Summary: July 2010 was Iraq’s deadliest month in more than two years, according to new official figures, suggesting that a resilient insurgency is successfully taking advantage of the months of deadlock in forming a new government. The figures show that 535 people were killed last month, the highest since May 2008 when 563 died. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on August 1, 2009 Aubrey Immelman reported that 40 U.S. troops died in Afghanistan in July 2009, by far the heaviest monthly toll up to that point in the war. The worst previous month for U.S. forces had been September 2008, when 26 were killed.

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Summary: A car bomb outside a Shiite mosque in the village of Abu Sayda near Baqouba north of Baghdad killed 15 people, the third deadly attack in the region in as many days, while a U.S. soldier was killed in a separate bombing in the same province. … The Taliban claims it shot down a helicopter that crashed in southern Afghanistan, killing two U.S. service members. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on July 22, 2009 Aubrey Immelman reported that Iraq’s western city of Ramadi, Anbar province, declared a state of emergency and imposed a vehicle ban after several bomb attacks; bombs also exploded across Baghdad, killing 16 people and wounding dozens.

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Summary: Twin suicide bombings kill nearly 50 people in Iraq as U.S. combat troops prepare to withdraw by the end of August. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on July 18, 2009 Aubrey Immelman reported that Iraq’s top commanders told their U.S. counterparts to “stop all joint patrols” in Baghdad, raising fresh concerns about the safety of U.S. troops in Iraq.

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Summary: U.S. Independence Day celebrations. … Baghdad Green Zone mortar attack as Vice President Joe Biden visits Iraq. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on July 4, 2009 Aubrey Immelman reported on North Korea’s possible motives in launching seven ballistic missiles on America’s Independence Day and provided a link to a summary of his North Korean threat assessment and psychological profile of Kim Jong-Il, prepared for the Department of Defense.

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Summary: Taliban suicide attackers stormed a four-story house used by the U.S. Agency for International Development in Kunduz, north Afghanistan, killing four people before succumbing in a fierce, five-hour gunbattle with Afghan security forces. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on July 2, 2009 Aubrey Immelman reported that PolitiFact’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Truth-O-Meter rated Rep. Michele Bachmann’s “scaremongering claim” that ACORN will be a paid partner of the Census Bureau and “in charge” of going door-to-door and collecting data from the American public in the 2010 U.S. Census as [Liar, Liar] Pants on Fire.

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Summary: Suicide bombers in a crowded Baghdad commercial district and in Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit killed at least 33 people as insurgents tried to turn a monthslong deadlock over forming a new Iraqi government to their advantage. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on June 20, 2009 Aubrey Immelman featured a Politico report that U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) was one of the House of Representatives’ biggest spenders on congressional office expenses in the first quarter of 2009. An analysis of the first-quarter 2009 Member’s Representational Allowance (office budget) reports showed Bachmann spent more than $380,000 during the three-month period — more than $100,000 more than the average first-quarter spending.

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Summary: The complex nature of the June 13, 2010 attack on Iraq’s central bank suggests al-Qaida in Iraq’s new leadership could be taking cues from the Taliban’s success with similar operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on June 17, 2009 Aubrey Immelman featured biographical profiles of candidates and other major players in Iran’s disputed 2009 presidential vote.

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Summary: June 7, 2010 marks the end of 104 months of war in Afghanistan, making it the longest war in American history after the Vietnam War, which continued for 103 months following the Aug. 7, 1964 Tonkin Gulf Resolution. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on June 7, 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: Bombings in Baghdad, Iraq and Kandahar, Afghanistan killed seven people — including policemen in both countries — and wounded about two dozen. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on June 6, 2009 Aubrey Immelman commemorated the 65th anniversary of D-Day, the Allied invasion of Normandy on May 6, 1944.

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Summary: The Department of Defense has alerted the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 34th Infantry Division, Minnesota Army National Guard, to stand by for deployment to Iraq in summer 2011. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on May 26, 2009 Aubrey Immelman reported that suicide bombings in Afghanistan’s northern Kapisa province and Iraq’s western Anbar province killed six Americans — three in each theater.

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