News and Personal dispatches from the front and the home front. (The online version is updated throughout the day and includes news about Iraq and Afghanistan)
Foreign Policy: Operation Marjah - A Photo Essay of Coalition forces are hunting Taliban insurgents in the largest military operation in Afghanistan since the initial U.S. invasion in 2001. (VIEW PHOTOS)
Afghanistan My Last Tour: A Lively ANA Discussion Part One - Last night I couldn’t sleep well and stayed up late preparing for my discussion with the ANA soldiers. I was invited to speak with a group of ANA soldiers attending literacy training. Part of their curriculum is religious studies and one segment of the class covers infidel misperceptions. Although I am not an infidel, but considered by some Muslim extremists as one, I agreed to open myself up for questioning. I was hoping not to get into a theological debate, but just in case, I spent several hours researching the Internet and even read the English translation of the first 2 chapters of the Quran (Koran). To say the least, it was very interesting reading. My interpreter Omid and I visited the ANA Sgt Major and over a cup of chai, we discussed the morning agenda. The Sgt Major would introduce me to the class and then I would take over. We all walked into the classroom and it was completely full of 50-60 ANA soldiers. (READ MORE)
America's 1st Sgt: Boot Camp Letters 2 - You may recall the letter I sent my parents after arriving at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego dated May 9, 1992. Upon arriving at the depot our first stop was at Receiving. This term is somewhat misleading as we were "received" with the same enthusiasm more often reserved for an infectious mob of plague victims. "What are you miserable $&#@ doing here? Did you walk in the wrong hatch? Women's boot camp is in Paris Island!" Around this time we were introduced to the famous yellow footprints. My memory of this is rather vague but I do remember hearing my inner voice trying to be heard over the booming voices of the Drill Instructors: "Just do what they say! Do what they say! For the love of…faster fool!" Early on in Receiving Drill Instructors made us understand in no uncertain terms that even our absolute obedience was woefully inadequate and unsatisfactory. It was also when we began to learn interesting things about our fellow recruits. (READ MORE)
David Bellavia: The Necessity of the Fragmentation Grenade - When you got to chow and are carrying two live M67 Frags on your person; you are in a warzone. And the light clank you feel as those 14 ounces of American made vengeance bounce against the hard ceramic protective plate over your chest, is a constant reminder of who you are and what you represent. Then it came time to use said grenade. In my entire company of Infantrymen, four soldiers had tossed a live hand grenade since basic training. And those four had done so in garrison training for another combat deployment outside our Division. I had no idea what it was like. I knew the blast radius. The supposed timing of the fuse. How to toss it and how to carry it safely, but that was it. We placed our grenades upside down in a grenade pouch on our upper left side of our IBA vest. Upside down was the easiest way to remove the grenade hastily during a fight. (READ MORE)
ANDREW BALCOMBE: Dutch Prepare for Afghan Deployment - The next Dutch battlegroup will deploy to southern Afghanistan in March 2010. Task Force Uruzgan 17 is composed of an army airborne company, a company of Dutch marines, a recon platoon, an engineer company and logistics staff. In February, TFU 17 trained at three locations around The Netherlands. They’re depicted above reacting to a simulated suicide-bombing in a crowded bazaar. The troops may be the last Dutch battlegroup to deploy to Afghanistan. The Dutch cabinet will decide on March 1 if the combat mission will continue beyond August. A majority in the Dutch parliament wants the mission to end. The cabinet is split on the issue. Pressure is mounting from NATO, the U.S. and other coalition partners to prolong the mission. Despite the debate in The Hague, the Dutch troops on the ground remain professional and committed to doing their jobs. (READ MORE)
Noah Shachtman: Marines Find Rocket Attack’s Victims as Mystery Deepens - On Tuesday, Company K of the Third Battalion, Sixth Marines visited a house in Marjah, Afghanistan, reduced to rubble by American rockets. Inside were twelve bodies. According to their superior officers, Company K had somehow been involved in the strike from the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System; according to a press release from NATO headquarters in Kabul, the rockets had been a counterattack on a “compound where insurgents were delivering accurate, direct fire.” But “to the Marines of Company K, and an embedded reporter accompanying them, one thing seemed clear: the company had not ordered a rocket strike on that house,” the New York Times reports. “‘The compound that was hit was not the one we were targeting,’ the company commander said.” That’s not surprising. The HIMARS system is a “brigade-level asset,” controlled by the Marines’ top commanders in Afghanistan — not by junior officers on the ground. (READ MORE)
