Yesterday's White House visit by Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, leader of Iraq's Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, points up once again the role Iran could play in Iraqi affairs. Like so many of Iraq's leaders, many of Iraq's political leaders spend years in exile in Iran, escaping the horrors of Saddam Hussein's prosecution of Shi'a and Kurd alike.

And while the U.S. isn't about to publicize the friendly ties between Iraq's leaders and Iran's, the President of Iran has no problem talking about them.

In his interview with Brian Williams in September, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad happily described his good relations with the Iraqi power structure. (Click to watch the interview from NBC Nightly News on Sept. 19.)

"The Iraqi President (Jalal Talibani) is an old friend of mine," Ahmadinejad told Williams. "The head of the state, the Prime Minister (Nouri al-Maliki) is a very close friend of mine too. And the head of their parliament, the parliamentary speaker (Mahmoud al-Mashhadani), is a good friend of mine too, so we're all friends."

Most of those ties were forged during the 1990s when the men who now run Iraq spent their time trying to unseat Saddam Hussein. In particular, the Shi'a had the support of Tehran. Iran hosted and supported al-Hakim's Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq and its military wing, the Badr Corps.   

And the connection goes deeper than just the top leadership. Many of the cabinet ministers and sub-cabinet ministers were hosted by Iran...or in one case, saved. Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani is the nephew of Iraq's leading ayatollah, Ali Husaini al-Sistani. Shahristani was also one of Iraq's leading nuclear scientists before the Iran-Iraq War, rising to the rank of science adviser to Saddam Hussein. Jailed in late 1979 because Saddam feared he was loyal to Iran, Shahristani spent 12 years at the Abu Ghraib prison, being tortured and starved by Saddam. When U.S. forces attacked Iraq during the Gulf War, he was able to escape with the aid of Iranian agents and taken to Iran where he lived in exile for another 12 years, before returning after the fall of Saddam.

It is that reality -- the close connections between Iran and Iraq -- that the U.S. will have to deal with at some point.

Brian begins today's vlog with thanks after last night's history-making broadcast, which one of you told us was truly "the best thing since sliced bread." Click here to read more of the feedback and send us your own.

As for tonight's broadcast, Brian anchors in New York and previews a few of the stories in the vlog. Click here or on the image to watch.

Tonight's NBC Nightly News will look very different to veteran viewers. We're experimenting tonight with something close to what our friends at PBS call an "underwriter" -- a single sponsor for the entire broadcast. Tonight, Philips has purchased the entire half hour. The commercial breaks will be limited (just two of them) and extremely brief. The comments I receive most often from viewers that I meet have to do with the content of the news itself... and our commercial load. We love our sponsors of course, all of them... they pay for all we do here... but for those interested in consuming as much news as possible with the fewest interruptions, we think you'll find tonight's format to your liking. We plan to do it again, and keep experimenting with it. I'd love to use it as a model for a new way to do business, but luckily for my company, I have absolutely nothing to do with the business side of NBC News. You WILL see a discernible difference in the amount of time devoted to NEWS in tonight's broadcast -- it is just a few minutes shy of the entire half hour, and that makes us all very happy. (Editor's note: We've set up a special feedback page where you can share your views with the broadcast and Philips. Just click here.)

Back to what I do for a living: Tonight we'll have thorough coverage of the state of the Iraq war and the domestic debate.  While Wednesday will find us originating the broadcast from Washington (where I will interview both Secretary Baker and Congressman Hamilton after they release their report), there is much to discuss in the interim. We will also check in with the homefront tonight, perhaps in more than one place, to see how Americans view this war right now (answer: it depends), along with the overall "mission" and the Commander in Chief.

Lisa Myers has a special piece of reporting tonight, on a post 9/11 reform we all just THOUGHT was in place. We'll check in on the California fires tonight (thankfully, the news seems good from Ventura County), and we will close the broadcast tonight with a special story I've prepared -- a story we had a lot of fun shooting today.

OK, more news means more work and more writing, so off to the newsroom I go. We hope you can join us on tonight's special edition of the broadcast.

Brian anchors the broadcast tonight, which will be unique in the 37-year history of "NBC Nightly News."

I'll let Brian explain in the vlog. Click here or on the image to watch.

After you've watched, click here to share your thoughts.

