Thursday, March 27, 2008

Military Justice

Can you spot what is wrong with this statement?


On a fateful day in this war, airmen delivered justice to the al Qaeda terrorist Zarqawi. -George Bush, President

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Weekly Casualty Lists: Week 13, Yr OEF+7

Enemy casualty lists not available this week here, although there are reports of significant 'policing' activity in Iraq.

WEEKLY CASUALTY LIST: MNF-IRAQ

-------Name, AgeSrv BranchHometown

Rank, Unit

Location; Circumstance of Death

Name Not Released YetU.S. Armyn.a.
Not reported yet, Multi-National Division - Baghdad
Baghdad; 25-Mar-08; Hostile - hostile fire

Name Not Released YetU.S. Armyn.a.
Not reported yet, Multi-National Division - Baghdad
Baghdad (southern part); 23-Mar-08; Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack

Name Not Released YetU.S. Armyn.a.
Not reported yet, Multi-National Division - Baghdad
Baghdad (southern part); 23-Mar-08; Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack

Name Not Released YetU.S. Armyn.a.
Not reported yet, Multi-National Division - Baghdad
Baghdad (southern part); 23-Mar-08; Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack

Andy Habsieger, 22U.S. ArmyFestus, MO
Not reported yet, Multi-National Division - Baghdad
Baghdad (southern part); 23-Mar-08; Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack

Thomas C. Ray, II, 40U.S. Army National GuardWeaverville, NC
Sergeant, 1132nd Military Police Company, North Carolina Army National Guard
Baghdad (northwest of); 22-Mar-08; Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack

David B. Williams, 26U.S. Army National GuardTarboro, NC
Sergeant, 1132nd Military Police Company, North Carolina Army National Guard
Baghdad (northwest of); 22-Mar-08; Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack

David S. Stelmat, 27U.S. Army National GuardLittleton, NH
Specialist, 1132nd Military Police Company, North Carolina Army National Guard
Baghdad (northwest of); 22-Mar-08; Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack

Tyler J. Smith, 22U.S. ArmyBethel, ME
Private 1st Class, 3rd BN, 7th Infantry Reg, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division
Baghdad; 21-Mar-08; Hostile - hostile fire - indirect fire

Gregory D. Unruh, 28U.S. ArmyDickinson, TX
Sergeant, 2nd BN, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment
Mandali; 19-Mar-08; Non-hostile - vehicle rollover

WEEKLY CASUALTY LIST: ISAF-AFGHANISTAN

------Name, AgeSrv BranchCountry

Rank, Unit

Location; Circumstance of Death
William H. Jefferson, Jr., 34U.S. Air ForceNorfolk, VA
Technical Sergeant, 21st Special Tactics Squadron
Sperwan Ghar; 22-Mar-08; Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
William R. Neil, 38U.S. ArmyHolmden, NJ
Staff Sergeant, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group
Sperwan Ghar; 21-Mar-08; Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
Ionut Cosmin Sandu, 29Romanian ArmyPiscu-Romania
Sublocotenent/2 nd Lieutn/, Batalionul 300 Infanterie "Sfantul Andrei"
North of Qalat (prov.Zabul); 20-Mar-08; Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
Antione V. Robinson, 20U.S. ArmyDetroit, NC
Private 1st Class, 782nd Brigade Support BN, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division
Nawa District, Ghazni Province; 19-Mar-08; Non-hostile - accident

WEEKLY CASUALTY LIST: IRAQI CIVILIAN, counted by large event

Counted Civilian Casualties: 178 this week; 197 last week; 197 prior week.
Counted bodies found: 40 this week; 96 last week; 96 prior week.


