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The Marine "Gunfighters" returned on Easter after being deployed in Iraq. This is the group that lost a crew when their chopper was shot down last year over Iraq. There have been many clips like this played since the war began, but this one is special for me. The Captain (Mike) shown at the beginning with his wife and new baby are special friends of my wife and I. We have been praying constantly for his group to return safely and my heart is busting with joy knowing they are safely back and reuniting with their families. Forgive me for...

“The plan has been through the combatant commanders, it has been through the National Security Council process. General Myers and General Pace (chairman and vice-chairman, Joint Chiefs) and others, including this individual, have seen it in a variety of iterations. When asked by the president or by me, the military officers who’ve reviewed it have all said they thought it was an excellent plan. I stand by the plan…I think it’s a brilliant plan.” Donald Rumsfeld on the plan for Operation Iraq Freedom, March 30, 2003 NewsHour. ....................................... Who said this? What if Saddam fails to comply (with UN sanctions),...

There are new revelations about the teachings of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the supreme religious authority of Shiite Iraq, who has been lavished with praise here and elsewhere as a leading voice of Muslim moderation, perhaps even worthy of Nobel Peace Prize consideration. A human-rights group in London which lobbies for homosexuals . According to the group, Sistani pronounced that the conduct was “forbidden” and that those who engage in it should be “punished, in fact, killed. The people involved should be killed in the worst, most severe way of killing.” I discussed that site here on NRO a few...

In the midst of a predictable episode of Bush Derangement Syndrome, Barbra Streisand castigates President Bush as "this C student," all the while littering spelling and grammar errors throughout her February 28, 2006 screed... For now you can read the whole error-ridden piece at BabsOnline. Assuming the text is eventually fixed you can see the highlighted errors in a PDF version or a Word version.

"Much of the current analysis focuses attention on Israel's relationships with the Palestinians. Will Israel expand the wall? Continue the path toward isolation? I think the attention is misplaced. Israel's next significant act on the world stage will be as a fighter once again in our war. The most serious question to face Sharon's successor will most definitely not be what to do with the Palestinians. That's settled, old news. Tomorrow's question will be whether or not to attack Iran in an attempt to destroy that country's capacity to build a deliverable, or marketable, nuclear device."

Ten Marines killed in Iraq bombing. Details to come...

"We have a special program in honor of our nation's veterans as well as active-duty military personnel and their families. You'll hear from two veterans of the war in Iraq who describe the gratitude the Iraqi people have expressed toward the U.S. military for freeing them from the brutal tyranny of Saddam Hussein. You'll hear what life was like under Saddam's oppressive rule as one Iraqi woman describes the stark contrast between living in fear and living in freedom. You'll also be touched by the sacrifices made by military families as you hear from a woman whose husband and sons...

In May I was embedded with a detachment of the 8th Engineer Support Battalion Explosive Ordnance Disposal [EOD] at Camp Fallujah, Iraq, headed by Navy Lt. Cameron Chen. In a war in which most U.S. casualties are caused by bombs, no unit is more important — or more hated by the enemy — than EOD. Upon finishing his deployment, Lt. Chen sent out this eloquent letter which (with his permission) I share precisely because it is unlike what you're accustomed to reading in the newspapers. Dear Family and Friends, I am sitting on the flight line awaiting a helo [helicopter]...

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - news), the No. 3 U.S. oil company, on Wednesday reported quarterly profit surged 89 percent, surpassing Wall Street forecasts, driven by record oil prices and sharply higher refining margins. ConocoPhillips, like other major oil companies, has reaped a windfall from soaring crude oil prices -- which touched a record $70 a barrel in the quarter -- and better refining margins, as powerful hurricanes blew through the Gulf of Mexico, severely disrupting energy operations. The Houston company's net profit in the third quarter rose to $3.8 billion, or $2.68 a share, compared with $2.01 billion, or $1.43 a...

Zarqawi's terror network rivals bin Laden's, US intelligence says The Jordanian extremist has been so successful in his expansion that he now allegedly funds the al-Qa'ida leadership 24oct05 WASHINGTON: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has created a terror network to rival Osama bin Laden's by expanding his terrorism campaign in Iraq to extremists in two dozen terror groups scattered across almost 40 countries, US intelligence officials say. US government officials have said the threat to US interests from Zarqawi compared with that from bin Laden, to whom Zarqawi pledged his loyalty last year. The director of the National Counterterrorism Centre considers bin...

War Is Hell, But The Honorable Chose To Serve. By William John Hagan Houston Home Journal (Print Edition) Warner Robins, GA My family has chosen to fight and, in many cases die, for the lands of their birth. I am proud of their sacrifice. When called upon by our sovereigns and presidents all bravely went to war with the expectation of dying for their respective nations. Like other families who have offered up their children to the service of the greater good, I feel honored to come from a line of patriots. In recent times, my uncles served in the...

On Sept. 3, Georgia will host Boise State in football, the most anticipated game in Boise State history. Starting for Boise will be sophomore guard Tad Miller. Tad's father, Dan, is a retired police lieutenant who currently works in Iraq training Iraqi police officers. Dan is planning to fly halfway around the world, at the cost of $2,700, to make the big game. All of this was detailed in an Atlanta Journal-Constitution article last week and when Georgia fan Sam Hendrix read it online, he had an idea. "It hit me that he shouldn't have to bear the cost of...

Polish soldiers leave for final Iraq tour VANESSA GERA Associated Press WARSAW, Poland - Poland bid farewell to its final contingent of soldiers being sent to Iraq on Monday amid a sense of relief the country is winding down its military commitment to the violence-ridden nation. A military band played the national anthem and soldiers paraded through the center of the southern Polish city of Rzeszow to mark the departure of the fifth - and final - contingent of Polish soldiers to Iraq. A total of 1,500 will leave in staggered departures over the next month. Defense Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski...

In this photo provided by the USO, country music star Toby Keith, right, plays with Scotty Emerick, left, during a United Service Organizations (USO) performance at Camp Victory in Baghdad, Iraq for U.S. troops, Tuesday, May 17, 2005. (AP Photo/Mike Theiler, USO)

SANTA ROSA, CALIF. – In Iraq, there were the days that ran together in a never-ending stream of patrols, mission after mission that left him cursing the superiors who sent him out into the teeth of the insurgency. There were the nights when mortars crashed nearby, close enough to smell the sulfur. And there was the question that went unanswered every time a friend was ripped by shrapnel or cut down in an ambush: Why are we fighting this war? Yet when the time came for Sgt. Jason Waits to decide what he would do when his tour in the...

NASHUA - After the applause had subsided and as students began heading back to their classrooms, Master Sgt. Edward Mullin, dressed in his camouflage, hopped into his ’93 Ford pickup. The moment of truth arrived as he turned the key. The engine revved and, without a hitch, the truck started. Mullin backed out of the garage at Nashua High School North’s auto shop and drove home to his wife, Trisha. “It starts up - that’s a plus,” joked Ryan Lones, a junior enrolled in the school’s automotive technology course and one of the students who worked on the vehicle, a...

Iraqi Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr has called on his community's senior religious leaders to insist on a timeline for a US troop withdrawal."This is a message from Sayid Muqtada. I call on all religious and political powers that pushed towards the elections and took part in them to issue an official statement calling for a timetable for the withdrawal of the occupation forces from Iraq," Sayid Hashim Abu Raghif told worshippers gathered for Friday prayers in the Shia city of Kufa. Al-Sadr, who earlier belittled last week's vote, said he would no longer refrain from commenting on political developments in...

The rhetoric from the Left has ramped up as we move closer to the Iraqi Elections. The mantra of "Illegal and Unjust War" has risen a few decibels. Our soldiers have been accused of inciting the violence of the insurgents. Worst of all was the Bush-bashing disguised as genuine vetting of the nominee for secretary of state. While doing some research online, I wandered over to the Department of Defense website. I came across an article titled "Iraq Year in Review - 2004 Fact Sheet". What I read in that article took my breath away. I was stunned - almost...

Hey everyone this is the long email I had been working on. Today I got a chance to pull guard duty in a tower on the wall over looking a middle class Iraqi neighborhood. This place looks like about at war torn as you can get. Most of the kids and adults in our area got around in carts made of pickup truck frames pulled by Donkeys. The only cars are really bad 1970 bombs.They get a few hours of electricity after dark then its gets shut off. Today they had off for their Christmas celebration so they all looked...

Hi all. My co-worker, Melissa, has a son is going over to serve in Iraq next week. She is getting stressed out as the time grows closer. Please pray for her and her son that he will come back from his tour of duty safely. Thank you!