On Dec. 4, 1992, President George Bush announced that he was sending troops into Somalia on a humanitarian relief effort. Here, NBC News Pentagon Correspondent Jim Miklaszewski recalls that announcement and the ensuing conflict that resulted in the now infamous "Black Hawk Down" battle.

In the final weeks of 1992, I like most White House correspondents, was focused on the transition to President-elect Bill Clinton who had just defeated President George Bush. The last thing on our minds was the possibility that the lame-duck President Bush would order U.S. military forces into a high-risk mission overseas. Somalia? It sent most of us reporters scrambling for a world atlas.

On Dec. 4, President Bush delivered an oval office address to the nation in which he announced Operation Restore Hope, a mission designed to ensure that vital relief reached more than 1 million starving refugees caught in the middle of a violent civil war in the East African nation of Somalia.  80 percent of desperately-needed food and medical relief was stolen by armed militias.  500,000 Somali civilians had already been killed or starved to death.  It was a human disaster.

The day after President Bush announced Restore Hope, 1,300 U.S. Marines and Navy SEALS hit the beaches at the capital city Mogadishu.  Backed by a United Nations resolution authorizing the use of military force, their mission was to provide armed protection for the international relief shipments.

While President Bush's decision gained widespread support, it also drew a fair amount of criticism.  Political critics and skeptical reporters suggested the President was engaged in a little political grandstanding, playing the humanitarian in an effort to enhance his legacy.  Some Clinton aides claimed Bush had dumped Somalia into the incoming President's lap.  But Bill Clinton issued a written statement supporting the decision and praising Bush's leadership.

As one who covered President Bush for four years, I personally found him to be an honorable and decent man who would presumably commit U.S. forces to a dangerous mission for what may at the time seem all the right reasons.  Nevertheless, it was hard to imagine that this humanitarian gesture would go so horribly wrong, drag American forces into the middle of a civil war and end in a costly retreat.
                                                                                                    
While the relief operations initially proved successful, U.S. military forces were inexorably being sucked into "mission creep."  By March 1993, the U.N. Security Council ramped up the mission.  International "peacekeepers," including the Americans, would now become "peacemakers."  American forces were now expected to take on the armed militias.  The war was on and Bill Clinton was now the Commander in Chief.

During the Presidential campaign, Clinton was accused of being a draft dodger. Questions were raised about his ability to lead the military.  At the White House all reporters watched closely for any sign of weakness.  For nearly a year, Clinton hung tough, until "Black Hawk Down."

On Oct. 3, 1993, U.S. special operations forces launched a combined air and ground operation in Mogadishu, aimed at capturing two top lieutenants of the most notorious warlord, Mohammed Aidid.  During the operation, two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down in a ferocious 15-hour battle that killed 18 American soldiers and wounded 79 more.  The battle, dramatically documented in Mark Bowden's bestseller, Black Hawk Down, was the beginning of the end for the U.S. military mission in Somalia.

By December, Clinton's Secretary of Defense Les Aspin resigned over Somalia. Within six months after the bloody battle of Mogadishu, President Clinton had cut the losses and pulled all American combat forces out of Somalia.  Today, 13 years after Black Hawk Down, a shaky Somalia government is under threat from Islamist terrorists believed to be backed by al-Qaida.

As a Pentagon correspondent for NBC News years later, I talked with U.S. military commanders involved in or familiar with the Somalia relief effort.  To this day they insist that operation was a success. U.S. forces had captured the two targets they were after and killed a large number of enemy forces.  The commanders believe President Clinton withdrew from Somalia strictly for political reasons and are convinced the overall mission still had a chance to succeed.

It sounds much like the argument we heard 30 years ago about Vietnam.  It sounds much like the argument we hear today about Iraq.

Click here to watch the 1992 NBC report on troops into Somalia.

As we prepare Sunday's broadcast, this appears to be an important week for the President.  His Iraq study group will hand over its recommendations on Iraq.  The question tonight is whether the President will accept and implement these recommendations.  NBC's Kevin Corke will have the latest from the White House tonight.  NBC's Jane Arraf will have the story from Baghdad as Iraqis anticipate a change of policy by the U.S. and what it could mean for them.

From Lebanon tonight, we'll hear from NBC's Richard Engel who will tell us about the ongoing protests in the streets of Beirut... by Hezbollah supporters.  He'll tell us what impact it could have on Lebanon's government.

