Op-For has posted a lengthy interview with General David Petraeus. The general spoke with Richard S. Lowry by phone last Thursday and covered a wide range of topics. It’s worth reading the whole thing, but here are a few choice quotes:
On Baghdad:”Baghdad, a city the size of Los Angeles, is spread out and very diverse. What you have there is almost a tale of two cities to some degree. It is a tale of one city that is predominantly Shia, those areas in which security is pretty good. Al-Qaeda is trying to get in and blow them up periodically but the checkpoints are stopping a good bit of that. Where commerce has returned, the markets have reopened. We have hardened all the markets. And I’m talking about enormous markets that have tens of thousands of people. Those areas have bounced back very, very well.
“Then you have the mixed areas though that are still in the sense battlegrounds…All it takes is one death squad just to really literally ruin the neighborhood. They are fault line neighborhoods or they are Sunni Arab neighborhoods that are under threat from both Al-Qaeda, who’s trying to retain them as logistical routes or safe havens, and by, in some cases, Shia extremists who are trying to expand into those areas or to push into another block or another neighborhood.”
On the prospects for success:”The truth is, the key to all of this is the Iraqi leadership and we should make no mistake about it. The Iraqi Army will do well if it has good national leadership, like any Army. If the national leadership cannot not hang together as a national body, then how can you expect the national army to remain together?”
On the challenges ahead:”The real challenge is to create something that is sustainable. We could cut a deal with the Mahdi Army, for example. We could bargain for six or nine months of peace with them but that serves no purpose.
“All we can do is do our mission to the best of our ability and retain integrity as we do that. And, be willing to note that if it’s not going to happen. I’ve gotta say that. I owe that to 150,000 young Americans and anther 10,000 coalition partners.”
Read the whole thing here.
