Mini Dawn Patrol

IRAQ

Get Rich or Die Trying -- [Strategy Page]
June 19, 2006: Iraqi and American troops have surrounded and moved into Ramadi, a town that has long been a stronghold for Sunni Arab nationalists. Ramadi has become a magnet for terrorists, because of the many pro-terrorist neighborhoods there that will shelter them. Suicide car bombs, and terrorists in general, have been traced back to these Ramadi neighborhoods, and the new operation appears to be directed at shutting down some terrorist cells.

Hope and heat -- [The Will to Exist - in Iraq]
Hope glimmers. I was talking to my Iraqi friend today and asking about how Baghdadis feel now that Zarqawi is dead and Bush came to visit.
This man comments all the time that he has never seen anything in Iraq but war. He’s jaded about hopes for peace. Today he was more hopeful than I’ve ever seen him. With Zarqawi’s death and talks about U.S. troop withdrawals, he feels that Baghdadis see forward momentum for their country.

For the missing -- [Talking Salmons - in Iraq]
Two soldiers are missing after an incident Friday night.
Learning of a death or series of deaths of soldiers is hard enough, but at least the matter of their end state is known. Missing troops is another matter entirely.
The notion that they could be in a house just miles away, tucked in some basement with masked men holding knives to their throats, it's just debilitating.

So close, we can taste it! -- [Combat Medic In Iraq]
Greetings again from sunny and maybe a little too warm Mosul, Iraq! The days are going by so fast here, and some of us are suffering from *short-timers* disease. Things have been particulary hairy the last few weeks, the insurgents seem to know we are getting out of here and decided to pour on the *fire*. Nothing we can't handle though.

AFGHANISTAN

The Dying Tribes -- [Strategy Page]
June 19, 2006: Over a hundred Taliban were killed in the last week, mostly by smart bombs, directed by Coalition troops on the ground who had located groups of Taliban. In one case, a large meeting of local Taliban activists was hit, killing over 40 of them, and leaving behind many valuable documents, and survivors who could be interrogated. While the Taliban have been conducting ambushes and attacks on remote villages, they have also been taking most of the casualties.

A-bad revisited -- [AfghaniDan - in Afghanistan]
...A-bad is one of those bases tucked in the mountains, seeming like it would be a cool retreat if not getting rocketed on a regular basis. As a matter of fact, just before we flew from there to start the op, a rocket intended for the base struck a school in town - tragically, during their recess. The despicable attack killed 11 children and wounded over a dozen others, who were rushed to the base for immediate medical attention, saving some who were in really bad shape. The medics and docs on hand were incredible that day.

The Afghan Quagmire Deepens -- [Celestial Junk Blog - Canadian Troops]
Somewhere on the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan there are villagers who wait for their sons and fathers to return. Steeped in archaic Islamist doctrine, the tribes of the border have armed and swelled the ranks of the Afghan Taliban. Now the villagers await the return of their victorious jihadists who’ve gone off to the Afghan holy war to oust the infidel invaders.
For many, if not most of these folks, the wait for returning family and friends will be a permanent one. Afghanistan has become the place where zealous and ignorant believers of Islamo-fascist doctrine go to die. While the European MSM, and the occasional North American outlet, try to stir images of a NATO quagmire, the true nature of the situation in Afghanistan continues to seep through MSM news reports.

SUPPORTING THE TROOPS OR NOT

Honoring the Fallen......Lacking? -- [Daves Not Here - contractor in Iraq]
This morning I received an email from a reader asking about a convoy incident that occured on the evening of June 13th.
As a military brat, I'd like to extend Thanks for the "Honor the Fallen" portion of each day. Our troops who gave all truly deserve that honor and recognition.
However, as a family member of a civilian worker (supply truck driver) in theater, I'd like to know why we never see or hear of all those lives lost trying to earn a living and support our troops.

TERRORISM

The Mubtakkar: Al-Qaeda’s Planned Poison Gas Attack on the N.Y. Subway -- [Blogs of War]
...So if Suskind’s information is accurate (and it appears to be at least partially accurate) the plans for this device are out there? I just can’t imagine why the attack would be aborted. Even stranger is that the plans for this device have existed since at least 2003. If execution is that easy why haven’t we seen one of these deployed? I can see an operation getting delayed for a few weeks or months but years? It’s difficult to image the “holy grail of terror R&D” sitting on the shelf that long.

MILITARY

Myths and the US Military -- [Celestial Junk Blog - Canadian Troops]
Combat Jump Star has a synopsis of common myths about the US military. For those who don’t know CJS, he’s a duel citizen of Canada and the United States and has served 2 tours in Afghanistan and 1 in Iraq with the 82nd Airborne…. ( I dare you to tell him that the 82nd is the “little sister” of the 101st). Check out his debunking of some common myths; myths by the way, that are MSM or Leftist boilerplate:

POLITICS

Colin Powell... An Interview -- [Soldier's Mom]
AARP's cover story in their magazine this month is an extraordinary interview with Colin Powell, former Secretary of State, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, former National Security Advisor, former military officer...
While the early questions are clearly "light" (about being almost 70, about not running for elected office, etc.), the reporter Nancy Perry Graham, who formerly covered policy and politics for Fortune and Money magazines, starts to promote an anti-Bush / anti-war taint to the interview... General Powell is too quick and too good to get dragged into it and does a superb job of telling it like it is/was. Here's a sample: ...

THE MEDIA

Media and the Military -- [T.F. Boggs - in Iraq]
Some people chastise me for being too hard on the media when it comes to their reporting on military matters. They say that I am unwarranted in my criticisms and that I should be more careful because I influence hatred of the media in others.

Next Time, Just Call It In to CNN -- [4mile creek - in Iraq]
This morning, on CNN, the anchorman was asking the NYTs Baghdad bureau chief questions about the two missing US soldiers. The NYTs chief noted that if the soldiers were in fact taken, the terrorists who took them had not gotten out a video message, something they normally do quite quickly (with the help of, say, CNN).
So the CNN anchorman, not able to get it from the horse's ass mouth, figures he'll stand in for the terrorists, and make their announcement for them. He asks the NYTs guy if ...

WELCOME HOME

Back on United States Soil ... at last -- [Wordsmith at War - home from Iraq]
Grass, trees, Wal- Mart, Waffle House, beer, traffic jams, a rental car, air conditioning, civilians everywhere...
It has been a long, long 17 months since I left this great land, but I am happy to announce that the 2nd Battalion, 222nd Field Artillery, Utah Army National Guard is back on U.S. soil. We find ourselves back in the flux of American life.
For those of you who don't already know, I am 1st Lieutenant Lee Kelley, and I am the unit Signal Officer.
We are not back in Utah just yet, but we are completing our demobilization processing and will be home very soon.
We did not lose one soldier who left Utah in January 2005. A few were injured, but we all came home alive.

Home Again -- [bandit.three.six - home for R&R from Iraq]
Sorry for the absence for the past couple days. I was busy making my way back to see my sweetie for R and R. In a grand total of 2.5 days of travel, I had roughly 8 hours of sleep total. Guys my size don't fit nicely into the seats on airplanes so sleep is infrequent and painful when you wake up.

IN MEMORY OF...

Honoring the Fallen -- [Justice Soldier - in Iraq]
SPC Brent W. Koch, 22, of Morton, Minn. died Friday, June 16th, in Iraq when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle about 9:30 p.m. Iraq time.
Koch was a member of the Minnesota Army National Guard’s Company E, 2nd Battalion, 136th Infantry Combined Arms Battalion, 1st Brigade, 34th Infantry Division, based out of Redwood Falls, Minn. Read More…