Moving Forward in Iraq: The "surge" is working. Will Washington allow the current progress to continue? - by Kimberly Kagan
This is war, and the enemy is reacting. The enemy uses suicide bombs, car bombs and brutal executions to break our will and that of our Iraqi allies. American casualties often increase as troops move into areas that the enemy has fortified; these casualties will start to fall again once the enemy positions are destroyed. Al Qaeda will manage to get some car and truck bombs through, particularly in areas well-removed from the capital and its belts.Iraq resolution: GOP starts to wobble too soon - from the Union Leader
But we should not allow individual atrocities to obscure the larger picture. A new campaign has just begun, it is already yielding important results, and its effects are increasing daily. Demands for withdrawal are no longer demands to pull out of a deteriorating situation with little hope; they are now demands to end a new approach to this conflict that shows every sign of succeeding.
DURING THE prelude to the first Gulf War, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher advised President George H. Bush to maintain his resolve, saying, "Remember George, this is no time to go wobbly."Abandonment: Letting al Qaeda have Iraq - by Rich Lowery
Someone needs to deliver the same message to Senate Republicans. President Bush's surge has been at full force for only two weeks and already Senate Republicans are starting to bail on the war.
America good! Al-Qaida bad! — A trader in the Qatana bazaar, Ramadi, Iraq
This is a sentiment that the Iraqi trader felt safe to utter as a visiting U.S. general passed by, according to John Burns of the New York Times, only after a furtive glance “up and down the narrow refuse-strewn street to check who might be listening.” In a microcosm, this is the reason why we are finally making progress against al Qaeda in Iraq. The protection afforded by American combat power has made it possible for Iraqis in Sunni areas to turn against the terror group.
The Senate: chamber of shame - by Tony Blankley
But if al Qaeda can plausibly claim they drove America out of Iraq (just as they drove the Soviet Union out of Afghanistan ) they will gain literally millions of new adherents in their struggle to destroy America and the West. We will then pay in blood, treasure and future wars vastly more than we are paying today to manage and eventually win our struggle in Iraq.Hold firm on Iraq - Washington DC Examiner
Since then, more U.S. troops on the ground inevitably has meant more casualties, but only the willfully blind cannot see that the surge is making a huge and positive difference in our favor. D-Day also meant more casualties, but in the end it ensured freedom. That is why we cannot be swayed now from the task before us in Iraq.Don’t Panic - Editors of National Review
It is folly to dismiss the surge as a failure. It has — unevenly — brought down the number of sectarian killings in Baghdad and the number of civilian casualties around the country. Most important, it has helped turn the tide against al Qaeda in Iraq, as Sunni tribes side with us against the terror group.Al Qaeda on the Run - by Michael Yon
Critics of the surge point to increased U.S. casualties and the failure of the central government to meet political “benchmarks” by passing important legislation. The increased casualties are the awful but inevitable result of our increased combat operations, and in no way a sign that the surge isn’t working. The lack of political progress in Baghdad is disappointing, but has to be kept in perspective. The reason we wanted key pieces of legislation to pass was that we thought they would promote reconciliation with the Sunnis and split some of them from the insurgency. That has happened anyway, without the meeting of “benchmarks.”
The focus on al Qaeda makes sense here, where local officials have gone on record acknowledging that most of the perhaps one-thousand al Qaeda fighters in Baqubah where young men and boys who called the city home. This may clash with the perception in U.S. and other media that only a small percentage of the enemy in Iraq is al Qaeda, which in turn leads to false conclusions that the massive offensive campaign underway across Iraq is a lot of shock and awe aimed at a straw enemy. But as more Sunni tribal leaders renounce former ties with al Qaeda, its becoming clearer just how heavily AQ relied on local talent, and how disruptive they have been here in fomenting the civil war….
