Volume 6, No. 39 39 ©SS ©SS2014 2014 Volume 6, No.
RIDAY,,SSEPTEMBER EPTEMBER 12, 12, 2014 FFRIDAY 2014
Running Running out of
moves? moves?
No longer ableable to use of surprise, No longer toelement use element of surprise, Islamic State locked in defensive strugglestruggle as Islamic State locked in defensive as Obama lays outout planplan to dealtowith militants Obama lays deal with militants
AnIslamic Islamic State convoy rolls through Iraq’s Anbar An State convoy rolls through Iraq’s Anbar province on province on Jan.7.7. Islamic State used ruthlessness mobility, ruthlessness and the Jan. TheThe Islamic State used mobility, and the element surprise to overrun third of the country. element ofof surprise to overrun about aabout third ofathe country. APphoto photovia viamilitant-controlled militant-controlledwebsite website AP
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COVER STORY
Advantages militants had may be declining BY WYATT OLSON Stars and Stripes
F
tages may also be diminishing,” he wrote. Knights’ study, among the first published analyses of the Islamic State since its June offensive, outlines how the Islamic State and its leader, al-Baghdadi, have employed bold military tactics to achieve renown aimed at winning support not only from disaffected Sunni Muslims in Iraq and Syria, but from converts throughout the Islamic world. Its military victories have enabled the Islamic State to lay claim that it represents the “true Islam” and to proclaim a new caliphate in areas of Syria and Iraq that it controls with al-Baghdadi as the “caliph,” or ruler, of all Muslims worldwide. Proclamation of the caliphate has resonance among Muslims, harkening back to the religious and political state established by the Prophet Muhammad in
rom 2009 until the end of 2011, a warweary United States was withdrawing its forces from Iraq, moving on from an unpopular war and leaving the protection of the fragile country to Iraq’s U.S.trained security forces. For Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, a former Muslim preacher and leader of the group now known as the Islamic State, those were years spent ANALYSIS laying the foundations that produced this summer’s battlefield offensives that stunned much of the world and cast doubt on the future of Iraq and the U.S. legacy after eight years of war. The Islamic State’s mix of mobility, ruthlessness and battlefield surprise against unprepared foes enabled it to overrun about a third of the country and hold on to heavily populated areas including Mosul. Yet, with the element of surprise largely spent, the Islamic State, also known as stripes.com ISIL and ISIS, finds itself in a defensive struggle that plays more to its weaknesses than strengths, according to an analysis published in August Mobility and by the Combating Terrorsurprise have ism Center at West Point, a research institution at the U.S. allowed none currently ISIL Military Academy. “As a defensive force, ISIL to punch well may struggle to hold terrain if above its weight it is attacked simultaneously at multiple points or if its auxin offensive iliary allies begin to defect,” wrote author Michael Knights, operations, but an analyst at The Washington these advantages Institute for Near East Policy, a think tank that focuses on may also be Middle East issues. diminishing. “Mobility and surprise have allowed ISIL to punch well Michael Knights above its weight in offensive analyst at The Washington operations, but these advanInstitute for Near East Policy
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the 6th century and which at its height ruled from modern Pakistan to Spain. Its self-publicized campaign of terror — including the beheading of two American journalists and hundreds of Iraqi soldiers — have enabled it to cow the population and to drive out non-Sunnis who could turn against the extremist movement. Al-Baghdadi laid the groundwork for those victories during the past four years with planning that has been “sophisticated, patient and focused,” Brett McGurk, deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, said during testimony in February before the House Foreign Affairs Committee. According to Knights’ report, al-Baghdadi’s own story shows a skill in long-term strategic planning rarely seen in terrorist movements. Al-Baghdadi, whose real name is believed to be Ibrahim Awad Ibrahim al-Badry, was arrested by U.S. forces in Fallujah in 2004. After his release in 2009 from the U.S. detention center at Camp Bucca, a radicalized al-Baghdadi joined the Islamic State of Iraq, successor to the decimated al-Qaida in Iraq, which battled U.S. and Iraqi forces in Sunni areas. While the U.S. was bowing out of the Iraq War, al-Baghdadi “rebooted” his organization in 2010, Knights said. The following year, he expanded operations in Syria, joining the revolt against Syrian President Bashar Assad. In Syria the Nusra Front, another al-Qaida offshoot, eclipsed many indigenous rebel groups. His bid to merge the Islamic State and the Nusra Front in April 2013 led to a schism between him and the al-Qaida command, establishing the newcomers as a rival for leadership of Islamic extremism
AP
Shiite militiamen hold an Islamic State flag they captured during an operation outside Amirli, Iraq, on Sept. 1. worldwide. With international attention focused on Syria, al-Baghdadi began a discreet campaign to undermine Iraq’s security forces, already riveted with sectarian divisions between the country’s Sunni and Shiite populations. According to Knights, the Islamic State launched assassinations and attacks on Iraqi troops and pro-government figures that led to a “shattering of Iraqi security forces.” The attacks attracted little attention outside Iraq but more than doubled deaths of soldiers and key leaders during the latter half of 2013. In the north, al-Baghdadi expanded his grip on parts of Mosul, among the last strongholds of al-Qaida in Iraq during the last years of the American war. The report cited McGurk’s congressional testimony that by June, the city appeared normal by day but the Islamic State controlled the streets by night. When the Islamic State launched its offensive in Mosul on June 6, Iraqi forces “were brittle and comparatively easy to crumble during three days of escalating skirmishes,” Knights wrote. Facing the Iraqi forces was a fighting force al-Baghdadi had put together from the ranks of former soldiers of the Iraqi army, which the U.S. had disbanded after the 2003 invasion, Jarret Brachman, a former director of the Combating Terrorism Center, said in an August radio interview. “He’s professionalized and
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formalized an infrastructure of Iraqis with hard-core military experience and intelligence experience,” he said. “He’s brokered relationships with (Iraqi Sunni) tribes. They’ve spent tons of time intimidating, assassinating. They’ve systematically laid the groundwork for all of this to happen over the past few years.” Islamic State commanders used surprise and mobility using Iraq’s dense, highquality road network, often culminating in “night or dawn attacks,” Knights wrote. Large areas of the country can be traversed in a day, “giving an aggressive force strong ability to concentrate forces at a given point of attack,” Knights wrote. That allowed them to achieve “local superiority in numbers despite their smaller strength in comparison to (Iraqi) state armed forces,” he said. But holding onto territory could prove difficult. Islamic State forces trying to maintain control often comprise new recruits and Sunni tribal allies — less tested and less reliable than hard-core fighters. “Although ISIL has momentum and these allies seem solidly behind the group, if the military tide begins to turn, particularly whilst the cement is still setting on (Islamic State) relationships, there could be a dramatic reduction in the group’s effective strength,” he wrote.
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AFGHANISTAN
Nasir Ahmad harvests saffron bulbs from the few acres of land where he grows the spice on the outskirts of Herat, in western Afghanistan. JOSH SMITH /Stars and Stripes
SOWING THREADS OF
CHA NGE
Afghan farmers see big money in saffron business BY JOSH SMITH Stars and Stripes
T
HERAT, Afghanistan he hot summer wind sent dust whirling into the air as Nasir Ahmad deftly picked a handful of brown saffron crocus bulbs from a freshly dug hole in the parched earth. With his fingers, weathered by decades of farming in western Afghanistan’s deserts, he plucked the
lingering dirt clods from the bulbs. It would still be months before they yielded their valuable flowers, but Ahmad cradled them gently. A towering figure in a bright yellow turban and long, graying beard, Ahmad gazes across the few acres that will determine his future. “These are now my life,” he said, fingering the bulbs. “Afghanistan is a nation of farmers, and we need to succeed.” SEE PAGE 4
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AFGHANISTAN FROM PAGE 3
For years, Ahmad, 45, grew opium poppies, which are used to produce heroin. As it does for many other Afghans, the illicit drug trade provided him with a stable income in a country beset by economic hardships, especially in the more rural areas. Under the Taliban, opiumpoppy cultivation had been banned and the crop virtually eliminated, but cultivation has rebounded since the U.S. invasion in 2001, partly because of the collapse of state control and law enforcement. At the very time when many other farmers were going back to growing opium poppies, Ahmad made a contrarian business decision: He switched to growing saffron, the world’s most expensive spice. Made from the crimson stigmas plucked and dried from a type of crocus flower, saffron can sell for more than $1,200 a pound, compared with less than $2 per pound for a spice such as cumin. Afghanistan produced 4.5 tons of saffron last year, most of which was exported abroad, according to Sayed Nabi Shinwari, who heads the vocational training program at Afghanistan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock. The number of people in Afghanistan involved in growing and processing the spice is not known, but the ministry says it has distributed seeds to nearly 500 farmers and has trained 2,000. Afghan officials contend that many poppy farmers in Herat have switched to growing saffron, and international officials often hold saffron up as an example of ways Afghan farmers can successfully grow more legal and less harmful crops. But the United Nations says overall poppy production in Afghanistan remains near alltime highs. As the international military coalition prepares to pull out its combat troops at the end of the year, many question whether Afghanistan has any chance of shedding its status as the top opium producer in the world. The U.S. has invested upward of $7 billion in poppy eradication and crop substitution programs.
I make more than six times growing saffron than I did growing poppies. When other farmers understand that they will make more money, I think they will change their minds.
Nasir Ahmad saffron farmer in Herat, Afghanistan
and that other farmers would be wise to follow suit. “Drugs just bring so many problems. I had to use all these chemicals, and it was harder to grow,” he said. Most important of all to him, he said, “I make more than six times growing saffron than I did growing poppies. When other farmers understand that they will make more money, I think they will change their minds.” But Ahmad said he likely would not have been as successful without loans from foreign aid organizations like the U.S. Agency for International Development and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas. Those loans have been used for everything from buying seeds and processing equipment to advertising and packaging. According to the agriculture ministry, saffron farmers can gross anywhere from $1,400 per acre in the first year to a peak of more than $14,000 per acre during the third and
fourth years of the seven-year growing cycle. By contrast, the average poppy farmer grosses about $1,800 per acre, according to the U.N.
A bright spot Afghanistan is rife with examples of international aid gone awry. In July, the U.S. government’s Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction released a report blasting a U.S. Department of Agriculture-funded initiative to bring soybean farming to Afghanistan. In that case, the watchdog said there was little market for soybeans in Afghanistan and that conditions in the country aren’t particularly favorable for the crop. Saffron, however, doesn’t suffer from any of those problems. It’s a popular ingredient in local dishes, and officials say it can be cultivated in most of the country’s 34 provinces. Afghans and aid officials say the programs aimed at jump-
No regrets More than a decade after he switched to growing saffron, Ahmad says he has no regrets
starting processes that can produce saffron suitable for an international market have mostly been successful. (A SIGAR spokesman told Stars and Stripes he is not aware of any problems reported with saffron aid programs.) “Saffron is one of several crops where Afghanistan has a competitive advantage because of a long growing tradition and favorable growing conditions,” said Wayne Nilsestuen, director of USAID’s Office of Agriculture in Afghanistan. “Also, it is a highly profitable crop that generates lots of employment for women and low-income families.” Saffron is now grown on more than 1,800 acres in 32 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, according to the Agriculture Ministry. Through a program called the Agricultural Development Fund, which is administered by the Afghan government, USAID has provided at least $23 million in loans directly to some 16,000 farmers around
JOSH SMITH /Stars and Stripes
Parwiz Afghan displays some saffron for sale in his shop in Herat, western Afghanistan. He insists that the quality of Afghan saffron rivals or is better than that produced by countries with a larger share of the world market.
