Hugh Hewitt has a thought provoking piece from a Marine stationed in Baghdad. From where he’s sitting, the picture painted by the media just doesn’t ring true.

The recent clash in Najaf was entirely different than the April battle for Fallujah, and what’s more,

You may not have even heard about the city of Samarra. Two weeks ago, that Sunni Triangle city was a “No-go” area for US troops. But guess what? The locals got sick of living in fear from the insurgents and foreign fighters that were there and let them know they weren’t welcome. They stopped hosting them in their houses and the mayor of the town brokered a deal with the US commander to return Iraqi government sovereignty to the city without a fight. The people saw what was on the horizon and decided they didn’t want their city looking like Fallujah in April or Najaf in August.

Now, why didn’t I hear about this from the mainstream media? Wait… don’t answer that.