U.S. Military Deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan – NYTimes.com

 

The Department of Defense has identified 4,420 American service members who have died since the start of the Iraq war and 1,411 who have died as a part of the Afghan war and related operations. It confirmed the deaths of the following Americans recently:

Iraq

FINCH, David D., 24, Pfc., Army; Bath Springs, Tenn.; Second Squadron, Third Armored Cavalry Regiment.

Afghanistan

AYUBE, James A. II, 25, Sgt., Army; Salem, Mass.; Third Squadron, Second Stryker Cavalry Regiment.

GEARY, Michael E., 20, Lance Cpl., Marines; Derry, N.H.; Second Marine Division.

MIXON, Kelly J., 23, Specialist, Army; Yulee, Fla.; Third Squadron, Second Stryker Cavalry Regiment.

via U.S. Military Deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan – NYTimes.com.

Petraeus Aide Marvin Hill: If Troops Can’t Deal With DADT Repeal, They Should Leave The Service

 

Marvin Hill speaks with General David Petraeus

WASHINGTON — A senior aide to David Petraeus, commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, is out with a strong statement in support of repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT), saying that servicemembers who can’t adjust to the change should think about leaving the military.

“If there are people who cannot deal with the change, then they’re going to have to do what’s best for their troops and best for the organization and best for the military service and exit the military service, so that we can move forward — if that’s the way that we have to go,” said Command Sergeant Major Marvin Hill in an interview with Roland Martin on Washington Watch, set to air on Sunday.

Indeed, one of the arguments put forth by many critics of repeal is that integrating the forces will result in a loss of large number of servicemembers opposed to the change.

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen addressed this concern during his recent testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, stating, “Should repeal occur, some soldiers and Marines may want separate shower facilities. Some may ask for different berthing. Some may even quit the service. We’ll deal with that.”

Also in the interview with Washington Watch, Hill said that he believes “the troops are ready for something like this.”

“We know that if there is a change, that that change will have to be led, and it’s going to have to be led by senior leaders such as myself and — and others across the battlefield. Senior leaders are the ones [that are] going to set the tone in the unit and enable the unit to move forward.”

In March, Petraeus told Congress that he believed the time had come to repeal the military’s ban on DADT. He has also said that in his personal experience of serving with openly gay and lesbian CIA officers, “after the 10 seconds of awareness wore off, the focus was on the professional attributes of these individuals.”

Petraeus Aide Marvin Hill: If Troops Can’t Deal With DADT Repeal, They Should Leave The Service.

State Dept: No One Touched ‘Dancing Boy’ At DynCorp Party | TPMMuckraker

Of the Wikileaks cache of diplomatic cables, one of the most potentially salacious is about the entertainment at a party thrown by DynCorp, a U.S. contractor training Afghan police, in April 2009. A 17-year-old boy was hired to dance.

In Afghanistan, hiring “dancing boys” is a long-held practice in which Afghan men hire young men and boys to dress like girls and dance at weddings and other parties. They don’t hire girls, because in Afghan society men and women don’t mix socially.

BBC NEWS | South Asia | US movie actor is ‘Afghan prince’

A Hollywood actor who starred in horror film Dawn Of The Dead has found he is prince of the Afghan province of Ghor.

Scott Reiniger, who appeared in the 1978 movie, is the great, great, great grandson of Josiah Harlan, the first American to set foot in Afghanistan.

Scott Reiniger

As a result of a treaty Harlan signed, his heirs are granted the title Prince of Ghor in perpetuity.

Reiniger only found out his title after UK journalist Ben Macintyre published a book on his ancestor’s life.

“My reaction initially was that it seemed incredibly surreal,” Reiniger told BBC World Service’s Outlook programme.

He discovered he was the prince of the western province of Ghor when his younger brother – who is named Harlan – emailed him after reading reviews of Macintyre’s book.

WHO WAS JOSIAH HARLAN? Born a Quaker in Pennsylvania Started as a merchant seaman Jilted in Calcutta, swore never to return to US Headed to Afghanistan determined to become a king Contracted by exiled Afghan king to raise army Fermented rebellion in Kabul ‘Invaded’ in 1823 under US flag Became commander-in-chief of Afghan army Struck deal to become Prince of Ghor in exchange for army troops Thrown out of Afghanistan by British, returned to US Attempted to import camels to America Died in San Francisco on way to China

Macintyre said he was as surprised as Reiniger himself to find Harlan’s descendent was a cult horror star.

