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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.
U.S. general: Taliban beaten in Helmand province -- [USA Today]
U.S. forces have driven the Taliban from most towns and villages in the strategic Helmand province of Afghanistan, leaving incoming troops with the mission of holding key areas and rebuilding the economy, Marine commanders say.
"They've taken on the Taliban, the insurgency, right in the heartland and they've defeated them," said Marine Maj. Gen. Richard Mills in an interview with USA TODAY.
UN: Taliban cause Afghan civilian deaths to soar -- [AP/Breitbart]
The number of Afghan civilians who died in war-related violence last year soared to the highest annual level since the conflict began in 2001, the U.N. said Wednesday, while deaths attributed to allied forces dropped 30 percent--a key U.S. goal for winning over the Afghan people.
Unrelenting violence, which has defied a usual lull in the winter, has highlighted concern that casualties will rise as the U.S. and NATO send 37,000 more troops to try to stabilize the country. Civilian casualties have been a sensitive subject in Afghanistan, with U.S. forces frequently accused of killing noncombatants in airstrikes.
The Quetta Shura Taliban in Southern Afghanistan -- [Institute for the Study of War]
Much of the recent debate regarding the war in Afghanistan has focused on al Qaeda, specifically, the extent of their operations in Afghanistan and the Pakistan border region. Often overlooked in the strategic calculus are other enemy groups operating in the region and their ability to challenge the Afghan government and coalition forces for control in the war-torn country. It is precisely these groups that have provided al Qaeda a sanctuary to train, plan, and launch some of the most catastrophic terrorist attacks in recent history. Indeed, their relationships with key al Qaeda leaders have been forged over the past quarter-century of resistance.
For much of the past eight years, these groups have made substantial gains while the international community pursued a limited counterterrorism strategy coupled with insufficient resources. The enemy has ...
Roundtable: Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, on Afghanistan -- [BlackFive - Grim]
We spoke with Admiral James G. Stavridis, CDRUSEUCOM, and -- as Supreme Allied Commander, Europe -- commander of NATO forces. The transcript of the discussion is here. There were a number of interesting questions about the way forward in Afghanistan, from training the ANA to balancing civilian and military support for the mission. The admiral is a strong supporter of rebalancing the load to include more civilian agency support, both in the US component and in the NATO component. In this, he is in line with the "smart power" position that was the upside of our visit to the State Department.
When the phone don't ring...--[Greyhawk]
...you know it's Barack Obama.
"We don't have personal conversations - we haven't recently. But we've just been through the Christmas holidays..."
the inferno -- [The Alley - Josh's blog - in Afghanistan]
I haven't written, you will notice, in some time. If you have followed the news and know the pace of a Combat Support Hospital (CSH, pronounced "cash"), you will know that we have had it up to our eyeballs. I don't think anything I experienced in Balad rivaled this in intensity and duration.
The news accounts of the various happenings can be found here in the LA Times and here on Yahoo!, among other places.
outrage, please? -- [The Alley - Josh's blog - in Afghanistan]
As we shared a meal the other day, my Afghan friend, who deplores the violence and killings that have wracked his country, reminded us of one of the suras in Q'uran, the oft-debated sura 5:32 - "...if anyone killed a person...it would be as if he killed all humankind; and if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of all humankind". Regardless of the interpretations of various scholars, many muslims believe it at face value: Saving life is a virtue; taking it is a vice. I asked my Afghan friend, "Do your mullahs speak out against violence like suicide bombings?"
He shook his head, dejected. "Our mullahs are weak. They are corrupt. They get pay and nice gifts from violent people. And the people here are uneducated country people. They listen only to mullah."
Wardak Pre-Mission and Day One -- [Afghanistan My Last Tour - in Afghanistan]
...Our ANA counterparts watched with eager interest as the whole mission was mapped out in front of them. This battlefield drill was one of the many tools used in conjunction with PowerPoint briefings used for our upcoming mission. Our mission was to escort the Brigade ANA General throughout Wardak Province and visit numerous ANA Combat Outposts (COP) and Observation Posts (OP). In conjunction with a platoon of ANA soldiers, my brigade team would provide joint security for the general. The ANA general wanted to meet his soldiers and commanders and make a first-hand assessment of their needs and quality of life issues. In addition,...
