The American Thinker is proud to present a weekly feature that highlights the courage and compassion of our US service members around the world fighting in the War on Terror.  Too often, major wire and news services cover events on the battlefield or on the reconstruction front with little more than a paragraph of actual detail on the subject before slipping into an all too familiar 'doom and gloom' rant.  Ultimately, the piece becomes little more than a political hit piece, instead of reporting on the actions of America's best.

Every weekly Battle Blog will present some key stories from sources other than the mainstream media and wire services.  Some American Thinker readers may already go to these sources as a matter of routine, however, many are unaware of these alternative sources, and hopefully, we can all be better informed about the 'ground truth' in this war.  This Battle Blog cannot be all inclusive, yet, it will not ignore the bad news as it develops.

The significance of the discovery of a 155mm binary Sarin artillery shell this past week is only the tip of the iceberg as The Stars and Stripes reports on the potential for more WMD stockpiles in 1st Cav's big score could get bigger .

Muqtada al—Sadr's Mahdi Militia takes some severe hits from the 2d Cavalry Regiment's 3d Squadron in Cavalry clears insurgents from Diwaniya by Pfc. Erik LeDrew.

In a moving article entitled Battalion honors "no better friend" killed in action , the Marines pay tribute to one of their heroes who paid the ultimate price in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Anyone who sniffs that the Guard isn't an honorable way to serve our country needs to read Yellow Stone' ousts insurgents from Iraqi island by Cpl. Benjamin Cossel.  In this battle, the 39th Brigade Combat Team (BCT) of the Arkansas National Guard (attached to the 1st Cavalry division) teams up with Macedonian Special Forces to capture an insurgent held island.

The Marines in Afghanistan mix hunting for Taliban remnants and humanitarian relief efforts in 22d MEU (SOC) provides gift of water to Afghan villagers.

Posted by Douglas Hanson