While the fighting between coalition troops and Baath Party thugs gets most of the media coverage, negotiations with the majority of Iraqis has produced a plan for a interim Iraqi government that will begin with an Iraqi political council that will start working by mid-July. The major problem with selecting Iraqi leaders is the extreme factionalism. Potential leaders are all too liable to see to the needs of their tribe or faction first. This also leads to corruption and theft, all justified because it was so important "to take care of my people." 

"Operation Sidewinder" has bagged at least 20 key Baath Party members and several arms caches in central Iraq. 

An explosion at a mosque in  Fallujah that killed seven people was the result of a bomb-making class.