A Soldiers Blog

Months after France said it would veto a U.N. resolution authorizing the invasion of Iraq, forcing the United States to withdraw the measure and go to war without it, realpolitik has overcome resentment in most of the Bush administration. Although there is little desire to cuddle up with Paris, officials at the White House and the State Department say they are willing to work with the French on issues where views coincide, and work around or oppose them when they disagree.
But the Pentagon apparently is not ready to move on. A Defense spokesman said yesterday that slots for foreigners in Red Flag, an exercise held with a rotating group of allies several times a year, in which France has participated annually since the 1980s, "are going to be reserved for those with whom we will likely be participating in operations in the future."

The Iraqi Health Ministry has ordered an immediate health survey around the country's largest nuclear facility amid fears for locals after looting.
US military officials, who are conducting a damage assessment at the Tuwaitha plant, have said a fifth of the radioactive materials knnown to have been stored there are missing...
... Villagers nearby have begun reporting ill effects they attribute to contact with hazardous waste.
Menem Abed Ali, who lives in the village of al-Mansia adjacent to the plant, said that since the looting took place he had been suffering from exhaustion and skin irritation.

A Canadian Forces officer has suffered minor injuries in an explosion near the Baghdad airport, the Defence Department said on Wednesday.
The officer was injured last Friday when a grenade exploded near a convoy the soldier was travelling in. He suffered shrapnel scrapes on one arm and temporary hearing loss, the military said. The officer has returned to duty.

A US officer is behind allegations about the conduct of a high-profile British Army officer during the war in Iraq, it emerged today.
The Ministry of Defence is investigating Lieutenant Colonel Tim Collins, who commanded the 1st Battalion of the Royal Irish Rangers during the war against Saddam Hussein?s forces.