Iraq war boosted Islamic extremist threat- Carter (Reuters)

KINGS BAY, Georgia (Reuters) - The 2003 invasion of
Iraq was a mistake that has boosted the ranks and morale of extremist Islamic groups and made them a greater threat to U.S. interests, former President Jimmy Carter said on Friday.

"We have not lessened the strength of terrorists around the world and have not lessened but have increased both the number and the fervor and the organizational capabilities of terrorists," Carter said in a news conference at this U.S. naval base in southeastern Georgia.

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Mute Bush drives by anti-war protestors (AFP)

CRAWFORD, United States (AFP) - US
President George W. Bush drove past protestors rallied around a mother who soldier son was killed in Iraq, but did not stop or invite her to talk with him as she has requested.

On his way to and from a political fundraiser near his Texas ranch, Bush's motorcade sped past the roughly 50 demonstrators gathered behind Cindy Sheehan, who clutched a sign that read "Why Do You Make Time for Donors And Not For Me?"

AFP Photo: A protester calls on US President George W. Bush to meet with Cindy Sheehan. Bush...

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Army Paratrooper in Afghanistan Dies From Wounds

WASHINGTON, Aug. 12, 2005 – An 82nd Airborne Division paratrooper died as a result of wounds he received during an improvised explosive device attack near Ghazni, Afghanistan, Aug. 9.

The deceased, Spc. Christopher M. Katzenberger, 25, of St. Louis, was an Army medic assigned to C Company, 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment.

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08/12/2005 - DoD Identifies Army Casualties

DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Staff Sgt. Ryan S. Ostrom, 25, of Liberty, Pa., died on Aug. 9 in Taqaddum, Iraq, from injuries sustained from enemy small arms fire earlier in Habbaniya, Iraq. Ostrom was assigned to the Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 109th Infantry Regiment, Williamsport, Pa.

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DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Spc. Miguel Carrasquillo, 25, of River Grove, Ill., died on Aug. 9 in Baghdad, Iraq, when a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated near his military vehicle. Carrasquillo was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 76th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.

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DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Sgt. Edward R. Heselton, 23, of Easley, S.C., died on Aug. 11, in Orgun-E, Afghanistan, when ordnance exploded near the vehicle he was driving as his unit performed a route clearing mission. Heselton was assigned to the U.S. Army Reserve's 391st Engineer Battalion, 415th Chemical Brigade, Greenville, S.C.

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DoD Identifies Army Casualties

The Department of Defense announced today the death of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.



They died on Aug. 8 in Baghdad, Iraq from injuries sustained on Aug. 7, when their HMMWV was struck by two improvised explosive devices and they received small arms fire. The soldiers were assigned to the Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry Regiment, 256th Brigade Combat Team, New York, N.Y.

Killed were:

Spc. Anthony N. Kalladeen, 26, of Purchase, N.Y.

Pfc. Hernando Rios, 29, of Queens, N.Y.

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IED Blasts Kill Soldier, Marine

WASHINGTON, Aug. 12, 2005 – An American soldier was killed by an improvised explosive device during a combat patrol near Tikrit, Iraq, today.

A U.S. Marine assigned to 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), died of wounds Aug. 10 from an IED blast earlier that day. That incident occurred during combat operations near Ramadi.

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08/12/2005 - DoD Identifies Marine Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Lance Cpl. Evenor C. Herrera, 22, of Gypsum, Colo., died Aug. 10 from wounds received from the detonation of an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations near Ar Ramadi, Iraq. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif. As part of Operation Iraqi Freedom, his unit was attached to 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward).

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08/11/2005 - DoD Identifies Casualties

DoD Identifies Army Casualties

The Department of Defense announced today the death of four soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died on Aug. 9, 2005, in Bayji, Iraq, where a mine exploded and enemy forces attacked using small arms fire. The attack occurred while the soldiers were investigating a rocket-propelled grenade incident. The soldiers were assigned to the Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 111th Infantry Regiment (Mechanized), Philadelphia, Pa.

Killed were:

Pfc. Nathaniel E. Detample, 19, of Morrisville, Pa.

Spc. John Kulick, 35, of Harleysville, Pa.

Spc. Gennaro Pellegrini Jr., 31, of Philadelphia, Pa.

Sgt. Francis J. Straub Jr., 24, of Philadelphia, Pa

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DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Spc. Christopher M. Katzenberger, 25, of St. Louis, Mo., died on Aug. 9, 2005, in Bagram, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained earlier that day in Ghazni, Afghanistan, where an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV during convoy operations. Katzenberger was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, Fort Bragg, N.C.

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DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Sgt. 1st Class Michael A. Benson, 40, of Winona, Minn., died on Aug. 10 at the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Md., of injuries sustained on Aug. 2 in Baghdad, Iraq, where a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device struck his convoy. Benson was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 314th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 78th Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.

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Mother of US Iraq casualty vows to follow Bush (AFP)

CRAWFORD, United States (AFP) - The mother of a US soldier killed in
Iraq warned she would camp outside the White House next month if US
President George W. Bush refuses to meet with her here at his ranch.

"I don't understand why he cannot spend ten minutes of his time to talk to somebody whose life he has devastated," said Cindy Sheehan, 48, who has been camped out about a kilometer from the gates of Bush's ranch since Saturday.

Sheehan, whose son, Casey, was killed in April 2004 five days after arriving in Iraq , wants to meet with Bush face-to-face to deliver her anti-war message.

"I want Bush to stop using my son's sacrifice to justify the killing," she told reporters, insisting that "he needs to bring the troops home now."

AFP Photo: Cindy Sheehan speaks on a mobile phone near her makeshift camp on the road leading..

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Rebels kill 16 across Iraq (AFP)

BAGHDAD (AFP) - At least 16 people, including children, were killed by rebels in attacks across Iraq as politicians were still struggling to reach agreement on a new constitution

AFP Photo: Friends, relatives and comrades grieve as the funeral procession of Intelligence officer Lieutenant-Colonel Ibrahim Khalil...

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Bush to mother who lost son in Iraq: 'I grieve' (Reuters)

CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) -
President George W. Bush on Thursday said he sympathized with a mother who lost a son in
Iraq and who has been leading a protest vigil near his ranch but that he would not pull U.S. troops from Iraq prematurely.

"I grieve for every death," Bush said as Cindy Sheehan remained camped out about five miles away. For six days she has been demanding Bush meet with her about her son, Casey Austin Sheehan, an Army specialist killed in combat in Baghdad in April 2004.

"It breaks my heart to think about a family weeping over the loss of a loved one. I understand the anguish that some feel about the death that takes place," Bush said.

But, he added, "Pulling the troops out would send a terrible signal to the enemy."

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U.S. soldier, 10 Taliban killed in Afghan clashes (Reuters)

KABUL (Reuters) - Taliban fighters killed a U.S. soldier and wounded another during an ambush in Afghanistan on Thursday, after the insurgents lost 10 men over the past two days in clashes elsewhere in the troubled southeast.

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08/10/2005 - DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Staff Sgt. Christopher M. Falkel, 22, of Highlands Ranch, Colo., died on Aug. 8, 2005, in Deh Afghan, Afghanistan, when his unit was conducting combat operations and was engaged by enemy forces using small arms fire. Falkel was assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group, Fort Bragg, N.C.

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Bombs wound 26 in southern Philippines

By Manny Mogato

MANILA (Reuters) - Two bombs exploded in the southern Philippine port city of Zamboanga on Wednesday, wounding 26 people, in attacks which security forces blamed on Muslim militants.

The first bomb, which exploded in a parked jeep, damaged shops and wounded 14 people. The second, in a room of a nearby hotel, wounded 12.

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08/10/2005 - Twelve MIAS from Vietnam War are Identified

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today the identification of the remains of 12 U.S. servicemen missing in action from the Vietnam War. Five of those identified are being returned to their families for burial, and the remaining seven will be buried as a group in Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington, D.C.

The men who were individually identified are: Cpl. Gerald E. King, of Knoxville, Tenn.; Lance Cpls. Joseph F. Cook, of Foxboro, Mass.; Raymond T. Heyne, of Mason, Wis.; Donald W. Mitchell, of Princeton, Ky.; and Thomas W. Fritsch, of Cromwell, Conn., all of the U.S. Marine Corps. Additional group remains are those of: Pfcs. Thomas J. Blackman, of Racine, Wis.; Paul S. Czerwonka, of Stoughton, Mass.; Barry L. Hempel, of Garden Grove, Calif.; Robert C. Lopez, of Albuquerque, N.M.; William D. McGonigle, of Wichita, Kan.; and Lance Cpl. James R. Sargent, of Anawalt, W. Va., all of the U.S. Marine Corps. Additionally, the remains of U.S. Army Sgt. Glenn E. Miller, of Oakland, Calif. will be included in the group burial.

The Marines were part of an artillery platoon airlifted to provide support to the 11th Mobile Strike Force, which was under threat of attack from North Vietnamese forces near Kham Duc in South Vietnam.

On May 9, 1968, the Strike Force had been directed to reconnoiter an area known as Little Ngok Tavak Hill near the Laos-Vietnam border, in the Kham Duc Province. Their base came under attack by North Vietnamese Army troops, and after a 10-hour battle, all of the survivors were able to withdraw from the area.

Six investigations beginning in 1993 and a series of interviews of villagers and former Vietnamese soldiers led U.S. recovery teams in 1994, 1997 and 1998 to specific defensive positions within the large battle site. Additionally, maps provided by American survivors helped to locate some key areas on the battlefield. Three excavations by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) in 1998 and 1999 yielded human remains, personal effects and other material evidence.

JPAC scientists and Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory specialists used mitochondrial DNA as one of the forensic tools to help identify the remains.

Of the 88,000 Americans missing in action from all conflicts, 1,815 are from the Vietnam War, with 1,381 of those within the country of Vietnam. Another 768 Americans have been accounted for in Southeast Asia since the end of the war. Of those, 540 are from within Vietnam.

Welcome home!

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08/10/2005 - DoD Identifies Marine Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Staff Sgt. Ramon E. Gonzales Cordova, 30, of Davie, Fla., died Aug. 8 as a result of enemy small-arms fire while conducting combat operations in Ar Ramadi, Iraq. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Semper Fi

David Horsey

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Go Read, donkey o.d., Bu$hmerika, and The Heretik

donkey o.d. Talking Wounded

bu$hmerika GOLD STAR FAMILIES, CODE PINK et al
Good. Cindy Sheehan is breaking into the MSM.

The Heretik THAT’S BUSH IN THE BACKGROUND

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BBC: Baghdad mayor 'ousted by gunmen'

Baghdad's mayor has been sacked by the Iraqi government, in circumstances that he has described as "dangerous" and "undemocratic".

A government spokesman said Alaa al-Tamimi was fired on Monday, although he refused to elaborate further.

However, Mr Tamimi himself said 120 gunmen stormed his office and installed the provincial governor in his place.

The mayor faces angry protests over poor services in the city

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KBTV4: Lumberton Family Praying for Safe Recovery of Marine

To date 1,839 troops have lost their lives during the war in Iraq. A Lumberton family is lucky to not be part of that number.

A Southeast Texas family is asking for your prayers for their loved one who is critically injured while serving in Iraq. 22-year-old Lance Corporal Keith Davis is fighting for his life after being severely wounded in Baghdad last week. He is pictured to the left in his military photo hanging on a wall in his parents` home.

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08/09/2005 - DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Sgt. Jonathon C. Haggin, 26, of Kingsland, Ga., died on July 30, 2005 in Baghdad, Iraq, where an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV while he was on patrol.

Three other soldiers whose names were announced on August 5, 2005, were also killed in this incident. Haggin was assigned to the Army National Guard's 2nd Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment, 48th Infantry Brigade, Albany, Ga.

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Update 8:14

Soldier centered on child, military

By JACK MORSE
The Brunswick News

The memorial service for Jonathon Haggin was almost over when his 2-year-old daughter, Leaundra, toddled toward the front.

She picked up Haggin's Marine Corps dress uniform hat that had been placed on a table in his honor and made her way back to her family in the first row of seats.

"This is Daddy's hat," she said as she smiled.

She has not yet realized that her father, 26, was killed in action Saturday in Iraq.

"She doesn't know," said Haggin's former brother-in-law, Carlos Martinez, after the service. "She can't comprehend it."

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Four US soldiers killed, 6 wounded in Iraq attack (Reuters)

TIKRIT, Iraq (Reuters) - Four U.S. soldiers were killed and six wounded in an attack on a patrol near the northern Iraqi oil refining town of Baiji overnight, the U.S. military said in a statement on Wednesday.

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U.S. Identifies Remains of Vietnam MIAs (AP)

The remains of 12 servicemen listed as missing in action during the Vietnam War have been identified and are returning home, 37 years after they died in a fierce battle near the Laos-Vietnam border, the Defense Department announced Tuesday.

The 11 Marines and one Army soldier are the largest group of MIAs identified since the war, according to the military.

Welcome Home!

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AFP: At least 20 killed in Iraq attacks

A car bomb which exploded on Tuesday afternoon in Baghdad brought the death toll in the Iraqi capital to at least 20, following a string of attacks by gunmen on Iraqi security forces which began early on the morning.

At least 32 bystanders were also injured in the attack, which took the lives of three Iraqis when a car bomb exploded in central Baghdad around 2 PM local Iraqi time, according to AFP.

Earlier, 10 Iraqis were killed in other attacks by gunmen throughout the capital, according Iraq's Ministry of Interior.

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Servicemember Killed in Afghanistan; Three Caches Discovered

WASHINGTON, Aug. 9, 2005 – At least 16 enemy forces and one U.S. servicemember were killed Aug. 8 during a firefight southwest of Deh Chopan, Afghanistan, military officials reported.

The servicemember was killed when an Afghan and U.S. patrol conducting operations aimed at routing enemy forces from the Deh Chopan area came under an unprovoked attack by enemy forces with small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades.

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CENTCOM: MARINE KILLED IN AR RAMADI (confirmed)

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq – A Marine assigned to 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), was killed in action Aug. 8 by small-arms fire during combat operations in Ar Ramadi, Iraq.

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CENTCOM: U.S. SOLDIER KILLED IN CAR BOMB ATTACK (confirmed)

U.S. SOLDIER KILLED IN CAR BOMB ATTACK

BAGHDAD, Iraq — One U.S. Soldier was killed and two were wounded when a terrorist detonated a homicide car bomb near a Task Force Baghdad convoy at 1:50 p.m. Aug. 9 in central Baghdad.

The convoy was stopped at a crowded intersection waiting for traffic to clear. There were a number of civilian casualties.

An Iraqi Army battalion as well as local firefighters and emergency medical technicians responded to the attack to secure the area and evacuate casualties.

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DoD Identifies Marine Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Lance Cpl. Chase J. Comley, 21, of Lexington, Ky., died Aug. 6 as a result of an explosion from a suicide, vehicle-borne, improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations against enemy forces near Al Amiriyah, Iraq. He was assigned to the 2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

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Marine's death in Iraq is a blow to friend, school

SAYRE GRAD REMEMBERED AS HAPPY, OUTGOING

By Jim Warren

HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER

Betty McKinney was surprised when her high school boyfriend Chase Comley joined the U.S. Marine Corps; she was crushed to learn that he had been killed in Iraq over the weekend.

"It's unbelievable; it's just hard to fathom it right now," McKinney said yesterday. "We were very close."

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Soldier in Iraq Sees Daughter's U.S. Birth (AP)

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. - Sgt. William Hamrick II witnessed the birth of his daughter Monday. That may seem unremarkable — except that Hamrick was 6,000 miles away in
Iraq.

When doctors induced labor Monday morning at Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital in Parkersburg, Hamrick was virtually at his wife's side via live Internet video and satellite audio link.

The 25-year-old soldier could see and hear everything as it happened in the hospital room. The satellite audio link let him talk his wife through the contractions. And at 4:04 p.m. in West Virginia, just after midnight in Baghdad, he was able to watch as Elaina Jo Hamrick came into the world.

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AP: Marine from East Peoria dies from wounds sustained in Iraq

EAST PEORIA, Ill. - Gunnery Sgt. Terry W. Ball, a Purple Heart recipient from East Peoria who was injured after warning others in his unit to stand back from an object that turned out to be a bomb, died while being treated for his wounds, relatives said Monday.

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KBCI-TV: Wounded Treasure Valley Soldier Now Home

By Michelle DeGrand

A Nampa soldier is home from Iraq, this time for good, after being seriously injured by an Improvised Explosive Device. 22-year-old Army Private Jason Beyer says the war has been rough. He said his unit, the Active Duty 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, and others have suffered many casualties, some losing eight or nine members with seven months still to go in their deployments. As for his brush with death?

"I don't really remember much of what happened, but it was a 500 pound bomb that exploded under the rear of the Humvee, flipped it up in the air, I was ejected," said Beyer.

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BBC: Gunmen kill 10 policemen in Iraq

Iraqi capital shaken by attacks

A suicide bombing in central Baghdad has killed at least three Iraqis and wounded more than 40 other people.

Police say the bomber appeared to be targeting an American military patrol in Tayaran Square.

Before the area was sealed off by troops, eyewitness reports said US soldiers might be among the wounded.

Earlier, 10 Iraqi policemen and a number of civilians were killed in a spate of drive-by shootings, most of them in the capital.

The police are frequent targets of insurgent violence

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11alive.com: Soldier Survives Two Bomb Attacks

The combat deaths of the past two weeks in Iraq have the family of one Georgia soldier who survived more grateful than ever for community support.

Army Spc. Rodney Davidson of Thomaston, Ga., 39, is the only survivor of an attack that killed the rest of his squad from the Georgia Army National Guard’s 48th Brigade two weeks ago.

A week later, he survived an identical attack.

Army Spc. Rodney Davidson

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08/08/2005 - DoD Identifies Army Casualties

The Department of Defense announced today the death of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Both died on August 5, 2005, in Rubiah, Iraq, when a civilian fuel truck collided with their HMMWV while performing a convoy mission.

Killed were:

Sgt. 1st Class Robert V. Derenda, 42, of Ledbetter, Ky. Derenda was assigned to the U.S. Army Reserve's 1st Brigade, 98th Division, Rochester, N.Y.

Sgt. 1st Class Brett E. Walden, 40, of Fort Walton Beach, Fla. Walden was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Campbell, Ky.

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08/08/2005 - DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Pfc. Seferino J. Reyna, 20, of Phoenix, Ariz., died on Aug. 7, 2005, in Taji, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his military vehicle. Reyna was assigned to the 70th Engineer Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division, Fort Riley, Kan.

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Iraqi army fears insurgents outside walls of base (Reuters)

TAJI, Iraq (Reuters) - For the new Iraqi army being trained by American troops in the safe confines of Taji military base, it's a jungle out there.

So much so that they fear setting foot outside.

"We're all afraid. I can't go outside the base wearing these military clothes," says Sergeant Abbas, listing colleagues who have fallen victim to relentless insurgent attacks in the dusty towns and highways north of Baghdad.

"We all know soldiers who notice people photographing them with mobile phones and being followed," says the Shi'ite Muslim from Amara in relatively calm southern
Iraq.

He does not give his full name for fear of reprisals.

Training the new Iraqi army is essential for U.S. plans to bring troops home over the next year. But for the moment the 15,000 Iraqis at Taji are glad they rarely have to venture outside in military attire.

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Fallouja May Be in Rebel Sights (Los Angeles Times)

Nine months after U.S. and Iraqi troops killed an estimated 1,000 insurgents here in a battle that also cost more than 70 American lives, intelligence suggests that rebels are trying to filter back into the former capital of Iraq's guerrilla movement.

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Marines Find Car Bomb Factory in Iraq (AP)

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. Marines discovered a car bomb factory Monday in a western Iraqi town near where 20 members of the American unit were killed last week, the U.S. military said.

Six vehicles rigged with explosives were found in the hideout in the northern part of Haqlaniyah, one of a cluster of towns in western Anbar province long believed to be a stronghold of Iraqi insurgents and foreign fighters.

"All of the rigged vehicles were destroyed and secondary explosions were observed by the Marines," a Marine statement said.

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Pentagon Plans to Send More Troops to Iraq (AP)

By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer

WASHINGTON - Anticipating a new burst of insurgent violence, the
Pentagon plans to expand the U.S. force in
Iraq to improve security for a planned October referendum and a December election.

A U.S. soldier and interpreter unload a sheep purchased as a gift for a promoted Iraqi police officer from the back of a US combat vehicle in western Mosul, Saturday, July 30, 2005, 360 kilometers (225 miles) northwest of Baghdad, Iraq. U.S. forces are training some 1,500 police officers in the western half of the city. (AP

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DoD Identifies Marine Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Gunnery Sgt. Terry W. Ball Jr., 36, of East Peoria, Ill., died Aug. 5 from wounds received as a result of an explosion while conducting combat operations against enemy forces in Al Karmah, Iraq, on June 12. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

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AP: Army guard soldiers killed boost Pa. casualty toll to at least 87

I posted the story of two soldies being killed yesterday. I didn't know they were from Pennsylvania.

PHILADELPHIA - Two Pennsylvania Army National Guard soldiers were killed and three others injured when an improvised explosive device struck their convoy in Iraq, Gov. Ed Rendell announced Monday.

Sgt. Brahim Jeffcoat, 25, of Philadelphia, and Spec. Kurt Krout, 43, of Spinnerstown, Bucks County, died Saturday after the blast caused their vehicle to roll over in Samarra, about 60 miles north of Baghdad.

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