Unclear on the Matter

Here’s more on the Terror Tet:

Iraqi special forces have seized several militants in a raid on offices and a mosque south of Baghdad, as security forces step up operations across the country.

In Basra, at least 27 people have been killed as Iraqi troops try to drive out the Shia militia – leading to some of the heaviest fighting since the invasion five years ago.

Coalition forces are providing air support, but there are no British troops on the ground

What’s with that middle sentence? Were the 27 dead Iraqi soldiers? Were they civilians? Were they Mehdi Army war criminals? A mix of all three? The story doesn’t say.

But the first and last sentences are instructive — the Iraqis are fighting and winning on their own, on the ground with help from Coalition airpower. Instructive because, had we provided that kind of minimal support to South Vietnam in 1975, there might still be a South Vietnam today. Let’s hope Naif Obama and Fabulist Clinton are taking notes.