A senior defense advisor to the Australian government says she was fired after refusing to write media briefings that supported claims that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. "I felt like I was part of the propaganda machine. As a public servant I shouldn't be expected to write propaganda," said engineer and analyst Jane Errey. Rather than participate in pro-war briefings, she took a leave of absence and has now been terminated permanently.

"It is ironic in the extreme that an administration that's so interested in letting industry come up with its own solutions would come down with a heavy government hand on a company that's being creative," said one public health expert, commenting on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's decision not to allow Kansas' Creekstone Farms to test every cow it processes for mad cow disease. Creekstone wants 100% testing in order to resume sales to Japan, South Korea and other countries banning U.S.

One year after the staged toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue in Firdos Square, the bloody violence in Iraq is reaching new peaks.