Measuring the Success

As most of you know, the Democrats have been screaming for a withdrawal of US military forces from Iraq while members of the Republican party have been echoing the words of our Fearless Leader that we should stay. As I've said repeatedly, President Bush has never offered a tangible goal by which we could gauge our progress toward success in the Iraqi Theater. For this reason, our military has had to gauge our current levels of success using more creative methods.

After the conventional military excursion into Iraq was finished and Saddam had been removed from power, the US was in charge of what went on. Our goal is to be completely out of Iraq and within our own borders, once again. The only way to make these two situations meet would be a gradual shift of power and responsibility. The main problem is that when we first arrived, there was no one there for us to turn power over to. With the success of the Iraqi elections, this problem has been solved. Thinking back in time once again, when we were first establishing ourselves in Iraq, there were no Iraqi forces (police or military) to assist in keeping order and/or taking actions against the insurgency operations.

According to a DoD report, presently, there are 53 battalions of Iraqi military that are capable of operating with the support of US forces (Level 2). There are 45 that are trained enough to fight along side our forces (Level 3). That means there are 98 Iraqi battalions that are actively engaged in anti-insurgency and stability operations within Iraq. In September, there were only 88. The Level 2 forces are kicking in the doors while US forces, for example, are providing support by fire positions and assistance during searches, as well as logistical support (ie: vehicles, since they presently don't have any). Progress is being made in this area! There is no denying that.

As I have shown, Iraq is slowly coming into its own, militarily. Other ways that we are able to judge our success is through the local populations. Brigadier General Burgner, Deputy Commander, MultiNational Forces, Northwest (Iraq) recently made a stop here. He said that when we first started operating there, they would receive a tip from the indigenous people two-three times every two weeks. Now, it is up to 9-15 per day. The Iraqi people did, indeed, see us as an occupying army. However, we have been able to demonstrate to them, through tangible results, that we are there to help them and that we do not intend to stay. These things I attribute not to President Bush or any other politician, but to the soldiers on the ground walking the streets of Iraq. Our platoon leaders are responsible for setting up town meetings and getting the local leadership together to identify and solve their regions problems, whatever they may be. Our soldiers are the guys that are getting the job done, not those in Washington D.C.

Granted, there are still locations where people throw rocks at our guys. They will always be there. The media capitalizes on the body bags and the protests. They don't show all of the successes that we've had.

If you sincerely have an interest in our military's progress in Iraq, I strongly recommend that you read this news briefing from September with BGen Burgner. Keep in mind, this took place back in September 2005, so there has been even more progress since then.

Crispy