I cannot remember all the times I’ve seen Iraqi mothers put their children into the arms of American soldiers. Coalition troops and others are fighting to save another Iraqi child. They do this every day all over Iraq, and today we see an example of the Georgia National Guard going the extra mile. I caught the story today on the news and it’s always great seeing these kids get the help they need. I’ve also seen firsthand how it increases troop morale, and it makes Iraqi parents extremely happy. Full credit to the Georgia National Guard for making us all look good.

The election photo-montage I posted last week has a certain propagandistic feel to it. It has all the usual suspects: the waving flag, the iconic soundtrack (Fanfare for the Common Man, hardly on the Iraqi Top 40) and the sequence of photos selected to tell a story ALL IN BOLD CAPITALS. It seemed especially propagandistic given the fact that the United States government admitted to paying off media in Iraq for positive reportage. I spoke recently with a New York Times writer, Jeff Gerth, who broke parts of that story, and I came away with the impression that the matter is broader and deeper than we know at this time. Clearly, there is no doubt—-our government has admitted to it—-we are spinning “propaganda.”

Three times now—three times this year—millions of Iraqis have come out swinging and voting. Hearing the news about the high turnout (as high as 75% in some regions) and low incidence of violence during the elections in Iraq yesterday, I have to wonder how many times Iraqis have to demonstrate their commitment to freedom and democracy before the world starts to believe it.

Regular visitors to the Time Magazine website are probably familiar with a feature called “Photo of the Week,” where readers vote to select the most compelling photographs from the news that week. The photo of Major Beiger cradling the Iraqi girl, Farah, was the people’s choice the first week of May, 2005. Time Magazine titled it In his Arms and used this caption: “A US Soldier comforts a child fatally wounded in a car bomb blast in Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad.”

I love birds. Everywhere, I notice the birds; often I hear their voices before seeing them. To my ears, the most beautiful singers are the mockingbirds. I can listen to their songs for hours and hours, especially in the springtime, when the bachelors are courting and they sing all night during the full moons. In cities, lovesick bachelors often mistake a streetlight for the full moon, and perch in a nearby tree, singing their hearts out.

After a hard year of fighting and nation-building in northern Iraq, the Deuce Four has finally and completely returned home to the United States, where they threw a party to mark the occasion. Distinguished guests flew in to attend what was officially called the Redeployment Ball. Approximately 1,200 guests attended the Ball, including luminaries like Bruce Willis and his brother David. But for this night, the luminaries were satellites orbiting war heroes,

I had yelled goodbye to Walt just before the mission, and some hours later when a bomb tore through the bottom of his Stryker vehicle, every man in it–including Walt–was wounded. Lying in the hospital, still in Iraq, Walt Gaya was in the United States Army, but he was not an American. Not on paper, anyway: Walt was born in Argentina. He survived the blast, but his new wounds would preclude his flight from Mosul to Baghdad in time to participate in a swearing-in ceremony that would have been his official welcome as a new American.

Bruce Willis is one of the finest and most successful actors in the world. Further introduction would be redundant. Mr. Willis has been to Iraq with his band and the USO, and has been following the events in Mosul through my dispatches. He has expressed his desire to support our troops to me on numerous occasions. One need only read his website to see how strongly he feels about this: www.brucewillis.com.

Baghdad
The Perch
I was in Baquba during the January elections. I’d hitched a ride with the US Army to a polling site. There were bombs exploding, mortars falling, and hot machine guns. The fact that the voting was going great despite the violence was something few people expected. When the soldiers dropped me off along with a CNN crew, they couldn’t believe we were willing to go alone. Neither could I.