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Interview: General Petraeus on the Iraq War
Four pages of questions and answers. Here are two of them. Go read the whole thing. Hattip Lucianne.comGEN. David Petraeus, our nation's senior soldier in Iraq and the commander of Coalition forces, this week took the time to ex plain to Post readers where he believes we are right now - and where Iraq is headed. Ralph Peters: The current military operations in Iraq appear comprehensive and tenacious, part of a long-term, integrated plan. What can we realistically expect to achieve? Petraeus: Our primary goal is to work with our Iraqi counterparts to improve security for the Iraqi people. This is intended to give Iraqi leaders the time to resolve the tough political issues they face and to pursue internal reconciliation. We're working to eliminate the capability for al Qaeda and any other extremist groups to plan, assemble forces and mount attacks. We're clearing extremist sanctuaries in Baghdad, as well as in the belts around the city and in Diyala Province - while pursuing terrorist and extremist leaders throughout Iraq. As to reasonable expectations, we can expect a reduction in sectarian deaths and the gradual spread of Iraqi government authority. The level of sectarian deaths in Baghdad in June was the lowest in about a year. Nonetheless, extremists still have been able to carry out car bomb and other attacks. Obviously, there's considerable work to be done to reduce that ability. Q: The performance of Iraqi security forces still seems to be a mixed bag. What are their strengths and weaknesses? Do they really have a national identity? A: There is a national identity in the Iraqi security forces, though it varies in intensity and some units still exhibit the sectarian behavior that was so destructive in late 2006. The Iraqi security forces often reflect the quality of their leaders. There are some very good units that are largely operating on their own, and there are some that need considerable Coalition assistance. Of course, their strengths include a level of cultural awareness that no amount of training can give us. They have knowledge of the local areas that's particularly helpful, and their human intelligence networks can be of considerable value. Beyond that, they've been willing to fight - especially when their leaders set the example. Their losses in June were three times ours. Their key weaknesses are a lack of logistical self-sufficiency, heavy weaponry shortages (improving) and the lack of the infrastructure so important in modern warfare - all of which we're helping them build up. In the case of the local police, recruits and their families can be vulnerable to intimidation and coercion, if the situation where they live gets tough. Posted by: trailing wife 2007-07-10 |
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