 |
|
 |
| Monthly Archives | [−] |
Prev | List | Random | Next |
Welcome to the Dawn Patrol, our daily roundup of information on the War on Terror and other topics - from the MilBlogs and various 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.
Special Dispatch from Ali Air Base - A Higher Calling -- [Lt. Col. Richard J. Hughes, 407th Air Expeditionary Group Deputy Commander]
It's 115 degrees Fahrenheit, and we're in the shade of an aircraft silhouette. The wind is blowing steadily at about 25 knots (29 mph). It's like standing in front of a giant hair dryer. The weather forecaster says there are gusts up to 35 knots (41 mph). The wind is sending a steady stream of sand and dust whipping across the Ali Base flightline into the faces of Airmen and Soldiers alike. There is silence, except for the wind.
Yet, we stand, at attention in two straight lines beginning at the ramp of a C-130 Hercules. We're waiting to render honors. We ignore the heat, the wind and the sand. We are humbled by the presence of one of our countrymen.
When I have your wounded? These days its When I have your Disease Non-Battle Injury. I guess that's a good thing. - [Far from Perfect - in Iraq (Tweet)]
Playing The Make You Smile Game -- [Sour Swinger - in Iraq]
For one of our missions, we went to a different units AO (Area of Operation). First time for us in that town. Its a really bad section so we had to present a harder appearance. Like usual kids showed up to see what they could get from us. Due to the area, we couldn't afford to let our guard down to converse with the children. Instead we shooed them away. This is always hardest for me. You literally have to be a jerk else they think you're joking. You play hard ball from the start and they will respect and listen to you.
Well these 4 little kids..
Beach vacancy in Baghdad? -- [Sorority Soldier - in Iraq]
Thinking of taking a vacation? Why not Baghdad, Basra or anywhere else in Iraq? If you're brave enough to escape the mundane, Iraq is waiting to welcome you with open arms...
Sleepless in Samarra? Haditha Floats? Tikrit Going on Tal'Afar? -- [Wings Over Iraq - in Iraq]
Sex and Romance. In evolutionary psychology, it's cited as one of the basic driving forces in human behavior. It's a factor in every social structure, even those in counter-insurgency environments. With that said, I came across two articles this past week regarding male-female relationships in Iraq.
A Cast of Characters -- [Ramblings from a painter - in Iraq]
What kind of person would you expect to find working in Iraq? Soulless military guys who say "hooah" and salute everything that moves? Mysterious guys wearing aviator sunglasses who have no sense of humor? A little guy with an unplaceable accent who's selling AK47's by the truckload? An overcoiffed news reporter trying desperately to make a name for him/her self? Well, no doubt those people are out there somewhere, but...
Back to Kalsu -- [The Stone Report - in Iraq]
After spending a fun filled week with the 34th ID, I traveled back to FOB Kalsu, Iraq. A quaint little military outpost South of Baghdad. The 172nd Infantry Brigade Public Affairs shop lacks a broadcaster in theater. The office I work for, Multi-National Division -- South grants CPT Jim Gaffigan the use of a broadcasting asset. This time around it's me. It's been a pretty eventful week so far.
Coalition Forces move out of Outpost in southeastern Mosul -- [MNF-I]
The closing of Combat Outpost Rock located in southeastern Mosul marked a significant milestone for U.S Coalition forces serving in the capital of Ninewa Province.
AF flight surgeons hand over training mission to Iraqis (Al Muthana) -- [MNF-I]
As U.S. forces withdraw over the next year, the Iraqi Air Force will assume new missions and responsibilities in accordance with the Security Agreement.
One such mission is the Aero-Medical training of flight medical technicians, also known as "flight medics".
Children used to carry out attacks -- [MNF-I]
A teenage boy was seen throwing a grenade at a combined patrol of Iraqi police and U.S. Soldiers, Thursday in the town of Hawijah, approximately 30 kilometers west of Kirkuk city in northern Iraq.
The grenade failed to detonate, and the suspect fled into the mix of local shops, but the incident is part of a growing trend of children carrying out attacks on Iraqi security and U.S. forces in the province.
A High-Priced Media Campaign That Iraqis Aren't Buying -- [Washington Post]
"The millions spent on this is wasted money," Ziyad al-Aajeely, director of Iraq's nonprofit Journalistic Freedom Observatory, said as he flipped through a recent edition of Baghdad Now. "Nobody reads this."
U.S. military officials and contractors have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on billboards, pamphlets and TV and radio airtime in Iraq over the past six years to burnish the U.S. military's image, ...
Another Longest Day -- [NY Times - California National Guardsman - in iraq]
This is my job: Standing behind a machine gun in an up-armored truck. The squad escorts trucks between bases, and then back again. It isn't kicking in doors or training the Iraqi Army. We don't charge into firefights to save someone's bacon like cavalry in the Old West. We just drive down miles of road, waiting for someone to try to kill us.
..."I.E.D., I.E.D., I.E.D.!" comes over the radio. Then I hear an explosion. I swivel to see a black cloud hanging over where the front of the convoy should be,...
