WHEN THE TROOPS GET A BREAK.

“Everybody was looking forward to coming over here.”

Camp Babylon, the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force headquarters, has some rare finds for a military camp in the region: a pool, good chow, washers and dryers, one of Saddam Hussein’s grandiose palaces and the ruins of Babylon, the ancient city of biblical fame, conquered repeatedly through history.

The ruins aren’t much, and Saddam’s attempt at reconstruction might make an archaeologist cringe, but the mystique of the place is still attractive.

See it all here.

THURSDAY, JULY 10th. The 60th day of CPT Patti's deployment.

Have you prayed for our girl, indeed all our soldiers today?

DETAILS ON THE IMPROVED MAIL SERVICE TO OUR TROOPS.

Starting in early June mail began arriving by plane directly into Baghdad International Airport where it is sorted at a special processing center before being shipped out to 10 American different bases throughout the country where it is then handed out to the more than 160,000 American troops in Iraq.

Starting in June, the 461st Personnel Service Battalion out of Decatur, Ga., took over mail delivery duty. Hudson took his 246 troops assigned to the Joint Military Mail Terminal and moved them into an airport warehouse.

The troops cleared away an Iraqi storage facility, gutting the warehouse from top to bottom, and then converted it into a modern, although hardly high-tech mail sorting center to take on the mountain of backlogged mail and the additional 300,000 to 600,000 pounds of mail arriving daily.

According to CPT Patti, receiving packages in the mail is the biggest morale booster there is.

3D ID GI GETS BRIEF LEAVE TO GET MARRIED

Krupa, 25, was assured he would return home in time for a July wedding. The Army changed plans but allowed him a brief leave that has brought his family joy and relief.

On Tuesday, his military firearm was replaced by a merchandise gun at a Bed Bath & Beyond store, as the couple registered gifts for their Santa Cruz wedding. The soldier, in jeans and running shoes, roamed the air-conditioned aisles, fingering flannel sheets and comforters -- looking for warmth wherever he spotted it.

"Everywhere he goes, he's freezing," Haggerty said. "When we're looking for flannel sheets in July, that worries me."

Its a good story...read it here.

MORE ON THE ELECTRICAL SITUATION

And it is just as COL Tucker told us it was.

While much of the country has improved access to power, it is at Baghdad's cost. The capital enjoyed 24-hour access to electricity under Saddam Hussein, said Strock, a member of the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers who is deputy director of operations for the civilian authority.

"There's never been enough electricity to go around, and Saddam definitely used the provision of utilities as a political tool to reward those he wanted to reward and punish those he wanted to punish," Strock said when telephoned in Baghdad.

Now Baghdad -- with 5.5 million people -- is feeling the pinch as the coalition tries to spread electricity more equitably throughout the country. All the while, violence against U.S. forces has increased with five soldiers killed and four wounded in separate attacks over the last week in the city.

The Coalition Provisional Authority is launching a major information campaign to convince Baghdadis that the loss of power is not punishment but an attempt to spread the pain of an antiquated and oft-sabotaged power system, said Andy Bearpark, the CPA's director of regional services in Baghdad.

The rest is here.

AHHAH! THE SOLDIERS HAVE NICKNAMED THAT ROAD.

American forces have dubbed one stretch of road near Baghdad "RPG Alley" due to the frequent attacks on troops moving through the area.

As predicted on this site.

Read all about RPGs here.

PLEASE READ THIS

It is a succinct report on the progress and status of the infrastructure rebuilding.

And for once, instead of telling us where the shortcomings are, it gives us a sense of the progress being made.

"When I say 'we,' I'm talking about the collective efforts of the coalition military, the U.S. Agency for International Development and their British counterpart, DFID. We're talking about the private sector, nongovernmental organizations. But most importantly, we're talking about the Iraqis themselves," Strock added. "

We have found here that the Iraqi public servants are wonderfully competent and remarkably committed to serving the Iraqi people. They have worked under some very, very tough circumstances both during and after the war, and yet they continue to stay at their posts and provide services to the people."

Strock said that electricity is "probably the most important thing we're doing right now." He described the Iraqi electrical system as "antiquated," using basically "1960s technology."

"The capacity of this system is about 7,800 megawatts. And the real important figure here is the fact that due to its age and condition, they can only generate about 4,500 megawatts. The national demand right now is about 6,000 megawatts, and so you can see that right away, there will be shortages of electricity," Strock said.

PROGRESS OF A DIFFERENT NATURE.

Al-Ani's capture has been considered key to U.S. efforts to try to link Iraq with al Qaeda - and possibly the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist assaults.

While both the CIA and FBI have been unable to prove the April 2001 meeting between al-Ani and Atta took place, some top Czech officials have insisted it occurred - and they say the pair also powwowed a year earlier.

Al-Ani was a vice consul at the Iraqi Embassy in Prague at the time.

See it here.

"BUT MOHAMMED REMAINS PATIENT"

Certainly a headline you don't see everyday.

"It's true that we're suffering from a lack of water and electricity cuts, but that will sort itself out," says Mohammed Yussef, a 21-year-old Shiite in central Baghdad.

Sitting behind the wheel of an old car that he has transformed into a taxi to earn a living, Mohammed had been waiting in line for more than three hours at a filling station.

With the country's fuel pipelines and refineries suffering sabotage attacks and looting after the fall of the regime, just getting hold of fuel has become an arduous task, despite Iraq possessing the world's second largest oil reserves.

But Mohammed remains patient.

"The Americans did well to get rid of Saddam. Little by little life is getting back to normal," he says.

Read it all here.

"DEMOCRACY HAS ARRIVED IN BAGHDAD"

With his dark-tinted sunglasses and modest clothing, Al Faily was congratulated by nearby friends after Col. Peter Mansoor, 43, 1st Armored Division's 1st Brigade commander, announced the winner between four candidates.

"Democracy has arrived in Baghdad," said Mansoor, who is originally from Sacramento, Calif. "Make your voice be heard. This is only the beginning and definitely not the end."

Mansoor congratulated Al Faily with a handshake and hopefully a new friendship between his soldiers and the people of the Rusfa District.

With a permanent smile etched into his cheeks, Al Faily said his biggest concern for a post-Saddam Baghdad is fixing the numerous problems created by the former dictator.

"I want to help all of my people who live in Rusfa," said the office accountant. "I want to fix the biggest problem which is the lack of security in the area."

And readers from Friedberg will want to know that 1/36 Infantry plays a big role in this story.

A GLOVES-OFF VIEW OF ONE BATTALION IN IRAQ SINCE DAY ONE.

But the look in some of their eyes reveals the emotion is not entirely for others - it is personal, it is painful and it is eating them up.

With each passing day of heat, dirt and squalor, there is a simmering resentment among some of the men of the 2-70. Some of the repressed hostility is focused on Iraqis and some of it is reserved for commanders who are perceived to work in distant, air conditioned offices far away from the conditions they endure.

Sometimes that pent-up rage and psychic damage has boiled over. One soldier had to be wrestled to the ground by other soldiers after he loaded his M-16 in camp after a minor dispute with another soldier. A few men have been psychologically evaluated and one soldier has been sent home because of his mental health condition.

It is not a pleasant story, but it sounds very authentic.

Those soldiers deserve to go home. But, of course, we've discussed the lack of replacement forces already.

NEAR MISS.

The combat engineers inside the tan Humvees had traversed the Wedding Island Bridge dozens of times to fetch their translator. It was a routine trip, soldiers in the unit said. Cross the narrow bridge. Pick him up. Drive back over the bridge to complete their assignment for the day.

But today, as they headed onto the bridge at 9:10 a.m., the lead Humvee encountered what has become another routine for U.S. forces in this simmering city. A bone-rattling explosion punched the vehicle several feet into the air and spewed an orange fireball and a cloud of black smoke...

Because the blast did not result in a death or serious injury, it was not mentioned to reporters by the U.S. military's public information office. But military officials acknowledged that such non-fatal attacks are more widespread than daily casualty figures reflect.

The whole story is here.

CENTCOM NEWS RELEASES.

July 8, 2003
Release Number: 03-07-27

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SOLDIER DIES IN A NON-COMBAT INCIDENT

BALAD, Iraq – A U.S. soldier attached to the 101st Airborne Division died of a gunshot wound in a non-combat incident on July 7.

The name of the soldier is being withheld pending next-of-kin notification.


