Good story Dave. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Dub
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Dec. 13, 2004 - As the National Guard celebrates its 368th birthday
today, its members are focused more closely on homeland defense than the four
Massachusetts militia units that stood up on Dec. 13, 1638, might ever have
imagined.
Army Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, called the
Guard's role supporting the war on terror, homeland defense and homeland
security a case of "back to the future," but with a sophisticated twist.
It's a role Blum said the Guard is eminently suited for, because it's already
forward deployed nationwide, in every state and territory, "where people live,
work, worship, play and go to school."
"We come from the homeland," Blum said. "We have our units dispersed all over
the country in 3,500 different locations. You can't drive 25 miles in any
direction in a populated area without running into a National Guard armory."
This, Blum said, makes the National Guard "your first military responders" to
any emergency. "If something goes wrong, it is always going to be local," he
said. "Even 9/11 was very local - although it became a national event very
quickly. But it was very local to Manhattan, very local to the Pentagon, and
very local to the field in Pennsylvania."
During those attacks, Blum said the National Guard demonstrated the same
"Minuteman" response exhibited by its forefathers in the fledgling
Massachusetts militia, who defended their settlement and colony against attack.
Within 24 hours of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Blum said, 8,600 members of the
New York National Guard responded to the World Trade Center site, most without
military orders. "They didn't get mobilized. They didn't go to mobilization
stations. They went right to the problem and started dealing with it -
restoring confidence and security, reducing suffering and saving lives and
property," he said.
Blum said a similar situation played out at the Pentagon, where the first
military responders from outside the Pentagon were members of the District of
Columbia, Maryland and Virginia National Guards.
In addition, the Air National Guard flew 90 percent of the first 400 combat air
patrols flown over every major city in the United States within the first 24
hours of the attack, he said.
In more than three years since the attacks, Blum said the Air National Guard
continues to fly 90 percent of the county's air combat missions in defense of
the homeland.
"How can you call yourself something like the National Guard and not take the
defense of the nation as your mission No. 1?" Blum said. "This is our No. 1
priority, our No. 1 focus, our No. 1 mission."
Blum said the Guard provides "tremendous capabilities" to U.S. Northern
Command, including situational awareness capabilities, intelligence and
information feeds, and chemical-biological and weapons of mass destruction
response force packages as needed. Guard members also provide a forward-
deployed command and control apparatus and joint logistics base in every U.S.
state and territory, he said.
As part of this expanded role, the Guard has established standing, joint-force
headquarters in every state and territory to coordinate military plans and
responses to terrorist acts, Blum said. These elements aim "to detect, defeat
and deter terrorist acts - and if that fails, to respond in an appropriate
fashion," Blum said.
As it transforms itself to better meet the country's future homeland defense
requirements, Blum said, the National Guard is playing a critical role in
missions its forefathers in the Massachusetts colony probably never envisioned:
national defense overseas.
Some 100,000 citizen-soldiers and -airmen are deployed overseas in 44
countries, Blum said, and they make up 34 percent of the U.S. force in Iraq.
"So we're not only defending the nation here at home, but we defend the nation
in depth overseas," supporting combatant commanders worldwide, he noted.
After 368 years, Blum said the National Guard has built a strong legacy and
proven that it's "always ready and is always there" - be it in Boston Harbor,
Yorktown, or in Kabul or Baghdad.
"That's been our legacy since Day 1," Blum said. "When did they ever call the
Guard up that they didn't show? And when they showed up, when did they not get
the job done?"
from the December 14, 2004 edition - http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1214/p01s04-wosc.html
Weary Taliban coming in from the cold
Some Afghan fighters talk of being duped by bin Laden and pledge to work for his capture.
By Gretchen Peters and Aleem Agha
KANDAHAR PROVINCE AND KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - Abdul Rahman Akhund has been battling US and Afghan government troops for three long, hard years. He misses raising his kids among the quiet pomegranate orchards he used to tend at home.
With another frigid winter setting in, and a new US offensive being launched this week, this weary Taliban fighter says he's ready to come in from the cold.
"If the government will let us peacefully return to our villages and our children, we will come," he says. "We are tired living on the run in these snowy mountains."
His fellow tribesman, Sarwar Akhund, goes one step further: Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar and terror kingpin Osama bin Laden, he charges, tricked followers like him into believing they were fighting a holy war against infidels, "when really they just wanted to consolidate their own seats of power." If allowed back into society, he pledges to "do whatever I can" to help kill or capture the fugitive leaders.
The two soldiers expressed views that intelligence circles across southern Afghanistan have been hearing for months. Many officials, military strategists, and diplomats here are increasingly optimistic that the Taliban are largely a spent force, made up in great parts by disillusioned, worn out foot soldiers like the Akhund tribesmen.
