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Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) used his experience as an Iraq War veteran to respond to a comment a Fox News anchor made suggesting the Trump family has done more for the country than any Democrat.

Totally remember the Trump brothers laying down suppressive fire for me in Anbar, Gallego tweeted Sunday.

Totally remember the Trump brothers laying down suppressive fire for me in Anbar. https://t.co/P2O7ysBIGA

Gallego was responding to a statement made by Jesse Watters, a host of Fox News programs The Five and Watters World.

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Donald TrumpDonald TrumpLawyer say Trump Jr. was 'fully prepared' to speak about Russia meeting Overnight Cybersecurity: White House says 'cyber unit' with Russia wouldn't share intel | Colorado moves to audit digital voting | Top State Department cyber official leaving | Dow Jones customer data exposed Trump budget is an attack on the nations poor children MORE's family has done more for this country than any Democratic elected official, Watters said last Thursday.

Gallego has come out against President Trump in the past, criticizinghispolicies about veterans and calling him out for comparing his attendance ofa military academy to serving in the armed forces.

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Iraq vet lawmaker mocks Fox host over Trump family praise | TheHill - The Hill

Secretary of Irans Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani (R) shakes hands with deputy secretary general of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Kosrat Rasul Ali, in Tehran on July 17, 2017. (Photo by IRNA)

A senior Iranian official has warned that a plan by Iraqs semi-autonomous Kurdistan region to hold an independence referendum will weaken the entire Arab country.

Secretary of Irans Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani made the comment in a meeting in Tehran on Monday with deputy secretary general of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Kosrat Rasul Ali, and the Chief of the Executive Body of the PUKs Political Bureau, Mala Bakhtiar.

Shamkhani said the independence plan would in fact put pressure on and isolateIraqi Kurds and weaken Kurdistan and eventuallyall of Iraq.

The Iranian official added that the plan wentagainstthe policies and initiatives of the Iraqi officials and wasnot a priority and requirement of the countrys people.

Shamkhani further noted that certain regional and extra-regional countries sought to undermine Iraq and big countries in the Middle East, stressing that such arrogant plots should be thwarted by remaining vigilant and paying attention to the interests of the nation and those of the Muslim world.

He said the Islamic Republic wishes security, economic development and prosperity for people, parties and groups in the north of Iraq whose realizationwould prevent the activities and spread of terrorist groups.

The president of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government, Masoud Barzani, announced on Twitter in June that the northern territory would hold an independence referendum on September 25 not only in the three provinces that make up the Kurdish region, but also in the areas that were bone of contention between the Iraqi Kurdistan Region and the central government in Baghdad.

After the announcement, the Iraqi government issued a statement in response that it would reject any unilateral move by Kurdish regional authorities to press for independence.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on June 13 that the Kurdish minority's decision to hold an independence referendum wasuntimely.

"Every part of Iraq has aspirations and has a dream, and we respect that, even if we disagree with it. We live in one homeland and they are our partners," Abadi said.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the SNSC secretary further pointed to the liberation of the Iraqi northern city of Mosul from the grip of Daesh Takfiri terrorist group and said it would herald a better future for an integrated Iraq and foil foreign plots aimed at creatinga divisionin the country.

A secure, stable and united Iraq promotes the countrys sustainable security, stability and progress and friendly countries to Iraq and its well-wishers must support such an approach, Shamkhani pointed out.

Delivering a formal statement aired by the state television on July 10, the Iraqi premier formally declared the victory of the countrys forces over the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in Mosul, one day after Iraqi military and Popular Mobilization Forces took full control of the city.

The recapture of Mosul marks the biggest blow to the Takfiri extremist group since it declared its so-called caliphate three years ago.

Iran avertedsecurity disaster in Kurdistan

Rasul Ali, for his part, said Iran hadalways played a leading role in supporting Kurdistan, particularly in countering Daesh terrorists, and prevented a security disaster in this region.

He said the Islamic Republic and the Kurdistan region haddeep-rooted and historical bonds.

