Michael Yon - Online Magazine

Michael Yon has been an independent reporter in Iraq for a long time and his account of the situation is as unbias and truthful one as you could ever get.. He supports himself by writing and selling his books. You can also support Michael's efforts by donating to him directly through his site.

Down with Barriers, Up with Iraq

The Iraq war is over. Barring the unforeseen, the darkest days are behind, though we are still losing soldiers to low-level fighting with enemies that are true “dead-enders.” Last month we lost seven Americans in combat in Iraq. Peace, however, is not upon us. Another thirty or so Iraqis died today in suicide attacks. Nobody suffers more at the hands of Islamic terrorists than other Muslims.

On November 13th I covered a mission in south Baghdad with soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division. General Petraeus once told me during the height of the fighting, back when violence was the lingua franca and victory was very much in question, that this area was the canary in the mineshaft. In his exact words regarding what Lieutenant Colonel Pat Frank had to deal with in one of the toughest places in Iraq, “SW Baghdad...has every challenge imaginable -- AQI, JAM, micro-fault-lines, good/bad ISF partners, good/bad neighborhood leaders, and Route Irish! It will be the canary in the mineshaft; if they can pull it off, this will be doable....”

It is critical to point out that General Petraeus told me this in 2007 – just at the crest of “the Surge” during some of the fiercest fighting in the war. Many people at home were saying the new strategy was a complete failure, but the Coalition and Iraqi soldiers were not tapping out, not taking a break, giving no quarter to the enemy, and expecting none in return.

General Petraeus went on about what he was seeing, “Just back from a patrol base in Arab Jabour, SE of Baghdad, another incredible place. Was an AQI sanctuary three weeks ago. Now the head sheik has given four of his best men to the newly arrived Bn Cdr to help him find/kill/capture AQI in the AO. Very impressive/heartening.”

I’ll finish this story where General Petraeus could not, because this was still at the height of combat, the war truly had just peaked and nobody knew this yet. A year later, in June 2008, I e-mailed to Gary Sinise:

“I bet you 5 bucks it will end this year. Probably a few casualties for us still, but that by early 2009, a reasonable person will say it's over.”

Gary e-mailed back, asking if that was what I really thought, and my responding e-mail response was candid and informal:

“Just a gut instinct, Gary. I've spent so much time all over that war that I've developed an instinct for it that's becoming more and more accurate. I predicted the civil war back in Feb 2005, more than a year ahead of anyone else. During 2005, I was saying and writing that AQI was intentionally trying to start it. Identified General Petraeus in 2005-2006 as a man that I thought could lead us out of this mess...maybe! In about January or February 2007, I wrote that General Petraeus was the man we needed but it might be too late. In about early July 2007, I came on Huge Hewitt radio show and said the surge was working. I thought I was the first to say that, but I believe that Hugh said that John Burns had just noticed same thing. In 2006, I wrote from Afghanistan that we were losing the war there and that 2007 would be a lot worse (got huge flak for that, but was sadly correct). 2007 got a lot worse in Afghanistan, and this year looks to be worst so far.

Now to Iraq: every indicator to me is that we are winning the Iraq war at an ever increasing rate. In about January, I predicted in writing a couple months of higher casualties before it would begin to settle down. That is what has been happening. May 2008 was the best month in the war. We lost 19. 19 too many, but much less than has been the norm. AQI is being defeated ([Redacted] is at this moment in the middle of it.) This is shaping up into a strategic defeat for al Qaeda, not just AQI. I first started writing this in about July 2007; people thought I was nuts. Now it's being widely recognized that al Qaeda global is being devastated. (Though they will continue to kill us, and especially be a problem in places like Afghanistan.) The loss in Afghanistan and also their crimes against humanity are sending shockwaves through the Arab and Islamic world. If anyone hates al Qaeda more than Americans, it's Iraqis and some others who have suffered under them.

Now to Iraq again: I believe that by the end of this year, there is a very high chance that a reasonable observer will be able to say, "The Iraq war has ended." This does not mean that we will not take a small number of casualties each month, but that the war will end and we can switch to helping Iraq stand, and truly start to bring more of our folks home. Touch wood.

Our biggest wild card are Shia militias, but we see that the government is standing up to them. Also, support for the militias has diminished as AQI was crushed down and Sunni militias mostly ended their attacks. (We just need to make sure no knuckleheads use the Koran for target practice, or commit any crimes against Iraqis.) The Iraqi Army gets stronger by the month, and are increasingly reliable. The defections in Basra did not surprise me. Those are the worst soldiers I've seen in Iraq, and also the newest. That would not have happened in Mosul or Diyala or Baghdad, for instance. I expected poor performance in Basra, but amazingly, they completed their mission anyway. That they were able to penetrate Sadr City is excellent. Expect more fighting there, but make no mistake, many Shia are as sick of JAM (Shia militias) as they are of AQI. Support for Shia militias has diminished greatly because they mistreated their own people and behaved criminally even toward other Shia.

