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By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, April 25, 2005 - With the war on terror putting ever-increasing
demands on special operations forces, U.S. Special Operations Command is
boosting its manpower and increasing its support to theater commands and
geographic commanders, according to the general who oversees this elite
force.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, the command has become the Defense Department’s lead
in fighting terror, Army Gen. Bryan Brown, commander of U.S. Special
Operations Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee’s emerging
threats and capabilities subcommittee April 22.
Special operations forces have applied their direct-action capability to
capture or kill terrorists far forward, specifically in Afghanistan and
Iraq, Brown said.
At the same time, the command is carrying out a wide range of other
missions: helping other countries’ militaries become more capable,
eliminating the root causes of terrorism through civil affairs activities,
and discouraging participation in terrorist groups through psychological
operations efforts.
To help meet these challenges, U.S. Special Operations Command plans to
increase its force strength by more than 23,000 troops in the next four
years, Brown said.
This increase will affect Special Forces, civil affairs, psychological
operations, aviation, and Navy special warfare forces, and will include
the equivalent of two SEAL teams and about 500 Special Forces troops, he
explained.
While boosting force levels, the command is also counting on retention
initiatives to help decrease attrition from the ranks, Brown said. These
incentives include targeted bonuses for specific specialties and
educational benefits.
Thomas O’Connell, assistant secretary of defense for special operations
and low-intensity conflict, told the subcommittee these initiatives
underscore a basic tenet within the special operations community: that
humans are more important than hardware. This mindset is particularly
evident in the command’s efforts to equip the man rather than man the
equipment, O’Connell said.
The specialized capabilities special operations forces bring to the fight
are proving invaluable as they take the lead in almost every aspect of
the war on terror, he said.
We are emphasizing training, education and equipment systems that will
ensure our (special operations forces) warriors have the technical and
tactical skill, regional expertise, language proficiency and specialized
equipment necessary to win this war, Brown told the subcommittee.
The war on terror is a long-term conflict that’s worldwide in scope and
won’t end with al Qaeda, he said. The enemy is patient, tenacious and
dedicated in this fight, and we must be the same, Brown said. U.S. SOCOM
is preparing for the long term.
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
BAGHDAD, Iraq, April 11, 2005 As troops here deal with stressors ranging from
roadside bombs to checkpoints where it’s hard to tell friend from foe, the
military is ensuring they get the mental health support they need to remain
with their units and avoid long-term problems.
Everyone in a combat zone experiences some degree of stress, Army Maj. Dara
Josiah-Howze, a psychiatrist with the 55th Medical Company (Combat Stress
Control) in Baghdad told the American Forces Press Service. You have a normal
person in an abnormal environment, and you’re exposing them to abnormal
situations.
When the Iraq operation began two years ago, the biggest source of stress was
the combat operations, she said. Now it’s the more elusive threats improvised
explosive devices, vehicle-borne IEDs and suicide bombers, among them.
Symptoms run the gamut, Josiah-Howze said, from eating and sleeping disorders
to irritability or anxiousness. Some people startle easily; others demonstrate
low energy levels or wake up with nightmares. Others have trouble maintaining
focus or following through on a project or just feel generally down, she said.
Army Col. Thomas Burke, DoD director of mental health policy in Washington,
said troops have experienced these symptoms throughout American military
history. During the Civil War, they were called nostalgia or soldier’s heart,
he said. During World War I, the affliction was shell shock and during World
War II, combat fatigue or battle fatigue.
Today, these symptoms are called combat and operational stress reactions, the
result of the extreme stress troops are exposed to in combat as well as the
unpredictable counterinsurgency operations currently taking place in Iraq.
Sleep deprivation during extended operations, exposure to noise, heat or smoke
and the danger of being hurt or killed or seeing others get hurt or killed,
all take a toll on a person’s mental state, Burke said.
But this doesn’t mean affected troops are mentally ill, Burke stressed. What
they are experiencing is a normal human reaction to an abnormal situation, he
said.
And experience and research proves that the best way to treat these troops is
to offer care as close to their units as possible, rather than labeling them
as broken and evacuating them from the region. The latter approach actually
puts them at higher risk of developing longer-term problems, Burke said.
The whole approach to mental health is different than it once was, he said.
We’re not pulling people out of line and sending them back to the states. Now
the philosophy is to treat these symptoms early, treat them far forward, treat
them aggressively, and get these soldiers back to their jobs.
This proactive, preventive approach to treatment keeps troops as close to
their unit as possible so their friends and chain of command can maintain
contact with them until they return to duty. And the treatment offered is
relatively simple: sleep, rest and workshops rather than elaborate
psychoanalyst techniques and procedures, Burke said.
We refer to it as PIES, he explained. Proximity, as close to the unit as
possible. Immediacy, providing treatment now, not evacuating them to the rear
and treating them in a week. Expectation, maintaining the assumption that they
will return to duty. And simplicity, keeping the treatment simple.
Combat stress control teams are fanned out throughout Iraq to provide mental
healthcare to servicemembers experiencing combat and operational stress
reactions, and to help prevent others from developing them. In addition,
behavioral health teams are embedded in units in Iraq as well as Afghanistan.
Much of the mobile teams’ focus is on prevention. They educate servicemembers
and their chains of command about symptoms of combat and operational stress
reactions, self-help techniques and exercises they can use to counter these
reactions, and professional services available to help them.
Troops who request it or appear to need extra help are typically referred for
restorative care, Josiah-Howze explained. This care, offered at fixed
locations, is generally limited to 72 hours and includes more intensive
stress and anger management, relaxation training and counseling through
individual and group sessions.
