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

Update 3 from the Castle's Sailor-in-Iraq, Joe Honan. -- [Castle Argghhh! - Joe Honan - in Iraq]
...Moral of the story is: help the guys that know what they are doing. A few small projects for the poultry farmer goes farther in stabilizing the economy and creating jobs than does building stuff from scratch because someone asks you to. The only way to do this is to get out and about and see as much as you can. So we now have a list of five farmers who buy fish food from the Al Anbar poultry king. We figure since they buy feed, they have to have fish, and will track those guys down to see ground truth. Well anyway, the book for “Post-Combat Operations” hasn’t really been written yet, and its a lot of fun trying to build this airplane while its flying.

Iraq Fact Check: Responding To Key Myths (link coming soon) -- [Whitehouse.gov]
MYTH: The American people are footing the bill for Iraq’s security and reconstruction while Iraqis sit on large windfall oil profits.
· FACT: The Iraqi government is taking over the funding of reconstruction. In 2008, Iraq’s budget for large-scale reconstruction projects exceeds that proposed by the U.S. by more than 10 to 1, and the U.S. military expects that Iraq will soon cover 100 percent of such expenses.
· FACT: Iraq's security ministries are now spending more on their security forces than the U.S., and Iraq’s 2008 budget provides for more than 75% of the total annual cost for Iraq’s military and police.
· FACT: The government of Iraq has committed to footing approximately half the bill for the “Sons of Iraq” community watch program—which was originally 100% U.S.-funded.
· FACT: Iraq’s Ambassador to the U.S. Samir Sumaida'ie says that Iraq still has to import gasoline, and argues that “some people are going a little bit too far looking at the Iraqi surplus and the gigantic American deficit and putting two and two together … The windfall from the oil will not cover a fraction of what we need to provide clean water, electricity and the most rudimentary services for our people.”

Mission Accomplished? -- [BlackFive]
Via Seamus, comes this email from a Navy Lieutenant who was aboard the USS Lincoln during the visit from President Bush. Yesterday was the anniversary of President Bush's speech about the end of major combat operations, and it was covered by some the media as the infamous "Mission Accomplished" speech.
Here is what Lieutenant Paul Updike has to say about it:
I thought you might like to hear the rest of the story that the media misinformed the nation about on what "Mission Accomplished" was all about.

'Everything Is Fine Now': The Story of an Iraqi's Return to His Neighborhood -- [Amy Proctor]
“You can now return, and do not worry. Everything is fine now.”
This is the story of Mohamed Hussein, who fled Iraq for Syria on New Year’s Day in 2007 to escape the sectarian violence in his Baghdad neighborhood. He tolerated the unimaginable horror of indiscriminate killings by al-Qaeda and rogue militias until he feared he might become a statistic, a dead corpse on the side of the road no one would be brave enough to remove and bury him for fear of their own safety. He took with him his wife and children, leaving behind his parents.
A year later, Hussein received a phone call from his parents saying it was safe to come home. Now he describes the conditions under which he left and returned to Iraq.

Iraq News (6 May) -- [LT Nixon Rants - in Iraq]
The Good: More militants killed in Sadr City. Our forces have been fighting round the clock to get the security barrier in the southern part of the city up, and air strikes against thugs launching mortars and rockets all over Baghdad have been frequent. The superb Long War Journal has some more details on these ops. Boeing is going to sell a bunch of planes to the Iraqi government to upgrade Iraqi Airways to boost commercial flights. A brigade of 3,500 troops is set to withdraw from Iraq without backfill in accordance with the force reduction plan to go back down to 15 Brigade combat teams in Iraq. This will be followed by a 45-day pause, and then there will be more troop reductions from this country (an' shallah).

U.S. Forces Kill Three Criminals and Destroy Rocket Rail -- [DVIDS]

Footage of a Multi-National Division – Baghdad aerial weapons team that killed three criminals and destroyed a rocket rail being used by criminals to launch indirect-fire attacks in the Sadr City district of Baghdad, May 4.
An aerial weapons team conducting surveillance identified a group of criminals preparing to launch an indirect-fire attack in the Sadr City district of Baghdad at approximately 9:50 p.m. May 4. An earlier indirect-fire attack occurred form the same location.
The AWT engaged and killed three criminals with two hellfire missiles. A 240mm rocket rail was also destroyed.
Provided by Multi-National Division - Baghdad.

Iraqi troops showing "incredible maturity" in Basra operation -- [Minisitry of Defense News]
Major General Barney White-Spunner, the UK's senior military officer in southern Iraq, has been talking about his pride in the success of Iraqi troops during the ongoing operation in Basra which has seen them rid the city of a number of militia elements.

In Iraq, a storm before the calm -- [NY Daily - Michael Yon]
April saw 49 U.S. casualties in Iraq, the highest total in seven months. Does this mean, as some insist, that the enormous progress we have made since the start of the military surge is being lost?
As one who has spent nearly two years with American soldiers and Marines and British Army troops in Iraq - having returned from my last trip a month ago - here's my short answer: no.
We are taking more casualties now, just as we did in the first part of 2007, because we have taken up the next crucial challenge of this war: confronting the Shia militias.

Al-Sadr Refuses to Meet With Iraqi Delegation... In Tehran -- [Gateway Pundit]
If you still had any doubts that Iran was fomenting terrorism in Iraq, this ought to settle it...
Mookie is definitely in Iran.
Condoleezza Rice was correct in calling him a coward.
A delegation of Iraqi officials traveled to Tehran to meet with Mookie Al-Sadr but he refused to see them.

U.S. Troops Engage Insurgents in Fire Fight -- [DVIDS]

Footage of Iraqi and U.S. Army Soldiers in Tharwa 1 in Sadr City engaging special groups in a fire fight. Provided by 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs.

Baghdad police show progress, but challenges remain -- [LWJ - Bill Ardolino - in Iraq]
Bill Ardolino interviews an Iraqi Police general in the Rusafa district in central Baghdad. The general discusses the state of the police, the security situation, integration of the Sons of Iraq into the security forces, and problems with the militias.
Few things are simple in Iraq, and that maxim is no more evident than when evaluating Iraqi security forces. Relevant answers to important questions are always a matter of degree. These questions include:

Progress In Sadr City

Do Iraqis Want an Arab Nuclear Bomb? -- [Iraq the Model]
The change that took place in Iraq was not only a political one but also, and more importantly, a change in awareness; something that isn't easy to detect.
This is what I see clear in the nature of Iraqi dialogue among the public, and I'm always pleased by the degree of awareness and open-mindedness that emerged in the years that followed the change. I believe it is an important indication about the future.

Hezbollah training Iraqis in Tehran -- [AP]
Iraqi Shiite extremists are being trained by members of Hezbollah in camps near Tehran, a US military spokesman said yesterday.
Iraqis are receiving the training at camps operated by the Quds Force, an elite unit of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps that has been accused of training and funnelling weapons to Shiite extremists in Iraq.

Iraq Al Rafidein TV Airs Anti-American Fillers -- [Jawa Report]
Here is a small sampling of the fillers being used by Al Rafidein between programs in Iraq.
Freedom of the press is a good thing for Iraqi's. Unfortunately we have to take the good with the bad.
Al Rafidain TV is a Sunni endorsed satellite station. I presume some are still mourning Saddam ...

A Tuskan Raider or an Iraqi Jundi with a Sense of Humor? -- [Miserable Donuts]
The jundi in the picture was putting on everything he could while his buddies laughed and egged him on. I simply couldn't not take a picture. He was good humored enough to pose for it too.

Cut the Cord? -- [Intel Dump - Phil Carter]
On the op-ed page of Sunday's New York Times, former Defense Department official and high priest of neo-conservative foreign policy Richard Perle takes disingenuousness to new heights with this short essay:
...Ah yes, the "mistakes were made" defense. We seem to be hearing this one a lot lately from Perle's crew -- Bremer, Feith and Wolfowitz, to name a few.
Unfortunately for these men, history will record these mistakes as theirs. It was Perle's neocons who pushed the war. It was his cabal that believed a) we would be greeted as liberators, b) freedom and democracy would bloom once Saddam was toppled, and c) no sustained occupation or counterinsurgency effort would be necessary. Thus, in many ways, the thinking of Perle and his confederates was the original sin in Iraq (or the second sin if you think the invasion itself was wrong) -- it set up the U.S. effort for failure.

Report: Saddam Feared Getting 'Venereal Diseases' From U.S. Guards-- [Fox News]
The London-based pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat published excerpts of what it described as Saddam's prison dairies which it said its correspondent obtained from U.S. authorities.
The U.S. military confirmed that pages of Saddam's writings have been released. When the former Iraqi leader found out that his U.S. military guards were also using his laundry line to dry clothes, he wrote that he demanded they stop.
"I explained to them that they are young and they could have young people's diseases," Saddam wrote. "My main concern was to not catch a venereal disease, an HIV disease, in this place." He said that some of the soldiers ignored his request.
U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, Maj. Matthew Morgan declined to describe the writings as a 'diary,' saying that thousands of pages having been produced by the former leader while he was in custody.

AFGHANISTAN

Brother Accidentally Calls Home During Firefight - Afghanistan -- [Live Leak]

21 April 2008 - "Stephen Phillips and other soldiers in his Army MP company were battling insurgents when his phone was pressed against his Humvee. It redialed and called his parents in the small Oregon town of Otis."
From the brother:
"My brother is an MP over in Afghanistan. He was out in the field today on April 21st. He decided to give us a call, just to let us know how he was doing.
Nobody was home so he got the answering machine, and hung up. Just then, they started getting shot at. Somehow, his phone re-dialed, and we got this on our answering machine. He is okay."

Afghanistan, the beautiful -- [Cheese's Blog - in Afghanistan]
I know, I know...I've been insanely busy, but I hope that there won't be this kind of break in my postings for a while. They're really stepping up the tempo here, but at least it keeps me busy.
I'm starting to get a pretty good handle on this place, due in no small part to our having visited every village in our sector! Thankfully, our leadership makes a point to visit with all the local elders to ask what they need and drop off some basic supplies. You'd think that the South Carolina boys we replaced had been doing this all along...and you'd be wrong. Some of these people hadn't SEEN American troops in years! How is that even possible? But that's neither here nor their, the important part is that we're doing it now, and the people love us for it. It makes me feel a lot safer knowing that all the villages are on our side.

Canada reaches out to Taliban -- [Globe and Mail]
After years of refusing to negotiate with insurgents, soldiers in Kandahar put word out they want to talk
KHENJAKAK, AFGHANISTAN -- Canadian troops are reaching out to the Taliban for the first time, military and diplomatic officials say, as Canada softens its ban on speaking with the insurgents.
After years of rejecting any contact with the insurgents, Canadian officials say those involved with the mission are now rethinking the policy in hopes of helping peace efforts led by the Afghan government.
The Canadian work on political solutions follows two separate tracks: tactical discussions at a local level in Kandahar, and strategic talks through the Kabul government and its allies.

MacKay dismisses reports of Canada-Taliban talks in Afghanistan -- [The Canadian Press]
ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Defence Minister Peter MacKay is denying reports from Afghanistan that Canadian soldiers are reaching out to members of the Taliban in order to establish peace in the war-torn country.
Canadian military officials in Afghanistan have been quoted as saying they're trying to engage in a dialogue with insurgents - a move that federal New Democrat Leader Jack Layton has long supported.

Support Troops Vital in Afghanistan - Afghanistan war’s unsung heroes

May 4: They get none of the glory and eat all of the dust. Report on the unsung heroes of the war in Afghanistan, the soldiers who deliver food, water and ammunition to combat troops.

The Disaggregation of the Taliban -- [The Captain’s Journal]
David Ignatius has a very positive analysis in his latest commentary at the Washington Post.
But this analysis is far too positve. Hamid Karzai is so concerned about the resurgence of the Taliban and future departure of U.S. troops (and consequent Taliban violence) that he has warned the U.S. against arresting Taliban. It’s time to talk and negotiate, Karzai believes.
But there is more to this problem than meets the eye.

The Taliban Plays Defense This Year -- [Strategy Page]
May 5, 2008: In Afghanistan, grabbing your gun, and going off with your buddies to try and get rich by any means available, is an ancient custom. Right now, the best opportunities are in the heroin trade. Guarding the crop, or smuggling the stuff out of the country, pays well. Kidnapping is risky, but can have a big payoff. General banditry is a possibility, as is becoming a cop (where you get a uniform to wear while you shake down civilians and steal). Then there is the Taliban. Better pay than the army or police, but much more dangerous. To that end, some Taliban leaders are changing tactics.

Afghan Govt Workers Arrested Over Karzai Attack.

2 Afghan gov't workers arrested over Karzai attack

The images of the Taliban -- [Deedenow Cinema - afghan blog]
...The Taliban as the extremist forces in Afghanistan, as the soldiers of God for the other extremists, as an unresolved enigma for the people of the western world so far have been very well known features of insurgence, terror and intimidations to almost every one in the world.
The power of media has had a major role in their introduction to the world.
Artists, writers, painters, photographers, cartoonists and caricaturists have all written, drawn, painted or depicted them some how in their own ways.
If you go to Google search you find different sizes of Taliban’s' images and if you want to read about, then there are many links in the internet about them.

FROM THAT FLAME -- [MaryAnn T. Beverly - author]
He was a man of peace who became Afghanistan's most brilliant military leader. He was America's best Afghan ally who warned about the attacks of 9-11. He fought for democracy until he was assassinated by Osama bin Laden.
He was…Ahmed Shah Massoud
Because the story this book tells is so important, you are invited to download an e-book of From That Flame free of charge.

The Taliban’s Propaganda of the Deed Strategy -- [Insurgency Research Group]
...In his yet to be published paper “Hearts and Minds: Time to Think Differently” Steve Tatham (researching at UK’s Defence Academy) shows convincingly that Taliban moved to a much more sophisticated propaganda approach in 2006 when it became the “key component in their campaign”. It is also possible that Taliban were increasingly aware that their previous efforts fell far short of the expectations of a potential audience that was multilingual and routinely exposed to the best television products in the world and therefore educated and very demanding in a visual sense. This point is also made in Nicholas O’Shaughnessy and Paul Baines about to be published 2008 paper “British Muslim Susceptibility to Islamist Propaganda: An Exploratory Study”. According to Steve Tatham Taliban’s re-branding project began by sending a start up team as interns to Al Qaeda’s video production unit Al Sahab in 2006 and very soon afterwards in early 2007 their own production standards visibly improved. In April 2007 the new, media savvy Taliban began to promote themselves as “the people’s movement” thanks to a five part series screened by Al Jazeera and compiled by their credulously enthusiastic Pakistan reporter.

For The First Time: Blogging Workshop in Kabul -- [Afghan Lord - afghan blog]
For the first time in Afghanistan, a two days Blogging workshop was organized by the Afghan Association of Blog Writers. The participants were an Afghan journalist, a University teacher, a poet and writers from different provinces and of various ethnic backgrounds.
The main goals of this workshop are better access of journalists to weblogs and other digital media. Since Afghan print and internet media are of a very low quality, blogs could help the Afghan print media and become a milestone in the media situation in Afghanistan.
...For the first time in Afghanistan, a two days Blogging workshop was organized by the Afghan Association of Blog Writers. The participants were an Afghan journalist, a University teacher, a poet and writers from different provinces and of various ethnic backgrounds.
The main goals of this workshop are better access of journalists to weblogs and other digital media. Since Afghan print and internet media are of a very low quality, blogs could help the Afghan print media and become a milestone in the media situation in Afghanistan.

The Road MoreTraveled By -- [Belmont Club]
A video captured from the Taliban in Afghanistan illustrates the power of electronic warfare. The enemy is using a cell phone to trigger an IED on American convoys. But the Americans have their own wizardry. Their vehicles are blanketed by an electronic jamming bubble. Watch as the Taliban try to blow up American vehicles traveling along the strategic Pech River road without success. Not even praying to Allah helps.

Pech Valley Dco 1-32 10th Mountain

U.S. AND OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD

Georgia says "very close" to war with Russia -- [Reuters]
BRUSSELS- Russia's deployment of extra troops in the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia has brought the prospect of war "very close", a minister of ex-Soviet Georgia said on Tuesday.
Separately, in comments certain to fan rising tension between Moscow and Tbilisi, the "foreign minister" of the breakaway Black Sea region was quoted as saying it was ready to hand over military control to Russia.

Russia, US to sign commercial nuclear pact -- [Hot Air]
Who knew Vladimir Putin worried about his legacy? On his last day as Russian president, the US and Russia will sign an agreement which will open their commercial nuclear markets to each other after months of negotiation. Some in Congress oppose the deal, but will they have enough votes to reverse it?

With 22000 dead in cyclone, Myanmar isolated as Bush offers Navy ships -- [International Herald Tribune]
AP YANGON, Myanmar: Myanmar's Irrawaddy delta, where nearly 22000 people perished, remained largely cut off from the rest of the world Tuesday, four days after a cyclone unleashed winds, floods and high tidal waves on the densely populated region.

Former Iranian President Accuses Regime of Exporting Terrorism -- [Gateway Pundit]
Former Iranian President Khatami says the hardliner regime is exporting terror in the Middle East!
Khatami said the Iranian Republic is using terrorists to "sabotage" the region.
...Khatami said that exporting violence to other countries is "treason" against Islam.
The former president of Iran, Mohamad Khatami, accused the hardliner regime of sponsoring terrorists in the Middle East in a recent university speech.
Iran Focus and AFP reported:...

The internal debate over Iran's proxy war -- [TigerHawk]
Lest you think that American allegations that Iran is waging a proxy war in Iraq and elsewhere are an invention of the BusHitler neocons or David Petraeus, consider that Mohammad Khatami, Iran's former president, is leveling the same charge:

Interpol Confirms Authenticity Of Raul Reyes's Computer Files -- [Gateway Pundit]
...The Colombian National Ministry of Defense reported last month that authorities had seized 60 pounds of uranium that belonged to FARC after computers were captured.
but, , the fact that the information has now been confirmed as authentic is horrible news for Colombia's FARC supporting neighbors and US Democrats.
Here is a partial list of what Colombian investigators found on the FARC terror leader's computer:

WAR ON TERROR /TERRORISM

Morocco under high alert after a probable dry run -- [Counterterrorism Blog]
A few weeks ago, Algeria warned its Tunisian and Moroccan neighbors of a possible mega terror attack prepared by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
Interestingly the newsletter The Croissant (subscriptions available for a small fee) reported a few days ago that an Algerian, aboard a powerful 4X4, sped on the esplanade of the Mosque of Hassan II in Casablanca. He managed to overcome all obstacles limiting traffic, causing a real panic

Islamist Forum Member Proposes Attacks On Saudi Royal Family -- [MEMRI]
On May 4, 2008, a member of the Islamist forum Al-Hesbah (hosted by ThePlanet.com Internet Services Inc., in Houston, TX) calling himself Al-Ashqar proposed attacks on Saudi royal palaces and the abducting and killing of members of the royal family.

NEFA Exclusive: Selected Responses From the Second Round of Q&A with Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri -- [Counterterrorism Blog]
The NEFA Foundation has obtained a copy of Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri’s second round of answers to some of the hundreds of questions recently submitted on extremist web forums by Al-Qaida supporters and other interested parties. Exclusive English translations of selected questions and answers are now available for download. When asked by one critic, “Is jihad only about killing and spilling blood, or are there other ways and means to reach the goals of jihad, without being repulsive”, al-Zawahiri demanded in reply, “if a criminal were to break into your house, hurt your family and kill them, steal your furniture, burn down your home, and then moved on to wreck the houses of your neighbors, would you deal with him gently in order to avoid becoming a member of a band of people who only seek revenge through bloodshed?”

SUPPORTING THE TROOPS...OR NOT

Operation Gratitude Celebrates Military Appreciation Month With Shipment of 350,000th Care Package -- [Operation Gratitude]
Operation Gratitude founder, Carolyn Blashek, and Director of Operations, Charlie Othold, traveled 9,000 miles to surprise an unknowing Soldier with the keys to a 2008 Jeep(R) Liberty at Forward Operating Base Warhorse in Iraq on January 22. The gift of the Liberty was in celebration of Operation Gratitude's shipment of 300,000 care packages to troops deployed overseas.
Spc. Michael Gallagher, of Company A, 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division from Fort Lewis, Washington, was the recipient of Operation Gratitude's special care package.
The Jeep(R) was donated by the Jeep brand. In a letter addressed to an "American Hero", John Plecha, Director -Jeep Marketing and Global Communications, said it was an honor to do something special for both a great organization and for the troops in
Iraq.

“The Sedition Report” -- [GOE]
Dear Pro-Troop Supporters:
I have some great news to share with you!! Please also pass along this information to others who will appreciate the good news.
As you know there has sadly been an increasing campaign of violence against military recruiting centers across the nation - conducted by anti-military radicals (who are erroneously referred to as “peace activists” by a sympathetic media). We at Move America Forward researched the vast array of these incidents and compiled them together in “The Sedition Report” which we provided to members of Congress and law enforcement.
Today Move America Forward’s legal team received an official response from the U.S. Department of Justice criminal division:

The Soldiers’ Angels Sewing Team Announces BLANKETS OF BELIEF -- [Soldiers' Angels Germany]
Making sure America's deployed servicemen and women know...
We Believe in You!
Our goal is to send 180,000 HOMEMADE BLANKETS made with “love and belief in you” to our service members spending another holiday season in the war zones.
Will you please make just ONE?

Soldiers and Kids - We Need Toys -- [Soldiers Angels Network]
One thing our medics love to do is help care for the local kids. In many cases, the American military provides the only health care available for these people. And being American soldiers, they love to have small toys to give to the kids. These are a great ice-breaker, and every toy our soldiers pass out buys a lot of good-will among the local people.
We are looking for small toys to send to our medics. Hit the garage sales, get your kids' to clean out their closets, have a "toy drive" at your school - gently used items are fine.

MILITARY

President Bush Commemorates Military Spouse Day -- [Whitehouse.gov]
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, Phil. I appreciate -- appreciate you and your band members being here today. Thanks for entertaining us here on the South Lawn of the White House. (Applause.) We are so glad you have come. We're honoring six recipients of the President's Volunteer Service Awards. And as we do so, we celebrate the contributions and achievements of our military spouses all across the country.

Sufferin' Sanchez -- [Intel Dump - Phil Carter]
DoD PhotoThis week's Time has an excerpt from retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez's new book, "Wiser in Battle: A Soldier's Story." Not surprisingly, given his past public speeches, Sanchez points a lot of fingers -- up at Rumsfeld and the White House, over at other generals, and even down at his subordinates. Guess he missed the part of general school where they teach command responsibility -- the principle that a commander is responsible for all his unit does or fails to do, period. (He's also ignoring Gen. Douglas MacArthur's dictum that old soldiers should just fade away.)

