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(Update/bump from 2005-11-04 22:31:54)
The Washington Post describes conditions along Baghdad's airport road. Dubbed "Route Irish" by the US military, the highway connecting Baghdad Airport to the city proper - and the rest of Iraq - is a crucial artery for the nation. It's importance can't be overstated - and the terrorists know it.
For 2 1/2 years, the road was, in many ways, a symbol of the U.S. failure to secure Iraq. Military convoys roared past in a frantic attempt to escape the looming dangers of suicide bombers, grenades, rockets and booby-trapped litter. But insurgents' relentless attacks claimed a steady toll.That was then - this is now:
<...>
Between April and June, 14 car bombs went off along the airport road, called Route Irish by the military. There were 48 roadside bombs, officially known as improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, and 80 small-arms attacks. Sixteen people were killed.
Then, two months ago, the killings stopped. In October, one person was wounded on the road and no one was killed, according to the U.S. Army, which also calculated the April deaths. The turnaround was owed to simple, boots-on-the-ground military tactics, Army officials said.And this is how. Many factors contributed to that success - but the one that can't be overemphasized is the presence of trained Iraqi troops on the street.
<...>
The men said they had been afraid of this route before they arrived in Iraq. They had heard the news reports about the dangers. But in 10 months, the only enemy fire they have seen on the airport road came after one of the civilian trucks they were escorting broke down, leaving them exposed for three hours. Someone in a passing vehicle fired at the troops, but no one was injured."It's pretty much one of the safest roads in Baghdad now. It didn't used to be," Carter said.
Beckett said he felt safe, "as safe as you can feel in Baghdad."
"They used to label this the one most dangerous road in Iraq," Zotter said, waving a white-paper report with all the significant activity from the last 24 hours. "It doesn't say that anymore."
The Iraqi soldiers, with a handful of U.S. troops by their side, walked the dusty dirt roads of the neighborhood. Weapons drawn, they searched alleys and courtyards. But mostly, they just walked, calling out greetings to Iraqis gathered outside their homes before the breaking of the fast during the holy month of Ramadan. The sweet scent of spice-infused meat and vegetables filled the night air, as women in black cloaks scurried home with stacks of piping-hot flat bread.Pay attention to that "strangers" quote - it's not the locals who are the enemy.
<...>
Ali said the Iraqi soldiers had been influential in helping control the neighborhood, keeping the potential attackers from using side streets to reach the airport road. "We are Iraqis, and we know strangers from their faces," Ali said. "We can stop them, and we know if they lie to us. The Americans don't know."
From my own time in Iraq I can attest to this, the battle for Route Irish was significant, and securing it is a victory on two fronts. On one level it's battle won and ground gained in a very different kind of war. But it's not just the ground gained that matters. It's the successful deployment of Iraqi forces that makes this a victory on a second front for the good guys. The key to a successful return from Iraq for coalition forces is the assumption of responsibility for security by the Iraqis - and real progress is being made.
And efforts are ongoing to make sure those gains aren't lost. Back in the States, the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force is readying to return to Iraq in February. The training they are getting isn't how to fight - it's how to train the Iraqi forces:
When the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force resumes responsibility for volatile Anbar province in Iraq in February, the Marines will be bolstered by 18 battalions from the new Iraqi army, plus a large number of Iraqi police and border security forces, Lt. Gen. John Sattler said.The road to victory is clear.
<...>
A key part of the Camp Pendleton Marines' preparation for their third tour in Iraq since March 2003, Sattler said, was training the teams that would be embedded with the emerging Iraqi units. They are preparing 45 teams, each with 10 Marines and a Navy hospital corpsman, which will be responsible for an Iraqi army battalion or a similar-size unit of the border security forces that will try to stem the flow of insurgents, money and weapons from Syria and Jordan.The "ultimate goal," he said, is to turn over areas of Anbar to the Iraqis as their forces become more capable.
8 Nov Update: This post from 4 November was originally intended as nothing more than a quick look at progress in Iraq. But on 7 November 60 Minutes aired a report describing their view of conditions along Route Irish, and their conclusion:
"Despite making the road somewhat safer, attacks continue and there is no clear victory in sight."challenges the validity of the Washington Post report. But the 60 Minutes story appears to have been compiled last summer - the unit profiled returned to the US in September. That "no clear victory in sight" claim illustrates the perils of defeatist reporting, and of approaching the story of the Iraq war from a pre-conceived failure narrative. (Or perhaps the foolishness of betting against the US Army.) I'll refrain from further speculation as to why the CBS report wasn't updated with more recent information, or questioning the validity of the term "news".
Besides, USA Today had a much more up to date quote from Lt. Col. Geoffrey Slack, the battalion commander profiled on the 60 Minutes' broadcast. This one's from only two months ago - September 19, 2005:
"Route Irish is definitely not the most dangerous road in Iraq any longer, and everyone who uses it knows it," says Lt. Col. Geoffrey Slack, commander of the New York National Guard's 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry Regiment.USA Today also noted
There hasn't been a suicide car bombing on the road since April, according to U.S. military statistics through August.Lt. General David Petraeus also detailed the improved conditions along Route Irish and the progress made in training Iraqi troops on his recent return to the US after his second tour in Iraq.U.S. officers attribute the decline to an influx of Iraqi troops who have been stationed at key points along Airport Road, which goes by the military designation Route Irish.
Let's salute Lt. Col. Geoffrey Slack and the 69th Infantry Regiment of the New York National Guard, a unit with a proud history. Their efforts in the face of a determined foe have brought about real results. It's easy to declare failure, quite another thing to achieve success amidst such declarations - especially coming from sources ostensibly "on your side."
Update 17 Nov 05: CBS producer expresses outrage here.
Related recent posts on progress in Iraq:
On media coverage of Iraq:
