European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 5, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                June 2007 stars and stripes Page afghan president Hamid talks with defense Secretary Robert Gates on monday during a meeting at the presidential Palace in Shah afghan military seeking More Aid to fight enemies by itself by Robert Burns the associated press Camp Afghanistan the head of the afghan National army said monday his country is pushing the United states to accelerate training and equipping his so afghans can fight the Taliban on their we dont have air Bis Mullah the army chief of said while travelling with defense Secre tary Robert that is a very serious we Are looking Forward to the Day when we can fight the enemy inde i will ask the Secretary of defense to expedite the process so we can do the Only Way to defeat the enemy is to become Khan mentioned that the has com with the help of to build ing an afghan National army of soldiers by the end of next but its not going to be he Well ask for making his second visit to Afghanistan As defense came to Camp a training Camp about 5 Miles Southwest of to Confer with and afghan commanders train ing afghan special Gates said sunday despite a Rise in insurgent violence this he re Mains convinced that and nato forces Are making steady Progress against the i think actually things Are cautiously headed in the right Gates in concerned to keep it moving that iranian weapons in Afghanistan a concern for Gates the associated press Afghanistan iranian weapons have begun flowing into defense Secretary Robert Gates said but he and afghan president Hamid Karzai agreed involve ment by Tehran cannot yet be there have been indications Over the past few months of weapons coming in from Gates we do not have any information about whether the government of Iran is supporting is behind or whether its or exactly whats behind the iranian weapons Are being supplied to the Taliban he adding that some May also be headed to criminals involved in Afghanistan drug a nato spokesman said last week that a pow Erful Type of Roadside bomb like those used in was found recently in the never before seen is known As an or explosively formed it was notable for its level of sophistication and has characteristics Sim Ilar to the Type in Iraq that have borne iranian manufacturing Karzai suggested it was unlikely Tehran was be Hind the flow of theres no reason that any of our neighbors should support the Karzai we dont have any such evidence so he Iran and Afghanistan have never been As Friendly As they Are Gates also said commanders have been relieved that an expected Spring offensive by the Taliban has been less intense than some he said it was thwarted by an afghan Alliance offensive that has put the Taliban off their iraqi soldiers now switching Over to m16 Mcclatchy newspapers Baghdad the military in Iraq has begun issuing m16 rifles to some Iraq troops in Exchange for their ak47 military officials describe the part of a billion arms Purchase for the country Security As a modernization and a vote of Confidence in iraqi the m16 requires More care than the rugged and familiar and demands a better trained the military is requiring that each iraqi Soldier turn in his take four Days of and be photographed with the serial num Ber of his new because the two weapons use Dif Ferent size and iraqi military leaders Hope the change will staunch the flow of am munition to bad the different ammunition will prevent said Haida Mah a 31yearold member of an iraqi army Quick response team in wait province Southeast of Bagh now we Only get half of the ammunition we should because the other half is the Iraq study group report is sued last year found there Are ample reports of iraqi police offic ers participating in training in order to obtain a and ammunition for use in sectarian Vio More than iraqi soldiers have made the switch to the the first and m4s for have been placed with iraqi troops where working in concert with american troops in none has been Given to police which Are considered less reliable and More but eventually their Day will soldiers have to adapt to some Dif the Kalashnikov can fire its entire Magazine with a single pull of the the m16 tops out at three shot we cant just hand them out from the Back of a truck and heres your said David a Security assistance officer helping the iraqis with their foreign arms but the switch will be Worth he because trafficking the new rifles will be three iraqi soldiers with ak47s Man their posts in Scott Kansas City vice chairman of joint chiefs to retire by Jeff Schogol stars and stripes the vice chairman of the joint chiefs of staff is Edmund Giambastiani is stepping Down after More than 37 years in the said Pentagon spokesman Bryan we should All thank him for such Long and not Only honorable but also effective service to this Whitman Whitman said he did not know if Giambastiani had written defense Secretary Robert Gates a for Mal letter announcing his intention to a senior defense official said Giambastiani had decided to retire to spend More time with his family and explore new the official declined to Giambastiani also feels he has accomplished Many of the things he came to Washington to the official widely known As Admiral Giambastiani graduated from the naval Academy with leadership distinction in his previous assignments include serving As head of submarine development Squadron 12 enlisted program manager at Navy recruiting com Mand Headquarters in Washington natos first supreme Allied commander transformation and senior military assistant to former defense Secretary Donald in August Giambastiani replaced Peter Pace As the  officer in the in that Giambastiani worked with the services on acquisition Giambastiani also serves As co chair of the deputies advisory working which oversees the implementation of the 2006 quadrennial defense among other called for special forces to grow by 15 or five email Jeff Schogol at  report youth souring on military stars and stripes citing an internal Pentagon sur the exam Iner reported monday that Ameri Cas Young people Are less inclined to join the military when the army and Marine corps need new troops to fight in Iraq and the Root cause May be the men tors of High school another internal Pentagon poll shows fathers and other influences As a group have soured on military there is no question we Are con because it does affect How youths themselves View the War and influences the subsequent Deci Sions they Curtis director of the pentagons accessions policy told the notable is the loss of support among the paper four years As the War in Iraq 44 percent of fathers said they would recommend military service if a child its 32 the pentagons periodic youth Survey asks a straightforward ques Tion How Likely is it that you will be serving the military in the next few years the examiner reported that after the the percentage of men answering definitely or probably held constant for Whites 18 Blacks 23 per cent and hispanics 36 but in the following two those numbers Accord ing to Survey results the examiner by june Whites had dropped to 14 percent Blacks to 13 percent and hispanics to 19 per the numbers Are the lowest in five