More on the battle for Mosul

Bill Roggio at The Long War Journal has a post up on Walling Mosul

• The building of new combat outposts has been an integral part of the counterinsurgency plan to secure Mosul. The expansion of the outposts inside the city, as well as the rebuilding of a berm surrounding the city, is seen as vital elements in reducing the violence in the northern city.

Sounds like they're going to wall it off just as they did in Fallujah. Worked pretty well down there in cutting off access to the city for Al Qaeda. It will either keep them out or keep them in so they can be hunted down and eliminated.

And now for the really important stuff

I know you all were probably worrying that I wouldn't be able to haul the empty keg in and get the replacement keg home in the new tree feeder, but, you can relax. It worked just fine.

One little adjustment is needed, however. The Mustang has sensors that can tell when someone is sitting in the passengers seat, as opposed to "just hauling grocery's". The 160 pound keg appears to be "people" to the system, so I'll need to actually strap it in with the seatbelt. The seatbelt warning bell went off a dozen times on the short drive home from the liquor store.

All in all, that's not too bad for a first time trial run. Hopefully, in a couple of months when I need to do this again, I'll remember the seatbelt thing...

The funny thing is, I saw that the "passenger airbag is off" light was off and had thought to myself "cool, if I get in a wreck, the airbag will save the keg!". Too bad I didn't add it up.

Totten in Anbar

Another great writeup by Michael J. Totten in Anbar province. He spent some time In the Villages of Al Anbar

• ANBAR PROVINCE, IRAQ – The Iraqi town of Al Farris looks like a model Soviet city up close and a rounded square from the sky. Saddam Hussein built it to house workers in the now-defunct weapons factory to the east, and they live in neighborhoods called City 1, City 2, City 3, City 4, and City 5. “Socialist living at its finest,” Sergeant Edward Guerrero said as we rolled through the gates in a Humvee. The place made me think of Libya, where I have been, and North Korea, where I have not.

The battle for Mosul update

There's not much reporting on the battle for Mosul. Luckily, Bill Roggio and Michael Yon are there. That's probably the two most reliable Iraq war reporters we have, so we're okay.

To start off with, Bill Roggio at The Long War Journal reports on the Targeting Mosul’s kidnappers

• MOSUL, IRAQ: As al Qaeda and allied extremist groups attempt to regroup in the northern city of Mosul, kidnappings inside the city have spiked in the past week. Six Iraqis have been kidnapped in the last six days. The latest victim was a Muslim sheikh.

After that, check out Michael Yon's reporting from Mosul in his dispatch titled Guitar Heroes. This is another great eye opening piece by Yon that you must read. Man, I'm glad he got up there to bring us this stuff.

• Men crept in darkness to plant a bomb. They moved in an area where last year I was helping to collect fallen American soldiers from the battlefield.

  Terrorists. The ones who murder children in front of their parents. The ones who take drugs and rape women and boys. The ones who blow up schools. The ones who have been forcibly evicted from places like Anbar Province, Baghdad and Baqubah by American and Iraqi forces. Terrorists are here now in Mosul. They call themselves al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). AQI cannot win without Baghdad, and cannot survive without Mosul. The Battle for Mosul is evolving into AQI’s last great stand.

Both are must reads, actually. We got lucky and have the best two on hand covering Al Qaeda's last stand in Iraq. About the time it's over, the major news networks will discover it and send people to look into it but we will have already followed the Roggio and Yon reporting so, once again, we will be months ahead on the situation.

General Raymond Odierno

Hat tip to The Victory Caucus for the pointer to a great article by Frederick W. Kagan and Kimberly Kagan over at The Weekly Standard called The Patton of Counterinsurgency

• Great commanders often come in pairs: Eisenhower and Patton, Grant and Sherman, Napoleon and Davout, Marlborough and Eugene, Caesar and Labienus. Generals David Petraeus and Raymond Odierno can now be added to the list.

  It's natural to assume that successful pairs of commanders complement each other's personalities (the diplomatic Eisenhower and the hard-charging Patton, for example) or that the junior partner is merely executing the vision of the other (Sherman seen as acting on Grant's orders). In reality, the task of planning and conducting large-scale military operations is too great for any single commander, no matter how talented his staff. The subordinate in every successful command pair has played a key role in designing and implementing the campaign plan.

  History does not always justly appreciate such contributions. The role that Davout played in shaping operational plans for Napoleon is a matter for specialists. General Odierno deserves better. He played an absolutely essential role in designing and executing the successful counterinsurgency operations in Iraq. His contributions to securing Iraq offer many important lessons for fighting the larger war on terror. As he and his team return to Fort Hood, Texas, it is important not only to commemorate their achievement, but also to understand it.

Worth reading as General Petraeus is generally getting the credit for the big turn around in Iraq and Odierno's contributions are largely unreported. It's a good reflection of what most likely will be recounted in the history books years from now. They were one hell of a team.

Here's a cool story

Michael Yon has a great read posted called Soldier makes helping Iraqi family personal mission

• MOSUL, Iraq - Two mothers, one Iraqi and one American, stood looking at one another at an entrance gate at Forward Operating Base Marez, Iraq. One was crying, looking for help and the other on the verge of tears because she could not provide assistance.

Well, that just ain't right

Just watched a show on The Discovery channel and they had it all wrong. I would have thought they would check their facts before airing any show, but apparently the don't.

The show was about the birth of the internet and there was absolutely now mention of Al Gore in it anywhere. Man, talk about a glaring error they should have picked up early on. Everyone knows Al invented the internet so I'm amazed they didn't correct the shows creators before buying into the project. Now, they have no credibility whatsoever.

They probably won't even give him credit for inventing global warming, either.