The Surge: The Untold Story

Understanding the Surge from ISW on Vimeo.

From The Small Wars Journal:

The Surge: the Untold Story is a 34 minute documentary produced by the Institute for the Study of War. This video documents the Iraq Surge as part of a population-centric counterinsurgency approach and features many of the top commanders and others responsible for its implementation - including GEN Jack Keane (Ret.), GEN David Petraeus, Amb. Ryan Crocker, GEN Raymond Odierno, GEN Nasier Abadi (Iraq), COL Peter Mansoor (Ret.), COL J.B. Burton, COL Ricky Gibbs, COL Bryan Roberts, COL Sean MacFarland, COL James Hickey, COL David Sutherland, COL Steven Townsend, LTC James Crider, and LT James Danly (Ret.).

Read more ...

My Comment: A very impressive video with an impressive lineup. A must see video.

Another Analysis That Examines The Iraq Surge

American soldiers conducting a patrol in the Kadhimiya neighborhood of Baghdad in April 2007. (Michael Kamber for The New York Times )

Months Of Intense Debate Preceded Iraq Surge
-- International Herald Tribune

WASHINGTON: As President George W. Bush's term draws to a close and the Republican Party focuses on his successor and the impact of the Bush legacy on the future of the party, the president and his allies are expected to tout the surge of forces in Iraq among his proudest achievements. But that decision, one of his most consequential as commander in chief, was made only after months of tumultuous debate within the administration, according to still-secret memorandums and interviews with a broad range of current and former officials.

In January 2007, when the situation in Iraq appeared at its bleakest, Bush chose a bold option that was at odds with what many of his civilian and military advisers, including his field commander, initially recommended. Bush's dispatch of more than 20,000 troops to carry out a new strategy has helped to reverse the spiral of sectarian killings in Iraq.

Read more ....

Did The U.S. Surge In Iraq Change The Battlefield

From The Belmont Club:

Two assertions about Iraq ought to be challenged or at least examined more closely. The first is the idea that security improvements in Iraq and al-Qaeda’s defeat had little if anything to do with the US effort. The second is the assertion that the “real” strategic center of gravity always should have been Afghanistan, because the proper object of the War is to “get bin Laden”.

Take the question of whether the growing success in Iraq had anything to do with US effort. Once violence in Iraq began to wane and al-Qaeda was clearly being defeated, the search to find a non-American explanation began in earnest. For a while it was fashionable to credit Moqtada al-Sadr’s “ceasefire” with improving conditions in Iraq. The Guardian report of February 2008 ascribing nearly miraculous powers to al-Sadr typified the explanation that violence was down because he had turned it off.

Read more ....

More News And Comments On The Iraqi Surge

How Important Was the Surge? -- American Prospect
How Successful Was The Surge? -- NPR
Kagen says surge wasn’t necessary after his first visit to Iraq -- Journal Sentinel
Iraq's 'surge' has its limits -- Asia Times
Bush cuts Iraq combat tours for US troops as surge comes to an end -- Earth Times
Can Iraq's new calm hold? -- Yahoo News/Christian Science Monitor
Are we winning in Iraq? -- LA Times
Bush declares progress in Iraq war -- Yahoo News/AP
Bush hails 'durability' of progress in Iraq -- AFP
Bush: surge in Iraq worked -- LA Times
Iraq Gains May Mean More Reductions -- Time Magazine

My Comment: The Iraqis and American military believe the surge was one of many essential components for bringing peace to Iraq. Playing an armchair general .... if Iraq was a failed state now, I am sure that many would be blaming the surge .... since violence has gone done by 90%, credit has to go where it belongs. the surge did change the dynamics of the Iraq battlefield.

Iraq War Updates -- July 8, 2008

Iraqi army soldiers from 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division

From MSNBC

Joint Chiefs head: Iraq security gains holding

BAGHDAD - Iraq appears on track to establishing sustainable security — a key step toward withdrawing U.S. troops — the top U.S. military officer said Monday after visiting the newly quiet Sadr City section of the capital.

Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters that important elements of a solution to the Iraqi war — including reduced levels of sectarian violence, political reconciliation and stronger Iraqi forces — are coming into view more than five years after the U.S. invasion.

He repeatedly stressed, however, that the improvements are fragile and could still be reversed.

Read more ....

More News on Iraq From Other Sources

Iraq Raises Idea of Timetable for US Withdrawal -- ABC News
Baghdad's Grasp on Iraq's South -- Time Magazine
Iraqis lead final purge of Al-Qaeda -- Times Online
AQI’s last stand -- Q And O
Al-Maliki: Iraq Defeated Terrorism -- FOX News
MNF, Iraqi forces start operation in Diyala -- Kuwait News Agency
Iraq city has brittle calm and war scars -- International Herald Tribune
Sadr city areas cordoned off- eyewitnesses -- Aswat Aliraq
Female suicide bomber kills nine in Iraq -- The Guardian
Female suicide bomber kills 9 north of Baghdad -- Yahoo News
The Mosul Operation -- Pajamas Media
Q&A: Iranian Diplomat on Tehran's Role in Iraq -- Newsweek
Iraq not top of Obama’s foreign agenda -- Politico
More Good News From Iraq -- Q And O
Gains in Iraq may lead to pullouts -- USA Today
U.S. Military Mulls Iraq Troop Pullbacks -- CBS News
Opinion: Why The Iraq Surge Worked -- Philadelphia Inquirer
Opinion: Judgment on Iraq: Sorting right from wrong -- Tigerhawk
General David Petraeus beats megastar Angeline Jolie as Iraq crowd-puller -- Times Online