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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.
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SPC Kit Lowe Receives Bronze Star in D.C. -- [Afghanistan: My Last Tour]
"These acts of heroism and disregard for his own personal safety reflect great credit upon himself, the 1st squadron, 108th cavalry, and the United States Army."
Lessons re-learned -- [My View; Our Mission]
Over the last couple of weeks since my last post I've had the opportunity to re-learn some lessons that people have told me during this deployment. As you will read the first two lessons are positive, the third, re-taught to this morning, is not.
The Will and the Way -- [30 Days Through Afghanistan]
Ken and I have been looking over at the mountains for days, and dreaming about visiting the place where the two mountains meet. There's a small stream that runs between the two of them creating a footpath that is guarded by the ANP.
When the Soviet Union was occupying this country, this pass was the site of major battles between them and the Mujahadeen. The area is littered with old Soviet tanks and they sit as testaments to Afghanistan's 30-plus years of war.
The ride out was scary.
Iraq to Rehire 20,000 Hussein-Era Army Officers -- [NY Times]
The Iraqi government said Thursday that it would reinstate 20,000 army officers who served under Saddam Hussein, a surprising move given that Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki has focused his campaign in the coming parliamentary elections around denouncing the former Baath government... With just over one week before Iraq holds its first national elections since 2005, the announcement, made on state-run television, was greeted with skepticism by Mr. Maliki's rivals.
Turkish Leaders Meet With Army Chief Over Alleged Coup Plot -- [Voice of America]
Turkey's leaders met with the head of the armed forces in an attempt to defuse rising tensions over the arrest of senior members of the military. The arrests are part of an investigation into an alleged military plot against the Islamic-rooted government.
Turkey Frees Officers as Tensions Rise -- [Wall Street Journal]
President Abdullah Gül of Turkey sought to assuage fears of political instability Thursday, pledging that a growing confrontation with the country's military would be resolved within the constitution.
Mr. Gül issued his statement after a rare three-hour, three-way meeting with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and army chief Ilker Basbug. Hours later, the two most senior of some 50 military officers detained Monday on charges of plotting a coup--a former chief of the air force and of the navy--were released without charge.
China Warns U.S. Against Selling F-16s to Taiwan -- [NY Times]
A top Chinese military official reaffirmed China's resolve to punish the United States over its decision to sell weapons to Taiwan and suggested on Thursday that there would be even greater consequences should Washington fulfill a longstanding request by Taiwan for advanced fighter jets.
North Korean Military Parts Were Intercepted, U.N. Says -- [NY Times]
Two shipping containers loaded at a Chinese port and bound on a ship for the Congo Republic carrying what the manifest called "bulldozers" were also found to be transporting North Korean tank parts and other military equipment in violation of international sanctions, diplomats at the United Nations said Thursday.
Patriot Act renewal passes House -- [Hot Air]
The House had another opportunity for progressives to do a little piñata-beating on a bill last night -- but curiously, it passed with little note or controversy. The extension of the Patriot Act sailed through the lower chamber with almost no one noticing, following a similarly quiet passage out of the Senate earlier in the week...
While You Are Distracted by the Summit, Obama Democrats Are Targeting the CIA -- [Andy McCarthy/The Corner]
The provision is impossibly vague -- who knows what "degrading" means? Proponents will say that they have itemized conduct that would trigger the statute (I'll get to that in a second), but it is not true. The proposal says the conduct reached by the statute "includes but is not limited to" the itemized conduct. (My italics.) That means any interrogation tactic that a prosecutor subjectively believes is "degrading" (e.g., subjecting a Muslim detainee to interrogation by a female CIA officer) could be the basis for indicting a CIA interrogator.
Torture add forces House Democrats to pull bill -- [Politico]
House Democratic leaders were forced to pull a major intelligence funding bill off the House floor after one of their own colleagues attached an amendment that would have jailed CIA agents who engaged in "cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment" during interrogations.
Military Monitored Planned Parenthood, Supremacists -- [wired.com]
The U.S. military monitored Planned Parenthood and a white supremacist group as part of the government's security preparations for the 2002 Olympics in Utah, according to new documents released by the Department of Defense. The U.S. Joint Forces Command liaison collected and disseminated information on U.S. citizens who were members of Planned Parenthood and the white supremacist group National Alliance regarding their involvement in protests and distributing literature,
U.S. law aimed at terrorists may go too far on free speech -- [Washington Post]
RALPH FERTIG seems an unlikely scofflaw. Yet the 79-year-old former administrative law judge could be in danger of being tagged a terrorist sympathizer -- and could face a 15-year prison sentence -- if the Obama administration prevails in its interpretation of an anti-terrorism law.
Huge Thank Yous to Soldiers' Angels -- [A Major's Perspective - in Iraq]
So there we were..(all good stories have to start that way)...but there we were....long crazy day, was getting a bit crazier and I walked back into the office. Sitting on my desk was two large boxes from Soldier's Angels filled with Coffee, two awesome Soldier's Angels Coffee Mugs, and a host of well wishes and support from home!! I can't even begin to tell you how far that went to making the day so much better. Well maybe you can see from the smiles around the room.
