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        <title>Comments for The Castle&apos;s Sailor in Iraq - Update 7</title>
        <description>We&apos;re the Military and Airpower Guys of Jonah Goldberg of National Review Online + a stray we found wandering around looking lost.  All original material JHD, BHD, JR, WT,  and KA 2003-2010</description>
        <link>http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/09/the_castles_sai.html</link>
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            <title>The Castle&apos;s Sailor in Iraq - Update 7</title>
            <description><![CDATA[In the midst of two weeks of all politics all the time, you may have forgotten there are still two active campaigns on-going in the Long War.&nbsp; Now that the conventions are over, it's time for&nbsp;another update from LCDR Joe Honan - who is a sailor,&nbsp;deployed from the&nbsp;JFCOM Standing Joint Force&nbsp;Headquarters&nbsp;as a part of Task&nbsp;Force Ramadi&nbsp;who was further seconded to the local ePRT, or &quot;embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team,&quot; a State Department activity trying to do their bit.&nbsp;&nbsp;

They're wrapping up this phase of their deployment.&nbsp; And apparently doing pretty well, as far as the State Department is concerned:&nbsp;
&nbsp;

&ldquo;Task Force Ramadi has been a breath of fresh air,&rdquo; said Emery Haskell, senior rule of law advisor for Ramadi. &ldquo;The programs are a lot more focused, and we are starting to see the tangible results of their efforts.&rdquo;

Haskell further explained the officers were an ideal fit for the State Department mission.

&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been my experience that military officers can easily make that transition from a military role to a diplomatic role,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The military officers exist in an environment that is results-orientated, and they bring that to the table. We would not have been as effective without their participation.&rdquo;


Not that I'm surprised, mind you.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; You want to read the whole thing - but this is the money graf from Joe's missive:

&nbsp;&quot;It was really great to see a positive program like that being put on by Iraqis for Iraqis. It was also nice to help them, and very nice to point out that this wasn&rsquo;t purchased with coalition funds, these were donations by average Americans wanting to help. Most of the time they're a bit taken aback by the thought that strangers care, but that&rsquo;s America for you. Now I won&rsquo;t be out again, but I have a point of contact with the Marines Civil Affairs Team if anyone is interested.&quot;

Emphasis mine.&nbsp; You want to read all the way to the end.&nbsp; There's a little easter egg there for you...
&nbsp;

Mind you - good thing this isn't an American school - or the student in the middle would be facing mandatory expulsion!]]></description>
            <link>http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/09/the_castles_sai.html</link>
            <guid>http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/09/the_castles_sai.html</guid>
            <pubDate>Sat, 06 Sep 2008 07:17:15 -0600</pubDate>
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        <item>
            <title>Comment from Larry L on 2008-09-06</title>
            <description>
                <![CDATA[&nbsp;Thanks for that great story about the Iraqi husband at the end, cracked me up because I'm almost through the donkey stage and coming up on the dog stage! &nbsp;And thank you for your service!]]>
            </description>
            <link>http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/09/the_castles_sai.html#comment-77916</link>
            <guid>http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/09/the_castles_sai.html#comment-77916</guid>
            <pubDate>Sat, 06 Sep 2008 18:26:21 -0600</pubDate>
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            <title>Comment from Pugmak on 2008-09-06</title>
            <description>
                <![CDATA[Matel-in-Iraq is a blog run by a Dept of State man that manages an ePRT team in the Al Anbar area.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://johnsonmatel.com/blog1/" rel="nofollow">http://johnsonmatel.com/blog1/</a><br />
<br />
Lots of good info and perspective to be found in his writing.]]>
            </description>
            <link>http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/09/the_castles_sai.html#comment-77910</link>
            <guid>http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/09/the_castles_sai.html#comment-77910</guid>
            <pubDate>Sat, 06 Sep 2008 16:15:10 -0600</pubDate>
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            <title>Comment from Katherine Optima Maximae on 2008-09-06</title>
            <description>
                <![CDATA[Dang!&nbsp; You got the Instapundit link this time!&nbsp; Next time, all your links belongs to me!]]>
            </description>
            <link>http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/09/the_castles_sai.html#comment-77908</link>
            <guid>http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/09/the_castles_sai.html#comment-77908</guid>
            <pubDate>Sat, 06 Sep 2008 15:56:19 -0600</pubDate>
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            <title>Comment from Matt on 2008-09-06</title>
            <description>
                <![CDATA[Hey, great blog and I really like this comments box.&nbsp; Most importantly though, I&nbsp;love the message here.&nbsp; God bless the troops!&nbsp; <br />]]>
            </description>
            <link>http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/09/the_castles_sai.html#comment-77897</link>
            <guid>http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/09/the_castles_sai.html#comment-77897</guid>
            <pubDate>Sat, 06 Sep 2008 12:09:15 -0600</pubDate>
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            <title>Comment from sfc ski on 2008-09-06</title>
            <description>
                <![CDATA[I&nbsp;left Ramadi in 2007, just as things were improving.&nbsp; I&nbsp;can hardly believe the positive reports and the progress, but I&nbsp;am glad to hear about it all.]]>
            </description>
            <link>http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/09/the_castles_sai.html#comment-77891</link>
            <guid>http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/09/the_castles_sai.html#comment-77891</guid>
            <pubDate>Sat, 06 Sep 2008 09:47:58 -0600</pubDate>
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            <title>Comment from AFSister on 2008-09-06</title>
            <description>
                <![CDATA[This is my favorite report so far!&nbsp; I love the quote by the Iraqi woman who was able to read outloud.&nbsp; Iraqi's helping Iraqi's.. with a little help from us.&nbsp; Isn't that what it's all about???&nbsp; That's damn cool.]]>
            </description>
            <link>http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/09/the_castles_sai.html#comment-77890</link>
            <guid>http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2008/09/the_castles_sai.html#comment-77890</guid>
            <pubDate>Sat, 06 Sep 2008 08:32:41 -0600</pubDate>
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