Interview With Senator Joe Lieberman

NewsMax.com has a great read today by Ronald Kessler that’s about an interview with Senator Joe Lieberman.
Be sure to click it out at the link below...
Lieberman: George Soros' Views 'Anti-American'

DoD Identifies Army Casualty

No. 823-07 July 02, 2007
DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Spc. Victor A. Garcia, 22, of Rialto, Calif., died July 1st in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered from enemy small arms fire. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), Fort Lewis, Wash.
For more information related to this release, the media may contact the Fort Lewis public affairs office at (253) 967-0152, (253) 967-0148, or after hours at (253) 967-0015.

DoD Identifies Army Casualty

No. 821-07 July 02, 2007
DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Staff Sgt. Robb L. Rolfing, 29, of Milton, Mass., died June 30th in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds sustained from enemy small arms fire. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Carson, Colo.
For more information related to this release, the media may contact the U.S. Army Special Operations Command public affairs office at (910) 432-6005.

DoD Identifies Army Casualties

No. 819-07 July 01, 2007
DoD Identifies Army Casualties

The Department of Defense announced today the death of five soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died June 28th of wounds sustained when their unit was attacked in Baghdad by insurgents using improvised explosive devices. They were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 2d Brigade Combat Team, 2d Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.

Killed were:
Sgt. Shin W. Kim, 23, of Fullerton, Calif.
Sgt. Michael J. Martinez, 24, of Chula Vista, Calif.
Sgt. Giann C. Joya Mendoza, 27, of North Hollywood, Calif.
Spc. Dustin L. Workman II, 19, of Greenwood, Neb.
Pfc. Cory F. Hiltz, 20, of La Verne, Calif.

For more information related to this release, media may contact the Fort Carson public affairs office at (719) 526-3420; after hours (719) 526-5500.

Iraqi Civilian Deaths Dropped To Lowest Level Since Start Of Baghdad Security Operation

Here’s a surprisingly fair read I found today at the ABC NEWS website. It starts off like this... Iraqi civilian deaths dropped to their lowest level since the start of the Baghdad security operation, government figures showed Sunday, suggesting signs of progress in tamping down violence in the capital... But American casualties are running high as U.S. forces step up pressure on Sunni and Shiite extremists in and around Baghdad...
Read story in full at link below...
Iraqi Civilian Deaths Down 36 Percent

Iran In Crisis After Prominent Cleric's Murder

The assassination of a prominent cleric in an oil-rich Iranian province, coinciding with violent protests in Tehran over the rationing of petrol, has plunged President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad into his biggest crisis since he was elected two years ago... The murder on June 24 of Hesham Saymary in Ahvaz, the centre of Iran's oil-producing province in the south, was a blow to a regime that is already under pressure because of international condemnation of its nuclear program and the prospect of economic meltdown...
Read story in full at TheAustralian.news.com.au website

DoD Identifies Army Casualty

No. 818-07 July 01, 2007
DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Sgt. William W. Crow Jr., 28, of Grandview Plaza, Kan., died June 28th in Baghdad, of wounds sustained when his vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 2d Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan.
For more information related to this release, the media may contact the Fort Riley public affairs office at (785) 239-3410.

NATO Disputes Afghan Civilian Death Toll

Late yesterday afternoon and on through today...

this kind of reporting

started running rampant across the net
.
A few of these ... quick to report ... news articles follow at links below...

. * LATimes.com...
...60 Afghans reported dead in U.S. strikes
* ChinaView.cn...
...80 Afghan civilians killed by air strike
* WorldNewsAustralia.com.au...
...Fury over Afghan deaths
* TimesAndDemocrat.com...
...Afghans: 62 Taliban, 45 Civilians Killed
* Alalam.ir...
...US Air Raids Kill Afghan Civilians
...

More down to earth reporting on this operation

in Afghanistan follows below... .

Sunday, July 01, 2007
ISAF spokesman Major John Thomas said that the number of civilians killed in an airstrike in a southern village [in Afghanistan] was less than a dozen, while he welcomed an investigation of the incident by the Afghan president... Afghan provincial officials said on Sunday that at least 45 Afghan civilians and 64 suspected Taliban had been killed when US-led coalition forces bombed a village in the south of the country... However, Thomas said that their survey had shown that 'less than a dozen' civilians had been killed. 'This is still significant, but it is less than what was reported,' he said...
Read the full story at the Monsters and Critics website
.
>>> ABC.net.au has this take on the story this morning... A survey by NATO's force in Afghanistan found that fewer than a dozen civilians were killed in foreign air strikes that village elders said had left 45 civilians dead.
Read the rest at link below...
Afghanistan strike killed fewer than dozen civilians: NATO.

...

>>> DoD had this take on the story today...

Taliban Continue Human Shield Tactics in Afghanistan
Sunday, July 1, 2007

Taliban terrorists continue to use innocent civilians as shields, NATO officials in Afghanistan said today.

Afghan and American soldiers under International Security Assistance Force command participated in Operation Ghartse Ghar in Helmand province yesterday. The goal was to clear Taliban forces from both sides of the Helmand River in the village of Haderabad.

After battling enemy forces most of the day, Afghan and coalition forces came under heavy fire from enemy small arms, medium machine guns, 82 mm mortars and rocket-propelled grenades.

The Afghan and coalition forces identified several enemy positions during this exchange, including mortar positions, observation posts, compounds and a trench system. They returned fire and called in close-air support. All enemy positions were destroyed in the engagement.

Though Afghan and coalition forces appear to have fired at clearly identified firing positions, said Army Maj. Chris Belcher, spokesman for Combined Joint Task Force 82, there are reports of civilian casualties.

"After our forces surveyed the area, there are reports of some possible civilian deaths," Belcher said. The troops found the remains of innocent civilians who were killed in firing positions in a trench line.

"We are deeply saddened by any loss of innocent lives," Belcher said. "Insurgents are continuing their tactic of using women and children as human shields in close combat with friendly forces."

In Ghazni province, Afghan and coalition forces detained a number of insurgents during an operation today.

No shots were fired and no one was injured in the operation.

Coalition forces acted on credible intelligence which indicated the location was a hideout for foreign fighters connected to the Haqqani network, officials said. The detainees will be questioned as to their identities and involvement in militant activities.

(By DoD’s American Forces Press Service that was compiled from Combined Joint Task Force 82 news releases)

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AubreyJ.........