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."
Sieves? Try geysers.
No, you are not on the right thread.
Immigration is an important issue, but it is not the only one.
If you want to start a vanity on how the war in the Middle East is affecting the immigration issue on the home front, start a thread of your own and invite others to participate.
It is impolite to barge into an unrelated thread and hijack it. Please be considerate of others.
http://billroggio.com/archives/2007/05/the_baghdad_security_8.php
Yes, they certainly do. Kind of like the old nursery rhyme "The Farmer In The Dell", where the last line goes "The cheese stands alone". In this particular instance, it looks like you get to be the cheese.
‘Attention! Your attention, please! A newsflash has this moment arrived from the Malabar front. Our forces in South India have won a glorious victory. I am authorized to say that the action we are now reporting may well bring the war within measurable distance of its end. Here is the newsflash -’
Double-plus good news!
Casuality rates increase when offensive operations and holding tactics increase. It says nothing about whether or not the situation in Iraq is improving or not.
You can mock the efforts if you like. Certainly, that’s a valuable contribution to our understanding of what’s going on in Iraq and the WOT in general.
The Iranians know time is not really on their side. The Iraqi Army is getting stronger. We are giving them more equipment. They are fighting the arrival of the famous “tipping point” when we will have significant Iraqi military resources to call upon in an invasion of Iran.
edsheppa, that page has a hot link to the Lancet study.
The methodology of the Lancet study is extraordinarily flawed, and it is pretty apparent it was an antiwar document. I would regard anything that comes off that page with suspicion.
As the saying goes, there are Lies, damned lies, and statistics.
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=25577_What_Nancy_Hath_Wrought&only
Thanks, I’d see this.
I meant “seen.”
They are, I admit, a lagging indicator, but are the bottom line in this kind of war. Journos spin both ways. It's better to rely on more objective measures than what they write.
Speaking of objective measures of progress, did you click the 5-2007 Military Fatalities and observe the fraction of deaths due to IEDs? It's been years now and our military leaders haven't developed neither strategies to defeat this threat. Very distressing.
So...if I interpret correctly the context in which you have chosen to place the passage, you think Mr. Kagan’s article is the equivalent of government propaganda?
When was the last time you were in Iraq or Afghanistan? Have you ever been there? I have not myself, but the guys I have talked to who HAVE been there say it is nothing like the way it is being portrayed in the media.
It was a clever quote that I presume you thought would get some laughs...but come on out from behind the quoted passage and tell us what YOU think of this article.
Did I pretty much get your statement correct, or did I misinterpret it?
Have you anything of substance to contribute to this thread?
Ditto for you too, James.
Maybe. They even admit the Iraqi casualty figures are just what they garner from press accounts, but I bet the trends are fairly accurate and the Military Casualties are numerically accurate coming directly from military sources.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.