Posted on 04/21/2007 6:40:31 AM PDT by kellynla
The news from Iraq is, as usual, grim. Bombings, more bombings, and yet more bombings--that's all the world notices. It's easy to conclude that all is chaos. That's not true. Some parts of Iraq are in bad shape, but others are improving. I spent the first two weeks of April in Baghdad, with side trips to Baqubah, Ramadi, and Falluja. Along the way I talked to everyone from privates to generals, both American and Iraqi. I found that, while we may not yet be winning the war, our prospects are at least not deteriorating precipitously, as they were last year. When General David Petraeus took command in February, he called the situation "hard" but not "hopeless." Today there are some glimmers of hope in the unlikeliest of places.
Until recently Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, was the most dangerous city in Iraq if not the world. It was run by al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), which had declared it the capital of its Islamic State of Iraq. The Iraqi police presence was limited to one police station, which the police were afraid to leave. Soldiers and Marines engaged in heavy combat every day, losing hundreds of men since 2003, simply to avoid having insurgents overrun the government center and close down Route Michigan, the main street.
(Excerpt) Read more at weeklystandard.com ...
You’re right... but a lot of people on this earth don’t yet realize that they have a stake in stopping terrorism.
They will someday, if Reid and the other traitors have their way.
All the news that I’m getting says he (the Troops) is pulling it off.
Not if you give them flying lessons while over the Atlantic.
I like Max, and have corresponded with him, but think he’s overly negative. I think things are even better than he suggests. For one thing, he completely discounts the nearly 200,000 terrorists we’ve killed, wounded, or captured since 9/11. I don’t.
“Invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity.”
Ann Coulter
You can find thread after thread here last year saying the war situation was not deteriorating, and that things were improving.
That's why some many have a difficult time reconciling if the improvements are true this time vs "well ok, it wasn't going well last year, or the year before or the year....."
But you can’t win a counter-insurgency by turning the populace against you. Did you read the whole article? The surge is working because there are boots on the ground, interacting with the people. Tips to the coalition are up by 80%.
Boot disagrees with me that enemy casualties matter. To him, our enemy is superman, who can take endless casualties because "he believes." The problem is, that pretty much defines most militaries. And casualties are irrlevant right up to the point they BECOME relevant, right up to the point that you can't mount another single offensive or even defend what you have.
There are a few moderates, but doing what you say would sure seperate the "wheat from the chaff" pretty quickly.
It might even have the benefit of making the "good muzzies" fight the "bad muzzies". A few more muzzie civil wars and we might get this whole "rise of Islam" thing over more quickly!!
Oh, I thought the Gen. had nuked the Sunni triangle! And Sadr had been beheaded. Gee, must have missed that.
Ping.
“The WOT is like a cancer that can not be cured, only briefly contained. Our best hope is to keep Islam from entwining itself in our country. Don’t ask me how!”
Start by ending all immigration from any islamic country.
Then begin deporting those of the islamic faith.
Raze to the ground every mosque built in this country.
and if you want to end the war on terror, then you must fight it as if it is a war. You need to remove the economic and support centers that feed it, just as we did to the germans, japanese and italians in WW2.
You hit them and hit them and hit them and hit them and hit them until they finally have had enough and surrender unconditionally.
My prayers - as always - are with our soldiers and Marines and hope this is an outstanding indicator of success.
Thanks for the ping!
TS
Only if we let them in again.
Our casualties are continuing high.
In fact, we have lost over 80 troops for 5 consecutive months, before this we had only two consecutive months with over 80 dead.
I am one of those who “have a difficult time reconciling if the improvements are true this time vs “well ok, it wasn’t going well last year, or the year before or the year but NOW its different.....”
we won the war four years ago.
I occasionally listen to Alan Colmes' radio show, because nothing else is on at that time.
He claims he thinks there will be less violence if we pull out. What a crock.
We either win this, or the Middle East will likely descend into anarchy. We will have to go back in, into a far more tenuous situation. IMO.
We need to build nuke plants like there's no tomorrow, clean coal technology, and figure out how to exploit the zillions of tons of oil shale that we have. Then, thumb our noses at the Middle East. They want to be uncivilized idiots, let them have their way.
This Is Counterterrorism, Senator ~~ (Positive news from IRAQ...why Harry Reid is worried....)
AND
Tribes Chasing Qa'ida Across Anbar Border? (Sattar kicking al-Qaeda's ass across Iraq)
Build the case that islamism is a political ideology bent on the violent overthrow of the government, not a religion, and therefore does not have first amendment protection. Then act accordingly. It is a thoroughly makeable case.
Surge strategist Frederick Kagan on how events are unfolding in Iraq.
Hugh Hewitt show ^ | 4/25/07 | Frederick Kagan / Hugh Hewitt
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1823696/posts
(snip)
HH: Now if you can give us the summary before I get to the specifics, has there in the 100 days since President Bush announced the plan, which is not yet even fully staffed, or even half staffed with the five brigades, et cetera, is there a change in the wind?
FK: There sure is. There are a lot of changes underway. One of the most remarkable things is that sectarian violence in Baghdad dropped almost immediately after the President announced the surge, and has stayed down. And in fact, the command in Iraq has recently announced that the daily murder rate in Baghdad is the lowest it’s been in six months, and it’s down 65% since November. And that’s a really dramatic accomplishment this early into the surge. Probably even more important than that, and this is something that goes back even before the surge, is that the Sunni population in Iraq is really beginning to turn on al Qaeda, and Anbar, which had been their base and stronghold, it’s becoming inhospitable to them, and the Sunnis are joining the police forces and the army, and are starting to attack and kill the terrorists. And that’s an incredibly important development.
HH: Now you were in Iraq along with two other astute observers of the conflict, Reuel Marc Gerecht and Max Boot. Did you guys travel together?
FK: I don’t know that Reuel was there. I don’t know about his travel. Max and I were traveling around for the part that I was there.
HH: And so, when you were talking to each other, were the officers and the strategists that you were dealing with, representing coalition forces, optimistic about this mission?
FK: I think that most of the people that I spoke to were very much in a problem-solving mode. They…we all see the challenges, we all see the problems, but we’re working on finding solutions, and I think people over there are feeling like they are coming up with solutions to a lot of these problems. And that was…so there was a very determined sense that these were problems that we just needed to find solutions that we needed to keep working on.
HH: Now you mentioned in your piece that there is this dual command structure, and the Iraqi equivalent of General Odierno is a fellow by the name of Gambar, is that correct?
FK: Abboud Gambar, yeah.
HH: Tell us about him. It’s the first time I’ve seen his name, and I’ve been waiting to see names attached to senior Iraqi military leadership for a long time.
FK: Well, he’s the guy that Malaki picked, because Malaki trusted him to be the guy who coordinates all of the Iraqi security efforts in the Baghdad plan. He is, I believe, a Shia, he is someone in whom Malaki has a lot of confidence, and he has been very good. He’s been very tough, and he has been pressing both against Sunni terrorists and against Shia militias in Baghdad in a very positive way.
(snip)
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.