GOOD NEWS FROM IRAQ, via the The New York Times:

Along the way, the American 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division and the Iraqi 2nd Battalion, 2nd Brigade of the 5th Division have become a rare pairing of the two armies in Iraq. While some Iraqi soldiers have been criticized by their American counterparts for a lack of discipline and commitment, the Iraqis at Normandy have become so efficient that they took the lead in military operations in their 1,200-square-mile area.

“When people say it’s horrible that you are training those Iraqi soldiers because they will never be as good as we are, they are missing the point,” said Capt. Mike Whitney, commander of the 1-30th’s Alpha Company. “No, the Iraqis will never be as good as we are, but they don’t have to be. They just have to be better than anybody they face here.”

Read the whole thing, which interestingly appears in the Sports section.

UPDATE: And don’t miss this post on military recruiting from The Mudville Gazette.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Dwight Green emails:

“No, the Iraqis will never be as good as we are, but they don’t have to be. They just have to be better than anybody they face here.”

It is funny that newspapers have been so critical of the U.S. Government (including the Knight Ridder papers), whether under Clinton or Bush. And I’m not just talking about getting somewhere between everything and most everything wrong on many unfolding stories.

I can’t get the San Jose Mercury News to change my subscription from every day to weekends only. If this were Iraq, I’m sure I could file this under U.S. military incompetence. As it is, they can only blame the contracted deliverer. As someone else has said, I’m tempted to say screw him and screw the company. However I won’t stoop to that level, even if the contractor is simply a mercenary.

Thank goodness the boots on the ground in Iraq are consistently better than many service employees here in the U.S. OK, a little harsh, but then they are too without ever looking in the mirror.

Thank goodness the military isn’t as bad as my newspaper.

Ouch.