The Political Conundrum!

The Alabama Military Academy made the cut for the trailers of the new movie Bruno, but National Guardsmen assigned to the academy say they aren't buying tickets, nor are they curious about the film which opens tonight.

Even as the White House pledges to empty the prison camps at Guantanamo Bay, a 30-year-old prisoner is so afraid of returning to his native Tajikistan that he is asking to stay at the U.S. Navy base in Cuba.

On Army and Navy orders they went into harm's way during World War II. They're ships were strafed, bombed and sunk -- more than 1,500 went to the bottom and nearly 9,500 of their shipmates were killed. Today, more than 60 years on, the aged Merchant Marine vets are still fighting -- to be recognized as the war veterans they are.

Tough months are ahead and "difficult fighting will be necessary" for U.S. troops in Afghanistan, Gen. David Petraeus told a Seattle audience Wednesday night.

More than 40 people died in bombings in Iraq today in the worst violence since U.S. combat troops withdrew from urban areas at the end of last month. Though attacks are down sharply from past years of war, today's carnage was a reminder that insurgents remain intent on destabilizing Iraq.

In a briefing organized in Congress in July of 2007, I submitted a plan to the U.S. House Caucus on Counter Terrorism called "Freedom lines" suggesting a second phase in the American military campaign in Iraq. This plan was suggested as of 2004. After having analyzed the long term goals of al Qaeda and the Iranian regime in Iraq and discussed them with CENTCOM officials and National Defense University professors, the proposed plan projected a rapid training and expansion of the Iraqi armed forces followed by a gradual redeployment of U.S. and Coalition forces out of the cities and urban zones. Today we see the first phase of withdrawal beginning to take place. It is in this redeployment stage, where Iraqi forces will be taking over from Americans and allies in all cities and most towns. Two crucial questions arise immediately: Will Iraqi forces be able to control their own urban zones? And as a corollary, what should be the next phase for U.S. and Coalition forces on Iraqi soil?

According to the plan I have suggested the answer to the second question can determine the success or failure of the first. Indeed, for Iraqi forces to win the battle against their security challenges, it will depend on what kind of strategic mission U.S. armed forces will be tasked with in the next stage of their new deployment. Here is why:

The enemy's intentions

The two main forces the U.S. and the West are facing in the region, and which are threatening the rise of democracy amongst local civil societies have been and continue to be the Salafi Jihadists led by al Qaeda on the one hand and the Ayatollahs' Pasdaran on the other hand. These two threats -- regardless of how various U.S. administrations perceive them or project them -- are the main challengers to Iraq's national security. And thus their intentions towards Iraq's future will determine the fate of the post redeployment stage. What are al Qaeda's and Iran's plans with the completion of American pull out from the cities? The combat Jihadists (often called "the extremists" by the U.S. Administration) are clear in their intentions: attack Iraqi forces, civil society and foreign presence mostly in Sunni Arab areas and when possible across the country. There will be no change in strategy for al Qaeda but an increase of activities in an effort to crumble the government's presence in what the Salafi Jihadists would want to transform into a future "Emirate." The Iranian factor is more complex: Tehran's influence in Baghdad is projected to increase. Behind the scenes, the pro-Khomeinist politicians in Iraq will pressure the Shia-dominated government to lessen their alliance with the United States and tighten their cooperation with the "Islamic Republic of Iran." The real battle will be within the Shia community of Iraq. The Pasdaran's tentacles will attempt to eliminate the anti-Iranian cadres and consolidate the pro-Iranian groups, including the armed ones. The far goal is undoubted: Spread Iranian indirect control from border to border to connect with Syria's.

Under searing and back-breaking heat, the US Marines are doing a kick-butt job in southern Helmand province.

Fox News did a good story on this today, and I was kind of amused at a comment half way down this article. www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,531006,00.html

 

“I’m confident the Marines have my back,” says Sgt. Scott Whittington, a combat correspondent who routinely ventures outside the wire to capture images of Marines in different war zones. Like many of his fellow Marines, Whittington has combat experience in Iraq and a calm confidence that comes with having been in similar situations.

But Afghanistan is no Iraq.

