The Little Finger Is Heading to Iraq

Some time ago, I wrote a couple posts about my male offspring (aka The Little Finger) shipping out to Fort Jackson for Basic Training. After 3 months of BT and 6 months of AIT, he finally returned home in October 2008 to settle in with his Minnesota Army National Guard unit. In November, he got the word that his unit, the 34th "Red Bull" Infantry Division, was being activated and would be heading for Iraq. Well, that time is upon us. He will be flying to Fort Lewis in Washington state in a couple days. After a several weeks of pre-deployment training, he and his fellow Red Bulls will head for Kuwait and then Iraq.

This is, obviously, a time of mixed emotions. I am very proud of my son, not only for his military service, but for the man he has become and will be. As a father, I am also concerned for his safety, even though I know things are better in Iraq that two years ago. I am also going to miss having him around. Other than my mother, he's my favorite person with which to spend time. For the next year or so, we'll have to settle for letters, email and the occasional conversation on Skype.

Here are a couple pics of this fine young man:

WaPo: "Lull in news coverage" of Iraq Progress

Yesterday's Washington Post editorial, The Iraqi Upturn, starts out by commenting on the lack of media coverage of the remarkable good news coming from Iraq.

There's been a relative lull in news coverage and debate about Iraq in recent weeks -- which is odd, because May could turn out to have been one of the most important months of the war. While Washington's attention has been fixed elsewhere, military analysts have watched with astonishment as the Iraqi government and army have gained control for the first time of the port city of Basra and the sprawling Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City, routing the Shiite militias that have ruled them for years and sending key militants scurrying to Iran. At the same time, Iraqi and U.S. forces have pushed forward with a long-promised offensive in Mosul, the last urban refuge of al-Qaeda. So many of its leaders have now been captured or killed that U.S. Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker, renowned for his cautious assessments, said that the terrorists have "never been closer to defeat than they are now."

The editorial goes on to mention several areas of significant progress, politically as well as militarily. In the last paragraph, it suggests that "likely Democratic nominee" Obama may need to adjust his strategy to the current situation. The editorial suggests that, instead of withdrawing troops on an arbitrary time table, he should tie "withdrawals to the evolution of the Iraqi army and government". In other words, he should handle it like President Bush and the Republicans have been saying all along.

BRILLIANT!

For Those With Ears to Hear

John Hinderaker's Powerline post, Are We Safer?, provides the empirical evidence which answers that question for any reasonable person. It is astonishing that, not only have there been no successful attacks inside the United States since 9/11/01, there have also been no successful attacks on U.S. interests overseas for over 4 years. One could attempt to attribute this to the long periods of time that traditionally elapse between al Qaeda attacks. However, that doesn't explain all of the attacks cited by Hinderaker for each year from 1995 through 2001. Also, the longest stretch without an attack was from 1988 to 1991 -- three years. Most of the attacks were within 1-2 years of the last attack. With respect to the lack of attacks abroad, they are significantly more vulnerable than mainland targets. Yet, no successful attacks.

Success in the past does not guaranty success in the future. However, it does indicate that President Bush has been doing something right in preventing further terrorist attacks. There are many reasons to be unhappy with the President, but this is not one of them.

When Casualties Equal Progress

With the recent increase of U.S. casualties in Iraq, many of the usual suspects are citing that statistic as proof that we are losing and need to withdraw immediately. However, this assumes that, in war, casualties always indicate failure. In his New York Daily News article, In Iraq, a Storm Before the Calm, Michael Yon explains why that is not necessarily the case. In fact, in the case of General Petraeus' surge strategy of last summer, it meant exactly the opposite. Michael's article suggests the latest spike in casualties is due to a second phase of what began last summer.


Order Michael's new book:

The Morphing of AQI

In his post, The Morphing War Against Al Qaeda in Iraq, Douglas Farah suggests that the recent reports of the beating Al Qaeda in Iraq is taking at the hands of American and Iraqi forces, should not be overstated. AQI is in trouble, but they are not yet defeated. Farah believes that AQI may be changing their strategy:

One of the fundamental truths of dealing with networks, terrorist or otherwise, is that they will morph quickly to survive and adapt as the environment around them changes...

...The strategy [of AQI] may now be to move outside Iraq and wage a different type of war from surrounding countries.

Farah recalls the South American drug wars of the 1980s and 1990s as an example of the difficulty in defeating a network that is intent on survival.

HT: Counterterrorism Blog

Iraqis Taking the Battle to AQI

Reuters reports that the Iraqi security forces have begun an offensive against al-Qaeda in Iraq.

