WASHINGTON — Intelligence analysts predicted, in secret papers circulated within the government before the Iraq invasion, that al-Qaida would see U.S. military action as an opportunity to increase its operations and that Iran would try to shape a post-Saddam Iraq.

The top analysts in government also said that establishing a stable democracy in Iraq would be a "long, difficult and probably turbulent process."

Democrats said the newly declassified documents, part of a Senate Intelligence Committee investigation released Friday, make clear that the Bush administration was warned about the very challenges it now faces as it tries to stabilize Iraq.

"Sadly, the administration's refusal to heed these dire warnings — and worse, to plan for them — has led to tragic consequences for which our nation is paying a terrible price," said Senate Intelligence Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.

Some Republicans rejected the committee's work as flawed. The panel's top Republican, Sen. Kit Bond of Missouri, said the report's conclusions selectively highlight the intelligence agencies' findings that seem to be important now, distorting the picture of what was presented to policy-makers.

RADICAL SHIITE CLERIC DEMANDS U.S. TROOPS LEAVE IRAQ

BAGHDAD — Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr resurfaced Friday after nearly four months in hiding and demanded U.S. troops leave Iraq, a development likely to complicate U.S. efforts to crack down on violence and broker political compromise in the country.

Hours later, the notorious leader of al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia in the city of Basra was killed in a shootout as British and Iraq troops tried to arrest him, police and the British military said, further enflaming tensions in the Shiite areas of southern Iraq.

The U.S. military also announced Friday the deaths of six U.S. soldiers, putting May on pace to be one of the deadliest months for U.S. forces here in years.

Al-Sadr went underground — reportedly in Iran — at the start of the U.S.-led security crackdown on Baghdad 14 weeks ago. He also had ordered his militia off the streets to prevent conflict with U.S. forces.

His return to the Shiite holy city of Najaf appeared to be an effort by the 33-year-old firebrand cleric to regain control over his militia, which had begun fragmenting, and to take advantage of the illness of a Shiite rival. There had also been some indication that his absence from the national arena was costing him political support.

TOP GOP CANDIDATES ATTACK CLINTON, OBAMA

MASON CITY, Iowa — Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama forcefully defended their votes against paying for the Iraq war as the top Republican presidential candidates angrily accused the two of weakness on national security.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., assailed his Democratic foes for embracing "the policy of surrender," while Mitt Romney said the two showed a willingness to "abandon principle in favor of political positioning." Rudy Giuliani argued both "flip-flopped" and said: "They've gone from an anti-war position to an anti-military, anti-troops position."

Campaigning in Iowa, Clinton argued that she backs U.S. troops but it was time to stand firm as the four-year-old war rages on.

"I think it's important for someone like me who's been a strong supporter of the military and has worked hard to get our troops everything they need to start saying, 'Look, the best thing we can do for them is to get them out of the middle of this sectarian civil war,' " said the New York senator, who serves with McCain on the Armed Services Committee.

Her comments met with loud applause from several hundred people at a town meeting in Mason City.

MILITARY PLANES BRING AID TO LEBANESE ARMY

TRIPOLI, Lebanon — The United States and Arab allies rushed military aid to Lebanon Friday, boosting its strength ahead of a possible army assault to crush al-Qaida-inspired Islamic militants barricaded in a Palestinian refugee camp.

The U.S. aid is sensitive in a nation deeply divided between supporters of a pro-Western government and an opposition backed by America's Mideast foes, Iran and Syria. The opposition, led by the Shiite Hezbollah, accuses the government of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora of being too closely allied to Washington.

Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, warned that Lebanon was being dragged into a U.S. war against al-Qaida that would destabilize the country. He warned the military against assaulting the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp, calling instead for a negotiated solution.

"Does it concern us that we start a conflict with al-Qaida in Lebanon and consequently attract members and fighters of al-Qaida from all over the world to Lebanon to conduct their battle with the Lebanese army and the rest of the Lebanese?" he said in a televised address.

Palestinian factions were scrambling to find a negotiated solution to end the siege and avert what many fear would be a bloody battle over Nahr el-Bared, where thousands of civilians remain in the line of fire.

IRS POOR AT FINDING TERROR LINKS

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service does a poor job in identifying tax-exempt groups that may have links to terrorists, according to a report released Friday.

IRS investigators look at paper documents and use a limited terrorist watch list to pinpoint possible ties between charitable and other nonprofit groups and terrorists, said the office of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, which does independent oversight of the tax agency.

As a result, it said, "There is a risk that these charities will not be reported to the federal government authorities fighting terrorism."

"The IRS clearly needs to use a more inclusive terrorist watch list and to computerize its tracking system as soon as possible," said Inspector General J. Russell George. "This nation is at war, and we must use all the tools available to us to stop the flow of U.S. dollars to our enemies."

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., responding to the report, said that "shutting down terrorist financing is one of the biggest challenges facing our country in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. It's disturbing that the Treasury Department does not require the IRS to use the most basic tool for fighting terrorism financing: a comprehensive watch list."

PLUMBER FINDS BODY IN SCHOOL AIR-CONDITIONING DUCT

PHOENIX — The body of a man who apparently tried to break into an elementary school was discovered Friday in an air-conditioning duct on the school's roof, police said.

The body at Sierra Vista Elementary School was found as a plumber investigated a foul odor noticed by cafeteria staff earlier in the day, said Roosevelt School District Superintendent Mark Dowling. The school was evacuated.

Authorities think the man tried to climb through the duct, got stuck, and died. It wasn't known how long the body was there.

"Obviously because of the smell, there are indications that he had been there for some time," said Sgt. Andy Hill, a Phoenix police spokesman.

The man's name wasn't released.

NASA TOURIST ATTRACTION RECREATES SPACE SHUTTLE RIDE

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Nearly 40 astronauts on Friday became the first to ride aboard a NASA tourist attraction that recreates a ride aboard the space shuttle, complete with the deep rumble of liftoff and a serene view of the earth from orbit.

The $60 million Shuttle Launch Experience at the Kennedy Space Center is the agency's first venture into the theme-park ride business, and the astronauts said it is comparable to a real shuttle flight.

"It's pretty realistic with all the shakes and rattles and vibration," said John Young, commander of the first shuttle mission and one of those who took the inaugural ride.

A handful of space veterans were consulted to ensure the ride was authentic.

The simulator building was designed to resemble those by the launch pads a few miles away. Visitors enter though a steel gantry and receive a mission "briefing" from Hall of Fame astronaut Charlie Bolden on three elaborate projection screens in a circular room.

ROSIE TAKES EARLY LEAVE FROM 'THE VIEW'

NEW YORK — Rosie O'Donnell has fought her last fight at "The View." ABC said Friday she asked for, and received, an early exit from her contract at the daytime chatfest following her angry confrontation with co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck on Wednesday. She was due to leave in mid-June.

It ended a colorful eight-month tenure for O'Donnell that lifted the show's ratings but no doubt caused heartburn for show creator Barbara Walters. O'Donnell feuded with Donald Trump and frequently had snippy exchanges with the more conservative Hasselbeck.

O'Donnell said last month she would be leaving because she could not agree to a new contract with ABC executives.

"Rosie contributed to one of our most exciting and successful years at 'The View,' " Walters said. "I am most appreciative. Our close and affectionate relationship will not change."