The scale of Petraeus’s achievement

TGF UKIP

James, you have been rightly effusive recently in your praise of the General and your coverage of the success of the surge and its potential effects, stands out in a media which instinctively seems to prefer to look the other way. However, do you not think that you are perhaps being possibly a bit neglectful and a bit Brit media by failing to also attribute credit to George W who you seem curiously reluctant to even mention. After all there would have been no surge if Bush hadn't been willing to take on and battle through at great political cost and risk The Democrats, The Joint Chiefs, The US media (with the usual creditable exception of Fox), almost the entire US public opinion and a sizeable slab of his own Republican Party way beyond the usual jellies. It would be nice and be even more objective to read more posts on the success, so far, of the Bush/Petraeus surge.

victor sparlin

how do you measure success: by acclaim, trial and error, or with time? current politics publicly does not have slack for faith, hope, and trust in a higher order. Our future as a nation requires the public to look back to the "Constition put in place by the founding fathers. By this measure we will grow in creative to govern , or descend to the factionalism of Europe from which our democratic ideals escaped through the yearning of men to be free at any cost.

victor sparlin

how do you measure success: by acclaim, trial and error, or with time? current politics publicly does not have slack for faith, hope, and trust in a higher order. Our future as a nation requires the public to look back to the "Constition put in place by the founding fathers. By this measure we will grow in creative to govern , or descend to the factionalism of Europe from which our democratic ideals escaped through the yearning of men to be free at any cost.

g

.... he is in the line of Grant, Pershing Patton and Ike.

Ray

A more telling analogy might yet be with the American counter-attack against North Vietnam's 'Spring Offensive' in 1972 - which succeeded in annihilating every enemy unit thrown into the battle. In addition, the USAF's ruthless 'Linebacker' bombing campaign forced North Vietnam back to the negotiating table to sign the peace accord that finally brought the last remaining US troops home. However, in the intervening months Congressional support for the war had so haemmorrhaged that (when combined the Watergate crisis) there was simply no political will left to enforce the peace terms. Two years later, Saigon fell and the rest is history! I similarly fear that once again a US administration might have resoundingly won the battle only to find itself having lost a war that was half-baked to start with and which has only turned into an even greater and more tragic farce since.

iain melville

Could not police forces in Britain adopt a modified version of the Petraeus Doctrine? --But the most significant change that Petraeus brought to Iraq has to do with how troops are deployed. Previously, most U.S. troops had been sequestered in five huge military bases. They would patrol the collapsing cities, usually in motorcades, and then return to their fortresses. But Petraeus established a network of joint security stations in the neighborhoods of Baghdad and its environs where U.S. troops and Iraqi forces live and work together. That created a constant military presence in the streets. This heavily armed version of community policing was a central tenet of the counterinsurgency doctrine that Petraeus helped develop during his time at Fort Leavenworth. It is not entirely responsible for the diminution of violence in Baghdad — ethnic cleansing has limited the inter-sect strife — but it certainly has helped bring life, and a sense of security, back to some of the neighborhoods Petraeus toured in February. But the most significant change that Petraeus brought to Iraq has to do with how troops are deployed. Previously, most U.S. troops had been sequestered in five huge military bases. They would patrol the collapsing cities, usually in motorcades, and then return to their fortresses. But Petraeus established a network of joint security stations in the neighborhoods of Baghdad and its environs where U.S. troops and Iraqi forces live and work together. That created a constant military presence in the streets. This heavily armed version of community policing was a central tenet of the counterinsurgency doctrine that Petraeus helped develop during his time at Fort Leavenworth. It is not entirely responsible for the diminution of violence in Baghdad — ethnic cleansing has limited the inter-sect strife — but it certainly has helped bring life, and a sense of security, back to some of the neighborhoods Petraeus toured in February.