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President Obama told Congress that he is deploying about 200 more troops to Iraq to bolster security at the U.S. Embassy and airport in Baghdad.

Violence in Iraq could delay the delivery of American F-16 fighter jets to the Baghdad government after contractors had to be evacuated from a key air base.

Sunnis and Kurds abandoned the first meeting of Iraq's new parliament on Tuesday after Shi'ites failed to name a prime minister to replace Nuri al-Maliki.

Secretary of State John Kerry stressed late Monday that time is running out to strike a final nuclear deal with Iran.

How ISIS is overshadowing al Qaeda.

U.S. senators are readying a measure that would for the first time revise the legal underpinning for America's fight against violent Islamic groups.

Ukrainian forces struck at pro-Russian separatist bases in eastern regions with air and artillery strikes today after President Petro Poroshenko announced he would not renew a ceasefire but go on the offensive to rid Ukraine of "parasites".

The general in charge of U.S. and allied forces in Europe recommended more troops be sent to the region.

The four biggest challenges the next VA secretary faces.

For the first time in the Navy's 236-year history, a woman will be pinned with a fourth star.

The Pentagon wants to partner with allies to counter weapons of mass destruction.

Japan's government approves larger military role.

This dude is lucky.

Too Much Free Time: This guy has a hands-free technique for putting on his pants that is as ridiculous as it is effective.

NPR lists the best albums and songs of 2014.

Community has been renewed ... by Yahoo.

Denis Leary is returning to FX with a rock 'n' roll comedy.

See the trailer for The Skeleton Twins, a new movie starring Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig.

Kevin Smith visited J.J. Abrams' Star Wars set.

Wheeeeeee!

LINK: Original photo by Sgt. Jerry Boffen

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President Obama has picked an Army veteran and retired chief executive of Proctor & Gamble to head the embattled VA.

Iraqi troops battled to dislodge an al Qaeda splinter group from the city of Tikrit after its leader was declared caliph of a new Islamic state in lands seized this month across a swathe of Iraq and Syria. 

North Korea fired two short-range Scud missiles into its eastern waters Sunday.

The US Army is threatening to slash modernization funding for Stryker, Abrams and Bradley vehicles if the service is forced to halt a $10 billion program to replace thousands of M113 infantry carriers.

Magic Money: DoD's overseas contingency budget might dry up.

A State Department investigation of Blackwater's activities in Iraq was abandoned after the company's top manager there threatened "that he could kill" the chief U.S. investigator.

Sneak peak into Marines' quiet mission in Central America.

Marine corporal who disappeared nearly a decade ago and faces a desertion charge has turned himself in to the military.

Army's Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System blimp has been placed in a "strategic reserve."

The Navy is implementing specific design and engineering improvements to its Littoral Combat Ship.

Tactile belts let soldiers feel their way through the field.

The nearest Earth-like planet is only 16 light-years away from us.

A machine that can disintegrate any tree in seconds.

Disco Game of Thrones.

Chef Gordon Ramsay scares us.

New York magazine has a story about the 25th anniversary of Seinfeld.

Could Phil Collins be mulling a comeback?

Here's a great piece about one writer's cinematic road trip.

See Jack White cover Metallica's Enter Sandman.

Good News: What Sharknado 2 looks like ...

Finally: Weird things you can buy on Amazon.

RIP Bobby Womack ...

LINK: Original photo by Spc. Kimberly Trumbull

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A scathing review of the Department of Veterans Affairs released Friday calls for a complete overhaul and warns a "corrosive culture" led veterans to have to wait longer for care.

The Iraqi military and witnesses say government helicopter gunships have conducted air strikes in the northern city of Tikrit.

Institute for the Study of War: Iraq Situation Report

Why ISIS won't take Baghdad.

Iraqi parties pursue talks that could oust Maliki over insurgency.

U.N. experts trace recent seized arms to Iran, violating embargo.

The European Union signed an historic free-trade pact with Ukraine.

