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. Hat Tips to the Dawn Patrol are greatly appreciated.

IRAQ

Pilots Shot Down in Iraq Tell of Dramatic Escape -- [Washington Post - Ann Scott Tyson]
Comrades Rescue Ambushed Officers
"We're taking fire!" Chief Warrant Officer 2 Steven Cianfrini, 27, yelled to his co-pilot as he looked out the helicopter door and saw tracer rounds flying his way.
It was the first ominous sign Monday morning as their OH-58D Kiowa attack helicopter banked over palm groves, fields and canals on a reconnaissance mission to flush out Sunni insurgents in rural areas south of Baghdad.

Iraq Helicopter rescue

OPS. Marne Torch

Task Force Marne pilots rescued from downed helicopter -- [MNF-I]
BAGHDAD — An AH-64 Apache helicopter rescued two Task Force Marne pilots after enemy fire brought down their OH-58D Kiowa Attack helicopter south of Baghdad July 2.
The OH-58 pilots received minor injuries.
An Air Force Thunderbolt II destroyed the downed helicopter with two 500-pound laser-guided bombs after the pilots were evacuated from the area.
The incident is under investigation.

Apache rescue -- [Desert Flier]
The apache rescue of one of our soldiers July 1st made it into mainstream media news. Check the links below to read the story and watch the video:

One -- [Desert Flier - in Iraq]
1 PM finds Jason and I trying to figure out another detainee's injuries. Initial chest film looks good, but the patient's oxygen levels aren't "quite right" and he seems to be guarding a mystery injury. Tim and I are in the x-ray room 5 yards away, and I'm right in the middle of looking at the detainee's chest film, when a detonation and subsequent deep bass of the concussion wave knock the wooden window cover back. My initial thought: "mortar attack was pretty close." Jason and I both look at our patient and immediately request he be put in patient hold for observation. We need the trauma bay cleared out...as in right now. All staff immediately start pulling down litters, setting up triage stations, and the trauma bay jumps to life as all stations are manned with medics and corpsman.
"VBIED" cracks over the radios. My initial thought was wrong, but somehow doesn't matter when the results are the same: casualties.
...One July. One 24 hour period; midnight to midnight.
One day that couldn't go fast enough.
One day that I will never forget.

Civilian Deaths in Baghdad Dropping

Training team commander sees improvement -- [MNF-I]
BAGHDAD — Iraq’s military forces are committed to standing on their own, the officer in charge of their training told bloggers Thursday, and he expressed confidence that Iraq’s army, navy, air force and police will succeed.
“What we do see from the Iraqis is a commitment to continuing to improve and a desire and a passion to be more responsible for all things military,” U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Terry Wolff, commander of the Coalition Military Assistance Training Team, said during a teleconference from Iraq. “They very much want to be able to do this themselves.”

Paratroopers prove unshakeable in the face of adversity -- [MNF-I]
BAGHDAD — Only one man knew what was coming. From afar he completed the circuit and braced for the blast’s impact. None of the Iraqis going about their daily life were ready and the sound cut through the hustle and bustle of daily life on the streets of the eastern Raabi neighborhood in the Iraqi capital’s Adhamiyah District.

The Islamist's War Against Liberalism -- [Michael Totten]
No one has ever called Saddam an Islamist, nor has Islamofascism ever been used to describe Baathism, though its ideological affiliations with National Socialism are well known.
As for the Islamist movement, it has long been compared to fascism and, as Martin Kramer shows, by some distinguished Orientalists with first-hand experience of both fascism and the Islamic world: Maxime Rodinson, a French Marxist whose parents died in Auschwitz, and Manfred Halpern, who was born in Germany, fled the Nazis in 1937, and joined the US Army to fight in Europe during WW2.

Walking the Beat in Salman Pak -- [America's North Shore Journal]
Cpl. Aaron Wait, from San Antonio and a rifleman with Company A, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, escorts a young girl across the street during a dismounted foot patrol in Salman Pak, June 20.

Adhamiyah Safe Markets

Americans work to make market safer for civilians.

One of MY Heroes! -- [Tanker Brothers - in Iraq]
Gabe here IS one of my heroes! He may look like one of your neighbourhood pooches, but Gabe works hard for a living (unlike a certain Bratdog - but I digress.lol)
In Iraq, Gabe's title is Military Working Dog. As any one of the hundreds of fans that Gabe has can tell you, Gabe is no ordinary MWD. He is a dog who works tirelessly for OUR team in this GWOT!
His handler, Chuck, sends out regular bulletins on their progress and this is the latest:

School opening in Anbar -- [Fightin 6th Marines]
While not everything is sunshine and lollipops here, on a pretty regular basis now we get to assist in another school opening. Lance Cpl. Christopher Zahn, our correspondent with 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, brings us the following story and photos on the efforts of the 5th Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment, Civil Affairs Group to bring education to the lives of Iraqi children.

Terror Doctors Were Recruited And Trained Under Order Of Al Qaeda In Iraq Leader Abu Al Zarqawi -- [Pat Dollard]
“CBS News confirms that in 2004 the current head of al Qaeda in Iraq was instructed by then-head Abu Musab al-Zaraqawi to recruit these people to move to the West and easily integrate until the time came to strike.”

Hear it "In Their Own Words" -- [Matt Sanchez]
George Quinton Rhubi was born to be a Marine. After all, his father was a Marine and he says, "It's all I know." Rhubi is stationed in Fallujah and just beforer a day of handing out softballs to the children of a neighborhood, he sat down for this interview to talk about his life as a Marine and his goals after he leaves the service.

Mornings -- [My Desert Adventure - in Iraq]
Like all neighborhoods back home, mine over here has its own personality. After a while, you get used to the daily routines and everything seems “normal”. Although to the folks back home, I’m sure that this place would seem so very far from the ordinary.
Take for example mornings. Right now, it is a cool 92 degrees. The sun just came up, but you can’t see it though the haze and dust. A couple of guys just walked by on their way to work. Instead of business suits and briefcases, they are wearing body armor and carrying machine guns.

AFGHANISTAN

Week 23--Soldier On -- [Richard's Deployment - in Afghanistan]
...I watch the new hospital construction and think about the day when we have a clean, dust free work environment...and indoor plumbing! It continues to progress quickly, and I continue to be amazed at how hard the host nation crew works every day in the heat and dust and rain and mud.
...And of course, we always have our patients. Azad has been with us for almost two months. Wounded by shrapnel from a mortar round, he spend 6 weeks in our ICU. Now that he has recovered from his wounds he must now recover from the ICU. I never knew how hard it is to recover from being in the ICU; on a ventilator, paralyzed and sedated. Our nursing staff has done wonders with his rehabilitiation. We are not set up to manage these patients, but we do it anyway.

Freedom Watch Afghanistan -- [Pentagon Channel]

Coalition forces work to ensure the healthcare needs of Iraqi's are met. /The space shuttle Atlantis heads home. /The DoD adds another level of security.

Transcript: Weltwoche Interview with Taliban Commander Mansoor Dadullah -- [Counterterrorism Blog - Evan Kohlmann]
My colleague Urs Gehriger from Die Weltwoche in Switzerland has forwarded me the English transcript of a new video interview of the Taliban's top military commander Mansoor Dadullah obtained exclusively by Weltwoche with the help of journalist Sami Yousafzai. The interview with Mansoor--the brother of and replacement for the late Mullah Dadullah--took place on June 7, 2007 in the region along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan and was conducted by a Pakistani journalist who was supplied with questions by Weltwoche. Transcript as follows:
Q. What is your name?
A. My name is Mullah Mansoor Dadullah, by the grace of Allah, and I am 35 years old.
Q. Are you Mullah Dadullah’s brother?

Operation BATAKA

Clash at Islamabad's Red Mosque -- [The Fourth Rail]
Pro-Taliban students at the Lal Masjid attack Pakistani Rangers, one killed
Pakistani security forces have clashed with the followers of Taliban supporters Maulana Abdul Aziz and Ghazi Abdul Rasheed at the notorious Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, in the hear of Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. One member of the Rangers, a paramilitary police force, was killed and two wounded, and seven students of the Lal Masjid were wounded after the students initiated the fighting. "The clashes began when around 150 students attacked a security picket at a government office near the capital's Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, snatched weapons and took four government officials hostage," police told Reuters

U.S. AND OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD

Vacations and Transitions, by David J. Danelo -- [ONPoint]
As we celebrate our liberty this week with summer vacations, barbecues, and fireworks, 150,000 American men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan are dealing with real explosions… the kind that don’t come with warning labels. This should remind all of us of what their uniformed ancestors faced when the nation was struggling forth in generations past.
Regardless of where you think they should or should not be, these men and women who have volunteered are the spiritual descendents of a long line of patriots. Amongst a sea of their fellow citizens, they have stepped out to answer their nation’s call. While others are perhaps too fearful, too apathetic, or too busy, a few have raised their hands, volunteering to train for danger and go wherever they are sent.

As we slide into another 4th of July.... -- [SWJ]
This piece of pseudo-history below bounces around the internet every year about this time. Like most things of its ilk, it probably has a few errors, and its author is writing to reinforce a point with succinct and selective facts. But darn if it doesn't strike a nerve.
As we in the U.S. chill our lite beer (ughh!) and refill the propane tanks to burn plenty of meat for the 4th, let's not forget the stories and sacrifices of the many proud Iraqis and Afghanis who are out there trying to do the right thing, whether it be for their country or just for their family. Their history, when it is finally written, looks like it will be on par with this list, at least in terms of blood. Unfortunately, the outcome is still very much in question. Perhaps they have underwhelmed us with a lack of 56 such bold and audacious men, who have had all they can stands, can't stands no more, and stepped off in unison with a flourish just begging for a remake starring Mel Gibson and Harrison Ford. But, hey, this thing started on our schedule, not theirs. And our sterile expectations and remote perceptions are not their ugly reality.

WAR ON TERROR /TERRORISM

UK Terror Plot Investigation - News Roundup - July 3 -- [Counterterrorism Blog]
July 3 news roundup of UK terror plot investigation activities:
-- Seven Doctors Held in UK Terror Plot. The Daily Telegraph is reporting that, of the total of 8 suspects currently arrested, "Seven doctors held over al-Qa'eda bomb plot" and that "five of the seven suspects held by British police are young Middle Eastern men employed at British hospitals". This includes a Dr. Mohammed Asha from Jordan, and Dr. Bilal Abdulla from Iraq. The Daily Mail is also reporting that two of the doctors are Saudi. An increasing focus is on suspects employed at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, Paisley, Renfrewshire. Sky News has provided a brief summary of the 8 suspects arrested thus far. Daily Telegraph has provided a high level timeline of the Jihadist car bomb efforts.

Getting Out of Londonistan -- [NRO - Joshua Treviño]
...The killers of July 2005 succeeded where the would-be killers of June 2007 have failed — at least so far — but the latter have introduced a chilling new element into the pattern of terror with their assault on Glasgow’s airport. We were appalled and troubled in Scotland two years back, but we were not threatened. Now, with a fiery Jeep smashing its way through the façade of the Glaswegian passenger terminal, that fiction is stripped away. It doesn’t matter so much that the attack was unsuccessful: It is enough to show that no one is safe, and that terror is no longer restricted to the great cities and capitals.

SUPPORTING THE TROOPS...OR NOT

Cinnamon Pecans -- [Far from Perfect - in Iraq]
There is nothing like receiving a package from home. You come in fro a long hot sweaty 130+ degree day on patrol. You and your team smell horrid and your wiped. You are barely able to walk, let alone reset the trucks for the next day, but you do. Then comes the mail handler with mail from home. There are several boxes and you receive one from your family. Suddenly the day just got good.

