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A procession of veterans on motorcycles and state police in their cruisers blocked parts of two Massachusetts interstates Friday as it finally brought home the body of a New York-born Army staff sergeant who was missing for months after being seized by insurgents in Iraq. A hearse bearing the remains of 25-year-old Alex Jimenez came to a halt in front of the home of his father, Ramon "Andy" Jimenez, in Lawrence. Jimenez and three others were in a unit that was ambushed 20 miles south of Baghdad on May 12, 2007. Jimenez was born in Queens, and his mother, Maria Duran, lives there, though many members of his family were born in the Dominican Republic.
Pope Benedict XVI urged the world to help Iraqis who have fled their country and called for better protection for Christians inside Iraq during talks Friday with Iraq's prime minister, the Vatican said. The struggle against terrorism and the need for religious freedom also were central issues in the talks with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki,
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News, Most Recent 60 Dayssaid the Rev. Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman. Al-Maliki,
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News, Most Recent 60 Dayswho is on a European tour, met with Benedict at his vacation palace in Castel Gandolfo south of Rome. A Vatican communique said a key theme was the need to assist Iraqi refugees, who both men hope will return to their country.
The total cost of the Iraq war is approaching the Vietnam War's expense, a congressional report estimates, while spending for military operations after 9/11 has exceeded it. The new report by the Congressional Research Service estimates the United States has spent $648 billion on Iraq war operations, putting it in range with the $686 billion, in 2008 dollars, spent on the Vietnam War, the second most expensive war behind World War II. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the U.S. has doled out almost $860 billion for military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere around the world.