Senior congressional Republicans are vowing to closely scrub President Barack Obama's new war-funding request, with one saying it "cries out for oversight."

The Air Force's removal of a squadron commander has ignited fierce debate over commander-subordinate relations.

America's floating prisons

The swift, quiet rise of Lt. Gen. Joseph Votel to SOCOM chief.

The Army, along with its sister services, allies and first responders from across the country tested lines of communications during a month-long Joint Users Interoperability Communications Exercise, or JUICE.

Army watercraft, divers, sustainment troops participating in RIMPAC 2014.

RIMPAC 2014: The ins and outs.

Transforming the B-52 into a maritime patrol plane.

Actress Amy Adams gave up her first-class seat on a flight from Detroit to Los Angeles to a soldier she saw onboard.

How the Fukushima disaster is changing the future of robotics.

What a lightning storm looks like from space.

Scientists blow up 100 tons of TNT in the middle of nowhere not just for the fun of it.

What's in your wallet?

Beer may be as old as civilization itself, but modern molecular biology could teach craft brewers some new tricks.

Old Daily Show clips mocking camera phones and texting are hilarious.

Jerry Seinfeld's series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee is back.

Check out new comedic Web series Thundershorts.

What happens when you mix William Shatner, a bottle of wine and a celebrity guest? Brown Bag Wine Tasting.

Finally: Ben & Jerry's new Saturday Night Live flavors.

Hope you have more fun today than this guy. ...

LINK: Original photo by Spc. Marilyn Lowry, 115th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

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The U.S. military began flying armed drones over Baghdad in the last 24 hours.

Orion, NASA's newest manned spaceship, is being prepared for its first mission in December. In future missions, it will journey into deep space - to Mars and beyond - farther than humans have ever gone before.

The treaty banning anti-personnel landmines was signed by 161 other nations, but not the U.S.

California Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier wants Congress to give millions in lost separation pay to service members dismissed from the military under the old "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

Ukraine signed an historic free-trade agreement with the European Union that has been at the heart of months of violence and upheaval in the country. 

The U.S. will urge China to resume discussions on cyber security that were abruptly suspended after the Americans charged five Chinese military officers with hacking into U.S. companies to steal trade secrets.

Obama has requested $6 billion for new military aircraft, drones, vehicles and bombs as part of his $60 billion request to fund the war in Afghanistan and other contingency operations in 2015.

The White House is asking Congress for $500 million to train and equip vetted pro-Western Syrian opposition groups.

Sen. Bernie Sanders implored House lawmakers to pay for a Veterans Affairs overhaul bill through emergency spending, not budget cuts.

New Drone Report: Three misconceptions about drones.

Marines won't take the beaches head-on any more.

The U.S. Air Force awarded Sikorsky and Lockheed Martin a $1.3 billion contract for the Combat Rescue Helicopter program.

The Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps have halted all F-35 flights after a fire damaged an Air Force F-35A during takeoff at Eglin Air Force Base.

The stone fish is the most poisonous fish in the sea and one of the most dangerous in the world.

If you think about it, the battle for control over the lands of Westeros would totally still make sense if it were set in the 1980s.

Project Tango Hands-On: Computer vision is so much cooler than you think.

The largest movable machine in the world.

Johnny Depp is doing Chinese reality TV.

See video of Don Cheadle prepping to play Miles Davis.

Happy 25th anniversary to the B-52s' Cosmic Thing.

List: Best/worst acting performances by musicians in film.

It's Friday!

LINK: Original photo by Staff Sgt. Todd Christopherson

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The U.S.-led international coalition in Afghanistan says one of its servicemembers has been killed in an attack in the country's south.

Militants take Iraqi gas field town, close in on Baghdad.

There is no evidence that during the five years he was held captive that Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl helped the Taliban.

The White House will ask the US Congress for $60 billion to fund military operations in Afghanistan and other global contingencies.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called on Russia to disarm separatists in Ukraine within "the next hours" as the European Union prepared to discuss deeper sanctions against Moscow.

History's Warning: A U.S.-China war is terrifyingly possible.

More than six in 10 people believe the captured Benghazi attack suspect is an enemy combatant who should be tried by military commission. 

Veterans who suffered brain injuries while in the service were more likely to develop Alzheimer's decades later.

Two more high-ranking Veterans Affairs officials announced plans to step down from their leadership roles.

Libya has become a "magnet" for terrorists since the U.S.-led ouster of Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.

Artic warriors summit Mount McKinley, put Army gear to test.

The commandant of the Marine Corps pushed back on criticism of the Marines' amphibious combat vehicle, calling development of the vehicle his top priority for the remainder of his tenure.

The military is about to get new spy glasses.

Moto 360 Hands-On: This smartwatch will make you swoon.

Read a paper's lengthy apology to David Bowie.

The A.V. Club is holding a "Tournament of Episodes" where, say, Breaking Bad goes up against Community.

Amazon is launching a food takeout service.

Finally: An anatomical chocolate skull for sweet-toothed cannibals.

Greet every personwho walks into your office today with the Red Tail Hawk Scream!

LINK: Original photo by Spc. Kimberly Hackbarth

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Sen. Tom Coburn: 1,000 vets may have died over VA misconduct.

Militants attacked one of Iraq's largest air bases and seized control of several small oilfields as U.S. military experts arrived to set up an operations centre to help Iraqi security forces counter a mounting Sunni insurgency.

In Iraq, former militia program eyed for new fight.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki rejected calls to create a new national unity government that the Obama administration has been pushing.   

Questions rebels use to tell Sunni from Shiite.

The White House will soon send the Pentagon's 2015 war spending request to the US Congress.

Air Force generals will face off over difficult budget, job cuts.

By not letting the Air Force retire the A-10 aircraft, however, Congress is going to instead force the retirement of bigger fleets of F-16 fighter and B-1 bomber aircraft.

The Air Force's B-2 Spirit is receiving a technological upgrade to allow the service's bat-winged, nuclear capable bomber keep flying through 2058.

The proliferation of armed drones could lower the threshold for conflict.

New leaders tapped for ISAF, SOCOM and NORAD.

North Korea calls new movie The Interview, which stars Seth Rogen and James Franco, an act of war.

10 hidden details in your city and what they mean.

Learn how OK Go made their new video.

The Knack's "My Sharona" is 35 years old.

Quiz: Can you match the cereal milk with the cereal?

Finally: Joan Jett is starring in a Lifetime movie.

New awesome tech trend ...

More Office Workers Switching To Fetal Position Desks

LINK: Original photo by Spc. Jacob Warren

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The White House announced former Staff Sgt. Ryan Pitts will receive the Medal of Honor for his combat actions during an enemy engagement in Wanat in the Waygal Valley of northeastern Afghanistan, July 13, 2008.

Iraq: Residents of farming villages describe being gunned down by Sunni militants and fleeing their homes amid shelling.

The al Qaeda-splinter group, Islamic State of Iraq in the Levant, has bragged about its capture of Iraqi army equipment, including Humvees, blast-resistant trucks and tanks.

U.S. teams of special forces going into Iraq after a three-year gap will face an aggressive insurgency, a splintering military and a precarious political situation as they help Iraqi security forces improve their ability to battle Sunni militants.

Iraq has offered legal guarantees to shield U.S. special operations forces sent to the country as advisers to help its forces battle Sunni radicals who have seized tracts of territory.

A Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that two-thirds of Americans oppose sending U.S. troops to Iraq.

Jordan has reinforced its border with Iraq after Sunni Arab militants overran a crossing with Syria.

The last consignment of declared chemical weapons has been handed over by the Syrian government.

The U.S. military is expected to significantly increase the number of troops, ships and watercraft rotating through Australia.

President Vladimir Putin asked Russia's upper house on Tuesday to revoke the right it had granted him to order a military intervention in Ukraine.

