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

Why Soldiers Cry -- [The Tank - W. Thomas Smith Jr.- in Iraq]
AL MANSOUR (Baghdad) — U.S. forces have launched a new offensive north of Baghdad in an attempt to crush insurgents who have recently fled Baqouba. A major bridge was attacked on the outskirts of the city (several killed). And some roundup raids, which I cannot get into, may be stepping off in the city center as we speak.
Most of this morning and afternoon, my team — part of the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division — has been running a series of foot and mounted combat patrols in Baghdad's Al Mansour district. Fortunately, no direct contact: But there were two IED attacks followed by small-arms fire against Iraqi Army (IA) forces a few blocks west of us in an adjacent sector of the neighborhood. We heard the explosions and gunfire while we were on foot, saddled up in our Humvees, and began moving toward the action until another — closer — unit responded.

GoodNewsIraq: Mosul A Safer Place

Haifa Street and the Seventh Imam March -- [The Fourth Rail]
Tuesday evening [note: August 7], after a delicious local lunch in the café with a couple of soldiers, an Iraqi contractor, and a glamorous interpreter who I think hopes to marry her way out of Iraq (no cavalry troopers have taken her up on it yet), I attended a squadron battle update briefing, another briefing, and then got ready to roll out on my first patrol with the Strykers. At the first briefing, I was informed that since I would be hooked into the intercom on missions, I had a radio call sign: Harry Potter.

Safer off the FOB?!? -- [Eighty Deuce On The Loose - In Iraq]
Today was again my turn to be off for this next patrol. I was pretty stoked because this now makes 2 patrols I've had off in between rotations to our outpost. I normally only get one so this extra time off is an added suprise. Well I ended up going to bed at a decent time last night (1230 if your curious) after watching Aliens 2 for the first time with my grenadier. It was a good movie and when it was all done I was ready for bed. One of our trucks apparently had some damage done to it a LONG time ago and it was just now discovered during one of our semi-annual inspections. This was to be at least a day fix and so those of us off had to set up a rotation to go down and watch the truck while they worked on it. I was going to have to get up early, but not really that early.

Welcome to Ramadi -- Part 3: The Market

Ambassador Crocker rolls out his fluent Arabic while interacting with a shopkeeper in Ramadi.
Notice NO armor

Air Assaults and IEDs -- [Jeff Emanual - Vets for Freedom]
Well, the first week here is done -- only seven more to go in this front-line embed. So far, there have been several interesting and eye-opening experiences.
I'm back at Forward Operating Base Hammer tonight, home of 3rd Infantry Division's 3rd Brigade. In the morning, after meeting with the 3rd BDE commander, I'll be mounting up with some real unsung heroes of the coalition in this country -- a US Army Engineer unit called a "route clearance team." These men -- every single day -- drive all of the main roads southeast of Baghdad, from FOB Hammer, to Jisr Diyala, to Salman Pak and back, at 5 mph or less, looking for Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). Their task is basically to locate the IEDs and either to dismount and blow them up, or to run them over and "take one for the team," getting blown up in their incredibly armored vehicles so that no thinner-skinned trucks will suffer that fate.

Paratroopers capture rogue Jaysh Al-Mahdi cell leader -- [MNF-I]
Paratroopers from Company B, 1st Battalion, 501st Airborne, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, captured the cell leader and his militants during a raid on four different houses east of Mussayyib.

Concerned citizens bring cache to patrol base -- [MNF-I]
PATROL BASE INCHON — Citizens tired of terrorism in their communities recently brought 185 cans of ammunition to coalition forces

Lt. Singer 118th MP -- [Matt Sanchez]

Old Haifa -- [Matt Sherman - in Iraq]
Recently I visited an area of Bagdad called "Old Haifa" in the Karkh district. Exploring this part of town was off limits to virtually everyone until recently. Its now showing some signs of life.

"Scared Straight: Iraqi Style" -- [INDC Journal]
From an interview conducted earlier this year:
...INDC: So the majority of the insurgency here is religious radicals?
Yusef: "People in Iraq fighting, they are kids. They have no knowledge, they are ignorant from both sides, about their religion and education-wise. They (the radicals) buy them with money, so why not? Some guys who work with insurgents and start killing people, when they begin and kill one, they cannot leave."
INDC: What do you mean, they can't stop killing?

Back to Fallujah -- [INDC Journal]
I'm headed back to Iraq for two weeks on August 30th, to report on the situation in Fallujah prior to Gen. Petraeus's September report. I'm accredited with Bill Roggio's Public Multimedia, Inc., and would sincerely appreciate any (tax deductible) donations that cover expenses (airfare, insurance, etc.) through his shop. If you choose to give, please mark the subject or notes line with "Bill Ardolino":

From the Idaho State Journal -- [Badgers Forward - in Iraq]
A profile of one of my Soldiers from our recent embed. - Finding ieds Pocatello soldier’s job
CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq—Visualize Mr. Clean with a pinch of chewing tobacco.
If you can picture that then you’ve got a good sighting for the image of Sgt. Mike Devlin of Pocatello.
The tobacco chewing father of three and recent grandfather is serving his second deployment to Iraq.
The Army reservist has decided to return to active duty following his current tour of duty with the Idaho-based 321st Engineer Battalion.
His first deployment was in 2004 in Baghdad with the 458th Engineer Battalion doing “route clearance.” That’s military lingo for searching for and removing improvised explosive devices.

Dead Duck -- [Jack Army - in Iraq]
Well, goose, actually.
We were sitting in our truck watching an intersection with a drainage ditch running through it. The several-months old puppy half-covered in blackwater, a nice way of saying raw sewage, was disgusting. Poor thing loped along, looking for anything to eat and any way to stay cool, hence the blackwater stains.

Security and Justice Projects Helping Secure Iraq -- [Army Corps of Engineers]
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Thirty two court facilities are complete as well as 93 fire stations with still more security and justice projects anticipated to come on line soon, according to officials with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Gulf Region Division (GRD). Correctional facilities, training academies, witness protection facilities and secure document storage sites are on the way also.

Iraqi Refugees Seek Asylum -- [SgtStryker]
Since the beginning of the war, Iraqis have been fleeing their homeland. Their plight has been one of survival, of life and death. They have crossed borders, only to find unwelcoming arms. To date, there are over 2 million Iraqi refugees seeking shelter and asylum in other countries. Many of the hardships that the refugees are facing is heartbreaking. In a time when we expected to see an end to the war, civil unrest has made life difficult for all who seek peace, especially the Iraqi refugees.
Some of them want to come to America. In fact, our government has made provisions for 2,000 Iraqis to be admitted into the United States by September 30, 2007.

AFGHANISTAN

Korean Hostage Crisis Day 25 Update -- [GI Korea]
Many developments as the Korean hostage crisis moves into its 25th day. After the conflicting reports of the release and then reimprisonment of two Korean hostages the Afghan government has banned all media from the city where direct negotiations with the Taliban have been taking place:

2 More South Korean Hostages Released In A Gesture Of Goodwill.

2 More Korean hostages have been released by the Taleban,more than 3 weeks after they were first kidnapped.
Video shows the 2 women being handed over by Taleban guerillas to the Red Crescent in Arzoo,Nr Ghazni.

American Power Play In Pakistan -- [Threats Watch - Steve Schippert]
al-Qaeda Abandons Camps After US Intelligence Shared with Pakistan
In Washington, the topic of Pakistan has come to the fore in all of the major institutional spheres that impact, influence and execute warfighting and foreign policy. Within the military and intelligence communities as well as the political arena, the long-deferred issue has bubbled to the surface; What actions should be taken to combat the Taliban-al-Qaeda alliance shored up and thriving within the tribal areas throughout the western swath of Pakistan?

Freedom Watch Afghanistan----8/14/07

Pak-Afghan Jirga: Draft Declaration -- [Sanjar]
At the ongoing grand peace jirga in Kabul, Pakistan has proposed formation of a joint tribal council to open negotiations with Afghan resistance groups and work for a ceasefire to create necessary conditions for peaceful resolution of the conflict, an official document made available to Dawn reveals.

Pakistan President Seeks Mainstream Taliban -- [Counterterrorism Blog]
Nearly a year after agreeing to a peace truce with the Pakistan Taliban in Waziristan, Pakistan's President Musharraf is now calling for the political mainstreaming of the Taliban in Afghanistan. Musharraf's views were reported in the August 13, 2007 Pakistan Daily Times article "Musharraf says not all Taliban terrorists", and by the Associated Press "Pakistan, Afghanistan mired in extremism, Pakistan president says".

Live Free or Die -- [Strategy Page]
August 14, 2007: With increasing amounts of drug cash pouring into southern Afghanistan, comes more government, NATO and American troops. And more Taliban as well. This has sharply increased the level of violence in the area, partly because over the last two years, there have been more government officials around to record it all. It's all about tribal politics. The Pushtun tribes on both sides of the border form a population of some twenty million of the poorest, and most heavily armed, people in the region. Leaders in Afghanistan and Pakistan are trying to convince the tribal chiefs that it's time to pay more attention to education and economic development.