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the country, including some who grow saffron, though the agency could not say how much of that money went to saffron farmers. “USAID and other international aid was very important for us to be able to replace other crops with saffron,” said Faqir Ahmad Baianger, who heads the Herat office of the Afghan national Directorate of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock. “Our production has expanded so much in recent years.” Among the recipients of those loans was the Ghoryan Women Saffron Association in Herat, which provides services for hundreds of women who work in saffron production. The organization received two loans totaling more than $400,000, which were used to buy saffron from women producers and package it for sale in larger markets. For Sima Ghoryani, president of the association, the international aid was vital. “Ninety-five percent of the work on saffron is done by women, and we need that help for the very important training needed to get women working outside the home,” she told Stars and Stripes during an interview in a small room used to package the saffron.
Obstacles to success In a small store in downtown Herat, shopkeeper Parwiz Afghan dusts the glistening plastic vials that hold small portions of dried saffron. In keeping with its high cost, saffron is usually packaged in a way similar to other luxury items, such as perfume. When Afghan, 23, gently dumps the pungent contents of one bottle onto his counter, he beams with pride. “Afghan saffron is more natural and better quality than that from other countries,” he said. “Iran and Pakistan, they just don’t have it.” That’s a claim backed up, not surprisingly, by a 2013 report commissioned by the Afghan Investment Support Agency. It found that Afghan saffron may be of higher quality than that produced in Iran — which accounts for more than 80 percent of the world’s saffron production. Still, the report says, there are many obstacles ahead for the industry in Afghanistan. SEE PAGE 6
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crossword CREATURE FEATURE By George Pompey ACROSS 1 Easy hoop 6 Released 11 Poor-box contribution 15 Do a landscaping chore 18 Unescorted 19 SpongeBob’s home 20 Goodbye, in Genoa 21 Type of lily 22 Locomotive parts 24 Kitty-box filler 26 Give a holler 27 Owl’s remark 28 Attractive person 30 Pierced in the bullring 31 Stuff to smelt 33 “___! The Herald Angels Sing” 35 Like hydroponic gardening 37 Old bumper car trademark 40 Departure from life 42 Caviar source 43 Old name of Tokyo 44 Treaty grp. 46 Big quiz 47 Regular lunar event 51 Sought greener pastures 53 Makes orderly 55 Contemptuous laugh 56 A single time 57 Snooker term 60 South Pacific island
61 Effortlessness 62 “Psych” finish 64 Whit or bit 67 Professorial talks 69 Water balloon impact sound 71 Belmont Park attraction 74 Spot for a spat 75 Magic charm 77 Search, in a child’s game 78 Displease Santa, in a way 79 Russian range or river 80 Hoppy brews 82 Sauce for nachos 85 Dees’ predecessors 88 Miles-gallon filler 89 Possessing knowledge of spiritual things 92 Playing with a full deck 94 Guarantees 96 Iran-Armenia border river 98 Tannery employee 99 Reason for sudden death 100 Eggy quaff 101 Branch of physics 103 Sounded nostalgic 105 Type of call 109 One way to the airport 110 Plato’s portico 111 Like fresh matches 112 Remove the stitches from
114 Cheek glistener 116 Do some gentle armtwisting 120 Strychnine, e.g. 122 Observant hobbyist 125 Address for the king 126 Long skirt 127 Observe Yom Kippur 128 Throat-clearing sounds 129 Memorable period in history 130 Aphid, e.g. 131 Submarine’s device 132 Blow one’s own horn DOWN 1 Like some negligees 2 Ingredient in some lip balms 3 Pained cry 4 Do a drain-clearing job 5 Kind of coat or gravel 6 Madmen, south of the border 7 It returns your calls 8 Acquire bicuspids 9 Toothy snouted fish 10 Kind of personality 11 ATM user’s requirement 12 Go between 13 San ___, Calif. 14 “Do re mi fa ___ ...” 15 39.37 inches, to a Brit 16 Double-curved moldings 17 They cross here
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78 Old Greek gymnasium 81 On the double, in the O.R. 83 Sonny boys 84 Deceitful 86 Lake in HOMES 87 Place in a tournament 89 Isle of Capri attraction 90 Up in arms 91 Native wine grapes 93 Group of three 95 Like most green tomatoes 97 Sides of a cube 101 High councils 102 Large lemonlike fruit 104 Pampas cowboy 105 Use bad language 106 Great place to walk 107 The “U” in UHF 108 Girl in an Everly Brothers hit 110 A lumberjack, at times 113 Peeved state 115 Flamboyant Dame 117 Perlman of TV 118 Emeralds and pearls 119 Formerly, in olden days 121 Mischievous individual 123 “How was ___ know?” 124 Computer key
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AFGHANISTAN
Packages of locally grown and produced saffron line the shelves of a shop in Herat, western Afghanistan. Analysts say professional processing and packaging remain a barrier to exporting more Afghan saffron to international markets. FROM PAGE 4
These include lack of access to capital, skilled laborers and the necessary infrastructure. With the saffron harvest still months away, the processing machinery in Ghoryani’s back room sat silent. It represents the next big challenge for Afghan saffron producers, she said: processing the saffron in a way that keeps it up to international standards so sellers can export their products. Saffron production is more sophisticated than opium production because it requires a hygienic drying and packaging process, U.N. officials wrote in a report last year on the viability of replacing drug production with saffron cultivation. Because Afghan farmers use traditional farming methods, the saffron is often of relatively high quality. But the lack of equipment and training needed
to effectively package and proestablishment in 2006 — has recess the spice has historically ceived help from aid programs, undermined efforts to export including a training regimen more saffron. offered by the Afghan governAccording to the Afghan ment’s Rural Enterprise DeInvestment Support Program. It of has also Affairs (VA). We proudly offer Agency mortgagereproductsvelopment from the U.S. Department Veterans port, Iran produces 200products tons of with favorable receivedloan a $202,487 loan These safe, flexible terms are ADF available to veterans and saffronactive per year, Greece turns used to buy about 295 pounds of NMLS #402135 duty personnel. out between 5 and 8 tons, while dried saffron from farmers in Afghanistan produces about 4 western Afghanistan. Benefits tons onFeatures a yearlyand basis. Other top “Three-quarters of Afghans • Purchase, areas rate/term refinance, and cash-out refinance options saffron-producing can be depend on agriculture for their 1required No down payment found in • countries like India, livelihoods,” • Fixed- and