Buh-bye

Top al-Qaida Figure Killed in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - One of al-Qaida's top figures, Abu Laith al-Libi, has been killed in Pakistan, an Islamist Web site announced Thursday. Pakistani officials and residents said a dozen people, including seven Arabs, died in a missile strike in northwestern Pakistan near the Afghan border.

Al-Libi was believed to be the key link between the Taliban and al-Qaida and was blamed for masterminding the bombing an American base while Vice President Dick Cheney was visiting Afghanistan last year. He was listed among the Americans' 12 most-wanted men with a bounty of $200,000 on his head.

Pakistani officials denied any knowledge of al-Libi's death. The killing of such a major al-Qaida figure is likely to embarrass President Pervez Musharraf, who has repeatedly said he would not sanction U.S. military action against al-Qaida members believed to be regrouping in the lawless area near the Afghan border. (emphasis added)

So who's sayin' we did it? Goodness gracious, we're not even in Pakistan.

More from Bill Roggio here and here.

US Senate to honor MAJ Mike Mundell

Received this from Mike's wife Audrey yesterday and wanted to pass it along.

I received a call this morning from KY Senator Mitch McConnell's office in DC. They informed me that they will be doing a tribute to Mike in the Senate tomorrow morning. I am told that it will air on C-Span 2 between 9-10am EST.

I am told that our Senator does this for all KY fallen soldiers. I would've liked for all of us to have gone, but this is just too short of notice.

Anyway, just thought I'd let you all know, in case you might want to watch. If you think of anybody who might like to know that I don't know of, or for whom I may not have any contact information, please feel free to send this along.

Take care and God bless,
Audrey

This will air today (THURSDAY) on C-Span 2 between 9-10am EST.

Update from Audrey: The tribute has been changed to run a little after 11:00 a.m. this morning. I was told between 11:05-11:10.

173rd Airborne Brigade - December Hooah Video

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FENTY, Afghanistan – On the morning of Dec. 22, a plane full of holiday cheer landed on the air strip at Forward Operating Base Fenty, bringing country music artists, cheerleaders, and the Sergeant Major of the Army, to help ring in the holiday season.

The guests included country music artists Darryl Worley, Keni Thomas, a group of Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders, and super model Leanne Tweeden.

The show began with an introduction from Leanne Tweeden, followed by Daryl Worley who performed his hit song ‘Have You Forgotten’ that he wrote specifically for the troops.

Video courtesy of the 173D ABN BDE PAO.


Click here for more 173rd ABCT Afghanistan posts.

"Low-tech" mirror therapy shows promise in amputee treatment

Navy Cmdr. (Dr.) Jack Tsao shows Army Sgt. Nicholas Paupore how to perform mirror therapy to treat phantom pain in his amputated right leg Jan. 15 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. (Defense Department photo/Donna Miles)

Fascinating.

Sergeant Paupore said he was skeptical when Navy Cmdr. (Dr.) Jack Tsao suggested using a mirror to help him deal with excruciating pain he continued feeling in his missing right leg.

The phenomenon, called "phantom limb pain," plagues as many as half of all amputees, likely the result of a faulty signal between the brain and the missing appendage, Commander Tsao said. Neurons in the brain continue sending out signals to a limb that's no longer there. As a result, amputees can feel discomfort or pain and, in some cases, the sense that their missing limb is stuck in an uncomfortable position.

For Sergeant Paupore, a 101st Airborne Division artilleryman who was serving on a military transition team training Iraqi troops when he was wounded in July 2006, the pain felt like electric shocks or knives stabbing into his missing leg.

"It felt like someone ... was putting an electrode on the back of my ankle," he said.

Sergeant Paupore tried several different painkillers, including morphine, but none gave him relief.
...
Sitting on a hospital bed with his legs fully extended, Sergeant Paupore demonstrated the therapy. He put a standard 6-foot-long mirror lengthwise between his left leg and the residual stump on his right side, with the mirror reflecting the intact leg. He moved the leg, watching the movement in the mirror and imagining that his missing leg was making the movements.

The very first time he tried it, Sergeant Paupore felt something happening.

"The stump started firing off right away," he said. "It got a little uncomfortable."
...
More than a year after completing his mirror therapy, Sergeant Paupore said he still experiences occasional phantom pain, but "only once in a great while." The pain is far less severe than before the mirror therapy, and Sergeant Paupore is off painkillers altogether.

