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U.S. troops wounded in Baghdad attackAnnan to meet with Security Council on draft resolution
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- At least two U.S. soldiers were wounded Monday morning when an improvised explosive device hit a logistics convoy in Baghdad, a U.S. military spokesman said. Witnesses told a slightly different story, saying three soldiers were wounded in the attack -- two seriously -- when a device was thrown off a bridge and into the convoy. At least one Humvee was damaged in the attack at Tahrir Square. The U.S. military also said Monday that soldiers conducting a raid in Tikrit detained four people, including three suspected of involvement with improvised explosive devices that repeatedly have jolted American forces. Sunday night's raid of houses was in a "bad neighborhood" of Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's hometown in north-central Iraq, according to Col. James Hickey. The fourth man taken into custody was found with anti-American propaganda in his home, Hickey said, and authorities wanted to question him. Sunday's operation came after a lull in the frequency of such raids. Hickey said the military used the time to collect more intelligence and prepare for a larger sweep. Soldiers from the 1st Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division conducted the latest raid. The Bush administration's postwar strategy in Iraq has come under increasing fire, particularly from 2004 Democratic presidential hopefuls. Critics have said the administration was unprepared for the scope of the reconstruction effort and failed to reach out to the international community for help. A string of car bombings in Iraq last month killed more than 100 people, including a leading Shiite Muslim cleric and the U.N. special representative for Iraq. Bush to seek $87 billionIn part because of an ongoing guerrilla campaign, more U.S. soldiers have died in Iraq since President Bush declared an end to major combat May 1 than were killed during the invasion. (Special Report: Coalition casualties, Interactive: U.S. troop deaths in Iraq) Four months after that speech from the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln, Bush told the American people Sunday that Iraq was the "central front" in the worldwide war on terrorism. "We will do whatever is necessary, we will spend what is necessary, to achieve this essential victory in the war on terror, to promote freedom and to make our nation more secure," Bush said in the televised speech. Bush said he would ask $87 billion for military operations and reconstruction efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan next year. The funding that Bush is seeking includes about $20 billion for the next year of reconstruction in Iraq, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said Monday. The rest will go to military efforts. Bush also said Sunday that he would ask the United Nations and international community to provide military and financial support. (Full story) L. Paul Bremer, chief U.S. civil administrator for Iraq, praised the call for money, saying, "It amounts to more than 10 times more than the United States has ever spent in a year in any country, and it is a clear, dramatic illustration of the fact that the American people are going to finish the job we started when we liberated Iraq here some four months ago." Democratic presidential candidates Monday delivered scathing reviews of President Bush's speech on Iraq, with former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and Sen. John Kerry accusing Bush of misleading Americans about the war. ("The Morning Grind," CNN's exclusive political column) Annan, council to meet
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan will meet with the 15 members of the Security Council late Monday afternoon to discuss Iraq and any possible resolution. Annan is hoping to meet with the foreign ministers of the five permanent members of the Security Council in Geneva on Saturday. No formal acceptance of that invitation has yet been announced. On Friday, Annan told CNN he thinks a compromise on a new Iraq resolution can be found among Security Council members. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov said Monday that a lot of work would be needed to reach an agreement on the U.S.-proposed draft resolution "The consultations for a U.N. Security Council draft resolution continue and are showing that the majority of Security Council members believe that the ideas proposed by the Americans need clarification and revision -- some of which is very substantive," he told Russia's Interfax news agency. (Full story) Russia and fellow Security Council members France and Germany opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. All three nations have expressed concerns about the new U.S. draft. In a sign of heightened security at U.N. headquarters, officers aided by a bomb-sniffing dog swept the conference room prior to a news briefing, a measure not normally taken. Britain to send more troopsBritish Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon announced Monday that his country was sending two battalions, or about 1,200 troops, to help stabilize the security situation in Iraq. In a statement Monday, Hoon said the reinforcements would come from the 2nd Battalion, the Light Infantry, and the 1st Battalion, the Royal Green Jackets. About 11,000 British troops are deployed in Iraq, mostly in the southern part of the country. (Full story) There is also a Polish-led division with troops from Hungary, Nicaragua, Bulgaria, Latvia, Slovakia, Fiji, Lithuania, the Philippines, Dominican Republic, Romania, Ukraine, Honduras, Mongolia, Thailand, Spain, Slovenia, Tonga and Kazakhstan. About 130,000 U.S. troops are deployed in Iraq. Other developments
• U.S. forces captured a Saddam loyalist suspected of carrying out attacks against coalition troops at a children's hospital near Baghdad, U.S. Central Command said Sunday. Acting on a tip, a unit from the 4th Infantry Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team conducted a raid Saturday in Ba'qubah to capture the man. He is suspected of conducting a grenade attack at the Ba'qubah Children's Hospital in August that killed three soldiers, Central Command said. The soldiers detained 10 people and confiscated a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, hand grenades, blasting caps and a detonation cord used to make improvised explosive devices, the command said. • The president of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, said Sunday he would pursue the goals that his brother, a popular moderate Shiite cleric, had been following when he was killed in a bomb blast last month in the holy city of Najaf. The August 29 car bombing at the Iman Ali Mosque killed at least 83 people. • Newly appointed Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiaar Zeebari said Sunday he would act with transparency in his new job, noting that the Foreign Ministry under Saddam was secretive and "antagonistic." Zeebari also promised that his office would "abide by civilized standards." Nasreen Mustafa Sideek Berwari, the new minister for public works, said Monday that she expects "great involvement" by Iraqis to improve the water and sanitation systems. • About 200 former workers -- including engineers, gardeners and cleaners -- demonstrated Sunday outside the old Republican Palace in Baghdad complaining they haven't been paid in six months. The workers showed their dissatisfaction by holding up pictures of Saddam and shouting, "With our souls and blood we sacrifice ourselves for you, Saddam." Iraqis used to say this chant during state-organized displays of support for the former regime. CNN's Ted Barrett, Dana Bash, Jason Bellini, Rym Brahimi, John King and Ben Wedeman contributed to this report.
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