When they crossed the line into commentary, they left the news behind in favor of anti-Bush narrative, as Badger 6 shows in a post about happenings in his area of operations.
UPDATE Hastening to dumb down the headline when it comes to Hamas and Mickey Mouse, via LGF.
Comments Off on AP has no shame
Posted in Iraq, The War, Troops
Tagged Associated Press, Badger 6, Iraq, media bias
Well, Iraq is not hurting retention or recruitment in the Army National Guard, full-strength for the first time since 1999.
Via Instapundit
Comments Off on Army Guard strong
Tagged Army National Guard, recruiting, retention
Some soldiers say they can turn it around in Iraq in eighteen months. Military historian Victor Davis Hanson bets they have six.
"The war will be won or lost, like it or not, fairly or unjustly, in the next six months in Baghdad. Either Gen. Petraeus quells the violence to a level that even the media cannot exaggerate, or the enterprise fails, and we withdraw. For all the acrimony and hysteria at home, that in the end is what we face—the verdict of all wars that ultimately are decided by the soldiers, and then either supported or opposed by the majority at home with no views or ideology other than its desire to conform to the narrative from the front: support our winners, oppose our losers. In the end, that is what this entire hysterical four years are about."
I hope he’s wrong. If he’s right, there will be hell to pay.
Comments Off on Six months
Posted in Iraq, The War, Troops
Tagged Baghdad, Iraq, Victor Davis Hanson, withdrawal
"The U.S. Army has ordered soldiers to stop posting to blogs or sending personal e-mail messages, without first clearing the content with a superior officer." –Wired News
A few of the active-duty Iraq and Afghanistan milblogs in my blogroll have not stopped, but their stopping could be just around the corner. In the meantime, find them and go visit while you still can. Instapundit and Blackfive have commented on how politically and militarily stupid this is. Since the MSM rarely covers anything but American deaths, the milblogs are the only way for most civilians to know what’s going on. Were.
Wired News records this comment from a major explaining the new reg, which sounds like it may not stop all active duty milblogs:
"Some units may require that Soldiers register their blog with the unit for identification purposes with occasional spot checks after an initial review. Other units may require a review before every posting. A private e-mail message to Family Members is not considered posting information in a public forum, but U.S. Army personnel are informed that unclassified e-mails can be intercepted and that they shouldn’t write anything that they wouldn’t say on an unsecure phone."
But Badger 6, for one, thinks it may be the end, anyway: "Now the way I read that I should be able to continue blogging under our current unit policy. But in truth his explanation goes far afield of what the policy actually reads. I am very concerned that Army milblogs may not be long for this internet."
The faces of the Iraq campaign, mainly the children. Pictures by embed Michael Yon:
"A huge part of this war comes down to personal relationships and respect. It’s not about killing. That’s only a small part of it. It’s about building: building bonds that build societies. Giving Iraqi civilians a real alternative to those who create and then flee from civil havoc. Terrorists don’t pick up the trash on the way back from blowing up the electrical stations."
Worth a look.
Comments Off on Terrorists don’t pick up the trash
Posted in Iraq, The War, Troops
Tagged Iraq, Michael Yon
Congress should do so, says this two-tour Marine major because it can work and whittle our forces in half within eighteen months.
"American soldiers in Iraq are constantly asked about our commitment to a fight we started. Most of the advisers I got to know during my most recent tour, which ended in February, were quick to try to assuage their Iraqi counterparts’ concerns and dismissive of the calls for withdrawal by American politicians, news of which trickled onto the battlefield during the winter. After all, the surge itself would not be fully under way until mid-summer. Surely the politicians would give it a chance to work."
Read it all.
THE TEXAS SCRIBBLER 