Search results for

President George Bush makes a rare trip to the Pentagon to give support to his beleaguered secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld. As several prominent Democrats call for Rumsfeld's resignation over the Iraq prison abuse scandal, there is also some discontent among uniformed officials over Rumsfeld's policies and leadership style. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.

The campaigns of President Bush and Sen. John Kerry are pouring resources into states that may provide them with leverage in key regions. Bush is staking a claim to Minnesota, which he narrowly lost in 2000, while Kerry is attempting to solidify his support in Louisiana. Hear NPR's Robert Siegel, Lawrence Jacobs of the University of Minnesota and John Maginnis, publisher of LaPolitics.com.

The Pentagon issues a denial of charges that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld began a secret program to collect intelligence from foreign detainees independently of the CIA. The report, in a New Yorker article by Seymour M. Hersh, describes Rumsfeld approving the use of Special Access Programs personnel for interrogations in Iraq. Hear NPR's Liane Hansen and Hersh.

An internal Army report on the abuse of detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad cites several civilian contractors suspected of participating in the incidents. But legal experts say it's unclear whether these contractors would be prosecuted in a U.S. military court, an Iraqi civil court or a U.S. federal court. Hear NPR's Jackie Northam.

Spc. Jeremy Sivits of the 372nd Military Police Company will be the first soldier to face a court-marshal over abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. The trial will be held in Baghdad and will be will open to the news media. NPR's Mary Louise Kelly reports.

Nicholas Berg, the American whose death was depicted in a video posted on an Islamist Web site, is laid to rest Friday after a service at a synagogue in West Chester, Pa. Berg's family asked that only those who knew him attend the service. Hear NPR's Brian Naylor and NPR's Michele Norris.

Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba's testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee emphasized his opinion that a breakdown in military command led to the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Some senators are wondering how high up accountability should go. NPR's Mary Louise Kelly reports.

Fierce street fighting breaks out in a Sunni neighborhood of Baghdad. And battles continue around Fallujah, even as U.S. occupation authorities dispatch an Iraqi delegation to negotiate a cease-fire there. There are reports that insurgents may agree to a truce beginning Sunday. Hear NPR's Cheryl Corley and Anthony Shadid of The Washington Post.

After two months of the Bush campaign's television advertising blitz, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry is airing commercials that aim to make him better known to the American electorate, explain his position on Iraq, shed light on his national priorities and counter the Bush campaign's anti-Kerry message. NPR's John McChesney reports.

Massive demonstrations in Washington in support of abortion rights bring high-profile speakers and vocal opposition. Organizers called the event the "March for Women's Lives." While hundreds of thousands of marchers rallied to the capital, anti-abortion activists turned out in force, as well. Hear NPR's Libby Lewis, NPR's Cheryl Corley and former Texas governor Ann Richards.