Target Centermass

Category: Middle East

  • Of Blast Walls and Bomb Belts

    A good soldier, whether he leads a platoon or an army, is expected to look backward as well as forward, but he must think only forward.

    —General Douglas MacArthur

    War is adjustment. In this story, both sides adapt to the other’s tactics.

    Iraqis seeking jobs with security forces were targeted once again Thursday when a suicide bomber with explosives strapped to his body mingled among hundreds of men and blew himself up in one of four attacks that killed 26 people.

    The attacks are part of a surge of violence that has killed more than 200 since Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari announced his new government last week with seven positions still undecided.

    Many recruitment centres, to prevent car bombings, have been turned into small fortresses surrounded by concrete blast walls and razor wire. But militants are striking back with an old weapon: the suicide bomber belt.

    […]

    In the deadliest attack, police said an insurgent blew himself up outside an army recruitment office about one kilometre from Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, home to government offices, foreign embassies and U.S. forces.

    At al-Yarmouk Hospital, the morgue was overflowing with mangled bodies after the blast. One man lay screaming on his bed – both his legs had been blown off. Pools of blood covered the floor.

    “While we were standing in line, a man walked…right up to the heavily guarded entrance gate, as if he wanted to ask the guards a question,” said Anwar Wasfi, who was injured on his leg and arms.

    “Suddenly, an explosion occurred and I was knocked over. I passed out and opened my eyes wounded in the hospital”

    At least 13 people were killed and 20 wounded in the blast, Lieut. Salam Wahab said at the recruitment centre.

    A similar attack Wednesday, in which a suicide bomber blew himself up in a line of police recruits in the northern city Irbil, killed 60 Iraqis and wounded 150.

    Both sides will continue to adapt, though it does seem that the tactics available to the terrorists are rather limited, achieve little against Americans and do nothing to help their cause with the Iraqi populace.

  • JCS Chair: U.S. Forces Strained

    Well, this is what I call stating the obvious — involvement in a war has stressed the military and eaten into supplies.

    The United States may not be able to win any new wars as quickly as planned because the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have strained its armed forces, manpower and resources, the nation’s top military officer has told Congress in a secret report.

    General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, described the US military as in a period of increased risk, according to a senior defence official.

    “We will prevail,” Gen Myers said when asked about the report. “The timelines [to winning a new war] may have to be extended and we may have to use additional resources, but we’re going to be successful in the end.”

    Gen Myers also predicted the risk would go down in a year or two, the official said.

    “We are at war and that level of operations does have some impact on troops,” White House spokesman Trent Duffy said. “But the president continues to be confident, as well as his military commanders, that we can meet any threat decisively.” Among the most likely conflicts the Pentagon foresees in the near term are with North Korea and Iran, the two remaining members of President Bush’s “axis of evil”.

    About 138,000 American troops are in Iraq. Another 18,000 are in Afghanistan. Military officials have given no precise estimate when they will be able to significantly reduce the number of US troops in Iraq, but some generals have suggested next year.

    That the military, dramatically reduced from Cold War numbers, would quickly feel the burden of conflict in two theaters while trying to maintain a ready posture in others is to be expected. So, too, the questioning of resources, as there has been zero effort towards moving the country to any sort of a war economy.

    I like the spin that we would be unable to win another war “as quickly as planned” but don’t believe it, as the truthfulness of the statement would really depend upon which war is in question.

    In the case of a move into the south by North Korea, I completely believe it, as our forces there have historically been a tripline of sorts. Any action against North Korea has been envisioned as a large advantage in numbers for the communist North and a tremendous advantage in technology and training for the U.S. and South Korea. Add to that decisive advantages of air and naval dominance and the inherent strength of initially fighting on the defensive and you have the long-held formula for Korea: hold on against the numerically-superior onslaught until the allied advantages nullify it and sufficient assets are brought to bear to counterattack..

    I also see the slowed-but-certain victory as accurate if conflict with Iran or Syria rolls around. The issue with Iran is that, should push come to shove before our military has had a sufficient recovery period, I envision a much bloodier campaign for the Iranian people than I would’ve hoped would ever be needed. There is a strong undercurrent for democracy among a large portion of the Iranian populace and, given time and successful democratic governments in neighboring Afghanistan and Iraq, this undercurrent could turn into a violent undertow that threatens to drag under the ruling radical theocracy. Should the Iranian government feel this danger and press the issue with the U.S. before the Army and Marines are back to near-full capability, the war would have to be carried from above. And I ain’t talking about with a delicate touch; I mean the brutality of the “Shock and Awe” that was threatened against Iraq but never truly utilized. That would be necessarily tragic.

