| |
News Center | Mason News | News Center |
| SEARCH: |  |
| TheSpringGarden Plants & trees, gardening products & equiptment, homedecor | SunglassesEyeglasses All stunning brand names sunglasses at the great prices | DIYHomeSupplies Do it yourself woodworking projects & home remodeling supplies | UnitedPlus Gift Ideas. Diecasts, Figurines, American Heroes, and much more |
| CarPartsAccessoriesEtc Search and shop for auto parts & accessories online. Simple & Convenient | Sewing Machines Top notch sewing machines, vacuums, and appliances. For home or commercial. | Patio & Landscape Ready for family BBQ party this summer? A Large selection of outdoor furnitures | FontsWorld Looking for those cool fonts? Here, variety of all around the world fonts. Free Download. |
| |||||||
| Army What's up with the Army? |
 |
| | LinkBack | Thread Tools | Display Modes |
12-12-2007, 01:47 PM
| ||||
| ||||
 The Pentagon Early Bird 12-12-2007 C U R R E N T N E W S E A R L Y B I R DDecember 12, 2007 placeRandomImg() Use of these news articles does not reflect official endorsement. Reproduction for private use or gain is subject to original copyright restrictions. Story numbers indicate order of appearance only. This is the single print version. Use the PRINT command in your browser to print the entire Early Bird as one document. (NOTE: This single file format is a long document and can use 50 or more pages of paper.) GATES/MULLEN TESTIMONY
Washington Post December 12, 2007 Pg. 1 Pentagon Critical Of NATO Allies Gates Faults Efforts In Afghanistan By Ann Scott Tyson, Washington Post Staff Writer Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates sharply criticized NATO countries yesterday for not supplying urgently needed trainers, helicopters and infantry for Afghanistan as violence escalates there, vowing not to let the alliance "off the hook." Gates called for overhauling the alliance's Afghan strategy over the next three to five years, shifting NATO's focus from primarily one of rebuilding to one of waging "a classic counterinsurgency" against a resurgent Taliban and growing influx of al-Qaeda fighters. "I am not ready to let NATO off the hook in Afghanistan at this point," Gates told the House Armed Services Committee. Ticking off a list of vital requirements -- about 3,500 more military trainers, 20 helicopters and three infantry battalions -- Gates voiced "frustration" at "our allies not being able to step up to the plate." The defense secretary's public scolding of NATO, together with equally forceful testimony yesterday by Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, put on display the growing transatlantic rift over the future of the mission in Afghanistan. The Bush administration over the last year has increasingly bristled at what it sees as NATO's overly passive response to the Taliban, but European leaders have repeatedly rebuffed entreaties by Gates and President Bush to do more. In recent months, officials said, Bush and his advisers have grown more concerned about the situation in Afghanistan; in contrast to Iraq, violence is on the rise there and the U.S.-led coalition is struggling to adjust to changing conditions on the ground. As the White House reviews its Afghanistan policy, officials have concluded that wide-ranging strategic goals set for 2007 have not been met, despite tactical combat successes. The United States provides about 26,000 troops in Afghanistan and has the lead combat role in the eastern part of the country, and U.S. Special Operations forces operate throughout the country. NATO provides most of the remaining 28,000 foreign troops, and British, Canadian, Australian and Dutch forces play key combat roles in southern Afghanistan, where violence has surged over the past year. Bush extended the deployment of one brigade and sent another additional brigade to Afghanistan earlier this year to get a handle on the situation. But senior U.S. military officials have privately voiced concern that Afghanistan is regressing under a NATO command they describe as dysfunctional. If the United States wants success there, they have said, it may have to increase its military commitment again. "How long do we continue to watch this thing?" asked one senior official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "There is a desire to keep the heat on NATO and see if they will pony up the resources." But he added: "If they aren't willing to do that," the United States may have to change its policy. Violence is up significantly in Afghanistan this year, Mullen said, citing previously undisclosed figures that attacks are up 27 percent overall -- including a 60 percent spike in the southern province of Helmand, where the Taliban resurgence is strongest. Suicide bombings, roadside bombs, and other tactics common in Iraq have increased, Gates said. Meanwhile, cross-border attacks continue from Taliban and al-Qaeda sanctuaries in Pakistan. Some weapons and financing are flowing in from Iran as well, although Gates said Iran's role is not as yet "decisive." Gates had previously urged NATO to fulfill its commitments to provide troops and equipment, and he urged more flexibility in deploying them. But yesterday's testimony was particularly pointed -- coming the day before he leaves for Scotland for a meeting of defense ministers from countries with troops in southern Afghanistan. Mullen echoed Gates on NATO's shortcomings in Afghanistan in his testimony before the committee. "What seems to be growing is a classic insurgency. It requires a well-coordinated counterinsurgency strategy, fully supported by security improvements," Mullen said. But he said the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) command is "plagued by shortfalls in capability and capacity, and constrained by a host of caveats that limit its ability." Pressed by lawmakers on whether the United States should not shift more of its military resources to Afghanistan, Gates and Mullen held firm, saying Iraq remains the overarching priority for stretched U.S. forces. "In Afghanistan, we do what we can. In Iraq, we do what we must," Mullen said. "There is a limit to what we can apply to Afghanistan." Gates said that after extending the tour of a brigade of 3,500 troops from the 10th Mountain Division in Afghanistan this year, and also keeping a helicopter contingent in Kandahar for six extra months, he is not inclined to do more now. "I have refused to extend our helicopter cut . . . to ISAF beyond the end of January," Gates said. Gates later qualified his criticism by praising British, Canadian and Australian forces, which he said have "more than stepped up" in combat roles. "We should not use a brush that paints too broadly in terms of speaking of our allies and friends," he said. One of the most pressing needs in Afghanistan is for about 3,500 additional trainers for the Afghan police, a force that Gates said suffers from "corruption and illiteracy." Because the European Union did not come through, he said, the United States has had to divert some U.S. trainers from the Afghan army to the police. Mullen confirmed that the United States has approved an increase in the manpower goal of the Afghan army from 70,000 to 80,000, creating a need for the additional U.S. trainers. "The European effort on the police training has been, to be diplomatic . . . disappointing," Gates said. In a separate interview, one senior military official pointed to a vivid symbol of the disappointment over NATO's unfulfilled promises. Behind the desk of U.S. Gen. Dan K. McNeill, who commands the ISAF in Afghanistan, is a framed matrix showing all the countries that have offered to provide security and other resources in Afghanistan, with the significant gaps highlighted in color. "It isn't pretty, and it isn't changing," one official said of the chart. "What's the problem? We're looking for trainers." Another source of conflict is counternarcotics strategy. Gates said the United States was all but alone in advocating aerial spraying of Afghan poppy crops, which he said produce about 90 percent of the world's opium -- most of which goes to markets in Europe. http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20071212566975.