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January 04, 2009

The Blog of War
[Greyhawk]

In compiling the entry below, it occrred to me there may be readers here who don't have a copy of The Blog of War: Front-Line Dispatches from Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Blackfive-compiled collection of milblog entries from what might be called "the golden age". If you're one of those folks I'd urge you to get one.

Reading (or re-reading) these stories you (like me) might be reminded that everything done before "the surge" was not stupid, pointless, and wrong - and you might even come to share my complete disgust with those who now believe otherwise.



Posted 09:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | Trackbacks (0)

Meanwhile, back at to the Front
[Greyhawk]

Adam Ashton of the Modesto Bee reports on a California Guard unit's return to Iraq:

Veterans from the first tour describe it as marked by constant roadside attacks and ambiguous results. Some left with mixed feelings about Iraq's future.

"My experience last time wasn't the greatest," Adame said. "When we left, it hadn't gotten any better. It was just as active as when we started. We took hundreds of detainees, hundreds of rockets, off the streets, and there were still IEDs."

Other veterans who'd joined the battalion since that tour said they had similar doubts about Iraq after they finished deployments with different Army and Marine contingents.

"Last time I was very unsure," said Spc. Jeremy Calgaro, 27, of Patterson, Calif., who's on his third tour in Iraq. His past deployments brought him to the country with the Army during the 2003 invasion and in 2005.

He came back wanting to see how Iraq had changed.

"The battalion lost 17 of its roughly 700 Baghdad-deployed troops in 2005," Ashton reports. And that wasn't their only misfortune:
The Army ousted its first commander in Iraq, Lt. Col. Patrick Frey, in the wake of a controversy over abused detainees in one of his companies. A roadside bomb killed his successor, Col. William Wood, in October 2005, three months after he'd taken over.

The battalion persevered and returned home with fanfare in January 2006. Gov. Schwarzenegger dubbed the troops "true action heroes."

But shortly after, Robert C. J. Parry - a veteran of the deployment - would write in the LA Times:
From the first weeks of our mobilization in August 2004, we were in the spotlight. We were the battalion “mired in scandal.” We were, according to the disgruntled, poor in training and morale. Once in Iraq, we were the battalion that suffered casualties seemingly faster than anyone could count: 17 killed in action and nearly 100 wounded in 12 months. We were the battalion whose commander, Col. William W. Wood, became the highest-ranking soldier to die in action. Our previous commander was relieved of duty after a scandal involving the abuse of Iraqi prisoners. Even as we rolled out each day to confront terrorists, we were known at home primarily for things that had nothing to do with the job we did or how we did it.

Over the course of 18 months, the 600 soldiers of the 184th experienced almost every high and low a band of brothers could, from great distinction to shocking heartbreak. But what never made it into print were the things that will mark our hearts until well after we become the old-timers down at the VFW.

We served with honor. We served with valor. We earned distinction.

Google us to find the litany of supposed woe. But if you want to know the real story of our battalion, go find Sgt. Thomas Kruger and ask him about April 5, 2005.

On that bright spring morning, with his legs shattered, Kruger dragged himself across 100 feet of debris and shrapnel to reach Cpl. Glenn Watkins, who had been mortally wounded moments earlier by the same ghastly roadside bomb.

You might also ask anyone from our ranks about Staff Sgt. Steve Nunez. Broken and bloodied by an IED, he was ordered home to recuperate after refusing to go voluntarily. He rejoined us to carry the fight forward, refusing the chance to stay home.

There were no front-page headlines for Kruger, Nunez or even Sgt. 1st Class Tom Stone, who covered a wounded subordinate’s body with his own to protect that soldier from a secondary attack that could have come at any moment.

Stone, a Los Angeles Police Department officer, and Kruger, a paramedic on movie sets, were awarded Bronze Stars for their valor. Nunez, a Riverside metalworker, received our awe and admiration, and I hope yours too.

Equally deserving of recognition were Sgt. 1st Class Chris Chebatah and 1st Lt. Ky Cheng. One terrible September night, an armored personnel carrier in their patrol was destroyed by a tremendous blast and flipped, pinning a soldier. Even while taking enemy fire and directing the care for casualties around them, they rigged a chain to pull the 10-ton vehicle off him. The effort was successful but ultimately futile.

