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

The Terrorist Round-up for 5/19/06 -- [Free Republic]
During Operation Roll tide, a combined effort between elements from 6th Battalion, 2nd Brigade Iraqi National Police, and Soldiers from Company D, 3rd Battalion, 67th Armored Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, uncovered a huge weapons cache of land mines, rockets, explosives, and documents in a house.
In one home the unit found over 140 mines, 58 blocks of C4 explosives, 18 rockets, and almost 40 mortars, as well as manuals and equipment to convert these munitions into deadly improvised-explosive devices.

The Real Iraq -- [Commentary Magazine- Amir Taheri]
Spending time in the United States after a tour of Iraq can be a disorienting experience these days. Within hours of arriving here, as I can attest from a recent visit, one is confronted with an image of Iraq that is unrecognizable. It is created in several overlapping ways: through television footage showing the charred remains of vehicles used in suicide attacks, surrounded by wailing women in black and grim-looking men carrying coffins; by armchair strategists and political gurus predicting further doom or pontificating about how the war should have been fought in the first place; by authors of instant-history books making their rounds to dissect the various fundamental mistakes committed by the Bush administration; and by reporters, cocooned in hotels in Baghdad, explaining the carnage and chaos in the streets as signs of the countrys impending or undeclared civil war.

Reveille Radio -- [One Marine's View]
Reveille Radio 1 features Cpl Pack, a US Marine wounded twice in Fallujah. He tells his story and how it happened and what he was against. Click the Play "arrow" on the left side of the audio bar below. Leave your questions & comments in the comments section for Cpl Pack to respond to!

The human cost of the war -- [The Will to Exist - in Iraq]
This war that I find myself in the middle of can be looked at many different ways and it is, by people from all walks of life.
In the final historical analysis, one of the things that is most important, from my own perspective, is the amount of value that each side places on human life. It seems so obvious to me, even on the days when I want to throw up my hands and walk out of here (an impossibility no matter what I want), that my side cares oh so much more about human life.

Bow Wow Wow -- [Those Wacky Iraqis - in Iraq]
Our base has a Fire Fighter Academy that is used to train military, civilains, an Iraqi Fire Fighters on the latest in professional fire fighting methods and practices. Last night was the graduation ceremony and full bore practice for an ARFF class. ARFF is Airfield Rescue Fire Fighting and is required certification for anyone working at an airfield fire station.

Weary -- [Green Again - in Iraq]
...The nature of the Mortuary Affairs mission naturally involves some very serious business. We expected this coming into it. We’re not complaining; we’re all volunteers. But the routine for us offers no outlet. All we get to see is the end result of a bad situation. We rarely get an opportunity to know if the unit taking the casualties was able to even the score, if only just a little bit.

MSM REPORTS ON IRAQ

Inquiry Implies Civilian Deaths In Iraq Topped Initial Report -- (New York Times)...Thom Shanker
An official military investigation into allegations that American marines killed innocent Iraqis last November has uncovered evidence that the number of dead civilians is higher than the 15 originally reported, Congressional and Defense Department officials said.

As Death Stalks Iraq, Middle-Class Exodus Begins -- (New York Times)...Sabrina Tavernise
...In the latest indication of the crushing hardships weighing on the lives of Iraqis, increasing portions of the middle class seem to be doing everything they can to leave the country. In the last 10 months, the state has issued new passports to 1.85 million Iraqis, 7 percent of the population and a quarter of the country's estimated middle class.

Italy Calls Iraq War 'Grave Error' -- (NY Times)
ROME, May 18 — Romano Prodi, the new prime minister, called the war in Iraq a "grave error" on Thursday in a speech in which he set Italy on a decisively different, more conventionally European, course from that of his predecessor, Silvio Berlusconi.

Blood and bullets grind Iraq down -- (Hong Kong Standard)
Ordinary Iraqis just want to flee the violence that paralyzes their country, writes Ellen Knickmeyer | Friday, May 19, 2006 | Ordinary Iraqis just want to flee the violence that paralyzes their countr...

Iraqi Journalists Risk Their Lives To Get The Story -- (Washington Times)...Sharon Behn
The recent killings of six Iraqi journalists have rattled the country's fledgling press corps, a battle-worn crew that has persisted in covering the nation's turmoil while suffering dozens of dead at the hands of insurgents, government troops and even American forces.

AFGHANISTAN

News of Afghanistan VII -- [Miserable Donuts]
Another week of interesting stories from Afghanistan. Lets get right to it!

