Five more U.S. soldiers lost their lives Saturday in Iraq, victims of car bombings.

The clerics in Fallujah are threatening a jihad if the U.S. doesn't quit trying to take over the city.

In a separate statement read Friday in Sunni mosques in Baghdad and elsewhere, Fallujah clerics threatened a civil disobedience campaign across the country if the Americans try to overrun the city.

The clerics said if civil disobedience were not enough to stop a U.S. assault, they would proclaim a jihad, or holy war, against all U.S. and multinational forces "as well as those collaborating with them."

They insisted that the Jordanian-born al-Zarqawi was not in Fallujah, claiming his alleged presence "is a lie just like the weapons of mass destruction lie." "Al-Zarqawi has become the pretext for flattening civilians houses and killing innocent civilians," the statement said.

A Fallujah delegation said it would resume negotiations with the U.S. if it would stop bombing the city.

In Afghanistan, two U.S. soldiers were killed by a bomb Saturday.

And an Annenberg military poll shows:

62 percent in the military sample said the administration didn't send an adequate number of troops to Iraq. And 59 percent said too much of a burden has been put on the National Guard and the reserves when regular forces should have been expanded instead.

The Clarion Ledger reports:

A 17-member Army Reserve platoon with troops from Jackson and around the Southeast deployed to Iraq is under arrest for refusing a "suicide mission" to deliver fuel, the troops' relatives said Thursday. The soldiers refused an order on Wednesday to go to Taji, Iraq — north of Baghdad — because their vehicles were considered "deadlined" or extremely unsafe, said Patricia McCook of Jackson, wife of Sgt. Larry O. McCook.

Howard Dean is demanding George Bush tell us how he will continue the war in Iraq without a military draft. Join him. Read Governor Dean's letter and column about the draft...Watch the new video available here.

George Bush is already drafting Americans to fight in Iraq: forcing soldiers to stay active beyond their commitments and ripping apart families by sending unprecedented numbers of National Guard and Reserves to occupy a foreign land. If we "stay the course" with this president, we will face a choice: drastically reduce our commitments or reinstate the draft.

One of the Joint Chiefs and Bush's own administrator in Iraq have both said that we will need tens of thousands more troops to stabilize the country. We have been misled about this war from the beginning. About nuclear weapons, about the cost, and about the progress being made. Now they say we won't need a draft. We cannot afford to take their word for it.

I demand to know how George Bush plans to guard the homeland, protect against threats abroad, and stabilize and occupy Iraq -- without resorting to a draft.

Six U.S. soldiers were killed today in Iraq. It will probably get worse now that an ultimatum has been given in Fallujah to turn over al Zarqawi or face new attacks.

In Baghdad, Iraq’s interim prime minister also warned that US. and Iraqi forces will launch military operations in the main insurgent stronghold Fallujah if residents do not hand over Jordanian terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, whose group has kidnapped and beheaded numerous foreigners, including Briton Ken Bigley.

Fat chance, especially now.

Last year, insurgents sharply increased their attacks against coalition forces during Ramadan, expected to start at the end of this week. Extremists believe they win a special place in paradise if they die in a jihad, or holy war, during Ramadan.

PFC Lynndie England is a mother. She gave birth Sunday at Fort Bragg. The father reportedly is Charles Graner, who is also facing Abu Ghraib abuse charges. The Baltimore Sun reports the baby is a boy.

England's trial is set for January, 2005. If convicted on all 17counts, she could receive up to 38 years in jail.

Among the charges is conspiring to commit maltreatment of an Iraqi detainee by posing in a photograph holding a leash around the detainee, indecent acts with numerous soldiers and wrongfully creating sexually explicit photographs of herself.

News from Germany today:

Germany might deploy troops in Iraq if conditions there change, Peter Struck, the German defence minister, indicated on Tuesday in a gesture that appears to provide backing for John Kerry, the US Democratic presidential challenger.

....Mr Struck also welcomed Mr Kerry’s proposal that he would convene an international conference on Iraq including countries that opposed the war if he were to win next month's election.

Germany would certainly attend, Mr Struck said. “This is a very sensible proposal. The situation in Iraq can only be cleared up when all those involved sit together at one table. Germany has taken on responsibilities in Iraq, including financial ones; this would naturally justify our involvement in such a conference.”

So why do the television pundits say it will never happen? [hat tip to reader Fred.]

Saddam Hussein had hernia surgery about ten days ago. He went to a hospital where Iraqi doctors operated on him. He was returned to his cell the same day, and has recovered completely.

He also has high blood pressure and a chronic prostate infection but has refused to have a biopsy done to determine if he has anything more serious.

Getting our allies to participate in the Iraq war may have just become a tougher proposition:

More than two-thirds of the people living in Australia, Britain and Italy - three countries allied with the United States in the Iraq war - believe the war has increased the threat of terrorism.

Leaders of those countries - prime ministers Tony Blair of Britain and John Howard of Australia and Premier Silvio Berlusconi of Italy - all get low marks from their people for their handling of the war on terrorism, an Associated Press-Ipsos poll shows.

The number of Americans who believe the Iraq war has increased the threat of terrorism is now over 50%.

"In the context of the presidential campaign in the United States, this is undeniably a blow for George W. Bush, since it shows that a majority of Americans don't agree with the main justification for his policy in Iraq," said Gilles Corman, research director at Ipsos-Inra of Belgium, who studies public opinion trends across Europe.

Time for an exit strategy. Anybody have one?

The Baltimore Sun reports today on the difference between statements of Bush and the Pentagon and those of the soldiers fighting daily in Anaconda,Iraq. It begins:

This sprawling supply base on a dusty stretch about 50 miles northwest of Baghdad is officially known as a "logistical support area." But some of the thousands of soldiers and contractors who suffer daily mortar and rocket attacks have another name for it: "Mortaritaville."

At least a half-dozen soldiers and contractors have been killed and nearly 100 wounded here since April. There have been about two attacks a day since July. Three weeks ago, a young airman lost both legs and his right hand when a mortar shell slammed into the base.

Officers say Anaconda, the largest support base in the country, with 22,500 U.S. troops and 2,500 contractors spread over 15 square miles, is also the most frequently attacked. But there is no indication the soldiers will get the help they want to deal with their nagging and deadly problem.

It's well worth the time to read the whole article.

Shades of Vietnam again...some Marines in Iraq are questioning Bush and the war.

In a dozen interviews, Marines from a platoon known as the "81s" expressed in blunt terms their frustrations with the way the war is being conducted and, in some cases, doubts about why it is being waged. The platoon, named for the size in millimeters of its mortar rounds, is part of the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment based in Iskandariyah, 30 miles southwest of Baghdad.

The Marines offered their opinions openly to a reporter traveling with the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines during operations last week in Babil province, then expanded upon them during interviews over three days in their barracks at Camp Iskandariyah, their forward operating base.

The Marines' opinions have been shaped by their participation in hundreds of hours of operations over the past two months. Their assessments differ sharply from those of the interim Iraqi government and the Bush administration, which have said that Iraq is on a certain -- if bumpy -- course toward peaceful democracy.

These marines think Bush isn't being straight with the American people on how long the war will last.

I feel we're going to be here for years and years and years," said Lance Cpl. Edward Elston, 22, of Hackettstown, N.J. "I don't think anything is going to get better; I think it's going to get a lot worse. It's going to be like a Palestinian-type deal. We're going to stop being a policing presence and then start being an occupying presence. . . . We're always going to be here. We're never going to leave."

This is a long article and fairly depressing, but read the whole thing anyway.

Update: Jeanne at Body and Soul has some important comments on this article and the distinction between the marines being angry about being in the war and the marines being angry about the restrictions placed on them in not being able to go far enough:

Both Bush and Kerry and their running mates now have said there will be no draft during their administration. But the War in Iraq is ongoing, Afghanistan is not settled, Iran and North Korea are beyond the (Bush) horizen, there's also Al Qaida and the Saudis and who knows who else. Just in case unexpected events causes the new President to change his mind and ask Congress to reinstate the draft, we thought it would be helpful to print some information on how it would work.

The good news is you would have 193 days--more than six months-- from the time Congress passes and the President signs a draft bill before you can be inducted. It most likely would begin with Congress restoring the expired Military Selective Service Act. Here's how it goes: [From the October 22, 2001 Atlanta Journal Constitution, article by Bill Hendrick, available on Lexis.com]

Judith Miller and Eric Lipton detail the Duelfer report that shows how American oil companies and a Texas invester profited under the U.N.'s oil for food program while Saddam was in power.The 918 page report was prepared by Charles Duelfer, the chief arms inspector for the Central Intelligence Agency.

Judith Miller, by the way, is the NY Times reporter who was held in contempt last week for refusing to reveal her sources in the Valerie Plame investigation. I've seen a lot of oblique references on the web as to who her source might be, but no names. Is anyone willing to take an educated guess?

Back to oil...For those starting on this subject from scratch (as I am), here's Miller and Lipton's decription of the Food for Oil program: