News from "the few, the proud" in Iraq

---

A Letter from Dave from The Green Side

Mata Musing

Ever in quest for some good news on a day that symbolizes the ringing in of a new era of hope, I bypassed much of the domestic nonsense and opted for this letter from Dave on New Years Eve, and his reports from the battlefields of Falluja.

Dear Dad -

For the past six weeks, the Regiment has been busy cleaning up the city and chasing down remaining pockets of insurgents. There have been some very stiff, isolated battles where the Marines continued to perform with the same tenacity and heroism that made them so successful in November. Unfortunately these efforts have not come without a price. We have lost additional Marines and many more have been wounded during these ongoing operations.

(snip)

Elections are less than a month away. The combination of the smashing defeat the enemy suffered in Fallujah along with the prospect of looming free elections has made them desperate. They regularly threaten the people by telling them that any one who goes to vote will be killed by the muj. They claim to be watching the polling places and continue to state that they will wage suicide attacks on the crowds that assemble there.

(snip)

The insurgency is a collection of different elements that have gotten together out of a marriage of convenience and who are galvanized by a common enemy - us. The greatest irony is that the two most prominent players in the insurgency are former regime members from the Ba'ath party and the international Islamic extremists. These two elements are deeply in bed together but they do what they can to keep their alliance secret. The old regime henchmen hide out here in Iraq or just across the border and pump money and direction into the insurgency so that they can some day resume power. The Islamic extremist take the training and money offered by Sadaam's cronies and do the bidding of these criminals so that they can create a sectarian state not unlike the one the Taliban created in Afghanistan. How in the world can you call yourself a holy warrior and be in league with some of the greatest criminals this region has known?

Slowly but surely the people are returning and as you can imagine, there is a high degree of caution on both sides. Overall though, we have been pleasantly surprised by the lack of hostility from the people. Most just seem to want to live their lives. The Marines have seen this and have responded with an equally surprising degree of compassion. However, there is no doubt the muj will do their best to continue their fight without any compunction of putting the "innocent people" in the middle. They are well aware of the danger of the people seeing first hand that we are not "infidel animals" that are waiting to rape their women and children as they have been told. When the enemy senses this crack in its intimidation campaign, it will make the people pay in order to get them back in line. Time will tell how it will work out but we know the next several weeks are going to be tough.

Dave

Mata Musing cont'd

God I love our troops. Like McCain says, they truly "are the best of us".

The Green Side, the home of Lt. Col. Dave G. Bellon, USMC, is a place I visit when I wish my spirits lifted by those from whom we hear all too little. It is great medicine, recharging my emotional batteries.

I certainly wish the MSM would start publishing the scribblings of soldiers such as Dave instead of speculating with their own doom 'n gloom. Frankly, I consider Dave a far more credible source than a reporter in Baghdad, passing on the lies of al Jazeera and the terrorists.

Above is just a heartwarming sample of Dave's insight. So I urge you to peruse Dave's blog, and bask in his no-nonsence and very human perspectives. He is a hero "in the know". I lift a toast to Dave and his peers, and wish for their rapid, safe and successful return home.

And I dearly hope that 2005 brings the fall of the dishonest MSM and their agenda-laden power, ending their regime of reports of lies and failure that aids the enemies of the free world and distorts the big picture.

Let truth and freedom ring.