Sleep

...ba href=/sleep/a/b. "If you're not in the kill zone, don't go in the kill zone.

If you're in the kill zone, drive through the kill zone.

If the vehicle in front of you is disabled in the kill zone, push that vehicle out of the kill zone.

If there are injured in that vehicle, drive to opposite side of where they're taking contact, evacuate the injured from the vehicle and move out of the kill zone." The morning of March 16, Mariani would more than just say those words.

He and his platoon would have to live them. X...X...X Members of the 10th Mountain Division's 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry, Alpha Company took over Forward Operating Base Tillman in Eastern Afghanistan from the 82nd Airborne in February.

But they have made "enemy" contact more frequently than any other unit in the region. There are a couple of reasons for this.

First, the weather is getting warmer and Taliban or al Qaeda fighters are no longer hindered by snow and ice blocking their entry from Pakistan. Second, Alpha Company's commanding officer, Capt.

Chris Nunn, does not subscribe to a "hold down the fort" strategy.

Stabilizing the area, he believes, means making sure the villages see an American military presence in support of the emerging Afghan National Army forces. There have been assaults on observation posts and attacks on patrols, all met with fierce counterattacks that included Humvee-mounted machine guns and grenade launchers, as well as artillery and sometimes even air support. If the enemy attacks were just pr...

...ba href=/sleep/a/b and sends packs of wild dogs into a howling nighttime frenzy.

The tanks in the streets these days aren't American, by and large, but old Russian T-72s driven by Iraqi soldiers.

Faces at military checkpoints are increasingly Iraqi.

As of Wednesday, 27 U.S.

military personnel had died in March — the lowest monthly American death count since February 2004 and the second-lowest of the war, according to an Associated Press count.

Coincidental with the sharp drop in American deaths was the huge rise in the number of execution-style killings among Iraqis.

Since the beginning of the month, at least 385 people — an average of more than 13 a day — have been found slain, the apparent victims of sectarian hatred and settling of old scores after a Shiite shrine was bombed Feb.

22.

The count climbs to at least 486 when the last six days of February are added, according to figures compiled from daily AP reports based on police accounts.

Also since the start of March, gunmen — mostly masked, many wearing police uniforms — have stormed at least six Baghdad businesses.

On Wednesday, eight people were killed at the al-Ibtikar trading company when they were lined up against a wall and shot, and six others were wounded.

At least 90 workers have been kidnapped and tens of thousands of dollars stolen in the five other assaults.

Execution-style killings and kidnappings of civilians happened before late February, of course — but not nearly in such big numbers.

In o...

...ba href=/sleep/a/b with walls that have ears, the Oak Place Townhouse Condominium blends single-family autonomy with condo amenities, contemporary living spaces with classic details, and a quiet locale with a central location near Wellesley's chief cultural, commercial and commuter offerings.

Developed in 1999 by Eastland Partners Inc.

of Natick, this luxury but low-key five-unit community includes 15 Oak St., offered at $899,000 through Nancy Page of Rutledge Properties.

Sheathed in the traditional New England vernacular of gray clapboard and off-white trim, this 1,816-square-foot, three-bedroom townhouse offers not only a private address (as opposed to a unit number), but also a first-floor master suite, an open-floor plan enveloping all common areas under a 9-foot ceiling, a private yard and patio, an attached two-car garage, individual central HVAC and security systems, and another condo rarity: a private entrance.

Which takes the form of a corner porch lit by an arts-and-crafts lamppost and porch lantern, signifying your unit's individuality.

A French storm door and a rust-red paneled door with brass knocker gracefully introduce the open foyer, where the coat closet is straight ahead and the living room is to the right.

A woodburning marble fireplace with dentil-cornice mantel, recessed picture lighting and flanking windows infuses the living room with the spirit of a freestanding colonial.

A French door with matching sidelight opens to the concrete patio in the fenced-...