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General in Iraq Expects Troop Levels to Drop By LOLITA C. BALDOR ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON (AP) - The top U.S. military commander in Iraq said Friday he would make recommendations in the next few weeks about troop withdrawals from Iraq, and he expects the force level will drop back to 138,000 by early February. That has been the usual number this year. Speaking from Iraq, Gen. George Casey told Pentagon reporters that by late next fall, the Iraqi military should be able to largely take the lead in the country's defense, with continued support from U.S. and coalition transition teams....

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Oct. 26, 2005) -- There are those who might focus on the fact that the Army missed its self-imposed recruiting goals in fiscal year 2005, yet ignore the fact that the total end strength and capabilities of the Army are what matter most. The men and women of the Army clearly derive a great deal of satisfaction from their decision to serve our nation as evidenced by the fact the Army exceeded its re-enlistment goals across the board. “America’s Army remains the pre-eminent land force in the world today,” said Secretary of the Army Francis Harvey....

By Roger Maynard A WOMAN spent four nights trapped with two dead companions in the upturned wreck of a car that skidded 45ft down a grass bank. Ada Makiri, 46, a mother of nine, survived on rainwater while pinned under the car. Barely conscious and with only her left hand free, she said that she thought only of her children as she lay a few inches from her dead friends. “I called out to them. I asked if they were all right. I felt their pulses, but felt nothing,” Mrs Makiri said as she recovered in hospital from hypothermia, facial...

MOSCOW, September 22 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's gold and currency reserves grew $3.1 billion in a week to reach $155 billion September 16 against $151.9 billion September 9, the Central Bank said Thursday.

Half the skin on his face was torn away and his left hand was shattered. But Tucson Police Officer David Lewis knew he had to put his pain aside. He forced up his arm and pointed his gun at the suspect and commanded him to stop. Moments later, the man was taken into custody, accused of leading police on a crosstown chase in which he used his car as a ramrod aimed at officers. Lewis, 32, was pinned to his squad car by the burglary suspect's car in the incident and was dragged 150 feet. Many thoughts went through his...

WASHINGTON, July 19, 2005 – A Defense Department report expected to go to Congress soon will address stability and security in Iraq, but won't deliver force-level projections, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told Pentagon reporters today. "All we can do is repeat the truth. And the truth is that the situation in Iraq and our force levels are going to depend on a variety of variables, and the decisions as to the size of U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq will be a function of the conditions on the ground," the secretary said. Conditions on the ground will reflect the intensity...

One year ago the nation paid a fond farewell to its 40th president in a week-long tribute filled with pride, pathos and patriotism. Hundreds of thousands of Americans turned out to file past the president lying in state in the Capitol Rotunda and to line the streets of Washington to see his cortege pass. Millions more spent the week near TV sets to observe the pomp and circumstance attendant a rare state funeral. Crossing the country twice by plane, the body of Ronald Wilson Reagan went from sea to shining sea then back again with near continuous coverage of the...

The consensus of film critics is that three of the four best Western movies ever made were those starring John Wayne: Stagecoach (1939), Red River (1948), and The Searchers (1956). (The fourth is Gary Cooper’s 1952 High Noon.) Many critics consider The Searchers to be one of the greatest movies, period, and has been the subject of numerous academic seminars. It is a lesser known John Wayne Western, however, that contains an important lesson for our relations with the Moslem world. Directed by John Ford, made in 1948, entitled She Wore A Yellow Ribbon, it stars Wayne as Capt. Nathan...

Newsview: Bush's Global Clout Seen Growing By TOM RAUM, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 55 minutes ago President Bush departs the White House, Friday, May 27, 2005, to attend the United States Naval Academy graduation in Annapolis, Md. before heading to Camp David for the weekend. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)  WASHINGTON - In the rarified club of world leaders,  President Bush has taken his share of lumps. Critics have railed against his handling of   Iraq, his perceived disdain for the     United Nations and what they say is a swaggering approach to foreign policy.  But Bush probably would not want to trade places with...

Asia tsunami quake stronger than first thought In May 20 WASHINGTON story headlined "Asia tsunami quake stronger than first thought" please read in 9th paragraph "... moved giant slabs of rock at least 65 feet (20 metres) over a record distance equivalent to that between Florida and New England." (Corrects to show how far rock was moved and over what distance.) A corrected repetition follows. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The earthquake that triggered Asia's deadly tsunami in December was more powerful than scientists originally estimated, according to new studies published in Friday's edition of Science. "The Earth is still ringing like...

