Wire: With Combat Over, US Troops Battle in Baghdad

Off the Wire:

WASHINGTON, Sept. 5, 2010 -- Newswire services this evening reported that just days after President Barack Obama touted the end of U.S. combat operations and Iraq's ability to defend itself, American troops found themselves battling heavily armed militants assaulting an Iraqi military headquarters in the center of Baghdad on Sunday.

The fighting killed 12 people and wounded dozens, AP said.

It was the first exchange of fire involving U.S. troops in Baghdad since the Aug. 31 deadline for formally ending the combat mission, and it showed that American troops remaining in the country are still being drawn into the fighting.

The attack also made plain the kind of lapses in security that have left Iraqis wary of the U.S. draw-down and distrustful of the ability of Iraqi forces now taking up ultimate responsibility for protecting the country.

Sunday's hour-long assault was the second in as many weeks on the facility, the headquarters for the Iraqi Army's 11th Division, pointing to the failure of Iraqi forces to plug even the most obvious holes in their security.

The number of U.S. troops has fallen from a high of 170,000 to just under 50,000 this August; all U.S. troops must be out of Iraq by 2012, AP noted.

(Report from newswire sources.)

Source.

Wire: In Iraq, the War's Name has Changed but the War Remains the Same

Off the Wire:

Operation Iraqi Freedom is now Operation New Dawn

WASHINGTON, Sept. 2, 2010 -- Newswire services yesterday reported that even as President Barack Obama was announcing the end of combat in Iraq, American soldiers were sealing off a northern village as their Iraqi partners raided houses and arrested dozens of suspected insurgents.

The Associated Press noted that while the U.S. has reduced number of troops and the White House has re-branded the mission, the operation in Hawija was a reminder that U.S. forces are still engaged in hunting down and killing al-Qaida militants and may have to use lethal force to defend themselves against attacks.

That reality was front and center at a change-of-command ceremony in one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces outside Baghdad that the American military now uses as its headquarters. Officials warned of a tough road ahead as the U.S. moves into the final phase of the 7 1/2-year war.

Of paramount concern is Iraqi leaders' continued bickering, six months after parliamentary elections, over forming a new government -- a political impasse that could further endanger stability and fuel a diminished but still dangerous insurgency.

"Iraq still faces a hostile enemy who is determined to hinder progress," Gen. Lloyd Austin, the newly installed commander of the just under 50,000 U.S. troops still in Iraq, told the swelling crowd that was clad in military fatigues and political suits. "Make no mistake, our military forces here and those of the Iraqi nation remain committed to ensuring that our friends in Iraq succeed."

{. . .}

The remaining U.S. forces in Iraq would be "as combat ready, if need be, as any in our military," Biden said, flanked by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen for the 75-minute ceremony, which also changed the U.S. mission's name from "Operation Iraqi Freedom" to "Operation New Dawn."

AP said that three years ago, about 170,000 U.S. troops were in Iraq. Of those who remain, fewer than 10 percent -- or 4,500 -- are special forces who will regularly go on raids and capture terrorists, albeit alongside Iraqi troops.

(Report from newswire sources.)

Source.

Rolling Stone? Really?

UPDATE: Here's a different view. Writing in The Atlantic, Marc Ambinder says Gen. McChrystal is a social liberal much like President Barack Obama (for whom he voted in the 2008 election) who welcomed gays into his inner circle, who disdained Fox News, and "who grew increasingly frustrated with his reputation as Dick Cheney's hired assassin."

Read it.

Understanding McChrystal's politics may go a long way to explain unguarded comments to a writer from Rolling Stone.

A profile piece on Gen. Stanley McChrystal appears in the upcoming edition of Rolling Stone magazine.

Did anybody actually READ the article before they reported on it?

Nope. Reporters wrote stories last night based on leaks of the article.

Somehow I doubt many folks have read the article.

Then again, Rolling Stone isn't the type of source for trusted, objective, mature news to which any skilled reporter would normally look for a story.

What's next? Will the media get outraged about comments appearing in Mad Magazine? (Forget about how the media ignored The National Enquirer story about John Edwards.)

Here's a link to a copy of the Rolling Stone article.

Wire: Under Obama, US Troop Deaths Double in Afghanistan

Off the Wire:

WASHINGTON, March 27, 2010 -- Newswire services this morning reported that the number of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan has roughly doubled in the first three months of 2010 compared to the same period last year.

The Associated Press reported that those deaths have been accompanied by a dramatic spike in the number of wounded, with injuries more than tripling in the first two months of the year and trending in the same direction based on the latest available data for March.

U.S. officials have warned that casualties are likely to rise even further as the Pentagon completes its deployment of 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan and sets its sights on the Taliban's home base of Kandahar province, where a major operation is expected in the coming months.

[. . .]

In total, 57 U.S. troops were killed here during the first two months of 2010 compared with 28 in January and February of last year, an increase of more than 100 percent, according to Pentagon figures compiled by The Associated Press. At least 20 American service members have been killed so far in March, an average of about 0.8 per day, compared to 13, or 0.4 per day, a year ago.

