Iraq News (5 Mar)

The Good: The 2nd Brigade, 82nd Airborne is redeploying from Iraq. They were sent here in January 2007 as part of the surge strategy to move off large FOBs and into neighborhoods in Baghdad. Even a terse analysis of their deployment could not call it anything less than successful, as violence in Baghdad has plummeted from the beginning of 2007 when the city was rife with sectarian violence. On a personal note, it may seem a little abstract when folks back home "Thank them for their service", but for a guy residing in the Green Zone, I unequivocally "Thank them for their service" as I can sleep well at night in my trailer knowing these guys have got my back. You can thank them personally for their 15-month deployment via the milblog Eighty Deuce on the Loose. Admiral Fallon, CENTCOM commander, has testified to the Senate Armed Services Committee and stated that the surge worked in clamping down on violence in Iraq.

The Bad: An Mi-17 Iraqi helicopter crashed leaving no survivors, presumably due to dust storms. Despite a lot of smiling photo-ops from Ahmadinejad and promises of prosperous future relations, Iran is still making a lot of trouble for Iraq.

The Ugly: It's no secret that the Iraq war has been pretty damn expensive, but Mr. Herbert at the NY Times says the money should've been used to spend on government entitlement programs. Obviously I disagree with him on that. But he does bring up a good point about the Bush Administration being the only people who lowered taxes during a time of war (two in this case!) and didn't cut back on government spending elsewhere. Maybe that's why our deficit is coming up on $10 Trillion. With the way the dollar is turning into funny money, I should invest in a wheelbarrow, so I can have the means to schlep enough cash to the gas station to buy a pack of smokes. Returning Lt. Gen. Odierno says we need time to re-assess the situations on the ground following the drawdown to 15 Brigade Combat Teams in Iraq in the July timeframe. With our current mission, I certainly agree with my superior, but where we get these military personnel to continue supporting the mission in Iraq is a question for a man on the right in the picture below.

Bush remains mum on strains of the military