Today in Iraq

War News for July 7, 2004 Bring ‘em on: Four US Marines killed in action in al-Anbar province. Bring ‘em on: Heavy fighting reported in Baghdad. Bring ‘em on: Son of Ramadi city council chief assassinated. Bring ‘em on: Six Iraqis wounded in Baghdad mortar attack. Bring ‘em on: Fourteen Iraqis killed, 70 wounded in car bombing near Baquba. Bring ‘em on: Oil pipeline sabotaged near Kirkuk. Bring ‘em on: Two Iraqi policemen wounded in ambush near Latifiyah. Bring ‘em on: Convoy ambushed by roadside bomb near Basra. One Iraqi killed. Bring ‘em on: Green Zone mortared in Baghdad. Bring ‘em on: Iraqi police defuse car bomb in Baghdad. Bring ‘em on: Four Iraqis wounded in attack on police checkpoint near Kirkuk. CENTCOM reports one US soldier killed, four injured in vehicle accident near Ramadi. Iraqi Patriot Act. “Prime Minister Iyad Allawi on Tuesday signed into law broad martial powers that allow him to impose curfews anywhere in the country, ban groups he considers seditious and order the detentions of people suspected of being security risks.” Liberators. “Two thirds of Iraqis either strongly or ‘somewhat’ oppose the presence of US-led coalition forces, a new opinion poll has found, and 80 per cent say they should leave immediately or once a government is elected in January.” Crooks. “A senior Defense Department official conducted unauthorized investigations of Iraq reconstruction efforts and used their results to push for lucrative contracts for friends and their business clients, according to current and former Pentagon officials and documents. John A. ‘Jack’ Shaw, deputy undersecretary for international technology security, represented himself as an agent of the Pentagon's inspector general in conducting the investigations, sources said…. Shaw's actions are the latest to raise concerns that senior Republican officials working in Washington and Iraq have used the rebuilding effort in Iraq to reward associates and political allies. One of Shaw's close friends, the former top U.S. transportation official in Iraq, is under investigation for his role in promoting an Iraqi national airline with a company linked to the Saddam Hussein regime.” Commentary Opinion: “The media know that whatever "Fahrenheit 9/11" exposes about Bush, it also has exposed something arguably even more important about them: that balance is itself bias and that under its cover they have protected a president whose administration, if examined fairly, may very well be indefensible.” Casualty Reports Local story: Texas soldier killed in Iraq. Local story: New York soldier wounded in Iraq. Local story: Florida Guardsman wounded in Iraq. Local story: Pennsylvania Marine wounded in Iraq. Local story: Kentucky Guardsman wounded in Iraq. 86-43-04. Pass it on.