2007.04.05 Iraq/Surrendercrat Roundup
-- Iraq To Expand Security Plan
-- Iraq's Real 'Civil War'
Video: ABC News says the surge is
working in some parts of Baghdad
Allahpundit
Security ops in Baghdad have chased some of the scum into other provinces, with the result an increase in violence last month outside the capital and a drop in violent deaths inside -- sharply enough that they're down across Iraq as a whole (but notably not for Iraqi policemen). The ABC clip tells the same basic story but that still won't prepare for you the shock of seeing kids riding merry go rounds and the reporter stopping off for ice cream. He makes clear that it's not like that everywhere, but the fact that it's like that anywhere is startling to me, at least. Excellent job by ABC and Terry McCarthy for having the balls to go out and get this footage.
In case you didn't stop by yesterday:
*** Iraq To Expand Security Plan
Ed Morrissey
The new surge security plan in Iraq has performed so well, the Iraqi government will now expand the strategy to Mosul, where Petraeus first conceived it. The results in Baghdad have Iraqi officials optimistic enough to start ending curfews and removing concrete barriers: Iraq says it is extending the current security drive beyond Baghdad to areas outside the capital.
Efforts to bring the security plan to the northern city of Mosul began on Tuesday, officials said, and Baghdad's outskirts would also be targeted
Officials have expressed optimism about reduced sectarian violence in Baghdad, and have decided to ease the curfew.
How well has Petraeus's plan performed? Moqtada al-Sadr fired two of his deputies for not leaving a banquet when Petraeus arrived. Salam al-Maliki and Qusai Abdul-Wahab represented Sadr's faction in the Iraqi National Assembly, at least until they broke bread with the American commander.
Petraeus used some of the same strategy and tactics in Mosul during the initial months of the war, which makes the expansion of his new strategy to the city somewhat ironic. Mosul citizens protested when Petraeus rotated out of Iraq, and their concern was well-founded. Without his counterinsurgency genius, the city fell prey to a lower-intensity version of the sectarian warfare that has plagued Baghdad. ...
*** Iraq's Real 'Civil War'
Sunni tribes battle al Qaeda terrorists in the insurgency's stronghold.
By Bing West and Owen West (H/T: Jules C.)
ANBAR PROVINCE, Iraq--Last fall, President Bush, citing the violence in Baghdad, said that the U.S. strategy in Iraq was "slowly failing." At that time, though, more Americans were dying in Anbar Province, stronghold of the Sunni insurgency. About the size of Utah, Anbar has the savagery, lawlessness and violence of America's Wild West in the 1870s. The two most lethal cities in Iraq are Fallujah and Ramadi, and the 25-mile swath of farmlands between them is Indian Country.
Imagine the surprise of the veteran Iraqi battalion last November when a young sheik, leader of a local tribe outside Ramadi, offered to point out the insurgents hiding in his hometown. "We have decided that by helping you," he said, "we are helping God."
For years, the tribes had supported the insurgents who claimed to be waging jihad. Now, citing the same religion, a tribe wanted to switch sides. Col. Mohammed, the battalion commander, accepted the offer. "The irhabi (terrorists) call themselves martyrs. They are liars," he said. "I lost a soldier and when I pulled off his armor, there was the blood of a martyr."
With Iraqi soldiers and Marines providing protection, the sheik and his tribesmen rolled through town, pointing at various men. The sweep netted 30 insurgents, including "Abu Muslim," who was wanted for the murder of a jundi (Iraqi soldier). "He was just standing there waving at us with all the others," one jundi said during the minor celebration at the detention facility. ...
*** Max Boot: McCain Was Right
Ed Morrissey
Max Boot writes from Iraq of his surprise over John McCain's comments regarding the Iraqi security situation. While he acknowledges that McCain wore body armor and had armed personnel guarding him, Boot points out the obvious -- that McCain makes a good target, but that other assumptions should not be drawn from it. Boot also tells his readers that McCain was right: Though only three of the five extra brigades scheduled to be deployed have yet arrived in Baghdad, the offensive has already paid big dividends. A semblance of normality is returning in some neighborhoods, markets are reopening, sectarian murders and ethnic cleansings have been dramatically reduced. The situation still isn’t great, but at least the downward trend has been stopped. There have been a few big suicide bombings lately that obscure this improvement, but most of these have been outside Baghdad, where the current security operation is focused. Needless to say, coalition forces can’t magically pacify the entire country overnight—and that can’t be the measure of success or failure.
The fact that McCain was able and willing to walk around the Shorja market indicates that things are getting better, even if Iraq remains a war zone. Of course McCain had heavy security; he’s an especially attractive target for insurgents. But the market was functioning normally while he was there, and he wasn’t surrounded by bodyguards. He walked around freely without a helmet (though he was wearing body armor), and mingled with Iraqis. So did the other members of his delegation, as well as General David Petraeus, the senior U.S. commander in Iraq.
Boot makes a couple of more points worth considering. ...
*** Petraeus defends McCain from media sniping over Baghdad stroll
Allahpundit
In fairness, it wasn’t just the media that was unimpressed with his trip to the market (although some media types have distinguished themselves by their churlishness in expressing how unimpressed they were). Nor did the market tour prove Wolf Blitzer wrong when he claimed that outside the Green Zone “you’re in trouble if you’re an American.”
What it did prove is that, 40 years later, McCain is still willing to put himself at personal risk to help the American war effort. We dump on him a lot here for vacillating politically, but one thing that has remained admirably constant is his courage. Max Boot describes the scene during the walkabout; read him before you watch Petraeus. ...
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