Dawn Patrol

Mrs Greyhawk

The Dawn Patrol takes quite an effort to compose so if you find something in the Dawn Patrol and use it, a Hat Tip would be appreciated.

Iraq

The Willing [Chrenkoff]
In addition to the United States and the Iraqi forces, military personnel from 26 other countries are currently on the ground in Iraq, helping to bring peace and security, working on reconstruction projects, and engaging in humanitarian missions throughout the country. This is a tribute to those thousands of military men and women from around the world, some of them well-known, others less so, but all doing good work for the future of Iraq.

Awfully convenient [No More Mister Nice Blog] HT Counter Column
Am I wrong to think it's awfully convenient that just as we're having a serious discussion of prisoner abuse at Guantanamo, the front page of The New York Times has a story telling us that U.S. troops have found a torture chamber run by Iraqi insurgents -- and that the troops also discovered a surviving victim of the torture (who, alas, won't allow himself to be photographed, or even allow his wounds to be photographed)?

GQ PROVIDES EXCLUSIVE LOOK AT SADDAM HUSSEIN?S LIFE BEHIND BARS, AS TOLD BY FIVE U.S. SOLDIERS WHO GUARDED HIM [Drudge]
This Never-Before-Told Story Offers Firsthand Accounts of What It?s Like to Spend Time with America?s Most Highly Valued Detainee
?This is a very patriotic story about five ordinary Americans who, unexpectedly, were assigned to stand guard over one of the most notorious dictators of our time,? says DePaulo. ?They became witnesses to history, and as part of their duties they found themselves struggling to come to terms with the older man they grew to know and the reality of his infamous past as a ruthless dictator.?

NEVER THROW SOCCER BALLS WHEN PEACEFUL [Dixie Sapper- in Iraq]
We pulled out this morning going on a mission to meet some people in 2 different villages. I had hinted in our meeting last night that we had 4 HUMVEE's that wouldn't be used in the morning and why didn't we just use them instead of our usual tanks. He went for it. It was great not to rattle, shake and get dusty the entire trip. These things even had AC. Felt like a limo ride. I know it doesn't sound like much to you, but if you had ever rode in one of these tanks, you would understand. We pulled up to our first stop and dismounted our vehicles. There weren't many kids out today so it kind of threw up a red flag. Usually we are swamped with kids. If you don't see kids, usually a sign that a bad person is around.

Good news.... [CounterColumn]
We nailed a big fish named Abu Younis.
I would not be surprised to learn that we took him down in Baghdad thanks to intelligence gained from being on the offensive out by Al Qa'im.
This is the beauty of the offensive. The offensive often pays dividends far from the field of battle.

Constitution Writing Committee [Iraqi Expat]
It seems that an agreement has been, or is about to be reached regarding the constitution writing committee. [Arabic]
It started over a month ago when the 55 member committee was formed with only two Sunnis in it. It was a mistake to assume that a committee with such an important undertaking can be formed on the basis of number of seats gained in the elections. The Sunnis have erred when they boycotted ? and or asked people to boycott - the elections; however, that error did not mean that they should be sidelined in the most crucial task today which will shape the future of Iraq.

This just in... [Phil and Beckiy - in Iraq]
It is possible sometimes to believe that those who disagree with us on the political spectrum represent the farthest out in far-out wacky thought.
Sometimes, though, we get a reminder that, no matter what side of the isle we happen to lean towards, there are levels into the illogic vortex to which even those with whom we currently disagree have yet to descend. Consider this post by Arthur Chrenkoff about an editorial in the Egyptian newspaper Al Akhbar.

Apparently, Abu Musab al Zarqawi is... an American agent!!! Of course! It all makes sense now!

Zarqawi being 'betrayed' in Mosul? [Iraq the Model]
According to a story I read this morning on Al-Mada newspaper, it seems that there's a big conflict between the different active armed groups in Mosul.
This conflict originated from the different attitudes of the different groups regarding the issue of targeting civilian "collaborators" (which refers to anyone who works for the government) and it's more likely that this conflict has lead to the appearance of opportunities for a dialogue between some of these groups and the government and this will possibly put an end to a great deal of the violence going on in that area.

Violating Parole - A lesson on Saddam [Fourth Rail - Justin B]
I think we can all agree that WMD's in large quantities have not been found in Iraq. I certainly hope that we all can agree on some other WMD related facts:

1. At some time prior to the First Gulf War Saddam not only possessed large quantities of WMD's, but he used them on his own people.
2. Saddam played repeated games with UN Weapons Inspectors that are not consistent with someone that is telling the truth and had no WMD's, but rather consistent with someone that is hiding something.
3. Saddam was on "parole" for his previous invasion of Kuwait and violated his "parole" by not complying with the UN Weapons inspectors and destroying all WMD's in their presence so that they could verify their destruction.
4. Saddam had ample time to move his WMD's to Syria prior to the invasion and Russian Intelligence officers were present at several locations as well as large trucks observed going from weapons depots to the Syrian border.

Get your Fighting Aces Gear Here [From My Position]
Okay Folks, here?s an offer you can?t refuse:
For an extremely limited time, we are offering Fighting Aces T-Shirts to pay for the cost of our welcome home party (Also know by the spouses as the ?Bout Damn Time! party). (And to help the Family Readiness Group a.k.a. Those We Left Behind? send care packages to the boys

Iran

The Real Danger Poised by EMP Weapons Deployed by Iran with Help of AQ
HT to Jihad Watch. Good link to definition and overview of EMP weapons.
OK folks, you heard it from me before but now it's coming from an official governmental source -

Bloggers must demand more from the mainstream media in its reporting on Iran. [Regime Change Iran]
I have been reporting for days now that the elections in Iran were rigged. Now that the NY Times is reporting it perhaps the blogosphere will also. I also published statements of several candidates inside of Iran that are also claiming this as well.

Other Parts of the World

Hariri Wins in Lebanon [Smash]
THE ANTI-SYRIAN BLOC has declared victory in Lebanon?s national elections
The assassination of Hariri?s father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, earlier this year sparked a wave of massive demonstrations, which ultimately lead to the end of the Syrian occupation of Lebanon.
<...>
IRAN is also holding elections, but...

America

Are we not all Americans? [Flight Pundit]
It is the how that the most passionate disagreements come about. Not about the what. When it comes to politics Americans want most of same things. Americans want a safe place to raise a family, enjoy the land around us, and love freely. Americans want to pass on a better life to their children than they received. Americans want to feel safe. Americans want to help our neighbors. Americans want to be respected in what they are. These things are help by one group of people or another. Although we sometimes think they are and our side is the good side.

Greatest American Vote - Elvis and Oprah Eliminated [GM's Corner]
Two weeks ago we discussed on this site the voting at the Discovery Channel to select the Greatest American in our nation's history. First the public selected a top 100, reduced that to a top 25, and now we have the top 5.
Those removed from last week's list include Neil Armstrong, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Thomas Alva Edison, Albert Einstein, Thomas Jefferson (favored by many), John F. Kennedy, Elvis Presley (?), Franklin D. Roosevelt (another surprise not to make the finalists), and Oprah Winfrey (who deserved to be a finalist as much as Elvis.)
As expected, the five finalists...

Gitmo

Mr. Durbin, a Few Questions.... [Hurl's Blog - in Iraq]
A rose by any other name is still a rose. A wolf in sheep's clothing. What do these two phrases have in common? I think they apply to some folks in America who make claims of being pro-American, patriotic, support the troops, etc., but their actions and words belie their true nature.

As an example I'll be blunt. What has Michael Moore done or said that could be considered positive, supportive, constructive, or even neutral about the country in which people have died to ensure he can have a soft, cushy, well-fed life? A life largely (pun intended) devoted to mocking his country and those who defend it - and him....

Durbin, Redux [From My Position - in Iraq]
Here?s the facts about what Senator Durbin said. I put my comments in blue, lest they be confused with his.
Senator Durbin?s Original comments on the floor on 2 February (also known as Groundhog Day)

?On one occasion, the air conditioning had been turned down so far and the temperature was so cold in the room, that the barefooted detainee was shaking with cold. ..... On another occasion, the [air conditioner] had been turned off, making the temperature in the unventilated room well over 100 degrees. The detainee was almost on the floor, with a pile of hair next to him. He had apparently been literally pulling his hair out throughout the night. On another occasion, not only was the temperature unbearably hot, but extremely loud rap music was being played in the room (Okay, now rap music IS torture), and had been since the day before, with the detainee chained hand and foot in the fetal position on the tile floor.

