 U.S. war commanders think some level of American forces will be needed in Iraq until 2016 and those forces will receive continued support from the vast majority of Iraqis. At the tactical level, the U.S. is getting better at detecting deadly improvised explosive devices (IEDs), especially using unmanned spy planes. But the enemy is growing more sophisticated. A raid on an IED factory earlier this year netted two bomb-makers who hold master's degrees in chemistry and physics -- from U.S. colleges. These were among the points made by Iraq war commanders at a closed-door conference last spring at Fort Carson, Colo., home to the 7th Infantry Division. Maj. Gen. Robert W. Mixon Jr., the division's commander, invited scores of retired generals and admirals in the Fort Carson area to hear the commanders and give them feedback. Lt. Col. David Johnson, division spokesman, said the session was the second held this year at Fort Carson. A third is planned for the fall. ...
http://www.washingtontimes.com
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Editor - 08:44:00 07-17-06
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 Mexicans stage huge poll protest |
Hundreds of thousands of supporters of Mexican presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador have demanded a recount in the election on 2 July. The demonstration is the second big protest to be held in the streets of the capital Mexico City since Mr Lopez Obrador narrowly lost the vote. He alleged that there was electoral fraud and called for a manual recount. Results show his conservative opponent Felipe Calderon won by a margin of only 0.57 of a percentage point. Mr Lopez Obrador told supporters he vowed to start civil resistance to force a recount. "To defend democracy we are going to begin peaceful civil resistance", the leader of the left-wing Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) told the crowd gathered in the Zocalo, the main public square in the capital. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5186036.stm
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Editor - 18:54:00 07-16-06
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| Coalition raids kill 40 Afghan militants |
British and coalition forces killed more than 40 militants across southern Afghanistan yesterday in the latest clashes of the bloodiest phase of violence in the country since 2001.Military sources said more than 300 British paratroopers, backed by US and Canadian soldiers, launched a pre-dawn raid from the air on the desert town of Sangin to wrest it from Taliban control.Ten suspected insurgents were killed in the helicopter-led assault on Helmand province's insurgent stronghold, where 'hundreds' of Taliban had massed in preparation for conducting attacks, coalition spokesman Major Scott Lundy said.'Helicopter-borne infantry dropped on several positions,' Lundy said. 'Coalition forces killed 10 Taliban and drove the others out, but it is difficult to say if the remainder are still nearby.'...
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1821492,00.html
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Editor - 18:50:00 07-16-06
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| Israel flattens Foreign Ministry, Hamas offices |
An Israeli air strike flattened the 8-story Palestinian Foreign Ministry building in Gaza City on Monday, part of a campaign against the Hamas militant group and the government it controls. A separate air strike gutted the offices of a Hamas-led security force in the Islamist stronghold of Jabalya in the northern Gaza Strip, witnesses said. Israel launched its Gaza offensive after militants, some from Hamas, captured an Israeli soldier -- Corporal Gilad Shalit -- in a cross-border raid on June 25.The Israeli military has since killed more than 85 Palestinians in Gaza, about half of them militants.The Foreign Ministry building, which was badly damaged in a previous Israeli air strike, was completely destroyed by the early morning blast, which tore into nearby homes, shops and offices, witnesses said.At least nine Palestinians were injured, most of them children. No deaths were reported....
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060716/ts_nm/mideast_gaza_dc
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Editor - 18:44:00 07-16-06
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| Insect's spread threatens hemlock forests |
Within the serene forests that draw hundreds of thousands of visitors to southern Appalachia every year, a quiet massacre is underway.A tiny pest small enough to float on the breeze — a bug called the hemlock woolly adelgid — is slowly poisoning the majestic hemlock trees that make up much of the green canopy in the rugged region, threatening the scenery that visitors admire from the overlooks of the Blue Ridge Parkway and the cliffs of Chimney Rock Park."They may never have noticed the hemlocks when they were alive, but they sure notice them when they're dead," Chimney Rock naturalist Ron Lance said during a recent hike to check on adelgid damage.There are weapons to fight the adelgids, including chemicals and other insects, but using them is expensive and labor-intensive.Adelgids measure just 1/32nd of an inch long, small enough to be carried by the wind or to stow away on birds, landscapers' tools or backpackers' gear....
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2006-07-16-hemlock-bugs_x.htm?csp=34
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Editor - 18:41:00 07-16-06
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| Crews Struggle to Quell Wildfires Still Raging Across Steep, Rocky Swaths of California |
Fire crews struggled Sunday to quell wildfires still raging across steep, rocky swaths of this desert region, as the harsh terrain slowed efforts to fully contain the blazes that have destroyed 58 homes and scorched more than 120 square miles. Large wildfires are burning in nine states, most in the West, according to the National Fire Information Center in Boise, Idaho. Two major fires in the California desert have merged, which fire officials described as a positive development. "The fact that they burned together makes it easier for us because now we're only dealing with one perimeter," said Wayne Barringer, spokesman for the California Department of Forestry. One area of the fire, spanning about 97 square miles, was 60 percent contained, fire officials said. An adjacent fire had grown to more than 23 square miles since merging with the larger fire and was 10 percent contained, officials said. ...
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2199538
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Editor - 18:33:00 07-16-06
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