U.S. military posts some of Saddam's documents

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration took the unusual step Thursday of releasing documents seized from Saddam Hussein's government during the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, giving the public access to previously secret files that Republicans hope will shore up support for the war.

The documents, posted on a U.S. military Web site accessible to the public, included photos of al-Qaida operatives suspected of hiding in northern Iraq, examples of instructions for assembling explosives and other files seized from the vaults of Iraq's notorious intelligence service.

The documents do not appear to offer any new evidence of illicit activity by Saddam, nor do they hint at preparations for the insurgency that followed the invasion.

The nine files posted Thursday are among hundreds that could be released in coming months as part of a program supervised by Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte.

Pentagon looking into water-quality issues

WASHINGTON — A Halliburton expert warned in an internal report last year that the contractor had failed to ensure safe washing water for U.S. troops throughout Iraq, and the Pentagon's internal watchdog said Thursday it will investigate the matter.

In a May 2005 report, Halliburton's water-treatment manager in the war zone warned that troops and civilians in Iraq were left vulnerable to "mass sickness or death" by a contamination incident at the Ar Ramadi base and that problems existed at other locations across Iraq. "Countrywide, all camps suffer to some extent from all or some of the deficiencies noted," the May 2005 report said.

Halliburton said it is confident the water its KBR subsidiary is paid to purify for U.S. troops in Iraq has been safe, and on Thursday it released a followup report, completed last month, that called into question some of the concerns its officials raised last year.

Poll: War touches most Americans

WASHINGTON — Three years after the invasion of Iraq, more than half of Americans say the war there has touched their own lives, a USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll finds. By 3-1, they call the effect a negative one.

For most, the conflict has hit close to home: Six in 10 say a close friend, family member or co-worker has served in Iraq. More than one in 10 say someone close to them has been killed or wounded there. Nearly six in 10 say the war has had a negative effect on the nation generally.

Evidence supports Karpinski's claims

WASHINGTON — Army documents released Thursday substantiate assertions by Janis Karpinski, the highest-ranking officer punished in the Abu Ghraib prisoner-abuse scandal, that she was innocent of two principal allegations lodged against her by the officer who initially investigated the matter.

Among the documents was a January 2005 report by the Army Inspector General's office that found insufficient evidence to support allegations that Karpinski had made a misleading statement to other Army investigators and that she failed to obey an order in connection with disciplinary action against soldiers under her command.

The Army had previously made public the fact that the inspector general had not upheld those two allegations, but the report elaborating on the circumstances and the findings wasn't released until Thursday.

The inspector general did uphold one allegation: that Karpinski, in her role as commander of a military police brigade responsible for Abu Ghraib, was derelict in the performance of her duty to ensure adequate protection of her soldiers at the prison.

Karpinski, an Army Reserve brigadier general, was relieved of her command of the 800th Military Police Brigade, reprimanded and demoted to colonel in May.

Compiled from The Associated Press, USA Today and Los Angeles Times