Going grim

Welcome to the Dawn Patrol, our daily roundup of information on the War on Terror and other topics - from the MilBlogs and various sources around the world. If you're a blogger, you can join the conversation. If you link to any of these stories, add a link to the Dawn Patrol too and your trackback will be added to the list. Hat Tips to the Dawn Patrol are greatly appreciated.

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AFGHANISTAN

Kabul Conference Endorses 2014 Afghan Security Takeover -- [Voice of America]
The donor conference in Kabul was the largest international meeting in Afghanistan since the 1970s. Security was tight in the capital. Coalition forces battled insurgents near Kabul the night before, but the conference proceeded peacefully.
...Analysts say while there is still work to be done, the Kabul conference was President Karzai's chance to show the international community his government is ready.
Recently, many coalition partners have voiced their desire to begin transferring security control to the Afghan forces. U.S. officials say they hope to start withdrawing forces next July.
But U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told delegates at the conference that this transition is not an ending, but rather, a new beginning.
"We have no intention of abandoning our long-term mission of achieving the kind of Afghanistan that President Karzai set forth in his speech," Clinton said.

Kabul Conference -- [A Major's Perspective - in Afghanistan]
A lot of news stories out there right now about the Kabul Conference that took place today, and rightfully so. (I wonder how much we really need to hear about Lohan going to jail -- I really dont care -- but I kinda expected that).
But I digress. Lot of great news stories out there, but there is something you didn't see in the news today, and it was a good thing. Why is this important? Because it was all the Afghans. Afghan led, and Afghan executed. For all the Taliban hot wind that was talked, the Afghan National Security Forces did a superb job in securing the conference.

A City Tour for V.I.P.'s Attending the Kabul Conference -- [At War]
In the opening scenes of Shakespeare's play "Measure for Measure," the Duke of Vienna takes off his fine clothes and disguises himself as an ordinary friar so that he can wander the streets and learn what the common people really think about the governance of his city.
The New York TimesIf Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Gen. David H. Petraeus could do the same, wandering the bazaars and back streets of Kabul instead of attending the carefully guarded Kabul conference ...
...They would see the capital of the place where their policies will succeed or fail, and they would hear talk not of capacity building and clusters, but of the daily lives of the poor, of the millions of Afghans whose lives have not been touched by the dollars pouring in from donors and who do not have connections to the wealthy and powerful who can get them jobs. They would see a world of criminal gangs and they would hear that for many in Kabul, there is no belief in the future.

US hunts wanted Taliban and al Qaeda commander in Kunar -- [LWJ - Bill Roggio]
Qari Zia Rahman has allegiance to both the Taliban and al Qaeda. ISAF said he maintained a safe haven in the district of Marawara until a recent operation to secure the region.

Highway to Hell -- [Kandahar Diary - in Afghanistan]
It's been a busy day on Highway 1.
One convoy, en-route to Bastion, was engaged at about 0930hrs with small arms fire from about a section-size group of insurgents using abandoned houses and gardens 300m south of the MSR as cover. Our guards dismounted from their vehicles and returned fire. Fortunately, this time, no injuries or damages were reported and the convoy quickly pushed on.
Another of my convoys was not so lucky today. ...

Riding with Ghosts -- [Free Range International - in Afghanistan]
Editors Note: This article is too good not to share in its entirety. The reporter, Mitch Potter, was kind enough to give me permission to do so. Mitch contacted me through the blog and Panjwaii Tim told me he was a great guy with lots of experience and knowledge who he was happy to host. In Mitch's honor I hereby officially change the name for Team Canada to Ghost Team knowing full well the name change was supposed to be agreed on at the end of the summer piss up. What did I say at the end of my last post? Armed, outside the wire, experienced, contractors - this is what I was talking about.
Riding With Ghosts...

Afghanistan's New Minister of Interior: A Potential Game Changer - [SWJ - Dr. Mark Moyar, Orbis Operations]
During the Obama administration's strategic review last year, the U.S. government and media paid surprisingly close attention to the selection of Afghanistan's cabinet members, and pressed Karzai to retain the ministers whom Westerners deemed most capable. The forced resignations of Interior Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar and National Directorate of Security (NDS) chief Amrullah Saleh last month garnered less attention, despite the fact that they were two of the government's most important figures. The decline in Western enthusiasm about Atmar no doubt contributed heavily to the tepidness of the response. Soon thereafter,...

