Gen. Stanley McChrystal, right, arrives at a U.S. base in Logar Province, Afghanistan, last month.

Barbara Starr
CNN Pentagon Correspondent

President Obama’s national security team is now intensively looking at alternative strategies for the war in Afghanistan they hope to present to the President within the next three weeks, a senior U.S. official familiar with the highly confidential discussions told CNN Wednesday.

The alternatives would not require the tens of thousands of additional troops General Stanley McChrystal says would be needed to carry out the counterinsurgency called for by the President back in March. Several sources tell CNN McChrystal’s assessment—which only offered the single option of a full counterinsurgency effort—essentially put the President in the position of all or nothing acceptance. Officials privately describe the situation as the president being ‘in a box,” and the situation as messy.

According to this official, one alternative being discussed inside the Administration is to continue current military operations for the next year, but also accelerate reconciliation with Taliban leaders and warlords. In addition, the alternative calls for getting an agreement to base a significant U.S military intelligence gathering operations inside Afghanistan to keep watch for any re-emergence of Al Qaeda.  The official describes this as a “hybrid” strategy somewhat short of pure counterinsurgency but with more capability than a counter terrorism strategy which would involve a limited number of troops only targeting Al Qaeda.

Despite public statements that the internal discussions are simply an effort to make sure the current strategy is the correct one, this official and others describe to CNN a view that the current debate reflects an urgent scramble to give the President new options in the wake of the McChrystal report which suggested the mission in Afghanistan would fail without more troops, resources, and a major new U.S. commitment after eight years of war.

This official also described a growing sense of urgency with each day that the Afghan presidential election remains undecided. The question of reconciling with Taliban leaders may depend in large part on there being a functioning government with even perceived legitimate power to undertake such an effort he said.

The official also said that its now expected General McChrystal will come back to Washington sometime in the weeks ahead to speak directly to the President and other NSC members about the situation in Afghanistan.

Even as this debate goes on, General McChyrstals request for more resources to combat the insurgency there will be sent to Washington in the next several days, according to Geoff Morrrell Pentagon press spokesman. McChrystal had previously been told by the Obama administration to delay presenting that force recommendation until he was asked for it, but Gates will now take the request and keep it confidential until decisions on strategy are made.

Morrell confirmed the requst is "analytical," rather than a detailed list of military units and pieces of equipment required. It will be a recommendation about what "resources" are needed to carry out the counterinsurgency strategy the general laid out in an assessment he
submitted to the Obama administration several weeks ago. In that report, McChrystal said more troops were required, as well as a significant and lengthy commitment to fighting the growing insurgency.

But the delay ordered by the administration for a specific troop request
has sparked controversy. "What I really don't understand ... is why you would tell your general in the field not to send his recommendations for the troop levels that are needed in order to implement a strategy which, according to the chairman of the Joint

Chiefs of Staff, was formulated last March," said Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, on Tuesday. "Any leader, I think, would want to get the maximum amount of information from your people you have given positions of responsibility," he added.

A senior U.S. military official confirmed that the White House is now
reviewing the whole idea of that counterinsurgency strategy that President Barack Obama approved in March. The official said that review is due to the rising violence in Afghanistan, the unresolved Afghan presidential election and the dire outlook presented by McChrystal.

In his assessment of the situation there, McChrystal warned that more
troops are needed within the next year or the war "will likely result in
failure," according to a copy of the 66-page document obtained by The
Washington Post.

"Failure to gain the initiative and reverse insurgent momentum in the
near term (next 12 months) - while Afghan security capacity matures - risks an outcome where defeating the insurgency is no longer possible," U.S. and NATO commander McChrystal said in the document

Barbara Starr and Adam Levine
CNN

The Obama administration is in the process of establishing new procedures that could allow prisoners to challenge their detentions at a U.S. facility in Afghanistan, according to Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman.

For the first time at the Bagram Air Base detention facility, detainees will be given representatives who will help them prepare their cases.

Under the new policy, which was decided in July, a first review of a detainee's status will come within 60 days of detention, Whitman explained. They will have a military person appointed as a "personal representative" who can shepherd them through the process and help gather witness statements, although it's not at all clear how that would happen.

Those already in detention will be given a personal representative to assist them in front of a review board for their appearances every six months.

Keep Reading...

Barbara Starr
CNN Pentagon Correspondent

While the military has instituted dozens of programs to help troubled soldiers with post traumatic stress, brain injuries, and other problems, a number of troops at Fort Hood have privately told the nation’s top military officer they feel they are treated poorly because they are wounded, ill or injured.

