Under the Oak

Ferrell Jenkins on some unfortunate modern damage to ancient Babylon. Someone could have made a fortune in real estate if they’d purchased this bit of land a few thousand years ago. EVERYBODY wants to build on it!

A helicopter makes a successful emergency landing in an Iraqi field only to be surrounded by armed Iraqis – the good kind. (via Michael Yon)

They’d been on patrol, saw the helicopter go down and come over to see who’d dropped in. Should’ve seen their faces when they found out one of the pilots was Iraqi. Instant collective confidence boost. Iraqi flags popped up on the vehicles and the troops spread out to secure the area until the cavalry — in the form of one of our mechanics — arrived.

I confess that in the thick of it I had doubts about how Iraq would turn out. Granted, they aren’t out of the woods and I don’t foresee them loving us such that they’ll be applying for statehood anytime soon, but it is nice to see the progress that has been made in that nation all the same.

A shame we never hear about it.