Suspected Afghan army trainer opens fire on fellow instructors -- [Washington Post]
A suspected Afghan army trainer on a shooting range in northern Afghanistan opened fire on his fellow instructors Tuesday, killing two American civilian trainers and one other Afghan soldier before being killed himself, NATO officials said. On a day when world diplomats gathered in Kabul for an international conference intended to further a transition to Afghan security responsibility, the violence showed the risks and setbacks that can come with a rapid expansion of Afghan military forces. The shooting, at a weapons training base near the city of Mazar-e Sharif, comes just one week after another rogue Afghan soldier killed three British soldiers at a base in Helmand province. "It's a great tragedy," said British Col. Stuart Cowen, a spokesman for the NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan, the command responsible for building up the Afghan security forces. Few details were immediately available about the circumstances surrounding the shooting, and NATO officials said they had started a joint investigation into the incident with the Afghan Ministry of Defense. The name of the contractor that provided the U.S. trainers was also not disclosed.

Picture Of The Day - 20 JUL 2010 "Master Healer" -- [FaST Surgeon - in Afghanistan]
...We were fortunate at FOB Shank to have LTC H (AKA Podalirius). Over the last 10 years, the military has identified an injury pattern known as mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Most of us would refer to this as a "concussion". mTBI is an injury caused mainly by explosive force (e.g. from Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs)). In Iraq, IEDs were consistently mortally devastating to our troops. Recently, our soldiers of Operation Enduring Freedom have benefited by the addition of MRAPs. I believe that there is significantly less trauma (Although there are still many instances of significant trauma and death) inflicted on our soldiers because of the protection offered by these vehicles. However, being in the epicenter of an explosion still leaves many with mTBI.
Most soldiers with mTBI rapidly improve with the innovative therapies applied by CPT J. However, ...

IRAQ

Series of deadly attacks in Iraq related to US pullout plan: analysts‎ -- [Xinhua]
Recent series of attacks by insurgents have left hundreds of people dead and wounded in Iraq

Suicide Attacks Kill Dozens In Iraq -- [AP /NPR]
Two suicide bombers targeting members of a government-backed, anti-al-Qaida militia struck within hours of each other early Sunday, killing at least 48 people and wounding dozens more, Iraqi officials said.
The bombings were the deadliest in a series of attacks across Iraq Sunday that were aimed at the Sons of Iraq, a Sunni group also known as Sahwa that works with government forces to fight al-Qaida in Iraq. The attacks highlighted the stiff challenges the country faces as the U.S. scales back its forces in Iraq, leaving their Iraqi counterparts in charge of security.

Al-Qaeda Women Used As Couriers -- [MEMRI Blog]
Al-Qaeda in Iraq is using a new strategy for transmitting messages and orders to its various cells, by using women known as mujahidat [committed to jihad] or mu'minat [believers].

US envoy: Diplomatic presence in Iraq will shrink -- [AP/WFAA]
The State Department is telling Congress that it intends to phase out a network of embassy branch offices in Iraq as soon as three years after the U.S. military leaves in 2011.
The Obama administration's choice to be the next ambassador to Baghdad -- James F. Jeffrey -- said an existing network of 16 military-civilian posts will be transformed by 2011 into a combination of three embassy branch offices and two consulates.
The three embassy branch offices will be phased out in three to five years, he said, while the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and two consulates will remain indefinitely.

Iraq's Conflict, Reflected in a Family Tragedy -- [NY Times]
When the Americans arrived, Hamid Ahmad, a former air force warrant officer imprisoned under Saddam Hussein, imagined a new life for his family, freed from the burdens of tyranny. In seven hard years, nothing went as planned.
He spoke good English and believed in America. He got a job, his family says, with the United States military. Late last month, he wound up dead at the hands of his 32-year-old son, who had turned into an insurgent who sought money and purpose in fighting the Americans.
Despite difficult relations, an Iraqi oil official said Monday that Kuwait has given initial approval to open its border for crossing by international oil firms working in Iraq oil fields.

Iraq Border to Open to International Oil Companies -- [Epoch Times]
The new border crossing will aid the inflow of equipment for oil companies working on the Safwan and Rumaila oil fields, said the director of the Oil Ministry's licensing office, Abdul-Mahdy al-Meedi, according Reuters.
Iraq wishes to upgrade its oil production capacity from 2 million to 12 million barrels a day in the next six years, according to a report by Iraq newspaper Al- Sabah. But insufficient dock space and corruption at Kuwait's Umm Qasr port, would impede the proposed expansion.

