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Site contact: greyhawk at mudvillegazette dot com
We wouldn't have it any other way.
The Patriot Guard, along with a group of very vocal Army wives remained at the intersection, cheering for the troops and urging passing motorists at the busy intersection to show support as well.Jerry Deon, Senior Ride Captain for the Patriot Guard Riders, said they had been tipped off by a posting on the Westboro website and he quickly emailed his group of riders to convene on the site and block off the protestors with their bikes and American flags. After what he called a “couple of uncomfortable situations” for the Westboro protestors they decided to leave.
An almost continuous din of automobile horns could be heard from the passing cars in response to the sign-waving group of Army spouses who turned out.
One last News of Afghanistan for me - hopefully some of my co-bloggers at my site will carry on - and a switch over to my new AOI - Iraq. See what I mean here
You guys are going right?
Military.com will be sponsoring the milblogging booth and panels, here are the details as released by the Expo folks this morning.
I just received the latest info from Andi and the folks at Military.com. This is an all star lineup. The panelists will include Matt and Uncle Jimbo from Black Five, John Noonan from Op-for, Tim Boggs, and many more.Michael Yon has agreed to do a live video feed from Iraq (as long as we can get the technology to work).
You have to hear Captain Chuck Ziegenfuss tell the story about how Project Valour-IT run by the amazing ladies at Soldiers Angels was created after Captain Ziegenfuss suffered wounds to his hands in Iraq.
Here are the panels:
HEY, WHAT’S A MILBOG?
Moderator: Christian Lowe
Thursday, November 8 (1:30 – 2:30)TO BLOG OR NOT TO BLOG:
MILBLOGGERS,THE DOD AND THE MEDIA
Moderator: Ward Carroll
Thursday, November 8 (2:45 – 3:45)FROM THE FRONT
Moderator: Ward Carroll
Friday, November 9 (10:15 – 11:45)MEANWHILE, BACK ON THE HOMEFRONT
Moderator: Andi Hurley
Friday, November 9 (1:30 – 2:30)A sincere thank you to Military.com for sponsoring the Milblog track and to Andi, John Noonan, Ward Caroll and others for helping put this all together. You don’t have to be in the military or have family serving to appreciate what these amazing individuals have done. In fact you are a civilian you owe it to yourself to attend at least one of these sessions while you are at BlogWorld.
This thing isn't military exclusive, we're just a small part. But if you're someone who uses, reads, or profits from blogs or the online community you're going to want to be there.
Cross posted at my dumb blog.
This year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous will be donating all money raised to Project Valour-IT. Major Chuck Ziegenfuss of TC Override will be our Guest of Honor.
For more information on the Gun Blogger Rendezvous check the Rendezvous site,
and the Mr. Completely blog.
Any publicity you can get out that would encourage Gun and/or Milbloggers or readers/commenters to attend would be greatly appreciated.
It is a small and informal event that allows everyone to get to know everyone else, so you get to put a face to the bloggers you've been reading! It's a great lot of fun hanging out with an amazing bunch of folks!
SWWBO and I went last year, and intend to go this year - though the job situation (mine, not hers) may get in the way, with a TDY complicating things.
And since we're talking guns here - how many of you are meeting the standard? Or am I having to carry some of you slackers, too?
The U.S. Coast Guard marks a milestone: 1,000,000 lives saved!
Top Ten Rescues:
Thank a Coastie today!
See also here.
I was contacted yesterday by a representative of the Transition Training Academy - an public/private partnership between the Department of Labor, Naval Hospital Balboa and Cisco that's working here in San Diego to help wounded troops pick up their lives through providing enhanced IT skills and Cisco certification.
Worth spreading the news, I think.
A couple of weeks ago, I pointed to a clever Marine wife. Today, I'll tip my hat to two very clever Army wives.
Heh!
Part one is here.
Wearing the Black Flag (2)
There are a number of different types of military helicopters in service in Iraq, and a good-natured rivalry among those who fly the various frames. Ask an Apache guy about a '60 - he'll tell you it's a "training aircraft". Ask anyone about a '58 and you'll get a response that includes (or consists entirely of) this: "bait".
But no one disses a medevac crew.
It's a myth that poor weather conditions shut down flying. The reality is that flying becomes riskier.
In aviation there is an obvious inverse relationship between visibility and risk. The shorter the distance you can see, the greater the risk of travel. This is true of travel on the earth's surface, too, but surface travel is generally confined to two dimensional space and very specific routes (roads).
Travel above the surface brings a third dimension to the equation, and while "routes" still exist there are no marked roads, and when visual contact with the surface is lost life can become very interesting for those on the trip.
Drive down the highways of America during a blinding storm or a heavy fog and you can slow down (assuming you aren't suicidal) to the point where risk is diminished to an acceptable level. You can even stop and wait for improvement.
Slowing down in a combat zone makes you easier to shoot. Stopping means you're a sitting duck.
So when conditions demand it, routine missions are put on hold - but for situations with troops engaged with hostile forces or in case of urgent medevac requirements the birds can fly. So when the call came in there was a bird ready to launch, and a crew ready to go, and a clock ticking away.
There are a number of locations from which such a mission can launch, but one by one they reported conditions that day - bad, bad, bad, worse, really bad, and bad but better then those. I was standing in the TOC at the latter.
No one disses a medevac crew.
When U.S. soldiers are in garrison they wear a full color American flag patch on the shoulder of the Army Combat Uniform. In a combat zone that patch is replaced with a black version. Attaching the black flag is a simple act, but profound. It is done without ceremony, and after enough repitions without conscious thought. But it symbolizes a passage from a relatively safe environment to one where few would go.
Why?
If you would ask one of the thousands of Americans who perform that act on a daily basis in Iraq you would probably get a curious look as first response. After all, you've asked them to explain something fundamental, and it's often the most basic things that are most difficult to put into words. It's what we do. But go ahead and ask for more detail.
Now you'll get into the realm of commitment. Every member of a team depends on every other member of the team. No one wants to let his brothers down. It's more individual pride then collective behavior, though there's a bit of that involved too. There's been a real effort in America over the past few decades to eradicate this sort of thinking, individual pride and group will to succeed against a common foe. There's been concerted effort to describe their cause as a hopeless lie, and their fellow soldiers as killers and failures and rejects and fools. But in spite of those efforts there are still a few Americans to be found who will wear their nations flag on their sleeves and walk into places where few would go for even the clearest of reasons.
