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BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, July 22, 2008 – Like most of Afghanistan's provinces, Konar has historically been unable to meet the medical needs of its 381,000 residents. But the Konar Provincial Reconstruction Team is working to meet those needs. Navy Lt. Gregory Monk, a provincial reconstruction team physician assistant from Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton, Calif., conducts a village medical outreach visit in the Chowkay district of Afghanistan’s Konar province. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. As recently as 2002 and shortly after the departure of the Taliban, Afghanistan has faced some of the worst health statistics ever recorded...

The refurbished Old al Kut substation 33kV switchgear provided more reliable electrical power to approximately 300,000 people in al Kut. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Joe Thompson. FORWARD OPERATING BASE DELTA — The people of al Kut are receiving more reliable electricity, thanks to the upgrade of the Old al Kut substation 33kV switch gear, which increases the availability of power for transmission and distribution. Two sections of the antiquated substation were replaced and came online approximately two weeks ago. Government officials celebrated its completion during a ribbon cutting ceremony, July 16.“The people of al Kut have noticed...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE DELTA, Iraq, July 21, 2008 – The people of Kut, Iraq, now have more reliable electricity, thanks to the upgrade of a substation switch gear, which increases the availability of power for transmission and distribution. Bob Kagler, right) Wasit Provincial Reconstruction Team chief, delivers remarks while Capt. Hayder Adnan Ali Al-Saidy, Iraqi police liaison officer to coalition forces in Iraq’s Wasit province, translates during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a refurbished electrical substation in Kut, Iraq, July 16, 2008. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Joe Thompson  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Workers replaced two...

WASHINGTON, July 16, 2008 – Two U.S.-military sponsored economic reconstruction programs are helping to put thousands of Iraqi citizens into productive jobs while boosting the country’s business activity, a senior U.S. military officer posted in Iraq said today. In March 2007, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of Multinational Force Iraq, directed his officers to find ways to provide jobs and increased opportunities for economic expansion, entrepreneurship and skills training for the people of Iraq, recalled Army Maj. Gen. Timothy McHale, director of personnel, logistics and resources for Multinational Force Iraq. The successful Iraqi First LOGCAP and Iraqi-Based Industrial Zone...

CAMP RAMADI — Hot wind swirled orange dust around idling Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles as 2nd Lt. Stephan Shuster, platoon leader, described the day’s mission to the combat-equipped force. The troops mounted their vehicles and headed for the heart of the provincial capital city of Ramadi. What might have been a hair-raising combat mission just a year ago is today a trip to securely deliver civil-military operations personnel to the Ministry of Health for a meeting with Iraqi officials. And the combat gear? Well, that is a precaution, not a preparation for battle. Shuster and other Soldiers from...

Left-Wing Racism Remembered   By Floyd and Mary Beth BrownFrontPageMagazine.com | Monday, May 19, 2008 Did you know…Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Republican? Every civil rights law, beginning in the 1860s through the 1950s and 1960s, was fought against by Democrats? Or the KKK had links to the Democratic Party? Not only are these questions addressed by the National Black Republicans Association (NBRA), but also more surprising facts. A few months ago, we had the privilege to meet the chairwoman of NBRA, a brave and gusty woman named Frances Rice. “The double standard looms large when Democrats practice...

4/21/2008 - KIRKUK AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- Airmen teamed with members of the Kirkuk Air Base Provincial Reconstruction Team during a training session designed to help Iraqis improve waste management practices in the region April 16 here. Members of the 506th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron Vehicle Management Flight trained 11 Iraqis on proper maintenance techniques for newly acquired equipment the municipality of Kirkuk will use for waste management. "We are ensuring the equipment that was purchased for the local Iraqis will be preserved by teaching them preventative maintenance," said Master Sgt. Robert Stewart, the 506th ELRS Vehicle Management Flight...

It would be wrong to say that some vital information is ‘lost’ in the barrage of feel-sad stories the main stream media throws our way each night when it come to the ongoing struggle in Afghanistan. The term ‘lost’ would imply something was actually there to begin with. That doesn’t apply here.

Who's an Uncle Tom? By Bruce Walker As the Democrats' nomination process descends into the ugly area of racial politics, it may be helpful to explore and to learn about the origin of some of the equally ugly racial mockeries that have become a part of American political life. The term "Uncle Tom" was used extensively during the decade of civil rights reform to describe a black man who simply did what white people wanted. Where did this term come from? The literary reference, of course, comes from Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, the passionate and simple anti-slavery novel...

WASHINGTON, March 13, 2008 – President Bush today praised the work of provisional reconstruction teams in Afghanistan, calling them key to a counterinsurgency strategy that requires more than just military action. Speaking during a video teleconference with PRT leaders and brigade combat commanders in Afghanistan, the president said PRTs are making big strides in helping the Afghans recover from Taliban brutality and build a society capable of meeting their peoples’ needs. Vice President Richard B. Cheney, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. James...

