According to war correspondent Michael Yon, it’s to grow up to be an American soldier. Photo of U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Fred Hampton, of Lexington, Ky., kneeling to talk with an Iraqi boy in Sadr City, June 20. Credit: U.S. Air Force Tech Sgt. Cohen Young, Joint Combat Camera Center Iraq.
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Posted in Iraq, The War, Troops
Tagged Baghdad, Combat Camera, Iraq, Ky., of Lexington, Sadr City, U.S. Air Force Tech Sgt. Cohen Young, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Fred Hampton
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.
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Posted in Iraq, The War, Troops
Tagged Baghdad, Iraq, Victor Davis Hanson, withdrawal
"The Iraqi army too has deployed a number of tanks to reinforce some of the major checkpoints around town. My father reported he saw a few tanks added to the bunch of BMP’s that usually group on station at a large checkpoint on the main highway in eastern Baghdad."/Pajamas Media
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Tagged American tanks, Baghdad, Iraqi tanks, Operation Imposing Law
Early days yet–thousands of surging troops have yet to arrive–but hopeful ones:
"The results of Operation “Imposing Law” are not magical. We didn’t expect them to be magical. The commanders didn’t claim they’d be when the Operation began. Still these latest developments are certainly promising. And let’s not forget that what has been achieved so far was achieved while many thousands of the new troops assigned to Baghdad are yet to arrive."
More from Omar at Iraq the Model.
Troops are increasing incrementally daily…
"We are getting used to the procedures at checkpoints; keep your hands visible on the wheel, keep your papers close to you, prepare to open the trunk and if it’s getting dark then turn the headlights off and turn the reading light on…The terrorists counterattack is a dirty chemical one this time. Nothing surprising about it though—their old master had a long history of using chemical weapons against unarmed civilians and so we’d expect the minions to use the same evil ways to mass murder and terrorize our people."
Iraq the Model continues here.
The surge and its crackdown are taking hold:
"We are hearing fewer explosions and less gunfire now than two weeks ago and that, in Baghdad, qualifies as quiet. I agree with what some experts say about this lull in violence being the result of militants keeping their heads down for a while. It is also possibly the result of the flight of the commanders of militant groups. Grunts left without planners, money or leaders wouldn’t want to do much on their own."
If the IA and the police can get a handle on it, it could make it harder to resume the attacks later.
Via Mohammed at Iraq the Model
Omar at Iraq the Model posts a cellphone snapshot of a B-1 Lancer a few thousand feet over his city, apparently as part of the crackdown of the surge which, he says, already is being felt by residents:
"On the streets, checkpoints and roadblocks are becoming increasingly serious and strict in doing their job; soldiers and policemen are sparing no vehicles or convoys from searching and I personally saw a case yesterday where an ambulance driver tried to rush his vehicle through a checkpoint but the soldiers ordered him to stop and let him pass only after they checked the inside of the vehicle finding only a civilian medical emergency."
As for the B-1, its satellite-guided, 500-pound GBU-38 "reduces undesired collateral damage and is very useful in urban Close Air Support," according to Wikipedia.
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