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Blackfive: An Advertising Opportunity: And Much More |
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Monday, 06 September 2010 |
After the Wedding of the Century yesterday, Blackfive suggested we go public with part of something that we are working on. Short version for now, but there is a chance to send one of us on embed for at least three months, and to maybe do some good things for the troops while that is being done. What we need are advertisers/sponsors who would like to have their organization thanked, linked, and possibly even their logo displayed on every post that goes up here (and maybe even at another well read site). To sweeten the pot, in addition to Sole, Prime, and Choice advertising/sponsorship opportunities, there is a way to obtain some tax advantages as well. Finally, above the embed, is the chance to sponsor some special events during that period of time. If you are interested in the possibility of being an advertiser/sponsor, drop me a line at wolf1 at laughingwolf dot goes here net and I can send full details including marketing demographics. LWread
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Mudville Gazette: Americans in Combat in Iraq |
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Monday, 06 September 2010 |
Guess the AP meant it when they said they arent playing along with the fraud:Days after the U.S. officially ended combat operations and touted Iraqs ability to defend itself, American troops found themselves battling heavily armed militants assaulting an Iraqi military headquarters in the center of Baghdad on Sunday.Not sure what the seven militants hoped to achieve. Theyre all dead and they made the papers - if that was their goal they succeeded. But they wouldnt have without a White...read
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Bill Roggio: Suicide bomber kills 19 in attack on Pakistani police station |
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Monday, 06 September 2010 |
The attack took place in the northwestern district of Lakki Marwat. The suicide attack is the fourth in Pakistan since Sept. 1.read
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Blackfive: These guys are nuts |
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Monday, 06 September 2010 |
These guys are nuts.read
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Bill Roggio: IMU-linked Taliban district commander killed in Takhar raid |
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Sunday, 05 September 2010 |
The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan-linked commander was killed during that raid that resulted in the capture of a senior military commissioner and newly minted deputy shadow governor.read
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Blackfive: Iran pays bounties on US dead |
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Sunday, 05 September 2010 |
Seems to me it is past time to re-clench the fist – this time with a big hammer in it: Iran is paying Taliban fighters $1,000 for each U.S. soldier they kill in Afghanistan, according to a report in a British newspaper. The Sunday Times described how a man it said was a "Taliban treasurer" had gone to collect $18,000 from an Iranian firm in Kabul, a reward it said was for an attack in July which killed several Afghan government troops and destroyed an American armored vehicle. […] In addition to the $1,000 bounty on U.S. troops, the unnamed man said Iran paid $6,000 for the destruction of a U.S. military vehicle. Full story here.read
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Bill Roggio: Iraqi troops repel al Qaeda suicide assault on Baghdad base |
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Sunday, 05 September 2010 |
Five suicide bombers, four Iraqi soldiers, and three civilians were reported killed in the daylight assault on a military headquarters in Rusafa.read
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Bill Roggio: US airstrike kills 8 in North Waziristan |
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Saturday, 04 September 2010 |
The strike took place in Data Khel, a region under the control of Hafiz Gul Bahadar.read
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Blackfive: China in Kashmir |
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Saturday, 04 September 2010 |
Take note of these Chinese troops in Kashmir, with Islamabad's apparent permission, securing their railroad. China's railroad made an appearance in the Grand Strategy post. [China has] just built a hugely expensive railroad through their Xinjiang province, in part to be able to access some of those buried resources in Afghanistan. They can't afford for the region to fall into chaos such that they cannot extract resources. They also wish to compete with Pakistan, Iran and especially India for influence. Watch this development, as it is both expected and yet still quite interesting.read
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Mudville Gazette: Speaking of Afghanistan... |
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Saturday, 04 September 2010 |
Actually, we havent been speaking of Afghanistan lately - a measure of the success of White Houses emphasis on Iraq. But heres the full text of Secretary Gates speech to the American Legion - one I was privileged to view in person. A quick excerpt:...beginning a responsible transition to Afghan control next summer is so important. That being said, as the President has frequently noted, we are not turning off the lights next July. As in Iraq, our drawdown will...read
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Bill Roggio: 'Taliban military commissioner' captured in Afghan north |
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Saturday, 04 September 2010 |
Six Taliban fighters were killed during a raid in Takhar that targeted the newly minted deputy shadow governor. The Taliban leader held the job for one day.read
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Blackfive: Uh Oh - Brits lost some weapons and guess who might have them now? |
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Saturday, 04 September 2010 |
At the Daily Telegraph is a story about an investigation into some missing weapons that are feared to be in the hands of the Taliban: ...Serious questions are being asked about a cover-up by commanders in Helmand after the 59 Minimi machine guns were not reported missing for almost a year. The theft was revealed only when American forces recovered two of the guns following a battle with the Taliban. Liam Fox, the Defence Secretary, who was told about the incident this week, is said to be furious that the weapons were allowed to be taken by the insurgents and, potentially, could have been used against British troops... Read the whole report at the DT.read
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Mudville Gazette: Shivers |
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Saturday, 04 September 2010 |
Memo to colleagues from AP standards editor:To begin with, combat in Iraq is not over, and we should not uncritically repeat suggestions that it is, even if they come from senior officials. The situation on the ground in Iraq is no different today than it has been for some months. Iraqi security forces are still fighting Sunni and al-Qaida insurgents. Many Iraqis remain very concerned for their countrys future despite a dramatic improvement in security, the economy and living conditions...read
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Michael Yon: One Cell Phone at a Time: Countering Corruption in Afghanistan |
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Saturday, 04 September 2010 |
piDan Rice and Guy Filippelli/i/ppAmerican commanders are preparing for a major offensive in Afghanistan to attack one of the most formidable enemies we face in country: corruption.nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Despite sincere efforts to promote governance and accountability initiatives, Afghanistan has slipped from 112th to158th place on Transparency International’s global corruption index.nbsp;nbsp; One reason the international community has been unable to effectively tackle corruption in Afghanistan is that our own reconstruction efforts perpetuate the problem. As Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton recently acknowledged, “Corruption, frankly… is not all an Afghan problem.”nbsp;nbsp; Money appropriated to secure and stabilize the country is too easily siphoned and redirected as it changes hands, inevitably making its way to local powerbrokers, insurgent networks, and offshore bank accounts, rather than the individuals who need it most. One solution to this problem lies in the palm of our hands: the mighty cell phone./ppWhen Americans first entered Afghanistan in 2001 there was little infrastructure and no banking system in an entirely cash economy. Nine years later it is still a cash economy and 97% of the country remains “unbanked”, but Afghanistan’s thriving telecom industry offers a way to minimize graft. From a standing start, Afghanistan now boasts a cellular network of 12 million cell phones in country of 28 million. Mobile technology is the largest legal, taxpaying industry in Afghanistan and the single greatest economic success story in the country since the fall of the Taliban. The existing network also offers a proven way to help defeat corruption./ppIn 2009, the Afghan National Police began a test to pay salaries through mobile telephones, rather than in cash. It immediately found that at least 10% of its payments had been going to ghost policemen who didn’t exist; middlemen in the police hierarchy were pocketing the difference.nbsp; Salaries for Afghan police and soldiers are calculated to be competitive with Taliban salaries, but beat cops and deployed soldiers had been receiving only a fraction of the amount paid by US taxpayers because of corruption in the payment system.nbsp; Most Afghan cops assumed that they had been given a significant raise, when, in fact, they simply received their full pay for the first time--over the phone. /ppAs the US enters a critical year in Afghanistan with unprecedented amounts of international assisread
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Blackfive: Iraqi TV Prank Show |
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Friday, 03 September 2010 |
Tantor sends this gem: All during Ramadan the Iraqi TV show "Put Him In [Camp] Bucca" has been planting fake bombs in the cars of prominent Iraqis, busting them at bogus checkpoints, and filming the fun. To add to the comedy, the cops tell him they may have to execute him. And really, what's funnier than a car bomb? There's a video of one caper, which is funny even if you don't understand Arabic: http://hotair.com/archives/2010/09/03/fun-new-iraqi-tv-prank-show-planting-fake-bombs-in-peoples-cars-at-security-checkpoints/ Those silly Iraqis. #End Posted via email from blackfive's posterousread
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Bill Roggio: Suicide bomber strikes police station in Tajikistan |
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Friday, 03 September 2010 |
One policeman was killed, 30 were wounded, and one is missing after a suicide bomber rammed a car packed with explosives into a police headquarters in Khujand.read
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Bill Roggio: Taliban kill 55 in suicide attacks against religious minorities in Quetta and Mardan |
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Friday, 03 September 2010 |
Fifty-four Shia were killed during a protest in Quetta and an Ahmadi was killed at a mosque in Mardan.read
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Blackfive: Presidential military leadership "Scandalous" |
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Friday, 03 September 2010 |
Probably the most important column that you'd read today is from Charles Krauthammer about President Obama's reasons for setting a hard withdrawal date for Afghanistan. ...How did Obama come to this decision? "Our Afghan policy was focused as much as anything on domestic politics," an Obama adviser told the New York Times' Peter Baker. "He would not risk losing the moderate to centrist Democrats in the middle of health insurance reform and he viewed that legislation as the make-or-break legislation for his administration." If this is true, then Obama's military leadership can only be called scandalous... Read the whole piece at the WashPo. And over at Commentary, Peter Wehner, adds more. ...Here is a paragraph from a June 23 Washington Post article on the controversy then surrounding General Stanley McChrystal: McChrystal’s apparent disdain for his civilian colleagues, and the facts on the ground in Afghanistan, have exposed the enduring fault lines in the agreement Obama forged last fall among policymakers and military commanders. In exchange for approving McChrystal’s request for more troops and treasure, Obama imposed, and the military accepted, two deadlines sought by his political aides. In December, one year after the strategy was announced, the situation would be reviewed and necessary adjustments made. In July 2011, the troops would begin to come home. [emphasis added] These are damning admissions — war policies not only being influenced by partisan considerations but in important respects being driven by them. In embracing a new counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan, President Obama made the right decision. At the same time, he made a political accommodation on the withdrawal date, which we now know is undermining our efforts... Read the whole piece at Commentary. I believe that most reasonable people would agree that socialized medicine should not be the driving factor in military decisions. To be fair, this is the text of President Obama's speech on the end of combat operations in Iraq, which we should note, turned into a speech about the American economy:...Within Afghanistan, I have ordered the deployment of additional troops who–under the command of General David Petraeus –are fighting to break the Taliban’s momentum. As with the surge in Iraq, these forces will be in place for a limited time to provide space for the Afghans to build their capacity and secure their own future. But, as was the case in Iraq, we cannot do for Afgread
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Mudville Gazette: The Theater of War (part two) |
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Friday, 03 September 2010 |
Continuing a discussion begun here. Heres our combined Iraq violence chart from the previous entry (click the graphic for a larger version): Two points cant be denied: Enemy attacks (security incidents), along with deaths of Iraqi civilians and American troops, plunged rapidly throughout the summer and fall of 2007, and continued downward thereafter. Violence was ongoing in Iraq. Rather than describe how this period of rapid decline in violence was described to the American public via the media, Ill let...read
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Bill Roggio: US Predators strike in North Waziristan: Report |
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Friday, 03 September 2010 |
The attack took place in Miramshah, the headquarters of the Haqqani Network.read
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