Palmetto state native hits bulls-eye, takes combat promotion

[thedrifter]

Palmetto state native hits bulls-eye, takes combat promotion
Submitted by: 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing
Story Identification #: 20056905227
Story by Cpl. C. Alex Herron



AL ASAD, Iraq (June 9, 2005) -- Every mission in the Marine Corps takes a team effort. Explosive Ordnance Disposal is one of those jobs that requires many different parts coming together to accomplish the mission.

When the disposal unit receives a call for an improvised explosive device or unidentified ordnance outside the base, they are deployed with the Immediate Reaction Team from Marine Wing Support Squadron 271.

The IRT is a group of Marines pulled from their regular military occupational specialties to form a team as machine gunners, riflemen and drivers. In a group of outstanding Marines, one Marine stood above the rest recently and was the recipient of a combat meritorious promotion.

Cpl. Joshua Nalley, a machine gunner was promoted to his present rank for his knowledge of the Marine Corps and leadership potential during the combat meritorious promotion board.

Nalley, 19, one of the youngest Marines with the IRT, has shown he is a natural leader always striving for more knowledge and experience.

“Nalley has a thirst for more leadership responsibility unlike many Marines his age,” said Gunnery Sgt. Demetrious Hadley, platoon sergeant. “He could have had another job on the team, but he wanted the extra responsibility of a machine gunner. He is constantly talking to the Marines who attended the machine gunner school to learn more and gain as much knowledge as possible. He wants to be the best at everything he does.”

With his promotion Nalley may have earned a rank, but he already had the respect of his superiors for being a solid asset to the team.

“He is a good Marine. Before he was promoted he acted like a noncommissioned officer,” said Sgt. Ryan Thomas, IRT platoon sergeant. “Now it is good to see he is able to be rewarded for being such a well-rounded Marine.”

Nalley, a 2003 graduate of Easley High School in his native Easley, S.C., joined the Marine Corps in July 2003 when he reported to Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S. C. After graduation and a few months of job training he reported to MWSS-271 in January 2004 as a combat engineer and quickly got a taste of Marine Corps life.

Two weeks after reporting to Cherry Point, N. C., Nalley deployed to Barbados for five months as one of 45 Marines sent to build hangars for the Barbados Defense Force.

“We worked a lot, but I was able to learn a lot about my job with a lot of hands on training,” Nalley said. “It was a good experience and a sharp contrast to where we are now. We were in a jungle paradise and now we are in a desert plain.”

After returning from Barbados, Nalley was selected to join the Immediate Reaction Team and quickly adapted to his new role within the unit. Moving from combat engineer to machine gunner is a drastic change.

“Everything we did we had to do it right and learn it correctly because we were preparing for a real world operation and we knew it,” Nalley said. “The explosive ordnance Marines’ lives are in our hands. They have to know we are proficient enough to protect them so they can concentrate on their mission.”

The team’s main mission is to provide security for Explosive Ordnance Disposal Marines.

“When we get a call our mission is to secure the area while disposal team works to disarm an Improvised Explosive Device,” said Nalley.

Nalley is enjoying his time with the IRT in Iraq. Being able to step outside the box and do something most Marines don’t get the chance to do is a privilege he doesn’t take for granted.

“Being with this team has been great,” he added. “We have been together for nine months, taking part in field exercises and different training evolutions so we are a real close bunch of Marines. Having the opportunity to see something more than the combat engineer world is a nice change of pace.”

Nalley and the other Immediate Reaction Team Marines work to enhance the security in already volatile situations. Keeping the area secure may seem like a simple task, but countless Marines and soldiers have been saved by them and the ordnance teams working together to dispose of Improvised Explosives Devices that are spread throughout the Al Anbar province.


*For more information about this story please contact Cpl. Herron at herronca@acemnf-wiraq.usmc.mil*



Ellie

[thedrifter]

Former POW delivers pep talk to Pendleton Marines

By: DARRIN MORTENSON - Staff Writer

CAMP PENDLETON ---- Whether it's fighting an unseen enemy in the streets of Iraq, or resisting years of torture by enemy captors in Vietnam, retired Air Force Lt. Col. Barry Bridger said survival takes more than guts or brawn; it takes faith.

Bridger, whose F-4 Phantom jet was shot down during a bombing raid over Hanoi, North Vietnam in 1967, served six years in the infamous Hanoi Hilton prison camp, some of those years alongside now-Arizona Sen. John McCain.

Now silver-haired at 64 and suited in gaberdine instead of prison pajamas, Bridger spoke to about 150 officers and senior noncommissioned officers at Camp Pendleton's Staff NCO Club Tuesday as part of a cross-country motivational speaking tour.

"You men and women are living in a defining moment in history," he said, opening his well-rehearsed PowerPoint slide show presentation Tuesday.

"Your challenge is global terrorism," he said, pacing before the camouflage-clad Marines. "It's more difficult ... more confusing ... and more dangerous than ever before."

He encouraged the young leaders in the room to face the challenges of Iraq and Afghanistan like he and his fellow prisoners persevered through years of isolation, physical torture and psychological pressure in Vietnam.

"It was our enduring American values, our Christian values," Bridger said.

He recounted how the North Vietnamese captors tried to break the will of the American prisoners of war and find weak links among them.

Bridger said the American troops were able to resist because they stuck together and never forgot their duty to each other.

Although Bridger mostly spoke in patriotic platitudes, Marines seemed to draw lessons from his story of being a POW that they could apply to their own missions and struggles. At Camp Pendleton, most Marines rotate into and out of Iraq about every seven months or so.

"We will all go through difficult times in our own lives ... (times) that will test our mettle," said Lt. Col. Reed Merrill, the executive officer of the Camp Pendleton's base headquarters battalion.

"It's not so much what you're armed with on the outside, it's what you're armed with on the inside," he said, "What's in your heart, your mind."

After a respectful standing ovation for Bridger, Marines filed by to shake his hand before pouring out of the ballroom.

Among them was Gunnery Sgt. Ranphy Cardona, 35, who said he drew spiritual strength from Bridger's message that the troops must endure hardships together and for one another.

"It's good to hear his sense of pride and sense of caring," said Cardona, who added that his recent experiences in the Iraq war turned him from being simply a "churchgoing person" to wanting to become a Christian minister.

He said he was especially impressed by the fact that Bridger and the other prisoners worshipped openly in their cells every day.

Cardona said that in the chaos of counterinsurgency operations in western Iraq last year, Marines often came to him to share their fears and troubles about the war.

Forming a small ministry, they gave each other moral and spiritual support.

"I can kind of relate" to Bridger, Cardona said. "People caring for people, helping each other out, getting through it together. It's good to hear."

Contact staff writer Darrin Mortenson at (760) 740-5442 or dmortenson@nctimes.com.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Reckless with a gun <br />
<br />
June 09, 2005 <br />
ROSELEE PAPANDREA <br />
DAILY NEWS STAFF <br />
<br />
A Marine lance corporal accused of shooting another Marine to death in June 2004 frequently mishandled his weapon,...

[thedrifter]

N.C. contractor: Marines detained 19 workers in Iraq



Jun 9, 2005 : 10:07 am ET

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Nineteen people working for a Charlotte-based company in Iraq were detained for three days by Marines last month in Fallujah, with some complaining they were abused while in custody.

The military is investigating the claims and whether Marines were justified in stopping the convoy of security contractors working for Zapata Engineering. The contractors were accused of firing shots at U.S. soldiers and Iraqi civilians -- an allegation the contractors deny.

Zapata has a $43.8 million contract with the military to manage ammunition disposal; the company has about 200 security workers and ammunition experts in Iraq.

Of the workers detained, 16 were Americans and three were Iraqis, the company said.

Marines stopped the convoy May 28 after a series of shootings that day. Marines said a gunman from a convoy of trucks and sport utility vehicles fired on them and passengers shot at civilian cars. A few hours later, according to the Marines, a gunman fired shots at an observation post from vehicles matching the description of those in the earlier shootings.

According to Zapata, its convoy -- which was transporting supplies and materials from Baghdad to Fallujah -- was stopped that day when spike strips placed in the road flattened their tires.

Marines then took the workers -- 16 security guards and three translators -- into custody, saying they were to blame for the shootings, according to the company and the military. They were all released May 31.

Company president Manuel Zapata said the only shot fired by his workers was a warning blast after they noticed a vehicle following them.

No one was hurt in any of the reported shootings.

Some of the workers have said they were physically abused and humiliated while in custody.

Mark Schopper, a Nevada attorney who said he represents two of the workers detained in Iraq, told The Charlotte Observer they were stripped to their underwear, blindfolded and handled roughly by Marines.

"Marines put their knees on the backs of their necks and ripped off religious medallions," Schopper said. "They asked for attorneys, they asked for Amnesty International, they asked for the American Red Cross. All three requests were denied."

The Marines denied the abuse allegations.

"The Americans were segregated from the rest of the detainee population and, like all security detainees, were treated humanely and respectfully," Marine Lt. Col. David Lapan told The Observer in an e-mail.

Another military spokesperson said officials are still trying to sort out what happened.

"You have all kinds of different people and they all have their own story," said Kim Gillespie, spokeswoman for the Army Corps of Engineers. "We just don't know."

An estimated 20,000 civilians are believed to be working for private defense contractors in Iraq. More than 200 have died there, including 13 employed by Moyock-based Blackwater Security Consulting.

Zapata said his workers were shocked to be taken into custody by the military. "You don't expect this when you are helping the armed services," he said.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

One family's tragedy in the fog of war



ST. LOUIS, Missouri (CNN) -- Even as Daham Kassim sits in his brother-in-law's comfortable suburban St. Louis home, his thoughts constantly turn back to his native Iraq and the tragic events that brought him to the United States.

On or about March 25, 2003, the beginning of the Iraq war, Daham, his wife, Gufran, his brother, and their four young children piled into the family's white Peugeot and headed north out of Nasiriya to escape the chaotic U.S. bombing and fighting.

They had waited all morning for a violent sandstorm to subside, but fear of being caught in the crossfire prompted Daham to leave despite the bad weather.

"There is sandstorm there and I don't see. I see nothing because sandstorm. So there is four or three tanks American tanks in the gate, Nasiriya gate," he says.

Daham says he stopped his car and after about a minute the tanks opened fire, instantly killing his 2-year-old and 9-year-old daughters.

He says two American troops approached his car. He remembers they called themselves "Chris" and "Joe."

"I saw them take my son, Mohammed ... it is difficult to breathing," he says, describing his son's grave condition. "My daughter, the fourth one, my daughter, Zainab, is still OK as I see her."

Daham was gravely injured, suffering gunshot and shrapnel wounds to his arms, legs and face. Gufran was shot in the chest and the blast broke both of her arms.

Mohammed, age 6, died minutes later.

Daham, Gufran and Zainab were taken to a U.S. field hospital a few miles away, but were moved to the Nasiriya Air Base hospital that evening when their beds were needed for wounded American troops.

"It is very, very cold," he says, remembering that night. "Then my daughter, Zainab, said, 'Pop, it is very cold.' But you know, I have nothing to help her, because I can't stand up. ... My legs is also broken. And my wife also, the two arms are broken. It is difficult to help my daughter, and [she] also died."

Daham and Gufran were eventually moved to the USS Comfort, a Navy hospital ship, where they stayed for approximately one month.

There, Daham's right leg was amputated and according to hospital ship records provided by Daham, his "poor" prognosis improved steadily.

The Kassims eventually returned to Nasiriya and were admitted to Nasiriya General Hospital on May 3, 2003.

The U.S. military cannot confirm or accept responsibility for the incident involving the Kassim family.

A spokesman for the U.S. Marine Corps said the Marines found "an incident reported up the chain of command that appears similar to what Mr. Kassim tells CNN."

Maj. Douglas Powell issued a statement saying that in late March "the Iraqi regular army and Fedayeen" [Saddam Hussein's specially picked troops] were implementing tactics such as using "civilian vehicles to drive close to and fire upon Marines."

In response, "hasty checkpoints" were set up, and in the engagement most closely matching Daham's account, the Marine statement said the civilian vehicle "failed to stop and was engaged. ... Based upon all the facts, it was determined the shooting did not violate our rules or engagement nor the law of war."

A Freedom of Information Act request yielded no written records about the incident. The lack of documentation can be blamed on the hectic pace of war and the tragic nature of conflict, Powell said.

Daham has written records of his U.S. military-supervised medical care. He also was able to obtain the death certificate for his 5-year-old daughter, Zainab, from the Army at the Nasiriya Air Base hospital.

Zainab's cause of death on March 27, 2003, is listed as "blast injury causing penetration of skull and exposure of brain."

An Army spokeswoman verified the document and said the number "000-00-027" listed in the "Social Security number" space on the form means that Zainab was the 27th Iraqi civilian to die at the base hospital.

While Daham is grateful for what the United States has done for Iraq and empathizes with American parents who have lost their children, he says what he really wants is an apology from the U.S. military.

"They don't care my story," he says. "The American government, I mean, and the American Army, ... but in the other side there is many, many American people help me."

Daham and Gufran were able to come to the United States because of Keith Lindsey, who runs Lindsey Manufacturing, a California-based company that specializes in emergency power restoration.

Before the accident, Daham was the director of the electricity system in the southwestern region of Iraq. Lindsey arranged for a six-month visa for the Kassims so Daham could acquire new skills and seek medical treatment.

Since their arrival in January, Daham's brother-in-law, Ihsan-Al-Yasiry, has arranged for pro-bono prosthesis and rehab care for Daham and English classes for Gufran.

Daham is only one of an untold number of Iraqi civilians injured since the start of the war. There is no reliable count of the number killed, although the Web site www.iraqbodycount.com puts the number at as many as 25,000.

"There is many people, many families like my situation, really. And this need help and support and stand with them, not leave them with no asking, nothing. This is not, not, not a way to live, not a way to understand each other," he says.

Daham and Gufran were scheduled to go back to Iraq the week of June 6. The couple has applied for an extension, because Gufran is now two months pregnant.

"No one can feel or imagine what we suffer what we felt. But we [are] looking for to start our life, this is what we want," Daham says. "We need help and support and everything to start our life again."

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Grosse Ile, Mich., Marine fights in Iraq <br />
Submitted by: 2nd Marine Division <br />
Story Identification #: 2005690338 <br />
Story by Cpl. Tom Sloan <br />
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CAMP HURRICANE POINT, Iraq (June 9, 2005) -- A year...

[thedrifter]

Staford, Texas, Marine back in Iraq serving Corps, country <br />
Submitted by: 2nd Marine Division <br />
Story Identification #: 20056931929 <br />
Story by Cpl. Tom Sloan <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
AR RAMADI, Iraq (June 9, 2005) --...

[thedrifter]

Army Again Denies Cover-Up in Tillman Case


By JOHN J. LUMPKIN
The Associated Press
Thursday, June 9, 2005; 5:08 PM


WASHINGTON -- The Army on Thursday issued a fresh denial that it attempted to cover up the friendly fire death of former pro football player Pat Tillman in Afghanistan.

The Army said procedural mistakes were to blame for its slow acknowledgment of the circumstances of Tillman's death.

Tillman's parents have criticized the Army for waiting weeks to tell them his death was accidental and did not result from enemy fire. They have accused the government of lying to cover up.

A statement from the Army's public affairs office said Tillman's Ranger unit did not quickly tell the Pentagon of the nature of his death because the unit's leaders were waiting until their investigation was finished.

"While procedural misjudgments and mistakes contributed to an air of suspicion, no one intended to deceive the Tillman family or the public as to the cause of his death," the Army statement said. The Ranger unit's withholding information "was an application of judgment, not a willful violation of regulation. Nevertheless, it was procedurally wrong."

The statement came in response to recent critical remarks by Tillman's parents, Army spokesman Paul Boyce said. He said the Army will continue to provide them with information on his death as it becomes available.

Tillman, who played for the Arizona Cardinals in the National Football League, left football after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, to join the Army with his brother.

After a tour in Iraq, they were sent to Afghanistan in 2004 to help hunt for the Taliban and Osama bin Laden.