Do your part to support the troops! -- [Greta "Hooah" Perry]
As I hugged my veteran during the fireworks at the Mandeville Seafood Festival last night, singing "Proud to be an American," I couldn't help but get all sentimental. You see, my soldier is home safely this year, and even better will not be returning to the sandbox (Iraq) due to his retirement last October.
I am pleased to share an article I wrote for Inside Northside magazine and and the on-line article can be read HERE. In this article, you get a peek into the "milblog" and "milspouse" community. Please read it and then afterwards go check out a new website I just launched for Soldiers' Angels Louisiana.

MilBlogs -- [Inside Northside - Greta Perry]
What does a military wife who doesn’t live near a military installation do when she needs to create a sense of community?
In the United States, only one percent of the population has family members in the Armed Forces. A lot of people don’t support the military at all; among those who do, there is often some confusion. Some suggest that they don’t approve of the war, but do back the soldiers. They may be sincere, but their pronouncements sound like tap-dancing sometimes. And then there are those who are outright hostile to anything related to military culture. In this situation, I found only one way to find support for my family, and to offer the same to others: I turned to the Internet, and created virtual support. I became a blogger, an online diarist—a publisher of a personal magazine. In search of something ordinary—a sense of community—I stumbled into something extraordinary: the New Media, blogs.

America Supports You -- [SgtStryker]
If you have been looking for ways to support the troops, but weren’t sure how, then you may want to visit the site: www.americasupportsyou.com or www.americasupportsyou.mil America Supports You is an official organization founded by the Department of Defense. One of the first things that you will notice, is that you can send a message to the troops from the website. This is a great way to know that your message will truly reach the troops, and with the Fourth of July just around the corner, it is a good time to sent our troops encouragement if you haven’t already.

MILITARY

Military Transformation Uplink: June 2007 - [Winds of Change - Joe Katzman]
Militaries around the world are moving to modernize and transform themselves to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Our renewed mission is to deliver a monthly cross-section of relevant, on-target stories, news, and analysis that will help experts and interested laypeople alike stay up to speed on key military developments and issues. Stories are broken down by military category and presented as fast bullet points that orient you quickly, with accompanying links if you wish to pursue more in-depth treatments.

Coming Soon...Rescue Dawn [HT: Duty in the Desert]

This film tells the real-life story of U.S. fighter pilot Dieter Dengler, a German-American shot down in 1966 and captured in Laos during the Vietnam War. Dengler organized a death-defying escape for a small band of POWs, including Duane Martin.

POLITICS

No Time in Non-Crime -- [Jules Crittenden]
Scooter skates. Well, not exactly. There’s $250,000 that won’t be going into any GOP campaigns, and Scooter gets to be a felon. Pretty rough when no one actually did anything wrong. The left has had to make do with half-truths and fabrications in its quest to find some Bush malfeasance over the years, and this commutation is only a half-step toward the pardon they were hoping to get indignant about. Quick indignation check:

Libby Commutation Reactions -- [Outside the Beltway - James Joyner]
As one would expect, last evening’s news that President Bush has commuted Scooter Libby’s jail sentence has spawned a huge amount of controversy in the blogosphere, with some decrying it as the greatest outrage since Watergate and others complaining it didn’t go far enough.

Bush Commutes Libby's Jail Sentence; Leaves Fine, Probation Intact -- [Ace of Spades]
...Suggestion: Bush should have reduced the fine to a more reasonable $50,000, which just so happens to be how much Sandy Berger was fined for stealing and destroying classified documents and lying about it to investigators (he wasn't charged for the latter, but subsequent revelations has made it clear he did just that).
Making the fine $50,000 would have been more in line with Libby's transgressions, and it would have made it harder for Democrats to argue against it. The penalty -- no jail time, $50,000, probation -- would have been so similar to Berger's that one could scarcely mention it without also mentioning Berger.

