Dawn Patrol

MSM Reports

Misquoted in the MSM [From My Position... On the way! - in Iraq]
Well, not misquoted. Half quoted. The ?journalist? from the Boston globe who quoted me only included 1/100th of what I said.

Here?s the part where I?m quoted: (full article here I would link to the original in the Boston globe, but they want $2.95 for the article. So I linked to a Russian mirror.)

New York Times Publishes on DHS Classified Report...Again [The Word Unheard]
The New York Times has done it again, making non-public government documents public. Or has it? The Department of Homeland Security has written a ?confidential report? regarding the state of airport security in the US, both domestically and international inbound flight originations.

10 Guilty In Deaths Of Iraqis; Sentences Are 'Light' (San Diego Union-Tribune)...Tim Whitmire, Associated Press
...In the 27 months since the Iraq war began, at least 10 U.S. military personnel have been convicted of a wide array of charges stemming from the deaths of Iraqi civilians. But only one sentence has exceeded three years, and last month two men ? a Marine lieutenant and an Army sergeant ? were cleared entirely of murder charges.

Fighting Blind In Iraq (New York Times)...Barry R. Posen
...Those who wish to "stay the course" in Iraq need a plausible strategy of victory in the intelligence campaign. The usual methods either have not worked or are unlikely to work. Unless the American and Iraqi government forces can deprive the terrorists of their local supporters and the intelligence they provide, they are in for a long, indecisive struggle.

Justice Before Politics (Washington Post)...Floyd Abrams, Bob Barr and Thomas Pickering
An outside, bipartisan panel should investigate allegations of abuse of terrorist suspects

Torture's Part Of The Territory(Los Angeles Times)...Naomi Klein
Brace yourself for a flood of gruesome new torture snapshots. Last week, a federal judge ordered the Defense Department to release dozens of additional photographs and videotapes depicting prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib.

Blaming The Messenger Fools No One (Los Angeles Times)...Robert Scheer
...How dare the White House and Pentagon, which have for three years rationalized torture and fought off the courts' attempts to grant the detainees some basic right of appeal, blame Amnesty International, rather than themselves, for besmirching the U.S. human rights record

Military Scapegoats Walk A Well-Worn Path (USA Today)...Jonathan Turley
The grunts of Abu Ghraib fit lock-step into a history of injustice in our armed forces

In Fort Hood, Texas, the latest grunt will soon face charges of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib. As with six other GIs, Pfc. Lynndie England will carry more than her individual responsibility for torture into her trial. She will carry the hopes of one of the world's smallest and most exclusive clubs: the 870 star-studded admirals and generals who command the military services.

Good Intentions Gone Bad (Newsweek)
NEWSWEEK's Baghdad bureau chief, departing after two years of war and American occupation, has a few final thoughts.
Two years ago I went to Iraq as an unabashed believer in toppling Saddam Hussein. I knew his regime well from previous visits; WMDs or no, ridding the world of Saddam would surely be for the best, and America's good intentions would carry the day. What went wrong? A lot, ...

American media no longer accept Bushs war lies (Aljazeera)
A strange phenomenon is occurring in national American papers, with many editors beginning to condemn the war in Iraq, when previously many of them "accepted" it.

One Day in Iraq: Daily lives (BBC)
As part of the BBC News website's One Day in Iraq coverage, we will be hearing from people from all walks of life, all over the country.

The life here is quite normal. Most of the people are now having their lunch outside, as many of them have jobs so can't go home to lunch.

Iraq

2nd Marine Division discovers underground insurgent lair [Marines.com]
The biggest site was found near Karmah, a small city north of Fallujah. The 558- by 902-foot site, one of the biggest found since the beginning of operations here, was discovered in an abandoned rock quarry which and involved a series of bunkers insurgents used as an underground lair.

Our Imbed [365 and a Wake Up - in Iraq]
One of the units in our battalion has an imbedded photojournalist by the name of Ken James. Ken is a stand up guy who's photographic skills have captured both the triumphs and tribulations of our mission. Ken sent me a few of his pictures and I've included them in a photo gallery (cropped and low resolution

Hero Returns Home - Major Tammy Duckworth [Blackfive]
"I want to stay in the Army and I want to fly helicopters for the Army again. I'm not letting some guy who got lucky one day in Baghdad decide my future." - Major Tammy Duckworth, KATU 2 (Portland, OR

No passenger seating in tanks [Phil and Becky]
We received a task from Brigade last night to transport a photographer from the Brigade's public affairs office (PAO) from FOB Warhorse to Al Abarra to take pictures at the ribbon cutting ceremony for the newly rebuilt Al Abarra Iraqi Army headquarters.

Home Sweet Home.... [neurotic Iraqi wife]
So yup, here I am blogging from the Green Zone, which is actually called the International Zone now. I would have never believed that I will be here in Baghdad. What can I say? My feelings are pretty mixed cuz I havent been outside the Green zone. This is not what I wanna see, I wanna see the real Baghdad, the real people. But am happy, am happy that am finally here with HUBBY.

A Federal Dictatorship [Iraq Rising]
The situation in Iraq is very precarious and confusing. It is a mix of the positive and the negative. Each day we hear about the capture and defeat of a terrorist cell only for another one to pop up and raise its ugly head. Just like the legendary ?Hydra? of Greek mythology, the only way to defeat this multi-headed terrorist animal is by striking at its body and cutting of its grass root support. This can only be done through a political process of reconciliation and good governance.

