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

ON Point in Anbar: The Tide Turns in Ramadi (Part 2 of 2) -- [ON Point - in Iraq]
Ramadi’s successes—and challenges—have started to garner attention from mainstream media. Although a pair of suicide bombs hit the city yesterday, killing 20 ON Point follows last week’s article with several profiles of personalities, events, and issues that have been the talk of the town in recent weeks. Here’s a look inside Al Anbar Province and its capital, Ramadi: Latif’s the Man The security provided by the Marines in Ramadi is reflected in the work of...

Saturday, May 5: An update from Bh.tv's Baghdad Bureau help (VIDEO) [Blogging Heads HT Glenn]
Robert Wright talks with the embedded Eli Lake, who's there covering the surge.

In Their Own Words -- [Duty in the Desert - in Iraq]
...Across the city, restaurants are slowly filling and shops are reopening. The streets are busy. Iraqis are not cowering indoors. The appalling death tolls from suicide attacks are often high because of crowding at markets. These days you are as likely to hear complaints about traffic congestion as about the security situation. Across Baghdad there is a cacophony of sirens from ambulances, firefighters and police providing public services. You cannot even escape the curse of traffic wardens ticketing illegally parked cars.
...Iraqis, for all our determination and courage, cannot succeed alone. We need a healthy and supportive regional environment. We will not allow our country to be a battleground for settling scores in regional and international conflicts that adversely affect stability inside our borders. Only with continued international commitment and deeper engagement from our neighbors can we establish a stable democratic, federal and united Iraq. The world should not abandon us.

It Continues to Work in Ramadi -- [Serving the People of Iraq and Iran]
Despite occasional setbacks, parts of Iraq's Anbar Province are trending toward peace. This occurs as Sunnis in the Anbar heartland realize that al Qaeda does not have Anbar's best interest at heart.
While I was in Ramadi, a change in sentiment began to occur. That sentiment is coming substantially to fruition 18 months later.

Mas. Cal. 4-24-2007 Camp Ramadi, Iraq

Iraq the Model? -- [Redstate - in Iraq]
On the morning of May 1, I accompanied the second platoon of 1-4 Cav’s Alpha (“Apache”) Company and members of the sherda, or Iraqi National Police (NPs) on a joint patrol of the southwestern quadrant of the unit’s area of operations, in the area known as Abu Dischir. The main purpose of the patrol, and the house searches it entailed, was to continue showing a sustained US presence in this Shi’a district which is home to large numbers of Jaish al Mahdi, or "JAM" members, and to check for such things as weapons caches and unlicensed firearms (each Iraqi household is allowed a registered AK-47 and thirty rounds, but no other weapons).

Don't bury your heads in the sand. -- [Iraq the Model - Iraqis in Iraq]
I had said it over and over again that some of us in Iraq and America are sending wrong messages to the terrorists and the dictators behind them; in fact I wasn't surprised when I saw Zawahiri appear on al-Jazeera to announce America's defeat, not long after Reid did.

Soldiers continue to build schools, trust -- [MNF-I]
CAMP TAJI — While insurgents continue attacks near and at construction sites, U.S. soldiers with Multi-National Division-Baghdad this week continue bringing construction supplies for several schools being built north of Baghdad.

COALITION FORCES FIND TORTURE ROOM, DESTROY WEAPONS CACHE IN SADR CITY -- [MNF-I]
BAGHDAD, Iraq – Coalition Forces destroyed a torture room, a large cache of weapons and improvised explosive device-making materials Sunday morning while targeting terrorists in Sadr City.
Coalition Forces targeted the location based on intelligence reports that indicated the presence of suspected members of a secret cell terrorist network known for facilitating the transport of weapons and explosively formed penetrators, or EFPs, from Iran to Iraq, as well as bringing militants from Iraq to Iran for terrorist training.

Door to door fighting in Iraq.

American soldiers partaking in door to door fighting in Iraq.

Rattlesnake -- [Michael Yon - in Iraq]
....Unlike some other parts of Iraq, little if any compelling evidence of civil war is present in Basra. In Baghdad, by contrast, suicide bombers commonly strike several times per day, often into the very heart of guarded areas and scores of innocent victims are killed daily by bombs, guns and knives. Meanwhile in Basra, seemingly random, wholesale attacks are by comparison uncommon. There have been few suicide attacks. While the overwhelming majority of attacks in Baghdad, or in provinces such as Nineveh and Diyala, are against Iraqis, down here in Basra, 90% of the attacks are against British soldiers.

