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The Iraqi government has requested U.S. military airstrikes to help combat widespread violence in Iraq, led by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

While fighters for the extremist Islamic State in Iraq and Syria have taken on the most prominent role in the new insurgency, they have done so in alliance with a deep network of Saddam Hussein's former loyalists.

Today's Iraq Situation Report - Institute for the Study of War

As Americans debate assisting Iraq, including the possibility of military intervention, here are 10 things to keep in mind.

The situation in Iraq is giving Congress pause about President Obama's plan to withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan.

Wednesday: A day of budgets and Baghdad for lawmakers.

President Obama believes he does not need authorization from Congress for any steps he might take to quell the al-Qaida-inspired insurgency sweeping through Iraq.

Obama's confusing Al Qaeda strategy.

Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian separatists were locked in fierce fighting in the east of Ukraine on Thursday after rebels rejected a call to lay down their arms in line with a peace plan proposed by President Petro Poroshenko.

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America is backing a government watchdog's refusal to hand over documents from potential VA whistleblowers.

Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James outlined new incentives and measures designed to change the culture of the service's nuclear force.

Obama will present the Medal of Honor today to a veteran who took the blow from a grenade to protect a fellow Marine in Afghanistan, sustaining major wounds, including the loss of his right eye.

A one-star general who led Marines in Fallujah and recently wrote a book about his experiences there said the U.S. military set Iraq up for success, but political leaders there have squandered those opportunities.

U.S. aims trial of Benghazi suspect held on Navy ship.

The House and Senate established conference committees to reconcile differences in legislation to reform the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Being Bad Guy: Pentagon's cyber unit wants to get inside the bad guy's head.

Thanks to researchers from the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center and the U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center, soldiers can now bust through urban walls easier.

The Air Force really, really doesn't want to offer any new details about its Long Range Strike bomber.

Two senators urged Defense Secretary Hagel to end the 5 percent discount on tobacco product sales at military facilities.

The US Army is working on a real-life Iron Man suit, and the first prototypes are coming later this week.

China is building fake islands to bolster its claim to disputed waters.

Harley-Davidson is making an electric motorcycle.

Paramount lays out its next two years of sequels and remakes.

Louie: It's been the Best Thing Ever and The Worst.

Destiny's Child said "yes" to a reunion.

The very funny and adorable Garfunkle and Oates have a new show destined to debut on August 7 on IFC. Here is the opening credits ...

LINK: Original photo by Spc. Erika Montano

The Department of Defense announced today 17 servicemembers have been recovered from a C-124 Globemaster aircraft that was lost on Nov. 22, 1952.

U.S. Army Lt. Col. Lawrence S. Singleton, Pvt. James Green, Jr., and Pvt. Leonard A. Kittle; U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Earl J. Stearns; U.S. Navy Cmdr. Albert J. Seeboth; U.S. Air Force Col. Noel E. Hoblit, Col. Eugene Smith, Capt. Robert W. Turnbull, 1st Lt. Donald Sheda, 1st Lt. William L. Turner, Tech. Sgt. Engolf W. Hagen, Staff Sgt. James H. Ray, Airman 1st Class Marion E. Hooton, Airman 2nd Class Carroll R. Dyer, Airman 2nd Class Thomas S. Lyons, Airman 2nd Class Thomas C. Thigpen, and Airman 3rd Class Howard E. Martin have been recovered and will be returned to their families for burial with full military honors.

On Nov. 22, 1952, a C-124 Globemaster aircraft crashed while en route to Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, from McChord Air Force Base, Washington. There were 11 crewmen and 41 passengers on board. Adverse weather conditions precluded immediate recovery attempts. In late November and early December 1952, search parties were unable to locate and recover any of the service members.

