Witnesses say that Nidal Malik Hasan, apparently a lifelong Muslim and not a recent convert as initially reported, shouted “Allahu Akbar!” before opening fire yesterday. Although reportedly killed, he survived and is in custody.

Guess he was just giving a “shout-out” before getting things going.

Fort Hood commander Lt. Gen. Robert Cone said that they have not officially confirmed that Hasan made the opening remarks.

Cone said Hasan was hospitalized in stable condition and that investigators hope to interrogate him as soon as possible.

I’ll bet they do. They’re probably lined up around the block hoping for a chance to interrogate this guy.

Soldiers fight 4-hour battle at Afghan village

AP story by David Guttenfelder:

The villagers said they just wanted to be left alone. They claimed they had asked the Taliban to stay away, and wished the Americans would do the same.

But now the Americans were back, determined to stop the Taliban from passing through the village to attack U.S. targets. And shortly afterward the gunfire from the hills above served notice that the Taliban had no intention of leaving.

Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division return fire after their patrol in the Pech Valley of Afghanistan's Kunar province was ambushed by Taliban fighters Nov. 3. David Guttenfelder/AP photo

Go read the whole thing at Army Times.

Army retakes fort in South Waziristan:

The Pakistani military said it has retaken control of the Ladha Fort in South Waziristan after heavy fighting in the region.

The Ladha Fort, which has been under Taliban control since August 2008, was retaken today, the military said. Back in July 2008, the Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force responsible for security in Pakistan’s tribal areas, abandoned the Ladha Fort and all of the outposts in the Saam region in South Waziristan.

It’s tough to tell what’s really going on over there, but it sure would be a welcome sign if the Pakistani operations are really as successful as they’re claiming.

Go read the whole thing by Bill Roggio.

U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Andrew McAllister, with Combined Anti-Armor Team 2, patrols in Nawa district, Helmand province, Afghanistan, Oct. 28, 2009. Marines with 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment are deployed with Regimental Combat Team 7 to conduct counterinsurgency operations with Afghan National Security Forces in southern Afghanistan. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. James Purschwitz/Released)

From a story in Marine Times on the new rules of engagement in Afghanistan:

Army, Marine and Afghan National Army troops experienced the effect of McChrystal’s tighter rules directly Sept. 8, when their small outpost in Ganjgal, in Kunar province near the Pakistan border, was blindsided by insurgents.

Three Marines and a corpsman died that day, and a soldier, 41-year-old Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth Westbrook, who was shot through the mouth and neck, died Oct. 7 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. An embedded reporter with McClatchy News Service, Jonathan Landay, reported that “U.S. commanders, citing new rules to avoid civilian casualties, rejected repeated calls to unleash artillery rounds at attackers dug into the slopes and tree lines — despite being told repeatedly that they weren’t near the village.”

This sort of thing, like when the Air Force announced it might ‘buzz’ enemy forces instead of bombing them, is ridiculous. Back in June, when new policies regarding fighting near Afghan civilians was announced, I wrote:

Isn’t this the equivalent of deciding that police will not chase criminals so that bystanders won’t get hurt, then publicizing the rule?

It’s bad enough that US troops under enemy fire won’t always get the support they need because of a new policy. But to announce that policy simply invites the enemy to take advantage of it.

Put simply, us being nice to locals won’t work while the bad guys are running around free being mean. First you have to beat down the insurgents as best you can. Then you have to secure the area. Then you make friendly.

No, I’m not advocating that we simply blow up any and all who are even suspected of being insurgents. But we should be prepared to fight to the utmost of our ability. If not, we should get out.

The cynic in Murdoc wonders if we’re going to see the ROE continuing to become more restrictive until we reach a point where even ardent supporters of the war throw up their hands and say “since the rules won’t let us win we should just quit.” It’s already happening in a lot of places.

And I wonder how much of that is intentional.

Cross-border insurgents flood Afghanistan

The expansion of Islamic extremist groups across the Afghanistan-Pakistan region is “the worst I’ve seen it,” with Afghan insurgents receiving help from Iranian operatives and “very possibly” freelancing Pakistani intelligence agents, as well as a small but growing number of “deadly” foreign fighters, said Maj. Gen. Mike Flynn, director of intelligence for Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s headquarters here.

“I wouldn’t say it’s out of control right now, but this is a California wildfire and we’re having to bring in firemen from New York,” said Flynn, who has been tracking Islamic extremism for at least eight years in postings as director of intelligence for Joint Task Force 180 (in Afghanistan), Joint Special Operations Command, Central Command and the Joint Staff.

