Dawn Patrol

Welcome to the Dawn Patrol, our daily roundup of information on the War on Terror and other topics - from the MilBlogs, other blogs, and the mainstream media. 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. (We have a daily "Open Post" too, if you have something on another topic you can link there.)

IRAQ

Just Had to Break the Rules -- [An Average Iraqi - an Iraqi in Iraq]
...I went through side roads only, not through any main street where a checkpoint or a traffic police could find me. Already the streets are beginning to look emptier. Most government facilities are going off these days. Primary schools, high schools and universities are all postponing their study until after the seminars.

A Step forward for democracy in defiance of terrorism -- [Hammorabi - an Iraqi in Iraq]
Today's agreement of the main political parties including the Iraqi Islamic Party on the draft of the constitution has been described by some as a historic day.

The Day of National Accord. -- Iraq the Model - an Iraqi in Iraq]
At this moment, the National Assembly is holding a ceremony celebrating the new breakthrough agreement on the constitution which President Talbani described as the ?Day of National Accord?.
The ceremony is attended by the ministers of the cabinet as well as the presidency council and the president of the Kurdistan region, Masoud Barzani.

Our role -- [Phil and Becky - Phil's in Iraq]
This morning, I poked around on the Internet to see if I could find any dispatches from our hosted reporters.

Here is the first one. ...

Green Kryptonite and Juan Cole -- [IraqPundint - an Iraqi in Iraq]
Here we go again, when any light is spotted at the end of the tunnel, the misinformed Juan Cole twists it into some ugly description. Today his blog calls the latest agreement reached among Iraq's politicians as a bad sign.

I guess it's so important for him to see everything regarding Iraq in a negative light. IraqPundit's position is that it would be best if the Iraqi people would reject the constitution. But I still think that any political agreement is good because it can help avert civil war.

Building up the Iraqi Forces -- [Peace Like A River]
Yesterday MNSTC-I ("min-sticky") announced that the Iraqi Forces had crossed a milestone. Iraqi security forces are now 200,000 strong.

Syria-Iraq Improving Relations -- [Dave's not Here - in Iraq]
Syrian Airlines has resumed flights to Iraq after 25 years without service. I suppose this is either a good thing, or a really good way to bring terrorists directly in to Baghdad without the burden of driving across hundreds of miles of desert.

Syria?s Bashir Assad, the Idiot -- [A Soldir's Perspective]
I seem to be making a habit out of calling idiots?well, idiots! It?s what I do: state the obvious. Anyway, read THIS and stay tuned for my perspective. No time right now.

Okay, now I will. During Assad?s interview with CNN, he is asked if the problem of Syrians slipping into Iraq to assist the insurgency is a bad thing and would he ?like to see the insurgency stopped.? Assad?s answer is pure political buck-passing, but listen to this part of his answer:...

Good versus Blind Faith -- [Dadmanly - in Iraq]
Josh Marshall, in a recent Talking Points Memo, reveals the revisionist history that underlies both \tilt and Nobel sensibilities.

Marshall exposes the base assumptions undergirding the new talking points for the war...

River Gate Update - Day Nine -- [The Fourth Rail]
While the news from the fighting along the Euphrates River has been sparse of late, the Coalition continues to conduct operations in western Anbar. At this point in time, Operation River Gate mainly consists of targeted raids and searches...

Man's best friend -- [J Barne's Coffee Shop - in Iraq]
Yep even in a sespool like Iraq you can still find a friend. Lady, as we call her, is the dog pictured above, she was here as a pup when we first arrived and the fella's quickly adopted her into the platoon. She is about 1 year old now and is nothing other than faithful to us. She serves as a good watch dog against "bad guys" and she is friendlier that most domestic dogs back home.

This is my Iraqi word of the day. -- [GI.John - in Iraq]
"Shaku Maku" is a colloquial term frequently used by Iraqis - it is not used anywhere else. It is roughly equivalent to the American "what's up?" Evidently, it is Babylonian in origin and about 3000 years old. I like it because its easy to remember... it sounds a lot like "Shaka Broder" which I use to hear in Hawaii back in the 70s! For the Iraqi's I meet, it?s an easy way to just say "Hi".

MSM REPORTS ON IRAQ

Security Stepped Up for Iraq Referendum -- (AP)
BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. and Iraqi forces stepped up security across Iraq on Thursday in an effort to reduce insurgent attacks aimed at wrecking this weekend's constitutional referendum. One day after Iraqi lawmakers approved a set of last-minute amendments to the constitution, cities were unusually quiet as a four-day national holiday began. Wednesday's deal sealed a compromise designed to win minority Sunni Arab support for the charter

Iraq's Kurds Ambivalent On Charter -- (Washington Post)
IRBIL, Iraq, Oct. 12 -- In the days leading up to Iraq's historic national elections nearly nine months ago, the streets of this Kurdish provincial capital buzzed with excitement. Aging former pesh merga militia fighters sang revolutionary songs in an impromptu bus parade around the city. Political party workers sat in striped tents outside campaign headquarters and shouted through bullhorns, urging people to vote in the country's first democratic elections in nearly half a century.

Report Says White House Ignored C.I.A. on Iraq Chaos -- (New York Times)
WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 - A review by former intelligence officers has concluded that the Bush administration "apparently paid little or no attention" to prewar assessments by the Central Intelligence Agency that warned of major cultural and political obstacles to stability in postwar Iraq.

AFGHANISTAN

Suicide Bombings Increase -- [Strategy Page]
When they get the chance, the Taliban seems to have been undertaking coordinated ambushes of late. The pattern apparently is that they set up a series of ambushes along the route they suspect an Afghan or Coalition patrol will pass ? or perhaps have intel about. They let the patrol through one or two of the ambushes, and hit it with the second or third trap. That way, they can

MSM REPORTS ON AFGHANISTAN

SOUTH ASIAN QUAKE: NATO NOT TO SEND TROOPS FROM AFGHANISTAN -- (AKI/DAWN)
Brussels, 13 Oct. - NATO has ruled out moving its troops or helicopters from Afghanistan to help in the rescue operations in Pakistan but has said its aircraft would continue to ferry relief supplies from Europe to Islamabad. Officials said the first NATO aircraft would reach Pakistan on Thursday as part of a strategic airlift operation to move urgently required humanitarian aid. The operation could be followed by further actions, the organisation said, adding that heavy-duty helicopters could be sent by sea from Europe if required.

US will stay in Afghanistan as long as needed: Rice -- (Daily Times)
KABUL: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday said US troops would stay in Afghanistan as long as needed, as Washington tries to bolster its influence in the region as an antidote to Islamic extremism

OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD

Future of the US-ROK Alliance -- [GI Korea Blog - in S Korea]
The Marmot's Hole is providing some great information about the future of the US-ROK alliance:

To set up a forward operational headquarters, the Army plans to move the I Corps headquarters from Fort Lewis to Camp Zama, a U.S. post southwest of Tokyo. Military officers said negotiations with Japan are progressing and an agreement may be reached in time for President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to announce it in November when the president visits Japan.

MSM REPORTS ON OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD

Rebels Launch Attacks in Southern Russia -- (AP)
NALCHIK, Russia - Militants launched simultaneous attacks on police and government buildings in this city in Russia's turbulent Caucasus region Thursday, sparking battles involving heavy-arms fire that forced schools to evacuate and left corpses in the streets. Chechen rebels claimed responsibility for the attacks in Nalchik, the capital of Kabardino-Balkariya, a republic near Chechnya. The republic has suffered a growing wave of violence that apparently is connected to Islamic extremists and that is seen as a spillover of the Chechen rebels' decade-long fight against Russian forces.

S. ASIA EARTHQUAKE

From The Rubble, A Tale Of Faith -- [Point Five]
Like many teenagers, sixteen year old Shaukat Shah wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary on Saturday. He was fighting with his older sister, Fadela, in their small stone house, when a deadly 7.6 earthquake struck in the Himalayan region of Kashmir. Shaukat was able to push past his sister, and run to safety before their home collapsed around them. Fadela was not so lucky.
...Miraculously, they found the seventeen year old girl in remarkably good shape, trapped in a cramped pocket of life within a broken jumble of destruction. Allah be praised! said father Amir, as he watched his daughter pulled from the mouth of the rescue tunnel. He has given back our family honor!
For as soon as rescuers were able to extricate Fadela from being buried alive, the family and town elders joyfully buried her up to the neck and stoned her to death.

Clouds Foretell Another Earthquake in Asia! -- [ROFA Six]
India?s National Paper, The Asian Age reports that another earthquake is coming to the region in a report titled, ?Cloud reader gets dire.? The source of that prediction is cloud reader, Shakeel Ahmad. He predicted another earthquake in India in the next week or so after a session of ?cloud reading.?

MSM REPORTS ON S. ASIA EARTHQUAKE

Aftershock Suspends Pakistan Rescue Effort -- (AP)
MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan - A 22-year-old woman trapped in the rubble of a quake-hit building died Thursday after an overnight aftershock disrupted efforts to rescue her, rescuers and witnesses said. British, German and Turkish teams had worked until 2 a.m., trying to extract a woman who had been detected by a sniffer dog in the debris in Muzaffarabad, a city in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir that was devastated in the earthquake Saturday.


Earthquake Aid for Pakistan Might Help U.S. -- (Washington Post)
The influx of U.S. aid to earthquake-ravaged Pakistan -- signified by yesterday's unscheduled stop in Islamabad by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice -- could have an important side benefit: improving the battered U.S. image in a critical Muslim country.

SUPPORTING THE TROOPS OR NOT....

A Bittersweet Ending - Beans the Dog Arrives in America -- [Andi's World]
In August, I brought you the story of one Marine mom who was working to bring Beans the Dog to the United States. Her son, Lance Cpl. Jeff Boskovitch, was killed in Iraq. She wanted to hug the last thing that her son had hugged before a sniper claimed his life. That last hug was given to Beans the Dog.

Autumn in a Box - Carepackage Ideas -- [Holly Aho - A Soldier's Angel]
Another Soldiers Angel mentioned Autumn, and how deployed soldiers (especially those from northern states) might miss the colorful leaves and everything else that is great about fall. She had a great idea, and I have a few to add to it. First, she had the idea to select a few colorful leaves, laminate them and write a message on the back. A few other angels added to this idea by suggesting using glue to attatch the leaves to fabric or paper before laminating them so there is room for a larger message on the back. This is something teachers can do with their class and children will enjoy as well.

The Lowest Form Of Protest -- [Elephant in my Coffee]
Some whackos from Kansas came down to protest the war in front of yet another soldier?s funeral. They were treated the Oklahoma way!

MILITARY

US Navy Birthday 13 October 1775 -- [EagleSpeak]
Only the Navy can make its own birthday dull. 230 years - sort of- ...

Better Ceramic Armor -- [Strategy Page]
The war in Iraq has been a bonanza for manufacturers of lightweight armor. This has led to new, and much improved, designs. One of the more successful is a new ceramic armor ( Light Improved Ballistic Armor, or LIBA) that eliminates the brittleness problems. Instead of layers of ceramics and metal, LIBA uses masses of tiny ceramic pellets held together by a fireproof glue.

POLITICS

Shillary's Been Snubbed -- [Flight Pundit]
Heh. Is this the beginning of the end for Hillary? Or is this the beginning of the end for John Kerry? You decide.

MSM REPORTS ON POLITICS

Poll: Bloomberg Extends Lead in NYC Race -- (AP)
NEW YORK -- Mayor Michael Bloomberg, elected in 2001 to succeed Rudolph Giuliani as fires still raged in the World Trade Center ruins, has taken a commanding lead over his Democratic challenger, at least in part because of his handling last week of an alleged terrorist plot to bomb the subways....

Kennedy: I'll Support Kerry in 2008 Race -- (AP)
BOSTON -- Sen. Edward Kennedy said Wednesday he would back fellow Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008 - even if Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton also pursues a White House bid....

Gore: I Don't Plan to Run for President -- (AP)
STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- Former Vice President Al Gore said Wednesday he had no intention of ever running for president again, but he said the United States would be "a different country" if he had won the 2000 election, launching into a scathing attack of the Bush administration....

When asked how the United States would have been different if he had become president, though, he had harsh criticism for Bush's policies.
... "We would not be trying to control and intimidate the news media. We would not be routinely torturing people," Gore said. "We would be a different country."

Budget Cowardice in the Capitol -- (New York Times)
Congressional Republicans are trying to invoke the cost of reconstruction from Hurricane Katrina to justify cutting even more into programs that help the poorest Americans.

Bush approval rating dips to 39 percent - poll -- (Reuters)
WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush's job approval rating has fallen to a new low of 39 percent in an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released on Wednesday.

Democrats See Dream of '06 Victory Taking Form -- (New York Times)
WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 - Suddenly, Democrats see a possibility in 2006 they have long dreamed of: a sweeping midterm election framed around what they describe as the simple choice of change with the Democrats or more of an unpopular status quo with the Republican majority.

CONGRATS

Random thoughts -- [Courage without Fear - in Iraq]
...I can't really update you on his situation, since I'm usually out of the loop too. I can tell you that just last week we celebrated our 3rd anniversary. Its hard being away from him at times like this and I know it has to be even harder for HIM to be away from us.

Blogiversary -- (Hooah Wife)
Friday the 14th is my 1 year blogiversary. In honor of this special and most momentous occasion (and to help me gain strength in the blogosphere), I am holding an open trackback blogiversary party

(Need more? The previous Dawn Patrol is here.)