Surge Part III by Vegas Art Guy

Update #1...
Iraq the Model has got more news on the effectiveness of the new strategy employed in Iraq. The authors of this blog live in Iraq and are an excellent source of information regarding what is really going on over there. In short the Iraqis are really starting to turn on the insurgents and have thrown their lot in with the coalition troops.

"Iraqis are awakening, one very telling example can be seen in the ongoing operation in Diyala; members of the 1920 revolution brigades, once bitter enemies of the US military and Iraqi government are now assisting US and Iraqi military in fighting al-Qaeda even though the majority of the Iraqi soldiers and officers are Shia.
If the change in exclusively Sunni Anbar is good then the change in Diyala is good beyond words."

Need I say more about what's going on? This is a far cry from what you hear in the news about Iraq and the quagmire it's become.

Over at Burkean Reflections, Dr. Douglas has an interesting read about the military strategy behind the Surge in Iraq. Despite what Senator Reid and many on the left believe, the early signs, while mixed, are becoming more and more positive, especially in the Anbar province, once considered enemy territory.

I've commented here, here and here about Iraq, Iran's role in Iraq, and some well deserved justice for Iraqi kurds. In short there is more going on here than the MSM lets on too. Considering the liberal leanings of the MSM I'm not a bit surprised by this.

His opinion and the testimony that he's reacting to are both easy to read and very informative. One of the biggest surprises about this new strategy is the stunning success in Anbar where we now have the support and cooperation of local and tribal leaders in the fight against Al Queda and the like.

Michael Yon has also seen first hand the effects of this new strategy and mistakes by AQ as noted in Betsy's Page, who also has some good insights into what is actually happening in Iraq.

One of the most interesting things that I read in the article is that security has to be established before real political progress can be made. And while things are far from over and the Iraq's ability to defend themselves has progressed unevenly, it is progressing. Obviously it's going to take some time to undo the mistakes that the Bush administration made from 2003-2007, but it's folly of the highest order to say that we've failed with this new strategy, especially considering all of the additional troops have only recently been deployed and some equipment is still en route.

It took us 4 years to screw this up, it's going to take more than a couple of months to fix it.