The Military Channel is seeking your videos.

[John of Argghhh!]

We're happy to help publicize.

One word, though, boys and girls.

OPSEC. Don't give away buy the farm just to be on TV.

The Military Channel is seeking personal videos from members of the U.S. Military to let soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines tell their story directly to viewers. Real-life moments captured on film by service members will be broadcast on the Military Channel as part of a new on-air programming initiative. Servicemen and women anywhere in the world who brought a camcorder with them on a recent deployment, or those who currently have a camera with them on the frontlines, can submit their videos directly to the Military Channel.

Additional information is available from a recent DOD release:
http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=2762

As well as a recent piece that aired on the Pentagon Channel:
http://www.media-file.net/discovery/militarychannel/

Personal videos can be submitted online at www.mywardiary.com, or mailed to the address below. Or email mywardiary@discovery.com for more information.

Mailing Address

MILITARY VIDEOS
Discovery Productions
8045 Kennett Street
Silver Spring , MD 20910

The Military Channel is owned and operated by Discovery Communications, Inc. More information about Discovery and its businesses can be found at www.discovery.com.

Yank the Funding

[Andi]

Sorry to hog all the space here today, but what a busy news day this is turning out to be.

Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., has scheduled a hearing next Tuesday in his Judiciary Committee subcommittee to explore whether Congress has the authority to cut off funding for the U.S. military campaign in Iraq. The move comes as Congress prepares to vote on a congressional resolution opposing President Bush's escalation of the war.

Feingold, a fierce war critic, will force Democrats to consider an option many consider politically suicidal: denying funds to the military and U.S. soldiers to force a quicker end to the war. Democratic leaders have privately called on members to restrain from cutting off funding and focus on congressional resolutions condemning the Bush policy. The resolutions are nonbinding and therefore symbolic.

Yep. Very easy to hold symbolic votes then run to the cameras and proclaim your support of the troops. But...putting ones true beliefs to the test, in public and on the record, without nuance.... Well, a much harder thing for most politicians to do.

"Congress holds the power of the purse and if the president continues to advance his failed Iraq policy, we have the responsibility to use that power to safely redeploy our troops from Iraq," Feingold said in a statement released by his office on Thursday. "I will soon be introducing legislation to use the power of the purse to end what is clearly one of the greatest mistakes in the history of the nation's foreign policy."

Let's have this debate. I'm all for it.

Oh, Boy....

[Andi]

I feel for the troops who will be spending some time with their latest guest.

Grotesque.

Update: Lookie, lookie. Now I feel even sorrier for the troops.

A U.S. embassy official said Pelosi, the first woman speaker of the House, had arrived in Iraq at the head of a six-member congressional delegation for meetings with Iraqi and U.S. officials but did not plan any public appearances.

The delegation includes John Murtha, a Democratic Congressman from Pennsylvania, who has also been vocal in his criticism of the Bush administration's handling of the war.

I hope he stays away from the Marines....

Let's Suppose He's Right

[Andi]

But for all the wrong reasons.

Sen. Charles Schumer, architect of the new Democratic Senate majority, argues that, contrary to conventional wisdom, the 2008 elections will not center on Iraq.

"I think Iraq will not be as strong an issue in the 2008 elections," said the senior senator from New York, as he enters his second straight cycle as chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. "I think the surge will fail and the president will have no choice but to begin removing troops."

What happens if the so-called "surge" works and undeniable progress is documented and all the political naysayers are left with egg on their faces. In that case, of course the elections will not center on Iraq, now will they?

Some Important Links

[Dadmanly]

Since its creation, Military.com has proven itself as an excellent clearinghouse for soldier support and related resources. That they’re also a good friend to MILBLOGS and MILBLOGGERS and military families, earns them special praise.

They tipped me off to two services that I wanted to highlight for MILBLOGGERS and their readership, if they haven’t already seen them.

