sadr city

Iraq Army success in Sadr City: true or false?

Summary:  One of the great themes of US coverage of the Iraq War is the conflicting — often directly contradictory — news coverage.  As a result, everyone gets to pick the facts they like.  Today’s example:  weapons seized by Iraq government forces in Sadr City.  This post examines both stories and finds that one version appears …

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Two stories about Basra and Sadr City – you decide who is winning

Summary:  Here are two stories about Iraq.  One by Ralph Peters, which says we are winning.  One by Gary Brecher, which says we are losing.  Can anyone tell us which is correct? Ralph Peters writes “Success in Iraq: a Media Blackout“, New York Post (20 May 2008) — Excerpt: Do we still have troops in …

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Your COIN at work

 I love reading about our awesome new COIN tactics.  Sophisticated info ops, winning hearts and minds of the locals — so unlike our Vietnam era tactics of intensive use of air power,  sweeps (search and destroy or clear), and training popular front militia. So we turn to this week’s news stories to see COIN done right. I.  …

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Who was right about Basra — experts or war bloggers?

Here is the first follow-up to the my series of posts about the fighting in Basra, a test of credibility — matching the reporting from Iraq by some war bloggers against the analysis of area experts at home.  There are two sets of mainstream media articles displayed below.  Articles by two major publications that in effect …

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