From the Field

Iraq: August-November 2007

Reporting from “Inside the Surge” with Charlie Co. 2-505 PIR (82nd Airborne) in Samarra, with Baker Co. 1-15 INF (3/3 ID) in Salman Pak, and with a U.S. Special Forces team in Tal Afar, as well as other units and areas (click here for a map of Iraq).

Articles, Updates, and Dispatches:

• 10,000 miles from home, the 4th of July is celebrated as enthusiastically as ever (Dispatches and Updates)
• The “Concerned Citizen” Phenomenon Takes Hold (Dispatches and Updates)
• “The Longest Morning”: A Story of Heroism, Courage, and Sacrifice in the Face of Impossible Odds (The American Spectator)
• The Situation in Iraq is Incredibly Complex — and the Products of the ‘Surge’ will not Survive a Coalition Drawdown (The American Thinker)
• Iraqi National Police Thwart al Qaeda Suicide Car Bomb Attack in Samarra (The Weekly Standard online)
• Photographs: With Charlie Co, 2-505 Parachute Infantry Regiment (82nd Airborne), Sept 1-30, in Samarra
  
• The Beginning of the End (Dispatches and Updates)
• Developing Iraqi Security Forces: A Long, Difficult, and Dangerous Process (The Weekly Standard online)
• Military Success, Political Stalemate: Peace and Security are More Important than Democratic Government when Moving Forward in Iraq (The Jerusalem Post)
• How they Live: A Guided Tour of (most of) Patrol Base Olson in Samarra, Iraq (Dispatches and Updates)
• Raids, Ramadan, and Supporting Iraqi Police as they perform their own missions (Dispatches and Updates)
• Picture of the Day: Iraqi contractors work on the new National Police barracks and training center north of Samarra
• Iraqi National Police Break Up al Qaeda Rape, Terror Cell in Samarra (Human Events)
• Iraqis Show Courage (The Washington Times)
• Raids, Grenades, and Gunfire: The Last Few Days in Samarra, Part II (Dispatches and Updates)
• Picture of the Day: The Author Firing an AK-47 on Patrol Base Olson in Samarra, Iraq
• “Taking Heat”: A Night Op in Samarra Ends in a Hail of Gunfire (The Weekly Standard online)
• Don’t Abandon the Iraqis Now: The strategy to increase troop presence shouldn’t be cut short (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• The Last Few Days in Samarra (Dispatches and Updates)
• From “Within the Surge,” the Situation is Complex and Fragile – but Hopeful (Human Events)
• Samarra: Clearing, Recon, and Hit by an IED September 4-5, Part II (The Weekly Standard online)
• Hellfire and Brimstone: Killing al Qaeda in Samarra September 4-5, Part I (The Weekly Standard online)
• Gunbattle in Samarra and AQI attack on a Hospital (Dispatches and Updates)
• Air Assault Into al Qaeda Country (The Weekly Standard online)
• Collected Thoughts After a Few Days in Baghdad (Dispatches and Updates)
• Tal Afar SWAT: The Iraqi Police have an elite unit in Nineveh Province, courtesy of the US Special Forces (The Weekly Standard online)
• All Combat Zone Journalism is Not Created Equal(National Review Online)
• Too Soon to Give Up: A Report From Iraq (American Thinker)
• Another Iraqi ‘Awakening’?: In yet another region of Iraq, one tribe decides that it wants something better than what the insurgency has to offer (The American Spectator)
• Southeast of Baghdad, the Surge is Working (The Washington Times)
• Photographs: With 3/3 ID, Aug 8-18, in Salman Pak
• The Surge in Action: Baker Company 1-15 rallies villagers to the Coalition and against the insurgency (The Weekly Standard online)
• Baker Company Med Op in Wuerdiya (Dispatches and Updates)
• Operation Marne Huskey and Proof that I’ll Never be a New York Times Reporter (Dispatches and Updates)
• Gun-battle Light Show, Med Ops, and Major Offensive Operations (Dispatches and Updates)
• Clearing the Routes of IEDs and Taking the Fight to al Qaeda (Dispatches and Updates)
• Ashes and Dust: The Aftermath of an Insurgent Attack (The Weekly Standard online)
• HIIDE™ and Seek: Protecting the People by Building the Database (Human Events)
• Tankers on Two Legs: One ‘Surge’ Brigade Gets Creative in the Fight Against al Qaeda (The Weekly Standard online)
• Air Assault and Concerned Citizens: Baker Company 1-15 (Dispatches and Updates)
• SE of Bahgdad: From LZ Washington to COP Cahill (Dispatches and Updates)
• First Stop: 3rd ID and FOB Hammer (Dispatches and Updates)
• Day One: 118 Degrees — In the Evening (Dispatches and Updates)

Photographs

Baker Co. 3-3 ID, Aug. 8-18, 2007	C Co. 2-505 PIR (82nd Airborne), Sept. 1-30, 2007

Israel: July/Aug 2007

• Photographs
• The Israel Paradox: A leader with a 9% approval rating seeks to give away the store – and the Parliament is squarely behind him (Human Events)
• The obligatory Israeli camel photograph
• Always wear sunscreen (and beware hostile stamps in your passport)

Iraq: April/May 2007

• Photographs
• “Not my Time to Go” (Dispatches and Updates)
• Robert J. Dixon: Ordinary Soldier, American Hero (American Thinker)
• 1-4 Cavalry Update (Dispatches and Updates)
• Underscoring the Danger: Bidding Farewell to a Man who was There for all the Right Reasons (Dispatches and Updates)
• Why They Fight: American Troops Don’t Want to Abandon the Iraqi People (TheWeekly Standard online)
• Back from the Front (Human Events)
• Iraq the Model? Winning Hearts and Minds in Abu Dischir (Human Events)
• A Tale of Two Boroughs: With a modern-day “Band of Brothers” on the streets of Baghdad (The Weekly Standard online)
• American Soldiers are Winning Over Journalists – One Heart, Mind, and Life at a Time (The Wall Street Journal)
• Our Soldiers’ Armor (Dispatches and Updates)
• Finally Embedding with the Warfighters! (Dispatches and Updates)
• What “Victory” Looks Like (Dispatches and Updates)
• Voices from Iraq: A Contractor’s Perspective (Dispatches and Updates)
• Traveling Complete — For Now (Dispatches and Updates)
• Still Waiting to Depart Kuwait (Dispatches and Updates)
• Greetings from an Undisclosed Location! (Dispatches and Updates)

Before the trip:

• Bringing a Different Perspective to Iraq War Reporting (Human Events; The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Why We’re Going to Iraq (Human Events)