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News Summary August 18,2008

News Summary August 18,2008
Posted by IAVA Staff [1] on August 18 [2] 2008

Monday's News Iraq Masked gunmen ambushed a bus carrying electoral officials [3] in southern Iraq on Monday, killing two and seriously wounding a third.  The scale of the use of contractors in Iraq is unprecedented in US history. [4] More than three million Shiites marked the annual pilgrimage to Karbala amid tight security and attacks [5] on the way to the holy city that killed dozens of people.  A series of bombings in this small but strategic northwestern Iraqi [6] city is stoking fears of a return to sectarian conflict here and raising questions about a strategy of handing urban security to Iraqi police. Iraq needs around $400 billion over the next few years to rebuild [7] its shattered infrastructure.  Iraq on Sunday said it reserves the right to put on trial six guards working for private security firm Blackwater USA [8] for their alleged role in the killing of 17 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad.  Security developments in Iraq on Monday. [9] Afghanistan The U.S.-backed Afghan government welcomed Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's resignation [10] Monday.  Afghan authorities have deployed 7,000 police officers in Kabul to [11] prevent attacks on ceremonies marking Afghanistan's Independence Day.  A suicide car bomb blew up Monday outside a US military base in eastern Afghanistan [12], killing nine civilian laborers, as the country marked Independence Day.  The top U.S. general in Afghanistan issued a rare public warning that militants are planning attacks during the country's Independence Day [13] on Monday.  Other Military News Pfc. Vincent Hancock takes the Gold Medal for skeet shooting [14] at the 2008 Olympics.  In the view of Jose Luis Nazario Jr., U.S. troops may begin to question whether they will be prosecuted [15] by civilians for doing what their military superiors taught them to do in battle.  The idea that military retirees under age 65 should pay more for their Tricare [16] benefits has become a familiar Pentagon refrain.  Hoping to avoid annual problems with veterans' health care budgets that are too late and too small, a coalition of nine veterans groups proposes a radical change in how Congress funds Department of Veterans Affairs medical programs. [17] Washington VA Delivering Care "Outside the Box [18]"  Defense Department officials notified Committee staff that Secretary Gates has agreed to comply with the Committee's subpoena and make Dr. Whitley [19] available to testify. OpEds Two decades after al-Qaeda was founded in the Pakistani border city of Peshawar by Osama bin Laden and a handful of veterans of the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan, the group is more famous and feared than ever [20]. 
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[1] http://iava.org/user/13
[2] http://iava.org/blog/all/200808
[3] http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gkx-3oYeFwuWKCusr2jrojs98w8wD92KL5OO0
[4] http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0818/p02s01-usmi.html
[5] http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iLXm8KnhwNVhe8GA5brX7EdtYcPg
[6] http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hPCpMCKe6t5d4pdtEuNSE-MDjM3wD92K65181
[7] http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20080818%5CACQDJON200808180746DOWJONESDJONLINE000195.htm&&mypage=newsheadlines&title=Iraq%20Needs%20$400%20Billion%20To%20Rebuild%20Infrastructure%20-%20Finance%20Min
[8] http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080817/wl_mideast_afp/iraqusunrestsecurityblackwater_080817155528
[9] http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/ANW828684.htm
[10] http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jC8P01oTXZ4pnz5bFgy2YZ-CsBUwD92KNLBO0
[11] http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&tab=wn&ned=us&nolr=1&q=Afghanistan&btnG=Search
[12] http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080818/wl_asia_afp/afghanistanunrest_080818104814
[13] http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1833567,00.html?xid=rss-topstories
[14] http://www.militarytimes.com/news/2008/08/gns_hancock_081608/
[15] http://www.militarytimes.com/news/2008/08/ap_nazario_trial_081708/
[16] http://www.militarytimes.com/news/2008/08/army_QRMCtricare_081608w/
[17] http://www.militarytimes.com/news/2008/08/military_vabudget_081508w/
[18] http://www1.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=1547
[19] http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=2154
[20] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/15/AR2008081502981.html?wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter
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