I wrote this entry just under a year ago in response to the consistently gloomy news reporting taking place on the verge of the implementation of the controversial Surge, executed by General David Petraeus. Since then, the situation in Iraq has impro…..

major john on May 11, 2008 at 2:26 AM

Thank you.

Now for a harder question, what do you think of this article? ‘My daughter deserved to die for falling in love’

MB4 on May 11, 2008 at 1:16 AM

I keep thinking that, like what happened with Lincoln during his second election, if Iraq goes well a month or so before the elections (Iraq has their Provicial elections in Oct), we could see a large McCain victory in the fall.

The National Police and Army have replaced the vanished local cops (An IA captain told me a joke – what do the Basrah police and the dinosaurs have in common? Both are extinct.).
The people of the city are starting to enjoy their freedom from the JAM/Iranian proxy bullies. Economic activity is starting to revive too. It will take a while to get the local police rebuilt, and continue to revive the local economy. But right now, things are all trending upwards.

We’ll still get some Iranian influenced harrassing attacks, so be sure to catch them on the McClatchy or AP wires…

BAGHDAD – Multi-National Division – Baghdad aerial weapons teams conducted operations against criminal elements in Baghdad May 10.

Following an indirect-fire attack in central Baghdad, an MND-B AWT made positive identification of a rocket rail at the point of origin in the Sadr City district of Baghdad used to launch the attack.

The AWT engaged a criminal element on site at approximately 6:40 a.m. with two Hellfire missiles. One criminal was killed, and the rocket rail and a shack were destroyed. Secondary explosions at the site also indicate that illegal weapons also were destroyed.

At approximately 10 a.m., an AWT observed five criminals east of Al Hajj Jabr in the New Baghdad district of eastern Baghdad. The criminals were heavily armed with a rocket-propelled grenade, two PKC light machineguns and two AK-47 rifles. The AWT fired two Hellfire missiles and killed all five men.

Entire piece and many others from today HERE

militias, ect have never been very good with using indirect and crew serve type weapons.

gator70 on May 10, 2008 at 10:48 PM

They can mess up equipment though.

Lots of activity, by the way, Saturday, in Sadr City

That would be anything above an Ak-47. RPG’s, RPK’s, mortars, ect ect. Fortunately for the U.S. side the insurgents, militias, ect have never been very good with using indirect and crew serve type weapons.

Ares on May 10, 2008 at 8:10 PM

Ares,
It is the middle of the night in Iraq right now. I’ll let Major John report when he can. What I hear is that Basra is about 70% contained and improving, if that helps.

major john on May 10, 2008 at 3:07 PM

Major John,
Can you give us a report on the situation there?

Huh? Are you in a different Basrah than I am? The one I am in is in Southern Iraq, the continent of Asia, on the planet Earth.

I am not anywhere near there – is the place totally civilised now? Are the militias neutralised? Is the rule of law in effect?

Mortars and rockets. These weapon systems were used to get publicity by firing at, and sometimes hitting, the Green Zone. Occasionally, a media worthy victim was also hurt.
This is good news.

Sadr agreed to drop all resistance to the central government as long as his men got to keep their small arms

In return, Sadr’s Mahdi Army supporters won the Iraqi government’s agreement not to arrest Mahdi Army members without warrants, unless they were in possession of “medium and heavy weaponry.”

Have they ever had much, if anything, other than small arms?

Does anyone know how they are defining “medium and heavy weaponry“.

Does this come down to one of those, it depends on what the meaning of sex is and what the meaning of is, is?

Funny how standing up to Sadr makes him back down. Almost like he’s a bully or something.

rbj on May 10, 2008 at 12:36 PM

He has used this tactic repeatedly: And he always returns to haunt us once again.

Once upon a time (ca. 2004), (a mentally much tougher) President Bush and (a still very tough, albeit, retired) General Sanchez agreed that al-Sadr needed either to be killed or captured.

But, we blinked, and have been paying a heavy price in Iraqi instability ever since.

In my view: He STILL needs to be “killed or captured.”

A wise Iraqi Government would have said: No Dice. This time it is a fight to the finish, unless all your guys agree to lay down their arms and submit to time in political re-education camps.

I may be wrong (and I hope that I am), but this probably means he will live on to fight another day.

Almost sounds like civilization to me.

And the MNF is generally mopping the terrorists up, left and right, as reported on the MNF website.

And a snappy salute to you, Major John.

Dog

Fake Mourning?

I belieeeeeeeeeve it is.

Pelosi knows it a success by the way she ram-roded that appropriations bill for the war through. There shall be no discussion of when victory is near in Iraq