thedrifter
08-03-07, 07:52 AM
Reason for hope
Findlay Courier, OH
Those who continue to insist that the U.S. military’s surge strategy in Iraq is a failure ought to take a look at this past Monday’s New York Times.On the op-ed page is a headline few would ever have expected to see in one of the country’s most liberal newspapers: “A War We Just Might Win.”
Yes, it’s about Iraq -- and even more amazing, the article it entitles was written by two Democrats from the generally left-leaning Brookings Institution, Michael E. O’Hanlon and Kenneth M. Pollack. Both have severely criticized the Bush administration’s handling of the war in the past -- but now, both seem to feel that with the new strategy, there is reason for hope.
“We are finally getting somewhere in Iraq, at least in military terms,” they wrote. During a recent visit to Iraq they were “surprised by the gains we saw and the potential to produce not necessarily 'victory’ but a sustainable stability that both we and the Iraqis could live with.”
They noted that while in past visits they’d found anger and frustration among U.S. troops, “Today, morale is high. The soldiers and Marines told us they feel they now have a superb commander in Gen. David Petraeus; they are confident in his strategy, they see real results, and they feel now they have the numbers needed to make a real difference.”
A few other choice quotes:
“In Baghdad’s Ghazaliya neighborhood, which has seen some of the worst sectarian combat, we walked a street slowly coming back to life with stores and shoppers. The Sunni residents were unhappy with the nearby police checkpoint ... but they seemed genuinely happy with the American soldiers and a mostly Kurdish Iraqi Army patrolling the street.”
“Just a few months ago, American Marines were fighting for every yard of Ramadi; last week we strolled down its streets without body armor.”
“A local mayor told us his greatest fear was an overly rapid American departure from Iraq.”
The op-ed made it clear that as the authors observed it, the U.S. military is correcting the mistakes of the past and working with Iraqis to clear areas of terrorists and keep them free.
It noted, somberly, that “In the end, the situation in Iraq remains grave,” and that the political hurdles ahead are enormous. It concluded, though, that “there is enough good happening on the battlefields of Iraq today that Congress should plan on sustaining the effort at least into 2008.”
Less than a month ago, a Times editorial declared the Iraq war hopeless and advocated immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops. Perhaps the publication of this op-ed is a tacit acknowledgment that it may have been premature.
Clifford D. May, a former Times foreign correspondent who is now president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, wrote for a National Review Online symposium this week that “the O’Hanlon/Pollack op-ed is important. It forces the conversation to re-open.”
For many of us it has never been closed. But it’s comforting to know that those who haven’t yet lost faith in America are no longer limited to a few Republicans and one ex-Democrat (Sen. Joe Lieberman). Perhaps, with renewed conversation, enough hope and support for the war can be mustered to bring about a victory of sorts, at least.
Ellie
Findlay Courier, OH
Those who continue to insist that the U.S. military’s surge strategy in Iraq is a failure ought to take a look at this past Monday’s New York Times.On the op-ed page is a headline few would ever have expected to see in one of the country’s most liberal newspapers: “A War We Just Might Win.”
Yes, it’s about Iraq -- and even more amazing, the article it entitles was written by two Democrats from the generally left-leaning Brookings Institution, Michael E. O’Hanlon and Kenneth M. Pollack. Both have severely criticized the Bush administration’s handling of the war in the past -- but now, both seem to feel that with the new strategy, there is reason for hope.
“We are finally getting somewhere in Iraq, at least in military terms,” they wrote. During a recent visit to Iraq they were “surprised by the gains we saw and the potential to produce not necessarily 'victory’ but a sustainable stability that both we and the Iraqis could live with.”
They noted that while in past visits they’d found anger and frustration among U.S. troops, “Today, morale is high. The soldiers and Marines told us they feel they now have a superb commander in Gen. David Petraeus; they are confident in his strategy, they see real results, and they feel now they have the numbers needed to make a real difference.”
A few other choice quotes:
“In Baghdad’s Ghazaliya neighborhood, which has seen some of the worst sectarian combat, we walked a street slowly coming back to life with stores and shoppers. The Sunni residents were unhappy with the nearby police checkpoint ... but they seemed genuinely happy with the American soldiers and a mostly Kurdish Iraqi Army patrolling the street.”
“Just a few months ago, American Marines were fighting for every yard of Ramadi; last week we strolled down its streets without body armor.”
“A local mayor told us his greatest fear was an overly rapid American departure from Iraq.”
The op-ed made it clear that as the authors observed it, the U.S. military is correcting the mistakes of the past and working with Iraqis to clear areas of terrorists and keep them free.
It noted, somberly, that “In the end, the situation in Iraq remains grave,” and that the political hurdles ahead are enormous. It concluded, though, that “there is enough good happening on the battlefields of Iraq today that Congress should plan on sustaining the effort at least into 2008.”
Less than a month ago, a Times editorial declared the Iraq war hopeless and advocated immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops. Perhaps the publication of this op-ed is a tacit acknowledgment that it may have been premature.
Clifford D. May, a former Times foreign correspondent who is now president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, wrote for a National Review Online symposium this week that “the O’Hanlon/Pollack op-ed is important. It forces the conversation to re-open.”
For many of us it has never been closed. But it’s comforting to know that those who haven’t yet lost faith in America are no longer limited to a few Republicans and one ex-Democrat (Sen. Joe Lieberman). Perhaps, with renewed conversation, enough hope and support for the war can be mustered to bring about a victory of sorts, at least.
Ellie