Clinton Slams Guantanamo (London Financial Times)...Lionel Barber and Paul Taylor
Bill Clinton has become the most prominent figure so far to add his voice to criticisms of the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

WKRN or Al-Jazeera? [Lance in Iraq]
The first entry:

Foreign suspects held at Guantanamo have nothing to do with [the] September 11 attacks on the United States.
Guantanamo prisoners are a charade to show the good U.S. citizens that their government is doing it?s best to protect them against their imaginary enemies.

And the second:

Why is it that when right-wing bloggers talk about Gitmo they fail to mention that there is no way to know if those being held there are guilty of anything at all?

If you can't tell which is which, I understand. They are somewhat similar. The first is from ....

"Glazed chicken for the prisoners tomorrow" [KadNine]
I stop and ask myself, "Have these crazy accusations of detainee abuse at Guantanamo gotten out of hand?"
Paul Drabek says yes. Yes they have. He watched Rep. Duncan Hunter rip up Human Rights Watch on Fox News Sunday (transcript) in a trainwreck of free Korans, gourmet cooking, and other assorted abuses and then provides us with a little compare and contrast:

Gitmo and Gulags [Far East Cynic - in Japan]
I've watched the ongoing controversy about Guantanamo prison camps with a bit of nostalgia ( I was there several times to fly counter-drug operations) and bewilderment. On the one hand you have some grand standing Senators and Congressmen who say that GTMO must be closed down because there is treatment that verges on torture and saying:

The Gulag Study: Part 2 [The Quonset Hut]
The Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) set June 15-17 as the dates for its 2005 annual briefings to all families of missing from the Vietnam War. I?m still searching for news of the success (or failure) of this years? meeting - let me explain why. In February of this year the Board of Directors of the National Alliance of Families, by unanimous vote, recorded a vote of ?no confidence? in Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, and Chairman of the U.S./Russian Joint Commission (USRJC) Jerry Jennings. The Alliance Board of Directors also recorded, again unanimously, a vote of ?no confidence? in the Defense POW/MIA Office (DPMO), as a whole. This - following the lead of two prominent POW/MIA Family groups, the National League of Families and the Korea/Cold War Families of the Missing, Inc.
Their statement being...

Reporting from the Gulags ... [Daisy Cutter]
...You know, this would almost ... almost ... be funny if Durbin's conduct were not so reprehensible. Pathetic. Disgraceful.
<...>
...And, oh yeah, where is John McCain? He usually has little difficulty finding a camera or a microphone. What gives? What apparently gives is that Durbin is his buddy and accomplice in mangling our free-speech rights in the name of campaign-finance reform.

And if you think this outrage is just a partisan thing, read Durbin's comments to a servicemember serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, or Gitmo.

Steyn on Durbin [Baldilocks]
Like stank on...you know:

"[H]e should at least be made a little uncomfortable over what he's done -- in a time of war, make an inflammatory libel against his country's military that has no value whatsoever except to America's enemies. Shame on him, and shame on those fellow senators and Democrats who by their refusal to condemn him endorse his slander".

The dumbest words ever spoken [Geek Empire]
...20 prisoners have been released from Gitmo. 12 have either been recaptured or killed in battle. That's just a number, but remember, those folks were spending their time dedicating their life to killing you or people you know.
I'm so sick of all the Gitmo news. And I am completely disgusted with anyone who tries to compare that prison with any sort of war atrocity of the past. Gitmo is by a long, long shot the kindest treatment any POW's have ever seen.

The Durbin Remarks [Andrew Olmsted]
...While I think the Senator's point would have been stronger had he quit before describing the use of rap music, I can't deny the Senator's argument. If the FBI report is accurate, that's some pretty damnning stuff. People left to marinate in their own urine and feces is pretty mild from the standpoint of torture, but I think it certainly rises to the level of maltreatment (to borrow from a commenter at QandO) and is certainly not the kind of thing we think of American soldiers as doing. I've discussed my own concerns about torture in greater depth before.

Clinton: Gitmo Horror Could Spark Muslim Brutality ScrappleFace - Humor]
Former President Bill Clinton today said that if the scandal-plagued terrorist detention facility at Guantᮡmo Bay isn't "cleaned up or closed down" then insurgents in Iraq may resort to killing Iraqis, and could even begin attacking U.S. troops.