U.S. AND OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD

China Protests US-South Korea Joint Military Drills‎ -- [RTT News]
In a statement issued ahead of imminent joint major military drills by the United States and South Korea in the Sea of Japan, China expressed stiff

U.S. Stealth Jets, Carrier Tell Norks: Back The Hell Up -- [Danger Room]
bout 8,000 U.S. and South Korean sailors and airmen are preparing for a big joint military exercise this weekend to tell a wilding-out North Korea to rethink its recent aggression. Get ready for Invincible Spirit.
According to Admiral Robert Willard, the commander of American forces in the Pacific, the carrier U.S.S. George Washington and a bunch of destroyers from the Navy's Seventh Fleet will head to the Sea of Japan, along with surveillance aircraft and "destroyers, frigates, and some patrol craft" from the South Korean Navy, including the South Korean transport ship Dodko. Over 100 aircraft from the Air Force's Seventh Air Wing and the South Korean Air Force are going to fly above. And since a torpedo from a North Korean submarine sank the South Korean warship Cheonan in March, there'll be anti-submarine exercises as well. It's going to unfold over several days.

Will a North Korean Attack Win the Yellow Sea for China? -- [One Free Korea]
Is the Yellow Sea a Chinese lake? Under ordinary circumstances, I'd understand China's complaints about a U.S. naval exercise in an inland sea near its shores. It's not as if I'd want Chinese ships in the Gulf of Mexico, either, but these are not ordinary circumstances. This time, North Korea has sunk a South Korean warship, and China has both shielded North Korea from any consequences for that attack and continued to provide necessary financial support to the regime that carried it out. Argue among yourselves whether this makes China an accessory after the fact, but it certainly destroys the myth of China as a mature, responsible power promoting peace and stability. That's why the U.S. Navy is now forced to deter without any help from China.

U.S. announces new sanctions against North Korea -- [Washington Post]
Searching for new ways to punish North Korea after blaming it for sinking a South Korean warship in March, the Obama administration announced Wednesday that it will strengthen existing sanctions against the North and impose new restrictions on its weapons trade and trafficking in counterfeit currency and luxury goods.

WAR ON TERROR /TERRORISM

Al-Qaeda Second-in-Command Ayman Al-Zawahiri: The Only Hope for Palestine is to Depose the 'Arab Zionists' -- [MEMRI Blog]
In a new 1-hour 3-minute audio recording, Al-Qaeda second-in-command Ayman Al-Zawahiri reaffirms Al-Qaeda's basic strategy regarding Palestine and promised imminent victory in Afghanistan, and addresses words of praise and encouragement to the jihadist groups in North Africa, Somalia, the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, the Caucasus, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

Fighting the Ideological Battle: The Missing Link in U.S. Strategy to Counter Violent Extremism -- [Counterterrorism Blog - Matthew Levitt]
As nonaffiliate terrorist actors begin to take center stage and al-Qaeda's core strength diminishes, it has become clear that America is at war with a larger enemy: the extremist ideology that fuels and supports Islamist violence. Unfortunately, the United States is not well equipped to fight on this ideological battleground, and U.S. efforts to confront the ideology worldwide have not kept pace with more successful military targeting of high-level al-Qaeda leaders.
In a new Washington Institute Strategic Report my co-authors and I argue that rather than avoid any mention of the religious motivation behind the terrorism of al-Qaeda and other like-minded organizations, the Obama administration should sharpen the distinction between the religion of Islam and the political ideology of radical Islamism to successfully defeat Islamist terrorism at its most fundamental source.

SUPPORTING THE TROOPS

SSG Patrick Zeigler - Someone You Should Know -- [BlackFive]
Want to meet a real life superhero? A man whose strength and power defies what many believed was humanly possible? A man who defines the phrase "American soldier"?
Meet Staff Sgt. Patrick Zeigler.
For the past 8 ½ months, Zeigler has looked death in the face and refused to blink. He's battled back from eight brain surgeries and diagnoses that labeled him everything from "comatose" to "permanently disabled."
Zeigler was one of 32 who was injured on November 5, 2009 when accused gunman Army Major Nidal Hasan opened fire inside the Soldier Readiness Center at Fort Hood.

