Stay The Course
By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Monday, September 10, 2007 4:20 PM PT
War In Iraq: Gen. David Petraeus' realistic report on Iraq demonstrates why the public trusts the military more than a Congress that wants, once again, to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
Petraeus delivered news that should be celebrated by both sides in the Iraq debate. In his long-awaited report to Congress Monday, he said the troop surge will enable the U.S. to slowly cut the number of troops in Iraq from 168,000 troops now to 130,000 troops by mid-2008, about the level before the surge began.
Better still, the drawdowns can start immediately, he said, and proceed "without jeopardizing the security gains that we have fought so hard to achieve." This is unambiguously good news.
Except for Democrats, that is. Even before Petraeus spoke about the progress during the surge, they launched a series of ad hominem attacks on the general. That they would criticize testimony they haven't even heard shows once again the Democrats have invested their political future in an American defeat in Iraq.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who proclaimed the war "lost", had said that Petraeus has made statements "over the years that have not proved to be factual." Physician, heal thyself.
Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin suggested Petraeus "manipulated" statistics. Sen. Dianne Feinstein told Fox News Sunday: "The statistics are very questionable."
Presidential wannabe Joe Biden went further, saying there's "a big disconnect between the truth of the matter and the reality. I mean, the truth of the matter is that . . . the administration's policy and the surge are a failure."
Even before Petraeus began on Monday, his testimony was dismissed by the Defeatocrats.
"No one can make the case the Iraqi government has made great strides," said Rep. Ike Skelton, a Missouri Democrat.
Petraeus listened patiently as California's Tom Lantos sounded an even more defeatist note: "It is time to go, and to go now."
Even the media sharpened the knives. The Los Angeles Times reminded us that colleagues told Petraeus before he took command in Iraq that he had the opportunity to be this war's Ulysses S. Grant who "rescued the flagging fortunes of the Union army" and brought Lincoln victory in our Civil War.
But the Times took pains to also remind us that 40 years ago LBJ brought Gen. William Westmoreland to Washington to give what was essentially a dog and pony show that hid the disaster to follow, as Democrats hint Petraeus was sent to do.
To call the analogy inexact is to be charitable.
First of all, Bush has given Petraeus a free hand, as Lincoln gave Grant, as well as the forces needed to execute his plan. LBJ micromanaged Vietnam to the point of personally selecting bombing targets. The rules of engagement were restricted in Vietnam to the point our pilots could duel MIGs over Hanoi but couldn't take out their airfields as they sat on the ground.
In the end, Westmoreland didn't lose the war. Nor did LBJ. Congress did when the post-Watergate class of 1974 cut off military aid and air support to both South Vietnam and Cambodia, making the killing fields, reeducation camps and the boat people possible. Petraeus is no Westmoreland, and his testimony is no PR stunt.
As Petraeus clearly noted, the surge has worked. To wit:
• The level of "security incidents" has "decreased significantly" in eight of the last 12 weeks since the surge began in mid-June.
• Civilian deaths have plunged 45% in Iraq since the surge.
• The number of "ethno-sectarian" deaths — mostly, Shiite vs. Sunni revenge killings — have plummeted 55%.
• Thanks to improved ties to local communities, U.S. troops this year have found and cleared more than 4,400 caches of weapons, 1,700 more than for all of last year.
• In Anbar province, once the most violent area of Iraq, monthly attacks plunged from 1,350 in October 2006 to 200 in August 2007.
• The number of car bombings has dropped 49% since March.
• The U.S. has crushed al-Qaida in Iraq. Last year, al-Qaida controlled large swaths of Iraqi territory as sectarian violence escalated. Since January, the U.S. has captured al-Qaida's top leader in Iraq, killed or captured 1,000 other key leaders and some 2,500 al-Qaida fighters. Today, jihadist strongholds in Anbar and Diyala provinces are no more.
What a difference eight months makes. As recently as Jan. 30, CNN's Michael Ware told TV host Anderson Cooper that Ramadi, Anbar's capital, was "the true al-Qaida national headquarters." Last week, it was the site of a U.S. presidential news conference.
As U.S. forces have been sufficient to stay in these areas, not just attack and return to base, Sunnis and Shiites have united against al-Qaida in Iraq. They are the true insurgency now, dedicated to rooting out the jihadists who once terrorized them.
Someone once said no plan survives contact with the enemy. Strategies change in war. Petraeus, as he told Congress, has found a strategy that works.
A New York Times/CBS News poll released Monday showed the American people trust Gen. Petraeus and his forces to bring the war in Iraq to a successful end more than they trust Congress. Sixty-eight percent say they placed the most trust in our military commanders vs. 28% that chose Congress.
This echoed our own IBD/TIPP Poll, which in August found that 65% of Americans would rather President Bush take his advice on the war from commanders in the field than from Congress.
In this month's IBD/TIPP Poll, completed over the weekend, Americans basically supported the strategy Petraeus laid out Monday. By an overwhelming 70% to 25%, Americans backed a gradual, rather than quick, reduction of surge troops. Democrats, at 73%, were even more adamant about this than Republicans, at 71%.
By a 55% to 41% margin, Americans also agreed with the statement: "The U.S. has a moral responsibility to protect and assist Iraqis, regardless of the shifting political moods in Washington."
That trust placed in our military leaders, and especially in Gen. Petraeus, is deserved. On the basis of real and demonstrable progress, all he is saying is give us the time and we'll finish the job. All we are saying is — give victory a chance. |
