The Beginning of the End

An excellent summary and status of our pending victory in Iraq. There are no promises that Iraq will live 200 years as a democracy, but it will be for many years to come. More importantly, it won't be a safehaven and sponsor of the enemy who has inflicted harm on us. From: The Strategy Page

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May 30, 2008: The U.S. is beginning its withdrawal from Iraq. U.S. troops strength is expected to decline from 170,000 to 140,000 by the end of the Summer. The reduction is made possible by the growing number of Iraqi army and police units that can do the job.

...in the last year, many Iraqi army and police units have revealed their capabilities through their performance.

The attitude towards the U.S. troops had also changed. For five years, the American troops consistently demonstrated their superior combat ability, while also observing strict ROE...

When the security forces went after the Shia militias earlier this year, the militiamen were dismayed. It was widely known that the Iraqi army and police were defeating al Qaeda, and a few hold-out Sunni Arab militias. Now these forces were moving into Shia Mahdi Army strongholds, and the Mahdi gunmen quickly discovered they could not hold out against these Iraqi troops who dressed like American troops, and fought a lot like them as well.

It's Raining Peace

This is the western border of Pakistan where the Taliban stage assaults on Afghanistan. It's sure it wil hole this time... From: The Long War Journal

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With peace agreements signed between the Taliban in Swat, Bajaur, and Mohmand, and talks under way in South Waziristan, the government is pushing forward with negotiations in northwestern Pakistan. The Pakistani government is currently in talks with the Taliban in the settled district of Kohat in the Northwest Frontier Province, where heavy fighting has taken place this year.

More Steps Towards Victory

Via Hot Air:

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ABC News... reports with enthusiasm on the effects on Sadr City from Nouri al-Maliki’s imposition of central government authority. Commerce has returned to this poverty-stricken area of the capital, and deaths and injuries from fighting have all but disappeared. Maliki has brought normalcy to Sadr City just as he did to Basra, and the people have begun to trust that it will stay

Progress 4

Didn't hear much about this, cuz we're winning and the war is progressing towards an end and we will be victorious. Wouldn't want to report on that, now would we?

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There wasn't much coverage of General Petraeus when he appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee last Thursday. Even C-SPAN didn't show it live. Petraeus reported that violence is at a 4-year low and that he will likely reduce troop levels this September after the 45-day pause. His comments were more upbeat than six weeks ago, when the Basra offensive was in full flux, but he is still cautionary about the political situation. Here is what he said about al-Sadr and Basra.

Messaage Sent

from Baseball Crank:

"...the war has been hard at times on the U.S., but it is not lost on other regimes how badly it ended for Saddam, his sons and his senior apparatchiks. Or for Zarqawi or other leaders of the foreign forces opposing us in Iraq. That's a huge distinction from how Vietnam ended for Ho's regime. Only the Iranians have really come out of this well, and only because they have not yet provoked us to the point where we would turn our guns on them directly. And if the U.S. did invade and seek to conquer Iran in the same fashion as Iraq (not that I'm suggesting this would be a good idea at any time in the foreseeable future), no matter how difficult that would be for the U.S., it would be much worse for the Iranian regime."

Welcome Back

Been gone for a while, but I'm back now. I'm going to keep my posts short. My hope is that you will find links to interesting articles here.

I have been linking to articles regularly at my del.icio.us site and will continue to do so. So if you're not getting enough here, book mark my del.icio.us site and check that out frequently.

It's good to be back. And thanks for visiting Geoffosphere.