News of the Force - Saturday, April 4, 2009 (Page 2)
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News of the Force
Saturday, April 4, 2009 - Page 2
Today in History
On April 4, 1968, civil rights leader Rev.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 39, was shot to death in Memphis, Tenn.
For more of Today in History, visit us at http://newsoftheforce.org .
Gates touts new strategy on Afghan TV
The United States does not want to
remain in Afghanistan one day longer than it has to, but the mission will take
time, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said during an interview with
Afghan television yesterday. The new strategy in Afghanistan is a result of
months of study and consultation with Afghan leaders and other Coalition allies,
Gates said.
The secretary said the U.S. forces will leave Afghanistan when the country's security forces can handle the challenges on their own. To that end, he said, the new strategy concentrates on providing security and helping the Afghan people expand the army and police. "Afghans must protect their own security, when all is said and done," the secretary said. "And so we want to help them do that."
The United States will send the soldiers of the 82nd Airborne Division's 4th Brigade Combat Team to Afghanistan to serve as trainers for the Afghan security forces. The troopers will arrive starting in the spring and through the summer.
The new strategy also will channel significant money to development. Gates said a large number of civilian experts in agriculture and veterinarians will help to revive the farm sector. Physicians, nurses and other health professionals will help in the medical field. Lawyers and government administrators will mentor at the district, provincial and national levels. Gates said he hopes this will "show the Afghan people that life will improve thanks to these international efforts."
The Afghan people have suffered under the Soviets and the Taliban. "We're there as partners with the Afghan people to help them be able to govern themselves, and without somebody from the outside telling them how to do it," the secretary said.
Trust is key to the process, Gates said, and the Afghan people have to trust the Coalition and understand that "we are there to help them, not for purposes of our own other than the same purpose that the Afghan people have, which is for Afghanistan not to be a safe haven for terrorists who kill them and want to kill us."
Gates said some of the agreements the Pakistani government has made with the Taliban in western Pakistan are a concern to the United States. Earlier agreements led to Taliban extremists crossing the border into Afghanistan, he said. "They no longer had to worry about Pakistani troops because of the deals," Gates said.
But leaders are starting to understand the problems the extremists pose. "I think the Pakistani government is coming to understand that what is going on in western Pakistan is as great a danger to the government in Islamabad as it is to Afghanistan," Gates said. "The Pakistani army has been doing a lot of fighting. Thousands of Pakistani soldiers have died in the western part of the country fighting these extremists. And one of our goals in this new strategy is to see how we can improve cooperation between Afghanistan and Pakistan, who have a common interest in getting rid of these extremists."
Gates said Pakistan's inter-service intelligence agency has contacts with extremists groups and that concerns the United States. "The ISI's contacts with some of these extremist groups - with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the Haqqani network, Commander Nazir and others - are a real concern to us," Gates said. "We have made these concerns known directly to the Pakistanis, and we hope that they will take action to put an end to it."
Gates said the United States and the Coalition are concerned about the narcotics trade. Drug traffickers are pumping somewhere between $70 million and $100 million into the Taliban each year, he said. The trade also feeds corruption and undermines the legitimacy of the government. "For both of those reasons, it's important to go after this," the secretary said.
The secretary said the U.S. forces will leave Afghanistan when the country's security forces can handle the challenges on their own. To that end, he said, the new strategy concentrates on providing security and helping the Afghan people expand the army and police. "Afghans must protect their own security, when all is said and done," the secretary said. "And so we want to help them do that."
The United States will send the soldiers of the 82nd Airborne Division's 4th Brigade Combat Team to Afghanistan to serve as trainers for the Afghan security forces. The troopers will arrive starting in the spring and through the summer.
The new strategy also will channel significant money to development. Gates said a large number of civilian experts in agriculture and veterinarians will help to revive the farm sector. Physicians, nurses and other health professionals will help in the medical field. Lawyers and government administrators will mentor at the district, provincial and national levels. Gates said he hopes this will "show the Afghan people that life will improve thanks to these international efforts."
The Afghan people have suffered under the Soviets and the Taliban. "We're there as partners with the Afghan people to help them be able to govern themselves, and without somebody from the outside telling them how to do it," the secretary said.
Trust is key to the process, Gates said, and the Afghan people have to trust the Coalition and understand that "we are there to help them, not for purposes of our own other than the same purpose that the Afghan people have, which is for Afghanistan not to be a safe haven for terrorists who kill them and want to kill us."
