Afghan&Military Blog

May 23, 2009 10:18 am

Photo of the day

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Afghan&Military Blog

May 22, 2009 3:31 pm

Insurgents continue white phosphorus attacks

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BAGRAM, Afghanistan (May 19, 2009) – Today, militants continued to attack International Security Assistance Force personnel using white phosphorus munitions. In Gayan District, Paktika province, insurgents mortared an ISAF combat outpost with white phosphorus and high explosive rounds. No injuries or damage were reported.

This past week, two other cases of enemy white phosphorus use have been recorded in Regional Command-East, following the 11 May release of 38 declassified instances of insurgent white phosphorus access and misuse against personnel.

On May 16, ISAF troops in Bamiyan discovered a large cache of various ordnance, including nine 82mm white phosphorus mortar rounds. The rounds, which were photographed as evidence, were collected for destruction.

Also on May 16, an ISAF unit located a white phosphorus 107mm rocket emplaced in the vicinity of an ISAF forward operating base in Kama District, Nangahar province. The rocket, which had been aimed in the direction of the base, was later safely disarmed.

White phosphorus is appropriately employed for screening of troop movements, marking targets, illumination, as well as destruction of unoccupied bunkers, buildings and weapons systems, and the demolition of otherwise flammable materials such as ammo and petroleum products.

WP is used as a smoke-producing agent common to the arsenals of many nations, and is classified as conventional ordnance. It is not designed for use against personnel.

ISAF employs white phosphorus in accordance with theatre rules of engagement and international law.

Afghan&Military Blog

May 22, 2009 12:33 pm

Why Afghanistan Matters

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Joint Forces Command HQ in Brunssum, Netherlands is sponsoring a video contest called "Why Afghanistan Matters". The intent is to provide a "boots on the ground" perspective of the military mission in Afghanistan from the point of view of those most closely involved.

They will not edit clips for content, but will exclude contest submissions that jeopardize troop security, or show objectionable, disturbing or offensive material.

The contest is open to military personnel who are serving, or have served the mission in Afghanistan. You can follow progress by subscribing to RSS updates. or checking out our Twitter feed.

The contest will be open for submissions during June, July and August. They will post your videos once approved as a qualifying submission. From 1 to 30 September, they will allow further video rating, and winners will be selected on 1 October.

Winners determined by highest average rating. One (1) winner will receive a digital camcorder, valued at approximately $600 US; three (3) winners will receive digital camcorders valued at approximately $150 US each.

So make your video, upload it and tell NATO and the World, why Afghanistan Matters. Go to their website at contest.afghanistanmatters.com/ to learn more, see the official rules and upload your video.

Afghan&Military Blog

May 22, 2009 9:49 am

Remember When has a Name and Face

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Remember the other day when I wrote this post called Remember When? Well this story now has a name, 1LT Roslyn Schulte, and a face. Read her story and see her yourself over at the You Served Blog.

Rest in Peace Roslyn, and provide our men and women Top Cover while you are up there.

Afghan&Military Blog

May 22, 2009 8:16 am

Photo of the day

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Afghan&Military Blog

May 21, 2009 5:56 pm

05/21/09 You Served Radio

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We have a full show tonight over on You Served Radio (www.blogtalkradio.com/youserved) talking a wide range of topics. First up we will have Tim Holbert who is the organizer for National Memorial Day Parade. It will take place on Monday, May 25, 2009 at 2:00PM on Constitution Avenue between 7th and 17th streets NW. The parade has been going on since it was re-established in 2005 after a 70 year hiatus in our nation’s capital. It is the largest Memorial Day Celebration in America and will have more the 250,000 in attendance honoring those who have served and sacrificed. There will be marching bands, veterans units, and uniformed military personnel from around the country. The parade will also feature a special tribute to the U.S. Navy, and include Navy vet and Oscar winner Ernest Borgnine, fellow actors and veterans’ supporters Gary Sinise and Joe Mantegna, and music star Lee Greenwood. Also participating is Edith Shain, the nurse from the famous World War II "V-J Day in Times Square" kiss photograph. For more information, visit www.nationalmemorialdayparade.com.

Right after Tim, we will be talking with Dom who is the station owner and founder of Hooah Radio!!!, www.hooahradio.com. Dom will be on to talk about his military past, why he started Hooah Radio and how it has grown over the last four years. Hooah Radio gets millions of hits a month, is carried all over the world via the internet and is recognized by the Department of Defense. Hooah Radio is a non profit online radio station that is in the top 10% of all online radio stations based on the amount of listeners.

