Politics - Military latest news

Owen Tolson of Army, who ranked seventh in the nation in punting, was one of two free agents signed by the New York Giants on Thursday. via AMNY

It was three days bobbing and weaving for the defense and prosecution of a key bin Laden lieutenant at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, last week, with both sides submitting surprising testimony in a key test for the Military Commissions process and the judge trying to convince the defendant not to boycott his own trial.

The leader of al-Qaida in iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, was arrested in the northern city of Mosul, the Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman said Thursday. Mohammed al-Askari said the arrest of al-Masri, also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, was confirmed by the Iraqi commander of the province.

More than 43,000 U.S. troops listed as medically unfit for combat in the weeks before their scheduled deployment to iraq or Afghanistan were sent anyway, according to DoD records. The numbers of nondeployable soldiers are based on health assessment forms filled out by medical personnel.