GOOD NEWS FROM THE SURGE IN BAGHDAD

The surge is going better that expected according, to one Iraqi family living in Baghdad. Gateway Pundit has a must see post with news from Iraqis and from the Iraqi government. The news is uniformly promising.

The following is a Haider Ajina translation of a news article from Iraq’s "Alsabah Aljadeed" or "New Sabah" on February 26, 2007:

Al-Maliki said, hundreds killed and arrested in the new security operation

Iraqi PM Noori Al-Maliki said, "U.S. and Iraqi forces killed around 400 armed suspects since the beginning of the Baghdad security operation." Al-Maliki visited the HQ for the security operations and prompted them not to fall under sectarian
influence. Al-Maliki said in a press conference that 426-armed suspects have been arrested, and another similar number were killed since the beginning of the operation in mid February.

The Iraqi interior ministry reported that in northern Baghdad Iraqi forces with U.S. Air support have killed dozens of armed insurgents in an insurgent camp early Saturday morning. General Abdul Kareem Khalaf, spokesman for the ministry, said, "a large contingency of Iraqi forces clashed with armed men in a rural area at dawn and U.S. air strikes destroyed the insurgent base."

. . . .

The PM was asked about attacks by terrorist groups against some of the returning families. He replied that these terrorists will be dealt with, with no leniency and will
be arrested and sent to justice no matter what their affiliation. The PM was then asked about the meddling of some politicians with security operations and the statements they make (negative ones). The PM said, "I have instructed the commanders, of operation Enforce the Law, to not allow any political figure to interfere with security matters. These politicians have official governmental channels to use if they want information. As to their statements, it is a pity that some politicians have their own political agenda and some long for the old days. They must respect the national decision and the Iraqi people’s will, which the Iraqi people expressed at the ballet box. Mr. Abdul Kadir Mohamed Jasim the defense Minster and General Abud Qatier commander of operation ‘Enforce the Law’ accompanied PM.

Haider Ajina comments:


Operation enforce the law is so far going better than expected and appears to continue this way. I spoke to my father in Baghdad, he said that the street is very impressed by the operation and receiving much cooperation from the people. They have done in four days what we thought would take them over a month.

Shiites love the Americans and want them stay to help the Iraqi security stand on its feet he said.

He also told me the street knows that Iran is no great friend of Iraq. Reading the PM, Al-Maliki, order the soldiers to respect the rights of the individual is still amazing to me. What large difference from just four short years ago!

I am not worried about my family from the security forces; I am only worried about them from the terrorists. Before we liberated Iraq the security forces were who worried me. This is the same sentiment my family has in Baghdad and Nejef. They now trust and look to the security forces for help. What a turn around, and all squarely due to our training of these new Iraqis and the Iraqi’s willingness to learn and serve.

There have been problems with some of the security personnel and most of those are being and have been addressed, as is evident from the PM’s directive of nondiscrimination and no favoritism. The support of the average citizen in Baghdad for this operation is nothing short of remarkable. Of course, this only comes if the citizens feel safe tipping off the Iraqi security forces. This also shows that the terrorists are loosing much of their support base in Iraq.
Regards,

Haider Ajina

Read the whole post at Gateway Pundit

Hattip: Jules Crittenden