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

Trauma, shrapnel and the fight for life -- [Matt Sanchez - in Iraq]
An unforgettable day at U.S. Air Force hospital in Iraq
One of the rules for a media embed is that you're not allowed to show the faces of injured people without their consent. I had to keep that in mind while spending time recently at the Air Force hospital in Balad, a level three facility, which makes it the best hospital in the entire Middle East for trauma.
"Any doctor who has spent four months here is probably ready to handle anything," Lt. Col. Christopher Coppola told me. What set the newly completed facility apart from emergency rooms back home was the typical patient and "the severity and multiplicity of wounds," Coppola explained.
...Men and women in their scrubs who looked very much like normal nurses and doctors revealed themselves to be something much more.

Prominent sheik hosts reconciliation meeting -- [Task Force Marne]
One of the most prominent sheiks in southern Baghdad hosted a high-level reconciliation conference at his home Nov. 26.
Sheik Khalif Haloos invited Sunni and Shia sheiks, Iraqi government officials and military leaders to his personal residence in Sadr al-Yusufiyah.
Haloos asked the 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment from the 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) to support this meeting by providing assistance with security. Approximately 2,000 tribal and sub-tribal sheiks and members were invited to discuss their solidarity to rid their areas of insurgents, establish essential services and to establish a plan for future prosperity.

Iraqis construct Fallujah’s first-ever sewage system -- [U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - in Iraq]
About 450 Iraqis are currently working to get Fallujah’s first-ever sewer system operational by next summer. That number is expected to soon grow to a construction force of 700 Iraqis. The $85 million project includes a collection
system, trunk mains, pump stations and a wastewater treatment plant processing 40,000 cubic meters daily

Muthanna Governor thanks USACE engineers for work in his province -- [U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - in Iraq]
TALLIL, Iraq—The governor of Muthanna Province has extended his thanks to the engineers of the Gulf Region South District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the district’s work in his province. “We would like to send our thanks and appreciation for your great works, which help Al Muthanna Province in construction and services,” said Muthanna Gov. Ahmed Marzoq Salal in a recent thank you letter addressed to GRS American Engineers.
“Thanks for your continuous works,” said the governor, who voiced hope that more help and support will be forthcoming from GRS.

Negotiating the Post-War Deal -- [Strategy Page]
November 30, 2007: The war is moving north, where several hundred terrorists have fled, and set up bases. However, Iraqi civilians are not as terrified of the terrorists anymore. Even Sunni Arab civilians will pass on tips about Sunni Arab terrorists arriving in their neighborhood or village. Cell phone service, and use, has spread so much that there is hardly anywhere that does not have a few cell phone owners. The army and police are more aggressive in letting everyone know what numbers to call. The cops are competent and reliable enough that, if you do tip them off about some terrorists, a raid will follow. The Iraqi Army has come a long way as well, with two large scale (several Iraqi divisions) operations in the north in the past week. This is a big deal, because

Iraqi family culture -- [Fightin 6th Marines]
In the story below it tells about Marines with 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 6, visiting people in their homes in Fallujah, Iraq. This is an introduction written by Pfc. Brian Jones about the some of the circumstances of Iraqi culture that Marines have discovered for themselves and have curiously questioned.
As violence subsides in Fallujah, “the city of mosques”, Marines find time to indulge in investigating their cultural curiosities of the Iraqi people who surround them. Marines communicate, work and in some cases live with them offering ample amounts of opportunity to get to know them.

More Positive Effects of the “Surge” -- [A Battlefield Tourist - in Iraq]
Sunni attacks up because areas have no security. Rush in troops to indicate to the locals, who are scared to death, “We will support you.” Locals see support and believe in it. They gain confidence to defend themselves from Al Qaeda; the “Concerned Citizens” are born. “Concerned Citizens” of great trust are id’d and brought into intel services. Intel services get better and begin planting spies. Spy network is set up to begin interdiction of attacks. Attacks decrease as high value targets are taken out, attacks are successfully defended and insurgents are running around wondering who the spies are.
I heard it many times. From the US soldiers to the Iraqis, “Why don’t you people stand up for yourselves…?” From the Iraqis to the Americans, “Why don’t you stay longer than a few hours and give us the support we need to stand up for ourselves?”

