contributions

Poland wants to pull out of Iraq as soon as possible, Defence Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski said on Sunday as he arrived at a Polish military base in southern Iraq, the PAP news agency reported.
Szmajdzinski left Warsaw for Iraq overnight Saturday, on a mission to assess the political and military situation in the area under Polish command, his office said in a statement.
"We want to get out of Iraq as soon as possible, but first we have to build solid security conditions there," the (…)

by Tom Allard
The Federal Government was warned repeatedly by intelligence analysts before the Iraq war that the conflict would harm the war on terrorism by fanning Islamic extremism and spurring terrorist recruiting.
An investigation by the Herald, which has included interviews with several serving and retired intelligence figures, has uncovered that John Howard and his senior colleagues were briefed on the dangers, verbally and in written reports.
Yet the Prime Minister told (…)

By JIM RASSMANN
I came to know Lt. John Kerry during the spring of 1969. He and his swift boat crew assisted in inserting our Special Forces team and our Chinese Nung soldiers into operational sites in the Cau Mau Peninsula of South Vietnam. I worked with him on many operations and saw firsthand his leadership, courage and decision-making ability under fire.
On March 13, 1969, John Kerry’s courage and leadership saved my life.
While returning from a SEA LORDS operation along the Bay (…)

When our soldiers risked their lives in the Gulf, they never imagined that their children might suffer the consequences—or that their country would turn its back on them.
EDITOR’S NOTE
Behind the lens again, photographer Hudson shoots the team that got the Gulf War babies’ story told: left to right, reporter Briggs; senior editor Robert Sullivan, and contributing editor Kenneth Miller, who wrote the piece
The Kids Are Not All Right Last year, rookie LIFE reporter Jimmie Briggs took on (…)

Kuala Lumpur (VNA) - Gravely concerned over the escalating violence in Najaf, Iraq, Malaysia on Monday called on all parties involved to stop violence and fully engage in peaceful negotiations to seek an amicable solution.
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who is on a visit to the Republic of Korea, said it is necessary for the United Nations to act to address the situation in Najaf and end the people’s sufferring there.
The escalating violence was undermining efforts to return to a (…)

US occupation forces have hit a part of the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf causing damage to its outer wall, as fierce fighting continues.
Director of the al-Sadr office in Nasiriya Aws al-Khafaji told Aljazeera the damage occurred during clashes between the occupation forces and the al-Mahdi Army on Sunday night .../...
– http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exe...

Amid a constant barrage of cannon fire from US warplanes, talks to end the standoff between US-led forces and militiamen loyal to Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr appear to have stalled.
Four large explosions were heard near the shrine early on Monday as AC-130 warplanes pounded al-Mahdi Army positions around the Imam Ali mosque and near the cemetery, witnesses said.
In the latest round of clashes, al-Sadr aide Ahmad al-Shaibani told Aljazeera US military helicopters and heavy artillery on (…)

By LANDON THOMAS Jr.
THE relationship between President Bush and Wall Street has always been a tangled one, layered with paradox and outright contradiction.
On the stump, the president can come across as a prairie populist, describing investment-banking practices as "fancy footwork" and calling the stock market boom of the 1990’s feckless, "pie in the sky" investing.
Yet, as the grandson and nephew of patrician East Coast bankers - on his mother’s side as well as his father’s - (…)

DURBAN - Developing nations said Thursday that they backed a boycott of goods from Israeli settlements and could impose sanctions on companies involved in building Israel’s West Bank separation fence.
The 115-member Non-Aligned Movement said in its final document that it wanted the United Nations Security Council to adopt a clear resolution chastising Israel and to take further measures to force Israel to stop building the 600-km barrier.
The group urged the Security Council to establish (…)

Data: Practice routine in human-rights cases
By Miles Moffeit and Arthur Kane
Four Army police officers faced criminal charges last year for kicking and punching seven Iraqi prisoners at Camp Bucca, assaults that resulted in broken bones. Instead of sending them to trial, however, commanders booted them from the service.
Army Spec. Juba Martino-Poole avoided trial on a manslaughter charge for fatally shooting an Iraqi prisoner, also in 2003. His punishment was the same: Turn in the (…)