Joint al Qaeda and Taliban force behind Kunar base attack

By Bill RoggioJuly 14, 2008 9:03 PM

Kunar provincial map. Click to view.

Yesterday's deadly complex attack on a joint US and Afghan outpost in Kunar province was carried out by a large, mixed force of Taliban, al Qaeda, and allied extremist groups operating eastern Afghanistan.

Sunday's assault occurred just three days after 45 US soldiers, likely from the 173rd Airborne Brigade, and 25 Afghan troops established a new combat outpost in the town of Wanat. The troops had little time to learn the lay of the land, establish local contacts, and build an intelligence network. The fortifications were not fully completed, according to initial reports.

A complex attack

The assault was carried out in the early morning of July 13 after the extremist forces, numbering between 200 and 500 fighters, took over a neighboring village. "What they [the Taliban] did was they moved into an adjacent village - which was close to the combat outpost - they basically expelled the villagers and used their houses to attack us," an anonymous senior Afghan defense ministry official told Al Jazeera. Tribesmen in the town stayed behind "and helped the insurgents during the fight," General Mohammad Qasim Jangalbagh, the provincial police chief, told The Associated Press.

The Taliban force then conducted a complex attack, coordinating a ground assault with supporting fires. Approximately 100 enemy fighters were reported to have moved close to the base while under a heavy barrage of machinegun fire, rocket-propelled grenades, and mortars. The fighters advanced on the outpost from three sides.

Taliban fighters breached the outer perimeter of the outpost but were repelled. US troops called in artillery, helicopter, and air support to help beat back the attacking force. Casualties were heavy on both sides, with nine US soldiers and 40 Taliban fighters killed during the assault. Fifteen US and four Afghan soldiers were also wounded in the attack.

An extremist alliance

The assault on the Wanat outpost was conducted by an alliance of extremist groups operating in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, according to reports. A senior Afghan defense official told Al Jazeera that "various anti-government factions including Taliban, al-Qaeda and the Hezb-i-Islami faction were involved" in the strike.

Tamim Nuristani, who served as governor of Kunar before President Hamid Karzai relieve him of his post for criticizing a US airstrike that is thought to have killed Afghan civilians, said Taliban and Pakistani groups banded together for the attack. "The (attackers) were not only from Nuristan but from other districts," Nuristani said.

"They are not only Taliban. They were (Pakistan-based) Lashkar-e-Taiba, Hezb-i-Islami, Taliban and those people who are dissatisfied with the (Karzai) government after these recent incidents," Nuristani said, intimating the attack was revenge for the US airstrike. "They all came together for this one."

Kunar hosts a major infiltration route and a witches' brew of extremist

Activity in Kunar province has been particularly fierce over the past year. According to an Afghan security report obtained by The Long War Journal, Kunar suffered 963 attacks in 2007, making it the second most active province for insurgents, after Kandahar. The data for 2008 shows the same trend, with Kunar behind only Kandahar in the number of Taliban-related attacks.

US forces have stepped up their presence in Kunar and neighboring Nuristan province since 2005, building remote outposts and bases along established smuggling routes used by insurgent forces. According to one regional report, the US recently finished construction on a vital outpost near the notorious Ghahki Pass, a narrow gorge connecting Pakistan’s Bajaur tribal agency with Kunar province.

The Ghahki Pass has remained a vital extremist infiltration route since the conflict began. In October 2001, more than 1,000 Pakistani jihadists flooded through the narrow canyon into Afghanistan and joined the Taliban in their fight against Coalition forces. Seven years later, the local population remains openly hostile to both the Afghan government and US forces, making it an ideal area for extremist activity to thrive.

A host of Taliban, al Qaeda, and allied extremist groups operate inside Kunar and in the Bajaur tribal agency in neighboring Pakistan. Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Younus Khalis's Hezb-i-Islami factions operate in Kunar and in neighboring Bajaur. The Kashmiri-based Lashkar-e-Taiba also operates in the border region. Al Qaeda's senior leadership, including Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri, are thought to shelter in the region.

