By The Numbers: The Surge Worked

Don't go telling Senator Obama, but the surge worked. Emphatically. Undeniably. Check out the chart below, from the recent Dept. of Defense report to Congress.

That peak you see is the start of the surge. The dramatic drop-off in violence is the result.

As I noted here, "the surge" per se is a little too simplified of a reduction - it really was the combination of the increase in forces, General Petraeus' new plan of counter-insurgency, and other factors that brought about so much success in Iraq. But the surge is the backbone of all those efforts. And it worked.

We cannot forget that the Obama-Biden intention was to give up before the surge. Think of Al-Qaeda controlling all of Iraq's oil (or al-Sadr's shia militia). Think of the hundreds of thousands of dead. Think of a terrorist-controlled state that would now be a buddy to an Iran with violent nuclear ambitions. The Democrats fought hard for that scenario, and lost.

{click on image to enlarge}

Full report is here.

Quotes from the Executive Summary:

The overall security situation in Iraq has greatly
improved this reporting period. Security
incidents have remained at levels last seen in
early 2004 for nearly three consecutive months,
while civilian deaths across Iraq have declined
to a level 77% lower than the same period in
2007. The surge in Coalition forces, the
growth of more capable Iraqi Security Forces
(ISF), the contributions of the Sons of Iraq
(SoI), the ability of forces to secure the
population, operations against Al Qaeda in Iraq
(AQI) and other extremist elements, and the
increased willingness of the people and the
Government of Iraq (GoI) to confront
extremists are important factors that have
contributed to the improved security
environment. Periodic high-profile car and
suicide vest bombings have occurred, but the
number of these attacks and the resulting
casualties have decreased dramatically.
Moreover, these attacks have not rekindled the
self-perpetuating cycle of ethno-sectarian violence...

[hat tip: http://tank.nationalreview.com/]

Defeat the defeatists, here at The Pantheon Journal.

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