News and Personal dispatches from the front lines.
In their own words:
LTC Rich Phillips: KAF Run - One of the more enjoyable aspects of my current job is the opportunity to get off the FOB and see the countryside and the people. Personally, I enjoy face-to-face and in-person. However, if that is not possible, the next best way is from the gunner’s hatch of a HMMWV. Just a simple ride from Qalat to Kandahar is full of interesting sights. Today was typical of the sights along this road. The nomads were on the move, and we passed several caravans of kuchis, the Afghan nomadic tribes. To me it looked like something out of Biblical times; loaded donkeys, walking women and riding children. Following some distance behind were the men and boys, herding the sheep. (READ MORE)
Yellowhammering Afghanistan: Cobras at Camp Vulcan - We recently had an infestation of Cobras at Camp Vulcan, and that was a good thing. The Alabama soldiers I ran into at Camp Phoenix in Kabul recently stopped in and stayed the night here in Ghazni on their way back to Orgun-E. We got to visit a little while longer before they were on the road again back to their FOB. It was likely the last visit we will have before it's time to head back to the Heart of Dixie, via Ft. Riley, Kansas. That's where all of the original Team Cobra will be reunited. (READ MORE)
IraqPundit: Secularism is returning to Iraq - "While religious extremists are admired by a number of young people in other parts of the Arab world," observes the NYTimes, " Iraq offers a test case of what could happen when extremist theories are applied. Fingers caught in the act of smoking were broken. Long hair was cut and force-fed to its wearer. In that laboratory, disillusionment with Islamic leaders took hold." You don't say. "[A] shift seems to be registering, at least anecdotally, in the choices some young Iraqis are making." I don't blame the NYT for being cautious. After years of reporting that Moktada Al Sadr was the future of Iraq, they have no choice but to characterize it this way: "Such patterns, if lasting, could lead to a weakening of the political power of religious leaders in Iraq." (READ MORE)
Kaboom: A Soldier's War Journal: AngerSadnessHope: One Half - There was a boy who went to war, like many other boys before him. Maybe it made him a man, maybe it didn’t. Maybe he already was a man, maybe he wasn’t. Maybe it doesn’t matter, maybe none of it does, maybe it all does. Maybe. Maybe amongst many other sentimentalist pseudo-intellectual theories, this boy had a theory that the only emotions that matter are anger, sadness, and hope, and that everything else branches off from those in convoluted absurdity. He liked oversimplifications. The Green first. Then the Orange. (READ MORE)
LT Nixon: Iraq News (5 Mar) - The Good: The 2nd Brigade, 82nd Airborne is redeploying from Iraq. They were sent here in January 2007 as part of the surge strategy to move off large FOBs and into neighborhoods in Baghdad. Even a terse analysis of their deployment could not call it anything less than successful, as violence in Baghdad has plummeted from the beginning of 2007 when the city was rife with sectarian violence. On a personal note, it may seem a little abstract when folks back home "Thank them for their service", but for a guy residing in the Green Zone, I unequivocally "Thank them for their service" as I can sleep well at night in my trailer knowing these guys have got my back. You can thank them personally for their 15-month deployment via the milblog Eighty Deuce on the Loose. Admiral Fallon, CENTCOM commander, has testified to the Senate Armed Services Committee and stated that the surge worked in clamping down on violence in Iraq. (READ MORE)
LT Nixon: A Realistic Prognosis of Iraq - Finding good non-partisan analysis on Iraq from a Western perspective can be difficult. Popular sites like the Huffington Post tend to embellish casualty-inducing events in an effort to make the war look like it is going poorly to take stabs at the Bush administration. I'm certain they are gearing up for that "4,000 US Soldiers Killed!" story to further their cause. On the other hand, Neoconservative publications will defend any progress in the war in Iraq, while not acknowledging any setbacks or a disturbingly over-used military force. Recently, The Weekly Standard proclaimed Gen Petraeus as the "Patton of Counterinsurgency". While I agree that General Petraeus runs a good counter-insurgency and I'm glad to work for him, let's not go off the deep end here. (READ MORE)
Acute Politics: Across the Ocean - I put my head down/and I dreamt you were here With me by the ol' tree/where no one could care Far Away Boys, Far Away Boys/Away from ya now I'm lyin' with my sweetheart/In her arms I'll be found "Well, you don't smell *too* bad..." she said as I met here at the top of the airport stairs. I should be fair. Somewhere in the haze of wandering around Baghdad or Kuwait, or in the long hours between, I had told her that I'd come home smelling like Iraq. (READ MORE)
Back Stateside but still writing:
