March 4, 2008

From the Front: 03/04/2008

News and Personal dispatches from the front lines.


In their own words:
Kaboom: A Soldier's War Journal: Sunshine Post - The few remaining authority figures in my life that I respect all have warned me that my writings are becoming increasingly bitter and hostile in intent. My bad, yo. While I’m aware this is the natural sequence of events for a young man at war, there is still a protected soft (and delicious!) nut in my pistachio shell of a soul who believes Hope can become Action, who would prefer being labeled an idealist and a fool any day if it means avoiding the black hole of cynicism, and jams out to the Crocodile Rock shamelessly. I let that crazy kid out for the day to pen a post about the people, things, and events that make both of us smile appreciatively during our experience in the Iraq War. (READ MORE)

Yellowhammering Afghanistan: Alabama mini-reunion - A recent trip to Kabul took me back to Alabama in a way. Five members of the Alabama team I came to Afghanistan with were there picking up supplies for themselves and their Afghan National Army battalion in FOB Orgun-E. The families of Majors Weakley, Beason and Hollar as well as Sgt. Maj. Jones and Master Sgt. Mitchell will be happy to know that all are doing fine and in great spirits. We spent a couple of days catching up on things, swapping war stories and anticipating coming home in a few weeks. (READ MORE)

Yellowhammering Afghanistan: Playing outside - With warmer weather, we are all anxious to stay outside and soak up the sun as much as possible. Now that the snow has relinquished its hold on our volleyball court, we have resumed our daily games. The first time we played, a bank of snow still lined the court, making it a judgment call as to whether certain shots were in or out. The snow has also revealed our new basketball court, which was built just in time for the snows to cover it up. (READ MORE)

LT Nixon: Iraq News (4 Mar) - The Good: Brig Gen. Thomas says slow steady progress in Mosul that may take months to flush out the Islamic State of Iraq (aka Al-Qaeda in Iraq). This comes as no surprise to anyone except the press who was hoping for all the heavy fighting of a Fallujah-style offensive to get some Pulitzer winning photo shots. Mosul is Iraq's third largest city with a complex make up of ethnicity and sects. Progress will be measured by kinetic operations followed with reconstruction/reconciliation initiatives much like what was done last year in Baghdad. It might not play out like a Hollywood movie, but remember that war is boring. (READ MORE)

Tony Perry: IRAQ: Habbaniya Tourist Village awaits renewed splendor - Once it was The Place in Anbar province for weddings, family getaways, and college-student beach parties. Now it's a wreck. Built by the French in the late 1970s, Habbaniya Tourist Village had it all: a wide beach on Lake Habbaniya, a disco, restaurants, ballrooms, an amusement park, swimming pools, and honeymoon bungalows, all amid hundreds of acres of palm trees and carefully groomed lawns. A six-story hotel offered 265 rooms, small condo units numbered 500. Less than three hours by freeway from Baghdad. In the 1990s, Saddam Hussein lost interest and cut off the money even though one of his sons had a palace adjoining the village. (READ MORE)

borzou: IRAQ: Ahmadinejad speaks - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appeared for a freewheeling hour-long press conference at the home of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani on Monday. He smiled and winked at the reporters and welcomed their questions. There was nothing explosive or urgent in his remarks. It was interesting to watch how he handled the press. He flattered Iraq, calling it "the land of education, manners; the land of peaceful living by people of differing religions; the land of idealism, poets, writers and scientists ... and artists." But he also harshly criticized the U.S., without naming it, urging America to head back home and let the countries of the Middle East resolve their problems. Check it out: (READ MORE)

Badger 6: Prince Harry and Military Culture - We have, I assume seen the outing of Prince Harry, third in line to the British throne, British Army officer, and erstwhile JTAC with the British Forces in Afghanistan. The young Armor officer was supposed to come here to Iraq with the Blues and Royals Household Cavalry late last year, but the deployment was so public the decision was made to not let him deploy because it was felt he would be too much of a special target. Considering the Brits are particularly close to Iran that was probably a good decision with all of the Qods Force types in the area. (READ MORE)

Badger 6: Why Are "Professional" Print Writers So Threatend by Blogs? - The so-called "professional" main-stream media takes every shot at blogging it can, or at least it seems to. Even though these writers work appears in a printed format, usually newspapers or magazines, most of their employers also provide the content on line. And I think that maybe where the threat comes from. The uninitiated can look at Badgers Forward, Blackfive, the New York Times, and The New Republic and give the equal weight. The barriers to entry into the marketplace of ideas and information, has become dramatically low. That reduced barrier of entry has made life much more difficult for the old professional media it seems. (READ MORE)