In an April 19 confidential memo to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen, outlined a number of problems he observed during a trip to several military locations in Texas days before. CNN obtained the memo from a military source, and both the Army and Mullen staffers confirmed its authenticity.

During the visit Mullen met privately with about 30 wounded troops at Fort Hood. “The wounded expressed concern that, at Fort Hood, they were stigmatized and treated as lesser Soldiers (sic) for being wounded, ill, or injured.” The troops had previously been treated at Brooke Army Medical Center where they said they were a higher priority for that staff, than the Army staff at Fort Hood.

“The wounded, ill, and injured also feel guilt for not being with their operational units. Unfortunately, the operational units have generally severed relationships with them,” Mullen said. Senior enlisted troops recently returned from the warzone also told Mullen “psychological health assets in theater were overwhelmed during their most recent deployment.”

Several sources confirmed the Mullen memo concerned Secretary Gates so much he asked General George Casey, the Army Chief of Staff, for a response to these concerns. A spokesman for Casey confirmed that Casey and other Army leaders continue to be aware of these general concerns and are focused on a number of programs to help soldiers.

The memo however provides a unique insight behind the scenes into what soldiers are privately saying. Mullen said the troops also told him “they believe they are being denied second opinions on their medical conditions by the military medical professionals who are treating them.”

CNN recently visited Fort Hood to observe several programs underway to treat returning soldiers and improve their resiliency to battlefield stress. Mullen has spoken about how Fort Hood as succeeded in dramatically reducing suicides and traffic accident deaths among returning troops. In the memo Mullen commends Fort Hood commanding general Lt Gen Rick Lynch for steps he has taken to provide programs to help troops.

But the memo is a private indication of some of the deep problems the military is still facing. For example, Mullen noted the three week course at Fort Hood to treat mental health symptoms can only accommodate eight soldiers at a time. Fort Hood on average has more than 50,000 troops on base at any one time.

Barbara Starr
Pentagon Correspondent

Defense Secretary Robert Gates for the first time is outlining potential Obama Administration plans to selectively enforce the "don't ask don't tell" ban on gays in the military so that some gays could serve.

Gates says he is now looking at ways to make the ban "more humane" including letting people serve who may have been outed due to vengeance or a jilted lover. The remarks were made in a transcript released Tuesday by the Pentagon.

Gates told reporters traveling with him, "One of the things we're looking at - is there flexibility in how we apply this law?" As the "don't ask don't tell" law now stands, anyone who is openly gay in the military is expelled if they are found out.

Gates indicated he is looking at several options. "Let me give you an example. Do we need to be driven when the information, to take action on somebody, if we get that information from somebody who may have vengeance in mind or blackmail or somebody who has been jilted."

Keep reading...

Program Note: Tune in tonight to hear more on the North Korea nuclear threat on AC360° at 10 p.m. ET.

Commercial satellite imagery of Yongbyon Nuclear site from the Institute for Science and International Security.

Barbara Starr
CNN Pentagon Correspondent

Here's some insight to consider, as North Korea launches short range rockets and threatens military action, while thousands of US troops are stationed in the region:

- Four US military sources tell me there is no evidence North Korea has restarted its nuclear plant. An analysis of commercial satellite imagery by the Institute for Science and International Security makes a similar observation. Based on their reading of satellite images taken May 26th there does not appear to be any emissions from the plant.  That’s not to say the situation won’t change.

- There is no unusual military movement on the North Korean side of the border, US military sources say, noting that NK is ‘getting a lot of mileage” out of this rhetoric and saber rattling, as always. But there's no evidence at this point that North Korea is taking any conventional military steps.

- I am told the US has no current plans to move any units around inside the Pacific theater or send fresh units there. US troops in Korea are always at the ready but there is no move to step up the stance.

- There is concern about the nuclear test. The US is analyzing air samples and we might get some results by the end of the week

The bottom line: there is tons of rhetoric, little action. The big focus remains the nuke test.

A U.S. soldier on patrol in Khost province in February 2009.

Barbara Starr
CNN Pentagon Correspondent

The Pentagon is considering a significant overhaul in how it deploys critical military units to Afghanistan to fight the insurgency, a U.S. military source tells CNN. The change is based on the experience in Iraq of special operations units commanded by Lt. General Stanley McChrystal. McChrystal is slated to become the next top commander in Afghanistan if he is confirmed by the Senate.

The plan is evolving as Defense Secretary Robert Gates is expressing growing concern that American public support for the war in Afghanistan will begin declining unless the Obama Administration can demonstrate progress in improving the security situation by the end of this year according to his top spokesman.

Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell tells CNN that Gates believes “its critically important” for both the US and Afghan governments to make progress in the coming months although “that doesn’t mean you have to have decisive gains,” Morrell said.

Secretary Gates believes the Taliban has momentum in southern Afghanistan at this time, Morrell said. But with more than 20,000 additional US troops on the way to the warzone, people want to see “tangible” progress, Morrell said.

Gates’ concerns about potential declining US public support for the war were recently underscored in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

“People are willing to stay in the fight I believe, if they think we’re making headway. If they think we’re stalemated and having our young men and women get killed, then patience is going to run out pretty fast,” he told the newspaper in an interview.

The new idea being considered calls for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of troops to train and deploy as a unique battlefield organization, specializing in counterinsurgency warfare. The official emphasized the troops could engage in a full spectrum of operations ranging from combat, to providing medical care. In Iraq, the strategy was used to great effect on a smaller scale within the Joint Special Command, which McChrystal commanded.

“We want cohesive units, fleet of foot, specializing in counterinsurgency warfare,” the official said. The troops would deploy separately from routine deployments by other support units. But given that thousands of additional combat forces are scheduled to arrive in Afghanistan in the coming month its not clear how this new plan would be implemented within the structure of the expanding conventional force.

After serving in the war zone, the new units would come back but still stay together and most importantly stay informed on the area of Afghanistan in which they served though intelligence and military assessments. Then, when its time to return to the war zone, they would go back to the same area. The goal is develop troops with growing expertise in a particular region, the official said. And the additional benefit is the unit would build up a level of confidence with local and provincial Afghan officials who would come to know them over time.

The official underscored that one complaint the US military continues to hear from the Afghans is that US troops come to a region, serve a year and then the Afghan ‘never see them again.” This puts the incoming troops at a continuing disadvantage in a culture which values ongoing personal interaction.

The official said this type of organization closely mirrors how McChrystal operated in Iraq when he led the Joint Special Operations Command, the official said. However the idea is likely to be difficult to initially implement and it could be controversial inside the military. One potential idea calls for troops to deploy more often but for shorter tours of duty than the current 12 months. That could put further strain on military families. In addition, if troops have career expertise only in one area, it could hurt their chances for advancement within the military.

The official also noted that under McChrystal the US military will be “stepping up its intelligence game” in Afghanistan, gathering more intelligence on specific insurgent leaders, and conducting more reconnaissance and surveillance.

The plan is preliminary, and has not yet been approved by Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff or Defense Secretary Robert Gates, the source said. But Mullen several weeks ago asked McChrystal to develop a plan to provide innovative ways to increase the US military focus on Afghanistan which is now the top military priority, a senior military official tells CNN. The official briefed CNN on the plan, but declined to be named because it is all still in the preliminary stages, and many decisions have yet to be made.

Mullen now believes the U.S. military must fundamentally improve the security situation in Afghanistan in the next 12 to 24 months, the official said. That is the fundamental reason the chairman decided to press for McChrystal to become the top commander, based on his counterinsurgency field experience in Afghanistan.

A machine gun points out from a U.S. Marine helicopter flying over southwest Afghanistan.

Barbara Starr
CNN Pentagon Correspondent

Two little-noticed but telling press releases today from U.S. Forces in Afghanistan offer clues that bad times may be ahead in Afghanistan. Essentially the coalition said that over just 12 hours it had located and destroyed two ZPU-1 anti-aircraft guns in Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan. These are Soviet era weapons, long considered obsolete in the West.

So what's to worry? Plenty.

Operated by a four-man crew they shoot down helicopters. And for the Marines in southern Afghanistan, that’s bad news.

Senior US commanders are concerned…wondering if this capability could be a ‘game changer” in the hands of insurgents. It was just a few days ago while in Helmand with CNN that General James Conway talked about the latest intelligence indicating insurgents had heavy anti-aircraft weapons:

“We are hearing intelligence reports to that degree. We have not actually been fired on. Nor have we identified them on the ground with our surveillance and reconnaissance but there rumors there are intercepts there are indications that there could be something like that in the weeks and months to come.”

There have been unsuccessful attempts to shoot down helicopters in the south with surface-to-air fire, but the latest intelligence points to heavier caliber weapons that could have a greater chance of success. And these two press releases show what Conway was worried about a few days ago, is already here.

