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WASHINGTON, Jan. 28, 2009 – A civilian journalist received a top Navy honor in Iraq on Jan. 24 for his heroism in saving a Marine’s life while in Afghanistan. Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Paul Lefebvre, deputy commanding general for Multinational Corps Iraq, awards cameraman Chris Jackson with the Department of the Navy Distinguished Public Service Award at Al Faw Palace on Camp Victory, outside of Baghdad, Jan. 24, 2009. He received the award for saving a Marine from a burning vehicle in Afghanistan, Aug. 3, 2008. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Joy Pariante  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image...

HERAT, Afghanistan -- A Taliban sentry fired the first shots shortly after 2:30 a.m. as Afghan commandos and U.S. Special Operations Command troops surrounded the compound at Aziz Abad. Though the Marine Special Operations Team had employed a daring deception to achieve surprise, they were engaged heavily by gunfire from AK-47s and machine guns almost immediately after deploying at the objective. For the next 2 1/2 hours, the 207th Afghan Commandos and their U.S. Army and Marine counterparts were in a running gunfight with heavily armed Taliban fighters inside the walled compound. When enemy combatants on rooftops and in narrow...

Camp Bastion, Helmand Province, Afghanistan — This British-built fortress, perched on a plateau in southwestern Afghanistan, is well named. Surrounded by miles of open desert, the citadel has its own concrete runway, water supply, sewage, electricity, Level 3 Trauma Hospital, even fire mains — all constructed in the last 30 months. The heavily-armed camp is home to British, Danish, Estonian and Czech troops of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). It's also home to Task Force 2/7 (T/F 2/7), built around the legendary 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment out of Marine Corps Base 29 Palms, California — a good place...

First person: Embedded with Iraqi army, where saluting is optional

Helmand Province, Afghanistan — First in a series Helmand Province, Afghanistan – To Americans of my generation and older, Korea is “The Forgotten War.” For this generation, it’s Afghanistan – or to be precise, Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). This seven-year long campaign against Al Qaeda and the Taliban in the shadow of the Hindu Kush didn’t start out as a “forgotten war.” On October 7, 2001, less than a month after the 9-11 attack, OEF began with a salvo of Tomahawk cruise missiles and raids by B-1s, B-2s, B-52s and waves of carrier-based aircraft. For the next month the entire...

August 06, 2008, 0:15 a.m. An Appointment in SamarraAs I prepare to return to that ancient and long-troubled city, I'll be expecting the unexpected. By Pete Hegseth SAMARRA, Iraq: A few days after insurgents killed two of his bodyguards, Asaad Ali Yaseen sat in his living room with a pistol beside him and pondered the challenges of running this city. As if on cue, a U.S. soldier burst in to announce that a sniper’s bullet had just struck a military vehicle parked outside. Mr. Yaseen and his guest, U.S. Army Maj. Steven Delvaux, barely stirred. “It would be good...

Five months ago, I returned to Iraq as an embedded journalist, some 18 months after I had completed a combat tour there. It was a worthwhile trip. I returned to Iraq to cover the progress the U.S. military had been making on the ground since the surge had begun. Mainstream-media coverage of the war had largely ignored the counterinsurgency’s success, rehearsing outdated notions of the conditions there. You could say I made the long trip to the front to cover an exposed domestic flank of American public opinion.

They have two different podcasts over there covering the War on Terror specifically Iraq. Bill Ardolino talks to Dennis Miller here. Bill Roggio talks to Michael Reagan here. Both have embedded several times and really know their stuff. If you like podcasts enjoy!

Less than two weeks after Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki launched Operation Knights' Assault to clear the Mahdi Army and other Iranian-backer militias in Basrah, the Iraqi government is moving to ban Muqtada al Sadr's political movement from participating in the election if it fails to disband the militia. Facing near-unanimous opposition, Sadr said he would seek guidance from senior Shia clerics in Najaf and Qom and disband the Mahdi Army if told to do so, according to one aide. But another Sadr aide denied this. The pressure on Sadr and his Mahdi Army started on Sunday after Maliki announced...

Journalists return from Iraq with a positive message Two Minnesota journalists are back on American soil, sharing the lives of soldiers in Iraq. For two weeks, John Camp and Eric Bowen were embedded with a Minnesota National Guard Unit. What the two men found were the kind of stories that are rarely told in newspapers and on television. They’ve brought 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS a look at U.S. Blackhawk combat missions, piloted entirely by women from Minnesota and have shown viewers what happens to the care packages that people send to the troops. "I wasn't frightened, I was more excited than...

Bravo By Day, Bravo By Night January 17, 2008 It’s hard to remember when the day went from routine, almost boring, to unpredictable, even exciting. It’s hard to remember when we went from chatting up the locals in town to staring at piles of dirt in the desert. I know we got back to the base at about 11:00 pm. I know I hadn’t peed since 8:30 am. I had eaten an Otis Spunkmeyer muffin around lunchtime, figuring that would hold me until dinner. But then dinner turned out to be goldfish crackers and the hard candy that is kept...

Unassuming Oliver North called 'truly a class act' By Matt Sanchez Editor's note: Reporter Matt Sanchez, currently embedding with military units throughout both Iraq and Afghanistan, has been providing WND readers with a glimpse into the war on terror most Americans have never seen. Oliver North I first remember seeing Col. Oliver North raising his hand and giving testimony in front of Congress. As a kid, I didn't understand much about the televised and highly publicized Iran Contra Affair hearings, all I saw was a man in uniform raising his hand and answering questions. But so much of communication has...

BAQOUBA, Iraq — The Iraqi teenager hesitated for a moment when he encountered the squad of soldiers standing at the top of a dusty, rutted dirt street that he had started to walk down. He gestured at a house, as if to say, “I’m only going over there.” “If you want to go, dude, that’s your choice,” said Staff Sgt. Brian Piehler, 25, of Spanaway, Wash., a squad leader of Company C, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, motioning him forward. “But you may not like what’s coming in a few minutes.” On Monday, the first day of a massive U.S.-Iraqi...

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - Documentary filmmaker Rich Fitoussi never liked getting into the Canadian army's much-heralded, much-loved light armoured vehicle - LAV III - or its cousin the Bison armoured car. Even though the largely windowless metal cocoon is meant to keep him and hundreds of dust-covered soldiers whose lives he chronicled safe, it was always a nerve-wracking, uncomfortable experience. Never more so than Saturday, as the well-travelled Toronto-native found himself hunkered down inside a Bison when suspected Taliban militants unleashed their deadly fury on a Canadian convoy, killing four soldiers. "I feel a little bit guilty," said Fitoussi, 32,...

Sunday, 2 a.m. local RAMADI My flight to Ramadi left from a heliport in Baghdad's so-called "Green Zone." For Americans, this is probably the safest place in the country. It is a grid of protected streets along the banks of the Tigris River, surrounded by high concrete blast walls and coils of barbed wire, where suicide bomber-weary tank turrets point at passing traffic. There is high security here because this is home to the U.S. Embassy as well as the seat of the Iraqi government. Most everything outside, they call the "Red Zone." {{{ SNIP }}}

I've come to Iraq to embed with U.S. troops stationed in Ramadi, and Baghdad is a stopover. I'm hoping to get on a military helicopter flight there tonight. {{SNIP}} I haven't been to the Palestine Hotel, where AP's Baghdad offices are located, in a year. After a suicide bomber rammed through the high blast walls surrounding the hotel complex a few months ago, the place is still a wreck.

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Excerpts from an essay written recently by Farris Hassan, 16, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., who traveled to Iraq without telling his parents: There is a struggle in Iraq between good and evil, between those striving for freedom and liberty and those striving for death and destruction. You are aware of the heinous acts of the terrorists: Women and children massacred, innocent aid workers decapitated, indiscriminate murder. You are also aware of the heroic aspirations of the Iraqi people: liberty, democracy, security, normality. Those terrorists are not human but pure evil. For their goals to be thwarted, decent...

Friday, November 25, 2005 A tribute for service members and families Many people say this is the most important photograph of the Iraq war. Some have called it "a national treasure." The image most completely embodies my experience throughout Iraq. Countless people have asked for reprints, but I wanted to give the matter some thought. I did not want to diminish the symbolism of this photograph, and the American soldiers who risked their lives to save this little girl. I more than espoused this belief, I lived it: I have not accepted advertisements on this site, and my first...

Considering another side Think about everything you’ve heard about the conditions in Iraq, the role of U.S. forces, the multi-layered complexities of the war. Then think again. I’m a journalist. I read the news everyday, from several sources. I have the luxury of reading stuff newspapers don’t always have room to print. I read every tidbit I could on Iraq and the war before coming. Everything I thought I knew was wrong. Maybe not wrong, but certainly different than the picture in my head. I liken it to this; It was real struggle for me to choose to see the...

Getting into a war zone to report live and do live shows takes some effort and flexibility. Here's the latest on Gunny Bob's expedition to Iraq. On 4 January, the Gunny will fly to Kuwait City via Beirut as it stands now, but that route could change. In any case, he should arrive in Kuwait on 6 January and them hopefully get a hop into Baghdad on 7 January. On 8 January, Gunny will join the 2nd Marine Division in Fallujah. He will stay there until the 10th or so for some live and taped interviews and reports, and then...