Tuesday 25 March: 33 dead
Baghdad: roadside bomb kills 1, Bab al-Sheikh; Mahdi Army fighters kill attack Dawa party office, kill 2 guards, Amin; 2 policemen killed at checkpoint, Sadr City; civilian killed in clashes, Sadr City; 5 bodies.
Ninewa
Mosul: gunmen kill morgue employee; 6 bodies.
Wassit
Aziziya: 3 killed in clashes.
Basra
Basra: 9 civilians reported killed during a day of clashes between authorities and Mahdi Army; 3 civilians killed by British forces.
Monday 24 March: 13 dead
Baghdad: 4 bodies.
Salahuddin
Tal Jwad: civilian killed by mortar.
Diyala
Sadiya: roadside bomb kills 3 policemen.
Buhriz: Awakening member killed by US fire at checkpoint.
Basra
Basra: man killed in clashes.
Ninewa
Mosul: 2 killed by mortars; body found.
Sunday 23 March: 74 dead
Afghanistan:The Taliban assassinated a pro-government cleric in Helmand.
Baghdad: rocket/mortar attacks kill 19 (4 children among them); gunmen shoot 7 dead, Zafaraniya; suicide car bomber kills 5, Shula; roadside bomb kills 1, Mansour; 6 bodies.
Diyala
Abu Saida: gunmen kill policeman and his driver.
Baquba: gunmen kill policeman; mortars kill 2; 2 children (8 and 10 years old) are blown up by bomb in playground.
Nahar Sabah: 15 (most from the same family) die in US air strike.
Muqdadiya: 2 bodies.
Kirkuk
Kirkuk: roadside bomb kills policeman.
Wassit
Kut: 3 killed by mortars; 2 bodies.
Ninewa
Mosul: car bombs kill 2; 4 bodies; A suicide car bomber killed 13 Iraqi soldiers after plowing his vehicle into their base in Mosul; 30 soldiers and 12 civilians were wounded in the attack.
Saturday 22 March: 28 dead
Afghanistan: The district governor of the Khanaqa district in northern Jowzjan province was killed in a knife attack this morning. A highway commander for northern Kunduz province was assassinated late Friday night.
Baghdad: roadside bomb targeting US patrol kills 2; roadside bomb kills 1, Amin; roadside bomb kills 1, Mansour; 3 bodies.
Salahuddin
Ishaqi: 6 members of neighbourhood patrol killed in US air strikes.
Samarra: A suicide car bomb hit the house of tribal leader Hussain al-Shatab, killing five people, including his brother, and wounding 11 others
Kirkuk
Kirkuk: roadside bomb kills 1.
Diyala
Sarajiq: 3 are shot dead in their car.
Buhriz: 1 killed in US air strike.
Baquba: gunmen kill Ali Hassan, returning displaced, outside his house.
Abu Saida: Gunmen killed Colonel Akram Awad al-Omairi, commander of a rapid reaction unit of Balad Ruz, outside his home in the town of Abu Saida in Diyala province, police said.
Babil
Hilla: 1 body found.
Mahaweel: 2 bodies found.
Latifiya: 1 body found.
Friday 21 March: 10 dead
Baghdad: 2 bodies.
Salahuddin
Balad: gunmen kill policeman and 2 bodyguards.
Al-Hoori: gunmen raid house, kill 1.
Ninewa
Mosul: roadside bomb kills 3.
Wassit
Kut: gunmen kill 1.
Thursday 20 March: 20 dead
Afghanistan:The Taliban released a video showing the suicide bombing of the Sabri district headquarters in Khost province that killed two US soldiers earlier this month.
Baghdad: 5 bodies.
Sulaimaniya
Goezha mountain: 1 body found.
Ninewa
Mosul: roadside bomb kills policeman; gunmen kill 2 policemen; 2 bodies found (1 decapitated).
Salahuddin
Samarra: 6 killed by US fire.
Wassit
Kut: 2 policemen killed in clashes.
Diyala
Muqdadiya: civilian is shot dead.
Wednesday 19 March: 48 dead
Baghdad: gunmen kill father and son, owners of currency exchange office, Karrada; car bomb kills policeman, Karrada; bomb kills taxi driver; 7 bodies.
Diyala
Balad Ruz: suicide bomber kills 6 in market.
Kirkuk
Hawija: 3 policemen killed by US forces.
Salahuddin
Tikrit: 1 neighbourhood watch shot dead.
Babil
Hilla: roadside bomb kills 2; another roadside bomb kills 2 policemen.
Basra
Basra: gunmen kill 17 border guards; gunmen kill policeman.
Karbala
Karbala: 2 bodies.
Ninewa
Mosul: 3 bodies

WEEKLY CASUALTY LIST: JOURNALISTS IN IRAQ

NameDate
Circumstances
None counted this week.

src: MNF-I, MNF-A, journalists from icasualties.org; Iraqi Civiilan: iraqbodycount.org; Afghan events from Bill Roggio, other sources

Turning the Page on the "War on Terror"

TOWARDS A SMART, GLOBAL COUNTERINSURGENCY AND COUNTERTERRORISM DOCTRINE IN THE USA

Badat's case sheds some light on a rarely considered question: Why do some terrorists drop out? We rightly think of al-Qaeda and other jihadist groups as formidable foes, but the stories of would-be killers who bail give us some intriguing clues about fault lines that counterterrorism officials should exploit. The reasons for a change of heart can be strikingly prosaic: family, money, petty grievances. But they can also revolve around shaken ideology or lost faith in a group's leadership.

It's become a truism of counterterrorism that we must understand how and why individuals become jihadists in the first place. But almost nobody is studying the flip side of radicalization -- understanding those who leave terrorist organizations. We'd do well to start. Figuring out why individuals walk away from terrorist groups can help governments predict whether an individual -- or even a cell -- is likely to go through with a plot. Understanding the dropouts should also make it easier for governments to determine which terrorists might be induced to switch sides, help stop radicalization and craft messages that could peel away people already in terrorist organizations. The more we know about why terrorists bail, the better we can fight them.

Michael Jacobson


I think that we can all agree that the neocons, Bush, Condi, Cheney, Rumsfeld and their pronouncements have probably not inspired one "reverse conversion".

Dereliction of Duty

I'm not sure it would be good for Democratic electoral politics, but this is an irreverent look at the emotions that drove people to "get action" "on Iraq".

This is the quote that caught my eye, mostly:

And many feared that if the United States did not go to war, it might make some hippie, somewhere, happy.
But this is the one that requires the most attention. How it came to pass, post-Reagan, that so many imagined that a full-scale military engagement could be "handled" or "managed", as regular politics or otherwise.

