Publius Pundit

« Previous · Home · Next »

Maybe Iraq isn't Such a Quagmire After All?

Filed under: Middle East

If two scholars from the left-wing Brookings Institution, writing in the New York Times (of all places) say that we might be turning the corner in Iraq, then you'd better prick up your ears:
Viewed from Iraq, where we just spent eight days meeting with American and Iraqi military and civilian personnel, the political debate in Washington is surreal. The Bush administration has over four years lost essentially all credibility. Yet now the administration's critics, in part as a result, seem unaware of the significant changes taking place. Here is the most important thing Americans need to understand: We are finally getting somewhere in Iraq, at least in military terms. As two analysts who have harshly criticized the Bush administration's miserable handling of Iraq, we were surprised by the gains we saw and the potential to produce not necessarily "victory" but a sustainable stability that both we and the Iraqis could live with. Today, morale is high. The soldiers and marines told us they feel that they now have a superb commander in Gen. David Petraeus; they are confident in his strategy, they see real results, and they feel now they have the numbers needed to make a real difference. All across the country, the dependability of Iraqi security forces over the long term remains a major question mark. But for now, things look much better than before. American advisers told us that many of the corrupt and sectarian Iraqi commanders who once infested the force have been removed. The American high command assesses that more than three-quarters of the Iraqi Army battalion commanders in Baghdad are now reliable partners (at least for as long as American forces remain in Iraq). In addition, far more Iraqi units are well integrated in terms of ethnicity and religion. The Iraqi Army's highly effective Third Infantry Division started out as overwhelmingly Kurdish in 2005. Today, it is 45 percent Shiite, 28 percent Kurdish, and 27 percent Sunni Arab. Another surprise was how well the coalition's new Embedded Provincial Reconstruction Teams are working. Wherever we found a fully staffed team, we also found local Iraqi leaders and businessmen cooperating with it to revive the local economy and build new political structures. Although much more needs to be done to create jobs, a new emphasis on microloans and small-scale projects was having some success where the previous aid programs often built white elephants.

Has the world once again underestimated American capabilities?

Social Bookmarking:
Del.icio.us this del.icio.us | digg this digg | Add to Technorati technorati | StumbleUpon Toolbar stumble upon | Furl this furl | Reddit this reddit

Comments


Dave says:

The "world" also underestimated the Iraqis, believing them unable to break out of their tribal feud mindset and think rationally. But -- surprise! -- the Iraqis want a peaceful, normal life as much as anyone else...


La Russophobe says:

Indeed so! Thanks for the cutting observation.

Who knows, perhaps it even underestimated Dubya!?


Saul Wall says:

I would not blame anyone for doubting Iraq after the campaign against the war that has been waged. Now that the security situation is improving the media focus is going back to the economy and infrastructure with no context about what things were like before the war or what needed to be rebuild or what has been accomplished. If they had covered the aftermath of Afghanistan the same way they covered Iraq there would not be a single Democrat claiming that there should be more support for Afghanistan and they would instead be demanding the US get out of Afghanistan.

Luckily they have forgotten that Afghanistan exists and where it is located.


online medicines says: Skin care medicines

Dovonex (calcipotriene) is used to treat psoriasis. It works by controlling the overproduction of skin cells in areas affected by psoriasis.

http://www.drugs-generic.info/index.php?prod=Dovonex

Elidel (pimecrolimus) is used to control the symptoms of atopic dermatitis (a skin disease that is also called eczema). Pimecrolimus is only used to treat patients who cannot take other medications for atopic dermatitis, or whose symptoms were not controlled by other medications. Pimecrolimus is in a class of medications called immunosuppressants. It works by stopping the immune system from producing substances that cause eczema.

http://www.drugs-generic.info/index.php?prod=Elidel

Synalar (Fluocinolone) is used to treat the itching, redness, dryness, crusting, scaling, inflammation, and discomfort of various skin conditions.

http://www.drugs-generic.info/index.php?prod=Synalar

Tretinoin skin preparations are a family of drugs all similar to Vitamin A. In general, tretinoin gels are stronger than tretinoin creams because the medicine penetrates better when in a gel form. Tretinoin is used to treat acne and aged, sun damaged skin. Tretinoin works best when used in combination with alpha hydroxyacid preparations.

http://www.drugs-generic.info/index.php?prod=Tretinoin

Protopic (Tacrolimus) ointment is used to treat the symptoms of atopic dermatitis (a skin disease that is also called eczema) in patients who cannot use other topical medications for their condition or whose eczema has not responded to another medication. Tacrolimus is in a class of medications called immunosuppressants. It works by stopping the immune systemfrom producing substances that cause eczema.

http://www.drugs-generic.info/index.php?prod=Protopic


Post a comment


(will not be published)



Remember Me?

(you may use HTML tags for style)




TrackBack

TrackBack URL: http://publiuspundit.com/mt/contages.cgi/302