As a producer (among other titles) of the Outside the Wire documentary series, people often ask me the difference between our documentaries about Iraq and other documentaries.

I tell people that JD embeds long term with our troops...he never just goes in, gets some soundbites and goes somewhere else. I usually add the story about the News Director who told me, after we sent him a tape, that JD's footage should have been shot using a tripod...yeah, like JD's going to set up a tri-pod in the middle shootout in Nasser wa Saalam.  The News Director didn't get the whole 'this is actual combat in Iraq' thing.

But, just the other day, I found another answer to that question people often ask me. The difference is neatly summed up in a quote from this GQ article about Errol Morris' documentary about Abu Ghraib prison, Standard Operating Procedure .

I will be a guest on the Dennis Miller radio show Monday morning during the second half of the second hour.

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The insurgent hides in plain sight.

Geneva Conventions, the so-called rules governing warfare, require combatants to wear uniforms or, at a minimum, bear arms to distinguish themselves from civillians.

The insurgent will not do this, for it would eliminate his only advantage--invisibility.

To take away the invisibility of the insurgent, make a perfect list.

Abraham Lincoln wrote, when laying out the strategies for winning an election--

"Organize the whole state, so that every Whig can be brought to the polls...
...Divide (the) country into small districts, and... appoint in each a subcommittee.
...Make a perfect list of all the voters and... ascertain with certainty for whom they will vote.
...Keep a constant watch on doubtful voters, and... have them talked to by
those in whom they have the most confidence.
...And on Election Day, see that every Whig is brought to the polls."

So to must the counterinsurgent follow these steps.  An entire nation or province is too large, but a Company sized area of operations can be organized and a perfect list, complete with photos and possibly biometric data, developed and their family and political loyalties ascertained with a degree of certainty.

A constant eye can be kept on those who are suspicious.  Have them talked to by those whom they trust and the counterinsurgents trust.

If evidence is obtained that they are insurgents, do not arrest them right away as they may unwittingly lead you to more.

Bill Ardolino files a report from Sadr City.

Read the whole thing. 

In the magazine's list of the 100 "Most Influential People" in the world we find Moqtada al Sadr and Vladimir Putin in the category of leaders and revolutionaries.

Terrorist mastermind Baitullah Mehsud also makes the list of leaders and revolutionaries.

(In defense of TIME, Secretary of Defense Gates makes the list--and rightfully so.)

But it struck me that once again, the author and implementer of what could be the greatest strategic turn-around of the war in Iraq ignored.

Once again, TIME has ignored General Petraeus.

Drink the tea, eat the lamb, carry a bottle of Immodium.  Drink another cup of tea.  Ask about his family.  Talk about his family, especially his sons and brothers. 

"Enta mizzawege?" he will ask.  He wants to know if you are married and have kids. 

In Iraq, the khams system is alive.  That means the basic clan structure is based on common ancestry for up to five generations. 

Understand the geneology of your area of operations and you have a map of the relationships in your area of operations.

(COIN - counterinsurgency)

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Al Qaida is in Iraq.  Al Qaida wants the U.S. military out of Iraq. 

The Democrats want the U.S. military out of Iraq.