Freedom's Truth

Knight of the Mind notes some foes of the intervention in Iraq are coming around, and notes some of the crackpots (like at DU) aren't, reduced to opposing democracy itself now. Here is something I could have written:

"Yesterday, however, Americans finally got a good look at who they are fighting for: millions of average people who have suffered for years under dictatorship and who now desperately want to live in a free and peaceful country. Their votes were an act of courage and faith -- and an answer to the question of whether the mission in Iraq remains a just cause." -Wahington Post Editorial Board.

This blog has been dedicated to the proposition that the deposing Saddam Hussein from power and liberating Iraq was a just mission and, despite the cost in lives and treasue, a worthwhile mission for the long-term security of the United States, based on a simple calculation: Where tyranny lives, freedom is threatened. Saddam's tyranny and support for terrorism was a part of the "swamp" that bred Osama Bin Laden, Hamas, and other terror groups. We need freedom and democracy in the Middle East if we want to end the threat of global terrorism. The blog also knew, as Bush has declared in speeches, that the desire for freedom and representative Government is universal; nobody wants to be in chains, and it is narrowmindedness and cultural bigotry alone that presumes certain nations or peoples are unfit for democracy. Iraq, the birthplace 3 millenia ago of Hammorabi's "rule of law" is certainly ready for the freedom enjoyed in many other countries.

But the American forces that deposed Saddam could only create the environment - the opportunity has to be taken by Iraqis. Democracy cannot be imposed, sure, but it can be offered, which we did. Like teaching a child to ride a bike for the first time, you can hold it steady and give them a little 'push', but the rest is up to them.

Iraqis - 10 million of them - gave their answer to the question "Will Iraqis accept the opportunity of democracy we are giving them?" ... Yes! A ten million-voter-strong blue-finger salute saying yes to democracy. This will not lay to rest the naysayers or cynics, but the corner has been turned. Iraq now knows it can have elections, again and again and again, because they succeeded in having them in the most difficult of circumstances. Iraq knows it can overcome the terrorists, because they have built up security forces despite their threats. And we know now that our mission is assured of success.

Earlier in the fall, I discussed the 'tipping point' effect and surmised that of re-election of President Bush would be the tipping point that would deflate the insurgency and secure victory in Iraq, since it would indicate our firmness in resolve to stay the course. Yet the insurgency redoubled its efforts in the runup to this election. This happened because the insurgency was testing the other link; that linke, which the insurgency failed to break, was the will of the Iraqi people and leaders. The commitment to democracy by Iraqis proven to be strong. There are no weak links in the chain of the political process, despite the violence and threats.

This show of resolve by the people of Iraq means there is a strong foundation for a new political order in Iraq. the insurgency is as dead as the Confederacy was after Atlanta fell in Sept 1964, as dead as the Germans after the Ardennes offensive in Dec 1944 - it's just a matter of history playing out. The terrorists are ultimately doomed to fail; they have no political program, no goal now besides violence soley for the sake of making life in the new Iraq less tolerable. Iraq's new patriotic and united center will now build the new, liberated Iraq, as noted in raq urged to unite as world lauds breakthrough vote:

"All Iraqis should work together to build the future of our nation -- whether you voted or not," said Allawi, whose country is still riven by splits between its Shiites, Sunni Muslims, Kurds and other communities. "It is up to all of us to build a new country based on prosperity and stability. It is the time to overcome all problems. I and the rest of the interim government will work to ensure the success of this process."

A Victory for Democracy is what Peter Worthington calls it:

"A 70% turnout of eligible voters is better than Canadians or Americans can manage -- especially under a threat of violence and reprisals.It's fair to say that every Iraqi who voted yesterday has given a new definition for the word "courage," and has made a personal gesture against terrorism. "

“I wish to pay tribute to the courage of the Iraqi people, and to congratulate the Independent Election Commission of Iraq, as well as the thousands of Iraqi election workers and monitors, on having organized and carried out elections so effectively in such a limited timeframe and such daunting circumstances,” said the Secretary-General

The article A Blue Finger Salute notes that the press came looking for a failed election - and didnt find it:

While those of us that dreamed of this day spent our Sunday afternoon basking in the success of the Iraqi elections, there were others that did not share our joy. The mainstream media's coverage was tinged with skepticism and at times, downright sadness. A reporter for CNN anxiously reported that the polling place that she was covering was empty - no poll workers, no voters. What the reporter neglected to tell the viewers was that she was at the wrong location. When she arrived at the correct location, the lines were forming and Iraqi fingers were being dipped in ink. The reporter seemed less exuberant about the success than she was about the imagined failure.

I am content to wait for the elections to actually happen before I judge who will actually run Iraq, and most of the negative analysis is self-contadicting raising of unreasoned fears. We took too long to give Iraqis their own Government; then a Government was a 'puppet' and they needed elections; then we couldn't have elections, it was impossible; now unreasoned fears about whether the process of elections might yield something uncomfortable. All the while, the ground underneath is shifting ... it's not a matter anymore of if we acheive our objectives, it's simply the effort required to get there:

"Yet despite these remaining questions, the Kissinger-Schultz article indicates that the post-Saddam regime is already fait accompli. That is already a sign of strategic success. It is far from clear the proposition that "guerrillas win if they do not lose" is a valid axiom.

1,992 stories about suicide bombings and other terrorist attacks
887 stories about prisoner abuse by British soldiers
2,345 stories about President Bush's inauguration, in the context of the President failing to mention the word "Iraq" in his speech, or indeed discuss the war
216 stories about hostages currently being held in Iraq
761 stories reporting on activities and public statements of insurgents
357 stories about the anti-war movement and the dropping public support for involvement in Iraq
182 stories about American servicemen killed and wounded in operations
217 stories about concerns for fairness and validity of Iraqi election (low security, low turnout, etc.)
107 stories about civilian deaths in Iraq
123 stories noting Vice President Cheney's admission that he had underestimated the task of reconstruction
etc.

On the positive side ...

311 stories about voter registration for Iraqis overseas. Even here we have to be cautious as significant number of these stories comment on "disappointingly" low numbers registering.
16 stories about security successes in the fight against insurgents
7 stories about positive developments relating to elections
73 stories about the return to Iraq of stolen antiques.

For example, checking yahoo, AP and other sites, I can find no reporting on these captures of terrorists by the MNF:

Forty-two suspected Insurgents Detained in Mosul Area

Mosul, Iraq -- Multi-National Forces from 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), detained forty-two people during operations in northern Iraq on Jan. 22.

Soldiers of 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, detained forty-one people suspected of anti-Iraqi activity while conducting cordon and search operations north of Mosul. Suspects are in custody with no MNF injuries reported.

Soldiers of 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, detained an individual suspected of anti-Iraqi activity in eastern Mosul. Suspect is in custody with no MNF injuries reported.

Military officials have said the Mosul area is becoming safer with each seizure and removal of dangerous weapons and detention of anti-Iraqi insurgents. Since Jan. 5, Iraqi Security Forces and Multi-National Forces have detained 249 people and confiscated numerous weapons and munitions.

Chrenkoff's tally supports LTC Tim Ryan's "Aiding and Abetting the Enemy" allegations of media bias. Yet beyond the tally, in each and every media story, it becomes even starker how much harm the media really is doing to the effort to liberate Iraq.

UPDATE: More Media Bias backlash: "Journalist smears Iraq's coming election".

But right now, folks, we have a rare opportunity, a seldom-held power for ordinary citizens, to actually do something for the troops that will bring them more comfort than any supportive letters or boxes of cookies and candy ever possibly could. ...

Under current law, Uncle Sam is a rather parsimonious patron when it comes to providing for the families of fallen warriors. For example, when an American is killed in combat, the surviving spouse receives a one-time death gratuity of $12,400. Service Member's Group Life Insurance coverage (SGLI) up to $250,000 is available for those service members who can afford to pay the premiums. If the fallen trooper has been in service for an extended period of time, the surviving family may also qualify for the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP), which is paid up to age 62 or until the spouse remarries. This SBP benefit is limited to 55 percent of the soldier's retirement pay, in the pay grade at the time of death. With so many combat deaths occurring among the youngest service members, we must keep in mind that this is frequently a pay grade that actually qualifies the family for food stamps and aid for dependent children.

The annual base pay of a sergeant E-5, with six years of service is less than $30,000. With twenty years service his retirement benefit is half of that. Think for a moment what 55 percent of less than $15,000 amounts to. Think about being a young widow trying to raise small children on less than $700 a month. And for lower pay grades, which constitute the majority of combat deaths, the situation is even grimmer because most of them will not have served long enough for their families to qualify for even this miserly benefit. Even if the service member is insured to the maximum amount, an unlikelihood for younger troops, think about how little $250,000 amounts to over the twenty-plus years required to raise and educate children in today’s world. ...

Fortunately, there are some in government who have taken notice of this gross injustice and are preparing to attempt a legislative correction long overdue. Senator Joe Lieberman, D-CT, and Senator Jeff Sessions, R-AL, are scheduled to introduce the Honoring Every Requirement of Exemplary Service (HEROES) Act on January 24th. This legislation will increase the benefit paid to the survivors of military personnel killed in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, and future conflicts, from $12,400 to $100,000, retroactive to October 2001. The benefit for non-combat deaths will remain at $12,400. The Act will raise SGLI Insurance coverage from $250,000 to $400,000, with the government paying the premiums for the first $150,000 for military personnel serving in a combat zone, also retroactive to October 2001.

So you say you support the troops? Then as soon as you finish reading this, start hammering that keyboard and let your two senators and your congressman know that you expect no less than their full support for early passage of the HEROES Act.

The rumors followed an interview aired on an Arab television station earlier this month in which a Saudi man arrested for a deadly truck bombing claimed that he heard from other insurgents that al-Zarqawi had been arrested by Iraqi police in Fallujah but released because authorities didn't recognize him.

Rumors spread that Iraqi authorities had al-Zarqawi in custody but were waiting to announce it just before the Jan. 30 elections.

Meanwhile, Iraq is facing what appears to be a new surge in kidnappings of foreigners after a decline in recent months. Al-Jazeera television broadcast a videotape in which militants said they had kidnapped a Brazilian engineer in an ambush near Beiji.

The tape did not show the hostage but displayed his identification card, listing his name as Joao Jose Vasconcelos Jr., 55.

While overall attacks are lower than before Fallujah was retaken, the upswing, if real, is a sign that the terrorists have found new 'death houses' to fill with victims.

I wish safety for this unfortunate Brazilian civilian.

January 20, 2005; The anti-government campaign to disrupt the elections is failing. Yesterday, six car bombing attempts failed, with none of the bombers able to reach their intended targets. One bomber was captured, the other five detonated where they were when they realized they could not get through the security. Some two dozen Iraqis, mostly civilians, were killed as a result. This sort of thing only makes the Sunni Arab terrorists more unpopular, and more likely to be turned in by someone in the Sunni Arab neighborhoods where the terrorists live, and prepare their car bombs and other explosive devices.

Kidnapping has also lost its effectiveness as a terror weapon. Earlier this week, a Catholic archbishop in Mosul was kidnapped. Many of Iraq's Christians live in Mosul, and they have been there for about two thousand years. Then there were reports of someone demanding a $200,000 ransom, then, within 24 hours, the bishop was released. Sunni Arab clergy have been denouncing kidnappings for some time, especially since so many of them are for money, not politics.

The campaign against foreign workers, kidnapping and murdering them, has not stopped foreign workers from coming to Iraq. The money is too good, and the incidence of attacks is too low. All it has done is make the terrorists look like depraved murderers. In fact, the only Arab media that portrays the terrorists inside Iraq as heroic is outside Iraq. ...

Most Iraqis see nothing to stop them from voting on the 30th. The terrorist threats are only somewhat effective in Sunni Arab areas, and even there, many towns and neighborhoods are openly resisting the Baath Party and al Qaeda forces.

"Life is constant striving, the racing towards a horizon that we never reach. To face ourselves to the sun and go the distance is glory, but we never want the sun to set on us, to see the curtain fall on our time. So we strive on, building a life we never wish to see complete."

We are led, by events and common sense, to one conclusion: The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world. America’s vital interests and our deepest beliefs are now one. From the day of our Founding, we have proclaimed that every man and woman on this earth has rights, and dignity, and matchless value, because they bear the image of the Maker of Heaven and earth. Across the generations we have proclaimed the imperative of self-government, because no one is fit to be a master, and no one deserves to be a slave. Advancing these ideals is the mission that created our Nation. It is the honorable achievement of our fathers. Now it is the urgent requirement of our nation’s security, and the calling of our time. So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world.