All this comes as the security situation in the south continues to deteriorate in some spots. US Army Brigadier General John Nicholson, the top US commander in the south, told us on this same trip that the Taliban now control some places. “There are some areas because we haven't had to date sufficient forces on the ground.”

Fixing that problem is the initial step of the Obama Administration’s strategy in sending 21,000 additional troops into the war zone.

Security isn't the only priority, but it is the first priority. About 4,000 troops will train Afghan security forces. The US plan focuses heavily on getting Afghan security forces to improve their capability. As they stand up, the US forces can stand down…or so the thinking goes. Sounds like Iraq, doesn't it?

Will that strategy work here, in a country with hundreds of tribal factions and safe havens across the border in Pakiistan? Everyone hopes so, but for now perhaps the most interesting question General Conway got from a young marine standing duty in Helmand was, “Sir, do you think we will be fighting here longer than we fought in Iraq?” Conway acknowledged that for now at least, he just doesn’t know.

U.S. soldiers stand guard outside a mosque during a prisoner release Sunday in Baghdad, Iraq.

Barbara Starr
Pentagon Correspondent

President Obama is expected to approve a proposal to withdraw most combat troops from Iraq within 19 months, Pentagon officials told CNN Wednesday.

Although no decision has been announced by the White House, "That's the way the wind is blowing," a Pentagon official said.

A White House spokesman said the president has made no final decisions about Iraq policy.

Obama's campaign pledge was to withdraw combat troops within 16 months. But shortly after taking office, he asked Pentagon and military commanders for an analysis of other time frames.

The Pentagon sent Obama options for withdrawals at 16, 19, and 23 months.

It is expected that the final plan will call for the majority of combat forces to be withdrawn, and keep as many as 50,000 in Iraq to serve mainly as military trainers or advisers.

U.S. military officials said even those residual forces could find themselves in combat.

For the last two months, the U.S. Central Command has been assessing how equipment and personnel will be withdrawn from Iraq, according to a U.S. military official. Video Watch what Obama said Tuesday night about Iraq.

The official did not want to be named because of the sensitivity of discussing withdrawal details before the president's announcement. However, he said the U.S. military is looking at exit routes through Jordan and Kuwait.

The military is trying to determine what equipment might be returned to the United States; transferred to the Iraqi or Jordanian government; sent to Afghanistan; or simply discarded.

Reporter's Note: Tune in to hear more on this story from Peter Bergen tonight on AC360° at 10 p.m. ET.

Barbara Starr | BIO
Pentagon Correspondent

A few points from a US military official with specific direct knowledge of the Afghanistan deployment and what the US military is planning there.

1. the increased troop levels expected to last at minimum three to four years.

2. Obama authorized 17K, 12K will get orders soon, another 5K of support troops will get their orders at a later date.

3. The additional troops will ALL go to Afghanistan’s southern border region with Pakistan. The aim is primarily (but not solely) to begin to stop the flow of foreign fighters across that border.

4. The US troops will be dual purpose: combat and also training afghan army units. But at least another 2,000 US troops needed specifically for the training mission.

5. The concept of operations by the US military: build a new string of forward operating bases (main base areas) and combat outposts (smaller posts in towns and villages like you saw in Iraq)…troops will move around…engaging in both counter terrorism (fighting foreign fighters essentially) and counter insurgency (fighting basic taliban and insurgents inside the country….including the so-called ‘day hires’ that join the Taliban just for money.

6: goal: to have enough troops to ‘seize and hold’ territory…and maintain basic security in an ever broadening area –there simply haven’t been enough troops to hold ground.

7. Taliban continue (as we have said since nov) to maintain at least half a dozen safe haven areas inside Afghanistan. these are prime target areas for US.

President-elect Obama visited injured soldiers and helped volunteers on Monday.

Barbara Starr
CNN Pentagon Correspondent

A US military official confirms to CNN that President elect Barack Obama visited Ward 57 when he went to Walter Reed Army Medical Center earlier today.

Ward 57 is the area of the hospital where mainly those who have undergone amputation or massive other surgeries for their wounds are treated once they are out of ICU. The Ward encompasses an entire floor with a nurses station in the middle and from each side two rows of rooms stretching down the hallway.

When you visit there are often little kids and other family members on the ward visiting their wounded family member. Depending on the case, some wounded are at the point where they can get themselves in and out of wheelchairs, so they might be out in the halls, but some are just out of surgery and in very tough shape—if he visited those he would have been escorted into the room most likely by himself, as the rooms are small.