Suicidal GI Meme -- [Jules Crittenden]
Keeps marching on. U.S. government shrink reports that Iraq/Afghan war vets’ suicides may outstrip the death rate.
...It’s worth noting that for any group of 1.6 million American men, at the annual rate of 17.9:100,000, there are going to be nearly 300 suicides a year. Rates vary for different age groups and the women’s rate is significantly lower at 4.2:100,000. But I’d suggest that it’s beyond “quite possible” that the suicides will outstrip the combat deaths. Under normal circumstances, within the next 20 or 30 years or so, it sounds like a statistical certainty. This guy’s not offering a time frame, and in fairness, he’s probably suggesting deaths above and beyond the background noise of suicides any group this size can look forward to. Though, as we’ll see below, any group this size is subject to a good deal of PTSD, traumatic stress being a simple fact of life.
Unfortunately, the reporting on this issue, and apparently the word being put out by professionals, has been a tad tautological, if not sloppy.

Purple Hearts For Combat Fatigue -- [Strategy Page]
May 6, 2008: There are a growing number of U.S. military psychologists and medical officials that want to award troops who get PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) the Purple Heart medal. This is an award for physical wounds, and replaced earlier recognition (in the form of wound badges and such) in the 1930s.

WELCOME HOME

Fort McCoy, Wisconsin -- [Badgers Forward - home from Iraq]
After a long trip, I am safely at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin going through the demobilization process. Home soon.

Welcome Home "the ROCK!" - A Homecoming that SFC Matthew Blaskowski Would Be Proud Of -- [Blackfive]
Leta at From Cow Pastures to Kosovo has been working with Cheryl and Terry Blaskowski to set up a Welcome Home Party for the paratroopers of 2/503rd when they return from Afghanistan to their home base in Vicenza, Italy.

POLITICS

War protesters frustrated by apathy -- [Pittsburg Post Gazette]
...At the grassroots level, anti-war activists are also trying to keep the war in the public eye. Last month, nine protesters gathered in front of the Regional Enterprise Tower, Downtown, where U.S. Sens. Arlen Specter and Bob Casey have offices.
"Please think about this. It's important," Lynne Flavin, 60, of Lawrenceville, told passersby. She held a blood red sign that said, "Support the Troops. End the War."
Few people gave more than a glance.
...Mr. O'Malley stood outside Mr. Doyle's Downtown office, wearing a Vietnam veteran hat and seven Obama buttons. He blamed last-minute organization efforts for the poor turnout.
As he and two other protesters waited, Maddie Smith, a student at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, approached Mr. O'Malley and asked for a sign for her lawn in Brookline.
He gladly gave her one. He also gave her instructions: "Put it so it's facing traffic. Otherwise no one will see it."

Democrats Set To Defy Bush On War Bill -- [New York Times]
Defying President Bush, House Democrats are preparing to forge ahead with a war spending measure that would include extended unemployment assistance and new educational benefits for returning veterans.

More "White Hate" Discovered in Obama's Church Newsletters -- [Gateway Pundit]
Barack Obama announced yesterday on Meet the Press that he intends to continue attending Trinity United Church of Christ services after Reverend Wright retires in June.
So far, the media has not payed any attention to the racist America-hating literature distributed at the church.
But, that has not kept BizzyBlog from exposing the outrageous hateful articles included in the church newsletters.
Here is an article that appeared in the July 2005 newsletter.

Are We Getting Two for One? - Is Michelle Obama responsible for the Jeremiah Wright fiasco? -- [Salon.com]
...I direct your attention to Mrs. Obama's 1985 thesis at Princeton University. Its title (rather limited in scope, given the author and the campus) is "Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community." To describe it as hard to read would be a mistake; the thesis cannot be "read" at all, in the strict sense of the verb. This is because it wasn't written in any known language. Anyway, at quite an early stage in the text, Michelle Obama announces that she's much influenced by the definition of black "separationism" offered by Stokely Carmichael and Charles Hamilton in their 1967 screed Black Power: The Politics of Liberation in America.

McCain on Judges -- [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
See "Bench Memos" for more. And McCainiac Sam Brownback spoke to the "Campaign Spot" about the speech yesterday.
What McCain is presumably addressing, of course, is not just differences between him and the Democrats, but conservative concerns. Like the Gang of 14, about which Mark Levin & Andy McCarthy wrote earlier this year:

THE MEDIA

Stephen King At Odds With Army Over Suggestion That "Only Illiterates Join the Service" -- [WUSA9.com] HT: Mark Seavey
WASHINGTON, DC (WUSA) - A recent comment by Stephen King during a lecture to high school seniors suggesting that those who can't read can join the Army has riled up the military.
King told a group of high schoolers at a recent Library of Congress lecture "If you can read you can walk into a job later on. If you don't, then you've got the Army, Iraq - I don't know"
His depiction of army soldiers as illiterate drew a strongly worded response from the U.S. Army.
"America?s Soldiers are proudly serving and fighting for us all. We can be proud of our Soldiers? selfless service, their skill and their ingenuity. They certainly are role models for every high-school student in America considering a noble career ? and many book authors."
Local soldiers were also offended by the comments, calling them elitist and insensitive.
VIDEO HERE

Writer Stephen King: If You Can't Read, You'll End Up in the Army or Iraq -- [NewsBusters]
Remember shortly before Election Day 2006 when Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) suggested that if you don't get a good education, "you get stuck in Iraq" (video available here)?
Well, last month, famed horror author Stephen King was speaking in front of a group of high school students at the Library of Congress, and he virtually made the exact same statement.
For those that can bear it, what follows is another in a long line of liberal media members bashing the military

E-mail Instructions: 'Hi, Noel—Stephen King Says to Shut Up and I Agree' -- [NewsBusters]
You really can't make this stuff up!
Early Monday morning, NewsBusters informed readers about a truly disgraceful comment made last month by famed horror author Stephen King concerning people that can't read having to enter the Army (video embedded right).
Hours later, I mentioned in the comments section that I was receiving a lot of strange e-mail messages.
Well, it turns out King wrote about my piece at his website, and instructed readers to "find Sheppard on the internet"

Squealing Like Castrated Boars -- [Cannoneer No. 4]
From MSM giant Gannett’s Q-ship Navy Times a USA Today piece: New DoD Web sites counter enemy rhetoric. Listen to the the oxen loudly protest being gored.
“This is about trying to control the message, either by bypassing the media or putting your version of the message out before others (and) … there’s a heavy responsibility to let people know where you’re coming from,” said Amy Mitchell, deputy director at the Project for Excellence in Journalism.

Senator Blasts Sponsorship of Anti-American Radio -- [Danger Room]
Oh, what a mess. The U.S. can't get good publicity in Iran -- even when it's footing the bill. Or at least that's the main point in a scathing letter written by Tom Coburn, a Republican Senator from Oklahoma, to the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which runs, among other things, Voice of America. In an detailed five-page letter obtained by Mountain Runner, Coburn runs through a litany of problems with VOA's Farsi service:

Petraeus: Man of No Influence... -- [Outside the Wire]
....at least according to TIME magazine.
In the magazine's list of the 100 "Most Influential People" in the world we find Moqtada al Sadr and Vladimir Putin in the category of leaders and revolutionaries.
Terrorist mastermind Baitullah Mehsud also makes the list of leaders and revolutionaries.
(In defense of TIME, Secretary of Defense Gates makes the list--and rightfully so.)
But it struck me that once again, the author and implementer of what could be the greatest strategic turn-around of the war in Iraq ignored.
Once again, TIME has ignored General Petraeus.

Rosie on Wright: “I listened to him and, frankly, it made sense to me” -- [NewsBusters]
Rosie O'Donnell appeared on the May 5 "Today" show in its fourth hour, claiming that many have confused her "passion for rage" much in the same way as they've misunderstood Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Indeed, claimed the former "The View" co-host, Obama's former pastor "made sense to me."

HUMOR / SATIRE

Day By Day

Obama Feared Bill Ayers Would Step on Flag Lapel Pin -- [ScrappleFace]
(2008-05-05) — Sen. Barack Obama admitted today that he stopped wearing an American flag lapel pin out of fear that friend and domestic terror group founder William Ayers would “step on my chest.”

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