Locals wont help us, but they will help those that look like them. Deep down they may believe in us, but in the end, they feel more comfortable helping the Government.

Not quite – the locals help us rather alot, actually. However, the Iraqi governmnet is in the lead and should be getting lots of support from its own citizens, that is the end state for victory in COIN.

Good Lord, even LBJ wasn’t that hands on.

LBJ sat and pored over maps and personally approved bombing targets. Maliki is there to clear up bureaucratic logjams and assist his military commanders with what they need. Same thing he did in Basrah. I realize you would rather go back to cursing the darkness than seeing any candles lit, but this is getting silly.

Keep dreaming, maybe it will happen.

Hopefully even if the next President is a democrat, s/he will recognize the necessity of keeping Iraq a stable working democracy.

With the locals helping the IA, they win the battles faster than we would, with maybe 1/10 the military might and fortitude. Also, the situation may not deteriorate as fast after the battle when we pulled out, the Government stays.

There is something to learn there.

Locals wont help us, but they will help those that look like them. Deep down they may believe in us, but in the end, they feel more comfortable helping the Government.

Today, Maliki visited Mosul for much the same reason, personally supervising the military offensive against the last bastion of al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Good Lord, even LBJ wasn’t that hands on.

Steve Z on May 14, 2008 at 10:52 AM

That is where my son is. In his own words ‘We are busy’.

The crack staff at Time announces that American and Iraqi troops have taken control of the streets
and neighborhoods of Mosul.

Local citizens are turning in the terrorist’s left and right, al-qaeda is being killed,run off,or taken into custody in the last strong hold that they held in Iraq.

But due to the fact that al-qaeda has committed to using
hybrid cars for suicide bombings and promises to use more
environmentally friendly explosives,Time declares this a victory for al-qaeda.

Time would also like to announce that it will be naming Harry Reid it’s “person of the year” for correctly calling the war in Iraq “lost”.

As for media spin, there is a homeless Iraqi guy living under a bridge in Mosul. Our efforts have failed and its time to bring everyone home.

Bishop on May 14, 2008 at 9:22 AM

It’s even worse than that, Bishop. In neither Iraq nor Afghanistan can gays legally get married. We need to bring all the troops home and tuck our head back into the shell.

“Mosul is considered the last important urban staging ground for al-Qaida in Iraq after losing its strongholds in Baghdad and other areas during the U.S. troop “surge” last year.”

Asked to comment on the Maliki administration stepping up to the plate and the subsequent signs of real progress in Iraq, Pelosi and Reid said “The surge won’t work and Bush is a chimpturd who lied and killed all of our troops to get oil.”

As for media spin, there is a homeless Iraqi guy living under a bridge in Mosul. Our efforts have failed and its time to bring everyone home.

Hezbollah’s shocking defeat of Israel in 2006 (when will Western leaders learn that you can’t measure out war in teaspoons?) highlighted the key military question of our time: How can humane, law-abiding states defeat merciless postnational organizations that obey only the “laws” of bloodthirsty gods?

The answer, as Iraq and Afghanistan should have taught us, is that you have to gut the organization and kill the hardcore cadres. (Exactly how many al Qaeda members have we converted to secular humanism?).

Ralph Peters/NYP

Nice try, Ralph. Be careful though, these kind of words might land you in hate-speech court soon.

As for Mosul, Basra, SadrCity, etc. I reallllllllllly hate to use the Vietnamization example, but just did anyway. We left our friends with ways and means, then the American traitor MIKE GRAVEL led the way for Dems to kill funding. You know, that Mike Gravel who most HA readers think is just a silly old Dem running for President. It worked out great for Gravel and the Dems as T-62s squashed people in the streets of Saigon. America humiliated, who could ask for anything better.

Frequent Winds and Eagle Pull are going to seem like childs play once Dems kill Iraq too.