From a Military.com mailing:

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Website Launched
Barbara Romberg, a psychologist with a private practice in Washington, D.C., has created a single website to link licensed counselors with U.S. troops affected by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from serving Afghanistan and Iraq. More

Program Serves Wounded Warriors
The Army's Wounded Warrior Program, dubbed AW2, is designed for soldiers severely wounded in the war on terror. AW2 provides information and assistance to aid soldiers and their families through the recovery process and beyond. More

The PTSD website sounds like a very helpful addition in an area of great need. No matter how attentive the military remains, and no matter how much the Veterans Administration (VA) tries to help, undiagnosed and unidentified sufferers of PTSD refuse to avail themselves of treatment options, especially if they involve any official recognition of their condition. Contrary to what war protesters and other anti-military types might allege, this has nothing to do with a “callous and uncaring military,” and everything to do with the soldiers themselves, their character, tendency to “tough it out,” and desire to remain in service.

Not that the military or VA sometimes doesn’t contribute to soldier reluctance; many of the guys in treatment talk about the difficulties they encounter, such as when they get classified as 100% disabled. For soldiers still seeking a meaningful return to civilian life – or even to remain in service for that matter – such classifications and the limitations they impose can be frustrating. In any case, having a clearinghouse of resources that soldiers can access on their own has got to be a helpful addition to the panoply of services available.

The AW2 Program sounds like another excellent program. Many of us are familiar with Project Valour-IT and scores of other Soldiers Angels networked services, many of which specifically support wounded veterans and their families. AW2 provides another level of support for these who have sacrificed much in service to their nation.

And again, thanks to military.com for bringing these fine services to wider attention.

(Cross-posted at Dadmanly)

Where I Worry

[Chap]

In thinking about the Long War I know that all the different kinds of Islamists work together: Thai, Indonesian, American, Chechnyan, et cetera. The Shiite fighters also work with the Al-Qaeda types when they see it fit to not kill each other instead. Hezballah's information ops success in Lebanon is teaching lessons to both sides.

Subsunk at Blackfive, and Mohammed Fadhil at Iraq The Model, think things are quiet. This could be a good thing. I worry about information operations in progress...or Grozny.

A couple quick Ones

[Greyhawk]

The Washington Post

Troops Battle Insurgents In Central Baghdad

With attack helicopters circling overhead, U.S. and Iraqi forces waged an intense battle Wednesday to clear armed men from high-rise buildings in a strategic Baghdad neighborhood that had been the scene of a similar day of combat two weeks ago.

The fighting along Haifa Street, a Sunni-dominated area on the west bank of the Tigris River, began before dawn and lasted well into the day, with insurgents firing down from tall buildings, U.S. military officials said.

"We have intelligence information that the terrorist group is back and trying to take some other places," said Ali Dabbagh, a spokesman for the prime minister. "It's a very strategic and important location. It's in the middle of Baghdad; it has a view of all of Baghdad."
<...>
Explosions could be heard coming from the area and thick black smoke rose above the high-rises that line the street. The military said it seized a cache of weapons, including numerous rocket-propelled grenades and antitank rounds, during the raid.

More than 30 "terrorists" were arrested during the operation and roughly 25 were killed, Dabbagh said Wednesday night. A U.S. military spokesman, Lt. Col. Scott Bleichwehl, said he was aware of seven arrests and did not know whether anyone had died.

The New York Times:

Iraqi Official Offers Terms From Militia To Avoid Fight

An Iraqi official authorized to speak on behalf of field commanders for the country’s most powerful militia has approached Western military officials and laid out a plan to avoid armed confrontation, senior Iraqi and American officials said this week.

The official is Rahim al-Daraji, the elected mayor of the Sadr City district, the vast grid in the northeast corner of the capital that is the stronghold of the militia, the Mahdi Army. Mr. Daraji has met twice in the past two weeks with Lt. Gen. Graeme Lamb, a British officer who is the deputy commanding general in Iraq, said a senior Iraqi official in the office of the prime minister.

During the meetings, which took place on Jan. 17 and, most recently, on Monday, Mr. Daraji laid out a proposal from what he said were all the major political and militia groups in Sadr City, the senior Iraqi official said. The groups were eager to head off a major American military offensive in the district, home to two million Shiites, as the Americans begin a sweeping new effort to retake the streets of Baghdad.

Update: Yes, it throws off the title of the post, but here's a third, and it's one of the best pieces of reporting I've ever seen on the war.