Reality Check for the Antiwar Crowd

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/24/AR2007062401379.html?sub=AR

Reality Check for the Antiwar Crowd

By Pete Hegseth
Monday, June 25, 2007

EXCERPT

As an Iraq war veteran who participated in combat operations and political reconciliation efforts, I take issue with some of the arguments repeatedly being made on Capitol Hill. Most recently I was bothered by statements from Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), who cited three common antiwar arguments in his June 21 op-ed, " Lincoln's Example for Iraq," all of which run counter to realities on the ground in Iraq.

A deadline for withdrawal is an incentive for Iraqi political compromise. Levin thinks we ought to pressure Iraq's government with a warning tantamount to saying: "You better fix the situation before we leave and your country descends into chaos." He should consider the more likely result: an American exit date crushing any incentive for Iraqi leaders to cooperate and instead prompting rival factions to position themselves to capitalize on the looming power void.

My experience in Iraq bore this out. Only after my unit established a meaningful relationship with the president of the Samarra city council -- built on tangible security improvements and a commitment to cooperation -- did political progress occur. Our relationship fostered unforeseen political opportunities and encouraged leaders, even ones from rival tribes, to side with American and Iraqi forces against local insurgents and foreign fighters.



*The writer, a first lieutenant in the Army National Guard, is executive director ofVets for Freedom. He served in Iraq with the 101st Airborne Division from September 2005 to July 2006.

 

I doubt it.

You decided even before it began that the surge would fail and you spend most of your time trying to validate that prediction.

 

Do you deny that you have never believed the surge would work and that every article you have submitted concerning the surge has benn centered around it's failure?

I believe your remark was disingenuous.

 

You believe wrong.

I simply pointed out the disingenuousness of your remark and that I doubted your sincerety on the matter.

If I believed you were lying, I wouldn't hesitate to say so.

 

I wouldn't accuse you of lying unless I could prove it, so I didn't.

Stop whining. I owe you nothing.

 

As I do you.


Now, back to the subject:

The media gives this almost no play:

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=46081

EXCERPT

Conway, who has been commandant(of the Marine Corps) for about six months, said he is encouraged by coalition progress in Iraq’s Anbar province.

“What we are seeing transpire in the al Anbar province today is a clear, discernible wedge between the Sunni tribes and the al Qaeda in Iraq,” he said. “It has taken four years for these folks to realize that the al Qaeda in Iraq could offer no more than a future filled with fear and instability.”

Tribal leaders and sheikhs in the Sunni province have thrown their lots in with the Iraqi government. “Some very brave people have stepped up to speak out against al Qaeda and encourage their fellow tribesmen to work together toward an Iraq that is stable and at peace with its neighbors,” Conway said. “Now more than ever, it's imperative for the power of the (United States) to continue to support the people of Iraq economically, politically and militarily.”

Progress in Anbar province has been so great that it has changed strategy in the region, Conway said. At one point, U.S. and Iraqi officials viewed the situation in Anbar province as bleak and forecast that it would be the last province to transition to Iraqi provincial control. “That has changed,” Conway said. “We now have Sunnis in large numbers joining the Iraqi army in the al Anbar province. We have more Sunni tribesmen wanting to become police than we have the opportunity to train on a monthly basis.”

As part of the military surge to quell violence, two battalions are scheduled to go to the province. “Any plus-up effort … (is) in a very real sense reinforcing success,” Conway said.

The situation is so much better that the additional battalions may be shifted to other areas in the country, Conway said, adding that much of the province could fall under the control of the Iraqi police and army.