So far, 14 of our soldiers have been decorated for valor and another 48 have earned the Bronze Star for service. But that cannot be found in print.

Our unit – supposedly just a band of weekend warriors from the National Guard – was selected by the Army’s renowned 3rd Infantry Division to take on its primary challenge: taking control of a sector of south Baghdad that was home to leading Baathists and Al Qaeda fanatics. In that capacity, we conducted more than 7,000 combat patrols totaling nearly half a million man-hours. We captured more insurgents in one month than did whole brigades. We stand nominated (with the rest of our brigade) for a Valorous Unit Award.

But instead, people who didn’t know the first thing about us trumpeted the misdeeds of a handful of young men who scoffed at the concepts of honor and duty that our commander invoked.

And if all that sounds familiar to milblog readers, it's not just because the story is typical of media coverage of most units that deployed to Iraq when the fighting was heaviest, the outcome uncertain, and the battle far from won. Milblog readers will recognize the story as that told by Major K, Red2alpha, Rusten Currie, and Danjel Bout (Thunder6) on their blogs Maj K, This is Your War, Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum, and 365 and a Wakeup.

From their first man lost (Watkins) through the previously mentioned morale-breaking scandal to the December, 2005 elections they brought home the highs and lows of the warriors' war - including even the battles they couldn't win. And then they came home.

"I patrolled the streets of Baghdad’s elite Karrada neighborhood and its insurgent-rich Doura sector, shaking people’s hands and learning their problems." Parry wrote in his Times op-ed in February, 2006 - in stark contrast to the now popular (and erroneous) narrative that 'everything before the surge was wrong'.

I lived and worked alongside American contractors upgrading a key power plant. I trained Iraqi police, saw their enthusiasm and came to understand their different approach to things. I worked as a junior officer on our battalion staff, witnessing how the decisions governing the street fight were shaped. I was shot at and attacked with IEDs.

I saw the successes. I struggled with the failures. But most important, I saw people who once had nothing now bursting with hope and thanks.

*****

And now, three years later, in defiance of the also-current narrative that there are no stories left to tell from Iraq, reporter Adam Ashton is with the Battalion for their return.

"Last time I was very unsure," said Spc. Jeremy Calgaro, 27, of Patterson, Calif., who's on his third tour in Iraq. His past deployments brought him to the country with the Army during the 2003 invasion and in 2005.

He came back wanting to see how Iraq had changed. He sees the differences in flourishing agricultural fields that remind him of home in the San Joaquin Valley, and in positive interactions he's had with Iraqis.
<...>
"Here we are, we're doing our jobs and things have gotten much better," he said.

Spc. Ralph Salazar said he was enthusiastic about his mission in Iraq as a Marine in 2003 and 2004. He'd smoked a cigar with a close friend on the roof of a Baghdad palace to celebrate his 20th birthday in 2004.

His feelings about the war began to shift around 2006, when news reports showed Iraq descending into bloody sectarian violence.

He heard about improvements before he left the U.S. for his current tour, but the better conditions still startled him when he arrived in November.

"I was still expecting to spend some time running for the bunkers," said the 24-year-old from Fresno, Calif. "I do have to say I appreciate the calm.

"The fact that we've been here and made all this progress, it validates everything for me," Salazar said. "It did matter."

Along with that, in one of the most disheartening signs of victory I've ever heard, Calgaro says he "also sees less mail from the states, another sign to him that the war is going well."



Posted 03:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | Trackbacks (0)

January 03, 2009

Illumination
[Greyhawk]

This story includes no links to or citations of mainstream media reports from Afghanistan. It's a pure-milblogger look at elements of counter-insurgency warfare there. The key piece: a report of denial of an illumination round, and its impact on one mission (failure). Said denial apparently (from what I gather from one side of the story and some personal experience) based on fear that the (parachute-equipped) round could potentially damage the area (perhaps the fire threat?) and therefore do more harm than good.

Meanwhile, ISAF releases a video (not too graphic - the camera fails) of a terrorist strike killing over a dozen school children. The impact of such an episode is blunted when the enemy can counter with examples of collateral damage caused by our own actions, "intent" being an argument that carries little weight with the jury of public opinion.

No one can deny the importance to successful counter-insurgency ops of minimizing our own collateral damage while exploiting the enemy's desire to maximize the same, or the equal importance of getting that same message out to a public both within and beyond the borders of Afghanistan. But while both are crucial battles in the same war, is this the right balance between winning hearts and minds and successful kinetic ops? Can we win both?

And if not, which is more important to winning the war?



Posted 04:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

The Bounty
[Greyhawk]

Mudville night at the movies...

bounty.jpg

The full feature is below.



Posted 02:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Space Race
[Greyhawk]

Bloomberg:

President-elect Barack Obama will probably tear down long-standing barriers between the U.S.’s civilian and military space programs to speed up a mission to the moon amid the prospect of a new space race with China.

Obama’s transition team is considering a collaboration between the Defense Department and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration because military rockets may be cheaper and ready sooner than the space agency’s planned launch vehicle, which isn’t slated to fly until 2015, according to people who’ve discussed the idea with the Obama team.
<...>
Meanwhile, Chinese state-owned companies already are assembling heavy-lift rockets that could reach the moon, with a first launch scheduled for 2013.

Raising the question: who will be the first milblogger on the moon?



Posted 01:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

January 02, 2009

Forecasting
[Greyhawk]

A New Year prediction from J.D. Johannes: "The SOFA agreement with Iraq will be broadly interpreted to keep US Forces in most Joint Security Stations."



Posted 09:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Incoming
[Greyhawk]

"When asked how they feel about President-elect Barack Obama as commander in chief, six out of 10 active-duty service members say they are uncertain or pessimistic." Says the Army (and Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps) Times.

obama_military_poll.jpg

More specifically, only 25 percent say "pessimistic". Thirty-three percent responded "optimistic", and a slightly larger group (35%) answered "uncertain" - with another eight percent claiming "no opinion". Some may be inclined to offer exclamation points to those results, but this analysis sounds about right to me:



Posted 03:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | Trackbacks (0)

"Baghdad Happens" trailer
[Mrs Greyhawk]

A little preview of JD's new movie "Baghdad Happens"



Posted 02:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

"The New School"... Not So New
[Mrs Greyhawk]

Seems to be your typical, average liberal American college:

While SAT scores may be “considerably lower” than those of Columbia and New York University, students come to Lang not as a substitute for these universities but for a completely different experience.

We came to the New School’s undergraduate liberal arts college in search of a creative and critical community of students who were interested in social theory and social protest. We wanted to know how the world worked, and we wanted to experience New York City in its most unmitigated form.

Many of us could have easily gone to Columbia or N.Y.U., with acceptance letters and scholarships — yet we chose a college and university where are voices could be heard.

It is heartening to see that this practice continues and has permeated all parts of the university, and no doubt the undergraduates are continuing in the tradition of criticism and protest.

A college that specializes in "social theory and social protest", Who'da thunk?



Posted 12:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | Trackbacks (0)

January 01, 2009

Your Song
[Greyhawk]

So, as part of our holiday tradition I sent Mrs G up into the attic a few weeks ago to drag out all the Christmas decorations. Way back in a corner under an old milk crate practically hidden by spiderwebs she found an old video from one of my early-70s T.V. appearances. This might have been filmed for Dick Clark's New Years Rockin' Eve '73, I can't remember. Anyhow, here it is...

"Hey", you might ask, "how come we never see your face?" Simple, really. Back in those days (or so they told me) David Cassidy had a contract with the network guaranteeing they'd never show anyone better looking than him.

"What about the rest of your band?" You inquire. Also simple: they were just too shy.



Posted 03:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | Trackbacks (0)

December 29, 2008

Rock me baby rock me baby all night long...
[Greyhawk]

I'm sure the President-elect will put this on the top of his "to-do" list...

Earlier this month, Reprieve and the U.K. Musicians Union launched Zero dB, a "silent protest" over the use of music in interrogations. According to Reprieve, many of its clients have been subjected to hours of music played at deafening volume -- sometime for days or even weeks on end...

This has musicians furious. Last week, Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails even suggested he might pursue legal action to stop the practice.

Chloe Davis, a researcher for Reprieve, told Danger Room the Zero dB campaign was planning to work with prominent musicians to lobby the incoming administration.

"It is really important that we seize the chance to alert Obama to this practice," she said.

(Via Insta.)

I'm shocked, shocked I tell you, at some of the callous comments left at Danger Room. "Does this mean I can have my neighbor charged with torture for playing his music to loud?" and "Yeah, I can see how a group like Nine Inch Nails might not want their music associated with anything dark or evil."

In a somewhat similar vein: "Back in the day," says Chuck Z, "I compiled a playlist that we could blast from the psyop truck when we entered a ville for a "dynamic" entry and house search." That list is at the link.

And there's nothing on it by Nine Inch Nails. But this is there:



Posted 11:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) |

hello2009s copy.png New Year copy.png

January 05, 2009


Dawn Patrol 01/05/09
[Mrs Greyhawk]

Welcome to the Dawn Patrol, our daily roundup of information on the War on Terror and other topics - from the MilBlogs and other sources around the world. If you're a blogger, you can join the conversation. If you link to any of these stories, add a link to the Dawn Patrol too and your trackback will be added to the list. Hat Tips to the Dawn Patrol are greatly appreciated.


Support Our Troops, Read Their Stories

----------------------------

IRAQ

Meanwhile, back at to the Front -- [Greyhawk]
Adam Ashton of the Modesto Bee reports on a California Guard unit's return to Iraq:
...three years later, in defiance of the also-current narrative that there are no stories left to tell from Iraq, reporter Adam Ashton is with the Battalion for their return.

Record US deaths in Afghanistan in 2008, lowest in Iraq -- [AFP]
WASHINGTON (AFP) — American troops suffered the most losses in 2008 since the start of the Afghanistan war due to a resurgent Taliban and al-Qaeda, while witnessing the lowest US death toll in six years in Iraq, which saw a relatively improved security.

Harry Reid Says War in Iraq Is Still Lost
On Meet the Press with David Gregory the worst Senate Majority Leader in history Harry Reid says the Iraq War is still lost and that there is civil war in Iraq and Israel and that he helped save Iraq.

MR. GREGORY: Let me ask you about the war in Iraq. In April of 2007, this is what you said: "I believe myself that ... this war is lost and the surge is not accomplishing anything." Were you wrong?
SEN. REID: David, I first met General David Petraeus in Iraq. He was training the Iraqi forces at that time. At that time, he knew it wasn't working. After he became the commander in Iraq, he and I sat down and talked. He said to me, and he said within the sound of everyone's voice, "The war cannot be won militarily." I said it differently than he did. But it needed a change in direction. Petraeus brought that about. He brought it about—the surge helped, of course it helped. But in addition to that, the urging of me and other people in Congress and the country dictated a change, and that took place. So...

More news -- [Wings Over Iraq - in Iraq]
It's been a busy week in Iraq. Not because the US has been chasing down insurgents, but because so many bases are being handed over to the Iraqi Army, it's almost difficult to keep track of them. Whearas just two years ago, Army helicopters were burning thousands of blade hours taking troops to the battle, now they're scurrying back and forth just to accomodate bases that seem to be closing every day.

International Zone Change of Command
Footage of Iraqi officials and Soldiers speaking at a ceremony celebrating the change of command of the international zone from coalition forces to Iraqi forces.

Security Agreement -- [S4 at War - in Iraq]
One of the biggest impacts of the security agreement for me is related to our attempt to return the roads to normalcy. Our large supply convoys are new restricted to night movements. That means I can only go to the large supply hub in our region in the middle of the night. This works fine for most situations as our support Battalion can prepare most of our supplies for us to pick up. A lot of the things I do, however, ...

Iraq takes control of Green Zone

A New Year Brings Changes to Iraq -- [Soldiering On - in Iraq]
Today is January 1st, 2009. Last night at 2359 the United Nations Security Council Resolution authorizing MNF-I's presence in Iraq expired. Since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the United States and her coalition allies (Poland, Great Britain, Australia, South Korea, and many others) have operated under a United Nations Mandate.
As Iraqi Security improved, the need for that mandate and the corresponding operational abilities it provided were seen as less necessary.

Baghdad area rocked by second large suicide attack in three days -- [LWJ - Bill Roggio]
An attack at a checkpoint in Baghdad comes two days after an attack at a tribal reconciliation meeting in Yusafiyah and as Iraqi security forces are asserting control.