Military spouses angry that DoD halts job grants -- [AP]
SAVANNAH, Ga. - Military spouses were enthusiastic when the government started offering them grants last year of up to $6,000 for college or career training. Word spread quickly and they signed up by the tens of thousands. But the response was so heavy that it nearly busted the fledgling program's budget, prompting the Defense Department to suspend it abruptly last week.
For soldiers, single motherhood becomes another battlefield -- [Washington Post]
The latest flurry of attention toward gays in the military shows that the question of who gets to be a soldier, and why, is sometimes unavoidably moral. So let's ask that question about another group of soldiers who haven't attracted as much talk but should: mothers, many of them single, in combat boots -- and combat zones.
Hundreds line streets to welcome Wis. soldiers home from Iraq -- [AP/KARE]
ELLSWORTH, Wis. -- You didn't need to look any further than a scene in western Wisconsin Thursday to see just how valued our area troops are as they return home from Iraq. People lined the streets for miles to welcome back to welcome back nearly 70 members of the Army Reserve 652nd Engineer Company based out of Ellsworth.
VA to reopen Gulf War files -- [AP]
The Veterans Affairs Department says it's preparing to re-examine the disability claims of what could be thousands of Gulf War veterans suffering from ailments they blame on their war service.
About the Cyber Loop -- [The Cyber Loop]
The Cyber Loop is a group of carefully selected strategists who have banded together to further the development of strategic thought in the cyberspace domain. The Cyber Loop is not chartered by the government, military or any private organization.
The genesis for the Loop project was the realization that compared to other domains (land, sea, air and space) , not enough strategic thought is being applied to cyberspace, the newest domain of where conflict may arise, other than by a relatively small group of individuals. Much of the discussions about cyberspace still revolve around tactical and operational-level issues.
The goal of the Loop is to develop a community of high-caliber thinkers to further the development of strategic thought on the cyberspace domain. Several General Officers, Ambassadors, senior Federal government officials, members of academia and members of industry are active members of the Loop.
Katherine Bigelow: Hollywood's Roger Maris? -- [Andrea Shea King/Big Hollywood]
Fast forward to James Cameron's interview with MTV in which he says, "I would say that it's an irresistible opportunity for the Academy to anoint a female director for the first time. I would say that that's, you know, a very strong probability and I will be cheering when that happens."
Is Cameron doing the same thing to his ex-wife Katherine Bigelow that was done to Roger Maris? Is Cameron inadvertently -- or deliberately -- attaching an asterisk to Bigelow's name if she wins for "The Hurt Locker"?
Mother Jones on Oathkeepers -- [This Ain't Hell]
When the Oathkeepers first came to my attention, right after the 2008 election, it smelled a little fishy to me. All of the American servicemembers I know don't need a group to tell them to uphold their oath - in fact, I take offense that Stuart Rhodes thinks they will not. Supposedly Rhodes was a member of the military - does he honestly think that the mothers' sons with whom he served needed a boy scout troop to tell them to obey the law?
...The bottom line is this; the Tea Party Movement, Glen Beck, Lou Dobbs, Dick Armey and any other Conservative group needs to back away from the Oathkeepers and their secret alliance with IVAW...
Top US Marine rejects Obama plan to repeal gay ban -- [AFP/Brietbart.com]
The head of the US Marines said on Thursday he opposed ending the ban on gays serving openly in the military, the first top officer to break openly with President Barack Obama over the issue.
General James Conway told the Senate Armed Services Committee that he disagreed with Obama's plan to repeal the ban.
On this date in history:
1949: USAF plane begins first nonstop around-the-world flight
1993: Islamist terrorists bomb the World Trade Center
A granite memorial fountain honoring the six victims of the bombing was designed by Elyn Zimmerman and dedicated in 1995 on Austin J. Tobin Plaza, directly above the site of the explosion. It contained the names of the six people who perished in the attack as well as an inscription that read: "On February 26, 1993, a bomb set by terrorists exploded below this site. This horrible act of violence killed innocent people, injured thousands, and made victims of us all."
The fountain was destroyed with the rest of the World Trade Center during the September 11 attacks.
2001: Mulla Mohammad Omar orders the destruction of the Great Buddhas of Bamiyan, in Afghanistan
In Afghanistan recently, supreme Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar issued an edict against un-Islamic graven images, which means all idolatrous images of humans and animals. As a result, the Taliban are destroying all ancient sculptures. Explosives, tanks, and anti-aircraft weapons blew apart two colossal images of the Buddha in Bamiyan Province, 230 kilometers (150 miles) from the capital of Kabul. Japan offered to hide Afghanistan's Bamiyan Buddha statues to prevent the Taliban from destroying them, but the hardline regime instead suggested the Japanese convert to Islam...
(Need more? Dawn Patrols Archives are here.)
