Pentagon responds to oil disaster, Gates says Jindal could deploy Guard now

As Air Force C-130's respond to a massive oil spill coming ashore in the Gulf of Mexico, Defense Secretary Robert Gates is considering Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal’s request today for federal funding to pay for upwards of 6,000 National Guard troops.

“The secretary’s aware of the request. He’s considering the request,” said Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary. “But I would note that Governor Jindal has the authority vested in him to deploy his National Guard forces in the event of an emergency and can do so at a time of this choosing – he could do so now, if he hasn’t already.”

“If this is a crisis and an emergency, as clearly the president believes it to be and as evidenced by Gov. Jindal’s request that he believes it to be, he has the authority to deploy his forces immediately,” Morrell said.

“He’s the governor and has the National Guard at his disposal.”

Meanwhile, three days after the White House said the Defense Department would become involved in the response, the Pentagon said Friday it remains in constant discussions about how to help the Department of Homeland Security, the lead agency coordinating the federal response.

Gates approved on Friday morning the use of two U.S. Air Force C-130 cargo planes modified with chemical sprayers that could try to break down the slick in the Gulf of Mexico. The approval came within hours after DHS requested their use that morning, Morrell said. The Air Force trained for a similar scenario with the sprayers in a 2006 exercise off the coast of California.

The sprayers can cover 250 acres per flight and conduct three flights per day, per aircraft, Morrell said. That totals 1,500 acres.

The oil spill was estimated to be already 600 miles wide on Thursday, while the undersea well continues to leak roughly 200,000 gallons into the Gulf of Mexico each day.

BP, the company that owns the well, and officials say schemes to cap the well, or drill into it and relieve pressure could take months to work. At the current rate, in less than two months the spill could equal the Exxon Valdez spill at 11 million gallons.

The Navy has a clean-up and salvage agreement with the Coast Guard, and some of that equipment -- booms and such -- was deployed earlier this week.

Defense officials defended the pace of the response from the the Pentagon and the DHS-led interagency effort.

“Thus far these have been the capabilities that have been identified, and asked for, and deployed. As the situation evolves, we will respond as needed,” said Geoff Morrell. “We are not by any means sitting on our hands back here. We are leaning very far forward and seeing if there are additional capabilities that could be brought to bear to help.”

Defense Department spokesman Byran Whitman said Friday that the Pentagon was not passively sitting back waiting for Homeland Security to give orders, nor was the Defense Department pushing forward asking to move ahead with plans of its own.

Whitman said as government-wide discussions are ongoing the Pentagon still doesn't not know which capabilities are ones only the military could bring to the oil spill.

"Officials that are dealing with this have a tremendous challenge on their hand," he said. "If there were easy answers to solving this, three days later, we wouldn't be talking about it. So obviously it's a challenge."

DHS may request other private industry aircraft with the same spraying abilities, as well, said Air Force Maj. David Faggard at the Pentagon.

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Gates says he'll reconsider opposition to military child custody law

For the last three years House lawmakers have included a provision in their draft of the annual defense authorization bill to guarantee overseas deployments won't be used against troops in child custody cases. And for the last three years Pentagon officials have blocked the idea, calling it an infringement on states rights.

Next month the house will take up initial debate on the fiscal 2011 authorization bill, and Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, plans on pushing again for the custody battle protection. Earlier this week he and Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, D-S.D., sat down with Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who promised to "take a fresh look" at the issue, according to the lawmakers. 

Two years ago, Congress extended parts of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to military child custody cases, prohibiting judgments against parents while they are deployed and allowing more time for returning troops to respond to such challenges. But those changes changes to temporary custody orders, which many courts will keep in place while parents try to sort out custody battles.

The result is military parents returning from war expecting to reunite with their children, but instead facing months or years of separation while the legal battle winds through the courts.

Defense Department officials say some states offer custody protections for servicemembers, but they vary widely and other states offer none. In a statement Thursday Turner said those disparities underscore the need to enact a baseline of federal protections for troops.

But Gates' pledge to re-examine the issue was just that, not a promise he'll endorse changes when the final authorization comes up for a vote this fall. For now, Turner said, the Department's position remains the same: "essentially uninterested in the parental rights of the men and women who serve our country on the front lines of battle."

RELATED
Custody battles can be a rude welcome home

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Navy now accepting applications for the first female sub posts

Last night's deadline for Congress to object to new rules allowing women to serve on board submarines passed without any opposition, so Navy officials today began outlining exactly how and when the first female sailors will report to the undersea assignments.

Rear Adm. Barry Bruner, lead of the Navy's task force for Women in Submarines, said initial plans call for 19 women to be assigned to four different subs, in December 2011 or January 2012. The specific ships have not been selected yet, but they will be two currently stationed in Kings Bay, Ga., and two others stationed in Bangor, Wash.

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Afghanistan insurgents say 2009 was their best year

Insurgents in Afghanistan regard 2009 as their “most successful year,” according to the most recent congressionally mandated report on progress in Afghanistan.

While instability has leveled off, the insurgency has a “robust means of sustaining its operations,” the report said.

“A ready supply of recruits is drawn from the frustrated population, where insurgents exploit poverty, tribal friction, and lack of governance to grow their ranks.”

Among the insurgents’ strengths is their ability to carry out media campaigns, conduct complex attacks, and crate a “shadow government” that undermines the Afghan government’s legitimacy.

But the insurgency does have weakness, according to the report:

• Fissures among local insurgent leaders.
• Counterproductive violence against civilians.
• An over-reliance on “external support.”
• A layered command structure, which makes it hard act on a decentralized level.
• A dependence on marginalized or threatened segments of the Pashtun population.

This year, insurgents are expected to increase activity in north and west Afghanistan as they attempt to reduce voter turnout in parliamentary elections, just as they successfully did in last year’s presidential elections.

