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 The Pentagon Early Bird 22 Jan 2008 Use of these news items does not reflect official endorsement. Reproduction for private use or gain is subject to original copyright restrictions. Item 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.) IRAQ
Washington Post January 22, 2008 Pg. 12 Suicide Attack At Funeral In Northern Iraq Kills 17 By Joshua Partlow, Washington Post Foreign Service BAGHDAD, Jan. 21 -- A suicide bomber infiltrated a funeral Monday evening and blew himself up among the mourners, killing 17 people in the latest attack in a volatile region of northern Iraq. The funeral for a local man was being held in a mainly Sunni village south of Baiji, the oil refinery town that was the scene of a major bombing last month. Police there speculated that the bomber might have been targeting Interior Ministry officials attending the funeral. After the bomber entered the funeral hall, he shook hands with the guests and detonated his explosives, injuring 12 people in addition to those killed, said Capt. Mohammed al-Kaissi of the Baiji police. Suicide bombers have often targeted funerals because they bring together large crowds of civilians and frequently do not have much security or fortifications. Three weeks ago, a suicide bomber attacked a funeral in Baghdad's Zayouna neighborhood, killing at least 25 people. To Abdullah Jabbarra, the deputy governor of Salahuddin province, which includes the village of al-Butoma where Monday's bombing took place, the attack was a sign of the vengeful and desperate spirit of Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq. "Al-Qaeda is at their weakest state now in that area . . . because the people and the tribes are fighting them," he said. "These are revenge operations against innocent people." He said that the funeral was for a man who died of natural causes and that he did not think any prominent officials were present. "Usually they expect important people or officials will attend such funeral services, which is why they attack them," he said. Kaissi, the police captain, said the bombing slightly wounded Col. Ahmed Abdullah al-Juburi, a senior Interior Ministry official in the province. The bombing was the latest in a series of attacks that have rocked Iraq's northern provinces. As violence has declined in historically embattled regions such as Baghdad and Anbar provinces, it has migrated north to places such as Salahuddin province. In late December, a car bomb exploded near a checkpoint outside a housing complex for oil industry employees in Baiji, killing 22 people. In Kirkuk, another northern city, two civilians were injured Monday by a roadside bomb targeting a police patrol, according to police spokesman Col. Adnan Abdullah Abdullah. In Mosul, the northern city that the U.S. military describes as a focus of al-Qaeda in Iraq activity, a car bomb blew up in a market near Iraqi army soldiers, killing two people and wounding nine, said Brig. Gen. Abdul Kareem al-Rubaie, a police commander in Nineveh province. Also Monday, the U.S. military said two American servicemen were killed in recent days. A roadside bomb killed a soldier in Arab Jabour, a district south of Baghdad, and a Marine was killed in Anbar province in western Iraq. The two deaths put the January toll for U.S. troops at 25 through the first three weeks, surpassing December's total of 23. Special correspondent Naseer Nouri in Baghdad and other Washington Post staff in Iraq contributed to this report. http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20080122574965.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_1384749_AET PjkQAAAqUR5YtjgB0t2sdUN8&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename= e20080122aaindex_concat.html&cred=IwwFCijDh_fKcxkO njJz3UlwLWsgHvskbZOfXOSMx0N.FbBskQe5oR2AoFyPpAOv#T OP">RETURN TO TOP Los Angeles Times January 22, 2008 Suicide Bomber Kills Up To 17 At Funeral People were marking the last day of mourning for a tribal leader in Hajaj, a Sunni village near Tikrit. By Kimi Yoshino, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer BAGHDAD — A bomber walked undetected into a funeral Monday evening and blew himself up, killing as many as 17 others and injuring nine in a predominantly Sunni village near Tikrit, police said. The explosion in Hajaj village killed Iraqis attending a funeral for Antar Abdullah, a tribal leader and brother of the Salahuddin provincial governor's security chief. The security officer, Ahmed Abdullah, left the funeral minutes before the attack and was not injured. Many other officials, including tribal chiefs and members of volunteer security forces, also attended the funeral, but police said they had survived the bombing. The attack comes a day after an 18-year-old walked into a party carrying a box of chocolates and detonated hidden explosives, killing himself, his cousin -- a Sunni fighter working with U.S. and Iraqi forces -- and four others. Nobody had questioned the teen because he was a family member and known to many in the Anbar province village. Monday's suicide bomber was able to infiltrate the funeral tent, where people had gathered for the final day of mourning, an event marked by a meal in which people come and go throughout the evening. Elsewhere, a parked car exploded in Qayyarah, about 50 miles south of Mosul, killing two civilians and wounding nine others. The explosion targeted an Iraqi army patrol unit, said Brig. Gen. Abdul-Kareem Juboori, commander of Nineveh's police operation. Seven bodies were found around Baghdad on Monday, all men who had been shot, police said. The U.S. military on Monday also reported the deaths of two personnel over the weekend. A soldier was slain Saturday in a bombing in Arab Jabour,just south of Baghdad. A Marine was killed the same day while conducting combat operations in Anbar province. Their names were not released pending notification of family. Since the American-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, at least 3,930 U.S. troops have been killed, according to the independent website icasualties.org. Special correspondents in Baghdad, Mosul and Tikrit contributed to this report. http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20080122574830.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_1384749_AET PjkQAAAqUR5YtjgB0t2sdUN8&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename= e20080122aaindex_concat.html&cred=IwwFCijDh_fKcxkO njJz3UlwLWsgHvskbZOfXOSMx0N.FbBskQe5oR2AoFyPpAOv#T OP">RETURN TO TOP New York Times January 22, 2008 Pg. 10 Suicide Bomber Kills 17 At Ceremony Near Capital By Alissa J. Rubin BAGHDAD — A suicide bomber killed 17 people in Salahuddin Province north of Baghdad on Monday in the latest suicide attack outside the capital. Meanwhile, in the wake of a suicide bombing on Sunday near Falluja in Anbar Province, local tribesmen burned the house of the young suicide bomber’s family and prevented a female cousin from collecting the bomber’s head for burial. In the attack on Monday, a suicide bomber in the village of Hajaj near the northern oil refinery town of Baiji entered a communal hall where a feast was under way, observing the end of the seven-day mourning period for the uncle of a high-ranking security official in the Salahuddin provincial government. The bomber detonated his explosive vest, demolishing the hall. Seventeen people were killed and 11 wounded, according to a senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the news media. The level of anger on Monday in Albo Issa, the village where the Sunday bombing took place, laid bare the intensity of the blood feuds and vengeance killings that often characterize the violence in the provinces. As women keened in the courtyard and men sat somberly in a separate house, family members talked about those they had lost. “After this crime, we will never allow any of those people to stay in our area,” said Mohammed Hadi Hassan, 20, whose father was killed. “Not even their women and children. We will not permit anyone with such an ideology to stay in our village.” The bombing took place at a celebratory lunch among members of the local Awakening Council, the American-backed movement of Sunni Arab tribes opposed to Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia. According to witnesses, the suicide bomber, a boy of 13 or 14 identified as Ali Hussein Allawi al-Issawi, detonated his vest just after handing chocolates to his host. Four people were killed, including the bomber. On Sunday night, some of the men who lost relatives in the bombing set his house on fire, Mr. Hassan said, setting off explosions because of the amount of ammunition stored there. Mr. Hassan, an AK-47 on his lap, spoke tearfully on Monday about his father, Hadi Hussein al-Issawi, and the split within the Issawi tribe to which he belongs. The tribe has long been divided between a majority who fiercely oppose Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia and a minority who support the militants, he said. Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia is a homegrown militant group that American officials say has foreign leadership. The two tribal factions live close to each other in Albo Issa; the bomber’s house lies about 500 yards from the house of Mr. Hussein, the victim. Soon after members of the tribe joined with the Americans to fight Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, more than a year ago, the men in the area who supported the group fled north, leaving behind their women and children, Mr. Hassan said. “The bomber’s father was one of the senior leaders in Al Qaeda, which here they call ‘the Islamic State of Iraq,’” Mr. Hassan said. “He left his house a long time ago. The child disappeared 10 months ago, but he reappeared 10 days ago. We told the police forces about his return as soon as he got back, but they took no action.” A boy, who was among those mourning the victims, said he remembered the bomber as a normal child. “He was my classmate in school as well as in the neighborhood,” said Dhaher Hussein Ali, 13. “He was very calm, and we used to play together. He joked with all of us. Ten months ago, he disappeared. When he came back recently, he kept to himself and he did not even say hello to us.” Another cousin of Mr. Hussein’s, Ghazi Feisal Hashem al-Issawi, 30, said Mr. Hussein had not recognized the young boy at the lunch gathering. He said that as the boy handed Mr. Hussein the chocolates, Mr. Hussein asked him who he was. “The bomber told him, ‘I am Hussein Allawi’s son,’ then he detonated himself,” he said. As the sun began to set on Monday, gunshots rang out in the village. Relatives of Mr. Hussein were trying to keep a female cousin of the bomber from approaching the house where the explosion occurred. She had wanted to retrieve the young boy’s head so that it could be properly buried. But no one would allow her to approach. The military announced on Monday the deaths of two American soldiers in combat. Both died Saturday. A marine was killed in Anbar province and a soldier was killed by an improvised explosive device while on patrol in Arab Jabour, south of Baghdad, in a new Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected armored vehicle that the military has turned to as a way to reduce deaths and injuries from roadside bombs. Seven unidentified bodies were found in Baghdad and two in Mosul. Two Iraqi civilians were killed near Samarra when an improvised explosive device detonated beneath their vehicle. Abeer Mohammed and Qais Mizher contributed reporting from Baghdad, and Iraqi employees of The New York Times from Falluja, Tikrit and Mosul. http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20080122574823.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_1384749_AET PjkQAAAqUR5YtjgB0t2sdUN8&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename= e20080122aaindex_concat.html&cred=IwwFCijDh_fKcxkO njJz3UlwLWsgHvskbZOfXOSMx0N.FbBskQe5oR2AoFyPpAOv#T OP">RETURN TO TOP New York Times January 22, 2008 Pg. 10 Hopes For Vehicle Questioned After Iraq Blast By Stephen Farrell ARAB JABOUR, Iraq — From the blast and the high, thin plume of white smoke above the tree line, it looked and sounded like any other attack. The bare details were, sadly, routine enough: a gunner was killed and three crew members were wounded Saturday when their vehicle rolled over a homemade bomb buried beneath a road southeast of Baghdad. Yet, it was anything but routine. Over a crackling field radio came reports of injuries and then, sometime later, official confirmation of the first fatality inflicted by a roadside bomb on an MRAP, the new Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected armored vehicle that the American military is counting on to reduce casualties from roadside bombs in Iraq. The military has been careful to point out that the new vehicle is not impervious to attack, and that a sufficiently powerful bomb can destroy any vehicle. Still, a forensic team was flown in immediately to inspect the charred wreckage, from which wires and tangled metal protruded, to determine whether the bombing had revealed a design flaw. “It’s a great vehicle, but there is no perfect vehicle,” said Lt. Col. Kenneth Adgie, commander of the battalion that lost the soldier. Three of the four people aboard suffered only broken feet and lacerations. Pending the results of an investigation, it is unclear yet whether the gunner was killed by the blast or by the vehicle rolling over. But officers on the scene noted that he was the member of the crew most exposed, and that the vehicle’s secure inner compartment was not compromised and appeared to have done its job by protecting the three other crew members inside. “The crew compartment is intact,” said Capt. Michael Fritz. He said the blast would have been large enough “to take out” a heavily armored Bradley Fighting Vehicle. Roadside bombs have been the single deadliest weapon insurgents have directed against American forces in Iraq, and have grown increasingly sophisticated and powerful over the years. As a result, reducing the carnage from the bombs became a strong military and political imperative for the Bush administration. So important is the mine-resistant vehicle to the United States military that Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates singled it out in his holiday-season message in December, saying, “To ensure that troops have the best protection available on the battlefield, MRAPs became the military’s highest acquisition priority, and thousands of these vehicles are in production and en route to theater.” On Friday, Mr. Gates toured an assembly facility for the vehicles in Charleston, S.C., where he described them as “a proven lifesaver on the battlefield.” He cited Army reports that there had been 12 attacks on the vehicles with homemade bombs since a push began last summer to send more of them into combat zones, mostly in Iraq. No soldiers died in those attacks, he said. The vehicles have distinctive, armored V-shaped hulls that are designed to deflect the force of the explosion from roadside bombs out and away from the vehicle, sparing the occupants in the compartment. The underbody sits about 36 inches off the ground, higher than the Humvees that have proved susceptible to roadside bombs despite the additional armor added to many of them in combat zones. The vehicles are much bigger than Humvees, standing 12 feet high, weighing up to 18 tons, and carrying 6 to 10 soldiers, depending on the model. There are more than 1,500 of them in Iraq now, and the military plans to purchase more than 15,000 of them at a cost of $22.4 billion. Saturday’s deadly attack came on the first day of an operation to clear insurgents from southern Arab Jabour, a rural, overwhelmingly Sunni area less than 10 miles southeast of Baghdad on the Tigris River. The primary target is Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the homegrown extremist group that American intelligence says is foreign led. The bomb went off at 4:45 p.m., as engineers were driving beside an irrigation ditch to support soldiers of the First Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, Second Brigade Combat Team, Third Infantry Division, who had been clearing farmhouses and villages since a dawn air assault. The blast threw the vehicle into the air and spun it 180 degrees, with its shattered nose coming to rest beside the ditch. Pvt. Matthew Hall, 19, saw the bombing while standing on the roof of a nearby farmhouse. “I heard a loud boom,” he said Sunday. “I looked over and I saw pieces of vehicle and smoke. I saw a tire flying into the field.” Several vehicles in the convoy had already passed over the same spot, but failed to set off what officers say they was a deeply buried, homemade bomb, which the military calls an improvised explosive device, or I.E.D., made from about 300 pounds of fertilizer and set off with a pressure device. Infantrymen who had spent the day carefully maneuvering on foot through fields and ditches heard the blast and saw the smoke. “That was another I.E.D.,” said Capt. John Newman, the commander of Company B, to groans from his men who had walked close to the blast site earlier that morning. Two minutes later came another report. “It was an MRAP, totally destroyed,” the radio operator said. Two rescue helicopters arrived minutes later to evacuate the wounded. Dismayed, their colleagues carried on with their patrols, detaining insurgent suspects and searching for other bombs in farmyards and vehicles. The threat from buried bombs was well known before of the operation. To help clear the ground, the military had dropped nearly 100,000 pounds of bombs to destroy weapons caches and I.E.D.’s. Colonel Adgie, the battalion commander, stressed that the full details of the attacked vehicle’s destruction would not be known until an investigation was completed, but said initial examination suggested a “deep-buried I.E.D.,” which was there for some time, rather than one set off by remote control. Commanders had received intelligence about a bomb buried there, he said, but could not be certain about the report, and were unable to explode or find it despite repeated attempts from the air, and with metal detectors. He said many of the devices were hard to find and could be set off by a vehicle moving over them at a slightly different spot or at a different angle than previous vehicles had. “We had cleared it once and cleared it a second time,” he said. “A lot of vehicles had gone over it already, and it was the second-to-last vehicle that got hit. You try your best to find them and roll them up, but we didn’t find that one.” Rear Adm. Greg Smith, a spokesman for the American military in Baghdad, confirmed that the attack was “the first death resulting from an I.E.D. attack on an MRAP,” but said that he could not comment on specific damage to the vehicle “for force protection reasons.” Admiral Smith said the new vehicle had proven “in its short time here in Iraq that it is a much improved vehicle in protecting troops from the effects of improvised explosive devices.” “However,” he added, “there is no vehicle that can provide absolute protection of its occupants.” A few hours before the explosion, Captain Newman’s company was led by a farmer to a similarly large device nearby. It was safely detonated. Captain Newman said that his battalions had been using the new vehicles for about two months, and that this was the first time one had been hit with a bomb. “Unfortunately we knew our time would probably come,” he said. “It was just a very, very big amount of explosives. You can break anything with a big enough hammer.” That sentiment was echoed by other soldiers in the area. “Before this, lots of soldiers thought the MRAP was indestructible, but nothing is indestructible,” Specialist Matthew Gregg, 24, an MRAP gunner, said after driving past the wreckage. “To drive past it three or four times now, it reminds you that everything is unpredictable out here.” http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20080122574960.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_1384749_AET PjkQAAAqUR5YtjgB0t2sdUN8&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename= e20080122aaindex_concat.html&cred=IwwFCijDh_fKcxkO njJz3UlwLWsgHvskbZOfXOSMx0N.FbBskQe5oR2AoFyPpAOv#T OP">RETURN TO TOP Los Angeles Times January 22, 2008 Tea And Tribal Conflict In Iraq The possible rise of militias from Sunni groups is the topic for Marine commanders and power brokers in a region bordering Syria. By Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer HUSAYBAH, IRAQ — The meeting between the Marines and the power brokers of this border region began with pleasantries, an exchange of gifts, and the drinking of small cups of tea, very hot and very sweet. But within a few minutes the subject turned to one of crucial importance to both sides: the possible rise of militias among Sunni tribes who feel disrespected and shut out of the mild economic upturn the region is enjoying. The power brokers -- the mayor, the sheiks, and the local Iraqi army general -- are from the Albu Mahal tribe, the most powerful in the region. The Mahals were the first of the tribes to join with the U.S. in fighting the insurgency while lesser tribes stayed neutral or assisted the insurgents. Now that the insurgency has been largely suppressed, Mahal leaders feel it is their right to share in the benefits of peace, such as the flourishing downtown market in Husaybah and the recently opened port of entry that allows a free flow of goods to and from Syria. Other tribes played "an invisible" role when the Americans and the Mahals were fighting the insurgents, Farhan Fetekhan Farhan archly reminded the Marines. Farhan picks his words carefully and has a knack for a phrase that will resonate with the Americans. He acts as mayor for the Qaim region and as the top administrator of Husaybah, its major city. As a sign of respect, the Marines came to his office there. The mayor, the sheiks and the general are particularly suspicious that their archrivals, the Al Karbuli tribe, may be trying to form a militia by creating all-Karbuli units within the Iraqi security forces. The Karbulis have denied it, but Brig. Gen. Ayad Ismael remains unconvinced. "Those people never tell the truth," he said through an interpreter. It has fallen largely to the Marines, particularly to Lt. Col. Peter Baumgarten, commander of the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, to deter the Karbulis. He spends much of his time in a kind of shuttle diplomacy among the four major tribes, trying to assure them that they will share in the construction contracts and job creation. Baumgarten's troops have been the beneficiaries of the current peace. "We haven't shot our weapons at bad guys since we've been here," he said. The possibility of tribes morphing into militias has been a concern from the beginning of the alliance between the U.S. and the sheiks in Anbar. It is particularly acute here in Qaim, where the pro-U.S. movement called the Anbar Awakening has its roots. "What goes on here sets the example for all Al Anbar," said Col. Stacy Clardy, commander of the 2nd Marine Regiment. As the 2nd Regiment is relieved by the Camp Pendleton-based 5th Regiment, one of Clardy's proudest boasts is that no militias arose during his tenure. Col. Patrick Malay, commander of the 5th Marine Regiment, is determined to continue that record. "We will put our feet in their slippers," said Malay, leaning forward and looking into the mayor's eyes. The mayor suggested that Qaim's tentative step toward democracy may depend on it. "We have 20 tribes but only two make trouble," he said. "Those two think they are right, but now we live in democratic times." The Mahals also believe that the Karbulis have ties with the Shiite-led government in Baghdad that will allow them to bypass the government in Qaim in securing favors and contracts. Near the end of the meeting, the older of the two tribal leaders, Sheik Kurdi Raffa Farhan, warned that animosity between tribes runs deep and will not be easily overcome. The Mahals have a land dispute with the Karbulis that stretches to the era of Saddam Hussein, when the Karbulis allegedly used their friendship with the dictator to seize prime farmland. "This is the tribal problem for a long time, not one or two years," the sheik said. Malay, who has extensive combat experience, said later that he does not underestimate the difficulty of an American trying to referee Sunni tribal disputes that stretch to the days when the tribes were nomadic. But he prefers this task to a return to the fighting that marked the first three years of the U.S. effort to bring stability here. "It's a lot better than killing," Malay said. http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20080122574982.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_1384749_AET PjkQAAAqUR5YtjgB0t2sdUN8&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename= e20080122aaindex_concat.html&cred=IwwFCijDh_fKcxkO njJz3UlwLWsgHvskbZOfXOSMx0N.FbBskQe5oR2AoFyPpAOv#T OP">RETURN TO TOP New York Post January 22, 2008 US Bombs Terror Lair By Reuters BAGHDAD -- US warplanes dropped 30,000 pounds of bombs on a suspected al Qaeda safe haven south of Baghdad, the Air Force said, the latest in a series of air strikes aimed at disrupting the Sunni Islamist group's operations. The Air Force said the operation, which began on Sunday night and continued yesterday morning, involved B-1 bombers and F/A-18 jets. Several houses booby-trapped with explosives were destroyed in the air strikes which would allow US and Iraqi troops to move into the area to set up a permanent base of operations. http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20080122574701.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_1384749_AET PjkQAAAqUR5YtjgB0t2sdUN8&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename= e20080122aaindex_concat.html&cred=IwwFCijDh_fKcxkO njJz3UlwLWsgHvskbZOfXOSMx0N.FbBskQe5oR2AoFyPpAOv#T OP">RETURN TO TOP U.S. News & World Report January 28, 2008 Pg. 24 A General's Assessment Why David Petraeus wants to go slowly on troop drawdowns By Linda Robinson BAGHDAD--It took 14 days to transport the two 200-ton electric generators, inching along at just 5 miles an hour, across once restive Anbar Province to the Qudas power plant north of Baghdad. They arrived safely last month, with the result that power generation will regularly exceed prewar levels for the first time since the 2003 invasion. "Nothing in Iraq is easy," says Gen. David Petraeus, citing the complex logistics of the move, which included having to provide security and reinforce bridges along the route. "Come to think of it," he adds, "that's a perfect metaphor for Iraq." His comment may seem understated given the dramatic drop in violence and other signs of progress in recent months. But Petraeus, the top American commander in Iraq, knows that some of the hardest work still lies ahead if the fragile peace is to be converted into a lasting one. The political divisions in Iraq remain deep, and if they are not bridged soon, civil war could well erupt again. Further, a battle royal has begun within the U.S. administration over how quickly to draw down troops. There is pressure for an accelerated withdrawal not only because the five-year war has strained the Army but also because more troops are needed in Afghanistan and as a strategic reserve for troubles elsewhere, such as in Pakistan. The concern here is that reducing troop levels too fast, before there is progress on national reconciliation, would jeopardize the gains that have been made. Petraeus will soon provide assessments to the Pentagon leadership about force levels based on scenarios in which the situation gets better, stays the same, or gets worse. "Our requirement, prior to the next [congressional] testimony," he says, "is to provide assessments of the forces required for each of the alternative futures and also to provide a recommendation that is based on our analysis." Petraeus will make his force recommendation to President Bush and the military chain of command a couple of weeks before his required testimony on Capitol Hill, expected in March or early April. Debate. Troop levels are already set to decline to 130,000 by July from the current level of about 160,000 (the peak was more than 170,000), so a key question is how many more troops can be sent home by year's end. Some defense officials are pushing for a reduction to a more sustainable level of 100,000 troops. That, however, is unlikely to be the recommendation from Petraeus and his team, according to a senior diplomat here, who supports a slower drawdown. Iraq has seen a sharp drop in violence as the Shiite militias have mostly obeyed a cease-fire decreed by their leaders and as nationalist Sunni insurgents have largely stopped fighting. Sunni radicals linked to the terrorist group al Qaeda in Iraq have not called it quits, but they are being squeezed to a few remaining sanctuaries. That progress, though, has not been cemented by the political reconciliation necessary to keep sectarian and ethnic tensions in check. Addressing that issue is the tallest order for Petraeus and his diplomatic counterpart, U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker. They are trying to use whatever opportunity the lull provides to get the Iraqi political leaders to reach some kind of entente. After two years of wrangling, the Parliament took a step in that direction this month by finally passing a law permitting some former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party to return to government jobs or to collect their government pensions. Many technocrats, as well as hard-core Saddam loyalists, were ousted from administrative and security jobs in a 2003 purge of Baathists. But the version of the law that passed may still be used to keep midlevel Baathists from rejoining the now Shiite-run security ministries. And it could be used to force out the current head of the Baghdad Operations Command, Lt. Gen. Abboud Qanbar, who Shiite officials complain has grown too close to the Americans over the past year. "Much work remains to be done," Petraeus says, adding with a laugh that "we are using all means of persuasion." His staff tracks the legislative process and the maneuvers of the various political parties. During a visit to Baghdad's Dora neighborhood, until September a hotbed of al Qaeda resistance, Petraeus urged Iraqi Parliament member Nada Ibrahim to "tell your party leader that we are watching his vote." Ibrahim's Sunni party, the National Dialogue Front, subsequently boycotted the vote on the de-Baathification bill, regarding the measure as still too restrictive. Petraeus is also pressing the government to provide services to recently pacified Sunni parts of the capital, such as Dora. Sewage, trash, electricity, and health services have been provided in many cases by contractors hired using U.S. aid and military funds. In weighing the pace of a troop withdrawal, Petraeus is acutely conscious of the high price U.S. soldiers and marines have paid to win the current decline in violence. In Dora and southern Baghdad, for instance, Col. Ricky Gibbs's brigade--roughly 4,000 soldiers--has lost 88 killed in action and more than 700 wounded since arriving in March. On a recent Saturday, shops were open all along the main commercial road of northeast Dora. "Eighteen months ago, only stray dogs would walk on this street," remarked Ibrahim, the legislator. In Dora since September, no American soldiers have been attacked and Iraqi deaths have fallen dramatically, from 563 in January 2007 to 35 in December. "Sunnis have come to feel reliberated over the past year," says Petraeus. Volunteers. The 1,200 so-called Sunni volunteers who have come forward to help guard and clean up Dora include former members of Saddam's security services and even a cardiologist named Moayad Hamad al-Jabouri, who invited Petraeus and a group of Iraqi generals into his home for pastries. The Iraqi government has balked at incorporating the 73,000 volunteers--most now being paid by the United States--into the Iraqi police, although U.S. pressure led Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to an agreement to admit some 20,000 to the police academy and provide temporary jobs or job training for others. Whether the deal will be honored remains to be seen, but a few thousand volunteers are being trained, and hiring orders were cut for an additional 5,200. Local residents say they want them to be the police--evidence of the remaining sectarian distrust. A woman in Dora said that she trusted the Iraqi Army but that the National Police, who are largely Shiite, were "not welcome here." Two other women nodded in agreement. If matters were not complicated enough, Maliki's government may be falling apart. In late December, the two Kurdish parties and the Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party presented him a long list of demands, essentially asking to be included in the insular prime minister's deliberations. The demands carry an implicit threat of a no-confidence vote in Parliament, which could bring down the government. Warns a senior Iraqi official, "We will wait a few weeks to see if he responds to our requests." Most American officials still back Maliki, in part since a government reshuffling could cost precious time as the U.S. public presses for troops to come home. http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20080122574877.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_1384749_AET PjkQAAAqUR5YtjgB0t2sdUN8&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename= e20080122aaindex_concat.html&cred=IwwFCijDh_fKcxkO njJz3UlwLWsgHvskbZOfXOSMx0N.FbBskQe5oR2AoFyPpAOv#T OP">RETURN TO TOP Norfolk Virginian-Pilot January 22, 2008 U.N. Envoy Applauds Cut In Iraq Violence By Edith M. Lederer, Associated Press UNITED NATIONS--The top U.N. envoy in Iraq on Monday welcomed recent improvements in security and tentative steps towards national reconciliation, urging all parties to maintain the positive momentum. "It needs to be sustained by political activities and dialogue among the Iraqis," Staffan de Mistura said. He told the Security Council the Iraqi government "is signaling that it recognizes 2008 as the year to demonstrate its ability to administer a state that enjoys the broadest support and can deliver basic services and security guarantees." But he said much depends on whether the government can enact key legislation and quickly provide economic benefits and essential social services for the Iraqi people - electricity, water and sanitation. De Mistura was briefing the council on Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's recent report in which the U.N. chief welcomed the reduction in attacks across Iraq and called for similar improvements in the political arena. The U.N. envoy cited four positive developments - "surges" in security, in the economy which saw 7 percent growth last year, on the political front, and in U.N. activities. He credited "the notable decline in hostile activities" to the increased deployment of the U.S.-led multinational force, the six-month cease-fire announced in August by radical Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr, increased security cooperation with Iraq's neighbors, and the role of the Awakening Councils, Sunni Arab groups that switched sides to join U.S. forces against al-Qaida in Iraq. "The prevailing mood at the end of 2007 was that political advances were not adequate to match and sustain such security gains," de Mistura told the council. "However, the past weeks have witnessed some tentative and overdue, but certainly welcome, steps towards national reconciliation and inclusive political dialogue." He singled out the Jan. 12 adoption by the Iraqi parliament of a benchmark law allowing lower-ranking former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party to reclaim government jobs, the first major piece of U.S.-backed legislation it has adopted. But he stressed that much depends on adhering to the constitution and parliament's adoption of other key laws on oil and resource-sharing, provincial elections, and amnesty. U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad told the council the number of security incidents is now at levels last seen in early 2005, and he said the U.S. "surge" was the key factor. "The key to channeling this hard-won momentum into long-term success will be the willingness and ability of national leaders to capitalize on the local gains, pass and implement remaining key legislation, and promote reconciliation," he said. Iraq's U.N. Ambassador Hamid Al-Bayati told the council his government "is determined to continue its efforts to achieve national reconciliation to reinforce social cohesion and to avoid a civil war." http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20080122574814.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_1384749_AET PjkQAAAqUR5YtjgB0t2sdUN8&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename= e20080122aaindex_concat.html&cred=IwwFCijDh_fKcxkO njJz3UlwLWsgHvskbZOfXOSMx0N.FbBskQe5oR2AoFyPpAOv#T OP">RETURN TO TOP Washington Post January 22, 2008 Pg. 17 Asylum Program Falls Short For Iraqis Aiding U.S. Forces By Walter Pincus, Washington Post Staff Writer Thousands of Iraqi translators have assisted U.S. forces since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, risking their lives and leaving their families vulnerable to retaliation from insurgents who see them as accomplices of American troops. More than 250 of the interpreters working with the United States -- or with U.S. contractors -- have been killed. But the U.S. asylum program for translators seeking to leave the country has fallen far short of demand and, at times, short of what other coalition countries have offered their Iraqi staff. This month, Denmark will complete the process of granting asylum to 120 Iraqi interpreters who worked for Danish troops in Iraq, as well as their families. "Interpreters who had been working for the Danish military were given the choice of resettling within [Iraq] with financial help, of being given jobs at Danish mission in the region, or of going to Denmark to apply for asylum with their families," said Thomas Bille Winkel, representative of the Danish Ministry of Refugee, Immigration and Integration Affairs. Most chose to go to Denmark, he said. Denmark's rapid handling of its Iraqi employees and their families -- 364 people -- contrasts with the fate of thousands of Iraqis who have worked, or are working, for the U.S. government or its contractors in Iraq and who also wish to leave the country. Initially, the U.S. asylum initiative covered only 50 individuals a year beginning in 2006, rising to 500 annually for 2007 and 2008, and scheduled to drop back to 50 next year. Through September of last year, 429 Iraqi and 71 Afghan translators -- plus 482 of their family members -- have been admitted to the United States as refugees, according to the State Department. An additional 43 special visas for translators were issued in October and November. The Los Angeles Times has reported that about 7,000 interpreters have worked for U.S. forces since the war began. According to the office of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), a sponsor of the refugee legislation, 257 Iraqi interpreters working for U.S. forces have been killed since the March 2003 invasion. An amendment by Kennedy to the 2008 defense authorization bill would raise the refugee cap to 5,000 interpreters over the next five years. A revised version of the bill, originally vetoed by President Bush, still contains the measure and is expected to pass. When Denmark decided in February to withdraw its 480 ground troops from Basra by October, Danish military officers argued that the Iraqis who had worked for them for almost three years receive the opportunity to seek asylum in Denmark because their lives had been threatened in Iraq. Two of their Iraqi translators had been killed, leading Danish officers to ask the government in February "to treat them the right way when the Danish contingent left," Winkel said. Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen was initially reluctant to allow the Iraqis to seek asylum, but amid growing political pressure, he decided that "we will take care of these people," Winkel said. Under Danish law, no one can seek political asylum from outside the country, so Danish military transports quietly flew the Iraqis to Denmark in July, August and October, where they applied for asylum. Their applications were based on the fact that they had been targeted by Iraqi militants, having worked with the Danish troops under British command in southern Iraq as part of the U.S.-led coalition. So far, 228 Iraqis -- made up of interpreters and their families -- have been granted asylum by the Danish Immigration Service, and the remainder are expected to be approved this month, Winkel said. In Denmark, the Iraqi asylum-seekers have been housed at government accommodation centers in Jutland while their applications are processed. There they are treated like any other political refugees, receiving a cash allowance from the Danish Immigration Service to cover their expenses for food and personal items, plus a special allowance for those with children. The Iraqis receive courses to introduce them to Denmark, including an intensive language course. Employment training is also available before refugees are assigned to a municipality to establish residence. Language and other training can last up to three years. Iraqi interpreters seeking U.S. asylum must file an application, pay a $375 fee, and provide proof that they worked for U.S. units for more than one year and a recommendation from a flag officer certifying their service and their security clearances. They must be interviewed by the departments of State and Homeland Security, either in Iraq or a neighboring country. The United States does not pay the cost of travel outside Iraq for these interviews. In the United States, military personnel who worked with Iraqi interpreters have been the driving force behind the effort to bring them to this country. Peter Fish, an Army Reserve captain who recently returned from Iraq, has spent more than six months trying to get two interpreters who worked for his Army hospital in Iraq into the United States. On two occasions, one interpreter leaving Iraq for visa interviews in Jordan and Syria was turned back. Both times, the interviews were canceled by U.S. officials, and the interpreter was held at the airport because U.S. officials were not there to get him through passport control. According to the State Department, the United States cannot guarantee entry to a foreign country for a visa interview. Fish said the interpreter has been told by U.S. officials that he should arrange to have the interview in Kuwait. http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20080122574807.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_1384749_AET PjkQAAAqUR5YtjgB0t2sdUN8&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename= e20080122aaindex_concat.html&cred=IwwFCijDh_fKcxkO njJz3UlwLWsgHvskbZOfXOSMx0N.FbBskQe5oR2AoFyPpAOv#T OP">RETURN TO TOP Washington Post January 22, 2008 Pg. 2 Speculation Surrounds Petraeus's Next Job, Potential Successors By Ann Scott Tyson and Thomas E. Ricks, Washington Post Staff Writers When Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, meets with influential Iraqi leaders, he is often accompanied by a key deputy: Lt. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, who leads secretive U.S. Special Operations units working in Iraq. Petraeus turns to him for the ground truth about various regions of Iraq where McChrystal's forces conduct raids against "high-value" targets, such as the Sunni extremist group al-Qaeda in Iraq, whose leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was tracked down and killed by McChrystal's men in 2006, U.S. military officers and officials said. For that and other reasons, McChrystal is one of the leading candidates to take over should Petraeus leave his post as part of a series of high-level military personnel changes under discussion, the officials said. Since assuming command of U.S. forces in Iraq nearly a year ago, Petraeus has become the public face of the war effort, leading the troop increase, offering a pivotal progress report to Congress last September and implementing a counterinsurgency strategy that he helped devise. For the past two months, however, there has been discussion in military and government circles about whether Petraeus may become the U.S. European Command chief, who also serves as the supreme allied commander of NATO. In that role, he would oversee NATO's military operations -- including the war in Afghanistan -- as well as U.S. forces in Europe. Insiders emphasize that no decision has been made on Petraeus's future assignment and that a sharply different course -- including staying in Iraq longer -- is possible. With President Bush entering his final year in office, however, the discussions raise questions about the military leadership that will guide the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan under a new administration. Petraeus is said to favor the move, which would enable him to focus on Afghanistan, where violence has escalated over the past year, as opposed to improved security in Iraq. A spokesman for Petraeus declined to comment on the possibility of a new assignment, which was reported yesterday by the New York Times. "Trying to guess General Petraeus's next assignment is the most popular parlor game in the Pentagon these days," said Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell. "Where and when the general goes next is up to Secretary Gates and President Bush, and they have not yet decided those matters," he said, referring to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates. With a new president scheduled to take office next January, any reshuffling of U.S. military leadership becomes more complex, as Bush might be seen as preempting decisions better left to his successor. While in theory a new commander in chief could undo such decisions, any moves of wartime military leaders must be weighed carefully because of their impact on how campaigns are waged. The six-year-old war in Afghanistan has revealed some strains within NATO, with Washington and its European allies recently clashing over relative troop contributions and disparate missions. Those supporting Petraeus's potential move stress that he has worked with NATO before -- as assistant to the supreme allied commander in the late 1980s and later with the NATO Stabilization Force in Bosnia -- and note that he holds a doctorate in international relations from Princeton. Previous top U.S. commanders in Iraq have served for varying lengths of time. If Petraeus departs, there are three top candidates to replace him, according to U.S. military and government officials and sources. The first is McChrystal, whom officers credit with improving cooperation between his troops and conventional Army units and with conducting an effective counteroffensive against al-Qaeda in Iraq. Moreover, his experience would be particularly relevant, as Special Operations forces are expected to remain active in Iraq even after tens of thousands of conventional U.S. troops withdraw. The second candidate is Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, who was the No. 2 commander in Iraq in 2005 and is now Gates's senior military assistant. His closeness to the defense secretary is seen as an advantage, but some influential figures argue that Chiarelli was part of the failed pre-"surge" strategy in Iraq that emphasized a quick transition to Iraqi security forces, and that he should not preside over the new strategy, which stresses slowing that transition and making the protection of Iraqi civilians the top priority of U.S. forces. The third candidate is Lt. Gen. Martin Dempsey, the second-ranking officer at U.S. Central Command, the military headquarters for Iraq and the rest of the Middle East, Central Asia and the Horn of Africa. But one person involved in the discussions said that nothing has been set and that very different decisions may be made. For example, he said, Petraeus could be promoted next year to take over Central Command from Adm. William J. Fallon. Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, who has been the chief of day-to-day operations in Iraq for the past year under Petraeus, might then replace Petraeus as the top commander there. Odierno is also being considered to become the next Army vice chief of staff, replacing Gen. Richard A. Cody, military officials said. Nevertheless, early speculation over such top-level shifts often proves inaccurate. In the months before Petraeus was sent to Iraq, the rumor was that he would be put in charge at Central Command. Instead, that job went to Fallon. Also, not long before stepping down as defense secretary, Donald H. Rumsfeld appeared close to sending Petraeus to Afghanistan, according to a person familiar with the deliberations. http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20080122574892.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_1384749_AET PjkQAAAqUR5YtjgB0t2sdUN8&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename= e20080122aaindex_concat.html&cred=IwwFCijDh_fKcxkO njJz3UlwLWsgHvskbZOfXOSMx0N.FbBskQe5oR2AoFyPpAOv#T OP">RETURN TO TOP New York Times January 21, 2008 Pg. 1 Pentagon Weighs Top Iraq General As Chief Of NATO By Michael R. Gordon and Eric Schmitt WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is considering Gen. David H. Petraeus for the top NATO command later this year, a move that would give the general, the top American commander in Iraq, a high-level post during the next administration but that has raised concerns about the practice of rotating war commanders. A senior Pentagon official said that it was weighing “a next assignment for Petraeus” and that the NATO post was a possibility. “He deserves one and that has also always been a highly prestigious position,” the official said. “So he is a candidate for that job, but there have been no final decisions and nothing on the timing.” The question of General Petraeus’s future comes as the Pentagon is looking at changing several top-level assignments this year. President Bush has been an enthusiastic supporter of General Petraeus, whom he has credited with overseeing a troop increase and counterinsurgency plan credited with reducing the sectarian violence in Iraq, and some officials say the president would want to keep General Petraeus in Iraq as long as possible. In one approach under discussion, General Petraeus would be nominated and confirmed for the NATO post before the end of September, when Congress is expected to break for the presidential election. He might stay in Iraq for some time after that before moving to the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels, but would take his post before a new president takes office. If General Petraeus is shifted from the post as top Iraq commander, two leading candidates to replace him are Lt. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, who is running the classified Special Operations activities in Iraq, and Lt. Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, a former second-ranking commander in Iraq and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates’s senior military assistant. By this fall, General Petraeus would have served 19 months in command in Iraq and would have accumulated more than 47 months of service in Iraq in three tours there since 2003. In the NATO job, General Petraeus would play a major role in shaping the cold-war-era alliance’s identity, in coping with an increasingly assertive Russia and in overseeing the allied-led mission in Afghanistan. General Petraeus, 55, has been criticized by Democratic lawmakers opposed to Mr. Bush’s decision to send additional combat forces to Iraq. A NATO post would give him additional command experience in an important but less politically contentious region, potentially positioning him as a strong candidate in a few years to serve as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, several military officials said. They and some others who discussed the potential appointment declined to be identified because they were speaking about an internal personnel matter. Some experts, however, say General Petraeus’s departure would jeopardize American efforts in Iraq, especially since the No. 2 officer in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, is scheduled to complete his tour and leave Iraq in mid-February. General Petraeus “should stay at least through this year,” said Anthony Cordesman, a military specialist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “We really need military continuity in command during this period in which we can find out whether we can transition from tactical victory to some form of political accommodation. “We have in Petraeus and Crocker the first effective civil-military partners we have had in this war,” Mr. Cordesman added, referring to Ryan C. Crocker, the United States ambassador in Baghdad. Gen. George W. Casey Jr., General Petraeus’s predecessor, served nearly three years in the top Iraq job before becoming Army chief of staff. There has been speculation that General Petraeus’s next post might be as head of the Central Command, which has responsibility for the Middle East region. That would enable him to continue to influence events in Iraq while overseeing the military operation in Afghanistan and developing a strategy to deal with Iran. The Central Command post is currently held by Adm. William J. Fallon. Admiral Fallon, through a spokesman, denied that he intended to retire from the military in the next several months. General Petraeus, through a spokesman, declined to comment on a possible NATO assignment. Geoff Morrell, the senior Defense Department spokesman, said no decision had been made. “Trying to guess General Petraeus’s next assignment is the most popular parlor game in the Pentagon these days,” Mr. Morrell said. “Where and when the general goes next is up to Secretary Gates and President Bush, and they have not yet decided those matters. However, they very much appreciate his outstanding leadership in Iraq and believe he has much more to contribute to our nation’s defense whenever his current assignment comes to an end.” Of the potential successors for General Petraeus, Generals McChrystal and Chiarelli would bring contrasting styles and backgrounds to the fight. General McChrystal has spent much of his career in the Special Operations forces. He commands those forces in Iraq, which have conducted raids against Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the mainly Iraqi group that American intelligence says has foreign leadership, and against Shiite extremists, including cells believed to be backed by Iran. In June 2006, Mr. Bush publicly congratulated General McChrystal on the airstrike that killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian terrorist who was the head of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia. The Pentagon does not officially acknowledge the existence of some of the classified units that General McChrystal leads, and Mr. Bush’s comments were a rare acknowledgment of the role those troops played in a high-level mission. General McChrystal, a 53-year-old West Point graduate, also commanded the 75th Ranger Regiment and served tours in Saudi Arabia during the Persian Gulf war in 1991 and in Afghanistan as chief of staff of the military operation there in 2001 and 2002. He was criticized last year when a Pentagon investigation into the accidental shooting death of Cpl. Pat Tillman by fellow Army Rangers in Afghanistan held the general accountable for inaccurate information provided by Corporal Tillman’s unit in recommending him for a Silver Star. The information wrongly suggested that Corporal Tillman, a professional football player whose decision to enlist in the Army after the Sept. 11 attacks drew national attention, had been killed by enemy fire. General Chiarelli’s strengths rest heavily on his reputation as one of the most outspoken proponents of a counterinsurgency strategy that gives equal or greater weight to social and economic actions aimed at undermining the enemy as it does to force of arms. General Chiarelli, 57, has served two tours in Iraq, first as head of the First Calvary Division, where he commanded 38,000 troops in securing and rebuilding Baghdad, and later as the second-ranking American officer in Iraq before becoming the senior military aide to Mr. Gates. In a 2007 essay in Military Review, he wrote: “Unless and until there is a significant reorganization of the U.S. government interagency capabilities, the military is going to be the nation’s instrument of choice in nation-building. We need to accept that reality instead of resisting it, as we have for much of my career.” General Petraeus’s last post in Europe was as a senior officer for the NATO force in Bosnia, where he served a tour in 2001 and 2002. “He did a great job for me as a one-star in Bosnia,” said Gen. Joseph W. Ralston, who served as NATO commander at the time and has since retired. “He would have the credibility to keep Afghanistan focused for NATO.” http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20080122574710.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_1384749_AET PjkQAAAqUR5YtjgB0t2sdUN8&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename= e20080122aaindex_concat.html&cred=IwwFCijDh_fKcxkO njJz3UlwLWsgHvskbZOfXOSMx0N.FbBskQe5oR2AoFyPpAOv#T OP">RETURN TO TOP Washington Times January 21, 2008 Pg. 1 Military Ouster Of Gays Plunges 'Don’t ask’ still Pentagon rule By Rowan Scarborough, The Washington Times The U.S. military says it is enforcing the ban on open homosexuals in the ranks, as it has for decades, in the face of statistics that show a sharp drop in the number of discharged homosexuals as wars in Afghanistan and Iraq continue. Homosexual rights advocates cite the plunge as evidence that the military is losing interest in enforcement and lets openly homosexual men and women serve because commanders need every able-bodied troop. "Truth be told, I don't think the Pentagon is a big fan of the law anymore," said Steve Ralls, spokesman for Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, which is pushing for the ban's demise. The Pentagon provided a statement to The Washington Times saying it still enforces the exclusion, which was modified in the early 1990s under a policy known as "don't ask, don't tell." "Our policy implements the law Congress passed after prolonged research and debate," said Pentagon spokeswoman Eileen Lainez. "The Department will continue to follow congressional mandate on homosexual conduct. This law requires the Department of Defense to separate from the armed forces members who engage in or attempt to engage in homosexual acts; state they are homosexual or bisexual; or marry or attempt to marry a person of the same biological sex." Ms. Lainez said "we can't speculate as to why the number of discharges has declined" from 1,273 in 2001 to 612 in 2006. Mr. Ralls understands the decline as "clear evidence that traditionally during a time of war lesbian and gay discharges decline," he said. "Commanders recognize the value of having good quality service members on the job regardless of what their sexual orientation may be." Elaine Donnelly, who runs the Center for Military Readiness, said no comprehensive evidence supports that theory. She thinks fewer homosexuals are joining the military. "It's