The U.S. intelligence community estimates that 19,000 to 27,000 insurgents are operating in Afghanistan, a roughly tenfold increase from 2004’s estimate of 1,700 to 3,200

Flynn adds

“When it started to really show again, I believe, was probably somewhere between 2006 and 2007. And we just flat missed the signs. … [W]e were in the middle of that period of time when we were losing in Iraq, and I just think people weren’t paying attention enough, and certainly not listening to the leadership out here at that time.”

Obviously, some of the “people” who were “not listening” well enough were in the Bush administration, which supports the idea that the campaign in Iraq hurt the campaign in Afghanistan. But remember that Nancy Pelosi said, in mid-2005, the the war in Afghanistan was over.

Also, the deals Pakistan made with Taliban and associated groups in 2005-2006 must have had a huge impact. With relatively safe havens to retreat to, not only did the militants and terrorists get a chance to survive that they might not have had in Afghanistan, they got better opportunities to recruit more members. The serious problems that Pakistan’s inability/unwillingness to deal with the tribal areas near the Afghanistan border rarely get much coverage. In my humble opinion, those deals have cost us a lot.

Representatives from eight women's associations meet to discuss possible business training in the town of Qare Qosh in Ninawa province with members of the Ninawa Provincial Reconstruction Team Oct 27. Photo by 2nd Lt. Jeff Orban

Looks like Smalltown, USA, but is actually Mosul, Iraq:

The Ninawa Provincial Reconstruction Team has instituted a program to train women’s associations in Iraq on business administration practices.

Tony Daza, an economics advisor for the Ninawa PRT and representatives from eight women’s associations held an open dialogue Oct. 27 about the details of the training program.

This, my friends, is what victory looks like. Women sitting around a table discussing professional training programs.

“All these women have attended a lot of conferences before on empowerment, but this time they were ready for income generating programs,” said Daza…

“These women have never had access to start a business to generate income of their own,” said Daza. “Success for me with this program is giving these women choices to have their own sources of income.”

There are a lot of people who screamed and yelled and protested and pontificated for years so that these women could not do things like this. And Murdoc’s not talking about the terrorists or fundamentalists in Iraq.

This story has been in the news lately: US Troops Outnumber Taliban 12-1

First of all, US troops don’t outnumber the Taliban 12-1, it’s all NATO and Afghan forces combined that, according to this report, outnumber the Taliban fighters 12-1.

Secondly, as far as I can tell it’s just counting active Taliban militants, not any of the support network. So if they want to provide a meaningful number, it would be better to only count NATO and Afghan combatants.

Third, as the story does point out, two-thirds of the NATO/Afghan number are Afghan military and police, many of which are woefully under-trained and ill-equipped.

Finally, they’re probably not interested in a meaningful number, anyway. They’re probably looking to spread the idea that there are already so many troops in Afghanistan that it’s pointless to send more just because the military wants them.

For all the talk about “the Surge” in Iraq, it was the shift of tactics and the increasing capabilities and use of the Iraqi forces that made the largest difference.

As long as the Taliban types can keep running into Pakistan to rest and re-arm, things are going to be really tough no matter what the ratio is.

5.56 NATO Dimensions

Steve at The Firearm Blog notes British soldiers also complaining about 5.56mm NATO

In the Telegraph:

A survey of more than 50 servicemen who have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan concluded that the 5.56mm calibre rounds used by British soldiers ‘tailed off’ after 300 metres yet half of all Helmand firefights are fought between 300 and 900 metres.

This seems to make sense and be perfectly reasonable. After all, our Special Forces found out pretty much the same thing in 2001. A lot of them switched to the heavier Mk 262 from the M855 green tip.

But then there’s:

Taliban marksmen use powerful 7.62mm ammo for their AK47 machine guns, according to a report of the study in The Sun.

If they’re trying to argue that AKs firing 7.62 Russian are outshooting guys with 5.56mm SA80 rifles, they’re going to have to do a lot of convincing. Since they use the term “machine gun”, maybe they mean the 7.62×54mm used in the PK-series. But then they’re arguing apples and oranges.

Yes, the 5.56 leaves some things to be desired. Particularly out of shorter barrels.

Yes, a heavier intermediate round such as the 6.8 SPC or the 6.5 Grendel would probably do better in a wider range of circumstances, particularly at longer ranges.

Yes, full size rounds like the 7.62×51 fired from a full-length rifle pack quite a wallop.

But let’s not whine about 5.56 at medium to long range and then extol the 7.62 Russian or medium machine gun rounds in the media.

Blackfive povides History Lesson – The Iraq Surge