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The deeper problem here is the belief that the best way to deal with insurgents is to address the "root causes" of the grievance that purportedly prompted them to take up arms. But what most of these insurgencies seek isn't social or moral redress: It's absolute power. Like other "liberation movements" (the PLO comes to mind), the Tigers are notorious for killing other Tamils seen as less than hard line in their views of the conflict. The failure to defeat these insurgencies thus becomes the primary obstacle to achieving a reasonable political settlement acceptable to both sides. This isn't to...

Home-grown 'champion of Islam' Stewart Bell, National Post April 25, 2008 TORONTO -Naeem Muhammad Khan wants everyone to "Support Our Troops," but he's not talking about the Canadian Forces in Kandahar. From his apartment in Toronto, Mr. Khan has been posting messages on the Internet calling Osama bin Laden a "hero" and "champion of Islam." The 23-year-old fundamentalist's online logo combines the black Taliban flag and the outline of an AK-47 above the "Support Our Troops" slogan. Between sips of iced coffee at Tim Hortons, Mr. Khan explained that he is a supporter of the Taliban, as well as other...

BAGHDAD - Muqtada al-Sadr is considering setting aside his political ambitions and restarting a full-scale fight against U.S.-led forces — a worrisome shift that may reflect Iranian influence on the young cleric and could open the way for a shadow state protected by his powerful Mahdi Army. A possible breakaway path — described to The Associated Press by Shiite lawmakers and politicians — would represent the ultimate backlash to the Iraqi government's pressure on al-Sadr to renounce and disband his Shiite militia. By snubbing the give-and-take of politics, al-Sadr would have a freer hand to carve out a kind of...

March 15, 2008 I fought for my land against the US. Now I fight alongside them An Iraqi tells our correspondent of his long and violent journey to the side of the alliance forces April 8, 2004: Iraqi Sunni insurgents celebrate in front of a burning US convoy that they attacked near Abu Ghraib, on the outskirts of the flashpoint town of Fallujah Deborah Haynes, Baghdad As a loyal officer under Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi major never imagined that one day he would become an insurgent, but when Iraq fell five years ago he was left bitter, jobless and desperate...

BAGHDAD - The abandoned apartment block known as the Pepsi building vanished in seconds, leaving a 30-foot-deep blast crater and a ring of destruction for a quarter mile in every direction through a shanty district in Mosul. Then on Thursday — even before the final death count was tallied — came more bloodshed: A suicide bomber killed a police chief and two other officers as they toured the devastation from the previous day. Residents with insurgent sympathies taunted the chief moments before the attack. Two deadly days have underscored what some U.S. military commanders fear is ahead for the northern...

The U.S. military tries to keep its distance from the enemy, which is why there is a lot of emphasis now on robots that can disable roadside bombs from a distance. While we know insurgents are everywhere in Iraq, we don't tend to think of soldiers encountering them head on. But they do, as this fascinating Army Times story about a soldier who survived being knifed in the forehead by an insurgent. Doctors estimate that at least four inches of the knife was plunged into his head. The attack occurred at a cordoned-off blast site. What saved him was medical...

News FuzeArticle Launched:KABUL, Afghanistan—A joint U.S. coalition and Afghan operation has left 120 insurgents dead over the past 20 days in central Ghazni province, the Interior Ministry said Monday. Last month, the Afghan army dropped leaflets warning of impending military action in Ghazni—the province where the recent South Korean hostage crisis played out—though the army said the operation had been long-planned and was not linked to the kidnappings.

The United States “is not good at counter insurgency and never has been”, according to George Friedman, Chief Executive Officer of Strategic Forecasting. He also calls for an end to the limitedly successful Surge in order to redeploy troops to Kuwait or the uninhabited south west of Iraq, so that they might “flank” any expansive Iranian moves toward Saudi Arabia (for example). First and foremost, the lessons of 2003 to 2006 in Iraq show Iraqi and foreign resistance/insurgency is inversely proportional to the size of the U.S. or U.K. footprint. Dr. Friedman’s analysis calls for a reversal of successful policies...

Saif Abdallah says his inventions have helped kill or maim scores, possibly hundreds, of Americans. For more than four years, he has been developing remote-control devices that Sunni insurgents use to detonate improvised explosive devices (IEDs), the roadside bombs that are the No. 1 killer of U.S. soldiers in Iraq. The only time he ever felt a pang of regret was in the spring of 2006, when he heard that the Pentagon, in a bid to fight the growing IED menace, had roped in a team of scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Abdallah, an electronics engineer by training,...

BAGHDAD, June 6 -- A Sunni insurgent group that waged a deadly street battle last week against the rival group al-Qaeda in Iraq in a Sunni neighborhood of west Baghdad announced Wednesday that the two forces had declared a cease-fire. The Islamic Army of Iraq, a more moderate and secular Sunni group, said it had reached the cease-fire with al-Qaeda in Iraq because the groups did not want to spill Muslim blood or damage "the project of jihad." Last week, the two groups fought for several days in the Sunni neighborhood of Amiriyah, leaving about 30 of their fighters dead....

Remember that one kid you used to know that always got so mad that he would quit whatever game was being played because no one was doing what he wanted to do? Oh, he was an OK guy, but at least one time in every play session he would skulk off to the corner and pout. His pouting didn't alter anyone else's behavior, of course, and it certainly didn't cause anyone to run after him to cajole him to return, but he went off in a snit just the same. Remember how the response to his pouting was merely a...

How to Kill a Car

U.S. Military Foils Insurgent Attack Published: 3/27/07, 4:05 PM EDT BAGHDAD (AP) - U.S. soldiers foiled two suicide truck bombings against their base in a small town west of Baghdad and killed as many as 15 attackers, the U.S. military reported Tuesday. The attacks began when a water truck tried to drive into the base just north of Karmah, a town not far from the city of Fallujah, at about 2 p.m. Monday. A soldier opened fire and the truck bomb exploded. The military said 30 insurgents responded with small-arms fire, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars. Five minutes into the firefight,...

Ultraviolent War GameIn this war game, you get to destroy Iraqi insurgents, mutants, demons, and more, with a wide variety of weapons. Blast demons with your shotgun, take out a Japanese gunner with your grenade, toast an insurgent with your flamethrower... and watch the body parts scatter! If you like it, be sure to Digg it!

The commander of American reinforcements to Iraq, General John Keane, was in London on Wednesday to talk about the progress of the counterinsurgency campaign and its prospects. America, he said, had adopted the wrong strategy to deal with the disorders at the outset. It tried to solve the problem by conventional military methods, using force against force in an attempt to defeat the insurgency by killing those who were waging it, when what was needed was something more like police action, providing Iraqi cities with security, so that citizens could resume their normal lives with a reasonable assurance that they...

A terrorist recruitment video features “Anderson Cooper 360″ as inspiration for jihadis to join. His clip is used at nearly the halfway point. Clip was sent to Pat Dollard from SGT Welsh. Here is a summary translation from jveritas: It is a propaganda piece made the by the terrorists and begins by stating some quotes and attributing it to that American political and military leaders. These quotes say “We are losing this war and Bush is lying, the war was the great move in the wrong direction, we are in quagmire, our soldiers morals are in the abyss, etc..” Then...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The U.S. military warned Thursday that insurgents are adopting new tactics in a campaign to spread panic after troops uncovered a car bomb factory with propane tanks and chlorine cylinders — possible ingredients for more chemical attacks following three explosions involving chlorine. Those blasts and a recent spate of attacks against helicopters have raised fears that insurgents are trying to develop new ways to confront U.S. and Iraqi forces. Any increase in chemical bombings could complicate the Baghdad security crackdown, now in its second week. Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, the No. 2 American commander in Iraq, said...

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Anti-abortion extremist James Kopp made a last attempt Wednesday to convince jurors he didn't mean to kill a doctor he shot, while a prosecutor countered there are "no do-overs" when shooting someone. The two sides presented their closing arguments in Kopp's trial on charges he violated the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act by killing Dr. Barnett Slepian with a single shot from a Russian military rifle in 1998. He could face life in prison without parole if convicted. Kopp, known as "Atomic Dog" among his peers, is already serving a 25-years-to-life sentence for a...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 22, 2007 — Mimicking the hijackers who executed the Sept. 11 attacks, insurgents reportedly tied to al Qaeda in Iraq considered using student visas to slip terrorists into the United States to orchestrate a new attack on American soil. Lt. Gen. Michael D. Maples, head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, recently testified that documents captured by coalition forces during a raid of a safe house believed to house Iraqi members of al Qaeda six months ago "revealed [AQI] was planning terrorist operations in the U.S." At the time, Maples offered little additional insight into the possible terror plot....

BAGRAM, Afghanistan - An Afghan insurgent leader operating from inside Pakistan sent some 200 ill-equipped fighters, some wearing plastic bags on their feet, into Afghanistan where most were killed in a major battle this week, a top U.S. general said Saturday. Maj. Gen. Benjamin Freakley said that Jalaluddin Haqqani recruited and sent unemployed and untrained men to fight in Afghanistan. U.S. forces killed about 130 fighters moving in two groups in the eastern province of Paktika late Wednesday and early Thursday, one of the largest winter battles in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. "There's Taliban leaders...

After the end of WWII, Allied forces faced guerrilla bombings and attacks in occupied Germany--Nazi loyalists tried to derail reconstruction by sabotage and killing collaborators, while Werewolves, an underground organization of die-hard SS officers, boasted of rebirth of the Party. Find out if their bark was worse than their bite in this dogged investigation into how Werewolves terrorized military and civilian targets, and the Allied attempt to purge Germany's past at denazification tribunals.

A team of Marines and civilians work an assembly line to inspect recovered Iraqi weapons before redeploying them to Iraqi Army. Photo taken by Lance Cpl. Ben Eberle. CAMP TAQADDUM -- Since March 2003, coalition forces have seized thousands of unauthorized small arms through security patrols and urban search operations. Marines and civilians with Ammunition Platoon, Supply Company, Combat Logistics Regiment 15, 1st Marine Logistics Group (Forward), are redeploying these weapon systems into the Iraqi Army, turning insurgent resources into coalition assets. “We need to arm our allies,” said Warrant Officer Robert P. Smith, officer-in-charge of Camp Taqaddum’s Ammunition Supply...

There are a few similarities between Iraq and Vietnam. First and foremost, in both cases, considerable United States military and economic resources were and are being expended on foreign soil for reasons that are not fully understood by most Americans. Vietnam and Iraq have border states who provide(d) aid and sanctuary to the insurgents. Additionally, the US news media took and has taken a decidedly negative approach to reporting the events in both conflicts. In Vietnam and now in Iraq, our government has failed to convince the American public that our commitment is worth the sacrifices in blood and treasure....

Three factories in Iran are mass-producing the sophisticated roadside bombs used to kill British soldiers over the border in Iraq, it has been claimed.The lethal bombs are being made by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps at ordnance factory sites in Teheran, according to opponents of the country's theocratic regime. Designed to penetrate heavy armour, the devices being manufactured in Iran involve the use of "explosively formed projectiles" or EFPs, also known as shaped charges, often triggered by infra-red beams.The weapons can pierce the armour of British and American tanks and armoured personnel carriers and completely destroy armoured Land Rovers, which...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 11, 2006 – Afghan and coalition forces killed three al Qaeda members and detained three others during a raid today in Afghanistan’s Khowst province, U.S. military officials reported. Intelligence linked the targeted terrorists to previous remote-controlled and makeshift car bomb attacks in Khowst. Upon arrival, the assault force received small-arms fire from the targeted building. The ground force returned fire, killing the three terrorists. The other three were detained on site without incident. Numerous assault rifles with armor-piercing ammunition, along with a weapons cache of grenades and other ordnance was found in a building at the target location....

WASHINGTON, August 4, 2006 – Three Iraqi civilians were killed, and nine were injured yesterday when insurgents fired a mortar round at a residential area in Ubaydi, Iraq, U.S. military officials reported. The mortar round landed directly on a home. No coalition personnel were killed or injured in the attack. All nine injured Iraqi civilians were immediately medically evacuated to a nearby U.S. military medical facility. The wounded civilians’ exact condition is unknown, but four were listed as requiring “urgent surgical” medical care, officials said. Marine Corps officials said the attack was intended to strike a nearby coalition forces outpost....

RAMADI, Iraq – This morning Iraqi Security Forces, with support from Coalition forces, began searching Al Anbar University in southwestern Ramadi, which is being used as a center for insurgent activity. Iraqi and Coalition forces have received sniper fire from the hospital on multiple occasions, and credible intelligence reports indicated the university is being used as an insurgent safe haven and command center. Iraqi and Coalition forces are securing the university to provide a safe and secure educational environment. Soldiers from 1st Brigade, 7th Iraqi Army Division, with support from soldiers assigned to the U.S. Army 1st Brigade, 1st Armored...

The Marine and the Insurgent A U.S. Marine squad was marching north of Faluijiah when they came upon an Iraqi terrorist, badly injured and unconscious. On the opposite side of the road was an American Marine in a similar but less serious state. The Marine was conscious and alert and as first aid was given to both men, the squad leader asked the injured Marine what had happened. The Marine reported, "I was heavily armed and moving north along the highway here, and coming south was a heavily armed insurgent. We saw each other and both took cover in the...

Just to refresh your memory, seeing as how the media has so absolutely and completely dropped ANY interest in this story (it's not like either one of them was a blond co-ed vacationing in Aruba): Pfc. Thomas L. Tucker (age 25) and Pfc. Kristian Menchaca (age 23) Captured June 16, 2006 by subhuman savages in Iraq, these two young soldiers were found three days later along a roadside decapitated, hearts cut out, testicles cut off, penises cut off and stuffed in their mouths, arms and legs broken and mutilated, bodies burned and eyes gouged out. Their bodies and faces, pulped...

WASHINGTON, July 17, 2006 – Iraqi forces captured an insurgent cell leader in Baghdad July 13 and killed another insurgent leader in northern Iraq July 14, military officials reported. The Iraqi forces captured an insurgent cell leader, planner and organizer in a southern Baghdad mosque compound during a security operation July 13. The Iraqi forces received small-arms fire almost immediately upon arrival at the mosque compound in the Al Rasheed district of Baghdad. Soon after arriving, they captured the insurgent leader, who is known for purchasing weapons and coordinating attacks against Iraqi and coalition forces, officials said. A coalition force...

HADITHA, Iraq (July 4, 2006) -- Lance Cpl. Douglas Tetreault carries a spent round fired from an AK-47 assault rifle, which was surgically removed from his thigh last month after he was shot during a firefight with insurgents in Haditha, Iraq. The 21-year-old native of Adams, Mass., wears a nine-inch scar on his thigh every time he steps “outside the wire” to go on combined patrols with Iraqi soldiers in Haditha – a city of 30,000 nestled along the Euphrates River northwest of Baghdad. “It felt like someone had kicked me in the leg at first,” said Tetreault, after a...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE GHAZNI, Afghanistan, June 25, 2006 – An extremist-engineered explosion in eastern Afghanistan destroyed a mosque while killing three people and wounding eight, including three children, officials here announced today. The attack occurred on June 6 near the southeastern provincial capital city of Ghazni. Terrorists triggered the explosion that destroyed the Haji Adam Khan Mosque in Oal a-I Oadzi. Gov. Elhaj Sheer Alam, the Ghazni provincial governor, told reporters Taliban members attempting to construct a motorcycle-born improvised explosive device were responsible for the blast. Ghazni District Afghan National Policemen and Afghan National Army soldiers from 2nd Kandak, 1st...

HAQLANIYAH, Iraq (June 13, 2006) -- In the afternoon of June 3, outside the Marines forwarding operating base located in the violent city of Haqlaniyah, three insurgents armed with automatic rifles and wearing face masks opened fire on Marines working in front of the barrier-laden base. The Marines returned fire and two minutes later, another squad of Marines flooded the streets outside the forward operating base in this city of 15,000 and launched an overwhelming counter-attack that resulted in two of three insurgents dead within 10 minutes. The attack came on the heels of a previous attack less than a...

WASHINGTON, June 11, 2006 – Coalition forces destroyed a truck used by terrorists to attack a patrol base southwest of Baghdad and uncovered multiple weapons caches last week, U.S. military officials reported. Four terrorists fired two 82 mm mortar rounds at the patrol base June 6. Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, engaged the terrorists, wounding one. Coalition forces discovered a sniper scope, a complete 82 mm mortar system, several rifles, satchels containing unidentifiable ordnance, and two racks with four AK-47 magazines in the terrorists' truck. The vehicle was destroyed to prevent...

Insurgent groups mourn al-Zarqawi's deathBy SINAN SALAHEDDIN, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 30 minutes ago A woman grieves for her brother who was killed by a roadside bomb targeting a police patrol in an outdoor market, killing four people and wounding 27, in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, June 10, 2006. The explosion at the al-Sadriya market missed the police patrol, killing and wounding civilians in this Shiite-Sunni Arab neighborhood in central Baghdad. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim) BAGHDAD, Iraq - Sunni insurgents posted their condolences over Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's death on Web sites Saturday and warned Sunnis not to cooperate with the Iraqi...

WASHINGTON, May 28, 2006 – Iraqi police and coalition forces killed an insurgent in Samarra, Iraq, yesterday, and U.S. soldiers destroyed two weapons caches, U.S. military officials said. U.S. soldiers from the 978th Military Police Battalion were on a combined patrol with Samarra police when three insurgents started shooting at them from a sedan. The patrol returned fire, killing one of the occupants and disabling the car. The other two insurgents fled on foot. An artillery round was found in the vehicle. Samarra authorities confiscated both the shell and the car. In other news, coalition forces located and destroyed a...

Insurgents using new advanced Russian RPG from Iran SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM Friday, May 12, 2006 BAGHDAD ?The U.S. military has identified an advanced variant of a Soviet-origin rocket-propelled grenade system being used by Iraqi insurgents since early this year. Officials said the military has detected shipments of the RPG-29 in Iraq. They said the weapon system has been smuggled from Syria into Iraq by operatives of the Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah. "This is the most advanced RPG that the insurgents have," an official said. "The [RPG-] 29 can rip through just about any armored platform." [On Tuesday, 17 people were killed...

TIKRIT, Iraq (Army News Service, May 15, 2006) – Iraqi army and U.S. Soldiers raided a suspected insurgent training camp during Operation Iron Triangle near Lake Thar Thar, southwest of Tikrit May 9. Nearly 200 Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 1st Brigade, 4th Iraqi Army Division, and approximately 230 Soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team air assaulted from CH-47 Chinook and UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters into the suspected camp after intelligence sources pin-pointed the location as being the Muthana Chemical Complex. The 150-square kilometer complex was a chemical production facility that was closed by the United Nations after...

WASHINGTON, May 8, 2006 – Multinational Force Iraq released 299 male detainees from coalition-run prisons, and coalition forces responded to insurgent small-arms fire yesterday, military officials in Iraq reported. The Iraqi-led Combined Review and Release Board reviewed the detainees' files and recommended release. The CRRB was established in August 2004 and consists of members from the Ministries of Human Rights, Justice and Interior, as well as officers from the multinational forces. To date, the board has reviewed the cases of more than 36,700 detainees, recommending more than 18,750 individuals for release. In other news, coalition forces delivered precision munitions in...

Villagers north of Kirkuk, Iraq, have been eager to help Iraqi Army soldiers fight the insurgents who have been attempting to kidnap their neighbors. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Cassandra Groce   More Photos Iraqi Soldiers Gather Intel on Insurgent Activity Iraqi soldiers gather information to prevent kidnappings and insurgent activity. Spc. Cassandra Groce 133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detach KIRKUK, Iraq, April 12, 2006 — Fourth Iraqi Army Division soldiers and U.S. Army soldiers from Delta Company have found challenges with insurgents traveling through their operating area and avoiding Iraqi Army checkpoints. Miles of farmland divide Kirkuk from the northeastern...

WASHINGTON, April 6, 2006 – Afghan and coalition forces killed one insurgent yesterday in combat in the Deh Rawod district of Afghanistan's Uruzgan province. Elsewhere, U.S. officials announced that Afghan aviators are ready to begin flying missions. While conducting a combined security patrol, Afghan National Army and coalition elements engaged four Taliban insurgents with small-arms fire, killing one, and then called for close-air support. Coalition aircraft responded and dropped two joint direct-attack munitions -- 2,000-pound guided bombs. No battle-damage assessment was available; there were no Afghan or coalition casualties in the engagement, U.S. officials said. "The enemies of Afghanistan cannot...

