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WASHINGTON, July 2, 2009 – Iraqi officials are learning to accept modern inspectors general in their government, and the coalition-backed investigative program is ready to stand on its own, a senior leader in that effort said. Marine Corps Col. Robert Schroeder, inspector general special staff assistant to the commander of Multinational Security Transition Command Iraq, spoke with bloggers and online journalists during a June 30 “DoDLive” bloggers roundtable about the support his office provides. The command has dedicated IG advisors to Iraq’s ministries of Defense and Interior, Joint Headquarters Staff and Counter-terrorism Bureau, Schroeder said. “Each of the advisors and...

CAMP VICTORY, Iraq, July 28, 2008 – Iraq is targeting more than 6 million illiterate adults through a national literacy campaign. Iraqi policemen submit applications for modified security badges, May 22, 2007, in Salman Pak, Iraq. Literacy is a requirement for members of the Iraqi security forces. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Shawn Weismiller  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization estimates that more than 60 percent of the adult population in Iraq cannot read or write. This was not always the case, U.N. officials said. At one time, Iraq...

AL-JAZIRAH DESERT — The Incident Response Team of Marine Wing Support Squadron 374, Marine Wing Support Group 37, patrols the northern Iraqi desert as a security measure for all Marines operating in the area. Named ‘Team Black Rhino,’ these 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward) Marines have become the first wing support squadron to fill the role of a mounted combat team in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Marine Wing Support Squadrons frequently travel around the Anbar province, providing aviation ground support for the flying squadrons operating in country. The team operates on a different level, providing a ground combat component like that...

The Wisconsin Association of FFA, formerly the Future Farmers of America, has collected and shipped 7,000 pairs of shoes to Iraq to help Iraqis in need. The idea for "Operation Stand Solid" came from Sgt. First Class Gary Olson, a Fort Atkinson agricultural teacher who served in Iraq as a member of the Wisconsin Army National Guard. During his first deployment to Iraq, Olson found that many Iraqi children lacked shoes. He suggested to state FFA officers the idea of starting a shoe collection program, so the 251 FFA chapters throughout the state started soliciting donations of new and like-new...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 17, 2008 – Soldiers supporting Operation Phantom Phoenix, a series of division- and brigade-level strikes against al Qaeda and other extremists in Iraq, continue to disrupt terrorist safe havens and bases throughout the country, military officials reported. Multinational Division Center soldiers, in support of Operation Phantom Phoenix, captured 15 suspected extremists, including a high-value target individual, during an air assault raid 25 miles south of Baghdad Jan. 14, officials said yesterday. The suspect is believed to be involved in planning attacks against Iraqi security and coalition forces and for contributing to sectarian violence. Soldiers from Company C, 2nd...

BAGHDAD, Jan 9 (KUNA) --Iraqi forces from the ministries of Defense and Interior arrested 111 suspects in a number of operations carried out in Baghdad, Abughraib and Babel, said Monday the Iraqi Ministry of Defense in a statement. The statement added that Iraqi military carried out a number of raids during the last 48 hours in Abughraib to arrest 73 suspects and confiscate a large amount of bombs, rockets and other weapons hidden in a mosque.

September 26, 2005--Most Americans (54%) believe that withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq will make things worse in that troubled nation. A Rasmussen Reports survey found that 20% disagree and say that troop withdrawal will make things better. Republicans, by a 78% to 10% margin, say that withdrawing troops from Iraq would make things worse in that county. Democrats are evenly divided on the question, with 30% of Harry Reid's party saying the troop withdrawal would make things better and 33% taking the opposite view. As for those not affiliated with either major party, 49% say withdrawing troops now would make...

DES MOINES, Iowa The former military analyst who leaked the Pentagon Papers says the nation's leaders plan on staying in Iraq permanently, but the people who have the proof aren't willing to share it. Daniel Ellsberg says President Bush aims to keep bases in Iraq, and that the American public was lied to when the country entered the war. He urged those with access to the sensitive information to share it, saying there are both rewards and potential backlash for whistleblowers. He says they may go to prison, but they may save a wars worth of lives. The Pentagon Papers,...

PENSACOLA, Fla. (NNS) -- Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Mike Mullen presented the Purple Heart to Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Jonathan D. Bryant Aug. 19 during an all hands call at the Naval Aviation Memorial Chapel aboard Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla. Bryant received the decoration - one of the world’s oldest military decorations still awarded today - for injuries he received in combat while serving his second tour of duty as a corpsman with the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) in May 2004. He was wounded while assisting injured Marines during a prolonged gun battle in Western Iraq....

Baghdad, 7 July (AKI) - Al-Qaeda in Iraq, the group headed by Jordanian miliant, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, on Thursday claimed it had killed Egypt's diplomatic envoy to Iraq who was kidnapped five days ago. Video footage showing Ihab al-Sherif being interrogated appeared on an Internet site together with a statement announcing the execution of the envoy, who was snatched in Baghdad on Saturday.

It is two years since looters ravaged one of the world's most important museums, in central Baghdad. Saddam Hussein's power had collapsed and the newly arrived US-led coalition forces were unable to prevent a crime against history. Professional smugglers connected to the international antiquities mafia managed to break some of the sealed doors of the Baghdad Museum storage rooms. They looted priceless artefacts such as the museum's entire collection of cylindrical seals and large numbers of Assyrian ivory carvings. More than 15,000 objects were taken. Many were smuggled out of Iraq and offered for sale. To date, 3,000 have been...

Indian Muslim Asra Nomani has found herself on the frontline of a battle for women's rights in Islam in the United States. She entered the local mosque through the front door and dared to pray alongside men, an act that has triggered heated discussions among America's Muslim community. An all-male "tribunal" of the mosque in Morgantown, West Virginia, wants to banish Ms Nomani because they think she is a frequent trouble-maker. In their campaign to silence her, she has been depicted as heretical, misguided and westernized, someone in need of reform. They argue that women should only be allowed to...