Where did you guys come up with a hero like this?

An amazing story of what success in Iraq can look like. Go read it all.

AJC

One man is an African-American who grew up in south Atlanta, graduated from Washington High School and joined the Army after college.

The other is a powerful Sunni sheik who reached adulthood in Ramadi and lived the bulk of his life under Saddam Hussein’s rule.

One lost eight of his soldiers in Tameem, a western Ramadi neighborhood where rocket-propelled grenades, improvised explosive devices and suicide bombings were part of the daily vocabulary.

The other lost his father and three brothers. They were assassinated by al-Qaida terrorists.

A friendship between the two men, both in their early 40s, would have been unimaginable a few months ago[...]

[...]The people of Tameem, Al-Rishawi jokes, would elect Johnson police chief if an election were held today.

And to the people of Atlanta, the sheik asks: “Where did you guys come up with a hero like this?”