Petraeus On Troop Surge, Change In Iraq

(CBS)  To get a boots-on-the-ground view of the impact of the surge, Army Gen. David Petraeus, the man who will report to Congress next week, choppered a CBS News crew over Anbar province, which was once the most dangerous places in all of Iraq. It's a place that has seen some of the bloodiest fighting - and a place he says is now a snapshot of what's going right.

"You say Fallujah is a real success story. What turned it around?" asked CBS Evening News anchor and managing editor Katie Couric.

"What turned it around was the local population deciding to reject al Qaeda," said Petraeus.

After U.S. troops retook the city by force in late 2004, life is now slowly returning to normal. Fallujah is safer. The relationship between American troops and Sunnis is strong.

How important was the surge in getting this done?

"It gave us an ability to clear and to hold some areas that were sanctuaries for al Qaeda in the past," Petraeus said. "And then what happened is you have a situation where you are spiraling upwards instead of spiraling downwards.

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Eye To Eye: Gen. Petraeus Tours Fallujah

Complete Coverage: America In Iraq: The Road Ahead

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More than three years ago, Fallujah was a notorious dateline - the fighting against al Qaeda and Sunni insurgents was the most intense of the war. The most searing image: four U.S. contractors burned alive and dragged through the streets. It was a horrifying reminder of soldiers being dragged through Somalia 10 years earlier. The U.S. pulled out, considering it off limits - a lost cause.

The powerful tribal leaders of Anbar province, who are really the heads of large extended families, rejected the harsh, brutal tactics of al Qaeda. Sheik Saddoun Al Bou'issa lost 30 members of his tribe.

"We think they care about Islam, but they lie, they cut heads, they destroy Iraq. They don't like Iraq to be safe," Saddoun said.

Now his greatest worry is that al Qaeda will return if the Americans leave.

"We ask the Americans to help us until we finish al Qaeda. If they back one step, they will destroy everything we build," he said.

The decision by the tribal leaders to fight al Qaeda spread across Anbar province, and it made joining the Iraqi security forces an honorable choice. The Iraqi police force grew by more than 200 percent in just the last year, to 19,000. Violent incidents have dropped from more than 1,400 last March to just over 400 in August.

While these new recruits rely heavily on U.S. training and equipment, they want them here now, but not indefinitely.

When asked if they would rather have U.S. troops here than al Qaeda, a recruit told Couric: "A time will come when al Qaeda is gone, and a time will come when the Americans will go as well."

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[handyman1001]

With all the knowledge and intelligent military insite Katie is aquiring in Iraq, no one told her never to wear clothing that would make her stand out from everyone else. Bright orange and bright blue clothing make for an excellent target in any combat zone.

[rhs648]

Id o believe it''''s gotten political. Live the democrate way and either be te taxed weathly or the poor that the government is supporting. Think, democrates want you to live off what they give you instead of making it on your own. Welfare, government medical. Don''''t think I want to go that route. I''''d rather make each work for what they have and pay for what they think can take for free. If you can''''t afford it, it whould not be handed to you with the "remember to vote for me" attached.
Posted by Jamesotis43

This is an example of buying votes. It was probably cheaper when candidates gave liquor or money for votes. The result is the same only now taxpayers, not the candidates or their political parties, pay the bill.

[citizenusa-2009]

It seems from the recent tone of these blogs that the easily influenced are coming out in the open again. Old Katie goes to Iraq, becomes a "believer" in the illegal war and you folks with the porous brains follow behind her like baby ducks. Now I know why "the Decider" was elected in the first place. Unbelievable!

[brain1014]

WASHINGTON (AP) - Efforts to rebuild Iraq''s shuttered industrial base, including an infusion of $760 million in U.S. funds over the past year, is making slow progress but has had little success getting Iraqi products to American consumers.

Paul Brinkley, deputy under secretary of defense in charge of business transformation, said Tuesday that the U.S. government spent $180 million of that total in July alone on Iraqi goods and services.

But he acknowledged that U.S. companies, which have many questions and concerns about production and stability in Iraq, are still slow to stock Iraqi products. Considering the state of play in Iraq, Brinkley said, people are cautious about placing orders for Iraqi goods.

Seems the libs are wrong again. take a look at those figures and tell me we are out to steal Iraq''s vast wealth. If the President wanted their money why would he be giving it all back? Their isn''t a contractor out there that want''s to put their life at risk rebuilding a country where terrorism existes at every turn. Your theories of dominance for cash just doesn''t pan out. Sorry guy''s that kind of thinking belong''s to the left!