Gates said some of the agreements the Pakistani government has made with the Taliban in western Pakistan are a concern to the United States. Earlier agreements led to Taliban extremists crossing the border into Afghanistan, he said. "They no longer had to worry about Pakistani troops because of the deals," Gates said.
But leaders are starting to understand the problems the extremists pose. "I think the Pakistani government is coming to understand that what is going on in western Pakistan is as great a danger to the government in Islamabad as it is to Afghanistan," Gates said. "The Pakistani army has been doing a lot of fighting. Thousands of Pakistani soldiers have died in the western part of the country fighting these extremists. And one of our goals in this new strategy is to see how we can improve cooperation between Afghanistan and Pakistan, who have a common interest in getting rid of these extremists."
Gates said Pakistan's inter-service intelligence agency has contacts with extremists groups and that concerns the United States. "The ISI's contacts with some of these extremist groups - with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the Haqqani network, Commander Nazir and others - are a real concern to us," Gates said. "We have made these concerns known directly to the Pakistanis, and we hope that they will take action to put an end to it."
Gates said the United States and the Coalition are concerned about the narcotics trade. Drug traffickers are pumping somewhere between $70 million and $100 million into the Taliban each year, he said. The trade also feeds corruption and undermines the legitimacy of the government. "For both of those reasons, it's important to go after this," the secretary said.
Coast Guard continues operations in flooded Oslo
Holy See decries new
U.S. population policy
By Phillip Blansett, Ph.D.,
News of the Force-Nashville
Archbishop
Celestino Migliore, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations,
has delivered a strongly worded speech sharply criticizing the "population
reduction" mentality defended by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at a Planned
Parenthood gala last Friday.
New York woman named NCO of the
Year
Staff Sgt. Tiffany Streit, of Albany,
N.Y., has been named as the state's Army National
Guard's Active Guard/Reserve NCO of the Year.Alabama senator blocks Pentagon nominee over
tankers
Shelby
Republican Sen. Richard Shelby
is holding up President Obama's pick to lead Pentagon acquisitions because he
wants assurances that the nominee won't change the criteria in a heated
competition for a $35 billion refueling tanker contract.
Shelby and other Alabama
lawmakers are worried the Pentagon might award the contract based strictly on
price, without considering additional capabilities. They have a stake in the fight because the Northrop Grumman
Corp. would assemble the plane in Mobile, Ala. The company is offering a larger,
more expensive plane than its competitor, the Boeing Co.
Shelby alone can't block the
nomination of Ashton Carter as a Defense Department undersecretary, but he can
delay his confirmation.
National Guard recovers
helicopter
One week after crashing on
Colorado's Monarch Pass, an Alaska Army National Guard Black Hawk
helicopter has been removed from the mountain side.Obama, Sarkozy share views on NATO, Russia,
Afghanistan
French President Nicolas Sarkozy
yesterday remembered the Americans "who fought and died for us" at Normandy as
he called for greater integration between the United States and Europe under the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Sarkozy and President Obama held
a joint news conference in advance of the NATO summit in Strasbourg, France,
yesterday. Obama stressed that NATO is the most successful alliance in modern
history. "The basic premise of NATO was that Europe's security was the United
States' security, and vice versa," the president
said.
The alliance has been the pillar of American foreign policy since its founding 60 years ago, and it will become even stronger ahead, Obama said. "With France's reintegration into the highest command structures of NATO, that principle will continue to be upheld," he said.
The alliance needs strong allies, both Obama and Sarkozy said. The French and American presidents said they want Europe to have much more robust defense capabilities.
The United States is "not looking to be the patron of Europe, we're looking to be partners with Europe," Obama said.
France and the United States have a shared vision of the world, Sarkozy said. "We don't want to impose our values on anybody," he said. "But we don't want anybody, anywhere in the world, to prevent us from believing in our principles."
At the summit, the alliance members will deal with future relations with Russia. Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met during the G-20 economics conference in London. The president said there is potential to improve U.S.-Russian relations. "I think that it is important for NATO allies to engage Russia and to recognize that they have legitimate interests," he said. "In some cases we've got common interests, but we also have some core disagreements."
NATO and Russia should be in a dialogue. "We have to send a very clear message to Russia that we want to work with them, but that we can't go back to the old ways of doing business," he added.
One area of agreement could be Iran, Obama said. "All have an interest in preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and that there should be a mechanism that respects Iran's sovereignty and allows them to develop peaceful nuclear energy, but draws a clear line that we cannot have a nuclear arms race in the Middle East," he said.