What all of us had in common is probably a simple recognition: War is a big deal. It isn’t normal. It’s not something to take up casually. Any war you can describe as “a war of choice” is a crime. War feeds on and feeds the negative passions. It is to be shunned where possible and regretted when not. Various hawks occasionally protested that “of course” they didn’t enjoy war, but they were almost always lying. Anyone who saw invading foreign lands and ruling other countries by force as extraordinary was forearmed against the lies and delusions of the time.


Still, towering over these emotions was Bush's dereliction of duty, in sending troops in without a firm exit strategy; and, as we now know, without even a competent 'phase three' plan.

To ask for either of these, in the pre-war period, rather than amounting to the most basic and simple of military knowledge aforethought, was an unworthy, presumptuous, or impossible-to-know request, in some quarters.

Last, for all the bluster about being Libertarian, the obvious candidate to run for President under that banner, Ron Paul, doesn't have the courage to do it. What layer of irony is that?

Thursday, March 20, 2008

French Realism

harsh, on the fifth anniversary:

Cinq ans après avoir envahi l'Irak avec 190 000 GI et 60 000 Britanniques - qui ne sont plus que 5 000 -, cinq ans après avoir essayé de réaliser l'impossible rêve néoconservateur d'instaurer la démocratie par la force dans le monde arabe avec, entre autres, l'objectif de renforcer la sécurité d'Israël, cinq ans après avoir débarrassé la région d'une de ses plus brutales dictatures, l'Amérique est embourbée dans une impasse. La "stratégie démocratique" a été abandonnée en chemin, l'ambition n'est plus que de parvenir à stabiliser la situation.
....
Après cinq années de tragédie ininterrompue, ce ne sont pas les 6 000 "soldats" d'Al-Qaida - dernière estimation du renseignement militaire américain - qui maintiennent seuls l'Irak dans la guerre. Ce sont les rivières de sang versé qui polarisent toutes les communautés comme jamais. Que les Américains s'en aillent ou qu'ils demeurent, la stabilisation de la vieille Mésopotamie n'est pas pour demain.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Weekly Casualty Lists: Week 12, Yr OEF+7

WEEKLY CASUALTY LIST: MNF-IRAQ

-------Name, AgeSrv BranchHometown

Rank, Unit

Location; Circumstance of Death

MICHAEL D ELLEDGE
U.S. Armyn.a.
Not reported yet, Multi-National Division - Baghdad
Baghdad (north of); 17-Mar-08; Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack

Christopher C Simpson
U.S. Armyn.a.
Not reported yet, Multi-National Division - Baghdad
Baghdad (north of); 17-Mar-08; Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack

William D. O'Brien, 19U.S. ArmyRice, TX
Specialist, 1st BN, 28th Infantry Reg, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division
Baghdad; 15-Mar-08; Hostile - hostile fire - small arms fire

Juantrea T. Bradley, 28U.S. ArmyGreenville, NC
Staff Sergeant, 7th Special Troops BN, 7th Sustainment Brigade, (Light Infantry) 10th Mountain Division
Tallil; 12-Mar-08; Hostile - hostile fire - rocket attack

Dustin C. Jackson, 21U.S. ArmyArlington, TX
Specialist, 350th Adjutant General Company
Tallil; 12-Mar-08; Hostile - hostile fire - rocket attack

Tenzin L. Samten, 33U.S. ArmyPrescott, AZ
Private 1st Class, 7th Special Troops BN, 7th Sustainment Brigade, (Light Infantry) 10th Mountain Division
Tallil; 12-Mar-08; Hostile - hostile fire - rocket attack

WEEKLY CASUALTY LIST: ISAF-AFGHANISTAN

------Name, AgeSrv BranchCountry

Rank, Unit

Location; Circumstance of Death
Name Not Released YetCzech Armyn.a.-Czech
Not reported yet, Not reported yet
Girishk; 17-Mar-08; Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
Sonny Kappel Jakobsen, 45Royal Danish Armyn.a.-Denmark
Senior Sergeant, Not reported yet
Girishk; 17-Mar-08; Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
Christian Jørgen Grundt Damholt, 33Royal Danish Armyn.a.-Denmark
Captain, Not reported yet
Girishk; 17-Mar-08; Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
Jason Boyes, 32Canadian ArmyLake Lynn-Canada
Sergeant, 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (2 PPCLI)
Panjawayi; 16-Mar-08; Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
Collin J. Bowen, 38U.S. Army National GuardMillersville, MD
Staff Sergeant, 1st BN, 175th Infantry Reg, Maryland Army National Guard
Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, Texas; 14-Mar-08; Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack

WEEKLY CASUALTY LIST: IRAQI CIVILIAN, counted by large event

Counted Civilian Casualties: 219 this week; 197 last week; 197 prior week.
Counted bodies found: 60 this week; 96 last week; 96 prior week.
Tuesday 18 March: 28 dead
Baghdad: roadside bomb kills 2, Shaab; roadside bomb kills 3, Al-Binook; 5 bodies.
Ninewa
Mosul: car bomb kills 3; 2 bodies.
Diyala
Abu Saida: roadside bomb kills 3 policemen.
Salahuddin
Al-Athia: gunmen kill policeman.
Baiji: 2 Sahwa members shot dead; 2 bodies.
Basra
Basra: 2 fishermen shot dead by Iranian patrol while fishing; gunmen open fire on sheikh, kill his driver.
Babil
Iskandariya: roadside bomb kills member of neighbourhood watch; roadside bomb kills woman.
Monday 17 March: 92 dead
Baghdad: 3 are killed in minibus explosion, Karrada; roadside bomb kills policeman, Mansour; mortar attack kill 5 at soccer field (2 of them children), Ghadeer; mortars hit house, kill 6 children, Sawmar; 7 bodies.
Karbala
Karbala: suicide bomber kills 52 near shrine.
Basra
Basra: gunmen kill policeman; woman's body found.
Anbar
Haditha: gunmen attack checkpoint, kill policeman.
Diyala
Abu Saida: roadside bomb kills 1.
Ninewa
Mosul: roadside bomb kills 1; 10 bodies.
Kirkuk
Udhaim: 3 bodies of neighbourhood patrol found.
Sunday 16 March: 26 dead
Baghdad: car bomb kills 1, Mansour; 5 bodies.
Diyala
Hwedir: 5 policemen die in clashes.
Khanaqeen: roadside bomb kills Kurd.
Muqdadiya: 2 bodies.
Ninewa
Mosul: gunmen kill 2 policemen; roadside bomb kills 1; 3 bodies -one beloning to 11-year-old boy.
Basra
Basra: 4 bodies.
Wassit
Kut: 2 bodies.
Saturday 15 March: 19 dead
Afghanistan:A secondary school in Kandahar attended by 1,200 students was burned to the ground by suspected Taliban terrorists.
Baghdad: 2 bodies.
Diyala
Al-Huwayder: gunmen kill civilian.
3 bodies
Ninewa
Mosul: truck bomb kills 1 at checkpoint; 3 bodies of 3 brothers found.
Wassit
Kut: 6 die in clashes; gunmen kill 1 during house raid.
Numaniya: body found.
Babil
Iskandariya: gunmen kill civilian.
Friday 14 March: 15 dead
Baghdad: football coach is shot dead, Al-Yarmuk; street sweeper killed by roadside bomb; 2 bodies.
Wassit
Kut: 2 policemen are killed in clashes; motorcycle bomb kills 1; chieftain's son is killed in clashes; bomb strikes minibus, kills 2.
Babil
Hilla: rockets kill 4.
Ninewa
Rabiya: suicide bomber kills interpreter at Syrian border.
Thursday 13 March: 39 dead
Afghanistan:A suicide car bomber detonated near a convoy carrying US troops close the Kabul airport killing at least six civilians and wounding 18.
Baghdad: car bomb kills 18, Bab al-Sharki; gunmen kill journalist; 3 bodies.
Diyala
Baquba: civilian killed by gunman.
Salahuddin
Al-Hajaj: 3 Sahwa killed by gunmen.
Tikrit: gunmen kill policeman.
Baiji: gunmen kill 2 at checkpoint.
Samarra: 15-year-old girl is shot dead by police who open fire on family car at checkpoint.
Najaf
Najaf: policeman killed in drive-by shooting.
Kirkuk
Al Zab: suicide bomber kills 3.
Kirkuk-Rashad highway: car bomb kills 1.
Wassit
Kut: 2 killed by rockets during clashes.
Ninewa
Daybaka: 1 body found.
Mosul: abducted Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho is found dead.
Wednesday 12 March: 24 dead
Baghdad: roadside bomb kills 2, Amin; 4 bodies.
Diyala
Bazaiz Buhrz: US forces fire warning shot and kill 10-year-old girl.
Benizad: 5 Sahwa shot and beheaded at checkpoint.
Dali Abass: 1 body.
Kanaan-Balad Ruz: 1 body.
Imam Habash: 2 bodies.
Muqdadiya: 2 bodies.
Salahuddin
Baiji: policeman is shot dead.
Samarra: 3 fuel truck drivers killed by roadside bomb.
Basra
Basra: gunmen kill ex-Baath member; gunmen kill Sadrist.

WEEKLY CASUALTY LIST: JOURNALISTS IN IRAQ

NameDate
Circumstances
Qassim Abdul-Hussein13-Mar-08
Gunmen killed Qassim Abdul-Hussein, the head of the circulation department for al-Muwatin newspaper, in a drive-by shooting in central Baghdad's Karrada district, said Jabbar Tarrad, the head of the Iraqi journalists' syndicate.

src: MNF-I, MNF-A, journalists from icasualties.org; Iraqi Civiilan: iraqbodycount.org; Afghan events from Bill Roggio, other sources

Fallon was a Freelancer

Can you believe this crap?

What the hell good is an investment in a professional military, if they cannot offer smart opinions, without challenging the President's authority?

We'd have a far better military to "go to war with" if we had a top brass that didn't feel they had to be Republican yes-men to get ahead or keep a pension.

Russia, Mother Again, Not Father

An interesting spin on events:

The former republics of the Soviet Union for the most part have completed the process of becoming independent states. These countries have achieved full-fledged statehood and are not at risk of losing that status in the foreseeable future.

The post-Soviet states are entering a new stage of development. During the first phase, each tried to decide which ideological stance would be most advantageous. That is now giving way to a more pragmatic approach. In other words, these countries are reconsidering the previous stereotype that Russia is the bogeyman and that Europe is some kind of paradise.