On June 9, 2012, an Alaska National Guard (AKNG) UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter crew spotted aircraft wreckage and debris while conducting a training mission over the Colony Glacier, immediately west of Mount Gannett. Three days later another AKNG team landed at the site to photograph the area and they found artifacts at the site that related to the wreckage of the C-124 Globemaster. Later that month, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) and Joint Task Force team conducted a recovery operation at the site and recommended it continued to be monitored for possible future recovery operations. In 2013, additional artifacts were visible and JPAC conducted further recovery operations.

DoD scientists from the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) used forensic tools and circumstantial evidence in the identification of 17 service members. The remaining personnel have yet to be recovered and the crash site will continued to be monitored for future possible recovery.

SEE ALSO

Today's military news in the Morning Joe

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The CIA and other spy agencies are scrambling to close intelligence gaps as they seek ways to support possible military or covert action against the leaders of the al-Qaida-inspired militant group that has seized parts of Iraq and threatens Baghdad's government.

ISIS hits Iraq's biggest oil refinery.

Iran's president vowed to defend Shi'ite holy sites in Iraq as Sunni fighters hold control of the main cities across the north. 

Why Delta Force waited so long to grab a Benghazi ringleader.

Former deputy CIA director Mike Morell suggested the sooner Benghazi suspect Ahmed Abu Khattala gets to the United States, the more likely he will have provided intelligence to U.S. officials. 

Iraq: Exhibit A for why Obama's new counterterrorism strategy won't work.

Iraqi premier Maliki gaining strength as Shiites rally behind him.

Opinion: US air power won't defeat ISIS.

Hillary Clinton: She warned the Obama administration against working with Iran to handle the unraveling situation in Iraq and attributes Banghazi statement to "fog of war."

The latest international crisis may be a terrorist land offensive in Iraq, but concerns about China's ambitions clearly dominate those thinking about strategies for the US Navy.

Issues await next U.S. Marine Corps commandant.

Lockheed F-35 bulkhead cracks solution proposed.

Defense giants score poorly on arms development.

Army senior leaders posit that communications technology is being developed and put into use inside the Army before its vulnerability to cyber-attacks has been fully evaluated.

Air Force C-130s land at Lielvarde Air Base for first time.

Incredible video of wild Alaskan brown bear chilling out with a camper.

Here's how to cut a cake perfectly, according to science.

Audiences are liars, and the media organizations who listen to them without measuring them are dupes.

YouTube will begin pulling indie musicians from the site blocking any artist on a label that refused the company's licensing terms for its forthcoming subscription music service.

Boardwalk Empire to jump ahead seven years for its final season.

In many ways, Season 4 of Louie felt like a call and response between Louis C.K. and the Internet.

So good ...

LINK: Original photo courtesy of 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs

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Kicking off observances for the Army 239th birthday, Army leaders paid tribute to the service's first commander-in-chief, and presented Purple Hearts to two Soldiers.

Pro-Russian separatists shot down an army transport plane in east Ukraine, killing 49 servicemen and dealing a blow to a military campaign to defeat the rebels and hold the country together. 

A Sunni Islamist offensive threatening to dismember Iraq seemed to slow today after days of lightning advances as government forces reported regaining territory in counter-attacks, easing pressure on Baghdad's Shi'ite-led government.

Iraqis answering top Shiite cleric's rare call to arms.

President Obama said Friday he is considering military action in Iraq, but will not deploy U.S. troops there.

On Iraq, President Obama has chosen the tough-love option. Here is a list of other options he can use.

Pros and cons of drone strikes in Iraq.

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl "looked good" after arriving back in the United States and is working daily with health professionals after being held by the Taliban for five years in Afghanistan.

Acting Veterans Affairs Secretary Sloan Gibson promised VA employees that whistleblowers will not face harassment or punishment for reporting misbehavior in the department.

Sen. Tom Coburn will release an oversight report next week exposing shortcomings at the VA.

Navy test pilots are conducting shore landings of the carrier variant of the Joint Strike Fighter to get ready for an at-sea landing later this year.

The request for proposal on the US Air Force's long range strike-bomber program will be issued soon.

The entrance to hell is in the center of Asia and it's terrifying.

How to stop Facebook from using your browsing history.

