A U.S. Army soldier assigned to 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division secures a landing zone during an operation to capture terrorists and ordnance in Oswesat, Iraq, Feb. 19, 2006. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Kevin L. Moses Sr.


U.S. Army soldiers assigned to 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division secure their landing zone during an operation to capture terrorists and ordnance in Oswesat, Iraq, Feb. 19, 2006. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Kevin L. Moses Sr.


A U.S. Army soldier assigned to 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division digs up a weapons cache during an operation to capture terrorists and ordnance in Oswesat, Iraq, Feb. 19, 2006. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Kevin L. Moses Sr.


U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Gilmen and Maj. Lewis walk their area of operations during a mission to capture terrorists and ordnance in Oswesat, Iraq, Feb. 19, 2006. The soldiers are assigned to 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Kevin L. Moses Sr.


U.S. Army soldiers assigned to 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division uncover a weapons cache during an operation to capture terrorists and ordnance in Oswesat, Iraq, Feb. 19, 2006. The cache had approximately 80 105-155mm rounds in it. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Kevin L. Moses Sr.


U.S. Army soldiers assigned to 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division provide security around a weapons cache site discovered during an operation to capture terrorists and ordnance in Oswesat, Iraq, Feb. 19, 2006. The cache had approximately 80 rounds in it. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Kevin L. Moses Sr.


U.S. Army soldiers provide security with MK2 combat support boats while soldiers assigned to 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division conduct an operation to capture terrorists and ordnance in Oswesat, Iraq, Feb. 19, 2006. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Kevin L. Moses Sr.


U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Scott McCollum, a dog handler assigned to 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division, and his dog Rocky stand near ordnance they found during an operation to capture terrorists and ordnance in Oswesat, Iraq, Feb. 19, 2006. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Kevin L. Moses Sr.

by Staff Sgt. Aaron Allmon II
February 24, 2006
Soldiers in OH-58D Kiowa and AH-64 Apache helicopters from the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment conduct a combat air patrol near Tal Afar, Iraq. 3rd ACR returns this week to Fort Carson, Colo., and is being relieved by the 1st Armored Division.

News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Seven Killed in Iraq
Six killed and 38 wounded in Baghdad mortar attack
Basra bombing follows al-Sadr rally
Iraq Police: No Developments on Carroll

Operation Enduring Freedom
Inmates Riot in Afghanistan High-Security Prison

Homeland Security / War on Terror
Experts see medical ethics violations at Guantanamo
(Hmmm...I wonder if being a terrorist violates any ethics?)

Cartooning Muhammad
Thousands Protest Drawings in Karachi

Troops on Trial
Paratroopers Charged With Having Web Sex

Dubai Port Proposal
DHS Initially Objected to UAE Port-Control Deal
Dubai Ports ready to wait for security review
Port Deal Fight Continues

Hamas Rising
Envoy: U.S. to Aid Palestinians Despite Hamas Win

Worldwide Wackos
Nuke Breakthrough?

U.N. News
U.N. Riddled With 'Bad Management, Sex,' Bolton Says

XX Winter Olympics
FULL OLYMPIC COVERAGE (Fox News)

Oddities
Thieves Take $26,000 of Beer
Convict Caught After Escaping Prison in Dog Crate
Man sentenced for ride-by bottom slap
Unlikely dog tale tops U.S. best-seller list
Islamic singer aims to fill pop "spirituality" gap

Farewells
Darren McGavin Dies at 83 (Farewell to Ralpie's Dad)
Emmy-winning comic actor Don Knotts dies at 81

Other News of Note
Philippines relieve marine commander

Fox News
Baby-Severing Case Mistrial
'No Hope' for Mexican Miners
Boy Falls Off Fla. Coaster
Two Arrested in U.K. Heist
Raining on the Parade - Hospitals Brace for Mardi Gras Injuries
FULL SPORTS COVERAGE