Failure of command. Prosecute the corporal. -- [The Torch - Canadian Troop]
Failure of command. Prosecute the corporal.
Some attention has been given to this article by Michael Friscolanti in Macleans a couple of days ago. It is the story of Canadian snipers in Afghanistan and how they went from relative heros to goats based on allegations and innuendo that at least one of them had desecrated the corpse of one of their targets.

MSM REPORTS ON AFGHANISTAN

Afghanistan Rocked As 105 Die In Violence -- (Washington Post)...Pamela Constable
Afghanistan has been rocked over the past two days by some of the deadliest violence since the Taliban was driven from power in late 2001. As many as 105 people were reported killed in four provinces as insurgents torched a district government compound, set off suicide bombs and clashed fiercely with Afghan and foreign troops.

The hidden leader of a virtual war -- (The Guardian)
Nearly five years after the 9/11 attacks, Osama bin Laden still eludes his American pursuers. Operation Mountain Lion, a large-scale, month-long military sweep through Afghanistan's Konar province abutting Pakistan, folded with a whimper this week. If the al-Qaida chief had been there, he wasn't any longer.

Karzai Says Pakistanis Fomenting Violence -- (Los Angeles Times)...Times Wire Reports
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Pakistani religious schools were teaching students to go to Afghanistan to burn schools or medical clinics. He spoke in the eastern province of Kunar, next to the border.

US AND OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD

Marine Mom's Flag Fight - Update - Score this One for Mom -- [Iraq War News]
Remember Cathy and her husband, who encountered resistance trying to display the US Flag with the Marine Corps emblem (posts here and here) in support of their son? Well, this one goes down as a victory for them:

The Other Side of the Green Line -- [Michael Totten - in Israel]
RAMALLAH - I rode in an Israeli taxi with Palestinian journalist Sufian Taha from the American Colony Hotel to the Qalandia checkpoint on the road to Ramallah, capital of nascent Palestine, in the hills of the West Bank over Jerusalem. We had to take a taxi, and we had to switch to a Palestinian taxi after we reached the other side. “You do not want to drive in the West Bank with Israeli plates on your car,” he said.

Anti-US Groups in Korea to Keep Government Subsidies -- [GI Korea]
The outrageousness of the Roh Moo-hyun government continues in Korea. The government is allowing the groups responsible for all the violence against Korean army soldiers and policemen to keep their government subsidy money:

MSM REPORTS ON US AND OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD

Mexico To Protest U.S. Border Plan -- (New York Times)...Reuters
Mexico will formally complain to the United States about plans to build security fences and deploy National Guard troops on the border to curb illegal immigration, Mexico's foreign minister, Luis Ernesto Derbez, said Thursday.

Iran's Secrecy Widens Gap In Nuclear Intelligence -- (New York Times)...William J. Broad and Elaine Sciolino
South of Tehran, the desert gives way to barbed wire, antiaircraft guns and a maze of buildings, two of them cavernous underground halls roughly half the size of the Pentagon.

US denies any shift in policies toward North Korea -- (Boston Globe)
... there seemed to be at least a slight change in US emphasis designed to ... the possibility of developing nuclear weapons, and to talk about any further steps ...

WAR ON TERROR /TERRORISM

Return of Euro-Jihadis a Threat to America -- [Counterterrorism Blog - Bill West]
Today, the Washington Times ran a report that publicizes a threat known for some time to Western intelligence and law enforcement agencies. This is the threat posed by radical Islamic Jihadis from Europe who infiltrated into Iraq to fight with al-Qaeda forces there who are now beginning to return to their Euro-homelands. These combat experienced and battle-hardened terrorist veterans, estimated to be at least in the high hundreds, who not only possess violent extremist Islamic radicalization but European citizenship, will prove to be a major challenge to the security forces of Europe.

MSM REPORTS ON WAR ON TERROR /TERRORISM

Was Sept 11 a US attempt to jumpstart war on terrorists? -- (East African Standard)
By Dan Okoth On Tuesday, the Pentagon released video footage of what reportedly shows a hijacked Boeing 757 hitting the five-sided headquarters of the US military on Sept...

The new power behind Osama's throne -- (Asia Times)
PAKISTAN-AFGHANISTAN border - Whether he is viewed as a living legend for jihadis or as a reviled terrorist, the mere mention of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's name provokes strong reactions, and is an invaluable tool in the propaganda war between the two sides.

Rumours of Bin Laden's presence dismissed -- (Gulf News)
Islamabad: Pakistani authorities yesterday dismissed rumours that Osama Bin Laden might have moved to the country's mountainous north to evade arrest, and that CIA or FBI agents had been operating...