Written by Debra Bathmann, CERDEC Public Affairs Office & Outreach

Employees from the Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center were invited to the Myer Center Auditorium on the afternoon of June 2 to view “At War,” a hard-hitting documentary that aims to expose the realities of the conflict in Afghanistan.

The film records, in gritty realism, the daily activities of U.S., Canadian and Afghan Soldiers – from the commonplace task of purchasing a cow for food to the horrifying affair of being fired upon at night by an unseen enemy.

The director, Scott Kesterson, created the film after quitting a successful construction job at age 41 to pursue his lifelong ambition of photojournalism. He managed to secure a mentorship with Pulitzer-Prize winning photojournalist David Leeson, and just six months after leaving his former employment, Kesterson found himself stationed in Afghanistan as an imbedded photojournalist, living his dream.

Kesterson felt very passionately about presenting a raw account of life in the combat zone, said 1^st Sgt. Troy Steward, a colleague of Kesterson’s in Afghanistan.

“He didn’t want the Soldiers’ stories to go untold,” said Steward.

Mike Tumminelli, who was deployed to Afghanistan from September 2007 to October 2008 as a National Guard staff sergeant serving as an imbedded training advisor, befriended Steward through a blog that reports on the happenings in Afghanistan as well as other military-related issues. Aware that Steward had been touring the U.S. with Kesterson, showing “At War” to different units and groups of civilians, Tumminelli convinced him to bring the film to Fort Monmouth and serve as a guest speaker.

Tumminelli and Steward believe that “At War” helps dispel some common misconceptions held by the public about the conflict because it is an unedited picture of the war in Afghanistan.

“I think people have been seeing Iraq in the mainstream media so much, and when they think of an army at war, they think of a lot of people in a unit moving left and right and the Soldiers having a lot of support – not two Soldiers in a small mud farmhouse, teaching Soldiers not to steal, teaching them basic ethics, trying to help stand up a government and trying to do all the things that have nothing to do with Soldiering,” said Steward.

“These Soldiers are doing their mission with very little support. As you see in the film, close air support is hours away and medical attention, helicopters or any aircraft is between four to six hours wait time, and I don’t think the general public really understands that aspect of this conflict: that we have very little, and we’re doing a lot,” said Tumminelli.

As a civilian, Guilange Fabien, an intern in CERDEC, felt that the film opened her eyes to the trials and tribulations of the Soldiers in Afghanistan.

“I think that the documentary gave me a good perspective of what Soldiers experience during war. While I was watching, I felt I was a part of the Soldiers’ experience as they interacted with Afghanis, drove in the Humvee and spent time with their comrades,” said Fabien. “It left an undeniable impression on me.”

Steward stressed that “At War” doesn’t contain any political agendas, but rather an accurate presentation of the conflict in Afghanistan intended to provide a window into the lives of Soldiers stationed there.

The film, which essentially projected Steward’s and Tumminelli’s experiences onto the movie screen, had an emotional resonance with both men.

“It’s that feeling of loneliness the film shows that was very compelling to me and most of the guys I know who have watched the film: the feeling of being left out there, in the middle of nowhere and not knowing how long it’s going to take your fellow American forces to get to you,” said Tumminelli.

“I was actually with Scott [Kesterson] at my house, and we watched it with a couple of guys that were on my team,” said Steward about his first time viewing the film. “It was very emotional to watch; it brought back a lot of memories not just for me, but also for my son, who just got back in January. It was a lot to take in; I sat pretty quiet afterwards.”

According to Tumminelli, “At War” puts forth a portrait of the war in Afghanistan that no glamorized Hollywood movie could ever offer.

“If you look at war movies like ‘Black Hawk Down,’ something like that doesn’t compare. There are no agendas in ‘At War.’ It’s crisp; it’s real. There are no scenes where everyone becomes a hero, and there’s no ‘last stand,’” said Tumminelli. “Believe it or not, war can be very boring. It’s ‘10 hours of boredom and 30 seconds of pure terror,’ as everyone says, and that’s what the film shows.”

Secretary Napolitano's remarks at the H1N1 Influenza Preparedness Summit, held July 9, 2009 at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. concerned the Department's role coordinating the response.

More Afghan soldiers with better training are needed to help clear the Taliban from a key poppy-growing province in southern Afghanistan, a top U.S. Marines commander said Wednesday.