adjustable-interest rates available said USAID’s Pakistan and Spain, which all Nilsestuen. “Assistance to the • Seller-assistance options Supporting those who serve. produce between 1 and 3 tons. entire agriculture produc• Low minimum credit score requirement To try to give Afghan farmers tion chain — farmers, traders, more of a chance to compete wholesalers, manufacturers and Eligiblepowerhouses, Properties with saffron retailers — is critical not just for Moore, Mortgage Banker Rich • 1- to 4-unit like property Afghan companies Arieconomic development but to • PUDs ana Saffron Co. in Herat have NMLS# 211177 PHOTOS BY JOSH SMITH /Stars and Stripes feed millions of Afghan fami• Condominiums focused on building the infralies, raise household incomes toll free: 855.313.8138 • Sima Ghoryani, president of the Herat-based Ghoryan structure Manufactured necessary tohomes proand generate jobs.” Women Saffron Association, motions to machines used to cess the spice to international Mohammad Aref Karimi, Programs available only to qualified borrowers. Programs subjectYaqob to change without notice. saffron. Her organization has received hundreds package standards. Qurishi andrestrictions Zubair Babakarkhail Underwriting conditions apply. Some may apply. of thousands of dollars in U.S.-backed loans, which she Ariana — whichterms hadand more contributed to this report. 1Down payment may required for loan amounts over $417,000 based on VA county loan limit.been vital to trying to help the women in her says have than 600 employees andbesubconsmith.josh@stripes.com organization sell their saffron to a wider market. tractors within three years of its Twitter: @joshjonsmith
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Gulf of Alaska Rivers Anchor
Chitina
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8
September 12, 2014
ALASKA EDITION
>> EXPLORE ALASKA
Touring Alaska’s Waterways Katie Nolan
Rivers are the historic method of travel in Alaska’s interior. Prior to the purchase of Alaska by the growing United States of America, most settlements were scattered along the coast, with most newcomers arriving by sea. The Americans who came to Alaska continued to use the territory’s rivers as transportation routes, replacing traditional Native craft with poling boats, rowboats and sailboats. Eventually, Americans introduced steamboat “paddlewheelers” or “sternwheelers”. Paddlewheelers made a big difference to river
travel, as they were faster and more dependable, and able to make several trips per season. They were also able to carry large quantities of freight as well as passengers, and could travel on as little as 18” of water. Additional freight could be pushed or towed alongside on barges. The gold strikes on the headwaters of the Stikine River created the need for the first steamer in 1862. The “Flying Dutchman” carried gold seekers and their supplies inland. Soon paddlewheelers were used on many of Alaska’s rivers, including the Copper, Kuskokwim, and the Yukon and its smaller feeder streams. These steamers brought freight and supplies to remote areas, returning with bales of fur. By the time of the 1912 purchase, there were major population centers along the mighty Yukon River, the Taku, Stikine and Susitna, and feeders to those rivers, where trading posts had been established. With the exception of Anchorage, most of Alaska’s towns began along our major rivers, the confluence of two rivers, or the point where a river met the sea. Riverboats and steamers were the primary form of travel for virtually everyone. With the 1899 discovery of gold in Alaska, Fairbanks and Ruby were established. At the height of the gold rush era, 300 steamboats were estimated to be in use on just the Yukon River and its tributaries. It was not until the construction of the Alaska Railroad began in 1902 that residents had access to another form of travel. Following World War I, railroad and eventual air traffic caused the demise of river transportation, but it was river travel that helped open the western United States and created commerce between inland states and territories to
Denali Wilderness Safari
the rest of the world. Today’s travelers find river boating an affordable and simple way to get deep into the wilderness without having to hike or take a plane. Boating provides an easy way to see Alaska’s magnificent coast and interior, far from civilization, and available to individuals of all ages and capabilities. Boats offer everyone the opportunity to see wildlife, towering cliffs, incredible glaciers, and gray-blue glacier-fed rivers married to muddy interior waters. There are numerous ways to experience the grandeur of Alaska from the water, from jet boat tours to historic paddlewheelers, on rivers from Denali to the Kenai Peninsula, and ferries that run 3500 miles of coastline. Cruising gives passengers more scenery and wildlife sights than can be imagined, and they are able to navigate from one river into another, using these waterways like a system of roads. Talkeetna sits at the merging point of the Susitna, Talkeetna and Chulitna Rivers. There are several points along these rivers to get wonderful views of Mt McKinley, and bald eagles, bears, beaver and salmon are often sighted. River jet boats, specially designed for these rivers, are able to navigate waters from shallows to rapids, even over rocks and logs. Mahay’s offers several tours that include the braided river, the “wedding of the waters”, and a replica Alaska Native village and trapper’s cabin. The Knik River begins at the face of Knik Glacier. This glacier is about 28 miles long, with a face over five miles wide, almost 400 feet above the water, and over 1000 feet thick. Dall sheep, black and grizzly bears, mountain goats, moose, beaver and a variety of birds including bald eagles are residents of the area often seen from the river. Migratory birds include sandhill cranes, Canadian geese, snow geese and families of trumpeter swans. The river includes Class III rapids, and, as it is glacier-fed, is a magnificent shade of blue. Knik Glacier Tours in Palmer of-
Whichever tour is selected, it is guaranteed to provide incredible memories. Alaska Backcountry Access, Girdwood (907) 783-3600 www.akback.com andy@akback.com Alaska Marine Highway Dot.state.ak.us/amhs Denali Wilderness Jetboat Safari, Cantwell (907) 768-2550 www.denaliparkadventures.com Knik Glacier Tours, Palmer www.knikglacier.com (907) 745-1577 Knik Glacier Airboat Tours www.mtviewrvpark.com (907) 745-5747 Mahay’s Jet Boat Adventures, Talkeetna (907) 733-2223 www.mahaysriverboat.com Riverboat Discovery, Fairbanks (907) 479-6673 www.riverboatdiscovery.com