The steady rise in combat deaths has been widely ignored by mainstream media outlets and generated less public reaction than the spike in casualties last summer and fall.

(Report from newswire sources.)

Source.

Wire: 1/3 of All US Casualties in 8-Year Afghan War Have Occurred Since Obama Ordered Escalation

Off the Wire:

WASHINGTON, Feb. 24, 2010 -- Newswire services this morning carried few if any reports of the rising American death toll in Afghanistan. However, the CNS news service reported that more than 300 U.S. soldiers have died in the region since May 15, 2009, the day when the first major wave of new troops ordered by President Barack Obama arrived in the country.

The 308 U.S. casualties in Afghanistan since then account for about a third of the total of 920 U.S. casualties in the eight-year war.

Of the 308 soldiers who have died since mid-May 2009, 287 were killed by enemy action, according to a CNSNews.com database of all casualties in the Afghanistan theatre of war.

The southern provinces of Helmand and Kandahar located along the Afghan border with Pakistan have been the deadliest regions for U.S. soldiers since President Obama's escalation in U.S. forces in the region began.

Approximately 81 U.S. soldiers have died in combat in Helmand and 58 in Kandahar, for a total of 139 in those two provinces. That is about 45 percent of the U.S. casualties in Afghanistan since May 15 of last year.

On Feb. 17, 2009, President Obama ordered the deployment of 17,000 additional troops to Afghanistan. The main body of those troops arrived in Kandahar on May 15, 2009.

In December 2009, Obama stepped up his surge with 30,000 more troops, bringing the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan to more than 100,000.

Last year was the deadliest for American soldiers since the U.S.-led military effort in Afghanistan began in October 2001.

The CNS database of Afghanistan war casualties is derived from official U.S. Defense Department casualty reports, but also includes information from reports in the news media.

CNS is parented by the Media Research Center, a media watchdog organization.

(Report from newswire sources.)

Wire: Biden Says Iraq War Wasn't Worth It

Off the Wire:

WASHINGTON, Feb. 14, 2010 -- Newswire services today reported that Vice President Joe Biden says the Iraq war hasn't been worth its "horrible price."

He claims the war was mishandled from the outset and that the U.S. took its eye off the ball. As a result, he says the U.S. was left in a more dangerous position in Afghanistan.

Biden told NBC's "Meet the Press" that the war also has cost the United States support from other nations.

Earlier this week, Biden stated on CNN's Larry King Live that "Iraq could be [the Obama] administration's greatest achievement."

Responding to Biden's CNN comments, Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, a member of the Armed Services Committee, said you cannot oppose the surge and then claim it for your legacy.

"When Joe Biden was in the Senate and Obama was in the Senate, they authored and were the chief architect of the resolution opposing the surge," he said.

The vice president also took credit for the troop drawdown.

"You're going to see 90,000 American troops come marching home by the end of the summer," he said. "You're going to see a stable government in Iraq that is actually moving toward a representative government."

But the drawdown was negotiated in the Status of Forces Agreement before the Obama administration took office.

Then Senator Joe Biden said in 2002: "We have no choice but to eliminate the threat. This is a guy who is an extreme danger to the world."

(Report from newswire sources.)

Wire: Iran Now "Nuclear State" Says Ahmadinejad

In Tehran, pro-regime supporters shout slogans while a caricature of U.S. President Barack Obama joins a sea of Iranian flags, February 11, 2010.

Off the Wire:

WASHINGTON, Feb. 11, 2010 -- Newswire services this morning reported that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran has produced highly enriched nuclear material in defiance of the West, as his country on Thursday marked the anniversary of its 1979 Islamic revolution.

Iran is now a "nuclear state" Ahmadinejad announced this morning.

The French news agency AFP reported that Ahmadinejad said, "The head of the atomic energy organisation said the first stock of 20 percent fuel was produced and delivered to scientists." in a speech at Tehran's Azadi [Freedom] Square before a crowd of hundreds of thousands.

AFP, however, also noted that a restricted document of the International Atomic Energy Agency which monitors Iran's nuclear work revealed on Thursday that the country would produce its first batch of higher enriched uranium "within a few days."

IAEA chief Yukiya Amano wrote in the one-page report that Iran had informed agency inspectors that it had "begun to feed the low-enriched uranium (LEU) into one cascade [of uranium-enriching] centrifuges" at its plant in Natanz.

Iran to produce higher enriched uranium in days: IAEA

"They were also told that it was expected that the facility would begin to produce up to 20 percent enriched [uranium] within a few days," according to Amano.

The IAEA head added that "it should be noted that there is currently only one cascade installed in [Natanz] that is capable of enriching the LEU up to 20 percent."

See links below for details.

(Report from newswire sources.)