[jamesotis43]

Id o believe it''s gotten political. Live the democrate way and either be te taxed weathly or the poor that the government is supporting. Think, democrates want you to live off what they give you instead of making it on your own. Welfare, government medical. Don''t think I want to go that route. I''d rather make each work for what they have and pay for what they think can take for free. If you can''t afford it, it whould not be handed to you with the "remember to vote for me" attached.

[glossypan]

Republicans have done great things; Abraham Lincoln preserved the Union and freed the slaves; Teddy Roosevelt busted the Megacorporations, pushed through the pure food and drug act and was an ardent cinservationist: Dwight Eisenhower conceived the Interstate Highway System and supported the good guys on racial equlity court cases. But look at how far the nuts have fallen from the tree - the Republican Party is now committed to stealing the wealth of the middle class and turning the USA into an India-like society with the rich living in splendor and the poor sleeping on the streets. Shame on you guys for letting scoundrels hijack your party.

[brain1014]

Posted by forthepeopl1

You seem to be the biggest dope of them all. You think because you are a vet that gives you some great intellect? You seem to have made one mistake. Republicans seem to make great things happen to this country! They don''t sit around with their thumbs in their a$$e$ waiting for our people to get attacked and do nothing about it. Are you that stupid that you would consider the fact this country need''s the money so we attacked a third world rogue nation to get it. Would''nt it have been easier and cost alot less to just drill our own? I know the libs and tree huggers don''t like the fact we need to become more self reliant, but I think it would have been a heck of alot easier to roll over them as apposed to the elite republican gaurd! What a Dope! Aside from that I wanted to thank you for your service, I am disabled and was unable to join due to injury.

[brain1014]

Posted by forthepeopl1

You seem to be the biggest dope of them all. You think because you are a vet that gives you some great intellect? You seem to have made one mistake. Republicans seem to make great things happen to this country! They don''t sit around with their thumbs in their a$$e$ waiting for our people to get attacked and do nothing about it. Are you that stupid that you would consider the fact this country need''s the money so we attacked a third world rogue nation to get it. Would''nt it have been easier and cost alot less to just drill our own? I know the libs and tree huggers don''t like the fact we need to become more self reliant, but I think it would have been a heck of alot easier to roll over them as apposed to the elite republican gaurd! What a Dope! Aside from that I wanted to thank you for your service, I am disabled and was unable to join due to injury.

[forthepeopl1]

BRIAN1014,

The GOP''s jihad against the working and middle classes, however, is far more powerful, far more insinuated into the DNA of virtually every Republican politician, and undergoes far less scrutiny by the media. The great strength of The Big Con is that rather than reciting the usua laundry list of Bush-era conservative sins %u2014 as most books of this genre do %u2014 it focuses on the four or five of them that really matter, "all of them related because they''re in service to one great primal sin: the by now almost complete subordination of the modern Republican Party to business interests and the rich."

Plus I also like the subhead that someone put on the review: "Forget neocons and theocons. It''s the money-cons who really run Bush''s Republican Party."

Money-cons. Hmmm. Money-cons. That could catch on!


YOU NEED A LIFE..THIS PRESIDENT AND WHOLE ADMINASTRATION IS KILLING AMERICANS FOR PROFIT AND WE THE PEOPLE WILL MAKE THEM PAY I PROMISS YOU THIS.

AND YES I AM A VET..AND YES I DO KNOW HOW THIS GOVERNMENT WORKS. DO YOU?? HAVE YOU SERVED..

UNTIL THEY ALL HANG FOR TREASON AGAINST THEIR OWN COUNTRY.NOTHING WILL CHANGE.

THAT WHY WE THE PEOPLE WILL HAVE A REVOLUTION TO TAKE BACK OUR COUNTRY.

[brain1014]

brianbwb at 09:51 AM : Sep 05, 2007

I think you confused our President with Saddam! Perhaps you have forgotten the reason we are in Iraq. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqians have been brutally tortured, maimed, murdered, raped, gassed, publicly shot in front of family members, kidnapped never to be seen again, blown up, thrown in prison for life just for believing in something different, dipped alive in sulferic acid until there skin melts away and then thrown in their front yard as a lesson to others etc, etc......! Iraq defied all it''s neighbors, the UN, America and even the majority of it''s own people. This war was set in motion long before our President took office! I know many dems and lefties claim they were lied to about WMD but deep down they knew he had them and they didn''t have 100% confermation that saddam didn''t. None of your argument''s hold enough information to really matter at this point. Face the facts, our country is at war with terrorist not other countries. If Iraq wasn''t harboring terrorist you must be blind. Tell that to the families of our fallen soldiers. If Iraqs borders are so full of holes now with the most powerful military in the world gaurding them what do you think was going on when saddam was watching them! Iraq was filled with terrorist, the fact that cnn didn''t WANT to find them and give our President any credit doesn''t meen they wern''t thier! Get real, grow up!