Knee Deep in the Hooah!

This is very good news for those of us with loved ones who were called up for an early departure of their scheduled deployment to fill the need for General Petraeus’ strategic move of surging troops into highly volatile areas. The media has downplayed the successes we have realized since the last pair of surge boots hit the sand late last summer, but I think the evidence to the contrary is much more powerful than anything the naysayers can come up with. Here is another piece of evidence of that success.

WASHINGTON, April 10, 2008 — Sharply decreased violence in Iraq has set the stage for the departure of the remaining surge forces by the end of July, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Violence in Iraq “has declined dramatically since this time last year,” Gates told committee members. “In addition to the drop in U.S. casualties, we have seen a dramatic and encouraging decline in the loss of Iraqi civilians.”

Gates and Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were on Capitol Hill to update legislators on Iraq and Afghanistan military operations.

Iraqi deaths caused by ethnocentric conflict are down by about 90 percent, Gates reported, while overall civilian deaths have decreased by 70 percent compared to a year ago.

I can only imagine the liberal media’s response to that number. “What ONLY 90 percent? Not good enough. The surge is a failure.” Of course we can’t even reduce the number of gang related conflicts that cause the loss of life in Los Angeles by a fraction of that number, but I don’t see much if any credit given for a drop in conflict of that magnitude in a war zone.

In addition, Iraqis increasingly are stepping up to assist U.S. and coalition troops in battling insurgents in their country, Gates said. About 100,000 extra Iraqi security forces fought alongside around 30,000 additional U.S. troops as part of last year’s surge operations, he noted.

Gates also said recent Iraqi military operations against insurgents and criminals in Basra and other areas of Iraq are heartening. The Iraqis were not capable of launching a military mission of that scale a year ago, he noted.

Half of Iraq’s 18 provinces now are under Iraqi control, Gates said. Anbar is anticipated to be the 19th province to come under Iraqi jurisdiction, which Gates cited as “a remarkable development” given the grim security situation in that province just 18 months ago.

We knew going into this that the deployment of the surge troops would be at a minimum 15-months, but it could very well be extended past that time if it were needed. Our surge troops are on schedule to redeploy on time because of the success of their hard work and efforts. They are also able to come home on time because of the hard work of the Iraqis who have stepped forward and have risen to the call to serve their Country.

Thanks to a good General, awesome work by our troops and dedicated Iraqis, we will have our troops home on time. This soldier’s mom can hardly wait to hug her soldier and tell him face to face how incredibly proud she is of his hard work and good service.