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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.
WINNING: Really, Really Trusting Iraqis -- [Strategy Page]
October 31, 2008: Yet another sign that peace has come to Iraq. The U.S. is beginning to replace foreign workers with Iraqis. The foreign contractors are cheaper than soldiers, mainly because most of them are unskilled labor from countries with very low pay scales. These civilians still make several times what they could back home, if they could find a job back home.
Coalition Forces Capture Wanted Men, Additional Suspects -- [Defense Link]
Coalition forces further debilitated al-Qaida in Iraq networks during operations yesterday and today, capturing four wanted men and detaining six additional suspects, military officials reported.
Today in Sadiyah, northeast of Baghdad, coalition forces captured a wanted man assessed to be associated with al-Qaida weapons and foreign terrorist facilitation networks in the region. One additional suspect was detained for further questioning.
Two more wanted men were captured by forces operating in Baghdad today. One of the men, believed to be an al-Qaida financier, surrendered to coalition forces and turned in his associate.
Forces in Mosul targeted al-Qaida's communication lines yesterday. A wanted man believed to be an al-Qaida courier associated with multiple regional leaders was captured along with three suspects during the operation.
Iraqi troops find EFP factory in Sadr City -- [LWJ - Bill Roggio]
Third massive cache found inside the former Mahdi Army stronghold; 49 explosively formed penetrators found in Sadr City since Oct. 20. Seven Special Groups fighters killed and 118 captured during October.
Greeting local Iraqis at Basra COB's main gate -- [Ministry of Defence]
Hundreds of local Iraqis work at Basra's Contingency Operating Base (COB) and every morning they arrive for work at the main gate where RAF police meet and greet them. The RAF police have built up good relationships with the Iraqis and have found their attitudes to be much more relaxed recently.
...Sergeant Phil 'Flash' Ashman, who is in charge of the RAF police at the front gate and is coming to the end of his four month deployment, said that since he has been here nothing hostile has in fact been found.
Soldiers Help to Turn Abandoned
Carnival Into Public Park -- [Defense Link]
Dover Park, as it is known by Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers, sat abandoned for years. Located in the Qahira neighborhood of Baghdad’s Adhamiyah district, its carnival rides were unusable, and the land was overgrown with weeds.
... I am so pleased that we have such a park in our neighborhood,” said Aum Achmed, who was there with her daughter and a niece. “It’s important for every kid to have a place to go to.”
The younger set agrees. “It’s good. It used to be awful before. I wouldn’t even look at it before,”
JAM Boss Reinvented -- [Outside the Wire - JD Johannes - in Iraq]
Look at this man.
All the picture will tell you is that he is an Arab.
But the man, Firas, is much more.
He is an Iraqi, a Shia Muslim. He was a leader in Jaish Al Mahdi--the Shia insurgent group. Even more, Firas as JAM Special Groups.
The Denial of Failure in Afghanistan -- [Small Wars Journal - Noureddine Jebnoun]
The Afghan geopolitical terrain, which historically never had the reputation of being easy to negotiate, has made life particularly difficult for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and its allies, which have witnessed internal political quarrels being added to the tactical military failures.
The Taliban guerrilla and the Arab fighters who joined them had no chance to militarily defeat the modern Western armies deployed in Afghanistan. But in contemporary asymmetrical warfare, an unvanquished guerrilla is a victorious guerrilla. However,...
Mayhem On Feroshgah Street: More 'Propaganda Of The Deed' From The Taliban -- [Terry Glavin - embed in Afghanistan]
This was the scene I came upon this morning at the Ministry of Information and Culture headquarters here in Kabul. I took this photograph about an hour after the bombing, and it was still a madhouse.
An Afghan 'future without insurgents' -- [BBC]
The commander of US forces in Afghanistan's four north-eastern provinces says he is not hopeful the insurgency in the war-torn country can be brought under control "any time soon".
"If we reinforce our forces and improve our training and equipment on the Afghan and Nato sides, then it'll take less time," says Col John Spiszer.
Three out of four provinces under his command border with Pakistan.
But the commander is hopeful an Iraq-like deterioration in security would be a flawed assessment, because Afghanistan has "different dynamics".
UAV Predator Takes Out IED Emplacement Team With A Hellfire Missile In Afghanistan
Quick Update -- [The Left Captain - in Afghanistan]
Things have slowed down in our part of the world, which is fine by me. I know it drives some of the Soldiers nuts. I enjoy the steady and quiet rhythm, the monotonous days. Ramadan (September) was active for the "enemies of peace" in eastern Afghanistan. I don't want to overstate this, because there is still a lot going on in certain places, it's just that our slice has been absent casualties for some time now, which I like very much.
Dichotomous -- [Conversations in the Desert - in Afghanistan]
It's very rewarding when a project is finished and the people are grateful for it. Especially schools or orphanages. Unfortunately it frequently happens that you finish a project and a week later the locals are complaining that it's not good enough or that Ahmed the villager thinks he is an engineer and says that a building made of stone, cement and rebar is going to fall in after a stiff breeze. That aspect of it is endlessly frustrating. Some of these villages are full of the most selfish ungrateful people I've ever met in my life. However some are full of some of the most beautiful people I've ever met.
Pakistan And Afghanistan Hold 'Mini-Jirga' On Violence -- [AFP]
"Pakistani and Afghan officials and tribal leaders met for talks in Islamabad on Monday to find ways to end mounting Taliban and Al-Qaeda violence along their troubled border … The meeting features 50 members -- 25 from each side -- including government officials, representatives of political parties and members of the ethnic Pashtun tribes that straddle the Afghan-Pakistan border … The leader of the Afghan delegation, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, said terrorism was a global challenge but "unfortunately both countries are at its centre
US strikes kill al Qaeda operatives in North & South Waziristan -- [LWJ - Bill Roggio]
Abu Kasha served as a key link between al Qaeda's Shura Majlis and the Taliban, as well as involved in al Qaeda's external operations. Khalid Habib is also reported to have been killed in an Oct. 16 airstrike.
Iran threatens US with suicide bombers -- [Jerusalem Post]
Only a few days ahead of the American presidential election, Iranian parliamentary speaker 'Ali Larijani and
"The US method and conduct, expressed by this aggression, will only be stopped by a clear-cut and unexpected response, whose grounds were set by the martyr Hussein Fahmida," Larijani said during a parliamentary session on Wednesday.
..."America should be aware not to put its huge body on top of the suicide bombers' explosive devices," Larijani said. On the same day, Khamanai said the differences between Iran and the US were far beyond differences of opinion. "The Iranian people hate the US… [because of] the various plots the US government has hatched against Iran and the Iranian nation for the past five decades," Khamanai said.
Exclusive: Petraeus Wants to Go to Syria; Bush Administration Says No Petraeus Proposed Visiting Syria But Was Rejected By Bush Administration -- [ABC News]
Apparently Gen. David Petraeus does not agree with the Bush administration that the road to Damascus is a dead end. ABC News has learned, Petraeus proposed visiting Syria shortly after taking over as the top U.S. commander for the Middle East. The idea was swiftly rejected by Bush administration officials at the White House, State Department and the Pentagon.
..."When the timing is right, we ought to go in there and have a good discussion with the Syrians," said a Defense Department official close to Petraeus. "It's a meaningful dialogue to have."
Petraeus would likely find a more receptive audience for his approach in an Obama administration, given Barack Obama's views on the need to engage America's enemies.
End of Week Update on Syria -- [Counterterrorism Blog]
Yesterday, the Asad regime organized a mass protest in response to Sunday’s US cross-border raid into Syria targeting a high value Al Qaida figure. The Syrian Government continues to protest the incident. Meanwhile, the US has shuttered the embassy in Damascus based on security concerns.
Gates Calls Nuke Capability Critical to Deterrence, Reassuring Allies -- [Defense Link]
WASHINGTON, Oct. 28, 2008 – Calling nuclear weapons one of the world’s “messy realities,” Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today that as long as others who could potentially threaten the United States possess or seek them, it’s critical that the United States does as well, and that they be kept safe, secure and reliable. Video
“As long as others have nuclear weapons, we must maintain some level of these weapons ourselves,” Gates noted in a speech to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Gulf of Aden Declared Warlike Operations Area -- [Information Dissemination]
British shipping employers and unions have agreed to declare the Gulf of Aden a warlike operations area, in a deal that will double the pay of seafarers on many ships operated from the UK while serving close to piracy prone Somalia.
Reuters also has some comments from Pottengal Mukundan, director of the London-based International Maritime Bureau regarding a desire to actually go to war with pirates, including some sage tactical advice.
Exclusive: U.S. Expects Bin Laden Message Near Election -- [ABC News]
Multiple senior government officials tell ABC News the intelligence community is anticipating a message from Osama bin Laden before or just after the presidential election.
As we race toward Election Day, sources say a number of intelligence analysts have concluded it is critical for al Qaeda's top leader to be seen or heard, if only for public relations purposes. Those analysts believe that if bin Laden is not heard from, he runs the risk of being considered irrelevant or impotent.
Qaeda wants Republicans, Bush "humiliated": Web video -- [Reuters]
DUBAI (Reuters) - An al Qaeda leader has called for President George W. Bush and the Republicans to be "humiliated," without endorsing a party in the upcoming U.S. presidential election, according to an Internet video posting.
"O God, humiliate Bush and his party, O Lord of the Worlds, degrade and defy him," Abu Yahya al-Libi said at the end of sermon marking the Muslim feast of Eid al-Fitr, in a video posted on the Internet.
Hunter’s visit with Gary Sinise -- [Army Household6]
Hunter had a visit with Gary Sinise today …
Just got an update from Blake:
Talked to Hunter today. He had an awesome time with Gary!! His visit definitely uplifted his spirits. He said Gary is just a normal guy.
This Is How To Name a Warship -- [Information Dissemination
...Ever since the Navy began naming submarines after states, which I still consider a significant change from naming them after cities, it only makes sense to name our battleships after the nations hero's. In that regard, it is appropriate that we name our soon to be biggest battleship after one of our biggest hero's from the latest war.
It is time again to start thinking about Christmas for the Troops. -- [Operation Give]
Once again, Operation Give is sponsoring, for the 4th year, Operation Christmas Stocking. Let’s get behind our troops 100%
This project is being carried out by Operation Give, an “America Supports You” organization who works throughout the year to support American troops. Last year Operation Give sent more than 50 tons of stockings to our troops in Iraq & Afghanistan. This year, help us send even more!
GROUP LAUNCHES NATIONAL "LETTERS TO OUR TROOPS CONTEST" TO MAKE HOLIDAYS BRIGHTER OVERSEAS AND BENEFIT SCHOOLS AT HOME -- [Operation Gratitude]
ENCINO, CALIF (Oct.30, 2008) - The Holidays can be a lonely time for Military service members deployed in combat zones thousands of miles away from home and loved ones. Receipt of an unexpected letter with words of appreciation and good cheer can lift morale and put a smile on a service member's face.
The Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES or commonly referred to as the BX/PX or Exchange) is launching their blog, Salute to Your Service -- [Salute to Your Service]
this upcoming Monday, 3 November. The AAFES: Salute to Your Service blog is not a "corporate" blog, but a blog where AAFES will be celebrating the military family.
Of course, this is still a blog representing AAFES, so you can appreciate there will be limits to what we can say and who we respond to, but our intention is to create a voice that truly represents who we are – a company of individuals who are military, former military, military spouses, and friends and family of military loved ones.
Office Readies Defense Department for Transition to Next Administration -- [Defense Link]
WASHINGTON, Oct. 30, 2008 – No matter who wins the election Nov. 4, Defense Department officials will work to ensure a smooth and efficient transition to the new administration, DoD officials said today.
“There is a … rather robust structure to deal with transition,” Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said.
Robert Rangel, special assistant to the secretary and the deputy secretary of defense, is in charge of the process in the department. Marine Brig. Gen. Frank McKenzie reports to Rangel in leading the effort for the Joint Staff.
How the transition moves forward will depend largely on the president-elect, Whitman said, noting there is an added emphasis on the transition this year because it will occur as the United States is involved in two wars and operations around the world.
Springboro Mayor Fakes Military Heroism -- [A Soldier's Perspective]
I love telling stories about guys like SPC Ruske. The kind of heroism that is pervasive in our military should be saluted and honored with all our might, mind, and strength. These young people are putting their lives on the line daily to bring freedom, security, and prosperity to this country and others. It's unfortunate that some politicians have to try and fake that sort of heroism to feel good about themselves:
SPRINGBORO — Mayor John Agenbroad is accused of falsely claiming a Silver Star among his military honors in a report published by the Chicago Tribune.
Finally home in Texas -- [The SandGram - from Afghanistan]
I’ve been home for a week now and apologize for not getting a post out sooner. The trip home is a long and painful process that included a four day visit at Bagram Airbase north of Kabul, then a four hour flight over to Kuwait and out from there. Now that I’m home, I guess I can let you in on some of my stuff and I will be posting stories about my time there that I just didn’t have time to write or didn’t feel it was appropriate to write about at the time.
On the Road Home -- [Miserable Donuts - from Iraq]
I'm on the way home at long last. It isn't a quick process, however. I will be coming back in four stages - and stage 1 starts tonight. I may be out of touch while I make my way down South. I'll update as possibl
Back in Virginia -- [The Army 2.0 - home from Afghanistan]
I am safely home with my family in Northern Virginia. As far as I know I have no further obligation to the Army for the next 6 months, and after that I'll be eligible to resign my commission. Sultan Jeff is home as well, but Chris is still over in Afghanistan. He was the last of my group to arrive, and he'll be the last to come home.
Going Home -- [Zen Traveler - home from Iraq]
T...his past week I traveled back to Maine and spent time with both my family and a the myriad of memories that I still have. I was assaulted with smells, sights and sounds, rushing the past to the very forefront of my mind; piles of Autumn leaves, cool breezes through the birch trees, my mother's apple dumplings, each triggering a flood of memories that were like old friends who have not changed at all.
A Moment of Opportunity for the New Media -- [PJM - Michael Yon]
As budget cuts increasingly turn old media organs into fish wrap, the alternative media must be ready to take advantage.
Big Media is taking a big hit during this global economic avalanche. As New York Times reporter Richard Perez-Pena noted in the October 23, 2008, paper of record, “The New York Times Company reported a 51.4 percent decline in third-quarter profit on Thursday and swung to a loss on continuing operations as deeper-than-expected expense cuts could not keep pace with falling revenue...
Tito The Builder Clashes With Liberal Co-Host
"FREE THE TAPE" PROTEST AT LA TIMES -- [Gateway Pundit]
Great turnout at the Los Angeles Times "Free the Tape" Protest today!
The LA Times is holding a video that shows Barack Obama celebrating with a group of Palestinians who are openly hostile towards Israel. Barack Obama even gives a toast to a former PLO operative at this celebration. If the American public saw this radical side of Barack Obama it is unlikely he would ever be elected president.
But, the media refuses to release this video.
An American Journalist -- [SWJ - Bing West]
Good for Dave Dilegge for speaking out in Small Wars Journal about the October issue of Rolling Stone magazine, wherein Nir Rosen, an American reporter, described his visit with Taliban forces in Afghanistan. Rosen left no doubt about his active cooperation with the Taliban fighters. “They have promised to take me to see the Taliban in action: going out on patrols, conducting attacks,” he wrote, “…. once we are on the road we should take the batteries out of our phones, to prevent anyone from tracking us.”
...had Rosen been captured by Afghan soldiers, it is likely Rolling Stone magazine would have asked the US military to intercede for his release. But if the reporter has no obligation toward the soldier, does the soldier have the obligation to protect the journalist? Should Rosen, if captured, have been released or put on trial for aiding or abetting the enemy?
If only we could all be as tough and patriotic as Bing West -- [Abu Muqawama]
... the past two things I have read written by West have struck me as absurd and beneath the man. First he went after Bill Murphy's book in Forbes, sniping -- among other things -- that the contemporary American officer corps had not sacrificed on a level equivalent to those who fought in World War II and Vietnam
...And now West goes after Nir Rosen -- a journalist employed by Al-Jazeera International, the channel with whom West happily sat down for an extended interview -- in this piece in SWJ. He spends his words on a lot more bile. Aside from accusing the Department of Defense -- en masse -- of lacking "commitment and passion in the cause," West also accuses Sec. Gates and Adm. Mullen of lacking "moral clarity and courage."
Bing West Furious At Everybody -- [LT Nixon]
I empathize with the resentment, like when Washington Post stringers of dubious association were watching the Mahdi Army launch attack against the U.S., and of course there is always terrorist AP photographer Bilal Hussein. However,...