Sources:
Iran is now a 'nuclear state' says Ahmadinejad as thousands take to the streets
Ahmadinejad: Iran has produced high grade uranium
Iran proclaims new success in uranium enrichment

Wire: White House Says Obama Critics Helping al-Qaeda

Off the Wire:

"Critics are ... clueless."

WASHINGTON, Feb. 9, 2010 -- Newswire services this morning reported that in an opinion column published in USA Today, John Brennan -- Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism -- responded to critics of the Obama administration's counterterrorism policies by saying "Politically motivated criticism and unfounded fear-mongering only serve the goals of al-Qaeda."

ABC News reported that in the oped, titled "'We need no lectures': Administration disrupts terrorists’ plots, takes fight to them abroad," Brennan writes that politics "should never get in the way of national security. But too many in Washington are now misrepresenting the facts to score political points, instead of coming together to keep us safe."

The administration op-ed is in response to a USA Today editorial entitled "National security team fails to inspire confidence; Officials’ handling of Christmas Day attack looks like amateur hour."

Brennan provides a detailed defense of the administration's handling of failed Christmas Day bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab whom, he says, was "thoroughly interrogated and provided important information."

He suggests that many critics are hypocritical and clueless.

See link below for details.

(Report from newswire sources.)

Source: WH: Some Critics 'Serving the Goals of al Qaeda'*

Wire: Senator Blocks All Obama Nominees Amid Air Force Tanker Feud

Off the Wire:

WASHINGTON, Feb. 5, 2010 -- Newswire services today reported that a U.S. Senator has taken the step of blocking more than 70 of President Barack Obama's nominees amid a dispute over a U.S. Air Force tanker deal, Senate aides said Friday.

French news agency AFP reported that Senator Richard Shelby, the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, placed a blanket "hold" in part because of the feud pitting Airbus parent EADS and its partner Northrop Grumman against Boeing, his office said.

The U.S. Senate frequently approves non-controversial nominees without a formal roll-call vote, with a "unanimous consent" determination that can be blocked by just one senator, requiring a time-consuming process and 60-votes in the 100-seat chamber to overcome.

Shelby "has placed holds on several pending nominees due to unaddressed national security concerns," his spokesman, Jonathan Graffeo, said in a statement that cited the tanker dispute as a key reason for the move.

The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company and its rival Boeing have been locked in a long-running rivalry to win a 35-billion-dollar contract for a fleet of new aerial refueling tankers.

The EADS/Northrop partnership would build the airplane in Shelby's home state of Alabama but have accused the Pentagon of favoring Boeing in a draft request for proposal and warned they may withdraw from the competition.

"Nearly 10 years after the U.S. Air Force announced plans to replace the aging tanker fleet, we still do not have a transparent and fair acquisition process to move forward," said Graffeo.

"The Department of Defense must recognize that the draft Request for Proposal needs to be significantly and substantively changed," said the spokesman.

Shelby is also "deeply concerned" that Obama may block the construction of an FBI center in Alabama to test improvised explosive devices -- the "roadside bombs" that have killed hundreds of U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"This decision impedes the U.S. military, the intelligence community, and federal law enforcement personnel in their missions to exploit and analyze intelligence information critical to fighting terrorism and ensuring American security worldwide," said Graffeo.

(Report from newswire sources.)

Pentagon Discuses 'Evolving' Extremist Threat to US

News in Balance:

WASHINGTON, Feb. 3, 2010 -- The violent extremist threat is evolving, senior U.S. intelligence officials told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence yesterday.

Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair and CIA Director Leon Panetta told lawmakers that al-Qaida remains at the center of the extremist threat against the United States.

Meanwhile, al-Qaida, its affiliates, and other terror groups are changing as they continue to plot and attempt attacks, the intelligence officials said.

"My greatest concern and what keeps me awake at night is that al-Qaida and its terrorist allies and affiliates could very well attack the United States in our homeland," Panetta told the senators.

"We have made the complex, multiple-team attacks very difficult for al-Qaida to pull off," Blair, a retired Navy admiral, said. "As we saw with the recent successful and attempted terrorist attacks, however, identifying individual terrorists, small groups with short histories using simple attack methods, is a new degree of difficulty."

Al-Qaida is adapting to the new situation. "What's happening is that they are moving to other safe havens and to other regional nodes in places like Yemen and Somalia, the Maghreb and others," Panetta said.

Trends in the Muslim world show a decreasing minority of the population support violent extremism. "But even with a decreasing and smaller amount, al-Qaida's radical ideology still seems to appeal strongly to some disaffected young Muslims, a pool of potential suicide bombers and other fighters," Blair said. "And this pool unfortunately includes Americans."

Blair said the United States does not have the same high-level, home-grown threat that Europe faces now, but self-radicalizing people will continue to be a problem and may grow.

The threat to the United States comes more from "lone-wolf" terrorists, Panetta said.

"We are being aggressive at going after this threat," he said. "We've expanded our human intelligence. We are engaging with our liaison partners in other countries to try to track these kinds of threats. We obviously are checking and reviewing watch-lists and other lists to determine who among them could be that potential lone wolf. And we are taking the fight to the enemy, and we will continue to do that."

