SEARCHING FOR BOMBS - U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Thomas G. Anderson and Iraqi police provide security while looking for a possible improvised explosive device outside of Jebadin, Iraq, March 15, 2008. Anderson is assigned to the 3rd Marine Regiment's 2nd Battalion, Foxtrot Company, Regimental Combat Team 1. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Stuart C. Wegenka


WIRED - U.S. Marine Cpl. Colin A. Hayes and Cpl. Joshua T. Dawson move concertina wire at a traffic control point in Akashat, Iraq, March 16, 2008, to make way for concrete barriers. The two are assigned to the 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion's Regimental Combat Team 5. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Paul Torres


Soldiers from the 4th Brigade, 7th Division of the Iraqi Army, take a knee in a unique formation at the opening of their Basic Combat Training graduation ceremony here Mar. 9. The course is six-weeks long and provides instruction in military drill, tactical maneuvers and marksmanship. The marksmanship training is supervised and instructed by U.S. Marines at the Advanced Infantry Training Center here. The AITC graduated approximately 14,000 Iraqi Soldiers and Police officers from its course in 2007, which is just 2,000 fewer recruits than Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, S.C. The BCT recruits are instructed primarily by Iraqi Soldiers. Photo by: Lance Cpl. Robert C. Medina, 1st Marine Logistics Group, 03/09/2008


Before rolling out, Alfonso Vasquez, tactical safety specialist with Base Safety and Environmental, 1st Marine Logistics Group, ensures the all-terrain vehicle student operators are good to go. One of Base Safety's new goals is to make the roads at Camp Taqaddum safer by ensuring the ATV's are driven by people capable of handling them. Vasquez and Petty Officer 3rd Class Dexter M. Cubol, safety inspector with Base Safety and Environmental, manage an ATV operator's training course that gives service members a chance to get a feel for the vehicle before taking it out on the open road. Photo submitted 03/28/2008; taken by Cpl. Tyler B. Barstow Read the story associated with this photo

Labels: 3rd LARB, 3rd Marine Regiment, 7th Iraqi Army Division, Iraqi Army, Jebadin, photos, Regimental Combat Team 1, Regimental Combat Team 5, USMC

PACIFIC OCEAN (March 27, 2008) A shooter signals to the operator of one of four steam powered catapults as aircraft are launched from the flight deck aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72). Lincoln and embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 2 are on a seven-month deployment to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class James R. Evans

Labels: 5th Fleet, CVN 72, CVW 2, photos, ships, US Navy, USS Abraham Lincoln

News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
U.S. Airstrike Kills at Least 4 in Baghdad; Jets Drop Bombs in Basra Amid Shiite Clashes - VIDEO - PHOTOS
U.S. forces drawn deeper into Iraq crackdown - Video
Britain sits on sidelines as Basra burns
Oil falls after Iraq pipeline flows again
Set in Stone: Iraqi Brick Factory Approaches Pre-war Capacity
Combat Outpost Program Solidifies Trust, Garners Intelligence in Mosul
Water Purification Station Opens, Provides Fresh Water for Thousands
Marine Civil Affairs Group Improves Iraqis' Quality of Life

Homeland Security / War on Terror / Hamas-Hezbollah Happenings
FBI Probes 'About Four' 2001 Anthrax Suspects

Troops on Trial
Case dropped against Haditha defendant (Should have been done a long time ago.)

Other Military News
New Central Command chief an Army man

Religion of Peace??
Police close Muslim quarter in Lhasa
Condemning 'Offensively Anti-Islamic' Video, Ban Ki-Moon Appeals for Calm (Typical U.N. - come down on the side of political correctness, not freedom)

Worldwide Wackos
Can You Hear Me, 'Ahora'? Cuba Lifts Cell-Phone Ban
Angry NKorea tests short-range missiles

Politics / Government
Dean Draws the Line - Dem Party boss wants Obama v. Hillary deadline
Sen. Leahy to Clinton: Just Give Up, Already
Pennsylvania Sen. Casey at the Bat: For Obama
Obama Says the Rev. Wright Was in a 'Time Warp'
Senator Casey endorses Obama
Clinton walks tightrope on strength
Blog: Romney joins McCain on trail
Clinton's Belfast role draws criticism
Obama would have left if Wright stayed (Convenient claim, since there's no way to prove or disprove it)
US-Russia deal possible on missile plan
Bush: Iraq faces "defining moment"
Australian premier to meet with Bush
Pelosi: Olympic boycott would be mistake (Egads, I actually agree with Nancy Pelosi on something!)
Ruby Red
Pennsylvania Primary: Barack Obama Ahead in Web Site Searches
Debate Will Feature Clinton-Obama Positions on Health Care Followed by Straw Poll
CNBC's Maria Bartiromo on Her Interview With Obama on the Economy
Dean: New Ad, But No New Ideas From John McCain
EU, U.S. open new stage of "open skies" talks May 15
Russia says NATO "playing with fire" on expansion
U.S. offers Pakistan assistance

