I have seen the enemy ...

World Net Daily ^ | 14 APR 06 | Franklin Raff

[fifthvirginia]

An Iraqi officer of significant rank approached my translator as I quietly took notes near the banks of the Euphrates River, at a combat observation post named COP Dunlop. He knew I was an embedded American. He had a sense, perhaps, that I was a sympathetic soul, and he wanted to pass along an urgent message.

[Earthdweller]

"If this thread has wandered off on a tangent because of me, I apologize. "

It's ok..we are bumping an article that needs bumping.

[roses of sharon]

I recently read a story about an Iraqi soldier who was stunned that while at "chow" the American officers would stand at the end of the tables and wait to eat until the soldiers were finished.

He spoke of how unusual and "cool" it was.

[Erik Latranyi]

If millions of 'good' Muslims refuse to separate themselves from the Islam we now know, why do you insist on doing it?

Unfortunately for your argument, millions of 'good' Muslims are dying alongside our soldiers for freedom.

Maybe that is why we do it?

[Interesting Times]

Ping to a great article.

[SandRat]

All of the papers that he write's for make poor fish wrap at the fish-n-chips stand.

[ClearBlueSky]

I wonder how many of those 'good Muslims' would disavow the directives of their religion that say infidels must submit to Islam or die? Or say that they DO NOT think Islam should rule the world? How many are working to get their religion out of the dark ages, to treat their women as more than discardable property? How many of them want to do away with the mullahs and reform Islam? How many have no problem with Jews and Israel and would actually say it? Do they fight WITH us- or against each other?
You think they fight for freedom as we define it, and I disagree. Islam forbids the basic freedoms we value.

[the invisib1e hand]

when rude men like you fade.

But I'll still have my sense of humor and good judgment. He's full of himself -- come to think of it, you're pretty full of him, too!

[Stultis]

" I trampled thrugh a mass of depleted uranium"
WTF????
This guy wouldnt know what DU looked like if he saw it.

And you know this how? Psychic powers? A little birdie? Besides, even if Raff is incapable of identifying depleted uranium, why do you (apparently gratuitously) discount the possibility that a bona fide expert might have said something like, "these shells we're walking among are made of depleted uranium". There's certainly plenty of the stuff around in Iraq. I'm mystified why you assume the author is lying.

[CedarDave]

This war should not be serialized by the election cycle, but it may be up to us, dear Freepers, to hold the line against the stampede of retreat.

The upcoming election is vital. The upcoming election is a test of whether this nation can survive against the forces of "progressives" that will utterly destroy Western Civilization.

At times I despair of supporting the thin-skinned Republicans, including some RINOs, in the upcoming election. Then I think what a Rat controlled House or Senate would do to everything we have striven to achieve in the past six years -- constitutional judges, winning the WOT, a strong economy with reduced taxes. I weigh these advances with the losses that make so many lose faith with the Republicans -- A bloated budget with attendant deficit, a bureaucratic super-agency called "Homeland Security", the lack of action to plug our porous borders. When I finish weighing the two, I realize that our losses probably equal our gains but realize that those hard-won gains will be reversed and lost if the Democrats take control, and any chance for additional enactment of our agenda will be delayed for at least two years, if not longer.

Sitting out the 2006 election either out of spite or disgust is not an option. It is too important to keep what we already have and not go back to the dark days of Democratic control of our legislative branch.

[PGalt]

Great article. Thanks for posting. Hooray for Franklin Raff.

[attiladhun2]

There are few on FR more critical of Islam than I. On the other hand, I have said again and again we cannot win the WOT without Muslim allies.

[Cvengr]

War and rumor of war.

Makes you kindof wonder, how many Iraqis directly scarred by battle and desirous of revenge, might be dreaming of flying jet airliner into an MSNBC or NPR broadcast studio, instead of a popular American icon.

[Sam Cree]

*

[F.J. Mitchell]

The only reason people buy newspapers anymore, is for the funnies, the crossword puzzle, the TV guide,letters to the editor and for paper training puppies.

[PA Engineer]

When we finish liberating Iraq we need to turn our efforts on liberating America from the occupation media.

[Chgogal]

Yes, the front page of Friday's Tribune is all about Iraq. They used a picture of an Iraqi soldier standing guard after a car bombing in February when sixty people were murdered. The bombing took place in Baghdad. The headline reads, "Defining a conflict (very small print) On the Ground, it's Civil War (very big bold print).

The author is an Iraqi by the name Aamer Madhani who started with the Trib in 2001. He's been to Iraq eight times since March 2003 totaling a year. Other headlines in today's cat litter liner, "Gunmen ambush convoy, killing 17" and "In Iraq army, going AWOL is going with policy grain". Sunday, we Chicagoans will have the pleasure of reading, "How the U.S. role in Iraq war raises troubling legal questions."

Here are some quotes, "Many U.S. and Iraqi officials insist that the violence engulfing the country does not constitute a civil war. But by any reasonable standard, "the conflict in Iraq is a civil war," said James Fearon, a Stanford University political scientist who specializes in the study of civil conflict. "The rate [of killings] is comparable to Sri Lanka, the Lebanese war and Bosnia," all of which were widely regarded as civil wars.

"Larry Diamond a former adviser to the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq and fellow at the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace, said the question is only one of semantics. "You can use whatever language you want to describe it, but the violence is increasing and it is becoming more vengeful and polarized," Diamond said.

"Thousands of Iraqi families-about 60,000 people-have fled their homes in the face of intimidation campaigns by Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias, most of them since the al-Askari bombing, according to the nation's Ministry of Displacement and Migration.

Reading this one would think you live in a bomb shelter 24/7. Honestly. What is so insulting, they are using a picture of a car bombing from FEBRUARY. Today's date is April 14th. Now that is one heck of an active Civil War. Didn't the Shiite just have a religious celebration where a million Shiites walked from as far south as Basra to Najaf or somewhere around there with only 12 poor souls losing their life due to fatigue, heat, etc.? If that is the case that means water and food stations were available. That means there were very few TERRORIST attacks. That means it was comparably quiet. Gosh, the MSM really sucks big time and they are too stupid to realize it. The good news, the Trib and NYT revenues are down well over 20%. May that trend continue until bankruptcy.

Rant over. Hope you are having a nice day. And if we don't talk, do have a Happy Easter.

[Allegra]

Rant over. Hope you are having a nice day. And if we don't talk, do have a Happy Easter.

You too!

Sounds like you've cracked the MSM "code." We were just cracking up a little while ago at some article on CNN's website that was going on about how dangerous it is in Baghdad. It's all in flames, complete chaos, mortars and rockets just flying through the air, car bombs exploding on every street, etc., etc. etc.

The truth is that there are only a few bad areas of Baghdad, Sadr City being the worst. But to read this article, you'd think it was some scene out of freakin' "Independence Day." LOL