Redstate

Posted at 12:12pm on Jul. 11, 2008 Bodies of 2 U.S. MIAs Recovered

By The Fastest Squirrel

Until yesterday, there were three U.S. Service Members listed as Missing In Action in Iraq.

1. SGT Ahmed K. Altaie (Captured 11 DEC 2006)
2. SGT Alex R. Jimenez (Captured 12 MAY 2007)
3. SPC Byron W. Fouty (Captured 12 MAY 2007)

Now only SGT Altaie remains missing. The bodies of SGT Jimenez of Lawerence, MA and SPC Fouty of Torrence, CA were recovered by the U.S. military yesterday. There is little information available, but these soldiers of my beloved 10th Mountain Division (Light) will soon be in the care of their families, as they are currently in the care of God.

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Posted at 11:46am on Jul. 10, 2008 We need more COIN in the Afghan realm

it worked in Iraq, it'll work in afghanistan

By Charles Bird

Mudville Gazette has a good round-up of current events in Iraq, and it looks like the surge strategy is continuing to work. There are several factors now at play: the security situation is improved, al Qaeda is continuing to get shredded, the Mahdi militias are weakened and satisfactory progress has been made on 15 of 18 political benchmarks. Also factoring into the mix is the iniative taken by the al Maliki government. It started in Basra last March, then moved to Sadr City and then on to Mosul. Al Maliki & Co. aren't just being assertive with Shiite militias and al Qaeda, they are being more assertive with the United States in their negotiations for a Status of Forces Agreement. Omar Fadhil has an interesting take on the deal, and so does Dr. iRack:

Lets be clear on one thing: the current Iraqi leadership wants some kind of long-term partnership with the United States, including assurances that we will protect them against foreign invasion, continue to conduct counterterrorism operations, continue to train and support the ISF, continue to help them re-negotiate their debt obligations, etc. All of this is in the November 2007 "Declaration of Principles," signed by Bush and Maliki, which the SFA is meant to codify. What they bristle at--or at least see as a "marketing problem" with the Iraqi people--are the various immunities in the SOFA (for our troops and contractors--the latter of which has apparently been addressed) and prerogatives in the SOFA (such as control of Iraqi airspace, the right for U.S. troops to detain Iraqis, the right to conduct independent U.S. operations, basing rights, etc.). So think of this as a "sovereignty game." The Maliki government wants us to continue to help them with residual support--on their terms.

More below the fold...

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Posted at 3:20am on Jul. 9, 2008 Chgo Trib's 'Honor Killing' Report Omits Islam Connection

By Warner Todd Huston

OK, I am wondering here if the hanging of a black Southerner by the KKK in the American south would be reported by the Chicago Tribune in the same kind of vague language of “cultural” murder as a recent Muslim murder in Georgia was treated? More likely, of course, the story would be immediately pegged to the racist, white motives that actually led to the murder. In essence that is how the Chicago Tribune mishandled their reporting of another so-called Islamic "honor killing" that occurred in Georgia this week. They wrote about the "culturally rigid Pakistani" immigrants and said that "honor killings" occur with "other South Asians" without ever once mentioning that this is more often than not a Muslin practice. Instead of pegging this murder to Muslim "culture" the Tribune makes it a vague and nondescript "culture" so that the reader is unaware of the connection with Islam.

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Posted at 9:29pm on Jul. 7, 2008 Secret Agent Ma'am- Or My Ode To Valerie

By Tim Schieferecke

She's the Ma'am who feigns her life's in danger,
though in Who's Who pages found this "spy's" no stranger.
She sent her man to fake, the facts about yellow cake,
the lie that caused our Nation such great sorrow.

Secret Agent Ma'am, Secret Agent Ma'am,
you hate that we don't wonder, why your lies are oh so Plame.

Foreswear you weren't the one to send Joe to find,
the "reasons" for you libs to Iraq undermine.

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Posted at 7:02pm on Jul. 7, 2008 There is no price for Americans to pay for our Military.