This War and Me: Failure to Adjust - Well, I have been back in the US for a month now. I have not gone back to work yet, which means I have not settled back into a routine really. I am hoping that is part of my problem and things will normalize a bit in the next couple weeks. I have not tried to jump out my window or anything since that first night. My 'over-alertness' has seemed to ease a bit. It has turned to insomnia now. I usually am only able to sleep 3 or 4 hours a night. The other night my sister spent the night and I got up and started doing things and she woke up and asked me what I was doing. I was up in the attic going through things and running new wires for my surround sound speakers. (READ MORE)
Heading Back:
Those Wacky Iraqis: Wireless Blogging - I am sitting in the Admiral's Club in Austin, Texas writing this. My flight is delayed so I sit here, linked up and with a cold Shiner Bock beer at my side. I won't get much beer for the next 90 days and maybe none so I am taking advantage of it. I remember a couple of years ago sitting in the British Airways club in Dubai with Dave from daves-not-here. He pulled out a monster laptop, went online and started a blog feed. I told him that he was such a geek that I needed to go sit somewhere else. Well here I am 2 years later being a geek. I do also remember that Dave moaned about his monster laptop as it was so big to haul around. (READ MORE)
On Leave:
Iraq: The Purgatorium: Moar Rad - We sleep when we have to, just to keep ourselves going. A few hours and we're fully charged and we're back out there again, devouring this place. Tokyo is the opposite of Iraq. It's clean, safe, and thoroughly enjoyable. We walk down narrow streets lined with shops, rubbernecking unapologetically. Arcades, pachinko "casinos", stores selling DVD porn (we learned that if the sign is pink, it's probably porn or some other appendage of the sex industry). There's a Chinatown in this city that we took advantage of, stealing an extra mini-vacation. (READ MORE)
News from the Front:
Iraq:
School of Torture - Recently, the Iraqi military and the coalition forces have discovered torture houses run by Al Qaeda in Iraq. To obtain an accurate picture of the level of atrocities committed by this band of thugs, it is first necessary to review what the American military rightly calls the "atrocity sites." (READ MORE)
Moving to Baghdad - BAGHDAD — Life in Baghdad is very dangerous. At some level it resembles American action movies, with a difference that is called Death. There is nothing more awful than walking out on the road and being afraid of every car that passes by. Or any person: Women, men and children, as well as cans and even animals, can be detonated and can put an end to your life. (READ MORE)
Returning to Basra - BASRA, Iraq - In early February, the week before a journalist and his interpreter were kidnapped from a downtown hotel, I traveled into this city for a couple of furtive glances. It was the first time I had been there since 2005, when I stayed at that very same hotel. (READ MORE)
Coalition disrupts al-Qaeda in Iraq operations, 22 suspects detained - BAGHDAD – Coalition forces detained 22 suspects today during operations to disrupt al-Qaeda networks operating in northern and central Iraq. West of Biaj, in the western part of Ninawa Province, Coalition forces detained two suspects. One of the suspects is an alleged associate of al-Qaeda networks in northern Iraq. He is reportedly responsible for the facilitation of finances to networks throughout the Mosul area and associated with several senior level foreign terrorist facilitators. (READ MORE)
4 bodies found in mass grave south of Samarra - SAMARRA, Iraq – Coalition forces found four Iraqis in a mass grave south of Samarra March 2. The site of the mass grave was a 40-foot well that appeared to be dug by a bulldozer. Further investigation determined the Iraqis were executed within the last week. “Atrocities like this demonstrate the heinous nature of these criminals, ” said Maj. Peggy Kageleiry, Task Force Iron spokesperson. (READ MORE)
MND-B Soldiers detain 3 alleged cell members - BAGHDAD – Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers detained three suspected cell members March 1 in southern Baghdad. A tip led Soldiers of 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, to a residence in Jihad. There the Soldiers detained a suspected cell leader and two other suspected criminals. The men are believed to be a remnant of a cell that was decimated by multiple arrests in January. (READ MORE)
Iraqi Special Operations Forces, U.S. Special Forces detain two al Qaeda in Iraq suspects - BALAD, Iraq – Iraqi Special Operations Forces, advised by U.S. Special Forces, detained two suspected criminals during separate operations March 1. In Baghdad, Iraqi and U.S. Forces detained an Al Qaeda in Iraq suspect believed responsible for mortar and improvised explosive device attacks against Iraqi and Coalition Forces. He is suspected of involvement in weapons smuggling and a plot to commit murder by poisoning. (READ MORE)
