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SNIPPET: "Iraqi officials in Al Kut are seeking four suspected Iranian Qods Force operatives behind attacks on security forces. Members of the Iraqi security forces put up wanted posters with photos of the Iranian operates on the streets in an effort to detain the men. The Qods Force agents are wanted for "armed operations against Iraqi security personnel and civilians," an Iraqi security official told Voices of Iraq. "The security authorities in Kut appealed to local residents to report these dangerous persons who are wanted on charges of involvement in terrorist operations in Iraq." The campaign was announced the same...

BAGHDAD, Nov. 6, 2009 – Iraqi security forces arrested five suspected terrorists today in two security operations. In northeastern Baghdad, the Iraqi soldiers, with U.S. advisors, searched two buildings looking for a Promise Day Brigade terrorist group leader who allegedly coordinates attacks against security forces in Iraq. The Iraqi soldiers questioned and then arrested three people suspected of being Promise Day Brigade associates without incident. Near Sharqat, about 50 miles northwest of Kirkuk, Iraqi police and U.S. advisors searched two buildings for a suspected al-Qaida in Iraq member who has ties to senior leaders of the terrorist group. Based on...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING SITE GARRYOWEN, Iraq, Nov. 6, 2009 – Iraqi army engineers put their training to good use Oct. 18 on a reconnaissance mission to evaluate a local bridge. Army Sgt. Ryan Loseby, an Iraqi soldier and their interpreter review measurements as Army Pfc. Garrett Childress, far left, looks on during a reconnaissance mission to evaluate a bridge near Contingency Operating Base Garryowen, Iraq, Oct. 18, 2009. U.S. Army photo by 2nd Lt. Benjamin Hann  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Engineers from the 10th Iraqi Army Field Engineer Regiment Detachment joined their trainers from Company E, 4th Battalion, 6th...

FOB WARRIOR — Driving from one end of Bidawa village in Kirkuk province to the other used to be a challenge, but thanks to the addition of two new road culverts, the trip is now much easier. After nearly 70 days of construction, these new road culverts are ready for use. The concrete culverts span over a 50-meter waterbed, linking one side of the road to another. Water flows easier now underneath the culverts between irrigation canals that have increased water flow to local farmers’ crops. "Building these two road culverts will greatly increase the transportation infrastructure of the village,"...

Col. Larry Phelps, the 15th Sustainment Brigade commander, gives a coin to pump foreman Abdullah Ahmed from the Qayyarah pump house during a luncheon in the pump house workers' honor in the dining facility of COL Q-West, Nov. 3. Photo by Sgt. Matthew Cooley, 15th Sustainment Brigade. COL Q-WEST — A group of Iraqis working at the Qayyarah water pump house were thanked while attending a luncheon in their honor at the dining facility here, Nov. 2. Col. Larry Phelps, the 15th Sustainment Brigade commander and Greenville, Ala., native, presented a plaque to the workers and said that it was...

Army Shooting Suspect Was Heading to Iraq Maj. Malik Nadal Hasan was believed to be a psychiatrist WASHINGTON - The man identified as the shooting suspect at Fort Hood was an Army psychiatrist preparing to deploy to Iraq. NBC News’ Pete Williams reported that U.S. officials identified the gunman as Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who had been promoted to major in May. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, R-Texas, said military officials told her that the gunman, who was 39 or 40, was about to be deployed to Iraq and was “upset about it.” NBC News' Robert Windrem said Hasan specialized in...

MOSUL — U.S. and Iraqi Security Forces delivered 400 new desks and chairs to the Qosh High School in northern Ninewah province, Oct. 31. The furniture delivery was the culmination of the school's opening and the final project for Battery B, 2nd Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division "The ministry of education built them a new high school, but was unable to furnish it with desks and chairs so we were able to fill in that gap," said Capt. Joseph Himpelmann, the commander of Btry. B and a native of Waukegan, Ill. After...

An Iraqi school teacher helps distribute school supplies to Iraqi children at the Jadeeda Primary School near Hawijah in the Kirkuk province of Iraq, Oct. 28. The supplies were provided by families of Soldiers from 1/8th Cav., 2BCT, 1st Cav. Div. Photo by Staff Sgt. Jason Douglas, 1st Cavalry Division. KIRKUK — The 46th Iraqi Army Brigade delivered U.S.-donated school supplies to the children here at the Jadeeda Primary School near Hawijah, Oct. 28. The supplies were donated by families of Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division.According to 1st Lt. Sean...

BAGHDAD, Nov. 5, 2009 – Iraqi security forces arrested six suspects during two security operations today targeting members of al-Qaida in Iraq-sponsored bombing networks. In Bayji, Iraqi police and U.S. advisors with court-issued warrants searched several buildings in pursuit of vehicle-bomb network members operating across Iraq’s Salahuddin province. Based on information gathered at the scene, police arrested three people for allegedly aiding and abetting criminal activity. The suspect wanted on the warrant was not apprehended. In Tall Zalat, southwest of Mosul, Iraqi forces acting on a warrant searched several buildings for an alleged roadside-bomb suspect. Based on incriminating evidence found...

AL MUTHANA, Iraq, Nov. 5, 2009 – The Iraqi army graduated 42 women here as the first all-female class to complete its enlisted basic combat training course. Iraqi Staff Brig. Gen. Mohammed Abdul Razq, deputy director of the tactical training directorate, and Iraqi Staff Col. Mohammed Abdul Rahman Essa, deputy commander of the Regional Training Center, delivered congratulatory remarks to the pioneering women at an Oct. 29 graduation. Iraqi army recruit Junde Lubab Ibrahim Kaleel said she was very excited about graduation. "It is important for me, for Iraqi women and for Iraq because we have a chance for a...

War On Terror: Sen. John Kerry, who was so wrong about Iraq, now says our commander in Afghanistan is "reaching too far, too fast" and that a "good enough" policy should suffice. It won't. Offering his advice on how to micromanage the war against the Taliban, Kerry said Gen. Stanley McChrystal, President Obama's hand-picked general to fight what he called a "war of necessity," is wrong in saying he needs 40,000 more troops to fight and win it. Speaking before the Council on Foreign Relations on Monday, Kerry advocated a "good enough" policy designed not to achieve victory in al-Qaida's...

Smugglers In Iraq Have A New Trade: Corpse by QUIL LAWRENCE EnlargeJoseph Eid/AFP/Getty Images A tomb at the cemetery of Najaf in 2008. The Wadi al-Salam, or Valley of Peace, in Najaf is one of the largest cemeteries in the world. Millions of Shiite Muslims over the centuries have been brought here for burial from all over the world. text sizeAAANovember 4, 2009 Iraqi and U.S. officials have expressed concerns about the traffic of weapons and drugs across the country's porous borders, but there is also an older and more surprising commodity being smuggled into Iraq — cadavers. For centuries,...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE BASRA, Iraq, Nov. 4, 2009 – The game is dominoes on this autumnal night on Camp Savage. Army Maj. Joan Carrick shuffles the small spotted tiles, then sends them skidding around the card table. Across the table sits Carrick’s dominoes partner, Army Staff Sgt. Larry Saunders. To her left and right sit her opponents for the night, Army Capt. Timothy Vandewalle and an Iraqi interpreter known as Denzel. Army Maj. Joan Carrick, Army Capt. Timothy Vandewalle, Army Staff Sgt. Larry Saunders, and an Iraqi interpreter known only as Denzel play dominoes on Camp Savage, Iraq, Oct. 14,...

BAGHDAD, Nov. 4, 2009 – Iraqi security forces arrested 21 suspects today during operations targeting vehicle-borne bomb network members in Baghdad and Bayji, Iraq, military officials reported. Iraqi security forces in western Baghdad arrested 17 suspects while serving a warrant for a man charged with being involved in vehicle-borne bomb attacks. The security team searched several buildings and sequestered several people for questioning. Based on information gathered, 17 were determined to be suspected associates of the warranted man, who was not apprehended in the operation. In Bayji, southwest of Kirkuk, Iraqi police and U.S. advisors searched with a warrant for...

CAMP TAJI — One U.S. Airman deployed here advises four Iraqi life support Airmen, making sure they maintain survival vests, body armor, crash helmets and night vision goggles for more than 200 helicopter air crew members. In addition to advising, Tech. Sgt. Kyle Richardson, 721st Air Expeditionary Advisory Squadron air crew flight equipment advisor, maintains the crucial equipment for Coalition forces. Previously, both life support offices were co-located on the Iraqi side of Camp Taji. Forty-five days into his deployment, the sergeant recognized the Iraqi's skills and decided they needed independence. "I'm here for anything they need," he said. "Their...

A local Iraqi man discusses security in the area with Iraqi Army Capt. Nomas Mohammed Hussein (left), and Lt. Mike Slapik (middle), an infantry platoon leader from Worcester, Mass., during a routine patrol in northwestern Baghdad, Nov. 3. Photo by Staff Sgt. Mark Burrell, MND-B. BAGHDAD — As Sgt. Kegan Cline observes a group of girls walking near Iraqi Army Soldiers on patrol here, Nov. 3, he knows his and the IA Soldiers' presence allows the girls to walk around safely. "It feels great that we're here serving a purpose," said Cline, a Worcester, Mass. native, assigned to Company A,...

Despite major bombings that have rattled the nation, and fears of rising violence as American troops withdraw, Iraq’s security forces have been relying on a device to detect bombs and weapons that the United States military and technical experts say is useless. The small hand-held wand, with a telescopic antenna on a swivel, is being used at hundreds of checkpoints in Iraq. But the device works “on the same principle as a Ouija board” — the power of suggestion — said a retired United States Air Force officer, Lt. Col. Hal Bidlack, who described the wand as nothing more than...

This fourth grade girl thinks she is about to give a school report on where her Dad is stationed in Iraq and is surprised when he shows up for her report.

Former president George W Bush thought that the United States could turn Kabul into Peoria, the archetypal American city in the state of Illinois. President Barack Obama thinks that Kabul is just as good as Peoria. America has shed idealist delusion - that imposing the outward form of democracy in Iraq or Afghanistan would implant its content - in favor of an even stranger delusion, which refuses "to elevate one nation or group of people over another", as Obama told the United Nations on September 23. It was mad to believe that America could remake the world in its own...

BAGHDAD — A chicken processing plant here recently received aid from U.S. Soldiers who lent their agriculture and engineering expertise to help open the doors. North Carolina Guardsmen with 1st Battalion, 120th Infantry Regiment, 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team, who have agribusiness and engineering backgrounds, visited the al-Kien plant near Mahmudiyah to offer advice and seek ways to help the plant begin operations. Capt. Bobby Lumsden, the battalion's operations officer, walked through the plant with owner Rafea Abass Ali to inspect the plant's machinery and the massive coolers that will help keep poultry fresh. Getting the plant up and running...

U.S. Marines load an oversized floodlight onto a flatbed truck at Camp Taqaddum, Oct. 21. Marines and Sailors with CLR-27 (Fwd) are participating in the responsible drawdown by removing equipment and gear from Iraq. Photo by Gunnery Sgt. Katesha Washington, 2nd Marine Logistic Group Public Affairs. CAMP TAQADDUM — Marine Corps participation in Operation Iraqi Freedom is drawing to a close, and Marines and Sailors are preparing equipment for shipment back home or to other parts of the world. As part of the departure, one of the Marine Corps' largest bases in the country is on its way to being...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE BASRA, Iraq, Nov. 3, 2009 – Soldiers here are getting a trial run at the nerve-wracking experience of going before promotion boards. A mock promotion board at Contingency Operating Base Basra, Iraq, helps soldiers gain valuable experience, Oct. 17, 2009. U.S. Army photo by 1st Lt. Chris Dunphy  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “Soldiers that take the initiative are exactly what we’re looking for in our future leaders,” said Army 1st Sgt. Gary. R. Dillard, Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 17th Fires Brigade. “In cases where the candidates are very evenly matched, it normally comes down to...

FORT IRWIN, Calif., Nov. 3, 2009 – As the 3rd Infantry Division's 1st Brigade prepares for its fourth deployment to Iraq, its soldiers are getting lessons in the art of leading from behind as they help to set the stage for the eventual drawdown of U.S. forces in Iraq. Army Pfc. Adam Britt prepares to leave the mock Iraqi town of Medina Wasl during 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Divison's training rotation at the National Training Center. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Jared S. Eastman  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The "Raider Brigade" was part of the initial U.S. invasion...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, Iraq, Nov. 3, 2009 – When a deployed unit approaches its end-of-tour date, the focus begins to shift from the deployment at hand to redeployment stateside. Army Sgt. Nic Light and Army Spc. Andrew Carpenter inspect a truck on Contingency Operating Base Adder, Iraq, Oct. 17, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Andy Mehler  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. But not so for those who support the mission until its final moment, such as the mechanics with the 628th Aviation Support Battalion, who face the pressures of repairing vehicles quickly while also taking steps to...

REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala., Nov. 3, 2009 – Experimental test pilot Army Chief Warrant Officer Cary Nadeau views his job as being the consumer advocate for Army aviators. And like any good consumer advocate, he reaches out to his customers – in his case, in combat zones. Army Chief Warrant Officer Cary Nadeau, one of only 30 experimental test pilots in the Army, has left Redstone Arsenal, Ala., for a six-month deployment in Iraq, where he will provide technical and liaison support to a combat aviation brigade for the Chinook helicopter's new laser-based countermeasure system and for the brigade's entire fleet...

PHOENIX (AP) - A young Iraqi woman whose father allegedly hit her with his car because she had become too Westernized died from her injuries Monday after laying in a coma for nearly two weeks. Noor Faleh Almaleki, 20, underwent spinal surgery and had been in a hospital since Oct. 20, when police say her father ran down her and her boyfriend's mother with his Jeep as the women were walking across a parking lot in the west Phoenix suburb of Peoria. The other woman, Amal Khalaf, is expected to survive.

President Obama's lack of leadership is beginning to effect morale in the United States. Its been three months since General McCrystal sent his report on next steps for the War In Afghanistan. Since the President has been sitting on his military assets, confidence in the War on Terror has plummeted, and now the confidence is falling for both Iraq and Afghanistan. A Rasmussen study that reports that only 34% of voters say the United States and its allies are winning the War on Terror. That’s down nine points from a month ago and 14 points since McCrystal first filed his...

Spc. Eric Marquez, an infantryman from El Paso, Texas, digs for hidden weapons as an Iraqi Army Soldier looks on during a combined weapons sweep in northwestern Baghdad, Nov. 1. Photo by Staff Sgt. Mark Burrell, Multi-National Division – Baghdad. BAGHDAD — A concerned local citizen recently contacted U.S. Soldiers about a site insurgents used to store weapons here, just northwest of Abu Ghraib. With the help of local Iraqi Army Soldiers, the Fort Lewis-based troops assigned to Company A, 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, quickly sprang into action and dug up...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 2, 2009 – Iraqi security forces arrested 13 people today during three operations in connection with car-bomb networks between Baghdad and Kirkuk, military officials reported. Working with U.S. advisors, an Iraqi unit arrested a suspected member of a vehicle-bomb network in southern Kirkuk. A warrant accuses the suspect of being linked to network members associated with June 20 bombings in Taza that killed more than 90 people. During the operation, the Iraqi unit arrested a second man based on information found at the scene. In a separate operation about 55 miles northeast of Baghdad, Iraqi police arrested two...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE BASRA, Iraq, Nov. 2, 2009 – Soldiers here visited students in a unique learning environment last month to drop off school supplies, treats and even guitars. Children attending St. Efram Elementary School welcome soldiers to their classroom before being surprised with care packages Oct. 22, 2009, in Basra, Iraq. These children receive a culturally diverse education by attending one of the only two schools in Iraq to combine children of different religious denominations into one learning environment. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Stephanie Cassinos  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The students of St. Efram Elementary School,...

This Iraqi Security Force Update provides a summary of changes to the ISF during October 2009. The Iraqi Security Force Order of Battle as of 31 October 2009 is published at Montrose Toast. Joint Special Forces Strike Teams [Battalions] In late 2007, Prime Minister Maliki announced plans for “elite” quick reaction force (QRF) battalions in the Iraqi Army. These battalions were to be equipped with the most modern light armor and used for counter-insurgency. During the same time-period, eight battalions worth [336] of BTR-3E1 armored personnel carriers were ordered via US Foreign Military Sales. The BTR-3E1s were cancelled in 2008...

Violent deaths in Iraq more than doubled in October compared to the previous month, with 410 people killed across the country, official figures show. The death toll was largely higher because of twin suicide vehicle bombings in Baghdad on October 25 that killed more than 150 people, in the deadliest day of violence that Iraq has suffered in more than two years. Statistics compiled by the defence, interior and health ministries showed that 343 civilians, 42 police and 25 soldiers were killed last month, with only the military figure falling from September. The figures were markedly higher than the previous...

What would it take for your kids to give up most of that candy they collected while trick-or-treating on Halloween? Or all that candy you've got left over today because you had fewer than expected kids come to your door. Here's a suggestion: Donate the candy to U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq so they can hand the sweets out to local kids there to help show them we're not a country of monsters and bullies. More than 1,200 dentists around the country have registered to buy back Halloween candy from kids for $1 a pound. They'll give the donated...

Representatives from eight Iraqi women's associations meet to discuss possible business training with members of the Ninawa Provincial Reconstruction Team in the town of Qare Qosh in Ninawa province, Oct 27. Photo by 2nd Lt. Jeff Orban, 1st Cavalry Division. Iraqi business women here are taking advantage of a program instituted by the Ninawa Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) to train them on business administration practices. Tony Daza, an economics advisor for the Ninawa PRT, and representatives from eight women's associations held an open dialogue here about the details of the training program, Oct. 27."After we meet with these women’s associations,...

KIRKUK — The Iraqi Air Force (IqAF) significantly enhanced its air defense capabilities recently with the arrival of a digital air surveillance radar system. The DASR system, which includes the radar and the radar control facility, allows Iraqi air traffic controllers to monitor aircraft up to 120 nautical miles away, permitting them to detect aircraft along their borders with Syria, Turkey and Iran. Brig. Gen. Ahmed Ghani, IqAF communications director, called the arrival of the system "another historical day" for the service. "Through that system, we will identify more ... aircraft entering our sovereignty," he said at an Oct. 26...

Hospital corpsmen with Combat Logistics Battalion 46 instruct the medical staff from the 7th Iraqi Army Division during a class at Camp Mejid, an Iraqi Army camp aboard Al Asad Air Base, Oct. 6. Photo by Cpl. Triah Pendracki, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Fwd). AL ASAD AIR BASE — U.S. Navy corpsmen continue to train Iraqi Army medics at Camp Mejid, the IA camp here, on combat lifesaving steps to include needle thoracentesis and emergency tracheotomies. Earlier this month, Navy corpsmen instructed the Iraqi medics "We're taking a look at the more clinical aspect of medical care," explained Petty Officer...

Villagers step up and unload bags of dry goods to be distributed among them while Troop B, 6th Bn., 9th Cav. Regt. provides security during a recent humanitarian distribution in northern Iraq. Photo courtesy of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division. MOSUL — Iraqi villagers in Rabi'ah and its surrounding areas have come to welcome and enjoy the U.S. Soldiers that visit them regularly. Troop B, 6th Battalion, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd "Greywolf" Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division has spent the last three months building relationships with citizens in northern Iraqi through humanitarian assistance missions."These operations...

All Army chaplains wear the same uniform, and...answer to the same calling: to provide comfort and to relieve the suffering of American soldiers. But one chaplain stands out from the crowd. Thomas Dyer is the first and only Buddhist chaplain in the history of the U.S. Army. Dyer will be deployed to the Middle East in December along with the 278th Armored Calvary Regiment. Although his faith is grounded in pacifism, the 43-year-old Dyer says war has become a necessary part of peace. "My teacher has concluded that without the military, without civil protection, the world would enter into a...

More than 1,000 American troops have been wounded in battle over the past three months in Afghanistan, accounting for one-fourth of all those injured in combat since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001. The dramatic increase has filled military hospitals with more amputees and other seriously injured service members and comes as October marks the deadliest month for American troops in Afghanistan. Expanded military operations, a near-doubling of the number of troops since the beginning of the year and a Taliban offensive that has included a proliferation of roadside bombings have led to the great increase in casualties. U.S. troops in...

Note: The following text is a quote: Forces Arrest Terrorism Suspects in Iraq American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Oct. 30, 2009 – Iraqi forces, aided by U.S. forces advisors, detained several terrorism suspects in Iraq in recent days, including one believed responsible for the Oct. 11 bombing in Ramadi, military officials reported. Special weapons and tactics personnel and U.S. forces advisors, under the direction of the Iraqi military and the Anbar Operations Center, detained a suspect Oct. 25 in Hit, northwest of Ramadi. The man is suspected in the planning and coordination of the Oct. 11 attacks on the Ramadi...

The bombs that ripped through Baghdad on Sunday immediately brought more bloodshed -- and bode only of the promise of more to come. The attacks have been claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq -- a group affiliated with al Qaeda in Iraq -- and there's nothing to suggest the attacks will come to an end. It's part of a long-running campaign to destabilize the U.S. mission, the Iraqi government and to reignite sectarian civil war. The slaughter is not new but the extent of the killings in these bombings -- 160 dead and more than 500 injured -- do...

It's been another dreadful week in the war of civilizations. On Sunday, 153 people were killed and more than 500 wounded in back-to-back car bombings in Baghdad. On Tuesday in Kabul, five UN staffers and three Afghans were killed in an attack on a UN guesthouse. And on Wednesday in Pakistan, 100 people - mostly women and children - were killed and 160 wounded in a shopping district bombing in Peshawar. The week also saw 24 American service personnel killed in Afghanistan, making 58 fatalities for the month - the deadliest since 9/11. This is a war of civilizations in...

PARIS — A judicial official says former French President Jacques Chirac has been ordered to stand trial in an alleged corruption scandal dating back to his 1977-1995 tenure as Paris mayor. The prosecutor had asked the court to drop the case. But a magistrate ordered Chirac to stand trial for "misuse of public funds" and "breach of trust." The judicial official spoke Friday on condition of anonymity because the case is ongoing. A judge has been investigating whether people in Chirac's circle were given sham jobs as advisers and paid by Paris City Hall, even though they weren't working for...

It was late February 2003, a few weeks before the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and President George W. Bush's administration still lacked a real strategy for the would-be regional hegemon next door. As the Iran desk officer in the office of the secretary of defense, I felt desperate. We were about to invade Iraq without a definitive policy toward its most bitter foe. I feared a repeat of Vietnam and saw in Iran a new Ho Chi Minh Trail -- the enemy lifeline that snaked through Laos and Cambodia and helped dash U.S. hopes for Southeast Asia. I knew that...

Iraq has arrested more than 60 security force members, including 11 senior officers over Sunday's twin suicide bombing in the capital Baghdad. Those arrested include the commanders of 15 checkpoints near to where the attacks took place. The attack in which more than 150 people were killed and 500 injured was the deadliest in Baghdad for two years.

A danger sign outside the Tuwaitha nuclear facility, south of Baghdad. The site was looted following the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Iraq has started lobbying for approval to again become a nuclear player, almost 19 years after British and American war planes destroyed Saddam Hussein's last two reactors, the Guardian has learned. The Iraqi government has approached the French nuclear industry about rebuilding at least one of the reactors that was bombed at the start of the first Gulf war. The government has also contacted the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and United Nations to seek ways around resolutions that...

As Marines here train to deploy to war zones, there is daily discussion about how to detect and disarm the buried roadside bombs that are the No. 1 killer of Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan. Military researchers have found that two groups of personnel were particularly good at spotting anomalies: those with hunting backgrounds, who traipsed the woods as youths, looking to bag a deer or turkey; and those who grew up in tough urban neighborhoods where it is often important to know what gang controls which block. Personnel who fit neither category, often young men who grew up in...

War On Terror: Sen. John Kerry, who was so wrong about Iraq, now says our commander in Afghanistan is "reaching too far, too fast" and that a "good enough" policy should suffice. It won't. Offering his advice on how to micromanage the war against the Taliban, Kerry said Gen. Stanley McChrystal, President Obama's hand-picked general to fight what he called a "war of necessity," is wrong in saying he needs 40,000 more troops to fight and win it. Speaking before the Council on Foreign Relations on Monday, Kerry advocated a "good enough" policy designed not to achieve victory in al-Qaida's...

If you want to witness a massacre on television, take at look at this debate on MSNBC’s Morning Joe between Joe Scarborough and Lawrence O’Donnell over Dick Cheney, Iraq, and weapons of mass destruction. Scarborough uses an avalanche of facts to bury O’Donnell’s contention that Dick Cheney lied about WMD and based the case for war on a “wild guess.” In addition to all the sources Scarborough cited and who claimed Saddam Hussein possessed WMD — including leading Democrats like Bill and Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, John Kerry, John Edwards, and more — you could add the intelligence agencies of...

University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and AnthropologyBURIAL PITA CT scan, left, of a female skull at a burial site at Ur. Women were buried with elaborate adornments, right, and warriors with their weapons. A new examination of skulls from the royal cemetery at Ur, discovered in Iraq almost a century ago, appears to support a more grisly interpretation than before of human sacrifices associated with elite burials in ancient Mesopotamia, archaeologists say. Palace attendants, as part of royal mortuary ritual, were not dosed with poison to meet a rather serene death. Instead, a sharp instrument, a pike perhaps,...