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MICHAEL YON: IRAQ'S NEW DAWN
NY Post ^ | November 24, 2008 | MICHAEL YON

Posted on 11/24/2008 11:47:43 AM PST by neverdem

BAGHDAD

THE Iraq War is over.

Flames still burst from various sources and wild cards remain, such as the potential that Muqtada al-Sadr might stomp his feet and encourage his diminished militias to attack us. Yet support for Sadr among Shia is hardly monolithic. In fact, many Shia view him as a simpleton whose influence derives strictly from respect for his father. Others cite the threat from Iran, but the Iranian participation in the fighting here remains overstated.

Nobody knows what the future will bring, but the civil war has completely ended.

The Iraqi army and police grow stronger by the month, and even the National Police (NP) are gaining a degree of respect and credibility.

As recently as last year, the NPs were considered nothing more than militia members in uniform who murdered with impunity. To go on patrol with NPs was to invite attack. But the Americans worked to help alleviate the disdain.

On one occasion, US soldiers peacefully disarmed a local militia that was apparently about to ambush NPs who had harassed it the same morning, and the soldiers sent the NPs to their station and later gave the locals back their guns. The next day, we were at the NP station as the US commander, Lt-Col. James Crider, gave professional instruction to the NP commanders.

Over time, the extremely frustrating process of mentoring the NPs worked. Last week, I went on foot patrol with US forces and NPs in the same Baghdad neighborhood. Kids were coming up to say hello. And the same people who used to tell me they hated the NPs were actually greeting them.

Similar dynamics have occurred in places like Anbar, Diyala and Nineveh. Tour after tour of US soldiers carried the ball successively, further down the field.

Through time, trust and...

(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; Foreign Affairs; Politics/Elections; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: iraq; military; oif; petraeus; surge; troops; wot

1 posted on 11/24/2008 11:47:43 AM PST by neverdem
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To: neverdem

Thank you and congratulations to the hundreds of thousands of American Troops who made this possible.

It was worth it.


2 posted on 11/24/2008 11:51:40 AM PST by Uncle Miltie (SARAH *** JOE *** 2012!)
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To: neverdem
I have liked Michael Yon's reporting since I first read him.

He is one of the few that have told it like it is and been out there with the troops.

3 posted on 11/24/2008 11:52:49 AM PST by Just another Joe (Warning: FReeping can be addictive and helpful to your mental health)
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To: neverdem
Mission Accomplished.

Despite the best efforts of the usual supects to sabotage it.

4 posted on 11/24/2008 11:54:03 AM PST by AU72
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To: Just another Joe
Never read Hemingways dispatches but I cannot imagine them any better than Michaels observations.
5 posted on 11/24/2008 11:59:45 AM PST by SFR
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To: neverdem

Michael Yon BTT. I have his latest and recommend it highly.


6 posted on 11/24/2008 12:04:39 PM PST by Billthedrill
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To: neverdem

Bite that, Harry Reid!!


7 posted on 11/24/2008 12:11:56 PM PST by ScottinVA (Gloucester County, VA -- Standing for America! 63% for McCain-Palin on 4 Nov)
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To: neverdem

Thank you for posting this. Michael Yon is one of the very few reporters I trust.


8 posted on 11/24/2008 12:18:26 PM PST by zot
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To: neverdem

The whole “hate Bush” attitude was fabricated by the liberal media as ‘Iraq is a failure’ or ‘Iraq is unwinnable’ etc.

I made the mistake of thinking that this was a huge risk that the liberals were taking...what happens when we win the Iraq war? Will these people who hate Bush so much have to admit they were wrong?

Well, I was wrong. Iraq has been a huge success, but the ‘hate Bush’ attitutde remains. A lot of liberals aren’t really sure why they hate Bush, or its morphed into an economic issue (which of course is plainly due to Clinton era policies), or they blame a natural disaster on Bush (the failure of the New Orleans water control was due to local Democrat leaders). I made the mistake of thinking that rational individual thought would take over, but instead irrational groupthink remained in place.

So we won the war and lost the election. I would not have thought that possible even a year ago.