We will also be talking with Mike Volkin  who is the author of The Ultimate Basic Training Guidebook (www.UltimateBasicTraining.com). Michael Volkin is a U.S. Army veteran. He served in Operation Enduring/Iraqi Freedom as a Chemical Operations Specialist and received an Army Commendation Medal for his efforts and for the fitness programs he designed to help his fellow soldiers. He has a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Science from Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas and also a Real Estate Brokers Degree. The Ultimate Basic Training Series is straightforward, easy to understand and applies to every branch of the military.

 

Last but not least we will be chatting with the first and current You Served "On Loan" Blogger, Katie Dyer. Katie writes her blog at  www.myheroesathome.com/blog. This blog is part of her website and her LLC.  Heroes At Home, LLC was created to help deployed military personnel celebrate, honor and stay in touch with their heroes at home.

Katie is the Founder of Heroes At Home, LLC. She spent 10 years as a news anchor, and now writes and speaks about deployment issues full-time, in addition to managing our gift services division. Katie's other passion is animals. She volunteers in local shelters, and was a First Responder for the American Humane Association during Hurricane Katrina.

 

So be sure to stop by www.blogtalkradio.com/youserved and give us a listen tonight from 7-9PM EST or catch the archive after at the same location or download it as a podcast in iTunes.

Afghan&Military Blog

May 21, 2009 5:08 pm

Time for an apology

I think it is time for the President and the Secretary Clinton to apologize. Not to any foreign country this time, but to our military men and women. I wrote about this incident and how I feel these inflated numbers by Afghan civilians knowing that they will get a pay out led to the firing of Gen McKiernan here and here.

Emphasis below is mine, and is intended to make the reader notice and think about what is stated.

The American military on Wednesday rejected a claim by the Afghan government that a recent bombing had killed 140 civilians, but acknowledged that between 20 and 30 civilians may have been killed.

The military statement was issued a day after the new American ambassador here, Lieutenant General Karl W. Eikenberry, held a meeting with survivors of the aerial bombing on May 4 in the western province of Farah and promised that coalition forces would change their tactics to prevent civilian casualties in the future.

The military’s statement was the most exhaustive American account of the episode so far. It reflected the deep and emotional disputes surrounding civilian deaths in Afghanistan as American forces prepare to step up a war that President Barack Obama has made a top priority.

The military said it believes that between 60 and 65 Taliban extremists were killed in the fight, far more than the number of civilians. The Afghans say all of those killed were civilians.

The fight began, the military said, when Afghan soldiers and police officers went to several villages in response to reports that three Afghan government officials had been executed by the Taliban. The police, who were "outmanned and outgunned," were quickly overwhelmed and asked for backup from American forces.

In turn, coalition ground forces called in air support - F-18 fighter jets and a B-1 bomber that "provided fire, in coordination with the ground commander, on buildings and a tree grove insurgents were firing from and massing in."

As the fight unfolded, one American Navy corpsman was shot in the shoulder while attempting to rescue a wounded Afghan soldier, and they became trapped by Taliban gunfire. The fighter jets provided "close air support to suppress enemy fire from buildings nearby," the military said. Both men survived. In all, five Afghan police officers were killed.

In what it called "interim findings," the American command said a review of video from aircraft weapon sights and exchanges between air crew and a ground commander had established that Taliban fighters took refuge "in buildings that were targeted in the final strikes of the fight."

Lieutenant Commander Christine Sidenstricker, an American military spokesman, said that a joint delegation of Afghan officials and coalition forces visited the villages shortly after the bombardment and were shown three grave sites - one with four individual graves, one with 22 individual graves, and one mass grave. It was not clear how many people the mass grave contained, she said, with counts of as low as 19 and as high as 69, based on reports by villagers.

"Our investigations indicate the list includes more than civilians who were killed," Commander Sidenstricker said. The military believes the numbers include security forces killed in the battle, as well as the names of people who may be unaccounted for because they fled the village early in the Taliban’s attack, she said.

A count given by residents of the village of Gerani to The New York Times includes 20 men, 28 women, and 38 children under the age of 10. An additional four children had been included on the list but were found in the hospital. Afghans said as many as 50 more were killed in the village of Ganj Abad, but gave no breakdown by gender or age.

The Wednesday statement was based on information from the first delegation as well as a second military investigation, interviews with Afghans in the area and recorded conversations between commanders on the ground and in the air, Commander Sidenstricker said.

As the debate over victims intensified, the NATO-led force said that an airstrike on Tuesday killed eight civilians in Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan. A NATO statement said militants used the civilians as human shields during the airstrike.