[Dean's World] Dave Price: Brookings Institute Endorses Surge

[notify at powerblogs.com]

Posted by Dave Price:
Brookings Institute Endorses Surge
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1185805887.shtml


   Well, this is something. Via [1]Glenn, Michael OâHanlon and Kenneth
   Pollack of the left-leaning Brookings Institute express support for
   the surge strategy, saying it's working and should be extended into
   2008 -- [2]in the NYT, no less.

     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
     administrationâs miserable handling of Iraq, we were surprised by
     the gains we saw and the potential to produce not necessarily
     âvictoryâ but a sustainable stability that both we and the Iraqis
     could live with.
     ...
     In the past, few Iraqi units could do more than provide a few
     âjundisâ (soldiers) to put a thin Iraqi face on largely American
     operations. Today, in only a few sectors did we find American
     commanders complaining that their Iraqi formations were useless â
     something that was the rule, not the exception, on a previous trip
     to Iraq in late 2005.
     ...
     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 Armyâs 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.
     ...
     But there is enough good happening on the battlefields of Iraq
     today that Congress should plan on sustaining the effort at least
     into 2008.

   It will be interesting to see how the left responds to this. My guess
   is responses will range from demands for excommunication to cautious,
   reluctant acceptance.

References

   1. http://www.instapundit.com/
   2. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/30/opinion/30pollack.html?pagewanted=2&ei=5124&en=33f56c9c2e2a6389&ex=1343448000&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink