Katie Couric's Notebook: Troop Surge

By: Katie Couric
Topics: Katie Couric's Notebook

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Notebook: Troop Surge

It was one year ago when President Bush announced he would send 20,000 more troops to Iraq in a "surge," which was meant to turn the tide there.

While daily life is still a struggle for many Iraqis, some things may be working on a grassroots level. For more from my Notebook, just click the monitor.

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by one_american January 13, 2008 11:30 PM EST: The critics were flat-out wrong.
President Bush was right.

And those who claim they have no confidence in our President REALLY mean that they have no confidence in themselves, and have neither the forsight nor the intestinal fortitude to support a tough decision by a true leader.

That''s food for though for you liberals with Bush Derangment Syndrome.; Reply to this comment


by memekiller January 11, 2008 3:49 PM EST: You paint it as though the skeptics were wrong. From the beginning we have pointed out that this surge was meant to give the Iraqi government breathing room to form a coalition which hasn''t happened.

Iraq can''t tailspin forever. Eventually you have a downturn in violence, be it from adding more troops we said should have been there from the beginning, or by running out of people to kill once ethnic cleansing has succeeded. So we may have bottomed out, finally. But I''ll say again what I said then -- no one expects to "win" this war, and this surge was simply meant to punt the ball so Bush can pass his mess off to the next Pres to fix. As I said then, it will be accomplished by breaking our military to get a momentary increase and short term bump to get media coverage like this without accomplish anything beyond prolonging the drain of blood and treasure for one man''s vanity.; Reply to this comment


by petersemkiw January 11, 2008 4:36 AM EST: Dear Katie,

The dramatic reductions in the statistics of violence and war related deaths in Iraq as a result of the "surge" are encouraging news and hopefully will eventually pave the way for a gradual withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, and the eventual complete turnover of military responsibilities to the Iraqi government. Political reconciliation among the various factions in Iraq, mostly based on longstanding historical religious differences, may be more difficult to achieve, but as stability returns to the region and democracy takes root, perhaps even that may be possible. But compromise and patience will certainly be needed.

President Bush and General Petraeus deserve credit, but especially our brave and courageous American troops, and they deserve great recognition of their sacrifices throughout the years of the Iraq War, and for implementing and carrying out the missions of the "surge", which will hopefully bring eventual stability to the people of Iraq and the region.

The sacrifices and courage and bravery of our troops in Iraq, must never be forgotten, and our prayers are with them, and their families. And for those troops returning with war wounds, whether physical or mental, they deserve the best medical care our country can offer,

Peter; Reply to this comment

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