Jay Garner

The White House estimated Monday that a war with Iraq could result in up to 2 million Iraqis becoming refugees either inside the country or beyond, but top Bush administration officials said that plans are well underway to meet such a humanitarian crisis. To help international organizations such as UNICEF and nongovernmental agencies cope, the U.S. already has sent more than $25 million to such groups, the officials said.

There's magic in the air at the Civic Theatre, where "The Secret Garden" took root Tuesday night. But magic requires active participation: You've got to believe. Cross your fingers, hold your breath and hope it transforms you. Whatever you do, don't close your eyes. This national touring production of the 1991 three-Tony-winning Broadway hit is drop-dead gorgeous.

Although President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair remain indivisible in their commitment to deposing Saddam Hussein, broader differences in their views on how to organize the world against other threats may grow slightly more visible during Blair's visit with Bush that ends today. On a range of international issues beyond the war in Iraq -- from global warming to the role of the United Nations -- Blair is much closer to U.S.

Just in time for the Year of the Woman, politically speaking, comes the Musical of the Women. "The Secret Garden," which opens tonight at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa, is the creation of powerful women, beginning with Frances Hodgson Burnett, on whose popular 1911 book it is based, and expanding to the majority of the creative and production team: Book and lyrics are by Pulitzer Prize winner Marsha Norman (" 'night, Mother"), music by Lucy Simon, staging by Susan H.

What a wonderful circus Congress has become, full of dazzling sideshows and con artists working the rubes in the aisles. Hey, sucker, wanna balance the budget? Let Ringmaster Newt show you how. First, eliminate the Corporation for Public Broadcasting ($285 million), the National Endowment for the Humanities ($177 million) and that other one for the Arts ($167 million). Add it up, pretend that a million is a billion and we're outta here. You think the voters will catch on? Nah.

The departure of several thousand U.S. Army troops from Iraq has been delayed pending the outcome of a comprehensive high-level review of security in Baghdad and elsewhere in the country, senior American military officials said Friday. L. Paul Bremer III, the new U.S. civil administrator for Iraq, began the security review Friday night by convening senior members of his reconstruction agency, military commanders and prominent Iraqi political figures.

The Bush administration Thursday unveiled a blueprint for Iraq's eventual reconstruction, calling it America's most massive rebuilding project since the Marshall Plan. In the coming days, a handful of American companies will win huge contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars -- billions, some say -- to repair some of what the U.S. war destroys and what Iraqi President Saddam Hussein already has ruined, according to Andrew S. Natsios, administrator of the U.S.

This kingdom, deeply uneasy over the U.S. bombing campaign in Iraq, on Saturday called for a "breather" in the fighting and signaled that it will oppose an American military occupation government in Baghdad. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al Faisal, in remarks uncharacteristically outspoken in their criticism of U.S. policy in the region, said U.S. troops will be ill-equipped to govern a tribal and unruly Iraqi population in the wake of a collapse of the ruling Baath Socialist Party.

State Department veteran L. Paul Bremer III is expected to be named the top U.S. civilian official in Iraq as early as Wednesday, and retired Army Lt. Gen. Jay Garner says his new boss will probably arrive in Baghdad next week. Garner, who heads the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance for Postwar Iraq, said Monday that Bremer would concentrate on building a new political structure for Iraq, a process for which "we really need a dedicated effort."