Military

Alamogordo doubles this week as a cultural hot spot and hot-air balloon mecca

Alamogordo is a cultural hot spot this weekend as the White Sands Hot Air Balloon Invitational kicks off in tandem with the Tularosa Basin Wine and Music Fest, the Las Cruces Sun-News reports. The image of colorful balloons against the white gypsum sands is said to be spectacular, and after the balloon launches visitors can listen to music, drink wine and view arts and crafts.

Weapons cache hunting in Afghanistan

COMBAT OUTPOST ZORMAT, Afghanistan -– National security reporter Spencer Ackerman rides along with Alpha Cavalry Troop’s First Platoon in search of a weapons cache in Afghanistan.

Retired New Mexico general attacks McCain's judgment

While Michelle Obama steered clear of attacks on Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain during her visits to the state Thursday, that wasn't the case with retired Air Force Gen. Melvyn Montaño, who suggested that McCain's policy stemmed from a "lack of adequate psychological care" after his service in Vietnam.

In an Associated Press piece by Barry Massey that was picked up by the Air Force Times and numerous other outlets, Montaño, the former head of the New Mexico National Guard, recalled McCain's statement that U.S. soldiers could remain in Iraq for 100 years and said:

“I don’t understand his position. I can attribute it probably to some of the things we’ve talked about here — lack of adequate psychological care.”

Four years makes a big difference

What a difference four years makes. I remember as a reporter watching John Kerry accept the Democratic presidential nomination in Boston in 2004. It was an attempt to use his Vietnam War service to inoculate his candidacy against cries from the GOP that Democrats were soft on security issues.

This time around, the Democrats are doing something different, writes Washington Independent's Spencer Ackerman.

Ackerman writes:

When last the Democrats decided to make national security a theme at their convention, biography was everything. John Kerry, the party’s 2004 nominee, was a bona fide war hero, and the campaign made sure everyone knew it. Starting with Kerry’s arrival at the FleetCenter from across Boston’s Charles River, to recall his Vietnam service aboard a Swift Boat; to the parade of retired generals and admirals declaring their support; to Kerry’s famous opening line declaring “reporting for duty,” the Democrats gambled that Kerry’s heroic service would invest him with the national-security bona fides to elect him president. 

Anatomy of a convention eve

I arrived in Denver for the grand DNC gathering very late Saturday night. As such, Sunday afternoon provided the first opportunity to venture into the heart of the quadrennial Democratic frenzy. The convention officially kicks off today.

Editor’s note: NMI’s David Alire Garcia and Matthew Reichbach are covering the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Be sure to check back for frequent updates.

State presses Air Force on Kirtland jet-fuel cleanup

Kirtland Air Force Base must do more to identify the extent of a decades-old underground fuel leak and clean it up before it reaches nearby drinking water wells, officials with the New Mexico Environment Department said today.

In a news release, department Secretary Ron Curry said the state has required the Air Force to drill five additional wells to determine the size of the underground jet-fuel plume, which was discovered in 1999 but was only made public in July. The cleanup plan also requires the Air Force to speed up its ongoing remediation process by installing additional equipment.

Taliban, Al Qaeda Unchecked in Pakistan

A brutal propaganda campaign makes any attempt by the CIA to build an intelligence network more difficult. Al Qaeda and the Taliban are executing suspected U.S. informants in Pakistan in a campaign to terrorize potential spies and reinforce the authority of the militant organizations across the country’s vast and volatile tribal belt.

Taxpayer philanthropy

According to a couple new reports, American’s can pat themselves on the back as some of the biggest philanthropists in the world. While legitimate evidence for invading Iraq seems to be a non-issue in the media these days, a study by the Congressional Budget Office indicates that American’s are paying war contractors 25 percent of the total cost of the war in Iraq which is estimated at a rising $25 billion a month with a total value in the trillions.

The Internet arrives as a weapon

In a sign of the times, it appears that the Internet has arrived as a weapon. For all of you who have been victimized by spam attacks, this may not be news to you. But the New York Times is reporting today that cyber attacks preceded Russia's invasion.

Those in the know have been predicting this kind of use of the Internet, computers and servers for some time. And the U.S. is considering a Cyber Command to launch and guard against such attacks. And New Mexico is in the hunt to land the operation.

Wilson still has clout

N.M. Rep. Heather Wilson got a nod from the Republican National Committee when it recently named her Chairman of a platform subcommittee on national security. Wilson gave up her spot in Congress to run for the Senate seat vacated by the retiring Pete Domenici, but lost the primary to Rep. Steve Pearce. She has not yet announced plans for what she'll do when she leaves Congress.

But the RNC's decision to include her in the platform process means she's still got clout. According to a press release:

The "Defending the Nation, Securing the Peace" Subcommittee is responsible for national security, including foreign policy, military personnel, defense policy, homeland security, border security/immigration, and related issues. Subcommittee Chairman U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson (NM-01) has served as a leader on the House Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Armed Services Committee. She is a U.S. Air Force Academy graduate and a Rhodes scholar.

Post-9/11 intelligence goes local

Day in, day out a handful of analysts sit in a nondescript building at the National Guard Center off Highway 14 south of Santa Fe taking in raw data from an alphabet soup of federal, state and local agencies. New Mexico's program -- also known by the more friendly moniker "fusion center" -- is one of several dozen facilities to have opened, often quietly, across the country in the years following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

TODAY'S TOP STORIES: Lawmakers seek new oil and gas projections.

New natural gas and oil revenue projections are being sought by state Senate leaders, according to the Albuquerque Journal. Prices for natural gas and crude oil have fallen since last month on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

A new war memorial is being contested by some veterans. The $300,000 monument makes connection between the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the events of Sept. 11. KOAT reports that some veterans are taking offense to the connection.

Santa Fe County public-information officer Stephen Ulibarri has sent a memo to county staff informing them that they do not have to talk to media. He warned that amid economic hard times, the media will be focusing more and more on government malfeasancea, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican.

Bush Dissenter: 'Don't Start a War With Iran'

From the Washington Independent

In a roundtable Tuesday, Adm. William "Fox" Fallon, the former commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East ousted for dissenting from the Bush administration's bellicose posture toward Iran, gave a rare public elaboration of his view of multilateral cooperation for security in the region.

A warrior's guide to insanity

“The Warrior’s Guide to Insanity” is six chapters long. The language in it isn’t pretty. But it is Andrew Brandi's ode to the aftereffects of war. And even though  the emotions that spilled out onto the pages came out of the New Mexican's painful experiences in Vietnam, his story -- and writing -- are gaining notice as thousands of American warriors are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. His writings have been incorporated into treatment sessions for soldiers coming back from battle zones. And a brigadier general is considering incorporating Brandi’s book into a broad military treatment. KUNM reporter Jim Williams talks with Brandi, who lives in the Cerrillos hills south of Santa Fe , and the soldiers now mining his Vietnam experiences to learn how to deal with life after combat, including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and other maladies that they are susceptible to. Listen here.

Heather Wilson, other NM vets attack Obama on Iraq

U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson and other New Mexico veterans joined today in the assault on Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s stance on the Iraq War a day after the candidate visited the war-torn nation. Wilson said Obama is “frighteningly inexperienced” on foreign-policy issues.

Afghanistan's descent

From the Washington Independent

As U.S. casualties continue to climb in Afghanistan, an American public distracted by the war in Iraq can be forgiven for wondering: what happened? How did a war that seemed won in late 2001, just months after the Oct. 7, 2001 air campaign against the Taliban, suffer this sharp reversal fortune in less than seven years? A new book by one of the most respected journalists of Afghanistan and Pakistan explores these questions, contending that the years between 2002 and 2007 were crucial to the stability of the region even as they were squandered by the Bush administration.

Kirtland: Jet fuel contaminates off-base groundwater

Air force officials said Friday that 12 groundwater wells would be dug over the next year to monitor a long-term leak of jet fuel that has migrated off Kirtland Air Force and into the groundwater table nearby.

NM gives war veterans a hand up

While on a road trip to Phoenix with friends about a year and a half ago, former army staff sergeant Stephen King realized cars were passing him on the freeway. A simple fact of day-to-day life for the majority of drivers in the U.S. caused an adrenaline-fueled fear to course through the 35 year old.

Now that Iraq wants a withdrawal date, Bush must back up words with action

President Bush said during a May 2007 news conference that American forces would pull out of Iraq if the Iraqi government so desired. Now the Iraqi government wants to set a timeline for U.S. forces to leave. It’s time for Bush to back his words up with action.

Women prominent in defense counterinsurgency movement

Janine Davidson, who just retired from the Pentagon's Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict and Special Capabilities directorate, pointed out, "A woman whose job it is to pay attention to carrier battle groups and weapons platforms will -- and should be -- as knowledgeable as her male counterparts. And the ones I know in that line of work most certainly are." Women are key figures in a loose but expanding circle of defense theorist-practitioners who study, advocate and implement counterinsurgency -- a method of warfare that emphasizes economy of force, intimate knowledge of host populations and politico-economic incentives to win that population's allegiance. While women are still underrepresented in the national-security apparatus -- and at the Pentagon specifically -- counterinsurgency, more than any other previous movement in defense circles, features women not just as equal partners, but leaders.