This meeting went differently: Iraq Rebels Vent Frustrations at 'Peace Conference'. At this meeting, a governor and other Iraqi officials asked terrorists and insurgents to come to a 'peace conference' to discuss laying down arms; they let the rebels do the talking:

"I will not sign because if I sign I will have to stick to it," said Ahmed al-Obeidi, who said he was accused of being an insurgent, and hinted that he actually was. ...

As they aired their grievances to the governor, police chief and a senior Iraqi National Guard officer, armed U.S. troops lining the walls of the room looked on. American diplomats sat in the back and listened, the kind of scene that reinforces Iraqi suspicions that Washington is running the show in their country.

Machiavelli said that a leader must be feared or loved, but it was better to be feared. Saddam followed the fear script to the letter. ... Americans and the Iraqi Government reject the politics of fear and so have the harder path: Creating genuine hope and prosperity and trust where all three are in short supply. I don't envy their task when they have stiff-necked former baathists to contend with.

Alaa Hamid, who was running on Allawi's slate of candidates for the 275-member National Assembly, was shot dead Monday in the southern port city of Basra in front of his family, a member of Allawi's Iraqi National Accord said. Hamid also was the deputy chairman of the Iraqi Olympic Committee in Basra.

During the time that I took off, I lost some acquaintances and distant relatives. Two very fine young men were shot in front of the shop they owned as they were closing down to go home, they were distantly related to me. The Assistant Dean of the medical college of Baghdad, a relative of a close friend of mine was gunned down as he drove his daughters back from college. This was a fine and brilliant man and only 45 years old, and besides he was the only man in a house full of old and young women and girls. The women are now left without anybody to look after them and horribly traumatized. Another old friend of mine, a prosperous and successful engineer and contractor was murdered near Abu Ghraib leaving a big family behind. Thus, the daily massacre of completely innocent people goes on. The very best people in society are targeted. The hardest hit is the professional middle class. Many Doctors and professionals are closing down their very profitable businesses and escaping outside the country.

These zombies are at it again. As if all the murders and mass graves of the past are not enough they continue their orgy of killing and torture under the very nose of the MNF and the Iraqi security forces who are themselves victims of the most atrocious massacres. Any assumption that we are dealing with human beings is completely wrong. These are monsters and must be dealt with as such.

Given the news that the blogger Kos was on the Dean campaign payroll ... ( Jeez, how many votes did that looney leftist guy LOSE for the Democrats???) ... there is some irony to this smear.

In his interview, he speaks of 'no common ground' between Americans and Iraqi Christians. It's unfortunate that he fails to see the common ground in the hopes for elections -

Will the elections be the start of Iraq’s renaissance? "We hope so, but only if there is a great turnout in an atmosphere of security, which currently does not exist in some regions."

Now, compare the Najaf example to the coverage and debate ad nauseam of the Abu Ghuraib Prison affair. There certainly is no justification for what a dozen or so soldiers did there, but unbalanced reporting led the world to believe that the actions of the dozen were representative of the entire military. This has had an incredibly negative effect on Middle Easterners' already sagging opinion of the U.S. and its military. Did anyone show the world images of the 200 who were beheaded and mutilated in Muqtada's Shari'a Law court, or spend the next six months talking about how horrible all of that was? No, of course not. Most people don't know that these atrocities happened. It's little wonder that many people here want us out and would vote someone like Muqtada Al Sadr into office given the chance -- they never see the whole truth. Strange, when the enemy is the instigator the media does not flash images across the screens of televisions in the Middle East as they did with Abu Ghuraib. Is it because the beheaded bodies might offend someone? If so, then why do we continue see photos of the naked human pyramid over and over?

Task Force Danger soldiers from the 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, raided a home Jan. 13 looking for a man wanted for assassination attempts on Iraqi security forces. The suspect was not home. Later, however, Iraqi police arrested him when he tried to file a complaint about the raid.

While patrolling the city Jan. 11, Iraqi police reported to their Joint Coordination Center that a suspicious vehicle was parked near the Tikrit provincial police station. As the police were preparing to investigate, a concealed improvised explosive device detonated. Officials believe the bomb detonated prematurely, missing its intended target due to the aggressive patrolling of the Iraqi policemen. Four Iraqi police officers were injured.

Tehran, Jan. 16 – Sources within the Iranian opposition have confirmed to Iran Focus that they were able to obtain a classified document from within Iran's intelligence and security apparatus showing Iran's connections to insurgents carrying out attacks in Iraq.

The document is a report written by an Iraqi group mounting armed attacks on Iraqi civilians and U.S. and Coalition troops in Iraq. It was addressed to Revolutionary Guards Brigadier General Obeydavi, a senior commander of the Qods (Jerusalem) Force. The Qods Force is the extra-territorial arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and oversees the Iranian regime's external military activities in Iraq.

The report described how attacks were "successfully carried out". It acknowledged that the Iraqi group was primarily mounting attacks in Baghdad and provinces to its west.

"We have presently reduced the number of attacks in southern Iraq, but operations still continue in Baghdad and in Ramadi, Falluja, Salahoddin, and Diyala", the report said.

"Consequent to the objectives defined, there is stability in southern Iraq, but there are relentless operations in the other provinces mentioned", it added.

The report goes on to say, "The number of personnel involved in each operation differs according to the requirements and the importance of the target. We will inform you of any operation if more than 50 people are required to take part. Attacks are being conducted on the occupation forces, forces of the former regime and on any other force which is deemed necessary".

The report takes responsibility for a number of serious bombing campaigns carried out in recent months. It also confirms cooperation among insurgent forces. It cites a December 21 document which had written, "Our latest operation was carried out in western Baghdad. At present we have 120 battlefield personnel of which 15 to 20 have mounted successful operations. A number of our personnel were arrested".

That report mentioned that the fatwa calling for the group to carry out operation in Iraq was issued in Iran's holy city of Qom.

Waset Gov. Mohammad Ridha said $18,987.30 in Iranian tomans were seized and found to have been sent to a resident in the province "to try to entice sectarian extremism and ruin the elections process." While he did not specify Iran by name, referring only to its currency allegedly seized, Ridha insisted there were "hidden hands trying to destabilize the province by focusing on sectarian allegiance over allegiance to the homeland."

For Iraq, we have a beautiful thing going; the press thinks that we're losing, the armchair ankle-biters think that we're losing, and the terrorists think that we're losing. All that you have to do is to ask them about the impending Iraqi elections and they all exclaim that there will be too much violence to hold them. They're wrong.

What we're losing in Iraq are 1 to 2 Americans per day.

What we've gotten in exchange are the deaths of more than 100,000 jihadis, the vast waste of pro-jihadis funds, the cut-off of Saudi jihadist funds, Hussein in jail, Hussein's money cut off from the Palestinians, control of Pakistani nukes, the end of Egypt's, Lybia's, and Iraq's WMD programs, a strategic base from which to next strike any of Lebanon, Syria, or more likely: Iran...as well as a perfect roach motel in which jihadis come from all over to check in, but they don't check out alive.

Attacks in Iraq are down from 98 per day to 46 per day. Elections are coming up, and more than 120,000 Iraqi soldiers have now graduated from U.S. training. ...

In poker, the object is to convince your opponents to bet big when they have lousy hands. That's Iraq. The news media, the French, and the Jihadis all have lousy hands in Iraq, yet they believe their own hype and naively think that they are winning.

... We'll have the elections, and I predict the "Violence" during the elections to be less than the 110 adults shot dead on the average day in Rio, Brazil. Iraq will come out more like Afghanistan than Lebanon, and this will serve as a major morale-buster for the local "support" of the foreign fighter jihadis. Likewise, the liberal news media will have to eat crow if the violence turns out to be anti-climatic.

On Saturday, a spokesman for the Duleim tribe, one of the largest in the Sunni-dominated Anbar Province, said tribal leaders were urging members to boycott the election because they viewed it as illegitimate. "They cannot vote," said the spokesman, Talal al-Gaaod, referring to his three million fellow Duleim members. "If anybody goes to vote, they will be killed."

In other 'expectations', the Shia leader on the Sistani List, aka, refuting expectations that they want Iranian-style theocracy:

"This is not a competition between Sunnis and Shiites. There is no intention of forming an Islamic or religious state in Iraq, or a Shiite state or an Iranian-style government," Mowaffak Rubaie, ... "As Shiites, we are a majority, so democracy suits us very well," said Adil Abdul-Mahdi, the finance minister and a member of the Shiite coalition. "We don't want an Islamic state, or a Shiite state. We want a democratic state."

If the election succeeds, the media will look for the 'downside' of the election, that Iraqis pick politicians who don't walk lock-step with the U.S. That our 'victory' will be called hollow because soveriegn Iraq starts acting like an independent country. That's an error as well. When the violence ends, the true gratitude of the Iraqi people will well up. As an Iraqi blogger put it: "Love to all our friends in America and elsewhere: You shall be proud of the Iraqi people, your grateful friends." I will be proud when Iraqis defy the terrorists' threats and vote for their future, and my expectations are for election success and a dumbfounded media.

Still waiting on justice being served to Saddam, Zarqawi, the terrorist insurgents, etc.

UPDATE: The comment about Gitmo prisoners reminds me of another case of justice yet to be served ... Asking why the architect of the murder of 3,000 Americans on 9/11, Sheik Khalid Muhammed, is not yet strung from a gibbet should be our main 'concern' for these Gitmo terrorists.

Farid Ayar of Iraq's Independent Electoral Commission said he expected 7 to 8 million Iraqis to vote on Jan. 30 in a ballot seen as a major step toward fulfilling U.S. goals of building democracy here after decades of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s tyranny.

... Hardly any adult asked in the streets of Sadr City says he does not want to vote. Former army Col. Yassin Taher, 42, said Iraqis must vote "because we want a legitimate state, a new government and constitution." Jasim Mohammed, 30, a vegetable vendor, said he and his relatives would vote for the United Iraqi Alliance because "this is what the grand ayatollah asked us to do."

"I'll go to vote and I will not fear the terrorist. I will vote on the 30th and I don’t care if I could get killed by the bombs of the killers because my vote will be for my kids' future" Ali Baghdadi-Baghdad

"As Iraqis, we will go to vote even if the terrorists planted their bombs inside the boxes, because this is our dream which we paid millions of lives for it and I would like to ask everyone not to exaggerated the size of these terrorist they are only a few Saddam lovers with criminals from outside the country" Azhar- Basra

"I swear to Allah that we will not accept anything but free elections and we will have this right even if the terrorists cut us into pieces" Mahdy Hadi-Baghdad

"If those fighters were really Muslims they would not be killing the Iraqi police, army and innocent civilians. We will not submit to their threats and we will vote in spite of them" Muosa Al Ruba'ey-Baghdad

General Rashid Flaih, head of the interior ministry's special commando forces, said the suspect confessed to 13 other operations and had links with neighboring countries and received payment for the operations.

The suspect gave information on seven other suspects who were arrested, three of them from other Arab countries, Flaih said.

Democracy is winning.

Gilbert still possesses that precious quality, which seems increasingly absent from our manic world and even more manic discourse: perspective. Perhaps it comes naturally to this chronicler of four thousand years of Jewish history; maybe it's the consequence of his ability to seamlessly move between great historical forces and stories of individual suffering or triumph. Whatever it is, Gilbert is pretty lonely in the modern world where Nazi is a catch-all term for anything you don't like, every misdemeanor becomes a Holocaust, and every temporary setback merely a prelude to sky falling.

In a larger sense, though, there is a supreme irony in this mission [liberating Iraq]. The historical irony is that these concepts originated in Mesopotamia some 5,000 years ago, and were developed to a very high degree there. "Civilization" itself originated in Mesopotamia, and all of these origins are (not surprisingly) intertwined; a well-organized rule-of-law society is a pre-requisite for the growth of civilization itself. The foundations of "western civilization" can be traced directly to the early societies of Mesopotamia; while these ideas flourished elsewhere, they were lost to Mesopotamia for several thousand years, and are only now being recovered.

Perspective is needed indeed.

How it fits in can be encapsulated in this quote: "America has always been less secure when freedom is in retreat; America is always more secure when freedom is on the march." This is a quote from President Bush in his speech advocating greater democracy in the Middle East. The Bush doctrine has up-ended previous strategy of pushing for 'stability' as a failed and flawed diplomatic approach that left tyrants unfettered and bred resentment and terrorism.

Podhoretz explains how the "Bush doctrine" is to World War IV what Truman's containment policy was to the Cold War - epochal and "revolutionary" in its impact. He makes the case that the Bush doctrine is:
1. Succeeding, albeit in a manner the media fails to report honestly;
2. Has produced enemies and critics at home and abroad who will not change their mind (realists and isolationists of the left and right);
3. That Bush will continue the Bush doctrine in his second term; he mentions key decisions, like keeping Rumsfeld and not bowing to pressure from Blair on Palestine, as indicators that Bush will stay the course.

I concur with his predictions on how success in Iraq will be mis-reported as badly as the progress and challenges so far have been:

As the anti-Bush coalition goes on exaggerating the bad news through such distortions and overstatements,14 it will simultaneously go on ignoring the good news coming out of Iraq. Nothing will be heard from these quarters about the progress being made in getting a free political system going, in reconstructing the economy, and in establishing law and order throughout most of the country, even as the more aggressive measures being taken against the insurgency are having an effect within the Sunni triangle.15 Since such news does not jibe with the antiwar coalition’s take on Iraq, it does not qualify as "hard reality."

As I write these words, about a month before elections are scheduled to be held in Iraq, the insurgency is stepping up its murderous campaign to frighten people away from the polls and to force a postponement. My guess is that these terrorist attacks (which took the lives of more than 60 Iraqi civilians on a single day in December) will not succeed, and that even if they do, the postponement will not be indefinite and elections will take place sooner rather than later.16

Suppose, then (as I do), that in a year or so, a duly elected coalition government is in place in Baghdad; that it is guided by a constitution guaranteeing political freedom and minority rights; that the economy is improving; that Iraqi soldiers and policemen have taken over most of the responsibility for dealing with a severely weakened insurgency; that the number of American troops has been reduced to the size of a backup force; and that fewer and fewer Americans are being killed or wounded. What then? Will the realists and their liberal allies bow to this reality? Will they be mugged by reality?

I think not. I think they will do unto a success in Iraq what they did when Hamid Karzai was sworn in as the president of Afghanistan this past December. In a powerful report on how the press chose to cover that story, Peter H. Wehner of the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives reminds us of what the realists always said about Afghanistan: that it "was too backward; too fractious; too medieval and religiously fanatical; and too ungovernable to ever move toward democracy." Yet only three years after the war to liberate Afghanistan from the horrific Taliban regime, "a free election was held and a civilized, modern, pro-American president was sworn in." Wehner then describes how the press treated what he calls "this momentous event":

The New York Times carried the story on page A8. The Washington Post carried the story on page A13. USA Today had the briefest mention possible on page A5. The Los Angeles Times carried the story on page A3.

In the days after the palace was occupied and patrols began hitting the streets, the number of attacks on U.S. forces fell off dramatically. “It’s funny, when the ‘Eight-Deuce’ shows up, everyone just clears out or gets their act together,” Frost said.

This explosive email that was sent to the Rossi campaign (Republican Governor candidate) was originally posted on Sound Politics. It's an inside election worker's view that validates the suspicion this was a stolen election.

As John Fund has written:

In Washington state, the errors by election officials have been compared to the antics of Inspector Clouseau, only clumsier. At least 1,200 more votes were counted in Seattle's King County than the number of individual voters who can be accounted for. Other counties saw similar, albeit smaller, excess vote totals. More than 300 military personnel who were sent their absentee ballots too late to return them have signed affidavits saying they intended to vote for Mr. Rossi. Some 1 out of 20 ballots in King County that officials felt were marked unclearly were "enhanced" with Wite-Out or pens so that some had their original markings obliterated.

It's fine to talk about the importance of elections in Iraq or the West Bank, it is noble to oppose vote-stealing in the Ukraine, but it is hollow if we don't preserve clean and honest elections here in the US.

Neurotic Iraqi Wife is a blog I just found. Interesting, an answer about her hubby in the green zone and what it's like:

A-Stephie, when HUBBY was here and was watching the news especially the Arabic media, he was shocked at the amount of exxageration and kept insisting that the media is playing a major role in the chaos thats happening. He also says that having said that, everyone associated with the Americans are a target.

Imam of Yemeni mosque charged with funding Bin Laden

"The FBI undercover operation developed information that Al-Moayad personally handed Osama bin Laden $US20 million ($26.3m) from his terrorist fundraising network." Mr Al-Moayad is said to be an imam at the al-Ihsan mosque in Sanaa, one of the most important mosques in the Yemeni capital.

Saudi cleric Muhammad Al-Munajiid explained God's tsunami punishment of Christians stemmed from "the Christian holidays [that] are accompanied by forbidden things, by immorality, abomination, adultery, alcohol, drunken dancing and revelry. A belly dancer costs 2,500 pounds a minute and a singer costs 50,000 pounds an hour, and they hop from one hotel to another from night to dawn. "Then they spend the entire night defying Allah. ... At the height of immorality, Allah took revenge on these criminals. ... Allah struck them with an earthquake. He finished off the Richter scale. All nine levels gone."

In Saudi Arabia, one of last year's measures to counter mosque-generated violence was a ban on imam's using the word "jihad," or holy warrior. But the content hadn't changed much without the banned word. Saudi cleric 'Aed Al-Qarni told the worshippers, "Throats must be slit and skulls must be shattered. This is the path to victory." He was reacting to the death of a brother "killed by the brothers of apes and pigs, the murderers of the prophets." In case there was any doubt, he was referring to the Jews of Israel.

He then deplored lamented the lack of Muslim backbone: "One billion two hundred million nobodies. We are incapable of taking action, of being useful, of harming the Jews. The most people do today is to verbally protest over the TV channels or to demonstrate. What is the use of this? ... We must sacrifice people like Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rantisi, and Ahmad Yassin, and thousands of others. Houses and young men must be sacrificed. Throats must be slit and skulls must be shattered. This is the path to victory, to shahada and to sacrifice.

But most interesting is the analysis of the American response in what will likely be the new Iraqi reality post January 30th:

The US was clearly content to stay on the defensive while it attained its strategic goal of creating a new Iraqi State. Now that achievement is in sight the US is faced with the choice of whether to remain on the defensive over go over to the attack. As long as Damascus can persuade the new Iraqi government it will not directly threaten it, Syria and the Ba'athist holdouts can hope to eventually pry the incoming government in Baghdad away from the Americans. One way the US can neutralize that potential danger is to pre-emptively transform the new Iraq into a direct threat to Syria.

If that can be done, the conflict will be wound down satisfactorily and Iraq will then, finally be liberated ... As Belmont notes, we are approaching a new decision point. But before then, we have an election to hold, the critical decision-point of the Iraqis.

Terrence Balkinssoon, a 25-year-old army sergeant, was killed early Sunday after he accidently bumped into a woman as he left a nightclub (in New York city) with two of his brothers, the New York Times reported. A man escorting the woman pulled out a handgun and fired at the men. Balkinssoon was killed and one of his brothers was wounded.

Balkinssoon, who was based in Germany, had spent a year in Iraq defusing land mines. After two weeks leave he was to leave Wednesday for Indonesia to help victims of the tsunami disaster.

Meanwhile, in a village near the northern city of Mosul, where the U.S. military reported that it had mistakenly dropped a 500-pound bomb on the wrong target Saturday, residents said the Americans actually hit the correct house, killing an insurgent who they said had killed Iraqi security forces.

The residents of Aaytha, 30 miles south of Mosul, said the bomb hit the home of the Numan family, members of the prominent Sunni Muslim Jubori tribe, one of the largest in Iraq. Witnesses said the blast killed 14 members of the family, including 10 women and children. Neighbors said a toddler related to the family was the sole survivor.

Salem Jasem Jubori, who lives close to the house that was destroyed, said the head of the household was a middle-age man who "used to kill and cut" his victims, primarily Iraqi police officers and National Guardsmen, in front of fellow villagers.

"He was ferocious, very fierce and wild," Jubori said.

The U.S. military said in a statement Saturday that five people were killed and that it "deeply regretted the loss of possibly innocent lives." The statement said the house struck by an F-16 fighter jet "was not the intended target. . . . The intended target was another location nearby."

The military had no immediate reaction to the villagers' account.

It looks like we are managing to roll up the Zarqawi terrorist organization, with ZARQAWI'S COMMAND STRUCTURE DETERIORATING:

BAGHDAD [MENL] -- The U.S.-led coalition believes it has been whittling the command structure of the most lethal Islamic insurgency group in Iraq. U.S. officials said the military has captured several key leaders of the Tawhid and Jihad group led by Abu Mussib Al Zarqawi. They said the detainees were identified as leading aides of Al Zarqawi, whom the United States regards as the most lethal insurgent in Iraq.

Over the last two weeks, at least three senior aides of Al Zarqawi have been captured in northern Iraq. Officials said the military believes that the Tawhid command structure fled from Faluja to northern and western Iraq after the U.S. military invasion of the city in November 2004.

On Saturday, the U.S. military announced the capture of a key aide to Al Zarqawi. The military identified the aide as Abdul Aziz Saadoun Ahmed Hamdouni, also known as Abu Ahmed, said to have been arrested in Mosul.

Valenzuela denied reports of mass resignations, saying the Commission had 1,000 core staff and 6,000 district officials. All those who had stepped down had been replaced, he said.

"If you have 20 or 30 that have resigned that would be really overstating the case," he said. "One thing I am always amazed about is that electoral officers are still out there working, doing what they can despite all the threats."

"I believe the elections will go ahead. I hope that they will be accepted as credible, I hope that there be as much participation as possible," Valenzuela said.

"The Sunni population is paying no price for the support it is giving to the terrorists," he said. "From their point of view, it is cost-free. We have to change that equation."

We have yet to execute anyone for terrorist activities. Yet we have the deputy emir of Zarqawi's network from Mosul in our custody. After we extract the intelligence we can, why not execute this terrorist? Why not execute that Briton found with explosives on his hand, the terrorist who claimed to be a 'peace worker'? Why not execute the men found with IED materials, or mortars, or found to be funding the killers?

Alas, the news today is of targetted assassinations by the terrorists - "The deputy police chief of Samarra, Col. Mohammed Mudhafir, was killed in a drive-by shooting Sunday." Whereas the media reports only mistaken military actions, killing bystanders. This is the worst of both worlds.

Consider now this CETNCOM report:

Iraqi and multinational forces conducted multiple raids recently capturing insurgents and improvised explosive device materials. A task force from the U.S. Army’s 82nd Engineers and the 213th Iraqi National Guard captured a suspected insurgent in Kan’an Dec. 27. In an early morning raid the teams surrounded the target house and captured the suspect without incident.

The 204th Iraqi National Guard conducted a joint village engagement in Jayzania, meeting with local villagers, discussed security issues and handed out pro-Iraqi security forces flyers and handbills to the villagers.

On Dec. 29, the 205th Iraqi National Guard captured the brother of an insurgent leader in the Muqdadiyah area. The suspect, Kahzil Mohsen Shalesh, is still at large, but his brother Hazil Mohsen Shalesh was captured and is giving information about the possible whereabouts of his brother.

Also in Muqdadiyah the 205th Iraqi National Guard and a U.S. task force, in two separate raids captured men suspected of placing IEDs, seized their weapons and IED supplies Jan 1.

The ING captured Amir Saleh Ismael and Ahmed Qumra Isaa while placing IEDs. The two are suspected of attacking the ING Dec. 29. The two also confessed to placing an IED in another location. The two confessed to the location of another IED and a patrol found a 155mm white phosphorus round with detonation cord.

In a second raid, three high value targets Arkan Jawad Jari, Majid Abdul Hameed Kazim and Muthana Kahdum Al Madawwere, are all suspected of being part of an IED cell. The weapons found consisted of five 82mm mortar rounds, nine AK-47s, IED materials, one mortar site, two RPG sites and a RPK heavy machine gun.

It also described an historical precedent:

An editorial in the Iraqi daily Al-Sabah urged the Iraqis to vote despite the dangers of terrorism. It reminded them of the experience in El-Salvador in 1982 when that country, like Iraq today, was subjected to terrorist activities. Under popular pressure, the elections were held on schedule, and the election of a parliament and a new government was a turning point leading to the decline of terrorism. It says the example is applicable to Iraq and "the Iraqis should not be afraid of terrorism but, on the contrary, they should confront it because the terrorists are cowards when confronted with the will of the people."

