Via The Torch;

A Canadian soldier awarded a Medal of Military Valour for braving enemy fire in Afghanistan is angry after he says was jumped from behind and taunted [emphasis added] by four men who beat him up in a Morrisburg [eastern Ontario] bar on the weekend.
Master Cpl. Collin Fitzgerald, who was awarded a Medal of Valour for heroic actions in Afghanistan by Governor-General Michalle Jean on Feb. 19, had his foot broken in three places and needed 10 stitches to close a cut above his right eye. The 27-year-old soldier also suffered a broken nose and two black eyes in the attack, which occurred after midnight Saturday morning.
Master Cpl. Fitzgerald said Monday he had only been in the bar about 20 minutes when he was struck from behind.

I’m thinking there may be a 21 year old “accused” out there who may soon wish he was in remand.

Michael Totten interviews an an Israeli intelligence officer. Well worth the read.

It appears the surge is continuing to make progress in Baghdad. Omar reports:

Operation “Imposing Law” continues in Baghdad. In contrast with previous operations to secure the city, this one is managing to not only keep the initial momentum, but the operation’s effects seem to be growing as well.

Plenty of difficulties remain, but let’s hope this trend continues.

The Pentagon channel.

This is not a trick question.

Continue reading →

Here are the slides that were presented at the briefing in Baghdad. Judge for yourself whether Iranian involvement in Iraq is hurting our troops. Since there are sixteen slides, I did them as small thumbnails; click to enlarge.

At Powerline.

Is Stephane Dion running a party, or a gong show?

A Liberal MP is accusing the country’s top soldier of being “a prop” for the Conservative party after he described the 1990s as “a decade of darkness” for the military.
Gen. Rick Hillier, the chief of the defence staff, said in a speech to a defence group today that the Canadian Forces faced troubled times from 1994 on in a period when the Liberals worked to balance the federal budget with heavy budget cuts.
Liberal MP Denis Coderre says he is disappointed that Hillier would describe the Liberal era in such terms.

Thereby taking a statement of fact made before a small audience and repeating it to a a wider Canadian public to remind us that yes – under the Liberals, the Canadian Forces endured “a decade of darkness”, with soldiers at food banks, bullet rationing and rotting equipment.
Well done, Denis!

Strategy Page;

Most people believe al Qaeda in Iraq is finished. After boasting last Fall that they would establish a safe zone in western Iraq, and failing to do anything close to that, the Islamic terrorists lost whatever credibility they had left. Most of the terrorist bombings these days are the work of Iraqi Sunni Arab organizations, who still believe that if you make the Iraqi Shia Arabs mad enough, they will get so nasty that neighboring Sunni Arab nations will feel compelled to invade. This plan has split the Sunni Arab nationalists, mainly because the invasion shows no sign of happening, and the brighter terrorists point out that the Saudi army is unlikely to win against the Americans. In a trend that began two years ago, Sunni Arab factions are continuing to battle each other. U.S. troops stand aside when they encounter “Red-on-Red” fighting, then deal with the winner.

Watch Pajamas Media as well, as Omar reports “from the rooftops”.
Mudville Gazette has video and a transcript of MG Caldwell’s Baghdad briefing yesterday:;

The vast majority of the questions that followed were regarding Iranian weapons and Quds troops in Iraq. I suspect the media – in spite of vigorous denials by the administration – is trying to portray the US as on the brink of war with Iran. This allows Democrats – and Hillary Clinton in particular – to vociferously oppose this non-existent war. (To be fair, this also gets some conservatives very excited over the prospect of “taking out” Iran – their hopes will be dashed.)
By the way, reporters were so fixated on this issue they missed a more significant bit of intel regarding security operations in Iraq: “…we’re all operating under the same instructions from General Abboud”. That would be Lieutenant General Abboud Gambar of the Iraqi Army.

More reader abuse at home;

Now Attaran and his pet journo at the Globe and Mail say [Commander Denise LaViolette] tried to intimidate the Ottawa legal beagle.
You want intimidation? How about a media-hungry activist leaving a message after hours for the senior policeman in an active investigation? Since Koring declined to reveal it in his article, I wonder what Attaran said in his message? Specifically, I wonder what would make an experienced Public Affairs Officer return such a message with a witness present?
Ask yourself: if this were any other police force undergoing any other internal investigation, how appropriate would it be for a lawyer who initiated the original complaint to call the chief of the force up late at night?
In fact, speaking of intimidation, I’d like to know what else you would call a journalist putting up an article on the front page of one of the most influential and respected newspapers in all of Canada – the cream of the crap, as it were – that spanks the military for one officer daring to question the motives of its accuser. Koring and Attaran might as well have said “We’re the inquisitors here, not you.” This story is intended to put the CF back firmly in its supposed place.

More at Flit;

Damned if you do…
“It is inexcusable that they [the military] have not investigated. This is not right.”
–Afghan detainees’ rights advocate and law professor Amir Attaran, Feb. 7, on allegations that an Afghan detained at an apparent bomb-making facility received superficial injuries while resisting attempts to take him into custody.
“In light of what happened a decade ago in Somalia, I very much doubt that [the military] should investigate internally.”
–Attaran again, Feb. 8, upon hearing that the military had immediately launched separate criminal and administrative inquiries into his allegations.

Amir Attaran has a long history.
Update –

“Good questions, Mr. Brooks. In reply, I’d point out GUANTANAMO, and furthermore ABU GHRAIB SOMALIA AIRBORNE DOGS GENITALS CIGARETTE BURNS HUMILIATION. I hope that answers your questions.”

Program Update – Damian Brooks will be on with Breakenridge tonight at 8:40 EST.

Reader abuse at home.

And they won’t have to wonder who he’s rooting for.

Bill Ardolino’s view as a imbedded blogger;

A fifth stop was another dry hole, but occupants told the Jundi that the house of the man they were looking for was a block away, so the soldiers immediately splashed down a sewage-filled side street on foot, leaving the cordon, the convoy and its crew-served heavy weapons behind. We chased them down the darkened alley, Lt. Kim struggling to communicate with the IA’s about their ad hoc plan of action. The move was poorly planned but ultimately successful, as the suspect was quickly apprehended, blindfolded and led from the newly targeted house with no shots fired.
This chaotic initiative highlights one of the strengths and weaknesses of the fledgling Iraqi security forces in Fallujah, particularly the Iraqi Army. Their aggression bordering on recklessness signals problems with command and control: planning, coordinated execution and battlefield communication. The marines think that this proclivity signals a need for more training, as well as results from cultural differences – one American remarked that “when your entire life has been spent fearing death, your concept of planning and self-preservation is a bit different.”
“Insh’allah,” as they say: “if God wills it.”

When you’re finished, consider emailing the link to a friend. h/t Instapundit, who also has an interview with Michael Yon and more (scroll down).

Bill Ardolino, on the scene with the troops in Iraq.

Mohammed Fadhil,

Apache attack helicopters are constantly hovering over Baghdad now. Tracking them from my home in this city I can often estimate where the action is taking place.
[…]
Although the major Baghdad plan isn’t officially launched yet, every day we see several joint operations against targets in and around the city. Still, according to the latest leaked reports, it seems as if the major implementations of the plan are going to wait until the beginning of next month,.
The government here says they are waiting for the buildup of participating troops to be completed, but I think it’s more likely that they are waiting for the Ashura ceremonies to end to allow pilgrims to travel between Baghdad and the shrines safely.
The waiting is proving to be more of a burden on the people of Baghdad than the operation itself would be. Patience is fading under the pressure of the increasing numbers of suicide attacks and the civilian deaths they cause. Baghdadis are desperately waiting for the operation to begin because they hope it can reduce the occurrence of these deadly attacks that distribute death equally among civilians.

And on a different and equally important front – signs of an economic assault against Iran as crude prices continue to drop;

Saudi Oil Minister Ibrahim al-Naimi even said during a recent trip to India that oil prices are headed in the “right direction.”
Not for the Iranians.
Moreover, the traders believe the Saudis are not doing this alone, that the other Sunni-dominated oil producing countries and the U.S. are working together, believing it will hurt majority-Shiite Iran economically and create a domestic crisis for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose popularity at home is on the wane. The traders also believe (with good reason) that the U.S. is trying to tighten the screws on Iran financially at the same time the Saudis are reducing the Islamic Republic’s oil revenues.
For the Saudis, who fear Iran’s religious, geopolitical and nuclear aspirations, the decision to lower the price of oil has a number of benefits, the biggest being to deprive Iran of hard currency. It also may create unrest in a country that is its rival on a number of levels and permits the Saudis to show the U.S. that military action may not be necessary.

A bit of trivia I’ll bet you didn’t know – Iran is the second largest importer of gasoline in the world, after the US.

And since Iran sells gasoline at a rate comparable to the rest of the Gulf states — around 33 cents a gallon — it must subsidize the price on a massive scale. In fact, say traders, Iran is paying about $1.50 per gallon to subsidize domestic gasoline consumption — the world market price of gasoline minus the tiny price per gallon — a practice that is costing Iran billions of dollars annually and eating up most of the state-run oil company’s discretionary funds.
Iran has other problems that make it vulnerable. Inflation is officially running at 17 percent, the highest since the revolution, and unemployment is at 11 percent. U.S. intelligence, though, believes the real figures are much higher, with inflation as high as 50 percent and joblessness much higher among the country’s restless youth). In addition, capital outflow is estimated at $50 billion annually and budget deficits are a chronic problem, leading to overseas borrowing.

