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Iraq
Petraeus takes the Hill
2008-05-25
Upon the return of Gen. David Petraeus to Capitol Hill, here is some of what he could report to his inquisitors:
  • Yes, last year's troop surge has been measurably a success. The assorted insurgencies are rearing up far less frequently now. "Security incidents" last week were at their lowest level in four years. Indeed, the bad guys themselves moan that their numbers are fewer and their operational capabilities are diminished.

  • Even Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militiamen aren't much protesting as Iraqi troops move into Baghdad's Sadr City to restore order to that lawless tinderbox. ("The forces have a right to enter," peaceably concedes one Sadr spokesman, speaking in the absence of Sadr himself, who remains holed up in Iran.)

  • And, Petraeus adds, he is reasonably confident that by September he will be able to order still more troop drawdowns.
All this is thanks to Petraeus and to his deputy Gen. Ray Odierno, who will shortly become ground commander in Iraq as Petraeus moves up to take charge of U.S. military missions in the entire Mideast.

Gone now are those fumings that giving credence to anything Petraeus says requires a "willing suspension of disbelief."
This time around, the general's testimony before the Senate Armed Forces Committee was actually met with respect, now that even the severest opponents of the war can no longer argue that the cause goes very badly. "Regardless of one's view of the wisdom of the policy that took us to Iraq in the first place and has kept us there over five years, we owe Gen. Petraeus and Gen. Odierno a debt of gratitude," said Sen. Carl Levin. "And regardless how long the administration may choose to remain engaged in the strife in that country, our troops are better off with the leadership these two distinguished soldiers provide."

Yes, gone now are those fumings that giving credence to anything Petraeus says requires a "willing suspension of disbelief."

We haven't even heard much lately from those wits over at moveon.org who so fancied "General Betray-Us" to be extraordinarily clever wordplay.
Gone now are the blubbers that the war is lost, lost, lost. While leading Democrats still demand withdrawal, also gone now are the pledges from some who hold the national purse-strings that they'll happily cut off every dime so Petraeus and his troops can't do any more fighting.

Why, we haven't even heard much lately from those wits over at moveon.org who so fancied "General Betray-Us" to be extraordinarily clever wordplay. Accordingly, we have no doubt that Levin's committee will move swiftly to confirm Petraeus and Odierno to their new posts.
Posted by:Fred

#6  NS, I'll have to see if I can find something in the open press about it.
Posted by: lotp   2008-05-25 19:21  

#5   I'll bet that on that day:

I bet that even at this moment the usual suspects are spending their time sharping their blades, figuratively, to put in his back at the earliest moment. To them it's a zero sum game and their politicing has placed them many levels down in the presence of real human leadership. Something they don't like and will react in the most ungracious manner. Lean and hungry men they be.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2008-05-25 08:48  

#4  lotp, is a comparison or an article talking about the comparison of ROEs available?
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2008-05-25 08:12  

#3  One thing Petraeus finally cut down on has been the court-marshalling of so many troops.

A drop in courts martial isn't due to new policy, www - it's the result of clear and focused ROEs with a different operational goal than our troops had to sustain earlier.

A Good Thing, to be sure.
Posted by: lotp   2008-05-25 07:56  

#2  I'll bet that on that day:

Hillary will be too busy campaigning to be able to show up to gently probe the good general's grasp of reality.

Pelosi will be too busy trying on scarfs for her next meddlesome foreign policy expedition to the mideast.

Reid suddenly can't show up because he decided the day before that there's no time like the present to get himself checked for polyps in his colon.

And of course Ted (PBUH) will too busy confronting reality to be able to immerse himself in his usual subversion.
Posted by: gorb   2008-05-25 03:15  

#1  One thing Petraeus finally cut down on has been the court-marshalling of so many troops. That has dropped dramatically this year, so I may finnaly be fully in his corner now.
Posted by: www   2008-05-25 00:48  

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