Lee on Sep 01 2008 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Military Matters, Notes on the war
On Monday the United States officially returned all security duties for Anbar province to Iraqi police and military. The collapse of the Sunni insurgency there now appears to be almost total, with attacks having declined 90% from only two years ago.
The progress is perhaps best illustrated by this dramatic chart from the New York Times:
(NYT [...]
Lance on Jul 27 2008 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Election 2008, Foreign affairs, Lance's Page, Military Matters, Notes on the war
From The Huffington Post, where this kind of BS is applauded:
“Quit talking about, ‘Did the surge work or not work,’ or, ‘Did you vote for this or support this,’” Hagel said Thursday on a conference call with reporters.
“Get out of that. We’re done with that. How are we going to project forward?” the Nebraska senator [...]
Lance on Jul 27 2008 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Lance's Page, Media, Military Matters, Notes on the war
We see this kind of thing in the press all the time:
U.S. and Afghan troops have abandoned a remote outpost in eastern Afghanistan where militants killed nine American soldiers earlier this week, officials said Wednesday.
Compounding the military setback, insurgents quickly seized the village of Wanat in Nuristan province after driving out the handful of police [...]
Lance on Jul 25 2008 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Election 2008, Foreign affairs, Lance's Page, Military Matters
In the ongoing discussion of who has done a better job of describing the time line around the surge, I certainly recommend McQ’s discussion.
The Minuteman however has a couple of key points to make on this issue as well:
But if McCain has the timing wrong, what about Obama? How could the US have failed [...]
MichaelW on Jul 09 2008 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Election 2008, Foreign affairs, MichaelW's Page, Military Matters, Notes on the war
Not the same thing as a Harry Reid Timetable (HT: McQ):
A deadline should be set for the withdrawal of U.S. and allied forces from Iraq, and the pullout could be done by 2011, an Iraqi government spokesman said Tuesday.
Ali al-Dabbagh said any timetable would depend on “conditions and the circumstances that the country would be [...]
MichaelW on Jun 13 2008 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Foreign affairs, Law, MichaelW's Page, Military Matters, Notes on the war
UPDATE: Welcome QandO readers. Please look around after you’ve finished with this post, but McQ says you have to go back over to QandO when you’re done … but I won’t tell if you won’t.
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The recent Supreme Court case involving Guantanomo Bay (GITMO) detainees and writs of habeas corpus promises to be one [...]
Joshua Foust on Jun 05 2008 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Military Matters, Notes on the war
This is the most recent of a series of posts on Registan.net where I explore some of the fundamentals of conflict within the tribal areas of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. At the end of this post is a link to the rest of them.
Nightwatch argues that May was the most violent month in Afghanistan since the [...]
Lance on Jun 03 2008 | Filed under: Lance's Page, Military Matters, Notes on the war
I was catching up a bit on my reading, and thanks to McQ found this interview with Admiral Fallon. As McQ points out, the conversation did not go the way Kyra Phillips was trying to steer it.
Given our own commentary on Fallon here, here, and here, I think several key points that fly in the [...]
Keith_Indy on May 23 2008 | Filed under: Culture, Keith's Page, Military Matters
Some thoughts from Hal Moore on war, peace, and reconciliation.
When the blood of any war soaks your clothes and covers your hands, and soldiers die in your arms, every breath forever more becomes an appeal for a greater peace, unity and reconciliation.
…
From face-to-face combat to arm-in-arm friendship — unity was restored by our efforts [...]
Joshua Foust on May 21 2008 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Military Matters, Notes on the war
Posted first to Registan.net, your one-stop shop for all things Central Asia, this is a tangent to a really excellent theme I’ve been tracking the past few weeks—the flow of press releases masquerading as journalism from Afghanistan to our largest publications. Check it out if you like this.
It appears NATO is feeling “battle fatigue” after [...]
Joshua Foust on May 03 2008 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Media, Military Matters, Notes on the war
This is the latest post in a running commentary on a new meme to emerge from the PR folks in Afghanistan: the security benefits of building roads. The argument, advanced by a few American reporters and one David Kilcullen, is that building paved roads reduces the IED threat and contributes to the security necessary for [...]
