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The strangest things can happen in war, as Air Force Staff Sgt. Cesar Flores found out personally from the seat of a Humvee near Camp Bucca in southern Iraq 15 years ago. It was June 15, 2007, and Flores was part of a security forces convoy the Air Force equivalent of military police clearing the roads outside Camp Bucca of improvised explosive devices so that other convoys could get to the base safely.

Convoys werent the most dangerous mission. It was to go patrol the roads before they got there. That was the most dangerous mission, Flores said in a recent press release written by Airman 1st Class Miyah Gray. We were driving and a berm just went off. When the blast hit us, it knocked me unconscious.

What happened next not only saved Flores life, it also taught him a valuable lesson in leadership, which was why the airman shared his story with a group of colleagues at the 97th Air Mobility Wing, at Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma earlier this month. Now a chief master sergeant, the highest enlisted rank in the service, Flores reminded listeners to get to know their airmen and accept that there are many ways to be a leader. Another airman seemed to agree with Flores.

Once you get to know someone and make a connection, youre able to forge a better relationship with them, said Tech. Sgt. Michael Voorhees, 97th Training Squadron student affairs noncommissioned officer in charge. Where that impacts the most is going to be when you get into stressful situations, particularly under fire, and you can rely on them because youve built them that foundation of trust.

Flores learned that lesson the hard way when he met Senior Airman Duane Dunlap during his 2007 Iraq tour. Dunlap was the gunner of Flores patrol group, but the two often butted heads.

He and I did not get along at all, said Flores. He tended to question everything. Back then, my one way of leading was to get in line or get off the bus, so we did not jive well.

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Camp Bucca was no cakewalk. The base was at one point the largest U.S.-run prison facility in Iraq, holding 13,000 of a total of 19,000 detainees held at American facilities in the country, according to the BBC. On June 9, less than a week before the IED that hit Flores convoy went off, six prisoners were killed and at least 50 wounded when the base was hit by indirect fire. Many of the future leaders of the so-called Islamic State, including the groups first caliph, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, started sharing ideas and networking behind the camps walls. Ironically, it was Flores and his fellow airmens job to help guard the base that held these men. Against this backdrop, Flores relationship with Dunlap got so bad that Flores couldnt stand Dunlap and was about to fire him.

But then the IED went off, and Flores woke into a nightmare.

When I regained consciousness, it was hell on earth, he said. I was literally on fire. I smelled what I believe was white phosphorus. I heard someone screaming. It was Duane.

The explosion had caved in Flores door, pinning him to his seat. His weapon had also melted, so he was defenseless. The airman called for help, and he was surprised by who answered.

Dunlap had the presence of mind to grab me by the body armor and just pull until I came out of there and we were both laying down in the middle (of the vehicle), Flores said.

Flores crawled to the back of the Humvee, opened the rear door and rolled out, followed shortly after by Dunlap. Flores was covered with blood, but he soon realized it was not his own: it was Dunlaps.

He got hit by a piece of shrapnel the size of a baseball to his leg and still had the presence of mind to pull me out of my predicament, Flores said.

Another airman went on to clear the road on foot, a mortal risk if another IED went off, Flores explained. Meanwhile, a fourth airman with combat lifesaving experience, tended to Dunlaps wounds. The gunner was medically evacuated to Germany and then to the Brooke Army Medical Hospital in Fort Sam Houston, Texas, leaving Flores with a valuable lesson.

Duane Dunlap, the kid that I was about to fire, that I couldnt stand, ended up saving my life and being my angel in disguise, said Flores, who later received a Purple Heart for the attack that day 15 years ago.

I never took the time to know him past our trained duties and this became the primary reason I never really gave him a shot, he added. A tech sergeant select, high-speed leader not knowing their airman. That was embarrassing someone that I didnt think much of ended up being the reason why I can see my [family] every day.

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I was literally on fire Airman recalls how an unlikely hero saved his life in Iraq - Task & Purpose

Brush Strokes Gallery in downtown Fredericksburg will feature the work of a dynamic and internationally recognized artist from Iraq: Hashim Al Samarrai.

In a show titled Crossroads: Where East Meets West, which was born from Al Samarrais desire to showcase his Middle Eastern culture beside the free-flowing American landscape, visitors will see 18 of his paintings. Most are for sale, but a few hail from personal collections and are being displayed specifically for the show.

Penny Parish, gallery president, said she was especially impressed by his versatility, but also his ability to capture the world as it exists in his own medium.

Art, like music, is a universal language, she said. You do not have to know words to appreciate talent and beauty. We hope visitors see that in Hashims work.

