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BASRA, Iraq (AP) — Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is promising to pursue his fight against Shiite militias in Basra to "the end." Al-Maliki made his pledge to Basra area tribal leaders Thursday as military operations against the militias continued for a fourth day despite stiff resistance. Al-Maliki told the leaders "we have made up our minds" to enter the fight "and we will continue until the end. No retreat." Tens of thousands of Shiites took to Baghdad's streets to protest the government crackdown on militias.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House said Monday it was "a sober moment" as the U.S. death toll in Iraq climbed to 4,000. President Bush received a lengthy update on the war and aides said he was likely to embrace recommendations for a pause in troop withdrawals beyond those already scheduled. Bush was to participate in a two-hour conference by secure video hookup with Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq. Petraeus and Crocker are due to testify on Capitol Hill on April 8-9. Patraeus is expected recommend no additional troop...

WASHINGTON, March 20, 2008 – The 3,200 Marines on their way to help Afghanistan indicate the depth of the U.S. commitment to the country, Vice President Richard B. Cheney said in Kabul yesterday. The United States is proud to have helped liberate Afghanistan and will continue to work with the elected government and NATO allies to build the Afghan security forces and rebuild the nation, Cheney said in a joint news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. U.S. reconstruction aid to Afghanistan also points to that commitment, Cheney said, noting that last year’s aid level has tripled. There has...

WASHINGTON, March 18, 2008 – The United States intends to complete the mission in Iraq, Vice President Richard B. Cheney told troops there today, on the eve of Operation Iraqi Freedom’s fifth anniversary. On the second day of a 10-day surprise visit to Iraq, the vice president vowed commitment to what he characterized as an ideological fight against violent extremists who prefer tyranny to democracy. “Understanding all the dangers of this new era, we have no intention of abandoning our friends, or allowing this country of 170,000 square miles to become a staging area for further attacks against Americans,”...

WASHINGTON, March 17, 2008 – The United States must continue operations in Iraq until the job is done, Vice President Richard B. Cheney said today in Baghdad. “I think given the enormous effort that's been made and the sacrifices that have been made -- both in terms of lives and national treasure -- to succeeding in Iraq, it's very, very important that we succeed,” he said, “(and) that we not quit before the job is done. “We need to remember that our objective here is victory and that we need to be prepared to do whatever it takes in...

Three retired Army veterans marched through Dunn yesterday en route to Washington, D.C. From left are Maj. Carl Heerup, Lt. Col. Marc Breslow and Maj. Dennis McCool. The purpose of the ‘Resolve To Win’ march is to show support for the troops and their mission in Iraq. Their 400-mile march is scheduled to end March 16 at the Lincoln Memorial. Daily Record Photo/Steve Reed Three retired U.S. Army veterans decided to do something different to support the troops in Iraq. On Saturday, Maj. Dennis McCool, Maj. Carl Heerup and Lt. Col. Mark Breslow departed South of the Border near...

Gen. David Petraeus — a sort of combination of Fabius Maximus ("unus homo . . .") and Matthew Ridgway — has changed the entire Iraq War, and thereby given us a breathing spell to reflect on our longer-term strategies of victory. Most of the conventional pessimism about Iraq is being proven wrong. For example, the recently translated captured diary of the dead al-Qaida terrorist — Abu Maysara, a senior adviser to Abu Ayyoub al-Masri — reveals a sort of hopelessness. The dead Maysara laments that al-Qaida has lost the hearts and minds of the people to the U.S. and its...

FINAL PREPARATION: On our final day of packing before heading to SC, I wanted to contact you and ask you to email everyone you know and ask them to visit our website http://vfwwebcom.org/ResolveToWin/ and ask them to spread the word to everyone they know. I believe our website is very informative and offers people an opportunity to interact.If we can’t get people visiting the website to learn about the Resolve to Win March, we will not be able to get them out on the road. Please pass this information on to everyone you know who believes that we should Support...

With the assassination of Benazir Bhutto last week, we in America are jolted back to the reality that we are a world at war with IslamoFascist armies.  Even our holiday cheer and spiked eggnog cannot protect us from the grim truth that in this modern age of nuclear weaponry, a single assassination halfway ‘round the world can shake us to our core and bring us back to our instincts for self-preservation.  Instantly, we are forced to imagine the very real possibility that an enemy such as Al Qaeda could take possession of a nuclear weapon capable of destroying a great...

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." — George Santayana from "Reason in Common Sense" Despite the hope that we can learn from past mistakes and not repeat them, history suggests it is counterintuitive to actually believe it could be so. We won every military engagement of the Vietnam War yet Walter Cronkite and the American media conspired with the enemy to do what the North Vietnamese could not do on the battlefield. General Võ Nguyên Giáp, who was the commander of the North Vietnamese army, has published his memoirs. He has confirmed what most Americans...

I know this has been posted before, but methinks it bears repeating. It was sent via an email to me and I've no idea who the author is. President Bush did make a bad mistake in the war on terrorism. But the mistake was not his decision to go to war in Iraq. Bush's mistake came in his belief that this country is the same one his father fought for in WWII. It is not. Back then, they had just come out of a vicious depression. The country was steeled by the hardship of that depression, but they still believed...

On Veterans Day, let's commit to Iraq victory By Jerry Haas Sunday, November 11, 2007 At the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month in 1918, an armistice was declared in World War I, the war to end all wars. Before combat ceased, America had mobilized 4,252,500 soldiers, seen 204,000 wounded and lost 117,000. The "Greatest Generation" volunteered and was drafted in World War II, with 16,112,556 American soldiers participating in this global conflict. Of that number, 291,557 made the ultimate sacrifice. An additional 670,846 were wounded. They were committed to victory, no matter the personal cost....

President Bush did make a bad mistake in the war on terrorism. But the mistake was not his decision to go to war in Iraq .Bush's mistake came in his belief that this country is the same one his father fought for in WWII. It is not. Back then, they had just come out of a vicious depression. The country was steeled by the hardship of that depression, but they still believed fervently in this country. They knew that the people had elected their leaders, so it was the people's duty to back those leaders. Therefore, when the war broke...

Democratic politicians are either far more insightful than your average Republican, or, uniformly more political. I'd opt for the latter conclusion. How to explain that there is not one Democratic leader that sees any merit in our struggle in Iraq? There is no such uniformity among Republicans, and, after all, the commander-in-chief, who is leading this effort, is from their own party. We've got a Republican candidate for president, Ron Paul, who self identifies as the "anti-war candidate." And we've got highly credible and outspoken Republican doubters who have no political calculations to make. I'm talking about guys like Chuck...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 13, 2007 – Today’s assassination of an influential Sunni leader whose followers have been helping fight al Qaeda in Iraq will only bolster the war on insurgents, a chief spokesman of the Iraqi government said today. Ali Aldabbagh spoke with online journalists and “bloggers” via a conference call from Baghdad just hours after a roadside bomb exploded outside the farm of Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha, killing the sheik and two of his aides. Sattar was a “very brave man” who “took the lead to protect the al Anbar and all the worst areas at a time when everybody was...

Good evening. In the life of all free nations, there come moments that decide the direction of a country and reveal the character of its people. We are now at such a moment. In Iraq, an ally of the United States is fighting for its survival. Terrorists and extremists who are at war with us around the world are seeking to topple Iraq's government, dominate the region, and attack us here at home. If Iraq's young democracy can turn back these enemies, it will mean a more hopeful Middle East and a more secure America. This ally has placed its...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 11, 2007 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told grieving family members at the Pentagon’s west wall today that the military would continue to pursue and defeat America’s enemies, especially terrorist organizations such as al Qaeda, which instigated the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. (Video) Mazie Lawson meets with reporters after the Sept. 11 remembrance ceremony at the Pentagon on the sixth anniversary of the attacks. Lawson said she still grieves for her daughter, Cecelia E. Richard, a federal civilian employee who was among the 184 innocent people killed during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the...

I served in the Army. I didn't serve during a war. But even then when I was a long way away from home, it sure was great receiving letters from home. Please pass these videos below along. Maybe folks will get the idea to send a letter (or email) from home to a Soldiers who enables you to sleep in peace at night. I want you all to know something too: Our Troops put rucksacks sacks on their back that dig into your back while you march. They have helmets and body armor on in temperatures that are over 100...

The Terrorists: In Their Own Words   By James Jay Carafano and James PhillipsFrontPageMagazine.com | 8/3/2007 Islamist terrorists have long been at war with the United States and frequently have proclaimed their determination to win the war. In fact, they see their enemies' unwillingness to acknowledge this war as an act of cowardice. If their enemies refuse to wear the mantle of warrior, terrorists assume that they are weak, lacking in honor, and spiritually infe­rior—and the notion that their enemy is vulnerable emboldens them. Failing to acknowledge that we are at war only encourages the enemy to be more...

The threat posed by terrorism is a "struggle for the soul of the 21st Century", Gordon Brown has said. "It is a war. We have had to fight a very big campaign," he said in an interview with NBC Nightly News.... Mr Brown told NBC: "I have got no doubt we are facing major campaigns by al-Qaeda inspired terrorists. "We know a large number of people would, if they could, destroy life and put at risk our infrastructure and we have got to be vigilant." He also said there would be no change of policy on Iraq and said an...