Iraq Notebook
Fallujah softened up for assault

BILAL HUSSEIN / AP An Iraqi man examines the debris of a collapsed house after a U.S. airstrike on Fallujah yesterday. Witnesses reported a series of new airstrikes in the southern and eastern parts of the city.

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"We'll continue to do these operations for the next few days, and then we'll see where we are," said a U.S. official in Baghdad. "It's pretty much all what the Iraqis want."

The official, who spoke on condition he not be named, described 12 hours of overnight strikes by U.S. helicopters, fighter-bombers, field artillery and tanks as "shaping operations." Military commanders use the term as shorthand for actions specifically intended to remove enemy strong points in advance of an assault.

The United States abruptly halted a faltering effort to take the city of 300,000 last spring.

"If we have a fight in Fallujah, it's going to be very bloody and nasty," said another U.S. official. "Against that one has to weigh how many car bombs you have in Baghdad that come from Fallujah."

Polish leader pledges troops' reduction

WARSAW, Poland — The prime minister of Poland told Parliament yesterday that he would begin drawing down Polish troops in Iraq next year.

Prime Minister Marek Belka promised, "We will not remain in Iraq an hour longer than is sensible." Poland has 2,500 troops in Iraq.

Polish officials indicated as many as 1,000 might be withdrawn on the first cut, with perhaps all pulled out by the end of 2005.

"We have no concern that the Poles are pulling out; to the contrary, they're telling us they're not pulling out, " said Adam Ereli, a U.S. State Department spokesman. "Whether they change the number of troops, or their profile, that's up to them. ... We don't see in this announcement any lessening of the commitment."

Second plea deal reported in Abu Ghraib scandal
 
HAGERSTOWN, Md. — An Army reservist charged with abusing Iraqis at the Abu Ghraib prison will plead guilty to four offenses Wednesday in Baghdad, his lawyer said yesterday, making him the second soldier to plead guilty in the scandal.

Staff Sgt. Ivan L. "Chip" Frederick, 38, will admit to assault, maltreating a detainee, committing an indecent act and dereliction of duty, Gary Myers said. Eight other counts will be dropped.

Car bomb kills 10 in southeast Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Iraq — A car packed with 300 pounds of explosives blew up yesterday near a police station in southeast Baghdad.

The U.S. military said 10 civilians were killed, including a family of four who were driving by at the time of the blast.