Iraqi special police commandos attend target practice in Baghdad August 29, 2006. The training is aimed at providing tighter security to high Iraqi government officials and other VIPs. (REUTERS/Mahmoud Raouf Mahmoud) (IRAQ)
Posted on 08/29/2006 3:52:40 PM PDT by Gucho
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld addresses a crowd of sailors and civilian government employees during a town hall meeting at Fallon Naval Air Station, Nev., Aug. 28, 2006. Rumsfeld answered questions that ranged from health care to the global war on terrorism. (Dept. of Defense photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. D. Myles Cullen)
Tuesday, 29 August 2006
By Pfc. Paul David Ondik - 4th BCT, 101st Airborne Division
FOB LOYALTY — Two Iraqi kidnap victims were freed Wednesday by U.S. Soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division in the Adhamiyah district of eastern Baghdad. U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces are in the area as part of the expansion of Operation Forward Together.
Describing the scene, Soldiers from 1st Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, said they observed an Iraqi man running from a house nearby their position. When they caught up to him, he said he and a friend were being held there against their will.
The victim said he escaped when his kidnappers, hearing the sound of Coalition Humvees nearby, fled to the roof of the building in which he was being held.
“The guy was running away, and we actually had to catch up to him,” said Spc. Kenneth Correa. “He said that his friend was still in the house.”
Multi-National Division - Baghdad Soldiers surrounded the home. Inside they found the second victim, whose hands and feet were bound.
The kidnappers managed to flee the scene before the troops were able to cordon off the area.
The victims, a Shiite and a Sunni Muslim, told the Soldiers they had been riding motorcycles and had just crossed the A’ Iamma bridge going into Adhamiyah when they were surrounded by four armed men, also on motorcycles. The assailants forced them to an area south of the Abu Hanifa Mosque, at which point the victims were transfered into the back of a vehicle and taken to the home where U.S. forces eventually found them.
The escape and rescue mark just the most recent case of liberation involving troops from the unit. Ten kidnap victims have been freed in just the past two weeks.
“Over the last couple of months, (kidnapping) has been one of the focuses,” said Lt. Col. Brian Winski, commander, 1st Sqdn., 61st Cav. Regt.
Although many kidnappings in the area are motivated by sectarian tensions, it is unlikely this particular incident falls into that category, Winski said.
An investigation is underway, with U.S. Soldiers questioning nearby residents.
The victims were released to Iraqi Police near their home in Baghdad’s Khadamiyah neighborhood.
By Jim Garamone - American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Aug. 29, 2006 – Pentagon officials unveiled a reorganization of the Defense Department’s policy office that will increase interagency cooperation.
Eric Edelman, undersecretary of defense for policy, told reporters yesterday that the reorganization will allow DoD to better partner with colleagues in other agencies and to help DoD focus on developing the capabilities needed for the war on terror.
The reorganized office changes the geographic responsibility for policy, and it places cross-cutting functions under one chief.
The geographic policy responsibility has shifted. Europe and NATO, the Middle East and Africa will come under the assistant defense secretary for international security affairs. Asia Pacific, South Asia and Central Asia will come under the assistant defense secretary for Asian and Pacific security affairs. Western hemisphere policy decisions will come under the ASD for Homeland Defense and Americas’ security affairs.
The assistant secretary for special operations/low intensity conflict is just that, but also picks up responsibility for strategic capabilities and forces transformation.
The reorganization calls for appointing an assistant secretary for global security affairs. This cross-cutting office will oversee policy guidance for building partners capabilities, security cooperation, technical security policy, detainee affairs and POW/MIA affairs.
This is the first reorganization of the policy office since the fiscal 2002 National Defense Authorization Act that established the assistant secretary for Homeland Defense.
Edelman has been in the position for about a year. Before that he served as U.S. ambassador to Turkey. He is a career foreign service officer and has worked at State and Defense since the early 1970s.
