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BAGHDAD -- The Iraqi foreign minister said Tuesday it will require "bold political decisions" to resolve the major issue standing in the way of a deal allowing American troops to remain here next year -- who would try U.S. troops accused of crimes. Neighboring Iran stepped up pressure against the proposed agreement, with President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad telling a visiting Iraqi official that Iraq had "a duty" to resist the Americans and another Iranian leader warning of unspecified consequences throughout the region. American and Iraqi negotiators have been working for months to hammer out an agreement governing the operations of U.S....

Trinidadian Joseph Aboud, accompanied by a prominent lawyer, yesterday turned himself over to the police for questioning into the recent Regent Street arms bust, but the other two men wanted in connection with the discovery remained at large up to press time. Stabroek News understands that the 31-year-old contacted the lawyer early yesterday morning saying that he had just returned from the interior and wanted to turn himself in. Police last Friday issued wanted bulletins for Aboud, businessman Clayton Hutson and 23-year-old Frankie Ross for questioning with regard to the cache of high powered guns, a large quantity of ammunition...

(IsraelNN.com) The Islamist Hamas terrorist organization has initiated an online course in explosives, military weapons and The sophisticated course includes highly detailed practical and theoretical lessons. tactics for would-be jihad fighters. Aimed at the population of the Palestinian Authority, the course is called "Get Ready" and is designed to prepare the population for war with Israel. First exposed outside Palestinian Authority and jihadist circles on Monday by Israel's Channel 10 TV, the sophisticated course includes highly detailed practical and theoretical lessons, as well as sample videos of jihadist attacks. All manner of weapons are described, analyzed and their proper use...

10/7/2008 - BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (AFNS) -- A 40-person team of Airmen, Sailors and Soldiers from the Kapisa and Parwan Provincial Reconstruction Team recently traveled to a remote village to provide medical services. After traversing a rugged, hand-hewn mountain roads barely wide enough for a Humvee, the team of security and medical experts arrived at Pacha Hawk to fulfill their two month plan to provide medical services to the residents, many of whom had never seen a doctor before. A small group of elders and children met the eight-vehicle convoy as it approached the village center, located in a brown...

CAMDEN, N.J. - Prospective jurors discussed their attitudes toward religion and immigrants Tuesday as a complex process began to seat a jury in the case of five men accused of planning to attack Fort Dix. Lawyers asked questions of 29 potential jurors Tuesday morning, examining whether they could be fair even if they thought Islam encouraged violence or they had family in the military.

Spc. Joseph Urlacher, who serves with the 836th Engineer Company, examines a boy's bleeding foot cut by a piece of glass on Thunder Road in Al Firdaw. Photo by Spc. Charles Wenske. BAGHDAD — While on patrol to Camp Victory, a crew member observed a small group of children in the Al Firdaw district gathered along the roadside around a small boy who appeared wounded and in pain Sept. 26, 2008. The patrol stopped and a close examination revealed the boy had jagged cuts from a piece of glass. “I noticed a knot of children gathered around a small boy...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 7, 2008 – Afghan national security forces and coalition forces killed 43 militants in Qalat district of Afghanistan’s Zabul province Oct. 5, military officials reported. Afghan and coalition forces on patrol received heavy weapons, machine-gun and sniper fire from militants in multiple locations. The combined forces responded with small-arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire as well as close-air support, killing the militants. A coalition forces contracted civilian employee was wounded by enemy fire and was taken to a coalition medical facility. A roadside bomb discovered in a remote area during the incident was destroyed in place. Several weapons were...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 7, 2008 – Coalition forces captured an alleged weapons smuggler in Kut, southeast of Baghdad, and 11 other suspects in operations today, military officials reported. Coalition forces targeted a suspected key member of the Kataib Hezbollah terrorist network believed to be responsible for Iranian-supplied armor-piercing explosives used against Iraqi and coalition forces. Troops approached the targeted individual's location, where he identified himself as the wanted suspect. He and four associates were detained without incident. Coalition forces also discovered numerous passports and several weapons. In Tu Aym, west of Mosul, coalition forces detained four suspects allegedly associated with a...

