REPORTS FROM THE FIELD

• MG Thomas Turner says he has no evidence of Iranian support for insurgents in Iraq. MG Turner is currently the commander of the 101st Airborne Division.

• The United States formally turned over control of the Iraqi armed forces to the Iraqi government on Thursday.

• Sectarian violence in Iraq is spreading according to a Pentagon report that noted a rising tide of violence and the growing threat of civil war in Iraq.

• Al Qaeda in Iraq released a new audiotape from its new leader, Abu Hamza al-Muhajer.

• Border skirmishes continue between Iran and Iraq forces.

• Kuwait has ordered border troops to return fire if attacked again by Iraqi insurgents.

RECONSTRUCTION & THE ECONOMY

• Iraq expanding its navy with a contract for four new ships from Italy.

• Iraq plans to invest $4 billion to build new oil refineries to curb domestic refined fuel shortages.

• Iraqi Central Bank will begin participating in a system to ensure individual inter-bank transactions from are settled in real time.

IRAQI POLITICS

• More than one-third of Iraqi lawmakers did not attend the latest session of Iraq's Parliament after a monthlong layoff.

• Iraq's Vice President called on Sunni Arabs to put away their weapons and come to the negotiations table before it's too late.

• This week's Carnival of the Liberated is up.

THE INTERNATIONAL STAGE

• President Bush says that partitioning Iraq along ethnic and religious lines would be a mistake based on the Iraqi people's selection of the current Iraqi government to rule all of Iraq.

• Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is heading to Iran on Monday to discuss political and security issues between the two nations.

• Iraqi President Talabani has recently stated he could see British forces completely withdrawn from Iraq by the end of 2007.

• The Iraqi and Polish Defense Ministers are exploring the possibility of military cooperation of some sort in the future - initially reported as possible weapons purchases from Poland.

ETCETERA

• U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld threatened to fire anyone caught planning for the postwar period in Iraq, according to Brigadier General Mark Scheid, who was Chief of Logistics for War Plans in Central Command during the planning of the war.

• The Senate Intelligence Committee reported that the Bush administration went to war in Iraq on fragmentary and sometimes unreliable intelligence. This will come as news to almost no one, and the issue so far unanswered is what changes, if any, will be made to prevent such errors in the future.

• Contrary to claims made by the Iraqi government, al Qaeda in Iraq's number two man was arrested in June, not just last week.

• Former Iran President Mohammed Khatami claimed that the U.S. could have avoided war in Iraq had the U.S. been more willing to engage in diplomacy.

• Meet the Iraqi woman who is behind a growing trend in Iraq - the Iraq Map Necklace.

• Do you have your GI Bracelet? Many military families fall into financial hardship when the breadwinner is injured or killed. The entire 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!

• Many American troops have taken it upon themselves to reconstruct schools and gather learning tools for the children of Iraq. Their efforts have been met with immense gratitude from the local Iraqis and their children. You can help too! Visit Operation Iraqi Children and get involved.

Thanks for reading! If you found something here you want to blog about yourself (and we hope you do), all we ask is that you do as we do and offer a Hat Tip hyperlink to today's "Winds of War". If you think we missed something important, use the Comments section to let us know. And if you have a tip for a future Iraq Report, email us at MondayIraqReport(at)windsofchange.net.