Marine General Says Fallujah Quieter

[thedrifter]

Marine General Says Fallujah Quieter
Associated Press
January 19, 2005

WASHINGTON - The former insurgent stronghold of Fallujah has calmed somewhat, with signs of commerce reappearing on the streets and no shots fired over the past 10 days at U.S. or Iraqi forces, the Marine general overseeing U.S. troops in the city said Tuesday.

About 140,000 residents have been allowed past checkpoints back into the city, Lt. Gen. John Sattler, commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, said from Iraq in a teleconference with reporters at the Pentagon. Some have left again because of damage to their homes, but he lacked figures on how many.

"We're seeing more lights on every night," he said. "We're starting to see commerce reappear on the streets."

Fallujah had about 300,000 residents, but most fled before or during the assault by U.S. and Iraqi forces that started Nov. 8 to clear out the insurgent presence in the city. A week ago, the office of the U.N. high commissioner for refugees refugee said 85,000 people had returned to the city, but only 10 percent - 8,500 - remained; the rest had left after inspecting their homes.

Still, Sattler portrayed an improving security situation in the city.

Electric power remains a problem, however. Except at hospitals and other essential buildings, where lights are powered by portable generators, it is simply too dangerous to turn on the power with so many downed lines around the city that could injure or kill people, Sattler said. Rewiring the city will take months.




Between 32,000 and 34,000 heads of household in Fallujah will receive $200 in humanitarian assistance soon, he said, and money to rebuild homes will come later.

He said Fallujah residents will be able to vote in the Jan. 30 national election, but he would not specify where polling sites would be. He said voting locations are being kept secret until just before the election to prevent insurgents from preparing attacks for those sites.

"Right now the enemy is trying to figure out where they're going to be, how many there are going to be, where will they be located, so that he can, in fact, take the scarce resources that he has, and he can start planning now," Sattler said.

The general also offered rare praise for Iraq's neighbor Syria, a frequent target of criticism from the Bush administration. Sattler's area of command stretches west from Fallujah, to the border with Syria, which has been a crossing point for fighters, money and weapons destined for the insurgency.

"The Syrians have really stepped up on their side of the border," he said, crediting the State Department's efforts with Damascus. He said the Syrians have increased patrols and filled in breaks in a berm that runs along the border.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Rice Vows Prompt Review Of Iraq Policy
Associated Press
January 19, 2005

WASHINGTON - Senate approval apparently assured, Secretary of State nominee Condoleezza Rice is promising a prompt review of Iraq policy after Iraqi elections scheduled for the end of this month.

But she won't estimate when even some of the 150,000 U.S. troops may return home.

"I am really reluctant to try to put a timetable on that, because I think the goal is to get the mission accomplished, and that means that the Iraqis have to be capable of some things before we lessen our own responsibility," she said at a lengthy confirmation hearing Tuesday.

With the 18 members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee eager to quiz Colin Powell's designated successor, and then question her again, the chairman, Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., scheduled a second day of questioning Wednesday, to be followed by a vote.

Committee approval would send the nomination to the Senate where confirmation appears certain - despite unease, especially among Democrats, about reasons Bush, Powell, Rice and others in the administration gave for going to war in March 2003 and how they are dealing with a deadly postwar insurgency.

More than 1,365 members of the U.S. military have died since U.S. troops led an invasion in March 2003, and the growing U.S. casualty tolls shadowed the hearing in the Hart Senate Office Building. All seats in the room were occupied, and visitors lined the walls.




Through it all, Rice stood fast for the administration's decision to overthrow Iraqi President Saddam Hussein by force and for the way Bush is using U.S. troops to try to counter the insurgency. She nevertheless acknowledged the operation was plagued with problems.

The Iraqi security force is doing "relatively well," she testified. "But they do need to address these questions of leadership, which then lead to problems with desertion and the like."

In that vein, Rice said U.S. troops were stepping up the mentoring of Iraqi guardsmen and police.

Her positions on the war did not stem blistering criticism from Democratic Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts and Barbara Boxer of California.

Kerry, who made Bush's management of postwar Iraq an issue in his losing presidential campaign, told Rice "the current policy is growing the insurgency and not diminishing it."

Boxer, going further, accused Rice of twisting the truth to build up a case for the U.S. invasion, which stirred Rice to counter that the senator was impugning her character.

Democratic Sens. Joseph Biden of Delaware and Russ Feingold of Wisconsin and Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska pursued her with criticism on Iraq, as well.

"This was never going to be easy," Rice said in response. "There were going to be ups and downs."

She said that after the Iraqis have voted on Jan. 30 for a transitional assembly, the Bush administration would conduct a review. She did not waver from assertions the U.S. troops would continue to help prepare Iraqi security forces to protect the country against the insurgency.

"We need to be patient," she told Kerry, who urged the administration, as he did during the presidential campaign, to solicit more support from European and other countries.

She told Hagel, who had urged that an exit strategy be developed after the Iraqi elections, "The Iraqis have to be capable before we leave."

While the committee dwelled at length on Iraq, the Arab-Israeli conflict also drew considerable attention. Referring apparently to the election of Mahmoud Abbas as the new Palestinian leader, Rice said, "This is a moment of opportunity."

She promised to spend a lot of time trying to steer Israel and the Palestinians into an agreement but said the terms to end their conflict had to be determined by the two sides, not the United States.

On another front, Rice identified Cuba, Myanmar, Belarus and Zimbabwe as "outposts of tyranny" that would require close U.S. attention.

Early in Bush's first term, he listed Iraq, Iran and North Korea as part of an "axis of evil" in the post-Sept. 11, 2001, era.

"To be sure, in our world there remain outposts of tyranny, and America stands with oppressed people on every continent, ... in Cuba, and Burma (Myanmar), and North Korea, and Iran, and Belarus, and Zimbabwe," Rice said.

In the meantime, she was not questioned closely about Iran and suggested no shift in U.S. tactics: to apply world pressure to stop nuclear weapons development and to try to end support for Palestinian and other terrorists.

On North Korea, Rice reiterated administration assurances it would not be invaded or attacked and that the United States wants to resume negotiations to halt its nuclear weapons program. "They are a dangerous power," Rice said.

She also told the committee that the administration had heard nothing from Pyongyang about resuming negotiations. The last talks were held in June.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Bush Salutes Military
USA TODAY
January 19, 2005

WASHINGTON - They didn't shell out money for tickets to presidential balls or write fat checks for skybox seats at the arena where President Bush spoke Tuesday. But the military men and women invited to this week's inaugural festivities have paid a high price.

"Many here today have endured long separations from their families," Bush told more than 5,000 uniformed servicemembers and family members of fallen troops at the first official 2005 inaugural gala, a salute to the military at Washington's MCI Center. "Others have suffered terrible injuries, which you will carry the rest of your lives. Still others have lost loved ones in the struggle -- heroes who gave their lives so that we might live in freedom."

It was an unusually somber speech to kick off what has traditionally been three days of unrestrained hoopla, and it underscored the challenge Bush faces as he heads into his second inauguration Thursday: how to give his supporters the celebration they want while recognizing the sacrifices of the men and women he has sent into harm's way.

His solution: to make sure the troops get a share of the glitz and glamour.

Bush's inaugural committee is going out of the way to put the military front and center in this year's festivities. In addition to Tuesday's gala, which included big-name recording artists and TV stars, inaugural organizers are staging the first-ever Commander-in-Chief Ball, the only one of nine official post-inaugural galas that doesn't cost $150. About 1,000 servicemembers and their dates will attend Thursday night's event, all hoping for a chance to rub shoulders with the president and other VIPs.





Tuesday's MCI gala featured both tears and laughter. The president's father, former president George H.W. Bush, choked up as he read a letter he wrote to his parents after being shot down and rescued in the Pacific during World War II. Other poignant letters from soldiers who didn't make it home were read aloud by some of the stars who came to entertain. Looking on from the arena's corporate skyboxes: 60 veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan who have been recovering from their wounds at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

"We all know there is nothing free about freedom," said Kelsey Grammer of the TV show Frasier, who emceed the MCI program. But the two-hour gala, which was beamed to troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, included lighter moments, too. Comic Darrell Hammond broke up the audience with an imitation of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who laughed heartily from a seat in the front row.

The troops attending Thursday's ball were selected by the military services. Most are "lower-ranking enlisted men and women and officers supporting the global war on terror," according to Air Force Capt. Gina Jackson of the Armed Forces Inaugural Committee.

