One of the newly constructed homes in Dohok, Iraq
Part 5
It�s hard to write about Dohok because the place is so normal. Getting there is an adventure, but there is little adventure to be found after arrival. The most remarkable thing about the city is how unremarkable it is.
The first time I went there on a day trip from Erbil it seemed like such an innocent place. After seeing the rough hell of Turkish Kurdistan, though, and realizing that the Kurds in Iraq had it even worse under Saddam, it did not seem so innocent to me anymore. Iraqi Kurds struck me as deeply, profoundly, mature. It took so much work, blood, and sacrifice to build what they have. And they built it from nothing.
Its heartening to see the Kurds thrive in an enviornment other than oppression….stories like this give me some hope for the larger population of Iraq acheiving some semblance of normality from the madness of tribal warfare.
Reporting From the Scene
Michael Totten is back in Kurdish northern Iraq and has filed his fifth post from there. It’s an excellent essay with lots of good pictures of “Kurdistan,” which Totten describes as the Utah of the Middle East. It’s great to get original and insightful reporting from someone outside the MSM. Michael is relying on contributions from readers to finance his trip, so please consider hitting his tip jar.
Meanwhile, Bill Roggio has merged his site with The Counterterrorism Blog and is leaving for Afghanistan next month as an embedded reporter. Roggio intends to devote his efforts full-time to the Counterterrorism Foundation.
And, finally, Michael Yon has set up Frontline Forum as a place where military personnel can post their thoughts and observations.
All of which means that you can get direct, unfiltered news from Iraq and Afghanistan without having to rely on the MSM.
HT: InstaPundit +
http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/001126.html
Counterterrorism here:
http://www.paulding.net/bin/url.cgi/13257.2
http://www.michaelyon-online.com/flf/
via powerlineblog.com