The report also anticipates a “significant insurgent response” to upcoming NATO operations in Kandahar, which are expected to kick off in June.

While NATO troops have cleared some insurgent strongholds, the Afghan government has been slow establishing a presence there.

“The insurgents’ tactic of re-infiltrating the cleared areas to perform executions has played a role in dissuading locals from siding with the Afghan Government, which has complicated efforts to introduce effective governance,” the report said.

PHOTO: Associated Press.

RELATED:

Report: Still not enough troops for Afghanistan operations

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Reports: Troops get paid more than enough, so stop complaining

OK, maybe the Congressional Budget Office and Government Accountability Office weren't quite that rude about military compensation issues. But the message from them and the Defense Department's top personnel official at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing today was clear: Troops don't need an extra boost in their pay raise next year.

In January the White House proposed a 1.4 percent military pay increase in for fiscal 2011, a figure tied by law to the projected increase in civilian wages next year. If approved, that would be the smallest pay boost since the start of all-volunteer military in 1973.

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It's official (again): Tricare not affected by health care reform

Earlier this week President Barack Obama signed into law the Tricare Affirmation Act, legislation passed by the House and Senate at the height of the health care reform debate to help calm fears of major changes to the military health care system.

Even though language in the health care reform bills specifically exempts Tricare beneficiaries from new rules requiring all Americans to purchase private insurance (or pay a fine), critics of the measure charged that troops and their families might lose their coverage. The new law re-emphasizes that exemption, stating that Tricare rules and regulations are unaffected by the changes. 

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White House promises new action to help vet-owned businesses

Yesterday President Barack Obama announced plans to form a new task force to examine veteran-owned small businesses in an effort to find more opportunities for them to win federal contracts or take advantage of government business development programs. 

The move comes in response to two major complaints facing the administration: veterans groups say government agencies have long overlooked federal mandates for contracting with vet-owned businesses, and Republican critics have blasted Obama for not focusing enough on the struggles of small businesses in the current stormy economic climate.

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U2 frontman Bono enlisting military support for anti-poverty efforts

Bono wants you!

The Irish rock star-activist is asking war veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan to help fight global poverty by sharing their experiences with the humanitarian side of counterinsurgency operations.

The ONE Campaign, which Bono co-founded, is launching “Development: Mission Critical” and already has enlisted more than 50 combat veterans who “have seen the importance of development firsthand by serving on humanitarian missions,” according to a campaign release. Those projects erase ungoverned spaces where terrorism thrives.

Retired Captain James Smith, former JAG officer in the National Guard and now a South Carolina house delegate, served on Police Mentor Teams in remote areas of Afghanistan.  "We saw the rule of law established," he said, where it had not existed for 30 years.

Bono met secretly with Defense Sec. Robert Gates at the Pentagon in 2008 and talked Africa. 

“As leading military leaders and security experts have argued, effective development not only can save millions of lives, but can also help strengthen our national security, prevent future strife and add to America’s global leadership,” the ONE Campaign says. Only two percent of civil wars occurred in the countries with the highest standards of living between 1997 and 2001, they note.

So Bono is expected to ask vets to join him in lobbying for a bigger U.S. foreign assistance budget.

Bono will announce this and more about the military’s role in humanitarian work at the Atlantic Council, a Washington think tank, on Wednesday. Bono will receive a humanitarian leadership award, while Adm. Mike Mullen will introduce the recipients of the Distinguished Military Leadership Awards, General Stéphane Abrial, supreme allied commander, transformation, and Gen. James Mattis, USMC, commander of U.S. Joint Forces Command.

Former President Bill Clinton and Dr. Josef Ackermann, of Deutsche Bank AG, also will be recognized.

But not all will cheer Bono's efforts to mix the military into humanitarian more, not less, than it already is.

For more on why some of the leading global aid groups want a firewall from military objectives, see: Mixing fighting and food in Afghanistan

UPDATE: ONE, of which Bono is co-founder and a director, notes they do not know the content of Bono's speech to the Atlantic Council except that "he will speak about the nexus between development and national security," according to spokeswoman Kimberly Hunter. 

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Chicago: A test case for domestic counterinsurgency?

Two Illinois state lawmakers want to deploy the National Guard to Chicago, where 113 people have been killed so far this year.

That suggestion drew a rebuke from the Police Superintendent Jody Weis, who wondered aloud how local residents would respond to troops raiding their homes without warrants, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

But maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing if we sent some trainers to Chicago to partner with local security forces.

They can establish Joint Security Stations and Combat Outposts with police that extend the rule of law into areas that are now no-go zones.

Together, they might be able to separate reconcilable elements of local gangs from the irreconcilables, as U.S. troops are doing in Afghanistan.

Of course, if we wanted to go all the way, the Marines could launch an amphibious landing from Lake Michigan, the 82nd Airborne Division could parachute into downtown, and the 1st Cavalry Division could send its tanks up Michigan Avenue.

That might be worthwhile, just to see the look on Jody Weis’ face.

PHOTO: Associated Press.

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Army breaks with past by disinviting Graham

The times, they are a-changin'.

On Thursday, the Army rescinded its invitation for Franklin Graham to speak at the Pentagon after an outcry by advocacy groups who claim that Graham is anti Islam.

But in 2003, the Pentagon refused to withdraw Graham’s invitation to speak at Good Friday services after Muslims in the building expressed their concerns about Graham’s views on Islam.

Back then, the deputy Pentagon chaplain at the time defended Graham’s “right to have his religious views as part of the freedom we have as Americans.”

Cancelling Graham’s appearance would go against the chaplains’ mission, Army Col. George Campbell Jr. told Stars and Stripes.

“What kind of a message would it send if we canceled [Graham] – That if someone objects, you can’t practice your religion?” he said.