Sarkozy said there is no exclusive Russian area of influence any more. "With the problems the world faces today, we're not going to reinvent the Cold War," he said. "We need the world getting together; we need the world to unite. We need Russia to shoulder its responsibilities, because it is a great country, a great power, to help us find a solution to the Iranian crisis."
France and the United States are on the same page in dealing with Russia, Sarkozy said.
Obama praised France for its stance on Afghanistan. He called France a stalwart ally and addressed the possibilities of all the NATO allies re-engaging in a more effective mission in Afghanistan. "I've not had to drag France kicking and screaming into Afghanistan, because France recognizes that having al-Qaida operate safe havens that can be used to launch attacks is a threat not just to the United States, but to Europe," the American president said. "In fact, it is probably more likely that al-Qaida would be able to launch a serious terrorist attack in Europe than in the United States, because of proximity."
The French president endorsed the new U.S. strategy in Afghanistan. "I want to say to my fellow Frenchmen that when New York was crucified, this could have happened in any other capital city of any democratic state," Sarkozy said. "It wasn't New York that was being targeted, it was democracies at large."
France has a major presence in Afghanistan, with almost 1,100 soldiers. "We are prepared to do more in terms of police, of the gendarmes, the military police, in terms of economic aid, in order to train Afghans and 'Afghanize' Afghanistan," Sarkozy said. "We are not waging a war against Afghanistan. We are helping Afghanistan rebuild," he said. "We don't support any given candidate. We support the right of young Afghans to look to a future, to have a future."
The alliance has been the pillar of American foreign policy since its founding 60 years ago, and it will become even stronger ahead, Obama said. "With France's reintegration into the highest command structures of NATO, that principle will continue to be upheld," he said.
The alliance needs strong allies, both Obama and Sarkozy said. The French and American presidents said they want Europe to have much more robust defense capabilities.
The United States is "not looking to be the patron of Europe, we're looking to be partners with Europe," Obama said.
France and the United States have a shared vision of the world, Sarkozy said. "We don't want to impose our values on anybody," he said. "But we don't want anybody, anywhere in the world, to prevent us from believing in our principles."
At the summit, the alliance members will deal with future relations with Russia. Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met during the G-20 economics conference in London. The president said there is potential to improve U.S.-Russian relations. "I think that it is important for NATO allies to engage Russia and to recognize that they have legitimate interests," he said. "In some cases we've got common interests, but we also have some core disagreements."
NATO and Russia should be in a dialogue. "We have to send a very clear message to Russia that we want to work with them, but that we can't go back to the old ways of doing business," he added.
One area of agreement could be Iran, Obama said. "All have an interest in preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and that there should be a mechanism that respects Iran's sovereignty and allows them to develop peaceful nuclear energy, but draws a clear line that we cannot have a nuclear arms race in the Middle East," he said.
Sarkozy said there is no exclusive Russian area of influence any more. "With the problems the world faces today, we're not going to reinvent the Cold War," he said. "We need the world getting together; we need the world to unite. We need Russia to shoulder its responsibilities, because it is a great country, a great power, to help us find a solution to the Iranian crisis."
France and the United States are on the same page in dealing with Russia, Sarkozy said.
Obama praised France for its stance on Afghanistan. He called France a stalwart ally and addressed the possibilities of all the NATO allies re-engaging in a more effective mission in Afghanistan. "I've not had to drag France kicking and screaming into Afghanistan, because France recognizes that having al-Qaida operate safe havens that can be used to launch attacks is a threat not just to the United States, but to Europe," the American president said. "In fact, it is probably more likely that al-Qaida would be able to launch a serious terrorist attack in Europe than in the United States, because of proximity."
The French president endorsed the new U.S. strategy in Afghanistan. "I want to say to my fellow Frenchmen that when New York was crucified, this could have happened in any other capital city of any democratic state," Sarkozy said. "It wasn't New York that was being targeted, it was democracies at large."
France has a major presence in Afghanistan, with almost 1,100 soldiers. "We are prepared to do more in terms of police, of the gendarmes, the military police, in terms of economic aid, in order to train Afghans and 'Afghanize' Afghanistan," Sarkozy said. "We are not waging a war against Afghanistan. We are helping Afghanistan rebuild," he said. "We don't support any given candidate. We support the right of young Afghans to look to a future, to have a future."
Iraqi flight surgeons step onto world
stage
After years of sanctions and forced isolation, two Iraqi Air Force officers have stepped onto the world stage and presented their study at a NATO conference in Germany.
Iraqi Air Force flight surgeons Maj. Abdulrazzaq and 1st Lt. Hazem presented their findings on a fatal Iraqi Mi-17 helicopter crash to the annual NATO Flight Surgeons' Conference held at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, on March 16-20.