Barbara Starr | BIO
Pentagon Correspondent

Notes from CNN's Barbara Starr

- Two US military officials confirm to CNN that the Obama national security team is scheduled for a transition meeting this morning. Expected attendance: Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Admiral Michael Mullen, Secretary of State nominee Hillary Clinton, national security advisor James Jones. (not expected Obama or Biden will attend but I don’t have that confirmed one way or the other)

- Topics will be ‘security matters’ the team will face upon taking office the officials say. you can assume middle east is on the list officials say though neither has seen the official agenda.

- Also a ‘tank’ meeting scheduled this afternoon for joint chiefs on Afghanistan strategy review—which is also one of the first issues facing national security team.

CNN's Barbara Starr has the story and the dramatic video from April 2006 of U.S. troops caught in a firefight in Afghanistan.

A wounded man is carried from the attacked rail station.

Barbara Starr | BIO
Pentagon Correspondent

Intel services from the US, India and Britain were trying to piece together what they knew in the wake of the Mumbai bombing, a US official tells me.

There is some thought, according to this source, that the attack might be linked to a group called LET (Lashkar-E-Tayyaba). It’s a terrorist group that is active in the region. One of the largest and most active Islamic militant organizations in south asia–a group that has carried out major attacks in India–its objective ..ending Indian rule KASHMIR–

A US counterterrorism official says “when you see the choice of target and the sophistication of the attack,” Islamic extremism is what would come to mind.

“No one would be surprised if its Islamic extremists,” the counterterrorism official added.

This doesn’t necessarily mean Al Qaeda central, it could be a related group. What are US experts looking at for clues? The level of organization, money, financing, and communication needed to pull this off.

Barbara Starr
CNN Pentagon Correspondent

Barack Obama's potential national security team is looking like a galaxy of high power big star talent. Hilary Clinton as Secretary of State. Retired General Jim Jones as National Security Advisor. Retired Admiral Dennis Blair is rumored to be on tap for Director of National Intelligence–one of a handful of military officers who did a high level tour of duty at the CIA.

And of course there is growing buzz that Obama will ask Bob Gates to stay on as as Secretary of Defense.

But how can all these high powered egos work together? The answer is Obama will want them to...so they will. First up; Gates. He has been pressing for months for the State Department to contribute personnel and billions of dollars in aid for Iraq and Afghanistan. AND he wants the next secretary of state to try again to get NATO allies to send more troops to Afghanistan. Hillary Clinton's star power on the world stage may be the ticket to make that happen.

But the real power broker may be this man–retired Marine Corps four star General James Jones–a former Middle East advisor, and a man with decades of military experience. His job: make sure President Obama gets all the best advice–but also make sure–the team plays together nicely.

So what about two other key players: Admiral Mike Mullen chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and General David Petraeus, now head of Central Command and the currently serving four star overseas military operations in the Middle East. Both men are used to having a direct line to President Bush–everyone is watching to see if it will be the same rules of the road in the Obama White House.

Activists shout slogans during an anti-US protest rally in Karachi on Thursday.

Barbara Starr
CNN Pentagon Correspondent

A senior US military official with direct knowledge confirms these are the top Al Qaeda operatives the U.S. believes have been killed in action as a result of strikes in Pakistan. I realize some of these names (Habib and al Libi in particular) have been out before…but it gives us indication of the success of strikes inside Pakistan.

Wednesday night:

Abdullah Azam al-Saudi, the main link between Al-Qaeda's senior command and Taliban networks in the Pakistani border region with Afghanistan.

Also:

Abu Jihad al Masri (AQ Propaganda Chief, KIA Oct 08)

Khalid Habib (AQ #4, KIA Oct 08)

Abu Khabab al Masri (AQ Chemical/Explosives expert, KIA Jul 08)

Abu Layth al Libi (AQ senior cdr, KIA Jan 08)

Defense Secretary Robert Gates

Barbara Starr
CNN Pentagon Correspondent

1. The question of whether Defense Secretary Robert Gates would stay on the job, if asked by President–elect Barack Obama is a matter of “minute by minute” speculation around the Pentagon according to a senior defense official who said only Gates knows what is really going on at this point. The official said many senior department officials continue to internally discuss the possibility, but he noted Gates staying on “would be difficult in a practical sense,” because so many of the existing senior staff members are political appointees from the Bush Administration.

For example, two of the most influential senior staff members: Robert Rangel, chief of staff and Jim O’Bierne, chief of White House liaison are deep Bush political loyalists—who would have to be replaced—even though Gates has relied on them since the day he got here. Also all the undersecretaries and assistant secretaries would have to leave as a practical political matter, this official said. The bottom line is…do you really ask Bush loyalists to stay?

Nobody knows the answer. This person who is close to Gates but pretty even handed…says his read is Gates hasn’t been formally asked yet. He believes Gates is playing it very close to the vest, to see what the offer looks like, and what those critical staff arrangements would be. He acknowledges the current rumour of the morning is Gates staying, and Richard Danzig as deputy-and moving up. but who knows? Anything still possible…but if Gates stays the details will be awfully interesting.

Some Obama transition people were in the Pentagon on Friday. Top transition official Michelle Flournoy comes to the building today for courtesy calls.

2. Re Obama saying on 60 Minutes last nite he will close Gitmo. This same senior defense official who is a position to know says the Pentagon has long looked at two options. The brig at Charleston , and fed prisons. In addition to legal questions he says members of congress in those areas have been adamantly opposed. He says the estimate is there are currently about 80 detainees considered still to be such a threat they could not likely be released.

Editor's Note:
We are devoting many posts today to the anniversary of 9/11, with first-hand accounts, insight, and commentary dedicated to that day seven years ago that changed our world.

_____________________________________________________

This week, the Pentagon's September 11th memorial will be dedicated to those lost in the attack. CNN's Barbara Starr reports.

Barbara Starr | BIO
Pentagon Correspondent

Journalists are trained that most of the time, the world is gray. Nothing is black and white, there is always some nuance, or piece of context to report. We look for that little something of gray to help explain to our readers and viewers what is going on in the world. The color gray went away that day.

I have always thought I must have been the most clueless journalist in America that morning. I woke up early, saw the weather was absolutely gorgeous in Washington DC and thought only about how early I could sneak out of work since it was my birthday. The phone in the kitchen rang, a Pentagon source was telling me an unmanned drone had crashed a few hours earlier in Iraq. Still, on September 11, 2001, I thought, heck Iraq’s not really a big story, I can still get out early.

I was working as the Pentagon correspondent for ABC News, with the late Jack McWethy, broadcasting from the Pentagon press area along the famous E-ring of the building…home to offices of top generals, admirals, the Defense Secretary and the always cynical press corps.

The morning was beautiful, sunny and warm. I always wondered how America missed the clouds of horror that would explode two hours later. I think you had to be at one of the attack sites to really understand that feeling.

We watched on television as the first plane hit. Myself and several other journalists went into the office of one of our best military sources—a senior navy officer, all of us glued to the screen. The second plane hit, the navy captain turned ashen. We knew it was bad. It was about to get worse.

I starting back down the hall to the ABC office…but suddenly a Pentagon police was running down the hall yelling “Get out get out get out. We’ve been hit…Get out now!” In an instant, the hallway was full of people …Seventeen and half miles of Pentagon corridors, 20,000 people trying to get out.

Jack and I made our way to the nearest exit and found ourselves in a traffic jam of hundreds of people backed up in the hall…the doors had malfunctioned and slammed shut. They automatically had locked as part of the security system in an emergency. It was a long 30 seconds until they opened again.

The sunny morning was now dark where I stood on the attack site along with hundreds of others… Flames shot five stories into the air, the massive black clouds of smoke poured into that sunny blue sky, and for the first few minutes no help. Then of course, sirens screaming from everywhere. Fire trucks, police, federal agents, poured in. Local firemen from the surrounding Virginia suburbs were the first troops on this front line. Someone called for volunteers to help rescue victims. I watched as more than 100 military personnel who had just escaped from the Pentagon instantly surged forward…ready to go back into the flames. No one would be left behind. An Army general I knew well came up to me and said ‘we are at war.” I could only think this must have been the people felt at Pearl Harbor.

For emergency personnel, fighting the fire, tending to the dead and wounded would go on well into the next day. I saw body bags being carried out of the building by young soldiers. I would come to know Colonel Marilyn Wills who jumped out a second story window, flames at her back, lungs full of smoke into the arms of young Navy SEAL below who promised he would catch her and not let her fall. One man who didn’t make it: Max Bielke worked as an Army civilian. Thirty five years earlier, he was the last US combat soldier to leave Vietnam.

And there was a young Army soldier who crawled out of the flames and smoke with his buddies into the sunlight. But then he looked around and one man was missing. It was the mentally disabled man who worked as one of the custodians. He had been in the office cleaning when the plane hit, but hadn’t come out with them. The young man crawled back into the building’s wreckage. The man was curled up safe in a corner, but overwhelmed and unable to move. The young Army soldier instantly slung him over his back and carried him to safety off this battlefield.