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Kurdish independence plan will weaken Iraq: Iranian official - Press TV

Source: defense.gov

SOUTHWEST ASIA(ENEWSPF)July 17, 2017 U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 31 strikes consisting of 51 engagements, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Officials reported details of yesterdays strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Strikes in Syria

In Syria, coalition military forces conducted 22 strikes consisting of 34 engagements against ISIS targets:

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted nine strikes consisting of 17 engagements against ISIS targets:

July 15 Strikes

Additionally, 14 strikes were conducted in Syria and Iraq on July 15 that closed within the last 24 hours:

Part of Operation Inherent Resolve

These strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to destroy ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The destruction of ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria also further limits the groups ability to project terror and conduct external operations throughout the region and the rest of the world, task force officials said.

The list above contains all strikes conducted by fighter, attack, bomber, rotary-wing or remotely piloted aircraft; rocket-propelled artillery; and some ground-based tactical artillery when fired on planned targets, officials noted.

Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike, they added. A strike, as defined by the coalition, refers to one or more kinetic engagements that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single or cumulative effect.

For example, task force officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIS vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against a group of ISIS-held buildings and weapon systems in a compound, having the cumulative effect of making that facility harder or impossible to use. Strike assessments are based on initial reports and may be refined, officials said.

The task force does not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target.

Source: http://defense.gov

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U.S., Coalition Continue Strikes to Defeat ISIS in Syria, Iraq, July 17 ... - eNews Park Forest

Photo: Felipe Dana, Associated Press

The devastation from the battle to retake Mosul from Islamic State militants is underscored in an image from Tuesday. The nearly nine-month fight culminated in a crescendo of destruction.

The devastation from the battle to retake Mosul from Islamic State militants is underscored in an image from Tuesday. The nearly nine-month fight culminated in a crescendo of destruction.

After defeat of militants, a grim search for bodies in Iraq

MOSUL, Iraq The streets of Mosuls Old City are littered with bodies, tangled between shattered stones and remnants of the lives they left behind.

In the baking summer heat, exhausted rescue crews are now sifting through the debris of the toughest battle against the Islamic State group in what became its final redoubt in the city.

As Iraqi ground troops, U.S.-led coalition jets and Islamic State militants pulverized the Old Citys winding maze of streets, thousands of civilians were caught in the crossfire.

But the area is now deserted. Its inhabitants evacuated to houses, camps or prison cells across the province in recent months.

A week after Iraqi officials declared victory in Mosul, all that remains in the Old City is rubble and unknown hundreds of bodies.

Aid groups say that thousands of civilians were killed in the nine-month offensive. A final death toll is unlikely to ever be known, robbing families of answers and a grave for their grief.

Across western Mosul, hundreds of families are still waiting for news. Others know exactly where their loved ones were killed but are still unable to reach them.

On Friday, Sumaya Sarhan, 48, waited in the rescue workers sun-parched yard for her brothers remains, three months after the air strike that killed him.

We lived opposite and tried so many times to get him out. But it was too dangerous, there was too much fighting. Today, I finally saw him pulled from the rubble.

The task of cutting bodies from their homes in this, the most devastated swath of the city, has fallen to a 25-man civil defense unit with one bulldozer, a forklift truck and a single vehicle to carry the corpses.

They have found hundreds of people suffocated under the ruins of their homes. Then, there are those the Islamic State shot as they tried to flee, their bodies left to rot as a message to anyone else who might attempt to escape.

Mosuls Old City had more than 5,000 buildings, many of them high-ceilinged houses built around courtyards. Almost a third were damaged or destroyed during the final three weeks of fighting, according to the United Nations.

Across the entire city, which had a population of almost 2 million before the Islamic State arrived, satellite imagery shows battle scars or total destruction across more than 10,000 buildings. Although life has returned to the relatively less damaged eastern districts, the infrastructure in the west has been devastated.

