--- just for the record: Die Bush-Administration hat offiziell erklärt, die Unabhängigkeit des Irak bis Juni 2004 wiederherzustellen. The switch occurred as American deaths have mounted rapidly, with 22 soldiers killed just this month when two helicopters were shot down", schreibt die New York Times. Three soldiers were killed and five were wounded in two roadside bombings Thursday and Friday. The increasing danger has prompted more questioning in Washington of the Bush administration's policy and planning for Iraq after Saddam Hussein was ousted in April.

Und der neokonservative Pentagon-Berater Richard Perle ist von seinen "Sünden" reingewaschen worden: The Pentagon's inspector general concluded this week that Richard N. Perle violated no ethics laws or rules when he was leading an influential Pentagon advisory board while at the same timerepresenting two companies in their dealings with the government.