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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.Refresh for updates.
Thanksgiving at the Kandahar Air Field hospital -- [Soldiers' Angels Germany]
The other day, PFC Zachary Nemeck and several others in his squad were wounded in a bomb blast in Afghanistan. He is currently being treated in the hospital at Kandahar Air Field. Two of his friends sustained more serious injuries requiring medevac to Landstuhl.
Zachary's father Erik contacted us yesterday because Zachary and the rest of the guys back in Kandahar were so worried about their buddies here and wanted us to pass along their message of love and concern.
Happy Thanksgiving!! -- [Charlie Simpson's War - in Afghanistan]
Today I'm thankful for a warm bed, sunshine, GoreTex, and a mostly functional internet connection. I'm thankful to enjoy a meal with those who serve. I'm thankful for lots of friends, a ridiculously large family, and all of their love and support. I miss you all v. much.
Thanksgiving Day and Eid -- [Doc H's International Adventure - in Afghanistan]
It was a nice slow low key day here at Camp Spann. The almost continuous winter clouds did not open up and rain today. I did a tiny bit of work today
...Finally we come to Eid. The Afghans have started a Holiday as well; Eid e Qurban قربان عيدThis is known as the Eid of Sacrifice. It commemorates Abraham's offer of sacrifice of his son Ishmael from his second wife Hagar according to Muslim beliefs. It starts with the end of the Hajj حجto Mecca(tomorrow). Most Afghan businesses and nonessential government work has stopped.
A Strong Rough Cut -- [Inside The Wire - in Afghanistan]
...On this Thanksgiving Day we think back into our minds to remember those nouns we're thankful for. Spending this holiday in Afghanistan I can't help thinking how problematic the memory can be when it comes to war. My own mother was diagnosed with PTSD simply because of growing up on the same island as me, and a few of my other relatives have also been diagnosed with mental illness. I'm thankful today that I've been able to avoid the psychologist since I was 17 as not to be diagnosed with something myself.
Don't Turn Your Back -- [OPFOR]
A Friend of mine just sent me this message and link. He is a Gold Star father.
This is clearly a Time Sensitive video that needs to get to the masses today. I do not have to tell you guys that people sitting around their Thanksgiving dinner table need to be aware of what's going with our kids abroad, while the Obam Administration is partying despite the fact that our children are dying. A few of us have put our heads together to produce this piece in an effort to bring awareness to the ongoing indecisiveness in conflict abroad. Please disseminate widely as you deem both necessary and appropriate. This video represents, amongst many others, an East Coast Marine, and a West Coast Navy Corpsmen, both recent KIA's due to inaction, and overly restricted ROE's. I have been in constant contact with both fathers of the two KIA's, getting the green lite due to the nature and sensitivity of the photos. This video will have zero impact next week if/when Obama does finally announce a strategy for Afghanistan...the time is now...
Content -- [HERMANEUTICS: AFGHANISTAN - in Afghanistan]
...The collage below was taken today in our Aviation DFAC (Dining Facility). I had the honor to serve meals to the Soldiers for the first hour, but the real workers are behind the scene. I supervise the Warrant Officer and NCO in charge of the whole operation and was impressed by their efforts. Imagine trying to cook for 1800 Soldiers, all served within 3 hours! Here are some facts on the food imported just for Thanksgiving. Amazing.
Happy Thanksgiving!
The Turkey Feast -- [PRT-Kunar - in Afghanistan]
The Thanksgiving feast was prepared by contractors from the U.S., as well as local chefs from Afghanistan. The cooks started working on the meal at 3 a.m. and served almost nonstop from 11 a.m. until 8 p.m. The menu included traditional turkey, ham and prime rib, as well as fresh bread and heavy desserts. Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Contractors and locals all ate together throughout the day and into the night remembering to be thankful for friendship and fellowship.
Bagram celebrates Thanksgiving with parade -- [Bagram Airfield]
Airmen witnessed a bunch of turkeys roaming around Bagram Thanksgiving Day. Also some kite flyers, a mock F-16 Fighting Falcon and even jolly ol' St. Nick.
The cast of characters were part of the first Thanksgiving Day Parade at Camp Cunningham, where the majority of Airmen stationed here live and work. Thirteen decorated vehicles stood in for the balloons and floats at the recreation of the famous annual New York City event.
The teams had four weeks to create their entry during their downtime.
Marines of Charlie Company in Afghanistan Have Much to be Thankful For -- [Los Angeles Times]
For the Marines of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Regiment, this Thanksgiving in Afghanistan brought one overriding thing to be thankful for: They're about to go home. Within days, the Marines will return to Camp Pendleton after a seven-month deployment that included engaging in firefights with the Taliban, dodging roadside bombs and trying to breathe life into a moribund local government. Although four members of the battalion have been killed in action, Charlie Company has had no fatalities. "I'm just thankful that all my Marine brothers in Charlie Company are going home to their families," said Sgt. Sal Sanchez of Riverside, who added that his holiday thoughts were with his wife, Maggie, and their children, Brandon, 3, and Julien, 1. Whereas Marines at smaller outposts in this onetime Taliban stronghold enjoyed a Thanksgiving meal of turkey, ham, cranberry sauce, gravy, rice and Gatorade on Thursday, here at the larger Combat Outpost Cherokee, plans for a special dinner went awry. Three words: frozen pot roast. A military mix-up meant that the cook was never alerted that a helicopter had brought two brick-hard, 80-pound roasts. Sgt. Sean Ross, the cook, said that by the time he was told about them, it would have taken until 1 a.m. today to thaw and cook the meal, at which time the temperature would be in the low 40s - not especially the most festive ambience for a holiday meal.
Holiday in Afghanistan -- [Washington Post]
The Marine Corps Osprey, an unwieldy, gray contraption that flies like an airplane but lands like a helicopter, raced through the sky before it slowed to a hover and alighted several hundred yards from this tiny village. Several hundred Afghans raced out of low-slung mud houses to catch a glimpse of the strange aircraft carrying the Marine commandant, Gen. James Conway. He'd come from the Pentagon to offer Thanksgiving greetings to about 50 Marines manning one of the primitive bases here. For the Marines at the Golestan base and some three dozen other small outposts and patrol bases scattered throughout surrounding Helmand province, the Thanksgiving holiday offered a brief respite before President Obama unveils his new strategy for Afghanistan next week.
What Does The Taliban Say... -- [Afghan Quest - in Afghanistan]
When they've killed 13 people and wounded 42 more in a botched rocket attack?
Afghan Taliban Chief Rejects Talks With Government -- [VOA]
A statement attributed to Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar is again rejecting a call for peace talks aimed at ending the country's eight-year-old war.
Taliban leader says U.S. faces defeat in Afghanistan-- [LA Times]
Mullah Mohammed Omar scoffs at an expected U.S. troop increase and urges Afghans to reject Hamid Karzai's government. President Obama is to announce his war strategy in a televised speech.
Taliban Open Northern Front in Afghanistan -- [NY Times]
Far from the heartland of the Taliban insurgency in the south, this once peaceful northern province was one place American and Afghan officials thought they did not have to worry about.
Talking to the Enemy -- [World of Troubles]
So how does a military intelligence gatherer know if an informant's lying?
"A lot of times you don't know if someone's lying," Chief warrant officer Edward Strauss, head of a Human Intelligence team based out of Jalabad, said in a phone interview. "Sometimes they outright tell me the wrong name. A lot of times we have other intelligence signals- (satellite or drone) imagery, that will give us 'contrary' information."
"One thing we cannot do," Strauss said, "we can't do an operation based on what one person says. Nine times out of 10, (an informant's motivation is based) on a tribal feud. You don't go in on one person's word."
"The hardest part," Dan, one of Strauss's enlisted soldiers, said, "is to corroborate and vet the information we get. When we hear a specific high-value target is moving in the region, we note it. When we get two or three sources saying it, then we move to find someone who has had direct contact with the target."
But ...
Afghan withdrawal would be folly -- [Guardian]
...The McChrystal counter-insurgency is already being implemented, and showing signs of working particularly here in central Helmand. Roads are being secured, clinics and schools opened, courts and local councils set up. Communities are swinging from Taliban loyalty to supporting the government, but after nearly 50 years of war and violence they're hedging their bets. Almost all generalisations from the pundits and panjandrums in London, Washington an all points north seem vapid before the complexity of the facts here on the ground.
This struck most forcibly when yesterday I visited Nawa, between Lashkar Gah and Garmsir. It's not so much a one-horse town as a one-ditch town, with its bazaar strung out on a dirt and tarmac track alongside a slow-running, but remarkably clear irrigation ditch.
In Afghanistan, Real Leverage Starts with More Troops - [Washington Post]
The president will soon announce the deployment of additional US forces to Afghanistan, in a speech likely to emphasize the importance of political progress there. Legitimacy is the most important outcome of a counterinsurgency strategy, not, as some have suggested, an input. It is unfortunate that much of the debate has ignored the role that additional military forces can play in building legitimacy and effective government in a counterinsurgency. Adding forces gives us leverage; military forces are vital to the success of any political strategy because they contribute directly to improving governance as well as to improving security.
Soviets' Afghan Ordeal Vexed Gates on Troop-Surge Plan -- [WSJ]
The future of the war in Afghanistan was on the line as Gen. Stanley McChrystal met with Defense Secretary Robert Gates in a secret rendezvous at a Belgian airbase in August.
Gen. McChrystal, the top Western commander in Afghanistan, pushed for more U.S. troops to roll back the spreading Taliban-led insurgency. Mr. Gates, officials say, was skeptical.
Commitment -- [Neptunus Lex]
The US news media, when reporting on military action abroad, has a tendency to fetishize the Vietnam War. But when comparing the current battle for the human terrain in Afghanistan, a far simpler and more apt comparison comes to mind. Certainly it was in the mind of SecDef Robert Gates, who - as a CIA player in the mujahadeen war against the Soviets - knows a thing or two about the hole in the world map representing by the Af.
McChrystal saying little about delay on troops -- [Washington Post]
...Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), in a telephone interview from Afghanistan, said that McChrystal declined to criticize Obama's nearly three-month review of the general's request to send up to 40,000 more troops to the war-torn nation. Instead, McChrystal -- whose opinion many Republicans have treated as sacrosanct -- told the group that U.S. forces could still achieve the goal of routing the Taliban.
"He believed that the mission was accomplishable," Price said after meeting the general and other top U.S. officials in Kabul.
NATO Chief: Allies Must Send More Troops to Afghanistan -- [AP]
NATO's secretary general says NATO member states must follow the lead of the United States and send more troops to Afghanistan. Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters in Berlin Thursday it is critically important that a US announcement of additional troops is followed by similar announcements from US allies in NATO. Rasmussen says he is contacting NATO members and pressing them to commit more soldiers. He made the comments after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The White House says President Barack Obama will announce his long-awaited strategy for Afghanistan on Tuesday night in a speech at the US military academy at West Point in New York. News reports say Mr. Obama is most likely to call for the deployment of at least 30,000 more US troops.
German General Quits Over Airstrike -- [NY Times]
The chief of staff of the German armed forces resigned Thursday over accusations that the military withheld information on a deadly airstrike in Afghanistan in September that killed civilians as well as insurgents.
Afghan National Security Forces Get Pay Raise -- [ISAF]
Afghan Ministries of the Interior and Defense introduced a set of quality of life pay raises and benefits implemented for members of the Afghan national security forces.
Minister of the Interior H.E. Mohammad Hanif Atmar announced a salary increase of $45 a month for all police. This same increase is also applied to soldiers of the Afghan national army. The ANP and the ANA will begin receiving longevity pay, which means service tenure will allow for salary increases throughout a police officer or soldier's career.
Prosecuting American 'War Crimes' -- [WSJ]
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed "great regret" in August that the US is not a signatory to the International Criminal Court (ICC). This has fueled speculation that the Obama administration may reverse another Bush policy and sign up for what could lead to the trial of Americans for war crimes in The Hague. The ICC's chief prosecutor, though, has no intention of waiting for Washington to submit to the court's authority. Luis Moreno Ocampo says he already has jurisdiction - at least with respect to Afghanistan. Because Kabul in 2003 ratified the Rome Statute - the ICC's founding treaty - all soldiers on Afghan territory, even those from nontreaty countries, fall under the ICC's oversight, Mr. Ocampo told me. And the chief prosecutor says he is already conducting a "preliminary examination" into whether NATO troops, including American soldiers, fighting the Taliban may have to be put in the dock. "We have to check if crimes against humanity, war crimes or genocide have been committed in Afghanistan," Mr. Ocampo told me.
Thanksgiving in Tikrit, Iraq -- [Outside the Wire - in Iraq]
Over the Tigris river, through the desert and through a rough neighborhood where people occasionally throw RKG-3 anti-tank grenades at US military vehicles......we drove.
Not to Grandma's house--but one of Saddam's old palaces for Thanksgiving Dinner at the old FOB Dagger.
Thanksgiving -- [Ramblings from a painter - in Iraq]
Happy Thanksgiving to one and all! I hope you have a wonderful holiday. I got to sleep in this morning, a very rare treat. Then a group of us went on a "One Lap of VBC" sightseeing tour. We treated ourselves to some cappuccino and a little Cinnabon, paid homage to SFC Smith, who earned a Medal of Honor in a small courtyard near my old building, and visited Flintstone Village again. A few months ago, a group of soldiers worked with the Iraqi Boy Scouts and Girl Guides to paint over the graffiti in several of the rooms, but the graffiti is back in spades. We finished up with lunch at Sather Air Force Base, which is part of the Victory Base complex. In typical fashion, the Air Force has the best DFAC on the entire complex, at least in my opinion. I just went for a jog, and will do some painting here in a few minutes. This evening, the command is going to have a lamb roast outside. Should be a lot of fun.
Thankful in Iraq -- [The Life - in Iraq]
This Thanksgiving, there is so much to be thankful for. I would like to begin by thanking each of you that read this for your interest in our cause.
We are also blessed by the support of family, friends, and the American people as we struggle to bring the tenets of democracy to a nation of people so long oppressed. Sectarianism and political violence, though still present, are losing popular support.
The leadership in today's military does an outstanding job in supporting the common soldier's welfare and well-being.
I Won the Race--Story in the New York Times "At War" Blog -- [In Iraq Now (at 56) - in Iraq]
Among the hundreds of things I miss about home during my year in Iraq is the Turkey Day bike race in Lancaster County, Penn. This unofficial final race of every season draws 50 or more racers from around the county, and it shows which cyclists kept up with their fitness routines since the end of the season in September. So when I finally got a chance to organize a bike race on Tallil Ali Air Base after six months here, I wanted it to be on Thanksgiving Day.
As far as anyone on the base knows - and there are civilians who have been here since late 2003 ...
Rough Week -- [In the NARMY - in Iraq]
I had been asleep for about an hour last Thursday when one of my guys woke me up and said he heard a rumor that one of our vehicles was in an accident. While I assumed it was minor, I got in uniform and went into work to see what was going on. The office was eerily empty. The only person in the office, our dispatcher, sat in silence. He didn't have to say anything, I knew it wasn't good. I told him if any calls came for this base, Camp Buehring, I would handle them until everyone got back from the accident, so they could concentrate on what was going on there. I then called my supervisor to let him know I was holding things down here. He then gave me the news I was denying. While traveling to Camp Virginia for a routine patrol, a car passing a convoy on the wrong side of the road, came through a blind hill and struck their vehicle head on. MA2 Brian Patton had been killed and MA2 Dave Morgan was in the fight of his life. I rounded up what troops were left here to give them the news. Unfortunately, work still had to be done, I ended up working from 9am that morning until 8am the next. It's been a long week.
Troops celebrate what could be last Thanksgiving in Iraq -- [USA Today]
As the U.S. military prepares to dramatically scale down its presence in Iraq beginning next spring, with a goal of leaving completely by the end of 2011, Rogers and many other troops gave thanks that their days here seem to be numbered.
"I think this will probably end up being my last Thanksgiving in Iraq, and that wouldn't be such a bad thing," said Rogers, 36, of Lumberton, N.C., who has deployed three times to Iraq and once to Kuwait since the war started in 2003. "It's been years since I've had a chance to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family. I miss that."
Iraq Starts a YouTube Channel -- [Newser]
(Newser) - Iraq's government has launched an official YouTube channel designed, according to Nouri al-Maliki,
South Korea Admits Civilian Killings During War -- [New York Times]
In the opening months of the Korean War, the South Korean military and the police executed at least 4,900 civilians who had earlier signed up - often under force - for re-education classes meant to turn them against Communism, the country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission announced Thursday. The government killed the civilians out of fear that they would help the Communists who were invading from the north and forcing South Korean and American forces into retreat during the first desperate weeks of the war, the commission said. Although the panel has reported on similar civilian massacres in the past, the announcement Thursday represented the first time that a state investigative agency confirmed the nature and scale of what is known as "the National Guidance League incident" - one of the most horrific and controversial episodes of the war.
Iran Censured Over Nuclear Program by UN Watchdog -- [NY Times]
The United Nations nuclear watchdog castigated Iran for blocking inquiries into its nuclear program in a resolution passed overwhelmingly on Friday that demanded the country freeze operations "immediately" at a once-secret uranium enrichment plant.
For Thanksgiving Barack Obama Demands Release of 1,000 Terrorists -- [Gateway Pundit]
President Obama wants the Israelis to release 1,000 terrorists...
The naive American President urged Israel today to release 1,000 terrorists in exchange for "peace" with the Palestinians.
Arutz Sheva reported, via Israel Matzav:
Key Official On Guantanamo Closing Resigns -- [Riel World]
For family and personal reasons? Yeah, I think I might question the timing just a bit. h/t Danger Room on Twitter.
A key official in the Obama administration's effort to remake detention policy and close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay has resigned.
Phillip Carter, who was appointed deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee policy in April, said in a brief telephone interview that he was leaving for "personal and family reasons" and not because of any policy differences with the administration. He tendered his resignation Friday, Pentagon officials said.
Carter, a lawyer and Iraq war veteran, was responsible for coordinating global policy on detainees.
Enabling the Next Fort Hood? -- [Washington Post]
The news from Fort Hood shocked the nation: American soldiers shot on American soil. Thirteen dead and 38 injured. It was almost too terrible to believe. Almost. Unfortunately, the Fort Hood rampage was not the first time that our military personnel have been murdered in the United States this year. In June, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad shot and killed an Army private and wounded another soldier at a military recruiting station in Little Rock. In both cases, the loss of these young soldiers was compounded by a disturbing reality: The assailants had been under investigation by the FBI. In the more recent case, it would be easy enough to point fingers at the FBI.
Trees for Troops to honor military families in our area -- [Toledo On The Move]
In celebration of the holiday season and in honor of military families, customers are encouraged to purchase an extra tree this season to donate to the
1490 Heroes Waiting for Adoption -- [Soldiers Angels]
very Soldiers' Angels volunteer who adopts, joins a team or assists a project helps ensure "No Soldier Go Unloved." Angel volunteers support the troops in two main ways:
Associate Angels participate in the group activities and projects that do not involve personal information about soldiers or families. The tireless work and generosity of these patriots is the foundation of many important Soldiers' Angels projects.
Hundreds watch troops parade in Hounslow -- [Hounslow Chronicle]
Huge crowds turned out to welcome home heroes from the Second Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. Hundreds of people lined the streets on Thursday
Marines get emotional welcome home -- [FOX Toledo]
Bobbie thinks of her son every day, and Wednesday, she did something she never got to do with her own son - wrap her arms around him and welcome him home.
Smackdown of the Day: The Taliban at YouTube -- [Jawa Report]
The next time the Taliban kill an American, thank Google's YouTube service for helping spread their vile propaganda. Remember, this YouTube channel purports to be an official outlet of the Taliban.
President vs. party on troop increase -- [Washington Post]
President Obama will reveal his new Afghanistan war strategy in a speech Tuesday evening to cadets at West Point, but his most skeptical audience is likely to be the powerful Democrats on Capitol Hill who oppose a troop buildup.
(Need more? Dawn Patrols Archives are here.)
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.Refresh for updates.
Marines in Afghanistan hear a plea: Don't leave too soon -- [Los Angeles Times]
Others in Helmand would like them to leave immediately. And frustrating to most involved, the work of U.S. forces to instill a sense of security and confidence in the government is going slowly.
Reporting from Nawa, Afghanistan - It was at the end of a recent after-lunch meeting, with the two sides sitting cross-legged on a tattered rug, exchanging pleasantries and enjoying sweet tea and stone-baked bread.
Afghan Source: The U.S. Has Offered the Taliban Control in Return for Quiet -- [MEMRI]
An Afghan source in Kabul reports that U.S. Ambassador in Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry is holding secret talks with Taliban elements headed by the movement's foreign minister, Ahmad Mutawakil, at a secret location in Kabul. According to the source, the U.S. has offered the Taliban control of the Kandahar, Helmand, Oruzgan, Kunar and Nuristan provinces in return for a halt to the Taliban missile attacks on U.S. bases.
Whispers of Surrender in Afghanistan? -- [Threats Watch Steve Schippert]
I have tried to come up with scenarios of why someone would lie about it in a leak. What would be to gain? Who would gain, and what would they gain? Without sleeping on it, the options for such appear narrow at best.
What does seem logical is that an Afghan privy to the negotiations could have become (rightly) spooked that they might just pull it off, and leaked word in hopes that it might so anger American public opinion that the entire endeavor might be scrapped. That's the most logical explanation for motivation I see at the moment.
It would also fit in consistently with Ambassador Eikenberry's leaked cables recently railing against a 'surge' in forces in Afghanistan. He wouldn't voice such without thinking he has his hands on something else. Could this be it? The surrender of 25% of Afghan territory in exchange for some form of ceasefire?
How the US Funds the Taliban -- [The Nation]
...In this grotesque carnival, the US military's contractors are forced to pay suspected insurgents to protect American supply routes. It is an accepted fact of the military logistics operation in Afghanistan that the US government funds the very forces American troops are fighting. And it is a deadly irony, because these funds add up to a huge amount of money for the Taliban. "It's a big part of their income," one of the top Afghan government security officials told The Nation in an interview. In fact, US military officials in Kabul estimate that a minimum of 10 percent of the Pentagon's logistics contracts--hundreds of millions of dollars--consists of payments to insurgents.
Obama adds Afghanistan meeting to Monday schedule -- [Reuters]
President Barack Obama added a Monday night meeting with top advisers on Afghanistan to his schedule as he closes in on a decision on whether to send more U.S. troops.
The White House said Obama would meet Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and other officials at an 8 p.m. EST/0100 GMT Tuesday meeting in the Situation Room.
Pakistan to US: Don't surge in Afghanistan, talk to Taliban -- [Christian Science Monitor]
The Pakistani government has some advice the Obama administration may not want to hear as it contemplates sending additional US troops to neighboring Afghanistan: Negotiate with Taliban leaders and restrain India.
Pakistan embraces US efforts to stabilize the region and worries that a hasty US withdrawal would create chaos. But Pakistani officials worry that thousands of additional American soldiers and Marines would send Taliban forces retreating into Pakistan, where they're not welcome.
EXCLUSIVE: Top Dem Threatens War Surtax if Obama Commits More Afghan Troops -- [ABC News] -- Rep. Obey Warns President Obama He Will Ask Taxpayers to Pay for War, Should More Troops Be Sent -- The powerful chairman of the House Appropriations Committee has a stark message for President Obama about Afghanistan
A Plan C for Afghanistan -- [Washington Post]
When there is no good solution to a problem, a president has three options: to avoid the problem, to pick the least bad of the available options, or to mix and match among the proposed solutions and minimize the long-term damage any decision will cause. President Obama is soon likely to settle on something closest to the third approach regarding Afghanistan. This will make no one very happy.
Afghan tribes to the rescue? -- [Washington Post]
While military officers wait for President Obama to conclude his agonizingly slow review of Afghanistan policy, they've been reading a paper by an Army Special Forces operative arguing that the only hope for success in that country is to work with tribal leaders.
This tribal approach has widespread support, in principle. The problem is that, in practice, the United States has often moved in the opposite direction in recent years. Rather than supporting tribal leaders, American policies have sometimes had the effect of undermining their ability to stand up to the Taliban.
The paper by Maj. Jim Gant, "One Tribe at a Time," has been spinning around the Internet for a month. It contends that in an Afghanistan that has never had a strong central government, "nothing else will work" than a decentralized, bottom-up approach. "We must support the tribal system because it is the single, unchanging political, social and cultural reality in Afghan society," he insists.
An awakening in Afghanistan? -- [Powerline]
...The Taliban proved itself to be a vicious, blood-thirsty lot when it held power prior to 9/11. There is no evidence that it has changed and there's plenty of anecdotal evidence that it has not. Thus, it's quite plausible to believe that the Taliban is vulnerable to a large-scale tribal rebellion like the Sunni uprising in Iraq.
khaagbad, bo-ron and gel -- [Doc H's International Adventure - in Afghanistan]
Today was a hectic day.
...We spent the first half of the day meeting with our Afghan counterparts. There are about a dozen issues in which we are moving forward. I am proud that we have worked together to come up with a syllabus and book to teach a Trauma Assistance Program(TAP) to Policemen in the Northern Region. That gets us one step closer to actually starting the course and handing it over to our Afghan friends to run on their own. TAP is a police version of the Combat LifeSaver (CLS) course which has been so popular and necessary in the US Armed Forces. It is only right that the Afghan National Police, who are taking casualties at much higher rates than the Afghan National Army, or Coalition Forces, should have this information.
Eats, shoots and leaves -- [Embedded in Afghanistan... - in Afghanistan]
Thinking back on things, it does seem strange some of the things that went on. You walk around among, shake hands with, and eat and drink in homes of people you don't really know and may not like you. But I never felt any fear in those situations, though I knew some of these people collaborated with insurgents. Pashtunwali, or "the way of the Pashtun", simply does not provide for being dishonorable or inhospitable to guests. The concept goes so far that the Pashtun people are equally hospitable to some of our enemies as well. I'd say we returned the favor and were pretty darn hospitable to local people as well, however. On one occasion the local villagers brought men to the base with bullet and shrapnel wounds.
As Afghans Resist Taliban, U.S. Spurs Rise of Militias -- [NY Times]
ACHIN, Afghanistan -- American and Afghan officials have begun helping a number of anti-Taliban militias that have independently taken up arms against insurgents in several parts of Afghanistan, prompting hopes of a large-scale tribal rebellion against the Taliban.
Pricing an Afghanistan Troop Buildup is no Simple Calculation -- [Los Angeles Times]
As President Obama measures the potential burden of a new war strategy in Afghanistan, his administration is struggling to come up with even the most dispassionate of predictions: the actual price tag for the anticipated buildup of troops. The calculations so far have produced a sweeping range. The Pentagon publicly estimates it will cost $500,000 a year for every additional service member sent to the war zone. Obama's budget experts size it up at twice that much.
US rewards Afghans with 38.7 million dollars in drug fight -- [AFP]
The memorandum of understanding extends 38.7 million dollars to Afghanistan's counter-narcotics ministry, which will disperse the cash to the 27 different
Task force tries to supplant Taliban in info war -- [Army Times - in Afghanistan]
The previous day, a handful of insurgents in a nearby village had made the mistake of shooting at a pair of U.S. OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopters. Stryker-borne infantry rushed to the scene and, together with the helicopters, engaged the Taliban, killing one, wounding another, who got away, and detaining three more.
Now, rolling slowly down the main street of the bazaar, came five Stryker vehicles with the weapons captured in that fight tied to their fronts on full display for the locals.
In 3 Tacks for Afghan War, a Game of Trade-Offs -- [New York Times]
Should President Obama decide to send 40,000 additional American troops to Afghanistan, the most ambitious plan under consideration at the White House, the military would have enormous flexibility to deploy as many as 15,000 troops to the Taliban center of gravity in the south, 5,000 to the critical eastern border with Pakistan and 10,000 as trainers for the Afghan security forces. The rest could be deployed flexibly across the country, including to the NATO headquarters in Kabul, the capital, and in clandestine operations. If Mr. Obama limited any additional American troops to 10,000 to 15,000, the military would deploy them largely as trainers, with some reinforcements likely in the southern province of Kandahar, the Taliban's spiritual home
Canadians begin new push to clear Taliban from towns -- [Globe and Mail]
Canadian soldiers have opened a new phase in their operation aimed at chasing insurgents from Panjwaii district, southwest of Kandahar city.
Border Crossings -- [Bouhammer]
After observing approximately 15-20 bad guys cross the Afghan-Pakistan border in the same spot for two nights in a row, I decided to take a squad of Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers, my Embedded Tactical Trainer (ETT) NCO, and myself to set up an overnight ambush along their avenue of approach. Now for all of you Monday morning quarterbacks who are already saying to yourself why didn't you set up an ambush after the first night or use mortars, artillery, or even call in air assets to eliminate this threat. Well, those are courses of action that were discussed but other priorities limited our manpower for maneuver capabilities, air coverage wasn't available at the time, and we could only get a few mortar rounds off before the enemy would scurry back across the border into Pakistan and then our hands were tied with the rules of engagement.
4 US service members die in Afghan attacks -- [Washington Post]
Bomb attacks and a firefight killed four U.S. troops in 24 hours in Afghanistan, the military said Monday, adding to the growing toll as NATO and the U.S. consider whether to send more forces to the war. Three of the Americans died in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, NATO said in a statement. Two of them were killed in a bomb attack and the third in a separate firefight.
Taliban clashes with Pakistan army, 20 militants dead -- [CNN]
Islamabad, Pakistan - The Pakistani military killed 20 militants during military operations in northwest Pakistan late Sunday night and into Monday
Al-Qaeda in Iraq regaining strength -- [Washington Post]
The Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq has rebounded in strength in recent months and appears to be launching a concerted effort to cripple the Iraqi government as U.S. troops withdraw, Iraqi and American officials say.
The group asserted responsibility for four powerful bombings that targeted five government buildings in Baghdad in August and October -- the deadliest attacks directed at the government in more than six years of war. Authorities say al-Qaeda in Iraq intends to carry out additional high-profile attacks in the months ahead and is attempting to regain its foothold in former strongholds just outside the capital.
Iraq Confronts Syria over Terrorism as U.S. Dithers -- [Pajamas Media]
Iraq has had enough. Faced with ongoing attacks from forces supported by Syria, the Iraqis are taking an increasingly hard line and are refusing to back down. They are fully aware that a confrontation brings the risk of further...
Iraq says October 25 Bombers Came from Syria: Spokesman Asharq -- [AFP / Aawsat]
Iraq on Sunday for the first time said that the bombers who killed more than 150 people in Baghdad on October 25 came from neighbouring Syria, but steered well clear of accusing Damascus of collusion.
Leaked British Documents Reveal Deception About Iraq War Entry -- [The New American]
Britian served as the main American partner in the "coalition" to invade Iraq and dislodge Saddam Hussein from his dictatorship. But British chief of staff
British, US military tensions over Iraq: report -- [AFP]
LONDON -- Hostility between US and British military leaders in Iraq ran deep, with one describing his US counterparts as "group of Martians," the Daily Telegraph reported Monday, citing leaked government documents.
The top British commander in the country, Major General Andrew Stewart, said "our ability to influence US policy in Iraq seemed to be minimal" in the first year of the conflict, according to documents published by the newspaper.
5 bullets per soldier in Iraq -- [Don Surber]
"British military operations in Iraq were so badly resourced that some soldiers went into battle with only five bullets each, secret documents have revealed," the London Daily Mail reported. "Troops were put at 'significant risk' on the
Iraq Reconstruction -- [Ramblings from a painter - in Iraq]
...I saw this article this morning. It is pretty accurate. I'm familiar with the Nasariyah water treatment plant. It was the single most expensive project we've done here. Within months of turning it over to them, it was running at 35% capacity. The reason is that the local government down there is run like a bunch of Tony Sopranos - they give the jobs to family and tribal members, not to engineers who know what they're doing. We (the US) went back in and spent a lotta money to fix it back up again. Haven't heard anything since we finished, but what do you want to bet that it's falling apart again?
USIP Field Mission in Iraq: The Baghdad Office -- [USIP - In Iraq]
It's difficult to describe a "typical" day in Iraq. The typicality depends partially on where I am in the country. For this piece, I'll describe a little about living conditions and moving around. In my next update, I'll discuss what its like to be in meetings and to work with our Iraqi counterparts.
Iraq parliament passes amended election law -- [BBC]
Iraq's parliament has passed an amended version of the new election law, which was vetoed by one of the country's two vice-presidents last week.
US military loses another GI in Iraq -- [Press TV]
Another US soldier has been killed in Iraq.
"A Multi-National Division South soldier was killed in action," according to a US Army statement issued on Sunday. The name of the deceased is being withheld pending notification of the next of kin and release by the Department of Defense.
The latest casualty brings the death toll for US troops in Iraq to nine for the month of November and 145 so far this year.
Out of Iraq, into the Gulf -- [Asia Times]
A major reason for this is the plan, developed at the end of the George W Bush years and confirmed by President Barack Obama, to draw-down US troops in Iraq
Iran Removes Dollar from Currency Basket -- [Wall Street Journal]
LONDON-- The head of Iran's Central Bank said the country has gained $5 billion by excluding the US dollar from its currency basket and replacing it with
US Asks Tehran To Accept Nuclear Offer -- [RTT News]
The United States has urged Iran to "engage" with the West over its controversial nuclear program, warning that if persuasion does not work,
China slams US report warning of spying by Beijing -- [AP]
The annual report by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission to lawmakers said last week that American officials believe Chinese spying is
China and North Korea defence ministers pledge ties -- [BBC]
China and North Korea are allies, but China has other interests in play too
Chinese and North Korean defence chiefs have pledged to strengthen their long-standing military alliance.
Russia's Gorbachev considers political comeback -- [AP]
MOSCOW -- Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev criticized Kremlin policies Friday and toyed with the ambitious idea of attempting a political comeback.
Terrorism Trial May Point Way for 9/11 Cases -- [New York Times]
David Raskin, chief of the terrorism unit in the United States attorney's office in Manhattan, suggested in court this summer that his office would seek to...
Holder answers to 9/11 relatives about trials in U.S.-- [Washington Post]
After enduring four hours of hostile questions in a crowded Capitol Hill hearing room about his decision to send the self-described mastermind of the Sept. 11 terrorist strikes to Manhattan for trial, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. submitted himself to one more round of interrogation Wednesday.
9/11 NEVER FORGET COALITION TO HOLD PRESS CONFERENCE ANNOUNCING DECEMBER 5th RALLY AGAINST NYC TERROR TRIAL -- [911 Families]
The 9/11 Never Forget Coalition, a diverse group of 9/11 victims, family members, first responders, active and reserve members of the military, veterans, and concerned Americans, is holding a November 24th press conference to discuss the details of their December 5th rally protesting the plan to bring the 9/11 terrorist conspirators to trial in New York City.
The Coalition formed to fight the decision of President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder to try the 9/11 co-conspirators in New York City's federal court, effectively giving war criminals the same rights as American citizens while endangering the safety of all New Yorkers.
Pelosi Won't Answer If Osama Needs to be Read His Rights At "Arrest" (Video) -- [Gateway Pundit]
Speaker Pelosi won't answer if Osama Bin Laden has to be read his rights when he is arrested. CNS News reported:
Lawyer: 9/11 Defendants Will Tell Jury 'Why They Did It -- [FOX News]
The five men facing trial in the Sept. 11 attacks will plead not guilty so that they can air their criticisms of U.S. foreign policy, the lawyer for one of the defendants said Sunday.
Gitmo detainees will use trials as "platform" to bash America -- [Michelle Malkin]
One of the Gitmo defendants' lawyers confirms the obvious: The civilian trials for 9/11-linked enemy combatants are nothing more than a grand excuse to use our legal system to bash America and spread the jihadi virus on the world stage.
Major Hasan and Holy War -- [WSJ]
A domestic Islamic threat is real, and the FBI is unprepared to fight it.
For those of us who have tracked Islamic militancy in Europe, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's actions are not extraordinary. Since Muslim militants first tried to blow a French high-speed train off its rails in 1995, European intelligence and internal-security services have increasingly monitored European Muslim radicals. Whether it's anti-Muslim bigotry, the large numbers of immigrant and native-born Muslims in Europe, an appreciation of how hard it is to become European, or just an understanding of how dangerous Islamic radicalism is, most Europeans are far less circumspect and politically correct when discussing their Muslim compatriots than are Americans.
Note said Hood-style shooting could happen -- [Army Times]
A box of hollow-point bullets and an anonymous note threatening an incident like the one at Fort Hood, Texas, were discovered Thursday at Fort Benning, Ga., sparking a criminal investigation and greater police presence, a witness told Army Times.
Shortage Slows a Program to Detect Nuclear Bombs -- [NY Times]
The Department of Homeland Security has spent $230 million to develop better technology for detecting smuggled nuclear bombs but has had to stop deploying the new machines because the United States has run out of a crucial raw material, experts say.
Gary Sinise, Mensch -- [Soldiers' Angels Germany]
He was here again yesterday. Not sure how many times he's been here all together now. You just can't help being impressed with his low key visits and how much time he spends with the patients and staff.
I was sitting with a patient in the ICU when I noticed a bit of a hubbub and looked up to see him walk by looking into each room.
Doing Pregnancy Alone -- [SpouseBuzz]
I am ready for a silver linings post, this time about pregnancy. --
My husband left for a nine month deployment right after we found out I was pregnant with our first child. He will miss the entire pregnancy. I can think of a million ways that it stinks that he's gone: no one to go with me to ultrasounds, no one to feel my belly when she kicks, no one to rub my feet or go downstairs to get me a glass of water. No pampering at all. That is lame.
But I have been trying to keep track of the good things about doing this alone. I have come up with a couple.
Top Ten -- [HERMANEUTICS: AFGHANISTAN]
Now that we are one month into this deployment, I have thought about a number of things that peg me as the wife of someone who is deployed....
TOP TEN INDICATORS YOU KNOW YOUR HUSBAND IS DEPLOYED:
1. You sit at your computer half the night waiting for the Skype icon to turn green, indicating that he is on line and able to talk.
2. You have your cell phone virtually surgically attached to your body for the year. (But, hey, he has a gun attached...so, I would rather have a cell phone.)
3. No matter what you are doing, you will drop everything and talk when that phone rings...because you don't have the option to call when it is convenient.
4. Your dog suddenly becomes the recipient of constant hugs and affection, along with
Soldier Blocks Ambush, Earns Silver Star -- [Military.com]
On the face of it, the Aug. 8, 2007, assignment to restore the flow of water to a village near Baqubah, Iraq, seemed simple enough. Find the damage to a system sabotaged by insurgents and repair it.
But from his vantage point on a Humvee turret, Spc. Jeremiah Church began to get nervous. There was a canal on one side of the narrow road, a steep drop-off on the other. And neither left his 82nd Airborne Division reconnaissance platoon room to maneuver if necessary.
"It might sound a little crazy, but the hair on the back of my neck was standing up," he said, "and something didn't feel right in my stomach."
I got the new dress uniform... -- [Wings Over Iraq]
Tom Ricks' latest post regarding the ethical conduct of generals has provided some off-topic remarks on Army uniforms. Today, there are many in the Army who look down on those whose uniforms don't spot significant amounts of ribbons, medals and badges (hereafter referred to as "bling"), but this hasn't always been the case.
A rousing welcome home -- [Rhineland Daily News]
An estimated 900 friends, family and well-wishers packed into the Rhinelander High School gym Saturday afternoon give an ecstatic welcome home to the 951st "Sapper" Engineer Company of the Wisconsin U.S. Army National Guard.
The unit included about 100 soldiers from Tomahawk and Rhinelander, who had been sent to Afghanistan one year ago to undertake the dangerous mission of clearing the terrain and roadways for passage and for dismantling explosives in areas of combat.
Fifteen Purple Hearts later, the 951st Sappers will be back in Wisconsin tomorrow -- [A World Away]
The most banged-up Wisconsin National Guard unit since World War II is scheduled to return home Saturday.
The 108 members of the 951st Engineer Company racked up 15 Purple Heart medals and 100 combat action badges in 250 combat missions in Afghanistan.
WYNONNA JUDD JOINS OPRAH WINFREY WELCOMING TROOPS HOME -- [Hollywood Outbreak]
Winfrey teamed with People magazine to hold a private celebration on the Ft. Bragg military base to welcome home the 82nd Airborne Division
Spies and Journalists in Pakistan -- [Abu Muqawama]
A story has been rumbling on in Pakistan for a couple of weeks now that just plain refuses to go away. The daily newspaper, the Nation, published an article on Nov 5 claiming US journalist Matthew Rosenberg, South Asia Correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, was spying in Pakistan. Rosenberg left the country and the WSJ responded with an open letter signed by a bunch of US, British and French outlets along with Al Jazeera.
Now, Londonstani finds this "foreign journalists are spies" rumour mongering really distasteful. It looks like the article fulfilled a couple of aims for whoever thought it was a good idea.
1) It embarasses a couple of senior officials, who are named, for potentially providing information on military matters to an American spy
2) It plays to suspicions about America and might sell a few more copies
3) Last but not least, it gets rid of a journalist who might have been printing stories someone somewhere didn't like
All The News That's Fit To Bury -- [Ed Driscoll]
...And as a nice sequel of sorts to our previous post on leftwing cognitive dissonance, Orrin Judd spots this staggering moment of hypocrisy from the New York Times' Andrew C. Revkin of their "Dot Earth" blog on Friday:
The documents appear to have been acquired illegally and contain all manner of private information and statements that were never intended for the public eye, so they won't be posted here.
And they don't contain any obvious state military secrets as well, unlike say the Pentagon Papers during the Vietnam War or more recently, the secrets of War on Terror, or any of a number of other leaked documents the Times has cheerfully rushed to print.
Back in 2006, when his paper disclosed the previously confidential details of the SWIFT program, which was designed to trace terrorists' financial assets, New York Times executive editor Bill Keller said on CBS's Face the Nation, "one man's breach of security is another man's public relations." Of course, much like the rest of the media circling the wagons with ACORN, it's not at all surprising that the Times circles the wagons when it's necessary to save the public face of their fellow liberals.
CNN gets panties in a twist over 2007 execution of Iraq insurgents by US soldiers -- [Jawa Report]
There is heavy breathing at CNN tonight over a story they are breaking about an investigation by the US Army into the execution of four insurgents captured in Iraq in March 2007. The Army conducted an investigation in early 2008 and convicted the three sergeants who conducted the execution. They are currently serving life sentences at Ft. Leavenworth.
...I'm having trouble understanding exactly what CNN is trying to make of this. First off, there doesn't appear to have been any cover-up. The Army dealt with the matter expeditiously. Apparently, CNN is upset that they weren't informed immediately so they could make a major international incident about it while Bush was still in office. Boo-freaking-hoo.
Film Offers Gospel of the Surge -- [DoD Buzz]
Just what did the surge accomplish and how did it work. A new Washington thinktank the Institute For the Study Of War -- which some might consider The Surge thinktank -- produced a movie called "The Surge: The Untold Story," to answer just those questions.
New Executive Order Aims to Avoid Declass Deadline -- [Secrecy News]
Development of a new executive order on classification of national security information is now proceeding at an accelerated pace in order to preempt a deadline that would require the declassification of millions of pages of historical records next month.
A revised draft executive order was circulated to executive branch agencies by the Office of Management and Budget on November 16, with agency comments due back today, November 23. A final order is likely to be issued by the end of this year.
...But in order to meet this December deadline, several agencies would have to forgo a review of the affected historical records, which they are unwilling to do. And so it seems they will simply be excused from compliance. But in order to modify the deadline in the Bush order, it will be necessary to issue another executive order. If the comprehensive new Obama order on classification policy (which would assign processing of such records to a National Declassification Center that does not yet exist) is not ready for release by December 31, then another stand-alone order would have to be issued, canceling or extending the looming deadline. And officials are reluctant to issue such an order since they say it would be awkward for the avowedly pro-openness Obama Administration to relax or annul a declassification requirement that was imposed by the ultra-secret Bush Administration.
EXCLUSIVE: Top Dem Threatens War Surtax if Obama Commits More Afghan Troops -- [ABC News] -- Rep. Obey Warns President Obama He Will Ask Taxpayers to Pay for War, Should More Troops Be Sent -- The powerful chairman of the House Appropriations Committee has a stark message for President Obama about Afghanistan
Top Democrat warns Afghanistan will bankrupt domestic programs, threatens war ... -- [Los Angeles Times]
Thirty years later, he is chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and adamant that Afghanistan is a similar quagmire that could bankrupt President
Burris in Iraq with three other senators -- [Sun Times]
Roland Burris (D-Ill.) on Saturday voted to advance the Democratic health care bill to the Senate floor and then departed for an official visit to Iraq. Burris--on his first official overseas trip as senator--is traveling with Democrats
(Need more? Dawn Patrols Archives are here.)
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.Refresh for updates.
Updating....
White House Aides: No Afghan Decision Before Thanksgiving -- [Washington Post]
President Obama will not announce his decision on sending more troops to Afghanistan before the Thanksgiving holiday, senior aides said Thursday. The news came as the president greeted 1,500 troops at Osan Air Base in South Korea, just before boarding Air Force One and heading back to Washington after an eight-day trip to Asia.
...Obama arrived on the base 3:19 p.m. local time (1 a.m. Eastern Standard Time) and received a rousing welcome from 1,500 troops in camouflage uniforms, many holding cameras or pointing cellphones to snap pictures.
"You guys make a pretty good photo op," the president said.
Standing on a riser wearing a blue suit and red tie, with a cluster of troops and a large American flag behind him, Obama expressed "the gratitude of the American public" and said his meetings in four countries over eight days in Asia will help deliver a "safer, more prosperous world for all of us."
He got a huge cheer when he told them he was increasing military pay. "That's what you call an applause line," he said, before boarding his jet and taking off at 4:11 p.m.
Light vs. Heavy: Brigade Combat Teams -- [Wings Over Iraq]
While the Obama White House debates the exact troop numbers for the new counterinsurgency strategy, it's safe to say that there will be an increase of around 20,000 to 40,000 additional "combat troops" (definition to follow). While the troop numbers must primarily take into consideration the desired effect in Afghanistan, planners must also take into account one additional factor: how many brigade combat teams we have available. (Based on over 100,000 troops in Iraq and over 60,000 in Afghanistan)
Honoring the fallen -- [FOB Tacoma]
As they left for the mission on Nov. 5, they swept the roads near Jelewar, Afghanistan, for mines. They scanned the area for any wires that could be used to detonate a bomb.
"We thought we did everything right," Lt. Brian Giroux later said.
But in what has become the signature attack in southern Afghanistan, insurgents detonated a bomb underneath their 20-ton Stryker, killing Spc. Aaron Seth Aamot and Spc. Gary Lee Gooch Jr., both 22 years old
Fear Factor -- [Free Range International]
The Problem - In the war on terror, our greatest enemy is our self. Like the company picnic we have become a community of self licking ice cream cones and have forgotten the mission, or more tragically become so self-absorbed in power point success and vertical movement within dysfunctional organizations that champion mediocrity and the status quo. This risk adverse culture has paralyzed the intelligence world and is metastasizing to the military and other government organizations to the point of a terminal diagnosis or paralysis through analysis. Our current senior management (I cannot use the word leadership as that implies the ability to lead and inspire others which if were the case this post would not be necessary)in the military and intelligence services have become a large group of frighten children who put career advancement and self preservation ahead of the mission.
Border Crossings -- [Bouhammer]
After observing approximately 15-20 bad guys cross the Afghan-Pakistan border in the same spot for two nights in a row, I decided to take a squad of Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers, my Embedded Tactical Trainer (ETT) NCO, and myself to set up an overnight ambush along their avenue of approach. Now for all of you Monday morning quarterbacks who are already saying to yourself why didn't you set up an ambush after the first night or use mortars, artillery, or even call in air assets to eliminate this threat. Well, those are courses of action that were discussed but other priorities limited our manpower for maneuver capabilities, air coverage wasn't available at the time, and we could only get a few mortar rounds off before the enemy would scurry back across the border into Pakistan and then our hands were tied with the rules of engagement.
As soon as darkness arrived, my squad of 12 ANA soldiers and I moved out towards the pre-determined ambush site.
US Defense Secretary Urges Against Afghan Withdrawal Timeline -- [Voice of America]
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates is urging caution on those who are calling for a timetable for an allied withdrawal from Afghanistan. Among those who have spoken about a "timetable" or an "endgame" in recent days are British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and US President Barack Obama. It was during a CNN interview this week that President Obama said his eagerly-awaited new Afghanistan strategy will include an "endgame." He said without the "discipline" a plan for ending the conflict would impose, the United States could find itself in "a multi-year occupation" that is not in its interests.
Afghanistan: We will need western troops for another five years, says country's president -- [Daily Record]
HAMID KARZAI was sworn in for a second term as Afghan president yesterday and vowed to make the country safe within five years.
He also pledged to stop foreign security companies operating in the country so that Afghanistan would "control its own security".
ANSF vetting -- [Embedded in Afghanistan... - in Afghanistan]
It's always disturbing to hear news of Coalition trainers being turned on by their trainees. When you hear of an incident like the one a couple of weeks ago where the five Brits were killed by one of their trainees, it certainly makes you wonder how feasible the end strategy of training more and more Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF...an umbrella term to cover the ANA, ANP, Border Police, and other security agencies within Afghanistan) is. Thankfully, such incidents are rare, but with more and more ANSF out there, we're bound to start seeing more of this. To significantly increase the size of the ANP and ANA they are going to have continue lowering the already low standards for recruits...many are essentially conscripts already.
Currently...
Karzai Sworn In for Second Term as President -- [New York Times]
Tainted by a flawed election and allegations of festering corruption in his government, President Hamid Karzai was inaugurated Thursday for a second term, promising to remedy the country's problems and to have the Afghan Army assume full control of security within five years. Speaking in Dari and Pashto, Mr. Karzai reached out to the country's two largest ethnic groups as well as to his defeated political rivals in a speech at a midday ceremony at the presidential palace. Above all, his address seemed aimed at the United States and other Western allies,...
ISAF + COIN Academy -- [Charlie Simpson's War - in Afghanistan]
Not a lot to report here. Yesterday all the roads were closed due to Karzai's inauguration. So we were confined to the compound all day.
Afghans Want Obama to Hold Karzai's Feet to the Fire -- [Los Angeles Times]
On Afghanistan's independence day in August, my friends in Kandahar were puzzled. Why was the government bothering to celebrate the holiday? With 100,000 or so foreign troops occupying our country, how could we consider ourselves independent? When my American friends and professors ask me if I think the United States should send additional troops to Afghanistan, I tell them yes, but only if the resources are distributed on the condition that the Afghan government cleans up its act. This often causes bewilderment on their part. "But Afghanistan is a sovereign state," they invariably reply. "How can the United States interfere in Afghanistan's domestic politics?" In fact, as my friends noted on "independence" day, Afghanistan is not at this point a sovereign state.
Profile: Abdul the Jingle Truck Driver -- [Sgt Danger - in Afghanistan]
I've been leading a gun crew on these security missions for some five months now, and have a pretty good grasp on the concept. I've had very unique experiences: adjusting to the intense summer heat, the mad downtown traffic, the boredom of miles of dirt road, and the stress of constant enemy lookout. But the our local jingle truck drivers are going through a hell of a time too. What is it like for them? On our last mission - we got back to yesterday, after four days on the road - I asked our interpreter to introduce me to one of the drivers. Papa J, as we call him, said, "I know the guy."
Heading home -- [Desert Bound - in Afghanistan]
Well, over the past month, I havn't been able to get access to my blog. As I said before, the internet here is lacking. They are still trying to get MWR computers/phones setup, but it still looks like it's another month out. I'll try and post at least one more detailed wrap-up of my time here, but my six month tour has finally come to an end. It's been great getting to know everyone that found comfort and encouragement through my postings.
Improvements in Afghan Governance Will Take Time, Gates Says -- [Defense Link]
Improving the quality and professionalism of Afghanistan's central government will not be accomplished quickly, and will involve continued discussion between US and Afghan officials, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said here today. "My view on all this is that improvements in governance in Afghanistan will be evolutionary," said Gates, in response to a Pentagon reporter's question on the possibility the United States could link the amount of assistance it provides the Afghan government through its performance in rooting out alleged corruption. Newly re-elected Afghan President Hamid Karzai has pledged that he will fight government corruption.
Mullen: Talks Favor Broad Afghanistan Solution -- [Defense Link]
President Barack Obama's security team recognizes troops alone aren't the answer as it begins wrapping up strategy deliberations about the way ahead in Afghanistan, the top military officer said today. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the talks are nearing their conclusion, predicting that Obama will announce his decision "in the near future." Mullen told participants in the National Guard Bureau's Joint Senior Leadership Conference that he's satisfied by the depth and breadth of the discussions as the team addresses the challenges in Afghanistan and makes recommendations to the president.
Italy Remains a 'Determined' Ally -- [Washington Times]
Giulio Terzi di Sant'Agata, the newly appointed Italian ambassador to the United States, objected to the term "war" to describe the conflict in Afghanistan, but he said Italy had dropped restrictions that had kept its troops away from the fighting. In an interview with editors and reporters at The Washington Times Thursday, Mr. Terzi said that Afghanistan is a key component of Italian foreign policy. He said Western involvement in Afghanistan could best be described as "peacekeeping" instead of war, because it has been mandated by the UN Security Council.
To Succeed in Afghanistan, We Must Fail -- [Los Angeles Times]
Afghan President Hamid Karzai's inauguration today will be a somber affair. Gray storm clouds are slowly replacing the blue skies, and the sour tang of charcoal smoke hangs in the air. The mood among the internationals here is similarly gloomy. So many conversations end with the scratching of heads, with the tacit admission that no idea that has come forward has been big enough to reverse the Afghan government's steady loss of control. This is not because of the flawed elections or the ghastly killing of foreigners. That's all bad, but it's not doomsday. Nearly two years ago, I heard the distant rumbles, like thunder, of the attack on the Serena Hotel in Kabul, which killed seven people. The Afghan government's legitimacy was being questioned then too, and urgent reforms demanded - without practical result. Two elections had already happened and were marred by fraud. We have been here before, and survived. No, what is depressing about the situation in Afghanistan is not that it has suddenly gotten much worse but that it steadily fails to get better.
Taliban Chief Hides Among Pakistan Populace -- [Washington Times]
Mullah Mohammed Omar, the one-eyed leader of the Afghan Taliban, has fled a Pakistani city on the border with Afghanistan and found refuge from potential US attacks in the teeming Pakistani port city of Karachi with the assistance of Pakistan's intelligence service, three current and former US intelligence officials said. Mullah Omar, who hosted Osama bin Laden and other al Qaeda leaders when they plotted the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, had been residing in Quetta, where the Afghan Taliban shura - or council - had moved from Kandahar after the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.
Why the Pakistan Army Won't Fight Afghanistan's Taliban -- [TIME]
In return, he reportedly offered a range of fresh incentives, "including enhanced intelligence sharing and military cooperation.
Expecting the unexpected -- [Soldiers' Angels Germany]
In Balad with Task Force 38's medevac unit, Company C, 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment. Typically, the unit flies routine missions pick up patients, medical supplies, doctors and nurses from outlying bases and bring them to Balad. The patients come to Balad for a higher level of care - surgery or evaluation such as an MRI. Some are staged there for transport to an even higher echelon of care at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center.
The crews must be prepared at all times to ...
Iraq Sentences Sunni Leader to Death -- [New York Times]
A leader of a Sunni Awakening Council was sentenced to death for kidnapping and murder on Thursday, setting off charges that the Shiite-dominated Iraqi government was trying to weaken the Sunni movement, which is credited with much of the reduction of sectarian violence here since 2006. The Sunni leader, Adil al-Mashhadani, who led the Awakening militia in the impoverished Fadhil neighborhood of Baghdad, was arrested in March on charges of terrorism. His arrest set off 24 hours of fighting between Awakening members and American and Iraqi security forces, ...
Iraq's Election Law Morass -- [New York Times]
Iraqis have quickly learned to play hardball politics. That was evident on Wednesday when one of Iraq's two vice presidents, Tariq al-Hashimi, who is a Sunni, vetoed an important election law at the last minute. He demanded a change that would allocate more parliamentary seats for Iraqi Sunnis living abroad. It is unquestionably better for Iraq's political leaders to wage their battles through legislative maneuvering than in the streets. But their repeated delays in completing the election law (there have been nearly a dozen attempts) threatens their fragile constitutional system as well as the American military withdrawal. And it could provoke new violence.
New View of Samarra -- [Outside the Wire - JD Johannes - in Iraq]
In the lexicon of Iraq, few words carry as much meaning as Samarra.
This city on the Tigris river north of Baghdad was the source of the sectarian slaughter of 2006 and 2007 and the scene of some the most violent fire fights of the same era.
Even as late as 2008, it was city to be by-passed when traveling north or south on Highway 1. The city is peaceful enough now, but still struggling with an identity crisis. It is a Sunni city but home of a holy Shia shrine that draws millions of pilgrims a year.
Who Flies That Blackhawk? The Whole Story -- [In Iraq Now (at 56) - in Iraq]
Task Force Diablo is based in Pennsylvania but includes units and soldiers from across the nation. Because National Guard soldiers bring a variety of life and work experiences with them on deployment, even the smallest unit can include soldiers with a surprising array of skills and experience. In September Alaska-based, Charlie 1-52nd MEDEVAC needed a crew for the chase bird for a routine flight to two of their remote sites. Alpha 1-106th from Illinois supplied a crew for a Pennsylvania 1-150th Blackhawk helicopter. The four soldiers who comprised the Illinois crew on a Pennsylvania helicopter following an Alaska MEDEVAC show how different the members of a four-man unit can be.
US Talks Tougher on Dealing With Iran -- [Wall Street Journal]
The international spokesman for Iran's main opposition movement called for President Barack Obama to increase his public support for Iranian democrats and significantly intensify financial pressure on Tehran's elite military unit, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. Mohsen Makhmalbaf, during an unofficial visit to Washington, also said Thursday that Iranian opposition leaders supported US efforts to use diplomacy to contain the nuclear ambitions of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government.
Get Ready to Bomb Iran -- [Washington Times]
Representatives from the United States, Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia are scheduled to meet today in Brussels to discuss future steps to dissuade Iran from developing the capacity to build nuclear weapons. Our message to the world leaders: If you want peace, prepare for war. President Obama said yesterday that the international community intends to send a "clear message" to Iran. Unfortunately, Iran has clearly gotten the message already: It has nothing to fear.
Japan wants US military base out of Okinawa -- [PRESS TV]
Japan's Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama says he will devise a plan to relocate the US military airfield based in Okinawa as soon as possible.
N. Korea Among Topics of Discussion as Obama Wraps up Asia Tour -- [Washington Post]
With none of the tension presented by a rising China and a willful Japan, President Obama's visit to South Korea on Thursday was short, congenial in substance and splendid in form. Ending a sometimes bumpy week-long tour of East Asia, Obama said the welcoming ceremony in Seoul - a glorious, sun-drenched mingling of music, flags and traditional garb - was the "most spectacular" he has seen in his travels. In his talks with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, whose right-of-center government has embraced political cooperation with the United States, Obama also found much to his liking.
An Anti-pirate Policy that Works -- [Washington Times]
Merchant ships need guns to fight pirates. Seven months ago, Somali pirates attacked the Maersk Alabama and held its captain hostage. Pirates attacked the Maersk Alabama again this week but were repulsed because the Maersk Shipping Line put armed guards on its ships. Pirates successfully attacked another unarmed ship on Monday, leaving 28 members of its crew dead. On Tuesday, 36 crew members of a Spanish ship were released only after pirates were paid a $3.3 million ransom. But when the pirates got within 300 yards of the Maersk Alabama, the ship tried evasive maneuvers and its security team successfully engaged in small-arms fire. Vice Admiral Bill Gortney of the US Naval Forces Central Command said the actions of the Maersk Alabama were following the maritime industry's "best practices."
Major Hasan's E-Mail: 'I Can't Wait to Join You' in Afterlife -- [ABC News]
United States Army Major Nidal Hasan told a radical cleric considered by authorities to be an al-Qaeda recruiter, "I can't wait to join you" in the afterlife, according to an American official with top secret access to 18 e-mails exchanged between Hasan and the cleric, Anwar al Awlaki, over a six month period between Dec. 2008 and June 2009.
Intercepted e-mails deemed innocent by the FBI detail possible terror relations.
More Photos"It sounds like code words," said Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, a military analyst at the Center for Advanced Defense Studies.
Air Defense Push Inspired by 9/11 Gets a 2nd Look -- [New York Times]
The commander of military forces protecting North America has ordered a review of the costly air defenses intended to prevent another Sept. 11-style terrorism attack, an assessment aimed at determining whether the commitment of jet fighters, other aircraft and crews remains justified. Senior officers involved in the effort say the assessment is to gauge the likelihood that terrorists may succeed in hijacking an airliner or flying their own smaller craft into the United States or Canada. The study is focused on circumstances in which the attack would be aimed not at a public building or landmark but instead at a power plant or a critical link in the nation's financial network, like a major electrical grid or a computer network hub.
Arrests in Chicago Drive Home Global Nature of Terrorism Threat - [Washington Post]
David C. Headley, a peripatetic Chicagoan accused of scouting potential terrorism targets in India and plotting to kill two Danish journalists, was not always David C. Headley. Until 2006, he was Daood Gilani, but he told investigators he had changed his name to raise less suspicion when he traveled abroad. He lived anonymously in an apartment leased in the name of a dead person. He changed e-mail accounts often and spoke in code on the telephone. The strategy worked less than perfectly, according to the FBI, which arrested him on terrorism charges last month at O'Hare International Airport on the first leg of a trip to Pakistan.
Linda's "Blanket Ladies" -- [Soldiers' Angels Germany]
Readers of this blog are familiar with Linda Ferrara and her Blanket Ladies. There are many more than pictured here, including one group called the Sunshine Club. The groups meet regularly to make blankets for the patients coming through Landstuhl.
So they were very excited recently when they spotted one of their blankets in the longer version of the video in the story here about the 86th CASF
Show of Support Surprises Heroes -- [NewsWest 9]
MIDLAND - West Texans gave heroes a big welcome. Several injured troops flew in to the Tall City this week and on Thursday, the streets were packed with folks from across the Basin who came to say thanks. The 6th Annual Show of Support banquet filled up the Horseshoe Arena.
25 injured troops rode into the Tall City for the Show of Support celebration - each bringing with them a unique background
BART will offer free tickets for military members -- [KGO-TV]
Beginning in 2010, BART will offer free $50 tickets to active duty military personnel who are in the Bay Area on leave from the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan
Community teams up to support troops -- [South Carolina Now]
"I wanted to lift their spirits, to make them feel good about not being able to be home with their families," Johnson said.
With the help of many volunteers and local business donations Johnson has finished 116 care packages to send overseas.
One of Johnson's neighbors did a fundraiser at work to help get items for the care packages. "When she backed her car up to my door there was just so much stuff it scared me. Donations kept coming we kind of got slow a minute here and fast a minute there. I wish I could do it over again, I would love to do it over again," Johnson said.
Military experiment seeks to predict PTSD -- [KFDA]
(AP) - A military experiment in California is meant to try to predict who's most at risk for post-traumatic stress disorder. Earlier this year, a quarterly
Positive Petraeus Lessons -- [Washington Times]
The essence of counterinsurgency strategy (COIN), integral to defeating Sept. 11, 2001-type extremists infecting various Middle East countries, is building confidence among the population. The key is working hand-in-glove with the respective military and civilian authorities to help stabilize their combustible nations so they might be free of the specter of extremist violence, thereby enabling the buildup of family, community and nation, according to each culture's unique and beautiful character. This new, irregular warfare is fought largely on human terrain, about which Gen. David H. Petraeus has written in the COIN bible, ...
Pentagon Launches Review of Fort Hood Shooting -- [Defense Link]
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates today announced the Defense Department will conduct a broad review of the Nov. 5 Fort Hood, Texas, shooting that left 13 dead and dozens injured. Former Army Secretary Togo West and retired Navy Adm. Vernon Clark, former chief of naval operations, will head the initial 45-day review, which will inform a follow-on investigation expected to last four to six months. "The shootings at Fort Hood raise a number of troubling questions that demand complete but prompt answers," Gates said during a Pentagon briefing. "It is prudent to determine immediately whether there are internal weaknesses or procedural shortcomings in the department that could make us vulnerable in the future." The department review is separate from both the criminal investigation of Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan
Army Lacks Guide on Jihadists in Ranks -- [Washington Times]
The Army has guidelines on how to deal with racist views and actions within the ranks, but none on how to deal with Islamic jihadism, a former Army vice chief of staff told Congress on Thursday. Retired Army Gen. John M. Keane said this absence of guidance fostered a politically correct reluctance to investigate the man accused in the Fort Hood shootings, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan. A military pamphlet created after the 1995 racially motivated shootings at Fort Bragg is the intended guidebook on how to deal with extremist activities and prohibited conduct but is mostly focused on white supremacist behavior, Gen. Keane told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in the first congressional oversight hearing on the Fort Hood shootings. "Clearly we don't have specific guidelines in dealing with jihadist extremists," Gen. Keane told the Senate homeland security committee.
Army captain welcomed home from Iraq -- [Citrus Daily]
A well-deserved Hero's Welcome was observed for Capt. Eric Evans from his recent tour of duty from the "Iraqi Theater of Operations". The welcome home
Fearing Obama-bashing, Army limits media access to Palin event at Fort Bragg -- [Hot Air]
The AP and a local paper put up a fuss so the base relented and is now granting limited access -- provided that neither Palin herself nor anyone else there is interviewed. They're not worried about Sarahcuda, I don't think; hopefully, she's disinclined to bash the C-in-C in front of a military audience. They're worried about conservative troops chattering with each other about politics, getting worked up, and then being roped in by reporters eager for an anti-Obama quote or two to prove that the right-wingers in the military hate America or whatever.
Poll: Majority Of Republicans Think Obama Didn't Actually Win 2008 Election -- ACORN Stole It! -- [TPM]
The new national poll from Public Policy Polling (D) has an astonishing number about paranoia among the GOP base: Republicans do not think President Obama actually won the 2008 election -- instead, ACORN stole it.
Just there to burnish his image? Obama tells troops 'You guys make a pretty good photo op' -- [Examiner]
Are American soldiers risking their lives in defense of...well, of whatever the heck they're fighting for in Iraq and Afghanistan worth only a good photo opportunity for American Presidents.
...No, of course not. Who would make such a bad joke?
Probably just an attempt at a making a funny by the President, but like his 'You're likable enough, Hillary' barb that fell flat, this President just is not a funnyman. In fact, his jokes tend to be the exact opposite of funny if not just straight-up offensive.
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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.Refresh for updates.
Boondoggle -- [3rd Time, New Country - in Afghanistan]
I know I am a little late on posting to my blog, but I returned from a boondoggle out to Mazar-e-Sharif in the Northern provinces. I even have some pictures to post with this entry. First, let me recap last week. We did make a normal trip to NDS. It was actually a clear, cool morning which is a rarity here in Kabul. The pollution is so thick that it is very rare to see the distant mountains. So, here is a picture of the snow-capped mountains, west of Kabul. This picture was taken last Monday. I haven't seen the mountains since. Other than that, it was a normal week of mentoring. There are always little things to work on and improve in the OT. Friday was another violent day here in Kabul. The Taliban used a SVBIED outside Camp Phoenix a little before 0800. There were no American casualties, but there were injuries.
Clinton in Kabul for Karzai's inauguration -- [Foreign Policy - AfPak]
U.S. President Barack Obama reportedly told CNN today that he is "very close" to making a decision about whether to send more U.S. troops to Afghanistan and plans to make an announcement "in the next several weeks," after more than two months of deliberations (Reuters, Reuters). Obama is reportedly angry about the stream of leaks that has come out about his Afghanistan decision, telling CBS, "For people to be releasing info in the course of deliberations is not appropriate" and said yes when asked if that is a "firing offense" (CBS, Politico). Meanwhile
The war of leaks -- [Foreign Policy - AfPak]
The Obama Administration's social media prowess has been a novelty among latter day political media machines. It helped to crowd-source the campaign funding needed to put Barack Obama in the White House, and generated a populist gloss that was, at the time, convincingly fresh and transparent. What was equally admirable was its apparent internal discipline over when information made the transition from government secret to press release. Controlling the flow of data and keeping secrets secret is a challenge under any circumstance. Combine that with a predilection for Facebook and Twitter, and a hyperactive security officer might expect policy waters to muddy more quickly than they would under normal circumstances.
So when U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry's expressed his "discomfort" last week over a possible troop surge, via diplomatic cable to Washington, it's no wonder that the message ended up dominating headlines.
Ridding Afghanistan of Corruption Will Be No Easy Task -- [Los Angeles Times]
Afghans have a name for the huge, gaudy mansions that have sprung up in Kabul's wealthy Sherpur neighborhood since 2001. They call them "poppy palaces." The cost of building one of these homes, which are adorned with sweeping terraces and ornate columns, can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Many are owned by government officials whose formal salaries are a few hundred dollars a month. To the capital's jaded residents, there are few more potent symbols of the corruption that permeates every level of Afghan society, from the traffic policemen who shake down motorists to top government officials and their relatives who are implicated in the opium trade.
Afghan Minister Accused of Taking Bribe -- [Washington Post]
The Afghan minister of mines accepted a roughly $30 million bribe to award the country's largest development project to a Chinese mining firm, according to a US official who is familiar with military intelligence reports. The allegation, if proved true, would mark one of the most brazen examples of corruption yet disclosed in a country where the problem has become so pervasive that it is now at the heart of Obama administration doubts over Afghan President Hamid Karzai's reliability as a partner.
Vision for Victory, Part I -- [Washington Times]
The news from Afghanistan all year has been dispiriting, and the last few weeks have been especially tough in terms of the violence. Yet most foreign and Afghan officials and officers who I encountered on a recent weeklong visit sponsored by the U. military are guardedly optimistic about our prospects. How can this be so?
U.S. Turns to Local Guns-for-Hire to Guard Afghan Outpost -- [Danger Room - Noah Shachtman]
The U.S. military is turning to guns-for-hire to guard one of its outposts in Afghanistan. But Blackwaters of the world, take note: simply hiring former G.I.s or American cops or even Nepalese Gurkhas won't do the trick this time. At least half of the 50-man force has to come "from within a 50 kilometer radius" of the base, according to a contract solicitation issued by the U.S. Air Force. Over the summer, the American military signaled its interest in hiring an army of contractors to help handle security at as many as 50 outposts in Afghanistan. It's one of several efforts efforts designed to free up uniformed troops for combat and counterinsurgency work. Now, U.S. forces appear to be taking the first step towards building that country-wide private security force, by soliciting bids for a team that watch over Forward Operating Base Lightening, in Paktya province.
NATO Chief Confident Afghanistan Will Have More Troops -- [Voice of America]
The NATO secretary-general says he is confident the United States and other NATO allies will send more troops to Afghanistan, where insurgent attacks have surged in recent months. He spoke at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Meeting in Edinburgh, where Britain's foreign secretary outlined the strategy his nation would support.
Germany to extend Afghanistan mission another year -- [AP]
Germany will extend its mission in Afghanistan for another year, the government said Wednesday, despite the growing unpopularity of the war at home
Pakistani Successes May Sway US Troop Decision -- [New York Times]
A month after the Pakistani military began its push into the Taliban stronghold of South Waziristan, militants appear to have been dispersed, not eliminated, with most simply fleeing. That recurring pattern illustrated the problems facing the Obama administration as it enters its final days of a decision on its strategy for Afghanistan. Success in this region, in the remote mountains near the Afghan border, could have a direct bearing on how many more American troops are ultimately sent to Afghanistan, and how long they must stay. Pakistan has shown increased willingness to tackle the problem, launching sweeping operations in the north and west of the country this year, but
Where are Taliban and al Qaeda commanders, US media asks Pak -- [Daily News & Analysis]
Washington: A day after senior Pakistani army commanders claimed that their forces have captured all major towns and population centres of the extremist-ridden South Waziristan, Taliban and foreign militants appear to have disappeared and not been eliminated.
Pakistani Army Shows Off Captured Taliban Posts -- [Washington Post]
A toy car booby-trapped with explosives, chemistry textbooks and handwritten case files from a Taliban court were among the debris left behind by fleeing Islamist militants in this remote village in the conflicted tribal region of South Waziristan. The now-deserted village, which was retaken by Pakistani army forces two weeks ago and visited by Western journalists on Tuesday for the first time since, had been a stronghold of Taliban forces for nearly five years.
Iraqi Kurds Warn of Election Boycott in Dispute Over Seats - [Washington Post]
Kurdish officials threatened Tuesday to boycott the upcoming national election in the three provinces they control in northern Iraq unless more parliament seats are allocated to the region. The threat came two days after Iraq's Sunni vice president said he would veto the election law passed last week unless more seats are set aside for representatives of Iraqi refugees. The majority of Iraqis abroad are Sunni. Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi has until Wednesday to veto the law, which legislators approved after weeks of wrangling, primarily over how the vote would be held in the disputed northern city of Kirkuk. The two ultimatums underscored the deep divisions among Iraqi politicians and raised fresh concerns about Iraq's ability to hold a credible election by Jan. 18.
Iraq's national elections in jeopardy as Sunni VP issues veto -- [McClatchy News]
BAGHDAD -- Iraq's pivotal national elections were thrown back into turmoil and potential delay Wednesday after Vice President Tariq al Hashemi vetoed part of an election law and sent it back to parliament.
US has time to reconsider Iraq drawdown plan-Odierno -- [Reuters]
The US military does not have to decide until April or May whether to push back the end of its combat operations in Iraq due to...
A few words from medics for the 41st Brigade -- [The Oregonian]
I spent an hour or two last month with Oregon National Guard medics who are based at Al Asad Airbase, discussing a little of what they've observed since coming to Iraq this summer. The discussion, as you might think, covered issues in two categories: The physical and the mental. The Physical - CPT Scott Johnson of Newport, who is the highest-ranking soldier in the medical support unit at Al Asad, said that medics are seeing a significant share of orthopedic issues that stem from the heavy loads that soldiers carry. Even though the war has wound down considerably over the last few years, soldiers on convoys and at checkpoints still wear a lot of body armor and carry a lot of ammunition and weaponry, as much as 65 pounds or even more. Over time, even young soldiers experience increased stress on their joints from walking, running and jumping with that much gear.
Goodbye to Iraq, and thanks -- [The Oregonian]
The soldiers of Oregon's 41st Brigade are about halfway through their Iraq deployment, but I'm finally home after a gruelling passage through Kuwait and a misadventure or two. I said goodbye to my last acquaintance in the Oregon National Guard on Monday afternoon in Salt Lake City. SSG Tom McNeil of Central Point was peeling off to fly to Medford, close to his home in Central Point, while I continued on to Portland. Have a terrific Thanksgiving at home, Tom. Thanks to all the folks along the way, especially the soldiers of Oregon's 41st Brigade Combat Team, for the many kindnesses extended to me during my sojourn among them. This toast to you, and I'm starting with you two, since you challenged me to do this, Scott and Mike
US, China in Strained Diplomatic Embrace -- [Wall Street Journal]
President Barack Obama was set to leave China on Wednesday after an awkward summit with some achievements but a long list of unfinished business - a result that suggests challenges ahead for the US as it struggles to come to terms with Asia's increasingly assertive superpower. The president secured a far-ranging framework for cooperation Tuesday with Beijing. But that deal was announced as frictions between the two nations appeared to increase over human rights and economic policy. President Obama and Chinese leader Hu Jintao issued their ambitious statement on cooperation in a clumsy fashion - at a media "availability" where they took no questions, didn't address each other and exhibited body language that seemed to say they had been frustrated by the entire exercise.
Obama: 'We've restored America's standing' -- [CNN]
A little more than a year after his election, President Obama said his administration has laid the groundwork for success on global and domestic matters. -- "I think that we've restored America's standing in the world
Somali Pirates : Maersk Alabama Attacked, Fights Back -- [Eagle Speak]
On the early morning of 18 November 2009, 350 nautical miles east from the Somali coast, pirates attacked MV Maersk Alabama, a US flagged, Danish owned, 155 meter long, Container ship.
Iranian COS Warns Russia: Your Security Is Tied To Ours -- [Memri Blog]
Iranian Army chief of staff Hassan Firouzabadi has warned Russia that delay in the supply of S-300 missile systems could harm Russia because its security is tied to that of Iran.
Suspected Fort Hood Shooter Believed to Be Self-Radicalized -- [Wall Street Journal]
Some lawmakers briefed Tuesday on the Fort Hood shooting said the suspect, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, was most likely a self-radicalized extremist. The briefing for select members of Congress came as Republicans with oversight of national-security issues called on Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to open a full congressional inquiry into alleged government miscues in the case of Maj. Hasan. He is charged with murdering 13 people Nov. 5 on the sprawling US Army base where he served as a psychiatrist.
Guantánamo Won't Close by January, Obama Says -- [NY Times]
President Obama acknowledged for the first time on Wednesday that his administration would miss a self-imposed deadline to close the detention center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, by mid-January, admitting the difficulties of following through on one of his first pledges as president.
No Man Left Behind -- [Knottie's Niche]
We've all heard the military quote "No Man left behind" But it wasn't until last weekend as I sat listening to a veteran Marine talking to an Army Sgt about how the Army helicopter pilot who saved him and many others in Vietnam by flying in a hot zone repeatedly to save men that it hit home. The words took on a whole new meaning to me. When Micheal was killed the Army did not leave us behind. It started with a visit to tell us the news and they did not leave until there was no more they could do for us in that moment. Then there was the email to let us know no one else had been hurt from one of the medics. The Army did not leave us behind when they assigned us a causality assistance officer who walked us through each step, even offering to go to the store for us at any hour of the day if we needed anything at all. Then the emails, calls and instant message conversations from the men who served with Micheal began.
LTC Tim Karcher Update -- [Soldiers' Angels Germany]
Wonderful update on LTC Tim Karcher, Commander of the 1st Cavalry Division's 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, wounded June 28 in Sadr City.
4 weeks later, after fighting for his life in Iraq, here in Germany, and at Walter Reed, the loss of both legs was the least of his problems:
Support SA while Christmas shopping this year! -- [Soldiers' Angels Germany]
Through Soldiers' Angels, patriotic Americans can do their Holiday shopping or planning and support the troops at the same time!
The easiest way to do this is shop online at all your favorite stores. If you stop by GoodShop and Shop to Earn before you start, you can visit all your favorite online stores, purchase anything you want at the usual great prices, and a portion of what you spend will be donated to Soldiers' Angels--at no extra cost to you! On GoodShop, be sure you select Soldiers' Angels as the charity you are "GoodShopping for."
Trees for Troops: Helping Military Families -- [AdAge.com]
Military families. Transportation. Tree growers. Logistics. These seemingly incongruous words provide a case study in cause marketing.
FOX 5 Special: I-Team VA Loans -- [FOX News]
Muslim discrimination in the U.S. military. Not. -- [Castra Praetoria]
I'm done listening to any more bellyaching about how Muslims have it bad in the American military. It's a lie.
At this very moment there are American Muslims serving in our armed forces with valor. Muslim interpreters work along side us daily who aren't even American citizens and they have proven themselves as well. All these pansies wailing and moaning about discrimination against them because they are Muslims are not doing anyone any favors. Take it from a guy who has served along side Muslim Marines and Sailors in combat; worked with Jordanian and Iraqi interpreters in country; trained with Iraqi-Americans who have contributed to the effort by working as role players and training our troops in culture and language classes.
Time to revisit firearms policies on military posts -- [Atlanta Journal Constitution]
Just as legitimate questions were raised following the mass killings on the Virginia Tech campus in 2007, both military personnel and civilian citizens
Army's Record Suicide Rate 'Horrible,' General Says -- [Washington Post]
Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli on Tuesday called the Army's record suicide rate this year "horrible" and said the problem of soldiers taking their own lives is the toughest he has faced in his 37 years in service. As of Nov. 16, 140 soldiers on active duty and 71 soldiers not on active duty were suspected to have committed suicide. "We are almost certainly going to end the year higher than last year,"
Veterans' descendants welcome troops home to Fort Campbell -- [Clarksville Leaf Chronicle]
Their day concluded with the Welcome Home ceremony for 80 soldiers who returned from a year in Afghanistan. "We are descendants of our country's first
'Greywolf' Among First CAV Troops to Return Home -- [DVIDS]
Once the buses arrived at Cooper Field, chants of "move that bus" were heard from Families waiting to welcome home their Soldiers. Tommy Tatum, from Kempner
Where are Taliban and al Qaeda commanders, US media asks Pak -- [Daily News & Analysis]
Washington: A day after senior Pakistani army commanders claimed that their forces have captured all major towns and population centres of the extremist-ridden South Waziristan, Taliban and foreign militants appear to have disappeared and not been eliminated.
