Iraqi army soldiers assigned to the 2nd Brigade, 7th Iraqi Army Division fire PKM 7.62-mm machine guns mounted on the turrets of humvees during a training exercise at the Iraqi School of Infantry in Al Asad, Iraq, March 19, 2007. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Shane S. Keller


An Iraqi army soldier prepares belts of ammunition for his PKM 7.62-mm machine gun during training exercises for soldiers assigned to the 2nd Brigade, 7th Iraqi Army Division as part of the Iraqi School of Infantry in Al Asad, Iraq, March 19, 2007. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Shane S. Keller


An Iraqi army instructor supervises an Iraqi army soldier assigned to the 2nd Brigade, 7th Iraqi Army Division with a PKM 7.62-mm machine gun during a training exercise at the Iraqi School of Infantry in Al Asad, Iraq, March 19, 2007. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Shane S. Keller


An Iraqi army instructor supervises an Iraqi army soldier assigned to the 2nd Brigade, 7th Iraqi Army Division with a PKM 7.62-mm machine gun during a training exercise at the Iraqi School of Infantry in Al Asad, Iraq, March 19, 2007. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Shane S. Keller


Iraqi army soldiers assigned to the 2nd Brigade, 7th Iraqi Army Division take a break during a shooting range as part of training in the Iraqi School of Infantry in Al Asad, Iraq, March 19, 2007. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Shane S. Keller


An Iraqi army soldier throws a meal, ready-to-eat to another soldier assigned to the 2nd Brigade, 7th Iraqi Army Division during a break from training at the Iraqi School of Infantry in Al Asad, Iraq, March 19, 2007. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Shane S. Keller


Iraqi army soldiers assigned to the 2nd Brigade, 7th Iraqi Army Division fire PKM 7.62-mm machine guns mounted on the turrets of humvees during a training exercise in Al Asad, Iraq, March 19, 2007. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Shane S. Keller


An Iraqi army instructor gives a peace sign while standing on top of a humvee at a shooting range in Al Asad, Iraq, March 19, 2007. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Shane S. Keller


An Iraqi army instructor teaches an Iraqi army soldier from 2nd Brigade, 7th Iraqi Army Division how to fire a PKM 7.62-mm machine gun at the Iraqi School of Infantry in Al Asad, Iraq, March 19, 2007. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Shane S. Keller


An Iraqi army instructor teaches an Iraqi army soldier assiged to the 2nd Brigade, 7th Iraqi Army Division how to fire a PKM 7.62-mm machine gun at the Iraqi School of Infantry in Al Asad, Iraq, March 19, 2007. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Shane S. Keller


More photo essays at DefendAmerica

Labels: Al Asad, Good News, Iraq, Iraqi Army

TROOPS REACH OUT — Spc. Ambrose Faatoafe hands out school supplies, toys and candy to children in Barugay village during a Village Medical Outreach March 14, 2007. U.S. Air Force photo by Capt. Kevin G. Tuttle

Labels: Barugay village, children, Humanitarian Aid

I don't think I can quite get myself to be civil enough to comment on the House vote this week...not yet. Fortunately, David can. Over at the Thunder Run, he's posted an article, and his response to a surprise pair that jumped on the "how to lose a war" bandwagon...

218-212 House OKs Surrender
And 2 Republican's crossed the aisle to join with them: Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD) and Walter Jones (R-NC).

WASHINGTON - A sharply divided House voted Friday to order President Bush to bring combat troops home from Iraq next year, a victory for Democrats in an epic war-powers struggle and Congress' boldest challenge yet to the administration's policy.

Ignoring a White House veto threat, lawmakers voted 218-212, mostly along party lines, for a binding war spending bill requiring that combat operations cease before September 2008, or earlier if the Iraqi government does not meet certain requirements. Democrats said it was time to heed the mandate of their election sweep last November, which gave them control of Congress.

"The American people have lost faith in the president's conduct of this war," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi D-Calif. "The American people see the reality of the war, the president does not."

The vote, echoing clashes between lawmakers and the White House over the Vietnam War four decades ago, pushed the Democratic-led Congress a step closer to a constitutional collision with the wartime commander in chief. Bush has insisted that lawmakers allow more time for his strategy of sending nearly 30,000 additional troops to Iraq to work....

Make sure to check out the post.

