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It must be absolutely killing the media to have to report the good news on Iraq, most especially because the key to the turnaround was the surge -- the surge so strongly dismissed and opposed by the left.

I could vote for this guy if he would run. I might even write in his name.

But see the GOP is not SCREAMING THAT OUT ... LOUD for American Ears... The Democrats were WRONG ABOUT THE SURGE.. What would the ME look like today if the Democrats had their way...

America must be told the Democrats cannot be trusted on matters of National Security. They are weak, pacifists that would surrender our country or sell it out to the highest bidder.

He should be cautious. The good news is the longer there is time to have cohesiveness the harder it is to break it.

In response to your post directly, I really don’t see them reporting anything. It seems to conflict with their assessment of everything on the WOT.

I don't know a better way to say it, but it has killed me to not say something earlier. Although the surge has been enormously successful it is not the primary reason for the turnaround, although it has been the reason for the maintenance and continued success of the turnaround.

Three major factors contributed to the turnaround in Iraq. In order of importance to the success are:

1. The Sunni Reconciliation resulting in the formation of the Concerned Citizens (CC) from former Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQIZ) affiliated insurgent organizations. The most prominent of these groups was the 1920's Revolutionary Brigade (1920s). This third largest insurgent group in Iraq is a Sunni nationalist group that sided with AQIZ since the beginning of the war to rid Iraq of American influence. Early last year leaders of this group realized that AQIZ was betraying basic tenants of their agreement, most specifically AQIZ was destroying their nation by using overwhelming numbers of Foreign Fighters, forcing marriages to Iraqi women in order to elicit local support through familial ties, and killing Iraqis indiscriminately.

Leaders of the 1920s decided to "smoke the peace pipe" with American leaders in order to form local policing and fighting groups against AQIZ. This type of reconciliation proved outrageously effective very quickly in both Al Anbar and the former Shakriyah Triangle. So, effective, in fact, that the CC spread like wildfire throughout the most dangerous regions of Iraq, improving security as well as kill/capture rates of high value targets. The most prominent and immediate effects, though, were our former enemies were no longer attacking us and they were turning in explosive munitions used to make IEDs for money. These CC groups are ongoing and consistently effective. All this was set in motion before the surge.

2. 12 MAY 2007, Qargouli Village, near Yusifiyah. This is the time and place that three 2/10 Mountain Division soldiers were ambushed and duty status and whereabouts unknown (DUSTWUN). The DUSTWUN incident happened at the very beginning of the surge. AQIZ likely had intended for the incident to have a negative media effect in the United States as well as destroy the moral of the 2/10MTN soldiers in an area where the CC were still in early organization. However, the effect was just the opposite. Troops were diverted to the search for the DUSTWUN soldiers from other Brigades, made easily possible by the early arrivals for the surge.

The result was 800+ local nationals being arrested and questioned, over and over again. Eventually, the locals got pissed at being arrested for something AQIZ had done. Local sheiks decided to take things into their own hands and began ordering all Iraqis in their villages to runoff or kill AQIZ members on sight. AQIZ within the communities were turned into US forces, renounced AQIZ in order to maintain blood ties, or turned themselves in at the behest of their sheiks. This led to increased security and increased presence and organization of CC in the Shakriyah triangle. Word of the success spread throughout Iraq and the same thing began happening in other areas outside of Baghdad.
These first two factors coupled with the increasing number of troops had the second and third order effects of reducing the ability of AQIZ to introduce weapons and munitions into Baghdad, as well as the capture and killing of leaders.

3.THE SURGE Which has had a huge effect due to the Counter Insurgency Operations led by Gen Petraeus. The surge has compounded and continued the successes that were starting to take shape about the time word of the surge hit the American Media.

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NEVER FORGET

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CLARITY =

Who Owns the Vietnam War?

http://www.ArmchairGeneral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58906

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NEVER FORGET