Iraq Stabilizing, Afghanistan Failing
Baghdad Asserts Control While Taliban Gets Aggressive
Aug 7, 2008
Violence levels in Iraq have continued to decline for nearly three straight months, and are at their lowest levels since 2004, says the Department of Defense’s American Forces Press Service. Quoting a coalition military official, the AFPS says the combined efforts of Iraqi and coalition forces are responsible for the decrease in violence and instability.
Iraqi Forces Improving
Increasingly, Iraqi forces are taking the lead in military security operations, launching major efforts in Basra, Baghdad, and Diyala in the past few months. Iraqi security forces still have a long way to go, but as the United States looks to reduce its presence in Iraq, it is increasingly looking to Iraqis to take over responsibility for their country.
The training of Iraqi forces is done primarily through embedded training teams that live, train, and participate in operations with their Iraqi trainees. Both Iraqi and American officials have cautioned that self-sufficiency for Iraqi forces is still years away.
Improvements Steady, But Fragile
As violence levels have continued to fall since the surge of American forces into Baghdad and al-Anbar Province last year, many within Iraq and the United States are beginning to think the security gains may just hold.
Last month, coalition leaders in Iraq reported that the number of combat deaths had fallen to its lowest level in four years, with just six U.S. soldiers killed as a result of hostile action. Still, AFPS says, coalition officials are not ready to declare victory yet.
The gains made over the past year and a half are reversible, military leaders warn, and a withdrawal of American forces that is not based on security conditions on the ground could put recent successes in jeopardy.
Shifting Focus to Afghanistan
Still, it is hoped by many in the United States, including both presidential candidates, that sustained security progress in Iraq will enable the United States to focus more fully on Afghanistan, where violence has been steadily increasing over the past few months.
A resurgent Taliban has become more and more bold of late and NATO forces in Afghanistan have had tremendous difficulty dealing with the rising threat posed to the government of Hamid Karzai. But additional troops have been extremely hard to find.
Several European countries have thus far either refused to send combat troops at all, or have refused repeated requests for additional forces to help combat the Taliban. Additionally, national caveats prevent many European forces from participating in combat operations, focusing instead on reconstruction and economic development.
At the same time, U.S. forces have been stretched thin by the war in Iraq, and it is unlikely that new troops will be available before sometime in 2009. Continued security improvements in Iraq could free up forces sooner than that, but at best it would be the end of this year before forces scheduled for Iraq could be diverted to Afghanistan.
