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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! September 15, 2009 Rapidfire: Iraq NewsBy GreyhawkFIVE YEARS AGO, Sen. John F. Kerry argued during his presidential campaign that the United States had dangerously neglected the war in Afghanistan. On Thursday, when he convened a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to hear a status report on Iraq from U.S. Ambassador Christopher R. Hill, only five of the panel's 19 members showed up long enough to ask a question. "Iraq today . . . has become the now-forgotten war," Mr. Kerry rather ruefully concluded. Still plenty of troops there, however. (Via the Dawn Patrol, where Iraq is not ignored.) Columbia Journalism Review has found the responsible party for this loss of interest - the U.S. military:
Actually I think "invisible" - or as close as possible to it, is exactly what the U.S. military in Iraq wants to be. If that means they're "invisible" in newspapers and television then perhaps that's a measure of success. Honestly I'd like to hear a bit more about what exactly all those troops are doing outside the cities, too, but generally it takes death and destruction to make even a brief headline. I'm a bit confused by the confusion apparent in the quote above. Meanwhile, in Baghdad: Four mortar shells landed in the Green Zone as Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Iraq Tuesday on a previously unannounced mission to help the country resolve its differences ahead of America's military withdrawal. Perhaps his boss wanted Joe to get a break from all the reporters. At least he's in familiar territory. Update: Meanwhile, Starbuck (who's getting ready to depart Iraq) made time to compose a piece for Small Wars Journal about what we're doing in Afghanistan (and the debate surrounding that). Draw your own conclusions as to the meaning of that, but do read as there are many good comments appended to his very much worthwhile contribution. (And click that "getting ready to depart" link, too...) Posted by Greyhawk / September 15, 2009 4:12 PM | Permalink TrackBackTrackBack URL: http://www.mudvillegazette.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/16666 2 CommentsLeave a comment |
March 19, 2010Dawn Patrol 03/19/2003 [Greyhawk]
"Welcome to the Dawn Patrol, our daily roundup of information on the War on Terror and other topics - from the MilBlogs and various sources around the world." Mudville was founded in March, 2003. Our efforts to bring the thoughts, words, and deeds of milbloggers to a wider world evolved to become The Dawn Patrol in March, 2005. With today's entry we're going to reset the clock - but not re-write the history - and recreate the world as it was - on a day the world changed...
Updating... more to follow.... MILBOGSAndrew Olmsted, 19 Mar 2003, Stateside: It would appear that the liberation of Iraq has begun. Greyhawk, 18 Mar 2003, Germany: A united world could have, just maybe, brought down Saddam without firing a shot. We will never know. 19 Mar: We'll never know what a united world could have achieved... the UN could not agree on anything, the situation degenerated, and here we are. Status quo was not working. The French were too desperate for oil and trade at any cost. Well-intentioned Americans were led into the streets by Communists (and others) with an agenda. The media distorted the split. Many in America and abroad thought they could manipulate the situation to their personal gain. They miscalculated. The fire is lit. Pontifx ex Machina, 18 Mar, undisclosed location: Rolling out the gate, the guard gets a quick "hook-em, horns" sign as we weave through the barricades. Then we're off, cruising through the desert in a battered-up SUV. On the eve of war, only one thing passes through our minds: is there going to be any appropriate music on the radio? Lt Smash, 19 Mar, undisclosed location: Read the President's speech today. The clock is ticking. Chief Wiggles, 22 Mar, Kuwait: The war started Wednesday morning for us right after the president gave a speech to the American people that lasted about 4 minutes. We were all very anxious for this whole thing to be either over or get it on its way. Will, 22 Mar, en route: I am going to Baghdad to personally shoot that paper hanging son of a bitch! Lt Smash 20 Mar, undisclosed location: Sgt Stryker, 20 Mar, Stateside: Iraq to File U.N. Complaint About Attack Primary Main Objective, 30 Mar, undisclosed location I Dare Kofi to Come Get Me.
BruceR, Flit, 19 Mar, Canada: AND SO IT BEGINS. Godspeed, Yanks. Come home safe and soon. Andrew Olmsted, 20 Mar 2003, Stateside: The most important thing to remember over the next few days is this: the first reports are almost always inaccurate. First reports are generally submitted in the heat of battle before any real analysis can take place. Therefore, they're highly subjective, based on limited information, and rarely hit the mark. So as the first reports of 'surgical strikes' on Iraqi forces come in, it's best to take those reports with a grain of salt... Iraqi BlogsSalam Pax, Baghdad: The bombing aould come and go in waves, nothing too heavy and not yet comparable to what was going on in 91. all radio and TV stations are still on and while the air raid began the Iraqi TV was showing patriotic songs and didn't even bother to inform viewers that we are under attack. at the moment they are re-airing yesterday's interview with the minister of interior affairs. THe sounds of the anti-aircarft artillery is still louder than the booms and bangs which means that they are still far from where we live, but the images we saw on Al Arabia news channel showed a building burning near one of my aunts house... American BlogsGlenn Reynolds has a ton of links. Newpapers
Updating... more to follow.... |
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.
 
 
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It's amazing how good that site it, and, also, what a great, well, advertisement it makes for the military. I guess I don't mean 'advertisement', I mean education for all the people that stumble across the articles and comments.
Wait, I have another point, even if it is tangential: there is more academic questioning of theory over there than I've seen in some other corners of academia, maybe even my own*. Wow.
(Also, registan.net has a great link to a blog from a PRT in Kandahar. The pics are great, you guys have probably already scoped them out. How do you do that so quickly?)
*Actually, that's not entirely true, I've seen some knock-out fights in my corner, too, nature of academics, I suppose. Also, when the stakes are high, people tend to have an opinion.
Argh, I meant Kunar in my last comment, sorry.