End of combat: Just 43 days after announcing the start of the war in Iraq, President Bush on Thursday told the nation that "major combat operations in Iraq have ended." He said the toppling of Saddam Hussein's government was "one victory in a war on terror that began on Sept. 11th, 2001, and still goes on." He spoke not from the White House but from the deck of the aircraft carrrier USS Abraham Lincoln, a dramatic setting that also exerted maximum political effect for the president.
Fallujah violence: Following three days of deadly violence in Fallujah, a top U.S. military official here Thursday said there is evidence the incidents are part of an orchestrated effort against American forces by former ruling Baath Party officials. Unidentified assailants Wednesday night tossed two grenades inside a U.S. military compound in the heart of this town west of Baghdad, slightly injuring at least five soldiers, military sources said. The compound is manned by company of soldiers from the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment.
Civilians killed: Two more Iraqi civilians were killed Wednesday in a clash with U.S. troops, bringing the total in such clashes to 17 in three days of conflict in Fallujah. More than 60 Iraqis have been wounded, hospital and Red Cross officials said.
Returning refugees: The U.N. refugee agency has prepared a plan for hundreds of thousands of Iraqis to return to their war-torn country.
Shiite pilgrimage: Crowds of Shia Muslims Wednesday chanted and danced in the streets of Karbala on the final day of a pilgrimage long suppressed under Saddam Hussein's rule. Many expressed gratitude to the United States for their newfound freedom but, in the same breath, they warned their liberators to leave Iraq and not divide their country.
