Expanded post @ Mudville Gazette
The Mayor of Tall ‘Afar, Iraq, wrote a letter to the men and women of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment and their families that was published in an Iraqi newspaper.
In the Name of God the Compassionate and Merciful
To the Courageous Men and Women of the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment, who have changed the city of Tall’ Afar from a ghost town, in which terrorists spread death and destruction, to a secure city flourishing with life.
To the lion-hearts who liberated our city from the grasp of terrorists who were beheading men, women and children in the streets for many months.
To those who spread smiles on the faces of our children, and gave us restored hope, through their personal sacrifice and brave fighting, and gave new life to the city after hopelessness darkened our days, and stole our confidence in our ability to reestablish our city.
Our city was the main base of operations for Abu Mousab Al Zarqawi. The city was completely held hostage in the hands of his henchmen. Our schools, governmental services, businesses and offices were closed. Our streets were silent, and no one dared to walk them. Our people were barricaded in their homes out of fear; death awaited them around every corner. Terrorists occupied and controlled the only hospital in the city. Their savagery reached such a level that they stuffed the corpses of children with explosives and tossed them into the streets in order to kill grieving parents attempting to retrieve the bodies of their young. This was the situation of our city until God prepared and delivered unto them the courageous soldiers of the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment, who liberated this city, ridding it of Zarqawi’s followers after harsh fighting, killing many terrorists, and forcing the remaining butchers to flee the city like rats to the surrounding areas, where the bravery of other 3d ACR soldiers in Sinjar, Rabiah, Zumar and Avgani finally destroyed them.
I have met many soldiers of the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment; they are not only courageous men and women, but avenging angels sent by The God Himself to fight the evil of terrorism.
The leaders of this Regiment; COL McMaster, COL Armstrong, LTC Hickey, LTC Gibson, and LTC Reilly embody courage, strength, vision and wisdom. Officers and soldiers alike bristle with the confidence and character of knights in a bygone era. The mission they have accomplished, by means of a unique military operation, stands among the finest military feats to date in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and truly deserves to be studied in military science. This military operation was clean, with little collateral damage, despite the ferocity of the enemy. With the skill and precision of surgeons they dealt with the terrorist cancers in the city without causing unnecessary damage.
God bless this brave Regiment; God bless the families who dedicated these brave men and women. From the bottom of our hearts we thank the families. They have given us something we will never forget. To the families of those who have given their holy blood for our land, we all bow to you in reverence and to the souls of your loved ones. Their sacrifice was not in vain. They are not dead, but alive, and their souls hovering around us every second of every minute. They will never be forgotten for giving their precious lives. They have sacrificed that which is most valuable. We see them in the smile of every child, and in every flower growing in this land. Let America, their families, and the world be proud of their sacrifice for humanity and life.
Finally, no matter how much I write or speak about this brave Regiment, I haven’t the words to describe the courage of its officers and soldiers. I pray to God to grant happiness and health to these legendary heroes and their brave families.
NAJIM ABDULLAH ABID AL-JIBOURI
Mayor of Tall ‘Afar, Ninewa, Iraq
Why haven’t I seen 24-hour non-stop live coverage of Tall ‘Afar’s success on CNN? Oh, right.. they are too busy doing 24-hour non-stop live coverage of Mardi Gras and finding ways to remind folks of how terrible President Bush is.
(GP Editor’s Note – On this one particular post, I will delete any comments that are not directly germaine to the letter from the mayor. This is NOT a Katrina/NOLA posting.)
-Bruce (GayPatriot)
UPDATE (from GPW): I added a category (Media Bias) to this post because I find it significant that most MSM outlets have not reported this letter which would seem important to report to a nation whose armed forces liberated a nation from tyranny. But, such a letter conflicts what appears to be the MSM’s agenda—presenting the war as (yet another – in their minds) failed American military endeavor (like Vietnam).
If the MSM did not have such prejudices and were interested in honestly covering the war in Iraq, they would report this letter—and other news of positive developments since the fall of Saddam—as well as the news of the latest bombings.
In the past few days, MSM reporters have been practically tripping over themselves to declare civil war in Iraq. But, they have alas turned a blind eye to all the good things happening in that decreasingly troubled land. No wonder public support for the war is slipping.
The MSM will never tell this story since “…it’s a quagmire” and “…the civil war is just around the corner”. This will unfortunately be a “war” where it will be a generation-later before the REAL TRUTH comes-out. When the children of Iraq take their places in the world, and the military reunions and the academic historians takeover for the gore-mongering “..bleeds, it ledes” journalists.
Bush, Rumsfeld, and the generals and diplomats have made mistakes…so did the WW2 leadership. That’s in the nature of things. But the 24/7 drum-beat of “News from Iraq” distorts the tactical and strategic picture; and magnifies the negatives since the negatives are abberations. The normative, progressive activities of Coalition and Iraqi military, governmental and civilians is invisible by it’s vary ordinariness.
Now, if we can only do something about Iran’s nuke-mad mullahs.
This truly is wonderful news. It does not, however, substitute for a rational discussion as to whether the cost to the US, in men and money, is worth it. I believe both sides are guilty of reporting facts without analysis: breathless “Ha! Something blew up!” from the left and “See? We built a power line!” from the right are not helpful–it takes analysis of total cost versus total achieved, and infrastructure is only part of this.
On a related note, I’d like to know if you plan on covering the recent Zogby poll of soldiers in Iraq. We constantly say that we only hear from the liberals here in America, never from the soldiers in Iraq,– now we have.
I think people want to return to a pre-911 mindset where they don’t have to think anymore about a 40-year struggle against Islamo-fascism, the (necessary) war in Iraq, a coming (necessary) war with Iran, and so forth.
I know part of me wants to. I also know I’ve been observing the “progressive” signs of it in my left-liberal friends since about, oh, late summer 2002.
#2 – You mean, “whether the cost [of Iraq] to the US, in men and money, is worth it” is not a settled issue, to you? Wow!
I think history will ultimately view the Iraq war as an action where the U.S. liberated 20 million people from one of the great mass-murderers of modern times, killed or captured a bunch of terrorist enemies of the U.S., and began a massive democratic revolution in the Muslim world – all for only 2,100+ U.S. lives.
In addition, we can now approach Iran from 2 sides, when that becomes necessary.
Calarato: your cherry-picking of the results of our war is admirable, but those have not been the only results. There are also strategic questions as well–our safety as a nation, the stabilizing effects on the region, etc. Those are unknowns now. Also, whether or not we kick-started a democratic revolution is unknown now, as you say–but if we create a dozen democracies that elect terrorist and theocratic governments, that’s not necessarily a win either.I would never confuse necessary time to adjust with a loss–after a war and a new government, there are always growing pains–but that doesn’t mean that every explosion or solider killed is just assumed to be “worth the cause.”
Also, Calarato: there is another question besides necessity. It is possible to support the war (as I did) and prepare for the next (as I am) and still believe that Bush messed up the execution. I hope that no one on this board would fall for (or use) the old “criticizing Bush’s performance is supporting the terrorists” canard.
There is also such a thing as “paralysis by analysis,” by which people spend so much time hemming and hawing and questioning whether this is the right thing to do or not that NOTHING EVER FRAKKING GETS DONE! And I think the left is particularly susceptible to that. Keep stalling. Keep analyzing. Try to come up with a perfect solution. Guess what. There are no frakking perfect solutions. You have to decide sooner or later to do something, or sit back and wait for somebody else to do something to you.
Kudos to the 3rd ACR.
Powerline had a post on Tall Afar a week or so ago. It was an army press conference detailing how the task was completed. I’ll see if I can find it.
Here it is:
http://www.dod.mil/transcripts/2005/tr20050913-3901.html
This was a press briefing by a Col. McMaster detailing the operation in Tall Afar. It’s long, but very interesting read.
HT: Powerline Blog.
V the K: Does this very-understandable “don’t make the perfect the enemy of the good” mean that we can’t decide later that a certain plan of attack didn’t work?
The problem with the MSM is that it’s such a monolith. A herd mentality reigns. They all seem to move together en masse to show the same angle, use the same cliches and see things through the same, biased lens.
Early on in the war, to be very frank with you, I think the MSM was knee-jerk in favor of the war. Remember all those happy, little “embedded” reporters in their soldier suits, gushing about how gee-whiz exciting it all was as we shocked and awed our way into Baghdad? The fact is that many libertarians (and even quite a few conservatives) still have genuine misgivings about what is going on. I have found Lew Rockwell.com particularly helpful in showing the other side of the story. Many of the items Lew posts do not make it into the MSM, quite possibly not because they oppose the war, but because they are too intelligent for the drones at the major media outlets to make sense of.
This cannot be simplistically reduced to a question of whether or not we “support the troops.” It isn’t the troops’ fault if Bush has made mistakes, and it is certainly in the troops’ best interest for us to make sure their lives are not being sacrificed carelessly. We are the employers of an elected servent — not the subjects of a king. We do have not only the right but the obligation to know what is really going on over there. No matter what our general stand on the war may be, we all need to hear different perspectives in order to form intelligent opinions.
I think the MSM has failed us there. They’re as fad-crazy as a pack of teenagers.
One notices the absence of Fox in this discussion. Does that mean that Fox did cover the mayor’s letter?
Is MSM on cable? Is it near MSNBC?
This is, of course, great news and demonstrates how close to victory we are in Iraq. We clearly have the gratitude of the vast majority of Iraqis who no doubt see first hand the progress that’s been made over the past few years. The pathetic losers that make up the insurgency are getting more desperate as their futile operations clearly are in their last throes as Vice President Cheney so presciently remarked last May. We must keep the pressure on, stay the course and not succumb to political pressures to draw down prior to this year’s Congresssional elections. The light at the end of the tunnel is bright and we can’t lose sight of it!
You forgot to add, “…and don’t you dare question my patriotism!”, Ian.
Waht utterly amazes me is the total ignorance of history and real-world military affairs of most of the critics of the war and occupation.
We just thrashed a whole country and are only two years and small change into rebuilding it from scratch- and things aren’t perfect? WE’RE DEFEATED! We must cower in shame!! Oh why did we ever challenge the thunderous might of the glorious Iraqi Resistance in the first place…
“WE’RE DEFEATED! We must cower in shame!”
Typical leftist. The insurgency is in its last throes just as the VP stated a year ago. We turned a corner when Saddam was deposed, we turned another corner when we installed an interim government, we turned another corner when we captured Saddam, we turned another corner when the Iraqis voted on their constititution, we turned another corner when the recent elections went off without a hitch and now we’ve turned another corner with the insane bombing of a Shiate shrine. Even leftist dolts should be able to see the bright light at the end of the tunnel by now.
Ian,
I swear I can’t tell if you’re kidding or not.
In response to the “almost defeated” insurgency, I would ask that you read this article on the intelligence appraisal of Iraq over the past few years. Please note the DIA testimony regarding the current state of the insurgency, i.e., “strong and resilient.”
Peace.
Fact, never in the history of the entire world has there been such a blatantly successful military action, and never has there been such a relatively peaceful transition. (of course history can’t be a reference, since there has never been a 2 month war, with a 3 year rebuilding process being called a quagmire, because never has there ever been a stern leader being attacked by his own people so thoroughly even though none of the attackers have any skin in the conflict)
NEVER has the military DIVERTED resources to protect self righteous civilians for the purposes of letting them undermine their nation, never has the Nation been force fed the propoganda of the opposition because “on site” reporters are more willing to quote a terrorist opposing a commander, but simultaneously ignoring a ground soldier.
Never has the world seen a deliberate innactivity on the part of the government when it comes to public coverage (there is no censorship) allowing a media to report as it pleases.
The US has turned in many ways, there are more “pacifists” who are actualy people of a mind that “America should be pacive, while the enemy has a right to be murderous” but also? NOW! This great nation has finaly informed it’s people in some small way, we see now, that our allies believe in liberal democracy more than liberals. Now we see that rapidly growing volunteer army of iraq are learning that many American’s can’t understand the great men who volunteer for America’s military, and through the military, America’s ideologies, and now that Iraq is working so hard towards our image, The American left hates the iraqi left.
It is sad, I don’t hate democrats, but with all of the vitriol against the right, which I BARELY agree with, the democrats are proving that they are not a real party, they are a distant fringe fighting for votes, to prove that they are “strong” which they are not.