In the 1990s these countries were focused on resolving problems of basic survival and could not look far beyond their borders. Once that was accomplished, the political elite, comprising nationalist and nomenklatura elements, have turned their attention to finding a place for their countries in the greater political picture.

The Orange Revolution in Ukraine in 2004 was a turning point in the policies of all post-Soviet countries. Moscow's aggressive stance during that period turned out to be so counterproductive that it decided to switch tactics.

How We Must Fight To Give Away Money

The cost of the war to the U.K.:


In both countries the budgetary costs have been far higher than originally promised. At the onset of war the Blair government “prudently” set aside £1bn (€1.3bn) to cover the costs. But the UK has already spent over £9bn in Iraq alone. This does not include the huge “tail” in overall war costs, such as the impact of looking after the disabled, replenishing equipment and restoring the forces to pre-war strength.
...
The House of Commons defence committee was stunned to discover last week that British spending in Iraq had shot up by 72 per cent during the past year, despite lower troop levels. In 2008 the number of British troops on the ground is scheduled to halve – but the bill will be only slightly lower than last year. This is due to the high fixed costs of keeping anyone there – in terms of security, fuel, medical care and repairing equipment. As long as 2,500 British troops remain in Basra, Britain can expect that the costs of Iraq will not drop appreciably and may yet increase.

The Arab Citizens

Tempest tossed, they get good info on American military plans:

British and US sources attest that the US Department of Defense has set up a plan to attack Iran, dubbed "Checkmate". An Air Force Strategic Studies Group was entrusted with planning the war, under the leadership of Brigadier-General Lawrence A. Stutzriem and his chief civilian adviser, Dr. Lani Kass, a former Israeli military intelligence officer and expert in electronic warfare (CNN, Sunday Times).
...
[BACKGROUND]
The fact of the matter is that Project "Checkmate" is not new: it was used by the United States in the 1970s against the Soviet Union, and again during the second Gulf War when it drove the Iraqi army out of Kuwait. If this information is mentioned in the media to such an extent, then surely Admiral Fallon must have learned of it from other military sources and decided to submit his resignation - since it is the military leadership which will be held responsible for any failure in war.
...
[CONSIDERATIONS]
Petraeus considers that victory in Iraq will not be possible without a blow to Iran that would reduce its influence. Fallon, on the other hand, views this as a great risk, considering that the backbone of the current government in Bagdad is constituted of Shiite parties loyal to Tehran. There is no telling how they, or the rest of the Islamic world, would react if Petraeus's views were to be implemented.
-Al Hayat

The GOP's Finest

A Commander-in-Chief seized by fear. No plan (or desire) to build democracy. "Success" not defined by a return of troops ...

Richard Perle, interview with al-jazeera:

The administration looks around and says: "My God, what might happen next?" And the fear that seized senior officials....

So the US went in to Iraq to eliminate that threat, not to build democracy, not to steal Iraq's oil, not for broad geopolitical reasons but because the importance of dealing with that threat became a near obsession of the administration after 9-11.
....
Well I don't measure success by the return of US troops …

Can we afford another GOP administration?

Monday, March 17, 2008

Barnacles on the Iraqi Ship of State

The terrorist wackos who came to Iraq at the same time as the Americans are now feeling down, but not out.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Richard Perle

Pity Richard Perle.

He hoped for the best and didn't plan for the rest.

Never crossed his mind that there might be major frictional costs to a war-of-liberation in a land with serious doubts about the liberators, right, wrong, good, or bad and a neighbor anxious to exploit the situation.

Thinks that failing was what happened after the invasion, not with the lack of foresight before it.

Saddam is dead. Maybe a trillion dollars or more in cost later, he still thinks that was worth the good of that justified death, too.

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Odierno on the "Plus Up" - Five Years On


We've (again?) opened the door for moderate Islam, created an invitation to a better world, at great - great - sacrifice (that may never be repaid ten fold).

This is the analogy that I used some four years ago, as a left-liberal conceptualization of the OIF effort, and this is the first that I've seen the military finally come to the same point of view.

At this time, it is still very, very unclear that the struggle inside Islam has tipped in the direction of seizing that moment, and the door cannot remain open indefinitely while we wait.

Many rate the current status of the struggle a draw. While the forces of order are just as strong as the forces of chaos, arguably, outright corruption and otherwise weak institutions continue to be drags on building a new order, as significant as any. How does an army fight corruption?

We are still not at the point when we can say, stay-or-go we haven't "lost", because, in whatever case, we did the right thing for as long as possible/practical:

Let me close by emphasizing that there was much sacrifice to achieve these gains. Let us all nev­er forget those whose lives have been changed for­ever because of injuries and those who gave their lives fighting for the ideals of liberty as well as their loved ones. Their sacrifices were and are not in vain, and because of them the Iraqis have the right to choose their own destiny.

The gates of freedom remain open today because of our fallen comrades: noble and gallant warriors who gave everything so others can enjoy life, liberty, and happiness. We will honor their memory and remain dedicated to ensuring their sacrifices are never forgotten.

Fallon Yellow Belly?

MacArthur was notoriously fired by President Truman because he wanted to hurry up and get to total war.