There and Back Again (A Soldier's Tale) -- [Acute Politics - in Iraq]
This is the third and last segment on our 40-hour mission. It's a little more disjoint than the others, because I don't remember the second day as well as the first and I didn't take the luxury of a lot of time editing this one. Hope you enjoy!

Digger risks life to save mates in Iraq -- [Tanker Brothers]
The Australian army's anonymous new hero in Iraq is a raw, young infantryman who leapt into a blazing armoured vehicle to provide cover for his wounded mates.
Australia's commander in southern Iraq says he is humbled by the freshly qualified gunner's "incredible" courage and professionalism.
But the brave Digger, whose patrol took fire four times in two days, does not want to be named.
He was in a 50-vehicle convoy hit by light arms fire and rocket propelled grenades in two different villages as it returned to base at Tallil two weeks ago.

Monday, May 7, 2007 - "Sure hope that's a controlled det" -- [Desert Flier - in Iraq]
...Despite today's setback, the intel we are receiving mirrors what is in the media: Ramadi and the Anbar Province are improving. Sunni leadership in Anbar have formed the Anbar Salvation Council (ASC), and are working with U.S. leadership. The ASC is officially opposed to al-Qaeda, and is working towards stabilization of the region. Sheik Fassal Al-Giood of the ASC states "al-Qaeda has not stopped attacking Anbar. Today's incident is a reaction to our work."
As stated in a previous post, Doha gets a second chance, Ramadi has seen a surge of new police recruits and officers. Much of the raw infusion of new officers is due to the ASC leadership supporting regional stability and sending their tribesmen to the recruiting stations to become officers.

Talking Points -- [Outside the Wire - in Iraq]
At the Chow. It is a nice one here. Occasionally referred to as the 'Golden Corral.'
On the TV two human talking-points-generators are debating about a war they know nothing about in a country they have only seen on a map or on TV.
I don't know why they are called 'strategists'--neither one of them could design a decent ambush.
As the politicians make logic defying statements. (See Senatorial Logic) and toss out focus group tested talking points the work in Iraq goes on.
It is this morning and I'm sure there are a couple thousand wet Soldiers and Marines still out on patrol. They will spend the next two or three days tromping through mud and puddles. Their feet will welt up with blisters and rot.

One of "those" days -- [The Zeke - in Iraq]
119 degrees...SO hot. Body soaked in sweat, eyes burning, breath ragged. Drag body armor from truck to can (room). Sit down, let the sweat flow....thank God for AC. Boom boom boom! "Might have 'that' mission tomorrow" "Ya?" "Ya" "Anything else?" Nope, standing by.
Doing paperwork, minding own business. Hear gaggle outside, peek out to see. Mistake, more paperwork... (grunts hate paperwork). Doing paperwork, told to "find vehicle." Where? Who knows. Vehicle found, needs work, must fix it, stock it, fix it, fix it. Oops, out of time, close to done. Meeting. 11pm....oops, mission 4 hours earlier than expected, doh! Get to bed! 4 hours of sleep, get up, finish vehicle. Not fast enough. Mass confusion. Stress building.
Mission starts. Hit IED....BOOOM! What was that? Vehicle behind me. Slight damage. No one hurt. Drive on with mission. Mission is on.

Patrick Interviewed by Vladimir van Wilgenburg -- [Moderate Risk - in Iraq]
A recent UN report talked about corruption, nepotism, lack of press freedom and honor killings in Kurdistan. Do you think this report is correct? What are your negative experiences with Kurdistan? And what are your positive ones? The notion of the UN calling anybody else corrupt and nepotistic is somewhat surreal, and their relationship to honor and death is it's own category of disgrace. Regrettably, the report is probably also an understatement. I will be writing on this more extensively soon.

Training Iraqi pilots - (VIDEO) -- [Military Times]
Maj. Mohamad Althawrah of the Iraqi Air Force's 2nd Squadron was imprisoned under Saddam Hussein's regime for refusing to fire on civilians. Now he's learning to fly Huey IIs under U.S. Air Force trainers like Capt. Corey Hunt.

Iraqi Soldiers serve for country, family -- [MNF-I]
Iraqi Army Pvt. Najah Hassan Kathim, who deserted the old Iraqi Army during the initial invasion of April 2003, resumed his military career in the new Iraqi Army when he began basic training in February.
“The basic training here now is first class,” said Kathim. “The equipment is new and the training is new.”

Hand & Arm Signals -- [Badgers Forward - in Iraq]
...One basic hand and arm signal is the clenched fist, held straight up. This means stop or more specifically freeze, do not move. Of course this clenched fist has other popular varitations in meaning, such as "power to the people" (think any campus protest), "black power" (think Mexico City 1968), or "solid" (think Mod Squad).
Yesterday I was having some leadership challenges moving some vehicles from here to there and I was becoming quickly agitated, so I stepped out of Badger Main to head down to Badger Maintenance and put some Command emphasis on the issue.
As I walked down the main road, in the already 100+ degree temperature, I became more frustrated the more I contemplated the issue that had arisen.
Suddenly, coming the other direction, I spotted what I thought was one of the vehicles in question. I looked to see who the driver was to confirm it was one of my vehicles.

Poll, Notes, and Questions - [Jack Army - in iraq]
1. In case you couldn't tell, my "project" was a trip into and around Baghdad. A great experience, especially in that I feel like I have a much better understanding of the struggles there as well as the progress. Like I've said before, history in the making and I got to go there and see for myself. How many Americans can say that? For decades, if not centuries, students of history around the world will read about this conflict and what we are accomplishing...
2. The recent poll about the Surge warrants a post on its own as I have many thoughts and observations to share, so look for that in the near future.

Wondering: -- [Duke in Iraq - 5/7/07 - in Iraq]
wonder how many people become concerned when the phone rings. I wonder how many people are suddenly worried when they see an official vehicle drive into their neighborhood. I wonder how many parents only get to speak to their spouse 15 minutes twice a week to discuss all of the household issues and how to deal with rebellious children. I wonder how many people wonder if their loved one is OK if the phone disconnects. I wonder. This is the life of the families of a serviceman who is deployed in harms way.
The other night we had the Wing Commander Commander's Call for officers. This was to recognize our achievements during this rotation. As we were in our seats waiting for the room to be called to attention,...

Iraq Report: Kufa bombed, Iraqi/Coalition operations -- [The Fourth Rail]
There have been no major suicide or car bombings inside Baghdad over the past two days. Mortar, roadside bombings and small arms attacks persist, but sectarian killings are still below the levels prior to the implementation of the Baghdad Security Plan. Much of the significant violence has occurred in Baghdad's "Belts," the regions about 20 miles outside Baghdad. This is where the latest two significant attacks occurred.

AFGHANISTAN

FULTON COUNTY DAILY REPORT ARTICLE -- [Afghanistan JAG - in Afghanistan]
Atlanta JAG carries out aid mission for Afghan refugee village
On Friday, U.S. soldiers distributed two 7-ton trucks’ worth of clothes, shoes and supplies to a refugee village near Kabul Military Training Center in Afghanistan. Atlanta solo plaintiffs’ attorney Scott Delius, serving in Afghanistan as an Army National Guard JAG since November 2006, organized the relief effort.

Tuesday, May 08, 2007 -- [Sgt Dub - in Afghanistan]
In case you were not aware, the Taliban have kidnapped a french aid worker and 3 Afghans helping and have been holding them, demanding that the French 1,100 soldiers leave Afghanistan or they will be executed by beheading. The time frame was set for Monday, the day after French elections. The demand was to see a change in France's President and then an immediate pull-out of troops. Now, let me start off by saying that once again the insurgent supporting liberal media has not balked at this action one bit, an innocent person who is actually over here to help people, not involved in conflict at the slightest. Now, they do bark a little if it was a journalist, but really not that much, since that would be the ultimate story for a reporter anyway. But, I do have to laugh at all this too. The deadline came and went. Now, there was a change in the Presidency, duh!

Afghan Training Navy Seals Wont Go Through - (HUMOR)

The Afghanistan National Army on Physical Training Standards

Man Jammies -- [A JAG in Afghanistan - in Afghanistan]
A traditional style of clothing of the men are what we call "man jammies." I have no idea what they're called in Dari so "man jammies" they are. The consist of a long flowing shirt, just like a night shirt and a pair of draw string pants, exactly like MC Hammer pants - remember those?
Anyway, COL Khaliq presented Scott and I with a pair as a gift. He got white and I got black. I joked with him that at least they got the colors of our personalities right!!

Long and Painful -- [Afghanistan Without a Clue - coming home]
Just a quick note to let you all know that the AWAC staff is on the way home. I have camera in hand and will share all the gruesome details later. Rest assured, it hurts! There are no non-stops between Kabul and the US (There are hardly any non-stops between Kabul and anywhere).

Step 5 has started -- [Bouhammer.-'s Afghan Blog - coming home]
Well I am writing this from a country that does not end in "stan". I am actually writing this from Turkey as I sit here on a re-fueling stop. The flight home has begun. The total flight time will be over 24 hours, but that is ok because we are heading west and that is all that matters. I have a lot to write about and will be posting more as I can. There was a big concert last night in K-stan and was a nice way to end out last night there. Anyway I will be writing about that and a lot more later.
Until Then...

U.S. AND OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD

Ready, Fire, Aim! -- [John of Argghhh!]
As many readers know, the Castle Moat has not required any topping off of late, nature having been doing that for us. The Moat Monster is quite disturbed, as he prefers brackish, stagnant water with sickly, easy to catch fish and stale cheetohs that Ry tosses out the dungeon grate (we do let him have light for 30 minutes a day). The Missouri River right now is just a touch under 6 feet above flood stage, and should crest today. This is well below the 15 foot flood stage in the Great Flood of '93. This being a slow-moving disaster, the city and county have had ample time to sandbag the small areas (mostly city-owned, in terms of buildings) likely to be affected.

Iran Wants to Get Bombed -- [Strategy Page]
May 8, 2007: All the blather from some circles in the U.S. about an imminent attack on Iran only plays into the hands of the Islamic radicals who control the government there. It works like this. If we don't attack, they'll cite their readiness to defend themselves as having successfully deterred the "Great Satan." If we do attack, the Iranian radicals can cry about being beaten up by the Great Satan, and rally the country (which generally despises their clerical rulers). This is why most of the talk about the U.S. attacking Iran is coming from Iran.

WAR ON TERROR /TERRORISM

Kosovo Crises Reaches New Jersey -- [Strategy Page]
May 9, 2007: Six Moslem refugees from the Balkans were arrested in the United States and charged with planning a terrorist attack on an American military base in New Jersey. The six were observed for over a tear. Three of the young men are in the country illegally. The base in question, Ft Dix, hosted 4,000 Albanian refugees from Kosovo in the 1990s.

The Fort Dix Plan -- [All Alone in the Night]
Apparently Wonkette's take on the Fort Dix six's plan to attack soldiers at Fort Dix is becoming the accepted wisdom about the attack.
...It is not my intent to blow up the attackers beyond their means. They were clearly not too bright, and the incident serves as an important reminder that law enforcement and intelligence are critical tools in this war. (BTW, would these men have been caught pre-Patriot Act? I'm better they would have, but I'm not certain of that. If I'm right, that's a good reminder of how little the act really did to further secure the U.S. against attack.)

Democrats Gut Homeland Security Protections -- [Redstate]
screw the 9/11 commission, we support illegal aliens and employee unions
Nancy Pelosi and assorted House democrats woofed a lot about how they were going to remedy the deficiencies in homeland security funding that were totally and only the fault of the eeeeeevil Bush Administration.

Who Needs Terrorists When You Have All These Gangsters -- [Strategy Page]
May 9, 2007: India has accused Pakistan of allowing Islamic militants to double the number of terrorist training camps (to about fifty) in the last few months. Most of the camps supply terrorists for operations in Kashmir, which India and Pakistan dispute control of. India has it, Pakistan wants it and the Islamic terrorists fighting there are very popular throughout Pakistan.

How Did the "Fort Dix Six" Enter and Stay in the U.S.? -- [Counterterrorism Blog - Michael Cutler]
Six men have been arrested for terrorism-related charges emanating out of an alleged plot to enter a military base in New Jersey, Fort Dix, and kill as many of our soldiers as possible. I will provide my thoughts with the limited amount of information that is being made available (download and read the official complaint).

New Al Qaeda Suicide Bomb Video -- [Pat Dollard]
Al Qaeda recently launched a series of attacks in Morocco, as part of it’s expansion of the African front. Their buddies at Al Jazeera just released some video.

