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Surge working: top US general
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by merrie | August 31, 2007 at 02:22 pm
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David Petraeus, the top US commander in Iraq, said the build-up of American forces in Baghdad since late January had produced positive outcomes. These included the killing or capture of al-Qa'ida fighters, causing the terrorist group to lose influence with local Sunnis.The strategic gains against insurgents would lead to a changed and possibly longer-term role for Australian troops, shifting from security operations to a focus on training Iraqi soldiers and police.
General Petraeus told The Australian during a face-to-face interview at his Baghdad headquarters there had been a 75 per cent reduction in religious and ethnic killings since last year, a doubling in the seizure of insurgents' weapons caches between January and August, a rise in the number of al-Qa'ida "kills and captures" and a fall in the number of coalition deaths from roadside bombings.
"We say we have achieved progress, and we are obviously going to do everything we can to build on that progress and we believe al-Qa'ida is off balance at the very least," he said.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (5)
at 14:40 on August 31st, 2007
merrie,. Good stuff.
at 14:48 on August 31st, 2007
merrie, I just pray for our troops they are very far away.
at 17:47 on August 31st, 2007
God bless our troops. They are the true stars of America!
merrie
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Tom van Bat 18:32 on August 31st, 2007
merrie, Indeed, God bless your troops. Form where I am standing though, these poor young American soldiers (and lets not forget their families and loved ones), are merely canon fodder for the political aspirations of your misguided leaders. I pray to God that this nightmare will soon be over.
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SthPacificat 02:09 on September 1st, 2007
This report has been sourced from AP It is not from the Australian press. And in Real Non Murdoch news from Australia. Our Troops will be out of Iraq before Xmas, Kevin Rudd and on this report,
BUSH GOVT DISPUTES UNFAVOURABLE REPORT FINDINGS
The Bush Administration has disputed a leaked congressional audit report that's found that very few benchmarks for political and security progress in Iraq have been met. The White House insists that progress is being made, while Iraq's Foreign Minister has warned there are no "magical solutions" to the challenges facing his country.
A cholera outbreak in Kirkuk is Iraq's latest calamity after sectarian clashes in Karbala this week killed 52 people. According to a leaked congressional audit report by the Government Accountability Office in Washington, only 3 out of 18 political and security benchmarks in Iraq have been met.
NORA BENSAHEL, POLITICAL ANALYST: The facts on the ground in Iraq remain fairly difficult. It's a very, very unsettled situation. The GAO report suggested that the level of violence has not decreased.
Claiming the GAO had set the bar too high, the White House tried to put the best possible spin on the negative report.
TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN: Well, look, it's no secret that many of the benchmarks have not been met. What is significant, what is significant, is that there is progress toward a great number of them.
Democrats in Congress pounced on the leaked report's pessimistic findings.
JASON ALTMIRE, US DEMOCRAT: And we have not only, as I said, made no progress, we have gone backwards, on a lot of indicators.
Democrats also lashed out at the Iraqi Government.
MICHAEL ARCURI, US DEMOCRAT: They have squandered the time that we gave them, they have squandered the time that our troops have fought for, to give them.
But Iraq's Government insists progress is being made, while dampening down expectations from a keenly awaited troop surge report, due next month.
HOSHYAR ZEBARI, IRAQI FOREIGN MINISTER: I personally believe that this report would not provide any magical solutions or provide any instant answers.
But all attention will be focused on the crucial progress report to be made by the top US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus. Even some Republicans, along with Democrats, are insisting on proof of substantial progress, or else they'll demand a new strategy, including a troop pullout.
Vesna Nazor