Baghdad

Iraqi leaders complained Monday that Turkey had not coordinated with Baghdad before sending dozens of warplanes to bomb Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq the day before. U.S. officials confirmed that they had prior knowledge of the attack. In Washington, a Pentagon official said the U.S. military had "deconflicted the airspace" in Iraq for the strikes -- that is, the United States made sure that Turkey would have clear use of the skies to enable the bombings.

The United States is building a fortress in Baghdad's Green Zone to serve as its embassy. But the giant project may turn into a disaster as questions are raised about how the construction is being run -- and whether a self-contained bunker is the best approach to diplomacy.

BAGHDAD -- The U.S. military is walling off at least 10 of Baghdad's most violent neighborhoods and using biometric technology to track some of their residents, creating what officers call "gated communities" in an attempt to carve out oases of safety in this war-ravaged city.