Wednesday, July 30, 2008

From Counterinsurgents to Peacekeepers

Sadr City Streets

From Commentary Magazine:

Associated Press Baghdad Bureau Chief Robert Reid and his chief military reporter Robert Burns published a dispatch from Iraq over the weekend that should have made banner headlines. “It's not the end of fighting,” they wrote. “It looks like the beginning of a perilous peace.” This is exactly right, but millions of Americans still have no idea. Coverage from Iraq has diminished as much as the casualty rates since General David Petraeus implemented an effective counterinsurgency strategy in early 2007. At least we’re finally seeing a media consensus emerge after a year and a half of looking at the data as though it were inkblots on a Rorschach. It’s nearly impossible to work in Iraq anymore and deny what has happened.

Read more ....

My Comment: Michael Totten is right. The war is over in Iraq, the big problem now is winning the peace. This victory must encompass security, political, and economic issues. How this mix is sorted out will determine peace or war in Iraq.

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