We Are Winning In Iraq

Wow, it has been 10 days since I last posted. I can't remember not being pissed off for this long in quite a while. Guess I was thinking about all the things I was thankful for this past Thanksgiving week (that and figuring out how we were going to cram 58 friends and family members into my house for dinner ... we managed, good thing we are a close family). While I was mulling over my blessings, I started thinking about the news from Iraq, and in particular, the lack of bad news. Liberals, cover your ears, but I think we have turned the corner and are actually winning the war in Iraq. This may be hard to digest for the portion of our elected officials that have made losing the war a priority, but for most of this nation, as well as most of the free world, this is indeed another blessing. But how did this miracle come about? Was the simple act of dumping an additional 60,000 troops into Baghdad enough to bring about this complete turn-around?

Well folks, the surge alone did not change our fortunes in Iraq, though without the additional man-power, we could not have brought about this new posture. Back in the mid-90's, New York City went back to a police policy that was in force when I was growing up in the 60's. This policy was called neighborhood policing and basically it was having dedicated neighborhood "beat-cops" walking around the community. Everyone knew the neighborhood cop. The officer that walked the beat in my neighborhood was known by all the kids as "George the Cop", and parents would introduce George to their kids and let the kids know if they ever had a problem they should go to George and he would help them. George knew all the merchants and most of the people in the neighborhood and would know if something was out of place or if there were suspicious people or events happening. Prior to this change, NYPD officers would zip around town in squad cars and only get out to write tickets or if on a call. With this change, NYC went from one of the most dangerous cities to one of the safest big cities in the world.

When General David Petraeus took over in Iraq, US soldiers would patrol during the day, zipping around in their Hummers and returning to several large bases at night. With the help of the additional "surge" forces, the General started a policy in which the soldiers set up joint forward operating bases in the communities in Baghdad. Now, the soldiers were available ... day or night ... to the Iraqi populace. It has had a calming effect on sectarian strife and the citizens of the communities are interacting with the soldiers on a daily basis. No longer is gathering intelligence an almost impossible task, the intelligence is now being communicated by civilians during the course of their daily interactions with our troops. Where in the past a concerned Iraqi, with information about a terrorist or criminal did not know where to go to pass on the information (the Iraqi police were ... and to a lesser extent still are infiltrated by sectarian extremists), now they can go to "George the GI", and let him know the information in the same way that we used to go the "George the Cop" when we were kids.

Outside of Baghdad, much the same has also taken place ... so when al-Qaeda in Iraq was driven out of Baghdad and tried to ensconce itself in the outer provinces, the local sheiks rose up against them (and that would not have happened or even been possible if the US forces had been holed up in their base camps). President al-Maliki (a Shia), has taken to walking the streets of Sunni Ramadi recently, meeting and greeting the people and finally acting like the leader we had all hoped for when he was first elected. The meaning to these Sunnis is immense. By him doing this (and let's face it ... what he is doing is risking his life), it shows them that they are a valued part of the Iraqi people ... It shows them some respect from the Shite controlled government. Now all we need is for the rest of the government to start acting like leaders and start compromising and passing much needed legislation so that Iraq can take its' place as a productive member of the global society (Unfortunately this last sentence can also be applied to the American Congress).

Yes, it looks like we are actually winning!

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We Don't Need This Bull

This was the advertisement that MoveOn.Org ran in the New York Times today. MoveOn.Org is funded by multi-billionaire George Soros.

I have a hard time stomaching an ad like this. This ad states that the General (a man that by all accounts is an honorable man, trying his best to make the most of a bad situation ... because his country asked him to) is "cooking the books" for the administration. This ad basically accuses the General of being a liar.

Besides the anger I automatically feel whenever a member of the US Military is attacked, it is compounded by the fact that this is a case of the pot calling the kettle black. In 2002 George Soros was convicted of insider trading in France. Unlike Martha Stewart he got no jail time. In 1992, George Soros is credited with breaking the Bank of England by selling short on about 10 billion English pound sterling. This caused Great Britain to have to de-value the pound (causing harm to both Great Britain and many ordinary British investors and retirees), this netted him about 1.1 billion dollars in profit.

I let a lot of stuff that MoveOn.Org spews go by. But when they start personally attacking the people that give us the freedom to say stupid things it is too much.

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Let's Get Ready To Rumble

As we all watch in disgust, the do-nothing Congress returns from their summer vacation and start maneuvering for position in the next political show-down.

After all, we don't need to wait for General Petreaus's report on the 15th ... What do we need the input from the generals on the ground for? We have General Pelosi, General Bush, General Reid and all the other generals in Washington. There are two camps being set up right now ... for the GOP we have the "Stay the Course" Camp. With their knowledge that since things are finally starting to work in Iraq, let's continue and win this thing. On the Democratic side we have the "Let's loose this war quickly so we can get our troops the hell out of there camp". Armed with the GAO report and leading the charge is General Pelosi, who will trade America's safety for political power.

It would be nice if these DC Generals would listen to General Petraeus, fairly debate the facts, and render a decision based on the best interests of the country and the world. If we need to withdraw some troops to give the Iraqi parliament a push ... so be it, but what we don't need is to push this fight onto the next generation. Iraq is a hell-hole with extreme heat, blowing sand that hurts like hell and makes it almost impossible to breathe. Not to mention bad guys popping up when least expected and trying to kill you. I have been there, my son in law is there now, and I do not want my grand-sons to have to clean up our mess 10 years from now.

So Congress, do the country a favor and think of US first ... and it is a shame that I have to ask you to do something that should be the most important part of your job.

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President Bush's Symbolic Visit

On the way to a meeting with Asia-Pacific leaders in Sidney, President Bush stopped over in Anbar province in Iraq. It was in Anbar Province that just last year, US forces had just about written the area off as unmanageable. But that was before Sunni tribesmen got fed up with all the suicide bombings and started fighting against al-Quaeda. Now it is one of the safer areas around Baghdad. The President met with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and leaders of Iraq's Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish communities. Joining President Bush were Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Ambassador Ryan Crocker and US Commander General David Petraeus.

During the meeting, the President urged Iraqi leaders to use the calmer times to work to pass legislation to bring the Iraqi people together (like the oil wealth distribution law). Though the entire US "war council" was there, this meeting was more symbolic than substantive.

Having the Prime Minister (al-Maliki is a Shiite) meet President Bush in Anbar province (a Sunni territory) was set to show that the Iraqi government wants to work with the Sunnis. President Bush just being in Anbar makes a statement on how much has changed in the past year. A year ago, there was no way the president would have been allowed in Anbar ... It was just too dangerous. The arrival of so many high-ranking US government officials is symbolic to the Iraqi parliament that the US is serious about them getting down to business when they re-convene tomorrow. And finally, by the President actually stepping foot on Iraqi soil, he now takes away some of the thunder of Congressional leaders who have visited recently. What this means is that when a Congressman says, "I've been to Iraq and ... ", the President can now say, "well so have I, and ...".

Words are important, actions speak louder than words, and in this part of the world, symbolic gestures are also important.

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