Re-Baathification may win King Abdullah of Jordan's approval and Syrian President Bashar al-Asad's consent, but the policy will not improve Iraq's security. Insurgents and terrorists may kill Iraqis lining up to vote. They may assassinate winning candidates. But only through voting, can Iraqis choose their own government, one that will have the moral authority to undertake remedies forbidden by professional diplomats and intelligence operatives who have had trouble letting go of the old order. It is time to listen to the Iraqis.

UPDATE: David Warren on the Shia influence in the Iraqi elections.

On the tape, Yasseen, a colonel in Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s army, said two other former Iraqi military officers belonging to his group were sent "to Iran in April or May, where they met a number of Iranian intelligence officials." He said they also met with Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He said Iranian officials provided money, weapons "and, as far as I know, even car bombs" for Jaish Muhammad. Yasseen also said he got permission from Saddam — while the former dictator was in hiding after his ouster by the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 — to cross into Syria and meet with a Syrian intelligence officer to ask for money and weapons. He didn't say if the request was met.

We cannot liberate Iraq, and never could. Only Iraqis can liberate themselves, by first forging a social contract for sharing power and then having the will to go out and defend that compact against the minorities who will try to resist it. Elections are necessary for that process to unfold, but not sufficient. There has to be the will - among Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds - to forge that equitable social contract and then fight for it.

In short, we need these elections in Iraq to see if there really is a self-governing community there ready, and willing, to liberate itself - both from Iraq's old regime and from us. The answer to this question is not self-evident. This was always a shot in the dark - but one that I would argue was morally and strategically worth trying.

Because if it is impossible for the peoples of even one Arab state to voluntarily organize themselves around a social contract for democratic life, then we are looking at dictators and kings ruling this region as far as the eye can see. And that will guarantee that this region will be a cauldron of oil-financed pathologies and terrorism for the rest of our lives.

He included the NYTimes-obligatory kick-in-the-shins to the Bush administration. (3rd to last paragraph.) I'm suspicious that he throws that in there for the editors, or maybe the Bush-hating readership. The column is improved by deleting those side comments. The essential wisdom of the column is that, of course, only Iraqis can make a democratic Iraq work, and the elections are not the end-goal but the starting-point of that process. The U.S. deposing Saddam has offered an historic opporutnity, but it will take Iraqi patriots to keep and hold the democratic state together. As Franklin replied when asked what the U.S. Constitutional convention had wrought: "A Republic, if you can keep it"

Foreign ministers of neighboring countries issued a statement Thursday saying they "stood strongly behind the interim government of Iraq" and "urged all segments" of society to participate in the elections. The call was backed by Jordan, a Sunni-dominated neighbor that had previously supported postponing the election.

"Najma has fallen pray to the prideful extremists in our country intent on rejecting progress in an effort to preserve Islam. Her glowing description of the Jihadis reveal her obvious slant. She props them up as defenders of the faith, good people intent on freeing Iraq from the vile oppression of the west. Unfortunately she has been duped. The Jihadis use occupation as a pretense for fighting a larger battle to prevent western cultural influence in Iraq. Most countries beg at the door step of the west hoping for the military and economic assistance that is being offered to Iraq. Yet the pride-fullness of the Jihadis prevents them from accepting external help. The Jihadis would rather submit all Iraqis to suffering than reconcile the cultural imperatives of Islam with those of the west. The result if the Jihadis succeed will be that Iraq will be left in the dust economically and technologically. Jihadis are too short sited to realize that Iraq's only hope for peace and prosperity (and the survival of Islam!) is to enter the community of nations and begin developing an economy not soley reliant on oil. At this pace the remainder of Iraq's oil reserves will be spent on undoing the destruction wrought by the insurgency, by the time Iraq has rebuilt itself the West will have started moving away from oil as the center of its economy. When the oil reserves are exhausted and/or the west finds alternates sources of energy middle eastern societies and Islam will vanish into the sands from which they came. Iraq must seize the opportunity presented by the west to rebuild itself into a strong economically and culturally independent nation. We must rebuild our economy around endeavors other than oil production instead of wasting it on fighting a hopeless war rooted in intolerance. Iraq will only know peace and prosperity when young men and women like Najma are given the opportunity to find meaningful work here in Iraq. Najma must be able to pursue a career in computers here instead of being shipped to America or Europe were she will forget our rich cultural heritage. That will only happen when we stop our petty bickering with the Americans and work together to build a better Iraq. Personally, I am quite pleased at the American's arrival they have a deep respect for religion and strive to preserve its role in their society, they have not confined religion to their churches or homes like the Europeans. Iraq should seek to emulate this practice so that we may preserve our great cultural history while advancing economically and technologically."

"I agree with Nebil. Najma is brainwashed. She has substituted Saddam's propaganda with that of her local cleric's. This group-think mentality is wide spread in Iraq. If you read other Iraqi blogs you will find evidence that this is true. Iraqis have not learned to think for themselves so they rely on others (clerics, media, and others to do it for them). Iraq can only blame itself for its current problems. Shortly after the occupation everything was fine. The Americans were welcomed in Iraq. Then when things didn't start improving immediately we began to complain. We began to blame Americans for all of our problems without making any attempt to solve them ourselves. If we wanted an end to the violence we would stop engaging in it or hunt down those foreigners who foment it. To those detractors like Rachel, John, and others that coddle us and treat us like children I spit on you. You are the reason Iraq is a mess. Iraqis must learn some self respect and not to blame others for our problems. We have been taken care of for to long. All Iraqis should have rebelled against Saddam in the 90's when we had the chance. Instead we hesitated and hoped for the Americans to intervene and we where slaughtered. If we don't stand up and fight for ourselves and our culture we run the risk of destroying ourselves in a horrific civil war or being put under the thumb of another dictator. I am grateful to America for liberating us from Saddam. It is my hope that one day Iraq will be as powerful as Germany, Japan, or South Korea so that we can contribute to the world peace and prosperity as equals. I dream of the day when America will come to us for help and we will have the opportunity to repay our debt as free men and women."

"i am a iraqi national guardmans. my broter was shoot by insurgents. i fight with americans does that make me and my broter enemies. ask this question to you. did my broter deserved to die! i fight these people for all iraqis. they are not true muslims. they are evil people with no care for me or you. americans work with us to make iraq better they care not like insurgents." - Tariq

Britain is gripped by an unprecedented degree of irrationality, prejudice and hysteria over the issues of Iraq, the terrorist jihad and Israel. All three are intimately linked; all three, however, are thought by public opinion to be linked in precisely the wrong way. This is because all three have been systematically misreported, distorted and misrepresented through a lethal combination of profound ignorance, political malice and ancient prejudices. This systematic abuse by the media is having a devastating impact in weakening the ability of the west to defend itself against the unprecedented mortal threat that it faces from the Islamic jihad.

