Free Republic

SENATE, No. 1415 STATE OF NEW JERSEY 213th LEGISLATURE INTRODUCED MARCH 3, 2008 Sponsored by: Senator STEVEN V. OROHO District 24 (Sussex, Hunterdon and Morris) SYNOPSIS Permits use of deadly force against black bears in certain cases. CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT As introduced. An Act concerning black bears and the lawful use of deadly force, and supplementing chapter 4 of Title 23 of the Revised Statutes. Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey: 1. a. In addition to the lawful taking of a black bear by a licensed hunter during authorized times...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 31, 2008 – As Iraqi maneuver units continue to make great progress, coalition trainers must concentrate on “enablers” of the force, the general in charge of the effort to train Iraqi forces said today. Army Lt. Gen. James M. Dubik, commander of Multinational Security Transition Command Iraq, spoke to military analysts by phone from his headquarters in Baghdad. He said coalition and Iraqi planners understand that enablers -- combat service support functions for the military -- must make progress for the Iraqi military to be a balanced force. The combat units of the Iraqi army are doing well;...

Hugo Chavez leveled a threat against Venezuelan farmers over the weekend, another step in creating his socialist paradise. He called farmers who sell abroad to gain a better price for their goods "traitors", and told his ministers to identify them so that he could send the Army to confiscate their property: President Hugo Chavez threatened on Sunday to take over farms or milk plants if owners refuse to sell their milk for domestic consumption and instead seek higher profits abroad or from cheese-makers. With the country recently facing milk shortages, Chavez said "it's treason" if farmers deny milk to Venezuelans...

Tue November 20, 2007Hopes Flew With Lame Jet By Bryan Dean Staff Writer A four-star general pinned medals Monday on 12 airmen and nine civilians from Tinker Air Force Base for their role in salvaging a B-1B bomber after an engine fire left the jet crippled on an airstrip in Afghanistan. The plane landed at an airfield in Afghanistan in mid-August after a fire warning went off during a mission. The jet's No. 4 engine was in flames, and firefighters had to extinguish the blaze after the plane landed. The Air Force had a tough choice. The fire caused significant...

Does the United States Air Force (USAF) fit into the post–September 11 world, a world in which the military mission of U.S. forces focuses more on counterterrorism and counterinsurgency? Not very well. Even the new counterinsurgency manual authored in part by Gen. David H. Petraeus, specifically notes that the excessive use of airpower in counterinsurgency conflict can lead to disaster. In response, the Air Force has gone on the defensive. In September 2006, Maj. Gen. Charles Dunlap Jr. published an article in Armed Forces Journal denouncing "boots on the ground zealots," and insisting that airpower can solve the most important...

Everyone knows our health-care system, superior as it is in so many ways, is too expensive, too bureaucratic and wasteful. Basically, we hand over about $2.2 trillion each year to hospitals, insurance companies and government paper-pushers -- and then we let them micromanage our health care like we are helpless babies, not rational consumers. Everyone also knows by now that Canada’s “free� national health care system -- like its sibling socialistic systems in Britain and France -- is a just another Big Government fraud. So can any wealthy, modern country get health care right without resorting to socialism? Yes. You...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 13, 2007 – The all-volunteer military force is serving the nation well, and no one in the Pentagon is considering a return to a military draft, a Defense Department official said today. “There is absolutely no consideration being given to reinstituting a draft,” Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said today during a morning meeting with reporters. Whitman said the current all-volunteer force is doing the job, and doing it well. “The all-volunteer force has surpassed all of the expectations of its founders,” Whitman said. “The volunteer force is more experienced, more motivated to serve and reenlist. It’s more educated,...

US Force Not Ruled Out in Pakistan Sunday July 22, 2007 4:16 PM By HOPE YEN Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. would consider military force if necessary to stem al-Qaida's growing ability to use its hideout in Pakistan to launch terrorist attacks, a White House aide said Sunday. The president's homeland security adviser, Fran Townsend, said the U.S. was committed first and foremost to working with Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, in his efforts to control militants in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region. But she indicated the U.S. was ready to take additional measures. ``Just because we don't speak...

WASHINGTON, July 20, 2007 – What began as a shared love of German cars has morphed through friendship into a passion to honor, educate and entertain servicemembers, Operation Wheels of Freedom’s program director said. Military children receive large-scale Hot Wheels toy cars during an Operation Wheels of Freedom event to honor, entertain and educate servicemembers. Mattel, one of the group’s sponsors, has provided thousands of the toys. Operation Wheels of Freedom courtesy photo   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “We are a group of committed car guys who want to do our part to say thanks to the...

Lawyers for Mohamed al Fayed today launched an astonishing bid to force the Queen to give evidence in the Diana, Princess of Wales inquest. They called for the monarch to be "directly approached" over conversations she allegedly had with former royal butler Paul Burrell. Mr Burrell, who previously worked for the Princess, claimed after the collapse of his Old Bailey trial for theft that the monarch had once warned him of "powers at work in this country which we have no knowledge about".Mohamed al Fayed has fought a long battle over the inquest of his son, Dodi, and Diana, Princess...

SAN YSIDRO -- As planning begins to reduce the number of National Guard troops along the border with Mexico, less than 1,000 of 6,000 new U.S. Border Patrol agents that the Bush administration wants in place by the end of next year have been hired. As of March 17, the Border Patrol has only been able to hire and train 593 new agents or 9 percent of the administration's goal, according to Javier Rios, a Border Patrol spokesman in Washington. Screening new agents and a lengthy training process have resulted in the relatively small number of new hires. By the...

WASHINGTON, April 6, 2007 – The partnership between Iraqi and U.S. soldiers is helping to tamp down insurgent violence northwest of Baghdad, a senior U.S. military officer assigned in Iraq said today. “The key to this counterpart relationship is our partnering of one U.S. company to each Iraqi army battalion,” Army Col. Paul E. Funk, commander of the 1st “Iron Horse” Brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division, told Pentagon reporters during a satellite-carried news conference from his headquarters in Iraq. Assigned to Multinational Division Baghdad, Funk and his 3,800 soldiers have teamed with Iraqi Army troops and police forces...

An anonymous reader writes "The author of the Windows Vista keygen that was reported yesterday has admitted that the program does not actually work. Here is the initial announcement of the original release of the keygen, and here is the followup post in which the same author acknowledges that the program is fake. Apparently, the keygen program does legitimately attack Windows Vista keys via brute force, but the chances of success are too low for this to be a practical method. Quote from the author: 'Everyone who said they got a key is probably lying or mistaken!'"

WASHINGTON, Feb. 26, 2007 – When troops ask the military’s highest-ranking officer questions about the war in Iraq, force levels or tour lengths, Marine Gen. Peter Pace is eager to answer frankly and completely. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff fielded questions Feb. 22 and 23 from active duty, National Guard and Reserve troops in Alaska at the Army’s Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks, and at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage. After brief opening remarks, Pace told the troops he’d rather answer their questions than “talk at them.” The troops responded with questions on the global picture...

NHRA and ESPN “Force Feeds it’s Viewers All Weekend” Some people like John Force. But, like oil in an engine, you can have too much. Last weekend’s broadcast of the Winternationals in Pomona was wall to wall Force; if it wasn’t John, it was his daughter Ashley. But the good news was that Ashley didn’t subject us to the yabber-yabbers that has made her father famous. He’s the Dino Flintstone of Auto Sports; Ashley is a mild mannered young lady straining to reach the loquacious levels of her father. The coverage of the qualifying days featured John and Ashley. Then...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 19, 2007 – An increase in the active-duty military and changes to the policies for reserve forces announced this month by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates are aimed to increase the military’s overall capabilities, a senior defense official said here today. “This build is about the whole range of capabilities that makes American military forces effective,” David S. C. Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, said at a Pentagon news conference. “Particularly, it is designed to relieve the pressure on units that are described as ‘high-demand, low-density,’ meaning in plain English, there aren’t enough.” Gates...

