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."
>If we can’t defend our own borders, we will lose the war.... The first nuke detonated in an American city will be brought here by an illegal immigrant.<
You are definitely on the right thread, James.
You know what Paperdoll, I want to win the war more than these summer patriots do, by far.
How much are you paid by democrats to be on these threads?
Kagan is a very astute observer of the world.
Those suitcase bombs would be far easier to get over the borders or through one of our ports than they would by an aircraft, no question about it.
Summer patriots? How long have you been in Iraq, pal? And if you wake up with a headache do you blame the Mexicans?
Name calling and thread hickjacking, not cool. I will correct you, all of us that support the Iraq war and the WOT terror want to win very much. You have no more desire than the rest of us.
The war on terror should be comprehensive; it must include securing our borders. But it doesn’t mean we can lose abroad because we haven’t secured the border. Both are necessary.
Agree 100%.
I recommend we send this thread and information to all the talk show hosts. We need to get the word out. We have to bypass the MSM, which is irrelevant, and get the word out ourselves. If we had financial backing, we could print the truth on billboards all over the country including using Pelosi’s own words against her. Exposure is what any Liberal fears the most. There has to be a way to counter the propaganda and brainwashing being done by the MSM and Liberals.
Absolutely!
FGS, can’t we discuss a little GOOD NEWS without the doom and gloom prophets of certain death and destruction begin their dire warnings?? IT’s bad enough coming from the other side over and over and over, etc. WE GET IT. And contrary to your quatrains of quagmire, we are making progress. Maybe not as fast as James W. Fannin wants, but progress, none-the-less.
Great thread info. Thanks for posting it. We are winning in Iraq and will stabilize it. We will then bring home our brave troops with a completed mission and a victory in the WOT, with a partner for peace in the middle east.
And http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1837448/posts
It may be long and bring much more death and destruction first, but we are winning and will win. Thank goodness GW will not waiver and thank goodness we have the best military to fight this war. The Iraqi’s are stepping up and fighting the good fight with us. God bless and speed to them all.
Excellent article - thanks for posting.
Here is a video (previously posted by someone else) that tells the same story:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLywXaXhB8M&NR=1
This is exactly the reason that I am so angry with President Bush. He can not or will not understnd the nexus of the WOT and illegal immigration. His unfailing willingness to all ow the borders to remain sieves severely damages the argument that we are in a global war against jihadism. Somebody needs to slap him right upside his head.
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