Katherine Tiedemann: Daily brief: bombing kills at least 30 as U.S. envoy visits Pakistan - A bomb blast near a mosque and a cattle and hashish market in the Tirah Valley in Pakistan's northwest tribal agency of Khyber has killed more than 30 in what might be a turf feud between the rival Islamist groups Lashkar-e-Islam and Ansar-ul-Islam. There have been reports that a Lashkar commander was killed in the blast, which was apparently also near a base for the militant faction, but no group has claimed responsibility yet. Several more commanders for the Afghan Taliban have been rounded up by Pakistani authorities, two of them "shadow governors" for the Afghan provinces of Baghlan and Kunduz, both of whom reported to the recently captured second-in-command of the Afghan Taliban Mullah Baradar and who played key roles in the Taliban's expansion into northern Afghanistan. The arrests and the bombing occur as U.S. Special Representative Amb. Richard Holbrooke is in Pakistan discussing humanitarian aid and security concerns with Pakistani leaders. (READ MORE)
ROGENE FISHER: Reactions to Baradar’s Arrest - As Carlotta Gall and Souad Mekhenet report in today’s Times, Pakistan’s arrest of the top Taliban military commander, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, may be a tactical victory for the United States, but analysts also see it as a potential strategic coup for Pakistan, which has been signaling its interest in participating in any mediation efforts between the West and the Taliban. Steve Coll writes on his “Think Tank” blog at The New Yorker that Mullah Baradar’s arrest is indeed a coup and signals that a new approach toward Pakistan by the Obama administration could bring about a turning point in the Afghanistan campaign. “If, through a combination of pressure and enticement, Pakistan and the United States can draw sections of the Taliban into peaceful negotiations, while incarcerating those who refuse to participate, it will produce a sweeping change in the war.” (READ MORE)
The Captain's Journal: Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar’s Capture: What Does it Mean? - Of the recent capture of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Dana Perino and Bill Burck observed: “Today, the Times is reporting that the real story behind Baradar’s capture is that Pakistan wanted to gain a place at the table in negotiations between the U.S. and Karzai and the Taliban. Specifically, Baradar, it turns out, was one of Karzai’s main contacts with the Taliban for years, and he was at the center of efforts to negotiate a peace with the Taliban. Pakistan was frustrated at being excluded from the talks, so it snatched up Baradar to gain an advantage.” So this analysis relies on the notion that this is more Pakistani duplicity. Ralph Peters, on the other hand, sees the world with much more intrigue (I must quote at length). “The capture of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar — the Taliban’s equivalent of Gen. Stan McChrystal — by Pakistani agents and CIA operatives is a big win. Or maybe not. While it’s excellent news that Baradar’s been nabbed, his capture in Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi, raises questions Washington yearns to ignore:” (READ MORE)
Afghanistan My Last Tour: A Lively ANA Discussion Part One - Last night I couldn’t sleep well and stayed up late preparing for my discussion with the ANA soldiers. I was invited to speak with a group of ANA soldiers attending literacy training. Part of their curriculum is religious studies and one segment of the class covers infidel misperceptions. Although I am not an infidel, but considered by some Muslim extremists as one, I agreed to open myself up for questioning. I was hoping not to get into a theological debate, but just in case, I spent several hours researching the Internet and even read the English translation of the first 2 chapters of the Quran (Koran). To say the least, it was very interesting reading. My interpreter Omid and I visited the ANA Sgt Major and over a cup of chai, we discussed the morning agenda. The Sgt Major would introduce me to the class and then I would take over. We all walked into the classroom and it was completely full of 50-60 ANA soldiers. (READ MORE)
America's 1st Sgt: Boot Camp Letters 2 - You may recall the letter I sent my parents after arriving at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego dated May 9, 1992. Upon arriving at the depot our first stop was at Receiving. This term is somewhat misleading as we were "received" with the same enthusiasm more often reserved for an infectious mob of plague victims. "What are you miserable $&#@ doing here? Did you walk in the wrong hatch? Women's boot camp is in Paris Island!" Around this time we were introduced to the famous yellow footprints. My memory of this is rather vague but I do remember hearing my inner voice trying to be heard over the booming voices of the Drill Instructors: "Just do what they say! Do what they say! For the love of…faster fool!" Early on in Receiving Drill Instructors made us understand in no uncertain terms that even our absolute obedience was woefully inadequate and unsatisfactory. It was also when we began to learn interesting things about our fellow recruits. (READ MORE)
David Bellavia: The Necessity of the Fragmentation Grenade - When you got to chow and are carrying two live M67 Frags on your person; you are in a warzone. And the light clank you feel as those 14 ounces of American made vengeance bounce against the hard ceramic protective plate over your chest, is a constant reminder of who you are and what you represent. Then it came time to use said grenade. In my entire company of Infantrymen, four soldiers had tossed a live hand grenade since basic training. And those four had done so in garrison training for another combat deployment outside our Division. I had no idea what it was like. I knew the blast radius. The supposed timing of the fuse. How to toss it and how to carry it safely, but that was it. We placed our grenades upside down in a grenade pouch on our upper left side of our IBA vest. Upside down was the easiest way to remove the grenade hastily during a fight. (READ MORE)
