Today in Iraq

War News for March 12 and 13, 2004 Bring 'em on: Two US soldiers killed, four wounded by roadside bomb near Tikrit. Bring 'em on: Two Iraqi women working for Halliburton assassinated near Basra. Bring 'em on: One US soldier killed, two wounded by roadside bomb near Baquba. Bring 'em on: Two US soldiers killed, one wounded by roadside bomb near Habbaniyah. Bring 'em on: Assassination attempt at Baghdad mosque wounds Sunni cleric, kills son. Bring 'em on: One Iraqi killed, one wounded in attempted bomb attack on US convoy near Fallujah. Bring 'em on: Aide to al-Sadr assassinated near Najaf. Bring 'em on: Bomb in Baghdad commercial district wounds several Iraqi civilians, kills one. Bring 'em on: Bomb destroys Baghdad mosque. Four members of ICDC arrested in assassination of US CPA officials near Hilla. CPA reports an average of 19 attacks against coalition forces daily for the past week. Shi'ite clergy attack interim constitution. Lieutenant AWOL sends secret "senior official" to Baghdad. "The White House official is scheduled to arrive in Iraq this weekend for meetings with the U.S.-handpicked council to jumpstart the process, after L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator of Iraq, and other coalition officials failed to end the squabbling, U.S. officials said. At the administration's request, The Washington Post is not identifying the official before his arrival in Iraq because of security concerns." The Faces of Iraq. A series of eight stories from Iraqi citizens. Bushies continue to stonewall cost estimates of Bush's War. " The Pentagon's refusal to estimate costs is the same stance it took before the war. For months leading up to the invasion, officials said they couldn't estimate because they didn't know how long it would take to fight the war. Within days after it started, however, the Pentagon sent Congress a request for $63 billion. 'So you know they had it in their back pockets,' all along, said Cindy Williams, a former congressional budget officer now with the MIT security studies program. 'They were just not wanting to disclose to the American people on the eve of the war how much it was going to cost.'" Commentary Opinion: "Nowhere is this ignorance more apparent than in Iraq, where last week’s belated signing of the Temporary Administrative Law or interim constitution has not ended bickering by Shi’ites, who comprise 60 per cent of the population, about Sunnis, who comprise under 20 per cent, as well as the four million Kurds, who also account for nearly 20 per cent. Iraq can expect another explosion as soon as American troops have gone because L. Paul Bremer III, presidential envoy of the United States of America, seems to have learnt nothing from the past." Editorial: "When President Bush took office, an imminent threat against the United States indeed existed, but it wasn't from Saddam Hussein…The Bush administration was apprised of that threat by the outgoing Clinton administration and presented with a plan of action for taking the fight aggressively and soon to Bin Laden. The White House all but ignored the warning. Instead, counterterrorism funding was cut and, as former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill has disclosed, the president and his national security team focused on removing Saddam Hussein from power." Casualty Reports Local story: Kentucky soldier killed in Iraq. Local story: Wisconsin soldier killed in Iraq. Local story: Pennsylvania civilian killed in Iraq. Local story: Missouri soldier killed in Iraq. Local story: North Carolina soldier dies in Iraq. Local story: Oklahoma civilian killed in Iraq. Awards and Decorations Local story: Wisconsin Marine decorated for valor. 86-43-04. Pass it on.