[andyandval]

You mean there's more to the Iraq story than just American GI's getting killed?

Who knew?

/frustrated sarcasm

[carl in alaska]

But wait a minute, the long-term strategic situation and its impact on US national security can't be important because ABC/CBS news ignores it. They only report on the US and Iraqi casualties that happened today and that's all that matters to them.

(The funny thing is, though, ABC/CBS news never get upset about the 3,500 Americans who die in traffic accidents every month, and there's more we could do to prevent those casualties.)

[Paloma_55]

Only Fox News has talked about the recovered letter from a guy who had gone into Iraq thinking he was helping the people there save themselves from the Americans, only to find that the Iraqis did not want him. He said morale is very low. He said that the average time a terrorist survives after coming into Iraq is 3 days. Between the Iraqis turning them in, and the US/Iraqi forces chasing them down, it is not a fun place to be.

He also said he was lied to by those who sent him in from Syria. He is now spilling his guts to US military officials on who, what, where, and how they are coming into the country.

This is a HUGE intelligence win both for strategic and tactical information.

[ken5050]

The military always does valuable in-depth studies after conflicts. We went into Iraq witrh a war plan contrsicted by the need to limit casualties, especially civilians...and therefore much of the problems we have now are because we didn't kill enough of them in the first weeks of the conflict... we thus allowed the Iraqi military and paramilitary to melt back into society...so the civilain casualties we "saved" then are being incurred, now, along with our troops, at probably 2-3 times the rate..

[IrishGOP]

We can only hope that, unlike Sen. Kennedy and his ilk in 1975, the current Congress does not use U.S. casualties as an excuse for pulling the rug out from under an ally.

This is a good point. Especially after the 23 marines were killed last week, the public, egged on by the media and liberals are not willing to put up with it much longer I'm afraid. The media has convinced many that we may in fact be losing, and the WH is just not very good at communicating the good things that are happening and the sucess we indeed are having in Iraq. Now the politicians will get very nervous and the drumbeat will begin to have us abandon Iraq. It's time for the communication team at the WH to step up and take back control of the message.

[McGavin999]

In addition, the Iraqi forces are getting priceless experience in fighting this war. They are out there under the tutilage of US forces, so they are learning how to do it right. When we leave, the Iraqi forces will be the most well trained, able Arab forces in the world.

[Coop]

May our armed forces be successful in their mission, and may they have the strength to overcome the media's incessant efforts to lower their morale.

[God luvs America]

what's funny is how the NY Post tells the complete story yet the paper is looked down upon by elitist sc^m....

[CyberAnt]

And .. I believe Rumsfeld already told the media some months ago that we were EXPECTING an increase in violence the closer Iraq got to putting their constitution in place. Looks like Rumsfeld was right - again!

[financeprof]

I agree with Owens, but his article is an implicit condemnation of the terrible job the Pentagon and administration are doing in educating and informing the American people. Providing us with some broad understanding of what is going on in Iraq would not compromise operational security. The terrorists who are under attack are pretty much aware of the fact. The usual reporting that focuses only on US casualties suggests that the terrorists have the initiative. They clearly are taking the initiative in some ways, but we are in others, and this deserves emphasis. Indeed, I believe most Americans would be more supportive of the effort if it is emphasized that offensive operations are necessary to reduce the enemy's future ability to impose his will. Right now, it too often appears that American blood is being shed for no strategic purpose. We can only lose in Iraq if our will falters. The terrorists know this too--it animates every aspect of their strategy and tactics. To sustain the citizenry's will it is necessary to help them understand what is happening on the ground and how that relates to a broader strategy.

[COEXERJ145]

I tuned into Rush today and the guy who is hosting for Rush sounds like he is going through the New York Slimes talking points.

[OESY]

Insurgents Not Happy With Current Management


American forces in Iraq have intercepted a letter from a local terrorist leader from the Mosul area to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The letter does not claim glorious progress against the infidel invader; instead, it complains about the quality of leadership in Northern Iraq and the decreasing effectiveness of the al-Qaeda effort:

A letter apparently written by a rebel leader to terrorist mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi decries the insurgency's leadership in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, a hotspot in the war.
Security forces seized the letter last week in a raid on a safe house that netted arrests and other items. Task Force Freedom, based in Mosul, issued a copy of the letter and a statement about it Saturday.

The letter, from an insurgent named Abu Zayd, who calls himself "emir of Farming reform battalion on the west side," cited the incompetence of Mosul's emirs and the disobedience of other people in the network.


Besides incompetent leadership and mutinous terrorists, Sayd has other, more specific complaints about the Zarqawi network in the north. He says that the attacks have deteriorated as the terrorists have concentrated on quantity rather than quality, and that foreign fighters now must endure "deplorable" conditions -- including "marginalization".

Marginalization? I thought that the press considered this a fight against occupation? We have heard over and over again that our presence in Iraq causes all the violence, that the Iraqis have run out of patience with our troops remaining in their country, and that they support Zarqawi's goal of pushing us out. Sayd, who appears to be much closer to the issue, notes that his terrorists face marginalization and a dire shortage of shelter.

That hardly sounds like the kind of situation the media has described for us in Iraq. It does, however, sound exactly like what Donald Rumsfeld and soldiers on the ground have described for two years now. The Iraqis do not want to be occupied by anyone, but they especially do not want foreign terrorists attempting to do to the entire country what they once did to Fallujah. They want us to get rid of the Zarqawi lunatics, and to help them develop an army to keep the Islamofascists out for good.

Zarqawi apparently never got Sayd's warning. Hopefully, the American public will notice it instead.


-- Captain Ed, captainsquartersblog.com/mt/