They represent just a fraction of the servicemembers supporting military operations in Iraq in Afghanistan. More than 250,000 members of the Army have gone to Iraq; more than 460,000 members of the National Guard and reserves have been called up for active duty since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Jackson says the "vast majority" of those attending the ball are from bases near Washington, D.C. The reason: Tickets are free, but the servicemembers have to pay for transportation.

For many, the coach that will carry them to their fairy-tale evening will be Washington's subway. "It seems like the easiest way to get there," says Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Paul Simpson, who's taking his girlfriend, law student Casey Strosnider. Simpson, 25, was stationed on a heavily armed, high-speed patrol boat that protected offshore oil platforms and escorted humanitarian aid shipments in Iraq. He says his girlfriend has been "shopping all week" for a dress. He's planning to wear a dress uniform with all his medals. "I'll look like a Christmas tree," he grins.

Others are more concerned with how they'll do on the dance floor. "I can fake it," Marine Lance Cpl. Catalina Garcia, 20, says hopefully.

The troops say they've been given orders to wear "service dress," the military equivalent of a nice business suit. But some of the women confide that they'd like Bush to give them permission to be a little more splashy.

"I'd love to wear a gown," says Air Force Staff Sgt. Shante' Arnett, 28, a 10-year veteran.

Her boyfriend, a D.C. policeman, can't go to the ball because he's working inaugural security. But troops are allowed to take "battle buddies" instead of a date. Arnett's is Senior Airman Trelisha Nance, 26, who spent three months in Qatar.

Army Pfc. Adam Nemon, 19, a member of a military honor guard, says he's "really excited to meet the president." But he's really hoping to wow his mom, Barbara Stark-Nemon, who's flying in from Michigan to be her son's date at the Commander-in-Chief Ball.

Nemon says his parents "weren't happy" when he interrupted his pre-med studies at the University of Michigan to join the Army.

Some of the troops attending the ball are facing deployments.

Air Force Tech. Sgt. Ivan Idrobo, 36, is expecting to be sent overseas soon. A computer security specialist, he joined the Air Force 18 years ago. He admits to "a little nervousness" about his upcoming tour of duty but says he's "excited to do my part for my country." His wife is still looking for the perfect dress. "We spent the whole weekend shopping," he says.

His parents, immigrants from Ecuador, are both excited about their son's chance to meet the president "even though they're Democrats," Idrobo says. He's excited, too. "I think it's an absolute honor to be chosen," he says.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

'Farther and Faster' in Iraq

Lieutenant General James T. Conway, U.S. Marine Corps
Proceedings, January 2005




U.S. MARINE CORPS (T. M. MEDINA)

According to the commander of the I Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) for 22 months of planning for and fighting in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), the war’s two segments thus far have proved very different. In 2003, OIF I was comparatively less difficult, with Marines fighting mostly against Shia in the south. In OIF II against Sunni tribes in the west, “our vision to win hearts and minds was met squarely with a 300% increase in the number of attacks in our sector,” he says, which translated into casualties (right) in “the turbulent city of Fallujah.”

Operation Iraqi Freedom unfolded in four distinct phases: a deployment phase, a shaping phase, a decisive operations phase, and a reconstruction phase. During January and February 2003, the Marine Corps flexed its expeditionary muscle, with 60,000 Marines and sailors and their heavy equipment deployed to Kuwait in 45 days. Operation Iraqi Freedom, just as Operation Desert Storm more than a decade before, was a logistical victory. No other nation on earth even could have attempted such a monumental transfer of men and materiel, to a moonscape on exactly the opposite side of the globe, in preparation for an attack.

Our organization for combat remained dynamic throughout phases I and II. The I Marine Expedionary Force was assigned to the Third Army, where we joined with V Corps as the ground force. This would be the main attack force in a fast-moving sweep across mainly desert terrain southwest of Baghdad. We would be the supporting attack, crossing rivers and other poorer avenues of approach. Our role was to look like the main attack: pick a fight with anybody who would engage us, and yet keep battlefield geometry so we were abreast or even slightly in advance of V Corps. Both forces were to focus like a laser on Baghdad. When Turkey closed its borders to Coalition forces, the entire British First Armored Division was assigned to the MEF. Marvelous troops and leaders, with first-rate equipment, they swelled our ranks to just short of 90,000 Marines, soldiers, and sailors. I told the colorful British formations that there was a time in our country when the phrase, “The British are coming,” was used to scare children. In this instance, however, U.S. Marines in Kuwait were glad to hear it.

The all-volunteer force has provided an amazing quality of Marine and sailor. Bigger, stronger, and faster than their namesake of decades past, they also are more informed, and therefore more opinionated and inquisitive. My commanders and I constantly spoke to the troops in their training bases in Kuwait to provide information and squelch rumors. Their number-one question was: “Is the country behind us?” They had read or heard about large antiwar demonstrations in the United States and elsewhere and wanted assurances. We told each formation not to worry about it; just do their jobs. American citizens were mature enough in their beliefs that even if they didn’t support the war, they would still support the troops.

In what had become a predictable pattern, a U.S. air campaign was planned to precede the ground attack. What had been 40 days was reduced to 16 days, and that was cut in half to an 8-day period of “shock and awe” by the air planners. Increasing reports of explosives being moved into the southern oil fields, however, made it apparent that air attack could be the signal for Iraqi forces to demolish the oil platforms in a calculated act of senseless destruction. Since rapid and intact seizure of the southern oilfield production was a MEF mission, we were early advocates of launching the ground attack before an air campaign. For a time, the best we could do was launch them simultaneously. But there is an old adage, well remembered, that “the enemy gets a vote.” Without warning or provocation, on 20 March, Saddam started destruction of the fields. Our attack was moved forward initially 24 hours, then 8 hours more. It’s okay to delay an attack, as long as you rest the troops. Moving an attack forward is very much another matter. That said, I could not have been more pleased with the response of my commanders, air and ground, as we thundered across the international border a full 32 hours ahead of plan.

Our intelligence offered different analyses of enemy strength and intentions, and where he would use his chemical weapons. We faced three Iraqi Corps in our sector—two Regular Army and one Republican Guard, consisting of nine total divisions. We were led to believe major portions of some of those divisions would capitulate, the division most likely to collapse being the 11th Infantry division around an Nazariah. We found the opposite to be true. Some intel experts thought Saddam would unleash his chemical weapons as soon as we crossed the Kuwaiti border; others thought it would happen when we crossed the Euphrates River. My own view was, they would hit us with chemicals as we approached the Republican Guard divisions anchored on the Tigris River southeast of Baghdad. Taking no chances, we crossed the line of departure in our bulky chemical suits and stayed in them for two and a half weeks.

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The MEF had been honed by our predecessors to be the most efficient killing machine on the battlefield. With integrated ground, air, and logistics elements under a single commander, the force generated a level of speed and momentum that only the enemy could appreciate fully. The MEF had available more than 340 combat aircraft that could generate almost 700 sorties each day against any target we chose. During the Gulf War it took ten bombs to destroy each target. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, a single aircraft could destroy ten targets. It has been said that the Iraqis melted away, but that does not give proper credit to the Iraqi Army. When they amassed, they were blown away by the effects of our deep air attack. A captured Iraqi tank brigade commander told of making an 80-mile forced march to position his tanks east of Baghdad. So he could rest his troops on the first night, he moved his tanks into palm groves. At 0200, during the worst sandstorm in 20 years, under complete cover of darkness and deep in the palm groves, Marine air began the systematic destruction of his tanks. When 30 had been destroyed by pinpoint bombing, his troops then melted away. He told us, “I wanted to order them back but knew that if I did, it meant certain death.”

We employed a revitalized concept for reporting the war with multiple media embedded in our formations. The program was not without its faults, but on the whole it was a huge success. Members of the media lived the lifestyle of “the grunt” in the cold, the wet, and the biting sand storms. They saw raw emotions as Marine aggressiveness overcame fog and friction, and as the exhilaration of battle was tempered by the realities of casualty evacuation. They marveled repeatedly at the professionalism of the 19-year-old lance corporals as they handled all of the above. The stories they filed were 95% positive, and there were more than a few tearful farewells as they left us. Not since the days of Ernie Pyle and World War II had such bonding occurred between the media and the war fighter.

