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KUT, Iraq, Dec. 9, 2005 – With its 9,800-foot runway, one of Saddam Hussein's premier air bases was in Kut, Iraq, near the Tigris River midway between Baghdad and Kuwait. Today, the coalition defense team has commandeered the base's strategic position. The U.S. Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence contracted with ECC International a year ago to build an Iraqi police cadet academy at Kut. With Iraq's training needs critical to the U.S. mission's eventual completion, the site has morphed into a triple training facility. Recruits for the Department of Border Enforcement have now begun training at Kut, as have...

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq (Dec. 6, 2005) -- Marines from Force Protection Platoon, 8th Communications Battalion, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Headquarters Group, II MEF (FWD), prove on a daily basis they are not just communication savvy. These 26 men, who are at the tip of the spear behind the armored metal of military vehicles, provide much more than their communication ability; they easily transform into a lethal combat team for convoy operations. On a day where many Marines and sailors enjoyed a warm Thanksgiving dinner aboard Camp Fallujah, Marines from Force Protection Platoon traveled through the streets of Fallujah to an...

Week of Dec. 3, 2005 Vol. 168, No. 23 , p. 362 A Skunk Walks into a Bar . . .Fighting beer's fouler flavors Aimee Cunningham Beer brewing is among the tastiest of chemical experiments. Problem is, the reactions that begin with the first manipulations of the barley grain don't stop once the beer is in the bottle. The dynamic molecular world in all stored brews continues to alter flavors, sometimes overshadowing the tastes that a beer drinker loves with other flavors so offensive that they're likened to skunk spray and cardboard. From the moment that brewing begins until the...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (Nov. 17, 2005) -- Lance Cpl. Grant A. Paschali, a native of Aurora, Ill., spent his childhood playing with G.I. Joes and camping in the woods. He had a BB gun and knife collection and wore camouflage clothes, so it wasn’t a big surprise when he joined the Marine Corps seven days after his 19th birthday. Since he left for Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, Calif., Paschali has been living his childhood dream, and found the reality of life in the military to be a gratifying experience. “I’ve always been in shape, and...

CAMP BLUE DIAMOND, Iraq, Nov. 14, 2005 – Iraqi army soldiers and U.S. Marines, soldiers and sailors with Regimental Combat Team 2 began a new phase of Operation Steel Curtain today by entering the town of Ubaydi. Ubaydi, located on the banks of the Euphrates River, is only 20 km from the Syrian border, and was the site of Operation Matador in May. Insurgent fighters have been battling with Iraqi and coalition forces since the operation began at dawn. Coalition air strikes hit five targets while insurgents were engaging coalition forces with small-arms fire. Preliminary reports indicate an estimated 25...

'Woman of Mass Destruction' jibe turns into catfight By Philip Sherwell in Washington (Filed: 13/11/2005) It has erupted into one of the great catfights of American journalism: Judith Miller, the veteran reporter who went to jail because she refused to reveal a source's name, and Maureen Dowd, her equally outspoken long-term colleague on the New York Times. The pencil-thin Miller, who quit the newspaper last week after being criticised by her editors, has launched a fightback after being denounced by Dowd. Veteran reporter Judith Miller: 'My conscience is clear' In an article entitled "Woman of Mass Destruction", the flame-haired columnist...

CAMP BLUE DIAMOND, Iraq, Nov. 10, 2005 – Iraqi and U.S. forces began clearing-and-holding operations in the city of Karabilah, about two kilometers east of Husaybah, as Operation Steel Curtain entered its sixth day, officials said here today. The new phase of is intended to set conditions for a permanent security presence within the city. Patrols and targeted raids are also being conducted in Husaybah, where the operation was first launched Nov. 5, to root out any remaining al Qaeda in Iraq-led terrorists. Intelligence indicates some terrorists might have abandoned Husaybah once Iraqi and U.S. forces began clearing that city...

Waterspout taps into an old spring of republicanism By Tom Peterkin, Ireland Correspondent (Filed: 29/10/2005) An apparently innocuous waterspout given to a small market town after it suffered from crop failure would appear to be an unlikely symbol of English colonial oppression. But plans to restore a 19th century limestone well in Nenagh, Co Tipperary, have re-ignited ancient Anglo-Irish animosities. A £27,000 proposal to refurbish the spout and reinstate a plaque commemorating the "unparalleled benevolence of the English nation to the poor of Ireland" has outraged republicans, still smarting from the treatment of Irish peasants during the Great Famine of...

Terror cell 'smuggled missiles into Europe' By Henry Samuel in Paris (Filed: 29/10/2005) An Islamic terror cell has smuggled two surface-to-air missiles into Europe in a plot to shoot down planes at one of France's main airports, it was claimed yesterday. French and Algerian extremists with links to al-Qa'eda bought the Russian SA-18 Grouse missiles from Chechens in 2002 and smuggled them via Georgia and Turkey, according to French anti-terror sources quoted in Le Figaro. Both missiles and several of the extremists are reportedly still at large. French anti-terrorism investigators learned of the missile terror plan while interrogating a Jordanian...

