Posted by Tina
The war in Iraq has gone well and there is finally room to be hopeful about a positive outcome. As reported by Fox News, the general who has made this possible shared his thoughts as he walked through the streets of Baghdad talking with the local people:
Petraeus ‘Hopeful’ on Final Battlefield Tour as Commander in Iraq FOX News
To watch Gen. David Petraeus work the crowds in Baghdads markets, one might think he was running for local office. But as Petraeus greeted locals in Arabic and shook hands Wednesday, he was on his final battlefield tour of the country before handing over command of U.S.-led forces in Iraq next week and taking on a new job as head of Central Command. *** “We think right now (Al Qaeda) is still clinging to the idea that they could revive Al Qaeda in Iraq,” he said. *** But Wednesday, the U.S. military in Baghdad released details of intercepted communications that commanders said were made between Al Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahiri and Al Qaeda leadership in Iraq. The group reportedly complained of being unable to raise money, recruit or receive support from locals. *** ”No support for Al Qaeda” is something Petraeus says he hears in conversations every day , and numerous times in the Shorja market. *** “You give us our freedom, and we will give you our friendship peace with you,” one local told Petraeus in the market Wednesday.
Al Qaeda in Iraq? Oh yeah, I forgot, we won that argument months ago. But I digress.
Another big challenge is in Pakistan and it seems there’s some good news to report there as well…courtesy of IBD:
For the first time, President Bush has given ground forces authority to pursue terrorists across the Afghan border into Pakistan. No longer must they seek Islamabad’s permission to conduct raids against our enemy holed up inside Pakistan. *** Last month’s secret order led to the unprecedented special forces assault on a Pakistani tribal compound suspected of harboring Taliban and al-Qaida fighters. The Sept. 4 raid, led by attack choppers, left 15 dead. *** In another welcome sign that the U.S. has shifted to more aggressive tactics in Pakistan… *** Our new go-it-alone strategy finally calls the bluff of Gen. Musharraf, who not only banned U.S. troops in Pakistan but limited the freedom of movement of CIA officers. *** Whenever U.S. and NATO military commanders raised the subject of Osama bin Laden, Musharraf would deny he was in Pakistan, claiming he was on the Afghan side of the border. *** But even when bin Laden actually was in Afghanistan before 9/11, Musharraf balked at going after him. *** When the general took power in a military coup in 1999, he reportedly canceled a top secret mission being planned with the U.S. to send commandos using Pakistani intelligence into Afghanistan to capture the terrorist kingpin. *** Musharraf used it instead to amass arms against India Pakistan’s “most dangerous enemy” (his words) and not America’s most dangerous enemy, al-Qaida. *** Even some Pakistani officials now say the U.S. was naive to think Musharraf would do much to find bin Laden. *** Afrasiab Khattak, a Peshawar politician, told the Washington Post that Pakistani forces would occasionally help the CIA capture second-string al-Qaida figures, but only to keep the aid funds flowing from Washington. (10.5Billion) *** His replacement, Asif Ali Zardari, offers hope we may now have a real ally in Islamabad. The new president’s wife was pro-U.S. leader Benazir Bhutto, who was slain by terrorists in Pakistan late last year. Zardari has vowed to deny both al-Qaida and the Taliban the sanctuary they’ve enjoyed under Musharraf.