Target Centermass

Month: March 2005

  • Iraqi, U.S. Forces Overrun Terror Base

    I may not be too confident about the body count, as reports have ranged from “dozens” all the way up to 85 dead scumbags, but I am certain which side has momentum in Iraq after government forces crush a terrorist base.

    After a two-hour firefight, Iraqi forces and U.S. helicopters captured an insurgent base north of Baghdad, killing 85 rebels, U.S. and Iraqi military officials said Wednesday.

    “A previous safe haven for planning attacks has been removed,” a U.S. military official said of Tuesday’s battle.

    Although the Iraqi military said it killed 85 insurgents during the firefight, the U.S. military said the number of rebel dead was “undetermined.”

    […]

    After entering the camp, Iraqi commandos found non-Iraqi passports, training publications, propaganda documents, weapons and ammunition, the U.S. military said.

    The U.S. military said the camp is at a remote location about 60 miles northwest of Baghdad, near Lake Tharthar, along the border of Salaheddin and Anbar provinces. But the Iraqi Interior Ministry said the camp was in Samarra, which is east of the lake.

    […]

    The U.S. role in the battle was primarily to provide helicopter support, the U.S. military official said. The battle “is another indication of [the insurgents’] diminished capabilities,” the official said.

    “This in an indication that they have been forced from major population centers and forced to operate in more remote areas,” he said.

    Dr. Rusty Shackleford over at the Jawa Report has a rather colorful post about the engagement.

    It turns out that there were 85 pieces of terrorist shit that were splattered by our Iraqi allies today, not 80. Hey, five more dead mujahidin going to meet their 75 white grapes is a good numerical adjustment in my book.

    Dr. Rusty’s post also includes a nice round-up of others writing on the matter.

    Add to the story this Associated Press summary of the recent success against the Saddamist and radical Islamist terrorists.

    Battles that have killed large numbers of Iraqi insurgents over the past few days:

    SUNDAY: Dozens of insurgents ambush a U.S. convoy near the infamous “Triangle of Death” south of Baghdad, and 26 militants are killed in the resulting gunbattle. Eight others are taken into custody, including seven wounded. Seven soldiers are also injured.

    MONDAY: Militants ambush a convoy of security officials in Mosul, sparking a gunbattle that left 17 dead and 14 injured, according to Iraqi police. No security forces were hurt.

    TUESDAY: Iraqi forces, backed by U.S. troops, raid a suspected insurgent training camp near Lake Tharthar, leaving 85 people dead, according to Iraqi officials. At least seven Iraqi commandos were also killed.

    You can double-check my math, but that looks like a three-day winning streak with a cumulative score of 128-7. And that, folks, is a sweet scoreboard.

  • Aggie Hoops Rebound Season Ends

    The curtain just came down on the Texas A&M men’s basketball season as the Ags fell 58-51 to St. Joseph’s in the quarterfinals of the NIT.

    Still, I have to feel good about a team that, under the tutelage of new coach Billy Gillispie, improved from 7-20 (0-16 in Big 12 play) to 21-10, 8-8 in conference. Add to that not one but two post-season victories, a huge milestone for a program that hadn’t seen an NCAA or NIT win since 1982.

    Thanks, Ags, it’s been a fun ride. Can’t wait ’til next year.

  • Guard Shines Against Ambush in Iraq

    Weekend warrior.

    Yeah, I was called that. Derisively, and more often than I was thanked for my service and sacrifices. Maybe that was my fault, as I left the National Guard in 1999. That was well before the patriotic fervor of 9/11 swept the land and people began to see Guardsmen and Reservists performing in the roles for which we trained.

    Now, with the war against radical Islamist terror having active theaters in Afghanistan and Iraq, the reserve components have been called upon extensively. Sometimes with praise, sometimes with condemnation.

    How now, when serious blood has been shed? Initial responses to Sunday’s engagement, where 27 insurgents were killed in a brutal failure of an ambush on a coalition convoy, centered on questions about another Tet and whether the size was a sign of a desperate or growing opposition.

