Meanwhile, back at the Ranch...

The hostage rescue story made me realize that since the Hurricane hit I've neglected goings-on in Iraq. In my own defense, even the deployed milbloggers are writing about Katrina - a fact I'm aware of because Mrs G has continued to keep her eye on the ball via the Dawn Patrol.

Anyhow, by way of making up for lost time, here are the CENTCOM stories bumped from the front pages by Katrina.

COALITION FORCES RESCUE HOSTAGES 09/07/2005

IRAQI, U.S. SOLDIERS FIND CAR BOMB, 3 TERROR SUSPECTS 09/07/2005

4TH BRIGADE SOLDIERS CAPTURE SUSPECTED TERRORISTS 09/06/2005

SOLDIERS DISCOVER IED MAKING CELL 09/06/2005

TASK FORCE LIBERTY SOLDIERS DETAIN TERRORISTS FOLLOWING MORTAR ATTACK 09/06/2005

SENIOR FALLUJAH TERRORIST AIDE CAPTURED 09/06/2005

MORE TERRORISTS TAKEN OFF THE STREETS IN NORTHERN IRAQ 09/06/2005

ABU GHRAIB IED CELL, MEMBERS CAPTURED 09/06/2005

TASK FORCE LIBERTY SOLDIERS STOP AMBUSH, DETAIN EIGHT IN AD DULUIYAH 09/03/2005

WEAPONS CACHE DESTROYED, TERROR SUSPECTS CAPTURED NEAR AL-AMIRIYAH 09/03/2005

SECURITY FORCES CONTINUE TO TAKE CHARGE AGAINST TERROR 09/03/2005

U.S. SOLDIERS, IRAQI ARMY DETAIN 36 SUSPECTED TERRORISTS 09/01/2005

48TH BRIGAGDE DETAINS TERRORISTS, FINDS WEAPONS CACHE 09/01/2005

AIR STRIKE TARGETS TERRORIST SAFE HAVEN IN HUSAYBAH 09/01/2005

COALITION FORCES BOMB TERRORIST SAFE HOUSES 08/31/2005

More later.

Later: I was kidding about that "bumped from the front pages". These types of stories never appear in the newpapers.

Update: CENTCOM also provides the latest commentary from the enemy:

CENTCOM: On 04 September 2005, a participant in a jihadist or extremist website, posts a statement by Abu-Mus'ab al-Zarqawi's al-Qa'ida Organization in the Land of the Two Rivers [Tanzim al-Qa'ida fi Bilad al-Rafidayn] in which the group congratulates Muslims "on what befell the worshippers of the cross." This latest press release congratulates the nation of Islam for the success of Hurricane Katrina as proof of Allah?s wrath upon the Unbelievers and ends in a Muslim call to arms and a prayer for Allah to further punish the infidels.

Update 2: I suppose I should give NORTHCOM some virtual ink too:

Release #18
UPDATE (Sept. 7, 4 a.m.)

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. ? As directed by the Secretary of Defense and in accordance with the National Response Plan, U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) is supporting the Dept. of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and other federal agencies in disaster relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
USNORTHCOM is providing and/or coordinating the following support:
New
? More than 1,800 members and 134 vehicles of the 82nd Airborne Division arrived at NAS Belle Chasse, La., with the primary mission of search and rescue. Follow-on missions include assist and recovery and humanitarian support operations in Orleans and Tammany Parishes.
? More than 1,600 members, 196 vehicles and 20 helicopters of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division arrived at NAS Belle Chasse and Hammond, La. Unit scheduled to work with and support efforts of the 82nd Airborne.
? USS Tortuga is pier side at New Orleans conducting evacuation operations, food distributions and soldier transport.

Updates

? More than 18,000 active duty members are currently supporting the disaster relief efforts in the U.S. Gulf Coast. This is in addition to the 42,990 Army and Air National Guard members already supporting operations in the area.
? 24 ships (17 Navy, 7 Coast Guard cutters) are on station in the affected area, with three additional ships en route ? USNS Comfort due Sept. 9.
? To date more than 20 million liters of water, 60 million pounds of ice and 11 million Meals Ready to Eat (MREs) have been delivered to areas in Mississippi and Louisiana.

