Pentagon to pay for home leave

WASHINGTON — In an effort to bolster military morale, the Pentagon soon will begin paying travel expenses for troops to get all the way home on leave from Iraq and Afghanistan at a cost of $55 million.

Until now, the largest R&R program since the Vietnam War has flown soldiers only to three cities in the United States and two in Germany, leaving them to pay airfare for connecting flights if they want to go farther.

more...
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2001806171_iraqnotes03.html

And on the same news page...

U.S. denies Kirkuk raid nets top military aide to Saddam

KIRKUK, Iraq — U.S. troops conducted a big raid near the northern city of Kirkuk yesterday, but a military spokesman denied that a top former deputy of Saddam Hussein was captured during the operation.

A member of Iraq's Governing Council said Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri — the top Iraqi fugitive after Saddam — was the target of the raid.

I could have sworn that about two weeks ago it was reported al-Douri was captured...or am I lost in a sea of newspin??