As a small boy sleeps on the floor, American soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, in Tikrit, Iraq, search for weapons Monday, Sept. 15, 2003, at homes of suspected Saddam loyalists. During a raid in the early hours of the morning, five men were taken into custody and a large cache of weapons and money were found.
An American soldier from the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division in Tikrit, Iraq, Monday, Sept. 15, 2003, stands guard over a suspected Saddam loyalist during a raid in the early hours of the morning. Five men were taken into custody and a large cache of weapons and money were found.
Soldiers from the New Iraqi Army stand behind stacked machine guns during a live-fire exercise, Monday, Sept 15, 2003, at a base in Kirkush some 55 miles northeast of Baghdad. Coalition forces have been training more than 700 recruits for the New Iraqi Army for the past two months.
American soldier Ctp. Woodst, from Fort Hood, Texas, of the 720th Military Police battalion, and Sgt. Norton partake in a raid to locate Saddam loyalists in Tikrit, Iraq, Sept. 16, 2003. Twelve men were taken into custody during the raid that was a joint effort between the U.S. military and the Iraqi police.
U.S. Army Spc. Jose Salcedo of Bravo Co. 1/504 cradles a shotgun and watches the perimeter during a sweep through the town of Al Karmah, Iraq, with the Civil Affairs Unit Sept.17, 2003. The unit were making a "presence" patrol while looking for the town's mayor.
An Iraqi army tank burns after unidentified men used an explosive device on the abandoned vehicle in the desert west of Baghdad Sept. 16, 2003. Soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division investigating the incident, speculated the explosion was a test to see how it would work against the tank's armor. Attacks on U.S. forces with improvised devices are becoming more frequent and more sophisticated.
An unidentified member of the Quick Response Force of the 1/504 provides cover for other members of his squad as the sun sets over the Iraqi desert west of Baghdad Sept.17, 2003. The soldiers were responding to an explosion near Camp Mercury.
An Iraqi police officer patrols a barrier set up to protect the Shiite Muslim Imam Hussein shrine in Najaf, Iraq Sept. 17, 2003. A U.S.-backed, 400-strong police force, officially called the "Shrine Police Force," will be fully deployed in response to the assassination on Aug. 29 of Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim outside the shrine.
Two girls run through the dust as a U.S. military helicopter lands at the Hawizeh Marsh, Thursday, Sept 18, 2003, near the southern Iraqi city of Basra. The marshes suffered badly during Saddam's eight-year war with Iran in the 1980s. He drained wide areas to build roads. In places, he electrified the water, killing marsh life along with Iranian soldiers.
Two Iraqi girls sit on reeds harvested from the Aahr Al Fural river marsh Thursday, Sept 18, 2003, near the southern Iraqi city of Basra. Large parts of the marsh were destroyed under the rule of Saddam Hussein. Thick reedbeds teeming with life once covered 8,000 square miles, the size of Massachusetts. Now 97 percent of the main marshes are dry.
Iraqi firefighters battle an oil pipeline explosion along the main line from Iraq to Turkey near the northern Iraqi town of Beiji Thursday, Sept. 18, 2003. The explosion occurred around dawn just north of Beiji, about 120 miles north of Baghdad. Witnesses said and the cause of the blast could not be immediately determined.
A U.S. tank passes by as a crane removes a burned American military truck after U.S. troops were ambushed near Khaldiyah on Sept.18, 2003
An Iraqi man is searched at a downtown Baghdad checkpoint by U.S. forces Friday, Sept. 19, 2003.
An Iraqi boy walks past the remains of a U.S. military truck after an attack 20 kilometers, 12 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Sept. 19, 2003. No injuries were reported in the attack.
The 1,300-year-old Al-Jaam'e Al-Kabeer mosque in Aqra, Iraq, is seen Friday, Sept. 19, 2003. Aqra is a small Kurdish town 287 miles north of Baghdad.
Iraqi Kurds choose prayers beads at a street market in Aqra, Iraq, Friday, Sept. 19, 2003. Aqra is an old small Kurdish town 287 miles north of Baghdad.
An Iraqi boy drags a fire hose left behind on the highway near the burning remains of a U.S. military truck after an attack 12 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Sept. 19, 2003. No injuries were reported in the attack.
Iraqis dig through the rubble left after a car bomb exploded next to the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf, Iraq, killing at least 75 and wounding 140 others Friday, Aug. 29, 2003. Najaf, for centuries a symbol of Shiite spirituality, has become in post-war Iraq a place of intrigue and violence.
A U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division soldier with an Iraqi police officer stand guard during ceremony to hand over security to FPSF (Force Protection Security of Facilities) and the ICDC (Iraqi Civil Defense Corp) at a police station in Mosul, 250 miles north of Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2003.
Iraqi Shiite muslims flagellate themselves in the street outside the Kadhimiya shrine in Baghdad Sunday, Sept. 21, 2003, on the eve of the anniversary of the death of Moussa Al-Kadhim, a decsendent of the Prophet Mohammed.