Photo for the Day - June 23, 2009

* Photo for the Day * U.S. Army Capt. Richard Turvey, outgoing commander of Joint Security Station Salaam, Iraq, passes a ceremonial key to an Iraqi soldier during the security station's transfer of authority ceremony in Numaniyah, Iraq, June 20, 2009.
DoD photo by Tech. Sgt. Thomas Coney, U.S. Air Force

The Iranian Uprising - June 22, 2009

The Iranian Uprising
Protesters hail Neda Soltan as a Martyr and her senseless death is sure to bring deeper unrest in Iran in the days to come…
Monday, June 22, 2009.
Iran Opposition Leader Stands by Protesters

- This video removed by me in respect of Google Ad Policies…

About this News Video: Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi has vowed he will stand by the protesters whose week of defiance has deeply shaken the country. Video Date: June 22nd.
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Young girl being killed by plainclothes
*** (Warning – below video VERY Graphic) ***

- This video removed by me in respect of Google Ad Policies…

* (Warning – above video VERY Graphic) *

About this video: Basij shot to death a young woman in Tehran's Saturday, June 20th Protests.At 19:05, June 20th…Place: Karekar Ave., at the corner crossing Khosravi St. and Salehi St..A young woman who was standing aside with her father watching the protests was shot by a basij member hiding on the rooftop of a civilian house. He had clear shot at the girl and could not miss her. However, he aimed straight her heart. I am a doctor, so I rushed to try to save her. But the impact of the gunshot was so fierce that the bullet had blasted inside the victim's chest, and she died in less than 2 minutes… The protests were going on about 1 kilometer away in the main street and some of the protesting crowd were running from tear gas used among them, towards Salehi St… The film is shot by my friend who was standing beside me… Please let the world know…
INFO/Video posted on LiveLeak by deathtokhamenei
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* FoxNews.com brings us the following report and it starts off like this… Protesters in Iran are hailing 26-year-old Neda Soltan as a martyr after graphic videos of her apparent murder at a protest in Tehran hit the Internet. Iran experts say images of her bloody death have galvanized the country and that mourning for her - which has been banned by authorities - will bring deeper unrest… "Neda," whose identity could not be verified by FOXNews.com, was reportedly gunned down by paramilitary police Saturday during protests in the capital city. Videos posted on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter show her bleeding from the nose and mouth as a crowd tries unsuccessfully to stanch the flow and save her life… The video also shows a moving clip of a man identified by some as her father or professor cradling her head and yelling out, "Neda, don't be afraid. Neda, stay with me. Neda stay with me!”…

- This link removed by me in respect of Google Ad Policies…

Read the full report at link below…

Neda Soltan, Young Woman Hailed as Martyr in Iran, Becomes Face of Protests

.* AP reports it this way… Amateur video of a young Iranian woman lying in the street - blood streaming from her nose and mouth - has quickly become an iconic image of the country's opposition movement and unleashed a flood of outrage at the regime's crackdown… The footage, less than a minute long, appears to capture the woman's death moments after she was shot at a protest — a powerful example of citizens' ability to document events inside Iran despite government restrictions on foreign media and Internet and phone lines…

Read this article in full at link below…

Amateur video turns woman into icon of Iran unrest

.* TheSun.Co.uk has this report…

Shot girl's last moments

- Above link removed by me in respect of Google Ad Policies…

Above link has news video and short slideshow

.* The Washington Post has this report posted up on their website this Monday afternoon and it starts off like this… Demonstrators returned to a public square in Iran's capital Monday to protest alleged fraud in the recent presidential election and were met with beatings and tear gas from security forces, eyewitnesses said. Meanwhile, the group charged with certifying the election said discrepancies between the number of votes and eligible voters in some districts did not constitute proof of ballot-tampering…

Read the full report at link below…

Protesters Return to Tehran Streets

Above link also has a long, informative slideshow

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Sen. John McCain on Iran

About this video: Sen. McCain reads an AP article on protest crackdown but mainly focuses on the death of the woman known as "Neda," who was killed and her video posted on YouTube. He then reads another article detailing the death.
This video posted on YouTube by CSPAN
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I’ll end today’s post with this News Video from Studio B on the Fox News Channel…

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Read more from FOX at link below…
New Amateur Videos Reportedly Show Police, Protesters Clash in Iran
Great reporting FOX!
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AubreyJ………

DoD Identifies Army Casualties

No. 443-09 June 22, 2009
DoD Identifies Army Casualties

The Department of Defense announced today the death of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. They died June 21st in Bagram, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when their unit was attacked by indirect fire.

Killed were:
Sgt. Ricky D. Jones, 26, of Plantersville, Ala. He was assigned to the 1st Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, Fort Polk, La.
Spc. Rodrigo A. Munguia Rivas, 27, of Germantown, Md. He was assigned to the 710th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), Fort Drum, N.Y.

For more information on Jones, the media may contact the Fort Polk public affairs office at (337) 531-4630 or (337) 531-1418; after hours (337) 208-3629 or (337) 353-9784.
For more information on Munguia Rivas, the media may contact the Fort Drum public affairs office at (315) 772-8286.

Happy Father's Day - June 21, 2009

A Great Big Happy Father's Day

goes out to all you dads out there.
Hope you all have/had a GREAT ONE!

AubreyJ………

On Ground Updates: Iran - June 21, 2009

On Ground Updates: Iran
Sunday, June 21, 2009

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The New York Times Blog continues to track the Iranians massive street demonstrations and is consistence on keeping us up-to-date with their postings…
Click it out HERE
Above link full of info, photos and videos .
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THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary

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For Immediate Release June 20, 2009

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Statement from the President on Iran
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The Iranian government must understand that the world is watching. We mourn each and every innocent life that is lost. We call on the Iranian government to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people. The universal rights to assembly and free speech must be respected, and the United States stands with all who seek to exercise those rights.

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As I said in Cairo, suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away. The Iranian people will ultimately judge the actions of their own government. If the Iranian government seeks the respect of the international community, it must respect the dignity of its own people and govern through consent, not coercion.

Martin Luther King once said – “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” I believe that. The international community believes that. And right now, we are bearing witness to the Iranian peoples’ belief in that truth, and we will continue to bear witness.
Taken from The White House website
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Note: I will be waiting until this evening to update this post with the latest videos and news out of Iran.
Be sure to check back!
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OK… Not much on the news or videos out of Iran tonight.
I’ll try again in the morning…
See you then…

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AubreyJ………

DoD Identifies Army Casualties

No. 439-09 June 21, 2009
DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Spc. Chancellor A. Keesling, 25, of Indianapolis, Ind., died June 19th in Baghdad, Iraq of a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the 961st Engineer Company, Sharonville, Ohio. The circumstances surrounding this incident are under investigation.
For more information media may contact the U.S. Army Reserve Command public affairs office at 404-464-8500 / 9471 / 9251.


No. 438-09 June 21, 2009
DoD Identifies Army Casualties

The Department of Defense announced today the death of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. They died in Kandahar, Afghanistan of wounds sustained when their vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device.

Killed were:
Sgt. Paul G. Smith, 43, of Peoria, IL. He was an Illinois Army National Guardsman assigned to the 2nd Squadron, 106th Cavalry, Aurora, IL.
Staff Sgt. Joshua A. Melton, 26, of Carlyle, IL. He was an Illinois Army National Guardsman assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 130th Infantry, Marion, Illinois.

For more information, media may contact 1st Lt. Stacey Rieger at 217-494-1965 or the Illinois National Guard public affairs office at 217-761-3569.

Iran: Up Yours Khamenei!

Up Yours Khamenei!
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Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned reformist leaders yesterday against taking to the streets in protest over the election. So how did the people of Iran react to his warning?

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Well… Thousands upon thousands of them came out in mass and demonstrated anyway... Up yours Khamenei!
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Where are MEN like President Bush/Reagan, the champions of freedom, when the Iranian people need them most? At least we KNOW they would have the Iranian Peoples backs, in EVERY possible way.
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President Obama… WAKE UP and SPEAK UP for the Iranian people who are on the march. TRUE leaders for freedom loving people would have done so LAST WEEK!!!
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AubreyJ………
Saturday, June 20, 2009

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Tehran Unknown 20 June Tazahorat

This video posted on YouTube by nov11110
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On Ground Updates: Iran - June 19, 2009

On Ground Updates: Iran
Friday, June 19, 2009
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* Ayatollah Calls For Calm *

