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BAGHDAD — U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Kevin J. Bergner, spokesman for Multi-National Force-Iraq and Daniel Speckhard, Charge D’Affaires to the U.S. Embassy, Baghdad, held a press conference Wednesday at the Combined Press Information Center. Bergner began the conference by condemning Monday’s attack at the al-Mansour Hotel, which killed 13 Iraqis and wounded 17 others. “This attack on Iraqis who sought peace and reconciliation is an affront to all people and further proof of the barbaric nature of al-Qaeda,” he said. Bergner explained his belief that the attack was definitely carried out by al-Qaeda operatives. “There is no basis of evidence...

Beijing — IT was like watching a man try to swim up a waterfall. Professor Tao Xiuao cracked jokes, told stories, projected a Power Point presentation on a large video screen. But his students at Beijing Foreign Studies University didn't even try to hide their boredom. Young men spread newspapers out on their desks and pored over the sports news. A couple of students listened to iPods; others sent text messages on their cellphones. One young woman with chic red-framed glasses spent the entire two hours engrossed in "Jane Eyre," in the original English. Some drifted out of class, ate...

WASHINGTON, June 25, 2007 – The Iraqi soldiers and units working with the Multinational Division North are "holding firm," the director of operations for the division said today from his headquarters in Tikrit. "They are in the fight. They're doing what they're told. They're following their leaders," Army Brig. Gen. John Bednarek said. "But more importantly, as we've known for years that they have that direct link and rapport with the citizens that the coalition forces do not have, they can get that immediate link, ... the human dimension, that information potentially leading to intelligence." Bednarek, the 25th Infantry Division’s...

WASHINGTON, June 25, 2007 – Ten days into offensive strikes under Operation Phantom Thunder, the commander of Task Force Marne said his troops are one-fifth of the way into their “decisive” and “deliberate” operation in the southern provinces of Iraq. Soldiers taking part in Operation Marne Torch, part of the overall corps-level offensive, are working to block “accelerants of violence” into Baghdad, Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch said during a news conference in Baghdad yesterday. They’re also working to secure the Iraqi population and defeat sectarian violence within the country. “We believe that the people of Iraq want what we...

The Taliban has admitted defeat, in their own unique way. In recent media interviews, Taliban spokesmen announced a shift in emphasis to suicide bombings. The Taliban also admitted that the Americans had infiltrated their high command, which led to the death or capture of several senior Taliban officials, and the capture of many lower ranking ones as well. There have also been some prominent defections recently, which the Taliban spokesmen did not want to talk about. The Taliban has never been a terrorist organization. They began as a paramilitary operation fifteen years ago, when they were recruited from refugee camps...

Troops begin patrolling the streets of the city that had been overrun by Al Qaeda-linked insurgents. They find not everyone there is bad. BAQUBAH -- Lt. Qusai had his doubts when he took his men into an insurgent haven in the western part of this city for the first time this week. "Honestly, I thought this operation would never be successful because I had information that Al Qaeda had big guns and RPGs," said the Iraqi army commander who provided only one name. "We thought that all the people here are terrorists and everyone is bad, even the women and...

WASHINGTON, June 21 Iraqi negotiators have come to an agreement on divvying up revenues from oil sales, a major, though not final breakthrough on a package of oil laws. "The revenue sharing law has been agreed, last night," Ashti Hawrami, energy minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, told UPI Thursday morning from a mobile phone in Baghdad. Hawrami has for the past 10 months led a delegation from the oil-rich and relatively violence-free northern Iraq region in negotiations with the federal Iraq government over a regime of four oil-related laws. They will determine the roles of the Ministry of Oil...

Afghanistan's citizens are rejecting the dark vision offered by Taliban and al Qaeda extremists and are embracing their central government, senior U.S. and Afghan military officers said today. "The people of Afghanistan are now getting the opportunity to decide what they want," said Army Col. Martin P. Schweitzer, commander of the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division's 4th Brigade Combat Team, which is partnering with Afghan forces in the country's southeastern region. The Taliban, the radical Islamic group that was forced from power in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom in late 2001 and early 2002, has since conducted a guerrilla war against...

WASHINGTON, June 20, 2007 – Iraqi and coalition forces anticipate a summer of hard fighting, but are confident there is a good prospect for continued progress in the months ahead, a senior military official said during a Baghdad news conference today. “Hopefully this can be matched by progress in the political and economic areas in Iraq and again give us hope for the way ahead,” said Navy Rear Adm. Mark Fox, Multinational Force Iraq communications division chief, during the first news conference held for local media since the mosque bombing in Samarra June 13. Fox told reporters that all requested...