    My main question about Myers’ statement is China. If they move against Taiwan, something they are not currently ready for but are upgrading and training for at breakneck speed, time would be of the essence. Defense of Tiawan does not allow for a buying-time mentality. Any invasion would have to be stopped, as success would hinge on preventing any foothold and build-up by the Chinese. To recover Taiwan after a successful Chinese occupation would be for naught — even if the commies are finally, bloodily expelled, Taiwan would be essentially a nation existing in the past tense.

  • U.S. Military Recruiting Woes Continue

    On a day when new survey results show that 57 percent of adult Americans do not believe our efforts in Iraq are worth the cost, the Army has released detailed data showing that its recruiting continues to hemorrhage, falling short of its April goal by a heart-breaking 42 percent.

    The U.S. Army missed its April recruiting goal by a whopping 42 percent and the Army Reserve fell short by 37 percent, officials said on Tuesday, showing the depth of the military’s wartime recruiting woes.

    With the Iraq war straining the U.S. military, the active-duty Army has now missed its recruiting goals in three straight months, with April being by far the worst of the three, and officials are forecasting that it will fall short again in May.

    The all-volunteer Army is providing the majority of the ground forces for an Iraq war in which nearly 1,600 U.S. troops have died.

    The active-duty Army signed up 3,821 recruits last month, falling short of its goal of 6,600 for April, Army Recruiting Command spokesman Douglas Smith said. That left the Army 16 percent behind its year-to-date goal, officials said.

    The Army is striving to attract 80,000 recruits in fiscal 2005, which ends Sept. 30. The Army has not missed an annual goal for signing up new soldiers since 1999, and had not missed a monthly goal since May 2000.

    […]

    The Army Reserve, a force of part-time soldiers who train regularly and can be called to active duty in times of need, signed up 849 recruits in April, short of the monthly goal of 1,355, Smith said. That left the Army Reserve 21 percent behind its year-to-date goal.

    A senior Army official, who asked not to be named, said the Army Reserve will “probably not” achieve its annual goal of 22,175 recruits.

    The Army National Guard said it did not yet have its April numbers, but has missed its recruiting goal in every month of the current fiscal year through March and was 23 percent behind its year-to-date goal at that time. It missed its fiscal 2004 annual goal.

    Military recruiters have said potential recruits and their parents were expressing wariness about enlisting during the Iraq war. They said improving civilian job opportunities also were affecting recruiting.

    Has the war gone that poorly? Has the situation turned that dire? Or is the public being sold a negative bill of goods by the media? The networks and most papers wail with bad news while paying only passing attention to any progress, except when the situation absolutely demands it (the only recent moment that comes to mind is the success of the January elections). Barring such demand, the old saying in sensationalist journalism is that a building that does not burn is not news.

    As evidence that the situation on the ground is not as bad as the public is being led to believe, let’s check with the people on the ground.

    Col. Joe Curtin, an Army spokesman at the Pentagon, said the Army was ahead of its targets for reenlisting current soldiers. “At the same time, we have a challenge of bringing new members into our ranks, but we’re optimistic we’ll meet that goal by the end of the summer,” Curtin said.

    People involved in a disaster don’t stick around in better-than-expected numbers.

    ‘Tis a shame that, on a day when history is being made by the swearing in of the first-ever Iraqi government resulting from popular elections and reflecting the diversity and will of the Iraqi people, America is being coaxed methodically towards a repeat of an earlier historical moment, an event when the American media betrayed the country’s military and truth with their poor, slanted selling of an alternate reality. Ah, Tet — a repeat is not in the best interest of our nation or, indeed, the future of western civilization, but that doesn’t stop some from pushing for it.

  • Letter Reveals Problems in Iraq Insurgency

    Perhaps my post last night portrayed a tad too negative view of the war against Islamist terror, although it looks like I may have been dead on about the trouble the murderers are having recruiting martyrs. A captured letter released today shows that the fodder shortage may just be the tip of the terrorists’ troubled iceberg.

    U.S. forces in Iraq have captured what they say is a letter from a key supporter to insurgent leader Abu Musab Zarqawi, indicating that there is a split in the insurgency, which the letter blames on poor leadership.

    The U.S. command in Iraq says troops found the letter during a raid in Baghdad last Friday. Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman says experts have confirmed its authenticity as message from senior aide Abu Asim Yemeni to the insurgent leader Abu Musab Zarqawi.

    “The letter is important because it highlights the fact that Zarqawi’s influence and effectiveness may be deteriorating. It describes low morale and weak and incompetent leadership, and goes on to allege to Zarqawi that he has abandoned his followers because he is now a fugitive himself,” he said.

    According to a translation of the letter provided by U.S. forces in Iraq, it describes some trouble between groups of insurgents that the apparent writer, Mr. Yemeni, says “cannot be forgiven.” He reports to his old friend Mr. Zarqawi that “morale has weakened” and “lines have become separated due to some leaders’ actions.” The letter says, “We have leaders that are not capable of being good leaders” It also expresses suspicion about some envoys who claim to speak for Mr. Zarqawi, and warns him not to believe everything his closest aides tell him.

    The full text of the letter can be found here.

    Let’s throw this story around the horn, blogosphere-style

  • War on Terror Update for Y’all

    First, our allies.

    Italy has chosen to dispute the U.S. report on the checkpoint incident that cost the life of Italian intelligence officer Nicola Calipari. The Italians have apparently been heavily influenced by popular support for the “hostage” rescued, communist and anti-American journalist Giuliana Sgrena, she of the ever–changing story.

    Still, in retrospect, Italy looks brave compared to the Philippines and Spain.

    Despite these poor examples of supposed allies, let’s take a look at what’s going on in those nations cold-chillin’ on the sidelines. Chad at In the Bullpen brings truly ugly news: countries are paying tribute to al-Quida for temporary local peace.

    I’m not sure which is more disturbing; information that Qatar is paying off Al Qaida to prevent attacks or that a Qatari official says this is happening in other countries as well.

    No good news on any of these fronts today. No, not really.

    Meanwhile, in Iraq, the terrorists continue trying for another Tet, the model for a military failure and media succuss that I said repeatedly was their new goal. Now, they are threatening to get the media play that would enable them to achieve it. Check out these headlines currently on Google News:

    Iraq Violence Unabated as 23 More Die
    Iraqi Leaders Seek Deal Amid Bloodshed
    New Iraq leaders face violent surge
    2nd Day of Deadly New Iraq Mayhem
    Death toll rises as Iraq insurgents strike at will

    This is certainly bad. However, this ain’t 1968 and, hopefully, the true state of affairs can get past leftist and leftist-leaning media manipulation.

    Along with this, while the U.S. may have recruiting issues of its own, apparently so do the terrorists in Iraq. Dr. Rusty Shackleford at the Jawa Report blogs on the heinous motivation that may be driving some of these suicide bombers — terrorist blackmail based on kidnapping of wives and children.

    So, let me get this straight. Zarqawi is now capturing women and children, and then telling the fathers that if they don’t blow themselves and a few infidels up then he’s going to chop their heads off?

    Well, that certainly makes the American recruiting issue seem like a small matter. The Islamist bastards seem to be running short of volunteering explosive cannon fodder, so they’ll use foul terror to generate their own martyrs. Somehow, I doubt this is within the teachings of the so-called religion of peace.

    See if that little sick tidbit gets any ink anytime soon. If any news like this takes hold among the Arab people, all the previous bad news means nothing. The terrorists’ desperation for Tet may just prevent their own Tet as the ways of the evil operations come to light.

  • U.S. Military Loses Contact With Two Jets

    Never let it be forgotten that flying military fighters, be it training maneuvers or war-time missions, is an extremely dangerous job. A search is currently underway for the pilots of two Hornets lost in the Iraqi theater.

    Two U.S. Marine jets from the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier were reported missing while flying in support of operations in
    Iraq, the U.S. military said Tuesday.

    The status of the two U.S. Marine F/A-18 Hornet aircraft and their crew was not immediately known, the military said in a statement.

    Contact was lost with the aircraft at 10:10 p.m. Monday (2:10 p.m. EDT), the statement said. There were no initial indications of hostile fire in the area at the time.

    Search efforts were underway, the military said. No further information was released.

    Navy officials at the Pentagon did not release any information beyond the military statement.

    My best wishes to the pilots and their families, but I don’t feel that this is a case of no news is good news. That’s a good chunk of time in an area we can easily cover.

    Should these planes be confirmed down, the question is this: how long until the lunatic terrorists pretend, I mean claim, that they caused it? I’m sure al-Jazeera is standing by for the press release.

  • A Look at the Day’s Stories

    Army Funding Running Low, Rumsfeld Warns

    Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has sent letters to congressional leaders urging them to pass the final 2005 budget supplemental bill before the Army runs out of operating funds.

    The Army has slowed its spending, so it can continue operations in Afghanistan and Iraq through early May when the funds are due to run out, Rumsfeld said.

    He sent the letters Wednesday, along with handwritten notes that read, “Our folks out there need these funds.”

    Rummy goes on to denounce draft ideas and to discuss armored leggings being evaluated.


    British Suspect Convicted in Attempted Missile Sale in U.S.

    A British businessman has been convicted in the United States of trying to sell anti-aircraft missiles to terrorists.

    The verdict against Hemant Lakhani was announced Wednesday in a New Jersey federal court. Lakhani now faces up to 25 years in prison at his sentencing hearing, scheduled for August 8.

    Hard to believe the moronic clown defense didn’t work. Lock up, lose key.

    Analysis: Victory is up to Iraqis

    Is the United States winning in Iraq? Yes, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says.

    “I think we’re definitely winning. I think we’ve been winning for some time,” said Gen. Richard Myers.

    His civilian boss, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, took a more circumspect view of the situation. The outcome of the war is up to the Iraqis.

    “Winning or losing is not the issue for ‘we,’ in my view, in the traditional conventional context of using the word winning and losing and of war,” Rumsfeld said Tuesday at a news conference. “The people that are going to defeat that insurgency are going to be the Iraqis.”

    The story seems to give up hope of Iraq becoming the bright, shining city on the Arab hill that could serve to shake up the Arab world by offering an alternative to the environment that has allowed the radical Islamist view to fester. I still hold out that hope, as it is already starting to bear fruit in the region.

    Reagan Presidency Diaries to be Published

    “Each day during his eight years in the White House, Ronald Reagan recorded his innermost thoughts and observations in his personal diary,” adds Frederick J. Ryan, Jr., Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. “Although they were not initially intended for publication, we feel that these volumes offer an unprecedented insight into the Reagan Presidency.”

    This will be a must-freakin’-own. And I mean hardback. ‘Tis a shame an copy autographed by the author is out of the question. The world would be a better place were that still possible.

    Moussaoui Seeks Muslim Land Grave

    Moussaoui said that he wanted assistance in ensuring his burial in a Muslim land, otherwise “I will be buried in Arkansas or they don’t give a damn where”.

    Arkansas sounds just fine, pig.

    New Lebanese Government Calls Elections from May 29

    Lebanon’s new government won a confidence vote in parliament Wednesday and immediately called elections, the first without a Syrian military presence for 33 years, to start on May 29.

    The announcement, a day after Syria pulled its last soldiers and spies out of Lebanon after 29 years, means parliamentary polls will be held on time as demanded by the international community and Lebanon’s anti-Syrian opposition.

    The new cabinet, led by wealthy businessman Najib Mikati, won a ringing 109-1 endorsement from MPs in the 128-member chamber, with three abstentions.

    Interior Minister Hassan al-Sabaa then signed a decree for elections to begin on May 29, officials said. Parliament also extended by three weeks its own term, which expires on May 31.

    Some sources said there would be three rounds of voting — on May 29, June 5 and June 12. Others said there would be a fourth on June 19. Lebanon usually holds parliamentary polls staggered over several weekends as regions vote in turn.

    The Cedar Revolution came to a head. Now it’s come to a vote. Also, feel free to check out the Lebanese Freedom Babes, courtesy of Publius Pundit.

    Jaafari Includes Shia, Sunni Arabs and Kurds on Iraqi Cabinet List

    After weeks of damaging delays and political wrangling, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Iraqi’s prime minister-designate, yesterday confirmed that he had completed his cabinet list, which includes Shia, Sunni Arab and Kurdish politicians.

    He declined to give details about who would head the 32 ministries, other than to confirm that a Sunni Arab would get the key post of defence. He said delays were due to efforts to include all parties in the government.

    “This government could have been concluded within a week by the two major coalitions [Shia and Kurd] but it is our commitment and desire to see that we have a conclusive government that will reach out to the one main [Sunni Arab] community that was not fairly represented in the elections,” Mr Jaafari said.

    Better late than never, especially if there’s any payoff for reaching out to the Sunnis, but better never late. Not when lives may depend on it and delay feeds the hopes of the terrorists.

  • Syria Troops End 29 Years in Lebanon

    It wasn’t UN pressure. It was the demands of the Lebanese people that killed the beast of the lengthy Syrian occupation.

    Syrian troops burned documents and dismantled military posts before they finished their effective withdrawal from Lebanon on Sunday, ending 29 years of military presence in the country.

    A few score Syrian troops are to remain in Lebanon for a farewell ceremony that the Lebanese Army plans to hold Tuesday in Rayak, a few kilometers from the Syrian border.