Campbell also noted that Graham had spoken at the Pentagon before and was a “big draw.”

When asked if the Army has become more sensitive to Muslims’ concerns since 2003, Army spokesman Col. Tom Collins said: “I can't say that. I just know we have different leadership now that came to a different conclusion.”

Mikey Weinstein, head of the Military Religions Freedom Foundation, believes the pressure his group brought on the Pentagon played a role in the new decision.

Another factor is the change of administrations since 2003, said Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations

"Different administrations have different perspectives on a variety of issues and apparently this administration believed that it wasn’t in the best interests of the military or our nation to have someone who expresses hatred for Islam speaking at the Pentagon,” Hooper said.

PHOTO: Associated Press.

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Morning Reading, April 23: No speech for Graham, no jobs for vets

News broke late last night that the Army has uninvited controversial Christian evangelist Franklin Graham from the upcoming National Prayer Day events at the Pentagon because of concerns raised over comments he made about Islam. Jeff Schogol has a full recap of the controversy and fall-out.

For Graham it's just the loss of a one-day gig. For more and more veterans, finding any job is becoming impossible.

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Military kicked out fewer gay troops in 2009 than ever before

Only 422 troops were processed out of the military in fiscal 2009 under the "don't ask, don't tell" law last year, according to new numbers released by the Defense Department today. That's the fewest total since the rule was enacted back in 1993.

The total is more than a third less than the 640 troops booted in fiscal 2008 and just a fraction of the 1,273 processed out of the military in fiscal 2001. Despite extra focus on the gay rights issue since the start of combat operations overseas in 2001, the number of homosexuals kicked out of the military in the last nine years has actually been on a steady decline.

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Morning Reading, April 22: Civilian deaths raise new questions

Another tragic shooting involving Afghan civilians this week means another round of public relations headaches for U.S. and NATO forces trying to win over the local population there. But are they promising too much, and setting expectations too high for providing citizens safety in a war zone?

I spoke with a number of think tankers and lawmakers about the issue for a piece in today's paper. The bottom line is that while the goal of zero civilian casualties is both laudable and important to strive for, no one thinks that's unrealistic. Whether that idea sets up NATO efforts to succeed or fail in the eyes of the average Afghan depends on who you ask.

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DFAS recouping early-out money from 2,800 retirees

If you took money to leave the military early but stayed in the National Guard or Reserve and then retired, the Defense Department wants some of its money back.

This affects about 2,800 retirees, most of whom took a Voluntary Separation Incentive or Selective Separation Benefit in the 1990s, according to the Defense Finance and Accounting Service.

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Morning Reading, April 20; Gray skies are gonna clear up?

The volcanic ash snarling air traffic continues to be the major news story throughout Europe, including on U.S. bases. Kent Harris and our Europe bureau have an update today on some of the travelers stranded across the continent still trying to make their way back home.

Meanwhile, Kevin Baron has the latest on how the Defense Department is redirecting flights to get wounded troops the quickest possible medical attention. The latest estimates put the losses for the airline industries because of cancelled and delayed flights at $1.7 billion.

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The latest threat to military readiness: school lunches

That mystery meat in the high school cafeteria may be a national security threat. And not just because no one can figure out what animal it came from.

Members of Mission:Readiness held a press conference today to urge Congress to revise standards for school lunches and encourage healthier eating habits because of the long-term effects obesity is having on military recruiting.

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Obama hears more impatience on slow pace of DADT repeal

At a California fundraiser last night President Barack Obama was interrupted multiple times by a protestor asking when the military's "don't ask, don't tell" law will finally be repealed.

It's not the first time the president has heard such complaints, but the fact that the shouts came at a "friendly" event full of Democratic party backers illustrates the continued frustration of some gay rights activists with the slow pace of Obama's promise to let homosexuals serve openly in the ranks.

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Morning Reading, April 19: A death from malaria. What went wrong?

An investigation into the death of a Navy Seabee from malaria, which he contracted while on deployment to Liberia, found “multiple shortfalls” with planning, training, execution and enforcement of preventive measures for malaria. According to a Navy investigation provided to Stars and Stripes' Nancy Montgomery, the battalion failed Joshua Dae Ho Carrell on a number of fronts.

Montgomery's story on the cascading series of mistakes and misdiagnoses that brought Carrell to Landstuhl too late to be saved is a stunning lesson in the many things that can go wrong when servicemembers deploy to a dangerous part of the world, even when no bullets are flying.

The Links:

Navy looks for answers after Seabee dies from malaria (Stars and Stripes)

Tinian Island makes a push to host Futenma operations (Stars and Stripes)

Costs soar for compensating veterans with mental disorders (Chicago Tribune)

Within the war, family fueds (The Washington Post)

Detainees tortured in secret Iraq prison (Los Angeles Times)

Push is on for IED detection tools (USA Today)

From Afghan streets to U.S. soldier (San Antonio Express-News)

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Stop-loss pay problems persist

It’s been six months since the Army started accepting retroactive stop-loss pay claims, and despite addressing much of the initial confusion with the program people are still having lingering problems getting their money.

Bob Himrod’s son James applied back in October, and he was recently told that it will take up to eight more weeks to process his claim.“My son has been rated by the VA at 80% disabled for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and PTSD,” he wrote in an e-mail.“My son served all eight years of his service obligation in the infantry. This Stop Loss claim process has caused my son unnecessary mental stress and frustration which he really doesn't need.”

In another case, Alex Reese said he was stop-lossed from 2002 to 2003, but his claim was denied because he was unable to provide a memo that showed his request to be released from active duty was denied. Reese said commanders respond to that verbally and not with any documentation -- He may have to try to track down a colonel he hasn’t seen in seven years to verify his story.