just logical," she said. "If the military is having difficulty recruiting people in general because a war is going on, it discourages people in general and that would include homosexual recruits. The advocates of gays in the military prefer to try to take statistics out of context and then try to make their argument accordingly." She said anecdotal evidence shows that the military allows personnel to leave service rather than pursuing a homosexual-driven discharge. The issue of homosexuals in the military — once thought settled in 1993 with President Clinton's adoption of "don't ask, don't tell" — has resurfaced in the current presidential election. All three leading Democratic candidates, including Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, say that if they win the White House they will ask Congress to change the law and allow open homosexuals in the ranks. The U.S. military for years has maintained that homosexuality hurts unit cohesion. The rules for "don't ask, don't tell" are clear. The military is not to ask recruits whether they are homosexual. In turn, service members are to be discharged if they disclose their sexuality, either verbally or by conduct. At the unit level, it is up to superiors to move to discharge. Mr. Ralls contends that, in more and more cases, commanders are ignoring the "tell" because they need the service member. The Pentagon rejects that contention. Homosexual rights activists are publicizing the case of Sgt. Darren Manzella, an Army medic. He told CBS' "60 Minutes" that he disclosed his homosexuality to superiors in 2005 in Iraq and 2006 in Kuwait, but remains in the Army today. "Individual commands have always had broad latitude in how they implement the law," Mr. Ralls said. Military discharges The number of service members discharged since 1994, the first full year that the "don't ask, don't tell" policy was enforced. 1994: 617 1995: 772 1996: 870 1997: 1,007 1998: 1,163 1999: 1,046 2000: 1,241 2001: 1,273 2002: 906 2003: 787 2004: 668 2005: 742 2006: 612 Sources: Servicemembers Legal Defense Network; Pentagon http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20080122574729.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_1384749_AET PjkQAAAqUR5YtjgB0t2sdUN8&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename= e20080122aaindex_concat.html&cred=IwwFCijDh_fKcxkO njJz3UlwLWsgHvskbZOfXOSMx0N.FbBskQe5oR2AoFyPpAOv#T OP">RETURN TO TOP Christian Science Monitor January 22, 2008 Enough U.S. Help For Afghanistan? Deployment of 3,200 marines will help, analysts say, but will not provide the kind of counterinsurgency now needed there. By Gordon Lubold, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor Washington--When 3,200 US marines deploy to Afghanistan this spring, the message it sends is that the US remains committed to the security of the country and its future. But the deteriorating situation there won't turn around until the United States makes changes that recognize the mission's strategic and symbolic importance and raise Afghanistan from "forgotten war" status, analysts and a senior retired officer say. Defense Secretary Robert Gates had opposed sending more US forces to the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan, but he reluctantly conceded after failing to get a greater contribution from allies, many of whom say they have little more to give. But the marines destined for Afghanistan are on a one-time, seven-month deployment that fills a gap only for trainers and combat forces, say analysts. They won't supply the kind of counterinsurgency that country needs, they say. That would require more resources, a more effective organizational structure for NATO, and smarter thinking about how to strengthen Afghanistan's political and economic systems, says one retired senior officer. It also would probably mean a greater commitment of US troops, perhaps thousands more. "If we're going to be ahead of the insurgency, then you have to have a substantial-sized force," says a retired senior officer who didn't want to be named due to the political sensitivities of the matter. A new focus in Afghanistan for the US should also include an "empowered US ambassador" overseeing the nonmilitary efforts – akin to the role of Ambassador Ryan Crocker in Iraq – even as American military forces, still under NATO command, conduct a counterinsurgency where it's needed, says the retired officer. Perspectives on counterinsurgency Some 50,000 total forces are currently in Afghanistan, about half of them American. Half of those American forces fall under a subordinate US command that oversees the country's eastern region, where an effective counterinsurgency is being waged, say many analysts in the US. It is in the southern region, including Helmand and Kandahar Provinces, where Dutch, Canadian, and British troops predominate, where a broader new strategy is most needed, they say. Pentagon strategists are reportedly refining a review of Afghanistan, which will be discussed during a meeting of NATO ministers in Europe this winter. Deteriorating security in Afghanistan, which has seen more suicide bombings and rising violence over the past year, has also piqued the interest of Congress: The House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday will entertain ideas for changing strategy. The US had employed a proper counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan, but it began to falter after the 2005 announcement that NATO would take over the mission, argued David Barno, a retired Army three-star general, in an article last fall in the Army periodical Military Review. "Unsurprisingly, this was widely viewed in the region as the first signal that the United States was 'moving for the exits,' thus reinforcing long-held doubts about the prospects of sustained American commitment," wrote Mr. Barno, who will testify Wednesday before the House panel. The US must revive a counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan, he said. In a separate development that could shape the future of Afghanistan and NATO, Army Gen. David Petraeus, the top US commander in Iraq and the man credited with creating an effective counterinsurgency strategy there, is being considered for command of NATO later this year, The New York Times reported on its website Sunday. Unwieldy command structure? One crucial move is to refine the complex organizational structure for the NATO force, with its bifurcated commands and complex command-and-control relationships. "If there is an overhaul needed, it is getting a unity of command," says Jim Phillips, a research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank here. "Unfortunately, the military effort is disjointed, with so many different NATO forces pursuing different strategies." Secretary Gates, however, has already decided not to push for changes to the organizational structure of the mission, after members of the Joint Staff last year recommended no change. "They ... recommended that we leave it as it is, and that is my intent," Gates said Thursday. A proper counterinsurgency would include more attention to political, economic, and other nonmilitary issues, some say. Abdullah Abdullah, a former minister of foreign affairs for Afghanistan, said at a Washington think tank on Friday that part of what Afghanistan needs is help strengthening trust between Afghans and their central and provincial governments. "If the US doesn't make some extra efforts to enable the government ... to gain the trust of the people, this will weaken any military strategy," he said. Education for all Afghans is the ultimate "prerequisite for strategic success," says Paul McHale, assistant secretary of Defense for homeland defense. Mr. McHale wore a different hat last year, taking leave from his Pentagon job and deploying as a reserve officer to help develop the Afghan National police. He says bolstering education initiatives, opening schools, and giving girls more opportunities to learn will help the country to turn the page. The military fight will set the conditions for success, but it's not the only thing, says McHale. "Trigger-pulling will not win this war," he says. http://ebird.afis.mil/ebfiles/e20080122574883.html <A href="http://68.142.200.12/us.f318.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_1384749_AET PjkQAAAqUR5YtjgB0t2sdUN8&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename= e20080122aaindex_concat.html&cred=IwwFCijDh_fKcxkO njJz3UlwLWsgHvskbZOfXOSMx0N.FbBskQe5oR2AoFyPpAOv#T OP">RETURN TO TOP Washington Times January 22, 20 |
