Letters from Baghdad

[Bullitt]

edited. Good point, thanks.

[tw]

Originally Posted by Bullitt

We have made a long-term moral, financial, and military commitment to the Iraqis and we are not going to renege on that commitment, regardless of the political rhetoric in Washington DC or on the campaign trail.

Replace the word 'Iraq' with 'Vietnam'. Same letter was sent 30+ years ago when that government also would not stand up and resolve the fundamental problem.

As Petraeus has today prefaced his comments, we are not winning. We are making possible a solution. America cannot create that solution. And currently the Iraqi government has done nothing to make a solution possible.

The same letters from Nam proclaimed all the good things we were doing. But we were now solving the problem. Does not matter how many schools get built if the powers that be don't want to solve the only problem. A problem that created a civil war - in both countries. No American flag waving even implies a solution.

[yesman065]

(Post 1 of 3) This was actually a forwarded document that I am not sure how to post, nor sure if I should - - - copy and pasted text follows.

*Yesman,
One of my daily reports here I get in Iraqi. More and more woman are now
coming at Coalition forces as suicide bombers!

CDR "Girl Friend Free In Iraqi" USN

UNCLASSIFIED//FOUO
THE S.C.O.R.P.I.O.N.
DAILY WESTERN MEDIA ANALYSIS
SUICIDE ATTACKS KILL AT LEAST 26 7 DECEMBER 2007
Iraq Fact: Billy Joel’s new single, “December in Fallujah,” premiered December 4 on iTunes. Cass Dillon, a relatively new singer-songwriter, sings the music. On his website, Joel, who famously addressed the Vietnam War in “Goodnight Saigon,” said his new song is inspired by letters he received from soldiers who took solace in his music in Iraq. Proceeds from the song will be donated to Home for Our Troops, a nonprofit organization that builds specially adapted homes for severely disabled veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.


I. MOC Flashpoints
SUICIDE ATTACKS KILL AT LEAST 26
On Friday, the most prominent Iraq-related story in the Western press involved two suicide bombings in Diyala Province that left at least 26 people dead. According to news agencies, one of the two bombings was perpetrated by a woman, who was “wearing a vest packed with explosives...” The Associated Press cited an Iraqi official who claimed the woman “was seeking revenge for her two sons who were killed fighting for Al Qaeda.” Reuters provided a slightly different account, citing a “security source” that said the bomber “had three children who had been killed by Iraqi forces.” She reportedly targeted a building used by members of the 1920 Revolution Brigades, a group that Reuters noted, “were once one of the main groups of Sunni Arab insurgents fighting U.S. forces and the Shiite-led government...” However, in recent months, members have reportedly begun working alongside security forces against Al Qaeda. Most news sources did not express uncertainty about the bomber’s gender in their reports, but the NY Times, in its coverage, cited a police official who said that it “was not clear whether the bomber was a man or a woman because two heads were found alongside shredded bodies near the bombing site.” This attack killed 10 and wounded 27 people, according to police reports. In a second incident, also in Diyala, a car bomb killed seven Iraqi troops and three members of a local neighborhood patrol.
Several news sources reporting on the bombings today noted that the security crackdown has squeezed Al Qaeda militants out of their former strongholds in Baghdad and Anbar Provinces and caused them to shift north to Diyala [see cited NY Times article in December 6 SCORPION]. BBC correspondent Crispin Thorold in Baghdad noted that “Diyala has been the focus of some of the fiercest clashes in Iraq in recent months. Insurgents displaced from their former strongholds in Anbar province and parts of Baghdad are now thought to be in Diyala.” The NY Times, in its assessment, added, “A police official there said he expected attacks in Diyala to increase because local security forces were weak and Sunni extremists had established strong footholds across the province.”
Although militants are said to have shifted north in Iraq, an article in today’s Guardian Unlimited reported that the number of foreign jihadists entering Iraq has “fallen by nearly half in recent months as a result of tougher action by the country’s neighbors and the rejection of the ‘Al Qaeda-brand’ by ordinary Iraqis...” The newspaper interviewed the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus on Thursday, who said that, “There is still a lot of hard work to be done.” On the decline of foreign militants entering the country, he stated, “It's a result of source country
operations, the actions by certain countries, the issue of fatwas [such as in Saudi Arabia] condemning extremism, which have been hugely important in the effort.” Gen. Petraeus also credited Syria with “staunching” the flow by taking “more aggressive action against some foreign fighter facilities there.”