Maj. Roy Whitley, who is leading the compensation program, did not address the specifics of those and other cases brought to Stripes’ attention, but he talked in general terms about the process. In most cases, the application process takes less than eight weights, but the pay office gives people a “conservative estimate” of how long the process will take to “set expectations.”

Another former soldier –Allen Weaver, who was stop-lossed for a year – said he was told his claim was denied because “the period claimed is ineligible” for the pay.

“If a claim is wrongly denied, the Retro Pay Office will correct the error as the claimant goes through the reconsideration process,” Whitley said.

After Weaver contacted Stripes, he got an e-mail from the Army saying his claim was being forwarded for final review and approval. However, he received an e-mail just like that just before his claim was denied last month.

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Morning Reading, April 16: Soldier's last act was a selfless one

Staff Sgt. Thomas H. Oakley was driving home from work on Wednesday when came across a car accident on autobahn A73 near Bamberg, Germany. He could have kept going, drive right past like so many others would have.

But he didn't. He stopped to help.

Sadly, while Oakley was pushing one of the disabled vehicles out of the left lane and onto the shoulder, another vehicle -- trying to pass a big rig -- came into the lane and struck Oakley and the disabled car. Oakley died at the scene.

He was 33 years old and left behind a wife and two children. A member of the 172nd Infantry Brigade, he had returned in November from an Iraq deployment. A memorial service is tentatively scheduled for next week in Schweinfurt.

The Links:

Army IDs soldier killed while trying to aid at accident scene (Stars and Stripes)

Preparations for Kandahar offensive continue with wary locals (Stars and Stripes)

As Cyber Command nominee looks to future, not much is certain (Stars and Stripes)

Investigators: External explosion likely sunk South Korean ship (Stars and Stripes)

Ex-NSA official allegedly leaked material to media (The Washington Post)

Navy honors officer 50 years after voyage to ocean depths (The Washington Post)

U.S. contractors failed to teach Afghan police to adjust AK-47 sights (McClatchy Newspapers)

Iraq awash in phony U.S. money, and officials suspect Iran (McClatchy Newspapers)

On military awards, and perceptions of them (NYT "At War" blog)

Afghanistan: A tale of soldiers and a school (Time)

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Gates, in Barbados, will miss Afghanistan war council meeting at White House

President Barack Obama's Afghanistan-Pakistan national security team (or is it Pak-Af?) will convene Friday morning at the White House with every top military, intelligence, diplomacy and national security official in the U.S. government...except their Pentagon chief. 

"No, we are traveling," said Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell, on Thursday. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is in Barbados overnight for a Caribbean defense ministers conference, on the last leg of a South America tour this week that included stops in Peru and Colombia.

Gates is following on to an initiative started last year with Obama's visit to Trinidad and Tobago, according to the Defense Department. The secretary will meet Friday with seven ministers of a 15 nation regional pact.

The White House announced Thursday that the nation's top national securitry team meeting will include:

Vice President Joe Biden
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Ambassador Susan Rice, Permanent U.S. Representative to the United Nations (via videoconference)
USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah
Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg
Deputy Secretary of State Jack Lew
Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Neal Wolin
Under Secretary of Defense Michele Flournoy
Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan
Karl Eikenberry, U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan (via videoconference)
Anne Patterson, U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan (via videoconference)
Admiral Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
General James E. Cartwright, USMC, Vice Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff
General David Petraeus, U.S. Central Command
General Stanley McChrystal, U.S. Commander in Afghanistan (via videoconference)
Admiral Dennis Blair, Director of National Intelligence
CIA Director Leon Panetta
General James Jones, National Security Advisor
Tom Donilon, Deputy National Security Advisor
John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Counterterrorism and Homeland Security
Tony Blinken, National Security Advisor to the Vice President
Lieutenant General Douglas Lute, Special Assistant to the President for Afghanistan and Pakistan

The announcement came shortly after Obama spoke at a fundraiser in Miami.

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Morning Reading, April 15: Skies light up on both sides of the DMZ

On a day when fireworks and lasers lit up the skies over North Korea to celebrate the birthday of the counteries founder, Kim Il Sung, across the border, the U.S. and South Korean militaries were putting on their own display in the form of a joint live-fire exercise just 15 miles south of the DMZ.

Col. Thomas C. Graves, commander of the 2nd Infantry Division’s 1st Heavy Brigade Combat, said the exercise was not meant to send a message to the North and that its timing on the same day as a major North Korean holiday.

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Reps hope defense acquisition reform measure will save billions

$135 billion over the next five years, to be exact. That's what Rep. Rob Andrews, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee's defense acquisition reform panel, called a conservative estimate on just how much the defense department could save with "common sense" changes to the way they handle contracts.

The acquisition reform bill, introduced by a slate of Democratic and Republican committee members on Wednesday, is similar to a weapons purchase reform bill passed by Congress last year. Lawmakers said this one covers "the other 80 percent of defense spending" -- things like cargo vehicles, computer hardware and software, and thousands of other non-combat expenses.

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More troops in Afghanistan than Iraq in June

This June, the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan will surpass U.S. troop levels in Iraq for the first time since 2003, marking what we in the media call a “milestone.”

When that happens, you can expect plenty of stories explaining what it means for the wider war on terrorism.

But the fact that there will be fewer troops in Iraq than Afghanistan doesn’t mean that Iraq is stable enough to survive without U.S. help.

There are currently 89,000 troops in Afghanistan and 99,000 in Iraq. The groundwork for the pivot away from Iraq was laid in the last days of 2008, when the Bush administration signed a security agreement with the Iraqi government that called for all U.S. troops to leave Iraq by the end of 2011.

That freed up combat troops for Afghanistan including Marines, which began the process forward deployed units from western Iraq to southern Afghanistan.

The number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan is expected to reach close to 100,000 by the end of the summer, meaning total U.S. troop strength there will have tripled under President Obama.

