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The IRS's share of ObamaCare implementation is "going fine," the director of the tax agency's implementation office said Wednesday. Implementing the healthcare law falls mainly to the Health and Human Services Department (HHS) and the IRS. Technical problems have plagued HHS's rollout of new insurance exchanges. But Sarah Hall Ingram, the director of the IRS's Affordable Care Act office, told a House panel Wednesday that the IRS hasn't experienced similar problems. "The portion of the responsibilities the IRS is in charge of is going fine," Hall Ingram said. Hall Ingram previously led the IRS office that has been accused of...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama hailed Muammar Gaddafi's death on Thursday as a warning to authoritarian leaders across the Middle East that iron-fisted rule "inevitably comes to an end," and as vindication for his cautious strategy toward Libya. Obama joined U.S. politicians and ordinary Americans in welcoming the demise of Gaddafi, who was for decades regarded as a nemesis of American presidents, and also claimed some of the credit for the Libyan strongman's downfall. ... "This marks the end of a long and painful chapter for the people of Libya who now have the opportunity to determine their own...

It was named one of Time magazine’s best inventions of 2008, but Raytheon’s Active Protection System (APS), formerly known as “Quick Kill,” was nowhere to be found on the floor of the Washington Convention Center at the Army’s annual conference this week. I asked the Raytheon folks about its status and the best they could come up with was that the program is “maturing”; there was no APS on display nor were there videos showing field tests of the system. By contrast, over at the Israeli Military Industries booth, the Israelis were showing video of their “Iron Fist” APS in...

Apple and Think Secret have settled their lawsuit, reaching an agreement that results in a positive solution for both sides. As part of the confidential settlement, no sources were revealed and Think Secret will no longer be published. Nick Ciarelli, Think Secret's publisher, said "I'm pleased to have reached this amicable settlement, and will now be able to move forward with my college studies and broader journalistic pursuits."

You have probably heard by now that the doctor who examined the bodies of the civilians in Haditha after the alleged Marine rampage said they were shot in the chest and head and from close range.You have probably also heard it reported that the death certificates of the deceased record that all the victims were shot. Here is an article which features the source for the quote and probably the author of the death certificates, from the terrorist supporters at Uruknet: An image taken from footage shot on November 19, 2005 shows bodies in a morgue after an incident in...

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. forces launched their biggest offensive so far this year against al Qaeda guerrillas in western Iraq when 2,500 troops moved on Tuesday against militants around Haditha, the military said in a statement. Two months after a previous bid to push Islamist fighters out of the area, Operation River Gate was intended to stop al Qaeda operating in the city and two nearby towns, Haqlaniya and Barwana, and to "free the local citizens from the terrorists' campaign of murder and intimidation", it added. The towns are among several in the Euphrates valley where local people have said...

HADITHA, Iraq - U.S. troops pushed through streets sown with bombs Tuesday in their biggest operation this year in western Iraq, seeking to retake three Euphrates River towns from al-Qaida insurgents. At least five U.S. service members have been killed in the fighting. Operation River Gate — launched at the start of the holy month of Ramadan — was the second U.S. offensive in a week in Anbar province, near the Syrian border. Al-Qaida in Iraq called for intensified attacks on U.S. and Iraqi forces during the Muslim period of fasting, which started Tuesday for the nation's Sunnis. Blasts from...

U.S. Offensive Continues in IraqMonday October 3, 2005 9:46 PMAP Photo BAG103 By MOHAMMED BARAKAT Associated Press Writer QAIM, Iraq (AP) - With snipers on rooftops and helicopters hovering overhead, U.S. forces clashed with insurgent fighters Monday while searching homes in a town near the Syrian border. In Baghdad, Iraq's oil minister narrowly escaped an assassination attempt when a bomb hit his motorcade. While U.S. forces pushed ahead with their offensive further west, fighting erupted in the capital of Iraq's Anbar province, with masked militants attacking an Iraqi patrol and sparking a gunbattle in the streets of Ramadi. Oil...

The Anbar Campaign intensifies and Zarqawi's "Islamic Republic of Haditha" is in jeopardy. The Coalition – including Iraqi Army units – have launched Operation Bawwabatu Annaher (River Gate) and are taking the fight to Haditha, Haqlaniyah and Barwana. This operation is being conducted in conjunction with Operation Iron Fist in the Qaim region, and Operation Hiba (Mountaineers) in Ramadi (which we discussed last nig

QAIM, Iraq — A U.S. offensive aimed at Al Qaeda in Iraq insurgents in western Iraq entered its third day Monday, with airstrikes in a town on the banks of the Euphrates River , witnesses said. At least 36 militants have died since the fighting began, officials said. No serious U.S. casualties have been reported in the "Iron Fist" offensive by 1,000 Marines, soldiers and sailors near the Syrian border. In Baghdad, Iraq's oil minister narrowly survived an assassination attempt when a roadside bomb blasted his seven-car convoy, killing three of his escorts, officials said. Elsewhere, roadside bombs and fighting...