    Little reported until today (and still little reported) was that it was a Guard unit that kicked ass on Sunday, killing 27 while suffering only three casualties after being ambushed.

    A Kentucky National Guard unit is being credited with responding in “textbook” fashion during an ambush here March 20, killing 27 insurgents and capturing a sizable weapons cache and valuable intelligence.

    The insurgent death toll is the highest in Iraq since the Fallujah operation in November 2004 and, according to Army Capt. Todd Lindner, commander of the Richmond, Ky.-based 617th Military Police Company, represents “without a doubt, one of the most significant impacts an MP company has had in this war.”

    Lindner credits his unit’s dogged commitment to training and unwillingness to cut corners with preparing his soldiers for the firefight along an alternative supply route about seven miles southeast of Baghdad.

    Three squads from the 617th MP Company were providing security for a convoy along the supply route when it came under attack by 40 to 50 insurgents armed with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons.

    According to Lindner, the soldiers positioned themselves between the convoy and the attackers, “putting down a heavy volume of fire” and flanking the enemy, when they began receiving fire from the rear.

    “They were armed to the teeth, and looked like they were ready to fight for a long time,” Linder said of the insurgents.

    Ultimately, the unit killed 27 of the insurgents and captured several more. After the attack, they recovered a cache of RPGs, rockets, machine guns, assault weapons, hand grenades and ammunition.

    Three unit soldiers were wounded, two seriously.

    “These guys were amazing,” Linder said of his soldiers. “This proves what we’ve been saying all along: These guys rock.”

    Lindner credits training with making the vital difference in his unit’s ability to respond under fire.

    “We’ve been training for this mission for the last year before we got here,” he said. “Once we knew we were coming (to Iraq), we changed our training to focus specifically on this mission.”

    That training, he said, “absolutely made a difference” in his unit’s response during the weekend attack, sharpening its ability to maneuver while firing.

    Sgt. 1st Class Marshall Ware, platoon sergeant for the squads involved, agrees the training the unit received “absolutely” made a difference during the attack.

    “From Day 1, there was an emphasis on training,” he said. “We trained and trained and trained.”

    Equally critical, he said, was the unit’s strict adherence to standards — conducting precombat inspections, making sure weapons are clean, and requiring use of body armor, Kevlar helmets and eye and hearing protection.

    These steps have protected his company against numerous attacks, Ware said. “You can’t completely take the risk out of what we’re doing, but you can mitigate it,” he said.

    Ware, who served 10 years on active duty before becoming a full-time National Guardsman, said he came to the Guard with prejudices that its members played second string to the active force. But he said the Guard members he worked with quickly proved him wrong.

    “The Guard is not the same Guard it was two years ago,” he said. “They’re as good as any active duty unit.”

    The average Guard unit is most assuredly not up to par with their counterparts in the active Army, but the difference is in training time. It most assuredly is not in motivation or talent.

    After Action Report follows: the terrorists should learn not to jack with a bunch of “weekend warriors,” even if trying to use the two-year anniversary of the war’s opening for a Tet-type media response.

    And certainly not on a weekend. That’s prime time, baby.

    Hooah, troops!

  • Artfully Honoring the Fallen

    An exhibit is soon to open that will pay a rather special tribute to our soldiers who themselves have paid the ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan and Iraq — a collection of over 1,300 personal portraits to be displayed at Arlington National Cemetary.

    Spc. Brandon Tobler, an Army reservist from Portland, Ore., grew up with one mom.

    But now that Tobler’s life has ended — cut short at age 19 in a vehicle crash during a blinding sandstorm in Iraq on March 22, 2003 — the young soldier has two moms: his birth mother, and Washington portrait artist Annette Polan.

    Now Tobler “is my baby, too,” Polan said March 15, as she ran her fingers gently over the surface of the 6-inch-by-8-inch portrait she created for the new “Faces of the Fallen” project.

    Polan traced a finger over the portrait’s full lips.

