Ali's back!

Ali at Free Iraqi hasn't posted for serveral weeks. I've been browsing to his blog every day in the hopes that he would return, but I was nearly ready to give up; truthfully, I was afraid something had happened to him. This morning, a fresh post appeared — whew! In it, Ali gives his thoughts on Operation Lightning. He begins:

Operation lightning seems to be going better than what I expected in terms of reducing violence in Baghdad. I think everyone who's following the news must've seen that the attacks in Baghdad these days are getting less than before, and here on the ground we can see the same thing. Not just terrorist attacks that has been reduced but even regular crimes, as it seems that part of the operation is focusing on capturing regular criminals who are in addition to their usual criminal activities do form, in my mind, the right hand for the Ba'athists.

It sounds like things are going reasonably well, from Ali's perspective, and I'm very glad to hear that. He goes on to tell the story of an Iraqi police raid right near his home (it went well), then concludes:

One of my greatest worries about operation lightning just as the whole war on terror is that it would give those in charge a more than needed and accepted power. In a place like Iraq where all our miseries came from unlimited power, that is certainly a huge concern. Still I know and feel that most Iraqis won't accept something like this to happen. It's not easy at all to explain where this feeling come from but it's there and I have full faith that most Iraqis will clench their teeth on every bit of freedom they gained through America's help and that we will and are ready to sacrifice to gain more; the type of freedom that even America cannot grant us.

Welcome back, Ali. I'm very glad you're safe. And it sounds like good news on Operation Lightning.

Read Ali's whole post, or I'll conjure up a plague of desert fleas to pester your dog and your sister.