Front Page: Iraq, March 28, 2003

The following is a compilation of today's newspaper reports about the Iraq crisis from around the country and around the world. It is just a sampling of different perspectives, designed to offer additional context into the conflict. Compiled by CBSNews.com's Andrew Cohen.

From around the country:

The Chicago Tribune offered this editorial view: "The Bush administration is at odds with Russia and France — and even to some extent with its ally Britain — over how significant a role the United Nations will play in rebuilding Iraq. Even within the Bush administration, apparently, there are sharp differences over how to deal with the U.N. On Thursday, tempers at the world body grew even more frayed — the U.S. delegation left a meeting of the Security Council when Iraq's ambassador to the U.N. used the forum to accuse the U.S. and Britain of "barbaric" behavior. These are not encouraging signs for the prospect of international cooperation in the massive effort of building an economic and political structure for the stable future of Iraq. The Bush administration's distrust toward the United Nations is understandable; the world body refused to take part in removing Saddam Hussein, but now wants to mop up after U.S. and British troops do the heavy lifting. Distrust? Make that disgust. But it will be in the U.S. interest to accept and encourage a substantial U.N. role in the rebuilding of Iraq — as long as that comes with a substantial commitment of money and personnel from U.N. members. The rebuilding of Iraq will have three broad facets: humanitarian relief, economic reconstruction and, trickiest of all, political reform."

Ann Scott Tyson of the Christian Science Monitor filed this report: "The sandstorm was blinding, and the sky an eerie blood red. Sgt. James Ositis and his troops from the 3-7th Cavalry were fighting through an ambush by hundreds of Iraqi fighters near the city of Najaf, when suddenly his tank engine was hit by a missile. 'I looked up and could see the sparks and fire going up,' says the gunner from New Albany, Miss. He jumped on top of the stalled tank and kicked open the hatch, yelling, "Get out! Get out!" All four crew of the M1A1 tank then leapt to the ground and made a 15-second dash, under heavy fire, to a Bradley fighting vehicle nearby. Before the Bradley's back hatch was half-open, the tankers lunged in, thankful to be alive. The battle of the 3-7th Cavalry Squadron to isolate the Euphrates town of Najaf this week has been the Army's 'most intense' engagement so far in the Iraq war, according to 3rd Infantry Division commander Maj. Gen. Buford Blount III."

Sheila Burke of the Nashville Tennessean filed this report: "The wheels of justice will probably turn slowly in the case of an Army sergeant accused of a deadly attack on his fellow soldiers in a camp in Kuwait, experts in military justice said. There are inherent problems in prosecuting a case where the witnesses to the crime are in another country in the midst of war, said Kevin Barry, an attorney and a director of the National Institute of Military Justice in Washington, D.C. Barry said that the military — which normally prides itself on moving at a quicker pace than the civilian court system — would probably be especially careful in this extraordinary case. "I would be surprised if they were to try and do this court-martial while the troops are engaged in Iraq,' Barry said. 'I would expect that they would wait until the situation in Iraq is resolved.' The military probably also wants to complete a thorough investigation, he said. Sgt. Asan Akbar is expected to be formally charged in the case soon, officials from Fort Campbell said. He is a suspect in the apparent slayings of two fellow soldiers and the wounding of 14 others in an attack on a command center of the 1st Brigade of the Army's 101st Airborne Division in Kuwait. A spokesman for the Army's Criminal Investigation Command at Fort Belvoir, Va., said agents were still working on the case but expected it to be completed soon."

Matthai Chakko Kuruvila of the San Jose Mercury News filed this report: "Even with access to 35 Arabic language TV channels, not to mention American cable news shows, the most vivid images Jawad Al-Mamori sees of Iraq are not on the screen. They are in his mind. Pointing at the television images of American troops trudging toward Baghdad, the Iraqi refugee cannot contain his frustration that cameras can't show Saddam Hussein's grim tactics. 'They cannot see behind the picture,' said Al-Mamori, 36, who now lives in Santa Clara. 'We were there.' Out of view of all the cameras, he said, are Saddam Hussein's henchmen, wandering through cities, forcing many to pick up arms and fight Americans and their allies. 'If they go home, they'll kill their families,' he said. He knows this too well. His father, Kadhim, who was forced to fight in the Iran-Iraq war, was killed in 1985 by Saddam's enforcers when he left the front lines to take care of his nine children. Kadhim's portrait now hangs in Jawad's living room, just to the left of the television. Watching the war on TV has unleashed decades of repressed hope for Al-Mamori, who fled to a refugee camp in Saudi Arabia as American troops retreated at the end of the last Gulf war. Like many of the 2,000 local Iraqi refugees, he is adamantly opposed to Saddam. And like many here, he still has family back home: His mother and seven younger siblings remain in the southern Iraqi town of As-Samawah."

