Metrics of progress in Iraq

MNFI:

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Bergner said tips from the Iraqi people are instrumental in the current success against insurgents. Last month, Coalition forces received around 23,000 tips, which is about four times as much during the period last year.

Coalition efforts to reach tribal leaders in Iraq are also showing progress, Bergner said.

“In just the past three weeks, four different communities north and west of Baghdad have joined other communities in declaring their opposition to al-Qaeda and pledging to work with their countrymen to stop the violence,” Bergner said.

Information from Iraqis and cooperation with tribal leaders has direct correlation with a recent jump in weapons cache discoveries, Bergner said. Coalition forces have discovered more weapons stockpiles in the past six months than they have all of last year.

“We are achieving that progress because of the breadth of our operations, because of our focus on extremist’s sanctuaries and operating bases, and most importantly because of the precise information from Iraqi citizens,” Bergner said.

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All of these metrics are elements of a successful counterinsurgency operation. They are much more important that counting explosions, because they reflect how the people have turned against the enemy. The media focus on the violence metric tends to mislead the uniformed, which includes most Democrats.

The Christian Science Monitor reports that even the violence metrics are down in Iraq.

US troop fatalities in Iraq have plummeted from near-historic highs just two months ago. The number of deaths attributed to improvised explosive devices is down by more than half. Violence is down in the four most dangerous provinces.

The decrease is an apparent sign that, by at least one indicator, the surge of American forces is doing something it set out to do: tamp down the violence.

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Those looking for the dark clouds in Iraq will still focus on the political reconciliation process, but their focus should not be only on Baghdad. It is the reconciliation with the Sheiks that is helping to reduce the violence. That is what the political process was supposed to do, but we are apparently working around the log jam in parliament.