Good News From Iraq Keeps Rolling In

Last year at this time, I was able to find pretty consistent good news about Iraq's progress...I had to hunt for it of course, the main stream media would never print any of it...it might make the Bush administration look good and that would be bad, but this year it is a different story.

I have a hard time keeping up with the progress news. It is rolling in at record pace. I am very happy that the people of Iraq finally figured out we are on their side and that our boys can actually see the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel....and no it's not a train.

In this case, a retiring Vice Admiral mentions something about some disagreements he had with the administration...while at the same time admitting tons of progress and of course the media only reports the former. Sometimes I think they want us to actually lose so they can get what they want politically.

They long for the days when they could make the US quit fighting...remember the late 60's to early 70's? Me neither, but they do... as their best years. They, along with their left wing political friends (like John Kerry), and their teenage voting block got the US to lose a war....a war we were winning. Shortly after they got the US to GIVE UP, they had a second orgasm...they got a president to resign and the 4th branch of government was born.

Still going but broken, broke, losing ratings and hemorrhaging subscriptions by the boatload, they are up to their same old tricks. But now there are soldiers who aren't cut-off from the world just because they are at the front, a Public Affairs Aparratus that is reporting what they see (and doing a bang-up job), soldiers who can email, phone home, and YES BLOG.

This NEW MEDIA still has a hard time breaking through the MSM firewall at times, until the front line news becomes overwhelming...like now.

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WASHINGTON, March 20, 2008 – The increased cooperation between coalition forces and Iraqis at the local level as well as economic progress in Iraq are leading reasons for increasing stability in an unstable region, said Navy Adm. William J. "Fox" Fallon, the retiring CENTCOM commander.

Fallon said the command’s efforts, which include operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, aim to provide stability and security, restore hope in the region and allow future generations the chance to live peaceably.

“There are a lot of challenges, but we’re succeeding, and we’re going to succeed because we have (the) best people in the world working with us,” he said. “And we have the great power and spirit of the American people, and many others in this world are behind us.” READ THE REST

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War-ravaged Iraq city 'alive again' LA TIMES

The comeback of Fallouja, the site of two major battles between Marines and insurgents in 2004, surprises even the most optimistic U.S. planners.

"It continues to outpace all expectations," said Navy Capt. John Dal Santo, part of a State Department-funded effort called the Provincial Reconstruction Team for Fallouja.

City Council leader Sheik Hamed Ahmed said that he was pleased with the city's progress but that he needed more generators for his neighborhood. Ahmed's three predecessors were assassinated by insurgents, but he has refused to back down.

"Fallouja is alive again," he said.

Restaurants, bakeries, photo shops, tire stores, Internet cafes, a body-building studio and other businesses line the avenues and side streets. BMWs share lanes with donkey carts on congested thoroughfares. READ THE REST

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Foreign fighters leaving Iraq, military says USA TODAY

A growing number of foreign fighters are leaving or attempting to flee Iraq as U.S. and Iraqi forces have weakened al-Qaeda and forced its members from former strongholds, U.S. military officials say.

The trend reflects a broad disenchantment among foreign fighters, particularly since al-Qaeda has lost sanctuaries in parts of Baghdad and Anbar, a Sunni province west of the capital, U.S. military intelligence officials say.

"They're being told in their countries of origin by facilitators that, 'Hey, we're basically winning the war against the apostates,' " said Brig. Gen. Michael Flynn, intelligence director for Central Command, which oversees U.S. forces in the Middle East. "They go there and find out it's not quite the case." READ THE REST

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WASHINGTON, March 21, 2008 – Al Qaeda terrorists and other Iraqi insurgents are “off balance” in Iraq, an Army counterinsurgency expert said yesterday.

In a teleconference with online journalists and “bloggers,” Army Col. Daniel S. Roper, director of the U.S. Army and Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., said he welcomed the opportunity to explain that counterinsurgency isn’t just a military strategy.

“It is not just done by soldiers and Marines,” he said. “Counterinsurgency is part of a broader effort and, therefore, we think it’s extremely important to have opportunities like this to discuss counterinsurgency, so maybe we reach some audiences that may believe this is just a military operation.”

Roper said coalition forces need to follow six lines of effort to be successful fighting insurgents: READ THE REST

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America's Best and Brightest;

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – Heroes are made, not born.
And a hero like Spc. Monica Brown, 19, a Lake Jackson, Texas, native is no different. She is the second female Soldier since World War II to be awarded a Silver Star for her gallant actions during combat in Afghanistan in 2007.

She was presented her Silver Star by Vice President Dick Cheney during a ceremony here March 20. READ THE REST

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Finding these stories took only a few minutes of my day...I could have kept going but I need to spend some time and contemplate what my savior did for me on this day. Have a great weekend. Good Friday is good because God planned it as a sacrifice for the sin of all mankind...that's you and me...forgiven..forever.