Hezbollah Launches Ground, Rocket Assault
U.N. moves workers from border
Rice to Return to Mideast
Israel Pulls Forces From Gaza
Iran: We're Not Supporting Hezbollah
Last Boat of Americans Set to Sail
Hezbollah Chief's Town Proud of Native Son
Video: Hezbollah Strongholds Targeted
11 Israelis Killed in Attack

Atlantic Ocean (July 25, 2006) - Flight deck personnel prepare for the next aircraft launch as an F/A-18 Hornet launches from the flight deck in the background aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71). Roosevelt is currently underway conducting exercises as part of the Fleet Response Plan. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Randall Damm

This is going to be a tough call.


Is it Ayman Al-Zawahiri? His latest speech is just overflowing with lunacy: "The war with Israel does not depend on cease-fires...It is a Jihad for the sake of God and will last until (our) religion prevails...from Spain to Iraq...We will attack everywhere."

***********************************

Pretty strong candidate there. Or maybe Howard "I hate all Republicans" Dean, who has all sorts of gems this week.

He said of Katherine Harris, "This is not Russia and she is not Stalin."

Nice. And of Iraq's Prime Minister, he said, "The Iraqi prime minister is an anti-Semite." This from the guy who campaigned while sporting a symbol of Palestinian resistance. Et tu, Howie?

The punch line, though, comes with this AP take on the speech: "Down with divisiveness was the message Wednesday delivered by Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean as he told a group of Florida business leaders that Republican policies of deceit and finger-pointing are tearing American apart."

And hey, they may be coming to a town near you, 'cause Screamin' Dean says, "We're going door-to-door. We're going to picnics." Oh, goodie.

***********************************

Our number three candidate is no less than Kofi Annan, who's had a few choice bits of his own this week. Like this one: "While Hezbollah's actions are deplorable, and as I've said, Israel has a right to defend itself, the excessive use of force is to be condemned."

Let's not forget his accusations that Israel deliberately fired at a U.N. post (despite his own people's words on the subject)

Oh, and check out this unbelievable bit of wisdom:
"I really think that if we do make peace you will see a different Middle East."

Well, duh. The issue is, what kind of different Middle East? Appease, and it'll be different, all right. It'll stretch from Spain to Iraq. Didn't you listen to Zawahiri?)

***********************************

Rounding out the field, of course, is Ahmedinajad of Iran. If he opens his mouth, he says something that qualifies. Here are a few:

"We are calling on the parties to sit down for talks without any preliminary conditions," he said, adding: "The aggressor should compensate for the damage incurred on Lebanon and apologize before the entire world community."

"The United States wants to recarve the map of the Middle East, acting through Israel. The United States is conducting its international policy through deceit, money and treachery..."


I really just don't know who to pick here. Who gets your vote for Nutjob of the Week?

Spc. Mark Hall, a gunner for the command security detachment, Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Task Force Band of Brothers, holds up his right hand and takes the oath of U.S. citizenship during a naturalization ceremony at Logistical Support Area Anaconda near Balad, Iraq. Hall is originally from the Philippines, but now calls San Bernardino, Calif., his hometown. (U.S. Army photo by Staff. Sgt. Monika Comeaux, 207th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, July 1, 2006)


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 27, 2006

SR# 072706-129

by Pfc. Paul J. Harris
3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team,
4th Infantry Division Public Affairs Office

BALAD, Iraq (July 22, 2006) -- From John Wayne to Tom Hanks Hollywood has projected the depiction of the American Soldier as larger than life on the big screen. Audiences from all over the world have seen movies and TV shows about the lives of Soldiers.

That was the dream for Spc. Mark Hall, gunner, Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Task Force Band of Brothers, growing up in the islands of the Philippines. He always wanted to be an American Soldier, just like he had seen in the movies.

Hall got his wish after receiving a visa to come to the United States. It was an emotional decision that required him to leave his job as an operating room technician and leave his family behind, but it was one he said he was determined to make.

