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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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Toggling Between Fighting and Outreach in Afghanistan -- [CJ Chivers/NY Times/At War]
...The old-school fighting between Kilo Company and the local gunmen and Taliban fighters had consumed a large part of each day for several days running. Both sides had settled into rifle and machine gun battles across the farmers' fields. The Marines were also using their 60-millimeter mortars and calling in helicopter attack gunships and occasional air or rocket strikes...
Momma's Boy -- [Rajiv Srinivasan - in Afghanistan]
The village of Dasht is an oasis of peace in the heavily mined deserts of the Zhari District. My platoon dismounted and walked no more than fifteen meters before our formation succumbed to the swarm of hundreds of children running through our ranks. I suppose, on one hand, it's good that the children feel so safe around American soldiers; in a strategic sense, it would be far worse if they were running away in fear. But in my tactical role as the platoon leader, I grew nervous...
From Afghanistan: Ready for chai? -- [Stillwater NewsPress/Col. Gregory Breazile - in Afghanistan]
KABUL, Afghanistan -- A few days ago I traveled with a police adviser team to the village of Shakar Dara, north of Kabul, Afghanistan...
While we were walking through town talking with the people, a man sitting on a wooden platform covered by a blue rug asked me to sit down and have chai - tea - with him. I thought I should honor him by joining him for chai...
I took off my body armor and sat down for our visit. As I sat down I could see people watching us from across the street...
As we sat talking a crowd of people formed around us...
Are there 'al Qaeda guys' in Afghanistan? -- [Threat Matrix/Long War Journal]
On Facebook, blogger Michael Yon suggests that US forces haven't killed or captured al Qaeda fighters and leaders recently: "I've asked a lot of commanders here to tell me about the last time they caught or killed an al Qaeda guy here. No commanders can remember catching or killing any al Qaeda here in recent years."
Perhaps military commanders cannot recall killing or capturing "an al Qaeda guy," but al Qaeda certainly tells us when their operatives buy it in Afghanistan...
Was recently about 20 gunshots -- [Michael Yon]
Was recently about 20 gunshots from maybe an AK. Very close. Thought someone might be trying to breach this place or was prelude to car bomb. Got out the night vision and some other gear...
U.N. staff to remain in Kandahar -- [CNN/Afghanistan Crossroads]
U.N. and Afghan officials on Sunday reached an agreement that would keep the world body's national and international staff in Kandahar, said Zaimai Ayoubi, a spokesman for the province's governor.
US Army captain becomes king in Afghanistan -- [Sebastion Abbot/AP]
...When the troops from 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment first arrived in Hutal in September, Bawari basically had no authority within the district because he doesn't come from a powerful family and isn't well-educated.
"He was very intimidated, very helpless and had no sense of his responsibilities," Thoreen said.
The troops, who live in a small base in the middle of Hutal, have tried to boost Bawari's standing by encouraging him to take credit for development projects the U.S. military funded...
Push for Afghan role delays military building -- [AP/Stars and Stripes]
An effort to give construction projects to Afghan firms is leading to delays at a time when NATO is rushing to accommodate tens of thousands more international troops, U.S. officials say.
The Army Corps of Engineers is trying to award as many construction contracts as possible to Afghan companies to pump money into the local economy and win public support. New contracts are for NATO base expansions, Afghan police stations, Afghan army bases and other facilities.
But officials say the "Afghan First" effort is slowing down badly-needed construction projects...
Karzai to seek Obama's approval for peace deals with insurgents -- [Washington Post]
The most meaningful part of Afghan President Hamid Karzai's visit to Washington next week may end up being talks about talks.
Karzai's advisers say one of his main goals for the May 12 meeting is winning President Obama's support for negotiating with insurgent leaders, and for a Kabul peace conference that has been delayed until after the visit...
A Graduation Party in Baghdad -- [At War/NY Times]
Election Victories Help Kurds in Iraq Push for More Sovereignty -- [NY Times]
Emboldened by his party's electoral success, the president of Iraq's semiautonomous Kurdistan region is intensifying his demands for greater sovereignty and control of oil, adding more complexity to an already tumultuous government formation period...
