Iraq Notebook
Bremer takes stock, cites U.S. successes

	DAVID SWANSON / KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS L. Paul Bremer, center, discussed U.S. accomplishments in Iraq at a news conference yesterday in Baghdad. He also talked about more that needs to be done before the formal end of the U.S.-led occupation.
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BAGHDAD, Iraq — L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. official who oversees Iraq, marked the 100-day countdown to the formal end of the U.S.-led occupation with a speech yesterday that lauded the country's economic growth and the signing of its interim constitution.

In a 35-minute speech to an audience of 90 carefully selected Iraqi dignitaries, Bremer, who officially works for the Pentagon but reports directly to the National Security Council and the White House, announced several initiatives for the remainder of his tenure, including anti-corruption efforts and public ownership of Iraq's airwaves.

This week, Bremer said, he will create a Cabinet-level Defense Ministry to replace the one he dissolved last year. The ministry will oversee the Iraqi army that has been reconstituted and trained under Bremer's direction.

To demonstrate Iraq's revival in the year since the U.S.-led invasion toppled the government of President Saddam Hussein, Bremer recited a list of statistics: 2,500 schools refurbished, 3 million children vaccinated, 18,000 reconstruction projects begun and a 30-fold increase in health-care spending. Unemployment is down, he said, and the value of new Iraqi dinar has risen by 29 percent since January.

Bremer praised the March 8 signing of the interim constitution as "perhaps the greatest achievement" of the new Iraq, citing its bill of rights and creation of a federal form of government.

2 attacks kill 3 Iraqis, injure 4 U.S. troops

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Three Iraqis were killed and four U.S. troops were wounded yesterday in two separate attacks apparently aimed at jolting newly arrived U.S. Marines in the volatile Sunni Triangle cities of Fallujah and Ramadi.

The strikes came the day soldiers of the 82nd Airborne Division formally handed over authority to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. A changeover ceremony was briefly interrupted by rescue helicopters rushing to evacuate two injured Marines.

Also yesterday, an Iraqi translator for Time magazine was critically wounded in an ambush near the publication's Baghdad bureau, the latest in a string of attacks aimed at those believed to be collaborating with Americans.

Muscle being added to Humvee escort trucks
 
CAMP NAVISTAR, Kuwait — Facing a deadly surge in attacks on military convoys in Iraq, commanders have ordered that Humvee gun trucks be battle-hardened with steel doors.

Humvees, the versatile workhorses of the U.S. Army, are the prime security escorts for vital convoys that help feed and supply more than 100,000 troops in Kuwait and Iraq. Most Humvees on convoy escort missions have canvas doors, making them easy prey for improvised bombs or gunfire from snipers.

In the past two weeks, attacks on convoys have risen steeply, commanders say. At least three supply routes in Iraq have been abandoned temporarily because of frequent attacks.

Up to 200 Humvees on convoy duty are expected to get the hardened doors in coming weeks, said Col. Cory Youmans, commander of the 375th Transportation Group, based in Mobile, Ala.

Review of Iraq contracts slams Pentagon tactics

WASHINGTON — In awarding the first contracts in Iraq, the Pentagon "cut corners," couldn't show it got "fair and reasonable" prices and didn't follow up to see if the work was done properly, a new Defense Department inspector general's report says.

The March 18 report reviewed 24 contracts worth nearly $123 million, a small percentage of the tens of billions of dollars being spent in Iraq.

In one example, a contractor was paid even though he was on vacation. In another, vehicles were airlifted into Iraq at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars without proper approval. In a third, a media contractor was used to organize garbage removal.

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