Paratroopers Rising....

Posted By Blackfive

You should take ten minutes, sit down, grab a cup of coffee and read Michael Totten's latest post from his embed with the 82nd Airborne...best read of the weekend.

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» Why? from Fuzzilicious Thinking
Why is stabilizing Iraq so hard? Why are Iraqis so slow to stand up and grasp what America is offering them? Why is "winning hearts and minds" so important? What do soccer fields matter? Why does what some American politicians say hurt the effort so ... [Read More]

Comments

[Rich Casebolt]

best read of the weekend

Indeed.

Especially if you read Michael Yon's latest dispatch, earlier in the week.

This article reminds us that, of the following choices:

Good
Fast
Cheap

we only get to choose two.

We will keep making progress, as long as we choose Good and Cheap (in terms of death) ... and stop harping about Fast.

[jordan]

Interesting to read this in light of the NYT Op-Ed piece by the 82nd Airborne Sgts last week. This group, led by Lt. Pitts, appears to see tangible and achievable goals within reach, and speak of their efforts with purpose. They seem to have achieved a degree of rapport with the locals that the U.S. public is unaware of.

Most importantly, Lt. Pitts sounds acutely aware of the link between his daily groundwork to the overall U.S. strategy as pursued by Petraeus/Crocker. There was less of that awareness in the NYT Op-Ed.

Between viewing COIN rockstar John Nagl's appearance on the The Daily Show, and reading this article, I'm so proud of what our young leaders are doing and how they're performing. They're really bringing honor to the country. Hats off to all.

[Ojoe]

This quote says it

“The American military needs to make sure no one has weapons but you,” the man said. “We are suffering from bandits and thieves. I am Sunni, but I don’t pray any more.”

Not that the Democratic candidates understand.

[LPierson]

The follow words are the most important words I have ever headrd uttered by Iraqis:

“...The soccer field you’re building,” said our host to the lieutenant, “is great for the kids, but it also helps with security. Insurgents were using that area as a base. Thank you, thank you.” He put his hand on his heart.

“Listen,” said another Iraqi, who wore a long black beard as well as a dishdasha. “I have something to tell you, but it has to be away from the children.”

He said this in English so the children would not understand. A young man led them outside and suggested they play with their new toys on the lawn.

“When you came and liberated this country,” he continued, “Iraq had 25 million Saddams. America is turning us back into human beings. That soccer field is not for a specific person. It is for everybody. We appreciate that. We believe that if Americans have something that is ours, they will return it to us. If the Iraqi government has something that is ours, we forget it.”

Our host for the evening nodded in agreement..."

The craven left-wing political machine can't embace this kind of successful rapport and subsequent efforts; it is counter-intuitive to power grab they are pursuing. If we pull out and leave these people to the "pragmatists" and allow Iraq to be turned into the next "Kampuchea" our prestige will never be seen as credible, no matter how "nuanced and international" a democrat governed foreign policy will be.

I don't have the words to describe just how much I loathe the left.

[chiropetra]

I have a lot of sympathy for the 82nd soldiers who wrote the NYT piece. When you're the pointy end of the stick stirring up one of the biggest s**tpiles in Iraq and you've seen friends killed, you're going to have strong feelings.

However that also costs you objectivity. I don't doubt what they saw and thought, but this piece is another part of the story from the same area and it's equally important.

I wonder what the chances are of getting the MSM to pick up this post? (He says cynically.)

BTW: If you want to see what the MSM is doing with the 82nd sergeants, check out Joe Klein's post on the Time magazine blog titled "Heroes Trashed."
http://time-blog.com/swampland/2007/08/heroes_trashed_1.html
It's worth reading in a know-your-opposition kind of way and some of the comments from readers are utterly priceless.

/\oo/\