Joshua Foust on May 02 2008 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Military Matters, Society
Only in America’s Army:
KHOST, Afghanistan — Pfc. Monica Brown cracked open the door of her Humvee outside a remote village in eastern Afghanistan to the pop of bullets shot by Taliban fighters. But instead of taking cover, the 18-year-old medic grabbed her bag and ran through gunfire toward fellow soldiers in a crippled and burning [...]
Joshua Foust on Apr 22 2008 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Military Matters
Cross-posted to Registan.net, which is “All Central Asia, All the Time.”
Last year, Georgia was abuzz with accusations against Russia for its military jets supposedly violating its airspace and possibly even attacking radio stations. Now, Georgian officials are hopping mad over accusations that Russia shot down one of their surveillance drones. They even have video:
The video [...]
MichaelW on Apr 21 2008 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, MichaelW's Page, Military Matters, Notes on the war
I was pleasantly surprised, and mildly irritated, to see that Condi Rice basically called Muqtada al-Sadr a coward while she was in Baghdad recently (via: Instapundit):
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice mocked anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as a coward on Sunday, hours after the radical leader threatened to declare war unless U.S. and Iraqi forces end [...]
MichaelW on Apr 17 2008 | Filed under: Blogs, Domestic Politics, Foreign affairs, Libertarianism, MichaelW's Page, Military Matters, Notes on the war, Philosophy
There seems to be some confusion on the part of some as to exactly what sort of place ASHC is:
I was rather surprised to read this dubious and scornful appraisal of Michael Yon’s Wallstreet Journal editorial at A Second Hand Conjecture, a heretofore conservative site.
The post Mick Stockinger is referring to was created by Joshua [...]
Lance on Apr 11 2008 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Lance's Page, Military Matters, Notes on the war
I was sent this via e-mail from my Uncle Pat, also known as Colonel Alfred H. Paddock. Uncle Pat is a story in and of himself, but I’ll tell you a little more about him after the e-mail. Let it suffice to say for now that Pat is one of the most experienced and knowledgeable [...]
Joshua Foust on Apr 08 2008 | Filed under: Military Matters, Notes on the war
3. Recent Senate testimony by General William Odom and journalist Nir Rosen presented a portrait of Iraq that is at odds with the more rosy picture painted by the Bush Administration. General Odom has said “the decline in violence reflects a dispersion of power to dozens of local strong men who distrust the government and [...]
Keith_Indy on Apr 07 2008 | Filed under: Keith's Page, Military Matters, Notes on the war
This will be good news if it happens…
http://hotair.com/archives/2008/04/07/sadrs-political-universe-continues-to-shrink/
Iraq’s major Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish parties have closed ranks to force anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to disband his Mahdi Army militia or leave politics, lawmakers and officials involved in the effort said Sunday.
Such a bold move risks a violent backlash by al-Sadr’s Shiite [...]
Keith_Indy on Apr 02 2008 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Keith's Page, Military Matters
Fred and Kimberly Kagan have a decent analysis of what we do and don’t know about the situation in Iraq.
Just the highlights (as I see them)
Do Know
* The legitimate Government of Iraq and its legally-constituted security forces launched a security operation against illegal, foreign-backed, insurgent and criminal militias serving leaders who openly call for [...]
Keith_Indy on Apr 01 2008 | Filed under: Keith's Page, Military Matters, Notes on the war
Let’s see, the Mahdi Army is in retreat, and the ISF is continuing operations, and sending reinforcements.
Isn’t it OBVIOUS that Maliki is loosing.
Update -
This puts things into perspective…
Mission accomplished has been duly declared, although the JAM in Basra remains apparently intact and raids are still ongoing to seize some of the weapons whose surrender was [...]
Synova on Mar 29 2008 | Filed under: Culture, Military Matters, Society, Synova's Page
I’m often guilty of seeing connections between things that others seem to think make no sense at all. So bear with me and then tell me what you think.
