Afghanistan Sitrep Of Sorts

[Boats]

COL - here's whats been posted on the CNN news of late I don't know how much of it is propaganda but I'm sure you know more than us.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Total U.S. troop casualties in the Iraq war passed 1,600 Sunday, according to a CNN count, when two soldiers were killed near Khaldiya and a third died in Samarra.

All three were killed by roadside bombs, the U.S. military said.

Two soldiers assigned to a Marine combat team were killed during operations near Khaldiya, just east of Ramadi, which is 60 miles west of Baghdad, the Marines said. Officials did not give the time of the incident.

In Samarra, about 75 miles north of the capital, one soldier was killed and another wounded at about 2:30 p.m. (6:30 a.m. ET), the military said.

U.S. forces also said they killed a suspected terrorist and injured another during a patrol in western Iraq.

A day earlier, three Marines and a sailor were killed during a battle with insurgents who were using a Haditha hospital to attack U.S. forces, the military said.

Marines responding to small arms fire near Haditha Dam were attacked by a suicide car bomber who hit a nearby building, officials with the Marines said. The building was destroyed, and the adjacent hospital caught fire.

Marines searching the hospital found that windows had been fortified. "A number of insurgents" were also killed, the Marines said. Haditha is about 150 miles west of Baghdad.

Also Saturday, a makeshift bomb killed a Marine during combat in al-Karma, about 30 miles west of Baghdad in Anbar province.

To date, 1,601 American forces have been killed since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. In all, 1,780 coalition forces -- not counting Iraqi forces -- have been killed.

The U.S. death toll passed 1,000 in September 2004. (Full story)

According to news reports compiled by Pat Kniesler of the Web site iCasualties.org, more than 2,000 Iraqi soldiers, police and guardsmen have been killed since U.S.-led troops began working with Iraqis to build a security force under the Coalition Provisional Authority in 2003.

Also Sunday, two attacks in northern Iraq left four civilians dead, the U.S. military said.

Three Iraqi civilians were found shot to death outside their vehicle in western Mosul. Another civilian was killed when a roadside bomb exploded near an Iraqi army patrol in the eastern part of the city.

Another Iraqi civilian died Saturday in an apparent insurgent attack near the restive city of Tal Afar, the U.S. military said.

The number of Iraqi civilians killed in the war remains unclear. Data compiled by the Web site iraqbodycount.org suggests that between 21,000 and 25,000 civilians have been confirmed killed.

Aide's 'intelligence documents' found
The U.S. military said Sunday that an aide to terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had been captured by Iraqi security forces in Baghdad.

U.S. forces identified him as Ammar al-Zubaydi, also known as Abu Abbas.

Al-Zubaydi was captured Thursday, the military said. He was responsible for many recent suicide car bombings and an attack on Abu Ghraib prison in April that wounded U.S. troops and detainees at the facility, the military said. (Full story)

The military said al-Zubaydi was responsible for a string of car bombs in the Baghdad area on April 29. On that day, 12 explosions were reported in eight areas of the capital within a matter of hours.

Twenty-three Iraqi security troops died across the city and 31 others were wounded, authorities said. At least one civilian died and dozens more were wounded. (Full story)

Al-Zubaydi is not the same Abu Abbas who masterminded the terrorist hijacking of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro in 1985. That man, leader of the Palestine Liberation Front, was captured in Iraq in the early days of the war and died in custody.

Iraqi officials said "intelligence documents" seized at al-Zubaydi's home indicated he was preparing to assassinate a senior government official, who the officials did not identify.

Al-Zubaydi confessed to supporting another suspected al-Zarqawi aide, Abu Omar al-Kurdi, captured in December, Iraqi officials said.

The officials released a statement Sunday saying al-Zubaydi also confessed to stealing 400 rockets and 720 cases of explosives from weaponry warehouses in Yusifiya in 2003.

A U.S. military statement said he told the Iraqis he gave al-Kurdi access to the stolen explosives, which he stockpiled on and near a farm in Yusifiya. Al-Kurdi used them for car bombs, the military said.

Tip leads to capture of 54 insurgents
Another al-Zarqawi associate -- captured April 26 -- helped U.S. and Iraqi forces kill six insurgents Sunday and capture another 54 in western Iraq near the Syrian border, the U.S. military said.

The anti-insurgent operation took place near the Rawa region in the Anbar province north of Qaim, the military said. The region is a base for rebel attacks in Baghdad and Falluja.

Information provided by al-Zarqawi associate Ghassan Muhammad Amin Husayn al-Rawi helped the operation, according to the military.

During the mission, U.S. and Iraqi "forces also destroyed car bombs, bomb-making material and two buildings that contained large weapons caches," the military said.

Before his capture, al-Rawi "facilitated movement and meetings for al-Zarqawi in the Rawa region, facilitated movement of foreign fighters, and was responsible for terrorist activity resulting in the murder of innocent Iraqis," according to Saturday's announcement of his capture by the military.

Word of the raid came a day after U.S. soldiers captured 33 suspected terrorists, including two men described as "high value targets" in the Baghdad area, the U.S. military said.