Switzerland has opened the world's longest rail tunnel on land - the 34-kilometre (21-mile) Loetschberg tunnel under the Alps. It will cut the journey time between Germany and Italy by at least a third.

Press Releases (Click Title to View Full Story) Type Release Date Title Region Author Report  6/13/2007   GWOT Reconstruction Report GRD  Ron Eschmann  People  6/12/2007   Father, son help Iraq build for the future GRC  Norris Jones  Project  6/6/2007   New Courthouse Complex taking shape to bolster Baghdad's 'rule of law' GRC  Norris Jones  Project  6/4/2007   Improvements continue at Iraq's busiest trauma center GRC  Norris Jones  Project  6/2/2007   Curing what ails you: From nightclub to hospital GRD  Kimberly Mielcarek  Project  5/31/2007   USACE Supports Mosul Security with Clean Water GRN  Julie Cupernall  Project  5/30/2007   Building for the Future - USACE works on 12...

WASHINGTON, June 13, 2007 – It’s still too early to assess the impact of the new strategy in Iraq, but more progress is expected as additional troops come on line to boost security in Baghdad, according to the latest quarterly report to Congress, released today. The June 2007 report, “Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq,” assesses trends in terms of the security environment, political process, economic activity and development of Iraqi security forces. The report measures both progress and setbacks between mid-February and mid-May. It’s the first report for which the entire period took place under the new strategy...

George is a regular wage laborer -- industrious, but somewhat frail and easy to tire. Thus, George is unable to put in 18 hours every day for running a small business or generating a vast fortune quickly.Had he lived the average human lifespan, he would likely have died owning only a small home and having a fairly marginal discretionary income. But George is fortunate, for he lives in an age where immortality has just been made a commercial product.

WASHINGTON, June 7, 2007 – Iraq’s police force is seeing incremental improvements across the spectrum of its mandate, and the communities it serves are benefiting as a result, an official with the U.S. police-training mission said yesterday. Tangible gains have been made in the police force’s relationships with the Iraqi ministries of defense and justice, judicial capacity is on the rise, corruption is being pursued internally, and the training program is continuing to expand, said Army Brig. Gen. David Phillips, deputy commander of the Civilian Police Assistance Training Team, in a conference call with online journalists and military “bloggers.”...

WASHINGTON, June 5, 2007 – As he finishes his tour in Iraq this week, the senior U.S. military official in charge of training the Iraqi police and army offered a candid assessment of the coalition-led training regimen: significant challenges remain, but progress in key areas has been realized. Army Lt. Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, commander of Multinational Security Transition Command Iraq, has spent almost three of the last four years in Iraq. Looking back on the development of the Iraqi army, local police and national police over that time, he said the shifts in those institutions’ growth curves have...

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, June 5, 2007 – Although acknowledging he’d like to see faster progress in Iraq, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates today refused to point fingers at the Iraqi army and said that force is standing up to challenges confronting it. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates meets with Kyrgyzstan President Kurmanbek Bakiyev in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, June 5. Photo by Cherie A. Thurlby  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “We would certainly be happy if there was faster progress on the political front in terms of reunification,” Gates said in response to a question during a joint news conference with...

Minnesota Soldiers Build School, Business in Southern Iraq Village children had no school available since before 2003. By Spc. Brian D. Jesness13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary)Logistical Support Area Anaconda Public Affairs BALAD, Iraq, June 4, 2007 — Minnesota Army National Guard soldiers opened a new school and a truck stop with a restaurant, May 10, in the village of Um Eneej in southern Iraq. "We insisted the contractor hire local help. He had to hire at least 10 [local] workers, and he hired 20."U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Stephen Sarvi “The village elders told us a school was the most...

This time last year, Ramadi was arguably the most dangerous city in Iraq. Nowadays, it’s not exactly a model of peace and stability, but the threat to U.S. troops in some sectors of the city has gone down considerably. In western Ramadi, an area patrolled and protected by the 1st Battalion, 77th Armor Regiment, it’s been more than four months since a U.S. soldier lost his life, and there has been just one serious injury in that time. “We’re as safe as safe can be in a war zone,” Lt. Col. Miciotto O. Johnson, commander of the 1/77, said in...

WASHINGTON, June 4, 2007 – Local Iraqis were instrumental in helping coalition and Iraqi forces liberate 42 men from al Qaeda custody in Iraq’s Diyala province, the coalition commander in the area said. Amy Lt. Col. Morris Goins, the commander of the 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry, said local Iraqis are getting tired of al Qaeda intimidation and threats and are cooperating more with Iraqi and coalition forces. The operation, south of Baquba on May 27, liberated 42 men, most of whom worked with the Iraqi government. Al Qaeda kidnapped the men and held them in the area. “The men were...

We will win this war.