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Well if you have arrived here that means Hosting Matters has not won the battle against the DOS attack. This is also affecting email as well so please be patient and we'll answer as soon as we can.
Welcome to the Dawn Patrol, our daily roundup of information on the War on Terror and other topics - from the MilBlogs, other blogs, and the mainstream media. 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. (We have a daily "Open Post" too, if you have something on another topic you can link there.)
IRAQ THE MODEL -- [Iraq the Model - an Iraqi in Iraq]
Today Baghdad is witnessing a tragic disaster; hundreds have died and more were injured when huge crowds of pilgrims heading to the shrine of Imam Kadhom caused the fence of the A'imma bridge to collapse pushing people to fall into the Tigris river.
The news is still uncertain about the cause and casualty toll of this disaster but sources in the ministry of health say that around 640 people were killed in the incident.
What Horror... -- [Back to Iraq - a Journalist in Iraq]
BEIRUT ? While the world watches New Orleans drown, Baghdad has seen the single greatest loss of life when thousands of Shi?ite pilgrims panicked on a bridge over the Tigris and stampeded after rumors flew among the crowd that two suicide bombers were in the midst.
Almost 650 people are dead and hundreds wounded. They drowned in the river and suffocated on land.
Gotcha! -- [Who's your Baghdaddy? - in Iraq]
We caught some of the scumbags that were responsible for Saturday?s mortar attack. A raid was organized and conducted in the early morning hours yesterday and we netted several bad guys. Out of this group of thieves we have identified at least four of them as suspected members of Muqtada al-Sadr?s militia. The troops are all pumped from the results of a successful mission, but we are not done yet. We are continuing to tighten the noose in order flush more of these rodents out of their hiding places. Obviously I can?t provide a lot of detail, but I will post updates as I can.
The MRX -- [Major K - in Iraq]
For the past 2 1/2 years, there have been several evolutions in building the new Iraqi Army. It first started as the ICDC, then became what is now the Iraqi Army. All over the country, this army has been being built from the ground up. It started with basic training, where new soldiers were forged with better training than was given to the "Commandos" of the old regime. By the standards of the former regime, every American Soldier would be considered to be "Special Forces" trained.
ISF progress in basic warrior training -- [ Live in Iraq]
CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq (Aug. 30, 2005) -- A team of focused soldiers equipped with helmets, protective vests and weapons swiftly move through a destroyed building to make sure it is clear for further movement. This situation was just one of the several training scenarios the Iraqi Security Force rehearsed here this week.
Iraqis - keen and optimistic -- [ Chrenkoff]
Our special correspondent Haider Ajina translated the results of the latest opinion poll published in the August 29th edition of the Iraqi Arabic newspaper ?Alhayat?:
Interviewing Mayada Al-Askari -- [Iraqi In America]
Mayada, Daughter of Iraq
One Woman's Survival Under Saddam Hussein
Let's Start With Your Work News
Q: During your work as a journalist in Iraq, you were once invited with other journalists by the office of Ali Hassan Al-Majid to witness what I would describe as torture and humiliation of human beings in public. Could you compare that torture to the treatment he's receiving now from the Iraqi justice system?
A: I was invited alone, as Ali Hassan Al-Majid did not like journalists. People in Iraq under the Baathist regime were executed without seeing the face of a lawyer, with no trial and no legal representation, people were tortured and a great many died under torture then found out to be completely innocent.
Saddam , and his lieutenants are being treated with respect, and according to the Geneva convention laws. I heard that Ali Al-Majid told the judge: why not execute us and get it over with ?!!
This is how they comprehend things, and they would repeat all their deeds again if given half a chance.
A friend of mine in Iraq was guarding a military facility back in 1991, and Ali Hassan Al Majid came in to see the military prisoners, he made all the prisoners drink gasoline, then had them shot in the stomach where they were all set to fire.
Fables of the Reconstruction -- [Sisyphus Today... - in Iraq]
As costs for reconstruction in Iraq begin to topple the $200 Billion mark, one must ask what this money has been spent on and what results have been noted. Several times thus far, I have noted that what you are fed through the corporate media is a limited and skewed view of Iraq. Primarily, the news reporters are spoon fed their news by military public affairs officers who boiled down numbers and events for easy consumption by the concerned but faint-hearted American citizen. These reporters have such little integrity that they rarely, if ever, venture outside their Baghdad hotels for their latest breaking story. Dressed up in flak jackets and kevlar helmets, they intimate the violence and danger they must forego to bring us the news. Let's be clear on this from the start, Baghdad is NOT Iraq and Iraq is not Baghdad. The media has successfully convinced the Dancing-with-a-Star loving American viewer that Iraq is a homogenous and violent country. Wrong.
Sharia experts -- [Phil and Becky - Phil's in Iraq]
From the comments section...
Must admit that the section stating that the Federal Court be made up of experts in Sharia law worries me. The Constitution requires that Iraqi law be both Islamic and respectful of human rights - what happens when the two idealogies clash? Such clashes in law are usually settled by an independent judiciary, but when that judiciary is composed of people who've devoted their lives to the study of Islam I think that would work in a pro-Islam bias into their decisions. Imagine for a moment that the US Constitution contained a proviso that Supreme Court judges be Christian theologians. Do you really think Roe vs Wade would have been decided the way it was if that was the case? Somehow I think not.
BAD BOYS -- [2005 Tour of Duty - in Iraq]
Who ya gona call when they come for you. This is the Iraq security force. They patrol up and down the roads looking for the bad guys. They wear a mask sometimes so that they will not be reconized, but I think he wears it to intimidate people...
More Tribe-on-Tribe in Qaim -- [The Fourth Rail - Bill Roggio]
In the western Iraqi town of Qaim, clashes continue between the pro-government Bumahl tribe and the pro-al Qaeda Karabila tribe. Newsday, in an article titled "Heavy Fighting Erupts in Western Iraq", reports that "20 members of the Bumahl tribe and 15 from Karabila were killed in the clashes," with dozens wounded. Reuters reports 47 were killed in multiple U.S. air strikes directed at terrorist safe houses.
A Question of Victory [The Fourth Rail - Grim ]
The Washington Post carries this article on Iraq by National Geographic author Lewis Simons, a former Marine -- or, as he phrases it, "ex-Marine." The terms are frequently used interchangably by the news media, but the choice of one over the other is important to Marines. One wonders if his editor altered it, or if he was attempting to underline his position.
More Thoughts from Duke in Iraq: -- [Broken Masterpiece - dispatched from Iraq]
I wasn?t planning on revisiting this subject, but a recent discussion with a friend of mine and what I read in today?s Stars and Stripes has motivated me. My friend recently saw Monster In-Law for free at the base theater. He asked me if I were going to see it. I told him no because I had no desire to support Jane Fonda in anyway. I do not think he fully understood my position but a letter to the editor in today?s Stars and Stripes puts it very well.
We have heard that Jane Fonda is planning a war protest bus tour. This is the majority of a letter written from a soldier stationed in Baghdad.
Hundreds Die in Iraq Stampede -- (Washington Post)...Ellen Knickmeyer
Rumors of a suicide bomber in a crowd of Shiite pilgrims in Baghdad caused a stampede that killed hundreds of panicked worshippers.
Bush gives new reason for Iraq war -- (Boston Globe)...Jennifer Loven(AP)
Says US must prevent oil fields from falling into hands of terrorists
US warplanes strike in western Iraq -- (Independent Online)
Baghdad - United States forces have killed an al-Qaeda militant in western Iraq in air strikes that claimed the lives of 47 people.
US warplanes on Tuesday launched three waves of strikes near the town of Qaim, on the Syrian border. This is a remote area that Washington has long said is a route into Iraq for foreign Islamist fighters allied to the insurgency among Iraq's Sunni Arab minority.
U.S. Ambassador Hints Iraq Constitution Not Final -- (Indianapolis Star)...AP
The U.S. ambassador to Iraq raised the possibility Tuesday of more changes to Iraq's draft constitution, signaling that the Bush administration hasn't given up its campaign to advocate a charter that will be broadly accepted.
War Without Remedy -- (Washington Post)
THE WORSENING violence in Iraq and Afghanistan this summer has, at least, been accompanied by vigorous attempts at political solutions. In Iraq, majority Shiites, pressed by the United States, are negotiating with minority Sunnis about the country's future political structure; although talks over the constitution failed, the contacts are likely to continue even as an upcoming referendum provides a democratic outlet. Afghanistan's parliamentary election campaign proceeds despite attacks from extremists, and some former members of the Taliban have chosen to compete rather than fight.
Bush is the real threat -- (The Guardian)...Tony Benn
Now that the US president has announced that he has not ruled out an attack on Iran, if it does not abandon its nuclear programme, the Middle East faces a crisis that could dwarf even the dangers arising from the war in Iraq.
Gratuitous Afghanistan Photo of the Day (69) -- [ Miserable Donuts - back from Afghanistan]
One Friday at the Bagram bazaar I saw an odd looking thing on one of the tables. After closer examination, I saw we had a genuine Erie Chemical Company 47mm smoke grenade launcher from the 1960s. I asked where this had come from, and got a ...
Gratuitous Afghanistan Photo of the Day (70) -- [ Miserable Donuts - back from Afghanistan]
Between the villages of Jafarkhil and Shaka. The police officer really wanted his photo taken, so I obliged. The father has quite a protective look about him, so...
U.S. military 'doing everything' it can to seek out bin Laden -- (Boston Herald)
The U.S. military is doing all it can in Afghanistan to locate Osama bin Laden but cannot say when he will be captured, a spokesman said today.
Col. James Yonts also said the United States was cooperating with neighboring countries such as Pakistan in the hunt for the al-Qaida leader.
``When will he be captured? ... I can't give you a date, but I can tell you this: Everyone remembers 9/11,'' Yonts told reporters in the Afghan capital Kabul.
Afghan opium production drops --
| KABUL (BBC News) -- Afghanistan has registered a drop in the cultivation of opium for the first time since the fall of the Taliban, the United Nations says. | The area under cultivation for opium ...
NATO rolls out 2,000 more troops for Afghan polls -- (Tehran Times)
KABUL - NATO-led peacekeepers have deployed 2,000 extra troops across northern and western Afghanistan to secure the war-battered country's parliamentary elections on September 18, a spokesman...
Walid Phares: LEBANON SECURITY ARRESTS COULD LEAD TO SYRIA AND HIZBOLLAH -- [The Counterterrorism Blog]
Today, the Lebanese Government accepted a UN investigation commission request to have a number of former security chiefs brought in for interrogation in the Hariri assassination. The three directors detained were: Maj. Gen. Jamil Sayyed, the former chief of General Security; Maj. Gen. Ali Hajj, the former director general of the Internal Security Forces; and Brig. Gen. Raymond Azar, the former director general of military intelligence. The commander of the Presidential Guards, Brig. Gen. Mustafa Hamdan, also appeared before the U.N. investigation in response to a summons. The Commission ordered former pro-Syrian MP Nasser Kandil to appear as well.
Uzbekistan Base Decision Won't Leave US Without Options -- (CNSNews.com)...Patrick Goodenough
An Uzbekistan Senate resolution approving the government's decision to expel the United States from an airbase appears unlikely to have a serious impact on the U.S. military, which has been investigating alternative arrangements.
More TV means less Koran, say south Thai Muslims -- (Reuters)...Ed Cropley
BAN SAWO HILIR, Thailand, - In the wilds of southern Thailand, where people believe Islam first took root in Southeast Asia, plans to dish out cable TV with free English soccer to quell ethnic Malay unrest have not gone down well.
"The kids will just watch TV and leave the Koran and their school books behind," said Haji Mustafa Bin Haji Abdul Latif of Ban Sawo Hilir in Narathiwat, one of three provinces rocked by 20 months of violence in which more than 800 people have died.
One year on, Beslan demands truth -- (The Guardian)
Anger grows over Kremlin's official version of school siege.
Generosity... -- [Gun Line]
As you are no doubt aware, the folks in Louisiana, Mississippi, and surrounding states need our help...
Yes, so do our wounded war-fighters, but they would be the first to tell you that they can hold on a little longer, wheras the folks hit by Hurricane Katrina can't...
Val Prieto, at Babalu's Blog, promises a t-shirt for every $20.00 donation, and has links to the life-saving organizations that will be operating in the disaster area...
Nightmare -- [Baldilocks](pics)
It's Chaos and chaotic down South.
Food and drinkable water were scarce, forcing city officials to order nonessential people to evacuate. By afternoon, officials were also ordering rescue shelters to evacuate.
Katrina II: Aftermath -- [Florida Cracker](pics)
Authorities in New Orleans are going to soon find out what happens when you allow people into the Superdome with the understanding that they cannot leave until it is deemed safe to do so. I predict it's going to get ugly unless these people are cut loose. Then it'll get uglier when they are.
Some who are currently footloose and fancy-free in New Orleans are looting.
Even as conditions continue to degrade in New Orleans, so will the situation in the Superdome. Things got dicey ...
New Orleans and "Martial Law" -- [The Stupid Shall Be Punished]
Now I admit I haven't been watching TV, but I'm a little hesitant to fully believe the reports that New Orleans has been placed under "martial law" (or, as this local TV station says, "marshal law"). I've checked on both the Lousiana Governor's office website and the New Orleans city website and neither of them mention such an announcement. The New Orleans website has a blurb that says a "state of emergency" has been declared, but that's a long way from martial law, under which people are tried by military tribunals.
The Lickspittle Sycophant Responds -- [Balloon Juice]
As a bedtime gift for you, the angry and stupid left:
The absence of large portions of the Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama National Guards is dismissed as unimportant, because after all, 3,500 guards are available in LA, 1600 in MS, and 750 in AL?those numbers are perfectly sufficient! Or maybe not. Oh, and what about their equipment, trucks, helicopters, halftracks, and etc?
But even more, Trevino states ?Show me, please, that the funds were diverted specifically for the war; and that they would have averted the present disaster.?...
The Disaster Relief, Recovery, and Developmental Aid Process -- [Austin Bay]
I?ll be on Hugh Hewitt in a couple of minutes to talk about disaster relief. Here?s a column from early January which discusses the South Asian tsunami. It outlines the emergency response and disaster recovery process.
Strain of Iraq War Means the Relief Burden Will Have to Be Shared -- (Washington Post)...Ann Scott Tyson
With thousands of their citizen-soldiers away fighting in Iraq, states hit hard by Hurricane Katrina scrambled to muster forces for rescue and security missions yesterday -- calling up Army bands and water-purification teams, among other units, and requesting help from distant states and the active-duty military.
White House to Release Oil From Reserves -- (New York Post)...AP
WASHINGTON (AP) - Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman said Wednesday the Bush administration has decided to release oil from federal petroleum reserves to help refiners affected by Hurricane Katrina. The move, which was expected later in the day, is designed to give refineries in the Gulf Coast area a temporary supply of crude oil to take the place of interrupted shipments from tankers or offshore oil platforms affected by the storm...
Woman Gives Birth While Fleeing Katrina -- (New York Post) ...AP
CULLMAN, Ala. (AP) - A New Orleans woman has given birth while fleeing Hurricane Katrina. Donyelle Jean Jacques left New Orleans Saturday morning, one of 49 members of her family trying to flee. When the family is finally able to return, there will be 50. As the family drove north in an eight-car caravan in Alabama on Interstate 65, Jacques, who was pregnant and past her due date, started having labor pains. Her boyfriend, Wilbert Joseph, said he was scared as he drove the car that Jacques was in.
Charities, U.S. military mobilize to help -- (MSNBC)...Elizabeth Williamson and Ann Scott Tyson
Charities and the federal government launched what aid agencies predicted could be the longest and costliest relief effort in U.S. history, as workers began arriving last night in states devastated by Hurricane Katrina, and as the U.S. military organized an intensive response by already stretched National Guard and active duty forces.
Survivors tell of desperate struggles to survive -- (MSNBC)...Mike Brunker
The stories sounded remarkably similar, as survivors who tried to ride out Hurricane Katrina on Tuesday recounted their desperate attempts to climb higher and higher as the storm?s floodwaters rose inexorably to their eaves and beyond.
Looting, Fires And a Second Evacuation -- (Washinton Post)...Peter Whoriskey and Sam Coates
This exodus was even more desperate than the first.
As murky water surged around their homes from levee breaks undetected in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, families that had hunkered down for Monday's storm were forced Tuesday to climb first to their attics and then to their roofs in the hope of rescue by boat or helicopter.
HURRY UP AND KUWAIT -- [American Citizen Soldiers - in Iraq]
A retired Navy Seal whose physical conditioning class I had endured to prepare myself for basic training warned me that the hardest obstacle I would face in the military would be the ?hurry up and wait? mentality. Naturally, I asked him what he meant by this.
?It?s just like it sounds,? he told me. ?Hurry up and get your ass over here?there?anywhere! Let?s go! Let?s go! Let?s go! Okay, now that you've jumped through your ass, sit here and wait for three hours.?"
I grimaced; he laughed. ...
TERRORISM: OVER 40,000 EXTREMISTS POSE THREAT TO EUROPE, SAYS EXPERT --(AKI/DAWN)
Some 10,000 active supporters of the al-Qaeda terrorist network in the United Kingdom and 31,000 Islamic extremists in Germany pose a serious threat to the European security apparatus, according to an internationally recognised expert on terrorism, Rolf Tophoven. In a paper presented at the three-day seminar on "Global Terrorism" organised by the Institute of Regional Studies in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, Tophoven said a small minority of European Muslims were more than capable of attacking their own countries as part of the Jihad.
I need Rice Krispy Treats and Jelly Beans -- [Soldiers' Angel - Holly Aho]
Ok, if you would like to help with 2 requests from soldiers I have a request for jelly beans (would be fun to send him a ton...perhaps he can share with the Iraqi children), and Rice Krispy Treats. The second request, the one for Rice Krispy treats was from a soldier who said, "I am not looking for anything special, maybe just some rice krispy treats.Thank you for supporting the deployed soldiers." Now don't you just want to send him about 10 cases for being so sweet?!? Email me if you would like to help.
Other notes, I've mentioned before that Soldiers Angels receives messages from our troops on a daily basis and posts them on the member's only (angels only) message board, so that everyone who wants to can respond and help. I wanted to share 2 of them that particularly struck me just to give you an idea of the people Americans are helping to support.
A Letter from a "Regular" American Teenager to Our Heroes... -- [Iraq War News]
Dear American Soldiers,
My name is Ryan Kathleen P-----, and I am a seventeen year old girl, about to enter my senior year in high school. You don't know me, nor do you have any reason to. I'm just a regular teenager, going about life and doing what teenagers do. However, ...
A series of thank you?s. -- [The "Mike Golf's" OIF3 Blog - in Iraq]
While I have been here, I have received quite a few packages of support to pass out to the guys. Some of them from people whom I?ve never met and some of them with out even a card saying how they?d heard of me or why they felt the need to send something in my direction. Thank you. Your goods have been passed out to the boys.
To whoever started the subscription in my name to magazines that all the guys over here like to read. Stuff, Blender and Maxim. Thank you.
Bile -- [365 and a Wake Up] Editors Note: this is not the real John Travolta.
can you sleep good, f****n' murderer?
Sadly no, I don?t sleep all that well. Maybe it?s the heat, or just the stacatto missions, but I just haven?t been able to get a solid five hours of rest in the last few weeks. I?m sure you have been in the same situation once or twice. You know the whole ?laying in a sleeping bag in a combat zone, staring at the ceiling, half sick with the thought that there was something else you might have fit into your 20 hour day? thing...
Hating America -- [TigerHawk]
We do not spend a great deal of time on this blog deconstructing the moral cretinism of the American left, but sometimes it is hard to resist. LGF linked to this story in the San Mateo County Times, which rather matter-of-factly reported that sweet little 11-year old Hannah Stutz had won the kids division of an art contest sponsored by the Northern California 9/11 Truth Alliance.
I thought it would be interesting to look at the first prize winner of that contest, by Chuck Bowden. It is called "Sheeple Love Sadists."
You Will Know Them By Their Fruits (Mt. 7:16) -- [Froggy Ruminations]
Jesus spoke those words 2000 years ago in order to teach his disciples how to assess the motivations of people that they encounter in their ministries. Only God can know the heart of a man (Jer. 17:9-10) and truly peer into a person?s soul; we humans do not have this ability. Each of us believes that we KNOW when someone is being honest or that we can detect the motivations of our closest family and friends, but we cannot. The best we can do is to check the fruit that a person?s life or actions have borne. In other words, do the results of a person?s statements and actions match up with the purported goals of those statements and actions? Additionally, are those results (fruit) affecting a positive outcome, or are they causing bitterness, strife, pain, failure, or hatred?
Sheehan's Magical Mystery Ride -- [TBone's WAR JOURNAL]
Cindy Sheehan's campout in Texas has spawned a full-fledged bus ride of rose-colored glasses wearing idiots called the "Bring them home now tour". The "Bring Them Home Now Tour" folks have a website, so I had to check it out. This is how it described their mission.
New poll finds Bush Iraq ratings down --(Reuters)
WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush's approval rating slipped to a career low of 45 percent on concerns over the Iraq war and spiraling U.S. fuel prices, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll published on Tuesday.
Giuliani says to decide on White House run in 2006 -- (Reuters)
Former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani said on Wednesday he would decide next year whether to run as a Republican U.S. presidential candidate in 2008.
"I won't decide until next year," Giuliani
Rumsfeld Disses Media?s War Coverage (Exclusive Video)Blogged in Military -- [a Soldiers Perspective]
The Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld surprised us today with a visit to our humble post. I was fortunate enough to be invited to his speech. During his nearly 90 minute visit with troops and family members of deployed soldiers, Rumsfeld laid out his expectations of all military members; mainly that we stay aggressive and proactive in defeating terrorism worldwide and the insurgency in Iraq.
Come to the Real "Die-In" -- [FrontPage Magazine]
The following letter was written in response to a public "Die-In" held at the front gate of Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, this past April. Its author, Marc Fencil, would have been on campus at the time, but, as a Marine, he was stationed in Iraq. OU's official student publication, The Post, ran his letter on April 8, 2005. We were as inspired by his forthright invitation to the antiwar protestors as we are grateful for his service. If only every college student -- let alone professor -- were endowed with as much patriotism and common sense.
To the editor:
It's a shame that I'm here in Iraq with the Marines right now and not back at Ohio University completing my senior year and joining in blissful ignorance with the enlightened, war-seasoned protesters who participated in the recent "die-in" at College Gate. It would appear that all the action is back home, but why don't we make sure? That's right, this is an open invitation for you to cut your hair, take a shower, get in shape and come on over! If Michael Moore can shave and lose enough weight to fit into a pair of camouflage utilities, then he can come too!
LA Times on Tribalism - but they didn't notice -- [ROFASix]
The LA Times article is a bit unclear as it reports in the article, "Latino Groups to Fight Military Recruiting on Campuses," just what the real story is. Of course, I have an idea what it should have been about - tribalism.
The Los Angeles Times writes:
"Over There" -- [365 and a Wake Up - in Iraq]
Yesterday I received a care package with DVDs of the FX show ?Over There?, a series loosely based on the experiences of soldiers here in Iraq. As the day wound down my XO and 2LT Lucky drifted over to my room, both eager to watch this new series and how they depicted life here in Iraq. We sat down and spent the next hour in utter and complete awe. It was the most riveting hour of television I have ever seen, and by the end of the show I had tears in my eyes.
They were tears of laughter.
There's 'Over There' -- and there's the real thing. Soldiers who served in Iraq share ...
There's nothing funny about the new FX dramatic series, "Over There. " It's a gruesome depiction of men and women in combat. In Iraq. | So why were these men -- all comba...
OPSEC and Pandora's Box
Greyhawk at Mudville Gazette weighs in on the Schoomaker OPSEC memo, and his reference to blogs. Greyhawk notes a UPI Story out today, as it appeared in The Washington Times.
...I would certainly agree with Greyhawk's assessment. My freedom to blog is constrained by my Commander's assessment of how well I practice OPSEC. So far, so good. (And writing nice things about him has nothing to do with it.) My intent is indicated in my initial post on this issue. Each local Commander will have wide discretion in monitoring, censoring, or even shutting down blogs of Soldiers under their command. And some will no doubt be overcautious, timid, or reluctant to take any heat for a would-be journalist "embedded" in their unit.
Furthermore, ...
Latest Email From Iraq -- [Southern By Blog]
Always nice to get an email from the SPC to say thanks for the small contributions I send to help him and his mates out. Looks like the OPSEC meme that has been making around the milblogs has made it all the way down the chain of command too:
Thanks for the help, I really appreciate it. I received your latest package yesterday, and the contents were quickly put to good use. I'd have to say the timing couldn't be better. While I was on leave, it looked like there was no new items coming into the platoon food locker, but there were a lot of items coming out. When I left, it was pretty full, but when I returned, there were only a packages of noodles and a couple of cans of SPAM left. Sorry I really haven't had too much time to write, but things here have been very busy. A lot of things have made it into the news, some good, some bad, but because of all the news articles that get written, we end up with more training. The biggest concern right now is OPSEC. Apparently there have been some soldiers that violated OPSEC while writing in their blogs, emails and letters home. This creates a dangerous situation for us, as the enemy can read the entries and use that information against us or other units out here.
