The Surge

Steve-O: the surge worked. I arrived in Baghdad in late January and left in late December. The security situation improved markedly over the course of 2007 and was the result of more American forces in the city and the improving readiness of the Iraqi security forces. The progress made in 2007 was real by every measurable yardstick--bad guys killed, attacks on Coalition forces, Coalition casualties, ISF trained and on the streets, availability of essential services, oil production, and the willingness of ordinary Iraqis to venture on the streets. To suggest otherwise requires willfully ignoring the obvious.

Make no mistake about it, there is plenty of work to be done and it will take years to finish the job. The Coalition must continue to shwack the bad guys while building ISF capacity to continue the fight. The government of Iraq for its part must deliver the electricty, water, sewer, education, fire, ambulance, and road repair which are essential to prove to the population the government can deliver both security and essential services.

The stakes are huge. Al Qaida sees Iraq as the central front in its war on the West and has said so on many occasions. Iran needs Iraq as a client state, or at least unstable, to further its goal of regional domination. Progress is being made--Sunni Al Qaida is on the run in the western provinces and Shia militias are fracturing.

In the larger sense, we have to recognize radical Islam is at war with the West and must be stopped by whatever means necessary, including the use of military force. Unfortunately, one of the major political parties refuses to recognize the importance of this conflict. One of its two leading contenders for the presidential nomination mocked the ground commander's report to the Congress, saying: "it requires the willing suspension of disbelief." Her chief rival calls for an immediate pullout.

The war against radical Islam will be fought in many ways and in many places, but Iraq is where it is being fought now and where we must win.