Desert Dude: 4 March - Got up around 0700 for no real reason at all…I don’t have anything to do until 1300 when I have my classes…got up and had some coffee, walked around in my shorts and flip flops…it’s time to wind down…I am gonna be the old guy in house shoes wandering around with a coffee cup and a cig hangin out my mouth for all the new guys to see how we roll around here…everyone was packing up and throwing out stuff and prepping to catch the chopper…we are cutting down to about 30 people on our team and making room for the new guys… (READ MORE)

Desert Dude: 3 March - Went out on a mission today… it was the normal stuff…this one was a short fast trip –only a couple hours…we went and checked out some rock quarries, sand processing plant, and some road construction…I was gunning and it is definitely getting warm and dry again…my face was covered with dirt after the trip…we were on paved roads for about 1 miles of the 25 mile round trip…the places we went were out in the middle of nowhere, so no kids, no people, no nothing anywhere…we just rolled around in the open countryside and didn’t have anything distracting us—except the boredom… (READ MORE)

The Angry American: Dogs and Pony's - What? You guys in a hurry? There is probably nothing so unnerving then walking up and down one of the most deadly pieces of highway in Iraq ok ya there is. It’s setting up a traffic control point on said highway. Especially after we’ve gone after terrorists who are known to build and traffic vehicle born IED’s (VBIED- [V-BEDS]). What makes it worse is knowing the destructive power a VBIED has. I’ve been near to these massive explosions caused when some fuckhead loads up a truck or car with as much explosives as he can. They are fucking crazy. I think the people that don’t respect them are those who have never been near one. (READ MORE)

The Angry American: Monotonous Monotony - With everyday as monotonous as the last I really haven’t felt like posting all too much. Since the last post there are 2 COP rotations of shit that I didn’t write about. Mostly we’ve just been walking down the damn highway and setting up traffic control points in the hopes that we will catch someone transporting something on the main highways. We did go out on a raid we were the support element so we were basically hanging out the whole time making sure nobody tried to make a mad dash to freedom. 3rd Platoon was main effort and pulled some bad guys stashing weapons and explosives in the house. The most fun thing we did was go and look for a piece of equipment out in town. (READ MORE)

Michael J. Totten: In the Slums of Fallujah - FALLUJAH, IRAQ – Captain Steve Eastin threw open the door to the Iraqi Police captain’s office and cancelled a joint American-Iraqi officer’s meeting before it could even begin. “Someone just shot at my Marines,” he said. “We can’t do this right now.” I following him into the hall. “What happened?” I said. “Someone just shot at my guys at the flour mill,” he said. “A bullet struck a wall four feet over a Marine's head. We have to go in there and extract them.” “They don't extract themselves?” I said. “They're on foot,” he said, “and we're going in vehicles. They don't extract themselves on foot.” And I was getting comfortable and even bored in post-insurgent Fallujah. Complacency kills, and Fallujah isn't completely free of insurgents just yet. (READ MORE)


Back Stateside but still writing:
A Battlefield Tourist: A Battlefield Tour of Qalat - 2004 - This is the most recent short story taken from “An Experiment in Democracy” and posted to CTZN. Here, embed with members of First Army as they lead ANA regulars using small unit tactics in Qalat district, Zabul Province. (READ MORE)


News from the Front:
Iraq:
Answers About Baghdad’s Red Zone - The following is the first set of answers from reporters and staff members in the Baghdad Bureau, which is taking questions from readers through March 7 on life in the Iraqi capital outside the protection of the Green Zone. Readers can submit additional questions using the comment box below. Q. How is the education of Iraq’s children being impacted? — Jessica A. Hi Jessica. The majority of the schools and kindergartens were damaged by the military operations and violence. Schools were deserted as there were campaigns of displacements. Terrorists, armed groups and even the coalition forces took the schools as their military bases. (READ MORE)

Youth Sports Club Opens, Child Athletes have Place to Compete - SULEIKH — As security improves in this Baghdad neighborhood, Iraqi citizens are focusing more attention on the quality of life in their community. Several Suleikh area residents and leaders, Iraqi Army and Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers attended the grand opening celebration of the Suleikh Club, a youth sports center, March 1. A procession of area athletic teams, including soccer, basketball, wrestling and martial arts groups, opened the festivities. The different squads marched in, proudly displaying colorful uniforms and team signs. The center will provide a place to practice and compete in their individual athletic disciplines. (READ MORE)

Soldiers Build New Outpost, Hire Locals to Help with Construction - FOB HAMMER — When told that he and his Soldiers would be setting up the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team’s (HBCT) newest combat outpost with only a little more than three months left in their deployment, 1st Sgt. Arvento Collins was ready. “We get orders and we execute,” said Collins, from Wilson, N.C., Company B, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment. “It wasn’t any different than any other task we’ve been given.” Collin’s company inherited a piece of land located next to the Tigris River near al Duraiya, a small village near Salman Pak, that had been used by extremists as a safe haven since the 3rd HBCT arrived in March 2007. (READ MORE)

