Why the Surge Worked (excellent read Gen Keane (ret) interview)

wsj ^ | 9/20/2008 | MATTHEW KAMINSKI

[milwguy]

Gen. Keane wants to make sure people understand why the surge worked. "I have a theory" about the unexpectedly fast turnaround, he says. "Whether they be Sunni, Shia or Kurd, anyone who was being touched by that war after four years was fed up with it. And I think once a solution was being provided, once they saw the Americans were truly willing to take risks and die to protect their women and children and their way of life, they decided one, to protect the Americans, and two, to turn in the enemies that were around them who were intimidating and terrorizing them; that gave them the courage to do it."

He adds that the so-called Sunni Awakening, and the effective surrender of Shia radical Moqtada Sadr and his Mahdi Army, depended upon the surge. "I'm not sure [the Sunni Awakening] would have spread to the other provinces without the U.S. [military] presence. We needed forces that we didn't previously have for the Sunnis to be able to rely on us to protect them." Sadr saw his lieutenants killed in the American push, and didn't want to share their fate.

[milwguy]

In that one paragraph, Gen Keane destroys all Democrat talking points. The Dems claim the Sunni awakening happened before the surge started. That is true, but it could not have succeeded and spread if we did not have the surge.

The Dems claim it was the Iranians and Mookie's goodwill that stopped Sadr's militia and declared a ceasefire. Keane explains that Sadr only called the ceasefire after we started offing his key lieutenants. Mookie called the ceasefire to save his ass, not because of any other reason.

Barry and his Democrat buddies can try to give credit to everything but our brave soldiers and wise Generals leading them, but come next friday at the debate, I hope McCain bludgeons Obama continuosly with the facts about why we are winning in Iraq, and that is the surge. Everything else good that has happened would not have been possible or sustainable without the surge.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

Outstanding article!

[ChessExpert]

Thanks for posting.

This is an excellent article. It is a pleasure to read the opinions of a mature, knowledgeable, and patriotic individual like General Keane. Kudos also to Mathew Kaminski, the WSJ author, for his reporting that enhances but never gets in the way.

Patriotism is something that we should take for granted. But it is very rare in the Democratic party and the mainstream media. It is so refreshing to read an article about the war that has no anti-American, anti-military, or anti-war element. Most Democrats and reporters would think an article without the “antis” to be deficient, but not me. There are plenty of real problems to be solved. We don’t need self-accusation to make the world interesting; it contributes nothing positive.

[Mrs. Don-o]

bttt