Dawn Patrol

Welcome to the Dawn Patrol, our daily roundup of information on the War on Terror and other topics - from the MilBlogs and other sources around the world. 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.

IRAQ

It Doesn't Get Any Better Than This -- [Strategy Page]
Islamic terrorists are encouraging their supporters, who can write in English, to get on American web sites and pretend to be friends or family members of American soldiers or marines. The "media jehadis" are instructed to tell stories in line with the anti-war tone of American and European media. Things like soldiers committing suicide because they were forced to take part in atrocities in Iraq. Or wounded soldiers suffering, or killing themselves, because of the poor care and abuse they have received from the army. The media jihadis are told to make it sound like they are simply passing on what a soldier said, not to pretend to be a soldier or marine.

From The MEMRI TV Archives – Iranian TV Shows U.S. and British Soldiers Captured and Released by Iran in 2004 -- [The MEMRI Blog]
A MEMRI TV clip from November 2006 shows excerpts from an Iranian TV documentary on the U.S. and British soldiers who were captured and later released by Iran in 2004. The documentary aired on Iran's Al-'Alam TV, on November 4, 2006.
To view this clip, click here.

Iraq mosque bomb spurs revenge -- [Iraq Updates]
AljazeeraBlair insists Iran captured 15 troops inside Iraqi waters
British Prime Minister Tony Blair insisted Sunday that the 15 British sailors and Royal Marines captured by Iran were not in Iranian waters and told Tehran that London viewed their situation as "very serious." In New York, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Iran was considering charging 15 British sailors with illegally entering its waters.

Iran Invades Oman -- [Pat Dollard]
For close to a month now, certain pockets of the U.S. intelligence and military communities have been deeply focused on a few key developments in the Iranian front of the War on Terror. When Iran declared war on America a few years ago ( without a suicidal public announcement of course ) the entirety of the burden of execution fell on the shoulders of its Revolutionary Guards. No other military units in Iran are competent enough for any type of engagement with Western forces.

Women 'moving history forward' -- [MNF-I]

CAMP TAJI — The 615th “Cold Steel” Aviation Support Battalion hosted a Women’s History Month celebration here March 19.
U.S. Army Lt. Col. Holly Cook, 1st Cavalry Division staff judge advocate, and “Suzan,” an Iraqi woman and lawyer whose full identity was withheld for security reasons, served as guest speakers for the celebration in support of the “Generations of women moving history forward” theme.

From the Advisors -- Bombs in Baghdad -- [Small Wars Journal]
It has been an interesting few weeks here in Baghdad. Myself and the other advisors felt that a comment on recent developments might be in order. It is still early days for Fardh al-Qanoon (a.k.a the “Baghdad Security Plan”) and thus too soon to tell for sure how things will play out. But, though the challenges remain extremely severe, early trends are quite positive. Counter-intuitively, the latest series of car bombings includes some encouraging signs...

FRAGO -- [Acute Politics - in Iraq]
**Sad post. Fair warning.**
A FRAGO is a fragmentary order- a change of mission to reflect a change of circumstances.
We cleared up a tough road to bring a resupply convoy up to a series of isolated Observation Posts. We've done the mission multiple times before, and this time, things were going according to plan. We cleared the first part of the route in record time. As we turned on to one of the side roads that would eventually bring us to the first OP, the side of the road was lined with children waving and asking for candy. Even some of the adults with them waved and smiled- a rare sight this close to Ramadi. At the last turn before the OP, there was a young boy and an man in his mid-twenties.

Ramblings of an Ole Serviceman..... -- [1016th - in Iraq]
Having just over a month left in this once Mesopotamian paradise now known as Iraq, everyone is very much looking forward to returning home.
We (1st Platoon) have finally released our trucks, Heavy Equipment Transporter System (HETS), to the 593rd Transportation Company. We started training them to take that mission about 45 days ago.

Good news: AQ in Iraq using kids to retrieve weapons during battles -- [Hot Air]
...A local Shiite man interviewed for the article says they’ve also been using kids with Down syndrome to carry bombs. Plausible? A-yup.
The AP’s got yet another article tonight about the “awakening” among the sheikhs in Anbar who are coming over to the American side to smash AQ.

Major U.S. Military Operations Coming in Diyala -- [Counterterrorism Blog]
On Friday, CBN News ran a story that I helped develop about coming major U.S. military operations in Iraq's Diyala province. An excerpt from Erick Stakelbeck's report...

RUBS -- [Micheal Yon]
The great difficulty in filing stories from Iraq is leading me to experiment. We are into the fifth year of the war Iraq, yet no comprehensive system exists to help media communicate to people at home. Raw information only trickles back from Iraq because the flow is strangled. That we are into the fifth year of war here, yet there is no filing center on even the larger bases is telling. Telling, perhaps, that information flow to America has never been a priority, or perhaps the priority has been to squelch it. The system of elaborate excuses is the only part of it all that is well-refined.

The blue foot: -- [Duke in Iraq - Brokenpieces]
A couple of days ago, I was walking into the hospital just as a helicopter was arriving with an injured soldier. When they take the injured off the helicopter they place them on a rolling stretcher. The man was being rolled through Hero’s Highway as he passed by me. He was wrapped in a Mylar blanket which helps keep the injured warm. There was a splint around his lower leg which was wrapped in an ace bandage and just his toes and top part of his foot was visible. His foot was blue due to a tourniquet that had been placed to stop the bleeding from a wound further up his leg. Every second or so, blood would drop from the splint and left a trail of blood splattered on the ground every 6 feet as the stretcher rolled into the ER where the orthopedic surgeons were waiting. He would then be prepped for surgery and taken to the OR and the damaged leg repaired. From the foot’s standpoint, it only knew it was in pain and was not getting enough of what it needed or wanted. The foot, if it could think independently would probably be shouting, “How about some blood down here?” “Don’t you see my foot is blue?” “I am in pain. I am throbbing. I feel my skin is about to burst. Can I get some relief?” If the foot were given immediate relief and the tourniquet was released, the foot would be happy for a short while. Then as the body continued to lose blood, it would become cold and blue once more and then would die as would the rest of the body to which it is attached. As I watched this soldier roll past me I thought, “There is a lesson in what I am seeing.” It was 1am the other morning when I realized the lesson from the “the blue foot”.

Qaeda Amir and Aides Reportedly Nabbed -- [Iraq Slogger]
Atta: Ahmad Farhan, 2 Associates Picked Up in Baghdad
Baghdad, March 26 (VOI) – Iraqi security forces arrested a so-called amir (leader) of al-Qaeda Organization in Iraq and two of his aides in Abu Ghraib area in western Baghdad, a spokesman for the Baghdad security plan said on Monday.
"A force from the 3rd Brigade raided Abu Ghraib area and arrested Ahmad Farhan and two of his close associates last Tuesday," Brig. Qassem Atta said in a press conference he held on Monday in Baghdad.

Rutbah - Fact vs Fiction -- [Fourth Rail]
Report of ambush, casualties on U.S. forces in the western town of Anbar false
News from the distant western towns of Anbar province is few and far between as reporters do not often travel to the far reaches of Iraq. The town of Rutbah is particularly distant from the center of gravity of Baghdad. Rutbah is a smuggler's town and a transit point in the Syrian desert in the southwestern corner of Iraq, which is nearly equidistant from Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Al Qaeda has attempted to control the town to facilitate the transit of weapons, cash and foreign terrorists into Iraq's central regions.

Sadr in Splinters? -- [Calvey in Iraq - in Iraq]
Here is an interesting analysis of the current political effectiveness of radical Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al Sadr, founder of the JAM (Jaysh al Mahdi) militia. It is written by someone who calls himself an Iraqi exile.
Moderate Muslims
We are so used to hearing about radical Muslims on the news, that we sometimes forget that most Muslims wish to be peaceful people.
I also hear many Americans express consternation that more of America's moderate Muslims do not actively denounce terrorism.
I expect that many moderate Muslims are simply afraid to denounce terrorism. As has been made clear in Iraq, al Qaeda and other radical Islamo-fascist groups often will attack other Muslims who disagree with them even before they will attack non-Muslims.

U.S. Troops Will Defend Northern Iraq Against Turks -- [Strategy Page]
March 26, 2007: The PKK attacks Turkey expected on March 21-22 (Nevruz, spring festival) didn't occur. Nevruz festivities throughout Turkey, and especially Kurdish areas, proceeded with few incidents. This is good news. Turkish security forces began preparing in early February for a PKK Spring offensive.

AFGHANISTAN

Working together -- [Bouhammer Afghan's Blog - in Afghanistan]
It was an early morning mission, which is something I had not done in a while. Heck, I haven’t even been on a true mission in a long time. Since they gutted the ETT teams to create the Police mentoring teams (which I am on now) the staffing of all the teams has been so thin that we could not effectively and safely run combat missions at the optempo that we were used to. To solve that this time, we joined the ANA and ANP together on this mission, and of course the US advisors of both. This gave us a very strong force of both Afghans and US personnel.
The mission had several objectives, with the main one being the assessment of the local police HQ by the ANP mentoring team.

The more things change, the more they stay the same -- [McNeilly's Perspective - in Afghanistan]
The only thing constant is change
Here lately I have not had the pictures to put in the blog, because the subject matter of my pictures hasn’t been particularly enlightening or entertaining. My last several outings have resulted in pictures of artillery shells, or holes in the road generated by artillery shells being used for IED’s by the thugs who operate in the area. It isn’t particularly entertaining, but it is necessary.

Anything is Possible -- [Afghanistan Without a Clue - in Afghanistan]
It would seem that Afghanistan feels a little sorry for us, having put us through one of the coldest winters in recent memory, followed by a soggy February and March, so now it’s giving us day after day of perfection. The forecast shows at least three more days of perfect weather ahead, and we are eating it up. The doors and windows are open, the flies haven’t returned yet, so life is good. Even in Afghanistan, even with increased threats from the Taliban, you can’t help but smile as you enjoy spring.

Drugs, Guns & Gold- Afghani Black -- [Uncle Jimbo - BlackFive]
UPDATE: Jack comments that a fight against illegal drugs is not hysterical. I agree, and my beef is with our war on supplies overseas, which is actually counter-productive. I wish we had spent every dime we have wasted on that, on treatment for the users who can actually be helped.
Since we are busy trying to screw up our efforts to pacify Afghanistan with our puritanical hysteria over drugs, it seemed like a good time for this.

U.S. AND OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD

Civil War Brewing -- [Strategy Page]
March 26, 2007: The government is not happy with the way things are going. The UN refuses to back down on economic sanctions, or demands that Irans nuclear weapons program be shut down. Inside Iran, a majority of the population still opposes the government, and attempts to cajole or bully this majority into changing their mind, have not worked.

WAR ON TERROR /TERRORISM

Journalist recovers 30 hrs of 911 tapes, which show the confusion and wrong choices that were made.

Hassan Butt : Reformed islamist and islamist terrorist fund raiser Marked as: Mature

British police this week arrested three British Muslims in connection with the 2005 bombings on the London subway system in which 52 people were killed.
The world was shocked when the four suicide bombers blew themselves up that morning, especially when it turned out that they were British citizens. The four had been recruited to what is called the "Network," a web of radical Islamic organizations loosely affiliated to al Qaeda which has turned Britain into the western world’s richest breeding grounds for terrorists. How did this happen?

IRAQ: FOUR SAUDIS SLAIN IN AL-ANBAR, REPORTS -- (AKI)
Baghdad, 26 March - Four alleged Saudi terrorists belonging to the Iraqi al-Qaeda organisation were killed in recent days during violent clashes with tribal militias in the Sunni province of al-Anbar. Sources of the so-called al-Anbar Salvation Council - a coalition of tribes opposing the Islamic State in the restive western province - have told the Saudi newspaper al-Watan that they had killed at least 70 members of the terrorist group in the past two weeks, including many Arab foreigners.

War On Terror Is Expensive and Cheap -- [Strategy Page]
March 23, 2007: The war on terror has cost $510 billion so far. General counter-terror and security operations have accounted for six percent of that, Afghanistan operations another twenty percent, and Iraq the rest. Iraq operations are costing about $100 billion a year, while Afghanistan costs about a fifth of that. The Department of Defense spends about 93 percent of this money.

SUPPORTING THE TROOPS...OR NOT

Innocence and War -- [Fuzzilicious Thinking]
There are many reasons I'm so serious about supporting our military men and women, why I feel it's a moral obligation. It's not just a sense of "they have suffered for me," though that is certainly part of it. What really pulls on me and compels a response is the warfighter's loss of innocence due to actions taken on my behalf. In a powerful essay, former soldier Brian Mockenhaupt explains:

MILITARY

Combat Fatigue Creeps Up on Iraq Vets -- [Strategy Page]
March 24, 2007: The U.S. Army has been studying combat fatigue (or PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder) a lot more these days. Currently, about 400 soldiers a year are sent home from Iraq because of severe PTSD, and thousands have less serious bouts of PTSD, which are treated in Iraq,

MRE Eating Guide -- [GI Korea]
For some of you non-military types out there that have always wondered what it is like to eat a military MRE (Meal Ready to Eat), here is one person’s guide to eating one that may be of interest to you.
Just for the record I really don’t mind eating MRE’s. I think this is something the Army does very well.

POLITICS

What's in Your Sandwich? -- [Jawa Report]
Internet anus Michael Crook (Forsake the Troops) is having turds today.
VIDEO

THE MEDIA

New York Times Gets It Wrong…Again -- [Iowa Voices]
But of course, they’re not pushing an agenda, right? Riiiiiight.
On March 18, the New York Times published this story about female soldiers who served in Iraq and are now having problems as a result.

War story told by former sailor disputed -- [Navy Times]
Deployment to Iraq not in personnel record; paper issues correction
The March 18 Sunday New York Times Magazine cover story was a gripping account of the emotional problems some female veterans suffer as results of their war experiences, sexual assaults or both.

Dan Rather, Ahead of The Times. The New York Times -- [4 Mile Creek]
Like I've mentioned before, most of the "soldiers" I see in pictures of the IVAW are clearly not soldiers. Or Marines. Or airmen. Or sailors.
They are poseurs. Like Jessie "MacDeath" MacBeth. Or Micah Wright.

ABC: America 'Completely Agrees' With Dems on Iraq -- [NewsBusters]
Town hall or pep rally? Hard to tell, judging from the first half-hour of Hillary's appearance on Good Morning America today. Host Robin Roberts lavished praise on Hillary, suggested there's unanimous support for the Dem Iraq policy, and fielded only one audience question -- which came from someone who worked on Hillarycare in 1993 and beseeched Clinton to try it again as president.

The Drive-By Strib: Vendetta Journalism At Its Best -- [Hugh Hewitt]
The woes at the Minneapolis Star Tribune are well publicized, especially its precipitous decline in value.
So it should not surprise that the worst sort of sloppiness and vendetta (as opposed to mere agenda) journalism infects its news coverage.
Except that the Strib's reporter this time dashes off a lie that seems aimed to injure Powerline's reputation.

HUMOR / SATIRE

Bush Dismisses Hagel Accusation That He’s 'Dismissive' -- [ScrappleFace]
(2007-03-26) — Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-NE, this weekend charged President George Bush with being “too dimissive” of Congressional opponents to his Iraq policy.

24% Call Gore Climate Expert, 49% 'Mr. President' -- [ScrappleFace]
(2007-03-26) — A new Rassmussen poll shows 24 percent of respondents believe that Oscar-winning documentarist Al Gore is an expert on global climate change, while 49 percent believe he’s in his second term as president of the United States

Day By Day

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