Michael Yon on pacification and rebuilding Iraqi society from the bottom up. [here] My favorite line: "When nobody is shooting if means you are winning." Somebody should inform Marine commanders of a "kinetic" mindset who are upset that there has been so little violence in recent weeks.
And then there is this from Austin Bay, who worries that the insurgents are planning an all-out Tet-style offensive in order to discredit the Maliki and Bush administrations. Remember the enemy reads our military and political history and is well aware of shameful episodes such as our abandonment of our South Vietnamese allies. They still remain convinced that the US will chicken out eventually and with people like Harry Reid in charge, they might be right.