About above News Video: Iran's Supreme Leader has insisted there was no fraud in the recent presidential poll and warned that protests about the result must end.
Above News Video posted on LiveLeak by ubdumb
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* Guardian.co.uk has this report posted on their website this early Friday afternoon and it starts off like this… Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, triggered a diplomatic row today when he publicly singled out "evil" Britain as the foremost enemy of the Islamic republic… Gordon Brown responded swiftly by condemning Iran's "repression and ­brutality" in the strongest language used by the UK yet about last week's disputed presidential poll. Previous public ­comments have been ­deliberately restrained to avoid fuelling Iranian accusations of interference in its internal affairs… Iran's Ambassador to London was summoned to the Foreign Office after Khamenei's remarks during midday - Friday prayers at Tehran University, where the cleric referred to Britain as "the most evil" of foreign powers. The U.S. and Israel were also attacked…
Read the full report at link below…
Iran's supreme leader Khamenei issues verbal attack on 'evil Britain'
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Also from the Guardian website today…
Frail but fierce, Iran's supreme leader Khamenei answers his critics
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* TimesOnline.co.uk reports… Iran’s Supreme Leader dramatically raised the stakes in his country’s political crisis today by demanding an end to the massive street demonstrations and warning of a violent crackdown if they continued. He also accused "treacherous" Britain of leading a western conspiracy to destabilize the Islamic Republic by fomenting the protests… Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s uncompromising speech raised fears that he could unleash his formidable security forces on a mass protest as early as tomorrow, when tens of thousands of opposition supporters are expected to defy him by joining a Tehran rally organised by reformist clerics… His words caused widespread alarm. European leaders meeting in Brussels demanded the regime “refrain from the use of force against peaceful demonstrations”. Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, urged Iran not to go “beyond the point of no return”. Navi Pillay, the UN human rights chief, feared the “illegal use of excessive force”… Speaking for the first time since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s hotly-disputed re-election, Ayatollah Khamenei sided firmly with the president, denied the vote was rigged, and accused foreign powers led by Britain of fomenting the protests to destabilize the Islamic Republic…
Read the rest at link below…
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei raises stakes as Iran braces for violence
Above link has short video, slide show and lots more
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* CTV.ca has this report… U.S. President Barack Obama has expressed concern about the "tenor and tone" of a statement by Iran's supreme leader, who warned of an impending clampdown on anti-government protests… Obama's comments come as Washington passed a resolution Friday to condemn Tehran's repressive response to the demonstrations, which erupted a week ago after a highly contested election… The U.S. government drew particular attention to the violence of the crackdown in addition to the suppression of cell phone and Internet use…
Read the rest at link below…
Obama concerned over Iran clampdown threats

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* CBC report on latest events of Iran *

Above Video posted on LiveLeak by agharazi
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POST UPDATE:
Saturday, June 20, 2009
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* PressTV.ir brings us the following report today and it starts off like this… Iran's Security Council has warned defeated presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi against 'the consequences' of backing street rallies… "It is your duty not to incite and invite the public to illegal gatherings; otherwise, you will be responsible for its consequences," Iran's Security Council, a body affiliated with the Interior Ministry replied Mousavi's letter in which he had criticized the law enforcement forces for failing to prevent attacks on protestors during the street rallies…
Read the full report at link below…
Iran council warns Mousavi against rallies
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* UPI.com reports… Riot police wielding wooden batons, tear gas and water cannons battled protesters in central Tehran Saturday, witnesses said…
Read the rest at link below…
Protesters, police clash in Tehran battles
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* YNETNews.com has the following report posted up on their site this early afternoon and it starts off like this… Reformist candidate Mousavi calls on country's highest legislative authority to annul election due to rampant evidence of tampering. Meanwhile thousands of his supporters clash with police in central Tehran, suicide bomber kills at least one at mausoleum of Iranian revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini…
Read the full report at link below…
Mousavi: Election fraud was planned months in advance
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* CTV.ca reports… Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi has demanded Iran's highest electoral authority annul the presidential vote, as protesters continue to defy government warnings… In a letter to the Guardian Council, which investigates voting violations, he said thousands of his supporters were turned away from polling stations during the June 12 vote… "The Iranian nation will not believe this unjust and illegal" act, Mousavi wrote… He also alleged that some ballot boxes had been sealed before voting began, and that fake ballots were found in mobile polling stations, according to the Associated Press…
Read this report in full at link below…
Mousavi ramps up demand to annul Iran vote
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Thousands of defiant protesters clashed with police in the streets of Tehran on Saturday in protest of last week's presidential elections, and opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi reportedly said he was ready for "martyrdom."
Read this report in full at link below…
At least 19 dead in Iran unrest, hospital sources say
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Tear gas and water cannon used on 3,000 Iranian protesters

About above Video: Iranian riot police have reportedly used tear gas and water cannon on three thousand election protesters in Tehran.
This News Video posted on YouTube by itnnews
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AubreyJ………