"We officially call them terrorists," he said. "They are between 20,000 and 30,000 armed men operating all over Iraq, mainly in the Sunni areas where they receive moral support from about 200,000 people." Al-Shahwani said the men, who are well-organized and trained, include former Baath party members, some Islamic militant groups and former army members who lost their jobs.

Al-Shahwani said terrorist attacks would negatively affect the Jan. 30 election because some people would not be able to reach polling stations. "Whether these attacks would increase or decrease, this depends on the elections result, but our expectation, as a security organ, is that the attacks will recede and end in one year," he said.

Here is the awful thing the Marines did to this man: Marines rescue Syrian driver captured in August: A Syrian found handcuffed in Fallujah and rescued by U.S. Marines was kidnapped with two French journalists in August, and has told authorities he last saw the Frenchmen a month ago ...

The Syrian told military officials he was released just ahead of the assault on Fallujah. Even though he was handcuffed, his captors told him to swim across the Euphrates River to escape. He couldn't swim, he said, and didn't try.

On Wednesday, U.S. and Iraqi forces found what commanders are calling a "hostage slaughterhouse" where foreign captives were held and possibly killed. The small house in Fallujah's northern Jolan neighborhood had bloodstained mattresses and straw mats on the floor. Military officials said they found hostages' documents, CDs showing captives being killed and black clothing like that worn by militants in videos.

In another building in Fallujah, troops also discovered an Iraqi man chained to a wall, the military said. The man, who was shackled at the ankles and wrists, bruised and starving, told Marines he was a taxi driver abducted 10 days ago and that his captors had beat him with cables. There is no word on whether the latter man, found starving and abused, will be filing suit against his former tormentors the terrorist 'resistance'. Nope. Only the U.S. Army presents a rich target for back-stabbing leeches and lawyers.

Here is the punchline on the implausibility of the claims - he wasnt under US custody. Within 24 hours of being found on November 12th, he was in front of reporters, telling his story, a story of how he was handcuffed while in captivity by terrorists: "Verges said his client was beaten by the US troops who found him at Fallujah. He said Jundi was tortured with electric shocks and subjected to mock executions by the US soldiers. In press conferences after his release Jundi made no mention of his alleged mistreatment."

From the jaded journalist's perspective, such skills seem impotent. This Economist article pegs those American soldiers being culturally-insensitive brutes losing hearts and minds:

"In Ramadi, the marines have detained a smaller number of foreigners, including a 25-year-old Briton two weeks ago, who claimed to be pursuing “peace work” but whose hands were coated with explosives. Pleased to find an enemy who understood English, marines say they queued up to taunt him; one told him he would be gang-raped in Abu Ghraib."

Ah, those ugly Americans ... It would have been nice to find out who this Briton was, his religion (Jihadist or anarchist?), and why he was found with explosives coating his hands in a foreign land that insurgents are terrorizing. But such questions are not asked. The insurgency to the media class is an implacable and omnipotent force of nature, that daren't be questioned. Only the actions of the coalition, actions of mere mortals, are worthy of second guessing.

And second-guessing the impotence of the coalition response to the insurgency is an art the media has practiced since the Americans were 'bogged down' in sandstorms. While crediting the American soliders as resourceful' , they are also called "clumsy", their reports "absurdly sunny". Consider the conclusions about Fallujah, where they layer positive facts with negative speculation to turn a clear-cut military coalition victory into a seeming confusing morass.

Facts: (1) "The Americans estimate that around 1,600 of the enemy were killed in the battle to retake the town; several times that many are thought to have fled, mostly to Baghdad and the northern parts of Babil province." (2) "Among the treasures found in the town were 400 caches of arms and an ice-cream van kitted out as a mobile car-bomb workshop. (3) "In the last three weeks of November, when the battle began, the incidence of car bombs across Iraq dipped from 44 a week, to 33, then 22." (4) "In Ramadi, as in many troubled places, the assault on Fallujah was marked by a sudden spike in violence, followed by a relative lull. After a bloody September and October—when the marines faced up to nine IEDs a day and fought street battles with, they reckon, scores of insurgents at a time, and when most of Ramadi's inhabitants fled—the past month has yielded roughly one IED every few days, and a handful of serious ambushes." (5) "insurgents no longer control any town outright."

Then they layer on this speculation: " It is unclear how much this really set back the insurgents. The many spectacular rebel attacks since the recapture of Fallujah show that the Americans have not, as their officials claim, “broken the back of the insurgency”. "

Let's recap: Killed 1,600 terrorists; eliminated an enemy safe haven; reduced violence in the largest city Ramadi) in the same province, Al Anbar; saw a dip in car bombs (despite the spectacular attacks, we saw similar attacks in previous months). Despite the spectacular attacks, the evidence practically screams that the insurgency has lost momentum.

But the article is right to say the insurgency has not had its back broken. What we learned from Fallujah was two things: Number one, the backbone of the 'insurgency' is former Saddam henchmen and Baathists, allied with crazed fundamentalist Jihadists (a small portion of which are foreigners), and funded from Syria. This last point is key to understanding both why crushing Fallujah would not eliminate the insurgency, but would set it back and/or change its nature, and why Mosul is becoming more of a problem. By eliminating Fallujah, the insurgency is going back closer to their other bases and 'supply lines'. Which means the western provinces and Mosul and Tal Afar.

This being the case, demolishing Fallujah and/or retaking it would not eliminate the insurgency. The continued violence is depressing but not unexpected, given that.

They sneer: "American commanders have abandoned the pretence of winning the love of Iraqis ahead of the scheduled vote." Ah, so that reconstruction aid was a 'pretence'?

Do you support military action against the terrorists?
Yes = 87.7 %
No = 11.1%
Don’t Know = 1.2%"

With more killings by insurgents of good Iraqi citizens and leaders, like Baghdad Governor Ali al-Haidari and his bodyguards, the best news is when insurgents kill only themselves. Some charts on the insurgent vs Coalition Soldier casualty count: