Anbar ready for handover/Violence continues drop

DuH2 · #1 (**permalink**) 01-11-2008, 02:43 AM

Quote:

WASHINGTON (AP) - Iraq's western province of Anbar, hotbed of the Sunni Arab insurgency for the first four years of the war, will be returned to Iraqi control in March, a senior U.S. general said Thursday.
In a telephone interview from Iraq, Marine Maj. Gen. Walter E. Gaskin, commander of the roughly 35,000 Marine and Army forces in Anbar, said levels of violence have dropped so significantly—coupled with the growth and development of Iraqi security forces in the province—that Anbar is ready to be handed back to the Iraqis.

Thus far, nine of 18 Iraqi provinces have reverted to Iraqi control, most recently the southern province of Basra in December. The process has gone substantially slower than the Bush administration once hoped, mainly because of obstacles to developing sufficient Iraqi police and army forces. But Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday that he expects the process to continue.

Gates also said he was encouraged by security gains achieved in Anbar and Baghdad in the year since President Bush ordered an extra 30,000 U.S. troops to those areas of Iraq in what became known as a "surge." Gates said it has created new promise for long-delayed political reconciliation.

"We clearly are hoping that the reconciliation and improvement in the political environment that has taken place at the local and provincial level over the past number of months will now meet further progress coming at the national level," Gates told a Pentagon news conference.

Gates ticked of a list of statistical indicators of recent security improvements in Iraq. He did not mention the plan to return Anbar to Iraqi control in March, but did say the province has seen a remarkable turnaround on the security front over the past year.

"Anbar province, once considered a stronghold of al-Qaida, has been reclaimed for the Iraqi people," Gates said.

Having been largely driven out of Anbar, insurgents shifted first to Baghdad and more recently to the northern provinces of Diyala and Ninewa.

Gaskin said that a provincial security committee under Anbar's governor has been established and has rehearsed procedures for handling any security crisis that might develop.

Under a plan accepted by the Iraqi government as well as the top two American authorities in Iraq—Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Gen. David Petraeus—the U.S. military will transfer control of Anbar to provincial authorities in March, followed by a ceremony in April, Gaskin said.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php...show_article=1

Quote:

Civilian casualties drop dramatically in Iraq
31 Dec 2007 20:38:56 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Ross Colvin

BAGHDAD, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Violent civilian deaths in Iraq in December were down 75 percent from a year ago, new figures released on Monday showed as Iraqis partied in the streets of some parts of the capital Baghdad to bring in the New Year.

...

Quote:

December is also one of the least deadly months of the war for U.S. soldiers in Iraq, with 21 reported deaths so far.

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNe...16978920071231

Stay the Course

SenaxFlatulus · #2 (**permalink**) 01-11-2008, 11:14 AM

It's about friggen' time!

We were approaching the eleventh hour. It's good to see the Iraqi government has a pulse, albeit a weak one.

Hard-Driver · #3 (**permalink**) 01-11-2008, 05:09 PM

You traitor. You want to surrender Anbar to the terrorists !!!!!

What is this, a timetable for defeat in Anbar. Don't you know that once Iraqis take control, the terrorists or Iran is going to take over.

Stay the course, keep troops there indefinitely. Have no plan for withdrawl. Anything else is caving to the terrorists. I bet the terrorists would love for the US to withdraw from Anbar province. You terrorist lover.

glitch · #4 (**permalink**) 01-11-2008, 05:16 PM

Anbar was a rathole of violence and death. It has come a very long ways. This is great news. Congrats to our troops success!

DuH2 · #5 (**permalink**) 01-11-2008, 07:58 PM

HardDriver you have the absurd position of actually stating the Surge AND Bush's policies that you opposed has had no effect when you not only have to be blind and deaf but just plain dumb to claim such.......so whatever.

You've made a mockery of your past claims by proving in the face of success that you in fact have always wanted nothing more then to Lose.

So I can see why your falling back on flippancy now that Bush proved you wrong.

Its funny but you guys had a one liner..used it al the (*)(*)(*)(*) time for a bit there...
"Why can't Bush just admit his mistakes!"

HE DID!
..and thus Rumsfeld replaced, The Surge put into effect, etc.

Your turn. Or was it just a spiffy one liner?

gmb92 · #6 (**permalink**) 01-11-2008, 08:22 PM

Good news. Violence in Basra didn't drop until British troops left, and the drop there was much more substantial than the pullback from the terrible levels of violence seen a year ago around the country. If occupation troops leave, it removes one catalyst for insurgent activity and removes training wheels from the puppet government, allowing them to sink or swim to some degree on their own.

The general drop in violence around the country is to some degree an indication of other factors, such as Iraqis burning out and simply not being able to sustain the same horrendous levels of violence, as opposed to any changes in troop levels. The "new" surge strategy did present a political opportunity for Bush supporters to claim credit, though.

Quote:

BAGHDAD: Attacks against British and Iraqi forces have plunged by 90 percent in southern Iraq since London withdrew its troops from the main city of Basra, the commander of British forces there said Thursday.

The presence of British forces in downtown Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, was the single largest instigator of violence, Maj. Gen. Graham Binns told reporters Thursday on a visit to Baghdad's Green Zone.

"We thought, 'If 90 percent of the violence is directed at us, what would happen if we stepped back?'" Binns said.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/...Iraq-Basra.php

Daybreaker · #7 (**permalink**) 01-11-2008, 09:55 PM

So if things continue at the present rate, how long until all our troops are home?

No, wait, that's probably not realistic. The troops are never coming home. How long until it's like Japan where they just aren't fighting anybody (usually)?

gmb92 · #8 (**permalink**) 01-11-2008, 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daybreaker

So if things continue at the present rate, how long until all our troops are home?

No, wait, that's probably not realistic. The troops are never coming home. How long until it's like Japan where they just aren't fighting anybody (usually)?

This brings up the McCain comment recently about supporting being in Iraq for 100 years, which I think will come back to bite him. Rabid neocons might cheer such blatant support for imperialism but the general public won't. McCain also tried to back out of the statement by claiming he meant he would support staying decades as long as Americans weren't being injured or killed. Hmm...what a cut and run surrender monkey, encouraging al Qaeda, etc....

McCain also attempted to justify the 100 years comment by claiming it's needed to stop al Qaeda. Certainly, if we keep occupying these areas, al Qaeda just might last a few more generations.

Ron Paul had a nice response.

http://www.reuters.com/article/press...008+BW20080107

SenaxFlatulus · #9 (**permalink**) 01-12-2008, 12:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gmb92

Ron Paul had a nice response.

Ron Paul is a bone headed dweeb with two first names. He'll NEVER get elected president. I know you might like his answer, but he shouldn't even be in the race at this time. He's a RINO if I ever saw one. His chances are next to nil.

Well... maybe if all the other candidates (Democrats too) died suddenly he might get elected... but maybe not even then.

I think it's funny when one side starts talking up some obscure candidate for the other side in hopes of getting someone that's palatable to them if they were to vote for him.

Their justification is so far reaching. Like when Huckabee won, the press started talking about him being a Conservative Republican. (gimme' a break)

Maybe I should try that. Hmmmm

Hey I know....

I think Joe Lieberman would make a great Democrat Presidential Candidate. You guys should run Joe.

skeptic-f · #10 (**permalink**) 01-12-2008, 06:43 AM

The looming handover of Anbar province is indeed good short-term news but it is potentially bad long-term news. What has happened is that a lot of the insurgent Sunnis, especially the ones still tied to the tribal clans, got sick and tired of the excesses of Al-Qaeda in their towns and villages (never underestimate the counterproductiveness of true fanatics!) and were offered a deal by the U.S. (supposedly proposed by Special Forces personnel). In exchange for turning on Al-Qaeda and stopping attacks on Coalition Forces (but not necessarily Shia Iraqis), the Sunni groups would get weapons and reconstruction assistance both from the U.S. and the Saudis and Gulf States.

Great, you say. How could this backfire? The danger is that the Sunnis are now in a stronger real position and they are still the minority group that was used to getting its own way in the old Iraq. They are now in a better position to go toe-to-toe with the Shia groups if the U.S. leaves or even draws-down significantly and the current parliamentary situation doesn't give them much incentive to compromise. The whole issue of who will benefit from oil revenues in what proportion (the only real economic activity of Iraq) is still not resolved and it is a ticking time bomb for the stability of any regime that ends up ruling (Al-Maliki or otherwise).

In the end, cutting down as many Al-Qaeda jihadis as possible is a good thing. We'll just have to see where the other edge of the sword lands.

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