Of course. There’s nothing like digging up documents from 2003 and assuming they reflect the same situation in 2006.
As for the DIA testimony, four words: “lack of complete context”. Please provide the entire quote and not just the words that desperate press hatemongers are pulling as a prop to support their propaganda campaigns.
#14
Hell, the liberals were screaming “quagmire” before we even had boots in Iraq. Then they did it again during the sandstorm and “operational pause”. The liberals desperatly tried to convince us that the troops had no ammo and water, but their own embeds proved them to be the liars they are. They couldn’t comprehend that the military had moved so far, so fast that they had to “pause” to let they supply trains catch up.
#16
Are you serious?
The MSM’s sin of omission is nothing new; why do you think the whole blog thing works? But even assuming the truth of this story, and I do, what is its merit? If your point is that our military personnel have not been properly heralded as leaven in sand, I couldn’t agree more. Oversights of this kind are unfortunate.
Given that the civilian military point man Rumsfeld did not provide sufficient ground troups from the beginning, that it took the Joint Chiefs of Staff three years to formulate “a plan” for Iraq, and that after 2,600+ and 22,000 American deaths and maimings, and about 40,000 Iraqi casualties, Iraq is on the verge of civil war, prepared to install a Shaia government friendly to Iran, has made no appreciable progress for a middle east resolution, and continuous documentation reveals that GWB concocted favorable “intelligence” to concoct the war — given all this, it’s a challenge indeed to find these sincere (?) and heartfelt sentiments much comfort.
The U.S. is facing a constitutional crisis of immense proportions. Our President seems to think he’s above the law, and that as Commander in Chief, he has yet to achieve any significant objective for our military personnel in Iraq. After having concocted the “raison d’etre” for this war, all of which are spurious, and having failed to provide our own people with simple things like body armour, most minds are focused on how to extricate ourselves from this unholy shit. (Curiously, ALL of these things are not to be found on this blog, but found everywhere else. George Will and William F. Buckley have abandoned YOUR Leader, and not a peep from GP. So maybe the MSM is not the only one to askew priorities.
#9 — If the purpose of the analysis is to improve future performance, I am okay with that (with caveats too extensive to list here). On the other hand, the purpose of second-guessing at this point … especially by the MSM … seems to be to make us doubt our purpose and demoralize us into retreat. I think that is a bad use of analysis. We have committed ourselves to a course of action in Iraq, and our focus should remain on seeing it through to victory.
I think the MSM and left are enamoured with the idea of having another Vietnam. I think they want things to be bad there-because bad news is always more fun to cover than good news.
Which is also why the mayors letter will go largely ignored by those in the press.
What is “MSM”?
What is “MSM”?
“Main Stream Media.” It is an epithet that conservatives use to make people among their flock believe that the “major media outlets” are leftist, which is preposterous.
On the subject matter of the post, perhaps the letter that supposedly was written by the mayor of Tal Afar (which is the most-used spelling) was ignored by US media outlets because if was actually of unclear provenance. Or because CNN was more interested in the Entwistle murder case.
Or because Faux News and MSNBC prefer to put on evening programs during which the participants merely yell and scream over each other. This, of course, serves to raise the viewers’ blood pressure, which seems to be a thrill to conservatives. It certainly isn’t enlightening about anything.
rag much prefers NPR, where geriatric announcers serve up one-sided viewpoints in carefully modulated, mellifluous tones.
Indeed, how dare Fox allow conservatives an equal opportunity to voice their perspective on the news. All “thinking people” know that news should be delivered by highly trained professional journalists who deliver completely accurate information without any mistakes or ideological bias. People like: Dan Rather, Mary Mapes, Howell Raines, Jayson Blair, and Eason Jordan.
ND30: The point about the insurgency analysis from 2003 is that the analysis then was not received well by the Admin nor relayed to the people. So that is of course relevant to the current situation.
And as for the “out of context” quote, it is not out of context in relevance to the current situation in Iraq, and in an analysis of how the Admin has prepared in the past to deal with the present.
We have, according to this article, warnings from the Intelligence community in 2003, which were ignored, and warnings from the DIA now as the insurgency’s strength, none of which the Admin has copped to or admits. And we have a shaky situation in Iraq currently, with new deaths today and systematically across the last week. How exactly is this “out of context”?
26: if you disagree with the bias on NPR as opposed to that on Fox, fine. That’s your right. But now that you have labeled the viewpoints, how about looking at the reported facts? If we have the Admin telling us one thing, and other analyses (from the military and intelligence) telling us something else, and we look at those two things in the context of the undisputed facts of violence, what is your analysiis?
#25 Thanks, raj.
A nephew served in Iraq in 2004. He put me on his unit’s newsletter address list. He wasn’t in direct combat (if there is such a thing there), and he felt they were doing some good work on a local level.
Whether or not MSM can be faulted for what stories are covered is problematic. I was (am) happy to know the Army was having success on some levels, but countering that information was (is) also reporting of deaths and mayhem.
We need to know both sides, but which is more important? The school or the nearness of being able to leave them better off than they were?
‘Taint easy.
#21 — The U.S. is facing a constitutional crisis of immense proportions.
*choking up my afternoon drink of choice*
What on God’s green earth are you talking about? Not only does MSM want another Vietnam, but people like you want every Republican President to be another Nixon.
God help this country if people like you attacked FDR during WWII.
Bin Laden loves people like you.
#30 — He’s quite mad, you know.
#26 V the K — March 1, 2006 @ 9:48 am – March 1, 2006
rag much prefers NPR…
Don’t give up your day job. You wouldn’t do well as a mind-reader on the carny circuit.
Generally, further on the subject matter of the post, if anyone is interested in knowing why CNN hasn’t (presumably) covered the letter, maybe he or she should email CNN and ask them. They might answer, and, if they do, I suppose that you would know.
#5 – Your first paragraph makes no sense. The things I said (in #4) already answer most of the things you said again in #5 (as though I hadn’t written #4).
The only new, addressable point you made is about democracy and the fact that it is possible for people to vote in tyrants and theocrats, etc. Answer: So what? So what if democracy’s batting average is only .850 or so? It’s right, and as such, it beats the alternative – which is to leave mass murderers in power (as Bush 41 did), the policy that bred terrorism (or 9-11) to begin with. A policy with a .000 batting average. OK?
As for your second paragraph: Total red herring. There, you are sounding like a left-liberal who talked himself into a corner and wants to change the subject.
We can debate the fine points of Bush’s execution (whether criticism ABC is a valid one, whether crititicism XYZ is a valid one, etc.) another time. For now, let’s just say I will take a medium-grade execution of the RIGHT THING over doing nothing, any time.
(P.S. And my reference above is to the fact that the Democrats, if you take their own words and statements today seriously, would have done nothing – leaving Saddam in power. “Sanctions were working” and all that, hah hah.)
Don’t give up your day job.
Another brilliant, original witticism from rag. Tell me, do you come up with these on your own, or do you have a staff of professional writers backing you up?
ND30: The point about the insurgency analysis from 2003 is that the analysis then was not received well by the Admin nor relayed to the people. So that is of course relevant to the current situation.
Oh really? That contradicts your current statement.
If we have the Admin telling us one thing, and other analyses (from the military and intelligence) telling us something else, and we look at those two things in the context of the undisputed facts of violence, what is your analysiis?
So you’re using those analyses from 2003 to assess the situation now, as well as lifted quotes from testimony of which you fail to provide the complete transcript.
#21
You don’t have an honest bone in your body, do you Stephen? You couldn’t tell the truth to save your life.
I was extremely moved by the mayors letter. I just knew despite the MSM coverage that our men and women were doing Gods work.
I think the difference in the liberal vs conservative take on such examples as the mayores letter are…conservatives are please that it is reaffirming the goodness in America’s nature and being. Liberals reaction is typically…”nutts we dont need this kind of news and attitudes seeing the light of day.”
raj and others should regularly checkout drudge report…he has cable ratings and FOX always hammers cnbc and msnbc to a pulp. There are more ppl at the local home depot on a given note than view hardball or some of the other lame shows.
Email to CNN is like a letter to the editor. It validates the organization and allows them to go to their advertisers (the real customers) and declare that they are being viewed by all kinds of people. Don’t feed these beasts. Let them starve. Your attention is all they have and without it, they die.
