Monday, February 19, 2007

New Strategy Having Affect

Victory Caucus is turning into a wonderful resource for information not widely reported. VC led me to an article from the Dept. of Defense, in which Army Maj. Gen. Joseph Fil, commander of Multinational Division Baghdad, insists that the surge can work:

About 13,000 Iraqi soldiers and 20,000 Iraqi national police are in Baghdad, along with more than 35,000 U.S. troops, Fil said. He noted that as the numbers of Iraqi forces go up, their quality also is increasing.

“They’re much more capable; they’re much more committed; and they are much better led,” he said. “I’ve been very impressed with their operations so far, and they’ve actually been leading several of the operations we’ve conducted recently.”

Time will tell. In the short term, a distinct drop in casualties is being noted in Iraq:

Attacks and killings in Baghdad have dropped by 80 per cent since Iraqi and US forces launched their security plan for Baghdad, Iraqi army spokesman Qasim al-Musawi said today.

It sounds like things are off to a good start. Let's hope the trend continues.

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