Iraq Roundup

The widow of a soldier killed in Iraq says she skipped a meeting with President Bush because she is angry with the president and "didn't want to go and be disrespectful."

Johnna Loia of Pueblo was among family members and relatives of those killed in the war who were invited to meet with Bush at Fort Carson on Monday.

Loia's fiance, Spc. Brian Penisten of Ft. Wayne, Ind., was killed Nov. 2 in a helicopter crash along with three other Fort Carson soldiers. In all, the crash killed 16 U.S. troops.

Penisten, 28, was on his way back to Colorado to marry Loia.
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Loia said she might have asked Bush why he went to war.

"I would want to know why he decided to go to Iraq and why he felt that the war was justified," she said. "In my eyes, I don't feel it was justified at all."

Loud blasts have echoed across Baghdad after dark and loudspeakers at the headquarters of the U.S.-led administration ordered personnel to take cover as an attack was under way.

"Attack. Take cover. This is not a test," the loudspeaker announcements said, as sirens wailed at the coalition compound in one of Saddam Hussein's former palace complexes on the west bank of the Tigris river in central Baghdad.

Next Eid, Iraq will be a sovereign nation.

Next Eid, there will be more jobs.

Next Eid, you will be more secure.