Bill Murray's hilarious costumes in Late Show with David Letterman.

Steve Buscemi's Park Bench Web series features Fred Armisen, Dick Cavett, Debbie Harry and others this week.

Chef Mario Batali delivers another delicious Web series (this time, for Hulu) featuring George Stephanopoulos, and look for Jimmy Fallon and Anthony Bourdain on upcoming installments.

Jeff Krulik's doc Led Zeppelin Played Here, which tries to find out if the rock legends really played a school gymnasium in 1969.

Here's Ice Cube saying "nice things" in an extremely angry way. ...

LINK: Original photo by Chief Petty officer David Votroubek

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NORAD scrambled two F-22 Raptor and two F-15 Eagle fighters against a fleet of Russian bombers.

Al-Qaida-inspired militants who seized large swaths of Iraq's Sunni heartland this week have pushed into an ethnically mixed province northeast of Baghdad, capturing two towns there.

The Iraq government reportedly requested U.S. air strikes to target some regions housing extremists last month, but the Obama administration has so far declined.

Welcome to the New Iraq War: A few good options for the US.

The Big Burn: The Sunni-Shiite conflict explodes in Iraq.

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl touched down in the United States this morning in San Antonio, Texas, five years after being captured by Taliban forces. 

From Afghan sell-off to Pacific build-up: The strategy of logistics.

A new bill has been introduced in Congress that aims to offer relief to veterans that have had to pay for emergency health services.

Should the GOP win control of the US Senate, a window will open for lawmakers and the Obama White House to take one more shot at a sequester-killing fiscal deal.

The real five best fighter aircraft of all time.

The 600,000 asteroids we've discovered so far in one scary view.

Scientists have discovered evidence that all Earth may be hiding huge amounts of water - three times the volume of all our oceans combined.

In very bad news, a superbug resistant to last-resort antibiotics was found in imported squid.

Amazon has launched a streaming music service.

Harrison Ford was injured on the set of Star Wars.

Watch the trailer for the new Seth Rogen/James Franco movie, The Interview.

Really? A Cameron Crowe TV series?

Genius!

LINK: Original photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Billy Ho

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U.S. drones fired missiles at Taliban hideouts in Pakistan killing at least 10 militants in response to a deadly attack on Karachi airport in the first such raids by unmanned CIA aircraft in six months.

On brink of disintegration: Another city falls in Iraq.

The al-Qaida-inspired group that led the charge in capturing two key Sunni-dominated cities in Iraq this week vowed to march on to Baghdad.

The return of al-Qaeda.

The Senate passed a bill Wednesday night that would allow appropriators to begin work on the 2015 Intelligence Appropriations bill.

The Veterans Affairs Department is, by many accounts, broken, and Congress has a lot of ideas to fix it.

The Senate overwhelmingly passed emergency legislation on Veterans Affairs Department health visits and administrator accountability, paving the way for the reforms to become law in a matter of days.

The House adopted an amendment to allow veterans to apply for food stamps while their disability claims are pending with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

After two overwhelming votes in two days, members of Congress say they are confident they can agree on a bill to improve veterans' health care and send it to the president's desk by the end of the month.

US House Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor's stunning primary defeat is a huge blow to the US defense sector, and could allow an up-and-coming GOP deficit hawk to replace Cantor, or even become House speaker.

Hagel testified before lawmakers, answering anger-laced questions about the negotiated release of Bowe Bergdahl.

The House Appropriations Committee approved funding for 38 of the fifth-generation fighters - four more than the Defense Department requested.

How the Army should pivot to Asia.

The Air Force just copped to its secret stealth drone.

Program offers partially paid break from Army.

Army develops first-of-its-kind phase-coherent fiber laser array system.

Networking brings international training to JBLM.

A 3,000 gallons per minute reverse osmosis water purification unit and two 3,000 gallon water bags were used in support of the Quartermaster Liquid Logistic Exercise at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

NASA's real life Enterprise may take us to other star systems one day.