[yesman065]

(Post 2 of 3)

II. Commentary
THE SURGE IS A SIDESHOW
On Friday, the UK newspaper, the Guardian, released a commentary by op-ed columnist Jonathan Steele, who commented on the progress of the U.S.-led “surge” in Iraq. He wrote, “If the gladdest tidings of this pre-Christmas season have been the U.S. intelligence community's brilliant move to undermine a Bush attack on Iran by revealing there is no Iranian nuclear weapons program, the worst news concerns U.S. policy on Iraq.” He added, “And it is not just the U.S. announcement of plans to get the Iraqi government to agree to permanent U.S. military bases and an open-ended occupation, thereby confirming what most analysts had long assumed was the Republicans' intention.” More alarming, says Steele, was the Democratic Party’s reaction and “indeed[,] that of the U.S. media,” Steele noted, adding that the announcement produced “no burst of headlines or commentaries, even though it rides roughshod over most Americans’ wishes.” He cited a recent Pew Research poll conducted two weeks ago that found that 54% of Americans wanted troops home “as soon as possible.”
Despite such statistics, Democratic presidential hopefuls “barely murmured,” argued Steele. He contended that “[t]he passion for a clear timetable of an early U.S. troop pullout that was raging in large sections of the Democratic party last spring, in the weeks after it regained control of the House and Senate, has fizzled out.” According to Steele, whatever effect the President’s “surge” strategy had in Iraq, “it has clearly worked in Washington.” Anti-war Democrats are in retreat, and the “Bush strategy of entrenching the Iraq occupation still further and handing the mess to his successor is proceeding virtually unopposed.”
Steele cited a recent article in Foreign Affairs by Hillary Clinton, who pledged to maintain U.S. troops in Iraq indefinitely to train and equip Iraqi forces, “as well as keeping ‘specialized units’ to protect the trainers and confront Al Qaeda.” Barack Obama, Steele noted, “told the New York Times last month that he would need 16 months after taking office to withdraw all U.S. combat troops from Iraq, and would retain a residual force on an open-ended basis ‘to counter terrorism.’” Although his position might be marginally better than Clinton’s, “neither candidate is willing to propose a total U.S. troop withdrawal, as the U.S. agreed in Vietnam in 1973 when it finally resolved to end its disastrous involvement there.” This new “softness” by the Democrats, Steele wrote, “flows in part from the reduction in U.S. combat deaths.” There is a perception, he added, that “the back of the Iraqi resistance has been broken. Now the Iraqi government is trumpeting the fact that thousands of Iraqi refugees are coming home as further proof of a turning security tide.”
However, the columnist asserted that none of these indicators are “firm.”. He noted, “The figures for returning refugees are contested, with the Iraqi government counting anyone who crosses into Iraq even though many had only gone abroad on short visits and were never refugees. Many genuine refugees leave Syria in desperation because their money or visas have run out, not because they feel safe in going back.” Steele spoke with families returning home from Damascus last week, and noted that the found only Shiites.” An Iraqi Sunni told him later, “Of course Sunnis are afraid to
go. The buses are provided by the Shiite-led Iraqi government and Iraqi police will check them at the border.” Steele added that this comment “underlined the continuing depth of sectarian suspicions. Sunnis assume the Iraqi police, who are mainly Shiites, are either in league with Shiite militias and death squads or will behave just as badly.”
The sectarian concern is also evident in the Awakening movement. Steele wrote, “Although Sunni tribal leaders are taking U.S. arms and cash, ostensibly to confront Al Qaeda, they see value in getting organized to protect their suburbs from Shiite raids. The Americans may be temporarily helping to reduce violence, but their tactics help to build up Sunni militias for possible attacks on Shiites in the future.” Steel opined that, “[o]nce again the Americans are looking for a military solution to what is essentially a political problem.” Without national reconciliation, the underlying issues remain unresolved. Moreover, the Iraqi resistance is “undimmed,” he added. Steele wrote, that he was “told by a senior resistance spokesman in Damascus” that “many nationalist groups have reduced their attacks in western Baghdad and parts of Anbar province while regrouping and retraining.”
Bottom line: Steele provided a harsh critique of the progress of the surge in Iraq, and argued that “reconciliation which attempts to exclude people who have sacrificed so much in the struggle against foreign occupation [Iraqi resistance leaders] has no chance of succeeding.” The pre-condition to a successful reconciliation process would involve a “clear declaration by Washington that it is going altogether, with no bases or ‘residual forces’ left behind.” Only then, he concluded, will Iraqis come to the negotiating table seriously, and work out a future that does not leave an “elephant in the room.”

[yesman065]

(Post 3 of 3)

III. Evening News
Once again, there was no Iraq-related coverage on this evening’s ABC World News with Charles Gibson. However, NBC Nightly News did contain a segment on the improved security situation southeast of Baghdad. First, Williams noted the bombings that killed 25 people today in Diyala province. (see MOC Flashpoints) The report indicated that in the town of al-Haswa southeast of Baghdad, there is “peace finally,” and the area is “one of the many places where we can see the situation improve drastically.” NBC News went on a walking tour with Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, the regional U.S. commander, who felt more optimistic about the security situation in al-Haswa, and said that, “For you and I to walk through the streets and take the time to talk to people is something that couldn’t have happened two months ago.” Before, the Shiite militia loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr attacked U.S. troops on a daily basis. However, the recent fighting and Sadr’s call for a ceasefire have brought relative calm to the town. Now, Iraqis want jobs, and want their youth to work. With 80% unemployment, some are worried that insurgents will entice their youth to work for them, and are asserting that jobs create security. MG Lynch emphasized that the Iraqi government must come forward and help or such demands will fall on the shoulders of Capt. Walker, who is described as the symbolic “new mayor of al-Haswa.”
SCORPION, or Strategic Communications Overview Report of Press, Information, Operations & News is produced daily by the Strategic Effects Communications Division Media Operations Center. Emphasizing broadcast media, the SCORPION aims to provide MNF-I the most current situational awareness of Western reporting on Iraq. It is not intended for use or distribution outside Iraq. Email the SCORPION Team to receive the S.C.O.R.P.I.O.N.

[Undertoad]

PDF from yesman

[yesman065]

Dec 18, 2007 11:18 PM
Connie (Rice) - pic was attached - stopped by and asked me when "your dad" is coming to take over the refinery and make more gas. I had to tell her that he has some lame ass excuse about going skiing and such. She was disappointed and will take the message back to George.

One good thing here, is my Hooch mate, Nigel, (Australian) keeps telling me all of his hunting stories of when he goes out in the outback. I always have to end his stories with, "Nigel, that is great, but just to let you know that hunting method in illegal in America and you would greatly exceed your hunting limits"

CDR "Christmas" USN
"Boy, is Connie upset in Baghdad"

[classicman]

I'd love to know what those hunting methods are - Any ideas, anyone?

[xoxoxoBruce]

Dynamite.

[yesman065]

Dec 23, 2007 8:00 AM
Got some time off here in Iraq...became a temperary tourist!

Well we had some time off here in Baghdad so I went out with a couple of others here to the "Iraqi Tomb of the Unknown Solider." I got a couple of pictures, It is under going some renovation for it was stripped in the war and Iraq is now trying to restore it. It is getting cold here in Baghdad so got to get the fleece on and stay warmer. Hope everybody is warm and enjoying your holidays in America! Now which store did you go to get all of the fish for the holiday! Make sure you s how them to "your dad" so he does not forget what he is going for when he is in his boat!

Merry Christmas

CDR "Tourist" USN
"Checking things out in Baghdad"

[xoxoxoBruce]

Hey, Merry Christmas. Keep warm... and your head down.

[yesman065]

Jan 2, 2008 2:23 AM
Stuck in Baghdad...start of a new year!

New Years was pretty quite. I spent about 45 minutes, on New Years Eve, standing/squatting in a bunker for the Iraqis were all out shooting weapons for thirty minutes. I could see a lot of tracer rounds going right over my bunker and hearing a lot of heavy machine gun firing in and outside the compound. A car bomb went off also, but no reports of anybody getting killed. I hope all was nice and quite at your house for New Years Eve!

Well we had to move some people around here in Baghdad on 1 Jan 2008, got off to a slow start. One of the convoy drivers drove off the road in the stagging area and got stuck. Well at least he did not have to shovel himself out of snow.

Sat, 5 Jan 2008 3:30 am
Subject: Watch out for women in Iraq!

More and more of these suicide bombers are coming out here in Iraq.
Women are very very active in this type of work. I wonder if you think about that when you are in the grocery store? Now this could be a whole new level of stress for me when I go out to get food to stock my refrigerator when I come home for leave in the next week or so. "Grocery Store Stress!"

CDR "Midnight Grocery Shopper!" USN

[xoxoxoBruce]

I dunno, I've seen some pretty scary characters in Pathmark after midnight.
Or was that the mirror behind the meat counter?

[classicman]

How the hell do you get a friggin tank stuck in the mud????

[glatt]

Maybe the tank is doing the pulling.