Bajaur is a strategic command and control hub for al Qaeda. The tribal agency is administered by Faqir Mohammed, the local leader of the outlawed Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM - the Movement for the Implementation of Mohammad's Sharia Law) and the deputy leader of Baitullah Mehsud's unified Pakistani Taliban movement. The TNSM sent thousands of fighters into Afghanistan to fight US forces in 2001 and 2002, and continues to sponsor attacks in Afghanistan.

Pakistan remains a sanctuary for extremist leaders, as raids in early February demonstrated. After capturing Mansoor Dadullah in the southern part of the country, Pakistani security forces arrested several senior al Qaeda and Afghan Taliban commanders from Kunar during raids in Swat and Peshawar.

Pakistan is the Taliban's training ground

The Taliban, al Qaeda, and allied extremist groups, collectively called AQAM or al Qaeda and Allied Movements by various military and intelligence sources, have established their base of operations inside Pakistan’s tribal areas and the Northwest Frontier Province.

The peace agreements signed between the Pakistani government and the Taliban, which have been ongoing since March 2006, have given AQAM the time and spaced needed to establish a series of camps throughout the Northwest Frontier Province.

Terrorist groups have set up a series of camps throughout the tribal areas and in the settled districts of the Northwest Frontier Province. "More than 100" terror camps of varying sizes and types are currently in operation in the region, a senior US military intelligence official told The Long War Journal. As of the summer of 2007, 29 terror camps were known to be operating in North and South Waziristan alone.

Some camps are devoted to training the Taliban's military arm, some train suicide bombers for attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan, some focus on training the various Kashmiri terror groups, some train al Qaeda operatives for attacks in the West, and one serves as a training ground the Black Guard, the elite bodyguard for Osama bin Laden.

Al Qaeda has also reformed Brigade 055, the infamous military arm of the terror group made up of Arab recruits. The unit is thought to be commanded by Shaikh Khalid Habib al Shami. Brigade 055 fought alongside the Taliban against the Northern Alliance and was decimated during the US invasion of Afghanistan. Several other Arab brigades have been formed, some consisting of former members of Saddam Hussein’s Republican Guards, an intelligence official told The Long War Journal.

Al Qaeda's elite forces were likely involved in the planning and execution of Sunday's sophisticated attack in Kunar.

Sources:

• The Long War Journal: Taliban launch deadly attack on a combat outpost in Afghanistan's Kunar province
• The Long War Journal: Afghan Taliban leaders nabbed in Pakistan
• The Long War Journal: "More than 100 terror camps" in operation in northwestern Pakistan
• Al Jazeera: Taliban fighters storm US base
• The AP: Deadly attack on US base sends worrying signal
• The AP: 9 U.S. soldiers killed in Taliban assault on base
• Program for Culture and Conflict Studies: Kunar Province briefing

Read this and you tell me what may have happened at that lone outpost.

AP IMPACT: Pakistan militants focus on Afghanistan

By KATHY GANNON – 23 hours ago

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (AP) — In early June, about 300 fighters from jihadist groups came together for a secret gathering here, in the same city that serves as headquarters to the Pakistani army.

The groups were launched long ago with the army's clandestine support to fight against India in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir. But at the meeting, they agreed to resolve their differences and commit more fighters to another front instead: Afghanistan.

"The message was that the jihad in Kashmir is still continuing but it is not the most important right now. Afghanistan is the fighting ground, against the Americans there," said Toor Gul, a leader of the militant group Hezb-ul Mujahedeen,d in an interview at the beginning of July. The groups included the al-Qaida-linked Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, banned by Pakistan and branded terrorists by the U.S., he said.

The U.S. military says militant attacks in eastern Afghanistan have increased 40 percent this year over 2007. And for two straight months, the death toll of foreign troops in Afghanistan has exceeded that of Iraq. On Sunday, nine U.S. soldiers were killed in an ambush in Afghanistan's eastern Kunar province, the deadliest single attack for the U.S. since June 2005.

Pakistani military and European intelligence officials, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the information is sensitive, confirmed the June meeting and said it was the second such gathering this year. A senior military official described the inability to prevent the meetings as "an intelligence failure."

Despite growing pressure on Pakistan to quell Islamic militancy, jihadist groups within its borders are in fact increasing their cooperation to attack U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, according to interviews with a wide range of militants, intelligence officials, and military officers.

Militants say they operate with minimal interference, and sometimes tacit cooperation, from Pakistani authorities, while diplomats say the country's new government has until now been ineffectual in dealing with a looming threat.

"Where there were embers seven years ago we are now fighting flames," a serving Western general told The Associated Press, referring to both Afghanistan and Pakistan's border regions. He agreed to be interviewed on condition his identity and nationality were not revealed.

A Pentagon report released late last month described a dual terror threat in Afghanistan: the Taliban in the south, and "a more complex, adaptive insurgency" in the east. That fragmented insurgency is made up of groups ranging from al-Qaida-linked Afghan warlords such as Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's radical Hezb-i-Islami group to Pakistani militants such as Jaish-e-Mohammed, the report said.

Hekmatyar's is the strongest rebel group in Afghanistan's Kunar province, where Sunday's deadly ambush occurred. His group has also had close contacts with jihadi groups in Pakistan.

In the past, the Taliban were suspicious of the mujahadeen groups with close associations to the Pakistani military and intelligence. But now Gul, who fights alongside Hekmatyar's men in Kunar province, said they are united in the fight for Afghanistan. He told the AP he had been to Kunar in the last two months but refused to be more specific.

Mark Laity, NATO spokesman in Afghanistan, said Pakistan's new civilian government has reduced its preventive military action and is trying to negotiate peace deals with the militants. He expressed concern that the deals were leading to "increased cross border activity."

The Pakistani government also appears to be loosening its grip on the volatile northwest, where the influence of Islamic extremists is expanding. Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden is believed to be hiding somewhere along the rugged, lawless Afghan-Pakistan border.

Pakistan's Mohmand and Bajaur tribal areas are emerging as increasingly strong insurgent centers, according to Gul, the militant. His information was corroborated by Pakistani and Western officials. Both those tribal areas are right next door to Afghanistan's Kunar province.

"Before there were special, hidden places for training. But now they are all over Bajaur and Mohmand," he said. "Even in houses there is training going on."

A former minister in President Pervez Musharraf's ousted government, who did not want to be identified for fear of reprisals, said insurgents were being paid between 6,000 and 8,000 rupees — the equivalent of $90 and $120 — a month in Mohmand and grain was being collected to feed them. He did not identify the source of the donations but said Pakistan's army and intelligence were aware of them.

Maulvi Abdul Rahman, a Taliban militant and former police officer under the ousted hardline regime, said jihadist sympathizers in the Middle East are sending money to support the insurgents and more Central Asians are coming to fight. Rahman said under a tacit understanding with authorities, militants were free to cross to fight in Afghanistan so long as they do not stage attacks inside Pakistan, which has been assailed by an unprecedented wave of suicide attacks in the past year.

"It is easy for me now. I just go and come. There are army checkposts and now we pass and they don't say anything. Pakistan now understands that the U.S. is dangerous for them," he said. "There is not an article in any agreement that says go to Afghanistan, but it is understood if we want to go to Afghanistan, OK, but leave Pakistan alone.'"

The Taliban appears to have considerable latitude to operate. Last month Baitullah Mehsud, the chief Pakistani Taliban leader, held a news conference attended by dozens of Pakistani journalists in South Waziristan tribal region. Authorities did nothing to stop it, although the Pakistani government and the CIA have accused Mehsud of plotting the December assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto.

Journalists who attended said there were no security forces to be seen as a convoy of as many as 20 vehicles passed into the Mehsud's hideout — not far from where the army itself had taken an entourage of foreign journalists just a week earlier.

Tensions in Pakistan's anti-terror alliance with the United States are growing. U.S. airstrikes during a border clash with militants on June 10 killed 11 Pakistani paramilitary troops — the deadliest incident of its kind, prompting a sharp rebuke by Pakistan's army to Washington.

Pakistan's army vehemently denies giving covert aid to militants and points out that 1,087 of its soldiers have died in the tribal regions since 2002 — more than the U.S. military and NATO have lost in Afghanistan.

"If anyone says the army is providing sanctuary, nothing could be further from the truth," army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said. He criticized the U.S. and NATO forces for failing to capture insurgents when they cross into Afghanistan or stop them from coming into Pakistan.

"Is it the responsibility of only one side to stop the border crossings?" he asked.

A senior government official also said Pakistan — which once backed the Taliban but formally abandoned its support after the Sept. 11 attacks on America — has become the scapegoat for U.S. and NATO failures in Afghanistan.

"They don't want to tell their bosses that they've made a mess of it in Afghanistan, where there is no governance, corruption is everywhere and the Afghan government is involved up to the hilt in heroin smuggling, gun running," said the official, who had the authority to speak only if his name was not used. He denied the army was helping militants.

"Maybe one or two individuals are allowing things to happen, but as a policy it makes no sense to me. Just because we were in bed with them once doesn't mean we are today."

However, the Afghan government has directly accused Pakistani intelligence of plotting a recent assassination attempt on President Hamid Karzai and the July 7 bombing outside the Indian Embassy in Kabul that killed at least 58 people.

Such allegations are virtually impossible to substantiate. But retired Pakistani general Talat Masood said the army still treats militants and Afghan rebels as "assets" because of its deep conviction that India is expanding its influence in Afghanistan and using its consulates there to foment an ethnic rebellion in Pakistan's troubled southwest Baluchistan province.

"There are certain (militant) groups that have the full blessing of the army, some to which they are neutral and some they are against," he said.

Although Pakistan has received some $10 billion in mostly military aid since 2001, the army mistrusts the United States — worried it could one day abandon Pakistan and even turn its guns on a country where it has repeatedly voiced concern that al-Qaida's leadership is regrouping.

"They still believe in the same thing — that America will leave them tomorrow," Masood said. "And we'll be left high and dry with India strong, and a hostile government in Afghanistan and that we will have no friends."

Two faced Pakistan and we still funnel how many Billions to them to fight Terror

(CBS) Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Monday directly accused Pakistan's intelligence agency of being behind a recent series of attacks by Taliban militants that have killed scores of people, reports CBS News' Sami Yousafzai.

After a high level meeting with his aides and cabinet members focusing on the country's diminishing law and order, Karzai blamed the premier spy agency of Pakistan, ISI and Pak army for the increasing insecurity and lawlessness in Afghanistan.

A press release from the cabinet sent to CBS News said Afghanistan had done its best during the last six-and-a-half years to stay away from a war of words with Pakistan and did everything it could do to have a friendly relationship with its neighbor. But, according to the statement, the intelligence agency and Pak army sustained its interference in the internal affairs of Afghanistan.

The press release added that Afghanistan suffered tremendous losses due to the intrusion of Pakistani spies and their atrocities.

"Every day, in each and every corner of the country our children, women, Ulema, teachers and workers of international community have been killed by the plots of the ISI agency," the release said. "Our schools and hospitals are being torched."

"The people of Afghanistan and the international community are now quite sure that Pakistan has not only become a safe haven for terrorists but it also exports terrorism."

"We supported the recent elections in Pakistan with the hope that the new government would watch the activities of ISI and would take practical steps in stop ISI from interfering in the internal dealings of Afghanistan."

The release cited the Kandahar jailbreak, the beheading of Afghans in Bajaur and Waziristan, the recent suicide blast in Urozghan and the bombing of the Indian embassy as being the work of the Pakistani spy agency.

Karzai warned that unless Pakistan can convince him that they'll reel the spy agency in, talks scheduled between the two countries about assistance on the border and economic cooperation in the coming would be postponed.

An Afghan political analyst Ahmad Saad Saedi, who served recently as diplomat in Pakistan told Yousafzai Karzai should take a clear stand on Pakistan's interference in Afghanistan's domestic affairs.

"Pakistan plays the role of an arrogant and self-seeking regional power and believes strongly that Afghanistan would harm Pakistan, which is why it does not want peace in Afghanistan,” Saedi added.

Saedi believes the U.S. should pressure Pakistan to stop inciting violence in Afghanistan.

In a sign that tensions between the two countries is coming to a head, a couple of Karzai's ministers suggested the Afghan ambassador to Islamabad be recalled temporarily as a sign of protest, according to a source inside the Karzai palace.

By Sami Yousafzai
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

173rd Airborne heading for home

Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Saturday, July 12, 2008

Dave Melancon / U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Dave Garver, 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne), his wife, Jill, and 15-month-old son, Payton, leave for home following a welcome home ceremony held for about 250 Vicenza, Italy-based 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team soldiers Thursday. Dave Melancon / U.S. Army Family members greet returning Italy-based 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team soldiers during a welcome home ceremony Thursday evening.

With the advance parties safely home, the bulk of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team’s six battalions are starting to return.

After a trying 15 months in eastern Afghanistan, U.S. Army Europe’s only airborne unit should be completely redeployed over the next several weeks.

Many of the returnees have spent two of the last three years supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

More than 250 members of 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne), returned to Caserma Ederle in Vicenza, Italy, on Thursday night, bringing the number of safely returned troops to 530, said Jon Fleshman, public affairs officer for U.S. Army Garrison Vicenza.

The 530 are about a quarter of the 1,900 due back in Italy by the beginning of August, Fleshman said, adding that another group of paratroops is due Friday.

Also returning Friday is a large group cavalrymen from 1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry Regiment, stationed in Schweinfurt, Germany.

Seven years, $3.2 billion: A regional development plan to fix Afghanistan

By Kent Harris, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Saturday, July 12, 2008

Nangarhar Inc. is a regional growth plan that the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team and the State Department put together to try to boost an area in eastern Afghanistan.

JALALABAD, Afghanistan — Attention Bill and Melinda Gates: Col. Charles Preysler has got a deal for you.

Give him $3.2 billion and seven years, and he’ll turn a province in Afghanistan into an economic center that could turn around the fortunes of two of the most troubled countries on Earth. He’ll also eventually eliminate the need for U.S. troops in a country they’ve had a presence in since late 2001.

He’s got a 62-page plan — developed by his command and the U.S. State Department — describing three dozen projects designed to make Nangarhar province an economic center that could better the lives of people on both sides of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

Preysler calls Nangarhar "an economic engine waiting to take off." He’s not mixing metaphors as much as it might appear, because one of the key projects listed in Nangarhar Inc. is an international airport that would help get food produced in the region out to wider markets.

In theory, Preysler, commander of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, won’t be around for much of the time to see the projects through. He and his troops are getting ready to return to Italy after spending almost 15 months in country. But one of the components in Nangarhar Inc. — the name of the plan, not a company — is establishing an agency to watch over and manage all the projects identified.

"It’s more than just a project list," said Jeremy Brenner, a State Department official who serves as Preysler’s political adviser. "It’s a regional development plan."

One created by soldiers from the brigade along with their counterparts from the State Department during about 10 days in March.

"We think it’s a model for success in interagency cooperation," said Maj. David Spencer, the point man on the project for the brigade. "I think it’s unprecedented."

Brenner said officials backing the project realize that most of the early investment is going to come from U.S. government agencies or nongovernmental agencies looking to make a difference. Private companies looking for a return on their investments would follow, with other donors – such as the Gateses – welcome to step in at any time they wish.

An unusual effort

Brenner said he’s not aware of any similar efforts on such a scale in Afghanistan or Iraq. He appears to have bought into the concept, although he’s not wild about the name Nangarhar Inc.

"It’s a bit of a misnomer," he said. "We’re not just talking about Nangarhar. We’re talking about eastern Afghanistan and beyond."

Preysler said he’s got "no idea" where all the money needed for the projects will come from.

"We’re going to find it," he said, adding that he and future military commanders only have a few million dollars each to contribute during their rotations. That would leave the projects a few billion dollars short of funding. "We really do need to get other government help and international donors. Part of it is marketing. We’ve got to let people know what’s out here."

Nangarhar Inc. calls for projects that would take advantage of the province’s location and natural resources. After roads, an airport, electricity-producing dams and other needed systems are in place, more efficient farms and factories would follow.

Since the U.S. believes that much of the insurgency is fueled by people who don’t have enough money to feed their families, greater prosperity would give them fewer reasons to fight and more reasons to support their government.

Preysler said he’s been in Afghanistan three times and has seen progress from tour to tour. "But not within the tour," he said. "Sometimes it’s like watching paint dry. But this time … I won’t declare success. But I have seen progress."

Preysler laughs when asked when he changed from an infantry brigade commander into a chamber of commerce spokesman.

"It took me until October to figure it out," he said. "I had to do my primary job, which is security, before that. We were fighting all summer long."

Other assets

Although an interview is interrupted a few times by aides updating him about flare-ups along the border, Preysler said the security situation in Nangarhar has improved enough that he can focus on the future.

"Most of the day, I spend talking about development and governance," he said. "And not fighting."

Afghan forces provide much of the security in Nangarhar, Preysler said. That’s not the case in other parts of his area of responsibility, such as Kunar province, where the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment has seen heavy fighting throughout its rotation.

But Preysler, Brenner and Spencer say that relative security is only one of Nangarhar’s assets. It has three rivers that could be used to generate electricity needed to fuel growth. The old Silk Road that carried goods between places such as China and Europe passes through. Pakistan and a rail network that reaches the port of Karachi aren’t far away. Neither is Kabul, the largest city in Afghanistan. Small farms are plentiful and they’re largely producing crops other than opium. Nangarhar’s biggest city, Jalalabad, is one of the largest in the country and is one of its quickest-growing population centers.

"Nangarhar has all of those things going for it, unlike most other areas in Afghanistan," Spencer said.

It still shares some of the challenges faced by the rest of the country. The criminal justice system is largely in disarray, for example.

"Before you can get General Electric to come in and build a dam on the Kunar River, you really need to deal with some governance issues and rule of law issues," Brenner said. "And we’re trying to do that."

Preysler sounds more like an infantry brigade commander again when summing it up the plan.

"This is a road map," he said. "This makes sense."

Now this just pisses me off

Putting Her Foot Down and Getting the Boot

Former Arlington Public Affairs Director Gina Gray, whose boss said she acted inappropriately. (By Ricky Carioti -- The Washington Post)
Buy Photo

TOOLBOX Resize Print E-mail Yahoo! Buzz Save/Share + Digg Newsvine del.icio.us Stumble It! Reddit Facebook myspace COMMENT washingtonpost.com readers have posted 262 comments about this item. View All Comments » POST A COMMENT You must be logged in to leave a comment. Log in | Register Why Do I Have to Log In Again? Log In Again? CLOSE We've made some updates to washingtonpost.com's Groups, MyPost and comment pages. We need you to verify your MyPost ID by logging in before you can post to the new pages. We apologize for the inconvenience. Discussion Policy Discussion Policy CLOSE Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post. Who's Blogging » Links to this article

By Dana Milbank

Thursday, July 10, 2008; Page A03

The ghost of Rummy is proving difficult to exorcise.

This Story

• Putting Her Foot Down and Getting the Boot
• Transcript: Washington Sketch

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has tried to sweep out the symbols of his predecessor's capricious reign, firing acolytes of Donald Rumsfeld and bringing glasnost to the Pentagon.

But in one area, Rummy's Rules still pertain: the attempt to hide from public view the returning war dead.

When Gina Gray took over as the public affairs director at Arlington National Cemetery about three months ago, she discovered that cemetery officials were attempting to impose new limits on media coverage of funerals of the Iraq war dead -- even after the fallen warriors' families granted permission for the coverage. She said that the new restrictions were wrong and that Army regulations didn't call for such limitations.

Six weeks after The Washington Post reported her efforts to restore media coverage of funerals, Gray was demoted. Twelve days ago, the Army fired her.

"Had I not put my foot down, had I just gone along with it and not said regulations were being violated, I'm sure I'd still be there," said the jobless Gray, who, over lunch yesterday in Crystal City, recounted what she is certain is her retaliatory dismissal. "It's about doing the right thing."

Army Secretary Pete Geren, in an interview last night, said he couldn't comment on Gray's firing. But he said the overall policy at Arlington is correct. "It appears to me that we've struck the right balance, consistent with the wishes of the family," the secretary said.

Gray, in tank top, jeans, Ray-Bans over her Army cap and flip-flops revealing pink toenails, struck an unlikely figure for a whistle-blower yesterday as she provided documents detailing her ill-fated and tumultuous few months at Arlington. She worked for eight years in the Army as a public affairs specialist in Germany, Italy and Iraq, then returned to Iraq as an army contractor doing media operations. While working with the 173rd Airborne in Iraq in 2003, her convoy was ambushed and, she says, she still has some hearing loss from the explosion. The 30-year-old Arizonan was hired to work at Arlington in April.

