News and Personal dispatches from the front lines.
In their own words:
never as funny the second time...: passing the time 1 - first, to appease COL T.S., i meant no disrespect to the pet shop boys, as they are a staple of my music library as well. and now, the 11th commandment: as thou approacheth thy redeployment date, thou shalt get more ridiculous in thy amusements. this is an update for those of you who wonder how soldiers are keeping themselves entertained in baghdad. areas already covered include “the countdown”, “the status of pants in iraq”, “throwing fruit against a T-wall “(this one never really took off, mostly due to the fact that it required walking outside, and we’re a lazy bunch…), (READ MORE)
Hard Soldier: Bad Voodoo's War - Back when we first started this deployment SFC Nunn explained to all of us that he was making a Documentary with this film maker Deborah Scranton, she made one that I had seen called "The War Tapes". The film was good and it showed a lot of stuff that you won't see on the news so needless to say I was pretty cool with the whole thing. Well after a year of sucking on the road and sweating to the sound of IED's and the sound of my gunners voice saying "Sh!t it's freakin hot!" The movie was finally released or an episode of it since we are still in country. I must say it was actually really good, I was the Convoy Commander for two of the three IED blasts that you see in the movie and she did a good job of making everything look professional. (READ MORE)
Yellowhammering Afghanistan: Naan too soon - As we sipped chai and met with the police chief in Ab Band District here in Ghazni recently, they served us naan bread that was piping hot and delicious. There were no bazaars around where fresh bread could have been purchased. When I asked where it had come from so hot and fresh, the pointed to their own oven room where they make naan. Naan is so common. It is eaten with every meal and snacked on with chai. But so much about it remains a mystery, such as how it gets its shape and how they bake it. Therefore, I couldn't resist the opportunity to go in and see how naan is made. It's quite an operation. I'll tell the story with pictures. (READ MORE)
IraqPundit: The Battle for Basra - The WaPo editorial today asks whether it's bad news that the Iraqi government uses its own army to fight Shiite militias. "Those who portray every development in Iraq as negative described the fighting as proof of worsening sectarianism or as a negation of the improved security achieved in the past six months." Of course the critics portray it those terms. "In fact, it was neither," the editorial says. "After a cease-fire Sunday, the fighting in Basra and elsewhere in Iraq quickly subsided; even with the temporary spike in violence, Iraqi and U.S. fatalities in March were one-third to one-half of what they were a year ago." (READ MORE)
LT Nixon: Pretty Much the Standard for the Navy - People who have zero experience either being in the military or knowing people in the military seem to have these pre-conceived notions that folks who choose to serve our country are all soul-less, politically correct robots that don't know how to have a good time. That's why it doesn't surprise me that WSJ ran a ridiculous piece on McCain canoodling with a ladyfriend during a port visit in Brazil in his Navy days like it was some big freakin' scandal (it registered pretty damn low on my shock factor). Wonkette turned up the snark to take jabs at the Republican, but all of these potshots fail to neglect the fact that this is pretty much the MO for sailors. Granted, McCain was an officer, so he should be held to more scrutiny. (READ MORE)
LT Nixon: Iraq News (3 April) - The Good: Now that some of the dust has settled from the hell that broke loose last week, coalition and Iraqi security forces are conducting humanitarian ops throughout areas where the violence erupted. A good plan to ensure violence doesn't re-emerge in our faces again. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mullen, says US troop reductions (to ~140,000) are still on track. The Bad: Suicide bomber kills 7 last night near Mosul. Mosul is considered to be the last urban bastion of Al-Qaeda, but the huge mix of various tribes and sects in Iraq's third largest city will make defeating the enemy take some time. (READ MORE)
Badger 6: More of a Karmah We Never Saw - More from Michael Totten on The Liberation of Karmah. “…Al Qaeda in Iraq did in Karmah what they have done everywhere else – intimidated and murdered civilians into submission. They decapitated police officers and placed severed heads all over the city. They destroyed the homes of anyone who opposed them. The message was clear: This is what will happen to you if you work with the Americans.” We were so absorbed in our own world of missions that I think we had no idea how dangerous the place was and exactly who we were fighting. We were very hyper focused, even those of us whose job was to step back and get the bigger picture. More reasons for Team Badger to be proud of what they accomplished and bring meaning to their sacrifices. (READ MORE)
The Satirist at War: Codes and Children - Walking to chow from the gym this morning, I saw something peculiar. One of my interpreters was carrying a very young female child that couldn’t have been more than two years old, walking in the FOB. I immediately had three thoughts, one of which was that it was the first infant / toddler I’d seen in months, the next being: “what business could a two-year-old possibly have on our FOB?” and the last: “I guess the two-year-old can’t cause any harm.” In leaving that last thought alone, I was taking a calculated risk, because the children in this region are a pack of some of the most dangerous, desperate, fearless criminals the world has ever seen. (READ MORE)
