[Dean's World] Dave Price: Views From The Ground

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Posted by Dave Price:
Views From The Ground
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1187116332.shtml


   Bill Ardolino posts [1]this video from his time in Iraq, which I
   highly recommend. There's a great part about halfway through where a
   mortar attack is treated almost as casually as a UPS delivery might be
   back home, and some amusing (if a bit frightening) antics by the Iraqi
   police.
   What really comes through in this is the plodding banality of this
   occupation, the slow grind of gradually training up an Iraqi force so
   that they can take over security themselves. I was privileged this
   morning to talk to Colonel Tracy O. Smith, Chief of Economics
   Development Branch MNF-I, who phrased the effort as "working ourselves
   out of a job here," and seemed very optimistic that the transition to
   Iraqi security is in fact happening, comments by Senator Reid (who I'm
   told totally supports victory) that the war is already lost
   notwithstanding.
   In speaking to Colonel Smith (conference calls are being made
   available to bloggers as part of a "new media" outreach program), I
   managed to sputter out a couple barely coherent questions on the
   electricity situation and the challenges confronting it, and from his
   response got the impression that basic infrastructure improvements
   should rapidly follow our progress in securing various areas of Iraq
   (which, again, Democrats [2]completely support!). One of the most
   frustrating areas in which progress has been lacking is electricity,
   and if the surge is accomplishing better security this should soon be
   evident in the electrical supply situation -- [3]as Der Siegel reports
   is ths case in Ramadi (h/t Cervus).
   Watching this video and talking to the Colonel, it becomes very clear
   why Michael Yon [4]says the U.S. military is taken very seriously by
   Iraqis while Washington is viewed as a clown show.

References

   1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZEpJCnIvrE
   2. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0707/5166.html
   3. http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,499154,00.html
   4. http://michaelyon-online.com/wp/three-marks-on-the-horizon.htm