Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2008 | 2:10 a.m.
A major point being made by Republicans in this presidential election year is that the surge of U.S. forces in Iraq “worked.”
The surge, however, should not be referred to as if it had one goal that has been achieved. There were two objectives.
One was to cut down on the violence that had been tearing Iraq apart and inflicting heavy casualties on American forces in the four preceding years.
This objective, which sought to make up for the grave Bush administration mistake of not sending enough troops at the war’s outset, has been achieved. Although roadside bombings and other attacks are still taking the lives of Iraqi civilians and coalition, Iraqi and American troops, the violence is substantially less now.
The second objective was for the post-Saddam Hussein Iraqi government, which is dominated by Shiites and backed by Iran, to take advantage of the increased security and begin forging a lasting peace between itself and its hated sectarian rivals, the Sunnis and the Kurds.
Had this objective been achieved, the way would have been cleared for steady withdrawals of U.S. troops. But last week, Gen. David Petraeus, the outgoing U.S. commander in Iraq, recommended that troop levels in Iraq remain pretty much as they are for the remainder of Bush’s presidency — a recommendation Bush announced Tuesday that he would follow.
According to The Washington Post, Petraeus in his recommendation cited the Iraqi government’s postponement of provincial elections, the lingering sectarian conflicts, disputes over the oil-rich city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq and concerns about a Sunni security force known as the Sons of Iraq.
This security force of more than 100,000 Sunnis is aligned with U.S. forces, is paid for by U.S. taxpayers and has been instrumental in reducing violence. It is also hated by the Iraqi government, which raises questions about what would happen if U.S. troops started coming home.
So is saying the surge “worked” accurate? Only if you don’t mind being just half-right.
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