Summary: Sixteen bombs went off in at least 10 neighborhoods across Iraq’s capital of Baghdad, many at restaurants and coffee shops full of civilians. The death toll climbed to 76 in the first hours following the blasts, with nearly 300 wounded. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on November 2, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that of the 364 Iraqis killed in October 2009, 155 died in two nearly simultaneous bombs targeting government buildings on Oct. 25, 2009 in downtown Baghdad — the worst attack in more than two years. Meanwhile, there were more Taliban bombings in retaliation as Pakistan continued its offensive in South Waziristan, a tribal region adjoining Afghanistan, where al-Qaida terrorists are believed to have hideouts.

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Summary: Muqtada al-Sadr, the radical, anti-American Muslim cleric whose Mahdi Army militia once fought U.S. occupation forces in Iraq positioned himself as a big winner in Iraq’s months-long political deadlock when his Sadrist party threw its support behind beleaguered Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on October 1, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported on the inauguration of Fr. Robert J. Koopmann, OSB, as the 12th president of St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota.

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Summary: The heavily fortified Green Zone in Iraq’s capital has in recent weeks come under an intensifying barrage of rocket attacks, and a senior American military commander is suggesting that Iranian-backed militias are behind the attacks in an effort to influence the formation of a new Iraqi government. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on September 29, 2009, Aubrey Immelman provided his weekly report of U.S. military deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Summary: A U.S. soldier is in custody in connection with the shooting deaths of two fellow service members in Fallujah, Iraq. Spc. Neftaly Platero is in custody as authorities investigate the deaths of Spc. John Carrillo Jr., 20, of Stockton, Calif., and Pfc. Gebrah P. Noonan, 26, of Watertown, Conn. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on September 27, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that Rep. Michele Bachmann, speaking at the “How to Take Back America” conference, said that the priorities of Republicans if they retook Congress in 2010 would be to “pass repealer bill after repealer bill,” to prevent the creation of a one-world currency, and to pull the government back from the “36 percent of private business profits” that she claimed it now controlled.

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Summary: Two car bombs tore through Baghdad, killing more than 30 people and wounding dozens as tensions simmer six months after an inconclusive election and three weeks after U.S. troops ended major combat in Iraq. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on September 19, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that nine international (ISAF) troops had been killed in Afghanistan in a single day while an Afghan-born immigrant from Pakistan under investigation in a terrorism probe in New York and Denver reportedly admitted a link with al-Qaida.

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Summary: On a day of mourning for nearly 3,000 Sept. 11 victims on the ninth anniversary of the terrorist attack of 9/11, President Barack Obama called for national unity as the ‘ground zero mosque’ and Quran-burning controversies threatened to overshadow memorial events. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on September 11, 2009, Aubrey Immelman commemorated the 8th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, noting that with the timetable set for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq and the fighting in Afghanistan nearing its ninth year, war coverage had waned, often pushed off the front page by the economic recession, health care reform, and celebrity deaths.

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Summary: An Iraqi soldier sprayed gunfire at American troops guarding one of their commanders as he visited an Iraqi military base, killing two and wounding nine. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on September 8, 2009, Aubrey Immelman provided his weekly report of U.S. military deaths in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, noting that four U.S. troops were killed that day in each of those countries.

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Summary: A day after the number of American troops in Iraq fell to its lowest level since the war began in 2003 — fewer than 50,000 — insurgents launched more than two dozen attacks across the country, killing at least 56 Iraqis. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on August 26, 2009 — a day four U.S. soldiers died in Aghanistan –Aubrey Immelman reported that a coordinated multiple-vehicle bomb attack in Kandahar killed more than 40 civilians in one of the largest insurgent bombings since the start of the Afghanistan war in 2001.

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Summary: A suicide bomber detonated nail-packed explosives strapped to his body among hundreds of army recruits, killing 61 and wounding 125, casting new doubt on the military capacity of Iraqi forces as U.S. troops head home. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on August 18, 2009 Aubrey Immelman provided his weekly report of U.S. military deaths in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan), compiled from U.S. Department of Defense News Releases.

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Summary: Gen. Babaker Shawkat Zebari, commander of Iraq’s military, is calling for U.S. forces to stay in the country for another decade, reinforcing his stance that his country’s military won’t be able to secure the nation on their own after U.S. troops leave at the end of 2011. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on August 12, 2009 Aubrey Immelman reported that dozens of Iraqis were killed and hundreds wounded in a spate of bombings, raising fears of a sustained insurgent campaign aimed at provoking new sectarian tensions.

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