Search results for

Pentagon officials acknowledge that extending the combat tours of some U.S. soldiers in Iraq will cost several hundred million extra dollars. The White House's 2005 budget curently includes no funding request for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Concerns are growing among members of Congress from both parties about the overall cost of military operations in Iraq. NPR'S Eric Westervelt reports.

A year ago Saturday, President Bush stood on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln and declared an end to major combat in Iraq. But renewed fighting has forced the president to reframe that message, and opponents of the administration's policy on Iraq have become increasingly vocal in the Senate. NPR's David Welna reports.

With videos and more photos expected to emerge of U.S. soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners, the scandal "could get worse before it gets better," Secretary of State Colin Powell says. Hear NPR's Juan Williams' extended interview with Powell.

President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney meet with the 10-member bipartisan commission investigating the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Members of the commission say they heard some new information during the closed-door meeting but would not specify what that information is. NPR's Pam Fessler reports.

National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice briefs House and Senate Republicans on the situation in Iraq. The closed-door briefing comes near the end of a series of Congressional hearings examining troop deployment extensions, military costs and the planned June 30 transfer of power to an Iraqi government. Rice also met with some Senate Democrats in a meeting that was arranged at the last minute. NPR's Andrea Seabrook reports.

President Bush's two-day bus tour to promote his re-election bid continues Tuesday with four stops in Ohio. On Monday, Bush traveled across Michigan. The two states are among the most fiercely contested this year. NPR's Don Gonyea reports.

Six U.S. soldiers face courts-martial over allegations of prisoner abuse in Iraq. A military spokesman says seven other soldiers have been reprimanded. Iraqis gather outside Abu Ghuraib prison, where the abuses took place, hoping for news of their relatives. Details of how the abuses were allowed to occur are still emerging. Hear NPR's Peter Kenyon and NPR's Jackie Northam.

In White House interviews with Arab television journalists, President Bush calls the reported abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. forces "abhorrent" and vows to punish those responsible. The interviews were part of an overall White House effort to limit the political damage from a scandal it admits has hurt America's image in the Arab world. Hear NPR's Don Gonyea.

California's fire season begins with two wildfires raging in Southern California, where more than 4,000 homes have been evacuated. Experts predict an especially harsh summer because warm weather in April caused an early snow melt. Hear NPR's Robert Siegel and Rick Ochoa, manager of the National Fire Weather program.

The Senate Armed Services Committee receives a closed-door briefing from Army officials on the alleged abuse of Iraqis detained by U.S. military police. Lawmakers want to know if the problem is more widespread than has been reported. Critics say Pentagon leaders aren't doing enough to address the allegations. Hear NPR's David Welna.