Reply #35: Yes I have. You don't seem to read my posts. [View All]

Things are getting much better for the Iraqis.

I've mentioned how the first thing you have to do is go in and clear an area, then you have to build COPs and move in US and Iraqi troops to live in the neighborhood. Once the area becomes secure the rebuilding process begins.

This is what happened in the Al Anbar province for an example. Go read about Ramadi. What it has like there in 2006 versus now. Same with Fallujah. Same with Haditha.

This strategy has worked all over Iraq and it worked because the Iraqi people made it work. The reason the Awakening councils have sprung up all over Iraq is because Iraqis have seen how quiet things are in Ramadi and Fallujah are. They see how these cities are being rebuilt and there is economic development and that is what they want for their cities.

Sadr City is one of the last parts of Baghdad that the US had not gone into. What was suppose to start at some point was the clear portion, of the "Clear, hold, rebuild" COIN strategy. Once the Iraqis secure Sadr City and get the COPs built, then you see a reduction in the amount of fighting and air strikes in Sadr City.