Coalition communications: This is probably something that will engender the disdain of Editor Trish, but I find myself drawn to the Department of Defense press releases like an IED to the roadside. It’s weird because these releases are terrible. They are poorly written, full of doublespeak and just plain old B.S., and often don’t make a lick of sense.

But nonetheless, I find myself every few months back on the DoD site, signing up like a G.I. junky for e-mailed press releases. I’ll keep getting them for a couple of weeks and then unsubscribe when I can’t stand it anymore. So, occasionally, until I make myself ill, I’ll share some of the choicer gems from these military missives in this space.

In a release about an al Qaeda operative who was captured and a suspicious individual was killed who was later determined to be a “non-combatant,” we find this quote:

“Coalition forces take every precaution to mitigate risks to civilians while in pursuit of terrorists, and deeply regret any injury or death to non-combatants,” a Multinational Force Iraq statement issued after the incident said.

In the same release, for some reason, there was a bit about 450 detainees being released back into the population to this cheery speech:

Iraq’s national security adviser, Muwafaq al-Rubai, addressed the detainees at the Abu Ghraib theater internment facility and asked them to return to their jobs and share in the wealth of their country.

He said Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has declared a reconciliation program for all those who are not tied to terrorism, and that there is no room for terrorists in Iraq.

I suppose the “Abu Ghraib theater internment facility” must be where the prisoners stage skits and plays as part of their rehabilitation.

Meanwhile, back in Washington, important work was getting done on Wednesday:

Labor and Defense Department officials celebrated the federal government’s support of National Guardsmen and reservists and the government’s role as a “model employer” at a ceremony here today.

“The message to America, to employers, to Guardsmen and reservists is your government is a model employer — your agencies, your secretaries,” Thomas F. Hall, assistant secretary of defense for reserve affairs, said.

Today’s ceremony concluded an initiative to have all 16 cabinet secretaries sign an Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve statement of support. The heads of all 80 federal agencies also have signed the statement, Hall said.

The statement signed is a 5-Star Statement of Support for the Guard and Reserve, meaning that the highest support criteria established by the Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve have been met. Those criteria include an employer’s willingness to sign a public statement of support, compliance with the Uniformed Services Employment and Re-Employment Rights Act and adopting policies that go “above and beyond” what’s required by law in supporting Guardsmen and reservists.

“This is the first document in U.S. history that has been signed by all the members of a president’s Cabinet in support of the National Guard and Reserves,” said Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, the first non-defense cabinet member to sign statement, said. “This is an historic and sweeping pledge to support our Guard and Reserve.”

Wow, a 5-Star statement! That should shame all those folks with “Support Our Troops” ribbons on their Hummers.

And then there are the items that you wonder didn’t make it into the MSM. Like the 500 weapons of mass destruction found in Iraq. Seems like that should have garnered more attention:

The 500 munitions discovered throughout Iraq since 2003 and discussed in a National Ground Intelligence Center report meet the criteria of
weapons of mass destruction, the center’s commander said here today. “These are chemical weapons as defined under the Chemical Weapons Convention, and yes … they do constitute weapons of mass destruction,” Army Col. John Chu told the House Armed Services Committee.

The Chemical Weapons Convention is an arms control agreement which outlaws the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons. It was signed in 1993 and entered into force in 1997.

The munitions found contain sarin and mustard gases, Army Lt. Gen. Michael D. Maples, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, said. Sarin attacks the neurological system and is potentially lethal. “Mustard is a blister agent (that) actually produces burning of any area (where) an individual may come in contact with the agent,” he said. It also is potentially fatal if it gets into a person’s lungs.

The munitions addressed in the report were produced in the 1980s, Maples said. Badly corroded, they could not currently be used as originally intended, Chu added. While that’s reassuring, the agent remaining in the weapons would be very valuable to terrorists and insurgents, Maples said. “We’re talking chemical agents here that could be packaged in a different format and have a great effect,” he said, referencing the sarin-gas attack on a Japanese subway in the mid-1990s.

This is true even considering any degradation of the chemical agents that may have occurred, Chu said. It’s not known exactly how sarin breaks down, but no matter how degraded the agent is, it’s still toxic. “Regardless of (how much material in the weapon is actually chemical agent), any remaining agent is toxic,” he said. “Anything above zero (percent agent) would prove to be toxic, and if you were exposed to it long enough, lethal.”

And then there’s the good news that Iraqi troops are getting better and better:

Iraq’s soldiers and police are steadily gaining in capability so they can one day take charge of their country’s security, a senior U.S. military officer said from Baghdad today. “The Iraqi security forces are getting better every day,” Army Col. Jeffrey J. Snow, commander of the 1st Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division, told reporters at a satellite teleconference at the Pentagon.

Snow’s unit patrols western Baghdad and outlying areas in tandem with two Iraqi army brigades. The 1st Brigade is preparing to return to its home base at Fort Drum, N.Y., after a year’s deployment to Iraq.

The new Iraqi army has “growing pains like any new army,” the colonel acknowledged. Yet, the Iraqi troops, he said, have demonstrated “a strong will to fight and protect the Iraqi people.”

Iraqi security force capabilities “will only get better with time,” Snow said.

Finally, I’ll share a pair of Happy Independence Day messages from the higher-ups:

Today marks our 230th year as a Nation. Our founders envisioned this great Nation as a democracy, a concept that has come to define America. To echo the words of President Ronald Reagan, “Independence Day is more than just the birthday of a Nation. It serves as the commemoration of a revolution that changed the very concept of government.”

The citizens of the United States can be proud of our rich heritage. Throughout our history, America has undergone many struggles to preserve our way of life. We have gone to battle to fight for freedom wherever and whenever necessary. Today is no different. We are fully engaged in a fight against terror. To America’s Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen, and especially your families, thank you for meeting the challenges of the War on Terrorism and for protecting the principles that guide our great Nation.

The Joint Chiefs and I wish you and your families a safe and happy Independence Day. We honor your tremendous sacrifice to our country, and we are extremely proud of your contribution to keeping our country safe.

With respect,

PETER PACE
General, United States Marine Corps
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Touching, eh? But Rummy will not be topped:

More than two centuries ago, groups of patriots gathered in halls and in farm houses to debate the course of a young nation’s destiny. Their journey was a difficult one. Early in their pursuit of freedom, a man named James Allen wrote in his diary, “Many thinking people believe America has seen its best days.” But, many other Americans thought better, and the result of their determination was a government dedicated to the inherent equality of all people and their unalienable right to liberty.

It was one group of patriots in particular - farmers and shopkeepers turned colonial soldiers - that our nation relied upon to secure those ideals. The soldiers suffered many defeats along the way, but they never surrendered their willingness to make any sacrifice for a cause greater than themselves.

Promoting the highest of ideals and defending them at all costs is a defining characteristic of what it is to be American. The American commitment to a noble cause began at Lexington and Concord, but it did not end with a surrender at Yorktown. The work continued — in the courage of generations who marched for suffrage and civil rights, and on hundreds of battlefields, from Gettysburg to Normandy to Tal Afar.

Today, we continue to be blessed by the service of men and women as dedicated to the cause of freedom as the first generation who wore our country’s uniform. And it is during this time of year we reflect on our freedoms and way of life secured through their actions. Those men and women — volunteers all — serve and they sacrifice along dusty streets in harsh lands, aboard ships sailing across the globe’s oceans, and among our communities, all with a single purpose: to make safe the blessings we are privileged to enjoy.

To each of you serving our nation’s highest ideals, know that you are part of a proud legacy. You have been and are making history, and you will be an inspiration for the generations to come. May God bless each of you. May God bless your families and your loved ones. And may God continue to bless our wonderful country.

DONALD H. RUMSFELD
Secretary of Defense