According to AP the surge is working - Updated
by CTMET
Sat Nov 03, 2007 at 08:10:34 PM PDT
I just saw this story hit Yahoo from AP. I'd like to believe it, but I just think its got to be BS.
- CTMET's diary :: ::
BAGHDAD - In a dramatic turnaround, more than 3,000 Iraqi families driven out of their Baghdad neighborhoods have returned to their homes in the past three months as sectarian violence has dropped, the government said Saturday.
Saad al-Azawi, his wife and four children are among them. They fled to Syria six months ago, leaving behind what had become one of the capital's more dangerous districts — west Baghdad's largely Sunni Khadra region.
But, U.S. officials say, al-Qaida overplayed its hand with Iraq's Sunnis, who practice a moderate version of Islam. American forces were quick to capitalize on the upheaval, welcoming former Sunni enemies as colleagues in securing what was once the most dangerous region of the country.
And as 30,000 additional U.S. forces arrived for the crackdown in Baghdad and central Iraq, the American commander, Gen. David Petraeus, began stationing many of them in neighborhood outposts. The mission was not only to take back control but to foster neighborhood groups like the one in Khadra to shake off al-Qaida's grip
Part of the inflow can be attributed to stiffening of visa and residency procedures for Iraqis by the Syrian government.
Mahmoud al-Zubaidi, who runs the Iraqi Airways office in Damascus, the Syrian capital, the flow of Iraqis has almost reversed.
What were once full flights arriving from Baghdad now touch down virtually empty, he told Al-Sabah, the government funded Iraqi daily newspaper. Now the flights are leaving Damascus with more passengers but the volume of travel is off considerably.
I don't know is it taken out of context ? Can John McCain stroll through the market without 45 armed soldiers with him now ? Is anyone other news outlet going to investigate this..... or just pick up the story and assume its the truth.
Update 1: It looks like this isn't the first time the author - Steven Hurst has pushed this line.
Iraqi deaths fall by 50 percent
BAGHDAD — The number of American troops and Iraqi civilians killed in the war fell in September to levels not seen in more than a year. The U.S. military said the lower count was at least partly a result of new strategies and 30,000 additional U.S. forces deployed this year.
