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Blackfive: Iraqi Army desecrates Mahdi bodies (graphic video) |
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Sunday, 11 May 2008 |
Many like to smear the US and our troops as jack-booted thugs who routinely torture, kill and mutilate innocents; there could hardly be a more inaccurate portrayal. I have seen far too many examples of man's inhumanity to man and...read
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Townhall: Rethinking the Iraq Critics |
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Sunday, 11 May 2008 |
The claim is that "neocons," including Feith, politicized intelligence to show that Saddam Hussein's regime had weapons of mass destruction. Not so, as the Senate Intelligence Committee and the Silberman-Robb Commission have concluded already. Every intelligence agency believed Saddam had weapons of mass destruction, and the post-invasion Duelfer report concluded that he maintained the capability to produce them on short notice. There was abundant evidence of contacts between Saddam's regime and al-Qaida and other terrorist groups. Given Saddam's hostility to the United States and his stonewalling of the United Nations, American leaders had every reason to believe he posed a grave threat. Removing him removed that threat....read
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NYT: Drive in Basra by Iraqi Army Makes Gains |
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Sunday, 11 May 2008 |
Three hundred miles south of Baghdad, the oil-saturated city of Basra has been transformed by its own surge, now seven weeks old.
In a rare success, forces loyal to Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki have largely quieted the city, to the initial surprise and growing delight of many inhabitants who only a month ago shuddered under deadly clashes between Iraqi troops and Shiite militias. ...read
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Jeff Emanuel: Embedded War Documentarian (and former Marine & Brownback staffer) on Dennis Miller sh |
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Sunday, 11 May 2008 |
More information here. J.D. Johannes is a guy who is definitely worth listening to, as he has a wealth of knowledge and experience on counterinsurgency in general and Iraq in particular. Tune in and check it out.
And swing over to his place and buy a DVD while you're at it. It doesn't get any more real than his inside-the-surge, inside-the-Anbar-Awakening, on-scene-for-combat documentaries.
Trust me -- it's worth the $20 price tag.read
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Jeff Emanuel: So that "Real War on Terror" is only in one country, and crosses no borders, right? |
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Sunday, 11 May 2008 |
From the Long War Journal comes this report that Abu Suleiman al Otaibi, the "former leader of the legal system of al Qaeda in Iraq's political front, the Islamic State of Iraq," has been killed in Afghanistan.
That's right -- the al Qaeda leader who used to the supreme authority in Iraq on that Shari'a law that all AQ live by so devoutly was killed in Afghanistan.
But, you know, the War on Terror is only in one place, and doesn't cross those pesky national borders.read
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Bill Roggio: Pakistani Taliban, Iraqi al Qaeda operatives killed in Afghanistan |
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Sunday, 11 May 2008 |
Mullah Nazir's deputy, former leader of Islamic State of Iraq killed in recent clashes in Eastern Afghanistan. A former leader of the Islamic State of Iraq also killed in Afghanistan.read
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Blackfive: Roundtables: Life of the Mind |
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Sunday, 11 May 2008 |
Last week, there were two roundtables on two different projects that both have something in common. Both point to the way that the US military serves to harness the minds of America's true "best and brightest" to create good in...read
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Jeff Emanuel: Mahdi Army Buckles in Sadr City; Offers Iraqi Government Cease-Fire, Unfettered Access |
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Sunday, 11 May 2008 |
May 12, 2008
Rumors of an impending cease-fire agreement between the Iraqi government and Mahdi Army fighters loyal to erstwhile Shi’a cleric Muqtada al Sadr kicked into overdrive on Friday morning, with an Arab-language newspaper announcing that it had inside information on the near-finalization of a “deal between the Iraqi government and the Mahdi Army or the Sadrist leadership, to which the militia is linked.” If actually implemented, the impending cease-fire, which the Iraqi press outlet learned about via “an exclusive interview with sources close to the Sadrist Current,” would have ended weeks of intense fighting, which seen massively disproportionate losses on the part of the Mahdi militiamen, in the district northeast of Baghdad known as Sadr City.
Over the weekend, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al Dabbagh and Sadrist spokesman Sheikh Salih al Ubaydi confirmed that such an accord had, in fact, been reached between Sadrist leaders and the Iraqi government led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
This agreement marks the latest in a long series of cease-fire declarations on the part of Sadr and his militia, who, like a schoolyard bully who runs away right when a teacher is about to arrive, always seem to think better of their low-intensity offensives right when they are about to have the hammer dropped on them by the U.S. and Iraqi militaries. Before this weekend, the last cease-fire Sadr declared came just as Iraqi Army and police reinforcements began to arrive in Basra. Rather than risk open conflict with trained and skilled regular forces, Sadr called for his fighters to put down their weapons until further notice.
However, one major detail reported by the oft-incorrect McClatchy newspaper bureau, and still being claimed by Sadrist spokesmen, appears to have been inaccurate. The impending accord, which would have allowed Iraqi security forces (ISF) access to the city without armed resistance from the Sadrists, was rumored – and reported -- to include the stipulation that coalition troops would be banned from the city for the duration of the agreement.
This would have been a major concession, as support from U.S. forces, including Special Operations Forces, has been instrumental in the Iraqi military’s efforts to combat Mahdi fighters and provide security and humanitarian assistance for the district’s residents. Coalition forces have also played a major role in the ongoing construction of a concrete barrier which would separateread
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Matt Sanchez: Fiction and Superheroes |
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Sunday, 11 May 2008 |
The movie Iron Man is a great thrill, inspired by a comicbook series that began in the 60's. Tony Stark, a weapons dealer, visits Afghanistan to test a new weapon system code named Jericho. Stark is kidnapped by an international group whose members look suspiciously like terrorists. This group has a compound and plenty of armament that, as fate would have it, comes from Stark's company--Stark enterprises.read
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Bill Roggio: Operations continue in Sadr City |
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Sunday, 11 May 2008 |
Multinational Forces Iraq indicates the building of the wall and operations against the "Special Groups" will continue despite the cease-fire. EFPs are "the number one killer of our soldiers" in Baghdad.read
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Michael Totten: Lebanon’s Third Civil War |
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Saturday, 10 May 2008 |
by Michael J. Totten
The third civil war has begun in Lebanon.
The first war was a short one. Sunni Arab Nationalists in thrall to Egyptian dictator Gamal Abdel Nasser wanted to attach Lebanon to the United Arab Republic – a brief union of Egypt and Syria. An even larger bloc of Maronite Christians resisted. A nation cannot hold itself together when a large percentage of its population – roughly a third – wish to be annexed by foreign powers.
The second war was a long one. This time, Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian Liberation Organization formed a state-within-a-state in West Beirut and South Lebanon and used it as a launching pad for terrorist attacks against Israel. Again, Lebanon’s Christians resisted, as did Lebanon’s Shias. The second civil war was actually a series of wars that were merely triggered by that first fatal schism.
The third civil war resembles both the first and the second. With Iranian money and weapons, Hezbollah has built its own state-within-a-state in South Lebanon and South Beirut which is used as a base to wage war against Israel. Hezbollah also wishes to violently yank Lebanon from its current pro-Western alignment into the Syrian-Iranian axis. Roughly one-fourth of the population supports this agenda. No country on earth can withstand that kind of geopolitical tectonic pressure. For more than a year members of Hezbollah have tried unsuccessfully to topple the elected government with a minimal use of force, but their patience is at an end and they have turned to war.
My old liberal Sunni neighborhood of Hamra near the American University of Beirut – the best in the Middle East – is now occupied by the private army of a foreign police state. Masked gunmen take up positions in a neighborhood of five star hotels, restaurants, and cafes (including a Starbucks) where students like to hang out while reading books by authors like Jean Paul Sartre and Albert Camus. They burned down Prime Minister Fouad Seniora’s Future Movement headquarters building. They stormed the offices of TV and radio stations and threatened to dynamite the buildings if the reporters refused to stop broadcasting. They seized the property of Saad Hariri – son of the assassinated former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri – and they control all the exits. Member of Parliament Ammar Houry’s house is now occupied. Al Arabiya says they attacked the Ottoman-era Grand Serail, the current prime minister’read
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Bill Roggio: Sadrist bloc buckles, agrees to let Iraqi Army in Sadr City |
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Saturday, 10 May 2008 |
The Sadrist bloc and the Iraqi government agreed to a 14-point agreement that concedes major points to the Iraqi government and military. The Iraqi Army can enter Sadr City to establish security while the Sadrist said the Mahdi Army attacks will end.read
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Bill Roggio: US Special Forces fighting inside Sadr City |
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Friday, 09 May 2008 |
Twenty-three Mahdi Army fighters killed in Sadr City over the past 24 hours. US Special Forces teams kill 13 Mahdi Army fighters over past two days.read
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Matt Sanchez: Constructing Controversy |
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Friday, 09 May 2008 |
Periodically, reporters will put out requests to help gather information. Just the other day, I got this one. I'm looking to speak with medical and military personnel who can share their experience with (or knowledge of) soldiers that have self-inflicted...read
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Bill Roggio: US Military denies al Qaeda leader al Masri is in custody |
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Friday, 09 May 2008 |
The Iraqi Ministry of Defense has issued yet another false report on the death or capture of Abu Ayyub al Masri. The latest incident appears to be a case of mistaken identity.read
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Mudville Gazette: Dawn Patrol |
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Friday, 09 May 2008 |
Welcome to the Dawn Patrol, our daily roundup of information on the War on Terror and other topics - from the MilBlogs and other sources around the world. If you're a blogger, you can join the conversation. If you link to any of these stories, add a link to the Dawn Patrol too and your trackback will be added to the list. Hat Tips to the Dawn Patrol are greatly appreciated. Support Our Troops, Read Their Stories ---------------------------------------------------------------------- IRAQ First...read
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Mudville Gazette: Beating the Odds |
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Friday, 09 May 2008 |
Glenn Reynolds:IN TENNESSEE 300 National Guard soldiers from Campbell County just got back from Iraq, after a year in which they suffered no casualties. Congratulations, and welcome back.And they were outside the wire:The units spent most of the past year hauling equipment through Iraq. They covered more than 1.6 million miles, according to the National Guard - all without a single casualty.That reminds me of this story from January '07:The Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, sergeant was responsible for more than 800...read
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Mudville Gazette: Good News/Bad News |
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Friday, 09 May 2008 |
Looks like somebody's got some politickin' to do:House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., pulled the bill from the schedule Wednesday night after conservative-to-moderate "Blue Dog" Democrats revolted over Democratic leaders' insistence on including in the war funding bill an unrelated provision to sharply increase education benefits for veterans under the GI Bill. The new GI Bill — designed to give Iraq war veterans enough help to finance a four-year stint at a public college — would cost $51 billion over 10...read
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Blackfive: Pelosi & Dems Play War (Funding) Games |
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Thursday, 08 May 2008 |
It's time to fund the war again and Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic leadership try to figure out how to appease the rabidly anti-war left without getting squashed like bugs for the 75th time this Congress. They really do suck,...read
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Bill Roggio: Abu Ayyub al Masri, al Qaeda in Iraq’s leader, reported captured in Mosul |
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Thursday, 08 May 2008 |
An unconfirmed report from the Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman said al Masri has been captured in the northern city and is in Iraqi Army custody. The US military has not confirmed al Masri’s capture.read
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