U.S., Iraqis Launch 'Operation Swarmer' By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writer 7 minutes ago U.S. forces, joined by Iraqi troops, on Thursday launched the largest air assault since the U.S.-led invasion, targeting insurgent strongholds north of the capital, the military said. The U.S. military said the offensive dubbed Operation Swarmer was aimed at clearing "a suspected insurgent operating area" northeast of Samarra and was expected to continue over several days. "More than 1,500 Iraqi and Coalition troops, over 200 tactical vehicles, and more than 50 aircraft participated in the operation," the military statement said. Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad,...

MAXWELL-GUNTER AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. (AFPN) -- When Algerian-born Remy Mauduit, editor of the new French edition of the Air and Space Power Journal, sees terrorism and insurgency taking place in Iraq, he recalls a time when he, too, was an insurgent. Life was not good for Algerian citizens in the early 1950s. After French colonization, native Algerians were prisoners in their own country. "We were second-class citizens," Mr. Mauduit said. "The French had all the highest positions, all the land, basically everything. We (Algerians) could never get anywhere, regardless of our education." Tired of the occupation, a group of...

From the author's notes "These chilling videos - including a sequence of sniper attacks on US and Iraqi soldiers - show the extent to which the insurgency is entrenched in post-invasion Iraq. They have been edited from a series of DVD's I acquired while on assignment in Iraq. Rarely seen by westerners, they reveal the fighters' reliance on homemade weapons and their ease of movement in urban and rural communities. They are produced as propoganda. But stripped of their crude enhancements and dubious editing..."

"... thank God we have about 27–million strong supporters by our side as we track down and finish off these ruthless Al Qaeda types and their local henchmen. We aren’t tired, or broken, or losing heart."

KARMAH, Iraq (Feb. 3, 2006) -- Iraq’s national election was a milestone towards making it an independent and free nation. The polling sites in 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment’s area of operations had to be protected from any insurgent activity. The main effort of the Coalition Forces in Iraq is to make conditions where the people can take care of themselves. To further that goal, the Iraqi Police protected the polling sites and the voters waiting in line there. “The IPs did an excellent job of protecting the Iraqi people that wanted to vote,” said 2nd Lt. Bryan R. Kelsey,...

Bolger is a gentleman to be sure—polished and articulate—but like a Patton, he is always leading from the front. He regularly goes out on combat operations with his men, and like the fictional General Maximus in the movie “Gladiator,” the real-life fighting General Bolger inspires his subordinates with the salutation, “Strength and Honor!” ... In an exclusive two-part interview with Townhall.com, Bolger discusses the training and standing-up of the new Iraqi army and what motivates the Iraqis to fight. He also explains why Iraq is not devolving into “civil war,” and how we are systematically quashing the insurgency in that...

HIT, Iraq (Jan. 14, 2006) -- For four long, backbreaking days, Marine combat engineers and infantrymen unearthed cache after cache of insurgent ordnance and weaponry in and around Hit, Iraq during Operation Hedgehog. Marines from the Combat Engineer Platoon, Battalion Landing Team 1st Bn., 2nd Marines kicked off the operation with a search of long-suspected hide sites throughout Hit and soon began unearthing treasure troves of insurgent arms. “This was our biggest find to date,” said 1st Lt. Antonio Agnone, the combat engineer platoon leader for BLT 1/2. “We’ve uncovered numerous, and significant caches the insurgents have hidden in Hit...

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Jan. 11, 2006 —The insurgency did not end because of the inspiring vote on Dec. 15. Recent suicide bombings and losses during combat operations remind us again that the fight is far from over. We cannot let isolated events distract us from the progress that has been made over the last year. That is what the terrorists want. As a result of the operations to restore Iraqi control to the Syrian border over the past months, we have cut the number of suicide attacks in Iraq in half by denying the people, resources and safe havens necessary for...

(AP) BAGHDAD Suicide bombers targeted Shiite pilgrims in the south and police recruits in central Iraq, and a roadside bomb killed five U.S. soldiers, bringing Thursday's death toll to at least 130 people in a series of attacks as politicians tried to form a coalition government. The two-day toll from insurgent attacks rose to 183, reflecting a dramatic upsurge in bloodshed following the Dec. 15 parliamentary elections. Some leading Sunni politicians accuse the Shiite-led government of condoning fraud in the voting. Iraq's prime minister denounced the violence as an attempt to derail the political process at a time when progress...