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You bet we can win
NYDAILYNEWS.COM ^ | 21 May 07 | FREDERICK KAGAN

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."


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: iraq; terrorism; wot
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1 posted on 05/21/2007 6:07:15 PM PDT by elhombrelibre
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To: SJackson; jveritas; jmc1969; FARS; Ernest_at_the_Beach; knighthawk; Marine_Uncle; SandRat; ...

Ping.


2 posted on 05/21/2007 6:07:54 PM PDT by elhombrelibre (Al Qaeda knows Iraq's strategic value, yet the Democrats work day and night for our defeat there.)
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To: SandRat; SJackson; Alouette; ExTexasRedhead

This is something that needs to be shouted from the rooftops!


3 posted on 05/21/2007 6:08:27 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued (If the GOP were to stop worshiping Free Trade as if it were a religion, they'd win every election)
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To: elhombrelibre

After we’ve been overrun by Mexicans?


4 posted on 05/21/2007 6:08:31 PM PDT by James W. Fannin (Thanks, Cacique)
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To: elhombrelibre

John Bolton on Hannity and Colmes right now.


5 posted on 05/21/2007 6:09:10 PM PDT by Paperdoll
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To: Paperdoll

DUNCAN HUNTER-JOHN BOLTON


6 posted on 05/21/2007 6:10:54 PM PDT by Paperdoll
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To: James W. Fannin

Is this your only concern as Iran helps to kill Americans in Iraq?


7 posted on 05/21/2007 6:12:41 PM PDT by elhombrelibre (Al Qaeda knows Iraq's strategic value, yet the Democrats work day and night for our defeat there.)
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To: James W. Fannin

Wow!

YOur hate for Bush knows no bounds.

YOu cannot even save it for immigration threads.


8 posted on 05/21/2007 6:13:10 PM PDT by lonestar67 (Its time to withdraw from the War on Bush-- your side is hopelessly lost in a quagmire.)
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To: Paperdoll

Got them on!


9 posted on 05/21/2007 6:13:29 PM PDT by elhombrelibre (Al Qaeda knows Iraq's strategic value, yet the Democrats work day and night for our defeat there.)
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To: lonestar67

Well said. Monomania has taken over for some.


10 posted on 05/21/2007 6:14:11 PM PDT by elhombrelibre (Al Qaeda knows Iraq's strategic value, yet the Democrats work day and night for our defeat there.)
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To: 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.

Amen, Amen, and Amen.

11 posted on 05/21/2007 6:14:21 PM PDT by jveritas (Support The Commander in Chief in Times of War)
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To: jveritas

J, did you see this link? http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,2085192,00.html


12 posted on 05/21/2007 6:15:45 PM PDT by elhombrelibre (Al Qaeda knows Iraq's strategic value, yet the Democrats work day and night for our defeat there.)
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To: James W. Fannin

Do you see anywhere in this article a reference to illegal immigration? You are on the wrong thread. This thread is for people who believe in victory on the war on terror.


13 posted on 05/21/2007 6:16:17 PM PDT by jveritas (Support The Commander in Chief in Times of War)
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To: dennisw; Cachelot; Nix 2; veronica; Catspaw; knighthawk; Alouette; Optimist; weikel; Lent; GregB; ..
If you'd like to be on this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

High Volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel. or WOT [War on Terror]

----------------------------

14 posted on 05/21/2007 6:16:28 PM PDT by SJackson (Be careful -- with quotations, you can damn anything, Andre Malraux)
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To: elhombrelibre

Great article. Thanks for posting. Thanks to Frederick Kagan for his observations.


15 posted on 05/21/2007 6:20:08 PM PDT by PGalt
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To: jveritas
You are on the wrong thread.

I'm on the correct thread. If we can't defend our own borders, we will lose the war. The loss of political support for the war will be due to the shambles of this administration's immigration policy. The weakening of our cultural resolve will be due to the influx of illegal immigrants. The first nuke detonated in an American city will be brought here by an illegal immigrant.

Yes, oh yes, I'm on the right thread.

16 posted on 05/21/2007 6:21:18 PM PDT by James W. Fannin (Thanks, Cacique)
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To: elhombrelibre
There is no doubt that the Iranian terrorist regime with the help and coordination of the Syrian terrorist regime has been planning something like this for a very long time. The more the terrorist rulers in Tehran support and finance Al Qaeda the more the Arab Sunnis will be determined to fight and kill the Al Qaeda terrorists, and of course most Shia in Iraq will not be happy at all the Iran is supporting Al Qaeda who killed and injured tens of thousands of them in hundreds if not thousands of terrorists attacks.

There will be another hot front in the Middle East this summer and that is Lebanon. We have seen how the Al Qaeda affiliated terrorists who are supported by Syria has launched attacks in Lebanon yesterday, there will be more to come. Of course still both Iran and Syria will ask the A group of terror in Lebanon, Hizballah, to create a lot of problems this summer inside Lebanon and outside Lebanon.

17 posted on 05/21/2007 6:24:11 PM PDT by jveritas (Support The Commander in Chief in Times of War)
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To: James W. Fannin
You are absolutely on the wrong thread. The borders have had the same problems for 50 years and the 9/11 terrorists did not smuggle across the borders. We definitely need to greatly increase the security of the borders first and foremost to stop the influx of illegal immigrant however the terrorists are not that stupid to come illegally across the borders. They will come here on legal visas like the 9/11 terrorists, they will come here on their EU and Canadian passports where no visa is required to enter the US, and some are already living here for a long time as legal permanent residents or US citizens.

Again, this is not an illegal immigration thread.

18 posted on 05/21/2007 6:29:11 PM PDT by jveritas (Support The Commander in Chief in Times of War)
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To: SJackson
SJ, please include me on the Middle East ping list. I always participate on your M.E threads but I am not yet an official “pingee” :). Thank you.
19 posted on 05/21/2007 6:30:45 PM PDT by jveritas (Support The Commander in Chief in Times of War)
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To: jveritas

My comments stand for themselves.


20 posted on 05/21/2007 6:32:01 PM PDT by James W. Fannin (Thanks, Cacique)
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