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S THE REDUCTION IN violence in Iraq has become incontestable (the insistence of early critics that no such reduction was possible notwithstanding), war opponents have fallen back on their next line of defense--that the military progress has not been matched by the political progress it was supposed to enable. This talking point, however, is also outdated and invalid. The Bush administration, commanders and ambassadors in the field, and supporters of the effort to win in Iraq have long pointed to evidence of grassroots reconciliation and political progress. This evidence is growing and the importance of these developments is becoming increasingly...

Looking at the President's Assessment of the Iraq Campaign By Walid Phares April 1, 2008 President Bush's March 27 assessment of the state of the war in Iraq raised important strategic assertions that warrant greater attention from the public and the defense and national security sectors. The principles announced by the president with regard to the measurement of success and the risks of failure on the Iraqi battlefield constitute a series of components of what I would coin as the next stage in the confrontation against the forces of terror in the region. The surge's success The 2007-2008 military surge...

HADITHA — An Iraqi police and provisional security force emergency response exercise was conducted March 26, in the Haditha Triad. The exercise conducted by the IP and PSF, the second operation of its kind in the Haditha Triad, was executed to better prepare the Iraqi security forces for future unexpected events. “This exercise is very important to make the people confident in the IP and PSF,” said Iraqi Col. Muhammad Shafur, the PSF battalion commander, through an interpreter. “It showed the people that the police are strong and serious about taking actions against the insurgents.” “We have to be prepared...

Five years after the initial invasion of Iraq, Americans wonder where we are. Iraq is like no other conflict in American history. It is arguably no longer a war, but a low-level insurgency. We are not fighting a country, but a transnational conspiracy that operates more like an international fast-food franchise than a military force. In this conflict, there will be no "D" Day or signing of a peace treaty. What is victory? It is easy to take for granted the fact that there has not been another attack on American soil since 9/11 – how do you show progress...

WASHINGTON, March 28, 2008 – Progress in training and equipping Afghan national security forces has been “pretty astounding,” but could proceed faster if not for a shortfall in military trainers, the task force commander overseeing the effort told Pentagon reporters today. Army Brig. Gen. Robert E. Livingston, commander of Combined Joint Task Force Phoenix, described momentum built during the past six months to bring training opportunities for Afghan police more on line with that being provided to the Afghan army. Police mentor teams were dispatched into the districts of Afghanistan’s provinces during the summer, with big results, he said. Two...

WASHINGTON, March 28, 2008 – Iraqi security forces and government ministries have made vast improvements in the past year, a senior U.S. Army official in Iraq said yesterday. “We really are seeing an improvement in the security situation here in Iraq, and we’re taking every opportunity to leverage and maximize the potential of that security,” Army Col. Michael Fuller, Multinational Security Transition Command Iraq’s chief of staff, said in a conference call with online journalists and “bloggers.” Fuller said his command is working with the Iraqi ministries of Defense and Interior to help to generate, sustain and replenish the Iraqi...

WASHINGTON, March 27, 2008 – Coalition and Iraqi forces are making progress in Iraq’s Diyala province through three lines of operation, a military official there said yesterday. Significant enemy activities in Diyala over the past eight months have dropped by 70 percent, Army Col. Jon Lehr, commander of the 2nd Infantry Division’s 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, said in a teleconference with online journalists and “bloggers.” Lehr said the Iraqi army has made vast improvements and is capable of conducting unilateral operations with some assistance from coalition forces in terms of artillery, attack aviation and close-air support. Progress for the...

Bush: Progress in Iraq is real By JAMES HANNAH, Associated Press Writer DAYTON, Ohio - President Bush on Thursday promoted his war policies, a possible focal point in the presidential campaign as the November election approaches in politically pivotal Ohio. The troop surge in Iraq has resulted in significant security gains for the country, he said at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The number of sectarian attacks in the volatile Anbar province have plummeted since the surge, he said. "The progress in Iraq is real, it's substantive," he said. Recent news...

RAMADI, Iraq – Marines with 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, recently demilitarized Joint Security Station Steel. Joint security stations are designed to embed Marines with their Iraqi Security Forces counterparts, and further develop a close working relationship.This kind of integration has yielded many positive results and has helped the Iraqi Police take responsibility for protecting their community. This unified effort continues as they develop into an effective law enforcement organization capable of providing municipal security.“We started out constantly patrolling when we first got here, mostly by ourselves,” said Lance Cpl. Chris Hopkins, a 21-year-old machine gunner. “After months of hard work...

Sheiks and other influential leaders from throughout Diyala province gathered in Sa'ad Muhammed, Iraq, March 20, to establish how the newly-formed tribal support councils will operate in the province. Last month, the central government established the councils to give a voice to tribes in the government. Photo by Staff Sgt. Russell Bassett. SA'AD MUHAMMED — Influential leaders from throughout Diyala province gathered at a home in Sa’ad Muhammed, Iraq, March 20 to establish tribal support councils throughout the province. More than 1,000 people attended the gathering at the home of Sheik Dura Fayyahd Al-Amiri, arguably the most influential sheik in...

