What a day!

Tech Central has several interesting articles up.

This one tells the story of First Lt. Neil Prakash, a tank platoon leader, who has his own blog avengerredsix.blogspot.com, and talks about the uparmor situation like this.

"I HATE WHINEY BITCHES," he writes, referring to those who have been raising howls because of a lack of armor. He tells of a typical hairy mission escorting a bomb-damaged truck back to base, rolling through the craters of previous IEDs (improvised explosive devices) in a "soft-skinned M998" one of the unarmored Hummers.

"The whole way home, we were laughing our asses off at how funny it was to be in that jalopy. And that is the whole point," writes Lt. Prakash. "The problem isn't the equipment, it's the attitude of soldiers. I gotta hand it to 1st Platoon. These soldiers have the highest morale. Even in less than ideal situations, they are always laughing and they always execute. You could tell these soldiers to clear a route on foot and they would do it."

Prakash then makes the final point. "Now I know what you're going to say, Blah, blah something about having the right equipment and force protection for our soldiers. You want to know what force protection is? DISCIPLINE. When you have discipline, everything else falls into place."

The good lieutenant ends by noting, "I'm disgusted by that convoy that refused orders in Baghdad. Give me a dune buggy. I'll deliver you're groceries on Haifa street. Just do your mission and shut up. It's not as bad as it seems on TV. Quit watching the news and actually come down here. And check your bad attitude at the door."

I couldn't agree more.

Next there's this story about the ecstatic joy of Iraqi Shias looking forward to their first free election and their expected ascendancy to power. And a memorable quote .

One prominent Shia in the U.S. told me, "I call the president Imam Bush." (In Shia Islam, the imams are the chief religious guides throughout the history of the sect.) "He is a believer in God, he is just, and I believe he will keep his promise to hold a fair election on January 30," my interlocutor said. "He liberated Kerbala and Najaf [the Shia holy cities]. He has done more for Shias than anybody else in history."

I've always been ashamed of America for abandoning the Shias and the Kurds after the Gulf War. I think it's a very dark spot in our history and left an indelible stain on Bush Sr.'s Presidency. I'm thankful that the Shias have apparently forgiven us for that awful abandonment.

Then Michael Totten contributes Marching Towards a Democratic Iraq, with this memorable quote. "Those who wish to martyr themselves should step right on up because we're there to help. But we'd rather help them be free. They must understand: it is so much safer to lose an election that to meet the Marines on the battlefield."

Let's hope some of those martyrs in Mosul meet their fate real soon.

Following that is Michael Rosen's insightful take on Fallujah and its aftermath.

And finally, the Instapundit himself argues that free speech was the biggest winner of 2004.

Does it get any better than this?