Free Republic

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- It actually took me a while to put all the pieces together -- that I know these guys, the U.S. Marines at the heart of the alleged massacre of Iraqi civilians in Haditha. I don't know why it didn't register with me until now. It was only after scrolling through the tapes that we shot in Haditha last fall, and I found footage of some of the officers that had been relieved of their command, that it hit me. I know the Marines that were operating in western al Anbar, from Husayba all the way to...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A brigade of fresh U.S. troops arriving in Baghdad will push the total U.S. troop presence in the Iraqi capital to around 40,000 by Monday, as planners prepare for the coming assault on insurgent hotspots to the west and the Iraqi elections in January. Army units that were slated to depart are being held back until after the elections, causing the overall number of U.S. troops in Iraq to swell to around 142,000, the highest level since the summer of 2003. At Camp Victory North, the sprawling headquarters of the Army's 1st Cavalry Division, the mess hall...