Taking Care of Business: Iraqis Work to Secure Their Country -- [MNF-I]
TIKRIT — Iraqi Army (IA) Soldiers recently led a raid into an area of Ad Dawr with Iraqi police (IP) and a small contingent of U.S. Soldiers to put a stop to insurgent activities there.
The 1st Battalion of the 1st Brigade, 4th IA led the pre-dawn raid into the area to capture insurgents and disrupt illegal traffic checkpoints used by those insurgents to rob and kill local Iraqis. The IP provided security for the team. The U.S. Army Military Transition Team (MiTT) of the 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division provided guidance and support for the IA, who planned and executed the mission.

70,000 Sunnis join Iraqi army -- [Gulf News]
Baghdad: The US decision to include more than 70,000 armed men from the Sunni Awakening council, who fought against Al Qaida, into the Iraqi Army has fired up new conflict with Iran.
Haider Al Abadi, advisor to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki, revealed that Al Maliki had not been told of the move and the process had taken place with no coordination between the US Army and the Prime Minister.
"The US will not allow the ongoing Shiite militia's penetration in the Iraqi Army because they realise these militias are Iranian's striking force inside Iraq in case of any future American-Iranian conflict in the region.

U.S. Miscounted Iraqi Volunteer Guards -- [Military.com /AP]
American military officials have discovered there are fewer Iraqi civilians serving as volunteer guards in their home areas than it had thought, saying accounting mistakes had inflated the number by thousands.
Senior military officers said they had reduced the nationwide total from 77,000 to 60,321 - most of them Sunni Arabs.
The officers also expressed impatience with the Shiite-dominated government's failure to fully embrace the U.S.-backed home guard program and warned that the armed men could "drift back toward violence" if they aren't put to work.

Camp Korea?....email from Eli -- [American Soldiers]
Dear friends and family,
Seth and I got back last weekend from spending several days at a place called CKV (Camp Korean Village), which is up by the Syrian border. I thought since we have a strong contingent of South Korean military in the Coalitions Forces that maybe this was where they were based.....nope. Not sure why the name was what it was for this small base....but one of the Marines we asked that was stationed there said it was named by Marines...so who knows?
The drive to CKV was long...for several reasons. The first reason is simply because it is several hundred miles from Al Asad to CKV..and several hundred miles in Iraq is a very very long trip. Usually we spend most our our trips on unimproved roads where it is slow going, but one of the good things about this trip is we were on a four lane highway for most of the way. The other reason it was a long trip was because of the size of our convoy. We were attached to an 82nd Airborne convoy with over 200 vehicles. We were transporting TCN (third country nationals).

F-16 Engages Building

Footage of a building being engaged by Hellfire missiles from F-16's after a convoy was engaged by small arms fire from the building. Provided by Headquarters, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs.

A Sign You Might Be in Iraq 2 -- [Gritty Kitty - in Iraq]
It sounds corny, but just living in America is a great blessing. Many people around the world would trade places in a heartbeat and can only dream of the privileges and lifestyle we enjoy. They would give a lot to live just one day in our shoes.
You only need to read of the great challenges we face in Iraq to realize how hard it is to build democratic institutions, to establish the rule of law, to protect human rights. It didn’t happen overnight in the United States, and it won’t happen overnight here in Iraq.

Are we there yet? -- [Jason's Iraq Vacation - in Iraq]
That's the question I must have asked myself about a thousand times on my way back from leave. The journey home seemed longer because of the anticipation, but it was a happy anticipation. It was a smiling, overly happy, I-can-sit-in-this-same-spot-for-10-days-if-it-means- I-am-gonna-be-home kinda mentality. Going home, everything just worked out perfect. I knew a Sergeant Major in Kuwait, so I was able to get on an earlier flight home to the States - two days earlier than anyone expected me - so you imagine the surprise on Rachael's face when I showed up in her office in uniform! Everything else while I was home on leave was great as well - my dog remembered me, I didn't lose my shirt in Vegas, and we had 60 family members over for Thanksgiving. It was hard for me to leave everything and everyone I love, again, and come back here.

How Embarrassing!... "Dead" Iraqis Show Up at Press Conference -- Smile & Wave For Cameras! -- [Gateway Pundit]
Picture this...
** You report to the international news agencies that 11 of your family members in Iraq have been slaughtered!
** You hold several press conferences and gain great sympathy.
...** Your supposedly dead family members back in Baghdad show up and wave and smile for the cameras!
(Much thanks to my friend Iraqi-American Haider Ajina for forwarding the article with the family picture from the Iraqi Barutha News.)
The sad thing is... The original story made headlines around the world, but this photo correction will not even make the back page.
UPDATE: Aswat Aliraq reports: Arrest Warrant For Diaa al-Kawwaz!!
Iraqi-American Haider Ajina informs me that according to Barutha News the Iraqi Government (Interior Ministry) has requested and recieved an arrest warrant for Dia al-Kawwaz (Dhia Alkoozi).
Haider adds: "What a change. What a change. All thanks to our men and women serving in Iraq and the Iraqis who are getting a taste of human dignity and human rights and the rule of law...."

AFGHANISTAN

Bin Laden's call 'ridiculous': Afghan president -- [AFP]
KABUL - Afghan President Hamid Karzai called "ridiculous" Friday a call attributed to Osama bin Laden for Europe to break ranks with the United States and quit the fight against extremists in Afghanistan.
In a statement attributed to the Al-Qaeda chief and aired Thursday, bin Laden also said he was behind the 9/11 attacks -- which led to the invasion of Afghanistan -- and Afghans "had no knowledge whatsoever of these events." The remarks were "ridiculous and contrary to Islamic culture and human values," a statement from Karzai's office said. "Osama bin Laden under no name has the right to comment about Afghanistan and the sacrifices Afghans have given," it said.
By "imposing terrorism" on Afghanistan, the Al-Qaeda chief was one of the reasons thousands of people had been killed and displaced in this country, the statement said.

A ‘Surge’ for Afghanistan -- [SWJ]
The top general of the Marine Corps is pushing hard to deploy marines to Afghanistan as he looks to draw down his forces in Iraq, but his proposal, which is under discussion at the Pentagon this week, faces deep resistance from other military leaders.
Commandant Gen. James Conway's plan, if approved, would deploy a large contingent of Marines to Afghanistan, perhaps as early as next year. The reinforcements would be used to fight the Taliban, which US officials concede is now defending its territory more effectively against allied and Afghan forces.

This is How We Do Part II: The Revenge of The Plan -- [The Satirist at War - in Afghanistan]
In the Vietnam War, we remember images from the Tet Offensive; our embassy overrun and occupied despite a numerical and technological superiority.
And so it was with what I’ll call “Operation Outrageous Success.” Our movement back to our home base of B***** from the [OPSEC] came to epitomize the anger, and frustration of a two-week mission, over the course of which we pulled guard, handed out truckloads of HA, strengthened our ties with locals, and, ostensibly, conducting training with our Afghan Army counterparts, teaching them everything we know.
...We’re doing well out here, and we’re doing our job… it just takes a sense of humor, sometimes. Because nothing ever goes according to plan, and the guys who thrive are the ones who can adjust fire.

"smexi-ubercool-shaz-o-mite" -- [6 Months in Kabul - in Afghanistan]
The title is courtesy of one of the students from a Gaffney, South Carolina high school that has adopted me. I am thinking of legally changing my name to it.
"By mutual confidence and mutual aid -- great deeds are done, and great discoveries made."
-Homer
This quote was sent to me by a reader. Today was our "low tempo" day. I was supposed to plant apple trees but it was canceled for security reasons. Instead I helped to unload 3 huge pallets of food that was donated by the base store because it was about to expire. We plan to give it to the refugee families that were mentioned in Betsy's newsletter. Take a look at the stuff. Here is the forklift bringing in the supplies

Larger NATO Force Needed in Afghanistan -- [Military.com/ AFP]
NATO-led forces in Afghanistan do not have the means to secure the country in the face of a barrage of insurgent attacks, says a senior French general with the force. "That does not mean we are going to lose this operation, but it is going to take a lot longer for us to finish the job," he said.

