War Tapes

Greyhawk

Fresh from the success of the first MilBlogs Conference in DC, our milblogger-about-town Andi made it to New York for the premier of The War Tapes. Don't miss her review.

May Day

Greyhawk

A great day for remembrance. If you don't know why, it's because we won that long war too. (And most of the battles were fought in Korea and Vietnam.)

Don't miss this.

Update: Via Hit and Run, more ghosts of May Day past from Moscow - from Life Magazine. Note the captions - just a hint of the modern embrace of the Orwellian nightmare. Forty five years later and the subtle re-writing of history is in full swing.

Red Tide: The Soviet army on the march through Moscow on May Day 1959. The Cold War was at its height, and leaders in both Washington and Moscow were preparing for an inevitable showdown.

See? America was just like this too.

Russia prided itself on its industrial capacity to build everything from motorbikes to spacecraft.

Apparently they were an amazingly advanced culture back then.

You can almost feel the joyful exuberence of these young gymnasts:

The caption reads:

Young women participate in a mass gymnastic routine at the 1959 celebrations. The mass choreography so popular at such events inadvertently reflected some of the strictures of Soviet life.

There's nothing inadvertant about it. This photo captures every aspect of life in the worker's paradise. I think it's in color.

Next:

Tanks roll through Moscow during the 1963 May Day parade. Despite the martial pose, the previous year's Cuban missile crisis had confronted both sides with the horror of a potential nuclear clash, and had prompted them to begin managing their conflict to avoid war.

Except for Vietnam. And some other spots... But pay no attention to the tanks, comrade. And ignore the funny old man beating his shoe on the table...

This one needs no additional coment, brother:

Vigilance: Soviet Military personnel keep an eye on the crowd at the 1947 May Day celebrations in Moscow's Red Square

*****

How do you tell a Communist? Well, it's someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It's someone who understands Marx and Lenin.
-- Ronald Reagan

There's been some effort from certain quarters recently to downplay the significance of the threat posed by communism in decades past. In hindsight, or so the new narrative goes, it wasn't such a threat after all. (See here and here.) To argue otherwise now is to risk ridicule, or accusations of bigotry, or at least of being non-PC. A few wars later, a few million dead, and communism collapsed. Americans were silly to feel threatened - but Americans are ignorant and paranoid, and that's the same convenient narrative used to explain why we are over reacting to the perceived threat from Islamic terrorism today. Those of superior intellect know they've nothing to fear.

Pay no attention to the Left's involvement in cartoon riots in Denmark, or elsewhere in the world. Don't look too closely at this. Or this. And certainly not this.

Two harmless, impotent forces combined are still a harmless, impotent force, right?

Or is it three? Lou Dobbs:

Most of the mainstream media has been absolutely co-opted by the open borders and illegal immigration advocates. I'm not opposed to demonstrations and protests of any kind, even by those who are not citizens of this country, because one way or another, demonstrations and protests enrich and invigorate the national debate and raise the public consciousness of truth.

But only one newspaper, to its credit, reported that illegal aliens and their supporters' boycott of the national economy on the First of May is clear evidence that radical elements have seized control of the movement. The Washington Post, alone among national papers, reported that ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) has become an active promoter of the national boycott.

Some illegal immigration and open borders activists in the Hispanic community are deeply concerned about the involvement of the left-wing radical group. But others, like Juan Jose Gutierrez, whom I've interviewed a number of times over the past several months, manages to be both director of Latino Movement USA and a representative of ANSWER.

As Gutierrez told us on my show, "The time has come...where we need to stand up and make a statement. We need to do what the American people did when they pulled away from the British crown. And I am sure that back in those days many people were concerned that was radical action."

Just how significant is the impact of leftists within the illegal immigration movement? It is no accident that they chose May 1 as their day of demonstration and boycott. It is the worldwide day of commemorative demonstrations by various socialist, communist, and even anarchic organizations.

Glenn Reynolds:

People are talking about backlash, and how these rallies are counterproductive. That's probably right, but I think that's what the A.N.S.W.E.R. folks are hoping for. Right now you have lots of immigrants who want to be part of America. The A.N.S.W.E.R. people have been stoking these demonstrations not because they want to help illegal immigrants, but because they hope to provoke a backlash that will make them angry at America instead. They don't have short-term ameliorative political goals -- they want shock troops for the revolution.

They are all paranoid, of course, the Bourgeois who would keep us from joining hands and dancing the May Day dance 'neath the bright sun of a warm Moscow spring...

Or is that Tehran?

(Bumped from 2006-05-01 23:29:30)

A Man With a Plan

Greyhawk

Joe Biden has a "new" plan to establish a government in Iraq.

There's one minor problem - there have been three elections there since January 2005. In the second a new constitution was approved - a careful balance between a national government and regional authorities. In fact, much of the Sunni opposition is built around the autonomy of the various regions of Iraq. The weaker the federal bond, the more the Sunnis lose, as the Washington Post explains here.

Another quibble - probably the only way Biden's plan could be implemented at this point would be if he raised and equipped an army and overthrew the current democratically elected government of Iraq. I don't think he could do it, so I suspect he has some other motivation for his actions.

Update: In an answer to an email, Foxnews' own milblogger Captain Dan Sukman offers his opinion on a somewhat related topic:

Nothing really exciting to write about over the past couple of days, so I figured I would spend some time answering in detail some of the e-mails I have gotten.

A huge number continue to ask if I think a civil war has broken out. For example, Steve S. wrote on March 17:

"Reading the news (traditional and non-traditional media) it seems Iraq is either in a civil war or going in that direction. I would like to know from someone like you who is there in the middle of all this, is the situation that bad?"

I have chosen to reserve judgment for the next 150 years. If in 150 years I return to Iraq and everyone in Baghdad is dressing up and reenacting all the violence that is occurring today, as a hobby, I guess you can then call it a civil war.

A Sister’s Tribute

Mrs Greyhawk

Via GreyEagle:

Jordan Leigh has written a beautiful and moving song for our fallen soldiers and dedicated it to her brother Kenneth Schall who died while serving in Iraq. Listen to her song: Soldier, I Thank You

Jordan Leigh is trying to have her song played on Memorial Day. I think one way to help her get exposure for her song is to encourage the other websites and blogs to link back, trackback, or use (www.afemalesoldier2.som/songs/soldier_thank_you.html) as a link or pop-up on your site. I will absorb the bandwidth in order to help her get her song out there. She lost her brother, a soldier, it is the least we can do to help the family and to honor him.

In addition to her song she has shared her feeling and written the following words

Go read them

Dawn Patrol

Mrs Greyhawk

Welcome to the Dawn Patrol, our daily roundup of information on the War on Terror and other topics - from the MilBlogs, other blogs, and the mainstream media. 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. (We have a daily "Open Post" too, if you have something on another topic you can link there.)

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IRAQ

Double, double toil and Iran's trouble -- [Peace like a River]
Yesterday there were reports hinting at the continuing tensions in Iran. Iran actually fired across the border into Iraq.
Iraq has accused Iranian forces of entering Iraqi territory and shelling Kurdish rebel positions in the north...

A Search for the Missing -- [Reporting for Duty - in Iraq - dispatches hosted by WAPO]
A couple of weeks ago, a terrible accident occurred just outside the wire of Al Asad. A convoy was crossing a wash and one of the seven-ton trucks fell victim to the rushing waters, causing all of the Marines and one Navy corpsman inside to go missing. CW4 Phil Brashear, a fellow pilot, was one member of the many crews that launched in support of the Marines and sailors on that truck. I asked him if he share his account of the first day of the mission. In light of the situation and out of respect for the fallen and their families, Phil and I have delayed posting this entry.

Safe Havens & Iraq -- [Counterterrorism Blog - Bill Roggio]
The debate over Iraq being a safe haven and training ground, or a magnet and killing ground for terrorists has been ongoing since the inception of al-Qaeda's terrorist attacks in the summer of 2003. The reality is there is merit to both arguments. al-Qaeda has managed to establish enclaves for small periods of time, particularly in Anbar province during 2005, and has been able to recruit and train fighters from inside and outside the country. Senior al-Qaeda operatives, some with ten to fifteen years of experience in al-Qaeda's ranks, have been killed or captured in Iraq. What is often not factored into the argument is how significant elements of the Sunni population have begun to turn on al-Qaeda, entering the political process and joining the security forces.
Two recent findings help shed light on the status of al-Qaeda in Iraq:

No one wants the interior ministry now! -- [Iraq the Model - Iraqis in Iraq]
When (Jawad) Noori al-Maliki appeared as a strong candidate for becoming Iraq's new PM we wrote 'Jawad who?' because we knew very little about the man's background, qualifications or visions for Iraq and we still know little until this moment and it really came as a surprise to us (in not a bad way) that he was able to win the support of the US and UK a well as the satisfaction of other parliamentary blocs or at least their conditional acceptance.

Snipereye Productions -- [Life in Iraq - As a US Army Sniper - in Iraq]
(Video)

Captain Dan Responds to Your Mail -- [Soldier's Diary , hosted by FOX - in Iraq]
Nothing really exciting to write about over the past couple of days, so I figured I would spend some time answering in detail some of the e-mails I have gotten.
A huge number continue to ask if I think a civil war has broken out. For example, Steve S. wrote on March 17:
"Reading the news (traditional and non-traditional media) it seems Iraq is either in a civil war or going in that direction. I would like to know from someone like you who is there in the middle of all this, is the situation that bad?"

Combined Forces' Raids Net 7 Terrorists, More Than 50 Suspects -- [MNF-Iraq]
Iraqi and coalition forces conducted a series of coordinated raids in the area Yusifiyah April 29, capturing seven wanted terrorists and detaining more than 50 other suspects. The comprehensive operation was conducted to deny safe haven and to kill or capture foreign and Iraqi terrorists who have been operating in the region.

Failed Attack Leads To Capture Of Eight Terrorists -- [Centcom]
Iraqi and coalition forces captured eight terrorists after a failed attack put the terrorists on the run April 27 in Baqubah. A combined patrol was investigating a possible mortar and rocket launch site used by terrorists when a group of men started firing at them.

Flowering bugs -- [Murphy Around The World - in Iraq]
...We still have a lot of injuries and deaths over here, but they’ve gone down dramatically because we’ve up-armored everything. The HMMWV’s are so heavily armored now that many of them have remote gun turret's on top, the gunner can sit inside his cab and swivel the turret and watch outside using optics or night vision sights. They can see further down the road than somebody on top with binoculars, its very state of the art equipment (and expensive). Gunners riding up on top in the turret were getting their arms, heads and upper bodies hurt because of the blast radius from the IED, but everybody else inside the truck were just getting shook up. The IED’s were not being as effective as they were in the past

Thoughts from the Firmbase -- [Midnight in Iraq - in Iraq]
Sweat glistens on foreheads as eight young men packed into a 15’ x 15’ room eat, sleep, and otherwise pass the time in another local Iraqi home turned firmbase for 96 hours. It’s pretty warm today—the warmest it’s been yet. It’s only mid-April and Marines are already returning from foot-mobile cache sweeps looking as if they had a bucket of water dumped over their head. Their cammies soaked through from mid-thigh all the way to upper-arm, they hydrate constantly, and it’s barely enough to regain the fluids they loose on a single patrol.
Once again, I find myself sitting in an Arab home with about two platoons of Marines, waiting to go on patrol.