In every war, some things make you smile, and other things make you cry. One such incident occurred as armor columns attacked up Highway 6 southeast of Baghdad. It was difficult to maintain, but we still showed readiness rates of 93% and 94% on tanks and tracks, respectively. As I stood watching the troops move up the highway, I understood why. I saw one amphibious assault vehicle steam past me at 40 miles per hour, towing another. Atop the second vehicle were three Marine mechanics, with feet and hands into the engine compartment, working on the engine. I said to the division commander standing next to me, “General [Major General James N.] Mattis, that is a safety violation. God bless ‘em!”

Later in the attack on Baghdad, the 1st Battalion, 8th Marines got into a serious fight in and around the Imam Ali mosque in the north-central portion of the city. They killed roughly 250 Republican Guards, Baathists, and Sadaam Fedayeen as they took their objectives. First casualty reports coming in on our side were one gunnery sergeant killed and 41 troops wounded. The next day that figure zoomed to 1 killed and 73 wounded. As we asked how that happened, we learned of the lance corporal who came to the battalion aid station weak and with a bloody arm. The corpsman asked him how many times he had changed the bandage, and the Marine told him he had lost count. The doc, as he should, got on the Marine’s case. The trooper said, “Doc, I’m not the only guy out there like this.” Indeed, he was not. As the company commanders and first sergeants examined their men, they came across the additional casualties. Asked why they didn’t turn themselves in to the aid station for treatment and possible evacuation, they answered, “Sir, I am the only automatic rifleman left in my squad,” or “Sir, I thought there might be another big fight today,” or just “Sir, I didn’t want to leave my buddies.” With troops like those, the outcome of Operation Iraqi Freedom was never in doubt.




After securing Baghdad, we then dispatched a light armor column north to take out any remaining resistance around Saddam’s birthplace, in the vicinity of Tikrit. The MEF had attacked farther and faster than any unit in U.S. history. Feeling pretty spirited, I announced to my Army boss, Lieutenant General Dave McKiernan, that Marines are assault troops, we don’t do nation-building, and we were ready for backload. He said to me, get your butt down south and get started with reconstruction until I can get you relieved. In fact, we spent five and a half months in the southern provinces of Iraq in phase IV operations. We found our 1920s-vintage “small wars manual,” written by Marines on duty in Nicaragua and Haiti, to be very applicable to the situations we faced in cities like Najaf, Karbala, and Samawah. One passage captured the essence of our activities: It said, “Conceived in uncertainty, reconstruction operations are often conducted with precarious responsibility, and doubtful authority, under indeterminate orders, lacking specific instructions.” Our battalion commanders and their company commanders thrived under those conditions and rapidly became effective little potentates until we turned over our sector, and could break them of it, in September 2003.

The MEF had been back at its bases in Southern California for roughly five months when we were unexpectedly ordered back to Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom II. We were tasked to replace the 82nd Airborne with a 25,000-Marine air-ground task force in the Al Anbar province during March 2004. On arrival, our numbers grew to 30,000 with the inclusion of a very capable Army brigade combat team. Our responsibilities included the turbulent city of Fallujah and major portions of the Iraq-Syria border. Our new area was about the size of Wyoming and included most of the Sunni Triangle, where Saddam had drawn many of his best officers for the Republican Guard and other elite units.

Returning to western Iraq was very different from our experiences in the south. The tribes were Sunni, not Shia, they were already quite hostile toward Coalition forces, and our ability to employ our proven techniques was much abated. In the Shia provinces, we had been attacked frequently but had not lost a single Marine to enemy fire. After two weeks in the Al Anbar province, by the time of the transfer of authority with the 82nd, we had lost five killed in action. Our vision to win hearts and minds was met squarely with a 300% increase in the number of attacks in our sector.

Initially, we found Iraqi security forces in the region very undependable. Iraqi society is driven by loyalty to the tribal sheiks and religious imams, and this cultural norm frequently made it impossible to rely on the police or national guard units as effective paramilitary forces. Further, they were intimidated by the insurgents and were watching to see which side was going to win. As we built the forces to be more secular, however, and provided them with the weapons and equipment they needed to succeed, they became much more reliable. Indeed, in the fighting in Samarra, Najaf, and the northern Babil province, Army and Marine commanders have given the Iraqi security forces, especially the regular army, a solid grade of “B” for their performances there.

The Coalition forces learned many lessons about information operations (IO) in southwest Asia, and we frankly need to get better in our approach at every level. We tended to treat all media the same, assuming a level of journalistic integrity and responsible reporting. The Arab media, however, were different. We found right away in Fallujah that Al Jazeera and Al Arabia were bound by no such principles of integrity and routinely provided a shrill and outrageous perspective to an Arab public all too willing to believe such distortions. Eventually, we treated them as enemy combat camera and controlled their access to our actions. Our most consistent and effective IO message to the Iraqis was, “You may not want us here, and we don’t particularly want to be here, but we aren’t leaving until there is a level of stability and security in Iraq. So help us achieve that end.”



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An amazing figure accompanied our casualty rates in Iraq. As a result of superb planning and execution at all levels, for every 11 Marines or sailors hit, one would be killed but seven would be returned to duty almost immediately. Never before in combat had such recovery figures been the norm. Our protective gear, the helmets, and SAPI (small arms protection insert) plates worked. Our corpsmen in the line companies were magnificent, as were the medevac pilots and the docs at Alpha and Bravo surgical companies. They were truly the “angels of the battlefield,” and when we see each other again, none will ever buy his own drink as long as I am at the bar.

During this deployment, our Commandant won a major victory in Washington, D.C. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld had questioned our seven-month rotation policy and initially felt that all services should adhere to the Army’s 12 months “boots-on-the-ground” approach. We argued that our overall operational tempo was equal to or greater than any other service. For instance, all the MEF’s major headquarters were in Kuwait or Iraq for 17 of the 22 months I was the MEF commander. We argued that six- or seven-month rotations were the norm for the Marine Corps—though not as frequently as we are experiencing now—and that we risked breaking the force if we posed an even more serious burden on our young men and women, especially those with families. The Secretary said to the Commandant “Okay, I’ve got it.” In the Pentagon, you are never sure you have completely won a fight; but we felt much better when Secretary Rumsfeld began asking the Army Chief of Staff to explain why the Army was not doing seven-month rotations.

Operation Iraqi Freedom II continues, and Marines from I MEF will continue to be in Iraq until April or May 2005. That said, our view since 28 June and the declaration of national sovereignty is that Iraqi security forces must win against the insurgency in Iraq. We can only set the conditions for success by the host nation. Even then, we must act to ensure an Iraqi lead.

The contrast between the two OIF operations is stark. To begin, they were two very different scenarios: OIF was a classic offensive operation. We never lost the initiative as we put the enemy on his heels from the outset and kept him there until we had secured all objectives. OIF II has evolved into a classic insurgency. Out of necessity to maintain logistical hubs, we operated from fixed sites. But that allowed the enemy to match our freedom to maneuver. Ours was more a defensive role, with emphasis on heavy offensive patrolling and significant civil affairs work. There was a constant effort to hold the initiative, both militarily and psychologically, because as one military dictum says, the commander who maintains the initiative wins.

During OIF II, for reasons still not clear, the media were bent on providing a comparatively more negative slant. Our observations were supported by the reporter who, when asked to come out from Baghdad to cover the opening of a women’s hospital, declined, telling our public affairs officer he “wasn’t really looking for a good news story.” Katie O’Beirne is a political commentator, but she may have offered some insight when she remarked, “You’ve got to remember, most journalists spent their high school years being stuffed into lockers by the kind of males who are running our military. Now they’re determined to get even.” My perception since being home is that any bad news coming out of Iraq is not properly balanced with the great things troops from all the nations are doing.

One thing that remained constant during both operations was the magnificent performance of the troops. Whether they were infantrymen running toward enemy fire, mechanics working in 130° heat, Cobra pilots dueling with heavy-caliber machine guns in support of ground troops, or corpsmen dashing forward to treat a wounded Marine, our young troops were unbelievable in their resolve, discipline, and courage under fire. The older generation worried about this new generation “Y.” We saw them as the joy-stick generation and were concerned they might not measure up when the time came. In the hands of these young warriors, our Corps—indeed, our nation—has absolutely nothing to worry about.