According to the Washington Note, Fallon was swiftly shown the door because he wanted to hurry up and get to resolution that doesn't involve carpet bombs?

AND, the Administration doesn't even want to go to war with Iran.

Therefore:

We threw away a seasoned commander during a time of war, just so George Bush could continue to feel like he is in the big boss boots.

Saturday, March 08, 2008

Statistics! They DO Exist .. .{faint}

some people get them ...

Weekly Security Stats thru Jan 28, Iraq.

Threat Inflation

Book Review, Arsenals of Folly: The Making of the Nuclear Arms Race

"Threat inflation," Rhodes writes,

was crucial to maintaining the defense budgets of the Cold War.... Fear was part of the program, the psychological response to threat inflation that delivered reliable votes.

The cold war arms race was not, he argues, a natural condition of the US–Soviet rivalry. Those who claimed to act out of patriotism perpetuated the waste of billions of US tax dollars, squandered the possibility of achieving lasting nuclear security, and weakened America's global standing.

The $5.5 trillion spent on nuclear weapons—"enough to buy everything in the United States except for the land," noted Carl Sagan—was money not invested in domestic needs. Rhodes writes:

Far from victory in the Cold War, the superpower nuclear-arms race and the corresponding militarization of the American economy gave us ramshackle cities, broken bridges, failing schools, entrenched poverty, impeded life expectancy, and a menacing and secretive national-security state.

Thursday, March 06, 2008

"Mission Accomplished Stew"

Scathing satire of Bush's hapless wartime leadership skills:

Sample from Recipe (al-jazeera dot com):

Ingredients:
  • 3 tablespoons, Iraqi extra virgin oil [no olives]
  • A "sea" of crude oil (and the necessary no-bid contracts to protect it)
  • Misinformation and disinformation (including Iraqi mushroom [clouds] and 9/11 Saddam links)
  • Shock 'n awe-tichoke cruise missiles and B-1 bombers (in quantity)
  • 130,000 American troops ([suggest more and] hustled out of the kitchen.)
  • 1 head of Saddam Hussein

"New media: weapons of mass communication?"

IASF offers up an ongoing "expose" of folks from Afghanistan who have opened up their world through the internet, through blogging.

PhotoStory

I started encouraging young Afghans to blog. I founded and organized the Afghan Association BlogWriters at www.afghanpenlog.com (Farsi) and http://afghanpenlog-en.blogspot.com (English) to promote blogging in

Afghanistan. Afghan Penlog is now a network of Afghan bloggers.

I am organizing a first teaching blog workshop in Kabul for students and journalists shortly. The aim is to develop the Afghan digital media through blogging. We don't have a completely free media; I think we can fill this gap through blogs. Through these, we can practice free speech and build the way to democracy.



Enemy Casualty Lists: Week 10, Year OEF+7

Today, we lack metrics to know if we are winning or losing the global war on terror. Are we capturing, killing or deterring and dissuading more terrorists every day than the madrassas and the radical clerics are recruiting, training and deploying against us?
-October, 2003, SecDef Rumsfeld
An Afghan girl looks at paintings depicting women's issues during the first ever women's art exhibition at Amani school in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2008. Twenty-three young women artists have displayed 93 of their paintings (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

WEEKLY CASUALTY LIST: ENEMY CASUALTIES AND DENTENSIONS IN IRAQ

Counted Enemy Casualties, IRAQ
Counted Captured: 122; Killed: 39; High-value: 6
Friday, February 29, 2008: Captured: 26; Killed: 5; High value: 1
BaghdadCoalition forces killed five al Qaeda operatives and detained 22 during raids in central and northern Iraq. US solders captured a senior leader of a Special Groups network during an operation in Baghdad’s Beida neighborhood. Iraqi security forces detained a Special Groups leader and two cell members in separate raids in Baghdad and Fahama.
Saturday, March 1, 2008: Captured: 4; Killed: 2; High value: 1
Baghdad; MosulUS forces killed two Saudi al Qaeda operatives in Mosul and captured a suicide cell leader who recruited women bombers. Coalition forces captured a Special Groups facilitator three operatives in Baghdad.
Sunday, March 2, 2008: Captured: 24; Killed: 13; High value: 2
MosulThirteen al Qaeda fighters and two police were killed in a clash in Tal Afar. Iraqi SWAT captured the leader of an assassination and IED cell and two others in Mosul. Coalition forces detained 20 al Qaeda operatives during raids in central and northern Iraq. Coalition forces also captured a Special Groups leader and three others during a raid in the Numaniyah area.
Monday, March 3, 2008: Captured: 34; Killed: 15; High value: 2
BaghdadCoalition forces killed five al Qaeda operatives and detained nine during raids in northern and central Iraq, and detained an al Qaeda leader in Baghdad. Coalition forces captured a Special Groups logistical adviser for Wasit province and detained one operative in Al Mashru. Iraqi security forces killed 10 al Qaeda fighters and captured 12 during a series of operations in Diyala province.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008: Captured: 10; Killed: 4
Baghdad; Mosul; SamarraCoalition forces killed three al Qaeda operatives in central Iraq. Iraqi special forces captured two al Qaeda leaders in Baghdad. Police killed a suicide bomber in Mosul and arrested eight in Samarra.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008: Captured: 24
BasraCoalition forces detained 22 al Qaeda operatives during raids in northern and central Iraq. Iraqi forces detained two al Qaeda operatives in Wasit province. Basrah police have launched an emergency security plan in the city.
src Bill Roggio - Read - Support

