News and Personal dispatches from the front and the home front.
In their own words:
A Major's Perspective: Iraq Diyala Offensive - Today Iraqi and US Forces kicked off the offensive into Diyala. Here are some of the reports coming out of Iraq currently: (NY TIMES ART): “U.S.-backed Iraqi troops sealed off Baqouba and staged house-to-house searches Tuesday as they began a new offensive in Diyala province in the latest bid to clear al-Qaida in Iraq from its last major belt near the capital. Iraqi security forces hope to build on recent security successes elsewhere in a new test of the country's readiness to take over its own security and enable American troops to withdraw eventually. The U.S. military said the improved abilities of the Iraqi troops have enabled the Americans to play a less high-profile role in operations, helping to lower the number of U.S. casualties so far this year.” (READ MORE)
Sgt B AKA Gramps: Chow… - Pretty much anywhere else you go, you eat three meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner… Normally you eat it sitting down, whether at a table, picnic table, dinner table, or driving down the road.. Everywhere except the military… Every meal is called “chow”, and, in the Infantry, it is eaten standing up… They don’t even make the vehicles with flat hoods to use as a dinner table anymore… (I miss my old jeep…) Whether it’s “morning chow”, “noon chow”, or “evening chow”, it’s all “chow. It comes in green plastic containers called “mermites”, and in each container is one element (meat, veggies, dessert, etc…) The company forms up from junior to senior, privates and specialists first, and then NCOs, and then officers; you take care of the juniors first… (READ MORE)
Fearless 1st Marines’ blog: Combat Engineers finding fewer IEDs - FALLUJAH, Iraq – Blinding lights pierce through the darkness on a long and winding stretch of pitch black road, exposing otherwise unseen rusted metal objects and abandoned cars. Behind these bright lights are a group of Marines, part of a route clearance team with 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, Regimental Combat Team 1, who are tasked with locating ordnance on and near roads traveled by Iraqi citizens and Coalition forces. The Marines, with Company C, conducted an all-night street-sweeping operation July 23, in the city of Karma, Iraq. In past years, the city and its surrounding area has been a hotbed for insurgent activity, and many of the roads were heavily laden with improvised explosive devices. (READ MORE)
Bill Roggio: Taliban, Pakistani Army clash in Swat - The Pakistani Army claimed 48 Taliban fighters, including 10 senior Swat leaders, were killed in a major battle in the settled district of the Northwest Frontier Province. Five Pakistani soldiers were also reported killed. The Taliban refuted the claims of heavy casualties, but confirmed one leader was killed in the fighting. "We have inflicted heavy losses on the militants,” a military spokesman told GEO TV. “We have video footage showing bodies of the militants killed in the fighting." The Pakistani military has inflated enemy casualties in the past while downplaying their losses. Muslim Khan, a Taliban spokesman for Swat leader Mullah Fazlullah, denied the Taliban took heavy casualties. He did confirm that Maulvi Hussain Ali, a Taliban commander who is also known as Toor Mullah, was killed in the fighting. (READ MORE)
Matel-in-Iraq: The Worst Hard Time - I just finished The Worst Hard Time about the dust bowl of the 1930s. Some of what the author describes applies to Iraq. We get the different color dust and it is almost impossible to get away from it. [...] Iraq has a climate like the Texas Panhandle, only hotter. Anbar gets 4-7 inches of rain in a usual year. Most of that rain falls in winter. I saw a couple of good storms and once it rained all day, but the place is a desert. I wonder, however, how much of desolation is man-made. The dunes in Anbar are dust and dirt, not sand. Plants can grow on dirt, if they have a chance. Unfortunately, people and goats have been working on this place for 4000 years. It would never be verdant, but how much could be restored? We have planned and funded some small scale restoration projects. I don’t know if they will last very long. Local shepherds have incentives to let their animals devour what they can get, even if it means destruction in coming years. (READ MORE)
Manrymission: Site Visits in Kurdistan - Last week, I spent a day visiting projects in Dahuk followed by a day of visits in Erbil. I saw lots of great projects. With construction projects, the most memorable things are the things that aren’t perfect. You’ve probably heard the phrase “good enough for government work”. When I was in Korea, we often joked that it was the land of the “not quite right”. Sometimes when I visit projects here, I think of “Iraqi good enough”. At one school we visited in Dahuk, the contractor had recently completed a basketball court. Unfortunately, he installed the goal so that the backboard was almost even with the half circle below the free throw line. In the photo, Masuood, the Deputy in the Dahuk Office, is shooting from the line. Also at this school, the contractor installed a very popular fire extinguishing system I’ve seen at several other school projects. (READ MORE)
Back and still writing:
Bouhammer: Bouhammer’s Plan - I have wanted to write about this for a while, and I think it is time. What you are about to read is controversial. It may make some people dislike me, if not hate me. It may make some never read my blog again. If so, I can only say it is a shame that you would let a disagreement with my opinion offend you that much. I have felt this way for a long time and have been very verbal about this for quite a few years, to include an editorial I wrote in the Army Times several years ago. This article http://www.military.com/news/article/general-defends-15month-tours.html does not necessarily support my opinion, but it is partially there. See here is what Bouhammer thinks…. I think that we as a country, government and military need to get off of this notion of a 12 or even 15 month tours and then rotate out. I call this the Vietnam mentality, and it does not serve us well. It may have been needed then, when we had a draft for a highly unpopular war, but it does not fit now. (READ MORE)