July 9, 2003
Release Number: 03-07-28

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TWO “IRAQI TOP 55” IN COALITION CUSTODY: ONE SURRENDERS, ONE CAPTURED

BAGHDAD, Iraq – One former Iraqi leader surrendered and another was captured July 8 in two unrelated incidents. Both members are listed on the U.S. Central Command “Iraqi Top 55.”

Mizban Khadr Al Hadi, a high-ranking member of the Ba’ath Party Regional Command and Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) and number 23 on the coalition’s list of wanted government officials, turned himself in to Coalition forces in Baghdad.

Mahmud Dhiyab Al-Ahmad, former Minister of Interior and number 29 on the Top 55 list, was captured by Coalition forces and now is in custody.

Coalition forces will continue to work at apprehending former members of the Saddam Hussein regime.

WEDNESDAY JULY 9th. The 59th day of CPT Patti's deployment.

Bet she could really use a beer about now.

"TODAY'S FORCE IS OVERCOMMITTED"

Next let's examine the track record of guerrilla war. The guerrilla fighter is, of course, a staple of left-wing romanticism. Mao, Ho, Fidel, Che — these constitute the pantheon of "peoples' war." But it is hard to point to a case in which guerrillas were successful without outside support and the existence of a conventional force of some sort. The guerrillas in Iraq lack both. Rooting them out will be a matter of time. Patience is the key.

The issue of troop strength in Iraq has been a major source of misunderstanding. When critics claim that the Army is too small to do what is necessary in Iraq, they don't necessarily mean that the force in country is too small, but that the Army as a whole is stretched so thin to meet vastly expanded requirements, not only in Iraq but throughout the globe, that readiness problems will begin to undercut military effectiveness.

The Army is especially concerned about recruiting shortfalls and the potential loss of noncommissioned officers, which are very likely to adversely affect the Army's performance down the road.

Those who say the Army should not do peacekeeping in a reconstructed Iraq are wrong.

War termination is an important objective, and a favorable outcome in Iraq requires that the United States stay the course. Prospects for success are good. Even a pessimist, as long as he was objective, would have to concede that Iraq is by no means a quagmire. The situation in Iraq is progressing, despite setbacks.

But the health of the United States Army is in the balance. Today's force is overcommitted and the strains are beginning to show.

Not sure I agree that the guerillas in Iraq lack both outside support and a conventional force of some sort. Seems to me that Iran qualifies as the outside support, and the porous borders of postwar Iraq could lead to the organization of conventional forces.

Still, I agree with the overall premise. The forces are overcommitted.

Witness the news reports saying we are prepared to send Marines to Liberia. By definition and design, Marine forces are designed to be light, lethal and temporary. Marines don't plan to be anywhere longer than 30 to 60 days. Even their food rations reflect this truism.

Yet news reports say Marines will probably be the force to land in Liberia.

In my mind the message here is that (A) we don't plan to be there long (aka we are doing this for show) or (B) we don't have the forces needed to commit to the long term.

Just my opinion, but to me we have no compelling national interest to protect in Liberia. Yeah, they named their capital after President Monroe, but...well, so what?

And therefore, in my opinion we get into the business of "exemplary participation" meaning we send soldiers to areas of the world just as volunteers flock to Habitat for Humanity building sites.

I'm not criticizing Habitat for Humanity...I once was an officer in one of its chapters. But the point is I volunteered because I "wanted to help"

Clearly we do not have sufficient military forces to send them to places where it is nice to want to help...indeed it is not clear we have sufficient forces to involve ourselves seriously in places where we have a decided national interest..

AT LEAST NOT UNTIL SOMEONE INVENTS "JUST FOR WEASELS" HAIRCOLORING.

The (German) chancellor sued when a news agency quoted an image consultant who suggested he was dyeing his hair to conceal grey.

With affidavits from his barber, Schroeder insisted that the article was false and that it had created a wave of stories that were hurting his image.

In April he won a court injunction preventing the DDP agency from repeating the story.

A month later an appeals court upheld an injunction that prohibits news organisations from even hinting that Schroeder's brown hair is anything other than natural.

Because as Chancellor Schroeder knows courts are for "the worst violations."

See it here.

(via NRO)

YEP.

An Iraqi motorist flashes a thumbs up sign and a smile while displaying a photo of President Bush at the U.S. military police check point Monday July 7, 2003 in Baghdad, Iraq. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel) (via National Review Online.)

LETTING MARKET FORCES SOLVE THE PROBLEM?

A US official in charge of setting up Iraq's police is due to unveil later on Monday a reward scheme for information relating to the murder of coalition forces or Iraqi police officers.

Bernard Kerik, a former New York police chief, told the BBC that the minimum reward would be $2,500

Read about it here.

WHERE DO WE GET GUYS LIKE THIS?

Burks wanted a challenge when he joined the Marines, but he never thought he'd be faced with the challenge of feeding thousands of starving Iraqis.

"There was days when we wouldn't even eat, and we would just give all our food up. It's something that I would never want to experience again. But we felt that was what we needed to do," said Burks...

While Burks is thankful to be back on leave, he's glad the Pentagon is thinking about sending in more troops.

"I wish I could go back over there right now. And it's hard for me to say that.

But with what's going on over there, I don't see how I can sit here and already come back when my brothers are still over there dying every day," said Burks.

Read his story here.

SOME SIGNS OF PROGRESS ARE SUBTLE.

"This is a new sense of freedom for us. We are not in a very secure society yet, but at least we can say whatever we like," said Firas Behnam, 27, a worker at the former State Company for Internet Services center in the neighborhood of Adil.

Under Hussein, Iraqis could look at foreign news sites such as the BBC and CNN at least part of the time. "Sometimes it said access denied, sometimes not," Behnam said. "It depended on the news of the day, and how aggressive it was."

"Some Web sites are still closed, but if you let us know, we will reopen them," said Yaser Hassan, 30, the manager of the Adil center. "The users here want everything fast. They complain loudly when they see 'access denied,' even though they did not complain for 30 years."

They've learned to complain...

Read it all here.

GREAT NEWS FOR THE 3D BRIGADE, 3D ID.

The 3,700 soldiers of the 3rd Brigade are coming home.

The signs are everywhere.

Fort Benning's public affairs office says the brigade's arrival is imminent.

Family members convened Monday night to decorate the Kelly Hill gymnasium in a "Welcome Home" motif.

Col. Steve Salazar, the brigade's commander, says the "Sledgehammers" will be back as early as this week.

Most importantly, 3rd Infantry Division commander Maj. Gen. Buford Blount said Monday that the 3rd Brigade Combat Team will return to Fort Benning between Friday and July 18.

And they deserve it.

The only thing that concerns me is that I'm pretty sure this is the brigade that was improving security on the Baghdad Airport Road.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE.

This is one of the so-called "carrot measures".

The rumble and roar of machinery quickly drew dozens of curious young children and their parents out into the street to see Army equipment piling tons of trash several feet high before loading it into dump trucks that left for a distant landfill. The trucks traveled to the landfill more than 100 times that day.

As the heavy equipment tore into the dirty, rancid field, a team of Army medics and a doctor applied a more personal touch inside a nearby clinic. A medical team temporarily converted a classroom of a nearby private girls' elementary school into a treatment room.

As soon as the doors to the temporary clinic opened, lines of women, many of them with their young children, formed outside. During the next day and a half Maj. David Harden, the dermatologist at Fort Riley, saw more than 200 patients.

Read it all here.

WE ARE LOUSY HIT-MEN.

As for the strikes on Saddam and the bitter likelihood that he's still alive, perhaps we can draw this conclusion from the evidence of our eyes and critical capacities: America really isn't good at assassinations.

We were lousy at them in the 1950s and 1960s, especially when we went after Fidel Castro. In the past five years, using major weaponry rather than exploding cigars, we've proved incompetent in targeting Osama bin Laden and Saddam.

The United States can fight wars brilliantly. But our skills at the black arts of statecraft remain challenged - a tribute to this nation's humanity.

For one thing, we fear the harm that might be done to innocents who are unfortunate enough to share consanguinity with the evildoers. Bill Clinton couldn't get a "clean shot" at bin Laden after the failed cruise-missile attack in August 1998 because our intelligence could never locate him without women and children around. And Bush nearly didn't order the strike on Saddam because he didn't want the first pictures of the war to feature the tyrant's dead grandchildren.

Its a really good piece. Read the whole thing here.

Oh - and as for "consanguinity"...look it up. I had to.