What about the way ahead in Iraq? I believe there will be elections in January, and I suspect very shortly afterward you will start to see a reduction in U.S. forces, not because U.S. planners will seek it, but because the Iraqis will demand it. I used to think that Americans were impatient, but we don’t hold a candle to the Iraqis. We are seen as infidels and nonbelievers, and further, most Iraqis now consider us occupiers. They will expect us to provide regional security for a long time because we have destroyed their army. But they will be willing to accept internal security risks in exchange for a reduced Coalition presence.

I think our strategic planners have it right. When the Iraqis establish a free and democratic state, it probably will not be Jeffersonian, but it will put a stake in the very heart of the region producing terrorists. We will not just be killing terrorists. Rather, we will be doing something about the very cause of terrorism. In a region that has made little progress over the centuries, Iraq has the potential to be a prosperous and powerful regional player. Every day we are in Iraq brings us another step closer to Iraqi victory. Iraqi infantry and counterterrorism forces are being stood up at a rate that will field 27 secular battalions, trained and equipped, by March. These battalions are loyal to the central government and have the support of average Iraqi citizens. When they focus their full attention on the insurgents and foreign fighters, they will have little problem gaining actionable intelligence from their countrymen. Will there continue to be bombings and attacks? I fully expect so, because the terrorists recognize the threat to their very existence. I anticipate Iraqis will one day soon make short work of the principal threats to their government.

For the United States and its allies, Iraq and Afghanistan are important battlegrounds in the war on terrorism—not the whole war. Many of the young Arabs we kill are would-be suicide bombers. These are the same fanatical misfits who would otherwise be seeking their way into Los Angeles or Boston. We are engaged in a defense against these people far from our borders and our families. That’s okay with our troops; they understand it, and they very much prefer to take care of business in Iraq. Coalition forces will, covertly or overtly, battle terrorists in many other locations across the globe, but history might well show Iraq was our most important fight.

Finally, I ask three things of anyone reading these remarks.



Don’t wait for the historians to put the world we live in today in their context. Think of the nation at war instead of enjoying an interrupted peace and it will shape your outlook.
Don’t lose your patience, or more important, your resolve to see the job done. Our enemy knows popular support is the center of gravity for any U.S. government engaged in conflict and he works to disassemble that support every day. You are the ultimate target of the beheadings and bombings. So stay the course.
Continue to support the troops. Their exterior is hardened and battle-ready. But their psyches are more fragile and susceptible to the convictions of their countrymen. Without your support their will will weaken, their confidence wane, and their morale suffer. With the enthusiastic support of the American people, however, our forces are the most formidable, most responsive, and most disciplined troops on the face of the earth. I can only hope they make you, as they have made me, very proud.
General Conway commanded the I Marine Expeditionary Force in Operation Iraqi Freedom and is currently the Director of Operations (J-3) of the Joint Staff. This is an edited and abridged version of remarks he delivered at a seminar cosponosered in October 2004 by the Naval Institute and the Marines’ Memorial Association in San Francisco.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

January 24, 2005

Support troops with better training, equipment and compassionate leaders



From time to time, a few readers try to label me as an eternal skeptic, encouraging me to be more upbeat about the war in Iraq.
So, following the “Give war a chance” motto, many forward me e-mails telling of our wonderful accomplishments.

Rest assured, I’m a true believer in our American ideals, especially the American service member. I do remain a skeptic when it pertains to careless reporting on the truth about combat. As a former professional soldier, I know that an exuberantly positive cheerleader won’t keep you alive in a serious firefight. It takes more to produce victory and survival in combat — such as meticulous planning, good maintenance, tough-as-nails training and participatory upfront leadership.

So when it comes to adequately preparing and equipping our troops for combat, I won’t fall in line with the Internet cheerleaders and the politically motivated float riders.

My reason is simple: Supporting our troops and standing united against terrorism mean more than screaming for the home team. Active support includes speaking out for our troops to help them get better gear, tougher training and more compassionate leadership.

Those who’ve worn the uniform know that when you’re part of the military machine, you can’t easily tell the truth. The only exception is when you’re lucky enough to have a unit leader who places his troops above personal advancement.

Ever the skeptic, my predictions that the real war in Iraq would actually begin with the fall of Baghdad seemed right on. Still, I’m concerned about sustaining combat readiness and troop strength. Recent messages from deployed Guard and reserve troops caution that readiness goes beyond merely buying modern protective gear for city fighting.

And the latest SOS calls don’t come from slackers and complainers but from full-blooded professionals who know that taking care of the troops includes preparing them to survive in treacherous urban warfare. Many seasoned noncommissioned officers are very concerned that their hastily activated Guard and reserve outfits won’t do well under the pressures of urban combat — if they aren’t properly trained and manned.

One, a former active-duty combat arms soldier, wrote me in an e-mail recently: “Over the last 90 days, we’ve received nothing but sub-par training. There are no set standards. Despite voicing my personal concerns, our trainers and leaders are merely checking the briefing blocks. The brass is generally more worried about paper reports than real readiness.

“Despite the problems, they label us ‘good to go.’ Why am I concerned? It’s because my Guard outfit doesn’t have many soldiers with long-term active-duty experience. I would hate to see good men killed because they weren’t adequately trained.”

Ruthless preparation and training are the best life insurance in combat. Army Gen. George S. Patton would turn in his grave knowing that training is being shorted. He believed it was better to expend massive amounts of sweat on the training grounds before losing unnecessary blood in combat.

Yes, I think we can do better than talk smack about being the finest and greatest military in the world. Big speeches usually don’t keep the troops alive.

If you’re a senior leader involved in training certifications of the Army’s Guard and reserve units, I ask you to do right by our troops. Give them the time and the means to stay alive and return home with all essential body parts in working order.

The first step to improvement could be listening to your NCO corps.

The writer is a former Army tank battalion commander and decorated Desert Storm veteran. He writes on numerous military topics. He can be reached at r6zimm@earthlink.net.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Attacks in Iraq kill at least 20

Catholic bishop kidnapped in Mosul; U.S. Marines target of suicide bomber.

By Robert H. Reid
Associated Press

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Insurgents kidnapped a Catholic archbishop and targeted security forces in a series of brazen assaults Monday that killed more than 20 people. A suicide bomber attacked U.S. Marines in Ramadi, where insurgents also beheaded two Shiite Muslims and left their bodies on a sidewalk.
The top U.S. general in Iraq predicted violence during the Jan. 30 national election but pledged to do "everything in our power" to ensure safety of voters. As part of a crackdown on insurgents, U.S. troops arrested more than 100 suspects over the past three days, U.S. officials said.

In Mosul, Archbishop Basile Georges Casmoussa of the Syrian Catholic Church was seized by gunmen and the Vatican condemned the abduction as a "terrorist act." The 66-year-old churchman was grabbed while walking in front of his church, a priest said on condition of anonymity.

Christians make up just 3 percent of Iraq's 26 million people. The major Christian groups include Chaldean-Assyrians and Armenians with small numbers of Roman Catholics.

The deadliest attacks occurred in three cities in the flash point region north and west of Baghdad where Sunni Muslim insurgents are seeking to derail the election.

In Buhriz, 35 miles north of Baghdad, gunmen attacked an Iraqi National Guard checkpoint at the provincial broadcasting center, killing eight soldiers and wounding four. A suicide driver set off a car bomb at a police station in Beiji, 155 miles north of the capital, killing seven policemen and wounding 25 people.

A U.S. spokesman said Marines suffered an undisclosed number of casualties in a suicide car bombing in Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad. Marines sent to check a suspicious vehicle came under small arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire and the vehicle exploded.

"There were U.S. casualties," 1st Lt. Lyle Gilbert said, but declined to give further details, citing security. Later, the U.S. command reported two Marines were killed in action in the province that includes Ramadi but would not say whether they died in the car bombing.

Elsewhere in Ramadi, a predominantly Sunni Muslim city, officials found the bodies of five civilians and one Iraqi soldier. Each had a handwritten note declaring them collaborators, officials said. Four found together had been shot while two discovered later in the day were beheaded, their blood-soaked bodies left where they died. The notes identified the two beheaded victims as Shiite Muslims.

Shiites have been targets of intimidation because they are expected to turn out in large numbers for the election for a 275-member National Assembly that will appoint a new government and draft a permanent constitution.

About 60 percent of Iraq's 26 million people are Shiites, and their candidates are expected to win most of the assembly seats. Many Sunni Arabs fear losing the power they enjoyed under Saddam Hussein, and Sunni clerics have called for a boycott of the vote. U.S. officials fear a low Sunni turnout may cast doubt on the legitimacy of the new government.

