"The American people will support a cause if they see forward momentum. If they see stagnation, they will tend to think we are in a quagmire."
The media are doing their best they can in only covering the negative.
There are reports from 2nd time deployments in Iraq that say the change is dramatic in the progress made.
Wish I could find the link.
Wish I could find the link.
This email being forwarded among some of us retired military folks is encouraging ( http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1430461/posts#43 ) and goes along with what Austin Bay has to say here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1430461/posts#9
Austin Bay has seen Iraq both as a soldier and a journalist.
Yeah, I got your link right here:
Last year Camp Victory (Baghdad's main base) was getting rocketed and mortared nearly every day. This year it's weekly or even monthy.
The Iraqi Sunnis are warming up to the Coalition and participation in the new government. The fighting which continues has coalesced into a core of highly trained and organized foreign elements planting bombs against the Coalition and terrorizing Iraqis. Usually, these attacks are cover for organized crime, strong-arm/mob-type behavior by regional thugs.
Someone please inform the Honorable Mr. Hagel there is no NVA in Iraq. There is a foreign-supported insurgency and that's about it.
The Iraqi Sunnis have greatly curtailed their attacks against the Coalition. They seem instead to prefer to attack Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), likely in deference to their ancient tribalism or responses to heavy-handedness by the ISF. Some of those police attacks and assasinations follow protests against police raids and disappearances.
Imo Iraqis as a whole are more distrustful of each other than the Coalition. They do like our chow halls and everyone seems to get along it would seem when they're chowing down.
The Sunnis are also starting to openly fight foreign insurgents. It's getting real bad for foreign insurgents in Central Iraq. They face being turned in or attacked by the locals more than from the Coalition. Little publicized by the MSM is the fact that when foreign insurgents are captured by the ISF they are tortured then executed. Word has obviously gotten out since their numbers have been dwindling. The areas of insurgent control are steadly shrinking. They really don't have too many places where they can operate in the open anymore, hence their reliance on bombs and suicide bombers.
Imo within a year it should be safe enough to travel in Baghdad outside of the IZ and the rest of Iraq with minimal escort. The Iraqis are coming around and the ISF are doing better all the time. We don't have to be at war with this culture.