ISAF Forces Make Strides in Mentoring Afghan Counterparts -- [ISAF]
A joint team of U.S. Airmen and a Soldier with the 441st Air Expeditionary Advisory Squadron are training Afghanistan national army air corps soldiers in medical evacuations and tactics here.
One speaks Air Force and the other talks fluent Army, but Maj. Kimberly W. Coleman, a flight nurse, and Army Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Lemons, a flight medic, get a clear message across to the ANAAC soldiers they mentor.
Marines build OPs to provide security -- [Regimental Combat Team 7 - Lejeune Deployed]
The convoy stopped and Marines looked at each other with confused looks, knowing that there are very few reasons a convoy abruptly stops. The machine gunners swiveled in their turrets on high alert, surveying the area. Ironically, their excitement died when the Marines learned their convoy had stopped for a possible improvised explosive device.
U.S. to cede control of Bagram prison -- [Washington Post]
Afghan officials agreed Saturday to take over responsibility for the U.S. military's Bagram prison north of Kabul, a move that could close a chapter in the troubled history of U.S. detentions since 2001.
The facility at Bagram, where U.S. troops beat to death two prisoners in 2002, stands with the prisons at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and Abu Ghraib in Iraq as a symbol of harsh treatment of detainees under the administration of President George W. Bush.
Coalition Cuisine -- [Doc H's International Adventure - in Afghanistan]
I still have a little more time on my hands here. Time to reflect on many things I experienced here in Afghanistan. Today's post is dedicated to food. Let's take a look at food around the Area of Operations (AO). I am limiting this entry to Coalition food and may comment on Afghan food another time.
Iraq Says Raid Uncovered a Plot to Bomb Ministries -- [NY Times]
A wide-ranging plot to bomb government ministries and other public places, to be followed by a wave of political assassinations, was uncovered by Iraqi officials, who responded Tuesday by bringing much of Baghdad to a virtual standstill while security forces conducted raids that netted large quantities of explosives, officials said.
Officials work to calm Baghdad after rumors of coup -- [cleveland.com]
When Baghdadis awoke Tuesday to find their streets sealed off and the Iraqi capital under virtual lockdown, the rumors began to fly. Army officers had staged a coup in the Green Zone, one version said. No, members of the Baath Party loyal to the former regime had taken over, according to another.
At midday, officials appeared on television to try to calm the city. "The security forces can't stage a coup. Our security forces are professional," military spokesman Mohammed Askari told a news conference. "The era of coups is gone."
Rather, ...
Road Trip: Talil -- [Ramblings from a painter - in Iraq]
I just took a road trip down south. I visited a command down in Talil to discuss one of my projects. Talil is a former Iraqi Army air base that's been taken over by US forces for the duration. It's about a 5-hour trip by road, which is how I went.
An Interview with Christopher Hitchens, Part II -- [Michael Totten]
...I sat with some Iranians in Isfahan, with a family I was staying with. They were secular and they served me booze with one of their cousins who was there visiting. She wasn't wearing a full burkha, but a veil. She said the least during our discussion, but at the end she said the most eloquent thing, and she was obviously very tortured about it. She said, "Do you think the Americans could come just for a couple of weeks, remove the regime, and then go?"
U.S. Defense Spy Chief: Iran Undecided on Nuclear Bomb - [Voice of America]
In an exclusive VOA interview, the Pentagon's top intelligence official says there is no evidence that Iran has made a final decision to build nuclear weapons. But the chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) adds that much about Iran's inner workings remains murky. Lieutenant General Ronald Burgess says the key finding that Iran has not yet committed itself to nuclear weapons, contained in a controversial 2007 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), is still valid. "The bottom line assessments of the NIE still hold true," he said. "We have not seen indication that the government has made the decision to move ahead with the program. But the fact still remains that we don't know what we don't know."
