Good News From Iraq
The excellent Gateway Pundit has updates on the successful--in fact, utterly one-sided--Tal Afar battle, as well as President Talabani's visit to the White House today. President Talabani said:
In the name of Iraqi people, I say to you, Mr. President, and to the glorious American people, thank you, thank you. Thank you, because you liberated us from the worst kind of dictatorship. Our people suffered too much from this worst kind of dictatorship... Thank you, and thanks to the United States, there are now 15 million Muslims in Afghanistan and Iraq liberated by your courageous leadership and decision to liberate us, Mr. President.We agree with Mr. President Bush that democracy is the solution to the problems of the Middle East. Mr. President, you are a visionary, great statesman. We salute you. We are grateful to you. We will never forget what you have done for our people.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you, sir.
PRESIDENT TALABANI: We have had a good discussion with Mr. President. We are partners. We are proud to say openly and to repeat it that we are partners of the United States of America in fighting against tyranny, terrorism, and for democracy. It is something we are not shy to say and will repeat it everywhere, here and in Iraq, and the United Nations and everywhere.
Iraq is America's ally in the war against terrorism. Our soldiers are now fighting side-by-side with your brave soldiers, now and every day. We have captured many senior elements of al Qaeda. We killed many of them, and we have also many of them in our prisons.
The only problem, Mr. President, is that no matter how proud you may be to repeat your thanks to the United States and proclaim your country's partnership with us, the American people will never hear about it--not if they rely on the mainstream media, anyway.
Meanwhile, it's back to school time here in the U.S., and in Iraq as well. Our friend Haider Ajina has translated a headline and article from the September 13 edition of the Iraqi Arab newspaper “Alrafidayn”:
Iraqi Schools start without Saddam’s picture and Baathist Ideology
Iraqi children have returned to a new school year to find their curriculum containing every thing except Saddam Hussein. After two years of negotiations the education ministry finalized new Iraqi school curriculum to replace the Baathist vision of history.Examples are that history books no longer call Iraq the victor in the Iran Iraq war. Nor do the books call for fighting the Zionist enemy. Nor do elementary school children learn how to read by reading sentences that read, “I love Saddam Hussein”.
Perfection? No. Progress? Yes. Haider writes:
Over the last two months, I have noticed a substantially more up beat mood in Iraqi newspaper, radio, TV news and commentary as well as from speaking to my family in Iraq. I sense an enthusiasm in their voices. An enthusiasm about the future, an enthusiasm you hear from people who have a stake in their future and feel that they have some control over how to shape it.Sunni mosques & political leaders are calling on their followers to get out and register to vote. They tell their followers that it is their religious duty and their duty as loyal Iraqis to register and vote. This is a far cry from what these same mosques told Sunnis to do for the January election. Then they discouraged them from voting and called voting unislamic.
Shiite mosques and political leaders do not have to work as hard and they are reminding their followers to be sure to vote. Women specially have a lot at stake. Women’s organizations are working overtime, to educate Iraqi women about the proposed constitution and their rights.
It is very heartening and encouraging, especially when I remember that only 30 months ago my family could not speak freely for fear for their lives and had little hope in their voices.
Once again, a thank you to this great country of ours from the Ajinas in Iraq and us in Mckinleyville for bringing hope, freedom and optimism to Iraq, a land which desperately needed it.
No doubt all of this will appear in the New York Times tomorrow.
SCOTT adds: Today's briefing by Col. H.R. McMaster on Operation Restoring Rights is accessible here. Col. McMaster is Commander of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment and a Ph.D. in American history; he appears for the briefing in the Pentagon by video from Iraq. Forty minutes long, Col. McMaster's briefing is utterly compelling and highly recommended, including an account of the discovery of an enemy house rigged with chemical weapons. Please check it out and stick with it to the end. And after you do, check out Col. McMaster's Dereliction of Duty: Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam.
