MEMORIAL VIDEO FOR ALL OUR BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN FIGHTING IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN. (MUST WATCH!!!!)

This is a must see video. It is a tribute to all our brave young men and women who are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

WATCH VIDEO HERE AND THEN PASS IT ON:

http://www.youtube.com/v/j7l9ejvZCEY&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

THE IRAQI VIEW OF "THE SURGE:" A VIDEO YOU MUST SEE

The Real News Network has done a two-part series on the truth about "the surge" in Iraq. Leila Fadel, Baghdad bureau chief for the McClatchy Newspapers, in this video tells what really happened in Iraq.

Fadel, who is an award-winning journalist, explains how "the awakening" by Iraqi tribal leaders happened long before "the surge" was initiated by General David Petraeus.

According to Fadel, the US military's role was only to build walls and provide some security after the Iraqi people drove out the insurgents.

It was the Iraqi tribal leaders and the Iraqi people who put an end to most of the violence in Iraq and the not the efforts of the U.S. military and the so-called "surge."

WATCH PT. TWO OF THE INTERVIEW HERE:

http://therealnews.com/t/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=2948

(Editorial comment: The Bush Administration and the right-wing controlled media in the United States have sold the American public a bill of goods on role of the U.S. military and "the surge" in bringing some stability to Iraq)

NEWS ALERT: SUICIDE BOMBER KILLS 25 IN KIRKUK, IRAQ

There will most likely be little coverage in the mainstream press in the U.S. about this suicide bombing, but it underscores how the war in IRAQ is far from over.

Iraqi police say suicide bomber attacks restaurant outside Kirkuk, kills at least 25

Associated Press
December 11, 2008

http://www.startribune.com/world/35865844.html?elr=KArks:DCiUBcy7hUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU

BAGHDAD - Police say a suicide bomber has struck inside a restaurant near Kirkuk, killing at least 25 people and wounding dozens more.

Brig. Gen. Sarhad Qadir, commander of the Kirkuk police, also says about 45 people are wounded.

The explosion occurred Thursday at a restaurant about 2 miles north of Kirkuk, the center of Iraq's northern oil fields.

The reason for the attack was unclear but the city has been the scene of long-standing ethnic tension.

The Kurds want to annex Kirkuk and surrounding Tamim province into their self-ruled region in northern Iraq. Most Turkomen and Arabs want the province to remain under central government control, fearing the Kurds would discriminate against them.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

BAGHDAD (AP) — U.S. troops launched raids in at least four Iraqi cities, detaining six people believed associated with al-Qaida in Iraq, the U.S. military said Thursday.

A U.S. statement says two men were detained Wednesday in a pair of raids near Tarmiyah, 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Baghdad.

Two others were captured Thursday in Ramadi, capital of Anbar province west of Baghdad, the statement said. The two others were arrested Thursday — one in Mosul and the other in Baghdad, the U.S. said.

U.S. troops have broad authority under a U.N. mandate to apprehend people deemed a security threat and hold them indefinitely without charge.

However, the mandate expires at the end of this month and will be replaced by a U.S.-Iraqi security agreement that requires the U.S. to obtain warrants to search houses or detain people except in active combat.

The new regulations will be part of a series of major changes in the five-year U.S.-led mission.
Britain announced Wednesday it will withdraw all but a handful of its 4,000 soldiers from Iraq next year. The U.S. is expected to shift a brigade to Basra in southern Iraq, where most of the British forces are located, to ensure the security of supply lines into the country from Kuwait.

U.S. President-elect Barack Obama has called for withdrawing all U.S. combat troops from Iraq by early 2010, shifting responsibility to the Iraqis for the defense of the country against Sunni and Shiite extremists.

COMBAT IN AFGHANISTAN: CBS' LARA LOGAN REPORTS (GRAPHIC CLOSE COMBAT VIDEO)

CBS WAR CORRESPONDENT LARA LOGAN takes you inside Afghanistan with a U.S. patrol engaged in an intense battle with Al Qaeda fighters.

The reporting is excellent and the video shows what our troops face on a daily basis in Afghanistan.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/rZDonqtAf-8&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO