I was forwarded an email a few days ago that was sent from who I believe is one of Sarah's COs mentioning many awards that she is eligible for or has already won. To be completely honest, I didn't understand a large portion of the email, so I can't wait to talk to her to get the skinny.
Interestingly, the email also mentioned how the work of Sarah and others in her field is paying off in big ways, with a link to the following news story attached. I'm including the text inline since some people have had trouble bringing up the original article. If you'd like to try though, the original article
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US says captured papers reveal Qaeda in Iraq weakened
Feb 10, 2008
BAGHDAD (AFP) — A diary and a document captured during raids on Al-Qaeda leaders in Iraq show the group has been weakened and that civilian anti-insurgency groups are making an impact, the US military said on Sunday.
Both documents were captured during raids by US forces in November, military spokesman Rear Admiral Gregory Smith told a news conference in Baghdad.
The 16-page diary is that of an Al-Qaeda sector emir named Abu Tariq in Balad, north of Baghdad, while the other document is a 39-page memo written by a mid- to high-level Al-Qaeda official with knowledge of the network's operations in the western province of Anbar.
"Abu Tariq's diary provides clear and compelling evidence that the Iraq volunteer citizens' groups ... are restricting the terrorists' freedom of movement," said Smith.
"The diary shows that Al-Qaeda regards these groups as a grave threat and the terrorists are increasingly targeting them," he added.
Smith said the emir in the diary complained that he once commanded nearly 600 fighters "but the tribes changed course" and his force had now been reduced to "just 20 or fewer terrorists".
Around 130 Awakening groups have been formed across Iraq comprising around 80,000 Iraqis -- 80 percent of them Sunni and 20 percent Shiite -- since the first was launched by tribal leaders in Anbar in September 2006, according to US officials.
The groups are credited by US commanders of being a major factor behind the 62-percent drop in attacks across Iraq since June and for putting Al-Qaeda to flight in most of their strongholds.
Smith said the Anbar document contains the assessment that "the Islamic State of Iraq (Al-Qaeda) is faced with an extraordinary crisis, especially in Anbar."
"It is a pessimistic assessment of Al-Qaeda in Iraq's long-term prospects in Anbar," he said, adding that it recommended foreign fighters be moved out of the province to other areas "where they may have greater freedom of movement."
The document, according to Smith, bitterly derides the "traitors who are taking on Al-Qaeda" and complains that the citizens' groups and increasingly effective Iraqi police are making it more difficult to operate in Anbar.
The document showed that suicide bombers arriving in Iraq sensed they were being "misused and undervalued" and were asking to be assigned new missions or to be allowed to return to their home countries.
The author criticises his fellow emirs of being uncooperative and being over-reliant on suicide missions.
"The emirs too often lack leadership and military experience, they suffer from lack of support from local residents and are forced to have to confront more than one enemy at a time," Smith quoted the document as saying.
He said it identified Al-Qaeda's most dangerous enemy as being the "renegade tribes" -- the Awakening groups.
"We lost cities and afterward, villages ... The desert became a dangerous refuge ... We find ourselves in a wasteland desert," Smith quoted the document as saying.
He cautioned however that the diary and document do not suggest Al-Qaeda is defeated within Anbar or across Iraq.
"This does not signal the end of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, but it is a contemporary account of the challenges posed to terrorists from the people of Iraq," Smith said.
"Al-Qaeda remains a significant and dangerous threat in Iraq."
The documents are believed to be authentic, he added, because they contain details that only Al-Qaeda leaders could know about specific events on the battlefield.