Ongoing

? FEMA and DoD are working with the USAID?s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance to process various offers of aid from more than 80 countries and international organizations.
? 40 trucks from Mexico are en-route to the Texas border to deliver relief supplies. Personnel from the U.S. Fifth Army are coordinating border crossing and support for the convoy, scheduled to arrive in Texas Wednesday.
? Three Cruise ships with a total capacity of 7,116 are on station in Galveston, Texas and Mobile, Ala, receiving evacuees for extended temporary housing. The ships were contracted through Military Sealift Command to support FEMA?s request to relocate evacuees from the U.S. Gulf Coast area.
? More than 250 DoD medical personnel are currently in place in the affected area to support humanitarian medical assistance. Navy ships in the area have medical personnel ashore to assist operations.
? USS Harry S Truman is stationed off Biloxi, Miss., to assist with operations
? USS Bataan is prepared to receive patients in its hospital, and personnel are ashore assisting medical relief efforts.
? USS Iwo Jima is serving as the command and control center for the forward headquarters of Joint Task Force-Katrina.
? Firefighting efforts are being supported by National Guard aviation. Two specially equipped Air Force C-130 aircraft are at Naval Air Station Pensacola and available to fly firefighting missions assigned by regional fire officials.
? USNS Altair and USNS Pollux are off the coast of New Orleans. Altair will provide 130 tons of water, and Pollux will provide 1.5 million gallons of fuel to support relief operations by National Guard troops and emergency service workers.
? The Dept. of Health and Human Services has 9 mobile Federal Medical Shelter facilities at military installations along the Gulf Coast. Each facility can accommodate 250 patients. Four facilities are located at Ft. Polk, Louisiana; three at Naval Air Station Meridian, Miss.; and two at Air National Guard Station Meridian, Miss.
? USNORTHCOM established Joint Task Force (JTF) Katrina to act as the military?s on-scene command in support of FEMA. Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, commander of the First Army in Fort Gillem, Ga., is the JTF-commander.
? Joint Forces Command is providing Department of Defense leased property at the former England AFB in Louisiana as an intermediate staging base to support hurricane response in the state of Louisiana. This will serve as a staging point for National Guard personnel arriving from other states to support the Louisiana relief efforts.
? JTF-Civil Support (JTF-CS) is providing a joint planning augmentation cell to provide domestic chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or high-yield explosive (CBRNE) consequence management planning capabilities to JTF-Katrina.
? Defense Coordinating Officers continue to coordinate DoD aid to FEMA and local official in Louisiana and Mississippi.
? Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark.; Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.; Naval Air Station Meridian, Miss.; Barksdale Air Force Base, La.; Alexandria, La.; Ft. Polk, La.; and Keesler AFB, Miss., have been designated as operational staging areas to expedite the movement of relief supplies and emergency personnel to affected areas.
? USNORTHCOM?s 24-hour Joint Operations Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., has been augmented with additional personnel to facilitate any additional requests for assistance that may come from FEMA representatives.
The impact of providing such assistance will not adversely affect military preparedness. The DoD is fully engaged in supporting the massive interagency effort to save lives, reduce suffering and protect the infrastructure of the homeland. For more information on USNORTHCOM involvement in national disaster relief efforts, log onto our website at www.northcom.mil

Update 3: If you're thinking, "Gosh, that's just not enough!" You're right! More at

Army Katrina Page and photo gallery.

Navy Katrina Page and photo gallery.

Air Force Katrina page and photo gallery.

Marine Corps Katrina page (photos with stories).

DoD Katrina page and photo gallery

National Guard pages here and here.

And the Coast Guard Katrina page here.

Biloxi, Miss. (Sept. 6, 2005) - A U.S. Navy Landing Craft, Air Cushion (LCAC), assigned to Assault Craft Unit Four (ACU-4), arrives on the beach in Biloxi, Miss., to offload relief supplies for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. ACU-4 is currently assigned to the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5). The Navy's involvement in the Hurricane Katrina humanitarian assistance operations is led by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in conjunction with the Department of Defense. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Michael Sandberg (RELEASED)