WEEKLY CASUALTY LIST: ENEMY CASUALTIES AND DENTENSIONS IN AFGHANISTAN

Counted Enemy Casualties, Afghanistan
Counted Captured: ; Killed: ; High-value:
Sunday, March 2, 2008: Captured: 6
ZabulAfghan and Coalition forces detained six Taliban in a raid in Zabul province.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008; Killed: 7; High value: 1
Ghazni; HelmandAfghan and Coalition forces confirmed a Taliban leader was killed in Ghazni province on Feb. 25. ""Several"" Taliban were killed during an operation in Gershk district in Helmand province.
src Bill Roggio - Read - Support

Weekly Casualty Lists: Week 10, Yr OEF+7

Our prolonged, violent, nation-building exercises continue to be quite "hot".

There is a security emergency declared in Basra. ...

IBC counts 975 Iraqi deaths in February, up about 200 from January.

WEEKLY CASUALTY LIST: MNF-IRAQ

-------Name, AgeSrv BranchHometown

Rank, Unit

Location; Circumstance of Death

Christopher S. Frost, 24U.S. Air ForceWaukesha, WI
Staff Sergeant, 377th Air Base Wing
Bayji; 04-Mar-08; Non-hostile - helicopter crash

Duane Barwood, 41British Royal Air ForceCarterton, Oxfordshire-UK
Sergeant, 903 Expeditionary Air Wing
Basra; 29-Feb-08; Hostile - hostile fire - rocket attack

WEEKLY CASUALTY LIST: ISAF-AFGHANISTAN

------Name, AgeSrv BranchCountry

Rank, Unit

Location; Circumstance of Death
Steven R. Koch, 23U.S. ArmyMilltown, NJ
Specialist, 1st BN, 508th Parachute Infantry Reg, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division
Sabari District (Khost province); 03-Mar-08; Hostile - hostile fire - suicide car bomb
Robert T. Rapp, 22U.S. ArmySonora, CA
Sergeant, 1st BN, 508th Parachute Infantry Reg, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division
Sabari District (Khost province); 03-Mar-08; Hostile - hostile fire - suicide car bomb
Michael Yuki Hayakaze, 25Canadian Armyn.a.-Canada
Trooper, Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians)
Panjawayi; 02-Mar-08; Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack

WEEKLY CASUALTY LIST: IRAQI CIVILIAN, counted by large event

Counted Civilian Casualties: 190 this week; 197 last week; 271 prior week.
Counted bodies found: 73 this week; 96 last week; 71 prior week.
Tuesday 5 March: 21 dead
Baghdad: gunmen kill lorry driver,Shaab; roadside bomb kills 1, Mahmoudiya; 4 bodies.
Salahuddin
Samarra: suicide car bomb kills 2 Sahwa members.
Balad: 2 villagers are killed by gunmen; roadside bomb kills 1.
Kirkuk
Kirkuk: gunmen kill academic; roadside bomb kills 1.
Ninewa
Mosul: gunmen kill 4 policemen; 3 bodies found, one decapitated.
Diyala
Udhaim: 1 killed by roadside bomb.
Tuesday 4 March: 33 dead
Baghdad: 2 bodies.
Diyala
Baquba: gunmen kill civilian; 1 body found.
Buhriz: gunmen kill civilian; 1 body found.
Khalis: 1 body found.
Muqdadiya: 15 bodies found in mass grave.
Salahuddin
Al-Hassan: gunmen kill 2.
Tikrit: gunmen attack checkpoint, kill 2 Awakening members.
Ninewa
Mosul: gunmen kill policeman; roadside bomb kills 1; 2 bodies found.
Babil
Latifiya: 1 body found.
Kirkuk
Bastamli: gunmen kill 2 family members.
Monday 3 March: 79 dead
Baghdad: car bomb kills 22, Bab al-Muadham; suicide car bomber kills 2, Ghadeer; explosion kills 3, Waziriya; 5 bodies.
Basra
Basra: gunmen kill police colonel and 3 bodyguards; gunmen kill Badr member and 2 bodyguards; gunmen kill 2 in separate incident.
Salahuddin
Samarra: 18 bodies found.
Huwaish: car bomb kills 4 children and 2 women.
Diyala
Mahmudiya: 6 bodies found.
Another body found elsewhere in the province.
Baquba: gunmen kill 2.
Wassit
Numaniya: gunmen kill policeman.
Ninewa
Shirqat: suicide car bomber kills 2 policemen.
Mosul: 2 bodies.
Sunday 2 March: 28 dead
Baghdad: 3 bodies.
Diyala
Baquba: roadside bomb kills policeman trying to defuse it; gunmen kill civilian.
Wajihiya: roadside bomb kills 6, 2 of them children.
Buhriz: motorist is shot dead by Iraqi soldiers, after failing to 'respond to checkpoint instructions.'
Muqdadiya: 3 bodies.
Ninewa
Mosul: car bomb kills civilian.
Shabana: 2 policemen killed in clashes with gunmen.
Salahuddin
Samarra: car bomb kills 8, a child among them.
Basra
Basra: woman and child are killed by 'defective' artillery shell fired by UK forces.
Saturday 1 March: 13 dead
Baghdad: roadside bomb kills 1, Mahmudiya; roadside bomb kills 1, Amriya; 2 bodies.
Kirkuk
Injana: 2 pilgrims (one of them a child) are shot dead inside bus returning from Karbala.
Diyala
Mulla Eid: Sheikh is killed in clashes.
Udaim: 3 pilgrims are killed when gunmen attack bus.
Anbar
Thira Dijla: 2 bodies.
Ninewa
Mosul: car bomb kills 1.
Friday 29 February: 16 dead
Afghanistan:The Talban raided towns in the Arghandab district in Zabul province and conducted kidnappings, beatings, vandalism, and theft.
Baghdad: 2 bodies.
Salahuddin
Samarra: teenager is killed in US air strike.
Ninewa
Mosul: roadside bomb kills father and 11-year-old son; gunmen abduct Chaldean Archbishop, kill his 3 companions in the process; gunmen kill judge and lawyer.
Diyala
Baquba: gunmen kill 2.
Al Guba: 2 bodies.
Kirkuk
Kirkuk: 2 bodies.



WEEKLY CASUALTY LIST: JOURNALISTS IN IRAQ

NameDate
Circumstances
None counted this week.

src: MNF-I, MNF-A, journalists from icasualties.org; Iraqi Civiilan: iraqbodycount.org; Afghan events from Bill Roggio, other sources

Hunda Brings Changes to Sadr Movement

Roggio reports that al-Sadr is on the verge of transforming the Mahdi army into a humanitarian group. Juan Cole fleshes out some of the undercurrents in the Sadr movement:

Al-Hayat reports in Arabic that Muqtada al-Sadr has washed his hands of Ahmad al-Sharifi and Adnan Shahmani. He accused these Sadrist commanders of corruption. Al-Hayat says that the Sadr Movement has witnessed a number of schisms in the 3 weeks since Muqtada al-Sadr renewed the freeze on the activities of Mahdi Army militants. These commanders who peeled off accused Muqtada of being subservient to the Americans. Asma' al-Musawi, a member of the Sadrist politburo, said that Shahmani had formed his own breakaway party. She said that was his right, as long as he dissociated himself from the Sadr movement itself. Al-Sharifi has also formed his own small party, hiving off from the mainstream Sadrists.

Happy To Go Back To "Stone Age" - No Need to Bomb

The Taliban have destroyed cell phone towers this week. Then I read this, too:

Aid Groups in Pakistan Pack Up After Execution-Style Attack

February 28, 2008 9:26 AM

Gretchen Peters and Habibullah Khan Report:

About half of the aid groups operating in Mansehra district of northwest Pakistan have pulled out or shut down after gunmen staged a brazen and highly sophisticated attack that killed four local employees of a British aid group, according to aid workers and Pakistani officials.

No one has claimed responsibility for Monday's incident, said Mazhar Ul Haq Kakakhel, the police chief for Mansehra district. Pro-Taliban militants have been increasingly active in Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province where the execution-style killings took place.

A dozen attackers wearing fatigues and carrying automatic rifles stormed the offices of Plan International and opened fire on its employees. Then they tossed a bomb into the compound and set the place ablaze. Survivors of the attack said two of the assailants appeared to be older and to be commanding the operation.

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Beneath the Platitudes on "The Surge"

Again, left without benchmarks and no systematic data, the public are left grasping for a true picture of the facts on the ground, at the mercy of politicians:

Did this cost Patrick Cockburn anything to write, one wonders? (link to story)

So keen are the authorities to show that Sunni and Shia have stopped killing each other and that violence is down overall that many deaths with an obvious sectarian motive are no longer recorded. ‘I think the real figure for the number of people being killed is about twice what the government says it is,’ one local politician told me. He had just sent the death certificates of some victims of sectarian killers to the military authorities, who refused to admit that anybody had died at the time and place that the bodies were discovered.

Maliki himself went on a walkabout in central Baghdad to demonstrate how safe things have become. However, the precautions taken by his bodyguards suggested otherwise.

Baghdad is entirely divided between Sunni and Shia; the sectarianism is as deep-seated as it was before the fall in violence. In many areas, Iraqis say bitterly, ‘the killing stopped because there was nobody left to kill.’ There are very few mixed neighbourhoods left. The Mehdi Army still exists as a parallel government just beneath the surface in Shia areas, which take up most of the city.

Again, the Iraqi government has tried to prove the opposite. Last November it paid for a highly publicised convoy of buses to bring Iraqis home from Syria, an exercise designed to give the impression that hundreds of people were returning to peaceful Baghdad. It never happened. Three months later, despite much tougher Syrian visa regulations, the flow is still out of Iraq.
It goes on ...

U.N. - Where's the Latest Progress Report?

After having issues a comprehensive mid-year progress report last year, the U.N. doesn't seem to have issues a year-end update (or even a current update).

The International Compact envisioned a five-year effort.

They really ought to get their reporting off the ground, soon.