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| - by user User: Rosemary There has been much talk about this new operation, depending on which side of the discussion you find yourself. We all know what we think, so I thought it would be good if we just stepped back and out of the way for a moment to listen to what the Iraqis who live right there have to say. Obviously I am going to bring you their personal beliefs from their blogs. Sometimes it was the only news I could get from this war. I feel confident in the sincerity of these people whom I am going to quote. Shall we? First I would like to share with the opening of operations as seen through the eyes of Omar at Iraq the Model. This was written on Feb. 15, 2007 and is named, "Operation Baghdad Update": > Despite the traffic jams and though this is the largest deployment for troops in the capital, daily life and civilian activity-contrary to what was expected-still continues at a rather normal level, unlike previous crackdowns where life came to near paralysis. Read more. He also goes into detail about Maliki and his observations as to this man's actions in the recent days. His brother, Mohammed, has written an article titled, "Attacks in Baghdad down by 80%" on Sunday, Feb. 18, 2007: > Since the multiple bombings in Shroja market district on the 12th, Baghdad hasn’t seen any major attacks and there’s a tangible decrease in all kinds of attacks. > > Not only official statements say so (Defense ministry officials said today that attacks are down by 80% in Baghdad). It’s a reality I live in nowadays, at least in my neighborhood and its surroundings. It is also what I hear from friends and relatives in other parts of the city.We are hearing fewer explosions and less gunfire now than two weeks ago and that, in Baghdad, qualifies as quiet. Read more. This is an awesome post. I never would have guessed any of this just by reading our own newspapers. Do we have journalists over there? The latest post from the ITM brothers (Mohammed) is titled, "Bombs strike again but hope remains" and was written Monday, Feb. 19, 2007: > Although soldiers and policemen are filling the streets, the terrorists are too coward to face the troops and choose to massacre unarmed civilians instead. What are they trying to prove with these cowardly acts? They can’t defeat the troops, so they attack civilians to discredit the security plan. But I don’t think such attacks can change the course of events on the long term; the Baghdad plan is a strategic effort that will go on for months, and time doesn’t seem to be on the terrorists’ side right now.... Although attacks happen here and there, the general feeling is still closer to hope and appreciation of the plan than pessimism. More families are returning to the homes they were once forced to leave, and we’re talking about some of the most dangerous districts such as Ghazaliya and Haifa Street. > > Al-Sabah reports that yesterday alone 327 families returned home and that the scene of vans loaded with furniture of refugees leaving Baghdad is no more. There were times when the average was around 20 a day. The 327 figure brought the total to more than 500 families across Baghdad. Read more. They seem to be able to find the confidence within themselves that our politicians are sorely lacking. Alas, let us keep the pols out of this. Here is another person who has written about the recent events. IraqiPundit has this to say in this post written Mon, 2/19/2007. The title is, "A Baghdad Homecoming": > Here’s a quick snapshot of the Baghdad security crackdown, from my own family’s point of view. My story involves only a single household, but – so far – it has a happy ending. I don’t pretend that this one household’s story is a counterweight to all the misery and murder that the crackdown is intended to address, but it’s my profound hope that this story is – or soon will be --representative of many other such individual tales that will be told by many other Iraqi families. Read more. IraqPundit has a very keen sense of what is happening in and around Iraq. Very nice and moving article. All of these posts are insightful and informative. They have much more news than you will find in our dinosaur media. You may also wish to read Pajamas Media. This is a collection of several citizen journalists who dedicate their time going after the news that is really out there but we never see. Have a great day. Cross-posted at DoD Daily News. __NOEDITSECTION__ From The Opinion Wiki, a Wikia wiki. From The Opinion Wiki, a Wikia wiki.
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