The Successful Surge in Iraq

More good news you won’t get in the MSM:

Moving Forward in Iraq

The “surge” is working. Will Washington allow the current progress to continue?
BY KIMBERLY KAGAN
Wednesday, July 11, 2007 12:01 a.m. EDT
In Washington perception is often mistaken for reality. And as Congress prepares for a fresh debate on Iraq, the perception many members have is that the new strategy has already failed. This isn’t an accurate reflection of what is happening on the ground, as I saw during my visit to Iraq in May. Reports from the field show that remarkable progress is being made. Violence in Baghdad and Anbar Province is down dramatically, grassroots political movements have begun in the Sunni Arab community, and American and Iraqi forces are clearing al Qaeda fighters and Shiite militias out of long-established bases around the country.

This is remarkable because the military operation that is making these changes possible only began in full strength on June 15. To say that the surge is failing is absurd. Instead Congress should be asking this question: Can the current progress continue?

From 2004 to 2006, al Qaeda established safe havens, transport routes, vehicle-bomb factories and training camps in the rural areas surrounding Baghdad, where U.S. forces had little or no footprint. Al Qaeda used these bases to conduct bombings in Baghdad, to displace Shia and Sunni from local towns by sparking sectarian killings, and to force Iraqis to comply with the group’s interpretation of Islamic law.

Shiite death squads roamed freely around Baghdad and the countryside. The number of execution-style killings rose monthly after the Samarra mosque bombing of February 2006, reaching a high in December 2006. Iranian special operations groups moved weapons across the borders and into Iraq along major highways and rivers. U.S. forces, engaged primarily in training Iraqis, did little to disrupt this movement.Today, Iraq is a different place from what it was six months ago.

U.S. and Iraqi forces began their counterinsurgency campaign in Baghdad in February. They moved into the neighborhoods and worked side-by-side with Baghdadis. As a result, sectarian violence is down. The counterinsurgency strategy has dramatically decreased Shiite death squad activity in the capital. Furthermore, U.S. and Iraqi special forces have removed many rogue militia leaders and Iranian advisers from Sadr City and other locations, reducing the power of militias.

As a consequence, execution-style killings, the hallmark of Shiite militias, have fallen to the lowest level in a year; some Iranian- and militia-backed mortar teams firing on the Green Zone have been destroyed. Equally important, U.S. and Iraqi forces have restricted al Qaeda’s bases to ever smaller areas of the city, so that reinforcements cannot flow easily from one neighborhood to another.

Many in Washington say the Baghdad Security Plan has just pushed the enemy to other locations in Iraq. Though some of the enemy certainly left Baghdad when the security plan began, this metaphor is inaccurate. The enemy has long been located outside of Baghdad and was causing violence from suburban bases. What has changed is the disposition of U.S. forces, which are now actively working to expel the enemy from its safe havens rather than ignoring them.

LINK:  http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110010320

9 thoughts on “The Successful Surge in Iraq”

  1. ““Many in Washington say the Baghdad Security Plan has just pushed the enemy to other locations in Iraq.”

    Rob, I agree with what you said too. Really the above statement is true though. They just forgot to mention that the plan has driven some terrorists to their graves, and others into holding cells — it’s only the ones who survive and elude capture that make it to the other areas. Leave it to the MSM to state the obvious, but to use it in a way that is manipulative.

  2. Rob:
    I agree. The best source for success are the troops. Ask them. Visit their sites. I was there for the bulk of the initial combat operations in 2003, and the leftist media was already in full swing with scathing criticisms, with no facts to back it up. Soldiers witness and experience a totally different scope of operations than what is being reported and absorbed among the Washington media and democratic elite.

  3. Rob Thompson

    “Many in Washington say the Baghdad Security Plan has just pushed the enemy to other locations in Iraq.”

    For some reason, those damn terrorists won’t just line up to get shot peacefully.

    What is annoying about the kind of statement above is that the people saying these things are quite well-informed. Government is addicted to Gantt charts, progress reports, powerpoints, and management meetings; they know full well which objectives are met and which aren’t.

    They just depend on the fact that we don’t.

  4. Perhaps the reason you start so many wars is that you have no sense of humour. I know perfectly well what the M4 is. It connects Cardiff with London. You may have taken battle rattle but you’ve never been stuck on the M4.

    It takes all the intelligence of a caveman to use a weapon. Which I suppose for you lot is quite an aspiration.

    All the best.

    1. bluerat,

      The M4 is an American semi-automatic weapon which replaced the M16A2. Dumbass. I know something you can “get stuck on”. Your type of ‘intelligence’ takes a self absorbed pretentiousness ass who prefers sarcasm in place of real debate. You can go back to playing with yourself now.
      Cheers’
      SFC MAC

  5. You obviously have no clue of the technology behind the equipment that is used in today’s battlefield. It is so cute to watch someone make such bold comments on issues of which he/she obviously lacks any real knowledge or information.

    I actually have a great sense of humor. It’s pretentious, pompous and arrogant rats that I have no tolerance for. Furthermore simply calling an offensive comment a “joke” or a stab at “humor” is a lame attempt to hide your own hatefulness. Just own it.

  6. Holy cow! Who is the ass that made the comment about filling in crossword puzzles?

    Being stupid and arrogant at the same time is so unbecoming. I would encourage you to follow the troops around and see what kind of ass busting hours they put in all the damn time, but I don’t want you any where near my son while he is dodging bullets in Baghdad. I doubt you are smart or savvy enough to man a Stryker and use a weapon.

    Puzzles? Are you serious? Gee maybe that’s why I haven’t heard from him a weeks… nah, he’s not out busting his ass on missions constantly, he’s working crossword puzzles in between mortar fire.

  7. I’m glad the army isn’t ignoring those insurgents anymore. I guess you’ve gotta do something once you’ve coloured in all the crossword puzzles you took with you.

    1. bluerat,

      Are you fucking kidding me? Are you some kind of a moron? I’ll make sure I pass your boneheaded comment to all the Soldiers who are still in the fight against Islamofascism. By the way asshat, I took full battle rattle and my M4. (not that you know what those are) I’ll leave it to ‘tards like you to worry about coloring within the lines.
      SFC MAC

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