Why? If you have to ask, you couldn't possibly comprehend the answer.
But here is something they know with certainty. Should something happen, should the lowest among them require urgent care, the effort to provide that will be something unmatched in history. Every man around them is trained to render life-saving aid on the scene, and if the situation calls for it helicopters will be dispatched to get them by the fastest possible method to the nearest possible medical facility.
There is a procedure to request that assistance - inside or outside the wire, a code to shorten the message to the briefest possible transmission. Man down, location, and assessed level of urgency. There is nowhere in the code time or space to discuss rank or station. Medevac crews are always ready, within minutes a standby bird will launch.
Of sweet little Andi banging her head to Let the Bodies Hit the Floor at a Drowning Pool concert make anyone else grin like an idiot?
My husband and I recently attended a Drowning Pool concert. If you looked around the audience, you might think that we were a bit out of our element. A soldier and his wife in a room full of twenty-something head-bangers, but in reality, we had never felt more at home.
airforcewife and I recently interviewed Drowning Pool about their support for our troops. Drowning Pool is part of the USO entertainment circuit. They played in Baghdad on the fifth anniversary of 9/11 and are currently working on putting together another USO tour, which they hope will take them to Afghanistan and Iraq, and they will soon be visiting troops at Walter Reed.
Before the show, my husband and I were able to meet and chat with the band, and they could not have been more gracious to us. Ryan McCombs told us that his trip to Iraq "changed him forever." Ryan was talking to my husband about how hot it was in Baghdad when they were there. When someone asked him if he was hot, he said, "like I'm gonna complain, I'm wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt and look at these guys in their uniforms and body armor."
While the meet-and-greet was wonderful, I was shocked, pleasantly shocked, at what happened during the concert. After the band played a few songs, Ryan McCombs gave a heartfelt speech. He began by asking everyone to raise their hands if they are related to, or know anyone, who is now serving in defense of "the red, white and blue." He then went on to say, and I'm paraphrasing, "These men and women put their lives on the line so that we can have the freedom to come here tonight and listen to some music. We have the easy job, they have the tough job. Next time you see a soldier on the street, next time you see one in the airport lugging their bags around, next time you see them anywhere, it only takes three seconds to extend your hand and thank them for what they do for us. It's not that hard and it's the least we can do." Then, the band played "Soldiers," the song they wrote for our troops when they returned from Iraq. In fact, Drowning Pool recently renamed their tour the "This is for the Soldiers tour." We don't hear enough of this kind of support coming from celebrities, and it's music to the ears (pun intended) when we do.
Military spouses are known to be intensely loyal to businesses that support them. A lot of businesses compete for our dollars, and we like it that way, because it's all about giving our money to people who appreciate us. For all you spouses and troops out there, Drowning Pool is the real deal when it comes to supporting our troops. Might want to pick up a copy of Drowning Pool's latest album, the one that features "Soldiers" or maybe go see them in concert if they're in a town near you. It' would be money well spent.
I gave the band gifts from the SpouseBUZZ Team. Small, inexpensive gifts, but a little something to thank them for their unqualified support of our husbands. Drowning Pool music is now a staple in this household.
Oddly enough, this burning ship, modern for its day, was a sign of the beginning of the end for the old Navy and the beginning of a whole new world order.
And its designer played a major role in opening doors to that future.
But the bear died.
Sort of explained here.
I'm past questioning anyone's patriotism. Over at the Huffington Post, blogger Martin Lewis writes an open letter asking for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs to relieve the President of his constitutional authority as commander-in-chief:
General Pace - you have the power to fulfill your responsibility to protect the troops under your command. Indeed you have an obligation to do so.You can relieve the President of his command.
Not of his Presidency. But of his military role as Commander-In-Chief.
You simply invoke the Uniform Code Of Military Justice.
I mean lunacy like "that's crazy." Certifiably. Off the hook. Jibbering. Tending towards the straight jacket.
And, yes. Yes this would be a good time to step away from the keyboard. And up your meds.
Ya' kook.
Update: Note to Lex: Always check what the other kids have been posting first. Meh.
This is what passes for enlightened, educated, and thoughtful commentary from the Left. The lack on understanding and thought by Martin Lewis at HuffPo just left me gobsmacked.
General Pace - you have the power to fulfill your responsibility to protect the troops under your command. Indeed you have an obligation to do so.They must be running out of ideas to bring about defeat in time for the next election.You can relieve the President of his command.
Not of his Presidency. But of his military role as Commander-In-Chief.
You simply invoke the Uniform Code Of Military Justice.
The United States Code: Title 10, Subtitle A, Part II, Chapter 47, Subchapter X, Section 934.
...
you have the legal responsibility - under Article 134 of the Uniform Code Of Military Justice - to protect the troops under your command by relieving the President of his MILITARY command.If you have reason to believe that the President is responsible for "disorders and neglects to the prejudice of good order and discipline in the armed forces" and for "conduct of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces, and crimes and offenses not capital" then you have the obligation to act.
In addition to relieving him of his command as Commander-In-Chief, you also have authority to place the President under MILITARY arrest.
ArmyLawyer, get together with DocInTheBox and find Mr. Lewis' meds please.
At one moment the Left thinks the military if full of goose stepping, fascist, rapists - and next they want us to have a coup.
Baird: A Reason for Hope in Iraq Washington, D.C. - The invasion of Iraq may be one of the worst foreign-policy mistakes in the history of our nation. As tragic and costly as that mistake has been, a precipitous or premature withdrawal of our forces now has the potential to turn the initial errors into an even greater problem just as success looks possible.As a Democrat who voted against the war from the outset and who has been frankly critical of the administration and the post-invasion strategy, I am convinced by the evidence that the situation has at long last begun to change substantially for the better. I believe Iraq could have a positive future. Our diplomatic and military leaders in Iraq, their current strategy, and most importantly, our troops and the Iraqi people themselves, deserve our continued support and more time to succeed.
I would note Congressman Baird represents Olympia, Washington..home to these people.
