] The photograph's caption doesn't give her a name. Nor
] does it name the man who cradles her. He is just "a
] Marine medic" And she is just "a 4-year-old
] girl."
]
] He sits cross-legged on the ground, one heel scraping a
] small hollow in the sand, eyes closed as he holds her.
] She curls into the fetal position, her bare feet pale in
] the sun. Her doll fingers reach to touch his camouflaged
] chest, the pink sleeve of her sweater smudged with blood.
]
] Her mother, we are told, was killed in the crossfire near
] a place called Rifa.
]
] That is one way we might describe it. Another way, the
] military way, is shorter and simpler: collateral damage.
] Or, if that seems a bit abstract, there's
] "liberated," the Newspeak of our patriotic age.
]
] Of course, those words mean nothing to the 4-year-old
] girl. She is too young to have the words she needs to
] frame her world's end. There is only the incomprehensible
] fact of her mother's absence, this strange, helmeted man.

Cost Of War Too High For One Little Girl

] Fox News Channel executives and the Pentagon reached a
] deal Monday in which correspondent Geraldo Rivera, who
] raised the military's ire when he reported operational
] details, will leave Iraq voluntarily rather than be
] expelled, Pentagon officials told CNN.

Fox News, military reach deal on Rivera

] U.S. military officials say Fox News Channel
] correspondent Geraldo Rivera will be expelled from Iraq
] after violating the cardinal rule of war reporting Monday
] by giving away crucial details of future military
] operations during a live broadcast.

U.S. targets 'Chemical Ali'

] President Bush has "some level of frustration with the
] press corps" for accounts questioning the U.S. and
] coalition war plan in Iraq, and he finds it "silly" that
] such skepticism and questions were being raised just days
] into a conflict he says is going quite well, according to
] a senior administration official.

Awww, poor Dubya... is the media not spinning your tough-ass war to your liking?

Bush frustrated with media questioning on war plans

] U.S. Marines searching Iraqi military headquarters in
] this southern city that was the site of intensive
] fighting came across a mural depicting a plane crashing
] into a building complex resembling New York's twin
] towers, a news agency photograph showed Wednesday.

Marines discover Iraqi 9/11 mural

] In a unique form of opposition, some protesters at the
] Federal Building staged a "vomit in,'' by heaving on the
] sidewalks and plaza areas in the back and front of the
] building to show that the war in Iraq made them sick,
] according to a spokesman.

San Francisco protesters stage a 'vomit in'

] The administration officials said they had been relying
] on intelligence from Iraqis who had not spoken to them in
] the past. "People are talking to us now and telling us
] things now that they would never have dreamed of telling
] us," one senior official said. "People are sticking their
] necks out in all kinds of ways in Iraq that they never
] would do before."
]
] "There was no question about the legality of the target,
] but there was some discussion about how solid the
] information was and who might actually be there and
] when," the official said. "The conclusion was that even
] though we didn't know for sure, it was an important
] target in any case."

It would be really funny if the Iraqis who were giving out intellegence were just telling us the locations of people they didn't like.

Urgent Mystery at Outset: Was Hussein Hit?

quoted:
===

CUYAHOGA FALLS -- A member of Ohio's 5694th National Guard Unit in Mansfield legally changed his name to a Transformers toy.

Optimus Prime is heading out to the Middle East with his guard unit on Wednesday to provide fire protection for airfields under combat.

"On Sunday, we were awarded as the best firefighting unit in the Army National Guard in the entire country," said Prime. "That was a big moment for us."

Prime took his name from the leader of the Autobots Transformers, which were popular toys and a children's cartoon in the 1980s.

He legally changed his name on his 30th birthday and now it's on everything from his driver's licence, to his military ID, to his uniform.

National Guardsman changes his name to a 'Optimus Prime'

If you need a laugh during all of this...

The Gulf War Drinking Game

] 15 Iraqi soldiers guarding the border surrendered and
] crossed over to Kuwait this evening, officers here said.
]
] They are believed to be the first Iraqis to have
] surrendered, something the American Air Force has been
] actively encouraging by dropping more than 1 million
] leaflets in anticipation of a ground invasion.

Defections Come as U.S. and British Troops Prepare for War