Updated Imagery of North Korea's Tunneling Project In Iran -- [ROK Drop - GI Korea]
Two and half years ago information was leaked about North Korea's involvement in a tunneling project in support of Iran's nuclear weapons program. At the time I was able to idenitfy the tunnels using Google Earth imagery. So now two and half years later I figured it would be interesting to go back to the Isfahan Nuclear Facility and see what progress the North Koreans have made on their Iranian tunneling project. The nuclear facility is located nearly in the geographic center of Iran:
...This just serves as a reminder that the enemies of the United States have no problem collaborating and working together in order to undermine the United States and the world community in general. Once this tunnel project is completed and the nuclear hardware is moved underground I don't think there is anyway they can be taken out by a bombing strik, which would mean a ground attack would be necessary to destroy the equipment, which is very unlikely to happen.
The Chinese have tested an ABM system -- [The Gormogons]
J.E. Dyer over at Commentary notes, in a post puckishly called "Game On" that China's successfully tested an anti-ballistic-missile system. This is interesting, because as your Volgi has been writing for some time, China's military strategy seems to be shifting to a more aggressive posture. Dyer notes:
It means that China perceives that the old conditions have expired. Under those old conditions, the chief dynamic involved Russia trying to forestall U.S. deployment of our "National Missile Defense" -- the concept that would fully supersede MAD. But that condition no longer obtains, because with President Obama's September 2009 policy reversal, Russia has succeeded.
So, China has been steadily increasing military spending, building aircraft carriers (which are purely offensive systems), playing submarine tag, attempting to ensure air superiority for an invasion of Taiwan, and building secret underground sub bases in the South China Sea at a base that can already accommodate two carrier groups.
Haiti Hit by 7.0-magnitude Earthquake; Buildings Leveled in Port-au-Prince -- [Washington Post]
The most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Haiti devastated parts of the impoverished island nation Tuesday, leveling a hospital in the capital, severely damaging the U.N. headquarters and other buildings, and sending panicked residents into the streets. Beleaguered authorities braced for major casualties, but with communications crippled across the country, there were no firm estimates.
US dispatching first rescue team to Haiti -- [The Hindu]
In response to the earthquake in Haiti, the US is immediately dispatching a rescue team of 72 people and along with 48 tons of rescue equipment.
The decision was taken following an emergency meeting of top US official after it became clear that the impact of the earthquake has been devastating in Haiti.
Brandon Darby foiled terror attack, but the men convicted of plotting against 2008 Republican Convention win recognition -- [Daily Caller]
You've probably never heard of Brandon Darby.
The former community organizer who saved American lives by undermining a left-wing terrorist plot at the 2008 Republican convention used to be a proud member of the radical left.He called for the overthrow of the U.S. government. He hated cops. He consorted with eco-terrorist tree-spikers, radical feminists and black nationalists. He was approached to rob an armored car and asked to commit arson to fight gentrification. He mouthed politically correct slogans about the Bush administration.
...After years of in-your-face protests and confrontational tactics, Darby rejected the radical left and its culture of political violence. He came to realize that America, for all its faults, wasn't such a bad place after all.
"I felt I had a duty to atone after badmouthing my country for so many years," Darby told The Daily Caller. "I love my country."
When he learned of a plan to attack the 2008 Republican convention in Saint Paul, Minn., he felt compelled to act.
Darby assisted an FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force and ...
Unruly Passengers Disrupt Northwest Flight 243 -- [FOX]
Sources tell Fox 2 that a flight from Amsterdam into Detroit Metropolitan Airport was held on the tarmac after landing because of unruly behavior by some of the passengers.
The source says four men from Saudi Arabai were saying something in Arabic that alarmed four on-board Federal Air Marshals. The Marshals speak Arabic. A decision was made to stop the plane on the tarmac away from the passenger terminal and remove the men from the plane.
Pentagon Inquiry into Fort Hood Urges Focus on Service Members Who May Pose Risk -- [Washington Post]
A high-level Pentagon inquiry into the Fort Hood shootings that left 13 people dead has concluded that the military should focus more resources on identifying service members who might pose a threat to their colleagues and outlines a series of steps it should take to prevent such attacks, Pentagon officials said. The study, which will be presented to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mike Mullen on Wednesday, is expected to be publicly released Thursday. The report concludes that officer performance evaluations, which often obscure shortcomings to preserve officers' careers, need to be more forthright and honest, officials familiar with the report said.
Yemeni Forces Kill al Qaeda Suspect -- [AP]
Yemeni security forces killed a suspected al Qaeda figure and arrested four others in a raid on a house in a remote mountainous province, the region's governor said Wednesday. Elsewhere in Shabwa province, suspected al Qaeda fighters ambushed a patrol before dawn, killing two members of the security forces and wounding four others, officials said. The gunmen attacked the security forces' patrol on a winding mountain road at Nakaba, south of the provincial capital Ataq, the security officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they aren't authorized to talk to the press. The violence comes as Yemen has stepped up its operations against al Qaeda with help from the U.S., which has increased funding and training of Yemeni security forces. Washington says al Qaeda's offshoot in the Arabian Peninsula country has become a global threat after it allegedly plotted the Christmas Day attempt to bomb a U.S. passenger jet. Shabwa province is one of several where hundreds of al Qaeda fighters are believed to have gained refuge, some protected by tribes disenchanted with the central government.
A Year of Terror Plots, Through a 2nd Prism -- [New York Times]
As terrorist plots against the United States have piled up in recent months, politicians and the news media have sounded the alarm with a riveting message for Americans: Be afraid. Al Qaeda is on the march again, targeting the country from within and without, and your hapless government cannot protect you. But the politically charged clamor has lumped together disparate cases and obscured the fact that the enemies on American soil in 2009, rather than a single powerful and sophisticated juggernaut, were a scattered, uncoordinated group of amateurs who displayed more fervor than skill. The weapons were old-fashioned guns and explosives - in several cases, duds supplied by F.B.I. informants - with no trace of the biological or radiological poisons, let alone the nuclear bombs, that have long been the ultimate fear. And
Is Osama Bin Laden dead or alive? -- [BBC News]
Osama Bin Laden died eight years ago during the battle for Tora Bora in Afghanistan, either from a US bomb or from a serious kidney disease.
Or so the conspiracy theory goes.
The theory that has developed on the web since 9/11 is that US intelligence services are manufacturing the Bin Laden statements to create an evil bogeyman, to justify the so-called war on terror in Afghanistan, Iraq and back at home.
So is the world's most wanted man still alive?
For Civilians -- [SpouseBUZZ - airforcewife]
is a site by military spouses for military spouses, but I'd like to write this post for someone else - civilians. I live in a civilian community right now, and I've been lucky. I am surrounded by people who have been truly helpful and kind. They want to do what they can for our family while Air Force Guy is deployed and I appreciate it more than I can say.
But wanting to help and understanding how to help are two entirely different things. And honestly it really doesn't help that I'm fairly typical as far as military spouses go in not wanting to let people know I need help.
Transitioning to Civilian Life - [You Served]
It was written by Lt. Col. Paul Capicik (USAF ret.) of American Sentinel University. In the piece Lt. Col. Capicik, a 26-year military veteran, covers a variety of important topics to servicemembers transitioning to military life including how to prepare for a transition, training for a civilian career, and landing that first job.
How to Begin the Transition from Military to Civilian Jobs
One of the most important facets of any service member's life is the transition out. Especially as it pertains to finding a job, the transition from a military to civilian career will require planning and preparation. So how do you begin this transition?
Suicide Prevention Conference -- [A Soldier's Perspective]
Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki delivering remarks at the 2010 DoD VA Suicide Prevention Conference in Washington, DC. All way up and down the chain, leadership continues to try and counter the effects of suicide and prevent it to the greatest extent possible. The video is about 22 minutes long, but addresses an important subject. Every day, 18 veterans take their lives.