Iraqi Villagers respond to al Qaeda attack:
BAGHDAD, Aug. 23 -- An insurgent attack Thursday on a Sunni sheik who has cooperated with U.S. forces escalated into an extended street battle involving the sheik's militiamen, local villagers and Iraqi forces, according to police and the U.S. military. Thirty-two people were killed and 15 kidnapped, police said.Which somehow - according to the WaPo "reporter" - proves that Iraqis are intimidated by al Qaeda.Residents of a village near Baqubah, 35 miles north of Baghdad, apparently heard the initial commotion and took up their weapons to fight the attackers, who were members of the insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq, said Lt. Col. Michael Donnelly, a spokesman for the U.S. military units north of Baghdad.
"The villagers came together and started fighting off al-Qaeda in Iraq," Donnelly said. "It's another sign of people not putting up with" the group's violence. Police gave a similar account of the villagers' reaction.
<...>
The sheik who was killed Thursday was reported to have been a local leader of the 1920 Revolution Brigades, a Sunni militia that was founded as part of an effort to force a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq but lately has come to consider al-Qaeda in Iraq as its real enemy. Since June, U.S. commanders have announced alliances with the brigades in many parts of the country.
The attack underscores a key difficulty for U.S. forces in maintaining the support of Sunni militias, which generally oppose Iraq's Shiite-led government and whose long-term goals remain unclear. As more Sunni leaders are attacked, American commanders are finding it increasingly difficult to persuade others to join the effort.
Not a fair fight. We know what Murtha did - what about Lt. Gen. Mattis?
Lance Corporal Sharratt gets about the best apology one can get - a letter from Lt. Gen. Mattis, USMC.
Gen. Mattis quoted former Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, who said that combat is an "incommunicable experience" and that "detached reflection cannot be demanded in the face of an uplifted knife."Mench."Marines have a well-earned reputation for remaining cool in the face of enemies brandishing much more than knives," Gen. Mattis said, noting the "brutal reality" of daily life in Iraq.
"Where the enemy disregards any attempt to comply with ethical norms of warfare, we exercise discipline and restraint to protect the innocent caught on the battlefield. Our way is right, but it is also difficult."
Gen. Mattis stated that an exhaustive investigation showed Cpl. Sharratt "acted in accordance with the rules of engagement" in Haditha, and he noted that by dropping the charges, Cpl. Sharratt could "fairly conclude that you did your best to live up to the standards followed by U.S. fighting men throughout our many wars, in the face of life or death decisions made by in a matter of seconds in combat."
Michael Totten offers kudos to journalists:
Hundreds of Iraqi Yezidis, members of an ancient religious sect heavily influenced by Persian Zoroastrianism, were murdered last week in the most deadly terrorist attack in the world since September 11, 2001. Fuel tankers packed with explosives were ignited in a refugee camp near the town of Kahtaniya, just outside the Kurdish autonomous region. Officials say the death toll has surpassed 500. The American military says this is the handiwork of al Qaeda. They’re probably right: this has their fingerprints all over it.Well, it's been a while since anybody has had anything nice to say about journalists.American commander General David Petraeus recently warned that terrorists and insurgents may use the media as a weapon and stage massive, headline-grabbing attacks as a way of showing the surge is a failure. If this massacre was indeed a part of that strategy, it has failed. Journalists aren’t playing along.
(Pause for effect, 4... 3... 2... 1...)
THE PARADE of political tourists to Iraq in recent weeks, during which easily impressed pundits and members of Congress came to be dazzled by the wonders of the troop surge, probably ensures that this murderous adventure will continue well into the next presidency - even if the Democrats win.He cites a recent NY Times op-ed, too...For example, Kenneth Pollack, a top national security adviser in the Clinton administration whose 2002 book, "The Threatening Storm: The Case for Invading Iraq," convinced many Democratic politicians to support the war, now finds renewed optimism after the surge. In a July 30 New York Times op-ed column, "A War We Just Might Win," which he coauthored after spending eight days in Iraq, Pollack gushed, "We traveled to the northern cities of Tal Afar and Mosul. This is an ethnically rich area, with large numbers of Sunni Arabs, Kurds and Turkomen. American troop levels in both cities now number only in the hundreds because the Iraqis have stepped up to the plate. Reliable police officers man the checkpoints in the cities, while Iraqi army troops cover the countryside."
So much so that a town 40 miles northeast of Tal Afar was the scene, on Aug. 15, of the deadliest attack of the war - a quadruple bombing left 250 dead and 350 wounded, and most of the buildings in ruin. What about those "reliable" police officers and Iraqi army troops whose presence in the area Pollack found so reassuring? If Pollack was asked about that on any of the talk shows that routinely feature him as an expert, I have not found the footage.
Although my attention is becoming more fixed on my upcoming deployment to Iraq, I have not forgotten Afghanistan.
Note to Opus readers: The Opus strips for August 26 and September 2 have been withheld from publication by a large number of client newspapers across the country, including Opus' host paper The Washington Post.
According to a news story...
We assess that changing the mission of coalition forces from a primarily counterinsurgency and stabilization role to a primary combat support role for Iraqi forces and counterterrorist operations to prevent AQI (Al-Qaeda in Iraq) from establishing a safe haven would erode security gains achieved thus far," the report states.
and
The NIE also concludes that Iraq's internal political struggles, ongoing sectarian violence and terror threats leave the country in a precarious situation for the next six-12 months.
Hmmmm... should be a blockbuster 19 days before Gen. Petraeus speaks...
Read the new 10-page NIE "Prospects for Iraq's Stability: Some Security Progress but Political Reconciliation Elusive" HERE
Nuance. It's a far cry from the protests of the Vietnam War era. Or even the rallies in New York and Los Angeles in the run-up to the Iraq war that turned out thousands. Antiwar activists and Democrats say this is the crucial month to turn up the heat on Republican lawmakers. A decisive moment looms--the Iraq progress report from Gen. David Petraeus is due in September--so the strategy is to win over enough Republican votes in the Senate in particular to pass a timeline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops......But some of the recent events in New Hampshire and Maine drew only a dozen folks. One recent New Hampshire morning rally was positively a bust. Attendance? Zero.
Protesting for Genocide doesn't seem to be as popular as some folks would have us believe.
Military Lessons For War Correspondents
Hotel Tango: Steve Schipert/ Bill Faith
For viewpoints decidedly different from the links I included in my previous entry on this topic, see Paul Rieckhoff, Andrew Sullivan, Think Progress, and .