National & International Economics -- [GM's Corner]
There has been entirely too much carping over who has what, should wealth be tranferred between individuals/states, taxation schemes, etc. In the interests of bipartisan cooperation, I have, at great expense and time gathered the best and the brightest to help put together a primer on economics, both national and international. Read carefully, there will be a test next week.
(Need more? The previous Dawn Patrol is here.)
Welcome to the Dawn Patrol, our daily roundup of information on the War on Terror and other topics - from the MilBlogs, other blogs, and the mainstream media. 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. (We have a daily "Open Post" too, if you have something on another topic you can link there.)
Good News From Iraq -- [Alenda Lux]
Voter registration has picked up in full force in the lead up to the Constitutional referendum in October and the elections in December. Unlike in the run-up to the January elections earlier this year, only a handful of registration sites are closed due to security issues.
Iraq's constitution: the final discussions... -- [Iraq the Model - an Iraqi in Iraq]
Dr. Sallama Al-Khafaji (Assembly member from the SCIRI) announced 5 minutes ago on Al-Iraqia TV that many of the disputed points that were delaying the completion of the constitution have been solved and that the word "Party" (which the Sunni CDC members had objections on) was omitted from the clause that deals with deba'athification and now the clause refers to the Saddamist Ba'ath without calling it a "party"!
Iraqi Constitution first impressions [Phil and Becky - Phil's in Iraq]
I read the new Iraqi Constitution this afternoon. My first impression is that it is a pretty good document. Nothing jumped out at me as too off the wall, but I'm an agreeable guy. :)
I don't really have the mental energy right now to fully dive into a thorough description of what the new Constitution says. But here are some of the high points: ...
Sunday Forum Reeder's Feedback -- [Dave's World - receives dispatches from Matt in Iraq ]
No long-winded introduction today. We got a ton of thoughtful letters and questions related to last Sunday's Dispatches from Iraq piece, so let's get right into it. Please keep in mind that each letter is the opinion of the individual writer and is not necessarily endorsed by this web site:...
...An email from an anonymous reporter forwarded to the site:
...While we may not have a f--ing clue what it's like on over there, our soldiers have no f--ing clue what's going on over here. I do write stories about dead and wounded soldiers on a regular basis and I just wanted to tell you that this particular passage in the blog was bulls--....
...Anthony Munoz from Houston says:
...It's unthinkable that we would kill other human beings we don't even know.
And these people in Iraq, what do we know of their lives, save for what we see on TV and that is heavily monitored by our government? I believe the truth of the matter is that we, as Americans, have no idea how the rest of the world really lead their lives. How was can we presume to know that Iraqis want democracy when we can't possibly empathize with them?
Dispatch from the Front II -- [Peace Like A River]
Time now for another dispatch from the front. The first one in this series can be found here.
In this dispatch, I'll look at my correspondent's perspective on combat.
Time now for another dispatch from the front. The first one in this series can be found here.
In this dispatch, I'll look at my correspondent's perspective on combat.
For background, do read Michael Yon's latest report, Gates of Fire. Though Yon has written a great deal about the Deuce Four, there are many many units just like that one all over Iraq and Afghanistan, and events such as what Yon describe take place all the time.
First, let me point out my correspondent has given a great deal of thought to what he does, and why. Here, in his own words: ...
Lost in Translation -- [Major K - in Iraq]
The exchange of ideas can be a wonderful and fascinating process. It can also be very painstaking and frustrating. In training the new Iraqi Army, getting the message across is a very long and cumbersome process. I spend most of my time training the Senior Officers of the General Staff of the 6th Infantry Division. I am usually training men who are not only older than me, but of higher rank. In this war, every soldier has to be a little bit of a diplomat sometimes. I am now one most of the time.
The Sandbox Mailbox -- [Argghhh!]
...We found somebody. Or, rather, somebody found us. We're still working out some OPSEC details, but in the meantime, here's something you won't see in the MSM...
Care Package -- [Hurl's Blog]
A good friend named Dan sent me the most unusual care package. He and I used to spend many weekends out in the desert prospecting for gold and exploring old mines - so he sent me some reminders of the past - a box full of "dirt" and a pan....
Give up trying ? you can?t escape the dust -- [The 48th goes to war ajc.com - in Iraq]
It?s in your eyes. In your shoes. In your tent. In your sleeping bag. In your shower stall. It?s even in the coffee you just poured.
If the dust in Iraq could be spun into gold, every soldier in the Georgia Army National Guard?s 48th Brigade Combat Team would be an instant millionaire.
Another MEDCAP Mission -- [LostInIraq - in Iraq]
I?ve been busy and bored. I didn?t think that was possible. There?s not much to write about, so I figured I?d just check-in with everyone and send a couple pictures from the latest MEDCAP mission. (pics)
Home -- [Middle of Nowhere and Two Feet From Hell - in Iraq]
...There are some issues I have about going home. A little over a year ago, I left all I knew. I left my family, my job, and my life. Now, in a few months I have to do it all over again. I will leave all I have known for the last year or so. Will I be able to sleep without the sound of choppers and big booms? Will I be able to adjust to kids in the house? Will I be able to adjust going back to my job? This will be a big adjustment for me. Just as was coming over here. Anyways, I am glad I took this deployment. I have
Profiles: The LT -- [Dadmanly - in Iraq]
?Top, if I hadn?t been here, your head would have fallen off a long time ago!?
We have a Lieutenant (LT) who serves as our Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC) Executive Officer (XO) ? don?t you just love the way we military types make everything an acronym? And our LT is a character.
Internet Access -- [Watch your six - in Iraq]
I had no idea how hard it was going to be to get to a decent internet connection when i got over here. It really changes things when you have to put on all your shit and trek 500 meters to sit at a computer. I have a whole new-found respect for the milbloggers who blog from this theater (and from Afghanistan). Internet access is so commonplace in the states that most people don't realize how much dedication these bloggers have.
Michaelangelo -- [Life in the X Minor - in Iraq]
Scars. How many scars do we have. Superfical, mental, and spiritual. The essence of a scar is in its permanence. Forever. They have...become a part of us. As such, they define us. We are our laughter, our thoughts, spoken and silent, and so much more. Above all these, are our scars.
Where do we get these scars? Our enemies. It has been said that the only teachers who teach us anything worth learning and remembering are our enemies. Whether you ...
Stuck -- [Ramrod's Blog - in Iraq/Kuwait]
So already, we're delayed at Scannia. We were supposed to SP early this morning but the roads were getting lit up like christmas. Our CC was reading out what's been goin on: "Checkpoint **A IED, Checkpoint ** PIED, Checkpoint ** between ***and*** IED...and on and on." Maybe it's cause it's been a while since I've gone out on the road; what with leave and all that, but last night was pretty busy. Even by Camp Taji, there was a report of a chemical attack, where one soldier inhaled the stuff and it also burned his skin. I mean, chemical attack? What the hell...
Tough Times Ahead -- [Daves not Here - in Iraq]
The title of this post is not my own. I received what follows via email from CSM Samuel M Rhodes, Sr.
After being a part of this Operation, here in Iraq, over the last three years (since Apr 03) I find myself as the resident expert about a lot of things. The day to day business as usual is different for me based on my current experience level compared to those around me. As the heat started rising,...
Gateway to a Mosque - [Dave's Not Here - in Iraq]
(pic)
For President, Smaller Goals In Iraq And A Focus On The Process -- (New York Times)...Steven R. Weisman
As Iraq's draft constitution was presented to its National Assembly and honored at a brief ceremony largely boycotted by Sunnis, President Bush joined with others in his administration on Sunday in praising the charter as a milestone in the transition to democracy and the battle against insurgents.
U.S. Studies Report Its Soldiers Killed Journalist -- (New York Times)...Reuters
A soundman working for Reuters Television was shot dead Sunday in Baghdad, and a cameraman with him was wounded and then detained by United States soldiers. An Iraqi police report, read to Reuters by an Interior Ministry official, said the two had been shot by American forces.
Good News From Fallujah -- (New Hampshire Union Leader)...Michael Fumento
After crisscrossing Fallujah by foot and Humvee in May, I reported on tremendous progress being made to restore "the city we had to destroy to save." Actually, fighting left most of the town unscathed; most damage was from three decades of neglect under Saddam Hussein. And rebuilding began almost immediately.
Sadr Shows How To Win Hearts And Minds -- (London Daily Telegraph)...Salih al-Qaisi and Oliver Poole
Twelve months ago the centre of Najaf resounded to the sound of gunfire as American forces overwhelmed fanatical Shia guerrillas who had seized control of the holy city.
People Skills A Part Of Army Captain's Arsenal -- (Philadelphia Inquirer)...Richard Chin
...Sallee is a believer in winning the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people. He hopes they will become helpful eyes and ears in the hunt for terrorists.
Buffalo Roams The Battlefield To Protect Soldiers From Mines -- (Washington Times)...W. Thomas Smith Jr.
When U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Keith Kempke returns to Iraq to find and destroy land mines and improvised explosive devices, he'll be supported by a growing fleet of new armored vehicles such as the Buffalo and the Cougar.
Iraqis Finish Draft Charter That Sunnis Vow to Defeat -- (The Washington Post)...Jonathan Finer and Omar Fekeiki
...Members of the committee that convened in May to write the document ended their official duties by signing the draft and sending it to the National Assembly, where it was read aloud to members. Some Sunnis, who had unsuccessfully sought the elimination of a clause allowing power to be devolved from the central government to autonomous regions, walked out while the draft was read.
Draft Clearly Shows Points Of Contention -- (Los Angeles Times)...Borzou Daragahi
Built atop the still-smoldering debris of Saddam Hussein's decades-long rule, Iraq's draft constitution is a document born of past grievances and future hopes. It has features that will delight social democrats while angering feminists, and encourage some of Iraq's minorities while enraging others.
Marines engaged in war of attrition -- (Seattle Times)
FALLUJAH, Iraq ? Insurgents in Anbar province, the center of guerrilla resistance in Iraq, have fought the U.S. military to a stalemate
Iraq war is not winnable, says expert -- (Dawn)
WASHINGTON, Aug 28: Like Vietnam, the war in Iraq is not winnable because there are no clear military targets to achieve, says an article published in The Washington Post on S...
Heat -- [Going down Range - in Afghanistan]
It is a bit hot around here. The first type of heat is the type that the US and Coalition Forces are putting on the Taliban and al Qaeda overlords. Right now there have been a few casualties here in Afghanistan, but it is not widely reported that the Taliban has taken a lot of hits. Most of the heat is in a few provinces and the rest of the Afghanistan is cool and peaceful. All the locals know what the Taliban stands for-they were in power and ran the country like feudal fiefdom. The local populace will decide who will win by voting and not being intimated by the Taliban. The parliamentary election will be held on the 18th of September. Actually the Taliban is ...
Gratuitous Afghanistan Photo of the Day (68) -- [Miserable Donuts]
What happens when you put a 'Prop on a camel? Personally, I think the expression on the camel's face is priceless...
Afghan Candidate Dies In An Ambush; Taliban Is Blamed -- (Philadelphia Inquirer)...Daniel Cooney, Associated Press
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said yesterday that he was optimistic that next month's legislative elections would be peaceful, but ongoing pre-vote violence left one candidate dead and three U.S. troops wounded.
India, Afghanistan to cooperate in fight against terrorism -- (Khaleej Times)
KABUL - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Afghan president Hamid Karzai on Sunday expressed their commitment to working together to ensure that Afghanistan would not again become a safe haven...
Afghanistan condemns "lenient" U.S. military verdicts in prisoner abuse trials -- (Tehran Times)...(AFP)
| KABUL - Afghanistan on Saturday condemned as too lenient the jail terms of up to three months each for two U.S. soldiers whose abuse of Afghan detainees led to...
Taliban commander killed in clash: U.S -- (Reuters)
KABUL (Reuters) - U.S. forces have killed a senior Taliban commander responsible for a spate of attacks in southern Afghanistan, the U.S. military said on Monday.
The Land of Oz -- [From the Halls to the Shores - in Australia]
I shall tell you a story? a story with such power and raw emotion, that it may very well spoil relations between two nations which have been steadfast allies for many years? a story I shall simply call:
Will This Ever End? -- [GI Korea Blog - in S Korea]
Topic: Korea-Japan Stuff
It seems like the bickering between Korea and Japan will never end. The latest squabble is that South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun said last week that the 1965 treaty between Japan and Korea does not absolve Japan of the responsibility to pay compensation to war crimes victims. However, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi sees it differently. He believes that the 1965 treaty does end all claims to compensation because the Korean government at the time could of given the $800 million dollars that Japanese gave Korea to the individual victims but chose to instead use it for economic development. Here is a passage from today's Chosun I think really sums up this whole controversy well: ...
Carnival of the Revolutions, 29 August 2005 -- [One Free Korea]
Welcome to the Carnival of the Revolutions edition for August 29th. Hosting next week's edition (Sept. 5) will be Thinking-East; next up (Sept. 12) is Quid Nimis.
URGENT: Russia welcomes North Korea's decision to continue nuclear -- (RIA Novosti, Russia)
MOSCOW, August 29 (RIA Novosti) - Russia welcomes North Korea's decision to continue the six-party nuclear program talks in mid-September, a diplomatic source ...
Egyptian intelligence chief meets Abbas, militants -- (Reuters)
GAZA (Reuters) - Egypt's intelligence chief met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and militant factions on Monday in a bid to coordinate security and border issues ahead of Israel's planned troop pullout from the occupied Gaza Strip.
Another chapter yet written -- [American Soldier - back from Iraq]
...Just like them, I didn?t need to re-enlist. I did it because in this day and age, where there is so much unpredictability, there needs to be Soldiers who will stand to defend our beloved country and freedoms. No matter if you are a supporter or not, you can count on a Soldier to preserve what many people take for granted. Freedom!
Re-enlisting - 27 August 2005 -- [Doghostage - back from Iraq]
Here's a pic from my recent re-enlistment ceremony. (pic)
Chief of staff: 'We're a heck of a long way from breaking the Army' -- (Stars and Stripes)...Lisa Burgess
ARLINGTON, Va. ? The long war in Iraq may be testing the all-volunteer Army, but the service is ?a long way from being what anybody would call dire straits,? Gen. Peter Schoomaker, the Army?s chief of staff, said Thursday.
'Wonderful Time To Be A Soldier' -- (Washington Times)...Joe Roche
I'm very proud to be a soldier of the U.S. Army because of the war on terror and our missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. I'm not alone either. I'm surrounded by soldiers who are re-enlisting and volunteering to go to units that are deploying. In fact, despite all the negative news and protests, I see everyday that our military is actually doing very well.
Killing Soldiers to Save Lives -- [A Soldier's Perspective]
I?ve been asked how exactly we train soldiers here on IEDs. How do we decide who to target? How often do we lay the IEDs? How do we decide who?s injured and who?s killed from the blast? What happens to injured soldiers after the IED goes off? Well, sit back and prepare for your lesson on how we do what we do to prepare soldiers for the reality of combat operations. I want everyone to understand how a training event works and how we?re getting soldiers prepared for real life combat.
A Wise View on the Death of a Soldier in Battle --[Jammed Gun]
Contra the histrionic MSM ballyhooing of Cindy Sheehan's (disgraceful, "lights-camera-action") boo-hooing her son's death in the Iraq War, here is philosophical piece by a World War II vet who says that the death of a soldier in battle is NOT tragic -- it is part of the bargain a soldier makes when he signs up.
(Notice the author pointedly says "he"? I suspect that he -- like me -- is less than pleased by the creeping, pervasive feminization of the US military . . .
Trivia Tidbit Of The Day: Part 151 -- Peacetime Military Casualties. -- [WILLism]
War and Peace-
From 1983 to 1996, more than 18,000 soldiers died. That averages to more than 1,300 a year, far more than have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan each year.
Read Sgt. Joe Roche's entire op-ed in The Washington Times.
HAHAHAHA -- [Trying to Grok]
Stop the presses -- there's a draft going on in the military!!!!
The New Bin Laden? -- (Time)...Bruce Crumley
...It's hard to separate the man from the mythology, but recent European intelligence reports reviewed by TIME suggest that al-Zarqawi's al-Qaeda franchise is expanding far beyond Iraq and that he now rivals Osama bin Laden in influence among Middle Eastern and European jihadists.
Preparing For An Attack: Will U.S. Be Hit Again? -- (Miami Herald)...Sharon Cohen, Associated Press (Link coming soon)
While training to thwart a terrorist attack goes on, it isn't clear that the conditions for new strikes in this country are as ripe as in some other places.
Anti-War or just Anti-Human? -- [A North American Patriot]
Holy crappers! Just when I thought the celebrities-against-the-war crowd couldn't scrape the bottom of the stench pile any further, now comes the announcement that Jane Fonda is teaming up with George Galloway on his I couldn't be more pathetic tour
More Code Pink -- [Counter Column]
Missed it before, but here's Code Pink openly endorsing those who kill U.S. servicemen and untold numbers of Iraqis:
Don't walk on my grave -- [ Thise Wacky Iraqis - in Iraq]
One of the Marine mothers who is becoming vocal in support of the war stated that her son told her that if he died he did not want her to be another Cindy Sheehan. He told her, "Don't walk on my grave." He feels like 99% of us over here do. We still believe in the mission and can see the small daily changes. We wonder why our own media wants so badly to make this all go wrong.
Hundreds Come To Honor Soldiers, Drown Out Protesters -- (Nashville Tennessean)...Natalia Mielczarek and Kate Howard
...Nora Farmer Creighton is the mother of a soldier, and she watched the Reese funeral procession pass in Ashland City. "That mother and father are burying their baby boy. They don't need this," said Creighton, referring to protesters from a Kansas church who preach that casualties in Iraq are God's way of punishing America for being dominated by homosexuals.
Sharpton Adds Voice to Antiwar Protest -- (The Washington Post)... Sam Coates
CRAWFORD, Tex., Aug. 28 -- Al Sharpton, the civil rights activist and former presidential candidate, rallied antiwar protesters here Sunday, drawing comparisons with the civil rights movement on this anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.
Venezuela's Chavez Gets Support of Rev. Jackson -- (The Washington Post)...AP
CARACAS, Venezuela, Aug. 28 -- Jesse Jackson offered support for President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela on Sunday, saying that a call for his assassination by a U.S. religious broadcaster was a criminal act and that the United States and Venezuela should work out their differences through diplomacy.
My First Anniversary -- [Dadmanly - in Iraq]
I'll be flap doodled.
I was searching for an old post I remember from early on, and it turns out yesterday was the One Year Anniversary of my very first post on my blog.
A HOT DAY WITH NO ELECTRICITY -- [Dixie Sappers - Kevin Kelly - in Iraq]
...Today is my 12 year anniversary and I wish I was back home even more now. I just hope to get home safe and sound so I can be there next year. You really don't think about things that you miss until after it gets here. Thinking of Easter, Memorial Day, birthdays, 4th of July, anniversary and a lot of other things. Man, that is enough to really get someone depressed, but I got something in my email today that made me smile and cry at the same time. I think it was one of the cutest things I've seen. I just wish I could have seen it in person. Next year. I've attached the picture that I got this evening.
Bush Shrinks Iraq Goals: Smaller Mass Graves -- [ScrappleFace]
(2005-08-29) -- President George Bush, in the face of Iraq's frustrating constitutional negotiations, persistent insurgent attacks and his own plummeting domestic popularity, today announced that he has reduced expectations for the outcome of U.S. policy toward Iraq.
Sunday Funnies -- [Stop the ACLU]
Some fun and funny links from around the blogosphere in the past week.
The Conservative UAW GuyCarnival Of Comedy
Point Five reports on Pat Robertson?s apology for praying to the wrong Jesus. He also has the First horrifying images from the Al Qaeda Media Jihad.
Poliblogger has The Great Emoticon Debate.
Phin has found a new level of geekness. He also has some great parenting moments to be proud of. ....
(Need more? The previous Dawn Patrol is here.)
Welcome to the Dawn Patrol, our daily roundup of information on the War on Terror and other topics - from the MilBlogs, other blogs, and the mainstream media. 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. (We have a daily "Open Post" too, if you have something on another topic you can link there.)
Breaking News. -- [Iraq the Model - an Iraq in Iraq]
I was just about to go to bed when I saw the breaking news on Al-Iraqia TV announcing that an agreement has finally been reached on the draft of the constitution.
Update:...
Iraq - Red Cross chief reveals they hid and medically treated 4 terrorists in order to free two kidnapped Italian women. -- [NEW MILBLOGGER! - Foreign Object Damage]
Link"> jueves 25 de agosto de 2005
In an interiview in the Italian daily "La Stampa" Maurizio Scelli disclosed that in order to secure the release of two Italian hostages, Simona Torretta i Simona Pari in September 2004, they secretly treated four terrorists who had been wounded in combat with US troops. Scelli also stated that the Italian civil, military, and intelligence authorities were aware of the operation.
From the ruin, an Iraqi Army is fabricated - Part V -- [Live in Iraq]
Day 5: 'It all comes together'
It was a long week for the Iraqi soldiers and instructors alike and both groups looked forward to the completion of the class today. Only one final hurdle remained to be jumped.
LCpl. Tim delivered a final class on setting up personnel and vehicle check points before the we gave the soldiers the rest of the morning off to prepare for a final field training exercise.
"The last day of training is the best time to see everything we've taught them.
Modern medicine -- [MREater - in Iraq]
Today a couple of soldiers told me about one of their many visits to the hospital in Kirkuk. They didn?t exactly describe things as I am here, and they saw this stuff over several visits, but for the ease of telling I?m going to write it as one visit. All the facts and info came from the soldiers. I just added the narrative.
Wake up call -- [Who's your Baghdaddy? - in Iraq]
My alarm clock went off this morning, and as usual I habitually hit the snooze button. About three minutes later we all woke to the sound of mortar rounds impacting. Needless to say I got up without hitting the snooze button anymore and headed straight for the bunker. Looks like there were a few injuries, but nothing serious. Everyone is okay.
IEDs down 20 percent?!? -- [Counter Column]
General Rodriguez lays it out.
Q General, Sandra Erwin with National Defense. Can you tell us what kind of IED -- what is the level of IED attacks that you see in your area? We heard from General LaFontaine last week that the attacks have doubled. Can you give us a sense of what kinds of threats do you see now in your area from the IEDs?
On the blink.. -- [Major K - in Iraq]
My Toshiba laptop is in the process of dying on me at the ripe old age of 10 months. The motherboard is failing to recognize the keyboard. So, I just wanted to drop a quick line from the internet cafe here to say Salaam Alikumm. I will type more later.
Familiarity Leads To War Support -- (Miami Herald)...Will Lester, Associated Press
People with friends or relatives serving in Iraq are more likely than others to have a positive view of a generally unpopular war, an AP-Ipsos poll found.
?Gap? in Iraq views alarms Myers -- (Dawn.com)
| WASHINGTON, Aug 26: Gen Richard Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, expressed concern on Friday about a ?growing gap? between the US public?s perception of the war on Iraq and that of ... (photo: US DoD
Rallying The Troops And Avoiding Reality -- (Washington Post)...Colbert I. King
...What's the value of Americans giving their lives so that cleric-dominated Shiites and northern Kurds can get their hands on political power and oil revenue? Why are American women and men sacrificing lives and limbs in a country where women may have to settle for less? Stay the course. What course? So religious-based militia can divvy up the northern and southern portions of the country? So Islam can be enshrined as a principal source of new Iraqi legislation?
Pro-Saddam march -- (Dawn.com)...Reuters
| BAGHDAD, Aug 26: Thousands marched in adoring praise of Iraq?s deposed leader Saddam Hussein on Friday, offering a stark display of the loss of power and leadership felt by some of Iraq?s Sunnis
Breakthrough for Iraqi constitution -- (NY Post)...
Prodded by President Bush, Iraqi leaders have reached a "deal in principle" on a draft constitution, the speaker of parliament said yesterday.
Shiites And Kurds Halt Charter Talks With Sunnis -- (New York Times)...Dexter Filkins and James Glanz
Shiite and Kurdish leaders drafting a new Iraqi constitution abandoned negotiations with a group of Sunni representatives on Friday, deciding to take the disputed charter directly to the Iraqi people.
Iraqi Shiites Vow To Submit Charter -- (Washington Post)...Jonathan Finer and
...Also Friday, the U.S. military said it launched multiple strikes with F-18 fighter jets against a house in the western town of Husaybah that local informants said was sheltering about 50 suspected insurgents from the group al Qaeda in Iraq. The military said the number of casualties had not been determined.
U.S. military releases 1,000 prisoners in Iraq -- (SwissInfo)...Reuters
BAGHDAD - The U.S. military said on Saturday it had freed 1,000 detainees from Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison at the Baghdad government's request, the largest release to date.
18 Taliban killed -- [Afghan Lord - Afghani in Afghanistan]
The Defence Ministry Friday claimed the Afghan and US-led coalition forces had killed 18 militants in the southern Kandahar and Uruzgan provinces.
The ministry's spokesman Zahir Azimi told Pajhwok Afghan News 10 militants were gunned down following joint operations by the Afghan National Army and the coalition forces in the Ghorak and Khakrez districts of the Kandahar province.
Top U.S. officer faults leaders on terrorism war stakes -- (Reuters) ...Jim Wolf
WASHINGTON - The top U.S. military officer faulted U.S. political leaders on Friday for failing to get across what he portrayed as the huge stakes in Iraq and elsewhere in the ...