HT: Pajamas Media

The Origin of the Surge in Iraq

Fred Barnes of the Weekly Standard relates how President Bush decided on the now famous Surge strategy in Iraq.

A Look Inside al-Qaeda In Iraq

According to this Washington Post article, documents found in northern Iraq are providing some unique insights into the foreign insurgents in Iraq (that is, al-Qaeda in Iraq).  From the description in the article, at least some of the documents appear to be job applications. Here are a few things from the article that I found particularly interesting:  

• Based on the Sinjar records, U.S. military officials in Iraq said they now think that nine out of 10 suicide bombers have been foreigners...
  
• ...they assess that 90 percent of foreign fighters entering Iraq during the one-year period ending in August came via Syria...
• The extent of al-Qaeda in Iraq's ties to the wider al-Qaeda network has long been a subject of debate within the U.S. intelligence community and military. Although its membership is overwhelmingly Iraqi, it has been led by foreigners with direct ties to al-Qaeda central...
  

Victory Ignored

I knew things must be going well in Iraq when the media stopped the daily barrage of body counts and stock footage of convoys being blown up. As I was watching the news the other day, I noticed something else interesting. They were reporting the sad news of another serviceman being killed in Iraq. The interesting part was how the story was framed. Do you suppose they put it in the context of 5 straight months of declining casualties among US troops AND Iraqi citizens? No, that would not be "objective" reporting. They reported the death of that honorable and heroic soldier as adding to the "deadliest year" of the Iraq War. It may be true that this has been the deadliest year of the war. I haven't checked the facts, but I'm willing to accept it at face value. However, if they were really concerned about objectivity, why did they chose to leave out the positive news altogether?

Victor Davis Hanson's RCP article, Good News Is No News, addresses this very issue. You can read more of VDH at VDH's Private Papers or his Pajamas Media blog, Works and Days.

Suppressing the Truth

The following video is a clear demonstration of the type of the "irrational rationalization" by the Left-Stream Media. Howard Kurtz, on his CNN show "Reliable Sources", interviews Robin Wright of the WashPo and Barbara Starr of CNN. The topic: The media's failure to report the drop in casualties, US military and Iraqi civilian, in Iraq. Their answers must be heard to be believed.





Notice how the facts change as they answer the questions. There have been 4 months of decline in casualties. First, Ms. Wright reduces it to 2 months in her attempt to discount the progress in Iraq. Then, at the end of the clip, Babs has reduced it to 1 month. Also notice how they try to discount the casualty numbers and call them into question. It seems to me that one of the best arguments supporting their accuracy is the fact that the media is trying to bury the story. Why don't they report it straight up and include their doubts about the accuracy of the numbers? The answer is, of course, that they have an agenda and it doesn't include success in Iraq.

For further coverage, transcript excerpts and follow up, go to NewsBusters.

HT: Prager

Missing Lieutenant Daily

Christopher Hitchens' Vanity Fair article, A Death In the Family, will simultaneously inspire you and break your heart.

Thank you, Christopher. I now miss him, too.

HT: Hugh Hewitt

A War We Just Might Win

If you have not yet read the New York Times article A War We Just Might Win by Michael O'Hanlon and Kenneth Pollack, please do so now. These gentlemen have been critics of the War in Iraq although, as some have pointed out, they have not been stridently anti-war. I don't think that that undermines their credibility, since the strident anti-war folks would never, ever consider anything to be evidence of progress no matter how hard they have to suck on their Everlasting Gobstoppers of Denial.

Standing Up For Victory

The following is from a comment on my post , For Your Consideration, in which I encouraged you to check out Vets For Freedom. I thought it deserved a post of it's own:

Thanks so much for blogging on Vets For Freeedom’s efforts. They’ve done an awesome job the past few weeks. I invite you and your readers to join us at Move America Forward as we launch our national, cross-country “Fight for Victory Tour” this September 3 - 15 ending in DC where we’ll have a rally with a collection of pro-troop groups including Vets for Freedom, Gathering of Eagles, Military Order of the Purple Heart, Free Republic, Protest Warriors and others. It’s a vital time for us to be mobilized and speaking out and it’s for such a just, worthy, noble, and pertinent cause. So let’s kick some butt and stand up to those who wish to force surrender terms upon our troops! http://www.MoveAmericaForward.org

Joe Wierzbicki

Sounds Like Winning To Me

Jack Kelly asks the question, "Is Al Qaeda On the Run?" in his article on RCP. Whether it's Ramadi or Baquba, Al Qaeda terrorists seem to either be on the run, captured or dead. Our fine military may not have achieved victory yet, but it seems clear that they are winning.