By Jaded

Heartbreaking story on a fine young soldier and Patriot today that needed to be shared with my fellow Redstaters and everyone.

Here is one of our brave who should never be forgotten.

Army Pfc. Joseph Dwyer

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/ny-lisold0706,0,814136,print.story

This young man like so many of our returning heroes are not finding the help they need and are not getting the help they need. We the American public need to demand more from our political leaders beyond the requisite Patriotism. We need them to recognize that not everyone who needs help is going to request it because they are to hurt to ask. We need our politicians to spend more money on these over 2 million soldiers who protect our way of life instead of funding bridges to no where.

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Posted at 12:17pm on Jul. 7, 2008 How hard should we fight radical Islam?

By phred

There is an amazing assortment of strategies as to the direction America should take regarding extremist Islamic terrorism. Isolationists indicate that we need to concentrate on domestic issues and protect our borders instead. Those who otherwise look in disdain at arguments promoting US sovereignty make the case that we are meddling and should be sensitive to the culture and beliefs of other countries or regions; that an immediate threat to our well-being should be proven beyond all doubt; that costs in resources and lives are greater than any possible return. Blame-America-first followers indicate a need to look at ourselves and change policies so as not to invite these retributions and that we should be concerned that our reactions are inciting even more violent attacks, if more violence is in fact possible.

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Posted at 9:57am on Jul. 7, 2008 What Mr. Wilson Didn’t Look For In Africa…

By Repair Man Jack

The short answer would be about 550 Metric Tons of Yellowcake.

It looks like he also failed to find any conclusive evidence that the Executive Branch of the US government engaged in an active conspiracy to falsely claim that Saddam Hussein was seeking to buy uranium. If there were 550 metric tons of the stuff to quietly remove, and if Iraq is not exactly a hot bed of uranium mining and refinement, Hussein had to have procured said Uranium from somewhere. In other words, Hussein did exactly what Colin Powell announced that the Iraqi despot was doing.

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Posted at 9:59pm on Jul. 6, 2008 Deeply Encouraging News From Iraq . . . And Some Of The Reaction

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

First, let's go to the "deeply encouraging news part":

American and Iraqi forces are driving Al-Qaeda in Iraq out of its last redoubt in the north of the country in the culmination of one of the most spectacular victories of the war on terror.

After being forced from its strongholds in the west and centre of Iraq in the past two years, Al-Qaeda's dwindling band of fighters has made a defiant "last stand" in the northern city of Mosul.

A huge operation to crush the 1,200 fighters who remained from a terrorist force once estimated at more than 12,000 began on May 10.

Operation Lion's Roar, in which the Iraqi army combined forces with the Americans' 3rd Armoured Cavalry Regiment, has already resulted in the death of Abu Khalaf, the Al-Qaeda leader, and the capture of more than 1,000 suspects.

The group has been reduced to hit-and-run attacks, including one that killed two off-duty policemen yesterday, and sporadic bombings aimed at killing large numbers of officials and civilians.

[. . .]

Major-General Mark Hertling, American commander in the north, said: "I think we're at the irreversible point."

Read on . . .

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Posted at 12:42am on Jul. 6, 2008 Iraqi Army Defeats Al Qaeda in Mosul

By David Hinz

From the News You Won't Read In The New York Times Department:

With the support of the American 3rd Armoured Cavalry Regiment, the Iraqi Army has defeated Al Qaeda in Iraq, driving them from their last remaining stronghold in the northern city of Mosul. The offensive known as Operation Lion’s Roar has seen the Iraqi Army kill Al Qaeda leader Abu Khalaf, while capturing over 1000 terrorist fighters. The terrorist numbers once numbered more than 12,000.

“I think we’re at the irreversible point," American commander Major-General Mark Hertling told Times of London reporter Marie Colvin.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was openly optimistic in his assessment of the situation. “They were intending to besiege Baghdad and control it,” Maliki said. “But thanks to the will of the tribes, security forces, army and all Iraqis, we defeated them.”