On Getting By -- [Army of Dude]
In my previous post, I outlined some basic principles needed to successfully navigate the murky waters of education under the GI Bill. The challenges in dealing with the VA for education benefits are considerable, yet veterans new to college face an unfamiliar, unpredictable and strange environment on campus. If taken all at once, these hurdles can quickly overwhelm a student veteran and distract from the overall goal: to finish a degree on time with benefits to spare. Next week I will be in class for my fifth semester of higher education, and in my time I have tinkered with a system of how to bring up my veteran status, discussing Iraq and Afghanistan in the classroom and dealing with the myriad reactions fellow students have had. The system cannot be expected to work for everyone, but as veterans file into classrooms for the first time this spring, these tips could help in the development of a coping system better tailored for you. These should simply help to get you started.
Cooking with the Wounded Kicks off Fundraising -- [Soldiers Angels]
The first team to travel to Landstuhl as part of Cooking with the Wounded (Facebook) is making preparations for their trip, and Soldiers' Angels is asking for your help. The team from the Yellow Bowl Bakery in Lafayette, Indiana, has been busy raising money locally and planning their menu and options to do a dessert bar at the USO Warrior Center. There will be other activities and food as well, to complement what they are doing.
High-Tech Angels - Company Features SA -- [Soldiers Angels]
USWebDomains.com has chosen Soldiers' Angels as their first-ever Cause of the Month! This means that 50% of the company's January 2010 profits from selling domain registration/appraisal, security certificates and web hosting will go to Soldiers' Angels. Please help spread the word about this great company throughout January!
Wounded warriors to get specialized barracks --[Stars and Stripes]
Staff Sgt. John Engel uses a functional squat machine at Irwin Army Community Hospital's physical therapy clinic as part of his rehabilitation. Engel's Warrior Transition Battalion at Fort Riley, Kan., will be among the first to move into a barracks complex meant to help wounded troops recover. TOKYO -- The Army is spending $1.2 billion to build specialized barracks and transition centers for wounded troops who remain on active duty but face weeks or months of recovery and rehabilitation.
Win your Deployed Spouse a Sony Touch Reader for Valentine's Day -- [Hooah Wife and friends]
I was contacted by a PR company on behalf of Borders Books to demo the Sony Touch Reader. Being a gadget dork, this was a very exciting opportunity. Believe it or not, I've never really played with one because I'm still "old school" when it comes to wanting to touch and feel the paper between my finger. 2010 is the first year without a written date planner, so maybe I'm ready for this too. The enticing opportunity about this demo, was not only a free reader for my family, but the opportunity to give one to the deployed spouse of one of my readers for a Valentine's Day gift. A win win situation for everyone.
Fort Stewart soldier jailed for angry rap song -- [SavannahNow News]
An Army soldier is in a Georgia jail on charges that he threatened violence against his superiors in a rap song the soldier recorded to denounce the Army's "stop-loss" policy.
Spc. Marc A. Hall has been jailed for a month on charges that he made threats, both in conversation with members of his infantry unit and in the lyrics to his song "Stop Loss."
Soldier Jailed for Angry Rap Song -- [AP/Military.com]
SAVANNAH, Georgia -- Angry that the military planned to send him back to Iraq past his date to leave the military, a Soldier recorded a hip-hop song that blasts the Army and describes going on a shooting spree, an act that led his commanders to decide that the Soldier posed a threat to his unit.
The infantry Soldier, Spc. Marc A. Hall, has been jailed on criminal charges in Georgia, for the past month for a song and other statements that one of his lawyers insists were simply a form of protest.
"They're saying it's a threat. We're saying it's a fantasy," said Jim Klimaski, a Washington civilian attorney who has talked to Hall about the case. "He's mad, but he's not stupid. He's not violent."
Charges filed against Hall, of South Carolina, on Dec. 17, a week after he was jailed, say his threats weren't just confined to his rap recording. The charging document said he also told Soldiers he would "go on a rampage" and that he "was planning on shooting the brigade and battalion commanders."
