Soldiers with 1st “Dragon” Battalion, 63rd Armor Regiment, 2nd Advise and Assist Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, United States Division-Center, went through a demanding circuit of training July 15-16, 2011, at Camp Liberty, Iraq, designed to test their ability to respond in the event of an attack on their convoy or patrol.

Naqeebullah, an Afghan National Policeman, laughs nervously as a needle hovers over his arm. His partner, a fellow Afghan police officer, laughs too, as he prepares to administer the syringe.

U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Benjamin Reyes, a corpsman with Marine Attack Squadron 513, laughs with them, but he’s serious about the Afghan policemen’s performance. What the officers learn today will shape what they teach others in the future.

Until recently, if an injured Marine needed medical evacuation from the battlefield in the turbulent northeast of Afghanistan’s Helmand province, the air ambulance providing care might not be able to assist until Marine Corps attack helicopters were on scene.

“That’s a long time to wait for a casualty lying in a field,” said Staff Sgt. Sean Redmond, the air traffic control chief at Forward Operating Base Edinburgh.

The number of guns in the United States roughly equals the population. Gun owners have raised billions for wildlife conservation and public lands by paying a 10 percent tax on all gun and ammunition purchases. No other recreational community not rafters, skiers, hikers, bikers or climbers pays a special tax that helps support public lands and conservation.

People who own guns reasonably desire to use them. The right to own and use guns has no less protection than the right to speak. Civil war could not disarm this country.

MELSON SAYS DOJ RESPONSE "DISASTER"
New details of Acting BATFE Director Kenneth Melson's testimony emerged.
http://www.sofmag.com/more-melson-doj-response-investigation-was-disaster

Fast and Furious: Melson says DOJ ‘response…was a disaster’

The acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has told congressional investigators digging into the Operation Fast and Furious gun trafficking scandal that the Department of Justice’s response to the investigation has been “a disaster.”

http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-seattle/fast-and-furious-melson-sa...

Article by Dave Workman

Residents of southern Yemen say government forces and tribal allies have killed at least 20 Islamist militants in two days of battles to retake control of parts of Abyan province.

The reports on Tuesday say Yemeni soldiers and local tribesmen inflicted heavy losses on the militants in areas of Abyan seized by those militants in recent months.

There was no independent confirmation of the incidents. It was not clear how many casualties the military and tribesmen have suffered in the fighting.

Guinean President Alpha Conde escaped an assassination attempt early Tuesday when unidentified gunmen attacked his home.

Mr. Conde, who was not injured in the assault, later appeared on state television and appealed for calm.

Witnesses reported hearing heavy shooting overnight at the president's home in the Kipe suburb of the capital, Conakry. In his speech, Mr. Conde said the fighting lasted about two hours, and he thanked the presidential guard which said “fought heroically.”

A minister in the Guinean presidency, Francois Fall, says one member of the guard was killed.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Indian Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna Tuesday urged Pakistan to do more to eliminate terrorist safe-havens on its territory.

The appeal came as the two countries ended another round of their strategic dialogue that also focused on Afghanistan and U.S.-India nuclear cooperation.