How a 3,000-car race would look if the Earth was the Moon.

The world's biggest TV can be yours for $1.7 million.

A new documentary tells the story of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Finally: Puff Daddy/Diddy/Sean Combs released a music video inspired by Game of Thrones.

Be careful when you fry a drone over a beach in Connecticut. ...

LINK: Original photo courtesy of the New York National Guard

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Straight Talk: Lt. Gen. Stephen Lanza discusses Joint Base Lewis-McChord, the community and the future.

Senate Dems breaking with White House over plan to leave U.S. troops through 2016.

Sunni insurgents from an al Qaeda splinter group closed in on Iraq's biggest oil refinery after seizing the northern city of Mosul in a devastating show of strength against the Shi'ite-led government. 

Iraq's terrorists are becoming a full-blown army.

US urges Iraqi unity to defeat violent insurgency.

Bowe Bergdahl Release: Expect pointed questions as Hagel takes the hot seat.

The president has come under criticism over the swap for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.

Special Forces deaths fuel A-10 debate.

US House appropriators killed an amendment that would have kept alive the Air Force's A-10 fleet, becoming the first defense panel to endorse the service's cost-cutting plan.

Bonus pay is part of Air Force nuke reforms.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers closed another chapter in Afghanistan as the Transatlantic Afghanistan District's South Area Office was inactivated.

This Republican House majority leader Eric Cantor's loss ranks as the biggest Congressional upset in modern memory.

A House of Representatives panel voted for a 1.8 percent troop pay raise in fiscal 2015, though the boost is far from guaranteed.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said a bipartisan deal to overhaul the Veterans Affairs Department will soon hit the Senate floor.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk slams US Air Force certification process.

What the Army's new COIN manual is missing.

The Canadian government has vowed to significantly boost military capability in the Arctic, but after years of such promises, a major roadblock still stands in the way - money.

White supremacists are recruiting at Fort Carson, Colo.

Extremely rare photo of two armed F-16s escorting a Boeing Dreamliner.

NASA releases spectacular X-ray image of an entire spiral galaxy.

Motorcycle jumps over plane that's flying sideways close to ground.

Watch the trailer for Dumb and Dumber To.

Of Course: Morrissey canceled the rest of his tour.

So now Will Ferrell and Chad Smith have challenged Lars Ulrich to a drum-off ...

Lovely: This is a marriage proposal fit for a journalist.

Finally: Get ready for Sloth Week.

This just hurts to watch. ...

LINK: Original photo by Spc. Edward Siguenza

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Pakistani Taliban Attacks Karachi Airport: Militants armed with grenades and assault weapons dressed as security guards, killing 18 people in a retaliatory siege that lasted more than five hours.

Top 10 conclusions about the VA crisis.

U.S. Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has told people treating him at an American military medical facility in Germany that he was tortured, beaten and held in a cage by his Taliban captors in Afghanistan after he tried to escape.

Hillary Clinton says she gave "very direct instructions" to security experts during the 2012 Benghazi attack in an effort to secure the U.S. mission.

U.S. sends stealth bombers to Europe.

House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) said acting Veterans Affairs Secretary Sloan Gibson is "doing a great job."

Supporting the troops does not start when they return from war.

Army continues the rapid development of the cutting-edge boost-glide Advanced Hypersonic Weapon (AHW) missile program.

The Chinese engineer who helped Tehran develop its ballistic missiles is one of America's most wanted, with a $5 million reward on his head.

Why no female Blue Angels pilots?

Unmanned intel app could keep small units informed.

A computer has successfully managed to fool a bunch of researchers into thinking that it was a 13-year-old boy named Eugene Goostman.

Amazon has a new best-selling author list that's updated hourly.

Another day, another Ant-Man director ...

List: Best '90s soundtrack albums

List: Twenty-one Things You Might Not Know About Gremlins

Watch Sir Mix-A-Lot perform Baby Got Back with the Seattle symphony.

George Strait has broken the Rolling Stones' record for concert attendance.

