A hero falls

[Eagle1]

On his submarine's battle flag was the symbol of a railroad train which his crew "sank."

He was picked "least likely to succeed."

He was awarded the Medal of Honor and four Navy Crosses.

He was a great motivator.

And he has left us.

Greyhawk Writing At Instapundit

[Chap]

GH sends an email to Glenn Reynolds from Iraq.

Re: War Crimes

[Soldier's Dad]

Not to be outdone by various Shiite claims...the usual Sunni suspectschime in

The Iraqi Islamic Party, a Sunni political faction in Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's cabinet, published a statement on Sunday alleging that more than 350 people have been killed by a US military operation in Baquba to hunt down al-Qaeda-affiliated members.

But alas, Reuters ruins the whole thing with a single headline

Iraq's June civilian death toll down sharply

Another Re: War Crimes

[Greyhawk]

Mike Yon:

Michael Gordon is a NYT reporter who is in the battle. Gordon will be an important resource. ... From what I've read so far, Gordon has been very accurate and on target.

Strategy Page:

When pressed, a journalist or editor will dismiss the opinions of the troops
(of all ranks), because they are "too close" to see "the big picture." For
the same reason, reporters who send back material agreeing with the troops,
find their stuff twisted into an acceptable shape, or not used at all.

Yon again, emphasis added:

Michael Gordon from New York Times is still slugging it out, and his portions are accurate in the co-authored story, "Heavy Fighting as US Troops Squeeze Insurgents in Iraqi City." (Long title.)

Gordon does present an outdstanding and detailed account:

Fighting was heavy in parts of Baquba on Wednesday as American troops continued to squeeze a large section of the city in an effort to rid it of insurgents believed to be part of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia.

Soldiers moved block by block through the city, the capital of Diyala Province, clearing houses and removing roadside bombs. As they pressed in, American troops discovered a medical aid station for insurgents — another sign that the Qaeda fighters had prepared for an intense fight. The hospital, uncovered by troops from the Fifth Battalion, 20th Infantry, was equipped with oxygen tanks, defibrillators, generators and surgical equipment, as well as pieces of insurgent propaganda.

But in that story you can easily see the point where Gordon's report ends and the spliced-on efforts of the second reporter begin. Her quotes from unnamed officials and her use of a "apparent violence meter" provide the "twist", in case you start actually cheering for our guys.

Elsewhere in Diyala Province, attacks continued on checkpoints and civilians. At least six civilians were killed, two of them by fire from allied troops, according to an Interior Ministry official in the province.
<...>
South of Baghdad, in Shiite-dominated areas, violence appeared to be on the rise.

Re: War Crimes

[Greyhawk]

Same story, different stories.

Reuters:

U.S . kills 26 militants in Baghdad

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. troops killed about 26 suspected militants in Baghdad's Sadr City on Saturday in one of the fiercest clashes in the Shi'ite stronghold since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
Residents of the east Baghdad slum district, a bastion of fiery Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and his Mehdi Army militia, said the fighting lasted six hours and involved helicopter-fired missile strikes.

The U.S. military said American forces staged two separate raids into Sadr City targeting militants suspected of close ties to "Iranian terror networks" and who were responsible for bringing Iranian weapons into Iraq.

"Coalition Forces killed an estimated 26 terrorists and detained 17 suspected secret cell terrorists during the two operations," a U.S. military statement said. There were no civilian casualties, the U.S. military said separately.

A witness at a Sadr City hospital said nine civilians were wounded. Other residents said several cars were burned and they insisted all the people killed in the clashes were civilians.

The Associated Press:

U.S. raids Baghdad slum; 26 Iraqis die

BAGHDAD - American soldiers rolled into Baghdad's Sadr City slum on Saturday in search of Iranian-linked militants and as many as 26 Iraqis were killed in what a U.S. officer described as "an intense firefight."
<...>
"The Iraqi government totally rejects U.S. military operations... conducted without a pre-approval from the Iraqi military command," al-Maliki said in a statement released by his office. "Anyone who breaches the military command orders will face investigation."

"Everyone who got shot was shooting at U.S. troops at the time," said Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, the spokesman. "It was an intense firefight."

Seventeen suspected militants also were detained in the operation, which consisted of two separate raids, the U.S. military said in a statement.

Witnesses said U.S. forces rolled into their neighborhood before dawn and opened fire without warning.
<...>
Hours after the raids, a funeral procession snaked through the streets of Sadr City's Orfali district. Three coffins were hoisted atop cars.

One resident who goes by the nickname of Um Ahmed, or "mother of Ahmed," stood outside her home as mourners passed by.

"We are being hit while we are peacefully sleeping in our houses. Is that fair?" she cried. The woman gave only her nickname, fearing reprisal.

*****

Strategy Page:

U.S. troops have been mystified at how differently the war they fight in Iraq is portrayed by the U.S. media back home.
...the Japanese psychological warfare effort during World War II included radio broadcasts that could be picked up by American troops. Popular music was played, but the commentary (by one of several English speaking Japanese women) always hammered away on the same points;
1 Your President (Franklin D Roosevelt) is lying to you.
2 This war is illegal.
3 You cannot win the war.
The troops are perplexed and somewhat amused that their own media is now sending out this message.
<...>
When pressed, a journalist or editor will dismiss the opinions of the troops (of all ranks), because they are "too close" to see "the big picture." For the same reason, reporters who send back material agreeing with the troops, find their stuff twisted into an acceptable shape, or not used at all. Historians will have a good time with all this.

NK Reactor Shutdown Needs More Six Party Talks

[GIKorea]

This is all so predictable:

The U.N.’s nuclear watchdog has clarified how to monitor the shutdown of North Korea’s nuclear facility and it is now up to Pyongyang and its five negotiating partners to decide on a date, an official said on Saturday.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) official Olli Heinonen said negotiations in North Korea had achieved an understanding on how to monitor the sealing and shutdown of the Yongbyon facility.

But he stressed the timing of the long-negotiated shutdown needed consultation between North Korea and other countries in six-party talks to iron out the details.

"The next logical step is that they talk with each other and agree on technical arrangements. The IAEA doesn’t have any role on that," Heinonen, IAEA Nuclear Safeguards Director told reporters in Beijing after several days of talks in Pyongyang.

What is so interesting about this is that there is already a date set for the reactor shutdown that was agreed upon in the February 13th agreement between the US and North Korea. In the deal North Korea agreed to shutdown their reactor 60 days from signing the deal. April 13th came and passed with no signs of North Korea shutting down their reactor without receiving first $25 million dollars in money frozen by the US Treasury Department in a Macau bank due to the money being obtained through counterfeiting and money laundering. The return of the money was never in the original agreement and was something North Korea added after signing the February 13th deal.