Photo for the Day – January 3, 2007

OH SH..!!!
U.S. Army soldiers dismount from their Humvee after getting stuck in a mud hole while patrolling through Kirkuk, Iraq, on Dec. 28, 2006. The soldiers are from Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division.

DoD photo by Staff Sgt. Samuel Bendet, USAF

English Transcript of the Last Video by Al-Zawahiri

On 23 December, a jihadist website posted many links to a 51-minute video released by Al-Sahab Media Productions, an underground media organization specialized in producing Al-Qa'ida audio and video tapes. The video contains a speech by Ayman al-Zawahiri, Al-Qa'ida's second-in-command, entitled "Realities of the Conflict Between Islam and Unbelief" and is dated December 2006. The poster also posts other links to the text of the speech in Arabic and a translation of the speech in English in word and PDF formats. The links to the video contain high quality, medium quality, and low quality formats in different sizes.

Some of the English translation follows...
... A number of critical events in our Islamic world are passing us these days, and I deem it important for us to emphasize a number of their fundamental characteristics, in view of the importance of educating the Ummah in the facts of the conflict between Islam and infidelity, from both a legal as well as factual point of view.

The first thing that I wish to talk about is the passing of 89 years since the Balfour Declaration, in which someone who didn't own the Holy Land of Palestine gave it to someone who didn't deserve it... That historical event which we must not allow to pass from memory, and which we must transmit from generation to generation, in order that we be aware of the extent of the animosity of Britain and the Crusader West in general to the Muslim Ummah... The animosity of Britain to Islam which stretches over centuries: isn't it the one who used to occupy most Islamic lands? Isn't it the one who moved Abd al-Aziz Al Sa'ud and al-Husayn ibn Ali to stab the Ottoman state in its back? And isn't it the one who handed over to the Jews one of the holiest places of Islam? And today in Palestine, conspiracies to abort the Jihad and surround the Mujahideen are being hatched by the same forces which created Israel and with the cooperation of their agents among our people.

I repeat to you, my brothers, that we must be conscious of the legal and factual realities of this conflict, lest the treacherous leadership deceive us and we get lost in the market of political bargaining...
(Info and photo courtesy of CENTCOM)
Read the full transcript at CENTCOM.mil What Extremist are Saying

As always... thanks for the heads-up go out to our friends at U.S. CENTCOM Public Affairs - Electronic Media Engagement Team - Capt. Anthony Deiss, Sgt. Eric Jensen and Sgt. Chris Keller.

DoD Identifies Army Casualty

No. 006-07 January 03, 2007
DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Sgt. John M. Sullivan, 22, of Hixon, Tenn., died December 30th in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle while on combat patrol. Sullivan was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 17th Field Artillery, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.
For more information on this soldier the media can contact the Fort Carson public affairs office at (719) 526-1264; after hours at (719) 526-5500.

DoD Identifies Army Casualties

No. 005-07 January 03, 2007
DoD Identifies Army Casualties

The Department of Defense announced today the death of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died December 31st in Baqubah, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated while they were conducting a combat patrol. Both soldiers were assigned to the 215th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.

Killed were:
Cpl. Jonathan E. Schiller, 20, of Ottumwa, Iowa.
Spc. Richard A. Smith, 20, of Grand Prairie, Texas.

For more information about these soldiers the media can contact the Fort Hood public affairs office at (254) 287-0104.

Taking a moment to remember our Fallen

A lot of our bravest gave their all these last few days... Take a
moment to read their names, (in the posts below/above this one,)
and in your own way thank them for all they have done and were
willing to do for you-- me and this great country of ours…
God bless each and every one of them and their
families, friends and loved ones…

AubreyJ………

DoD Identifies Army Casualty

No. 004-07 January 03, 2007
DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Pfc. Alan R. Blohm, 21, of Kenai, Alaska, died December 31st in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit while on combat patrol. Blohm was assigned to the 425th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 4th Airborne Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Richardson, Alaska.
For more information on this soldier the media can contact the U.S. Army Alaska public affairs office at (907) 384-1542.

DoD Identifies Army Casualty

No. 003-07 January 03, 2007
DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Spc. Luis G. Ayala, 21, of South Gate, Calif., died December 28th in Taji, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit while on combat patrol. Ayala was assigned to the 2nd Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.
For more information in regard to this release the media can contact the Fort Hood public affairs office at (254) 287-9993.

Baath Party nominates Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri its new leader after Execution of Saddam Hussein

The former Vice-President of the Baath Party... Izzat Ibrahim al-Duri vowed in an internet statement today that the execution of Saddam Hussein would only strengthen the anti-US insurgency.

The statement in part said this... "Saddam Hussein’s assassination at the criminal hands of the US administration and its English, Zionist and Persian Safavid allies will only strengthen the determination of the Baath, its people and the Arab nation to wage jihad and resistance until the enemy is destroyed and Iraq liberated"...
Read this story at PakTribune.com