THE MEDIA

New York Times’ Boldfaced Lies About Joe Wilson -- [Sweetness & Light]
Mr. Libby was convicted of lying to federal agents investigating the leak of the name of a covert C.I.A. operative, Valerie Wilson. Mrs. Wilson’s husband, Joseph Wilson, was asked to investigate a central claim in Mr. Bush’s drive to war with Iraq — whether Iraq tried to purchase uranium from Africa. Mr. Wilson concluded that Iraq had not done that and had the temerity to share those conclusions with the American public.
It seems clear from the record that Vice President Dick Cheney organized a campaign to discredit Mr. Wilson. And Mr. Libby, who was Mr. Cheney’s chief of staff, was willing to lie to protect his boss…
...Remember how boldly and easily the New York Times lies each and every time you read an article from them.
They are shameless, dangerous liars.
(By the way, if you are still confused about what actually happened in the Wilson/Plame non-scandal, you might take a look at my exegesis: When And Where Joe Wilson IV Outed Valerie Plame.)

TODAY! 7-3-07 OLBERMANN TO CALL ON BUSH & CHENEY TO RESIGN!

Short on the Concept -- [Jules Crittenden]
Olbermann: Bush, Cheney should resign. Warmed over Bush-lied-people-died argument delivered in stentorian Declaration of Independential tones sees Scooter commutation as the last straw in King George’s long list of crimes. Get a grip.
...Forgive me if, in the course of reading this tripe, I fail to take it with something more than the level of seriousness it deserves. That said, if this is where after 231 years we have at long last arrived in this imperfect union of ours, if Olbermann’s idiotic remarks indeed reflect the will of the people and Bush is to be driven out, then it may be incumbent upon us as a righteous people to revisit the crimes of other recent presidents and mull appropriate punishment. Clinton, for all the dirtball crimes he pardoned, not to mentioned the debasement of the office, the stocks! Carter, for humiliating the nation by allow a third-rate nation to hold us hostage for 444 days and inaugurating 30 years of war and terrorism, a dank basement somewhere.

While Old Media Obsesses over Haditha, Al Qaeda Massacre Gets the Silent Treatment -- [NewsBusters]
(WARNING: Link contains graphic and unsettling pictures) Michael Yon reported a massacre committed by Al Qaeda that wiped out a village on the outskirts of Baqubah, Iraq just after midnight on July 1.
Matt Hurley at Weapons of Mass Discussion had this to say yesterday in reaction:
If American media fails to cover this with the same amount of gusto that they have pursued Haditha and Abu Ghraib, they will be demonstrating their preference for whom they wish to win this conflict. The press has to tell the story that evil really does exist in this world. Imagine if the story of the Holocaust was never told because the media was only interested in reporting Allied atrocities. Yes, by failing to treat this war objectively, the media does indeed enable massacres such as this one and history will judge the coverage of this war very harshly.
Robin Boyd noticed the lack of Old Media interest in a NewsBusters post yesterday. Almost 18 hours later, the fact is that Old Media has is still ignoring Yon's dispatch:
The three items of the 10 listed not included in the above picutre also do not relate to the Al Qaeda-committed massacre. That is indeed quite a contrast to the Old Media treatment of the Haditha situation:

Quick Nonsense Review -- [Jules Crittenden]
Iran had Hezbollah arrange murders of Americans. NYT leaps to undercut claim with some anti-war speculation in graph five:
But some critics said the evidence was circumstantial and charged that the Americans appeared to be offering a new rationale for maintaining or increasing the military commitment in Iraq.Curiously, this important angle is not supported by any actual quotes in this story, which otherwise is largely focused on Iranian plot details.

HUMOR / SATIRE

American troops having fun in Iraq

Libby Walks, Bush Urges Jittery Public Not to Panic -- [ScrappleFace]
(2007-07-02) — Ending years of speculation, President George Bush today commuted the 30 month prison sentence of former vice presidential aide I. Lewis ‘Scooter‘ Libby, yet urged a nervous nation to remain calm even though Mr. Libby is “on the loose.”
“Even with this convicted criminal roaming the streets,” said Mr. Bush, “The neighborhoods of our homeland remain safer than a lot of places in the world.”

Day By Day

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