Posted on 09/24/2007 11:55:31 AM PDT by Kaslin
RAMADI, IRAQ – I met and interviewed dozens of Army officers in Baghdad and Ramadi, but none who were as admired and respected by the men who serve under them as much as 3rd Infantry Division Lieutenant Colonel Mike Silverman from Midway, Georgia. Junior officers and enlisted men nicknamed him “the forty pound brainer,” and admire him for his guts as well as his head. “He went out and spent 12 hours a day in his hot tank,” during the battle of Ramadi one soldier said. “He risked getting blown up just like everyone else.” “I had served with him before,” said another. “When he told me he needed me in Ramadi, that was all I needed to hear. I mean, I didn’t have any choice because the Army gave me my orders, but that didn’t matter once I knew Colonel Silverman was out here.” “I’d do anything for that man,” said a third, “and I don’t like officers.”
I had dinner with him at the dining facility and interviewed him afterwards in his office at the Blue Diamond base in northern Ramadi.
“How long have you been in Ramadi?” I said.
“Since the last week of January, 2007,” he said. “When I first got here my area of operations was the southern half of downtown. It was ugly then, especially for the civilians. We found more than 50 dead in just one grave in the desert. 50,000 – 70,000 people have returned so far since the war ended in April.”
“Describe the progress you’ve seen so far,” I said
(Excerpt) Read more at michaeltotten.com ...
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Nuff said.
ping
Exactly right! - AQ will never recover from their loss in Anbar - Of course our MSM have done everything possible to ignore another one of our major successes...
thanks, bfl
Totten is what a journalist is supposed to be. Fair and accurate and when he states an opinion, he tells you it is his opinion, not pretend it is a fact. Thanks for posting.
Great piece - I seem to’ve missed it on National TV
marking
Quote of the article:
“For them it’s all business and has nothing to do with their private opinions of us.”
The Power of Capitalism wins again.
Our society is so far removed from reality, it makes me sick. We take more time to understand the starting lineup of the Detroit Lions than we do to understand the tribal situation in Iraq and how it affects our efforts there.
We have Freepers that have posted how hopeless a situation we have in Iraq.
We have Freepers that claim Muslims are not cut out for democracy.
I dare them to read this and claim we cannot win in Iraq!
Thank you Colon Powell.
Globalists.
“What’s the most important thing Americans need to know about Iraq that they don’t currently know?” I said.
“That we’re fighting Al Qaeda,” he said without hesitation. “[Abu Musab al] Zarqawi invented Al Qaeda in Iraq. The top leadership outside Iraq squawked and thought it was a bad idea. Then he blew up the Samarra mosque, triggered a civil war, and got the whole world’s attention. Then the Al Qaeda leadership outside dumped huge amounts of money and people and arms into Anbar Province. They poured everything they had into this place. The battle against Americans in Anbar became their most important fight in the world. And they lost.”
“What’s the most important thing you have learned in your time here?” I said.
He wasn’t sure how to answer and had to think for a while.
“Well,” he finally said thoughtfully. “I learned something here that I had heard but never believed. I expected a huge kinetic fight, and that’s what we got. I was told that you win that kind of fight not by focusing on the enemy, but by focusing on the civilians. But I didn’t believe it. It’s true, though. I know because I have seen it.”
There are officers and there are LEADERS.
Another Hal Moore in the ranks.
Fascinating article. This reporter deserves support.
Many of us that served under Lt Col Glenn K. Otis felt the same, ballsy little sh*t.
God bless our brave troops and President Bush.
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