Two Japanese teachers missing in Afghanistan -- (The News International)
TOKYO: Two Japanese teachers have been missing in Pakistan and Afghanistan since arriving there on holidays three weeks ago, authorities said on Friday. The man and a woman arrived in Karachi on Aug...
India renews historic Afghan ties -- [BBC News...Sanjoy Majumder]
When Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh steps off his aircraft in Afghanistan on Sunday, he will be hoping to strengthen his country's historic ties with that country. | It is the first visit to the...
Ingushetia Prime Minister Survives Assassination Attempt -- [Foreign Object Damage]
An assassination attempt was made against the Prime Minister of Ingushetia, Ibrahim Malsagov on Thursday beside a railroad station in Nazran. His bodyguard was killed, and the head of the government and two other bodyguards were seriously wounded and taken to hosptals. They are expected to survive.
There were two explosive devices placed 10-15 meters apart, one went off when Malsagov?s car came out of his drive onto the road.
This is the third terrorist attack in Ingushetia in the last week.
Suspect in London Attacks Arrested in Thailand -- [Counterterrorism Blog]
Thai immigration authorities announced today that they have apprehended an Algerian wanted by British authorities in conjunction with the 7/7 attacks. A report in Thailand?s English-language daily, The Nation, states that Atamnia Yachine (33) was arrested in Thailand after a tip off regarding fake travel documents. He was
BOSNIA: INTERVIEW: AL-QAEDA NOW SEEKING YOUNG HEARTS AND MINDS -- (AKI)
Belgrade, 26 August - The al-Qaeda terror network is active in Bosnia and the wider Balkans region, but is changing tactics and primarily fighting for the hearts and minds of the local Muslim population, according to a leading Serbian terrorism expert, Darko Trifunovic, a professor at Belgrade University's civil defence faculty. Training is now being conducted in small groups in elementary schools and sports halls, in the guise of social and sports activities,...
With Only Reputations At Stake, Talk On C.I.A. Report Turns To How Much To Publish
(New York Times)...Scott Shane
With a report this week apportioning blame at the C.I.A. for intelligence failures before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the fight over who did what before the hijackers struck is increasingly about history.
Military 'Spied' On Rice -- (New York Post)...Niles Lathem
Cyber-sleuths working for a Pentagon intelligence unit that reportedly identified some of the 9/11 hijackers before the attack were fired by military officials, after they mistakenly pinpointed Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other prominent Americans as potential security risks, The Post has learned.
An Outsider's Quick Rise To Bush Terror Adviser -- (Washington Post)...Susan B. Glasser and Peter Baker
...From the low-ceilinged, windowless confines of a basement office in the West Wing, Townsend runs President Bush's far-flung campaign against terrorism. Her two predecessors were four-star generals who brought decades of experience to the fight. Townsend, 43, a former mob prosecutor, has a different credential -- the president's ear.
9/11 Seen As Sparking Arab Economic Boom -- (Washington Times)...Jim Krane, Associated Press
The September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks are increasingly viewed in the oil-rich Arab countries of the Persian Gulf as the catalyst for an economic boom when Arabs divested from America and reinvested at home.
The Eagle Has Landed -- [Waynes World 2005]
About 1:20 this morning, 400 soldiers landed at DFW Airport to begin their 15 days of rest and recuperation.
?I bet I didn?t sleep one hour during the entire 12-hour flight from Frankfort,? Wayne said when we talked to him at sun-up this morning. ?After we landed, it seemed like it took forever to get through customs until I could go see my sweetie. As soon as I rounded the corner, Lauren was the first person I saw. I dropped everything, ran to meet her and lifted her off the ground. Everybody else started clapping, cheering and whistling. It was great.?
SELF PORTRAIT FRIDAY -- [Keep My Soldier Safe]
THIS RIDE WAS FOR YOU NOAH
Our Soldier's R&R was wonderful he says...I sure hated to see him go back. I was getting use to him being around again, and it sure was nice. (Even the washing your clothes Michael)
DC Freeps Take Back Walter Reed -- [The Gunn Nitt](pics)(pics)(pics)
Tonight I attended my very first "protest rally", or rather an "anti-protest, Support the Troops Rally" with the DC FreeRepublic people at Walter Reed Army Medial Center in NW Washington. These guys and gals rule! We had a great time and the commie-pinko-America hating-tards were total losers.
I can feel the support from here -- [A Strom in Afghanistan - in Afghanistan]
There's a blogger out there, Mr. Andrew Sullivan, who's trying to get bumper sticker suggestions.
One of his that he's posted is: One of his that he's posted is: How Many Soldiers-per-Gallon Does Your SUV Get?...
Part II... -- [NVG-Man Home-thejman021 - in Iraq]
...In my last post, I started off by talking about someone who gave off the appearance of supporting the troops, but really did not care one bit. In this post, I will start off by talking about two people who have permanent yellow ribbons imprinted on their hearts.
Jacki Preissler and Vicki Grochowski out of Illinois have sent care package after care package to soldiers fighting overseas. Vicki was in a rush for about a week or so back in June in order to get special care packages sent to my platoon by the fourth of July. In them contained a chillow. If you?re not familiar with a chillow, it?s like a thin insert that you put in between your pillow and pillow cover that keeps your head cool when you lay down. You fill it with water and it stays cool for months. Believe me. Out here, after working out in the sun, or doing some good quality PT with SFC Kohutka, you can?t wait to go back to the barracks and lay down and cool off. Jacki and I first started corresponding shortly after I returned to Iraq from leave. I still had felt pretty disheartened by that manager at Shopper?s, but Jacki?s care package was like a breath of fresh air.
This explains a lot. -- [Assumption of Command - in Iraq]
There are a few people, groups and organizations in the country that I do not want supporting me. For example: ...
One Radio Show Down...One To Go! (and something funny about Air America) -- [Soldiers' Angel - Holly Aho]
I just wanted to share my first experience on the radio. It was really great. The radio show was broadcast live from the Minnesota State Fair, and people could sit and watch from the benches out front. After the show was over people came up to me asking how to get involved in personally supporting our troops. They wanted more information and it was GREAT! It was not scary at all like I feared and I don't think I sounded like a big dork (I hope).
America - Toasting the Troops -- [USS Neverdock]
As I recently reported all accross America, Americans show their appreciation for our troops by picking up the tab at bars and dinners.
An Enjoyable Evening with Supporters of Our Troops -- [Andi's World]
...It was a great evening, though I hope there's not a need to go back, I would love to see CODEPINK stand down and let our troops heal in peace. I'll just say that a little bit of media exposure went a long way as the pro-troops crowd was very large tonight.
Hating Our Troops American Style --[Froggy Ruminations]
Well I think we can pretty much dispense with the whole ?Support the Troops but not the War? load of crap. What must it be like to look in the mirror after spending a long day outside Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington DC mocking and tormenting wounded soldiers? This is d骠 vu all over again when the parents of these contemptible slime were calling the parents of fallen soldiers in Vietnam and telling them how glad they were that their ?baby killer? son had died.
Girl Scouts To Ship Cookies To Soldiers -- (Honolulu Advertiser)...Suzanne Roig
Thousands of citizen-soldiers serving with the Hawai'i Army National Guard in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan will receive a sweet reminder of home next month when 3,000 boxes of donated Girl Scout cookies arrive in the mail.
Committee Spares Air Force Base In South Dakota -- (New York Times)...David S. Cloud
...Although much of the Defense Department's plan for closing or shrinking hundreds of bases emerged from the review intact, the panel, the Base Closure and Realignment Commission, overturned several of the plan's largest pieces, preventing the Pentagon from moving dozens of submarines, hundreds of aircraft and thousands of military personnel to new locations around the country in coming years.
S.D., N.M. Air Force Bases Get Reprieve -- (Washington Post)...Bradley Graham
The independent base-closing commission overruled Pentagon plans yesterday to shut two major Air Force bases in South Dakota and New Mexico, setting back Air Force efforts to consolidate its B-1 bomber fleet but preserving thousands of jobs in the states involved.
In Final Slap To Pentagon, Bases Are Spared In S. Dakota, New Mexico -- (Los Angeles Times)...John Hendren
Continuing to defy Pentagon proposals, the military base closure commission Friday spared South Dakota's B-1 bomber base and rejected the proposed shutdown of a major Air Force base in New Mexico.
Panel Votes To Make Pope An Army Air Field -- (Fayetteville (NC) Observer)...Henry Cuningham
The Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission unanimously accepted an alternate proposal on Friday afternoon to turn Pope Air Force Base over to the Army with an Air Force presence that is smaller than what the base has now and larger than what the Pentagon recommended.
Air Guard Won't Get F-15s From 3 States -- (Philadelphia Inquirer)...Donna De La Cruz, Associated Press
A federal panel yesterday rejected a Pentagon plan to send 24 F-15s from other parts of the country to the New Jersey Air National Guard 177th Fighter Wing outside Atlantic City.
Connecticut Governor Vows Court Fight Over Planned Transfer Of Jets From Base -- (New York Times)...William Yardley
Gov. M. Jodi Rell said Friday that she would go to court to oppose the planned transfer of fighter jets from the Bradley Air National Guard base, saying that the 15 A-10 Warthogs affected were crucial to the state's homeland defense and that federal law required her permission to make the transfer.
BRAC OKs Changes For Guam Bases -- (Pacific Daily News (Guam))...Steve Limtiaco
The military's plans for Guam's Air Force and Navy bases were approved by the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission yesterday without changes.
Okinawa Leaders Blast Report Calling For Current Levels Of U.S. Troops -- (Pacific Stars and Stripes)...David Allen and Chiyomi Sumida
While some U.S. communities are adjusting to base closures being announced by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission in Washington this week, Okinawa officials are upset about another committee?s report that recommends maintaining current force levels on Okinawa.
What A Fool Believes -- [Florida Cracker]
For two years a newspaper in Carbondale, Illinois ran the sad letters of a little girl named Kodee Kennings to her father in Iraq. She begs him not to die. He does. Sometimes she also wrote letters to President Bush:
"I'm rily mad at you and you make my hart hurt,"' she purportedly wrote in one published letter to the president. "I don't think your doing a very good job. You keep sending soldiers to Iraq and it's not fair. Do you have a soldier of your own in Irak?"
It was all a hoax.
With Cheese has the story.
Back to Haditha -- [The Fourth Rail - Bill Roggio]
It is time to revisit the Guardian?s claim that Haditha is a jihadi ?citadel? along the lines of Fallujah of old. Soldier?s Dad points us the recent issue of This Week in Iraq, a newsletter published by Multinational Forces Iraq, which helps refute two of the claims in the article: Haditha is not being patrolled, and the insurgents control the output from the Haditha Dam
Jennifer Loven Strikes Again -- [2Slick's Forum]
I've written about her before.
Google her name and you'll find a long list of indictments that leave no doubt- this woman is nothing more than a card-carrying Bush-basher who (poorly) disguises herself as a legitimate "news person."
Life imitates art -- [Veterans Support Our Troops]
From Cox and Forkum on August 14: (pic)
From Free Republic ten days later: (pic)
Bush's war -- [Cadillac Tight]
KOS:
Know how conservatives love to use those maps showing areas that voted Republicans, and those that voted Democrats?
What would they say about this map? (pic of map)
Well, what I'd say is that higher densities of population in the areas Kos is trying to designate as "Blue" states naturally leads to more enlistments, and thus a higher percentage of casualties from those areas.
What Kos wants to push here though is the old tired meme of ...
War Supporters are. . . Morons??!!: Fisking Robert Crook -- [Reasoned Audacity]
His name is Robert Crook. And, if you support the President, and the war in Iraq, he says you are a "moron."
Iraq war protester says to shift focus to Congress (Reuter)...Jeremy Pelofsky
CRAWFORD, Texas - Iraq war protester Cindy Sheehan, whose vigil near President George W. Bush's Texas ranch has become a symbol for the anti-war movement, said on Friday she plans to focus on Congress, starting with House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Bush ally and fellow Texan
Good idea, Boq! -- [Argghhh!]
And, a WARNO (warning order) for milbloggers who still hold clearances.
There was a new "CSA Sends" that went out two days ago if you want to go find it in your AO. Alternatively, log in to AKO, do a search on "CSA and VCSA OPSEC Guidance " and it will pop right up.
Can't post it because it has an FOUO marking on it.
Bottom line is - the Army in general (and the Chief specifically addresses blogs, too) are blowing OPSEC in postings and on the UNCLAS networks. An example we unwittingly abetted here at the Castle is the TF160 email I posted. Unknown to me, the email contained a Code Word reference (elided when it was pointed out to me by someone who *did* know) - but things like that, and more, is what General Schoomaker is talking about - building on the M1 Tank photos debacle of a couple of years ago. Those I did sit on (getting scooped by Matt at Blackfive because of it, waaaaah!) because I couldn't believe they weren't at *least* FOUO. Turned out they should have been, but once they hit the Internet the Army had no choice but to let that one roll over.
Blogging and OPSEC -- [Dadmanly - in Iraq]
Operations Security (OPSEC) is a critical concept in warfare, and vital in our efforts against a well organized, patient, and secret enemy that can take maximum advantage of our transparency and press freedoms while easily denying us an equivalent advantage against them.
I have just received through multiple official channels a warning from the highest military officials, which should have received the widest dissemination possible. I would be virtually certain that any active duty, reserve or guard military member in a leadership position has received it as well.
More OPSEC Guidance -- [Blackfive]
The Chief of Staff of the Army has sent out new guidance regarding Military blogs and Operational Security (OPSEC). Below is the message from General Peter Schoomaker as it was sent to me. The message below that one is from February:...
Gen Schoomaker Warns on Photo's -- [ROFASix]
The Chief of Staff ot the Army Gen Schoomaker has issued new operational security guidance or repeated some old guidance depending on your point of view. MilBloggers especially need to pay attention. It appears the CSA and the Vice have in essence declared war on photos coming out of the battlefield.
The complete message can be found here.
Managing Trolls In The Blogosphere -- [GM's Corner]
What to do with TROLLS? That is a question plaguing bloggers from day one, handling those people who do not contribute to the conversation, rather hurl invective, make ad hominem attacks, challenge rather than discuss and otherwise make a nuisance of themselves. Some bloggers, like LaShawn Barber have decided to cut out comments entirely, and she had plenty of justification for doing so. She was called so many vile names by trolls that any self respecting sailor would blush and disown the language that made the clich頦amous.
250,000th R&R Soldier -- [NEW MILBLOGGER! - The Fast Squirrel]
The Digital Video and Imagery Distribution System has the following about the 250,000th R&R Soldier.
Corporal James Holcombe, the 250,000th R&R Soldier, arrives at the Atlanta-Hartsfield International Airport from Iraq for his two weeks of rest and relaxation. Scenes include Soldiers leaving to go overseas, CPL Holcombe arriving, taking pictures with volunteers from the USO, shaking hands and talking to volunteers and VIPs in the conference room, a ...
The video of him is here. Lucky S.O.B.!
Congratulations BOLC II Grads -- [NEW MILBLOGGER! -The MI Guy]
Congrats to the BOLC II 2005 pilot graduates on completing a course that demanded our flexibility and adapability all the way to the end. On the second to last day of the course we had our dining in. There was an incredibly alcoholic grog (16 kinds of alcoholic beverages in one bowl), entertaining skits that pulled no punches imitating the course and cadre, and a dance-off to decide which platoon had the best skit. No kidding. A dance-off.
(Need more? The previous Dawn Patrol is here.)
Welcome to the Dawn Patrol, our daily roundup of information on the War on Terror and other topics - from the MilBlogs, other blogs, and the mainstream media. 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. (We have a daily "Open Post" too, if you have something on another topic you can link there.)
Encounters -- [An Average Iraqi - an Iraqi in Iraq]
...Yesterday I met a very interesting guy, he was taken as a prison in the Iraq-Iran war, he was taken prisoner on 1981, then release on 2002. Imagine 21 years as a prisoner. He told me that there was only two ways you could get released. The first was in a prisoners switch which happened a few times between the two countries, but not all the prisoners were released. The second way was to enlist at Bader Regiment, but no one would be accepted unless he had killed 5 other Iraqi prisoners, how brutal. Then the prisoner would be released to enlist with Bader Regiment and would fight for them. Now this regiment is in Iraq and supported by Iran, it's main task is to kill Sunis, and has been doing so since the end of the war. It is being supported by the Irani Islamic party, but right now it is in a big fight with Al Sadr forces, plus ...
Support Al-Sadr -- [Baghdad Dweller - an Iraqi in the Netherlands]
Right now there is a fierce battle in Najaf and explosions in Baghdad, between Badr organization and Sadr followers after Badr orginization set Sadr office on fire.
later sadr followers attacked the offices of Badr orginization in Baghdad, reports says Al-Sadr follower are gathering by the mosques in Baghdad waiting for o
