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 Greetings! You are reading an article from The Mudville Gazette. To reach the front page, with all the latest news and views, click the logo above or "main" below. Thanks for stopping by! November 24, 2005 News from IraqBy GreyhawkHaider Ajina sends his latest translation of Iraqi media reports: Greetings, The following is my translation of a headline and news from the November 24th edition of the Iraqi Arabic newspaper “Alsabah” “Iraqi forces now implement 70% of the security operations.“ “Iraqi vice president Adel Abdulmehdi revealed that 90% of Iraq’s commercial debt has been extinguished reduced to 20 billion U.S. Dollars by the end of this year. He announced this in a press conference after his visit to Washington DC, London and his meetings with the World Bank. He added that Iraq has requested of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council to eliminate the burden of reparations Iraq is paying for the Kuwaiti war. Which are 5% of all oil revenues and came to 1.5 billion U.S. Dollars. “As to the effect of the Iraqi national reconciliation meeting in Cairo on the Iraqi street. Abdulmehdi said that the results will be constructive and will reflect positively on the security and political process of Iraq. He refers to the final statement which cam out of Cairo. The statement condemned terrorism and accepts opposition as being legitimate in and through a political process. “As for the departure of the multi national forces from Iraq. Dr. Abdulmehdi clarified that during his visit to Washington DC he met with U.S. Defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld. He talked with him about handing over the security of Iraqi cities to the Iraqi national forces, as had happened in Nejaf and certain areas of Baghdad. They also agreed that the mission of the multi national forces in Iraq will not be complete until qualified Iraq forces are ready to fill the security roll. He also pointed out that a fundamental agreement wit the multi national forces does not contain a withdrawal time table. This agreement also acknowledges the larger roll of the Iraqi armed forces are taking. Over 70% of security operations are now done by Iraqi forces; this has grown from just 30%”. Haider's comments: Progress in Iraq is quite measurable and noticeable on weekly bases. Security is improving in the last two provinces. Iraqi security forces are taking a much larger roll in the security of their country. Sunni & Baathists are talking about laying down their arms and joining the political process, and some have already done so. All this is possible because of our & the Iraqis hard work sacrifices and tenacity. Regards Posted by Greyhawk / November 24, 2005 3:49 PM | Permalink 18 Comments |
November 26, 2010America@war [Greyhawk]
I think anyone who's ever pondered the "comment" option - once only available on blogs and bulletin boards, now ubiquitous on almost any web site - will appreciate this:
The so-called faculty of writing is not so much a faculty of writing as it is a faculty of thinking. When a man says, "I have an idea but I can't express it"; that man hasn't an idea but merely a vague feeling. If a man has a feeling of that kind, and will sit down for a half an hour and persistently try to put into writing what he feels, the probabilities are at least 90 percent that he will either be able to record it, or else realize that he has no idea at all. In either case, he will do himself a benefit. That's wisdom from the past, captured for posterity at the US Naval Institute, shared via the web on the institute's 137th anniversary. From their about page:
"The Naval Institute has three core activities," among them, History and Preservation: The Naval Institute also has recently introduced Americans at War, a living history of Americans at war in their own words and from their own experiences. These 90-second vignettes convey powerful stories of inspiration, pride, and patriotism. Take a look at the collection, and you'll see it's not limited to accounts from those who served on ships at sea, members of the other branches are well-represented. I'm fortunate to have met USNI's Mary Ripley, she's responsible for the institute's oral history program (and she's the daughter of the late John Ripley, whose story is told here). She also deserves much credit for their blog. ("We're not the Navy nor any government agency. Blog and comment freely.") We met at a milblog conference - Mary knew (and I would come to realize) that milbloggers are the 21st-century version of exactly what the US Naval Institute is all about. Once that light bulb came on in my head, I mentioned a vague idea for a project to her - milblogs as the 21st century oral history that they are. "Put that in writing," she said (of course - see first paragraph above!) - and here's part of the result. Shortly after the first tent was pitched by the American military in Iraq a wire was connected to a computer therein, and the internet was available to a generation of Americans at war - many of whom had grown up online. From that point on, at any given moment, somewhere in Iraq a Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine was at a keyboard sharing the events of his or her day with the folks back home. While most would simply fire off an email, others took advantage of the (then) relatively new online blogging platforms to post their thoughts and experiences for the entire world to