iraqi politics of late

i'm no absolutist politician chanting "the surge worked"; my interpretation of reports is that the increased troop numbers definitely helped to increase security in Iraq when coupled with some serendipitous other happenings: on the Shiite side was Al-Sadr's cease-fire, on the Sunni side was the Anbar Awakening (sons of Iraq etc). the question of fragility of this particular order could potentially be raised... on one hand some are on the Americans' payroll and loyalty that is bought can be sold, on the other hand the Iraqis have probably been burnt a bit from the violent excesses of al-Qaeda. the Iraqis do seem to be stepping up; joint militia efforts are providing security in addition to that provided by increased American troop levels.

the really interesting thing to me however are the rumors of a covert assassination program using better monitoring and coordinating practices on the ground to track and kill off al-Qaeda members. this is the best thing i have heard in weeks. if you're tackling terrorist networks you must absolutely and resolutely wipe out their principals, while of course simultaneously tackling their principles through moral overtures and nation/economy building. i still don't understand why they invaded Iraq (the human costs are too high, and it just seemed like a misguided military move in the first place, with oil motives as well); targeted assassinations should have been the military approach to terrorism in general, in afghanistan, pakistan, saudi arabia and wherever else terrorist cells found safe haven. if only there was more information about this.

i am not a terrorist by the way. you can tell me what your plans are general petraeus.