fers a four-hour jet boat ride up the river to the face of the glacier, and Knik Glacier Airboat Tours offers tours from their base at Mountain View RV Park. In Fairbanks, the Chena River flows into the Tanana before eventually joining the Yukon River. Three authentic Alaskan sternwheeler riverboats are still active there, the Riverboat Discovery I, II and III, the only authentic sternwheeler riverboats still active on Alaska’s waterways. Tours include a fish wheel demonstration, a sled dog demonstration, a re-created Chena village, and a takeoff and landing of a bush plane. In Cantwell, the Jack and Nenana Rivers allow continued on page 13
September 12, 2014
9
ALASKA EDITION
>> EXPLORE ALASKA
Musk Ox Farm - See the Descendants of the Ice Age By Mike Dryden
A hour’s drive from Anchorage past Palmer at MP 50 on the Glenn Highway is a working Musk Ox farm open to the public that has something for everyone, young and old. Come meet Emma and Ingrid with their babies (pictures on their website), some of the cutest critters you’ll see in Alaska. This non-profit organization began in the fifties by dedicated conservationist John Teal, to save the Musk Ox from extinction and give coastal native Alaskan villages a cottage industry to supplement their hunter gather lifestyle. At the time he set up this project, these domesticated ice age survivors were close to extinction and one or two more natural disasters would have wiped them from the face of the earth. Today these big beasts are peacefully grazing and multiplying in the Mat-Su Valley thanks to the support of their patrons and the dedication of the staff. The Musk Ox resides on a working farm and any of us that grew up on a farm knows what it entails. The farm is a year around operation and is open to the public most of the year by appointment, but have regular tours from Mother’s Day until late September (see website for hours of operation). The
interpretive Museum has mounts of Musk Ox, is self-guided and very informative. The view from the farm is worth the trip. The Musk Ox’s wool is harvested and spun into a soft product called quivit. Native women are supplied ample quantities of this supple material so they may apply their needlework skills to craft one of kind garments. Caps, gloves and many unique items are marketed by the Oomingmak Musk Ox Producers’ Cooperative at the Farm’s gift shop, at the downtown Anchorage store, or online. If you want to make a statement about how much you care, this is the gift for you. Teachers may go to the farm’s website and download teacher’s guide for classes on the Musk Ox. The lesson plan has everything you will need to educate your young pupils on the history of the Musk Ox.
To get to the Farm take the Glenn past Palmer to MP 50 which is just past the Palmer-Fishhook Road. 12850 East Archie Drive is well marked. The organization’s website is www.muskoxfarm.org Mailing address is: P.O.Box587 Palmer, AK 99645 907-745-4151 Be sure to mark this trip down on your calendar.
10
ALASKA EDITION
September 12, 2014
September 12, 2014
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September 12, 2014
STARS AND STRIPES • S
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MILITARY
An ‘acceptable’ level of risk? BY CHRIS CARROLL Stars and Stripes
WASHINGTON — The Department of Defense will be hundreds of billions of dollars short of what’s needed to enact the nation’s official defense strategy in coming years, a new report on the nation’s defense budget released Sept. 4 predicts. To execute programs and plans laid out in budget and strategy documents, DOD will need $200 billion to $300 billion more than allowed by automatic spending limits known as sequestration, according to the report by Todd Harrison, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a nonpartisan Washington think tank. And the analysis doesn’t take into account the demands of new and intensified conflicts in places such as Ukraine or Iraq, where the United States has been pulled back into airborne combat missions. Since June, the U.S. has spent some $600 million on limited airstrikes and an advisory mission aimed at halting the advance of Islamist insurgents. And earlier last week in Estonia — a nation nervous that neighboring Russia is intent on dragging it back into a revived Soviet sphere — President Barack Obama hammered home the point that the United States would stand firmly behind all its NATO allies. The United States now must decide whether to provide more defense funding or trim military missions — and potentially tell some partners overseas
Analyst: DOD to see up to $300B shortfall under sequestration law they’re on their own, Harrison said. “We’re kind of at a fork in the road in the strategy-budget process,” he told reporters last week in Washington. Sequestration calls for about $1 trillion less in defense spending over a decade than defense planners had expected before 2011, when the cuts became law. As a result, the U.S. military now forecasts declining end strengths, reduced unit readiness and curtailed modernization of weapons systems. The 2012 defense strategic guidance called for a shift of military emphasis and resources from the Middle East to Asia, where a resurgent China has been building its military and flexing its muscle in territorial disputes with Japan, Vietnam and other countries. The strategy was upheld this year by the Quadrennial Defense Report, which has been assailed by Republicans in Congress who say the document is geared more toward presenting an affordable strategic assessment — as opposed to a realistic one — in a time of falling defense spending. But even the current strategy is too expensive if Congress and the president are unable to repeal the sequestration law, Harrison concluded in his 34-page report. “The Department appears to be caught between two approaches for
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addressing its strategy-resource mismatch,” Harrison wrote. “It has not budgeted enough to fully resource the defense program called for by its strategy, nor has it revised its strategy and defense program to fit within the budget constraints set by Congress.” Harrison tallied up expected defense shortfalls to reach his estimate of $200 billion to $300 billion. Current budget limits won’t fund enough troops or warships to enact the defense strategy, he said. The Army plans to cut its active-duty end strength to 450,000 by 2019, while the Marines plan to level off at 182,000. But critics say the current budget limits won’t even support those reduced levels. “Assuming these force levels are needed to execute the strategy at an ‘acceptable’ level of risk, the budget appears to be roughly $20 billion short” over the coming five years, the report said. DOD also appears to be counting on $50 billion to $100 billion in overseas wartime funding to cover core expenses in coming years, he said. Another $31 billion in savings from controversial proposed cuts to military compensation and weapons programs are needed — cuts Harrison characterized as “unlikely to materialize.”
DOD’s most recent budget request assumes the Pentagon will be allowed to exceed sequestration caps by $116 billion over five years. It’s not a safe bet that a bitterly divided Congress will be able to reach an agreement to kill sequestration, even for pressing strategic reasons, he said. “They tweaked it, but they haven’t been able to turn it off,” he said. In response to a question about the CSBA report, a Pentagon spokesman said Sept. 4 that the department was striving to find a way to avoid sequestration, which former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta referred to as a “meat ax.” “We are acutely aware that sequestration remains the law of the land, and we are working all the time with Congress to forge a way ahead here,” Col. Steve Warren told reporters. If the situation persists, the United States may be forced to adjust its defense strategy, Harrison said. “That may mean coming up with more innovative concepts for how we will conduct missions and achieve our strategic objectives around the world,” he said. “It also may mean shedding priorities and divesting ourselves of some security commitments in the future. “That’s going to be painful and uncomfortable, and people aren’t going to like it,” he said. “But that is one way … to reduce what we’re expecting the Department of Defense to do in the future.” carroll.chris@stripes.com Twitter: @ChrisCarroll_
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September 12, 2014
13
ALASKA EDITION
Alaska’s Waterways, cont. transportation deep into the Alaskan Bush and Denali National Park. Denali Wilderness Jetboat Safari in Cantwell offers a tour to their remote Bush camp, offering guests the opportunity to learn about life in remote Alaska. Touring along the 60 miles of wilderness waterway to their camp on the south side of Denali Park offers an outstanding opportunity to view wildlife in the open wilderness. Twentymile River flows from the snowfields high above Prince William Sound into the Turnagain Arm, beginning at the glacier-fed Carmen Lake deep within the Chugach National Forest. Alaska Backcountry Access in Girdwood offers a jet boat ride up this braided river
into the blue icebergs of Carmen Lake. Sights include glaciers, eagles, moose, porcupine, bears, beaver lodges, salmon streams, and massive waterfalls. With 656,425 square miles of wilderness totaling over 365 million acres, travel on Alaska’s waterways was both historically practical and makes sense for today’s traveler. Alaska has a longer coastline than all other U.S. States combined, and many Alaskan communities are still only accessible by air or water. The Alaska Marine Highway makes up a large part of Alaska’s highway system. It is so unique that it has been designated a National Scenic Byway and an All-American Road, the only marine route with this designation. The Alaska
Marine Highway serves communities from Akutan to Yukatat, stretching from Bellingham, Washington 3,500 miles to Dutch Harbor. The Alaska Marine Highway is the ideal way to experience the communities that populate Alaska’s diverse and scenic coastline. Traveling with an open itinerary on the system is a great way to explore, and ferries accommodate both walk-on passengers and those traveling with a vehicle. Passengers can “camp” on deck or reserve a stateroom. Viewing Alaska from its waterways offers an exceptional experience for long-time residents and visitors alike.
code breaker In these Code Quotes from America’s history, each letter given is a code consisting of another letter. To solve this Code Quote, you must decode the puzzle by replacing each letter with the correct one. An example is shown. A ‘clue’ is available if you need extra help. Example: G E O R G E W A S H I N G T O N Is coded as: W J A M W J G I T C X Z W F A Z
I H A B U K P B M ! F C Z O B H
E P S S
G U D U K
Z H A B
B O U
I K U A U G B
P B
I K U A U K D U
M H C P V
M H C
E P S S
M H C
O U X D U G I X P G A
F X R U
T H
B O X B
B H
M H C K X
G H B , P
W H H T
P
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C A U
A O X S S B H H R
P B .
O H E
W U G U K X B P H G
V K U U T H F !
U D U K
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Q H O G
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Hint: This schoolteacher, a Harvard graduate, began his political career as a town councilman. Last week’s answer: “We must be ready to dare all for our country. For history does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.” President Dwight D. Eisenhower
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September 12, 2014
STARS AND STRIPES •
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Friday, September 12, 2014
Remembering 9/11 and celebrating life
MILITARY
McDonald announces S VA improvements plan BY H EATH DRUZIN Stars and Stripes
WASHINGTON — It’s not every day that a Cabinet secretary gives out his cell phone number to a room full of reporters, but that’s what Department of Veterans Affairs chief Bob McDonald did Monday as part of a bid to show the VA is changing a hierarchical culture that stifled criticism and ultimately contributed to a scandal that McDonald cost McDonald’s predecessor his job. While McDonald — who corrected a reporter who referred to him as Mr. Secretary by saying, “I’m Bob, really” — may be a little easier to reach now, the effectiveness of a 90-day plan he unveiled to fix a broken VA health care system is likely how the beginning of his tenure will be assesed. At a news conference in Washington, McDonald announced the “Road to Veterans Day,” a three-pronged plan to make quick improvements to a health care system that has allowed veterans to languish for years while awaiting care and seen administrators falsify records in order to cover up the delays.
