Posted on 05/21/2007 6:07:13 PM PDT by elhombrelibre
Iraq is the central front in the war against Al Qaeda. And we are beginning to win. These are not talking points. They are facts on the ground, as I saw during my recent trips there.
Though you may be getting the opposite impression from news reports, the sectarian violence that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had unleashed by destroying the Samarra Mosque in February 2006 has subsided. Measured weekly, sectarian killings are down by almost two-thirds since the start of the Baghdad security plan. Anbar Province, Al Qaeda's former sanctuary in western Iraq, has turned against the terrorists. Anbaris by the thousands are signing up to fight against Al Qaeda. Violent attacks in the province are down by 50% and combined casualties down by 65% between early January and mid-May.
The movement is spreading. Sheiks in Diyala, Salah-ad-Din and Babil provinces are reaching out to coalition forces to help us.
This is not the moment to consider withdrawal time lines that would snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, as the U.S. Congress seems determined to do. It is the time to redouble our efforts.
It is true that the overall level of violence in Iraq remains high, and American soldiers are still dying. Scores of terrorists flow into Iraq every month, detonating suicide car bombs against civilians, Iraqi security forces and American troops. This is the core of the security problem faced by our troops and by innocent Iraqis.
But looking at these casualty numbers alone distorts reality. Security is improving across Baghdad, even in traditionally bad areas. In early May, I walked and drove through these neighborhoods. Haifa St., scene of day-long gunfights between Al Qaeda terrorists and coalition forces in January, is calm and starting to revive. Its market is open and flourishing.
Even in Baghdad's Dora neighborhood, some of which remains very dangerous, the market now has more than 200 shops - up from zero in February. Across the city, Iraqis are reaching out to coalition and Iraqi troops with tips and requests for help.
In some areas, that help takes the form of attacking the enemy and responding to enemy counterattacks. But as we kill and capture these evil people, we create safety in our wake. We are not standing between warring communities. We stand between terrorists and murderers and their innocent victims, both Sunni and Shia.
It will take time for that safety to take hold. It will take time for our enemies to accept their defeat and stop fighting. Demanding total victory by September is unrealistic. But we are making progress, and by then, I am confident we will be making more.
One thing impressed me above all on my most recent trip, from which I returned on May 13: Ordinary Iraqis have not given up. Sadrists in the parliament may demand our withdrawal, but the government of Iraq has repeatedly asked us to stay. Iraqi soldiers and police are fighting Al Qaeda and Shia militias every day, sacrificing alongside our troops.
One Iraqi commander told me, "Anyone who says the Americans should leave now is not a real Iraqi citizen."
Growing numbers of Iraqis are joining the struggle against those who want to derail Iraq's chances for security and stability. We must not let them down, and we must not let ourselves down. This is a fight that we can and must win.
Kagan, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, is author of "Finding The Target: The Transformation of American Military Policy."
Being offended interferes with clear thinking. IMO your view of the armed forces is romanticized. For example, in accounts I’ve read, armed forces staff are very political and always have been.
My ancestors also fought to preserve America's freedom. They must be rolling in their graves in disgust at the depths the Bush administration has sunk to.
Two cousins of mine were on the West Virginia in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. One died that day and is buried at the Punch Bowl. The other was lucky enough to survive. He has always been a big GOP supporter, and supported this president with enthusiasm until Iraq was invaded. He is an old man now, and he can no longer support a president or an administration who wages a war by way of deceit. Sadly he told me "This isn't my America anymore, it's not recognizable". I agree with him, and with you.
Hate? It's not hate, it's disgust and fear of a government out of control, our own government who doesn't represent the American people anymore.
My view of the armed forces is romanticized?
That is a pretty condescending thing to say. I think I have spent enough time around the military, both growing up as a brat and spending a tour in myself to understand how the military works.
What do you think-that I think there is no politics in the military, or that it is staffed and run by supermen who never make mistakes or always have the best interests of the men under them foremost in their hearts?
Yes, I get offended when someone suggests that there is a coordinated consipiracy throughout the upper levels of the military and the govenment to bleed the troops to save a few dollars. I think that is a pretty hideous accusation on your part, with not a shred of evidence to back it up, and not even any personal experience to draw on, other than what you have read in books.
How perceptive you are to see I am offended. You ought to be ashamed of yourself. I gave you the benefit of the doubt, given that it is easy to misinterpret what someone writes.
I feel nearly as much contempt for you as I do offense towards your comments. That is one of the most despicable things I have heard someone say. I expect that from the moonbat left, not from someone who would take the time to post on Free Republic.
Yes, one big barrel of laughs, isn’t it? Quite amusing.
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