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[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Spanky
Here is an exchange between a friend of mine and a Lieutenant Colonel working with the Iraqis.


Colonel:

How are things? The word here is that the surge is working. My guess is that the street gang/insurgent jerks are having a tough time setting up their little road blocks and checkpoints which would mean that shaking down the locals is much more difficult. They may be having money problems.
Tough! Have you folks figured out exactly what they want? Some of them may just want chaos and others want things to be ordered and under their control. What does Abdulla Average think? One hopes that people will get tired of the mess and start trying to put things to rights. Who knows?
Stratfor says that AQ has some serious problems, organizationally speaking, but that there is still a largre group of guys who believe that a pan-Muslim super state is the future. The far lefties here in the US want the US to abandon Israel and believe that then the bad guys will lay off. That seems to me to be dumber than a shit sandwich. Human nature is that when one's enemy is in retreat then it is time to press on and cause a rout, in my view, anyhow.
Stay safe. Colonels are supposed to be in the rear with the gear and from what (his wife) tells me, you are not.
Your Friend
Thaddeus




Thad,
All is well - thanks. We definitely have them in a retreat, and it is time to rout them, but the situation is much more complex than I think I could ever explain in American terms. The way of thinking, the values, the approach to problem-solving, and the kind of governing that the local fellow is used to continues to make our biggest gap - we don't speak the same language, literally and figuratively to impact change here as fast as most Americans want. It's hard enough for us to spend enough time to understand and start to see some change, but it is even more of a daunting task to get it across to the American Public that there is any marked improvements. AQ is definitely our big enemy here, and should continue to be based on their root reasons for existence and their future impact on Americans. We will keep improving our foxhole while we are her and in it, but transitioning that mentality and vision that we see is a challenge. Abandoning Israel is an entirely different argument that should have no impact on our involvement here, but abandoning Israel with the belief that the bad guys would lay off is myopic at the least. Any historian can see that there will always be a "bad guy" set against us and against Israel from the Middle East - it is part of their core.
Anyway - I am staying safe (for the most part) and when I get shot at, the guys help me fire back pretty ferociously. They all work hard to protect me, but my job is out and about with Iraqi Army Soldiers.
Thanks for the picture - it brings back some good memories. Take care my friend, and God Bless.

The idea that Al Qaeda is our big problem in Iraq is moronic. As is the notion that there are many people in the United States who want to abandon Israel in the hopes that Islamists will then leave us alone.