Editor’s Note: When I was the editor of a small rightwing "rag," I had the pleasure of having a working relationship with a couple of guys in uniform, both of whom were doing tours of duty in Iraq. It was a good partnership, enabling them to get their message out, and simultaneously allowing me to publish copy, which none of the press in my area (or the rest of the country, for that matter) felt was worth printing.

I used the word "felt" in reference to mainstream media, because most of them never had what amounted to a sentient thought when it came to reporting the facts. It was all about what they felt, or feel…was really happening in the world. Unfortunately, what they felt like writing about rarely had any correspondence to reality. But they're damn "good" writers and we all know how important that is to being a good reporter.

Anyway, what follows is some commentary and a bit of news sent to me (Oct. 2006) from a soldier who contributed regularly to our Soldier Diaries column. I only know the writer as Bandit 36. He has since returned from Iraq, and as far as I know is living happily ever after somewhere on American soil. God bless him and his family wherever they are.

B-36 News: October 11^th, 2006

I had worked up a nice little narrative about my experience of the explosions that resulted from the fire at FOB Falcon, but as I reread it I started thinking OPSEC and decided that if I had to think twice about it, chances are I shouldn't post it.

According to MNF-Iraq.com's report, a bad guy's mortar landed in the ammo dump and was responsible for the fires and explosions. Let me just say that these guys were shooting blind and just happened to land a lucky shot somewhere that made a lot of pretty sparkles, and loud noises that got them in the news.

Today I've been reading some of the reports in the news about last night and couldn't help but laugh at how wrong they are. Two early reports, one from Reuters and another from eCanadaNow, claimed that the explosions were actually in the Green Zone… Sounds to me like some reporter was hiding in a bunker,  made a quick cell phone call to his editor after hearing the first few explosions and didn't bother to make sure that he had his facts straight.

Afghanistan to Basrah
Umar Faruq had been detained in a prison in Afghanistan, but he had managed to escape only to be waxed in Basrah.

Ground forces have verified the death of Mahmoud Ahmed Mohammed Al-Rashid, also known as Umar Faruq, through DNA testing.

During a raid, Sept 25 in Basrah, ground forces killed Mahmoud Ahmed Mohammed Al-Rashid Faruq. As forces maneuvered to the objective, they received small-arms fire from suspected terrorists. Forces killed an individual wielding a firearm as they reached the objective. After taking photographs and gathering DNA evidence from the individual, ground forces left the suspected terrorist remains at the site. It was later determined through DNA gathered from the site that the individual killed was Umar Faruq.

But Iraq isn't a part of the war on terror or anything so he was probably visiting family or vacationing in sunny Basrah… nevermind the AK47 he was firing.

Quantifiable, Verifiable Progress
So you want proof that we're still making forward progress? Try this:

This week, one brigade and three battalions of the Iraqi Army assumed the lead in their areas of operation, bringing the total of Iraqi units in the lead to six Iraqi Army division headquarters, 30 brigades and 89 battalions,” said MG, William Caldwell. “Of the 110 bases that Coalition forces have occupied since 2003, 52 have been turned over to Iraqi control.”

“In September, Iraqi and Coalition forces killed more than 110 terrorists and detained more than 520 suspected terrorists in 164 operations,” Caldwell said. Based on information received from a recently detained al-Qaida member, Coalition forces
detained a former driver and personal assistant of Abu Ayyoub al- Masri, the purported leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, along with 31 others during a series of raids in the Baghdad area Sept. 28th.

But aren't we supposed to be bogged down in an untenable quagmire? That's what the media keeps telling us. Maybe I just don't know what I'm talking about.