The exhibit will be displayed through July 31. It will open with a First Friday reception on July 1 from 5 to 9 p.m. The artist is expected to attend.

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The works selected for the show are painted in oils and acrylics in his distinct style of realistic scenes with expressionistic colors, lush textures and playful light. Iraqs ancient ways of life, which have always been tied to the land, may be disappearing, but Al Samarrai has revived them in paintings such as Streets of Old Baghdad and works that convey the lonely challenges of the desert, such as Man of the Desert and Resting Place.

His travels in the United States have served as a beacon of hope and healing for him. In Virginia Gold, he captures the beauty of a sunset over the river, while Sunrise conveys the hope of a new day.

Al Samarrai hopes that his Crossroads exhibit will convey the message that, while Iraqi and American cultures may differ on the surface, a shared heart of resilience and common humanity beats at their core and we can recognize the beauty in the other.

A guest exhibitor to the gallery, Al Samarrais paintings have been featured in several American and Middle Eastern galleries and his commissions are found in personal collections throughout the world.

He is a lifelong student of art, but also of history, and Al Samarrai has always found inspiration in Iraqi history and old traditions. He and his work have borne witness as back-to-back wars destroyed the cultural heritage and natural resources of Iraq.

He graduated first in his class from the Baghdad Institute of Fine Arts in 1991, just after the Gulf War. During the crushing economic sanctions that followed the war, canvas and paint were impossible to find. So, he fashioned canvasses out of worn cloth, stretched and painted with makeshift white paint. He was able to harness the inherent roughness of his homemade canvasses to create rich texture and depth in his paintings.

His love of texture began long before that, though. Al Samarrai was born in Samarra, Iraq in 1969, one of ten children. He described knowing he was an artist by age three, always with a pen and paper in hand. He was once so taken by the way the light hit his eggs in the morning, he ran to get his pencils and completely forgot to eat.

When reflecting on his career as an artist, but specifically during the past 19 war-torn years, Hashim said, Unquestionably, painting breathes air into my lungs and allows me to separate myself from my bitter surroundings and remain optimistic. It allows me to press forward amidst a life marred by fear, debilitating uncertainty, and terror. Like a delicate butterfly, painting gives me wings strong enough to float above the chaos. I dream and work toward opportunities to break the chains that tether me from expanding my talent and sharing my gifts with the world.

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Brush Strokes Gallery to feature works by internationally recognized artist from Iraq - Culpeper Star-Exponent

The situation facing todays global energy markets is already tough. Now, Iraq, a country that contains close to 10 per cent of the world's proven oil reserves, is having to deal with the constant threat of attacks against its facilities.

In March, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired 12 ballistic missiles at the Kurdistan region, hitting the home of businessman Baz Karim, whose company KAR Group operates the largest oil refinery in the region. Tehran claimed that the site was an Israeli "strategic centre". Militants have at various points been blamed for other attacks in the region.

But last week was especially bad. On Wednesday, two contractors were wounded in a missile attack near the Khor Mor gasfield, also in the Kurdistan region. A second attack took place on Friday, and a third on Saturday. In a statement, Masrour Barzani, Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), stressed the importance of security co-operation with Baghdad to fill the "security vacuum" surrounding the region. Iraqi President Barham Salih said that the assaults are "targeting the countrys stability and hitting the national economy".

Iraq faces a number of other severe issues, including drought. AFP

Finding a lasting solution to this multifaceted threat is complex, and there is no comprehensive one. Companies and authorities are fortifying sites, but a large part of the threat posed by missiles and drones, even the cheapest ones, is that they are hard to intercept. Swathes of contested ground in the country provide ample launching spots.

There is, however, one elusive requirement that goes deeper than more security forces, reinforced concrete, roadblocks and air defence systems. A key reason Iraq remains powerless in the face of attacks on its interests is political paralysis in Baghdad. National elections took place in October, yet factions are still arguing over the formation of a government. A key aggravating factor is that Iran-backed groups fared badly, which some say is pushing Tehran to use violent intimidation tactics in other regions, such as the KRG.

That is only part of the political problem. Another complication in securing more domestic co-operation in the face of such threats is constitutional and legal disagreements between the KRG and Baghdad over the manner in which the former a semi-autonomous zone manages its energy resources with the federal government. Much like with forming a government, no immediate end is in sight, but there is an urgent need for action.

Editorials from The National

The most pressing work to be carried is not by soldiers, then, but politicians. They are not doing it quickly enough, and history gives little hope that the pace will pick up anytime soon. Until then, there is only so much the country can do to defend itself against destructive elements both at home and abroad. With this in mind, Iraqi politicians from all quarters, should drop internal, tactical and political aims for wider strategic ones. Unity will not end foreign interference, but it will help Iraq stand up to it.