“I’d rather assumed that I’d done my best to track down his descendents,” he said.

“But as [Josiah] Harlan had only one daughter, it was extremely hard to find them. And frankly we’d given up. So I was absolutely thrilled.”

But Reiniger said he had no intention of claiming his title officially, and added that he felt his brother should have it anyway.

“He has the name and he’s the historian in the family,” he said.

Reiniger said he remembered his father talking about Josiah Harlan and also Alexander The Great when he was a child.

“He would demonstrate Alexander the Great‘s movements… sometimes he would pull out Josiah Harlan’s sword, which my father had, and my brother now has,” he said.

Macintyre, who had been examining the history of Afghanistan’s troubles in the wake of 11 September, decided to investigate after he found that Josiah Harlan’s name continually cropped up.

He found Harlan had agreed a treaty with the Hazaras, the descendents of the Mongols who lived in the principality of Ghor.

Harlan was a Pennsylvania-born adventurer who travelled to Afghanistan in the early 19th century, having sworn never to return to the US after an incident in Calcutta left him stranded.

He headed to Afghanistan with the intention of being made a king. He soon met up with Afghanistan’s exiled king, to whom he was contracted to stir up rebellion in Kabul.

He was skilled at playing two sides against each other and continually switched his allegiance. But his skill as a military general was noted and the Emir of Kabul, Dost Muhammad Khan, made him commander-in-chief of Afghanistan’s army.

In the winter of 1839, Khan asked him to take on a prince on the other side of the Hindu Kush with 4,000 men, 600 camels and an elephant.

Kipling based The Man Who Would Be King on Josiah Harlan

This mission formed the basis for Rudyard Kipling‘s book The Man Who Would Be King, which, in a further Hollywood twist, was made as a film starring Sean Connery.

It was during this expedition that Harlan stuck his deal with the Hazaras, and in particular – Refee Beg, the Prince of Ghor at that time.

Harlan agreed to return with a large, trained army with which they would conquer Refee’s neighbours. In return, Refee agreed to hand over sovereignty over Ghor to Harlan, and his heirs, in perpetuity.

“The treaty remains in effect,” Macintyre explained.

“Although it would be a brave man who attempted to reassert his claim to be the Prince of Ghor at this stage.”

BBC NEWS | South Asia | US movie actor is ‘Afghan prince’.

U.S. Military Deaths in Afghanistan: Nov. 30th – NYTimes.com

The Department of Defense has identified 1,390 American service members who have died as a part of the Afghan war and related operations. It confirmed the deaths of the following Americans recently:

DONNELLY, William J. IV, 27, First Lt., Marines; Picayune, Miss.; First Marine Division.

HARRIS, Devon J., 24, Pvt., Army; Mesquite, Tex.; 10th Mountain Division.

via U.S. Military Deaths in Afghanistan – NYTimes.com.

Afghan Police Officer Kills 6 US Service Members

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – An Afghan border policeman killed six American servicemen during a training mission Monday, underscoring one of the risks in a U.S.-led program to educate enough recruits to turn over the lead for security to Afghan forces by 2014.

The shooting in a remote area near the Pakistani border appeared to be the deadliest attack of its kind in at least two years.

Attacks on NATO troops by Afghan policemen or soldiers, although still rare, have increased as the coalition has accelerated the program. Other problems with the rapidly growing security forces include drug use, widespread illiteracy and high rates of attrition.

A spokesman for the Afghan Interior Ministry, Zemeri Bashary, confirmed that the gunman in Monday’s attack was a border police officer rather than an insurgent who donned the uniform for a day.

The Taliban claimed responsibility, saying the gunman joined the border police to kill foreign soldiers.

“Today he found this opportunity and he killed six invaders,” Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in a statement e-mailed to the media.

The shooter opened fire on the NATO troops and then was killed in the shootout, NATO said, without providing additional details.

Afghan Police Officer Kills 6 US Service Members.

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