The New York Times review of “Stop-Loss” explains the failure of Iraq themed movies in this way, “The commercial failure of last autumn’s crop of [...]
Joshua Foust on Mar 22 2008 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Military Matters
Posted first on Registan.net.
While I cringe at the idea of missile strikes in Pakistan—no matter the attention or care paid, there will be innocent people killed in the process (especially when a target is missed and vows increased attacks)—it is also useful to point out the risks of house raids. I tend to prefer raids, [...]
Joshua Foust on Mar 19 2008 | Filed under: Around the Web, Foreign affairs, Military Matters
Stewart Koehl writes about how a clever lobbying campaign on the part of Lockheed Martin is undermining a decades-long arms alliance with Sweden. Yes, Sweden, card credit hsbc philippinebusiness card credit find smallbank card credit login orchardcard consolidation credit debt keywordcard credit free onlinecard credit debt reduction solution,debt reduction solution credit cardcard credit fraud report,card [...]
Joshua Foust on Mar 18 2008 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Military Matters
Posted first on Registan.net.
Yesterday, I expressed skepticism about the “decapitation” strikes the U.S. military carries out in Pakistan (and also Somalia, Yemen, and so on). One issue I skirted around was the messy problem of sovereignty: in a very real sense, we don’t have the right, no matter who is there, to launch an attack [...]
Joshua Foust on Mar 17 2008 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Military Matters
Posted first on Registan.net.
There is a fine line between sympathetic reporting and outright propaganda. I would say this post at Long War Journal crosses that line:
At 9:40 PM local time, US officials declared the group posed an imminent threat to forces inside Afghanistan and the call to strike the compound was made. After the orders [...]
Joshua Foust on Mar 13 2008 | Filed under: Around the Web, Military Matters
The former commander of inifini-detention center Guantanamo Bay—a man who has sown tremendous mistrust and hatred of the U.S. in the Muslim world—is now being made chief Defense Representative… in Pakistan.
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addthis_title = ‘Success+Strategies’;
addthis_pub = ”;
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Joshua Foust on Mar 12 2008 | Filed under: Military Matters
There are many reasons to speculate about Fallon’s resignation at CENTCOM: a probable policy dispute over how best to handle Iran (despite the self-serving claims by military officials there was none, it was clear Fallon is at odds with the Iran hawks), a rumored severe personality clash with friend-of-the-President David Petraeus, and so on. Debating [...]
MichaelW on Mar 11 2008 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Media, MichaelW's Page, Military Matters, Notes on the war
Apparently rumors have been swirling around for awhile that Fallon was on his way out. Well, today he resigned and the speculation is that it was over a recent interview he did in Esquire, written by Thomas P.M. Barnett (regarding which Josh noted Fallon’s strange reaction last week). However, you can rest assured [...]
Joshua Foust on Mar 08 2008 | Filed under: Around the Web, Military Matters
“Affordability can’t always be the rule.”
So says U.S. Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne when explaining his mad rush for hundreds more hyper-advanced single-role air dog fighters than either the SecDef or President thinks his service needs to Senator Carl Levin.
addthis_url = ‘http%3A%2F%2Fasecondhandconjecture.com%2Findex.php%2F2008%2F03%2F08%2Fpearls-of-wisdom-from-usaf%2F’;
addthis_title = ‘Pearls+of+Wisdom+from+USAF’;
addthis_pub [...]
Joshua Foust on Mar 04 2008 | Filed under: Around the Web, Military Matters
Kip explains:
Overweight? Under-trained? Non-branch qualified? Still wondering what will become of your career after that general officer letter of reprimand?
Today, the NY Times announced that the US is looking to send 100 combat advisers to Pakistan…
Anyway, now you, high-speed individual, have the opportunity to join another under-resourced mission to assist the Taliban, I mean, Pakistan [...]
Joshua Foust on Mar 03 2008 | Filed under: Military Matters
A poll conducted by Foreign Policy and the Center for a New American Security (which just hired the almost-retired LTC John Nagl, one of the coauthors, along with GEN Petraeus, of FM 3-24) asked what worries 3,400 active and retired military officers ranked O4 and above.
88% think Iraq has stretched the armed forces “dangerously thin” [...]
Joshua Foust on Feb 27 2008 | Filed under: Around the Web, Military Matters
War correspondent David Axe notices that the Army seems to be cluing itself in to the fact that its conflicts in the short-to-medium term will be counterinsurgent, “small” wars, while the Air Force keeps wanting to bomb China. There are many things to discuss here (can/should the State Department be retasked to handle primarily nation-building, [...]
Joshua Foust on Feb 26 2008 | Filed under: Around the Web, Military Matters
New Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey thought, in stark contrast the many mil bloggers and several co-bloggers here, that Barrack Obama’s claim about equipment shortages was credible. This doesn’t mean anything, though—he just can’t discount it, and believed supply issues in 2003-4, when the anecdote took place, were widespread.
Compromising his neutrality on the [...]
Joshua Foust on Feb 21 2008 | Filed under: Around the Web, Military Matters
First it’s their reckless profligacy, replacing old airframes with fewer, newer ones at a 300% markup. Then they dig for $59 million to lobby Congress to spend another $20 billion on worthless junk. This is to say nothing of how they actively undermine the war effort.
Does anyone else think it’s time for some major personnel [...]
MichaelW on Feb 13 2008 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, MichaelW's Page, Military Matters
If you are like me, and have trouble understanding the mindset of the Berkeley City Council, here’s an easy way to figure it out.
In the City Council’s letter to the U.S. Marine Recruiting Center, why is the term “unwelcome intruder” NOT a redundant phrase?
(Answer below the fold):
addthis_url = ‘http%3A%2F%2Fasecondhandconjecture.com%2Findex.php%2F2008%2F02%2F13%2Feverything-you-need-to-know-about-berkeley%2F’;
[...]
Lee on Feb 10 2008 | Filed under: Military Matters, Notes on the war
A Concerned Local Citizens (CLC) member in Arab Jabour, Iraq (photo: DoD)
In extraordinary documents confiscated in November by the United States, we get an enemy’s eye view of the Awakening in Iraq, and further confirmation about how debilitating the effects were for Al Qaeda. An AQ commander, Abu-Tariq, relates that his own unit declined from [...]
MichaelW on Feb 08 2008 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, MichaelW's Page, Military Matters, Notes on the war
Probably a wise decision when up against Marines, although, as is usual with politicians, this decision is driven mainly by government largess (or the lack thereof):
As six Republican senators devised a plan to yank $2.3 million in federal funding for Berkeley programs, the mayor of the famously liberal city apologized Wednesday for his hard stance [...]
Lee on Feb 08 2008 | Filed under: Firearms, Lee's Page, Military Matters
Photo: Atlantic Firearms
Upgrades for Iraq’s Presidential Brigade. They’ve purchased M16 rifles to replace their AKs:
The Iraqi Army’s Presidential Brigade turned over their older AK-47 model rifles for newer and more accurate M-16s at Besmaya Range Complex in Iraq starting Feb. 5.
The weapons were issued using the biometrics system, which ties each soldier’s photograph, fingerprint, voice, [...]
MichaelW on Feb 07 2008 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Election 2008, Foreign affairs, MichaelW's Page, Military Matters, Notes on the war
Is the Iraq War hurting John McCain’s candidacy? By “hurting” I’m referring to his struggle to be the true conservative candidate who unites the party. Despite his clear lead in the primary race, McCain has not been able to capture the Christian right (who predominantly go for Huckabee), nor has he been able [...]
Lance on Feb 02 2008 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Lance's Page, Media, Military Matters
Bob Owens tackles the lazy reductionist thinking behind claims that the recent use of air strikes in Iraq shows a worsening situation, or is at odds with the counterinsurgency strategy we should be pursuing.
