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Bush, who held a press briefing at the White House, also
warned the House of Representatives that it should back off
efforts to vote on a bill declaring the 1915 massacres of
Armenians genocide.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates asked Congress Wednesday
to approve nearly $190 billion for the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan in 2008, increasing initial projections by more
than a third.

Iraq says it has expanded its investigation of the Blackwater
shooting to include six other incidents involving the company’s
guards in recent months. It also says it has a videotape of last
weekend’s incident.

Al-Qaida deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri appears on a new
video saying the US is being defeated in Afghanistan, Iraq
and elsewhere.

While ‘formidable challenges’ remain in Iraq, President Bush
says, the United States will start shifting more troops into
support roles - in addintion to the troop withdrawals announced
earlier in the week. (Sept. 15)

President Bush is set to announce the withdrawal of 30,000
troops from Iraq, bringing the number down to pre-surge levels.
Congressional Democrats are saying this is not enough.

US Sergent Jason Hubbard was repatriated from Iraq over the weekend after his two brothers were killed in action,
echoing the Oscar-winning film “Saving Private Ryan”. Hubbard, 33, returned to his family’s home in northern California
after his younger brother Nathan, 21, was killed in a helicopter crash in northern Iraq last week.
The death came three years after another sibling, Jared, 22, was killed by a bomb in Fallujah in 2004.
Hubbard’s hometown of Clovis is in mourning. An AFPTV voiced report.
Copyright (c) 2007 AFP