Why For Many U.S. Veterans Ramadi and Fallujah Is Hallowed' Ground

To Veterans, Ramadi And Fallujah 'Hallowed' Ground -- USA Today

Some U.S. veterans of the fighting in Iraq's Anbar province see al-Qaeda gains as a sign their sacrifices didn't matter.

For David Bellavia, seeing the images of al-Qaeda flags flying over buildings in Fallujah and Ramadi in recent days has been devastating.

"That ground, to me it's hallowed," said Bellavia, who earned a Silver Star for heroism on his 29th birthday fighting in Fallujah as an Army staff sergeant on Nov. 10, 2004.

The images of al-Qaeda militants surging back into cities that were secured at an enormous sacrifice has chilled Americans who fought in Iraq. "Most veterans are deeply disappointed that the struggles and the sacrifices they made…have seemingly been for naught," said Peter Mansoor, a retired Army officer who served in Iraq as a brigade commander and on the staff of Gen. David Petraeus.

Read more ....

My Comment: For the past week I have been reading reports and comments from US servicemen and women who fought in these battles .... it is distressing to say the least. As to what is my take .... the soldiers with their Arab allies did win the battle in Anbar province .... but in the end it was the politicians in both Washington and Baghdad who lost the war.

The Iraq Awakening And The Surge -- Rewriting History

Casualty Monitor

Q and O has an excellent post that examines this discussion:

In the ongoing discussion of who has done a better job of describing the time line around the surge, I certainly recommend McQ's discussion.

The Minuteman however has a couple of key points to make on this issue as well:

But if McCain has the timing wrong, what about Obama? How could the US have failed to anticipate a Sunni uprising that was already occuring?

In fact, President Bush cited the Anbar uprising in his Jan 2007 speech announcing the surge:

As we make these changes, we will continue to pursue al Qaeda and foreign fighters. Al Qaeda is still active in Iraq. Its home base is Anbar Province. Al Qaeda has helped make Anbar the most violent area of Iraq outside the capital. A captured al Qaeda document describes the terrorists' plan to infiltrate and seize control of the province. This would bring al Qaeda closer to its goals of taking down Iraq's democracy, building a radical Islamic empire, and launching new attacks on the United States at home and abroad.

Our military forces in Anbar are killing and capturing al Qaeda leaders, and they are protecting the local population. Recently, local tribal leaders have begun to show their willingness to take on al Qaeda. And as a result, our commanders believe we have an opportunity to deal a serious blow to the terrorists. So I have given orders to increase American forces in Anbar Province by 4,000 troops. These troops will work with Iraqi and tribal forces to keep up the pressure on the terrorists. America's men and women in uniform took away al Qaeda's safe haven in Afghanistan — and we will not allow them to re-establish it in Iraq.

Of course that is correct, and as I have been arguing long before this dustup (in fact I had many posts pointing this out over a year ago) the only reason many people didn't "anticipate" the awakening is because they were busy denying it was even happening in Anbar up until the Fall of 2007.

Read more ....

My Comment: The military analysis on the effects of the surge will be examined for years. The political consequences are being re-writtened now.

Why Did No One In The U.S. Media Bothered To Talk To The Leader Of The Iraq Awakening

Ahmad al-Rishawi

From Threats Watch:

The leader of the Iraq Awakening is still waiting for that call from an interested US broadcast news organization.

Crickets…

Yesterday in That Was Counterterrorism, Senator, I directly challenged Senator Obama’s assertions about ‘The Surge,’ specifically as it related to what is today the Iraq Awakening: Iraqis who took to their own defense against al-Qaeda - and for some time, without our proper support.

As much as a splash as the senator’s words made throughout the media - whether praise, echoes or scorn - it should be striking that no one in the American media circus following him through Iraq and the rest of the Middle East were inclined to perhaps speak to the leader of the Iraq Awakening. Yesterday, it was Barrack Obama under the glare here. Today, it’s the fawning US media which gives every appearance of lack of interest in understanding the situation and more interested in prescribing remedy regardless. This is unfortunate, and incredibly frustrating.

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My Comment: With all the talk and chatter about the surge in Iraq that accompanied Sen. Obama's visit .... it is unbelievable that no one in the media .... 200 journalists strong .... did not even bother to call the leader of the Iraq Awakening.

This dereliction of duty is the unfortunate normal state of the main stream media in the U.S. today. As more and more members of the public become aware of this sorry state of affairs, the media should not be surprised when more and more of their viewers and readers go to alternative sources that have a better product to offer.