Note: The following post is a quote:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1863110/posts
A Missile Mistake
IBD Editorials ^ | 9 July 2007 | Staff
Posted on 07/09/2007 10:44:11 AM PDT by Kitten Festival
Defense: Apart from prosecuting the global war on terror, creating a comprehensive missile defense shield is the Pentagon’s most important job in the 21st century. Yet some in Congress are trying to kill it.
Why is Congress trying to defund the U.S. missile defense shield in Eastern Europe — where it will protect not just our allies but the U.S. as well?
Hard to say. Today, some 19 countries have ballistic missile capabilities. At least eight of those have nuclear weapons — and more are on the way. No doubt, most warrant watching.
In just a few years, Iran and North Korea — both on the State Department’s list of terrorist states — will have nuclear-tipped missiles. And, as Friday’s attempted assassination of Pakistan strongman Pervez Musharraf shows, that country is just a regime change away from joining Iran and North Korea as a rogue nuclear state.
These threats are real.
(Excerpt) Read more at ibdeditorials.com ...
Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=46668
‘Arrowhead Ripper’ Continues to Deny Terrorists Resources in Iraq
American Forces Press Service
BAQUBAH, Iraq, July 9, 2007 – Iraqi army and coalition soldiers from Task Force Lightning continued offensive operations in and around the capital of Iraq’s Diyala province today, as Operation Arrowhead Ripper continues to deny resources to al Qaeda terrorists during its 20th day in the area.
Soldiers from 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, and 3rd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 5th Iraqi Army Division, discovered and disabled five vehicles being prepared as car bombs and caches containing pipe bombs, sniper rifles, and other explosives and bomb-making materials.
During another joint operation in western Baqubah, soldiers from 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, and Iraqi forces disabled three IEDs and discovered a cache of small arms. Also included in this discovery was an al Qaeda safe house containing a large amount of medical supplies and equipment. The medical supplies taken from this safe house were distributed to the local civilian population.
“In western Baqubah, Arrowhead Ripper has met our initial tactical objectives and then some,” said Army Brig. Gen. Mick Bednarek, deputy commander for operations for Task Force Lightning and Multinational Division North. “Not only have we cleared out the active al Qaeda operatives in the western part of the city, but more importantly started to return fundamental life and normalcy to the citizens in that part of the city — food, water, fuel — those things that are essential to the trust and confidence of the people in their government.”
Iraqi and coalition soldiers continue to conduct successful engagements throughout the capital denying al Qaeda operatives resources and safe havens.
In the Baqubah’s Buhriz neighborhood, soldiers from 1st Battalion, 14th Cavalry Regiment, and Iraqi soldiers, engaged and killed five terrorists who had launched a mortar attack from nearby palm groves. Local citizens provided accurate information to the joint forces enabling the successful engagement.
In a separate engagement in old Baqubah, soldiers from 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, detained 34 suspected terrorists after following tips from local citizens.
“The true measure of success is in talking to the Iraqis who are starting to return to a sense of normalcy in western Baqubah,” Bednarek said. “The fact that you have people coming out of their houses, starting to walk to the markets, (talking) with each other, riding bicycles, playing soccer in the streets, allowing the return of fundamental goods and services.”
Since the beginning of Operation Arrowhead Ripper, at least 60 al Qaeda operatives have been killed, 215 have been detained, 55 weapons caches have been discovered, 124 improvised explosive devices have been destroyed, and 24 booby-trapped structures have been destroyed.
(From a Multinational Corps Iraq news release.)