Source: Selected Figures from the Report of the Jones Commission on the Iraqi Security Forces
Report to Congress on the Situation in Iraq (PDF)
Charts (PDF)
From a longer exerpt;

“I will not minimize the enormity of the challenges faced by Iraqis, nor the complexity of the situation. Yet at the same time, I intend to demonstrate that it is possible for the United States to see its goals realized in Iraq and that Iraqis are capable of tackling and addressing the problems confronting them today. A secure, stable, democratic Iraq at peace with its neighbors is attainable.
“Some of the more promising political developments at the national level are neither measured in benchmarks nor visible to those far from Baghdad. For instance, there is a budding debate about federalism among Iraq’s leaders and, importantly, within the Sunni community. Those living in places like al-Anbar and Salahaddin are beginning to realize how localities having more of a say in daily decision making will empower their communities. No longer is an all-powerful Baghdad seen as the panacea to Iraq’s problems. This thinking is nascent, but it is ultimately critical to the evolution of a common vision among all Iraqi leaders.

Update: A critique from Michael Yon;

General David Petraeus’s first day of testimony was completely accurate, and consistent with my recent experiences around Iraq. Everything he said during the public hearing on Monday was measured, cogent, and demonstrably accurate. That his reputation was attacked in an entirely inaccurate full-page advertisement in the New York Times is a smear on the reputation of the New York Times.

I wonder how the Times’ regular commercial advertisers will react when they learn about this?
More thoughts on the timing of an Iraqi poll – The media’s Tet offensive – “‘Coming at a crucial moment?’ Is the BBC serious? Would they really have us believe that the release of the poll results on the day of the Petraeus/Crocker testimony was some kind of coincidence? Polling was carried out between August 17 and August 24, so the BBC and ABC have been sitting on these results for two weeks…”

Damian Brooks interviews BGen David Fraser;

Before speaking with the general, I talked and corresponded with people who had served under him in Afghanistan. I heard two main things from them: that Fraser took each casualty on his watch very personally, so the idea that he would risk troops lives recklessly would be laughable if it wasn’t such a serious matter; and that he has big shoulders, so he won’t be pointing any fingers at anyone else. On the first point, I’ll have to take their word. On the second, he proved true to their assessment.
We spoke for over an hour about the circumstances leading up to Operation Medusa, about the operation itself, about the consequences of Medusa, and about some widely held misconceptions about the mission and its effectiveness.

Armchair chickenhawk warblogger Bill Ardolino reports from Fallujah. One of his readers comments:

I have sat and cried just seeing the pics and reading the article. I have 2 Marines in Fallujah right now and I cannot wait to show this article to any and everyone I see. Do you think if enough of us sent the article to foxnews they would put this story up front? NOWHERE else have I seen pics like these, of the actual work that has been going on. Thank you just doesn’t seem enough for the author and I know it isn’t enough for these Marines. And I would venture to say neither is expecting one. But from the bottom of this Marine momma’s heart, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU.

Bill is supported by reader donations – there’s a link at the bottom of his page.

Are saving lives in Iraq.

New glass.
h/t

A must-read, experience-based rant on the appalling ignorance of Canadians regarding the Afghan mission, by someone who’s been there:

I’ve had enough. Consider this my rant against ignorance; my protest against agendas, half-truths, and lies. For almost two years I have been closely following the news from and about Afghanistan and it has been demoralizing to say the least. I spent a year in Kabul with the Strategic Advisory Team and watched the media only report the deaths our Forces suffered rather than the successes we (not just the SAT) achieved. I have watched “experts”, editorialists, politicians, protesters, activists and pundits mangle facts, misread situations and push agendas. Most of what I have read and seen has been flawed to one degree or another. As a result many Canadians I have spoken to are wholly unaware of what we are doing there and why we are doing it. The debate has been so muddied by poor reporting and incomplete information that most people are stunned when they hear of our successes.
At the same time I have heard only reactive, ineffective whimpers from our establishment. Our government and DND in particular has done a poor job of getting the message out. Granted things are improving but you only have to look at the News Room on the DND website to see that the majority of news releases concerning Afghanistan concern the deaths and injuries we have suffered in Kandahar. In other words we are playing into the media’s “if it bleeds, it leads” approach to coverage.

You really do need to read the whole thing.

By The Ghosts of Anbar.

Captain Capitalism writes;

Put together this kind of going away gift for my buddy Pete who resigned his corporate lawyer position to rejoin the military and head out to Baghdad. I’ve already received enough photos for a calendar, so I’m going to make a photo album instead.
HOWEVER!
I did receive two pictures from single women whose pictures (ahem) suggested they were single and it gave me a pretty cool idea;
A 1940’s themed vintage calendar for all the boys and men in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In any case here’s the post I made, but if any our beloved northern neighbors wanted to send photos I’m sure Pete and the Canadian forces would appreciate it.
If i get enough photo’s I’ll make a calendar, otherwise I have more than 12 photos of regular folk so I’ll just make that a photo album.

