IRAQ WAR Developments

The latest developments in the war in Iraq:
Iraqi insurgents appear to have adopted a new tactic since the start of a security crackdown in Baghdad, using children in a suicide attack Sunday, a senior Pentagon official said Tuesday. Maj. Gen. Michael Barbero, deputy director for regional operations on the Joint Staff, told reporters that a vehicle was waved through a U.S. military checkpoint because two children were visible in the back seat. "Children in the back seat lowered suspicion, [so] we let it move through. They parked the vehicle, the adults run out and detonate it with the children in the back," Barbero said. "The brutality and ruthless nature of this enemy hasn't changed."
Hundreds of chanting mourners buried Saddam Hussein's former vice president near the ousted dictator, his sons and two other executed deputies Tuesday in a spot that has become the graveyard of the ousted regime. Taha Yassin Ramadan's body, which was covered with the Iraqi flag, was interred in a building courtyard in the Tigris River village of Ouja hours after he was hanged for his part in the killings of 148 Shiite Muslims following a 1982 assassination attempt on Saddam.
Police found the bullet-riddled bodies of 32 men scattered across Baghdad. The corpses showed signs of torture and were the apparent victims of sectarian death squads, most of which are believed to be operated by Shiite militias.
Defense Department investigators said Tuesday they are going to be more aggressive suspending or barring companies from doing U.S. contract work in Iraq if they are involved in war profiteering there. Stuart Bowen, special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, said taking such action is an effective tool, particularly when auditors are struggling to come up with enough detailed evidence for criminal prosecutions. Bowen's comments came in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, as lawmakers complained that assessing fines is not enough to stop the billions of dollars in waste, fraud and abuse plaguing Iraq reconstruction projects. Auditors last month told Congress that about 10 billion has been squandered by the U.S. government on Iraq reconstruction aid because of contractor overcharges and unsupported expenses.
Source: Associated Press