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One of the biggest obstacles to free and fair elections in Afghanistan are the countries warlords. Commanding private armies and controlling vast sections of the country, there is little chance that democracy can come to Afghanistan if these warlords aren't disarmed by this September's election. In the final report in this series, NPR's Renee Montagne looks at efforts to disarm these powerful figures and how they are re-inventing themselves as political leaders.

U.S. forces arrest a key aide to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and wage battles with militia loyal to the Shiite leader. The aide, Riyadh al-Nouri, was taken captive at a house in Najaf. He is al-Sadr's brother-in-law. An Army spokesman said a "very large number" of youths -- members of al-Sadr's militia -- were killed in fighting in Najaf and Sadr City. NPR's Peter Kenyon reports.

The Pentagon is expected to replace Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez as the top U.S. commander in Iraq. President Bush called Sanchez "exemplary," and officials say his transfer is part of a long-planned reorganization. Nevertheless, the move leaves the impression in some quarters that the administration is not satisfied with Sanchez's performance in Iraq. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.

NPR's Steve Inskeep reports on the cicadas and eavesdrops on what some of the bugs are talking about after being dormant since 1987.

With the resignation of CIA Director George Tenet, the role of intelligence in U.S. policy has come to prominence again, as the CIA and other agencies seek to defuse terrorist cells and foil attempts to spread nuclear materials. NPR's Liane Hansen speaks with Amy Zegart , UCLA professor and author of Flawed by Design: The Evolution of the CIA, JCS, and NSC, about the prospects for the Central Intelligence Agency in the post-Tenet era.

International tributes pour in honoring President Ronald Reagan, who died Saturday after an extensive battle with Alzheimer's. President Reagan died at his Southern California home; funeral arrangements for include the former president's body lying in state in the Capitol Rotunda before being laid to rest on a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Hear NPR's Linda Wertheimer and NPR's Mandalit del Barco.

Arlington National Cemetery gets most of the attention on Memorial Day. But the older, smaller Congressional Cemetery -- burial place to veterans, congressmen and other Washington, D.C., residents -- is also full of history. NPR's Susan Stamberg reports.

A United Nations announces the appointment of an eight-member Iraqi election commission, which will direct preparations for a January 2005 vote on a constitutional assembly. NPR's Emily Harris reports.

New York City Police Officer Daniel Rodriguez is known to millions of people as the police officer that sang "God Bless America" at a World Trade Center memorial service after the 2001 terrorist attacks. He discusses his decision to leave the police force to return to his first love, music. Hear Rodriguez and NPR's Steve Inskeep.

NPR's Linda Wertheimer interviews two Republican strategists, Frank Donatelli of the American Conservative Union, and Don Devine, a former Reagan aide, about what the worsening situation in Iraq means for President Bush's re-election prospects.