Iraqis Stand Up
November 12th, 2007 at 01:27pm Mark Noonan
And this is what will eventually allow us to stand down - probably a lot sooner than most people think:
FOB KALSU — A Concerned Local Citizens (CLC) group played a key role in removing insurgents and their resources from the Hawr Rajab and Arab Jabour regions, Nov. 8.
In Arab Jabour, the group brought a large weapons cache to Soldiers of Company D, 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga., conducting operations in the area.
The cache consisted of (200) heavy machine gun rounds, two gas masks, three former regime Iraqi Army uniforms, five former regime Iraqi Army flak vests, a notebook, two rolls of command wire, a 57 mm projectile, half a stick of dynamite and one roll of detonation cord.
The rounds, dynamite, projectile, detonation cord and command wire were destroyed in a controlled detonation. The other contents of the cache were collected and taken in for further examination.
“This shows that they (CLC) are doing what they can to safely secure their neighborhood,” said Capt. William Lyles, 1-30th Inf. Regt. battle captain. Lyles, from Hampton, Va., added that the citizens are doing a good job of turning in items insurgents would use.
Every little bit helps - and it must be kept in mind that there are very many people in Iraq who are on the side of liberty. This doesn’t mean that Iraqis are on our side - and it doesn’t have to mean that. Heck, if I were Iraqi I’d want to see the last of America’s soldiers as soon as possible - who wants armed foreigners in their country? But whether they love us or hate is isn’t as important as what they are willing to do for themselves.
The key to successful democracy is only partially found in votes. It was a grand and glorious thing when all those millions of Iraqis voted to set up their own government - but far more important than voting is a character of civic responsibility; the willingness to stand up and take charge of things in one’s own community. These Iraqis aren’t waiting around for someone to tell them to fight the terrorists - they are standing up and doing it. Sure, they need help - they need training, supplies, support; but all the training, supplies and help in the world is worthless without average Iraqis volunteering their own lives in service of liberty.
There is still a very long and hard road ahead, but most of it is a road the Iraqis will travel on, with ever less need for American troops. Soon, our maginificent men and women of the United States armed forces will start to come home, crowned with victory. I hope then, at last, the critics will stand back and think about what they have done.
Entry Filed under: War on Terror
17 Comments
1. OhioOrrin | November 12th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
I read a weekend dispatch from Iraq which described several sunni tribes successfully attacking AQI groups w/o US or Iraqi Army support.
In fact, the tribes warned-off support lest their non-uniformed forces be mistaken for AQI.
now if we could get the Pak tribes to act accordingly…
2. Mark Noonan | November 12th, 2007 at 2:27 pm
Ohio,
Agreed - but Pakistan’s welter of ethnicities makes Iraq look like Switzerland in comparison.
3. sleepygene | November 12th, 2007 at 3:46 pm
The news from Iraq is continuing to get better and better no doubt about it. I was wrong in thinking the surge would not work. It has worked militarily, violence is down and even some refugees are returning. I hope our troops can come home as soon as possible. If we wait for political reconciliation, I fear our troops will be there for forever. The shia aren’t going to give any real power to the sunni. Declare Victory President Bush and start bringing our troops home.
4. bongoman | November 12th, 2007 at 4:11 pm
We don’t have any intention of leaving - we’re building 14 permanent military bases there.
You really swallowed the kool-aid about ‘liberating’ the Iraqis. This is about hegemonic control of the Middle East, nothing more, nothing less.
5. Mark Noonan | November 12th, 2007 at 4:26 pm
Gene,
I don’t want to count our chickens until the troops are actually home, but it does look like we’re going to come out of this victoriously - it is too bad that it took as long as it did and a lot of our momentum from 2003 has dissipated…on the other hand, any sort of success in Iraq will re-echo all around the Moslem world. Things will not be the same, and I think they will be for the better.
6. Mark Noonan | November 12th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
bongo,
It just doesn’t register with you that we’re building bases that we’ll turn over to the Iraqis when we leave, huh? Its all got to be a paranoid, conspiracy, right?
7. Sunny | November 12th, 2007 at 4:35 pm
“But whether they love us or hate is isn’t as important as what they are willing to do for themselves. ”
Mark Noonan
You have nailed it! The Iraqis must want their freedom. We cannot do it for them. We have done everything we can to clear the path for the Iraqis’ to take this step. Our desire for their freedom cannot be greater than their own. Wheather or not they love us or hate us is not relevant, but the question to ask is this - is the demoractic way of life what they want to embrace.
8. DougH | November 12th, 2007 at 5:52 pm
The surge is a complete failure and the US is already retreating.
“US military reversing Iraq troop surge ”
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAQ_SECURITY_GAINS?SITE=AZTUS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
9. Michael | November 12th, 2007 at 6:40 pm
The surge is a complete failure and the US is already retreating.
Did you even read this article or no?….It says and I put in a quote.
The first big test of security gains linked to the U.S. troop buildup in Iraq is at hand. The military has started to reverse the 30,000-strong troop increase and commanders are hoping the drop in insurgent and sectarian violence in recent months - achieved at the cost of hundreds of lives - won’t prove fleeting.
This is our way of turning things over to the Iraqis to see how things are going and if they are going to hold.
I love the spin some people can put on an actual good headline in the news.
10. Retired Spook | November 12th, 2007 at 7:33 pm
Wheather or not they love us or hate us is not relevant, but the question to ask is this - is the demoractic way of life what they want to embrace.
Sunny, that’s probably the same question many were asking with regard to Japan and Germany about 5 years after WWII. I refuse to believe that, given the chance, there is a person on this earth that would not relish the opportunity for freedom and self-determination. A lot of people have made the ultimate sacrifice to provide that opportunity. Let’s hope that sacrifice is not in vain.
11. Keith | November 12th, 2007 at 9:18 pm
We don’t have any intention of leaving - we’re building 14 permanent military bases there.
Maybe we should call you “bong-man;” it’s obvious you’re smoked…
12. Keith | November 12th, 2007 at 9:21 pm
Michael, I believe Doug H was taking the “piss” out on some of our troll pukes…
13. Michael | November 12th, 2007 at 11:03 pm
My Apologies then I must have missed something. But I am man enough to admit that, if that is the fact.
And now I shall crawl in a hole and hide.
14. Mark Noonan | November 13th, 2007 at 12:39 am
Michael,
Don’t sweat it - if we were to total up the number of times I’ve messes up in a blog entry…well, lets just say that there are some good things about having the old blog in archives…
15. Mark Noonan | November 13th, 2007 at 12:41 am
Sunny,
Indeed - but I think they want it; not, perhaps, the exact way we want it…don’t expect a gay pride parade in Fallujah any time soon, or a NOW chapter in Tikrit…most likely, most Americans would be unwilling to live in democratic Iraq…too oppressive by our standards. But our standards aren’t theirs, and we’re not in any position to dictate their particular laws and customs.
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands have signed up to fight for liberty, as they conceive it, and I’m all for backing them to victory.
16. DougH | November 13th, 2007 at 1:02 am
And for more cynical humour… What are all the Democrats who are running for nomination going to say when.. 6 months from now.. Troops are at there lowest levels in Iraq, that Irais are rebuilding their country and volince is at an all time low?
They will bring the rest of the troops hom?
That they opposed the surge?
Iraq won’t be the number one story in the 2008 election.. Immigration, the economy and social securioty will be.
And we all know the Democrats are weak in all those areas.
17. Mark Noonan | November 13th, 2007 at 1:52 am
Doug,
Immigration will, in my view, drive a lot of it…but so will Democrats tax-and-spend policies as well as their defeatism…the GOP gets its act together, and we can wallop ‘em next year.