BAGHDAD — The Airport Road here was once one of the most violent and dangerous roads in the country. Roadside bombs, small-arms and rocket-propelled grenade attacks were an everyday occurrence. Visiting dignitaries, news reporters and the soldiers tasked with providing security were well aware of these dangers along this five-mile stretch, known to the coalition forces as Route Irish. Things began to change in late 2004 and early 2005. The coalition recognized the critical importance of this main artery between Baghdad International Airport and the International Zone, located in the heart of Baghdad. A new focus was given to clear...

The emergence of a video showing a Los Angeles police officer repeatedly punching a suspect in the face has thrust the LAPD into the national spotlight again over officers' use of force and whether the department has fostered a "warrior" culture despite more than a decade of reforms. The video, which surfaced on the Internet site YouTube.com last week, shows one officer holding down William Cardenas, 23, as another places his knee on Cardenas' neck and punches him a half-dozen times. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Los Angeles Police Department have launched investigations. Police and city officials have...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 31, 2006 -- A planned increase in Iraqi security forces is a result of ongoing assessments of the situation in Iraq and will allow coalition forces to shift to more of a supporting role in that country, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said here today. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld escorts Estonian Defense Minister Jurgen Ligi through a cordon of honor guards and into the Pentagon, Oct. 31. The two defense leaders met to discuss a range of international issues of mutual interest. Photo by James M. Bowman   '(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Speaking after...

This war against terrorism has been going on since the '80's, but no one has really wanted to understand what it is. It is never going away. You can't wash it away, or rehabilitate it. They will destroy every man, woman, and child on this earth who does not believe in and adhere to their way of life. It is as simple as that. The problem is we have, thus far, not been willing to destroy them. They get medals for cutting our heads off, whereas we go to jail for putting underwear on their heads.

Nobel winner says feminism can help IranBy Erin Gartner, Associated Press Writer September 15, 2006 RALEIGH, N.C. --Shirin Ebadi, the Iranian human rights activist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003, said supporting feminist movements in the Islamic world would better promote democracy than military force. "Instead of bringing democracy with cluster bombs, we should support women fighting for democracy," Shirin Ebadi said through an interpreter Thursday during a speech at Meredith College, a women's university in Raleigh. A lawyer, former judge and writer in Iran, Ebadi spoke in Farsi to about 1,000 people about fighting for human rights...

BAGHDAD — Coalition forces reiterated their commitment to the Iraqi security forces and the Government of Iraq on Monday, pledging to stand by them as they face the complex challenges inherent in building and protecting a new democracy. During a joint press conference, representatives of the Iraqi government and the multi-national Coalition discussed ongoing efforts to secure peace and prosperity throughout the country. Brig. Gen. Qassim Mousawi, spokesman for the general commander of the Iraqi Armed Forces, discussed the strength of Iraqi forces and the positive trend in the number of Iraqis who have volunteered to serve their country. “The...

China ups Lebanon force to 1,000 China sent 180 engineers to Lebanon before the recent fighting China will increase its peacekeeping presence in Lebanon to 1,000 troops, Premier Wen Jiabao has confirmed. The move would make China one of the largest contributors to a strengthened UN force designed to keep the peace. It would also signal that China, now the world's fourth largest economy, was starting to lift its diplomacy in areas it had previously not seen as vital. The UN wants to raise troop numbers in southern Lebanon to 15,000 as part of UN Security Council Resolution 1701. It...

Nothing on the planet can see the F-22, much less outfight it. But when the F-35 comes online, the two will literally dominate the skies. The F-35 will be able to see virtually hundreds of airplanes at distances far exceeding the scope of previous fighter systems. Tracking distances are classified, but the new aircraft's sight range is said to be twice that of existing fighters (about 40 miles in every direction for existing aircraft).