"It tricks your brain into thinking your leg is still there, so it's not misfiring," he said. "I don't know how it works, but it works."

Sergeant Paupore said he encourages other amputees suffering from phantom pain to give mirror therapy a try.

"I've always recommended it to them," he said. "At least give it a try. Some people may get mild help out of it; some may get extraordinary help out of it."

The Final Gift

The Fisher House is dark and silent except for the ticking of the clock on the wall. She sits at the table with her coat on, and stares into nothingness.


It’s been several hours since we’ve met. Hours of small talk, of calls to home, and of sitting with her son. Hours of waiting, knowing each moment with him could be her last.


The papers have been signed, the registry’s been notified, the allocation process has begun.

It’s only a matter of time.


“He looks just like he’s sleeping”, she says. “Like he could open up his eyes any minute and say ‘Hey, Mom!’”.


Elsewhere, surgeons are making evaluations, patients are being notified, families are making their way to other hospitals.

One family’s tragedy is the hope of others.


The first surgical team arrives.

It’s time.

As time for this family runs out, other families are being given more of it, this most precious gift.


She’s told she can send something into the OR with him. A personal item perhaps?

She looks at the rings on her hands and seems uncertain.

I pull a pin out of my pocket. On it is the black silhouette of a Soldier, surrounded by golden wings.

“It’s not a personal item, but if you’d like to have it… “

She takes it, goes to her son, and pins it on his hospital gown.

She strokes his hair; his face. She holds him.


There is no agony like that of a parent losing a child.


As we leave, a nurse follows us.

"I want to say something," he says, taking her hands. "Back home I work on the receiving end of this. You've done a wonderful thing."


In the darkest, coldest, deadest hour of night we walk from the hospital to the Fisher House.

She sits down at the table with her coat on, and stares into nothingness.

The Fisher House is dark and silent except for the ticking of the clock on the wall.

"The Rock" defies terrorists to bring security and hope to Pech Valley

Army 1st Lt. Kareem F. Hernandez, a N.Y. resident and 2nd Platoon Leader in Able Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne), talks on the radio while village elders and an Afghan National Policeman walk down a mountain during a patrol to Omar in Kunar Province, Afghanistan, Jan. 11. (U.S. Army Photos by Sgt. Brandon Aird)

KUNAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan - These Paratroopers never stop patrolling the newly-constructed Pech Road in Kunar Province, Afghanistan. Night and day, through rain and snow, they diligently patrol the $7.5 million Pech Road to bring security to an area known for violence.

They make up Able Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne), also known as “The Rock”.

Even though Able Company is an infantry company, the company commander stresses their main focus is helping and taking care of the villages in and around the Pech River Valley.

“We’re responsible for over a hundred villages,” explained Army Capt. Louis Frketic, Able Company commander.
...
“We literally do one to five humanitarian-aid missions a day between our platoons or facilitating the [Kunar PRT],” said Frketic. “We’ve done at least 500 since we got here. It’s astronomical. We’ve given out building supplies, food, Qurans, prayer rugs, clothing - pretty much the entire spectrum of HA.”

One of the biggest projects in the area has been the construction of the Pech Road, which over the last eight months has opened up the area to new opportunities. The Taliban extremists don’t want the region to prosper under the new government.

Arriving in country this past May, Able Company has been engaged in over 150 firefights with Taliban, al-Qaida and other anti-Coalition militants.

Although the violence has not allowed international aid agencies to operate consistently in the Pech Valley, it has not stopped Able Company or the Kunar PRT from offering humanitarian aid or continuing the development of self-help projects, according to Frketic.

Able Company launches these efforts out of FOBs Able Main, Honaker-Miracle and Michigan - all on the Pech Road. The three bases are strategically placed enabling Able Company to engage more villages and cover a larger area. FOB Michigan is the home of 2nd Platoon and they are on the ‘front line’ of these efforts on a daily basis.

Read the rest of SGT Aird's article at the CJTF-82 website, including 1LT Hernandez's story about the "crazy" villagers of South Omar.


Click here for more 173rd ABCT Afghanistan posts.

