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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 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.
Finally Attacked -- [Sorority Soldier - in Iraq]
I knew it was only a matter of time before we got attacked. It's been so quiet, too quiet for Iraq. So there we were, driving home from dinner at Echo's (the restaurant on post, run by a Dutch Christian organization). There were about 8 of us in the Tahoe and we were headed back to the tent. We were jamming out and singing - I can't remember what song but if I had to guess I'd say it was "Stay" by Lisa Loeb; that's been the popular one lately. We passed a car on the side of the road and pulled up to the gate. The Brit on guard ran up to the vehicle to check IDs. He was working on getting his armor on and told us the alarms were going off. ...
The Chapel Menu is as Long as the Chow Hall Menu -- [In Iraq Now (at 56) - in Iraq]
The Chapel here at Tallil can't cover every spiritual practice, no organization can, but they try. The first service on the Sunday morning schedule is Orthodox, I have not been to the service, but I believe the Romanian unit provides the priest. Next in rapid succession are traditional Protestant, Catholic, contemporary Protestant, Latter Day Saints, and then repeat services are held in the evening.
On Friday Muslim and Jewish services are available...
Support units in Iraq bound for Afghanistan -- [Stars and Stripes]
Another small contingent of Army soldiers is on its way from Iraq to Afghanistan, military officials said Tuesday.
Select troops from the 46th Engineer Combat Battalion will be sent to Kandahar province as the 31st Concrete Team ..."After moving three units from Iraq to Afghanistan earlier this year, the Pentagon acknowledged that more Army units with specific "enabling skills" could be shifted as the U.S. military seeks to provide forces for a promised escalation of troops this year.
New Envoy Faces an Iraq of 2 Minds About US -- [New York Times]
Among Iraqis there are two conflicting views of America's policy now: the American military is leaving too soon, or the American military is not ever going to leave. Persuading its friends of continued American support while convincing its skeptics that the Americans really will go is the conundrum faced by the recently installed American ambassador, Christopher R. Hill. He takes office at a time of profound change in the American footprint here,
Iraq refuses two Shi'ite pilgrim flights from Iran -- [Reuters]
Iraq refused entry on Tuesday to two flights from Tehran carrying Iranian pilgrims to visit Iraqi Shi'ite Muslim holy sites,...
U.S. commander says Iraqi forces will face challenges -- [Aswat al-Iraq]
U.S. Brigadier-General Keith Walker, commander of U.S. teams embedded with Iraqi forces, said that security challenges will face the Iraqi forces after the withdrawal of the U.S. troops from the cities by the end of next June.
"There are security challenges still facing the Iraqi forces' work despite the upgrade of the latter's capabilities in implementing security and military missions, but ...
Cav Soldiers Responsible for Security in The Town of Jisr Diyala -- [Newsblaze]
The 'Pacesetters' of Battery B brought the 'Hot Steel' Soldiers of Battery A to the town of Jisr Diyala to meet the town council and National Police leaders here
Tweeted Monday -- [Far From Perfect - in Iraq]
Working back to back 48hr rotation. Too much flying, too little sleep.
Videos: Conexes Conexes Conexes -- [Sour Swinger - in Iraq]
These all revolve around the conexes. I lost count of how many times we had to unpack then repack these blasted things.
When word came down we were moving to Camp Liberty, we had a ton of packing to do. We found ourselves spending days packing UPBs (Unit Packed Box) and loading conexes.
Equipment, skill of Afghan insurgents improves -- [Army Times]
FORWARD OPERATING BASE LAGMAN, QALAT, Afghanistan -- U.S. troops reported a fierce firefight May 28 against Farsi-speaking insurgents who wore body armor and "Kevlar helmets" and used smoke grenades. The U.S. soldiers killed an estimated 35 insurgents and suffered no casualties, but say the battle demonstrated the increasing sophistication of some guerrilla groups here. ...U.S. troops reported a fierce firefight May 28 against Farsi-speaking insurgents who wore body armor and "Kevlar helmets" and used smoke grenades. The U.S. soldiers killed an estimated 35 insurgents and suffered no casualties, but say the battle demonstrated the increasing sophistication of some guerrilla groups here.
Leading From The Rear. -- [Afghani Kush - in Afghanistan]
But saying NO MORE than the article in the Army Times I'll try and give you a little bit of a run down. We were pushing into a valley about six kilometers north of the FOB when we started to get hit, both mounted and dismounted. ...The weird part was the people we were actually fighting, they were wearing full body armor, speaking arabic, russian and a few other non native languages. They popped smoke to cover their retreat, and that was only after we pounded them for hours. These guys were not the usual taliban we fight around here.