On April 22, 2004, Tillman was killed by gunfire from his fellow soldiers, who mistook him for the enemy as he got into position to defend them, military officials have said. After the initial reports of his death, the military for weeks did not dispute the widespread belief he was killed by enemy fire.

His memorial service in San Jose, Calif., took place May 3, 2004. The Army announced 26 days later that Tillman likely died because of friendly fire.

The Army has previously said it should have better handled the information on Tillman's death.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marines Find Weapons, Huge Bunker in Iraq <br />
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<br />
By SAMEER N. YACOUB Associated Press Writer <br />
<br />
The Associated Press <br />
<br />
LATIFIYAH, Iraq Hundreds of Iraqi and U.S. troops searched fields and farms...

[thedrifter]

Jury convicts fugitive Marine <br />
June 10,2005 <br />
ROSELEE PAPANDREA <br />
DAILY NEWS STAFF <br />
<br />
It took a military jury almost two and a half hours at a Camp Lejeune court-martial Thursday to find Marine...

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Business still booming for Weapons Co.

Submitted by: MCB Camp Pendleton
Story Identification #: 200569143736
Story by Lance Cpl. Antonio Rosas



MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (June 9, 2005) -- The gunner barks, "hanging on one!" In mere seconds, a round sails through the air before hammering the earth, creating a fiery blast that sends tremors several hundred yards away.

The leftover crater is the thumbprint of the 60 mm mortar - an infantry mainstay for taking out pockets of fighters or other enemy assets.

"Ground-pounders" from Weapons Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, recently honed their indirect fire skills using the mortar weapon at Range MP-2. The firing drills are intended to instill "muscle memory," so that when rounds start coming downrange, the warriors will know exactly how to perform, said 2nd Lt. Jeremy P. Buker, Weapons platoon commander for Company E, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment.

"During combat, everything is different from when you train, but the basics stick with you," Buker added.

The battalion conducted the training in support of their upcoming deployment to Egypt in support of Operation Bright Star.

On this training day, the warriors concentrated on two methods of fire - direct lay and direct alignment. The first targets a visible enemy; the second involves relying on forward observers to spot the enemy. The forward observer calculates distance and angle to pinpoint where the blast will strike.

Most of the warriors are Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans. Although many have their own story to tell, jittery moments are a common denominator. They know what it's like to fire mortars - and to receive fire from enemy mortars.

"When mortar rounds are raining from the sky, all you're concerned with is getting the rounds out faster," said Lance Cpl. Josh P. Laine, an assistant gunner with Weapons Plt. "You're far more concerned with the fact that you're being shot at, so it comes down to natural instinct."

"When you're being attacked by mortars, all you're worried about is where the next one will hit," added Lance Cpl. Craig C. Bell, a gunner with Weapons Plt.

The Marines acknowledge many servicemembers have been wounded from enemy mortar fire. Nonetheless, they say the enemy in Iraq basically is taking shots in the dark.

"They're lucky if they hit anything most of the time. They hastily run out into the street with their mortars and fire off one or two rounds before running away and hiding to avoid being hit by our fire," said Cpl. Tuan D. Dao, 20, a section leader for Weapons Plt. from Eagan, Mass.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

5 Marines killed in Iraq; 21 bodies found

PATRICK QUINN
Associated Press
BAGHDAD- Militants killed five U.S. Marines and authorities found 21 bodies Friday near the Syrian border, where American and Iraqi troops bore down in two recent major operations aimed at crushing a tenacious insurgency.

The victims, thought to be missing Iraqi soldiers, were shot repeatedly in the head and found blindfolded, their hands tied behind their backs. Three were beheaded.

The killings were a clear sign of the profound difficulties faced by U.S. and Iraqi forces in Anbar province around the dusty, lawless frontier town of Qaim, and their inability to seal the porous desert border with Syria despite major efforts to boost their military presence in the area.

Also Friday, a car bomb killed four men and wounded nine as they sat outside a restaurant in Baghdad waiting to pick up falafel sandwiches, a popular Arab staple made with fried chickpeas.

The bloodshed came as politicians seeking a negotiated solution to the insurgency once again wrangled over a promise to give Sunni Arabs a bigger say in charting Iraq´s future.

The Marines were killed Thursday in a roadside bombing while conducting combat operations near the volatile Sunni town of Haqlaniyah, 90 miles northwest of Baghdad, the military said. Their deaths brought to at least 1,689 the number of U.S. military members killed in Iraq since the war began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

At least 37 U.S. military members have been killed by roadside bombs since the makeup of Iraq´s new government was announced April 28, according to the AP count.

The 21 Iraqi bodies were found near Qaim, 80 miles west of Haqlaniyah, along a highway that meanders along the Euphrates River and into Syria. The bodies were in three locations, haphazardly dumped by the roadside in a gravel pit and in sand flats. Three were beheaded and at least one had been mauled by animals.

U.S. military intelligence officials believe the Qaim area sits at the crossroads of a major route used by groups such as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi´s al-Qaida in Iraq to smuggle foreign fighters into the country.

``It´s like the Mexican-American border there. There are attempts being made to seal it,´´ a senior U.S. military intelligence official said on condition he remain unnamed for security reasons.

The bodies were thought to be those of off-duty Iraqi soldiers who left their base near Qaim two days earlier in civilian clothes aboard two minivans, headed to Baghdad for a vacation.

Marines carried out two major operations in the area last month, killing 125 insurgents in the first campaign, Operation Matador, and 14 in the second, Operation New Market. Eleven Marines were killed in the actions, designed to scatter and eradicate insurgents using the road from Damascus to Baghdad.

Insurgents are so rooted in the region that after a May 29 gunbattle in a village between Qaim and Haqlaniyah, U.S. forces were surprised to find the body of the kidnapped governor of Anbar province chained to a propane tank and killed by falling rubble.

As part of its effort to increase its presence, the Iraqi army boosted the number of soldiers at the frontier post of Akashat, near Qaim, from about 100 before Operation Matador to nearly 750 now. Akashat is where the missing soldiers were based.

Intelligence officials say foreigners undergo rigorous religious indoctrination before being brought into Iraq and sent on suicide missions.

At least 91 car bombings, most carried out by suicide attackers, have been reported since Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari´s Shiite-led government was announced, according to an AP count. They are responsible for at least 291 of the nearly 900 Iraqis killed since then. The insurgent death toll is difficult to determine, but is thought to number more than 270.

Al-Qaida in Iraq claimed in an Internet posting that it abducted 36 Iraqi soldiers in western Iraq on Wednesday, and threatened to kill them unless al-Jaafari´s government released ``Muslim women´´ from prison.

Also Friday, gunmen killed the dean of the police academy in the southern city of Basra and an Iraqi soldier was killed when a roadside bomb exploded in the central city of Mashru.

In Baghdad, Iraqi politicians were divided over Talabani´s promise to give Sunni Arabs more seats on a 55-member committee drafting Iraq´s first postwar constitution.

The charter must be ready to present to the 275-seat National Assembly by mid-August and will go before Iraq´s voters in a referendum two months later. It requires the support of Sunni Arabs _ thought to make up 20 percent of the population.

Talabani´s promise to raise the Sunni Arab representatives from a proposed 15 to 25 _ increasing the committee´s size to 80 _ averted a crisis after Sunni Arabs threatened a boycott.

They renewed that threat Friday if the Shiites and Kurds backed down from the promise.

``We drew a red line and said `do not chose less than 25.´ We didn´t discuss this issue with Mr. Talabani and we do consider Talabani´s announcement to be official approval,´´ said Yousif al-Aadhami, an official the Sunni Endowment _ a charitable institution.

``These seats are not given to us as charity,´´ he added. ``This is what we deserve.´´

The military announced it was investigating as a criminal case the deaths in Tikrit of two U.S. Army officers killed Tuesday evening.

The deaths were initially thought to be caused by incoming artillery or mortar rounds fired from a location some distance away. ``Upon further examination of the scene by explosive ordnance personnel, it was determined the blast pattern was inconsistent with a mortar attack,´´ a military statement said. It did not elaborate.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Change of Command
Logistics squadron welcomes new leader
Published Saturday June 11 2005
By GEOFF ZIEZULEWICZ
The Beaufort Gazette
As jets flew overhead Friday afternoon, one Marine said goodbye to the Lowcountry and another said hello.

