Despite drop in violence, Pentagon finds little long-term progress in Iraq

Source: McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — Despite significant security gains in much of Iraq, nothing has changed within Iraq's political leadership to guarantee sustainable peace, a Pentagon report released Tuesday found.

The congressionally mandated quarterly report suggests that the drop in violence won't hold unless Iraq's central government passes key legislation, improves the way it manages its security forces and finds a way to reconcile the country's competing sects. It said none of those steps has been taken.

"Although security gains, local accommodation and progress against the flow of foreign fighters and lethal aid into Iraq have had a substantial effect, more needs to be done to foster national, 'top-down' reconciliation to sustain the gains," the report said.

The Pentagon report is the latest assessment circulating in Washington as officials ponder whether the strategy of increasing U.S. troop strength this year by 30,000 can be called a victory or whether the drop in violence is a lull that will break once the United States returns to last year's troop levels.



Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/23386.html

All of this was going to happen with troop levels as they were. Why the surge? Purely for political reasons to paint the Republicans as good patriotic....blahblahblah you know the rest and you know how the Democrats are depicted in this narrative. The MoveOn ad didn't matter the image would still have been the same.

Not only do the contractors get to do one last giant series of billings but they probably get to do at least two more since no one will miss it in the newest freshest $70 Million just approved to be thrown down that hole.

Now we have Gen. Patreus with all the free advertising he could want for what may be his all-to-soon Presidential run or naming as VP to their ticket.

In Iraq there was no need for more Americans-the neighborhoods in Baghdad have been segregated and the US military has finally accepted that that insurgents won in Anbar and elsewhere and are dealing with them. alQaeda in Iraq is back on the fringes until whatever side needs them again.

The surge wasn't necessary in the least. That is why I opposed it the whole time.