U.S. troop levels in Iraq are supposed to drop to 50,000 by the end of August, but that could be delayed if the Iraqi political landscape remains unstable.

Iraqi politicians are still wrangling about who won recent parliamentary elections, and their arguing is expected to continue for a while.

And there continues to be tensions between Arabs and Kurds in northern Iraq, especially in the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, which the Kurds want to be part of their semi-autonomous regional government. U.S. troops provide a critical buffer between the Iraqi army and Kurdish forces there.

So to paraphrase Soviet journalist Artyom Borovik, it is too early to put the period at the end of the Iraq war.

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Morning Reading, April 14: Afghanistan and Tennessee not so different after all

What does Paktika province, Afghanistan, have in common with Clarksville, Tenn.? Probably not a heck of a lot.

But that didn't stop Lt. Col. David Fivecoat from taking his soldiers to a city council meeting in Clarksville to teach them how small government operates and give them some ideas ahead of their current Afghan deployment. The soldiers tell Stripes reporter Dianna Cahn that there are, in fact, some similarities.

Pacific reporter David Allen writes that the Japanese prime minister met with President Barack Obama on Tuesday and asked for understanding during what could be complicated and contentious negotiations on an alternative site to replace Marine Corps Air Station Futenma. But Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyma also maintained his vow that it would all be wrapped up by the end of May.

The Links:

Soldiers teach Afghans the ways of small governments (Stars and Stripes)

Hatoyama asks Obama for understanding during Futenma negotiations (Stars and Stripes)

After 5 years, U.S. forces leave Afghanistan's Korengal Valley (The Washington Post)

U.S., Pakistan seek to bridge divide on North Waziristan (The Washington Post)

Afghan city fears greater Taliban presence (Los Angeles Times)

Gates: Video of U.S. helicopter attack in Iraq taken out of context (Los Angeles Times)

Post-election unrest may test Iraqi forces' loyalty (The New York Times)

Military asserts right to return cyber attacks (The Associated Press)

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Military-free nuclear summit wraps up in Washington

It is “a cruel irony of history,” President Barack Obama said on Tuesday, opening the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, DC. “The risk of a nuclear confrontation between nations has gone down, but the risk of nuclear attack has gone up.”

“Just the smallest amount of plutonium -- about the size of an apple -- could kill and injure hundreds of thousands of innocent people,” and was one of the greatest threats to “collective security,” the commander-in-chief said.

So why is the Pentagon chief, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, nowhere to be found?

Last week, Gates announced from the Pentagon podium a new Nuclear Posture Review -- the first rewrite of U.S. nuclear weapons policy since 2001. Gates, standing next to Adm. Mike Mullen and Sec. of State Hillary Clinton, called nuclear terrorism the greatest threat to national security.

But this week is more about making world peace than military posturing, so the Pentagon had no formal role to play in the summit, which is happening across town at the enormous Washington Convention Center. Instead, Gates departed Tuesday morning for a weeklong trip to South America and the Caribbean (Peru, Colombia, and Barbados - they swear there is a defense meeting but I'm waiting for the pictures).

Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have held a marathon of bilateral meetings with visiting counterparts from dozens of countries. On Tuesday, Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov signed a 2000 new agreement “eliminating excess weapon-grade plutonium from defense programs.” That means cutting at least 17,000 weapons worth of the stuff….starting in 2018. A Pentagon official explained the State Department handles such state-to-state agreements.

Gates and Clinton appeared on Sunday talk shows, yet the defense leader planned no appearances or remarks on the summit, expecting to be below the Southern Hemisphere yesterday. But Brazil’s defense minister, Nelson Jobim, was asked by his boss to be in Washington, so the two men signed a new defense agreement in a room near Gates’ Pentagon office.

There, Gates took one question from a reporter about the summit:

     Q Mr. Secretary, question on the nuclear security conference? What is the significance of this gathering? And for you, how will you measure success, both at the conference and after it?

     SEC. GATES: Well, first of all, the -- one of the things that makes the Nuclear Posture Review different than its predecessors is the priority that it has given to preventing nuclear proliferation and getting better control of nuclear materials around the world.
     And that is precisely I think the agenda for the nuclear security conference. And it's about implementing agreements that have already been agreed to but also looking for new ways to try and improve security in both of these areas.
     It's an area that people talk about a lot. But frankly there hasn't been the kind of concerted international attention in these two areas that there might have been. And so I think it creates some real opportunities.

President Obama gives a press conference at 4:30pm, Tuesday.

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Army goes after birther officer who refused deployment

Army officials this week have begun the court martial process for an 18-year soldier who earlier this month refused to accept an overseas deployment because of perceived questions over President Barack Obama's American citizenship.

On Monday Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin had his Pentagon pass revoked, his Army laptop confiscated and was read his Miranda rights in advance of formal charges, according to a news release from the American Patriot Foundation. Lakin forced the issue by refusing to report to Fort Campbell in Kentucky and releasing another online letter questioning Obama's birth certificate.

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Morning Reading, April 13: The pigs are winning

Iraqi farmers are engaged in an intense standoff and their livelihoods hang in the balance. But so far, Michael Gisick reports, the pigs are winning. Feral hogs are helping themselves to Iraqi crop fields and leaving behind a trampled mess.

In years past, Christian hunters would kill the hogs for food. But now, with lingering security fears, they try to keep the gunfire to a minimum. That lesson was learned when those manning a security checkpoint mistook a nearby hog shoot for an incoming attack.

“Soon everyone was shooting and it was not a good day,” said a local sheik.

Meanwhile, Stars and Stripes announced Tuesday that it will begin this week distributing the weekly U.S. Edition to bases across Hawaii. Starting Friday, 10,000 copies of the free paper will be available at various base locations and at the Hale Koa Hotel.
 