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_4021384_AEn PjkQAAAfQR2AhXgX1x14zWpQ&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename= e20071212aaindex_concat.html&cred=Gc_4Z8NYjQH8o_c6 tZjdb9p0bKMVBCRmuhxJlry0T.BAeY4qOyVEuyy22K1v265g#T OP">RETURN TO TOP New York Times December 12, 2007 Gates Seeks NATO Help In Afghanistan WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Tuesday that other NATO countries must fill gaps in the alliance’s Afghan mission, because the main focus of the United States had to be on Iraq. Mr. Gates said he would press for more resources, particularly to train Afghan security forces, at a meeting in Scotland this week with NATO defense ministers who have troops in Afghanistan’s violent south. “I am not ready to let NATO off the hook in Afghanistan at this point,” he said at a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee. United States officials have consistently urged other states in the 26-nation alliance to provide more troops as well as military and police trainers as NATO tries to fight Taliban militants and stabilize Afghanistan. In a frank admission, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said an American military stretched by the war in Iraq could only do so much in Afghanistan. “In Afghanistan, we do what we can,” he said at the hearing. “In Iraq, we do what we must.” http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20071212567042.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_4021384_AEn PjkQAAAfQR2AhXgX1x14zWpQ&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename= e20071212aaindex_concat.html&cred=Gc_4Z8NYjQH8o_c6 tZjdb9p0bKMVBCRmuhxJlry0T.BAeY4qOyVEuyy22K1v265g#T OP">RETURN TO TOP Los Angeles Times December 12, 2007 U.S. Military Says Iraq Is The Priority Democratic lawmakers want the Pentagon to put more troops and resources in Afghanistan. But Gates says that is NATO's responsibility. By Julian E. Barnes, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff acknowledged Tuesday that the U.S. military's primary focus remained the war in Iraq, not Afghanistan, prompting criticism from Democratic lawmakers who want the Pentagon to devote more attention and resources to the Afghan conflict. Adm. Michael G. Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the war in Afghanistan was an "economy of force" operation, a military label for a mission of secondary importance. "Our main focus, militarily, in the region and in the world right now is rightly and firmly in Iraq," Mullen said before the House Armed Services Committee. "It is simply a matter of resources, of capacity. In Afghanistan, we do what we can. In Iraq, we do what we must." Mullen appeared with Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates before the House panel as U.S. officials sought to increase pressure on North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies to boost the number of troops and equipment the alliance is providing for the Afghan mission. But Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.), a retired Navy vice admiral, challenged Mullen. Sestak argued that in years to come the U.S. might regret not sending more of its own troops, particularly military trainers, to Afghanistan. "I would think the better approach might be what Winston Churchill said: Sometimes it is not enough to do our best. Sometimes we have to do what is required," Sestak said. "How can we point at NATO when we haven't done what is required?" Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, called for the Pentagon to shift resources from Iraq and to make Afghanistan the focus of the war on terrorism. The U.S. launched its invasion of Afghanistan a month after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to drive from power the Taliban regime, which had provided sanctuary to Al Qaeda. But many critics say the Bush administration turned its attention to Iraq before the job was finished. "Afghanistan has been the forgotten war. Opportunities have been squandered, and now we're clearly seeing the effects," Skelton said. "We must re-prioritize and shift needed resources from Iraq to Afghanistan." Mullen disputed the idea that Afghanistan was forgotten, and Gates said that achieving success in Afghanistan and Iraq was crucial. But the Defense secretary made clear that he was trying to increase pressure on NATO to do more. "I am not ready to let NATO off the hook in Afghanistan at this point," Gates said. Although security in Iraq has been improving in recent months, violence in Afghanistan is on the rise. There have been growing numbers of suicide attacks and roadside bombs. Gates acknowledged the increasing number of attacks, but said the violence was a result of stepped-up NATO operations. He insisted that the Taliban had made no real military gains, and that only when security increased would governance improve and reconstruction projects expand. "The Taliban and their former guests, Al Qaeda, do not have the ability to reimpose their rule," Gates said. The Defense Department is trying to persuade NATO allies to send an additional 3,500 trainers and a similar number of combat troops, along with 20 more helicopters. Gates said he was pressing for a civilian official to be appointed to coordinate reconstruction assistance in Afghanistan. Although he did not mention any names, a military official said last week that Paddy Ashdown, a British diplomat who served as the administrator of Bosnia-Herzegovina, was the leading candidate for the post. This week, Gates will travel to Scotland for a meeting with the NATO nations serving in the southern region of Afghanistan, where some of the most fierce fighting has taken place. Gates is pushing the alliance to develop a three- to five-year plan that will set out measures to judge progress in Afghanistan. He argued that such a plan could help build public support in Europe for the Afghan mission. "I think part of the problem that the European governments are having in selling their publics on the importance of their commitment in Afghanistan is a lack of understanding in Europe, particularly, of what we're trying to accomplish and why it's important," Gates said. http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20071212567072.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_4021384_AEn PjkQAAAfQR2AhXgX1x14zWpQ&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename= e20071212aaindex_concat.html&cred=Gc_4Z8NYjQH8o_c6 tZjdb9p0bKMVBCRmuhxJlry0T.BAeY4qOyVEuyy22K1v265g#T OP">RETURN TO TOP Philadelphia Inquirer December 12, 2007 Military Chief: Iraq Top U.S. Priority Success there, he said, unlike the Afghan war, is a 'must.' By Robert Burns, Associated Press WASHINGTON - The U.S. military's top officer acknowledged yesterday that for all the importance of preventing Afghanistan from again harboring al-Qaeda terrorists, Washington's first priority was Iraq. "In Afghanistan, we do what we can," said Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. "In Iraq, we do what we must." His statement to the House Armed Services Committee prompted some Democrats to say it showed what they have argued for years: that the Bush administration has become so bogged down in Iraq that it cannot make more effort in Afghanistan. Mullen, testifying with Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates on the effort to stabilize Afghanistan, said that war was, "by design and necessity, an economy-of-force operation. There is no getting around that." The United States has about 166,000 troops in Iraq and about 25,000 in Afghanistan. Asked by committee members about the long-futile effort to find al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, Mullen and Gates said the hunt was a high priority. But they did not offer specifics about what U.S. forces were doing to track him. Gates and other officials have said al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters were finding refuge and operating training camps on the Pakistan side of the border, then slipping into Afghanistan. Gates noted yesterday that the United States would not send conventional military forces into Pakistan to deal with the problem, but added, "That's the area we do need to be concerned about - al-Qaeda training and reconstituting itself." The first option for dealing with that, Gates said, is encouraging the Pakistanis to act more aggressively on their own and, second, for U.S. forces to work together with the Pakistani military. Gates said the security and other gains in Afghanistan were fragile. "There needs to be more effective coordination of assistance to the government of Afghanistan," Gates told the committee. "A strong civilian representative is needed to coordinate all nations and key international organizations on the ground. "We and others have worked with the Karzai government to identify a suitable candidate. I'm hopeful this exhaustive search will be completed soon." http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20071212566999.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_4021384_AEn PjkQAAAfQR2AhXgX1x14zWpQ&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename= e20071212aaindex_concat.html&cred=Gc_4Z8NYjQH8o_c6 tZjdb9p0bKMVBCRmuhxJlry0T.BAeY4qOyVEuyy22K1v265g#T OP">RETURN TO TOP USA Today December 12, 2007 Pg. 8 Bomb Blast Near Green Zone Rocks Iraqi Politicians' Offices By Associated Press BAGHDAD — A suicide car bomber struck in one of the capital's most heavily guarded neighborhoods Tuesday, killing two guards at a checkpoint near the home and offices of two prominent politicians, including the first prime minister after Saddam Hussein. Both politicians were out of the country at the time. The explosion took place in a neighborhood bordering the U.S.-protected Green Zone in western Baghdad, less than a quarter-mile from buildings that included the home and office compound of Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite, and offices of Saleh al-Mutlaq, the head of the Iraqi National Dialogue Front, a Sunni political bloc. It was the second bombing in two days to strike guards of Allawi, who is on a short list of possible future national leaders and is a fierce critic of Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. U.S. troops have managed to shut down numerous car-bomb factories around the city, reducing the number and intensity of bombings in recent months. Even so, U.S. commanders have warned that security in the capital is still fragile, despite marked improvements since last summer. In a statement, Allawi's Iraqi National Accord bloc said it had informed the United States, the United Nations and the Iraqi government of a plot against the former prime minister. "Unfortunately no action was taken," the statement said. Also Tuesday: •An anti-al-Qaeda Sunni tribal sheik who was promoting national unity was killed along with his nephew in a drive-by shooting near Tal Afar, 260 miles northwest of Baghdad. The attack was the latest in a series of strikes against Sunni Arabs who have joined forces with the U.S. and Iraqi governments against the terrorist network. • The bodies of a Christian woman and her brother were found in a garbage dump, police and church officials said in the southern city of Basra. The police chief, Maj. Gen. Jalil Khalaf, has blamed religious vigilantes who target women not wearing conservative Muslim dress for the deaths of at least 40 women in the city. •A Finance Ministry official said the Iraqi government plans to cut the number of people receiving food rations by about 5 million by the end of June. The official, speaking to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information, said well-off families will be dropped from the list of those eligible for rations. No income threshold has been set, the official said. The ration system dates to the Persian Gulf War, when the U.N. Security Council imposed economic sanctions on Iraq after the 1990 invasion of Kuwait. The system continued after the fall of Saddam in 2003. http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20071212567061.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_4021384_AEn PjkQAAAfQR2AhXgX1x14zWpQ&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename= e20071212aaindex_concat.html&cred=Gc_4Z8NYjQH8o_c6 tZjdb9p0bKMVBCRmuhxJlry0T.BAeY4qOyVEuyy22K1v265g#T OP">RETURN TO TOP Washington Times December 12, 2007 Pg. 12 Permanent Bases Rejected By Official Issue said to cross a ‘red line’ By Peter Graff, Reuters News Agency BAGHDAD — Iraq will never allow the United States to have permanent military bases on its soil, the government’s national security adviser said, calling the issue a “red line” that cannot be crossed. “We need the United States in our war against terrorism, we need them to guard our border sometimes, we need them for economic support and we need them for diplomatic and political support,” Mowaffak Rubaie said. “But I say one thing: Permanent forces or bases in Iraq for any foreign forces is a red line that cannot be accepted by any nationalist Iraqi,” he told Dubai-based Al Arabiya television. Mr. Rubaie’s comments, in an interview first broadcast late on Monday night, were the clearest sign yet that Iraq’s leaders are looking ahead to the days when they have full responsibility for the country’s defense. The United States has about 160,000 troops in Iraq, officially under a United Nations mandate enacted after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. Iraq formally asked the United Nations on Monday to renew that mandate for a year until the end of 2008. It made clear it did not want to extend the mandate beyond next year. President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki signed a declaration of principles last month agreeing to friendly long- term ties. Arrangements for U.S. troops to stay beyond next year will be negotiated in early 2008. Violence in Iraq has fallen in recent months since Mr. Bush sent an extra 30,000 troops. Washington intends to reduce its force by more than 20,000 by June and is expected to decide in March on troop levels beyond that date. The total number of attacks has fallen 60 percent since June when the additional U.S. troops became fully deployed. The U.S. military said the number of mortar and rocket attacks in Baghdad fell by nearly half last month, to 25 in November from 49 in October. But U.S. commanders say Sunni Arab militants linked to al Qaeda remain a serious threat, especially in the north of the country. A car bomb killed one U.S. soldier and wounded two north of Baghdad on Monday, the military said. Nearly 3,900 U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq since 2003. A car bomb also exploded yesterday at a checkpoint in a heavily guarded Baghdad neighborhood near the homes of former interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi and the leader of a small Sunni Arab party. Two persons were killed and 12 wounded. Neither politician was at his home and both spend a lot of time abroad. Mr. Allawi’s party said two weeks ago it had warned U.S.led forces and the Iraqi government about threats to kill Mr. Allawi, and said its warnings had been ignored. http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20071212567076.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_4021384_AEn PjkQAAAfQR2AhXgX1x14zWpQ&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename= e20071212aaindex_concat.html&cred=Gc_4Z8NYjQH8o_c6 tZjdb9p0bKMVBCRmuhxJlry0T.BAeY4qOyVEuyy22K1v265g#T OP">RETURN TO TOP Kansas City Star December 12, 2007 Pg. 15 New Wave Of Violence Hits Iraq By Leila Fadel and Ali Al-Basri, McClatchy Newspapers BAGHDAD -- Basra's Christian archbishop on Tuesday canceled the celebration of Christmas there to protest the deaths of two Christians as bombings and mayhem struck throughout Iraq. Archbishop Imad al-Banna said that Christians in Basra should still pray to mark Christmas but should forgo such celebratory trappings as trees, gift-swapping and family gatherings to protest the deaths of Maysoon Farid, a 30-year-old cashier at a local pharmacy, and her brother, Osama Farid, 33. They were found dead Monday night, their bodies dumped in a neighborhood controlled by the Shiite Muslim Mahdi Army militia. Elsewhere, two police officers in Baghdad were killed by a car bomb that struck near the homes of two prominent politicians, and south of Fallujah, relatives mourned a 9-year-old girl who they said was killed by U.S. troops. A friend of Maysoon Farid, Jassim al-Mousawi, said that Farid's brother was kidnapped about noon Monday. The kidnapper then used the brother's phone to contact Maysoon Farid and demanded that she meet with him to win her brother's release, al-Mousawi said. Their bodies were found Monday night in a poor neighborhood in downtown Basra. There was no claim of responsibility. The Baghdad bombing happened about 20 yards from the home of a Sunni legislator, Saleh al-Mutlaq, and about 400 yards from the home of former Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. Police said the car that exploded was driven by a man who passed unchallenged through a checkpoint leading into a neighborhood where many Iraqi officials live just outside the Green Zone. At a second checkpoint, guards asked him for identification, but he sped forward and detonated the car, killing two police officers. The blast destroyed two trailers that al-Mutlaq's security detail used and shattered the windows in al-Mutlaq's house. Other developments A U.S. soldier died of injuries suffered Monday when a suicide bomber detonated a vehicle near a military patrol, the military said Tuesday. Two troops were wounded. Amira Eidan, executive director of the National Museum of Iraq, said Tuesday that she could not forecast when the museum might reopen again, because restoration efforts have been slowed by insufficient financing. http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20071212567102.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_4021384_AEn PjkQAAAfQR2AhXgX1x14zWpQ&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename= e20071212aaindex_concat.html&cred=Gc_4Z8NYjQH8o_c6 tZjdb9p0bKMVBCRmuhxJlry0T.BAeY4qOyVEuyy22K1v265g#T OP">RETURN TO TOP San Diego Union-Tribune December 12, 2007 Old Faces Get New Commands As U.S. Military Leaders Rotate Changes unlikely to affect strategy By Robert Burns, Associated Press WASHINGTON – The U.S. military in Iraq is undergoing its biggest changeover in senior commanders since Gen. David Petraeus launched a new counterinsurgency strategy nearly a year ago. The shifts come as U.S. troop levels begin to decline, Iraqis are handed more security responsibility and Petraeus seeks to ensure that the gains achieved over the past several months continue. The leadership changes are likely to be disruptive, at least for a brief period, as the new commanders – even those with Iraq experience – adjust to rapidly changing conditions. Even so, with the studied approach the Army and Marine Corps take to rotating units and commanders – keeping the leaders informed daily of developments in Iraq, months in advance of their deployment – it is unlikely that the switches will result in changes to Petraeus' strategy. With the exception of Petraeus, senior commanders generally arrive and depart with their units, which means most of those now leaving or preparing to leave have been there for up to 15 months. Topping the list of departures is Petraeus' second-in-command, Army Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, who is due to leave in February when the 3rd Corps finishes its command tour and returns to Fort Hood, Texas. He will be replaced by Lt. Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, commander of 18th Airborne Corps, from Fort Bragg, N.C. “He's really done an amazing job with this counterinsurgency,” said Frederick Kagan, a military historian at the American Enterprise Institute, referring to Odierno. “He has it all at his fingertips, and there is no way that anyone could come in and immediately be functioning at that level.” Kagan foresaw “temporary degradation” in command effectiveness when Odierno leaves, tempered by the fact that Petraeus and his staff will remain to ensure a degree of continuity. Like many of the arriving commanders, Austin has extensive Iraq war experience. He was assistant commander of the 3rd Infantry Division when it led the invasion in March 2003 and captured Baghdad a month later. After a stint in Afghanistan, he was chief of staff at Central Command headquarters, which oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East, including the Iraq war. Conrad Crane, the main author of the U.S. military's new counterinsurgency doctrine, visited Iraq last month at Petraeus' invitation to assess how it is being applied. Crane said it would be helpful if senior commanders served longer tours, “because the personal connections these guys make are so important.” Still, he said he thought the switch-overs generally “will work out OK.” It will probably help that many of the arriving commanders know Iraq well. Maj. Gen. Jeffery W. Hammond – scheduled to assume command of U.S. forces in Baghdad on Dec. 19, replacing Maj. Gen. Joseph Fil of the 1st Cavalry Division – was an assistant division commander in Baghdad in 2004-05. Hammond now commands the 4th Infantry Division. One of Hammond's two assistant division commanders, Brig. Gen. Will Grimsley, commanded the 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, on the march to Baghdad at the start of the war. Grimsley's immediate superior at that point was Austin. In western Iraq, the Marines are in command, led by Maj. Gen. Walter Gaskin. He is to be replaced in February by Maj. Gen. John F. Kelly, who was assistant commander of the Camp Pendleton-based 1st Marine Division when it converged on Baghdad with the 3rd Infantry Division at the outset of the war. He did a second Iraq tour, in 2004, when the Marines replaced the Army in commanding forces in the west. A new commander just arrived in Northern Iraq. Maj. Gen. Mark Hertling of the 1st Armored Division replaced Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon of the 25th Infantry Division in late October. Hertling served once before in Iraq with the 1st Armored Division. The other major command area is south of Baghdad. Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, is in charge there until summer. http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20071212567077.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_4021384_AEn PjkQAAAfQR2AhXgX1x14zWpQ&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename= e20071212aaindex_concat.html&cred=Gc_4Z8NYjQH8o_c6 tZjdb9p0bKMVBCRmuhxJlry0T.BAeY4qOyVEuyy22K1v265g#T OP">RETURN TO TOP Miami Herald December 12, 2007 Illiteracy Is On Rise As Iraqi Refugees Can't Afford School Aid workers in Syria and Jordan reported that illiteracy is increasing among Iraq's thousands of refugee children. By Hannah Allam, McClatchy News Service DAMASCUS, Syria -- Illiteracy is spreading rapidly among refugee children from Iraq, with at least 300,000 young Iraqis not attending school in the countries where their families have sought safety. Alarmed aid workers in Syria and Jordan report that a growing number of children can't read or write because cash-strapped parents have withdrawn them from school to cut down on expenses. In many cases, displaced families can afford to send only one of their children to school, creating a painful gap between educated children and their illiterate siblings, humanitarian workers say. UNICEF, the United Nations' education agency, is beginning a census to determine the size of the problem. There is no program in place yet to deal broadly with the issue. Aid workers admit that the development surprised them, in part, because Iraq once boasted some of the highest literacy rates in the Middle East. The Iraqis' legendary thirst for knowledge is encapsulated in an Arabic saying, ``The Egyptians write, the Lebanese publish, the Iraqis read.'' ''We are finding that a lot of participants in the youth programs we're running -- a very high number, sometimes up to 30 percent per class -- are illiterate or close to illiterate,'' said Jason Erb, the deputy country director for emergency programs in the Jordan office of Save the Children. He said that more than 90,000 Iraqi children were out of school in Jordan. ''In the initial rounds of some of our programs, we expected children to read and write, so we'd have all these activities that involved writing things on the flip chart or having them read a case history,'' Erb said. ``They couldn't do it.'' Iraqi teachers and professors in Damascus have begun offering free remedial lessons so Iraqi children make up for years lost to war, but they're finding far more students than they can accommodate. In Syria, about 250,000 Iraqi children, or 76 percent of the school-age Iraqi population in the country, are out of class this year, according to the United Nations refugee agency. ''The last time my kids were in school was 2003, right before the American invasion,'' said Hanaa Majeed, 32, an Iraqi refugee in Damascus who can't afford to send her two sons to school. ``They can barely read. I buy books and try to teach them at home, but it's not the same. My boys see other kids with backpacks on, going off to school, and they ask why they can't go, too.'' Even refugee children who are enrolled in school struggle to keep up with unfamiliar Arabic dialects, aid workers said. The trauma of being forcibly uprooted from their homes and neighborhoods in Iraq also diminishes their ability to learn. ''A whole generation is missing out on its education,'' said Sybella Wilkes, the Damascus-based U.N. spokeswoman on refugee issues. ``Nothing has prepared Iraqis for being refugees, for running out of savings. For the first time in a generation or longer, the priority is basic survival.'' ''I have a 13-year-old who can't read or write,'' said Azhar al Haidari, 47, an Iraqi who can afford to send only two of her four children to school in Damascus. ``It destroys me. He needs to start from A-B-C, but he's too embarrassed. He says he's too old to learn now.'' http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20071212567038.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_4021384_AEn PjkQAAAfQR2AhXgX1x14zWpQ&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename= e20071212aaindex_concat.html&cred=Gc_4Z8NYjQH8o_c6 tZjdb9p0bKMVBCRmuhxJlry0T.BAeY4qOyVEuyy22K1v265g#T OP">RETURN TO TOP Philadelphia Inquirer December 11, 2007 At Iraq Flash Point, No Surge Ruins, fear remain in Samarra, where '06 mosque attack set off a fury. By Nancy A. Youssef, McClatchy News Service SAMARRA, Iraq - Cities around Iraq are taking advantage of improved security to rebuild neighborhoods, but here, the ruins of a revered Shiite Muslim shrine bleed seamlessly into the desolation that is this city's downtown. Samarra shows the limits of the U.S. surge, which has brought a modicum of calm to cities such as Fallujah, Baghdad and Ramadi. No additional troops have been sent here, no Sunni leader is stepping forward to rally his forces against foreign fighters, and no promises have been made to rebuild. The golden-domed Askariya Mosque, destroyed in a February 2006 bombing that brought simmering sectarian violence to a boil, remains closed, engulfed by untouched mountains of rubble. Blocks of shops around it also are closed, and there are no shoppers, much less religious pilgrims. Al-Qaeda in Iraq, which has been vanquished in much of Iraq by an alliance between U.S. troops and Sunni Muslim tribesmen, remains a power to be reckoned with. In Samarra, there has been no surge of U.S. troops and no local leader willing to take on al-Qaeda in Iraq. There are only 700 soldiers to hold this city of 90,000 residents, and the 2,000 Shiite police sent to help are widely distrusted by the residents. "The people are waiting to see who is going to win - the coalition forces or the terrorists," said Mahmoud Abbas, the Sunni mayor of Samarra, which is predominantly Sunni. ". . . We need the support from the coalition forces the way they supported other areas." Samarra became synonymous with Iraq's descent into violent sectarian warfare when insurgents entered the mosque in 2006 and placed explosive charges throughout the sanctuary, shattering the mosque's golden dome. This summer, other bombs toppled its two remaining minarets. Several U.S. units have tried to turn Samarra around, the latest being the Second Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division from Fort Campbell, Ky., which deployed to Samarra on Oct. 25. But without the additional resources other cities have gotten, there is little to show for its efforts so far. The rejuvenation elsewhere has eluded Samarra, and there is no clear force in charge. Residents say the national police, some sent here by Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, are arresting them for no reason and taking away their weapons. "I think what we are doing is part of the surge," said Lt. Col. Joseph McGee, the battalion commander. "But Samarra is complicated. We have to somehow get people back to their shops." The latest U.S. effort to turn Samarra around falls to Capt. Josh Kurtzman, 28, of Augusta, Maine, whose Charlie Company is based at a Samarra outpost. Kurtzman, serving his third tour in Iraq, would like to build a Sunni-led force to patrol the city, as U.S. military officers have done in other parts of Iraq, so that the Shiite-led national police are guarding only the shrine and the city's periphery. He also wants to open roads that were closed by a recent spate of violence. Together, that would create an economic boom, he said. Al-Qaeda in Iraq grew stronger in Samarra in the early months of the surge. When U.S. forces cleared Ramadi, Fallujah and nearby Baqubah of Islamic extremists earlier this year, the escaping fighters fled to Samarra. They controlled the eastern part of the city, patrolling the neighborhoods and pushing out government forces. They recruited new fighters, sometimes forcibly, training them and sending them out to attack U.S. troops or rival Sunni factions. They paid them enough to support a family for a few weeks. In parts of the city, al-Qaeda in Iraq became a main employer. U.S. officers say they are making gains against the Islamists. While U.S. troops are often attacked with small-arms fire and explosives, so far no battalion members have been killed in the city since arriving six weeks ago. Instead, U.S. officials said that they killed the city's al-Qaeda in Iraq leader, Talal Abd al-Aziz, earlier this month, and that a rival Sunni group, Jaish al-Islami, was pushing out the al-Qaeda in Iraq fighters. Kurtzman said about 150 core al-Qaeda in Iraq members remained in Samarra. But residents said they were still afraid, choosing to stay hidden in their homes rather than get caught in a battle between al-Qaeda in Iraq and Jaish al-Islami. "I think once people believe al-Qaeda has been defeated, the reconciliation will begin," Kurtzman said. "People in this city have seen it go up before, and I think they are afraid it will go back down again." http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20071212566970.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_4021384_AEn PjkQAAAfQR2AhXgX1x14zWpQ&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename= e20071212aaindex_concat.html&cred=Gc_4Z8NYjQH8o_c6 tZjdb9p0bKMVBCRmuhxJlry0T.BAeY4qOyVEuyy22K1v265g#T OP">RETURN TO TOP New York Times December 12, 2007 Pg. 1 On Taliban Turf, Long Lines Of Ailing Children By C. J. Chivers KARAWADDIN, Afghanistan — The Afghan boy crouched near a wall in this remote village, where the Taliban’s strength has prevented the government from providing services. His eyes were coated by an opaque yellow sheath. Sgt. Nick Graham, an American Army medic, approached. The villagers crowded around. They said the boy’s name was Hayatullah. He was 10 years old and developed the eye disease six years ago. “Can you help him?” a man asked. Sergeant Graham examined the boy. He was blind. There was nothing the medic could do. A second man appeared, pushing a wheelbarrow that held a hunched child with purplish lips and twisted feet, problems associated with severe congenital heart disease. Sergeant Graham listened to his heart. Without surgery, he said, this stunted boy would probably die. A third man turned the corner from an alley, leading a girl, Baratbibi, by the arm. She was 7 years old. She turned her ruined eyes toward the afternoon sun without blinking. They were more heavily coated than Hayatullah’s. Sergeant Graham sighed. “We could use an entire hospital here,” he said. Throughout early December a company of paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division patrolled the Nawa District of Ghazni Province, an isolated region near Pakistan where the Taliban operate with confidence and the Afghan government’s presence is almost nonexistent. Each patrol was a foray into villages regarded as Taliban sanctuaries. Each began with tension and the possibility of violence. But the Taliban did not confront the heavily armed paratroopers, and within minutes the mood of the patrols shifted. Once the villagers realized that the platoons were accompanied by medics, they pushed forward sick children and pleaded for help. A catalog of pediatric suffering quickly formed into queues: children with grotesque burns and skin infections, distended scrapes and scorpion and spider bites, bleeding ears, dimmed eyes or heavy, rolling coughs. Some were bandaged in dirty rags. Others were in wheelbarrows because they lacked the strength to walk. In one village, Zarinkhel, the villagers begged Capt. Christopher J. DeMure, the commander of B Company, Second Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry, for vaccines. Seven children had died of measles in the last three days, they said, including two the morning the patrol arrived. Afghanistan remains hobbled by underdevelopment, poverty and illiteracy, a legacy of decades of war. The population’s health problems are acute. But the problems in areas like these villages, the residents said, have been aggravated by the continuing insurgency and the harsh edicts of the Taliban, whose rule survived in such remote places even after it lost control of Kabul, the Afghan capital, late in 2001. The Nawa District, largely out of the Afghan government’s or the American military’s reach, lies on a transit route for insurgents who travel between Afghanistan and the tribal areas of Pakistan. The Taliban exist openly here. To limit the influence of the government and prevent it from achieving even its modest development goals, the villagers and the Afghan and American authorities said, the insurgents have sacked schools, threatened teachers and students, scared off private contractors and sharply restricted medical care. “The Taliban has made it abundantly clear that no outside doctors, no outside medical help, can work in this district,” Captain DeMure said. Before late 2001, a few international aid organizations worked in the area with the Taliban’s consent. They dug wells, built clinics, distributed small amounts of aid and administered vaccines. Now few outsiders venture here; the area is considered too dangerous. Its degree of poverty is complete. The villages have no electricity. Many people use the same irrigation ditches to wash, clean their plates, butcher meat, brush their teeth and drink. The canals are lined with animal waste. Few children are seen wearing winter clothes. The only known doctor in the district, the American officers said, is a man named Dr. Nasibullah, who, according to several intelligence reports, almost exclusively treats the Taliban’s fighters. One patrol entered Petaw, the village where Dr. Nasibullah lives. The doctor greeted the officers, served tea and denied assisting the Taliban. Captain DeMure told the doctor and a gathering of elders that the Afghan government had a plan to provide services to Nawa, but would need the villagers’ help. “We have a long-term vision to make this a better place,” he said; a vision that included opening a school near the American firebase in Nawa, where the teachers could be protected. “We see a very, very bright future for this area of Ghazni.” But the captain added that security had to improve before many other forms of help could arrive. Until the villages help stand against the Taliban, he said, it would be hard to build roads or clinics, or to provide electricity. On each patrol, the officers made similar presentations. Almost invariably, a similar scene unfolded. Once the meetings ended, the people brought forward sick children. The American medics, who conducted examinations in front of mosques, were the only modern health care many of the villagers had seen in years. Sometimes the medics were able to help, quickly cleaning wounds and dispensing simple medicines. Much of what they saw was beyond their reach. During his recent patrols, the medic for Second Platoon, B Company, Pfc. Corey R. Ball, was asked to treat not only infected cuts and persistent colds, but also retardation, blindness, autism, deafness and epilepsy. “We are medics,” he said. “They want us to be miracle workers.” Captain DeMure said the health-care situation in the district allowed the government to try to draw a contrast between its actions and those of the Taliban. The government is trying to provide services, the message goes, while the Taliban try to take services away. The government and the military plan to travel in the region soon with doctors and assess the problems and try to distribute aid and administer vaccinations, the captain said. After leaving Zarinkhel, he sent requests to the battalion headquarters for vaccines. He had arranged for several recent patrols, including the patrol to Karawaddin, to distribute winter coats and gloves to the children. In many villages, some children were barefoot and wearing a single layer of clothes. The temperature dips well below freezing each night. But the officers said the Taliban’s strength in the district had made greater long-term health care impossible for now. On one patrol, in Salamkhel, First Lt. Brian M. Kitching, who leads the Second Platoon, asked the villagers to meet at a mosque and discuss their problems. He suspected that many villagers supported the Taliban, and wanted to tell them that their choices were counterproductive. One villager, Rahmatullah, 35, said that the Taliban were here because the Afghan government was weak, and that the villagers were afraid. Whenever the military or the government distributed aid, he said, including blankets, children’s notebooks or winter clothes, the Taliban entered the village, collected the aid and set it on fire. “We would like to support the coalition forces, but if we do that the Taliban will come at night and cut off our heads,” Rahmatullah said. Another man, Ghulam Wali, 71, expressed dismay. “I know we are supposed to stand up against the Taliban, but we are poor people,” he said. “We do not have the ability to do that.” Lieutenant Kitching urged the village to resist. “The truth is that you have the ability to make a change,” he said. “You are just not willing to do it.” After he spoke, the people asked to see the platoon’s medic, and a man led over a boy who was about 6 years old. The child’s hair was wrapped in a patterned green scarf. Under the scarf, an advanced infection covered the entire top of his head. The wound was coated with what appeared to be a powdered herb mixed with dirt; the boy’s father said it was a traditional medicine he had bought in a bazaar. Private Ball tried to drain part of the infection, but the child howled. The medic said the wound needed to be excavated and scrubbed, a process that would probably involve cutting away most of the boy’s scalp, cleaning the area and then administering a long course of powerful antibiotics. The boy’s father said he did not have the money to travel to the nearest clinic, in Gelan, which was more than 40 miles away on a road where the insurgents sometimes buried mines. The medic dressed the wound and gave the father a course of antibiotics for the boy, with instructions on how to administer them. Later, back at one of B Company’s firebases, in Nawa, Sergeant Graham said the boy could be saved if he was hospitalized. But if he remained in Salamkhel, he might die. At night, as Captain DeMure briefed his officers and senior noncommissioned officers for the next day’s missions, he discussed the intelligence that had been collected during the day. Among the items was a report that the Taliban had moved into Karawaddin after aid had been handed out, and taken the children’s gloves and winter jackets and made a bonfire. In the game of move and countermove for popular influence in the villages of Nawa, the aid had vanished again. “I am confident we can make a difference down here,” Captain DeMure said. “But it is going to take time.” http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20071212567080.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_4021384_AEn PjkQAAAfQR2AhXgX1x14zWpQ&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename= e20071212aaindex_concat.html&cred=Gc_4Z8NYjQH8o_c6 tZjdb9p0bKMVBCRmuhxJlry0T.BAeY4qOyVEuyy22K1v265g#T OP">RETURN TO TOP Seattle Times December 12, 2007 Taliban Flee Key Afghan Town In South By Amir Shah, Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghan and NATO-led troops searched for any remaining Taliban fighters around Musa Qala on Tuesday, a day after the troops forced insurgents to retreat from the key southern town they had held for 10 months, the Defense Ministry said. Taliban fighters still control three remote districts in northern Helmand province around Musa Qala, and the joint Afghan-NATO force will continue operations throughout the winter to target those areas, said the Defense Ministry spokesman, Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi. The next two days will be crucial to completely secure Musa Qala and restore services for its citizens, Azimi said. Twelve extremists were killed in a coalition airstrike between Musa Qala and the nearby town of Sangin early Tuesday, said Sangin district police Chief Mohammad Ali. More than a dozen insurgents were killed earlier in the clash for Musa Qala. Taliban fighters overran Musa Qala in February, four months after British troops left the town after a controversial agreement that gave security responsibilities to Afghan elders. President Hamid Karzai said the decision to enter Musa Qala — the only important territory insurgents controlled — followed reports of brutality there by the Taliban, al-Qaida and foreign fighters. But Karzai also said the successful attack was aided by some local Taliban leaders switching allegiance. Most of the fighters left Musa Qala in trucks and motorbikes Monday after weeks of airstrikes and military operations by Afghan, British and U.S. forces. NATO's International Security Assistance Force said its troops and Afghan soldiers had entered the outskirts of the main part of Musa Qala but would now proceed cautiously into the town center because of the danger of homemade bombs. Meanwhile, in Maywand district of Kandahar province, Taliban fighters ambushed a convoy of NATO supply trucks on the main highway between Kandahar and Herat, sparking a two-hour gunbattle that killed five police and eight insurgents, said Kandahar provincial police Chief Sayed Agha Saqib. In nearby Panjwayi district, a suicide car bomber blew up his vehicle near a NATO convoy, killing an Afghan man and child and himself, Saqib said. No NATO forces were killed, he said. http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20071212566962.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_4021384_AEn PjkQAAAfQR2AhXgX1x14zWpQ&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename= e20071212aaindex_concat.html&cred=Gc_4Z8NYjQH8o_c6 tZjdb9p0bKMVBCRmuhxJlry0T.BAeY4qOyVEuyy22K1v265g#T OP">RETURN TO TOP Washington Post December 12, 2007 Pg. D4 Federal Diary Pentagon Prepares For Layoffs In Budget Standoff By Stephen Barr The Pentagon expects to notify Army and Navy commanders this week to begin preparing to lay off civilian employees, a Defense Department official said yesterday. Notices to employees will come in mid-January, the official said. He spoke on the condition of anonymity because Pentagon officials are still working out details of the potential layoffs. The Defense Department has said that it plans to send about 100,000 civil service employees home without pay because of a budget dispute between the White House and the Congress. The Pentagon says the Army and Marine Corps will run out of money early next year unless more is provided to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Gordon R. England, the deputy defense secretary, outlined plans for layoffs in a letter to Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, that was dated Dec. 7. A committee spokeswoman said it was received yesterday. "The furlough will negatively affect our ability to execute base operations and training activities," England wrote. "More importantly, it will affect the critical support our civilian employees provide to our warfighters -- support which is key to our current operations in both Afghanistan and Iraq." England said the Army would run out of operations and maintenance funds by mid-February and the Marine Corps would exhaust a similar budget account by mid-March. Civilian employees for the two services "will at those times be subject to furlough," England said. Gordon Adams, who was associate director for national security and international affairs at the Office of Management and Budget in the Clinton administration, said he believed that the Pentagon might be able to delay layoffs if it took cash from capital funds, such as those for depot maintenance, and had the Navy and Air Force assume responsibility for contract costs normally borne by the Army. That might allow employees to stay in their jobs through the end of March. "By then," Adams said, "everyone might see the light." Washington area members of Congress and the American Federation of Government Employees, a union that represents Defense Department workers, yesterday asked the administration not to use federal employees as pawns in the budget dispute. Sens. Barbara A. Mikulski and Benjamin L. Cardin, both Maryland Democrats, wrote Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates to "strongly urge you to use all budget flexibility available to your office" to avoid furloughs. "Unnecessarily bringing up the specter of furloughs and terminations -- especially around the holiday season -- lowers morale and threatens to push employees with needed expertise into retirement," they wrote. Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.), the House majority leader, said the administration's plan to move forward with furloughs "is both unhelpful and unnecessary." He urged President Bush to abandon "the political theater and work with us to ensure that defense employees are able to continue the vital work they do." John Gage, president of the AFGE, said Defense employees have been swept up in "cheap politics." "It is unconscionable with two wars going on that we are thinking about shutting down places like our Anniston depot, where our guys are working 20 hours of overtime each week repairing tanks and machinery to roll back to Iraq," Gage said. "How dare the secretary of defense use them as a pawn in this budgetary game." http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20071212567039.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_4021384_AEn PjkQAAAfQR2AhXgX1x14zWpQ&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename= e20071212aaindex_concat.html&cred=Gc_4Z8NYjQH8o_c6 tZjdb9p0bKMVBCRmuhxJlry0T.BAeY4qOyVEuyy22K1v265g#T OP">RETURN TO TOP Newport News Daily Press December 10, 2007 Pg. 1 Database Defuses Exhaustive Searches By Stephanie Heinatz SUFFOLK -- The call came into a small, dark room nestled inside the U.S. Joint Forces Command compound in north Suffolk. The Marine Corps warrant officer on the line was in Iraq, prepping a convoy to head onto the war zone's treacherous roads. He called Suffolk hoping to find out how many homemade bombs, or improvised explosive devices as the military calls them, had detonated along his route in the last 30 days. In fairly short order, the Knowledge and Information Fusion Exchange - a program run by Joint Forces Command - determined not only how many bombs went off, but also how many were found, what types of bombs they were and how each was detonated. "Knowing what's been out there helps prepare for a mission," said Army Brig. Gen. James O. Barclay III, who oversees the center. "If he knows the types (of bombs), he knows how to defeat it." The Marine could have looked for that information on his own. But given the hundreds of databases available from the various branches of the military to federal law enforcement agencies to individual units, his search could have taken days. The Knowledge and Information Fusion Exchange, or KNIFE, provides soldiers in the field with the equivalent of an on-call researcher with access to a military Google. KNIFE was created in June 2006 after the U.S. Central Command, which oversees the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, asked Joint Forces Command to help sort out the hundreds of databases. One of the key lessons learned during the war in Iraq, Barclay said, was that while troops were doing a good job of recording information, it was difficult to use because so many people were recording data in different locations. "Everybody wants the data," Barclay said. "The hard part is managing that data and access to the data because everyone has a different way of storing it, coding it, writing it." There's not a huge repository of data in Suffolk. That's part of the beauty of the program, Barclay said. KNIFE can access those hundreds of databases and has created specialized search engines to sift through them. Troops in war zones or training in the United States can call or e-mail in requests for information. Requests can be for something as common as a training manual or as critical as information on IEDs in a combat zone. A senior military officer called the program a "flotation device in an ocean of information." The same "customers" also can log into classified Web sites from anywhere in the world and do research on the several different types of search engines that KNIFE uses. "It's a one-stop shop," Barclay said. "It saves time, effort and frustration. Just think about when you go onto Google. You may do multiple searches and still not get what you want. That's just a typical person looking for data. Throw war and combat into that equation, and it's not easy." Each month, KNIFE's Web sites receive more than a million hits, and some 50 people call the Suffolk office for research help. "We have seen instances where information coming out of here can prevent something or make someone better prepped for the fight," said Navy Capt. Scott Miller, who oversees KNIFE. Right now, KNIFE is "focused on the (homemade bomb) fight because that's what's important," Barclay said. "That's the big challenge in theater. It's the largest killer of soldiers. The largest number of kids injured are through IEDs." Barclay's own son was wounded by a homemade bomb in Afghanistan. But the program can also adapt to other threats such as pandemic influenza or biological warfare. A good database will never take the place of bombs and bullets on a battlefield, Barclay said, but information is a combat "enabler. It truly does enable the war fighter to make better decisions." http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20071212567099.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_4021384_AEn PjkQAAAfQR2AhXgX1x14zWpQ&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename= e20071212aaindex_concat.html&cred=Gc_4Z8NYjQH8o_c6 tZjdb9p0bKMVBCRmuhxJlry0T.BAeY4qOyVEuyy22K1v265g#T OP">RETURN TO TOP San Diego Union-Tribune December 12, 2007 Pg. 1 Mail Won't Reach 'Any Wounded Soldier' By Associated Press Hundreds of thousands of holiday cards and letters thanking wounded U.S. troops for their sacrifice and wishing them well never reach their destination. They are returned to sender or thrown away unopened. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the anthrax scare, the Pentagon and the U.S. Postal Service have refused to deliver mail addressed simply to “Any Wounded Soldier” for fear that terrorists or opponents of the war might send toxic substances or demoralizing messages. Mail must be addressed to a specific member of the armed forces – a rule that pains some well-meaning Americans this Christmas season. “Are we going to forget our soldiers because we are running in fear?” Fena D'Ottavio said. The suburban Chicago woman was using her blog to encourage friends to send mail to unspecified soldiers until she learned of the ban, which she called a sad commentary on society. Last holiday season, despite the rule, officials say as many as 450,000 pieces of mail not addressed to anyone reached Walter Reed Army Medical Center. But they were returned or, if they had no return address, were thrown out because the hospital lacked the resources to open and screen the mail, spokesman Terry Goodman said. “A lot of this is because of security concerns because it's unsolicited mail that someone is going to have to go through,” Goodman said. “Also, being a democratic society, there could be inappropriate mail from someone who, say, doesn't support the war, and then you've got a wounded soldier getting it.” Candy Roquemore of Austin, Texas, was also promoting the idea of sending cards to wounded soldiers until she found out about the rule. She suggested that the ban is an overreaction. “I think there are some wackos who might do something, so I can understand that. But I think with a Christmas postcard, it would be pretty easy to see it doesn't have anthrax in it,” Roquemore said. She added: “I just wanted to say, 'Thank you, sorry you're hurt and happy holidays.' ” The USO also does not deliver unopened mail to unspecified recipients. Officials said the USO worries about security as well as hateful messages from war critics. http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20071212566971.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_4021384_AEn PjkQAAAfQR2AhXgX1x14zWpQ&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename= e20071212aaindex_concat.html&cred=Gc_4Z8NYjQH8o_c6 tZjdb9p0bKMVBCRmuhxJlry0T.BAeY4qOyVEuyy22K1v265g#T OP">RETURN TO TOP New York Times December 12, 2007 C.I.A. Director Speaks To Senate Committee By Mark Mazzetti and David Johnston WASHINGTON — Gen. Michael V. Hayden, director of the Central Intelligence Agency, distanced himself on Tuesday from the decision to record and subsequently destroy hundreds of hours of video taken during the interrogations of senior Qaeda captives. Speaking in public after delivering classified testimony before a Senate committee, General Hayden said that the decision to record the interrogations in 2002 was made under George J. Tenet, then the director of central intelligence, and that the destruction of those tapes in 2005 came under the watch of Porter J. Goss, who succeeded Mr. Tenet. “There are other people at the agency who know about this far better than I,” he said after he testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee. He had become the agency director in May 2006, six months after intelligence officials have said the tapes were destroyed. Congressional officials said Tuesday that they would probably call Mr. Goss and Mr. Tenet before the committee as part of its investigation into the matter. In a statement to agency employees on Thursday, General Hayden indicated that he supported the decision to destroy the videos. He did not reiterate that support in his public comments on Tuesday, although he did not say the decision was wrong. Congressional officials said General Hayden tried to provide a timeline of events surrounding the destruction of the tapes that he had constructed from agency records. Emerging from the meeting, Senator John D. Rockefeller IV, the West Virginia Democrat who is chairman of the committee, called the hearing “useful” but said he still had questions about who authorized the destruction of the tapes in 2005 and why Congress was not told at the time. General Hayden, said Thursday that the C.I.A. had informed leaders in Congress about the destruction of the videos, which document |
