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As well as the baguette marinara(French loaf),the beret remains one of the most famous of French symbols abroad. Now production of these" Made in France " headgear is based on the shoulders of a small family business established since 1840 to Oloron. Laulhère has indeed acquired berets Blancq-Olibet, its historic rival established in 1819 and located 40 miles away, to Baudreix the heart of the Béarn. "The acquisition was natural because there was no room for two major and historical actors in the sector beret says René Renda, manage Laulhère. Now, we are the last to control the manufacturing process...

BRITAIN has resorted to detaining as an illegal immigrant a man regarded as one of al-Qaeda’s most dangerous terrorists. Abu Doha, whose various aliases include “The Doctor”, has been in Belmarsh highsecurity jail for almost six years facing extradition to the United States on charges of running a jihad training camp in Afghanistan and plotting to blow up Los Angeles airport. But the US has been forced to drop the case against him after an informer refused to give evidence. A British judge described the extremist network created by Abu Doha as “one of the most significant groups of terrorists...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US Army is abandoning the beret, after a failed 10-year experiment. The black beret, which proved deeply unpopular with American soldiers, will be replaced by a patrol cap for everyday wear, US Army spokesman Colonel Tom Collins said Monday. The move came after outgoing Army chief of staff, General Martin Dempsey, asked the army's sergeant major "to go out and talk to soldiers across the force and see what was on their minds," Collins told AFP. "One of the things that soldiers consistently brought up was the desire to wear the patrol cap as part of...

April 20, 2009: U.S. Army troops are becoming more energetic and vocal in efforts to get rid of the black beret they have been forced to wear for the past eight years. Back in 2000, the U.S. Army commander (Chief Of Staff) general Eric Shinseki ordered that the black beret replace the traditional billed cap (which had been used for nearly a century). Shinseki believed the black beret would be a symbol of excellence, reflecting the overall professionalism of the entire Army. He believed the black beret would repair the (largely nonexistent) divisions created by the use of different color...

FORT BRAGG, N.C., Sept. 17 — From his position about 100 yards away, Master Sgt. Troy Anderson had a clear shot at the Afghan man standing outside a residential compound in a village near the Pakistan border last October. When Capt. Dave Staffel, the Special Forces officer in charge, gave the order to shoot, Sergeant Anderson fired a bullet into the man’s head, killing him.

More than just a branch of America’s armed forces, the modern U.S. Marine Corps serves as a model that other military forces worldwide have attempted to emulate, with varying degrees of success. Marines are aware of this, and justifiably proud. But that pride has not always been conducive to working and playing well with others.

WASHINGTON — Responding to a request from Greece, the United States has committed 400 American special forces soldiers to the job of helping protect the Olympic Games (search) next month, a U.S. counterterrorism official said Wednesday. It is not yet decided whether the armed soldiers would be in Athens, on the nearby island of Crete or remain on alert in Europe, where they are based in Germany, the official said. The United States is in the process of discussing with the Greek government where the soldiers will be positioned, the official said.

In 1756, nine companies of American colonists were recruited to fight the British in the French and Indian War. Such units were used occasionally throughout U.S. history, but it was not until the 1960s that the role of Special Forces was formalized by President John F. Kennedy to combat a new type of war by 'guerillas, subversives, insurgents and assassins.' This program follows this highly skilled, elite group of soldiers as they make their way from the home front to the front lines to face an unpredictable enemy in an unfamiliar land. In Stereo (CC)

American forces attacked a Republican Guard division tonight at Karbala, on the Euphrates River approach to Baghdad, in what officials said was the beginning of a drive to push through the outer defenses of the Iraqi capital, 50 miles to the north. Officials also said that several thousand marines positioned south of Baghdad were veering east and pushing toward the Tigris River to confront a Republican Guard division reported to be massing southeast of the capital. ``This is the big battle,'' a senior American military officer told reporters at the forward headquarters of the United States Central Command, in Qatar....