At a change-of-command ceremony at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, Lt. Col. Blayne Spratlin assumed command of Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 31, The Stingers, from Lt. Col. Paul Augustine, who has commanded the maintenance and support squadron since May 2003.

Augustine will report for duty at Headquarters Marine Corps in Washington, D.C. Before coming to Beaufort, Augustine served as a budget analyst for the Navy and was also a congressional liaison officer for appropriation matters.

Spratlin has been a Marine for 25 years and served as a series commander at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island. In recent years, he worked support and aviation operations in the Middle East and saw duties in Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan. Spratlin was most recently stationed in Hawaii.

"It's great to be back in the South," Spratlin, an Athens, Ga., native, told the assembled crowd of Marines, sailors and guests at the air station. "Here in Beaufort, one of the great things is that I don't have an accent, and nobody makes fun of it."

Activated in 1943, The Stingers assist attack squadrons wherever they are deployed with repairs and other needs.

Pacing back and forth on an air station runway as his four platoons stood at the ready, Augustine reflected fondly on his time spent with the squadron.

"Every time one of the gun squadrons go out, there's a group of Stingers with them," Augustine said. "That's what this day is all about, The Stingers."

The accomplishments of The Stingers can not be understated, he said, and that quality runs through each troop in the squadron.

In 2002, The Stingers were awarded Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron of the Year. Such accomplishments are something to be proud of, Spratlin said.

"I'm the new guy who has a tough act to follow," he said. "From the bottom of my heart, I appreciate it. It's a tremendous honor."

After passing the squadron's colors to Spratlin and asking for the crowd to keep America's troops in their prayers, Augustine turned to address his Marines and sailors, whom he credited for much of his success and a job well done.

"It's you, out in the arena so to speak, doing the hard work day in and day out," he said. "You've carried the day for the Marine Corps, and you always will."

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Family has someone to hold accountable for robbing them of a loved one's gifts <br />
June 11,2005 <br />
ROSELEE PAPANDREA <br />
DAILY NEWS STAFF <br />
<br />
For almost a year, Marine Lance Cpl. Russell White's family...

[thedrifter]

Criminal Probe Opened in Deaths of 2 Officers
Army rules out a mortar attack in the explosions at a base near Tikrit. The cause is unknown.
By Patrick J. McDonnell
Times Staff Writer

June 11, 2005

BAGHDAD — U.S. authorities have launched a criminal investigation in the deaths of two Army officers who were initially reported killed by a mortar strike at a base near the town of Tikrit, the military said Friday.

The Army's Criminal Investigation Division is examining the deaths Wednesday of Capt. Phillip T. Esposito and 1st Lt. Louis E. Allen after explosive-ordnance experts determined that their deaths were "inconsistent with a mortar attack," according to a military statement.

Authorities in Iraq and at the Pentagon offered no further details, and it was unclear who might have been involved.

The two men were killed on a sprawling base along the Tigris River that houses a lavish former palace of Saddam Hussein that has been converted to a military headquarters. They were with the 42nd Infantry Division of the New York Army National Guard. Esposito was the commander of the division's Headquarters & Headquarters Co., and Allen was a company operations officer.

The initial investigation "indicated that a mortar round struck the window on the side of the building where Esposito and Allen were located," according to a statement. The Chicago Tribune reported that they were in a room on the ground floor.

Other soldiers at the base heard a series of explosions about 10 p.m. Tuesday, said Col. Bill J. Buckner, a military spokesman in Baghdad. The two officers died of their injuries the next day.

It was unclear from the preliminary information what caused the explosions.

"We're not ruling anything out," Buckner said early today.

Among the scenarios being considered are that the explosions were caused by an accident, by insurgents who infiltrated the base or by fellow U.S. personnel, Buckner said.

"Right now, the investigation is in its infancy stage," he said.

Rockets and mortar rounds hit U.S. bases in Iraq almost daily. However, direct hits are unusual.

The families of the two soldiers were immediately notified when it became clear that the initial report that the two had been killed by "indirect fire," either a mortar shell or rocket strike, proved incorrect, Buckner said.

Allen, 34, of Milford, Pa., was deployed in April and arrived in Tikrit a few days ago, according to the Times Herald-Record of Middletown, N.Y. He was a science teacher in New York state and is survived by his wife and four children, ages 6, 5, 3 and 1.

Esposito, 30, a 1997 graduate of West Point, had worked for the Smith Barney unit of Citicorp Inc. in New York City and was sent to Iraq in January, according to the Journal News of White Plains, N.Y. He is survived by his wife and 18-month-old daughter.

A formal announcement of a criminal investigation after the death of a U.S. soldier here is extremely unusual.

Military investigators have tracked down suspects in the deaths of troops, but those cases typically involve bomb makers or other insurgent operatives and are not identified as criminal inquiries.

Word of the inquiry came on a day when officials confirmed that five Marines had been killed by a roadside bomb Thursday in western Iraq and that the bodies of 21 Iraqis, apparent victims of execution, had been found at three sites in western Al Anbar province.

An Interior Ministry official said a car bomb late Friday near a clinic in the largely Shiite Muslim neighborhood of Shula in northern Baghdad left 10 dead and 27 injured.

The five Marines were killed when their vehicle hit an "explosive device" near Haqlaniya, a Euphrates River valley town on the road to the Syrian border, the military said. Other details were not available.

Al Anbar province, a vast desert region west of Baghdad that stretches to the borders with Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, encompasses much of Iraq's Sunni Arab heartland. Sympathy with the guerrillas runs high there, and the central government imposes little direct control.

The Marine deaths bring to at least 1,689 the number of American troops who have died since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, according to a count by Associated Press.

U.S. military deaths here average two a day or more, and Iraqi security personnel have suffered an even heavier toll. The Bush administration's eventual exit strategy from Iraq is based on much of the security responsibility being turned over to Iraqi troops.

On Friday, an Iraqi soldier reached by telephone at a base in western Iraq confirmed that the bodies of 21 Iraqi soldiers had been discovered in Al Anbar province. The soldiers were attached to a base in Qaim, near the border with Syria, he said.

Qaim is an insurgent hotbed where U.S. Marines carried out a major operation last month, resulting in the deaths of scores of suspected militants and at least nine Marines.

The 21 Iraqi soldiers were dispatched on a mission four days ago and disappeared near the town of Rawa, said Hamad Hassan, a soldier also based at the Qaim facility. The men were apparently intercepted on the hazardous roads of western Iraq.

Twelve of the bodies were found Thursday west of Qaim, Hassan said, and the others at two other locations.

Al Qaeda in Iraq, the terrorist group led by Jordanian-born Abu Musab Zarqawi, claimed in an Internet posting that it had abducted 36 Iraqi soldiers Wednesday in western Iraq, according to news agencies. The claim could not be verified.


Times staff writers Ashraf Khalil in Baghdad, Monte Morin in Los Angeles and Maggie Farley in New York contributed to this report.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marines, Navy, Air Force hit recruit goals

By Otto Kreisher
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE

June 11, 2005

WASHINGTON – After missing its targets for signing up new recruits for four straight months, the Marine Corps exceeded its goal for May, joining the Navy and the Air Force in filling the monthly recruiting quotas.

The Army failed again, missing its May enlistment quota by 25 percent.

All of the services except the Air Force fell short of recruiting goals for their reserve forces in May, with the Army Reserve and Army National Guard continuing to have the hardest time.

Service leaders and analysts attribute the recruiting failures to concerns by young people and their parents over the growing casualty count in Iraq and the unusually high and extended activation of the Army National Guard and Army Reserve.

The two services suffering most of the casualties in Iraq – the Army and the Marines – are having the most trouble attracting recruits.

The Marines had met or exceeded their monthly recruiting goals for 10 years before falling slightly short in January. That was followed by near misses over the next three months. But because of a well-stocked "delayed entry pool" of recruits who had signed up last year, the Marines have been able to send the required number of recruits to boot camp each month.

The Army missed its recruiting goal in February and has fallen so short since then that its basic training classes are operating at two-thirds of capacity.

The Marines returned to the positive side in May, signing up 61 more recruits than their goal of 1,843 for the active force. Because of successful recruiting in the early part of the fiscal year, which began in October, the Marines are 306 recruits ahead of the cumulative goal of 17,241. They fell 12 percent short of the May goal for the Marine Corps Reserve, but are slightly ahead for the year.

The Navy topped its May recruiting goal of 1,939 by six for the active force. But it fell 6 percent short of its quota for the reserves, putting it nearly 100 recruits short for the year.

The Army missed its May goal of 6,700 recruits by 1,661 for the active-duty force, leaving it 8,321, or 8 percent, behind for the year. The Army National Guard recruited 71 percent of its monthly goal, falling 9,700 behind for the year. The Army Reserve signed up 82 percent of its May goal, going 2,400 short for the year.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

After Iraq service, Lance Cpl. Abeyta felt grateful for life

By Jim Sheeler, Rocky Mountain News
June 9, 2005

When Lance Cpl. David Abeyta returned from Iraq, he immediately understood the lessons of the desert.

"I remember him telling his brothers and sisters that they take everything for granted," said his mother, Marie Walker. "Kids sometimes need a wake-up call to appreciate everything. He saw what they took for granted."

Now that his mother looks back, it's easier, she said, to see what he meant; it's easier to see what everyone took for granted.

"Those words take on a new meaning," she said. "They do. They really do."

Lance Cpl. Abeyta died May 20 in an automobile accident near Green River, Utah, while driving home to Delta from a Marine base in California. He had recently finished his first tour in Iraq and was headed home to get married and watch his sister's high school graduation. He was 19.

According to the Utah State Patrol, Lance Cpl. Abeyta probably was fatigued that night when he crashed into the back of a semitrailer that was pulling off to the side of the road along a steep grade. The semi likely was moving at about 25 mph, while officers estimate that Lance Cpl. Abeyta was traveling at the speed limit of 75 mph. He died at the scene.

Lance Cpl. Abeyta grew up in Delta, where he was known as a fearless kid who would never back down from a dare - whether bungee jumping or heading to the fastest, highest roller coasters on trips to the city. Always competitive, he spent hours perfecting his skill at board games and chess, then played basketball with the same competitive zeal.

Lance Cpl. Abeyta's mother said she was used to her prankster son playing tricks on her; her cry of "Ohhhh David!" was second nature. Then he sprang a surprise on her he swore was no joke.

"One day he came home and he said, 'I'm going to join the Marines.' I said, 'Are you crazy or what?' He said, 'No I think I can do it,' " she said. "He said, 'It's challenging, and I need the challenge.' "

Since he was only 17 at the time, his mother had to sign papers allowing him to join the military, knowing that he could end up in Iraq.

"I kept asking, 'Are you sure, are you sure?' And he said, 'Yes.' He wanted to travel the world," she said. "Ever since he was little, his father told him, 'You're going to go where no Abeyta's ever gone before.' "

It wasn't long before he proved that true, in some of the most dangerous areas of Iraq.

"The first night we got attacked it was very close. It was very scary," said Pfc. Luis Ithier, his former roommate. "Then we got used to it, and just decided, 'Well, if it's going to hit you, it's going to hit you. There's nothing you can do.' "

After returning from Iraq, Ithier said he thought he was finished living day to day.

"To know that we got attacked - a lot - and we came back safely, and now to have something like this," he said. "I thought, 'This can't happen. It can't be him.' "

After returning from Iraq in September, Lance Cpl. Abeyta planned to serve out the next two years and then head to college. He recently was engaged to Marleene DeLuna, a friend since kindergarten.

Ithier said he refuses to forget scenes with his buddy in Iraq and the reminders of what they learned.

"The people over there, they just thank God for being alive," Ithier said. "Sometimes we would make jokes: Why do they always hug each other and kiss each other on the cheek?

"Then we realized, they're just happy to be alive."

sheelerj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-2561

Ellie

[thedrifter]

June 10, 2005

Marine shot trying to break up fight

By John Hoellwarth
Times staff writer


A Marine was shot in the upper chest in the early morning hours of May 29 while trying to break up an apparently racially motivated argument outside the Fallbrook, Calif., apartment at which he and three other Marines were house-sitting.

Lance Cpls. Brent C. Godfrey, Michael Aiello, Matthew Densley and Pfc. Jason Brown, all stationed at I Marine Expeditionary Force Headquarters Group at Camp Pendleton, Calif., heard the argument break out around 2 a.m.

According to Godfrey, it began when an apparently mentally handicapped white man made a racial statement to a Hispanic man in the street. As the two squared off to fight, the Marines rushed outside to break up the altercation.

The Hispanic man, who Godfrey later said police identified as a known gang member, allegedly assaulted the Marines, punching Aiello once and Densley twice before shooting Godfrey in the chest, the Marine said. Brown acted immediately, knocking the gunman to the ground with a punch to the face. Densley grabbed the weapon and tossed it out of the Hispanic man’s reach. He then applied the “blood choke” taught in the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program, rendering the gunman unconscious, Godfrey said.

Godfrey, still on his feet after the 9mm bullet wound severed an artery in his chest, was able to walk back into the Fallbrook apartment with Aiello’s help. His fellow Marines attended to his injuries until emergency medical responders arrived.

Godfrey was transported to Palomar Medical Center, a move that prompted him to ask why he wasn’t taken to the naval hospital at Camp Pendleton.

“They said it was because Palomar was the only one with a trauma unit,” Godfrey said in a June 10 telephone interview. “I was worried about it because of Tricare.”

Godfrey lost five pints of blood, but he was treated and released from the hospital in about 11 hours, he said. He returned to work the following week.

Sgt. Rich Hendrickson, of the Sheriff’s Fallbrook Substation, said Godfrey was “shot while trying to calm the situation down.”

Hendrickson said the alleged gunman fled the scene.

“No arrests have been made yet in this incident but the investigation is underway,” Hendrickson said. “At this time, we have not categorized this crime as a gang-related incident, but it definitely was racial in nature.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Posted on Sun, Jun. 12, 2005

In Iraq, uphill fight vs. bombs
Roadside devices are now the top killer of U.S. troops, despite efforts to stop them.

By Mark Washburn
Inquirer Foreign Staff


CAMP ANACONDA, Iraq - Improvised explosive devices, the roadside bombs that insurgents build from cast-off artillery shells and other munitions, have become the top killer of U.S. troops in Iraq, despite a massive campaign to blunt their effectiveness.

U.S. commanders have dispatched newly armored humvees. Army engineers have begun a yearlong program to clear vegetation and debris along major transportation routes. And military technicians have equipped vehicles with devices that jam cell phones and garage-door openers, which are used to trigger the explosives.

Despite those efforts, deaths from improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, rose by more than 41 percent in the first five months of this year, compared with the same period last year, and accounted for nearly 52 percent of the 261 U.S. combat deaths so far this year, according to statistics assembled by Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, an Internet site that assembles statistics based on official U.S. casualty reports.

That's a change from last year, when the IEDs accounted for 189 of the 720 combat deaths among U.S. troops - 26 percent.

In the first five months of last year, 85 deaths were attributed to IEDs. In the same period this year, 120 deaths were caused by roadside bombs. They were also the leading cause of U.S. combat deaths for each of the first five months of this year.

IEDs have killed 17 U.S. service members so far this month; last year, they caused only two U.S. deaths in the first two weeks of June. The most recent fatalities, the U.S. military announced Friday, were five Marines from the Second Marine Expeditionary Force who were killed Thursday when an IED hit their vehicle near Haqlaniyah.

Pentagon officials acknowledge that insurgents are killing more U.S. troops with bigger bombs and say that soldiers headed to Iraq or Afghanistan get training to help them recognize and survive IEDs.

Officials in Iraq are optimistic that the efforts to counter IEDs will work. Brig. Gen. Tom Lawing, who oversees Army engineers working throughout northern Iraq, said military patrols were uncovering half of the roadside IEDs before they could be detonated.

