Senior U.S. legislators of both political parties say critical questions remain unanswered concerning America's strategy in Iraq, despite days of testimony before Congress by the top U.S. military commander in Iraq as well as the U.S. ambassador to Baghdad.

President Bush is defending his decision to halt troop withdrawals from Iraq while military leaders assess how a reduced American presence will affect security there.

President Bush has ordered a suspension of U.S. troop withdrawals from Iraq after July and shortened tours for incoming troops.

In congressional testimony this week, the top U.S. military and civilian officials in Iraq reported what they called "real" but "fragile" progress, and urged caution in any discussion of further U.S. troop withdrawals, beyond the end of the surge in July.

Relations between U.S. military personnel and Japanese communities that host military bases are growing emotional following a spate of crimes committed by U.S. servicemen. The incidents have prompted calls by Japan's opposition party for a re-evaluation of defense pacts, and have led U.S. commanders to clamp down on their troops.

President Bush marked Easter weekend with a message of thanks for U.S. troops serving overseas.Opposition Democrats say the war in Iraq is distracting from the fight against terrorism in Afghanistan.

The day after President Bush marked the fifth anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq War, some of his top defense officials met to work on planning for the war's next phase. Defense Secretary Robert Gates brought together some of his top civilian and military advisers at the Pentagon, with the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq participating from Baghdad.

Three Iranians, with two said to be government officials, were detained by the U.S. troops Thursday in a northern Iraq town.

Microsoft Corp., in partnership with the United Service Organizations (USO), today introduced the Microsoft® Above and Beyond Awards to recognize the contributions of the military community of friends, family and other individuals who support U.S. troops and/or their families in 2007.

This holiday season Microsoft Corp. is partnering with the USO to recognize and thank America’s military community for its sacrifice by hosting an inaugural “Salute to Our Troops,” a private, complimentary performance of the 75th Celebration of the “Radio City Christmas Spectacular.”

US Vice President Dick Cheney has said that the US troop "surge" in Iraq had improved security there, and defended the decision by lawmakers in Baghdad to take a one month August vacation.

The U.S. military says all 20,000 additional combat troops President Bush ordered to Iraq in January have now arrived, with the last unit set to be fully operational in a couple of weeks.