There are two basic concepts being touted on the left:
This completely refutes a recent optimistic analysis of the war by Brookings Institute scholars Michael O'Hanlon and Kenneth M. Pollack because they were only there for 10 days while the GIs have been there for over a year.
And
These seven GIs represent the majority view of American soldiers - viewpoints that have (until now) been stifled by the government and the media.
(Note that these assertions ARE NOT MADE BY THE AUTHORS OF THE ORIGINAL OP-ED.)
As for the first point, one could make an argument that anyone trying to make some broad determination from these two examples must do so after spending about 10 minutes reading each one, and that the time spent in Iraq by the authors has no bearing on the validity of either report.
If you care to argue against that point above, I'll point out that by your own logic the hundreds (if not thousands) of man/year experience levels of the sum total of all milblogers who've ever served in Iraq trumps any argument you could ever hope to make. Actually reading them would pretty much put argument two to rest also, but the folks making either of the arguments above really aren't likely to acknowledge the existence of such a large group of people whose reality conflicts so sharply with their imaginations.
For an illustration of those misconceptions, here's the "Progressive" view of the US military at war - comments generated at "Think Progress" in response to that Times op-ed:
Everyone already knows the truth, yet they continue to act surprised. This is not news.Mark my words: regardless of anything that happens, things will only get worse in Iraq. The situation cannot be unfu(ked.
Comment by Marcus Aurelius — August 19, 2007 @ 12:24 pm
they need to go a bit further, and call for mutiny, because this administration won’t stop.
Comment by darla — August 19, 2007 @ 12:39 pm
Kudos to the 82nd. It’s about time that the soldiers start speaking out. Unfortunately the consequences for them is going to be grim. They are risking their lives by speaking out. Remember what happened to Pat Tillman. Expect more “friendly fire” deaths in the near future involving the brave soldiers who choose to speak out.
The thing that galls me the most about the situation in Iraq is all the Sargents and Generals who keep sending their soldiers into hopeless situations where the chances are good that they will be killed. Don’t these people have any loyalty to their troops or has the Bush Crime Family so bastardized the military that all the officers must swear an oath to King George, their troops be damned.
Comment by bilbobaggins — August 19, 2007 @ 12:53 pm
I understand your frustration, but please keep in mind that military personnel are trained to accept one thing above all else: The mission comes first.
Your personal feelings cannot interfere with following orders, even if you know that you will die as a result. (That’s why they came up with the term “suicide mission”, because they knew that there would be times when someone would have to give his or her life in order to complete the mission.) If you have any beef at all, it should be with the president who ordered them on this mission, not the NCOs and Officers tasked with carrying out their orders.
Comment by Wayne A. Schneider — August 19, 2007 @ 1:03 pm
Well, we all know that Betrayus’ report (written by the WH will totally refute this story………After all, they would have so much better intelligence (?) than anhyone actually on the ground, in harm’s way.
Chickenhawks are the most dangerous things that our troops are facing right now. It’s all about politics and money!
Comment by upside00 — August 19, 2007 @ 1:20 pm
A good officer won’t sacrifice his troops unnecessarily, and good generals won’t order good officers (or even not so good officers) to put their troops in the middle of a firestorm unless it’s the only way to accomplish a greater mission.
Seeing as how our “mission” has become so blurry that nobody quite knows what it is anymore (most suspect the mission has become “hang on until this can become somebody else’s mess”), we have a situation where good officers have to choose between sacrificing their troops for somebody’s political legacy or mutiny (which, during wartime, can be punishable by death, according to the UCMJ).
I suspect that some WILL say “enough is enough”, despite the penalty. But probably not many.
Comment by missmolly — August 19, 2007 @ 1:30 pm
It really is too bad that GDumbya and Darth Cheney are not war veterans. It’s not because they would be better at conducting the Iraq fiasco today. It’s because they both would have been fragged within a day of arriving in-theater back then . . . and their stupidity would not be imposed upon us today.
Comment by tom — August 19, 2007 @ 1:41 pm
If you're a woman, *especially* an un-married one... Fuzzybear Lioness lays out the pluses of working in the military community.
Castle Argghhh! blogger and retired NJARNG helo pilot Bill is working as a contractor in Pakistan, training Paki Cobra pilots.
His dispatches paint a different picture of Pakistan than what you normally see in the MSM. Here's his latest.
There are two types of electrical power interruption here in Shangri-La -- planned and unplanned.An example of the first type: a typed note -- "Our engineers will be performing normal maintenance on the generator. This is an emergency which will take three or four hours" -- slid under the door during the blackout. You track the messenger's progress down the hall by counting the number of objects he bumps into in the dark, then listening for the *skkkt* of paper sliding on tile and retrieving and reading same by flashlight.
An example of the second type: *thwoooom -- papppffffft!*
One of us contractorslug pilots never had the advantage of acquiring military rotary wing flight time, so he also never acquired the military rotary wing flyer's habit of keeping a flashlight within easy reach (it only takes one total electrical failure during a night flight to instill the habit). One of the Shadows observed that John's room (I'll call him John because three of the guys here are named John and you don't know any of them from Adam, anyway) was the only one without artificial illum during one recent blackout, so the next morning, he brought a candle to John's room.
Shadow: "For power failure, sir."
John: "Well, thanks, but there aren't any candle-holders in the room. If it falls over, it'll start a fire, and when the power is off, the fire alarm won't work -- there'll be a *big* problem."
Shadow: "Do you have matches, sir?"
John: "No."
Shadow: "Then there is not a problem."
And he walked out.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
A quick background brief -- both North and South Waziristan were granted a semi-autonomous status by the Pakistani government in return for keeping a lid on al-Q and the Taliban. The current dust-ups (since February, anyway) are a result of those organizations refusing to be kept lidded.Monday, "Taliban spokesmen" (unnamed in the article, but definitely not "pro-Taliban tribal spokesmen") declared that the modus vivendi (see the background brief) in South Waziristan was null and void. South Waziri tribal council chiefs slapped the spokesmen's noses on Tuesday and reminded them that it was the tribes, not the Taliban, who made the agreement with Islamabad and it was the tribes, not the Taliban, who would announce any change to the status quo. And, since the alternative is a full-blown confrontation with a central government which already has 90,000 troops on their turf, the tribes prefer to keep the status as quo as possible.
