Goodbye Iraq: Last US combat brigade heads home

(By REBECCA SANTANA)
KHABARI CROSSING, Kuwait (AP) — As their convoy reached the barbed wire at the border crossing out of Iraq on Wednesday, the soldiers whooped and cheered. Then they scrambled out of their stifling hot armored vehicles, unfurled an American flag and posed for group photos.

For these troops of the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, it was a moment of relief fraught with symbolism. Seven years and five months after the U.S.-led invasion, the last American combat brigade was leaving Iraq, well ahead of President Barack Obama’s Aug. 31 deadline for ending U.S. combat operations there.

The 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division was officially designated the last combat brigade to leave Iraq under Obama’s plan to end combat operations in Iraq by Aug. 31. Associated Press writer Rebecca Santana joined the troops on their final journey out of the country.

When 18-year-old Spc. Luke Dill first rolled into Iraq as part of the U.S. invasion, his Humvee was so vulnerable to bombs that the troops lined its floor with flak jackets.

Now 25 and a staff sergeant after two tours of duty, he rode out of Iraq this week in a Stryker, an eight-wheeled behemoth encrusted with armor and add-ons to ward off grenades and other projectiles.

“It’s something I’m going to be proud of for the rest of my life – the fact that I came in on the initial push and now I’m leaving with the last of the combat units,” he said.

He remembered three straight days of mortar attacks outside the city of Najaf in 2003, so noisy that after the firing ended, the silence kept him awake at nights. He recalled the night skies over the northern city of Mosul being lit up by tracer bullets from almost every direction.

Now, waiting for him back in Olympia, Wash., is the “Big Boy” Harley-Davidson he purchased from one of the motorcycle company’s dealerships at U.S. bases in Iraq – a vivid illustration of how embedded the American presence has become since the invasion of March 20, 2003.

That presence is far from over. Scatterings of combat troops still await departure, and some 50,000 will stay another year in what is designated as a noncombat role. They will carry weapons to defend themselves and accompany Iraqi troops on missions (but only if asked). Special forces will continue to help Iraqis hunt for terrorists.

So the U.S. death toll – at least 4,415 by Pentagon count as of Wednesday – may not yet be final.

The Stryker brigade, based in Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state and named for the vehicle that delivers troops into and out of battle, has lost 34 troops in Iraq. It was at the forefront of many of the fiercest battles, including operations in eastern Baghdad and Diyala province, an epicenter of the insurgency, during “the surge” of 2007. It evacuated troops at the battle of Tarmiyah, an outpost where 28 out of 34 soldiers were wounded holding off insurgents.

Before the Aug. 31 deadline, about half the brigade’s 4,000 soldiers flew out like most of the others leaving Iraq, but its leadership volunteered to have the remainder depart overland. That decision allowed the unit to keep 360 Strykers in the country for an extra three weeks.

U.S. commanders say it was the brigade’s idea, not an order from on high. The intent was to keep additional firepower handy through the “period of angst” that followed Iraq’s inconclusive March 7 election, said brigade chief, Col. John Norris.

It took months of preparation to move the troops and armor across more than 500 kilometers (300 miles) of desert highway through potentially hostile territory.

The Strykers left the Baghdad area in separate convoys over a four-day period, traveling at night because the U.S.-Iraq security pact – and security worries – limit troop movements by day.

Along the way, phalanxes of American military Humvees sat at overpasses, soldiers patrolled the highways for roadside bombs, and Apache attack helicopters circled overhead as the Strykers refueled alongside the highway.

Chief Warrant Officer 3 Gus McKinney, a brigade intelligence officer, acknowledged that moving the convoys overland put soldiers at risk, but said the danger was less than in past.

The biggest threat was roadside bombs planted by Shiite extremist groups who have a strong foothold in the south, McKinney said.

But except for camels straying into the road, and breakdowns that required some vehicles to be towed, there were no incidents.

The worst of the ride was conditions inside the Strykers – sitting for hours in a cramped space – and the temperatures outside that reached 50 Celsius (120 Fahrenheit).

The driver’s compartment is called the “hellhole” because it sits over the engine and becomes almost unbearably hot. The vehicle commander and gunner can sit up in hatches to see the outside world. At the tail end are hatches for two gunners. Eight passengers – an infantry squad in combat conditions – can squeeze in the back.

Riding as a passenger felt a bit like being in a World War II-era submarine – a tight fit and no windows. The air conditioning was switched off to save fuel on the long ride south to Kuwait. Men dozed or listened to music on earphones.

When the convoy finally reached the sandy border, two soldiers, armed and helmeted, jumped off their vehicle and raced each other into Kuwait.

Once out of Iraq, there was still work to be done. Vehicles had to be stripped of ammunition and spare tires, and eventually washed and packed for shipment home.

Meanwhile, to the north, insurgents kept up a relentless campaign against the country’s institutions and security forces, killing five Iraqi government employees in roadside bombings and other attacks Wednesday. Coming a day after a suicide bomber killed 61 army recruits in central Baghdad, the latest violence highlighted the shaky reality left by the departing U.S. combat force and five months of stalemate over forming Iraq’s next government.

For Dill, who reached Kuwait with an earlier convoy, the withdrawal engendered feelings of relief. His mission – to get his squad safely out of Iraq – was accomplished.

Standing alongside a hulking Stryker, his shirt stained with sweat, he acknowledged the men who weren’t there to experience the day with him.

“I know that to my brothers in arms who fought and died, this day would probably mean a lot, to finally see us getting out of here,” he said.

Goodbye Iraq: Last US combat brigade heads home

Defense Secretary Robert Gates pledges full support to new Marines

(By North County Times wire services)
SAN DIEGO – Defense Secretary Robert Gates today addressed a group of Marine Corps recruit graduates in San Diego and pledged to provide them with everything they need to accomplish their mission, despite looming budget cuts.

“For my part, I will do all I can to see that you have everything you need to accomplish your mission and come home safely because I feel a deep, personal responsibility for each and every one of you, as if you were my own sons,” Gates told the new Marines at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in Point Loma.

Gates’ visit comes only days after he announced plans to trim $100 billion from the Defense Department budget over the next five years, through what his office described as reducing “overhead, duplication and excess.”

During today’s ceremony, Gates praised the group of more than 100 Marines who completed a 12-week basic training course.

“It takes uncommon perseverance to make it through basic training — just as it takes uncommon patriotism to make the decision to join the military in a time of war,” Gates said. “But then, as you know, there is nothing common about being a Marine.”

He also thanked the families and friends of the new Marines.

“In my nearly four years as secretary of defense, I have been deeply moved by the sacrifice, resilience and fortitude shown by military families, even through multiple deployments,” he said. “Thank you for supporting your loved one’s decision to serve, especially in these dangerous and uncertain times.”

On Thursday in San Francisco, Gates announced that the Pentagon will review the future role of the Marine Corps amid concerns that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have turned the corps into a “second land army,” the Los Angeles Times reported.

Some have questioned whether one of the Marine Corps’ primary missions — amphibious assaults on fortified coastlines — has become outdated because of changes in military tactics and improved weaponry.

Instead, more Marines are involved in counter-insurgency warfare — there are now 20,000 Marines in Afghanistan’s Helmand province, The Times reported.

Gates was scheduled to wrap up his trip to San Diego later today with a visit with Navy Seals.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates pledges full support to new Marines

U.S. Army sergeant killed in Afghanistan was Marina High grad

(By JAIMEE LYNN FLETCHER)

HUNTINGTON BEACH-An Army Green Beret and graduate of Marina High School was one of two soldiers recently killed in Afghanistan by an improvised explosive device, according to published reports.

U.S. Army Sgt. Kyle Warren, 28, died on July 29 in Tsagay, Afghanistan when insurgents attacked his military vehicle. Cpt. Jason Holbrook, 28, of Texas, was also killed in the attack, The Daily Breeze reported.

Warren was memorialized on Saturday at St. Lawrence Martyr Church in Redondo Beach and was buried at Green Hills Memorial Park in Palos Verdes next to his grandparents, which was his request to his family if anything happened to him overseas, the Breeze reported.

Family members spoke of Warren’s drive and desire to be the best at whatever task was at hand. He joined the Army in 2004 and also trained to be a medic, serving the injured in the war-struck country that included residents of Afghan villages near his base, the Daily Breeze reported.

“Kyle would go out of his way to ensure each person he encountered received the best care possible,” friend Jay Daniel said.

Warren was a member of the prestigious Green Berets and the 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne). He was on his second tour of Afghanistan.

He died just eight months after marrying his wife, Sandra.

He was born in Torrance and grew up in Garden Grove. He graduated from Marina High School in Huntington Beach and attended college in at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff.

Warren moved to New Hampshire to live with his mother after his parents divorced and was working at a hotel before enlisting in the Army, according to the Daily Breeze.

Warren’s family called the young soldier a hero who often put others first and served his country with honor.

“He lived a lot in his 28 years,” his father Del Warren said. “He did more in his 28 years than most people do in a lifetime. He was just an incredible guy.”

U.S. Army sergeant killed in Afghanistan was Marina High grad

Disguised special forces agents retake Russian plane

(By Guy Faulconbridge)
RUSSIAN special forces disguised as doctors staged a lightning strike to detain a man who had seized an aircraft on a domestic flight to Moscow’s Domodedovo airport, a spokeswoman for the airport revealed yesterday.

During the flight, an attempt was made to hijack the airplane.

“After its landing at Domodedovo airport, it was freed thanks to well-coordinated actions by the interior ministry and FSB (domestic security service),” the spokeswoman said.

“This was the fastest operation to free an airplane in Russia’s civil aviation history,” the spokeswoman added.

The plane was on its way to Moscow from Russia’s North Caucasus spa town of Mineralnye Vody when the hijack took place.

A passenger handed a note to a member of the crew, which demanded a meeting with Russian journalists and officials, Tatyana Trunova, a spokeswoman for transport police, said.

There were 105 people on board the flight, including seven crew and five children, the prosecutor-general’s investigative committee said in a statement last night.

“As a condition for freeing the hostages, he demanded that we connect him with the Russian prime minister (Vladimir Putin),” it added.

The plane was freed two hours later by Russian special forces who boarded the plane disguised as doctors after the hijacker agreed to allow several passengers to receive medical attention.

Mineralniye Vody is in Russia’s troubled North Caucasus region, which suffers daily violence attributed to separatist Islamic militants.

Disguised special forces agents retake Russian plane

U.S. to end ban on Indonesia’s special forces, angering human rights groups

(By Craig Whitlock)
JAKARTA — The U.S. military said Thursday that it will resume relations with Indonesia’s special forces, an elite group blamed for atrocities and repression during the country’s dark years of authoritarianism.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, in a visit here, said the United States will end its 12-year prohibition on contacts and assistance to the special forces after the Obama administration concluded that the unit had cleaned up its ranks and is committed to human rights.

“These initial steps will take place within the limits of U.S. law and do not signal any lessening of the importance we place on human rights and accountability,” Gates said after meeting with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. “Our ability to expand upon these initial steps will depend on continued implementation of reforms.”

Although the Pentagon has been pressing for years to resume contact with the Indonesian special forces, human rights groups and some U.S. lawmakers have resisted, arguing that the unit has stymied efforts to hold current and former military leaders responsible for kidnappings, assassinations and other crimes.

“This decision is a stunning betrayal of the standards the U.S. has,” said Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director for Human Rights Watch. She added that it will “have ramifications well beyond Indonesia, in effect telegraphing to abusive militaries worldwide that the Obama administration’s human rights standards are up for negotiation.”

U.S. officials described the end of the ban as a key development in their attempt to develop closer ties with Indonesia, a country of 238 million people, most of them moderate Muslims, that has embraced democracy since emerging in 1998 from decades of dictatorship.

Hopes that the two countries would build a special alliance soared after the 2008 election of President Obama, who lived in Indonesia as a child. But the relationship has taken longer than expected to flourish.

Obama has tried unsuccessfully to visit Jakarta, the capital, since taking office. He has been forced to cancel trips twice at the last moment: once in March so he could push his health-care bill through Congress, and a second time in June so he could respond to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Indonesian special forces, known as Komando Pasukan Khusus, or Kopassus, have about 5,000 members but exert outsized influence on the Indonesian government. The president’s brother-in-law is a former member, as are high-ranking members of the Indonesian military.

After months of negotiations with the Indonesians, U.S. defense officials said the White House and State Department had approved of the resumption of contacts with Kopassus just before Gates’s arrival in Jakarta on Wednesday. The United States resumed regular ties with the remainder of Indonesia’s military in 2005.

U.S. defense officials said Indonesia has cleansed Kopassus’s ranks of people convicted of human rights violations and has pledged to prosecute any future cases in civilian courts. They also said that the special forces have professionalized their ranks over the past decade and that a new generation of officers with untainted reputations is now in charge.

“Clearly they had a dark past,” Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said, adding: “It’s a different unit than its reputation suggests.”

Pentagon officials said they will seek a gradual increase in contact with Kopassus, starting with staff talks and officer exchanges, but gave few details. There are no immediate plans, they said, to conduct operational training or deliver cash aid.

Under a 1997 measure sponsored by Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), the United States is prohibited from having contact with foreign military units that have a pattern of human rights violations and have resisted efforts to hold abusers accountable, even for crimes committed long ago. The State Department also has a policy of vetting officers from foreign militaries before they are allowed to participate in U.S. training programs.

Kopassus served as a brutal arm of the military during long reign of Indonesian dictator Suharto, crushing communist sympathizers and repressing opponents in East Timor, Aceh and Papua. Suharto was deposed in 1998.

Indonesia has subsequently convicted about a dozen Kopassus officers for abuses during Suharto’s rule. But advocacy groups noted that many have been allowed to return to duty, including some who have taken senior positions in the Indonesian military.

U.S. to end ban on Indonesia’s special forces, angering human rights groups