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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.
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.
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