REPORTS FROM THE FIELD

• Zarqawi has formed a "sub brigade" or martyrs' brigade of al-Qaeda in Iraq. In an audio statement, Zarqawi claimed the unit was formed "due to strong insistence from our Iraqi brothers and their desire for Paradise," and that volunteers had applied "in their tens to sign their names to meet their Maker".

• Abdullah al-Rashud, an al-Qaeda aide to Zarqawi was killed in a US air attack at the Jihad Superbowl - the border town of al-Qaim. It is a core component of a smuggling route into the Anbar province of northwestern Iraq. US Forces have been spending a lot of time in that area, interdicting the influx of foreign fighters entering Iraq.

• Michael Yon sends information and pictures about "Critical Nodes" in Iraq, as he tours with CSM Jeffrey Mellinger - the Multinational Forces Command Sergeant Major.

• Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said that American forces had met with insurgent groups in Iraq many times in an attempt to help the Iraqi government draw less militant insurgents into the political process.

RECONSTRUCTION & THE ECONOMY

• The Islamic Development Bank continues support of Iraq reconstruction by allocating another $500 million. Kuwait has also pledged more support to reconstruction.

• Here are some of this week's reconstruction highlights: Work continues on the installation of the V-94 combustion gas turbine at the Taza Substation in Kirkuk. The turbine’s enclosure and air intake structure have been installed and workers are currently assembling the generator’s various piping systems. Work is continuing on the rehabilitation of two units at the Doura power plant in southern Baghdad. Although its four steam boilers and turbines are each rated at 160MW, all have been poorly maintained for many years, largely due to spare parts shortages. Workers continued to install equipment and run tests as work moves forward on the refurbishment of a water treatment plant in Karbala. The project is now 54% complete and will be finished in September 2005. The Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) and USAID’s Agriculture Reconstruction and Development for Iraq (ARDI) program will repair two culverts in Babil Governorate that carry water underneath roadways to irrigate farmland. USAID’s Community Action Program (CAP) worked with a Community Action Group (CAG) in a village 100 kilometers outside of Baghdad to improve the local potable water source. The village is located in a largely agricultural area along a connector road of the Baghdad- Karbala highway, and has a population of 1,100. A community outside of Mosul is working with CAP to repair three kilometers of local road. No repairs have been done in the area for over twenty years and the neighborhood roads are impassable. A total of 504,458 Secondary School Student Kits have been distributed to students in 2,244 secondary schools in Iraq. Ten thousand out of school Iraqi youth aged 12-18 will attend Accelerated Learning Program (ALP) schools beginning in the fall that will allow them to make up for two missed years of primary school in one year. Total USAID funds spent from 2003 - June 2005: $5,079,389,496.

IRAQI POLITICS

• The latest Carnival of the Liberated is up at Dean's World.

THE INTERNATIONAL STAGE

• BR: Iraq's Prime Minister puts the pressure on Syria to close the borders to prevent the flow of foreign jihadis into Iraq, and states he would back the US in a conflict with Iran. So much for "Shi'ite election winners = Iranian allies" idea...

• In a forum of 80 countries, sponsored by the EU and the US, ministers of the first democratically elected government are getting involved in the international community.

• President Bush is taking his case for the war in Iraq to the American people, as public support for the mission slips. The bully pulpit is a powerful ally in selling the case, but has the President waited too long?

• Wretchard looks at the question of setting a timetable in Iraq and explains why it would be a big first step towards losing the war.

• JK: Chester notes that Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) is making the same demands on the Bush administration as the Iraqi insurgents. Of course, his demands were also perfectly in sync with Saddam and his allies before the war, so in that sense nothing much has really changed.

• JK: Which is why I argue that the critics have acted in bad faith at every step - ignore or attack them, and press on to Victory.

ETCETERA

• Former Iraqi Foreign Minister, Tariq Aziz, will not testify in court against Saddam Hussein. He is currently in an Iraqi jail awaiting trial.

• Military/legal blogger Phillip Carter is heading to war with the vaunted 101st Air Assault Division. Godspeed to Phillip and his soldiers.

• Do you have your GI Bracelet? Many military families fall into financial hardship when the breadwinner is injured or killed. The entire $5 purchase price of the GI Bracelet is donated to support our troops and their families! Please join us to give back to these brave people in their time of need.

• The troops are still there. So is the Winds of Change.NET consolidated directory of ways you can support the troops: American, Australian, British, Canadian & Polish. Anyone out there with more information, contact us!

• Don't forget Chief Wiggles' Toys for Iraq drive!

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