Monthly Archives: July 2008

Rim of the Pacific

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U.S. Marine Corps Bravo Company, 3rd Amphibious Assault Battalion and Indonesian Jaguar Company, 5th Battalion, 1st Brigade, Marine Division 1 participate in an Amphibious Assault Vehicle landing as a part of their training during Rim of the Pacific 2008 at Pyramid Rock Beach at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, on July 27, 2008.

Rim of the Pacific is one of the largest biannual maritime exercises consisting of ten participating nations and is hosted by Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet.
DoD photo by Lance Cpl. Daniel Balmer, U.S. Marine Corps. (Released)

Fallujah KFC

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U.S. Marines pick up chicken to go from Iraqi employees at a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in the Hey Al Dubat area of Fallujah, Iraq, July 16, 2008.

This and other businesses have become popular with local residents as a result of security improvements in the area.

U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Chris T. Mann

Soviet Submarine Juliett 484 Surfaced

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. (July 25,2008) The former Soviet submarine Juliett 484 is surfaced after having been at the bottom of the Providence River for more than a year.

U.S. Navy and Army divers, working with federal, state, and local authorities, raised the sunken former Soviet submarine at Collier Point Park in Providence, R.I.

U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Christopher Perez (Released)

The Israel of the Balkans

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The Israel of the Balkans
Michael J. Totten

“All we want is to reduce the Albanian population to a manageable level.” – Zoran Andjelkovic, former Serbian governor of Kosovo

Genocide is the “intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.” – United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide

The State of Israel is divided on the Kosovo question: should the world’s newest country be recognized? Some, like former Minister for Strategic Affairs Avigdor Lieberman, worry that Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia might encourage Palestinians to make the same move. The small Balkan state, however, may have more in common with Israel than with the West Bank and Gaza.

Israelis, as Amir Mizroch notes in the Jerusalem Post, have excellent relations with the Kosovars. “Israel has an interest in helping to establish a moderate, secular Muslim state friendly to Jerusalem and Washington in the heart of southeast Europe,” he writes. Indeed, Kosovo is neither an enemy state nor a jihad state. Its brand of Islam is heavily Sufi, which is at the opposite end of the spectrum from the Wahhabism and Salafism that inspire Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.

Kosovo doesn’t belong to the Iranian-Syrian-Hezbollah-Hamas axis. On the contrary, Kosovo has thrown in its lot with the West, and especially with the United States. Serbia’s breakaway province is perhaps the most pro-American country in all of Europe. Bill Clinton is lionized there as a liberator – a main boulevard through the capital Prishtina is named after him – just as George H. W. Bush and his son George W. Bush are hailed as saviors in Iraqi Kurdistan. It should be no surprise then that Mizroch quotes an Israeli official who says Israel most likely will recognize Kosovo if its “influential friends” in the U.S., the U.K., Germany, and France, decide to do so.

Read more here.

Czech Minister of Defence Visits USNORTHCOM

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Minister of Defence of the Czech Republic JUDr. Vlasta Parkanová and Deputy Commander of U.S. Northern Command Lt. Gen. William Webster Jr. conduct a press conference with Czech reporters at USNORTHCOM and North American Aerospace Defense Command headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo., on July 18, 2008.

The minister visited several U.S. military installations and was briefed on U.S. missile defense capabilities during her visit to the United States.

Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Gail Braymen

French Launch

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U.S. Navy Chief Warrant Officer 3 Patrick Halinski signals to a shooter launching a French F-2 Rafale jet during combined French and American carrier qualifications aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt in the Atlantic Ocean, July 20, 2008.

This event marks the first integrated U.S. and French carrier qualifications aboard a U.S. aircraft carrier.

U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Jonathan Snyder

Standing By

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U.S. Marines stand on the flight deck of USS Bonhomme Richard before flight operations off the coast of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, July 16, 2008.

Bonhomme Richard is participating in Rim of the Pacific 2008, a biannual exercise hosted by U.S. Pacific Fleet that brings together military forces from Australia, Canada, Chile, Peru, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the Republic of Korea.

U.S Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Scott Taylor

Private Trucking Companies Improve Iraqi Economy

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A driver for the Iraqi Transportation Network, an Iraqi-owned and operated logistics network, watches as containers are loaded onto his truck July 15, 2008, at Camp Liberty, Iraq.

U.S. Army photo by Spc. Andrea Merritt

Private Trucking Companies Improve Iraqi Economy
By Army Spc. Andrea Merritt
Special to American Forces Press Service

BAGHDAD, July 24, 2008 – In another sign of progress in Iraq, 62 tribes and 68 sheiks have organized four private trucking companies to form the Iraqi Transportation Network.

The sheiks approached the U.S. military with a proposition for the ITN to haul their cargo throughout Iraq, guaranteeing safe shipment and taking financial responsibility for any loss. They chose people from their tribes to drive for the companies, and the U.S. military conducted background checks. More than 100 drivers were chosen, and 97 percent of them were approved.

The formation of the Iraqi Transportation Network is one of the first efforts in more than 30 years to build a private logistics company in the country. ITN moves low-value cargo for U.S. forces to and from different forward operating bases in Iraq.

“For Iraq, this particular form of logistics network is a key enabler for the Iraqi economy, so we’re seeding it with military cargo to get this going,” Navy Cmdr. Ken Titcomb, the ITN action officer for Multinational Force Iraq, said. “The goal is that, after a couple of years, their revenue will come from commercial services, not military. Hopefully it will end up driving a lot of jobs, and it’ll be a factor for economic prosperity in Iraq.”

The ITN has successfully hauled different classes of supplies in Fallujah, Asad, Taqaddum, Ramadi and Jordan.

Since the missions in that region have proven successful, network officials plan to expand their services to Multinational Division Center by September and to Multinational Division North by October, tripling the size of the network.

Read more here.