But this may not be enough. "However much we improve our intelligence -- and we intend to improve it even more than it is -- we cannot count on it to catch every threat," Blair said.

Mounting intensified counterterrorism efforts in the Afghan-Pakistan region as well as in places like Yemen, Somalia and elsewhere, he said, will "be critical to further diminishing the threat."

In Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Taliban has increased its influence and expanded the insurgency, Blair said. That's why the United States and its allies need to reverse the Taliban's momentum while reinforcing security elsewhere, he said.

Another goal is to improve Afghan security forces, governance and economic capabilities, Blair said, so security gains will endure and can be transferred to the Afghans.

"Early successes in places like Helmand, where Marines have been deployed for several months, where aggressive counter-drug and economic programs are in place, and where local governance is competent show that we can make solid progress even when the threat is high," he said.

Last year, Blair cited the global financial meltdown as a danger to the security of the world. "But an unprecedented policy response by governments and central banks around the world laid a foundation for global recovery that most forecasters expect will continue through 2010, although high unemployment and pockets of difficulty will still persist," he said.

Meanwhile, China is becoming a bigger world player thanks to its burgeoning economy, Blair said. China's economy, he said, "will grow from being a third of the size of that of the U.S. to roughly half by 2015, an earlier date than we had previously projected."

The Chinese, indeed, are playing a larger role on the world stage, with its naval forces helping anti-piracy efforts off Somalia and through contributions to the International Monetary Fund.

But there are worrying trends too, Blair said, as the Chinese continue their military build-up.

"Preparation for a Taiwan conflict involving a U.S. intervention continues to dominate their modernization and contingency plans," Blair said of China's efforts to bulk up its military capabilities. "And China also increasingly worries about how to protect its global interests."

Meanwhile, Iranian leaders are keeping open the option to develop nuclear weapons, Blair said. "One of the key capabilities Iran continues to develop is its uranium enrichment program," he told the senators.

"The United States and other countries announced last September that Iran for years has been building in secret a second enrichment facility near Qom," Blair said. "Overall, we continue to assess that Iran has the scientific, the technical and the industrial capacity to produce enough highly-enriched uranium for a weapon in the next few years if it choose to do so, and ultimately, to produce nuclear weapons. The central issue is a political decision to do so."

Iran also continues to test and build ballistic missiles, giving Tehran a means of delivering a possible nuclear payload, officials said.

(Report by Jim Garamone , American Forces Press Service.)

Pentagon Announces Afghanistan Force Deployment

News in Balance:

WASHINGTON, Feb. 3, 2010 -- The following news release made available Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Defense is the text of a statement announcing units for upcoming Afghanistan rotations and deployment:

The Department of Defense announced today the deployment of an additional 4,100 soldiers to Afghanistan, part of the 30,000 troops authorized by President Barack Obama on Nov. 30, 2009. The 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, from Fort Campbell, Ky., will deploy approximately 3,200 soldiers in the late summer of 2010.

The deployment of this brigade will increase the capabilities of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) as the United States continues its mission in Afghanistan. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates also approved the deployment of approximately 900 additional troops from several units, which will deploy at various times through the summer of 2010.

(Report from a U.S. Defense Department news release.)

Pentagon Discuses Obama Call for Openly Gay Military

News in Balance:

WASHINGTON, Jan. 28, 2010 -- President Barack Obama announced during his State of the Union address last night that he intends to work with Congress and the military during the year ahead to repeal the so-called “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law.

Obama said he will aim “to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are.”

“It is the right thing to do,” he said.

The president has long advocated allowing homosexuals to serve openly in the military, and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told reporters in June that he had directed Defense Department lawyers to explore ways to make the policy more flexible until the law is changed.

The law prohibits officials from inquiring into a servicemember’s sexual orientation in the absence of statements or acts that indicate the servicemember is homosexual, but allows the services to take action against servicemembers who disclose their homosexuality by word or action.

Gates told reporters in June that he had talked with the president about how to work toward his goal of overturning the policy.

“The issue that we face is, How do we begin to do preparations and, simultaneously, the administration move forward in asking the Congress to change the law?” the secretary said.

“What we have is a law, not a policy or regulation,” he said. “And as I discovered when I got into it, it is a very prescriptive law. It doesn’t leave a lot to the imagination or a lot of flexibility. So one of the things we are looking at is, Is there flexibility in how we apply this law?”

Gates cited the example of someone who’s been “outed by a third party,” possibly the result of blackmail or a jilting.

“Does that force us to take an action?” he questioned. “I don’t know the answer to that. I don’t want to pretend to. But that is the kind of thing we are looking at.”

Gates said he believes there’s “at least a more humane way to comply with the law until the law gets changed,” though he acknowledged that what that way might be is up to legal interpretation. “We have general counsel working on it,” he said.