#40 VinceTN — March 2, 2006 @ 12:05 am – March 2, 2006
So, you would prefer to remain in ignorance, instead of trying to make even a minimal amount of effort to get a response to the issue that had been raised in connection with a snide remark in the post.
Interesting.
Ignorance of what? What would I go to CNN or my local paper to find out? You give the media too much credit. Since they are on your side that’s understandable, but some machines are beyond reformation. Just let them die and allow something better (hopefully) to take their place.
Those men are heroes, and deserve every syllable of praise. People like Raj can (and I hope will) choke on the truth of their valor and ideals.
“Main Stream Media.” It is an epithet that conservatives use to make people among their flock believe that the “major media outlets” are leftist, which is preposterous.
-Yes, it’s “preposterous” when the people in the media
admit it themselves.
Anyway, hilarious to see you go on in typical leftist fashion to imply the letter isn’t real.
Moving on to this (from #21):
Iraq is on the verge of civil war, prepared to install a Shaia government friendly to Iran,
Considering the first part of your sentence isn’t true, why would anyone believe the second portion?
I’m not even going to bother with your “constitutional crisis” comment as it’s absurd. But will only say the Congress doesn’t agree with you and neither do the federal courts.
Thanks so much for finding and posting this letter. It made my day, no month, no year…
Hell, that is the best thing I have seen this century!
Cheers, AJStrata
I’ve always said I wanted to hear the good (like this letter from the mayor of Tall ‘Afar) and the bad (the reports on the latest bombings). I don’t think that is a lot to ask of major national and the smaller local media outlets to give us this kind of information in addition to the “gloom and doom” articles we see more often. I know the positive news exist – I’ve seen a lot of it on websites and blogs, but not the nightly news or daily newspapers. I appreciate everyone’s political position, but the fact of the matter is the troops are there and we cannot pull out at this point. What kind of message will this send to our troops, much less the terrorists who are watching this political battle in America? I clearly do not see any way withdrawing troops would be the best move at this point. Our senators supported the President in going to war, and they now need to support a unified plan to complete the mission we’ve begun and continue the progress like that done above by the troops in the 3rd regiment.
Thank you so much for posting this letter! I have a number of friends serving in Iraq and Afghanistan and it is so nice to finally see in print what I already know – that our troops ARE making a difference. We unfortunately live in a society where we expect things to happen overnight and war just does not work like that. Sure, mistakes are being made, but overall, we are making a difference in that country. For instance, when the Golden Mosque in Samarra was bombed, it was not US troops on the ground, but Iraqi troops, with US support. Did our MSM bother to talk about that? Nope. That is a huge improvement from a year, even 6 months ago! Please keep posting good news like this – we need it to counter-act all the negativity from the press. God bless!
I must admit I came across this letter more than a week ago – but if the only coverage its going to get is in blogland, than I will continue to thank the Mayor of Tall ‘Afar for expressing his gratitude.
The only way to counter those who say our military’s efforts are futile and meaningless is to hear from those whose lives have been altered for the better forever.
To hear the Mayor describe the situation in Tall ‘Afar as held hostage with businesses, schools, offices as all closed due to the tyrants in control makes me extremely proud of our country and those in uniform. We are changing the landscape and future of Iraq, and if the media wants to constantly say otherwise, well then I thank my fellow bloggers who refuse to stay quiet.
This letter brought me to tears. I am so overwhelmed by the ruin that the people of Tal’ Afar were living under Zaqari and the changes that our military has brought them. This is such a beautiful illustration of what is happening all over Iraq and the Middle East. I wish every blue star family member and every grieving parent, spouse or child could read or hear this. Every American should hear the story of this town and the words from its mayor. This letter should be published in every paper across our country and read on every television broadcast. I hate to even bring up negative comments after such an inspiring letter, but where is our media on this one? Why do they remain silent to every piece of hope? The Iraqi people know of the good American Troops are doing and of the awe inspiring courage and sacrafice they are making – why are these troops own fellow-Americans not hearing the same message?
FOX did report it (O’Reilly interviewed the CO, 3ACR).
All of the rest ignored it. I have not seen any competent press reporting on any topic (right or left) in over two decades. Retired Intel Spec, USN.