WASHINGTON — Iraq's security forces will be unable to take control of the country in the next 18 months, and Baghdad's national police force is so rife with corruption it should be scrapped entirely, according to a new independent assessment.

The study, led by retired Marine Corps Gen. James Jones, is a sweeping and detailed look at Iraq's security forces that will factor heavily into Congress' upcoming debate on the war. Republicans see success by the Iraqi forces as critical to bringing U.S. troops home, while an increasing number of Democrats say the U.S. should stop training and equipping such units altogether.

The 20-member panel of mostly retired senior military and police officers concludes that Iraq's military, in particular its Army, shows the most promise of becoming a viable, independent security force with time. But the group predicts an adequate logistics system to support these ground forces is at least another two years away.

The report also offers a scathing assessment of Baghdad's Ministry of Interior and recommends scrapping Iraq's national police force, which it describes as dysfunctional and infiltrated by militias.

These units "have the potential to help reduce sectarian violence, but ultimately the (Iraq Security Force) will reflect the society from which they are drawn," according to the report, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press. "Political reconciliation is the key to ending sectarian violence in Iraq."

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Senator vows to save seat if he can withdraw guilty plea

WASHINGTON — To the dismay of fellow Republicans, Sen. Larry Craig launched a campaign to save his seat on Wednesday, seeking dismissal of an ethics committee complaint and vowing to stay in office if he can withdraw his guilty plea in a men's room sex sting.

Craig's decision to deploy his legal team marked a reversal of his pledge to resign on Sept. 30, and raised the possibility of a protracted legal and political struggle, much of it playing out in public, with gay sex at its core.

"I thought he made the correct decision, the difficult but correct decision to resign" over the weekend, said Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., after he and Craig spoke by telephone. "That would still be my view today."

McConnell said Craig had told him he now intended to remain in Congress if he is permitted to withdraw his guilty plea by Sept. 30. "If he is unable to have that disposed of prior to Sept. 30, it is his intention to resign from the Senate as he expressed last Saturday," he added.

The GOP leader spoke hours after Craig's attorney, Stanley Brand, urged the ethics committee not to investigate a complaint because events were "wholly unrelated" to official duties.

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Commander fired over armed B-52 bomber

WASHINGTON (AP) — A B-52 bomber was mistakenly armed with six nuclear warheads and flown for more than three hours across several states last week, prompting an Air Force investigation and the firing of one commander, Pentagon officials said Wednesday.

The incident was so serious that President Bush and Defense Secretary Robert Gates were quickly informed and Gates has asked for daily briefings on the Air Force probe, said Defense Department press secretary Geoff Morrell. He said, "At no time was the public in danger."

Rep. Ike Skelton, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, called the mishandling of the weapons "deeply disturbing" and said the committee would press the military for details. Rep. Edward J. Markey, a senior member of the Homeland Security Committee, said it was "absolutely inexcusable."

"Nothing like this has ever been reported before and we have been assured for decades that it was impossible," said Markey, D-Mass., co-chair of the House task force on nonproliferation.

The plane was carrying advanced cruise missiles from Minot Air Force Base, N.D., to Barksdale Air Force Base, La., on Aug. 30, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of a Defense Department policy not to confirm information on nuclear weapons.

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Ohio representative found dead in his apartment

WASHINGTON — Ohio Rep. Paul Gillmor, a Republican whose political career covered four decades, has died, party officials said.

"Born, raised and educated in our home state of Ohio, Paul never lost sight of the reason he came to Congress — to serve this great institution and his constituents with dedication and distinction," House Republican Leader John Boehner, also of Ohio, said in a statement.

"With the passing of Paul Gillmor, the people of northwest Ohio have lost a favorite son," said House Republican Conference Chairman Adam Putnam, R-Fla.

The body of the 68-year-old congressman was found by staff members who went to his apartment Wednesday after he failed to show up for work, according to a Republican aide who spoke on condition of anonymity pending an official announcement. There was no immediate word on the cause of his death.

Gillmor's office did not respond to a reporter's call.

Gillmor had been in Ohio last week to attend a series of town meetings and tour areas of the state that were hit hard by flooding. "His sudden passing is a shock to us all and he will be greatly missed," Ohio House Speaker Jon Husted said in a statement.

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3 Muslims arrested for alleged bomb plots against Americans

BERLIN — Three militants from an Islamic group linked to al-Qaida were planning "imminent" bomb attacks against Americans in Germany when an elite anti-terrorist unit raided their small-town hideout after months of intense surveillance, officials said Wednesday.

The men — two German converts to Islam and a Turkish citizen who prosecutors said shared a "profound hatred of U.S. citizens" — allegedly obtained military-style detonators and enough chemicals to make bombs more powerful than those that killed 191 commuters in Madrid in 2004 and 52 in London in 2005.

Frankfurt International Airport and the nearby U.S. Ramstein Air Base reportedly were the suspects' primary targets.

Prosecutors indicated police defused the danger earlier in the six-month investigation by stealthily substituting a harmless chemical for the raw bomb material amassed by the suspects. They said police moved in Tuesday when the alleged plotters seemed ready to try to make bombs.

Coming less than a week before the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S., it was the second consecutive day that European authorities announced they had thwarted a major attack. Danish officials said Tuesday they had broken up a bomb plot by arresting six Danish citizens and two other residents with links to senior al-Qaida terrorists.

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Influential Christian broadcaster dies at 76

MIAMI — The Rev. D. James Kennedy, a pioneering Christian broadcaster and megachurch pastor whose fiercely conservative worldview helped fuel the rise of the religious right in American politics, died Wednesday. He was 76.

Kennedy died at his home in Fort Lauderdale from complications of a heart attack he suffered on Dec. 28, according to Kristin Cole, a spokeswoman for Kennedy's Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church. He had not been seen publicly since the heart attack, and his retirement was announced Aug. 26.

Kennedy's voice and face were known to millions through radio and television broadcasts, urging Christians to evangelize in their daily lives, while condemning homosexuality and abortion as assaults on the traditional family. His also preached on the major policy issues of the day, rejecting evolution and global warming.

Kennedy was influential in the founding of the religious right, but did so more often from behind the scenes, as attention focused on his allies, the Revs. Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell.

"He was never in the front ranks of evangelical leaders that were also political leaders, but he was active at every stage of the Christian right," said John Green, a senior fellow at the Pew Forum for Religion & Public Life who specializes in religion and politics.

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Actress Halle Berry pregnant with first child

LOS ANGELES — Halle Berry is expecting her first child. The 41-year-old Academy Award-winning actress told the TV show "Access Hollywood" that she's three months' pregnant. She identified the father as boyfriend Gabriel Aubry.

"Gabriel and I are beyond excited, and I've waited a long time for this moment in life. Now the next seven months will be the longest of my life!" Berry wrote in an e-mail.

Berry and Aubry, a model, met in November 2005, the show said.

Calls to Berry's manager, Vince Cirrincione, were not immediately returned.