Michael Totten Live From The Lebanese Border

As the large-scale Israeli invasion of Lebanon begins, blogger/journalist Michael J. Totten on location at the border in Metulla, Israel gives this first exclusive PJM podcast report.

Check it out, at Pajamas Media's new site, Politics Central

VILLAGE OUTREACH – U.S. Army Spc. Melissa Hykes and Army Staff Sgt. Elena Varela, both with the 94th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, Echo Company, administer de-worming medication to animals during a medical outreach operation in the village of Larzab, Deh Chopan District, Afghanistan, July 30, 2006. The outreach team treated animals and distributed enough de-worming medication for nearly 430 animals. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Kyle Nelson

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things: the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse. When a people are used as mere human instruments for firing cannon or thrusting bayonets, in the service and for the selfish purposes of a master, such war degrades a people. A war to protect other human beings against tyrannical injustice – a war to give victory to their own ideas of right and good, and which is their own war, carried on for an honest purpose by their free choice – is often the means of their regeneration. A man who has nothing which he is willing to fight for, nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety, is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. As long as justice and injustice have not terminated their ever-renewing fight for ascendancy in the affairs of mankind, human beings must be willing, when need is, to do battle for the one against the other."
News of Note
Israel at War
'Aspiring' for U.N. Vote Today
Bolton: Deal on Mideast cease-fire close
Israel Blasts Beirut, Delays Major Ground Assault
Hamas Parliament Speaker Falls Ill in Israeli Prison
Israel wants hastened shipment of US rockets: NYT
Rice hopes for Lebanon vote at UN on Friday
US and Lebanon say ceasefire deal is close - Video
Israel Takes Control of Key Town

Operation Iraqi Freedom
2 GIs' Bodies Found in Iraq; Mob Torches Kurds' Office

Operation Enduring Freedom
Bomber kills NATO soldier in Afghanistan

Homeland Security / War on Terror
Britain Names 19 Terror Suspects
7 Pakistanis also arrested in plot to blow up planes
Chertoff: Not Sure All Suspects Found
Britons Arrested in Pakistan Gave Info
Bush: 'Reminder That We're at War'
'Double Screening' at U.S. Airports
FOX Facts: Ticketing Changes - Security
Video: Spy Helped Bust Terror Plot
Video: Suspects' Names Released
Video: Sharing Intelligence
Video: Airport Disruptions
Official says FBI pursuing plot leads
Long lines and confusion at airports after alert
Luggage restrictions seen staying in place
Americans not Fazed by Latest Threat
Asian airports ban liquids on some flights
U.S. Embassy in New Delhi Warns of India Terror Attacks
Researchers chase goal of non-hijackable plane
World Trade Center disaster film opens strong

Troops on Trial
Media can Listen to Recording of Sailor's Hearing

Other Military News
Guard member dies on border duty
Guard Soldiers Prepare the Dead

NSA / CIA
Soldiers Say CIA Contractor Hit Detainee

Politics / Government
Judge rules Ky. gov. can't be prosecuted
Poll: Bush may be hurting Republicans

Mother Nature
Mexico City Earthquake Measures 5.9; No Major Damage
Typhoon Kills 104 in China
Buildings Evacuated as 5.9 Quake Rattles Mexico

Oddities
Honey, run out and rent us a DVD, and a helicopter
Unwed couple sues town over housing flap
Scientists look at worms for electronic wine nose
Woman comes home to find house cleaned

Fox News
BP Works to Keep Part of Alaskan Oil Field Open
July Retail Sales Leap
Soccer Shocker! England Drops David Beckham
5 Siblings Dead in Mo. Fire
ACLU Decries Conditions in La. Prison During Katrina
Duran Duran to Play Show in Virtual Video-Game World
Japan's Richest Man, Worth U.S. $5.4 Billion, Dies at 76

Reuters: Top News
Leftist protesters block Mexico tax headquarters
Montana executes triple murderer by injection
Caviar, oil targeted by Caspian protection plan
Stalemate seen in high-definition DVD war
Tourists flock as warming Alps crumble
Jailbirds on the loose? Mass pardon rattles Italy
Fewer high school students having sex
HIV therapy drugs reach one in five
Edinburgh Fringe: 101 ways to massacre Shakespeare
Stocks slump as Apple, chip makers fall
Shares of Evercore IPO rise in debut
Eaton Vance rises on Inet
Tesco shares boosted by home ware catalog hopes
Brother shares jump on strong results
Crosby, Stills and...economic balance?
Economy, geopolitics spark defense
Apple delays results
CVRD bids $17.6 billion for Inco
Air travel chaos could boost exec jets demand
July retail sales up 1.4 percent
Automakers to invest in hybrid project
Fortress bids $2.8 billion for Intrawest

AP World News
Retail sales rebound in July
BetOnSports shuts U.S.-focused business
Electra files for divorce from Navarro
Jamie Gold wins World Series of Poker
Dodgers move back into NL West lead
Southern schools form computer grid
Consumer confidence hits 3-month low
Dodgers beat Rockies, take NL West lead
Scientists make discovery in Alzheimer's
Clemens gets win as Astros down Pirates
Feds order BP to do more pipeline tests
White Sox top Yanks as A-Rod errs again
Report of gunman on bus closes highway
Ill. officer pleads not guilty to rapes

Military.com
Preserving Commissaries
Renewable Energy Systems Wanted in Iraq
Missing Soldier Receives Third Promotion

CENTCOM: News Releases
MND-B’S 1ST SQDN., 10TH CAV. REGT., DISTRIBUTES HUMANITARIAN-AID TO ARAB JABUR RESIDENTS

EXTREMIST ATTACKS FOILED IN PAKTIKA

CENTCOM’S TOP NCO PRAISES AFGHANISTAN

SUSPECTED AL QAEDA FACILITATOR TARGETED IN AFGHAN, COALITION RAID

MND-B SOLDIERS FIND WEAPONS, SEIZE AMMUNITION

MND-B SOLDIERS FIND 2 LARGE WEAPONS CACHES

IRAQI NATIONAL POLICE, MND-B SOLDIERS RAID DOURA MARKET, SEIZE WEAPONS, DETAIN 3 TERRORISTS

CAMP LACEY SOLDIERS ASSIST INJURED AFGHAN CHILD

UP-ARMORED HUMVEES SAVE COALITION TROOPS

USJFCOM
Training team supports exercise in Kyrgyz Republic
See photos from RC 06
Media Roundtable for Multinational Experiment Four
Clare relieves Ellis as Joint Personnel Recovery Agency commander
Training director outlines training transformation progress
Joint Knowledge Development and Distribution Capability continues training transformation efforts
USJFCOM sailor receives Junior Military Member of the Quarter Award.
DoD Executive Leadership Development Program helps USJFCOM civilians relate to warfighter
USJFCOM, Singapore Armed Forces meet to collaborate on transformation
Liveblogging the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce: "State of the Military"
Read the blog of the whole event from Jim and Chris' points of view
Command exercises joint concept development support contract option
JxDS transforms U.S. military supply-chain management
USJFCOM prepares U.S. and coalition forces for Iraqi deployment
More articles of interest

Department of Defense
NEWS UPDATES
Helo Crash Victims Found - Story
For Top News Visit DefenseLink

ON THE GROUND
Training Academy Gets New Motorcycles - Story
Operation Combs Al-Doura Neighborhood - Story
Coalition Teams Treat Afghan Patients - Story

IN IRAQ
Combat Zone Ingenuity Protects Marines
Infantry Soldiers Root Out Insurgents
Water Treatment Plant Receives Upgrade
Iraqis Improve Defenses with Border Forts
Iraqi Soldiers Finish Personnel Course
Power Production Team Critical to Iraq Mission

IN AFGHANISTAN
Meeting Clairifies Reconstruction Team's Role
Munitions, Weapons Airmen Secure Bombs
Air Force Specialists Keep Planes in Flight

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
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
Three Soldiers Killed 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 Qandahar

Gitmo

Today in History
1772 - In Java, an explosive eruption blows 4,000' off Mt. Papandayan Java, killing 3,000
1909 - The S.O.S. is first used by an American ship, the Arapahoe, off Cape Hatteras, NC.
1914 - Jews are expelled from Mitchenick, Poland.
1945 - The Allies refuse Japan's surrender offer (including retention of Emperor Hirohito).
1954 - More than seven years of fighting in Indochina between the French the Communist Vietminh end with a formal peace.
1960 - Chad declares independence.
1962 - Andrian G. Nikolayev, aboard Vostok-3, becomes the third Russian in space.
1975 - The U.S. vetoes the proposed U.N. admission of North and South Vietnam.
1984 - During a radio voice test, President Ronald Reagan jokes that he has "signed legislation that would outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in 5 minutes."
1988 - Meir Kahane renounces U.S. citizenship in order to remain in the Israeli Parliament.
1989 - Voyager 2 discovers two partial rings around Neptune.
1990 - Egyptian and Moroccan troops land in Saudi Arabia in order to help prevent an Iraqi invasion.
1991 - Shite Muslims release American hostage Edward Tracy; the Space Shuttle STS-43 (Atlantis 9) lands.

Birthdays
1833 - Robert Green Ingersoll NY, author/politician/agnostic (Attorney General, IL)
1837 - Sadi Carnot, engineer, French president (1887-94, assassinated)
1921 - Alex Haley, author (Roots)
1930 - William A O'Neal (Gov-CT)
1941 - Elizabeth Holtzman, Bkln DA, Rep-NY, Watergate Committee
1959 - Linda Rhys Vaughn, Playboy playmate (Apr, 1982)
1971 - Julie Anne Clark, Playboy playmate (Mar, 1991)

Passings
1956 - Jackson Pollock, abstract artist, auto accident

Reported Missing in Action
1967
Berube, Kenneth Allen, USMC (MA); A4E crashed, KIA, body not recovered