For those of you who are political junkies here, you must have been noticing something really odd around here lately. A bunch of good FReepers have turned into illogical Huckabee supporters. No matter how hard we try to talk some sense into them that Huckabee is not a conservative, they still argue that he is one, just like President Reagan. Some may lie to themselves; others may lie to us about what they really believe. I encountered an honest Huckabee supporter a few days ago. His worldview is quite disturbing. He feels he is being ignored by the "secular Republican...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 8, 2008 – President Bush today hailed provincial reconstruction teams operating in Iraq as vital partners in the strategy that has improved security and helped to create conditions for the Iraqi government to succeed. Speaking in the White House Rose Garden after meeting with PRT members and their brigade commanders, Bush praised the members for progress they’ve helped make possible during the past year and emphasized the important work they’re doing in communities throughout Iraq. Also participating in the meeting were Vice President Richard B. Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Michael G....

Paul O'Friel has simple advice for his Iraq Provincial Reconstruction Team: "Eat the goat, drink the tea," he says. It's O'Friel's way of instilling in his team members the importance of engaging with the local leaders and people in an area of Iraq pulverized not by IEDs, but by poverty and thirst. "There are some villages here that look like they came out of the Middle Ages," O'Friel told me in a phone interview from Iraq yesterday morning. As head of the PRT in Al Muthanna province, O'Friel is in charge of bringing this forgotten realm of a broken country...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 26, 2007 – The embedded provincial reconstruction teams in Iraq are looking at long-term solutions to problems in the country that undermine security progress, the chief of the team embedded with the 2nd Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division said today. Paul Folmsbee said his group in Adhamiya and Sadr City is working to cement progress in place. Each of the 20 U.S. brigades in Iraq now has an embedded provincial reconstruction team that combines resources of the military, the State Department, and other government and non-government agencies. “The U.S. military's doing a fantastic job coming in and,...

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, Nov. 16, 2007 – Members of the Bagram Provincial Reconstruction Team visited Salang district Nov. 12 to assess construction of the area’s latest district center. Army Sgt. 1st Class James Newton, Bagram Provincial Reconstruction Team civil affairs specialist, hands out teacher kits to a Salang high school teacher Nov. 12, 2007. Photo by Senior Airman Dilia DeGrego, USAF  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Bagram PRT engineers visited the site of the district center and new Afghan National Police headquarters, located near Salang high school, to determine the current dimensions of the cleared site. Upon...

BAGHDAD — Coalition officials are taking advantage of a decline in insurgent violence to jumpstart a transition into long-term stability operations, a U.S. commander said Nov. 11 in Baghdad. Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, commander of Multinational Division Center, told reporters in the International Zone that with the effects of the U.S. troop surge bearing positive fruit in the form of reduced attack numbers, reduced casualties, and an increase in weapons cache finds, U.S. forces can pay more attention to capacity building in Iraq’s towns and provinces. “(Iraqi) civilian casualties since the first of July are down by 42 percent,...

FARAH PROVINCE, Afghanistan, Nov. 9, 2007 – Construction is under way for a $1.7 million bridge across the Farah Rud River in Tojg. The project, funded by the Farah Provincial Reconstruction Team, will employ several hundred local people for two years. Engineers survey the site of the future Tojg Bridge, which will span the Farah Rud River in Afghanistan. Defense Department photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The project will benefit not only the 10,000 residents of Tojg, but also people from the districts of Shib Koh, Qalay Ka, Lashe Jowain and Farah City. In summer, the Farah...

and your wisdom. You know how businesses work. You know what your family needs,” the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team (ePRT) leader told the sheiks of the Hawr Rajab City Council. “We need you to teach us ways to do it so we can help.” John Smith, the ePRT leader, and Coalition forces recently met with the sheiks in Hawr Rajab to discuss the changes taking place there. Such cooperation is vital, Smith said, because success depends on all parties banding together and sharing knowledge. Working together with the council, Smith and Ferrell said...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 1, 2007 – The Iraqi government and the coalition must follow up security successes in the country with economic development and reconstruction, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said here today. Gates and Navy Adm. Michael G. Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also spoke about the Iraqi legislature during a Pentagon news conference. Gates also urged Congress to quickly pass the fiscal 2008 appropriations bill, saying the Army would feel the pinch soonest if the bill is not forthcoming. If Congress cannot agree on a bill, the department would still need sufficient funding to continue...

BAGHDAD — The recent surge of troops and embedded Provincial Reconstruction Teams (EPRT) to Iraq is providing unprecedented opportunity for Iraqi citizens, a Coalition commander said today. “It really wasn’t until the EPRT, the ‘civilian surge’ … and the surge forces arrived that we began to make what I will call measurable progress along our lines of operations,” Army Col. Mike Garret told online journalists and “bloggers” during a conference call from Forward Operating Base Kalsu, south of Baghdad, shortly after he provided a televised operational update via satellite. Garrett commands the “Spartan” 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry...