From left, Polish army Lt. Col. Andrzej Dylong, Capt. Mirilisz Mignon, and Chief Warrant Officer Mirostaw Czarnik, all from the Polish Civilian Military Cooperation, discuss progress on an electrical project with Haytham Badr Hamza, far right, a local Iraqi contractor, March 13, 2007 near Afak, Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Rob Summitt


An electrical generator station project stands near completion March 13, 2007, near Afak, Iraq. The project is sponsored by the Polish Civilian Military Cooperation and overseen by local contractors. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Rob Summitt


A Polish army gunner, from the Polish Civilian Military Cooperation, watches for suspicious activity at an electrical generator project site near Afak, Iraq, March 13, 2007. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Rob Summitt


Polish army Chief Warrant Officer Mirostaw Czarnik, right, from the Polish Civilian Military Cooperation, discusses progress on a water clarification station with Oday Hattim Aggar, a local Iraqi contractor overseeing the project, March 13, 2007, near Afak, Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Rob Summitt


A local Iraqi worker assembles a pump to be used in a water purification station near Afak, Iraq, March 13, 2007. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Rob Summitt


A water purification project stands near completion near Afak, Iraq, March 13, 2007. The project is sponsored by the Polish Civilian Military Cooperation and is being overseen by local contractors. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Rob Summitt


Polish army Lt. Col. Andrzej Dylong, left, from the Polish Civilian Military Cooperation, talks with a local Iraqi through an interpreter about progress on a water purification project March 13, 2007, near Afak, Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Rob Summitt


Polish army Lt. Col. Andrzej Dylong, left, provides security for Polish army Chief Warrant Officer Mirostaw Czarnik and Oday Hattim Aggar, center, while both discuss progress on a water clarification station March 13, 2007, near Afak, Iraq. Oday Hattim Aggar is a local Iraqi contractor overseeing the project; Dylong and Czarnik are members of the Polish Civilian Military Cooperation team. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Rob Summitt



More photo essays at DefendAmerica

Labels: Afak, Coalition Forces, Humanitarian Aid, Iraq, photos, Polish Army, reconstruction

CELEBRATING UNITY - Japan Maritime Self Defense Force Capt. Tomonori Kudo, commander, Iwo Jima Airbase, shakes hands with a Battle of Iwo Jima survivor during a ceremony commemorating the 62nd anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima March 14, 2007, on Iwo Jima, Japan. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Adam R. Cole

Labels: Iwo Jima, USMC

News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
U.S. Nabs 12 Suspected Terrorists in Iraq Raids
Report: Video Shows Terrorist Planting Bomb on U.S. Vehicle
Poll: 27 Percent of Iraqis Say Their Country Is in Civil War (Note, the headline isn't 73 percent of Iraqis DON'T say that..)
Large Iraq war protests across Spain (Yep, they'll protest us...they just won't stand up to terrorists)
Five U.S. Soldiers Killed in Iraq
Violence in Baghdad leaves 4 dead

Operation Enduring Freedom
Taliban say have released Italian journalist
U.N. worker injured in Taliban ambush
1,423 Afghan artifacts return to Kabul

Homeland Security / War on Terror / Hamas-Hezbollah Happenings
Israel Boycotts Palestinian Gov't
U.S. to keep Palestinian aid ban - Video
2 Arrested at Airport for Impersonating Police

Other Military News
Military Smallpox Vaccination Infects Toddler
Abe: Japan should boost security ties with U.S.

Religion of Peace??
Imams Mull Suing Passengers, Too (This is just insane. Completely insane.)
Attackers Kill 3 Kids at Thai Islamic School

Worldwide Wackos
N.Korea denuclearization on track, U.S. envoy says - Video (Sure it is. Anyone want to buy a bridge? Only used once by a nice old lady...)
Report: U.S., N.Korea resolve bank issue
Israel, U.S. scale back war-game amid Iran face-off
Delayed nuke plant bolsters Iran resolve

Politics / Government
John McCain Sorry About 'Tar Baby' Remark (I'll be he is!)
Gonzales offers mea culpa to attorneys
White House veto threats proliferate

In the Courts / Crime and Punishment / Law and Order
3 N.C. Men Jailed for Castration 'Dungeon'
Carol Burnett Sues FOX Over 'Family Guy'
Police DNA collection sparks questions
Teacher gets 10 years for sex with pupil

Adventures in Political Correctness
Some Target Stores Change Duties for Muslim Cashiers Who Object to Ringing Up Pork

Mother Nature
Hundreds Stranded at JFK After Ice Storm
Bison returned to Colorado homeland
Ski industry goes green to fight warming

