From Fox News

     WASHINGTON â€”  U.S. military and diplomatic officials gave the Iraqi government a satisfactory rating on eight of 18 political and security benchmarks, a mixed rating on two and an unsatisfactory rating on eight benchmarks in a White House report prepared for Congress.

     The interim progress report out Thursday — a second one due in September — says progress in Iraq has been good on key security areas such as the deployment of Iraqi forces in Baghdad, the establishment of joint security stations in Baghdad and the increased capability and independence of Iraqi military units as well as a few economic and political matters.

     Unsatisfactory progress was cited in a number of political benchmarks, including the passage of a hydrocarbon law, a debaathification statute and electoral reforms. The report also points out challenges of disarming militias and ensuring full Iraqi government control of security operations in Baghdad neighborhoods.

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     Despite what is said elsewhere progress, real measurable progress is being made in Iraq.  The question now is how do we build upon this sucess?  I wish I had the answers, but I don't, that is why we have Generals and they have staffs, to allow them to take all of the available information and make informed judgements.  It must be nice to gain the title of Senator or Representative and suddenly be blessed with the full and complete knowledge of all things.  The biggest battle we face in this war is not on the field of battle but in halls of Congress, for there it seems that no victory, no achievement, no matter how great is enough to prove that we are winning.  The members of congress on both sides of the isle who are screaming for a 'change of strategy' would do well to actually listen and hear what the people on the ground are telling them rather than simply reciting the mantras drummed into their heads by aides and advisors.

Posted by: raging tachikoma at 02:43 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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