Pashtuns will tolerate some failings in their guests, but they draw the line at creating a nuisance which draws attention from iron sights.
In the Op Area: Pak Cobras in North Waziristan conducted gunship raids yesterday, pounding the daylights out of terr strongholds around Miramshah with the objective of making local Taliban sympathizers realize the jirga's pronouncement of zero-tolerance for terrorists wasn't just political lip-flapping. An aerial op outside Mahsud in South Waziristan -- a four-ship tag-team -- hit three al-Q staging areas Tuesday; ground followup found fifteen late members of the Uzbek tribe. There's also an ongoing ground sweep in SW to recover fifteen troops captured by pro-Taliban terrs who ambushed their convoy (they were travelling in civilian vehicles, unarmed). There were sixteen survivors, originally, but one was found the next day, beheaded, outside the airfield the Cobras were using as a refuel/rearm point. The terrs are demanding the release of ten of their brethren scooped up in Islamabad and intel reports from locals focused Army attention on the Mahsud region.
The three most-recent VBIED incidents against guard posts in the Northwest Frontier Provinces involved high-end SUVs rather than junkers or the traditional white minivans -- the bombers figure an expensive vehicle is less-likely to arouse suspicion at the checkpoints. Judging by some changes I've seen around this area, the troops already got the word on that.
On the Street: Security forces penetrated a nascent terror cell in Islamabad, arrested two organizers previously connected with the Red Mosque and charged them with training and launching suiciders -- local police arrested two of their trainees separately (and rapidly) in a nice display of interservice cooperation.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
On the front page of today's paper (Really-Early Edition). Maulana Merajuddin, chief of the tribal council for Mahsud (the same council delivering the Talib Smackdown on Tuesday), announced the "militants have agreed to the unconditional release of the fifteen kidnapped personnel." Sole condition of the "unconditional" agreement is that the Cobras remain on the ground during the release proceedings.My guess is that the troops were local militia going home on leave (civilian cars and no weapons, remember?) and had relatives who leaned on the council, who quietly reminded the "militants" that their continued well-being depended on whether or not the council considered them guests or nuisances.
Like I said, Pashtuns will tolerate *some* failings in their guests...
If that piques your interest, you can catch the rest of his dispatches here, Postcards from the Edgy.
Happy Birthday to one of the most amazing women that I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. Hum, seems two people are sharing a birthday today.
Was the President correct with his tie in of Vietnam and Iraq? I think he was exactly right, and I seem to be in good company; Mac Owens and Bill Bennett are on the same page.
As for Sen. Kerry (D-MA), who served in Vietnam in case you didn't know, he sees things - well - follow the links above and see for yourself.
MNF- I :
Citizen sacrifices life to thwart suicide bomberFORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER, Iraq – An Iraqi man saved the lives of four U.S. Soldiers and eight civilians when he intercepted a suicide bomber during a Concerned Citizens meeting in the town of al-Arafia Aug. 18.
The incident occurred while Soldiers from 3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, were talking with members of the al-Arafia Concerned Citizens, a volunteer community group, at a member’s house.
“I was about 12 feet away when the bomber came around the corner,” said Staff Sgt. Sean Kane, of Los Altos, Calif., acting platoon sergeant of Troop B, 3-1 Cav. “I was about to engage when he jumped in front of us and intercepted the bomber as he ran toward us. As he pushed him away, the bomb went off.”
The citizen’s actions saved the lives of four U.S. Soldiers and eight civilians.
Kane felt the loss personally because he had met and interacted with his rescuer many times before the incident.
“He was high-spirited and really believed what the group (Concerned Citizens) was doing,” Kane said. “I have no doubt the bomber was trying to kill American Soldiers. It was very calculated the way the bomber tried to do it. If he hadn’t intercepted him, there is no telling how bad it could have been.”
Kane believes the citizen is a hero.
“He could have run behind us or away from us, but he made the decision to sacrifice himself to protect everyone. Having talked with his father, I was told that even if he would have known the outcome before hand, he wouldn’t have acted differently.”
Capt. Brian Gilbert, of Boise, Idaho, the commander of Company D, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, currently attached to 3-1 Cavalry, echoed Kane’s sentiment.
“I spoke with the father,” Gilbert said. “He said he has no remorse in his son’s death because he died saving American Soldiers.”
Later that night, the Concerned Citizens group contacted the local National Police director, Lt. Col. Samir, with the location of the al-Qaeda cell believed to be responsible for the attack. The National Police immediately conducted a raid that resulted in four arrests.
Despite the citizen’s death, Gilbert is encouraged by the cooperation between citizens and the Iraqi National Police.
“The effort of the Concerned Citizens group has made the area much safer,” he said. “They are proud of who they are and their area, and want to get rid of the terrorists in their area.”
Gilbert also praised the Iraqi National Police’s role in eliminating insurgents in the area.
“The cooperation between them and the Concerned Citizens has been key,” Gilbert said. “The NP has done a great job of responding to the tips they have been given by the group.”
Gilbert said he believes the area is improving because of the efforts of local citizens. The death, while unfortunate, demonstrated how close many in the area have become with the American Soldiers operating there.
“I consider many in the town friends, and I know they feel the same,” Gilbert said. “This is a tough situation, but we’ll move on and try to prevent things like this from happening again. I’ve talked with his family and told them how brave their son was. This is a huge loss for everyone involved.”
This NY Times Op/Ed from a group of 82d Airborne NCOs is well written, thought provoking, and worthy of more than a quick read. While I disagree with many of their conclusions, the facts they present in support are indeed fact. The authors are clearly well-informed from personal observation and external sources, but in most cases the therefore that follows many of those facts is where we part company.
We are indeed working to straighten out a hell of a mess in Baghdad, and any number of things can foil our objectives. In fact, failure is easier and quicker than success, our failure can bring success to others (is, in fact, prerequisite to their success as they currently envision it) and not all of these "others" are ready to develop new definitions of personal or group success more compatible with ours. (Or at least, definitions of "success" that can be achieved following our success rather than only after our failure).
