War Glance
Soldiers interviewed by The Gazette cited lengthy deployments, being sent back into battle after surviving war injuries that would have been fatal in previous conflicts, and engaging in some of the bloodiest combat in Iraq. The soldiers describing those experiences were part of the 3,500-soldier unit now called the 4th Infantry Division's 4th Brigade Combat Team.
Since 2005, some brigade soldiers also have been involved in brawls, beatings, rapes, DUIs, drug deals, domestic violence, shootings, stabbings, kidnapping and suicides.
Soldiers in Colorado slayings tell of Iraq horrors
Deadly blast hits Iraqi party HQ
A car bomb attack on the headquarters of a Sunni party in Iraq has killed at least four people and wounded at least 23 in the central city of Falluja.
The offices of Vice-President Tareq Hashemi's Islamic party were almost completely destroyed.
U.S. stops giving militant death tolls in Afghanistan
U.S. military officials in Afghanistan have halted the practice of releasing the number of militants killed in fighting with American-led forces as part of an overall strategy shift that emphasizes concern for the local civilian population's well-being rather than hunting insurgent groups.
The decision has triggered a quiet but fierce debate among military officers comparing the current situation with the U.S. experience in Vietnam, when military officials exaggerated body counts and used them as a measure of success.
Suicide bombers hit Afghan city
Taliban militants, including several suicide bombers, have attacked government buildings in the south-eastern Afghan city of Khost.
The militants, armed with automatic weapons, battled security forces until six blew themselves up and one was shot dead, according to defence officials.
Many translators unfit in any language
U.S. troops say companies that recruit military translators are sending linguists to southern Afghanistan who are unprepared to serve in combat, even as hundreds more are needed to support the growing number of troops.
Some translators are in their 60s and 70s and in poor physical condition - and some don't even speak the right language.
IDF soldier: Gazans used as human shields to check militants' homes
The Israel Defense Forces used Palestinians as human shields during Operation Cast Lead last January despite a 2005 High Court ruling outlawing the practice, a Golani brigade soldier says. He says he did not see Palestinians being used as human shields but was told by his commanders that this occurred.
The soldier says his unit employed a variation of the practice, the so-called "neighbor procedure," when it checked homes for Palestinian militants.
Israeli soldiers reveal the brutal truth of Gaza attack
The picture that emerges from the testimonies, which have been seen by The Independent, is one of massive fire power to cover advances and rules of engagement that were calculated to ensure, in the words attributed to one battalion commander, that "not a hair will fall of a soldier of mine. I am not willing to allow a soldier of mine to risk himself by hesitating. If you are not sure, shoot."
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