He That Shall Live This Day

U.S. Troops May Start Coming Home
Associated Press
via Military.com
31 Mar 2005


You did good, guys!

WASHINGTON - U.S. forces in Iraq could begin coming home in significant numbers if insurgent violence is low through the general elections scheduled for the end of the year, a top general said Wednesday.

A larger and more capable insurgency, setbacks in the efforts to develop Iraq security forces, or missed deadlines by the transitional government could delay any significant drawdown, said Air Force Lt. Gen. Lance Smith.

Smith, the deputy commander of U.S. Central Command, which has military authority over the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, commented in an interview with reporters at the Pentagon.

"(If) the elections go O.K., violence stays down, then we ought to be able to make some recommendations ... for us to be able to bring our forces home," Smith said.

Smith is the latest senior general to express conditional optimism about improvements in Iraq since the Jan. 30 elections. Previously, officials had spoken very little about prospects for withdrawal of the tens of thousands of U.S. troops in Iraq.

In the last month, the rate of insurgent attacks on U.S., coalition and Iraqi personnel and civilians has dropped from an average of between 50 and 60 per day to between 40 and 45, defense officials say. U.S. forces are also suffering casualties at a lower rate.

Smith said that if that trend continues, Iraqi security forces should be able to handle the load, with American forces pulling back to function primarily as a rapid-response force in the event the Iraqis get in trouble.

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Former Saddam official is meeting insurgent threat
Associated Press
Antonio Castaneda
Mar 20 2005

MUQDADIYA, IRAQ - The 200 Iraqi soldiers pile into trucks to begin a night patrol in this city on the edge of the Sunni Triangle -- fully aware the world is watching.

Targeted for death by insurgents but held out by the United States as the best hope for an honorable exit from Iraq, these soldiers, some trimly uniformed, others disheveled, are the new front line in the continuing battle to steer Iraq toward a stable future.

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My nephew, on active duty in the Navy, sent me the 100 GREATEST MILITARY PHOTOS

Download it here:

http://www.vaservices.org/us/photos/

If you don't have the PowerPoint program on your computer, you can download the stand - alone PowerPoint Viewer here

There's lots of other great stuff there, too.

See also Faces of Valor

While you're at it, check out Veterans' Affairs Services

The Washington Times
Rowan Scarborough
14 Mar 2005

The Army drafted new language about a regulation barring women in combat-support units 11 days after the Army's top civilian told Congress there would be no changes.
A military advocacy group has asked the Pentagon inspector general to investigate the discrepancy and whether the Army's "transformed" brigades violate the combat exclusion as they fight in Iraq.
Army and Pentagon spokesmen say the Army is not violating any regulations or laws in the assignment of female soldiers to the new brigades.
"We believe the Army is in compliance," said Lt. Col. Joe Richard, a spokesman for the Pentagon's top personnel official. Department of Defense "reviews of the policy have not identified conflict between Army concept and current policies and statutes."
... Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey told the chairmen of the House and Senate Armed Services committees in Jan. 13 letters: "No change to the extant policy is required."
Army regulations bar women from support units that "collocate routinely with units assigned a direct ground combat mission."
Pentagon guidelines approved in 1994 say women are barred "where units and positions are doctrinally required to physically collocate and remain with direct ground combat units that are closed to women."
Therein lies the discrepancy. A "Women in the Army" point paper, dated Jan. 24 and drafted within the Army secretary's office, states the policy a different way. It says women are barred from units, "which routinely collocate with those units conducting an assigned direct ground combat mission."

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Oprah Showers Fort Campbell Moms-to-Be With Baby Gifts

By Jakki Williams and Kelly Pate
Special to American Forces Press Service

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky., Oct. 8, 2004 -- Daytime talk-show host Oprah Winfrey gave a baby shower for 640 expectant mothers here Sept. 20, filming a show scheduled for broadcast Oct. 11.

Army Spc. Tom Day hands a car seat to Chief Warrant Officer Bernard Flerlage at a warehouse on Fort Campbell, Ky., Sept. 21, the day after Oprah Winfrey taped her baby shower show at the base that's airing Oct. 11. Photo by Sunny Medina (Click photo for screen-resolution image); high-resolution image available.

For overseas military audiences, the segment will air Oct. 12 at 10 a.m. Central European Time on AFN-Prime-Atlantic and at 11 a.m. Tokyo/Seoul Time on AFN-Prime-Pacific.

Oprah told a local Nashville television station that the shower was her way of saying thanks to servicemembers. "It's a way of honoring the sacrifice without doing a lot of big speeches and 'oh la la la la,' she said. "It's a way of saying we see you, we hear you, we know what you do to make our lives safer and we thank you for it."

Women soldiers and wives of active-duty troops were on their feet for much of the taping as they filled the temporary set put up at the 101st Airborne Division headquarters.

With fathers standing in the aisles, the expectant mothers received a wide range of gifts -- from strollers with matching car seats to baby booties. Hollywood stars Cindy Crawford and Heather Locklear described their favorite baby supplies and then gave one to every mother. Crawford moved from the set to Blanchfield Army Community Hospital, where she was on standby while a new mother gave birth.

Country singer Kenny Chesney sang his hit "There Goes My Life" and Martina McBride sang "In My Daughter's Eyes" to the excited crowd. Oprah herself serenaded the mothers-to-be during one of the commercial breaks at the taping.

The still-surprised mothers-to-be began lining up at a warehouse on post to receive their gifts the day after filming.

"We got here at about 5:45 a.m.," said Jill Blunt, one of the expectant mothers. "They started handing out the stuff at about 8:15. We are getting a lot of nice items. You think you are ordinary, then you realize you are a part of an extraordinary group of 640 other women giving birth in the same timeframe as you."

The line of mothers and fathers followed the length of the building and snaked around to the back. Trucks had been unloading the gifts at the warehouse for three weeks in preparation for the event.

"We deal with the soldiers every day," said Paul Dorner, Installation Supply and Services Division manager. "Storing the gifts was our way of doing a little bit for the families at Fort Campbell."

Many of the mothers were first-time moms, but some, like Jeanette Flerlage, are experienced in what a baby requires. "This is the most exciting thing that happened," said Flerlage. "This is a blessing since this is our third child. We have a lot of stuff that is hand-me- downs and it's nice to give the baby new things."

Even standing in line to receive their gifts, some of the mothers could not believe the Oprah show had come to the post -- much less given them full repertoires for their babies.

"[The show] was great. I was crying; it was awesome," said Leshawnia Culp, who is pregnant with her first child. "It is a real blessing. Financially, it takes a lot of burden off us. I was amazed to get a chance to see her."

(Jakki Williams and Kelly Pate work at Fort Campbell, Ky.)

Search For Bin Laden Faces Complications
from Military.com
Associated Press
3 Mar 2005

WASHINGTON - Osama bin Laden remains Public Enemy No. 1 but recent developments raise questions about the ability of U.S. forces to track down the elusive terrorist and the resources dedicated to the hunt more than three years after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Fresh reminders of the unsuccessful search come as intelligence officials indicated this week that bin Laden has been in contact with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the top al-Qaida figure in Iraq, enlisting his help in planning attacks inside the United States.

Current and former government officials say there is no doubt that the Bush administration wants bin Laden "dead or alive," as the president said shortly after Sept. 11, 2001. But skills and dollars may fall short of desire.

Army Gen. John Abizaid, chief of U.S. Central Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee this week that bin Laden and the al-Qaida senior leadership have been "our priority target" since Sept. 11 but added, "It's important for all of us to know that military forces do best in attacking the network as opposed to looking for a specific person."

Pakistan's President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said in December 2004 "the trail has gone cold," and U.S. officials largely agree.

Bin Laden is believed to have evaded capture first during the 2001 battle of Tora Bora in Afghanistan and then by hiding along the Afghan-Pakistani border with his top deputy and a circle of supporters protecting him at all costs. Some experts believe he may also be spending time in Pakistani cities.

U.S. personnel including CIA paramilitary, contractors and some of the military's highly trained special forces have been on the hunt. In a recent report, the Congressional Research Service said 18,000 U.S. forces remain in Afghanistan, running down al-Qaida and Taliban, joined by thousands of Pakistani forces and agents.

Yet a former intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, wondered about recent decisions on U.S. resources. The official said intelligence and military assets were moved from Afghanistan to Iraq for the Jan. 30 elections there, and it's unclear whether they went back.

Asked to confirm the shift, Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Barry Venable said, "As a matter of security, we don't comment on operational matters."

The Pentagon consumes roughly 80 percent of the classified intelligence budget, estimated at $40 billion.

The No. 2 commander in Afghanistan, Maj. Gen. Eric Olson, recently said he was concerned that U.S. policy-makers will seize on an apparent drop in militant attacks to cut coalition troops to ease the pressure on forces stretched by their deployment in Iraq. Olson added that he did not anticipate any letup in the mission to find bin Laden.

Since the late 1990s, the government has debated how best to get the terror leader and what his capture is worth. In the 2001 Patriot Act, lawmakers authorized the State Department, through its Rewards for Justice Program, to pay more than $5 million.

In November, Congress authorized increasing the reward for information leading to bin Laden's killing or capture to $50 million. But Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice hasn't boosted the reward.

State Department spokesman Lou Fintor said officials are constantly assessing the success of their efforts. "There are no plans at this time to raise the reward. It is at the discretion of the secretary," he said.


Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., who was behind the most recent rewards legislation, said the department is moving fast - "for the normal speed limit at the State Department" - in its consideration of the November legislation.

Kirk applauded other efforts under way, including a recent television, newspaper and radio campaign in four languages to remind Pakistanis about the reward. He was responsible for this legislation too.

Kirk advises patience. On a trip to Pakistan in January, when newspaper ads were running, he said U.S. officials were getting a dozen tips a day on al-Qaida's leadership - up from zero.

James Pavitt, head of the CIA's clandestine service until last summer, said he supports putting anything on the table to find bin Laden.

"That said, for the most part, it is hard for you and me to comprehend what that sort of money is," Pavitt said. "Imagine what it would be for the person in a position to give the tip. Would they be in the position to know the difference between $1 million, $5 million, $10 million?"

While the symbolic importance of capturing bin Laden remains high, Pavitt also stressed the importance of going after the network. "The issue is a network, and it is a network that is more diffuse than it was three-and-half years ago," he said.

Meanwhile, bin Laden continues to operate. He released a video addressed to the American people days before the November elections, appearing healthy, shaven and lit by studio lights.

Within the last several weeks, U.S. officials say bin Laden has been in contact with al-Zarqawi, who first pledged his loyalty to bin Laden in October. Al-Zarqawi is believed to run his own network in Iraq - aligned with al-Qaida and receptive to its cause but maintaining some autonomy.

Yet Vince Cannistraro, former head of the CIA's counterterrorism center, said the message may be good news: "If you've got to go to Zarqawi to ask him to do operations in the U.S., that sounds pretty desperate."

In the Fight
Applause in the Airport? Beyond the Beer Commercial ...
It Happens ... It Really Happens

By Matt Friedeman, PhD
February 10, 2005

(AgapePress) - Rick from Winona, Mississippi, called my state-wide talk radio program this week. Sometimes, you get a phone call that ought to be read in the broader market.

On the program that day we were discussing the report that some Europeans were disgusted with the Super Bowl commercial of American soldiers getting applause in an airport. The critics thought it too extreme in its patriotism and a possible incitement to further war.

At any rate, Rick (he asked us not to use his full name) called to talk about his experience coming back recently from the fields of war. His words (and they are worth your time reading, only lightly edited):

"I heard you talking about the Super Bowl commercial. I'm a Marine, a re-con Marine. I just got back from overseas, the second week of December, actually. I was injured overseas, so that's why I'm home now.

"But the whole time I was [there, in recovery] we watched the news to see what's going on. And we saw the protests, and we saw what the media was saying about what's going on, and we were worried about what we were actually going to face when we came home. We didn't know what to expect, to be honest with you. From the news media we were seeing, the whole country was basically telling us we're a bunch of jerks.

"I thank God that the troops that are there don't see the news coverage. I thank God every day, because there'd be ten times the number getting killed, just because it would so un-motivate [sic] them.

"Back to the story: there were seven other soldiers that came home with me that day. We flew into JFK, and we were talking on the way back: What's going to happen? What will we be facing? Is it going to be like the Vietnam era, are there going to be people spitting at us?

"We didn't know. We had that much trepidation about it.

"We get into JFK, we step out of the breezeway into the main terminal, and directly in front of us was an elderly gentleman carrying a bag. And he immediately stopped, set his bag down, and the first thing we all thought was, 'Oh, Lord, here we go already.' He just stopped and looked at us for a second, and then tears came to his eyes and he saluted us.

"And -- I'm breaking up now [editor's note: with tears] -- every one of us just started crying like babies. Everybody in the terminal -- I kid you not, at least two to three hundred people -- just started clapping, spontaneously. To me, it was so much worth what we were doing, to realize that people over here actually get what we were doing. We weren't over there because it's fun. We're over there doing a job.

"When I saw the Super Bowl commercial, I just started bawling like a baby again because that was something totally unexpected. We had no idea that people actually appreciated what we're doing, from what we see on the news. We thought we were going to come back and get eggs thrown at us. It was so refreshing to know that what we were seeing on the news is just a bunch of garbage that's being concocted by the media, that 99.9 percent of the country doesn't believe that way.

"I have a couple of more months of recovery. I got hit with a concussion and have some internal damage, but I'm feeling up, doing well, and hopefully I can get back over there with my boys."

It caused some tears in this talk show host's eyes to know there were tears in his. Appreciation, smiles, handclaps -- they can go a long way when a nation is at war, regardless of what the media and some Europeans might think.

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Matt Friedeman (mfriedeman@wbs.edu) is a professor at Wesley Biblical Seminary. Respond to this column at his blog at "In the Fight."

Hat tip to BLACKFIVE