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

This Is Our Time Now -- [4 Mile Creek - in Iraq]
Not that anyone should believe an Iraqi soldier, especially if what he says contradicts what a NYTs reporter is writing about Iraq from poolside at the Palestine Hotel, but occasionally the Iraqi soldiers talk about what's going on in their country. And occasionally what they say is worth listening to.

Iraqi Soldiers - 26 March 2006 -- [Iraq Pictures - in Iraq]
An Iraqi soldier from 5th Battalion, 4th Iraqi Army Division, pulls security during Operation Scorpion in Hawijah. Pic: SPC Barbara Ospina

Interview with a soldier who just returned from Tal’Afar (Tall Afar) -- [The Will to Exist - in Iraq]
I’ve interviewed one of the soldiers in my unit, SPC David Claffey, who just returned from Tal’Afar. Here are some of the things he had to say:

A brief silence -- [The Will to Exist - in Iraq]
Iraq is floating the middle of a sea of carefully orchestrated violence. It’s awash in disinformation campaigns. Everyone here has an agenda. Bearing that in mind, remember that the coalition’s mission is to provide basic infrastructure, security and what boils down to hope for humanity by providing choices in government. In particular this involves creating a government that respects human rights and values life. For three years, the old guard evil that lives in and around Iraq has been fighting against these things.

It's Payback Time -- [Strategy Page]
March 26, 2006: Deaths from revenge killings now exceed those from terrorist or anti-government activity. Al Qaeda is beaten, and running for cover. The Sunni Arab groups that financed thousands of attacks against the government and coalition groups, are now battling each other, al Qaeda, and Shia death squads. It's not civil war, for there are no battles or grand strategies at play. It's not ethnic cleansing, yet, although many Sunni Arabs are, and have, fled the country. What's happening here is payback.

Iraq Report, 27 Mar/06 -- [Winds of Change]
Welcome! Our goal at Winds of Change.NET is to give you one power-packed briefing of insights, news and trends from Iraq that leaves you stimulated, informed, and occasionally amused every Monday & Thursday. This briefing is brought to you by Joel Gaines of No Pundit Intended and Andrew Olmsted of Andrew Olmsted dot com.

Living on bread alone -- [Talking Salmons - in Iraq]
Kids.
“Mista Mista, give me a dollar!”
“Mista Mista, I want a football. You give me football.”
“I want bullet. You have me bullet.”

The importance of the perception of victory: replying to Tbogg -- [TigerHawk]
Lefty blog TBogg and his commenters are mocking me for this post, in which I asserted that we should all want the perception that al Qaeda has been defeated in Iraq, whatever our personal politics. Specifically:

169 Film Stills to Choose From and They Pick Ours! -- [The War Tapes]
Click the link to see TWT publicity still of Soldier with Camera Mike Moriarty on the top of the indieWIRE article announcing the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival lineup. From the indieWIRE article:

Screw That-- [Sappersgt - in Iraq]
There's a bit going around about posting antiwar songs.
Yeah. Like a lead balloon. The best intro to this song is from
http://www.amberhawke.com/lyrics_cambreadth.html
This is the song we call, "The Incredibly Wimpy Pacifist Band Sings A Song About War and Death." It's a modern song that sounds like it was written by a pissed-off Viking in the 9th century, about to take someone's head off with a battle-axe..but the songwriter looks like such a nice lady on her website. Go figure. It's also *very* popular with the filkers, try Googling "Cambreadth" or "Cambreath" sometime...

Traveling Northwest to Najaf -- [Grandma in Iraq]
...As I leave the relative safety of my home at Camp Adder and start my journey to Najaf, I wonder if our trip will be longer than usual because immediately outside the camp many vans and buses with Arab men are on the road and parked along side of the road. Many men wearing the red or black checkered traditional head wraps were walking to and from a roadside pool of water, perhaps washing or getting their containers filled with water for the journey...