Iraqi Cabinet jobs filled
The Iraqi National Assembly approved six names Sunday to fill vacant Cabinet positions, including ministers for defense and oil.

Four of the six posts went to Sunni Arabs -- an effort by the Shiite and Kurd-dominated transitional government to give a larger voice to the Sunni minority.

The ministries of defense, industry and human rights are to be headed by Sunnis, and a newly named deputy prime minister is a Sunni.

The defense minister will be Sadun al-Dulaimi, a Sunni. The Oil Ministry will be headed by a Shiite, Ibrahim Bahrululum.

Hashem al-Shibli, a Sunni who was tapped to be the minister of human rights, refused the post, saying he did not believe Cabinet positions should be allocated based on ethnic or religious affiliation.

Last month, transitional Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari announced all 36 Cabinet positions in the new government -- some of them temporary. The new Cabinet members were sworn in one by one last Tuesday -- altogether 28. (Cabinet list)

The transitional government's main goal is to write a constitution that must be put before voters in a referendum this year.

Other developments

CTU Consulting Management said two of its employees were among 22 people killed in a Baghdad suicide bombing on Saturday: Todd James Venetta of White Hall, Arkansas, and Brandon James Thomas of Salt Lake City, Utah. Venetta was a veteran of the U.S. Marines who had previously served as a firefighter and paramedic in Russellville, Arkansas, the company said. Thomas, 27, was scheduled to return to the United States at the end of this month to prepare for deployment in Iraq with his Utah National Guard unit, said his mother, Carol Young. (More on attack)


A senior official with Iraq's Transportation Ministry, Zawba' Al-Ma'ini, was assassinated Sunday along with his driver as they left al-Ma'ini's home in Dora, on the northwest outskirts of Baghdad, Iraqi police said.

Doesn't sound too good! I hope the latest incoming you heard don't get your range. Keep safe.

[Beau]

he's otay ... message below ... eeep he go again, he take you Boat. I cant go no domn place until my daughter graduates high school ... den i tink about eet.

"Beau:

Very busy and add to that the net has been down a lot...normally when I have time to write...! Let folks know I'm OK...will try to get up on PF site in near future...things are poppin' over here at times!

Semper Fi from the Coooooold Sands of Kandahar,

Wayne"

[MARINEVET]

Net here is up/down...have tried to reply to this twice and lost link...so just want to thank you all for your continued concerns and support. Hard for me to come up on the net at times (as mentioned in note to Beau), but will try whenever possible.

Boats:

The number of U.S. killed in Iraq is now over 3,000...3,000 too many, of course, but when considering how long we've been at this, and the numbers from Vietnam for the same amount of time, there's no comparison...other than...the manner in which our Nation continues to soften in the face of adversity! Folks better get a handle on "stuff" pretty soon or there's gonna be hell to pay right back home in "River City"...! Guess folks just figger IF they refuse to admit to/recognize the great danger at hand, it'll go away! WRONG ANSWER SPORT FANS...just can't tell you enough how terrible these Forces of Evil are...gotta see it to believe it!

As for all the media hype...lot of it is just that...continuing to report only the bad (just as the Administration tries to massage it the other way)...truth lies somewhere in the middle.

I'm in contact with folks in Iraq, and where they are, they're kicking the crap outta the bad guys...locals are reporting the bad guys whereabouts...some locals actually killing the (foreign) bad guys...etc. Wish I could be more definitive, but can't give outfit designations, etc. Outfits are Marine with Soldiers attached...all kickin' butt!

Beau:

Yeah...me, you, Boats and others...mannnnnnn what an outfit that'd be...! :cl: You can bring your cameras, doodle supplies AND .45...!

Thanks again folks...your comments/concerns really mean a lot.

Semper Fi from the Cold Sands of Kandahar,

WVM

[Beau]

Originally posted by MARINEVET Boats:

The number of U.S. killed in Iraq is now over 3,000...3,000 too many, of course, but when considering how long we've been at this, and the numbers from Vietnam for the same amount of time, there's no comparison...other than...the manner in which our Nation continues to soften in the face of adversity! Folks better get a handle on "stuff" pretty soon or there's gonna be hell to pay right back home in "River City"...! Guess folks just figger IF they refuse to admit to/recognize the great danger at hand, it'll go away! WRONG ANSWER SPORT FANS...just can't tell you enough how terrible these Forces of Evil are...gotta see it to believe it!

As for all the media hype...lot of it is just that...continuing to report only the bad (just as the Administration tries to massage it the other way)...truth lies somewhere in the middle.

I'm in contact with folks in Iraq, and where they are, they're kicking the crap outta the bad guys...locals are reporting the bad guys whereabouts...some locals actually killing the (foreign) bad guys...etc. Wish I could be more definitive, but can't give outfit designations, etc. Outfits are Marine with Soldiers attached...all kickin' butt!

Beau:

Yeah...me, you, Boats and others...mannnnnnn what an outfit that'd be...! :cl: You can bring your cameras, doodle supplies AND .45...!

Thanks again folks...your comments/concerns really mean a lot.