Louisa Loveluck is a Washington Post writer.

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After defeat of militants, a grim search for bodies in Iraq - SFGate

JULY 9, 2017

Iraqi Military Forces

Launched strikes on an operating base belongs to ISIS in the vicinity of Zoya village in Salah Al-Din.

Liberated Mousl Al-Qadimah area.

Found and cleared improvised fighting vehicles, SIEDs, platforms of Kornet missile, and IEDs in Mosul Al-Qadimah area, Malayeen, and Tal Asfuk villages in Mosul.

Popular Mobilization Forces Repelled an ISIS attack on Hatra city in Mosul, and Al-Ush in Salah Al-Din.

ISIS Killed dozens of civilians in Telafar city in Mosul.

JULY 10, 2017

Iraqi Military Forces

Launched strikes on a convoy of ISIS on an agricultural road in the east side of Shirqat city in Salah Al-Din.

Released 3 Yazidi girls from ISIS in Mosul city. Popular Mobilization Forces Repelled an ISIS attack in Tal Asfuk village in Mosul.

Launched missiles on an ISIS gathering near Ayn Al-Bayda city in Salah Al-Din ISIS Executed 7 children in revenge of their parents for trying to escape in Telafar city in Mosul.

6 displaced people killed by an IED explosion in Hamrin Mountain in Salah Al-Din.

JULY 11, 2017

Iraqi Military Forces

Launched strikes on ISIS in Al-Maydan, Shawan, and Telafar city in Mosul.

Found 12 bodies that belong to the civilians in Mosul Al-Qadimah.

Released six Yazidi girls form ISIS in Mosul city. Popular Mobilization Forces Repelled an ISIS attack in Hatra city in Mosul. ISIS Launched shells on Al-Murr village in Mosul

JULY 12, 2017

Iraqi Military Forces

Launched strikes on ISIS in Hatra city, Tal Zalat and Imam Al-Gharbi villages in Mosul.

Released 20 Yazidi women near Dijla River in Mosul.

Repelled an ISIS attack on Tall Zalat and Adaya in Mosul. Peshmarga Forces repelled an ISIS attack on Al-Muthalath village in Mosul. Popular Mobilization Forces Released three peshmarga members that they arrested them previously in Bashik outskirt in Mosul.

Repelled an ISIS attack in Jurn village in Mosul.

JULY 13, 2017

Iraqi Military Forces

Clashed with ISIS in Imam Al-Gharbi village, near Dijla River in Mosul Al-Qadimah area, which injured 2 members of Iraqi Military Forces.

Released 4 Yazidi females near Dijla River in Mosul Al-Qadimah. Popular Mobilization Forces

Kidnapped 10 civilians; one of them is a member of Peshmarga Forces, in Tooz city in Salah Al-Din.

Raided an operating base that belongs to ISIS in south west of Ishaqi village in Salah Al-Din.

ISIS

Launched two Katyosha rockets on an electric office in Faisaliya area in Mosul, which injured 3 employees from the office.

JULY 14, 2017

Iraqi Military Forces

Launched airstrikes on ISIS in Mosul Al-Qadimah and in the junction between Zab and Sadira, Balad in Salah Al-Din.

Clashed with ISIS in their positions in Mosul Al-Qadimah.

Released three Yazidi girls in Abar in Mosul.

Popular Mobilization Forces

Liberated the train rail in Imam Al-Gharbi in Mosul

JULY 15, 2017

Peshmarga Forces

Released one of their units from ISIL's capture in Tooz Khurmato in Salah Al-Din.

Popular Mobilization Forces

Released four civilians in Al-Teen in Salah Al-Din.

ISIS

Executed a number of civilians, Clan Mobilization Forces, and Security Forces in Al-Salman village in Salah Al-Din.

Took eleven women to the market and sold them in Imam Gharbi village in Mosul.

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Iraq: Mosul Humanitarian Response: Weekly Explosive Incidents Report (09 - 15 July 2017) - ReliefWeb