More Surge Success

Yesterday, Michael O'Hanlon (Brookings Institution) and Kenneth M. Pollack (Saban Center for Middle East Policy) wrote an Op-ed for the New York Times praising the surge. They both recently returned from an eight day trip to Iraq.

They pointed out several things to be optimistic about.

1. The morale of American soldiers there has increased.

They write: "Today, morale is high. The soldiers and marines told us they feel that they now have a superb commander in Gen. David Petraeus; they are confident in his strategy, they see real results, and they feel now they have the numbers needed to make a real difference."

2. Decreased loss of innocent life.

They write: "[C]ivilian fatality rates are down roughly a third since the surge began."

3. Bad Iraqi partners have been rooted out

They write: "American advisors told us that many of the corrupt and sectarian Iraqi commanders who once infested the force have been removed. The American high command assesses that more than three-quarters of the Iraqi Army battalion commanders in Baghdad are now reliable partners."

4. Increased ethnic participation and cooperation

They write: "The Iraqi Army's highly effective Third Infantry Division started out as overwhelming Kurdish in 2005. Today, it is 45 percent Shiite, 28 percent Kurdish, and 27 percent Sunni Arab."

5. Iraqi population is fighting back against Al-Qaeda

The Iraqi population is getting fed up with Al-Qaeda's Sharia Law, violence, and stealing of their women. The people are fighting back.

They write: "The most important and best-known example of this is in Anbar Province, which in less than six months has gone from the worst part of Iraq to the best (outside the Kurdish areas). Today the Sunni sheiks there are close to crippling Al Qaeda and its Salafist allies."



( Quotes from "A War We Just Might Win" by Michael E. O'Hanlon and Kenneth M. Pollack published in the New York Times on July 30, 2007)