9 posted on 11/24/2008 12:23:08 PM PST by kidd
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To: Just another Joe

There’s a name for Michael Yon’s profession. Neither the New York Times nor CBS nor MSNBC employ anyone in this profession.

I am of course referring to the profession of “journalist.”


10 posted on 11/24/2008 12:27:10 PM PST by Our man in washington
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To: neverdem

I suspect we are going to see something interesting, and soon.

The military is still enraged at the Democrats in congress for abandoning Vietnam to invasion from the Russian backed North, betraying our allies, and having many of its friends in the ARVN, and their families, put into reeducation camps to suffer and die.

From day 1 of the Iraqi occupation, they were determined that no matter what else happened, that would not happen again. The expectation was that bitter partisanship would again turn against our allies and the US military.

They were right. As such, there is no way the US military wants the Democrats to even have a chance to betray the Iraqis, which they would probably go to great lengths to do.

The key is what is happening right now. If the Iraqi parliament does not sign the Status Of Forces Agreement (SOFA), when the UN mandate ends on January 1st, the US military will have to leave immediately.

And while, had John McCain been elected, we and Iraq could have looked forward to several more years of supporting their reconstruction, with Obama, it is better for both the US military and Iraq if we now leave.

Both the military, and hopefully the Iraqis, knew this the moment Obama was elected. However, had the Iraqis just rejected the SOFA right then, the US military would have had a month and a half to pack up and leave, taking billions of dollars of equipment with us.

But if Iraq’s parliament rejects the SOFA closer to the end of the year, we will have to turn over the majority of that equipment to the Iraqis for their use. All sorts of weapons systems that the Democrat congress would never approve the sale of to Iraq will be theirs.

We will also leave them a shopping list of anything else they need to be at 100%. Remember how there was great whining several months ago, when it was discovered that Iraq had billions of dollars that hadn’t been spent?

Now they can spend it on weapons purchased on the open market, and if Iraq’s biggest enemy, Iran, attacks, the Iraqi military will clean their clocks.

And after January 1st, there is not a damn thing the Democrats can do to stop it. Iraq will survive and prosper. It will not be thrown into chaos and ruin and civil war, its people suffering and dying, all because the Democrats hate them just as much as they hated the Vietnamese people.


11 posted on 11/24/2008 12:37:53 PM PST by yefragetuwrabrumuy
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To: Just another Joe

“He is one of the few that...[has} been out there with the troops.”

There have been hundreds (probably close to 350 different reporters) who have been embedded.


12 posted on 11/24/2008 12:43:20 PM PST by PurpleMan
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To: kidd

Money changes everything.


13 posted on 11/24/2008 1:16:22 PM PST by naturalized
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To: Uncle Miltie; The Mayor; Jim Robinson; StarCMC; HiJinx; jmpmstr4u2; mdittmar; Valin; STARWISE; ...
Thank you and congratulations to the hundreds of thousands of American Troops who made this possible.

Understatement of the century. AMEN!!

Man your ping lists: VICTORY IN IRAQ!!

14 posted on 11/24/2008 1:21:48 PM PST by La Enchiladita (Don' need no steenkin' bipartisan..... Oops, have I failed to be "gracious" AGAIN?!!)
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To: neverdem
We won the war in Iraq.

God Bless President Bush and our brave troops for achieving this VICTORY.

15 posted on 11/24/2008 1:26:37 PM PST by jveritas (God Bless President Bush and our brave troops)
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To: neverdem

“THE Iraq War is over.” _Michael Yon.


16 posted on 11/24/2008 10:43:16 PM PST by WOSG (STOP OBAMA'S SOCIALISM)
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To: Billthedrill
Do you believe this gem:

But the greater, much more important, milestone will be the day when American, British and Polish students are studying in Iraq, while Iraqi students are studying in our countries.

I'm not trying to spoil the party, but wouldn't this betray some very hard lessons we have learned since 911 about the ROP?  And do I even mention our own failing constitutional republic, teetering on insolvency? 



17 posted on 11/25/2008 9:24:34 AM PST by Harrius Magnus (LIBERALS: We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity.)
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