CAMP RIPPER, Iraq, Oct. 7, 2008 – Even though less-frequent small-arms and roadside-bomb attacks have reduced their combat role here, the Marines are still at the tip of the spear on another battlefront. Navy Cmdr. (Dr.) Michael G. Swanson, Regimental Combat Team 5 regimental surgeon, discusses plans for an upcoming cooperative medical engagement with Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael G. Bundeson, Oct. 2, 2008, at the Regimental Aid Station on Camp Ripper, Iraq. Marine Corps medicine has been instrumental in RCT 5's efforts to gain the trust of key Iraqi leaders, allowing more access to the population so...

Coalition forces commemorate the end of mission for the Armenian component in Iraq at the Joint Visitor Bureau, Camp Victory, Oct. 6, 2008. Armenia has supported Operation Iraqi Freedom since 2005. Photo by Pfc. Eric Glassey. BAGHDAD — The 8th Armenian Contingent conducted an end of mission ceremony at the Joint Visitor Bureau, Camp Victory, Iraq, Oct. 6, 2008. The 46 member contingent worked in support of the Polish brigade, Multi-National Division – Center South, as medical staff, transportation and explosive ordnance disposal personnel. “The Armenian peacekeeping and humanitarian mission in Iraq began in January 2005,� said U.S. Marine Corps...

Senate Democrats and the Bush administration continue to butt heads over Libya despite a historic, multibillion-dollar deal that settled claims made against the government of Moammar Gadhafi by terrorist victims’ families. The problem, according to lobbyists for the families, is that Libya has yet to pay into a $1.8 billion fund that was to be shared by the victims’ families. Libya agreed to set up the fund in exchange for victims’ families dropping lawsuits against the Libyan government. Representatives of the families argue the White House should not be cozying up to Libya when that country is not living up...

CAMP VICTORY, Iraq, Oct. 7, 2008 – The phone at the desk is ringing. At the same time, a soldier is hovering, asking for help with getting lights for an event to be held later. Army Staff Sgt. Christopher Baird, Mountain Visitor Bureau Commandant at the Multinational Division Center headquarters building and a native of Bartlett, Ill., stands by his cubicle at Camp Victory, Iraq, Oct. 2, 2008. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Justin Snyder, Multinational Division Center  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. You can almost sense that a doorknob just broke somewhere or the air conditioning isn’t...

CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq, Oct. 7, 2008 – Unless they’ve been through it themselves, few people understand the hardships that U.S. soldiers endure in a combat zone, away from everything familiar in a foreign land, far away from the support systems of family, home and friends. Army Chaplain (Capt.) Tim Reynolds runs the Soldiers’ Blessing Store on Forward Operating Base Prosperity in Baghdad. The store is stocked with donated items for soldiers to take as needed. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Whitney Houston, Multinational Division Baghdad  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. To help troops counteract the effects of being...

KABUL, Afghanistan, Oct. 7, 2008 – Donations of school supplies and children’s clothing from military families and friends at home are helping deployed New York Army National Guard soldiers in their mission to mentor and train the Afghan national security forces and support the Afghan people. Army Master Sgt. Michael Molgaard helps to unload boxes of donated clothing and school supplies with an Afghan policeman at the Afshar School. U.S. Army photo by Capt. Robert Romano, Combined Joint Task Force Phoenix  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Members of the Afghan National Police delivered hundreds of pounds of schools...

The United States is preparing to hand control of Saddam Hussein's Republican Palace in Baghdad to the Iraqi Government in one of the most symbolic examples of the country's increasing sovereignty. Plans are also under way to turn over swaths of the green zone, which surrounds the palace, to the Iraqi authorities, with Iraqi forces expected to replace US troops at some checkpoints over the next year, according to sources inside the compound. The transition is part of a process in which the Iraqi Government has taken full responsibility for security in 11 out of 18 provinces as its police...

Michelle Obama told a crowd of military families near the Marine Corps' massive base at Camp Lejeune on Tuesday there is "only one candidate" for president who will work to give them the services and care they need. "When I look at the two candidates and their plans for America ... and when I think about the military families I've met across the country and the kind of help that they could use right now - not in four years or eight years but right now - then the choice is clear," the wife of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama...

The Metropolitan Airports Commission has told a judge that six Muslim imams who sued after being kicked off a flight almost two years ago shouldn't be allowed to add an FBI agent as a defendant in the case. Lawyers for the imams claimed last week that they should be allowed to amend their suit because the FBI agent's involvement in the incident was "new evidence," but lawyers for the airports commission said that wasn't the case. "The FBI's specific role was disclosed in the police report and in court filings, well before the deadline to amend passed," the commission argued...

In a recent post I referred to a speech unrepentant domestic terrorist and Obama associate Bill Ayers delivered in Caracas, Venezuela, to the 2006 World Education Forum, sponsored by UNESCO. His text is full of Marxist rhetoric, but that's just Marxist Ayers being Ayers. He's also a professor of education, and there's nothing unusual about his presence at a global forum on education sponsored by an arm of the United Nations. But dig down below the topsoil, and you will discover that the ties between Ayers and Chavez run deeper than his appearance at an academic forum which just happened...

Islamabad, Pakistan (TML) - Pakistan has ordered the deportation of 50,000 Afghani refugees located in one of the tribal regions amid efforts to eradicate Taliban and Al-Qa'ida fighters. Pakistan has announced it is expelling all Afghani refugees in the Bajaur region, alleging they have ties to terror groups. Police in the Bajaur region recently arrested 25 Afghans and said they would be deported. Some of these refugees have been in the area since the1980s. Bajaur is one of the main battlegrounds for Pakistani troops and fighters linked to the Taliban and Al-Qa'ida. Local government official Abd Al-Hasib said the houses...

FBI Warns of Suicide Attacks in U.S. Tuesday, October 7, 2008 12:01 AM Federal officials notified law enforcement agencies Monday of a potential al-Qaida terrorist attack in which public buildings are targeted by suicide bombers. According to NBC News, the analysis by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security describes a scenario where a dozen attackers each carrying 20 kilograms of explosives storm a building, "seal off escape and access points, and occupy it long enough to set and detonate their explosive packages." In the al-Qaida plan, according to the analysis, suicide terrorists "would be able to enter many...

Federal Judge Release Gitmo Detainees into U.S.by Kenneth Hanner (more by this author) Posted 10/07/2008 ET Updated 10/07/2008 ET A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the release of several Chinese Muslim detainees from Guantanamo Bay into the United States. The men all are ethnic Uighurs and come from a region of China that borders Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Chinese government considers them terrorists and the U.S. has refused to return them to their home country due to fears they will be persecuted. The men were detained by the U.S. since their capture in 2001. In 2004, their status as enemy...

US judge orders Chinese Muslims at Guantanamo freed 07 Oct 2008 16:40:00 GMT Source: Reuters WASHINGTON, Oct 7 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the release in the United States of 17 Chinese Muslims who have been held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, a landmark ruling that dealt a major setback to the Bush administration. U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina read his ruling from the bench at a hearing to consider the appeals by the members of the Uighur ethnic group, who are seeking their release from the military prison and and asking to come...

Since the time of Hitler, civilization has never been so close to the brink of total catastrophe. This American election will decide whether civilization as we know it will survive. As much as economic questions are currently front and center, with blame to go all round, this is not an election primarily about corporate greed, or individuals living beyond their means, or government neglect of economic oversight. Nor is it about whether we should have gone into Iraq where, like it or not, American boots on the ground have begun to create an emerging democracy. This election is about whether...

Officially, the central bank holds $8.14 billion (£4.65 billion) of foreign currency, but if forward liabilities are included, the real reserves may be only $3 billion - enough to buy about 30 days of imports like oil and food. Nine months ago, Pakistan had $16 bn in the coffers. The government is engulfed by crises left behind by Pervez Musharraf, the military ruler who resigned the presidency in August. High oil prices have combined with endemic corruption and mismanagement to inflict huge damage on the economy. Given the country's standing as a frontline state in the US-led "war on terrorism",...

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The Pennsylvania Republican Party has released a press release criticizing Sen. Barack Obama's (D-IL) ties to former 1970s radical Bill Ayers and calling the Democrat a "terrorist's best friend."In a written statement entitled "PAGOP: Obama - A Terrorist's Best Friend," state party chairman Robert Gleason said, ""We are electing someone to be our next Commander-in-Chief and I think it is more than fair to look into their background. The Obama Campaign admitted that Obama and Ayers were 'certainly friendly' and that says a lot about Barack Obama's character. Ayers' is a terrorist, and there is no...

. A wishful thinking Iran policy While the Iranian regime openly talks about the destruction of Israel, denies the Holocaust, supports terrorism and arms, trains, funds, and even dispatches the terrorists who murder U.S. troops and innocent Afghans and Iraqis, Obama is favoring a continuance of the Bush Administration policy of doing nothing. Obama's only policy prescription has been to launch top-level, face-to-face meetings between the U.S. president and the top leader of Iran (and other rogue states). Obama does not explain why current negotiations by lower-level staff members are not working (and why his will), and why simply flattering...

Two powerful bombs exploded outside the Iraqi capital's tightly-guarded Green Zone on Tuesday as US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte was ending a visit focused on a controversial military pact. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said an agreement was "very close" and that there were "new ideas and new language" to clinch a mutually-acceptable security deal. "This needs some bold political decisions now," he said. An Iraqi military officer said at least one soldier was wounded in the blasts which went off in quick succession at a time of heavy traffic.

US WARPLANE FORCED TO LAND IN IRAN.

/begin my translation National Security Bureau Director Cai Chaoming: SARS was the biochem warfare agents 2008-10-06 13:45: 14 Cheng Ping Toxic milk scandal erupts in mainland China, and the joke among Internet users is that this is mainland China launching biochemical agents. Although such an accusation is indeed a joke, National Security Bureau Director Cai Chaoming said today at the (Taiwanese) legislature's hearing that National Security Bureau has the evidence that the SARS virus, which drove entire Taiwan into panic several years ago, was the biochemical (warfare) agents. Furthermore, after the United Nations expert's investigation, serious suspicions were raised on...

Friend or Foe? Tough to Tell By Admiral Thad Allen, U.S. Coast Guard The Coast Guard Commandant says we need a new approach to counter the risks of the small vessel threat in our ports and on our waterways. In keeping with the traditions of the sea-going services, I generally start my day with a hot cup of coffee. For the past several years, I have been drinking from a mug with the crest of the USS Cole (DDG-67) on it. I received it as a gift when I was the Coast Guard's Seventh District Commander in Miami, Florida, and...

25 Years Later: We Came in Peace By Colonel Timothy J. Geraghty, U.S. Marine Corps (Retired) In a Proceedings exclusive, the commanding officer of the Marine unit devastated by the suicide bombing of its barracks in Beirut recounts the horror of that October day 25 years ago and calls it a seminal event in the war against Islamist extremists. On Sunday morning, 23 October 1983, I awoke as usual at dawn, dressed, and went below to the 24th Marine Amphibious Unit's Combat Operations Center to check the overnight communications traffic. I roamed outside my headquarters at Beirut International Airport to...

The FBI and Department of Homeland Security today issued an analytical "note" to U.S. law-enforcement officials cautioning that al-Qaida terrorists have in the past expressed interest in attacking public buildings using a dozen suicide bombers each carrying 20 kilograms of explosives. Authors with the U.S. Office of Intelligence and Analysis added that they have "no credible or specific information that terrorists are planning operations against public buildings in the United States." *snip* According to the note obtained by NBC News, a "recently discovered audio recording of al-Qa‘ida training sessions conducted several years ago provides instruction to potential suicide terrorists on...

Who says you just can't make stuff up? Well, Barack Obama does, actually. "You can't just make stuff up," has become one of his favorite stump speech lines. But as we all know, you can just make stuff up, and not just in politics, either. Making stuff up is taught in creative writing classes in college, and those authors who are accomplished at making stuff up are well rewarded for their efforts. British writer Mary Shelley, when she was just 18 years of age, made up a fantastic yarn about a scientist who used parts of corpses to make what...

FBI Warns of Potential Terror Attacks The FBI and Department of Homeland Security today issued an analytical "note" to U.S. law-enforcement officials cautioning that al-Qaida terrorists have in the past expressed interest in attacking public buildings using a dozen suicide bombers each carrying 20 kilograms of explosives. Authors with the U.S. Office of Intelligence and Analysis added that they have "no credible or specific information that terrorists are planning operations against public buildings in the United States." The FBI and DHS analysts said they were releasing the note because "it is important for local authorities and building owners and...

