On the morning of Jan. 3, soldiers with 4th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, attached to 4th Advise and Assist Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, United States Division – Center, were greeted in the western desert of Iraq by a more professional Iraqi army than many of them had ever seen.

It was the first day of a three-week conventional warfare training course for the 2-28 Infantry Battalion, 7th Iraqi Army Division, and the platoons were formed—“dress-right-dress”—on the dilapidated road leading out from their logistical support area.

I was wrong about the final ceremony for General Vang Pao and it seems that
all our efforts to reach the President to reverse the Arlington decision by
the Army failed as well - because the Fresno Bee just reported the article
below.

This is just one final insult from the White House regarding the General's
death...it seems the President and First Lady who talk so much about
supporting the "Families of Fallen Soldiers" couldn't even find the time to
acknowledge and send condolences to the Family of the "biggest hero of the

A Haqqani Network facilitator was detained a along with several suspected insurgents during an operation in Terayzai district, Khost province, by Afghan and coalition forces yesterday.

The facilitator was responsible for the movement of improvised explosive devices, weapons and ammunition for insurgents operating in the district. The facilitator and the suspected insurgents were detained based on initial questioning at the scene.

In other International Security Assistance Force news throughout Afghanistan.

South

The Afghan soldier was in trouble. With his eyes sitting heavy and glazed-over in their sockets, the soldier's condition had worsened.

He now had to be removed from the C-27A Spartan aircraft that had been flown to Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, to transport him and other Afghan National Security Force troops to Kabul for further medical attention, and it had to be done quickly.

Iraqi mortar platoons assigned to 1st Battalion, 11th Brigade, 3rd Iraqi Army Division, conducted a live-fire exercise using 60mm and 81mm mortar systems to test their weapons proficiency at Destiny Range in Ninewa province, Iraq, Jan. 26.

U.S. Soldiers of 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Advise and Assist Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, facilitated the training, part of Tadreeb al Shamil, or All-Inclusive Training, an Iraqi training program to build IA capability to conduct national defense operations.

General Vang Pao
Dec 8, 1929 to Jan 6, 2011
Funeral

I attended the wake of General Vang Pao, the Lao Hmong that died 6 Jan 2011, on 4 & 5 Feb 2011in Fresno California where he lay in state at the Fresno Convention Center. I questioned why such a long wait to bury the general and here is the Lao explanation of why;

PLEASE, EVERYONE, GET EVERYONE YOU KNOW TO CIRCULATE A PETITION AND GET SIGNATURES (FRIENDS, FAMILY, CHILDREN, ETC ETC) AND FAX INTO THE WHITE HOUSE – DO IT TONIGHT AS THERE WILL BE A MEETING ABOUT THIS TOMORROW AND WE NEED TO TELL THE WHITE HOUSE HOW WE FEEL ABOUT ALLOWING THE BURIAL OF GENERAL VANG PAO IN ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY!

The press release and petition are in .jpg format. The petition is reduced to 20% in the .jpg photo. - Ed.

Video by American Forces Network Iraq

Afghan and coalition forces targeted a Taliban leader, detaining one suspected insurgent and killing one armed insurgent during a security operation in Muqer district, Ghazni province yesterday.

The targeted individual is the Gelan district Taliban leader who leads multiple insurgents in the district. He provides command and control for attacks against Afghan and coalition forces.