These are first hand blog posts by soldiers, diplomats and expats working in Iraq. Not to say that one perspective is right and another is wrong, but I feel like I can put more wieght into the opinions of the people in country, doing the work, fighting the fights.
This is a series, so I think I will put a link to it in our blog roll for all to follow. I would consider this "must" reading.
9 comments:
those were nice to read Donald. I had been getting tired of the failures of the war and feeling the need to get out.....but those little glimpses of hope kinda keep me guessing. Yeah its been a cluster over there, but now I'm wondering if we go hard can we make some real progress here in the fourth quarter (football analogy, not econ). This HAS to play into the presidential vote since the two are at opposite spectrums.
that was me by the way, not Rob.
first of all, i am not sure Rob has figured out how to type yet...
second of all, the credit crisis is pushing the war to the back of peoples minds, unless something bad happens over there i am not sure it is going to factor into how people vote as much as it should
here's another view. Have you heard of this guy? Great photos and no nonsense reporting from a guy who's been in a scrap or two.
http://www.michaelyon-online.com/
that looks really good. where did you find that?
on another note, im trying to get rob to go to lunch today, can never get a hold of him...
he actually goes like a madman throughout his day. Doesn't really take much of a lunch. But on a 3 1/2 day workweek who needs lunch.
you aint kidding.
im really jonesing for deli d, but that needs to be a social experience.
michael yon, that guy is really cool. i've just read a little bit, but it seem like very good stuff, better than columnists make assumptions at least
Donald, I love these stories. They seem credible to me. Do you still believe that nothing has fundamentally changed in the area? (I'm not being sarcastic.) If you do believe that little has changed, then Obama's plan to pull out the troops will prove disasterous.
Maybe you are correct that he is moderate, but I would be shocked if he bucks his party on anything.
I have been listening to Clinton the last few days. Maybe he is just being political, but I think he is just saying what he thinks. Whether or not you agreed with him, for the most part Clinton was a thoughtful guy and was not an idealogue. He really seems to have chewed on his decisions and thought them through. When he was the pres with a Republican Congress, I think we had some pretty good government.
I hope we can say the same about Obama, but I don't see it. With the mandate that I think he will win by, I don't see what will keep him in check. I think he governs more left which means quick withdral from Iraq. He just is not going to buck his own party.
i do think things have changed, though i think the true test will come when we take militia men from the sons of Iraq or awakening movements off American payrolls.
the effort to build Iraqi civil society seems to be the most important work to be done. i think Iraqi's want a stable society, and if they can have that AQI and JAM will have a harder time recruiting.
though i don't think the basic distrust between ethic groups is gone, nor do i think many people want mixed neighbor hoods.
so a country that tenuously held together will always be a powder keg waiting to explode...
i am not sure where we go from here, but we are in a much better place than we were a year ago
Post a Comment