U.S. Marines assigned to Golf Company, Battalion Landing Team, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, patrol through the streets of Haditha, Iraq, looking for weapons caches, Dec. 21, 2006. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. T.G. Kessler


U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Christopher Thompson, assigned to Golf Company, Battalion Landing Team, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, destroys a door with an axe while searching for weapons in Haditha, Iraq, Dec. 21, 2006. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. T.G. Kessler


U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Derrick Kepler, a rifleman assigned to Golf Company, Battalion Landing Team, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, provides security while fellow Marines conducted a cordon and search operation in Haditha, Iraq, Dec. 21, 2006. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. T.G. Kessler


An improvised hand grenade was found in a weapons cache during a cordon and search operations by U.S. Marines in Haditha, Iraq, Dec. 21, 2006. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. T.G. Kessler


U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Andrew Dotson assigned to Golf Company, Battalion Landing Team, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, holds up an 82-mm mortar head and a pair of armor plates found in a weapons cache in Haditha, Iraq, Dec. 21, 2006. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. T.G. Kessler


A weapons cache consisting of several bundles of stick propellant, some explosives, two AK-47 assault rifles and several other items were found in Haditha, Iraq, by 1st Platoon, Golf Company, Battalion Landing Team, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment during a raid operation, Dec. 21, 2006. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. T.G. Kessler


U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Nicholas Darrah, a rifleman assigned to 1st squad, Golf Company, Battalion Landing Team, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, provides security while fellow Marines conduct a cordon and search operations looking for weapons and explosives in Haditha, Iraq, Dec. 21, 2006. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. T.G. Kessler


U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Luis Rosado, left, assigned to Golf Company, Battalion Landing Team, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, examines some of the items found in a weapons cache during a cordon and search mission in Haditha, Iraq, Dec. 21, 2006. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. T.G. Kessler)


U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Miguel Cira, a combat engineer assigned to Golf Co, Battalion Landing Team, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, shares a snack with a local child during a cordon and search operation looking for weapons and explosives in Haditha, Iraq, Dec. 21, 2006. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. T.G. Kessler



More photo essays at DefendAmerica

January 12, 2007
President Bush greets Soldiers at Fort Benning, Ga., Jan. 11. Photo by David Dismukes

Related:
Bush discusses new Iraq strategy at Fort Benning

News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Report: Insurgents Using Google Earth to Hit Coalition Bases in Iraq
Kurdish Troops Train for Baghdad Mission
Bush says critics must offer alternative
Arrested Iranians tied to group arming Iraqis: U.S.
Bush concedes U.S. decisions made Iraq unstable
Report: Prince Harry to prepare for Iraq

Homeland Security / War on Terror / Hamas-Hezbollah Happenings
Report: Pentagon Using Little-Known Power to Obtain Financial Records of Americans (They are requesting records of those suspected of involvement in terrorism - the entities cannot be compelled to release the info without court involvement)
Somali parliament declares state of emergency - Video

Other Military News
Rules on Japan military arms use may be eased: paper

Religion of Peace??
One beheaded, two killed in Thai Muslim south

Worldwide Wackos
Anti-U.S. allies Venezuela and Iran seek OPEC oil cut
Venezuela says will nationalize whole energy sector
Rice: U.S. aims to curb Iran aggression

Homegrown Moonbats
What a short, strange trip: Be-in is 40

Politics / Government
Help Wanted: Feds Hiring Baby Boomers
White House Blasts Boxer's Rice Criticisms
Cheney may visit Japan in February: report
Libby heads to trial in CIA leak case
Rice aims to restart Mideast peace bid

In the Courts / Crime and Punishment
Kidnap Suspect Is 'Normal Guy,' Acquaintance Says
Parents Reunited With Kidnapped Son 4 Years Later
VIDEOS: Hornbecks Reunited - Ownby Family Speaks
Cops: N.C. Man Chopped Daughter's Head Off
DA Mike Nifong Off Duke Lacrosse Case

Media in the Media / Bloggers in the News / Watching the Web
Woman Dies After Radio Station Contest

Science / Nature
15,000-Year-Old Minnesota 'Oasis' Found?
Ice Storm Leaves 7 Dead in Midwest, South
Powerful storm dumps ice and rain on central U.S
Small tsunami waves hit Japan after Pacific quake
Alaska and Hawaii tsunami alerts canceled

News from My Neck of the Woods
Boston's Big Dig tunnel to reopen
Pups fathered by dog show winner stolen

Other News of Note
Toddler's Head Crushed in Florida Car Wash

Fox News
NFL Playoffs: Colts Beat Ravens 15-6
Two Coal Miners Killed in West Virginia

Reuters: Top News
Parents of rescued boys express joy, thanks - Video
French right to back Sarkozy presidential bid
Video games, rock'n'roll find common ground
AMD warning shows processor momentum shifting
Buzz in the air as Hollywood awards season debuts
Scorsese wins major critic group's awards
Wall St Week Ahead: Stocks focus on earnings, inflation
Dow ends at record as energy up on higher crude
Nasdaq calls PR Newswire lawsuit "desperate"
Microsoft shares up as safe software bet
Oil rises on OPEC jitters after 15 pct slide - Video
A new tack with ETFs
On the radar: Unit Corp.
Japan Airlines to ask for Y60bln financing
Hyundai Eng eyes $3 bln overseas orders in 2007
Bernanke to testify before Congress in February :WSJ
OPEC consulting on emergency meeting-Algeria
BP CEO Browne to retire earlier than planned
Dolans raise offer to take Cablevision private

AP World News
Who needs Mardi Gras? Saints march on
King's widow honored at Atlanta gala
Beckham's wife arrives in Los Angeles
Vinatieri delivers; Colts in title game
Medicaid plan would cut rural funding
Depp to make film about poisoned ex-spy
Little Sisters of Poor root for Saints
Buckeyes finally beat SEC team in Vols
Southeast Asian leaders form trade zone
Police seize $20 million in cocaine
Boy's parents turned grief into crusade
Prosecutor accused in NYC call girl biz

Military.com
Jobs Outlook Improves for Young Vets
Check Out our Military Hardware Guide
Audio Excerpt of Norman Mailer's Latest
Play Trivia and Win an iPod
Military.com Blog: Time the Enemy in Iraq
Maximize Your Military Lifestyle
Largest Veteran Job Board in the World

CENTCOM: News Releases
IRAQI POLICE FORCES DETAIN 6 INSURGENTS DURING RAID NEAR ISKANDARIYAH

47 INSURGENTS DETAINED BY IRAQI POLICE AND ARMY IN FALLUJAH

IRAQI ARMY FORCES CAPTURE LEADER OF INSURGENT CELL DURING RAID IN DIYALA

USJFCOM
Not your typical reserve position: USJFCOM seeks reserve officers to join Standing Joint Force Headquarters
More about Standing Joint Force Headquarters Core Elements - podcast
Exercise to begin to prepare Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa for deployment
More about the mission rehearsal program
USJFCOM commander discusses importance of personnel recovery - podcast
Campbell takes command of Joint Forces Command Army component

Department of Defense
NEWS UPDATES
Stability & Security in Iraq Report (pdf)
For Top News Visit DefenseLink

ON THE GROUND
Safety Officer Develops Lifesaving Tool - Story
U.S. Air Assets Support Strike in Afghanistan - Story
Iraqi, Coalition Forces Conduct Major Offensive - Story
Soldiers Use Air Assets to Capture Bomb Makers - Story

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

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

Weather
Afghanistan
Bost/Laskar Ghurian Herat Kabul Qandahar

Germany
Ansbach Aschaffenburg Berlin Berlin-Tempelhof Berlin/Schonefeld Bremerhaven
Darmstadt Frankfurt Frankfurt/Main Freiburg/Breisgau Garmisch
Garmisch-Partenkirchen Geilenkirchen Gelnhausen Giessen Kitzingen
Hanau Am Main Heidelberg Mainz Mannheim Nurnberg Stuttgart Trier
Wiesbaden Wurzburg

Gitmo

Guam
Agana Agana Heights Agat Andersen AFB Asan Barrigada

Iraq
Al Azamiyah Al Basrah Al Hillah Al Karkh Al Kazimiyah Al Kut
An Nasiriyah Baghdad Baqubah Mosul Najaf Nineveh Tall Kayf

Japan
Kadena Air Base Okinawa Tokyo Yokohama

Philippines
Baler Radar Site Catanduanes Radar Site Manila

South Korea
Cheju Upper/Radar Chonju Chunchon Inch'on Kunsan Masan Mokp'o
Osan Pusan Seoul Suwon Taegu Taejon Tonghae Radar Site Ulsan Yosu

* If you're deployed, and want to see your location's weather listed here, please email me! *

Today in History
1526 - Charles V & Francis I sign Treaty of Madrid; Francis I forced to give up claims in Burgundy, Italy & Flanders
1639 - 1st Connecticut constitution (Fundamental Orders) adopted in Hartford; Rodger Ludlow publishes"Fundamental Orders of Connecticut"
1641 - United East Indian Company conquerors city of Malakka, 7,000 killed
1659 - Battle at Elvas Portuguese beat Spanish
1690 - Clarinet is invented, in Nüremberg, Germany
1699 - Massachusetts holds day of fasting for wrongly persecuting "witches"
1717 - German mob leader "Sjako" sentenced to death in Amsterdam
1724 - Spanish King Philip V abdicates throne
1739 - England & Spain signs 2nd Convention of Pardo
1746 - Bonnie Prince Charlie's army leaves Glasgow
1783 - Congress ratifies peace treaty between US & England
1784 - Revolutionary War ends; Congress ratifies the Treaty of Paris
1794 - Dr. Jessee Bennet of Edom, VA, performs 1st successful Cesarean section operation on his wife
1799 - Eli Whitney receives government contract for 10,000 muskets; King of Naples flees before the advancing French armies
1814 - King of Denmark cedes Norway to King of Sweden by treaty of Kiel
1847 - Conspiracy in New Mexico against US
1858 - French Emperor Napoleon III escapes attempt on his life by Felice Orsini, an Italian patriot who was later executed
1861 - Fort Pikens, FL, falls into state hands
1863 - Battle between gunboats at Bayou Teched, LA
1864 - Battle of Cosby Creek, TN; General Sherman begins his march to the South
1868 - North Carolina constitutional convention meets in Raleigh; South Carolina constitutional convention, meets with a black majority
1878 - US Supreme court rules race separation on trains unconstitutional
1912 - Raymond Poincaré becomes premier of France
1914 - Henry Ford introduces assembly line, for T-Fords
1916 - Dutch South Sea dike cracks
1924 - Allies direct Fiume (Rijeka) in Italy
1929 - Afghan King Amanullah forced to resign
1935 - Oil pipeline Iraq-Mediterranean goes into use
1938 - National Society for the Legalization of Euthanasia formed (NY)
1939 - All commercial ferry service to East Bay ends; Norway claims Queen Maud Land in Antarctica
1943 - FDR & Winston Churchill confer in Casablanca concerning WWII; Heinrich Himmler views Warsaw
1944 - Soviet army begins offensive at Oranienbaum/Wolchow
1946 - 2 jetties collapse in Ganges-160 Hindu pilgrims are crushed
1949 - Black/Indian race rebellion in Durban, South Africa; 142 die
1950 - US recalls all consular officials from China
1952 - "Today Show" premieres with Dave Garroway & Jack Lescoulie on NBC-TV; Rationing of coffee in Netherlands ends; Snow storm in Sierra, NV, kills 26
1953 - Yugoslavia elects its 1st president (Marshal Tito)
1956 - Jordan government refuses to join Pact of Baghdad
1960 - US Army promoted Elvis Presley to Sergeant
1963 - George C. Wallace sworn in as Governor of Alabama, his address states "segregation now; segregation tomorrow; segregation forever!"
1964 - Jacqueline Kennedy's 1st public appearance (TV) since assassination
1967 - New York Times reports Army is conducting secret germ warfare experiments; Earthquake in Sicily kills 231
1969 - 25 members of US aircraft carrier Enterprise die during maneuvers; Soyuz 4 launched; rendezvous with Soyuz 5 two days later
1972 - "Sanford & Son" starring Redd Foxx premieres on NBC TV
1975 - USSR breaks trade agreement with US
1976 - "The Bionic Woman" with Lindsay Wagner debuts on ABC (later NBC)
1979 - President Carter proposes Martin Luther King's birthday be a holiday
1980 - "Blues Brothers" movie with Dan Akroyd & John Belushi opens
1981 - FCC frees stations to air as many commercials an hour as they wish
1985 - 16 indicted by US for granting sanctuary to Central American refugees
1986 - Vinicio Cerezo becomes only the 2nd freely elected President of Guatemala since the CIA-sponsored coup in 1954; Constitution of Guatemala takes effect
1989 - 29 year old French woman gives birth to sextuplets in Paris; 1,000 muslims burn Rushdies' "Satanic Verses" in Bradford, England; Former Belgian premier Paul Vanden Boeynants kidnapped
1990 - Perez de Cuellar says he has lost all hope for peace in the Gulf
1991 - Jorge Serrano Elías sworn in as President of Guatemala; Valentin Pavlov become new premier of USSR
1994 - Russian manned space craft TM-17, lands
1995 - 10,000s South Africans attend state funeral of Joe Slovo

Birthdays
1467 - Henry van Stolberg & Wernigerode, German Governor/Viceroy of Frisia
1592 - Sjihab al-Din Sultan Choerram Sjah, Djahan leader of India
1705 - Jean-Baptiste C. Bouvet de Lozier/Lozier-Bouvet, Governor (Reunion Is)
1730 - William Whipple, merchant/judge/patriot (Declaration of Independence signer)
1741 - Benedict Arnold, US General turned traitor (Revolutionary War)
1798 - Johan R. Thorbecke, Premier of Netherlands (Liberal-1849-72)
1806 - Matthew Fontaine Maury, Confederate Naval Commander
1819 - Frederick Steele, Union Major General
1831 - John Bullock Clark, Jr., Confederate Brigadier General
1836 - (Hugh) Judson Kilpatrick, Union Major General
1845 - Henry C.K. Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th marquess of Landsdowne/Governor-General Canada
1861 - Mehmed VI, last sultan of Ottoman Empire (1918-22)
1875 - Albert Schweitzer, doctor/humanitarian/organist (Nobel 1952)
1892 - Martin Niemöller, clergyman (German Protestant); imprisoned by Hitler
1899 - Fritz Bayerlein, German Lieutenant-General (WWI, Poland, Libya, St Louis)
1901 - Carlos P. Romulo, Philippine General/Diplomat/Jurist
1907 - Derek Richter, British neuro chemist (Aspects of learning & memory); Sophie Redmond, Suriname's 1st female physician
1919 - Andy Rooney, CBS news correspondent (60 Minutes)
1920 - George Herman, newsman (CBS-TV)
1926 - Harold Wolpe, sociologist lawyer/South African activist
1940 - Julian Bond, (D-GA), civil rights leader
1942 - Amichand Rajbansi, South African politician
1943 - Shannon W. Lucid, astronaut (STS 51G, STS 34, STS 43, STS 58, STS 76/79)
1958 - Colin Ferguson, murderer (6 people on the Long Island Railroad on Dec 7, 1993)
1989 - Sextuplets, Paris, France, (to a 29-year-old woman)

Passings
0973 - Ekkehard I, monk of St Gallen (Vita Waltharii manu fortis)
1163 - Ladislaus I Arpad, king of Hungary (1162-63)
1236 - (or 1237) Sava (Rastko), son of Serbia's king/saint, dies at 64
1301 - Andreas III Arpad, king of Hungary (1290-1301), dies at 50
1595 - Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria/mayor of Bohemenia
1623 - Paolo Sarpi, Italian church historian/politician, dies at 70
1742 - Edmund Halley, genius eclipsed by Newton, dies at 86
1766 - Frederik V, King of Denmark/Norway (1746-66), dies at 42
1847 - Governor Bent, 5 others in US occupation, killed by revolt in New Mexico
1898 - Reverend Charles L. Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll, dies at 66
1901 - Victor Balaguer, Catalaans historian/politician/author, dies at 76
1909 - Sinovi P. Rozhestvensky, Russian admiral, dies at 60
1929 - Cornelis W. Lely, Dutch Governor of Suriname (1902-05), dies at 74
1948 - Anna "Ans" van Dike, Dutch Jewish Nazi-collaborator, executed at 42
1966 - Sergei Korolev, Russian space station constructor
1972 - Frederik IX (Christiaan FFMKW), King of Denmark (1947-72), dies at 72
1974 - Josef Smrkovsky, Czechoslovakian parliament chairman, dies at 62
1977 - Abdul Razak bin Hussain, premier of Malaysia (1970-77), dies at 53; Anthony Eden British premier (1955-57), dies at 79
1978 - Blossom Rock actress (Grandmamma-Addams Family), dies at 81
1988 - Georgi M. Malenkov, PM of USSR (1953-55), dies at 86
1991 - Sallah Kharaf (Abu Iyad), co-founder (Al-Fatah), assassinated
1993 - Elisabeth A. de Vreugd, chambermaid for Dutch Queen, dies at 98

Reported Missing in Action
1964
Hickman, Vincent Joseph, USAF (NY); B26B shot down (pilot)

Mitchell, Carl Berg, USAF (MT); B26B shot down (navigator)

1966
Pruner, William R.; remains recovered January, 1966

1967
Canup, Franklin H., Jr., USN (NC); MSB-14 rammed and sunk by merchant ship

1968
Horne, Stanley W., USAF (CA); F105D shot down - remains returned April, 1990 - ID'd November, 1990

The following USAF personnel reported MIA when their EB66C was shot down:
Lebert, Ronald M. (SD); EB66C shot down (EWO), released by DRV March, 1973 - retired as Lt. Colonel - alive in 1998

Sumpter, Thomas W. (TN); released by DRV March, 1973 - deceased February, 1995

Terrell, Irby D. (TX); released by DRV March, 1973 - retired as a Colonel - alive and well as of 1998

Walker, Hubert C. (OK); released by DRV March, 1973 - retired as a Colonel - alive and well as of 1998

1969
Guggenberger, Gary J., US Army (MN); released by PRG February, 1973 (injured) - retired as a Staff Sergeant - alive as of 1998