So there I was... -- [Bad Dogs and Such - in Iraq]
in deepest, darkest Eye-Rak. Sure, some folks were worried about IEDs, suicide bombers, and random small arms fire. But I knew we were in trouble when, standing in a quiet village, I turned and saw...

Iraqis hope to sue U.S. troops under new accord -- [McClatchy]
The families of three men who were killed last week during a search of a grain warehouse want to press charges against American soldiers under the terms of a new security agreement between the U.S. and Iraq.

Troops in Iraq Allowed Two Beers During the Superbowl -- [Stars & Stripes]
Multi-National Division–Baghdad has received permission to let its units enjoy an honest-to-goodness beer on game day instead of the near-beer soldiers usually quaff in downrange DFACs. The approval comes with plenty of time for the beer to be shipped into theater. This Super Bowl will be a strictly controlled exception to the long-standing policy


AFGHANISTAN/PAKISTAN

Illumination -- [Greyhawk]
This story includes no links to or citations of mainstream media reports from Afghanistan. It's a pure-milblogger look at elements of counter-insurgency warfare there. The key piece: a report of denial of an illumination round, and its impact on one mission (failure). Said denial apparently (from what I gather from one side of the story and some personal experience) based on fear that the (parachute-equipped) round could potentially damage the area (perhaps the fire threat?) and therefore do more harm than good.
Meanwhile,...

"High Time" To Move Marines To Afghanistan -- [CBS News]
The Commandant of the US Marine Corps says it's "high time" his troops leave Iraq and take their battle skills to Afghanistan. "We are a fighting machine," Gen. James Conway tells CBS News, and the fight is now in Afghanistan... Their role in Iraq, he says, has been reduced to nation building...
"That’s not what we do," Conway told Marines in Afghanistan. "Where there’s a fight, that’s where the Marine Corps is needed."

Snipers and Asymmetric Warfare in Afghanistan -- [Captain's Journal]
In January of 2008 The Captain’s Journal predicted that the so-called spring offensive by the Taliban would be more asymmetric than conventional and kinetic. True, there have been stark reminders that the Taliban, in this case the Tehrik-i-Taliban, were capable of highly conventional and kinetic engagements, such as with the battle of Wanat. But there have also been reminders of just how badly the Taliban lose when they choose to go head-to-head in kinetic engagements with U.S.

The Road to Success is not Paved at ALL! -- [AFGHANISTAN SHRUGGED - in Afghanistan]
...The Taliban’s offensive against the road was a miserable failure for them. Not because they didn’t destroy many parts of it, they did, but because the populace questioned why they were attacking it. Attacking the ring road impacts US, NATO and ANA forces very little. We have helicopters and aircraft to resupply and get around. The Afghans living here don’t have these; so impinging on the ring road affects them greatly. The question they were starting to ask, “Why are you destroying that which helps us”. The Taliban had no answer.

Have You Ever Felt Truly Helpless... -- [Embrace The Suck - in Afghanistan]
Some of these rules prevent movement. Movement of any kind, vehicle, helicopter, plane or LPC is prohibited. (LPC=leather personnel carrier AKA Boots) Usually these rules about movement work out in our favor. If the rules say we cannot move for whatever reason then we don't have anything to do and we get to go back to sleep, any day when you get to go back to sleep is a glorious day in the military.
Sometimes, like today, these rules really bite you in the ass. Sometimes your buddies are outside the wire and you can't go and get them and bring them home. So there will be no sleep had today,

Blurred edges -- [Frontline - Alex Strick van Linschoten - in Afghanistan]
Back out in the desert, people started to arrive as word had spread that some musicians had come to perform at Ibrahim Khalifa Baba, the shrine of an old ’saint’. I sat next to the head of one of Kandahar’s government administrations, who had also come out to the shrine. He received a call from one of the police checkpoints further north of where we were.
“I have 8 Taliban with weapons in a car who say that they want to come to Ibrahim Khalifa Baba. What should we do with them?” the policeman asked. “Let them come!” my friend replied. “They’re probably just coming to enjoy the music. Who are we to stop them?”
And so they came. The reader should