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Weekday mornings starting at 5 a.m.
More troops.
The U.S. to raise troop levels in Iraq by almost 12,000 as violence threatens next month's
elections.
Scandal.
Fraud and corruption in the U.N. oil for food program in Iraq.
Now a demand from a U.S. Senator that Kofi Annan, the U.N. Secretary General resigns.
Credit warning.
Free credit reports online.
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And Ward 57.
Home to some of America's bravest soldiers who have to learn how to live all over again.
NBC News World Headquarters in New York.
This is NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw.
Good evening.
The American military investment in Iraq is going up from 138,000 troops there now to
150,000.
And the Iraqi elections scheduled for January are the big reason.
The election date remains on the calendar, but success depends on a lot better security
than now exists in that embattled country.
And the Pentagon hopes the extension of tours of duty for some troops, the addition of other
forces will improve the situation.
All this as the violent insurgency movement continues to be a dangerous threat.
NBC Jim McClashofsky tonight at the Pentagon.
American defense officials tell NBC News the recent battle for Fallujah has put insurgents
on the run and may mark the turning point in the entire Iraq war.
The officials claim the elimination of Fallujah as a safe haven and recovery of large caches
of weapons has dealt the insurgents a serious setback.
More importantly, the capture of more than 1,000 enemy prisoners along with computer
files and documents is providing a treasure trove of intelligence to help identify and
track down insurgents dug in elsewhere.
But who exactly is the enemy?
It's estimated there are as many as three dozen separate cells of insurgents, each with
its own leadership, but all with one short-term goal.
They do have one common objective, and that is to fight the United States, and some wish
to fight the interim Iraqi government.
Senior military officials say the most dangerous and resilient enemy are the former members
of Saddam Hussein's regime, who have now moved into an entirely new, more insidious phase
of the war.
The systematic execution of Iraqi civilians and security forces, like the 70 killed in
Mosul last week, to intimidate others from cooperating with the U.S. or new Iraqi government.
The tactic of the insurgents is a very clever, powerful, psychological tool.
It prevents Iraqis from working to rebuild their own country.
But what about the terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi?
Senior defense officials claim the Fallujah operation has knocked Zarqawi's operation
back on its heels and knocked out the command and control of his fighters.
The officials say while Zarqawi still has the ability to carry out, quote, the spectacular,
like suicide car bombings or kidnappings, they insist his impact on the overall war
has been diminished.
But the fight in Iraq is far from over.
One official here says it may take the commitment of an entire generation of both Iraqis and
Americans to win the war.
Jim Iklishevsky, NBC News, the Pentagon.
As for what's going on in Iraq right now, as always, it's a mixed message.
And a big part of the current focus is the city of Fallujah, which was the unofficial
headquarters of the insurgency until the U.S. launched that major offensive.
NBC's Richard Engel once again in Baghdad tonight with an update on what's ahead for
Fallujah.
Richard?
Tom, I'm just back from Fallujah.
There are still some isolated insurgents in the city, and on every block at least one
building is completely damaged.
Many others are badly, are badly damaged.
So far the plan is for most of the city's 250,000 residents to return in stages.
At first only a few thousand will be let in.
They'll be fingerprinted, given a retina scan, and then an ID card, which will only allow
them to travel around their homes or to nearby aid centers, which are now being built.
The Marines will be authorized to use deadly force against those breaking the rules.
Tom?
Richard, what's the latest on the election?
What's the thinking there about the schedule?
Today for the first time the Iraqi government issued television campaign ads encouraging
people to register to vote.
But at the same time, insurgents here had a message of their own, throwing a hand grenade
into a school here in Baghdad, along with it a written message warning school administrators
not to allow their building to be used as a polling center.
No children were hurt.
Tom?
Thanks very much.
NBC's Richard Engel once again for us tonight in Baghdad.
Now to that scandal surrounding the UN's oil for food program.
It was supposed to help the Iraqi government buy food and medicine while under international
sanctions, but investigators say the program was abused to the tune of billions of dollars
by Saddam Hussein and others.
