LONDON (AP) — The United States was “hell bent” on a 2003 military invasion of Iraq and actively undermined efforts by Britain to win international authorization for the war, a former British diplomat told an inquiry Friday. Jeremy Greenstock, British ambassador to the United Nations from 1998 to 2003, said that President George W. Bush [...]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The divorce rate in the armed forces increased slightly again in the past year as military marriages continued to bear the stress of the nation’s ninth year at war. In the 2009 fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, there were an estimated 27,312 divorces among the nearly 765,000 married members of the [...]

WASHINGTON, Nov. 25, 2009 – It’s a few hours a month, but the break the Armed Services YMCA Respite Child Care program provides parents with a deployed spouse always is welcome. And since the program’s Oct. 1 nationwide expansion, many more parents will benefit. The Armed Services YMCA, as part of a Defense Department contract, [...]

NEW YORK (AP) — An audience member at “The Jay Leno Show” is especially grateful this Thanksgiving. He won a new car. Air Force Capt. Tung Ngo (TUNG’ noh) was in the audience filled with men and women of the U.S. military when Leno called his name during Thursday’s special holiday program. It was taped [...]

KABUL (AP) — A helicopter chartered by an international military contractor has disappeared in Afghanistan, officials said Thursday. Supreme Global Service Solutions said in a statement Thursday evening that the helicopter had been contracted “to fly a cargo mission” in support of NATO and had gone missing in a mountainous region of Afghanistan on Monday. [...]

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The mothers of three Americans held captive in Iran have recorded video messages they hope Iranian authorities will deliver to their children. From their homes in Minnesota, California and Pennsylvania, the mothers of Shane Bauer, Nora Shourd and Josh Fattal ask their kids to stay positive and express hope that Iranian authorities [...]

WASHINGTON (AP) — On his first Thanksgiving in the White House, President Barack Obama has telephoned 10 U.S. servicemen and women stationed in war zones to thank them for their service. The White House says Obama called two service members each in the Army, Navy, Air Force, the Marines and the Coast Guard. The service [...]

HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. (AP) — When the envelope arrived, Windy Horner was talking with her husband, Nick – Windy on a cell phone, Nick in the Blair County jail. Windy did not recognize the return address. She feared hate mail; her husband is charged with killing two men and robbing a sandwich shop, and she blames [...]

BARAKI-BARAK, Afghanistan (AP) — Thanksgiving Day for soldiers in this valley ringed by towering snowy peaks began with a 6-mile (10-kilometer) slog to aid village schools without desks and windows, and ended with five, once scrawny local turkeys soldiers have been fattening up for the past month. “Just another day, another mission,” several soldiers said [...]

LONDON (AP) — Tony Blair could have delayed the 2003 invasion of Iraq and ensured better plans were in place for its chaotic aftermath by taking a tougher stance with President George W. Bush, Britain’s ex-ambassador to Washington said Thursday. Christopher Meyer, Blair’s U.S. envoy from 1997-2003, told a panel investigating the Iraq war that [...]