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, Sept. 13, 2006 -- Staff Sgt. Mike Myers experienced one of the most frightening events of his life in Afghanistan, while the birth of his child was taking place simultaneously more than 7,000 miles away. Army Staff Sgt. Mike Myers explains what happened to him on a recent mission as he sits in the driver's seat of a Humvee he was operating when it was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. The attack came Sept. 6 at almost the same time his son was being born in the U.S. Myers is a security forces member deployed...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 11, 2006 – We remember where we were that day. At 9:38 a.m., the entire Pentagon shook. I went outside and saw the horrific face of war in the 21st century. Those present could feel the heat of the flames and smell the burning jet fuel -- all that remained of American Airlines flight 77. Destruction surrounded us: smoldering rubble, twisted steel, victims in agony. Last week, President Bush greeted the families of September 11 victims in the East Room of the White House and told them about the efforts to bring to justice those who attacked our...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 8, 2006 – Army leaders are committed to ensuring soldiers have the best force-protection capability possible, but also want to avoid giving soldiers a false sense of security, service officials said here today. Maj. Gen. Jeffrey A, Sorenson, the Army’s deputy for acquisition and systems management, took exception to an NBC News report that said the Army is not buying an Israeli system, called Trophy, that could protect soldiers and their vehicles from rocket-propelled grenades. The report alleges the Army manipulated information in favor of a competing Raytheon system, called Quick Kill. Both the Israeli and Raytheon systems...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 6, 2006 -- U.S. Air Force special investigators and Kyrgyz authorities are continuing search efforts to locate an Air Force officer missing since Sept 5, officials said. Maj. Jill Metzger, personnel chief at the 376th Air Expeditionary Wing, was last seen by a group of her coworkers at the Zum shopping center in the capital city of Bishkek. “We will not rest until we find Major Metzger,” said Col. Joel “Scott” Reese, the wing’s commander. “She is an extremely valuable member of our warfighting team, and we are doing everything in our power to locate and return her...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 6, 2006 – As the Iraqi army gains in numbers and capability, so too does the country’s air force, which aims to grow to 2,500 airmen by the year’s end, the commander of the Coalition Air Force Transition Team said. Air Force Brig. Gen. Stephen L. Hoog cited impressive improvement over the past six months, noting that the Iraqi air force continues to grow and improve its ability support the counterinsurgency mission. The Iraqi air force’s counterinsurgency mission consists primarily of aerial observation and surveillance and air transportation. Officials believe it is critical for Iraq’s long-term ability to...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 6, 2006 – For the man who now serves as the senior enlisted advisor to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, watching the televised image of an airliner hitting the World Trade Center signaled the end of an era as the country was thrust into war. Army Command Sgt. Maj. William J. Gainey, then regimental sergeant major for the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment at Fort Polk, La., said he remembers returning home after an early morning run Sept. 11, 2001, and flipping on the TV news as he cooled down. Gainey was transfixed by shots of...

WINTHROP, Wash., Sep. 3, 2006 -- Task Force Blaze is returning home to Fort Lewis, Wash., today, following a three-week deployment to fight wildfires in the state’s north-central region. Spc. Aldo Gonzalez lights a fire as part of a burnout operation. Gonzalez is one of 550 soldiers making up Task Force Blaze, which deployed to firelines Aug. 17 to assist civilian firefighters with containing the huge Tripod Complex fire near Winthrop, Wash. Gonzalez is an Avenger crew member assigned to 5th Battalion, 5th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, Fort Lewis, Wash. Photo by Patti Bielling  '(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available....

BEIRUT, Lebanon - The U.N. force in Lebanon will soon receive the first real boost in weapons and manpower: one battalion each of Italian and French troops with heavy armor, including tanks and artillery, officials said Thursday. Nearly 1,000 Italian soldiers are due in the war-battered southern port of Tyre on Saturday, the largest addition yet to the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL, spokesman Alexander Ivanko told The Associated Press. So far, only 250 extra French troops have arrived since a Security Council resolution promising an expanded U.N. force halted a month of fierce clashes between Israel and...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 27, 2006 – Three coalition force soldiers were injured in a weapons accident at Camp Echo, Iraq, yesterday. Meanwhile, a hostage was released based on a tip and nine suspected insurgents were detained in three separate incidents on Aug 23, according to officials in Iraq. One American and two Polish soldiers wounded in the Camp Echo incident early yesterday morning were treated immediately at the base military hospital. The American soldier and one of the Polish soldiers were transported to the military hospital in Baghdad for further treatment, and their status was listed as stable yesterday, officials said....

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Aug. 23, 2006 – Two Air Force legal leaders journeyed through Southwest Asia from Aug. 14 to 17, stopping in Kabul, Afghanistan, for a two-day seminar and lending their expertise to help train and inform Afghan military legal leaders on the rule of law. Maj. Gen. Jack Rives, Air Force judge advocate general, and Col. Lindsey Graham, an appellate military judge, made their way to the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing legal office and the Combined Air Operations Center at this undisclosed forward-deployed location, as a last stop before returning to the United States. They attended a seminar sponsored...

8/17/2006 - RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFPN) -- The Air Force is on track to make its recruiting goal this year, marking the seventh consecutive year the service has brought in the right number and mix of new Airmen. To date, 25,645 people have enlisted in the Air Force and entered active duty in fiscal 2006. That puts the Air Force on pace to send 30,750 men and women to basic training and technical schools to fill jobs in more than 150 areas. In response to the Air Force's force shaping, fiscal 2007 recruiting goals have been reduced by...

Israel has told the United Nations that it will oppose the inclusion of troops from countries such as Malaysia in a planned U.N. force for southern Lebanon, a senior Israeli official said on Aug. 16. "Israel has informed the U.N. in no uncertain terms that it will not accept any countries in the force that do not have diplomatic relations with Israel," the official told Reuters.

For those who may never have served in an elite unit, laughing and singing in the face of death, boasting about wanting to fight and welcoming the sting of battle, might seem like the behavior of disturbed, socially disconnected people. Nothing could be further from the truth.

8/14/2006 - BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- Air Force Theater Hospital records here indicate that in the past year the number of combat-wounded Iraqis is increasing while U.S. casualties seen at the hospital are beginning to decrease. In a strange twist, this means more work for the U.S. Air Force and Army surgeons who performed more than 1,200 surgical procedures in July, nearly doubling April's tally. "Today, the ratio of trauma patients is about 40 percent U.S. and 60 percent Iraqi," said Col. George P. Costanzo, 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group commander here. "Eight months ago, the ratio was about...

8/11/2006 - BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq -- During a 24-hour shift that began at 7 a.m. on Aug. 7, an Air Force surgeon treated 18 patients with injuries that varied from a crushed foot and multiple improvised explosive device penetrations to gunshot wounds through the thigh and head. For Air Force Maj. (Dr.) Steve Barnes, the surgeon of the day, this meant nine operations, five of which were performed on Americans, three on Iraqis and one insurgent. "I volunteered to come to Balad for both personal and professional reasons," said the trauma surgeon instructor based at Cincinnati's University Hospital in...

BEIRUT (AP) - United Nations peacekeepers were dispatched Friday to evacuate about 350 Lebanese soldiers and police detained by Israeli forces in Marjayoun after Israeli soldiers swept into the southern Lebanese town, the UN command said. Two armoured vehicles from the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, a 2,000-member peacekeeping force deployed in southern Lebanon, headed to Marjayoun, which Israeli forces occupied on Thursday, "to facilitate" the withdrawal of the Lebanese force to government territory in the north. But the UN unit, which made it to the Marjayoun barracks, was unable to leave with the Lebanese force because the roads out...

Israel to triple force on Lebanon front line By Tim Butcher, Adrian Blomfield in Tyre and Harry Mount in New York (Filed: 10/08/2006) Israel vowed yesterday to expand the ground war in Lebanon to try to deliver a knockout blow to Hizbollah, amid warnings that the conflict could last at least another month. The decision by the security cabinet after a six-hour meeting in Jerusalem increased the pressure on major powers struggling to win agreement on a United Nations resolution to end the four-week-old conflict. Israel plans to triple the size of its ground forces "Plans by defence minister Amir...

8/8/2006 - ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam (AFPN) -- At first glance, he looks like any other Air Force pilot: olive-green flight suit, polished boots and a bluish-gray flight cap with rank insignia prominently displayed. On closer inspection, you realize the little differences. His shoulder boards don't feature bars or leaves, but instead a combination of blue and gray stripes. When you hear him speak, his distinct accent tells you this is no ordinary Air Force pilot. Royal Air Force Squadron Leader David Arthurton is a pilot with the 13th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, flying the B-2 Spirit bomber with the...

