The Pictures Have Changed

We've heard Obama on the surge:

Pressed once more on whether he gives the surge any credit for reducing violence in Iraq, Obama said he did, as one factor of many.

""No, no of course I have," he said. "There is no doubt that the extraordinary work of our U.S. forces has contributed to a lessening of the violence, just as making sure that the Sadr militia stood down or the fact that the Sunni tribes decided to flip and work with us instead of with al-Qaeda -- something that we hadn't anticipated happening. All those things have contributed to a reduction in violence."

Well, at least he praises, sincerely or insincerely, the "extraordinary (though unnecessary) work" of the troops. I disagree only with his parenthetical. He says, "yes, great work, but it was only a coincidence that success followed." He's wrong, he's lying, and I think he knows he's lying.

Sadr's army stood down because we made it clear that it was either stand down or die. The Sunnis decided turned on al Queda because it became clear that al Queda could be defeated.

Which brings me to the picture above. It is from the April 5th, 2008 edition of The Advisor, a publication of the Multi-National Security Transition Command – Iraq. A year earlier, April 2007, you could find this image:


Notice the difference? All the early issues of The Advisor showed Iraqis with blurred faces. And the reason was simple: they feared reprisals. And who could blame them? They were being asked to throw their lot in with a country that had politicians and moonbats screaming for us to abandon them. Get your picture in the paper and face death when the Americans pull out. After all, didn't even Harry Reed declare that the war was lost?

But the surge showed that George Bush wasn't listening, and would not listen, to the Harry Pelosis and the Nancy Reeds. We were going to win and it was safe to choose our side over the market bombers and the kidnappers. Because the market bombers and the kidnappers were going down.

Are the pictures proof? No. But the Sadr stand-down and the Sunni decision to fight weren't coincidences. It means something that there are no blurred faces in the latest Advisor. These things are the result of a country seeing that victory is possible, and in fact, victory is happening. And this situation came about thanks to the efforts of American soldiers, marines, and airmen; not in spite of them.