Biden: Sen. Joe Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, declared last year's troop buildup in Iraq a failure. He said that U.S. troops remain committed there in large numbers and that political reconciliation has not been achieved.
Contractor: A civilian contractor working for the U.S. military in Iraq was charged with aggravated assault under military law, the first such prosecution since the Vietnam War. Alaa "Alex" Mohammad Ali, who holds dual Iraqi-Canadian citizenship, is the first person facing criminal charges since Congress in 2006 gave the military authority to prosecute crimes committed by civilians working for the armed forces.
Kurds: Massoud Barzani, head of the semiautonomous Kurdish region, has offered his Peshmerga fighters to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to help fight anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's al-Mahdi Army militia.
Priest: Gunmen using silencers killed an Assyrian Orthodox priest as he and his wife returned home after a trip to the market in Baghdad. The latest attack against Iraq's Christian minority drew a new plea from Pope Benedict XVI for Iraqis to "find the way of peace to build a just and tolerant society."
Violence: At least 28 people were killed or found dead nationwide, victims of political or sectarian violence, authorities said.
U.S. war toll: As of Saturday, at least 4,012 members of the U.S. military had died in the war, according to an Associated Press count. Included are eight Defense Department civilians.
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