Iraqi Troops Are Beginning to Kick Some Butt

Yesterday, Powerline Blog posted a story that really got to me. It tells about the thoughts on the war from Minnesota Congressman, Colonel John Kline (USMC, Ret.). Col. Kline has traveled to Iraq and has nothing but good things to say about not only the morale and performance of our troops, but the progress of the Iraqi troops as well, as they are trained by our military to eventually take over the job of protecting their country. Isn't that something? In 1991 and 2003, we were fighting Iraq's military; now we are training their military. I was especially touched by what Col. Kline had to say about one Iraqi unit he witnessed as they carried out a live-fire training exercise:

There is a unit called the Iraqi counterterrorist force that was trained by our special operations forces. These guys are the elite of the Iraqi forces. They are composed of Kurds, Sunni Arabs and Shia. They fight all over the country, they are a focused unit in that they are going after Zarqawi and the like. And they are darned good and they are very very proud of themselves. That’s something that Americans can’t have a sense for, how proud the Iraqi forces are. Their allegiance is to an Iraqi nation, not to a militia, not to a warlord, not to a particular religious sect.

And they are good. We saw a live-fire demonstration of them taking down a building with a simulated hostage in it. It was lightning-fast, very professional. And when it was over they came and formed up ranks and we went over and talked to them and told them how good they were and even though all the soldiers had balaklavas on, you could see their smiles right through it. They were really proud of themselves.

As the guys from Powerline Blog put it,

How can it be that the press fawns over every pronouncement from Jack Murtha, while studiously ignoring the observations and opinions of the far more experienced and better-informed John Kline?

How indeed?

Good Day to You, Sir