Gannett: 4,000 soldiers heading to Shelby

By Janet Braswell

Another 4,000 soldiers will begin arriving next month for training at Camp Shelby before they deploy to Iraq.

Almost 2,700 of them belong to the 34th Infantry Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team of the Minnesota National Guard. They will be augmented by National Guard troops from New Jersey, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and Utah.

Their arrival will bring to more than 17,000 the number of troops trained at Camp Shelby for service in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Reality of war spoils Bush's vacation

By HELEN THOMAS
HEARST NEWSPAPERS

Hat tip to Kristen from the DNC Blog.

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U.S. Marine, Afghan soldier killed in clash (Reuters)

KABUL (Reuters) - A U.S. Marine and an Afghan government soldier have been killed in a clash while trying to clear militants from an area in the run-up to an election next month, the U.S. military said on Friday.

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KBTV: Port Arthur Soldier Receives Purple Heart

A hometown soldier this week received the Purple Heart for being wounded in the war in Iraq.

The military presented Jean-Louis Blackburn the award while in his military hospital bed in Tacoma, Washington. Blackburn is pictured to the right in a photograph provided by his family.

Blackburn is a 1988 graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School in Port Arthur. His family attended the ceremony in Washington.

Blackburn's family tells us he was seriously wounded July 10 near Anbar Province in Iraq.

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Injured local Marine contemplates future

Lance Cpl. Richard ``Ricky'' Paul Turner wanted to be a policeman before he left for Iraq.

As the Marine recovers from wounds at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., the 21-year-old Akron Firestone High School graduate still holds onto those dreams.

But he worries that his injuries -- scores of shrapnel wounds that resulted in the loss of his right eye and feeling in his right foot -- could prevent him from going into police work.

Turner was wounded Aug. 1 near Hit, Iraq, when a suicide bomber blew up a vehicle that killed another Marine, Sgt. James R. Graham III, of Coweta, Okla., and injured two others.

The four were searching for Cpl. Jeffrey Boskovitch of Seven Hills, whose father, James, lives in Cuyahoga Falls, when their Humvee was hit by the explosion, Turner's mother, Lori, said.

Boskovitch and five other snipers, including Tallmadge resident Lance Cpl. Daniel Nathan Deyarmin Jr. -- all Marine reservists -- were killed Aug. 1 in Iraq, the same day Turner was wounded.

Free Subscription required to read entire article at Akron Beacon Journal.

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Combat Stress Unit Returns to Iraq (AP)

BOSTON - Members of the 883rd Medical Company treat the kinds of wounds that can't be seen but are sometimes just as damaging as physical injuries. The "combat stress control" unit, which heads to Iraq on Friday for a second deployment, offers counseling and advice to soldiers who may be suffering from anxiety, depression, insomnia and a host of other psychological problems associated with combat.

This is good. The quicker our troops can get help, the better.

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Rocket Attacks Miss U.S. Navy Ships

By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Aug. 19, 2005 – No U.S. sailors or Marines were injured in an apparent rocket attack today that missed two U.S. Navy ships in the Red Sea port of Aqaba, Jordan, officials reported.

"At approximately 8:44 a.m. local time, a suspected mortar rocket flew over the USS Ashland's bow and impacted in a warehouse on the pier in the vicinity of the Ashland and the USS Kearsarge," U.S. 5th Fleet officials said in a statement. "The warehouse sustained an approximate 8-foot hole in the roof of the building."

According to news reports, a Jordanian soldier was killed and another severely wounded when the rocket hit the warehouse. A second rocket hit near a Jordanian hospital and a third partially exploded, damaging a road and a car. A third rocket reportedly landed in the nearby Israeli city of Eilat, with no casualties and only minor damage.

The ships were in Aqaba supporting the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit training with the Jordanians, fleet officials said.

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Rockets kill 1, narrowly miss US ships in Jordan port (Reuters)

AMMAN (Reuters) - Rockets were fired at two U.S. warships in Jordan's Red Sea Aqaba port on Friday, but missed their targets and killed a Jordanian soldier on land.

The three Katyusha missiles instead landed on a warehouse, a hospital and the neighboring Israeli port of Eilat.

A Jordanian security source said authorities were searching for three men after the attack, which was launched from an industrial warehouse area.

"We are searching for a Syrian and two Iraqis who are in Aqaba and used Kuwaiti (car) number plates," the source said. Another source said the warehouse from which the rockets were launched had been leased a few days ago by three Iraqis and an Egyptian.

A group claiming links to al Qaeda, the Abdullah al-Azzam Brigades of the al Qaeda Organization in the Levant and Egypt, said in a statement it had carried out the attack.

Reuters Photo: An undated US Navy handout photo shows USS Ashland (top) during a naval exercise at...

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4 American soldiers die in Iraq blast (Chicago Tribune)

By Noam N. Levey Tribune Newspapers: Los Angeles Times

Iraqi insurgents killed four American soldiers and assassinated a Baghdad judge Thursday while beleaguered government officials and U.S. military leaders worked to shift attention from the violence to efforts to rebuild the country.

The soldiers died when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb in the city of Samarra, about 75 miles north of Baghdad, according to the U.S. military.

The attack occurred on a dirt road in the southern section of the city, which was once home to the largest mosque in the Islamic world but more recently has become a frequent flash point in the insurgency. Military officials did not provide further details Thursday.

This is an update from yesterdays posting.

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Reuters: Death of Iraqi brothers sparks anti-U.S. rage

By Michael Georgy

BAGHDAD, Aug 18 (Reuters) - An angry Iraqi crowd carried coffins through a Baghdad district on Thursday and threw rocks at American soldiers, accusing U.S. troops of killing three innocent middle-aged brothers, one of them in a wheelchair.

The U.S. military said they had killed three "terrorists".

"They call everybody terrorists but they just commit terrorist acts whenever they want," said Mohsen Thabit, a friend of the men whom neighbours found shot in the head at home after a raid by U.S. and Iraqi troops in the Amiriya district overnight.

Iraqi men look at the body of a man who was killed during a raid in the Amariya area of west Baghdad August 18, 2005. Three civilians were shot dead after a raid on their house by U.S. and Iraqi troops, witnesses said. There was no immediate comment from the U.S. military.
REUTERS/ALI JASIM

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US to send 700 extra troops to Iraq to reinforce prisons (AFP)

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States is to send an extra 700 troops to
Iraq to strengthen its forces guarding US-run prisons, a Defence Department spokesman said.

The extra troops will come from the 82nd Airborne Division.

"The battalion is being deployed to Iraq. They are going to assist in detention operations," said the spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Barry Venable.

The Washington Post said the number of prisoners in US-run detention centres in Iraq has doubled in the past 11 months from 5,400 to 10,800.

Venable said the deployment was not linked to "any force level adjustment associated with the elections period" in Iraq.

AFP/File Photo: A US soldier in a sentry post throws down a bag of sweets to children..

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3 coordinated bombs kill dozens in Baghdad (Chicago Tribune)

A coordinated trio of morning rush-hour bombs at a bus station and a hospital where victims of the first explosions were being treated killed up to 43 people Wednesday, breaking the lull that had descended on Baghdad in recent weeks and reminding the capital that the insurgency is still in business.

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Vigils Calling for End to Iraq War Begin (AP)

CRAWFORD, Texas - As the sun dipped behind the pastures around the campsite near
President Bush's ranch, more than 200 people clutched candles and gathered silently around a flag-draped coffin.

The vigil calling for an end to the war in
Iraq was among hundreds nationwide Wednesday, part of an effort spurred by Cindy Sheehan's anti-war protest in memory of her son Casey, killed in Iraq last year.

"For the more than 1,800 who have come home this way in flag-draped coffins, each one ... was a son or a daughter, not cannon fodder to be used so recklessly," Sheehan said. "Each one is a valuable human life that is missed so desperately."

AP Photo: Mike Murphy sings a protest song as he attends a candle light vigil in support...

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U.S. first-time jobless claims climb (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of Americans applying for initial jobless aid rose 6,000 last week, the U.S. government said on Thursday, but jobless claims remained at levels indicative of a healthy labor market.

A number of companies, this week alone, announced lay-offs.

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CENTCOM: FOUR TASK FORCE LIBERTY SOLDIERS KILLED BY IED IN SAMARRA

TIKRIT, Iraq – Four Task Force Liberty Soldiers were killed by an improvised explosive device in Samarra at about 11:15 a.m. on Aug. 18.

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CENTCOM: AFGHANISTAN: TWO KILLED, TWO WOUNDED IN IED STRIKE

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – Two U.S. soldiers were killed and two were wounded when an improvised explosive device struck their armored vehicle as it traveled north of Kandahar today.

The two U.S. soldiers wounded in the attack were evacuated to Kandahar Airfield for treatment where they are both listed in stable condition.

Their vehicle was part of a convoy operating in the area in support of the Tarin Kowt road construction project, a U.S. effort to build a modern major highway and improve local infrastructure.

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Spc. Michael J. Stokely

DoD Identifies Army Casualty

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

Spc. Michael J. Stokely, 23, of Sharpsburg, Ga., died on Aug. 16, 2005, in Baghdad, Iraq, where an improvised explosive device detonated near his dismounted patrol. Stokely was assigned to the Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 108th Armor Regiment, 48th Brigade Combat Team, Griffin, Ga.

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TASK FORCE FREEDOM SOLDIER KILLED

MOSUL, Iraq – A U.S. Soldier was killed by gunfire in central Mosul Aug. 15 while conducting security operations. Terrorists employed small arms fire as they drove by his position in a civilian vehicle

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Spc. Jose L. RuizSgt. Thomas J. StricklandSpc. Joshua P. DinglerSgt. Paul A. Saylor

DoD Identifies Army Casualty

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

Spc. Jose L. Ruiz, 28, of Brentwood, N.Y., died on August 15, 2005, in Mosul, Iraq, when he was conducting security operations and enemy forces using small arms fire drove by his position in a civilian vehicle. Ruiz was assigned to the Army's 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), Fort Lewis, Wash.

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DoD Identifies Army Casualties

The Department of Defense announced today the death of three soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died on August 15, 2005, in Al Mahmudiyah, Iraq, when their HMMWV accidentally rolled over into a canal. All three were assigned to the Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 108th Armor Regiment, Calhoun, Ga.

Killed were:

Sgt. Thomas J. Strickland, 27, of Douglasville, Ga.

Spc. Joshua P. Dingler, 19, of Hiram, Ga.

Sgt. Paul A. Saylor, 21, of Norcross, Ga.

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Curbs Sought On Bush Ranch Demos

Snip

A resident was arrested Monday night after authorities say he ran over hundreds of small wooden crosses bearing names of fallen U.S. soldiers.

Im glad this idiot went to jail!

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More than one Iranian weapons cache found in Iraq: Rumsfeld (AFP)

ASUNCION (AFP) - US forces have found Iranian weapons inside
Iraq on more than one occasion over the past couple of months, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said.

Snip

Rumsfeld last week charged for the first time that a cache of Iranian weapons had been found in Iraq.

But in his comments Tuesday, Rumsfeld said Iranian weapons have been found on more than one occasion over the past couple of months.

He did not elaborate, but an intelligence official told AFP last week that US intelligence believes at least one cache of newly manufactured bombs came from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

"We know we're finding Iranian weapons inside of the country," Rumsfeld said. "They don't just get there by accidents. They don't drive over the border," he said.

My question then is, what are you doing to stop the flow of weapons from Iran?

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Parents of Fallen Marine Make Plea to Bush (AP)

CLEVELAND - The day after burying their son, parents of a fallen Marine urged
President Bush to either send more reinforcements to
Iraq or withdraw U.S. troops altogether.

"We feel you either have to fight this war right or get out," Rosemary Palmer, mother of Lance Cpl. Edward Schroeder II, said Tuesday.

Schroeder, 23, died two weeks ago in a roadside explosion, one of 16 Ohio-based Marines killed recently in Iraq.

AP Photo: Paul Schroeder and his wife Rosemary Palmer talk with reporters outside their Cleveland home, Tuesday,...

If we are to stay any longer in Iraq, we need more troops to secure the borders. Even the parents of a fallen Marine know this. If we don't increase the troop levels we need to get everyone out!

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And this from Think Pogress about troop levels.

DiRita’s Deceitful Reponse to American Progress

American Progress fellow Larry Korb recently published an op-ed that drew a response this past weekend from Pentagon spokesman Larry DiRita.

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Coretta Scott King Hospitalized in Atlanta (AP)

ATLANTA - Civil rights matriarch Coretta Scott King was in fair condition Tuesday after being hospitalized for an unspecified condition, a hospital official said.

Get well Coretta.

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26 Iraqi workers wounded as US troops mistake them for rebels (AFP)

BAGHDAD (AFP) - A group of Iraqi workers in Baghdad came under fire from US troops who mistook them for insurgents.

An interior ministry source said US troops fired on a crowd of workers in the central Baghdad neighbourhood of Alawi, while a defence ministry source reported an exchange of fire between suspected rebels and US forces in the area.

But a number of casualties lying in Al-Yarmouk hospital told AFP that a US helicopter fired at them as they were gathered outside a hotel.

AFP Photo: Hamza Jaber lies on a hospital bed with neck and leg injuries after he was...

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Reuters: Afghan helicopter crash kills 17 Spanish troops

Seventeen Spanish troops were killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan on Tuesday, a Defense Ministry spokesman said.

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CENTCOM: THREE TASK FORCE BAGHDAD SOLDIERS DIE IN VEHICLE ACCIDENT

Three Task Force Baghdad Soldiers died when the vehicle in which they were riding overturned into a sinkhole Aug. 15 at 3:45 a.m. in south Baghdad during combat operations.

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Staff Sgt. Asbury F. Hawn Spc. Gary L. Reese Sgt. Shannon D. Taylor

DoD Identifies Army Casualties

The Department of Defense announced today the death of three soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died on Aug. 14, 2005, in Tuz, Iraq, of injuries sustained on Aug. 13, 2005, in Tuz, Iraq, where they were conducting a mounted patrol. Their HMMWV came under attack by enemy forces using rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire. All three were assigned to the Army National Guard's 3rd Squadron, 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment, McMinnville, Tenn.

Killed were:

Staff Sgt. Asbury F. Hawn, II, 35, of Lebanon, Tenn.

Spc. Gary L. Reese, Jr., 22, of Ashland City, Tenn.

Sgt. Shannon D. Taylor, 30, of Smithville, Tenn.

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Spc. Toccara R. Green Spc. Rusty W. Bell

DoD Identifies Army Casualty

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

Spc. Toccara R. Green, 23, of Rosedale, Md., died on Aug. 14, 2005, in Al Asad, Iraq, where multiple improvised explosive devices detonated near her unit during convoy operations. Green was assigned the Army's 57th Transportation Company, 548th Corps Support Battalion, Fort Drum, N.Y.

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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. Rusty W. Bell, 21, of Pocahontas, Ark., died on Aug. 12, 2005, in Taji, Iraq, of non-combat related injuries. Bell was assigned to the Army's 603rd Aviation Support Battalion, Aviation Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia.

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Cindy's Victory

By William Rivers Pitt
t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Monday 15 August 2005

This thing, the wheels are coming off it.
- Gen. Barry McCaffrey, after returning from an inspection of Iraq, 08/12/2005.

They are sunburned and storm-lashed. They sleep in tents that sit along the muddy earth of drainage ditches by the side of the road.

This is a very moving op ed. Go read the entire post.

Hat tip to Donkey O.D.

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Capt. Jeremy A. Chandler Spc. Brian K. Derks 1st Lt. David L. Giaimo

DoD Identifies Army Casualty

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

Capt. Jeremy A. Chandler, 30, of Clarksville, Tenn., died Aug. 11 in Tarin Kowt, Afghanistan, while he was conducting training operations at Forward Operating Base Ripley. The incident is under investigation.

Chandler was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group, 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.

Spc. Brian K. Derks, 21, of White Cloud, Michigan, died on Aug. 13, 2005, in Baghdad, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated while he was on mounted patrol. Derks was assigned to the 2nd Squadron, 11th Armored Calvary Regiment, Fort Irwin, Calif.

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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.

1st Lt. David L. Giaimo, 24, of Waukegan, Ill., died Aug. 12, 2005, in Tikrit, Iraq, where his HMMWV hit a land mine. Giaimo was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.

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Iraq battles to complete charter as parliament session delayed (AFP)

BAGHDAD (AFP) - As the deadline for drafting
Iraq's constitution inched closer, leaders of the war-torn country battled to complete the draft, delaying the special parliament session called to consider the charter.

"The parliament session has been delayed as the leaders are still in the meeting," Hiwa Osman, spokesman to President Jalal Talabani told AFP.

A source in the communication department of the 275-member national assembly said the delay was for two hours.

The delay occurred as leading politicians were locked in 11th-hour talks to thrash out the remaining disagreements over a final draft amid intense US-led pressure not to play into the hands of insurgents by missing a key target date in Iraq's political transition.

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WorldNow: Wounded Soldier Getting Closer to Homecoming

SYLVANIA -- In October 2004, Army Specialist Matthew Drake and fellow soldiers riding in an armored vehicle in Iraq fell victim to a suicide bomber. Only Matthew survived. Now the Sylvania soldier is recovering from severe injuries and getting closer and closer to a homecoming after a groundbreaking on Sunday.

When people learned of the severity of Drake's disability, they turned out to help. For several months now, people have been raising money to build an addition onto the family home in Sylvania. A place where Matthew can live independently, but rely on family when needed. "Matthew has had so much taken away from him....Having to come back home to live is difficult for anybody," said Matthew's mother Lisa Schuster.

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CNN: Marines, insurgents tangle on Falluja road

FALLUJA, Iraq (CNN) -- "Ma'am, you know your cameraman is in the kill-zone?" That was just a small reminder of the danger we were in, from a Marine driving the Humvee I was in.

"Yeah, he likes to get just as close to it all as you Marines!" I replied. Then ... bah-boom!

What the military calls "a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device" -- in plain English, a car bomb -- blew up. Right in front of us.

CNN correspondent Alex Quade, right, talks to Gunnery Sgt. Jeff Dagenhart about his mission.

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US lawmakers call for more American troops in Iraq

By Susan Heavey

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two top U.S. lawmakers on Sunday called for more American troops to be sent to Iraq, but the head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said that was "very unlikely."

Sens. Joseph Biden and John McCain said there were not enough U.S. forces to fend off insurgent attacks and not enough Iraqi forces are trained to take over from the 138,000 U.S. soldiers there.

Biden, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking Democrat, said fewer than 3,000 Iraqis are fully trained to take over from their American counterparts.

"We have another probably 20 to 30 battalions out there that, with embedded U.S. military, are able to do a serious, positive job. After that, it falls off the cliff," the Delaware senator said on NBC'S "Meet the Press."

A recent U.S. military report put the number of Iraqi security forces at 171,300.

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Mass Grave Found Near Baghdad, Forces Say (AP)

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Thirty bodies were found Sunday in a grave south of Baghdad, Iraqi forces said.

Iraqi commandos were led to the grave in the Owerij industrial district in southern Baghdad after interrogating insurgents detained in a raid earlier in the day, Col. Selam al-Maamuri of the Interior Ministry said.

The grave, which al-Maamuri estimated was 10 to 14 days old, included the bodies of two women. Al-Maamuri did not identify the dead or say how they were killed.

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Donkey O.D.

Go read Jenny's blog today. Lots of info on Cindy Sheehan.

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Bush Approval a Low for Two-Term Leaders (AP)

By WILL LESTER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON -
President Bush's standing with an American public anxious about
Iraq and the nation's direction is lower than that of the last two men who won re-election to the White House — Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton — at this point in their second terms.

But solid backing from his base supporters has kept Bush from sinking to the depths reached by former presidents Harry Truman,
Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter and Bush's father. Truman decided not to run for re-election. Nixon resigned. Carter and the first President Bush were defeated in re-election campaigns.

The base I see is the Neocons.

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Troops' Body Armor Being Replaced Again (AP)

By HOPE YEN, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - For the second time since the
Iraq war began, the
Pentagon is replacing body armor for U.S. troops in
Afghanistan and Iraq, citing a need for better protection that can withstand the strongest of attacks from insurgents, a spokesman said Saturday.

The effort, which began more than a year ago, would upgrade the protection used by more than 500,000 soldiers as well as civilian employees and news reporters. The first upgrade installed ceramic protective plates in the vests and was completed in early 2004.

Defense officials acknowledge the replacement processes have been slowed in part by debates over what is best for the troops. The current replacement is expected to take several more months to complete, said an Army official, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of information affecting troop safety.

AP Photo: A firefighter runs as a U.S. military vehicle burns after being struck by a roadside...

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AP: U.S. Troops Begin Afghan Offensive (AP)

By DANIEL COONEY, Associated Press Writer

KANDAGAL, Afghanistan - U.S. Marines and Afghan troops launched an offensive Saturday to take a remote mountain valley from insurgents tied to the deadliest blow on American forces since the Taliban regime was ousted nearly four years ago.

The operation is the biggest yet aimed at rebels believed responsible for twin attacks that killed 19 U.S. troops in June. Three Navy SEALs were killed in an ambush, and all 16 soldiers on a helicopter sent to rescue them died when it was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.

The offensive came at the end of a deadly week for U.S. forces in
Afghanistan. Seven Americans have died along with dozens of militants and civilians, reinforcing concerns that crucial legislative elections next month could be threatened by a surge in violence.

AP Photo: U.S. Marines lead the donkeys that they use to transport supplies to drink water from...

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Six U.S. Soldiers Killed in Iraq Bombings (AP)

By ANTONIO CASTANEDA, Associated Press Writer 3 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Six U.S. soldiers died in roadside bombings and a shooting, the military said Sunday, as lawmakers rushed to persuade Sunni Arabs to accept federalism provisions in the draft constitution that is due in one day.

Snip

Elsewhere, the U.S. military said three soldiers were killed and one other wounded in a roadside bombing late Saturday near Tuz Khormato, 95 miles north of Baghdad.

One soldier on a patrol was killed Sunday and three others wounded in a blast east of Rutbah, 250 miles west of Baghdad, the military said. In another roadside bombing, one soldier was killed Saturday and another wounded in western Baghdad.

On Friday a U.S. commander said the number of roadside bomb attacks against American convoys in
Iraq had doubled in the past year to about 30 per week. Dozens of bombings, usually detonated by remote control, target U.S. and Iraqi patrols each day.

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