Yon is incredible.. So much better than the "new for retards" the regular media assaults us with.

Excellent article from Yon. And beyond words excellent work by LTC Doug Crissman and his soldiers.

Yon's writing is excellent. Be sure to read the latest dispatch on his time with the Brits.

Yon should get some kind of a reward. I'd suggest a Pulitzer, or even a Nobel, but those don't normally go to people writing the truth. Maybe someone should take up a collection for him to have a good vacation somewhere when he returns from theater. At least buy him a beer.

It was an interesting story. It was also easy to see why nobody in the MSM is reporting on the events of the day. First of all the general is actually a colonel, and he was not charged with murder, and the army almost F-up the whole operation.

The Iraqi colonel was one of the few Iraqis that were actual fighting and defeating the al Qaeda insurgents. It appears that he was getting a little bit too powerful for the likes of the current government, so they ordered our boys to intervene in an internal power struggle.

Let's say that this guy is corrupt (who isn't over there?). Why does an effective al Qaeda fighter gets arrested, but Mookie gets away with killing US troops?

Don't just skim the story next time Barney. All of your incorrect assertions and outright distortions came out of your skull and not from the story...where none of what you mentioned is left to question.

Stop being such a contrarian.

Great story. Thanks for the link.

It's another demonstration of the professionalism and skill of our troops on the ground in Iraq.

If Barney had a dimes worth of brains, he'd feel pretty stupid about now, but that would be hoping for too much.

Damn your stupid barney. For the record, I pointed the post out to you yesterday wen you tried claiming it was ll bullshit.

larkin, thanks for your comment.

That was an incredible piece of reporting by Yon. Thanks for linking the whole story.

D-hogg, I read it yesterday, but it was not easy to find or collaborate.

The original post was presented as a major story:
[US forces capture Iraqi General accused of murder!]

I searched Yon's site, the DOD site and ran a google search, and I found nothing. Yesterday I went back to Instapud and Yon's looking for the full story. I expected to see some type of headline on Yon's site pointing to the "scoop". I ran another google search and still could not find anyone that collaborated Yon's email.

As it turns out, the email over-hyped the events of the day, and that is why nobody picked-up the story.

By all accounts in the story this was an internal affair, and I do not understand why our boys were called on to arrest an Iraqi colonel that was effectively fighting al Qaeda.

You know the guys were there to fight.

Gee barney you must be pretty retarded, I found it in about 10 seconds. And ONCE AGAIN, it was an Iraqi General, not a Colonel like you claim, you expect anyone to listen to a word you say when you can't even properly read a column? Every thing you stated in your first comment, wrong, yet you conveniently ignore that. Just give it up barney, at least larkin has the decency to contribute a fitting comment.

Not easy to find Barney? What were you entering for your Google search? I typed in Crissman (the subject of the story) and Yon (the author) and the link appeared on the first page of the search results. It literally did not take more than about 2 seconds.

D-Hoggs,

I need to correct you on that detail. He was in reality a Colonel but had essentially dubbed himself a General and it stuck. Yon talks about that at the end of the article.

Barney:

By all accounts in the story this was an internal affair, and I do not understand why our boys were called on to arrest an Iraqi colonel that was effectively fighting al Qaeda.

The reason was two-fold as Yon describes:

Around 1300, two members of the Hit City Council arrived at the JCC demanding that the Coalition do something. If not, they feared that the people of Hit would take care of it. The people were saying clearly that they did not want to attack the police general, but enough was enough. A mob intent on lynching Hamid would surely confront an armed contingent of his supporters, and American forces would be involved in the crossfire. Nobody needed a return to that, which would only undermine LTC Crissman's daily efforts to instill confidence in the people here that there would be a rule of law and that no one--not even the Chief of Police--was above it.

and

But Iraqi officials were clear. They wanted Hamid gone. And they wanted us to arrest him. Anbar is not one of the provinces that has been turned over to PIC control, so the task would properly fall to the Coalition.

You know the guys were there to fight.

I don't know to whom you're referring, but if you meant the U.S. soldiers present, all evidence points in the opposite direction. Wanting to fight would not have resulted in an armed and possibly hostile police station taken over without a gunshot.

As to why Hamid was arrested, well, it's also described in the link. I have no idea why I'm regurgitating it here for you...

"And ONCE AGAIN, it was an Iraqi General, not a Colonel like you claim,.." by d-hogg

God are you dumb. Can't you even read (from the story):

General Hamid was not actually a prisoner of war: his problems are with the Iraqi government, not with ours. Potentially, though, he could hang. (Note: As it turns out, "General" Hamid was not actually a "general" either. Although he'd claimed the rank for so long that everyone called him "General," Hamid is actually a Colonel. This information was not available until after Hamid's arrest.)

Perhaps because I'm confused as to why this is difficult to understand. The details can certainly be difficult to grasp because the politics are confusing there, but I feel Yon is a very concise writer and explained it well.

Sorry that last bit was an extension to my previous post to Barney, I didn't realize they'd get separated.

brney, I thought you said he was never arrested?

Lorie, in google I searched (variations of) "Iraq General Arrested Yon". All I found was a link to the original email from Yon posted on GR site.

I was also looking for verification of the story and if any other outlets (original intent of the post) were reporting the story.

I am not saying that the story isn't good, or not interesting. It is just not that big of a story that it should lead the evening news. That was the implied message of the original post that the MSM ignores good news out of Iraq.

If it was a general and he was actually charged with murder and we had to run an operation to capture him (rouge army), then that would be a good story, but the truth is:
-he is a colonel (considered a hero for his stand against al Qaeda)
-we have no idea if any charges were made against him (or if any are true)
-the LTC almost blew it
-he basically gave up voluntarily

Thats funny barney, I googled "Iraq General Arrested Yon" and found this:

"The Arrest: A gripping account from Michael Yon"

Takes you right to it. I find it interesting that barney and the libs scream and bitch about the US working with the Iraqis etc... and when one of our fine men does just that, and at the request of local leaders acts, they bitch about that too. Apparently you missed this part barney?

"Some local officials who had once regarded Hamid as a hero were now beginning to fear him. Allegations claimed he was committing murders (extra-judicial killings), releasing some detainees for money, abusing other detainees, making deals with various insurgent groups (to include selling them weapons and ammunition), and condoning prostitution in Hit. (It is rumored that the prostitutes had provided critical intelligence on their AQI johns.) Our side believed many of the charges, because there was growing evidence that General Hamid was engaging in criminal activity that could unravel progress towards stability here that can only be described as astounding."

Oh well fuck stability, huh barney.

hogg, way to step up to the plate admit that you were wrong. You are a class act all the way.

I admit I was wrong barney. Now, your turn.

What was I wrong about? That I went to Yon's site yesterday and I could not find the article?

You say that I can't read a column right after you prove you can't. Now that is embarrassing.

Jesus Barney, you're pathetic.

"this is your brain..this is your brain on "Barney"

Class act all the way indeed barney. Talk about pathetic.

barneyG' is another bryanD'--from the Area 51 kooks.

BG2 is just a cog in the spin machine, producing gauzy transience, blown away by bias. Think cotton candy. bD, is intuitive and creative, and spins a much richer fabric. Think saddle blanket.
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