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April 25, 2007
Choosing Victory: A Plan for Success in Iraq - Phase II Report
American Enterprise Institute scholar Frederick Kagan presented Choosing Victory: A Plan for Success in Iraq - Phase II Report today on the situation in Iraq. As you'll recall, he and retired General Jack Keane (Vice-Chief of Staff of the Army) who developed the plan currently being implimented in Iraq. You can view the unclassified version here.
Here's part of the executive summary of the Phase II report
Victory in Iraq remains both possible and necessary. Since President George W. Bush's announcement in January 2007 of a change in U.S. strategy and the deployment of additional military and civilian resources to support that new strategy, the situation in Iraq has begun to improve in many important ways. U.S. and Iraqi forces together have attacked both Sunni and Shiite terrorists and militia groups, including conducting sweeps of Sadr City and other Shiite areas in Baghdad that the Iraqi government had previously declared off-limits. Militia killings dropped during the first months of increased security operations as U.S. and Iraqi forces established Joint Security Stations and Combat Outposts throughout Baghdad. Iraqi prime minister Nuri Kamal al Maliki has supported the arrest of a number of senior Shiite political figures tied to Moqtada al Sadr and the Jaysh al Mahdi (JAM). Sunni sheiks in Anbar province have turned against al Qaeda in Iraq, filled the police forces of Fallujah and Ramadi with their sons, and reached out to the Shiite-dominated government in Baghdad. In a dramatic gesture, Maliki visited Ramadi and met with some of the sheiks in March. All of these developments preceded the deployment of most of the additional U.S. forces the president promised in January, and came before the major clear-and-hold operations that are to be the centerpiece of the new approach. The continuation of positive developments in Iraq depends upon an ongoing U.S. and Iraqi commitment to establishing and maintaining security, a commitment that has made possible most of the progress to date.
The report itself is 66 pages, and I've only had time to skim through it tonight. In the first part Kagan reviews the history of OIF, and in a much of the rest he discusses the economic situation and how to rebuild the country. Also summarized is the political situation within Iraq and the creation of a viable government, army, and police force. I'll have to save more in-depth comment for this weekend when hopefully I'll have more time.
Here's part of Kagan's conclusion taken from the end of the report
The United States cannot afford to lose the war in Iraq, and victory is still within reach. Mistakes made in the first few years of this conflict have not rendered success impossible any more than did errors in the first years of the U.S. Civil War or World War II. The plan now being executed by General Petraeus is a new approach to this conflict based on time-tested principles of counterinsurgency, suitably adjusted for the conditions of sectarian conflice in Iraq, and it is already yielding promising early results. ...in 2003 there was no Iraqi government, no Iraqi Army, no Iraqi police, and an insurgency was growing in strength. Today there is an elected Iraqi government that is functioning, albeit imperfectly. There is a large Iraqi Army - significantly larger than that of France of Britain - that has fought many battles for the survival of its young state. Essential services and infrastructure are at or above prewar levels and improving, despite the best efforts of insurgents to destroy them. And there is growing evidence that Iraqi support for both insurgents and militias is waning. The success in Iraq the United States needs is approaching, even if it is not arriving as rapidly as everyone would like. Now is the time to redouble our efforts in the nonmilitary realm, just as we have devoted nmore resources and developed a new strategy to achieve security.
I don't have time to post them all tonight (give me through the weekend) but the majority of the articles I've seen recently show that we have indeed turned the corner and the situation is improving. For now here's just one; Steve Shippert's excellent piece on National Review "This Is Counterterrorism, Senator". Go and read the whole thing.
We should also remember that of 5 Brigades being sent to Iraq (the "surge" part), the third is just now arriving.
Meanwhile, the Democrats show how much they support the man they voted to carry out the new plan by skipping his briefings. As if that's not good enough, they just passed a bill in the House designed to undermine the new plan. They're completely invested in defeat. Michelle Malkin has their number.
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The New Plan for Iraq - AEI Update I
New Plan for Iraq VI
New Play for Iraq V
New Plan for Iraq IV
New Plan for Iraq III
New Plan for Iraq II
Here's the New Plan for Iraq
Posted by Tom at April 25, 2007 9:43 PM
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Comments
The Democrats have to assure that we are defeated, or they will have to admit they were wrong. A free and democratic Iraq and Afghanistan would be a nail in their coffin and they know it. But, in my opinion, they also want to assure that we lose before 2008 just in case, God forbid, they win the presidential election and have to take on the responsibility of this war. They don't want to own it, they only want to use it to their advantage. It is sick.
Posted by: Christi at April 26, 2007 11:30 PM
Thanks for the update Tom.
Dude, apart from that, you live in Virginia. I suppose the news of the massacre must have hit hard throughout the state. Please accept my sincere condolences, fellow.
Posted by: Outlaw Mike at April 27, 2007 5:38 PM
Great update Tom. Unfortunately the Dems have passed their sick little bill yesterday and pushing Bush to the edge. He will of course veto the bill, but what is wrong with the Dems? Seriously. They show no patriotism, not do they want to grasp that they are giving terrorists and Al Qaeda what the wish for.
To all that want a Dem to win the WH in '08 - yeah go for it...heh, maybe the terrorists will behead you last!
Posted by: Layla at April 27, 2007 5:55 PM
I meant - they do not. Sorry for the typo.
Posted by: Layla at April 27, 2007 5:56 PM
