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Kurdish-Arab forces launched a major assault against the Islamic State group in Syria's Raqa province Tuesday and Iraqi forces advanced on it in Fallujah, piling pressure on the jihadists in two strongholds. The twin offensives marked some of the most serious ground efforts against IS since the group declared its self-styled "caliphate" straddling the Syrian-Iraqi border in 2014.

<p>Satellite pix show that three chemical facilities in Iraq - Fullujah I, II and III - wrecked in the 1991 Gulf War are back in business.</p> <p>August 19, 2002 -- WASHINGTON - These mysterious chemical factories northwest of Baghdad are a major reason the Bush administration thinks war with Iraq is inevitable.</p>

Dr. Iyad Allawi has met with the delegation of Faluja residents, who have expressed their thanks and appreciation for the efforts exerted by Dr. Iyad Allawi when he was a Prime Minister, his concern about Faluja residents, and his cashing of huge designations for the reconstruction of their city. Dr. Iyad Allawi has expressed his eagerness for spreading security in Faluja so that its residents enjoy settlement, participate in the political process and share their Iraqi brothers in constructing the new Iraq. The delegation has demanded Dr. Allawi to exert his efforts to complete the former issued decisions and procedures...

My friend Michael is telling us that the Battle of Fallujah was more important than we have been led to believe by the media. Our victory in Fallujah has had enormous consequences, first of all because the information we gathered there has made it possible to capture or kill considerable numbers of terrorists and their leaders. It also sent a chill through the spinal column of the terror network, because it exposed the lie at the heart of their global recruitment campaign. As captured terrorists have told the region on Iraqi television and radio, they signed up for jihad because...

This is just one story most don't hear: A young Marine and his cover man cautiously enter a room just recently filled with insurgents armed with AK-47s and RPGs. There are three dead, another wailing in pain. The insurgent can be heard saying, "Mister, mister! Diktoor, diktoor (doctor)!" He is badly wounded, lying in a pool of his own blood. The Marine and his cover man slowly walk toward the injured man, scanning to make sure no enemies come from behind. In a split second, the pressure in the room greatly exceeds that of the outside, and the concussion seems...

Pyongyang, September 20 (KCNA) -- The U.S. Solidarity Committee for Supporting the Struggle of the National Democratic Front of south Korea and the South Korean People was inaugurated. John Paul Cupp, chairman of the U.S. Group for the Study of the Songun Policies, was elected chairman of the solidarity committee. In an inaugural declaration the solidarity committee said that neither the genuine political sovereignty of the south Korean people nor the reunification of Korea, the cherished desire of the whole Korean nation, can be achieved unless more than 40,000 U.S. troops are pulled back from south Korea and the U.S....

Fallujah, Iraq - A U.S. AC-130 gunship raked Iraqi insurgents Friday night after hundreds of women and children fled the besieged city Fallujah during a U.S.-declared pause in the marine offensive. On the anniversary of the fall of captive Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's regime, Baghdad and parts of central Iraq were chaotic. At a square in the capital where Saddam's statue was toppled a year ago, soldiers took down a new icon: pictures of the radical Shiite Muslim cleric whose followers have risen up against coalition forces in the south. Gunmen running rampant on Baghdad's western edge attacked a fuel...

Operation Valiant Resolve Today marks the start of Operation Valiant Resolve, the (finally) Marine action to (supposedly) quash Falluja. The Marines have "addresses" they're checking out (yeah, sounds like war to me). Reports confirm that the town has remained completely uncooperative when it comes to bringing those who killed the Americans to justice. Not surprising, because the entire town is responsible and we should respond accordingly. I remain concerned that this will be a police action, not a visit of war upon Falluja. The reason violence is increasing in Iraq is because Iraqis have seen that there is no punishment...

The United States military has launched a search and destroy offensive against Sunni fighters loyal to deposed President Saddam Hussein.Thousands of troops from the US 3rd Infantry Division have been deployed in two Iraqi cities.One force, the size of two battalions, arrived in Falujah, some 65 kilometers west of Baghdad, on Wednesday.Another task force was deployed around two military airfields in the area of Habbaniyah.Falujah and Habbaniyah are major transit points from Baghdad to the Syrian border and are said to contain thousands of Saddam loyalists who fled the Iraqi capital during the war.Sunni insurgents have repeatedly attacked forced from...