and why you haven’t heard
According to the New York Times, civilian deaths in Baghdad are at an all-time high, marking the failure of the Baghdad security plan launched by the al-Maliki government, and the descent of Iraq into civil war.
But according to Iraq’s national security minister Mowaffaq al-Rubaie, the sectarian violence peaked in mid-July, and has declined sharply since then, indicating the success of the security plan.
Fifty-five percent of Americans approve of the way President Bush is “handling the campaign against terrorism” according to the most recent NYT/CBS poll. (Page 7 of PDF file)
The poll also shows that fighting terrorism is the number one issue “for political leaders to concentrate on right now.”
Last weekend, roughly one million Iraqis celebrated a holy day in Baghdad. And they were relatively unmolested.
Under Saddam Hussein, Iraq’s oppressed Shi’ite majority was forbidden to congregate for festivals. In fact, all non-Ba’athist public gatherings were treated as insurrections.
“It’s hard not to be optimistic,” said Army Col. Michael Beech, who commands the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, tasked with clearing the Dura neighborhood of Baghdad of the terrorists and criminal gangs behind the sectarian violence that exploded there in recent months. “I walk the streets of Dura every day, and what I see is that every day there are additional shops open that weren’t there before. I see the Dura market has increased traffic, and people in the Dura market shopping every day. The feedback I get from people on the streets is very promising.”
Last Summer it was a running joke among the Lance Corporals that U.S. Marine Corps had a new Occupational Specialty–03-5-oh—the infantry police officer.
Yesterday we reported on NBC passing off UK Islamic firebrand Azzam Tamimi as a scholar hoping fewer muslim youth would take up armed jihad.
We also provided links to several of Tamimi’s speeches.
To show just how stupid/blatant/biased (take your pick) NBC is, we just Googled “Azzam Tamimi” and here is what we found.
One of the most common frauds perpetuated by the Legacy Media is passing off a radical as mainstream or respectable expert.
NBC tried it last night.
The NBC Nightly news gave terrorist apologist and jihadist inflamer Azzam Tamimi a mega-phone to spin his views.
Click Picture to view video
“Security in Baghdad is the top priority,” said Col. Robert Scurlock, commander of the 1st Armor Division’s 2nd Brigade. “We continue to work very closely with Iraqi security forces to clear this area of terrorists and death squads.”
Initial results of joint American-Iraqi operations to clear Baghdad of criminal gangs, party militias, sectarian posses, and jihadi terrorists have been encouraging.
With the hard, factual evidence that many of the images coming out of Lebanon and Palestine are frauds, is it hard to believe that much of what local stringers produce in Iraq is also staged?
The 3rd Brigade Combat Team (BCT) of the 4th Infantry Division patrols an area of Iraq roughly the size of Vermont and New Hampshire. Located east, northeast and northwest of Baghdad, the command contains Diyala province, where Abu Musaq al-Zarqawi was killed in June, and the southern part of Salahuddin province, the third most lethal of Iraq’s 18 governates (behind Anbar and Baghdad).