BREAKING NEWS: LATEST DEATHS OF U.S. AND COALITION TROOPS IN IRAQ, AND FLAREUP OF VIOLENCE ACROSS IRAQ

There has been no letup in the violence and deaths of U.S. soldiers and coalition troops as Friday draws to a close in Iraq.

Naturally, the mainstream media and especially FOX NEWS don't mention the deaths of U.S. troops in Iraq of the number of acts of violence in provinces all across Iraq.

Source: http://warnewstoday.blogspot.com/

UPDATE: One Soldier was killed and five wounded in three roadside bomb attacks on Coalition force patrols in Diyala province June 20. All the injured were medically evacuated. No further details given at this time, including the affiliation of the casualties.

CJTF-101 is reporting the death of a coalition service member from gunfire in Helmand province on Thursday, June 19th. No other details were released.

CJTF-101 is reporting the death of a second coalition service member gunfire in Helmand province, Afghanistan on Thursday, June 19th. In this updated release there were two soldiers killed in the same incident and another soldier was wounded. No other details were released.

The Washington Post (Reuters) is reporting the death of a soldier from a suicide bomber attack in the Girishk district, Helmand province, Afghanistan on Friday, June 20th. An Afghan interpreter and five civilians were also killed in the attack. No other details were released.

In an updated article, The Daily Record reports that David McCullie was a United Nations troubleshooter who died of a heart attack at his living quarters in Baghdad. he was the UN's chief of general services in Iraq, Kuwait and Jordan. He was a grade seven field officer - the equivalent of a brigadier general in the army.June 18 airpower summary:

Baghdad:#1: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused the United States and its allies of plotting to assassinate him during a visit to neighbouring Iraq in March, state radio reported on Friday. "Based on reliable intelligence, our enemies had plans to kidnap and kill your servant (Ahmadinejad). But we intentionally made last minute changes in our schedule," the radio quoted Ahmadinejad telling a meeting of clerics in the Shi'ite holy city of Qom on Thursday.

#2: U.S. forces killed four militants and detained 18 others on Thursday and Friday during operations around Baghdad, the U.S. military said.

#3: Thursday Two unidentified bodies were found in Baghdad today; one in Ur neighbourhood and one in Kasra wa Atash.

#4: A roadside bomb targeted a US military convoy in Beirut Square, northeast Baghdad at 10 a.m. No casualties were reported.

#5: A roadside bomb targeted a US military convoy in Doura, south Baghdad at 11 a.m. No casualties were reported.

Diyala Prv:#1: An Iraqi soldier was killed Friday and three more, including a police officer, were wounded when an explosive device targeted their patrol in the northern city of Baquba, media reports said. Security sources told the Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency that the bomb went off in the main road leading to Naqib area, southern Baquba.

#2: Gunmen blew up two houses in Ashti neighbourhood, al-Saadiyah district , to the northeast of Baquba Thursday evening. Both houses were empty as they were blown up by remote control, but a civilian passer by was in the vicinity and was injured by the blast.

Bahraz:#1: Unidentified gunmen killed a university student in southern Diala late Thursday, a police source said. "Suspected al-Qaeda gunmen opened fire on a university student in al-Abara region in Bahraz district, south of Baaquba, killing him instantly,” he source, who asked for anonymity, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq.

Kut:#1: The al-Zahraa hospital’s morgue in Kut received on Friday an unidentified female body, a medical source said.“The 40-year-old body bore signs of stabbing and torture,” the source, who asked to be unnamed, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq.

Iskandariya:#1: Police found two decomposed bodies inside a mosque two years after they were kidnapped in Iskandariya, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

Dalouiya:#1: Three policemen were wounded on Friday when an improvised explosive device went off targeting their patrol in Dalouiya, said a police source. “An explosive charge was detonated near a police patrol in Dalouiya, wounding three policemen. Who were rushed to the city’s hospital for treatment,” Colonel Mohammed al-Juburi told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq, noting that their health condition is stable.