During their unit visits, combat stress teams emphasize that nobody is immune
to combat stress, regardless of their rank or position in the unit. It affects
everyone, said Josiah-Howze. We’ve treated everyone from the single teenager
to senior officers.
Josiah-Howze said she’s convinced that treating combat stress quickly and in
the environment can help prevent the condition from evolving into more serious
acute stress or post-traumatic stress disorders.
Through the years, the military has realized that if you wait too long (to
provide care), it can have negative effects, she said. The best way to deal
with the issue is to keep (the affected troops) in the environment and to
address the problem then and there.
This approach will likely reduce the number of soldiers who will need Veterans
Affairs Department mental health services later on, she said, and has the
immediate advantage of keeping military units intact during their operations.
Our motto is to Conserve the Fighting Spirit, Josiah-Howze said. We’re not here
to remove soldiers, Josiah-Howze said. We’re here to help them with the problems
they’re having so they can return to their units and keep fighting.
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, March 31, 2005 - The war on terror is proving to be an
information war, with forces demanding and getting more access to
information than in any previous conflict, U.S. Central Command’s
director of command, control, communications and computer systems
told the American Forces Press Service.
Army Brig. Gen. Jeffrey W. Foley said operations in Iraq and
Afghanistan are putting unprecedented demands on secure information
networks as the paradigm for information access moves from need to
know to-need to share.
Rather than these stovepipe, close-knit operations where we don’t
want to tell anybody anything, we have migrated over the course of
the last two years to need to share, Foley said.
Making more information available to more people enhances situational
awareness theater-wide, he said, giving troops the tools they need to
operate more effectively.
The need for information has increased dramatically since the conflict
transformed from conventional offensive combat operations to counter-
insurgency operations, Foley said. And what do you need to enable you
to do that? the general asked rhetorically. You need to know where the
bad guys are while they are there.
The need for quick, actionable intelligence has created a tremendous
thirst for bandwidth that is required in order to get them that
information, Foley said.
As a result, the military has extended voice- and data-communications
capabilities, generally available in past operations only to the
brigade level, down to the battalion levels. The goal, Foley said, is
to give equal access to information to everyone with a need for it. He
noted that in an environment such as Iraq, that’s just about everyone.
The battalion commander on the ground in Tikrit is just as informed of
the threat and where the bad guys are and where the safe avenues are as
the brigade commander, as the division commander, Foley said. We haven’t
achieved all of that yet, but we are doing better today than ever before.
While providing increased access to information and intelligence, the
military is also promoting more information sharing through everything
from video teleconferencing to e-mail to Web-based programs, he said.
In addition, military chat rooms have increased situational awareness
throughout the theater, Foley said. People who go out on patrols can enter
a chat room and let everyone know what they saw. There might be a lucrative
target out there, whether a truck or car or group of people or a building
or something else. And chat rooms help effectively coordinate the time-
sensitive targeting process.
Unmanned aerial vehicles provide another valuable information asset, but
only if the information gathered is disseminated quickly to those who need
it.
It’s helping the forces on the ground, but only as long as we can get that
information they are taking and get it down to the guys and gals who need
it on the ground who can assess it, analyze it and disseminate the
information quickly so they guys on the ground can act on it, Foley said.
In addition to promoting information sharing among U.S. troops, Foley said,
the military is sharing more information with its coalition partners than
ever before, using a new system called Combined Enterprise Regional
Information Exchange System, or simply CENTRIX. The Multinational Coalition
Forces Iraq version of the system, which supports operations in Iraq,
currently has about 20,000 subscribers from more than 60 countries.
It’s one of the most monumental success stories in the history of joint and
coalition warfighting, Foley said.
Supporting the military’s information needs will become increasingly
challenging in the future as the demand for bandwidth increases, Foley said.
Our challenge in the communications community is that everyone wants more,
but there isn’t always going to be more, he said.
Already, the demand for ultra-high frequency spectrum access far exceeds what
the Defense Department is capable of providing, he said. Programs are under
way to maximize existing bandwidth while exploring new satellite initiatives
and ways to tap into new portions of the frequency spectrum.
As these efforts continue, Foley said, Operation Iraqi Freedom is offering
valuable lessons about the benefits of information sharing and laying
important groundwork in ensuring maximum access to warfighters. The lessons
we are learning in Operation Iraqi Freedom are helping shape the future, he
said.
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, March 3, 2005 - A new incentive package is
expected to help the military better compete against
other federal agencies and the private sector for
skills possessed by special operations forces,
according to DoD’s top official on special operations
and low-intensity conflict.
Assistant Secretary of Defense Thomas O’Connell said
the new incentives, announced in February, are designed
to help stem the loss of highly trained operators from
the force at a time when their skills are critically
needed in support of the war on terror.
Overall, recruiting and retention within special
operations is on track, and schoolhouses that train them
are full, O’Connell said during an interview with the
Pentagon Channel and the American Forces Press Service.
The problem area, he said, rests with special operators
with 18 or more years of service with extensive training
and experience under their belts. We have seasoned
operators that are clearly much in demand by other
government agencies [and] the civilian community, he said.
The new retention incentive package is aimed at keeping
these experienced Army Special Forces, Navy SEALS and
special warfare combatant crewmen, and Air Force combat
controllers and pararescuemen in uniform. It provides:
special duty assignment pay of $375 a month for special
operators in the ranks of E-4 through E-9 in specific
billets;
a critical skills retention bonus for senior enlisted
servicemembers and warrant officers that ranges from
$8,000 for a one-year commitment to $150,000 for a
six-year commitment; and
assignment incentive pay of $750 a month for enlisted
members and warrant officers with more than 25 years of
service who agree to remain on active duty for at least
12 more months.
In addition to the new incentives, the military services
will continue to offer special operators selective
re-enlistment bonuses, as needed, according to U.S.
Special Operations Command officials.
Our investment in these professionals is great, and the
experience gained through years of service makes them
invaluable assets to our nation’s defense, said Army Lt.
Col. Alex Findlay from U.S. Special Operations Command’s
personnel directorate, in announcing the new incentive
package. Younger replacements can be trained, but
experience is irreplaceable in the current worldwide war
on terrorism.
While taking measures to retain its seasoned members and
maintain its retention goals, Special Operations Command
isn’t willing to lower its standards to attract recruits,
O’Connell said.
Army Gen. Bryan D. Brown, who heads U.S. Special
Operations Command, expressed similar views during March
1 testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
We cannot dilute the high standards of our people, he
told the committee. That is the bedrock of our capability.
To maintain these standards, O’Connell said special
operations has a very high cut for members who go into its
training programs. And those programs, he said, present
the most difficult, the most rigorous, the most advanced
and the most demanding training in the world.
It’s also risky in many respects, O’Connell said, but
acknowledged that the risk factor is believed to be one
factor that attracts people into special operations in the
first place.
And I think their success on the battlefield says that
our recruitment [and] our training techniques are successful,
he said.
O’Connell said he and Special Operations Command welcome all
volunteers into special operations forces. To help give
prospective special operators the best chance of meeting
stringent requirements, many are now receiving advanced
training before they enter the program. This, O’Connell said,
helps get them up to the level so that they have the highest
chance of success.
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 25, 2005 The danger of extremism may be the greatest threat
the United States and its allies have faced, the top U.S. military officer told
the World Affairs Council here today.
Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers pinch hit for Defense Secretary Donald H.
Rumsfeld, who couldn't make the trip due to illness.
Los Angelinos took time off from the upcoming Oscar presentations to discuss
the threats facing the United States with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff.
Myers outlined the nature of the conflict, and gave his reasons terrorism is
such a grave threat. "Just read the statements of the senior extremists,
(Osama) bin Laden says 'It's the duty of all Muslims to kill Americans,' was
one of his recent statements," Myers said.
Bin Laden does not speak for all Muslims and Muslims around the world reject
his brand of Islam, but bin Laden doesn't need large numbers to achieve his
goals. "If you think back to 9/11, it was 19 people that hijacked the airliners
and caused the terrible tragedy,"" he said.
America can calculate the personal and economic losses that day, "but what did
it do to our psyche?" Myers asked. "Did we lose a little bit of our confidence
in our ability to lead a peaceful life in freedom?"
That element of fear is what extremists hope to instill. "When we're afraid, we
act in not a totally rational way," he said.
And bin Laden, while on the run, has not given up his dream of attacking again.
Myers said extremists have no boundaries. They will do anything to attack
democracy and those who espouse it. If bin Laden and his allies could get
weapons of mass destruction, they would use them and the casualty count of
Sept. 11 would look small.
Myers said that while the military is having successes in the war on terror,
the struggle against extremism is a lot more than the military. "The Department
of the Treasury has $150 million on ice of terrorist assets," he said. "Every
department and nations around the world must face this threat. This is an
international issue and there are few parts of the world not touched by
extremists."
The long-range goal is to create an environment that does not breed jihadists,
he said. "How do you encourage governments to provide economic and political
hope for their populations?" the chairman said.
A good start already exists, Myers pointed out. More than 40 nations are
involved in Afghanistan, and 27 are helping in Iraq. NATO plays a central
security role in Afghanistan and is supplying troops and money to train Iraqi
security forces. The United States is working to strengthen other nations. U.S.
trainers are working with Philippine forces and the Georgian government.
American soldiers are helping make a difference in Colombia.
"Many American don't know it, but there are about 1,000 U.S. forces in the Horn
of Africa in Djibouti," Myers said. "They bring a regional approach to the
governments there, to make the governments more self-sufficient in providing
for their own security, so some of these countries do not become (terrorist)
safe havens in the future."
Myers returned to the subject of Iraq and discussed the effect Saddam Hussein
had on the people. "Saddam Hussein and his regime absolutely sucked the
spirit out of the Iraqi people," he said. "There was no premium for initiative.
There was a sense of helplessness. Not only was the infrastructure of Iraq
dilapidated, but so was the spirit of the Iraqi people. And that takes time to
build up."
The Jan. 30 Iraqi elections brought some of the spirit back, he said, and the
political jockeying among the various political groups is an example of that.
And, he said, there is no sign of a civil war. "The signs are that the Sunnis
who didn't vote in large numbers, now want to be part of the political
process," he said. "The Sunni leaders are saying, 'We missed that boat. We
don't want to miss the next boat.'"
Another indicator is that Iraqis are volunteering to join the military. The
Iraqi security forces performed very well during the elections and now many
people want to be a part of them.
Myers said calling it the "war" on terrorism is a bit of a misnomer. "War
connotes that this is going to have a finish like World War II, and there's
going to be some sort of peace treaty," he said. "That's not true."
The war "is all about extremism," he said. "A victory for extremism in Iraq
would have catastrophic implications not only for Iraq, but the region, the
Middle East peace process and the world.
"It would be catastrophic for our own security as well, because then the
extremists would say, 'OK, we can win this. Extremism works. If we just show a
few more beheadings, we can drive those people out of here.' From my point of
view, that's not going to happen," Myers said.