IED strike: 13 Sept 05 (story) -- [Team Med-fah]
I figure I will just jump in to this next phase of the blog with both feet. Contrary to what we may have implied or even told our friends and family while over there, yes, we did get shot at. At times, quite a bit. “F---o the Clown” (a nickname for the insurgents that I stole from the Brigade MTT when we first got into country) tried to take most of us out at one point of another. The biggest threat to us hands down over there was IEDs. SSgt Walsh for one will back me up on this.

MSM REPORTS ON IRAQ

Shiite Fighters Clash With G.I.'s And Iraqi Forces -- (New York Times)...Jeffrey Gettleman
American and Iraqi government forces clashed with Shiite militiamen in Baghdad on Sunday night in the most serious confrontation in months, and Iraqi security officials said 17 people had been killed in a mosque, including its 80-year-old imam.

Iraqi Doctor Says He Killed Patients -- (Washington Post)...John Ward Anderson
A doctor has admitted killing at least 35 Iraqi police officers and army soldiers by giving them lethal injections, reopening their wounds or engaging in other deadly acts while they were being treated at a hospital in the northern city of Kirkuk, according to Kurdish security sources and Kurdish television.

16 Sadr Loyalists Killed In Assault -- (Washington Post)...Jonathan Finer and John Ward Anderson
...Elsewhere in Iraq, army and medical officials in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad, said 30 headless bodies were discovered at 6:30 p.m. in a deserted brush area in Tarfiya, a village outside Baqubah, 35 miles from the capital.
Bomb explodes at US-Iraqi base in Mosul, 30 dead -- (Reuters)
MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - At least 30 people were killed in a bomb blast inside a joint U.S.-Iraq base in Mosul on Monday, police said.

War policy is not up to the troops -- (Times Union)
There was a running joke in my Marine units in Afghanistan and Iraq. Each grunt thought he was the best, the platoon above him was good, the company above that was mediocre and the overarching...

Go back to the ranch, insurgents tell Bush -- (Independent online)
Paris - An Iraqi insurgency group on Sunday suggested that United States President George Bush take a vacation at his ranch in Texas and reflect on how he "is losing the war" in Iraq. | "Mr Bush, we a... (photo: White House)

The rancid relationship -- (The Guardian)
A senior British military commander in the invasion of Iraq said the other day that Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, should be tried for war crimes. He was...

The Post and the Whole Picture in Iraq -- (Washington Post)
When the Iraq war started, more than 700 reporters were "embedded," traveling with U.S. troops in the field. Embedding brought a newfound respect between reporters and soldiers. Members of the media and the military hoped that this would bring a new day of military-press relations and help bury the resentment that had lingered from the Vietnam War.

Saddam's No. 2 Seeks Help for Insurgency -- (AP)
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Saddam Hussein's chief deputy, who has eluded capture since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq three years ago, purportedly called for Arab leaders to back Iraq's Sunni-backed insurgency, in an audiotape broadcast Monday. The tape, which Al-Jazeera television said was made by Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, appeared to be an address to the Arab League summit in Khartoum, Sudan, this week.

Saddam planned to deploy 'camels of mass destruction' -- (Telegraph)
Saddam Hussein planned to use "camels of mass destruction" as weapons to defend Iraq, loading them with bombs and directing them towards invading forces.

U.S. to Probe Russia on Iraq Intel Report -- (AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration will ask Russia about a report that Moscow turned over information on American troop movements and other military plans to Saddam Hussein during the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday....

Dems Want More Pressure on Iraqi Leaders -- (AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. is pushing Iraqi leaders to step up the pace in forming a unity government, hoping insurgents do not take advantage of the political uncertainty, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday....

AFGHANISTAN

Abdul Rahman Will Be Released -- [Stop the ACLU]
However, as we see here, the root of the problem is still there, and his life is still in danger. In essense what ruling has done is to postpone his death. It may very well be an excuse to diffuse International pressure, but in no way has it solved the root problem of a lack of religious liberty in Afghanistan.

MSM REPORTS ON AFGHANISTAN

'I Have 600 Suicide Bombers Waiting For Your Soldiers' -- (London Sunday Telegraph)...Massoud Ansari
The senior Taliban commander in Afghanistan's lawless Helmand province has vowed to unleash a brigade of 600 suicide bombers against the British Army when it arrives in the area this summer.

The Afghan Christian: Freed but Not Free -- (Time Magazine)
Abdul Rahman's case is dismissed, but Afghan laws on religious conversion may mean a showdown with the U.S. is simply postponed

AFGHANISTAN: DISMISSAL OF CONVERT CASE STIRS ANGER -- (AKI)
Karachi, 27 March (AKI) - (by Syed Saleem Shahzad) - The Afghan man charged with converting from Islam to Christianity is set to be released from jail while his case is reviewed. Under Afghanistan's legal system based on Sharia law, Abdul Rahman was facing execution if he refused to renounce Christianity. The case drew international attention with the United States and its allies calling for Rahman's release but observers say that it also appears to have united Afghan...

Terrorism Is A Universal Problem, Karzai -- (Turkish Press)
ANKARA - ``Terrorism is a universal problem, and there is need for an international cooperation to fight against this biggest threat``, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Thursday. Taking the floor...

US AND OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD

The Garden of Turbulence: -- [Grim's Hall]
If you had the standard American social studies classes as I did, there came a point at which you were introduced to the problem of immigration. The textbook contained a few paragraphs on the massive Irish and German immigration of the 19th century, and probably a few nasty political cartoons from the day showing the racist contempt Americans had for the new arrivals. There was a sentence or two recognizing that there was some social turmoil, but wound up pointing out that the two groups eventually became part of our vibrant American stream, enriching it greatly.

Size of L.A. March Surprises Authorities -- (AP)
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Thousands of immigration advocates marched through downtown Los Angeles in one of the largest demonstrations for any cause in recent U.S. history.
More than 500,000 protesters ...

Immigration Debate Heating Up in Senate -- (AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Founded by immigrants and praised as a haven for the oppressed, the United States now is struggling to decide the fate of as many as 12 million people living in the country illegally. The Senate takes up the emotional debate on the heels of weekend rallies that drew hundreds of thousands of people protesting attempts to toughen laws against immigrants. Among the election-year proposals that President Bush and members of Congress are considering:

Democratizing the World 1 Torture Victim at a Time -- (Scoop)
Analysis of the Long, Repulsive History of the United States Inflicting Torture on Its "Suspected Enemies" (in Conjunction with a Review of A Question of Torture by Alfred W. McCoy)
Psychological torture, sleep deprivation, brutality, severe sexual humiliation, and murder summon visions of a dank dungeon in a remote region of pre-invasion Iraq, Iran, or North Korea, replete with evil inquisitors and hooded executioners.

WAR ON TERROR /TERRORISM

Red Sky Brothers: Exposing Child Abuse -- [Tanker Brothers]
My son will be a year old in one week.
When I see children that are indoctrinated like this little girl, it makes my blood boil. I can’t hear this “Religion Of Peace” crap anymore, and see Muslim extremists indoctrinate their children to hate.

Hamas Minister Vows to Protect Terrorists: No Arrests -- [ThreatsWatch]
Fatah's Abbas Seeks Secret Peace Talks as Hamas Minister Loses Taqiyyah and West May Drop Nuance
Hamas has appointed their new Interior Minister, Saeed Seyam, who arrived on the scene leaving few questions regarding the Hamas approach to internal security. “The day will never come when any Palestinian would be arrested because of his political affiliation or because of resisting the occupation,” he said in an interview. He swore to protect Palestinian terror groups in the name of resistance proclaiming, “Saeed Seyam did not come to the government to revive any security cooperation or to protect the occupation and their settlers. I came to protect our people and their fighters, to protect their trees, their properties and their capabilities.” Sayem pronounced that, under his watch, the various Palestinian groups, rather than be arrested for attacks on Israelis, will be coordinated with for ‘day-to-day’ security issues.

