LT Smash reports on the current situation in Fallujah and it is not what one would expect:
“We can make them (Americans) use their rifles against us or we can make them build our country, it’s your choice,” Latif told a gathering of more than 40 sheiks, city council members and imams in an eastern Fallujah suburb…
Latif, speaking in Arabic to the sheiks, defended the Marines and the U.S. occupation of Iraq.
“They were brought here by the acts of one coward who was hunted out of a rathole — Saddam — who disgraced us all,” Latif said. “Let us tell our children that these men (U.S. troops) came here to protect us.
“As President Bush said, they did not come here to occupy our land but to get rid of Saddam. We can help them leave by helping them do their job, or we can make them stay ten years and more by keeping fighting.”
I’ve been understandably pessimistic about the situation in Fallujah, but there’s a wide body of evidence that suggests that what we’re doing there makes more sense in the long run. Fallujah has long been a haven for terrorism because the citizens of Fallujah have been isolated from the rest of Iraq. Unlike areas that regularly encounter US troops, Fallujah has been largely left alone – meaning that there was no one there to counteract the anti-coalition propaganda and the people of Fallujah were all too willing to help the insurgency.
If Latif can convince the people of Fallujah to reject the terrorists, we’ll have denied them that safe harbor as well as create the foundation for a better relationship with the people. It’s a much, much more subtle approach than one would think, and it just may work. Rather than go in and risk many civilian casualties, the Marines have chosen to engage in a charm offensive in the region.
The Marines have a saying, that they’re "no better friend and no worse enemy" – and now they’re concentrating on the first part of that equation. Given the way in whach Moqtada al-Sadr has been isolated among Iraqi Shi’a, there’s a good chance this strategy will have its intended effect.
The Marines are showing real initiative and doing some things that are having much better results than even I would have predicted – if they can use Latif as a way of spreading their message into the heart of Fallujah (something no American could have done), it could help transform Fallujah from a terrorist hotbed to a place in which terrorists can no longer find safe haven. It’s a gutsy and unconventional strategy, but then again, that’s what the Marines are all about.
Again, don’t count on the liberal media to in any way even attempt to report good news or sound strategy in Iraq. It just doesn’t fit their agenda.
Kerry is fighting in this election more through his media surrogates than through his own lackluster campaigning.
When your opponent is dead-set on committing suicide, as Bush seems to be, the best campaign is to stay the hell out of his way.
Kerry’s campaigning is brilliant. I especially loved when he tricked you Republicans into clamoring for his glowing military records.