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Moments ago the U.S. Treasury Department announced official sanctions against Tareck Zaidan El Aissami Maddah (El Aissami). El Aissami is the Executive Vice President of Venezuela. WASHINGTON—Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Venezuelan national Tareck Zaidan El Aissami Maddah (El Aissami) as a Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficker pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act) for playing a significant role in international narcotics trafficking. El Aissami is the Executive Vice President of Venezuela.

Civilian workers who suffered devastating injuries while supporting the U.S. war effort in Iraq and Afghanistan have come home to a grinding battle for basic medical care, artificial limbs, psychological counseling and other services. The insurance companies responsible for their treatment under taxpayer-funded policies have routinely denied the most serious medical claims. Those insurers -- primarily American International Group (AIG) -- recorded hundreds of millions of dollars in profits on this business. The civilian contractors have played an indispensable role in the two conflicts, delivering fuel to frontline troops, guarding U.S. diplomats and translating for soldiers during dangerous raids. More...

Lieutenant Colonel Mohammed, Mussayyib district IP chief, unveils a memorial honoring fallen IPs during a private ceremony May 9 at the Mussayib IP Station. Courtesy photo. FORWARD OPERATING BASE ISKAN — Members from the Musayyib Iraqi Police Station unveiled a lighted memorial honoring fallen IPs May 9. “These men gave their lives for the people of Iraq and history will show their achievements when Iraq is one country … these men will live forever in our hearts and they are the reason why we are able to live free,” said Lt. Col. Mohammed, district IP chief.Local leaders and sheikhs in...

After over six weeks of heavy fighting in and around the Mahdi Army stronghold Sadr City, where Mahdi Army forces took lopsided casualties in the fighting, the government and the Sadrist political bloc has signed an agreement to end the fighting. The agreement will allow for the Iraqi military to operate freely inside Sadr City while the Mahdi Army must halt its fighting. The negotiations, which took place over the course of the last several days, culminated in the signing of a 14-point agreement. Both Iraqi government spokesman Ali al Dabbagh and Sadrist spokesman Sheikh Salih al Ubaydi confirmed an...

<p>It has been a frustrating year for the Democrat-controlled Congress.</p> <p>They came to power on an anti-war ticket but have so far failed to change the course in Iraq or bring American troops home.</p> <p>Despite holding the purse strings, attempts to cut funding for the conflict have been met with the President's veto and an inability to raise enough votes to overturn it.</p>

A man rotates chickens at his restaurant in the central Baghdad Salhiyah neighborhood Sept. 5. Soldiers from the 4th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment are working with the Salhiyah Neighborhood Advisory Council members to assess and make improvements to markets and small businesses in the area. Photo by Spc. Robert Yde, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs. BAGHDAD — “Everyday it’s improving,” Capt. Joseph Guzowski, the commander of Troop A, 4th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, remarked about a small market in Salhiyah after a walk-through and assessment of it earlier in...

U.S. captures 'high-priority' Iran officer in Baghdad BAGHDAD — The U.S. military has reported the capture of a senior officer of Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps stationed in Baghdad. U.S. forces, which are taking aim at key Iranian officers based in Iraq, conducted a raid that nabbed the officer of the IRGC's Quds Force and killed three of his aides. "Coalition troops continue to target terrorists who bring weapons and explosives, especially explosively formed penetrators, and other aid into Iraq," U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Garver said. "Coalition forces will continue their focused operations against unhelpful Iranian influence...

BAGHDAD—Army Brig. Gen. Qassim Atta Al-Moussawi, Fardh Al-Qanoon spokesman, and U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Mark I. Fox, a Multi-National Force-Iraq spokesman, held a press conference Sunday on the progress of Iraqi Security Forces. Fox detailed how Coalition and Iraqi Security Forces are working together in various locations throughout Iraq. Coalition forces have helped train and equip more than 349,000 ISF soldiers and added 8,700 Soldiers since June 24. Fox says the ISF is getting stronger every day. “The steady growth of the ISF, combined with the additional surge in Coalition forces is making a difference on the ground,” Fox said....

WASHINGTON, May 3, 2007 – Coalition forces have been targeting al Qaeda in Iraq over the last six days in a series of raids dubbed “Operation Rat Trap,” a senior spokesman told reporters in Baghdad today. Army Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said coalition forces have no information that would substantiate the rumored -- and widely reported -- deaths of terrorist leaders Abu Ayyub al-Masri or Abu Omar al-Baghdadi. In fact, the general added, coalition officials don’t know who Baghdadi is. However, Caldwell said, coalition forces killed Muharib Abdul Latif, al Qaeda in Iraq’s chief propagandist, at about 2 a.m....

WASHINGTON - In the first debate of the Pennsylvania Senate race yesterday, Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum defended the invasion of Iraq as a war of necessity, while Democrat Bob Casey Jr. argued that he would hold the Bush administration more accountable but was "not ready to abandon this mission." Debating in NBC's Meet the Press

BAGHDAD , Iraq – Coalition Forces conducted multiple raids Feb. 27. northeast of Fallujah to capture Al-Qaeda in Iraq facilitators involved in the logistical support of suicide bombers, foreign fighters and funding terrorist activities. Based on intelligence and reporting, numerous safe houses were targeted by Coalition Forces. Troops detained a total of 61 individuals who will be questioned regarding their knowledge of, or involvement in, terrorist activities. There were a large number of weapons and ammunition found during the raids, and the caches were destroyed in place.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 19, 2006 – Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers killed four terrorists and uncovered weapons caches in multiple recent incidents, military officials reported. Soldiers from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, spotted insurgents launching a mortar round and requested support from attack aviation aircraft southwest of Baghdad yesterday. After firing the mortar round, the terrorist team placed the mortar system into a white pickup truck and drove away, officials reported. A coalition forces fixed-wing aircraft later observed five men digging on the side of a canal. The individuals digging were confirmed as the same men who had fired...

When You Send A Child To War by Tom Glennon On a day that saw a widely-linked piece that oh-so glibly advised us as to just why we should not support the troops, I'm privileged to present the antidote in this very personal piece from frequent guest contributor, Tom Glennon. -Sol WHEN YOU SEND A CHILD TO WAR by Tom Glennon I had long expected the call, but a chill went down me as I heard my youngest son Patrick's voice on the phone. "Dad, I got confirmation today. I have some weapons refresher and other location specific training in...

Remarks by the President on the War on Terror REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT ON THE WAR ON TERROR Fort Bragg, North Carolina 8:02 P.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Please be seated. Good evening. I'm pleased to visit Fort Bragg, "Home of the Airborne and Special Operations Forces." It's an honor to speak before you tonight. My greatest responsibility as President is to protect the American people. And that's your calling, as well. I thank you for your service, your courage and your sacrifice. I thank your families, who support you in your vital work. The soldiers and families of...

Soldiers Had Word They Were Going Home; Insurgent Attacks Blamed POSTED: 7:42 p.m. EDT July 14, 2003 UPDATED: 7:54 p.m. EDT July 14, 2003 SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Thousands of soldiers in the Army's 3rd Infantry Division will stay in Iraq longer than planned. The Army blamed the extended deployment on increased attacks on coalition forces. The announcement dashes hopes that the troops will be home by September, as the division's commander had suggested last week. The 3rd Infantry Division deployed 16,500 troops to Iraq and was the leading force in the assault on Baghdad. The division suffered 36 deaths --...

<p>May 8, 2003 -- WASHINGTON - A suspected mobile germ warfare factory has been seized by the U.S. military in northern Iraq - the first solid evidence that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction, the Pentagon said yesterday.</p> <p>American forces in Iraq are conducting a battery of tests on what they believe is a mobile biological-weapons lab that is similar to the descriptions of vehicles provided to U.S. intelligence agencies by Iraqi defectors before the war.</p>

U.S. had better watch UN role in rebuilding Iraq April 8, 2003 BY JOHN O'SULLIVAN How many times, one wonders, do people have to get it wrong before the world draws the conclusion that there may be something wrong with their general outlook? Whole legions of the left in journalism have predicted Western defeats in the Falklands War, Grenada, the Cold War, the Gulf War, the Afghan intervention and just now the second Iraq war. By this stage in Iraq the "Anglo-Saxon invaders"--as Al Jazeera and the French call the Anglo-American-Aussie-Polish armed forces there--were supposed to be sinking in a...