On Thursday, April 26, 2007, General David Petraeus appeared on the Charlie Rose Show for an interview with the famed broadcaster. General Petraeus is the Commander of U.S. Troops in Iraq, appointed by President Bush with unanimous confirmation by the Senate to lead the new war strategy known as the "surge". Obviously, whatever the General has to say is of utmost importance. The General, while in Washington, also had a private meeting with the President and also met with members of congress and had a press conference. The following is my summary of the interview from the transcript made available by the International Herald Tribune on-line.
The General attributed the dramatic rise in violence to the bombing of the mosque in Samara last year, likening it to pouring gasoline on burning coals. As of the date of the interview, he estimates that the level of violence is down by two-thirds. This is attributed to "...the presence of our forces and Iraqi forces in neighborhoods.....And after a while,...when they (the residents of Baghdad) realize that the forces are there to stay,...they start to share information...".
The surge force of 21,000 plus support personnel, will not be at full strength until early June. Yet, even now, the General feels that the new strategy is showing early signs of having an effect. Petraeus described the open market in an area called East Rashid (spelled phonetically) that was entirely shut down on the day he assumed command. The area "..now has over 200 - about a quarter of its shops have actually opened".
In comments about the Maliki government, he pointed out that Prime Minister Maliki's support in the Iraq parliment is spread out among a number of different political groups of various ethnic and religious origins. That, plus the fact that there have actually been three prior governments before this official one took power in January, makes the task of of moving legislation tedious. One of the most pressing needs is to craft a fair oil revenue sharing plan, and an agreement has just been approved by the Council of Ministers, "...that law guaranteed those revenues for all Iraqis equitably, and that's a very, very, important step...".
Petraeus also spoke about Al Qeada and the recent support of the Sunni population for the American effort, acknowledging that there are "...still very much Sunni rejectionists,......old hard-line Saddamists". However, he attributes most of the spectacular car bombings and other sensational type attacks to Al Qeada, not Sunni insurgents.
Additionally, Petraeus outlined the involvement of both Syria and Iran in fomenting violence. "But the level of training on Iranian soil,....sophisticated technologies with explosives ,...has been very substantial, and very harmful". When asked by Rose about Syria's borders, he replied that "..we think they could certainly do a better job of picking up foreign fighters that fly right into Damascus airport".
In reference to the poltical side of the equation, Petraeus has high hopes for the upcoming regional conference, acknowledging that the security of the capital is vital to political progress. Rose asked if the political solution will bring an end to this war. Petraeus' reply was "Sure". Rose then asked if the three elements fighting are the insurgents, sectarian factions, and Al Qeada, and the General agreed that was so. When asked if Iraq was the central front in the war against Al Qeada, Gen. Petraeus answered, "Correct".
The two men also talked about troop morale, which is good, and the effect of talking about withdrawal, which has had minimal effect upon them.
In discussing success and the validity of the surge, Petraeus believes an Iraq government, "...responsive to all Iraqis that can secure itself..." would be a reasonable definition of success. Of the surge, he commented that "... I think the surge is part of a greater strategy...linked, again, to Iraqi political progress...". Nonetheless, General Petraeus feels that this is probably going to be our best chance to stabilize Iraq. He knows there is still a ways to go, and that going will be hard but doable.
The two men also spoke about the past mistakes made, the development of the counter-insurgency techniques, and the vital importance of our winning this war. He hopes that congress will give him until September to make an accurate appraisal of the situation.
A few comments regarding the Iraqi people: "...an interesting phenomenon has happened in Iraq, ...we're seen as liberators again". "They (the Iraqi people) have to exploit the opportunity that our soldiers and Iraqi soldiers are fighting to give them...".
I tried not to put my own words into this review, but I am responsible obviously, for the choices of what to quote. I personally missed the interview, but the transcript is complete and worth your time to read. I have already written two pieces about Iraq that are in the website, and, given the immense importance of the Iraq situation, there will be more to come. My opinion that this surge is vital to success in Iraq and that victory is our only option still stands.
|
|
