Insurgency Is Fading Fast

NYT reports Insurgency Is Fading Fast, Top Marine in Iraq Says

The top Marine officer in Iraq said Friday that the number of attacks against American troops in Sunni-dominated western Iraq and death tolls had dropped sharply over the last four months, a development that he called evidence that the insurgency was weakening in one of the most violent areas of the country. The officer, Lt. Gen. John F. Sattler, head of the First Marine Expeditionary Force, said that insurgents were averaging about 10 attacks a day, and that fewer than two of those attacks killed or wounded American forces or damaged equipment. That compared with 25 attacks a day, five of them with casualties or damage, in the weeks leading up to the pivotal battle of Falluja in November, he said.

Jan Haugland blogs: It is worth noting that the NYT article is about as negative as it can possibly get, considering the positive information. But that is hardly surprising.

Gregory Djerejian blogs: You might have thought the linked New York Times piece would be front page news. It wasn't, alas, as I found out whilst thumbing through the paper edition today. Imagine the placement of the story if the insurgency had worsened since the elections. Much more prominent, one suspects, eh?

CQ blogs: Democratization, as we have seen, provides the only long-term solution to terrorism. When given a choice, people want freedom, not tyrannies. Even the New York Times appears to be learning this lesson ... slowly.

Pejman Yousefzadeh blogs: It should be noted that since insurgencies of all stripes gain support, power and momentum if they have a good relationship with the populace, it should come as little surprise that the Iraqi insurgency is now fading. After all, the Iraqi people are now more fully vested in controlling the destiny of their country, and have even less interest than they might have had in the past in allying themselves with the insurgency. And any semblance of an alliance has been destroyed, of course, by the insurgent attacks on Iraqis that Captain Ed discusses.

It must have really hurt Eric Schmitt to have to write this good news. At first I thought he might be different from most NYT reporters, but then I took a look at some of his earlier stories:

• Sizable Cut in U.S. Forces in Iraq Called Possible in '06
• Paul Dundes Wolfowitz
• U.S. Military Says 26 Inmate Deaths May Be Homicide
• Official Declines to Pin Blame For Blunders in Interrogations
• Army Officials Voice Concern Over Shortfall In Recruitment
• The Few and the Proud Fret About the 'Few'

NYT does not need to worry about Eric; the news was just too good for him to frame it any other way.