The Links:

In this war, pigs are besting Iraqi farmers (Stars and Stripes)

Stripes to distribute weekly edition in Hawaii (Stars and Stripes)

Asian/Pacific Islanders in DODDS lag behind counterparts in U.S. schools (Stars and Stripes)

Shooting by U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan fuels Karzai's anger (The Washington Post)

Marines try unorthodox tactics to disrupt opium harvest (The Washington Post)

Al-Maliki warns neighboring nations against meddling (Los Angeles Times)

South Korea restraint after ship sinking adds to clamor for action (Los Angeles Times)

Senate stalls cyber commander to probe digital war (The Associated Press)

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Gates: Wikileaks video doesn't show the whole story

Defense Secretary Robert Gates this weekend expressed regret over the killing of two Reuters journalists and civilians in a 2007 helicopter attack but backed CENTCOM plans not to reopen the case in light of the now-infamous Wikileaks video unveiled last week.

Officials with the Wikileaks site call the video proof that the military has engaged in "indiscriminate slaying" of civilians. But in an interview with ABC late last week Gates said the edited footage only shows part of the story, and at best gives a misleading picture of what really happened that day.

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U.S. and Kyrgyzstan: To pay or not to pay

The U.S. government has spent millions of dollars to persuade the Kyrgyz government to allow the United States to keep its airbase in Manas.

Now that government has fallen for now, after Kyrgyz rose up against former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev’s regime, which the opposition claims was corrupt and autocratic.

Many Kyrgyz feel see the airbase as the result of an unholy alliance with the United States and the former regime, a Columbia professor who studies military relations in Central Asia told the Washington Post.

“It's symbolized the U.S. disregard for democracy and human rights,” Alexander Cooley told the newspaper. “The base took over the entire U.S. foreign policy in dealing with Kyrgyzstan.”

But did the United States have any alternatives to buying off the Kyrgyz government after it tried to evict U.S. troops from the base?

“I don’t know what you think foreign aid does, but it isn’t some sort of altruistic effort to deal only with perfect governments without regard to United States’ interests,” said Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a bipartisan think-tank in Washington.

Cordesman also served as an advisor to Gen. Stanley McChrystal on the new Afghanistan strategy.

“I think that we need to recognize that almost regardless of where we deal with the problems of terrorism and insurgency, you do not have perfect governments and you do not have perfect allies and that the question always is to what extent do you have to use a mixture of carrots and sticks to achieve your objectives,” he said.

With the exception of some European allies, Japan and Australia, the United States has to use incentives with most of the countries it interacts with, including the Central Asian countries, Cordesman said.

“If the United States waits for good leaders in many of the countries in which it has vital security interests – much less perfect ones – it basically condemns itself to failing in about two-thirds of the world,” he said.

PHOTO: Associated Press.

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Morning Reading, April 9: A view from Afghanistan

Stars and Stripes reporters and photographers around the world get to see some pretty interesting things as they travel about chronicling the U.S. military experience. From Afghanistan today, we've got some stellar photos from Stripes' Drew Brown, one of the rare journalists skilled as a reporter, writer and photographer.

The eleven shots that accompany his short copy block on soldiers chasing down intelligence tips in Afghanistan -- "Chasing the unicorn," they call it -- don't depict anything spectacular. But they provide a vivid, colorful glimpse of day-to-day life for U.S. soldiers in the Arghandab Valley. Definitely worth a look.

The Links:

Soldiers in Afghanistan have varying success chasing intelligence tips (Stars and Stripes)

Retirees in Japan can't sign friends onto Marine bases (Stars and Stripes)

Military Update: Survivor Benefit Plan's 'ludicrous' rule (Stars and Stripes)

Air Force Osprey crashes in Afghanistan, killing four (The Associated Press)

Kyrgyz victims mourned as fate of U.S. base is on hold (The Associated Press)

Inquiry puts spotlight on U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan (Los Angeles Times)

Despite life of hardship, L.A. teen headed for West Point (Los Angeles Times)

Widows pursue justice in soldiers' slaying (Los Angeles Times)

VA staffer is making Internet connections (The Washington Post)

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Effective IED attacks in Afghanistan soar

The number of effective roadside bomb attacks in Afghanistan increased four-fold in March compared with a year ago, according to the Joint IED Defeat Organization.

There were 112 effective roadside bomb attacks in Afghanistan in March, up from 26 effective attacks in March 2009, according to figures released by JIEDDO. U.S. troop strength in Afghanistan increased by about 50,000 during that time period.

The overall number of effective roadside bomb attacks in Afghanistan more than doubled from 387 in 2008 to 820 in 2009, the figures show.

One reason for the increase is the Taliban realize that roadside bombs are a useful tactic, said Lt. Gen. Michael Oates, head of JIEDDO.

Not only are roadside bombs cheap to make and effective on the battlefield, but they also serve a strategic purpose, Oates told reporters at a roundtable on Thursday.

“Every one of those wounded or killed has a strategic impact on the will of the American people and the Europeans, and so the enemy reads the papers and understands all of that,” he said.

But Oates is optimistic that the situation in Afghanistan will improve in the coming year.

“There’s more coalition force moving into the area that’s going to reduce the enemy’s ability to emplace IEDs and more importantly will allow us to safeguard the population, which is going to give us more information about who is actually employing these,” he said.

The Afghan government has banned fertilizer with ammonium nitrate, which is used to make bombs, but the ban has yet to show results, Oates said.

Oates repeatedly played down Iran’s role in providing assistance to insurgents in Afghanistan.

“I would just caution you against defaulting that all material we find there comes from Iran,” he said. “We do some pretty good forensics to try and discover origins, and what we do find in many cases that a lot of this material can be obtained on the black market.”

“I don’t want to falsely accuse anybody without good evidence,” he added.

