IRAQ'S RE-LIBERATION

New York Post ^ | August 22, 2007 | Ralph Peters

[Col. Bob]

August 22, 2007 -- GEN. David Petraeus' Baghdad office reflects the man: It's spartan. There are no giant flat-screen TVs or I- love-me photos on the walls. There's no spectacular view, just no-nonsense wall maps of the city and the country. It may be the least ostentatious four-star general's office in history. There's a representational office elsewhere, but this is where the general runs his war - when he's in an office: He often makes two or three grueling "battlefield circulation" trips around the country in a week.

In a session with The Post yesterday, Petraeus stressed that he wasn't going to offer any premature declarations of victory. Far from it. Despite meaningful and measurable progress since he assumed command earlier this year, Iraq remains a brutally difficult place.

But it's a better place than it was a year ago, with violence reduced by half in Baghdad. Long the deadly base of al Qaeda in Iraq, Anbar province has gone from hundreds of daily attempted attacks on our troops to four earlier this week. Iraqis assume ever more responsibility for their own security. And former enemies are rallying to fight beside us, instead of against us.

[Col. Bob]

Doing it right in Iraq at last.

As I Said in an earlier post, Bush has finally found his General Grant.

We cannot afford to lose to al-Qaeda. They must be crushed, and Iraq and Afghanistan are a good start.

[iopscusa]

This is a terrific INTERVIEW BY RALPH PETERS at the NY Post. The NYP is one of my favorite papers....and Peters has done some great work on Iraq, Afganistan and more.