England: Islam, free speech and half the story — vile Muslim protest at the Royal Anglian Regiment homecoming

(England) In yet another episode of how Western society turns a blind eye towards the bullying oppressive nature of radical Islam, today, 200 soldiers of the 1st Battalion of the Royal Anglian Regiment marched through the London Borough of Barking on their homecoming from a tour of Afghanistan. However, just like a parade through Luton last year, a bunch of Islamic idiots decided to hold a protest in which to express their displeasure over how British soldiers are willing to lay down their lives in which to protect the people of Afghanistan from gun totting religious bigots who, while professing to belonging to a religion of peace, have no problem hanging a 7-year-old boy because of their paranoia. The thing is, the very people using Western norms of free speech in which to express their displeasure at British soldiers are the very same people who protested at Western norms of free speech when it concerns pictures of their favourite paedophile.

Then, as today, the British police formed a protective cordon around these freedom of speech loving Islamists in which to protect them from the crowds of British people who had flocked to welcome the local regiment home, whom they had decided to piss off. Getting their wish, a gaggle of drinkers decided to pop into a local store, purchase a load of pork sausages and, mirroring the English at Agincourt, decided to fill the sky with arrows (pork ones at that). After softening them up with a frozen pork sausage barrage, a full frontal attack was launched on the sharia-loving idiots. The police, as per normal, stood their ground and formed a thin blue line between opposing belligerents and arrested 2 people.









The thing is, this whole incident is simply designed to inflame the local non-Islamic population into attacking those whom they presume are Muslims in which to fill the ranks of these West-hating idiots with disgruntled Muslims who have been attacked due to the actions of their so called peace loving brothers, and they get the police to protect them while they promulgate their message of hate.



If that wasn't bad enough, Esmerelda Weatherwax, one of the bloggers at the Iconoclast, took her camera down to the parade and managed to take a number of happy snaps of the so called protest. While there, she reported this disturbing incident:

A camera and microphone was shoved in my face from the Muslim against Crusader side of the barrier.
“What do you think of all this?”
“I think it’s appalling, and by the way who are you with” I asked?
"I’m with the BBC" he said “Making a documentary”.
“Well, it’s disgusting, that the Royal Anglians coming home are faced with this”
“What would you say if I told you that my brother (or Step brother) like me, is a convert and is demonstrating with the others".
“Then I feel very sorry for him and will pray that he turns back to Christ. I have nothing more to say”
Except I made him have his picture taken, as he had filmed me. There he is below, BBC documentary maker and fellow traveller.

Why am I not surprised how somebody claiming to be from the bBC is taking the side of radical Islam?

Marine Corps Non-lethal Weapons to be Developed by Metal Storm and General Dynamics

QUANTICO MARINE BASE, Va.
Systems designers at Metal Storm Inc. in Arlington, Va., and General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems in Orlando, Fla., are developing prototype non-lethal weapons for U.S. Marine Corps combat vehicles under terms of research contracts.

General Dynamics and Metal Storm engineers are developing prototypes for the Marine Corps Mission Payload Module-Non-Lethal Weapon Systems (MPM-NLWS) to provide the Marine Corps with improved non-lethal counter-personnel capabilities.

The new non-lethal weapon system will be mounted to the Marine Corps BAE Systems Transparent Armor Gun Shield (MCTAGS), which is on Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement (MTVR) units, High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs), and Logistics Vehicle Systems (LVSs).



The MCTAGS provides gunner protection that enables direct vision, situational awareness, and target acquisition while providing enhanced protection from small arms fire and fragments from roadside bombs.

Transparent Armor Gun Shields (TAGS) also are configurable for other kinds of combat vehicles, including the M2A3 Bradley Fighting Vehicle, M1 Abrams main battle tank, M113 armored personnel carrier, and Stryker. TAGS is particularly effective in close-combat urban military operations.

NEW WEAPONS PROVIDE ALTERNATIVE FOR MARINES DEALING WITH NON-COMBATANTS >> http://www.fas.org/irp/news/1998/08/980828-usmc.htm

Fallen Utah Marine Laid to Rest

March 6th, 2010

UTAH COUNTY -- A young Utah Marine killed in Afghanistan this week received full military honors Saturday.
Lance Cpl. Carlos Aragon of Orem was laid to rest in Veterans Memorial Park in Bluffdale Saturday afternoon. He was killed Monday -- the first of two young Utah Marines to die this week.

Aragon was on foot patrol Monday when he stepped on an IED in Helmand Province. He was just 19 years old.

Flags lined the street in front of the Chapel Valley 3rd Ward meetinghouse in Lehi as mourners gathered in Aragon's honor and later watched the casket carried out by Marines.

Friends and family remembered Aragon as an adventurous young man who liked doing things his own way.
"He didn't like going up the trail at Bridal Veil Falls" in Provo Canyon, said Brad Halliday. "He went straight up the mountain the hard way. That's the way he liked things."

Aragon was also remembered as a thoughtful and humble son who arranged to have flowers sent to his mother on Mother's Day, even while he was away on duty.

"He helped me to be a better man, a better husband, a better father and a better friend," Halliday said. "And he did it by example."

At the cemetery, Aragon was given full military honors, including a 21-gun salute and taps.

According to his obituary, Aragon loved to listen to music from the 1970s. He also loved to look at old cars.

