Posts Tagged war on terror

CIA officer Darren James LaBonte

This is photo provided by family shows Darren James LaBonte, 35, in Afghanistan in 2007. LaBonte was one of seven CIA employees who died when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a U.S. base in Khost, Afghanistan

“LaBonte grew up in Connecticut. He played baseball and football at Brookfield High School. He turned down a shot at professional baseball with the Cleveland Indians when he graduated from high school in 1992 and opted for the Army, said his father, a former Navy SEAL.

LaBonte earned the celebrated black and yellow Ranger patch and was assigned to First Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, one of the toughest units.”

http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2010/06/05/4467370-veil-of-secrecy-shrouding-dead-cia-officer-lifted

From a statement by CIA Director Leon E. Panetta in December 2009:
“Yesterday’s tragedy reminds us that the men and women of the CIA put their lives at risk every day to protect this nation,” Director Panetta said. “Throughout our history, the reality is that those who make a real difference often face real danger.”

https://www.cia.gov/news-information/press-releases-statements/cia-casualties-in-afghanistan.html

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Combat Medicine in OIF

CAPT Michael Vengrow, MC, USNR on Combat Medicine in OIF.

Combat Medicine in OIF

Combat Medicine in OIF Netcast

CAPT Vengrow discusses his experience in OIF (Operation Iraqi Freedom) and discusses the challenges the U.S. Military faces with battlefield healthcare in its current wars. He ellaborates on how the fighting in the Global War on Terror will require new ways of approaching combat medicine.

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Jihadism and the Importance of Place

This report is republished with permission of STRATFOR

By Scott Stewart

One of the basic tenets of STRATFOR’s analytical model is that place matters. A country’s physical and cultural geography will force the government of that country to confront certain strategic imperatives no matter what form the government takes. For example, Imperial Russia, the Soviet Union and post-Soviet Russia all have faced the same set of strategic imperatives. Similarly, place can also have a dramatic impact on the formation and operation of a militant group, though obviously not in quite the same way that it affects a government, since militant groups, especially transnational ones, tend to be itinerant and can move from place to place.

From the perspective of a militant group, geography is important but there are other critical factors involved in establishing the suitability of a place. While it is useful to have access to wide swaths of rugged terrain that can provide sanctuary such as mountains, jungles or swamps, for a militant group to conduct large-scale operations, the country in which it is based must have a weak central government — or a government that is cooperative or at least willing to turn a blind eye to the group. A sympathetic population is also a critical factor in whether an area can serve as a sanctuary for a militant group. In places without a favorable mixture of these elements, militants tend to operate more like terrorists, in small urban-based cells.

For example, although Egypt was one of the ideological cradles of jihadism, jihadist militants have never been able to gain a solid foothold in Egypt (as they have been able to do in Algeria, Yemen and Pakistan). This is because the combination of geography and government are not favorable to them even in areas of the country where there is a sympathetic population. When jihadist organizations have become active in Egypt, the Egyptian government has been able to quickly hunt them down. Having no place to hide, those militants who are not immediately arrested or killed frequently leave the country and end up in places like Sudan, Iraq, Pakistan (and sometimes Jersey City). Over the past three decades, many of these itinerant Egyptian militants, such as Ayman al-Zawahiri, have gone on to play significant roles in the formation and evolution of al Qaeda — a stateless, transnational jihadist organization.

Even though al Qaeda and the broader jihadist movement it has sought to foster are transnational, they are still affected by the unique dynamics of place, and it is worth examining how these dynamics will likely affect the movement’s future. Read the rest of this entry »

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UK Soldier Throws Back A Live Grenade

From the Helmand Blog

Rifleman McKie

Rifleman McKie sustained fragmentation injuries to his right arm and face as the grenade exploded mid air, close to where he stood.

Fragmentation also hit his Platoon Commander Captain Graeme Kerr who sustained injuries to his leg and who is recovering at Selly Oak Hospital in the UK.

“We were in a high position on a compound roof. There was no way you could throw yourself off and not get injured, so I made a decision to pick up the grenade and throw it off the roof. And I threw it quite deliberately. I tried to throw it properly, to clear the roof. I didn’t want to do it half arsed and have them throw it back at us or anything like that. I remember thinking that if I didn’t pull this off, it was going to hurt. But at that stage I was pretty much committed.

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Warfighting 101

From: Mark Alexander

“A universal peace … is in the catalogue of events, which will never exist but in the imaginations of visionary philosophers, or in the breasts of benevolent enthusiasts.” –James Madison

I spent much of the last week participating in a national security forum organized by the Air War College and hosted by the Twelfth Air Force and the 355th Fighter Wing at Davis-Monthan AFB.

Discussing the challenges of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and the surge for Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in Afghanistan with command personnel makes for lively debate, but the best part of these forums is incidental — the opportunity to meet many enlisted airmen and those flying the planes they make ready.

I have been on military bases across the nation, and without fail I am most impressed by the young uniformed Patriots who are the foundation of our military might. Simply put, their dedication, talent and spirit are second to none.

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Afghan Army Increases

Allies to help increase Afghan security forces by 100,00.

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