Summary: News and analysis on the 8th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan to topple the Taliban government, destroy al-Qaida, and kill or capture Osama bin Laden and other leaders of the terrorist organization. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on the 28th day after losing his 2008 primary challenge against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, Aubrey Immelman, in line with his focus on national security, examined the differences between presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain with respect to handling the war in Iraq.

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Summary: 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. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on the 27th day after losing his 2008 primary challenge against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, Aubrey Immelman, in line with his focus on national security, reported that the U.S. Army was unveiling a new doctrine that foresees nation-building missions as becoming more important than conventional warfare; defines “fragile states” that breed crime, terrorism, and religious and ethnic strife as the greatest threat to U.S. national security; and holds that American troops in future will be less likely to engage in major ground combat against hostile states as they did in Iraq and Afghanistan, instead being called upon more often to operate in lawless areas to safeguard populations and rebuild countries.

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Summary: The new leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Hakimullah Mehsud, threatened to strike back at Pakistan and the United States for airstrikes by unmanned U.S. drones in northwestern Pakistan. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on the 26th day after losing his 2008 primary challenge against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, Aubrey Immelman, in line with his focus on national security, reported that the senior British commander in Afghanistan had said that a decisive military victory in Afghanistan was impossible and that the objective in Afghanistan should be to achieve a manageable level of insurgency that’s not a strategic threat. He also reported on a U.S. missile strike in Pakistan and ongoing violence in Iraq.

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Summary: Hundreds of insurgents armed with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades nearly overran a U.S. outpost near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, killing eight U.S. soldiers and capturing more than 20 Afghan security forces in the deadliest assault against U.S. troops in more than a year. … Stephanie Smith of Cold Spring, Minnesota, was left paralyzed in 2007 after eating a hamburger tainted by E. coli. …. On the 25th day after losing his 2008 primary challenge against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, Aubrey Immelman, in line with his focus on national security, reported the killing of a senior al-Qaida in Iraq bombing mastermind, the withdrawal of Polish forces from Iraq, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il’s first public appearance in more than a month amid speculation about his health.

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Summary: President Barack Obama has met with Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, as he ponders whether the U.S. should send tens of thousands more troops to crush the Taliban in a broad counterinsurgency strategy, or shift to a narrower antiterrorism focus on al-Qaida in neighboring Pakistan. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on the 24th day after losing his 2008 primary challenge against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, Aubrey Immelman, in line with his focus on national security, reported that the U.N. had declared the Pakistani capital of Islamabad unsafe for the children of its international staff, putting the once tranquil city on par with the capitals of Afghanistan and Somalia. He also reported that the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David McKiernan, had called for more troops to stem the deteriorating security situation.

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Summary: As though vying for the title of “World’s Greatest Exaggerator,” U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, U.S. Fearmonger-in-Chief, this week made the histrionic claim that by next fall “someone’s 13-year-old daughter could walk into a sex clinic, have a pregnancy test done, be taken away to the local Planned Parenthood abortion clinic, have their abortion, be back, and go home on the school bus that night … [with] Mom and Dad … never the wiser.” … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on the 23rd day after losing his 2008 primary challenge against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, Aubrey Immelman, in line with his focus on national security, provided an October 2008 update of key facts, figures, and statistics on Iraq since the war began in March 2003. He also reported on suicide bombings at two Shiite mosques in Baghdad that killed 24 people and wounded more than 50, a missile strike by a suspected U.S. drone in the northwest Pakistan tribal region near the Afghan border, ongoing violence in Iraq, and the reduction of U.S. military deaths in Iraq as Iraqi security forces increasingly take the lead in counterinsurgency operations.

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Summary: Inauguration of Fr. Robert J. Koopmann, OSB, as the 12th president of St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on the 22nd day after losing his 2008 primary challenge against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, Aubrey Immelman, in line with his focus on national security, reported on the growing Taliban influence in Pakistan.

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Summary: According to initial reports, the Princeton police and fire departments and bomb squads from Minneapolis and Crow Wing County were responding to reports of suspicious packages at the Princeton post office, high school, and public utilities building in Princeton, Minnesota. According to later reports, the packages were “contained” and removed from the sites by early afternoon. The Princeton school superintendent described the package found outside the high school as an “incendiary device” and quoted the police chief as saying the objects were “very suspicious,” containing “some explosive material.” Subsequent tests showed the packages contained “inert powders and were negative for hazardous materials” — an apparent hoax. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on the 21st day after losing his 2008 primary challenge against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, Aubrey Immelman, in line with his focus on national security, reported on the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan and U.S. military deaths and persistent violence in Iraq.

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Summary: 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. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on the 20th day after losing his 2008 primary challenge against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, Aubrey Immelman, in line with his focus on national security, reported on mass-casualty bombings in Baghdad and a lecture by Juan Cole on the foreign policy implications of the Iraq war.

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Summary: Young Americans for Liberty refuse to publicize Michele Bachmann’s appearance with Ron Paul at a University of Minnesota rally, saying, “We don’t feel that we can promote her in good faith, because she represents none of the libertarian principles that we joined this group for.” … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on the 19th day after losing his 2008 primary challenge against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, Aubrey Immelman, in line with his focus on national security, reported on violence in Iraq’s disputed Kurdish region and bombings in Baghdad, posted a daily summary of security incidents in Iraq, and documented political assassinations and kidnappings in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

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