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Stripes invades NYC

Stripes' Washington-based reporters Leo Shane and Kevin Baron are in New York City today where they join their Pacific-based colleague Charlie Reed at the Roosevelt Hotel to accept the prestigious George Polk Award for Military Reporting.

The three were honored, in the words of the Polk folks, "for a riveting series that revealed that the Pentagon had used a public relations company to profile journalists and steer them toward positive coverage of the war in Afghanistan."

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Morning Reading, April 8: The U.S. and the Kyrgyz revolution

The bloody uprising taking place this week in Kyrgyzstan will have an affect far beyond that country's borders. The U.S. military uses Manas air base as a critical transit point for troops and equipment moving into Afghanistan. That ability was nearly taken away last year before the military agreed to triple its rent payments after the Kyrgyz president, rumored to be pressured by Russia, had threatened to evict the U.S.

With a new government apparently taking charge, it's unclear how it might affect the U.S. presence there. Stripes reporter John Vandiver offers a glimpse into the situation and what it could mean for the U.S. Experts are telling him, however, that it's unlikely the troops would be asked to leave. American money is too important to the Kyrgyz government -- whoever is in charge.

Meanwhile, the "Make-A-Wish" foundation sponsored a trip for an ill teenager to visit his soldier brother in Germany, Jennifer Svan reports.  He got to throttle the engine of a C-17 and received a commander's coin from 86th Airlift Wing commander Brig. Gen. Mark Dillon.

The Links:

Kyrgyz unrest casts uncertainty on U.S. presence at Manas (Stars and Stripes)

Teen gets his 'wish': Time with GI brother in Germany (Stars and Stripes)

Taliban release video of captured soldier Bergdahl (The Associated Press)

Obama, Medvedev sign treaty to cut nuclear arms (The Associated Press)

U.S. looks to nonnuclear weapons as deterrent (The Washington Post)

Afghan poppies still growing strong (The Washington Post)

Many of Haiti's most wanted on the loose after quake (The Washington Post)

Marine is first blind double-amputee to re-enlist (San Antonio Express-News)

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Morning Reading, April 7: No blowing smoke on subs?

The U.S. military may be taking its war on smoking below the surface. Lisa Novak reports that the Navy is considering banning smoking aboard submarines, where it is currently permitted in designated areas.

The Navy is awaiting the results of a study into the effects of second-hand smoke aboard subs, but is already looking into making a change. The move would indeed be a drag for some sailors since, particularly on missions that can last months, cigarettes are valuable commodities.

“When you can’t get ’em, you’ll do anything," said Petty Officer 1st Class Grady Lott, a former smoker also assigned to Submarine Group 8. "I knew some folks that paid up to $60 for a pack of cigarettes while they were underway."

Of course, as another sailor suggests, the real winners if such a move is passed might well be the makers of Skoal, Copenhagen and the like.

Also, check out Kevin Baron's report on the revised nuclear policies rolled out by the Obama administration on Tuesday. 

The Links:

Navy considers smoking ban aboards submarines (Stars and Stripes)

'Fundamental' shift in nuclear policy for the age of terrorism (Stars and Stripes)

At Pentagon forum, troops question impact if gay ban is lifted (The Associated Press)

U.S. approves targeted killing of U.S.-born radical Islamic cleric (The Associated Press)

Military can't find its copy of leaked Iraq killing video (The Associated Press)

Joblessness hits male vets of Iraq and Afghanistan particularly hard (USA Today)

U.S. military works with Mexico to fight drug traffickers (USA Today)

White House hints it might cancel Karzai meeting (The Washington Post)

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2010 Nuclear Posture Review posted online

The long-awaited Nuclear Posture Review, a year-long, government-wide study, is available online here.

President Barack Obama's administration has upped the requirements needed to explode a city-leveling bomb and for the first time places countries without nuclear weapons off-limits from nuclear attack.

“The United States would only consider the use of nuclear weapons in extreme circumstances to defend the vital interests of the United States or its allies and partners,” according to a Defense Department statement this morning.

At the same time, the guideline, which outlines everything from the size of nuclear warhead stockpiles to negotiating stances with Russia, said the U.S. would “modernize” its arsenal, laying out the administration’s justification for why the U.S. needs its own newer and “safer” arsenal of bombs and delivery vehicles that the Pentagon says acts as a deterrent to a nuclear attack, especially from Iran and North Korea.

UPDATE: For Stripes coverage, see: 'Fundamental' shift in nuclear policy for the age of terrorism.

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Morning Reading, April 6: NPR, GAO and OEF

The Obama administration is set to roll out the Nuclear Posture Review this morning, which outlines the president's nuclear policy moving forward. Among the expected higlights is more narrow circumstances under which the U.S. would deploy its nukes. Stripes' Kevin Baron will be reporting on the NPR rollout from the Pentagon today. Check out AP's preview on our Web site and check back for more in-depth coverage.

Meanwhile, Seth Robbins details a GAO report that suggests the military may be underestimating servicemember's compensation compared with civilians in similar fields. For example, when benefits such as health care, retirement and commissary privileges are added in, a military nurse's total compensation amounts to $37,000 a year more than a civilian nurse.

And in Afghanistan, Drew Brown reports on the way U.S. and Afghan forces are prepping the battlefield for the next big fight: Kandahar.

The Links:

GAO report: Military could be underestimating troops' compensation (Stars and Stripes)

NATO forces prep for Kandahar battle with security, outreach (Stars and Stripes)

Muckraking startup releases controversial Iraq war video (Stripes Central blog)

U.S. unveiling new, more restrictive nuclear policy (The Associated Press)

New spate of bombing strikes Baghdad (The Associated Press)

Human rights report threatens aid to Pakistan (The Washington Post)

U.S. plan to train Indonesian elite army unit raises alarm (Los Angeles Times)

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Muckraking startup releases controversial Iraq war footage, and starts a conversation

A relatively unknown website has posted a previously classified video of a 2007 U.S. Army helicopter attack on a group of Iraqi men and children that also killed a 22-year old Reuters news agency photographer and his driver.

