Iraqi civil servants are being rehired, with the most vicious Baath party activists being screened out. In some areas, the civil servants were relatively clean, while in others, they were thoroughly corrupted by the local Baath party. There are thousands of armed Baath party members on the run in the country. They have to land somewhere, and these hated remnants of Saddam's will be a problem until they are dealt with.

US forces have made contact with some of the Badr Brigade Iraqi exile Shia militia from Iran. The Badr troops entered Iraq in April, fighting with Iraqi army troops. At the same time, US forces have reached a truce with Iranian anti-government militias based in Iraq. 

There are so many weapons in circulation in Baghdad that they are falling in price in the city's more  plentiful markets. An AK-47 costs about $32, one tenth the normal price. But ammunition is much more expensive, a dollar a bullet, nearly ten times the normal price.