SULAYMANIYAH, Iraq, Oct. 21, 2005 – Take a design engineer, a project manager and a construction company. Drop them into Iraq's mountainous north and hand them a "mission, impossible": Turn a relic of an old military fort into an internment facility ready to receive 1,000 detainees within eight weeks. That's the task that faced the Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence and contractor ECC International. "We and our contract partner were up to the challenge," said Tom Russell, AFCEE's director of worldwide installation support. The team got the order to proceed in August, but the challenge began months earlier, when...

JUNEAU, Alaska — Starting Wednesday, a new anti-gun-control law in Alaska will allow handgun owners to carry concealed weapons without a permit in the seven Alaska cities where permits are now required. Gun owners will be allowed to keep their firearms in their vehicle, even if the car is parked on private property where the owner has a no-gun policy. And, some police chiefs say, local ordinances that ban guns from public buildings such as city halls will no longer be enforceable. Alaska’s new law forbids municipalities from passing gun laws that are more restrictive than state law. The National...

Accepting the appeal of a Michigan developer who has become a hero to the property-rights movement, the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday said it will decide whether the federal government has the authority to regulate wetlands miles away from a river or other waterway. The justices will decide whether John Rapanos, a grandfather in his 70s, was within his rights when he filled in wetlands on his property without a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Mr. Rapanos had hoped to build a shopping center on his land. They must decide whether to sustain $13 million in civil fines...

30,000 migrants 'ready to force way into Europe' By David Rennie in Luxembourg (Filed: 13/10/2005) Up to 30,000 African migrants are determined to reach Europe through Spain, a senior European Union official warned yesterday. The figure, based on reports by European intelligence agencies, dwarfs the crowds of desperate migrants already seen storming Spain's two north African enclaves bordering Morocco. Franco Frattini, the EU justice commissioner, sounded the alarm at a meeting of ministers from all 25 member governments in Luxembourg. He also launched a radical scheme under which the EU will pay African governments to offer better treatment to would-be...

AL ASAD, Iraq (Oct. 11, 2005) -- In the final weeks of their deployment, the “Warhorse” lifted the “Blue Devils” into Al Anbar province in support of security and stabilization operations. Soldiers from 3rd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, were flown to a forward location by the rotors and Marines of Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 465, Sept. 21. The squadron officially ended it's deployment with a transfer of authority ceremony Sept. 30. The squadron was relieved by HMH-466. The Blue Devils of 3/504 PIR were deployed to the area to assist with security and stabilization efforts in...

Musharraf vows to turn fighting talk into action By Ahmed Rashid (Filed: 13/08/2005) It took six years in the making but when it came it was still an unexpected summons. For during that time I have been refused an interview with President Pervez Musharraf and for the past two years not even invited to his press conferences. In a quarter of a century as a journalist I have never had a problem meeting a Pakistani head of state. After September 2001 and the success of my book Taliban I met many western leaders and foreign ministers. President Musharraf: charming But,...

Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told a Cabinet meeting early Sunday that it was likely that the Palestinians have successfully smuggled Strella missiles into Gaza. Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz told a Cabinet meeting early Sunday that it was likely that the Palestinians have successfully smuggled Strella missiles into Gaza. Strella missiles have the ability to shoot down aircraft from a distance of two miles, using a sensing device that detects the heat given off by a jet plane. A Strella missile fired by Muslim terrorists narrowly missed shooting down an El Al civilian flight over Kenya in 2002. Defining the recent...

Hamas Victory Rally Erupts Into Shootout 57 minutes ago Palestinians chant Islamic slogans, as they participate in a Hamas movement rally in the southern Gaza town of Rafah, Saturday Jan. 29, 2005. The Islamic group won an overwhelming victory in local elections in 10 Gaza towns, in a setback for the Fatah Party of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. The Hamas victory reflected widespread support in Gaza for the movement, which provides welfare, schools and kindergartens to the impoverished residents of the territory. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) JERUSALEM - A political rally by the militant Palestinian group Hamas turned violent Saturday, as...

Copter Crashes in River; 2 Die Craft Hit Something, Survivor Tells Rescuers Authorities resumed their search this morning for one of two crew members who police said died when a medical evacuation helicopter crashed into the Potomac River late last night near the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. Firefighters and police rescued one man from the water and recovered a single body just after the helicopter went down shortly after 11 p.m. several hundred yards off the National Harbor development in Prince George's County. Authorities said they believed a third crew member, whose body has not been recovered, was dead. The...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

Don't waste your time, girls - some romances are not meant to be, writes Caroline Overington. Is there a woman alive who hasn't sat on the couch, sobbing and saying: "Why doesn't he call?" Well, now we know: he's just not that into you. Sounds simple, no? Yet a guide for women that explains this basic concept has taken the book world by storm. The book, He's Just Not That Into You: The No-Excuses Truth to Understanding Guys, has reached the top of the bestseller lists in The New York Times, USA Today and The Wall Street Journal. It was...