SUPPORTING THE TROOPS...OR NOT

The words of support. --[American Soldier - wounded in Iraq]
I received the following message tonight and it really meant alot. I have withheld his name but his message speaks much support for my fellow warriors and me.

Soldiers' Angels gets it done - Donate today! -- [Holly Aho]
I wanted to do a special post just for Soldiers' Angels. There are many great organizations that support our troops, and I often get asked why I promote Soldiers' Angels as much as I do. What makes them so great? I couldn't thoroughly answer that question with just a sentence or two, or even a page or two. But one of my favorite reasons can be summed up in two words, "Response Time".

MILITARY LIFE

Alone Time -- [Life in a Cracker Box - spouse of wounded GI]
Today has been such a typical Walter Reed day. I awoke this morning to the high-pitched clangor of my cell phone. As usual it rang before my alarm could even think about going off. I laid in bed staring at the caller id wishing it was a family member that I could quietly ignore for the time being and drift back off to sleep. Instead it was... as it always seems to be... a number that I had never seen before in my life. Reluctantly I took the call hoping it would be someone I could quickly escape from. No luck. Thus a new day dawned at Walter Reed and it was time to roll out of bed, glue on my everything is fine face, and meet the world with ceaseless "enthusiasm."

VIDEO - Lumberjack in a Desert Recovery -- [FOX 9 News]
FOX 9 tells the story of a 1/34th Brigade Combat Team Soldier and blogger as he struggles toward recovery at Walter Reed Medical Center.

The experience of Walter Reed - Final -- [American Soldier - wounded in Iraq]
I wanted to install the final portion of my experiences at Walter Reed. I don’t want to not forget about it because so many emotions and things happened while I was there. So here it goes.

After the Goodbye -- [On Wings of Eagles]
I watched the whole scene, as it played out, from beginning to end. I recognized it, and was captivated, not so much by what was happening, but the surrounding action in the airport.
What was it?
I spotted a Soldier on his way back from his R&R. From reading his uniform, I could tell he's serving in Iraq. His wife was there, as they clung to every last second they could. Trying to avoid the inevitable.
She looked spectacular - having dressed well for this last time together. He was in his uniform.
...Surrounding them was a boisterous crowd of folks going easily amongst their lives, unaware of the drama unfolding before them. Literally completely surrounding them, lives were going on, while theirs was coming back to a skidding halt.

Armed Forces Worklife Profiles -- [Dave's not Here - in Iraq]
The folks at Harvard Law have put together a study on Military pay rates for those who might be interested. They do some good analysis, and the numbers should demonstrate that the payroll situation for members of the Armed Services are not as dismal as they used to be. Still, the pay rates do not compare easily to civilian world pays, but there are areas that the folks at Harvard Law are no doubt overlooking, such as BAH, BAS, access to Military only stores and MWR facilities (generally a lot cheaper than off base equivalents), etc.

SpouseBUZZ Goes LIVE -- [Welcome To Andi's World]
I'm off to San Diego for SpouseBUZZ LIVE. If you didn't get your fill at the MilBlog Conference, you can watch the panel sessions via video streaming on May 12 at SpouseBUZZ. Panel sessions run from 9:30 - 12:15 PST.

IN MEMORY OF...

One of The Corps' Great Historians Passes [The Tank - W. Thomas Smith Jr.]
Brig. Gen. Edwin H. Simmons passed away Saturday.
General Simmons, 85, was a highly decorated combat Marine officer and one of the Corps' great historians. We Marines have all read his books, articles, and essays over the years, and learned much from him about our Corps.

The War Comes Home, again -- [John of Argghhh!]
Another Blue Star turns to Gold for a Fort Leavenworth family. I'll post more info as I have it.
DoD Identifies Army Casualties
The Department of Defense announced today the death of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. They died May 6 at Pol-e-Charki, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered from small arms fire. Their deaths are under investigation. Killed were:
Col. James W. Harrison Jr., 47, of Missouri. He was assigned to the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kan.
Master Sgt. Wilberto Sabalu Jr., 36, of Chicago. He was assigned to the U.S. Military Police
School, Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.
Now is the time at Castle Argghhh! when we dance: In Memoriam

POLITICS

Anti-War Groups Blame Iraq War for Kansas Tornado Response -- (CNSNews.com)
Cleanup of the damage caused Friday when an F-5 tornado tore through the Kansas town of Greensburg has been slowed because National Guard resources are in Iraq, according to a group of anti-war activists and the Kansas governor.

