What is going on overseas?

I have been working alot latley and havent had the time to sit down and watch the news or pick up a paper, but today at dunkin donuts i heard that there was a death toll of 83 american soldiers just this past week, and today they "caught a marine" and had him on TV at gunpoint? Is this true, can anybody fill me in on whats going on? I heard the secretary of defense on the radio saying he didnt know it was going to get this bad....Just wondering whats going on with our troops, and hoping that everything is ok, RIP to those who have passed protecting our lives...