You can send photos to CaptCapitalism@yahoo.com

Emerging in an unlikely place;

The recent rains and flooding took a toll on a by-pass road to the East of Kandahar City and caused severe damage. The dyke that protects the road failed and allowed fast flowing water to erode the road itself and many places along the side of the road as well. In total, a 15 metre gap was made when the water washed away a culvert and the road on top of it, and 300-400 metres of the road and its shoulders were also damaged.

A soldier’s first hand report that you won’t read in the Globe and Mail.

In loving colour.

Surgery in Kandahar;

Dr. Vivian McAlister, a civilian doctor from London, Ont., busted into the media hooch. He said they were about to operate on an Afghan National Army soldier hurt by an IED and asked if I would like to sit in. I grabbed my gear and headed over.
The doctor showed me where to get changed into scrubs and then gave me a tour of the operating room. I decide to leave the sketchpads outside the OR and just use the camera.
The ANA soldier was one of six soldiers hit by the IED. Four died immediately; one made it as far as here before dying. This was the blast’s only survivor.
On duty were four surgeons, three nurses, an anesthesiologist and an X-ray technician. Throw in an artist and we hit double figures. It was going to be a bit cramped. I determined to keep the hell out of their way.

A longer, illustrated version at Richard Johnson’s Kandahar Journal blog at the NP.

In the Middle East… “Cry havoc, and let slip the man-eating badgers of war.”
Behind enemy lines… “The dangerous world of squirrel reconnaissance.”
And on the home front…

Damian Brooks;

Coercive missions are central to Canada’s influence in global matters, regardless of the level of intensity entailed in those operations. Unfortunately, our understanding of the difficulties and costs associated with such missions has been dampened and confused by the prevailing balance of power through much of the last century. We deployed military forces in Europe in a coercive role, to dissuade the Soviet Union and its client states from invading the free and democratic western Europe. We deployed military forces in Cyprus and the Sinai for decades, in purely coercive missions. But with the spectre of war between the nuclear superpowers hanging over such conflicts, they never escalated to the point where the cost in blood and treasure to Canada was deemed too high.
We should not confuse that lack of open warfare with success in our aims, however: the underlying conflicts in most of our peacekeeping missions still simmer beneath the surface. In that aspect, Afghanistan isn’t so different from the Balkans. It’s just that in one instance we’ve stuck around long enough to get them to at least temporarily forego violent resolution of their conflict, and in the other, we haven’t.

Read the whole thing – especially if your name is Bob Fife, Jim Travers, Lawrence Martin or any other number of other mainstream pretenders and pollsters purporting to provide “opinion” and “analysis” to a Canadian public your industry has so thoroughly failed.

I’ve hammered this point home with a number of people in uniform, but I fear not with enough, and not with those senior enough to make a difference: every single mission the CF wants to undertake is critically dependent upon domestic public support.
You want to retain our maritime command and control capability interfacing with our allies, even if it’s with a jack-of-all-trades ship instead of more specialized hulls for different missions? Educate the public, or the money just won’t come. You think new strike fighters are at the very least what Canada needs, a compromise between an air-defence fighter and a dedicated CAS aircraft? You won’t get them without telling Canadians why they need them. You want to put the myth of peacekeeping to bed once and for all so that you have the mandate, the equipment, and the manpower to take on the new fourth-generation warfare of this century? Make sure your public, the ones who elect your civilian superiors and pay your bills with their tax dollars know enough to make educated decisions about defence.

A message that is especially relevant in a nation where a good number of the political and chattering classes are intent on keeping us in the dark, or are mired in it themselves.

Belinda Naismith was 34 and a mother of three when her husband Kevin was killed ejecting from a CF-18;

The day after his death she had media camped outside her home at Cold Lake, Alta., where they lived at the time.
There was more than the normal paperwork that must be signed when someone dies, because her husband was in the Canadian Forces. There was also an investigation to get through.
None of Belinda Naismith’s friends — many of them were young wives and mothers themselves — knew what it was like to lose a spouse. Naismith remembers comments that were probably meant to console, but only compounded her grief. It was a sympathy card from another widow, whose husband died while on duty, that Naismith remembers finding consolation in.
[…]
Now, however, there is a group of nine people from across the country, including Naismith, whose contact information can be given out so those who have lost a loved one serving in the military can talk to someone who can truly empathize. All nine of the people in the group have lost a loved one who was serving in the military.
Then it is up to the person from the support group to make contact. Naismith said the first call can be awkward but it is mainly to introduce herself and set up a time when it would be better to talk.
“This is not counsel. It’s just to reach out your hand and say, ‘I know how dark that tunnel is and I’m standing here on the other side,” said Naismith, who would have welcomed such a call when her husband died.

The OSISS website.

53. Every one who
(a) attempts, for a traitorous or mutinous purpose, to seduce a member of the Canadian Forces from his duty and allegiance to Her Majesty, or
(b) attempts to incite or to induce a member of the Canadian Forces to commit a traitorous or mutinous act, is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years

More here.

Doug Plummer’s change of heart.

Beginning at 10 am local (12 noon Eastern), Saskatchewan radio talk host John Gormley will be taking calls from listeners who wish to pass along messages of support and encouragement to Canadian troops. The tape will be sent for rebroadcast in Afghanistan.
You can listen live at the link provided. I expect the lines will be busy, but I’ll pass the phone number along anyway. 1-877-332-8255