“The first strategy is to rebuild trust,” said McDonald, who also personally apologized to all veterans affected by the scandal. The VA has been under fire since a whistleblower revealed that administrators at a Phoenix VA hospital had manipulated records to make it look like patients had shorter wait times, even though they often waited for months, some dying before getting care. While a recent inspector general report did not conclusively link the delays to deaths, it did find deep problems and a “corrosive culture” throughout the national VA health system. A rigid hierarchy has led to poor communication in the department, with lower level employees afraid to voice concerns about problems and made veterans the lowest priority, McDonald said. As part of his strategy to change the culture, he said he has directed all VA facilities to conduct town hall meetings in their communities to get feedback from the veterans they serve. “We want to look at everything we do through the lens of the veteran,” he said. The plan also calls for a short-term streamlining of the appointment scheduling process while the VA works on installing entirely new scheduling software as well as simplifying the rules for where veterans can get care.
Max D. Lederer Jr., Publisher Terry Leonard, Editor Robert H. Reid, Senior Managing Editor Tina Croley, Managing Editor for Content Amanda L. Trypanis, U.S. Edition Editor Michael Davidson, Revenue Director CONTACT US 529 14th Street NW, Suite 350, Washington, D.C. 20045-1301 Email: stripesweekly@stripes.com Editorial: (202) 761-0908 Advertising: (202) 761-0910 Daniel Krause, Weekly Partnership Director: krause.dan@stripes.com Additional contact information: stripes.com
“We are too complicated from the veteran’s standpoint,” McDonald has received early plaudits from veterans groups for the tour of veterans facilities he embarked on in his first few weeks and his push to make changes quickly. “In his first few weeks, Secretary McDonald has continued to show veterans he has our back,” Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America President Paul Rieckhoff said in a released statement after Monday’s press conference. Implementing those changes, though, is a daunting task and for now, McDonald has offered few details on what the changes will look like on the ground. For starters, the VA’s ambitious plans include hiring tens of thousands more doctors and nurses, a drive that will be more difficult given the VA’s badly tainted reputation. McDonald is also under pressure to fire administrators who caused healthcare delays and were involved in falsifying data, some apparently getting bonuses for fraudulently positive wait-time data at their facilities. Asked by reporters why the VA hadn’t fired more people connected to the scandal, McDonald urged patience. “While those investigations are going on, we cannot take definitive action but we’re doing the best we can,” he said. druzin.heath@stripes.com Twitter: @Druzin_Stripes
This publication is a compilation of stories from Stars and Stripes, the editorially independent newspaper authorized by the Department of Defense for members of the military community. The contents of Stars and Stripes are unofficial, and are not to be considered as the official views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. government, including the Defense Department or the military services. The U.S. Edition of Stars and Stripes is published jointly by Stars and Stripes and this newspaper. The appearance of advertising in this publication, including inserts or supplements, does not constitute endorsement by the DOD or Stars and Stripes of the products or services advertised. Products or services advertised in this publication shall be made available for purchase, use, or patronage without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, physical handicap, political affiliation, or any other nonmerit factor of the purchaser, user, or patron.
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eptember 2001: Dark it doesn’t get easier. green mobility bags, September 2007: The small zippered mouths gaping flag still waves on one green open, mar the order bag as we prepare for another of our living room floor, and trip to the airport, another our lives. In more peaceful deployment, more uncertainty. days the bags were forgotten, But really, the uncertainties of stacked on top of some boxes life are always there, relegated in our garage. Now they’re to the pile in the garage like the spread out on the living room green bags were. Sometimes floor, demanding our attenit’s good to bring them into the tion, like the news footage rooms where we live, examine from New York, Virginia and the contents, pack them up and Pennsylvania. face the unknown. It makes us My husband empties the more aware and appreciative bags, scrutinizes their conof the life we live in our nation tents: T-shirts, camouflage and the sacrifices that make it gear, gas mask and other nepossible. cessities strewn on the carpet. September 2014: This time, One bag has a small American it’s my bags that are zipped up flag attached, clinging by one and ready to go. I’m not headcorner. It’s a reminder of aned to a war zone, of course. other war, stapled to the canMy beat is the home front, vas at the last minute before a and I’ve covered it for nearly departure 10 years ago. In the 30 years relative peace of the intervenincluding SPOUSE CALLS — ing years, it was easy to forget 13 anniverwhat is now clear to us. Life is saries of the uncertain. day our lives Our children troop downchanged stairs for breakfast and stop forever. short when they see the bags. Every “Where’s Daddy going?” they year on Sept. ask. Television scenes of fallen 11, we reskyscrapers and airplanes member the were too distant to change thousands their lives, but the sight of who died Terri Barnes Daddy’s bags that day in brings events 2001 and the home to them, Join the conversation with Terri at thousands of stripes.com/go/spousecalls and to me. U.S. military September men and 2005: Dark women who green mobility bags, zipped up have died since then. We also and piled on the luggage cart, remember those who live, signal another departure for which brings me to the reason my husband. The flag is still my bags are packed. flying on one bag. I’m glad I I’m going to a party. I have a sewed it on this time. This will friend, Karen, whose birthday be its fourth trip to another, is Sept. 11. She lives in another less peaceful part of the world. state, and I haven’t seen her On the way to the airport, in a while, but this year I’m we take two of our children for going to join with other friends their first day of school. Our to celebrate her life and our youngest stays with me. By friendship. the time all the goodbyes are My military family, like said, and I am driving away most, can hardly remember from the airport terminal, I a time before that sunny and am numb. In the back seat, my now sacred Tuesday, when son is quiet for a while, and terrorism, war and deployment then asks again what we’ve became household words for already answered: “How long us; when uncertainty came will Dad be gone? Will he be into the rooms where we live gone for my birthday?” to remind us that life is fragile “Yes, baby.” and precious. In the rearview mirror I We do remember the reasee he is holding back tears sons for the struggle, which — four lanes of freeway and is not over, as recent events no place to pull over. Words have demonstrated. Freedom are so useless. I want to hold requires sacrifice. Life is him and cry with him. We’ve indeed precious — and worth been through this before, but celebrating.
Veteran Owned Businesses Windy City LLC
Orion Construction Inc
1410 Rudakof Cir Anchorage, AK 99508 (907) 222-0844 adaktu.net
4701 E Shaws Dr Wasilla, AK 99654 (907) 631-3550 orionconstructioninc.net
Historical Urban Wear
Revl Inc
PO Box 141402 Anchorage, AK 99524 (907) 351-8834 classyurbanwear.com
Denali Graphics and Frame
650 W 58th Ste J Anchorage, AK 99518 (907) 563-8302 revlinc.net/Contact.aspx
World-wide Movers Inc
Alaska Commercial Carpenting and Services 8530 Gordon Cir Anchorage, AK 99507 (907) 830-9878 www.accs1.com
135 Christensen Dr Anchorage, AK 99501 (907) 243-0668 www.computermatrixcourtreporters.com
Alaska Veteran’s Business Alliance
8150 Petersburg St Anchorage, AK 99507 (907) 349-2300 www.containerspecialtiesak.com
4141 B St Ste 203 Anchorage, AK 99503 (907) 344-5505 www.akconstsurveys.com
7120 Hart St Anchorage, AK 99518 (907) 349-2581 world-widemovers.com
Mat-Su Tactial
4900 E Palmer-Wasilla Hwy Wasilla, AK 99654 (907) 357-3381 matsutactical.com/index.html
Federal Resource Solutions
PO Box 244911 Anchorage, AK 99524 (760) 473-2982 www.4frs.com
3705 Arctic Blvd #1335 Anchorage, AK 99503 (907) 279-4779 www.akvba.org
M-W Drilling Inc
A-Two Septic
7920 Schoon St Anchorage, AK 99518 (907) 522-6684 www.alaskanace.com
8460 E Gold Bullion Blvd Palmer, AK 99645 (907) 841-8632 www.a2septic.com
Computer Matrix Court Reporter
Alaska Construction Surveys LLC
5001 Arctic Blvd Ste 3 Anchorage, AK 99503 (907) 561-4456 denaligraphics.com
12200 Avion St Anchorage, AK 99516 (907) 345-4000 mwdrillinginc.com
Central Environmental
311 N Sitka St Anchorage AK 99501 (907) 561-0125 www.cei-alaska.com/contactus.html
Container Specialties of Alaska
Custom Truck Inc
Ace Delivery and Moving Inc
4748 Old Seward Hwy Anchorage, AK 99503 (907) 563-5490 www.customtruckak.com
Brown’s Electrical Supply
8240 Petersburg St Anchorage, AK 99507 (907) 562-2312 www.denalidrilling.com
365 Industrial Way Anchorage, AK 99501 (907) 272-2259 www.brownselectric.com
Denali Drilling
J&S Auto Repair
21065 Bill Stevens Dr Chugiak, AK 99567
(907) 688-1191 www.jsautoak.com
Lemay Engineering and Consulting
4272 Chelsea Way Anchorage, AK 99504 (907) 250-9038 www.lemayengineering.com/Contact.html
LMC Management Services
2440 E Tudor Rd 1123 Anchorage, AK 99507 (907) 242-6069 www.lmcmanagementservices.com
Lugo’s Upholstery
648 E Dowling Rd Ste 101 Anchorage AK 99518 (907) 562-5846 www.lugosupholstery.com
Microbyte Computers
PO Box 90057 Anchorage, AK 99509 (907) 382-8397 www.mbcak.com/contact
September 12, 2014
Can you:
Volunteers needed
Meet and greet guests, data entry, and give tours? Schedule volunteers & directors for duty each month?
Alaska Veterans Museum
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STARS AND STRIPES
Write press releases, call media organizations, and/or design ads? Coordinate with schools, Scouts, etc to arrange tours and other events?
is Yo ap ur pr he ec lp iat ed
Brief VFW’s, American Legions, AMVETS & DAV Chapters on AVM activities ? Help collect oral histories; work directly with our Veterans to document their experiences? Help by donating Military uniforms & artifacts form WWI, Korea, Vietnam & the Gulf Wars? Help raise money to continue and expand our programs, and ultimately move to a larger space?
Please call: Suellyn @ (907) 696-4904 to offer any help you can.
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STARS AND STRIPES
September 12, 2014
FREELANCE WRITERS Stars & Stripes U.S. Edition – Alaska is looking for freelance writers to add a local flavor to our newspaper. Two specific areas of interest are “Veteran Spotlights”, focusing on Alaska Veterans, and “Explore Alaska” focusing on Alaska adventure. Other topics will be added as well.
If you have a desire to help tell our readers about our local Veterans, Alaska’s outdoors, and other newsworthy topics, please email SteveA@AK.net. Please include some writing samples.