Now a leading United States Senator in the investigation in Congress, Republican Norm
Coleman of Minnesota, is saying that UN Secretary General Kofi Annan should resign because the
fraud took place on his watch.
More on this story tonight from NBC's Andrea Mitchell.
The call for Kofi Annan's resignation comes after allegations of more corruption in the
UN's oil for food program, the program that was supposed to feed Iraqis while Iraq was
under tight economic sanctions.
Documents found by congressional investigators in Baghdad suggest more than 21 billion dollars
from the program may have gone to Saddam himself.
And now new charges that Kofi's son Kojo Annan was being paid and getting health benefits
until this past June from a Swiss company being investigated for abuses in the program,
all while his father was in charge at the UN.
If the UN is to have any credibility, Kofi Annan has to step down, allow greater transparency.
The UN asked former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker to investigate the charges, but
Volcker has no subpoena power to get people to talk.
And some of Annan's aides have refused to cooperate with congressional investigators.
Today, administration officials told NBC News a tougher investigation is needed.
Questions that go to the basic integrity of an organization on a major program such as
this are very serious.
These charges come amidst growing tension between Annan and the president.
Former officials say the White House is angry that Annan took sides against Mr. Bush by
calling the war illegal just before the election.
I have stated clearly that it was not in conformity with the Security Council, with the UN Charter.
They also say he's not doing enough to prepare for Iraqi elections and has sent only seven
UN election observers.
And finally they are angry because he strongly opposed US military operations in Fallujah.
That prompted a rebuke from Annan's closest ally in the administration, Colin Powell.
I respectfully disagree with that assessment and I told the Secretary General that on two
occasions.
Tonight, Annan's spokesman says he will stay and continue his work.
His term is not up for another two years and he has overwhelming support from the other
nations.
But the State Department is pointedly refusing to give him a vote of confidence.
Andrea Mitchell, NBC News at the United Nations.
There were some tense moments today in Haiti while Secretary of State Colin Powell was
meeting with leaders of that country, suddenly gunfire erupted near the presidential palace
where they were gathered.
No one was hurt.
Powell was never in danger.
It still is unclear whether the shots were fired at or just near the palace.
President Bush for his part was trying to perform a balancing act today across the border
in Canada, repairing relationships while at the same time not backing down on Iraq.
NBC's David Gregory is traveling with the president.
Air Force One touched down in Halifax, Nova Scotia today, a symbolic stop to Canada's
famous port city which became a refuge for more than 30,000 Americans whose flights were
diverted here after the 9-11 attacks.
Thank you for your kindness to America in an hour of need.
Mr. Bush sought to remind Canada of such moments of solidarity even as he acknowledged the
bitter disagreement over the Iraq war.
In what marks the beginning of an effort to repair frayed relationships around the world,
the president said he hopes now to find new areas of consensus with allies without losing
the will to aggressively confront terror around the world.
Peaceful nations must keep the peace by going after the terrorists, disrupting their plans
and cutting off their funding.
The president defended his decision to invade Iraq.
Coming here to Pier 21 where Canadian troops were launched to fight Germany during World
War II, he reminded his critics that Canada made an early and important decision to confront
Hitler in order to prevent the war from reaching its shores.
World War II's lessons, the president argued to a mostly subdued audience here, are vitally
important today.
If 20 years from now the Middle East is dominated by dictators and mullahs who build weapons
of mass destruction and harbor terrorists, our children and our grandchildren will live
in a nightmare world of danger.
Critics will see Mr. Bush's ardent defense of preemptive action as a sign that little
will change in a second Bush term despite his talk of reaching out.
The president, speaking of Canada, summed up the diplomatic difficulties he's still
trying to overcome saying he realizes it's not always easy to sleep next to the elephant.
David Gregory, NBC News, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Meanwhile, overseas in Ukraine today anti-government demonstrators finally had something to celebrate.
The parliament voted to disband the government of the candidate who has been declared the
winner of the disputed presidential election.
Although the vote is largely symbolic, afterwards the opposition leader who claims the election
was rigged agreed to withdraw his supporters from blocking government offices.
Here at home on Wall Street today some strong economic numbers from the manufacturing sector
and a big drop in oil prices helped fuel a big rally.
The Dow at the end of the day was up more than 162 points.
NASDAQ gained more than 41 points on the day.
Up next, NBC News in depth tonight, the first day for consumers to access credit reports
online.
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Dateline Friday.
A young girl disappears.
Why won't this woman tell the family what she knows?
Dateline Friday, 8, 7 Central on NBC.
Tonight, how much longer will coalition troops need to support Iraq's inexperienced officers
to secure a lasting peace?
Hardball tonight on MSNBC.
NBC News in-depth tonight.
How's your credit?
Starting today in the West at least, consumers can get a free copy of their credit reports
from the three agencies that maintain them.
But there are some strings attached, like being bombarded with ads to buy products from
the agencies themselves.
How can you take advantage without getting taken in-depth?
Here's NBC's Anne Thompson.
Steve Noble is looking to buy his first home in Los Angeles.
He's cruising neighborhoods to find a place to live and the internet to find out what
kind of mortgage customer he'll be.
I think it's time for me to look at my credit report and see exactly where I stand.
Starting today, that won't cost him a cent.
Under federal law, each of the nation's three largest credit bureaus must give consumers
free access to their credit reports once a year.
By mail or online.
The website, annualcreditreport.com, had some first-day glitches.
One agency, TransUnion, says heavy volume prevented some customers from getting their
reports, including Steve.
And that's not all.
Consumer advocates are up in arms about ads on the site selling credit scores and credit
monitoring services.
We don't think that consumers should have to be bombarded with advertisements for unnecessary
products to take advantage of an important right Congress gave them.
But Robin Holland of Equifax says her company is just offering consumers options.
If they don't want to take advantage of any offers, they pretty much can move through
that site very quickly, get that free report and be on their way.
Today, the service begins in the West.
Then every three months, the Midwest, South and Northeast in that order will be added.
But ironically, what's meant to help consumers detect identity theft may make them vulnerable
to a scam called phishing, where internet thieves pose as legitimate businesses to get
your personal financial information.
The only way to get the free credit report is to ask for it.
If you receive an advertisement or an email that suggests that you go to the website to
get your free report, it's not from the official website and you should ignore it.
For house hunter Steve Noble, he'll keep trying, anxious to use what he says will be a valuable
tool to become a homeowner.
Anne Thompson, NBC News, New York.
And we have some news from the Census Bureau tonight that shows if you're still in your
thirties and still single, you've got lots of company.
Last year, one third of men and almost one quarter of the women in this country between
30 and 34 have never been married.
That's almost four times the rates in 1970.
What are people doing instead of getting married?
Well, they're getting educated, they're working on their careers and they're living together
without saying, I do.
So ahead tonight, some thoughts on what I've learned in this chair and on the road.
And up next, a special story, a visit to Walter Reed Medical Center where brave young Americans
are dealing with injuries with grace and courage.
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Thank you.
live all over again.
And Carla best is the face of determination.
These are her first steps since her leg was shredded by a roadside bomb in Baghdad over
one month ago.
This is ward 57.
It's where amputees get treated at Walter Reed, where some of the best doctors in the
world put some of America's bravest soldiers back together.
Jim Mayer is not able to stand on his own two feet.
They are replacements.
Both his legs were blown off by a landmine in Vietnam in 1969.
He was operated on here and now comes back to Walter Reed to counsel the young, grievously
wounded veterans.
Extremely difficult to communicate.
It is difficult, but I'll tell you what I've learned from experience is they want to know
how you're doing.
What do you get out of it?
A personal sense of reward I can't describe.
I get to see patients, the men and women, when they first get here not doing so well
and I watch them blossom and I watch them reinvent their lives.
You know what that is?
That's teamwork.
Doc Worley was not expected to live.
Doc, real name Joe, is all of 22 and remembers the day.
He remembers the convoy that changed his world forever.
The day that I got injured was on September 17th and like I said we had roughly a week
or so left.
Doc Worley was with a Marine platoon in Fallujah when a vehicle in front of his was blown
up.
It broke my heart.
It broke my heart when I heard it.
We were facing the other way looking behind us and I just hear, and I was like.
He grabbed his medical bag, ran a few yards and was hit by a rocket propelled grenade.
It did not explode but took off his left leg.
He was then shot six times.
I looked down and there's a puddle of blood under me that's just getting bigger and I
realized that literally I had seconds to live.
And then this young medic methodically went to work on himself.
Thank God I always have a really good tourniquet that I keep right on my vest right there.
So you're turning a tourniquet on your own leg?
Yes sir.
Oh my gosh.
I mean I shoot myself up with morphine because I knew if I passed out from the pain I was
done.
Doc Worley is lucky and he knows it.
I commend any corpsman that strives to work with Marines.
It is the greatest thing that I've just about done in my entire life other than having my
baby.
Non-stop motion.
If you ask them all of these soldiers are apt to say they're lucky.
New limbs, a minor setback for most.
What is this working on?
Your quads.
Those looking for self-pity at Walter Reed will not find it.
Thank God for titanium.
This beautiful piece of hardware has done me in.
I was under the impression I was going to die.
So I went through the whole bargaining and through the anger and depression and went
straight into acceptance.
The left leg was a fair trade.
Getting out of Iraq that left leg was a fair trade.
I'm happy.
I've got no complaints.
A lot of these remarkable young veterans only asked of us to thank two charities on their
behalf the Marine Corps' own Semper 5 Fund and the Fisher Family.
They build houses for the soldiers' families to stay in while visiting them in the hospital.
These young wounded vets might just be what some say is the emerging next greatest generation.
And with that, one last time, Tom, back to you.
Thanks, Brian.
Don't go far because we have plans for you.
All right.
I'll be back in just a moment with some final thoughts.
NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw, brought to you in part by Aflac.
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Stick some stamps on the top of my head I'm gonna mail myself to you
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This holiday, the entire U.S. Postal Service is working for you.
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Your morning's not complete without Pete.
Weekday mornings and 7 News Today, New England.
Well, the time is here.
We've been through a lot together through dark days and nights and seasons of hope and
joy.
Whatever the story, I had only one objective, to get it right.
When I failed, it was personally painful and there was no greater urgency than course correction.
On those occasions, I was grateful for your forbearance and always mindful that your patience
and attention didn't come with a lifetime warranty.
I was not alone here, of course.
I am simply the most conspicuous part of a large, thoroughly dedicated and professional
staff that extends from just beyond these cameras across the country and around the
world in too many instances and places of grave danger and personal hardship and their
family to me.
What have I learned here?
More than we have time to recount this evening, but the enduring lessons through the decades
are these.
It's not the questions that get us in trouble.
It's the answers and just as important, no one person has all the answers.
Just ask a member of the generation that I came to know well, the men and women who came
of age in the Great Depression, who had great personal sacrifice, saved the world in World
War II and returned home to dedicate their lives to improving the nation they had already
served so nobly.
They weren't perfect.
No generation is, but this one left a large and vital legacy of common effort to find
common ground here and abroad in which to solve our most vexing problems.
They did not give up their personal beliefs and greatest passions, but they never stopped
learning from each other and most of all, they did not give up on the idea that we're
all in this together.
We still are and it is in that spirit that I say thanks for all that I have learned from
you.
That's been my richest reward.
That's Nightly News for this Wednesday night.
I'm Tom Brokaw.
You'll see Brian Williams here tomorrow night and I'll see you along the way.
So thanks for the memory of Brokaw's expertise that enhances NBC's.
We know he'll climb in any time.
He does it in a breeze and we thank him so much.
Tom, good luck.
Hope you stay awake till 7 p.m.