Bomb kills six Afghans, including two children: govt -- [The Nation]
... the six Afghan civilians including two children inside, the interior ministry told a foreign news agency. It was not immediately clear if the bomb was ...
20 Taliban hideouts busted in Haripur - [The News]
People in the Haripur district of Hazara are actively helping the police and intelligence agencies to tackle the Taliban, pinpointing their hideouts, 15 to 20 of which have already been busted. A large number of militants running away from Swat have come to the Hazara Division, especially the Haripur district, but they are not finding sympathisers among the local population.
Stay issued in Bagram detainee habeas case -- [BlackFive - Uncle Jimbo]
A US District Court judge had previously ruled that three detainees being held at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan can challenge their detention using US courts and Habeas Corpus motions. This continued intrusion of the judiciary into an area where the Constitution and our history have never seen them having a role has been put on hold. The same judge has stayed his ruling as the Obama administration appeals this decision.
U.S. Looks for Saudi Help in Afghanistan, Pakistan -- [ABC News]
US Wants Saudi Help in Afghanistan, Pakistan. ... As Obama Visits Saudi, U.S. Looks to Kingdom for Help in Afghanistan and Pakistan ...
Locals Wary Of U.S.-Afghan Patrol Program -- [NPR]
...In this dangerous enclave, a U.S. Special Forces team and the Afghan government are trying to create a neighborhood watch program that many officials say is vital to securing Afghanistan.
US general warns over Afghan war -- [BBC]
On Tuesday, Gen McChrystal told senators: "If defeating an insurgent formation produces popular resentment, the victory is hollow and unsustainable."
He added: "This is a critical point. It may be the critical point. This is a struggle for the support of the Afghan people. "Our willingness to operate in ways that minimise casualties or damage - even when doing so makes our task more difficult - is essential to our credibility," he said.
Report finds airstrike errors in Afghanistan -- [New York Times]
Official says civilian deaths could have been reduced if rules followed
The report represents the clearest U.S. acknowledgment of fault in connection with the attacks. It will give new ammunition to critics, including many Afghans, who complain that U.S. forces too often act indiscriminately in airstrikes, jeopardizing the mission by turning the civilian population against U.S. forces and the Afghan government.
Uncertainty Clouds British Report of Taliban Leader's Death -- [New York Times]
A helicopter strike killed "one of the most dangerous Taliban leaders" in southern Afghanistan, British military officials said Tuesday, but a local government official said the target might have been a lower-level fighter with the same name. The strike occurred Monday, British officials said, when an Apache helicopter shot the Taliban leader, Mullah Mansur, as he was traveling with two others by motorbike. "We know it's him," one official said. The Taliban commander organized several recent attacks, including one last month that killed two British soldiers in the south, the official said. The British defense secretary, John Hutton, also expressed certainty, releasing a statement on the killing that said "Mullah Mansur was the heart of the insurgents' attempts to kill and injure British and NATO troops in Afghanistan and his presence brought misery to innocent Afghan civilians."
Vehicle Recovery Videos -- [A Year In The Sandbox - in Afghanistan]
This one happened pretty soon after we got here. We were checking out a water tank that was being built just outside of Jalalabad and the driver got the truck stuck in some mud. The commander was standing next to me and I asked him...
Task Force Bayonet Air Assaults for Longbow III -- [Combined Joint Task Force - 82 - in Afghanistan]
JALALABAD, Afghanistan (June 2, 2009) - For the third time in a year, an air assault mission in the Laghman province of northeastern Afghanistan provided humanitarian aid and coordinated information-exchange efforts between locals and ISAF leaders concerning ongoing counterinsurgency operations in the area.
Tall Tales And The 10,000 -- [Strategy Page]
NUCLEAR, BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL WEAPONS
Pakistan, in response to criticism that its nuclear weapons are vulnerable to terrorist attack, reported that it had 10,000 security personnel safeguarding its 60 nuclear warheads, and nuclear weapons production facilities. The U.S. has worked quietly with the Pakistani government, to improve the security of these nuclear weapons.
Bomb threat on Air France flight -- [Momento 24]
The airport safety delayed an Air France flight this evening before departring for Paris immediately after the company received a bomb threat over the phone at the airport of Ezeiza.
Expert: Air France black boxes may never be found -- [AP]
FERNANDO DE NORONHA, Brazil -- Military planes and ships struggled through high seas and heavy winds Wednesday and found more debris from an Air France
As Obama Begins Trip, Arabs Want Israeli Gesture -- [New York Times]
Saudi Arabia -- President Obama arrived here on Wednesday afternoon, opening a five-day trip to try to improve relations between the United States and the Muslim world and push for progress in settling the Arab-Israeli conflict.
"Don't Speak: What We Don't Want to Hear in Obama's Muslim Speech" -- [FOX News]
...An apology is precisely what an Egyptian blogger and member of the Muslim Brotherhood has demanded the president deliver. "The war on Islam by your predecessor President George Bush was repugnant to both the Arab and Muslim people, who continue to be misrepresented, and are all examples of the suffering to which the U.S. has turned a blind eye," wrote AbdulRahman Mansour in Al-Arabiya newspaper on Saturday. Guantanamo detainees also await an apology, he added, urging the president to disavow America's "Islamophobia.".
America the dutiful -- [Belmont Club]
Six hours ago, Le Monde quoted Barack Obama as saying that the US is one of the largest Muslim countries on the planet...
North Korean Nukes Nullified -- [Strategy Page]
Recent North Korea tests of a long range ballistic missile (that can reach parts of western North America), and a second test of their nuclear weapons, doesn't change the strategic situation with the United States. That's because of the American GBI (Ground Based Interceptor) system. The GBI is a 12.7 ton ballistic missile that delivers a 140 pound "kill vehicle" that will intercept a ballistic missile before it begins its descent into the atmosphere.
The Iranian Election Circus -- [Michael Ledeen]
Ahmedinejad is getting a run for his money. What's behind it?
Syria to Allow Visit of U.S. Military Leaders -- [Washington Post]
Insurgency in Iraq Is Topic at Hand
Wreckage Confirmed as Air France Plane -- [Washington Post]
Brazilian search planes located a three-mile path of wreckage in the Atlantic Ocean that officials said came from an Air France jetliner, dashing any lingering hopes for the survival of the 228 people aboard.
Three Baumholder soldiers dead, two hurt in autobahn crash -- [Stars and Stripes]
All five soldiers recently returned from Iraq; alcohol believed to play role in crash
Purported bin Laden tape slams U.S. role in Pakistan -- [CNN]
Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden purportedly issued another statement Wednesday, saying U.S. policy in Pakistan has generated "new seeds of hatred and revenge against America."
ARKANSAS' LONE JIHADIST: HOW ALONE IS HE? -- [Counterterrorism Blog]
Here we have a new case of an individual U.S. citizen who committed an act of terror in the name of his ideology (Government officials have called it inaccurately a "political and religious motive") against U.S. military targets. Do we see a pattern here? Are we witnessing a repeat and copycats? In fact, as we review several previous cases, from the Miami cell case, to the Fort Dix Six, the Georgia two, the New York Four, the Virginia Paintball network, and many other cases, we're witnessing the surge of a phenomenon we have been warning about.
Al Qaeda Beheads British Hostage in Mali -- [FOX News]
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Wednesday that a Briton held captive in Mali has probably been killed by Al Qaeda terrorists.
A statement issued in the name of Al Qaeda on an Internet site frequently used for extremist messages said the captive, Edwin Dyer, was killed on Sunday.
List of U.S. Nuclear Sites Inadvertently Posted Online -- [Washington Post]
A U.S. document containing sensitive details about hundreds of civilian nuclear sites across the country was posted online Monday, an apparently inadvertent security breach that had federal officials scrambling yesterday to remedy the mistake.
Al Qaeda Eyes Bio Attack from Mexico - [Washington Times]
US counterterrorism officials have authenticated a video by an al Qaeda recruiter threatening to smuggle a biological weapon into the United States via tunnels under the Mexico border, the latest sign of the terrorist group's determination to stage another mass-casualty attack on the US homeland. The video aired earlier this year as a recruitment tool makes clear that al Qaeda is looking to exploit weaknesses in US border security and also is willing to ally itself with white militia groups or other anti-government entities interested in carrying out an attack inside the United States, according to counterterrorism officials interviewed by The Washington Times.
Sancrawler PSA: Abdullah al-Nafisi is a Blowhard -- [Jawa Report]
These aren't the biological weapon's smuggled over the Mexican border you're looking for. ...Seriously, al-Nafisi is a ranting professor from Kuwait. His lectures on the Muslim Brotherhood and other subjects are often used by al-Qaeda and its supporters. But if you ask me the speech just a lot of al-Nafisi spewing forth hot air.
Through "Adopt-a-Soldier" program, families open hearts to strangers -- [WWLTV]
...Greta Perry heads the Louisiana chapter of Soldier's Angels, the non-profit group that sponsors the 'Adopt-a-Solider' program. "It's amazing to feel that somebody back home, they don't know, loves them and cares enough for them to send them packages and take the time to write them handwritten letters," said Perry.
The advocacy group is in serious need of people willing to adopt a soldier. Right now, according to Perry, about 500 troops are on a waiting list for the program.