Day three of Operation Iron Fisthas ended. Captain Jeffery Pool states that reports Marines have taken the fight to Karabilah are “not necessarily accurate” and “the operation is taking place in and around the village of Sa’dah.” This conflicts with Anna Badkhen’s report that Marines entered the town but withdrew. However it is possible Ms. Badkhen confused the location of the engagement (her report from today is likely a summary of the action encountered Sunday). The most of today's fighting occurred north and east of Sa’dah, in the direction of Karabilah.

U.S.: 28 Militants Die As Iraq Fight Grows By MOHAMMED BARAKAT, Associated Press Writer2 hours, 28 minutes ago U.S. troops battled insurgents holed up in houses and driving explosives-laden vehicles in a second town near the Syrian border Sunday, killing 28 in an expansion of their two-day-old offensive chasing al-Qaida fighters along the Euphrates River valley, the military said. Al-Qaida in Iraq claimed to have taken two Marines captive during the fighting and threatened to kill them within 24 hours unless all female Sunni detainees are released from U.S. and Iraqi prisons in the country. The U.S. military said...

US forces backed by fighter aircraft and helicopter gun ships overnight pushed an offensive along the Syrian border as Al-Qaeda in Iraq threatened to kill two marines it claimed to have kidnapped while taking part in the sweep. A force of 1000 US soldiers launched Operation 'Iron Fist' in and around the village of Sadah in the restive Euphrates Valley on Saturday, the latest offensive aimed at rooting out Al-Qaeda-linked insurgents in the border region. "Coalition Forces, including helicopters from 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, engaged and killed eight armed terrorists in fighting early in the day October 1," said a...

QAIM, Iraq - U.S. troops battled insurgents holed up in houses and driving explosives-laden vehicles in a second town near the Syrian border Sunday, killing 28 in an expansion of their two-day-old offensive chasing al-Qaida fighters along the Euphrates River valley, the military said. Al-Qaida in Iraq claimed to have taken two Marines captive during the fighting and threatened to kill them within 24 hours unless all female Sunni detainees are released from U.S. and Iraqi prisons in the country. The U.S. military said the claim appeared false. "There are no indications that the al-Qaida claims ... are true," Multinational...

QAIM, Iraq (AP) - 1001dv-iraq-convoy About 1,000 U.S. troops, backed by attack helicopters and warplanes, swept into a village near the Syrian border Saturday in an offensive aimed at rooting out al-Qaida militants and stemming violence ahead of a crucial vote on a new constitution. U.S. aircraft firing missiles struck houses and cars, sending palls of smoke into the sky as the forces moved into Sadah, according to residents contacted by The Associated Press. In the evening, Marines and insurgents clashed in the streets, they said. The U.S. military said al-Qaida in Iraq, the country's most fearsome militant group behind...

US hits al-Qaeda village stronghold By Adam Lusher (Filed: 02/10/2005) About 1,000 US troops, backed by attack helicopters and fighter jets swept into Sadah, a village near the Syrian border, yesterday in an offensive to root out al-Qaeda militants and stem the violence that has shaken Iraq before this month's referendum on the new constitution. Air-to-ground missiles struck houses and cars as the force moved into the village of about 2,000 people on the banks of the Euphrates, eight miles from the border. The US military said that the offensive, named Operation Iron Fist, was mounted because al-Qaeda had taken...

Operation Iron Fist begins CAMP BLUE DIAMOND, AR RAMADI, Iraq – A force of approximately 1,000 Marines, Soldiers and Sailors from Regimental Combat Team-2 launched an operation against a known terrorist sanctuary in the western al Anbar province town of Sadah, in the al Qaim region approximately 12 km. from the Syrian border. Operation Kabda Bil Hadid, or Iron Fist in English, began in the early morning hours in order to root out al Qaeda in Iraq terrorists operating in the area and to disrupt terrorist support systems in and around the city. For the past several months, terrorists within...

QAIM, Iraq (AP) -- About 1,000 U.S. troops, backed by attack helicopters, swarmed into a tiny Iraqi village near the Syrian border Saturday in an offensive aimed at rooting out fighters from al-Qaida in Iraq, the country's most feared militant group, the military said. The assault, the latest in a series of major operations this year by U.S. forces in the heartland of the Sunni-led insurgency, targeted the village of Sadah, which the military said was a base for al-Qaida militants and foreign fighters entering from Syria.

JERUSALEM - In his toughest warning to militants, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday threatened to strike with an "iron fist" anyone who violates a truce with Israel and pledged quiet during Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements this summer. Meanwhile, about 10,000 Israelis streamed into one of the West Bank settlements slated for evacuation to protest the pullout. The rally, far smaller than organizers had expected, followed a protest in a Gaza settlement bloc Wednesday that also was smaller than planned. Abbas has been under heavy pressure from Israel and the United States to...

ARAD'S MEGA MARVEL MOVIE, TV UPDATE Marvel Enterprises today held their inaugural Analyst Day Webcast during which Marvel Studios CEO Avi Arad delivered his previously promised updates on Marvel's upcoming slate of movie and television projects. Arad began his segment of the proceedings by crediting Marvel's recent movie successes to a new generation of filmmakers who grew up reading Marvel Comics. "There is a whole generation of people that grew up on sci-fi {and} comic books, specifically Marvel," he said. "These people earned their stripes over the years, professionally, to get to the point that they can take their favorite...