Petraeus: Violence Down in Iraq; al-Qaida Still a Threat

WASHINGTON — Violence is down about 60 percent in Iraq since the June troop surge, and the top military commander in Iraq recently said that he wants the trend to continue in 2008. "Every trend we watch is down roughly about 60 percent: civilian deaths, numbers of attacks, and thankfully our casualties are down as well," said Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of Multi-National Force - Iraq, on "Fox News Sunday."

"As we go into the new year, we clearly want to build on the momentum that has been achieved by our forces working closely together with Iraqi forces."

Petraeus said Iraqi forces also had a surge this year, with 110,000 new Iraqi Soldiers and police.

Petraeus appeared on the morning news program to discuss the release of this week's quarterly report, “Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq”. With the success of the surges comes the question of reducing the number of U.S. forces in Iraq while maintaining the positive trends, he said.

"We want to reduce the strain on our ground forces as much as we can while recognizing that what has been achieved here remains tenuous and is still fragile in a number of areas," the general said. "We have laid out a plan that will take us through the end of July, and it will result in the reduction without replacement of about one-quarter of our combat forces."

Petraeus was cautious about committing to further troop reductions and reiterated that al-Qaida remains a significant threat. "Al-Qaida remains a very dangerous and very lethal organization, and it is one that will continually try to reconstitute and one that we must pursue tenaciously and relentlessly, and that is what we and our Iraqi partners are doing," he said.

When reporter Chris Matthews asked the general why success in Iraq is not newsworthy, noting a Media Research Center report that news stories from Iraq dropped in the evening nightly network newscasts from 178 news stories in September to 68 stories in November, the general said he sees that as a positive sign.

"In a sense, no news is good news, and we're not reluctant to see that," Petraeus said. "The only reluctance would be that America continues to remember its Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and civilians who are serving out here in this very important endeavor."

As the interview concluded, Petraeus praised the men and women he leads in Iraq. "Especially at this season, we all should be grateful for what these great young men and women are doing and for the sacrifices of their families who are enduring separations back home. It is a privilege to serve with America's new greatest generation here in Iraq."

FR WAR NEWS!

WAR News at Home and Abroad You'll Hear Nowhere Else!

All the News the MSM refuses to use!

Or if they do report it, without the anti-War Agenda Spin!

Not for commercial use. For educational and discussion purposes only.

If you would like to be added to / removed from FRWN, please FReepmail Sandrat.

WARNING: FRWN can be an EXTREMELY HIGH-VOLUME PING LIST!!

The General is learning to play the political game. Violence is down more like 80%. But of course, it is down more in some areas than in others. The General is choosing to underreport the effects to forestall the questions “but what about in ____?”

I’m not saying the General is lying. The Pentagon's report covers the months of September, October and November. The 60% reduction probably represents an average of those three months even though the current situation is much better.

This gives him room to report further progress in his next report.

Is any one talking about why the violence is down in Iraq? Is the country truly becoming pacified or is it due to the US backing off of Iran’s nuclear efforts?? No one is asking this question, but it seems strange to me that this report suddenly comes out of left field saying that Iran is not a threat and is not pursuing nuclear weapons and low and behold Iranian sponsored violence diminishes! Coincidence?

Why is Israel begging the US to clear their cloudy heads on Iran? Has there been some quid pro quo here? The US back off pressure on Iran’s nuclear program and the Iranian sponsored violence diminishes? Things that make you go, Hmmmm?

90% of the reporting ignores the ISF and its impact.
As if only the US is involved in Iraq and no one else.

The US surged only 30,000.
The ISF grew by 150,000 in the same period.

Yet most point to the 30,000 temporary US reinforcements and ignore the permanent surge of Iraqis...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1942831/posts

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.