Politics

Did Lucy Ramirez Find The Downing Street Memos? [Captains Quarters]
The media and the Leftists have had a field day with the Downing Street memos that they claim imply that the Bush administration lied about the intelligence on WMD in order to justify the attack on Iraq. Despite the fact that none of the memos actually say that, none of them quote any officials or any documents, and that the text of the memos show that the British government worried about the deployment of WMD by Saddam against Coalition troops, Kuwait and/or Israel, the meme continues to survive.

Until tonight, however, no one questioned the authenticity of the documents provided by the Times of London. That has now changed, as Times reporter Michael Smith admitted that the memos he used are not originals, but retyped copies

Time for a Pep Talk: What Bush Should Say on June 28th [The Adventures of Chester]

Human will, instilled through leadership, is the driving force of all action in war.
- Warfighting Marine Corps Doctrinal Publication One

Last week, five members of the US Congress "introduced a resolution calling for the beginning of troop withdrawal from Iraq by Oct. 1, 2006."
<...>
Time vs Event-based Decisionmaking
Congressman Kucinich's mistake is in attempting to dictate a timetable for what is the most fluid and ever-changing of all human endeavors. Indeed, the very next paragraph of Warfighting quoted above is this...

Study: Second Bush Team Whiter, Older, More Experienced [My RightWing Conspiracy]
These are the types of stories that the mainstream media feels compelled to print because?[please insert reason here]?

WASHINGTON ? A new study shows Team Bush has fewer minorities and young people, and more government insiders, in the president?s second term than in his first. A study by the news weekly National Journal shows that 17 percent of those in the top 367 managerial jobs are minorities. That?s down from 20 percent four years ago.

I believe that reports such as these are an attempt to undermine the credibility of the presidency. What about a report on how the president brought in ?the best person for the job? versus the breakdown in age, race, sexual orientation, etc.? The title of this article almost makes it seem like ?more experience? is a bad thing.

Will the tail wag the dog? [Intel Dump -Phil Carter]
At a certain point, will U.S. military manpower and force structure considerations come to dictate our policy on Iraq ? and our exit strategy/timeline?
Today's New York Times carries a pair of provocative columns on the situation in Iraq. Both suggest that the U.S. will find a way out of Iraq soon, by handing the country back to the Iraqis, come hell or high water.
In the magazine, former White House counterterrorism adviser Richard Clarke writes America faces a choice between staying the course and instituting a draft because of military overstretch. Further, Clarke argues that the situation in Iraq may have gotten to the point where our inertia is the biggest factor keeping us there.

Ken Blackwell Part 2 [Howdy's Blog - in Iraq]
I got a comment on my BLOG that I?d like to at the very least answer. A writer named Mark, a veteran, claims that by Ken Blackwell?s hand in denying the right to vote to black voters in the inner cities of Ohio , handed President Bush reelection. Mark makes some good points and I?d like to ?peel the onion one more layer.?

New Evidence that the DNC is in Deep Trouble [Froggy Ruminations]
We just returned from my parent?s ranch after having a great lunch together for Father?s Day at the nearby golf clubhouse. I?m not a golfer nor is anyone in my family, but the course near their ranch is just a spectacular place with great food and beautiful views. Anyway, my mother is as hardcore a Democrat as I am a Conservative. I wouldn?t call her a liberal really, because she?s no fan of gay rights, she?s a Navy veteran, and she isn?t down with the whole hedonistic/anarchy thing going on in the hard Left. She is a former City Councilmember and Mayor of our town, and well acquainted with real world politics, not just sniping from the sidelines like most of us.

*Sigh* [ArlahomaBoy]
Byrd, in his new book, again confronts early ties to KKK
"Despite his many achievements, however, the venerated Byrd has never been able to fully erase the stain of his association with one of the most reviled hate groups in the nation's history."
As much as they'd like to claim the moral high-ground, the sad fact is that this subject is only raised by Republicans out for character-assassination whenever he does something they disagree with.

