GWEN IFILL: The U.S. military warned today of a new wave of violence in Iraq. Army Major General William Caldwell said he expects revenge killings after bombings in Baghdad killed more than 200 Shiites last week.
In today's violence, bombings killed at least nine Iraqis and wounded dozens. Police also found 50 bodies.
And the fate of a missing U.S. pilot remained unknown. His plane crashed Monday in western Iraq.
President Bush blamed al-Qaida today for the surging violence in Iraq, but he would not label the conflict a civil war. He spoke in the Baltic state of Estonia, before traveling to Latvia for a NATO summit. There, he insisted the U.S. must remain committed to Iraq.
GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States: We'll continue to be flexible, and we'll make the changes necessary to succeed. But there's one thing I'm not going to do: I'm not going to pull our troops off the battlefield before the mission is complete.
GWEN IFILL: in Washington, the incoming House speaker said the president must reconsider. Nancy Pelosi said the new Democratic majorities will try to work with Mr. Bush to end the violence in Iraq. But she said, "If the president persists on the course that he is on, that will be more difficult."
We'll have more on the situation in Iraq -- and whether it can now be called a civil war -- later in the program tonight.
The supreme leader of Iran accused the United States today of inciting chaos in Iraq. Ayatollah Khamenei said, "The first step to resolve the instability in Iraq is the withdrawal of occupiers."
Meanwhile, the New York Times reported Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon have trained Shiite fighters in Iraq. Hezbollah denied it.
At that NATO summit today, the U.S. pushed for a greater commitment in southern Afghanistan. NATO has faced heavy fighting there with a resurgent Taliban. The president pressed other leaders to spread the burden. The overall NATO commander said that would mean more troops.
GEN. JAMES JONES, NATO, Supreme Allied Commander: When NATO agrees to do a mission and the alliance takes a decision, those missions have to be resourced, especially in Afghanistan. And so that means that the political decision has to be accompanied and supported by an equal commitment to resources.
GWEN IFILL: Also today, the foreign minister of Canada, Peter MacKay, warned support in his country could crumble if other nations don't step up to help. Canada contributes 2,500 troops to the NATO force of nearly 33,000.
The United Nations reported today it could take 20 years to stamp out the opium trade in Afghanistan. The report found drug traffickers have corrupted police and other officials. It said there's a "probability of high-level involvement." Taliban fighters are financed in large part by heroin made from opium poppies.
Pope Benedict XVI began a visit to Turkey today by appealing for "brotherhood" between religions. He also said they must condemn violence.
The pope arrived in Ankara, marking his first visit to a Muslim country as pontiff. He also plans stops in Ephesus and Istanbul during his four-day trip. We'll have more on the pope's visit right after this news summary.
The president of Sudan today rejected a joint U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur. Omar Hassan al-Bashir denied he agreed to the force earlier this month. He also claimed the death toll in the Darfur fighting is under 9,000; relief groups say at least 200,000 people have died there since 2003.
The state of Massachusetts filed suit today against companies that worked on Boston's Big Dig project. Last July, part of a tunnel ceiling collapsed and killed a woman. The state attorney general is suing 15 firms, claiming negligence.
One company, Bechtel-Parsons Brinckerhoff, faces a more serious claim of gross negligence. A grand jury is deciding whether to bring criminal charges in the case.
There were signs today of slowing economic growth in a series of private and government reports. Consumer confidence, home prices, and sales of big-ticket goods were all down.
But on Wall Street, stocks recovered a bit from Monday's big losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained more than 14 points to close at 12,136. The Nasdaq rose more than six points to close above 2,412.
