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WASHINGTON, April 26, 2007 – Sensational car bomb attacks staged by al Qaeda in Iraq may grab headlines, but coalition and Iraqi forces are making real progress on the ground and steadily achieving significant successes, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq told reporters here today. “The situation is, in short, exceedingly challenging, though … there has been progress in several areas in recent months despite the sensational attacks by al Qaeda, which have, of course, been significant blows to our effort and which cause psychological damage that is typically even greater than their physical damage,” Army Gen. David...

JALALABAD AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, April 16, 2007 — A new provincial reconstruction team comprised of active-duty airmen, Army National Guard and Reserve soldiers assumed its role in Nangarhar during a transfer of authority ceremony April 12 at the PRT compound in Jalalabad. Air Force Lt. Col. Gordon Phillips assumed command from Air Force Lt. Col. Dave Naisbitt during a ceremony attended by a mass formation of incoming and outgoing soldiers and airmen. Naisbitt praised the efforts of his own organization and expressed confidence in the incoming team. “The people standing here are better trained then we were, better equipped than we...

BAGHDAD, Oct. 24, 2006 – Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers are searching for U.S. soldier missing since yesterday evening. Officials have not released the soldier’s name. Soldiers from the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team and the 4th Infantry Division’s 4th Brigade Combat Team, along with the Iraqi National Police, mounted an intensive effort to locate the soldier by using all means available, including attack aviation elements and unmanned aerial vehicles. “We will leverage all available coalition resources to find this soldier,” Army Maj. Gen. James D. Thurman, commander of Multinational Division Baghdad, said. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to his...

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, Aug. 15, 2006 – Coalition forces and the U.S. Agency for International Development continue to work together to bring reconstruction and economic development to the people of Afghanistan, U.S. military officials said. “Together with Afghan national security forces and the coalition, USAID is working with the government of Afghanistan to build a safe, free and prosperous future, at peace with its neighbors and a friend to freedom around the world,” Army Col. Thomas Collins, a coalition spokesman, said. Since the spring, coalition forces and USAID have combined to contribute more than $40 million in reconstruction aid to the...

(Washington, DC) – “Nancy Pelosi should make sure that Pat Toomey is on her Christmas card list. Once again, Toomey and the folks at the Club for Growth are doing Pelosi’s work for her by undermining the GOP majority,” said Sarah Chamberlain Resnick, head of the RMSP PAC. “The Club for Growth’s vicious and deceptive campaign against Congressman Joe Schwarz shows just how far the Club will go to destroy our party. Congressman Schwarz’s loss tonight is a loss for Reagan Republicans everywhere.” “During the campaign, Tim Walberg and his backers at the Club for Growth worked hard to hide...

Old Testament dispute continuesWas King David Judaism's King Arthur? By Richard N. Ostling AP Religion WriterAP Photo/Biblical Archaeology Review by Thomas E. Levy American archaeologist/educator Nelson Glueck's suggestions that a gate lay buried at the entrance to the Iron Age fortress of Khirbat en-Nahas were recently realized when archaeologists discovered a four-chamber gate (only two have been excavated). Radiocarbon dating fixed the date of its construction to the 10th century. Some scholars are busily debunking the Bible's account of the great King David, asking: Was he really all that great? Was he largely legendary, Judaism's version of Britain's legendary King...

WASHINGTON, July 25, 2006 – The Defense Department evacuated 957 U.S. citizens from Lebanon to Cyprus yesterday aboard the contracted cruise ship Orient Queen, bringing the total to 12,870 since the crisis in Lebanon began July 16, DoD officials said today. Also, DoD airlifted the first humanitarian supplies promised to those in the war-torn country, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said. Three helicopters delivered three kits of medical supplies to Red Cross personnel. Each of the three medical kits has enough medicine and supplies to meet the needs of 10,000 people for three months. Seven other kits have arrived in Cyprus...

Coalition forces rebuild mosque, provide medical care to villagers. WASHINGTON, July 23, 2006 — Coalition forces continue to aid and develop Afghanistan, even as they fight back terrorist extremists who are determined to stop progress, U.S. military officials reported today. Aid and reconstruction efforts include a rebuilt mosque in the Paktya province and medical and humanitarian aid to hundreds of Afghan villagers in the Kandahar province, said Combined Forces Command spokesman Army Col. Thomas Collins. " Coalition forces are not now and will not ever be dissuaded from their mission of building a free, secure, and independent Afghanistan. " Maj....

WASHINGTON, July 2, 2006 – An investigation continues today into a June 30 rocket attack on Kandahar Airfield in southern Afghanistan that injured 10 people, military officials reported, while extremists continue to target Afghan civilians. Three people were treated for their injuries and were released, officials said. Six people were reported to be in stable condition, and one person was in serious condition at the base hospital, officials said. "Taliban extremists employ rockets in a manner that makes them highly erratic and inaccurate," said Army Lt. Col. Paul Fitzpatrick, Combined Joint Task Force 76 spokesman. "Unfortunately, this time a rocket...