RECALL THAT ONLY RECENTLY THIS HIGHWAY WAS A LOT MORE DANGEROUS.

We hear that a brigade of 3d ID has been relocated to make it safer.

Two U.S. soldiers were slightly wounded on Tuesday when an explosion damaged their Humvee vehicle on the outskirts of Baghdad, a U.S. military officer said.

An explosive device blew up as the Humvee drove on Highway Eight between Baghdad and the international airport at around 9.30 a.m., Major Ed Bohnemann told Reuters on the scene.

He described the injuries of the two soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division as light.

The Humvee had its trunk blackened and blown off.

U.S. convoys traveling on Highway Eight have come under attack several times since the toppling of President Saddam Hussein three months ago.

"We've actually found some (explosive devices) in the past couple of days and caught them before they blew up," Bohnemann said.

The whole story is here.

MORE ON THAT STORY plus news of another incident.

Reuters reporter Daniel Trotta, embedded with U.S. forces, said an anti-tank mine exploded under a Bradley fighting vehicle travelling in a convoy in the town of Khan Dhari, 30 km (20 miles) west of Baghdad, wounding the driver.

Trotta, who was with the convoy, said a Humvee military vehicle and a truck had apparently driven over the mine without triggering it.

''When the Bradley drove over it, it blew up, wounding the driver,'' Trotta said. ''The hull of the vehicle was split and the engine was spewing oil.''

The driver, Specialist Justine Howard from Georgia, was wounded in the back.

''I feel very lucky, scared too,'' Howard told Reuters as he was being taken in a Humvee to a medical facility.

AND ON THE HOME FRONT...

Jonell Martinez and Jennifer King, leaders of the company's family readiness group, spent hours on the telephone Saturday after they learned who would be on the flight home. Their husbands - Sgt. 1st Class Varon Martinez and Sgt. Jeff King - will fly in later this week.

"Actually we prefer it this way," Martinez said, in between rushing this way and that to make sure every detail was covered before the soldiers arrived.

They got Domino's, Starbucks, Krispy Kreme and Hooters to donate goodies for Monday's homecoming reception.

"We haven't slept in the last 36 hours," she said.

Sleep deprived family members...cool!

AN ENDORSEMENT WITHOUT PARALLEL

Floyd vividly remembers a conversation with an Iraqi medical student who was wounded in Baghdad and treated by Floyd´s unit. “He was driving with his uncle and cousin in Baghdad when one of our Bradleys (armored vehicles similar to a tank) shot up their vehicle, killing his relatives,” Floyd recalled. The student crawled from the car and eventually found help.

Floyd got to know the man during the week he received treatment and taught him how to play backgammon. Eventually, he asked the man for his honest opinion about the war.

“He told me that even though some innocent people are getting killed, that he was glad we were there — glad that we sent Saddam ´straight to hell,´ ” Floyd said.

Read the whole thing here.

NEAT IDEA...IT WORKED FOR US!

Strock said several larger projects, including reconstruction of the country’s irrigation system and government buildings, will put thousands of people back to work.

“We’re going to have about 100,000 people at work over the next several months clearing about 5,500 kilometers of the irrigation system,” he said.

U.S. administrators may take a page from American history in rebuilding Iraq, Ponkratz said.

“We are discussing plans to form a civil service corps much like our nation experienced during our Depression in the 1930s,” he wrote. “We would essentially pay workers to form a military-like organization to complete national and local projects that would provide long-term benefit to the nation and their communities.”

It is encouraging to me personally to finally get some news about the plans and programs to rebuild. Seems these stories have been a long time coming...but in my mind indicate a nearing turning-point for their folks...and ours.

Read the whole story here.

"A POSITIVE FORCE FOR IRAQ"

If the latest attacks are designed to destroy the fragile trust between Iraqis and those who have come to help them, interviews with about a dozen Iraqis who work with Americans show that the tactic is not working. They say people harass them, accuse them of treason and send them death threats. But although they acknowledge the risk, none said they would quit.

"It will never stop me because I trust myself and I trust God. I want to help my country to make a new life, to get human rights, and also to get modern life, especially because we are a rich country," Mohyialdeen said. "Whenever I go out on patrol, I start praying."

Most of these workers said they would not stop working because they view the Americans as a positive force for Iraq. But there are corollary reasons as well, such as the fact that coalition forces provide the bulk of jobs in a country where jobs are scarce.

Read this rare bit of hopeful press here.

MORTARS.

Insurgents fired mortar rounds at a U.S. supply base north of Baghdad, and American forces arrested at least 12 Iraqi suspects in a counterattack, the U.S. military said Tuesday. There were no reported casualties.

The mortar attack occurred late Monday night at a base near Balad, 55 miles north of the capital, said Spc. Nicole Thompson, a spokeswoman for the U.S. military in Baghdad. She said U.S. forces subsequently caught 12 of the suspected attackers.

Meanwhile, witnesses said a U.S. military vehicle was attacked early Tuesday morning in Baghdad. U.S. military personnel surrounded the area, and an Associated Press photographer saw the charred spot of earth where the attack occurred. The U.S. military said it had no immediate information about the incident.

Whenever I see "supply base" I get a little concerned. But then I consider that if someone were to fire on CPT Patti's supply base they are also firing on the National Police College.

And as the police force rebuilds, let's hope that location has a deterrent effect.

Story here.

MORE PERSPECTIVE.

But although there is certainly reason for concern, it's important to put the attacks and the casualty rate in perspective, and not to fall prey to media-fanned hysteria about "another Vietnam."

First, there's the historical perspective: The last attack on Allied troops in occupied Germany took place in 1949, four years after the war's end.

Moreover, America is not facing a popular uprising in Iraq. If it were, then things would be much, much worse.

Then there's the geographical perspective: It's not as if the whole country is in flames. Almost all the problems are in Baghdad, the violence having shifted there from the Sunni triangle north and west of the capital.

Really good stuff. Read it all here.

A YOUNG MAN WITH PERSPECTIVE.

Watch your back, watch where their hands go, don't trust them if they look nervous. Don't trust them if they won't look you in the eyes, if they approach you suddenly, or come up and talk to you just for a minute, counsels Specialist David Decker.

Keep your eyes on the rooftops, speeding cars, everyone in the crowd.

"Baghdad is a city where four million people love you and five percent wish you dead," Decker, from the Military Police, said on Monday after three soldiers were killed in less than 24 hours.

Sort of the flip-side of the Ba'ath Party...where 95% of the people wished they were dead.

ANTICIPATING PROGRESS:

TSA sends volunteer baggage/passenger screeners to Baghdad International Airport.

Six men and women left Saturday from Rochester to help secure what was once known as the Saddam International Airport.

The airport in Baghdad is not open yet, but the Defense Department wants to make sure flying out of Baghdad goes smoothly when it does open.

Story here.

THE PLOT THICKENS - CIA SAYS IT IS PROBABLY HIM

"The CIA's assessment, after a technical analysis of the tape, is that it is most likely his voice," a CIA spokesman said in a statement yesterday. "The exact date of the recording cannot be determined."

One U.S. intelligence official said there was significant background noise on the tape and it may have been recorded "many months" ago.

That report here.

LOCAL COVERAGE IDENTIFIES ONE OF SUNDAY'S FALLEN.

I've heard he was with 1-37 Armor out of Friedberg.

Army Sgt. David Parson, a father of three who married into the locally prominent Belman family, was killed Sunday in fighting in Iraq.

The husband of Spotsylvania County native Mary Elizabeth Belman Parson, he is believed to be the first person with Fredericksburg-area ties to perish in the military operation.

"We were told he was shot in the back," said Stafford County School Board member Robert Belman, Mary Elizabeth Parson's uncle.

Parson was among three U.S. soldiers killed in attacks in Baghdad Sunday and yesterday, raising the total to 30 American combat deaths since major hostilities ended May 1.

In the latest slayings, a roadside bomb killed one soldier traveling in an Army convoy yesterday, and a second American--apparently Parson--was shot to death in a Sunday night gunbattle in the troubled Sunni Muslim neighborhood of Azamiyah, the military said. Both soldiers belonged to the Army's 1st Armored Division, the Germany-based unit occupying Baghdad.

Tragic.

MORE ON THE INAUGURAL BAGHDAD CITY COUNCIL MEETING.

In the Iraqi capital yesterday, a polyglot city council met for the first time, bringing together a range of members -- from tribal leaders in headdresses to women in smart business suits. The role of the 37-member advisory body -- which has no spending authority -- is to advise the U.S.-led administration.

"It's probably the most important day since April 9, when the coalition came and liberated you from the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein," said L. Paul Bremer, the top U.S. official in Iraq. "Today marks the resumption of the democratic system in Baghdad, which hasn't been here in 30 years."...

"You have courageously chosen to serve the public at a time when malicious people in Baghdad threaten the peace and security of this city," Bremer said.

The U.S. administration screened council members for ties to Saddam's Baath Party and nullified the election of "four or five" Baathists, said Army Lt. Col. Joe Rice, a council adviser.

Once the country's constitution is written and a census and voter registrations finished, nationwide elections will be held, "at which point the coalition's work will be done," Bremer said.

The rest is here.

And this related story seems to reflect noteworthy progress.

Representatives of seven key Iraqi political parties took the first step toward the transition to a democratically elected government yesterday, supporting a plan by U.S. civil administrator L. Paul Bremer 3rd to create a temporary governing council.

The unanimous decision by the diverse groups that had stood in opposition to Saddam Hussein set in motion a process that would lead to the establishment of a government to succeed the long tyranny of the ousted dictator's Ba'ath Party.

The seven factions' participation in the council, which is expected to give the body greater credibility with Iraqis, had been in doubt. Until recently, there had been a "serious possibility" that some groups would boycott the council, said Zaab Sethma of the exile Iraqi National Congress, who attended the gathering in this northern mountain resort.

Let's just hope the Iraqis notice.

UPDATE: Read this story to see how the Iraqi political parties want to help get US soldiers out of the crosshairs of the miscreants.

Warning that increasing violence is rallying the remnants of Saddam Hussein's government, the main Iraqi political groups that supported the United States and Britain in toppling him said on Monday that they would join the first postwar interim government later this month and press for greater powers under the occupation authority.

The decision by the main Iraqi political groups to join an interim government marks the final stage of a two-month exercise in brinkmanship between former Iraqi opposition leaders and L. Paul Bremer, the American occupation administrator in Iraq, over how much power and authority the Iraqi leadership would be given.

Several prominent members of the former opposition forces, including Massoud Barzani, the Kurdish leader, and Ahmad Chalabi, head of the Iraqi National Congress, said they were urging U.S. military commanders in Iraq to allow the creation of an Iraqi national security force to help thwart attacks on allied forces that are destabilizing the country.

ONE MARINE WHO DOESN'T MIND BEING CALLED DOG-FACED.

“He goes everywhere with us,” Sterling said.

On a trip to Kuwait, he flew behind the controls of a C-130.

No one said the platoon couldn’t bring him onto the plane so they packed him into a dog carrier and hoped for the best.

“We pretty much walked him on the back of the C-130 like we owned the place,” Sterling said. “Twenty minutes into the flight the pilots asked if they could see our dog.”

Dagger’s been near gunfire and has been a guard dog since the very first night. He may be cute, but he also has an important task.

“That dog, he’s a morale boost for everyone,” Menkewicz said.

This story will make you smile. Read it.

ONE NINETEEN YEAR OLD MARINE - IN CHARGE.

Remarkable what one teenager is accomplishing in Iraq.

He breaks up fights over prices, faces down vendors bold enough to push and shove him and expels violators.

It’s a long day under the hot sun, but his role has kept the market safe and orderly, helping vendors and patrons alike.

“All of the people like this man,” said vendor Hadere Addas.

Before Seely, 19, began regular patrols, the market was chaotic and cramped.

“No system, all the people — it’s dangerous, fighting. Some people sell here, no good,” Addas said.

The Marines had been conducting regular patrols at the market, but Seely asked to be there full time. He came up with the idea of painting white lines to designate where vendors can set up, to keep them spaced out and to establish a space over which they could not cross.

Good stuff. Read it all here.

TUESDAY, JULY 8th. The 58th day of CPT Patti's deployment.

I had the opportunity to see some photos of her yesterday - photos brought back by her former battalion commander.

I'll get digital copies later this week and share them with the inner circle.

DEFENSE CONTRACTOR GUY SENDS THIS WONDERFUL PIECE FROM NATIONAL REVIEW.

The author was born in India and became an American citizen of his own choosing.

America has found a solution to the problem of religious and ethnic conflict that continues to divide and terrorize much of the world.: Visitors to places like New York are amazed to see the way in which Serbs and Croatians, Sikhs and Hindus, Irish Catholics and Irish Protestants, Jews and Palestinians, all seem to work and live together in harmony. How is this possible when these same groups are spearing each other and burning each other's homes in so many places in the world?

The American answer is twofold. First, separate the spheres of religion and government so that no religion is given official preference but all are free to practice their faith as they wish. Second, do not extend rights to racial or ethnic groups but only to individuals; in this way, all are equal in the eyes of the law, opportunity is open to anyone who can take advantage of it, and everybody who embraces the American way of life can "become American."...

America, the freest nation on earth, is also the most virtuous nation on earth.: This point seems counter-intuitive, given the amount of conspicuous vulgarity, vice, and immorality in America. Indeed some Islamic fundamentalists argue that their regimes are morally superior to the United States because they seek to foster virtue among the citizens. Virtue, these fundamentalists argue, is a higher principle than liberty.

Indeed it is. And let us admit that in a free society, freedom will frequently be used badly. Freedom, by definition, includes the freedom to do good or evil, to act nobly or basely. But if freedom brings out the worst in people, it also brings out the best. The millions of Americans who live decent, praiseworthy lives desire our highest admiration because they have opted for the good when the good is not the only available option. Even amidst the temptations of a rich and free society, they have remained on the straight path. Their virtue has special luster because it is freely chosen.

By contrast, the societies that many Islamic fundamentalists seek would eliminate the possibility of virtue. If the supply of virtue is insufficient in a free society like America, it is almost non-existent in an unfree society like Iran. The reason is that coerced virtues are not virtues at all. Consider the woman who is required to wear a veil. There is no modesty in this, because she is being compelled Compulsion cannot produce virtue, it can only produce the outward semblance of virtue. Thus a free society like America is not merely more prosperous, more varied, more peaceful, and more tolerant — it is also morally superior to the theocratic and authoritarian regimes that America's enemies advocate.

If you, as I, grow weary of the America bashing, take a moment to read the whole thing.

OH, SO THAT IS WHY HE CALLED IN AN "AXIS" OF EVIL.

Iran has successfully tested an intermediate-range ballistic missile that can reach Israel, an Israeli newspaper reported Friday...

It's not clear how effectively the Shahab-3 missile would be in delivering a chemical, biological or nuclear payload.

The missile is a modified version of North Korea's Nodong-1 surface-to-surface missile

These weapons in the hands of an Islamic theocracy is very, very scary.

Read it here.

Meanwhile, this story says Iran confirms it.

Oh, yeah, and the Russians are involved as well.

The Shabad-3 ballistic missile, first tested in 1998, has a range of 1,300 km (800 miles).

It is based on the North Korean Nodong-1 missile but has been improved with Russian technology.

WELL BUST MY BUTTONS GUESS WHAT I FOUND.

A news story on the Baghdad City Council meeting.

I found it after reading the headlines of over 700 stories in the internet today.

See?

"I hope I can help the people of Karada and all its neighborhoods," Sabah Mohammed Ali Jumah said in a brief speech to his fellow members of the district council, a pitch to be elected the council's chairman.

"I worked for the Ministry of Oil starting in 1958, but I was fired in 1979 after I quarreled with the minister," Jumah said. "I was head of the association of Iraqi engineers in Basra. I hope you will be satisfied with my qualifications."

Jumah was elected vice chairman. The man he defeated in the race joined in the applause at the announcement of the result.

For the U.S. officials involved in the project, such small scenes of citizen participation are gratifying.

"This has been a bottom-up governance program," said Andrew Morrison, deputy civil administrator for Baghdad. "It's involved thousands of residents of Baghdad."...

The Americans involved in the project clearly see another element of their mission: passing on the basic values of their 2-century-old democracy.

"We're here to understand the democratic process and to discuss the matters that are important to the Beladiya," Johnson told the Karada district council, using the Arabic word for district.

"This is the last time I will chair your meeting. From now on, the chairman you elect will run the meeting and will be responsible for the agenda."

UNFORTUNATELY FREEDOM INCLUDES ALLOWING FOLKS TO LIE TO THEMSELVES.

Zionists are spreading drugs and prostitution, they say, and Americans -- not Saddam Hussein loyalists -- bombed a procession of U.S.-trained police cadets. U.S. occupiers also are withholding electricity on purpose, the story goes.

Lies and half-truths -- readily believed by a nation of people who learned long ago to be skeptical of rulers' motives -- are complicating America's mission in Iraq, fueling anti-U.S. sentiment as troops struggle to quell a growing uprising...

After an Iraqi newspaper ran a story claiming that U.S. Marines raped a young girl and left her for dead, U.S. officials persuaded the publisher to run a retraction and fire the offending reporter.

When a newspaper reported that American night vision equipment can be used to see through women's clothing, U.S. civil affairs troops visited the editors personally to let them look through the goggles.

Despite these efforts, Iraqis, who grew up on a steady diet of anti-American rhetoric, are being bombarded by a fresh wave of disinformation, much of it coming from an explosion of new newspapers. The country now has about 150 newspapers, up from 14 before the war.

Some of the claims are breathtaking:

* The Assaah newspaper on Saturday claimed that the Israeli government ordered the modification of its export laws to flood Iraqi markets with Israeli goods. The paper urged Iraqis to carefully check Taiwanese or Chinese-made appliances for hidden Stars of David.

* The same paper recently reported that American helicopters swooped down on construction stores in the southern city of Nasiriyah to steal building supplies.

* Word is traveling on Iraqi streets that U.S. patrols are blaring messages from loudspeakers telling people they won't have electricity until attacks on Americans stop.

* A shadowy Iraqi group calling itself "Wakefullness and Holy War" issued a statement on Iranian TV claiming responsibility for recent attacks and announcing that Jews have arrived in Baghdad to spread "sex, prostitution and drugs among young people."


Oh yes, it is those "indigenous pathologies" all over again. See it all here.

"I'D LIKE TO THINK WE SAVED A RACE OF PEOPLE"

While on humanitarian assignment, his unit was never attacked by any militant faction, although danger loomed from cross-fire among territorial factions, Mike Sportello said.

Instead, most of the Iraqi citizens welcomed American assistance, especially food, Sportello said. Each day, Sportello fed badly malnourished children and their families.

For that reason alone, the war effort was worthy -- even if weapons of mass destruction are not found, Mike Sportello said.

"I'd like to think we saved a race of people," Mike Sportello said.

Folks, never ever doubt the existence of true good and true evil.

Saddam Hussein was true evil.

This soldier is true good.

NEED YOUR HELP.

This story says detailed documentaries about the brutality of Saddam Hussein are being broadcast on the History Channel.

Could one of you out there record these shows on VHS or DVD for CPT Patti's soldiers please? It might go a long way to reminding them why they are where they are doing what they are doing.

We don't get the History Channel over here in Europe.

Write to me at cptpattiinbaghdad@yahoo.com or at my personal address if you have it and let me know if you will handle this. I've got no idea just yet when the broadcasts are scheduled.

History Channel Records the Brutality of a Regime

When the History Channel producers decided to run with the brutal images and terrifying stories of “The Horrors of Hussein,” “Saddam Hussein: The Butcher of Baghdad,” and “The Sons of Saddam,” all currently showing, their mission was inspired and defined: “Almost daily, new stories of oppression are revealed about the atrocities of Saddam Hussein’s regime. Yet this information is often fragmented and overlooked in a flurry of constant breaking news.”

The History Channel fulfills its mission in an eye-widening series that details the full extent of the heinous crimes committed during Saddam’s rule. Featured in “Horrors” are interviews with Abdul Rasul al-Hayder, an Iraqi who was tortured repeatedly for 6 months while imprisoned for complaining about the food in the Baghdad University Student Union. Also on screen is Hazim Oraha, who was arrested and relentlessly tortured for exhibiting art in his gallery the regime deemed threatening. His gallery, assets and home were seized.

“Horrors” also ferrets out the things that forged Saddam’s aberrant character. He was a fan of Adolf Hitler and of Joseph Stalin. He read Joseph Stalin’s works and patterned much of his regime on Stalinist Soviet Union. Every aspect of his upbringing relentlessly contributed to the makeup of a person who was and perhaps still is incapable of feeling anyone’s pain – beginning with a mother that tried to murder him while still in the womb, turning away from him forever after his dreaded birth.

I found this story here.

MORE STRANGERS HELPING SOLDIERS.

Stevenson, 49, owns Double S Livestock, a custom cattle feedlot in the shadow of the picturesque Laramie Range. He flies a huge American flag atop a 30-foot pole in the middle of his neat, barn-red buildings.

The larger-than-life cattleman got it in his head earlier this year to do something for the men and women who have been putting their lives on the line in hot, hostile territory. He called it "Steak on the Fourth" and began soliciting donations through a Web site.

So far he has raised nearly $50,000 in donations and pledges. He said Wednesday that the troops are "within inches" of getting to barbecue...

"We just thank them for what they're doing for us, and that's from the cowboys of Wyoming," he said. "We just want them to know they're being supported by everybody."

On the Net: http://www.steakonthefourth.com

Don't worry the fourth has passed. The story indicates this will happen later in July.

WANT TO MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE FOR SOLDIERS?

America Supporting Americans can help communities arrange "adoptions" of military units.

Read up on America Supporting Americans. I've been around the Army in some capacity for 27 years...yet I never knew about this organization until today.

America Supporting Americans, or ASA, is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization was founded in 1968. It's mission is to link American military units based on U.S. soil or deployed world-wide with American communities who want to show their support.

Our mission is well stated… ASA creates a “sail filled by the emotional wind from millions of Americans, and supported by the personal connections between units and communities. This sail carries members of the American military with personally felt assurance of support from the American people as they perform their often-dangerous duties..

Three things have, by far, the greatest positive impact on the morale of any soldier: Food, Pay, and Mail. Which is at the top of the list? Mail. Words from home. A simple story of the family cat caught up a tree, or a little sister’s making the cheerleading squad is all it takes to remind a soldier that there is a reason they face the hardships that come from serving this country.

“It’s not like being home with your family. You can’t hide Easter eggs in a land-mine field.” Stated one soldier serving in the l0th Mountain Division in Afghanistan.

That soldier when on to say he’s missed Christmas, New Years and about a year worth of holidays, of course it was lonely to be away from America on the holidays but you know you’re there for a reason!”

I would say this soldier understands “service to the greater”

Their website is here.

UPDATE: Read about a small Wyoming town adopting a Marine unit almost as big as the town iteself!

Marine Lance Cpl. Clayton Colman could well become one of the most popular men in his unit, thanks to the folks in his hometown of Medicine Bow.

Town officials in April formally "adopted" Colman's unit -- Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment -- as part of the America Supporting Americans Adopt-A-Unit program.

Wednesday night, about a dozen Medicine Bow residents gathered in the Village Square to discuss "what the guys would like to have and how we're going to do it," according to Pat Paules, who is on the City Council.

She said the unit, based in Twentynine Palms, Calif., has 180 men and a commanding officer.

Medicine Bow, meanwhile, has a population of 274, "so it's kind of like each person adopting a guy," Paules said.

The town is one of 45 cities in 18 states, and the first in Wyoming, to adopt a unit through the program.

A GRASS ROOTS CAMPAIGN TO SUPPORT THE TROOPS.

Beth is a reader of CPT Patti's website whose son is serving in Iraq with the 1st AD. She wrote recently to forward her campaign to reduce the cost of sending packages to deployed soldiers.

Here is her plea.

Greetings,

I and other's are on a writing campaign to try and persuade the President to create a bill that would allow families to mail care packages at no charge,or at least half the cost to those that are serving their country in hostile countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan.

If you have the time could you please consider writing or emailing also? I believe that if enough people were to send emails or letters that this issue would be addressed by the President.

Something needs to be done to lighten the load for the families so that it does not put them in dire striates.

Most of the care packages sent are full of things that the troops need and yes there are things sent that the troops would consider luxury items, such as beef jerky,snacks and peanut butter and crackers, but the things that are asked for by them are items like,bug spray, instant cold-packs, sun block,lotion,things that some of the troops cannot get for themselves because of their location.Most of the time the cost of sending the package is more than the cost of the items sent.

I think that it is only right that we petition the President to consider this request to allow some relief for the families in the cost of sending care packages....You can email the President at president@whitehouse.gov

Thank you for your time.....Beth O.

Thank you, Beth.