The rap sheet -- [Greyhawk]
...Certainly in the Hasan case someone failed to connect the dots - and people died. But what happens when dots are connected?
...Hall, according to charges, did "on divers occasions, between on or about 08 July 2009 and on or about 08 December 2009, wrongfully make statements to members of his battalion that he would engage in acts of violence against members of his unit..." That's one of five specifications; others include telling [names redacted in released charge sheet] that he would "hurt someone if he was deployed" and "that he was planning on shooting the brigade and battalion commanders".
Specialist Hall also recorded his threat and sent a copy to the Pentagon. Shortly after Hall was charged, milblogger Jonn Lilyea noticed the IVAW crew had taken up his cause. Not long after that, Stars and Stripes ran a story on the case. ("Army specialist jailed for threats against fellow soldiers, commanders," the headline read.)
Navy Wants Troops Wearing Brain-Scanners Into War -- [Danger Room]
The Pentagon's been pushing for better ways to diagnose, treat and prevent wartime brain injuries. Last year, they requested proposals for pharmacological methods to stave off PTSD. New genetic tests and brain scans, meant to identify war-fighters who are "vulnerable" to stress reactions, are ongoing. Now, the Navy's looking to speed up the diagnosis of brain trauma, with a portable, weather-proof, multipurpose brain scanner.
The Navy -- [Grouchy Old Cripple]
A long nostalgic post from Ron about the Navy. Some of what he's writing about had actually started to change in the late 60's.
Before you get all up in my face 'bout what I'm 'bout to ramble on about, lemme first say that I know the human memory tends to heavily discriminate the stuff it stores, cataloguing things the way it wants to and reserving special places for certain select events, sounds, sights, smells, and scenes. And not only does it selectively edit things in and out, but it tends to embellish events with its individualized set of filters, ethics, morals, priorities, and tastes, magnifying some episodes and minimizing others.
O.K. That said, I recently came across something that triggered memories of my early experiences in the Navy. 'Smatterafact, lotsa things do that as I get older. My holistic retrospect on my 24 years in the USN is quite positive, and I often willingly go back to relive what were my most exciting and satisfying times . . . all the way from a raw unranked boot in San Diego to the guy responsible for maintenance and repair of elex comm & crypto equipment for CincPac, SubPac, CinCPacFlt, Com7thFlt, and several other high-powered commands in Hawaii.
50 Years Of Pentagon Studies Support Gay Soldiers -- [The Atlantic]
In a new paper on the efficacy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" published in this month's Joint Force Quarterly, Col. Om Prakash boils down half a century of Pentagon-commissioned studies on gays in the military into seven short pages. Reviewing the research, he finds that the facts of gay servicemembers' fitness to serve have changed little over 50 years. But the reports themselves reveal something more: The Defense Department's own criticisms of military policies toward gay soldiers have remained consistent, too.
The DoD has funded studies on the impact of gay servicemembers as far back as 1957, ...
...
A Veteran Speaks: 'Avatar' Demeans Our Military -- [Big Hollywood]
Having served 23 years in the military and in Vietnam, and having a son who leaves for Afghanistan this month, I look at this film through the eyes of a patriot (one who loves and defends his country).
As opposed to those who don't.
Certainly the special effects are spectacular. However, portraying our military as fanatical crazed killers who have joined a military mercenary force to destroy a civilization so that corporations can capitalize on some rare commodity prized by earthlings is disrespectful to our soldiers, especially in this time of war.
A new approach to China -- [The Official Google Blog]
Like many other well-known organizations, we face cyber attacks of varying degrees on a regular basis. In mid-December, we detected a highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China that resulted in the theft of intellectual property from Google.
UPDATED: Connecting the dots on Obama's Council of Governors -- [Flopping Aces]
A SERIES OF EVENTS LEADING TO EXPANDED DOD POWERS
The Council of Governors is not a complete bolt out of the blue, but another step in a series of events. The first recommendation of the Council came in a May 2007 commissioned report on the National Guard and Reserves by Arnold Punaro. The review noted that the Guard was short almost $40 bil in supplies and equipment due to committments since the 911 attack, and that individual governors had been "slighted". The commission recommended a creation of the Council of Governors so that "... governors could provide direct input on National Guard issues to the executive branch."
Month's later, it's creation was mandated by Congress, with no specific timeline to do so, via The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008. This was a bill first introduced by Ike Skelton in the House Jan 2008, and sailed thru both chambers with almost unanimous bi-partistan support. It was signed into law Jan 28th, 2008 by then President Bush, and became Public Law No: 110-181.
Buried in the 602 pg bill (pg 498) was Section 1822 - aka the mandate:
...President Bush never created the Council, and neither had President Obama... until yesterday, that is. The question is, did Obama create this council for it's original purpose? From what I've put together so far, it's not looking that way. Keep reading.
Republican Senators say US Forces in Afghanistan 'Confused' About Detaining Enemy Combatants -- [VOA]
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and several other Republican senators held a news conference at the Capitol in Washington after returning from a trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan. They said U.S. and NATO forces are making progress in Afghanistan, but that U.S. military leaders and troops are confused by Obama administration policies aimed at protecting the rights of detained enemy combatants.
WH to request $33 billion in new war spending -- [The Hill]
President Barack Obama is reportedly seeking an additional $33 billion to fight the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to reports in the media.
The new amount -- which would raise war funding from $128 billion in 2009 to about $159 billion in 2010 -- will be part of the president's Quadrennial Defense Review, which the White House will send to Congress on Feb. 1.
Guard service a key to candidate Brown -- [Boston Globe]
Brown is a lieutenant colonel in the Guard, a state senator from Wrentham, and the Republican nominee in the Jan. 19 special election for US Senate.
Brown's years as a citizen-soldier inform many aspects of his personal and political ethic: the value of discipline and physical fitness, his beliefs about national security, war, and peace, and his priorities in the Legislature.
Now, as a candidate for the Senate seat long held by the late Edward M. Kennedy, Brown often emphasizes his military background. His volunteers are called the Brown Brigade. After winning the GOP nomination on Dec. 8, he kicked off the general election campaign with a visit to the state Soldiers' Home of Holyoke, criticizing Governor Deval L. Patrick's budget cuts that forced closing of the outpatient clinic there a week earlier.
Vote Vet - [Greyhawk]
Scott Brown is a Lt Col in the Army National Guard, and may be the next U.S. Senator from Massachusetts. (No, really.)
Red against blue should fail miserably in the bluest of blue states, but this looks less like Red vs Blue and more like Pink vs Grey.
I'll take Grey, every time. I think these days most voters will.
Democrats launch full court press in Mass. special election -- [Washington Post]
1. Sensing that the once-safe Massachusetts Senate special election might be slipping from their grasp, Democrats moved on a number of fronts over the last 24 hours in an attempt to re-establish state Attorney General Martha Coakley (D) as the race's frontrunner in her now surprisingly tough fight against state Sen. Scott Brown (R). On the staff level, both Democratic National Committee spokesman Hari Sevugan, a veteran of a number of campaigns including a 2004 Senate race in Kentucky, and Michael Meehan, a longtime Democratic operative with ties to Sen. John Kerry (Mass.), were dispatched to stabilize Coakley's campaign. On the ad front, Coakley -- with an assist from the state Democratic party -- launched her first negative commercial of the contest, attacking Brown for being in "lockstep with Washington Republicans." And finally on fundraising, President Obama sent an email to his list insisting that "the outcome of this race couldn't be more important" and asking donors to dig deep to help Coakley.
45-45 -- [Jules Crittenden]
Split on whether Obama's first year was a success or failure. Quinnipiac, which offers the following issue-specific approval-disapproval numbers:
41 - 54 percent for his handling of the economy;
34 - 59 percent for creating jobs;
35 - 58 percent for health care;
48 - 44 percent for handling terrorism.
He squeaks by ... 35-37 ... on whether the country would have been better off with John McCain. Don't worry, there's some good news.
(Need more? Dawn Patrols Archives are here.)
