As we get closer to General Petraeus testifying again about the situation in Iraq, the NIE has concluded its latest report, and although official sources say it is not much different from the last one, the report does state in no uncertain terms that the security situation in Iraq and well as the slow and steady progress by Iraqi politicians on forging alliances between Shiites and Sunnis in Iraq.
“The N.I.E. update confirmed that the surge strategy the president announced in January of last year is working,” said one senior administration official. “There’s more work to be done, but progress has obviously been made.”
The report shows us that recent comments from politicians like Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid and Hillary Clinton as well as Barack Obama about Iraq, requires us, the public, to have a "willing suspension of disbelief", that these politicians can see what is being reported, nor that they will have the basic understanding of what Petraeus will have to say because they are too blinded by their desire for surrender to keep their far left base happy.
They are heavily invested in the narrative of defeat and have shown a propensity to ignore all evidence that is contrary to their own politics or the political games they continue to play.
There is a portion of the report that has remained classified, yet Democratic Sens. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan want that to be deemed unclassified as well, which National Intelligence Director Michael McConnell already determined must remain classified because he believes analysts are less likely to be forthright in their writing if they believe the language will become public.
More from the NYT.
General Petraeus will have much support on the hill from Iraq and Afghanistan veterans themselves as Vets For Freedom will be there, as well as other pro-troops organizations, to show him support and to encourage members of Congress to actually listen to him this time since their "disbelief" last time was proven so wrong, so fast.
[Update] Democrats are already "howling" about the report which pretty much tells us that the report is showing progress and improvement in Iraq.
Senator Kit Bond puts it like this
The top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, however, said the Democrats were complaining about the report because they did not like the report's finding and were trying to "politicize it."
"Old adage from the Midwest: When you throw a rock into a pack of dogs, you know who's been hit by who hollers," said Sen. Kit Bond of Missouri. "All I can say is, the people who are bitching obviously didn't like the results. I happen to have confidence in the analysis that's now being conducted.
"From everything I know, it is a fair representation on what is going on in Iraq, and people will have the opportunity to question Gen. Petraeus and others," he said. "But the fact that it has not been released and you see some violent anti-war, anti-Iraq war people complaining about it lets you know what the general tone of it is."
Those hoping for defeat in Iraq always complain the loudest when things improve and progress is shown and reported on.
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