National and International News-Wednesday, Dec. 20th

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - New defense chief Robert Gates is in Baghdad, seeking advice from military commanders as President Bush develops a new Iraq war strategy. Gates arrived in Iraq just two
days after taking the oath of office.

WHITE HOUSE (AP) - President Bush says he agrees with those who contend the military is stretched too thin. He says in a Washington Post interview that more troops are needed to fight the war on terrorism. Bush also says the U-S is neither winning nor losing in Iraq.

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A report says the commander of U-S forces in the Middle East will be leaving his post in March. The Los Angeles Times reports Army General John Abizaid submitted retirement plans shortly before Donald Rumsfeld was pushed out as defense secretary.

UNDATED (AP) - Just days before Christmas, several states will be getting a blanket of white. Forecasters say some areas in the Plains could get up to two feet of snow. The weather shut down parts of Interstate 40 in Texas and New Mexico last night.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Maybe we could all take a lesson from Mexico. A new A-P-Ipsos poll says more than half of Mexicans rarely experience stress in their daily lives. The same survey says three-fourths of people in the U-S and many other industrialized countries feel stress every day. The top U-S worry: finances.