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AL KHWALIS — More than 100 Individually Displaced families returned to their homes recently in the town of Al Khwalis. The event was celebrated by a welcome ceremony and is a significant mark in the reconciliation process. The families left the area when tensions mounted after the Iraqi Army cleared the area of Al Qaeda last year. “Today was a ceremony that represents the reconciling of differences between Sunni and Shia families,” said Capt. Roger Miranda, executive officer, 1st Battalion, 19th Brigade, 5th Division, Military Transition Team. “These people have been living in the town of Hib Hib since they...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1, 2008 – Through a high-adventure recreation program the Army calls Warrior Adventure Quest, soldiers have a new way of transitioning from combat to a “new normal,” reducing the potential for high-risk behaviors that are counterproductive to unit training requirements. Soldiers from the 503rd Infantry in Vicenza, Italy, navigate through nearly 30 miles of mountain trails during a Warrior Adventure Quest activity that also included paintball and whitewater rafting. U.S. Army photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “In the past,” said John O’Sullivan, Outdoor Recreation Program Manager at the Army’s Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation...

Displaced Iraqi citizens are returning with their families and goods to local communities and muhallahs in the Rashid District of southern Baghdad. During 2008, More than 7,700 families have resettled in their homes and neighborhoods after leaving due to the sectarian violence and intimidation of previous years. Soldiers of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division - Baghdad, are working with Iraqi security forces to ensure that the Iraqi families return home to security and a sense of normalcy. Photo by Staff Sgt. Brent Williams. FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON — An Iraqi family stands in the doorjamb...

WASHINGTON - John McCain's campaign said Thursday it is returning $50,000 in contributions solicited by a foreign citizen. The move follows the disclosure that the money was being raised by a Jordanian man who is a business partner of prominent Florida Republican Harry Sargeant III, who has collected hundreds of thousands of dollars for McCain.

Meretz MK Yossi Beilin on Thursday called on European countries to declare how many Palestinian refugees and their descendants they would be willing to absorb as part of any future peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. "It is important that we know now how many Palestinian refugees [third] countries are willing to absorb, so that when we get to the critical moment [of a peace agreement] we will be prepared for such an eventuality, and be able to carry it out," Beilin said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post. The dovish lawmaker made the remarks one day after...

The last of the five Army brigades to deploy with the “troop surge” in Iraq will return in July after a 13-month deployment, during which soldiers detained more than 800 terrorist suspects and helped foster Iraqi self-governance. The 3rd Infantry Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team has operated in the Arab Jabour area of southeastern Baghdad, where the number of attacks plummeted from about 30 a week when they arrived in May 2007 to about one a week now. “All in all, it's been a very successful operation for us,” Army Col. Terry Ferrell, 2nd Brigade Combat Team commander, told reporters...

The Palestinian Authority is planning to mark Israel's 60th anniversary by calling on all Palestinians living abroad to converge on Israel by land, sea and air. The plan, drawn by Ziad Abu Ein, a senior Fatah operative and Deputy Minister for Prisoners' Affairs in the Palestinian Authority, states that the Palestinians have decided to implement United Nations Resolution 194 regarding the refugees. Article 11 of the resolution, which was passed in December 1948, says that "refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date,...

IRVING, Texas --- A crowd of friends, family, and Marines applaud and cheer as Marines from Detachment A, Marine Air Control Squadron 24, Marine Air Control Group 48, walk into the terminal at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on Feb. 15. The Marines returned from a 7-month deployment to Iraq. GySgt. Steven Allemang, an air traffic controller with Det A, MACS-24, holds his 6-year-old daughter, Samantha, while reuniting with his family at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on Feb. 15 after returning from Fallujah, Iraq. Allemang deployed as the team leader for the Marine Mobile Team from the detachment that deployed...

BAQUBAH — Families displaced from a town near Baqubah were escorted back to their homes by the Iraqi Army (IA) and Coalition forces, Feb. 13, during ‘Operation Fierce Thrasher’. During the operation, Soldiers from Company F, 52nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division from Fort Lewis, Wash., helped 39 families dislocated due to fear of terrorist attacks return to their homes in the town of Durah. “Today’s mission was to secure the village of Durah to allow the repatriation of the Sunnis into the village,” said Capt. Troy Mills, commander of Company F. The Coalition troops...

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C., Feb. 5, 2008 – Marine Corps Sgt. Jeremy F. Boutwell, 23, knows a thing or two about honor, courage and commitment. Marine Corps Sgt. Jeremy F. Boutwell, an intelligence specialist with Headquarters and Service Company, 1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, stands on the command deck at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C., Jan. 8, 2008. Boutwell is planning for an upcoming deployment to Iraq after recovering from severe injuries suffered during a March 2004 attack in Iraq’s Anbar province. Photo by Pfc. Casey Jones, USMC  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq, Feb. 5, 2008 – About 1,000 residents returned to a town southwest of Baghdad last week after learning coalition and Iraqi forces had secured the area. Residents of the Zambraniyah, Iraq, area move through a coalition checkpoint as they return to their homes. Residents fled the area in January when coalition and Iraqi forces moved in to clear out al Qaeda in Iraq terrorists. Photo by Staff Sgt. Michael Paredes, USA  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. When heavy fighting broke out in the Zambraniyah area in early January, coalition forces advised families to...

WASHINGTON – Sgt. Klay South with help from this mother Janet launched Veterans of Valor on October 4, 2007. South was wounded November 2004 and spent a long recovery process to reconstruct his face and jaw after being shot in the face with an AK-47. Veterans of Valor visited Bethesda Naval Hospital and Walter Reed Army Medical Center January 17 to give backpacks and words of encouragement to wounded service members. BETHESDA, Md. – Cpl. Jimmy Kinsey receives his backpack from Sgt. Klay South, founder of Veterans of Valor. Veterans of Valor visited Bethesda Naval Hospital and Walter Reed...

More than 40 soldiers from Fort Huachuca are scheduled to return to Southern Arizona this weekend. The soldiers, members of the U.S. Army's 518th Tactical Installation and Networking Platoon, are scheduled to arrive Sunday at Libby Army Airfield in Sierra Vista, according to a press release. The unit — based at Fort Huachuca, roughly 75 miles southeast of Tucson — has been deployed to Southwest Asia for 15 months. Some members served in Iraq, whereas others were stationed in Afghanistan, said Gordon Van Vleet, a spokesman for the unit's command. The platoon is part of network and communication units based...

Maj. Gen. Dennis J. Hejlik, commanding general, U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Special Operations Command, welcomes home the Marines and Sailors of 1st Marine Special Operations Battalion, at Assault Craft Unit 5 here, Nov. 17. MARSOC’s silent warriors conducted special operations in the Philippines and Afghanistan in the first ever deployment of a company from 1st MSOB. California Congressman Darrell Issa congratulates the Marines and Sailors of 1st Marine Special Operations Battalion, U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Special Operations Command, on a job well done and welcomes them home at Assault Craft Unit 5 here, Nov. 17. MARSOC’s silent warriors conducted...

Don Imus returned to the air waves this morning with a lengthy explanation of his side of the events that took place last April. He spoke of the meeting he had with the Rutger's women's basketball team and the things that he and they discussed. Imus also spoke of how the media said, at the time, that they were going to begin a dialog about race relations and quipped, "I must have missed that." He then pledged to do the media's work for them by using his program as a platform for such a dialog. Imus then ended the first...

FORT HUACHUCA — More than 300 Soldiers from the 86th Signal Battalion of the 11th Signal Brigade are scheduled to return to the post sometime Thursday afternoon after a 15-month deployment to Iraq. The 86th Signal Battalion’s mission took members of the unit to all parts of Iraq, where the organization was charged with providing communications for Multi-National Corps Iraq and ensuring the effective application of communications assets and services at 16 sites; spread over 100,000 square miles in central, western and southern regions of the country.

More than 250 soldiers from the 86th Signal Battalion of the 11th Signal Brigade will return home from their 15-month deployment to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom sometime during the first week of November. The soldiers will arrive at Libby Army Airfield and soon after will be taken to a welcome home ceremony, with family members present, at Barnes Field House on post. The 86th Signal Battalion’s mission took members of the battalion to all parts of Iraq, with the soldiers providing services such as Internet communications, computer help desk assistance, satellite transmissions, phone lines, and cable/phone line/fiber...

One hundred fifty soldiers with the Arizona Army National Guard's 259th Security Force Company returned home Saturday. Members come from across the state, including Tucson, Casa Grande, Sierra Vista and Florence. Dozens of families were in Phoenix Saturday to welcome home their loved ones who spent a year of service in Iraq. But the Security Force Company did not return in full, something people couldn't help but think of. "Because although all of them are coming back, there's still some that we've lost, some that have gotten injured, and we're thinking of them as well in this time," Renate Garcia...

FORT LEWIS, Wash., Sept. 11, 2007 – When the first planeload of soldiers from the 2nd Infantry Division’s 3rd Stryker Brigade returned here last night after their second deployment to Iraq, they didn’t arrive to a darkened, padlocked brigade headquarters. Members of the 2nd Infantry Division’s 3rd Stryker Brigade rear detachment at Fort Lewis, Wash., prepare for the unit’s redeployment from Iraq. From left are: Darlene Pacheco, the brigade’s family-assistant representative; Melissa Townsend, wife of Brigade Commander Col. Steve Townsend; and Army Maj. Kyle Marsh, rear detachment commander. Photo by Donna Miles   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available....

Investing in China, with a crash helmet By Conrad de Aenlle Friday, July 27, 2007 China's economy is expanding at the fastest pace in more than a decade. It seems at first like an opportunity not to be wasted, and anyone who has owned Chinese shares during the past two years has a lot to show for it. But one veteran manager of Asian portfolios warns that investors buying China today may be wasting money. Some investment houses are using the stunning increase in economic output - 11.9 percent in the 12 months through June - as the centerpiece of...