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told Edelman to examine ways to reorganize the office in light of new realities. He said he approached the reorganization very deliberately. “The guidance (Rumsfeld) gave us was to develop a set of balanced portfolios that would enable the organization to interact more effectively with the combatant commanders and … to work more effectively with outsiders,” he said.
The reorganization brings the DoD way of looking at the world more in line with the way the State Department and the National Security Council.
Edelman said the reorganization will be phased in beginning Oct. 1, and running through March 2007.
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Tuesday, August 29, 2006
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Stars and Stripes - Mideast edition
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
ARLINGTON, Va. — Active-duty sailors at or below E-6 looking to join the Navy Reserve can find strong opportunities for advancement as masters-at-arms, Navy officials said.
The Navy has published the Enlisted Career Management Objectives, which lists rates that are undermanned and thus offer promotion opportunities, said Lt. Cmdr. Tom Simpson, Selected Reserve enlisted community manager.
As of mid–August, the Navy Reserve has only about 1,800 of the more than 3,000 masters-at-arms it needs for this fiscal year, Simpson said.
The need for masters-at-arms has spiked in recent years and there simply weren’t enough sailors out there initially to meet the Navy’s requirements, Simpson said.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, the number of masters-at-arms has rocketed from 1,869 to 9,981, and the Navy hopes to have 11,109 masters-at-arms by fiscal 2009, said Lt. Gary Smith, Security Forces community manager, Navy Personnel Command.
Masters-at-arms typically are active-duty sailors, but Reserve masters-at-arms are filling voids as their active-duty counterparts are sent downrange as individual augmentees, Smith said.
Simpson said that other rates with strong promotion opportunities include Seabees and corpsmen.
By Sandra Jontz - Stars and Stripes Mideast edition
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Joint Task Force Lebanon leaders set up sub-task forces that will be ready to help in humanitarian relief if the call comes, according to a Navy news release.
Vice Adm. John Stufflebeem, commander of JTF Lebanon and of the U.S. 6th Fleet based out of Gaeta, Italy, appointed Air Force Col. Brad Webb to command Task Force Alpha, the air and land components, while Navy Capt. John Nowell was tapped to lead Bravo, the maritime side of things.
“These task force commanders have responsibility for the air, land and sea support to the American Embassy in Beirut, and will execute the daily operations necessary to carry out our mission to assist Department of State-led efforts in the region,” Stufflebeem stated in a release.
U.S. European Command assumed control of missions and requirements from Central Command on Aug. 23.
Webb, as commander of the 352nd Special Operations Group out of RAF Mildenhall, England, has been in the region since July 19.
In all, Webb has about 450 people working the air and land side of missions, including a group of MH-53M Pave Low heavy-lift helicopters to be used as an “air bridge” for taking people in and out of the American Embassy in Beirut; a U.S. Marine Corps Fleet Anti-Terrorism Security Team from Naval Station Rota, Spain, brought in to provide added security to the U.S. Embassy in Beirut; Army CH-47 helicopters based out of Ingolstadt, Germany, and MC-130P Combat Shadow refuelers, the release states.
Nowell’s maritime force consists of nearly 1,800 sailors, Marines, Air Force medical personnel and civilian mariners aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Barry, amphibious transport dock USS Trenton, High Speed Vessel Swift and the fleet replenishment oiler USNS Kanawha.
The amphibious assault ship USS Wasp left its homeport in Virginia on Friday on its way to the eastern Mediterranean.
By Jason Kaye - Fort Lewis Northwest Guardian
FORT LEWIS, Wash. (Army News Service, Aug. 29, 2006) – A long wait is over for Stryker Mobile Gun System (MSG) crews of the 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division.
The 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry, received its complement of MGS vehicles last month after more than a year of waiting. They are the first vehicles to be fielded in the Army.
“I think its going to give the infantry a whole new dimension of what they can do. Armor and infantry have kept each other at arm’s length for years and years," said Sgt. 1st Class David Cooper, an MGS platoon sergeant with B Company, 2-23 Inf. "We’ve got some growing pains, but once we get out there and they see what we can do, we’re going to be everybody’s friend.”
Each infantry company is slated to receive three vehicles, though crews don't expect to operate together except on rare occasions.
The vehicles carry crews of three, and are equipped with a 105 mm main gun and a state-of-the-art fire control system. The MGS also has an onboard coaxial machine gun that’s fire controlled.
“You can literally shoot smiley faces with it at 900 meters,” said Cooper. “Even minus the big gun we can give the infantry a lot of support.”
The 105 mm is capable of firing four types of rounds: SABOT, a depleted-uranium armor-piercing round; HEAT, high-explosive anti-tank; HEP, high-explosive plastic; and a canister round. The rounds are loaded using a hydraulic auto-loader in the rear of the vehicle.
The HEP and canister rounds give Stryker units new capabilities, especially in urban areas. The HEP can blow holes in reinforced concrete walls, but unlike the rounds from an Abrams, won’t continue through the target and into surrounding buildings. The canister provides as effective anti-personnel capability.
“The vehicle’s basic role is to support the infantry. It’s not there to take on tanks or go toe-to-toe in the wide-open desert like we did with the Abrams,” said Sgt. 1st Class William Ozmet, an MGS instructor from Fort Knox, Ky. “Its primary function is blowing a hole in the wall or blowing up bunkers.”
Over the past year, the crews have been training with TOW-ITAS Humvees or other Stryker variants. Finally having the vehicles gives the crews a chance to delve into training.
“I can actually start focusing on our training, both on our mission tasks and working with the infantry,” said 1st Lt. Christopher Lilley, the MGS platoon leader in B Co.
The MGS also comes equipped with training software that allows Soldiers to train on various engagements in their own vehicles, instead of going to a simulator somewhere else.
Once the 4th Bde. completes training, instructors from General Dynamics Land Systems will move on to equip and train Soldiers in Hawaii and Pennsylvania. Training for those units may change according to lessons learned here, but the vehicle itself is expected to remain mostly unchanged.
“I’m confident that this will turn out to be a successful piece of equipment for us, the infantry and the Army,” said Lilley.
By Gerry J. Gilmore - American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Aug. 29, 2006 – Florida National Guard and reserve forces, as well as other state and federal emergency responders, are ready and waiting for now-tropical storm “Ernesto’s” arrival tonight or early tomorrow, a state military official said today.
“Our forces are mobilized and ready,” Florida Air National Guard Lt. Col. Ron Tittle, spokesman for the state’s joint forces headquarters in Tallahassee, said during a telephone interview with American Forces Press Service.
Florida has activated more than 1,000 military and civilian emergency responders in preparation for Ernesto, Tittle said, while state officials also coordinate with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Northern Command, and other organizations.
“It’s really encouraging,” Tittle added, “when you see how the state agencies work together and with our federal partners.”
Tourists have already been evacuated from the Florida Keys, Tittle said. Ernesto is now packing 45 mph winds and forecasters predict it will probably near Florida’s southern tip sometime tonight. After landfall the storm is expected to take a northerly route up Florida’s middle, Tittle said, exiting somewhere midway along the state’s Atlantic Ocean coast.
Adjutant General Maj. Gen. Douglas Burnett, an Air Guard officer, is working closely with Governor Jeb Bush, Tittle said, in coordinating emergency response preparations as Ernesto moves closer to Florida. Ernesto has weakened from hurricane to tropical storm status, but it still dumped seven inches of rain on Cuba last night.
Tittle acknowledged that state and federal emergency responders have alternate plans to address changing conditions if Ernesto would gain strength or move in another direction.
For example, up to 9,500 Guard and reserve members, Tittle said, are ready if Ernesto regains hurricane status, with accompanying 74 mph wind velocity, or more.
