A Surge Of Success
By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Wednesday, August 15, 2007 4:20 PM PT
War In Iraq: The surge is working. That's not our opinion, but that of Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq. And he'll soon back it up by proposing removal of American troops from several areas there.
Bad news for those who've wanted to see the U.S. defeated in Iraq: It's not happening. In fact, according to both Petraeus and Pentagon officials, success in a number of areas of Iraq has been so great that the U.S. will soon be able to leave security duties to the Iraqis — a major success on the Iraqi front of the war on terror.
Moreover, according to remarks by Petraeus on Wednesday, the U.S. troop "footprint" in Iraq — now at 162,000 — will be "a good bit smaller" by the middle of next year.
Those who look at the killing of 250 members of the Yazidi religious sect in Iraq on Wednesday as evidence that Iraq is unraveling miss the point. The terrorists, mostly foreign al-Qaida fighters and Shiite militias linked to Moqtada al-Sadr, are losing the fight.
Sure, they're getting headlines. That's their goal. But another report on Wednesday — which got little coverage — noted that U.S. and Iraqi forces have now killed or captured 75% of al-Qaida's leadership in Iraq.
Al-Qaida's ability to operate has been severely degraded by the surge, which brought 28,500 new troops to Iraq for intensive operations against the terrorists. At some point next year, we'll start bringing home some of our personnel in Iraq. With honor.
For those who oppose the war, an unusually bullish Associated Press report just last week highlighted the new reality: "The new U.S. military strategy in Iraq, unveiled six months ago to little acclaim, is working."
Even Der Spiegel, the German magazine known for its anti-American tirades, was compelled to admit in this week's issue:
"Ramadi is an irritating contradiction of almost everything the world thinks it knows about Iraq — it is proof that the U.S. military is more successful than the world wants to believe. Ramadi demonstrates that large parts of Iraq — not just Anbar Province, but also many other rural areas along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers — are essentially pacified today."
This, from a publication that just last year featured a cover story picturing President Bush as Rambo.
Nor has the new reality escaped the notice of Harry Reid. Just last month, the Senate Majority Leader declared the war "lost." Today, he says this: "Iraqis remain far from a political solution and have not demonstrated any readiness to stand up and take responsibility for their own country."
Quite a difference between Iraqis' being "far from a political solution" and the war is "lost," don't you think?
We're not saying everything's great in Iraq. There's still horrible violence, and, as Reid noted, political disputes galore. But there's no doubting the progress made.
When Petraeus gives his review of progress in the war to Congress a month from now, we hope lawmakers will listen politely, then applaud. Above all, we hope they do nothing stupid, like trying to pass another resolution calling for immediate withdrawal. It will only call attention to how wrong the new majority has been. |
