Terrorists in Al Anbar province are being hammered by Allied and Iraqi forces engaged in Operation River Blitz. Fear among citizens continues to depreciate, and the courage shown in a developing Iraqi common good, the kind we knew we would see, is a weapon seditionists and invaders will be increasingly unable to counter:
North of Ar Ramadi, a local civilian directed a U.S. Marine combat patrol to an improvised-explosive device, which consisted of four 105 mm artillery rounds that were daisy-chained together in a brown bag hidden underneath a pile of leaves at approximately 10:00 a.m....In southern Fallujah, an Iraqi civilian guided a U.S. Marine patrol to a weapons cache, which consisted of one 82 mm mortar round, seven 57 mm rounds, three 23 mm rounds and one 30 mm round at approximately 1 p.m. Earlier in the day, another Iraqi civilian guided another U.S. Marine patrol to a weapons cache in the southeastern portion of the city that consisted of one missile warhead, 100 pounds of TNT and one 120 mm mortar round.
A spontaneous, inherent public inclination to just law, altruism, honesty and peacefulness makes the bedrock of right, free society. Laid thick with institutions that protect and reward the good, it will not yield.