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What happened? Hello? Hello? Anybody home? "MESSAGE TO DISABLED FLORIDIANS" December 1998, Florida By Governor-elect Jeb Bush "Talking with a variety of Floridians with disabilities and their families has helped understand a lot more about the lives, challenges and dreams of those with disabilities. However, I know that my education continues with everyone new I meet. People with disabilities are no different than anyone else. They want to work, have families, and live independently. As Governor, I would work hard to create an environment that gives people with disabilities every opportunity to be independent and play an active role in...

The debate continues about US troop strength and its impact on the ability of our forces to conduct sustained combat operations in the War on Terror. Recently, The Weekly Standard published a bi-partisan Open Letter to the majority and minority leaders of both houses of Congress. The letter urges the Congressional leaders to enact legislation to increase the size of the US Army and the US Marine Corps by 25,000 per year over a period of “several years.” The letter is signed by an impressive group of retired military leaders, military historians and analysts, and former members of the civilian...

As inaugural festivities get underway in the shadow of the greatest Capitol in the world, in a time of peril to the U.S. and our friends, while our brave soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen are deployed around the world -- I want to say thank you to veterans of the United States Armed Services and their families who usually vote democratic, but saw fit this year to cross over and give President Bush the votes he needed for a decisive victory over his dangerous, traitorous opponent, John Kerry. A man who proved again this past week that his foreign policy...

Political operatives on both sides of the aisle are discussing the 2008 election as if it were only days away. But this seemingly premature preoccupation is hardly a dismissal of the important issues facing President Bush in his second term. Rather, this talk of the next presidential race is representative of the pivotal changes in the political landscape that occurred last November. Unfortunately, the forces of “moderation” are still at work within the GOP, threatening to undermine the tremendous gains made by conservatives in the elections. Arnold Schwarzenegger contends that the Republican Party should move “to the center” (which means...

Whatever history says about George W. Bush, it won't say he was a weak president. His conduct of what he regards as the war on terror has been, for good or ill, a chronicle of audacity -- toppling the Taliban, deposing Saddam Hussein, defying international law in the detention of al Qaeda captives at Guantanamo Bay, holding American "enemy combatants" without trial, and more. Yet in one major way, he has verged on timidity. In his entire first term, he hasn't used a power that most presidents have regarded as indispensable: the veto. It's the equivalent of Barbra Streisand refusing...

Al Qaeda To America: You Can Run But You Cannot Hide By: Christopher G. Adamo Who can ever forget the stirring warning issued by President Bush, on his September 20, 2001 speech to a joint session of Congress, addressing the 9-11 attacks? Clearly, he had the resolve as president, and he knew that this nation’s military fully possessed the ability to act on that resolve, in a manner that would put the terrorists to flight, and ultimately see their destruction. What the President didn’t realize at that time was the presence of an army of cultural "insurgents" already residing within...

Why I'm Voting to Re-elect George W. Bush Written by Michael Ashbury Saturday, October 30, 2004 Has George Bush been the perfect president? No. Of course, I don’t think there have been any perfect president in my lifetime. Yet George Bush, faced with extremely difficult and complex problems of an inherited recession, attack on our soil by extremists determined to destroy our way of life, and managing two wars, has done an excellent job of leading this diverse country, keeping us safe, and moving the economy in the right direction. But, let's look at the real George Bush. He is...

BUSH'S MORAL COURAGE By Lt. Col. Gordon Cucullu FrontPageMagazine.com | September 3, 2004 A young military officer learns that courage comes in many forms. For example, airborne training requires that one develop the bravery needed to step out of an open aircraft door, often at night, sometimes with people shooting at you. Rangers, SEALs and Special Forces are required to develop another form of physical courage--the courage of endurance under prolonged physical and mental stress. Candidates are ground down by the discomfort of short rations, lack of sleep, intense physical challenges and demands on their leadership abilities. This is the...

Kerry maintains perceptual advantage on Medicare; Bush leads on handling terrorismPRINCETON, NJ -- President George W. Bush is playing to his political forte by staging the Republican National Convention in the emotional shadow of Ground Zero in New York City -- the symbolic epicenter of the threat of terrorism -- and encouraging opening-night speakers to focus on the "leadership in dangerous times" message to hail his presidency.A pre-GOP convention CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, conducted Aug. 23-25, finds Bush leading his opponent, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, by 20 points in public perceptions that he is a "strong and decisive leader." Bush...