Labels: opinion, politics, The Thunder Run

News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
NEWS IN PICTURES: Off to Iraq
House approves 2008 troop withdrawal from Iraq - Video
Bush Vows to Veto Troop Withdrawal Bill
Suicide truck bomb kills 18 in Baghdad
Military.com Op-ed: Operational Victory Not Enough

Operation Enduring Freedom
Marines Eyed in Afghan Civilians Shooting
Marines Ordered Out of Afghanistan
Almost 100 killed in Afghanistan as attacks mount

Homeland Security / War on Terror / Hamas-Hezbollah Happenings
Report: Gates Tried to Shut Down Gitmo
Coming soon to U.S. pumps: terror-free gasoline
Plane crashes on third day of Mogadishu fighting - Video
Officer from Fatah security force killed in Gaza
9/11 remains possibly used to pave roads
Families: City rushed 9-11 recovery work
Wash. state to test 'enhanced' licenses

Fallen Heroes
Top Brass Faulted in Tillman Report

Supporting Our Heroes
Mom donates laptops to wounded soldiers

Other Military News
Military.com - DT: Testing a New Anti-Mortar System
China's Military Proposes Cooperation

Religion of Peace??
Judge Tells Battered Muslim Wife: Koran Says 'Men Are in Charge of Women'

Worldwide Wackos
Iran seizes 15 British marines and sailors in Gulf
Britain to Iran: Return Our Sailors - Brainroom
Ahmadinejad Cancels U.N. Trip Ahead of Sanctions Vote
Oil rises after Iran captures UK navy personnel
Sec. Council set to OK sanctions on Iran
Havana's former grandeur decays and crumbles - Video
U.S. Treasury sends official to sort out N.Korea funds

Politics / Government
Gonzales OK'd Plans to Fire Several U.S. Attorneys
Rice searches for common agenda on Mideast trip
Gonzales attended meeting on U.S. attorney firings
Rudy Giuliani Confirms Wife Was Married Twice Before
Lawmaker: Pay Women to Avoid Abortion
Ex-Official Pleads Guilty in Abramoff Probe
Bush spokesman Snow to have abdominal surgery
Senate approves budget, backs tobacco tax hike
Jeb Bush denied honor at U. of Florida
Breaux says he'd run for La. governor
Transgender Fla. city manager loses job
Bush: Dems should drop partisan politics

Illegal Immigration / Border Control
Illegals Allowed 6 Arrests - SPEAKOUT!

In the Courts / Crime and Punishment / Law and Order
Funeral for 6-Year-Old Christopher Barrios Held; Suspects Took Turns Assaulting Boy
Students Sue Illinois High School Over Anti-Gay T-Shirt
N.Y. man gets 23 years in pimping case
Jury deliberates antifreeze deaths case
New Orleans residents arming themselves
Housewife convicted of frying husband

Media in the Media / Bloggers in the News / Watching the Web
British Man Hangs Himself While Online Via Webcam
Anna Nicole Smith's Diaries Sell on eBay for $512,500

Science / Medicine / Technology
Source of Spinach E. Coli Outbreak Found
Cell phones unlikely to cause brain cancer: study
NASA engineers work on new spacesuits

Mother Nature
Tornadoes Injure 16 Across New Mexico
"Knut Day" in Berlin as polar bear cub goes public - Video
Global warming may be bad for asthma sufferers - Video
Is that chimp angry? Facial cues crucial
Antarctic melting may be speeding up - Video

News from My Neck of the Woods
Cops: Man Filmed Female Roommates in Shower With Camera Hidden in Shampoo Bottle
Prosecutors: Massachusetts Man 'Snapped' Before Killing Wife, Daughter

Oddities
New Jersey thieves snatch $12,000 in underwear - Video

Other News of Note
Rat Poison Found in Killer Pet Food That Sparked Nationwide Recall - LIST
North Carolina Officials Threaten to Take 250-Pound 7-Year-Old From Mom

Fox News
There She Is - PHOTOS (Miss USA)
Anna Nicole Smith in Diary: I Hate Sex

Reuters: Top News
Army restores order to Congo capital, Bemba wanted - Video
Mugabe defiant in face of Western pressure - Video
Mozambique armory death toll rises to 72 - Video
Cablevision loses network DVR court case
eBay software bargains and pitfalls
Texas district built by freed slaves fades away
Watson, Grint sign for final "Harry Potter" movies
Wall St Week Ahead: Investors hope data will extend recovery - Video
Blue chips rise; S&P logs best week since '03
Federated Investors gains on money market demand
Vonage shares fall to life low after court ruling
Equity, currency markets set for divorce?
Tough decisions for Wal-Mart in Japan
Judge hits Vonage with injunction
Blackstone IPO may be tough for some to swallow
Subprime crisis seen unlikely to have long impact
Core inflation likely drifting down: Fed's Mishkin - Video
Carlyle to buy a Goodyear unit for $1.48 bln
Hedge fund investors to put more money in: Goldman

AP World News
Porsche to raise stake in Volkswagen
Bryant reaches 50 in 4th straight game
Gators pass tough test against Butler
Gibson, woman trade words at screening
Naomi Campbell completes sanitation duty
Obituaries in the news

Military.com
Military.com Career Fairs Coming Soon
Blog: Ceasefire in South Waziristan
Play Military Trivia and Win an iPod
Staying Connected During Deployment
Women at War

USJFCOM
"Jointness matters" -- USJFCOM commander speaks before Senate Armed Services Committee - podcast
Marine Corps commandant visits U.S. Joint Forces Command - podcast
USJFCOM signs cooperative research and development agreement with Alion - podcast
More about cooperative research and development agreements

DefenseLink
Bush Promises to Veto War Spending Bill - Story
Pace Calls for Closer Ties Between China, U.S. - Story
Renuart Assumes Command of NORTHCOM - Story
DoD Releases More Tribunal Transcripts - Story
Changes Needed to Ensure Guard Readiness - Story
Keating Recaps Tenure at NORTHCOM, NORAD - Story

More Headline News
U.S. Increases Africa Security, More Proactive
Peace in Middle East Necessary for U.S. Security
DoD Investigates Hacking of Personal Computers

Military News
Military Burn Patients Tour Center for Intrepid
Marine Receives Distinguished Flying Cross

War on Terror
Baghdad Operations Continue - Story
Soldier, Marine Killed in Iraq
Iran Seizes 15 British Sailors
Iraqi Forces Take Security Lead

America Supports You
Group Helps Military Families - Story
Circus Honors Servicemembers
Mile-Long Yellow Ribbon
Gifts Boost Troops’ Morale

Transformation
Soldiers Bring Chow to Outpost
Soldiers Armor Up Vehicles
Command Welcomes C-130J

Face of Defense
Mechanic Takes Pride in Her Job - Story
Marine Balances Career, Life
Injured Soldier Inspires Troops
Pilot Closes Military Chapter

DefendAmerica
Changing Attitudes Bolster Renewed Multidimensional Effort - Story
Ambassador Daniel Speckhard bio
Transcript: Roundtable (pdf)
Bloggers' Roundtable Web Site

NEWS UPDATES
Baghdad Operations Continue - Story
For Top News Visit DefenseLink

ON THE GROUND
Soldiers Rely on Efficient Transport of Supplies - Story
Army Brigade Begins Work With Baghdad Zoo - Story
Arming and Refueling Point Keeps Birds Airborne - Story
Forecasts, Updates Assist in Naval Planning - Story
Engineer Battalion Clears Routes, Saves Lives - Story

IN IRAQ
Iraqi Soldiers Take Lead on Riyadh Mission
Engineers Help Iraqis Hone Construction Skills
Investigative Techniques Counter Terrorists
Iraqi Army Move Marks First Steps in Transition
Support Soldiers Bring Hot Chow to Outpost

IN AFGHANISTAN
Med Evac Flies First Non-stop to Germany
Afghan, U.S. Troops Discuss Future with Elders
Soldiers Transform Quarters into Aid Station

IN DJIBOUTI
Well-drilling Team Helps Save Girl’s Arm, Life
Sailors Help Feed Babies at Djibouti Orphanage
Local Contractors Improve School Buildings

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
1379 - End of Gelderse war victory
1545 - German Parliament opens in Worms
1550 - France & England sign Peace of Boulogne
1603 - Scottish king James VI becomes King James I of England
1629 - 1st game law passed in American colonies, by Virginia
1645 - Battle at Jankov Bohemia: Sweden beatS Roman Catholic emperor Ferdinand III
1664 - Roger Williams is granted a charter to colonize Rhode Island
1765 - Britain enacts Quartering Act, required colonists to provide temporary housing to British soldiers
1801 - Aleksandr P. Romanov becomes emperor of Russia
1828 - Philadelphia & Columbia Railway (1st state owned) authorized
1832 - Mormon Joseph Smith beaten, tarred & feathered in Ohio
1837 - Canada gives blacks the right to vote
1848 - State of siege proclaimed in Amsterdam
1855 - Manhattan Kansas founded as New Boston KS
1860 - Clipper Andrew Jackson arrives in San Francisco, 89 days out of New York
1878 - British frigate Eurydice sunk; 300 lost
1882 - German scientist Robert Koch discovers bacillus cause of TB
1883 - 1st telephone call between New York & Chicago
1887 - Oscar Straus appointed 1st Jewish ambassador from US (to Turkey)
1894 - 37 miners killed at Franklin WA
1898 - 1st automobile sold
1920 - 1st US coast guard air station established (Morehead City NC)
1924 - Greece becomes a republic
1927 - Cuban chess champion, Jose Capablanca wins 33-day Grand Chess Tournie; Dutch 1st Chamber condemns Belgian & Netherlands' Wielingen Treaty
1930 - Planet Pluto named
1932 - 1st US radio broadcast from a moving train (Belle Baker, WABC from Maryland)
1933 - Peter I Island incorporated as a Norwegian dependency
1934 - US declares the Philippines to become independent in 1945
1935 - Major Bowes' Original Amateur Hour goes national on NBC Radio Network
1937 - Bus blows a tire, going out of control, killing 18 (Salem IL); National Gallery of Art established by Congress
1941 - British troops defeat British Somalia; German troops occupy El Agheila Libya
1944 - 76 Allied officers escape Stalag Luft 3 (Great Escape); 811 British bombers attack Berlin; In occupied Rome, Nazis executed more than 300 civilians
1945 - General Eisenhower, Montgomery & Bradley discuss advance in Germany; Largest one-day airborne drop, 600 transports & 1300 gliders; Operation Varsity: British, US & Canadian airborne landings East of Rhine; US minesweepers reach Kerama Retto, South coast of Okinawa
1947 - Congress proposes 2-term limitation on the Presidency; John D. Rockefeller, Jr., donates NYC East River site to the UN
1952 - Great demonstrations against apartheid in South-Africa
1955 - 1st seagoing oil drill rig placed in service; British Army patrols withdraw from Belfast after 20 years
1958 - Elvis Presley joins the army (serial number 53310761)
1959 - Iraq withdraws from the Baghdad Pact
1960 - US appeals court rules novel, "Lady Chatterly's Lover", not obscene
1964 - Kennedy half-dollar issued
1966 - Selective Service announces college deferments based on performance
1967 - University of Michigan holds 1st "Teach-in" after bombing of North Vietnam
1972 - Great Britain imposes direct rule over Northern Ireland
1976 - Argentine President Isabel Perón deposed by country's military
1980 - ABC's nightly Iran Hostage crisis program renamed "Nightline with Ted Koppel"
1981 - Colombia drops diplomatic relations with Cuba
1982 - US sub Jacksonville collides with a Turkish freighter near Virginia
1986 - NASA publishes "Strategy for Safely Returning the Space Shuttle to Flight Status"; Suriname army Captain Etienne Boerenveen arrested for cocaine smuggling; US & Libya clash in Gulf of Sidra
1989 - Worst US oil spill, Exxon's Valdez spills 11.3 million gallons off Alaska
1990 - Indian troops leave Sri Lanka
1991 - In liberated Kuwait, banks reopen
1992 - 1st Belgian in space, Dirk Frimout on Atlantis Space Shuttle STS-45 (Atlantis 11) launches into space; Sudanese Boeing 707 crashes on mountain Hymettos at Athens; 5-6 die
1993 - Ezer Weizman elected President of Israel
1994 - F-16 collides with C-130 Hercules above AFB in North Carolina, 120 die
1997 - Australian parliament overturns world's 1st & only euthanasia law

Birthdays
1188 - Ferrand of Portugal, earl of Flanders/son of Sancho I
1441 - Ernst I, elector of Saxon (1464-86)
1607 - Michiel A. de Ruyter, Dutch Rear Admiral (St Vincent, Dune)
1755 - Rufus King, framer of US constitution/(Senator-F)
1802 - Jacob van Lennep, attorney/Dutch MP
1809 - Joseph Liouville St. Omer, discover of transcendental numbers
1814 - Galen Clark, US naturalist, discovered Mariposa Grove
1821 - [George] Hector Tyndale, Union Brevet Major General
1835 - Josef Stefan Austria, physicist (Stefan-Boltzmann law)
1855 - Andrew W. Mellon, founder (Mellon Bank)/US Secretary of Treasury
1874 - Harry Houdini [Erik Weisz], magician/escape artist; Luigi Einaudi, economist/1st President of Italy (1948-55)
1884 - Peter Debye Holland, physical chemist (Nobel 1936)
1898 - Dorothy Stratton, organizer (SPARS-women's branch of US Coast Guard)
1902 - Thomas E. Dewey, 1st Catholic Presidential candidate 1944, 1948 (R)
1903 - Adolph F.J. Butenandt, German bio-chemist (Nobel 1939)
1907 - Janet Harmon Bragg, US pilot/columnist (Chicago Defender); Lauris Norstad US General (NATO commander)/CEO (Owens-Corning Fiberglass)
1909 - Clyde Barrow, bank robber (of Bonnie & Clyde fame)
1911 - Herman W. "Fritz" Liebert, US OSSer/librarian (Yale curator)
1919 - John J. Duncan Jr. (Representative-TN)
1922 - Dorothy Irene Height, president (National Council of Negro Women)
1923 - Edna Jo Hunter, expert on military families & prisoners of war
1932 - Yuri Anatoyevich Ponomaryov, Russian cosmonaut (Soyuz 18 backup)
1937 - Erskine Sandiford, premier (Barbados, 1987-94)
1943 - H. Martin Lancaster (Representative-NC)
1947 - Pieter W. Coetzer, South African journalist/MP (NP)
1951 - Kenneth S. Reightler, Jr., Commander USN/astronaut (STS 48, 60)
1957 - Scott J. Horowitz, PhD/Captain USAF/astronaut (STS 75, 82)

Passings
0809 - Harun al-Rashid, caliph of the Abbasid empire (786-809), dies at 44
1455 - Nicholas V [Tommaso Parentucelli], Italian Pope (1447-55), dies at 57
1471 - Sir Thomas Malory, author (Le Morte d'Arthur), dies at 55
1644 - Cecilia Renata, arch duchess of Austria
1881 - Friedrich Hecker, German revolutionary republic politician, dies at 69
1882 - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, US poet (Song of Hiawatha), dies at 75
1945 - J.S. Nicklin Lieutenant-Colonel/Canada's 1st parachutist; Thomas Rennie General-Major (Dutch command 51st Highland Division)
1953 - Queen Mary [Victoria of Teck] of Great Britain/North-Ireland, dies at 86
1968 - Lauwrens Voorthuyzen Dutch sect leader, dies at 70
1969 - Joseph Kasavubu President of Congo (1960-65), dies at about 55
1976 - Bernard L. Montgomery, British General, defeated Rommel, dies at 88
1980 - Archbishop Oscar Romero, assassinated while conducting mass in San Salvador
1990 - An Wang computer manufacturer (Wang), dies at 70 from cancer
1993 - Peter Roovers, Dutch sculptor/teacher (war monuments), dies at 90
1994 - Luis Donaldo Colosio, Mexican politician, assassinated

Reported Missing in Action
1966
Bush, Robert E., USAF (CT); F105D shot down - remains returend December, 1988

1967
Ellison, John C., USN (UT); A6A shot down (w/Plowman)

Hallberg, Roger C., US Army SF (CA); disappeared following ambush (w/Stewart)

Plowman, James E., USN (CA); A6A shot down (w/Ellison)

Stewart, Jack T., US Army SF (DC); disappeared following ambush (w/Hallberg)

1969
Arroyo-Baez, Gerasino, US Army (PR); DIC August, 1972 - remains returned March, 1985

Bowers, Richard L., US Army (WI); died in escape on day of capture

1970
The following US Army and US Army SF personnel reported MIA when their UH1H was shot down (survival ruled unlikely):
Boronski, John A. SF (MA); passenger

Becerra, Rudy M. (TX); crew chief

Ganoe, Berman, Jr. (FL); gunner

Hoskins, John C. (OH); pilot

Harned, Gary A., (PA); survival unlikely

O'Donnell, Michael D. (IL); aircraft commander

Pool, Jerry L. SF (IL); passenger

1971
Butcher, Jack M., USAF (MI); OV10A shot down, released March, 1973 - retired as a Lt. Colonel - alive as of 1998

Beckwith, Harry M., US Army (MI); OH58A shot down, KIA, body not recovered

Labels: Headlines, History