    “His mouth is so alive for me,” she murmured. “I see it and think, ‘I hope he had a girlfriend. I hope he had his first kiss.’ ”

    The power of art to spark emotions in that manner — emotions a photograph may leave untouched — is what Polan and more than 150 volunteer artists are hoping to evoke with “Faces of the Fallen,” an exhibition of 1,327 individual portraits of servicemembers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    The exhibit, which opens to the public March 23 at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery and runs through Labor Day, Sept. 5, includes portraits or silhouettes of every servicemember killed while deployed as part of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom through Nov. 11, 2004.

    This is not a disrepectful protest of flag-draped faux coffins. This is not a stab at our troops’ efforts in Iraq. I hasten to point out that, unlike the casualty figures so commonly bandied about, our losses in Afghanistan are being included and honored.

    The military and the families obviously agree.

    Retired Brig. Gen. Wilma Vaught, the Women’s Memorial Foundation president and a friend of Polan, was an early supporter.

    Vaught acted as a liaison with the Defense Department, as well as offering the memorial as the exhibit space.

    Before the project got under way, the different military services mailed letters to each family whose portrait was scheduled to be part of the exhibit, giving them the opportunity not to participate if they so chose.

    They were also informed that once the exhibit is done touring, each honored servicemember’s family would be given the portrait.

    Not a single family declined, Polan said.

    […]

    The intent of the portraits, however, is not to remind viewers of death, but to celebrate lives that are normally noted only in ever-growing statistics, said Dennis O’Neil, an expert in print-making who provided 200 hand-screened silhouettes for the exhibit that are “place holders” for servicemembers whose photos were not available, or whose assigned artists have not completed their assignments.

    “When one artist deals with one soul, you’re re-humanizing the fact that these people lost their lives,” said O’Neil, who in addition to working as an artist is also a professor of art at the Corcoran.

    […]

    Before the exhibit opens to the public, there will be a special reception and viewing for the families of the servicemembers. Polan said that 1,800 family members have indicated that they will attend, including a family traveling from India for the event, and a military widow who is coming from Australia.

    For all the viewers of “Faces of the Fallen,” Polan said, “what I really hope [the exhibit] ultimately has is the quality of healing.”

    “We as a country are going through a very divisive time,” Polan said.

    “But we can all agree as Americans that the troops who sacrificed their lives, deserve to be honored and remembered.”

    Here’s hoping the families are helped in their search for solace and healing, and I want to thank Polan and the other artists involved for their efforts.

    More information, including a slide show of some of the portraits, can be found at the Faces of the Fallen website. Hmmm … might be time for another trip to D.C. soon.

  • Palestinians Restrict Militants’ Weapons

    Ha! Go ahead and file this under toothless maneuvers.

    Palestinian officials took a tentative first step toward disarming militants, banning them from carrying guns in public and requiring all weapons to be registered, according to a new directive.

    According to senior Palestinian security officials, the Interior Ministry distributed letters outlining weapons restrictions to militants in the West Bank. The AP obtained a copy of the letter Monday.

    Militants said they would not comply until Israel completes a promised withdrawal from West Bank towns.

    The move was seen as a concession to the United States and Israel, who have long demanded the Palestinians crack down on militant groups. Palestinians leader Mahmoud Abbas has preferred to use persuasion to get the gunmen to lay down their arms.

    Israel welcomed the move. After four years of bloodshed, Israel has made disarming of militants and dismantling violent groups like Hamas a precondition for progress along the U.S.-backed “road map” peace plan toward a Palestinian state.

    The directive limits militants to a single weapon and bars them from loading the weapons or carrying them in public. It also obligates militants to license the weapons with the ministry and forbids them to change the serial numbers on the guns.

    Violators actually caught, prosecuted and convicted are expected to face a time-out.

    Many militants possess more than one weapon, and gunmen have become folk heroes by brandishing their arms openly on the streets and firing in the air at marches and funerals.

    The Palestinian Interior Ministry has asked militants to sign the letter and commit to the process.