NBC's Ron Mott has an emotional story tonight.  It's about a woman whose father fought in Vietnam and has been listed as missing since the end of the war.  Recently, we broadcast a story about how the U.S. and Vietnamese have begun digging for the remains of missing U.S. servicemen at new locations in Vietnam.  She saw the story... and the news about the dig, which she had been urging the U.S. government to do for years.  Now, she waits and hopes that her father's remains will be found.

Wildfires are burning tonight in California... and NBC's Peter Alexander will bring us up to date.

NBC's Stephanie Gosk tells us how car makers are coming up with new environmentally friendly "green" cars this year.

In New Orleans, NBC's Martin Savidge has the story of the lingering health problems that exist long after hurricane Katrina.

And from Havana Cuba, NBC's Mark Potter on the effort to save the home of literary legend Ernest Hemingway.

It's all coming up tonight. We hope you'll join us.

HAVANA - Tonight on Nightly News we'll take a look at the politically-complicated efforts to restore the Cuban home of famed American writer Ernest Hemingway. Reporting this story gave us rare access to the fascinating place known as Finca Vigia, or Lookout Farm, which sits on a hill overlooking Havana. Hemingway lived and worked there for 21 years, from 1939 to 1960, and it's where he finished "For Whom the Bell Tolls," and fully wrote "The Old Man and the Sea," for which he won both a Pulitzer and a Nobel Prize for Literature.

All of us in the NBC team were struck by how the house seems frozen in time, and feels as if Papa, himself, could stroll through the door at any moment. The walls are filled with his hunting trophies from around the world, including the head of an African Cape Buffalo. On the bathroom walls are the handwritten notes he would write every day recording his weight. The last entry was from July 24, 1960. He weighed 190 pounds then.

In back of the villa is the swimming pool where Ava Gardner reportedly swam naked. And there is also Hemingway's storied fishing boat, the Pilar, upon which he shared many adventures with his old Cuban pal Gregorio Fuentes, who died four years ago at the age of 104. The Pilar is also being restored, and some American preservation experts are offering technical advice, as they are for the house. But, because of the U.S. trade embargo, they can't provide any money or needed materials. That's the politically-complicated part.

In the living room we found Hemingway's Zenith radio and his phonograph still working, and we actually listened to some of his records. Hemingway must have really liked Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue," because that record is just worn out. In the simple front bedroom, which Hemingway used as his office, we saw his handwritten epilogue to "For Whom the Bell Tolls." He thought of changing the ending, but reconsidered, and never actually published it.

Finally we saw the exact spot where Hemingway would stand in front of a bookshelf in the morning hours to write his world-famous novels. The Cuban curators were good enough to also let us see the actual Royal typewriter he used there. It struck me that sitting by itself, it's a mere machine. In his hands, though, it was the door to literary achievement and worldwide fame. Playing awestruck silly tourist for a moment, I had my picture taken next to the typewriter, hoping a little magic might rub off.

As we woke up this morning... there was more sad news from Iraq.  This time simultaneous car bombings in Baghdad.  The latest death toll is 51.  It happened in a crowded market.  We have seen attacks like this before in Baghdad... but each new incident highlights the growing security problem in Iraq.  NBC's Tom Aspell is in Baghdad and he'll bring us the latest. 

Also... NBC's Kevin Corke looks at the options facing President Bush... as he prepares to receive recommendations from the Iraq Study Group.

We are covering the first major snow storm of the season... that caused big problems in the midwest.  NBC's Janet Shamlian will have that story.

There is new information tonight on the investigation into the death of the Russian spy who was poisoned with radioactive polonium.   NBC's Ned Colt reports from Moscow.

NBC's Senior Investigative Correspondent has an interesting story tonight on the growth of internet fraud.  Some of the scams include those junk e-mails you have may have received from someone overseas offering to give you millions of dollars... if you will send them money... or personal information.

We are taking a closer look at the struggling housing market tonight.  As housing prices continue to drop, the question is whether the market has hit bottom.  Mark Zandi... a housing expert joins us to talk about it.

And a wonderful story from NBC's Peter Alexander about one of the most grueling races in the world.   We'll meet some impressive snow dogs and find out what it takes to run the race.

It's all coming up tonight... and we hope you'll join us.

Editor's note: If you missed Peter's report on Saturday's broadcast, click here to watch.

