The Surge Did Good

[Dr. Shane]

It seems Democrats can't afford to hear good news come out of Iraq. How sad. As a nation we should be happy that things seem to be getting better. But that won't help Democrats get elected so they simply cannot let good news be celebrated.

Petraeus: Iraq ‘surge’ troops to be withdrawn

Petraeus referred only obliquely to political difficulties in Iraq, saying, “Lack of adequate governmental capacity, lingering sectarian mistrust and various forms of corruption add to Iraq’s challenges.”

As for the much-maligned Iraqi military, he said it is slowly gaining competence and gradually “taking on more responsibility for their security.”

Petraeus didn’t say so, but Ambassador Ryan Crocker, the day’s only other witness, strongly suggested that the administration’s troop buildup had prevented a debacle.

Crocker said 2006 was a “bad year for Iraq. The country came close to unraveling politically, economically and in security terms. 2007 has brought improvement.”

...In long-awaited testimony, the commanding general of the war said last winter’s buildup in U.S. troops had met its military objectives “in large measure.”

As a result, “I believe that we will be able to reduce our forces to the pre-surge level ... by next summer without jeopardizing the security gains we have fought so hard to achieve.”

[lazarus]

It may be useful to watch some of the work by http://www.bignoisefilms.org/. They offer a different perspective on the work being done in Al Anbar province.

Is it wise to pay Sunni insurgents to fight Al Quaeda. These are the same guys that killed Americans and were called terrorists etc. They are also involved in ethnic cleansing. They are also working against the central government in Iraq.

It seems that short terms gains are being secured that will lead to long term disaster

[Bravus]

The surge did contain some of the violence in some of the areas. But its original stated purpose was to make space for political progress, and for various reasons (not all things the Americans can control) that has not happened. So some good news, yes, but one more instance of 'mission creep': just as the mission in Iraq in the first place crept from finding WMD to liberating the people from Saddam, the mission here has been redefined so that it can be called a success, when the original objectives were not met.

[Dr. Shane]

I think if we read the Authorization for Use of Force which was passed by Congress for Iraq we will find the 'mission creep' argument to be just a strawman. The Authorization listed many reasons for the use of force.