On Monday, police discovered a car loaded with explosives in the Shiite holy city of Karbala. On Sunday, a total of 17 people were killed in several attacks along the main highway from Baghdad to Kut, a city in a largely Shiite area 100 miles to the southeast.

Four mortar shells on Sunday hit schools designated as polling stations in Basra, a largely Shiite city in the far south. An al-Qaida group led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi claimed responsibility for the attacks in a statement found Monday on a Web site, although its authenticity could not verified.

In a statement Monday, Gen. George W. Casey Jr., commander of the multinational force in Iraq, said about 300,000 soldiers and police from U.S., Iraqi and other foreign forces will be available to protect voters Jan. 30.

"Is there going to be violence on election day? There is, but it's important that we understand what's happening here," Casey said. "It's not just about violence. It's about former regime loyalists and foreign terrorists murdering innocent Iraqis and Iraqi security forces to stop them from exercising their right to vote."

Nevertheless, violence has already affected the exercise in democracy. Some political alliances have declined to release all the names of their candidates for fear of attack, and little public campaigning has been possible except in Kurdish areas of the north.

Iraqis living abroad began registering to vote Monday, with dozens arriving at polling stations in 14 countries from Australia to Britain to the United States. Officials estimate 1.2 million Iraqis are eligible to vote overseas.

"We lived in a dictatorship a long time, and it's the first time in my life, in my 48 years, that I can vote in Iraq," said Saieb Jabbar, who arrived at a London registration center with his 23-year-old son, Ahmed. "I feel very happy."

Iraq's interim defense minister, Hazem Shaalan, said Monday that U.S. and other foreign troops shouldn't leave before the country is stable because governments in neighboring countries might send in their own armies. He specifically named Syria and Iran, both of which he has strongly criticized.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

US military not to overstay in Lanka: Wolfowitz

PK Balachanddran

The United States Marines — who came to Sri Lanka to do rescue, relief and restoration work following the tsunami catastrophe — would not overstay in the island, the US Deputy Secretary of Defence, Dr Paul Wolfowitz, said in Colombo on Monday.

The US Marines would "not stay any longer than they were wanted" Wolfowitz told a media conference at the end of his brief visit to Sri Lanka.

He further said that in Sri Lanka, the need for deploying military forces had now diminished because the work on the ground was progressing from the rescue and relief stage to the reconstruction stage.

He said that there were now, 700 US military personnel in Sri Lanka, who were mostly engineers.

There were also two positioning ships, which had water purification equipment capable of producing 3,000 gallons of potable water a day.

Given the speedy return to normalcy in Sri Lanka, the ships would be leaving for the Maldives, he said.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

3 U.S. Troops Killed In Iraq Attack
United Press International
January 19, 2005

BAGHDAD - Three U.S. soldiers were killed in a bombing attack Tuesday in the province of Anbar in western Iraq, the U.S. army said in a brief statement.

A suicide bomber blew up his explosives-laden car near a U.S. army convoy in the Sunni area, inflicting several casualties, Iraqi security sources said.

In another incident, gunmen attacked a police station in the city of Baquba, east of Baghdad, killing a policeman and wounding another before fleeing.

Earlier Tuesday, two people were killed and five others injured in an attack on the offices of a major Shiite party in Baghdad, reports said.




Witnesses said a suicide bomber stormed one roadblock but was stopped at the second by guards who opened fire on his car and managed to keep him from reaching the offices of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, known as Sciri, in the posh neighborhood of Jadriah in central Baghdad.

The blast killed two guards, wounded five others and destroyed three cars. It also smashed the windows of the building housing Sciri's offices.

Suicide car bombs have become a daily occurrence in Iraq as the date of elections draws nearer.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Violence Spurred by Iraq Rebels Kills 26

By HAMZA HENDAWI, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A wave of car bombings shook the Iraqi capital Wednesday, killing at least nine people as rebels stepped up their offensive to block the Jan. 30 national election. Other attacks were reported north and south of the capital, but the U.N. election chief said only a sustained onslaught could stop the ballot.


U.S. military officials put the death toll from the day's violence at 26, based on initial field reports. Iraqi authorities said 10 people were killed — one in a drive-by shooting on a political party office and the other nine in the bombings. The discrepancy could not be immediately resolved.


The violence began about 7 a.m., when a bomb packed into a truck exploded outside the Australian Embassy in Baghdad, killing two people. Two Australian soldiers were injured.


A half hour later, another car bomb killed six at a police station located next to a hospital in eastern Baghdad.


A third car bombing struck at the main gate to an Iraqi military garrison located at a disused airport in central Baghdad. The U.S. military said two Iraqi army soldiers and two Iraqi civilians were killed in that attack.


The U.S. military also said a car bomb detonated southwest of Baghdad International Airport, killing two Iraqi security guards.


Hours later, another car bomb went off in northern Baghdad around noon near a bank and a Shiite Muslim mosque. Police said one person was killed and one killed at that bombing.


Elsewhere in the capital, insurgents in a car fired on a Baghdad office of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, killing one of its members and wounding another, PUK officials said.


Outside the capital, Maj. Gen. Wirya Maarouf, the dean of a police academy in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq (news - web sites), escaped an assassination attempt when gunmen opened fire on his convoy in the city of Irbil. One bystander was killed and another injured, said police Col. Tharwat AbdulKarim.


In the northern city of Dahuk, a roadside bomb exploded near the convoy of provincial Gov. Nejrivan Ahmed but he was not injured, AbdulKarim said.


An Iraqi police officer was killed Wednesday in another car bombing in the largely Shiite city of Hillah south of Baghdad, the Polish military said.


Fresh clashes erupted Wednesday between U.S. troops and insurgents in the northern city of Mosul. A car bomb exploded beside a U.S. convoy in the eastern part of the city, and two Iraqis were killed when American troops opened fire after the blast, witnesses said. There were no reported casualties among the Americans.


U.S. and Iraqi officials had predicted a steady increase in violence in the run-up to the election, in which Iraqi voters will choose a National Assembly and provincial legislatures. Sunni Muslim insurgents have vowed to disrupt the ballot.


Also, in the city of Kirkuk, two human rights leaders were killed, officials said. Their bodies were found shot in the head and chest after being kidnapped Tuesday, police said.


Carlos Valenzuela, the chief U.N. election adviser in Iraq, said the intimidation of electoral workers by guerrillas seeking to derail this month's balloting is "high and very serious."


But Valenzuela told reporters Tuesday that only a sustained onslaught by insurgents or the mass resignation of electoral workers will prevent this month's national elections from going ahead.


U.S. troops have stepped up raids across the country, arresting scores of suspected insurgents in hopes of aborting plans to disrupt the ballot.





On Wednesday, the U.S. military acknowledged that its soldiers opened fire on a car as it approached their checkpoint, killing two civilians in the vehicle's front seat. Six children riding in the backseat were unhurt.

It wasn't clear from a military statement whether the two victims were the children's parents. "Military officials extend their condolences for this unfortunate incident," the statement said.

In China, authorities warned people to avoid traveling to Iraq as diplomats tried to win the release of eight Chinese laborers abducted by Iraqi insurgents.

"Please don't rashly go to Iraq, in order to avoid unforeseeable incidents," the Chinese Foreign Ministry (news - web sites) said in a statement.

The eight abducted Chinese, including two teenagers, were shown in a video released Tuesday by insurgents. The Foreign Ministry said it had asked for help from Iraqi religious leaders who helped to win the release of other Chinese abducted last year.

The latest abductees are from the southeastern coastal province of Fujian, which sends thousands of laborers each year to the Middle East and elsewhere.

Xinhua identified the eight men — all from Fujian's Pingtan County — as Zhou Sunqin, 18, Zhou Sunlin, 19, Wei Wu, 20, Lin Xiong, 35, Chen Qin'ai, 37, Lin Zhong, 38, Lin Bin, 39 and and Lin Qiang, 40.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

U.S. Returns 3 Stolen Artifacts to Iraq

Tue Jan 18, 6:56 PM ET

By TOM HAYS, Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK - Three thimble-size artifacts looted from a Baghdad museum and sold on the black market for $200 to a scholar-turned-smuggler were returned Tuesday to the Iraqi government.


Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Michael Garcia turned over the Mesopotamian stone seals to Iraq (news - web sites)'s U.N. Ambassador Samir al-Sumaidaie at a news conference in Manhattan.


The relics, used to seal correspondence, date to 2340-2180 B.C., the ambassador said.


"They are completely priceless," he said. "They are part of our history."


Nearly 15,000 items were swiped from the Iraqi National Museum after the U.S. invasion began, al-Sumaidaie said. Roughly half of those items have been located, sometimes with the help of a special team of federal agents dispatched to Iraq.


An agent at Kennedy Airport in New York spotted the items in June 2003 during a routine search of a suitcase belonging to a scholar who had arrived from London.


Joseph Braude had not declared the seals, which were adorned with human and animal figures and marked on the bottom with the letters "IM," for "Iraq museum." Braude, the author of the 2003 book "The New Iraq: Rebuilding the Country for its People, the Middle East and the World," insisted he had traveled to Kuwait and England but not Iraq.


He eventually admitted buying the ancient pieces of art for $200 during a visit to Baghdad, authorities said. He also acknowledged knowing that the seals were likely stolen from the museum.


Last year, Braude pleaded guilty to federal charges of smuggling and making false statements and was sentenced to two years probation.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

January 24, 2005

Help is on the way
The Corps is set to add 3,000 new troops over three years — here’s what it means for you

By Christian Lowe
Times staff writer


In a move intended to ease the demands on units strained by frequent deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, the Corps plans to add thousands of new Marines to the ranks.
The 175,000-strong active-duty force will grow by nearly 3,000 Marines starting this year as part of the fiscal 2005 Defense Authorization Act, which gave the Pentagon the authority to boost the size of the Army by 30,000 and the Marine Corps by 9,000 through 2009.

Marine officials say they have not made a decision to add the full 9,000 authorized, but are keeping the option open.

It is the first significant increase since a 2,400-Marine hike following the October 2001 reactivation of the 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade as an anti-terrorism unit, and comes as Marine units face increasing demands in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Horn of Africa.

Like that last increase, most of the new troops will be used to fill gaps in existing units. Current manpower shortfalls “have some impact on unit cohesion and the ability to train up,” said Frank Donahoe, deputy director for total force structure with Marine Corps Combat Development Command at Quantico, Va.

Staffing up for a deployment “takes down other units and creates personnel turmoil,” he said. “This is to bring everyone up to 100 percent … regardless if they’re getting ready to deploy.”

Grunt units will gain the most, with nearly 2,000 new Marines slated for infantry battalions, a move intended to fully man those units. Another 425 allocations will go to Marine Corps Recruiting Command, which will fill existing gaps and add 275 new recruiters.

Most of the remainder will be used to establish three new foreign military training units, one apiece for each Marine Expeditionary Force.

Corps leaders have wrestled with the question of whether to grow the force as the responsibilities of stabilization duties in Iraq and Afghanistan have spurred debate over whether the U.S. military is sized properly.

In an August interview, Lt. Gen. Jan Huly, deputy commandant for plans, policies and operations, cautioned that if the Corps were to add more Marines, it would need to be ready to keep them for good.

“We have to balance what the current, immediate need is — at least the perceived need — and what we can afford to do now, and then we have to balance that against [what] the requirement [is] going to be six months, a year, two years from now,” Huly said. “We’d like to get bigger, but we want to be damn sure that when we get bigger, we need to keep it that way.”

The growth of the Army and Marine Corps stands in sharp contrast to the Navy and Air Force, which are cutting tens of thousands of sailors and airmen from their ranks. Reduced mission requirements in the war on terrorism and structural modernization are contributing to the need for reductions in those forces.

Who’s getting bigger

Adding 2,858 new Marines comes with a hefty price tag, and Corps officials plan to ask Congress for $159 million as part of an upcoming Pentagon wartime emergency supplemental funding request.

The supplemental request is due to be forwarded to Congress in February, as is the Marine Corps’ budget request for fiscal 2006, according to Maj. Doug Powell, a spokesman at Marine Corps headquarters.

The additional Marines are to be phased in over three years, using money from supplemental funding bills each year, said Lt. Col. Rick Long, a spokesman for Manpower and Reserve Affairs at Quantico. The amount needed to fund each increment will likely be higher than the $159 million required in fiscal 2005, Long said. Officials did not provide the total anticipated cost.

Plans call for the addition of 1,848 new Marines to infantry battalions over the next three years in order to bring manning for the Corps’ 24 active-duty battalions up to 100 percent. For years, infantry units have been manned at less than full strength unless they were gearing up for deployment. To fill out the ranks, deploying units used individual augmentees from other units.

“This will bring infantry units up to their full wartime requirement,” Donahoe said.

Corps officials want to fill out the infantry ranks as much as possible early on, but are forecasting additions of slightly more than 600 per year through 2007.

Also planned is the addition of 120 new Marines to training units over the next three years, including 60 to staff the security and stabilization operations training course at March Air Reserve Base, Calif., Long said. Sixty others will be used throughout the Corps’ schools to help train additional Marines entering the force, Marine officials said.

The Corps also will add 20 enlisted contract specialists to help with reconstruction operations in Iraq, and 45 aircraft maintainers to support the CH-53D Sea Stallion helicopter fleet, according to manpower officials.

Most of the nearly 3,000 new leathernecks will come from new accessions, so 425 new recruiter billets are being added to Marine Corps Recruiting Command.

A few new units

Marking a further expansion of the Corps’ involvement in inter-national military assistance missions, 400 Marines will be used to form three new MEF-level training units to help modernize foreign militaries. The units could be deployed to Iraq to assist in the training of the fledgling Iraqi army — an institution the Bush administration says is key to the success of America’s mission there — or to other world hot spots such as Africa and Eastern Europe.

Each training unit would consist of about 130 Marines — primarily from infantry and communications specialties. The first unit is scheduled to be fully operational with I MEF in 2006, followed by II MEF in 2007 and III MEF in 2008.

Marines would likely be assigned to such programs as the Security Cooperation Education and Training Center at Quantico, which conducts military-building programs with as many as 80 countries. Last year, the center sent roughly 500 Marines to countries trying to train their fledgling armies, ranging from the former Soviet republic of Georgia to Niger in northern Africa.

Such missions are intended not only as a way to engage with nations with whom the U.S. is already allied, but also to make new connections — reaching out to smaller, needier countries as they attempt to establish more control within their borders. The programs the Quantico center oversees helps the Corps build relationships, gather both formal and informal intelligence and strengthen alliances with dozens of countries.

Last year, in Africa, for example, about 25 Marines traveled to Chad and Niger for two, six-week training stints. A more comprehensive program based in Georgia employed Army and Marine units, which conducted training there for almost two years.

More changes coming?

Manpower officials insist they don’t see any need “in the foreseeable future” to reduce the force again, boosting confidence that the new Marines will be able to stay.

Painful memories of downsizing following the 1991 Persian Gulf War remain and the service wants to avoid adding new leathernecks only to send them packing when military — and budget — realities shift.

In a separate but related effort, the Corps is examining ways to rearrange its current force. A Force Structure Review Group is expected to outline proposals to disestablish some underused units in both the active and Reserve force and establish new organizations — possibly including two new infantry battalions — that are more relevant to the kinds of missions the Corps is handling today and might see in the future.

The group has been debating the issue since March and is expected to outline widespread changes to the Corps soon, officials say. Huly, the Corps’ operations chief, first publicly raised the possibility of new infantry battalions in August.

Any restructuring likely would help the Corps return to its usual deployment routine, a 3-1 ratio. That typically means six months deployed, followed by 18 months in training and garrison duty back home. Because of the demand for units in Iraq and Afghanistan, Marines now spend about seven months deployed, followed by just seven months at home before deploying again.

While the manpower boost helps strengthen unit integrity and maintains their training capability and education options, the possible restructuring is expected to give the service some relief from the breakneck pace of deployments since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks

“The bottom line is just to reduce the stress on the force,” Lt. Col. Tim Corley, head of future operations at Manpower Plans and Policy at Quantico said of the end-strength increase. “That’s what we’re trying to do.”

Christian Lowe can be reached at (703) 750-8613 or clowe@marinecorpstimes.com. Gordon Lubold contributed to this report.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

January 11, 2005

Tales from the sandbox

Military Times senior staff writer Gordon Trowbridge and photographer Lloyd Francis Jr. will spend the next three months in the Middle East, covering U.S. military operations in advance of scheduled Iraqi national elections in January.
Gordon hopes to spend time with members of all the U.S. service branches, and is filing occasional updates to this Weblog.

