Petraeus: U.S. Forces Have Achieved Tactical Momentum

07 September 2007

The surge has allowed coalition and Iraqi forces to achieve tactical momentum and has given momentum to local reconciliation efforts, but national efforts still lag, the top coalition commander in Iraq said in a letter to servicemembers and civilians of Multinational Force Iraq today.

General David H. Petraeus

“Up front, my sense is that we have achieved tactical momentum and wrested the initiative from our enemies in a number of areas in Iraq,” Army Gen. David H. Petraeus wrote. “The result has been progress in the security arena, although it has, as you know, been uneven.”

Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan C. Crocker will testify before Congress on Sept. 10 and 11 on their assessments of the situation in Iraq.

The Petraeus letter is a straight-forward look at the situation in Iraq. The general said al Qaeda, Iranian-supported militias and home-grown extremists continue to launch attacks against coalition and Iraqi forces, although at a reduced level than in months before. American forces contend with hard combat, a high operations tempo, heat and long separations from family and friends. “And we operate against a backdrop of limited Iraqi governmental capacity, institutions trying to rebuild and various forms of corruption,” the general wrote.

All this is colored by sectarian discord al Qaeda fomented in 2006. “In spite of these challenges, our operations -- particularly the offensive operations we have conducted since mid-June -- have helped produce progress in many areas on the ground,” Petraeus said.

The number of terrorist attacks across Iraq has declined since mid-June, he said. Coalition and Iraqi forces have captured of killed countless terrorists and located a huge number of arms caches.

Local reconciliation is making gains, and local leaders are volunteering to take a stand against extremists. “With growing government of Iraq support, these volunteers are being integrated into legitimate security institutions to help improve local security,” he wrote.

These local initiatives are increasing the momentum toward reconciliation and encouraging more Iraqis to reject extremism. “The popular rejection of al Qaeda and its ideology has for example, helped transform Anbar province this year from one of the most dangerous areas of Iraq to one of the safest,” Petraeus said.

The rejection of extremism in Sunni areas like Anbar is being mirrored in Shiia areas, as well, he said.

While the surge is working to improve security, one reason for the commitment of five more brigades of U.S. troops was to give Iraqi leaders breathing space needed to take on tough political problems that need to be solved. “It has not worked out as we hoped,” Petraeus said in his letter. “All participants, Iraqi and coalition alike, are dissatisfied by the halting progress on major legislative initiatives such as the oil framework law, revenue sharing and de-Baathification reform.”

Iraqi leaders confronted these issues in a summit at the end of August that indicated they are serious about dealing with these problems, but problems persist.

Petraeus urged all members of Multinational Force Iraq to continue their work to sustain a free and stable Iraq. He said he will make his assessment public Sept. 10 and will make those recommendations “conscious of the strain on our forces, the sacrifices that you and your families are making, the gains we have made in Iraq, the challenges that remain and the importance of building on what we and our Iraqi counterparts have fought so hard to achieve,” he wrote.

A senior U.S. military officer is disputing reports in two major U.S. newspapers, which said Friday that the U.S. commander in Iraq may be willing to send several thousands of his troops home by January.

President George W. Bush waves after arriving at Al Asad Airbase, Al Anbar Province, Iraq, Monday, September 3, 2007. The greeting party from left are Lieutenant General Raymond Odierno, Commanding General, Multi-National Corps, General David Petraeus, Commander, Multi-National Force Iraq, Admiral William Fallon, Commander US Central Command, General Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Secretary State Condoleezza Rice.

The officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, says the U.S. commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, told him the stories in The New York Times and The Washington Post are "not accurate." The officer, who works closely with General Petraeus, says the general told him newspapers should not trust the unnamed officials quoted in those reports in the future, because their information is "off base."

General Petraeus and the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, are to give their highly-anticipated progress reports to the Congress on Monday, including recommendations on future U.S. troop levels. President Bush is expected to announce his decisions based on those reports, perhaps later in the week.

Amid the stir over Friday's newspaper stories, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman offered reporters this advice:

"We should all not try to predict what the general is going to say," he said. "We ought to wait for next week, when he's going to give a very full assessment of where we're at right now, at this point in time, with respect to our operations in Iraq."

A senior defense official also noted that the articles say General Petraeus "could accept" or is willing "to consider" the start of a drawdown of U.S. forces early next year. The official said it is not up to the general to "accept" or "consider." Rather, the official said, the general will make his recommendations to President Bush, and the president will decide the future course of U.S. policy toward Iraq, including troop levels.

During a brief visit to Iraq on Monday, President Bush said General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker told him if current trends continue it will be possible to reduce the U.S. troop level in Iraq, but he did not say when that might happen.

The Petraeus and Crocker reports are just two of several assessments being made public this week and next week. On Thursday, a commission chaired by retired General James Jones reported to the Congress Iraqi security forces still need 12-18 more months to prepare to handle security for the country.

Still, General Jones told Congress his group of retired military and police officers favors a change in the mission of U.S. forces in Iraq as soon as possible, away from daily combat to a support role.

"The force footprint should be adjusted, in our view, to represent an expeditionary capability, and to combat the permanent force image of today's presence," he said.

Pressed by a senator, General Jones said that change could include consolidations, realignments and reductions.

Also this week, the Congress' Government Accountability Office issued a highly critical report, questioning military claims of reduced violence in Iraq following the surge of U.S. forces earlier this year.