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FirmhandKY -> SIGNIFICANT progress ... (4/19/2008 7:48:25 AM)
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Fargle started a thread a week or so ago titled "INSIGNIFICANT Progress..." - in which I made the statement that I thought things were going pretty good in Iraq, overall.
Of course, no one asked me to explain, or justify my comment (nor did I really expect them to). They simply blindly attacked, making all kinds of assumptions, and pigeon-holing any comment that they didn't agree with as somehow supporting murder, advocating preemptive wars, and all kinds of things that they find morally questionable.
Consider this a partial response to the unasked question about why " I think things are going pretty good, overall, in Iraq."
Basra residents welcome Iraq army crackdown
"I am very happy about the situation right now. The deployment of the Iraqi army has made gunmen and gangsters disappear from the streets," said court employee Mahdi Fallah, 42.
"The gangs were controlling the ports and smuggling oil. Now the ports are back in government hands. Everything in Basra is better than before."
Taxi driver Samir Hashim, 35, said he now felt safer driving through the city's streets and was willing to put up with the traffic jams caused by the many security checkpoints.
"We feel secure. Assassinations have ended, organised crime is finished and armed groups are no longer on the streets," said Hashim.
"I think Basra will be the best city in Iraq," he added optimistically. "We are finally beginning to feel there is law in Basra."
"We feel comfortable and safe and secure," said civil servant Alah Mustapha.
"The situation in Basra is stable. The Iraqi army controls the city and there are no longer armed groups on the streets."
The Iraqi security operations have not been without severe problems, and on Sunday 1,300 police and soldiers were sacked for failing to do their duty during the assault, which began on March 25 under orders of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
Iraqi military officers have also come under fire from their coalition force allies for launching the operations without adequate preparation, with American commander in Iraq General David Petraeus saying Maliki had disregarded US advice to delay the assault.
Of course, you won't hear about much of this in the US media, which seems to have it's own narrative about the entire conflict. In fact, most of you probably remember little about the southern battles, other than the feelings that US reporting may have left you of failure, disaster and death.
But here are some important facts, all that bode well for the future of Iraq:
1. One of the last (if not the last) major armed forces that is against the freely elected government of Iraq has been serious compromised, if not permanently crippled.
2. The action was taken by the Iraq Prime Minister (who is Shia) against a Shia group.
3. It was planned and executed without US approval (as to the timing, anyway).
4. The majority of the fighting was done by Iraqi security forces.
5. The Iraqi forces who did not perform well were sacked (which leads to the conclusion that discipline and operational success are taken seriously by an Arab army - a very unusual occurrence in the ME) which bodes well for the future performance of the nation's security forces.
6. The people of Basra and the south are happy with the results.
7. The entire operation shows a strengthening of the political will of the national government.
8. The Iranian support for the militia turns out to have been a negative, overall, politically, and not to have been particularly helpful to the militia during the fighting. This points to the possibility that the worriyabout Iranian influence in the future of Iraq may be over-estimated.
Overall, while the US media has protrayed this entire operation as another failure, almost everything that I see about it points to just the opposite.
Are things going well in Iraq?
Seems to me, while the final result is still open to debate, there are a lot of positives in the mix. More than ever before.
Firm
PS. Just so someone doesn't think that I believe it is over, I also think that the level of violence will likely escalate over the next few months, and peak just before the US elections. Depending on who wins the US elections, and what their policies will be for US involvement in Iraq will determine the level of violence after that.
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