 Rushed by President Bush's decision to reinforce Baghdad with thousands more U.S. troops, two Army combat brigades are skipping their usual session at the Army's premier training range in California and instead are making final preparations at their home bases. Some in Congress and others outside the Army are beginning to question the switch, which is not widely known. They wonder whether it means the Army is cutting corners in preparing soldiers for combat, since they are forgoing training in a desert setting that was designed specially to prepare them for the challenges of Iraq. Army officials say the two brigades will be as ready as any others that deploy to Iraq, even though they will not have the benefit of training in counterinsurgency tactics at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., which has been outfitted to simulate conditions in Iraq for units that are heading there on yearlong tours....
http://www.cbsnews.com
censor News |
Editor - 10:13:00 02-27-07
|
 Bomb kills or wounds 19, mainly children, in Iraq |
A bomb attack near a soccer field in the volatile Iraqi city of Ramadi on Tuesday killed or wounded 19 people, most of them children, police said.State television Iraqiya said 18 children had been killed by a car bomb at the field. Police said it was a roadside bomb. There was no immediate comment from the U.S. military. Iraqiya gave no more details. Police said the field was near an American military base. Ramadi is the capital of Anbar province, the heart of the Sunni Arab insurgency in Iraq. A truck bomb near a Sunni mosque in Ramadi killed 52 people on Saturday, a day after the mosque's imam had made a speech criticizing Sunni al Qaeda, which is entrenched in the area. ...
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2908190
full News |
Editor - 10:06:00 02-27-07
|
| Hamas wins Moscow embargo pledge |
Russia says it will work to lift sanctions which western governments imposed on the Palestinian Authority after Hamas won elections last year. The announcement came as Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal was visiting Moscow. Russia risked the wrath of the United States and Israel when it decided to hold talks with Hamas. This is the second time in less than a year that the group has been invited to Moscow, and Russia is unrepentant. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov welcomed the recent proposals to form a Palestinian government of national unity. Mr Meshaal thanked Russia for its support and advice. But neither he nor Mr Lavrov gave any details of what actual steps Russia might take to lift the economic blockade. Russia, the United States, the United Nations, and the European Union have demanded that Hamas renounce violence and recognise Israel....
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6401995.stm
full News |
Editor - 10:04:00 02-27-07
|
| Al-Qaeda the 'worst threat' to US? Maybe after the US Government, its our Government that is killing our Constitution and our freedom, not some foreign Boogieman |
Al-Qaeda represents the most serious threat to US interests, the new US intelligence chief has said. Michael McConnell told a congressional panel the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah also posed a grave threat. He also said Iran and North Korea were of most concern to the US because there was a risk they could spread weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). Mr McConnell, who became head of the 16 US spy agencies this year, said Iraq was "moving in a negative direction". The retired admiral told the Senate Armed Services Committee that al-Qaeda elements were still trying to acquire weapons of mass destruction. Just what and whose interest are they talking about. We don’t have any interest in foreign countries but the Big Corporations sure do. Maybe we should rent them the Army when their interests are threatened, but don’t have them use it free as they always have. Without a Boogieman to scare the rabble money is harder to make. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6401427.stm
full News |
Editor - 10:00:00 02-27-07
|
| Taleban attack during Cheney trip |
At least nine people have died in a suicide bombing at the main US base in Afghanistan during US Vice-President Dick Cheney's stay, US officials say. Mr Cheney, who was unharmed, was staying at the Bagram base near Kabul. The US military said the bomber was also killed. Some reports say 14 people died - more than 20 others were hurt. The Taleban said they carried out the attack and that the attacker was trying to get to Mr Cheney, who was on an unannounced visit to the region. A US spokesman described it as a "direct attack" on the base, which was put on red alert for a while. Mr Cheney was said to be safely inside the compound at the time. He described hearing a "loud boom" and told reporters he had been briefly moved to a bomb shelter. One US and one South Korean soldier were among the dead as well as a US government contractor who was a US national. The others killed were Afghan civilians, many of whose distraught relatives gathered later outside the base. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6399527.stm
full News |
Editor - 09:44:00 02-27-07
|
| Army Medic Pleads Guilty To Iraq Murder Man Admits To Unpremeditated Murder Of Private During Drinking Binge In Iraq |
An Army medic accused of fatally shooting a fellow soldier during a night of heavy drinking in Iraq pleaded guilty Tuesday to unpremeditated murder and other charges. Spc. Chris Rolan, 23, initially had been charged with premeditated murder in the Nov. 16, 2005, death of Pvt. Dylan Paytas, 20, while the two were serving with Fort Benning's 3rd Infantry Brigade in Iraq. Rolan's court-martial had been set to begin Tuesday morning. Instead, he accepted an agreement to plead guilty to unpremeditated murder, violating a general order against drinking in Iraq, communicating a threat and reckless endangerment. Officials said he could face life in prison when he is sentenced. In addition to the charges involving Paytas, Rolan had been charged with assaulting and threatening to kill a 25-year-old soldier from Texas during an earlier drinking episode....
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/27/iraq/main2520070.shtml?source=RSSattr=U.S._2520070
full News |
Editor - 09:41:00 02-27-07
|
|
| post The Good, The Bad and The Ugly |
|
|