“When I got my visa in the Philippines my plan was to come over and join the Army,” Hall said referring to his trip to the U.S. “I asked permission from my wife, but she didn’t like the idea because she knew there was a war on. She tried to support me in my decision.”

Hall arrived in San Bernardino, Calif., in November, 2004 and within weeks was at the recruiter’s office ready to join. After 13 weeks of combined basic training and advanced individual training at Fort Benning, Ga., Hall was sent to his first duty station, Fort Carson, Colo. Soon after settling in he started the process of becoming a naturalized citizen.

For servicemembers the five year waiting period is reduced to just one year and there’s no fee involved for applying to become a citizen.

Hall initially received an appointment from the Denver US Customs and Immigration Service but the appointment collided with his deployment with 3rd HBCT in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

As a gunner for the 3rd HBCT command security detachment, it did not take long for Hall to experience the dangers of his job as a deployed Soldier. In mid January while on patrol and manning the .50 caliber machine gun for his Humvee his vehicle collided unexpectedly with an M-1 Abrams tank. Hall luckily only suffered bruises and cuts to the face.

After the accident Hall was given some time off to recuperate, explained his squad leader Sgt. Michael Carlson, Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 3rd HBCT. Carlson said he noticed the physical wounds healing but emotionally Hall was still hurting because his friend Cpl. Dustin Lee Kendal, the vehicles driver, died in the accident. It took Hall a long time before he was able to open up and talk about the accident.

Hall’s appointment with USCIS had been postponed until he arrived in Iraq, but due to the accident was pushed back even further. Fortunately, an appointment opened up in April and he was flown to Forward Operating Base Spiecher for his interview with officials from the Rome USCIS office. Hall was required to answer test questions on basic American knowledge such as “who was the first president of the United States,” and during the interview was asked about his background and growing up in the Philippines.

It only took the USCIS officials 20 minutes to approve of Hall’s citizenship request; upon finding out about the decision Hall was ecstatic. “My dream became true,” he said.

His dream materialized July 1 at a naturalization ceremony held at Logistical Support Area Anaconda. He stomach was filled with butterflies before the ceremony but soon turned to excitement as the ceremony began. Hall said he kept telling himself “I am finally an American Citizen” as he walked across the stage and accepted the American flag.

“It was an honor and privilege to be there when he received his certificate,” said Command Sgt. Maj. David List, command sergeant major, 3rd HBCT. “These folks come from other countries and give up everything they had to come and be part of our nation. Now they are true Americans, now that flag actually means something.”

Never one to pass up an opportunity to have some fun with his Soldiers, List playfully shouted at Hall from the audience as he accepted his certificate of citizenship “Hurry up Hall; we have to go on patrol!”

Spc. Mark Hall, a gunner for the command security detachment, Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Task Force Band of Brothers, holds up his certificate of U.S. citizenship while standing next to Col. Mark Hampton, commander, 35th Area Support Group and Jack Bulger, U.S. immigration officer from the Rome office, during a naturalization ceremony at Logistical Support Area Anaconda near Balad, Iraq. Hall is originally from the Philippines, but now calls San Bernardino, Calif., his hometown. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Monika Comeaux, 207th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, July 1, 2006)

Spc. Mark Hall, gunner for the command security detachment, Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Task Force Band of Brothers, holds up his certificate of U.S. citizenship while standing next to Command Sgt. Maj. David List, native of native of West Warwick, R.I., command sergeant major, 3rd HBCT, after a naturalization ceremony at Logistical Support Area Anaconda near Balad, Iraq. Hall is originally from the Philippines, but now calls San Bernardino, Calif., his hometown. (U.S. Army photo by Staff. Sgt. Monika Comeaux, 207th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, July 1, 2006)

by Staff Sgt. Russell L. Klika
July 27, 2006

Command Sgt. Maj. Gregory Patton, from the 33rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (left), and a fellow Soldier, walk through a bombed out building after a firefight with insurgents in Salah Ad Din Province, Iraq.

Check out Iran's take on continuing actions against their psychotic little marionettes, Hezbollah:

The occupiers in Tel Aviv thought that they would implement the plan for destroying Hizbollah within three or five days and make preparations for other targets against regional states.

But, the Zionist occupiers did not know that Lebanese resistance movement enjoys popular support. They did not know military power of Hizbollah and were not aware of their own capability as well.

Hmmm...but if Hez enjoys 'popular support,' then that "look at all the innocent people that have been killed" thing goes out the window - y'know, aiding and abetting, and all...If Hez enjoys 'popular support,' then should Israel should consider all of the Lebanese populace the enemy?

Oh, and check out how quick they are to point out the lack of support for Israel in - yep, that's right - the American media:

Now, the Zionist regime's military and political people have begun to criticize each other for such a failure to the extent that American media have disclosed the differences in the occupied territories despite [the fact that] Israel had appealed for censorship of the news about Lebanon conflict.

Heck, they're so 'unbiased,' they sound a lot like the New York Times.

Read the rest at Jihad Watch. And keep count of the contradictions - more of radical Islam's doublespeak from a county that's at least hip deep in what's going on in Lebanon.

ON THE MOVE — U.S. Army Spc. Joshua Williams and Pfc. Joseph McTyre, both from 4th Platoon, Alpha Company, 1/17th Infantry, 172nd Stryker Brigade, grab their gear and prepare to get in a Stryker vehicle for a mission in Mosul, Iraq, July 12, 2006. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Jeremy T. Lock

News of Note
Israel at War
Israel Vows to Decimate Hezbollah
American in Beirut: 'Helpless Walk'
Zawahiri: Holy War Against Israel
U.N. Statement on Israeli Bombing
Iran: Israel Hit Self-Destruct Button
Video: Rick Leventhal Reports in Bint Jbail
Video: What Does Wall Street Want?
Video: Hope for Gaza Soldier's Release
Video: Hezbollah's Deadly Guerilla Tactics
Israel calls up reserves, diplomatic divide widens - Video
Diplomatic divide over Lebanon crisis widens - Video
Syria's Lebanese refugees remain defiant - Video
Bush cites Iran's role in Lebanon conflict
Israel nixes major U.N. role in Lebanon
Israel won't expand offensive in Lebanon

Operation Iraqi Freedom
US boosts Iraq troop levels amid Baghdad violence - Video
Saddam trial adjourns 'til October verdict
31 die in attack on Baghdad neighborhood
U.S. may send 5,000 more troops to Baghdad

Operation Enduring Freedom
Americans Among Dead in Afghan Crash

Homeland Security / War on Terror
Qaeda deputy leader warns over Mideast fighting - Video

Other Military News
11th-hour try to block US F-16 sale to Pakistan

NSA / CIA
House report criticizes US intelligence on threats - Video

Worldwide Wackos
US sanctions two India firms for transfers to Iran - Video
Key UN members said to reach informal deal on Iran - Video
Lebanon fighting and North Korea top ASEAN agenda - Video
China links US Mideast stance to Iran measure - Video

Moonbat Watch
Activists protest beer-swilling pigs

Politics / Government
Bush signs law for national sex offender registry - Video
UK's Blair to meet Bush on Mideast facing criticism
Bush urged to enforce Voting Rights Act
House GOP pressing vote on minimum wage

Mother Nature
California heat wave deaths as high as 90

News from My Neck of the Woods
Massachusetts "Big Dig" chief to resign
Turnpike chairman out after Big Dig death

Oddities
Thanks for auditioning, we'll call you
Man saves dog thrown from window

Other News of Note
Colorado killer claims 48 murders across US

Fox News
Tour de France Champ Landis Denies Doping Claim to Mom
Saddam's Trial Wraps Up
Iraq Bombs Kill 31, Injure 153
Calif. Heat Deaths Reach 81
Bush Signs Bill to Keep Tabs on Convicted Child Molesters
Bush Signs Voting Rights Act
California Opens 'Fusion' Anti-Terrorism Center
Yates Committed to Hospital
Radio Station Converts From Pious to Pornographic
Montana Senator Blasts Crew Back From Battling Wildfire
Neighbor Charged With Murder of 5-Year-Old Utah Girl

Reuters: Top News
NASA mulls mothballing US space station research
Home DNA tests "snake oil," congressman says
Intel counters AMD with fast, energy-saving chip
Microsoft fails to ease investors fears on Windows
Lethal injection worries stir US death penalty debate
First China alternative marriage Web site thrives
Vegan diet reverses diabetes symptoms, study finds
US issues high-strength hydrogen peroxide warning
Rolling Stones phoning in their shows for fans
"Miami Vice" set to heat up box office
Bolton under water
Stocks dip on Microsoft concerns

AP World News
Landis: Stigma 'may never go away'
Neighbor charged in death of Utah girl
Doctors test anti-smoking vaccine
Intel unveils new chips, slashes prices
Scarlett Johansson denies divalike demands
Bristol-Myers announces probe; profit off
Exxon Mobil 2Q profit hits more than $10B
Landis denies cheating to win Tour
Publicist: Hasselhoff was sick, not drunk
Stocks slip as investors await GDP reading
Exxon Mobil earns $10.4 billion in 2Q
'Kazaa' makers settle piracy lawsuits
Prince's second wife seeks divorce
Teen has car towed, murdered by drifter
Texan charged with kidnapping, carjackings

Military.com
Navy Gets New High-Tech Choppers
Army's Readiness Questioned
Up-Front Medical Bills

CENTCOM: News Releases
AFGHAN HELICOPTER CRASHES IN PAKTIA

COALITION FORCES CAPTURE TERRORIST AND ASSOCIATE NORTH OF TIKRIT

1ST BCT SOLDIERS SEIZE WEAPONS, MUNITIONS

IA, MND-B SOLDIERS CAPTURE WEAPONS, MUNITIONS, 5 DETAINEES

IPs, MND-B SOLDIERS SEIZE WEAPONS, DETAIN SUSPECTS

MND-B PATROL CAPTURES 6 DETAINEES, UNEARTHS WEAPONS CACHE

IA, IPs, MND-B WORK TOGETHER, DETAIN 12 TERRORISTS

IRAQI FORCES DIVERT MISSION TO AID CITIZEN IN DISTRESS

MND-B SOLDIERS DETAIN TERRORISTS, FIND WEAPONS CACHES & ROADSIDE BOMBS IN BABIL

COALITION KILLS THREE EXTREMISTS FOLLOWING FAILED AMBUSH

IRAQI CITIZEN LEADS MND-B SOLDIERS TO TERRORIST WEAPONS CASH

IPs, MND-B SOLDIERS FIND EXPLOSIVES

COALITION FORCES STRIKE TERRORIST NORTHWEST OF RAMADI

ENEMY FIGHTERS ATTACK COALITION UNIT, SEVEN EXTREMISTS KILLED

IRAQI SOLDIERS, MARINES RESCUE THREE HOSTAGES, RECOVER LARGE WEAPONS CACHE

IRAQI CHILD MEDICALLY EVACUATED AFTER SUSTAINING INJURIES AT HOME

STB, 4TH BCT, 4th INF. DIV. DONATES EQUIPMENT TO IRAQI ESSENTIAL SERVICE DEPARTMENTS

2nd BCT SOLDIERS PREVENT TERRORIST ATTACK

MND-B SODLIERS CAPTURE 9 TERRORISTS IN BAGHDAD

IRAQI CITIZEN'S TIP LEADS MND-B SOLDIERS TO WEAPONS

COALITION FORCES SUCCESSFULLY TARGET TERRORIST IN BAGHDAD

COALITION FORCES CAPTURE ONE TERRORIST AND SEVEN ASSOCIATES NORTH OF RAMADI

Department of Defense
NEWS UPDATES
Coalition Responds to Crash - Story
U.S. Soldiers Capture Terrorists
Iraqi Forces Nab Insurgents
For Top News Visit DefenseLink

ON THE GROUND
Battalion Helps Iraqis Take the Lead - Story
New Command Oversees Military Doctrine - Story
Airmen Control Skies Over Dangerous Areas - Story
Stops in 'Hot' Zone Require Quick Off-loads - Story

IN IRAQ
Soldiers Join Noncommissioned Officer Corps
British Regiment Gets Hometown Treat
Local Tribes Work Together to Rebuild Iraq
Market Sign of Prosperity for Iraqi Town
Tactical Operations Center Tracks Troops

IN AFGHANISTAN
'Camp Justice' Becomes 'Thunder Cove'
Medics Visit Remote Afghan District
Extremists Destroy Afghan School

BACKGROUND
IRAQ
Renewal In Iraq
Iraq: Security, Stability
Fact Sheet: Progress and Work Ahead
Report: Strategy for Victory in Iraq
Iraq Daily Update
This Week in Iraq (PDF)
Multinational Force Iraq
State Dept. Weekly Iraq Report (PDF)
'Boots on the Ground' Audio Archive
Weekly Reconstruction Report (PDF)
Iraq Reconstruction
Maps

AFGHANISTAN
Afghanistan Update
Maps

WAR ON TERRORISM
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

CASUALTIES
Two Servicemembers Die in Iraq - 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

Gitmo

Today in History
1586 - Sir Thomas Harriot introduces potatoes to Europe.
1588 - The Spanish Armada sails to overthrow England's Queen Elizabeth I.
1821 - Peru declares independence from Spain (National Day).
1830 - In France, a revolution Charles X with Louis Philippe.
1862 - Confederate forces are defeated at More's Hill, MO.
1868 - The 14th Amendment is ratified, granting citizenship to ex-slaves.
1900 - In Connecticut, Louis Lassing creates the Hamburger.
1914 - Austria-Hungary attacks Serbia, officially beginning WW I.
1931 - Congress makes "The Star-Spangled Banner" the U.S. National Anthem.
1942 - Nazis murder 10,000 Jews in Minsk, Russia.
1943 - Italian Facist dictator Benito Mussolini resigns; FDR announces the end of U.S. coffee rationing.
1945 - A U.S. Army bomber crashes into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building, 14 die; the U.S. Senate ratifies the UN charter 89-2
1962 - Mariner I is launched for Mars; it plummets into the Atlantic Ocean.
1964 - Ranger 7 is launched toward the Moon; it sends back 4308 TV pictures.
1977 - Oil first flows through the Alaska pipeline.
1986 - NASA releases the transcript from the doomed Challenger Space Shuttle.
1988 - Israeli diplomats arrive in Moscow for the first Israeli visit in 21 years.
1990 - A blackout hits Chicago.

Birthdays
1165 - Ibn al-'Arabi, Muslim mystic/philosopher
1746 - Thomas Heyward, soldier, signed Declaration of Independence
1859 - Balington Booth, founded Volunteers of America
1907 - Earl S. Tupper inventor of Tupperware
1929 - Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, First Lady
1961 - Scott E. Parazynski, MD/astronaut

Passings
1540 - Thomas Cromwell, King Henry VIII's chief minister, executed
1655 - Cyrano de Bergerac, French dramatist/novelist
1746 - John Peter Zenger, journalist, involved in 1st Amendment fight
1750 - Johann Sebastian Bach, German composer (Art of the Fugue)
1794 - Maximilien Robespierre, French revolutionary/avocat, guillotined

Reported Missing in Action
1966
McSwain, George P., USN (CA); A4E shot down, released by DRV March, 1973 - alive in 1998