Turning the tide in Iraq
: Note well that The New York Times noted on its front page a tide turning against the insurgents in Iraq. John Burns writes:
In the first 18 months of the fighting, the insurgents mostly outmaneuvered the Americans along Haifa Street, showing they could carry the war to the capital’s core with something approaching impunity.
But American officers say there have been signs that the tide may be shifting. On Haifa Street, at least, insurgents are attacking in smaller numbers, and with less intensity; mortar attacks into the Green Zone have diminished sharply; major raids have uncovered large weapons caches; and some rebel leaders have been arrested or killed.
American military engineers, frustrated elsewhere by insurgent attacks, are moving ahead along Haifa Street with a $20 million program to improve electricity, sewer and other utilities. So far, none of the work sites have been attacked, although a local Shiite leader who vocally supported the American projects was assassinated on his doorstep in January.
But the change American commanders see as more promising than any other here is the deployment of large numbers of Iraqi troops.
The story is well-reported, getting down to details of tactics fighting insurgents in this one place.
But this is a trend we’ve been hearing elsewhere. Last week on MSNBC, the military analyst made a convincing case with numbers for the declining activities of the insurgents.
