While I'm encouraged by the decrease in violence in Iraq, I would still hesitate to call the surge a success until we see a definitive move towards an end game of some sort. We need to see real political progress in Iraq and a sense of incresaed stability so that we can begin to reduce troop numbers yet again. The big question is will the American people have the patience to maintain the present troop levels, if they are even logistically feasible, long enough for this to occur. While violence is down, it has not gone away. Right before the Tet Offensive, we thought things were improving as well. I trully hope such is not the case this time around. However, we MUST see some real political progress, with Iraqis taking the lead and responsibility for their own future, in order for us to justify our continued presence.
Good points, but what about this:
http://ap.google.com/article/
ALe...YWx4VgD8U3BUB00
Great - would love to see more of this going on. That would mean more and more troops coming home anyway. It just seems to me this all should have been taking place in 2003-2004, instead of 2007-2008. Hopefully the progress will continue, and at a rapid pace.
"It just seems to me this all should have been taking place in 2003-2004, instead of 2007-2008."
I agree completely. I'm just glad that we found the solution, despite our best efforts, it seems.
Commenting by HaloScan