By Kathleen T. Rhem
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Feb. 24, 2005 The Army is taking steps to improve how its
soldiers handle detainees captured in the war on terror, senior officials
announced Feb. 23.
Within DoD, the Army is responsible for detainee handling. In September 2004,
the service published an action plan for detainee and interrogation operations.
Maj. Gen. Donald J. Ryder, the Army's provost marshal general, explained some
tenets of that action plan in a Pentagon media roundtable.
Ryder explained that the plan leverages information learned in investigations
into allegations of abuse and operational lessons learned to develop and
implement policy and doctrine that "reflect the nation's commitment to doing
what is legally and morally right and meet the needs of the warfighting
combatant commanders who are conducting detainee operations."
Officials have clarified rules for the handling of prisoners, the use of dogs
within detainment facilities, the relationship between military police and
military intelligence soldiers within prisons, and the role of agents from
other government agencies within Defense Department facilities, Ryder said.
The service also is redesigning some unit structures to more efficiently handle
internment and resettlement operations and is looking closely at how soldiers
are trained to handle detainees, the general said.
The Army recognizes three theaters of detainee operations: Iraq, Afghanistan
and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, 32
internment/resettlement facilities were set up in Iraq. In early operations
there, soldiers' job was further muddied by the fact that Iraq had no
functioning police force or judiciary, Ryder said. In all, roughly 65,000
people have been screened for possible detention, and about 30,000 of those
were entered "into the system," at least briefly, and assigned internment
serial numbers.
Officials have been closely studying lessons learned from those operations and
have implemented some changes and are recommending others. To start, the Army
Military Police School, at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., has developed a 55-hour
"training support package" for soldiers and other military forces who handle
detainees. Mobile training teams have brought this course to mobilization sites
and into Iraq to train troops who perform detainee operations.
Training is ongoing, as forces rotating into Iraq and Afghanistan are receiving
the revamped training.
In addition, officials in the Army's Training and Doctrine Command are
reviewing five core tasks for all soldiers -- not just military police and
corrections specialists. The tasks being looked at fall under the areas of
ethics, leadership, the law of warfare, the Geneva Conventions and values. The
Army Medical Department Center and School, at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, is also
updating its program of instruction on responsibilities of medical personnel
serving within detention facilities and treating detainees.
In 2003, a "force design update" implemented changes to the structure of units
responsible for handling detainees. "That decision was made long before
anything came up on detainee abuse," Ryder said. "The Army recognized that we
needed to change that structure."
Between now and 2008, the Army is standing up 35 internment and resettlement
organizations: one brigade, seven battalions, and 27 companies. The units will
be spread across the active and reserve components and will focus specifically
on "corrections operations." The new deployable organizations will be modeled
after the personnel structure of military correctional facilities.
The structure change already is under way. A battalion and a company under the
new force structure, manned with correctional specialists, have been stood up
at the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay. Ryder said these are the
first active-duty internment-resettlement units in the Army.
Other changes to Army policy and procedures have come about as a result of
investigations into detainee abuses in Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison.
Investigations into those abuses revealed that reports from the International
Committee of the Red Cross sometimes never made it into the hands of the
individuals who were ultimately responsible for the facilities. The Army has
since added new policies and procedures on how to properly handle ICRC reports.
Allegations also surfaced that agents from other government agencies, such as
the CIA, had free access to prisoners in Abu Ghraib and sometimes told MPs
there to keep prisoners who were never officially in the system. These so-
called "ghost prisoners" were then allegedly subjected to abuse.
Thomas Gandy, a senior military intelligence official who spoke with Ryder at
the media roundtable, explained that policies in place to address such
situations were not actively enforced or trained among U.S. soldiers. That is
happening now, he said.
Gandy said there will be no more ghost detainees; every prisoner is now
assigned an internment serial number for tracking purposes, and other
government agents -- commonly called OGA by servicemembers working in detention
facilities -- will follow DoD rules and regulations on detainee treatment as
long as they're in DoD facilities.
Soldiers charged with abusing prisoners at Abu Ghraib have claimed they were
following orders from military intelligence specialists to "soften up"
detainees for interrogation.
"This idea of 'softening up' has never been part of our doctrine, never been
part of our training," Gandy said.
Ryder added that new doctrine clarifies the roles of military police and
intelligence agents within prisons and lays out more clearly the relationship
between the two to prevent such problems in the future. "The military police
are responsible for custody and control and the safe and secure environment in
detention facilities," he said. "Military police are not involved in
interrogations."
Other changes to Army doctrine developed from lessons learned and
investigations include:
Setting "left and right boundaries" for specific
interrogation techniques, so interrogators have a clear understanding of what's
allowed and what's not. Gandy explained a new field manual will be released in
March that will more clearly spell out interrogation techniques. "There'll be
far less up to the interrogator to decide what they can and cannot do," he
said.
Integrating the tenets of the Geneva Conventions tighter
into rules for interrogation techniques. "You'll see a much closer binding of
the Geneva Conventions laws of war with the techniques of interrogations" in
the new field manual, Gandy said.
Spelling out how police dogs can be used within military
detention facilities. Specifically, Ryder said, dogs can never be used in
interrogations and are only to be used for "external security" purposes in
detention facilities.
Adding extra training on how soldiers should handle and
report what they believe to be illegal orders or requests from superiors or
people from other agencies.
Ryder said he believes it's important for people to understand the Army began
to take these actions before allegations of detainee abuse began to surface.
