The Battle for Mosul

This dispatch is from Michael Yon, an independent journalist imbedded with an Army unit fighting in Iraq. He took the photo I wrote about a few weeks ago. This is a masterfully written article about the insurgency in Iraq, the excellent work our troops are doing, and the progress being made as the insurgency continues to fail despite the mainstream media's best efforts to help the enemy.

Here are some excerpts:
In an effort to be culturally sensitive and almost compulsively polite, we've mangled the meanings of words like: "martyr," and "suicide" to such a degree that we're using them to label mass murderers. While American and foreign media collectively increase the suffering of babes through their current fashion of cynicism, others seem to have a case of parents' guilt--unable to give the Iraqi suffering the undivided and ameliorative attention it requires. Instead, reporters rush at any sign of distress to hyper-focus on the negative, and thereby create yet more problems than originally existed. They shovel out body counts masquerading them as reports. A major US magazine recently published an unsubstantiated piece about the desecration of the Islamic Holy Book by US Forces. This story led to riots and many deaths. The magazine has apologized, but it’s too late. The people are dead.
___________________________________________
The only martyrs I know about in Iraq are the fathers and brothers who see a better future coming, and so they act on their beliefs and assemble outside police stations whenever recruitment notices are posted. They line up in ever increasing numbers, knowing that insurgents can also read these notices. The men stand in longer and longer lines, making ever bigger targets. Some volunteer to earn money to earn a living. This, too, is honorable. Others take risks because they believe that a better future is possible only if Iraqi men of principle stand up for their own values, for their country, for their families. Theses are the true martyrs, the true heroes of Iraq and of Islam. I meet these martyrs frequently. They are brave men, worthy of respect.