Soldiers' Angels Welcomes New Trustee -- [Soldiers' Angels]
Soldiers' Angels announces the appointment of military veteran, new media expert and lobbyist Mark Seavey to the Board of Trustees. Drawing on thirteen years' experience advocating for veterans, Seavey will work closely with COL (ret) Henry Cook on legislative liaison efforts.
A strong advocate for veterans, Seavey began his career with The American Legion in 1997 as an Appeals Representative and later served with the National Legislative Commission as an Assistant Director and Grassroots Coordinator. Recently promoted to New Media Manager, Seavey serves as steward of The Burn Pit and also runs a highly-respected personal milblog which specializes in debunking fraudulent military service claims.

MILITARY

BREAKING: Stolen Valor Act ruled UNCONSTITUTIONAL (UPDATE 1) -- [BlackFive - Mr Wolf]
Sit back, take a deep breath, and get your BP meds ready. Stupidity has found another outlet in the judicial system. And be prepared to memorize this face.
One of our favorite impostors Richard Strandloff/Duncan has had the charges of Stolen Valor dropped due to a ruling from the District Court in Denver today. Judge Robert E. Blackburn issued a ruling today, dropping/dismissing the charges on the basis that says ''the Stolen Valor Act is unconstitutional.'' And by 'unconstitutional' he means it violates the First Amendment. He writes:

WELCOME HOME

Dozens of Kentucky Army National Guard soldiers returning home -- [WKYT]
Friends and family will gather at the Boone National Guard Center in Frankfort Wednesday to welcome home 86 Kentucky Army National Guard soldiers

Local Seabees Return -- [WKRG-TV]
Family members, relatives, and friends will welcome home more than 260 Seabees from ... to send an additional 30000 troops to Afghanistan late last year

Soldiers from the 278th return home -- [TriCities.com]
...every deployment is stressful because one parent ends up doing the job of two. In addition to taking care of their children by herself, Tara Spears said she also must do her husband's chores, such as mowing the lawn.
That's why she's thankful the Bootleggers have friends and family members who work together like an extended family during a deployment the same way its members become brothers while their in combat.
Technology also has come a long way in the five years since her husband's first deployment, and that's helped out a lot too. During the Bootleggers' 2004-05 deployment, Tara Spears said she was lucky if she could talk to her husband once a week. This year she's been able to use her Blackberry and Skype, an Internet-based video telephone service, to talk to her husband every single day that he's been gone.

VETERANS

URGENT!! OIF/OEF VETERANS DISCHARGED FOR PTSD -- [Some Soldier's Mom]
FOR YOUR INFORMATION
OIF/OEF Veterans: TIME IS RUNNING OUT. If you were discharged for PTSD and received LESS THAN A 50% disability rating from your service branch, you MAY be able to receive some additional benefits

New treatment for PTSD? Dropping some Ecstasy. -- [Stars & Stripes]
It's not the most likely prescription for veterans already suffering from paranoia and emotional imbalance, but a group of researchers with the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies in California are suggesting that 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (better known as Ecstasy) could prove valuable in helping combat vets in dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder.
The study, which tracked only 20 patients, found veterans using Ecstasy were more receptive to counseling sessions than those on a placebo.

BLOGGING/MILBLOGS/SOCIAL MEDIA

Oh, poor Blogetry! -- [Jawa Report]
Oh, the poor 73,000 blogs they hosted!!
Why, the FBI won't take my blog until they pry my cold dead fingers from the keyboard!!1! /sarcasm.
1. A site hosted by Blogetry was distributing Inspire magazine from al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.
2. The FBI asked for nothing more than information about the particular site, one of 73,000 hosted by Blogetry.
3. BurstNET, acting on their own initiative, and in accordance with their own Terms of Service, pulled the plug on Blogetry.
The FBI did not shut down 73,000 blogs, period. But why let the truth get in the way of a good story...

THE MEDIA/CULTURE

WH Press Briefing- Top Secret means Top Secret -- [BlackFive - Uncle Jimbo]
I posted this over at Big Peace but since it is an ongoing series here I wanted a copy on our servers. I think some of the hype over whether this compromises classified information may have been overblown. That said, I don't think it really added anything to the debate and put too much of our secret business out in public.

