Category Archives: The War

Progress in Ramadi

Posted on November 26, 2006 | Comments Off on Progress in Ramadi

From Multi-National Force-Iraq.

"Once the area of operations is officially transferred to 2-1-7 IA, they will be the third and final battalion in the 1st Brigade, 7th IA to own an area of operation in Ramadi."

Via Milblogs 

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Posted in Iraq, The War, Troops

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Salam Pax

Posted on November 25, 2006 | Comments Off on Salam Pax

The original (circa 2002) Baghdad blogger, who now works for BBC’s Newsnight as an occasional video stringer, still has an interesting view of his city. Here he offers to help visitors stay alive by enumerating what not to wear.

"Let’s look at men’s fashions first. Things that can get you killed include:

Shorts
A goatee beard
Jeans that are a bit tight or are too fashionably ‘distressed’
Colourful shirts
Hair Gel!!!
A necklace"

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Posted in Blogosphere, Iraq, The War

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The general’s son

Posted on November 25, 2006 | Comments Off on The general’s son

Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the upcoming US commander in Iraq, knows the price of war intimately.

"His son Anthony, then a 26-year-old cavalry lieutenant leading an armoured platoon in the city, had been injured in a rocket attack that almost severed his left arm…Military doctors were forced to amputate…"

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Posted in The War, Troops

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Recruiting problems

Posted on November 25, 2006 | Comments Off on Recruiting problems

Army recruiting, while meeting its goals, plainly has a problem obtaining educated recruits, according to Stars & Stripes.

"In fiscal 2006, which ended Sept. 30, only 81 percent of Army recruits were high school graduates. That is the smallest proportion of graduates that the Army has brought in since 1981, the first year of the Reagan administration…A second worry is that the Army usually sees its proportion of high school graduate recruits increase after graduation, in the months of June through September. Last summer, for the first time, no such spike occurred."

The business-as-usual-at-home, here-you-guys-take-it-all, while the news media and half the country’s politicians bad-mouth the effort, seems to be having the predictable effects. The pity of it is that the country is not driving the war, as it did in Vietnam, but the enemy is. How to fix?  

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Posted in The War, Troops

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An Iraqi view

Posted on November 22, 2006 | Comments Off on An Iraqi view

"America seems to have become confused and [losing] sight of the fundamentals of the issue and even who the real enemy is. Of course this was aided by a massive propaganda assault aimed directly at the American public from abroad and from within. Yet this is absolutely not a partisan issue. It is tragic that this matter is used for partisan purposes and for electoral considerations. When the ship of state starts sinking, it will take down everybody with it. You ask us Iraqis about this. And this is war, my friends. You can’t have half wars."

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Posted in Iraq, The War

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SFC Tung Nguyen, RIP

Posted on November 21, 2006 | Comments Off on SFC Tung Nguyen, RIP

"He was first an infantryman, then a paratrooper, serving in the 101st Airborne Division, and, finally, a Green Beret. A crack shot, foster brother Jim Cracraft told the Modesto Bee, Nguyen’s ambition was to join the military. Recognized as a master marksman, Nguyen (38) became an instructor at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center in 2003 and, later, shipped out to Iraq."

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Posted in Iraq, The War, Troops

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Fleeing Iran

Posted on November 21, 2006 | Comments Off on Fleeing Iran

Where is the UN refugee agency when it’s needed? Sucking up to the Iranians, apparently.

Iranian dissident Zahra Kamalfar and her two teenage children are trapped in the Moscow airport, trying to avoid deportation back to Iran. An international law firm is trying to help. Meanwhile the Russian authorities are cooperating with Iranian intelligence. So to speak.

The MSM is curiously absent on this story. But Pajamas Media has updates and Lone Star Times. Both have email addresses where you can protest.

UPDATE  On the day before Thanksgiving, there appears to be some progress in the case. "Pajamas Media, as of 9:10 PST today, has been informed that the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has just issued an order barring the deportation of Zahra Kamalfar and her children from Moscow for two weeks."

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Posted in The War

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