Nice: The drummer for Weezercaught a Frisbee during a show - and never stopped playing!

Teen invents footwear that will charge your phone as you walk.

In our thoughts ...

Astronaut Jones by djgreenuts

LINK: Original photo by Spc. Ryan DeBooy

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A Navy jet crashed into the sea as it prepared to make a late-night landing on an aircraft carrier, but the pilot ejected and was listed in stable condition.

A Marine jet crashed into a residential area and destroyed two homes in a Southern California desert community Wednesday, but no one was injured.

Criticism over troop withdrawal emerges from beyond G.O.P.

The top Afghanistan war commander, Gen. Joseph Dunford, said he is confident that NATO members will contribute at least 4,000 additional conventional military forces to the post-war mission in Afghanistan.

The U.S. military said about 1,800 of the nearly 10,000 U.S. troops the U.S. plans to leave in Afghanistan at the end of the year would be conducting counterterror operations.

The top man reportedly being considered to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs was recently quoted criticizing the administration's signature healthcare law.

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) has introduced a bill that would allow veterans to sue Department of Veterans Affairs employees who have falsified medical records.

The top U.S. military official in South Korea said a hacking incident might have compromised the personal information of thousands of South Koreans employed by the American command.

The bizarre club of war zone deserters.

A rare look inside the Air Force's drone training classroom.

The End of An era: 376^th Air Expeditionary Wing inactivation ceremony.

The small Idaho hometown of released captive Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has canceled plans for a celebration later this month.

Sgt. Bergdahl could be entitled to about $300,000 in back pay and special compensation following his release as a prisoner.

The last of the 29 Navajos who developed an unbreakable code that helped win World War II has died.

Hidden tricks and features that are going to make iOS 8 a powerhouse.

The most amazing infinity pool ever seen.

Watch Jack White's new music video.

Vanity Fair has a piece about the making of Ghostbusters.

The Hollywood Reporter has an interesting roundtable with Chuck Lorre, Mike Judge, Jenni Konner, Mike Schur, Armando Ianucci and Marc Maron about what it's like to run a TV comedy.

Finally: Tom Cruise hair quiz.

Are you better than Don Draper from Mad Men?

LINK: Original photo by Sgt. Giancario Casem

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Ayatollah Ali Khameni said in a speech he believes President Obama will not use force to stop Iran's nuclear program.

Putin looks east to bolster ties with North Korea.

The U.S. Air Force plans to temporarily deploy heavy bombers capable of delivering nuclear weapons to Europe one day after President Barack Obama announced he would increase the U.S. military presence in the region.

Video: A dazed Bowe Bergdahl is led by two militants to a Blackhawk helicopter in eastern Afghanistan ending his five years' in captivity.

The hero who died looking for Bowe Bergdahl.

Prisoner swap blows up on White House.

An internal military investigation found that Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl intentionally sneaked away from his forward operating base in Afghanistan just before he disappeared in 2009 - and that may not have been the first time he left the post without permission.

Senate Republicans said they would offer legislation to allow veterans to go to any hospital within 40 miles of their home to get healthcare.

An armed Russian fighter jet flew within 100 feet of a US Air Force RC-135U and taunted the intelligence-gathering aircraft with an aggressive maneuver over international waters north of Japan.

Terrorism is and remains the top threat to the United States, Defense Undersecretary for Intelligence Mike Vickers said.

NSA Chief: Snowden "probably not" a foreign agent.

Report: Blue Angles boss tolerated porn, lewdness.

From 1914 to 2014, here's what a hundred year difference looks like after the siege of Antwerp.

The New York Times has a piece about anonymity on social media.

TMZ has posted 22 more secret behind-the-scenes photos from the Star Wars Episode 7 secret production studio in the UK

Amazing bowling tricks.

Stream Jack White's new album on iTunes.

Finally: Comic book movie comment section bingo

The FCC does not like John Oliver. The reason why below ...

LINK: Original photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Jonathan David Chandler