Balad:#1: U.S. troops killed four suspected al-Qaida militants and detained 18 others in raids north of Baghdad targeting al-Qaida bombing networks in Iraq, the U.S. military said on Friday. In a series of operations on Friday near the town of Balad, some 80 km north of Baghdad, U.S. troops, at one location, were attacked by small arms fire from a nearby rooftop, prompting the troops to fire back, killing four attackers, a military statement said.

Mosul:#1: Five policemen were wounded on Friday afternoon in a suicide car bomb attack on a checkpoint in southeastern Mosul, a senior security source said. “A car rigged with explosives driven by a suicide bomber, went off at 12:00pm on Friday targeting a police checkpoint in al-Wehda neighborhood in southeastern Mosul, injuring five policemen,” the source, who wished to remain anonymous, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq. “Police forces opened fire at the driver, killing him instantly before hitting the checkpoint,” he explained.

ONE U.S. SOLDIER KILLED, FIVE WOUNDED IN ROADSIDE BOMB BLAST NEAR BAGHDAD

US military: American soldier killed in Iraq

US military: 1 American soldier killed, 5 wounded by roadside bombs northeast of Baghdad

StaffAP News
http://wiredispatch.com/news/?id=220640

Jun 20, 2008 09:36 EST

The U.S. military says an American soldier has been killed and five others wounded by roadside bombs northeast of Baghdad.

A statement says the soldiers were struck Friday in three bombings on U.S patrols in the volatile Diyala province.

At least 4,102 members of the U.S. military have died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003. That's according to an Associated Press count.

The names of the soldiers have not been released pending notification of relatives.

CNN REPORTS: SUCIDE BOMBER KILLS 5 IN AFGHANISTAN

Children among dead in Afghan suicide blast

Three children among the dead, according to local police chief

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A suicide bomb exploded near a U.S.-led coalition military convoy in Afghanistan on Friday, killing 5 civilians, a coalition soldier and an Afghan soldier, military and police officials said.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/06/20/afghanistan/index.html

Three children were those killed, Police Chief Mohammed Hussein Andiwal of the southern Helmand province said. Another five civilians were wounded.

The number of casualties was lower than initially reported.

A man with explosives strapped to his body jumped on to the convoy from a roof above the road in the town of Gereshk at about 9am, Andiwal said.
A Taliban spokesman claimed one of his group's fighters carried out the attack in front of the Afghan government's intelligence office.

A coalition spokesman confirmed the soldiers' deaths but did not give the nationality of the coalition soldier who was killed.
Another U.S. military spokesman, Lt. Col. Paul Fanning, said the convoy was part of the coalition's mission to train Afghan police officers.

Read full story here http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/06/20/afghanistan/index.html

CBS NEWS: FEMALE WOUNDED WARRIORS THRIVE TOGETHER

(CBS)As my producer, Tony Maciulis, and I were on our way to cover the first camp exclusively for wounded women veterans for tonight’s piece on “The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric,” I remember thinking, “Am I ready for this?”

Female Wounded Warriors Thrive Together
Posted by Kelly WallaceKelly Wallace is a CBS News correspondent based in New York.
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/06/19/couricandco/entry4195938.shtml

I wanted to prepare myself for what I expected would be an emotionally difficult shoot, spending time with women who’ve lost limbs and arms and women who were told they would never walk again.

I couldn’t imagine what they have been through and were still going through. I assumed some would be bitter and feeling sorry for themselves, others angry. How wrong I was. Consider this – the five women we met, brought together by the Wounded Warriors Project and the Adaptive Sports Foundation, were asked to demonstrate anger during a motion therapy exercise. They all looked at each other and laughed.

That’s right.

They laughed because they didn’t know what anger looked or felt like. They weren’t angry.