The Fog of Home -- [Wordsmith at War - in Iraq]
The other morning I walked out of my hooch and saw antennae standing watch like silent sentinels, sticking their heads up out of the fog. The sun looked like a silver coin through the haze. You could stare right at it. The horizon was shrouded. I heard a large explosion, but the sound was compressed as if in a vacuum; it was hard to tell if it was an I.E.D. on a road just outside the F.O.B. or a mortar attack inside the wire. By mid-morning, the clouds served as a prism and there was a golden glare all over the world. It wasn’t the kind of gold you might imagine while reading a poem by Robert Frost. It was the fallow brown of a vast desert come to steal away the mirage of safety.

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MSM REPORTS ON IRAQ

SpecOps unit nearly nabs Zarqawi -- (Army Times)
Just nine days before al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi released his latest video, a special operations raid killed five of his men, captured five others and apparently came within a couple of city blocks of nabbing Zarqawi himself.

'Mission' Gets Closer to 'Accomplished' -- (AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Three years after delivering his "mission accomplished" speech on Iraq, President Bush on Monday declared another turning point had arrived with the establishment of a permanent government in Baghdad....

Bush’s “Mission Unaccomplished” -- (AlJazeera)
"It shows a self-described war president, not ready for the war, or the difficult problems of securing the peace...

Iraqis Begin Duty With Refusal -- (Washington Post)...Nelson Hernandez
The graduation of nearly 1,000 new Iraqi army soldiers in restive Anbar province took a disorderly turn Sunday when dozens of the men declared that they would refuse to serve outside their home areas, according to U.S. and Iraqi military authorities.

Iraqi Recruits Reportedly Balk At Postings Away From Home -- (New York Times)...Richard A. Oppel Jr. and Khalid W. Hassan
...In northern Iraq, Iranian artillery shelled the mountainous eastern fringes of Iraqi Kurdistan in the second day of attacks against land populated by Kurdish rebels, forcing some families to flee, according to reports from Kurdish officials.

Cleric Tries To Keep His Militia -- (Miami Herald)...Nancy A. Youssef, Knight Ridder News Service
Firebrand cleric Muqtada al Sadr is working behind the scenes to maintain his armed militant wing and portray it as a social movement, a step that would make him one of Iraq's most powerful figures if it succeeds, U.S. officials and Iraqi politicians say.

Murtha Won't Sign Petition On Troop-Withdrawal Measure -- (The Hill)...Roxana Tiron
Rep. John Murtha, the powerful Democratic defense appropriator from Pennsylvania, has never signed a discharge petition in his 32 years in Congress, and he refuses to bend, even if signing one means attracting more attention to the debate on the war in Iraq.

Merits of Partitioning Iraq or Allowing Civil War Weighed -- (Washington Post)
As the U.S. military struggles against persistent sectarian violence in Iraq, military officers and security experts find themselves in a vigorous debate over an idea that just months ago was largely dismissed as a fringe thought: that the surest -- and perhaps now the only -- way to bring stability to Iraq is to divide the country into three pieces.

Video Shows Mistreatment Of Hussein Official's Body -- (Washington Post)...Nelson Hernandez and Saad Al-Izzi
The dead body of one of Saddam Hussein's top lieutenants was kicked and insulted after U.S. forces transferred it into Iraqi custody, according to a video of the incident that aired on al-Arabiya television on Monday evening.

Failures Cited In Iraq Rebuilding -- (Boston Globe)...Farah Stockman
A crucial program to train 20,400 Iraqis to guard key oil and electricity infrastructure sites ended in failure last year, with only about half that number actually trained and millions of dollars worth of automatic weapons, armored cars, night-vision goggles, and other equipment unaccounted for, auditors reported to Congress yesterday.

Not over yet in Iraq, sez Bush-- (New York Daily News)...Richard Sisk
Three years after declaring an end to “major combat,” President Bush yesterday predicted more fighting ahead as Iraqis struggle to hold the country together against an insurgency and sectarian bloodshed.

Biden Pitches Division Of Iraq -- (Washington Times)...Christina Bellantoni
Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., the ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, yesterday called for dividing Iraq into three separate regions held together by a loose central government, thus clearing the way for withdrawing most U.S. troops by 2008

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AFGHANISTAN

Afghan Images -- [Fire and Ice - combat artist]
There's one incident from my trip to Afghanistan back in May of 2005 that I love sharing. I went out on a patrol along the Pech River to survey an IED site. The battalion's executive officer was making his rounds of the various FOBs (forward operating bases) the previous week when his vehicle was destroyed by an IED set in the road that parallels the river. Miraculously, other than busted ear drums, no one was seriously hurt. One of the drawings with this posting is of the XO's driver.

Canadians in Cammo -- [Celestial Junk Blog - Canadian troop ]
The days of big talking all fists troopers seem to be coming to an end. The trend in both the United States and Canadian militaries is for professionalism, not brainless brawn. Clear evidence of this is the approach taken in developing Canada’s new Special Operations Regiment which prefers “quiet professionals” to Rambo-style hotheads. The new military requires a complex mix of intelligence, incredible athleticism, and steely nerve, something that brawny hammerheads can’t provide.
I’m often amazed by the US troops who choose to clear buildings in Iraq with pistols and assault weapons in hand, instead of letting grenades or heavy munitions do the job.

Double standards and unnecessary risk -- [Pyjama Samsara - in Afghanistan]
So the Indian telecoms engineer has been executed following his abduction whilst travelling on the Kabul-Kandahar highway. This highway, along with the Kandahar-Herat highway, is known as The Suicide Highway. For obvious reasons.
You know, I don't know why organisations send any international (ie., non-Afghan) staff by car on these highways. You don't need to be white or American to be abducted. It's not kidnap for ransom. It's kidnap for political statement. You just need to be a foreign national. Like this Indian engineer.

Looking out the window -- [Miserable Donuts]
When I was the XO of TF Dragon, I used to travel the entire perimeter of Bagram AF at least twice a day. I used to see things like this all the time.

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MSM REPORTS ON AFGHANISTAN

Briton Takes Charge Of Fight To Tame Warlords -- (London Times)...Michael Evans and Tim Albone
A THREE-STAR British general who takes control of Nato operations in Afghanistan this week will have thousands of American combat troops under his command — the first time this has happened since General Bernard Montgomery took charge of the US 9th Army in late 1944

Canadian, Afghan Forces Kill 27 In Taliban Battle -- (Arizona Daily Star (Tucson))...Noor Khan, Associated Press
Canadian and Afghan forces killed as many as 27 militants and captured three in fighting throughout Afghanistan over the weekend, and an Afghan army sergeant also was killed, officials said Monday.

Taliban Kill Indian Hostage, 3 Soldiers -- (Yahoo News/ AP)
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Taliban militants killed an Indian hostage after he tried to escape and dumped his beheaded body Sunday in southern Afghanistan. Three Afghan soldiers were killed in a roadside bombing also blamed on the Taliban.

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OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD

Abu Ghraib and the Need for Moral Clarity -- [Serving the People of Iraq - in Iraq]
...Many of the insurgents are being held on nothing but the most specious of charges. Here is a litany of the additional abuses that they must endure—and that are not being reported. Prisoners are being beat with mallets, clubs, and rifle butts on a regular basis. Water is withheld from them for long periods of time. Food is withheld from prisoners for even longer periods of time.
...Did you hear about all this happening at Abu Ghraib? That’s because it didn't--at least since Saddam has been gone. It might still be happening, but because Torture Me Elmo has been deposed, the Iraqi people are no longer being systematically abused by their government. However, the litany of abuses described above is happening in Iran—today. It is happening in North Korea—right now.

The rally for Darfur: A feel-good exercise -- [Winds of Change - Yehudit]
...American leadership is pushing from one end, and the Save Darfur activists acknowliedge that, but they want to push on American leadership from behind. They could be more effective pushing on the UN and the nations involved from another angle. The Reform Movement's call to action is a good example of that. But the activists would have to start bashing some sacred cows instead of Bush.

North Korea Freedom Day: Success or Failure? -- [The Korean Liberator - in S Korea]
...He was right on the money. As the pictures show, the North Korea Freedom Day rally was a puny one as far as a Capitol rally goes.
...Compare that, as Joshua wrote, to the Darfur rally where an estimated crowd of between 10,000 to 15,000 people showed up

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MSM REPORTS ON OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD

Japan, U.S. Finalize Troop Plan -- (Japan Times)...Reiji Yoshida
Capping more than three years of grueling negotiations, top Japanese and U.S. officials signed a set of agreements Monday in Washington to realign the U.S. military forces in Japan by 2014 and take the security alliance to a new level.

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WAR ON TERROR /TERRORISM

Sunni Insurgents Deny Clashes with Zarqawi -- [Globalterroralert.com]
The Al-Fatihin Army--a breakaway faction of the prominent insurgent group known as the Islamic Army in Iraq (IAI)--has issued a new statement denying that there has been any recent friction between Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's Al-Qaida movement and other Sunni insurgents in Iraq.

Why Al Qaeda Is Retreating From Iraq -- [Strategy Page]
Despite the many brickbats of the media, al Qaeda has been defeated in Iraq, and is now retreating to lick its wounds where it can. If it can. Just over four and a half years, al Qaeda has gone from being the dominant terrorist group in the world to a defeated shell of its former self. In trying to defeat the United States, al Qaeda made three big mistakes:...

Al Qaeda Sings the Cashflow Blues -- [Strategy Page]
May 1, 2006: Terrorists have to worry about logistics, just like everyone else. In the case of Islamic terrorists, there is the obligation to pay key personnel a living wage. This is so the poor fellow can take care of his family, since it is a religious obligation to have a family, and take care of it. While much is made of the suicide bombers themselves, who are often paid nothing, as they are on and off the job rather quickly. But...

Two Terrorism-Related Congressional Hearings This Week -- [Counterterrorism Blog - Andrew Cochran]
Just two open terrorism-related hearings in the U.S. Congress this week: The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee will hold an oversight hearing this Tuesday on the FBI. Topics are likely to include the extent of information sharing with other agencies (or lack thereof) and the status of troubled FBI computer systems. The U.S. House Government Reform Committee's national security subcommittee will review the viability of future U.N. sanctions in light of the Oil-for-Food scandal and proposed U.N. management reforms.

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MSM REPORTS ON WAR ON TERROR /TERRORISM

Pakistan Detains al-Qaida Fugitive Nasar -- (AP)
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - A top al-Qaida leader whose links stretch from Afghan terror training camps to extremist networks operating throughout Europe has been detained in neighboring Pakistan and possibly handed over to American authorities, according to a U.S. law enforcement official. Mustafa Setmarian Nasar, a Syrian who also holds Spanish citizenship, was captured during a November 2005 sting in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta in which ...

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SUPPORTING THE TROOPS...OR NOT

243rd Engineers Memorial Ride -- [Chris Whong]
http://www.243rdRide.org

We are organizing a bike/car ride to benefit the charities of our fallen soldiers. Please check out the site, and use the register feature to sign up and pledge if you would like to attend. It will be a day long event, and will cover all of central Maryland, stopping at the final resting places of SGTs Conner and McMullen, and CPLs Boswell and Ceo.
Also, we need anyone reading this to spread the word!