Betsy Pisik in the Washington Times offered this view from inside Iraq: "Fear of Saddam Hussein and uncertainty about U.S. staying power temper the enthusiasm at the prospect of being free from oppressive rule in the port city of Umm Qasr in southeastern Iraq. 'We love America,' an Iraqi engineer working at the town's port said yesterday. 'Every Iraqi, every woman and man, all hate Saddam.' But like many residents of Umm Qasr, he would not allow his name to be published in an American newspaper. 'Not until Saddam is dead,' he said. Umm Qasr largely has been pacified by lead elements of the coalition forces, but its residents remain on edge amid sporadic violence. Iraqi soldiers have been firing rocket-propelled grenades, and allied convoys came under direct fire as recently as last night. U.S. military officers have been scouring public records in this run-down town, whose dirt roads are swept by wind and trash, trying to locate key officials to get them to resume work and have the ports, schools and clinics functioning again. Like the engineer, many residents are enthusiastic about the expected overthrow of Saddam's regime and ready to go back to work under a temporary Western administration. But grave doubts about whether the United States will finish the job have made them reluctant to be seen talking to the Americans, or to accept offers to meet with planning officials at U.S. or British bases."

From around the world:

Britain's Independent newspaper focused upon a potential rift between the U.S. and the U.K.: "The first signs of tension between Britain and America over the rebuilding and running of post-war Iraq have emerged with the award of a $4.8 million contract to manage the captured port of Umm Qasr. British forces are determined to engage an Iraqi director and staff to run the country's only deep-water port, which is expected to provide the gateway for humanitarian aid and military supplies. But the U.S. Agency for International Development has already awarded the contract to Stevedoring Services of America, a Seattle company. The British Army is pressing ahead with its plan to reinstall the man who directed the port before the Allied invasion. Britain sees this as the first big test of the proclaimed Allied intention to ensure that Iraqi resources are used for the benefit of the Iraqi people. While senior British officers are guarded about the implications, they have moved swiftly to ensure that Iraqis are seen to benefit from the port's regeneration. Although Umm Qasr has a population of 30,000, the port is about the size of Dover and became the most important in the country after the docks in Basra were destroyed in the Iran-Iraq war. The man who ran the port until the Allied invasion — which was the main maritime conduit for the oil-for-food program — has been identified among captives taken when British troops moved into the city. He is likely to be back in his old job after careful vetting. British sources would not disclose details, but the man is likely to have quickly volunteered his identity to British officers."

Canada's Globe and Mail provided this perspective: "Canadian Forces members on exchange with coalition forces in Iraq are in a dangerous war zone alongside combat troops, a British official said yesterday. The statement on CBC Newsworld by British Lieutenant-Colonel Ronnie McCourt that the Canadians 'are in combat' was quickly contradicted by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, who insisted that the handful of Canadian personnel are only providing logistical help to allied forces. The issue of the 31 Canadian participants in exchange programs with U.S. and British forces — six of whom are physically in Iraq — is highlighting an apparent contradiction in Ottawa's position to stay out of the war. Mr. Chrétien was adamant during Question Period that 'we are not at war with Iraq,' but he refused opposition requests to recall the Canadian officers who are on the ground in that country. Mr. Chrétien said there are so few Canadians on these exchange programs that their contribution is minor. 'Between you and me, there are only a few of them. There are 300,000 soldiers there and a few Canadians that are fulfilling jobs that were given to them months ago,' he said."

Iran's Islamic Republic News Agency offered this: "Iran's Parliament Speaker Mehdi Karroubi said Friday that U.S. arrogance and its invasion of sovereign countries had turned the country to the world's bete noire. 'America today is detested by the world since it is standing against the world's public opinion,' he told anti-war demonstrators who were chanting anti-U.S. and anti-British slogans. 'We express our hatred and anger towards America and ask the world people to demonstrate and their governments to use political and economic pressures to force U.S. to retreat (from its invasion of Iraq),' Karroubi said. 'One of the blessings of this bitter event (U.S.-led invasion) is that the pro-democracy posture of America has been revealed,' the cleric said. 'America sealed the fate of the United Nations, human rights and democracy with this action,' Karroubi said, adding U.S. aim was not to topple Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein but to 'plunder the region's wealth' in line with its hostilities to Muslims."

Russia's Tass News Agency offered this: "A stop to the war in Iraq is the sole solution, Russian President Vladimir Putin said meeting leaders of factions in the State Duma, the Russian parliament's lower house, on Friday. He said the 'only right solution would be an immediate stop to the combat action in Iraq and the resumption of political settlement at the U.N. Security Council.' The 'war is spilling beyond the frame of a local conflict, and a danger of the rocking of global stability and foundations of international law has emerged,' Putin said. Russia is ready for a multilateral dialogue on Iraq, President Vladimir Putin said. Russia is 'ready for dialogue with all sides involved in the Iraqi conflict, including with the U.S.,' he said in the Duma. 'The partnership character of our relations with America gives us grounds for the continuation of a frank dialogue,' he said. 'A most important task for the world community is to prevent an imminent humanitarian catastrophe in Iraq,' the president stressed. Putin has warned that the war in Iraq was becoming ever more ferocious and chances of its early completion, more uncertain."

Compiled by Andrew Cohen