Top Pentagon officials to update Iraq progress [View All]

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http://www.whbf.com/Global/story.asp?S=3524906

Top Pentagon officials to update Iraq progress

PENTAGON Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and General George Casey, the commander of U-S troops in Iraq, meet with reporters later today to deliver a progress report on military operations in Iraq.

The briefing comes on the eve of the first anniversary of the transfer of power from the U-S led Coalition Provisional Authority to an interim Iraqi government. And it comes one day after Rumsfeld confirmed that Iraqi leaders have held informal meetings with people connected to the less violent elements of the Iraqi insurgency.

A Pentagon spokesman says the meetings are "a concerted effort to reach out broadly to the varying groups in Iraq" and they are consistent with the goal of creating "an inclusive, not an exclusive government" there.

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