That's why President Hamid Karzai plans a general amnesty for Taliban rank and file as one of his first major initiatives since winning national elections in October and being inaugurated last week.
Mr. Karzai and his American backers hope the move will not only bring peace to great swaths of Afghanistan, but may even lead to the seizure of the high-value terror targets US troops are hunting across the country's south and east.
Outreach to 'moderates'
Senior Afghan officials have been quietly preparing the groundwork for months, meeting with representatives of what they consider the "moderate" Taliban, some of whom may even be allowed to run in parliamentary elections planned for the coming spring.
"People associated with the former Communist regime are back. So are former mujahideen," says Jawed Ludin, a spokesman at the presidential palace. "Therefore, nothing should really stop the Taliban rank and file from taking part in the national life of the country."
Karzai is also preparing a list of names - said to number between 150 and 200 top and mid-level Taliban leaders and hardened criminals - who will not be accepted under the general pardon.
"Those folks won't be let back in," says Col. Dave Lamm, the chief of staff for the Combined Forces Afghanistan. "We will hunt them down and bring them to justice, or we will kill them."
That group would include men like Maulvi Haider, a battle-hardened Taliban commander who agreed to a rare interview for this story along a dusty mountaintop corridor, watched from above by turbaned snipers.
"Amir Ul Momineen [Mullah Omar) is our supreme leader and we will fight for him until the last drop of our blood is shed," he growls, his eyes as hard as the rugged peaks that hide him. "Hamid Karzai is a puppet ... of the Americans and he will do whatever they say just to please them."
According to Commander Haider, the Taliban remain strong and united in their holy war against the "Jews and infidels."
"We are not ready for talks with NATO forces or the Americans," he says. "We want a pure Islamic system in Afghanistan and we will fight for it."
But to hear Mr. Rahman and Mr. Sarwar tell it, the war is less about ideology and religion than it is a battle between strongmen over control of land and trading routes.
Conscripted by the Taliban, they say they lost their orchards when warlords loyal to the Karzai government moved in. They faced going to jail when the new regime took power or staying on the run with the Taliban.
They say they are heartened by efforts to release Taliban prisoners deemed safe to society and trust that Karzai, also an ethnic Pashtun, is sincere.
But members of the mainly Tajik Northern Alliance, which Karzai roundly defeated in the elections, have voiced outrage. They argue that most moderate Taliban defected when the hard-line regime fell in late 2001, and point out that several former detainees have returned to fight with the Taliban since winning release in the amnesty's early stages.
Even some members of Karzai's government argue there should be an independent reconciliation panel, rather than the handful of mainly Pashtun security officials who currently determine who goes free. "I am not opposed to the plan in principle, but the way this is being done is worrisome," says a senior Afghan official who quietly disagrees with the current program. "Why do you think the Northern Alliance is refusing to disarm?"
Most critics see the silent hand of Pakistan, which long supported the Taliban regime and wants to see friendly faces in the new Afghan parliamentary government.
They say the fact that the Taliban pulled off no major attacks during the elections is more a sign that Pakistan "can turn the tap on and off at will," as one official says, than an indication, as suggested by amnesty supporters, that the Taliban is on its last legs.
But one Western diplomat says the amnesty program hinges largely on a promise by Pakistan to turn over hard-core Taliban fugitives if some moderates are allowed to go free, perhaps even to run for parliament. Many senior Taliban are believed to live in the western Pakistani city of Quetta and the tribal regions around it.
A risky olive branch
Whatever the outcome, many believe offering the Taliban an olive branch is a risk for Afghanistan's first-ever elected leader, one that could either inflame the tense ethnic divide between Tajiks and Pashtuns or draw thousands of low-level fighters out from the war on terror.
"If Karzai announces an amnesty, he will be very successful, and if he doesn't, we will carry on what we are doing now," says Sarwar, his black Taliban turban flapping in the wind. "Then it will be very difficult for him to rule this country."
• Ms. Peters reported from Kabul. Mr. Agha reported from Kandahar Province.
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ANGELS ON EARTH
The blizzard raged. Who in his right mind would be out on a night like this?
A Knock at the Door
by Colleen L. Reece
Auburn, Washington
Bitter cold surrounded the farmhouse. The snow that had pelted the countryside during the day now swirled about with every gust of wind. The porch of the old house lay covered with a thick white carpet, and ice stood solid in the water bucket.
Inside, the youngest child lay sick. The doctor, who had fought his way through the storm earlier, left strict orders: “Keep the baby warm.” He measured medicine into a small bottle. “Give him this,” he instructed the child’s mother. “The fever should run its course in a few days.” The doctor then pulled his coat collar high and left, anxious to get his horse and buggy back over the five snow-clogged miles of road that stretched between the isolated farm and town. Soon the route would be impassable.
For the rest of the afternoon, the baby slept. The mother prepared supper while her husband and the boys struggled to the barn to milk and care for the animals.
“Whew!” the father exclaimed when they came back in. “What a howler.” He rubbed his icy hands and shook snow from his coat. When his family gathered around the table, the man bowed his head, “Father, we have much to be thankful for. We are grateful for this, thy bounty and thy loving care. Bless us all in Jesus’ name and for his sake, amen.”
“Amen” echoed around the table, interrupted by the baby’s hoarse cry. The woman went to the handmade cradle, picked up her little son and exclaimed, “Why, this child is burning up!”
The eldest son, in his teens, shoved back his chair and stood. “Anything we can do?”
“I don’t think so. I’ll sponge him off.” The mother’s hands caressed the fussy child.
“Shall I ride for the doctor?” The eldest son’s question brought silence around the table. On a night like this?
The woman shook her head. “No. The doctor can’t do anything more—even if he could get through.”
“Ma’s a good nurse,” the father reminded. His simple statement brought reassurance, and the family silently finished their meal. In those days there was little a parent could do besides keeping a child comfortable.
The girls quickly cleared the table and washed the dishes. The fireplace roared; the backlog radiated heat into the big room. The boys sat on the wood floor, each with his own harness-mending job.
The hands of the clock limped around their course. The storm increased. Something made a thump outside. The eldest son raised his head from his work. “What was that? No one in his right mind would be out on such a night.” He crossed to the heavy door, swung it wide and let in a wintry blast. A stranger stood on the porch.
“Come in, man, come in.” The eldest son motioned the stranger inside and hastily closed out the wind that set the curtains dancing. “What are you doing out in this blizzard? Let me go outside and see to your horse.”
“I have no horse.” The stranger smiled. “I wondered if I might have something to eat.”
“No horse?” The eldest son looked at his father. What manner of man would be afoot in such weather?
The woman, still busy with her sick child, admonished, “Don’t keep the poor man standing in his wet coat, Pa. Help him out of it. Girls, give our visitor something to eat.”
They quickly filled a plate with the remains of supper. Cornbread, still a little warm. Beans. A glass of milk. Pickle relish. “I’m sorry it isn’t more,” one of the girls said. Her honest eyes looked into his.
“This will be fine.” The stranger’s gaze rested on her tangled curls and sweet face, then turned when the baby cried out.
“He’s sick,” a little one said. “But Ma’s a good nurse.”
“Don’t worry,” the stranger said, “he will be fine.” Then he began to eat.
The woman looked up, caught by the assurance in his voice. Not wanting to embarrass their guest by watching him eat, the boys continued their harness mending.
“Thank you for the food.” The stranger stood. “I’ll be going now.” Before they could do more than stare, he slipped into his coat and out the door.
“Stop him,” the father commanded. “He can stay here overnight. He mustn’t go out in this—”
The eldest son ran to the door and flung it open. He stepped to the porch, shivering. “Come back,” he shouted into the night. “Come back and stay with us!”
Only the howling wind replied.
He called again. “Mister, we have room for you.” When he received no answer he came back inside and swallowed hard. “He’s gone.”
“Gone! Where? He will freeze. Go after him, Son.” The father quickly lighted a lantern and thrust it into his son’s hand. The young man gripped the collar of his coat and let the door shut behind him.
“Ma, Pa, come here,” he called from outside. His father opened the door and the others crowded behind him. The eldest son held the lantern high. Its light joined the light from the room and illuminated the porch, steps and front yard.
The snow lay unbroken.
There were no footprints on the white expanse.
The family stared at the unblemished drifts, heedless of the blowing snow.
“But he went out this door!” the man protested. “We all saw him. Where did he go?”
Father and sons searched the porch, yard, nearby trees—to find no footprints but their own.
“Ma says come quick!” one of the girls called from the porch. “Hurry!”
Shivering and wet, they rushed back inside. “Is the baby worse?” the man asked.
“No,” the woman answered quietly. “The fever is broken. The child is sleeping peacefully. Come and look.”
“Praise the Lord!” The man’s exclamation shone in the others’ faces.
The eldest son turned from the baby to the door. “The stranger said the baby would be fine. But who was he and where did he go, Pa?”
The man started to shake his head, then went to the mantel and took down the big family Bible. His gnarled, work-worn hands turned to a marked passage, and he read from the Book of Hebrews in an unsteady voice, “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”
The woman asked the question hovering on all their lips. “Do you think the stranger was an angel?”
Her husband closed the Bible. “I don’t know. He came to this house. We fed him. He said the child would be fine. I don’t know that it was an angel. I do know that a man leaves tracks in the snow.”
More than 80 years have passed since the stranger visited the farmhouse of the sick child. Four generations have heard the story and speculated. Because of this story my own life has been influenced, my belief and faith in God strengthened. You see, I know the story to be true. The eldest son was my father.