JournoList Members Discussed Whether the Government Should Shut Down Fox News -- [The Volokh Conspiracy]
It appears from the last few days' stories that JournoList was even worse than I'd always suspected. The Daily Caller reports that UCLA law professor Jonathan Zasloff first raised the possibility of a government shutdown of Fox News and then defended pulling their White House press pass

Breitbart On Sherrod's NAACP Speech: 'I Did Not Edit This Thing' -- [TPMMuckraker]
The crux of the Shirley Sherrod controversy is what she said outside of the two-minute video clip posted by Big Government -- whether she was, as she claims, telling a story about how she overcame racial prejudice while helping poor farmers in Georgia, or whether the clip is a good encapsulation of her views. So we asked Andrew Breitbart, the founder of Big Government, why he hasn't posted the full video.
"I don't have it," Breitbart told TPMmuckraker in an interview. Breitbart said his source sent him just the edited clips at first, but is in the process of sending the full video.
Breitbart said he'll post the full video, if he can get permission from the video production company who filmed it for a local NAACP chapter. He also maintained that he didn't edit the clip and that it was sent to him already edited.

VoteVets still whining about Fox -- [This Ain't Hell]
This morning I awoke to to some more VoteVets whining. They have new million-dollar ad that they're trying to cram down Fox's throat about this Clean Energy bill in Congress.

STRATEGY & TACTICS

War is Boring: Fourth Time the Charm for NATO's Afghan Militia Plan? -- [WPR]
The impetus behind the scheme was simple enough. "We clearly do not have enough police forces to provide security in enough of the populated areas," top Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell admitted.
Nevertheless, reaction to the plan was swift and alarmed. Afghan President Hamid Karzai reportedly objected to it -- and for good reason. On no fewer than three occasions in the last three years, NATO has experimented with militias and local security forces. All these previous efforts failed, sometimes spectacularly.
Morrell tried to downplay concerns. "These would be local community policing units," Morell said last week. "They would not be militias."
"It is clearly a sensitive issue for President Karzai and the Afghan government and the Afghan people, given their history with militias and warlords," Morrell told reporters. "And we are certainly understanding and sensitive to that."
"But that is not what Gen. Petraeus is proposing here,"

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

The real Star Wars: Laser used to shoot down a moving aircraft for first time -- [Daily Mail]
Star Wars-style laser beams have been used for the first time to shoot down aircraft in flight, it was revealed last night.
The anti-aircraft laser shot down four unmanned drones at a US Navy test range off the coast of California.
Mounted on a warship, the space age weapon was fired over two miles to hit one drone travelling above the Pacific Ocean at more than 300mph.
The invisible beam can only be seen when it strikes its target.

CLIMATE AND SECURITY

The Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force -- [White House]
President Obama signed an Executive Order establishing a National Policy for the Stewardship of the Ocean, Coasts, and Great Lakes on July 19, 2010. That Executive Order adopts the Final Recommendations of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force and directs Federal agencies to take the
appropriate steps to implement them.

Meet the National Ocean Council -- [White House Blog]
Find out who represents your new National Ocean Council.

In Midst of Gulf Disaster, New National Ocean Policy Gives Hope for Our Seas -- [Huffington Post - Sigourney Weaver Academy Award nominated actress]
I have always loved the oceans. My father was a Navy man and one requirement he had for us growing up was that we had to live near a body of saltwater. I was raised listening to foghorns by night and being chased by horseshoe crabs by day.
...This is the most significant action any U.S. President in history has ever taken for our seas. It will help make our oceans stronger and healthier, and help them fight off the myriad of threats they face today. It will help clean up the pollution that contaminates our beachwater, protect endangered species, keep the seafood we love on our plates, and make the oceans more resilient to the impacts of climate change.

POLITICS

Kagan and the Military: What Really Happened -- [WSJ - Pete Hegseth]
Her intellectually dishonest opposition to our armed forces during a time of war shows bad judgment. She doesn't belong on the Supreme Court.

Hegseth on Kagan -- [This Ain't Hell]
Out buddy, Pete Hegseth, the executive director of Vets For Freedom, takes on Elena Kagan, the Supreme Court nominee, in the pages of the Wall Street Journal this morning on her contention that she's friendly towards the military

MILITARY HISTORY

American Civil War: It Begins at Bull Run -- [about.com / Military History]
July 21, 1861 - Union forces are beaten at the First Battle of Bull Run. Under pressure to defeat Confederate forces, Brig. Gen. Irvin McDowell advanced into Virginia in July 1861. Encountering Confederate troops under Brig. Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard behind Bull Run, he attempted a sweeping march around the enemy's left flank. This largely succeeded on July 21 and Union forces achieved early success before pausing their advance. This allowed Beauregard to rush recently arrived reinforcements, under Brig. Gen. Joseph Johnston, to the scene. As the battle progressed, the Confederates gained the upper hand and ultimately routed McDowell's army sending it reeling back towards Washington.

HUMOR/SATIRE

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