FORT BRAGG, N.C. - THE BATTALION COMMANDER rose to address the families of soldiers bound for Iraq. Lt. Col. Mark Stock was responsible for the safety of 820 paratroopers and, ultimately, the life trajectories of hundreds of toddlers, spouses and parents squeezed into the pews of a base chapel.
There was no easy way to say [...]

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Spc. Chris McCann
2nd BCT, 10th Mtn. Div. PAO
 
CAMP STRIKER, Iraq - "I’m one of those guys who believe in leading from the front."
His face is boyish and unassuming, and bears not a trace of the bullet that could’ve cost him his life.  Staff Sgt.  Kyle Keenan, a native of Newark, Ohio, and a scout section [...]

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BAGHDAD, July 5 (KUNA) — US forces arrested 25 armed men on Thursday during a wide scale military operation Northwest of Baghdad, while armed clashes erupted in the city of Samawa South of Iraq.
The US military said in a statement that its soldiers have been undertaking operation "Iron Campaign" since June and have arrested 25 [...]

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NEW DELHI, July 5 (KUNA) — Nuclear powered American aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, which arrived at Southern Indian port city of Chennai on July 2, amid local protests, left Thursday for the Gulf region.
The USS Pinckney, which also anchored at the Chennai port, also left this morning, said Press Trust of India.
The ships are returning [...]

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Two-Tier Afghan Forces Envisioned
The National Guard general in charge of a training task force in Afghanistan sees native forces evolving into a dual system combining large "static" local police forces and a small, highly mobile national army. As of last year, 60,000 Afghan soldiers and police had been fully trained.
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In Other News

Sailor Questioned in [...]

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BAGHDAD, July 5 (Xinhua) — At least three people were killed and four others injured in clashes erupted between militiamen and Iraqi police in the southern city of Samawa on Thursday, a local police source said.
"Iraqi police fought militiamen loyal to radical Shiite cleric of Muqtada al-Sadr early in the morning in the southern parts [...]

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BAGHDAD (AP) - Al-Qaida’s deputy leader sought to bolster the terror network’s main arm in Iraq in a new video released Thursday, calling on Muslims to rally behind it at a time when the group is on the defensive, faced with U.S. offensives and splits with other insurgent groups.
Ayman al-Zawahri defended the Islamic State of [...]

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