IF YOU CAN READ THIS WITHOUT A TEAR, YOU ARE STRONGER THAN I

Morgan bleeds red, white and blue. He studies American history like a doctoral student. He visits old battlefield sites to connect with the past.

When Morgan found out Dustin and loved ones of other colleagues were fighting abroad, he took down names.

Spending hundreds of dollars out of his own pocket, he and his wife put together care packages and shipped them off.

Morgan didn't personally know Dustin or many of the other recipients. Not that it mattered. He wanted these people to know they had not been forgotten, that folks at home cared. Like Dustin's decision to enlist, Morgan said it was just something he had to do.

The package touched Dustin's heart. Already a sensitive young man, mature way beyond his years, Dustin was so moved he hand-wrote a letter from Iraq to the man he formally addressed as "Mr. Morgan":

...And it seems like without even being here, you, my mother, and many others have discovered the perfect antidote for a staggering heart. For this I am more grateful than you could possibly imagine ... thank you for your undying support, compassion and patriotism.

Please read the entire story here.

Its all about folks following their hearts.

A MARKET ECONOMY.

Master Sgt. Michael Mathews of Manhattan, Kan., went from coordinating the supply of fuel, food and ammunition to tank crews making their way north into Iraq to being a makeshift designer who came up with the plans for the market. Goat sellers in one section, chicken sellers in another, vegetable dealers past the sheep pens.

Under the direction of "market manager," Sgt. Anthony Mottas of Junction City, Kan., workers have nearly completed the first section of the project, placing more than 1,500 cinder blocks a day. Ingram likes to tell the sergeant the completed project will be named "Mottas' Market."

"This is new to me," Mottas said as workers hurried back and forth around him in the morning heat. "From artillery to civil affairs."...

Community leaders have already prodded Ingram, trying to coax him to give stalls to friends and relatives. A recent sign up for future stalls led to long lines, short tempers and a crowd of people waiting in the hot afternoon sun for the chance to operate a booth.

"People around here just don't understand we don't need a bribe or a pay-off for them to get something," Mathews said. "It's a really different way of doing business than what we're used to."

It may not be much, but when the market stalls are done, they may be all some families have for an income. Where there had been nothing, there will be commerce, trade and money flowing into one of the poorest parts of Baghdad.

Good stuff. Read it here.

SURPRISE!

Some 3d ID soldiers return home.

But most don't...not yet anyway.

Army Staff Sgt. Joaquin Bethea stepped off the bus after arriving home from Iraq and found himself staring at a tiny twin - his 7-year-old daughter, Maiya, dressed in fatigues just like his.

Bethea had seen his wife, Leasha, and daughter barely three months in the past year and a half.

Still, when he and 600 fellow soldiers from the 24th Corps Support Group returned from Iraq late Saturday, he couched his excitement with a nod to the thousands of troops remaining overseas.

"I don't want to say it's my time" to come home, said Bethea, 27, as he arrived at a Fort Stewart gymnasium echoing with cheering friends and families. "But I've been gone a long time."

A total of 900 Fort Stewart soldiers arriving Saturday and Sunday this Fourth of July weekend, the biggest homecoming yet for the Army's 3rd Infantry Division that led the charge to Baghdad.

But the majority of the 16,500 division troops sent to fight the war remains in Iraq serving as peacekeepers, rebuilding war-damaged cities and hunting down Iraqi fighters who remain loyal to Saddam Hussein.

GOOD LOCAL COVERAGE.

Through the eyes of an NCO from 3/124 Infantry (Florida National Guard, attached to 1st Brigade, 1AD.)

A sense of duty brought Sgt. 1st Class Juan Anico home to Crawfordville to care for his wife who'd undergone serious surgery. But a sense of duty also made Anico regret having to leave his soldiers behind in Baghdad.

"I have mixed feelings because I knew I was leaving my friends, but at the same time I felt I was going to spend time with my family," Anico, 41, said...

Anico is part of the Alpha Company of the 3rd Battalion of the 124th Infantry, a National Guard unit based in Tallahassee, which was deployed in January. During the war, his unit guarded patriot missiles...

But Anico's also been able to experience some culture. He visited the ruins of Abraham's house and says Iraq's got great pita bread.

Read it here.

A NEW POWER STRUCTURE ACROSS THE GLOBE?

America's lightning success at regime change in Afghanistan and then Iraq, together with the deadly threat to world peace and stability presented by militant Islam, are beginning to change the global strategic picture.

Certainly, some of America's more truculent foes in the Mideast seem to have been properly intimidated by the astonishingly rapid arrival of U.S. troops in Baghdad.

Look at the way some of the most radical and most ruthless Palestinian terror groups agreed to a cease-fire with Israel.

And don't expect any overtly bad behavior from the vulnerable regimes in Syria, Iran and Saudi Arabia - each of which is mindful of the American divisions sitting across the border in Iraq.

Also, as Jane's Intelligence Digest pointed out last week, a new triangular alliance may well be evolving among the United States, Israel and India - three countries that share not just a common enemy in Islamist suicide bombers, but also common traditions of democracy and the rule of law.

If this does come about, it will have powerful repercussions from the South China Sea to the Mediterranean.

Interesting perspective. Read more here.

UPDATE: More on this theme from another source.

...the killing fields of Iraq are less a part of a nationwide revolt than another chapter of jihadism. Irreducible Ba'athists, unleashed Wahhabis and nervous Khomeinists — all oppose the United States, but cannot survive any upcoming democracy.

AN UNVARNISHED VIEW OF THE USE OF INTELLIGENCE BY PRESIDENTS.

And the message seems to be how you read it depends on who you are.

PRESIDENT Bush is accused unfairly of falsifying intelligence. He didn't do it. That's not the way the system works.

On the other hand, I have no doubt that the president and his deputies read Intelligence reports selectively and talked themselves into believing what they wanted to believe.

That is the way the system works. For all presidents.

In fact, President Bush is far from the worst, as I can attest from personal experience. I spent most of my military career in intelligence work. During the Clinton years, I served in the Pentagon and on detail to the Executive Office of the President. The experience was discouraging, to say the least.

Since the early nineties, a number of us had been warning, both in classified forums and in the open press, about the threat from asymmetrical warfare, from terrorists, from warriors unconstrained by any laws and from religion-obsessed madmen.

The evidence mounted. Terrorists attacked us in New York - the first attack on the World Trade Center - and around the world. But, contrary to the revisionist history churned out by its loyalists, the Clinton administration just wanted the problem to go away, to pretend as long as possible that terrorism by Islamic zealots was a passing issue and to avoid the politically painful costs of mounting a serious effort to counter such threats.

The fundamental difference between the Clinton and Bush administrations' use of intelligence is that Clinton consistently refused to acknowledge the threats we faced, while Bush sometimes sees threats as more immediate than they may be.

The Clinton approach led directly to 9/11. The Bush approach led to Baghdad. Guess which one makes more sense for a nation under threat of deadly attack?

Governments are made up of human beings, and human beings are imperfect. While many of President Bush's policies may merit closer scrutiny, the claim that he and his deputies lied about intelligence is politicized nonsense.

Please read the whole thing. It will make you less tolerant of those who claim the President is a liar.

THE GOOD NEWS THAT THE MEDIA THINKS YOU DON'T NEED TO SEE.

Seriously. This is from a CENTCOM press release on Sunday. Have you seen any of this reported in the media?

The Combined Joint Task Force-Seven Beanies for Baghdad Program delivered more than 7,000 Beanie Babies and more than 1,000 school supply items to local neighborhoods, hospitals children’s ward, dental care units, communities rebuilding projects, and community children centers in efforts to help bring smiles, to children, who have endured pain and suffering under the rule of a ruthless dictator.

The program is run by U. S. Army Staff Sgt. Kirk E. Wallace, CJTF-7 chief of staff executive administrator who said: “I know that life giving supplies are important, but so are life lifting supplies. The American Spirit is reflected in the smiles and bright eyes of the Iraqi Children that receive these small tokens of joy.”

In Kirkuk, the 404th Civil Affairs Battalion attended a United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) coordination meeting and assisted with delivering test taking supplies to the technical institute and the technical college to help ensure students obtain skills employers demand in the modern workforce.

A new police station opened in Mokakaha on July 5 with 36 graduates from the Veteran’s Affairs Office and eight Mosul University security officers ready to stabilize their neighborhood and make a difference in deterring crime. In addition, the correctional facility graduated 70 correctional officers.

In Mosul, the Coalition delivered up to 4,000,000 liters of benzene to Ninewa Province yesterday on July 5.

