Keeping a Watchful Eye

Pentagon’s No. 2 Man Monitors Iraq and Capitol Hill, As June 30 Handover Looms

• June 4, 2004, 2:10 p.m.

With American servicemen continuing to battle Iraqi insurgents, a military prison abuse scandal still unfolding, the June 30 deadline for transferring power to a native government looming and Congress contemplating more funding for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, officials at the Defense Department are engaged in a delicate balancing act.