KHAR, Pakistan - Pakistan ordered the deportation of about 50,000 Afghan refugees in an insurgency-wracked tribal region amid a major military offensive against al-Qaida and Taliban fighters. The government said it was expelling all Afghan refugees in the Bajur tribal region, alleging many of them have links to militant groups. Police in the town of Khar in Bajur arrested 25 Afghans and said they would soon be deported.

In the end, the global jihad, and the West's fickle response to radical Islam's assault on its civilization, is about hating Jews. This truth, never wholly hidden from view, was exposed in all its ugliness in recent months with startling disclosures by former Italian president and Senator-for-life Francesco Cossiga. In a letter to Italy's Corriere della Serra in August, Cossiga acknowledged that during the early 1970s, then Italian prime minister Aldo Moro signed an agreement with Yassir Arafat's PLO and affiliated organizations that enabled the Palestinians to field terrorists, operate bases and store weapons in Italy in exchange for immunity...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE MAHMUDIYAH, Iraq, Oct. 6, 2008 – With help from coalition soldiers, the police force here is building a district response team. Iraqi police officers train on building-entry and room-clearing techniques during district response team training at the Mahmudiyah, Iraq, police compound, Sept. 27, 2008. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Christopher McKenna, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “This group of DRT members will make sure Mahmudiyah is not threatened by terrorists,” said Mahmudiyah police officer 1st Lt. Yessir Shabp Abid, future platoon leader for the DRT. “We will...

CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq, Oct. 6, 2008 – He hasn’t always been a retention noncommissioned officer. In fact, he admitted he was a little leery at first about guiding soldiers down the path of re-enlistment. After all, he was on his first tour himself, and had no prior training to assume the vital role as retention NCO. Army Sgt. Mark Shamburger of Hattiesburg, Miss., works on a re-enlistment certificate. Shamburger serves as retention noncommissioned officer and equal opportunity leader in Multinational Division Baghdad with the 890th Engineer Battalion, 926th Engineer Brigade. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Carmen Guerrero, Multinational Division...

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, Oct. 6, 2008 – “Stay alert and stay vigilant,” shouted a chiseled-face soldier during an Oct. 4 pre-convoy briefing at Camp Eggers, Afghanistan. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Matt Hildebrand, Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan force protection, drives an armored bus from Camp Eggers to Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, as soldiers in a silver truck provide security for an Oct. 4, 2008, convoy. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Kevin Wallace, Combined Joint Task Force 101  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Army Staff Sgt. Carlos Padilla was one of five servicemembers charged with securing...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 6, 2008 – Coalition forces captured 10 suspected terrorists in northern and central Iraq today as they continued to disrupt al-Qaida in Iraq networks, military officials reported. Coalition forces targeted an alleged terrorist courier believed to have ties to regional al-Qaida in Iraq leaders during an operation near Sharqat, about 55 miles south of Mosul, officials said. Three suspects believed to be associates of the wanted man also were detained during the operation. Two coordinated coalition operations in Fallujah, about 35 miles west of Baghdad, targeted the city's al-Qaida in Iraq car- and roadside-bomb networks, officials said. Seven...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 6, 2008 – Violent attacks in northern Iraq have dropped by 60 percent in the past year, and progress in the region has left the insurgency broken, a senior commander in the area said today. “Our assessment is that the insurgency has become fractured, certainly still capable and lethal, and they are increasingly relying on intimidation to garner support from local populace,” said Army Maj. Gen. Mark P. Hertling, commander of Multinational Division North. Hertling briefed Pentagon reporters via satellite from Contingency Operating Base Spiker outside of Tikrit, Iraq. Coalition forces working alongside improved Iraqi security forces have...

