A BBC investigation estimates that around $23bn may have been lost, stolen or just not properly accounted for in Iraq. For the first time, the extent to which some private contractors have profited from the conflict and rebuilding has been researched by the BBC's Panorama using US and Iraqi government sources. A US gagging order is preventing discussion of the allegations. The order applies to 70 court cases against some of the top US companies. While George Bush remains in the White House, it is unlikely the gagging orders will be lifted.

Pte (Jessica) Lynch told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform that US officials' accounts of her fiercely fighting the enemy were not true and that most of her injuries were from a road accident. "The bottom line is the American people are capable of determining their own ideals of heroes and they don't need to be told elaborate tales," she said. ... Questions have been raised over the details of her capture and subsequent rescue by US forces, with the US defence department accused of turning the episode into a public relations exercise.