Petraeus Delivers Upbeat Assessment On Iraq, Cites Iraqi Army’s Own “Surge”
Saturday, 29 December 2007
WASHINGTON — Violence is down about 60 percent in Iraq since the June troop surge, and the top military commander in Iraq recently said that he wants the trend to continue in 2008.
“Every trend we watch is down roughly about 60 percent: civilian deaths, numbers of attacks, and thankfully our casualties are down as well,” said Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of Multi-National Force - Iraq, on “Fox News Sunday.”
“As we go into the new year, we clearly want to build on the momentum that has been achieved by our forces working closely together with Iraqi forces.”
Petraeus said Iraqi forces also had a surge this year, with 110,000 new Iraqi Soldiers and police.
Petraeus appeared on the morning news program to discuss the release of this week’s quarterly report, “Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq”. With the success of the surges comes the question of reducing the number of U.S. forces in Iraq while maintaining the positive trends, he said.
“We want to reduce the strain on our ground forces as much as we can while recognizing that what has been achieved here remains tenuous and is still fragile in a number of areas,” the general said. “We have laid out a plan that will take us through the end of July, and it will result in the reduction without replacement of about one-quarter of our combat forces.”
Petraeus was cautious about committing to further troop reductions and reiterated that al-Qaida remains a significant threat. “Al-Qaida remains a very dangerous and very lethal organization, and it is one that will continually try to reconstitute and one that we must pursue tenaciously and relentlessly, and that is what we and our Iraqi partners are doing,” he said.
When reporter Chris Matthews asked the general why success in Iraq is not newsworthy, noting a Media Research Center report that news stories from Iraq dropped in the evening nightly network newscasts from 178 news stories in September to 68 stories in November, the general said he sees that as a positive sign.
“In a sense, no news is good news, and we’re not reluctant to see that,” Petraeus said. “The only reluctance would be that America continues to remember its Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and civilians who are serving out here in this very important endeavor.”
As the interview concluded, Petraeus praised the men and women he leads in Iraq. “Especially at this season, we all should be grateful for what these great young men and women are doing and for the sacrifices of their families who are enduring separations back home. It is a privilege to serve with America’s new greatest generation here in Iraq.”
(Agencies)
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chris matthews asked this hero why success in Iraq isn’t newsworthy??? it’s him and the rest of the dhimmi press in this country that have downplayed the success….’cuz it goes counter to their propaganda campaign, spoon fed to them by their pimps in the DNC.
matthews should have looked in a mirror when asked that question, that is if he could stand the sight of the little ogre looking back at him. Something tells me that he isn’t man enough to do that.
Fred/Petraeus ‘08
December 29th, 2007 at 11:30 amActually, I take the question to be an acknowledgment that the media are exclusively focussed on disaster and failure, and don’t want to print/show the good stuff.
December 29th, 2007 at 4:57 pm