Top U.S. Officers See Mixed Results From Iraq 'Surge' (WaPo)

[Eugene]

Source: Washington Post

Top U.S. Officers See Mixed Results From Iraq 'Surge'
Sectarian Killings Decrease in Capital; Suicide Bombings
Across Country Rise

By Ann Scott Tyson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 22, 2007; Page A01

BAGHDAD, April 21 -- Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S.
commander in Iraq, said the ongoing increase of nearly 30,000
U.S. troops in the country has achieved "modest progress" but
has also met with setbacks such as a rise in devastating
suicide bombings and other problems that leave uncertain
whether his counterinsurgency strategy will ultimately succeed.

Assessing the first two months of the U.S. and Iraqi plan to
pacify the capital, senior American commanders -- including
Petraeus; Adm. William J. Fallon, head of U.S. forces in the
Middle East; Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, commander of
military operations in Iraq; and top regional commanders --
see mixed results. They said that while an increase in U.S.
and Iraqi troops has improved security in Baghdad and Anbar
province, attacks have risen sharply elsewhere. Critical now,
they said in interviews this week, is for Iraqi leaders to
forge the political compromises needed for long-term
stability.

The commanders search for signs of success. On Friday night
at dusk, Petraeus boarded a helicopter to look for scenes of
normalcy and progress from above the maelstrom of the
capital.

-snip-

And so it went, all across the city. Directing the pilot to
"break left" or "roll out," he scanned the landscape for even
tiny improvements -- a pile of picked-up trash, an Iraqi police
car out on patrol, a short line at one gas station -- as if
gathering mental ammunition for the next wave of Baghdad
carnage. An amusement park, its rides lit up, merited a full
circle.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/21/AR2007042101471.html

[Erika]

1. The U.S. building a wall to isolate the Sunnis is telling

and it isn't good.

[xchrom]

2. given the bombings in baghdad the last week --

can petraeus really say violence is down in baghdad?

i don't see that.

and you can't tell me that the killing of some -- what? -- 190 iraqies alone won't make the iraqies wish for our leaving even more than they do.

[bemildred]

3. Chaos is "mixed" I guess. nt