You can't quite say it was inexcusable — there is an excuse — but the absence of controls in spending hundreds of millions of dollars of Iraqi money remains a large failure and a possible setback in the war on terrorism.

It's a horror that vicious killers would attack worshipping Shiite Muslims in two Iraqi cities during their most revered holy festival, and it is disturbing and worrisome for democratic ambitions that Iraqis would throw stones at U.S. troops trying to help the injured and that some Iraqis would blame the United States for what happened.

More than five years after the U.S.-led invasion, Iraq is now beginning the process of developing new oil and gas fields.

Mike Reagan: Most Americans can reasonably agree that Bush's May 1, 2003, declaration was premature and in error; however, what is getting lost in the always politicized debate over Iraq is the fact that the end of major combat operations is now actually upon us. 

BAGHDAD - Iraq's national security adviser said Tuesday his country will not accept any security deal with the United States unless it contains specific dates for the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces.

 Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker were impressive in last week’s hearings regarding the current situation in Iraq, a year-plus into the “surge” and a few months into the inevitable drawdown of the additional troops provided by the surge.

An Iraq strategy for the rest of President Bush’s term seems to be emerging from consultations between the White House and commanding Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker. The public will get a fuller look at that strategy when the two return to Washington to testify before Congress April 8 and 9.

BAGHDAD - A suicide car bomber penetrated tight security to strike an Iraqi military base on Sunday in the deadliest of a series of attacks that killed at least 42 people across Iraq. In Baghdad, the U.S.-protected Green Zone came under heavy fire by rockets or mortar rounds.

BAGHDAD - The Iraqi government demanded for the first time that Turkey immediately withdraw from northern Iraq, warning Tuesday it feared the ongoing incursion could lead to clashes with the official forces of the semiautonomous Kurdish region.

There must be some logic to building the United States’ — and the world’s — largest embassy in the world’s 44th largest nation, coming somewhere after Nepal and Uganda.

LONDON - Britain will halve its remaining troop contingent in Iraq next spring, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced Monday. A British official later said they could not guarantee that any troops would remain in Iraq by the end of 2008.

WASHINGTON - Gen. David Petraeus readied his report on Iraq to a deeply divided Congress on Monday, the commander of 165,000 troops attacked by an anti-war group before he began to speak.

MONTEBELLO, Quebec - President Bush acknowledged frustration with the troubled government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Tuesday but said it's up to the Iraqi people to decide whether to continue supporting him.

ISTANBUL, Turkey - Reports that Turkey has massed a huge military force on its border with Iraq bolstered fears that an invasion targeting hideouts of Kurdish rebels could be imminent.

Marc Miller came home one day and told his mom he had joined the Marines. It was a wise decision for the Tempe 21-year-old who was living life without direction, said his mom, Leslie Miller.

BAGHDAD - U.S. and Iraqi forces began major military operations Monday to the north and south of Baghdad, while Iraqi officials said 36 people were killed in clashes in southern Iraq.

A 25-year-old soldier from Chandler who was serving in Iraq died Sunday when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle, the U.S. Department of Defense announced Wednesday.

WASHINGTON - President Bush said Monday he wants to work with Democrats on compromise legislation to pay for the Iraq war even though he'll carry through on his threat to veto a spending bill that also sets a timetable for a U.S. troop withdrawal.

BAGHDAD - Four large bombs exploded across Baghdad on Wednesday, killing at least 127 people and wounding scores as violence climbed toward levels seen before the U.S.-Iraqi campaign to pacify the capital began two months ago.