I am increasingly confident about Iraq. Was telling [redacted] the other day that our next challenge is with certain journalists. I am in daily contact with journalists in Iraq and some of them do not want to let the war go. The war has lofted them into positions that they did not previously have (like me, for instance), and some of them do not want to let it go. I can see it. On the one hand, it's clear they want it to end, but on the other, it's the highlight of their careers. I have not discussed this with the journalists, but I have noticed the pattern in their communications. They seem almost worried that it's ending. Remember the book, "My War Gone By, I Miss it So"?

Anthony Loyd was a journalist who clearly missed his war. I am detecting this with a number of the key voices in Iraq. This could affect coverage and needs to be addressed.

Otherwise, I am increasingly confident. I think we are going to make it. Petraeus worked like magic. Now we need him to concentrate on our growing troubles in Afghanistan.

Knock on wood!

It’s difficult to convey the level of violence that happened in South Baghdad during the period in 2007 when General Petraeus e-mailed to me those prophetic words. The “Dragon Brigade” in South Baghdad lost 100 soldiers who were killed in action (KIA) and more than 800 were wounded during their 14 months of fighting. And that was the least of it. Iraqi forces were taking heavier casualties, and bodies of civilians littered the roads just about every day.
When it comes to creating the conditions for peace in Iraq, details matter. Of course the surge and change of tactics were central to change that flipped the situation; and the Anbar Awakening was critical. But it is important to understand the role of smaller, tactical improvements. Though they were heavily criticized at the time by observers, the installation of thousands of barriers around Baghdad are one of the most unrecognized tools of success in the restoration of peace in Iraq. In 2006, bombs were killing thousands of people. Al Qaeda, in particular, was trying to foment civil war and they were succeeding. When they murdered large numbers of Shia, for instance, other Shia would pour out of their neighborhood and murder large numbers of Sunnis in a flash of revenge. The barriers thwarted these flows of vengeance and baffled the violence.

Go to Michael blog for the entire story:
http://www.michaelyon-online.com/

Senator calls on Justice Dept. to cut off outreach efforts with Muslim Brotherhood-linked groups

In my book Stealth Jihad I discuss Muslim Brotherhood efforts to insinuate Islamic law, bit-by-bit and piece-by-piece, into the United States, and to foster acceptance of the idea that American law must give way whenever Islamic law contradicts it. Groups that are assumed to be "moderate" are fronting this effort -- but now one Senator is pushing back.

"Senator Pushes DOJ on Islamists," from IPT News, November 19 (thanks to Rosanne):

The Department of Justice (DOJ) should cut off outreach efforts with organizations linked to the Muslim Brotherhood or other Islamist extremist groups, a report from a ranking Senate subcommittee member recommends.

"Justice Denied: Waste & Mismanagement at the Department of Justice," is an 86-page report issued in October by the office of U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), the ranking Republican on the Senate Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security. [...]

But just as important is its detailing of DOJ outreach with questionable Islamist organizations, including two which are unindicted co-conspirators in a major Hamas support investigation. Those efforts should stop, the report said:

"It is the legal right and obligation of DOJ to bar, withhold or rescind funding for or collaboration with any entities that do not advance the mission of the Department, which is the security and stability of the United States, including its culture, its people, and its form of government."

Coburn has been focused on issues of Islamist outreach. In July, he and Arizona U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl wrote to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, asking that State set a deadline for cutting off funding to organizations with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. The letter also asked that procedures be created to prevent future funding of such groups.

In 2007, Coburn pushed an amendment to the FY 2008 Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations bill which barred DOJ from underwriting any conferences with organizations identified "as an unindicted co-conspirator by the federal government in any criminal prosecution." The Senate passed the provision but when the Senate and House of Representatives met to create one final bill, it was taken out.

Why? And by whom?

The Coburn report on DOJ singles out the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). Both are unindicted co-conspirators in the Hamas support trial of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) and five former officials. CAIR and ISNA appear in prosecution exhibits involving the Palestine Committee, a group created by the Muslim Brotherhood to help Hamas. CAIR actually is listed as a committee member, as are the group's co-founders Nihad Awad and Omar Ahmad. ISNA is listed among friendly organizations.

The report notes what it calls an "alarming" agenda for the Muslim Brotherhood in the U.S. It was written by another Palestine Committee member, Mohamed Akram, in 1991 in a document called "the General Strategic Goal for the Group In North America." In the memo, Akram defined the group's role in America as "a kind of grand jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and ‘sabotaging' its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God's religion is made victorious over all other religions."...

----------------------------------------------------

Also at Jihad Watch read the next article:

Spencer: Phoenix Imam Tells Muslims To Disregard U.S. Laws

http://www.jihadwatch.org/

They’re Back: The Nazi Posters of the 1930s

The David Horowitz Freedom Center recently submitted a Declaration Against Genocide to over 200 U.S. campus papers calling on campus groups, including the Muslim Students Association, to repudiate, among other things, Hamas’ Charter, which calls for the annihilation of Israel, Iranian dictator Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, for his similar sentiments, and the call to genocide that has been attributed to the prophet Mohammed. (“The Prophet, prayer and peace be upon him, said: The time [of judgment] will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews and kill them; until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him!”)

Many campus groups have refused to sign the declaration. The Muslim Students Association is one of those groups -- and its chapter in Milwaukee produced a Nazi-like cartoon slandering Horowitz.

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=A593C5BB-315C-415F-A26B-335CC94D9913

Happy Birthday Marines-Nov10

There is no greater joy than to serve. If its to serve your family,a belief or especially your country, there is no greater joy than to serve. Its not for everybody and its not for profit. Many will never understand what the term “serve” comes with as far as dedication, devotion or sacrifice.

God Bless our troops and Happy Birthday to our Marines.. In memory of my father who fought in the Korean War at the Chosin..

http://www.blackfive.net/main/2008/11/happy-birthday.html

New Evidence of Nancy Pelosi Associate Supporting Chavez, Marxists, & Terrorists:

Nancy Pelosi with Senator Piedad Córdoba



No wonder the Dems, including Obama have been fighting to block our trade with Pres Uribe of Columbia. He is credited with taking on both sides left and right guerrilla orgs and is condemned by Democrats because the Union lobby complains about the treatment of Unions in Columbia. Why, shouldn't our govt care about what happens here and don't they understand Uribe is fighting narco-terrorists and others and has had several assassination attempts? He has a lot more to deal with and should be congratulated, not degraded.

"A Colombian associate of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is once again linked to FARC terrorists and Marxist Dictator Hugo Chavez with the revelation of damning new messages concerning Colombian Senator Piedad Córdoba that are currently being investigated by Colombian military officials.

Córdoba, who works closely with Pelosi on Colombian and Venezuelan issues, has been linked to terrorists and Marxists in the past and has been a key player in helping undermine her own government. Sen Córdoba is prominently mentioned in emails and documents as attempting to create a "friends of Chavez" movement in Colombia, organized with the assistance of leaders of the Bolivarian Movement, a FARC sponsored terror groups."

Senator Piedad Córdoba has worked closely with various FARC terror leaders, she is pictured here with FARC leader Raul Reyes, later killed in Ecuador.



NewsBusters.org:
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/warner-todd-huston/2008/10/15/new-evidence-nancy-pelosi-associate-supporting-chavez-marxists-t

University of Scranton: The silent treatment

I will not submit

Tuesday night at the University of Scranton some members of the sponsoring group were nervous. The university had taken much longer to approve my speaking at the campus than they had taken to approve other speakers, and had made the students answer all sorts of questions about whether the event would be in keeping with the mission of the university.

How about this for the mission of a university? Should it perchance be "the place to which a thousand schools make contributions; in which the intellect may safely range and speculate, sure to find its equal in some antagonist activity, and its judge in the tribunal of truth" Should it be a place where "inquiry is pushed forward, and discoveries verified and perfected, and rashness rendered innocuous, and error exposed, by the collision of mind with mind, and knowledge with knowledge"? (Thus Cardinal Newman.) Or should it be an indoctrination house for propagandists to stifle inquiry into and speculation about issues they wish not to be explored, as they interfere with the thrust of their propaganda?

I suspect they've already made their choice between those two at the University of Scranton, as well as at other once-fine universities all across the country, but they did let me speak Tuesday night. However, one of the members of the sponsoring group invited the local imam to come to the talk and make a five-minute rebuttal address after I spoke. I never did get the full story on this, but apparently he wanted to show the university administrators that the group was willing to air all points of view. I was asked Tuesday afternoon whether or not it would be acceptable to me if the imam spoke, and I said Absolutely Not. The group nevertheless seems to have asked him to speak, but he did not reply to their invitation.

Why did I oppose having the imam speak after me, when I profess to be so open to discussion and debate? Because what was proposed was not a debate or a dialogue, but my speech and his rebuttal. I would be happy to debate him if a debate were set up, and happy to answer his questions if he had deigned to show up at the talk, but not happy to have him come in to "correct" my remarks, as if there really were something wrong with what I am saying, such that someone is needed to come in afterward, smooth ruffled feathers, and issue a disclaimer.

Thus when I got to the venue I urged the sponsoring group not to allow themselves to be intimidated. Of course, that's easy for me to say: I don't have to live there for four years. I have immense respect for every member of this group, including the young man who suggested that the imam come in, because they hold to their principles under tremendous and often outrageous pressure from university administrators and their fellow students. Nevertheless, they and all students who are opposing the jihad and standing up for other politically incorrect positions should avoid allowing themselves to be put on the defensive and even tacitly accepting the Leftist/Jihadist line that what the anti-jihad stands for is bigotry, racism, hate, etc. It isn't. It is freedom, it is human rights, it is Western civilization, it is nothing for which to apologize, nothing of which to be ashamed.

Anyway, during the talk itself, which was apparently attended by at least some members of the campus MSA chapter, I noticed a number of students rolling their eyes and smiling in amused disgust at the egregious things I was saying. Since they did this frequently throughout the talk, I was ready for a barrage of hostile questions during the Q-and-A period. But none materialized. Not a single one of the eye-rollers approached the microphone to ask me even one question. So after a few questions from people in the audience who were sympathetic to what I was saying, the evening ended somewhat prematurely.

So all the MESA Nostra professors and all the MSA's loudly insist that I am wrong, wrong, wrong, and yet none of them dares to even try to prove it when I am right in front of them. Isn't that interesting?

full article:

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/023224.php

Mama is watching. PUMA. (people united means action)

So the multi-millionaire Barbie Boy wants to ridicule Sarah Palin for needing money to buy the clothes she MUST BUY to campaign for the White House. Nice. Barack Obama is a creep and a fraud, and if you are a Democrat who hasn’t figured this out yet, YOU ARE NOT PAYING ATTENTION! It never stops. Never. If Sarah had tried to campaign in the wardrobe she has hanging in her closet in Juno, the Ann Taylor suits that cost $148.99 and the three pairs of $200 shoes, the 4 jackets, six scarves, five handbags, and one pair scuffed gen-yoo-ine snakeskin boots with which every professional woman with children tries to look good while making do, she would have been HOUNDED RELENTLESSLY, ridiculed as a shabby, amateur hick in every media outlet in the universe. Just ask Michelle Obama. A very stylish lady, in my opinion. But nothing protects her either. She is ridiculed and hounded for wearing belts that are too big, dresses with floral prints,..

http://pumapac.org/

Pass on of the many ex-Hillary Dem sites to your lib friends, show them who's voting McCain/Palin. The hypocrisy and the venom that has defined the Party has them pissed. They're doing everything they can to stop Obama, including working to elect McCain. They do not like how he got the nomination and are appalled at the hate thrown Palins way. They don't see it as "going against their party" to vote for a Republican, it is going against the party that has no resemblance to the Democratic Party as they know it.

excerpt:

As I write this, the Dem Party is poised to nominate Barack Obama as its candidate for President of the United States. It's the triumph of fraud. I've spent months immersed in data from the 08 caucuses. After studying procedures/results from all 14 caucus states, interviewing witnesses, and reviewing hundreds of personal stories, my conclusion is that the Obama campaign willfully and intentionally defrauded the American public by undermining the caucus process

http://www.lynettelong.com/CAUCUSFRAUD/

Obama bill: $845 billion more for global poverty

Why is there no debate regarding this bill? It's flying under the radar, every so often you see a blog or a mention of it. Now were supposed to give our taxpayers dollars to the UN to spend how THEY feel they should? Unreal!

Many Americans were alerted to the legislation by a report from Cliff Kincaid at Accuracy in Media. He published a critique asserting that while the Global Poverty Act sounds nice, the adoption could "result in the imposition of a global tax on the United States" and would make levels "of U.S. foreign aid spending subservient to the dictates of the United Nations."

He said the legislation, if approved, dedicates 0.7 percent of the U.S. gross national product to foreign aid, which over 13 years he said would amount to $845 billion "over and above what the U.S. already spends."

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=56405

It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate. It is the soldier, not the lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial. It is the soldier, who salutes the flag, who serves under the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag.... By Father Dennis Edward O'Brien, USMC

The Path To The Final Solution

Powerful video about how violence against Jews worldwide has grown, including America and Great Britian। Defend our ally Israel and fight Anti-Semitism around the world.
go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDVaJXmCIjk