REPORTS FROM THE FIELD

• Brigadier-General Mohammad Jalal Saleh, commander of a Iraqi special anti-gang/anti-insurgent force was kidnapped in Baghdad. He was pulled from his vehicle, along with his body guards There have been no claims of responsibility.

• The Army may be preparing to declare Reservist Matt Maupin dead after his capture just over one year ago. Maupin is the only American soldier listed as missing in action in Iraq, and Al Jazeera was given a tape purporting to show his execution in July of last year.

• SFC Paul Smith was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for organizing and leading a hasty defense against more than 100 enemy soldiers. His son accepted the award in a White House ceremony.

• Major K tells us about the loss of a fine soldier, which constituted the first combat loss from his battalion. Taps is played for Corporal Glenn Watkins. May God grant him peace.

RECONSTRUCTION & THE ECONOMY

• Here are a few of this week's Iraq reconstruction highlights: This past week's highlights have not yet been made available.There is news, however, regarding the swearing in of Dawn Liberi as its new USAID Mission Director in Iraq. The Iraq PCO Director has retired after managing the completion of 2000 projects. Total USAID Assistance to Iraq 2003 - March 31, 2005: $4,836,991,619.00.

• ABC News points to the successes American forces in Iraq have had in rebuilding Iraq's education infrastructure over the past two years. While there remains much work to be done, Iraq's school system appears to be a significant bright spot for the country's future.

IRAQI POLITICS

• Two years ago on Saturday, Baghdad fell to the Coalition. Mohammed takes a look back.

• Iraqi politics is quickly taking on a similar form to that played elsewhere around the world, as Iyad Allawi, Prime Minister of Iraq's provisional government, has agreed to bring his coalition into the new government and is currently involved in negotiating which cabinet ministries his party will receive.

• A Kurdish Iraqi president is a paradigm breaker. Kurds have long been oppressed in Iraq. Talibani is the first Kurd ever to fill the seat and will have a lot of influence on the drive to maintain Kurdish autonomy within Iraq.

• It is not terribly suprising to see Ibrahim al-Jafari elected as Iraq's Prime Minister. He will have a lot more direct power than President talibani on a day-to-day basis. Jafari is a religious moderate and has great respect among the Shiite leadership as well as the constituency as leader of the Islamic Dawa Party.

• The latest Carnival of the Liberated is up at Dean's World.

THE INTERNATIONAL STAGE

• Terrorists kidnapped a Pakistani diplomat to Iraq on Saturday, although they claim not to have harmed him as yet. Islamabad has already declared that it will not withdraw its embassy in Baghdad, anticipating that to be a potential demand of the terrorists.

• International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) officials are demanding an investigation into a riot at Camp Bucca - a detention facility in southern Iraq. Apparently, 12 Iraqi prisoners and four US guards were lighlty wounded after inmates protested the transfer of unruly inmates to another facitlity. Reports indicate the protesters were torching tents and throwing rocks during the riot, but the protest was quickly quelled.

ETCETERA

• Do you have your GI Bracelet? Many military families fall into financial hardship when the breadwinner is injured or killed. The entire $5 purchase price of the GI Bracelet is donated to support our troops and their families! Please join us to give back to these brave people in their time of need.

• The troops are still there. So is the Winds of Change.NET consolidated directory of ways you can support the troops: American, Australian, British, Canadian & Polish. Anyone out there with more information, contact us!

• Don't forget Chief Wiggles' Toys for Iraq drive!

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