Monday's Winds of War: 27 Mar 2006 -- [Winds of Change]
Welcome! Our goal at Winds of Change.NET is to give you one power-packed briefing of insights, news and trends from the global War on Terror that leaves you stimulated, informed, and occasionally amused every Monday & Thursday. Monday's Winds of War briefings are given by Peace Like a River and Security Watchtower.

Congress to Examine Nuclear Terrorism, Terrorist Financing, and Shoulder-Fired Missile Threat -- [Counterterrorism Blog]
Congressional committees will hold a number of open terrorism-related hearings during the week of March 25, including two hearings on the threat of nuclear terrorism; a hearing on offshore banking and terrorist financing; one on the terrorist threat from shoulder-fired missiles; and another on counternarcotics strategies in Latin America (timely in light of the FARC indictments this week

MSM REPORTS ON WAR ON TERROR /TERRORISM

Terrorist 007, Exposed -- (Washington Post)
For almost two years, intelligence services around the world tried to uncover the identity of an Internet hacker who had become a key conduit for al-Qaeda. The savvy, English-speaking, presumably young webmaster taunted his pursuers, calling himself Irhabi -- Terrorist -- 007. He hacked into American university computers, propagandized for the Iraq insurgents led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and taught other online jihadists how to wield their computers for the cause.

SUPPORTING THE TROOPS...OR NOT

National Support the Troops Day! -- [Soldiers' Angels New York]
Pasadena, CA, March 21, 2006 (Open Release) – The Soldiers’ Angels salute Michigan teenager, Alexandra McGregor, Michigan State Representative Robert Knollenberg and Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow for the recent passage of legislation in both the US Congress and US Senate to establish a National Support The Troops Day. This is intended for recognition of our active duty troops and the first date is set for March 26, 2006.

Letters Of Appreciation -- [Patriot Guards website]
Dear Brothers and Sisters of the PGR,
After a long journey and an even longer two weeks, my wife and I have finally arrived back at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. I checked my email knowing that there would be too many messages to respond to just yet. However, there was one message that had to be sent immediately and this is it. Thank you. Thank you for honoring our Soldier Girl - PFC Amy Duerksen with roaring bikes and saluting hands. Thank you for honoring our family with kind words and outstretched arms. Thank you for honoring God with bowed heads and prayers in His name. Thank you for honoring our country with pure hearts, good deeds, and American flags. Thank you for giving up your personal time and resources to ride miles upon miles and hours upon hours to honor, serve, and pay tribute to people that you have never met.

Soldiers Angels in Landstuhl -- [Soldiers' Angel Germany]
Last Friday the road was wet, we had a lot of rain, sky the grey and I had an appointment with our Major from National Guard Liaison office in Landstuhl. He was so nice and picked me up at the Gate and wrote me in.

MSM REPORTS ON SUPPORTING THE WAR ...OR NOT

Punks mar hero’s memorial -- (Boston Herald)
The heartbroken family of a fallen Bay State soldier was devastated yesterday to find his memorial defaced by callous anti-war vandals who scrawled “Oil” and “Christian Crusade” on a sign commemorating his sacrifice.

Wounded Warrior -- (Los Angeles Times)...Tim Maxwell
I AM A MARINE — a lieutenant colonel. I know about war. I have studied it for more than 20 years. I have been deployed overseas six times. Three times since 9/11.

MILITARY

Media Impact on Marines -- [Fight Pundit]
Thanks to the Media hype and the political nature of the people that represent us; we now have to much armor in Iraq.
Some Marines Declining Extra Body Armor
We have to climb over walls and go through windows,” said Sgt. Justin Shank of Greencastle, Pa. “I understand the more armor, the safer you are. But it makes you slower. People don’t understand that this is combat and people are going to die.”
The hard cold facts of life as told by Marines all over the world. But the media wants to make the public think that the military/administration doesn’t support or work for the safety of the Americans in harms way. hence what the media is trying to get out is that the Administration is evil and that we need to do everything to protect our armed forces (bring them home)….

China Marine -- [Sgt Hook]
watched and listened as Gus engaged in conversation with the others, providing opinions on everything from Dale Gordon to Bill Clinton. At one point he turned to me and asked, “You in the service young man?”

“Army,” I replied, setting my empty beer bottle onto the circular O’Doul’s coaster in front of me. “Am I correct to guess that you’re a China Marine sir?” I asked in return.

“Gottdamn kid, don’t call me sir and what do you know about the China Marines?” he boomed.

MSM REPORTS ON MILITARY

POLITICS

American Legion Continues Push For Anti-ACLU Bill -- [Stop the ACLU]
Indiana’s John Hostettler is trying for the fifth consecutive Congress to prevent the American Civil Liberties Union from receiving government funds when it succeeds at legal challenges to public expressions of religion.
...Barry Lynn of Americans United for Separation of Church and State described Hostettler’s bill as “deeply misguided and mean spirited.” He went on to tell BP that, “It is an attempt to deny Americans access to the federal courts to ensure their religious liberty rights.” However this statement is either deceptive or very uninformed.

Cindy, Cindy, Cindy… tsk, tsk, tsk… -- [Gun Toting Liberal]
Okay, I’ve ranted on this Cindy Sheehan subject before, but after visiting my ole’ “right wing” pal, Timmer’s Righting America blog (Timmer took the Political Compass Test recently, by the way, and was shocked to discover he is actually a “lefty” who had mistakenly just assumed he was a “righty”), I saw the vid of Michelle Malkin interviewing an unsuspecting Sheehan, and what ensued next was frankly, disturbing to say the least.

MSM REPORTS ON POLITICS

Republicans On The Run -- (Time Magazine)
As midterm campaigns gear up, Bush's party fears a backlash that could end its 12-year hold on the House

Immigration Debate Heating Up in Senate -- (AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Founded by immigrants and praised as a haven for the oppressed, the United States now is struggling to decide the fate of as many as 12 million people living in the country illegally. The Senate takes up the emotional debate on the heels of weekend rallies that drew hundreds of thousands of people protesting attempts to toughen laws against immigrants. Among the election-year proposals that President Bush and members of Congress are considering:

THE MEDIA

Our intrepid war correspondents -- [Winds of War]
Two years ago, some dumb sex therapist in California triggered at least one huge suicide bombing simply by posting an essay on the internet, for US consumption, in which she used rape as a metaphor for the US invasion of Iraq. Rumors flew all over the Middle East that thousands of US troops were raping Iraqi women.

Friday night, Time Baghdad bureau chief Michael Ware got drunk on camera for Bill Maher, live from a city where alcohol is frowned upon (to put it mildly), in front of a cheering laughing studio audience, made vague allegations about US soldiers "manhandling" Iraqi women

True Reporting from Iraq -- [T.F. Boggs - in Iraq]
This is primarily the problem soldiers have with the media. However, I believe there is another problem that hasn’t fully been looked at yet. When the media willingly chooses not to cover positive stories coming out of Iraq like infrastructure rebuilding, free medical care being provided by soldiers, complete changes for the better in cities like Tal Afar, and the kindness shown towards the children of Iraq by soldiers everyday to name a few, then soldiers feel slighted by the media. It is almost as if the media is saying, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, those are all great things but they don’t sell so I am not reporting them.” Soldiers tend to feel that media types do not care about what they are doing and do not care about telling the truth. These sentiments often lead to believing that the media has an agenda whether they actually do or not.