Bayer Healthcare + Defense Commissary Agency + AAFES = Soldiers' Angels Support -- [Soldiers' Angels Network]
Bayer Healthcare has teamed up with the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) and the Army Air Force Exchanges (AAFES) to support Soldiers' Angels,
Your Girls Need a Hook Up!! -- [USO Girls]
One of our troop's favorite things to receive at the gate, as you can imagine, are neck pillows for the long flight they have ahead of them. The pillows are about $20 from a store at the airport and we are lucky enough to have a couple of church sewing groups that make the pillows for the soldiers but we need some more help, we need someone with a sewing circle hook up!
The Army is a Tweeting -- [Bouhammer]
The U.S. military in Afghanistan is launching a Facebook page, a YouTube site and feeds on Twitter as part of a new communications effort to reach readers who get their information on the Internet rather than in newspapers, officials said Monday.
Army Announces BCT Stationing Decision -- [U.S. Army Blog]
Hard news at its finest, and not our typical blog fodder, but this is information important to our internal audience, as well as our affected communities. The story behind the story is the number of meetings, internal debates and discussions that go into announcements like this. Behind every stationing decision in our military is a careful study of how it will affect our Soldiers, and their families.
The secretary of the Army announced today that in accordance with the President's budget, the Army has halted the plan to build three additional brigade combat teams (BCTs) at Fort Bliss, Texas, Fort Carson, Colo., and Fort Stewart, Ga. This decision will not affect the Army's authorized end strength of 547,400.
Claiming the Predators are Illegal -- [Murdoc Online]
Predator Drones Could Face Legal Challenges From Human Rights Advocates. Human rights activists at odds with President Obama over his recent national security decisions are indicating that they might legally challenge the U.S. military's use of Predator drones
3/8 to return this week -- [Lejeune Deployed]
The final elements of 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment are scheduled to return Thursday from a seven month deployment to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. The battalion served as the ground combat element of the Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force - Afghanistan and conducted counter-insurgency operations in southern Afghanistan, working with Afghan National Security Forces and local leaders to support security and legitimate governance, according to information from 2nd Marine Division.
Last Iron Fist combat soldiers arrive home from Iraq -- [Ministry of Defense]
The final combat troops from 20th Armoured Brigade (known as the Iron Fist) to leave Iraq arrived home in Munster, North Germany, on Saturday where they were greeted by overjoyed...
Killing bad guys civilians -- [Abu Muqawama]
...Yesterday's hearings on Capitol Hill were kind of important, right? I mean, the confirmation of a controversial new commander for the war in Afghanistan should have attracted as much attention as the Spring 2007 hearing with General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker, right?
The U.S. Senate thought so as well and reserved three tables for the media. One of those tables -- one -- was actually filled. Two bloggers and a clutch of print media were present. That was it.
Plan of Attack -- [The New Republic]
Bob Woodward versus the White House.
In early May, White House Counsel Greg Craig circulated a memo inside the West Wing. Part of a series of memos on protocol, it explained how to deal with writers researching books and articles on the White House. (Craig's unsurprising instructions: Clear interview requests with the press office.) While the memo didn't mention any journalists by name--and while there are currently no fewer than half a dozen major reporters under contract to write books about the nascent Obama presidency and the 2008 campaign, any of whom could conceivably end up embarrassing the administration--there is one person in particular the White House is undoubtedly nervous about: Bob Woodward.
Since the inauguration, the Washington Post legend has been quietly reporting a new book on the Obama White House.
Dahr Jamail knows as much about the military as I do Alpaca farming -- [This Ain't Hell...]
Dahr, you are possibly the worst reporter of all time. Seriously, you can't even get rudimentary facts right. I mean, we always knew you were dishonest, but now you've entered the ranks of truly incompetant. Ergo, I am here to endeavor to help you, since as another TAH Target Alum noted, we may call you all names, but we still demand you contact us first, before you engage in yet another charlie foxtrot.
I should have known better -- [Wings Over Iraq - in Iraq]
Recently, I responded to a request for an interview from a reporter from the Army Times regarding TaskForceMountain.com . I composed my thoughts on the forum, and wrote them down in a statement for the reporter. I made the mistake of assuming that, since my fellow milbloggers and favorite professional journals are exploring the possibilities of Web 2.0 in 4th Generation Warfare, that the Army Times would want to do so as well.
I should have realized that this was, in fact the Army Times, and that I shouldn't expect them to be interested in in-depth defense policy analysis.
John McHugh, the new Army Secretary -- [This Ain't Hell...]
President Obama has picked a new Secretary of the Army, Republican Congressman John McHugh;
EXCLUSIVE: IRS files $800,000 lien on '04 Kerry campaign -- [Washington Times]
The IRS filed the lien in the District of Columbia earlier this year, claiming that a previous attempt to collect the money was unsuccessful. "We have made a demand for payment of this liability, but it remains unpaid," the tax filing stated.
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