FlaNative's Blog

The newest quartley report is out on Iraq today....

Why is it, with the surge working, continued improvements in Iraq, the Obama still wants out immediately???   There is still work to do, granted, but to cut, run and surrender when we are THIS CLOSE is just stupid!!!

Will he go to each family who lost a loved one there and say "your son died in vain, too bad"????

The report, required by Congress, says violence in Iraq has fallen to its lowest level in four years, with some categories down as much as 80 percent. Still, there are dozens of attacks every day, most of them in Baghdad and three northern provinces, with about 40 large-scale attacks in the month of May.

Admiral Mike Mullen (file photo)

The report praises the Iraqi government for progress in developing and using its security forces against both Sunni and Shiite extremists, and for progress on some political issues. But the report also calls the gains "fragile, reversible and uneven." That sentiment was echoed Monday by the top U.S. military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen.

"Iraq's in a much better place than it was a year ago, across the board - politically, economically and from a security standpoint," said Admiral Mullen. "I see that when I visit there, and clearly just to talk to the brigades who have recently returned, they confirm that. But we're not at the sustainable point yet. We're not at the irreversible point yet."

The Pentagon's quarterly Iraq report says a major factor in the progress has been the willingness of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis to reject extremism and begin to work with the government. The trend started among Sunnis in al-Anbar Province, but the report says it has now spread to Shiites in many parts of the country. The report says there are now more than 100,000 men in so-called 'Sons of Iraq' groups, working with the Iraqi police and army to maintain order and keep insurgents and terrorists out of local areas.

According to the report, Iran continues "to fund, train, arm and guide" Shiite militias, in spite of promises to stop. The report says, during recent operations in Basra, Iraqi security forces found caches of weapons that were manufactured in Iran this year.

The report also points to improvements in the capacity of the Iraqi army and police, but says the progress varies from place to place. On Monday, the Number Two U.S. commander in Iraq, Lieutenant General Lloyd Austin, said the Iraqis still need to be backed up by U.S. forces, but he believes U.S. and Iraqi troops can continue to make security gains, even though U.S. troop levels are being reduced by about 20,000.

"We have, over the last several months, been engaged in some pretty significant activity from time to time," said General Austin. "As we faced al-Qaida in the north, we also faced a pretty significant fight against JAM [Jesh al-Mahdi, Mahdi Army] Special Groups criminals in the areas of Basra and Sadr City. And we did all that while our footprint was getting smaller. But I think the results speak for themselves. We've been fairly effective."

http://voanews.com/english/2008-06-23-voa62.cfm