Airmen Teach Afghan Police Hand-to-Hand Combat -- [Defend America]
"Without security, we wouldn't have the freedom of movement. Other PRTs in other provinces have more difficulties because security continues to be an issue. Here, that's not the case. Due to geography and the sheer commitment of the police, we are relatively safe. So, we're able to help the Afghans help themselves rebuild their great country."

U.S. AND OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD

SPIEGEL ONLINE: "The US Military is more successful in Iraq than the world wants to believe." -- [Davids Medienkritik]
Historical consistency has never been a strong point for SPIEGEL magazine or SPIEGEL ONLINE - but this is shocking:
Just look at this article.
After years of calling Iraq a disaster, debacle and quagmire, SPIEGEL ONLINE has decided to declare the following:
"The US military is more successful in Iraq than the world wants to believe."
This all stems from last week's Der SPIEGEL magazine cover feature article by Ullrich Fichtner: An enormous, fascinating and remarkably honest report on the complex situation in Iraq.
SPIEGEL ONLINE is also publishing Fichtner's report that US troops are in a remarkably good mood and have high morale. That also flies directly in the face of past SPIEGEL reporting that consistently depicted US troops as demoralized, depressed, defeated, prone to suicide and suffering from low morale.

Flight 93 Family Member Against Memorial -- [Flopping Aces]
Alec Rawls at the Error Theory has an exclusive with the father of Tom Burnett. You may recall that Tom was one of forty people on Flight 93 that were the first to fight back against our enemy.
Tom's father is now requesting that his son's name NOT be inscribed on the 44 glass blocks places along the flight path inside this disgrace of a memorial.

Deadly Flooding in North Korea -- [GI Korea]
As bad as this sounds I take such reports with a grain of salt because the North Koreans use these natural disaster excuses to get more aid money from South Korea and it provides the ROK government the cover it needs to send it. So when the big massive bribe aid package is announced during the 2nd Inter-Korean summit the ROK government can claim that it is also part of flood relief for North Korea. Talk about a well timed flood.

WAR ON TERROR /TERRORISM

DEBKAfile CLARIFIES ITS DISCLOSURE OF AL QAEDA’S RADIOLOGICAL THREAT TO NEW YORK -- [DEBKAfile]
At midnight Thursday, Aug. 9, DEBKAfile’s monitors of terrorist Web sites and forums connected the messages accumulating from midday. They spelled out an al Qaeda threat mentioning New York, Los Angeles and Miami as targets of attacks “by means of trucks loaded with radioactive material.” Our counter-terror sources and monitors stressed “there is no way of gauging for sure how serious these threats are, or how real.”
Monday, Aug. 13, the chatter continues.

SUPPORTING THE TROOPS...OR NOT

What is Your Primary Source for Emotional Support? -- [SpouseBUZZ]
I just read this article about how milspouses depend on their FRGs for support. We've discussed FRGs at length here at SpouseBUZZ. I think it's pretty clear that all FRGs are different. Some are highly effective, some are disorganized and not particularly helpful.

All about the cookies -- [View from the 8th Floor]
Since becoming a member of Soldiers’ Angels, I’ve sent…
… Starbucks coffee to medics all over Afghanistan and Iraq
… birthday brownies and cupcakes to Marines in Anbar and Sailors in Baghdad
… holiday goody bags to 270 sailors somewhere in the Pacific
… letters to National Guardmen, active duty Army Soldiers, Marines, and Airmen
… and cookies. Lots and lots of cookies.
Homemade cookies often look a little homely. With no preservatives, it’s always a bit of a gamble as to what they’ll look and taste like when they arrive. But they always taste a little better, I think. And my guys seem to agree - at least that’s what they tell me. They say they try to hide them, but in the end they always say that they share them around.

Thunder of Niagara -- [Soldiers Angels New York]
On Saturday, I had the privilege to exhibit for Soldiers' Angels at the Thunder of Niagara Air Show in Niagara Falls, NY. Big thanks to "angel" Kimberly for helping on Saturday, manning our table while I snuck out of the hangar to snap some pics, and for doing it all again on Sunday on her own. (You can click on the photos for larger version)

MILITARY

Fort Chaffee : New Blaine guardsman receiving military honor -- [NWAnews]
By the time the wounded Iraqi soldier lying in the back of a demolished flatbed truck raised his arm, Capt. John Vanlandingham had already escaped a fierce insurgent ambush outside of Iraq’s Camp Taji.
Vanlandingham didn’t hesitate.

US not considering draft: Pentagon -- [Breitbart]
The Pentagon sharply rejected Monday a key general's assertion that a return to the military draft has always been "an option on the table" and should be considered.
"I can tell you emphatically that there is absolutely no consideration being given to reinstituting the draft," said Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman. "The all-volunteer force has surpassed all expectations of its founders."

Attack on the Blue Angels…again Update: Resolution dies in committee -- [Michelle Malkin]
Update: Vote was 2-1 to table the anti-Blue Angels resolution (hat tip - Gus).
...Meanwhile, far Left members of Global Exchange continue to collect signatures petitioning SF mayor Gavin Newsom to “Halt the Blue Angels.”

POLITICS

Obama leaves some wanting a little more -- [NH Primary Article]
...Obama defended his push to prosecute a tougher military effort to root out al-Qaida on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, which drew criticism from primary rivals for sounding too bellicose.
“Now you have narco drug lords who are helping to finance the Taliban, so we’ve got to get the job done there, and that requires us to have enough troops that we are not just air raiding villages and killing civilians, which is causing enormous problems there,’’ Obama said.
Campaign spokesman Reid Cherlin said Obama was not endorsing the current Bush policy, which consists solely of air raids and bombing of civilians.

Giuliani: "Early Battles of the Long War" and the Right Lesson from Vietnam -- [The Tank - J. Peter Pham]
In his contribution to the "America's Next Foreign Policy" series of essays by presidential candidates, former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani writes that "first and foremost" among the key foreign policy challenges the next president will face "will be to set a course for victory in the terrorists' war on global order." In his piece, entitled "Toward a Realistic Peace," which will appear in the September-October issue of Foreign Affairs, he cautions that "unless we pursue our idealistic goals through realistic means, peace will not be achieved," specifically:

THE MEDIA

A Surge in the Media Battlespace -- [Outside the Wire - in Iraq]
There has been a modest up-tick in support for winning the war in Iraq.
The New York Times in a mid-July poll discovered up-tick and didn't believe it. So, they ran the poll again. Same result. Support for the war was up.
The reason for the uptick? An increase in optomistic Gross Ratings Points on the same topic.

NYTimes: Claiming General Petraeus has 'Flagging Spirits' is 'Dogged by Detractors' -- [NewsBusters]
In a report that is supposed to be about General David Petraeus and his efforts to pacify Iraq by commanding the forces in president Bush's Iraq surge, The New York Times speculates instead about his state of mind and generally tries to tear him down. Times writer John Burns seems to be putting in a bid for his own late night psychic TV show by being able to read the General's mind and divining that he has "flagging spirits" and that he is "rueful." Instead of a serious news report, Burns gives us speculation and a mystic's interpretation.
The most egregious paragraph in the story is the second.

NYT, Dems change course on Iraq -- [Don Suber]
To paraphrase John Kerry: Who wants to be the last person calling for the U.S. to surrender a war the Army is winning? Apparently not Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Barack Obama or the New York Times, which just 5 weeks ago said genocide was better than having U.S. troops keep the peace in Iraq.

More Reuters photo fraud uncovered (updated) -- [American Thinker]
Barely over a year ago, in the midst of Reuters being proven to have fraudulently Photoshopped a picture of Beirut under attack, I wrote that founder Julius Reuter must be spinning in his London grave. Poor Julius has not gained any more peaceful repose a year later. This time the fraud is not even political, and the person who busted the formerly prestigious news agency turns out to be a 13 year old in Finland.

Nomenclature, again: What is the relationship between Al Qaeda in Iraq and Al Qaeda Central? -- [TigerHawk]
A little more than a month ago I wrote about the complaints of lefty readers of the New York Times that it was conflating "al Qaeda in Mesopotamia" and bin Laden's organization, often referred to as "Al Qaeda Central." As these complaining readers well understood, the relationship of these two organizations is important politically and practically because it has an enormous bearing on whether we ought to persist in Iraq even if the government of that country does not mature in accordance with the American electoral calendar. Those who favor rapid withdrawal as a matter of principle do not want the American public to think that the enemy in Iraq is derivative of bin Laden's organization, because that will hurt the political appeal of their argument.

HUMOR / SATIRE

Day By Day

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