Mosul Again

One key piece that I left out of the Mosul situation yesterday- the need for police overhaul. As you'll recall from one of my postings a few weeks ago, police overhaul in Mosul was already on the schedule anyway. I would anticipate a slightly more rapid mobilization, and I can tell you that there are things being done right now in order to fix the cop situation- but that's about all I can say about that right now.

These cops need to succeed. As I've written on many occasions- Fallujah, Mosul, Ramadi- these places are important, but they're not the center of gravity. The success of our mission in Iraq hinges on LTG Petraeus' ability to churn out well-trained Iraqi Sooper Troopers. Everything else we do is an effort to support that critical mission. Which leads me to my next point...

AP Does It Again

Looks like our friends at the AP (Al-Jazeera Press?) have concocted another phony load of garbage to feed the good people of America. This one from the mighty pen of factually-challenged journalist Hamza Hendawi. Observe:

The recapture of Fallujah has not broken the insurgents' will to fight and may not pay the big dividend U.S. planners had hoped...

Looks like Hendawi doesn't realize that his new story was debunked a week before he even wrote it (NOV 11th- "The U.S. military said on Thursday this week's Falluja offensive would not shatter Iraq's insurgency."). However, it quickly becomes apparent that al-Hendawi wants to put some spin on this misinterpretation of last week's news in an effort to present us with something absolutely ridiculous!

Instead, the battle for control of the Sunni city 40 miles west of Baghdad has sharpened divisions among Iraq's major ethnic and religious groups, fueled anti-American sentiment and stoked the 18-month-old Sunni insurgency.

Oh yes, of course that's the case! The insurgents have lost their stronghold, their command and control has been shattered, they're fleeing to Mosul (where insurgents go to die), Samarra and Fallujah are now "reconstruction zones" where Iraqis get paid to work on reconstruction projects, Ramadan came and went without their much-ballyhood "mother of all uprisings"- but the insurgency is better off now than it ever was! Brilliant logic! And here's the best part- ready for this? This is the hammer of the argument- the one thing that PROVES the premise of this utterly bogus story beyond any reasonable doubt. Here goes:

Those grim assessments, expressed privately by some U.S. military officials and by some private experts on Iraq, raise doubts as to whether the January election will produce a government with sufficient legitimacy, especially in the eyes of the country's powerful Sunni Muslim minority.

So there you have it folks! The insurgents are winning handily in Iraq right now, because Hamza Hendawi said so!

The AP is a joke. Pure and simple.

What Happened to the Fallujah Incident?

I was all set and ready to launch an all out offensive against the MSM about this thing, and now I'm not seeing it anywhere on the headlines. I don't have access to TV over here, so please let me know if they're starting to (finally) back off. Cyberspace seems to have cooled on it significantly, possibly because of our friend Bill Faith's recent Instalanche at Small Town Veteran. I'll stay tooned...

I Agree With Howard Dean?

Don't have a heart attack- it's not what you think. This will probably be the only time in my life that I'll ever agree with Howard Dean about anything. The legendary screamer recently blasted the media at a Yale symposium:

"The media is a failing institution in this country," Dean said. "They are not maintaining their responsibility to maintain democracy."

Dean said these networks aim to entertain because "entertainment sells better than news."

"The media is trained to get the entertainment value and screw the facts," he said.

Yeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaghggghhghghg!!!

Excuse me. That's a very good point you raise there, Mr. ScreamDean. Although I must point out that I said those things way before you did- October 28th to be exact. Does that mean I could be the Governor of Vermont?

And just so nobody gets the wrong idea- I still disagree with him about most things, including what he said about Fox:

The television networks, especially Fox News, are most to blame for the increased focus in journalism on flash and entertainment, Dean said.

Well, that's where you're wrong, sir. Failure to jump on the liberally-biased bandwagon does not equate to bad journalism. Nice try, though.

Worried About Iran?

Yes, it look like Iran is really going after some nukes. But fear not! Black5 has just revealed his plan for an exit strategy for Iraq AND Afghanistan...

Bcus a Dad!!!!

Longtime Forum members will recall Bcus as my war buddy, fellow Black Hawk Driver, and frequent commenteer. He and his wife welcomed a beautiful healthy baby girl yesterday. Congrats Bcus and family!!

I've seen her picture, and I'm telling you- she looks like a future Black Hawk Pilot!