "Internet as melting pot" analogy, the site includes video filmed by (but probably not submitted by) various insurgent or paramilitary groups, including the Shiite Mahdi army.
The videos on iFilm.com are not the first "home movies" to come out of a war zone, but they show you what you can do with one good recording device, cheap editing software and the Internet as a free, worldwide distribution platform.
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The 'rebranding' of the war on terror: Bush team wants to play down military aspects and focus on the 'struggle against violent extremism.'

By Tom Regan | csmonitor.com, posted July 28, 2005 at 11:30 a.m.

What's in a name? Would the "war on terrorism" with a new brand be just as effective?
The Daily Telegraph reported Wednesday that the phrase "war on terror," which coalition officials have used over the past four years, will be "phased out in favor of more nuanced language." US officials are instead starting to use the "less than snappy phrase struggle against violent extremism.' "
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Britain to deport 10 foreigners seen as threat

By Michael Holden, Reuters, Thu Aug 11, 2005 10:56 AM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain detained 10 people on Thursday, including the alleged spiritual leader of al Qaeda in Europe, saying they were a threat to national security and would be deported.
Jordanian national Abu Qatada, also accused by Spanish prosecutors of being an inspiration for those who launched the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, was one of those held, his lawyer Gareth Peirce said.
Prime Minister Tony Blair has been under pressure to take tough action against foreign nationals who incite terrorism after four British Muslim bombers killed themselves and 52 other people in attacks on London's transport system on July 7.
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No End in Sight in Iraq

By Bob Herbert, The New York Times, Published: August 10, 2005

The news coming out of Iraq yesterday was that several more American soldiers had been killed. August's toll so far has been mind-numbing. For American troops, it's been one of the worst periods of the war. And yet there's still no sense of urgency within the Bush administration.
The president is on vacation. He's down at the ranch riding his bicycle and clearing brush. The death toll for Americans has streaked past the 1,800 mark. The Iraqi dead are counted by the tens of thousands. But if Mr. Bush has experienced any regret about the carnage he set in motion when he launched the war, he's not showing it.

The Energy Bill's Gift to Terrorists

By ALAN J. KUPERMAN, assistant professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas and a senior policy analyst for the Nuclear Control Institute, The New York Times, October 11, 2005

AN obscure provision of the energy bill signed into law this week by President George W. Bush demonstrates how, even in this era of heightened concern about terrorism, narrow commercial considerations can trump national security at the behest of one senator.
Despite widespread opposition - from the Bush administration, a majority of the Senate, leaders of the House Energy Committee, and nuclear regulators from the five preceding presidential administrations - Senator Pete Domenici, Republican of New Mexico and chairman of the Energy Committee, included an amendment that guts restrictions on the export of highly enriched uranium, the same material used in the Hiroshima atomic bomb.

Terrorists Turn to the Web as Base of Operations

By Steve Coll and Susan B. Glasser, Washington Post Staff Writers, Sunday, August 7, 2005; Page A01

In the snow-draped mountains near Jalalabad in November 2001, as the Taliban collapsed and al Qaeda lost its Afghan sanctuary, Osama bin Laden biographer Hamid Mir watched "every second al Qaeda member carrying a laptop computer along with a Kalashnikov" as they prepared to scatter into hiding and exile. On the screens were photographs of Sept. 11 hijacker Mohamed Atta.
Nearly four years later, al Qaeda has become the first guerrilla movement in history to migrate from physical space to cyberspace. With laptops and DVDs, in secret hideouts and at neighborhood Internet cafes, young code-writing jihadists have sought to replicate the training, communication, planning and preaching facilities they lost in Afghanistan with countless new locations on the Internet.

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NOTE: Al Qaeda and the Internet, Terrorism researcher Evan Kohlmann was online to discuss al Qaeda and its use of the Internet.

U.S. Keeps Security Response to London Attacks Low-Key: No Intelligence Suggests Such Bombings Are Planned

By Dan Eggen, Washington Post Staff Writer, Saturday, August 6, 2005; Page A16

In the month since the first bombings of London's transit system, the British prime minister has unveiled extensive new anti-terrorism laws while security agencies have carried out what is widely described as their largest mobilization since World War II.
Across the Atlantic, the response has been far more restrained, with few signs of increased U.S. readiness except in major transit systems.
The difference is certainly due in large part to the fact that the United Kingdom, not the United States, was the target in two attacks last month. But the quieter mood also reflects a growing recognition among U.S. counterterrorism officials and the public that it is exceedingly difficult to thwart plots like those in Britain, which were apparently carried out by isolated terrorist cells with raw materials that could be obtained at a beauty shop or supermarket, according to U.S. government officials and terrorism experts.

War Plans Drafted To Counter Terror Attacks in U.S.: Domestic Effort Is Big Shift for Military

By Bradley Graham, Washington Post Staff Writer, Monday, August 8, 2005; Page A01

COLORADO SPRINGS -- The U.S. military has devised its first-ever war plans for guarding against and responding to terrorist attacks in the United States, envisioning 15 potential crisis scenarios and anticipating several simultaneous strikes around the country, according to officers who drafted the plans.
The classified plans, developed here at Northern Command headquarters, outline a variety of possible roles for quick-reaction forces estimated at as many as 3,000 ground troops per attack, a number that could easily grow depending on the extent of the damage and the abilities of civilian response teams.

5th U.S. soldier killed in Afghanistan in a week: Taliban rebels also gun down Afghan woman accused of spying for coalition

MSNBC (via AP), Updated: 11:08 a.m. ET Aug. 10, 2005

KABUL, Afghanistan - A roadside bomb attack in eastern Afghanistan killed a U.S. service member — the fifth American casualty in a week — and suspected Taliban rebels gunned down an Afghan woman accused of spying for the coalition, officials said Wednesday.
The spate of violence deepens concerns over security in the east and south of the country ahead of key legislative elections set for Sept. 18, Afghanistan’s next major step toward democracy after two decades of war and civil strife.
In a statement, the U.S. military reported that a roadside bomb exploded Tuesday near a vehicle in eastern Ghazni province where an American unit was conducting operations to “disrupt enemy activity in the region.”

4 dead in Iraq as leaders debate constitution: Political fighting between factions delay document's completion

MSNBC (via AP), Updated: 7:10 a.m. ET Aug. 11, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Three shootings killed four people across Iraq, police said Thursday, including one attack in the capital that left a young girl wounded and her parents dead. Negotiations between political leaders on the country’s draft constitution continued as a deadline loomed.
Insurgent attacks have continued as leaders from the country’s disparate groups have huddled for weeks in an attempt to write a new constitution that is supposed to be complete by Monday. U.S. and Iraqi officials hope political progress will deflate the insurgency that has launched waves of attacks on the new government and security forces.

Army hits recruitment goal for July: But summertime success may not be enough to meet year's target

MSNBC (via AP), Updated: 11:59 a.m. ET Aug. 10, 2005

WASHINGTON - The active-duty Army reached its recruiting target for the second straight month in July, but the summertime rebound may not be enough for the service to fulfill its annual goal, according to figures provided by a Pentagon spokesman Wednesday.
The Army National Guard, meanwhile, missed its recruiting goal again, recruiting only 4,712, about 80 percent of its July goal of 5,920 new Guard members, spokesman Bryan Whitman said. The Guard has hit its target only once in the last 19 months.
The U.S. Army Reserve also fell short of its target, recruiting 2,131 new reservists, 82 percent of its goal of 2,585, Whitman said.

TSA looks to upgrade shoe security procedures: New technologies could ditch need to remove shoes at airport checkpoints

By Brock N. Meeks, Chief Washington correspondent, MSNBC, Updated: 11:06 a.m. ET Aug. 11, 2005

WASHINGTON - If the Transportation Security Administration has its way, wearing flip flops through airport security checkpoints will once again be a lifestyle choice instead of an attempt to avoid the podiatric strip tease now associated with airline travel in the post-9/11 era.
According to a federal business opportunities web site, the TSA is inviting companies to voluntarily participate in a test program to develop technologies for “Shoe Weapons Inspection Systems (SWIS) that can inspect footwear for weapons without passengers having to remove or divest them from their feet.”

Calif. Suspects Tied to Bin Laden?

FOX News, Wednesday, August 10, 2005

SAN FRANCISCO — Federal prosecutors laid out their case against a Muslim cleric from Pakistan on Wednesday, alleging that he was involved in a northern California terror network with links to terror leader Usama bin Laden (search) and that his group was planning to set up a camp to train followers to kill Americans.
Shabbir Ahmed (search), 39, is only charged with overstaying his visa while he was heading a mosque in Lodi, a town of 62,000 about 30 miles south of Sacramento. The allegation about the terrorist camp came from an FBI agent's testimony during the immigration hearing.

Iraqis thirst for water and power: Lack of basic services is prompting growing protest aimed at Iraqi officials.

By Dan Murphy | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor, , August 11, 2005

BAGHDAD – While last summer public anger was directed at the US government, today it's as likely to be aimed directly at Iraq's interim government and officials. This summer, the third since the fall of Baghdad, has been the worst yet when it comes to basic services. Interruptions to electricity and water supplies - caused by both decay and sabotage - are driving up the frustrations of millions of Iraqis.

Early Pullout Unlikely In Iraq: Military Official Says Withdrawal At Least a Year Off

By Ellen Knickmeyer, Washington Post Foreign Service, Thursday, August 11, 2005; Page A01

BAGHDAD, Aug. 10 -- Iraq's leaders and military will be unable to lead the fight against insurgents until next summer at the earliest, a top U.S. military official said Wednesday, trying to temper any hopes that a full-scale American troop withdrawal was imminent as Iraq moves toward elections scheduled for December.
Both Americans and Iraqis need "to start thinking about and talking about what it's really going to be like in Iraq after elections," said the military official, who spoke in an interview on the condition he not be named. "I think the important point is there's not going to be a fundamental change."

Mother of Fallen Soldier Protests at Bush Ranch

Washington Post (via Associated Press), Sunday, August 7, 2005; Page A12

CRAWFORD, Tex., Aug. 6 -- The angry mother of a fallen U.S. soldier staged a protest near President Bush's ranch Saturday, demanding an accounting from the president of how he has conducted the war in Iraq.
Supported by more than 50 shouting demonstrators, Cindy Sheehan, 48, told reporters, "I want to ask George Bush: Why did my son die?"

Cindy Sheehan, who says she'll stay until she sees Bush, doesn't want her son's name used "to justify any more killing." (By Larry Downing -- Reuters)

Sheehan arrived in Crawford aboard a bus painted red, white and blue and emblazoned with the words "Impeachment Tour.
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Plan Of Attack: The Pentagon has a secret new strategy for taking on terrorists--and taking them down

By Linda Robinson, US News and World Report, August 1, 2005

On March 3, with little fanfare, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Richard Myers, signed a comprehensive new plan for the war on terrorism. Senior defense officials briefed U.S. News on the contents of the still-secret document, which is to be released soon in an unclassified form. Officially titled the "National Military Strategic Plan for the War on Terrorism," the document is the culmination of 18 months of work and is a significant evolution from the approach adopted after the 9/11 attacks, which was to focus on capturing or killing the top al Qaeda leaders. For the first time since then, Pentagon officials say, they have a strategy that examines the nature of the antiterror war in depth, lays out a detailed road map for prosecuting it, and establishes a score card to determine where and whether progress is being made.
The origins of the new plan lie in an October 2003 "snowflake," as Rumsfeld's numerous memoranda to his staff are called. Was the United States really winning the war on terrorism, Rumsfeld asked his commanders, and how could we know if more terrorists were being killed or captured than were being recruited into the ranks? Douglas Feith, the Pentagon's under secretary for policy, was told, along with the deputy director for the war on terrorism for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Brig. Gen. Robert Caslen, to find answers to the questions. "We sat down as a result of the secretary's snowflake," Feith recalled, "and said, 'How do we want to state some fundamental propositions about the war?' "
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Bush Defiant After New Terrorist Threats: President Says U.S. Will 'Complete the Job in Iraq' but Sets No Timetable for Pullout

By Jim VandeHei, Washington Post Staff Writer, Friday, August 5, 2005; Page A07

CRAWFORD, Tex. -- President Bush said Thursday that the United States will not be bullied by this week's killings of 25 service members in Iraq or what he called the "dark, dim, backwards" views propagated by al Qaeda's number two commander, Ayman Zawahiri, and other terrorists.
Speaking shortly after Zawahiri broadcast a new taped warning that the United States and its allies would suffer thousands of deaths if it did not pull out of Iraq, Bush struck a defiant tone, saying the United States will stay on the offensive to "complete the job in Iraq." He spoke dismissively of Zawahiri, his followers and their ideology and said the twin U.S. strategies to defeat terrorists inside and outside Iraq are working.
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14 Marines Die in Huge Explosion in Western Iraq: Week's Toll Rises to 21 For Ohio-Based Regiment

By Ellen Knickmeyer, Washington Post Foreign Service, August 4, 2005; Page A01 ,

BAGHDAD, Aug. 3 -- A Marine Reserve company that was known as "Lucky Lima" before suffering heavy casualties in May was hit Wednesday by the deadliest roadside bombing of the Iraq war, a massive explosion that killed 14 Marines and the unit's Iraqi interpreter, according to witnesses and military spokesmen.
The Marines were part of a convoy that was attacked on a desert road outside the western town of Haditha, one witness said. Rolling in armored vehicle after armored vehicle, the patrol was nearing the entrance to the town when a brilliant flash erupted in the middle of the convoy.
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GOP Says It Will 'Bury' Name-Calling Candidate

By Dan Balz, The Washington Post, Sunday, July 31, 2005; Page A05

Paul Hackett doesn't fit conventional political profiles. He is a Marine Reservist and an Iraq war veteran who opposed the war before the U.S. invasion and remains a harsh critic of President Bush's policy there. He is also a Democrat battling to win a special House election in Ohio in a district that has been in Republican hands for more than three decades.
On Tuesday, voters in Ohio's 2nd Congressional District will elect a successor to former representative Rob Portman, who quit Congress to become U.S. trade representative. Hackett hopes to beat the long odds by defeating Republican nominee Jean Schmidt, a former state representative, by stressing his military service and independence.

Paul Hackett -- an Ohio Democrat, a Marine Reservist and an Iraq war veteran -- has attracted GOP ire by criticizing the president. (By Tom Uhlman -- Associated Press)

A lawyer and a major in the Marine Reserves, Hackett volunteered last year to serve in Iraq and spent seven months there in a civilian affairs job, including service around Ramadi and Fallujah. He returned to Ohio in March and decided to jump into the race for Portman's seat, seeking to become the first Iraq war veteran elected to Congress.

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