Please feel free to e-mail him with your thoughts or ideas.


New neighbors have historic past

Camp Falcon, Baghdad — Jan. 11, 10:10 a.m.

For anyone with more than a passing knowledge of military history, we’re in what may be the best spot in Iraq.

Camp Falcon is home to the 1st Cavalry Division’s 5th Brigade Combat Team, which includes 1st Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, our home for the next three weeks and one of the most storied units in the U.S. military.

George Custer was one of 7th Cav’s first commanders. George Patton commanded the regiment’s A Troop for a time. Seventh Cav has fought in every major U.S. conflict since the Indian wars on the western frontier, with the exception of World War I — when the unit was still mounted on horses, and had just finished serving under Gen. John J. Pershing in the Mexican expedition of 1916-17.

More recently, the unit was made famous in the Mel Gibson film “We Were Soldiers … ,” based on a book about the unit’s Vietnam service by journalist Joe Galloway and former commander Hal Moore. I’ll admit to a geekish, history nut’s thrill the first time I heard an order answered with “Garry Owen, sir,” — the custom is traced to an Irish immigrant in the regiment who caught Custer’s ear humming an Irish folk song by that name.

History isn’t the only reason to be happy we’re here. If our plans hold, Camp Falcon and 1-7 Cav will be our home through the end of our stay in Iraq, a little more than three weeks from now. It’s nice to settle in one place for a while; as we walked to Camp Falcon’s chow hall the first time, Lloyd and I began counting the number of DFACs — dining facilities — we had sampled in a little more than two months in the Middle East.

The final count: 18 chow halls in 11 locations, from Kirkuk in northern Iraq to Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, several hundred miles south in the Persian Gulf. Some observations, for those who might find themselves in these places soon:

• Camp Snake Pit, Ramadi: Lukewarm meals served from olive-drab thermos containers, shipped from another base in the area — but still, perhaps, our favorite. We spent Christmas at Snake Pit, where the Marines of Echo Co., 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, are based, and we were won over by the spirit there. If Snake Pit’s DFAC were a restaurant, the prominent word in its advertising would be “cozy.”

• Camp Victory, Baghdad: We’ve eaten at five, count ’em, five chow halls here. The fanciest is South Victory’s Sport Oasis, a huge, brightly lit facility with the banners of pro teams hanging from the ceiling. But my best meal so far was at South Victory’s smaller dining hall — a juicy, tender barbecued chicken breast that rose above the usual mass-produced flair. Best service: The smiling, friendly soldiers who operate the Joint Visitors Bureau.

• Camp Fallujah: Two dining halls, both about average for Iraq. Extra credit for snack-sized bags of trail mix and jerky.

• Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar: OK, so it’s far away from Iraq; the bathrooms are called “Cadillacs;” you can get a beer on base, and there’s a swimming pool. But nothing in life is perfect — the three dining facilities here are just as good as, but no better than, the average mess hall in Iraq.

• Camp Falcon: Crowded, no cafeteria trays, and I’m deprived of the banana-flavored milk I’ve become so addicted to. But all was forgiven the moment I bit into my first white chocolate Macadamia nut cookie.


A farewell to Leathernecks

Camp Victory, Baghdad — Jan. 3, 12:15 p.m.

Last night, we left the Marines for what is probably the last time on this trip. Having spent most of the past three years covering the Air Force, I wasn’t sure how I’d react to Marines — or how they’d react to me.

I can understand now the Corps’ reputation as public-relations savvy. It’s hard not to admire their do-more-with-less attitude, the odd mix of gruff and friendly found in so many of their NCOs.

It’s probably not what the Marine Corps would choose to advertise, but what I suspect I will remember long after my other memories of this trip fade is the average Marine’s amazing facility with certain curse words. Now, I use words for a living, and I’ve been known to use a foul one now and again. But I will never, ever use any word as creatively as any randomly selected lance corporal can use the F-word.

My all-time favorite: We spent Christmas Eve with Echo Co., 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, at Camp Snake Pit in Ramadi. After the battalion’s chaplain had said mass in the company’s tiny chow hall, he boarded a convoy for appointments later that night at other camps in the area — only to turn back because of gunfire on the convoy route.

As I stood in the dark, damp, chilly evening while he waited for details of a new convoy, a Marine walked up, and announced to the chaplain’s assistant, “OK, we’re putting the f…ing chaplain in this f…ing vehicle, and we’re moving down this f…king street.”

Offensive? You bet. But I couldn’t help but laugh. Neither could the chaplain, after he had a second to recover.

• • • • •

Before we left Camp Fallujah, I had a wrap-up interview with Lt. Gen. John Sattler, commander of I Marine Expeditionary Force, the overall Marine command in Iraq.

At the end of a conversation about Iraqi elections, the failings of the country’s police force — all the difficult issues facing the U.S. military here — Sattler asked if I could include a message in one of my stories. It doesn’t really seem to fit in anything I’m working on at the moment, but this seems the place to pass it along.

“If you could just let people back home know their support has been amazing,” Sattler said, reeling off a list of church groups, civic organizations and just folks who had sent the Marines here box after box of holiday goodies, hygiene gear, paperbacks, cards and letters.

I’d gotten a similar message from Capt. Ed Rapisarda, commander of 2/5’s Fox Co., which had seen some of the most difficult and dangerous fighting in the country.

“We’ve gotten hundreds of boxes from all over the U.S., with candy or socks or a book or whatever,” he said. “We’re just very thankful. It helps to have that support.”

As U.S. forces have become more established in fixed camps here, quality of life improvements have made those care packages perhaps a bit less important, in a material sense — even a soft civilian reporter can walk to the local BX and pick up enough familiar items to feel somewhat comfortable.

That doesn’t mean all those boxes are any less important than when a shipment of baby wipes was the highlight of a troop’s month. U.S. forces see those packages as signs that, regardless of political disputes over the justification or conduct of the war, people back home still care.


A beginner’s education

Ramadi, Iraq — Dec. 27, 4:25 p.m.

I couldn’t see the look on the interpreter’s face through his olive drab bandana, but he sounded concerned.

“Sir, you are a journalist?” the Iraqi native walking with the Marines asked me as we picked our way across a muddy field at the start of a patrol.

“Yep,” I answered.

“Why do you not carry a camera?”

“Well, I’m the reporter. I just take notes, not pictures.”

He paused a moment. “If you don’t mind my offering some advice, you should carry a camera. Otherwise they will think bad things about you,” he said, gesturing to the neighborhood ahead.

“What kind of bad things?” I asked.

“Oh, they will think you are Mossad,” he answered. “Believe me, these are my people. I know.”

The Mossad, Israel’s version of the CIA, is of course the epitome of evil in the Arab world. Apparently, a civilian carrying only a notebook could only be an Israeli spy.

Paranoid? Maybe. But as we continued the patrol with Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, I suddenly felt suspicious eyes upon me. Children who approached Marines begging for candy stared at me, smiles falling from their faces.

I’m pretty sure I imagined it all. But my discomfort is a good beginner’s education in what the Marines and soldiers patrolling Ramadi’s streets deal with every day.

In Fallujah, the other Iraqi city where we’ve spent significant time, the streets have been free of civilians until the past few days. Most of the city’s 250,000 to 300,000 residents fled in advance of the U.S. assault on the city in November.

Ramadi, just a few miles west of Fallujah, is a bustling hub, the capital of Anbar province. Marines at their collection of bases on the city’s west side hear the hum and blaring horns of traffic on Highway 10 just outside their gates. Patrols are met by waving children, hopeful for a handout of candy or a much-prized soccer ball, while parents look on, sometimes approvingly, occasionally hostile, but most often unreadable, their feelings hidden behind blank faces and a language barrier.

The presence of civilians enormously complicates life for troops here. Every pedestrian brings to mind a host of questions: Where did he come from? What is he carrying? Doesn’t he look a little like the guy who took potshots at our observation post last week? And is that the angry look of a man insulted by the occupation of his country, or that of one ready to do violence?


‘What are you doing this summer?’

Camp Fallujah, Iraq — Dec. 22, 5 p.m.

The lesson of Lt. Col. Kevin Hansen’s career: Maybe you can be a little too smart at Naval War College.

Little more than a year ago, Hansen was a Marine Corps Reserve fighter pilot just coming off a tour on U.S. Central Command’s air operations staff and beginning his studies at the war college.

Among his instructors: Col. John Ballard, who was preparing for a tour in Iraq as commander of the Marines’ 4th Civil Affairs Group. Ballard’s class included a student exercise simulating a massive civil-military operation — post-combat stabilization, humanitarian aid, relations with local leaders in a fictional country, the works.

Hansen served as the J-3 — the planning officer — for the exercise. And when it was over, Ballard tapped him on the shoulder and asked, “What are you doing this summer?” That innocent-sounding question led to Hansen’s standing before a group of reporters Wednesday, explaining the plan for returning 200,000 refugees to the city of Fallujah. As Fallujah plans officer for the 4th CAG, Hansen was the chief architect of that plan — a far cry from his previous career, flying F/A-18s for the Marine Corps and, in the civilian world, Boeing 737s for Delta Air Lines.

You bump into a lot of people like Hansen over here — men and women in uniform doing jobs they never dreamed of. The U.S. military has had to stretch its people to the max in Iraq, asking not only for their time and willingness to go in harm’s way, but for enormous flexibility in adapting to new jobs.

Hansen freely admits he knew little about civil affairs before Ballard tapped him. Now he’s in charge of what might be the most important civil-affairs operation in U.S. military history. The top commanders in Iraq say if they can rebuild Fallujah, bring it back into mainstream Iraqi life, they’ll have won an important battle against the country’s insurgents.

If that task fails, the entire Fallujah operation — including hundreds of Marines, soldiers and sailors killed or wounded — will have to be considered a failure as well.

Asked if the city is ready, Hansen, a normally quiet, reserved guy, begins to show some fighter-pilot confidence.

“We have to get this right,” he says. “And we will.”


cont.

[thedrifter]

At a Spartan Marine base, a Garden of Eden

Camp Fallujah — Dec. 17, 5:30 p.m.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything for the blog, for a variety of reasons: we’ve been busy; we’ve been in the city of Fallujah, and we’ve had the minor communication problems that plague journalists here. (It’s been kind of reassuring, actually, to see the 10 or so other journalists here occasionally suffering from the same satellite brown-outs and balky laptops that we’ve had to deal with.)

Mostly, though, I think it’s that I have a hard time knowing what to make of Camp Fallujah.

Compared to other places we’ve been — Camp Victory, Balad Air Base, certainly Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar — Camp Fallujah is the kind of Spartan environment for which the Marine Corps is famous. Still, our tents are heated; there are even pillows and extra blankets. And the water in the shower is always plenty hot, which has been extremely welcome on recent mornings when we’ve had to be careful not to slip on the sheen of ice that has formed on mud puddles overnight.

There is plenty of mud to be had here, plenty of sights and sounds that say “austere forward operating base.” While the Army’s 1st Infantry Division, for example, is headquartered in a palace near Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit, Lt. Gen. John Sattler and the I Marine Expeditionary Force make do with a confounding office building — a maze of low, winding corridors and open walkways with little charm.

Even so, I think this might be my favorite of the dozen or so bases I’ve visited in the region. While there’s plenty of mud and ugly former military buildings, there are also more trees here than any base I’ve visited: date palms; eucalyptus; some kind of evergreen I haven’t been able to identify; and another variety I don’t recognize, with frond-like branches that remind me of ash and seed cases that look like foot-long pea pods. I keep meaning to search the Internet for their names.

Near our tent there’s a garden — small, a tad overgrown, with broken branches blocking the walkway. It’s still the only place I’ve seen in Iraq that invites the kind of Sunday stroll you’d take through your neighborhood back home. Flowering bushes with brilliant purple-red blossoms line one walkway, still present despite the cold. Along the back wall is a stand of eucalyptus, which you feel more than smell as you walk by. If aroma had color, this would be pale, ice blue.

Of course, you can’t spend a half-hour here without becoming aware of what’s still going on nearby. Fighter-bombers and attack helicopters constantly swirl overhead. Field guns — booming 155mm artillery — fire with disturbing regularity into the surrounding countryside. This morning, walking back to our tent, I had to move quickly to the side of the road to make room for a Marine ambulance, speeding to the base’s Bravo Surgical Company.

So, every walk in the garden ends up tinged with guilt. I haven’t decided yet if the garden is a welcome diversion, or the kind of place too frivolous for war.

Stuck outside of Baghdad with the Fallujah blues again

Camp Victory, Baghdad — Dec. 6, 1:20 p.m.

We arrived back here last night after what could only be termed a hard-luck weekend.

We left Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, home of the coalition air forces headquarters in the Middle East, on Friday, hoping to get here by helicopter within a couple days. We were eager to get back to the Marine Expeditionary Force because the Marines’ area of operations includes some of the toughest regions in Iraq, even after the recapture of Fallujah.

But through a series of unfortunate events — I won’t bore you with the details, other than to say they don’t make me look too smart — my laptop and some of our other electronic equipment ended up on the losing end of a confrontation with a Ford Explorer. While not quite fatal to our efforts here, losing that equipment meant things instantly got a lot harder — not to mention the fact that I was responsible for the destruction of a few thousand dollars’ worth of my employer’s property.

So, as we sat waiting for a helicopter ride from Camp Victory, near Baghdad, to Camp Fallujah, I sat in the cold contemplating the depressing facts. Appropriately, one of the helicopters set to take us here had a maintenance problem, so a flight scheduled to leave around midnight was still sitting on the ramp, and we were still shivering in the winter chill at 3:30 a.m.

Then a funny thing happened. I stumbled into a conversation with someone who not only provided a valuable reminder that the military is made up of all sorts of folks, but told a story that made it truly difficult to be depressed about anything.

We had met him a few days before, an Air Force captain with an interesting military background — prior enlisted service, a couple of breaks in service, studied at lots of interesting schools and interesting assignments. He and Lloyd shared stories of spots in Jordan and Egypt they both had visited, comparing notes on local dishes and reviews of cut-rate lodgings.

Saturday night, as we awaited the helicopter flight that was not to be, he strolled up, pack on his shoulder, hoping to board the same flight, aiming for a camp near Ramadi. In between updates on the maintenance situation, we struck up a conversation on the edge of the darkened helicopter landing pad unlike any I’ve ever had with someone in uniform. I won’t share his name — we weren’t ever in notebook-out, on-the-record mode, and besides, he’s an intelligence officer, and those folks tend to shy away from that sort of attention.

He told stories — and he was a fine story-teller — about his job in a Manhattan art gallery, and of the joy of placing his own watercolors in a gallery for the first time, with an art dealer in Texas. He smiled broadly while describing his hopes of landing a spot as an Air Force Academy instructor after his deployment here. And he told, with just the proper degree of drama, of a flight in the days before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, when the reconnaissance plane he was aboard was briefly chased by an Iraqi MiG fighter.

Mostly he talked about his children: his young son’s wrestling matches with their giant dog, and the story of their daughter’s adoption — one that would get you laughed out of town if you pitched it to a network movie-of-the week producer.

Military men and women — men in particular, perhaps — fit into a pretty narrow band of public perception. English-degree-holding, watercolor-painting intel officers don’t really fit anywhere in that band. It was a valuable reminder that there are all sorts of fascinating people here.

By 4 a.m., when we gave up on the night’s flight and headed back to the base’s temporary lodging tents, I still didn’t have a laptop, and I wasn’t sure how we were going to tackle that problem. Somehow, though, I was a lot less depressed than I should have been. Amazing the difference one enlightening conversation can make.

• • • • •

Past Weblog entries:

• Another day, another doughnut … •
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/stor...925-582813.php

• Living (relatively) large at Camp Victory •
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/stor...925-582809.php

• Hospitality in a most inhospitable place •
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/stor...925-541335.php

• Moving day — out of Balad, on to Fallujah •
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/stor...925-526704.php

• Doughnut of Misery •
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/stor...925-502237.php

• The places no one wants to go •
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/stor...925-502225.php

• ‘They’re getting pounded up there’ •
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/stor...925-502204.php

• • • • •

To readers kind enough to spend a few minutes here, this Internet diary, Weblog, whatever you care to call it, is something of an experiment. Some of what you’ll read, like the paragraphs above, are my personal observations. But I’d like it to be largely about you readers — many of whom will have family, friends and co-workers deployed at the locations we’ll visit. We want to hear from you about story ideas, questions we can help answer, concerns you have. Drop us a line at the e-mail addresses above, and help us experiment in interactive, Internet-based reporting.

Ellie