Reuters had been trying to get the video of the attack through a Freedom of Information Act request.

(UPDATE: Reuters' story today said that U.S. military officials showed their editors video of the attack in an off-the-record meeting in July 2007, and told Reuters to file a FOIA for the video.  Reuters filed their FOIA that same day. To date, the military has only responded with written evidence that the targeted men were armed.)

It’s hard to say what is more compelling, the video, which is now available on YouTube, depicting men standing on a street corner as a helicopter angles to get a clear shot and opens fire several times killing the group; the audio in which U.S. servicemembers in plain language offer nuggets such as, "Well, it's their fault bringing their kids to a battle”; or the enigmatic group doing the leaking.  What do you think?

The website WikiLeaks, a product of the nonprofit Sunshine Press, has gained attention for pulling the veil off of government and corporate secrecy.  The Army considers the site bad for operational security.  But it made waves in Washington, announcing in a Twitter message that a 9am Monday press conference at the National Press Club would reveal secret video (it did not say what was on it). I was alerted over the weekend by colleagues who felt the group may be on to something.

Calling the footage “Collateral Murder”, the video shows armed men on a street corner and we can hear the entire radio chatter as soldiers ask for permission to fire, receive it, and then spray the group with rounds several times, finishing off anyone still moving. A van that stopped to aid the fallen is also attacked, hitting children riding inside and drawing the vocal nugget mentioned above.

At a minimum, it is a compelling glimpse for the public into the actual sights and sounds of the war in Iraq.  This is a far cry from the first 20 minutes of Saving Private Ryan, or HBO's The Pacific.  If Vietman was the "living room war", then this is the remote control war.

The U.S. said it had reason to be suspicious of the men after a firefight in the area earlier.

WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange said the incident was “deeply wrong” and charges the troops involved, at a minimum, violated rules of engagement.

HuffingtonPost notes the incident is covered in a Washington Post repoter David Finkel’s book.

Reuters released this statement: “The deaths of Namir Noor-Eldeen and Saeed Chmagh three years ago were tragic and emblematic of the extreme dangers that exist in covering war zones. We continue to work for journalist safety and call on all involved parties to recognise the important work that journalists do and the extreme danger that photographers and video journalists face in particular. The video released today via Wikileaks is graphic evidence of the dangers involved in war journalism and the tragedies that can result.”

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Morning Reading, April 5: Haiti health risk and the day's top links

The relief mission in Haiti put troops in the middle of a natural disaster that left in its wake crumbled buildings, decaying bodies and contaminated water and food supplies.

But, Seth Robson reports, while such a situation can be a recipe for a health scare, U.S. military teams found that troops have bot been exposed to unreasonable levels of toxins. In many cases, Southern Command said, troops would have been safe working without a mask.

“In the U.S. we use a lot of fiberglass and asbestos for insulation,” said  Lt. Col. Eric Milstrey, SOUTHCOM’s public health officer. “It appears that Haiti does not use asbestos as liberally as we do in the U.S.”

Meanwhile, the New York Times has more details about a February operation involving NATO forces during which three women were killed, including a pregnant mother of 10 and a pregnant mother of six.

The Links:

Toxic exposure risk low for troops in Haiti (Stars and Stripes)

U.S. admits role in killing of Afghan women (The New York Times)

Drones batter al-Qaida within Pakistan (The New York Times)

U.S. consulate attacked in Pakistan (The Associated Press)

Karzai's defiant stance concerns U.S. (The Washington Post)

Painter recolors Afghanistan (Los Angeles Time)

Vets' next battle: Finding a job (The Baltimore Sun)

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Will the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" survey out gay troops?

Late last night Army Secretary John McHugh backtracked off statements earlier in the week where he said he would not pursue dismissal of gay soldiers who stepped forward to share their stories with him personally. Now McHugh insists there is no moratorium on the "don't ask, don't tell" law, and that conversations about an individual's sexual orientation are not confidential and could result in separation.

Today the Palm Center noted that members of the Pentagon working group charged with interviewing both gay and straight servicemembers may find itself in the same quandary. Officials have promised that any admission of homosexuality will not be used in dismissal cases against troops, but there's no legal backing for that claim.

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Morning Report, April 2: McHugh backs off, and free speech goes to court

A lot out there for military readers today. Hope you've got some time to sit back and pick through the top stories of the morning.

From Stars and Stripes, Jeff Schogol turned out three stories on three topics that are bound to get readers talking. He interviewed Al Snyder, the father of a fallen Marine who has been ordered by a federal court to pay $16,000 in court costs to the Westboro Baptist Church after he sued them for protesting his son's funeral.

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Vets groups rally around father in funeral protest case

Veterans groups have been outraged about the Westboro Baptist Church since its members began protesting military funerals back in 2004, so their reaction to the latest court battle comes as little surprise.

On Monday the American Legion led the charge to raise funds for Al Synder, the father of a fallen Marine who sued the church, after the Fourth Circuit Court ordered him to pay the group's legal fees -- totaling more than $16,000 -- after losing his argument on an appeal. Within 24 hours the group had collected nearly half that total.

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Report: VA not ready for long-term costs of Iraq, Afghanistan

Department of Veterans Affairs officials have touted big jumps in funding in recent years as a sign of their commitment to caring for returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. But, a new report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies released this week says no one is sure what the final price tag of that commitment will be.

Researchers found that the department has few long-term models on how many mental health care providers will be needed and where, what works best in treating traumatic brain injury, and which resources will be necessary to meet the needs of the veterans when health care and disability compensation is likely to peak.

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