The situation in Mosul, the last Al Qaeda stronghold in the country, has improved to much that Colvin was allowed to stroll through the streets with an Iraqi Colonel as house to house search operations were carried out.

Last Friday I joined the 2nd Iraqi Division as it supported local police in a house-to-house search for one such bomb after intelligence pointed to a large explosion today.

Even in the district of Zanjali, previously a hotbed of the insurgency, it was possible to accompany an Iraqi colonel on foot through streets of breeze-block houses studded with bullet holes. Hundreds of houses were searched without resistance but no bomb was found, only 60kg of explosives.

Read the rest posted at:

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Posted at 7:11pm on Jul. 4, 2008 What Did You Do on Independence Day?

By streiff

GEN Dave Petraeus re-enlists 1,215 US soldiers at Al Faw Palace, Baghdad. July 4, 2008.

Sort of puts the typical fireworks display and barbecue to shame. If this brings neither a tear to your eye or causes a bit of a tingle to run up your spine you need to rethink what today is about.

(h/t to Bob Krumm from whom I pinched the headline)

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Posted at 4:08pm on Jul. 4, 2008 Celebrating Freedom

By Matt Sanchez

This Independence Day, I can't help but recall some of my past Fourth of July celebrations. On one 4th of July, I was at bootcamp in Parris Island. As platoon leader, I got to hold the American flag during the the festivities on the parade deck. It was a long day, hot weather and I had to remain perfectly still. There's nothing like a military ceremony to celebrate the Fourth of July and on that day, despite the heat, cramps and bugs, I was enormously proud of being an American.

Last 4th of July, I was in Baghdad with the 1st Squadron of the 4th Calvary on FOB Falcon. The neighborhood the 1-4 Cav covered was one of the most hostile areas in all of Baghdad and the residents had seen a lot of violence.

Anyone who has been to Iraq knows there are tons of kids everywhere. I liked asking kids questions because they give the most direct and honest responses. Here's what one kid told me about the American soldiers who patrolled his neighborhood.

I've often said that the best that the United States has to offer are serving in the military and in combat zones like some of the neighborhoods in Baghdad. Armed with little more than their dedication to their duty and to one another, the men and women of the United States military have turned the tide on what seemed an impossible situation. Their stories, on this day, the birth of our country, deserved to be honored and remembered.

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Posted at 7:57pm on Jul. 3, 2008 Existential Struggle: Thoughts On the Eve of Independence Day

By TheSophist

In a recent post of mine, I have had the pleasure to engage in civil, reasoned discourse about the propriety of using or not using torture in our War against Irhabis. In that discussion, it struck me that there is an unspoken assumption that underlies all of our thoughts about the War, about what's right and wrong, and about our policies.

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Posted at 11:51am on Jul. 2, 2008 A Policy for Torture: Responding to Christopher Hitchens

By TheSophist

The 59-year old chain-smoking auteur Christopher Hitchens has undergone waterboarding in order to experience it first hand. His conclusion? "Believe Me, It's Torture." That is the title of his article.

His conclusion is that we, the United States, should cease the practice of waterboarding. In all honesty, I can get behind that, but the reasoning that Mr. Hitchens uses to get to his conclusion strikes me as equal parts all-wet and civilized fantasy.

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Posted at 6:31am on Jul. 2, 2008 Start the stop watch. Prepare for an Obama flip.

By Erick

This is good news.

Iraq's efforts on 15 of 18 benchmarks are "satisfactory" — almost twice of what it determined to be the case a year ago, the White House reports in a new assessment to Congress. The May 2008 report card, obtained by the Associated Press, determines that only two of the benchmarks — enacting and implementing laws to disarm militias and distribute oil revenues — are unsatisfactory.

In the past 12 months, since the White House released its first formal assessment of Iraq's military and political progress, Baghdad politicians have reached several new agreements seen as critical to easing sectarian tensions.

I suspect that at any time Barack Obama will throw under the bus his former opposition to the war and declare it both a success and acknowledge that he always knew it was going to be successful.

But don't you call him on it. If you do, you are a dirty racist.

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