Re: Petraeus: Troop Surge Working

On Aug 31, 3:14 pm, "JC" <dontbot...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
"Joe Avelon" <javalo...@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:46d8643e$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
America's troop surge in Iraq has sharply reduced sectarian killings and
roadside bombings and lowered al-Qaida's influence, the top U.S. general
in the country said in an interview published Friday.

"We say we have achieved progress, and we are obviously going to do
everything we can to build on that progress and we believe al-Qaida is off
balance at the very least," The Australian newspaper quoted Gen. David
Petraeus as saying.

Petraeus said there had been a 75 percent drop in ethnic and religious
killings since last year, a doubling in the number of seizures of
insurgent weapons caches between January and August, a drop in the number
of coalition deaths from roadside bombs, and an increase in the killing
and capture of al-Qaida fighters, the newspaper said.

The rise in al-Qaida "kills and captures" had caused the group to lose
influence with Sunni Muslims, it quoted the general as saying.

Petraeus said the surge, in which an additional 20,000 troops were
deployed in Iraq, would continue for several more months and the troop
level would then be phased down, the newspaper said. He said the U.S.-led
coalition would attempt to hold onto all the gains that had been made.

Petraeus is to testify on the troop surge to the U.S. Congress during the
week of Sept. 10, and U.S. President George W. Bush is to deliver his own
progress report by Sept. 15. The reports are seen as key elements in the
debate in Washington over how the war should be fought - and whether U.S.
troops should be brought home.

The Australian said it interviewed Petraeus at his headquarters in Baghdad
after he briefed visiting Australian Defense Minister Brendan Nelson on
the situation in Iraq. Australia participated in the U.S.-led invasion of
Iraq and still has about 1,600 troops in and around the country, 550 of
them in combat roles.

Petraeus said the surge strategy had turned U.S. forces into pursuers
instead of defenders, "and that is a much better place to be."

He said religious and ethnic killings, or "ethno-sectarian deaths," were
the most important measure of progress and that the number of people
killed on religious and ethnic grounds in the capital was going down.

"If you look at Baghdad, which is hugely important because it is the
center of everything in Iraq, you can see the density plot on
ethno-sectarian deaths," the newspaper quoted him as saying.

"It's a bit macabre but some areas were literally on fire with hundreds of
bodies every week and a total of 2,100 in the month of December '06,
Iraq-wide. It is still much too high but we think in August in Baghdad it
will be as little as one quarter of what it was," it quoted Petraeus as
saying.

When I can hear him testify in person, he will be the one I believe. Not
some political hack, lying politician or anti-American *** that only
believes in party politics at all costs.

Well, it isn't easy, is it. We're all negotiating a minefield of
deliberate lies, co-opted media, a secretive government, and the
tireless efforts of war-profit corporations to keep the gravy train
rolling. What I don't understand is why you have settled your faith
on this one particular general, and ignored all the generals who have
left this administration in the past four years to speak out publicly,
after their highly skilled advice, experience and intelligence (both
kinds) were completely ignored by this administration.

.

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