Cook On FCP's "Kinetic Energy"

Captain Cook's March 1st, 2008 Newsletter Update:

An insurgency by definition is a political struggle to overthrow an existing order or government in a country. While there are diehard Al Qaeda fighters like Noman Jawar who will never stop fighting, a vast majority of those who were once fighting us in our area are looking for a way to stop fighting. Through a series of painstaking meetings and negotiations with local leaders, we are developing a formal program to provide for a cease fire with all those that wish to turn themselves in. In exchange, those who have not committed crimes against innocent Iraqis will be granted amnesty and allowed to return to come out of the shadows, and become law abiding citizens in their community.

The other day, I attended a town hall meeting where one of the former spiritual leaders of the insurgency in the area made a passionate speech to the people to lay down their arms and join him in the reconciliation process. He was the original person that I met with to start this process. His willingness to take a public stand in favor of reconciliation was important, but it also put him at great risk with his former friends. I count his willingness to come out publicly in favor of reconciliation as a very positive sign that this process might bear fruit.

Note: the pic is of a different scene than the one Cook discusses above.