The Surge Is Succeeding

The Washington Post ^ | March 11, 2007 | Roberr Kagan

[srmorton]

According to Hugh Hewitt, this is the most important column of the day. I agree with him entirely!

[Chi-townChief]

The Post turns "pro-war" ???

[FlingWingFlyer]

It sounds like the IED-planting, Commie 'RATS down at the DNC better get busy if they are going to successfully pull off a defeat of the U.S. in Iraq and the War On Terror. Commie bass turds.

[yldstrk]

That is great news.

[Types_with_Fist]

Four months later, the once insurmountable political opposition has been surmounted. The nonexistent troops are flowing into Iraq. And though it is still early and horrible acts of violence continue, there is substantial evidence that the new counterinsurgency strategy, backed by the infusion of new forces, is having a significant effect.

If we plan to stay in Iraq forever in force, the surge is working. However, if we ever plan to leave Iraq and let the "Iraqi people" police their own country... then the surge is working the same way any side in a civil war would see success if the opposition suddenly went to ground to wait our an offensive.

[SandRat]

It's a world turned upside down; the WashPISSED is actually running a column saying that the Surge is working.

[bnelson44]

Please spread the word about an appeal for redress that people in the military can sign to show support for the mission:

www.appealforcourage.org

[jazusamo]

No one is asking American journalists to start emphasizing the "good" news. All they have to do is report what is occurring, though it may conflict with their previous judgments.

Well said.

Excellent column, thanks for posting.

[Beckwith]

I thought the picture accompanying the article was William Shatner.

[Hoodat]

This means the Dems will have to double their efforts to ensure our defeat.

[MikeHu]

What was particularly unusual about this article was that the writing and thinking is quite excellent -- rather than the usual plagiarisms of Helen Thomas op-rants passing as "informed" and "valued" "Journalism."

People can tell the difference in quality -- that gives the article its own credibility. Hopefully this is a trend in modern journalism -- because the old journalism has no intelligent readers, as well as writers.

[Brilliant]

No one is asking American journalists to start emphasizing the "good" news. All they have to do is report what is occurring, though it may conflict with their previous judgments.

Ha! Fat chance of that happening.

[ArmstedFragg]

Man, I wish the media would avoid pronouncing the surge either a success or a failure until it actually has a chance to work. The premature announcements just set us up for cries of 'failure' the first time there's some negative event. And... believe me... there will be negative events. This ain't no cakewalk.

[freeangel]

The msm "backup plan" is to make sure NO news of the surge succeeding will make it to the American public.

[Al Simmons]

"If we plan to stay in Iraq forever in force, the surge is working. However, if we ever plan to leave Iraq and let the "Iraqi people" police their own country... then the surge is working the same way any side in a civil war would see success if the opposition suddenly went to ground to wait our an offensive."

As soon as the 'Surge' was announced, this was my exact analysis. I hope we are wrong, and the Iraqis are up to speed to police themselves by the time we pull out, but...

[dodger]

This is a column by paleo-con Robert Kagan ... not an article or editorial by the Post!

[FreeReign]

If we plan to stay in Iraq forever in force, the surge is working. However, if we ever plan to leave Iraq and let the "Iraqi people" police their own country... then the surge is working the same way any side in a civil war would see success if the opposition suddenly went to ground to wait our an offensive.

No.

The Iraqi's now have 350,000 of their own troops and counting. Part of the surge plan is to finnish training these Iraqi forces so that they may continue with the success of the surge.

Why do you ignore that?

[MikeHu]

The newspapers need to make it a trend -- of letting knowledgeable people in the community share their intelligence and insight -- instead of demanding that we worship their own media hacks as all-knowing gods.

Newspapers have to move in this direction of mining the great well of wisdom in the world now -- rather than insisting that everything they know, is all there is to know, or that all they want us to know, is everything there is to know.

Or as one backwater newspaper puts it, "All the news fit to print."

[Types_with_Fist]

As soon as the 'Surge' was announced, this was my exact analysis. I hope we are wrong, and the Iraqis are up to speed to police themselves by the time we pull out, but...

I pray I'm wrong too. Our troops are great. I believe in them. But I don't believe anything can be done with this hellhole.

[Types_with_Fist]

Why do you ignore that?

I don't ignore that. The reason that has happened is because we are there. We have three distinctive cultures in what is called "Iraq." Two of them have been arguing for over a thousand years as to which Kalib is the rightful heir to the Prophet Mohammed. With or without our troops there, the argument will continue. As great as our troops are there is nothing they can do about this. I also don't think you can discover "Founding Fathers" inside a stupid and destructive, centuries-long situation like this. JMO, nothing more.