Good Petraeus Plan

Spc. Felicia Whatley

27 September 2007

Opinion Public Policy Piece

Good Petraeus Plan

Every suicide bomber is a weapon of mass destruction. Why the U.S. decided to go to war with Iraq no longer matters. What the nation does with the troops now and for the future was the center of U.S. Army General David Petraeus’s Congressional Speech on September 10th that stressed a gradual reduction in U.S. troops in Iraq would be conducive to military success and stabilization in the region.

President George W. Bush backs Petraeus’s plan to remove five of twenty military brigades already in place, “Because of the measure of success we are seeing in Iraq, we can begin seeing troops come home,” stated Bush.

Troops are withdrawing. That is a fact not to be debated or accepted. But with orders in my pocket to go to Iraq given the opportunity to serve my country, I’d be pretty upset if the plane turned around because some democrat decided we weren’t supposed to be there in the first place.

The surge involved over 20,000 volunteer troops to serve their country in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.  There has been substantial progress since the surge. The increased presence of U.S. Forces over the past several months has contributed to the insurgent attacks declining and the attacks being the lowest since December 2006.

Civilian deaths are still too high, but they have declined by 45 percent since Ethno-Sectarian attacks have decreased. Any civilian death is too much but unfortunately differentiating between friend and foe during a time of war is difficult when children and women are making themselves human bombs and driving through security check points.

 As we have gone on the offensive, more weapons caches- 4409 ordinance, arms, and munitions from January to September of this year, have been recovered. Unfortunately, more weapons are being supplied by Iran and Syria—making the fight on terrorism even more difficult.

Though the death of a civilian is tragic- hundreds of thousands would be a crime. If we withdraw too many troops dramatically, Iraq’s security would be at stake at the cost of innocent lives. Not to mention what would happen to the United Nations forces including our own troops that would be overwhelmed and slaughtered by a greater insurgency threat.

There are currently about 169,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. Petraeus’s plan will pull out 2,200 Marines to return this month and an Army brigade of 5,700 Soldiers to be brought home by Christmas.

This is a realistic plan for withdrawal.  The surge has been a success in winning over local tribes. Local rejection of Al-Qaeda has contributed to the drop in violence over the past couple of months most visible in Anbar Province.

The number of car bombings and suicide bombings has declined. United Nations Coalition Forces work to destroy terrorist networks who claim responsibility for these attacks.

Despite the drop in violent actions, Sunni insurgents in Baghdad remind us that we are at war and in war people die. These insurgents push a campaign to kill police chiefs, police officers or other Interior Ministry positions and tribal leaders in the wake of Petraeus’s report.

“The main reason behind all these attacks are the signs of improvement of the security situation mentioned in the Crocker-Petraeus report,” said Tahseen al-Sheikhly, the Iraqi spokesman for the security plan, in a reference to the recent Congressional testimony of General Petraeus and the American ambassador to Iraq, Ryan C. Crocker. “The terrorist groups are just trying to say to the world that the report did not reflect the reality of the security situation in Iraq,” as quoted from the New York Times’ Sunni Insurgents in New Campaign to Kill Officials.

Our forces have detained or captured over 100 Al-Qaeda leaders. Surveillance and intelligence has been a contributor. Shia militia extremists from Iran target our troops. Arab extremist groups train and fund terrorists. Improvised explosive devices provided by Iran spur a “Hezbollah type force”, stated Petraeus. Twenty thousand tribes and locals in Anbar Providence rejected Al-Qaeda opposed extremists by adding to the ranks of Iraqi forces with minimal UN assistance. Forty thousand more Multi-National Iraqi troops will be in position by the end of the month.

“This war is not only fought on the ground in Iraq but in cyberspace as well” said Petraeus. This is a war of information. As Osama bin Laden continues to communicate through video transferred all over the internet, to rally his cause and spread his terrorist ideals, the U.S. works to spread the ideal of democracy.

Iran and Syria have impeded this process and continue to be a threat. Iraq’s long-term security as well as the security of our nation depends on stability in the region and proper security for their people. 

The problems can’t be fixed overnight and though many Americans want their sons and daughters home from war, there is more at stake. The fallen U.S. veterans died helping a nation that couldn’t help itself from an evil dictator that murdered hundreds of thousands of his own people. Petreaus wants us to stay the course with a plan to gradually reduce troop levels. This is good diplomacy and a cause worth fighting for.