Tuesday, September 20, 2005

U.N. questions Syrian officials in Hariri probe
09/20/05 07:06 PM, EDT
A U.N. investigator traveled to Damascus on Tuesday to begin questioning Syrian officials over the assassination of a top Lebanese politician, an inquiry that could shake the government of President Bashar Assad if it uncovers a Syrian role in the killing.
FULL STORY - from CNN.com

posted by Pam @ 9:16 PM |

Anti-war mother's speech cut short
New York police: Group lacked loudspeaker permit09/20/05 11:02 AM, EDT
Police cut short a speech by anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan and arrested a rally organizer, saying he hadn't obtained a permit for use of a loudspeaker.
FULL STORY - from CNN.com

posted by Pam @ 11:38 AM |

POWs, MIAs rememberedWASHINGTON (AFPN) -- Prisoners of war and those missing in action are remembered Sept. 16 on national POW/MIA Recognition Day. At the Vietnam War Memorial here, people leave behind patriotic and sentimental symbols of a nation's gratitude for veterans' sacrifices. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Jim Varhegyi)

posted by Pam @ 11:36 AM |

Exhibition Summary
Letters from Iraq and Afghanistan
On view November 11, 2005-January 1, 2006

When America goes to war, courageous men and women volunteering in service to their country lead the charge. And, each one on them carries a personal history, a family, and a unique dedication to the nation. In Hampton Roads, where military families compose the largest segment of the workforce, these soldiers, sailors and airmen are the fabric of the community.

Perhaps in no other place in the country do the stories of our servicemen and servicewomen resonate more deeply and universally than here in Hampton Roads. When a single carrier deploys for Iraq, 5,000 members of our community depart in the call to duty and 5,000 families wait for their loved ones to return safely.

The Contemporary Art Center of Virginia is proud to present Letters from Iraq and Afghanistan, an exhibit of the communications that servicemen and servicewomen make with home before and during their service in the war on terror. From videotapes made by sailors for their children’s birthdays to e-mails discussing the reality of the battle line, Letters from Iraq and Afghanistan will illuminate the sacrifice our military families make.

First-person accounts of the war, letters to family, pictures drawn by children, joyous reunions, and moving stories of grief and loss all illuminate the experiences of military families in this time of war. The audio, video, and written word that forms an anecdotal narrative of their lives, achievements, and sacrifices will be presented in an engaging museum exhibition. Even as the public and members of the military themselves hold widely varying views about the politics of war, appreciation of the sacrifice of individuals in service to the nation is universal. Letters from Iraq and Afghanistan is nonpolitical by design and will examine the most personal communications among military families and their loved ones in modern times.

The Contemporary Art Center of Virginia will design, assemble and curate Letters from Iraq and Afghanistan. opening on Veteran’s Day, November 11, 2005. As the world’s largest naval installation and home of 15 military bases, Hampton Roads is the natural starting point for Letters from Iraq and Afghanistan. The exhibit is expected to travel to art museums in other areas of the country. Spouses’ groups and other military support organizations are likely participants in the project.

Taylor Kiland will serve as guest curator for Letters from Iraq and Afghanistan. Ms. Kiland is a Navy veteran, who after her term of service, created the acclaimed exhibition Open Doors: Vietnam POWs Thirty Years Later with Jamie Quinn in 2002. “Open Doors” traveled the country to outstanding reviews and led to the publication of Kiland and Quinn’s accompanying book. Kiland lives in Arlington, Virginia and has family in Virginia Beach.

View the flyer here, for information on how you can submit an item for this exhibition.

posted by Pam @ 11:23 AM |

First 4th Infantry Division Troops Leave For Kuwait
KWTX-TV Waco Mon, 19 Sep 2005 3:10 PM PDT
About 200 members of Fort Hood's 4th Infantry Division are on their way to Kuwait as the division begins its second deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

posted by Pam @ 11:11 AM |

PATROL DUTIES — U.S. Army Lt. Col. Christopher Gibson, second from right, commander of the 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, speaks with a local resident of Tall Afar, Iraq, while out on a patrol with the battalion's Company A, Sept. 18, 2005. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. James Wilt

UPDATE: See BlackFive for more on this picture...

posted by Pam @ 10:58 AM |

In Today's News - Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Quote of the Day
"For over 221 years our Corps has done two things for this great Nation. We make Marines, and we win battles."

-- Gen. Charles C. Krulak, USMC (CMC)

News of Note
Hurricane Katrina
Here We Go Again
Bush Heads to Gulf Coast
Disposal of trash a big effort
Donations for relief near $1 billion

Operation Iraqi Freedom
Britain says soldiers rescued from Iraq militia
Brits Defend Jail Raid; Four Americans Killed by Bomb

Operation Enduring Freedom
Vote Count Begins in Afghan Elections

Homeland Security / War on Terror
London bombers 'staged dry run'
Jordan Militant Suspects Plead Not Guilty

Troops on Trial
Second Lynndie England Court-Martial to Begin

Supreme Court
Specter backs Chief justice nominee Roberts
Democrats face pressures on Roberts issue
Who will Bush tap as next court nominee?

Other News of Note
Simon Wiesenthal Dies
N. Korea: Give Us Reactor or We'll Build More Bombs
(Wait a minute - I thought it was 'Promise not to invade or we'll build more bombs.' What's next? - give us more cheez-its or we'll build more bombs???)

Fox News
Cops: London Bombers Cased Subway System
Al Qaeda Claims Bombings
Prison for Ex-Tyco Execs
Mexico Prosecutors Seek Arrest of Ex-President
Crude Oil Surges Over $4
Gold Rush Coin Gets $253G
Moon Rocket In, Shuttle Out
Thai Leader Visits U.S.
Not-So-Lovely Rita
Tropical storm aims for Keys, Cuba
Texas Orders Evacuations
Video: Key West Evacuation Plans

Reuters: Top News
Roadside bombs kill 4 US troops in Iraq
Fed starts meeting, rate hike on tap
NY warned to prepare for hurricane like Katrina
Iran could end atomic checks if sent to UN council

AP World News
German Leaders Spar Over Chancellor Role
U.S. Says Pope Immune From Abuse Suits
Sharon Returns Home to New Scandal
Diplomats: Russia Resisting Iran Referral
Chavez Raises His Profile at U.N. Summit
Ex-Ukraine Leader's Embrace Sparks Rumors
Israel Seeks Better Ties With Arab States
Leaders Welcome Promises of U.N. Reform
Burundi Schools Packed After Fees Scrapped
Arroyo: Philippines Still Beset by Turmoil
IAEA Chief Urges More Diplomacy on Iran

The Seattle Times
FEC sues pro-Republican political group
Former White House official arrested
Pirro renews pressure on Clinton
New Mexico treasurer pleads not guilty
Poor Americans must also help fight poverty, Edwards says
Remote bayou towns among hardest hit
Debate flares on role of troops in disasters

Chicago Sun-Times
Captured bomber: I was forced into it

Boston Globe: World
Victory, reserve in N. Korea deal
China's one-child policy said to bring official abuses
Iraqi journalist working for N.Y. Times killed in Basra
US, UN push support for Lebanon
Treaty highlights

Military.com
La. Guardsman Returns Home From Iraq
Suicide Bomber Kills U.S. Agent in Iraq
Taiwan Slammed on Lax Defense
Shiite Pilgrims Risk Violence to Visit a Holy City
A German Veto?
Disaster Relief? Call in the Marines
Guard Relief Hurt by Obsolete Equipment
Is Pakistan Doing its Part in the War on Terrorism?

CENTCOM: News Release
CITIZENS' TIPS LEAD TO LARGE WEAPONS CACHE
POLISH TROOPS SUPPORT SCHOOL IN SUMER
PRESIDENT MUSHARRAF VISITS U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND
COALITION RAIDS NET 10 SUSPECTED TERRORISTS
MULTI-NATIONAL DIVISION- SOUTH EAST NAMES CAPTURED TERROR SUSPECTS

Department of Defense
Afghans Enjoy Successful Election Day — Story Photos
Raid Disrupts Terrorists; Weapons Found — Story

ON THE GROUND
Local Leaders, U.S. Troops Repair Iraqi Roads — Story
Afghan Ministry Celebrates Renovation Project — Story

IN IRAQ
Paratroopers Prepare City for Election
Operation Flea Flicker Sweeps through Zafaraniya

FACE OF DEFENSE
Jackson, Miss., Natives Serve Together in Iraq — Story

AMERICA SUPPORTS YOU
'Extreme Makeover' Visits Family — Story

TOP NEWS
SPECIAL REPORTS
Hurricane Katrina
Iraq Transition of Power

IN IRAQ
Polish Soldiers Renovate Facility
Ramadi to Get Treatment Plant
Bomb Kills Soldier on Patrol
Iraq Reconstruction
Maps
Iraq Daily Update
Multinational Force Iraq

IN AFGHANISTAN
Forces Provide Voter Safety
Police, Army Secure Elections
Afghanistan Daily Update
Maps

WAR ON TERRORISM
Waging and Winning the War on Terror
Terrorism Timeline
Terrorism Knowledge Base

MILITARY NEWS
Enlisted Honor Chairman, Wife
National Guard, Reserve Update

Weather
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

Gitmo

Today in History
0622 - Mohammad's Hegira (flight from Mecca to Medina) begins.
1519 - Magellan starts his first successful circumnavigation of the world.
1565 - The Spaniards capture Fort Caroline (FL), massacring the French inside.
1664 - Maryland enacts the first anti-amaglmation law, aimed to prevent widespread intermarriage of English women and Black men.
1777 - In the "Paoli massacre," British troops led by Lord Grey bayonet American General Anthony Wayne's sleeping troops, killing 53, and wounding over 100.
1797 - In Boston, the U.S. frigate Constitution (Old Ironsides) is launched.
1850 - The slave trade abolished in Washington, DC, but slavery is allowed to continue.
1854 - The British and French defeat the Russians at Alma, in the Crimea.
1859 - The electric range is patented.
1860 - The Prince of Wales (King Edward VII) becomes the first member of British royalty.
1863 - The Battle of Chickamauga (near Chattanooga, TN) ends.
1881 - Chester A. Arthur is sworn in as President.
1945 - German rocket engineers begin work in the U.S.
1951 - The first North Pole jet crossing takes place.
1954 - The First National People's Congress adopts the Chinese constitution.
1958 - Martin Luther King, Jr. is stabbed in the chest by a deranged woman in NYC.
1960 - The U.N. General Assembly admits 13 African countries and Cyprus.
1966 - The U.S. launches Surveyor-B launched towards the Moon; it crashes on Sept. 23.
1967 - Hurricane Beulah hits the Texas-Mexican border, killing 38.
1970 - Luna-16 lands on the Moon's Mare Fecunditatis, and drills a core sample.
1973 - Baseball great Willie Mays announces his retirement at end of the 1973 season.
1977 - Voyager-2 is launched for a fly-by of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
1979 - A bloodless coup in the Central African Republic overthrows Emperor Bokassa I.
1979 - NASA launches HEAO.
1982 - NFL players begin a 57-day strike.
1984 - A suicide car bomber attacks the U.S. Embassy annex in Beirut.
1985 - Walt Disney World welcomes its 200-millionth guest.
1990 - Both Germanys ratify reunification; Saddam Hussein demands that U.S. networks broadcast his message.

Birthdays
357 BC- Alexander III (Alexander the Great), king of Macedonia, emperor
1833 - Ernesto Teodoro Moneta, journalist, Nobel Peace Prize winner (1907)
1934 - Sophia Loren, actress (Desire Under the Elms, Black Orchid)
1951 - Guy LaFleur Quebec, NHL right wing (Montreal, NY Rangers)

Passings
1947 - Fiorello La Guardia (Mayor-NYC)
1973 - Jim Croce singer/songwriter (Time In A Bottle), in a plane crash; Glenn Strange, actor (Sam the Bartender-Gunsmoke)

Reported Missing in Action
1965
Black, Arthur N., USAF (PA); HH43B shot down (pararescue), released by DRV February, 1973 - alive and well as of 1998

Curtis, Thomas J., USAF (TX); HH43B shot down (pilot), released by DRV February, 1973 - alive and well as of 1998

Forby, Willis E,., USAF (SD); F105 shot down, released by DRV February, 1973 - retired as a Colonel - alive as of 1998

Hawkins, Edgar Lee, USAF (TX); F105D shot down (pilot)

Martin, Duane W., USAF (CO); HH43B shot down (co-pilot) reported killed in captivity

Robinson, William A., USAF (NC); HH43B shot down (crew chief), released by DRV February, 1973 - alive and well as of 1998

Smith, Philip E., USAF (IL); F104C shot down (pilot), released by China March, 1973 - alive as of 1998

1966
Bloom, Richard McAuliffe, USMC (CA); A4E shot down (pilot), KIA, body not recovered

1972
Lester, Roderick B., USN (WA); A6A shot down (pilot)

posted by Pam @ 9:11 AM |

Iraq War Today is...
...News and photos of Heroes deployed to the Middle East and elsewhere. IWT is dedicated to all of our military Heroes - past, present and future.