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Thanks to Gateway Pundit I just discovered www.lawksalih.com, a portal of all news relating to Iraq's reconstruction. This is the way they introduce themselves: "Welcome to LawkSalih.com WE STAND AGAINST TERRORISM Thank you for visiting LawkSalih.Com. We’re here to update you on the positive side of the war in Iraq. We focus on the reconstruction development, infrastructure, contracts, Kurdistan region and the oil industry of Iraq. If you’re looking for negative news on Iraq, visit your friends at CNN." Check the site out. You will find some amazing developments.

There are signs that the global Islamic jihad movement is splitting apart, in what would be a tremendous achievement for American strategy. The center of the action is in Pakistan and Afghanistan, the very territory which is thought to harbor Usama, and from which Al Qaeda was able to launch 9/11. Capitalizing on existing splits, a trap was set and closed, and the benefist have only begun to be evident. There were already signs of a split, but recent events strengthen the that trend. In March and again in May of this year I reviewed relevant South Asian media reporting to...

Many politicians and pundits in Washington have ignored perhaps the most important point made by Gen. David Petraeus in his recent congressional testimony: The defeat of al Qaeda in Iraq requires a combination of conventional forces, special forces and local forces. This realization has profound implications not only for American strategy in Iraq, but also for the future of the war on terror. As Gen. Petraeus made clear, the adoption of a true counterinsurgency strategy in Iraq in January 2007 has led to unprecedented progress in the struggle against al Qaeda in Iraq, by protecting Sunni Arabs who reject the...

What A Difference A ‘Surge’ Makes The ‘surge’ has not only made a difference for the citizens of Iraq, particularly in greater Baghdad, but it’s also apparently made a difference for the prospective Democratic candidates for President here at home. While the dem candidates still won’t admit publicly the extraordinary success the surge of American troops into Iraq has been, the way in which Hillary and Barack answered Tim Russert’s question of, ‘Will you pledge that by January 2013, the end of your first term more than five years from now, there will be no U.S. troops in Iraq?’ in...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 23, 2007 – Attacks and violent incidents in Iraq are down, but Iraqi and coalition forces still have a lot of work ahead, a top coalition spokesman in Iraq said today. “In a whole sense there is no question about the fact that, in our minds, the trend is going in the right direction,” said Navy Rear Adm. Mark I. Fox, communications division chief for Multinational Force Iraq. “Our efforts to continue the reduction in violence will allow Iraqi society to begin to mend. There is a lot of hard work to do.” Hard work means stopping extremists...

Senators Levin and Reid have introduced an amendment that would order the immediate withdrawal of American forces in Iraq--a stampede, in fact, that would require the military to pull 169,000 soldiers and their equipment out of active combat within nine months. There is no way that such a withdrawal would look like anything other than a rout and a humiliation for American arms. Such a proposal can only be supported on the premise that our efforts in Iraq to date have failed utterly and that there is no hope of protecting vital American interests in Iraq through the current strategy....

Mideast edition, Saturday, September 22, 2007 ARLINGTON, Va. — U.S. and Iraqi forces control more than half of Baghdad’s 474 neighborhoods, but more Iraqi security forces are needed to hold on to them, the commander of Multi-National Division-Baghdad said Friday. Army Maj. Gen. Joseph F. Fil Jr. told reporters that 46 percent of Baghdad’s neighborhoods are classified as under control, and another 8 percent are in the “retain” phase, meaning Iraqi security forces are in the lead. Another 30 percent of Baghdad’s neighborhoods are in the clearance phase. That leaves 16 percent of the neighborhoods — including much of north...

Marines with infantry battalions have been rotating in and out of Iraq throughout the last few years, several are on their third or fourth deployment. Rapid deployment cycles cause Marines to overlook significant improvements in Iraq made since their last deployment. For one returning infantryman, the changes are apparent and appreciated. Sgt. Joshua Treadway, a section leader and platoon sergeant with 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 2, serving in Hit, Iraq, said he left a nondeployable billet training officer candidates tactics at Quantico, Va., because he wanted to help his fellow Marines after everything he had heard...

SAMARRA — As the much-anticipated Iraq report was released this month, one unit is finding that they are indeed making progress. An Iraqi teenager who was an informant for the Coalition force in Samarra was kidnapped by insurgents and held for several days. He was beaten and moved to different locations. The teen managed to escape, ignoring the death threats of his captors for talking with Coalition forces, and after his escape, he went straight to Forward Operating Base Brassfield-Mora to ask for help. That help came from Company A, 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team,...

Former Townhall.com columnist Jeff Emanuel is currently in Iraq, where he has been embedded on the front lines with the U.S. military since the end of July. A former tactical air controller in the Air Force, Emanuel participated in major combat operations in Iraq in 2003 as a member of a special operations task force. He has returned to Iraq multiple times as an embedded journalist, and he is currently in that country reporting from “inside the surge.” He will be there until the middle of October.Following General Petraeus’ testimony before Congress last week, Emanuel took a few moments to...

Michael Totten's latest Iraq report: RAMADI, IRAQ – In early 2007 Ramadi, the capital of Iraq’s Anbar Province, was one of the most violent war-torn cities on Earth. By late spring it was the safest major city in Iraq outside Kurdistan. Abu Musab Al Zarqawi’s Al Qaeda in Iraq had seized control with the tacit blessing of many local civilians and leaders because they promised to fight the Americans. But Al Qaeda’s rule of Ramadi was vicious and cruel. They turned out not to be liberators at all, but the Taliban of Mesopotamia. Al Qaeda met resistance, after a time,...

Despite the progress that Gen. David Petraeus outlined in his much-awaited report on the surge, critics claim little has been accomplished in the four years since the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom.Democratic leaders who have already declared the war lost continue to criticize Iraq's ruling coalition for a lack of political progress. They also cite impatience of the American public as the primary justification for unilateral withdrawal of all efforts to stabilize and secure Iraq. But one must question the arbitrary deadline of September, imposed by Congress just three months after all troops were put in place for the surge....

WASHINGTON, Sept. 18, 2007 – Iraqi security forces have made much progress toward readiness in the past year within Multinational Division North’s area of responsibility, a top official in the region said today. Speaking to military analysts via teleconference from Baqubah in Diyala province, Army Brig. Gen. Mick Bednarek, deputy commanding general for operations of Multinational Division North, called the change “significant.” Baqubah is about 35 miles northeast of Baghdad on the Diyala River. Four Iraqi army divisions are in the region, which is about the size of Pennsylvania. “We are starting to see the key measure of effectiveness, …...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 17, 2007 – After speaking with commanders of U.S. provincial reconstruction teams and brigade combat teams via videoconference from Iraq today, President Bush expressed confidence about the chances for success in that country. In remarks after the videoconference, Bush said that Army Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, commander of Multinational Corps Iraq, told him that for the week of Sept. 8-15, attack levels across Iraq were the lowest they have been since January 2006. “And when you couple that with grassroots efforts that our … provincial reconstruction teams are making, you begin to get a sense of...

Iraq has failed to meet most of the congressionally mandated benchmarks, says a draft of a report obtained by The People's Cube."Overall, cure for cancer has not been found, a manned mission to Uranus is being delayed, and it is unclear whether the Iraqi government will ever install gold-plated urinals in Falujah's public toilets," the report says. The document contradicts the Bush administration's conclusion in July that the average number of Iraqi gay-pride parades in urban areas has increased. "While there have been fewer attacks against U.S. forces," it notes, Iraq still suffers from"a glaring lack of midnight basketball facilities...

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A row of beds lies empty in the emergency ward of Baghdad's Yarmouk Hospital. The morgue, which once overflowed with corpses, is barely a quarter full. Doctors at the hospital, a barometer of bloodshed in the Iraqi capital, say there has been a sharp fall in victims of violence admitted during a seven-month security campaign. Last month the fall was particularly dramatic, with 70 percent fewer bodies and half the number of wounded brought in compared to July, hospital director Haqi Ismail said. "The major incidents, like explosions and car bombs, sometimes reached six or seven a...

By Haider Salahudeen BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A row of beds lies empty in the emergency ward of Baghdad's Yarmouk Hospital. The morgue, which once overflowed with corpses, is barely a quarter full. Doctors at the hospital, a barometer of bloodshed in the Iraqi capital, say there has been a sharp fall in victims of violence admitted during a seven-month security campaign. Last month the fall was particularly dramatic, with 70 percent fewer bodies and half the number of wounded brought in compared to July, hospital director Haqi Ismail said. "The major incidents, like explosions and car bombs, sometimes reached six...

KUT, Iraq - American commanders in southern Iraq say Shiite sheiks are showing interest in joining forces with the U.S. military against extremists, in much the same way that Sunni clansmen in the western part of the country have worked with American forces against al-Qaida. Sheik Majid Tahir al-Magsousi, the leader of the Migasees tribe here in Wasit province, acknowledged tribal leaders have discussed creating a brigade of young men trained by the Americans to bolster local security as well as help patrol the border with Iran. He also said last week's assassination of Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha, who spearheaded the...

He sat absolutely still as members of Congress discussed his credibility and patriotism. His face did not twitch. He did not nod or frown or smile. Not a single muscle moved. He was as impassive as a boot-camp recruit resisting a drill sergeant's provocations. Navigating the political shoals of Washington last week was a challenge unlike any Gen. David Petraeus has faced. At his Senate confirmation hearing in January, he was widely regarded as the quintessential military professional, a credible, independent voice who stood above the political fray. *snip* Partisans tried to portray him either as a politicized officer carrying...

The Iraqis are at present conducting an experiment with no equivalent anywhere else in the world. Despite a confrontation between terrorists from all over the world and the forces of the state, a democratic experiment is being built and developed. But we are bound by a principle of unanimity. We must all be in agreement - we different Iraqi political families - before moving forward. This does not facilitate decisionmaking. It is less easy than in democracies that function according to a simple majority, or a two-thirds majority, for fundamental decisions. Of course our European friends and Arab brothers are...