"The actions that are being taken and have been taken are actions that the Army
takes every single day whether on operations or in training," he said. "Every
single day the Army views what they are doing; they take lessons learned from
operations, good or bad. They then bring those back, they analyze them and say,
'How are we going to improve our ability to support combatant commanders with
trained soldiers and leaders?'"
By John Valceanu
American Forces Press Service
DOHA, Qatar, Feb. 17, 2005 -- They emigrated to the United States from Arabic-
speaking countries, and now they are back in the Middle East, putting their
language skills to use in support of the war on terror.
U.S. Central Command employs a group of civilian workers, all U.S. citizens
originating from Middle Eastern nations, on Camp As Saliyah in Qatar. Though
the men work full days translating and interpreting documents relating to
Operation Iraqi Freedom, they also volunteer their free time to help out at the
command's strategic communications section.
For at least two hours a day, each volunteer monitors a variety of Arab media
outlets, including television, newspapers and Web sites. They catch mistakes
and misrepresentations about U.S. activities, provide translations of pertinent
materials, analyze reports on topics of interest and provide analyses of the
media.
This information is used by the commander and his staff to assess how the media
might be influencing people in the region and to determine if there are any
emerging issues that might impact operations, according to Army Lt. Col. Nancy
Gruttman-Tyler, who directs the effort at the Strategic Engagement and Response
Center, an analysis office collocated with the Central Command public affairs
operation at Camp As Saliyah.
"I don't know what I would do without them," Gruttman-Tyler said. "Their help
is very valuable. I not only rely on their language skills, but also on their
knowledge of the area."
The other military servicemember assigned to the strategic communications
center in Qatar is Air Force Tech Sgt. Nicole Barkley-Lutz, an interpreter who
said she enjoys working closely with the volunteers. She said their points of
view provide her with valuable perspectives on her work.
"They've very helpful for me, like back-up dictionaries for meanings and
definitions that I can't find in my paper dictionary," Barkley-Lutz said. "It's
always interesting to hear their stories and their different viewpoints on
editorials."
The first person to volunteer was Sabir Mahmood, a Kurd originally from Iraq.
Mahmood, who settled in Colorado, recruited other co-workers, and the group
grew. Some of the original volunteers have returned to the United States, but
others have come on board to replace them. The men are each working for six
months to a year in Qatar.
"As a Kurdish-American from northern Iraq, you can imagine how important this
mission is to me," Mahmood said. "These are great events that are taking place.
I believe American operations in the region are helping move in just the right
direction."
In addition to Mahmood, the group includes Jalil Fathullah, also originally
from Iraq, who now makes his home in Texas. Fathulla works the night shift
during his regular job and, instead of going to sleep, he reports in to
strategic communications center and works there a few hours each morning. He is
ethnically half Kurdish and half Turkoman, and he speaks both languages, in
addition to Arabic.
Fathulla studied economics as an undergraduate in Iraq, and received his master
of business administration degree in the United States. He fought against
Saddam Hussein as a member of the Kurdish resistance in the early 1990s, and he
emigrated to the United States shortly after the first Gulf War. He said his
background helps him do kind of work he is performing as a volunteer.
"I look at the political, economic and social issues that form a background for
articles. I find a lot of editorials in the Arab press that don't show up in
the English version," Fathulla said. "Sometimes the same articles will use
different words. For example, an Arab article might use the word 'occupier'
when referring to U.S. forces, while the English-language version might not use
that word."
Atef Wahba is another member of the group, originally hailing from Egypt and
now residing in California. He said he fell naturally into the job, being a
"news junkie" from the time he was a child. He said he believes current
operations are of great importance not only for the region, but also for the
whole world.
"This is a long-term battle against evil. There are other ways to fight
terrorism than with physical weapons. By developing an understanding of
terrorism's root causes, we can work to remove them," Wahba said. "I hope our
work here will help develop a understanding of the situation in the region."
The other two volunteers are Tony Sleiman and Nader Nader, both originally from
Lebanon, and both residing in Ohio.
Sleiman said he finds the work rewarding for a variety of reasons, both
personal and professional.
"I enjoy working with Lt. Col. Gruttman-Tyler. She has a great attitude,"
Sleiman said. "I also like being able to make more of a contribution to the
CENTCOM mission, and I get to keep up with the news and improve my language
skills."
Continuing U.S. operations in the region are important to world security,
Sleiman said, because it shows the Arab people that the U.S. is committed to
helping them.
"Arab people were afraid of taking a chance for reform for a long time. They
were afraid that the U.S. would pull back," Sleiman said. "Now, with U.S.
commitment in the region, you're starting to see more and more countries taking
steps toward reform. This will help remove some of those root causes of
terrorism."
Nader, for his part, expressed strong enthusiasm and emotion about the
opportunity to help out.
"We keep our fingers on the pulse of the Arab media. We are able to help
provide the commander with an analysis from the Arab point of view, and I think
that is very important," Nader said. "I love doing this, because I think it
will help the mission in this region, and I believe that mission is very
important. I hope our work will have some impact, that we'll translate
something that will make a difference. Every time we help drive a nail into the
coffin of the terrorists, it is a big satisfaction to us."
Nader added that he is very proud to work under the command of Army Gen. John
Abizaid, commander of the U.S. Central Command.
"He's the most famous person of Lebanese descent in the world," Nader said.
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Feb. 16, 2005 The al Qaeda terrorist network is still a
significant threat, said the director of Central Intelligence.
In prepared testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence today,
Porter J. Goss gave his best estimates of the threats facing America. He
testified along with FBI Director Robert Mueller.
