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Carrier launches are astonishing events. The plane is moved to within what seems like a bowling alley's length of the bow. A blast shield larger than any government building driveway Khomeini-flipper rises behind the fighter jet, and the jet's twin engines are cranked to maximum thrust. A slot-car slot runs down the middle of the bowling alley. The powered-up jet is held at the end of its slot by a steel shear pin smaller than a V-8 can. When the shear pin shears the jet is unleashed and so is a steam catapult that hurls the plane down the slot,...

Iraq: Democrats insisted the surge couldn't succeed. When it did, they claimed it failed because Iraqis weren't using the "political breathing space" it provided. In fact, Iraq's ongoing political progress is stunning.Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has been called an incompetent incapable of achieving consensus in a country that has never known representative government. The nation he tries in vain to run, we've been told for years now, is in a state of civil war. The only thing President Bush accomplished in invading it, they say, was to send American troops into a hopeless quagmire. But speaking Tuesday in Kuwait to...

Well, maybe if it was raining like it usually does and is forecast for this coming Saturday. But we did have plenty of t-shirts. BELOW LEFT: Cindy_True_Supporter. BELOW RIGHT: Lurker Bill's daughter BELOW LEFT: Fraxinus's T-shirt BELOW RIGHT: My T-shirt says "Kill Them All, Let the Devil sort It Out" in case you couldn't read it as it wraps around my winter surge. The roll call of our 9 Patriots included Legionnaires Glenn (USMC - WWII), Newbie Ed (Army - WWII), Halsey (USMC - Korea), Lurker Bill and daughter, Cindy_True_Supporter, Fraxinus, [Mrs] Trooprally and myself, [Mr] T. All Pics by...

Players from competing teams in the Mahmudiyah Soccer Tournament line up on the field April 20. U.S. Army photo by Pvt. Christopher McKenna, 3rd BCT, 101st Abn. Div. (AASLT). FORWARD OPERATING BASE MAHMUDIYAH — The Mahmudiyah Soccer Stadium officially opened April 20 with a 24-team, double-elimination tournament sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development. This was the first in a series of three tournaments scheduled over the next four months. Security for each event will be provided by the 25th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division.“Many people are excited about both the tournament and the stadium,” said Garbi Abbas, the...

A worker in the Mahmudiyah Chicken Hatchery sets eggs into trays April 21 to begin the incubation process. U.S. Army photo by Pvt. Christopher McKenna, 3rd BCT, 101st Abn. Div. (AASLT). FORWARD OPERATING BASE MAHMUDIYAH — Eight months of preparation and planning paid off when the Mahmudiyah Chicken Hatchery received the first of three shipments of eggs for incubation April 21. The first batch contained 35,000 eggs shipped to Iraq from Holland. “The purpose in bringing in eggs from Holland is that they have a faster growing rate and they’re healthier than chickens from within this area,” said Maj. Alaric...

Residents unload fertilizer bags, April 10, at the Zambraniyah community center. Soldiers of Company B, 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, delivered 180 bags of fertilizer to the center. DoD photo. FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU — Zambraniyah farmers got much-needed assistance for their crops recently with a delivery from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division. “Today we conducted a fertilizer distro for the farmers of Zambraniyah and I think this is something that definitely will continue helping to establish the foundation for economic growth in our sector,” said Capt. Cesar Santiago, a...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE SHARANA, Afghanistan, April 22, 2008 – Soldiers of Task Force Pacemaker, deployed from Fort Lewis, Wash., celebrated spring earlier this month with an organizational day. Soldiers bear the stains of taking part in a pie-eating contest during the “Spring Break 2008” festival at Forward Operating Base Sharana, Afghanistan. U.S. Army photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Dubbed “Spring Break 2008!,” the event gave soldiers a break from the rigors of their deployment and allowed them a chance to relax, hear live music, eat barbeque and even take part in a pie-eating contest. Soldiers enjoyed live...

WASHINGTON, April 22, 2008 – Army Spc. Pastor Paul Durano, originally from the Philippines, joined the ranks of his comrades and became an American citizen during a naturalization ceremony here earlier this month. Army Spc. Pastor Paul Durano became an American Citizen in Baghdad’s Al Faw Palace on April 12, 2008. Durano, a native of Cubu City, Philippines, assigned to the 10th Mountain Division, participated in a naturalization ceremony for 259 deployed soldiers. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Durano, a member of 10th Mountain Division’s Headquarters and Headquarter Battery, 5th Battalion, 25th Field Artillery Regiment, participated...

WASHINGTON, April 22, 2008 – Coalition forces killed a terrorist, detained suspects, and discovered homemade explosives during a series of operations today and yesterday. In a synchronized effort triggered by intelligence from an April 12 operation, coalition forces descended on targets in Salahuddin province to disrupt al-Qaida foreign terrorist leaders. The coordinated operations seized 21 individuals with alleged ties to the al-Qaida foreign terrorist network. As an operation in Sharqat began, one man rushed coalition forces, who responded to the hostile threat, killing the attacker. Coalition forces also found weapons inside the building and uncovered homemade explosives, which were safely...

