|
Michael Totten has a great dispatch from Ramadi.
In Totten's article a Marine officer says:
"I didn't realize until I got here that the problem in Anbar Province was 100 percent Al Qaeda," he said. "The old Baath Party insurgency here is completely finished. That war was won and Americans, including me, had no idea it even happened."
That thought was expressed to me last April and it struck me as odd that we could have won or be winning and not even realize it.
So I went back to my collection of out-of-print books on various insurgencies. (I like old, often out of print books because they are not tainted by the current climate.)
And sure enough often a country and the military do not realize they are winning or have won until a year or more after the fact.
It took the British 2-3 years before they finally started waging an effective counter-insurgency in Malaya.
They had the thing won for more than a year before they started post-emergency planning.
Anbar is like that. We were winning when we thought we were losing and may be moving into the won and done column soon.
The key question for General Petraeus and General Gaskins, the commander of multi-national forces west is--at what point can units in Anbar be reallocated to other parts of the country?
Help JD get back to Iraq! Buy a DVD or Contribute below.
JD is currently editing the follow-up to his 2005-2006 documentary
Outside The Wire. He will return to Iraq to shoot another documentary
as soon as it is released.
We all know that freedom is not free--and neither is reporting from Iraq.
Each digital tape capturing the heroic efforts of Soldiers and Marines
costs $7. JD uses almost 100 tapes on each trip. One DVD buys one
tape that will permanently capture what the media refuses to cover.
As you know JD spends his time in Iraq with the Soldiers and Marines
doing the work Outside The Wire. That means hundred and thousands of
dollars of equipment and gear gets damaged. Three dollars buys a new
protective lens cover. Fifty dollars buys a pair of ballistic glasses.
Just to get there, the airfare costs $1,500.
It all helps and it is all needed to tell the story that is not being told.
If you have the desire and means to contribute more and be a co-producer please contact JD via email.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and any support you can give.
|
