As Dafydd ab Hugh would say "slither hither, o wise," and see what he had up on Big Lizards yesterday: “The Anbar Effect”. He talks about the difference between the "beggar" politicians in Iraq and our "protégés," the Iraqi Army.
Far from being beggars, the Iraqi Army were trained by Americans, fight alongside the Americans, and have increasingly been in charge of battles, campaigns, and holding cities recaptured from the terrorists. Everything they now know about modern combat they learned from us. And they have learned extremely well: Bill Roggio, once and future proprietor of the Fourth Rail and now blogging from Iraq over at ThreatsWatch, who is currently in Husaybah -- say, wasn't that a combat zone just a couple weeks ago? How (son of) flime ties -- described the performance of the Iraqi Army troops occupying Husaybah thus: "Other than their uniforms, they were virtually indistinguishable from their Marine counterparts. [Emphasis added {by Dafydd}]"
They take casualties -- and take cities. They've earned their tremendous respect, not just in blood but in victories. The new Iraqi Army are not the recipients of American charity. Rather, they are our protégés.
He does, as always, an excellent job of describing and explaining the situation - Dafydd is a superb writer and a great teacher. So, I'd suggest you go on over and read it, if you haven't already, because there's lots of good information and interesting reading.