General Petraeus Describes Factors Affecting Iraq Assessment - BAGHDAD — The top military commander in Iraq gave some insight yesterday into what he will consider as he prepares to report to the president and Congress in April on the way ahead. Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of Multi-National Force - Iraq, spoke with reporters accompanying Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who is visiting the country. The security trend lines all are favorable, the general said. “Attacks have continued to go down. We’ve had a five-month period consistently of a level of attacks we’ve not seen since spring of 2005,” he said. “This past week was the fourth-lowest since October 2004.” (READ MORE)

Provincial Reconstruction Team Helps Farmers’ Union Grow - FOB KALSU — Sixteen prominent Sayifiyah landowners gathered with members of the Baghdad-7 embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team (ePRT) at Patrol Base Whitehouse in Sayifiyah, Feb. 28, for a farmers’ union meeting. As security returns to the region, Coalition forces are focusing on restoring the agriculturally-based economy in Sayifiyah. Efforts include reviving the poultry and beekeeping industries, increasing the productivity of vegetable farms and creating new industries like fish farming and chicken processing plants. All of these efforts were discussed at the meeting, the union’s third gathering. (READ MORE)

Son of Iraq killed stopping carjackers - BAGHDAD – A member of the Sons of Iraq, or Abna al-Iraq, was shot and killed March 1 in Baghdad’s Ur neighborhood while attempting to prevent criminals from stealing a local man’s vehicle. Coalition forces provided medical assistance to the injured man and helped transport him to the Kinde Hospital, but he later died of his wounds. “One of our Son’s of Iraq was killed due to an attack while he was doing his duty,” said the Al Quds police chief. “This martyr is considered a symbol for the Free Iraq. God bless him for he was defending his community to help build the new Iraq.” (READ MORE)

Afghanistan:
NY National Guard protects police mentors - BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – Two Soldiers sit shoulder-to-shoulder packed into a small room filled with shura leaders and Afghan National Police from Kohe Safi District, Parwan Province. In order for these two Soldiers to safely mentor the nearly 90 ANP that keep the peace in Kohe Safi, they need people who can keep an eye out for Taliban and insurgent operations. The Soldiers who perform this mission are light infantrymen from the New York Army National Guard. “Our job is to keep the members of the Police Mentor Team safe,” said Army Sgt. Chris Marciano, a 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry Regiment, 27th Infantry Brigade six-year veteran. “We escort the mentors everywhere and one of us is next to them whenever they exit a vehicle.” (READ MORE)

Freedom Watch Afghanistan - Mar 3 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. Featured in this segment: Soldiers, Airmen, Marines, Navy men, and dedicated Civilians contributing side by side in Afghanistan to contribute to the mission... (READ MORE)

Coalition forces disrupt insurgent support networks in Zabul Province - BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – One insurgent was detained Monday during a Coalition forces operation to degrade Taliban support networks in Zabul Province. Coalition forces conducted a search of compounds in the Qalat district targeting an insurgent providing financial and logistical support to Taliban cells. The targeted insurgent is also associated with the facilitation of foreign fighters and suicide bombers. (READ MORE)

Engineers build new housing for Jalalabad PRT - FORWARD OPERATING BASE JALALABAD, Afghanistan - Task Force Pacemaker engineers expanded housing for the Jalalabad Provincial Reconstruction Team recently.First Platoon, 76th Engineer Company, Fort Knox, Ky., led by Army 1st Lt. Scott Williams and Sgt. 1st Class Patricia Thompson, constructed two B-huts, one Southeast Asia-hut and repaired more than 18 B-huts to provide more billeting for Jalalabad PRT Soldiers. (READ MORE)


An Afghan National Police officer pulls security during a goodwill gesture in Jurahati, Kohe Safi District, Parwan Province, March 1. The Kohe Safi Afghan National Police delivered stuffed animals and prayer rugs to Jurahati villagers. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman James Bolinger)




Hakim, a Kohe Safi Afghan National Police officer, watches over boxes of stuffed animals and bundles of prayer rugs before they were handed out to Afghans in Jurahati, Kohe Safi District, Parwan Province, March 1. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman James Bolinger)




Afghan girls from Jurahati, Kohe Safi District, Parwan Province, show each other stuffed animals they received during a goodwill gesture March 1. The stuffed animals were donated by Brownie Troop 818, Bel Air, Md., and the Kiwanis Club, Old Forge, N.Y. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman James Bolinger)

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