    Leaders of the al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades confirmed they had received the document and said they were considering the offer.

    However, Kamel Ghannam, an al Aqsa leader in Ramallah, said militants would not sign the pledge until Israel carries out a planned military withdrawal from five West Bank cities.

    “Once Israel withdraws, we’ll be able to sign it,” Ghannam said.

    Sharon and Abbas agreed on Feb. 8 that Israel would withdraw from five West Bank towns it entered after the outbreak of Israeli-Palestinian violence in September 2000: Ramallah, Qalqiliya, Tulkarem, Jericho and Bethlehem.

    Israel handed Jericho last week, and on Monday, the two sides agreed on transfer of Tlkarem on Tuesday.

    I would say that we should expect that goal line to shift as the Israeli withdrawal progresses, but that would be obvious.

    C’mon, Abbas, actually show that you care more about the building of a Palestinian future than an Israeli destruction. Control your problem children. Build a society for your people. Do not, as I fear, become another Arafatish, terrorist-loving piece of dung.

  • Army Ups Enlistment Age to 39

    Can one teach old dogs new military tricks?

    The maximum age for new recruits joining the Army Reserve and National Guard has been raised by five years to 39.

    Officials for the U.S. Army, which is struggling to meet enlistment quotas following two years of war in Iraq, announced the policy on Friday. They said raising the age expands the recruiting pool and strengthens the readiness of Reserve units. Another benefit, the Army said in a statement, is the “maturity, motivation, loyalty and patriotism” older recruits will bring to the service.

    Physical requirements will remain the same for all recruits regardless of age. Army spokeswoman Maj. Elizabeth Robbins told FOXNews.com that the older recruits will be required to pass the same “standard batter [sic] of physical, mental and cognitive tests” and would be expected to enter any environment expected of younger soldiers.

    There are many “physically fit, health-conscious individuals in this [age] category who can serve their nation and they do right now,” Robbins said.

    The Army National Guard missed its recruiting goal for the 2004 fiscal year and is “short across the board right now” in recruiting soldiers for active duty, Reserves and Guardsman, Robbins said. But she added that recruitment during winter months is generally lower than average, while the end of the school year and summer see a jump in enlistments.

    […]

    Robbins said that the Army expected the higher enlistment age to help it reach recruitment goals, but that no specific numerical goal for the older age group was set.

    The test program applies only to new recruits and not those currently enlisted soldiers whose age requirements are determined by federal law. The age increase will run to September 2008. After the end of that period, the Army will “collect and analyze statistical data,” including how many enlistments were recruited and how many were retained.

    My guess is that this change will yield very few new recruits. After all, half of this group was still eligible to enlist on Sept. 12, 2001. Also, we’re not talking about just one weekend a month and two weeks a year. This is for new recruits who would have to march away from their civilian lives for basic and advanced training, the same training expected of active-duty recruits. Add to this the possibility of activation and I doubt there’s a substantial portion in this age bracket ready to raise their right hand for state and country.

    The people eligible again have already had opportunity to demonstrate love of country and desire to militarily serve. Will many fathers (and even grandfathers) now rally to the cause? I doubt enough even understand the threat of radical Islam and that the cause is their families.

  • Arab League Summit: More of the Same

    What? You expected progress? No, the Arab League chooses to keep their collective heads buried in the sand of the past.

    This week’s gathering of Arab leaders won’t open the doors to establishing ties with Israel because of opposition from Syria and other hard-line countries. Still, some Arab nations are moving forward with a more welcoming stance on peace.

    Some had predicted the summit, which opens Tuesday, would be “historic” in dealing with rapid changes in the Middle East: huge demonstrations in Lebanon and a Syrian military pullback there, new optimism in the peace process and increasing pressure for democratic change.

    In the end, it won’t be so daring. Arab League leaders are largely avoiding the issues of Lebanon and democratic reform, and they rejected Jordan’s proposal for a new peace strategy that would offer Israel normal relations and drop the traditional demand that it first return Arab lands. Instead, they’re likely to pay lip service to Syria’s concerns about U.S. pressure and consider reform of the Arab League itself.

    The world is changing around and among them. Despite this, the nations of the Arab League whistle the same old tiring tune that has led nowhere, demanding Israeli withdrawal to its pre-1967 borders, a Palestinian state with a capital in Jerusalem and a resolution to the Palestinian refugee problem.

    Also frozen in time are the wonderful relationships between the various members.

    The gathering will be attended by only 13 of the 22 leaders. The others are staying away for health reasons or because of personal disputes.

    For example, Crown Prince Abdullah, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, is not participating apparently because of the presence of Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi, whom Saudi officials accuse of involvement in a plot to kill Abdullah.

    […]

    Jordan’s King Abdullah II is staying away from the summit, apparently angered by the dismissal of his proposal. His government had argued a new stance would encourage Israel to make concessions in the peace process.

    As the Middle East nations try to maintain bouyancy above growing and tumultuous undercurrents of democracy, not all voices are silent about the nothing-new nature of the summit.

    And despite pressure from Washington for democratic reform, the summit will largely avoid the issue. Instead, the leaders are focusing on reforming the Arab League by endorsing a plan to set up an “Arab parliament” an unelected consultative body for the league.

    In an article in the Arab daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, columnist Abdel-Rahman al-Rashid criticized the league for failing to deal with major issues facing the Middle East.

    “What is the benefit of a summit or even the League itself when it hides, waiting for each crisis to end by itself,” he wrote. “It is ridiculous that the summit has promised Arabs a big achievement, an Arab parliament. Is this what Arabs want? Another symbolic chatting council?”

    What benefit? Only the holding back of the hands of time.

  • We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Boat

    JohnL over at TexasBestGrok has a regular installment he calls Aircraft Cheesecake in which he focuses on an particular airplane from days gone by. The latest is a look at an interesting Soviet bomber prototype from the ’30s.

    Now, Varifrank has posted some seacraft cheesecake about a couple of massive Japanese WWII submarines, the wreckage of one of which was just confirmed today. Perhaps most interesting about these two subs was that, with the fall of Japan, they were ordered to surrender while en route to attack North America … from the air. Go read about these fascinating submarines that were also submersible carriers.

  • Another Blogroll 10K Hat Tip

    Just wanted to congratulate Guy S. at Snugg Harbor for recently reaching the 10,000 hit plateau.

    Hey, we small bloggers have to stick together in celebrating every little victory we can. Besides, Snugg Harbor deserves much more attention than it currently receives.

  • Changed U.S. Military Emerges from Iraq

    Peter Grier, staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor, takes an interesting look at the structure and equipment of the American military and how they are being shaped by the Iraqi campaign.

    Hard service in Iraq is wearing out some of the US military’s core weapons. Tanks, armored vehicles, and aircraft are being run at rates two to six times greater than in peacetime, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld told Congress earlier this month.

    The bad news here is they may need to be replaced. But there’s good news too, according to Secretary Rumsfeld: It’s possible they can be replaced with something better.

    The need to refurbish equipment “is providing an opportunity to adjust the capabilities of the force earlier than otherwise might have been the case,” Rumsfeld told the House Armed Services Committee on March 10.

    Perhaps the same might be said of the military as a whole.

    […]

    The US may have gone to war with the Army it had, to paraphrase Secretary Rumsfeld. But it’s likely to leave the war with armed services that are considerably different.

    Go give it a gander. While the article looks, with varying degrees of depth, at all of the involved branches, I found myself cringing slightly at the following.

    “We have to design our armed forces for the 360-degree battlefield and not the linear battlefield,” [Gen. John Abizaid, US Central Commander,] told House Armed Services Committee members.

    I’ve written before on the ever-present problem of applying lessons learned to the military — it is all too easy to end up preparing for the previous war and find one’s self blindsided by the realities of the next war. I worry that we may go too far into this 360-degree, high mobility direction and completely lose the ability to slug it out on a more traditional battlefield.