The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law has been in effect since 1993. Previously, homosexuals were strictly banned from military service.

(Report by Donna Miles, American Forces Press Service.)

Pentagon: Administration Mulls Military Role in Haiti Beyond Relief

News in Balance:

WASHINGTON, Jan. 27, 2010 -- The U.S. government still is figuring out the details of American assistance in Haiti, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said here today, noting that Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and President Barack Obama discussed the issue yesterday.

"I think that everybody would say by now that the aid is flowing in a very productive and helpful fashion," Morrell told Pentagon reporters. "But the question now becomes, now that this immediate relief has been provided, what do we want to do from here? What can we do from here?"

Morrell characterized security in Haiti as "stable, but fragile," saying groups displaying unrest are a reflection that aid distribution is an ongoing challenge.

"We have to be mindful of the security climate there," he said. "We have to provide the kind of security that will facilitate a safe, secure flow of food, water, medicine, whatever it may be to the population."

Morrell estimated that U.S. relief efforts to date have cost hundreds of millions of dollars, and said thousands of additional forces are in the pipeline to be sent to Haiti.

"So we envision that there will be a role for the United States military for some time to come in Haiti," he said, adding that the United States is honored to carry out a relief mission in a country it's uniquely positioned to help.

"No one can provide the kinds of assistance we can, and we are happy to be doing it," he said. "It shows the world that obviously we are not a one-dimensional force; we are a force for good and try to provide assistance to those who need it around the world."

U.S. military assistance in Haiti likely is to continue for three to six months before yielding to international and non-government groups as they take on greater responsibility for the massive humanitarian relief effort there, the director of Defense Logistics Agency said yesterday.

"I think there's a commitment to continue to provide support and stay engaged until other organizations can take over the role," Navy Vice Adm. Alan Thompson told the Defense Writers Group.

"My sense would be that probably in the three- to six-month time period would be when there would be efforts to try to transition some of the support," the admiral said.

(Report by John J. Kruzel, American Forces Press Service.)

Pentagon: Security Incidents in Haiti Impede Relief Efforts

News in Balance:

WASHINGTON, Jan. 18, 2010 -- While violence in Haiti has dropped to pre-earthquake levels, security incidents in the devastated country impede efforts to deliver humanitarian assistance, the top U.S. commander in Haiti said today.

Army Lt. Gen. P.K. Keen characterized the security situation as “calm,” sounding a positive note a day after he cited increasing incidents of violence in Haiti in the midst of one of the greatest humanitarian emergencies in the history of the Americas.

In an operational update with reporters today, Keen said official U.S. sources and Haitian residents report that the number of violent incidents have declined to levels not seen since before a 7-magnitude earthquake rocked the Caribbean nation Jan. 12.

“Nevertheless, any incidents of violence impede our ability to deliver humanitarian assistance, and we have to address those, as [U.N. Stabilization Mission in Haiti] is doing in the best of their ability,” he said.

Haiti has been the focus of an expansive relief effort in the wake of the disaster, which officials believe has killed between 100,000 to 200,000 people and which the Red Cross estimates has affected some three million people.

For its part, the Defense Department has pledged up to $20 million in emergency relief funds for Haiti, and sprang troops into action following the quake, with the U.S. military footprint there expected to grow in the coming days.

About 1,700 troops, mostly from the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, are on the ground in Haiti and that number is likely to grow to 4,000-5,000 in the coming days, with roughly the same number of Marines and other forces operating from sea-based platforms, officials said.

“We need as many troops on the ground as we can, and we've identified those numbers based upon our assessment [of the situation],” Keen said. Speaking of the capital city of Port-au-Prince, he added, “There's over 3-1/2 million people here. It's a very congested area. In order to get to all the points that are needed, in order to address the situation, we need a number of troops to do that.”

Military efforts are in support of the U.S. Agency for International Development, which is orchestrating U.S. government contributions to the relief mission. Operations are focused on working with the United Nations in Haiti, international relief organizations and local responders to provide search and rescue, distribute aid and assess damage to key infrastructure, officials said.

As of 3 p.m. today, the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit from Camp Lejeune, N.C., was arriving off the coast of Haiti. The Navy-Marine Corps team on the USS Bataan Amphibious Readiness Group had begun operations meanwhile to bring water, food and medicine to those in need.

The amphibious ships are loaded with helicopters, amphibious vehicles, trucks, generators and water-purification units, said Marine Maj. Gen. Cornell Wilson, commander of U.S. Marine forces operating in Haiti. He added that Marine forces bring additional flexibility to U.S. efforts.

“Marines are well known for their capabilities in combat operations,” he said. “However, they're equally capable of conducting humanitarian assistance operations. Together with our Navy counterparts, we're bringing a robust sea-based capability to this mission.”

(Report by John J. Kruzel, American Forces Press Service.)

Pentagon: US Forces to Occupy Security Role in Haiti

News in Balance:

WASHINGTON, Jan. 17, 2010 -- The security side of U.S. humanitarian relief operations in Haiti will take on a larger role as violence increases in the aftermath of the 7-magnitude earthquake that struck five days ago, the top U.S. commander in Haiti said today.

In the midst of the massive international relief effort there, Army Lt. Gen. P.K. Keen said some incidents of violence have impeded the U.S. military's ability to support the government of Haiti.

"Our principal mission [is] humanitarian assistance, but the security component is going to be an increasing part of that," he said today on ABC's This Week. "And we're going to have to address that along with the United Nations, and we are going to have to do it quickly."

Keen said they are looking at the incidents of violence "very closely." "We do need, obviously, a safe and secure environment to continue and do the best we can with the humanitarian assistance," he said on Fox News.

Haiti has been the focus of an expansive relief effort in the wake of what one official has called one of the greatest humanitarian emergencies in the history of the Americas. Original estimates by the Red Cross were that upwards of 50,000 people were killed in the quake, but other reports elevate the figure to between 100,000 to 200,000.

Despite reports of violence in the quake's aftermath, troops from the 82nd Airborne Division yesterday delivered 70,000 bottles of water and 130,000 packages of food, said Keen, the commander of the joint task force for the Haiti relief effort that has been dubbed Operation Unified Response.

"We're going to be able to increase that every day, but that's only what we are doing," Keen, speaking on Fox News Sunday, said of the distribution of provisions. "The United Nations forces are doing likewise, as well as the international community."

The food packages, which contain some 2,300 calories designed to maintain a person's basic nutrition needs, are a fraction of the 600,000 total rations the Defense Department will provide in addition to other support made possible through funding from the up to $20 million emergency relief the department pledged to the operation in Haiti.

Implementing these efforts for the U.S. military currently are roughly 1,000 82nd Airborne Division soldiers and some 3,000 other troops working from ships docked off the Haitian coast. Two additional companies of the 82nd are due to arrive today, in addition to Marines aboard the USS Bataan and a Marine landing battalion expected in country in coming days. Officials have estimated that some 10,000 U.S. military troops would be operating in Haiti by tomorrow.

Military efforts, which are in support of the U.S. Agency for International Development that is orchestrating U.S. government contributions to the relief mission, are focused on working with the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti, international relief organizations and local responders to provide search and rescue, distribute aid and assess damage to key infrastructure, officials said.

Keen noted that domestic police forces in the Haitian capital were among those affected by the quake, which he said adds to security concerns there.

"The police that was providing security at various locations around the city of Port-au-Prince was devastated by the hurricane as well," he said on CNN's State of the Union. "So security is a concern. We're paying very close attention to it."

Keen called the earthquake a "disaster of epic proportions," adding that the military would be available for as long as it's needed, and underscoring the speed of its response.

"Our nation can be proud, because our Navy immediately turned a aircraft carrier south right after the earthquake," he said of the USS Carl Vinson, which is serving as a platform for the helicopter capabilities that currently provide the military's principal support. "And as we move other equipment in here, we'll be able to get more ground transportation to increase our tentacles out into the countryside."

As relief provisions continue being distributed in the devastated country, former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton have agreed to President Barack Obama's request to lead a major fundraising push, lending their stature to the effort in hopes of sustaining international focus on the dire situation.

The addition of the two former presidents elevates the prominence of the U.S. effort, a symbol that Obama said he hopes will carry international reverberations. The official Web site of the fund, http://www.clintonbushhaitifund.org, accepts donations and contains more information on the effort.

(Report by John J. Kruzel, American Forces Press Service.)

Wire Update: 8 Americans 5 Canadians Dead in Afghan Attacks, CIA Believed Among Those Killed

Off the Wire:

WASHINGTON, Dec. 31, 2009 -- Newswire services this morning reported that a suicide bomber at a base in Afghanistan's volatile east killed eight American civilians, U.S. officials said, the worst loss of life for Americans in the country since October. Four Canadian soldiers and a journalist were killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan's south, NATO said.

The Associated Press reported that U.S. officials in Washington said the suicide attacker detonated explosives Wednesday at Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khost province near the Afghan border with Pakistan, killing eight American civilians. A congressional official said CIA employees were believed to be among the dead.

An attacker wearing a suicide vest caused the explosion, according to a senior U.S. official in Washington. Another senior U.S. official in Washington said there were conflicting reports on the number of casualties, but that others were injured in the attack.

A senior State Department official said all of the victims were civilians. A former senior CIA officer who was stationed at the base said a combination of agency officers and contractors operated out of the remote outpost with the military and other agencies. He said contractors also might be among those who died.

The CIA has not commented or confirmed any deaths.

All the officials in Washington spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter with the media.

[. . .]

In Kabul, a spokesman for the international coalition force in Kabul said no U.S. or NATO troops were killed in the afternoon explosion. The attack was the bloodiest day for Americans since eight soldiers were killed in an insurgent attack on a base in eastern Afghanistan on Oct. 3.

In the south, NATO said that the four Canadian troops and a reporter embedded with their unit died when their armored vehicle hit a bomb while on an afternoon patrol south of Kandahar city. It's the third deadliest day for Canadians in Afghanistan since the war began.

Michelle Lang, a 34-year-old health reporter with the Calgary Herald, was the first Canadian journalist to die in Afghanistan. Lang arrived in Afghanistan just two weeks ago and on Wednesday she made her first trip beyond the safe confines of Canada's base on Kandahar Airfield.

Separately on Wednesday, AP noted that NATO questioned Afghan reports that international troops killed 10 civilians, including schoolchildren, in a weekend attack that prompted hundreds of angry Afghan protesters to burn an effigy of U.S. President Barack Obama and chant "death" to America.

AP said that several hundred Afghans demonstrated in the capital of Kabul and in the eastern city of Jalalabad where the likeness of Obama, adorned with a small American flag, burned on a pole held above demonstrators.

(Report from newswire sources.)

Wire: Al-Qaida Link in Domestic Plane Attack, White House Says Terrorism

Off the Wire:

WASHINGTON, Dec. 25, 2009 -- Newswire services this evening reported that a Northwest Airlines passenger from Nigeria, who said he was acting on al-Qaida's instructions, tried to blow up the plane Friday as it was landing in Detroit, law enforcement and national security officials said.

The Associated Press reported that passengers subdued the man and may have prevented him from detonating the explosives, the officials said.

"We believe this was an attempted act of terrorism," a White House official said.

Federal officials imposed stricter screening measures after the incident.

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., ranking GOP member of the House Homeland Security Committee, identified the suspect as Abdul Mudallad, a Nigerian. King said the flight began in Nigeria and went through Amsterdam en route to Detroit. There were 278 passengers aboard the Airbus 330.

There was nothing out of the ordinary until the flight was on final approach to Detroit, said Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory. That is when the pilot declared an emergency and landed without incident shortly thereafter, Cory said in an e-mail message. The plane landed at 11:51 a.m. EST.

One of the U.S. intelligence officials said the explosive device was a mix of powder and liquid. It failed when the passenger tried to detonate it.

The passenger was being questioned Friday evening. An intelligence source said the Nigerian passenger was being held and treated in an Ann Arbor, Mich., hospital.

All the sources spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was continuing.

One law enforcement source said the man claimed to have been instructed by al-Qaida to detonate the plane over U.S. soil.

The official said an official determination of a terrorist act would have to come from the attorney general.

AP also reported that the official said the airline threat level was not being raised.

(Report from newswire sources.)

Source: AP sources: Al-Qaida link in failed plane attack

Pentagon Announces Afghanistan Force Deployment

News in Balance:

WASHINGTON, Dec. 22, 2009 -- The following news release made available Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Defense is the text of a statement announcing units for upcoming Afghanistan rotations and deployment:

The Department of Defense (DoD) today announced the deployment of approximately 6,000 additional forces to Afghanistan, part of the 30,000 troops authorized by President Barack Obama on Nov. 30. The 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Ky., will deploy approximately 3,400 soldiers during early summer 2010.

The deployment of this brigade will increase the capabilities of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Secretary of Defense Robert Gates also approved the deployment of approximately 2,600 support forces, which will deploy at various times through spring 2010.

(Report from a U.S. Defense Department news release.)

Pentagon: Mullen Updates, Changes Joint Guidance

News in Balance:

WASHINGTON, Dec. 21, 2009 -- The Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy takes primacy in the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s guidance for 2010.

Navy Adm. Mike Mullen signed the guidance, which goes to members of the Joint Staff and informs the joint force, on his plane after finishing a trip to Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq.

The guidance builds on the document he issued when taking over as chairman in 2007: to improve stability and defend U.S. interests in the greater Middle East/Central Asia, improve the health of the DoD force and to balance strategic risks around the world.

The situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated since President Barack Obama took office, but the new Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy -- which includes a surge of 30,000 American servicemembers -- is aimed to reverse Taliban gains.

Al-Qaida and like terrorist groups remain the biggest threat to the United States, the admiral wrote. “The threat is still real,” he said in the guidance. Defeating those groups will take more than military power, and the chairman called the U.S. military to work with other national agencies and international allies to take on the threat.

The president's revised strategy has the goal of defeating al-Qaida in Afghanistan and Pakistan and to prevent the group from threatening America and its allies.

“Our main effort now must be to push forces into the theater as quickly as possible – including shifting the balance of enablers from Iraq,” the admiral wrote. The enablers include such things as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets, engineers, military police and civil affairs personnel.

All aspects of the joint force need to act more quickly, he said. Far too many of our daily practices do not match the speed of war,” Mullen wrote.

He called on DoD and the combatant commands to send their very best people to fight the wars in Central Asia. “I will take gaps in manning the Joint Staff in order to support the war,” the chairman said. “I expect combatant commanders and services outside of (U.S. Central Command) to consistently make choices, however painful, that fully support the fight.”

The situation in Iraq continues to improve and American forces there are on the glide-path to end the combat mission on August 31, Mullen said. American forces in Iraq are set to drop from 110,000 today to about 50,000 in August.

“Drawing down must be closely managed (in Iraq),” the chairman wrote. “Lingering tensions could flash. But sustained security gains to date and Iraq’s continued progress have placed it on a positive note for the future. We must finish well in Iraq.”

Iran remains a source of problems in the greater Middle East, Mullen said. Iran funds terrorist groups in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, it trains and ships weapons to surrogates inside Iraq and it continues to work on developing a nuclear program.

“My belief remains that political means are the best tools to attain regional security and that military force will have limited results,” the chairman wrote. “However, should the president call for military options, we must have them ready.”

The people of the department are the nation’s most precious asset, Mullen said. “Our core responsibility is to win wars while caring for our people and their families,” he wrote in the guidance. Repeated deployments have stressed servicemembers and their families.

Those wounded in the fight must have world class care and all portions of government and the American people themselves must ensure they have the chance to live their American dreams. The families of those killed need the assistance and support of all Americans.

Mullen is calling for a study of the progress made in treating post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury -- the signature wounds of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The chairman is concerned that “we still do not have a holistic and clear way of measuring all the components of health-of-the-force, ranging from unit readiness, training and age of weapons systems to retention/recruiting and personnel challenges, like suicide or divorce.” The department need more clarity on dwell time -- the time spent at home station between deployments -- for individuals.

He said that in an era of constrained resources, people must be the paramount investment.

The wars in the Middle East and Central Asia are part of the global picture. America’s interests in the Western Hemisphere, Africa and the Pacific Rim must also be guarded. The nation must take under consideration attacks in cyberspace and the effects of natural disasters and global warming. “In the near term, we will maintain focus on regular and irregular threats to the vital national interests and to our forces directly in harm’s way,” Mullen wrote.

Global threats remain. “This means finding the right size, shape and posture to globally detect, deter and defeat current and future threats,” the chairman wrote. Deterrence remains key in this new environment. But the nation needs to rethink what deterrence means in an era of terrorist groups looking for weapons of mass destruction and of other non-state actors who seek to take on nation states.

(From an article by Jim Garamone, American Forces Press Service.)

Report: White House Threatens Closure of Offutt AFB in Pursuit of Health Care Vote

Off the Wire:

WASHINGTON, Dec. 17, 2009 -- Over the past few days, some news outlets have reported that Michael Goldfarb, writing at the conservative Weekly Standard Web site, revealed a quote from a Senate source which said the White House is blackmailing Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) with the threat of putting Offutt Air Force Base in his home state on the next Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) list if Nelson doesn’t support the government health care bill in the Senate.

While the Democrats appease Senator Lieberman, they still have to worry about other recalcitrant Democrats including Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson. Though Lieberman has been out front in the fight against the public option and the Medicare buy-in, Nelson was critical of both. Now that those provisions appear to have been stripped from the bill, Lieberman may get on board, but Nelson's demand that taxpayer money not be used to fund abortion has still not been met. According to a Senate aide, the White House is now threatening to put Nebraska's Offutt Air Force Base on the BRAC list if Nelson doesn't fall into line.

Offutt Air Force Base employs some 10,000 military and federal employees in Southeastern Nebraska. As our source put it, this is a "naked effort by Rahm Emanuel and the White House to extort Nelson's vote." They are "threatening to close a base vital to national security for what?" asked the Senate staffer.

Indeed, Offutt is the headquarters for US Strategic Command, the successor to Strategic Air Command, and not by accident. STRATCOM was located in the middle of the country for strategic reasons. Its closure would be a massive blow to the economy of the state of Nebraska, but it would also be another example of this administration playing politics with our national security.

The Dakota Voice newspaper reported this morning that, in the wake of the news, 20 senators, including Senator John Thune (R-SD), are calling for a probe into the allegations.

These 20 senators have sent a letter to Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) asking for this to be investigated.

According to Action 3 News out of Omaha where the base is located, Nelson says his vote is not for sale.

And of course, both the White House and Nelson are saying the threat never happened.

This is certainly understandable; the White House doesn’t want people openly realizing the kind of Chicago politics they play, and Nelson doesn’t want people thinking he’s vulnerable. And if he gives in and votes for this assault on the American way of life, he doesn’t want people thinking he did it because of the threat.

Writing at the Weekly Standard, Goldfarb isn't buying the denial and said late yesterday:

They protest a little too much. I do not know this story is “absolutely false.” To the contrary, I’m confident it’s true. Twenty senators are now calling for an investigation, and each is presumably pretty well sourced in the Senate. If the charges are “absolutely false,” maybe the White House will encourage Senate Democrats to call this Republican bluff. I won’t hold my breath.

(Report from newswire sources.)

Sources:
Weekly Standard report
20 GOP Senators Call for Investigation of Offutt Threat