Bill Roggio: Iraqi military continues operations in Basrah - Three days after Muqtada al Sadr ordered the Mahdi Army to withdraw from the fighting in Baghdad and the Shia South, the fighting has dropped dramatically. The Iraqi government has denied that it has agreed to Sadr's terms, but has softened its rhetoric against Mahdi Army, instead shifting its focus on the "criminal elements" just as the US military has done over the past year. Meanwhile, the Iraqi security forces are continuing operations in Basrah. The Iraqi military has continued to target Mahdi Army elements in Basrah and in Baghdad and southern Iraq, but the government is now referring to them as “criminal elements” and maintains anyone breaking the law will be targeted. (READ MORE)
News from the Front:
Iraq:
Informant leads Soldiers to multiple caches (Kutimiyah) - FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq – Iraqi Army Soldiers with 5th Battalion, 25th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division assisted by Multi-National Division – Center Soldiers from 2nd Brigade Combat Team recovered five weapons caches in Kutimiyah, north of Joint Security Site W-1, April 2. At the site of a farm, Soldiers found 45 rocket propelled grenades, 300 PKC heavy machine gun rounds, 37 mortar and projectile fuses, one DSHKA .50 caliber machine gun with 500 rounds of ammunition, one anti-personnel mine, two 81 mm mortar tubes, a 55 gallon barrel containing a PKC machine gun and 2000 PKC machine gun rounds. (READ MORE)
VBIED attack near Mosul kills 5, wounds 19 - MOSUL, Iraq – An insurgent attack in the Ninewah Province killed five civilians and wounded 19, 10 of whom were Iraqi Army personnel April 2. The vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated near an Iraqi Army checkpoint southwest of Mosul. The wounded were evacuated to local medical facilities for treatment. “Killing innocent civilians continues to show the enemy’s disregard for human life,” said Maj. Daniel Meyers, a spokesman for Multi-National Division - North. (READ MORE)
1-15 Inf. Regt. operation snatches key suspect (Salman Pak) - BAGHDAD – An early morning operation April 2 in Salman Pak by Company A, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment led to the detaining of a Multi-National Division – Center key suspect. A neighbor of the suspect came forward and helped MND-C Soldiers identify the individual. The suspect was number two on the 1-15 Inf. Regiment’s list of suspected criminals and number four on the MND-C list. (READ MORE)
MND-B soldiers kill bomb emplacer, accidentally shoot woman used as shield (Baghdad) - BAGHDAD – Multi-National Division – Baghdad soldiers engaged and killed a man emplacing an improvised explosive device in northeastern Baghdad April 2. Another suspected emplacer and a local woman were wounded in the incident. After the engagement, the woman died of her wounds. MND-B soldiers on a dismounted patrol discovered a man emplacing a possible improvised explosive device. The soldiers engaged the emplacer, firing three rounds, which killed him. (READ MORE)
MND-B Soldiers seize munitions cache (Baghdad) - BAGHDAD – Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers seized a munitions cache while patrolling in the northeast region of New Baghdad April 2. The cache was seized by Soldiers from 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division. It consisted of explosively formed penetrators, rocket-propelled grenades, RPG launchers and sticks of RPG propellant. (READ MORE)
Citizen’s tip leads Iraqi Army to EFP cache (Mahmudiyah) - BAGHDAD – A tip from an Iraqi citizen led Iraqi Army soldiers to a weapons cache in Mahmudiyah, April 1. The cache included two complete explosively-formed projectiles, four rocket-propelled grenades, a 60 mm mortar tube, a 60 mm mortar round and small arms ammunition. The contents of the cache have been turned over to Multi-National Division – Center Soldiers for destruction. (READ MORE)
Locals Aid International Zone Police During Indirect Fire Attacks - BAGHDAD — Eerily quiet best described the streets in central Baghdad Saturday. The curfew imposed during recent fighting in Baghdad and Basra reduced traffic, but young airmen of the Air Force 732nd Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron, who police the International Zone, still conduct patrols, even under the heightened security measures. Immediately following an attack, the IZ Police respond and assess the damage. They disseminate information to the control center and take pictures, getting on and off the site as quickly as possible. (READ MORE)
Sons of Iraq Foil Kidnapping Attempt - TIKRIT — The Abna al-Iraq, or Sons of Iraq, prevented the kidnapping of two women and four children in Diyala, March 30. The SOI in the village of Abu Harab fought off four vehicles full of al Qaeda in Iraq members after the victims had been apprehended. They recovered all the kidnapped victims. “The quick reaction of these local heroes, the village’s Sons of Iraq, is yet another example of the strength and determination of Iraqis to fight for the peace they deserve,” said Maj. Dan Meyers Multi-National Division North’s spokesman. (READ MORE)
Afghanistan:
Task Force Rugged holds NCO, Soldier of the Year competition - BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan – Well before dawn on March 28, noncommissioned officers and Soldiers participating in the Combined Task Force Rugged NCO and Soldier of the Year competition anxiously awaited the start of the first event, the Army Physical Fitness Test. As they stretched in the moonlight, the Soldiers anticipated two full days worth of competition, to include the APFT, weapons qualification, a barrage of warrior task tests, a written exam, and a formal board. (READ MORE)
Weapons facilitation operations disrupted in Helmand Province - BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan – A number of armed insurgents were killed and four suspected insurgents were detained April 1 during a Coalition forces operation to disrupt Taliban facilitation networks in Helmand Province. Coalition forces performed a search of compounds in the Kajaki district targeting a Taliban leader conducting weapons facilitation activities in the area. During the course of the operation, several armed insurgents were killed when they attacked Coalition forces. (READ MORE)
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