Recent sweeps to round up suspected insurgents also have helped, Brig. Gen. Yves Fontaine said.

"We are pursuing an aggressive attack against the insurgents. They don't have time for IEDs because they are running," said Fontaine, of First Corps Support Command, which oversees Camp Anaconda. Camp Anaconda, 60 miles north of Baghdad, is the nucleus for logistical support and supply throughout Iraq.

But the rising number of deaths from IEDs suggests that insurgents have been able to counter U.S. measures with bigger and better bombs.

Roadside bombs were first used against coalition military convoys in July 2003. The numbers grew steadily as insurgents exploited the vulnerability of U.S. supply lines and a hefty supply of munitions that Saddam Hussein's army had abandoned and U.S. troops left unguarded for months after Hussein's regime fell.

The bombs became the focus of attention in December, when a Tennessee national guardsman in Kuwait publicly complained to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld that he and others had been forced to scrounge for metal to armor the humvees and other vehicles they had been issued to drive supplies into Iraq.

Only 200 armored humvees, mostly assigned to military police units, were in Iraq when insurgent violence began to rise in the summer of 2003. All of about 12,000 humvees in Iraq now have at least some armor - even if only bolted on plates - but many still do not have the best armor available to the Army and Marine Corps.

The military also is using 31 new 5-ton armored "gun trucks" to protect convoys.

The insurgents have responded by creating bigger IEDs, often using 155mm artillery shells linked in a series, which inflict multiple casualties even on hardened vehicles.

An explosion on Jan. 5, for example, was so powerful that it ripped through an armored Bradley Fighting Vehicle in Baghdad, killing seven Army national guardsmen from the 256th Infantry Brigade, based in Lafayette, La. On May 23, in Haswa, a single blast killed four Army national guardsmen from the 155th Infantry, based in Biloxi, Miss. Marine Corps Maj. Gen. William Catto, speaking at a congressional hearing May 5, said that, since this spring, insurgents had started using 500-pound bombs and antitank mines in roadside explosives.

Defending convoys is a massive problem. Each day, goods move to the troops in hundreds of convoys, which are on the roads day and night. Up to 4,000 trucks and tankers are used to supply the coalition's daily needs, which range from a million gallons of fuel to more than 100,000 cases of bottled water.

Commanders in Iraq have undertaken a number of initiatives aimed at cutting IED casualties. Patrols often use an armored machine called a Buffalo, which has a bomb-handling arm on its snout, to remove suspicious objects from the roadway.

Army engineers also are clearing debris, tearing out guardrails, and hardening roadside shoulders along the main supply route called Tampa, a series of highways that stretch more than 500 miles from the Kuwaiti border in the south to northern Iraq. Commanders say the project to improve security along Tampa will take a year, and they hope it will make it harder for insurgents to plant IEDs.

Aircraft patrol key highways each day, looking for disturbances in the ground where bombs might have been hidden and other suspicious signs.

Army technicians have been equipping humvees with Warlock jamming devices, intended to prevent insurgents from triggering IEDs with radio waves from cell phones and garage-door openers.

The Pentagon spent $45 million for about 1,000 Warlock jammers, manufactured by EDO Communications & Countermeasures Systems, a Westlake Village, Calif., military-supply contractor. A new generation of jammers that block a broader spectrum of signals is being developed.

Military officials have said that while radio-detonated bombs remain the primary threat, Iraqi insurgents are adapting by sometimes using hardwired devices to thwart jammers.

It's a deadly game of check and double-check between forces on each side.

Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis, head of Marine Corps Combat Development Command, told Congress on May 5: "All combat is, is one improvisation after another; that's all it is."

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Aggie taking Iraq lessons to Japan post

By CRAIG KAPITAN
Eagle Staff Writer

Whether he’s negotiating with insurgents in Fallujah or helping plan the overall strategy of the war in Iraq, College Station resident Joseph Weber’s deployment to the Middle East for the past 14 months has been far from the usual grunt experience.

The former Texas A&M cadet — a major general in the Marines who has been nominated by President Bush to get his third star sometime this month — returned home several weeks ago, receiving accolades from the Texas Senate.

Now it’s time to start packing again, he said from his home late last month, explaining that he and his wife, Brenda, are moving to Japan, where soon he’ll be promoted to a new command post.

While in Iraq, Weber served as a chief of staff for the multinational forces, working under Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez. He received a Bronze Star for his service.

“ We operated very much at the strategic level,” Weber said of his part in the conflict, insisting that the Marines and other military personnel serving under him are the ones to be commended. “The generals are not the heroes out there or the ones exposed to the danger.”

But Weber’s high status didn’t mean his time in Iraq was without danger. Several times a week he would commute, with the aid of armored Humvees, between his two offices: Camp Victory, near Baghdad’s airport, and the U.S. Embassy, which is in the “Green Zone.”

The road between the two offices was nicknamed “IED Alley” after the booby traps, or improvised explosive devices, that tend to line it.

Weber also went to Fallujah with a team of negotiators shortly after the murders of four American contractors in April 2004. Two of the bodies were hung from a bridge.

“ The negotiations lasted several weeks, then fell off,” he said, explaining that eventually the military had no choice but to invade the city briefly the next month, then again in November.

But the highlight of Weber’s time in Iraq, undoubtedly, was the Jan. 30 election, he said. Even though there was some tough fighting up until that election, the massive turnout proved it was worth the effort, he said.

“ We were kind of stunned, in all honesty,” he said of the widespread enthusiasm among Iraqis on election day. “We just about fell on the floor.”

Now, Weber said, the coalition forces just need to keep building on the momentum gained by the election, slowly giving Iraqis more and more power in the fight.

“ That’s what’s going to defeat the insurgents,” he said. “As the people have more confidence in their police force, they’re going to start turning these guys in.

“ We’re getting there. It’s going to take longer than we initially planned and thought, but we’re going to get there eventually.”

Weber grew up in Abilene, where he and childhood friend Steve Ogden played high school football against now-Gov. Rick Perry, who played for a school in a nearby town. Weber later would join the Corps of Cadets at A&M and room with Perry.

The trio met up again just before Memorial Day last month when Ogden — now a Republican state senator from Bryan — introduced a Senate resolution praising Weber for his service.

“ He is truly a distinguished Texas patriot whose service to our country has been invaluable,” Ogden stated while reading the resolution, later addressing Weber directly as he said, “You are a great man, and I’m honored to be your friend.”

Sitting in his College Station home the next day, Weber described the experience before the Senate and a subsequent lunch with Perry at the Governor’s Mansion as humbling.

“ Here’s three kids from West Texas who went through very small high schools, and now they’re standing on the floor of the Texas Senate,” he said.

Soon Weber also will be discussed in the U.S. Senate as he goes through the confirmation process of being promoted to lieutenant general. Once that happens, he and his wife will move to Okinawa, Japan, where he will take command of the III Marine Expeditionary Force — composed of 30,000 to 40,000 Marines and sailors.

It will be about the 22nd time the 54-year-old has moved in his 33 years of service, he said.

Weber praised the Bryan-College Station area as “a role model on how to support military members oversees.”

“ This community and city and school have been very good to me,” he said, explaining that even though he is selling his College Station home, he hasn’t ruled out the possibility of returning someday.

In the meantime, Weber has left part of his Iraq experience behind — a new Aggie engineering student named Ahmed Abbas.

The student, the son of a major general in the Iraqi army who previously was studying at the University of Baghdad, transferred to A&M with Weber’s help. After meeting Weber at a Houston airport last month, Abbas stayed with his family for a week before moving onto campus.

Weber got the idea to help Abbas one day after the student’s father, whom he had befriended, saw a copy of Weber’s A&M alumni magazine on his desk.

“ He said, ‘I wish someday that my son can go to a nice school like that,’” Weber recalled. “I said, ‘Well, someday maybe he can. If he’s interested, let’s see what we can do.’”

Abbas’ father has been very grateful, he said, explaining that Baghdad “isn’t the best place to be going to school right now.”

Abbas’ move also will be good for A&M and the community, Weber said, explaining that it will allow people from both cultures to learn from each other. And being able to show young men and women in Iraq what America is all about can only be a good thing, he said.

“ We’re paying a big price for Iraq, but democracy taking hold is going to be the tipping point,” he said.

• Craig Kapitan’s e-mail address is craig.kapitan@theeagle.com

Ellie

[thedrifter]

MAG: CHRISTINA AGUILERA MUSIC USED AS TORTURE IN GITMO
Sun Jun 12 2005 11:18:02 ET

New York - TIME has obtained the first documented look inside the highly classified realm of military interrogations since the Gitmo Camp at Guantanamo Bay opened. The document is a secret 84-page interrogation log that details the interrogation of 'Detainee 063' at Guantanamo Bay. It is a remarkable look into the range of techniques and methods used for the interrogation of Mohammed al Qahtani, who is widely believed to be the so-called 20th hijacker, a compatriof Osama bin Laden and a man who had tried to enter the U.S. in August 2001 to take part in the Sept. 11 attacks. TIME's report, by Adam Zagorin and Michael Duffy, appears in this week's issue (on newsstands Monday).

A Night Watchman's Diary: The log reads like a night watchman's diary. It is a sometimes shocking and often mundane hour-by-hour, even minute-by-minute account of a campaign to extract information. The log records every time al- Qahtani eats, sleeps, exercises or goes to the bathroom and every time he complies with or refuses his interrogators' requests. The detainee's physical condition is frequently checked by medical corpsmen-sometimes as often as three times a day-which indicates either spectacular concern about al-Qahtani's health or persistent worry about just how much stress he can take. Although the log does not appear obviously censored, it is also plainly incomplete: there are numerous gaps in the notes about what is said and what is happening in the interrogation booth beyond details like "Detainee taken to bathroom and walked for 10 minutes," TIME reports.

Chief Pentagon spokesman Larry DiRita tells TIME that the log was compiled by various uniformed interrogators and observers on the Pentagon's Joint Task Force at Gitmo as the interrogation proceeded. It is stamped SECRET ORCON, a military acronym for a document that is supposed to remain with the organization that created it. A Pentagon official who has seen the log describes it as the "kind of document that was never meant to leave Gitmo."

Winter 2002-03 - Additional Techniques Approved: Despite the information gaps, the log offers a rare glimpse into the darker reaches of intelligence gathering, in which teams that specialize in extracting information by almost any means match wits and wills with men who are trained to keep quiet at almost any cost. It spans 50 days in the winter of 2002-03, from November to early January, a critical period at Gitmo, during which 16 additional interrogation techniques were approved by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for use on a select few detainees, including al-Qahtani, TIME reports.

More Muscular Strategies: Al-Qahtani's resilience under pressure in the fall of 2002 led top officials at Gitmo to petition Washington for more muscular "counter resistance strategies." On Dec. 2, Rumsfeld approved 16 of 19 stronger coercive methods. Now the interrogators could use stress strategies like standing for prolonged periods, isolation for as long as 30 days, removal of clothing, forced shaving of facial hair, playing on "individual phobias" (such as dogs) and "mild, non-injurious physical contact such as grabbing, poking in the chest with the finger and light pushing." According to the log, al-Qahtani experienced several of those over the next five weeks. The techniques Rumsfeld balked at included "use of a wet towel or dripping water to induce the misperception of suffocation." "Our Armed Forces are trained," a Pentagon memo on the changes read, "to a standard of interrogation that reflects a tradition of restraint." Nevertheless, the log shows that interrogators poured bottles of water on al-Qahtani's head when he refused to drink. Interrogators called this game "Drink Water or Wear It."

Dripping Water or Playing Christina Aguilera Music: After the new measures are approved, the mood in al-Qahtani's interrogation booth changes dramatically. The interrogation sessions lengthen. The quizzing now starts at midnight, and when Detainee 063 dozes off, interrogators rouse him by dripping water on his head or playing Christina Aguilera music. According to the log, his handlers at one point perform a puppet show "satirizing the detainee's involvement with al-Qaeda." He is taken to a new interrogation booth, which is decorated with pictures of 9/11 victims, American flags and red lights. He has to stand for the playing of the U.S. national anthem. His head and beard are shaved. He is returned to his original interrogation booth. A picture of a 9/11 victim is taped to his trousers. Al-Qahtani repeats that he will "not talk until he is interrogated the proper way." At 7 a.m. on Dec. 4, after a 12-hour, all-night session, he is put to bed for a four-hour nap, TIME reports.

Invasion of Space by Female: Over the next few days, al-Qahtani is subjected to a drill known as Invasion of Space by a Female, and he becomes especially agitated by the close physical presence of a woman. Then, around 2 p.m. on Dec. 6, comes another small breakthrough. He asks his handlers for some paper. "I will tell the truth," he says. "I am doing this to get out of here." He finally explains how he got to Afghanistan in the first place and how he met with bin Laden. In return, the interrogators honor requests from him to have a blanket and to turn off the air conditioner. Soon enough, the pressure ratchets up again. Various strategies of intimidation are employed anew. The log reveals that a dog is present, but no details are given beyond a hazy reference to a disagreement between the military police and the dog handler. Agitated, al-Qahtani takes back the story he told the day before about meeting bin Laden, TIME reports.

A 24-Hour Time Out: But a much more serious problem develops on Dec. 7: a medical corpsman reports that al-Qahtani is becoming seriously dehydrated, the result of his refusal to take water regularly. He is given an IV drip, and a doctor is summoned. An unprecedented 24-hour time out is called, but even as al-Qahtani is put under a doctor's care, music is played to "prevent detainee from sleeping." Nine hours later, a medical corpsman checks al-Qahtani's pulse and finds it "unusually slow." An electrocardiogram is administered by a doctor, and after al-Qahtani is transferred to a hospital, a CT scan is performed. A second doctor is consulted. Al-Qahtani's heartbeat is regular but slow: 35 beats a minute. He is placed in isolation and hooked up to a heart monitor, TIME reports.

Has Big Story to Tell: Over the next month, the interrogators experiment with other tactics. They strip-search him and briefly make him stand nude. They tell him to bark like a dog and growl at pictures of terrorists. They hang pictures of scantily clad women around his neck. A female interrogator so annoys al-Qahtani that he tells his captors he wants to commit suicide and asks for a crayon to write a will. At one stage, an Arabic-speaking serviceman, posing as a fellow detainee, is brought to Camp X-Ray for a short stay in an effort to gain al-Qahtani's confidence. The log reports that al-Qahtani makes several comments to interrogators that imply he has a big story to tell, but interrogators report that he seems either too scared or simply unwilling, to tell it. On Jan. 10, 2003, al-Qahtani says he knows nothing of terrorists but volunteers to return to the gulf states and act as a double agent for the U.S. in exchange for his freedom. Five days later, Rumsfeld's harsher measures are revoked after military lawyers in Washington raised questions about their use and efficacy, TIME reports.

Developing...

Ellie

[thedrifter]

General: Training on post is a double-edge sword

BY BILL HESS

Herald/Review

FORT HUACHUCA - This Southern Arizona Army post is on a war-footing, the former deputy commander of the Intelligence Center said last week.

Today's threats create the need to instill a war mindset for soldiers being trained on the fort, not unlike when the nation was engaged in combat during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, Brig. Gen. Brian A. Keller said.

What is critical for today's soldier is that when they leave their intelligence training they "feel more confident as they go off to war," Keller said during a Tuesday interview, the day before he left for his new assignment as the senior intelligence officer for the European Command.

Warrior skills combined with professional training as intelligence soldiers sharpens a student abilities, he said.

The object of the increasingly intense training on the fort is to have soldiers who can "protect themselves and kill the enemy," the general said. "They are soldiers first. They've got to be able to defend themselves and defend their unit. They never can be a liability when they arrive (in a combat zone)."

Equally as important, and the reason they attend courses at the Intelligence Center, is to provide information for commanders to use on how to prosecute the war, Keller said.

Likening what is happening at the U.S. Army Intelligence Center to a double-edged sword, Keller said, "We cut both ways. We train them to be soldiers, sustain those soldier skills they need in combat and at the same time drill sergeants and instructors train them to be effective intelligence professionals. Our goal is to make sure the soldier is trained to go downrange (combat areas) and be successful."

In today's training environment, a soldier's weapon is part of daily life, the general said, noting soldiers are issued M-16 rifles that they carry routinely so handling the weapon becomes second nature.

Instruction on the post now includes convoy training, additional live-fire marksmanship, lessons on improvised explosive devices and hand-to-hand combat.

The days when a soldier would receive technical training then go to a unit and not be deployed for some time are gone, he said. Soldiers are now expected to leave the fort, go to their unit and almost immediately deploy.

His knowledge of what is needed to ensure soldiers are ready for combat is based on what he has heard from soldiers he has visited in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Keller also has his own knowledge of the war on terrorism. He was a senior intelligence officer in Afghanistan when the United States went to overthrow the Taliban and their al-Qaida supporters.

His background in Army special operations gives him a wider view of military intelligence. He was the senior intelligence officer with the 1st Ranger Battalion for four years. He also was the senior intelligence officer for the Joint Special Operations Command.

Understanding the enemy is an important part of special operations intelligence, as it is with any part of the intelligence-gathering community, the general said.

As commander of the 513th Military Intelligence Brigade, he and others in the unit went to Kuwait and then to Afghanistan.

While in Afghanistan, one of the brigade's battalions provided interrogation and counterintelligence assistance to special operations forces.

One of the detainees turned out to be a "really hard-core extremist fighter" who no one could break into providing information. But then a young female interrogator who spoke Arabic used information provided about the detainee and was able to break him "through direct questioning," Keller said.

"The detainee, the al-Qaida fighter, was caught off guard," he said.

Only the direct questioning was used.

"Within two interrogation sessions she was able to extract some very important intelligence and we were able to use that intelligence to conduct operations within 48 hours to strike other pockets of resistance and defeat the enemy," Keller said.

The soldier involved in that interrogation was an example of a professional "approaching her business by the book, completely within the bounds of training and the Geneva Convention, without laying a hand on him, just using questions and very good analytical work to break that detainee down," Keller said.

Staying within Army standards when interrogating is the only acceptable way to obtain needed intelligence information, he added.

The reported interrogation abuses, which he said were few, came about because some in leadership roles did not maintain the standards.

Keller emphasized no major changes were made to interrogation courses.

"We reinforced what is right so there is no doubt. The basic interrogation training and techniques that have been taught at the schoolhouse for years remain. They have been closely scrutinized and they stand the test of time," the general said.

Soldiers training to become human intelligence collectors "are being taught at Fort Huachuca the standards used by our Army and are completely within the rules of armed warfare and the Geneva Convention. As an Army proponent, we teach other tactics, techniques or procedures that are not Army doctrine," Keller said.

He said he tells soldiers, "If you stick with those rules and you sustain your moral compass by simply asking yourself if this is the way you want to be treated, you'll always do the right thing."

He also said he tells soldiers trained at the Intelligence Center that if they ever have any doubts that a superior's orders are against standards, they need to tell the chain of command.

Cultural awareness training also occurs at the center, Keller said. The main focus is on Iraqi and Afghan cultures, which have differences even though both nations are mostly Muslim.

Calling today's soldiers "the greatest generation," Keller said it is important for the American people to realize the sacrifice soldiers and their families are making to defend the nation's Constitution.

"These are men and women who are volunteering to serve their nation. They understand selfless service," he said. "I'm amazed at the dedication of these young men and women, these 19- and 20-year-olds kids who certainly could choose another life based on our economy that is doing good. But they still see how important it is to be part of that team to defend this country against these threats, and I'm extremely proud so many are willing to do it."

Using baseball jargon, the general said soldiers in the war against terrorism hit a home run every time they are called to the plate.

Or, as he put it another way, "They are beating the snot out of the enemy."

HERALD/REVIEW senior reporter Bill Hess can be reached at 515-4615 or by e-mail at bill.hess@svherald.com.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Soldier-penned 'Baghdad Blues' heard on local airwaves

By Andrew Griffin
agriffin@thetowntalk.com
(318) 487-6390

If you happen to scan the radio dial during a weekday morning and hear a familiar song with strikingly different lyrics, there's a reason.

That's because it's a new song called "Mortaritaville (Baghdad Blues)," set to the tune of a classic Jimmy Buffett tune, and is performed by musically-talented members of Louisiana National Guards' 256th Infantry Division stationed in Baghdad, Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Sgt. Jeremy Davis, 25, of Pineville is with the 256th. He was the soldier who recorded the song on a computer featuring other soldiers doing the song to the tune of "Margaritaville," Buffett's poppy-yet-mellow ode to beach bums and salt-shaker-searching.

This new version, takes a look at the sun and sand in a different way. While Buffett's character digs the beach-y life in "Margaritaville," the Acadiana-based singing soldiers, known only as "Junior" and "Brown," would prefer to be far away from the dingy dunes of sunny-yet-war-torn Iraq.

A sample lyric: "Wasted away again in Baghdad ... looking for my plane ticket home." And when it comes to "blame," the duo claims that it's Rumsfeld's fault, then Cheney's fault, then Bush's fault and then, well, they conclude it's their own (expletive) fault they're over there.

Regardless of who is actually to blame, the story of how that recording got from Saddam's lair to the Cenla airwaves is an interesting one.

According to Davis's father, Dan Davis, the soldiers decided to record the song as a way of having fun and letting folks back home know how they feel and how much they miss home.

So, after Davis recorded the song, he e-mailed a copy of it to his father, who is a salesman at Southern Chevrolet. Dan Davis, in turn, e-mailed a copy of "Mortaritaville (Baghdad Blues)" to Kahuna, the Opus Broadcasting program director, at the end of May.

"Normally I don't open things like that but for some reason it looked like something interesting," Kahuna said.

Taking a chance, he listened to the song and said he was struck by it's humor and honesty. He was also impressed with the guitar playing, saying that "it sounds better than Jimmy Buffett's."

That guitar player, Dan Davis said, is from Pineville, although he wasn't able to find out the guitar-slinging soldier's name.

But most importantly, he said, was the clear message coming from the Louisiana soldiers.

"You can really hear their desire to come home," Kahuna said. "That's what struck me."

So, during a morning show on Opus-owned station Oldies 104.3, Kahuna bleeped out a few scatalogical references and cuss words and put about 30 seconds of the song on the air. Little did he know what kind of reaction it would get.

"I got dozens of calls asking us to play the whole thing," he said. So, Kahuna began playing it between 6 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. and it became a local smash.

People began calling in, telling the disc jockey how they now have a better understanding of how their husband or son or brother feels, being over there.

Interestingly, Kahuna told Dan Davis that he knew his son when they lived in the same Pineville apartment complex.

Dan Davis is glad Kahuna took a chance in playing the song every morning.

"I think it's neat because these kids are from here, Lafayette ... kids from Louisiana," Dan Davis said. "I'm a Vietnam vet myself and it hits home."

Dan Davis said Kahuna is telling listeners to stop by Southern Chevrolet and ask him for burned copies of "Mortaritaville (Baghdad Blues)" which are being labeled and sleeved by his wife, Sgt. Jeremy Davis' mother, Penny.

Most of those stopping by have been veterans of the Vietnam War and 1991's Operation Desert Storm.

"One of the Vietnam vets told me that when he was over (in Vietnam), an ol' boy from here would strum some tunes on the guitar, so it was pretty common," Davis said.

Kahuna said that if he keeps getting requests for the song, he plans to send it to Opus-owned stations in Monroe and Tallahassee, Fla., in hopes of getting airplay of the song in those markets.

Davis said his son, unmarried and a plumber by trade, was active duty in the Army and stationed in Korea before getting out and coming back to Louisiana. Upon his return, he joined the Louisiana National Guard and was activated and sent to Baghdad last October. Davis said when his son returns, he intends to remain in the National Guard.

"They're committed to what they're doing," Davis said.

Davis said people have stopped by his office offering to pay money for the "Mortaritaville" disc, but he refuses to accept money.

"We're not charging anything," Davis said. "This isn't about money. It's about those soldiers over there in Iraq."

Ellie