Tag Archives: Iraq

The real Ramadi

Posted on December 10, 2006 | Comments Off on The real Ramadi

Are we winning or losing the war in Ramadi in Iraq’s al Anbar? With the defeatist MSM reporting from the Green Zone, it’s hard to tell. Depends on who you read. Blogger Michael Fumento, who has been there three times, says we’re winning. So does the Times of London which also sent a reporter there. Saying we’re losing (surprise, surprise) is the Washington Post’s reporter Thomas Ricks, author of "Fiasco," which ought to show you what he thinks before he sets fingers to keyboard. Especially since, according to Fumento, Ricks has never set foot in Ramadi. Now, lo and behold, the WaPo is contradicting Ricks with a new, upbeat piece. Curiouser and curiouser.

Via MichaelFumento.com, which is a good place to begin. 

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Oil for the people

Posted on December 9, 2006 | Comments Off on Oil for the people

Mohammed at Iraq the Model reports the government is considering a move often suggested in the blogosphere, but which American officials seemed not to have taken seriously.

"…yesterday al-Sabah brought the news that the parliament is discussing a suggestion to set aside 30% of oil sales income to distribute among the citizens of Iraq. The draft law sets 3 classes of payments according to age and subsequent needs and responsibilities; from one month to 6 years, from 6 to 18 years and the third one 19 years and older. People who migrated from Iraq, those with salaries higher tha[n] 1 million dinars/month and convicted criminals will be excluded from the payment program, the report added. The people here met the news with some delight, hope and some skepticism too although the announcement came through the government’s paper."

If it pans out–and Mohammed also reports that oil exports are up almost 15 percent from last year–the project would make Iraq a world model for fairness in the use of natural resources, as well as a regional one for democracy. It might even inspire a measure of sectarian peace.

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Posted in Blogosphere, Iraq, The War

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Adding a granny knot to a square knot

Posted on December 6, 2006 | Comments Off on Adding a granny knot to a square knot

The Iraq Study Group’s recommendations for solving the problems in Iraq? Make them bigger by, among other things, offering to return the Golan Heights to Syria. Huh?

"The normal approach to a difficult problem would be to bound or simplify it. But the ISG recommendations try the exact opposite: it adds complexity to the already complex situation."

It will be interesting to see what the headline writers do with this one. Simplicity ain’t in it.

UPDATE  The Wall Street Journal dubs it "The Iraq Muddle Group," but notes it serves the useful purpose of denying any fast departure and underlines the stark consequences of a failure there. 

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Posted in Iraq, Israel, The War, Troops

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Good Iraq news gone missing

Posted on December 2, 2006 | Comments Off on Good Iraq news gone missing

Omar at Iraq the Model finds good news of the Baghdad sniper’s capture still largely untold outside Iraq two days after it happened.

"Where’s the MSM from all of this? If he was a myth, then why were the media running stories about him and his operations in the first place? And if he was for real, then why are they ignoring his arrest?"

Must be preoccupied with the snow and ice across the Midwest. 

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First, stablize Iraq

Posted on December 1, 2006 | Comments Off on First, stablize Iraq

Leave Iraq in chaos and watch the enemy follow us home, Gen. John Abizaid tells Harvard audience.

"We have not failed yet and we will not fail if we all understand what we have to do. If we can stay together nothing can stop us and we can make the world a better place."

Via Instapundit 

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Bright idea

Posted on November 29, 2006 | Comments Off on Bright idea

Josh Manchester, The Adventures of Chester, adds a brilliant wrinkle to the Pentagon’s reported "Go Long" strategy for Iraq, i.e. Go Long and Go Native.

"These changes would be dramatic. It takes guts to tell a sovereign government that we’re relieving it of its military. But by going native, the US can destroy or neutralize the Shi’ite militias; restore confidence in the Iraqi armed forces; increase our language and cultural proficiency, which is a huge force multiplier; and over time we can gradually cede the military back to the Iraqi government."

Probably too innovative for even the Bush administration, but worth a look.

Via Instapundit

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Stubborness or integrity?

Posted on November 29, 2006 | Comments Off on Stubborness or integrity?

"It appears Bush’s characteristic Texas stubbornness is the only thing standing between victory and the U.S. defeat that has all but been proclaimed by Washington’s foreign policy establishment and its friends in the mainstream media like ’60 Minutes’ reporter Lara Logan. She insisted in her weekend interview with Gen. John Abizaid that ‘managing the defeat’ is America’s only option."

It isn’t Texas "stubborness," but Texas integrity. The old guard and the news media have been against the war–not just the Iraq campaign–from the very beginning. Now it’s supposedly Daddy Bush’s former consigliere James Baker who’s going to turn the stubborn son around and get him to suck up to the dictators like Daddy did. So far Son is refusing, and that’s good. The boy is keeping his word. Not letting the naysayers lead him away by the nose from the course that young men and women have enlisted to follow–and some have died for. And so he’d better, because if he ends his term as just another Washington lickspittle, he should not come back to Texas.

Via Instapundit 

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