Victory In Iraq -- [Newsweek]
...This was not Barack Obama's war. But it might well turn out to be his greatest legacy to the Arab world. Ambassador Ryan Crocker ended his distinguished stint in Iraq with these fitting words: "In the end, how we leave and what we leave behind will be more important than how we came."
Victory in Iraq Obama's Legacy? -- [Flopping Aces]
I warned over a year ago that Dems would try and claim victory as their own!
We haven't heard much about Iraq lately. Probably because we won in 2008 and the story was no longer interesting. But it is nice to see some in the "news" media finally realize how very wrong their defeatist attitudes in 2006 and 2007 were.
Army Chief: U.S. Could Be In Iraq 10 Years -- [CBS News]
Says Pentagon Is Planning For Long-Term Troop Capability Despite Agreement To Withdraw By 2012
Armed group leader compares Obama to Napoleon -- [Aswat al-Iraq]
A leader of an armed group in the province of Salah al-Din likened U.S. President Barack Obama, when he addressed the Muslim world from Cairo, to Napoleon Bonaparte, when he delivered a speech at al-Azhar Mosque feigning respect to Islam after occupying Egypt at the end of the 18th century.
..."Obama's address was a new strategy to keep humiliating the Arab and Muslim rulers. I don't see a change in U.S. policies," he added.
5 Americans may stand trial in Iraq in fellow American's slaying -- [Los Angeles Times]
Iraqi security forces have arrested five US contractors in the death of Jim Kitterman, a Texan who owned a construction company. Kitterman was found stabbed ...
Legal News: Five U.S. Contractors Held in Slaying of James Kitterman (comments)
The latest reports on this was that the guys were all CTU folks, to include the owner Don Feeney. Which is kind of odd, especially when it is reported that Don Feeney was good friends with James Kitterman, supposedly.
What bothers me about the MSM coverage on this is that they are already demonizing these guys with how they report it, and they haven't a clue about the real deal.
In limbo -- [Desert Bound - in Afghansitan]
Another day, still no flight.
...I've met the Army unit I'll be attached to. They are from Colorado. They have a reporter coming out to visit them and see where they'll be living. I'll be escorting him around and helping him get some stories. The unit has been extremely helpful and I'm looking forward to working with them.
What is an ETT anyway? -- [Embedded in Afghanistan... - in Afghanistan]
ETT stands for Embedded Training Team. We refer to the members of the team as ETTs. As for what we are...well, we're generalists. As ETTs we have to have wide variety skills. One needs to be able to troubleshoot a .50 cal machine gun as well as have the cultural sensitivity to communicate with local elders in such a way as to not piss them off.
7,000 Marines Join Fight In Afghanistan -- [CBS News]
Some 7,000 new U.S. troops ordered to Afghanistan by President Obama are fanning out across the country's dangerous south on a mission to defeat an increasingly violent Taliban insurgency.
Report: Tora Bora Front leader captured in Peshawar -- [LWJ - Bill Roggio]
Anwarul Haq Mujahid, the son of famed mujahedeen commander Yunis Khalis, is reportedly in Pakistani police custody and is being interrogated. The report has not been confirmed.
Tribes target Taliban in Dir after mosque bombing -- [LWJ - Bill Roggio]
Locals killed 17 Taliban fighters and attacked their homes after Friday's deadly suicide attack at a mosque that killed more than 40 people.
Pakistanis turn backs on 'erring' Taliban -- [BBC]
As the fighting between the Taliban militants and Pakistani army becomes a war for the soul of Pakistan, Mohammed Hanif thinks the Taliban may have already lost one crucial battle.
Four 101st soldiers earn Silver Stars -- [Army Times]
Four soldiers from 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, received the Silver Star on May 28 for their actions in Afghanistan.
...The soldiers, from 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, at Fort Campbell, Ky., were in Afghanistan from March 2008 to April 2009, DeMartino said. Here are their stories:
Afghans, Kyrgyz may discuss leaving US base open -- [AP]
A high-ranking Kyrgyz official says the Central Asian nation's president may meet with Afghan leader Hamid Karzai to discuss the
Air mobility maintains the fight in Afghanistan -- [Bagram Air Base]
Being in a fight is easy; it is having the ability to stay in the fight until you win that is the hard part. This is especially true in the new type of war being fought by the coalition forces in Afghanistan where the enemy's strategy is to outlast the resolve and sustainment capability of U.S. and coalition forces.
7 Jun 09 -- [Military Consciousness - heading to Afghanistan]
...it's been a long time, but now I am gearing up to head back to Afghanistan again this fall-this time it's a 6 month tour....another month of Army training at Ft. Dix, NJ....basically the same stuff I went thru at Ft. Bragg back in 07-I guess they cut out a lot of the BS and are focusing on the main skills needed for combat....I found out I will be sent out to a Fire Base-kinda like a FOB but smaller, and I will be working with Special Forces teams...of course, my main mission is to be
More bodies found from Air France crash -- [CNN]
RECIFE, Brazil (CNN) -- Seventeen bodies have been recovered from last week's crash of an Air France jetliner off the South American coast, according to Brazil's military.
NKorea sentences 2 US journalists to 12 years jail -- [Washington Post]
A North Korean court sentenced two U.S. journalists to 12 years in a labor camp Monday, as the government of Kim Jong Il continued to ratchet up tension with the United States and its neighbors.
North Korea Sentences American Journalists to Twelve Years of Hard Labor -- [One Free Korea]
...The first thing that comes to mind is the face of Euna Lee's four year old daughter.
The second is Hillary Clinton's ludicrous call for bloggers to do what the State Department has failed to do. It is the State Department itself that ought to tell us exactly how and where the North Koreans seized these woman, starting with what their cameraman, Mitch Koss, reported. Tell us what truth there is to rumors that the North Koreans intentionally lured these women into captivity. Tell us whether the North Koreans kidnapped them from China, as they did to the Reverend Kim Dong Shik before they killed him, and before Barack Obama falsely promised to demand his freedom.
Well, well, well... Lebanon's Elections: Winners and Losers -- [Abu Muqawama]
So what does it mean? Well, my initial thoughts on some winners and losers:
Winners: ...
Working With "Agent 123″ -- [Blue Crab Boulevard]
...Gwen Myers, aka Agent 123, used to work for me at the Cleveland Park Bookshop around the period 2000-2002.
I was floored. Gwen was a very nice person, who was quiet without being exactly soft-spoken. She was a big part of the backroom work that went on the bookshop, and we were very concerned for her when she suffered a small heart-attack after working there for awhile. That she would have been helping her husband spy for Cuba would have struck me as being about as plausibe as saying
The VA and Prosthetics -- [This Ain't Hell...]
Today I saw a gentleman on my Metro wearing a CIB, and so, as usual, I compliemented him on his choice of lapel accoutrement and told him I have one as well. And I thanked him for his service. We started talking, and only then, being the observant chap that I am did I notice that his left hand was missing, and he instead had a hook. Further discussion with him revealed we had some common acquaintences. This gentleman was Fred Downs, formerly of the 4th Infantry Division, now the head of the VA's Prosthetics Division.
Anyway, our mutual friend told me to look up a video of him on 60 Minutes, and I did so. And I want to share it with you now. This kind of thing is exactly why I defend the military and VA medical systems when they deserve it.
PTSD show this Saturday -- [Kiss my Gumbo - Greta]
I can't tell you how anxious I am for my radio show this Saturday. I'm so anxious, I am promoting it on Monday instead of Thursday. Why? Well, because I want people to listen as this is probably my most important show yet. This Saturday from 9-10 AM central time on WIST AM 690 out of New Orleans or live from your computer, I will have host a PTSD roundtable with 3 experts from the Southeast Louisiana VA Health Care System.
Hijab-Wearing Muslim Fanatic Crashes Ceremony For US Soldier Murdered In Arkansas Terror Attack -- [Gateway Pundit]
A hijab-wearing Muslim woman crashed the Remembrance Ceremony of the first successful homeland terrorist attack since 9/11. Pvt. William Long was murdereed and Pvt. Quinton I. Ezeagwula was wounded by Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad this week at an Army recruiting center in Little Rock, Arkansas.
This angry Muslim fanatic showed up at the remembrance ceremony and screamed anti-American and anti-Semitic remarks at the protesters:
Love You More Than You Know: Mothers' Stories About Sending Their Sons and Daughters to War -- [Soldiers' Angels Network]
In these stories, 45 mothers of U.S. service men and women open their hearts and share what it feels like when your son or daughter leaves home to fight a war.
A Deception, and a Reluctance to Ask Questions -- [NEW YORK TIMES]
The thick-muscled man with close-cropped hair who called himself Rick Duncan seemed right out of central casting as a prop for a Democratic candidate running against Bush administration policies last fall.
...Yet, except for his first name, virtually none of his story was true. In reality, he was Richard G. Strandlof, a charismatic drifter with a history of mental illness and petty crimes who had moved from Montana to Nevada to Colorado, assuming different names and identities along the way.
NEW JERSEY WELCOMES HOME HUNDREDS OF SOLDIERS RETURNING FROM IRAQ -- [WMGM]
... of the New Jersey National Guard since World War 2. The state is planning an official welcome home ceremony for all the troops,...
Vindication -- [Bouhammer]
...Yesterday it was announced that IED attacks are up 80% over last year and we just entered the month of June. The real heavy duty fighting has not even started yet.
Well speaking of Gen Petraeus, he was recently on NPR talking about how the attack in Farah province last month was not as bad as reported by the MSM or stated by the corrupt Afghan government. He repeated, with facts what GEN McKiernan stated just days after the attack about the inflated numbers by the Afghans and the MSM.
Supreme Court Turns Down Challenge to 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Policy -- [Washington Post]
Supreme Court turns down challenge to "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays in the military.
Deny, Denigrate, Obfuscate, Ignore. The Creed of the Anti-War "Veterans" Organizations -- [This Ain't Hell...]
The Rick Duncan/Strandlof affair is just the latest in a long line of irresponsible behavior on the parts of both IVAW and VoteVets. This post will analyze that history with regard to IVAW, and ...
(Need more? Dawn Patrols Archives are here.)
- via email, facebook, twitter, etc.