Analysis: US Winning War That Seemed Lost
July 27, 2008, Associated Press
The complete article can be found at: http://www.military.com/news/article/analysis-us-winning-war-that-seemed-lost.html?ESRC=eb.nl
The United States is now winning the war that two years ago seemed lost. Despite the occasional outbursts, Iraq has reached the point where the insurgents no longer have the clout to threaten the viability of the central government.
This means the combat phase finally is ending and the new phase now focuses on training the Iraqi army and police, restraining the flow of illicit weaponry, supporting closer internal links between Baghdad and local governments, integrating former insurgents into legitimate government jobs and rebuilding the economy.
Scattered battles go on, but organized resistance, with the steady drumbeat of bombings, kidnappings, assassinations and ambushes that once rocked the capital daily, has almost ceased.
This is more than a lull in the violence, it is fundamental shift in the outlook of the Sunni minority who launched the insurgency five years ago. They now are either sidelined or have switched sides to cooperate in return for money and political support.
Shiite militias, such as the Mahdi Army, have lost their power bases in Baghdad, Basra and other major cities. Al-Sadr and his top lieutenants are now in Iran. They face major obstacles, including a loss of support among a Shiite population weary of war who no longer are as terrified of Sunni extremists as they were two years ago.
Iraq still faces many hurdles including sectarian rivalries, power struggles within the Sunni and Shiite communities, Kurdish-Arab tensions, and corruption.
With a sense of normalcy in the streets of the capital, people are expressing a new confidence in their own security forces, which in turn are exhibiting a new found assertiveness with the insurgents.
Statistics show violence at a four-year low. In Baghdad, parks are filled every weekend with families playing and picnicking with their children. Now a moment has arrived for the Iraqis to try to take those positive threads and weave them into a lasting stability.
Iraqi authorities have grown dependent on the U.S. military after more than five years of war. While they are aiming for full sovereignty with no foreign troops on their soil, they do not want to rush.
Although Sunni and Shiite extremists are still around, they have surrendered the initiative and have lost the support of many ordinary Iraqis.
Soap Box Ravings notes that while things were dim two years ago because of mistakes made by the chain of command during the war, the situation got much worse when the Democrat Party took control of the House and Senate. From that point on Pelosi and Reid have continued to do their very best to insist that we lose the situation in Iraq.
In bygone days, these individuals would have been tried for treason. I suspect because no deserving person was ever tried for treason after the Vietnam War means you can say and do whatever you want now. However, I believe when Pelosi and Reid exercise their "right of free speech" it is akin to screaming fire in a crowded movie theater or sports stadium.
I hold them personally responsible for the lives of many of our troops who have died since they took over the House and Senate.
