US Marines – When Marines prepared to jump off in the initial attack against Saddamís forces in miserable weather last year, the Corpsí leadership knew they had a problem. It was not the hail, driving rain or Iraqi bayonets that concerned them. It was logistics.

• Sea Power: Marine Corps Plans to Revamp Outmoded Logistics System

Background – Iraq – Seymour Hersh states that the roots of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal lie not in the criminal inclinations of a few Army reservists but in a decision, approved last year by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, to expand a highly secret operation, which had been focussed on the hunt for Al Qaeda, to the interrogation of prisoners in Iraq. Rumsfeldís decision embittered the American intelligence community, damaged the effectiveness of elite combat units, and hurt Americaís prospects in the war on terror.

• The New Yorker: The Gray Zone

Background – Iraq – Former commander in chief of U.S. Central Command, Gen. Zinni, outlines a 10-point critique of the vital mistakes the United States made leading up to and during the war in Iraq. A brilliant and insightful analysis by someone with impeccable credentials???

• Center for Defense Information: Gen. Anthony Zinni, USMC (Ret.) Remarks at CDI Board of Directors Dinner, May 12, 2004