Oddities
School Fines Man for Book Lost 30 Years Ago
Man Relieves Himself in Air Sickness Bag During Plane Flight
Parents Help Launch Daughter's Budding Porn Career

Other News of Note
Search Under Way for Boy Scout Who Disappeared in North Carolina State Park
Owners Frantic as Pet Food Recall Expands
Music of WWII victims finds new life

Fox News
Ohio State Hangs On - NCAA PHOTOS

Reuters: Top News
Tokyo's Irish fans parade for St. Patrick's Day
Finns vote in closely fought election
Montenegrin police question Karadzic family
Zimbabwe opposition man badly beaten, colleague says - Video
Poor man's floating home turns Rio recycling model
Housing may feed stocks' angst in a Fed week
Oil sector and CPI hit stocks as rate-cut hopes ebb
Oil dips on U.S. economic worries
Dollar sags on subprime troubles
Developers Diversified rises on S&P news
Risk aversion not a risk to liquidity
Credit set to tighten further
Once-hot Florida home market chills a bit
Barclays approaches ABN on merger: papers
Investors to press Congress on warming
Blair to appeal to Bush on open skies: paper
EMC options had sweet timing even in sour times
Shell says bid for Canadian unit successful

AP World News
Unmasked big man leads Carolina past MSU
EU site to offer extreme weather data
Ice can't thwart St. Patrick's revelers
Father takes fire victim bodies to Mali
Vandy downs WSU in double-OT thriller
'Pretty Baby' probes images of childhood
Georgetown prevails over BC, 62-55
It's back to the round of 16 for Butler
Secret of horror writer's lineage broken
53 reptiles stolen from wildlife park

Military.com
Advisors: Truth About the Hidden Injury
The Web's Best Equipment Guide
Battle Rattle

USJFCOM
USJFCOM commander speaks before House Armed Services Committee

DefenseLink
Bush Urges Congress to Pass War Spending Bil - Story - Transcript
Al Qaeda Stoking Sectarian Violence in Iraq - Story

DefendAmerica
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
'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: 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

