Michelle Malkin: What I saw in Iraq

Washington Times ^ | 1/20/07 | By Michelle Malkin

[JohnHuang2]

Last week, I embedded with U.S. Army troops at Forward Operating Base Justice in northern Baghdad.

Outside the wire, we toured the slums and met with neighborhood leaders inching toward self-sufficiency in al Salam. We sipped chai with a sheik who condemned terrorists on all sides. We watched residents bicker over a civil affairs blanket drop in Khadamiyah. We sat with slimy Mahdi Army apologists in Hurriya. We stopped by a Sunni insurgent enclave, which soldiers I patrolled with dubbed a "sniperville," in al Adil.

There's nothing glamorous or romantic about these missions. No one will make a movie about our men and women in uniform engaged in the tedious, painstaking business of moving Iraq toward stability and governability. But if the war is to be won -- if security is to be established and the foundations of a civil society bolstered -- this is Ground Zero. The troops I met ask only three things of their fellow Americans back home: time, patience and understanding of the enormous complexities on the ground.

In Washington, counterinsurgency theory (COIN) is a neat, elite intellectual abstraction. Since coalition forces simply can't catch and kill every insurgent lurking in the populace, the theory goes, it's up to the military to persuade the Iraqi people to turn on the insurgents, join the political process and help themselves. At FOB Justice -- former headquarters of Saddam Hussein's ruthless military intelligence unit, the site of the dictator's execution by hanging and home to the Dagger Brigade 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division -- COIN is a vivid, hands-on reality. Here, a task force of brainy commanders, brawny patrol officers, courageous Arab-American interpreters, wizened trainers and intel gatherers, baby-faced convoy drivers and grim-humored gunners attempts to put President Bush's "winning hearts and minds" idealism

[JohnHuang2]

Michelle Malkin MEGA PING!

[NormsRevenge]

FOBJ BumP

[screaming eagle2]

Very good article by Mary.Sometimes the civilian leadership should just let the military do their job.

[Albion Wilde]

" came to Iraq a darkening pessimist about the war, due largely to my doubts about the compatibility of Islam and Western-style democracy, but also as a result of the steady, sensational diet of "grim milestone" and "daily IED count" media coverage that aids the insurgency. I left Iraq with unexpected hope and resolve. The everyday bravery and consummate professionalism of the troops I embedded with have strengthened my faith in the U.S. military. "

Excellent Michelle Malkin report -- embedded last week in Iraq....

[SuziQ]

These troops are committed to their mission. They deserve our commitment to them.

Too bad the Democrats and the weenie RINOS in congress don't seem to want to do this.

[GOP Poet]

bookmark

[madconserv]

These troops are committed to their mission. They deserve our commitment to them.

Please America, don't loose your resolve. We know what we are doing.

[AmericanVictory]

Isn't it time to make sure that their sacrifices and professionalism and dedication to this country and its values lead to a win?

[Jimmy Valentine's brother]

Michelle is a big as a minute but has the heart of a lion.

[LZ_Bayonet]

"We are fighting a "war of the fleas" -- ...multiple home-grown and foreign operators, street gangs, organized crime and free-lance jihadis conducting ambushes, extrajudicial killings, sectarian attacks, vehicle bombings and sabotage... Cell phones, satellites and the Internet have allowed the fleas to magnify their importance,"

I saw all this on a network news program last night. It was a story about the gangs in LA and how joint LE agencies are about to launch attempts to control them.

[M Kehoe]

Buenas dia mi amigo, gracias para el ping.

5.56mm

[Bigh4u2]

There are rules ya know! :0)

[Yo-Yo]

Now it's time for Carnac the Magnificent.

Answer: The troops I met ask only three things of their fellow Americans back home: time, patience and understanding of the enormous complexities on the ground.

Question: Name three things Nancy Pelosi doesn't have.

[Sybeck1]

Any pics of her in camo?

[Star Traveler]

So Michell Malkin got to go embedded... cool... We need some good and accurate press over there.

Regards,
Star Traveler

[Valin]

http://www.indepundit.com/archive2/2007/01/et_tu.html#

Et Tu?I SAW IT IN MY INBOX this evening. It was an email from a familiar name, someone very close to me. But it was the subject line that got me really steamed:

FW: Oppose Escalation in Iraq
Opening it, I read this single line from a loved one:

Let your conscience decide....
What followed was, as the subject line suggested, a forwarded petition urging Congress to cut off funding for Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Here is my reply:


Dear XXXXX,

I’m dismayed and a little bit hurt that you forwarded this petition to me. You know that I served in this war, and my brother as well. You know that I lost my college roommate, and my brother lost one of his best friends. You know that despite bearing these burdens, I remain passionately committed to the success of our military in Iraq and around the globe.

Although I am not currently serving overseas, you also know that I continue to make difficult personal sacrifices in order to serve our country. While most Americans are enjoying their three-day weekend, I will be here, far away from my wife and family, doing what I can to support the effort. The enemy won’t take the weekend off, so neither can I.

Fortunately, I won’t be alone. There are hundreds of thousands of brave and bold Americans serving around the world who don’t know the meaning of the word “quit.” Perhaps you should consider showing us some support, instead of blindly forwarding an email to your contacts list urging people to lobby Congress to cut our funding!

Let your conscience decide.

America, you know that we will never turn our backs on you.

So why are you so ready to turn your backs on us?

UPDATE: The person-in-question has graciously apologized.

It was all Bush's fault, apparently.

[Bigh4u2]

This is all I could find so far.

[Valin]

LA! It's a quagmire a quagmire! These people will never stop killing each other. People need to study the history of LA, it's been this way from the begining. We need to redeploy our forces to Ames Iowa.

[Psycho_Runner]

"LA! It's a quagmire a quagmire! These people will never stop killing each other. People need to study the history of LA, it's been this way from the begining. We need to redeploy our forces to Ames Iowa."

HEY HEY HEY....Ames Iowa is also a dangerous place. They are a bunch of radicals who rape the land and destroy the natural resources for their own individual use. We can't have this individualism. Its just wrong.