War in Iraq

A Minnesota National Guard soldier killed last week in Iraq will be honored by his hometown. It's a long tradition in Appleton, naming streets after soldiers killed in war. (03/01/2005)

Three National Guardsmen died on the same day in Iraq, in the deadliest day for Minnesota soldiers since at least the Vietnam War. All are members of the 151st Field Artillery, based in Montevideo. (02/22/2005)

A group of Minnesota soldiers is back home from Iraq. About 75 members of the 477th medical company of northeastern Minnesota have been on active duty since 2003, transporting medical supplies and the injured. Lt. Jeremy Doesken of Cloquet told MPR's Cathy Wurzer the homecoming this past weekend was unbelieveable. (01/31/2005)

Iraq prepares to draft a new constitution. Midmorning discuses when and how the United States will complete its mission in Iraq and examines the challenges of post-conflict stabilization. ( 01/31/2005)

President Bush's inaugural address contained 2,000 words of passion and promise for his second term, but no direct mention of the war that could sink it. The conflict in Iraq, win or lose, could define his presidency. Bush knows this as well as anyone, which explains his startegic omission. (01/20/2005)

People on the Leech Lake Indian Reservation are mourning the loss of a Minnesota soldier killed in Iraq. Army Spc. Dwayne James McFarlane, Jr., 20, grew up in Cass Lake. Friends and family members remember McFarlane as an ambitious and caring young man who was proud of his American Indian heritage. (01/11/2005)

The violence in Iraq is causing some political leaders there to question the timing of the January 30th elections. National Public Radio reporter Mike Shuster shares his insight on the situation in the war-torn country. ( 01/05/2005)

Some 1,300 soldiers have been killed in the war in Iraq. The number injured is much higher -- nearly 10,000. One of those soldiers returned to his hometown of Pierz, in central Minnesota. Because of his injuries, he faces an uncertain future. (12/29/2004)

Reservists and Minnesota National Guard members deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan would be eligible for state health care coverage and zero-interest loans under a proposal outlined Wednesday by Attorney General Mike Hatch and DFL legislators. (12/15/2004)

A group of Minnesota veterans is calling for a congressional inquiry into whether troops in Iraq have adequate supplies and protective equipment. (12/14/2004)

Thousands of National Guard troops from around the region left jobs and families to serve in Iraq. These citizen soldiers return to a hero's welcome, but often find resuming a "normal life" isn't easy. (12/02/2004)

Army Specialist Daniel James McConnell throught he'd be home, safe, from Iraq within weeks. Instead, his body is being flown back Friday. (11/18/2004)

Thursday is Veterans Day, a day set aside to remember the sacrifices of the nation's veterans. This fall, a Minneapolis artist erected his own memorial, to honor those killed in the war in Iraq. He set it up along Minnehaha Creek. The Minneapolis Park Board has since removed it, but the artist says his memorial will live on. (11/11/2004)

Thousands of U.S. troops, backed by armor and a stunning air barrage, attacked the toughest strongholds of Sunni insurgents in Fallujah on Monday, launching a long-awaited offensive aimed at putting an end to guerrilla control of the Sunni Muslim city. The top U.S. commander in Iraq predicted a "major confrontation" on the streets of Fallujah as the conflict began. (11/08/2004)

Recent bombings within Baghdad's Green Zone shattered any sense of security that foreign workers had in Iraq. The author of a book on Ground Zero suggests the insularity of the Green Zone contributed to the lack of effective international reconstruction activity. ( 10/18/2004)