see. The milblog was born - and from that moment to this stories detailing everything from the most mundane aspects of camp life to intense combat action (often described within hours of the event) have been available on the web... And et cetera - but since you're reading this on a milblog, you probably knew that. And you know that milblogs aren't just blogs written by troops at war, that many friends, family members, and supporters likewise documented their story of America at war online in near-real time, as those stories developed. The diversity in membership of that group is broad, the one thing we all have in common is the impulse to make sense of the seemingly senseless, and communicate the tale - for each of us that impulse was strong enough to overcome whatever barriers prevent the vast majority of people from doing the same. Everyone at some point has some vague idea they believe should be shared - we were the people who, from some combination of internal and external urging, found and spent those many half hours persistently trying to write it down. But where will all that be in another 137 years? Or five or ten, for that matter. That's something I've asked myself since at least 2004 - when I wrote this:
Membership in the ghost battalion has grown in the years since, and an ever growing majority of those abandoned-but-still-standing sites are vanishing. Have you checked out Lt Smash's site lately? How about Sgt Hook's? If you're a long-time milblog reader you know the first widely-read milblog from Operation Iraq Freedom and the first widely-read milblog from Afghanistan are both gone from the web. If you're a relative newcomer to this world you may never even have heard of them - or the dozens upon dozens of others who carried forth the standard they set down. If you have a vague notion that something should be done about that, (a notion I've heard expressed more than once...) then you and I and the good folks at the US Naval Institute are in agreement. Preserving the history documented by the milbloggers is just one of the goals of the milblog project, the once-vague idea that we're now making real. And it's a big idea, if I say so myself - too big to explain in one simple blog post, so stand by for more. Likewise, it's too big a task to be accomplished by just one person. So if you're a milblogger (and exactly what is a milblogger? is a topic for much further discussion on its own) I'm asking for your help. All I'll really need is just a little bit (maybe just one or two of those half hours...) of your time, and your willingness to tell the tale. We've already made history, it's time to save it. (More to follow...) Posted 4:02 PM | Permalink |
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The Mudville Gazette is the on-line voice of an American warrior and his wife who stands by him. They prefer to see peaceful change render force of arms unnecessary. Until that day they stand fast with those who struggle for freedom, strike for reason, and pray for a better tomorrow.
 
 
 Furthermore, I will occasionally use satire or parody herein. The bottom line: it's my house. I like having visitors to my house. I hope you are entertained. I fight for your right to free speech, and am thrilled when you exercise said rights here. Comments and e-mails are welcome, but all such communication is to be assumed to be 1)the original work of any who initiate said communication and 2)the property of the Mudville Gazette, with free use granted thereto for publication in electronic or written form. If you do NOT wish to have your message posted, write "CONFIDENTIAL" in the subject line of your email. Original content copyright © 2003 - 2011 by Greyhawk. Fair, not-for-profit use of said material by others is encouraged, as long as acknowledgement and credit is given, to include the url of the original source post. Other arrangements can be made as needed. Contact: greyhawk at mudvillegazette dot com  Tending Distant Far from hearth and home, watching What tales we'll tell When things grim Some distant sunset, vision fading Saluting fallen friends whose names - Greyhawk, Baghdad, December 2004 |
Happy Thanksgiving
Excellent Post. I have no opinion on the financial side of this because I've never researched the facts of the finances.....only the efforts and the progress.
You're right on the money. The progress is overwhelming, the Iraqi troops are becoming more and more of a force and the insurgents are becoming less and less.
All things liberals fail to comprehend on a daily basis. Excellent Post.
What depressing news for the quitters and losers in the Congress. They must be fit to be tied. The dems say that we can't win militarily. How come the Iraqis can win militarily?
Nice post. It is unfortunate that the Cairo reconciliation conference was spun in the MSM as a rejection of the US efforts in Iraq. The assertion of Iraqi sovereignty and tying the departure of US forces to to Sunni participation in the political process is just plain common sense and a major step toward resolving the creation of an independently functioning, democratic Iraq. A lot of people, though, just can't or obstinately won't grasp the idea that this is a war of liberation, not one of empire.
Hardwriting is on the wall: American troops will retreat to enclaves that will just happen to be located where Iraq's oil is pumped. Iraq's military, such as it is, will get to fight the civil war. Call it your modified cut 'n run, Repubican style.
This is great news. Hopefully soon, they may be able to stand on their own and protect their own country.
It is great news, although it doesn't make the fact that we went to war based on lies and manipulated intelligence any better.
Hopefully, all of you "4 more years" people are second guessing your decision making process.
Actually, I thank God daily that Bush (with all his many imperfections) won instead of Cut-and-Run Kerry.
There is no evidence thus far that Bush lied to promote the war, though the second phase of the investigation still has yet to be released. The worst that can be said of Bush is that he gave Tenet a medal instead of firing him for the CIA's incompetence. If the Iraq experiment works, as appears increasingly likely, fair-minded historians will give Bush as much credit for transforming the Middle East as Reagan got for successfully concluding the Cold War.
Hey Jonathan, I understand there's also no evidence that the sun rises in the East. In any case, how about your Liar in Chief wanting to "take out" al-Jazeera? So much for freedom of the press, huh? Funny thing: In WW2 the allies never silenced Tokyo Rose or Axis Sally or Lord Haw-Haw. Torture of enemy combatants and civilians wasn't military S.O.P. either. We were more confident in ourselves back then, I guess.
http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00002072.htm
Wilson -- your consistent reporting of only half the story re: polls is more evidence of your own LYING than anything that "showed" the President lied about WMD.
Just remember ... words like yours will prolong this war, not end it ... for they give the enemy hope they can win, jast as similar words gave hope to General Giap in Vietnam.
And we will not foget those words ... along with the words of Leftists in leadership positions who want to see their failed policies reinstituted ... if and when those new "investigations" you threatened us with actually come to pass.
The American people are coming to the realization that the real liars are those who shout "BUSH LIED" the loudest ... and we have the history to corroborate that.
Hope you got that G-suit on, nice and tight ...
Hey Rich, speaking of national security, guess why that Jose Padilla guy couldn't be charged with a "dirty bomb" plot? Turns out the so-called "evidence" was extracted by torture.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/alqaida/story/0,12469,1650418,00.html?gusrc=rss
And we will not foget those words ... along with the words of Leftists in leadership positions who want to see their failed policies reinstituted ... if and when those new "investigations" you threatened us with actually come to pass.
Does it give you an exciting little quiver in a secret little place to write such dark 'n threatening words, Rich? I mean really -- go rent a movie, man. If I thought it was necessary I'd even suggest some titles, but I suspect you have plenty of tapes from Gitmo available for your, shall we say private enjoyment?
My response to the above -- you could say it is my motto:
In the blogosphere, revenge is a dish best served cold -- as in cold logic, cool and collected reasoning, and cold, hard facts.
With news like the original post of this thread coming out, you don't have a microwave big enough to warm up that dish, Wilson ... and the "hot sauce" you tried to drip on my views in the post above won't help either.
(BTW, if I recall correctly, both Tokyo Rose and Lord Haw Haw were executed by the Allies for their crimes ... they were not "silenced" before that, only because they were both located in the heart of enemy territory.)
And one more thing ... facts about the GWOT, and the Guardian, are usually mutually exclusive.
Rich you're correct about Lord Haw-Haw but not about Tokyo Rose. There was no particular "Tokyo Rose," but there was a woman who was prosecuted for her broadcasts on Radio Tokyo. In typical rightwingnut fashion, the evidence was stacked against her and she was railroaded as a result. Hey, it's what your Jawohl! crowd does.
In any case, the woman wasn't executed. I just thought I'd interrupt your latest wingnut screech with some facts.
http://ask.yahoo.com/20020221.html
As for The Guardian of course I understand your reaction: Like wingnuts everywhere, you can't stand it when someone tells the truth. Makes you scurry back between the walls where you live.
Thank you for correcting me about Tokyo Rose, Wilson ... it shows you can tell the truth, as long as it doesn't involve George W. Bush.
Thanks for the info on the progress in Iraq. It has been pretty much the "long, hard slog" that Rumsfeld warned us about but anything worthwhile requires sustained effort. Those who refuse to recognize the progress won't be able to keep their hats pulled down over their eyes and ears much longer.
Rich, it shows I can tell the truth, but that like your scumbag, degenerate, deserting, alcoholic Liar in Chief, you cannot.