Working with Iraqi Leaders [DVIDS video]
Soldiers from Task Force 1/128th near Balad, Iraq work with local leaders to develop civil projects for local citizens.

Iraq weather

Gotta Love Dust and Sand [My 18 Month Vacation to the Beach - in Iraq]
We had a dust storm last night. it was probably one of the worst ones we have seen yet as far as visibility. The hallways in our building were filled with dust. When we walked out in the hall last night it just looked cloudy our there. We normally have decent visibility when these storms roll through but we couldnt see anything last night. I did what i could to try to take some pictures last night. As much as I would love to see snow right now thats not it in the picture below.

Iraqi Dust Storm [Dadmanly - in Iraq]
We just experienced our first major Iraqi dust storm here on our FOB, and now I know what everyone was talking about. It hit overnight, and this morning as I step out of my room I?m greeted by an 1/8 inch thick coat (no, cake) of dust covering every exposed surface.

Sand blizzard [Blog Machine - in Iraq]
This is the sight that greeted me when I stepped out of my truck this morning after a grueling night of UHF radio-staring-at. At least it cooled the place down a little...

Working the night shift [DogHostage]
It's four in the morning Baghdad time, and I'm wide awake. Working the night shift means I'm sitting in the office doing three of my favorite things: drinking coffee, surfing the web and watching DVD's. I'm also just being here in case any of the sleeping Soldiers suddenly wake up and come in with legal issues. They'd have to brave the current sand storm to do so. Everything, even inside the building, has a thin layer of dust.

Afghanistan

Da Roof !Da Roof! We dont need no water..... [The Siegrist Blogs - in Afghanistan]
The Hooch add on is complete. After a month of working in between flying ,sleeping and eating the final nails have gone into the construction project started by CW3 D, (pictured center) and his two workers bees, CW2 L and CW2 L who as you can see have all the faith in the world in their IP. The project suffered a minor set back when half the wood was stolen by someone who needed to build something or another I'm sure. After all there is only one thief in the Army everyone else is just trying to get their S(*) back. Great job by all who helped out! And just in time for the rainy season, lol!

Military Issues

Wounded Soldier Re-enlists During Recovery [Defense link]
U.S. Army Spc. Aaron Pace, a paratrooper from the 173rd Combat Support Company, re-enlisted here recently as he sat in bed with a bullet hole in his left foot. The combat engineer attached to Task Force Rock was shot in the foot during a patrol with B Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment.

Japan, U.S. See Base Deal By Year-End [Petty Officer Cruel Kev]

Japan Defense Agency Director General Yoshinori Ono reached a basic agreement with U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to achieve a deal on the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan by the end of this year. In a meeting held in a hotel in Singapore, Ono and Rumsfeld also agreed to release as soon as possible an interim report on the sharing of security roles by the Self-Defense Forces and U.S. troops. O

Politics

Winds of War Briefing [The Fourth Rail]
The Monday Winds of War Briefing is available. I am collaborating on this effort with evariste of Discarded Lies. Here are some of the items covered:

Time for Tribunals at Gitmo [Uncle Jimbo- Madison's Favorite Hawk]
I sent this email to the three top military and international security blogs:

" Dear Folks,

We have all spent considerable time defending the actions of our troops at Gitmo and our right to hold the detainees. Unfortunately the lack of a solid answer as to their legal status and future has let the left and the media frame the whole situation in the most negative light. I think we should seize the initiative from them and determine the answers to two questions.

Amnesty?s Absurdity [The Law and Terrorism Page]
"Amnesty International?s deliberate use of the word ?gulag? to describe U.S. actions at Guantanamo should not have been a surprise. As has been widely reported, Irene Khan, the secretary general of Amnesty, used the description in the foreword to the organization?s 2005 annual report. According to Khan, ?The detention facility at Guantᮡmo Bay has become the gulag of our times?.? It is only the latest in a multi-year slide by the organization away from universal human-rights standards toward a politicized and anti-American agenda.

How do you measure "cultural competency"? [Jack Army]
The Fun Never Ends in Oregon

The University of Oregon will soon start basing the salaries and promotions of faculty members on their "cultural competency," or how well they play with people "from different backgrounds," reports The Associated Press.

Big Pharaoh says that America's 1st lady was taken to visit a *fake school* in Alexandria: [Iraq the Model]
Upon Laura Bush?s recent trip to Egypt, it was planned that she, along with her host Mrs. Mubarak, would visit a USAID funded school in Alexandria. One week before the scheduled visit, the tattered school was painted anew, tidied up, and the sewage system was fixed. The dirty roads around the school were cleaned up and trees were miraculously planted all around the area. A sign in English was written to welcome the 2 first ladies.

Saving Africa [Smash - Indepundit]
I JUST got off the phone with Sir Bob Geldof.

It started with an email on Saturday from John Hinderaker (aka Hindrocket) from the Power Line blog. John had been contacted by Howard Dean?s former campaign manager Joe Trippi (who is also a blogger), who in turn had been contacted by Geldof?s people. Sir Bob wanted to set up a ?nonpartisan? teleconference with American bloggers to help spread the word about Live8, his latest effort to ?end poverty in Africa.?

Blogging

I certainly don't want to be dooced [Tidewater Musings]
Dooced: Getting fired because of something that you wrote in your Web log.
The debate about blogging, work, and freedom of speech continues on.

Web Sites, Blogs Can Boost Your Career [Outside the Beltway]
Having a blog can help your career, according to an AP report.

Web Sites, Blogs Can Boost Your Career