In Baghdad, the City Advisory Council selected 36 of the 37 members vetted. This is progress toward Iraqi citizens establishing their own government.

No...you haven't seen it. Not even a story about the historic meeting of the City Advisory Council.

And in my opinion this is why.

Had an investments broker tell me once that the mission of such financially oriented magazines as Money or Kipplinger's is not to help you make good investment choices...their mission is to make money themselves, and to do that they must sell magazines.

Simple concept, but so very true.

As I read a hundred news stories or more per day I find that this model applies to the media.

Their mission isn't to make sure we have the whole story. Their mission is to make money. And they do that by selecting the stories that sell their products.

Journalism has long since taken a back seat to capitalism.

I suppose to the average reader out there it is enough for the press to simply reduce the entire operation in Iraq to a body count. But if you are reading CPT Patti's web site it is because you have a much deeperand more personal interest in the true nature of our work in that country.

That means you, with the greatest need for the story are exactly the one that the popular press is failing.

And it helps me understand the picture is not so bleak as the press make it seem.

By the way, if you are interested in the Beanie Baby program, read about it here.

WE MUST FIND HIM AND MOST PROBABLY WE MUST KILL HIM.

The graffiti extolling former president Saddam Hussein went up a few nights ago, scrawled in black and red paint throughout Baghdad's Adhamiyah neighborhood. The wall of a girls' school promised that "Saddam the hero will be back." The side of a shop proclaimed that "Saddam is still our leader."

Although residents eagerly painted over slogans praising Saddam in the days after his government fell, they said nobody has dared to remove the latest messages.

"His people have come back," said Sarmed Ahmed, the owner of a music shop. "Everyone is too scared."

Read about the power of fear here.

FASCINATING DISCUSSION OF THE POLITICS BEHIND THE OPPOSITION.

After the collapse of Saddam Hussein, the (Iranian) mullahs found a new opportunity to put their disinformation machine to work and use it for waging a war they know so well how to win. They have employed the full force of their fundamentalist propaganda network to sabotage the consolidation of democracy in Iraq. They have recognized that there is a direct link between their own survival and the defeat of the allied mission in their neighboring country.

The chief instrument of their campaign is Al-Alam (The World) television channel, which broadcasts hourly bulletins in Arabic into Iraq from a station in Tehran. It portrays the Americans and the British as occupiers, and the Iraqis as the victims of their aggression. Pictures of dead or injured Iraqis are shown lying in the streets in such a manner to pique the pride and stir the national sentiment of the viewers.

Together with the pro-fundamentalist Iraqi newspapers that get their cues from Tehran, Al-Alam injects a daily dose of hatred into the hearts and minds of citizens whose chronic lack of liberty and political experience has turned them into easy prey in the masterful hands of the brainwashers of the Islamic Republic.

The mullahs are too clever to be seen shooting at the Americans themselves. Instead they preach to the Iraqis a kind of violent and xenophobic Islam that if not confronted will continue to cost allied lives and the eventual defeat of their political undertaking.

Another powerful front that the Islamic Republic uses to subvert the cause of peace and democracy in Iraq is the mosque. The underlying message of the pro-Iranian clergy mounting the pulpit of the Shiite mosques can be summed up in one sentence: It is the religious duty of every Iraqi Moslem to defeat 'the foreign aggressors'.

At the bottom of all this relentless propaganda war is the fact that the American presence in Iraq has put the Iranian dictators backs to the wall.

The establishment of a moderate pro-Western democracy in a predominantly Shiite country next door is nothing short of a death sentence for an unpopular regime that has failed miserably to deliver on its promises of liberalization and reform.

Read the whole thing here. It is well worth your time.

A WELL WRITTEN EXAMINATION OF THE ARMED OPPOSITION WE FACE IN IRAQ.

There generally are three key measures of military operations: duration, intensity and scope. It now appears that the U.S. military -- and just about everybody else -- miscalculated on the first two parameters: the postwar fighting is lasting longer than was generally expected, and it is becoming more intense, not less.

About 28 U.S. soldiers died in Iraq in June, more than twice the death toll for May. Many of those casualties occurred in vehicle accidents, but soldiers in Iraq say that even those crashes are attributable in part to the fighting, because Humvee drivers often travel at unsafe speeds to lessen the chance of being ambushed.

The third measure, scope, is murkier. Officials and experts are debating whether the war is expanding geographically and demographically, from just Sunnis and Hussein's Baath Party diehards to others, such as Shiites and Islamic extremists and the average Iraqi on the street.

Its a good read. See it all here.

But let me just say that this debate, very much as the one before and during the heavy conflict, will include opinions covering the complete spectrum from best-case to worst-case. We saw this especially in what Vice President Cheney called "retired military embedded in news studios".

And the press tends to focus on the worst-case.

Take opinions with a grain of salt.

Oh...including mine.

MORE HAVE FALLEN.

Two American soldiers were killed in separate attacks on their convoys in the Iraqi capital, the military said Monday, and a third U.S. soldier was fatally shot while waiting to buy a soft drink at Baghdad University...

The first soldier died in a firefight late Sunday after two armed assailants opened fire on his convoy, said Sgt. Patrick Compton, a spokesman for the military. The soldiers responded with fire, killing one of the attackers and wounding the other. The wounded suspect was taken into custody.

In the second convoy attack in Baghdad, insurgents threw a homemade bomb at a U.S. vehicle early Monday morning, killing a soldier. Both of the dead American soldiers were from the Army's 1st Armored Division, the Germany-based division which is charged with occupying Baghdad. They were in different convoys...

In the third attack, an assailant shot and killed a U.S. soldier waiting to buy a soft drink at Baghdad University at midday Sunday, firing once from close range. The style was coldly similar to the killing of a young British freelance cameraman, who was shot in the head outside a Baghdad museum on Saturday.

The history of warfare in someways can be regarded as a series of measures and counter-measures. Measures are designed to produce a certain result, and counter measures are designed to defeat the measure in the first place.

It is a part of adapting equipment and tactics to achieve more favorable results for your side.

In the case of our soldiers in Iraq it seems that the Iraqis have learned that small arms will not defeat our body armor...and thus their tactics have changed to close-up attacks to the unprotected area between the top of the body armor vest and the bottom of the kevlar helmet.

It would be interesting to learn what counter-counter-measure we will take to defeat this.

Read the entire story here.

UPDATE: More details on the attacks can be found here.

The first death occurred about 12:35 p.m. on Sunday when a U.S. soldier, a civil affairs officer, who was accompanying U.S. officials visiting Baghdad University was fatally shot by an unidentified gunman, U.S. officials said. (CORRECTION: According to this story he was identified as 22 year old Jeffrey Wershow with the Florida National Guard.)

And more on this young soldier here.

The next death occurred at 9:30 Sunday night when a soldier from the 1st Armored Division was killed while chasing two Iraqi gunmen. One of the Iraqi gunmen was killed and one was wounded, said a military spokesman, Spc. Lorente Giovanni.

The third soldier was killed at 1:00 a.m. today while he was on patrol in a Baghdad neighborhood when an explosive device struck his vehicle, Giovanni said.

CHANGES ARE COMING IN US ARMY EUROPE. BIG CHANGES.

U.S. Army Europe soldiers stationed in Iraq may not know when they’re going home. But at least now they know where they’ll be going home.

Gen. B.B. Bell, the U.S. Army Europe commander, acknowledged in an open letter to his troops published in today’s edition of Stars and Stripes that there likely would be changes to the command’s force structure in Europe. It’s all part of the transformation plan that the military has been working on and could affect the 100,000 troops stationed in Europe.

Bell said no decisions have been made on specific changes such as base closures or relocating units. But he said soldiers will be given time to adjust to whatever decisions are made.

“I’d like to quell at least one rumor that has already made the circuit, and that is the notion that selected forces currently deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom will be sent directly back to CONUS [the United States], leaving families in Europe to fend for themselves,” Bell writes. “That simply will not happen.

Another of those rumors is that the 100,000 soldiers stationed here will be reduced to 17,000. But that is just rumor at this point.

Meanwhile the entire story is here.

MONDAY, JULY 7th. The 57th day of CPT Patti's deployment.

WHERE FREEDOM SHOULD FLOURISH, ISLAM STANDS IN THE WAY.

As it does in most of the middle east. Notice please that the only vibrant and thriving cultures in this part of the world belong to the non-theocratic states of Turkey and Israel.

