A top architect of the Iraq surge plan said Monday the increase in U.S. forces flowing to Baghdad and its outskirts has crippled al Qaeda, forced the Sunni insurgency into compromise and hobbled Shiite extremists seeking reprisal.

At a Capitol Hill news conference May 23, exhibition designer Ralph Appelbaum provided a first glimpse of the exhibits planned for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Center, an underground facility slated for the National Mall near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, also known as The Wall.

It's a deadly problem that has plagued U.S. forces in every conflict. And though military officials have been highlighting it for years, they still haven't found a solution everyone can agree on.

The National Guard force is second to none in terms of the quality of its people, but severe equipment shortfalls are keeping it from being fully ready, the chief of the National Guard Bureau told Congress.