European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 8, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                              July 2007 stars and stripes Mideast edition pages lawyer Marine in fal Lujah probe is a hero by Thomas Watkins the associated press san Diego a former Marine at the Center of a probe into whether american troops killed Between five and 10 unarmed captives during a Battle in Iraq is a hero who faced vicious his lawyer former Ryan Weemer sought a Law yer earlier this year because he was concerned naval criminal investigative ser vice agents wanted to question attorney Paul Hackett of Cincinnati said Fri Weemer is an american Hackett every american should be on their hands and Knees thanking their god that there Are men in the american military like Ryan Weemer doing the heavy lifting their country is at the Center of a military probe into the actions of his Camp Pendle to based squad in fal Lujah on or about the investigation was launched after Weemer left the marines and applied for a Job with the secret according to a military Nathaniel who interviewed him last Weemer de scribed the killings of the suspected insurgents when asked before a polygraph test if he had Ever participated in a wrongful Hackett declined to comment on weeders discussions with the secret ser vice but said his client had not yet spoken to the naval criminal investigative ser said Weemer told him he spoke to the acis in april or May Weemer was a Rifleman in a Fourman fir team in the 3rd kilo 3rd 1st Hackett Willard commander of the battalion at the time of the alleged kill declined to comment on the investigation i like to let the Justice system work it self through Buhl Helms said Weemer told him about the killings last year for a Book he was writing on saying the suspected insurgents had been held in an abandoned House after being captured in one of the marines radioed Headquarters for guidance on what to the groups Leader interpreted the there still alive As an order to Helms said according to the a the captives were then but Helms said he did not know if Weemer was one of those to fire his Helms went on to speak to several other members of weeders platoon but none of them corroborated the i asked everyone i no one else knew about Helms More republicans losing Faith in Bush War policy by Noam Levey los Angeles times Washington wearied by the Lack of Progress in Iraq and by the steady Stream of military funerals Back a growing number of Republican lawmakers who had stood loyally with president Bush Are insisting his strategy has failed and calling on him to bring the War to an in the past two three gop senators including one of the party leading voices on for eign affairs and one of Bush strongest allies have urged the president to change course now so troops can Start to with and in interviews with the los Angeles two More Senate republicans bluntly voiced disappointment with the presidents approach and pressed for it should be Clear to the presi Dent that there needs to be a new said Tennessee Lamar our policy in Iraq is new Hampshire Judd who helped Lead the charge earlier this year against democratic efforts to oppose Bush troop said we dont seem to be making a lot of he said it is vital to have a Clear blueprint for How we were going to draw none of these gop lawmakers has embraced democratic Legisla Tion to compel a troop withdraw but nearly five years after con Gressional republicans overwhelmingly answered Bush Call for military action against Iraq Saddam some Are doing what was once unthinkable challenging a wartime president from their own by publicly branding Bush buildup a failure and calling for troops to begin coming they Are forcing a reluctant White House to reassess How Long it can maintain a Large military pres ence in administration officials had hoped gop lawmakers would stand with them at least until sep when the top generals in Iraq Are scheduled to report on the effectiveness of the troop the tide of Republican dissent began to grow two weeks ago when Richard Lugar of in former chairman of the foreign relations delivered an Earnest plea for change from the floor of the sen George Voinovich of Ohio expressed similar doubts in a letter he sent to the president the next and John Warner of the former chairman of the Senate armed services openly praised Lugar for speaking Pete Domenici of new Mexico joined the group of which just a few weeks ago included Only a handful of gop lawmakers led by Nebraska Chuck Hagel and Oregon Gordon go Fly a Kite an afghan boy flies a new Kite Given him to him by polish soldiers in Andar Ghazi the polish soldiers Are from company polish Battle Micah Clare Courtesy of the army Almalik baathist infiltrate Mahdi army by Bassem Mroue the associated press Baghdad iraqi prime minister Nouri Almalik said saturday that the movement of Radical shiite cleric Muntada a Sadr has been infiltrated by baathist and gangs in one of his harshest criticism of the group mat helped him come to Almalik demanded sadist leaders take Deci Sive and Clear action to ensure they Are not blamed for acts of violence carried out in their groups despite being Strong allies in the tension has been rising Between Almalik and the sadists recently and culminated in april when six ministers Loyal to a Sadr quit the Cabinet to protest what a Sadr said was the governments incompetence and refusal to Call for a troop withdrawal time Alsa drs Mahdi army militia was blamed for much of the sectarian violence that has killed thou Sands of iraqis in the past two we hear the statements of officials in the sadist movement in which they say that they Are against the use of weapons and condemn those who carry this puts us in front of a fact that we should courageously Almalik according to a statement from his these Are people who have joined the sadist movement to take it As a cover and they Are Sadd baathist and gangs for theft and they Are taking advantage of the Almalik said after a meeting with president Jalal Almalik called on the leaders of the sadist movement to take decisive and Clear decisions so that they dont Bear responsibility for those who use the name of the organization for killings and acts of my abbr Best help illustrate our 2008 Calendar and you could win a digital camera Send us your View by entering your downrange depicting what life is like for you in the War enter by july 16 at up 9