On this day there were no shades of gray….heroes in the sunlight fought against the darkness. A few weeks later I joined CNN. I would find myself for the next nearly seven years reporting from the Hindu Kush of Afghanistan to Baghdad’s Green Zone to the borders of Somalia.. But every morning that I come to work here at the Pentagon I walk by the now rebuilt section of the building, always, remembering the 184 souls lost on a lovely sunny September morning.

Barbara Starr
Pentagon Correspondent

Americans have heard the name General David Petraeus and the word Iraq many times together. But with today’s announcement that Petraeus is moving up to head the US Central Command….the name you will start hearing will be General Raymond Odierno. And, you might be wondering…who is “Ray” Odierno?

Odierno commanded the 4th Infantry Division in 2003 when it pulled Saddam Hussein out of the spider hole. Odierno was on his way home in 2004 when his then 26-year-old son Tony was headed into Iraq—the two met for a 90-minute dinner in a mess tent in Kuwait. General Odierno at that point was sometimes referred to as “Tony Soprano” for his very tough line with Iraqis suspected of being involved in insurgent activity.

But for the entire Odierno family, the war was about to change.

Five months later, while on patrol in Baghdad, young Tony was wounded when the Humvee he was riding in was hit by a rocket propelled grenade. The driver was killed instantly; Tony’s armed was ripped off. General Odierno and his wife Linda got the call and were on a plane within hours—like so many other parents-flying to Landstuhl Hospital in Germany to meet the medivac flight out of Iraq.

The Odierno family granted me a rare interview at their home in March 2006 to talk about all of this. Tony had been working as a military aide in the Pentagon to General Peter Pace, then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. And Dad was parked next door in an office as a senior staff aide, taking some time between tours of duty in the combat zone.

General Odierno would return to Iraq shortly after that to be Petraeus’ top operational commander. He worked closely with Petraeus to make the so-called surge work and even privately acknowledged his surprise about the degree of reconciliation among Sunnis.

The tough attitude hasn’t gone away. Ray Odierno makes it clear how furious he is about Iranian weapons killing US soldiers in Iraq.

On the other hand, when I saw the general on a trip to Baghdad this past summer and asked how Tony was doing, he expressed his parental dismay that Tony was “cohabitating” in New York with his girlfriend.

Sadly over the years, I have interviewed many young amputees and wounded, and parents of those troops who didn’t make it back. The Odiernos are very private, but wanted to talk in 2006 because they felt they wanted to reach out to other families and tell them they would make it past the tough times.

Linda Odierno, an Army wife and mother, began weeping when the interview began, recalling her wrenching fears about how much pain Tony was in during those first hours and days.

But it was General Odierno who told me how much the family had pulled together, how Linda had learned to change Tony’s dressings and take care of his needs so he could be nursed at home by her.

And it was General Odierno who told me about his own journey: “As a parent you almost feel sorry for yourself initially, at least I did, and then when I saw Tony I didn't feel sorry for myself.”

Now General Odierno says, when he talks to other military families, he talks as a parent, not as a general.

As the general heads back to Iraq for yet another tour, I saw him in the Pentagon hallway a few days ago. After getting the rib crunching bear hug he gives everybody I, of course, asked how Tony is doing. Dad beamed and said Tony is now engaged to be married.

And that's who Ray Odierno is.

-CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr

The rifle has always been a soldier's best friend, but these days it was never more true for the thousands of US troops in Afghanistan and Iraq who may round a corner and suddenly find themselves in a firefight. That brings us to news over the weekend about the M4 carbine, the workhorse of military rifles. The military and Congress are beginning to look at alternatives.

But guess what? The US Special Operations Command is already on the case.
SOCOM is home to the nations’ most covert troops, the commandos who hunt Osama Bin Laden and other terrorists around the world from the mountains of Afghanistan to the deserts of Iraq.  SOCOM is about to put a new assault rifle in the hands of its operatives that the military says is more reliable than the M4. And while most troops have never even seen the new rifle, I got to fire it...  

Before we get into what that was like, a couple highlights: SOCOM says the new gun won’t jam in the desert dust, is more reliable overall, and most importantly has interchangeable components. For example you can put a shorter barrel on the front if you are about to kick down a door, enter a building and go around tight corners. And with greater accuracy than older rifles, a soldier can stand further away from the enemy and stay out of range.

I got a chance to field test the new weapon a few weeks ago at McDill Air Force Base in Florida. SOCOM assigned two young Army Rangers to show me how to fire the new gun.   

Perhaps I should mention at this point that despite covering the Pentagon for a certain number of years that I'd rather not get too precise about, I had never even touched a real weapon.  So it did seem remarkable that the first one I fire is a new assault rifle for commandos that hasn’t even made it into the field yet. 
 
What was it like?  To aim this assault rifle properly you have to place the side of your face against the stock and look through the sight. I was convinced it would kick and hit me in the cheekbone.  It didn't, but for the unexperienced it was hard to hold steady.

So here's what happened. “Ranger number one” -  no names please, they tell me  —  says okay “now you can take the safety off.”   And so I looked at him and said, of course, ‘Uh can you please tell me which of these things is the safety?” Being a well trained military operative, he had sunglasses on so I couldn’t see if his eyes were rolling at that point. Once I got the safety figured out, I fired about 12 rounds at a target shaped like a human outline. I'm pretty sure I hit the target, but I don't know how many times. (Several of us fired, and we didn't check the target).  It was a sobering experience to handle the same weapon that these young troops will start using in the field later this year, when a reliable rifle can in fact mean the difference between life and death. When the US military goes into battle, there’s no such thing as a fair fight. US troops want to shoot to kill, and end the firefight. The hope is this new weapon will help make that happen.

The question now is what will happen when Colt’s M4 production contract runs out in the next several months. Will the rest of the Army also buy the new rifle that I tried out?

When you are a Pentagon correspondent, as I have been since....oh...I don't want to say how long….you learn that news comes from the strangest places in the 17.5 miles of Pentagon hallways. 

In fact just the other day one of the CIA liaison officers who works here and I were chatting, in the hallway, and he pointed his ‘best intel’ came from hanging out at the Pentagon’s Dunkin Donuts counter in the morning where he could “run into everybody” he needed to talk to without wasting time in endless meetings.

Sometimes you get news by just being in the hallways. You can really get a feel for when things seem to be other than normal, when people are in a crisis mode.

But sometimes you get the most important news by just keeping track of the tidbits and waiting a few weeks for a story to move off the front page. Once it's out of the headlines, then it's time to get down to business and talk to my various deep throats around here.

So here's a tidbit, but it's darn interesting. 

Since the world-shaking headlines of the tragic assassination of Benazir Bhutto last December, it's been a major priority of the highest levels of the Pentagon to get U.S. troops into Pakistan to train Pakistani forces. The tribal regions are a virtual safe haven for Al Qaeda, and an increasing threat. US intelligence officers will tell you, THAT’S where terrorists go these days to get training and plan attacks, including recent attacks in Europe.

But its such a sensitive matter, that the Pentagon hasn’t wanted to talk about it. That’s where the reporter's job comes in. Call it nagging, call it newsgathering. I kept asking, probing, and yes, okay, nagging my sources. What’s going on?  When will you get the agreement you want from Pakistan?

Finally, all the pieces came together and bits of ‘string’ I collected and verified are now ready to report:

Three Pentagon officials tell me that about two weeks Defense Secretary Robert Gates quietly approved deployment orders that will send US military trainers to Pakistan this summer to begin training Pakistan Frontier Corps units in critical counterinsurgency skills to fight the Taliban and Al Qaeda. It still hasn’t been publicly announced.

The deployment will be small, just about two dozen troops. But they will go sometime this summer and stay through the spring of next year, according to officials. All this is the first step in a long-term U.S.-Pakistani military program on counterinsurgency cooperation. The U.S. will begin by training key Frontier Corps units to become trainers themselves so the program can rapidly expand. The Frontier Corps is drawn from tribes in the border area and considered vital in the fight against militants.

Getting the agreement to send U.S. trainers to the Frontier Corps has been a crucial part of the long term U.S. strategy. Several senior U.S. military officials have visited Pakistan to meet with Pakistani Army Chief of Staff Ashfaq Kiyani to get the trainer agreement.  Discussions had quietly continued through recent violence and unrest.

U.S. and Pakistani Army forces this month also have begun a major air assault training exercise, designed to improve the Pakistani Army's ability to conduct helicopter operations such as moving troops in and out of the border region. Nearly 100 US troops are there training several hundred Pakistanis.

And all this is important for many reasons. The U.S. hopes this quiet effort may be the beginning of getting Pakistani forces to challenge the Taliban and Al Qaeda - for real. And American public really do want to know if their young troops are now operating in yet another country that may or may not openly welcome them.

And by the way if you wondered, nope not Dunkin Donuts…I have much better luck hanging out at the Starbucks stand.

- Barbara Starr, Pentagon Correspondent