Robert Gardner, who was Aragon's bishop in his ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said Aragon didn't seek the spotlight.
"He didn't need any fame. He didn't need any glory. He didn't like to speak in front of people," Gardner said.

Gardner remembered when Aragon helped a friend duct-tape his car after a fender-bender so it could be driven to a mechanic.

"But he did more than that. He made sure the car looked as good as it could, then with the duct tape he put a big smiley face on the front of the car," Gardner said. "What a wonderful way to turn a negative experience into something his friend would remember for the rest of his life."

Aragon enlisted straight out of high school in 2008. Earlier this week, Mountain View High School's assistant principal reflected on Aragon's life.

"He was very quiet, very respectful and he kind of had an exterior that might seem to intimidate some people," said Peter Glahn. "He really was a gentle guy."

Aragon is one of two Marines killed this week in Afghanistan. On Thursday, Lance Cpl. Nigel Olsen was killed, also in Helmand Province.

The two were in the same Marine company and both attended Mountain View High School, graduating just one year apart. The flag at the school has been lowered to half staff.

Funeral services for Olsen are scheduled for late next week. A viewing will take place Friday, while the funeral is set for Saturday.

The exact times and locations have not been announced.

Administrators will meet Monday to determine a proper tribute for both former students.

Story compiled with contributions from Sarah Dallof and The Associated Press.

Thinking of You Andy - Okinawa

OOOOH RAH! I love the sounds of my son's voice on the phone calling me from Okinawa, Japan. That sound tells me that he is doing well and even though he is so far away, just for a moment, he sounds like he is not so far away.

I am reminded of the pictures I took of him the day he graduated from basic and I remember how proud we all were of him. It always brings back the tears and I am amazed by him every day and proud.



Camp Schwab is a United States Marine Corps camp located in northeastern Okinawa, Japan, that is currently home to the 4th Marine Regiment and other elements of the 28,000 American servicemen based on the island in fulfilment of the 1952 commitment of the United States to defend Japan. The Camp was dedicated in 1959, in honor of Medal of Honor recipient Albert E. Schwab, who was killed in action during the Battle of Okinawa.









Tuesday, May. 04, 2010

Japan PM: Moving US base off Okinawa 'impossible'

By MALCOLM FOSTER - Associated Press Writer

TOKYO -- Japan's prime minister said for the first time Tuesday that at least part of a key U.S. military base will remain on the southern island of Okinawa, a move that could reduce tension with Washington but dent his sinking popularity and raise the ire of island residents.

A dispute over the relocation of Futenma Marine Corps airfield has become the focal point of U.S.-Japan ties since Yukio Hatoyama took office last September promising to move the base off Okinawa - contrary to a 2006 agreement with Washington that called for it to be moved to a less crowded, northern part of the island.
But on his first visit to Okinawa as prime minister, Hatoyama conceded it would be difficult if not impossible to move Futenma's facilities off the island, which hosts more than half the 47,000 American troops stationed in Japan under a security pact.


People shout a slogan against the U.S. military presence in Okinawa in front of the Okinawa prefectural government building in Naha, Okinawa Tuesday, May 4, 2010. Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama visited Okinawa Tuesday as he works to meet an end-of-May deadline to resolve a dispute over the relocation of an unwelcomed U.S. Marine base on the southern island.

Hatoyama essentially acknowledged that his government has been unable to come up with any other viable alternatives to Nago, the proposed relocation site in the north, and is shifting back toward the 2006 plan.

"Realistically speaking, it is impossible," he said, wearing a traditional Okinawan short-sleeved shirt. "We have reached a conclusion that it is difficult to relocate all of Futenma's functions outside the country or the island because of a need to maintain deterrence under the Japan-U.S. alliance."

Hatoyama's backtracking will likely drag down his public approval ratings, which have fallen to about 20 percent amid a political funding scandal and perceived lack of leadership, and could even hurt his party's prospects in July upper house elections.

The prime minister, who had set an end-of-May deadline for a final decision on Futenma, asked for residents' understanding in keeping some of the base's functions on Okinawa, while possibly moving other functions outside the island - a division that Washington would likely find unacceptable.

"We must ask the people of Okinawa to share the burden," he said, adding that he "felt sorry" about the message he brought.

In Washington, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the U.S. and Japan would continue an intensive evaluation of the best way to maintain American operations and to keep the alliance strong. He wouldn't comment on specific options for the base.

"We value our alliance with Japan. We understand that this alliance both provides benefit to the American people and to the Japanese people. It also levies a burden on the American people and the Japanese people. We do recognize this," Crowley told reporters.

Okinawan residents have long complained about base-related noise, pollution and crime. Late last month, about 90,000 people gathered to demand that Futenma be moved off the island entirely.

Tensions on Okinawa over the huge U.S. military presence go back decades, but a furor erupted over a 1995 rape of a 12-year-old girl in which three American servicemen were convicted. Adding to the discontent was a 2004 crash of a U.S. helicopter that burst into flames on a university campus, although it caused no injuries on the ground.

While Futenma's fate remains uncertain, Hatoyama's apparent move back toward the 2006 agreement could bring a measure of relief from Washington, which has insisted that Japan keep its side of the deal, forged with the previous conservative Tokyo government, and proceed with the move to Nago.

American officials say that keeping the base in Okinawa is important for maintaining regional stability given the island's geographical location - near Taiwan and China and not far from the Korean peninsula.

The airfield, set in the middle of an urban area, is home to about 2,000 Marines and is one of the corps' largest facilities in the Pacific.

