In the News: Mar-29

New Central Command chief an Army man - 28 Mar 2008 at 1:57pm - MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- One of the Army's most Iraq-savvy generals took charge Friday of arguably the most important command in the U.S. military, the one with responsibility for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In a ceremony attended by top Pentagon officials, Lt. Gen. Martin Dempsey assumed temporary command of U.S. Central Command, replacing Navy Adm. William J. Fallon, who relinquished his post after just one year in the assignment. President Bush has not yet nominated a permanent replacement.

Case dropped against Haditha defendant - 28 Mar 2008 at 1:40pm - CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- The Marine Corps is dropping all charges against a lance corporal who was accused of involuntary manslaughter in a squad's killing of 24 Iraqis in Haditha in 2005.

U.S. forces drawn deeper into Iraq crackdown - 28 Mar 2008 at 9:32am - BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. forces were drawn deeper into Iraq's four day-old crackdown on Shi'ite militants on Friday, launching air strikes in Basra for the first time and battling militants in Baghdad.

Shiite fighters in Iraq bombed as PM offers cash for guns - 28 Mar 2008 at 2:53pm - BASRA (AFP) - US-led coalition jets bombed Shiite militia positions in the southern city of Basra as prime minister Nuri al-Maliki on Friday offered cash to local residents to give up their arms.

Thought for the day:
An economist is an expert who will know tomorrow why the things he predicted yesterday didn't happen today. -Laurence J. Peter (1919 - 1988)