Attack on Iraqi Students Kills 1, Wounds 80 -- [Voice of America]
Two separate bombs exploded along the road leading into the northern Iraqi city of Mosul Sunday killing at least one person and wounding at least 80 others...
Video Shows U.S. Attack Did Not Kill Top Militant -- [NY Times]
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Hakimullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban reported killed in an American drone strike four months ago, was shown alive and well in an Internet video posting early Monday, warning of suicide revenge attacks on United States cities...
Manhunt Underway for Suspected Would-be NYC Car Bomber -- [Voice of America]
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says the attempt to blow up explosive devices in one of the busiest districts of Manhattan, "certainly looked" like "it was intended" to be an act of terrorism. "We're taking it very seriously. It was parked in an area with a lot of traffic. It's too soon to tell who was responsible or what groups were responsible. So every possible examination of the device and forensics is being done," she said.
Officials: 'Surprising' if Taliban had role in Times Square incident -- [CNN/Afghanistan Crossroads]
Investigators in the foiled carb bomb attack in New York's Times Square are evaluating a video released less than 24 hours after the incident by the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, and it has raised questions about whether militants could have been behind the attempted bombing.
A speaker claiming to be Hakimullah Mehsud vowed attacks on major U.S. cities in the nearly nine-minute video...
Full text of Hakeemullah videotape -- [Bill Roggio, Bill Ardolino/Threat Matrix]
Below the fold is the full text of a videotape released to The Long War Journal by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan News Channel. The videotape, dated April 4, and another audiotape, dated April 19, were released less than 24 hours after the failed car bomb attack at Times Square in New York City. The Taliban clearly are capitalizing on the event to announce Hakeemullah is alive and to prove he is in operational control of the Pakistani Taliban. Much of the tape focuses on threats against the US...
Now on eBay: Rage Company, Apple iPad -- [Marcus/YouServed]
This week's auction to benefit Soldiers' Angels has begun!
...To make Rage Company a little more exciting to all of you, how about a little excerpt? ...Grab a drink, a small snack, and then sit back and enjoy this short excerpt of Rage Company, A Marine's Baptism By Fire...
Semper Fi, Beantown -- [Jules Crittenden/Forward Movement]
...Marine Week Boston kicks off this morning when a helicopter the size of a house hovers at tree top level over Boston Common, then slowly touches down near the Frog Pond, blasting any spectators near enough with heavy rotor wash put out by its enormous blades...
If it's Marine Week in Boston, that means it's Marine Week at Forward Movement...
Military defends prosecution of SEALs -- [Washington Times]
The U.S. military is issuing an extensive defense of its decision to prosecute three Navy SEALs on charges of abusing a terrorism suspect they had captured in Iraq, after two of the servicemen were found not guilty during courts-martial...
"It is our hope now, just as it has been since these events were brought to our attention in September 2009, that justice will be reached through a properly constituted process, no matter how unpopular this case is, and no matter how often it has been misinterpreted by some members of the media and/or other people who do not know all the facts surrounding the incident," Lt. Col. Holly Silkman, a spokeswoman for U.S. Central Command, told The Washington Times in an e-mail...
A question for the Pentagon leadership... -- [The Armorer]
...Comes now the extended-in-the-'Stan Heartless Libertarian, who asks:
"So the Germans can give our troops one of their highest awards for valor (not sure of the US equivalent) - the first time this medal has been given to non-Germans, even - less than a month after the action.
"Yet for some reason it takes the US Army something like TWO YEARS to award a Silver Star. (Unless, you know, it's for a female soldier, when the award can be milked for PC points.)
"Something is seriously wrong with our combat awards process."
Indeed. In the absence of any sensical explanations of the process, one is left making assumptions...
End of the Adventure -- [Ramblings from a Painter - just home from Iraq]
...As soon as I got off the plane in Asheville, I headed out to the parking lot. Janis had brought the dogs. I could see them out in the parking lot as I approached and they knew something was up...
The PTSD conundrum -- [Burn Pit/The American Legion]
How does one weed out the phonies from the genuine needs of deserving veterans?
The State, a newspaper in South Carolina has an article today that deserves some special attention. It discusses PTSD claims before the VA, and notes that in an effort to get deserving veterans the entitlements they have earned for their service the VA is moving at a pace which invites, if not encourages fraud. I'm going to start at the end of the article, because it illustrates part of the conundrum so clearly...
Saving Abel loves Milbloggers (Video) -- [Troy Steward/YouServed]
This awesome video is from the 2010 Milblog Conference when the band Saving Abel (http://www.savingabel.com/) stopped by to play an all-acoustic set for the attendees of the Milblog Conference...
Don't call me milblogger -- [Michael Yawns Online ("The #1 Milblog in the World")]
I don't even read milblogs. Never have. No one who is serious about the war reads milblogs. When the mainstream media wants to ridicule or marginalize me they call me a "milblogger." I have heard a thousand spiders scream beneath a flaming blood red moon. I do not have a blog and am not now and never will be a "milblogger."
Military exercise goes phishing for movie extras -- [AP/Stars and Stripes]
A military exercise in Internet security seeped into the real world in recent days, leading Air Force officials to declare that, no, Hollywood movie-makers are not looking for airmen on Guam as extras for the "Transformers 3" movie.
The phishing exercise, part of routine readiness training at Andersen Air Force Base, was meant to test airmen's scrutiny of e-mail invitations that require people to provide personal information, according to officials at Andersen.
At least some failed that test, according to an internal e-mail sent to airmen after the late April exercise.
"Unfortunately, many of Andersen's personnel responded ... and submitted their personal information to the website, and forwarded the information outside of Andersen," the notification said...
The dangers of embedded journalism, in war and politics -- [David Ignatius/The Washington Post]
...I covered the war as an unembedded or "unilateral" reporter, entering Iraq two days after the invasion with colleagues in rented SUVs. That experience taught me two things: First, it is too dangerous, in most cases, to cover modern warfare without protection from an army. Second, although my visits were brief, I was able to see things that the embedded journalists could not...
Gates: U.S. must rethink expensive ships, EFV -- [Navy Times]
"At the end of the day, we have to ask whether the nation can really afford a Navy that relies on $3 [billion] to $6 billion destroyers, $7 billion submarines and $11 billion carriers." the secretary said. "Mark my words, the Navy and Marine Corps must be willing to reexamine and question basic assumptions in light of evolving technologies, new threats and budget realities..."
Pentagon Scientists Inject Necks to 'Cure' PTSD -- [Danger Room]
Finding an effective treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder has been a top Pentagon priority for years. And with an estimated one in five veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan suffering from PTSD, the military's been willing to consider anything and everything, including yoga, dog therapy and acupuncture, to alleviate symptoms.
But a small new study out of Walter Reed Army Medical Center might offer more than temporary relief -- with nothing more than a quick jab to the neck.
It's a procedure called stellate ganglion block (STB), and involves injecting local anesthetic into a bundle of nerves located in the neck. The bundle are a locus for the sympathetic nervous system, which regulates the body's "fight-or-flight" stress response.
...Pentagon scientists gave STB injections to two soldiers, one on active duty and another who'd been suffering from PTSD symptoms since serving in the Gulf War nearly two decades ago. Their study reports that both men "experienced immediate, significant and durable relief" after the 10-minute procedure, and no longer exhibit symptoms that would qualify them for a PTSD diagnosis.
Seven months later, both had successfully stopped using antidepressant and antipsychotic medications...
Bigguns -- [Michael Yawns Online]
I thought you all might like to look at teh pictures I took of teh bigguns in the war. So I titled this "bigguns" and put some pictures in it I took in the war...
(Need more? Dawn Patrols Archives are here.)