SUPPORTING THE TROOPS...OR NOT

Veterans Job Fair -- [MilBlogs - Soldier's Mom]
Not what I want to hear...
After being wounded in Iraq, Chris Dominick hasn't had much luck finding work.
"I'm really faced with a lot of brick walls. Nobody really, really, really wants to hire a person in a wheelchair," he said.
Other soldiers have faces similar job hunting dilemmas.
So someone did something about it... They held a Veterans Job Fair in my hometown

Thanks for Flying with me today -- [Sandgram]
...Hey Boss, you want to see this plane go nuts???” He says “sure,” so I pick up the mike to make a P.A., but before I do, he says “just make certain I’m not called into the Chief Pilots office to explain my First Officer.”
“Ladies and Gentlemen, as a Marine Corps Reservist who has just returned from Iraq, I just want to see a show of hands, Tell me, how many active-duty Military do we have onboard right now?” I am looking back and see two hands go up. “O.K., now let me see the hands all the folks who have served in the Military or have retired.” About twenty folks raise their hands. “Now the biggie, how many

Durbin stands by comparison of US troops to Nazis, Khmer Rouge -- [Counter Column]
And his fecrical reasoning is broadcast on Al Jazeera, no less - where it will provide another bullet in the belt of rhetorical ammunition our enemies will use to butress the case against us in the Arab world.

Dems Obsessed With Bashing Troops About Haditha -- [Expose the Left]
In her press conference today, House minority leader Nancy Pelosi (D – CA) spoke about getting the documents pertaining to Haditha. Yesterday, Rep. John Murtha (D – PA) said our troops “killed civilians” on MSNBC’s Hardball. This just shows how far Democrats and liberals will go to bash and dishonor our troops.

MILITARY

Oh The Army -- [T.F. Boggs - in Iraq]
I have been holding off writing about the army in a negative light for some time now but I feel that my current situation warrants some type of discussion. First off let me make a few things clear. The army is a great institution and our country would be nonexistent without it. I consider myself privileged to be able to soldier it up for a few years. I feel like I have been allowed to join a group with a great history of men and women who have, throughout our history as a country, fought to preserve our way of life. With that said I want to voice a few concerns I have with the army.

Army Captain sues to separate -- [The Will to Exist - in Iraq]
Army Reserve Captain Brad Schwan is suing his service, according to this week’s Army Times
You know what? I hope he loses. It’s not because he shouldn’t be able to resign his commission. I don’t mind that tradition. It’s the double standard idea that I abhor. Letting officers do things that enlisted troops cannot is morally wrong. I realize power hath its privileges, but ...

MSM REPORTS ON MILITARY

Storm, Border Duty Acceptable To Guard -- (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)...Bob Dart
National Guard commanders from Southern states said Wednesday that deployment of thousands of troops to the U.S. border with Mexico would not hinder storm relief efforts as hurricane season nears.

POLITICS

Despite Oil Crisis, Democrats AGAIN Block US Firms from Drilling! -- [Gateway Pundit]
This is just unbelieveable and irresponsible!
Despite the fact that Castro announced last week that they had stepped up work on 36 new oil wells in partnership with Chinese, among others, off the coast of Florida...

MSM REPORTS ON POLITICS

Lieberman's Support for War Leaves Him Embattled on Left -- (NY Times)
HARTFORD, May 18 — "George Bush's favorite Democrat," they call him. "Republican Lite," they sneer. But liberals are no longer just venting on Internet blogs and talk radio programs about their centrist nemesis: Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut.

THE MEDIA

AP Telling "At Least" Some of the Story -- [OPFOR]
The Associated Press' lead on the Iraq War's latest casaulty statistics is revealing:

"As of Thursday, May 18, 2006, at least 2,455 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes seven military civilians. At least 1,930 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers. The AP count is three higher than the Defense Department's tally,....

BellSouth Demands a Retraction -- [Media Blog]
BellSouth has become the first of three phone companies mentioned in USA Today's NSA-phone records story to ask for a retraction:

Baghdad ER vs Ground Zero forensics -- [CDR Salamander]
It is all about context. WARNING. I am pissed off. I have lost my temper. I am going to cuss a very little bit (OK, I will self edit and use substitutes so your Net-Nanny won’t filter out the post). I will pray on my anger later. If you don’t like potty mouth, or am going to send me to Courts Martial for it – then stop now.

IN MEMORY OF...

Remembering the 48th’s fallen -- [The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/Blog]
For Memorial Day, we’re asking readers to share their tributes to the 26 men who died in Iraq while serving with the 48th Brigade. You may remember them as a group or individually. Some responses may appear in the newspaper.