Two Iraqi pilots were killed in March 2008 while flying into a sandstorm. Two lessons learned that the Iraqi flight surgeons brought to the conference were to accelerate instrument training and to increase the practice of emergency procedures. The doctors hoped lessons learned from the tragedy will prevent future deaths due to pilot error.
U.S. Air Force Col. William W. Dodson, III, command flight suregon, Multinational Security Transition Command-Iraq/Coalition Air Force Training Team surgeon/Iraa Air Force medical services advisor and director of training, escorted the doctors to the conference. "The five-day conference marked an historic first for the Iraqi Air Force," Dodson said. "To present on the world stage to other flight surgeons from 26 countries, Abdulrazzaq and Hazem represented their country well."
After years of sanctions and forced isolation, two Iraqi Air Force officers have stepped onto the world stage and presented their study at a NATO conference in Germany.
Iraqi Air Force flight surgeons Maj. Abdulrazzaq and 1st Lt. Hazem presented their findings on a fatal Iraqi Mi-17 helicopter crash to the annual NATO Flight Surgeons' Conference held at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, on March 16-20.
Two Iraqi pilots were killed in March 2008 while flying into a sandstorm. Two lessons learned that the Iraqi flight surgeons brought to the conference were to accelerate instrument training and to increase the practice of emergency procedures. The doctors hoped lessons learned from the tragedy will prevent future deaths due to pilot error.
U.S. Air Force Col. William W. Dodson, III, command flight suregon, Multinational Security Transition Command-Iraq/Coalition Air Force Training Team surgeon/Iraa Air Force medical services advisor and director of training, escorted the doctors to the conference. "The five-day conference marked an historic first for the Iraqi Air Force," Dodson said. "To present on the world stage to other flight surgeons from 26 countries, Abdulrazzaq and Hazem represented their country well."
During the 20 minute
presentation - that included a video and PowerPoint slides - the doctors
lectured on lessons learned from an official board investigation into the crash
of the helicopter.
"It's been an honor working with Drs. Abdulrazzaq and Hazem, they are true professionals," said U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Robert Kane, MNSTC-I CAFTT commander. "They received a resounding ovation from the other conference attendees as the only presenters in the history of the conference from the Middle East. This initiative will result in a more capable Iraqi Air Force and it is a vital step toward ensuring Iraq's self-sufficiency during the critical transition from Coalition to Iraqi-led operations in support of the Security Agreement between Iraq
and the United States."
Before the NATO conference, the Iraqi flight surgeons attended partnering sessions, where they learned from their counterparts during actual work place operations. There were sessions at Balad Air Base, Iraq, at the separate Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, AE Staging Facility and on an AE C-17 Globemaster flight, which not only had the standard AE crew of medics and nurses, but also had a Critical Care Air Transport Team of specialist physicians.
"It's been an honor working with Drs. Abdulrazzaq and Hazem, they are true professionals," said U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Robert Kane, MNSTC-I CAFTT commander. "They received a resounding ovation from the other conference attendees as the only presenters in the history of the conference from the Middle East. This initiative will result in a more capable Iraqi Air Force and it is a vital step toward ensuring Iraq's self-sufficiency during the critical transition from Coalition to Iraqi-led operations in support of the Security Agreement between Iraq
and the United States."
Before the NATO conference, the Iraqi flight surgeons attended partnering sessions, where they learned from their counterparts during actual work place operations. There were sessions at Balad Air Base, Iraq, at the separate Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, AE Staging Facility and on an AE C-17 Globemaster flight, which not only had the standard AE crew of medics and nurses, but also had a Critical Care Air Transport Team of specialist physicians.
Other sessions were held at
Ramstein AB, at the flight medicine clinic, the public health section,
bio-environmental engineering unit and the C-130 Hercules fuel tank systems
maintenance hangar.
More problems arise in Missouri's Civil Air
Patrol
Copies of at least two of the
complaints, obtained exclusively by the News of the Force bureau
in St. Louis, contain copies of e-mail messages and appear to support the claims
of the officers involved.
The complaints were apparently
filed around or during December 2008, but as yet there has been no outcome, and
apparently no action has been taken on the complaints. "NCR HQ either
won't, or refuses, to process the complaints, and the end result is no
action has been taken, and apparently is not going to be taken," one
source in the Missouri Wing told NOTF. "It appears that NCR HQ is
refusing to have anything to do with the Missouri Wing. That includes no
processing of awards or promotions. Nothing in the way of promotions,
awards or certificates has been returned to the Missouri Wing since
Col. Kuddes was restored as the NCR commander about 18 months
ago. He has not responded to the Missouri Wing since the Winter
National Board meeting. Kuddes blames all his troubles with [former CAP
national commander] Pineda on Sean Fagan, who was from the Missouri
Wing. His troubles were with Pineda, not the Missouri Wing," the
source said.
NOTF gave the CAP's
North Central Region and its commander an opportunity to comment before running
this story. In an e-mail response received yesterday, CAP Maj. Al Pabon,
the North Central Region's public affairs director, wrote: "As per CAP Regulation 123-2, paragraph 7k, we cannot discuss any
complaint, investigation, or findings with persons not involved in the
investigation or in the direct chain of command of the complainant or
subject."
In an e-mail message from Col.
Kuddes to Col. Casler, a copy of which was exclusively obtained by
NOTF, and apparently send this week, Col. Kuddes wrote: "Col.
Casler, You are authorized to obtain any documents that you need to verify
mission qualifications of any member in the North Central Region. These
documents include but are not limited to SQTRs, mission/exercise sign in sheets,
IC notes, Branch Director notes, and mission reimbursement requests. If the Wing
commander requires that you coordinate through them, then please try to
accommodate that request. However, if you are refused access to those
records please advise me ASAP and I will ensure you receive them. Steve W.
Kuddes, Colonel, CAP, Commander, North Central Region."
Meanwhile, it appears that CAP
Col. Casler may be "calling the kettle black." Official CAP records obtained by
NOTF show that Casler acquired his own incident commander's ratings as
follows: IC-1, 7/21/2008; IC-2, 6/25/2006; and IC-3, 6/17/2008."
"How do you become an IC-2
before becoming an IC-1?" a CAP source has asked.
Former Marine adjusting after hand transplant;
Moving fingers
Joshua Maloney,
24, isn't expected to gain full sensation in his right hand for several
months. He had been injured in January 2007 during a training exercise at the
Marine Corps base in Quantico, Va.
The surgery is the first of its
kind at the Pittsburgh hospital network, and only the sixth in U.S. history. The
other five have occurred at Jewish Hospital Heart and Lung Center of Louisville,
Ky.
Maloney and his doctor talked to
reporters this week about the operation and his recovery.
The parting shots
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir
Putin's pet dog gobbled up a special tea prepared for bosses of Russia's ruling
party this week.
Claims that Coke won't make
children fat or rot their teeth have landed Coca-Cola in trouble with
Australia's consumer watchdog, which Thursday ordered the soft drink company to
correct its advertising.
A German woman has divorced her
husband because she was fed up with him cleaning all the time.
The British media regulator
Ofcom has fined Playboy TV 22,500 pounds ($32,990) for airing sexually explicit
images in breach of its broadcasting rules.
Carlos Lupercio, 49, was
sentenced in Lincoln, Neb., to 2-to-4 years in prison for shooting at his
neighbor with a crossbow to "settle" the dispute over whether his pit bull was a
Labrador or not.
Three teenagers shot up a
trailer home in Lakeville, Minn., on Wednesday, apparently because of
disappointment that there weren't any women at the party they had showed up
for.
Mr. Jory Aebly was shot in the
head in Cleveland, Ohio, in February, and no doctors, none, gave him any chance
of survival, yet he was discharged this week, and now the hospital chaplain's
endorphins are in overdrive because he had "treated" Aebly with a rosary once
extra-specially blessed by Pope John Paul II.
A woman was arrested when she
tried to leave a Schnucks grocery store in the St. Louis suburb of Arnold,
Mo., with $1,200 worth of shoplifted stuff, but she might have gone
free had she tried to leave via the correct automatic door rather than the one
that wouldn't open for her, or had she not made such a scene about the door not
opening and just quietly eased over to the correct door. She did
neither.
David Brown, 48, of Oak
Hill, Fla., is charged in a strange arrangement: It looks like there was
kind of a neighborhood community tanning bed in a "shed" in his back yard,
and neighbor girls used it, and then there was a secret camera in there. But
it's a small, rural town so maybe tanning beds are scarce there.
And they don't do "death
penalty" cases very well in Texas, but they nailed this one: The State
Commission on Judicial Conduct charged Judge Gustavo Garza with improper
sentencing, i.e., he would waive a $500 fine for parents of truants if they'd
spank their kids (clothed) right there in his courtroom.
page two
Concise. Accurate. And always on.
Feeling the pinch at the grocery store? Make dinner for $10 or less.
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