News - Afghanistan and my new AOI

This one is going to be my transition. I will leave the News of Afghanistan to the Inner Prop (CSM Bones, you too?) from now on, and I will concentrate on my new Area Of Interest - Iraq, especially the southern part of the country.

Afghanistan first:

Ah, the latest blotter entry from Herat.

I had to include this one just for the headline, heh.

BANG! Shah Wali Kot is one district that has seen some fighting, but this may make the Talib a bit leery of going there much more.

seen at e-ariana

Help Wanted, Talib leader, position recently vacated.

I guess this Korean paper thinks it is the hostages fault...

Uh-oh.

Exchange rate news.

Cricket: yea! boo!

And Now For Something Completely Different (sort of): IRAQ

Straight from the people on the scene - try here.

Bad Guys Dramatis Personnae - here.

My destination.

Some thoughts on Iraq and the media - cause and effect?

Next week, all Iraq (at least by me).

SRP

I just completed the first step on the Road to War. Our group went through the Soldier Readiness Process (SRP) at Marsailles Training Center:

Glamorous facilities!

Fabulous dining!

First they check the myriad of forms and papers for correct entries - insurance, legal papers like wills, dependent/family information, pay and the like. The other part is a medical and dental screening. We need to know who can be deployed - and what needs to be corrected if soldiers are not able to deploy.

The process is similar, if not identical, with all National Guard units being mobilized. Over the next few months, I will be getting a bit of extra training, specific to my anticipated job in Iraq. Others will have to do the same. Once we have officially mobilized (and gone to our mobilization station - one of several installations - here in the US) we will get a lot more training and equipment to carry out our mission. I will try to keep in touch, but it will be difficult for that period of time.

More to come.

News of Afghanistan - Edition 65

Another Friday is here, and so is the News. In future, I will be modifying this to turn an eye toward the other part of CENTCOM that suddenly holds my interest, Iraq. We'll see what I can come up with, eh? However, right now it's on to the News:

Uh oh, a little tension between construction/development and "ancient sites".


Having seen it in 2005, I was surprised to see this dam has actually held up as well as it did to this point. I suspect the locals are right that a little cleaning isn't enough.

When I see fighting in the Tagab and "Taliban" in the same story, I get suspicious. The Tagab is the main smuggling route N/S from the Panjshir Province. Guns, Goods and Opiates. Note the quote is from the "crime branch chief".

photo: U.S. Army by Sgt. Brandon Aird

A little change in the rules for NATO

Yeah. Right. Like that'll happen.

Taliban - avoiding the difficult.

An Afghani man transports wood through a market in Jalozai camp. Pakistani authorities want to close the camp by 31 August 2007 Photo: V.Tan/UNHCR

And in Sports:

Women's soccer - Afghani triumph!

Cricket....take that Qatar!

And in your Farm Report:

Wheat!

And in Education:

Turkish computer programing?

More Turkish help.

New information source

On the Road to War

So, I have been notified that I will be mobilized this Fall. I will be going to Iraq to work with and help train the Iraqi Army. For OPSEC reasons, I can't be specific about dates and locations - but I will try to keep this site running as a kind of window into the process of getting ready to go. Once I am in Iraq, I will see what kind of access I have to the Net, and if I can blog my experiences.

I'm back

I have returned. A week and a half of vacation with the family in Alaska was just what I needed.

Mount McKinley...not a bad view, eh?

I found a great example of efficiency by a government agency - originally, this sign warned of bears...all they had to do to warn people not to disturb the beavers was to add an appropriate tail and teeth. Heh.

I will have some news this evening or tomorrow morning about the future of this site.

What's Australian for Graffiti?

I could not help laughing out loud when I read this article about some blokes in Alice Springs mistaking Stephen King for a vandal when he signed some of his own books in a book store.

Can't you just imagine some big fella named Bruce, with a slouch hat and his shirt unbuttoned halfway down, "Oi, you, don't you know dem books is by that King feller. Now scat before I sick the dingo on 'ya!"

I'm Off

Off to Alaska for the next ten days. When I get back - new material, news and such.

Some Start to the Vacation...

I am stuck at work right now...why? Oh, the tornado warning might have something to do with it... bah.

UPDATE: Rained so hard it looked like a snow storm...but I stuck it to the MAN, I left 1 minute before the warning expired!!!11!

News of Afghanistan - Edition 64

This is going to be the last edition for a while. I will be on vacation the next two Fridays and after that I will be making some changes around here. Oooh, cryptic! All that aside, here is the News...

Any talk of tourism in Afghanistan usually centers around Bamyan (or Herat and Kabul).

Afghan Defense Ministry says - huh?

The Taliban hostage Dramatis Personae and the demands

See this and more at Bahktar News

Moving "beyond their Afghan roots"? Even more reason to wipe them out.

NGOs and Afghan security forces - no thank you?

As I previously said - this could be a doozy.

Korean reaction to the hostage situation.

Uh, OK...and this will accomplish what now?

Afghan Blogs vs censorship?

Know Dari or Pashto? Then here is an Afghan online paper for ya!

And the round-up for the day.

Army Data Security Humor

In an effort to stress "cyber safety" the Army has turned to humor - in particular the comic seen below. Actually, the second one is funny, Army or not. [oh, a CAC is a "Common Access Card" - your multipurpose Army ID card.]

click to enlarge

Cue "Also Sprach Zarathrusta"

Instead of a black monolith with the sun coming up over it - what is it that has appeared on my horizon?

This: