Australian Release; Iraqi Policy

Douglas Wood, fortuitously rescued by an Iraqi led raid earlier this month, appologizes for his anti-Bush statements made at gunpoint while being held captive. Of course, none of us feel that those were legitamate statements, we all knew that being kidnapped, at the time, was a terrible fate, and that you must do what you could simply to survive. Wood is, along with his Iraqi liberators, a hero: survival is heroic under those horrible circumstances.

He also feels that things are going in the correct direction in Iraq:

The Australian hostage held captive for nearly seven weeks in Iraq before being freed last week has said his rescue by Iraqi troops is a sign that U.S. and Australian policies are working.

"I actually believe that I am proof positive that the current policy of training the Iraqi army -- of recruiting, training and buddying them worked -- because it was the Iraqis that got me out," Douglas Wood told reporters in Melbourne after returning to Australia Monday morning.

The 64-year-old engineer also apologized to U.S. President George W. Bush and Australian Prime Minister John Howard for statements he made at gunpoint in a DVD his captors released to the news media.

On the DVD, Wood pleaded for Australian, U.S. and British troops to withdraw from Iraq.

Wood feels, legitimately, that the Iraqi-led raid serves an important shift in roles. That trained Iraqis were capable of his seizure is a gigantic complement to their capability, and certainly something we must consider as a justified, and correct, perspective. Many Iraqis have been successfully trained, and are more than capable of taking over where the US and coalition forces can allow them to.

But Wood may not have the full picture. Estimates of Iraqi forces who are ready and able to take over for coalition forces remains considerably low and exaggerated by The Administration. And they remain a primary target for Insurgent attacks, and Insurgent attacks remain regular and painfully destructive.

The AntiCentenarian applauds Douglas Wood's courage, and are proud of the Iraqi forces that were able to rescue him. But we also question his analysis of the situation in Iraq, and believe that the picture is not as rosy as the positive Iraqi forces that rescued him may have painted it to be.