General Petraeus reports to his troops on progress

[HOZ]

Pretty honest evaluation IMO. Outlines the sucesses and set backs.

The achievements in some other areas -- for example, in some particularly challenging Baghdad neighborhoods and in reducing overall civilian casualties, especially those caused by periodic, barbaric Al Qaeda bombings -- have not been as dramatic. However, the overall trajectory has been encouraging, especially when compared to the situation at the height of the sectarian violence in late 2006 and early 2007.

Letter (PDF file)

[Vulcan]

I expect good honest evaluations coming out of the war in Iraq in 2012 too. Let us know.

[HOZ]

In related news...

New Report Recommends Iraq Handover in 5 Years
In a report to be released Sunday, a panel of experts assembled by the U.S. Institute of Peace calls for a 50 percent reduction in U.S. forces in Iraq within three years and a total withdrawal and handover of security to the Iraqi military in five years.
"The United States faces too many challenges around the world to continue its current level of effort in Iraq, or even the deployment that was in place before the surge," the report says. " . . . It is time to chart a clearer path forward."


Guess we will have to wait for the reports release to full details

[HOZ]

More related news. A NYT article with a less rosey view.

Troop Buildup, Yielding Slight Gains, Fails to Meet U.S. Goals

[Dion]

http://www.disinfo.com/site/displayarticle20386.html

'On the cusp of General David Petraeus' report on the "surge" of American troops in Iraq we should recall one of the most important if neglected lessons of the war in Vietnam: Don't listen to generals.

'During the Vietnam War, America's top generals were consistently wrong in their assessments and recommendations. The generals' display of bad judgement began a dozen years before America's withdrawal from Vietnam in 1975. In October 1963, with about 17,000 U. S. military "advisers" in Vietnam, the top U. S. commander, General Paul D. Harkins said, "I can safely say that the end of the war is in sight." General Charles J. Timmes the head of America's Military Assistance Command added, "we have completed" the job of training the South Vietnamese Army.

'A month later, the situation had become so desperate in Vietnam that President John Kennedy approved a coup by South Vietnamese generals that led to the assassination of President Ngo Diem. It didn't help.'

[HOZ]

Originally Posted by Dion

http://www.disinfo.com/site/displayarticle20386.html

On this great bit of thinking. If Patreaus comes in and states that all is lost and the US should immediately evacuate Iraq tomorrow......we should all ignore that too?

[Dion]

Originally Posted by HOZ

On this great bit of thinking. If Patreaus comes in and states that all is lost and the US should immediately evacuate Iraq tomorrow......we should all ignore that too?

I take it you don't agree with the facts contained with in the article?

[Juventus3]

Pretty comical start to the hearing, with a few anti war protesters getting the house speaker all PO'd. I laughed. He didn't.

[Dion]

Yup. We need another year and a half of time, in fact. Just enough time for Bush to get out of office and avoid the blame for the inevitable--and yes, it is inevitable--full-blown Civil War catastrophe that the equally inevitable US withdrawal will lead to.

That's the entire crux of the Bush administration Iraq policy right now, and it has been so for the past year or two. Delay, delay, delay so we can avoid the fallout. They're spending American lives to buy some semblance of salvation for this worthless president's useless legacy, and they all deserve to be in jail for it.

[HOZ]

From what little I could watch of his testimony I have this question.


Why would people fear what Patreaus has say so much that they shout him down? Or at least try to?

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by Dion

Yup. We need another year and a half of time, in fact. Just enough time for Bush to get out of office and avoid the blame for the inevitable--and yes, it is inevitable--full-blown Civil War catastrophe that the equally inevitable US withdrawal will lead to.

That's the entire crux of the Bush administration Iraq policy right now, and it has been so for the past year or two. Delay, delay, delay so we can avoid the fallout. They're spending American lives to buy some semblance of salvation for this worthless president's useless legacy, and they all deserve to be in jail for it.

I'd say there is more to it than that. This war is a cash cow for his friends and supporters. He'd be happier than a pig in .... if another war supporting President was elected and if any new President wants to get out, it won't be exactly easy without bringing on a disaster.

I agree, any new President who wants to get out of Iraq is going to be between a rock and a hard place. Leave and Iraq disolves into civil war with the Iranians, Syrians and Al Quida looking to pick up the pieces after inciting and supplying the various factions. The propoganda is already equating American withdrawal with defeat.

[Calgaryborn]

I have no doubt that the General could be lying or just plain wrong but, barring evidence to that effect or at least evidence showing a pattern of lying I will give him a benefit of a doubt.

I know for many here the mantra "Bush lied" is gospel but, if that is to be taken as truth then Congress by their silence and their vote were willing participants in the lie. If we are to doubt Bush we should doubt them as well. While you can believe Bush's motivation for this war is money you can't know it. However you can know that the Democrats have much to gain if America fails in Iraq. Some of them have gone so far as to say so. We also know that the media's reporting is more often then not biased. Some fall into one of the political camps while others might hold an ideology that influences their reporting. For-instance, there is the "war is never the solution" crowd and the "capitalism is the root of all evil" crowd. Lets not forget the "America is the big bully crowd". This one is convinced that if America didn't impose it's will on the world that we would all live happily and peaceably.

I believe both the situation and the solution in Iraq are more complexed that most of us know. We hardly have been given a clear picture. For now I chose to trust the general's description and solution. The rest of the lot have serious credibility issues.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by Dion

I take it you don't agree with the facts contained with in the article?

What facts?

The man has been in Iraq....he has seen what needs to be done. If anyone could gain any sort of success...he will.

Pretty sad that all of Washington will ignore him. 60% of the American people trust him....which is a heck of a lot more support than what Congress has.

Yet, idots spout 'facts' because they think they know better than a 'general.' He is probably the only hope Iraq has right now....and I would rather listen to him than some 'article' that has never been in Iraq to actually report properly what should and will happen.