On the verge of victory The war in Iraq promises to remake the Middle East Sunday, March 23, 2008 By Jack Kelly, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette In a speech in West Virginia Wednesday, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton described Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq, as "an extraordinary leader and a wonderful advocate for our military." Just seven months ago Mrs. Clinton indirectly called Gen. Petraeus a liar (it would, she said, take a "willing suspension of disbelief" to believe what the general was saying about progress in Iraq since the troop surge began). This most recent Clinton flip-flop illustrates the...

MOSUL, Iraq — After the Iraqi Army increased patrols in this northern city earlier this year, Col. Haji al-Zibari found himself chasing two insurgents in a weapons-laden truck. The driver and his passenger veered off the road, jumped out, fired a few shots and disappeared into the city. So Colonel Zibari, then the second in command of the Second Brigade of the Second Iraqi Army Division, drove their truck to a traffic circle in the middle of a known insurgent haven on the crowded west end of the city and doused it with gasoline. Then he set a gas-soaked rag...

The U.S. military said on Saturday it had hampered al Qaeda's ability to recruit new members in Iraq by capturing or killing many of the people who make slick videos used to attract disaffected young Muslims. U.S. military spokesman Rear Admiral Greg Smith said that in the past year, 39 al Qaeda members in Iraq responsible for producing and disseminating videos and other material to thousands of Internet Web sites had been captured or killed. "The power of this information is obvious. These guys are using material that is used on Web sites to recruit and raise money," Smith told...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER — From guarding detainees at the Bucca Detention Facility in Umm Qasar, to helping the British Army defend Basra Air Base, to patrolling the streets of Narhwan and executing fire support missions at Forward Operating Base Hammer, Soldiers of Battery B, 1st Battalion, 10th Field Artillery, have done everything asked of them during their deployment to Iraq. Their duties changed many times during their current deployment, but Battery B Soldiers met each new task without complaint, said 1st Sgt. Michael Patton, from Memphis, Tenn., first sergeant of Battery B. “No matter what we have been asked...

WASHINGTON, March 21, 2008 – A provincial reconstruction team is working to build capacities in Iraq’s Wasit province for the long-term benefit of its citizens, a military official said yesterday. The 30-member PRT, which includes various experts from the U.S. State Department as well as military personnel, is engaged with all levels of the Iraqi government to help them provide better services to citizens, Army Col. Peter Baker, the 214th Fires Brigade commander, told online journalists and “bloggers” in a teleconference. With incidents of Shiia extremism still occurring in Wasit, Baker said, security remains a top concern in the province....

WASHINGTON, March 20, 2008 – New units moving into Iraq have the challenge of continuing the security improvements while helping the Iraqis build economic and political structures, the commander of a U.S. division preparing to take on that task said today. Army Maj. Gen. Michael L. Oates, commands the 10th Mountain Division based at Fort Drum, N.Y., and in May, the division headquarters will relieve the 3rd Infantry Division at Multinational Division Center in Iraq. “We want to build on the security environment that (Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, 3rd Infantry Division commander) and his guys have created,” Oates said...

FALLUJAH, Iraq (March 19, 2008) -- March 20, 2003, televisions glowed in living rooms across America. Families glued to the screens, watching Coalition troops brave austere desert conditions and cross the threshold, invading the hostile nation of Iraq. Advances in the media’s technology gave unprecedented coverage of troops, humvees, and armored vehicles rolling across desolate stretches of sand. For the first time, Americans and people around the world were able to witness two nations wage war on live television; capturing step by step, the reality of combat and the raw emotion of American sons and daughters. In April 2003, the...

WASHINGTON, March 19, 2008 – Despite the task NATO faced when it arrived in Afghanistan in 2003, the alliance has made significant progress in the country, the deputy chairman of the alliance’s military committee said here yesterday. “NATO’s done a remarkable job … in expanding their operations, from what began just in the Kabul area, throughout the entire country by late 2006,” U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Karl W. Eikenberry told the Pentagon Channel. “Today, NATO does have the responsibility for the maintenance of security throughout the entire country of Afghanistan.” NATO came into Afghanistan under a United Nations mandate to...

Are we succeeding in Iraq? Look no further than the front page of your daily newspaper. What had been a steady barrage of bad news has now slowed to a trickle. Our military’s success on the ground is changing public expectations as well. A recent survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found that most Americans (53 percent) now think “the U.S. will ultimately succeed in achieving its goals” in Iraq. That’s up from 42 percent in the fall of 2007. Why the improvement? We can thank the “surge.” A little more than a year...

Remember the war in Iraq? The question isn't entirely facetious. The war has nearly vanished from TV screens over the past few months, replaced by stories about the fascinating presidential campaign and faltering economy. Yet Americans continue to fight and die there, five years after the war started in March 2003. "It's no big secret that this is a war that everyone has grown tired of," said CNN correspondent Arwa Damon ... Statistics clearly illustrate the diminished attention. For the first 10 weeks of the year, the war accounted for 3 percent of television, newspaper and Internet stories in the...