Iraq Notebook
Bush not ignoring casualties, Rice says

	KARIM KADIM / AP Iraqi Shiites carry the coffin of Muhanad Kaadi, head of the municipal council of Sadr City, through the streets of Baghdad yesterday.
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WASHINGTON — National-security adviser Condoleezza Rice said yesterday that President Bush is not distancing himself from American casualties.

There has been criticism the president has been all but ignoring the growing death toll.

Bush, who has attended no funerals for troops killed in Iraq, does write personal notes to the families and is expected to talk about war sacrifice during Veterans Day remarks today, the White House said.

"The president is commander in chief, he cannot distance himself from American casualties," Rice said. "... He understands that he is asking the American armed forces and American families to make the great sacrifices. But the fact is that nothing of value has ever been won without sacrifice."

Bomb in minibus kills at least 3 Iraqis in Basra

BASRA, Iraq — A bomb planted on a road in the southern Iraqi city of Basra tore a minibus apart today, killing at least three Iraqis inside the bus.

Police said no British troops, who are in charge of policing Basra, were in the area at the time of the blast.

Mainly Shiite southern Iraq has seen fewer attacks on occupying troops than Baghdad and the Sunni Muslim heartland around the Iraqi capital.

Rumsfeld says U.S. isn't trying to get out of Iraq

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said yesterday the Bush administration was not grasping for an exit strategy in Iraq by fielding hastily trained Iraqi security forces, and said his top commanders have assured him the insurgency is under control.

"The goal is not to reduce the number of U.S. forces in Iraq," Rumsfeld said. "It's not to develop an exit strategy. Our exit strategy in Iraq is success. It's that simple."

Hundreds mourn Sadr City leader killed by U.S. soldiers

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Hundreds of Iraqis turned out yesterday to mourn the leader of the municipal council for the Sadr City district of Baghdad, denouncing U.S. soldiers who killed him.

The U.S. military said a man, who witnesses said was Muhanad Kaadi, 28, was stopped as he tried to drive up to the district council building Sunday. The military said he got out of the car, fought with a soldier, got back into the car and tried to drive through a barricade, then got out again and tried to grab a soldier's rifle before being shot.

"It was killing for the sake of killing," said Kadhim Abboud, 40, a city-hall employee who said he saw the incident. "It was not self-defense."

Selective Service dismisses rumors about military draft

WASHINGTON — A routine notice advertising the need for people to serve on the nation's draft boards has prompted rumors the Pentagon may restart the military draft.

"There are no secret discussions," said Pat Schuback, a spokesman for the Selective Service System. The United States hasn't had a draft since 1973, when the Vietnam War was winding down. Registration was reinstated in 1980, in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Washington dad, son going to Iraq with National Guard

BELLINGHAM — A father and son who are members of the Army National Guard 898th Engineer Battalion have been called to duty in Iraq.

Sometime this month, Thomas Peterson, 55, and Stephen Peterson, 28, will begin 18 months of active duty, spending at least 12 months in Iraq. "The guys who are there have been working hard. They deserve to come home," said Stephen, who has been in the National Guard 11 years and works as a mechanic at the Guard's Sedro-Woolley armory.

His father is a Vietnam vet who has spent 16 years in the Guard and seven years in the Navy.

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