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WASHINGTON — Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Navy Adm. Mike Mullen presented an Iraq update to the press at the Pentagon Thursday.View Transcript View Slides  Gates and Mullen talked about political and economic progress, future objectives for the Iraqi government to achieve and remaining challenges for Coalition forces. One major issue was the Anbar awakening and how provincial level politics is working.“There have been developments, positive developments politically and economically, that we did not anticipate. We've talked before about the Anbar awakening and what has happened in Al Anbar,” said Gates. ...

Winning: News from Iraq gets better by the day, but the media have done their best to downplay the turnaround and congressional Democrats have basically pulled the covers over their heads and pretended it doesn't exist.There's an eery silence out there about what's going on in Iraq. It's almost as if the silence is, well, intentional. Here are just a few examples of what we're talking about, pulled from last week's developments: • In Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, British Major Gen. Graham Binns said that attacks against British and American forces have plunged 90% since the start of September. •...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 14, 2007 – Security in Iraq has made tremendous gains, and now is the time to cement that security in place with economic gains, coalition officials said in Baghdad today. The U.S. Defense Department is spending money in Iraq to get basic services working and to prime the pump for private businesses, said Paul A. Brinkley, deputy undersecretary of defense for business transformation. Brinkley was joined at the news conference by Air Force Maj. Gen. Darryl Scott, commander of Joint Contracting Command Iraq, and Navy Rear Adm. Gregory Smith, chief of Multinational Force Iraq Communications Division. Coalition...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 13, 2007 – Captures of al Qaeda operatives and seizures of weapons caches in Iraq are up, and casualties are down, a senior military official in Baghdad told online journalists and “bloggers” today. Air Force Col. Donald Bacon, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman, attributed a large part of this success to the surge of operations, the increase in activity among Iraqi security forces, and most recently, the formation of concerned local citizens groups, known as CLCs. Since surge operations began in June, Bacon said, al Qaeda attacks are down 55 percent, civilian deaths are down 60 percent, coalition...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 13, 2007 – The transformation of the northern and western outskirts of Baghdad “has been nothing short of remarkable,” the commander of 1st Cavalry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team operating there said today. Army Col. Paul E. Funk II cited significant progress in the security environment since his “Iron Horse Brigade” arrived in Baghdad in December. He pointed to close cooperation between the Iraqi army, Iraqi police from the local Sunni and Shiite tribes. They’ve “grown weary of the intimidation tactics of extremist elements (and are) working together to secure their homes, their children and their future through...

Digg This! WASHINGTON —  Top U.S. commander in Iraq Gen. David Petraeus has met with representatives of Muqtada al-Sadr, once one of the top enemies fueling the insurgency against the elected Iraqi government, FOX News has confirmed. The general has not met personally with al-Sadr, the military said, but the meetings come as the Pentagon is softening its approach to the firebrand Shiite leader who recently eased his hard-line stance with a ceasefire call last August.

HAWR RAJAB — Four months ago, a U.S. or Iraqi Soldier walking the streets of Hawr Rajab would have likely sparked a battle. The city was dominated by al-Qaida, the streets lined with improvised explosive devices. Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, MND-C commanding general, walked the streets of Hawr Rajab Nov. 7, witnessing firsthand the dramatic improvement in the city’s security. With the Concerned Local Citizens (CLC) groups fighting insurgents and aiding U.S. Soldiers, the threat of al-Qaida has dropped considerably. An Iraqi Army (IA) mechanized company was added to help secure the community. Iraqis setting aside sectarian differences has also...

HAWR RAJAB, Iraq, Nov. 9, 2007 – When Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, commander of 3rd Infantry Division, walked the streets of Hawr Rajab on Nov. 7, he saw real progress in the city's security climate. Maj. Gen. Rich Lynch, 3rd Infantry Division commander, (center) walks the streets of Hawr Rajab, Iraq, with Col. Terry Ferrell (far right), commander of the 3rd Infantry Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team, Sheik Ali (to Lynch's left) and Sheik Mahir (to Lynch's right), Nov. 7, 2007. Photo by Sgt. Jason Stadel, USA   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Four months ago, any U.S....

BAGHDAD, Nov. 7 — American forces have routed Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the Iraqi militant network, from every neighborhood of Baghdad, a top American general said today, allowing American troops involved in the “surge” to depart as planned. Maj. Gen. Joseph F. Fil Jr., commander of United States forces in Baghdad, also said that American troops had yet to clear some 13 percent of the city, including Sadr City and several other areas controlled by Shiite militias. But, he said, “there’s just no question” that violence had declined since a spike in June. “Murder victims are down 80 percent from...

To all those who said the “surge” in U.S. forces in Iraq was doomed to fail, a look at the latest results should be instructive, if not humbling. Start with American military casualties. For October (36 Americans killed in action), they were the lowest for any month since February 2004, more than three years ago. U.S. casualties have now declined for five consecutive months even as American forces press the fight against al-Qaeda-in-Iraq terrorists and move out of their mega-bases to operate from security outposts in Iraqi neighborhoods. Steadily fewer American soldiers killed or wounded is a measure of a...

Post your GOOD news on the war on terror here! Thousands Return to Safer Iraqi Capital By STEVEN R. HURST BAGHDAD (AP) — In a dramatic turnaround, more than 3,000 Iraqi families driven out of their Baghdad neighborhoods have returned to their homes in the past three months as sectarian violence has dropped, the government said Saturday. Saad al-Azawi, his wife and four children are among them. They fled to Syria six months ago, leaving behind what had become one of the capital's more dangerous districts — west Baghdad's largely Sunni Khadra region. The family had been living inside a...

Progress in Iraq Real, Momentum Growing, Odierno Says Iraq: Job Won IBD ^ | November 2, 2007 War On Terror: With killings of both U.S. troops and Iraqi civilians down sharply, both al-Qaida and Iran may believe they have lost the Iraq War. Thanks to the surge, our mission just might largely be accomplished. U.S. military deaths were recorded at 36 for October, down from 65 in September, according to an Associated Press count. Army Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, the No. 2 commander in Baghdad, last week said the deaths of coalition forces have declined for five straight months and...

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq, Nov. 2, 2007 – The Iraqi government has assumed command of a major unit from the country’s army, a sign of continued improvement in Iraq’s armed forces, U.S. officials said. Marine Maj. Gen. W.E. Gaskin, commander of Multinational Force West, relinquished operational control of the 7th Iraqi Army Division, commanded by Maj. Gen. Murthi Mishin Rafa Farahan, to Iraqi Ground Forces Command in a ceremony at the division's headquarters at Camp Blue Diamond, in Ramadi, yesterday. The 7th Iraqi Army Division is responsible for security along the western Euphrates River Valley, with three brigades operating across the...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 1, 2007 – Coalition and Iraqi troops are creating security in Iraq, and life is returning to normal for the vast majority of Iraqi citizens. But the momentum is not irreversible, the commander of Multinational Corps Iraq said today. Coalition and Iraqi troops have been able to break the cycle of violence in the country, and all trends are positive, Army Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno told Pentagon reporters via teleconference from his headquarters at Camp Victory, Iraq. When the Army’s 3rd Corps arrived in Baghdad a year ago, Iraq was enmeshed in sectarian violence. Al Qaeda in...

KARBALA, Iraq- Iraqi Provincial Authorities assumed security responsibilities for Karbala province here Monday. Karbala became the eighth province to meet the joint conditions agreed upon by the Government of Iraq and Multinational Force-Iraq.GOI and MNF-I work to find out when a region is ready for transfer based on security resources, proficiency of regional government and the ability of MNF-I to support the region if needed.  It also demonstrates that Karbala is building a capable and self-sufficient police and military force designed to handle security situations when they arise, or seek assistance from the national government, according to a joint statement...

BAGHDAD - U.S. forces will turn over security to Iraqi authorities in the southern Shiite province of Karbala on Monday, the American commander for the area said, despite fighting between rival militia factions that has killed dozens. Karbala will become only the eighth of Iraq's 18 provinces to revert to Iraqi control, despite President Bush's prediction in January that the Iraqi government would have responsibility for security in all of the provinces by November.

CAMP SPEICHER, Iraq: The threat from al-Qaida in several former strongholds in Baghdad has been significantly reduced, but Iraqis face new threats from criminals who have established "almost mafia-like presence" in certain areas, the top U.S. commander in Iraq said Sunday. Gen. David Petraeus said stressed, however, the terror organization remained "a very dangerous and very lethal enemy" and said the military would maintain pressure to keep them from regrouping.

October 28, 2007 -- This week, the U.S. announced that military deaths in Iraq had fallen dramatically, to the lowest levels since March 2006, a sign that the surge of troops is working. Officers say increased cooperation from Iraqi civilians - who are tired of the terrorism and violence - has helped stem attacks. This comes as no surprise to Michael Yon, a writer who has blogged from Iraq since 2004. Yon, who is supported by donations to his Web site (michaelyon-online.com), writes about his own observations on the ground this year, embedded with U.S. troops. Statistics in reports about...

The Folly of Deifying Democracy in IraqBy Selwyn Duke We hear lots of criticism about the Iraq venture from the left, right and center. There is everything from silly notions about presidential prevarication to how "it is only about oil" to one-world government conspiracy theories. Yet, while military action can rise from policy objectives, it's often ignored that policy objectives tend to rise from the time's prevailing philosophy. And the truth is that insofar as the war in Iraq has been misguided, the blame can be laid at the feet of the spirit our age. I speak of a...

BAGHDAD - October is on course to record the second consecutive decline in US military and Iraqi civilian deaths and Americans commanders say they know why: the US troop increase and an Iraqi groundswell against Al Qaeda and Shi'ite militia extremists. Major General Rick Lynch points to what the military calls "concerned citizens" - both Shi'ites and Sunnis who have joined the American fight. He says he's signed up 20,000 of them in the past four months. "I've never been more optimistic than I am right now with the progress we've made in Iraq. The only people who are going...