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Iraqi, U.S. Special Operations Forces detain al-Qaeda leader Thursday, 26 July 2007 Multi-National Corps – Iraq Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory APO AE 09342 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE RELEASE No. 20070726-04 July 26, 2007 Iraqi, U.S. Special Operations Forces detain al-Qaeda leader Multi-National Corps – Iraq PAO BAGHDAD – Iraqi Special Operations Forces, with U.S. Special Forces as advisors, detained an al-Qaeda-in-Iraq cell leader July 25 in southern Baghdad. ISOF entered and secured the building where the targeted individual was located without incident. As the occupants were being questioned, one identified himself as the primary suspect. One other suspicious individual who...

Basra, Iraq The explosions from enemy rockets and mortar fire have been constant companions for the small contingent of Coalition forces based at the former Basra Palace, on the banks of Shatt al Arab River. In the past five months, more than a thousand bombs have been fired at this small base, all while these British combat troops, Romanian soldiers and a small contingent of Americans continue their attempts to stabilize Iraq. The nearby US Regional Embassy office also is frequently targeted. A dramatic surge in IDF attacks (indirect fire: rockets and mortars) began here in September 2006, subsequent an...

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran said Monday it was interrogating 15 detained British sailors and marines to determine whether they intentionally entered Iranian waters _ an indication the country might be seeking a way out of the confrontation with Britain. Britain denies its personnel had left Iraqi territory when they were captured and detained by Iran _ a contention backed by Iraq's foreign minister, who called on Iran to release the group. In comments read out by a newscaster, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mehzi Mostafavi did not say what Iran plans to do with the British sailors, but he said they...

Drake Speaks During Iraq Debate Washington, Feb 17 - Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas: Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 1/2 minutes to the Representative from Virginia, THELMA DRAKE, who represents Norfolk and America's Navy. Mrs. DRAKE of Virginia: Thank you, Congressman Johnson, for your service to our Nation. Mr. Speaker, the past few years have been increasingly difficult ones for the American people, for our military families, and, most importantly, for our servicemembers in harm's way. Our troops have done everything that has been asked of them, and more. Their sacrifices are unimaginable to many of us here on this...

I have been looking at google map pictures of Iraq. Yesterday I was looking at the images of the Sadr City section of Baghdad and this lake in the far northeastern party jumped out at me. It is bright red. I was wondering what it was. Does anybody know what it is? On a side note, try to google "sadr city pool of blood" The media wears its bias on its sleeve. Here is a link to the google map picture http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&q=baghdad+iraq&oe=UTF-8&z=16&ll=33.396425,44.486904&spn=0.00765,0.021071&t=k&om=1

Opponents of Poland's former communist regime reportedly want to pay a posthumous homage to US President Ronald Reagan by erecting his statue in the place of a Soviet-era monument. In an open letter to the mayor of the southwestern city of Katowice, the former anti-regime activists said that the staunchly anti-communist Reagan had been a "symbol of liberty," the Polish news agency PAP reported. As a result, they said, he deserved to become the centrepiece of the city's Freedom Square, replacing a monument to the Soviet troops who drove out the occupying Nazis in 1945. They also said that they...

BRINDISI, Italy (CNN) -- Italian officials are questioning a Turkish man who hijacked a Turkish jetliner with 113 people aboard Tuesday and forced it to fly to Italy, where the passengers and crew were released unharmed. The man, identified by Turkish authorities as Hasan Ekinci, has reportedly requested political asylum. Turkish authorities said Ekinci wrote a letter to Pope Benedict XVI in August asking for help in avoiding service in the Turkish army. "I am a Christian and don't want to serve a Muslim army," he wrote, adding that he had been attending church since 1998. Earlier reports that there...

EDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) - Some Saudis and Americans are taking modest steps to ease the divide left by the September 11 attacks on the United States, which were mostly carried out by Saudi nationals. Dressed in traditional female Saudi robes with her platinium blond hair tucked under a black veil, the daughter of one of the victims said she wants her fellow Americans to stop blaming Saudi Arabia for the 2001 attacks on New York and Washington which left almost 3,000 dead. "My goal is to learn more, speak to people and let them hear what I feel and...