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December 30, 2007
War News From The Front ~ Gen. Petraeus Positive and Cautious ~ Dems Pout
Gen. Petraeus Positive, Cautious on Iraq Progress
BAGHDAD, Dec. 29
Washington Posthttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/29/AR2007122901169.html
The top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David H. Petraeus, delivered a positive but cautious assessment Saturday of progress in Iraq over the previous year,citing the drop-off in violence over the latter half of the year but warning that insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq remains the country's preeminent threat.
Petreaus said the number of weekly attacks in Iraq -- such as roadside bombs, mortars and sniper fire -- has fallen by about 60 percent since June, down to about 500 a week by late this month. The number of Iraqi civilians killed in December through the 22nd appeared to be about 600, according to a graph over the past two years provided by Petraeus using combined Iraqi and U.S. figures. The highest death toll during this period was last December, when about 3,000 civilians were killed.
"The positive security trends and the factors that produced them are changing the context in many parts of Iraq. While progress in many areas remains fragile, security has improved," Petraeus said during a briefing for reporters inside the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. He added that success "will emerge slowly and fitfully, with reverses as well as advances, accumulating fewer bad days and gradually more good days. There will inevitably be more tough fighting."
The downturn in violence is generally attributed to three factors that emerged over the year: the arrival of 30,000 additional U.S. soldiers, the emergence of tens of thousands of Sunni militiamen who aligned with American troops against al-Qaeda in Iraq, and the decision by Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr to call for a six-month cease-fire. Petraeus also cited a drop-off in fighters coming into Iraq from Syria and Saudia Arabia, and a decline in weapons believed to be manufactured in Iran being used in recent months.
For a time this year, U.S. officials in Iraq described Shiite militias as the most damaging and destabilizing force in the country, but Petraeus identified al-Qaeda in Iraq as the top threat.
"We call it sometimes 'the wolf closest to the sled,' it is the most significant enemy that Iraq faces precisely because it is the enemy that carries out the most horrific attacks, that causes the greatest damage to infrastructure and that seems most intent on reigniting ethno-sectarian violence," he said.
He said al-Qaeda in Iraq has been diminished by aggressive military operations and by the rise of the Awakening groups, and the insurgents have responded by attacking these groups.
In an audiotape released Saturday purported to be from Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda warned Iraq's Sunnis against joining such tribal councils or participating in any unity government. "The most evil traitors are those who trade away their religion for the sake of their mortal life," bin Laden said, according to a translation by the Associated Press.
Petraeus said the al-Qaeda in Iraq network and its affiliates have moved into northern Iraqi provinces such as Nineveh, Diyala, and Salahuddin, after coming under pressure from U.S. and Iraqi forces in Baghdad and Anbar provinces. The one Iraqi province that has not had a reduction in attacks is Nineveh, where insurgents operate in and around the provincial capital of Mosul.
In recent days there have been two major bombings in northern provinces, one in the oil refinery town of Baiji and another in Baqubah, the capital of Diyala province, that killed at least 26 people. Contrary to other trends, the number of suicide car bombs and suicide vest attacks have risen for each of the past three months, though the frequency is still below peak levels this year. There have been about 50 "high-profile" explosions in the first three weeks of December, according to U.S. military figures.
"There will be bombs," Petraeus predicted about the future of Iraq. "If the metric is that there are no car bombs or no suicide vest bombs, I think that would just be an unrealistic metric."
Also Saturday, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was flown to London for medical examination after suffering from what his aides described as fatigue. Reuters quoted an unnamed official saying Maliki, 57, would undergo tests on his heart.
Earlier in the week, Maliki was examined at a U.S. military hospital in the Green Zone, said Col. Steve Boylan, a U.S. military spokesman. His doctors and advisers recommended he go to London for a check-up, said Sami al-Askiri, an adviser to the prime minister. A statement from the Iraqi government described him as "fully healthy," but suffering exhaustion.
Wild Thing's comment........
It must be absolutely killing the media to have to report the good news on Iraq, most especially because the key to the turnaround was the surge -- the surge so strongly dismissed and opposed by the left.
But wait........ the media is not reporting hardly anything about our troops and how they are doing. They only reported when we were being hit by the enemy.
The GOP should be SCREAMING THIS OUT ... LOUD for American Ears... The Democrats were WRONG ABOUT THE SURGE!
Posted by Wild Thing at December 30, 2007 12:40 AM
Comments
You are so right about the Defeat O Crats and their media, both are silent about anything positive and only accentuate the attacks against our troops or any enemy attacks against the Iraqi's. The media feigns shock at the assassination of a muzzy leader, but can't do the customary , blame it on the Americans or Bush.
It seems that the only truth we hear from the war in Iraq is from the troops themselves and the bloggers covering the events. BDS has deranged and derailed all the other reporters.
Posted by: Jack at December 30, 2007 02:12 AM
Hillary Clinton called Gen. Petraeus a liar when she said that his testimony required a "willing suspension of disbelief". Well, Gen. Petraeus has proved her, the Defeatocrats, and the MSM wrong.
I measure the success in Iraq and Afghanistan by the reduction in coverage by the MSM. I can't wait for the troops to come home and spread the word of what really went on in those countries and letting the lying bastard Libs hang out to dry.
Posted by: Les at December 30, 2007 03:36 AM
I really hope General Petraeus gets his rightful place in the history books. His agressive game plan is what we needed. He is also willing to accept responsibility for what goes wrong. I do not visualize Gen Petraeus going to the media to whine and blame shortcomings on somebody else like Gen Sanchez and several other generals did.
The MSM is not going give Gen Petraeus much credit, but the MSM is dying. In Vietnam the MSM was a growing entity and was able to convince the nation through biased reporting and commentary that Vietnam was a lost cause even after our great victory at Tet 68. Now the MSM has alternative competition in the form of the worldwide Internet. Great bloggers are able to easily find correct information from sources on the spot other than MSM reporters.
Bloggers and blog readers will ensure that General Petraeus will get the credit and thanks that he is due.
I also think we should give some credit to SecDef Gates. It seems that he has worked well with the military and given Gen Petraeus what the General needed to make the surge work. I do not know for sure, maybe someone else can comment with a better grasp, but, was Rumsfield a disastrous failure? It seems that only the overthrow of saddam was a success, but the aftermath and response to the insurgency was a failure. I also question his sudden resignation/firing the day after the '06 elections. All along their was something in my military oriented mind that thought Rummy was the wrong guy.
Posted by: TomR at December 30, 2007 08:15 AM
Can you imagine the phone calls going back and forth between Harry and Nan?? And most likely Wolf Blitzer? All that scowling and blinking and pen grasping going on!!
Posted by: yankeemom at December 30, 2007 10:12 AM
We all know them: We’ve worked with them, for them, and had them work for us, the ones with the “fire in the belly” to get ahead. In the military we had those who only cared about their next promotion. They did all they could to fill the squares; studied, community involvement, off-duty education, kissed ass. They got promoted but they couldn’t fix an airplane, use a compass to find their way out of the woods, repair a jeep, or even cook a meal. Just think of the difference between a Wesley Clark and Norman Schwarzkopf; politicians general vs. a soldiers general. We all hated those types and we see them daily in politics but they’re the ones we believe should get elected. I too was critical about Fred’s lack of “fire” but I believe he’s right on this. We’ve been groomed to believe that the biggest cheerleader, the one with the right answers for every question, the one who looks and acts “presidential” will make the best president, or congressman.
Unfortunately, I too don't believe Fred doesn't stand a chance. Come November, we're not going to be voting for a Republican for president, we're going to be voting against the Democrat candidate. I'm getting sick and tired of voting for he lesser of two evils.
Posted by: BobF at December 30, 2007 10:34 AM
Jack your so right, yesterday , no the day before they were saying on one of the networks how there has not been much news from Iraq and Afghanistan. SHEESH! These were the news people saying this, lies all lies, I find all kinds of news about our troops. They just want to bring us the sad news, the deaths and such. grrrrrr
Posted by: Wild Thing at December 31, 2007 12:51 AM
Les.."lying bastard Libs hang out to dry"...love it.
Posted by: Wild Thing at December 31, 2007 12:54 AM
Tom I had not even thought of that. I hope so too. I keep forgetting how the left re-writes history to meet their agenda. I pray they don't re-write anything about General Petraeus.
I agree to about Gates and also Pace as well.
Posted by: Wild Thing at December 31, 2007 01:03 AM
Yankeemom, haha yes they must be miserable.
Posted by: Wild Thing at December 31, 2007 01:04 AM
Bob..."I'm getting sick and tired of voting for he lesser of two evils."....me too, I have had it.
Posted by: Wild Thing at December 31, 2007 01:05 AM
