Jul 20 2007
What Is Really Happening In Iraq
Needless to say the SurrenderMedia is not interested in Iraq because they are obsessed with reporting what is happening in Congress about Iraq than what is happening in Iraq. As if the lense of Congress can shed clarifying light onto the Iraq situation. Congress tends to be more fiction than fact, hyperbole than insight, and pandering than leadership these days. As opposed to a clarifying lense it is a madhouse distortion mirror, reflecting what is wrong in DC verses what is happening in Iraq.
Well, for those more interesting in what is happening in Iraq here are some news updates for today. Stories the SurrenderMedia misses as it looks to DC for information. The top US diplomat in Iraq sees progress, and fear that the Surrendercrats will destroy all the recent progress in a fit of impatient, pre-mature withdrawal:
Ryan Crocker, the top U.S. diplomat in Iraq, said Thursday that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government is making some political progress but faces considerable difficulty in the months ahead trying to heal a nation long gripped by violence.
…
Living in Iraq: “If there is one word, I would use to sum up the atmosphere in Iraq — on the streets, in the countryside, in the neighborhoods and at the national level — that word would be fear,” Crocker said. “For Iraq to move forward at any level, that fear is going to have to be replaced with some level of trust [and] confidence, and that is what the effort at the national level is about.”
Trust in the Surrendercrats to finish the mission we started in 2003? Too pathetic to even contemplate. And as to Congressional benchmarks:
Crocker said, “The longer I am here, the more I am persuaded that progress in Iraq cannot be analyzed solely in terms of these discrete, precisely defined benchmarks because, in many cases, these benchmarks do not serve as reliable measures of everything that is important — Iraqi attitudes toward each other and their willingness to work toward political reconciliation.”
Irrelevant Congressional measures? Geez, Congress has been creating those for decades. No surprise there. What is important, and which is not on any benchmark list I have seen, is
A US-led offensive has “significantly reduced” Al-Qaeda in Iraq’s safe havens in the country, making it more difficult for the group to operate, a top US commander said Thursday.
Lieutenant General Raymond Odierno, the number two commander in Iraq, said the broader Sunni insurgency also has diminished amid a swing in sentiment against Al-Qaeda that has resulted in ceasefires and cooperation with US and Iraqi forces.
“What I have seen is a significant reduction in the Sunni insurgency,” he said, adding that “it’s not completely clean because there is still some Sunni insurgency out there.”
Odierno, speaking to reporters via video link from Iraq, described a split in the Sunni insurgency between groups interested in reconciliation, and others that have gravitated toward Al-Qaeda.
He said the divide has grown wider as US and Iraqi forces have driven Al-Qaeda from areas it once controlled through fear and intimidation.
Insurgent groups that two years ago rebuffed US overtures “believe it is time now to reach out,” Oderno said. “That’s very encouraging to me.”
Meanwhile, the general said US forces drove Al-Qaeda in Iraq from the city of Baquba, northeast of Baghdad, leaving no population center in the country under Al-Qaeda control.
So we have a reduction in the safe haven areas for al-Qaeda to operate out of and we have a reduction in Sunni insurgent numbers as they make peace with the US and the Iraqi government. Not on the Congressional list of indicators of success in Iraq, but real world indicators only the insanely obsessed can deny.
For a more complete round up on The Surge and the tide rolling across Iraq see here.
If you want to unstable your morning and swallow your cup along with your latte this morning read this.
Crocker and Patraeous did a classified video conference with congress yesterday followed up by a non classified broadcast.
The surrendercrats still held their ground.
Does any one think these people have even a shred of credibility any more.
Form the line to the left.
The Dems will not listen because it is not about the war, it’s about the money, money they want for their programs.
Surrendercrats are a living example of a pre-mature withdrawl.
I cant do graphics to show what an AT-4 is here at AJ’s but Gateway Pudit has the pic.
I dont think this is something you can purchase in the hunting section at WalMart to say the least.
Greetings,
Would you people just chill! Please, it was an empty AT-4 round. Empty. That means it was a platic tube. No more, no less.
Yes, the rocket (if there was one in the tube) could pentrate armor. Could it hit an airplane moving at 100 MPH? No. The aiming reticle is set up to target vehicles moving from 20 to 50 MPH.
This is an example of some soldier who thought a piece of history would be cool and then got nervous and disposed of it. No more, no less.
Regards,
Things are improving, therefore, we must leave! Demacrates, and more and more republicans want to surrender.
The Guts of the WWII era are gone.
I just wonder though, does anyone really understand Islam in any Western Government or in any news organization? Even the excellent bloggers such as Bill Roggo, Michael Yon, Michael Fomento who have written excellently on the war, do any of these people understand Islam? Do they understand Sharia (Islamic) Law? Have they studied the Quaran, the Hadith, or the Sira?
Without the understanding of the above, and how they are viewed by Muslims, It would seem hard to judge much of what we are shown and told.
I love Michael Yon. I think he as a War Reporter, is top notch. But I do not think he understands any of the above. A few months back he reported on a Christian area of Iraq that was deserted. He had pictures of a College and neighborhood that was empty. Well, at the time I knew that it was empty because the Islamists told the Christians there they had three choices. Convert to Islam, leave the area within 3 days, or die.
Yesterday he had a report that in part asked the residents to Take an oath of allegiance to the Constitution of Iraq.
Under normal circumstances, this would be a good and honorable thing to do. But does anyone understand that the Constitution of Iraq is based on Sharia (Islamic) Law? Does anyone understand what Sharia Law is?
Then there is the Best General we have in our ranks: General Petraeus. I like the man, I support the man. For Counterinsurgency, we have no one better. But does General Petraeus understand how this is related to Islam? Has he studied the items I listed above? I just dont think so. Petraeus: “The enemy is extremism, we think…”
He was asked two simple questions: who is the enemy and what is the U.S. fighting for? He didn’t answer the second one at all and he identified the enemy as “extremism.”
“Extremism.” What kind of extremism, General? Just any extremism at all? An extreme attachment to spinach, or volleyball, or truth and justice? Christian extremism? Buddhist extremism?
Of course, when he identifies Sunni and Shi’ite extremists, we get a clearer picture of what he means, but the fact that he doesn’t dare say it plainly doesn’t bode well for any hope of isolating what exactly it is about this “extremism” that he objects to, and combatting those elements on other fronts. Nor does he help us locate the good, benign, non-extreme form of this extreme thing we’re fighting.
The more I learn about Islam, the more question I have about the West’s understanding of it.
Could we have won WWII without an understand, a thourough understanding, of the Nazis?
It is a War we must win. But without a thourough understanding of the enemy, I don’t see how we CAN win.
I just thank god for Front Page Magazine, Jihad Watch and a few other sites. They try to help the West understand, but I don’t think they are enough.
Petraeus: “The enemy is extremism, we think…â€
He was asked two simple questions: who is the enemy and what is the U.S. fighting for? He didn’t answer the second one at all and he identified the enemy as “extremism.â€
“Extremism.†What kind of extremism, General? Just any extremism at all? An extreme attachment to spinach, or volleyball, or truth and justice? Christian extremism? Buddhist extremism?
Of course, when he identifies Sunni and Shi’ite extremists, we get a clearer picture of what he means, but the fact that he doesn’t dare say it plainly doesn’t bode well for any hope of isolating what exactly it is about this “extremism†that he objects to, and combatting those elements on other fronts. Nor does he help us locate the good, benign, non-extreme form of this extreme thing we’re fighting.
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/2007/07/017465print.html