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WASHINGTON - What is it about an appropriations measure that causes sober-minded, hard-working members of Congress to see nothing more than a tax-paid cornucopia of goodies to bestow on friends, neighbors, family members, political allies and anybody else perceived as being potentially helpful in the next election? Judging by the $20 billion in pork found by The Examiner’s Charles Hurt in the Iraq supplemental funding bill before Congress, it would be no surprise to see the ghost of Sir Robert Walpole happily wandering about Capitol Hill. Historians mark Walpole’s lengthy tenure as prime minister as among the most corrupt in...

Hello from Baghdad. I and a Vietnam vet friend of mine have launched a new site, AppealForCourage.org which allows active duty military to (legally) tell Congress and the media that they should support our mission, and that their criticism does hurt our morale while emboldening our enemies. This site is partly in response to the leftist site AppealForRedress. It was created by a big money group and given a free pass by the media. I don't have any money for advertising, and I don't expect the media to help. If you folks at FR could help publicize it in other...

My child's class is sending a giftbox to an adopted serviceman in Iraq. does anyone have any suggestions for either shipping or what the servicemen/women REALLY want or need

Indigenous forces learning military, reconstruction, humanitarian skillsMulti-National Force–Iraq, representing U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq, issued a fact sheet July 4 that details progress made by the coalition and by units of the Iraqi military forces in recent weeks.Following is the text of the fact sheet:BAGHDAD, Iraq: Daily accomplishments, both large and small -– in governance, security and reconstruction –- marked progress toward Iraqi self-reliance as the country marked a year of sovereignty June 28. What follows is a partial list of these successes.• On June 1, in the first move of its kind, Coalition forces officially transferred full responsibility...

<p>KARABILAH, Iraq — U.S. Marines and Iraqi forces battled insurgents on two fronts Saturday in a restive western province, killing about 50 militants in a dusty frontier town in the military's latest campaign to stop foreign fighters infiltrating from neighboring Syria (search).</p>

BAGHDAD , Iraq – Acting on intelligence sources and tips provided by Iraqi citizens, Multi-National forces conducted simultaneous raids in the Rahwah and Karabilah regions to capture or kill terrorists within the Abu Musab al-Zarqawi network. Multiple sources of intelligence indicated that elements of the Abu Musab al-Zarqawi terrorist network were operating in the area, including key lieutenants, suicide bombers, and a contingent of foreign fighters. Multi-National forces engaged and destroyed these targets. Operations against suspected foreign fighter strongholds resulted in killing over a dozen terrorists and foreign fighters. Specifically the bodies of three Saudis and one Moroccan have been...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi forces swept through Baghdad on Sunday, erecting checkpoints and searching vehicles as they launched the largest offensive of its kind since Saddam Hussein's ouster, but insurgents hit back with suicide bombings and ambushes that killed at least 21 people, including a British soldier. [end] The first of more than 40,000 soldiers and police, who are being supported by U.S. forces, searched hundreds of vehicles and raided several houses, described as "terrorist dens" in Baghdad's Dora neighborhood, arresting several suspects, army Capt. Ihssan Abdel-Hamza said. Operation Lightning was launched as a direct challenge to the bloody wave...

More than 23,000 young Iraqis in the southern province of Dhiqar have responded to a call to set up a new battalion to protect the province. The provincial authorities have been swamped with applications, Governor Aziz Kadhem told the newspaper. He said the authorities had asked for maximum 1,000 volunteers but “we have received more than 23,000 applications so far.” The new force will be based in Nasiriya, the province’s capital and home to more than 550,000 people. Nasiriya, on the Euphrates River, is relatively quiet but, according to Kadhem, the new force is needed to bring stability across the...

Iraqi combat capability on the upswing Written by W. Thomas Smith Jr. Friday April 1, 2005 "It's going to be tougher than anything you've ever experienced," a U.S. Marine recruiter warns a young leatherneck hopeful. "You'll face down your fears, overcome terrifying obstacles, and at times function on little food and no sleep." Sounds severe, but everything is relative. Recruits hoping to earn the title, "Marine," expect training to be demanding. They also take for granted the enormous efforts made to ensure their safety during dangerous training, and – despite accidents and the occasional "bad seed" drill-instructor – no one...

WASHINGTON, March 28, 2005 – A 3-ton cache of TNT and hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition are off the streets of Iraq following an Iraqi army raid near Jurf al-Sakher on March 25, Iraqi military officials reported. A press statement from Iraq’s Defense Ministry said 121 suspects were detained in the raid, conducted by the Iraqi army’s 8th Division, based in Karbala. Besides the TNT, Iraqi soldiers seized 624 rifles, 250,000 light ammunition rounds, 22,000 medium rounds, 193 rocket-propelled-grenade launchers, 300 RPG rockets, 27 82 mm mortar tubes, and 155 82 mm mortar rounds. Today, Task Force Liberty...

Many of Iraq's predominantly Sunni Arab insurgents would lay down their arms and join the political process in exchange for guarantees of their safety and that of their co-religionists, according to a prominent Sunni politician. Sharif Ali Bin al-Hussein, who heads Iraq's main monarchist movement and is in contact with guerrilla leaders, said many insurgents including former officials of the ruling Ba'ath party, army officers, and Islamists have been searching for a way to end their campaign against US troops and Iraqi government forces since the January 30 election.

Say the word mujahid — or holy warrior — these days and many inhabitants of Baghdad are likely to snigger. An appellation once worn as a badge of pride by anti-American insurgents has now become street slang for homosexuals, after men claiming to be captured Islamist guerrillas confessed that they were holding gay orgies in the popular Iraqi TV programme Terror in the Hands of Justice. For Iraqis opposed to the predominantly Sunni Islamist insurgency, Terror in the Hands of Justice, which airs twice daily on Iraqi public television, has broken the mystique of a force that used to strike...

IRAQ: Al Qaeda Losses Up, American Losses Down March 24, 2005: More Iraqis are losing their fear of terrorists. In the last three days, tips from Iraqis have led Iraqi police and troops to several terrorist hideouts. This has resulted in some spectacular gun battles, and the deaths of over 130 terrorists (and about a dozen police and soldiers.) The Iraqis have been using their growing force of SWAT teams to carry out the raids, with American forces providing backup and air cover. One raid, north of Baghdad, left 85 terrorists dead, and revealed a suicide car bomb workshop, as...

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BAGHDAD, Iraq, March 23 - Iraqi and American forces killed at least 80 insurgents during a Tuesday morning raid on what appeared to be the biggest guerrilla training camp yet discovered, Iraqi officials said today. Seven Iraqi police officers were also killed and six were wounded in what American and Iraqi officials characterized as an especially fierce battle. "It was one of the largest such engagements that I'm aware of," said Col. Robert Potter, a spokesman for the American command in Baghdad. The number of anti-government fighters killed was the most reported in a single conflict since the American offensive...

Iraq Forces Capture Two Saddam Relatives Mon Mar 14,11:55 AM ET Add to My Yahoo! Middle East - AP BAGHDAD, Iraq - Security forces in Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s hometown captured two of the ousted dictator's relatives, who allegedly were helping insurgents launch attacks in Iraq (news - web sites), the government said Monday. The two were identified as one-time Saddam bodyguard Marwan Taher Abdul Rashid and his cousin, Abdullah Maher Abdul Rashid — who also was the brother-in-law of Saddam's son, Qusai, state-run Iraqiya television reported. The two were captured March 8 in Tikrit, Saddam's hometown north...

Maj. Gen. William G. Webster Jr. listens as Maj. Gen. Mudhir Al Mawlla discusses the significance of the 41st Brigade during a ceremony honoring the activation of the unit March 3. Sgt. Andrew Miller Iraqi Army 41st Brigade activates By Sgt. Andrew Miller March 7, 2005 BAGHDAD (Army News Service, March 7, 2005) – The 41st Brigade of the Iraqi Army was activated March 3 during a ceremony at an Iraqi Army training facility here. More than 200 Iraqi Soldiers, who make up the headquarters element of the brigade, participated in the ceremony. Members of the brigade – who...

MONS, Belgium — The North Atlantic Treaty Organization could be heading for the Persian Gulf. NATO is considering ways it can help train the new Iraqi military, at sites both inside and outside the war-torn country, as well as ways to equip it with weapons, vehicles and other gear. The goal is to demonstrate that NATO supports a democratic, stable Iraq without actually joining the bloodshed. Although member nations are being asked to send troops to Baghdad, their jobs would be to train Iraq’s new military leaders and not engage in combat with insurgents. “This plan is a training-mission plan,...

<p>The loss of American lives in Iraq, Afghanistan and the war on terror is a grim reminder of the cost for freedom. America's military members are once again fighting and dying, even one death is a tragedy, the loss of over one thousand is ever so harder to bear. Their deaths strike at the hearts of all loved ones, family members, friends, and to the very soul of America. It has always been so in the fight to protect not only our nation's freedoms, but the protection of freedoms for nations of strangers and different cultures.</p>