[Michael Yon, embed] A Muslim man had invited the American soldiers from “Chosen” Company 2-12 Infantry to the church, where I videotaped as Muslims and Christians worked and rejoiced at the reopening of St John’s, an occasion all viewed as a sign of hope.

The Iraqis asked me to convey a message of thanks to the American people. ” Thank you, thank you,” the people were saying. One man said, “Thank you for peace.”

Another man, a Muslim, said “All the people, all the people in Iraq, Muslim and Christian, is brother.” The men and women were holding bells, and for the first time in memory freedom rang over the ravaged land between two rivers. (Videotape to follow.)
Abu Ghraib photos of course ran incessantly, and that for a reason, to meet an agenda. Sadly, you won't see this photo run incessantly.

But that's a reflection on our mainstream media's collective character, and their poisonous cynicism, and certainly not a reflection of this war or the brave soldiers and freedom-yearning Iraqis who are fighting it.

As the man asks below, "Is your hatred for George Bush so great that you prefer to see millions of civilians suffer just to prove him wrong?"

By the way, if you're not checking out Michael Yon, Jeff Emanuel, Matt Sanchez, or any other number of journalists embedded with our forces, you're missing out.

Labels: civil war cop-out, heroes, Iraq, media bias

Via Pat Dollard:

BAGHDAD - The monthly toll of U.S. service members who have died in Iraq is on track to being the lowest in nearly two years, with at least 34 troop deaths recorded as of Tuesday.At least 34 American service members have died so far in October, nearly a third from non-combat causes.

It is the lowest number since 32 troops died in March 2006 and the second-lowest since 20 troop deaths in February 2004, according to an Associated Press count based on military figures. Only two months in 2003 were also lower, June and September at 30 each. This makes October the fourth lowest of the entire war.

That would be the second consecutive drop in monthly figures, after 65 Americans died in September and 84 in August. In all, at least 3,840 members of the U.S. military have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to the AP count.

Maj. Winfield Danielson, a military spokesman in Baghdad, pointed to a number of likely reasons for the decline, including a U.S. security push that has driven militants out of former safe havens and a change in strategy that has placed troops closer to the population. That, in turn, has caused a rise in the number of tips from residents about roadside bombs and other dangers.

He also singled out the cease-fire call by radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who in August ordered his fighters to cease attacks against U.S.-led forces and other Iraqis for up to six months. Danielson said Iraqi forces also were increasingly taking charge of security operations.

"Have we turned a corner? It might be a little too early to say that," he said. "It's certainly encouraging."
Yes, it is encouraging, which is why you won't hear a peep about it from our mainstream media.

Along those lines, the two largest tribes in Iraq's Diyala province (Tamimi and Jibouri tribes, Shiite and Sunni, respectively) signed a friendship and cooperation pact this week. So I guess they won't be engrossed in that civil war every pessimist-defeatist Democrat promised for the past few years.

Labels: civil war cop-out, Iraq, media bias, Petraeus

Bob Owens' assessment of this Washington Post is spot on: "I suppose that Karen DeYoung's story could have been buried deeper in the Washington Post, but it would take some effort."

Iraqi Prime Minister Says That Civil War Has Been Prevented
Maliki Also Plays Down Iran's Influence

By Karen DeYoung
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 25, 2007; Page A15

Civil war has been averted in Iraq and Iranian intervention there has "ceased to exist," Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said yesterday.

"I can't say there is a picture of roses and flowers in Iraq," Maliki told the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. "However, I can say that the greatest victory, of which I am proud . . . is stopping the explosion of a sectarian war." That possibility, he said, "is now far away."
Read the rest.

Again, had Maliki said the opposite - that civil war was inevitable - would the Post have put this story on page 15, or page 1?

Labels: civil war cop-out, Iraq, media bias

Former senator and 9-11 commissioner Bob Kerrey (D, Neb) retorts a commonly stated principle by his fellow collogues on the left: "Democracy cannot be imposed with military force."

What troubled me about this statement--a commonly heard criticism of U.S. involvement in Iraq--is that those who say such things seem to forget the good U.S. arms have done in imposing democracy on countries like Japan and Germany, or Bosnia more recently.

... The critics who bother me the most are those who ordinarily would not be on the side of supporting dictatorships, who are arguing today that only military intervention can prevent the genocide of Darfur, or who argued yesterday for military intervention in Bosnia, Somalia and Rwanda to ease the sectarian violence that was tearing those places apart.

Suppose we had not invaded Iraq and Hussein had been overthrown by Shiite and Kurdish insurgents. Suppose al Qaeda then undermined their new democracy and inflamed sectarian tensions to the same level of violence we are seeing today. Wouldn't you expect the same people who are urging a unilateral and immediate withdrawal to be urging military intervention to end this carnage? I would.

American liberals need to face these truths: The demand for self-government was and remains strong in Iraq despite all our mistakes and the violent efforts of al Qaeda, Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias to disrupt it. Al Qaeda in particular has targeted for abduction and murder those who are essential to a functioning democracy: school teachers, aid workers, private contractors working to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure, police officers and anyone who cooperates with the Iraqi government. Much of Iraq's middle class has fled the country in fear.

With these facts on the scales, what does your conscience tell you to do? If the answer is nothing, that it is not our responsibility or that this is all about oil, then no wonder today we Democrats are not trusted with the reins of power.
It's a good and truthful essay, but one that sadly most persons on the left will either ignore or ridicule, even if it comes from one of their own.

Labels: capitulation, civil war cop-out, democrats, Iraq