But, in fact, that's exactly what's happened in most of al Anbar, and during the bloody campaign to get there such an outcome was far from obvious. (Such an outcome is far from a done deal now, too, but at least it can be mentioned without drawing sneers.) It's entirely possible that all hell may still break lose there. But it seems (at best) that the general population has had enough of al Qaeda and their ilk and are willing to cast their lot with us, or (at worst) have finally realized that the best way to get rid of us is to let us finish and leave - after gaining whatever edge they can against their future rivals from us before our departure. (Said edge being training, money, weapons, and perhaps a bit of thinning of the rival herd before we depart.) One can't rule out some middle ground between those two possibilities.
That being the case, our best hope is that prosperity (or at least being on a recognizable path thereto) will prove incentive to keep the peace without the presence of American guns. Said peace being more conducive to such prosperity, a positive spiral can develop, and we're beginning to see the early indications of that spiral now in Anbar as months of positive developments have at least resulted in people noticing the positive developments and in turn developing at least some semblance of hope.
Again - any number of things can still go wrong in Anbar - but three (or even two and perhaps one) years ago very few people would have been willing to bet on the situation being as favorable as it is today. (It was in fact in August of last year that the Anbar Awakening got the spiral going* - though it was the result of events occurring throughout the previous year.)
Which brings us back to Baghdad today. With a larger and more diverse population the problems are magnified. And even something that appears to be the beginning of an upward spiral can in fact turn out to be a complex, chaotic and well-tangled knot. But we have learned from the Anbar experience, and are actively pursuing similar means to ends in the big city. Believe it or not, the people of Baghdad are well aware of what's happened in Anbar too, and don't see that example as a disaster to be avoided at all costs - in fact, the opposite is true. (Perhaps some other time I'll tell you about the debate over whether the term "neighborhood watch organizations" applied to the multiple groups of various size we're working with throughout Baghdad and the belts is appropriate...)
But there are bad guys sprinkled through that population. Which brings us to a passage from the Op/Ed I believe deserves a close look.
In short, we operate in a bewildering context of determined enemies and questionable allies, one where the balance of forces on the ground remains entirely unclear. (In the course of writing this article, this fact became all too clear: one of us, Staff Sergeant Murphy, an Army Ranger and reconnaissance team leader, was shot in the head during a “time-sensitive target acquisition mission” on Aug. 12; he is expected to survive and is being flown to a military hospital in the United States.) While we have the will and the resources to fight in this context, we are effectively hamstrung because realities on the ground require measures we will always refuse — namely, the widespread use of lethal and brutal force.That's an ROE (Rules of Engagement) complaint, and I've heard it voiced (usually less eloquently) many times before. Without addressing the validity (it is a valid complaint to a degree, but ROE can be thought of as a system comprised of many components - some of which are human beings with a reluctance to kill other human beings) it's worth noticing the tacit acknowledgement that we are, in fact, waging a war like no other before, and have been since March, 2003. We could have left no two bricks in Baghdad connected even before the tanks rolled into town - instead we elected to execute as precise and surgical a war as military technology allows. The hope, of course, was that a population tired of the oppressive rule of a despotic leader would flourish once that leader was removed, and that we would be able to draw down to a small contingent of American troops within a reasonable time. That first assumption hasn't so much been proven wrong as proven to be still theoretical in the face of an onslaught of thugs from various quarters of the region (including Iraq) bent on sowing enough chaos** to keep it that way. The second assumption hinges on the first - and thus we remain in larger force than any would have liked.
As for those years of occupation, no matter how much some folks (for clarity - obviously not the authors of the Op/Ed) would like to believe we are an oppressor, this is not akin to the Roman subjugation of the barbarians of Europe or the French experience in Algeria (The latter - rather than the oft-cited Vietnam comparison - being the true model for the left's desired narrative of America in Iraq) or anything else in the sweep of history between. Thus, ironically, our "soft" (and it isn't soft - we are killing people) approach has earned us accusations of Nazi-like behavior from all the usual suspects.
Will it work? I think the very possibility that it might is what so terrifies those in and out of Iraq who've invested heavily in "no". Their tactics will change (are, in fact, changing) to meet the new realities on the ground. That they will do so is not evidence of our failure - no matter how many people they kill to make their point. (Killing them all and letting Allah sort them out is demonstrably not difficult.)
Likewise, "Killing them all and letting God sort them out" - like simply quitting and walking away - is an undeniably easier path then the one on which we are currently embarked. But for some reason, some Americans love doing things the hard way.
"The quickest way of ending a war is to lose it, and if one finds the prospect of a long war intolerable, it is natural to disbelieve in the possibility of victory."
- Orwell***
* link also available here as (hopefully) temporary problems are preventing view of archives.
** link also here.
*** link also here.
Update: More from
Instapundit
Jimbo
Grim
Lt. Col. Bob Bateman
Fred Kaplan
Apparently, after payment of a ransom, the Danish merchant ship Danica White has been released and is under escort away from Somalia.
More here.
UPDATE: Earlier posts on the capture of the ship here, here and here.
As in most things. you will get more of what you are willing to pay for.
U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge on Tuesday was asked why his colleagues in Congress are tearing down the troops because of the war in Iraq.About 50 soldiers and spouses ate lunch with Etheridge at the Pegasus Inn, the 82nd Aviation Brigade’s dining hall on Fort Bragg.
One of the military wives told Etheridge that every time one of his peers in Congress makes a statement against the war, that person is tearing down the soldiers.
“I can’t stop people from making their comments, but I understand what you are saying,” Etheridge said. “I don’t agree with them.”
Etheridge, a Democrat from Lillington, represents the 2nd District, which includes Spring Lake and parts of Harnett County. He assured the wives that every member of Congress supports the troops.
“They may not express it the way they should,” he said.
Wonder if he'll do that again...
It has been a tough few years (or decades depending on who you are) for those who have hope for the Severn School for Wayward Boys and Girls. The new Sup, Vice Admiral Fowler, looks like he is moving out of shoal water.
"This is not just a college scholarship program," Adm. Fowler said. "The taxpayers have paid money to develop officers here, and it's my job to ensure we minimize those distractions."Very nice. More please.
The date probably doesn't matter because I can't hear you I'm not listening I can't hear you I'm not listening I can't hear you I'm not listening yayayayayayayalalalalaldadadadada I can't hear you...
A majority of Americans don't trust the upcoming report by the Army's top commander in Iraq on the progress of the war and even if they did, it wouldn't change their mind, according to a new poll.So neener neener neener.
For the record - here's the General:
Q: ...And secondly, your recommendations in September, are you willing to countenance the idea that you may have to say to the president, this is not working, we should pull troops out, or are you more likely to say things are not going well, here are the adjustments and strategies we need to make?To make things more interesting September 11 only exists on our infidel heathen great satan calendars. A few days after that and the Ramadan deathfest begins (whenever the first sliver of the new moon is visible in Mecca). It will be my second Ramadan here. Good times.GEN. PETRAEUS: Well, on the latter one, I mean, I have an obligation to some wonderful young men and women in uniform, and a lot of civilians, by the way, who are serving in Iraq and who deserve a forthright assessment from the folks at the top about the situation on the ground, and that's what I'm going to provide.
Background:
The U.S. commander in Iraq predicted yesterday that some of the extra troops President Bush is sending could make an impact and start returning home by late summer, an optimistic note in contrast to skepticism of the plan back home.April:
Earlier this year, top Democrats in both houses of Congress refused to attend a bipartisan briefing offered by General David Petraeus to discuss the challenges in Iraq. Next week they’ll have another chance when the General comes to Capitol Hill to brief lawmakers in the House and Senate on our progress in the Global War on Terror.However:General Petraeus was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate to be the U.S. commander of the Multinational Force in Iraq. He has a clear track record as a straight-shooter and as someone who gets things done. So one has to wonder why next week’s important briefing almost didn’t happen. According to Roll Call, when the Pentagon tried to schedule the briefing through House Democrats they were declined – twice – because Democrats were originally “too busy” to schedule anything.
WASHINGTON - Hours before the House of Representatives narrowly passed a $124-billion bill to fund the war in Iraq, the commander of the multinational forces there delivered a classified briefing to Congress.And then:
<...>
But at dueling Democratic and Republican news conferences after Petraeus' closed-door meeting with the House, it seemed as if the members had attended different briefings.
The White House Scales Back Talk of Iraq Progress(Note that "September" and "late summer" - from the January link - are actually the same thing, and nothing - outside of some headline writer's imagination - was "scaled back".)WASHINGTON, April 27 — The Bush administration will not try to assess whether the troop increase in Iraq is producing signs of political progress or greater security until September, and many of Mr. Bush’s top advisers now anticipate that any gains by then will be limited, according to senior administration officials.
Finally, this.
Mr. Cusack has said his desire to make the film was born out of anger at the decision by the Pentagon to ban publication of photos showing flag-draped coffins returning from battlefields.What a douche.
(Have I mentioned before that corpse-porn freaks really piss me off? I believe I might have ...)
This post is almost exactly two years old:
There are two types of Iraq war veterans that have a tremendous appeal to the anti-war crowd - the fictional and the dead. Both types have a common, irresistible trait - others can claim to speak on their behalf.
"Congress is not in session because of the Rosh Hashanah holiday, very much the week leading up to that Saturday, September 15th."
YHGTBFKM.
A new Gallup Poll finds Congress' approval rating the lowest it has been since Gallup first tracked public opinion of Congress with this measure in 1974. Just 18% of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing, while 76% disapprove, according to the August 13-16, 2007, Gallup Poll.
That same trope about young soldiers only enlisting due to economic blah blah blah also closely fits Burkett's Stolen Valor description of the Vietnam narrative of what a soldier was. More and more I think that book was not just history but also a playbook for today.
I'll be interested to see how GinMar (reservist who saw combat in Iraq, spends an enormous amount of time discussing feminist issues, fits sorta under angry left) takes this one.
Andi, there's even a little bit more to wrinkle one's nose at, if you ask me.
Sarah at Trying to Grok links to a Newsweek/MSNBC article on a soldier’s homecoming. Sarah picks up on a highly suspect factual statement (Fabulism ala Beauchamp) hidden in the reunion piece.
Allison Samuels writes of her 24 year old cousin returning from a tour in Iraq, her family’s anxieties in her absence, and relief with her safe return home. Here’s how she introduces us to her ordeal – not her cousin’s, but Samuels:
For our family, the months of living on edge began in June 2006, when Alexia Cain was given orders to ship to Iraq. She’d enlisted in the Army months before, frustrated by the lagging job market after graduating from college. For the three years prior to that, images of fresh-faced soldiers heading off to war had been a constant on my bedroom television set. Many of the faces that flashed on the screen somehow seemed familiar in that “I-know-I’ve-seen-you-somewhere-before” way, and I prayed that those I may have known—-or didn’t—would have a safe journey there and a safe return home in mind, body and spirit.Far be it from me to challenge the objects and particulars of a military family member’s anxieties about their loved one in combat. But as a National Guard soldier rather advanced in years myself, who deployed to Iraq with the NY Army National Guard, I know from first hand experience that many of our soldiers in Iraq are not “fresh-faced” by any means. Our average age was about 38, and while anti-war agitators and other partisans like to talk about “our boys and girls” serving in Iraq, that’s a caricature that’s not very accurate.
Be that as it may, I watched a lot of television footage on Iraq –less while I was actually mobilized and deployed – but still a fair amount. I saw many more of the “less than stereotypic” soldiers in many of these reports. I got to think that reporters often went out of their way to get footage of the overweight, and over-aged. Again, I don’t want to throw down a gauntlet or anything, but I think Samuels created that imagery for the purposes of her article.
Note too the implication that Samuels cousin joined the Army because she couldn’t get a (safer) job in the “lagging job market.” I’m kind of curious about the existence of such a job market, especially for a college graduate in a big city metropolitan area. In this article, Samuels plays correspondent on in what has the flavor of a diary entry or essay, rather than a news feature, so perhaps no need to fact check. I wonder if Samuels cousin would explain her choice to serve as out of “frustration” with her employment prospects. Just curious.
