Summary: Weekly report of U.S. military deaths in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, compiled from U.S. Department of Defense news releases and iCasualties.org. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on April 29, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that U.S. troops raided the home of a female member of the Afghan parliament and killed a neighbor who was one of her relatives, sparking angry protests.

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Summary: “Urbi et Orbi” — Pope Benedict XVI offered an Easter prayer from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica for diplomacy to prevail over warfare in Libya and for citizens of the Middle East to build a new society based on respect. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on April 24, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that an explosion that killed an American and an Afghan soldier on a military base in Kabul on April 19, 2010 was carried out by a suicide bomber, the second time in five months an insurgent had managed to infiltrate a base.

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Summary: Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann has been named to Time magazine’s 2011 list of 100 “most influential” people. Rush Limbaugh wrote the citation and Aubrey Immelman offers perspective. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on April 23, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer ignored criticism from President Barack Obama and signed into law a bill supporters said would take handcuffs off police in dealing with illegal immigration in Arizona, the nation’s busiest gateway for human and drug smuggling from Mexico.

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Summary: Today is the 12th anniversary of the Columbine High School shootings. Students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 12 classmates and a teacher before killing themselves on this date in 1999. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on April 20, 2010, Aubrey Immelman provided his weekly report of U.S. military deaths in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

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Summary: Today is the 16th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing and the 18th anniversary Branch Davidian assault in Waco, Texas. Army veteran Timothy McVeigh planned the OKC bombing as revenge for the deadly standoff between the FBI and Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas, that killed more than 70 people on April 19, 1993. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on April 19, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, at a somber ceremony marking the 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing, warned of the need for continued vigilance against terrorists.

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Summary: Suicide bombers detonated two explosives-packed cars outside Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, killing at least nine people and wounding 23. Separately, hours after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki met with U.S. House Speaker John Boehner telling him Iraq’s security forces can protect the country after the planned withdrawal of 46,000 U.S. troops by the end of 2011, gunmen stormed the home of a Shiite family living in a mostly Sunni neighborhood of Baghdad and killed all four family members, including two children. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on April 18, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that the Taliban were moving fighters into Kandahar, planting bombs, and plotting attacks as NATO and Afghan forces prepare for a summer offensive.

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Summary: Afghanistan’s fighting season will begin in full force by the end of April — and with it, a chance to measure the success of NATO’s efforts to turn back the Taliban. The extent to which the Taliban return to the fight will also help determine whether the surge of more than 30,000 additional U.S. troops that President Obama announced in December 2009 succeeded in arresting the insurgency. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on April 16, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported a New York Times/CBS News poll that found the 18 percent of Americans who identified themselves as Tea Party supporters were wealthier and more well-educated than the general public and tended to be Republican, white, male, and married.

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Summary: Weekly report of U.S. military deaths in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, compiled from U.S. Department of Defense news releases and iCasualties.org. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on April 15, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that Sen. John McCain said the United States had been backing away from a brewing fight with Iran, even as that country moved ever closer to having nuclear weapons.

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Summary: Rep. Michele Bachmann, in an address to The Family Leader — a conservative Iowa group — made many controversial statements, including the debunked claim that Planned Parenthood “wants to be the LensCrafters of Big Abortion” and falsely claiming that Al Franken “stole” Minnesota’s U.S. Senate election. But Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert keyed in on statements about same-sex marriage as Bachmann tried to prove her “anti-gay street cred” with social conservatives. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on April 14, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that GOP activist Luke Hellier, in an apparent attempt to taint the reputation of Michele Bachmann’s Republican challenger, Aubrey Immelman, posted a misleading report on the website “Minnesota Democrats Exposed.”

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Summary: In a slow-starting 2012 Republican presidential field that lacks star power, Michele Bachmann is carving out a role as the polarizing Tea Party favorite with a dynamic, take-no-prisoners style. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on April 12, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that U.S. troops opened fire on a bus carrying Afghan civilians, killing five people and setting off anti-American protests in Kandahar, where coalition forces hope to rally the public for a coming offensive against the Taliban.

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