See these happy Iraqi children's faces?  Notice they're clapping?  Why?  They are applauding American troops!  Yep!  Really.  Didn't see this even on Fox?  Imagine that...well thanks to Mudville Gazette (liked on the right side of this page) and their Dawn Patrol, you're seeing it here. 

"Surprised, 1st Lt. Michael E. Havey Jr. beamed at the cheering crowd.

“That was pretty monumental,” said Havey, platoon leader of 3rd platoon, Battery A, 5th Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment. “(Before) they wouldn’t even give us a wave.”

Territory for Soldiers of 5-82 FA, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, out of Fort Bliss, Texas was recently expanded to include Sharqot, a town about 60 miles south of Mosul.

The people of Sharqot have remained mostly unexposed to coalition forces since the beginning of the war, said Havey.

In Sharqot, the coalition Soldiers have a chance at a fresh start with the Iraqi people."

That brightened my day.  Hope it brightened yours.