Army officials said that they have killed as many as 550 Taliban militants a month after the military began its campaign into the lawless territory, yet they acknowledge that hundreds, perhaps thousands more have melted away.
As the offensive into the area, considered to be a sanctuary of al Qaeda and Taliban militants gained momentum, Boston Globe said, "Vast numbers of Taliban and foreign terrorists had disappeared into the vast desert scrub and craggy hills surrounding their strongholds of Sararogha and Ladha".
"Where are they? That's what bothers me," New York Times quoted a senior American intelligence officer as saying.
Republicans Criticize Obama's Call to Delay Hill Inquiries on Fort Hood -- [Washington Post]
The Obama administration's request that congressional committees slow their investigations of the Fort Hood shootings sparked denunciations Tuesday from Republicans on Capitol Hill, who pushed for an immediate inquiry of any warning signs before the massacre. House and Senate Republicans, emerging from the most detailed briefings given to Congress since the Nov. 5 attack killed 13 at the central Texas Army post, said delaying investigations would put off legislative efforts to give military officials the tools to prevent similar tragedies in the future. They said such an effort would not interfere with the criminal investigation of shooting suspect Nidal M. Hasan, an Army major who was scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan.
Obama Approval Dips Below 50% For First Time -- [Quinnipiac University]
Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Support For U.S. Troops In Afghanistan Drops Below 50% -- President Barack Obama's job approval rating is 48 - 42 percent, the first time he has slipped below the 50 percent threshold nationally ...
(Need more? Dawn Patrols Archives are here.)
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.Refresh for updates.
Taliban Spokesman Azam Tariq Releases Statement Through as-Sahab Productions on Youtube -- [Jawa Report]
as-Sahab is al-Qaeda's "production label" So here we have an official terrorist communication being released and referenced by AP on Youtube.
...The story goes on about recent attacks and the response of Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq.
DP opposes troops to Afghanistan -- [JoongAng Daily]
The main opposition Democratic Party decided yesterday to oppose the government's decision to dispatch troops to Afghanistan. Until yesterday, party officials remained divided on the controversial decision. The government had announced on Oct. 30 that it would send troops to protect civilian professionals working on rebuilding projects in the war-ravaged Afghanistan.
Clinton Ties Future US Aid to Afghanistan Accountability -- [Los Angeles Times]
The United States is limiting its goals in Afghanistan and demanding better accountability from that country's underperforming leader, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Sunday, and she tied additional US civilian help to results from the government in Kabul. Clinton, an influential voice in deliberations about whether to add large numbers of US troops to an unpopular eight-year war, said Afghan President Hamid Karzai could do more to reduce corruption and go after those who may have looted US aid in the past.
High Costs Weigh on Troop Debate for Afghan War -- [New York Times]
While President Obama's decision about sending more troops to Afghanistan is primarily a military one, it also has substantial budget implications that are adding pressure to limit the commitment, senior administration officials say. The latest internal government estimates place the cost of adding 40,000 American troops and sharply expanding the Afghan security forces, as favored by Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the top American and allied commander in Afghanistan, at $40 billion to $54 billion a year, the officials said. Even if fewer troops are sent, or their mission is modified, the rough formula used by the White House, of about $1 million per soldier a year, appears almost constant.
Report: Contractors Outnumber Troops In Afghanistan By Highest Ratio In US History -- [Huffington Post]
In the clearest sign that the Pentagon has become dependent on privatization, a new report reveals that today there are more defense contractors than US troops in Afghanistan
Idiots With Weapons -- [Afghan Quest - in Afghanistan]
...A little after 12:30, two explosions rocked the crowded bazaar just past the gates of the District Center. The insurgents had missed an area large enough to play several soccer games simultaneously and instead hit the bustling market about midday on bazaar day.
A CROW gunner in one of the MRAPS nearby announced that he had spotted a group on a nearby mountain that he thought may have been involved. Mortars at FOB Kutschbach launched a number of rounds at the probable POO (Point Of Origin) site. The local ANP Chief, a heroic individual who I've written about before, ran up into the bazaar with four ANP. Soon ANP trucks were summoned to assist with evacuating the casualties. The Chief later stated that at least six civilians had been killed and another 26 wounded. Four casualties were brought to the District Center, where French and American medics stabilized them before loading them into French vehicles and rushing to them to FOB Kutschbach for further treatment. ...
No Rain No Rainbows -- [Inside The Wire - in Afghanistan]
It's Friday, the High Holy Day and my day off. Ninety minutes later I was woken up by my roommate entering the room, "You missed all the excitement," he tells me. Come to find out there was a VBIED at Camp Phoenix, the one US installation we typically visit to drop mail off or run to the PX for anything we need to buy. The news drained me, a car bomb at Phoenix when just five days ago I went through that same check point to send a hard drive back to the states. A group of brothas where working the gate, about 4 or 5 that day. I can't say I knew them but it was very sobering.
Rex out on a multi-day mission -- [Afghanistan My Last Tour - in Afghanistan]
From Liisa, SMSgt Temple's wife: Rex has departed on a multi-day mission. In his absence he asked me to post the official announcement about the USF Bulls adopting his school supplies drive so that if anyone who reads this blog is in the Tampa Bay area , they can come to the game and help with the drive this Saturday. Remember that while we ask for new supplies it's also OK to donate your slightly used school supplies as well. Again, our warmest thanks to the USF Bulls.
Taliban guerrillas bring 'Iraq tactics' to Pakistan -- [AFP]
"The previous three or four attacks in markets was a kind of strategy that was being used in Iraq... but it will come at a cost. No guerrilla movement can
In eastern Afghanistan, a vital road-building mission -- [Washington Post /AP]
French and Afghan troops move to secure a dangerous area
Hundreds of French and Afghan troops on Sunday pushed into a hostile valley in eastern Afghanistan where militants launch quick attacks and then disappear into hillside villages. The mission: Secure the area for a planned bypass road around the Afghan capital to move supplies from neighboring Pakistan.
Outskirts of Town -- [Highland Sailor - in Afghanistan]
I have been sequestered in a room with 20 other officers from various nations, services and specialities with orders to prepare a product for our Commanding General. In other words, no pictures and nothing I can report on in this blog...not very exciting I know, sorry.
However, Today I made it outside the wire and visited a make-shift displaced persons (aka refugee) camp on the outskirts of Kabul. This camp was the worst I have seen. We distributed items that you provided/donated to our VHS mission.
IJC Operational Update, Nov. 16 -- [ISAF - in Afghanistan]
An Afghan-international security force detained several suspected militants in Nangarhar province today, one of which was a sought-after Taliban facilitator responsible for numerous weapons shipments to other militant elements in the area.
The joint security force targeted a compound near the village of Lawangpur in the Chaparhar district where intelligence sources reported the Taliban facilitator was located. The joint force searched the compound without incident and detained the suspected militants, one of which was identified as the Taliban facilitator.
No shots were fired, and no civilians were harmed during this operation.
Ghazni Development Projects Completed
Meet Earl -- [HERMANEUTICS: AFGHANISTAN - in Afghanistan]
Earl is a Staff Sergeant ...As the Transportation Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) he was almost single-handedly responsible for moving all 3000 people, all 100 helicopters, and hundreds of containers from Savannah all the way to Afghanistan. Over the last year he has worked longer hours than almost anyone to make sure we didn't lose a single piece of equipment. Never one to complain, he put off knee surgery and ignored his other health issues for the good of our Brigade. He doesn't like to type or make Powerpoints (which is most of my job) but would rather be out on the tarmac with the Soldiers and equipment despite the dehydration and sunburn on his scalp. Earl has taught me volumes about what it means to be a Soldier through his work ethic, prudence, and Git-er-done attitude.
So, when Earl asked me to re-enlist him this week I was honored beyond words. Here is a man nearly twice my age, who still salutes and calls me Sir, and evidently respects me enough to help commit the next 9+ years of his life to the Army.
US Troops Battle Taliban, Afghan Rules -- [Washington Times]
Army Capt. Casey Thoreen wiped the last bit of sleep from his eyes before the sun rose over his isolated combat outpost. His soldiers did the same as they checked and double-checked their weapons and communications equipment. Ahead was a dangerous foot patrol into the heart of Taliban territory. "Has anyone seen the [Afghan National Army] guys?" asked Capt. Thoreen, 30, the commander of Blackwatch Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment with the 5th Stryker Brigade. "Are they not showing up?" A soldier, who looked ghostly in the reddish light of a headlamp, shook his head. "We can't do anything if we don't have the ANA or [the Afghan National Police]," said a frustrated Capt. Thoreen. "We have to follow the Karzai 12 rules. But the Taliban has no rules," he said. "Our soldiers have to juggle all these rules and regulations and they do it without hesitation despite everything.
VIDEO: Life on the frontline with the Afghan Army -- [Helmand Blog]
Bombed, Blasted and Shot Yet Still the Taliban Come -- [The Times]
Two years ago Corporal Alex Temple fought like a lion to capture the Afghan town of Musa Qala from the Taliban. Last week he was back, once again in a fierce battle just two miles from its centre. "It has changed though," he said. "It's more dangerous. The fighting is harder." Amid the thunder of battle, I saw Temple lead men forward with the same raw courage I had witnessed before. The British soldiers with him seemed more composed, unperturbed by the bullets flying past their heads. The Afghan army on their flanks was better armed and vastly more competent. Yet the enemy had learnt too.
Taliban kill Bajaur opposition leader, target Peshawar leader -- [LWJ Bill Roggio]
The Taliban continue their campaign to remove tribal opposition leaders in the Northwest. A leader who agreed to fight the Taliban in Bajaur was killed, while another anti-Taliban leader escaped an assassination attempt in Peshawar. In Bajaur, the Taliban killed Malik Shir Zaman, a tribal leader who signed an agreement with the government. Zaman had agreed to raise a lashkar, or tribal militia, to oppose the Taliban. The Taliban stormed Zaman's home and destroyed part of it. Zaman was killed in a gunfight. Zaman was from the Mamond tribal area, a region that serves as a stronghold for the Taliban and Faqir Mohammed, the chief of the Bajaur Taliban. Although the military has conducted several operations there, it has failed to eject the Taliban.
For Pakistani President, Goodbye to Goodwill --[Washington Post]
President Asif Ali Zardari, who entered office 14 months ago on a wave of post-dictatorship goodwill and sympathy for his slain wife, Benazir Bhutto, now faces growing public anger and disillusionment over his remote presidency. Some critics are urging him to step down, and others predict he will be forced from office within months.
US Set to Open New Afghan Prison -- [Wall Street Journal]
Officials unveiled a new $60 million detention facility at the main US air base in Afghanistan and promised greater transparency at a prison where Afghans have long suspected hundreds of their countrymen are being held for dubious reasons. The new prison and the pledge to open the inmate review process come as the Department of Defense worries that abuses and militant recruiting within Afghan prisons are helping strengthen the Taliban. A Pentagon review earlier this year called for a broad overhaul of the Afghan penal system, as well as of the US's prison at Bagram Air Base. The old Bagram prison is housed in a Soviet-era machinery hangar. Critics of the old prison, where two inmates died after being interrogated in 2002, have referred to it as "Obama's Gitmo."
Was the Iraq War Worth It? A Divided City Tries to Answer. -- [Washington Post]
The Shiite pilgrims arrive in crowded buses and are dropped off just outside the shrine's gate. They walk down a narrow path patrolled by security guards and lined with tall cement walls to pray at the al-Askari mosque, the resting place of two of the most revered figures in Shiite Islam. The mosque, which once had a golden dome that sparkled in this city of gray, looks like a construction site, with piles of debris and scaffolding - remnants of the February 2006 bombing that unleashed a brutal civil war between Sunnis and Shiites. The thousands of visitors who come each week, mostly Iranians and Iraqis from southern provinces, don't venture from the tear-shaped exclusion zone. Just outside, stores and hotels that once thrived on tourism make up a battle-scarred ghost town. City leaders, merchants and residents have grown deeply resentful at being cut off from the economic heart of the city. "We feel like we're living in a big prison," said merchant Ghazan Hamid, whose shop lies just beyond the wall protecting the mosque. Samarra, where the US military closed a key base this fall, in many ways embodies the Iraq that American forces are leaving behind as the troop drawdown begins in earnest.
Militants Disguised As Troops Kill 13 In Iraq -- [RTT News]
Despite a fall in violence in Iraq since last year, a number of recent blasts have raised fears that sustained violence could return to the country,
Seasons -- [The Life - in Iraq]
Now that it's November, the weather in Basra, Iraq has turned. The air has cooled and the dust storms of the summer are a thing of the past.
Blackhawk rides have become bearable, not leaving you sapped of energy and sweating through all the layers of your clothing and body armor by the time you land.
800,000 Converts from Islam? -- [The_Anchoress]
From my fellow FT'er, comes news that there are, apparently, 800,000 new Muslim converts to Christianity.
Why the US should keep an eye on China's military -- [Foreign Policy]
Asian leaders are privately, and increasingly publicly, concerned about China's growing military might and what they see as a failure of the United States
Obama seeks China's support -- [The Australian]
BARACK Obama will today urge China's President Hu Jintao to join with the US and Russia in sanctions against Iran in an effort to curb the Islamic
UN atomic watchdog wants answers from Iran -- [AFP]
VIENNA -- Iran's explanation about the nature and purpose of a previously undeclared second nuclear site "requires further clarification", the UN atomic
Obama says al Qaeda still greatest threat to U.S. -- [Reuters]
President Barack Obama said on Monday that al Qaeda remained the biggest threat to U.S. security, as his aides stepped up pressure on Afghanistan and Pakistan to cooperate with Washington's strategy in the troubled region.
Experts Outline Hurdles in Trying to Defend Hasan -- [New York Times]
Defending the man accused of premeditated murder in the Nov. 5 shooting rampage at Fort Hood is the kind of test that many lawyers dread, and that some live for. How does Col. John P. Galligan, the retired Army officer who is representing the accused, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, defend someone who shot and killed 13 people before so many witnesses, whose story became national news, in a court where the judge and jury will be fellow soldiers? Military experts say the best Colonel Galligan might hope for is to save his client from the death penalty. "There won't be a lot of guilt-innocence maneuverability there," said Thomas H. Dunn, a former defense lawyer for the Army in death penalty cases. Avenues of defense, experts said, could include the military equivalent of an insanity plea, petitioning for a change of venue to take the proceedings away from the emotions of Fort Hood, and delaying the proceedings to allow the passions to ebb. Questions could also be raised about the prejudicial effect of statements by military officials, and even by the commander in chief, President Obama, who spoke of the "murderous and craven acts" at the memorial service. Ultimately,...
Cleric Says He Was Confidant to Hasan -- [Washington Post]
In his first interview with a journalist since the Fort Hood rampage, Yemeni American cleric Anwar al-Aulaqi said that he neither ordered nor pressured Maj. Nidal M. Hasan to harm Americans, but that he considered himself a confidant of the Army psychiatrist who was given a glimpse via e-mail into Nadal's growing discomfort with the US military. The cleric said he thought he played a role in transforming Hasan into a devout Muslim eight years ago, when Hasan listened to his lectures at the Dar al-Hijra mosque in Northern Virginia. Aulaqi said that Hasan "trusted" him and that the two developed an e-mail correspondence over the past year.
Remaining Detainees Leave Guantanamo's Closure Up in Air -- [Los Angeles Times]
The Obama administration took an important step toward closing the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, when it announced plans Friday to prosecute the accused Sept. 11 conspirators in the United States. But the move also underscored the near certainty that President Obama will miss a self-imposed January deadline for shuttering the controversial facility. Five detainees - including self-proclaimed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, will be tried in federal court in New York. But the plans leave unsettled the fate of more than 200 remaining detainees, who now represent the biggest obstacle to closing the prison.
Durbin, Quinn see economic boon -- [Sun Times]
...According to an economic impact analysis by the Obama administration, the federal purchase and operation of Thomson could generate $1 billion for the local economy over four years and create between 2,340 and 3,250 jobs.
Quinn and Obama discussed converting Thomson to a federal facility at a Nov. 4 White House meeting. In a Nov. 12 letter to Holder and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, the governor acknowledged that Guantanamo prisoners could end up at Thomson.
Wounded Warrior, Wife Overcome Adversity -- [Family Matters Blog]
When I recently walked into the lobby of Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., I felt that familiar sense of awe and excitement I always feel when I'm about to be in the presence of wounded warriors. These troops wage war on the battlefield and, when injured, wage a different type of war back home, a battle that requires just as much, if not more, courage and resilience. I must admit I'm a huge fan. I was there to meet with a wounded soldier and his wife to find out how they had weathered the depths of deployment and injury and made it through. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Canine and his wife, Jennifer, an attractive, young couple, greeted me warmly and immediately put me at ease. At first glance, you'd never notice that Robert had been injured
Group collects food, hygiene and gift items to send to troops for the holidays -- [Steamboat Pilot]
Molly Hibbard, part of the local Support the Troops group, said the lack of commissaries in Afghanistan means
Dr. No and the Wounded Veterans -- [NY Times]
A creative plan to help wounded veterans and their exhausted families adapt to the strain of long-term home care is on the brink of bipartisan approval -- but for the familiar obstructionism of Senator Tom Coburn. This is one of the most deplorable displays by the lawmaker-physician, an Oklahoma Republican who relishes playing the self-styled budget hawk by putting attention-grabbing holds on crucial legislation.
Lack of Healthcare Kills Veterans at Much Higher Rate than Combat -- [Salem-News]
Harvard study shows that for every American killed in Afghanistan in 2008, 14 military veterans died because they lacked healthcare coverage
700 Connecticut National Guard Soldiers Heading Off To Iraq, Afghanistan -- [The Courant]
The dispatching of the 1st Battalion, 102nd Infantry Regiment of New Haven to Afghanistan, and the 250th Engineer Company of New London, a bridge-building unit that is being sent to Iraq, is the largest single deployment of Connecticut Guard members since the Korean War.
Morale and Meaning -- [CBN - Boots on the Ground: Chuck Holton]
The AP recently published an article calling on two recent studies from the U.S. Army Medical Department's Mental Health Advisory team. These reports polled soldiers in combat and non-combat units in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and found that unit morale is dropping in Afghanistan and holding steady in Iraq.
As President Obama continues to mull his response to General McChrystal's request for more troops, and in the wake of the cowardly killings of 13 Soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, the media is asking lots of questions about the mental health of America's military. And these reports seem to be more fuel for the theory that our men and women serving overseas are being stretched to the breaking point.
Families and friends welcome home airmen from the 115th Fighter Wing -- [Daily Cardinal]
Jim Doyle welcomed the troops as they exited an aircraft at Truax Field in Madison. Afterwards, friends and family met their loved ones at the Wisconsin
Obama Bristles At AP Question: Loven At Risk Of Being Shunned -- [Wizbang]
Herein is a just a small measure of a thin skinned White House on the matter of Afghanistan policy. Considering that the source is Politico, which covets its White House access, and the quoted question came from none other than AP Obama maven Jennifer Loven, it can only be concluded that, to a small degree, some in the media are seeing themselves as Hope and Change chumps.
The two faces of Matthew Alexander -- [This Ain't Hell ...]
Matthew Alexander published his book last year entitled "How to Break a Terrorist: The U.S. Interrogators Who Used Brains, Not Brutality, to Take Down the Deadliest Man in Iraq". The book has it's roots in a Mark Bowden article in the Atlantic. Alexander parlayed the Atlantic article into a book deal.
...Olbermann didn't read the book, or if he did, he didn't mind that Alexander lied about what he wrote in the book. In the interview, ...
In the interview, Alexander says that he used interrogation techniques in Iraq that the military isn't using, however, throughout the book, he credits his instructors at the "Schoolhouse" (his word) for teaching him these new techniques. But in one brief paragraph he says he talked religion with a terrorist which would have made his instructors at the "Schoolhouse", to use his phrase, "shit bricks" - so I have to assume that the whole book is about that one little conversation since that's the only time he deviated from his training by his own admission.
Hostages -- [Michael Yon]
When New York Times journalist David Rohde was kidnapped last year in Afghanistan, the company engaged in a painstaking effort to squash the story. They succeeded in persuading major media who learned of the kidnapping to keep quiet. The cover-up was so good that a New York Times reporter I spoke with in December 2008, while she and I joined Secretary Gates on a trip through Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iraq and back to the United States, had not heard about the David Rohde kidnapping.
The New York Times openly agrees that publishing such articles increases the peril to the lives of hostages, yet it published details about a British couple being held hostage in Somalia, and thus increased the value of the hostages to the kidnappers.
Obama sends letter to Philippine Muslim rebel leader -- [Asia-Pacific News]
Manila - US President Barack Obama has sent a letter to the leader of the main Muslim rebel group in the Philippines, a guerrilla official said Saturday.
The letter to Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chairman Murad Ibrahim was delivered to rebel peace negotiators by Deputy Assistant State Secretary Scot Marciel, according to Muhammad Ameen, chairman of the MILF secretariat.
Ameen said Marciel and two other US diplomats met MILF peace negotiators headed by Mohagher Iqbal on November 6. Ameen did not disclose the contents of the letter but said it was a response to a letter Murad sent to Obama after he won the election last year.
On Friday, US State Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton urged the Philippine government and the MILF to conclude a peace deal before the end of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's term next year.
Shocker. Obama Slams Bush & America in Japan -- [Gateway Pundit]
It just wouldn't be the same if Obama went abroad without trashing Bush or America...
President Obama took the time to trash former President Bush and America during his visit to Japan.
(Need more? Dawn Patrols Archives are here.)
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.Refresh for updates.
Updating....
Obama: decision soon on troops for Afghanistan -- [AP]
President Barack Obama said Friday that his decision about how many troops to send to Afghanistan will come soon and he is bent on "getting this
Landstuhl staff busy as Afghan fight intensifies -- [Stars&Stripes]
LANDSTUHL, Germany -- On a drizzly, frigid morning, about 20 injured servicemembers were unloaded from buses at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center.
Some walked off. Others lay on gurneys covered in green blankets that had kept them warm on the long flight from Afghanistan. As the hospital staff eased the wounded off the buses, the mood grew solemn, as it often has lately.
...The number of combat-wounded troops from Afghanistan treated at the hospital has spiked during the past three months. Doctors from Landstuhl -- the first stop for the wounded from the war zone -- saw 163 troops with battle injuries during August, 152 in September and 109 in October.
Obama: Key for Afghans to provide for own security -- [Reuters]
President Barack Obama said on Friday he would make a decision soon on his Afghanistan strategy and the plan would make clear the goal is for Afghans to provide for their own security. He added that the U.S. commitment in Afghanistan could not be open-ended.
Asked at a news conference in Japan what information he still needed to enable him to make a decision, Obama said it was not matter of awaiting a piece of data.
Instead, he said, "It's a matter of making certain that when I send young men and women into war and devote billions of dollars in U.S. taxpayer money, that it's making us safer and that the strategies that are in place, not just on the military side but also on the civilian side, are coordinated and effective in our primary goal."
Army says morale down among troops in Afghanistan -- [AP]
WASHINGTON -- The army says morale has fallen among its forces in Afghanistan, where troops are seeing record violence in the 8-year-old war.
"ER" Nursed back to Health -- [Afghanistan My Last Tour - in Afghanistan]
Today's mission was to travel to Camp Phoenix and retrieve "ER," one of our MRAPs. Despite being the ambulance model, we do not use it as such, so the boss doesn't want me to refer to it as ER anymore. Instead, it has been relabeled 5K-1 (5th Kandak, vehicle 1). It was another cool morning and my ETT team readied the vehicles for the mission. Our MRAPs are undergoing maintenance, so we used our fleet of armored HMMVWs for this mission. Meanwhile, I was busy loading lumber on a contractor's truck so it can be pushed out to another FOB down south. The lumber will be used to build a tent floor for our ANA brothers. Recently an insurgent rocket destroyed one of our sister Kandak b-huts (tragically killed 2 ANA soldiers) and another one accidentally burned down resulting in the death of another ANA comrade.
Rift in US War Cabinet as Obama Throws Out All Options in Debate Over Troop Surge -- [The Times]
Two leaked classified cables from the US Ambassador in Kabul voicing grave concern about sending more American troops to Afghanistan have exposed open conflict inside President Obama's national security team over his war strategy.
Gates Lashes Out at Leakers -- [Defense Link]
...Gates said he has little doubt that some of those leaks have come from within the Defense Department. "If I found out who" was involved, he said, "it would probably be a career ender." Leaking information as Obama is weighing critical factors serves neither the interest of the country nor the military, the secretary said.
Envoy Questioning More Troops in Afghanistan Was Military Hawk Under Bush -- [FOXNews]
"Ambassador Eikenberry expressed his reservations about troop increases to the president while Afghanistan's political situation remains unclear,"...
The Cable Guy -- [Quatto Zone - in Afghanistan]
In an Afghan version of the chicken-or-egg question, cables by U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry leaked today urged President Obama to continue to delay a decision to deploy more troops until Hamid Karzai's government takes a stronger stand against corruption. There are political speculations about the ambassador's motives (Spencer Ackerman, for example, suggests the cables are designed to expand the Embassy's influence in Afghanistan) and a double standard already at work in press coverage (don't expect Eikenberry to suffer the same outrage that greeted General McChrystal regarding the propriety of influencing policy deliberations). But the most interesting aspect of the episode is ...
White House Talks Up Need for Exit Strategy in Afghanistan -- [Los Angeles Times]
The White House sent its strongest signal yet Thursday that it is searching for an eventual way out of Afghanistan even as it considers sending thousands of additional troops to join the war there. Emphasizing the importance of timetables for US involvement, administration officials stressed that President Obama is concerned about how long American troops will remain in the country and wants to avoid an "open-ended" commitment. "We have been there for eight years, and we're not going to be there forever," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters.
Japan aid pledge for Afghanistan - return to checkbook diplomacy? -- [Christian Science Monitor]
Japan has offered $5 billion in nonmilitary aid to Afghanistan as it ends refueling mission for US forces.
Germany Sends More Troops to Northern Afghanistan -- [Bloomberg]
13 (Bloomberg) -- Germany will send a company of 120 extra soldiers to northern Afghanistan as the Taliban-led insurgency in the once relatively peaceful
Bomber Strikes Near US Military Base in Afghan Capital -- [Voice of America]
By VOA News Afghan officials say a suicide bomber struck a convoy of vehicles Friday near a US-run NATO military base in Kabul, wounding six people.
Down Time in Afghanistan -- [NY Times - At War - in Afghanistan]
On a recent reporting trip to Afghanistan's Helmand Province with Dexter Filkins, the photographer Peter van Agtmael captured images of American and Afghan soldiers during some down time.
Digger dog found after Afghan adventure [ABC News]
An Australian Special Forces explosives detection dog has been found alive and well almost 14 months after going missing in action (MIA) in Afghanistan.
Iraq Lesson Still Unlearned: We Won -- [Investors.com]
You wouldn't know it from most news coverage, but the Iraq story continues and -- get this -- it's a story of emerging victory. What else can you call it when a stable democracy, the ultimate goal in America's military intervention, is in sight?
...These are all signs that the U.S. nation-building effort in Iraq, once widely seen as hopeless, is working. The liberal view of the Iraq War -- that of a debacle from which we cannot escape fast enough -- can't stand up for long against such good news. That may be why certain news gatekeepers stressed the theme of U.S. withdrawal when they reported the passage of the election law.
Rebuilding Its Economy, Iraq Shuns US Businesses -- [New York Times]
BAGHDAD -- Iraq's Baghdad Trade Fair ended Tuesday, six years and a trillion dollars after the American invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein,
Oops: Biden Never Supported the Partition of Iraq? -- [Times Watch]
Thursday's off-lead story by James Glanz and Walter Gibbs is on recent revelations that Peter Galbraith, an "unpaid adviser to the Kurds" who has influenced Democratic policymakers like former senator/VP Joe Biden and Sen. John Kerry, stands to make millions from his closeness to the Kurds and a Norwegian oil company.
Given the Times sympathies for anti-war and leftish "blood for oil" arguments, the Times couldn't ignore the story, and indeed provides a lot of new damning details -- but also has one enormous gaffe that lets Vice President Biden off the hook.
Marines welcome Iraqi Airmen to Camp -- [MNF-I]
The Iraqi Ministry of Defense has based one Iraqi Air Force (IqAF) helicopter detachment here to support the Iraqi Security Forces in Anbar province.
Iraqi court rules Guardian defamed Nouri al-Maliki -- [Guardian]
An Iraqi court has ordered the Guardian to pay Nouri al-Maliki damages of 100m dinar (£52,000) after supporting a complaint by the Iraqi prime minister's intelligence service that he had been defamed by a Guardian story in April describing him as increasingly autocratic.
Iraq in the rear view mirror -- [Blogs Over Baghdad - leaving Iraq]
After nearly 330 days, all of the 314th PAOC Soldiers are now out of Iraq and on our way home. The last 8 of us, including LTC Perez and me, left Baghdad International Airport right at the end of Veterans Day. Four of our Soldiers are already at Fort Dix doing the work of the advanced party...and the rest of us will join them in a few days. We all slept in yesterday morning, and then started the work day with an awards ceremony. SGTs Autumn Hope, Mary Lee and Kellena Leech all received an Army Achievement Medal for work they did toward the end of our year in Iraq. SSG Jeremy Fowler received a Certificate of Achievement for an incredible end-of-tour magazine he created that spotlighted all our Soldiers. Family members might want to look at the magazine to get some insight into the experiences of their loved ones
Lawyer: Accused Fort Hood gunman may be paralyzed -- [AP]
FORT HOOD, Texas -- The Army psychiatrist accused in the fatal shootings at Fort Hood may be paralyzed from the waist down after being shot multiple times
Second Officer Gives an Account of the Shooting at Ft. Hood -- [New York Times]
Sgt. Kimberly D. Munley has been applauded as a hero across the nation for shooting down Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan during the bloody rampage at Fort Hood last week. The account of heroism, given by the authorities, attracted the attention of newspapers, the networks and television talk shows. But the initial story of how she and the accused gunman went down in an exchange of gunfire now appears to be inaccurate. Another officer, Senior Sgt. Mark Todd, 42, said in an interview Thursday that he fired the shots that brought down the gunman after Sergeant Munley was seriously wounded.
Feds Move Against Iranian Mosques; 1st Amendment Rears Its Head -- [PJM - Michael Ledeen]
It's undoubtedly sheer coincidence as Michael Rubin told the AP, but just as the debate over Hasan-Son-of-Allah takes on greater intensity, the Justice Department has moved to seize what is says are Iranian assets in America. They have tagged four mosques and the Piaget Building at 650 Fifth Avenue in New York, New York.
This is stage two of an ongoing action against the Alavi Foundation, and what the government alleges to be a front company, the Assa Corporation.
Breaking: Hasan wired money to Pakistan? -- [Hot Air]
Share on Facebook | printer-friendly This would appear to indicate that Nidal Hasan was something other than a loner who cracked under the strain of vicarious PTSD. The man who made a $90,000 annual salary but lived like a pauper may have sent money to Pakistan, according to Rep. Pete Hoekstra
Bureaucracy, Culture & Ft. Hood Attacks -- [Counterterrorism Blog]
The Fort Hood attack was an intelligence failure, just like 9/11 and so many others before. In retrospect, it all seems obvious - these kinds of failures always do. It is easy to blame bureaucratic inertia, but it is also unfair. Large organizations need procedures to function. Priorities must be set and decisions have to be made and implemented.
Examining the system failure is revealing, both about the challenges in preventing these kinds of tragedies but also in how they reveal some of our society's core values.
'I agreed to become a suicide bomber' -- [BBC]
A 14-year-old boy in the tribal region of Bajaur, in north-west Pakistan, says he was detained by Taliban forces who tried to turn him into a suicide bomber. The boy is now in army hands. He provided a detailed account to BBC correspondent Orla Guerin. His story cannot be independently verified.
Gitmo 9/11 suspects heading to NY trial -- [AP]
Self-proclaimed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other Guantanamo Bay detainees will be sent to New York to face trial in a civilian federal court, and five other suspects will be sent to military commissions, an Obama administration official said Friday. The official said Attorney General Eric Holder plans to announce the decision later in the morning. The official is not authorized to discuss the decision before the announcement, so spoke on condition of anonymity.
US to seize mosques linked to Iran -- [UKPA]
US Federal prosecutors are seeking to take over four mosques and a New York City skyscraper owned by a Muslim organisation suspected of being controlled by the Iranian government. Prosecutors have filed a civil complaint in federal court against the Alavi Foundation, seeking the forfeiture of more than 500 million dollars (£302 million) in assets.
The assets include bank accounts; Islamic centres consisting of schools and mosques in New York, Maryland, California and Houston; more than 100 acres in Virginia; and a 36-story Manhattan office tower.
Lawyer: FBI asked terror suspect to be informant -- [AP]
A Massachusetts man accused of plotting to kill Americans was portrayed by federal prosecutors Thursday as a jihadist who is too dangerous to be released on bail, but the man's lawyer said he was charged only after he refused to become an FBI informant against Muslims.
US Post Office offering deals on military mail -- [13abc]
Today is the recommended mailing date if you want to send a parcel post package to a member of the military serving overseas. For members of our military
CACI Named to GI Jobs Top 100 Military-Friendly Employers -- [CNNMoney]
12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CACI International Inc (NYSE: CACI) announced today that it has placed 31st in GI Jobs magazine's Top 100 military-friendly
SBA, Six Universities to Offer Business Training for Iraq/Afghanistan Disabled Vets -- [Business Wire]
The U.S. Small Business Administration today announced a three-year agreement to expand and deliver entrepreneurship training for service-disabled veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Hal Muskat: don't thank me -- [This ain't Hell,...]
Yes, there are 363 days every year to express your personal disrespect for soldiers. Just like a black person thinks he has a right to call other black people the "n" word, some veterans think they can use Veterans' Day to call other veterans vile names. Hal Muskat, one of the original zombies of the VVAW, is just like that. He begins his Veterans Day rant by trying to undo all of the work veterans and their service organizations have accomplished over the last thirty years;
The American Valor Project -- [BlackFive - Uncle Jimbo]
Stephens Media has an initiative underway to spotlight our new generation of heroes on the pages of their newspapers and their websites call the American Valor Project. It salutes those who have gone above and beyond the call in the war on terror. You will recognize some of the names from our Someone you should know series.
Medals Of Dishonor -- [Smoking Gun]
FBI: Prodigiously decorated California man never served in military
Just in time for Veteran's Day, a California bank employee is facing federal charges for allegedly masquerading as a decorated Marine and wearing a host of bogus medals, including the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, and Navy Cross. Steven Burton, 39, is scheduled to surrender tomorrow in U.S. District Court in Riverside, California (Burton, who has never served in the armed forces, was named last week in a misdemeanor criminal information charging him with the unauthorized wearing of military medals). According to a search warrant affidavit, Burton's charade was discovered after an actual Navy commander, Colleen Salonga, ran into Burton at their high school reunion.
Martinez native accused of dressing up as hero -- [San Francisco Chronicle]
So were military officials, who said Burton had never served in the military - nor had he spent a day fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan, as he claimed.
US Troops are Not Getting The Heroic Welcome Home They So Richly Deserve -- [NewsBlaze]
I had the honor of meeting some of these troops and watched more than two thousand freshly returned from Iraq and Afghanistan preparing to march.
A red, white and blue crowd greets soldiers at D/FW Airport -- [Dallas Morning News]
A soldier knelt to high-five a young child who was waving and smiling as he and others in uniform came down a crowded aisle at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
The soldier paused for a moment to grasp the child's hand, tears in his eyes.
It was apparent that he didn't know the child - or any of the others in the crowd who turned out to welcome him.
But it didn't matter. He was home.
Families and friends welcome home airmen from the 115th Fighter Wing -- [Daily Cardinal]
Jim Doyle welcomed the troops as they exited an aircraft at Truax Field in Madison. Afterwards, friends and family met their loved ones at the Wisconsin
The New Media: The Dark Side -- [Wings Over Iraq]
Additional links: Adam Elkus--Ft. Hood: A Social Media Failure, ABC News "Fort Hood Soldier Causes Stir on Twitter"
In September of 2009, the Associated Press came under intense criticism for publishing pictures of Lance Corporal Joshua Bernard, as he lay dying in Afghanistan. The picture was published soon after his death, against the wishes of the family. Although the Associated Press' actions were protected under the First Amendment, their actions were, as Tom Ricks puts it, "morally indefensible". Indeed, the pictures were decried by many throughout the defense community, including Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.
Charles Krauthammer on the media coverage of the Fort Hood shooting -- [Washington Post]
What a surprise -- that someone who shouts "Allahu Akbar" (the "God is great" jihadist battle cry) as he is shooting up a room of American soldiers might have Islamist motives. It certainly was a surprise to the mainstream media
Top Republican says White House hiding info on Fort Hood -- [The Hill]
The ranking Republican on the House intelligence committee on Tuesday night accused the White House of withholding information on the Fort Hood attack.
Rep. Pete Hoekstra (Mich.) said administration officials delayed briefing members of Congress about the alleged gunman, raising "red flags" about what the White House was hiding.
The Politics of Fort Hood -- [NRO - Jonah Goldberg]
...That effort stems from what Obama believes to be a sweeping mandate to be Not George Bush. In pursuit of that mandate, the White House has already purged the phrase "war on terror" from its lexicon, preferring "overseas contingency operations." Obama is hell-bent on closing Guantanamo Bay, is making progress on the White House project to treat terrorists as mere criminals, and has kowtowed to the United Nations as no president has. Meanwhile, his secretary of homeland security, Janet Napolitano, says that Islamic terrorism of the type we saw on 9/11 should now be referred to as "man-caused disasters." But she adds that American right-wingers must be scrutinized as potential terrorists.
Suckers of the Week -- [Slate- Kaus Files]
"Am I the only one who smells Kabuki in the reports that President Obama has dramatically rejected all the Afghan war options with which he was presented, demanding to know where the 'off ramps' are? If you were about to recommend a troop increase that was unpopular, especially with your Democratic base, wouldn't you precede it with some drama like this to demonstrate that you are a) in charge, b) not being conned, and c) insistent on a withdrawal as quickly as possible? Just asking."
(Need more? Dawn Patrols Archives are here.)
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.Refresh for updates.
Muggers Return Wallet After Seeing Army ID -- [FOX News]
Muggers Return Wallet After Seeing Army ID, A Milwaukee Army reservist's military identification earned him some street cred Tuesday, when he says four men who mugged him at gunpoint returned his belongings and thanked him for his service after finding the ID.
Serving those who have served us well -- [The Statesman]
Patti Patton-Bader's living room is filled nearly to the ceiling with cardboard boxes containing packages for wounded soldiers. Soon, they will make their way from her Bastrop home to hospitals and bases in Iraq and Afghanistan, where soldiers will find clothing with fabric-fastener flaps to replace flimsy paper hospital gowns, as well as phone cards to call home once they reach Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany and a "blanket of hope" -- a personalized quilt handmade by a Soldiers' Angels volunteer.
Patton-Bader, the grandniece of Gen. George S. Patton, started the group shortly after her son Brandon deployed to Iraq in 2003.
Standing Tall in Harm's Way -- [Washington Post - David Ignatius]
...This picture of a traumatized military is misleading. Certainly, the Army and the other services are stressed by the demands of combat. But what's striking to me this Veterans Day is how healthy the military is, given all the weight it has been carrying for the country these past eight years.
Vietnam Myths Haunt Afghanistan -- [Washington Times]
Adm. Jeremiah A. Denton Jr. is a true American hero. The former senator, retired admiral and naval aviator spent almost eight years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam, half of that time in solitary confinement. When forced by his captors to do a television interview in 1966, he blinked the word "torture" in Morse code. He's the kind of man Washington leaders might want to listen to more carefully than the average purveyor of foreign-policy wisdom. Adm. Denton's classic account of his experiences, "When Hell Was in Session," is being re-released today, updated with a new epilogue. In part, Adm. Denton seeks to "correct some of the mythology of the Vietnam War." The version of the war that has come down through pop culture, the media and history books is fatally flawed - and those flaws may well be informing critical decisions at the White House.
Veterans Day - Part II - It's About The Living -- [BlackFive]
Pearl Harbor survivor Houston James of Dallas embraces Marine Staff Sgt. Mark Graunke Jr. during a Veterans Day commemoration in Dallas. Graunke lost a hand, a leg and and eye when he was injured by a bomb...
Ripley At The Bridge -- [The Anti-Chomskyan Redoubt]
This article, written by Jeremias Wells, tells of one of the most harrowing and heroic stories of the war in Vietnam.
Ripley's American adviser contact continued to give him bad news. Practically all resistance north of the bridge had been wiped out, which was probably the source of the ARVN deserters clogging the road along with the refugees. Then came the final blow: "We finally got a spotter plane in the air. They have tanks and armored personnel carriers stretched along Highway 1 for miles. Must be at least two hundred."
Ripley shouted back, "We can't stop that many. We have to blow the bridge at Dong Ha."
...Ripley worked his way over to the downstream side and repeated the process and then hand-walked back to the fence. He realized that he had exceeded all normal human endurance, so again turned to God and His Mother: "Jesus and Mary, get me there! Jesus and Mary, get me there..." He climbed back through the razor wire once more and fell to the ground near the abutment in a bloody heap. He was so tired that he could hardly lift his arm. The major tapped him on the back. "Look what I found. But you won't need them now." He pointed to a box of electrical detonators. Ripley looked at the caps and realized that he had to go through the ordeal under the bridge once again. He had always been taught to rig up a backup charge if one was available, At this point, the substance of a man takes over.
Veteran's Day 2009 -- [John of Argghhh!!!]
Today is my day. Today is SWWBO's day. Today is Dusty's day. Today is Bill's day. Neffi's, Bloodspite's, Sanger's, Jim B's, Mike L's, Jim C's, John S', V29's, Sergeant B's, 1SG Keith's, Oldloadr's, 74's, CAPT H's, a certain Canadian Gunner who shall remain nameless, a certain Redleg Captain who shall remain nameless, RetRsvMike's, the 'Phibian's, Lex's, Matty's, Chuck's, Fishmugger, John(NTA), Heartless Libertarian's, Kevin's, Grumpy's, Grimmy's, the list is endless, and I know I didn't list everybody - feel free to add yourself in the comments. That would be a nice touch, actually.
How I will spend this Veterans Day -- [Burn Pit - MOTHAX]
...I almost never venture forth from my bloggers lair on Veterans Day. I have a face made for radio as the saying is, and I don't really like crowds. So it is the one time a year when I play the "Veterans prerogative" and simply stay home and don't do much of anything. A few years ago I got to spend a Veterans Day with all the folks at the White House and other veterans groups, and that was nice, but again, I prefer to spend the day alone. I generally call some of my friends and wish them a happy Veterans Day, but conversely when they call me to wish the same, I feel kinda silly. It's almost like Veterans Day doesn't apply to me. It applies to WWII vets, Korean War vets, the guys and gals who fought in Viet Nam, but not to me. Part of my feeling is that my war isn't over. Everyone can thank us when it is done, but for now, there is a lot more to do.
Marines of the Day: SSgt. Theodore "Sam" Holder and LCpl. Kyle Burns -- [Villainous Company]
Veterans' Day is for the living. Memorial Day is for the fallen.
That said, for those in 1st LAR, Veterans' Day 2004 is when the unit lost Holder and Burns in the second battle of Fallujah. Today is the 5th anniversary of their deaths.
Veterans Day -- [Neptunus Lex]
...In this land we are graced with a vibrant political culture, but it was Washington's guns and musketeers who gave it to us. We enjoy the remote fastness of our island home, but it was Decatur, Farragut and Porter who scoured the seas to defend our ocean ramparts. We have human freedom and increasing dignity here at home, but not before three million boys in blue and butternut contended the terms of that freedom. We have liberal democracies here and abroad, but not before millions more marched forth asking for nothing but a patch of earth to be buried in, should it come to that.
There are many blessings in this land, but although we tend to treat them as birthrights, transferable to our heirs in perpetuity, the reality is that all of them have been fought over. Perhaps the greatest blessing of all is that in each generation there have been those who answered their country's call when it came and said, "I'll go. I'll do it. Pick me."
They are the veterans, and this is our day to thank them.
I'm the one they call Doc -- [ROK Drop]
Many brave Marines wouldn't be alive today without the aid of the hospital corpsman who labored hard and often bravely to keep their fellow men alive. Did you know 22 of us have won the Medal of Honor? I used to be able to roll off the names by memory, but I'm getting old and my memory isn't as good. Did a spot check this morning and remembered 17 of them. The US Marines rely on specially trained HM aka battlefield corpsmen to go into harm's way in order to treat and save men who fall in battle.Why did I say us earlier? I was a Hospital Corpsman from 1980 to 1989.
On Veteran's Day -- [Foreign Object Damage]
On the 11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month, a salute to America's Veterans. Also a salute to the wives and husbands of those who served. While we were out flying, riding, or walking somewhere, they held down the home front. And worried.
Years later my wife told me of how her heart would sink if ...
Veteran's Day 2009 -- [Miserable Donuts]
Veteran's Day. Growing up it usually meant a day off from school. And as I got older, I started to learn what it meant to the Veteran most involved in my life...
Dad, home on leave, from the Navy in 1945. Later I learned what it meant to an uncle...
MICHELLE OBAMA AND JILL BIDEN JOIN SERVICENATION ON VETERANS DAY TO LAUNCH MISSION SERVE: FORGING A CONTINUUM OF SERVICE -- [Service Nation]
Michelle Obama, Dr. Jill Biden, and Alma J. Powell, three of the nation's most inspiring advocates of service, will join ServiceNation today to launch MISSION SERVE: Forging a Continuum of Service. The initiative gets underway by partnering more than 50 civilian and military service organizations in 36 programs designed to more closely integrate service to country with service to community, helping grow the service movement that is critical to America's future success.
The First Lady and Dr. Biden will join hundreds of active-duty service members, veterans, military families, and volunteers representing service organizations at a ceremony on Veterans Day at George Washington University. Also speaking at the event will be Undersecretary of the Army Dr. Joseph W. Westphal and Major General Steven R. Abt, Deputy Commander, US Army Accessions Command, which has been a leader in partnering with ServiceNation.
In Afghanistan, Taliban Surpasses al-Qaeda -- [Washington Post]
As violence rises in Afghanistan, the power balance between insurgent groups has shifted, with a weakened al-Qaeda relying increasingly on the emboldened Taliban for protection and the manpower to carry out deadly attacks, according to US military and intelligence officials. The ascendancy of the Taliban and the relative decline of al-Qaeda have broad implications for the Obama administration as it seeks to define its enemy in Afghanistan and debates deploying tens of thousands of additional troops.
Bringing Him Home -- [The Military Observer]
Kandahar, Afghanistan. They call it a "Dignified Transfer," which is Pentagon-ese for bringing home the body of one of our young men.
Two days ago I flew here from Camp Bastion on a cargo flight. The plane was virtually empty; five passengers and me, the small Air Force crew, and covered by an American flag, the remains of one of our troops killed in Helmand Province. The military's goal is to bring our dead back home within 48 hours, and this was the first leg of such a journey.
Obama Receives New Afghan Option -- [Wall Street Journal]
'Hybrid' Compromise Would Combine Troops, Trainers to Hold Back Taliban and Boost Local Military
President Barack Obama on Wednesday will consider a new compromise plan for adding troops to Afghanistan that would deploy 30,000 to 35,000 new forces, including as many as 10,000 military trainers, over the next year or more.
Obama Aides Accuse Pentagon of Pressuring President Over Afghanistan -- [Daily Telegraph]
Aides to Barack Obama have complained that the Pentagon is trying to force the president into committing large numbers of reinforcements to Afghanistan through leaks to the media. Tensions between the White House and senior members of the US armed forces are rising over the toughest decision the president has faced in his first year. Senior military officials and Republicans have accused him of dithering over the troop request from Gen Stanley McChrystal, the US and NATO commander in Afghanistan.
Taliban expands control of Nuristan -- [Al Jazeera]
Taliban fighters are expanding their control of Afghanistan's Nuristan province, an area they claim to have recaptured from US troops.
A video obtained exclusively by Al Jazeera purports to show Taliban fighters in the Kamdesh district.
For the Night of 10 November 2009 -- [NightWatch]
An Afghan Taliban spokesman described follow-on activities in Kamdesh District, Konar Province, after NATO and Coalition forces abandoned their operating bases and retreated. The area is currently under the control of Taliban, who walk freely in the district, according to al Jazeera.
...The significance of the report is that it exposes as false the idea that the presence of Coalition forces creates instability and that their withdrawal would restore quiet normality. On the contrary, in the absence of Coalition forces, the Taliban moved in to establish their own administration.
Britain to Train 10,000 More Afghan Troops to Speed Up Withdrawal -- [The Times]
Britain is to help to train 10,000 extra Afghan soldiers to serve in Helmand to bring forward the date when British troops can be withdrawn from parts of the province and replaced by Afghanistan's national army. Under an Afghan-surge plan being discussed between Washington and London, British and American troops in Helmand would split the responsibility 50-50, taking part in an accelerated programme to boost the number of Afghan soldiers and police in the province to more than 17,000.
Neutics -- [Hermeneutics: Afghanistan - in Afghanistan]
...Trying to understand why God has placed me in such a desolate place and how He will use me here. To ascertain the purpose of my position when I am not doing the job I was trained for. Most of all how the distance between Jocelyn and I will once again work for good in our marriage. Essentially this is a format to record my thoughts and hopes in lieu of a written journal. Someday this experience will be a foggy memory and I want to be able to recognize the role this year played in my formation and future decisions.
A SAT dish of the wrong proportions, swarms of flies and dust -- [The Kitchen Dispatch]
Since the beginning of October, The Hubs and the FST have been trying to move into a different building. Progress was hindered by several things. Lack of a sink, an electrical generator blow up, and no Satellite for either TV or internet. This caused a delay, which resulted in a pissing contest with the arrival of another unit who had expected to move into the old buildings. Finally, after getting things somewhat squared away, they are in. "We are completely moved. It is big and,roomy, but we have swarms of flies due to the presence of goats and cows. We are going to get double outside screen doors and miles of flypaper. Also, we are engulfed in clouds of Afghan moon dust every few minutes when the winds or swirls of planes pass by.
Another >GAG< Trip To Bagram -- [Afghan Quest - in Afghanistan]
...There are Soldiers and Marines all over this country who get squat... even water... while Bagram has "Karaoke Nite" and "Salsa Nite." Then the spoiled wonders there even have the temerity to rant out loud about not getting beef with their pepperoni for their Pizza Hut pizza (delivered, no less). Now, I can't fault them for making their lives as comfortable as possible, but there is silly and then there is ridiculous. Salsa Nite is silly.
Housing the warriors who normally live in Spartan conditions that the fobbits at Bagram would riot over in those pathetic "transient tents" is ridiculous. You do not see field grade officers spending the night in those wretched holes called "transient tents."
A Wild Ride on a Stallion -- [Doc H's International Adventure - in Afghanistan]
All I can say is that today's ride made this entire Afghanistan trip worth the price of admission.
The day started slowly, with cold rain, mud, and a still uneasy queasy feeling after battling a persistent case of moderate GI illness.
On the road again -- [There's sand in my... -- heading out of Afghanistan]
So far the WTP, Warrior Transition Program, has been surprisingly well coordinated, hard to believe being run by the Navy and everything. Haha. After the Marine run we come back and turn in our 2 seabags of gear that was never used, that will be a load off of our minds, literally. After the turn in I'll be down to a 2/3 full seabag and a carry on, traveling light will be a welcome change. I'm at the point now that I throw away a pair of socks, underwear and t-shirt after each use, since everything has a wonderful light brown tint to it from the laundry in Kandahar. I'm under the impression that our decompression classes start on Wednesday, and continue through Thursday and then we're outta here. I love the feeling you get when the wheels leave the ground for the last time, it's incredible.
NATO, Afghan Forces Seize 250 Tons of Bomb Material (Update1) -- [Bloomberg]
The Afghan National Police and NATO- led forces seized 250 tons (225,000 kilograms) of bomb-making material in an operation in the southern province of Kandahar, the alliance said.
Marines Provide Clean Water to Afghans, Keep Area Safe -- [ISAF - in Afghanistan]
HELMAND PROVINCE, Afghanistan - Marines with 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, recently funded a well construction project to provide clean water for local Afghans.
The project, funded by 1/5's civil affairs Marines, also created jobs in the community, as local Afghan workers were contracted to dig three wells.
"Having these wells built is something that people have been asking us to do for a while now," said Cpl. Leland Van Leer, an amphibious assault vehicle operator with 1/5. "Now that we were able to get them dug, they see that we can help them."
Bomb Rocks Northwestern Pakistan -- [Voice of America]
A suicide car bomb attack in northwestern Pakistan has killed at least 30 people, including some children. Investigators say the bomb exploded Tuesday on a busy street near a market in the city of Charsadda, some 40 kilometers north of Peshawar. The blast wounded dozens of people and destroyed several buildings. It was the third bombing in the area in three days.
Veterans at Work on Veterans Day -- [Outside the Wire - JD Johannes - in Iraq]
Sala ad Dihn Province, Iraq -- In the US many Americans barely notice Veterans Day. The banks and post offices are closed. Federal Employees have the day off. Some states and local governments may be closed.
There are ceremonies and memorial services. But here in Iraq it is another day at work in a combat zone.
The Soldiers of the 1-28 Infantry, the Black Lions, went about their work.
As We Stand Down, Can They Stand Up? -- [Weekly Standard - Max Boot]
One way to chart the recent course of Iraq's history is by the vehicles that American soldiers drive. When I first came here in the summer of 2003, I remember riding around in open-top, unarmored Humvees. By 2004, a spate of IEDs had made it necessary to move to up-armored Humvees, followed a few years later by heavier MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected) vehicles that look as if they wandered off the set of a Star Wars movie. When last here in 2008, I went everywhere in a hulking MRAP. Imagine my surprise, then, to find myself being driven in late October from Camp Victory, the main US base on the outskirts of Baghdad, into the center of town along Route Irish, once notorious as the world's most dangerous road, in a lightly armored Chevrolet Suburban that could not withstand a roadside bomb.
Efforts Focus on Iraq's Election, US Commander Says -- [Defense Link]
A US commander in Baghdad today said all efforts are focused on helping Iraqi forces provide security for upcoming national elections in Iraq. Army Col. Gregory Lusk, commander of the North Carolina National Guard's 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team, joined a chorus of US officials praising the Iraqi Parliament's passage this week of key legislation that paves the way for balloting in January. "With the recent passing of the election law, Iraq has indeed reached an important milestone," he said by satellite in a Pentagon news conference. "All of our efforts since our day of arrival have been dedicated towards accomplishing this goal and setting the conditions and supporting the Iraqi desires for holding these important elections."
Kuwait -- [Sorority Soldier - leaving Iraq]
I can't describe the happiness that's overtaking me. I'm in Kuwait. Away from Iraq forever. Elation.
Soldiers, Family Come Together To Grieve at Fort Hood -- [Voice of America]
President Obama spoke at a memorial ceremony at Fort Hood, Texas, Tuesday for the 13 people who died there last week when a gunman opened fire at the large military base. The alleged attacker, who was wounded by police, is an army psychiatrist. The attack on a domestic base, allegedly by a fellow soldier has saddened and shocked many servicemen and their families. The signs of grief are not hard to miss at Fort Hood. Flowers and messages are displayed around the sign at the main entrance and there is a subdued tone on base. But the soldiers carry on and the military family pulls together.
North, South Korean Ships Exchange Gunfire -- [Washington Post]
A brief naval skirmish erupted Tuesday between North and South Korea, raising tension in Northeast Asia as President Obama prepares this week for a visit to the region. The North and the South blamed each other for the exchange of gunfire - the first such clash in seven years. South Korean officials said a badly damaged North Korean patrol ship retreated in flames after crossing into South Korean waters. It was not clear whether there were any injuries or deaths aboard the North Korean vessel. North Korea issued a statement that blamed the South for "grave armed provocation," saying that ships from South Korea crossed into the North's territory.
North Korean Ship "Wrapped in Flames" After Battle; No South Korean Sailors Hurt -- [One Free Korea]
Most people have already forgotten that in May of this year, North Korea unilaterally declared an end to the 1953 armistice. We've forgotten because Kim Jong Il has few military options against the South that wouldn't inevitably result in either a military embarrassment or more escalation than he's prepared for.
If Yonhap's "wrapped in flames" report is accurate, this could have the makings of a military embarrassment and serious harm to morale within the North Korean navy. That's why it's essential for the regime's domestic propaganda machinery to report an alternative reality. That also illustrates why breaking down the information blockade and saturating North Korea with alternative sources of information can help preserve peace in the region.
Is Russia Playing Both Sides on Iran Nukes? -- [Christian Science Monitor]
Iran's failure to respond to an international offer to enrich much of its uranium stockpile outside the country - for use in a Tehran medical research facility - is again raising the prospect of tougher sanctions. Much of the focus of the sanctions debate is falling on Russia, which has blown hot and cold on additional punitive measures on Iran over its nuclear program - but which is sounding open to the idea once again. The attention is reviving lingering questions about Russian assistance - either official or unauthorized - to Iran's nuclear program and weapons research.
China Ready to Welcome President Obama -- [Voice of America]
Sino-American relations are likely to get a boost when President Barack Obama comes to China later this month. The potential to work together to combat climate change is expected to overshadow more contentious issues, such as trade, military relations and human rights. From tentative beginnings in the 1970's, Sino-American ties have grown into what is often described as one of the most important relationships in the world. China was one highlight of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's first trip abroad. "The inter-dependent world in which we live requires us to find new ways to collaborate and cooperate in the face of unprecedented global challenges and untapped global opportunities," she stated.
Military Not Told About Ft. Hood Suspect's E-mails -- [Los Angeles Times]
Two high-profile anti-terrorism task forces did not inform the Defense Department about contacts between a radical Islamic cleric and the Army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 people in last week's rampage at Ft. Hood, a senior Defense official said Tuesday. On the day of a memorial service for those killed at the Texas military base, the revelation compounded questions about whether the government had known enough in advance to stop the gunman. The FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Forces investigated e-mails that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan sent over the last year to Anwar al Awlaki, an imam in Yemen who espouses a radical Islamist ideology and who has ties to militants. However, officials said, task force members concluded that the communications posed no threat and had been undertaken as part of Hasan's research on Muslims, the military and post-traumatic stress disorders. Defense officials said Tuesday that the department did not learn about Hasan's contacts with Awlaki until after the Ft. Hood shootings.
Taliban: Fort Hood Killer a "Hero", Warn of Further Attacks -- [Jawa Report]
What, you thought the Taliban would condemn the attack? Note, also, that the Taliban dismiss the notion that Hasan was motivated by a psychological breakdown:
Two Sides, Same Coin -- [Baldilocks]
Lots of things going on today, but two of them seem to demonstrate one of my convictions that there is no such thing as a coincidence.
John Allen Muhammad--the lead Beltway Sniper--is scheduled to be executed today at 6PM 9PM EST in Virginia.
Justice and Guantanamo Bay -- [Wall Street Journal]
This past Sunday, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the administration will decide by Nov. 16 which Guantanamo detainees will be tried in military commissions trials, and which of them will stand trial in federal courts. But a decision to use both legal settings is a mistake. It will establish a dangerous legal double standard that gives some detainees superior rights and protections, and relegates others to the inferior rights and protections of military commissions. This will only perpetuate the perception that Guantanamo and justice are mutually exclusive. President George W. Bush authorized military commissions in November 2001, and President Barack Obama ordered them stopped in January 2009.
Qaeda militant incites Sunnis against Shiites, Iran -- [AFP Global Edition]
A commander of an Al-Qaeda-linked group warned Islam's majority Sunnis that the Shiites and Iran pose a greater "danger" to their religion than Jews or Christians, a US monitoring group said on Tuesday.
"We call on the nation ... to stand by (Sunnis) with whatever means they can against the danger of Iran and those who follow (the Shiite) faith in the region," Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman al-Rashid of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula said in an audio recording carried by SITE Intelligence group
Muggers Return Wallet After Seeing Army ID -- [FOX News]
Muggers Return Wallet After Seeing Army ID, A Milwaukee Army reservist's military identification earned him some street cred Tuesday, when he says four men who mugged him at gunpoint returned his belongings and thanked him for his service after finding the ID.
Vets Offered Free Meal this Veteran's Day at Applebee's -- [ROK Drop]
Just a reminder to everyone that Applebee's once again has their promotion of a free meal for veterans
Applebee's, Golden Corral, M&S salute vets with free food -- [USA Today]
Three major casual-dining chains --Applebee's, McCormick & Schmick's and Golden Corral-- are offering free food to veterans and, in most cases, active-duty military personnel in observance of Veterans Day.
WELCOME BACK VETERANS.org -- [Soldier's Mom]
I know you'll be celebrating Veteran's Day this Thursday. But if you are looking for an extra way to honor our Veterans, this might be up your alley.
Major League Baseball and Welcome Back Veterans are asking people to share their message of thanks to American veterans: http://www.welcomebackveterans.org/thanks
War hero's family calls book a 'dishonor' -- [HometownAnnapolis]
On this, the 234th birthday of the U.S. Marine Corps, a new book about Annapolis - and national - hero Col. John Ripley is coming under fire from the late Marine's family.
Ripley's daughter, Annapolis resident Mary Ripley, called Fulkerson's picture of her father "a dishonor" to his memory.
Standing Tall in Harm's Way -- [Washington Post]
In the aftermath of the Fort Hood shootings, some commentaries have examined the damage to the US Army from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. A few have spoken about the alleged shooter, Maj. Nidal M. Hasan, as an extreme version of what can happen with an overstressed force. This picture of a traumatized military is misleading. Certainly, the Army and the other services are stressed by the demands of combat. But what's striking to me this Veterans Day is how healthy the military is, given all the weight it has been carrying for the country these past eight years. Facing a new and disorienting kind of warfare, the military has learned and adapted. Rather than complain about their problems, soldiers have figured out ways to solve them. In truth, the US military may be the most resilient part of American society right now.
Once a Soldier, Always a Soldier... -- [Bouhammer]
Well today is the it, my very last day in the Army. I can't believe this day is here. Over 22 1/2 years in the Army ends today. In reality it is really 40+ years in the Army. I was born at Ft. Bragg, NC and have been holding either a dependent or active duty ID card ever since. I mean I will have a retired ID card later this week, which looks like the dependent ones today, but the time of serving as a soldier is ending. My time of being a leader of men, a caregiver to the soul of the young and confused, a motivator to those that are un-motivated is ending. It probably ended back in July when I turned over my last company and took off the diamond for the first time since getting it put on me over seven years ago. That was a painful day to remove the one rank that I always sought, but I can't be greedy.
Choosing Between Family and the Military -- [Center For American Progress]
Approximately 70 immigrant soldiers in the US military from 35 countries pledge their allegiance to the United States during a welcome home naturalization
Soldier Gets Surprise Welcome Home -- [WNEP-TV]
A family gathered Tuesday night to welcome home a soldier from Iraq. He's on a break from his fourth tour in that war-torn country.
At Fort Hood, day of mourning ends with celebration -- [CNN]
Teary wives and girlfriends and moms and dads hold the hands of children bearing signs like Zachariah Wolf's: "Welcome home bestest daddy.
How the New York Times does Veterans Day -- [Blackfive]
I know you're not surprised. I guess I still expect more from "professionals". For posterity, here's a screen shot of the NYTimes Veterans Day Section (archive):
CBS's Smith: Iraq and Afghanistan Wars to Blame for Ft. Hood Shooting -- [NewsBusters]
Interviewing Veteran Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki on Wednesday's CBS Early Show, co-host Harry Smith cited a cause of the shooting at Ft. Hood: "...the Iraq war, the escalation in number of cases of post traumatic stress disorder...the more people go back to these fields, these theaters of war, either in Iraq or Afghanistan, it multiplies the incidence of these kinds of things occurring."
Obama, World Leaders Honor Veterans on Anniversary of End WWI -- [Voice of America]
U.S. President Barack Obama will mark the first Veterans Day observance of his presidency Wednesday with a traditional wreath-laying ceremony and speech at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington.
The Potemkin Color Guard -- [CDR Salamander]
You have worked long and hard to reach a high profile position, as those who came before you had. You did everything that was asked of you, and more. You believed in a system that told you all you had to do was work hard, pay attention to detail, excel in your efforts, show exceptional dedication, and demonstrate professionalism better than those around you. Do that, you were told, and you will be rewarded.
The day prior to the event you are told that those in power decided to remove you and a friend from the position you worked so long and hard for. You wonder, "What did we do? Why?"
...The reason is rather simple; those in positions of authority did not like your race and gender. Nothing that you did - no - not that. Nothing personal - just business, you know.
Simply by being born, you have been found wanting, and unworthy.
On 29 OCT, the USNA Color Guard made an appearance at the World Series. The day prior to their appearance, two Midshipmen were removed from the Color Guard by senior Commissioned Officers in leadership positions at Annapolis for one simple reason; they were white males. That isn't a guess on their part - that is what they were told.
In Congress, injured vets signing on for duty -- [Washington Post]
Fellowship program helps steer returning wounded to jobs on the Hill
... Lasko confronted the existential question faced by thousands of veterans too injured for active service: What now?
"Anybody coming back, any young veterans coming out, you're saying, 'What next?' " says Lasko, 26. It's not easy getting established in the civilian world. "You did your time in the military. In our cases, we're injured, so we're at another disadvantage."
Lasko found his way to one of the more unusual internship programs on Capitol Hill.
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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.Refresh for updates.
At Our Worst -- [Quatto Zone - in Afghanistan]
In Afghanistan, reporters were scrambling for local "reaction" to the story. This herd mentality demonstrates again how far contemporary journalism has fallen from its social mission. Rather than bringing the war zone they were assigned to cover to their audience, many reporters--on their own or at the urging of editors--quickly reverted to bringing their audience's fixation on another story into the war zone. Fortunately, this approach didn't supply much useful carrion for the news vultures. It turns out that there wasn't a unit in Afghanistan larger than a company from Ft. Hood. It also turns out that the reaction of the average G.I. in Afghanistan wasn't much different from the reaction of the average G.I. back home, with the exception of the occasional, unspoken, guilty sense of relief that today there was a place where it was more dangerous to be than where you were.
Don't blame MPs for Fort Hood shootings -- [A Wold Away - in Afghanistan]
Before we deployed, Ft. Hood was my duty station, and I will be returning there upon redeployment. When I heard about that shooting business, I thought they would blame the security guards or the MP's for what happened, and that simply isn't fair.
NATO, Afghans claim to kill 130 Taliban in Kunduz -- [Reuters]
NATO and Afghan officials claimed on Monday their forces had killed at least 130 Taliban fighters in a major operation over the past week in an area of Afghanistan's north where militant activity has surged.
A combined force of 700 Afghan troops and 50 NATO soldiers cleared villages of fighters, killing more than 130 insurgents including eight Taliban commanders during a five-day operation, NATO spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Todd Vician said.
All Afghan War Options by Obama Aides Said to Call for More Troops -- [New York Times]
Advisers to President Obama are preparing three options for escalating the war effort in Afghanistan, all of them calling for more American troops, as he moves closer to a decision on the way forward in the eight-year-old war, officials said Saturday. The options include Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal's request for roughly another 40,000 troops; a middle scenario sending about 30,000 more troops; and a lower alternative involving 20,000 to 25,000 reinforcements, according to the officials, who insisted on anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. Officials hope to present the options to Mr. Obama this week before he leaves on a trip to Asia. While some civilian and military officials believe Mr. Obama is seeking a middle ground in the debate over Afghanistan, aides denied he has made any decision or is leaning toward any of the options.
Turkey Shoot -- [Free Range International - in Afghanistan]
While enjoying a morning cup of coffee and checking email up on the Baba Deck with a group of friends who are in from the States we saw what was clearly the signature of a tanker attack just up the road. That has never happened this close to Jalalabad before so we conducted a brief staff meeting which consisted of saying "let's go" and headed up the road to see what was what.
Very Bold -- [Knights of Afghanistan in Afghanistan]
I wasn't in the area at the time, but yesterday the bad guys hit another fuel convoy out on the Jalalabad road. Blogger Tim Lynch gives a good recap
...the bad guys seemed to have been more deliberate. They came with a larger force than usual, and stayed long enough to light up at least four of the tankers. As Tim points out, that perhaps wasn't really wise, since they lingered long enough to be engaged by three different elements, the tankers' own PSC convoy escorts, the ANP (better late than never) and a pair of Kiowa scout choppers out of JAF. End result, four burned tankers and a very bad day for an undetermined number of bad guys.
The Tribes -- [Free Range International - in Afghanistan]
A Bottom Up Approach - The last post generated quite a few interesting comments about the Steven Pressfield Blog, Chief Ajmal Khan Zazai, and the prospect of using specialized troops to embed with the tribes and possible be used for cross border sanctuary denial work. With the election now decided this is an excellent time to talk about the tribes and more importantly a bottom up approach. The government in Kabul is not going to change - in fact they are already firing a shot across the bow of the entire international community sending a message that is easy to decipher. Check out this email which came from a senior security manager in Kabul last night: Dear All, Last night the Lounge Restaurant in Wazir Akbar Khan was raided by police and all their liquor confiscated. They were also on their way to Gandamak but it was already closed. I made a phone call to the Regional Police Commander for Kabul who confirmed that the police is indeed conducting raids on restaurants for 2 reasons
US, Afghans Target Taliban Region -- [Wall Street Journal]
US and Afghan forces are engaging in heavy fighting against the resurgent Taliban militants in the Kunduz and Badghis provinces of northern Afghanistan, pushing into once-peaceful areas overseen by European allies. In restive Kunduz province bordering Tajikistan, US special operations forces and the Afghan army have carried out a major offensive against the Taliban over the past several days in the Chahar Dara district, a Taliban stronghold near the provincial capital, officials said. "This is the biggest operation seen so far," said Kunduz Gov. Mohammad Omar. "We've been able to kill a lot of Taliban."
Street smarts -- [Embedded in Afghanistan... in Afghanistan]
In an insurgency, when so much of the enemy's advantage lies in the element of surprise and its ability to hide among the populace, the power of perception and ability to 'sense' trouble become of the utmost importance. It's a skill we try to acquire in training, but some will always be better than others. I do believe awareness can be developed, and that the mind picks up on much more than we're consciously aware. Some days when we went out, just a few moments in the local area and we could feel that we're were going to receive some enemy 'attention' at some point. It's was not necessarily an absence of people or dirty looks that would alert us, just...something, and in time we learned to listen to those feelings.
Afghanistan: Marines Bring Some Calm in Helmand -- [Los Angeles Times]
When 500 US Marines descended on this Taliban stronghold overnight, Afghan civilians were immediately suspicious about the intentions of the heavily armed Americans. One question dominated all others: How long will the Americans stay? Five months later, there is still no clear answer. "The No. 1 question the Marines get is: 'When are you going home?' " said Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson, an Iraq combat veteran and now the top Marine in Afghanistan. "They can't believe we're staying."
A hope in Helmand -- [The Guardian]
The news from Afghanistan has been grim. The collapse of the second round of the national elections; Hamid Karzai's government tainted by corruption; and, last week, five British soldiers killed by a rogue Afghan policeman in Nad-e'Ali. All the while, Washington continues to dither over its strategy. Small wonder that the British public have lost faith in this war: 57% now think it unwinnable.
However, on the ground in Afghanistan things look a little more optimistic. I have just spent two weeks in Helmand, talking to dozens of civilian stabilisation advisers and military officers.
Allied Forces 'May Abandon Most of Northern Helmand' -- [The Times]
A new strategy for Afghanistan that could lead to a British troop withdrawal from a former Taleban stronghold in northern Helmand province sparked immediate controversy yesterday. According to a senior Nato source, Western military commanders in Afghanistan are considering a radical shift in policy that would see British and US forces conduct a tactical pull-out from most of northern Helmand, including the town of Musa Qala.
[British] Army Wants to Retreat in Afghanistan -- [The Times]
Army chiefs are drawing up plans to withdraw British troops from outlying bases in Afghanistan. In what would be a significant change of strategy against the growing Taliban insurgency, they are considering abandoning several bases including Musa Qala, the scene of bloody battles that claimed 15 British lives. Army forces would attempt to hold only the larger towns in Helmand province.
Armed Forces Reputation is at Risk in Afghanistan, MoD Chiefs Warn -- [The Times]
The long-term future and reputation of Britain's Armed Forces is at risk unless progress is made in Afghanistan, the two most senior officials at the Ministry of Defence warn in an internal document seen by The Times.
Afghan-International Forces Operational Update for Nov. 9; Missing Service Members Update; ISAF CasualtyShare -- [ISAF]
KABUL, Afghanistan (Nov. 9) - Afghan-international security forces conducted clearing operations Nov. 1 through 6 in the Chahar Dara district of the northern region of Kunduz province, killing more than 130 insurgents including eight Taliban commanders.
More than 750 Afghan and International forces took part in the operation to stop insurgent activity and weapons trafficking in the Chahar Dara district. The team also disrupted the insurgent shadow governor in Kunduz province.
Fayzabad فيذ آباد -- [Doc H's International Adventure -- in Afghanistan]
There are many building projects and bridges being constructed. We had a good view of the local Buzkashi field while we were travelling to the clinic site. There are at least 5 tiers of hills and mountains in the distance. The highest ones to the east are at least 12,000 feet high and have snow on them.
The people are different than those found in either Kabul or Mazar e Sharif. While there are Tajiks and some Uzbek features to most of the people, there are also a good number of people who resemble the Aryans with caucasian features. The people appear to be poorer, but more productive and peaceful than other areas of Afghanistan.
Rebooting Afghanistan's Low-Tech Air Force -- [Danger Zone]
Afghanistan needs to radically increase its ground forces, if the Kabul government is going to have any hope of stabilizing the country. But almost as important is beefing up the country's low-tech, often-overlooked air force.
Tradition -- [There's sand in my... -- in Afghanistan]
This is the last entry from "beautiful" Kandahar, really this time! There will be more entries to follow from the trip home. Very short entry this time, but needed to close this trip out. I don't know if it is an official tradition to have a cigar at the end of a deployment, but it has been the case on my three deployments.
Is This What Victory Looks Like? -- [Outside the Wire - JD Johannes - in Iraq]
I do not know what victory looks like in a counter insurgency. With the recent bombing in Baghdad it is hard to say that a true victory and a true peace has been achieved. There are still deadly attacks on US troops.
The true success of the war in Iraq will be revealed in the coming months and years.
But what is for sure is that the fight is now being waged by the Iraqi police and, to a lesser degree, the Iraqi army.
Snapshots from Tikrit -- [Outside the Wire - JD Johannes - in Iraq]
...Before sitting down to talk security, politics and economics, the officers took their boots off. Note the M-4s are still there and loaded
Iraqi Parliament Passes Election Law After Reaching Deal on Kirkuk -- [Washington Post]
Iraqi lawmakers passed an election law Sunday night, overcoming a weeks-long impasse and averting a constitutional crisis that threatened to delay the US troop drawdown. The vote was held during a rare evening session preceded by intense lobbying efforts by US and UN diplomats, who had grown increasingly frustrated by the sluggish pace of negotiations and the acrimony that characterized them. "This was amazing for me," Kurdish lawmaker Ala Talabani said after leaving the session.
Flags at Half Staff -- [In Iraq Now (at 56) - in Iraq]
All the flags on Camp Adder are at half staff to honor the dead at Fort Hood. One of the national guard brigades where a friend of mine works flies the Texas State Flag next to Old Glory. Last night at dinner she was saying everyone in her shop mobilized out of Hood and went through the facility where the shooting occurred. Many of the national guard soldiers are full time and work at Hood. They know people, civilians and military, who work at that facility and were frantic for a while wondering of someone they knew was a victim.
Iraqis Take Charge Of The View -- [Strategy Page]
November 9, 2009: As of October 26, the Iraqi Air Force took control of the American built air traffic control network that covers northern Iraq and adjacent countries. At the moment, Americans run most air traffic control in Iraq, mainly because it takes time to train Iraqi controllers. In addition, the U.S. military radars, because they often used classified equipment and procedures, that currently provide much of the coverage, have to be replaced by civilian equipment owned by the Iraqi government. Thus for the next few years, Iraqis won't control much of their own air space. But
Twenty years ago today: The Berlin Wall falls -- [Hot Air]
Twenty years ago today, the most reviled symbol of Communist oppression got torn down by both the people it oppressed and the people it was intended to intimidate as the era of Soviet domination in Eastern Europe came to an abrupt and obvious end. Cheering throngs filled the streets as the Berlin Wall fell, with East Germany's soldiers reduced to the role of spectators as their state, for all intents and purposes, ceased to exist entirely. It was easily the climax of decades of Cold War -- and a moment of undeniable victory for the US and Western Europe
VEE Day -- [Jules Crittenden]
It's Victory in Eastern Europe Day. Though I kind of like the sound of "VUSSR Day." In Ivan's face. PO Putin a little ... for a change.
Obama of course couldn't make it to the festivities. It's an awkward one for him, given the recent retreat in the face of neo-Stalinism, and the fact that he'd have to give credit to one of his predecessors, or maybe sit and listen while others do ... it will be interesting, to see if Ronald Reagan does get any official nods.
Democracy Wins in Honduras -- [Weekly Standard]
The four-month Honduran political crisis appears to be over. Last week, Honduran officials signed an agreement to establish a provisional "unity" government and allow the Honduran Congress to determine the fate of Manuel Zelaya, who was removed as president in late June for constitutional violations. At first, some media outlets reported that the deal would automatically restore Zelaya as president, but that was inaccurate. Zelaya could be restored--but Honduran legislators will make the final call. The United States, which helped broker the accord, agreed to end sanctions against Honduras and recognize the legitimacy of its November 29 elections.
A New Mosque in Nicaragua Fires Up the Rumor Mill - [Wall Street Journal]
With just 300 or so Muslims in all of Nicaragua, it became an instant mystery here when a big new mosque suddenly seemed to spring up recently in a residential neighborhood. Like, who paid for it? The ever-present Managua rumor mill quickly turned to the government of Iran.
Hugo Chavez Tells Venezuela Troops to 'Prepare for War' with Colombia -- [The Times]
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez yesterday ordered the country's military to prepare for a possible armed conflict with Colombia, saying soldiers should be ready if the United States attempts to provoke a war between the South American neighbours. Mr Chavez said Venezuela could end up going to war with Colombia as tensions between them rise, and he warned that if a conflict broke out "it could extend throughout the whole continent".
Suspect told 'There's something wrong with you' -- [AP]
"I told him, `There's something wrong with you,'" Osman Danquah, co-founder of the Islamic Community of Greater Killeen, told The Associated Press on Saturday. "I didn't get the feeling he was talking for himself, but something just didn't seem right."
Danquah assumed the military's chain of command knew about Hasan's doubts, which had been known for more than a year to classmates in a graduate military medical program. His fellow students complained to the faculty about Hasan's "anti-American propaganda," but said a fear of appearing discriminatory against a Muslim student kept officers from filing a formal written complaint.
Hasan a Muslim First, American Second? -- [Outside the Beltway]
In hindsight, it appears that Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the mass murderer who killed 14 (one of the soldiers killed, Francheska Velez, was six weeks pregnant) and wounded another 30 at Fort Hood, had long made it known that he sympathized with the enemy.
Authorities Scrutinize Links Between Fort Hood Suspect, Imam Said to Back al-Qaeda -- [Washington Post]
Federal investigators are examining possible links between Fort Hood shooting suspect Maj. Nidal M. Hasan and an American-born imam who US authorities say has become a supporter and leading promoter of al-Qaeda since leaving a Northern Virginia mosque, officials said. Hasan attended the Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Falls Church in 2001, when its spiritual leader was Anwar al-Aulaqi, a figure who crossed paths with al-Qaeda associates, including two Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers, one senior US official said. Since Aulaqi left in 2002 and settled in Yemen, his lectures promoting the strategies of an al-Qaeda military leader have shown up in computer files of suspects in terrorism cases in the United States, Canada and Britain, officials said.
Alleged Fort Hood Shooter Frequented Local Strip Club -- [Fox News]
The Army psychiatrist authorities say killed 13 people and wounded 29 others at the Fort Hood Army Base Thursday was a recent and frequent customer at a local strip club, employees of the club told FoxNews.com exclusively.
Fort Hood Shooting: Texas Army Killer Linked to September 11 Terrorists -- [Daily Telegraph]
Major Nidal Malik Hasan worshipped at a mosque led by a radical imam said to be a "spiritual adviser" to three of the hijackers who attacked America on Sept 11, 2001. Hasan, the sole suspect in the massacre of 13 fellow US soldiers in Texas, attended the controversial Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Great Falls, Virginia, in 2001 at the same time as two of the September 11 terrorists, The Sunday Telegraph has learnt. His mother's funeral was held there in May that year. The preacher at the time was Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born Yemeni scholar who was banned from addressing a meeting in London by video link in August because he is accused of supporting attacks on British troops and backing terrorist organisations.
Too Scared to Recognize Terrorism -- [Washington Times]
Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan was declared "not a terrorist" before the facts were out - even before officials were sure whether the attacker was alive or dead. Failing to honestly name a terrorist attack despite the evidence is as destructive and dishonest as leaping to call an attack terrorism without the facts to support that. Apparently, the claim was based largely on the fact that Maj. Hasan appears to have been a lone gunman. However, terrorism is defined not by the number of people involved, but by the motivations and intentions of the attacker. If reports about him are true, Maj. Hasan clearly was a terrorist. He reportedly was upset about the activities of the United States in the Middle East and purportedly had made postings about suicide attacks on jihadist forums.
Breaking: Extremist Cleric Anwar al-Awlaki Endorses Ft. Hood Massacre: "Nidal Hassan Did the Right Thing" -- [Counterterrorism Blog]
Extremist cleric Anwar al-Awlaki has just issued a new entry on his blog titled, "Nidal Hassan Did the Right Thing." Excerpts from the entry are reproduced in part below:
Followers of Anwar al-Awlaki Giddily Celebrate Ft. Hood Massacre -- [Counterterrorism Blog]
Supporters of radical Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki--whose name has surfaced in connection with the investigation of Major Malik Nidal Hasan--are now championing Hasan's murder of thirteen U.S. military personnel last week at Ft. Hood in Texas. Upon learning of initial media reports of the Ft. Hood massacre, one frequent visitor posted a comment on al-Awlaki's blog, "Oh Allah, direct your forces against America, the centre of kufr and fasad. Oh Allah, direct your forces against America, the centre of kufr and fasad. Oh Allah, direct your forces against America, the centre of kufr and fasad... Mash'Allah another good news reaching us from Texas: more Kafir US soldiers in the Filthy U.S. Army base in Fort Hood, were smoked by the their own today:"
Landstuhl honors the fallen -- [Greyhawk]
Psychiatric nurse practitioner Lt. Col. Juanita Warman, in her final Facebook entry hours before she was murdered by Nidal Hassan. "Warman had been at Fort Hood for only 24 hours to be processed for duty in Iraq, a deployment for which she had volunteered."
A memorial for Fort Hood victims
Please visit this memorial for the victims of the Fort Hood massacre. Post a candle in your profile and sign our guestlist. You can also leave your last farewell to the 12 people who died. May God bring consolation to their families.
We are trying to light up 1 million candles in 1 million profiles to show that we could build a community that seeks peace. Please join us.
George W. Bush makes secret visit to mourning families at Fort Hood; Laura Bush goes too -- [LA Times]
Last night former President George W. Bush and his wife Laura made a secret visit to the devastated military families at Fort Hood.
The Bushes instructed the commander of the mourning military base that they wanted no publicity. With their Secret Service detail, Bush and his wife made the 30 mile trip unannounced from their ranch near Crawford, Texas Friday evening.
Departing -- [One Marines View]
Try saying goodbye to your loved ones before you deploy. Then try saying good bye 5-6 times after flights get canceled. It's a gut check from hell. Thinking you are departing then all of a sudden you are not. Departing is hard enough for service members but even harder for families. Its never easy....it never gets easier.
Complications Grow for Muslims Serving Nation -- [New York Times]
Abdi Akgun joined the Marines in August of 2000, fresh out of high school and eager to serve his country. As a Muslim, the attacks of Sept. 11 only steeled his resolve to fight terrorism. But two years later, when Mr. Akgun was deployed to Iraq with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, the thought of confronting Muslims in battle gave him pause. He was haunted by the possibility that he might end up killing innocent civilians. "It's kind of like the Civil War, where brothers fought each other across the Mason-Dixon line," Mr. Akgun, 28, of Lindenhurst, NY, who returned from Iraq without ever pulling the trigger. "I don't want to stain my faith, I don't want to stain my fellow Muslims, and I also don't want to stain my country's flag." Thousands of Muslims have served in the United States military - a legacy that some trace to the First World War. But in the years since Sept. 11, 2001, as the United States has become mired in two wars on Muslim lands, the service of Muslim-Americans is more necessary and more complicated than ever before.
USS New York Receives Official Commission -- [Defense Link]
A new Navy ship named in honor of the courage displayed by New York City's residents during and after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks received its official commission today. The USS New York recalls "the searing memories of Sept. 11" as well as "the bravery of the rescuers, the resolve of the survivors, the compassion of this city and the patriotism of this great country," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said during the ship's commissioning ceremony at New York City harbor. Clinton was a member of the US Senate representing New York state during 9/11.
'Welcome home! We missed you!' -- [The Tennessean]
One person even brought a pack of small dogs sporting sweaters to welcome the troops home. Harless' 12-year-old son, David, wore a shirt with words for his
Plenty of reasons to be glad -- [The News Journal]
Earlier in the day, she and her younger brother, Xander, made a sign -- "Welcome Home, Daddy" -- complete with two exclamation points and a smile underneath
Ohio town to toast forgotten Vietnam veterans -- [The Associated Press]
Vietnam vets have been honored in recent years with a Welcome Home parade in Las Vegas and a homecoming celebration in Indianapolis; Minnesota has ...
He Who Shall Not Be Fact-Checked -- [Abu Muqawama]
Hey, look, everybody, Seymour Hersh has another article for the New Yorker. In this one, people told him a bunch of stuff, and him not wanting to make people feel bad, he went ahead and printed all of it. I have no idea what percentage of this article is true and what percentage is just some stuff people made up. I'm still coming to grips with having been a henchman in Dick Cheney's executive assassination ring, so you guys are on your own to make guesses in the comments section.
The need to believe -- [Greyhawk]
...There were conflicting versions of the story from the get-go - and that's just part of the truly awful job the national media did with the Ft Hood shooting story all around (local media did much better). The bottom line is: if you get your news from television and newspapers you're getting something other than news.
Why Are The Networks Talking About PTSD? -- [Afghan Quest - in Afghanistan]
What part of, "Allahu akhbar!" do they not understand?
For the second time in this war, we have had fratricide performed in the military ranks by a "Muslim convert." Neither of the perpetrators have been combat veterans. Neither of them suffered from PTSD. So why are CNN and MSNBC going on and on and on and on about PTSD? We've got an issue to discuss, and I don't have the solution; but that issue is not PTSD.
Not in this case.
PTSD -- [JR Salzman - Lumberjack in a Desert]
I'm more than a little angry right now. Yes, I'm irate that some shitbag Major ("shitbag" is often used as a technical term in the Army) opened fire on a group of his fellow Soldiers killing 12 and wounding 30. But that's not even what is under my skin right now. What is bothering me is the general reaction of our media and those stupid enough to think this was not an act of terrorism, but was caused by supposed PTSD caused at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
You want to know what fucking PTSD is like? I'll tell you. You have nightmares that go on for weeks. Mine would always be the same. Wherever the window was in the room in which I was sleeping I would see a bright white flash. I would wake up screaming to my wife "Get up! Get the fuck up! An IED just went off!"
TIME Magazine: "Secondary Trauma" May Have Driven Hasan to Slaughter 13 Soldiers -- [Gateway Pundit]
You've got to be kidding.
The state-run media thinks were all stupid.
TIME, the former news magazine, reported today that "secondary trauma" may have driven Nidal Hasan to massacre 13 US soldiers at Fort Hood.
Yahoo republished the report:
To Media, American Heroism Might As Well Be Urban Legend -- [Villainous Company]
How bizarre is it when the number two link on Google for Brian Chontosh, a bona fide war hero and recipient of the Navy Cross, goes to a site devoted to "debunking" urban myths?
Is the idea that a Marine officer could perform acts of heroism so outlandish that it requires debunking? If so, there's little doubt why so many Americans might doubt such tales. Every day we're force fed a distorted, dishonest narrative that magnifies every misdeed and sweeps acts of heroism under the rug. This, we are given to understand, is "journalistic objectivity" in action:
The media has an unfortunate history of wrongly pushing the narrative that military service is somehow a horror-filled dehumanizing experience.
MSNBC's Shuster Links Fred Phelps To Republicans, Conservatives -- [Riehl World View]
Insufferable nitwit number 2 from MSNBC, David Shuster, demonstrates his party hack bona fides by implying that hate protesters Fred Phelps and his group are somehow part of the actual conservative movement and the Republican Party, too. What an injudicious hack.
Could Fort Hood visit redefine Obama's relationship with the military? -- [CS Monitor]
Recent Democratic presidents have had an uneasy relationship with the armed forces. Obama's visit to Fort Hood's memorial service could set the tone for a new rapport with those in uniform.
Obama Doesn't "Get" the Military He Commands -- [Villainous Company]
"What Vice President Cheney calls 'dithering,' President Obama calls his solemn responsibility to the men and women in uniform and to the American public," said Gibbs. "I think we've all seen what happens when somebody doesn't take that responsibility seriously."
~White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs
Life is full of mysteries, but chief among them in this Marine wife's mind at the moment is, "Just how stupid does this White House think we are?" If the events of the past few months have shown us anything, it's that Barack Obama has little enthusiasm for - or interest in - one of the most important duties of an American President: his role as Commander in Chief of the nation's armed forces.
Like so many of his campaign promises, Barack Obama's commitment to the military has undergone constant revision since he took office in January.
(Need more? Dawn Patrols Archives are here.)
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.Refresh for updates.
Gen. Petraeus visits Logar province, hears voice of the people -- [CJTF-82 News]
Gen. David Petraeus, commander of United States' Central Command, met with U.S. and Afghan Soldiers, as well as Baraki Barak Sub-Governor Mohammed Lodin and local businessmen at Combat Outpost Baraki Barak, Oct. 30.
Petraeus removed his body armor and made his way out the gate into the bustling marketplace (without his protective equipment). He shook hands, waved to children and invited shoppers down the block to a local bakery for bread and chai. Once seated, with Lodin standing nearby, Petraeus spoke to several locals about their government.
...Before leaving, he made a point of letting the people know he realized many issues were emotionally charged.
"As we used to say in Iraq, 'it's okay to talk ... it's even okay to shout, it's just not ok to shoot," Petraeus said.
5 British soldiers shot dead in Afghanistan -- [CNN]
Five British soldiers have been shot dead in Afghanistan by a "rogue" Afghan policeman they had been training. The soldiers had been living and working for the past two weeks with the man who killed them.
Great Britain Loses one of its Finest -- [Michael Yon]
...Courage is as common as boots among these soldiers, but Olaf stood out even in that company. You could tell that Olaf knew his business from mean experience, and that he was ready for battle. His mind was very quick.
Soldier Aaron Deans shot by Taliban but refuses to fly home -- [Helmand Blog]
A SOLDIER who was shot in the back during a Taliban ambush in Afghanistan refused to fly home, because he wanted to end his tour of duty with his friends this coming weekend.
At his base in Helmand province, Trooper Aaron Deans, 19, said being shot was like "getting hit with a sledge hammer".
But he still managed to drive his colleagues to safety before blacking out.
Medics face 'awe-inspiring' task -- [BBC]
Col Peter Gilbert, from Rochester, is in charge of the main field hospital at Camp Bastion in southern Helmand.
He said some injuries were worse than the NHS would ever see, including regular cases of lost limbs.
"We are seeing injuries here on an almost daily basis that nobody in the health service will ever see," he said.
US backs Karzai's Afghan poll win -- [Al Jazeera]
The US president has congratulated Hamid Karzai on his re-election as Afghanistan's president, but Barack Obama also told him that he must be "much more serious" about tackling corruption.
US Gives Karzai Six-month Ultimatum to Stem Afghanistan Corruption -- [The Times]
President Karzai has six months to sideline his brother and reduce corruption or risk losing American support, Afghan officials have told The Times. Senior palace insiders said that President Obama delivered the ultimatum when he congratulated Mr Karzai on his re-election on Monday. Top of his demands was action against corruption, the appointment of "reform-minded ministers" and several high-profile scalps to prove Mr Karzai's commitment to cleaning up his Government.
Exclusive: U.S. drafts Afghan 'Compact' it hopes will bolster new Karzai government -- [McClatchy News]
The Obama administration has been quietly working with U.S. allies and Afghan officials on a package of reforms and anti-corruption measures that it hopes will boost popular support for President Hamid Karzai and erase the doubts about his legitimacy raised by his fraud-marred re-election.
Abdullah: Karzai victory 'illegal' -- [Al Jazeera]
Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission (IEC) declared Karzai the winner on Monday following Abdullah Abdullah's withdrawal from the November 7 runoff after his conditions for holding "free and fair polling" were not met.
"This decision does not have any legal basis and a government which takes power based on such a commission's decision cannot have legitimacy," Abdullah said on Wednesday in his first public appearance since the announcement.
"Such a government which lacks legitimacy cannot fight corruption.
"A government which comes to power without the people's support cannot fight phenomena of terrorism threats, unemployment, poverty and hundreds of other problems."
Abdullah rules out joining new Afghan government -- [Reuters]
Technocrats and some existing ministers will be appointed to Afghan President Hamid Karzai's new government, a spokesman said on Wednesday, but his main rival branded his re-election illegal and ruled out taking any part.
Lone Airman at Combat Outpost Keating recounts enemy attack -- [Bagram Airfield - in Afghanistan]
...From his perspective on the ground, Sergeant McMurtrey believes that the close air support was what turned the tide of battle.
"Once air support showed up, they started bombing everything... the blasts through the door from the bombs being dropped almost knocked me over," said Sergeant McMurtrey.
After more than 10 hours of bombing and strafing from an Air Force B-1B Lancer and F-15E Strike Eagles, nearly 100 militants were killed by the combined response that included Afghan soldiers as well as U.S. air and ground units. Eight Americans and three Afghans were killed, while nine Americans and 11 Afghans were wounded, according to CJTF-82 officials.
"There is no doubt that without the incredible air support we received, it would have been a much worse day," said Army Lt. Col. Robert Brown, 3-61 Cavalry commander from the 4th ID. "Your ability to keep a steady flow of aircraft and ordnance on the enemy turned what could have been a terrible defeat into a hard fought victory."
US military suffers first casualty of month in Iraq -- [San Jose Mercury News]
Twenty-year-old Pfc. Lukas Hopper was just two weeks away from the end of his deployment in Iraq when his Humvee rolled over Friday in a noncombat crash. ...
Brigade Prepares for 'Advise, Assist' Mission -- [Defense Link]
As the 3rd Infantry Division's 1st Brigade prepares for its fourth deployment to Iraq, its soldiers are getting lessons in the art of leading from behind as they help to set the stage for the eventual drawdown of US forces in Iraq. The "Raider Brigade" was part of the initial US invasion into Iraq, and returned for two more deployments, in 2005 and 2007. Now, Army Col. Roger Cloutier, the brigade commander, calls it fitting that his soldiers will serve as one of four new "advise-and-assist" brigades tailored specifically to support Iraqi security forces.
Marines, Sailors Shut Down Major Base in Iraq One Area at a Time -- [DVIDS]
Marine Corps participation in Operation Iraqi Freedom is drawing to a close as Marines, Sailors and equipment make their way back home or to other parts of the globe. As part of the departure, one of the Marine Corps' largest bases in the country is on its way to being in the hands of the Iraqi government once again.
Iraqi logjam over vote law has U.S. anxious -- [Washington Post]
An impasse over a law crucial to organizing next year's Iraqi elections is illustrating more starkly than ever the United States' dwindling ability to shape Iraqi politics and settle disputes.
U.S. and U.N. officials have grown increasingly worried in recent days as Iraqi lawmakers have continued to put off a vote amid bickering over how to hold elections in the disputed city of Kirkuk. Because the stalemate threatens to delay the elections, and ...
Whatever Happened To Iraqi Oil? -- [National Journal]
...The country boasts the world's fourth largest oil reserves, with 115 billion untapped barrels, but is just the 13th largest producer, according to the Energy Information Administration.
What's The Holdup?
A lack of foreign investment has been the primary problem. Baghdad has been slow to award contracts, and potential investors have been scared off by corruption, a lack of established law governing the industry and poor infrastructure.
And what's really retarded the industry's growth, experts argue, is the hard bargain Baghdad is driving with foreign oil companies.
Iraq to Award Oil Field To ExxonMobil, Shell -- [Wall Street Journal]
Iraq is expected to award its giant West Qurna-1 oil field in southern Iraq to a consortium comprising Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch
Iraq Swears by Bomb Detector US Sees as Useless -- [New York Times]
Despite major bombings that have rattled the nation, and fears of rising violence as American troops withdraw, Iraq's security
..."I don't care about Sandia or the Department of Justice or any of them," General Jabiri said. "I know more about this issue than the Americans do. In fact, I know more about bombs than anyone in the world."
Tourism returns to Iraq as country takes delegation to World Travel Market -- [Daily Mail]
It may not make it into a list of the world's most hotly-tipped travel destinations, but Iraq has set its sights on marketing itself as an
A Year of Combat MEDEVAC -- [Far from Perfect - in Iraq]
So I finished up my last scheduled duty cycle this morning. No more flying MEDEVAC in Iraq for this tour. We are almost done for this round. The new replacement unit is on the ground, they are almost ready to stand up and take over the mission, and I am off to another country in a few days to watch over all our stuff until its headed home.
Female Pilots Train Iraqi Males -- [You Served]
In a sign of times - and the progress American forces have brought to the nation of Iraq - female troops are invading the male dominated world of the Iraqi military. Historically, women have not been permitted in the military and their place in society has been reduced to education and other menial positions.
However, women are training the Iraqi military just as much as the men are. And it's working!
Army Corps moves to protect New Orleans from flooding -- [Washington Post]
Mindful that the West Bank of New Orleans has regained its pre-Hurricane Katrina population and is primed for growth, the Army Corps of Engineers is launching a $1 billion effort to protect the area from the next storm.
New Orleans's population plummeted by 300,000 after Katrina, but residents quickly returned to the west bank of the Mississippi River, many under the mistaken impression that the area was safer. The fact that it didn't flood after the hurricane was mainly chance, however.
Japan 'has no time' to meet US -- [BBC]
Plans for a Washington meeting this week between Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have been dropped.
Japan's government said the talks had been cancelled because of an inability to co-ordinate schedules.
Brave Iranians Hold MASSIVE PROTEST Against Regime - Chant "Obama, Obama Are You With Regime Or With Us?" (Video) -- [Gateway Pundit]
HOPE, CHANGE, AND PEACE IN OUR TIME -- [One Free Korea]
Kim Jong Il announces that he's reprocessed another 8,000 fuel rods, enough to make at least one more bomb. Thank goodness Chris Hill came along in time to end this d*ck-measuring contest with the give-and-take of compromise. Thank goodness our president isn't afraid to talk to his enemies. Now please send Philip Goldberg to freeze the bank accounts of Orascom, Koryo Tours, and the Korean Friendship Association.
Russia 'Simulates' Nuclear Attack on Poland -- [Weekly Standard]
The timing here is beautiful. The exercises reportedly transpired during the 70th anniversary of the Russian invasion of Poland... also the same day that President Obama killed plans for Polish based missile defense.
The [Russian] armed forces are said to have carried out "war games" in which nuclear missiles were fired and troops practised an amphibious landing on the country's coast. Documents obtained by Wprost, one of Poland's leading news magazines, said the exercise was carried out in conjunction with soldiers from Belarus.
Poland is scared, and for good reason. After decades of repressive Soviet occupation, the Poles invested everything in tightened defensive ties with NATO and the United States. Now the Russian Bear is once again pounding down their door, and -- after Poland loyally committed whole battalions to both Afghanistan and Iraq -- America is nowhere to be seen.
Muslim spying will boost terrorism -- [Guardian]
Kim Howells's weasel words about increasing surveillance on 'certain communities' are unwelcome and counterproductive
Kim Howells's call for British service personnel to be withdrawn from Afghanistan will be welcomed on the streets of Britain, most notably because people have realised that Tony Blair's support for George Bush's "war on terror" has cost so many lives, including those of British soldiers, without any real results - other than the fraudulent election victory of President Karzai and the fragmentation of al-Qaida's Afghan core into other countries.
Wants Congress to change Patriot Act -- [Bellingham Herald]
Members of the House have introduced the USA Patriot Amendments Act, reforming the Patriot Act. Unlike the Senate bill, the House bill will institute much ...
US Congressmen want to designate Venezuela as a state sponsor of terrorism -- [The Examiner]
Two South Florida congressmen introduced a resolution yesterday to officially designate Venezuela as a state sponsor of terrorism
Soldiers' Angels Volunteers Vow to Shave Heads for $100,000 -- [Soldiers Angels Network]
Members of Soldiers' Angels' volunteer leadership have raised the stakes on this year's online Valour-IT Veterans Day fundraising competition, which helps provide America's wounded soldiers with voice-controlled laptops and other technology that supports their physical and psychological recovery.
Friends, colleagues memorialize fallen soldier -- [FOB Tacoma]
One on of the last missions before he died, Spc. Kyle A. Coumas was tasked with carrying the extra ammunition for his squad. The extra 120 pounds of gear wore on the California native's body as he marched through southern Afghanistan.
He fell again and again. He waded through waist-deep water. He carried the equipment for miles. At one point, he fell 20 feet and plunged into the Arghandab River. His comrades had to pull him out.
"His face was beat up and bloodied," said Staff Sgt. Chad Brinkley, his former squad leader. "His clothes were covered with mud. Yet once he made it to the top, all he said was, 'Put my assault pack on my back please, and hand me my rifle.'
"Not once did he quit or complain."
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has now embraced Twitter.
Individual administration pages:
http://twitter.com/VeteransHealth
http://twitter.com/VAVetBenefits
http://twitter.com/VANatCemeteries
Wounded Warriors and Caregivers need your HELP Today! -- [Wounded Warrior Project]
YOUR ACTION IS NECESSARY FOR SENATE TO PASS A STRONG BILL TO HELP OUR MOST SEVERELY WOUNDED WARRIORS AND THEIR FAMILIES
The Family Caregiver Legislation that Wounded Warrior Project has been strongly advocating for has been merged into a larger Veterans Health Care Bill. This larger bill is now referred to as Senate Bill 1963 (S.1963), the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2009.
Please continue to call and email your Senators asking that they support S1963. Our most severely wounded warriors and their caregivers need your help today!
Recommended holiday mailing dates released for Afghanistan -- [Bagram Airfield - in Afghanistan]
The U.S. Postal Service announced its recommended mailing dates for delivery by Christmas to U.S. military servicemembers serving overseas at APO/FPO addresses in Afghanistan.
Holiday mail send via First-Class Mail and Priority Mail for servicemembers stationed in Afghanistan should be sent by Dec. 4, 2009 for arrival by Christmas, according to Postal Service officials. The deadline for Parcel Airlift Mail is Dec. 1, 2009, Space Available Mail is Nov. 21, 2009 and Parcel Post is Nov. 13, 2009. Express Mail cannot be used to mail packages to Afghanistan, however Priority Mail is available.
VA secretary promises help for homeless veterans -- [AP]
Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki on Tuesday unveiled a plan to end veterans' homelessness in five years, saying that without action the improvements of recent years could be lost because of the bad economy.
Shinseki said the VA will spend $3.2 billion next year to reduce homelessness among veterans and is working to strengthen partnerships with other government agencies and service organizations. He said he recognizes that a goal of zero homeless veterans is ambitious but that he wants a high target so that everyone puts in their best efforts.
Veterans in Alaska nursing homes caught in dispute over meds -- [The Anchorage Daily News]
Military veterans living in the state-run Alaska Pioneer Homes are losing out on free or low-cost prescription benefits they are entitled to for serving their country because two medical bureaucracies can't seem to figure out how to get VA drugs to them.
The problem -- mostly about the packaging the medicines come in -- affects those veterans who need help from staff to take their meds.
Instead of pill bottles, the Pioneer Homes want the medicine to come in blister packs
Program teaches amputee vets the game of golf -- [AP]
David Flowers knew his right leg was gone as soon as he stepped on the mine.
"I saw this leg come off," he said. "It came up and flew over me and splattered me with blood everywhere."
"And this one," he added, pointing to his damaged left leg, "one bone was sticking out from the leg that way and one the other way, and everything was shredded."
Flowers recalled the violent day while holding a golf club at the driving range on a gorgeous, peaceful autumn morning at Woodmont Country Club, not from the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He has been at Walter Reed for six months, ever since triggering a booby trap while trying to clear a weapons cache in what he described as "a little crappy house" near Bagram, Afghanistan.
Flowers and about a half-dozen other amputee veterans from Walter Reed took swings at the driving range for about an hour, then played a couple of holes in the afternoon as part of a program called "First Swing."
Stop Loss Special Pay, Round Two -- [Karaka Pend]
here's some relevant information about Stop Loss Pay:
If you served on active duty between Sept. 11, 2001 and Sept. 30, 2009 and were stop-lossed, you should be eligible for special or retroactive pay.
You must file a claim yourself; this isn't an automatic process. The claim must be filed with the appropriate documentation indicating your stop loss activation.
Your claim must be filed by October 21, 2010. The stop loss program is very short, so do it ASAP.
Retired/separated servicemembers and family of deceased servicemembers can apply for the program with the appropriate documentation.
Servicemembers who are already receiving Stop Loss special pay from fiscal year 2009 are not eligible for this program.
Reserve members keep active under Stop Loss were made inactive in August/September of 2009. The goal is to do the same for the standing members by January 2010.
There is ...
Army reduces 'Stop Loss' numbers as Pentagon begins payments -- [army.mil]
As the Defense Department begins to compensate military members forced to serve beyond the expiration of their contracts, the number of those still serving under "Stop Loss" has been greatly reduced, a Pentagon official said.
The Army, the only service still using the program, still has 9,600 Soldiers serving involuntarily beyond their resignation or retirement date, Sam Retherford, the Defense Department's director of officer and enlisted personnel management, said during an Oct. 29, "DoDLive" bloggers roundtable.
That compares to 16,000 servicemembers on Stop Loss in 2005, he said.
The Navy and Ready to Launch Satellites -- [Information Dissemination]
The Commander of the United States Strategic Command, General Kevin Chilton, USAF, gave a speech this week in which he presented the view that he would give up state-of-the-art space systems in order to swell the number of satellites the military could launch as the need arises. I rise in support of the General's view, and I would suggest that the Navy has a role to play here.
Students bond with Marine -- [Explorer News]
He got a surprise welcome-home party at Copper Creek Elementary School. Last year, Valora and the rest of Marine Wing Support Squadron 371 were "adopted" by
Amarillo VA to hold Welcome Home Rally -- [KFDA]
Amarillo, TX -- Veterans Affairs in Amarillo will hold a Welcome Home Rally from 10am - 2pm on Saturday, November 7th.
Free Speech on the Cheap -- [Outside the Wire - in Iraq]
I'm at a little outpost in northern Iraq, fresh back from a patrol where we met with a local Sheik. The previous day I had rode with US Soldiers to a logistics base on a resupply run and while there picked up a few back issues of Stars and Stripes where I read the story.
In the story, a previous graph has a quote from University of Delaware Journalism Professor Ralph Begleiter one of the above mentioned free speech advocates. Begeleiter said, "Taking pictures of the returning casualties to Dover is a measure of the human cost of war. Do you want the government ultimately to have control over what we see or not see? Or do you want independent observers, an independent press or media, relaying those images?"
Mr. Begleiter if you really want to understand the human cost of war, don't stand on a fucking tarmac, get embedded and see the human cost of war up close and personal where the price is actually paid.
But many of the free speech advocates have no desire to put themselves at risk to tell the stories of the women and men who have willingly put themselves in harms way.
They want to do it on the cheap, ...
Secret copyright treaty leaks. It's bad. Very bad. -- [Boing Boing]
The internet chapter of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a secret copyright treaty whose text Obama's administration refused to disclose due to "national security" concerns, has leaked. It's bad. It says:
...That ISPs have to cut off the Internet access of accused copyright infringers or face liability. This means that your entire family could be denied to the internet -- and hence to civic participation, health information, education, communications, and their means of earning a living -- if one member is accused of copyright infringement, without access to a trial or counsel.
* That the whole world must adopt US-style "notice-and-takedown" rules that require ISPs to remove any material that is accused -- again, without evidence or trial -- of infringing copyright. This has proved a disaster in the US and other countries, where it provides an easy means of censoring material, just by accusing it of infringing copyright.
Army Technology Live Launches -- [Army Live]
Army Technology Live is officially live today. We welcome you to the blog on behalf of the Commander of the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, Maj. Gen. Paul S. Izzo, and the RDECOM team of more than 17,000 people around the world.
Our goal for the blog is to enable a conversation that helps us achieve the RDECOM vision: Keeping the Army on the cutting edge of technology. That conversation will include news about the technology that makes our Warfighters safer and more effective, the team that creates and maintains that technology, the places and organizations where they work and the educational and other outreach the Army engages in to help create the its own high-technology workforce of the future.
That means blog is not going to be limited to RDECOM. The Army's technology efforts are far-reaching and yet interdependent, so we will tell as much of the story as we can.
'V' aims at Obamamania -- [Chicago Tribune]
Imagine this. At a time of political turmoil, a charismatic, telegenic new leader arrives virtually out of nowhere. He offers a message of hope and reconciliation based on compromise and promises to marshal technology for a better future that will include universal health care.
The news media swoons in admiration -- one simpering anchorman even shouts at a reporter who asks a tough question: "Why don't you show some respect?!" The public is likewise smitten, except for a few nut cases who circulate batty rumors on the Internet about the leader's origins and intentions. The leader, undismayed, offers assurances that are soothing, if also just a tiny bit condescending: "Embracing change is never easy."
So, does that sound like anyone you know? Oh, wait -- did I mention the leader is secretly a totalitarian space lizard who's come here to eat us?
Republicans win key US elections -- [BBC]
Republicans have scored victories in two key US elections for governor, one year after Barack Obama was voted in as president.
In Virginia, Republican candidate Bob McDonnell won by a comfortable margin, while another, Chris Christie, ousted the Democrat governor in New Jersey.
...Correspondents say the gubernatorial defeats are a setback for Mr Obama, who had campaigned in both states for his party's candidates, as he tries to reform healthcare, pass a climate change bill and rally support for his handling of the war in Afghanistan.
(Need more? Dawn Patrols Archives are here.)
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.Refresh for updates.
Heroes come home -- [Washington Times - Col Oliver North]
Those who have 'borne the battle'
In what has turned out to be the bloodiest month of the war in Afghanistan, a growing chorus of critics claim the fight is no longer worth the cost. Though most of those saying so aren't paying the price, the toll was evident at Dover Air Force Base early Thursday morning as 21 flag-draped, gunmetal transfer cases were conveyed solemnly from the ramp of a USAF C-17.
...According to those who were there, MH-47 helicopters of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR) - the legendary "Nightstalkers" - lifted the raid force from the same base in western Afghanistan where we were just weeks ago, inserted them at the objective in Badghis province and departed. After what one participant described as a "brisk gunfight," the raid force moved to its extract landing zone. On takeoff, one of the MH-47s apparently struck an obstacle, and the large helicopter with 39 aboard crashed in the mountainous terrain - killing 10 - and severely injuring nearly all who survived.
One of the raid participants gave me a matter-of-fact description of what happened next:
Afghan election commission declares Karzai winner -- [Washington Post]
Afghan election officials canceled a presidential runoff and proclaimed the reelection of President Hamid Karzai on Monday, a day after Karzai's top challenger declared he would not take part in a second round of voting scheduled
The State of Play -- [Free Range International - in Afghanistan]
The best way to view the current state of play in Afghanistan is to start at the top of food chain and work down to what is important. The presidential election remains undecided and now Abdullah Abdullah has pulled out of the run-off election. Our Secretary of State says that means nothing. I agree but for different reasons; in the end it does not matter who is leading the country - the Afghan government will not be a proper COIN partner and will continue to be part of the problem regardless of how these elections turn out. Conducting a runoff will only give the bad guys more opportunity for mischief while accomplishing nothing.
...The military is bitching about the fact that the Afghan government is not a reliable partner and a big part of the insecurity problem. This is true but the military can't change that. They can make the Afghan military part of the solution but not by treating them the way they treat them now. We need to get the troops off the FOB's and out with their counterparts in the villages. We also need to pull out of areas where the local people do not want our help - which is not that many areas in the country as a whole.
Abdullah Abduallah pulls out - should we? -- [Greyhawk]
Abdullah Abdullah, Hamid Karzai's main rival for office of President of Afghanistan, has withdrawn from the scheduled November 7 runoff election there, saying his demands for ensuring a fraud-free election had not been met. However, he stopped short of calling for his supporters to boycott the vote.
US Troop Levels Not Tied to Afghan Vote, White House Aides Say -- [Wall Street Journal]
The withdrawal by Afghan President Hamid Karzai's chief rival from a runoff election shouldn't complicate President Barack Obama's decision on whether to send more troops to that country, senior White House aides said. Abdullah Abdullah on Sunday said he would not participate in Afghanistan's Nov. 7 runoff, after failing to reach an agreement with Mr. Karzai on how to redress problems with fraud that had marred the presidential election in August. His announcement comes as Mr. Obama has been weighing a request from Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top US commander in Afghanistan, for at least 40,000 more troops to help fight the extremist Taliban and prevent al Qaeda from reestablishing a base in the country.
Good intelligence vs. Bad men, not easy to distinguish (part 1) -- [World of Troubles - in Afghanistan]
"What we do isn't classified, but how we do it is," Dan said from his small plywood office covered with maps marked Secret. He wore a beard and civilian clothes. His cell phone was constantly ringing from Afghans who wanted to meet with him.
I'd seen him work the day before. We'd trudged through rows of farmland along the river to a mud and brick compound (qulat), where an Afghan patriarch with a salt and pepper beard welcomed the American Provincial Reconstruction team.
Soldier tells of enemy attack on the front line -- [Frontline bloggers - Afghanistan]
A soldier who is serving on the front line in Afghanistan has spoken of the moment he came under enemy fire. Corporal Jamie Hilton, of the 2nd Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, was deployed to Helmand province in August. As a section commander, he is in charge of eight men.
Since the summer, he and his soldiers have been involved in operations to expand security. They have also built two new checkpoints and are building a bridge across a canal to allow greater freedom of movement for locals, as well as the military.
Cpl Hilton, aged 23, said: "We were under some heavy enemy fire. "We were suppressing the enemy. Then a rocket-propelled grenade came in and made an explosion and blew me off the roof.
Notes from a tribal gathering -- [Captain Cat's Diary - in Afghanistan]
So back to those querulous tribesmen up in the Kurram Agency. After a couple of weeks, the Deputy Governor managed to arrange a meeting between the Shi'a Turi tribe and the Sunni Bangash tribe, to try to find a peaceful settlement to their long-standing dispute.
A word on this particular sectarian conflict: tensions between the Shi'as and Sunnis flared up back in the 80s when the Zia government in Pakistan introduced fighters to the Kurram Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), in order to quell Shi'a influence on the main weapons supply route between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The two sides now accuse each other of not allowing the other to travel freely through the areas they inhabit and control. Thus ...
Haqqani Network, al Qaeda, behind attack on UN guesthouse in Kabul -- [Long War Journal]
Al Qaeda and the Haqqani Network coordinated last week's deadly assault on a UN guest house in the Afghan capital of Kabul.
The attack, which killed five foreign UN workers and three Afghans, was launched by three terrorists who were dressed as policemen and were armed with grenades, assault rifles, and suicide belts.
Wake-Up Call II -- [Knights of Afghanistan - in Afghanistan]
...I can state as a fact that Afghan guards (ANP) were outside during the attack, guarding the gate as they are supposed to. I saw those guards everyday when I left my residence and they were as vigilant and as capable as anyone can expect.
I can also state that both of them are now dead, victims of a well-planned and effectively executed attack. The Taliban, if that's who the attackers were, wore ANP uniforms themselves, undoubtedly stolen or purchased from some corrupt district commander. Some of my guys, who witnessed the attack, tell me that the Taliban conducted a thorough recon of the area first, disguised as police, and then ...
Afghanistan Trip Report -- [SWJ - Bing West]
Having recently returned from Afghanistan - thanks to the hospitality of Generals Petraeus and McChrystal - I'd like to share a few thoughts. By way of context, let me state my frame of reference. As a former assistant secretary of defense for international security, I am familiar with Washington dynamics; but I believe COIN is decided at the small unit level, not in national capitals. I was 18 months in Vietnam, have written five books on COIN and made 20 trips to Iraq and Afghanistan. This was my third Afghanistan visit in quick succession
War Is Tiring -- [Afghan Quest - in Afghanistan]
War Is Tiring There are lots of people who are tired of war. The young men and women on their third and fourth deployments are tired of war. Some say that the Afghans are tired of war, while others point out that if they were truly tired of war, they would perhaps cease fighting. Matthew Hoh is tired of war.
Watchmen: Moral Outrage as Marketing -- [Quatto Zone - in Afghanistan]
Like luncheon meat, sometimes it's best if we don't know how news is made, and that's especially true of the Sunday political talk shows. A case in point was Jon Krakauer's plug for his book Where Men Win Glory at the end of NBC's Meet the Press yesterday. The appearance was justified by the fact that Krakauer's subject, Corporal Pat Tillman, could be tied by way of the expansive concept of news analysis to General McChrystal's leadership of operations in Afghanistan. What follows are a few facts and one speculation relevant to Krakauer's conclusions.
Balance -- [Embedded in Afghanistan... - in Afghanistan]
It's a common thing to see articles in the news media about the negative aspects of war on the micro level. The dead, the wounded, the mentally and emotionally damaged all appear to get a fair amount of coverage and exposure, so I'm going to focus on a few of the good things some of us get out of serving in combat - because many of us are getting a lot out of it.
Anatomy of a Mission -- [Sgt Danger - in Afghanistan]
Posted by sgtdanger on Oct 29, 2009 in Deployment, Leadership, Soldiering
You know what I listen to, what I wear to work, how an APFT goes, what I'm afraid of, why I'm getting out, what happens when a tractor-trailer rolls in a combat zone, and what my insecurities are. But none of that is what the Army sent my buddies and I to Afghanistan for.
43 nations in ISAF -- [Helmand Blog]
ISAF - International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) is a very broad international commitment made up of a coalition of 43 nations, with every member operating under a UN mandate.
The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force is not there to fight the Afghans, it is there to fight alongside them against insurgents who are rejected by most people in the country. Afghan forces have paid a heavy price in casualties and have borne a substantial part of the fighting.
Jack of All Trades -- [Doc H's International Adventure - in Afghanistan]
Some days I am limited to office work. Other days I spend all day travelling. Then there are days like today when I do many different tasks in one day.
Mentor- Today we went downtown to meet with our ANP Counterparts in their clinic. We had the usual niceties and discussion of how well our families are doing. Then we went through our list of discussion topics.
Guest Blogger: David F after Keating attack -- [Bouhammer]
This post was written right after FOB Keating was attacked. Hi. Things have settled down a bit now. We were not as busy as I thought we would be - which is actually a bad thing. I don't think there is any news agency here. Information goes pretty much by two way radio and IRC on the SIPR-net. So it is just slow information travel I think. Over a hundred T'ban / tribals stormed FOB Keating and a little outpost nearby.
Frustrated in Iraq, U.S. troops eye Afghan action -- [Washington Post]
Frustrated by their decreasing military role in Iraq as they hand over to Iraqi security forces, many U.S. soldiers are itching to join the war in Afghanistan.
When they get there, though, some are shocked by the escalating violence and relatively spartan conditions.
Bloodshed has fallen sharply in Iraq in the last two years, and the U.S. military is drawing down troops and equipment ahead of a full withdrawal by 2012.
Biden and Kurd chief press need for election law -- [AFP]
ARBIL, Iraq -- US Vice President Joe Biden and president Massud Barzani of Iraqi Kurdistan have pressed the need for a key election law to be passed in
Passing Around The Pain -- [Strategy Page]
While the dual vehicle bombing on the 25th was spectacular, it obscures the fact that overall violence is still down to a tenth of what it was two years ago (at its peak). Most of the terrorist attacks fail, in that they are stopped short of their objective by security forces. This results in much less damage and far fewer casualties (often only the suicide bomber is killed.) Thus the great public anger at the failure to halt the October 25th attack. Unacceptable corruption or incompetence are seen in play here, and people want scapegoats.
Violence is a Way of Life in Iraq -- [The Times]
Violence in Iraq has been reduced, as Western generals and politicians are keen to point out, but it has not gone away. If anything, it has become more deeply ingrained. The kidnapping and murder of Muntadher al-Mussewi shows how political violence has spawned criminal gangs capable of the vilest acts. Having learnt their trade from the Mahdi Army, a brutal militia, the kidnappers now carry on without even the veneer of political justification. Were terrorists to disappear from Iraq overnight, the country would still be stuck, possibly for decades, with the culture of violence they fostered (building on the legacy of Saddam Hussein, of course). So should the West use its by now limited influence to prevent another turn in the cycle of violence? Often that can work: when Arabs and Kurds rattle their sabres in the oil-rich region of Kirkuk, US advisers are right to scurry up north to calm them down.
At Least 8 Killed in Iraq Bombings -- [Voice of America]
Iraqi police say four bombs Sunday have killed at least eight people and wounded more than 50 others. Police say a bomb attached to a bicycle exploded in a popular market in the town of Mussayab, about 60 kilometers south of Baghdad. The blast killed at least five people and wounded 37 others. Meanwhile, police in Ramadi, 100 kilometers west of the capital, say two bombs exploded minutes apart, killing two and wounding four others. A fourth bomb attached to a bus detonated as it approached a police checkpoint in the Shi'ite Muslim holy city of Karbala. The blast killed at least one person and wounded at least a dozen others. No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks. Two powerful car bombings one week ago in Baghdad targeted Iraq's Ministry of Justice and a provincial government building, killing 155 people and wounding more than 500 others. An al-Qaida-linked group claimed responsibility for these attacks.
UN Disburses $610 Million of Iraqi Oil revenues to Kuwait -- [MEMRI Blog]
The compensation committee of the United Nations has disbursed to Kuwait, on October 29, the sum of $610 million as compensation for the damage incurred by Kuwait after it was invaded by Iraq in 1990.
Baghdad holds first trade fair in over six years -- [Reuters]
Iraq's economy has been shattered by years of war, sanctions in the 1990s, inefficient state-run operations under Saddam Hussein, and bombings, conflict and ...
Photos: Children Of Iraq Set 2 -- [Sour Swinger]
On to the pictures shall we? Today I have for you another set of pictures from the children in Iraq. Only one more left after this one. I picked out 5 pics to display below. You can view the complete set here. There's exactly 60 pictures.
Who Fights This War--Trading a Guitar for a Gun -- [In Iraq Now (at 56) - in Iraq]
Nick was one of the guys who went through the Live Fire Shoot House when I did.
Seven years ago, then 18-year-old Nicholas Raia of Altoona, Pa., brought his trumpet to an audition for the Pennsylvania Army National Guard band. He aced the audition and until last summer was member of several performance groups within the band. Over those seven years he performed more and more with the band and ensembles playing the guitar for recruiting events and celebrations. For more formal military ceremonies he now plays the baritone--a small tuba.
After seven years in the band, Raia, now a sergeant, decided to take a year away from performing and volunteer for a combat tour. Since mobilization in January, Raia has served as a door gunner on a CH-47 Chinook helicopter with Company B, 2nd Battalion, 104th Aviation Regiment.
USS New York comes 'home' to harbor -- [Newsday]
ABOARD THE USS NEW YORK - The USS New York, built with steel salvaged from the fallen Twin Towers, entered New York Harbor Monday and paused for a moment in the waters off Ground Zero to honor those ....
The Threat From Somalia -- [Washington Post]
One of the rhetorical questions frequently tossed out in the debate over Afghanistan concerns the brewing trouble in Somalia and Yemen, both of which are known to host al-Qaeda cadres and training camps. If it's necessary to pacify Afghanistan to protect US security, goes the taunt, must we also intervene in Somalia and Yemen? The presumed answer is: "Of course not - and therefore why bother with Afghanistan?" The more sensible response is: If something is not done soon about these lawless places, one or the other may well become the next Afghanistan - a place where US military intervention was compelled by a devastating attack on the homeland. Most urgent is Somalia
Somali group with al Qaeda ties threatens Israel -- [CNN]
militant Islamist group associated with al Qaeda has for the first time threatened to attack Israel, far from its normal base of operations in Somalia.
Al-Shabab, which is fighting to control the east African country, accused Israel of "starting to destroy" the Al Aqsa mosque, where standoffs have taken place recently between Israeli police and Palestinians.
Palestinians Accuse US of Damaging Peace Process -- [Voice of America]
Palestinian leaders are voicing frustration after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised Israel for making what she said are unprecedented concessions in efforts to restart peace negotiations. Israeli leaders are keeping up their calls for the Palestinians to drop all preconditions. Palestinian leaders on Sunday stuck to their demands that Israel stop all settlement activity before any resumption of peace talks that have been stalled since December. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called late Saturday for all sides to return to talks and praised what she said are Israel's unprecedented concessions, which she said include its offer to restrain settlement growth. She urged both sides to return to talks as soon as possible and backed Israel's assertion that all demands over settlements should be dealt with during negotiations, not sooner. "There has never been a precondition," said Clinton.
North Korea Presses US to Agree to Bilateral Talks -- [New York Times]
North Korea has again pressed the United States for a decision about starting bilateral talks, with a diplomat warning Monday that the North was "ready to go our own way" with its nuclear weapons program. "Now that we have shown the generosity of stating the position that we would be willing to talk to the United States and hold multilateral talks including the six-way talks, it is time for the United States to make a decision," an unidentified spokesman for the North's Foreign Ministry told its official news agency, KCNA.
Intelligence Failures? -- [Washington Times]
On Oct. 21, the incoming commander of the US Pacific Command, Adm. Robert F. Willard, made a little-noticed but astonishing accusation to reporters in Seoul: "I would contend that in the past decade or so, China has exceeded most of our intelligence estimates of their military capability and capacity every year. They've grown at an unprecedented rate in those capabilities." Very politely, the head of PACOM has accused the American intelligence community (IC) and, by extension, its political leadership, of failure to estimate correctly the capabilities and capacity of a nuclear-armed dictatorship with a history of hostility against all of its neighbors and the United States. According to the admiral, this failure has gone on for 10 years. This sort of public bomb-throwing is very rare in Washington, especially on China issues.
Bill Clinton Statue in Kosovo -- [Jawa Report]
(Pristina, Kosovo) Ethnic Albanians flocked in miserable weather to honor former President Bill Clinton on Sunday. Clinton attended the unveiling of an 11-foot statue of himself on a street named after him.
US moves on domestic jihadis -- [Long War Journal]
A high number of terrorist plots have been disrupted in the US this year. Several of the Islamists who have been detained have been traced back to Pakistan's tribal areas.
Al-Qaeda arms cache found near Riyadh -- [PRESS TV]
The cache has been found amid reports indicating that the Saudi government is not taking the necessary steps in fighting terrorism.
Air Force doc testifies in terrorism case -- [FlightLines]
The Associated Press reports that an Air Force psychologist testified yesterday in the sentencing of Ali al-Marri, who was convicted in Illinois of being an al-Qaida sleeper agent.
Maj. Deborah Sirratt, who was in charge of medical care in the U.S. Naval Consolidated Brig in Charleston, S.C., told the court that al-Marri can be kind and respectful but would likely attack the United States if given a chance. She also said he believes infidels -- i.e., non-Muslims -- should be killed.
"I do feel in Mr. al-Marri's case that it's likely he might engage in hostile acts against the United States," Sirratt testified.
Over 1900 Heroes Waiting for Adoption!!! -- [Soldiers' Angels]
Every Soldiers' Angels volunteer who adopts, joins a team or assists a project helps ensure "No Soldier Go Unloved." Angel volunteers support the troops in two main ways:
Associate Angels participate in the group activities and projects that do not involve personal information about soldiers or families. The tireless work and generosity of these patriots is the foundation of many important Soldiers' Angels projects.
Valour-IT Fundraising Auctions -- [Soldiers' Angels Germany]
"Guardian Angel": A Marine from 1st BN, 4th Marines stands guard outside an emergency ordinance disposal site. By Michael D. Fay.
Lots of great items now up for auction at the Soldiers' Angels Valour-IT eBay site, all of them generously donated by their owners to raise money for Valour-IT.
The print above, called "Guardian Angel" is signed by USMC combat artist Michael D. Fay. Image size: 9" x 13". Print size: 16 x 20. Bids are starting at $20.
Chief Warrant Officer-2 Fay is one of only two combat artists employed by the United States Marine Corps to produce fine art based on their experience of combat and the life of fellow Marines in the field. His work is displayed in various museums such as the James A. Michener Art Museum, the Marine Corps Combat Art collection, and in the new National Museum of the Marine Corps.
One of Fay's works is also proudly displayed at Landstuhl hospital.
Ramstein CASF to reach 100,000 patient transfers in October -- [Soldiers' Angels Germany]
Another part of the incredible chain of life-saving logistics required to move our Wounded Warriors out of theater and on to higher levels of medical care.
Military Refines a 'Constant Stare Against Our Enemy' -- [Los Angeles Times]
The Pentagon plans to dramatically increase the surveillance capabilities of its most advanced unmanned aircraft next year, adding so many video feeds that a drone which now stares down at a single house or vehicle could keep constant watch on nearly everything that moves within an area of 1.5 square miles. The year after that, the capability will double to 3 square miles. Military officials predict that the impact on counter-terrorism operations in Afghanistan will be impressive. "Predators and other unmanned aircraft have just revolutionized our ability to provide a constant stare against our enemy," said a senior military official. "The next sensors, mark my words, are going to be equally revolutionary."
Marine Leads 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Fight -- [Washington Times]
Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James T. Conway has emerged in internal Pentagon deliberations as the most outspoken opponent of permitting gay men and women to serve openly in the US military, according to a former senior Pentagon official. Most of the senior brass hold deep reservations about President Obama's pledge to end the ban on gays in the military, especially in the middle of two wars that have put extra stress on the military, down to the platoon level, where soldiers and Marines would be expected to bond with openly gay colleagues. But Gen. Conway has gone further than others in stating his opposition to a change in policy, according to the former official, who has been privy to private conversations on the matter.
Girls With Guns Get It Done -- [Strategy Page]
American women in combat is no longer news, nor is the sight of many women in a combat zone. Currently, there are about 10,000 women serving in Iraq, and about 4,000 in Afghanistan. While are the female troops are technically in support roles, those jobs include flying helicopters and other aircraft, military police (as in guarding bases and convoys) and truck drivers (convoys under fire). The women troops also participate in base security (guard duty) and, in general, have ample opportunity for armed and violent interactions with unfriendly locals.
Local Soldiers Return to Hero's Welcome -- [KIMT]
Wednesday they got the welcome home ceremony. Family, friends and community members gathered at the All Seasons Building at the North Iowa Fairgrounds.
Families and friends welcome 1133rd home -- [Iowa City Press Citizen]
Family and friends from all over Iowa came to Iowa City to welcome home 30 troops from the 1133rd. The troops were deployed in October and arrived in Iraq ...
Heard Up North: Welcome home, Drum-style -- [North Country Public Radio]
Troops are regularly leaving for Iraq or Afghanistan, or coming home. A chain-link fence across Route 26 from Fort Drum's airfield has become a part of that
Crowds out to welcome home troops -- [UK Press]
Soldiers returning from the Afghan war zone have been given a rapturous welcome home as thousands of supporters cheered and applauded them through the ...
Rush Nails It... Questions Obama & Dem's Commitment to National Security ...Update: Obama Will Delay Troop Decision -- [Gateway Pundit]
Rush Limbaugh accused president Obama of posing for a photo op this week when he went to Dover Air Force Base with the White House camera crew. One of the families of the fallen out of 17 allowed the press to photograph his remains being removed from the plane.
Shared Interests Define Obama's World -- [Washington Post]
President Obama is applying the same tools to international diplomacy that he once used as a community organizer on Chicago's South Side, constructing appeals to shared interests and attempting to bring the government's conduct in line with its ideals. Obama's approach to the world as a community of nations, more alike than different in outlook and interest, has elevated America's standing abroad and won him the Nobel Peace Prize. But on the farthest-reaching US foreign policy challenges, he is struggling to translate his own popularity into American influence, even with allies that have celebrated his break from the Bush administration's emphasis on military strength, unilateral action and personal chemistry. Conservatives think Obama is undermining US power abroad by failing to recognize the degree to which countries, whether allies or adversaries, are immune to appeals to shared interests. And critics
Clinton Reasserts Her Role in US Foreign Policy -- [Wall Street Journal]
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton used a diplomatic swing across the greater Middle East to reassert her role in foreign policy even as the trip exposed the strategic challenges facing the Obama administration's overseas agenda. Mrs. Clinton, during her first 10 months atop the State Department, has appeared at times a marginal player on a national-security team dominated by special diplomatic envoys and President Barack Obama himself. Foreign governments have questioned what role Mrs. Clinton was playing in formulating strategy on pressing international issues like Iran, Afghanistan and the Arab-Israeli conflict. The White House has often dominated the State Department in the internal-policy debate, according to officials taking part in the process. Over the past week, however, the secretary of state's visits to Pakistan, the Persian Gulf and Israel inserted her on the front lines of a seemingly worsening security environment in the regions. On issues such as ...
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