Why we fight: Because "all of humanity is our tribe"

The following is a response to this post showing footage of a medevac mission carried out after members of Chosen Company, 2-503rd PIR, 173rd ABCT were ambushed in Nuristan Province, Afghanistan.

1LT Matthew C. Ferrara, SGT Jeffery S. Mersman, SPC Sean K.A. Langevin, SPC Lester G. Roque and PFC Joseph M. Lancour of Chosen Company and Marine Sgt. Phillip A. Bocks were killed in the attack which occurred while returning to their outpost from a meeting with elders in a nearby village.

Three Heroes on Board
By Linda Ferrara

We are Matthew Ferrara's family. He was one of the men killed on that patrol.

All four of our boys are in the Army. Read about our family and you will realize that our boys were all strong individuals who had other good, safe options.

We believe in fighting to keep all people safe and free to be themselves, because it is the right thing to do.

Some people don't think that we have to fight just yet, that we can wait and the crazies will go away and not harm our little tribe.

They are already harming our little tribe. All of humanity is our tribe.

We have to fight and die to protect people that don't believe in our perspective.

It has always been this way. It always will be this way, until the slaughter begins and people see their own personal lives in jeopardy.

In our local high school the atmosphere has changed a lot due to people like you who are able to get out the word that the military is comprised of good people trying to do what they believe in for the benefit of all of us. There is considerably more interest in joining the fight, as reported to us by local reporters and the school administration.

We are in a righteous fight that we must win overwhelmingly.

Convince the enemy that they can't win and they will quit. The more people on the ground, the faster we win.

Thanks for getting this effective video on the web.

This letter is directed to you and the courageous flight crews you reported on.

I understand from one of Matthew's brothers that Matthew is under consideration to be awarded the Silver Star. If you've ever wondered where we get men like Matthew and his brothers, look no further than Linda Ferrara.


Click here for more 173rd ABCT Afghanistan posts.

Well, that explains everything!

Patient to the CQ at the outpatient facility: "I have a question, Sir."

"Sir?!? What is this?", says the Army Staff Sergeant, pointing to his rank insignia.

Patient: "Uhhh... I dunno. I'm Air Force."

TF Pegasus cases colors at Bagram

Command Sgt. Maj. David Brasfield (left) and Col. Kelly Thomas (right) of Task Force Pegasus prepare to case their colors as the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade conducted a Transfer-of-Authority ceremony with the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade at Bagram Airfield, Jan. 17. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. George Welcome, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade PAO)

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – After flying more than 80,000 flight hours, transporting more than 50,000 passengers throughout Afghanistan, moving more than seven million pounds of cargo and using more than 6 million gallons of fuel in support of Operation Enduring Freedom VIII, the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade has cased it’s colors.
...
Task Force Pegasus conducted full-spectrum combat aviation operations including combat operations, medical evacuations, logistical resupply and reconnaissance and surveillance target acquisition in support of CJTF-82.

“In the face of adversity, our courageous Paratroopers fearlessly performed their duties in some of the most dangerous area of Afghanistan,” [82nd CAB commander Col. Kelly] Thomas said. “Their actions are a tribute to their professionalism and overwhelming sense of duty.”

Related: CJTF-82 Heroes of the Week

Terror at the Kabul Serena Hotel - eyewitness account

By the Afghan-American colleague of a State Department employee, passed on to Lisa Schiffren of The Corner at NRO.

After fleeing the tea house at the Serena for the relative safety of the basement where dozens of people hid for hours...

... all of a sudden two U.S. Marines come down to the basement armed to the teeth, asking everyone if they are all right. We were kind of relieved to see the Marines.

The Marines then called out for all US Citizens and they took me, and about 10 other people out including my cousin whom I told the marine was with me. The said fine, but lets move.

We started moving with the Marines out the basement guns drawn coming upstairs through the same hall I ran down.

There was a pool a blood where I was standing before when everything began and now there was blood everywhere in the lobby, broken glass, black walls from the bomb blasts. Hundreds of Afghan Secret Service and NDS guards were standing around.

The U.S. Marines got us out and put us in armored vehicles and took us to the embassy where they treated us, took reports and gave us medical checkups.

"We were kind of relieved to see the Marines." Well. Quite an understatement, that.

Still, a gripping read.

And OORAH, Marines!