The Surge, One Year Later

[unhappycamper]

The Surge, One Year Later
Associated Press | February 12, 2008

BAGHDAD - A year ago in Baghdad: Shiite militiamen and Sunni insurgents owned entire neighborhoods and key areas beyond. Iraq's government was adrift, and U.S. commanders weighed the real possibility of being trapped in a full-scale civil war.

Washington's response was "the surge," launched Feb. 14, 2007, with the 82nd Airborne as the vanguard of an American troop buildup that would climb to 30,000 extra U.S. soldiers by the summer.

A year later - through a mix of military might, new allies and some fortunate timing - Iraq looks very different.

The crackdown in Baghdad and surrounding areas was seen as a last ditch effort to salvage the American mission in Iraq and, in the words of President Bush, give Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki "breathing space."

The concern now is how to build on the gains as the surge forces are pulled back, and some major challenges appear far from any clear answers: whether Iraq's Shiite majority will further fray into rival factions and how much Iran will exert its considerable influence.


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,161917,00.html