U.S. AND OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD

Colombia Seizes Rebel Hostage Tapes -- [Sofia News Agency]
Another tape shows US defense contractors Thomas Howes, Keith Stansell and Marc Gonsalves, abducted by Farc guerillas after their plane crashed in Columbia ...

Islam: Name your teddy "Muhammad" and die -- [QandO]
Sometimes I'm stunned by the intolerance and barbarity of certain cultures and religions:
Thousands of Sudanese, many armed with clubs and knives, rallied Friday in a central square and demanded the execution of a British teacher convicted of insulting Islam for allowing her students to name a teddy bear "Muhammad."
But it's not an insult to name a child Muhammad? Naturally the fervor is being whipped up by so-called "religious" leaders who, in the next breath, would probably try to tell you their religion is one of peace:

WAR ON TERROR /TERRORISM

Bin Laden and Future Jihad in Europe -- [Counterterrorism Blog]
What is interesting about the latest audio message of Usama Bin Laden, carried by al Jazeera, is its delayed argument. Strangely he is trying to convince the Europeans - seven years later - that they are wrong to have followed the United States into Afghanistan. Why?
In his speech - irrespective of the ritual investigative questions regarding its location, technology and other details - the central issue appears to be his growing concern with the European role in Afghanistan, and perhaps because of it, the potential growth of that role in the fight against the forces of Jihadism worldwide. As a reader of the Jihadi strategic mind, I believe that the speech writers (Bin Laden himself or his “advisors”) are looking ahead in their evaluation of future European involvement in the so-called War on Terror, and are positioning al Qaeda to “own” it. The significance of this is, as al Qaeda’s war room has showed in the past, they are skilled at anticipating trends.

Bin Laden: Message to the European Peoples -- [Threats Watch]
Osama bin Laden’s awaited speech, titled “Message to the European Peoples,” was released on the Internet this evening. It was first delivered to al Jazeera approximately 9 hours before its public distribution on the Internet and was also the second new as-Sahab product disseminated on November 29. This is bin Laden’s fifth appearance in 2007 and since September alone.
“Message to the European Peoples” is the 90th video product produced by as-Sahab, al-Qaeda’s central media wing, this year and actually comprises of three videos and a stand-alone audio file. The three videos are individually subtitled in German, English and Pashtu.

SUPPORTING THE TROOPS...OR NOT

Operation Holiday Thanks -- [Miss LadyBug]
I was just watching E.D. Hill's "America's Pulse" program on Fox News Channel. Apparently, she had been contacted by viewers wanting to send holiday greetings to our wounded warriors. Working with her Senator, Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), she had made arrangements to get holiday cards to various military hospitals across the country. The address to send these cards to (requested "ASAP") is:
Operation Holiday Thanks
c/o E.D. Hill
Fox News Channel
1211 Sixth Avenue
17th Floor
New York, NY 10036
I'll be sending mail out to this address ASAP. I encourage you to do the same.

SU Prof to Troops: FU -- [Jawa Report]
But Students Disagree
When Marine Major Christian Devine asked Syracuse University's Maxwell School to host a presentation by his DoD outreach program, "Why We Serve," the chair, Mark Rupert , decided to tell him to go pound sand. He felt that allowing serving members of the military to speak would not meet the department's goal to ""foster open and honest discussion."
Rupert apparently based his decision on an article in which Major Devine talked about winning the information war in the mainstream media. Evidently, Rupert prefers that someone else win the information war.

Sean Taylor vs Any American Soldier -- [American Soldiers]
I don't know Sean Taylor....all I know is what I read in the papers and hear on the news. But I do know he wasn't a hero. I'm sorry he died, and I feel bad for his family and friends and his little girl.
An amazing amount of grief has been demonstrated over Sean Taylor's death....where is the grief over our real fallen hero's. People that only know Sean Taylor as a football player have been holding candlelight vigils and speaking about what a terrible loss it is....
You want to see terrible loss? You want to see the death of real hero's? You want to see unspeakable saddness? Go visit this site of honor...see the names, read the biographies of our hero soldiers. Then lets have a talk about Sean Taylor.

IN MEMEORY OF...

Henry Hyde Was A Naval Officer -- [The Tanks - W. Thomas Smith Jr.]
Congressman Hyde was a U.S. Navy combat veteran of World War II, seeing action in the Philippines. After the war, he served in the Naval Reserve, retiring at the rank of “commander” in 1968. His last assignment was as commander of the U.S. Naval Intelligence Reserve Unit in Chicago.
On January 9, 2005 — the 60th anniversary of the Lingayen Gulf landings of WWII — Hyde said:

MILITARY

What the SecDef Didn’t Call For, But Should Have -- [SWJ - Matt Armstrong]
Today, American public diplomacy wears combat boots. In the global media and the blogosphere, the military and its uniformed leaders shape the image of the United States. But that is not how it has always been. On the contrary, American public diplomacy was born out of the need to directly engage the global psyche and avoid direct martial engagement.

POLITICS

Murtha Caves: Floats Possible Deal for Iraq Funding -- [Weekly Standard]
Murtha is hoping that the White House will bite: Iraq funding with a two-year goal for troop withdrawal. He recognizes that Democrats risk a huge black eye if the Pentagon begins furloughing civilians, or if American troops suffer, because of the disagreement between Congress and the White House over funding for the war on terror. Will the public get angry when furlough notices are sent out, or will they be patient until the furloughs actually begin? Whom will they blame?
And more importantly for Congressional Democrats, why take the risk? They contend that they've made it possible for DoD to jump through hoops to fund the war through February, at least. They say that Secretary Gates and the Pentagon are being disingenuous when they claim they're being forced to lay off civilians. But if their goal was to fund the war, why not actually fund it?

THE MEDIA

HuffPo's Sanders Still At It -- [Weekly Standard]
Former HuffPo contributor Barry Sanders is at it again. Last month Sanders wrote a horribly misinformed article for the Huffington Post on "the military's addiction to oil." The piece was riddled with factual errors, and when the WWS and others pointed a few out, Arianna threw the guy under the bus with an editor's note canceling the series and saying of Sanders's defense, "it confuses as much as it clarifies."
At the time Sanders apologized for his failure "to reach an absolutely authoritative [read factually accurate] version of this essay" by explaining that he was "not a mathematician, not a military person, not a trained climatologist." Yet despite that epiphany, he's still at it, peddling bogus statistics about the fuel consumption of the U.S. military.

CNN’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy -- [Michelle Malkin]
I wrote a piece for the NYPost published today on CNN’s horticultural journalism (reprinted below). Filed it before we learned about the CAIR intern. CNN host Howard Kurtz quotes CNN senior veep David Bohrman bleating that they “bent over backwards to be fair.” I quote him below, too. Glenn Reynolds notes that CNN used Google…to buy plane tickets for Plant Number One Keith Kerr and other questioners.
...Whether through, as one blogger put, “constructive incompetence” or “convenient ineptitude,” CNN has committed journalistic malpractice under the guise of “citizen” participation.

'Knight Rider' Rides Again-- This Time Fights Military Contractors -- [NewsBusters]
Who's Hollywood's latest Big Bad Villain? Private military contractors--giving rise to a new version of Derangement Syndrome: Blackwater Derangement Syndrome or BwDS.
Echoing lefty rage at Blackwater, TV shows from “Boston Legal” to “Jericho” have turned contractors into the bad guys.

Chris Matthews: Defeat Means Troops Still in Iraq--What About WWII? -- [NewsBusters]
Did you know that the US is still at war with Korea, Germany, Japan, Bosnia and Kosovo? Based on “Hardball” host Chris Matthews' recent claims, we are still at war with those countries and will be until our troops leave their soil.

HUMOR / SATIRE

Day By Day

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