ANDREW BALCOMBE: Dutch Prepare for Afghan Deployment - The next Dutch battlegroup will deploy to southern Afghanistan in March 2010. Task Force Uruzgan 17 is composed of an army airborne company, a company of Dutch marines, a recon platoon, an engineer company and logistics staff. In February, TFU 17 trained at three locations around The Netherlands. They’re depicted above reacting to a simulated suicide-bombing in a crowded bazaar. The troops may be the last Dutch battlegroup to deploy to Afghanistan. The Dutch cabinet will decide on March 1 if the combat mission will continue beyond August. A majority in the Dutch parliament wants the mission to end. The cabinet is split on the issue. Pressure is mounting from NATO, the U.S. and other coalition partners to prolong the mission. Despite the debate in The Hague, the Dutch troops on the ground remain professional and committed to doing their jobs. (READ MORE)
Noah Shachtman: Marines Find Rocket Attack’s Victims as Mystery Deepens - On Tuesday, Company K of the Third Battalion, Sixth Marines visited a house in Marjah, Afghanistan, reduced to rubble by American rockets. Inside were twelve bodies. According to their superior officers, Company K had somehow been involved in the strike from the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System; according to a press release from NATO headquarters in Kabul, the rockets had been a counterattack on a “compound where insurgents were delivering accurate, direct fire.” But “to the Marines of Company K, and an embedded reporter accompanying them, one thing seemed clear: the company had not ordered a rocket strike on that house,” the New York Times reports. “‘The compound that was hit was not the one we were targeting,’ the company commander said.” That’s not surprising. The HIMARS system is a “brigade-level asset,” controlled by the Marines’ top commanders in Afghanistan — not by junior officers on the ground. (READ MORE)
Katherine Tiedemann: Daily brief: bombing kills at least 30 as U.S. envoy visits Pakistan - A bomb blast near a mosque and a cattle and hashish market in the Tirah Valley in Pakistan's northwest tribal agency of Khyber has killed more than 30 in what might be a turf feud between the rival Islamist groups Lashkar-e-Islam and Ansar-ul-Islam. There have been reports that a Lashkar commander was killed in the blast, which was apparently also near a base for the militant faction, but no group has claimed responsibility yet. Several more commanders for the Afghan Taliban have been rounded up by Pakistani authorities, two of them "shadow governors" for the Afghan provinces of Baghlan and Kunduz, both of whom reported to the recently captured second-in-command of the Afghan Taliban Mullah Baradar and who played key roles in the Taliban's expansion into northern Afghanistan. The arrests and the bombing occur as U.S. Special Representative Amb. Richard Holbrooke is in Pakistan discussing humanitarian aid and security concerns with Pakistani leaders. (READ MORE)
ROGENE FISHER: Reactions to Baradar’s Arrest - As Carlotta Gall and Souad Mekhenet report in today’s Times, Pakistan’s arrest of the top Taliban military commander, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, may be a tactical victory for the United States, but analysts also see it as a potential strategic coup for Pakistan, which has been signaling its interest in participating in any mediation efforts between the West and the Taliban. Steve Coll writes on his “Think Tank” blog at The New Yorker that Mullah Baradar’s arrest is indeed a coup and signals that a new approach toward Pakistan by the Obama administration could bring about a turning point in the Afghanistan campaign. “If, through a combination of pressure and enticement, Pakistan and the United States can draw sections of the Taliban into peaceful negotiations, while incarcerating those who refuse to participate, it will produce a sweeping change in the war.” (READ MORE)
The Captain's Journal: Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar’s Capture: What Does it Mean? - Of the recent capture of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Dana Perino and Bill Burck observed: “Today, the Times is reporting that the real story behind Baradar’s capture is that Pakistan wanted to gain a place at the table in negotiations between the U.S. and Karzai and the Taliban. Specifically, Baradar, it turns out, was one of Karzai’s main contacts with the Taliban for years, and he was at the center of efforts to negotiate a peace with the Taliban. Pakistan was frustrated at being excluded from the talks, so it snatched up Baradar to gain an advantage.” So this analysis relies on the notion that this is more Pakistani duplicity. Ralph Peters, on the other hand, sees the world with much more intrigue (I must quote at length). “The capture of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar — the Taliban’s equivalent of Gen. Stan McChrystal — by Pakistani agents and CIA operatives is a big win. Or maybe not. While it’s excellent news that Baradar’s been nabbed, his capture in Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi, raises questions Washington yearns to ignore:” (READ MORE)
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The Thunder Run's From the Front is a daily series that highlights news and personal dispatched from the front and the home front. To be removed from this list, please reply to this email and place REMOVE in the subject line.
NOTE: This is not a secret list, please share it with your friends and families and anyone else who wants to know what is really going on in Iraq and Afghanistan.
David M
Editor: The Thunder Run
NOTE: This is not a secret list, please share it with your friends and families and anyone else who wants to know what is really going on in Iraq and Afghanistan.
David M
Editor: The Thunder Run
