Baghdad News Blog @newzblogz.com

WASHINGTON - Republican support for the Iraq war is slipping by the day. After four years of combat and more than 3,560 U.S. deaths, two Republican senators previously reluctant to challenge President Bush on the war announced they could no longer support the deployment of 157,000 troops and asked the president to begin bringing them home.

"We must not abandon our mission, but we must begin a transition where the Iraqi government and its neighbors play a larger role in stabilizing Iraq," Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, wrote in a letter to Bush.

Voinovich, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released his letter Tuesday - one day after Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, the panel's top Republican, said in a floor speech that Bush's strategy was not working.

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When Rick Lynch left Hamilton for the U.S. Military Academy in 1973, he expected to do his five years in the Army and get out. More than 30 years later, he's a two-star general commanding 20,000 troops.

Lynch, a Hamilton native, said he never made the decision to be a career military man, but stayed with it because it felt right.

"Everyday, I can look in the mirror and feel like I'm doing something important," Lynch said in a phone interview from Baghdad on Thursday.

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LAKE CITY -- A soldier from Lake City serving in Iraq died last week after an improvised explosive device detonated near a vehicle he was in, according to new information from the U.S. Department of Defense.

A brief media release issued by the department stated that Pfc. Anthony "Tony" D. Hebert, 19, an Army infantry machine-gunner, was one of five soldiers killed by the explosion in Baghdad.

The others include Sgt. Alphonso J. Montenegro II, 22, of Far Rockaway, N.Y.; Sgt. Ryan M. Wood, 22, of Oklahoma City; Pfc. Daniel J. Agami, 25, of Coconut Creek, Fla.; and Pfc. Thomas R. Leemhuis, 23, of Binger, Okla.

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The public is invited to view the new exhibit sponsored by the Blanchard House Museum and the Florida Military Heritage Museum honoring Lt. Charles P. Bailey and the Bailey brothers. The exhibit opens Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and will be remain at the Florida Military Heritage Museum until September, when it moves to the Blanchard House Museum. An opening reception will be held from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. July 7 at the Florida Military Heritage Museum at 100 Madrid Blvd. in Punta Gorda.

The Bailey Brothers, sons of Archie and Josephine Bailey of Punta Gorda, distinguished themselves during World War II and the Korean War. Six of the seven Bailey sons -- Harding, Arthur, Berlin, Maurice, Paul and Charles --all served in World War II. Two sons, Maurice and Carl, served in the Korean War. The Bailey family is believed to be the black family with the largest number of family members serving in World War II.

Lt. Charles Bailey was the first aviator from Florida to become one of the famous Tuskegee Airmen, the all-black 99th Fighter Squadron in World War II. Bailey flew 133 missions over enemy territory and is credited with shooting down two German fighter planes.

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republican support for the Iraq war is slipping by the day. After four years of combat and more than 3,560 U.S. deaths, two Republican senators previously reluctant to challenge President Bush on the war announced they could no longer support the deployment of 157,000 troops and asked the president to begin bringing them home. "We must not abandon our mission, but we must begin a transition where the Iraqi government and its neighbors play a larger role in stabilizing Iraq...

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