“I think it’s because you love life more when you stare it in the face,” said retired Army Sgt. Diane Cochran, a mother of three who spent three years in the hospital after her humvee rolled over in Afghanistan. Doctors never expected her to walk again. “We couldn’t even fake it and express it in some form or fashion. It’s that powerful,” said retired Army Capt. Leslie Smith, who lost part of her leg to a blood disorder while serving in Bosnia. No anger, but that doesn’t mean there haven’t been tough times, especially adjusting to life, no longer as a soldier, but as a woman with scars everyone can see. “It’s that American society for women is so visually oriented and what you see on the outside is what you get,” said Leslie. “And I know for myself, I struggled very much with that in the beginning because I didn’t feel like a whole person anymore.”

Retired Army Spec. Danielle Green-Byrd, a former college basketball star at Notre Dame, lost part of her left arm to a rocket-propelled grenade in Iraq. She told us everyday things, like putting her hair in a ponytail, are still difficult. “Even putting on a bra, a bra, that can be a challenge but I do it. A skirt. I’m starting to wear skirts now. That’s a challenge. You figure out ways. And I think this has taught me how to be very, very patient with myself. Very patient,” she said.

By 2020, one out of every five veterans under the age of 45 will be a woman like Danielle, Leslie and Diane.

The question we raise in our story is whether the Department of Veteran’s Administration is prepared to deal with an influx of women returning from war. Can VA hospitals which have provided care for men for decades give women the same level of care?

The women we met were new to the VA system and were for the most part satisfied with the care they had received but were concerned about the future, wondering whether the VA will truly be able to handle women’s needs. "I think everything is a learning process,” said Nancy Schiliro, a retired Marine Lance Cpl. who lost her right eye after an attack in Iraq. “It’s just a shame that we have to use this conflict as a learning process for them.”

The VA is convening a summit this weekend, bringing together hundreds of women veterans to discuss what’s working and what more needs to be done, in the areas of health care, military sexual trauma and readjusting to civilian life. We sat down with a panel of women leaders at the VA and the message was – we are gearing up, we are on the case. We learned the VA is surveying facilities around the country to find out what’s needed, providing sensitivity training to doctors on how to deal with women and even helping doctors re-learn skills such as how to give gynecological exams.

What I found most amazing about the wounded women veterans we met is that, besides not being angry, each of them says they are doing more with their lives now than they did before they were seriously injured. “I’m very proud to be a wounded warrior, amputee, and it makes life so much better,” said Leslie.

What we also saw firsthand is how weekends like the retreat we were lucky enough to attend really help heal the wounds you see and the wounds you don’t. “When you are serving, you are with all men,” said Nancy. “So you think that you’re alone in this little journey of yours and think, ‘God, I am the only female and I am injured. How is anyone going to understand me?’,” she said. “And when you meet women like this, it makes you feel better that you’re in great company and you’re not alone out there.”

Bravo Wounded Warriors and the Adaptive Sports Foundation for giving these women a chance to be women again.

Thanks to Emily Lamont for giving me the heads up on this story.

BREAKING: MIDDLE EAST ONLINE: IT'S CRAZY, BUT U.S IS GOING TO BOMB IRAN

Bomb Iran? What's to Stop Us?

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/opinion/?id=26545


Unlike Iraq, which was prostrate after the Gulf War and a dozen years of sanctions, Iran can retaliate in a number of dangerous ways, launching a war for which our forces are ill-prepared, says Ray McGovern.

It’s crazy, but it’s coming soon – from the same folks who brought us Iraq.

Unlike the attack on Iraq five years ago, to deal with Iran there need be no massing of troops. And, with the propaganda buildup already well under way, there need be little, if any, forewarning before shock and awe and pox – in the form of air and missile attacks – begin.

This time it will be largely the Air Force’s show, punctuated by missile and air strikes by the Navy. Israeli-American agreement has now been reached at the highest level; the armed forces planners, plotters and pilots are working out the details.

Emerging from a 90-minute White House meeting with President George W. Bush on June 4, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the two leaders were of one mind.

Meanwhile, Iranian Prime Minister Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claims the United States planned to kidnap him and kill him when he visted Iraq recently.

Continue reading here http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/opinion/?id=26545