BAGHDAD — Iraqi soldiers took control of the last bastions of the cleric Moktada al-Sadr’s militia in Basra on Saturday, and Iran’s ambassador to Baghdad strongly endorsed the Iraqi government’s monthlong military operation against the fighters. By Saturday evening, Basra was calm, but only after air and artillery strikes by American and British forces cleared the way for Iraqi troops to move into the Hayaniya district and other remaining Mahdi Army militia strongholds and begin house-to house searches, Iraqi officials said. Iraqi troops were meeting little resistance, said Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, the spokesman for the Iraqi Interior Ministry in...

BAGHDAD - CD shops sell love songs again. Some women emerge from their homes without veils, and alcohol sellers are coming out of hiding in the southern city of Basra — where religious vigilantes have long enforced strict Islamic codes. The changes in recent weeks mark a surprising show of government sway — at least for now — after an Iraqi-led military crackdown that was plagued by desertions, ragged planning and ended in a virtual stalemate with Shiite militias in Iraq's second-largest city. But it's unclear whether the new tone in parts of Basra represents a permanent tilt toward the...

Idol contestant, Kristy Lee Cook, brings down the American Idol House tonight with rendition of Lee Greenwood's mega hit: God Bless the USA"Simon says: "Brilliant "

The commander of forces in far western Iraq said April 15 the enemy his Marines and their Iraqi counterparts now confront is in disarray -- a smattering of foreign malcontents ruled by local thugs with little community support. Disillusioned foreigners from Yemen, Algeria, Syria and Saudi Arabia are coming to Iraq with dreams of "jihad" in fewer numbers than they were a year ago, arrive under-equipped and are poorly led once they infiltrate the province. "These are very often young to middle aged males who are kind of malcontents and misfits from their society," said Col. Patrick Malay, commander of...

Iraq's major Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish parties have closed ranks to force anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to disband his Mahdi Army militia or leave politics, lawmakers and officials involved in the effort said Sunday. Such a bold move risks a violent backlash by al-Sadr's Shiite militia. But if it succeeds it could cause a major realignment of Iraq's political landscape. The first step will be adding language to a draft election bill banning parties that operate militias from fielding candidates in provincial balloting this fall, the officials and lawmakers said. The government intends to send the draft to parliament within...

Sen. Biden: Troop buildup is failure 16 minutes ago A leading Democrat on Saturday declared last year's troop buildup in Iraq a failure. Sen. Joe Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the military push didn't succeed because U.S. troops remain committed there in large numbers and political reconciliation has not been achieved. "The purpose of the surge was to bring violence in Iraq down so that its leaders could come together politically," said Biden, D-Del., in this week's Democratic radio address. "Violence has come down, but the Iraqis have not come together." He later added, "There is...

Congressional Democrats are warning U.S. Iraq commander General David Petraeus, and the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, not to attempt to minimize the seriousness of the situation in Iraq when they testify to Congress next week. VOA's Dan Robinson reports from Capitol Hill. A few days before General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker appear before House and Senate committees to deliver their latest update on Iraq, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi makes clear what she hopes they will not say. In a news conference together with the chairmen of the House committees on Armed Services and Foreign Affairs, she refers to the recent...

U.S. officials say a new U.S. intelligence report on Iraq shows that conditions there are improving and that progress is being made toward healing political rifts. U.S. media cited government officials as saying the latest National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq provides a more upbeat analysis of conditions than the last assessment made in August. However, the officials said the classified document did not include the recent deadly fighting between Iraqi forces and Shi'ite militias. The report, a collaboration by 16 U.S. intelligence agencies, has been released to top administration staffers as well as members of the U.S. Congress. Some of...

I t was two weeks ago that I received a phone call from my son. He is a college student so when the telephone rings and I see his number there are always two immediate feelings. First, I hope that everything is all right as he attends college in Baltimore, a hotbed of crime and violence, or, second, how much money does he need. Once I hear his voice and know that he is OK, I can most certainly guarantee that the call is for money. That's when I give the telephone to his father. This call two weeks ago...

Berkeley mayor, chamber on good terms By Doug Oakley STAFF WRITER Article Launched: 03/19/2008 03:00:38 AM PDT The love is back between Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates and the city's Chamber of Commerce. Just a month after the chamber released a letter saying that Bates and the City Council hurt business by telling the Marine Corps and its recruiting center to get out of town, the mayor is back in the group's good graces. During a lunch Tuesday billed as "A Conversation with Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates," chamber board member Mark McLeod introduced Bates as "our mayor and our friend." Afterward, chamber...

A Hundred Thousand Motorcycle Riders (Well quite a few hundred) infiltrated Berkeley along with hundreds of others who drove cages and used other forms of transportation (Tunnels with Trains) in Support of our Troops and the Marine Officer Selection Recritiment Office in the California town that is trying to withdraw from the human race and The United States Of America.Well, that's my take on the actions of Berkeley whose very existance depends on our country being well armed and manned by Military Personell.I arrived about 11AM, although my camera thought it was 10The speakers were scheduled to speak in an...