WASHINGTON, June 27, 2006 – The U.S. military is conducting an aggressive investigation to find those responsible for the deaths this month of three U.S. soldiers - one of whom died in an initial attack on the checkpoint the soldiers were manning, and two of whom were found dead four days later not far from the checkpoint, a top general in Iraq said today. The attack occurred June 16 at a traffic control checkpoint about 30 kilometers southwest of Baghdad. Army Spc. David J. Babineau, 25, was killed in the attack, and Army Pfc. Kristian Menchaca and Army Pfc. Thomas...

WASHINGTON, June 15, 2006 – A bus bombing in Afghanistan killed several passengers this morning, and Operation Mountain Thrust continues in the southern portion of the country, military officials said. A bus exploded near the intersection of highways 1 and 4 in Kandahar City at about 8 a.m. today. The explosion, caused by a bomb on the bus, killed seven and injured 17. It was believed to be a deliberate attack against Afghan civilians. Afghan national security forces and coalition forces have responded by assisting with the evacuation of casualties to the Mirwais Hospital in Kandahar City. "This is a...

A Marsh Arab woman carries goods back to her house in North Basra, Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. James Sherrill Work Continues to Restore Iraqi Marshlands As the marshes begin to fill with water again, the displaced people are beginning to move back to their ancient homeland and way of life. By U.S. Army Staff Sgt. James Sherrill124th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment BASRA, Iraq, June 7, 2006 -- The Iraqi Ministry of Water Resources inherited what it calls one of the world's greatest environmental catastrophes from the former regime - the parched Mesopotamian marshes in southern Iraq....

WASHINGTON, May 26, 2006 – NATO is in the process of transforming itself to meet asymmetric threats that did not exist during the Cold War, the alliance's supreme allied commander in Europe said here yesterday. "With the demise of the Soviet Union, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the world changed a little bit, and for a few years we looked around at each other and people were saying, 'Well, what do we do now?'" U.S. Marine Gen. James L. Jones said at the National Press Club. "And what we decided to do ... is to transform this alliance and...

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, May 11, 2006 – Losing a loved one to cancer is a hardship for anyone who goes through it, but one soldier deployed to Afghanistan learned how to turn his pain into motivation. Army 1st Lt. Michael G. Clark, Task Force Muleskinner air movement officer, does routine stretches here prior to his three-mile training run for the Komen Pittsburgh Race for the Cure. Clark and his family have been volunteering time to raise money for the race since 2001. Photo by Sgt. Michael J. Taylor, USA  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The Komen Pittsburgh...

V Corps continues success in Iraq By Spc. James P. Hunter Polish Army Warrant Officer 4th Class Jardseaw Krysinski (right) of the Military Training Team, Multi-National Division - Central South at Camp Echo, Diwaniyah, Iraq, uses lines of dirt and bricks as a map to explain an exercise while training 8th Iraqi Army Division Soldiers on proper cordon and search procedures last month.Senior Airman Jason T. Bailey CAMP VICTORY, Iraq (Army News Service, May 8, 2006) – Since the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom more than three years ago, coalition forces have thwarted the regime of Saddam Hussein, battled a...

WASHINGTON, April 30, 2006 – Coalition and Afghan forces have found many weapons caches, taken suspected insurgents into custody, and provided medical care to civilians in recent operations in Afghanistan. Successes continue in the Afghan government's "Peace through Strength" program, designed to encourage reconciliation with legitimate authorities. The program allows Afghans to reconcile with provincial and national authorities at any time by turning in illicit arms and pledging allegiance to the legitimate Afghan government. In return, the Afghans become eligible for allied employment and assistance programs. Sixteen local nationals turned in a variety of weapons April 22. The Afghans,...

WASHINGTON, March 31, 2006 – A coalition military operation on Iraq's Jabouri Peninsula has yielded numerous mortar and artillery rounds, weapons and ammunition, bomb-making materials, and suspected insurgents, military officials reported today. Officials said "Operation Cowpens" was planned and conducted to engage insurgents, deny them resources, and degrade their ability to make and deploy roadside bombs and otherwise engage coalition forces on the peninsula, surrounded on three sides by the Tigris River. Elements of the Fort Carson, Colo.-based 1-8 Combined Arms Battalion, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Task Force Band of Brothers, along with 3rd Battalion, 1st...

3/29/2006 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- Thirty-five tons of apples, oranges, bananas and plums, 1,600 gallons of milk, 16 tons of grilled chicken breasts and 39,040 candy bars. The list of food consumed here in one month goes on and on. “It’s an amazing operation,” said Lt. Col. Kevin Schields, 379th Expeditionary Services Squadron commander, referring to the largest food service operation in the region. “No matter how you slice and dice it, the 379th feeds more people than any other base in the theater.” On any given day, the food service flight serves 14,000 meals at the Manhattan, Independence...

Law firm records sought by fedsJefferson's daughter once worked there Thursday, March 23, 2006 By Bruce Alpert Washington bureau WASHINGTON -- In an indication that the federal investigation of Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, is continuing, a Virginia grand jury has subpoenaed records from a law firm where one of the congressman's daughters once worked, according to sources familiar with the case. In addition, Judge T.S. Ellis III has agreed to delay sentencing for Brett Pfeffer, 37, a former Jefferson congressional aide who pleaded guilty in January to two felony charges, including aiding and abetting the solicitation of bribes. The...