AP - Soldier suicides this year could surpass the record rate of last year, Army officials said Thursday, urging military leaders at all levels to redouble prevention efforts for a force strained by two wars.

AFP - The US Army is on track to break last year's all-time record for suicides, a pace that would top the civilian suicide rate for the first time since the Vietnam war, army officials said Thursday.

AFP - US Defense Secretary Robert Gates and top US military leaders are "fundamentally in agreement" over how to proceed in Iraq, a Pentagon spokesman said Thursday.

AFP - US President George W. Bush is drawing closer to a decision on US troop levels in Iraq after receiving top US commander General David Petraeus's advice, the White House said Thursday.

AFP - US President George W. Bush is "considering his options" on troop levels in Iraq after receiving top US commander General David Petraeus's advice, the White House said Thursday.

AFP - American combat troops could be out of Baghdad by July 2009, the outgoing top US general in Iraq said in an interview published Thursday.

AFP - The United States has three days to respond to fresh proposals from Iraq on the contentious security deal being negotiated by the two countries, a top Shiite MP said on Wednesday.

AFP - A top air force general expressed fears Wednesday that a 35-billion-dollar competition to build a new air refueling aircraft will face protests by the loser no matter whether Northrop Grumman or rival Boeing wins.

AFP - A draft security deal between Washington and Baghdad on the future of US forces in Iraq is to be submitted to parliament within 10 days, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

AP - As of Monday, Sept. 1, 2008, at least 512 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department. The department last updated its figures Aug. 23 at 10 a.m. EDT.

AFP - Iraq and the United States are still far apart on the issue of immunity for American troops, according to a draft security agreement between the two countries published by an Iraqi paper on Monday.