Cpl. Adam C. Schnell, 2nd Marine Division
After seven months battling insurgents in Iraq, approximately 850 Marines with 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment returned to a cheering crowd of family and friends here Jan. 28-30.

Full Story - from http://www.usmc.mil


MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - A Marine with 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment kisses a family member for the first time in seven months after returning from Iraq Jan. 28. The battalion participated in the battles in Fallujah and captured massive amounts of weapons and ammunition. Photo by: Cpl. Adam C. Schnell



MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - A mascot for 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment entertained children at the homecoming ceremony Jan. 28 for the battalion who return from Iraq after seven months. The battalion arrived here in three waves to their waiting family members who cheered them as they made their way off the buses. Photo by: Cpl. Adam C. Schnell



MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - Marines with 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment celebrated their return with family and friends at a homecoming ceremony Jan. 28. The battalion spent seven months in Iraq and arrived in three waves to their waiting family members who cheered them as they made their way off the buses. Photo by: Cpl. Adam C. Schnell

UUUURAH MARINES!!!! Welcome Home, and thank you from the bottom of our hearts for everything you do.

NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH — Iraqi Army soldiers and U.S. Army soldiers from Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division Stryker Brigade Combat Team, pull security in a neighborhood in Mosul, Iraq, on Jan. 25, 2005. The soldiers are talking with and handing out newspapers to people in the neighborhood. They are in Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jeremiah Johnson

JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Bush spending plan to slow defense growth
President Bush wants Congress to slow defense growth and slice aid to farmers and college students, testaments to the pressures record federal deficits are heaping on his forthcoming budget.

Wreckage of missing Afghan plane is found
NATO helicopters searching for an Afghan jetliner that disappeared during a snowstorm with 104 people aboard found the wreckage of the plane Saturday high in the forbidding mountains east of the capital, officials said.

Roadside bombs kill eight in Iraq
Insurgents launched fresh attacks, killing four U.S. soldiers and four Iraqi security troops in roadside bombings, as partial returns from the historic national elections showed a Shiite alliance with ties to Iran rolling up a strong lead over pro-U.S. interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.

Rice thanks Poland for Iraq support
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Saturday thanked the government of Poland, an important ally in Iraq, for its continued support in the war despite public opposition.

Ex-Abu Ghraib guard sentenced to 6 months
Sgt. Javal Davis doesn't have to serve much prison time for abusing detainees at Abu Ghraib in late 2003, but once his incarceration is over, so is his prized career as a soldier.


Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Terror meeting a showcase for Saudi efforts
Delegates from the around the world will spend four days discussing ways to combat terrorism at a conference hosted by a country some in the West blame for exporting terrorism, even as Saudi Arabia sees itself as the victim of such violence. Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq


The US News: Iraq News
Iraqi Police Use Kidnappers' Videos to Fight Crime
In the first week after the elections, the Iraqi Interior Ministry and the Mosul police chief are turning the tables on the insurgency here in the north by [in New York Times] The US News: Iraq News

Local soldiers help secure elections in Iraq
FOB WARRIOR, Iraq -- Soldiers of the 116th Brigade Combat Team worked together with the Iraqi Interim Government to provide security for the Iraqi citizens in their area during the country's first fre... [in The Times-News] The US News: Iraq News

Falwell Eulogizes Marine Killed in Iraq
AP Photo VTAP102 By WILSON RING Associated Press Writer BARTON, Vt. (AP) - A 24-year-old Marine who graduated in 2003 from Liberty University and then died in Iraq was destined to do great things, ... [in Guardian] The US News: Iraq News

Iraq Calls For Widening Of UN Oil-For-Food Investigation
UNITED NATIONS (AP)--Iraq called Friday for a widening of the investigation of the U.N. oil-for-food program and demanded the immediate return of money in the U.N. account that paid for administrati... [in Morning Star] The US News: Iraq News


Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Iraq's Sunnis Rethink Strategy
BAGHDAD, Feb. 4 -- Influential Sunni Arab leaders of a boycott of last week's elections expressed a new willingness Friday to engage the coming Iraqi government and play a role in writing the constitution, in what may represent a strategic shift in thinking among mainstream anti-occupation groups. Yahoo! News: War with Iraq

Seven Iraqi Soldiers Killed as Violence Simmers
Insurgent attacks killed seven Iraqisoldiers on Saturday as guerrillas stayed on the offensiveafter failing to scupper last week's historic election. Yahoo! News: War with Iraq

Soldier killed in Iraq buried in Buncombe County
A sign on the front door of one shop in this Buncombe County community Friday advised, "We will be closed today from 1-2 p.m. for a friend's funeral." [in Herald Sun] The US News: Iraq News

German chancellor pledges more help in Iraq
BERLIN — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, pressing her effort to improve relations with Europe, drew a promise on Friday from Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of Germany to do more to help with I... [in Deseret News] The US News: Iraq News

Iraq elections: Defiance to terror and desire for democracy?
Dr. Alamgir Hussain writes from Singapore The great enthusiasm, the strong will and the festive mood displayed by the Iraqi voters on the election day, despite the state of immense terror and fear, a... [in The Daily Star] The US News: Iraq News

Roadside bomb blast kills 2 US soldiers in Iraq
BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb blast killed two US soldiers and wounded five near the northern Iraqi town of Baiji on Friday, the US military said on Saturday. [in Khaleej Times] The US News: Iraq News

Shiite Candidates Hold Wide Lead Over Iraq's U.S.-Backed Prime Minister
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - U.S.-backed Prime Minister Ayad Allawi was trailing a Shiite ticket with ties to Iran in Iraq's historic election, according to partial returns released Friday. One U.S. soldier w... [in Tampa Bay Online] The US News: Iraq News

Four Iraqi soldiers killed in motorcycle bomb attack
BASRA, Iraq - Four Iraqi soldiers were killed Saturday when a booby-trapped motorcycle exploded near their vehicle in the southern city of Basra, an army spokesman said [in Khaleej Times] The US News: Iraq News

Shiite coalition rolls up strong lead in Iraq
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A new, partial tally of votes Friday from Iraq's landmark elections showed a Shiite coalition whose leaders have close ties to Iran rolling up a strong lead over other tickets, includ... [in Casper Star Tribune] The US News: Iraq News


Weather
Weather information from The Weather Channel

Iraq
Al Azamiyah
Al Basrah
Al Hillah
Al Karkh
Al Kazimiyah
Al Kut
An Nasiriyah
Baghdad
Baqubah
Mosul
Najaf
Nineveh
Tall Kayf

Afghanistan
Bost/Laskar
Ghurian
Herat
Kabul
Qandahar


From Fox News
Roadside Bombs Kill 8 in Iraq
Italian Journalist Kidnapped in Baghdad
Shiites Lead in Iraq Vote; Three Marines Killed
Sense of Security Grows in Baghdad
Post-Election Violence Kills 30 in Iraq
Shiite Party Ahead in Six Iraqi Provinces
Iraqi Official: Forces Almost Caught Zarqawi
Terrorists' Web Sites Hard to Keep Offline
Seven British Soldiers Charged With Iraq Murder

Photo Essays:
The Road to Democracy
Iraqis Line Up to Vote


From the Department of Defense
Symposium Looks at Future of Warfare
WASHINGTON, Feb. 4, 2005 — Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and CIA director Porter J. Goss are working to make sure President Bush has a full range of options for dealing with terror threats, a top DoD official said today. Story

Security Forces Make Strides in Training
WASHINGTON, Feb. 4, 2005 — The interim Iraqi government has achieved "considerable momentum" in training and equipping the country's police and military forces, the U.S. Army general in charge of training those forces said in Baghdad today. Story Transcript

Rumsfeld: Vehicles To Be Up-Armored
WASHINGTON, Feb. 4, 2005 — Insurgents will have a tougher time targeting U.S. troops riding in Humvees and other vehicles in Iraq come Feb. 15. That's when, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told CNN interviewer Larry King Feb. 3, "there will not be a vehicle moving around in Iraq anywhere outside of a protected compound that does not have the appropriate armor." Story

U.S. Strength Vital in Face of Terror Threat
NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Feb. 4, 2005 — It's never been more important for the United States to be strong, because the enemy in the global war on terror seeks to destroy U.S. society, the nation's top military officer said here Feb. 3. Story

Election 'Finger in the Eye' of Extremists
LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE, Ark., Feb. 4, 2005 — The successful Iraqi election was "a finger in the eye of extremists like (Osama) bin Laden and his ilk," the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here Feb. 3. Story

ON THE GROUND
Operation Big Dig Takes Bite Out of the Desert
LATIFIYAH, Iraq, Feb. 4, 2005 -After several weeks of collecting and destroying weapons caches in the Latifiyah area of north Babil, Task Force 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment of the 1st Cavalry Division, got a tip about a cache in the desert. Story

Arriving Medics Learn From Counterparts
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Feb. 4, 2005 — Experienced 1st Cavalry Division medics in Iraq are working with arriving medics from the 3rd Infantry Division to ensure a smooth transition process. Story

Cleanup Effort Underway in Neighborhood
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Feb. 4, 2005 — On the sewage-flooded, garbage-strewn streets of North Oubaidy District, Baghdad, reconstruction is taking hold. Story

Engineers Oversee Water Service Upgrade
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Feb. 3, 2005 — Ground was broken recently in Baghdad’s Karradah district on a water distribution network upgrade project overseen by 1st Cavalry Division’s 8th Engineer Battalion. Story

Bradley Mechanics Keep Vehicles Rolling
PATROL BASE UVANNI, Iraq, Feb. 3, 2005 — U.S. Army mechanics with 26th Infantry Regiment set the standard here for providing combat support for M2 Bradley Armored Fighting Vehicles. Story

IN IRAQ
Marine Commander Honors Iraqi Forces
New Friendship, Trust Being Built In Sulay
Fallujah Battlefield Test Bed for NASCAR Cool Vest
Materials From Bosnia Bases Being Reused

IN AFGHANISTAN
Deployed Hawaii Troops Run Frigid Great Aloha
Guard Team Helps Repair Kabul Road
Fox Battery Demonstrates Capabilities

WHY I SERVE
General Says Teamwork Makes Military Appealing
FORT HOOD, Texas, Feb. 4, 2005 — "Some people are not comfortable in life if they are not part of something bigger — if they are not part of a team. Being in the military is like that. I think it is a place where people come to seek order and to be a part of something special, an extension of that team," Army Brig. Gen. Jim Chambers said. Story

Special Report - Iraqi Elections
Rumsfeld: World Must Stand by Iraq
U.S. Troops in Iraq 'Shaped History'
Fact Sheet: Timeline
Fact Sheet: Transitional Admin Law
Fact Sheet: Candidate List Regulations

TOP NEWS
IN IRAQ
Iraqi Security Forces Update
There are a total of 136,065 Iraqi security forces trained and equipped, senior defense officials said Feb. 4, 2005. About 79,000 serve in the Ministry of Interior Forces — police, civil intervention, emergency response, border enforcement, highway patrol, dignitary protection. Another 57,000 serve in the Ministryof Defense Forces — Army, National Guard, Intervention Force, Special Operations, Air Force and Coastal Defense Force.

U.S. Focus: Develop Iraqi Forces
Iraq Daily Update
Year in Review 2004 Fact Sheets (pdf)
Iraq Reconstruction
Maps
Weekly Progress Report (pdf)

IN AFGHANISTAN
Missing Aircraft Search Continues
Afghan National Army Stands Guard
Enduring Freedom Marks 3 Years
Afghanistan Daily Update
Maps

WAR ON TERRORISM
Iraq to Assume Full Security Role
'State of the Union' Moment
Waging and Winning the War on Terror
Terrorism Timeline
Terrorism Knowledge Base

MILITARY NEWS
Center Offers Hope for Amputees
National Guard, Reserve Update