BOOK CLAIM: HILLARY HUMILIATED AS BILL HAS NEW AFFAIRS [Drudge]
**Exclusive**
Klein will sensationally claim Bill Clinton is flagrantly cheating on his senator wife.
"Hillary's aides noticed that Bill seemed to grow even more reckless after his memoir MY LIFE became a big bestseller. Thanks to his record-shattering $12 million book advance plus another $10 million in speaking fees, he was rolling in money -- and hubris," Klein writes.

The MSM Reports

Hit By Friendly Fire (U.S. News & World Report)...Kevin Whitelaw
Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel is angry. He's upset about the more than 1,700 U.S. soldiers killed and nearly 13,000 wounded in Iraq. He's also aggravated by the continued string of sunny assessments from the Bush administration, such as Vice President Dick Cheney's recent remark that the insurgency is in its "last throes." "Things aren't getting better; they're getting worse. The White House is completely disconnected from reality," Hagel tells U.S. News. "It's like they're just making it up as they go along. The reality is that we're losing in Iraq."

The Enemy Spies (Newsweek)...Scott Johnson and Melinda Liu
...According to intelligence officials in Baghdad, whose clearances bar them from speaking publicly, Iraq's security services have hundreds of "ghost soldiers"?members who vanish, sometimes for months on end, but continue to draw their pay. The fear is that they are working for the insurgency while keeping up their ties in uniform.

Someone Else's Child (New York Times)...Bob Herbert
...You can still find plenty of folks arguing that we have to stay the course, or even raise the stakes by sending more troops to the war zone. But from the very start of this war the loudest of the flag-waving hawks were those who were safely beyond military age themselves and were unwilling to send their own children off to fight. It's easy to be macho when you have nothing at risk.

Bush's War Worries (Time)...Massimo Calabresi
No Link Yet
...Still, a turning point on the war may be approaching. One sign is the apprehensiveness of military men like General John Abizaid, U.S. Central Command chief. "We are being successful," he said last week. "I have never met a soldier in the field who has not expressed confidence about the mission. But I'm increasingly having a hard time in Washington finding people who have confidence in the mission."

'Am I Next?' (Washington Post)...Ann Scott Tyson
Under the glare of a midmorning sun, Staff Sgt. Jody Hayes stands sweating in the hatch of his M-113 armored vehicle, scanning for insurgents. Hayes and his Iowa National Guard crew have been stalled for nearly 30 minutes on a risky, slow-moving mission to clear road bombs, and he's getting nervous.

Blogging

How To Use Trackbacks [Eric's Grumbles Before The Grave]
This is not a technical entry telling you how to make your trackbacks work, or something. Nope, this is an entry on how and when to use a trackback and what its purpose is. Why am I writing it? Well, this morning another blogger sent me a trackback. Normally we (those of us who don't get 1000's of hits a day) think that's pretty cool. But this one wasn't. Although it wasn't the traditional trackback spam that we see, a bunch of blogs are hit with trackback links to sites selling viagra, it was still spam. Why? Because the guy sent me a trackback purely for the purpose of increasing his traffic. He didn't link me in his entry at all.

Blogger Goes Hollywood [WuzzaDem]
Dan Riehl from Riehl World View was on The Big Story on Fox tonight, and not to talk about "the blogosphere," or the latest "left vs. right" issue.

Ann Althouse has an interesting, and yet all too familiar, post on "the Blogging Life:" [Common Virtue]

Blogging, I assume I'll wake up each morning, utterly empty-headed one moment, but very soon thereafter in possession of three or four ideas juicy enough to share with thousands of people. If it happens often enough, I don't worry that it will continue to happen, just like I don't worry that the next time I feel like standing up, the will to do it and the accomplishment will occur simultaneously.

I think that at some point most bloggers will face similar problems and thoughts. Even people like the Blogfather face "blogging fatigue" or question whether they have what it takes to keep going.

Winners are posted [Asuumption in Command - in Iraq]
And I am happy to report we didn't get any flatulence jokes, but we did get some that might make somebody say "EWWWWW Gross!".
So go check out the winners.

Anniversaries

Anniversary [Major K - in Iraq]
Today was also our first wedding anniversary. The top tier of our wedding cake remains in the freezer back home. But for this war, and the scumbag arhabi that continue pressing it, we would be eating that cake today.

The Dawn Patrol takes quite an effort to compose so if you find something in the Dawn Patrol and use it, a Hat Tip would be appreciated.