The busy, shop-lined streets in the up-market neighborhood of Mansour look friendly enough, but step inside the narrow doorway of any liquor store and the mood darkens.

Talk turns to the threats, and sometimes the grenades, being hurled at owners of such stores, who find themselves on the wrong side of hard-core Islamists reveling in the post-Saddam Hussein power vacuum.

It is an irony of the dictator's fall that the new freedoms unleashed are spawning new forms of repression.

Nowhere is that more evident than at the everyday level of small stores selling alcohol and cinemas showing racy movies, which have been targeted by Shiite Muslim radicals hoping to bring Islamic rule to Iraq.

"This is not freedom. This is the opposite of freedom, hating something and wanting to close it down," said Wamidh Sabah Yaldow, standing in his corner liquor store.

Read it all here to understand the threat posed.

MORE ON THE IRAQI ENTREPRENEURS.

They are aided by Mr. Bremer's decision to temporarily eliminate import duties and sales taxes.

Let them experience the miracle of free market policies...

While few import barriers mean "we sell and we put the money in our pocket," says Abu Rivan, "I'd prefer laws. At the moment, anybody can sell, import or buy."

Competition has led him to lower the price of a 20cm Samsung TV to US$180 from US$260 initially.

Lawlessness also hits traders at home. Sherko Abdelrahman, a 32-year-old importer of electrical parts, woke up one night to find his wife in tears as vandals threw stones at his door. No harm was done, but Abdelrahman keeps a gun at home.

Power shortages compound the trouble. While Abdelrahman has sold 350 generators in just 20 days because of the heat -- 45 degrees Celsius at midday, on average -- and boosted their price to US$130 from US$85 amid growing demand, he says he longs for the day when he can go back to selling large electric circuits to factories.

"God willing, electricity will come," Abdelrahman says as he stuffs licenses for the Syrian and Lebanese borders in his pocket.

PERHAPS COL TUCKER MISSED THIS ONE.

Seems there are some folks in Baghdad with some initiative after all.

Some Baghdad entrepreneurs are buying the larger generators and going door-to-door, selling amps of electricity directly to homeowners. After parking the truck-sized generator on a block, they run lines to each customer and charge by usage - a mini power station.

By all accounts, Iraq is suffering. But name the shortage, and there is someone making a profit from it. Hotels that used to charge less than $10 for a room, mostly to Iraqi honeymooners who couldn't afford to go abroad, are making as much as $90 a room from the foreign journalists who have flocked to town.

Need to make an international phone call? Impossible through Iraq's phone company, but independent businesses will rent you a Thuraya satellite phone for about $1 a minute.

Actually - it's up to $1.50 according to CPT Patti who called me via this method last week.

Good story, read it here.

LOCAL COVERAGE - LIKE BEING PART OF THE FAMILY.

That moment finally came. As Sarah and I stood at the Atlanta airport Sunday (she had returned a couple of weeks before) waiting for Nate, I wondered what it would be like.

Would he look the same? Had the war hardened him? Would I recognize him? After an hour, I started to get nervous. What if he had missed this plane? We had already waited two days because he couldn’t get a flight out of Germany on standby and had to buy a ticket.

Then I heard a familiar voice: “Who are you looking for?"

The whole story is here.

PROGRESS

"In the next two weeks I expect to see an Iraqi governing council established. This council will have real power and real responsibilities from the very start," he said.

Political and religious leaders have sharply criticized delays in setting up an Iraqi government...

The council will also give a prominent voice to women and include representation of Iraqi Christians and other religious minorities. Officials will not disclose specific names of council members, saying negotiations are delicate and ongoing.

Story here.

"A TOLERANCE THAT IS NOT MUTUAL"

An open letter to France and Germany from Americans of French and German descent.

Now in the new century, we face a third great evil whose unity and power the leaders and people of France disdained to confront. Before radical cells of homicidal Islamo-terrorists destroyed the New York towers and burned the Pentagon, your own Eiffel Tower had only narrowly escaped a similar assault.

Did France learn nothing from the discovery of the terrorist plan, stopped at the 11th hour by German intelligence, to collapse to rubble the Strasbourg Cathedral, an offending symbol of the West to fanatical Islamist terrorists? Did the discoveries of deadly poisons in London and the Gare de Lyon tell you nothing?

France finally must open her eyes. We are all in this together. While you try to placate your Islamist insurgency with generous policies of social welfare and a tolerance that is not mutual, you remain the infidel in their eyes, too.

Although we share a common lot and are the oldest of friends, France lives in a tragic state of delusion and amnesia. French media polls say that 30 percent of you hoped America, Britain and their allies would lose this war. You do not grasp how profoundly your unreasoned animus toward us - reflected in your diplomacy and popular protest - has shaken our faith in you.

The cynical protection by the president of France of the Thug of Baghdad has morally compromised your great nation. A mid-1970s photo of Jacques Chirac and Saddam touring a nuclear facility speaks volumes.

The full extent and detail of their collusion, so stupendously shortsighted for France, is now coming to light.

President Chirac and Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin thrust a dagger into a once-sacred alliance. Their actions have rendered irrelevant the United Nations Security Council as we know it and have weakened NATO, perhaps fatally. Those bodies cannot survive in their present structure. French actions have sundered politically the European Union that France had wished to lead.

We admire the land of our ancestor, but we love and treasure our own above all. What has happened to your character, France? Where is your soul? Yorktown 1781. Belleau Wood and Chateau Thierry 1918, Normandy and Paris 1944 - do you remember?

Read the whole thing here.

STATE OF COMMUNICATIONS IN BAGHDAD.

A private Baghdad-only network has been set up for the US-led administration under a contract between the US Defence Department and US firm MCI, but it has a radius of just three to four miles (up to six kilometres) from the city centre and is available only to administration personnel.

The US-led coalition has been struggling to get Iraq's landline network back up and running after wartime bombing and post-war looting of the telephone main exchanges. But coalition officials admit it will be the end of the month before land phone services are returned to their meagre pre-war levels even in the capital.

Story here.

PROOF THAT WISDOM DOES NOT ALWAYS ACCRUE TO THE AGED.

In Ramadi, the graduating police were marching from a boys school where they underwent five days of training to a nearby government building when a massive blast tore into them, said Mahmoud Hamad, a 23-year-old survivor. Hamad suffered wounds to his right arm and leg. Ramadi is 60 miles west of Baghdad.

"That is what you get for working with the Americans," said one elderly Iraqi, shouting in the corridor of the emergency ward of a hospital where victims were brought. "They have all been warned before."

Oh really? And that would be because actually taking a job to provide for their families instead of standing around in the street all day complaining would be a bad thing to do?

Contributing to the stability and security of their own bleedin' country is a capital offense?

Their contribution to the development of an all Iraqi police force might be risky for their health and well being?

You sir, shouting in the corridor of the hospital, are not worthy by a mile of the risks the American soldiers take every day just by waking up in your stinking filthy country.

But they do it...because we believe liberty to be one of the inalienable rights granted by the Creator. And you should thank Him that we don't believe that each person has to deserve it.

Because you, sir, most assuredly, do not.

Read it here.

V CORPS SPEAKS ABOUT TROOP LEVELS IN IRAQ.

“The 3rd Infantry Division did a fabulous job for America and we are working the force rotation plans to try to get them back home,” he said.

But he didn’t provide a specific timetable for such a move and it wasn’t clear if it would mean fewer American troops in the country or whether other troops would be rotated in.

Sanchez said he has the equivalent of five divisions already in country.

Some media reports have stated that the Army only has one division left in the States that doesn’t have substantial elements deployed somewhere around the globe — the 1st Cavalry Division in Texas. And there are already a significant number of Army reservists and National Guardsmen serving in Iraq.

No hint as to the length of rotation yet. And perhaps here is why...when you alread have half the active duty force structure in Iraq, well, it gets dicey.

Add to it that the remaining active duty force structure includes units in Korea and Hawaii to deal with issues in the Pacific (read N. Korea), then the likelihood of their being sent to Iraq seems small now doesn't it. Not to mention news reports that we are seriously considering sending soldiers to Liberia.

Meaning the rotation plan can only pick from 4 strategies. Reduced troop levels, long rotations, international forces in very large numbers or Army National Guard divisions in large numbers.

Personally I think those options are in reverse order of probability.

SUNDAY JULY 6th. The 56th day of CPT Patti's deployment. Eight weeks. Two months.

Funny, somehow it seems longer.

Sigh.