from DefendAmerica:

Soldiers from Company A, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Multi-National Division - Baghdad, patrol the streets of Hurriyah during Operation Half Nelson, Oct. 4, 2006. The soldiers worked with the Iraqi army and local citizens to gather information on terrorist activity in the area. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Raul Montano

Sgt. Corey Tucker, Company A, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Multi-National Division - Baghdad, pulls security near an alleyway during Operation Half Nelson. Soldiers worked with local Iraqis to gather information on terrorist activities in Baghdad’s Hurriyah neighborhood, Oct. 4, 2006. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Raul Montano

Soldiers of Company A, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Multi-National Division - Baghdad, clear a building during Operation Half Nelson. Soldiers worked with the Iraqi army and local citizens to gather information on terrorist activity in Baghdad’s Hurriyah neighborhood, Oct. 4, 2006. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Raul Montano

Spc. Patrick Drake, Company A, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, of Multi-National Division - Baghdad, sweeps an area while looking for possible enemy threats during Operation Half Nelson. The operation gave soldiers an opportunity to interact with residents of Baghdad’s Hurriyah neighborhood and gather information of terrorist activity, Oct. 4, 2006. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Raul Montano

Soldiers of Multi-National Division - Baghdad use a working dog to detect explosives during Operation Half Nelson in Baghdad’s Hurriyah neighborhood, Oct. 4, 2006. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Raul Montano

Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Multi-National Division - Baghdad, talk with residents of Baghdad’s Hurriyah neighborhood during Operation Half Nelson, Oct. 4, 2006. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Raul Montano

Staff Sgt. Timothy Bell, Company A, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Multi-National Division - Baghdad, talks with residents of Baghdad’s Hurriyah neighborhood during Operation Half Nelson, Oct. 4, 2006. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Raul Montano

by Spc. Christa Martin
October 13, 2006
Soldiers from the 549th Military Police Company, 3rd Military Police Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division prepare to open a sealed door using their armored vehicle during a cordon and search operation in Mosul, Iraq. US Army photo.

News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
U.S. airman, Marine killed in Iraq

Operation Enduring Freedom
Italian journalist kidnapped in Afghanistan: reports - Video

Homeland Security / War on Terror
Pilots adjust to new NYC flight rules
1 man still locked up from 9/11 sweeps
2 ordered not to discuss Gitmo claims

Other Military News
Bush Dedicates Va. Air Force Memorial

Worldwide Wackos
U.N. Votes to Impose Sanctions on N. Korea
North Korea rejects 'gangster-like' action - VIDEO
Bush Praises U.N. Security Council for Resolution - VIDEO
Japan considering extra sanctions against North Korea
Iran says sanctions threat part of psychological war
Chavez spreads wealth to aid U.N. cause

Politics / Government
FBI Reportedly Probing Rep. Weldon
La. Rep. Jefferson Loses Democratic Endorsement
Bush keeps revising war justification
Dems facing proven GOP turnout machine
U.N.'s next leader urges North Korea

U.N. News
I'm no pushover, says next U.N. chief - Video

Media in the Media
FOX Fires Baseball Broadcaster Steve Lyons

Oddities
Principal Resigns After Shooting Orphaned Kittens (What a sicko)
'Priceless' L.A. ghetto coins are fakes (Imagine that!)

Other News of Note
Family of 5 Found Dead in Iowa Home
Autopsy Underway on Slain Vermont Student
Victims identified in Florida Turnpike murders
U.S. population set to hit 300 million

Fox News
Family Found Dead on Fla. Turnpike From Texas
Wife of Gunman Thanks Amish for Forgiveness

Reuters: Top News
Singer Freddy Fender dies
Two grenades hit building near U.N. HQ in Beirut
Chile's Bachelet visits site of her own torture
Tigers sweep A's to advance to World Series
UnitedHealth CEO under pressure to resign: WSJ
AXA, Swiss Re eye Scottish Widows bid - paper

AP World News
Suppan, Cards silence Mets' bats 5-0
Divers revel in swimming with sharks
Cruise Ship to set sail from New Orleans
Analysts expect further commodities drop
Clooney gets American Cinematheque Award

CENTCOM: News Releases
HILLAH IP CHIEF, DEPUTY KILLED IN EXPLOSION

CITIZEN’S TIP LEADS IPS TO UNEXPLODED VBIED

USJFCOM
USJFCOM exhibits Joint Force Projection ACTD- podcast
Top DoD readiness officials tour command
Joint Systems Baseline Assessment 2006 comes to successful close- podcast
More about the Joint Systems Integration Command

Department of Defense
NEWS UPDATES
New Iraqi Government Takes Steps To Move Country Toward Peace - Story
For Top News Visit DefenseLink

ON THE GROUND
Leaders' Infantry Training Reinforces Combat Skills - Story
'IED Hunters' Work to Clear, Safeguard Roadways - Story
Renovated Schools Set Standard in Kirkuk Area - Story
Army Interpreter Pays for Mosque Supplies - Story

IN IRAQ
CSI: National Forensics Academy Opens in Baghdad
Civil Affairs Soldiers Distribute Supplies to School
Saab al Bour Opens Refurbished Primary School
Soldiers Patrol the Liquid Highways of Iraq
Soldiers Work to Eliminate Terrorist Threats

IN AFGHANISTAN
Task Force Grizzly Soldiers Eliminate Insurgents
Afghan NCOs Complete Drill Sergeant Course

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
Officials Identify Marine Casualties - Story

DefendAmerica Week in Review
Sunday - Monday - Tuesday - Wednesday - Thursday - Friday - Saturday

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

National Hurricane Center

Today in History
1520 - King Henry VIII of England orders bowling lanes at Whitehall.
1641 - Paul de Chomedy de Maisonneuve claims Montreal.
1655 - Jews in Lublin, Poland, are massacred.
1789 - In New England, George Washington makes the first presidental tour.
1846 - Dr. William Thomas Green Morton makes the first public use of Ether.
1860 - 11-year-old Grace Bedell writes to Abraham Lincoln, telling him to grow a beard.
1883 - The U.S. Supreme Court declares the Civil Rights Act of 1875 unconstitutional.
1914 - The Clayton Antitrust Act is passed.
1928 - The German dirigible "Graf Zeppelin" lands in Lakehurst, NJ.
1933 - The Philadelphia Eagles play their fiirst NFL game, losing to the NY Giants 56-0.
1939 - LaGuardia Airport opens (NYC).
1941 - The Nazis command that Jews caught outside the Ghetto walls (Poland) can be put to death.
1949 - Administration of the territory of Manipur is taken over by the Indian government.
1951 - "I Love Lucy" debuts on CBS TV.
1956 - William J. Brennan, Jr., is appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
1959 - "The Untouchables" premieres on TV.
1962 - Byron R. White is appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
1964 - Craig Breedlove sets an auto speed record of 846.97 kph; Kosygin and Brezhnev replace Soviet premier Nikita Krushchev.
1966 - President Johnson signs a bill creating the Department of Transportation.
1969 - Vietnam Moratorium Day - widescale protests.
1974 - The National Guard mobilizes to restore order in Boston school busing.
1979 - The NY Knicks retire Walt Frazier's # 10.
1983 - U.S. Marine sharpshooters kill five snipers at Beirut International Airport.
1985 - The Space Shuttle Columbia carries Spacelab into orbit; Shelley Taylor of Australia makes the fastest swim ever around Manhattan Island (6 hours 12 minutes 29 seconds).
1987 - The NFL Players Association orders an end to the 24-day strike.
1989 - Billy Graham is given the 1,900th star on Hollywood Boulevard; South African president FW de Klerk frees Sisulu and four other political prisoners.
1991 - Clarence Thomas is confirmed as Supreme Court Justice (52-48)

Birthdays
70 BC- Virgil (Publius Vergilius Maro), poet
1542 - Akbar, Indian Mughal emperor (1556-1605)
1785 - Jose Miguel Carrera, president of Chile (1811-14)
1829 - Asaph Hall, discoverer of Martian satellites Phobos and Deimos
1844 - Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher/anti-semite
1917 - Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., historian / author (1946 Pulitzer-Age of Jackson)
1921 - Mario Puzo, author (Godfather)
1924 - Lee A. Iacocca, CEO (Chrysler Corp)
1959 - Sarah Ferguson ("Fergie"), Duchess of York

Passings
1910 - Stanley "Midnight Assassin" Ketchel, heavyweight boxing champ, shot
1917 - Mata Hari, Dutch dancer/German spy, executed by firing squad in Paris
1945 - Pierre Laval, former premier of Vichy France, executed
1946 - Hermann Goering, Nazi Reichmarshal, poisoned himself in prison
1964 - Cole Porter, composer

Reported Missing in Action
1965
Schuler, Robert H., Jr., USAF (NY); F105D shot down (pilot, in same flight w/Sima)

Sima, Thomas W., USAF (PA); F105D shot down (pilot, in same flight w/Schuler), released by DRV February, 1973 - left the service after his return