Blasphemers Cast out of The One's Presence -- [Ace of Spades]
Barack Obama's campaign made a few last-minute changes on the campaign plane and oddly enough, all of those left without chairs were from papers that endorsed John McCain.
The Obama campaign has decided to heave out three newspapers from its plane for the final days of its blitz across battleground states -- and all three endorsed Sen. John McCain for president!
Getting the 'Ayers Issue' Straight -- [American Thinker]
1) In 1995 Obama kicked off his Illinois Senate run in the living room of Ayers. Also in attendance at this political coming-out party was Communist Party member Quentin Young. The obvious question: Did Ayers introduce and launch someone he did not know, someone not in accord with his own agenda?
2) The same year, Obama had been chosen by Ayers to be the first chairman of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, a public school reform project co-founded by Ayers. We are once again faced with the question: Did Ayers hire someone he did not know, someone not in accord with his agenda?
Having reviewed the CAC Board of Directors meeting minutes, Stanley Kurtz concludes that it "clearly involves significant consultation between the board, headed by Obama, and the Collaborative, co-chaired by Ayers." The materials "show that Mr. Obama and Mr. Ayers worked as a team to advance the CAC agenda."
Ohio Dem attacks Josh Mandel's Iraq War military service
Yes, He Can -- [Slate]
Barack Obama should be able to disclose his small-dollar donors pretty easily.
Barack Obama refuses to release the names of the 2 million-plus people who have given his campaign less than $200. According to campaign officials, it would be too difficult and time-consuming to extract this information from its database. ...So how come we were able to do it in a couple hours? Not literally—we don't have access to the campaign's list of donors—but we created a database of similar size and format in a Web-ready file and posted it online . .
This Is the Khalidi Obama Embraced -- [PJM - Jennifer Rubin]
Many others have surmised that the Los Angeles Times is running interference for Barack Obama, declining not just to provide the tape of the Rashid Khalidi goodbye event which Obama attended in 2003, but a complete transcript. It is reasonable to ask what could have been so bad about the event. What could possibly have been so objectionable about the speeches or proceedings that might concern voters at this late date?
Well, the original Times report gives us only the sketchiest account. But now we have a video of a complete Khalidi lecture from June 2007. It is quite an eye-opener.
Dear Mr. Obama
Brunner: Federal Law Requires Me To Have a System for Double-Checking Registrations in Place, But Does Not Actually Require Me to Double-Check Them or Use That System -- [Ace of Spades]
...So I won't.
More: Brunner tied to ACORN.
An ACORN whistleblower testified in a Pennsylvania state court on Wednesday that "in November 2007 Project Vote development director Karyn Gillette told her she had direct contact with the Obama campaign and had obtained their donor lists." Project Vote is the voter registration arm of ACORN. (Wall Street Journal, 10/29/08)
"Jennifer Brunner's ties to a top ACORN official, who is also accused of collaborating with the Obama campaign, suggest she's orchestrating a cover-up to protect her friends," said Ohio Republican Party Deputy Chairman Kevin DeWine. "
...Gillette is not Brunner's only tie to ACORN
Obama Supporter: If I Vote For Obama I Won’t Have To Pay For Gas, Pay My Mortgage
"I won’t have to work on puttin’ gas in my car. I won’t have to work at payin’ my mortgage."
Family last: The British press finds Barack Obama's aunt and uncle -- [TigerHawk]
It took the respectable British press to do what the entire American media -- even the evil Fox News -- could not do. The Times of London has actually located Barack Obama's Kenyan-American aunt and uncle. In Boston. Massachusetts. The story reflects so poorly on Barack Obama that if you saw it on a no-name righty blog you would write it off as libel:
Northern Virginia Registrar Reversed: Military Absentee Ballots to Be Counted -- [NewsBusters]
Two days ago I noted the downplayed coverage the Washington Post devoted to a Fairfax County, Va., registrar tossing aside military absentee ballots. Rokey Suleman II, a Democrat who had previously lived in Ohio and unsuccessfully ran for officer there, was alone among Old Dominion registrars in throwing aside military absentee ballots for lack of witness signatures and addresses.
(Need more? Dawn Patrols Archives are here.)
