Iraq is a 'Sea of Change'
Tuesday, July 24, 2007 at 08:52PM Bottom Line Up Front: Remarkable change is happening in Iraq.
Remember last week when CNN correspondent Barbara Starr, embedded with GEN Peter Pace and troops in Ramadi, Iraq, expressed astonishment at the positive conditions on the ground? Well the progress continues to impress.
GEN David Petraeus is a hands-on kind of guy. He doesn’t sit in the FOB (Forward Operating Base) and rely on briefings from troops on the beat. Instead, he drives and walks through the streets of Baghdad and sees “astonishing signs of normalcy” in half, perhaps two-thirds of Baghdad. Petraeus said today:
“I’m talking about professional soccer leagues with real grass field stadiums, several amusement parks — big ones, markets that are very vibrant. This provides a sign that the new strategy is working, although many problems remain.”
GEN Peter Pace notes a sea of change in Iraq.
“What I’m hearing right now is a sea change that’s taken place in many places here, that it’s no longer a matter of pushing al-Qaeda out of Ramadi, for example but rather, now that they have been pushed out, helping the local police and local army have a chance to get their feet on the ground.”
“To them, the hard work of getting rid of al-Qaeda is done. Now they want to get on with their lives.”
“The community is beginning to believe that the changes could be lasting. It’s a fact that people start to sense and see every day. To put it simply, people were jailed in their own homes. Now it’s totally different.”
Meanwhile, Baghdad revives as the surge and economic programs take effect.
More than 2.5 million local residents of Basrah Province will have a reliable source of water through the construction of Qurmat Ali pumping units.
Iraqi firms are obtaining more reconstruction contracts, boosting the economy
Sadly, these milestones are overlooked in favor of sensational bombings, but the violence does not tell the whole story. To the contrary, it tells only a fraction of it.
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Reader Comments (7)
Great minds think alike, I blogged on our success as well, Don't miss Mike Totten's latest, it says alot.
http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/001497.html. His Middle East Journal is one of the very best.
Do you suppose this is going upset the Democratic Presidential campaign? What will they campaign on if Iraq improves?
I hear the Iranians got told, here is the info, we are not making a legal case, we are just telling you we know what you are doing and you need to stop. I wonder if the Iranians were listening?
New tunneling going on at one of the Iranian nuclear sites -- Iran purchased some awesome tunneling machines in the past -- anyone against the United States blowing up tunnels before they become nuclear tunnels?
And the Lame Stream Media is silent, why? It seems like almost F-O-R-E-V-E-R, I and others have said over and over again that the Leftinistra in and out of CONgress C-A-N-N-O-T afford a V-I-C-T-O-R-Y in Iraq or anywhere else in the world. Their political aspirations for total and complete power and control would go right (left) out the window. This is GREAT news and not to be unexpected. I know men that are over there at this moment doing the deal and my son will soon deploy. Victory is at hand and the Leftinistra are losing sleep over it. I could see it in their eyes and detected the little variants in their voices during the Yawn Tube debates. Their BDS was leaking out everywhere.
"Remarkable change is happening in Iraq"
Say it again!
There is good news to report all over that is not reported by Euro or American MSM to a large degree. Like how many Iraqi children have been saved due to vaccination campaigns, etc. Like how many soldiers give their all to help Iraqi families and children daily. How Americans have opened their hearts to Iraqis in gifts, medicine and so much more.
And Reconciliation continues...
Petraeus and the leaders he has gathered together utilizing COIN are doing a terrific job under enormous pressure. While teetering wind bags and limp noodle Democrats continue blowing luke warm air thru the halls of Congress, Petraeus's plan is smoothing the way for reconciliation on the ground from the bottom up across many areas of former al Qaeda hotspots. They are bypassing many of the old corrupt leaders going directly to the people and tribal leaders in the conflict that want to end the sectarian strife and kick out Al Qaeda or Shia extremist militia.
It is working. Let Freedom Ring blogger reports on political progress:
http://www.letfreedomringblog.com/2007/07/24/the-reconciliation-continues/
And for the sophisticates of Euro-centric god worship, from the Times of London no less...
"The ground-breaking move in Doura is part of a wider trend that has started in other al-Qaeda hotspots across the country and in which Sunni insurgent groups and tribal sheikhs have stood together with the coalition against the extremist movement."
Totten has been a great read for a long time, along with Fumento and Yon. From Lebanon and back to Iraq, he's done a great job as an Independent reporter. We need more like him.
Petraeus will win this insurgency if the Surrender Now Democrats don't cause some wobbly Republicans to cave in. The Congress must give him time. New leaders are arising in Al Anbar and across Iraq as well given freedom from oppression of Saddam and Al Qaeda. The New Iraqi Army has to overcome the stigma of Saddams tyrannical torture brigades.
Sistani still holds control in the south of Iraq. New leaders are being trained in the Iraqi Army with Western mandated ethics. It is slow, but the times they are a changin...
We need to be there for the long term and support our troops fully. The longer we stay, the more long term friends we make that will last us a lifetime of gratitude for freeing their country from the tyrants of Baathist and Shia extremist alike. From the Syrian/Iranian tyrant connection which is trying to revert back to terrorist leadership over the people. We must stand by the Iraqis and not flench this time, nor withdraw support after so many gains are being made.
“Most of Graya’at’s insurgents and terrorists who haven’t yet fled are either captured, dormant, or dead.” - Michael J. Trotten
I can just hear Reed’s head explode.
His head needs to explode (metaphorically). Maybe then some truth can seep in. Harry reed is a bigger danger to America than the garden-variety insurgents on the ground in Iraq.
Mike;
If you track the votes, you'll notice that generally more Dems vote with the GOP than the reverse.