Today in History
0417 - St. Zosimus begins his reign as Catholic Pope
0731 - St. Gregory III begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1123 - 1st Latern Council (9th ecumenical council) opens in Rome
1167 - Battle of El-Babein, Egypt: Franks under Amalrik vs Syrians
1190 - Crusaders kill 57 Jews in Bury St. Edmonds, England
1229 - German emperor Frederick II crowns himself king of Jerusalem
1438 - Albrecht II von Habsburg becomes King of Germany
1509 - Emperor Maximilian I names Margaretha land guardians of Netherlands
1532 - English parliament bans payments by English church to Rome
1543 - Hernan de Soto observes 1st recorded flood in America (Mississippi River)
1582 - Prince Willem of Orange injured in attack at Antwerp
1583 - Dutch States General & Anjou sign treaty
1673 - Lord Berkley sells his half of New Jersey to the Quakers
1754 - Duke of Newcastle becomes English premier
1766 - British Parliament reinstitutes the Stamp Act
1793 - 2nd Battle at Neerwinden: Austria army beats France
1813 - David Melville, Newport, RI, patents apparatus for making coal gas
1818 - Congress approves 1st pensions for government service
1834 - 1st railroad tunnel in US completed, in Pennsylvania (275 meter long)
1835 - Charles Darwin departs Santiago, Chile on his way to Portillo Pass
1847 - 1st Dutch public telegram
1850 - Henry Wells & William Fargo forms American Express in Buffalo
1858 - Dutch Van der Brugghen government resigns
1859 - Vera Cruz besieged by Miramón (Cons) in Mexican War of Reform
1864 - Dale Dike on Humber River crumbles, drowning some 240
1865 - Battle of Wilson's raid to Selma, AL; Congress of Confederate States of American adjourns for last time
1870 - 1st US National Wildlife Preserve (Lake Meritt in Oakland, CA)
1871 - Communards revolt in Paris, France
1877 - President Hayes appoints Frederick Douglass marshal of Washington, DC
1881 - [PT] Barnum & [James A] Bailey's Greatest Show on Earth opens (Madison Square Garden)
1890 - 1st US state naval militia organized (Massachusetts)
1891 - Britain is linked to the continent by Telephone
1892 - Lord Stanley proposes silver challenge cup for hockey (Stanley Cup)
1895 - 200 Blacks leave Savannah, GA for Liberia
1899 - Phoebe, a moon of Saturn, is discovered by Pickering
1911 - North Dakota enacts a hail insurance law
1914 - White Wolf gang beats government army in Jingdezhen China
1915 - Failed British attack in Dardanelles; French battleship Bouvet explodes, 640 killed; Turkey's Canakkale (Trojan) Sea Victory against allied powers(USA, Australia, England, Italy) during First World War
1918 - Socialist Youth AJC organizes in Amsterdam
1920 - Greece adopts the Gregorian calendar
1921 - 2nd Peace of Riga, Poland, enlarged; Steamer Hong Kong runs aground off Swatow China killing 1,000
1922 - British magistrates in India sentence Mohandas K Gandhi to 6 years for disobedience
1925 - Eight 60-MPH tornadoes speed through Missouri, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, & Tennessee killing 689
1930 - Pluto discovered by Clyde Tombaugh (US)
1931 - 1st electric shavers go on sale in US (Schick); Juan Bautista Aznar becomes premier of Spain
1937 - Gas explosion in school in New London TX; 296 die
1938 - New York 1st requires serological blood tests of pregnant women; President Cardena of Mexico nationalizes US & British oil companies
1940 - Mussolini joins Hitler in Germany's war against France & Britain
1942 - 2 black players, Jackie Robinson & Nate Moreland, request a tryout with the Chicago White Sox, they are allowed to work out
1943 - James Oglethorpe (US) & Terkolei (Netherlands), torpedoed & sinks; Red Army evacuates Belgorod
1944 - 2,500 women trample guards & floorwalkers to purchase 1,500 alarm clocks announced for sale in a Chicago IL department store; Nazi Germany occupies Hungary
1945 - 1,250 US bombers attack Berlin; US Task Force 58 attacks targets on Kiushu
1948 - France, Great Britain & Benelux sign Treaty of Brussels
1949 - NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) ratified
1952 - 1st plastic lens for cataract patients fitted (Philadelphia); Communist offensive in Korea
1953 - Earthquake strikes West Turkey, 250 die; National League approves Boston Braves move to Milwaukee (1st shift since 1903)
1955 - I. Hatojama recognized as premier of Japan
1959 - President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs Hawaii statehood bill
1961 - Poppin' Fresh Pillsbury Dough Boy introduced
1962 - Algerian War ends after 7½ years of fighting (250,000 die), Ben Bella flees
1962 - Dmitri Shostakovich becomes member of Supreme Soviet of USSR
1963 - France performs underground nuclear test at Ecker Algeria; Supreme Court's Miranda Decision: defendants must have lawyers
1965 - Rolling Stones fined £5 each for public urination; USSR launches Voshkod 2; Alexei Leonov makes 1st spacewalk (20 minutes)
1966 - General Suharto forms government in Indonesia; Scott Paper begins selling paper dresses for $1
1967 - Oil tanker Torrey Canyon hits a rock off the Isles of Scilly Cornwall UK & spills oil
1968 - Congress repeals requirement for a gold reserve
1970 - Cambodia military coup under General Lon Nol, prince Sihanuk flees
1970 - Mail service paralyzed by 1st major postal strike
1971 - 200 die in landslide into Lake Yanahuani, Chungar, Peru
1972 - People's Rebublic of China performs nuclear test at Lop Nor People's Rebublic of China
1974 - Most Arab oil producing nations end embargo against US
1975 - Kurds end fight against Iraqi army
1977 - US restricts citizens from visiting Cuba, Vietnam, N Korea & Cambodia; Vietnam hands over MIA to US
1978 - Pakistani former premier Ali Bhutto sentenced to death
1979 - Battles between Kurds & Iranians break in Sananday, Iran
1980 - Vostok rocket exploded on launch pad while being refueled, killing 50
1985 - Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth reinstates Willie Mays & Mickey Mantle
1986 - Treasury Department announces plans to alter paper money
1987 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1989 - 27th space shuttle mission, STS-29 (Discovery 8), returns to Earth
1990 - 1st free elections in German Democratic Republic - Conservatives beat Communists; 32-day lockout by baseball owners ends; A Tampa little leaguer dies after being struck by a pitch
1990 - Largest Art robbery in the history (Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston), where 12 paintings valued at $100 million are stolen
1992 - Leona Helmsley sentence to 4 years for tax evasion
1994 - Space shuttle STS-62 (Columbia 16) lands
1995 - STS 67 (Endeavour 8) lands after 16½ days
1997 - Russian AN-24 plane crashes in Turkey, killing 50

Birthdays
1380 - Liduina van Schiedam, Dutch "Christ's bride"/saint
1609 - Frederick III king of Denmark & Norway (1648-70), absolutist
1765 - David H. Chassé, Dutch baron/General (fought Napoleon at Waterloo)
1782 - John Caldwell Calhoun, Andrew Jackson's Vice President (1829-37)
1829 - William Robertson Boggs, Confederate Brigadier General
1837 - [Stephen] Grover Cleveland Caldwell NJ, 22nd & 24th President (1885-1889, 1893-1897)
1838 - Sir Randal Cremer Britain, trade unionist, pacifist (Nobel 1903)
1839 - Francis Fessenden, Union Major General
1843 - Jules Vandenpeereboom, premier of Belgium (1899)
1844 - Nicolai Andreevich Rimski-Korsakov, composer (Flight of the Bumble Bee, Scheherazade)
1858 - Rudolph C.K. Diesel, German engineer (Diesel motor)
1866 - John Loudon, Dutch minister of Foreign Affairs (1913-18)
1869 - [Arthur] Neville Chamberlain, British Prime Minister (C, 1937-40)
1892 - Robert P. Tristram Coffin poet/reporter (WWII)
1893 - Wilfred Owen, English anti-war poet (Anthem for Doomed Youth)
1899 - Lavrenti Beria chief of Soviet secret police under Stalin
1906 - Roy L. Johnson, US Admiral (WWII-Pacific Ocean)
1910 - Chiang Ching-huo, son of Chinese President Chiang Kai-shek
1913 - Margaret Hesse, princess of Hesse/Rhine
1920 - John Paul II [Karol Wojtyla], Poland, Pope (1978-2005)
1922 - Egon Bahr, German journalist/politician
1931 - Howard Coble (Representative-Republican-NC)
1932 - F[rederik] W[illem] de Klerk, President South Africa (1989-94)
1933 - Unita Blackwell, 1st Black mayor in Mississippi
, composer/musician (Alan Parsons Project, Woolfson Entertainment Group)
1946 - Michael Reagan, talk show host, Ronald's son
1947 - Steven H. Schiff (Representative-Republican-NM)
1953 - Helmer C. Koetje, Dutch 2nd chamber member (CDA); Margaret L. Augustine, project manager (Biosphere 2)
1954 - James F. Reilly II, PhD/astronaut (STS 89)
1957 - Christer Fuglesang, Swedish physicist/astronaut (Mir backup)

Passings
0978 - St. Edward the Martyr, King of Anglo-Saxons (975-78), murdered at 15
0235 - Marcus Aurelius Alexander, Syrian emperor of Rome (222-235), murdered
1227 - Honorius III [Cencio Savelli], Pope (1216-27)
1314 - Jacques De Molay, the last grand master of Order of Knights
1493 - John of Lannoy, Flemish Governor/viceroy of Netherlands/Zealand, at 82
1582 - Jean Jaurequi Basque, murderer of Willem of Orange, lynched
1584 - Ivan IV the terrible, Russian tsar (1547-84), at 53
1690 - Charles, Duke of Lutherans
1745 - Robert Walpole, 1st English premier (1722-42), at 68
1882 - Morgan Earp, brother of Wyatt Earp, shot and killed while playing billiards in Tombstone
1913 - George I, King of Greece (1861-1913), assassinated by Schinas at 67
1965 - Farouk I, last King of Egypt (1936-52), at 45
1977 - Marien Ngouabi, President of Congo-Brazzaville, murdered
1983 - Umberto of Piemonte, King Umberto II of Italy (1946)

Reported Missing in Action
1966
The following USMC personnel reported Missing when their EF10-B was shot down:
Davis, Brent E. (CA); remains returned December, 1997

McPherson, Everett A. (VA)

1967
The following USMC personnel reported Missing when their F-4C was shot down:
Morrill, David Whittier (CA); pilot

Parker, Maxim Charles (CA); Radio Intercept Officer

1968
The following US Army personnel reportedly captured during a road clearing mission:
Dunn, John G.; released by PRG February, 1973 - alive in 1998

Ray, James M. (RI); believed DIC in 1969

Also reported Missing this day in 1968:
Switzer, Jerrold A., USMC (IL); drowned while trying to save Vietnamese children who were swept out to sea

Williams, Howard Keith, USAF (OH); F100F crashed - remains ID'd February, 1992

1969
Murphy, Barry D., US Army SF (FL); Killed, body not recovered

1971
The following US Army personnel reported Killed when their AH-1G crashed:
Boffman, Alan B., (VA); remains returned January, 1990 - ID'd July, 1990

Brandt, Keith A., (WA); remains returned January, 1990 - ID'd July, 1990

1975
Christian, George A., Civilian; left Saigon August, 1975

Labels: Headlines, History