VA hid deaths, whistleblowers says.

Report: VA overlooked whistleblowers.

House lawmakers expressed displeasure that the VA has not been more transparent in its efforts to improve patient wait times and pressed the agency's senior leaders to move faster to solve the crisis.

A Scary Scenario: Fewer nukes, lots of missiles.

A U.S. Air Force F-35 Joint Strike Fighter caught fire when attempting to take off from a Florida Air Force base Monday morning.

GI Bill benefit unlikely to be cut, acting VA secretary says.

Army looking for new ways to provide training and education materials.

Too Much Free Time: The biggest companies from each state in the U.S.

Cooking eggs Benedict according to science.

This city from another world is right here on earth.

Video: Is this the most offensive red-carpet interview of all time?

Some early Talking Heads recordings have surfaced.

AMC has renewed Turn.

Mental Floss explains obscure references in classic rock songs.

Finally: Guided by Voices beer!

Finally: Every national anthem in the world mixed into one single song.

He's Batman ...

LINK: Original photo by Lance Cpl. Santiago G. Colon Jr.

GRAB A CUP AND READ THE MORNING REPORT FOR 6.23.14 >>>

The militants' capture of Turabil late Sunday followed the fall of three more towns in Iraq's western Anbar province.

U.S. advisers sent to Iraq will likely find an army so lacking that it may not be able to win back significant chunks of territory from militants.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry landed in Baghdad to press Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to form a more inclusive government in response to the Sunni insurgency that is sweeping Iraq.  

Obama: Only Iraqi political leadership, and not U.S. military force, could help solve sectarian divisions threatening to plunge the country into a civil war.

Obama: Afghanistan could be gripped by Iraq-style sectarian violence after the full withdrawal of American troops by the end of 2016.

Fighting flared between Ukrainian and pro-Moscow separatist forces.

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has been moved to outpatient care at a Texas military base.

The U.S. missile defense system managed by Boeing Co. on Sunday hit a simulated enemy missile over the Pacific in the first successful intercept test of the program since 2008.

Military now has X-ray guns.

Special Forces conducts naval training as Army emphasizes amphibious.

The Army is evolving its current Integrated Training Environment into a single synthetic training environment that combines constructive, gaming and virtual systems.?

New horsepower for war zones: Special Forces saddle up.

5 revolutionary American weapons of war that never happened.

One handcrafted soda, please, barista. Venti. Light on the fizz. Iced, with a touch of anise.

A haunting look at some of America's abandoned shopping malls.

Slingshot is Facebook's second attempt at trying to jump onto the ephemeral messaging bandwagon.

Cool: YouTuber The Unusual Suspect has released a GotG-style trailer... for Star Wars!

Astronaut Reid Wiseman tweeted this Vine a few days ago from the International Space Station.

See what the women in Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love" video look like today.

John Landis talks about the Close Encounters trailer on the latest ep of Trailers From Hell.

Watch Pearl Jam cover Let It Go from Frozen.

Finally: Interviews the voice actors for the classic Peanuts specials.

Ouch!

LINK: Original Photo by Seaman Martin Carey

GRAB A CUP AND READ THE MORNING REPORT FOR 6.21.14 >>>

The House approved a $570 billion defense spending proposal on Friday that would save the A-10 aircraft fleet, prohibit another base closure round and reject most of the Pentagon's planned pay and benefits trims.

Sunni fighters seized a border post on the Iraq-Syria frontier, smashing a line drawn by colonial powers almost a century ago and potentially creating an Islamic Caliphate from the Mediterranean Sea to Iran.

Jihadists in Iraq captured a key Hussein-era factory for chemical weapons, but Washington downplayed the site's significance.

Behind the image of savagery that the extremists of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria present lies a sophisticated organization that deftly employs social media and financial strategies.

How Iran and America can beat ISIS together.

Czech Defense Minister Martin Stropnicky has announced the Czech Republic is in talks to sell Russian-built Mil Mi-24 helicopters to the Iraqi Defense Ministry.

The Iraqi security forces were always America'sticket out of Iraq, so after many early disappointments, U.S. military leaders built the forces in their own image.

Pro-Russian separatists attacked Ukrainian posts on the border with Russia and a military base, and tried to storm an air force base overnight, putting a Ukrainian unilateral ceasefire under pressure.

Troops, vets campaign to award the Medal of Honor to fallen Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe.

More than 400 large U.S. military drones have crashed in major accidents around the world since 2001, a record of calamity that exposes the potential dangers of throwing open American skies to drone traffic, according to a year-long Washington Post investigation.

Obama: Post-9/11 GI Bill keeps promise to newest vets.

A forcewide review of tobacco that could result in new restrictions on the sale and use of cigarettes is drawing some skepticism from the Defense Department's top officer.

27 high-tension photos of NATO jets intercepting Russian warplanes.

Facebook Pokes: Creepy or funny?

How the hell did Lady Gaga think her "Do Want U Want" video was OK?

America's Euro boyfriend, Benedict Cumberbatch, will teach us foolish colonists all about soccer.

LucasFilm is in talks with Rian Johnson (Looper, Brick, Breaking Bad) to write and direct Star Wars" Episode VIII and IX.

Can you survive the Lego firewalk?

It's Saturday!

LINK: Original photo by Sgt. 1st Class Jon Soucy

GRAB A CUP AND READ THE MORNING REPORT FOR 6.20.14 >>>

The US House of Representatives on Thursday evening, during deliberation on the fiscal 2015 defense spending bill, voted to block the US Air Force's plan to cut the entire A-10 fleet.

The House late Thursday defeated an amendment from Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) that would prohibit the use of federal dollars toward combat operations in Iraq amid the country's growing unrest.

The House late Thursday gave voice vote approval to a proposal that would prevent a round of military base closures.

House voted 293-123 to block intel agencies from conducting warrantless searches.

The House adopted a proposal to ban transfers of detainees at the Guantánamo Bay prison to Yemen.

The Army is opening about 33,000 more jobs to women, according to a newly released memo signed by Army Secretary John McHugh.

Retired Marine Cpl. William Kyle Carpenter receives the Medal of Honor from President Obama on Thursday at the White House.

Iraqi forces are massing north of Baghdad today, aiming to strike back at Sunni Islamists whose drive toward the capital prompted the United States to send military advisers to stiffen government resistance.

President Obama's order to rush 300 Special Forces to Iraq is unlikely to heal the deep wounds festering inside most Iraqi units.

The Middle East is no longer stable and, barring a miracle of probably divine origin, it will not be for a long time to come

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

President Obama announced he plans to send about 300 U.S. military advisers to Iraq to assist the government in its fight against extremists from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

Obama outlined a careful commitment of U.S. forces to Iraq, pledging to watch any "mission creep."

Most people in the United States oppose intervening in Iraq.

Fighting raged for a second successive day in the east of Ukraine today, a day after clashes in which Ukrainian government forces said about 300 separatists were killed.

Russia is again building up forces on the border with Ukraine, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said, calling it a "very regrettable step backward."

In Africa counterterror pivot, a focus on ISR.

New research by Army scientists appears to confirm what has been long-recognized as an unfortunate consequence of combat deployment: that troops drink more after going to war.

The U.S. Navy is ordering more "Don't Tread on Me" flag patches eight months after it was reported that Navy Seals had stopped wearing them because the Tea Party used a similar flag.

Finally: Photos of L.A.'s most famous streets when they were dirt roads.

Guy wearing Mentos suit drops into Diet Coke tank and explodes.

10 beach-ready book and music pairings.

No one drinks wine like Cersei Lannister.

Wil Wheaton gets how hard it is to keep track of all of Westeros. Luckily, he gets by with a little help from the Bradys.

World leaders interacting awkwardly with soccer balls.

Meet Smudge

LINK: Original photo by Spc. Erika Montano