JAMILLA, Iraq, Oct. 6, 2008 – Iraqi children in Baghdad’s Sadr City district are preparing to start the school year in safer, refurbished facilities, thanks to the work of U.S. soldiers here. Workers rebuild a wall at Al-Wadi School in Sadr City's Jamilla neighborhood, Oct. 1, 2008. Schools in Sadr City are being rebuilt by the Iraqi government and U.S. soldiers assigned to the 1st Armored Division, which is currently attached to 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. U.S. Army photo by 2nd Lt. Gordon Bostick, Multinational Division Baghdad  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Before Company A,...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq, Oct. 6, 2008 – Two Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers streamlined the voting process for hundreds of servicemembers and civilians here Oct. 3-5. Army Sgts. Asa Rubman and Rachel Littenberg, paralegal specialists assigned to Multinational Division Baghdad with the 4th Infantry Division’s Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, help servicemembers and civilians register to vote Oct. 4, 2008, at Forward Operating Base Falcon, Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. David Hodge, Multinational Division Baghdad   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Army Sgts. Asa Rubman and Rachel Littenberg, paralegal specialists assigned to the...

CAMP TAJI — It’s business as usual for the volunteer security force known as the Sons of Iraq (Abna al Iraq) in Tarmiyah, northwest of Baghdad, as they patrol their city streets day and night. As Soldiers from Company A, 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, “Golden Dragons,” 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, “Warrior,” 25th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad conducted a routine SoI checkpoint recon, Sept. 29, 2008, they saw what they always see: SoI guards manning their posts, doing their jobs. “There hasn’t been any change,” according to Spc. Bryan Austin, a 23-year-old Golden Dragon squad leader from...

FOB LOYALTY — Community leaders brought additional power to the people of Jisr Diyala when they unveiled new micro-power generators in the Karadah District of eastern Baghdad, Sept. 30. Ali Al Abdilzahara, president of essential services for the Zafaraniyah area, cut the ribbon to mark the momentous event; the generators will provide power to 300 Jisr Diyala households for up to 12 hours a day. Sabah Alrobaiey, neighborhood council chairman of Jisr Diyala, and Soldiers from 5th Battalion, 25th Field Artillery, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad, were on hand to help residents celebrate the...

SAQLAWAIYAH — It was local Iraqi’s unshakable resolve which stood at the forefront of a project to rebuild two schools destroyed in the wake of two terrorist bombing attacks last year. The Iraqis, with assistance from numerous Coalition Civil Affairs Teams, finished reconstruction of the al Iqitdar and al Churhabil schools here, Sept. 21. Marines with Civil Affairs, Detachment 3, Team 4, attached to Task Force 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 1, managed the Iraqi-led reconstruction projects for the past six months. “We assisted in the funding, oversaw each phase of reconstruction and held Iraqi contractors to...

Britain to Spy On Every Call, Email and Text Monday, October 6, 2008 5:10 PM A top secret program being developed by British spymasters soon may allow them to snoop on every computer, text message and phone call in the United Kingdom, according to plans revealed this week. The program — called the Interception Modernization Program — is part of a $20 billion effort being pushed by GCHQ, the government’s secret eavesdropping agency, according to the Times of London. It would easily be the largest surveillance system ever created in Britain, and quite possibly any Western democracy. The British already...

BAGHDAD — Iraqi Police and Multi-National Division - Baghdad Soldiers visited Zawra Park in the Karkh District of Baghdad for a firsthand view of the bustling area, Oct. 5. Huge numbers of visitors came to the busy city park as part of Eid al Fitr, the three-day celebration that marks the end of the Ramadan month of fasting. “It’s a big celebration today,” said Lt. Col. Robert Kirby, commander of 4th Battalion, 42nd Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. “You’ve got the end of Ramadan festival when everyone breaks the fast, and this has always been...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER — Local Iraqi construction workers recently completed an irrigation canal and water pump project on the outskirts of Amarah, in the Maysan province. “We are very appreciative of these improvements,” said Sheik Haj Hatim Sadkhan, a local city leader. “We will continue to support the government of Iraq and Coalition forces.” The new structure will give 20 local farmers the ability to farm an additional 400 hectare of land annually. The month-long project, which was completed Sept. 29, provides the farmers with an improved irrigation system to grow more crops during the upcoming season. This project...

October 06, 2008, 9:25 a.m. No More Tactical RetreatsHow about a real debate on the surge? By Pete Hegseth Televised debates give candidates the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of the issues, as well as communicate their priorities to the nation. In these times, Americans are looking for leaders who comprehend the foreign policy challenges facing our country and have a grasp of how to address them. To that end, the US military’s most significant course change in the War on Terror, and the dominant fact of our experience in Iraq since early 2007, has been the surge strategy....