Three terrorists killed as Coalition targets al-Qaeda in Iraq networks - BAGHDAD – Coalition forces killed three terrorists Monday during operations to disrupt al-Qaeda networks operating in central Iraq. East of Baghdad Monday, Coalition forces targeted a legacy al-Qaeda in Iraq leader for the Bizayz terrorist network, which operates east of Khan Bani Sad. The suspect reportedly commands a large group of terrorists in the region and is believed to be the brother of the alleged AQI facilitator who was detained March 2 for his involvement in the terrorist networks in Baghdad. (READ MORE)
MND-N Soldiers detain criminal leader, discover cache - KIRKUK, Iraq – Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 10th Mountain Division detained a cell leader as he attempted to flee from his home March 3. The criminal was responsible for an IED attack on the Soldiers a few weeks prior to being detained. After patiently waiting, the Soldiers received overwhelming evidence the cell leader was at his home in a village not far from where the IED attack had occurred. (READ MORE)
A New Plan for Clean Water: One Windmill Pump per Village - FOB HAMMER — To assess the water production of two windmill-powered ground water pumps in Narhwan, leaders from 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team (HBCT) and Multi-National Corps – Iraq (MNC-I) visited two villages, March 1. The first stop for Col. Ryan Kuhn, deputy commanding officer for 3rd HBCT, and Maj. Chris Hempel, agricultural officer from MNC-I Civil-Military Operations Cell, was the village of al Zatia, where they met with the head contractor for both windmill projects. (READ MORE)
Afghanistan:
Freedom Watch Afghanistan - Mar 5 2008 - CJTF82 Mission: In conjunction with the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (IRoA), joint, interagency, and multinational forces, CJTF82 conducts full spectrum operations to disrupt insurgent forces in the combined joint operations area, develops Afghanistan national security capability and supports the growth of governance and development in order to build a stable Afghanistan. (READ MORE)
ANA builds in Zabul province - BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan - Afghan National Security Forces, assisted by Coalition forces, provided medical and humanitarian aid to multiple villages on Feb. 26 in the Arghandab District, Zabul Province after Taliban forces attacked them, Feb. 23. In response to the raid, ANSF and Coalition forces quickly moved in to repair the damage done by the Taliban. The Taliban kidnapped six men from one village during the raid, stole food, and vandalized a number of other villages. There is no word on the whereabouts of the six abductees. (READ MORE)
Skill labor workshop provides opportunities for Afghans - FORWARD OPERATING BASE ORGUN-E, Afghanistan (22 Feb.) - Soldiers out of Fort Lewis, Wash., assigned to Task Force Pacemaker, provided advanced carpentry and masonry skill training Feb. 4 to citizens of Orgun, Afghanistan. The goal of the skill labor workshop is to provide Afghans with the skills and construction leadership to find steady employment. The workshop also provides the country with future leaders, businessmen and construction contractors. (READ MORE)
ANSF, Coalition forces identify detained local Taliban leader - BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – Afghan National Security Forces and Coalition forces have positively identified a Taliban leader detained during a Feb. 25 joint operation in Ghazni Province as Mullah Shabir. Shabir was detained during the operation, which targeted insurgents with ties to Taliban and foreign-fighter facilitators. (READ MORE)
ANSF inflict insurgent losses in Helmand province - BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – Afghan National Security Forces, advised by Coalition forces, killed several insurgents March 2 after a failed ambush by the Taliban 30 kilometers northeast of Gareshk District in Helmand province. The combined force was conducting a reconnaissance patrol when a group of insurgents engaged them with small-arms fire, rocket-propelled grenades and mortar fire. The combined force immediately returned accurate small-arms and machine gun fire. (READ MORE)
ANSF capture insurgents, destroy known IED making facilities in Zabul - KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan- Afghan National Security Forces, assisted by Coalition forces, captured seven insurgents Feb. 28 in Surkhagan Village during an air assault mission in Zabul province. During the recent operations, Afghan National Army and Coalition forces infiltrated several compounds and cave complexes in search of insurgents, bomb-making facilities and material. They found three Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Devices, IED making materials, storage facilities, ammunition caches and insurgent fighting positions. (READ MORE)
Skilled Labor Workshops Held in Paktika Province - During the months of January and February 2008, there were four construction workshops held in Paktika Province: one in Sharana, one at Orgun-E, and two in Paktika. The goal of the skilled labor workshops is to provide Afghans with the skills and construction leadership abilities to find steady employment. The biggest challenge following the skill labor workshops is finding employment for the students who complete the training. (READ MORE)
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