    At Syria’s last major garrison in Lebanon, 15 tanks rolled on to flatbed trucks, ready for the drive home on Sunday. Soldiers burned papers, knocked down walls and loaded ammunition on to trucks at the base outside the town of Deir el-Ahmar in the Bekaa Valley.

    In Damascus, the Syrian capital, a government official said: “Within the next few hours, all the troops will be out of Lebanon.”

    “What will be left are those who will take part in the official farewell” on Tuesday, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

    Syria had vowed to pull out of Lebanon by April 30, in line with a United Nations Security Council resolution, but its forces will be out about four days early.

    The Syrians entered Lebanon in 1976, ostensibly as peacekeepers in the year-old civil war. After the war ended in 1990, 40,000 Syrian troops remained in Lebanon, giving Damascus the decisive say in Lebanese politics.

    Syria began withdrawing from Lebanon last month following international and Lebanese pressure in the wake of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on Feb. 14.

    Make no mistake — Syrian intrusion in Lebanon is by no means over.

  • Gallipoli Dead Remembered at Dawn

    Ninety years ago tomorrow, one of the bloodiest blunders in military history began. At dawn, the World War I star-crossed campaign of Gallipoli will be honored.

    The bloody World War I landing of Australian and New Zealand troops in Gallipoli will be remembered at a solemn dawn ceremony on Monday.

    Australian Prime Minister John Howard, his New Zealand counterpart Helen Clark and Britain’s Prince Charles will make the pilgrimage to the Turkish bay.

    The campaign was aimed at capturing Istanbul and providing a supply line to Russia 90 years ago.

    But more than 100,000, including 20,000 Irish and British, never returned home.

    The site of the down service is named Anzac cove after the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps who landed there on 25 April 1915.

    Thousands of visitors from the two countries are expected to attend the largest gathering ever at the site.

    The campaign ended eight months later, when the Allied Forces abandoned the peninsula.

    “To walk on the battlefields of Gallipoli is to walk on ground where so much blood was shed it has become almost sacred soil,” Helen Clark said at a ceremony to honour Turkey’s fallen troops on Sunday.

    “For New Zealand as for Australia it was at Gallipoli that our young nations came of age.”

    Go read for much more on the tragic campaign. I would also recommend the Mel Gibson flick of the same name.

    I, for one, will mark the day with the haunting tune “The Band Played Waltzing Matilda” by the Pogues.

    But the band played Waltzing Matilda
    As we stopped to bury our slain
    We buried ours and the Turks buried theirs
    Then we started all over again

    Full lyrics can be found here.

  • Mystery Surrounds Mass Shia Deaths in Iraq

    We still don’t know what happened over the weekend in the Iraqi village of Madain, near Baghdad, but it now seems a certainty that something quite vicious has passed.

    The bodies of more than 50 people have been discovered dumped in the Tigris river south of Baghdad, Jalal Talabani, Iraq’s president, said yesterday.

    He said the victims were believed to have been Shia hostages executed by Sunni insurgents in the Madaen district last week.

    The announcement seemed likely to deepen the intrigue surrounding the alleged massacre, which was dismissed as rumour earlier this week after Iraqi troops raided Madaen and found nothing to corroborate reports of a mass killing.

    “We will give you details in the coming days,” Mr Talabani told a news conference. “Terrorists committed crimes there. It is not true that there were no hostages. There were, but they were killed and they threw the bodies into the Tigris. More than 50 bodies have been brought out from the Tigris and we have the full names of those who were killed and those criminals who committed these crimes.”

    Officials had claimed that the insurgents had threatened to kill as many as 150 civilian hostages – who had reportedly been held since last Friday – unless the Shia left the area. But after security forces found no hostages, some people suggested the reports were exaggerated.

    Iyad Allawi, the outgoing prime minister, had blamed the kidnappings on a group linked to al-Qaeda and led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The group reportedly issued an internet statement denying the allegations and accused the government of fabricating the case.

    The hostage-taking claims caused debate in parliament about the make-up of Iraq’s security forces, and the alleged incident was cited as an example of the need to purge former members of Saddam Hussein’s regime from the military and police forces.

    I blogged about the confusion of war-time reporting on this weekend’s back-and-forth media maelstrom on whether there were large numbers of Shiite hostages taken in Madain. Hopefully the truth of what events actually transpired will be discovered soon and made public. In either case, the event could and should be used as evidence of the need to strengthen Iraqi security forces by removing internal elements that are more detriment than value. I would prefer a selective weeding out over a mass purge, but it is reasonable to assume there’s a sizable amount of weeds that need pulling.