NEW YORK, NEWWWWWWWW YORK! -- [One Marines View]
...Marty and Nancy from AnySoldier were the back bone of the event. The Horn family was in full force for the event and looking great!
It was great to sit down, listen to folks and hear their reasons why they supported the troops. Share funny stories about the melting of chocolate Easter bunnies, and how some joker out there would send me an occasional box of half eaten Twinkies, dog chew toys and the like…..(Im still looking for that guy).
...All in the all the AnySoldier cruise was a hit.
CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO ANYSOLDIER.COM!!!

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MSM REPORTS ON SUPPORTING OUR TROOPS

Army Seeks Blood Donations for Iraq War -- (AP)
FORT KNOX, Ky. (AP) -- A boyish Army recruit sits quietly in a plastic chair at Fort Knox and shields a wince from the stern gaze of a drill instructor while a nurse digs with a needle for a vein in his arm.

Young cancer patient gets wish to be like his Navy chief father -- (The Daily News) HT: Politics of a Patriot
"The U.S. Navy has a 113-year-old tradition: The fraternity of Chief Petty Officers, the backbone of the force, the people who truly get the job done. The Navy recently extended an official welcome to its newest chief -- Diego Santiago, age 5. Diego is dying of lung cancer and has only weeks left to live. But he always wanted to be "just like my dad," and so, with the permission of the Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy, Diego attended a ceremony in which his mom and dad, Hospital Corpsman Chief Jesus Santiago, pinned little Diego's anchors to the collar of his real dress blue uniform -- specially made in boys size six
— His family — mom, dad and sisters Brandi, Ali and Samara — plus others have worked to make as many of Diego’s wishes come true as they can. Becoming a chief petty officer was the ultimate.

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MILITARY

On Killing -- [The Foxhole Philosopher - in Afghanistan]
A recent comment about the morality of killing made me realize that I have failed in a goal of mine in the weblog. Namely, that I would bring subtle issues of the military to the “masses.” The comment actually primarily addressed the issue of the level of responsibility that military leaders and soldiers bear in the decision to take a life, at least in my mind.
...The military’s conditioning is exclusively reactionary. This means that we are only conditioned to fire when we are threatened. There is a practical reason for this. If

''DyyyynnnnoooooMIGHT!!!!!!" -- [Sandgram]
...I was told to wander around and look for a Marine in uniform, and ask if he was taking the group to OCS. I found this thick, muscular Corporal standing there with a group of forty-some guys. He was very nice and all smiles as he guided me into the herd of fellow college students. The smiles went away as we boarded the bus out front and he was no longer in the view of the general public.
“SIT DOWN AND SHUT YOUR PIE HOLES,” he began as he paced up and down the bus, “MY NAME IS CORPORAL LITTLE, (he wasn’t little!!) AND YOU WILL ADDRESS ME AS CORPORAL LITTLE, DON’T CALL ME SIR YOU MAGGOTS.” This went on the whole trip down to Quantico as he explained in a very loud voice the do’s and don’ts of his bus.

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MSM REPORTS ON MILITARY

Senate OKs Bill On War Zone Mortuaries -- (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)...Bob Kemper
The Senate on Monday approved legislation offered by Georgia's two U.S. senators that would force the Pentagon to re-evaluate the way it treats its war dead and their families.

Textron Fought Storm To Deliver For Army -- (USA Today)...Elliot Blair Smith
Armored vehicle survived Katrina, Pentagon cost cutters

Bag Of Java? In Battle, It's Better Than None -- (Boston Globe)...Catherine Elton
A little ingenuity from the scientists at the Defense Department's Combat Feeding program in Natick has ended a modern-day military quandary how to get a hot cup of joe to troops on the front line.

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POLITICS

Where Are the Asian Immigrants? -- [GI Korea - in S Korea]
The United States economy did just fine today after the protests by illegal immigrants. The protesters called the rallies a day without immigrants which is an absolute farce because the one's protesting are "illegal" immigrants, not immigrants which is a big difference. If all the legal immigrants in America didn't go to work than that would cause problems. Some of these legal immigrants are taking a stand against these illegals:

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MSM REPORTS ON POLITICS

Bush Lampoons Self At Press Corp Dinner -- (ABC News)
It was twice the fun for members of the White House Correspondents' Association and guests Saturday night when President Bush and a look-alike, sound-alike sidekick poked fun at the president and fellow politicians. "Ladies and gentlemen, I feel chipper tonight. I survived the White House shake-up," the president said. But impersonator Steve Bridges stole many of the best lines. Vice President Dick Cheney and his hunting accident was the target of his humor on a couple of occasions. "Speaking of suspects, where is the great white hunter," Bridges said, later adding. "He shot the only trial lawyer in the country who supports me."

Bush: Prospective Citizens Should Learn English -- (News Max)
The national anthem should be sung in English - not Spanish - President Bush declared Friday, amid growing restlessness over the millions of immigrants here illegally. "One of the things that's very important is, when we debate this issue, that we not lose our national soul," the president exclaimed.

1 Million Immigrants Skip Work for Rally -- (AP)
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Illegal immigrants stepped out of the shadows and poured into the streets, marching in waves of red, white and blue as part of a nationwide show of economic clout designed to prove their value to their adopted homeland and pressure Congress for reforms. "This country needs us. We are the strong arms that do all the tough jobs," said Donna Maria Mostache, a 43-year-old cook and illegal immigrant who marched alongside hundreds of thousands of others in Los Angeles. "We can't be afraid to come out and say who we are."

Dobbs: Radical groups taking control of immigrant movement -- (CNN)...Lou Dobbs
Manage Alerts | What Is This? NEW YORK (CNN) -- We all awoke to headlines in our nation's most important newspapers reminding us that this is "A Day Without Immigrants." Not illegal immigrants, mind you, but immigrants.

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THE MEDIA

And the leaks go on. And the leaks go on... -- [Protein Wisdom]
From Raw Story:
On Chris Matthews’ Hardball Monday evening, just moments ago, MSNBC correspondent David Shuster confirmed what RAW STORY first reported in February: that outed CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson was working on Iran at the time she was outed. ...
This is sure to get the leftwing sites atwitter, and indeed, some of the more credulous anti-war / anti-Bush sites have already begun gloating over what AJ Strata and others (see his comments section) have noted is not only ridiculous on its face. First of all, the idea that the “outing” of Valerie Plame damaged our ability to track information about Iran’s nuclear weapons program is dependent upon one believing that ...

The Boy Who Cried "Intelligence Sources Say" -- [Media Blog]
Some of you might remember our fruitless efforts to get MSNBC correspondent David Shuster to correct his undeniably false assertion that the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate did not contain the words "vigorously trying to procure uranium" in reference to Iraq. In fact, the words can be found on page 24 of the document. Some of you might recall the exact language Shuster used

There's precedent for this.... -- [Media Lies]
....from many years ago. A famous New York Times writer fabricated stories about the Soviet Union and won a Pulitzer Prize for his work. It's just possible that Dana Priest did the same with her story on the secret CIA prisons in Europe.
It now appears that those prisons may never have existed.

Broadcast Nets Again Champion Cause of Protest Marches on Behalf of Illegals -- [NewswBusters]
All three broadcast network evening newscasts led Monday night with multiple favorable stories about the day of protests to promote the cause of illegal aliens. Bob Schieffer opened the CBS Evening News by trumpeting: “From coast to coast, from north to south, they wanted us to know what America would be like without them and so millions of immigrants missed work, skipped school and marched in the streets. They want America to find a place for those who came here illegally and it's too soon to know if they changed any minds in Congress. But

American Media Outlets are Pawns of the Insurgency in Iraq -- [Victory in Iraq]
On March 26, 2006, Iraqi Special Forces conducted a raid on an establishment in northeast Baghdad with the assistance of U.S Special Forces. During the ensuing firefight, 16 enemy combatants were killed, another 16 or more were captured, a sizeable cache of IED making equipment, weapons and ammunition was seized, and most significantly a hostage was rescued.
...CBS News correspondent Lara Logan reported that "it is unclear what happened, but that it comes on the back of several incidents where Americans are being investigated for use of force on Iraqis, and there is talk on the street of revenge." As usual, American mainstream media reported spin rather than fact and thereby facilitated the accomplishment of the insurgents' objective to further diminish public sentiment about progress in Iraq.
What is scandalous is the brazenly flippant attitude that "reporters" take in "reporting."

Economic Journalism Is Politics By Other Means -- [Villianous Company]
These days the half-vast editorial staff are afraid to crack open a newspaper for fear some wild-eyed journalist will assault us with alarmist tales about the worst economy since Herbert Hoover. Frankly, we're not sure where all this pessimism is coming from, because recent news about the U.S. economy has been relentlessly positive

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MILBLOGGING / BLOGGING

MilBlog Conference Wrap-Up -- [Andi's World]
I originally wrote this post while on the train to New York. It's been a busy few days, so I'm just getting around to publishing it. On a sad note, I was informed that the site for MilBlog Conference experienced some technical difficulties and unfortunately, much of the content was lost.
...I've compiled an extensive list of blogger reaction to the MilBlog Conference. Be sure to check it out because I've just added more links. If I've overlooked your post, let me know and I'll add it to the list. I intended to post the links on the conference site, but now that's impossible. However, the links will go on the site for the "Second Annual MilBlog Conference" and will serve as a reminder of how much fun we had at the first one.

What the hell do I know about blogging? -- [Hooah Wife and friends]
I was going through my Blogroll (list of other blogs) this morning and was saddened to read that some were burned out and taking a break, some are slowing down (to like 1 post a week), some are frustrated because they don’t get a lot of readers or comments and some were quitting. So what the hell does this mom in Oklahoma know about blogging?

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HUMOR/ SATIRE

Mind Of Mencia -(VIDEO)
Explains how our military is great!

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CONGRATS

Baby Noor soldiers honored -- [48th Goes to War - AJC blog]
The Georgia Commission on the Holocaust on Friday honored the Gainesville-based infantry company that rescued Noor al-Zahra, the Iraqi baby born with spina bifida.
Soldiers of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment, returned from a yearlong deployment in Iraq a week ago. They were recognized for their humanitarian efforts at a noon ceremony at the Capitol.

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(Need more? The previous Dawn Patrol is here.)

Meanwhile, Back at the Front

Greyhawk

Our irregular round-up of news from the front lines...

The New York Times qualifies their Iraq news by pointing out it's based on US claims (they usually don't tell you when they're passing on tips from insurgent insiders)

U.S. Says Guerrillas Were Killed In Raids

By Sabrina Tavernise

BAGHDAD, Iraq, April 30 — The United States military said Sunday that more than 20 guerrillas it identified as foreign fighters had been killed in recent raids south of Baghdad that were aimed at cutting down on insurgent attacks in the capital.

Insurgents have used the region in and around Yusifiya, a town 10 miles south of Baghdad that has long served as a base for Sunni Arab extremists, as a starting point for recent suicide attacks in Baghdad, the military said in a statement. Some of those killed in the raids over the past few weeks were wearing explosive vests, the military said.

The nationalities of the insurgents have often been difficult to determine, officials said, although they added that most of the dead appeared to be from outside Iraq. Iraqi soldiers have also participated in the raids.

Lush farmland and palm trees allow insurgents to disappear easily in the region, known as the Triangle of Death. Taming the area is central to security in Baghdad, whose southern edge, particularly the suburb of Dawra, has become so violent that many residents are afraid to leave their houses.

In further efforts to weaken Iraq's violent insurgency, President Jalal Talabani said Sunday that an agreement between the Iraqi authorities and seven armed groups "was possible," a spokesman said.

Mr. Talabani did not say which groups were involved in the discussions or when the agreement might be reached. Mr. Talabani has spoken publicly of contacts with insurgent groups in the past.

American officials said this winter that they had been meeting with Iraqi nationalist guerrilla groups to try to draw them away from extremists like Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian who has claimed responsibility for dozens of bloody attacks against Iraqi civilians and American troops here.

Mr. Zarqawi, the head of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, is believed responsible for dozens of car and suicide bombings here that have killed and wounded thousands of Iraqi civilians. He also took credit for the November bombing of three hotels in Jordan that killed at least 57 people.

The raids around Yusifiya took place in April, and were focused on striking foreign-run networks, particularly those thought to be run by Al Qaeda, the military said.

Now check out the way the Army Times reports the same story:

Just nine days before al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi released his latest video, a special operations raid killed five of his men, captured five others and apparently came within a couple of city blocks of nabbing Zarqawi himself.

Then, the day Zarqawi’s video debuted, special ops forces killed 12 more of his troops in a second raid in the same town.

The raids in Yusufiyah, 20 miles southwest of Baghdad in the heart of the Sunni Triangle, were the latest battles in a small, vicious war being waged largely in the shadows of the wider counterinsurgency effort.

It is a war fought by a secretive organization called Task Force 145, made up of some of the most elite U.S. troops, including Delta Force and SEAL Team 6. They have one goal: hunting down Zarqawi, Iraq’s most wanted man, and destroying his al-Qaida in Iraq organization.

Zarqawi’s escape in Yusufiyah was not the first time special ops troops have nearly had him. In early 2005, they came so close they could see the Jordanian’s panicked face as he fled.

Read it all - there's much more at the link. (I'm actually surprised at how much more.)

And in case you ever wondered if the NY Times would know a good story if it bit 'em on the ass, now you know.

And from the Mideast Stars and Stripes:

Sunni Troops Graduate From U.S.-Run Training

American military says recruitment of Anbar province forces significant

By Joseph Giordono, Stars and Stripes

HABBANIYAH, Iraq — The first all-Sunni class of Iraqi army trainees graduated from an American-run basic training course here Sunday, marking what U.S. military officials called a significant step in rebuilding the Iraqi security forces.

Some 978 men — including more than 800 from Fallujah — were sworn in as privates in the new Iraqi army, the first cadre of a planned 6,500 Sunni troops to be recruited from and trained in Anbar province.

And as the Iraqis stand up, the Americans come home:

ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq – Down at the motor pool, the smell of diesel fills the air. The mechanics, wrenches at the ready, are standing by for an incoming convoy, out there somewhere kicking up dust on the last leg home. A warming sun floats slowly up into a wide, blue sky.

It's another beautiful morning in the desert, a workday at war. But for Capt. Jim Shuman's “wrench turners” and the rest of the men of the 1st Battalion, 118th Field Artillery, it's Georgia, not Iraq, that's on their minds.

“What they're talking about is going home,” the smiling motor-pool boss says. And they can almost see the moonlight through the pines.
<...>
“The big mission of winning hearts and minds – whether that's going well is anybody's guess,” Shuman said. But “there's a great sense of accomplishment in doing our part.”

And over at Newsweek, the results:

Osama Needs More Mud Huts

Imagine if a few months after September 11 someone had said to you, "Five years from now, in the space of a single week, Osama bin Laden will issue a new call for worldwide jihad, the head of Al Qaeda in Iraq will threaten a brutal, endless war, and there will be two terror attacks in Egypt." Chances are you would have been quite unnerved. Yet the most striking aspect of last week's news was the reaction to it—very little.

Radical Islamic terror made big, violent and scary moves and—whether you judge it by media coverage, stock-market movements or international responses—the world yawned.

Al Qaeda Central, by which I mean the dwindling band of brothers on the Afghan-Pakistani border, appears to have turned into a communications company. It's capable of producing the occasional jihadist cassette, but not actual jihad. I know it's risky to say this, as Qaeda leaders may be quietly planning some brilliant, large-scale attack. But the fact that they have not been able to do one of their trademark blasts for five years is significant in itself.

My son's response on hearing of the new bin Laden audio tape: "I wonder where he lost his camera?"

Open Post

Greyhawk

Please leave a comment if trackbacks fail - things are working funny since the DoS attack last week.

Houses full of Heroes

Greyhawk

Two stories of Marines, one beginning his career with a climb up a mountain, another reaching two well deserved peaks.

First, Russell Working of the Chicago Tribune gets the rare experience of watching his son in boot camp:

During the Crucible, recruits march 40 miles between tasks that include tackling combat assault courses and carrying ammunition boxes over log-and-chain obstacles. It ends with a 10-mile hike in which recruits lug M16A2 service rifles and 50-pound packs up a mountain known as "the Reaper."

Mine was an unusual visit. I was not only a reporter--a common visitor to Marine bases--but the father of a recruit. It is all but unheard of for a dad to look in on boot camp, but the corps agreed to my request to see part of boot camp if I was going to write about Sergei's enlistment, as I have been doing since February.

The company commander, Capt. Rich Vallee, said nothing would be done to compromise recruits' safety, but added, "You're going to see your son in some pain, sir."

Vallee seemed worried that I wouldn't get it. What might look like bullying to a civilian parent--hounding recruits to the point of exhaustion--serves an essential purpose, the corps believes. The Crucible forces men to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles by working as a team.

Read it all. Working's story is part of a series, you'll find links to the previous entries there.

A bit further into his own Marine Corps career, Brad Kasal can tell you about beating the Reaper, and teamwork forged in a crucible:

CAMP PENDLETON — It has become one of the iconic pictures of the war in Iraq: blood-soaked Marine 1st Sgt. Brad Kasal, grim-faced and still clutching his service pistol, being helped from a firefight by two younger Marines.

Although wounded by seven AK-47 rounds and hit by more than 40 pieces of hot shrapnel from a grenade, Kasal refused to quit fighting and is credited with saving the lives of several Marines during the U.S. assault on insurgent strongholds in Fallouja in November 2004.

"He was hurt bad, but for the most part, he was more worried about his Marines than himself," said then-Cpl. R.J. Mitchell, one of the Marines involved in the firefight in a two-story stucco house.

Kasal has undergone 21 surgeries and months of painful rehabilitation to repair his injuries and attempt to save his right leg.

Today, the 39-year-old Iowa native will be promoted to sergeant major, the highest enlisted rank in the Marine Corps, and receive the Navy Cross for combat bravery, second only to the Medal of Honor. Only nine others have received the Navy Cross for service in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Then:

The picture, taken by Lucian Read, a photographer for World Picture News who was embedded with the Marines, has been widely reprinted. It was used on the back cover of "No True Glory," an account of the fight for Fallouja by Bing West, the premier historian of Marines in combat in Iraq.

Kasal, in his second tour in Iraq, was with the Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, during the assault. At the height of the fighting Nov. 13, Marines were going door to door. Insurgents were often waiting upstairs to rain down AK-47 fire and grenades.

When Kasal learned that three Marines were pinned down in one house, he and other Marines went to their aid.

Once inside the house, Kasal barked orders to younger Marines to cover vantage spots where insurgents might be hiding. He turned into one room and immediately ran into an insurgent who cried out in Arabic. The two exchanged gunfire; the insurgent missed and Kasal killed him.

Other insurgents fired at the Marines from upstairs, hitting Kasal and others. Kasal fought his way to a wounded Marine and used a tourniquet on his leg to keep him from bleeding to death. When he spotted an insurgent's grenade, he sheltered the wounded Marine with his body to protect him from the blast.

Kasal refused medical attention until other Marines were helped and made sure Marines in the street knew there were Marines inside so none would be hit by so-called friendly fire.

"Although severely wounded himself, he shouted encouragement to his fellow Marines," the Navy Cross citation states. By the time he was evacuated, Kasal had lost about 60% of his blood and was barely conscious.

And now:

Doctors initially told Kasal that his right leg below the knee was so badly mangled it might not be saved, and that subjecting himself to surgeries and rehabilitation could prove futile. Four inches of bone had been shot away.

Kasal opted against amputation, knowing that it would mean the end of his career in the Marines. "I decided to gut it out and work through the pain," he said. "I wanted to do whatever was needed to keep it going."

Six days a week, he does two to four hours of rehabilitation. Recently, the onetime high school wrestler and football player was able to run for the first time since Fallouja. "It wasn't pretty, but I was able to do it," he said.

Kasal, who is single, has been assigned to a recruiting station in Des Moines. He did three years as a recruiter in the 1990s in Minnesota, the only stretch in his 21 years in the Marine Corps in which he has not been assigned to an infantry company.

His goal is to get strong enough to return to the infantry and go back to Iraq. "We started it; we need to finish it," he said. "I believe in what we're doing. I'd go back in a heartbeat."

Last word:

Kasal said the picture and the acclaim it has brought him should not overshadow the actions of other Marines in the same fight. "That house was full of heroes," he said.

Iran in Iraq?

Greyhawk

The Washington Times: Iranians Accused In Iraq Bombing Deaths Of Soldiers.

In this case, Italian soldiers:

ROME -- Iranian agents were accused yesterday of masterminding a bomb attack that killed three Italian soldiers in Iraq last week and intensified political pressure for the incoming government to speed up its withdrawal of troops from that country.

Italian communists are leading the calls to cut and run:

Oliviero Diliberto, head of the Italian Democratic Communist Party, a coalition partner of Prime Minister-designate Romano Prodi, said the new government could withdraw all Italian forces from Iraq by this summer.

Mr. Prodi "completely agrees with me" on speeding up withdrawal, he said. But political sources said Mr. Prodi, who is set to form a government after Mr. Berlusconi resigns tomorrow, was unlikely to accelerate the phased withdrawal so dramatically.

The story also notes:

The attack Thursday was the worst on the force since November 2003 when 19 Italians, mostly Carabinieri, were killed in a suicide attack in Nasariyah. Italy has about 2,600 troops in Iraq.

And if you've never heard of Brigadier Giuseppe Coletta, who fell in that November, 2003 attack, take a moment and read this.

Meanwhile, The London Daily Telegraph reports from the Kurdish north

Teheran Raids Iraq In Attack On Kurds

Teheran has attacked an anti-Iranian Kurdish group based in Iraq, it emerged yesterday, raising fears that instability there could spill over into the rest of the region.

Iraq's defence ministry said more than 180 artillery shells were fired and Iranian troops crossed three miles into Iraqi territory before withdrawing.

The incursion, which occurred on April 21, came after Iranian claims that a number of attacks had been conducted against Iranian army and Revolutionary Guard posts in recent weeks.

They are accused of operating from bases around Haj Oman, which was the centre of the Iranian attack. Four people were said to have been wounded.

The group, known as the Pejak, is fighting for the creation of a ''Greater Kurdistan'' linking predominantly Kurd- populated areas in Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran.

The Pesh Merga vs. Iran? Bet on the Pesh Merga - especially if the Italian communists are supporting the Ayatollahs.

Every Day Heroes

Greyhawk

Lou Dobbs' weekly tributes to heroes are exceptional and shouldn't be missed. This week's edition featured the amazing story of Jeremy Church

DOBBS: It's time for "Heroes," our weekly tribute to our men and women in uniform. Tonight, the story of Army Reserve Specialist Jeremy Church and his extraordinary heroism under fire when he was a private in combat in Iraq. Philippa Holland has his story.

PHILIPPA HOLLAND: It was April 2004 and Private First Class Jeremy Church was the lead driver for a fuel convoy in Baghdad.

SPEC. JEREMY CHURCH [U.S. Army Reserve]: We started noticing tendencies that the military teaches you on recognition, people not being around, lack of traffic. And we're like, well, this might not be a good thing.

HOLLAND: Quickly, they were attacked -- 200 insurgents with improvised explosive devices, rocket-propelled grenades, assault rifles and machine guns.

CHURCH: Two rounds came through the front window and struck my lieutenant in the head. From there, I looked over, grabbed my medical bag, put it over his eye for him, and continued to drive and fire out my window.

HOLLAND: Church managed to lead the convoy back to the base but a quick count showed there were soldiers missing.

CHURCH: When I looked back outside the gates, you could see their vehicle stranded about a mile out. I just grabbed my weapon, and told them that's where we needed to go, and we jumped in a Humvee and went out there to get them. And we had pretty good resistance going back out.

HOLLAND: Under heavy fire, they battled back to the stranded soldiers and loaded the wounded into the Humvee. But there was not enough room for Private Church and another soldier.

CHURCH: I said you guys don't have enough room. Try to hurry back. Me and Specialist Cowls (ph) stayed out there, kept fighting the enemy.

HOLLAND: The Army credits Church with saving the lives of at least five soldiers and four civilians that day. Now a specialist, Church was awarded the Silver Star for his gallantry in action. He's the first Army Reservist to receive the Silver Star in this war.

CHURCH: I didn't really know how to take it. You don't really ask to get those kind of things, ma'am. You just be honored that they decided to award you it.

HOLLAND: Philippa Holland, CNN.

DOBBS: Specialist Church returned to Iraq five weeks ago. He's now serving with the 454th Transportation Company.

Update: Kudos to Dobbs and his crew for telling the story.

Lest we forget - Church's mission was the one in which Spc. Keith “Matt” Maupin was captured.

No surprise - Chuck Simmons wrote about Church last year. Twice. And Blackfive included him in his "Someone you Should Know" series here.

Stars and Stripes had a detailed account last year too.

Mini Dawn Patrol

Mrs Greyhawk

Busy day for me as I will be helping out at Kleber and Landsthul today. MaryAnn, Willie and I have boxes upon boxes of foot and hand warmers to deliver to the chaplain's office at Landstuhl. The amount of support for this project has been immense. Soldiers' Angels thanks all those for taking the time to make these and for helping support our wounded heroes that have sacrificed so much.

Here are few reports from Iraq:

Bill Putnam at An independent look at Iraq , a journalist embed, is doing some great reporting from Iraq.

He reports on a Search for IED triggermen:

I heard the boom and didn't think much of it. It could've been anything; a controlled detonation of UXO; or, a mortar or rocket round hitting the FOB. Then the company's internet cafe shut down and I knew it meant something more.

The news came out slowly. No one told me at first. Someone said, "It's a secret, Bill." By then the company was spinning up for something but no one was telling me much. As the sun set, everyone was readying Humvees and gear for something.

He reports on a truck stop search to crack down on black market gas:

Truck drivers come to Bayji from all over Iraq and fill up their trailers. Entering and leaving the refinery takes stamps and paperworks. Typical of a bureaucracy but required when a lot of money is flowing out of that place. The criminal gangs and Bad Boys who run the black market fuel program have set up using counerfiet stamps and paperwork to essentially make tankers disappear once it leaves the refinery's gates. Competition to get in is also pretty tight. A lot of guards will take bribes and the drivers are more than willing to pay them.

And he reports on Operation Swift Sword

Operation Swift Sword was conducted along the same lines of Operation Swarmer month held down river in the deserts between Samarra and Ad Dawr. Helicopters, Black Hawks and Chinooks, air assaulted grunts and junedis out to various Landing Zones in the deserts east of Bayji. Once one the ground they'd look for insurgents and their caches.

If you haven't found his blog yet go check him out.

Ross at Iraq Pictures in Iraq, shows us here and here how the locals repond to our troops.

Locals from Al Harza Village, near Numaniyah, stand in line just to meet U.S. troops during an operation conducted by the 48th Brigade Combat Team. People don't stand in line to meet the criminals such as Al Queda who violate Islam and Muslim brotherhood and law.

America Majority Daily Dispatch claims More Carelessness from Brookings:

For four months, the “Iraq Index,” a project of the Saban Center of the Brookings Institution, has failed to update a key indicator of Coalition progress.

The data in question records the number of “actionable tips” generated by the Iraqi population. An “actionable tip” is one that contains information regarding anti-government forces that can be used in operational planning by the MNF or by Iraqi Security Forces.

Ed at Hardtack and Havoc in Iraq, explains that even Ice Cream can be an OPSEC Issue

A bit back I was enjoying a nice creamy delicious bowl of ice cream (it wasn't Bluebell but still good) and I had an interesting conversation:

Me: Slurp, Smack, Scarf, Slurp

Buddy from another MiTT Team: So you taking out a convoy tomorrow, where ya going?

Me (surprised): How'd you know we are going on a road trip?

Buddy (laughing): Dude...You ALWAYS have ice cream before you convoy.

Glen at The Babylon Blog in Iraq, appreciates those supporting our troops at Mail Call

Even in this high-tech war of email and satellite phone communication, there’s still something special about old-fashioned mail. With my moving to another location and a more remote place of duty it’s been a while since I’ve seen any mail. In the past few weeks all I’ve received is one lonesome card from my sister.
All that changed on Friday. During our weekly trip to battalion headquarters I got word that there were a bunch of packages waiting for me in the mail room.

Mikal in Iraq at Marketing in Iraq has some Opinions on the World:

I want to talk about two things in this post. The first item up for discussion is a new energy policy for the United States. The second issue is a more frightful issue. Any guesses? Let's just say I, as an American Soldier, do not want to have to go visit Iraq's neighbor.

Jeff at Peace Like A River is wondering if A terrorist marketing blitz is going on and why.

A week ago, an audiotape featuring the soothing tones of Osama bin Laden surfaced. Last Tuesday, Zarqawi showed up on a video portraying him in a number of militaristic settings.
And just this Saturday, a video featuring Al Qaeda #2 Zawahiri surfaced.

Obviously an Al Qaeda propaganda blitz is underway. However, I do wonder if we are seeing signs of a renewed alliance between Iran and Al Qaeda, and I wonder if Iran played a role in suggesting the brain trust of AQ take to the airwaves at this time.

Michael Totten is reporting on the rising tension and danger on the Lebanese-Israeli border, On the Rim of a Volcano

Everything Could Explode at Any Moment.

Michael at Fire and Ice, who recently returned from Iraq, says If You Build It They Will Come

The overarching theme of this gathering centered on the passion milbloggers have for sharing their story-matched only by the equally fanatical desire of our readers to find, follow, encourage and support us. (I'm reminded of Norman Rockwell's WWII painting for the cover of the Saturday Evening Post-Homecoming Marine - a newly returned gyrene, clutching a Japanese battle flag, relates his war experiences to the eager ears of neighborhood boys and the guys at his old workplace.) To a person, we milbloggers are amazed how these simple internet diaries, universally started to keep family and friends informed, have taken on a life all their own. Our journals became journalism. Our first hand reporting was countering second hand media retorting. Milbloggings authentic in the trenches voices continues to challenge the reporting of the main stream media, and on a daily basis is calling them out on the carpet. We built them and you came....by the tens and hundreds of thousands. Thank you!

Captain Ed is enlisting members to a new group called "101st Fighting Keyboarders"

Our friends on the port side of the blogosphere have had quite a time tossing around funny little nicknames for those of us who support the war on terror and use our blogs to express our convictions about it. We've seen the names here at CQ in the comments section -- the term "chickenhawk" has appeared more than once, and others in the blogosphere have assigned us to a unit called the 101st Fighting Keyboardists.

And be sure not to miss BlackFive's "Someone you Should Know" series.

(Need more? The previous Dawn Patrol is here.)

Where's Your Sign?

Greyhawk

The St. Petersburg Times updates the story of a neighborhood battle:

TAMPA - Stacey Kelley isn't sure what to do anymore about the "Support Our Troops" sign that has brought an endless flow of news cameras to her door.

That's because the sign is gone.

"I guess someone didn't like it," Kelley said.

The sign was apparently stolen out of Kelley's yard in northwest Hillsborough's Westchase subdivision. The ribbon-shaped sign violated the community's deed restrictions. In February, Westchase officials told Kelley to take it down, but she refused.

Kelley said the sign was up on April 21, when she and her husband, David, an Army private who is home on leave from Iraq, left to spend the day at Busch Gardens. When they came home that night, it was gone.

Original story here.

Town Mayor Steals Dead Marine's Life Savings

Greyhawk

Via reader email - unbelievable - but true:

Mayor Won't Give Dead Marine's Money Back

FORT LUPTON, Colo. -- The mother of a U.S. Marine was grieving for her dead son when she found that his savings account had been claimed by the director of the funeral home.

It was money that he had no right to and despite a court ruling, the funeral director refused to pay. What's even more puzzling is that he's not just any debtor, he's the mayor of the small town and a member of a City Council that has financial responsibility for the city's budget.

7NEWS also found that he has other debts as well, something his constituents may want to know.

Jason Sepulveda, a Marine, was training at Camp Lejune in North Carolina, preparing to go to Iraq, when in an evening off-base, he was killed in a car accident.

"My son died instantly and the other Marine died approximately two weeks after," said Elis Sepulveda, Jason's mother.

His parents, who spoke with him weekly, knew he had been saving his money for a long weekend when they would all be together.

"We were going on vacation for the Fourth of July to visit him," Sepulveda said. "I know he had been sacrificing because they don't get paid very much."

Jason's body was returned to Colorado for burial. Records show that the funeral was paid, in full, by the Marines. But after closing out her son's accounts, Jason's mother realized that the probate court had sent the proceeds of Jason's savings account to the funeral home, which is run by Jim Bostick.

"I called Mr. Bostick and I said, 'Well, the courts sent you my son's savings account.' He just kind of really blew me off a lot," Sepulveda said.

She said he didn't give her any receipts or bills and just kept the money.

In addition to his duties as mayor and member of the Ft. Lupton City Council, Bostick also owns two funeral homes. In his role with the city, he is heavily involved in overseeing the finances of the town.

Sepulveda took Bostick to court over the money he wouldn't return to her family. The judge's order in the case was final.

"She gave damages, interests, court fines, everything, and I assumed that if you go to court that you pay it," Sepulveda said.

But despite the judgment of more than $7,500, Bostick has refused to pay.

I guess he figured dead Marines don't fight back.

More details at the link. He won't have to worry if the town kicks him out as mayor - the Hilton would probably hire him the next day.

Last Man Out...

Greyhawk

...please turn out the lights. The Washington Post on the final Friday at Fran's:

A fiercely beloved military tradition came to a close in downtown Washington last night when Fran O'Brien's Stadium Steakhouse reluctantly served its last thick steak with a side of laughter and dignity to soldiers recovering from war injuries in the area.

But the veterans -- many of whom made their first, cautious forays in public with prosthetics, scars and skin grafts during the Friday night dinner tradition -- did not go down without a fight.

Hundreds of soldiers began online campaigns to preserve the weekly dinners, save the steakhouse and shame the Capitol Hilton, at 16th and L streets NW, which houses the restaurant and declined this month to renew its lease.

The restaurant, a staple among the power-dining set, is losing its lease Monday. That might be sad for steak lovers everywhere, but the real tragedy, many supporters said, is the end of the 2 1/2 years of Friday night veterans' dinners.

In the same article, hotel general manager Brian Kelleher tells the Hilton's side of the story

Hotel general manager Brian Kelleher said it was simply a business deal, a lease negotiation that broke down after restaurant owners were asked to spiff up the "dated" look and didn't comply and then were late on their rent.

The hotel asked the owners to update worn upholstery, install new carpeting, replace an aging canopy and polish the brass outside, but the owners refused, Kelleher said.
<...>
"This has had absolutely nothing to do with the veterans," Kelleher said.

The Hilton has offered to help take over the Friday night dinner tradition, which had been funded by the restaurant's owners and then by corporate donors. Management has suggested the dinners could move to a ballroom or to the hotel's other restaurant, Twigs.
<...>
"We can use the back of my other restaurant," he said, or he can screen off part of a ballroom.

Other reputable sources suggest that once overdue room service bills are subtracted from rent due, the Hilton actually owes Fran's over eight thousand dollars.

But even without that considerable amount, Fran's was hardly without funds:

At a ceremony hosted by Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England, Pier Francesco Guarguaglini, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Finmeccanica SpA, presented a check for $75,000 to the Fran O'Brien's Stadium Steakhouse in support of a program for wounded American soldiers. The Friday "steak night" has become a valued part of the soldiers' recovery from injuries sustained in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Other supporters have contributed too. In fact, the Aleethia Foundation was established just for the purpose of supporting the dinners. And although they may no longer be held at Fran's, I'm assured those dinners will continue elsewhere with full involvement of the guys who started it all. But with that kind of money rolling in it's no wonder that the Hilton was eager to move the dinners to their own restaurant.

Likewise, it's no surprise the Hilton is furiously practicing damage control:

I also met Ramona Joyce, an Army veteran and volunteer who is intimately familiar with the goings on at Fran O'Brien's. She and I had a long chat and I enjoyed talking to her. On this evening, she was more than perturbed with Brian Kelleher. According to Ramona, while the cameras were rolling, Brian Kelleher greeted the troops. So what? Well, she says that it was the first time that he's ever done that.

It ain't over, as they say. And if someone with some responsibility at the Hilton doesn't act fast it never will be.

Our previous coverage is compiled here. The Washington Post is right about "hundreds of soldiers" involved in this issue, but they represent just a fraction of a very large group comprised of people from all walks of life and otherwise divergent political views. (Hilton officials have shut down their email as a result of the volume of complaints.) And with coverage in the Times of London, the exposure is now international.

Open Post

Greyhawk

A Final Friday at Fran's?

Greyhawk

Probably. For now I'll just offer this picture for all the Hilton management folks who believe it will all be soon forgotten.

Update: And you most definitely want to read this account of last Friday at Fran's

The young man introduced himself as a Staff Sergeant, saying he’d been wounded in Iraq and had been attending Friday Nights at Fran’s for about two years. With a voice like a sergeant addressing his unit, then later choked with emotion, he told us about Hal Koster and Marty O’Brien and how the soldiers felt about them. His words were punctuated with Hoo-ahs and Ooh-rahs, and boos when appropriate. I remember some of his speech word-for-word, but some of the following is paraphrased a bit:

“Hal and Marty are the two greatest men I’ve ever known,” he began. He then explained about the dinners, for those who might not know. “Not only have they given us food and a place to kick back, but they care about us, they ask us how we’re doing, they listen to us talk. And most importantly… most importantly, they give us the strength to recover, the motivation to keep going. This place is a part of our therapy.” He never stopped pacing the interior of the square bar as if addressing his troops, taking time to make eye contact with the crowd on all sides and waving his beer for effect. He admonished us to continue to support Hal and Marty. People cheered.

Then he paused and after a moment said, “Now to the f***ers upstairs,” with a look to the ceiling. The crowd murmured and muttered, boos and growls erupted. The next few minutes he spoke with anger and even more animation.

Read on.

More, via email:

Dear Sirs:

I recently read an article on line about the Hilton in Washington D.C. stating that the Hilton hotel refused to have reasonable access for disabled vets. Several years ago my husband suffered a stroke during a simple surgery. The stroke left him paralyzed. I must admit that before his stroke, I never paid much attention to curb cuts, handicap access, support bars in bathrooms, etc. However, since my husband’s stroke, these issues have become a major part of my life.

At the age of 58 my husband wasn’t ready to retire in a rest home for the rest of his life. Outside of not being able to walk, he is quite able to travel, go to town on his own, eat in restaurants, and do all the other things a person without disabilities can do. However, in the real world, that is not the case. It has not been easy to function in a world that is indifferent to disability issues. We have to fight for every inch of mobility. A simple curb might as well as be a ten foot wall if you are in a wheelchair.

How many times do you use a public bathroom during a week’s time or even in a day’s time? Something you might take for granted, but to my husband and others with disabilities, it can be a major problem. Not too long ago, we were at a luxury hotel and because we could not find the bathroom that was accessible and because the restaurant staff wasn’t aware of its location, (it was located four floors up from the restaurant), we, subsequently, had to leave the family function and go home without finishing our meal. My husband has sat outside a glass doors for 20 minutes in the rain waiting for someone to open the door because it was too heavy for him to pull open from his chair. We have entered rooms through allies and back doors; we’ve waited with embarrassment while the staff, in restaurants, fumbled around trying to figure out where the portable ramp was or until guests were disturbed and furniture moved as they realized there was not enough space for a wheelchairs to maneuver through the space; and we even have been turned away from restaurants not because of race or ethnicity but because there was no access. At one special event function, they carried my husband up the steps, but had to leave his motorized chair on the first floor, so he was confined to one area of the room all evening. We have taken train rides where they packed my husband away with the luggage.

Consequently, every time we plan to leave the house, we have to figure out where we can go that will accommodate a wheelchair down to the last detail and even that doesn’t always work. Sometimes it is just a matter of a door sill that is too high for his chair to cross over. For instance, in the case of your D.C. Hotel, I am sure your staff is trained to say that you have access. Going through back doors, kitchens, etc. is not access! It is time for big corporations to realize that the disabled are tired of being treated as third class citizens. We are tired of the sighs, raised eyebrows, and secret thoughts of you are making so much more work for us. We are also tired of phrases as “we didn’t know”, or “we are grandfathered in and don’t have to comply”.

After years of humiliating experiences, my husband and I decided, we were not going to stand for it any longer. We have become proactive and major advocates for the disabled. Before my husband’s stroke, we were involved in the Meeting Planning Business for 20 years in the Anaheim area. We have many contacts still with people in the industry. We have made it our task to make meeting planners take notice that accessibility is a major concern when planning any event. We have been urging party planners not to hold functions at facilities that do not meet ADA requirements. We have also organized an Orange County Chapter of the Californians, for Disability Rights that actively fights for the rights of the disabled. We have also pursued legal matters against those establishments that choose not to make changes. The disabled person is no longer content to “go away”. We have gone before city council meetings and we even have gone as far as to file lawsuits. It is sad that it comes down to cash…..however…. that is all that most businesses nowadays seem to understand.

I was alarmed when I read this article. This is our country’s capital, and instead of having our best foot forward as an example for the rest of the nation, we have a major corporation playing games with the ADA Laws. Is the Hilton Hotel chain that insensitive to the needs of our own disabled soldiers? This article reported that not only did the hotel not have public areas accessible, but that the hotel went out of its way to circumvent remedying the problem by not renewing leases. Then there were the statements that you plan to carry on some one else’s tradition after you kicked him out in the cold. If all of this wasn’t bad enough, the real question remains, “What is being done to make that area accessible?” Moving one event to another area does not remedy the accessibility problem. So in my eyes you are batting 100%.

I am hoping that this was not a “true” story and I am waiting to hear from you your side of the Hilton in D.C. restaurant incident before our organization plans a course of action against the Hilton chain here in Anaheim.

Sincerely,
Marilynn Pike,
Secretary of the Orange County Chapter of Californian for Disability Rights

Previous entries compiled here.

It's Friday...

Greyhawk

That means Major John's weekly news from Afghanistan is here.

Winning in Iraq...

Greyhawk

...is an interesting concept. Once achieved, the US goal of handing control over to a stable Iraqi government with security provided by indigenous forces will allow many sides to claim "victory" - and every side will certainly declare the enemy defeated.

That point is still a bit further down the road, but this news from Iraq might have brought it a bit closer

BAGHDAD — Iraq's senior Shiite Muslim religious figure Thursday called on the country's controversial militias to disarm, marking one of the most overt forays into matters of politics and policy by the influential cleric.

Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, regarded as the moral voice of Iraq's Shiite majority, called for a government of technocrats rather than political loyalists or sectarian interests and said that only government forces should be permitted to carry weapons on the streets.

"Weapons must be in the hands of government security forces that should not be tied to political parties but to the nation," said the Iranian-born Sistani in a statement released by his office in Najaf after he met with the newly designated prime minister. "The first task for the government is fighting insecurity and putting an end to the terrorist acts that threaten innocents with death and kidnapping."

The LA Times story goes to great lengths to explain that some Sunnis are concerned that Sistani has too much influence, and that his call for disbanding militias and unification of Iraqis could be perceived as a threat. In spite of the Times efforts, it's difficult to see this as anything other than a positive development (though it's impact is obviously yet to be determined).

Meanwhile the Wall Street Journal (unavailable to non-subscribers) quotes a named Iraqi government source:

Iraqi Official Expects Start Of U.S. Exit, With A Big Pullout This Year

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A senior Iraqi official said there would be a substantial withdrawal of U.S. troops this year, with the rest leaving within the next two years.

Speaking to senior U.S., Iraqi and British security officials, Iraqi National Security Adviser Mowaffak Rubaie said the Iraqi government was working to formalize a "conditions-based transition agreement" with the U.S. that would govern the pace and scope of a U.S. military withdrawal from the country. Such an agreement would detail a timeline for turning U.S. military facilities over to the Iraqis and leaving Iraqi forces with primary security responsibility for growing portions of the country.

"Certainly at the end of the year there is going to be a sizable gross reduction in U.S. troops," Mr. Rubaie said as he stood beside Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. "At the end of next year, we will hope, or the next couple of years, we will hope that most of the coalition forces will go back home safely."

Mr. Rumsfeld declined to comment on the timing of a drawdown of the 132,000 U.S. troops, as did his aides. During his visit to Iraq, Mr. Rumsfeld has declined to address the possibility of a withdrawal, but other U.S. commanders have confirmed that one is likely to begin this year.

Progress in Iraq this spring threatens to derail several budding political campaigns - those who've built their strategy on US failure will have a hard time finding other issues. But they may choose not to. Any US withdrawal will be done "under fire". As long as US troops are in country there will always be someone willing to launch a rocket into a FOB or park a car bomb along a convoy route. Like Saddam Hussein in 1991 the enemy will declare victory, and while most of us will have to live with that, others will celebrate, and it's very likely that those who follow John Murtha's strategy (ensure no US withdrawal can be called a US victory - in his own words "I worry about a slow withdrawal which makes it look like there's a victory") will still get substantial credibility from the media, a small junta of retired generals, and those politicians who've bet the farm on an insurgent victory over US troops.

Yeah, you'll definitely want to wear boots for that.

DoS Attack

Greyhawk

But for now we're back. Our back-up site is always here, should the lights go out again. Might want to bookmark it.

The Grannies Dance

Greyhawk

The "anti-war grannies" story has gotten more than it's share of coverage; the lure of promoting a group of blue-haired protestors taking time out from baking cookies to speak truth to power is obviously irresistible to certain elements in the media. Cracking angry voices make great sound bites, but this page-one NY Times coverage contains a telling paragraph:

The trial was extraordinary, if only because it gave 18 impassioned women — some of whom dated their political activism to the execution of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg — a chance to testify at length about their antiwar sentiments and their commitment to free speech and dissent, in a courtroom that attracted reporters from France and Germany.

Google Ethel and Julius if you need to, fellow travelers - I'm not giving that part of the history lesson today. But small wonder the supporters of the team that helped hand the A-bomb to the Russians are against America today. Many, if not all of the "grannies" are simply remnants of a bygone era, revitalized by new threats against a nation they can't bring themselves to support. If any of them actually have children who also have children it's less a validation of their wisdom and more a reminder that four or more decades of supporting a failed ideology does not of itself grant credibility to the cause.

I celebrate their "victory"...

The women — from 59 to 91, many gray-haired, some carrying canes, one legally blind, one with a walker — listened gravely and in obvious suspense as Judge Neil E. Ross delivered a carefully worded 15-minute speech in which he said his verdict was not a referendum on the Police Department, the defendants' antiwar message or, indeed, their very grandmotherhood.

But, he said, there was credible evidence that the grandmothers had left room for people to enter the recruitment center, and that therefore they had been wrongly arrested.

...as I celebrate the right to non-violent free speech anywhere in the few countries that allow it today. But I cheer loudest for those who used that space they left available to enter the recruiting office and join to actually defend free speech too. In a way I truly pity those who wasted a life lived in freedom leading cheers for those who would end both life and freedom were they ever to be successful in their cause.

Expect more from these intrepid grannies, they aren't likely to be content to go back to making brownies. These age of Aquarian septuagenarians have achieved a first - the first generation to protest their parents and their kids.

Back in the "good old days" they popularized a slogan: "never trust anybody over 30". They were wrong then, and they're wrong today.

Dawn Patrol

Mrs Greyhawk

Welcome to the Dawn Patrol, our daily roundup of information on the War on Terror and other topics - from the MilBlogs, other blogs, and the mainstream media. 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. (We have a daily "Open Post" too, if you have something on another topic you can link there.)

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IRAQ

Signs of independence -- [The Will to Exist - in Iraq]
There have been obvious signs over the last few days that the Iraqi government intends to do more of its own heavy lifting from now on. Assets appear to have begun being shuffled already.
I’m doubtful that my unit or I will be affected, but it’s fairly clear that the Iraqi government is quite interested in Iraqis taking care of their own problems. This is as it should be.

Island Style -- [The Babylon Blog - in Iraq]
Part of my job includes walks through the town to visit projects we are working on. These trips can be the best part of being here because it allows me the chance to get out and see the town and its people. Yesterday we walked out to an island that sits in the middle of the Euphrates River. We needed to inspect some repairs we had done to a primary school there.

A Good Day -- [a mobilized year]
I sat there with one of my men’s blood-soaked IBA (body armor) in my hands. It was the end of a long day and I was exhausted. Although, I had a very strange feeling come over me. It was the feeling of having a good day. A damn good day.
Earlier that day, I received a dreaded message. I was summoned to the TOC because of an emergency situation involving one of my crews. The three minute trip ...

Electronic Blackouts and Fearing the Worst -- [Reporting for Duty - in Iraq]
A blackout occured after our aircraft crashed -- and it probably saved many family members unnecessary grief. If one or two soldiers had been able to call home after the crash, their own families would have been reassured. But the families would have called other families in the unit and told them about the crash -- and those families might have begun to fear the worst.
Since all of the crew members were okay, families would have been alarmed for no reason.

Iraq Pictures - 28 April 2006 -- [Iraq Pictures - in Iraq]
Locals from Al Harza Village, near Numaniyah, stand in line just to meet U.S. troops during an operation conducted by the 48th Brigade Combat Team. People don't stand in line to meet the criminals such as Al Queda who violate Islam and Muslim brotherhood and law.
...Local contractors work to restore an water pumping station in the southern Baghdad area. Restoring water, electricity and repairing sewage lines has become an essential part of rebuilding Iraq.

Cordons -- [Just Another Thunderhorse Roughneck - in Iraq]
I can’t stand them. I guess I should like them because it means that we’ve found an IED. The reason I hate them is because we have to ensure the safety of everyone else. That means that we have to secure the area and make sure that Iraqi civilians and other coalition forces doesn’t enter the danger area. Well, we ran into one today. It wasn’t our cordon but we still had to wait. It’s worse than waiting for a train to cross an intersection.
We stood by for just over an hour. It sucks because we can’t do anything else but wait.

Detrius of War -- [Those Wacky Iraqis - in Iraq]
...These are two Soviet made BMP armored personnel carriers and a Soviet made T-55 tank. It is early 60's technology and was trying to fight 21st Century warfighters. These Iraqis were smart. They saw what was coming and DD'd outta there!
The detrius of war was all over in 2003 and up until last year. It is all being cleaned up and everyone who comes now does not get to see the sights we saw. It is not sad but it is a change in the way we look at the place and does change the historical perspective.

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MSM REPORTS ON IRAQ

Local al-Qaida Leader in Iraq Killed -- (AP)
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Iraqi forces killed a local al-Qaida in Iraq leader and two other insurgents in a raid north of Baghdad on Friday, and roadside bombs killed an American soldier and an Iraqi policeman, officials said....

Cleric Calls For End To Militias -- (Los Angeles Times)...Borzou Daragahi and Bruce Wallace
Iraq's senior Shiite Muslim religious figure Thursday called on the country's controversial militias to disarm, marking one of the most overt forays into matters of politics and policy by the influential cleric.

US military sees Iraq edging away from civil war -- (Yahoo News/ Reuters)
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Thursday Iraq was moving away from the risk of civil war and insurgent and sectarian bloodshed would fall dramatically when a new government of national unity is formed.

Iraqi Official Expects Start Of U.S. Exit, With A Big Pullout This Year -- (Wall Street Journal)...Yochi J. Dreazen
A senior Iraqi official said there would be a substantial withdrawal of U.S. troops this year, with the rest leaving within the next two years.

Iraqi Oil Gangs Syphon Off Billions -- (London Daily Telegraph)...Jim Muir
A new class of grand mafiosi sucking billions of pounds out of Iraq's vital oil sector is crippling efforts to rebuild the nation, according to an official report published in Baghdad.

The Iraq pipeline fiasco -- (International Herald Tribune)
The Bush administration's promise that Iraq's reconstruction could be paid for with the country's own oil revenues was one of the many false assertions and assurances that ushered in the invasion. But...

Rebuilding of Iraqi Oil Pipeline as Disaster Waiting to Happen -- (The New York Times)
When Robert Sanders was sent by the Army to inspect the construction work an American company was doing on the banks of the Tigris River, 130 miles north of Baghdad, he e...

Iraq war set to be more expensive than Vietnam -- (The Independent)
The Iraq war has already cost the United States $320bn (£180bn), according to an authoritative new report, and even if a troop withdrawal begins this year, the conflict is set to be more expensiv...

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AFGHANISTAN

Air Force Rescue Teams Go Mainstream -- [Strategy Page]
More reliable, and effective warplanes, has resulted in very low losses. That has left the U.S. Air Force combat rescue teams without work. No problem. The greater use of Special Forces and commandoes, especially in Afghanistan, gave the rescue teams plenty to do.

Coalition talks security, reconstruction with village leaders -- [Centcom]
FORWARD OPERATING BASE ASADABAD, Afghanistan – Coalition, Afghan National Army and village leaders discussed regional anti-terror efforts, security and reconstruction at a meeting in eastern Afghanistan’s Kunar Province on April 14.
About 50 village elders and townsmen from Ali Abad, Korangal, Arawara Bandeh and Babiel met with Afghan National Army Brig. Gen. Zamari, commander of the 3rd Brigade, 201st ANA Corps, Army Col. John Nicholson, Task Force Spartan commander, Army Lt. Col. Chip Bierman, Task Force Lava commander, and other Coalition leaders as part of Operation Mountain Lion.

Afghan resident turns in terrorists -- [Centcom]
JALALABAD AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – Coalition forces used an anonymous tip from a local villager to ambush two enemy fighters in the Pech District of the Kunar Province on April 19.
Coalition forces were notified that enemy fighters were threatening the local villagers and their families if they provided Coalition forces with their location.

Back from the field... -- [AfghaniDan - in Afghanistan]
My thanks to those who asked where I've been, and my sincere apologies to all who actually want to hear my ramblings! I'll have much more up soon, but wanted to drop a quick note to say I'm back online, at JAF. The last couple of weeks required me to take hundreds of photos, so I've begun the painful process of sorting/editing, and have actual work to do besides. But never fear, I'll tell my tales of Operation Mountain Lion...

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MSM REPORTS ON AFGHANISTAN

Suspected U.S. Spies Targeted -- (Los Angeles Times)...Paul Watson and Zulfiqar Ali
Taliban militants and their allies are waging a dirty war in Pakistan's unruly tribal areas, kidnapping and executing people suspected of spying for U.S. forces across the border in Afghanistan.

Corruption Eroding Afghan Security -- (Christian Science Monitor)...David Montero
Nearly five years after the fall of the Taliban, Afghanistan's security situation continues to be dragged down by endemic corruption, roving militias, and a growing nexus between narco-warlords and remnants of the Taliban, officials and analysts say.

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OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD

Rolling Along -- [SGT Hook]
Your Army continues to go rolling along:
1,700 Soldiers in Kosovo
1,700 Soldiers in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
200 Soldiers in Saudi Arabia/Bahrain
680 Soldiers in the Sinai
18,000 Soldiers in Afghanistan
180,000 Soldiers in Iraq and Kuwait
1,700 Soldiers in the Horn of Africa
And they are busy, serving you well and making you proud…

Korea Feeling the Pain of High Oil Prices as Well -- [GI Korea - in S Korea]
Americans aren't the only ones feeling the effects of high oil prices. Korea is feeling the pain too:
...High fuel prices are a big issue in America right now, but I can't help but think how much more expensive oil is in other countries like Korea where they are paying approximately $2 more a gallon than people in the US

The Iran Plan: Lather, Rinse, Repeat -- [ThreatsWatch]
No News on the Iranian Nuclear Crisis, But Plenty of Recycled Rhetoric as the UNSC Deadline Looms
With the Security Council’s deadline for Iran’s compliance expiring Friday, the sense of urgency can be felt all the way from the UN building at Turtle Bay in New York to the deli across the street. Its range of influence extends nowhere near Tehran, as the regime remains defiant with little difference from any other point in the last three years of heightened international attention on the Iranian Nuclear Crisis.

Thanks for the laughs -- [Counter Column]
Not sure where they came over from, but I'd like to thank everyone who came over to this thread and called me a Chickenhawk.
To wit: You, sir, are a true chickenhawk. The living breathing embodiment of privilege without principles, logic without sincerity, rhetoric without wisdom.
You have no sense of what it means to fight and, therefore, your very claims of needing a war are base out of dangerous ignorance.
...Best laugh I've had in a long time.
...I suggested also targeting Iranian industry as well.
Iran has a parliament. They have local rulers with local interests and local constituencies. They have a lot of practical people, even if their current president is a nutcase (though the nuclear program seems to predate him.)
These people do not want to see industry in their provinces destroyed. They ...

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MSM REPORTS ON OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD

War Clouds -- (Los Angeles Times)...Rosa Brooks
LET ME TELL YOU about the next war. It will start sooner than you think — sometime between now and September. And it will be precipitated by the $700-million Russian deal this week to sell Tor air defense missile systems to Iran.

U.N. Agency Finds Iran Noncompliant -- (Washington Post)...Dafna Linzer and Molly Moore
Despite a formal request from the U.N. Security Council, Iran has not provided international inspectors with new information about the country's nuclear program and has accelerated, rather than curbed, uranium-enrichment activities, according to sources familiar with a report the inspectors plan to issue today.

Pakistan Official: No Force Against Iran -- (Guardian Unlimited)
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Pakistan notified the Bush administration on Thursday it would not support the use of force to halt Iran's nuclear programs.
"We are against any resort to force,"...

Musharraf insists: I'm not George Bush's poodle -- (The Guardian)
· General says US air strikes infringe sovereignty
· President denies running military dictatorship
General Pervez Musharraf, facing a surge of anti-American sentiment, yesterday warned that covert US air strikes against al-Qaida inside Pakistan were an infringement of national sovereignty

US Considering Nuclear Accord With Russia -- (Boston Globe)...Carol Giacomo, Reuters
The United States is discussing the possibility of a civilian nuclear energy agreement with Russia that could help wean Moscow away from cooperation with Iran, according to US officials.

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WAR ON TERROR /TERRORISM

Al Qaeda Admits Defeat -- [Strategy Page]
April 27, 2006: Some interesting trends in the war on terrorism. Trends are often difficult to make out in this murky conflict, but the recent release of an audio message from Osama bin Laden on April 23rd, and a few days later, a rare video from Abu Musab al Zarqawi delivered the same message. Both sent out signals that failed to connect.

Nuclear Deterrence in the Age of Terrorism -- [Yankee Sailor]
The end of the Cold War brought about an initial euphoria that the threat of nuclear annihilation had dissipated and dramatic changes in the deterrence postures of the major powers could be enacted. Time, though, has shown that prevailing doctrines of nuclear deterrence are essentially unchanged between the major powers. The change that has created a need for further development of nuclear deterrence doctrine in the last fifteen years, however, is the appearance of nations with small nuclear forces (SNF) and non-state actors pursuing nuclear capability.

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MSM REPORTS ON WAR ON TERROR /TERRORISM

Al Qaeda Wields Press As Terror Weapon, Report Finds -- (Washington Times)...Jennifer Harper
Terrorists use the press and public relations as weapons, said a study released Wednesday by Arizona State University.

Attacks Signal Stepped-Up Qaeda Effort -- (Boston Globe)...Bryan Bender
A pair of terror attacks in Egypt this week are the latest sign that Al Qaeda is successfully exploiting the war in Iraq to win new adherents and is outsourcing its wider struggle against the West to home-grown militant groups in other Arab countries, according to US intelligence officials and terrorism specialists.

Questions by the Dozen for Moussaoui Jury -- (AP)
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) - Only one question matters in the end for Zacarias Moussaoui: the life-or-death one. But to get to a death sentence, the jury now determining the fate of the al-Qaida operative must consider dozens of questions. Each question is a piece of the puzzle about who this man is, what he did and whether he deserves execution or the only other choice, life in prison, for his part in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

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SUPPORTING THE TROOPS...OR NOT

A Tribute To Our Fallen Warriors -- [2/28 BCT Iron Soldiers]
Nature’s reverential silence inspired the hearts of comrades gathered for the dedication of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team (2BCT) Fallen Warriors Memorial on April 16th at Camp Ramadi. 57 names grace the new plaque, and 57 dogtags hang within the obelisk, above the 21st century “Bloody Bucket” of the 28th Infantry Division.

Colorado State Frat Hosts Benefit for Naval Special Warfare Foundation -- [Froggy Ruminations]
If you're in Colorado on April 29th, CSU's chapter of Gamma Beta Phi is hosting a fundraiser to benefit the Naval Special Warfare Foundation at 1900 at the Colorado Springs Marriot.

Morons attack UNC, N.C. State ROTC Buildings -- [Eagle Speak]
Vandals sprayed anti-war messages early Wednesday on ROTC buildings on the campuses of North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, authorities said.
An Army ROTC building near Reynolds Coliseum at N.C. State bore the message "ROTC trains murderers" and asked people to resist "the racist war." The vandalism was reported to campus police at about 7:30 a.m.

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MILITARY

Marines -- [SandGram]
I have found that some people look at you in a different light when they find out that you are in the Military. It's some foreign concept that you would WANT to be doing this as a job occupation. But I am here to tell you that coming from a long line of Military service, and growing up a Navy Brat were some of the best times in my life. I look back at those days in Little Creek Virginia on the Amphibious base there as the standard that all kids should have. The following are stories of joining the Marines and life as a pilot.

Staffer's Hard Sayings Log -- [The Stupid Shall be Punished]
Excerpts from this quote log have been popping up all over the blogosphere, but I haven't seen the whole thing (at least the whole thing as of when I retired in late 2004) posted. A little background -- this "virtual green book" was kept by a Navy pilot at EUCOM J-5, who was working with all the staff pukes in D.C. and Tampa (CENTCOM, where I was) during the run-up to the Iraq War and the aftermath; it mostly has to do with the thoughts and frustrations of staff officers involved in putting together a Coalition in the brave new One Superpower world. Some of them you've heard before, others you won't understand at all unless you've been a staff puke. One of them is even my very own invention. Sit back and enjoy

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MSM REPORTS ON MILITARY

Bush Set To Approve Takeover Of 9 Military Plants By Dubai -- (New York Times)...Jim Rutenberg and David E. Sanger
President Bush is expected on Friday to announce his approval of a deal under which a Dubai-owned company would take control of nine plants in the United States that manufacture parts for American military vehicles and aircraft, say two administration officials familiar with the terms of the deal.

Soldier A Casualty Of Life As A Civilian -- (Chicago Tribune)...Colleen Mastony
Army didn't prepare Michael Torok for homefront stresses; he killed himself a year after discharge.

Pentagon Bills Injured Soldiers $1.2 Million -- (Los Angeles Times)...Associated Press
After suffering paralysis, brain damage, lost limbs and other wounds in war, nearly 900 soldiers have been saddled with $1.2 million in government debt because of the military's "complex, cumbersome" pay system, congressional investigators said Thursday

Students Suspended For Marine Recruiter Protest -- (Seattle Post Intelligencer )
Five high school students in Frederick were suspended after staging a "die-in" in front of a Marine Corps recruiting booth during an on-campus job fair, a school official said.

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POLITICS

Your new national anthem -- [Hot Air - Michelle]
I’ve been blogging over at mm.com about the upcoming Spanglish-ization of the Star-Spangled Banner by a group of activist Latino musicians. They’re rewriting the national anthem in a show of solidarity for illegal aliens and pushing for Bush White House-endorsed amnesty.

A Washington Shuffle -- [Dadmanly]
A short reflection on why busting pork in terms of earmarks -- member items, pork barrel spending, supplemental appropriations, etc. – is only one battle in a bigger war. (The occasion of this reflection is the Senate Proposal to reorganize the FEMA Portion of Homeland Security.)

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MSM REPORTS ON POLITICS

An Anthem's Discordant Notes -- (Washington Post)
Spanish Version of 'Star-Spangled Banner' Draws Strong Reactions
Oh say can you see -- a la luz de la aurora?
The national anthem that once endured the radical transformation administered by Jimi Hendrix's fuzzed and frantic Stratocaster now faces an artistic dare at least as extreme: translation into Spanish.

Spanish 'Star-Spangled Banner' Draws Ire -- (AP)
MIAMI (AP) - British music producer Adam Kidron says that when he came up with the idea of a Spanish-language version of the U.S. national anthem, he saw it as an ode to the millions of immigrants seeking a better life. But in the week since Kidron announced the song - which features artists such as Wyclef Jean, hip-hop star Pitbull and Puerto Rican singers Carlos Ponce and Olga Tanon - it has been the target of a fierce backlash

Running for Senate, and Against the War -- (Washington Post)
Area's Democratic Candidates Find Support in Calling for U.S. to Leave Iraq
From a cocktail party of liberal contributors in Baltimore to the ball-cap-wearing crowd in a conservative town in southwest Virginia, wherever Democratic loyalists gather, there are five words sure to prompt applause for a Senate candidate:

Schoomaker Calls Retired Generals' Comments 'Inappropriate' -- (Mideast Stars and Stripes)...Lisa Burgess
Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker on Wednesday criticized retired generals who have come out against Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other defense leaders, calling their comments “unfortunate” and “inappropriate.”

War Game Exposed Rumsfeld's Incompetence -- (Salt Lake Tribune)...Joe Galloway
...The general made it clear he is no antiwar crusader. 'We have to stay,' he said of Iraq this week. 'We have to finish it, but let's do it right.' Van Riper told Knight Ridder that in looking at Rumsfeld's leadership he found three particular areas of inability and incompetence.

Katrina Report Rips the White House Anew -- (AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) - A Senate inquiry into the government's Hurricane Katrina failures ripped the Bush administration anew Thursday and urged the scrapping of the nation's disaster response agency. But with a new hurricane season just weeks away, senators conceded that few if any of their proposals could become reality in time. The bipartisan investigation into one of the worst natural disasters in the nation's history singled out President Bush and the White House as appearing indifferent to the devastation until two days after the storm hit.

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THE MEDIA

Even MSNBC Contributor Doesn't Want to Watch MSNBC -- [Media Blog]
Washington Post reporter Jim VandeHei provoked quite a discussion yesterday by "officially complaining" that the White House TVs are always tuned to Fox News:

THE HIJACKING OF UNITED 93...AGAIN? -- [Michelle Malkin]
... there is a side of the marketing of United 93 that hasn't been exposed yet or confronted. Watch the latest episode of Vent to find out how jihadist rhetoric is being echoed by the official United 93 discussion site run by Universal Studios.

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MSM REPORTS ON MEDIA

When Hollywood Makes History -- (Washington Post)
Invented Details in 'United 93' Raise Real Questions
"United 93," Hollywood's first big-budget film about the events of Sept. 11, 2001, is faithful to the major aspects of the tragic morning it depicts. The movie tracks the key events detailed in the 9/11 Commission Report, the most definitive source on the subject: the commandeering of the United jet by four terrorists, the panic of the passengers and the heroic rebellion that ended with the plane crashing in a field near Shanksville, Pa.

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WELCOME HOME

At the Station -- [Sgt Hook]
As a follow up to my No Tears In Heaven post, I offer this…

The dozen or so Soldiers were all smiles as they walked through the colorful and patriotically decorated station, having just arrived on the overnight. Stepping from the train, dressed in the standard issue desert camouflage uniform, a light layer of dust still on them, they were all caught by surprise at the welcoming that awaited them. Throngs of people lined the terminal, clapping, cheering, waving, and shouting their thanks and praise. The hand shakes and pats on the back raised the hair on the necks of some, brought tears to the eyes of others, and swelled the hearts with pride of all.

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(Need more? The previous Dawn Patrol is here.)