Appeal For Courage -- [Foreign and Domestic - in Iraq]
In less than six months, the Appeal For Courage has gathered over 2700 signatures of current members of the US military. The Appeal is simply worded.
We believe the war in Iraq, though costly and painful to the men and women here fighting it and to the families back home, is necessary to the long term security of our country and the short term stability of the Middle East. In four years we have accomplished much, and I believe the endgame is just around the corner. But some politicians and much of our media would have you believe that all of Iraq is in flames and mired in civil war. They want to leave Iraq to the terrorists for purely political reasons, most notably next years elections.

Soldiers and Sailors Petition Goes to Congress [The Tank - W. Thomas Smith Jr.]
Senators Lindsey Graham and Saxby Chambliss, and Congressmen John Boehner, Roy Blunt, and Eric Cantor will accept a petition from U.S. servicemen — the majority of whom are serving or have served in Iraq — urging Congress to both support their mission in Iraq and end the calls for retreat.

ASP Gets Political -- [A Soldier's Perspective - in Iraq]
...I'm getting more and more convinced that Pelosi wants to have Bush's lovechild. She's obsessed with him. Thehill.com is reporting that Pelosi is threatening to sue Bush if he issues a "signing statement" on the next Iraq war bill that hits his desk. A signing statement is basically a proclomation issued normally by a President when he signs a bill into law. It basically tells agencies what the President's interpretation of a law is meant to be.

MILBLOGGING

Ladies and Gentlemen... The President of the United States

2007 bush milblog president statement

Milblogging -- [Foreign and Domestic - in Iraq]
Really there are two ways to look at this regulation, either as a cynic or an optimist. The cynic would say that the army is setting a broad and restrictive policy in place that it will decide to enforce aggressively at some future date. The optimist would say that the army is setting a broad policy in place that it can use to weed out the few individuals that are actually violating opsec policies, while not interfering with the vast majority. As I mentioned in Stars and Stripes, the key is of course in how this is enforced. There does now arise the potential of some units being very restrictive on blogging, while others are very loose. That could indeed be a problem. But Army-wide, this should help milbloggers quite a bit.

More OPSEC Update -- [Dadmanly]
Just below a photo of soldiers boarding a helicopter, DJ Elliott opens his report with the question, “what’s wrong with this caption?”
U.S. Army Soldiers move to the UH-60 Black Hawk after searching the area for items of interest during an aerial response force mission, Iraq, March 31. Soldiers are assigned to the 1st Platoon, Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Andy Dunaway. [Link]
Msgt Dunaway may not be the author of the captions on his photos, but whoever is, needs to learn the art of “sanitizing” intelligence information. Public disclosure of this sort information is precisely what the increased vigilance of new OPSEC Update was designed to prevent.

"new" OPSEC rules -- [Making the Leap... - in Iraq]
While a good portion of the Milblogging community is up in arms about the "new" OPSEC rules, it's really not a big deal. No photos of roadside bombs or bodies, don't talk about strength and buildings, and so on and so forth. Since we're not supposed to have pictures of battle damage or causalties, there's no problem there. Oh, and we're not supposed to have pictures of antennas and satellites either. Not a big deal. Calm down, and blog on.

Remembering Sgt. Mike Stokely

At the Milblogs Conference, Robert Stokely remembers his son.

AR 530-1 changes and why I will keep blogging. -- [The Marching Camp - in Iraq]
On 19 April, 2007, the United States Army released a now version of AR 530-1, Operational Security which became effective one day later, 20 April. The regulation is marked "For Official Use Only" which means that as this blog is a public forum, technically I am not supposed to quote from it.
It was, however, released to the press in its entirety. Someone up in Washington is smoking way the hell too much crack. The contradiction between the Army's institutional culture of obsessive secrecy and the open nature of the 21st century American society is obvious. All information is out there if you know where to look.

I'm Still Here -- [Half a World Away - in Iraq]
Ran across this article today, which explains some of the problem: Army Squeezes Soldier Blogs, Maybe to Death. Basically the new policy is that you must get approval from your Commander before posting anything on your blog. Most of us are guessing that rather then waste the Commander's time, most units will just ban blogs all together.
It is really frustrating for us because I think most of you at home would agree that soldier blogs provide a window into this war that has never before been utilized. Not that it is always positive, but for most part they are real life. In a time when the military is struggling for public support, you would think our stories would be encouraged and not the other way around. I honestly don't understand where they are coming from. My guess is that the brass is just being risk averse and rather then have to deal with the few troublemakers that violate op-sec or something like that, they are going into widespread lockdown mode.
I'm not giving up the fight yet, as this blog has really meant a lot to me over the last 13 months.

Army Crackdown on Bloggers -- [War in the SandBox... - in Afghanistan]
There has been a lot of hoopla lately about a recent "U.S. Army Crackdown" on military bloggers. What strikes me as funny is that there is very little new to this "Crackdown". The basic explanation of the whole thing is that bloggers must register their blogs with their chain-of-command. If the chain-of-command wants they can require personnel to submit each post for review before posting, or they can ban blogging all together for their personnel. Luckily for me the Navy has not yet released any particular regulations, although my blog is registered both with my command and my former combat command.

To Blog or Not To Blog... That isn't the question -- [McNeilly's Perspective - in Afghanistan]
This morning I received an email from a Stars and Stripes reporter reference my thoughts on the new regulation,
We’re trying to get some reaction from guys blogging downrange, so I was hoping you’d take a minute and send me some of your thoughts. I don’t know if this will have or as had any effect on your blog – I’m also interested if you feel the Army is sending the wrong message to guys who are trying to write about what they’re seeing and doing overseas. Many of the bloggers back stateside are petrified that the on-the-ground perspective is going to get lost.
I guess I will keep my answer relatively short, and caveat it by saying I could be wrong.
The new regulations as I read Army Reg 530-1 updated April 2007, do not significantly change the rules of operation that I was under previously. Especially if you read the explanation here
More Milblog Conference Picks, and a Caption Contest! -- [Holly Aho]

First, the caption contest.... here's a few from the conference...

I'm on CNN! -- [Doc in the Box]
It looks like they took my part of the interview and ran with it, you can watch the video here.
Other things we did today, woke up rather late (it has been a busy couple of days) and after a brief meeting some other milbloggers in the lobby. We checked out of the hotel and loaded our bags into the trunk of two fellow bloggers Beth and Wintermellonsoup who are bloggers who just moved to DC from the Midwest, I’ve been blogging buddies with Beth since 2003 and they offered top pick us up and take us to the cheaper hotel.

Chuck's lunch time Milblog Conference speech

DC Recap - [Soldiers Angels New York]
Friday night at the pre-cocktail party cocktail party: The sun was beating through the windows into the room we were congregating. A good crowd had gathered. A lot of familiar faces, but some new ones. The pool table nazi was busy making sure nobody set anything down on the pool tables that shouldn't be there. I swear the guy had eyes on top of his baseball cap. I met Sgt Hook! No word on if the pool table nazi will make an appearance in one of Hook's stories.

THE MEDIA

CAIR Warns the Media [Media Blog - Greg Pollowitz]
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 5/8/07) - The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today applauded efforts by federal law enforcement authorities that apparently thwarted a planned attack on Fort Dix in New Jersey.
In a statement, the Washington-based Islamic civil rights and advocacy group said:
"Based on the information gathered in this case, it seems clear that a potentially deadly attack has been averted. We applaud the FBI for its efforts and repeat the American Muslim community's condemnation and repudiation of all those who would plan or carry out acts of terror while falsely claiming their actions have religious justification.
"We continue to urge American Muslims to be vigilant in reporting any suspected criminal activities that could harm the safety and security of our nation."

Google Video copy of Freedom Journal Iraq #642 -- [Jawa Report]
Update: Google says
Your video "Freedom Journal Iraq Episode 642" was rejected because it didn't comply with our Program Policies.
Heh, that's funny because according to MNF Iraq.com
All content on MNF-Iraq.com is public domain and may be used freely
They didn't reject this video or this one.
My conclusion, Google Hates America and ...

HUMOR / SATIRE

Wolfowitz Moves Girlfriend to Drive-Up Window -- [ScrappleFace]
(2007-05-08) — In what may be one of his final official actions as World Bank president, Paul Wolfowitz today arranged for his girlfriend, Shaha Ali Riza, to get a “steady job” after his expected resignation.

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