According to the Iraq PM (but what does he know):
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki proclaimed on Friday that Al-Qaeda had been routed in Baghdad thanks to a security plan launched a year ago, and would soon be defeated throughout the country.So, when does Pelosi, et al. say that the surge is working? Probably when President Obama says this: "Now that the surge has worked, it's time to bring our troops home.""Thank God, we destroyed the cells of Al-Qaeda. They have been chased out of Baghdad and this has opened the way for their defeat throughout Iraq," Maliki said at a ceremony marking the launch on February 14 last year of the Baghdad security plan, known as Operation Fardh al-Qanoon (Imposing Law).
"Today our forces are locked in battle against outlaws in Nineveh and we are chasing them," he added, referring to the northern province where Iraqi officials say Al-Qaeda has regrouped after fleeing Baghdad.
Maliki on January 25 announced a "decisive battle" against Al-Qaeda in Nineveh province, and sent troop and police reinforcements to the provincial capital Mosul, which the US military says is the last urban stronghold of Al-Qaeda in Iraq.
BTW, the fact that they are now using more women for suicide bombing demonstrates the success of the surge.
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Wake us up when the Mahdi Army is defeated.
eyeroll x 1,000,000.
It's no secret where al-Qaeda has gone.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/eighty-feared-dead-in-afghanistan-bombing/2008/02/17/1203190652867.html
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-01/27/content_7507003.htm
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-01/22/content_7475038.htm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/30/AR2008013004314.html
"Make no mistake, NATO is not winning in Afghanistan," said the report by the Atlantic Council of the United States, chaired by retired Gen. James L. Jones, who until the summer of 2006 served as the supreme allied commander of NATO.
"Afghanistan remains a failing state. It could become a failed state," warned the report, which called for "urgent action" to overhaul NATO strategy in coming weeks before an anticipated new offensive by Taliban insurgents in the spring."
The surge worked in removing al-Qaeda from Bahgdad. They are far from defeated, however.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-fg-iraq2feb02,1,3441554.story
"U.S. military and Iraqi officials note that overall attack and civilian casualty numbers are at their lowest levels since the spring of 2005. But they say the state of security still is "tenuous." Iraqis, analysts and U.S. military commanders acknowledge that Iraq could turn more violent again if the government does not make progress in easing tensions between Sunni Arabs and Shiites.
"I am indeed optimistic, but at the same time I'm realistic. This place could go back," said Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, who commands U.S. forces in the strategic belts south of Baghdad."
I keep wondering when someone on the right is going to mention Afghanistan, the Taliban, or bin Laden again. After all, those are the folks behind the 9/11 attacks.
That still is on the plate, isn't it Michele?
heh - you want it both ways. so al qaeda is defeated but we can't bring our troops home. tell us, what will it take? you conservatives keep changing the goalposts in iraq to keep our military presence there.
They're using women because they don't get searched. They are, and will continue to, change tactics as they need to. They've been routed? Hardly. They're simply sitting backs on their heals enjoying the rest and using to time to build up for our inevitable departure.
You are throwing a parade for a war you have only just begun to lose...
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