The World Bank says that oil represents more than 40 per cent of the country's GDP, 99 per cent of its exports and more than 90 per cent of government revenue, despite the need to diversify the economy. Those numbers rise above political divisions. They are about the very future of the country, which is already battling terrifying challenges such as water shortages, disease and the risk of increased militant activity, to name only a few.

Published: June 28, 2022, 3:00 AM

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The best way Iraq can protect its oil industry - The National

Countries designate technologies as strategic for a variety of reasons. Some technologies are regarded as an engine for economic growth, others as a way to reduce dependence on foreign suppliers, a defensive measure, a path to gain economic or national security advantages, or even serve as leverage during times of conflict. Weve seen this play out with satellites, cellular networks, atomic energy, chip manufacturing and more.

Quantum computing is a new strategic technology with wide-reaching implications. The ability to solve problems and perform calculations that no existing classical computer can, or ever will be able to, opens a plethora of strategic opportunities and challenges.

Much attention has been focused on decryption using quantum computers. The worlds financial systems and many computer networks are protected by an encryption scheme that was once considered unbreakable. And indeed, it would take classical computers many years to break it. But a powerful-enough quantum computer could crack the code in a few hours. Suddenly, bank accounts, health records, and other sensitive information could be left exposed, with untold consequential damages. Though quantum computers that can break the code might not be available for another 5 to 10 years, bad actors are already recording sensitive encrypted information so theyre ready to decrypt it in the future. Even when considering blockchain, public-to-public-key and reused public-to-public-key-hash addresses are vulnerable to quantum attacks, raising concerns about bitcoin and contracts that are secured by the blockchain.

Those same quantum computing technologies can also act as a strong defensive measure. Many organizations are using quantum technology, and specifically, quantum key distribution, to create encryption schemes that are much more difficult to break or gain access to.

But while companies should indeed consider the positive and negative impact of quantum computers on their encryption and communication systems, they should also be aware that they can gain strategic leverage from superior quantum computing technology.

Quantum can be a game-changing differentiator when working with huge data sets, models that have numerous variables yet exhibit a high rate of change over time. This can apply to moonshot projectscuring cancer, decoding the human genebut also to everyday problems such as optimizing shipping routes or balancing personal stock portfolios.

Take, for instance, energy storage. Quantum computers excel at simulating chemical and pharmaceutical compounds. This is because chemical interaction is done at the quantum physics level, andas Noble Laureate Richard Feynman noted 40 years agoa quantum system is the best choice to simulate quantum phenomena. Powerful quantum computers, and the software that drives them, can be used to develop superior batteries with higher efficiency, lower weight, and higher capacity. Since batteries represent about 30% of the cost of an electric vehicle and play a critical role in its usefulness, leadership in battery technology could translate to leadership in the electrification of vehicles, energy storage for buildings and more.

Machine learning is another example. Whether to improve conversational AI, solve protein-folding problems or analyze images and videos, countries that develop leading ML capabilities gain strategic advantages. Quantum computing offers dramatic new ML opportunities. They stem from the ability of a quantum computer to load much more information than classical ones, execute numerous calculations simultaneously and use these capabilities to uncover new and meaningful data patterns.

That unique quantum ability to perform numerous calculations in parallel, as opposed to sequentially, comes in handy for better weather forecasting, more accurate assessment of financial risk and the ability to streamline the supply chain, optimize traffic and improve the dynamic allocation of shared resources, such as cellular spectrums.

Many countries understand this. Indeed, we are seeing a global quantum arms race, bearing similarities to the space race of decades ago. China, for instance, is reportedly investing $10 billion in a national quantum program. The European Union has pledged significant amounts in addition to what member-states are pledging individually. The US committed $1.2 billion as part of the National Quantum Initiative, followed by another $1 billion in National Science Foundation funding for AI and quantum centers. Many additional countries including Russia, Japan, India, Germany and France have created their own national quantum programs.

Given the strategic and wide-ranging consequences of superior quantum computing capacity, it is fair to ask what constitutes technical superiority. We look at two key components: hardware and software. Quantum computing hardware is about exploring new ways to create high-quality quantum bits or qubitsand integrating them into machines with larger capacity and higher computational accuracy. But this hardware will be useless without software that allows researchers to quickly translate their algorithms into the low-level instructions that quantum computers need to operate. Yet this quantum circuit creation is done nearly manually today, very close to the hardware itself. But as computers become larger and more powerful, it will become impossible for humans to cope with the scale and complexity of quantum circuitsunless they harness new breakthroughs in software development platforms.

Conventional computing capabilities are limited: you have to break the data into 1s and 0s. Quantum changes that and thus opens many opportunities that can look at multiple variables simultaneously.

Attaining and retaining strategic advantages requires long-term planning and focused execution. Analysts say that the U.S. lost the 5G war to China. Can the US afford to lose the quantum race as well? What if China or another nation unveiled tomorrow morning a scientifically-credible demonstration of a computer that cracks financial encryption or accurately simulates a complex molecule? Overnight, the world will feel completely different.

Here are four ways countries can increase their chances of winning the race:

We are at a critical juncture. Lets not wait for the quantum equivalent of a Sputnik moment. Rarely does a new technology come along that provides those who can harness it with this level of power.

Now is the time to grab the quantum bull by the horns. Our children and grandchildren will thank us for it.

Adm. Mike Rogers is the former head of U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency. Nir Minerbi is theCEO and co-founder at quantum software providerClassiq.

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The Quantum Computing Arms Race is not Just About Breaking Encryption Keys - Nextgov

Concerns over the 40-year high inflation and hawkish federal reserve have pushed the benchmark indices into the bear market territory. Bearish sentiment is still widespread, and the market is likely to continue to feel the pressure in the near term as well.

The overwhelming mentality remains gloomy, with most people just trying to avoid bear-market rallies, convinced the SPX has several hundred points of further downside over the coming months, wrote Adam Crisafulli of Vital Knowledge.

However, certain financially robust stocks possess solid upside potential and might perform well in the long run. And staying invested is important, or one can miss out on long-term returns.

Despite the market downturns, Wall Street analysts believe IonQ, Inc. (IONQ) and Rigetti Computing, Inc. (RGTI) could rally by more than 160% in the near term. Thus, these stocks could be worth adding to your watchlist.

IonQ, Inc. (IONQ)

IONQ engages in the development of general-purpose quantum computing systems. The company offers access to its quantum computers through cloud platforms, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Amazon Braket, Microsofts Azure Quantum, and Googles Cloud Marketplace.

On May 17, 2022, IONQ launched IonQ Forte, its latest generation of quantum systems. Forte features acousto-optic deflector (AOD) technology, which nullifies noise and overcomes variations in ion position, which is critical for scaling quantum computers. Given the growing quantum computing market, the company should benefit from this development.

Furthermore, on June 23, 2022, IONQ announced its partnership with GE Research to explore the benefits of quantum computing concerning risk management. This collaboration is expected to achieve record feats in quantum computing.

For the first quarter ended March 31, 2022, IONQs revenue came in at $1.95 million, up 1,462.4% year-over-year. Its net loss decreased 42.4% year-over-year to $4.23 million, while its loss per share came in at $0.02, down 66.7% year-over-year. Moreover, its cash and cash equivalents came in at $86.75 million, up 144.2% year-over-year.

IONQs revenue is expected to increase 406.9% year-over-year to $10.64 million in 2022. Its EPS is expected to grow 20% per annum for the next five years.

IONQ declined 26.1% over the past month, closing the last trading session at $4.38. However, Wall Street analysts expect the stock to hit $11.50 soon, indicating a potential upside of 162.6%.

Rigetti Computing, Inc. (RGTI)

RGTI operates as an integrated systems company. The company builds quantum computers and the superconducting quantum processors that power them. Its machines are integrated into various public, private, or hybrid clouds through its Quantum Cloud Services platform.

On June 21, 2022, Rigetti UK Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of RGTI, announced the launch of its 32-qubit Aspen-series quantum computer in the UK. Chad Rigetti, RGTIs founder and CEO, said, We believe deploying our first UK-based quantum computer is a major step towards our vision to integrate QPUs into the fabric of the cloud.

RGTIs net cash provided by financing activities came in at $213.44 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2022, up 1,674.9% year-over-year. Its cash and restricted cash came in at $206.94 million, up 609.2% year-over-year.

RGTIs revenue is expected to grow 123.7% year-over-year to $12.40 million in 2022. Its EPS is estimated to grow 60.3% in 2022.

RGTI shares have slumped 45% over the past three months closing the last trading session at $3.67. However, Wall Street analysts expect the stock to hit $11.50 soon, indicating a potential upside of 213.4%.

IONQ shares were trading at $4.34 per share on Friday afternoon, down $0.04 (-0.91%). Year-to-date, IONQ has declined -74.01%, versus a -20.15% rise in the benchmark S&P 500 index during the same period.

Riddhima is a financial journalist with a passion for analyzing financial instruments. With a master's degree in economics, she helps investors make informed investment decisions through her insightful commentaries. More...

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IONQ: Wall Street Analysts Predict More Than 160% Upside in These Stocks - StockNews.com