Illegal Immigration / Border Control
Rhode Island Governor's Executive Order Steps Up Illegal Immigration Fight

In the Courts / Crime and Punishment / Law and Order
Dad Allowed to Take Leave From Prison to See His Dying Little Girl
'Last Wish' Inmate's Daughter Dies
Despite Large-Scale Search, Still No Sign of Missing Middlebury College Freshman
3 Dead in Shooting at Hospital Where Gunman's Mom Died
Report: Teen Calls Drug Search Invasive
Dallas Can't Close Strip Club Where Girl, 12, Danced
Virginia Police Arrest 19-Year-Old Man in Interstate 64 Shooting Spree, Second Man in Hospital
Report: Poison Drummer Arrested on Rape Charges
Teen's Underwear Dance at McDonald's Leads to Robbery, Assault Arrest
URGENT: One Killed, 15 Injured in Prison Riot

U.N. News
Network carried out killing of Lebanon's Hariri: U.N.

Media in the Media / Bloggers in the News / Watching the Web
Clear Channel says buyout may not close

Science / Medicine and Health / Technology
FDA Warns 'Significant Hair Loss' Linked to Dietary Supplement
21 Die After Drinking 'Herbal Remedy' Concoction
Mutant gene linked to most severe type of TB: study
Older Americans wealthier, living longer
Study shows life was tough for ancient Egyptians
Australian farmer finds mystery space junk
3G iPhone launch seen in 2nd quarter
Sony unveils new Gran Turismo in London "pit lane"
Chefs warn on side-effects of sushi boom
Terri Coles: Health clues revealed in toilet
Terri Coles: Health clues revealed in toilet
French recording may be world's first

Oddities
Reports: Plane Hits Dog, Skids Off Runway
Adult Film Star to Hold 'Porn Camp' for Wannabes
Woman Delivers 10th, 11th, and 12th Surrogate Babies
Marksmen fed up with shooting blanks

Other News of Note
Young Pilot Crashes, Sends Text Message: 'I'm Alive!'
China says Tibet monks won't be punished - Video
Jokhang Monks' Peaceful Protest Results in Arrests, Beijing Propaganda
Nepal: Caught Between Containment And Preemption

Fox News
FOXBusiness: Consumer Spending Weak in February
NCAA Tournament: UCLA, UNC, Xavier, Louisville in Top 8
Report: Virginia Police Arrest One in Interstate 64 Shootings After Search Warrant Served
Kate Bosworth Gets Drunk to Shoot Love Scene, Can't Remember It

Reuters
Celine Dion postpones concerts
Slideshow: Paris Hilton at Miss Turkey
Zimbabwe army on alert for crucial election
Pope and U.S.Catholic educators set for key session
David Schwimmer makes film directing debut
Mariah Carey set to rule singles chart - Video
Consumers, inflation weaken as slowdown drags on
Citigroup to name new U.S. consumer chief in shuffle
JC Penney tumbles on cut earnings forecast
Bank of America to pay mortgage head more than CEO got in '07
BA cancels flights in continuing Heathrow T5 chaos - Video
Glaxo targets M&A to boost consumer health
GM to idle Detroit plant due to American Axle strike
Bear Stearns shares fall after chairman sells stock
Gold falls 2 percent in broad commodities sell-off
Market flat; financials, retail weigh - Video
Dollar up modestly, helped by improving money market
White House to nominate 2 Democrats to SEC: source
Steelcase shares touch almost 4-year low
RBC raises RIM price target to $150
KB Home loss wider than expected
Deal dilemma

AP World News
Consumer spending weak in February
'Nuremberg' screenwriter Abby Mann dies
Memphis takes on Michigan St. tonight
Louisville, Pitino into Round of 8
Love, UCLA beat Western Kentucky 88-78
Raymond lifts Xavier past West Virginia

News Blaze
Women's Health Honors 4 Women Who Served in Iraq for 5 Year Anniversary
PHOTOS: Ohio Native Patrols Western Baghdad
Soldiers' Angels and Patriot Guard
Iraq News
Operations in Iraq
FOB Warhorse Memorial Photos
Videos

CENTCOM
Anbar Leaders unite at Camp Fallujah
Iraq strategy process well under way, Pentagon spokesman says
Marines, Sailors assist Iraqi refinery employees
Programs assist Iraqi engineers
Iraqi PM deserves credit, Pentagon spokesman says

USJFCOM
Industry symposium to raise awareness of 21st century capabilities
Workshop looks at strengthening capabilities in the urban environment - podcast
Command releases report
More about JCOAJKO provides training for those deployment-bound - podcast
More about Joint Knowledge Online

Multi-National Force - Iraq
CF, ISF discover 13 caches across MND-N
MND-B Soldiers kill 13 terrorists
Coalition targets al-Qaeda financial and suicide bombing networks; two terrorists killed, 17 suspect
Iraqi Security Forces, Coalition forces target terrorists, kill 26
ISF, CF take fight to terrorists
Iraqi Security Forces, U.S. Special Forces engage criminal elements in Hillah, al-Kut

DefenseLink
TOP NEWS
Gates Praises Outgoing CENTCOM Commander
Bush: Iraqi Prime Minister Demonstrates Leadership
Bush Praises Australia's Support in War on Terror
Bush Credits Surge for Gains in Iraq

MILITARY NEWS
Military Health System Improves

FACE OF DEFENSE
Woman Pilots Add to U-2’s History
Boy’s Soldier Wish Comes True

IRAQ NEWS
Iraqi Security Forces, Ministries Show Progress
Brick Factory Approaches Pre-war Capacity
Coalition Forces in Iraq Kill 15 Enemy Fighters

AFGHANISTAN NEWS
Afghan Security Forces Training Makes Headway
Troops Disrupt Al Qaeda Weapons Network
Afghan School Gets New Library, Science Lab

AMERICA SUPPORTS YOU
‘The Soldiers Project’ to Hold Conference

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
1535 - Bloemkamp Abbey (Oldeklooster) attacked & destroyed
1556 - Karel V's son Philip II crowned king of Spain
1738 - English parliament declares war on Spain (War of Jenkin's Ear)
1774 - Britain passes Coercive Act against Massachusetts
1794 - Louvre opens to the public (although officially opened since August)
1797 - Nathaniel Briggs of New Hampshire patents a washing machine
1799 - New York State abolished slavery
1804 - Ohio passes law restricting movement of Blacks, 1804
1834 - Senate censures President Jackson for taking federal deposits from Bank of US
1845 - Mexico drops diplomatic relations with US
1849 - Dutch princess Marianne & Prince Albert of Prussia separate
1854 - During the Crimean War, Britain & France declare war on Russia
1862 - Skirmish at Bealeton Station, Virginia
1885 - US Salvation Army officially organized
1905 - Paramaribo-Dam railway opens in Suriname, never used
1910 - 1st seaplane, takes off from water at Martigues France (Henri Fabre)
1917 - Jews are expelled from Tel Aviv & Jaffa by Turkish authorities
1920 - Thomas Masaryk elected President of Czechoslovakia
1922 - 1st microfilm device introduced
1929 - Democratic constitution goes into effect in Ecuador
1930 - Constantinople & Angora changes names to Istanbul & Ankara
1935 - Goddard uses gyroscopes to control a rocket
1939 - Dutch hunter shoots English bombers down
1939 - Spanish Civil War ends - Madrid falls to Francisco Franco
1941 - Sea battle at Cape Matapan: British fleet under Cunningham defeats Italy
1942 - 234 RAF bombers attack Lübeck; British naval forces raid Nazi occupied French port of St. Nazaire
1944 - Astrid Lindgren sprains ankle & begins writing Pippi Longstocking
1945 - Last German V-1 (buzz bomb) attack on London
1959 - 11 days after Tibet uprising, China dissolves Tibet's government & installs Panchen Lama
1960 - Scotch factory explodes, burying 20 firefighters (Glasgow Scotland)
1962 - Military coup in Syria, President Nazim al-Kudsi flees
1967 - UN Secretary General U. Thant makes public proposals for peace in Vietnam
1977 - Morarji Desai forms government in India
1979 - British government of Callaghan falls; Major nuclear accident at 3 Mile Island, Middletown, PA (no deaths)
1982 - J.N. Duartes christian-democrats win elections in El Salvador
1985 - International Cometary Explorer measures solar wind ahead of Halley's Comet
1985 - STS 51-D vehicle moves to launch pad
1986 - Extremist Sikhs kill 13 hindus in Ludhiana, India; John N. McMahon ends term as deputy director of CIA
1990 - President Bush awards Jesse Owens the Congressional Gold Medal
1993 - Conservatives win French parliamentary election; Type II supernova detected in M81 (NGC 3031)
1994 - Armed Zulus demonstrate in Johannesburg, over 53 killed; Italy's right-wing alliance under Silvio Berlusconi wins election

Birthdays
1468 - Charles I Duke of Savoy
1515 - Theresa of Avila/Teresa de Jesus, Spanish mystic writer/saint
1615 - Pieter de Groot, Dutch regent/diplomat
1660 - Georg Ludwig, German monarch of Hanover/King George I of Great Britain
1727 - Maximilian III Jozef, Elector of Bayern (1745-77)
1750 - Francisco A.G. de Miranda, Venezuelan freedom fighter
1760 - Thomas Clarkson, English abolitionist (Negro Emancipation)
1806 - Ludolf A.J.W. Sloet van de Beele, Governor-General of Netherland Indies (1861-66)
1818 - Wade Hampton, Confederate Lieutenant General
1840 - Mehemed Emin Pasja German explorer/Governor (Equatoria)
1859 - Joséphin Péladan French writer/founder (French Rosicrucians)
1862 - Aristide Briand, French premier (1909-22) (Nobel 1926)
1872 - José Sanjurjo y Sacanell, Spanish General (Morocco)
1910 - Ingrid, Queen Mother of Denmark
1914 - Edmund Sixtus Muskie (Senator-ME), US Secretary of State (1980)
1920 - Gene Chappie (Representative-CA, 1981-86); Lord Butterfield
1928 - Zbigniew Brzezinski, national security advisor (Carter)
1933 - Frank Murkowski (Senator-AK)
1942 - Neil Kinnock, leader of the British opposition (Labour)
1945 - Hans Brunhart, leader of Liechtenstein (1978-93)
1948 - Wubbo J. Ockels, astronaut (STS 22)
1953 - Nydia M. Velazquez (Representative-NY)

Passings
0193 - Publius Helvius Pertinax Roman Emperor (192-93), assassinated
0593 - Guntram French, King in Burgundy, dies at about 67
1134 - Stefanus Harding, 3rd abbott of Cîteaux/saint
1285 - Martinus IV [Simon de Brion], Pope (1281-85)
1566 - Siegmund Freiherr von Herberstein Austrian diplomat, dies at 79
1799 - Etta L. J. "baronne" Palm-Aelders, Dutch adventurer/spy, dies at 55
1801 - Ralph Abercromby, English army commander (North Holland), dies at 66
1863 - James Cooper, US attorney/senator/Union-Brigadier-General, dies at 52
1868 - James Thomas Brudenell, 7th earl of Cardigan, dies at about 70
1887 - Ditler G. Monrad, Danish bishop/premier, dies at 75
1942 - Herman A. van Karnebeek, Dutch foreign minister (1918-27), dies at 67
1944 - Rabbi Chayyim, Most Maggid of Kovono, killed by Nazis
1965 - VAA Mary, English princess, dies at 67
1969 - Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President/General (WWII), dies in Washington, DC at 78
1973 - Hakuun Yasutani, Zen teacher/co-founder (Sanbo Kyodan), dies
1984 - Kenneth Whitty, 1st Secretary at British Embassy in Athens, shot dead
1994 - John Logan Gorlay, journalist, dies at 74
1995 - Jack Regan broadcaster, dies at 53
1996 - Charles Barnet "Roscoe" Harvey soldier, dies at 95; Shin Kanemaru Vice President of Japan (1986-87), dies at 81

Reported Missing in Action
1968
The following US Army SF personnel reported MIA after extraction failed following ground action:
Boyer, Alan Lee, (IL)

Brown, George R., (FL)

Huston, Charles G., (OH)

Also reported MIA this day in 1968:
Archer, Bruce R., USMC (NY); CH46A shot down (w/Montague), released by PRG March, 1973 - retired as a Major - alive as of 1998

Graham, Dennis L., USAF (KS); F111A shot down (w/MacCann)

Grosse, Christopher A., US Army (TX); seen wounded in ground action

MacCann, Henry E., USAF (MA); F111A shot down (w/Graham)

Montague, Paul J., USMC (KS); CH46A shot down (w/Archer), released by PRG - alive as of 1998

Wallace, Michael W., USN (UT); RF8G shot down - remains returned March, 1989

1969
Belcher, Robert A., USAF (LA); F4D shot down (w/Miller), KIA, body not recovered

Miller, Michael A., USAF (AZ); F4D shot down (w/Belcher), KIA, body not recovered

Labels: Headlines, History