November 30, 2006
THAT'S NOT HOW IT LOOKS FROM MY ARMCHAIR...:
Will the real Ramadi please stand up? (Michael Fumento, 11/30/06)
"The U.S. military is no longer able to defeat a bloody insurgency in western Iraq [Al Anbar Province] or counter al Qaeda's rising popularity there, according to newly disclosed details from a classified Marine Corps intelligence report," began a front-page article in yesterday's Washington Post by Dafna Linzer and Thomas E. Ricks. It concerned the so-called "Devlin Report," a five-page document allegedly filled with gloom and doom. It contrasts completely with my article Return to Ramadi, in the Nov. 27 Weekly Standard, in which I write that the largest city in the province is slowly being reclaimed from al Qaeda. By coincidence, the day my article hit the stands the Times of London published an extensive article coming to the same conclusion as mine. But for the timing, you'd practically think one of us had plagiarized the other.Posted by Orrin Judd at November 30, 2006 9:03 PMWhy such different conclusions between our articles and the Post's and whom to believe?
It helps to know that the Times writer and I both went to and reported from Ramadi. We didn't summarize classified documents or quote unnamed sources. Linzer and Ricks stayed home and reported from Washington, relying entirely on an unpublished document in addition to quoting a "senior intelligence official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity."
My nephew was recently stationed in Ramadi and recently said he'd be out of contact for a few weeks but couldn't say why. I'll try to give you his impressions when we next speak. Still, he'd been there for a while and didn't seem too distressed. He's a tough kid though.
Posted by: Patrick H at November 30, 2006 10:13 PMA friend's Marine son has done one tour in Ramadi and will be going back in March. He told me not to believe everything you see in "news" reports.
Posted by: JimBobElrod at December 1, 2006 7:17 AM