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

Iraq News (22 May) -- [LT Nixon - in Iraq]
The Good: 11 militia thugs tried to take on U.S. forces near Sadr City...and they got dead. The temporary head of CENTCOM, LTG Dempsey, said Al-Qaeda in Iraq is at it's weakest due to the counter-insurgency strategy, the rise of the Sahwa councils, and improved Iraqi Security Forces. This comes at a time when attacks in Mosul are down a stunning 85% due to the recent Iraqi-led offensive. Also, Sadr City remains calm during the Iraqi-led Operation Salam.

Basra is now new city of hope -- [MNF-I]
BASRA, Iraq – A sense of calm prevails in Basra as Iraqi forces continue to walk the streets.
Since the beginning of Operation Charge of the Knights March 25, citizens have embraced the Iraqi Army presence as humanitarian assistance continues along side its clean-up and reconstruction efforts.
Since the initial push to rid the region of criminal elements, searches have resulted in the discovery of more than 2,700 mortar rounds, 650 rockets, ten surface to air missiles, 130 rocket propelled grenade rounds, and 160 rocket propelled grenade launchers.
More and more citizens of Basra are approaching the IA and Iraqi Security Forces to identify cache locations.
There have been five cooperative medical engagements within several communities of Basra. In Tannumah, bilingual bicultural advisors, former Iraqi citizens who are now Americans, provided much needed medical care and coaching mentorship to the community providers. The overwhelming response resulted in more than 550 patients treated and more than ten patients identified to receive extended care through the National Iraqi Assistance Center.

Shooting up the Quran -- [ROFA Six]
The e-mail below is from a platoon leader in Iraq about the recent shooting "incident" of a Quran in Iraq. The President recently apologized for the incident as has the senior military leadership in Iraq (Video of 'mea culpa' ceremony here). Clearly it is a setback to the "hearts and minds" campaign that has shown such success in the last year.

Letters from Iraq: Which way is up? -- [ISN Security Watch]
Iraqi security forces have visibly improved since they began training in 2004, but much depends on their ability to overcome sectarian loyalties.
But despite their professional appearance, the Iraqis are still not ready to standing up on their own, as the mission has shown. They could not read the map. They bickered over who got to search which house. Instead of sending smaller search teams into houses to scour them for weapons first and make sure the houses were safe, the lieutenants would go into the houses themselves first and sit down for lengthy conversations with the owners, leaving most of their men to stand outside, smoking cigarettes, while one or two policemen looked through the house.
"My men steal stuff, break stuff," explained an Iraqi police lieutenant who identified himself as Lieutenant Haidar. "I don't trust them," said another officer, who called himself Lieutenant Ali.
The lack of trust is also external. Recent polls suggest that only about 60 percent of Shiite Iraqis and about 50 percent of Sunnis are confident in the police force, said Maj. Mike Birmingham, the planner for the First Brigade of the Fourth Infantry Division, which is stationed in Baghdad. The lack of trust is one of the legacies of 2006 and 2007, when sectarian militias infiltrated the security forces and used their status to carry out extrajudicial killings.

Iraqi Troops Take Charge of Sadr City in Swift Push -- [NY Times]
Iraqi troops pushed deep into Sadr City on Tuesday as the Iraqi government sought to establish control over the district, a densely populated Shiite enclave in the Iraqi capital.
The long-awaited military operation, which took place without the involvement of American ground forces, was the first determined effort by the government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki to assert control over the sprawling Baghdad neighborhood, which has been a bastion of support for Moktada al-Sadr, the rebel cleric.
The operation comes in the wake of the government’s offensive in Basra, in southern Iraq, which for the time being seems to have pacified that city and restored government control.
The Iraqi forces met no significant resistance.

US and Iraqi Special Operations Forces

US military killed Mahdi Army commander Arkan Hasnawi in May 3 strike -- [LWJ]
The US military killed a senior member of the Mahdi Army, according US and Mahdi Army sources. Arkan Hasnawi, a senior lieutenant of the Mahdi Army commander in Sadr City, was killed in a guided rocket strike in Sadr City on May 3. The news of Hasnawi's death comes as details emerge on the senior leadership of the Mahdi Army in Baghdad and the blurring of the lines between Sadr's militia and the Special Groups.

Upcoming Iraqi Elections Must Consolidate Security Gains of 'Sons of Iraq' -- [SWJ]
In the typically polarized debate on Iraq, the significance of the "Sons of Iraq" -- the predominantly Sunni militias now allied with the U.S. military against insurgents and terrorists -- can easily be lost. Depending on one's point of view, the U.S. military's new Sunni friends are either "concerned local citizens" or "opportunist insurgents" -- with pro- and anti-war camps each using the phenomenon to support pre-existing political positions. As Iraq approaches provincial elections in October, however, and the United States nears its own presidential vote, it is high time to abandon easy slogans and to examine the fresh challenges and many opportunities presented by recent events in Iraq. Among such events, the emergence of the Sons of Iraq stands out as particularly important.

Recon IED Sweep Iraq

Peek-A-Boo -- [False Motivation - in Iraq]
Sure, I'm not a big fan of Iraq; this country sucks, and deployments suck too. Even though neither are fun, there's a bit of freedom in them from Garrison life. Now they're wanting our personal ao's dress right dress, and we're having tent inspections and gear inspections every day (or every other day). It's almost enough to make me want to put my kit back on and head back out into sector.
I understand though, they're trying to keep us busy, trying to recondition us to "normal" life again; but I wasn't a fan of "normal" life anyways.

Iraq 2008 - It's FANtastic!
Long days and nights of cat-and-mouse and winning the fights against Al Qaeda in Iraq's Diyala Province...sometimes one IED at a time. Next to the brotherhood of being with fellow Marines, your sense of humor will help carry you through. Please support our fallen comrades' and those severely wounded at http://www.fallenheroesfund.org/ Semper Fi. Maj Chuck McGregor USMC

... 5.21.2008 -- [Fun With Hand Grenades - in Iraq]
18 days of leave went pretty quick.
I'm sick of saying goodbye, even to my cat.
Fuck you, Iraq. FUCK. YOU.
10 months and counting.

AFGHANISTAN

Swatting the Taliban -- [abu muqawama]
Kip believes that negotiations that address the legitimate grievances of the Taliban will be vital to victory in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The most recent agreement in Swat, however, between the Pakistani government and the Pakistani Taliban cedes the territory to the Taliban and removes the Pakistani Army without gaining significant benefits even for Pakistan. Swat is a territory over which the government has traditionally had more control than the other areas of the North West Frontier Province. The people and the government there were both unhappy and surprised when the Taliban moved in violently over the last couple of years.

Airmen Convoy

Airmen who have dangerous ground missions in Afghanistan.

Pakistani government inks peace deal with Swat Taliban -- [LWJ]
The latest deal signed with Mullah Fazlullah, who led an armed uprising in Swat and Shangla. Fazlullah has been behind suicide and conventional attacks against Pakistani security forces and civilians.

Exclusive : Inside The Dangerous Places Of Waziristan.

It's considered one of the most lawless and dangerous places on earth.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008 -- [Cheese's Milblog - in Afghanistan]
I will preface this by pointing to my previous posts. I think it is apparent that I enjoy working with the Afghan people and I truly feel that I am doing some good here. That being said, there truly are people in Afghanistan who wish us harm, and I feel as if we are doing less to seek them out than we are doing to protect ourselves from people within our own FOB. As you may have heard, a couple of Humvees went missing from my area of operations. We all assumed that this would not lead to anything good. That turned out to be an understatement. Without getting into too many details, I'll say that the policies that we infantryman call "big boy rules" no longer apply. This is to say that no one on the FOB can be trusted and that the security measures we were forced to implement hurt our combat effectiveness.

Another Pakistan Deal with the Taliban Jihadists -- [Counterterrorism Blog]
Once again, the Pakistan government signs another deal with the Taliban, while counting on an impotent American government and an uninformed American public to continue to provide them billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars as our "ally".

NEFA TerrorWatch: The Spillover Impact of the Iraqi Jihad in Afghanistan -- [Counterterrorism Blog]
This week's episode of NEFA's TerrorWatch broadcast takes a closer look at Mohammed al-Thibaiti (a.k.a. Abu Sulaiman al-Otaibi), a Saudi Arabian national and a senior Al-Qaida lieutenant who was confirmed killed during recent clashes with the "crusaders and apostates" in the Paktia province of Afghanistan--and the larger spillover impact of the Iraqi jihad on the conflict in Afghanistan. On May 11, Al-Qaida leader Mustafa Abu al-Yazid published a letter confirming that al-Thibaiti "was martyred in the Paktika province in Afghanistan… as a result of clashes with the enemies of Allah from the crusaders and apostates.

AFGHANISTAN: Streamlining the Allied Command? -- [Militay Watch]
I reported in a story from Afghanistan a few weeks ago that the complex and unwieldy allied military command in Afghanistan, together with a lack of clear strategy, was hobbling the U.S. military intervention in the critical southern part of the country.
Rather than clear and concise military command, there was disagreement and squabbling over what ought to be done. The story landed like a stink bomb in Washington, in the offices of Defense Secretary Gates, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the National Security Council.
But I later heard from some officials who said the story was helping to provoke a bureaucratic movement toward corrective action to the problem, which they'd been trying to get fixed for a long time.

Marine Sergeant Bee takes a bow -- [Militay Watch]
The other day I posted a dramatic photo of a Marine from the 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, ducking away from a round fired by insurgents in Garmsir, southern Afghanistan. Neither I nor the Reuters photographer, Goran Tomasevic, could identify the Marine.
He is Sgt. Willliam Bee, "Billy" to his wife, Bobbie, with whom I spoke by phone a few minutes ago.
The photo was shot Saturday. I posted it on the blog Monday morning and when Bobbie checked it as she does religiously, "There was my husband's mug!''
Her first reaction? "I thought I was going to go into labor," says Bobbie, who expects to deliver baby boy Ethan, their first, in July. ...

U.S. AND OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD

Boy's Motivated Haircut Gets Him in Trouble -- HT: LT Nixon

Flight 93 blogburst: Mancow steps up to the plate, swings for the fences -- [ThunderRun]
Radio talk show host Mancow Muller is asking his listeners to help SHUT DOWN the crescent memorial to Flight 93. (Audio 27 seconds.)
Mancow describes how the giant crescent points to Mecca , and how the four terrorists are consistently placed in the symbolic Islamic heavens (the crescent and star parts of the design), while the 40 heroes are consistently depicted as symbolically damned (placed outside of the symbolic Islamic heavens). Good stuff (1 min, 21 sec).

Flag Disposal - [Instapundit]
Lenoir City, Tennessee. Jeez, I thought we'd at least have until the Democrats took the White House before these things started popping up . . . .

US Relief Supplies, Troops Wait Offshore as Burma Rebuffs American Overture -- [VOA News]
Burma is refusing deliveries of humanitarian aid from U.S. Navy ships, standing by off the Burmese coast. Washington's offer to help victims of Cyclone Nargis highlights the U.S. military's wider efforts to employ "soft power" in the region - something the Burmese junta views with suspicion. On board the ships, American sailors and Marines express frustration over not being able to help. VOA Southeast Asia Correspondent Luis Ramirez was aboard two of the ships and has this report.

Canada to deserters: Get lost -- [Hot Air]
Send to a Friend | printer-friendly During the Vietnam War, Canada gave refuge to as many as 90,000 draft dodgers and thousands of deserters from the United States, treating them as immigrants and refusing extradition requests from the US government. When the Iraq War began, scores of deserters traveled across the border, expecting a similar reception. Yesterday, the Canadian government gave them a rude awakening:
Canada is set to deport in June the first of possibly hundreds of American soldiers who sought asylum to avoid military duty in Iraq, a group backing the US deserters said Wednesday.

Report: Minnesota Bridge Collapse Due to State Bureaucratic Blunders -- [NewsBusters]
Bureaucratic bungling by the state of Minnesota had a heavy hand in the fatal Minnesota bridge collapse last summer, according to a new report commissioned by that state's legislature. The Associated Press has the story, but it's not as exciting as the initial "blame Bush" meme the media found so convenient as the tragedy unfolded.

WAR ON TERROR /TERRORISM

Al-Qaeda At It's Weakest State Since US Invasion of Iraq in 2003 -- [Gateway Pundt]
This follows the news yesterday that global terror attacks are down 40% since 2001.
Here's some great news for America and bad news for the Bush-bashers...
Al-Qaeda is at its weakest state since the US led invasion of Iraq 5 years ago.

SUPPORTING THE TROOPS...OR NOT

Geneva, Illinois School kids support our troops -- [Soldier's Angels - Medical Support]
The kids at our elementary schools in Geneva have made thousands of beautiful Holiday cards for our soldiers the past two years. These cards were mailed to dozens of military hospitals and other medical units in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait. This year, the Air Force Theater Hospital at Balad, Iraq honored them by flying flags in their honor.

National Moment of Remembrance -- [Soldiers Angels Network]
In case you haven't done so yet . . please mark your calendar on Memorial Day (May 26, 2008)) for 3:00pm your time . . . to participate in the National Moment of Remembrance. Just 60 seconds of your time!
The National Moment of Remembrance does not replace traditional Memorial Day events; rather it is an act of national unity in which all Americans, alone or with family and friends, honor those who died for our freedom. It will help to reclaim Memorial Day as the sacred and noble holiday it was meant to be.
In this shared remembrance, we connect as Americans.
And please tell your loved ones and friends about the National Moment of Remembrance!

MILITARY

Battlefield scars often carry over to bedroom, troops find -- [Houston Chronicle]
Wounds and mental disabilities of troops returning from Afghanistan and Iraq can mess up their sex lives too, health experts said Wednesday. But those wounds often go untreated because the topic is taboo and has gone unstudied.
Whatever the reason, failed sexual intimacy can contribute to higher suicide and divorce rates among returning troops, specialists told a seminar sponsored by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit that focuses on health issues.
They said the latest U.S. wars have brought more attention to psychological wounds such as post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and depression, and should now include sexual problems.

USS Ronald Reagan Deploys

Friends and family members waved farewell to their loved ones Monday as the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and the six ships in its strike group sailed out of San Diego.

Badass Americans Dress Down -- [Strategy Page]
May 22, 2008: Commanders who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan are questioning the uniforms policy currently in force. Put simply, if there is any risk of combat in an area, troops are not to leave base unless in full "battle rattle". That means body armor, helmet, weapon and ready to rock. This is meant to protect the troops in case there's trouble, as well as to intimidate any hostile locals. But it also intimidates friendly locals. For that reason, Special Forces troops often dress in civilian clothes, usually the same stuff the locals are wearing. This has frequently irked senior U.S. officers, who sometimes make enough noise to get the Special Forces operators back into uniform (but that's another debate.)

WELCOME HOME

Boys on Thier Way -- [Toby Nunn - home from Iraq]
I am back in the states following some legal issues created by a member of leadership that come along after the film had been made and was unaware of who and what we were. It has been a painful experience that possible will end my career as a soldier because ego's are bigger than facts sometimes. There were some immature comments posted about us not going home which were untrue for the guys but were for me. I was not too concerned because I knew nothing illegal had happened and proper protocol was followed and it was a matter of pride and prejudice. I am not out of the deep end yet because in the real world you are innocent until proven guilty and get due process to facilitate that but in the MILITARY its the opposite, guilty until proven innocent and due process comes after the fact. So I am currently fighting to get the facts published and my record cleaned up so that I can again be a soldier but its a painful timely process.

POLITICS

"Frank Sinatra Day" vs. Funding the Troops -- [The Tank]
Here we are, four days from Memorial Day weekend, and Congress still hasn’t passed a funding bill for the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Soldiers and Marines are achieving undeniable progress on the ground in Iraq—and what does Congress do? It spends the final hours before Memorial Day recess passing this “critical” legislation:

Time to Curb “Code Pink” -- [The Tank]
Finally, a member of Congress has announced a laudable plan to do something about the abusive behavior of demonstrators of the anti-war left. Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, has introduced legislation to deal with what he has described as “a growing number of our fellow citizens [who] are abusing their right of free expression through vandalism and violent protest aimed at military recruiters and those who wish to serve.”

'Dear American Voter' – George Soros Says The World Should Pick Our President -- [NewsBusters]
We've seen it over and over, people in Europe who imagine that they should be allowed to vote U.S. presidential elections. Some of these people imagine that they should have a voice in our elections because, they say, America is so supremely powerful that the man who becomes our president makes decisions that will impact the entire world. Now some far left think tanks and foundations have created a so-called "non-partisan" website called "Dear American Voter" for foreigners to make videos aimed at letting Americans know how they feel about our elections.

THE MEDIA

Lt. General Sanchez Slams Media's Iraq Coverage on FNC -- [NewsBusters]
During the interview, Sanchez conveyed his disapproval at the mainstream media's coverage of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal. When O'Reilly contended that the "New York Times and the liberal media" "went wild over Abu Ghraib" to "humiliate the Bush administration," Sanchez agreed: "To a large extent, you're absolutely right, because that is reflected in some of the questioning and some, obviously, in the press reports that occurred ... I believe that, in fact, we create the strategic defeat for America to a large extent by the way that we cover it in the press." (Transcript follows)

SUCCESS IN IRAQ: A MEDIA BLACKOUT -- [Retired Army Colonel Ralph Peters]
DO we still have troops in Iraq? Is there still a conflict over there?
If you rely on the so-called mainstream media, you may have difficulty answering those questions these days. As Iraqi and Coalition forces pile up one success after another, Iraq has magically vanished from the headlines.
Want a real "inconvenient truth?" Progress in Iraq is powerful and accelerating.
But that fact isn't helpful to elite media commissars and cadres determined to decide the presidential race over our heads. How dare our troops win?

Distributor Refuses to Carry "Moment of Truth in Iraq" on Military Bases -- [Michael Yon]
My publisher and literary agent have been working with the private companies who handle book distribution on military bases in order to get "Moment of Truth in Iraq" on their shelves. The process is arduous, to put it mildly.
They have succeeded in getting the book into overseas bases. But as the publisher and my agent are slowly working their way through US distributors who cover different geographic regions, they have been told "no" by the largest distributor, the Anderson News Company.
A letter from Anderson News:
Thank you for submitting Moment of Truth in Iraq to Anderson News for review. We have reviewed this book and do not consider it appropriate for our company to handle at this time, as it does not fit our current distribution needs and capabilities.
Thank you for considering us to distribute your book.
...Anderson News Company has almost a complete monopoly over the books carried on Army, Navy and Air Force book shelves in the following US states:

Gray Lady fighting dirty against McCain campaign? Update: NYT Ethics Policy -- [Hot Air]
Does the New York Times leverage access to campaign events through threats of negative news articles? According to one source at the McCain campaign, the answer is yes.
The New York Times has published a series of articles and editorials that have called its objectivity towards John McCain into question. The first shot across the bow came in February, when the paper ran an allegation that McCain had a “romantic” relationship with a lobbyist in a story that turned out to have no evidence except two unnamed, disgruntled campaign workers. A month later

CNN’s Kyra Phillips: ‘Iraq War is Not About Protecting Us From Terrorism’ -- [NewsBusters]
"American Morning" substitute co-host Kyra Phillips pressed former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani on the Iraq war on Wednesday, asserting that her liberal talking point was a fact. When Giuliani defended President Bush’s legacy, that he "will go down as he has protected us against terrorism when nobody thought it could be done," Phillips retorted, "But the Iraq war is not about protecting us from terrorism.

HUMOR / SATIRE

Day By Day

(Need more? Dawn Patrols Archives are here.)