General David H. Petraeus told a congressional committee on Monday that in Iraq “we will be able to reduce our forces to the pre-surge level of brigade combat teams by next summer”.
The commander of the Multi-National Force in Iraq pointed out that objectives of the US military surge there are to a large measure being met. Reporting to the Congress on the situation in Iraq, General Petraeus said that the Coalition and Iraq security forces have made progress in improving security in Iraq with last week having the lowest number of attacks since April 2006.
He noted that though the Coalition and Iraq Forces have made progress toward achieving sustainable security, innumerable challenges lie ahead. He stressed that though it is possible to achieve U.S. objectives in Iraq over time, it will neither be quick nor easy.
General Petraeus noted that “we have also disrupted Shia militia extremists, capturing the head and numerous other leaders of the Iranian-supported Special Groups.”
He also stated that there has been a substantial reduction in ethno-sectarian deaths by over forty-five percent in Iraq but specifically in Baghdad by some seventy percent since last December.
He added that Iraq forces have continued to grow and have started shouldering more of the load despite continuing concerns of sectarianism of some elements in their ranks.
Using graphic charts to illustrate his testimony, General Petraeus said “the most significant development in the past six months likely has been the increasing emergence of tribes and local citizens rejecting Al Qaeda.” “This has of course been most visible in Anbar Province. A year ago the province was assessed as lost politically,” he added. He indicated that the number of car bombings and suicide attacks has declined from 175 to ninety in the past five months.
Recognizing that the rejection of Al Qaeda has spread to a number of other locations and that it is a model of what happens when local leaders and citizens oppose Al Qaeda, General Petraeus was quick to point out that Anbar is unique and the model it provides cannot be replicated everywhere in Iraq.
The numbers of civilian deaths are still at troubling levels and the number of high profile attacks is still too high. “We will continue to work hard to destroy the networks that carry out these barbaric attacks” said the General.
In his recommendations the General noted that:
• Political progress will take place only if sufficient security exists; and
• That regional, global and cyber space initiatives are critical to success and that Iraq leaders want to assume greater sovereignty in their country.
Earlier in his report, General Petraeus pointed out that this was his own testimony and he had not shared it with the Pentagon, the White House or the U. S. Congress.
In other testimony before the committee that day, Ambassador Ryan Crocker while giving an assessment on the political, economic and diplomatic situation in Iraq to the congress yesterday noted that progress has been made in building an institutional framework where there was none before, and that the Iraq economy is expected to grow by over six percent in 2007.
He added that, although insecurity in the countryside raises transport costs and especially affects manufacturing and agriculture, “ I do believe that Iraq’s leaders have the will to tackle the country’s pressing problems, although it will take longer than originally anticipated.”
Emmanuel Opati is an intern at the American Journalism Center, a training program run by Accuracy in Media and Accuracy in Academia.