Reuters: Top News
Abortion measure could mean big legal battle
Iraq, oil's surge threaten stocks
Citigroup's Biglari sees new breed of banker
Citigroup says SEC probe over Argentina expands
U.S. judge delays BlackBerry cutoff decision
Ted Turner to leave Time Warner board
Mexico prices GAP airport operator IPO
FTC settles with CardSystems over data breach
Iraq, oil's surge threaten stocks
Delta Air to cut Florida flights, JetBlue shares up
Dana shares drop 28 percent
RIM stock driven higher on delayed court ruling
Midway shares fall as analysts lower expectations
On the Radar: Amgen's margins lead
Shaky geopolitics, booming economy
Serbia hopes for month's grace on Mladic handover
US-India warmth follows Indian-American successes
Rival Oxford animal lab demos staged
Cases of crippling fever found in mainland France
s.beat combines MP3 player, tools of survival
Judge delays BlackBerry cutoff decision
Tempers fray in Bolivia over used clothing imports

AP World News
Hundreds Defy Police, March in Kazakhstan
Sharon Turns 78; Condition Still Critical
Company Gives Up Hope for Trapped Miners
Precious Art Stolen During Brazil Carnival
France Broadens Gays' Parental Rights
Rebels Kill 9 Civilians in Colombia
Amid Complaints, Ugandan Leader Re-Elected
Jamaica to Get First Female Leader
Tibetan Hunger Strikers Put IOC in a Jam

Military.com
Iraqi Army has Gains, Losses
DoD Plans New Roads to Avoid Iraqi IEDs

CENTCOM: News Releases
MORE THAN 150 IRAQI SOLDIERS GRADUATE FROM ACADEMY

Department of Defense
Bush, Governors to Discuss Terror War - Story
Bush: Iraqis Will Overcome Sectarian Divisions
President: Veterans Inspire Today’s Heroes - Remarks
U.S., Iraqi Troops Step Up Patrols - Story
Report Charts Progress in Security, Stability - Story
Iraqi Forces Have Risen to Security Challenge - Story
Iraqis Take Lead After Bombing - Video - Transcript
Iraqi Forces 'Stepped Up' Following Violence
Coast Guard Defends at Local, Global Levels - Story

ON THE GROUND
Iraqi, Coalition Forces Bring First Aid, Supplies - Story
Posters Bridge Gap Between Iraqi Army, Locals - Story
New Graduates Ready to Join Afghan Workforce - Story

IN IRAQ
Coalition Priority: Restore Essential Services
U.S. Soliders Take to Water to Combat Terrorists

IN AFGHANISTAN
Team Brings Medical Care to Afghan Village
Commander Meets With Army, Police Leaders
10th Mountain Takes Command of Task Force

FACE OF DEFENSE
U.S. Soldier Moves Afghan Mountains - Story

AMERICA SUPPORTS YOU
Teens Keep Troops Calling Home - Story
Country Music, Rodeo Stars Entertain

TOP NEWS
IRAQ
Al Qaeda Leader Killed in Raid
Bush Condemns Mosque Attack
Security Forces Continue Progress
Forces Detain 11 Insurgents
Iraqi Soldiers, Police Find Weapons
Police Add More Than 1,000 to Force
Attack Kills 21 Iraqis
Iraqis Assume Baghdad Duties
Fact Sheet: Progress and Work Ahead
Report: Strategy for Victory in Iraq
Iraq Daily Update
This Week in Iraq (pdf)
Multinational Force Iraq
Eye on Iraq Update (pdf)
State Dept. Weekly Iraq Report (pdf)
'Boots on the Ground' Audio Archive
Iraq Reconstruction
Maps

AFGHANISTAN
Afghan Troop Wounded in Attack
Police, Coalition Respond to Attack
Afghanistan Update
Maps

WAR ON TERRORISM
Reagan Group Launches Missions
England Discusses Port Security
Flow of Info is Vital in Terror War
Bush: India, Pakistan Key Allies
Commitment to Mideast Continues
Fact Sheet: Budget Request
Fact Sheet: War on Terror
Fact Sheet: Terror Plots Disrupted
Waging and Winning the War on Terror
Terrorism Timeline
Terrorism Knowledge Base

MILITARY NEWS
Marine Special Ops Activated
Nine Charged With Stealing Gear
Domestic Violence Hotline Launched
Mom Pens Books to Help Kids
Efforts Help Change Image
National Guard, Reserve Update

CASUALTIES
Soldier Dies; Casualties Identified - Story

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
1266 - Battle of Benevento
1531 - Earthquake in Lisbon, Portugal, kills 20,000
1590 - Mauritius of Nassaus sails to Breda
1616 - Spanish Inquisition delivers injunction to Galileo
1797 - Bank of England issues 1st £1-note
1804 - Vice-Admiral William Bligh ends siege of Fort Amsterdam, Willemstad
1815 - Napoleon & 1,200 leave Elba to start 100-day re-conquest of France
1832 - Polish constitution abolished/replaced by Czar Nicholas I
1848 - Marx & Engels publish "The Communist Manifesto"; 2nd French Republic forms
1852 - British frigate Birkenhead sinks off South Africa-458 die
1862 - Battle of Woodburn, KY
1863 - Lincoln signs National Currency Act
1869 - 15th Amendment guaranteeing right to vote sent to states
1870 - 1st NYC subway line opens (pneumatic powered)
1881 - Natal British troops under General-Major Colley occupy Majuba Hill
1884 - British & Portuguese treaty signed in Congo by Leopold II
1885 - Congress of Berlin, gives Congo to Belgium & Nigeria to England
1895 - Michael Owens of Toledo, OH, patents a glass-blowing machine
1916 - Germans sink French transport ship Provence II, killing 930; Russian troops conquer Kermansjah, Persia
1919 - Acadia National Park established (as Lafayette National Park), Maine; Congress established Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona
1923 - Italian nationalist & fascists merge (blue-shirts & black-shirts)
1924 - Trial against Hitler in Munich begins
1925 - Jihad-Saint war against Turkish government
1933 - Golden Gate Bridge ground-breaking ceremony held at Crissy Field
1935 - Germany began Luftwaffe operation, under Reichsmarshall H. Goering; New York Yankees release Babe Ruth, he signs with Boston Braves; RADAR-Radio Detection & Ranging 1st demonstrated (Robert Watson-Watt)
1936 - Hitler introduces Ferdinand Porsche's "Volkswagen"; Military coup in Japan
1938 - 1st passenger ship equipped with radar
1940 - US Air Defense Command established at Mitchell Field, Long Island NY
1941 - Utrecht & Zaandam strike against raid on Jews; Vichy-France makes religious education in school mandatory
1942 - WWII Navy flier Don Mason sends message "Sighted sub sank same"; German battle cruiser Gneisenau deactivated by bomb; Werner Heisenberger informs Nazis about uranium project "Wunderwaffen"
1943 - German assault moves to Beja North Tunisia
1944 - 1st female US navy captain, Sue Dauser of nurse corps, appointed
1945 - Very heavy bombing on Berlin by 8th US Air Force
1949 - USAF plane began 1st nonstop around-the-world flight
1951 - Bread rationing in Czechoslovakia
1952 - PM Winston Churchill announces that Britain has its own atomic bomb; Netherlands-Indonesian Unity conference
1953 - Allen W. Dulles, promoted from deputy to 5th director of CIA
1954 - 1st typesetting machine (photo engraving) used, Quincy, MA; Michigan Representative Ruth Thompson (R) introduces legislation to ban mailing "obscene, lewd, lascivious or filthy" phonograph (rock & roll) records
1955 - 1st aviator to bail out at supersonic speed - G.F. Smith
1960 - Soviet premier Khrushchev voices support for Indonesia
1962 - US Supreme court disallows race separation on public transportation
1965 - Dutch Government of Marijnen falls; W. Germany ceases military aid to Tanzania
1972 - Slag heap dam collapses above Buffalo Creek WV, kills 125
1977 - 1st flight of Space Shuttle (atop a Boeing 747)
1979 - Last total eclipse of Sun in 20th century for continental US
1980 - Egypt & Israel exchange ambassadors for the 1st time; Military coup under Desi Bouterse in Suriname
1981 - 3 Anglican missionaries detained in Iran since August 1980 are released
1984 - Last US marines in multinational peace-keeping force in Lebanon leave Beirut; Pak Awang (84) marries 80th spouse
1986 - Former Philippines President Ferdinand E Marcos flees in defeat
1987 - NASA launches GEOS-H; Tower Commission probes Iran-Contra affair
1990 - USSR agrees to withdraw all 73,500 troops from Czechoslovakia by July, 1991
1991 - Kuwaiti resistance leaders declare they have control of their capital
1993 - World Trade Center bombed, 7 die
1998 - Total solar eclipse in Venezuela-Pacific Ocean (4m09)

Birthdays
1361 - Wenceslas of Bohemia, Holy Roman Catholic German emperor (1378-1400)
1802 - Victor Hugo France, author (Hunchback of Notre Dame, Les Miserables)
1837 - Charles Woeste, Belgian count/minister of Justice
1841 - Evelyn Baring Earl Cromer, English Consul-General (Egypt)
1842 - Camille Flammarion, Mars researcher & popularizer of astronomy
1845 - Alexander III, Russian tsar (1881-94)
1846 - William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody
1852 - John Harvey Kellogg, surgeon, inspired flaked cereal industry
1861 - Ferdinand I, 1st tsar of modern Bulgaria (1908-18)
1866 - Herbert Henry Dow. pioneer in US chemical industry (Dow Chemical)
1869 - Nadezjda K. Krupskaj,a Russian revolutionary/wife of Lenin
1876 - Agustin P. Justo y Rolon, President of Argentina (1931-38)
1882 - Walter Lucht German artillery general (WWI/WWII)
1896 - Andrei A. Zjdanov, Russian politician (against kosmopolitism)
1911 - Josef Smrkovsky, Czechoslovakia MP chairman
1916 - Jackie Gleason, comedian (Ralph Kramden-Honeymooners)
1917 - Robert Taft, Jr. (Senator-OH)
1918 - Otis R. Bowen, US Secretary of Health & Human Services (1985-89)
1924 - Noboru Takeshita, Japanese PM (1987-89)
1926 - Konstantin P. Feoktistov Voronezh, cosmonaut (Voskhod 1)
1928 - Anatoli Vassilyevich Filipchenko, cosmonaut (Soyuz 7, 16); Antoine "Fats" Domino, rhythm & blues pianist/singer (Blueberry Hill)
1931 - Robert D. Novak, news reporter (CNN-Evans & Novak)
1932 - Johnny Cash, country singer (I Walk The Line, Folsom Prison Blues)
1958 - Susan J. Helms, Major USAF/astronaut (STS 54, 64, 78)

Passings
1076 - Godfried III with the Hump, duke of Netherlands-Lutherian, murdered
1154 - Rogier II Guiscard, King of Sicily (1101-54), dies at 60
1577 - Erik XIV Wasa, King of Sweden (1560-69), dies at 43
1686 - Godefroi L Earl d'estrades, French diplomat/marshal, dies at about 78
1726 - Maximilian II M. Emanuel, elect of Bavaria/governor of Netherlands, dies
1871 - Charles Niellon, Belgian brigade general, dies at 76
1901 - Chi-hsui, during Boxer Rebellion in China, beheaded
1903 - Richard J. Gatling, US inventor (Gatling Gun), dies at 84
1931 - Otto Wallach, German chemist (Nobel 1910), dies at 83
1961 - Mohammed V ibn Yusuf, sultan/King of Morocco, dies at 51
1965 - Jimmie Lee Jackson civil rights activist, dies of injuries
1969 - Levi Eshkol [Sjkolnik], Israeli premier, dies; Golda Meir takes over 3/17
1981 - Munabi, assistant to Ugandan President Obote, murdered
1990 - Maurine Stuart Zen, teacher (head of Cambridge Buddhist Association)
1997 - Giuseppe 'Nuccio' Bertone, car Designer, dies at 82

Reported Missing in Action
1966
Newton, Donald S., US Army (CA); disappeared while on patrol (wi/Wills)

Wills, Francis D., US Army (MD); disappeared while on patrol (w/Newton)

1971
Harrison, Larry G., US Army (NC); OH6A shot down (w/Swanson)

Swanson, Jon E., US Army (CO); OH6A shot down (w/Harrison)