The capture of three US soldiers near Mahmoudiya on Saturday, and the ensuing search for their recovery, dominated media coverage out of Iraq this week.

US military spokesman Gen. William Caldwell on Monday gave a detailed account of the ambush of the soldiers, though al-Hayat reported a slightly different version of the attack.

While the US military launched a massive search effort for the missing soldiers, news surfaced of an Army investigation that cited negligence on the part of superior officers in a similar June 2006 attack/hostage seizure in the same area.

After DNA verified the identity of the final known KIA of Saturday's attack, the profiles of the three missing became certain. Reports also surfaced that two of those detained during US search operations may have direct knowledge of the attack.

Despite dropping leaflets offering @ USD200,000, the soldiers' whereabouts remain unknown. In the latest development, however, the Army Times reported that Gen. Petraeus said he believes at least two of the three soldiers are still alive.

Jane Arraf, Slogging during her one-month hiatus from NBC, traveled with a US Army Stryker Brigade and the Iraqi National Police's Wolf Brigade.

Arraf also reported on the possible fate of one of Baghdad's most famous monuments, and covered the story of three brothers who deployed to Iraq in the same brigade.

In an exclusive interview with Gen. David Petraeus, Arraf learned that the general was not certain he would be able to offer a definitive assessment to Congress in September.

The White House finally appointed a war czar, and Slogger covered earlier public comments he has made in attempt to project what direction he might advise the President to take.

A renowned professor and prominent critic of the Bush Administration's invasion of Iraq has now lost his son to the war. Lt. Andrew Bacevich, Jr. was killed by a suicide bomber on Sunday.

The US military's decision to block YouTube, MySpace, and other popular recreational sites from DoD networks sparked criticism, with one prominent Senator promising to investigate, and a member of the House asking SecDef Gates for a more thorough explanation.

The new regulations came the same week the MNF-Iraq newsletter advertised the military's YouTube channel, which encourages soldiers to watch and submit their own videos.

The Pentagon began a PR offensive early in the week to stem the criticism, but the reasoning DoD officials gave for the new guidelines drew many skeptical responses, even from the founder of YouTube.

The "Journalistic Freedoms Observatory" (JFO), an Iraqi media watchdog that monitors press freedom in the country, condemned the recent move by the Iraqi Interior Ministry to bar journalists the explosion sites.

International News Safety Institute on Friday dismissed the Iraqi government's restrictions as irrelevant to the safety of journalists.

After two days of intense safety-focused discussions, key reps of Iraqi news outlets, journalists' trade unions, and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) issued a manifesto meant to jump start substantive efforts to curtail the unprecedented volume of killing of journalists and media workers in Iraq.

Two Iraqi ABC News broadcast journalists, Cameraman Alaa Uldeen Aziz, 33, and soundman Saif Laith Yousuf, 26, were ambushed and killed Thursday on their way home from work.

Iraq and Iran moved to significantly increase their ties this week, with the two governments signing a deal for the Islamic Republic to build a pipeline for direct export of Iraqi crude.

US and Iranian officials have scheduled to meet in Iraq on May 28, but all indications from US officials, Ahmadinejad, and the Ayatollah are that the discussion will focus strictly Iraq's security.

Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, head of the Shi'ite Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council, has traveled to the United States for a medical check-up, reportedly receiving a diagnosis of lung cancer.

The Royal Institute of International Affairs (RIIA), also known as Chatham House, released released a report on Thursday projecting an exceedingly dim outlook for the future prospects of stability in Iraq.

Adhamiya residents told Slogger their district had been sealed off, even though construction on the controversial wall had halted.

US and Iraqi forces reportedly commenced a new campaign to secure Diyala on Monday, with a report in the Iraqi press indicating that the strategy for the volatile province may be shifting from urban to rural areas.

An unknown left-wing group calling itself the Iraqi Armed Revolutionary Resistance distributed leaflets in the Mid-Euphrates area around Najaf, Hilla and Karbala calling for “resistance against American, British and Zionist occupiers in order to liberate Iraq and form a free socialist, democratic alternative."

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) organized a three-day conference working to establish a water strategy for Iraq and to assist the government in developing its water management capacity.

Photo Galleries

US Marines from the 2/6 Battallion, Echo Company on Duty in Fallujah

US Marines Training the Iraqi Army in Fallujah

"Cruel Wedding" debuts at a festival organized by the National Theatre Association in Baghdad.