Posted By:
MAF Blogger Danny
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According to several media reports today, the situation in Iraq is deteriorating and General Petraeus has nothing good to report...despite the fact that he’s hasn’t even reported yet.

Does this sound familiar? oh yeah, it’s like the last time Gen. Petraeus came before congress, and even before they heard what he had to say, news media as well as anti-war types were already denouncing him as a liar and a puppet for the Bush administration.

Today’s various news outlets painted a gloomy picture of Iraq for tommorows report.

One report available here seemed to recognize some of the surge’s successes but was quick to detract from the relatively steady stream of good news:

Violence in Iraq recently had dropped to a nearly three-year low. The once-intransigent Iraqi parliament had passed some key pieces of legislation. Only five U.S. service members had been killed since October in Anbar province, a fraction of the toll a year ago

But that was before the offensive that Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki launched in the southern port city of Basra and in Baghdad two weeks ago. Instead of ridding the city of rogue Shiite Muslim militias, the operation exposed the frailty of the U.S.-trained Iraqi military, emboldened rebel Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr and his fighters....

Another report from the New York Times also concludes that Maliki’s fighting against the JAM Militia actually represents instability:

A crackdown on the Mahdi Army militia is creating potentially destabilizing political and military tensions in Iraq, pitting a stronger government alliance against the force that has won past showdowns: the street power wielded by the radical cleric Moktada al-Sadr.

The paper is quick to characterize the outcome of Maliki’s Basra operation as a complete defeat

Although Mr. Maliki’s military operation in Basra foundered against Mahdi resistance and the Green Zone has been pounded with rockets fired from around the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City, the prime minister has been freshly embraced by several Shiite, Kurdish and even Sunni blocs who at times seemed to support him mainly because there was no obvious alternative.

Ironically, according to other news sources, the Basra thrust could produce long-term security gains.
This story from the Associated Press seems to indicated that rather than emboldening the JAM, the operation actually pounded the JAM to the point where they are calling for a non-military resolution!

Aides to Muqtada al-Sadr called Monday for dialogue to resolve a violent standoff with the Iraqi government, saying that the radical Shiite cleric would disband his militia if senior religious leaders ordered it.

So here we clearly see there are some media outlets calling Maliki’s offensive a huge blunder, saying it’s undermining the peace that has been built around Iraq when the truth is clearly quite the opposite, according to conflicting stories.

The reality of the situation is that while this military operation COULD have gone much better if it had been planned a little better, perhaps in coordination with coalition forces...BUT the simple fact that it WAS NOT planned with coalition forces, nor was it carried out with their material support (at least not initially) is a great step forward for Iraqi autonomy.

This simple, but VERY significant fact, seems lost upon all the major media reports.

The Iraqis are beginning to carry out military operations on their own, and to an extent, they are showing off their growing strength against the same Militia that was giving the coalition a run for it’s money before the Surge!

How is this not a good story?

Not only that, but after the battle is over the JAM’s representatives have said that they are considering disbanding the whole militia. That’s much beter than a cease-fire! With the JAM itself officially disbanded, the only Shiite groups left would be the groups that splintered away from JAM months earlier when they did not want to honor al-Sadr’s ceasefire agreement.

In my view, we may be on the verge of reaching a huge milestone for lasting stability and peace in Iraq, but according to the media’s characterization, all the successes won by the surge are falling apart around Petraeus.