Iraq update August 8, 2007

Well, first off, Michael J. Totten has a great dispatch which is an interview he did with an Iraqi who works as an interpreter. It's called (appropriately) An Iraqi Interpreter's Story. Here's your tease:

MJT: Is there a solution to the problem in this country?

Hammer: Nuke Iraq.

MJT: Be serious.

Hammer: I am serious. If you screen all Iraqis, 5 million of them would be good people. Clear them out, then kill everyone else. Syria and Iran would surrender. [Laughs.]

There's a whole lot more so take the time to read it.

Bill Roggio has his next Iraq report up at The Weekly Standard. The hunt for Al Qaeda is still ongoing and there's a new offensive which started on August 4th to the north of Baqubah, in Diyala province.

Along with the continued hunt for Al Qaeda, the heat's been turned up on Al Sadr's people too. There are reports of several "rogue" elements of the Mahdi army that have been hit in the last week or so. Al Sadr himself is still hiding out in Iran, so this problem seems to be doing a slow melt with the coalition applying the catalyst.

Something new that I've picked up on in the last couple of days or so is the fact that we're now doing operations in Sadr city. This is new. The Mahdi army got hit big time here in the last day or so. It looks to me like we are applying equal amounts of pressure to both Al Qaeda and the Iranian backed Shiite militias now.

Also, Michael Yon has part II of Bread and a Circus up now. It's another long read, but worth the time in my opinion. But, if you don't have the time, there's one part you need to hear so I'll relay it here. It's when he had traveled from Baqubah to Baghdad with a caravan of trucks to pick up food allotments for the people of Baqubah. He was in a discussion with one of the Baghdad officials who was reluctant to release food to Baqubah as it would just fall into the hands of Al Qaeda.

I recalled one of the bureaucrat’s comments, upon hearing that al Qaeda had scattered like rabbits out of Baqubah. He seemed at first not to believe that news, but once he got confirmation, he made a point to tell us what that news actually meant: if al Qaeda was done in Baqubah, al Qaeda was done in Iraq.

This sure sounds like progress from the Petraeus strategy to me.

How improved is the security in Al Anbar?

Well, I'd say it's well improved. Lt. Col. Kelly Alexander, commanding officer of Task Force Highlander, part of Regimental Combat Team-2, which operates in western Anbar province, wants to have his Marines start patrolling without helmets and with less body armor.

From Stars and Stripes:

Alexander said a change to a “soft posture” can now be considered because the security situation has improved significantly in recent months. That is especially so in local cities where the Marines work closely with an ever-growing Iraqi police force and where residents have shown a newfound willingness to tip the police to insurgent activity.

Also, from the sidebar on that:

Security conditions in the western Iraq city of Ramadi have improved so much since coalition forces wrested control from al-Qaida that 80 days have now passed without a single attack, according to Col. John Charlton, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team.

Iraq update August 6, 2007

On the military and economic fronts, things are still moving forward. The Political front seems to have some issues. I'm pretty sure the Al Qaeda's allies in our government will seize on this part to try and surrender, once again. I'm not reading it as a failure though. A setback, but not a failure.

The Political side - Lots of cabinet members dropping out of the central government. According to Omar at Iraq The Model, it's a combination of different groups dropping out of the process for differing reasons. In his post The Untimely Recess from Sunday, August 5th, it appears to be mainly the anti Maliki groups wanting to shut down progress to get him ousted, and Al Sadr's group wanting our Congress to pull our troops out. Omar thinks that what's needed is a change in the political class as soon as the ever improving security situation allows for early elections. That makes some sense to me, especially if you take into account the people in the provinces that are now wanting to take part in the government.

Polls over the weekend by the old media have found that the popularity of the war is increasing. NBC had to run their poll twice, because they didn't believe the first result. I bet it's still going to be reported as "the ever waning support" of the war, though. Still, the old media has started to report on what we've been watching and Joe Blow couch potato could actually be sensing that this is winnable. That's going to be a real pain to the Murthas, Reids, Pelosis, Obamas, Clintons, etc. etc.. I believe they are going to shift their talking points over from security in Iraq isn't happening, to the political process in Iraq isn't happening, and then try to force a "surrender at all costs" again though.

Political progress demanded

The Iraqi government has gone on a summer break. They did this despite cries from our Congress that they can't do that when work needs to be done for their people.

George W Bush just just told our Congress they need to forgo their August summer recess and act, too.

Ya gotta love it.

The Iraqi government is dealing with the heat of summer. 120 degree days and no AC. Our Congress, when last I checked, it was a sweltering 80 degrees in DC and AC fully functional everywhere. Totally unbearable conditions for our pompous asses, but we need the Iraqi government to step up.

What a boatload of jerks....

A little AC DC for ya

And, if you don't know your AC DC this isn't going to be nearly as interesting.

Marine Corps News has a a must read called Highlanders Rock on with Mawtini.

COMBAT OUTPOST RAWAH, Iraq – (Aug. 2, 2007) -- North of the Euphrates River, an unusual sound began to echo across the sands and through the hills, gradually building until words and instruments could be recognized.

“…thunder…,” pause.

Suddenly the ground shook as a mortar round, loosed by Lance Cpl. Shelby A. Weathers, exited its tube and ripped through the air, landing over a mile away on the side of a hill.

Pause.

“…I was caught in the middle of a lightning attack…”

Well, you get an idea of what it is from that. It's a must read for you Rock fans.

Iraq update August 2, 2007

This press briefing from MNF-I says a lot. It was held at the Combined Press Information Center and is titled Military, economic progress continues, officials say. Nothing like some joint ass kicking.

“We continue to target the networks and leaders of al-Qaeda in Iraq and the special groups, and are steadily chipping away at both sets of extremists,” Bergner said. “We are seeing progress not just in the number of terrorist leaders that are captured or killed but also in the courage of the Iraqi people, their support for their security forces, and their purposeful stand against violence.”

Also, keep up on BlackFive. Uncle Jimbo is messing around with Skype and attempting to get some real feeds from the military bloggers. His first one is with Captain Coulson of Badgers Forward. It's 10 minutes long, but worth the listen. CPT Coulson is Teflon Don's (Acute Politics) commanding officer and was also there for the front row view on the Anbar Awakening.

And, if you really want to crunch the numbers, Bill Roggio at The Fourth Rail has the Iraqi Security Forces Order of Battle: August 2007 Update posted. This is only good if you feel all geeky about the specifics. It's a great read though in my opinion. But, that probably means I'm a geek.

Proof the "surge" is working

From the strangest sources, too. I surmise this by the latest reactions of Al Qaeda's allies in our government. That, and the old media.

The old media is starting to report little tidbits of what we've been seeing for months. They seem to think there is this small thing happening in Al Anbar province. Thanks, old media, for being all over that! What would we do without ya....

Obama seems to be looking to see if he has any boy parts and has decided to invade the nuclear power Pakistan.

Clinton has switched sides to the max and is stuck. All she seems to be able to do is demand that the Pentagon tell her publicly what the surrender contingency plan is.

Harry Reid? He seems to be relatively quiet. So, what's the saying when you've bet the house on the wrong bet? Hmmm.... snake eyes possibly?

We had a Democrat sitting in a briefing last week with a retired General who had just got back from Iraq and she had to walk out of the meeting because it was too frustrating to her to hear that there is good news coming out of Iraq.

The surrender talk has lessened a whole lot too. Now, they are jockeying around the whole issue to try and find a stance.

That, my friends, indicates success in Iraq.

They will have to try and find a way to either take credit for it, or explain to us how this could have possibly happened under the stewardship of George W Bush.