The Washington Post & My Embed -- [The Fourth Rail]
The Washington Post's Ombudsman addresses the issue of my embed
Iraqi voters line up to vote in the December 15, 2005 Parliamentary Election. Photograph by Bill Roggio.
Last December, Messrs Jonathan Finer and Doug Struck wrote and article titled “Bloggers, Money Now Weapons in Information War” (byline - U.S. Recruits Advocates to the Front, Pays Iraqi TV Stations for Coverage), which basically equated my embed in Iraq with a military information operation. I responded, and explained the numerous flaws in the Washington Post article, and in January the newspaper issued a correction for three of the basic factual errors.

Harper's Magazine has gone insane -- [TigerHawk]
I subscribed to Harper's Magazine for many years, but gave it up a few years back when my subscription lapsed. It has developed such a case of unreconstructed "Bush derangement syndrome" that it has moved from the credible center-left to to the barking moonbat left. The March issue was given over to the magazine's campaign for the impeachment of the president. Now, the April issue devotes its cover story to the prospect of an "American Coup D'Etat" (no link). The opening paragraph reads thusly:

Ingrates and Idiots -- [Those Wacky Iraqis - in Iraq]
The lack of public praise for our first rate shadow warriors bothers me tremedously but what bothers me even more is the complete lack of thanks shown by the three freed ingrates. Not only that but the contempt and abuse they heap upon the efforts here. The following was posted in a Toronto newspaper today.

Hr>

MSM REPORTS ON MEDIA

The Post and the Whole Picture in Iraq -- (Washington Post)...Deborah Howell
Many readers see the Iraq war through their own political prisms -- and far differently from the reporters covering the conflict....
...Those complaints anger journalists who risked their lives to cover a war in which 67 of their colleagues have been killed and many others, including ABC-TV's Bob Woodruff, have been injured. There are other risks; Jill Carroll of the Christian Science Monitor is still held captive by terrorists.

After talking and corresponding with Post staffers and other journalists with Iraq experience and experts in and outside the military, I find no easy resolution to the complaints.

Here's why:

Editors strive to offer "all layers" of Iraq war -- (Seattle Times)
Seattle Times executive editor
George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld aren't the only ones frustrated with news coverage of the Iraq war. So are some of us at The Seattle Times.
As the war entered its fourth year, the president, vice president and secretary of defense all voiced criticism of how the war is portrayed back home. For example, at his news conference last week, Bush said that "for every act of violence, there is encouraging progress in Iraq that's hard to capture on the evening news." Cheney and Rumsfeld both said that media coverage presents a distorted picture of what is happening in Iraq

MILBLOGGING / BLOGGING

Poll: Blog readers signal desire for media to start reporting better, stop faking polls -- [The Will to Exist - in Iraq]
A large majority of blog readers think traditional media sources should withdraw completely from reporting within a year. The Will to Exist reports that the poll of 100 bloggers, conducted by Will to Exist International, found that only three percent of blog readers felt the traditional media sources continue to remain unbiased and/or relevant as reliable sources of accurate reporting about world events. Although the poll, conducted in March of 2006, was carried out without Pentagon approval, The Will to Exist International said they did have the approval of commanders in Iraq.

CONGRATS

Happy Birthday!!! -- [Speed of Thought - Blue Star parent]
The little girl is 21 today:
Seems like yesterday...

Monday, March 13, 2006 -- [Another Airman]
So here is our little one. The first ultrasound we got the baby looked alot like a bean... but these are WAY better. Enjoy!!

HUMOR / SATIRE

Afghan Judge May Throw Book at Christian Convert -- [ScrappleFace]
A judge in Afghanistan said today that Abdul Rahman, the man charged with converting to Christianity, would face the death penalty, or worse, if convicted of the crime.
“We could behead him and then throw the book at him,” said the judge presiding over the case, raising the specter that the punishment could include intentional abuse and damage to Mr. Rahman’s copy of the Bible.
The threat to the Bible comes as retribution for reported incidents of Koran desecration last year by ...