UPDATE BY:Jim Williams.....Tropical Storm Ernesto is approaching the Florida keys as Ernesto is now forecast to hit South Florida early on Wednesday morning. Our current feature is now Miami,Florida,use the navigation bar to the left for the latest from South Florida. As Ernesto moves into South Florida you can track weather obesrvations right here . There will be no live in house coverage on Ernesto unless it becomes a hurricane, but we will stream live radio and TV from south florida right here.
By Sgt. Sara Wood, USA - American Forces Press Service
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Aug. 29, 2006 – With the war on terror being fought largely in the media on a global stage, Americans cannot allow negative perceptions about the country and the military to be repeated without challenge, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said here today.
“Those who know the truth need to speak out against these kinds of myths and distortions that are being told about our troops and our country,” Rumsfeld said while addressing the American Legion National Convention. “The struggle we are in –- the consequences are too severe, the struggle too important, to have the luxury of returning to the old mentality of ‘Blame America first.’”
As in past conflicts, the media today focus mainly on setbacks suffered by the United States in the war, and often paint a negative picture of American troops and the work they do, Rumsfeld said. Speaking to the veterans at the convention, he appealed for their help in dispelling the negative perceptions and standing up for the truth about the military.
“One of the most important things the Legion has done is not only to serve, and assist, and advocate as you’ve done so superbly for much of the past century – but also to educate and to speak the truth about our country and about the men and women in the military,” he said.
Every war involves mistakes, setbacks and casualties, Rumsfeld acknowledged, and every army has members who do not live up to high standards. However, those negative factors cannot overshadow the hundreds of thousands of honorable men and women who serve with humanity and decency in the face of constant provocation, he said.
“That is important in any long struggle or any kind of long war, where any kind of moral and intellectual confusion about who and what is right or wrong can severely weaken the ability of free societies to persevere,” he said.
The enemy in the war on terror is smart and takes every opportunity e to manipulate the media and demoralize public opinion, Rumsfeld said. But he stressed he is confident that the American people, though understandably influenced by the media, have good centers of gravity and will see the truth.
“I am confident that over time they will evaluate and reflect on what is happening in this struggle and come to wise conclusions about it,” he said.
Rumsfeld pointed to the true picture in Iraq, where a country once brutalized by a dictatorship is moving toward a new future with a representative government that will be at peace with its neighbors. The conflict in Iraq has changed over the years, he said, but the U.S. strategy remains the same: to empower the Iraqi people to defend, govern and rebuild their own country.
The question in the war on terror is not whether America can win, Rumsfeld said, but whether Americans have the will to persevere. Thanks to the sacrifices of veterans like those in the American Legion, Rumsfeld said he believes Americans have learned that quitting is not an option.
“I believe that Americans do have that determination,” he said. “And that we have learned the lessons of history – the folly of turning a blind eye to danger. These are lessons you know well – lessons that your heroism has helped to teach to generations of Americans.”
United States helps reconstruct Iraq's judicial, law enforcement infrastructure
By Lea Terhune - Washington File Staff Writer
29 August 2006
Washington - The high-profile trial of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is a top international news item, but building Iraq’s capacity to hold such a trial is a story in itself. U.S. Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales traveled to Iraq August 29 to meet and commend those whose hard work has helped rebuild and maintain Iraq’s justice system.
After the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003, 24 Department of Justice officials were deployed to assess and assist in reconstituting the Iraqi legal system. Now more than 200 American law professionals support Iraq’s justice and law enforcement institutions through training and advising jurists and police.
"Freedom is best sustained by the establishment of a fair and just legal system that prioritizes the rights and liberties of its citizens," the attorney general said after his arrival in Baghdad August 29.
Key U.S. law enforcement agencies are involved in the effort, including the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the U.S. Marshal’s Service (USMS). Officers from each of these agencies make up the Major Crimes Task Force, which investigates assassinations of government officials, prisoner abuse, civil rights violations and violent crimes. They also contribute managerial expertise and technical assistance to highly trained Iraqi investigators.
The FBI has a counterterrorism unit in Iraq and brings in specialists to train the Iraqi police in counterterrorism techniques. The FBI legal attaché also facilitates law enforcement liaisons and international assistance. The Iraqi police receive training in the handling of explosives from the ATF. The USMS advises on security programs for Iraqi courts and provides court and witness security services.
U.S. agencies assist the Iraqi High Tribunal in its investigations of genocide, war crimes and other offenses, including investigations of Saddam Hussein and other officials of the deposed Iraqi government. As needed, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and contractors with special expertise assist in evidence gathering and preservation, forensic testing and exhumation of mass graves. Anthropologists, archaeologists, pathologists and forensic scientists are among those consultants employed in investigations.
Enhancement of Iraq’s legal institutions is the chief goal of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development. Advisers assess and give counsel on judicial reforms. They develop training programs tailored to Iraq’s justice system. About 500 Iraqi jurists and prosecutors have been trained in areas such as human rights, forensic evidence and prosecuting criminal, insurgency and terrorism cases. Department of Justice agencies provide resources for the anti-corruption efforts of the Iraq Commission for Public Integrity.
Iraqi law enforcement also is bolstered by training and assistance given to various levels of the police force. According to the Department of Justice, the International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP) is “the largest international police training program ever undertaken.” To date, more than 130,000 Iraqi police have been trained in courses developed by ICITAP and Civilian Police Assistance Training Team (CPATT) agents. Specialized and advanced training has been given to more than 15,000 Iraqi police on techniques of handling basic crime investigation, interrogation, critical incidents, civil disorder, violent crimes and kidnapping. ICITAP/CPATT advised on the comprehensive security mounted during Iraqi elections. The teams founded Baghdad Police College, the Arbil Police College and six regional basic training facilities, and continue to serve as their consultants.
"The Department of Justice is proud to help the Iraqi people establish the rule of law in their country, and I applaud the Department of Justice employees who are so dedicated to assisting in this historic effort," Gonzales
By Sgt. Sara Wood, USA - American Forces Press Service
RENO, Nev., Aug. 29, 2006 – As the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, approaches, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld last night stressed the need for determination in the war on terror.
"Today we are engaged in conflicts that are again testing whether or not our country believes that the defense of liberty is worth the cost," Rumsfeld said while addressing the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention here.
The enemy in the war on terror is ruthless and will lie constantly to advance its cause, Rumsfeld said, but history has proven the American people have resolve and determination. He cited American perseverance following the attack on Pearl Harbor, in the battle of Iwo Jima and in the Korean War.
"History has shown time and again that if Americans have the patience and perseverance to see an effort through -- that we prevail," he said. "And the result of that perseverance is a safer and more secure world."
There is much debate in the country about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but Rumsfeld called for people to use historical perspective when assessing the situation, and not to focus on setbacks. He said the veterans he was addressing are uniquely qualified to remind the American people that there have been setbacks and difficulties throughout every war in American history.
"You not only have lived history, you have made history," he told the audience. "You not only understand the nature of warfare, but many of you helped to transform the way wars are fought. And you know the price of freedom, because you risked your lives, shed blood, and lost friends in freedom's defense."
Iraq is still the epicenter of the war on terror, and although the insurgents want the world to believe otherwise, great progress is being made there, Rumsfeld said. A country that was once brutalized by a cruel dictatorship is working to secure a future under a representative government at peace with its neighbors.
Those who focus on setbacks in Iraq are fostering a "blame America first" mentality that threatens to undermine U.S. efforts in the war on terror, he said.
There will be setbacks in the war on terror, Rumsfeld acknowledged, but that does not mean the United States is losing ground. Americans have not quit in difficult times in the past, but have seen things through to victory, and will continue to do so.
"Today we will not tell 50 million Afghans and Iraqis that because the going is tough -- and it is tough, let there be no doubt -- that we will abandon them to the beheaders, the terrorists, the assassins, and 21st century fascists who seek to attack us abroad and here at home," he said.
At the convention, Rumsfeld received the Dwight D. Eisenhower Distinguished Service Award for his many years of service to the nation.
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