Morning News Roundup (27 Mar)

• During a private two-hour meeting in the Oval Office on Jan. 31, 2003 (almost two months before combat operations began), President Bush made clear to Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain that he was determined to invade Iraq without the second resolution, or even if international arms inspectors failed to find unconventional weapons, said a confidential memo about the meeting written by Mr. Blair's top foreign policy adviser and reviewed by The New York Times.
  

  "Our diplomatic strategy had to be arranged around the military planning," David Manning, Mr. Blair's chief foreign policy adviser at the time, wrote in the memo that summarized the discussion between Mr. Bush, Mr. Blair and six of their top aides.
  
  "The start date for the military campaign was now penciled in for 10 March," Mr. Manning wrote, paraphrasing the president. "This was when the bombing would begin."

  This seems to be the NYTimes take on the leaking of this memo back in early February and reported on in the UK and other international sources (and previously posted here). Read more about it at AfterDowningStreet.org.
  
  


• U.S. and Iraqi special forces killed at least 16 followers of the Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on Sunday in a twilight assault on what the U.S. military said was a "terrorist cell" responsible for attacks on soldiers and civilians. [WaPo] Members of Iraq's ruling Shia Islamist bloc say many of the dead were civilians taking part in prayers. "Entering the mosque and the killings there are an unjustified and flagrant attack," the interior minister said. "Approximately 18 innocent men who were inside the mosque performing sunset prayers were killed and became martyrs," Bayan Jabr added in an interview on Dubai-based al-Arabiya television. "They were killed unjustly and wrongfully." [BBC] Baghdad provincial Governor Husayn al-Tahan said he is suspending all cooperation with U.S. forces until an independent investigation is launched. [Radio Free Europe]
  
  


• US military investigators are examining allegations that Marines shot unarmed Iraqis, then claimed they were "enemy fighters." American military officials in Iraq have already admitted that 15 civilians who died in the incident in the western town of Haditha last November were killed by Marines, and not by a roadside bomb, as had previously been claimed. Local people have contradicted this account in almost every detail. According to their statements, the soldiers were not under fire when they approached the car. Rather than order the occupants to leave the vehicle and lie down, they simply dragged them out and shot them. While investigators seek to determine the truth of the incident, the military has admitted no weapons were found in the vehicle. [The Independent]
  
  


• Dozens of Iraqi army recruits were killed or wounded today in a suicide attack at an Iraqi army base near the northern city of Mosul, a predominantly Sunni province 275 miles north of Baghdad. More than 100 men were lining up around noon at a checkpoint near the al-Kisek Iraqi army base, about 40 miles west of Mosul, when the attack occurred. A man wearing an explosives belt slipped into among the crowd and detonated his load. [WaPo]
  
  


• With efforts to halt its nuclear program at an impasse, Iran is moving faster than expected and is just days from making the first steps toward enriching uranium, said diplomats who have been briefed on the program. If engineers encounter no major technical problems, Iran could manufacture enough highly enriched uranium to build a bomb within three years, much more quickly than the common estimate of five to 10 years, the diplomats said. [LATimes]
  
  


• Abdul Rahman, an Afghan convert to Christianity, underwent tests that could see him spared from execution, after a court dropped its case against him amid doubts over his mental health. According to Sharia law, should be executed unless he reverts to Islam. [Agence France Presse]
  
  


• Some relatively good news: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called for a new peace initiative with Pakistan on Friday, saying the two countries should resolve their differences and move toward a peaceful future. "The peacemaking process must ultimately culminate in our two countries entering into a treaty of peace, security and friendship." [WaPo] Pakistan's foreign ministry spokesperson said that India's overture reflected many positive sentiments. These included a strong acknowledgement by Delhi of the need to move forward on the Jammu and Kashmir issue. [BBC]
  
  


• Increasingly under pressure to meet reading and math testing requirements laid out in President Bush’s No Child Left Behind, many schools are eliminating or trimming courses such as social studies, science, and art. [ThinkProgress]

[posted with ecto]