Just 10 days on the job, she was handling media coverage for the burial of a Marine colonel who had been killed in Iraq when she noticed that Thurman Higginbotham, the cemetery's deputy superintendent, had moved the media area 50 yards away from the service, obstructing the photographs and making the service inaudible. The Washington Sketch column on April 24 noted that Gray pushed for more access to the service but was "apparently shot down by other cemetery officials."

Gates had his staff inquire with the cemetery about the article and was told that "the policy had not in any way changed," Gates's spokesman, Geoff Morrell, said yesterday. Geren, the Army secretary, added that "the policy has not changed, and I understand the practice hasn't, either."

That, however, is false. Through at least 2005 -- during Rumsfeld's tenure, no less -- reporters were placed in a location where they could hear the prayers and the eulogies and film the handing of the folded flag to the next of kin. The coverage of the ceremonies -- in the nearly two-thirds of cases where families permitted it -- provided moving reminders to a distracted nation that there was a war going on. But the access gradually eroded, and Gray arrived to discover that it was gone.

And soon, so was Gray. After Gates's inquiry into The Post column, Gray, still days into her new job, began to get some rough treatment. "Gina, when you leave the building let me know," said a one-line e-mail from her supervisor, Phyllis White, on May 2. Then Gray was instructed not to work overtime without written approval, and then was ordered to take down a Marines poster from her cubicle wall. "Please change your title from public affairs director to public affairs officer," White instructed in a June 9 e-mail.

Gray complained to Arlington's superintendent, John Metzler, and was briefly removed from White and Higginbotham's supervision. But on May 27, White sent an e-mail announcing that "Mr. Metzler changed his mind, I will continue as your supervisor." The acrimony increased. Gray went to the hospital complaining of stress-related headaches; while she was recovering, her BlackBerry was disconnected "to alleviate you from stress," as White put it.

Arlington's problems with the burial of the Iraq dead go far beyond Gray; the cemetery is looking for its fourth public affairs director in the past few years. Gray contends that Higginbotham has been calling the families of the dead to encourage them not to allow media coverage at the funerals -- a charge confirmed by a high-ranking official at Arlington, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Gray says Higginbotham told staff members that he called the family of the next soldier scheduled for burial at Arlington and that the family, which had originally approved coverage, had changed its mind. Gray charges that Higginbotham admitted he had been making such calls to families for a year and said that the families "appreciated him keeping the media out."

Higginbotham, White and Metzler did not respond to e-mail messages yesterday seeking their comment. An Army spokesman said Higginbotham and other Arlington officials call families only if their wishes regarding media coverage are unclear.

On June 27, Gray got her termination memo. White said Gray had "been disrespectful to me as your supervisor and failed to act in an inappropriate manner." Failed to act in an in appropriate manner? The termination notice was inadvertently revealing: Only at Arlington National Cemetery could it be considered a firing offense to act appropriately.

Now this just pisses me off

Putting Her Foot Down and Getting the Boot

Former Arlington Public Affairs Director Gina Gray, whose boss said she acted inappropriately. (By Ricky Carioti -- The Washington Post)
Buy Photo

TOOLBOX Resize Print E-mail Yahoo! Buzz Save/Share + Digg Newsvine del.icio.us Stumble It! Reddit Facebook myspace COMMENT washingtonpost.com readers have posted 262 comments about this item. View All Comments » POST A COMMENT You must be logged in to leave a comment. Log in | Register Why Do I Have to Log In Again? Log In Again? CLOSE We've made some updates to washingtonpost.com's Groups, MyPost and comment pages. We need you to verify your MyPost ID by logging in before you can post to the new pages. We apologize for the inconvenience. Discussion Policy Discussion Policy CLOSE Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post. Who's Blogging » Links to this article

By Dana Milbank

Thursday, July 10, 2008; Page A03

The ghost of Rummy is proving difficult to exorcise.

This Story

• Putting Her Foot Down and Getting the Boot
• Transcript: Washington Sketch

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has tried to sweep out the symbols of his predecessor's capricious reign, firing acolytes of Donald Rumsfeld and bringing glasnost to the Pentagon.

But in one area, Rummy's Rules still pertain: the attempt to hide from public view the returning war dead.

When Gina Gray took over as the public affairs director at Arlington National Cemetery about three months ago, she discovered that cemetery officials were attempting to impose new limits on media coverage of funerals of the Iraq war dead -- even after the fallen warriors' families granted permission for the coverage. She said that the new restrictions were wrong and that Army regulations didn't call for such limitations.

Six weeks after The Washington Post reported her efforts to restore media coverage of funerals, Gray was demoted. Twelve days ago, the Army fired her.

"Had I not put my foot down, had I just gone along with it and not said regulations were being violated, I'm sure I'd still be there," said the jobless Gray, who, over lunch yesterday in Crystal City, recounted what she is certain is her retaliatory dismissal. "It's about doing the right thing."

Army Secretary Pete Geren, in an interview last night, said he couldn't comment on Gray's firing. But he said the overall policy at Arlington is correct. "It appears to me that we've struck the right balance, consistent with the wishes of the family," the secretary said.

Gray, in tank top, jeans, Ray-Bans over her Army cap and flip-flops revealing pink toenails, struck an unlikely figure for a whistle-blower yesterday as she provided documents detailing her ill-fated and tumultuous few months at Arlington. She worked for eight years in the Army as a public affairs specialist in Germany, Italy and Iraq, then returned to Iraq as an army contractor doing media operations. While working with the 173rd Airborne in Iraq in 2003, her convoy was ambushed and, she says, she still has some hearing loss from the explosion. The 30-year-old Arizonan was hired to work at Arlington in April.

Just 10 days on the job, she was handling media coverage for the burial of a Marine colonel who had been killed in Iraq when she noticed that Thurman Higginbotham, the cemetery's deputy superintendent, had moved the media area 50 yards away from the service, obstructing the photographs and making the service inaudible. The Washington Sketch column on April 24 noted that Gray pushed for more access to the service but was "apparently shot down by other cemetery officials."

Gates had his staff inquire with the cemetery about the article and was told that "the policy had not in any way changed," Gates's spokesman, Geoff Morrell, said yesterday. Geren, the Army secretary, added that "the policy has not changed, and I understand the practice hasn't, either."

That, however, is false. Through at least 2005 -- during Rumsfeld's tenure, no less -- reporters were placed in a location where they could hear the prayers and the eulogies and film the handing of the folded flag to the next of kin. The coverage of the ceremonies -- in the nearly two-thirds of cases where families permitted it -- provided moving reminders to a distracted nation that there was a war going on. But the access gradually eroded, and Gray arrived to discover that it was gone.

And soon, so was Gray. After Gates's inquiry into The Post column, Gray, still days into her new job, began to get some rough treatment. "Gina, when you leave the building let me know," said a one-line e-mail from her supervisor, Phyllis White, on May 2. Then Gray was instructed not to work overtime without written approval, and then was ordered to take down a Marines poster from her cubicle wall. "Please change your title from public affairs director to public affairs officer," White instructed in a June 9 e-mail.

Gray complained to Arlington's superintendent, John Metzler, and was briefly removed from White and Higginbotham's supervision. But on May 27, White sent an e-mail announcing that "Mr. Metzler changed his mind, I will continue as your supervisor." The acrimony increased. Gray went to the hospital complaining of stress-related headaches; while she was recovering, her BlackBerry was disconnected "to alleviate you from stress," as White put it.

Arlington's problems with the burial of the Iraq dead go far beyond Gray; the cemetery is looking for its fourth public affairs director in the past few years. Gray contends that Higginbotham has been calling the families of the dead to encourage them not to allow media coverage at the funerals -- a charge confirmed by a high-ranking official at Arlington, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Gray says Higginbotham told staff members that he called the family of the next soldier scheduled for burial at Arlington and that the family, which had originally approved coverage, had changed its mind. Gray charges that Higginbotham admitted he had been making such calls to families for a year and said that the families "appreciated him keeping the media out."

Higginbotham, White and Metzler did not respond to e-mail messages yesterday seeking their comment. An Army spokesman said Higginbotham and other Arlington officials call families only if their wishes regarding media coverage are unclear.

On June 27, Gray got her termination memo. White said Gray had "been disrespectful to me as your supervisor and failed to act in an inappropriate manner." Failed to act in an in appropriate manner? The termination notice was inadvertently revealing: Only at Arlington National Cemetery could it be considered a firing offense to act appropriately.