Strategypage writes of what is going on in the west of Iraq:
There’s an elaborate chess game going on in central Iraq, and along the Syrian border. Actually, it’s more of a “chase game,” as the al Qaeda and Sunni Arab terrorist groups attempt to maintain control of the shrinking number of areas where they can establish their safe houses and bomb making workshops. This process began last Fall, with the battle for Fallujah. While this left several thousand terrorists killed or captured, at least two thousand, including most of the terrorist leaders, fled Fallujah before the city fell. Over the next few months, the terrorists tried to take over another town, or portion of a city, like Mosul. This didn’t work, although it generated some great headlines about a terrorist "comeback". If the terrorists tried to hold ground, American troops came in and killed or captured them. Increasingly, the Americans arrived with Iraqi police or soldiers along, who were able to quickly canvass the liberated area to find out who might be pro-government.This certainly puts the operations in a better light. This also seems to show that Iraqis are a bigger part of the offensive than I thought. I agree we are making progress and can win enough in the area to call it a success. I may have been too pessimistic about what we and the new Iraqi government can achieve in the west.