Semper Fi from the Cold Sands of Kandahar,

WVM

couple of tings Colonel ... I understand the new and improved ? Defense Secretary visited Afghan ... maybe he visited a different spot than where you are but have yah got shareable info ?

re: "kickin' butte" ... you know they dont report that on corporate news here (Fox, CNN etc, Geraldo and the like ) ... would that smack too much of Nam "body counts" if they did ? I remember on corporate news way back a year or so ago, Geraldo was in either in Iraq or Afghan (reporting) and he apparently saw some troops and he says something like "there's the 82nd Airborne, I 'served with them' in ...." Yah "served with them" ... Musta been feeling boogied out of Nam service guilt ... "served"

when I pack my camera, doodle supplies and .45 ... I'll take the cooler climate and not the flat, hot desert (cant stand anything over 105 degrees) and not a full year tour ... couple months of real photo and drafts of doodles, then I could finish the work at home ??? Do you have to wait in long lines to be Admin processed, or as a non - military/govt type, is the process quicker ? Me no like long waiting lines and hanging around doing nothing but waiting ... (the internal thoughts would be like "hurry up you sonofa Bit, lets get the show on the road).

Beau

[MARINEVET]

Beau:

Neither the SECDEF or Sen Clinton got "down this far into Injun Country" during their visits. Have no special news exc SECDEF says maybe 1,000 U.S. Troops for the 'Stan. Not nearly enuff, but at least some folks have gained his attention. I keep "working" some very heavy hitters with some very close-hold SITREPs in hopes to get some good ol' Amurkun Sojers and Jarheads over here in sufficient numbers. Then too, even 1,000 real U.S. Warfighters (trigger pullers) could make a positive diff IF the powers to be would "let the dawgs loose"!!!

Don't think you (or many folks) would like it over here...very inhospitable place...may be some nice places over here, but I sure haven't seen any of them!

Sand Storm stopped last nite...for awhile...while it rained...then...rain blew out and the storm blew back in! I'm attaching a DigiFlick...doesnt' do the storm justice in that it doesn't look nearly as bad in the flick as it really is when you're out in it! The flick is taken as we're driving out the Camp ShirZai (the ANA Army camp where we have our "office")...you can tell the wind velocity (at over 45mph) by the way the flags are standing out in the wind.

Hope this finds ALCON doing well.

Semper Fi from the Cold & Windy SANDS of Kandahar,

Lobo

[Jerry D]

with all that blowing sand this pic reminds me of Prince Sultan Air Base(Al Kharj)K.S.A.
we had several sand storms while I was there in 98' was interesting standing outside in our little shelter during an exersise getting sand blasted while in full chem gear. The filters were nice for being able to breath while standing in the middle of the Conrete blocks with no roof or doors

[Boats]

Samer here - when I workded in Jeddia the sand storms would sand blast the hell out of the vehicles right down to bare metal. It did wonders on the glass - frosted them puppies right over.

[MARINEVET]

I last updated with a SITREP...so.....

Since the last discussion was of SAND...let's talk MUD...!

We've had more rain (and so MUD) here than any of our Terps can remember...the oldest being 28. The good thing is that it DOES keep the DUST down...!

It's warming up and that means the Talibs will be streaming out of the mountains in the next month or so. It stays winter up in the mountains (and for the most part up north in Kabul) thru March. UNLESS we get some more U.S. Trigger Pullers over here (and we recently got a Bn from the 82d AIRBORNE here)...or...the NATO crew really gets out and starts coming up with some success stories, it's gonna get real ugly around here.

I've advised a lot of senior U.S. officials about the situation here. We MAY even see some Marines coming back to The 'Stan...weren't planned to return, but I'm hoping we get a Bn or two. I've told these folks that we need more than a Bn here and a Bn there, but just don't know that we'll see U.S. troops in sufficient numbers. The Brits and Canadians remain the Vanguard down here in the Southern AO...just not enuff of them even tho the Brits are sending another 1500 or so. The other NATO forces MIGHT be good fighters...but...I can't speak to that because they seldom leave the FOBs...AND...the President of one of the countries (won't name them here) who came here on a visit, told one of his nation's commanders that IF he lost one soldier in combat ops, he'd relieve the commander! Now that really makes for an aggressive, Warrior mindset, eh?!?!?!?!? The one thing that nation does do well, however, is EAT...they're always first in line for chow!!!

SO...the next two or three months are going to be quite critical in shaping operations for the coming year.

I'm attaching a photo of two of our Terps (our two senior interpreters) receiving refurbished laptop computers from some folks in the States. I assisted in coordinating the effort thru some former Marines on one of our WAYMOR Inc E-Lists...the folks who work at CISCO made it all happen...two really happy Terps are the result! The one Terp, sent them a ThankYou Email...talking of how much our Team does...how we're more like a FAMILY than anything else...etc. He and the younger folks over here like him are the only true hope Afghanistan has for the future!

Hope this finds you all well...we continue to march over here on the Sands of the Kandahar,

[Boats]

I got an email with this attached do you know of anything about it?

[Gimpy]

Where the heck you at?

Been nearly two weeks since we got a SITREP from you!

Getting kinda worried about you Col.

Let us know how you're doing, OK?