U.S. defense officials have also said that by delaying action on Futenma, Washington cannot move ahead on a broader 2006 military reorganization agreement that also involves sending 8,000 of the 18,000 Marines on Okinawa to the U.S. territory of Guam, largely to alleviate the burden on Okinawans.

Hatoyama acknowledged that he lacked awareness when he entered office about the logistical reasons for keeping the Futenma Marine facility on the island.
"As I learned more about the situation, I've come to realize that they are all linked up (with the other troops) as a package to maintain deterrence," he said.
According to Japanese media reports and vague comments from Cabinet members, Tokyo's latest plan roughly follows the existing agreement and will move Futenma to a location off the coast of Camp Schwab, a U.S. base near Nago.

Instead of building the base on reclaimed land, as outlined in the original plan - which environmentalists say would damage marine life - Tokyo is floating a plan to construct a runway on a jetty that sits on pilings that go into the sea floor. It also proposes moving part of Futenma's helicopter unit to Tokunoshima, an island 80 miles (130 kilometers) north of Okinawa. But residents there fiercely oppose such an idea.

Analysts said Hatoyama's reversal will likely make him appear wishy-washy and depress his approval ratings. That could bode poorly for the ruling Democratic Party of Japan's prospects in July elections, although the opposition Liberal Democratic Party is in disarray.

"Hatoyama has already lost the trust and support of the general population," said Tsuneo Watanabe, a senior fellow at the Tokyo Foundation, a think tank. "Hatoyama may be replaced before the upper house elections."

"The U.S. side will welcome the (Tokyo) government realizing the original plan as necessary," he said. "But for the people who expected new things from Hatoyama, this is a big disappointment."

Associated Press writers Mari Yamaguchi and Jay Alabaster in Tokyo and Foster Klug in Washington contributed to this report.

U.S. Troop Deaths Double in Afghanistan

KABUL, March 27, 2010
57 Were Killed in Action in First 3 Months of 2010, Twice That of Previous Year; Injuries More Than Triple

(AP) The number of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan has roughly doubled in the first three months of 2010 compared to the same period last year as Washington has added tens of thousands of additional soldiers to reverse the Taliban's momentum.

Those deaths have been accompanied by a dramatic spike in the number of wounded, with injuries more than tripling in the first two months of the year and trending in the same direction based on the latest available data for March.

U.S. officials have warned that casualties are likely to rise even further as the Pentagon completes its deployment of 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan and sets its sights on the Taliban's home base of Kandahar province, where a major operation is expected in the coming months.

"We must steel ourselves, no matter how successful we are on any given day, for harder days yet to come," Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a briefing last month.

In total, 57 U.S. troops were killed here during the first two months of 2010 compared with 28 in January and February of last year, an increase of more than 100 percent, according to Pentagon figures compiled by The Associated Press. At least 20 American service members have been killed so far in March, an average of about 0.8 per day, compared to 13, or 0.4 per day, a year ago.


The steady rise in combat deaths has generated less public reaction in the United States than the spike in casualties last summer and fall, which undermined public support in the U.S. for the 8-year-old American-led mission here. Fighting traditionally tapers off in Afghanistan during winter months, only to peak in the summer.

After a summer marked by the highest monthly death rates of the war, President Barack Obama faced serious domestic opposition over his decision in December to increase troops in Afghanistan, with only about half the American people supporting the move. But support for his handling of the war has actually improved since then, despite the increased casualties.

The latest Associated Press-GfK poll at the beginning of March found that 57 percent of those surveyed approved his handling of the war in Afghanistan compared to 49 percent two months earlier. The poll surveyed 1,002 adults nationwide and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.


Michael O'Hanlon, a foreign policy expert at the Brookings Institution, said the poll results could partly be a reaction to last month's offensive against the Taliban stronghold of Marjah in Helmand province, which the Obama administration painted as the first test of its revamped counterinsurgency strategy.

Some 10,000 U.S., NATO and Afghan forces seized control of the farming community of about 80,000 people while suffering relatively few deaths. But the Taliban continue to plant bombs at night and intimidate the locals, and the hardest part of the operation is yet to come: building an effective local government that can win over the loyalty of the people.

"My main thesis ... is that Americans can brace themselves for casualties in war if they consider the stakes high enough and the strategy being followed promising enough," O'Hanlon said. "But such progress in public opinion is perishable, if not right away then over a period of months, if we don't sustain the new momentum."

A rise in the number of wounded - a figure that draws less attention than deaths - shows that the Taliban remain a formidable opponent.

The number of U.S. troops wounded in Afghanistan and three smaller theaters where there isn't much battlefield activity rose from 85 in the first two months of 2009 to 381 this year, an increase of almost 350 percent. A total of 50 U.S. troops were wounded last March, an average of 1.6 per day. In comparison, 44 were injured during just the first six days of March this year, an average of 7.3 per day.

The increase in casualties was partly driven by the higher number of troops in Afghanistan in 2010. American troops rose from 32,000 at the beginning of last year to 68,000 at the end of the year, an increase of more than 110 percent.

(Left: Army flight medic Sgt. John Collier treats a U.S. Marine aboard a Black Hawk helicopter in Marjah, Helmand province, Afghanistan, Sunday, March 7, 2010. The Marine was among two who suffered shrapnel wounds following an IED blast.)


"We've got a massive influx of troops, we have troops going into areas where they have not previously been and you have a reaction by an enemy to a new force presence," said NATO spokesman Lt. Col. Todd Breasseale.

The troop numbers have continued to rise in 2010 in line with the recent surge. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday that a third of the additional forces, or 10,000 troops, are already in Afghanistan. They plan to have all 30,000 troops in the country before the end of the year.

U.S. officials have said they plan to use many of the additional forces to reassert control in Kandahar province, where the insurgents have slowly taken territory over the past few years in an effort to boost their influence over Kandahar city, the largest metropolis in the south and the Taliban's former capital.

Many analysts believe the Kandahar operation will be much more difficult than the recent Marjah offensive because of the greater dispersion of Taliban forces, the urban environment in Kandahar city and the complex political and tribal forces at work in the province.


The goal of both operations is to put enough pressure on the Taliban to force them to the negotiating table to work out a political settlement to end the war - a process the U.S. believes will only gain momentum once the militant group has lost traction on the battlefield.

"Until they transition to that mode, then we will have fighters ready to take shots at us and plant IEDs (improvised explosive devices)," said Lt. Col. Calvert Worth Jr., commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, 6th Marines Regiment in central Marjah.

Andy Reports to Okinawa

March 25 2010
Six-month Unit Deployment Program at Camp Schwab.



MCB Camp Butler is physically separated throughout the island into a number of different camps. All the Marine Corps camps on the island and Camp Fuji on mainland Japan, fall under the one title, MCB Camp Butler.

New 6.1 Quake Hits Haiti, People Flee Into Streets

by The Associated Press, on Jan 20, 2010 7:00 am ET

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) -- A strong earthquake struck Haiti on Wednesday morning, shaking buildings and sending screaming people running into the streets only eight days after the country's capital was devastated by a previous quake.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the 6.1 magnitude quake hit at 6:03 a.m. (1103 GMT) about 35 miles (56 kilometers) northwest of the capital of Port-au-Prince. It struck at a depth of 13.7 miles (22 kilometers) but was located too far inland to generate any tidal waves in the Caribbean.



Wails of terror rose Wednesday from frightened survivors of the apocalyptic quake that struck eight days ago as people as people poured out of unstable buildings. It was not immediately possible to ascertain what additional damage the new quake may have caused.

Last week's magnitude-7 quake killed an estimated 200,000 people in Haiti, left 250,000 injured and made 1.5 million homeless. A massive international aid effort has been launched, but is struggling with overwhelming logistical problems.



Still, search-and-rescue teams have emerged from the ruins with some improbable success stories -- including the rescue of 69-year-old ardent Roman Catholic who said she prayed constantly during her week under the rubble.

Ena Zizi had been at a church meeting at the residence of Haiti's Roman Catholic archbishop when the Jan. 12 quake struck, trapping her in debris. On Tuesday, she was rescued by a Mexican disaster team that was created in the wake of Mexico City's 1985 earthquake.

Zizi said that after the quake, she spoke back and forth with a vicar who also was trapped. But after a few days, he fell silent, and she spent the rest of the time praying and waiting.



"I talked only to my boss, God," she said. "And I didn't need any more humans."

Doctors who examined Zizi on Tuesday said she was dehydrated and had a dislocated hip and a broken leg.

Elsewhere in the capital, two women were pulled from a destroyed university building. And near midnight Tuesday, a smiling and singing 26-year-old Lozama Hotteline was carried to safety from a collapsed store in the Petionville neighborhood by the French aid group Rescuers Without Borders.

Crews at the cathedral compound site Tuesday managed to recover the body of the archbishop, Monsignor Joseph Serge Miot, who was killed in the Jan. 12 quake.

Authorities said close to 100 people had been pulled from wrecked buildings by international search-and-rescue teams. Efforts continued, with dozens of teams sifting through Port-au-Prince's crumbled homes and buildings for signs of life. But the good news was overshadowed by the frustrating fact that the world still can't get enough food and water to the hungry and thirsty.



"We need so much. Food, clothes, we need everything. I don't know whose responsibility it is, but they need to give us something soon," said Sophia Eltime, a 29-year-old mother of two who has been living under a bedsheet with seven members of her extended family.

The World Food Program said more than 250,000 ready-to-eat food rations had been distributed in Haiti by Tuesday, reaching only a fraction of the 3 million people thought to be in desperate need. The WFP said it needs to deliver 100 million ready-to-eat rations in the next 30 days. Based on pledges from the United States, Italy and Denmark, it has 16 million in the pipeline.

Even as U.S. troops landed in Seahawk helicopters Tuesday on the manicured lawn of the ruined National Palace, the colossal efforts to help Haiti were proving inadequate because of the scale of the disaster and the limitations of the world's governments. Expectations exceeded what money, will and military might have been able to achieve. So far, international relief efforts have been unorganized, disjointed and insufficient to satisfy the great need. Doctors Without Borders says a plane carrying urgently needed surgical equipment and drugs has been turned away five times, even though the agency received advance authorization to land.


A Haitian man waves the American flag during distribtion of relief goods at a refugee camp in Port-au-Prince on 19 January, 20010. The Haitian government said that 75,000 people had been killed, 250,000 were injured and a million left homeless in the quake seven days ago.

Haiti Relief Operation: Who Should Be In Charge?

by Tom Bowman
January 19, 2010

The Pentagon is moving troops, planes and ships to take part in the Haitian relief effort. That effort is slower than expected. One reason: the military is coping with the same challenges as civilian aid groups — a small airport and a demolished port. But one U.S. general says the White House made a mistake by putting the State Department's Agency for International Development in charge of the effort instead of the U.S. military.

Now the U.S. military is moving in troops, planes and ships to Haiti, but faces the same challenges as civilian aid groups - a small airport and a demolished port.

They are called the Ready Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division -able to deploy within 18 hours, anywhere in the world for combat or humanitarian missions. On Friday, the nation's top military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, said 100 of those paratroopers were already in Haiti. And the rest of the brigade will be on the ground by the end of the weekend.

That didn't happen. Less than one-third of the 3,500 troops were on the ground as of last night to help in the relief effort. The rest are expected to arrive some time this week. Why? Major Christian Sorenson, a spokesman for the 82nd, blamed a clogged Port-au-Prince airport.

"The main reason, of course, is that the airfield at Haiti itself. There's a bottleneck there. You know, we're limited to the accessible runways there and we are not the only aircraft that are trying to land at this time. In addition it wouldn't make sense for the 82nd to parachute into Haiti before the military is able to support them on the ground. When you have that many troops on the ground, those are, again, 3,000 additional mouths to feed." says Sorenson.

That's not good enough for retired Lieutenant General Russel Honore, who led relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina. On CNN yesterday he said:

"We need to drop the rest of that second brigade of the 82nd Airborne in there in daylight tomorrow morning and get this problem taken care of. The Obama administration made a mistake in putting the Agency for International Development in charge of the American effort rather than the U.S. military. They just don't have the operational experience. It requires a lot of logistics on the ground, quickly. It requires a lot of capability to evacuate people. And when you put USAID in the lead of this, I - and again, it's nothing personal against them - the military's waiting for USAID to tell them what to do."

At this point to change it Honore says:

"I'd put General Keen in charge of the entire operation, working in support of the president and our ambassador on the ground, senior U.S. representative."

That's Lieutenant General Ken Keen, the senior American officer in Haiti. He told reporters yesterday in Port-au-Prince, the U.S. is working with the Haitian government and the United Nations. The Americans are not in the lead.

Says Keen: "No. We are in support of the government of Haiti and the United Nations as it relates to humanitarian assistance. What we want to do is use our resources as best we can to enable the humanitarian assistance supplies to get out to the points indicated."

What Keen just mapped out is part of the problem, says retired Lieutenant General Gus Pagonis - too many people. Clearly, there has to be one agency, one single point of contact, otherwise logistics just don't work. You've got too many people stirring the pot. Pagonis should know - he was in charge of moving all troops and supplies during the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

Says Pagonis: "In all normal disasters, that's what happens. The government thinks they're in charge; the military thinks they're in charge; the police think they're in charge. With our own disaster in New Orleans we had that huge problem. The Pentagon can take steps on its own to make things better - starting with that airport. I suggest carving out a second runway to land military C-130 aircraft, carrying water, food or paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne. The C-130s, you could set up an unimproved runway pretty rapidly if you have the bulldozers or the expertise to be able to clear the land. That's what they need to do."

But as of last night, no one in the military was talking about a second runway.

Tom Bowman, NPR News, Washington.

U.S. Troops Land At Haiti's Presidential Palace

by Scott Neuman
January 19, 2010


Haitians watch as a U.S. Navy helicopter lands Tuesday in front of the heavily damaged presidential palace in Port-au-Prince.

Dozens of U.S. troops landed by helicopter at Haiti's ruined presidential palace Tuesday to help with security and expand the flow of aid in the Caribbean nation. Their arrival, part of an influx of thousands of U.S. military personnel expected this week, comes as desperate earthquake survivors increasingly turn to looting amid the devastation and as officials say the death toll could reach 200,000.


A U.S. Navy helicopter takes off in front of the National Palace after members of the U.S. Army 82nd Airborne, front, landed in Port-au-Prince, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2010. U.S. Navy helicopters touched down on the grounds of Haiti's damaged presidential palace bringing reinforcements in the struggle for security and earthquake disaster relief.

Hundreds of Haitians gathered outside the wrought-iron gates at the palace in the capital, Port-au-Prince — some to cheer, others simply to gawk — while the U.S. Navy copters landed and soldiers from the Army's 82nd Airborne Division took control of the palace. U.S. Marines landed in helicopters west of the city, the first of about 800 expected to go ashore.

One week after the tragedy, authorities say 1.5 million residents of Port-au-Prince are displaced, and aid deliveries are only reaching a small portion of the population. Meanwhile on Tuesday, the U.N. Security Council unanimously approved 3,500 additional troops and police officers to help bolster the 9,000-strong international force.


A woman gestures as she waits in line for food from the United Nations in the Cite Solell neighborhood in Port-au-Prince, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2010. The food ran out before most of the line could pass. The U.N. Security Council has unanimously approved 3,500 extra troops and police officers to beef up security in Haiti and ensure that desparately needed aid gets to earthquake victims.

Haiti Earthquake: The Aftermath

Earthquake in Haiti: Marines head to Haiti to control angry looters on disaster-ravaged island

BY BRIAN KATES AND CORKY SIEMASZKO
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Originally Published:Friday, January 15th 2010, 10:48 AM
Updated: Friday, January 15th 2010, 1:03 PM


As aid begins to pour in to Haiti, experts are stressing the importance of coordination between a weak central government, a constellation of non-governmental groups and international governments.

Send in the Marines! Six years after the U.S. dispatched the fighting force to Haiti to prevent a civil war, the Leathernecks are heading back Monday to keep anarchy from breaking out in the earthquake-ravaged country. And not a moment too soon. The United Nations reported that its warehouses in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince had been looted and it didn't know how much of its pre-quake stockpile of 15,000 tons of food aid remained. Haitian police "are not visible at all," because many fled their posts after the quake hit Tuesday, UN officials said.

"We are worried about security," Brazilian Defense Minister Nelson Jobim warned Friday after visiting the shattered capital.

"As long as the people are hungry and thirsty, as long as we haven't fixed the problem of shelter, we run the risk of riots."


People walking among damaged buildings in Port-au-Prince, Friday, Jan. 15, 2010.

The Marines will be reinforcing 300 troops from the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division already on the ground and other soldiers aboard the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, Lt. Gen. Ken Keen told ABC's "Good Morning America."

"We have much more support on the way," he said. "Our priority is getting relief out to the needy people."

By Monday, there should be 5,500 U.S. soldiers and Marines in Haiti providing security, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said. The Marines were last sent to Haiti in 2004 to restore order after the government of Jean-Bertrand Aristide was toppled. Before that, the Marines were dispatched several times to protect American interests in the turbulent country. Their 19-year occupation of the country, which ended in 1934, was deeply resented by many Haitians.


Men dig by hand trying to reach people they believe are still alive trapped in the rubble of a collapsed building in Port-au-Prince, Friday, Jan. 15, 2010.

Cuba gave the U.S. government permission to fly desperately-needed aid through their air space. That deal, which pushes aside decades of Cold War animosity between Washington and Havana, will cut a precious 90 minutes off the one-way flight from Guantanamo to Haiti. It is also expected to help open the logistical bottlenecks at the damaged Port-au-Prince airport which has caused Haitians to receive just a trickle of aid four days after the quake. "I don't think that a word has been invented for what is happening in Haiti," said Liony Batista, the Food For the Poor project manager in Port-au-Prince. "It is total disaster."

The UN reported that an estimated 300,000 people have been left homeless and one in 10 homes in the capital were destroyed. Getting around Haiti (a desperately poor country with shoddy roads) has always been hard, and the damage done by the quake has made getting aid to the survivors (many living in the streets) even harder.

"The physical destruction is so great that physically getting from point A to B with the supplies is not an easy task," World Food Program spokeswoman Emelia Casella said. The WFP, which began organizing distribution centers for food and water on Thursday, was preparing shipments of enough ready-to-eat meals to feed 2 million Haitians for a month.

Also en route (from more than 20 countries around the world) were planeloads of high-energy biscuits and other food, tons of water, tents, blankets, water-purification gear, heavy equipment for removing debris, helicopters and other transport. More than $400 million in aid has been pledged to Haiti, a fourth of that from the U.S. The Red Cross estimates 45,000 to 50,000 people were killed. The toll could go much higher as the spectre of infectious disease spreads. Hundreds of bodies remained stacked outside the overflowing Port-au-Prince morgue. Limbs of the dead protruded from the rubble of crushed schools and homes. There were still reports of rescuers freeing people who had been trapped under the rubble for days. But a more common sight was of bulldozers carrying corpses to a mass grave.

Haitian President Rene Preval told The Miami Herald that over a 20-hour period government crews had removed 7,000 corpses from the streets. But countless bodies remain unburied - and unclaimed. Outside a pharmacy, a dead woman lay covered by a sheet, her tiny foot poking out from under the covering.

Read more:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2010/01/15/2010-01-15_earthquake_in_haiti_as_desperate_victims.html#ixzz0chvGqvp5


This half-meter resolution satellite image shows Port-au-Prince, Haiti after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck the area on Jan. 12, 2010. The image clearly shows extensive damage, roads covered with debris from collapsed structures, and people crowded in the streets and public places such as sports fields and stadiums. The white-colored National Palace shows damage along the roof line. The image was taken by the GeoEye-1 satellite from 423 miles in space at 10:27 a.m. EST on Jan. 13, 2010 as it moved from north to south over the Caribbean at a speed of four miles per second.




The Red Cross has stated that as many as 3 million Haitians have been affected by the earthquake, with as many as 100,000 deaths likely, according to Haiti's prime minister. Since the quake's epicenter was right off the capital city, Port-au-Prince, most of the official buildings, from government officials' residences to jails and hospitals, have been significantly damaged or completely leveled.

Split Decision – Iraq and Afghanistan Move in Different Directions

Paul McLeary, WA

The first troops ordered to Afghanistan by Obama in December are on the ground. About 1,500 Marines from Camp Lejeune, NC, left for Afghanistan in mid-December, while 6,200 more Marines from Camp Lejeune and 800 from Camp Pendleton, CA, are leaving in January. Also this month, the Army is slated to send a training brigade from Fort Drum, NY, with about 3,400 members.

In all, about 16,000 U.S. troops will hit the ground in the first few months of 2010, which is about half of the force slated to be sent as part of the new Afghanistan strategy.

The focus of American operations in Iraq now revolves around training and mentoring Iraqi security forces, while the same holds in Afghanistan, with the obvious addition of continuing to fight Taliban and Al Qaeda forces.

Two U.S. brigades are focused on mentoring and partnership with the Afghan National Army (ANA), while 4,000 more trainers are set to deploy in the spring to grow the Afghan army to 134,000 from 92,000 by the end of the year. The goal is a force of more than 200,000.

The goal being to secure major urban centers in the volatile south and east, leaving the increasingly restive north and west in the hands of a handful of NATO allies and the “civilian surge” of American civilian agencies. It’s the “Ink spot” theory of counterinsurgency, the idea that security and services can be provided first in major population centers and then spread to the countryside. As part of the push, civilian advisors and experts (beyond the 1,000 civilians that ship out in January 2010) will begin to open in places like Mazar-e-Sharif and Heart, as well as other spots in the relatively quiet north and west, while U.S. forces battle the Taliban in the south and east.

Significantly, this expanded “civilian surge” is in line with the population-centric counterinsurgency campaign that Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander of the International Security Assistance Force, has repeatedly said is his focus. The one-two punch of combat forces with civilian agencies is designed to pressure the Taliban while drawing the population closer to the government, in this case being represented by Western government agencies and aid groups.

Marines Improve Ability to Quickly Acquire Targets

1/4/2010 By Lance Cpl. James Clark, Regimental Combat Team 7

CAMP DWYER, Helmand province, Afghanistan — Adjusting his body armor, a designated marksman with Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment tracks the progress of a patrol of Marines from his perch atop the rocky hillside. The marksman follows the line of tan figures as they plod along towards the platoon attack course at Range 3, Camp Dwyer, Afghanistan, Jan. 2, 2010.

CAMP DWYER, Helmand province, Afghanistan-Marines and sailors with Bravo Co., 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, respond to simulated enemy contact during a training exercise at Camp Dwyer, Afghanistan, Jan. 2, 2010. The Marines ran a platoon attack course focused on the positive identification of targets and precision fires in order to reduce the risk of civilian causalities during future operations.

The patrol rounds the bend and approaches a cluster of HESCO barriers that represent the first set of houses. There’s a brief sputter of chatter across the radio before the patrol separates into squads, which break down further into four man fire teams. Each element pushes towards a predetermined objective, but must also remain cognizant of the situation as it develops and targets are identified.

As the patrol nears the houses and responds to simulated enemy fire, they must determine which targets are hostile and which are friendly as they prepare to return fire.

The exercise simulates a patrol taking on an enemy position without the use of indirect fire due to risk of causing civilian casualties. This in turn forces the Marines to rely on accurate small arms fire, said 1st Lt. Mark A. Greenlief, the executive officer for Bravo Co., 1/6. The purpose of the training exercise is to further develop the Marines’ ability to quickly acquire enemy targets and engage them, while minimizing the risk to civilians.

“Coordination is essential at the individual Marine level, and all the way up. The goal is to teach that the kinetic solution isn’t always the best one,” said Greenleif.

As the Marines moved through the course they came across silhouettes marked by different colors meant to indicate a hostile or friendly target.

“The exercise gave us the chance to distinguish between targets in the heat of the moment,” said Lance Cpl. Brandon C. McConnell, a team leader with Bravo Co., 1/6. “It’s pretty easy [during training], in the real world, it won’t be like this, and you’ll have only a few seconds to make that judgment. The biggest challenge is trying to determine who’s friendly and who isn’t.”

McConnell, who was with 1/6 on their last deployment to Afghanistan as a part of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, described the challenge of making careful and good decisions in the middle of combat. “You have to maintain control. You’re getting shot at by one person, and you want to just shoot back at everyone, but you know you can’t.”

The success of counterinsurgency operations relies heavily on the ability of Marines and sailors to reduce civilian casualties. This requires each individual Marine to take great care in acquiring each and every target.

Camp Pendleton General Prepares for Afghanistan Command

Maj. Gen. Richard Mills will lead 19,000 leathernecks in fight against Taliban
By MARK WALKER

He has only been there once and that was for just a few days, but Camp Pendleton's Maj. Gen. Richard Mills says he's ready to lead 19,000 Marines in Afghanistan this year.

"My job is like being the orchestra director," the lanky, blue-eyed general said Wednesday during an interview with the North County Times. "The biggest challenge is to build on the momentum of success we have seen there in recent months."


Maj. Gen. Richard Mills discusses his new assignment, leading the Marines in Afghanistan. (Photo by John Koster - For the North County Times).

A New York native, the 59-year-old Mills was named last fall to head all Marine Corps forces in Afghanistan beginning in March.

That's when a large share of the additional 30,000 troops ordered to the south-central Asian nation by President Barack Obama are expected to arrive. Among those 30,000 will be about 9,000 more Marines, including some 4,500 from Camp Pendleton and Miramar Marine Corps Air Station.

During a discussion inside his dark-paneled, memento-filled office at the 1st Marine Division headquarters at Camp Pendleton, Mills said he expects this spring will see a transition in U.S. and NATO battlefield strategies and changes in the way the anti-government insurgency has been fighting the war, which is now in its ninth year.

"I think the Taliban will shift some of their tactics," Mills said, without getting into specifics. "They can't fight us unit to unit, and we'll work to influence their operations. Laying all the groundwork for that is the real challenge."

Among his preparations for the assignment, which he received just a few months after becoming a two-star general and head of the storied 1st Marine Division, he is studying the language, culture and customs of Afghanistan, a mountainous country of about 25 million people that is about the size of Texas.

Mills said he expects the spring and summer of 2010 to be "very kinetic," the military's terminology for troops engaged in combat.

In January, the 800-member headquarters group from Camp Pendleton that he leads will conduct a 20-day exercise to hone its readiness to oversee the Marine forces that will operate primarily in Helmand province.

The southern province is home to Camp Leatherneck, where Mills and his staff will live when they're not out seeing the troops, which he said he expects to do frequently.

Mills joined the Marine Corps 34 years ago after spending a couple of years in the construction industry. He graduated from Pennsylvania's Franklin & Marshall College with a degree in government studies.

Over the years, he has served as a platoon commander, a company executive officer, a regimental operations officer and head of a Marine expeditionary unit. He saw his first combat action during two tours of duty in Iraq under the command of Lt. Gen. John Kelly, who said Mills has a tremendous intellect.

"In an insurgency fight, you have to think your way out of it, and a guy like Rich Mills has the skills to do that," Kelly said in a telephone interview.

A zealous fan of the NFL's New York Giants with several replica helmets adorning his office, Mills said his leadership style is built around teamwork.

That self-assessment was ratified by Gen. James Mattis, former head of Camp Pendleton's I Marine Expeditionary Force who now heads the Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, Va.

"He's not one to draw attention to himself, preferring instead to concentrate on doing his job well by focusing on the mission at hand and on the readiness of his sailors and Marines and their families," Mattis said in an e-mail to the newspaper. "He's experienced and steady, and he does his homework. Plus, he commands the finest warfighting outfit in the world, the southern California-based 1st Marine Division (a unit I'm inordinately fond of), which speaks to his professional reputation in the Corps."

With his 6-foot, 4-inch frame settled in a soft leather chair, Mills said he has always considered himself an infantry officer and if he had his druthers, he'd rather be out with the troops than sitting at a command desk.

"I would trade what I'm doing with any lieutenant in the division to be able to be down in the trenches," he said. "The closer you are to junior Marines, the better."

Mills and his wife have six children, among them a son now serving in Afghanistan as a U.S. Army staff sergeant. Among his five daughters is a U.S. Navy lieutenant commander stationed in San Diego.

When Obama announced he was increasing the U.S. troop level to 100,000, he also said he believed he could order some of those forces to start withdrawing within 18 months.

Mills, the son of a World War II Navy officer, rejects the implication of a frequently heard phrase about Afghanistan that says U.S. and NATO troops have the watches but the Taliban has the time ---- meaning the enemy force can wait out the West and take over when foreign troops leave.

"I don't think they really do have the time," he said. "If you look at what the II Marine Expeditionary Brigade has been doing in securing the countryside, it shows we can be successful for the long term. We can win over the people."

The Marines he will command will conduct joint operations with Afghan National Army and security forces, and the troops will stay in the areas they are assigned and not live on fixed bases. That strategy is key in counter-insurgency operations, he said.

"You can't fight just from forward operating bases," he said.

The rules of engagement in Afghanistan are continuing to "mature," Mills said, stressing that avoiding civilian casualties and proving to the population that U.S. forces can chase away and keep the Taliban from reasserting themselves is central to the mission.

As his Blackberry buzzed with incoming e-mails every 30 seconds or so, Mills said he stays in shape by running and working out every couple of days.

He said one thing keeps him up some nights.

"What I worry about is that we are able to cover all our responsibilities and continue to find ways to cut off the insurgency," Mills said.

Knox Marines Prepare for Deployment to Afghanistan

By J.J. Stambaugh
Posted January 2, 2010

U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Russell Jones won't be honeymooning with his wife, Joyce, this year. Instead, the newlyweds will spend the next several months separated by thousands of miles as he enters a combat zone in Afghanistan and she prays for him at home.

"You just try to be supportive and stay strong," Joyce Jones said Friday. "It's hard, but you have faith."

Cpl. Jones, 21, was among three dozen Marines from Knoxville's Delta Company of the 4th Combat Engineer Battalion who were preparing to depart by bus for training in Twentynine Palms, Calif., before leaving for a tour in Afghanistan that's expected to begin in March or April.

Jones married Thursday, and Friday's departure from the Naval Reserve Center on Alcoa Highway marked the beginning of his second deployment to a combat zone. His first time was a seven-month tour of Iraq, which challenged his preconceptions of what life in a war zone would be like.

"It wasn't the war I expected," he said. "Contact was light. There were more rumors about things than there were things themselves. But we still did our job."

His parents, the Rev. Jesse Jones and Jacqueline Jones, said they have faith their son will be OK and are proud of what he is doing.

"They are 100 percent sold out for their country and for their mission," Jesse Jones said. "They represent every family from every demographic in America. ... They will succeed in their mission."

"We're praying and leaving them in better hands - God's hands," Jacqueline Jones said. The parents of Lance Cpl. Rufus Ross, a 24-year-old personal trainer and University of Tennessee graduate, also beamed with pride as their son prepared his gear for his first overseas deployment.

"We're very, very proud," said father Chris Ross of Nashville. "There's 234 years of Marine Corps pride getting on these buses tonight."

Lance Cpl. Ross said he joined the reserve unit in college and is "ready to get the job done."

"I felt like I wanted to do something after 9/11," he said. "I'm excited, anxious, nervous, and ready to get started."

Military officials haven't said exactly where the Marines will be stationed or given a specific mission. They expect the deployment to last about six months. The Marines will be deployed to Afghanistan after completing training in California in the spring.

© 2010, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.