"We need to make tough decisions about which haystacks deserve to be
scrutinized for the needles that can hurt us most," Goss said. "And we know in
this information age that there are endless haystacks everywhere."
Defeating terrorism remains the intelligence community's core objective.
"Widely dispersed terrorist networks will present one of the most serious
challenges to U.S. national security interests at home and abroad in the coming
year," Goss said. "In the past year, aggressive measures by our intelligence,
law enforcement, defense and homeland security communities, along with our key
international partners have dealt serious blows to al Qaeda and others."
Still, al Qaeda remains a threat both abroad and in the United States, he said.
"It may be only a matter of time before al Qaeda or another group attempts to
use chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons."
"Al Qaeda continues to adapt and move forward with its desire to attack the
United States using any means at its disposal," FBI's Mueller said in his
prepared testimony. "Their intent to attack us at home remains - and their
resolve to destroy America has never faltered."
Mueller said al Qaeda has evolved. "While we still assess that a mass casualty
attack using relatively low-tech methods will be their most likely approach, we
are concerned that they are seeking weapons of mass destruction including
chemical weapons, so-called 'dirty bombs' or some type of biological agent such
as anthrax," he said.
Goss said that the al Qaeda is only one facet of the threat from a broader
Sunni jihadist movement, and that the Iraq conflict, "while not a cause of
extremism, has become a cause for extremists."
He said capturing Osama bin Laden and other al Qaeda leaders would not be
enough to end the threat. Other members of this broader Sunni movement would
pick up the cause and move on. Al Qaeda has particularly active cells or
sympathizers in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Southeast Asia and Iraq, and is
becoming a greater threat in Central Asia.
Goss said he believes North Korea continues to pursue a uranium enrichment
capability. On Feb. 10, North Korean officials claimed to have atomic weapons.
"North Korea continues to develop, produce, deploy and sell ballistic missiles
of increasing range and sophistication," Goss said.
The country has a large stockpile of SCUD and No Dong missiles. "North Korea
could resume flight testing at any time, including of longer-range missiles,
such as the Taepo Dong-2 system," Goss noted. "We assess the TD-2 is capable of
reaching the United States with a nuclear-weapon-sized payload."
Further, the intelligence agency believes North Korea has an active chemical
and biological warfare program and "probably has chemical and possibly
biological weapons ready for use."
The CIA chief said he was also worried about Iran's nuclear program. Iran is
negotiating with the European Union on its nuclear program, but several Iranian
officials have said that the country would not give up its nuclear processing
capabilities. "In parallel, Iran continues its pursuit of long-range ballistic
missiles, such as an improved version of its 1,300 km range Shahab-3 medium-
range ballistic missile," he said.
The director said that Iran is allegedly supporting some anti-coalition
activities in Iraq and is "seeking to influence the future character of the
Iraqi state."
By John Valceanu
American Forces Press Service
MANAMA, Bahrain, Feb. 15, 2005 -- They may be far away from the streets where
ground troops are engaging insurgents and terrorists in direct combat, but Army
Gen. John Abizaid told sailors and Marines aboard the carrier USS Harry S.
Truman that they are playing a crucial role in the global war on terrorism.
As head of U.S. Central Command, Abizaid is responsible for a region that
includes the Middle East, central Asia and the Horn of Africa. He visited the
aircraft carrier under way in the Persian Gulf today and spoke with members of
the ship's crew and personnel of Carrier Air Wing 3, which is serving aboard
the ship.
"We need you sending your airplanes our way, wherever that way may be. We can't
get the job done without you," Abizaid told a group of sailors. "The Marine
Corps-Navy team provides the flexibility to send combat-ready forces anywhere
in the area quickly. This is a very connected theater with a common enemy and a
common purpose."
The Truman has a variety of aircraft on board as part of the carrier wing.
These include fighter and attack jets, transport planes, electronic-warfare
aircraft planes and refueling planes. The ship functions as the flagship of a
carrier strike group that also includes destroyers, cruisers, a frigate and a
supply ship.
Abizaid told sailors and Marines aboard the Truman that troops who are engaging
the enemy on the ground depend on them and the air-support capabilities they
bring to the fight.
"I can assure you that when Marines in Fallujah or Army soldiers in Mosul are
in contact with the enemy, they pray for you to come to their aid, and to come
fast," Abizaid said. "The more efficient you are, the more American lives you
can save and the more bad guys we can eliminate. It's literally a matter of
life and death."
Though close-air support is very important to combat operations in the theater,
the carrier strike group also takes part in vital maritime operations,
according to Abizaid. These operations interdict the use of Persian Gulf waters
to terrorists, discourage smuggling and piracy, and keep important oil shipping
lanes open.
"Our whole way of life rests on this thing staying open. It is vital to
America's interests and vital to the world economy," Abizaid said. "Thank you
for what you are doing in this region. It has an impact on the world."
The Truman and the other ships of the carrier strike group arrived in theater
in mid-November 2004, relieving the USS John F. Kennedy and its embarked Air
Wing 17.
Abizaid told the sailors and Marines that he knows it's tough for them to be at
sea for months at a time and to be away from their families, especially during
the holidays, but it is important for them to understand that by serving in the
gulf region they are helping to keep America safe.
"I'd rather have it be tough for us, who volunteered to do this, than to have
it be tough for our kids back at home," Abizaid said. "We've taken an offensive
against terrorists. By being out here, by having a presence in their territory,
we are keeping them from coming into ours."
Navy Capt. James P. Gigliotti, Truman commander, said he and his sailors are
tackling the mission with zeal because they understand its importance.
"We're a small part of a much bigger effort, but I'm proud of our part,"
Gigliotti said. "The sailors understand how important the mission is and
they're very focused on it. Morale is very high."
The commander of Carrier Air Wing 3, Navy Capt. Pat Rainey, said his aviators
are keeping their sights on providing support to the troops on the ground.
"We are staying active, pressurizing the battlespace to drive the enemy toward
our ground troops," Rainey said. "We think of the troops on the ground as our
most important customers, and we do everything we can to look after them."
By John Valceanu
American Forces Press Service
DOHA, Qatar, Feb. 14, 2005 -- The Middle East is currently going through a
revolutionary period in which small groups of religious extremists are
attempting to impose their "dark vision" upon the vast majority of the region's
people, the U.S. general responsible for the region said.
On several occasions during a Feb. 11-13 visit to Iraq, Army Gen. John Abizaid,
head of U.S. Central Command, compared the extremists to other violent
revolutionary groups that managed to assume power and ultimately oppressed
entire regions.
Abizaid said the world in the past was not able to identify and eliminate the
threat posed by the extremists in time to stop them from amassing and
consolidating their power. This time, however, he said the coalition has an
opportunity to stop the extremists before they can create other regimes like
the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
"When ruthless people start to take power, a very small group of them can be
very effective very quickly and move the world in a direction that's
unexpected," Abizaid said. "If you look at Bolshevism in the early 1900s or if
you look at fascism in the early 1920s, we didn't have guts enough to get out
in front of them. Well, this time we've actually gotten out in front of them."
There is an opportunity during this time of revolution, according to Abizaid,
to take advantage of revolutionary times and help the region's people to make a
better way of life for themselves, channeling energies for change into a
positive force.
"We actually have a chance to move the revolutionary process of a better way of
life for people in the Middle East to come forward because we have guts enough
to take on the threat," Abizaid said, whose command includes 27 nations in the
Middle East, Central Asia and the horn of Africa.
The extremists do not enjoy popular support in Iraq, Afghanistan or other
places in the region, according to Abizaid, but they have to be stopped before
they can gain power.
"The vast majority of the people don't want to have anything to do with
(terrorists Osama) bin Laden or (Abu Musab al-)Zarqawi or any of these guys.
What they want to do is just to live a better life," Abizaid said. "What we
can't allow to happen is to let guys like Zarqawi to get started. It's the same
way that we turned our back when Hitler was getting going or Lenin was getting
going. You just can't turn your back on these types of movements. You've got to
stand up and fight them."
The people who are attracted to extremism are feeding off anger and resentment
at their condition, Abizaid said, and extremist leaders encourage their
negativity and turn their hatred into terror.
"They attract people in much the same way that the Bolsheviks or the fascists
attract people. Bin Laden's type of theological argument is almost Islamic
fascism. I hate to even use the term Islamic because there's very little
'Islamic' about it. It's just extremist in a way that is very hateful, very
violent and very dangerous."
The extremists are trying to obscure and distort the true conflict, which is
not between competing religions or cultures, according to Abizaid.
"It's not like they would have their followers believe -- the Crusaders versus
the Islamic heroes. It is not in my mind Islam versus the West. It really is
moderation versus extremism," he said.
The culture of the people, and the religion of Islam itself, are actually
forces against the extremists who have twisted the religion and seek to oppress
the people, the general noted.
"The good news is -- and this is a point that is hard for people who don't
really understand the region -- most people in this region are moderate,"
Abizaid said. "Islam is, in and of itself, a very moderate religion, a very
tolerant religion. The moderates need to be supported against the extremists
during this period so that this ideology does not take off on us."
By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Feb. 4, 2005 Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and CIA
director Porter J. Goss are working to make sure President Bush has a full
range of options for dealing with terror threats, a top DoD official said
today.
This includes covert and clandestine operations, said Thomas W. O'Connell,
assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity
conflict. He also said studies are under way to determine whether all of the
CIA's paramilitary activities should fall under DoD's jurisdiction.
O'Connell delivered the keynote address during the 16th Annual National Defense
Industrial Association Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict Symposium and
Exhibition here. He focused on special operations forces' role in the
coalition's global war on terrorism. today
"The president and a truly historic coalition of more than 90 nations have
sought to confront a new and perhaps even more dangerous enemy," O'Connell
noted.
Special operations forces will help to meet the capabilities required of the
Defense Department as part of that coalition, he said. Special operations
forces are charged with disrupting, defeating and destroying terrorist networks
that threaten the United States and its citizens, according to the U.S. Special
Operations Command mission statement.
These capabilities must be used in concert with the capabilities of coalition
partners as well as other, nonmilitary stabilization capabilities of the U.S.
government and the civilian world, said Jeffrey Nadaner, O'Connell's deputy.
"We're trying to place stabilization operations on comparable footing with
combat operations."
This would mean, he explained, that these types of operations would be
considered in all phases of the planning of an operation. "We're making
progress. We're moving forward," O'Connell said. "We're putting together
execute orders that will help U.S. Special Operations Command orchestrate its
war on terrorism."
By Kathleen T. Rhem
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Jan. 30, 2005 The rise of democracy in Iraq is a "blow right to
the heart of the global terrorism," a major American ally said today.
In remarks in London, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said today's successful
elections in Iraq will prove to harm the global terrorism movement that
"threatens destruction not just in Iraq but in Britain and virtually every
major country around the world."
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said today that the costs in money and
lives are worth it to bring democracy to Iraq.
Americans learned "a very important lesson" on the terrorist attacks of Sept.
11, 2001, she said. "The status quo in the Middle East was not sustainable,"
Rice said in an afternoon interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "It was producing
an ideology of hatred that had people drive airplanes into our buildings."
She said Americans learned they must "deal with that and build a different kind
of Middle East, or we're going to be fighting terrorists long beyond our
lifetimes."
Two Americans died in a mortar attack on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad on the eve
of today's elections, and an unknown number of British servicemembers died in
the crash of a C-130 airplane outside Baghdad today. U.S. military statistics
put the total American military deaths in Iraq at 1,411 as of Jan. 28.
"Obviously we mourn every death," Rice said. "Unfortunately, nothing of value
is ever won without sacrifice. Our hope is that as the political process moves
forward, as it has begun to move forward today, as Iraqis take more
responsibility for their own future -- both politically and in security terms -
- that the insurgency will begin to lose some of its steam."
Blair said the next step in Iraq will be to help the new Iraqi government that
will grow from today's elections.
"What we now have to do is sit down with the new Iraqi government once it's
formed and work out a way forward to help Iraqis' democracy grow," he said, "to
build the capability of Iraqis' security forces, to tackle the issues of
security themselves, to ensure that the large sums of money that the global
community is providing set aside for reconstruction are used to make the lives
of ordinary Iraqis better."
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Jan. 25, 2005 The Defense Intelligence Agency's new Strategic
Support Branch is providing enhanced human intelligence capabilities to better
support combatant commanders in the war on terror, senior defense officials
told Pentagon reporters here Jan. 24.
The new teams, made up of about 10 civilians and servicemembers, are being
deployed to support combatant commands' warfighting capabilities with improved
human intelligence, officials said. The teams may include case officers,
linguists, interrogators and other specialists from the Defense Human
Intelligence Service, DIA's long-standing human intelligence arm.
The Strategic Support Branch was developed over the past year in cooperation
with the CIA, and information gathered by the teams will be shared with other
U.S. government intelligence activities, officials explained. The teams are
managed and developed by the Defense Intelligence Agency, but officials
emphasized that when deployed, they and their activities remain under the
control of military commanders.
Officials told reporters the new teams were formally established after Congress
was consulted about them and approved their funding in the fiscal 2005 budget.
DIA received the funding to stand up, manage and develop the teams.
Officials stressed that the new teams are "not a spy network," as some media
reports have suggested, but rather, an element that collects human intelligence
not readily available through high-tech intelligence-gathering methods.
The 9/11 commission report pointed out the need to improve the U.S. human
intelligence capability "across the board." President Bush reiterated this view
during a recent press interview.
Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and well before the 9/11
commission's report was released, the Defense Human Intelligence Service was
already taking steps to become "more focused and task-oriented for the global
war on terror," Pentagon spokesman Larry Di Rita noted in a statement released
Jan. 23. A key objective, he said, was to improve the level of tactical and
operational intelligence available to assist combatant commanders for specific
missions involving regular or special operations forces.
"The closer we looked at it, the more convinced we became that we did not have
the right organization, the right structure, the right training," a defense
official told reporters. And most importantly, he said, it became evident that
the department's human intelligence capabilities weren't organized to serve on
a rotational basis in two places like Iraq and Afghanistan.
Defense officials said the new teams, which may operate in a clandestine
manner, will provide a rotational human intelligence base that provides
sustainable support to combatant commanders. They stressed that this was not
being done to compete with traditional CIA activities, as some press articles
have asserted, but rather, to enhance the military's ability to gather the
intelligence it needs to support its own operations.
"You simply cannot fight a long-term war with a pick-up team" that's pulled
from other locations as needed to support a human intelligence requirement, an
official said. "When you do that, first, you don't have a long-term sustainment
kind of capability, and second, you deplete the capabilities from the place
where they were drawn from."
Officials said enhancing this capability is expected to have a big payoff to
DoD as it transforms itself to better confront 21st century challenges. "We're
simply now facing new challenges in the global war on terror, and DoD is
looking for better ways to organize to meet new world challenges," an official
said.
NEWS RELEASE from the United States Department of Defense
Jan 23, 2005
Statement From Pentagon Spokesman Lawrence DiRita
on Intelligence Activities of the Defense Department
There is no unit that is directly reportable to the Secretary of Defense for
clandestine operations as is described in the Washington Post article of January
23, 2005, entitled "Secret Unit Expands Rumsfeld's Domain". Further, the
Department is not attempting to "bend" statutes to fit desired activities, as is
suggested in this article.
It is accurate and should not be surprising that the Department of Defense is
attempting to improve its long-standing human intelligence capability.
A principal conclusion of the 9-11 Commission report is that the U.S. human
intelligence capability must be improved across the board. The Department of
Defense has a longstanding human intelligence capacity in the Defense Human
Intelligence Service, a component of the Defense Intelligence Agency.
Prior to the 9-11 commission issuing their conclusion that the nation's human
intelligence capability must be improved, the Defense Human Intelligence Service
has been taking steps to be more focused and task-oriented for the global war on
terror. One of the objectives of this effort is to make better human intelligence
capability available to assist combatant commanders for specific missions involving
regular or special operations forces.
The demands of the Global War on Terror necessitate a framework by which military
forces and traditional human intelligence work more closely together and in greater
numbers than they have in the past. These actions are being taken within existing
statutory authorities to support traditional military operations and any assertion
to the contrary is wrong. The department remains in regular consultation with the
relevant committees in Congress and with other agencies within the intelligence
community, including the CIA.
(2) (3) (4) (5)
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