Read them both.

Military contracts should not be job creation programs.

An update to this item from Dec. 27th on troop pay claw backs at The Torch;

I’ve been told that a pay system computer glitch was the next step in this problem. Apparently, there was no provision in the software code to split a designation on a single mission between those with tax exemption and those without, and a manual fix was required. That is to say, a pay clerk had to go into the system and force the pay codes to RA 1 for the members who didn’t qualify for the exemption. You can read the unclassified pay memo on the issue by clicking here.
Unfortunately, two of the soldiers in Addis Ababa were given the tax exemption when it wasn’t due to them yet, and so received thousands of dollars more in net pay than they qualified for. This is what prompted the crap-a-gram to a friend that pushed the story into the public sphere.

While it looks like progress has been made, the problem isn’t completely solved yet, and there’s more information at the link on how you can get in touch with your Conservative MP or the PMO to be sure it does.

Via The Torch

Lowell Green of CFRA, Ottawa, will be doing his show from CFB Petawawa. Listen live, 0900-1200 EST.

One can only hope. Much more at the link, so be sure to read it all;

Two Shiite militia commanders said Thursday that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has stopped protecting radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s Madhi Army under pressure from Washington, while the fighters described themselves as under seige in their Sadr City stronghold.
Their account of an organization now fighting for its very existence could represent a tactical and propaganda feint, but there was mounting evidence the militia is increasingly off balance and has ordered its gunmen to melt back into the population. To avoid capture, commanders report no longer using cell phones and fighters are removing their black uniforms and hiding their weapons during the day.

Related: Richard Miniter (Jan 16);

The apparent evacuation of Baghdad by al Qaeda forces comes from direct orders issued by al-Masri, the former soldier who took control of the Iraqi wing of al Qaeda following the June 2006 bombing death of Zarqawi.
Initially, the intelligence officer informed Pajamas, the Baghdad-based AQ fighters did not want to leave. Al-Masri had to send unequivocal orders for their retreat, adding that one of the lessons from the Fallujah campaign was that Americans have learned how to prevail in house-to-house fighting. Masri said that remaining in Baghdad was a ‘no-win situation’ for the terrorists.
“In more than ten years of reading al Qaeda intercepts, I’ve never seen language like this,” the intelligence officer said. Usually, al Qaeda communications are full of bravado and false confidence, he added.
Al-Masri’s evacuation order – assuming that it is authentic – reveals that al Qaeda in Iraq leader has a good grasp of a tactical situation. “He is far more formidable than Zarqawi was,” the intelligence officer said, because of his training at Soviet special warfare schools.

Meanwhile, back in Washington, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) launches its own counter-offensive against a fictional television series.
See also – Michelle Malkin is back from Iraq.

Here’s a proposal that merits unanimous support in the Leg.

Saskatchewan Party Leader Brad Wall today announced his intention to introduce a private members’ bill in the spring that would protect the civilian employment of Canadian Forces Reserve members who volunteer for military training, for duties in Canada or for deployment overseas.
“I remember meeting with some of these brave men and women at a Riders game this past fall,” Wall said.
“I told my son ‘We may see some heroes on the field today, but these are the real heroes and I think we owe them our support and recognition.”
The Canadian Forces Reservist Protection Act would mandate an unpaid leave of absence for employees who find themselves in these circumstances. The process for guaranteeing a job on return from a leave of absence is outlined in Section 80 of the Labour Standards Act.

Via Fighting Back In Soviet Saskatchewan

A former DND bureaucrat decides to criticize the solution.
Alan Williams, retired assistant deputy minister for procurement, meets with a rebuttal at The Torch ;

But here’s where Hillier and the bureaucrats part ways: Canada’s top soldier isn’t willing to let troops languish without an essential capability just to squeeze an extra five points out of the purchase price. I’ve known some real leaders over the years, and while I don’t want to put words in his mouth, I have no doubt the CDS sees his troops’ need, feels it in his bones, can’t get it out of his head. He knows that a competitive process that exhaustively tests and evaluates, followed by intense and hard-nosed negotiations is the best way to procure the equipment he needs in most cases. But he also knows that in far too many cases today, the CF hasn’t got that luxury – the troops need what they need, and they need it yesterday.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record: adults understand that sometimes the decisions we face aren’t between bad and good, but between bad and worse. You make the best decision you can with the information available to you at the time and live with the consequences. In this case, that means buying kit in a way you wouldn’t if you had any buffer to fall back upon at all. Because the time to have engaged in a best-practices, exhaustive competition for much of this equipment was years ago – that train has left the station.

He adds;

And of course, the G&M is willing to publish such misleading pap with no thought to the potential public policy consequences – namely that the CF doesn’t get the equipment it needs due to a frickin’ PROCEDURAL ISSUE! – because controversy sells dead trees and ink. It turns the stomach.