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WASHINGTON - Well, they finally got to the bottom of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal this week. An Army court martial convicted Pfc. Lynndie England and sentenced her to three years in prison and a dishonorable discharge for holding that leash, pointing with scorn and other offenses. They've gotten to the bottom, all right. With Pfc. England's conviction, that wraps up the cases against nine enlisted soldiers who starred in those terrible digital photos in late 2003. So that's it, huh? Not exactly. We still haven't gotten to the top of this scandal, the Guantanamo problems and the questions...

NEW DELHI: Indian intelligence agencies have found the presence of American forces in Pakistan’s Northern Areas, trailing Osama Bin Laden, the Al Qaeda and Taliban remnants. Much to the discomfiture of China, the US has set up a “secret shop” in the region as part of its covert special operations against militant outfits, claim intelligence agencies here. Intelligence sources here said that besides the US Special Force units, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has also set up “listening posts” in Northern Areas to monitor communication. Quoting sources in India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), The Tehelka weekly paper reported that...

   CONSERVATIVES HAVE BEEN INCLINED TO defend Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld because many of his critics oppose him for executing a war they don't like, or because these critics' true target is a president they despise. It is quite possible to support President Bush and the war in Iraq and still find fault with Rumsfeld, however. Indeed, some of us find fault with Rumsfeld precisely because we do support the president and the war.Rumsfeld has much to recommend him, to be sure. He took firm control of a Pentagon that was largely drifting and gave it clear direction....

Just as Vietnam became McNamara's War, Iraq has become Rumsfeld's War. From the outset, Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld has inserted himself in almost every aspect of the campaign, from military strategy to postwar planning, and served as the war's public face. In doing so, he's claimed that one of the advantages of such centralized control was that there was a clear point of accountability.

Published: July 25, 2004  mong the most frightening conclusions of the 9/11 commission's report is that two administrations failed to grasp the new world in which the most dangerous threats come as much from informal networks of terrorists as from national governments, and left the nation with a vast national security apparatus that did not detect, understand or thwart Al Qaeda's plotting. That new reality applies equally to military policy, which the Bush administration continues to mismanage with the same cold war thinking deplored by the 9/11 commission when it came to intelligence gathering.In Afghanistan, a war strategy directed...

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Six weeks after the U.N. Security Council authorized a separate force to protect U.N. staff in Iraq, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Wednesday that the world body has not received a single firm commitment of troops. Annan said if the 191 U.N. member states want the United Nations to play a major role in helping Iraq prepare for elections, draft a constitution, and rebuild the country they must ensure adequate security for U.N. personnel. ``Without that security, we cannot really deploy in any sizeable number,'' he said. Security is an especially sensitive issue as the first anniversary...

Marines terror in Iran Terror ... Marine hostages had to endure a mock execution at the hands of their Iranian captors     By ROBIN PERRIE and TOM NEWTON-DUNNTHE British servicemen stood blindfolded in the ditch – each man shaking in terror as he waited for a bullet to the back of his head. They could hear their Iranian captors walking along the single line, their AK47 rifles ready to fire. But then, just as they braced themselves for the first shot, the six Royal Marines and two Royal Navy sailors were marched back to their minibus for their...

Senator Manuel Villar Jr. on Wednesday said the United States (U.S.) will still regard the Philippines as its ally even as Washington expressed bitterness over Manila's decision to withdraw Filipino troops from Iraq to save the life of a Filipino taken hostage in the war-torn country. "The Bush administration may be angry at the Philippine government but it cannot ignore the fact that Manila is still its key ally in the war against terrorism," Villar told dzMM. The Senate's foreign relations committee chairman likened Washington's cooling relations with Manila over the Philippine troops pullout as a "love-hate" affair. "Well para...

Military Turns to Overseas Suppliers to Cover Shortages The U.S. military has assembled the most sophisticated fighting arsenal in the world with satellite-guided weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles that shoot Hellfire missiles. But as billions of dollars have poured into the technology for futuristic warfare, the government has fallen behind on more mundane needs -- such as bullets. The protracted conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and heightened combat training with live ammunition have left the military short of small-caliber bullets. To offset the squeeze, the Army is taking unusual stopgap measures such as buying ammunition from Britain and Israel. It...

The U.S. military has spent most of the $65 billion that Congress approved for fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and is scrambling to find $12.3 billion more from within the Defense Department to finance the wars through the end of the fiscal year, federal investigators said yesterday.