Samuels goes on to explain how difficult her cousin’s service was the family, and what happened when grim reality fell upon them:
As a family, we all knew Alexia could be sent to the war-torn region at any time, but we also prayed that some miracle would happen to change her fate and that of so many others. It just had to. But it didn’t. Our family had never sent anyone to war before, and so the ordeal of the next several months was completely alien. Some mornings I would eagerly turn on CNN as soon as I opened my eyes, to watch the latest news on the war. Other mornings I couldn’t bring myself to listen to one more word. Though NEWSWEEK regularly features articles on the war, I bypassed them in search of lighter fare. It was as if by not seeing the images, I could hold fast to my fantasy that all was right in the world and Alexia was safe and sound at her home in Atlanta, still dreaming her adolescent dreams of marrying Kobe Bryant.Sarah questioned this very remarkable assertion that some 50-75 female soldiers in Iraq have been raped by Iraqi insurgents. If such a report has actually appeared in print, it would be far from remarkable that it would have appeared in the NY Times. On Page One. In screaming, Pearl Harbor sized headlines.Reality was, of course, much more grim. There were images of soldiers with lost limbs learning to walk again on prosthetics. I’d read reports of some female soldiers allegedly being raped by Iraqi insurgents—some 50 to 75 rapes, according to The New York Times. Alexia assured us that several male soldiers had volunteered to walk her home after she stood post at night. But that reassurance still couldn’t erase the images of assaults, bombs and corpses.
That would be if any such report actually appeared. To my knowledge, none has.
(For the NY Times article Samuels might have been thinking of, and more commentary, stop back over at Dadmanly.)
The hard-line opinions on weblogs are no substitute for the patient fact-finding of reporters.
We'll Mr Reporter....I just got home from spending a week with someone who has been a News Reporter/Editor for 50 years. Someone very well respected in the journalism community.
All a-twitter to release a series of "gritty" and "hard hitting" anti-war movies while American forces are still engaged in combat overseas, Hollywood's Film Actors Guild once again goes boldly where angels would disdain to tread:
"Antiwar movies are coming out now because public opinion has crystallized against the war," (Brown University policy and media expert Darrell) West says."It's safe for Hollywood to make these kind of movies without risking much of a backlash. There's always a risk when you make an antiwar movie in the middle of the war that people are going to be ticked off," he says. "But now, with two-thirds of Americans thinking that the war in Iraq was a mistake, it's the perfect time to release these kinds of movies.
"There's been a tremendous change in American public opinion over the last two years. In 2004, Bush was re-elected based on the war on terrorism, but now the administration is seen as having mangled foreign policy and put the country into a mess. So it's safe to take on the administration in a way that it would not have been two or three years ago."
Oh, noble.
Sure, a lot of the other things she said I have issues with, but I liked this line - mostly because it must give Sen. Reid a tummy ache.
“We’ve begun to change tactics in Iraq, and in some areas, particularly in Al Anbar Province, it’s working,”I'll take it. Just proves that when it comes to politics - she is, well, a Clinton.
"I'd agree that "long range indirect psychoanalysis" is going too far"
From MedTerms.com
Samson may, it is thought, have had antisocial personality disorder. The Bible tells of his lies to his parents, his cruelty to animals, his torching the Philistine fields, his frequent brawls, and his unremitting bragging after killing a thousand men, actions fitting the diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder. A person with antisocial personality disorder was once called a sociopath.
I'm just hoping Beuchamp doesn't get to the "killing a thousand men" part of his narrative.
...when a GI Joe was a GI Joe. Kids loved him and nobody examined his psyche? Those were the days...
I feel badly for GI Joe. Who knew an identity crisis was on the horizon? I certainly hope this team can deliver a product which does not offend the sensibilities of all the sensible people out there who might otherwise be insensed. Whew....
Oh, it would also serve everyone well to make sure that our complex, hybrid GI Joe is well-trained in SERE (survival, evasion, resistence, escape) skills. We can't afford to have another one caught and paraded around on television for propaganda purposes. Not good...
Hat tip: Who else?
Not getting the play it should, something important happened in Iraq - France just bought in to success.
Bernard Kouchner, the French Foreign Minister, heard appeals from Iraqi leaders for French help as he paid a visit to Baghdad that underlines the thaw in Franco-American relations since Nicolas Sarkozy succeeded President Chirac.At this point, we don't need a French Division or two - what we need is strong support to the Iraqi government and its institutions on the international stage.Dr Kouchner, who made his name as a leftist human rights campaigner, arrived unannounced in Baghdad last night on the first trip by a French Minister since Mr Chirac mounted a global front against the 2003 invasion.
FM Kouchner holds a lot of weight with many in the IC who are at best on the sidelines WRT success in Iraq. We should smile and say thanks.
Will General Petraeus deliver his report to Congress on September 11, and if so, whose idea was that?
Update: From today's White House press gaggle:
Q And the second one is, there's been some confusion about the whens, hows, wherefores of the Crocker-Petraeus testimony to Congress. Can you say when they're going to testify before Congress and under what conditions?MR. JOHNDROE: Yes. General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker will testify in open hearings on the Hill. Administration officials are reaching out to Hill leadership today to discuss with them the potential dates for that testimony. Given the tight schedule leading up to September 15th and the congressional recess with Rosh Hashanah coming up, the likely dates for testimony are September 11th and 12th.
Q That's really just because of the tight schedule and not because it's September 11th?
MR. JOHNDROE: That's right. Congress is not -- as of right now, based on the last we checked, Congress is not in session because of the Rosh Hashanah holiday, very much the week leading up to that Saturday, September 15th.
Still doesn't answer the question, though.
If you screw up badly enough in journalism, sometimes a journalist or two starts working on you. Brendan Miniter whacks the New Republic.
Update: Via Hot Air, some pushback from INDC and Captain's Quarters. I'd agree that "long range indirect psychoanalysis" is going too far, and that the more important issue is the truth of the articles and the system issues that caused the article to show up in the first place.
Steeljaw Scribe has three posts connected with the loss of a VAW-120 Navy E-2 Hawkeye off the North Carolina coast . The first reports
The Navy gave up its hunt for three missing aviators this afternoon and declared them deceased after searching the ocean off North Carolina for them since Wednesday night.As SJS says, "A tough, heartbreaking business this can be."
The second is a brief remembrance of those young men.
The third describes a VAW/VRC community Memorial Fund as a means of honoring fallen aviators by taking care of their survivors.
Guy in Army ROTC at Princeton gets invited to hang out for the summer with an alumnus. Guy's blogging about the trip.
Said alumnus is running military ops in Iraq...