News from the Front:
Iraq:
After the bombing, Shiite pilgrims walk on - The sea of pilgrims moved toward the majestic Imam Kadhim mosque complex with its twin gilded domes and towering minarets. They came to mourn Imam Kadhim, the Shiite saint who died in 799 when, his followers say, the Islamic world's caliph, a Sunni, poisoned his food in prison. The pilgrims — women in black robes, and men in traditional dishdashas or simple T-shirts and sweatpants — marched long distances from all over Iraq to mourn his death. They covered their heads with T-shirts to protect themselves from the sun. (READ MORE)
Operation Sabre Pursuit in Diyala nets several cache finds - DIYALA PROVINCE, Iraq – Iraqi Army and Multi-National Division – North Soldiers discovered several weapons caches July 28 near Hamud, a town in the eastern Diyala Province, during clearing operations in support of Operation Sabre Pursuit. Iraqi Army Soldiers with the 18th Brigade, 5th Iraqi Army Division, along with 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment Soldiers, unearthed 12 caches. (READ MORE)
Ministry of Interior tells two-years of progress - Baghdad – While fighting terrorism and insurgents during the past two years, the Ministry of Interior has undergone great change and faced many challenges yet managed to nearly double its police forces and greatly improve security for Iraqi citizens. A conference at the Ministry of Interior Monday highlighted some of the major progress since Jawad al Bulani became Minister of Interior in June 2006. (READ MORE)
MND-B Soldiers reduce explosive threat, detain suspected terrorist - BAGHDAD – Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers confiscated homemade explosives, destroyed an improvised explosive device and detained a suspected terrorist in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad July 28-29. At approximately 11:45 p.m. July 28, Soldiers from the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division secured an undisclosed amount of homemade explosives at a house in the Saydiyah community of Rashid. (READ MORE)
ISF, MND-B Soldiers seize munitions in Baghdad - BAGHDAD – Iraqi Security Forces and Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers seized multiple weapons caches in Baghdad July 29. At approximately 12 a.m., soldiers with the 24th Brigade, 6th Iraq Army Division seized improvised explosive device components north of Baghdad. (READ MORE)
MND-B Soldiers detain five suspects in New Baghdad - BAGHDAD – Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers detained a key suspected criminal and four of his suspected associates in eastern Baghdad July 29. Soldiers from the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light) detained the suspects while conducting an operation specifically targeting them in the New Baghdad district. The individuals allegedly house and hide key criminal leaders. (READ MORE)
Al-Qaeda support structure dwindling - BAGHDAD – Coalition forces killed one known terrorist facilitator and detained 18 suspected terrorists during operations around the country to disrupt al-Qaeda in Iraq operations Monday and Tuesday. Coalition forces killed a known terrorist facilitator during an operation in Baghdad on Tuesday. When the force arrived at the target location, the targeted man came out and refused to follow the interpreter’s instructions to surrender. (READ MORE)
Wolfhounds Continue Their Search for Weapons - CAMP TAJI, Iraq – Cache search operations in the Taji Qada is an ongoing effort. This area, northwest of Baghdad, is dotted with occasional houses, farms, growing businesses, and vast amounts of barren land travelled by goat herders and the occasional terrorist. (READ MORE)
Soldiers Tour Adhamiyah Fish Market, Assess Needs, Find Solutions - BAGHDAD — Deep purple eggplant glisten in the sun while stacks of fresh watermelon rest on display safely under cover from the mid-day, 115-degree weather as Striker Brigade Soldiers walk the street admiring the produce and assessing needs of this popular Fish Market in the Suleikh neighborhood of the Adhamiyah District of Baghdad, July 24. (READ MORE)
Iraqi Forces Show Self Sufficiency - CAMP VICTORY — This past June, Iraqi Army Soldiers in Taji recovered two broken down humvees on their own and restored them without any help from Coalition maintenance. “Probably the most exciting thing for me is I compare (today) to our partnership with the IA in 2006, and it’s night and day,” said Capt. Steve Chadwick. (READ MORE)
Iraqi Government Conducts National Literacy Program - CAMP VICTORY — Iraq is targeting more than 6 million illiterate adults through a national literacy campaign. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization estimates that more than 60 percent of the adult population in Iraq cannot read or write. This was not always the case, U.N. officials said. (READ MORE)
Afghanistan:
Militants killed in Ghazni province - BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan (July 29, 2008) — Several militants were killed during a Coalition forces’ operation Monday in Ghazni province targeting a Taliban leader. Coalition forces searched compounds in Gairo District targeting a militant leader known to conduct foreign fighter operations in Ghazni and Paktika provinces. (READ MORE)
Militants detained in Khost province - BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan (July 29, 2008) — Three militants, including the target of the operation, were detained Monday during a Coalition forces’ operation to disrupt militant activities in Khost province. (READ MORE)
No comments:
Post a Comment