Military Fatalities: By Month Period US UK Other* Total Avg Days 7-2004 29 0 2 31 2.82 11 6-2004 42 1 7 50 1.67 30 5-2004 80 0 4 84 2.71 31 4-2004 135 0 5 140 4.67 30 3-2004 52 0 0 52 1.68 31 2-2004 20 1 2 23 0.79 29 1-2004 47 5 0 52 1.68 31 12-2003 40 0 8 48 1.55 31 11-2003 82 1 27 110 3.67 30 10-2003 43 1 2 46 1.48 31 9-2003 30 1 1 32 1.07 30 8-2003 35 6 2 43 1.39 31 7-2003 47 1 0...

BAQOUBA, Iraq -- For the soldiers here tasked with scouting for roadside bombs, the nature of the assignment requires a healthy dose of paranoia offset by a good sense of humor. Each day, members of the National Guard's North Dakota-based 141st Engineer Battalion get into their heavily armored Humvees and hunt the area's highways for explosives, the often hidden roadside bombs that the U.S. military has found difficult to defend against.

    Jed Berman and safety in Iraq Editor, Index-Tribune: I recently read your article on U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jed Berman. I was stationed in the same squadron as Sgt. Berman and knew him quite well. I pray daily that he recovers and am thankful that he wasn't killed. There were some issues brought up in your article that I would like to address. One issue was that he was traveling in a FOX armored vehicle and not a Stryker. He did have the protected body armor that has proven itself extremely effective. I talked with a Marine...

WASHINGTON, June 8 (UPI) -- With two wars running, the Marine Corp is rapidly running through its fleet of attack and heavy lift helicopters, as well as aviation crews, a senior official said Tuesday. "We're about tapped out for Marine aviation," said Lt. Gen. Robert Magnus, deputy commandant of programs and resources, at a meeting with reporters Tuesday.It is not just aviators who are stressed, he said. The Marine Corps has accelerated the deployment of two Marine Expeditionary Units to Iraq by about two months, sending them in July and August rather than September and October. Armored vehicles are being...

When Army Lt. Ken Ballard and his tank crew rescued seven soldiers trapped in an ambush in an alley in Baghdad's Sadr City, he had no idea one of them was his dad's next-door neighbor in Hayward. That neighbor, Pfc. Matt Medlock, was back in the Bay Area on Wednesday to honor his rescuer -- as a pallbearer at Ballard's funeral; the lieutenant was killed May 30 in Najaf, Iraq.

Reserve Road Rough By RICHARD LARDNER rlardner@tampatrib.com Published: Jul 4, 2004   TAMPA - The 810th Military Police Company began moving out well before sunrise. The conditions were ideal, but it wasn't long before the convoy began having problems. Two of the 3rd Platoon's tan and green Humvees broke down, and one had to be towed. The radios weren't working, forcing soldiers to use personal cell phones and walkie-talkies to communicate. The 2nd Platoon even made a wrong turn and company leaders scrambled to get it back on track. The mission was off to a bad start. Making matters worse,...

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Sunday 23 May 2004, 17:20 Makka Time, 14:20 GMT   Chalabi fell from grace after being Washington favourite   Jordan has said a prison cell still awaits Washington's former Iraq favourite Ahmad Chalabi in the kingdom where he was convicted in his absence of embezzling millions in a bank scandal.  US troops and Iraqi police raided Chalabi's home and office in Baghdad on Thursday, marking an ignominious fall from grace for the one-time exile who helped make the case against Saddam Hussein and was once touted by US officials as a possible Iraqi leader. US officials had earlier said they cut off funding...

NAJAF, Iraq — As Army Pfc. Jeremy Godwin viewed it, there were certain things that should happen to a man on his 26th birthday and certain things that should not. "You're not supposed to get shot at on your birthday," Godwin said as he settled into the machine-gun turret of his Humvee on Tuesday afternoon.

WASHINGTON – A one-legged poison expert from Jordan could be the brutal new star of Islamic terrorism. The man in question - Abu Musab al-Zarqawi - isn't yet the equal of Osama bin Laden, say experts. But he may be fast gaining influence and importance in the loosely organized world of Islamic militants by orchestrating attacks aimed at the US presence in Iraq. REWARD: A soldier holds a poster offering $10 million for tips leading to the capture of Abu Musab Zarqawi. AKRAM SALEH/REUTERS   Intelligence officials now say that Mr. Zarqawi was indeed the lead perpetrator of the murder...