I especially like this quote from Human Rights Watch, no friends of the administration:
…the air surge has not caused “an appreciable loss [...]
MichaelW on Jan 30 2008 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Foreign affairs, Law, MichaelW's Page, Military Matters, Notes on the war
Attorney General Michael Mukasey sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding the interrogation technique known as waterboarding. Mukasey remarked that it is not an authorized interrogation technique, and that it “is not, and may not be, used in the current [CIA interrogation] program.” As in his confirmation hearings, however, Mukasey declined [...]
Keith_Indy on Jan 29 2008 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Keith's Page, Military Matters, Notes on the war
I would have to think Saddams bluff against the world would be up there at #1.
A possible number 2 would be Rumsfeld, in 2004, siding with decision not to publicaly release information that supported going to war.
http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=12652
One member of UNSCOM told this author that in April 2003, shortly after Baghdad fell to U.S. forces, an [...]
Lee on Jan 23 2008 | Filed under: Books, Culture, Lee's Page, Military Matters
(photo: trish brunner | blog)
This morning I stumbled into the story from last year of James and Lena Ahearn. James, the American officer, Lena the Iraqi woman who was apparently the first war bride in Iraq in 2003. They’d met in Baghdad’s Green Zone and it was a rather charming romance of flowers, with [...]
Lance on Jan 21 2008 | Filed under: Lance's Page, Media, Military Matters, Notes on the war
By all accounts Scott Beauchamp has tried to redeem himself in the eyes of his unit. However, when this story came to a head and the military investigated him, he seems to have been held in rather low regard. Bob Owens has started to put up the documents he has received from the military in [...]
Joshua Foust on Jan 18 2008 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Military Matters
A haunting picture at the Middle East “after Iraq.” Naturally, the Kurds <3 us because we saved them from Saddam… but they need to get the PKK under control before either (or both) Turkey and Iran steamroll Erbil. I also love how Norman “Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran” Podhoretz doesn’t know what a [...]
Lance on Jan 14 2008 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, Glenn Greenwald's Carnival of Fisking, Humor, Lance's Page, Military Matters, Race
First, let us all go and see Eric Scheie delve into the sock drawer and how the moth eaten brain now, amongst all the other charges, believes Glenn Reynolds is a racist! The puppy blending, mass murder and nuclear holocaust desiring, homophobic racist known as Instapundit has an able defender in Eric, but let us [...]
Keith_Indy on Jan 09 2008 | Filed under: Books, Keith's Page, Military Matters
Another excellent post by Michael Yon giving a recap of his years in Iraq, and especially this last year of the “Surge.”
Some very important news, Michael is publishing a book this spring. You can pre-order it here which has the benefit of getting you a signed edition of the book, and providing support for [...]
MichaelW on Dec 28 2007 | Filed under: MichaelW's Page, Military Matters, Notes on the war
Over at QandO, McQ offers his take on a thoughtful article by Andrew Tilghman entitled “The Army’s Other Crisis: Why the Best and Brightest Young Officers are Leaving.”
Here are the nut graphs from McQ:
So we should certainly be concerned about the loss of CPTs. And while the fixes are obvious, given the mission, they aren’t [...]
MichaelW on Dec 28 2007 | Filed under: Foreign affairs, MichaelW's Page, Military Matters, Notes on the war
Bill Roggio has the scoop at Long War Journal:
The Iraqi Army claimed to have captured the minister of defense of the Islamic State of Iraq, al Qaeda’s political front organization. Ahmed Turki Abbas was captured after being wounded in a skirmish near Mahmudiyah and “claimed the rank of defense minister,” Qassim al Moussawi, Iraq’s military [...]
MichaelW on Dec 19 2007 | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Law, MichaelW's Page, Military Matters, Notes on the war
The aptly named Unqualified Offerings has had its share of troubles lately, and I’m not usually one to pile on, but this is simply beyond the pale (emphasis added):
Have We Given Justice to Lindh?
By Mona
American citizen John Walker Lindh is now serving 20 years in this heinous prison for what appears to have been the [...]
Risk and Return