Say Anything Blog

General David Patraeus’ next report to the President and Congress is due in April.  While touring with Admiral Mike Mullen (CJCS), General Patraeus provided some insights as to his forthcomming testimony:

General Petraeus Describes Factors Affecting Iraq Assessment
Monday, 03 March 2008
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

...

The security trend lines all are favorable, the general said. “Attacks have continued to go down. We’ve had a five-month period consistently of a level of attacks we’ve not seen since spring of 2005,” he said. “This past week was the fourth-lowest since October 2004.”

Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan C. Crocker will explain why they believe attacks have come down when they report to President Bush and Congress.

The general said he is encouraged by the statistics and what he sees around the country. “In fact, the level of attacks has come down in recent weeks below a level we thought might be the ‘irreducible minimum,’” he said.

Petraeus said he also will consider the progress Iraqi security forces have made. “The Iraqi surge of 2007 was well over 100,000,” he said citing the growth of the nation’s Army and police force.

Rumors of a defeat for American arms, it would seem, were premature.

Read the whole thing.

Hat Tip: Hot Air