By Steven R. Hurst and Qassim Abdul-Zahra – The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Jul 27, 2007 12:11:36 EDT
  
BAGHDAD — A key aide says Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s relations with U.S. commander Gen. David Petraeus are so poor the Iraqi leader may ask Washington the withdraw the well-regarded U.S. military leader from duty here.

The Iraqi foreign minister calls the relationship “difficult.”

Petraeus says his ties with al-Maliki are “very good” but acknowledges expressing “the full range of emotions” on “a couple of occasions.”

U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker, who meets together with al-Maliki and Petraeus at least weekly, concedes “sometimes there are sporty exchanges.”

Al-Maliki has spoken sharply — not of Petraeus or Crocker personally — but about their tactic of welcoming Sunni militants into the fight against al-Qaida forces in Anbar and Diyalah provinces.

By Michael Hoffman – Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Jul 28, 2007 8:26:08 EDT
(Emphasis added – see Blog note at the end of this article)  

Up to 2 million helmets issued by the military between 1980 and 2006 may have been manufactured with substandard Kevlar cloth.

The U.S. Justice Department is investigating the Sioux Manufacturing Corp.[SMC], of Fort Totten, N.D., for allegedly producing Kevlar cloth that did not meet minimum standards for safety, which would violate its contract with the Defense Department, according to investigation documents obtained by Military Times.

The Kevlar cloth went into helmets that are part of the Personnel Armor System for Ground Troops, which is being phased out by the four services. The Marine Corps has migrated to the Lightweight Helmet, while the Army is phasing in the Advanced Combat Helmet.

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The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Jul 27, 2007 8:02:24 EDT
(Emphasis added)
  
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — A Marine who pleaded guilty to reduced charges involving the killing of an Iraqi man has been released from the brig, his attorney said Thursday.

Pvt. John J. Jodka III was the first Marine from an eight-man squad to plead guilty in connection to the April 2006 killing in the Iraqi village of Hamdania.

Jodka was initially charged with murder and kidnapping but those charges were dropped in October when he pleaded guilty to assault and conspiracy to obstruct justice as part of a deal with prosecutors.

In return for an 18-month sentence, Jodka was required to testify against other members of the squad. He was demoted in rank from private first class.

Jodka was released Wednesday after receiving credit for time served before sentencing and for good behavior, attorney Joseph Casas said.

By Gidget Fuentes – Staff writer
Posted : Friday Jul 27, 2007 6:04:33 EDT
(Emphasis added)
  
SAN DIEGO — Talk about a close call.

A 172-ton diesel engine destined for a Navy cargo ship under construction rolled off the back of a trailer early Thursday and crushed three cars parked outside a shipyard entrance, authorities said.

A woman waiting in one of the crushed vehicles narrowly escaped serious injury, police said.

“She’s awful lucky,” Sgt. Jeff Fellows of the San Diego Police Department’s traffic division said Thursday.

Accident investigators were studying the scene at 28th Street and Harbor Drive, one of the entrances to the General Dynamics/National Steel and Shipbuilding Co. shipyard. The site is near the commissary-exchange complex and is several blocks north of the heavily trafficked main gate into Naval Base San Diego.

[Blog note: General P.X. Kelly USMC retired and Robert F. Turner are conveniently dismissing several fundamental - and salient - points with regards to Geneva Conventions protections for our current "enemy".

*  Unlike the Viet Cong or the NVA, this enemy does not “capture and hold” POW’s.  Rather, they almost assuredly end up dead…and in horrendous fashion,

*  Unlike the Viet Cong or the NVA, this enemy has no identifiable ”nation-state” status; it is global, it is ruthless and kills (rather than retains) hostages.  Read Common Article 3 for illumination,

*  Unlike the Viet Cong or the NVA, there are no POW camps, no Red Cross visits and no Hanoi-Jane/Cindy-Sheehan visitations,

*  This enemy has not once demonstrated any of the “humanitarian” dictates embodied in Common Article 3.  To the contrary, this enemy atrociously attacks and kills even innocent children.  Any concerns as to how Americans – and other Coalition forces – might be treated if taken prisioner is an academic exercise of futility.

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