Friday, July 06, 2007

The al Ameriki

Michael Yon has a Baqubah update that contains the following:
"...but during one of the impromptu stops, an Iraqi man who might have been 30 years old came up and said that he’d been beaten up by soldiers from the 5th Iraqi Army. He had the marks on his face to lend initial credence. But most striking was that he hadn’t gone to the Iraqi leaders, nor did he come to the man with the camera and note pad. He did what I see Iraqis increasingly doing: he went to the local sheik of “al Ameriki tribe.” In this case, the sheik was LTC Fred Johnson. (Note: I have not heard anyone calling the American commanders sheiks, but during meetings around Iraq, American officers often preside like sheiks and with sheiks.)"


What I find most interesting about this is that the Iraqi must know that the American sheik cannot give justice - he is only a trusted means to bring the injustice to someone in the Iraqi government. That in itself is a positive indicator, both regarding the American officer and the Iraqi government.

Bill Roggio also provides another encouraging report (be sure and read the comments).

The political rationale behind the premature ejaculations of defeat by Copperhead leadership becomes more clear with each passing week - gotta nail down that 'all is lost' narrative before it's overtaken by facts indicating actual progress.

1 comment:

MeaninglessHotAir said...

Thanks for that. I really appreciate this. I just wish the rest of the country would read it.