Saturday, November 24, 2007

We Are Winning In Iraq



Wow, it has been 10 days since I last posted. I can't remember not being pissed off for this long in quite a while. Guess I was thinking about all the things I was thankful for this past Thanksgiving week (that and figuring out how we were going to cram 58 friends and family members into my house for dinner ... we managed, good thing we are a close family). While I was mulling over my blessings, I started thinking about the news from Iraq, and in particular, the lack of bad news. Liberals, cover your ears, but I think we have turned the corner and are actually winning the war in Iraq. This may be hard to digest for the portion of our elected officials that have made losing the war a priority, but for most of this nation, as well as most of the free world, this is indeed another blessing. But how did this miracle come about? Was the simple act of dumping an additional 60,000 troops into Baghdad enough to bring about this complete turn-around?

Well folks, the surge alone did not change our fortunes in Iraq, though without the additional man-power, we could not have brought about this new posture. Back in the mid-90's, New York City went back to a police policy that was in force when I was growing up in the 60's. This policy was called neighborhood policing and basically it was having dedicated neighborhood "beat-cops" walking around the community. Everyone knew the neighborhood cop. The officer that walked the beat in my neighborhood was known by all the kids as "George the Cop", and parents would introduce George to their kids and let the kids know if they ever had a problem they should go to George and he would help them. George knew all the merchants and most of the people in the neighborhood and would know if something was out of place or if there were suspicious people or events happening. Prior to this change, NYPD officers would zip around town in squad cars and only get out to write tickets or if on a call. With this change, NYC went from one of the most dangerous cities to one of the safest big cities in the world.

When General David Petraeus took over in Iraq, US soldiers would patrol during the day, zipping around in their Hummers and returning to several large bases at night. With the help of the additional "surge" forces, the General started a policy in which the soldiers set up joint forward operating bases in the communities in Baghdad. Now, the soldiers were available ... day or night ... to the Iraqi populace. It has had a calming effect on sectarian strife and the citizens of the communities are interacting with the soldiers on a daily basis. No longer is gathering intelligence an almost impossible task, the intelligence is now being communicated by civilians during the course of their daily interactions with our troops. Where in the past a concerned Iraqi, with information about a terrorist or criminal did not know where to go to pass on the information (the Iraqi police were ... and to a lesser extent still are infiltrated by sectarian extremists), now they can go to "George the GI", and let him know the information in the same way that we used to go the "George the Cop" when we were kids.

Outside of Baghdad, much the same has also taken place ... so when al-Qaeda in Iraq was driven out of Baghdad and tried to ensconce itself in the outer provinces, the local sheiks rose up against them (and that would not have happened or even been possible if the US forces had been holed up in their base camps). President al-Maliki (a Shia), has taken to walking the streets of Sunni Ramadi recently, meeting and greeting the people and finally acting like the leader we had all hoped for when he was first elected. The meaning to these Sunnis is immense. By him doing this (and let's face it ... what he is doing is risking his life), it shows them that they are a valued part of the Iraqi people ... It shows them some respect from the Shite controlled government. Now all we need is for the rest of the government to start acting like leaders and start compromising and passing much needed legislation so that Iraq can take its' place as a productive member of the global society (Unfortunately this last sentence can also be applied to the American Congress).

Yes, it looks like we are actually winning!

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11 comments:

Anonymous said...

As I have said ad nauseam, we are making progress and we will contine to make progress; we will continue our practice of buying the hearts and minds of our enemies - including those with coalition blood on their hands. On my crystal ball I see the number of American fatalities dropping to less than 10 per month - the majority of fatalities will be accidental and not combat related. Overall, good news for the Republican Party, and I expect see the war president giving his VI DAY (Victory in Iraq) proclamation before the end of July 2008. Life is good. Have a fine Texas week.

cfs

Tapline said...

Congratulations to the Troops...It is their victory not the Congress nor the Democrats nor the Republicans. Its the troops. They who put their lives on the line daily. They who against all odds, They against unreasonable "rules of engagement". They are the heros of this turn around. The Iraqi people finally saw which side their bread was buttered on. and saw who was the enemy. I hope this safety spreads throughout Iraq. Then we can bring them home. Stay well......

WomanHonorThyself said...

hey buddy..the post was well worth waiting for!.ty for the uplifting Truth!

crabby old man said...

The left & The liberal media hates to give out this type info .I read about the desertion rate is going up in our soldiers, never about the one's that are reenlisting . It maybe a political war , but we have to stay the course & support our Young men & women that's in harm ways.

Terry said...

Thanks for the good report on Iraq. I wish we heard more such news from the mainstream media. Thanks to our troops as well.

Anonymous said...

welcome back to blogosphere paul-chan!!
you grew up in NYC? thats cool :)
im really happy to hear such news.

buffalodick said...

Anything that helps our guys not get killed is great by me!

Jackie said...

Welcome back! and what a comeback message you've posted!

Our "cop" when we were kids was Charlie Massey. We still talk about him at class reunions...50 years later.

Great post, Mr. Champagne!

Anonymous said...

I heard one of the generals on Fox today. He was cautiously optimistic, saying that while things are looking good there is still much to do. It is encouraging that even the NYT is finally seeing the positive success.

I won't hold my breath for Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi to admit victory is possible.

Keshi said...

This is great!

Keshi.

Unknown said...

What a great post! I am glad you made it. Your reasoning for the success of the surge is great! George the G.I.! Let's pray it keeps working!