WASHINGTON, August 6, 2006 – The NATO force in southern Afghanistan has met resistance from the Taliban and other criminal elements, but the force remains committed to establishing a safe and secure environment in the region, NATO’s supreme allied commander Europe said Aug. 4. “NATO's operations in the southern region are focused on establishing a safe and secure environment in order to permit the government and international aid organizations to bring elements of reconstruction and hope for a better future to this region,” U.S. Marine Gen. James L. Jones, NATO’s supreme allied commander Europe and commander of U.S. European Command,...

A FNC reporter this AM (8/6/06) in a whining voice states that Israel is using too much disproportionant force. I believe his first name was Jeff. Question to Jeff: Is this some type of a sports event where the opponents are supposed to be evenly matched so as to present a even matched game? If you think this you need to drink more "kool-aid". Finally one of FNC made a mistake and admitted there are people in North Israel. Are these people civilians. And are the huzzies bombing civilians? Israel should use twice the force they are using. By the...

8/1/2006 - CORALVILLE, Iowa (AFPN) -- Tears don’t fall lightly from a colonel, especially in front of more than 120 other Airmen. But when Col. John Clarke presented Pamela Vineyard a plaque, representing a weeklong bike ride across the state of Iowa, the tears were evidence of the inspiring and amazing example of her strength and character. Her strength and character were tested, along with 101 other Air Force cyclists and 10,000 others in the Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa, or RAGBRAI, a more than 450-mile bike ride spanning a week. It had been more than 20 years...

WASHINGTON, July 31, 2006 – In taking over responsibility for southern Afghanistan, the NATO International Security Assistance Force is bringing thousands more troops and greater capability to the area and investing in the country’s future, the U.S. general in charge of coalition forces in Afghanistan said today. “Today marks the end of coalition leadership in the south, but it also begins a new chapter in the partnership of the Afghan and international community as, together, they continue to build an Afghanistan that is a viable, self-sustaining member of the international community free from international terror,” U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Karl...

The Bush administration is now entangled in a risky new diplomatic venture in the Middle East -- and one with huge potential pitfalls even if Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice succeeds in negotiating a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah in the days ahead, according to several former diplomats and specialists with long experience in the region. The controversial U.S. position -- which has pitted Washington against most European and Arab allies that pressed unsuccessfully for an immediate cease-fire -- also reflects a shift back to the Bush administration's first-term strategy, foreign policy specialists said. With Rice at the helm of...

WASHINGTON, July 21, 2006 – Air Force C-17 Globemaster III crews assigned to the 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron operating in Southwest Asia have added another mission to their resume, providing humanitarian civil assistance to the effort to evacuate Americans from Lebanon. Airlift operations have responded quickly to the urgent needs in the Middle East, supporting U.S. citizens evacuating from Lebanon to Cyprus, U.S. Central Command Air Forces officials said. The 816th EAS is flying water and meals, as well as essential personnel and equipment, to Royal Air Force Base Akrotiri on the island of Cyprus. In the first four...

U.S. Army Spc. Lindaann Galeai, who mans the computer help desk for Task Force 3, practices grenade throwing in mobilization training at Fort McCoy, Wis. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Sam McClarty Task Force 3 Trains to Deploy Medical personnel undergo training to prepare them for combat duty in Iraq. By U.S. Army Maj. Bob Hart 3rd MEDCOM Public Affairs Officer FORT MCCOY, Wis., July 19, 2006 -- Medical care in Operation Iraqi Freedom has progressed to the point that soldiers who are injured there are now surviving at the highest rate in U.S. military history. One of...

WASHINGTON, July 18, 2006 – While U.S. authorities in Cyprus are expecting to evacuate at least 5,000 Americans from Lebanon, they are preparing for any contingency, the commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command said today. Navy Vice Adm. Patrick M. Walsh, who also commands the U.S. 5th Fleet, briefed Pentagon reporters from his headquarters in Bahrain. Nine U.S. Navy ships are converging on Lebanon from U.S. Central Command and from U.S. European Command. The European Command ships are arriving in the "joint operating area" already, Walsh said. The CENTCOM ships are expected over the next few days. DoD also...