"That just can't be right!" The digital temperature gauge in our rental car was frozen at -18. Eighteen degrees below zero. I had experienced cold before, but nothing like what we were driving through at Alaska's Denali National Park.

Our destination: the Husky Homestead where four-time Iditarod champion Jeff King lives with his family and close to 100 Alaskan huskies -- some of the world's greatest athletes. The dogs are surprisingly thin and small -- nothing like the familiar, fluffy "Huskies" that serve as the mascots for the University of Washington and Connecticut. Jeff calls those huskies the "Victoria Secret" models.

Growing up, I had enough trouble identifying who was who among my family's three golden retrievers: Cubbie, Star and Renner, so I liked Jeff's naming strategy. (You try keeping track of 100 pets.) Each litter has a theme. There are the Top Gun characters (Maverick, Viper and Jester); Cheeses (Cheddar, Colby and Whiz); even network news anchors (Brokaw, Cronkite and Jennings). My favorites were the newest additions: the Muppets (Beaker, Fozzie and Animal).

During our first day there, Jeff introduced us to his dogs and his routine. He's a plumber by trade and an innovator by nature. He now trains the animals year-round. Anything for an advantage, as he prepares for the next 1,160-mile dog-sledding marathon next March. His most recent invention: a doggie jacuzzi. Jeff figured if legendary bicyclist Lance Armstrong soaked in the hot tub after a workout, so should his huskies. He invited me in. Jeff was wearing waders; I had on swim trunks; the dog, Deets, was wrapped in a harness. Right behind us, a sign read: "No Peeing in the Pool." Sadly, I doubt the dogs were deterred.

Jeff's training regimen includes a 52-mile trek down a deserted road to his camp at the Susitna River crossing. To best tell his story and understand the sport of mushing, we had asked weeks earlier if we could join Jeff and his team of dogs on the trail, even spending a night with them at camp. I would get a shot riding behind the dogs as well.

On our second day, we arrived at the King family's home an hour before we planned to head out. I was bundled beneath three layers on the bottom and the best pair of cold weather boots I could find in Los Angeles. Jeff looked at me and laughed. "Well, that's a start," he said, then disappeared before returning with what's been dubbed the "pickle suit" -- a giant, specially-designed, green sleeping bag where the legs separate, to let you walk. The boots he recommended I wear looked like they belonged on an astronaut. And, for my hands, he pulled out a pair of oversized, bear fur gloves. As the story goes,  Jeff's wife, Donna, shot and killed the actual bear when it raided his dogs' kennel years earlier.

Later, on the trail, after a three-minute course in "How to Avoid Falling Off a Dog Sled," Jeff handed me the reins. Even at eight degrees below zero (a heat wave compared to the day before), I was comfortable. Balancing wasn't hard, holding the dogs back was the real challenge. I had to keep my foot on the sled's brake to keep the huskies from taking off.

After more than six hours riding through some of the most spectacular scenery I'd ever seen, we finally reached camp -- two canvas tents and a fire pit. Our four-man NBC News team would share one of the tents. Inside, the ground was covered with straw and a small wood stove for warmth. Admittedly more than a little concerned, my producer, Richard Adams and I considered our options. Would we survive a night out here? Are you kidding? Eight degrees below zero. Fire and straw didn't seem like a safe combination.

It was already dark and we were 52 miles from the nearest town (Cantwell, population 200), and 70 miles from the nearest Bed & Breakfast. Clearly, we weren't going anywhere anytime soon.

Already a once-in-a-lifetime experience, it turned out to be a once-in-a-lifetime night, camping with the reigning champions of the Iditarod in some of the harshest conditions in North America. Our respect for Jeff King and his huskies soared.

4 p.m. and we have just arrived at JFK. Flying across the Atlantic made it difficult to attend the afternoon editorial meeting, so we have only the broad strokes of the broadcast to go on, until I get linked by phone to the producers. That we landed at all is something of a miracle, as this storm has caused white caps on the water and flags are stiff in the winds. Weather will be a component in our reporting tonight.

Let's leave it at this: We hope you can join us for our Friday night broadcast, at the end of this very long week.

NBC's Janet Shamlian makes her vlog debut today from snowy Chicago, where she's reporting on the travel mess sparked by winter weather in the Midwest. Airport delays in the Northeast may impact who anchors the broadcast tonight. If Brian's flight from Jordan arrives on time, he'll wish you a good evening. If not, NBC's Lester Holt is standing by.

Click here to watch Janet's vlog.

A few departure notes from Jordan: first, our traveling party referenced the recent Muslim cleric incident on that commercial plane in Minneapolis -- when we looked up at the moving video map on our Royal Jordanian Airlines flight -- and saw the constant orienting arrow to Mecca. Sure enough, a man was praying in the back of the aircraft prior to takeoff. Prayer is often part of the flying experience on RJ, and I've now flown this airline so much over the past few years (they do, after all, fly to or close enough to all the best "hot spots" in our business of late), I've found myself regretting that I'm not a part of their frequent flyer program.

This flight, on a brand new Airbus A320, is mostly Jordanians. There are about half a dozen American security contractors -- instantly recognizable and now ubiquitous in any airport in the region. As is the case on board many airlines based in the Middle East, there is a man standing in the front galley hallway, facing the First Class cabin, wearing a leather jacket with his back to the cockpit door. He stood there during takeoff and will stay there for the rest of the flight. He is armed. An in-flight security guard. Very effective. The only hint that we're on a non-U.S. carrier (aside from the guy in the leather jacket, the guy praying in the rear of the aircraft and the little "moving Mecca" icon) is the smell of cigarette smoke. I asked about it, and was told that both pilots smoke. It's now wafting through the passenger compartment after the cockpit door was opened to serve meals to the pilot and first officer. You'd think they'd open the window a crack, but apparently not.

Of interest to airline buffs was what I saw off our left wing on takeoff from Amman: five mothballed Iraqi Airlines jets, mostly old 727s, some missing engines. They are parked on a remote patch of outlying desert on the airport grounds. The last time I saw aircraft with that same "livery" (paint scheme) was at the Baghdad airport during the U.S. invasion. Some were simply parked on the tarmac, while others were blown to pieces. I remember a 3rd Infantry colonel telling me at the time that some young tank commander took a little "target practice" and got in big trouble for blowing up the jets -- evidently finding the big white targets just too irresistible after days of amped-up driving across the desert. The Army was not happy that photos of the jet carcasses were published, as they saw it as needless destruction. I believe the whole episode was chronicled in one of the many insta-books published after the invasion by various newspaper staffs.

Anyway, if anybody is looking for Saddam's old commercial fleet: it's in Amman.
                  
The best moment of our seemingly-endless Thursday came during boarding. The three of us (I'm joined by the indefatigable Subrata De and Megan Marcus) noted a man boarding -- and there's no other way to put this -- with my name over his left breast. He was about 40, accompanied by his girlfriend, and wearing a black fleece emblazoned with the NBC NIGHTLY NEWS WITH BRIAN WILLIAMS logo, in full color. That was a first for me: while I'm more or less used to seeing our hats and other logo stuff on co-workers, this was my first experience as clothier of a complete stranger. I couldn't stand it -- too many questions -- so I walked to his seat in the far rear of the plane, and asked how it was he was wearing such a distinctive garment. While I had frankly hoped for a more romantic ending ("I won this in a duel with a man in Beersheba..."), it turns out this member of the NBC Fleece Community was given the garment by his cousin, a videotape editor in our Baghdad bureau. While admittedly a bit of a buzz kill, it's actually rather funny, considering that we shipped a box of fleeces to the bureau last year -- imagining all the while how it would brighten morale for our brave colleagues, braving another Iraq winter -- and it turns out at least one of our gifts... was re-gifted!

Still, what an odd experience seeing one's own name on a complete stranger. What must it be like to be Ralph Lauren? Or better yet, the horse that posed for his logo?

As I write this, it's a bright, cloudless morning at 36,000 feet over Syria -- but it's 1 a.m. back home, and we're so tired, we're not quite sure where we are. It's axiomatic that when we travel, we remain on the home clock. The only time that matters, anywhere in the world, is the time remaining until 6:30 p.m. ET, the first feed of Nightly News. As a consequence, we often end up seemingly working two days for every one in New York. While the events we cover in this region are often during daytime, the onset of darkness only signals the beginning of the workday back home. Sleep becomes a rare commodity, and the flight home is often the first opportunity to collapse. A plane change (and airline change and terminal change) in Paris will interrupt things today, and we have much anxiety over the weather system bearing down on New York, but hopes are high. 36,000 feet, to be exact.